News from the Committee Against Antisemetism
Israel and Zionism: Let's discuss Amongst Ourselves
November 9th, 2025
On October 12, 2025, CUJF's Committee Against Antisemitism, hosted Rabbi Michael Uram. He is the first ever chief Jewish learning officer for Jewish federations of North America. Previously, he served as the head of PARDES North America and led Penn Hillel as the executive director and campus Rabbi for 16 years.
Rabbi Uram joined us via zoom, where he presented a brief history on Israel and Zionism. Approximately 30 members of our community attended. Participants had an opportunity to ask questions, but time restrictions did not permit more in-depth discussion. A good foundation was laid for future events to explore community differences and commonalities in regard to current issues related to Israel and Zionism.
Campus screening disrupted
May 15th, 2025
On Tuesday, May 6, 2025, the film 'Saturday October 7' was screened on UIUC campus. In this documentary film, created by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice (JiJ), Israeli survivors of the October 7 massacre by Hamas told their stories.
Interspersed were videos filmed by Israeli survivors and by Hamas terrorists. The screening was followed by Q&A with Guido Kohan, one of the survivors featured in the film, and Monique Beadle, an attorney for JiJ and an executive producer for the film. This official University event was co-sponsored by the UIUC Program in Jewish Culture and Society, and by local CU Jewish organizations, including CUJF, Illini Hillel, Illini Chabad, and Sinai Temple. There were about 70 people in attendance, including students, faculty and community members.
The event was disrupted at the beginning by a group of masked individuals, who sat in the front rows and created a disturbance, behaving in a noisy and highly disrespectful manner and concealing their identity via masks. They were admonished by members of the university’s I-Team, and videos were taken of the disruptive behavior. These individuals left after 20 minutes, and the event continued successfully with no further interruption. A number of attendees at the event have filed Title VI complaints and are meeting with Title VI representatives; the Faculty for Academic Freedom and Against Antisemitism (FAFAA) has contacted the university administration about the incident.
The disruption, while distressing, ultimately underscored the urgency and importance of the conversation. Monique and Guido were heartened by the warm reception they received, and by the meaningful engagement that followed.
Individuals interested in learning more or getting involved are encouraged to reach out to the Committee Against Antisemitism at [email protected].