Trump is using antisemitism as pretext to attack higher education, undermine democracy

Boston Globe

21-03-2025

Meanwhile the Department of Education has threatened
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There is no question that campus protests at Columbia and other universities have included serious antisemitic incidents. I've spoken with students and faculty members at Columbia — my alma mater — and elsewhere who have been harassed for wearing kippot
or other visible Jewish symbols, who have encountered swastikas or graffiti reading 'Death to Zionists' and 'Death to Jews,' and who have been pushed out of clubs and campus spaces for their refusal to disavow any connection to Israel. Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the primary organization behind the protests, has openly celebrated violence against Israeli Jewish civilians and distributed material glorifying Hamas.
I have also spoken with students who took part in campus encampments, including Jewish students, who joined out of a sincere desire to end the war in Gaza. Columbia, like any university, should both allow for free speech on campus, including antiwar protests, and resolutely address episodes that cross the line into antisemitism according to its own codes of conduct and disciplinary policies — just as it should take action in cases of racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, or other bias. It's reasonable for Jewish students, faculty, and staff to demand that school administrations do more to ensure their safety on campus.
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But when the federal government withholds funds primarily intended for scientific research and tries to expel campus protesters without due process, the true aim is to force universities to accommodate whatever the government wants.
If this administration can get away with enforcing demands on universities under the guise of fighting antisemitism, it can subsequently use that same power against universities over any issue — such as teaching the history of racism in America, allowing transgender students to live in dorms that match their identities, or offering reproductive health care in affiliated hospitals.
If the government can deport or strip visas from students and faculty without due process (a Brown University medical school professor was
It's no surprise that Trump,
an aspiring autocrat, would set his sights on universities. As strongholds of critical inquiry and free speech, universities play a crucial role in maintaining democracy. In Hungary, Prime Minister Orbán's government forced Central European University to
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Jewish communities understand well the value of democracy and the dangers of restrictions on speech. It is America's liberal democracy, including First Amendment protections, that have allowed Jews to flourish in the United States.
At the same time, efforts to limit speech in the United States have often had a disproportionate impact on the Jewish community. These have included the 1919 and 1920
Trump is now using the Jewish community as a wedge to dilute free speech protections, control university curricula, and override immigration law. For some in the Jewish community, the short-term gains of shutting down anti-Israel protests may seem like a worthy tradeoff. But in the long term, the weakening of democracy will make Jews and others less safe. Once a government establishes the power to shut down discourse, it tends to use it to silence any critics or opponents.
If Trump were actually interested in protecting Jewish students, he would not be slashing the Department of Education's
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Rather than protecting Jews, the Trump administration is fanning the flames of antisemitism by attempting to pit Jewish communities against others. Historically, antisemitism has thrived by making Jews into scapegoats in moments of political, cultural, or economic instability — conditions that this administration's policies threaten to produce.
Anyone committed to stopping the alarming growth of antisemitism must recognize the Trump administration's attempts to use the Jewish community's legitimate concerns as a pretext for undermining democracy, and must reject attempts to drive a wedge between Jews and other Americans. The most important way to protect democracy, as well as the Jewish community, is to work together to ensure a strong democracy for all.