Trump’s Columbia attacks won’t stop antisemitism. So why are Jewish leaders applauding?
We can’t prioritize short-term reassurances over long-term safety
Different groups of students protest against the war in Gaza and in support of Israel at Columbia University on Oct. 7, 2024. Photo by Victor J. Blue for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Columbia University is in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s efforts to fight antisemitism. Only one problem: The administration’s cancellation of $400 million in grants to and contracts with the university as punishment for its purported mishandling of antisemitism on campus, and the detention of recent graduate Mahmoud Khalil over his leadership of pro-Palestinian campus protests, will do exactly nothing to protect Jews.
There’s no question that some complaints of antisemitism at Columbia and other universities are valid. Since campus protests first broke out over Israel’s conduct during its war in Gaza, I have spoken with students, faculty and administrators at Columbia — where I am an alumna — and numerous other campuses. I’ve heard stories about the harassment of Jewish students and faculty, and seen posters and social media justifying the murder of Israeli Jews and glorifying Hamas and Hezbollah. Columbia and other universities should certainly take strong measures to address these incidents.
But Trump’s withholding of funds from Columbia, and Khalil’s detention, which Trump has celebrated, are about advancing the administration’s assault on universities, free speech, academic freedom and liberal democracy, not combating antisemitism. If Trump truly cared about that latter cause, he would not have appointed leaders with histories of sharing white nationalist or antisemitic views to key positions. He would not have pardoned Jan. 6 rioters, including members of militia groups that hold white nationalist worldviews. And his administration would cease efforts to strip power from bodies like the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which is charged with investigating bias complaints on campus.
This administration doesn’t care about antisemitism. Jewish organizations must be swift and decisive in saying: not in our name.
We must insist on protecting the democratic freedoms that ensure our long-term safety. If the administration can get away with defunding universities under the banner of fighting antisemitism, it will quickly use that same power to try to control campuses on issues relating to the inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, the teaching of American history, reproductive health care in student health centers and hospitals, and more. If it can get away with arresting and deporting permanent legal residents like Khalil, to say nothing of student visa holders, it will use that power to terrify and intimidate international students and scholars on campus in more and more invasive ways. This move sends a message to all universities: shut up and comply, or else.
So, Jewish leaders and organizations now face a question: Will we allow our community to be used as a wedge to dismantle democratic norms and civil society institutions?
Some Jewish leaders and organizations appear to have already decided that it is more advantageous to ally themselves with powerful players claiming to fight antisemitism than to stand up for democracy. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, applauded the cancellation of Columbia’s federal funding and Khalil’s detention, as did multiple other Jewish organizations, including the Columbia Jewish Alumni Association.
This is hardly the first time in which some members of the Jewish community have, in these early months of Trump’s second term, deprioritized democracy in favor of short-term protections and the punishment of anti-Israel protesters.
When Trump issued an executive order on antisemitism last month that included language that would allow for the deportation of student visa holders who joined pro-Palestine protests, the activist group Mothers Against College Antisemitism urged their members to collect information on campus activists and submit it to ICE.
And the head of the Secure Community Network, an organization that provides valuable security trainings to synagogues and other institutions, issued a letter prior to the inauguration asking Trump to deport “any non-citizen alien who supports terrorism,” including all those who promote “the slogans, flags, and messages of designated foreign terrorist organizations.” That broad definition could feasibly be used to unjustly portray many protesters simply interested in advancing the cause of Palestinian rights as active supporters of terrorist groups like Hamas.
It is understandable to want to protect Jewish students, as well as other minority students, from hatred and harassment. It’s clear that some of the speech of student protesters, including endorsements of terrorism, has crossed the line into hate speech, which is technically protected speech but may violate campus codes of conduct.
But it is the responsibility of a university to address such speech in accordance with its disciplinary codes, just as they would other racist, misogynistic, or homophobic speech or threats. For the government to respond by detaining and possibly deporting protesters without due process, or as punishment for political speech, violates basic democratic freedoms.
History shows us clearly: Once a government establishes this kind of power, it tends to use it indiscriminately, to silence critics and opponents as well as actual wrongdoers.
I understand why some Jewish leaders have chosen to support Trump’s efforts, and why others, without directly calling for the eradication of democratic norms, have remained silent in the face of his defunding of critical humanitarian aid programs; mass firing of government employees; brazen disregard for the courts and the law; legal and financial threats to any program that promotes diversity; and attacks on transgender Americans.
Jewish history includes a long tradition of shtadlanut — the practice of appealing to the powers that be for protections for the Jewish community, sometimes through conciliatory approaches to unjust leaders. And for some, the escalation in antisemitism since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack justifies any action deemed to fight antisemitism. I know rabbis across the country whose communities have been targeted with vandalism, bomb threats, and even violence. The rise in antisemitism is real, and requires a robust response from civil society, campus leaders, elected officials, and, when appropriate, law enforcement.
But that response must not involve dismantling the foundations of democracy. Backing the Trump administration’s assault on free speech is a shortsighted move that will ultimately leave Jews, like other minority groups, less safe. We have flourished in this country in part because of its civil rights and civil liberties protections. Working to preserve those protections is the single most important thing organizations that fight antisemitism can do right now to keep Jews safe.
We have already seen how the Trump administration’s actions might threaten Jews. As just one example, Trump’s executive order on “eradicating anti-Christian bias” indicates an intention to weaken the separation of church and state, a basic principle that has allowed for the flourishing of the Jewish community in this country.
Historically, antisemitism has surged in times of political, cultural, or economic instability, conditions that Trump’s administration is working hard to create. We must not let short-term reassurances stop us from noticing this long-term risk. After all, weakening democracy will further endanger Jews — along with everyone in the United States.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
