Hillsdale College’s Jewish Mishpacha showed a documentary on Oct. 7 about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses after Hamas murdered more than 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

“Antisemitism is something that is very present, and we’ve seen this especially since Oct. 7, when it became more prevalent,” said Yahli Salzman, sophomore and president of the Jewish Mishpacha, which is the Jewish community on campus. 

The documentary, titled “October 8th,” was directed by Wendy Sachs, and released on March 14, 2025. Among those interviewed in the film are Bari Weiss, CEO of “The Free Press” and recently appointed CBS News editor-in-chief; Mosab Hassan Yousef, author and former Palestinian militant; Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y.; and Tessa Veksler, a 2024 graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara.

The film began by showing videos of the attacks on Oct. 7 and interviewing a survivor. In addition to the killings, Hamas took 250 people hostage. The last living hostages still in captivity were released on Oct. 13. 

“The second I understood the gravity of what happened and the barbarism, I thought that the entire globe would be in mourning,” actress Debra Messing said in the documentary. “And not only was it silent, there was jubilation.” 

In the following months, pro-Palestine protests emerged across America. The documentary showed clips of protesters shoving and harassing Jewish people, crowds chanting that Jews are pigs, comments on social media saying “Hitler was right,” and protestors tearing down posters of Israeli hostages.

“The hate started flooding in almost immediately,” Veksler said in the documentary. 

Veksler and other Jewish college students shared their experiences of the protests. They were texting other Jewish students to ask if it was safe to go outside, hearing other students call for their death, and facing signs like “Zionist not allowed,” which was posted outside the UCSB multi-cultural center, according to Veksler. 

“Students called it resistance, they called it justified, they began calling Zionist students racist,” Talia Dror, a ’24 graduate of Cornell University, said in the documentary. 

A narrative of Israel as a racist, apartheid state committing genocide against Palestinians allowed pro-Palestine protesters to justify antisemitism, according to the documentary. Although only 2.4% of the American population are Jewish, they are targeted by 55% of all religiously-motivated hate crimes, making them the most targeted minority in the U.S., according to the documentary.

“Standing up for being Jewish has gotten me more hate than all the things that I have said on social media and on my podcast combined, and I’ve said a lot,” actor Michael Rapaport said in the documentary.

Sophomore Kate Klein said she appreciated that the Mishpacha hosted the event, because it was important to inform people on college campuses about antisemitism. 

“The documentary was an accurate presentation of antisemitism shown on college campuses,” Klein said. “It showed a compilation of all the photos and videos documenting it. It’s important to show on college campuses to inform people.” 

After the documentary, Salzman reminded attendees that 48 hostages remain under Hamas’ control. 

“I’m grateful I attend a school that is proud to have Jewish students, but it’s tough to see campuses so close in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, that are places of learning, and Ivy League Institutions, that were once the top, come crashing down due to one day,” Salzman said. 

After the hostages’ release, Salzman said that the hostages’ release was amazing and an answer to prayer, but there was still work to be done.

“I believe the hostages’ release is amazing,” Salzman said in an email. “For two years now, the Jewish people have been praying for the return of the hostages, and it finally happened, but it’s hard not to remember about how we ended up in this position. So many lives have been lost in trying to return the hostages to Israel.”

Sophomore Haven Socha said that although Hillsdale doesn’t have pro-Palestine protests on campus, students should do more to combat antisemitism. 

“There’s a lot of silence even on a campus like ours,” Socha said. “There are no free-Palestine chants happening, but there’s not enough being done to combat antisemitism. We need to be louder. Israel is the promised land, where God redeemed a broken land, so we must support it.”