A demonstrator holds an Israeli flag as protesters gather during an ‘#EndJewHatred’ rally outside in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz.

Gratz College has joined two international partners to launch the Contemporary Antisemitism Studies Association (CASA), a new global academic body dedicated to rigorous, interdisciplinary research on anti-Jewish hatred.

The association was unveiled last week at the Contemporary Antisemitism Haifa 2026 conference at the University of Haifa in Israel, the Jewish philanthropy news outlet eJewishPhilanthropy (eJP) first reported on July 9. More than 150 academics have already signed on as founding members.

CASA grew out of a partnership among Gratz, a Jewish college in Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, outside Philadelphia; the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism; and the Elizabeth and Tony Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at the University of Haifa. Under the arrangement, the London Centre will serve as CASA’s administrative center, Gratz will host its new academic journal, and the Comper Center will build out an international research hub and fellowship programs.

David Hirsh, academic director and CEO of the London Centre and one of CASA’s founders, said the association is committed to putting all aspects of contemporary antisemitism, “including anti-Zionist antisemitism,” up for discussion “without prejudice.”

In a statement, CASA said it will examine antisemitism across the ideological spectrum — on the political right and left, in religious extremism, and in contemporary anti-Zionist antisemitism — describing its approach as grounded in academic rigor, evidence-based research, and democratic values, according to eJP.

The launch comes amid concern over rising antisemitism and attempts in American higher education to sever ties with Israeli universities in observance of the so-called “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination.

In New York City alone, Jews were targeted by more hate crimes than any other racial, ethnic, or religious group during the first six months of 2026, according to the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) biannual crime report, released on July 2 — deepening concerns among Jewish leaders that antisemitism has intensified during the opening months of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration. The department recorded 178 anti-Jewish hate crimes from January to June, even as hate crimes against Asian, Black, and white New Yorkers — groups whose populations together outnumber the city’s Jews by nearly six to one — registered double-digit decreases. A statement from NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch accompanying the data did not address the rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes, focusing instead on the city’s broader public safety gains.

Lawmakers and advocacy groups, meanwhile, are urging state governments to do more to protect Jewish communities. Last week, former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) proposed a nationwide blueprint for combating antisemitism, based on the multi-point plan Virginia lawmakers approved during the administration of former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Virginia’s legislature passed HB 1606 in Feb. 2023 — signed into law by Youngkin that May — adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism at the recommendation of a state commission Youngkin created. The Commonwealth also established an antisemitism task force, adopted new history-curriculum standards on the Holocaust and Nazism, and declared May Jewish Heritage Month.

Antisemitic incidents surged nationally following the invasion of southern Israel by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recording triple-digit percentage spikes in its audits.

Academia has a role to play as well, according to Julie Ancis, a distinguished professor of informatics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who delivered a keynote address at the Haifa conference.

“Academics provide the theoretical and empirical grounding to this work,” she told eJP, pointing to her own research on social media influencers. “Can we change the antisemitic narratives we are seeing online? From an empirical research perspective, we need that.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.