\nPACBI pages accused Israel of \u201cethnic cleansing,\u201d \u201capartheid,\u201d \u201ccolonialism,\u201d and \u201cwar crimes,\u201d while advocating a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. One page featured an unverified image of a Palestinian child in a rifle\u2019s crosshairs, visually casting Israeli forces as targeting Palestinian children. Another displayed a four-panel map titled \u201cMaximum land with minimum Palestinians,\u201d depicting expanding Israeli control at the expense of territory portrayed as Palestinian. The map conflated land ownership, sovereignty, and political control, creating the false impression that Israel progressively seized and dismantled a sovereign Palestinian state that had never existed.
\nThe same list carried the Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency (DAAR), whose content framed Israeli actions through narratives of colonization, displacement, and the destruction of Palestinian homes, while omitting the threats posed by Hamas.
\nStudents were also directed to Breaking the Silence<\/a>, an Israeli organization that disseminates allegations of IDF misconduct internationally through anonymous and unverifiable testimony from former soldiers. Its accounts omit crucial context about threats from Hamas and Hezbollah, presenting a relentlessly negative portrayal of Israeli military conduct. It receives extensive funding from foreign governments that it uses to demonize Israel abroad. ETH pointed students there without any corresponding resource on Israel\u2019s security situation or any response to the group\u2019s claims.
\nAfter October 7th, the department\u2019s \u201cParity Talks IV\u201d platform published a page titled \u201cLearning Palestine \u2014 Until Liberation II\u201d that charged Israel with an unfolding \u201cgenocide\u201d and invoked the \u201cdestruction and annihilation of life.\u201d Alongside the text was a stylized map that completely erased the State of Israel.<\/p>\n
Read the full report: The Responsibility of ETH Zurich: Analysis of the Spread of Antisemitism and Hate Propaganda<\/a><\/p>\n Seeking Accountability<\/p>\n The alumnus first approached Ursprung, who responded that people were entitled to different opinions and defended the department\u2019s work as science. He then submitted the report to ETH\u2019s administration. The Swiss-Israeli Society intervened, sending the university\u2019s communications office a formal letter demanding a reply within 10 to 14 days.<\/p>\n He subsequently took his case beyond the university. Switzerland\u2019s federal auditing office initially said it would examine the matter but, according to the alumnus, never followed up. Because ETH receives U.S. funding, he also briefed a congressional aide in Washington, raising concerns about American taxpayer money reaching the university.<\/p>\n In March 2024, architecture critic Stephan Tr\u00fcby brought the controversy into public view in the Swiss newspaper Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung, describing the department as a hub for \u201cscientifically dressed-up antisemitism<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The department responded publicly<\/a>, arguing that criticism of Israel did not constitute antisemitism. It also stated that no complaints had been filed with its formal reporting office, and invoked freedom of teaching and research.<\/p>\n The alumnus rejected that defense. \u201cBut if you have a rifle scope,\u201d he said, \u201cthat is not science.\u201d<\/p>\n By October 8, 2024, several of the pages documented in his report were no longer accessible online.<\/p>\n Antisemitism Across Switzerland<\/p>\n What the alumnus uncovered at ETH was not confined to the university.<\/p>\n In Greifensee, vandals defaced a children\u2019s summer camp poster with the words \u201cKill Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n In central Zurich, he photographed the words \u201cZionism Kills\u201d spray-painted in red on a stone ledge.<\/p>\n At the University of Bern, where he is completing his PhD, he saw students wearing shirts bearing the German words for \u201cIntifada until victory\u201d in the months after October 7th.<\/p>\n These incidents track with European-wide trends. CAM\u2019s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC) monitored a total of 2,962 antisemitic incidents\u00a0in 2025, nearly a 50% rise from the previous year.<\/p>\n The ETH alumnus is now preparing to leave Switzerland for a postdoctoral position at the Technion in Israel. Asked why, his answer was simple \u2014 he no longer wants to live in a country he does not want to support.<\/p>\n Take Action<\/p>\n CAM has launched Report It<\/a>, a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don\u2019t stay silent. Download it today on the Apple App Store<\/a> or Google Play<\/a>. See it. Report it. Stop it.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/unnamed-225x300.jpg.webp\"\/)
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\u201cKill Jews\u201d graffiti in Greifensee, Switzerland. Photo: Anonymous ETH alumnus.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8886-1-300x250.jpg.webp\"\/)
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\u201cZionism Kills\u201d graffiti in Zurich, Switzerland. Photo: Anonymous ETH alumnus.<\/p>\n