An Open Letter to American Philanthropists for Higher Education

Since Hamas launched its latest wave of terrorist attacks against the people of Israel, the alarming rise of antisemitic rhetoric, groups, and actions, particularly on the campuses of American colleges and universities, has reached the point of national concern. Too often, institutions of higher learning are failing to properly address these dangerous developments.

Among the concerned are friends, activists, and philanthropists of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. Many of them are circulating this open letter, asking everyone to demand better of all colleges and universities and expressing their support for institutions like Weizmann.

We are honored to call these passionate advocates our friends and are humbled they chose to cite the Weizmann Institute as a beacon of enlightenment and a model of progress in service to humanity.

November 2023

Dear Friends,

Every student should be able to trust their institution of higher learning to be a safe, nurturing haven for the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, enlightenment, and progress. Instead, public displays of hate are festering in what are supposed to be some of America’s most fertile grounds for intellectual growth. We look at American college and university campuses, including some of our alma maters, and see antisemitic demonstrations, hate speech, and acts of intimidation toward Jewish students. Too many of these institutions are responding indecisively, apathetically, or, even worse, in a way that emboldens the aggressors and fails to protect the students they promised to educate.

Frequently, these same institutions of higher learning then come to us as philanthropists or members of their alumni base and ask for donations. They often make these requests while sitting on the same campuses and in the same buildings – many bearing names of Jewish donors – where they tolerate, even placate, the groundswell of antisemitism and bigotry.

We write to you as once-proud donors of American colleges and universities, now asking you to join us in demanding better.

If the last century has taught us anything, who will they come for next? We’ve seen this story before and said, “Never again.”

Hamas shares no values with our academic institutions. They do not deserve your sympathy. As enemies of education and diversity of thought, Hamas would prefer we devolve into a violent Stone Age ruled by their theocracy. Where the mass of humanity seeks truth and progress, they pursue nothing but destruction and death. They do not want to see anyone learn, grow, and thrive, not even the Palestinian people, whom they harm as much as anyone.

Israel, as a nation, embraces and represents values shared by the overwhelming majority of people alive today: specifically, the pursuit of knowledge, innovation, and science to benefit all of us, no matter where we live, who we are, or how we worship.

That is why, as friends, board members, and philanthropists, we are proud to champion the crown jewel of Israeli science and one of its greatest gifts to the rest of the world: the Weizmann Institute of Science.

The Weizmann Institute was established before the State of Israel and, for nine decades, has been a destination for higher learning and a global leader in the kind of exploratory scientific research that improves how human beings live.

As hatred and bigotry grow on American college campuses, we look to Weizmann as a melting pot of kindred spirits – a collection of curious, imaginative, and brilliant scientific minds from myriad backgrounds who share a passion for making the world a better place. This is the type of legacy we want to support!

From Weizmann pours a seemingly endless parade of breakthroughs that lead to blockbuster medications and vaccines, advancements in the detection and treatment of diseases, solutions to food security and world hunger, ways to harness renewable energy, approaches to climate change, innovations in computer science, insights into the human brain, and never-before-seen images of the universe.

This kind of progress happens when you open your doors to the best and brightest from all corners of the world and give them the safety, freedom, and resources to dream, experiment, and collaborate in pursuit of a better world for all.

We do not wish to paint all American institutions of higher learning with the same broad brush. Some have stood by Jewish students and work to ensure their campuses are safe for everyone. However, too many have allowed the cancer of antisemitism to metastasize on their watch, and that is why we ask you to join us in supporting institutions like Weizmann, who will teach excellence, change the world, further humanity, and continue to make us proud as members and allies of the Jewish community and as citizens of the world.

To learn more about the Weizmann Institute of Science, and how you can get involved, contact community@acwis.org or visit weizmannusa.org.

With compassion, resolve, and solidarity,