Elite, Educated, Antisemitic: How Academia Fosters Jew Hate
What happened on American campuses after October 7 did not come out of nowhere. In this episode of The Honest Take, Shai Davidai joins HonestReporting to trace the intellectual roots of the antisemitism now shaping elite universities. From Edward Said’s Orientalism and the rise of the activist professor, to moral relativism, postcolonial theory, and the normalization of anti-Zionism as virtue, Davidai explains how decades of academic ideas helped create a culture where Jew hatred is repackaged as justice. The conversation also explores Columbia’s long history with antisemitism, the role of groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, and why so many students and faculty cannot even recognize their own bigotry. Davidai argues that this is not just campus radicalism. It is a broader moral and intellectual failure with real consequences for Jews, for higher education, and for American society. Shai Davidai is a social psychologist, former Columbia Business School professor, and host of Here I Am with Shai Davidai. His forthcoming book, American Intellectual Antisemitism, is scheduled for release on October 6, 2026. #ShaiDavidai #Antisemitism #CampusAntisemitism #ColumbiaUniversity #EdwardSaid #Orientalism #AntiZionism #JewishIdentity #October7 #HonestReporting 0:00 Intro: Shai Davidai and the crisis on campus 1:47 Family history: Eichmann, Passover, and generational memory 2:59 A new form of antisemitism, but an old hatred 4:48 October 7 and the shock of the campus response 8:38 Columbia, Edward Said, and what Orientalism argues 14:45 Moral relativism and the oppressor-oppressed framework 17:51 Why Jews fall outside the rules of postcolonial morality 22:45 Why academic antisemitism is especially dangerous 25:35 Hamas strategy, campus organizing, and coordination 30:14 JVP and anti-Zionism as Jewish moral cover 36:15 Why this is a distinctly North American phenomenon 43:01 Turning attacks into purpose and using the mic 46:05 Closing thoughts
