{"id":159955,"date":"2023-10-17T16:26:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=159955"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:01","slug":"new-student-association-offers-safe-place-for-jewish-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2023\/10\/17\/new-student-association-offers-safe-place-for-jewish-students\/","title":{"rendered":"New student association offers safe place for Jewish students\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"

First-year student Rose started a student association for Jewish EUR students last month. Because of the attack by Hamas and the war in Gaza, the association remains more discreet than she would have liked.<\/p>\n

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Students and members of the association celebrate Simchat Torah, the celebration of the jewish holy scripture.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJewish Student Association<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Erasmus University has associations from all walks of life, but there was none for Jewish students yet. That changed last month, given the current developments in Israel just in time to provide a place where Jewish EUR students can seek each other out.<\/p>\n

Rose, a first-year International Business Administration student, is the founder. In early September, after her arrival in Rotterdam, she discovered that such an association didn\u2019t exist yet, and within a few weeks the Jewish Student Association was up and running. The association now has some seventy members and has organised all kinds of activities, such as celebrating a social event in a \u00a0Sukkah<\/a>, a pizza night and a visit to a synagogue.<\/p>\n\t

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\u2018Rose\u2019 is a pseudonym chosen by the founder of the association. Due to the current security risks surrounding Jewish communities around the world and in the Netherlands, she requested anonymity and EM granted that. Her full name is known to the editors.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Jewish heritage<\/h2>\n\t
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\n\t\tOn Instagram, we show what activities we organise, but not what time and where\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

A Jewish association cannot ignore the security situation, especially\u202fat this moment of war in Israel, and so the association must remain more discreet as Rose might have liked and she wishes to remain anonymous. \u201cOn Instagram<\/a>, we show what activities we organise, but not what time and where\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n

The association asks incoming members to briefly explain their link to Jewish heritage. This membership procedure has been set up, to ensure the association\u2019s safety. \u201cNevertheless, the association is open to every student that identifies as Jewish or that has an indirect link to the Jewish culture\u201d, Rose explains Incidentally, she is not too worried about the individual safety of members. \u201cMost members have a low visibility as being Jewish.\u202fYet once unified, the Jewish community becomes a target group.\u201d<\/p>\n

'Intolerable antisemitic comments on campus'<\/h2>

Members do have trouble focusing because of the events in Israel, for example during exams. Rose has pressed the university about this issue. \u201cThe Erasmus University made the exception to put our association on its website, which normally only happens when an association has been in existence for at least a year. That way Jewish students can find us more easily.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is great concern within the association about Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel. \u201cWe feel sad, triggered and frightened. In such a pressing and unforeseeable situation, the presence of a Jewish Student Association becomes more vital than ever\u201d, she says. There is anxiety, not only about what happened, but also about \u2018the glorification of terrorism that is happening in Israel, as well as intolerable antisemitic comments by some people on campus\u2019, according to Rose, who didn\u2019t want to go into more details about this. \u201cThis is not a time for political discussion, but we should talk about the terror committed by Hamas to Israel and the Palestinians\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t