The university police department at Long Beach State is investigating the recent “Zoom-bombing” of a Jewish lecture series with hateful symbols. These symbols included swastikas and Nazi symbols, according to Long Beach State President Jane Close Conoley.
“The university police are really good at zeroing in and finding the identity of people who send threats via information technology,” Conoley said. “I’m hoping the Zoom-bomber did not come from Beach students or faculty.”
The president sent out an email titled “Confronting Hateful Narratives” to CSULB students and staff about the incident on Nov. 14 to address hateful speech.
Jewish Long Beach CEO Zachary Benjamin made Conoley aware of the Zoom-bombing after he was told by Jewish Studies faculty on campus.
“We were discussing antisemitism, and that’s when I mentioned it. She was shocked,” Benjamin said. “President Conoley has been one of the most steadfast allies of the Jewish communities. I’m fortunate to have her as a leader in our Long Beach community.”
Conoley also spoke with the head of Beach Hillel, a club for Jewish students at CSULB, and said Jewish students weren’t feeling or reporting any sense of threat on campus.
Chaya Leah Sufrin, the head of Beach Hillel, says that Jewish students are constantly asked to balance their Jewish identity in a progressive environment. She says that although there are not always direct threats on campus, Jewish students encounter prejudice and antisemitism on social media.
“When there’s high tension in Israel, that’s when we will feel it more here,” Sufrin said. “There’s like a sort of backlash against Israel, which translates to a lot of the Jewish students on campus who have nothing to do with geopolitical things going on.”
Jewish students have reported witnessing unfair framing by professors on Middle East and Israel narratives.
“Lots of students have come to me with sources that their teachers used that are political and biased… They’ll bring speakers in that are not balanced, and it just makes the Jewish students feel like their voices are irrelevant or not heard,” Sufrin said.
Students like Coby Shuman, a third-year psychology major, have noticed an increase in antisemitic narratives online recently.
“I definitely think that we should be making people aware of it and fighting any way we can,” Shuman said.
Conoley advises members of any group to report hate speech. The university has resources for all students who experience hate crimes and need rapid crisis counseling.
She recalls an online threat not directed at Jewish students but to specific individuals in La F.UE.R.Z.A. at CSULB a couple of years ago.
“The police found the person. We are very aggressive in following up on these hateful incidents,” Conoley said.
Jewish leaders on campus invite all students looking to learn more about Jewish culture to visit the Interfaith Center on the fifth floor of the library.
“It’s very secularized and very open. It’s nice to have a part of your culture and your religion that you can go to,” said Beach Hillel member Eliana Eisen, a third-year history major.