Americans freely debate our failings daily, including slavery, Jim Crow, McCarthyism, subjugation of women, wartime atrocities like My Lai, the CIA torture program after 9/11, redlining and gerrymandering. What distinguishes appropriate debate from intimidation is the tone, tenor and venue.
Sending eviction notices to Jewish students who have a mezuzah on their dormitory room doorframe is wrong. Students, and any residents of multiple unit housing, are entitled to peace in their own homes.
Confronting a yarmulke-wearing student on his way to chem lab is also wrong, for several reasons, not the least of which is the stereotyping involved. Assuming that, because he is identifiably Jewish, one can know with certainty his views on Israel’s current policies, is specious. And again, all students are entitled to freely move around their campus without intimidation.
I attended college during the Vietnam Nam era. Anti-war protests on campus were common. Military recruiters, ROTC students, and those who believed “my country right or wrong” were also common. Campuses can be volatile places, but it’s where many people first face those with different beliefs than their own. Both sides of the debate on Israel’s policies must be accommodated. Personal attacks on Jewish students that make them feel unsafe are dead wrong. Ditto personal attacks on those who oppose specific policies of the Israeli government. Colleges must figure out how to host fair and safe policy debates.
217
@Joanna Stasia - It's unfortunate that the arsonist in chief must now yield a fire extinguisher to promote himself as a civil rights hero along the lines of Smokey the Bear. If this administration didn't wrap itself up in the cloak of white nationalism, it seems doubtful that the explosion of anti-Semitic acts on college campuses would coincide on parallel tracks. If only President Trump didn't invoke physical and psychological violence against his political enemies thus normalizing it, there wouldn't be a surge of such troubling anti-social behavior on campuses as well as across the nation. If only President Trump was as seriously concerned about attacks on women on college campuses at the same level, perhaps the misogyny that is rampant across the nation would not be tolerated.
40
@Joanna Stasia "Sending eviction notices to Jewish students who have a mezuzah on their dormitory room doorframe is wrong"
Don't really know if it makes it better, but to the best of our knowledge, the mock eviction notices were distributed indiscriminately - so while yes the eviction notices were sent to Jewish students, it wasn't as part of a targeted campaign.
14
@Joanna Stasia And even if the yarmulke-wearing student is an ardent zionist, he should still be able to walk to chem lab without being physically or verbally assaulted.
His first amendment rights are also sacred, no?
22
Although I am usually in agreement, I feel the Times Editorial Board is really naive and wrong on this one. I do not like almost all of Trump’s policies. But as a former Jewish student in Montreal and also having recently been exposed to rampant anti-Zionism talk from friends mind you, Trump is right on this one to expand protections. As a Jew in Quebec I have no sway obviously over some very bad Israeli government policy, as most Jews in the diaspora do not, and their is plenty of decent and criticism within Israel itself, but strongly singling out Israel and Jews when there are so many worse actors in the World is Anti-semitism in its purest form. And this presence on North American campuses and in general society must be combatted in all its forms. Again I am no fan of Trump but he deserves credit for this important act no matter what the New York Times says.
165
@Jonathan Wexler Disagree. I'm Jewish too and while you are correct about North American Jews not being able to dictate Israeli policy, we can certainly show our support or disagreement within our own countries to Israel. The US strongly supports Israel on all its endeavors even if we disagree. All bad faith actors should be called out whether it be Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, North Korea, or even recently Israel.
When Obama raised questions of the military support we give Israel every year after Netanyahu used them to invade Palestinian territory for settlements, Netanyahu shrugged Obama off and called him an anti-Semite. Calling out the Jewish state for expanding outside its legal territory is not anti-Semitic! It's the right thing to do.
I still mostly support Israel and I have friends there, but I can't defend this behavior and I'm hoping Netanyahu is removed from power since his Likud party is causing this controversy at their hard line supporter's bidding. The first step to peace in the region is removing those settlements.
47
@Jonathan Wexler I struggle with this one... I reject the notion that I have to engage with the worst actor first before I can push back against others who I feel are doing harm. And I believe that the national politics of Israel are unsustainable and oppressive to those in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Though minorities of those populations are giving the reason for the oppression...
Israel is the country closest to our values that oppresses a significant part of its population on the basis of ancestral background. So I believe we can have more effect by calling them out than against a state like Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, or China.
Conflating Jewishness with Israel as described here is anti-Semitism. These are the reasons I have trouble declaring BDS or other engagement against Israel’s policies as anti-Semitic. Though attacks on Israel itself often are.
19
@Jonathan Wexler
This is the most troubling aspect: equating anti Zionism with anti Semitism, and penalizing speech.
"But as a former Jewish student in Montreal and also having recently been exposed to rampant anti-Zionism talk"
"Anti Zionism talk"?
It's bizarre, really, to equate opinions on a foreign state with hate speech, and certainly against the first amendment to use USG funds to punish that speech.
If I have a first amendment right to badmouth the US, I certainly have the first amendment right to badmouth a different country. This is so even if some people hate the state of Israel because it is identified with Jews.
29
Anti-semitism has been around for a long time, but the spectacular RISE in anti-semitism is quite recent. There seems to be a direct correlation with the rise in Israeli violations of the human and legal rights of the Palestinian people.
12
More to blame, at least in the US and perhaps England, is the rise of blatant and public expressions and acts of anti-Jewish hatred, including by local, state, and national "leaders' and the failure of those with the power do so to adequately address/correct/punish acts of anti-Jewish hate or to provide adequate resources for ongoing, multi-level education and community-building.
7
" critics of Israel too often blame all Jews for the actions of the Jewish state halfway around the world. Others share critics’ concerns about Israeli actions but find themselves unwelcome as allies, because of hostility toward the Jewish state."
FINALLY an opinion piece that addresses the question "WHY". Why has there been a significant surge in anti-semitism in recent years? It is not enough to wring hands and utter "tsk" "tsk". It is not enough to condemn the symptoms without attacking the cause of the disease.
The Jewish people are naturally associated with the State of Israel, whether they like it or not. When Israel oppresses the Palestinians, violates human rights, and violates international laws it, unfortunately and unjustly, reflects on the world's entire Jewish community. The only way to put a halt to this madness is for the Jewish communities around the world to join the criticism of the extremists in present day Israel.
5
Equating criticism of Israeli policies, some of which themselves can be fairly considered racist, with antisemitism is wrong, but President Trump's executive order violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
The new Trump policy is fascist in nature and unworthy of a nation founded on the principle of a democratic contention among competing ideas and ideals.
Elsewhere in the Times, the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner declares that "couldn't be more proud" of Trump's anti-constitutional move but, as an American, I am ashamed of the president's endless carnival of conspiracies aimed at no higher purpose than to divide further the component communities in our American mosaic.
231
Our Constitution is and ought to be the standard by which we judge whether a foreign country deserves our alliance. American Jews and Trump prove BDS right every time they criticize it for rejecting any American support for an Israel today neither democratic nor just to the Palestinians in Israeli-controlled Gaza and West Bank. Criticism of Israel is a patriotic American duty, in the best tradition of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King, Jr. We criticize our country’s support for Israel before we criticize Arab countries because the latter have none of the financial and political clout of American Jews today on our politics. The motive behind Trump’s executive order makes it appear discriminatory, to protect Jews and Israel, not Arab Americans and any Arab country, from American criticism. So it’s un-Constitutional. Our Constitution is and ought to be the standard by which we judge whether a foreign country deserves our alliance.
117
@Bayou Houma: It is not a good idea to get religion mixed up with foreign policy either.
27
Just to clarify, Israel hasn’t controlled or occupied Gaza since 2005. Hamas has, since then, sent daily barrages of rockets into southern Israel and dug tunnels under the border to attack Israeli soldiers. They have continued this violence while doing nothing for the people of Gaza. No investments in infrastructure, no new schools or hospitals, no economic improvements. No gains in 15 years, none of which is the result of Israeli aggression.
This is not to say that Israel has made great decisions on the West Bank. I think the continued construction of settlements is the single biggest thing standing in the way of peace.
However, withholding support is not the answer. It won’t cause Israel to change, but will encourage the Palestinians to be more obstinate.
36
@Bayou Houma: your assertion that Arab nations have none of the financial and political clout of American Jews is inaccurate (witness Saudi Arabia), anti-Semitic (invokes the Jewish conspiracy stereotype) and undercuts your otherwise reasonable point about Constitutionality.
39
Trump does something positive and the Times Editorial Board still has to "find" a negative viewpoint instead of congratulating Trump for a positive action.
Not only that, but the Times Editorial Board believes that this action by Trump would threaten free speech. The Times has overlooked that the threat to free speech comes from the progressive left and from some social media platform. Free speech is being shutdown by these groups under the guise of protecting society from "hate" speech. Very Orwellian.
313
@Steve R. I hardly ever agree with anything a Trump supporters says, Steve, but I agree with you here.
94
@Steve R. the problem as I think about this issue and read the columns and comments, is the divide between. Yes any hate speech whether anti semantic, anti gay, or whatever should vigorously condemned, not defended. The only tool in DT's playbook is to withhold funding is a trivial slap on the wrist. It puts the drive for money as a neon sign. This EO and Kushner's Op Ed is basically is defending this administration's right to tell, no order, people to what speech is good, bad or approved. The country is moving close to the speech police. We are moving away from freedom to live our lives in peace. We are treated like children that parents withhold allowances to get them to stop a behavior. There are better ways. Education and truth from our elected leaders and our so called corporate leaders. Better examples from churches, educators, locals are the answer, not some executive order that comes from a untrustworthy source
68
@CSM Government will charge with a crime for shouting fire when there is none, the government often has a role also profanity on public airways is a no no
1
Did we not just see TrumPutin using anti-Semitic tropes while speaking before a gathering of the Israeli American Council?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/09/trumps-anti-semitic-attacks-american-jews-keep-coming/
Rising anti-Semitism in the US, Western and East/Central Europe have several sources. But the "Times," unsurprisingly singles out only deaths caused by the far right in America. Anyone looking beyond the "politics" of the issue knows there are four principal sources: fascist/neo-Nazis, the far left on and off college campuses (include Jeremy Corbyn here), Islamist hate groups and their Arab fellow travelers (CAIR, Rep. Omar, Rep. Tlaib, etc.), and the Jew-hatred in the black community -- from the recent murders in Jersey City back to the Crown Height pogrom). Most polls on intergroup relations find 48 percent of African Americans hold strongly anti-Semitic views, a constant percentage over 40 years. While the "Times" coverage of the Jersey City murders pointed out that the killers were black anti-Semites, it refuses to place their hatred into a much larger context.
Then there's BDS. The "Times" isn't truthful about this movement. It is NOT principally about stopping Jewish settlement in the West Bank -- its leaders are honest enough to say "ALL OF ISRAEL IS OCCUPIED TERRITORY." Thus Trump's move targets a deep form of Jew-hatred: the notion that Jews have no right to a nation state of their own -- an exclusion which is almost singular (add the Kurds). It would appear the "Times" hoary opposition to Zionism, like its historic trivialization of the Holocaust, is once again rearing is ugly head. For the "Times" all thing Jewish are a cause of embarrassment.
9
umm..no.
the greatest threat of antisemtism that we jews fear comes from seemingly mainstream yet unhinged young people on campus who insult jews and demonize israel as some pariah country that is a threat to world--NOT far-right/skinheads who spout conspiracy theories and sport nazi salutes.
8
I am very disappointed that the NYT has never printed the document that so many commenters, media and talking heads disparage.
The fact is that it no where defines Jews as Judaism.
This vicious canard which the left has disseminated is based on never having read the document you all criticize.
Not only does it address a very real problem on college campuses caused mainly by the left and its racist anti-Israel friends most of whom are Muslims ( cf https://canarymission.org/ for all the details) , it also also takes the definition from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), as accepted worldwide.
You may hate our President but in this case history will support him while the left revealed its ignorance and hypocrisy.
https://www.scribd.com/document/439372691/Combating-Anti-Semitism-2019-Executive-Order#download
7
Senator Brian Schatz, a liberal Jewish Democrat from Hawaii, summed it up: “The idea that a college campus would have its views on Israel regulated by the federal Department of Education? Oy Gevalt.”
It seems that college campuses have not done a very good job of stemming the anti-semitism or bias political rhetoric. Free speech has been stunted.
Just curious. Why is it you, the NYT opinion writers (almost) never quote someone who disagrees with your viewpoints?
Trump might be a horrible man, and many scholars, both Jewish and not Jewish, Democrat and Republican, might disagree with him. Yet, many will! Why do you not have a divergent point of view?
Oh well. This is the NYT.
2
"It is true that anti-Israel speech, whether on campus or in Congress, makes some Jews feel unsafe..."
Because the VAST majority of "anti-Israel speech" is rooted in antisemitism masquerading as anti-Zionism. Anti-Zionism isn't necessarily antisemitism, but it is absolutely still bigotry, and most of it is in fact simply based on centuries-old, Jew hatred.
You can categorize probably 90+% of Israel's staunchest critics into at least one of the three categories:
1) Islamists
2) Neo-Nazis
3) Socialists/communists
Honestly. Next time you come across someone who obsessively or disproportionately focuses on demonizing Israel, ask yourself whether they fall into one of those groups and chances are they will. This is one of the biggest reasons I support Israel.
Most Jews on this planet support Israel. The minuscule fraction who don't are either religious zealots or socialists. Most of the latter are not religious at all, and do not represent Judaism in any way, shape or form. They are as representative of Judaism as the Muslims who serve in the Israeli Defence Forces are of Islam. It's nothing short of tokenism to cite them as being some sort of arbiters of the Jewish faith. They are not criticizing Israel from a Jewish perspective, only a warped, anti-(European only)-Imperialist mindset, most with no understanding of world history.
White supremacy is obviously still the biggest threat for Jews, but the difference is that it's universally condemned in western society.
5
I can't believe I have to make this point, but as a Reform Jew who was for the first 40 years of my life, 110% committed to Israel and eternally vigilant against antisemitism, I am now ashamed to have to reconcile the likes of the paragraph that reveals Trump's innermost truth, "A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you well, you're brutal killers," that undergirds this oxymoron and sickness that is Tammy Faye and Catholic Pedophilia-like perversion. I have observed since 9/11 a right leaning shift in both Israeli and Jewish American power. Much of this includes the machinations of so-called "free market, deregulatory" ideology coupled with this perverted alignment with Evangelicals and Saudis. I believe the Saudi monarchies role in 9/11 was far more pronounced than we'll ever know. I believe there are those in the military-private-contracting business that constitute the neocon element of American power run amok. I believe many serve on boards of financial firms that cross pollinate with fossil fuel firms and Ivy League Institutions and unfortunately I'm crystal clear on what caused the 2008 financial crises. Think revolving door of white shoe law firms, lobbyists and government. It's beguiling to understand who's done what, why and when and then be surprised there is a global anti semitic movement afoot. Cry me a river you duplicitous fools. Integrity is all that ever mattered or matters. You're playing roulette with history.
it's a tough time to be Jewish in America. Anti-Semitism is baked into the GOP and present in the Democrats in the acceptance of BDS.
3
A lot of people dislike Netanyahu, some smaller number dislike Israel and a smaller number yet dislike Jews. Still people and especially students tend to conflate all three.
If you are Jewish and people tell you that Israel should be wiped off the map, or otherwise made to cease to exist; or, if you are told that anyone who supports Israel is a racist, when the support of Israel is central to the Torah; or if you are told that if you support Israel you have 'dual loyalty' or you 'take your orders from Israel', then you have experienced anti-Semitism, portrayed as anti-Israeli bias.
3
Trump, Jared Kushner, this administration cannot fight antisemitism if the executive order infringes on free speech and subscribes to two antisemitic canards built into the order: one, that Jews constitute a race (Hitler thought so, said so, and acted on this belief); and, two, that Jews are a nation and thus have dual and divided loyalties. The danger to Constitutional rights and to Jews is aggravated, not abated, by this order. What motivates it is a play for the Jewish vote, likely without success.
28
pandering.
2
Jews in Israel and here in America understand that both Jews in Israel and Arabs want to have a country. Yet the matter is not equal.
A person standing on a gang plank awaiting drowning at sea, the fate of the Jews following WWII wanted no where, having no safety security or homeland, having faced extinction wanted to have a Jewish country and be responsible for their own safety knowing no country would ever protect them.
Yes, they wanted to share it with the Arab population but they did displace Arabs who did not want this. But a person facing death making a decision is not the equal of the middle eastern dictatorships who have prevented peace loving Jews and Arabs to find a solution that favors both. Why because it allows those dictators to harm their own people and blame Jews.
Jews also had to get over seeing Arabs who wanted to murder them as not another set of nazis. And this is difficult because never has any Arab nation acknowledged the right of Israel to exist.
As Amos Oz states, the only solution if for both Israel and Arabs to forge a solution neither one likes but accepts Israel as a country and Palestinians as a country living along side each other in peace and cooperation.,
Regarding anti semitism in the world. The idea that Judas betrayed Jesus has been a myth that has allowed people to view Jews as monsters. It never occurred. Jesus was Jew for god sake.
Jews and I am one wish only one thing, the same as all people wish, equality.
9
“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”
The above comes from white nationalist Trump whose Jewish son in law with help of Stephen Miller designed the College Campus unique law by Executive order !
This will surely increase Ant- semitism because white Nationalists all know where Trump’s heart is regarding Jews !
For Jewish financial support and votes , he will do any thing on paper . But his above statement speaks volumes about where Republicans stand as a party . They are ruthlessly against all minorities and are entrenched in deep down hatred against all non christians and non whites as a whole .
4
NYT opinion - and many that address the BDS movement - continue to conflate the movement against an extremist conservative government which has created an apartheid system in the county of Israel, with anti-Semitism. NYT also conveniently ignores the impacts of a similar movement that targeted the extremist conservative government of South Africa (at the time) which had established an apartheid system. That previous anti-apartheid divestiture movement was very successful in bringing pressure through pursuing divestiture of investments by college trusts and retirement funds, much the same as being sought here with BDS. The violence cited by NYT is from the extremist rhetoric and militarization of the white supremacy movements - spurred in no small part by the rhetoric and support of Trump and many in the GOP, and similar modern day Nazi leaning leaders elsewhere in the world. Please focus on the cause and the utter hypocracy of Trump in this self-serving executive order used only as a purely cynical face saving device.
5
I'm Jewish. Still I find the actions and policies of the current Israeli government reprehensible and racist and as such, I don't blindly support Israel simply because of my religion. At the end of the day, like everything 45 does, this executive order is his sham attempt at getting the Jewish vote in 2020.
12
Antisemitism, like belief in the Illuminati, simply defies explanation. It's completely illogical, but that's never seemed to matter. What is more troubling for me is that the fringe left has now allied with the fringe right in their hatred of Jews. It is time for academia and universities to realize their role in this madness. They have fostered the fringe left for decades. The fringes are dangerous. They always have been.
7
The problem is that antisemitism has been on the rise globally independent of Trump’s. The attack in NJ was not by white supremest or the Neo Nazis but by Black Israelites. The US has not cornered the market on nut cases! They exist world wide. Pick a religion, political belief or ethnicity and there are plenty of radicals who oppose them.
7
There’s a “myth” that support for the State of Israel translates into less hatred of Jews In America- that’s why it’s called a “myth”. American Christians as well as Muslims around the world view Israel as the “Holy Land” for their religion, too. The result is an endless 3-way “cultural wrestling match” that sadly will never have a winner. But Jews living outside of Israel cannot afford to be lulled into a false security. Moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem satisfied only the most fanatical Jews and actually deteriorates any good will that American and European communities show the Jews in those countries. Unfortunately, too many people assume that all Jews regardless of which country they live in will always agree with the Israeli government regardless of the brutality and injustice effecting Palestinians inside Israel’s borders. Palestinians who want peace and perhaps a 2-state solution to the decades old conflicts largely outnumber those in their communities that advocate violence. But that’s how things work- the ones who make the most “noise” always get the headlines. So next time your non-Jewish friend or neighbor tries to put your mind at ease by stating his positive feelings about the State of Israel, the possibility of finding a Swastika spray painted on your front door still exists.
3
When you, Donald Trump, advocate for white nationalism, you are the problem not the solution. When you tacitly endorse Neo-Nazis chanting "Jews will not replace us!" in Charlottesville, you are the problem. When you rally your base to the point of hysteria by railing about an "invasion" by a "caravan" of Central American seeking safety here that results in one of your followers massacring 11 Jews in their Pittsburgh synagogue, you are the problem. When you refuse to protect Jews at prayer by ignoring the need to ban assault weapons even after Poway, Dayton and El Paso, you are the problem. When you try to curtail free speech by those opposed to Israel's inhumane treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, often by Jews, you are the problem. As a member of a Holocaust family and a retired college professor, I condemn your attempt to criminalize free speech and your naked attempt to call Jews like me anti-Semites for supporting the B.D.S. movement and crtiicizing the Netanyahu government. This is just the latest divisive attempt by you. You, Donald Trump, are the problem.
5
This is in lockstep with AG Barr's pronouncement promising people if they protest Police Brutality they are risking the loss of police protection from the majority of police who serve honorably.
How do we start? We allow rules against free speech to flourish, cut off free speech at our higher institutes of learning, then we replace the trained police officers with Brownshirts.
When does the indoctrination of children in First Grade begin?
I feel the first step has been taken; with the "Fine Folks on both sides" statement. Divide, separate into legitimate and marginalized factions; then conquer.
5
This Editorial makes no sense, yes their is Anti-Semitism from White Nationalist and it must be fought, but there is also plenty of Anti-Semitism on the left which has manifested itself in many ways but prominently on college campuses when Jews are targeted and excluded because they are Jews, This is blatant anti-Semitism which must be stopped, this Executive order facilitates that, so why us it a bad thing. The NYT seems to be saying that because Anti-semitism from the far right is worse Anti -semitism on the left can be ignored, Also, the Executive order allows Title VI to be used as an Enforcement tool. Why is that a bad thing? Is the NYT saying it advocates. title VI to be used to protect Blacks, Italians, Irish, Latinos, gays and lesbians(which it has supported edited editorially) but not Jews? the hypocrisy is stunning.
9
Our president is a loathsome creature whose rhetoric overwhelmingly divides and polarizes. It would have accomplished a great deal more if he recognized this and pledged to lead by example.
It is also risible that the flag-bearer of white nationalism now argues for the regulation of speech on college campuses. "No, no, no, you can't question Israel's policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians. Instead you should aim your vitriol at the dark hordes flooding our borders and the socialists who want to turn America into the next Venezuela."
5
It's interesting how successful Israeli and American fascists have been over the last few years in suppressing free speech as well as bombing people. Elections have consequences. German fascists attained power in the same way. Dangerous times.
4
As I researched, Hitler was Catholic. His parents were. And a Catholic their grave covered with a cross. The SS guards officiated. I complained where Hitler‘s parents were. It was a Nazi symbol. Later the Vatican pulled it down because ... it was a Nazi symbol for 60 years. Today you can still pull it up online. Those responsible for the Nazi concentration camps were Catholic. So when you read in Germany anti-Semitism, guess who?
Al Jazeera America holy money the Catholic Church is the largest tax-exempt landowner in the world. So the hatred of Catholicism exists. Whether you want it or not. According to an ad by the Catholic Church they have over 1 billion people. Wikipedia, free, Jews. 12 million people. There would have been 6 million more but they were exterminated in the Nazi concentration camps. The Vatican may say one thing, the Catholics think something else, I believe.
1
The Media Generated Furor over anti-semitism, despite containing a core element of truth, is largely exagerated.
With the internet and instantaneous communication, there is no lag time for people to remain rational......every reaction is an immediate inflamed knee-jerk reaction.
We live in a time when the European State Religion Catholic dominance has been supressed.....and rational thinking minds understand that Christianity is by and large a subset of Judaism.....a very, very large subset that actually dominates the basic Judeo-Christian Philosophy.
...
Trump's Anti=Semitism Proclamation is, at its core.....a political stunt. Nothing More. Nothing Less.
...
Where is this anti-semitism "revival" coming from??
Dar es Islam. To put it bluntly.
Islam,,,,the relative newcomer to the world of Judaic MonoTheism...and like Christianity before it,,,,it seeks to impose its unique interpretations of G-d on everyone......and, of course, as usual, those opinionated, obnoxious, world dominating "jews" refuse to go along with the State Religion of Islam. Dang it.
....
Now, from my american point of view..."Jews" do not do themselves any favors with their equally pernicious anti=moslem behavior...nor is promoting a theory that "jews" are a race or nation or whatever...
Nor is the completely racist treatment of their Palestinian cousins helping out either.
Zionism becomes, in the eyes of the world, oppressive State Religion.
...
Round and round they go..."You cant teach a Sneech"
“You’re brutal killers.” ? Joke or not, a statement like that, coming from the President of the United States is grotesque rhetoric of a mentally unstable human being.
3
Jews are being killed for being Jews in grocery stores. But it’s “anti-Semitic” to protect Jews for being Jews on campus? It feels like an intellectual contortion. It’s scary.
6
Onthe surface, this EO sounds like a good thing, but thenI think deeper and have some problems with it.
1. Irony:
a. The most prominent supporter in America of white nationalism (which includes fear and/or hatred of Jews in all its various creeds) signs an Executive Order supposedly to protect Jews on campuses getting federal funding.
b. The person who triggered much of the general violence against minorities, including Jews, that has exploded in America - and arguably some of what happens abroad - in the last three years - is now supposedly worried about the fraction of it aimed at Jews on college campuses.
2. Fairness:
a. Why isn't the protection already there and employed? Whether you consider Jewishness racial, ethnic, or religious, those are ALL already afforded protection under the Constitution. Title VI just makes it easier to address federal funding when race, color, or nationality is involved, and legislation to add religion and ethnicity would make enforcement easier, but why leave out white Hispanics born in America, for example, who might be discriminated against because circumstances left them speaking Spanish and little English?
b. How about an EO withholding funding to states that continue to suppress minority votes, or gerrymander based on race or ethnicity? Now that the Voting Rights Act was gutted...
3. Constitutionality: One can't criticize Israel if it started acting like Nazi Germany, if it isn't already? Legal suit waiting to happen.
3
This is the sort of ridiculous debate you get dragged into when you mix religion and politics. Well done Zionists.
1
Whoever wrote this editorial had a tough job, all the more if s/he happens to be Jewish.
One HAS TO note that the Times did not take Hitler seriously enough even in the late 1930's, so whenever it opines on Jews, Judaism, etc., one almost has to bring that up. The NYT has a history here, and it's malodorous!
And - as with the NYT "don't fret so much about Hitler" posture in the 1930's, there's nothing like an assimilated Jew when it comes to prioritizing secular values like "free speech."
The editorial is at its weakest, I think, when it talks about the agonizing conflict between left-leaning Jews and (often) Palestinian-influenced campus organizations that almost always cross the line into blatant anti-Jewish statements, positions, etc.
I'm among those who wish Israel's West Bank policies changed dramatically, but I also join a large number of Times readers in wondering if there's ANYONE "on the other side" that is any less odious than Netanyahu.
Back to BDS et al. HATE SPEECH is properly barred (i.m.o.) from college communities where the First Amendment needs a little shading, along "shalom b'bayit" lines - a Hebrew phrase translating into "peace in one's household," a cherished Jewish value and one which DOES bump heads with unfettered free speech.
I find it hard to say a good word about anything Trump does, but it's like guns. You can't JUST extol "education" as the path toward neutering anti-Semitism. You need some action to make Jews feel - AND BE - safe.
3
ttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/us/politics/house-impeachment-vote.html
“...Members of the House granted The New York Times rare access to photograph their impeachment preparations...
Surely you jest – unfortunately, you don’t...
So do tell us who garbed the mother and father of this DC peach – and bridesmaids and groomsmen as well...
Also do tell, Dean/AG – will there be a NYT “first look” video for us to repeatedly ooh and aah over, to be then embedded in history texts mandated a decade or few hence...
Or will hapless Dem centrists have to vote for the articles to find out what’s in the articles...
And – if this is going to be a recurring theme – will the number of impeachment planners soon needed within the beltway add more good jobs then either of census-taking or family-reuniting, in 2020...
Perhaps diamond merchants could drum up interest in the giving of impeachment rings...
One place where conflict-diamonds might find appropriate use...
This was nothing but an attempt by AIPAC to silence the truth and is clearly against the 1st amendment.
4
Trump has set the stage to be able to expel Jews as non-citizens of the US. This is all in service to the prophecy that evangelicals seek to make real, all Jews return to Israel, then nuke Israel and Jesus will return. Yes I know that sounds psychotic, it is, but that vision is what Trump is catering to...FOR VOTES! How much more craven can you get?
Trump is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
3
Your editorial minimizes the anti semitism on college campuses to “ mock eviction notices”. It’s been far worse than that — Jews have been assaulted, their pro israel meetings have been disrupted with violence, they don’t allow pro Israel students to be part of student government, pro Israel students are denied letters of recommendation, they are harassed in classrooms by professors and merely walking on the street. And MOST of these attacks are not from white nationalists. Wake up NY Times. There is a significant problem on the left. Stop giving Farrakhan a pass. Or sarscour. Or Omer. Until you admit to the problem, it will only get worse.
6
NYT,
As a Jew, the recent violent acts against Jews, sad as they are, are not my big concern. We, Jews, know how to protect ourselves. Never again.
What concerns me deeply is the creeping delegitimization of Israel, especially in colleges. Outright biased false narrative singling Israel out for double standard is a widespread practice in liberal colleges, which, I agree, IS anti-semitism.
Palestinians are no more "occupied" than Kurds. I'm yet to see as consistent and sustained campus propaganda against Iraq, Syria, Turkey as i've seen and experienced against Israel (i'm yet to see any BDS against China for Tibet, Hong-Kong, and harrassment of Taiwan)
I would not mind our students studying Mein Kempf or The Myth of the Six Million as long as they study in-depth other historical writings on German history, WWII, and the Holocaust.
Trump's EO is no threat to free speech but a reasonable ban on federal funding of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli bias. I would much welcome such a measure against any other bias as well. Teach our students a balanced worldview and let them figure out the rest on their own. They are no less intelligent than you, NYT.
6
I appreciate the concern by the NYT about the rise of anti-semitism by white nationalists, but when is the NYT going to wake up and address the much more pervasive anti-semitism in the muslim world? Where are the liberal journalist, like Christopher Hitchens, who were not afraid to call out evil wherever it exists, even if it is among one's political darlings?
6
This piece is absurd. The president is fighting anti-semitism, obviously. I think that the Times so dislikes him that you can’t even bring yourselves to say a positive thing about him.
1
Anti-semitism has risen on the left...and colleges are left...ergo: that is the greatest threat.
2
O Times, please parse your language. I see this "BDS has helped create a hostile environment for Jewish students on campus." as if the BDS went after Jews on campus; and that is the exact analogue of a similar statement: "Organized Boycott Chinese goods has helped create a hostile environment for Chinese students on campus." Or, taken further, "Courses on the history of the Mob in America have helped create a hostile environment for Italian-American students on..." Well you get the picture. Ban legitimate scholarly research that's remotely and pejoratively connected to any group, and you get a research-free campus. Congratulations!
2
The success of BDS shows how our own constitutional freedom can be used against us. Palestinians and their sympathizers have no business to terrorize Americans on campuses, and it is a shame that our liberal and spineless institutions are allowing that. Palestinians, rejected by most Islamic countries, are used as a weapon in a broader agenda against America and we don't even know it.
White nationalism cannot be ignored, but its hatred of Jews can be managed within the US legal framework and with clearing disinformation. BDS's abuse of freedom of speech threatens all of us.
Blaming, shaming, and terrorizing Jewish students should not be ignored because tomorrow it will be Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, and other groups under some other cover.
5
Who is a 'Jew'?
African Americans were subject to being enslaved and separate and unequal by their physical appearance and if they had one-drop aka 1/32nd of black blood ancestry.
Apartheid South Africa rested upon the Population Registration Act and the Group Areas Act. Every black African ethnic group, Asians, Coloreds had to register and carry an ID card that restricted where they could live and work.
Nazi Germany required that Jews be identified as a race via ID cards and Star of David badges.
Genetic testing has advanced to show ethnic identity ancestry. But genetics can't separate any faith based sectarian identity.
Which one of these Jewish identity methods are preferred under this Executive Order in America?
3
BDS is a continuation of the Nuremberg Laws which Hitler used to isolate the Jews. The proponents have never acknowledged Israel has a right to exist in any form and routinely refer to the "occupation" as having started in 1948. In other words, all of Israel is an occupation and it has no right to exist.
The line between being anti-Israel and anti-Semitic is not complicated nor debated. The famous Russian refusenik, Natan Sharansky defined it as the 3 D's: deligitimization, double standard, and demonization. The BDS movement crosses all 3 lines. They refuse to acknowledge Palestinian terror and incitement (Double standard) and call Israel an Apartheid state (Demonization).
Free speech is protected but it does not need to be paid for with taxpayer dollars. What Trump has done is correctly label the 3 Ds above as hatred of Jews and therefore will withhold federal funding for these activities.
Criticism of Israel is appropriate when there is no name calling and the facts are acknowledged. These include Arabs being the 3rd largest party in its parliament and one of their Supreme Court judges. This includes recognition that Israel provides due process and protection of religious minorities and homosexuals. And most importantly that the Palestinian authority does not.
All debate on this basis is welcome. All debate in the absence of the truth accompanied by name calling and denial of Jewish history should be discouraged and certainly not funded with my tax dollars.
2
Next we will be told if we don't give the Zionist entity $3.8 billion a year to help them cage the Palestinians up that we are racists. I don't want the United States government to spend any money on Zionism. Creating the government is the worst mistake made by the United Nations and it should be undone. A new government should be put in place in all the lands controlled by the Zionists. All current residents and those who fled because of the wars in the area should be citizens of the new country, be allowed to vote, and have the same rights. If the dream of a Jewish homeland disappears that is just fine with me. It is an unworkable idea that causes far more harm than good. I don't buy any goods made in those lands and am proud to boycott the products.
1
Not all Jews are Zionists. Not all Jews support Israel's actions toward Palestinians. Not all Jews think alike. Jews are people. Why is it necessary to say these things?
3
"Charlottesville, Va., rang out with cries of “Jews will not replace us!”
Why do we need an Executive Order by Trump when there are good people on both sides?
The Nuremberg Laws identified Jews as nonGermans. Defining their nationality by their religion. Then the Reich Citizenship laws stripped them of their citizenship. There is nothing pro Jew or benign in this act. Remember many if not a substantial number of Trump supporters are virulently anti Jew. This is a chilling moment in a pattern of chilling moments in the country.
2
I am Jewish. I grew up among Irish Catholics. My first job was in the Bible Belt. My second job was in Hamburg, Germany, which embraced the Nazis with enthusiam. My third job was among French Canadians. As a lawyer, my first trial was in Chattanooga, then a mecca for Confederate enthusiasts.
I've dated and/or married Catholics, Jews and WASPs.
I have driven through back woods Mississippi and Alabama. I have visited two Muslim countries, Turkey and Lebanon.
As a kid, I went to a working class conservative synagogue for the holidays. I don't go any more.
I've heard numerous Jewish slurs, outright insults and pervasive ignorance about Jews. Most people are unable to peg me. Some alert to my last name and ask me its derivation. Those folks I run from.
I've had friends of all stripes, including one Orthodox Jew, who screened his daughter's boyfriends. The things I overlooked with him are similar to the things I overlook with everybody else.
Luckily, I haven't been exposed to any visceral Jewish hatred. I come off working class and I'm sure that's better than upscale. I'm a loner so I am not among Jewish groups.
As for the most offensive experience I've had, it was in Israel. A group of Jewish veterans there opposes the settlements with so much vigor it seems like they hate the country. The country isn't my style, but it isn't detestable.
Everybody has their own experiences. The worst haters of Israel I have ever met were Jewish war veterans.
1
Zionism is no more intrinsic to Jewish identity than corporations are intrinsic to people.
2
Trump is nurturing his own home grow terror group, the anger and disenchanted, who’d like nothing better than to see others suffer, for their misery.
2
Phases to Genocide
1. Classification
No matter the intended use, it's really not a good idea for anyone, those who would be so-classified or those doing the classifying.
Not.A.Good.Idea
4
I still don't see how being against some of the policies of the state of Israel, is anti-semitic. Is being against some of the policies of Saudi Arabia, anti-muslim? Is being against some of the policies of the Vatican anti-christian? Is being against some of the policies of India, anti-hindu? If so then we are all guilty as charged of anti-something. Most importantly, this is anti-constitutional.
5
Just sharing a story , So when i was in college someone (who I kneel) drew swastikas on my door freshmen year in 2010.
I didn’t feel frightened but I understood that the behavior is unacceptable and I was disgusted that it would happen, in 2010 at a very liberal college. The person who did it was someone who I had a short relationship that didn’t work out, guess that was her idea of revenge. It launched this whole investigation into hate crimes on campus.
The person who did it had to go through disciplinary education or what ever , but that doesn’t matter , the real icing is that she got into heroin, dropped out, and was knocked up at 21. Karma
3
A real president would make a speech and would make that speech on live television on all network TV stations and all the cable news networks, for all the world to see, and he or she would tell the the American people to stop the hate. Stop the violence. Stop the anti-Semitism and stop all hatred towards all religions, all races, all nationalities and all people period. But we don't have that. We don't have a real president. Instead we have a snake, who hides behind the power he yields. We have a man who does not care about the damage done and the consequence outside of himself. We have man who is full of vanity. We have a man who by all rights did not even want to become president.
Religion and Nationality are two separate and distinct things.
How educated people like Trumps son in-law does not recognize this, how the White House does not recognize this is so far beyond the pale.
7
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), which as noted often supports right-wing campus groups, has come out strongly against this order. To quote from their statement, [This executive order] "will cause institutions to investigate and censor protected speech on their campuses. Having spent 20 years defending speakers from across the political spectrum, FIRE knows all too well that colleges and universities will rush to punish student and faculty speakers in an attempt to avoid federal investigation and enforcement." Read the whole statement at https://www.thefire.org/fire-statement-regarding-executive-order-on-campus-anti-semitism/
When an American is concerned about Palestinian rights but not remotely concerned about Puerto Rican rights, no more needs to be said.
8
The problem here is that Trump is not standing up for free speech, what he is doing is using the trope of anti semitism to support repressing political dissent, specifically on campus. I don't doubt that Jewish students don't face issues on campus, especially with the rise of pro Palestinian conscience on campus, there is a kind of chic now that the Jews are the oppressors and the Palestinians a poor, put upon people who only want to be free, when obviously this is a black and white description almost totally lacking shades of gray (like that many Palestinians still have as a goal to get rid of Israel and the Jews and likely turn it into a Hezbollah run state; on the other side, that the blind support of Israel and its policies is allowing Netanyahu to turn Israel into an ultra orthodox state).
The real problem is that among a certain segment of the Jewish population, and the GOP and its evangelical allies, criticizing Israel is politically wrong to them. For the GOP, it is to hopefully attract Jewish votes, and yes, support from powerful groups like AIPAC. For the evangelicals, it is rooted in their belief that historic Israel being reformed will lead to the rapture and such. What Trump is doing is catering to that view, this isn't about making sure Jewish students feel safe, it is about suppressing dissent from GOP Israel policy. I wonder if Trump was president in the 1980's , would he have made the South Africa divestment movement anti white?
2
The Editorial Board of the Times says that it's views are informed by "certain longstanding values". Clearly at the top of their list of longstanding values, is the rule, that Trump can't possibly do anything good.
Just as the very best person, occasionally does something wrong, the very worst person, can occasionally get something right.
When that happens, you should be big enough to acknowledge it.
The B.D.S. policy of "counter-wronging" Jews at random, on the assumption that all Jews are the same, is a classic example of bigotry, and should be condemned by all Americans, regardless of their views on the treatment of Palestinians by the current regime in Israel.
3
Everything Trump does—including this executive order—is based on the assumption that most Americans will endorse or oppose a proposal on the basis of an immediate emotional gut reaction and not on the basis of research and careful thought. The old saw that Americans are too busy to educate themselves on complex issues is a dodge. The more important the issue—and what could be more important than reducing or ending anti-semitism?—the more incumbent it is that voters educate themselves about it. Yet everything Trump and his supporters do is designed to make people stop thinking and just respond like bulls who see red. This executive order is his latest waving of a red cape. It forces people to equate criticism of the current government of Israel—the one led by Benjamin Netanyahu—rather than criticism of Israel itself, with anti-semitism. It encourages people to equate criticism of the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements into Palestinian areas with anti-semitism. It makes people equate any effort to put nonviolent pressure on the current Israeli government with anti-semitism. It disregards the fact that protest against Israeli policy can be voiced by people who actually support Israel (though not its current government). It thus takes the focus off of actual intimidation of Jewish students, actual violence against Jews and actual trafficking in anti-Semitic stereotypes—something Trump himself does. Trump is trying to turn the USA into a gut reaction. Don’t fall for it, USA
I am curious to know how withholding money from colleges and universities will solve the problem of anti-semitism when probably the most vocal of the groups continue to be white supremacists. Most have thought that they were, as usual, anti-immigrant and minorities, however, when they are marching in the streets during their rallies and chanting "the Jews will not replace us", it is quite clear their main focus is aimed at those with whom they believe have the real power in America, not immigrants or minorities.
Of course, Trump believes within this group there are some "good people".
1
This executive order comes on the heels of a horrific shooting in Jersey City that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Humans appear to have the propensity to discriminate against "others" or worse, with countless examples in our own history or terrible offenses committed against Native Americans, the kidnapping of Africans for forced labor, and others who are "different". It was the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought our nation into WW2, not the concentration camps. Trump has no plan for protecting the peace loving communities of the ultra Orthodox, houses of worship, or other targets. This order may have the opposite effect. And what about House and Senate Republicans? What are their plans for addressing the rise of White Nationalist Terrorism in our nation? To attack the FBI and CIA and Homeland Security?
1
I lived in Israel and also worked and lived in the Palestinian Territories and learned that it was possible to dislike the Israeli government and not be anti-semitic. In fact, Israeli Jews are able to question their government and made me aware that it is Americans who have made it much worse for everyone in Israel. It is the Christian Right which promulgates the ideas about Israel that Trump is repeating. In addition, it is white nationalists who believe that being Jewish is a nationality which is what this executive order will do and it will create two problems going forward. When Richard Spencer does his next speech and says all Jews should go back to their country, we will owe it to Trump. Also, there are many Universities and Colleges which have Middle-Eastern studies and Muslims and their speech will be subject to this new EO. It will stifle their right to call for divestment by US companies in Israel or risk the loss of their studies. An EO can be done away with once Trump leaves office in January 2021 but I am afraid the damage will have been done by then. Evangelical Christians should leave things alone and deal with their own personal needs.
1
Anti-Semitism, one of the more highly visible and international forms of racism, just as anti-Muslism is, should be without interruption the subject of discussion and action.
This Editorial is a useful element of such discussion but I would like to see much more systematic reporting and discussion, perhaps at the Times Race/Related Newsletter that I wish had the title Racism/Related (R/R).
I suggest to all a book published in 2011 that I would like to see being brought up to date by its author, Professor Erik Bleich, Middlebury College, Vermont.
Title: THE FREEDOM TO BE RACIST? How the United States and Europe Struggle to Preserve Freedom and Combat Racism
I recommend strongly that the Editor of R/R, Lauretta Charlton turn to chapter 4 in FREEDOM:
American Exceptionalism and Its Limits
Both my countries have often been seen as standard bearers for freedom and acceptance of the other, but both have long and well documented histories of the existence of their own forms of racism and both now struggle to live up to the ideals often attributed to them.
Let us take this discussion to a higher plane than one focused on an individual who routinely formulates racist expressions.
Perhaps the Times could invite Professor Bleich to give us his views on what he might focus on in a new edition of his book.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE
Please quote the part of the Executive Order which says that condemning the policies of the Government of Israel is by itself evidence of ant-Semitism and subject to the loss of federal funding to the educational institution. There is no such provision, but were any professor, student or administrator to condemn those policies and the Department of Education tried to enforce Ttle VI, the ACLU would surely obtain a court injunction immediately against the Department.
1
Not all Jews are Zionists. A notable example of this is Noam Chomsky, who is a dedicated Jew but who believes that establishing a religion is a bad idea.
In my experience, however, many Jews equate Zionism with Judaism.
People should be free to dislike Zionism. Jews , gentiles and Zionists should be free to express their beliefs without harassment.
Our institutions should enforce free speech on their campuses, by punishing persons who harass others. I suspect most institutions hesitate to get involved in arguments where both sides are impassioned, but they should do so. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish harassment from free speech, but it is the job of these institutions to protect the speech of everyone on their campuses even though it may be a difficult to decide how to best do so, they must protect those on their campuses from harassment for speaking freely.
But there is no reason for Trump's presidential order. The first amendment covers it all.
1
I absolutely agree with Bonnie G, John Le Baron and Sloane Lee below. I can only remind everyone of Ann Coulter's Tweet in response to trump's rallying point that many Jews aren't loyal enough to Israel. Ann Coulter's tweeted that perhaps they (the Jews) should be taught to be more loyal to the US first. That is the typical anti-semitic viewpoint - that American Jews are loyal to Israel and not the United States. This is the same bigoted view that President Kennedy faced in 1960 - that, because he is Catholic, the Pope would be running the US government.
I myself am a Jewish American and an Israeli citizen living in upstate NY. I travelled to Israel twice in the last year to vote for Kahol Lavan (Benny Gantz's party) against Bibi Netanyahu, and I intend to be there on March 2nd for the third election. I strongly disagree with Netanyahu's policy in the West Bank. This would seem to make me an anti-semite according to trump's executive order definition. Ludicrous.
trump is simply pandering to try to get the Jewish vote. As most commenters on this page express, they/we see through his thinly veiled attempt at simply trying to gain our vote. If he really wanted to have our vote, he could have made an executive order punishing all forms anti-religious activities. But that would include anti-Muslim, and we know why that ain't flyin'.
trump equates himself, the president, with the US, and Netanyahu with Israel. This is why he/we are in the current mess we're in.
3
I am a fervent defender of and supporter or freedom of speech. But it is not violation of freedom of speech to evaluate the words spoken in order to determine the character of the speaker. Indeed, speaking to influence such evaluations is often the speaker's aim, whether a politician seeking your support or someone seeking a social relationship with you.
Traveling to a kosher butcher shop and murdering the occupants is an indication that the persons doing so were anti-semitic. But when they publish anti-Jewish speech, it is a more certain indicator of their anti-semitism.
BDS is an effort to support enemies of Israel who want to evict (or otherwise eliminate) Jews from Israel. Imagine if an effort like BDS was done in support of the KKK. The left and the Times would rightfully accuse them of harboring the same prejudices as the KKK. It is the same regarding BDS.
On college campuses, the left demands censorship and acts to bring it about. The left shouts down and otherwise prevents presentation of views they oppose. They have adopted the tactics of the far right. The left has been successful to get college officials to stand idly by while the left stifles opposing speech, and even sometimes gained assistance from college officials to prevent appearance of speakers the left opposes.
Far left "progressives" do contain among them many persons who are anti-semitic and have elevated a number of them to prominence as elected officials in high government positions.
5
Antidiscrimination laws should not pinpoint certain groups who ought not be discriminated against, because *nobody* should be discriminated against.
Enforcement of these laws would need to understand how various groups are discriminated against in order to combat group-specific forms of discrimination. But that's not the same thing.
And of course if someone's personal attributes keep them from doing a job in a workplace, or negatively impact other tenants in a dwelling, that's another story as well.
But specifying just which groups deserve protection from discrimination is repugnant, because it implies that unspecified groups are fair game.
1
To paraphrase "Fiddler On The Roof":
Student: Rabbi, is there a blessing for President Trump and Jared Kushner"
Rabbi: Of course there is my son. "May God bless and keep President Trump and Jared Kushner. FAR AWAY FROM US ! "
I doubt that there are more anti-Semites or racists than there were before Trump became President. The difference is that now they are encouraged to act on their hate and fear by the guy Trump sees whenever he looks in a mirror.
Enabling anti-Semitism and racism tends to be a family affair, apparent in this case by Trump's son-in-law's column yesterday in the Times, where Jared Kushner tries to establish his bona fides by saying, "As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I understand the horrors of anti-Semitism." As with all children, the more appropriate bona fides clearly devolve not from his grandparents, but from his parents, especially Jared's father, Charles, who was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering.
And of course should his father-in-law pardon his father , it would not be considered a quid-pro-quo for the son's writing, "I could not be more proud of President Trump’s new policy."
Jared Kushner's cynicism in trying to use the Holocaust to "justify" President Trump's anti-American (not merely un-American) words and deeds is pathological, which is not to let Kushner off the hook for his own culpability.
6
It's not just Trump's comments that are the problem. He has consciously played to right wing groups that have historically been racist and anti-semitic.
While his initial and most frequent targets have been Muslims and Mexican immigrants, it was only a matter of time before Jews also became targets.
You can't unleash these forces but then expect them to confine themselves to Trump's official target list.
Is he remorseful for what he has done? Not in the slightest.
Hate crimes are on the rise and there is an unmistakable relationship between that phenomena and Trump's rhetoric.
Why isn't fomenting racism an impeachable offense?
5
Window dressing at best. Look at the staunch supporters of Trump - you find white nationalists, skinheads, neo-Nazi, and "religious" groups that hate everyone that isn't one of them. Of course they "hate the government" which makes their support of Trump "interesting."
Since Trump's ascendance we have seen a growing trend of these groups being more public. More amplification of their ideas on Social Media and Right Wing TV and Radio stations.
No, Trump isn't the cause, he just loves the fact that they love him. He is surfing the wave of hatred coming to him as statement of their praise. In this Trump is but a symbol.
The latest Executive Order only goes to show that Trump doesn't have a clue, can't put two and two together, and is just so easy and simple to manipulate.
The real problem in America (and the rest of the planet) is much deeper. People fear, and therefore, hate the other to the point where we dehumanize "them" and thereby turn them into legitimate targets that can be killed without remorse.
A lot of humans have simply forgotten a lesson first written down over 6000 years ago in China: "Do not do to others that which you would not have done to you." The unfortunate reality is that dehumanizing the other is just so much easier and perhaps satisfying than recognizing our shared humanity.
Hanging all of this on Trump belies our own understanding of how widespread the real problem is.
3
This editorial is absolutely correct in calling out the extreme right as the most important threat to Jews. But along the way it falsely raises alarms against supporters of justice for Palestinians, and critics of Israeli policies. It states, for example, that “[w}hatever its intent, B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students, most of whom support Israel. At Emory University, for example, students with mezuzot on their door posts were served with mock eviction notices.” In the absence of evidence that BDS activists were responsible for this incident, this is simply an implication of guilt by association. Moreover, the phrase “whatever the intent” leaves open the possibility that BDS might promote such acts, when it is well know that BDS as a matter of principle only targets institutions that profit from Israel’s oppression and exploitation of Palestinians, as well as public personalities that cooperate with such institutions.
3
@Drspock
Debating openly occupation one must be educated about the facts and not spread lies and hostility.
BDS is no more than a propaganda machine to obliterate the Israeli economy and its influence.
To those who say that BDS has "minimal impact",
my response is maybe, but let's not wait before it is too late.
Thank You President Trump.
2
In fact, as clearly showed by the piece of Trump's son in law demonstrate this is all about permitting Israel to continue in its occupation and expansionism and criminalize the international opposition.
1
The article ended with: "The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation. It’s to allow a healthy discourse about the country’s policies, its future and the role of American diplomacy and aid in the region." There's nothing "healthy" about BDS. It's purpose is to destroy Israel and as many Jews as possible on the way. Anyone who can't see this is either young enough to have not learned it yet or old enough to know better. Personally I'm afraid to send my child to a college allowing BDS.
6
Why is it so difficult for the majority of people who comment here to simply acknowledge that anti-semitism is a growing problem on campus and that Jewish students have as much right to a safe, non-threatening campus as any other student?
6
Unfortunately, the editorial writers have missed the widespread problem of virulent ant-Semitism on college campuses. It's not a matter of felling uncomfortable, it's a matter of being the recipient of serious threats. The left's focus on rejecting any Jewish pride is a disgrace. And, it's the left who are the dominant politics on campuses - not the right. Even when Jews have issues with Israel, they are silenced. The BDS movement is not a simple non-violent one. It calls for the destruction of Israel. I am no Trump supporter, and, but, as a Jew, I welcome this change, as Jewish students have no protections from attacks on college campuses due to our religion.
7
Would I be discriminating against Buddhists if I oppose the actions of the government of Myanmar? The scary parts of this mercurial, poorly-thought-out order are where that (by analogy) would be the case.
2
Those who actually voted for Trump in 2016 and were not Russian electoral bots often did so out of a spirit of revenge: they wanted to help undo everything that the vilified Obama had wrought in his 8 years. Because he is a person of color. The insane insistence of the Birthers is but a component of this racist animus. Then along comes Trump with this tepid initiative to "combat" anti-Semitism that pleases no one. Because it neglects to acknowledge what the Supreme Court has ruled on many occasions: that hate speech, like all speech, is protected in the USA, so long as it does not advocate violence.
2
It is a complex topic, and I certainly do not know what the ultimate effect will be. Certainly the biased NYT thinks it knows the answers. However, I do think the intent was meritorious, even for someone I did not vote for and do not support. I would ask the NYT scholars this-"If Mr. Trump, after this event, had instead issued a statement of support for BDS, what would you write?" I can predict the scholarly piece would read something like "Mr. Trump again shows his anti-semitism and support for the far right".
1
Isn't obvious that by declaring Jewish people members of a separate nationality, this administration is now only one step away from saying they are now no longer American?
Non-Americans would not be entitled to the same rights or protections under the law. Who else is soon to become non-American? Wait and see. This is a dangerous trend that must be vigorously opposed on all fronts.
2
Foremost in Trump's mind is pandering to his base, composed of millions of racial and religious bigots. Just as he proclaimed there are fine people on both sides during the Charlottesville horror, Trump walks the tightrope in this instance, all out of fear of offending his base. Trump's ignorance of the distinction between race and religion is demonstrated by his misguided executive order. He would be surprised to learn that there are Jews represented by ever race on earth. He may want to check with his son-in-law.
I am saddened to see that the Editorial Board has decided to conflate the BDS movement with the rise of anti-semetic actions on college campuses. As a student at a university with a BDS movement that is largely run by Jewish students, I have yet to see an event held by BDS that does not have an inclusive atmosphere that welcomes students of a variety of backgrounds. Moreover, it is concerning that the times attempts to draw a correlation between the BDS movement and the anti-semetic actions at Emory university, which are clearly not aligned.
I hope that the Times can address the relevant issues here, especially pertaining to the recent actions by the Department of Education in attempting to defund Duke/UNC's Middle Eastern Studies major over speaking fairly about Israeli/Palestinian policies. These actions represent genuinely unfair policies by our government, and more directly address what this article is getting at.
3
Trump claims credit for a good economy which happened while he was president. Let's see if he will also take credit for the rise in antisemitism which also happened while he was president -- and could be at least partially caused by his divisive rhetoric
December 12, 2019
The last thing we want to do is threaten speech unless it's diatribe of hate and promoting acts of violence on earth - with an agenda of Israel / Jewish identity discrimination. However, knowledge and historical narratives require careful and thoughtful contextual application to contemporary politics - everywhere and with defining the purpose of any and all considerations for discourse and in the spirit of good will - signed by the author and state.
1
Felix Hausdorff was a musician, a composer, a poet, a man of letters, and one of the great German mathematicians of the 20th century and his name has been given to Hausdorff space, Hausdorff dimension, Hausdorff metric, Hausdorff set, etc. ... . Hausdorff and his family were also observant Jews.
When the BDS movement of the 1930s took hold, Hausdorff's lectures were disrupted and attacked by the 1930s BDSers, and his status was threatened even though he was a profound mathematics Professor at Bonn University. In January 1942 he, his wife Charlotte, and sister-in-law Edith Pappenheim were summoned to police headquarters and they knew what that meant. That night Felix, Charlotte, and Edith took poison and died. In a letter to a friend he apologized for his action and for any inconvenience his actions might cause.
Today in the USA, and elsewhere, Jewish students and faculty at many universities are being harassed and intimidated by the BDS movement, its followers, and others who now find it acceptable, even heroic, to go after Zionist (and we know what they mean.)
4
Republicans HATE public education. Republicans believe education should be the realm of the chosen only. And, of course, they will do the choosing.
This is ALL about being able to deny Federal education dollars to any university that it 'chooses' to. If any university does not allow right-wing hate speech they will be cut out of the Federal education dollar pool.
1
The linked ADL materials do not say that Jewish students were targeted by the mock eviction notices. A tweet said that "Jewish students at Emory woke up to 'eviction notices' next to the mezuzahs on their doors." It seems pretty misleading to suggest from this that Jewish students were targeted.
Also, they were clearly not eviction notices. They were basically leaflets explaining that Palestinian families receive eviction notices all the time (and expressly stated that they were not real eviction notices, but were intended to inform about what Palestinians experience).
That is not a "frightening" incident unless you are afraid of people having a different view of Israel-Palestine relations. It's not even an example of creating a hostile environment for Jewish students unless, again, it's hostile to be confronted with different viewpoints.
That's a very poorly chosen example of on-campus issues. Lining it up next to religiously motivated murders strikes me as irresponsible. In addition, conflating criticism of the policies of the Israeli government with antisemitism is hugely counterproductive.
3
The editorial tells us that the BDS movement has "created a hostile environment" for Jewish students. However, we are not offered any documentation of this serious allegation.
In discussing Jewish American college students, the editorial would have been of greater value had it noted that the international organization, Students Supporting Israel, has been working to create a supportive campus environment.
Its mission statement notes that organization aims "to create a clear and confident Pro-Israel voice on college campuses, and to support students in grassroots Pro-Israel advocacy... to provide students on college campuses and universities with the opportunity to support the position of Israel in the Middle East, and to reassure students who opposed the demonization of the state of Israel on campus that they are not alone.."
Will this order twist American Jewish support for Democrats into "foreign intervention" into elections?
Will this "nationality" distinction allow for travel bans in the future?
Trump's team is most creative when reframing its critics' words back onto its critics. This seems like one of those times.
1
That there should be no attempt to restrict the free flow of ideas and opinions is a basic tenant of democracy. The Times ends this article with "the solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation. It’s to allow a healthy discourse ..." However imperfect Trump´s executive order may be, it addresses the main issue threatening democracy on University Campuses -- intolerance of intellectual diversity and the rejection of discourse as a means of learning. The PC, identity political woke cancel culture present in todays campuses is steeped in an elitist belief that any speech not aligned to its world view is to be rejected, censured and ridiculed, and certainly not heard. The Times is doing a miservice in its continual search for reporting the negative in anything that the Trump administration does.
3
This editorial fails to convince. As pointed out, the use of Title VI is a bi-partisan policy, as were previous initiatives to expand its protections to Jews, who surely need them. To acknowledge Jews as a national group and as such a protected class, need not stifle speech any more than prohibiting discrimination against Americans of Chinese descent stifles criticism of China. As for the definition of Antisemitism used, the one chosen explicitly states that criticism of Israel as any other country does NOT constitute antisemitism, it is rather signaling it out the Jewish state as *uniquely* evil that suggests a worldview considering Jews to be fundamentally different from the rest of humanity, i.e. antisemitism.
Finally, the argument that rightwing antisemitism is worse is a clear case of whataboutery. Whether this is true or not does not in any way bear on the question of whether the current protections offered are legitimate and potentially effective. At most it could point out that they are insufficient. Nor are Trump's motivations or rhetoric relevant, rather the question is what the actual policy change does - on that I don't see strong counter arguments.
When all is said and done, the NYTimes, though better than most in displaying some nuance, nevertheless takes a blatantly partisan line of the issue, rejecting an initiative formerly advocated by Democrats, just because it is now carried out by Trump. Scoring partisan points at the expense of a vulnerable minority.
5
It is a problem when anti-Semitism and critique of the politics of Israel are conflated. Israel is a nation with laws, policies and an important role in its region. People must be able to criticize its political machinations and have it not be considered anti-Semitic. If it IS in fact anti-Semitic because the identity of Israel is so tied to its etho-religious roots then Jewish people writ large will always be in the awkward position of being held accountable for the policies and intentions of a political body beyond their control. On the flip side those non-Jews who disagree with Israeli policies must take a wider scope of the trauma of the Jewish community and the place that Israel plays in that narrative. It was a safe place to escape to, a birthright home for a people who had been brutally wiped out while the world stood by watching. There must be empathy and concessions in these debates for the trauma of the Jewish people. And the defamation, injury, harassment or murder of individuals for their race or ethnicity or any reason really just cannot be tolerated. I looked up Blaze Bernstein after reading this article and mourn the loss of a beautiful young man.
3
It is good that this opinion piece makes the distinction between anti-semitism and the RISE in anti-semitism.
While anti-semitism has been around for a long time it had been a slowly dying ember, the RISE in anti-semitism is relatively new. We must now ask the question "WHY?". What has fanned the embers into flames?
To me there seems to be a direct correlation between the RISE in anti-semitism and the RISE of the far right extremists in Israel. The recent surge in anti-semitism has followed repeated immoral and illegal acts conducted by the Israeli government.
Failing to address the root causes of anti-semitism will be to fail the Jewish community.
1
Thank you for your wise editorial.
Although the vicious rise of antisemitism acts in college and elsewhere are heartbreaking and reminiscent of violence towards the Jewish people, this is the wrong move.
This small gesture to add to the president's reelection talking points will do more harm to free speech on campuses where it is encouraged, separate Jews from the land they love, and begin the road to even more tragedy as history can attest.
If Trump truly wants to claim help to combat this growing rise in hate crimes, he will have to stop contributing to it, and stop embracing dictators, white supremacists, and lies.
Beyond that, we can only hope he will support integrity, peace and the law.
Set an example, not separate the Jewish people.
It's just another stunt to divert from the other stunt which was just a stunt to divert from the other stunt which was a stunt to diver from the other stunt.......
Right wing propaganda states that anyone who opposes Trump, and criticizes his policies, must 'hate' him. They made it part of their mantra, and preach it daily, hourly. Now Trump wants to control any speech which he doesn't like. Goodbye discussion groups. Speech critical of any politician (maybe even any foreign leader?) will be unlawful if he gets his way. With Trump Executive Orders like this, our democracy is dying.
Conclusion: you cannot hire a White Nationalist as top adviser, and then implement his immoral actions against refugees and Latino minorities, and simultaneously hope that somehow other White Nationalists won't take on Jews.
They will.
A democracy is defined by its protection of ALL minorities. Single out one, and they all become targets for domestic terror attacks.
A democracy is also defined by free speech and free debate, especially on college campuses, where no idea should be taboo, precisely because this is the place where students learn not to identify with ideas, and how to successfully defeat them by refuting them, thanks to real, respectful debates with those who disagree.
Declaring certain ideas about the current Israeli government policies "discrimination", and then even REDUCING money for colleges with students who believe those ideas to be true, rather than increasing their tools to educate and organize debates, will only make things worse, not better.
Anti-Semitism is a real, and serious problem. It urgently needs a real, serious solution.
Attacking the First Amendment isn't one of them.
3
The words "healthy discourse" are not in Trump's vocabulary, and it's a waste of time to try to explain them.
I just posted a comment that made me realize another possible goal of this EO. It could make it easier to enact something similar to prevent discrimination on college campuses against certain forms of white nationalism or Nazism. I have to check the exact language of the order to see, though. Hmmm.
Hatred seems to be everywhere in the US> White nationalists have targeted Jews which must be stopped. They also target Muslims. The president has said nothing about the number of hate crimes against Muslims on campus and in the community. In fact he has those who support Islamophobia in his inner circle.
Students who support the Palestinian cause of justice and equality are not anti semites. They are pointing out the facts on the ground in Israel/Palestine. In Hebron a Jewish only settlement is being built on top of the centuries old Palestinian market place. Beduins are being evicted from their homes as water pipes for Jewish only settlements are being laid across their land. BDS is a non violent method of getting attention to injustice. Perhaps students should examine the facts of what the Israeli government is doing.
We really don't need Baltimore slumlord and lawless-president enabler Jared Kushner lecturing us about prejudice in these pages. Boggles the mind.
2
Even when Trump does something positive the NYT still can't bring itself to give him any credit. . .and continues to cater to its left wing base with anything it can find to undermine and destroy him. It undermines your credibility to everyone else up and down the political spectrum.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
3
Anti-Semites do not detest Israel out of any great
affection for the Palestinian cause. Their attachment
to that cause is mostly rhetorical.
The real roots of the problem are jealousy and greed.
Anti-Semitism differs from other types of prejudice
because practitioners of it have convinced themselves
over the course of centuries that Jewish people are
smarter and more financially astute than they are.
That is why it has persisted so long over time and that is
why it sometimes appears in the comment sections of the
Times which is infested with negative comments
about Israel and Mr. Netanyahu.
The fact that people of the Jewish faith sometimes are smarter and more financially astute than other people compounds the
difficulty of solving the problem,
3
Trump could care less about combating anti=semitism
This is all about politics
Winning votes in Florida and increasing political donations
Anti-semitism is the false belief that Jews control the world. Anti-Zionism is the false belief that Israel controls the world. These are longstanding conspiracy theories that are practically identical.
In fact, there are very few Jews in the world (15 million), with about 40% in the United States (only 2% of the population), another 40% in Israel, and the rest scattered among several countries. The only thing that Jews control is Israel, a tiny country the size of New Jersey that is not dominant even in its neighborhood.
Despite these facts, demonization of Israel is the central theme of small groups of conspiracy theorists, who are dedicated to preventing free speech on campus by Israelis and those sympathetic to them. See, for example
https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Police-escort-required-for-Israeli-speakers-after-US-college-event-disruption-553681
https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/307197/sjp-protesters-chant-from-the-river-to-the-sea-during-hen-mazzigs-speech-at-vassar-college/
I believe that this latest Executive Order is a response to events such as these.
6
I've been seeing the Black Hebrew Israelites in New York since the 1970s, but I never realized their antisemitism was connected with white nationalist beliefs. Thank goodness for a free press.
1
Why is there no mention of the blowback on the "nationality" question? Just as there was no mention of it in the Baker-Haberman article. Anybody?
Some questions:
0. Don’t other groups need protection more than “Jews”? Such as the poor, undocumented folk, “blacks”, LGBTQs, First People’s, children, the elderly, the handicapped?
1. Is this order intended to reduce violent acts targeting Jews? If so, why doesn’t it focus upon actions? And if so, how are college administrations supposed to demonstrate a reduction in violence against Jews as evidence of compliance with the order?
2. Are things so much more dangerous for Jews in colleges than for other identifiable groups, that we need specific “protection” by an action such as this?
3. Will this action improve communication and relationships between Jews and other groups on campus? Or worsen them?
4. What about modifying this order to cover all groups/institutions that exhibit “antisemitism”? Such as Neonazis, white supremacists, white nationalists, businesses, government?
Right idea but too timidly put. BDS is not anti-Semitism, it is anti Israeli's occupation and theft of Palestinian land for Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank. By the same token, those of us who oppose President Trump and boycott his hotels and golf clubs are not anti-American, we are anti-Trump.
2
Isn't it only a matter of time the Hague declares Israel right to exist null and void? The left is calling it an apartheid state. Isn't Israel always accused of war crimes when it defends itself? They don't stop to think how much worse it would be if the shoe was on the other foot. Some even insist terrorism would cease if it were not for Israel.
This weeks horrible shooting shows how the fringes of our society have a growing hatred of Jews and are deranged enough to act on it. You hear theories out of '20 and '30s Germany playbook from both the far left and right about Jewish conspiracies. Saying all Jews is the equivalent of saying all white people but with more disastrous results.
I hope I'm being paranoid but I believe Jews are being set up to look bad and lead some of us to believe they have more power than they actually have. What is the perception when it seems Schiff, Nadler, Feinstein and Schumer are leading the charge against Trump? Are we supposed to believe Epstein and Weinstein the only pimps in America? Didn't the #MeToo movent accuse mostly men with Jewish sounding names?
I hope I'm wrong but people don't consult history statistical facts in hysterical times. Reality has taken a holiday. Maybe it's the Russians.
4
It could be a lot worse. You could be a young black kid on any day in in any city in America encountering a cop.
2
It is absurd and disgusting for the EB to equate campus anti-semitism as "healthy discourse."
4
For a white supremacist like Trump this is the equivalent of greenwashing where, for example, a polluting corporation might do something like enhance a wetland near one of its factories and run a TV ad claiming it is environmentally friendly. Trump is enabling a white supremacist movement that includes extremists such an neo-Nazis. Also this order appears to chill free speech on campus. Unlike colleges which are dedicated to searching for the truth, Trump deals only in lies and conspiracy theories. His goal is authoritarian rule and he uses hate to get support, which comes almost exclusively from white Christians. Yes, rants against Zionism are not what Jews should bemost concerned about. The biggest concern should be about violence by right wingers who spew conspiracy theories about Jews planning to control the world or being behind everything they despise about liberalism. This form of hate against Jews goes back centuries long before the establishment of Israel and has not abated and right now is on the rise in the US.
"Such incidents are frightening. But the larger threat to American Jews goes beyond college students sparring over Israeli policy. Violent anti-Semitism is being fomented most significantly by white nationalists and the far right...."
Spot on analysis!
1
Trump's purpose in doing this is just a publicity stunt to try and counter the dumb antisemitic racist things he says...Until the next time. Don't worry this stunt will not stop him from continuing to give a wink and a nod to his white power supporters. He'll still tweet out their conspiracy theories. He'll still give thoughts and prayers to the next round of synagogue or church shootings after helping to encourage them. He'll still keep an actual white supremacist in charge of immigration. It's who he is. It's who his supporters are.
This is just an ill conceived publicity stunt that Jared or some idiot aid cooked up to appear as if he cares.
In a nutshell, this article says that Trump is interested in supporting Israel, but not actually interested in supporting Jews.
A good counter to this would go along these lines: the New York Times is not actually interested in supporting free speach, but is interested in supporting BDS.
1
You accurately assess the risks to Jews from the right, but underestimate the risk from the left. The issue on campuses is not BDS. The issue is use of ostracism and threats like eviction notices FOR JEWS. The nation’s universities educate our future leaders and a class of leaders who believe it is morally and politically acceptable to harass Jews because they are Jews empowers antisemitism in a way that fringe hate groups currently cannot. If you were a Jewish student at Emory who also had been in Charlottesville, would you feel more threatened by chants heard at an opposing rally - however reminiscent of history or Holocaust - or being surrounded every day by non-Jewish students in the same living and educational environment who want you evicted from your home and community and identified you because you are a Jew? Antisemitism is growing worldwide and in the US. More importantly, governments largely seem to pay lip service to addressing the issue, too often blaming the victims (the German solution that Jews show no outward sign of religious belief in public) and tacitly sanctioning the antisemites. We must do more to remove the threat from the right, but we must do more to remove the threat from the left as well.
4
Jew-hatred is almost exclusively now practiced by the lunatic fringe and the campus Left.
While not able to address all anti-semitism at once, Trump is correct to start to address this venom on our college campuses.
2
“When people tell you who they are, believe them,” said the wise Dr. Maya Angelou. Trump has been telling us, and indeed the Jewish community who he is all along. Example:
“A lot of you are in real estate business because I know you very well, you are brutal killers, not nice people at all but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”
And let’s not forget, that Trump had plenty of opportunities to condemn the Neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville but he didn’t, instead he said,”I’m sure there are good people on both .” He’s a liar and a coward. I believe the Jewish community recognizes Trump for the racist he is!
My mother experienced anti-Semitism in college.
Jewish students today are experiencing anti-Semitism from BDS. How do I know this? I speak with them.
I strongly suggest that NYT Editorial Board get out of their Ivory Tower in midtown, take the #1 uptown to Columbia University or to City University of New York or the #1 downtown or R train to NYU and interview the Jewish students about the anti-Semitism they experience from BDS.
Interview the students and report the interviews.
One need only ask why when China is putting millions of Muslims in camps that there is no BDS of China. If BDS were an exercise in free speech there would be a BDS of China. But there is not. Only Israel is chosen.
Editorial Board: Get out of your Ivory Tower. Interview the Jewish students. Ask about the hostility. Use your legs and do some real interviewing and reporting.
8
When antisemitism is being spread, it is spoken in code which everyone understands but, on the surface, seems like a legitimate statement.
The campaign DBS serves this purpose. On the one hand it has a serious purpose of trying to settle the long-standing disputes between Palestinian and Jewish people. The code DBS real purpose is to try to separate Israel from the rest of the world. When this is accomplished by the Arabs, they can decriminalize any acts of violence against Israelis.
The DBS will not help Arabs, it will only lock in its basic antisemitism. What will help solve this very thorny problem begins with economic ties between Israeli and Palestinians. It's been done on the ground. I've seen many clips of business between the two peoples. As long as BDS survives, its basic antisemitism will spread and it will be that much harder to solve problems.
2
When you, Donald Trump, advocate for white nationalism, you are the problem not the solution. When you tacitly endorse Neo-Nazis chanting "Jews will not replace us!" in Charlottesville, you are the problem. When you rally your base to the point of hysteria by railing about an "invasion" by a "caravan" of Central Americans seeking safety here that results in one of your followers massacring 11 Jews in their Pittsburgh synagogue, you are the problem. When you refuse to protect Jews at prayer by ignoring the need to ban assault weapons even after Poway, Dayton and El Paso, you are the problem. When you try to curtail free speech by those opposed to Israel's inhumane treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, often by Jews, you are the problem. As a member of a Holocaust family and a retired college professor, I condemn your attempt to criminalize free speech and your naked attempt to call Jews like me anti-Semites for supporting the B.D.S. movement and criticizing the Netanyahu government. This is just the latest divisive attempt to use antisemitism as a way of attacking and silencing your critics. It is you, Donald Trump, who is the problem.
5
“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”
And yet, this statement was greeted with enthusiastic cheering and laughter by the mostly Jewish audience. Why? Because in its context and tone, it was obviously satirical. This was one of the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish speeches I have ever heard. The NY Times ripped it out of context as evidence of the exact opposite. Frankly, this is egregious journalistic malpractice.
The full speech (the quote in question is at about 20 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YlonD037SQ
2
"Frankly, this is egregious journalistic malpractice."
That wouldn't be first time that a Trump quote has been misrepresented in print. And that is the problem, print journalists routinely ignore tone and demeanor, because those are difficult to characterize in print.
"The full speech ..."
Later (starting at 22:28), Trump mocks his own vocal style when he pretends that he said "What?" in a Donald Duck voice.
The irony is almost painful. Does the current occupant of the white house not realize that the leap in anti-semitism is fueled by his own race baiting? By the fact that he referred to the Nazis chanting "jews will not replace us" as "fine people?" His own actions have so encouraged those who believe that their own race entitles them to privileges beyond others, that they now are attempting to enforce those presumed privileges upon those outside their own race.
3
Trump's only relevant motives are (1) stay in office; and (2) get re-elected.
He has shown that he will do and say anything if he believes it will keep him in office.
If Trump believed his Executive Order would lose votes, we never would have heard about it.
If Trump believed he would gain more votes than votes lost by doing anything perceived as adverse to Israel, he would do it.
The debate about how harmful or helpful this Executive Order may be will not be resolved in the Times' Comments.
But the First Amendment, like any right our Constitution deems to be fundamental, also requires responsibility in how one exercises the right.
1
When all else fails Identity Politics is very short lived electoral tool that in the long run backfires because the targeted minority will inevitably sound like they are given more than the majority and the backlashes are long term and unpredictable.
The ADL's portrayal of the Emory University incident cited in this article is inaccurate. Investigations by Emory University found that the mock eviction notices in question were spread throughout residence halls on Emory as part of an awareness raising activity. There was no evidence found to indicate that Jewish students were targeted. Those allegations were found to be inaccurate. In fact, the disinformation on this incident is a perfect example of how false accusations of anti-Semitism have been weaponized to close down discussion of Israeli human rights violations and it is a perfect example of why this decision is problematic.
3
For the life of me I can’t figure out what his angle is on this. Usually he’s fully transparent. How does this gain him voters? What else does he give a hoot about? Did I miss something in his Charlottesville comments?
2
@MaryToo
Trump's angle is he is trying to split the Jewish vote and peel off some Jews from the 80 percent who oppose him, who may fall for this scam. It also gives a talking point both to the right-wing Jews who collaborate with him, and his base, to claim Trump is concerned about anti-Semitism, when by his actions he's proven repeatedly he is not.
Additionally, this doesn't really cost him much, if anything, with his legions of anti-Semitic, white-power followers. Many of their so-called thought leaders, like Richard Spencer and Jared Taylor, actually claim to support the idea of Israel, because it supports their belief in separatism, i.e. that's where America's Jews should go live once they're deported.
The only concern Donald Trump and his "administration" have about anti-Semitism is how they can exploit it for their own gain.
Since anti-semitism goes back several millennia, I feel inadequate to comment on that hateful phenomenon, but the following quote from Trump deserves to be highlighted and condemned:
"A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.” What???
Surely these are not the words of a sane, balanced person. Why are we tolerating this man in the White House? He is a disgrace to the office of President and brings shame to us every day of the week.
7
@Elizabeth Bennett
Be more clear and honest: Anti-Semitism goes back to the beginning of Christianity.
1
Trump conflates Judaism with Zionism. I am Anti-Zionist, not Anti-Semitic. Jews are my brothers, but I oppose the oppression of the Palestinian People by The State of Israel and the Israeli occupation of lands set aside for Palestinians under the Oslo Accords.
5
@Stephen Paul Bartol Why aren't you upset with the PLO or Hamas for continually saying no to a good deal (Oslo Accords).
3
@Stephen Paul Bartol have you read the Oslo accords? If so what are you referring to?
Israel attempted, multiple times, to negotiate a withdrawal. Who refused?
4
Trump is fomenting anti-Semitism. Jewish Americans are Americans. It's lost on Trump who accuses them of "betrayal" and tells them that Benjamin Netanyahu, the PM of Israel, is "your prime minister". Further, Trump called white supremacists who specifically targeted Jews "very fine people".
However, it's wrong to assert that "the larger threat to American Jews goes beyond college students sparring over Israeli policy."
At the moment white supremacists pose a greater threat to the lives of Jewish Americans, but as Jews in Jersey City were murdered yesterday by non-white anti-Semitic radicals, it is less than half a story.
College students are not "sparring over Israeli policy". Jewish students across America are being threatened, and the anti-Semites don't cares what the views of their victims on Israel are.
Left-wing students at Emory University nailing eviction notices to the doors of any student with a Mezuzah on their door posts is just one of thousands of examples.
The only thing a Mezuzah says it that Jewish Americans live in a home. As it says nothing about their views on Israel, they're being attacked solely for being Jewish. It is un-American and indefensible.
This anti-Semitism is typical of the pogroms. It must be is treated it as such. No one on the left can hide behind false arguments that their hate is somehow excusable or protected because they only wanted to drive all Jews out of what they decided was their exclusive Jew-free community in America.
6
The problem I have with the editorial
Boards position on this executive order is summed up in the last paragraph. What you describe as the need to allow “healthy discourse” is far too often speech intended to incite hatred. The entire BDS movement is premised on a marketing strategy who founder admits is ultimately to delegitimization the Idea that Israel has a right to exist at all, and The NY Times should know this. You’ve exposed this yourselves. I’m uncomfortable declaring Jews a race, or a nationality, as that’s what the Nazi’s and communist Russia did, and was used as a tool to oppress and kill us in the end. However, we are more than a religion, as well. We are a culture, one that is under attack from the extreme left and the extreme right. The difference between now and the early/mid 20th century? We know how to fight back, now
5
What Israel has done on the West Bank is deplorable and should be called out again and again.
The country doesn't get a pass because it's one of the few democracies in the region and an ally of the U.S. And its ongoing flirtation with a despicable person like Netanyahu is further evidence that folks have every right to rail against it.
That said, ant-Semitism is horrible and should be opposed wherever it is found. But the executive order smacks a bit of favoritism. Has there been an executive order aimed at the continuing abuse of African-Americans on our college campuses? They suffer far worse than Jewish students and it is based on nothing more than their skin color.
There are 5 million Jews in America and more than 40 million African-Americans. Yet the latter face continuing discrimination in housing, education, business, law enforcement, and on and on.
Maybe there needs to be another executive order though don't hold your breath. Trump would rather demonize minorities than give them their just due.
3
@History Guy
"Has there been an executive order aimed at the continuing abuse of African-Americans on our college campuses? They suffer far worse than Jewish students and it is based on nothing more than their skin color."
Um, no. Anti-black racism is taken far more seriously. You state blacks "suffer" based on nothing more than their skin color". Are you suggesting Jews are more to blame for bigotry towards them then blacks? Right, there are 5 million Jews and 40 million blacks, so shouldn't we treat a smaller more vulnerable minority with as much, if not more, sensitivity then a larger one? Your claims of discrimination in housing, education, etc doesn't mitigate massacres like the one that happened in NJ 2 days ago.
1
Many right-wing Israeli Jews call liberal American Jews, especially Reform Jews (the majority of American Jews, by the way) anti-semitic if they critcize Israeli government policies, when many Israelis hold the same views. Try to untangle that.
1
The editorial board posits a common sense, fact based article about how trump's executive order does nothing for Jewish students and yet, the same board allows, the day before ,for Jared Kushner to spew non facts and a shallow, hollow defense of his daddy-in -awe. So the same board allows a sycophantic, nepotism benefitted, grifting, family member of trump to spin out mis-statetmensts and falsehoods the very day before in the same space on the same page. Is this a new point/counter point moment for the NYT? I don't think it will work out very well.
1
Jewish people, like other Americans, are voting pawns to be used and abused by Trump for his own enrichment. Trump couldn't care less about anyone else if there's no gains for him.
3
Why doesn't BDS demonstrate against Israel at Israeli embassies? Why do they centralize all demonstrations on public college campuses? Finally, how is it that anti-Semitism has increased so much in this country over the same past decade that BDS has been active on college campuses?
Why, it's because some people can't stop blaming American Jews for perceived Israeli injustices.
We Jews are an interesting lot. 75% of us don't support this President, who just last week, called us "real cold blooded killers" who happen to "love money" as much as he does.
How about this: Non-Jews have been attacking Jews both physically and emotionally for over 3000 years. When will you stop doing that?
4
Trump is very popular in Israel. Indeed, to show his gratitude to our President for legitimizing Israeli’s annexation of the Golan Heights, blatantly illegal under international law, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has named the future community Trump Heights. Trump is corrupt and caters to the most reactionary, fascistic groups in the US. Apparently, this does not bother the average Israeli.
See- Meet the future residents of Trump Heights, Israel's tribute to U.S. support. As the name Trump Heights shows, the Trump administration's full-throated support of Israel’s right-wing government goes much further than any other U.S. administration. By Saphora Smith, Yael Factor and Lawahez Jabari Sept. 16, 2019; Link: www.nbcnews.com/news/world/meet-future-residents-trump-heights-israel-s-tribute-u-s-n1054826
Anything the man does who said “there are good people on both sides” about the anti-semite Charlottesville attackers to protect Jewish persons is suspect! He’s just trying to buy votes!
Unfortunately much of the anti-Israel rhetoric stems from antisemitism, intended or not intended. Much of the Jewish population still surviving from the Holocaust lives in Israel, so anti Israel rhetoric serves to defame Jews in general. So the "free speech" argument to defame Israel is problematic as best.
4
NYT, "The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation."
I'll help you out here, EBoard.
Would you consider curbing belligerent and discriminatory behavior and rhetoric against Blacks and Africa "stifling conversation?"
Why should the Jews and Israel be treated differently?
(I'm well aware that Israel is not a continent. However, for the Jews, Israel is more than a country it is both a symbolic cradle, soul, and destiny. Pretty close to what Africa is for Blacks).
6
I can't tell you how nice it is, being an agnostic, to be able to side step the bloviating buffoonery that religion always seems to stir up. You guys stress yourselves out all your lives for nothing. When is everyone going to realize that religion is the problem?
1
Of course the Times has no such concerns about higher learning and free speech on campus when a conservative speaker or student group is shouted down.
When any student of color claims to feel vaguely “unsafe” or “oppressed” it’s a front page national emergency. When Jews are the target, we get lectures about the careful balance of safety vs free speech.
We’re also reminded that Israel, singled out as the only country in the world deserving of a worldwide boycott, offers a legitimate reason for the hatred.
6
I saw the signing photo of Trump waving the order he signed, with his signature taking up 1/3 of the page. Next to him was Allen Dershowitz, author of several pro-Zionist, anti-Palestinian books. Free speech for some, and none for others. No tell me why a country that denies democracy (one person one vote) to 5 million Palestinians in their own country is in any way a democracy. That statement of fact could land me in jail under Trump's new order.
1
As a Holocaust survivor I am grateful to President Trump for this executive order. Antisemitism is what both Left and Right agree on. They only use different methods for attacking Jews. Yes, the Right certainly does use violence against Jews, and it is vile. However, if you think the attacks on Jews by words on campuses is only mildly dangerous or unpleasant, you are wrong. Words do have consequences. Hitler did not begin by murdering Jews. He began by writing a book, and using the freedom of speech afforded by the Weimar Republic to have it published and its poison spread throughout a democratic Germany. Words do have consequences, as has long been established in American jurisprudence. Sticks and stones may hurt my bones, but words will also harm me. In this case, hurrah for President Trump.
5
To Trump, anti Semitism is just another club to wield against people he doesn't like, in colleges and lefty movements. He doesn't have any of the values or beliefs of anti Semitism: in fact, his own speeches directly to the faces of Jewish groups would already be banned on campus:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jews-denounce-iac-wealth-stereotypes_n_5ded7f16e4b07f6835b4c534
1
If we equate anti-Israel protest with anti-semitism, the we must equate anti-Palestine protest with anti-Islamism. Jews deserve no more, nor less, protection than Muslims.
@ANNE IN MAINE
Jews are getting less, not more, protection than Muslims. Why?
4
Yeah, but Islam, the religion of Muslims, is a majority religion in the world, like Christianity. Judaism on the other hand, is in the minority everywhere except, perhaps somewhat tenuously, in the State of Israel.
1
Seing Trump to be involved in anti-Semitism issues is not a good news for the jewish community ; this guy is a polarising factor on everything he touches...Trump, just go play golf and let the politicians address this serious problem that, by the way, you have contribute to created by your rallies and immoral speeches.
1
The AOC wing of the Democrat party doesnt like this executive action.
They might feel pressure now to constrain their anti semitic behavior that is so pervasive that Nancy Pelosi had to admonish them.
4
Times: "... Richard Spencer was interviewed ..."
That was on Israeli television, and, based on the quote in Haaretz*, the Editorial Board has corrupted what he said:
1. He did not mention "the left".
2. He referred to "what you could call ‘the establishment’". The Board omits the "what you could call" part.
3. He said "... dispossesed [sic] from this country." The board omits "this country".
The Board should report what people actually said when using quotations to support its case.
And this is an editorial, yet the Board makes no effort to rebut anything he actually said.
* Aug 16, 2017.
Your editorial continues to just gloss over any antisemitism from the left. Look at all of the attacks in NYC the last year. More than double the year before. I don't know of many white nationalists here. Also Jews should not be afraid to have speakers on campus without having mobs try to shut it down. If BDS wanted to have a civilized debate on the Israel - Palestine situation I would respect that but all they do is try to shut down anyone who supports Israel. I am very happy with what the President did.
5
Maybe Pro-Israel students (Jewish and Non-Jewish) shouldn’t attend American Universities ... They can attend Israeli Universities and receive an equivalent or superior education - without having to worry about being harassed or intimidated ...
1
“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”
And yet, this statement was greeted with enthusiastic cheering and laughter by the mostly Jewish audience. Why? Because in its context and tone, it was obviously satirical. This was one of the most pro-Israel and pro-Jewish speeches I have ever heard. The NY Times ripped it out of context as evidence of the exact opposite.
The full speech (the quote in question is at about 20 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YlonD037SQ
1
Will this ban on anti-Israel speech also apply to Iran and other middle eastern countries with a state religion?
If not, this new policy seems like a violation of the anti-establishment clause of the constitution.
2
Remember when Trump (and all the Republicans) were practically apoplectic when Obama did things by Executive Order?
2
I am not a supporter of President Trump. I favor his impeachment and removal from office.
I'm Jewish and, while I welcome President Trump's Executive Order, in my opinion Trump has no credibility to fight anti-Semitism.
Two days after yet another attack on Jewish Americans in Jersey City (several miles from where I currently live and where my late father was born and raised), and just days after President Trump characterized Jews as money-hungry "killers," he has no credibility to take meaningful action to combat the anti-Semitism for which he is partially responsible with his words, tweets and demonization of individuals and groups. In fact, Trump's own words would be classified as anti-Semitic according to his EO.
If Trump truly wanted to combat anti-Semitism, he would accept responsibility for his role in perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes and conspiracy theories, and emboldening white nationalism.
3
Anti-Semitism is abhorrent to democracy, and should be abhorrent to all of us. However, what the President has done often encourages anti-Semitism, as he encourages hate in general, and far-right hate in particular.
After the Trump administration is over, we all will need to examine any and all prejudices we might hold against people who are in any way different from ourselves. Self-awareness is preventive.
Your description of the “eviction notice” incident at Emory University seems to imply that only Jewish students were targeted, when in fact the action was directed at a far broader audience, according to the investigation conducted by the university’s senate’s standing committee for Open Expression.
1
Trump is connected and beholden to Netanyahu via Kushner, just as he is beholden to the Saudis financially, and the Russians for the suppression of certain indecent videos.
This is called foreign influence in US governance. This executive order follows an ongoing pattern of protecting Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Russia.
1
You know, many Christians vote Republican. Should we therefore rule that opposing Republican policies is anti-Christian intolerance?
6
Trump should stay out of this. He is ignorant of history, and his actions stoke even more hatred and misunderstandings.
6
@Birdygirl
Isn't that the whole point?
1
In order to fight racism we need to form a broad coalition of anti-racists. To this end, any reference to israel--either positive or negative--should be taken off the board.
That's because it's obvious that many real, live people oppose both anti-semitism and zion. It's nothing more complicated than the Venn Diagram/ baby Set Theory that we all supposedly learned in high school, right?
So beyond any particular issues of denial (that lot's of concerned, intelligent people have serious problems with 'their' homeland), what you have here is a case of blundering political stupidity. Alienating anti-racists is a failure to keep one's eyes on the prize...
1
The Black Israelites implicated in the Jersey City shooting were also involved in the Covington Catholic national lawn incident. See https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/black-hebrew-israelites-covington-catholic.html for a warmer and fuzzier profile of this hate group than the latest shooting spree demonstrates.
All hate crime should be considered criminal and there is no need to categorize it as white supremacy, jihadist, anti-Semitic, or other labels. Hate is simply hate. Every step taken to protect Americans from hate crimes and shaming is a step in the right direction.
3
I hate the police. I hate racists. I hate anti-semites. I hate capitalist exploiters. I hate rapists and misogynists. I hate organized religions. I hate war-mongers and profiteers. I hate pollution. I hate abusers of human rights. I hate torturers and jailers. So, should I be jailed for my hateful thoughts?
Do the opinion writers read the news section? A tone deaf piece.
I know the Jersey story will end up with the Ohio shooting (Warren supporter) and the Sanders supporter that shot the Republican congressman. Narrative.
Bluntly - a republican makes a antisemitic statement and he is out, a democrat makes the same statement and she is on the cover of rolling stone with Nancy.
6
Any apparent effort the White House makes to stamp out anti-Semitism, or any other form of racist hate speech, can be deemed disingenuous as long as Stephen Miller, America's Chief purveyor of White Nationalism, remains associated with Donald Trump.
2
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Many Jews are appalled by the actions of Israel and are active anti-Zionists. The extreme-right nationalists who foment hatred and actively attack Jews, on the other hand, are all fervent supporters of Israel. Trump's bill, like most of his actions, is misguided and a dangerous attack on free speech which has nothing to do with protecting Jews.
6
What, exactly, is your definition of Zionism? That matters.
3
Trump had political considerations when he enacted this legislation. I don't think for a second that Trump is losing sleep over the plight of Jews on college campuses.
That being said, I am very disappointed in this article. It quotes statistics about the rise of antisemitism in Europe without so much of a word about its perpetrators and their motivation. The Editorial Board includes the fact that the head Rabbi in Germany has advised German Jews to stop wearing their skull caps. But they fail to mention that it is the rhetoric of left-wing antisemitism that emboldens the attacks on Jews, which are committed mostly by German Arabs.
How does left-wing antisemitism embolden violence? Well when you have ideologues on university campuses and elsewhere that keep deriding Israel as an 'Ethno-state' you end up whipping up hatred in the hearts of thugs (a small minority of the Arab minority in various European countries) that then go on to assault Jews as "pay back" for their support of Israel. They misguidedly assault Jews in an act of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Being anti-Israel is not a sufficient condition for being anti-Jewish. True. But why is there an attempt to cripple the Israeli economy because of human right abuses when Israel is FAR down the list of human rights abusers? Why is Israel singled out at the UN? The Jewish people are discriminated against by both the left and the right. The New York Times Editorial Board may wish to acknowledge this.
5
Be clear: Zionism is neither blanket approval of any Israeli gov't policy, nor the denial of Palestinian nationhood. Zionism is the liberation movement of the Jewish people - simply the belief that a Jewish state ought to continue existing (or coexisting) in the land of Israel. Anti-Zionism IS antisemitism.
13
Thank you for articulating this. It is enlightening and edifying.
4
@Yoel
The problem is that Zionists have forced out the people who lived on the land and have enacted policies that discriminate against Palestinians. Supporters of Palestinian rights want to have the same rights as jewish citizens of Israel. The key word is "co-exist".
3
So this is the play: Attack free speech in its inner sanctum, our nations universities to appease the hard line Israeli supporter, but pay no mind, and even use dog whistles to stir up racist, gun toting white supremacists, (the ones we should really fear)because both are a sizable voting bloc; Trump’s political opportunism has no bounds.
2
Zionism is a political movement. Discussion, debate, and/or criticism thereof on our campus institutions of higher learning is what education is all about. Trump's EO can be interpreted as the regulation of speech...period. If Jewish students are threatened, that is a matter for Campus Security Systems. Just as it is for all students on or off-campus.
There are forms of oppression that don't immediately involve physical endangerment.
Would you also say that classes, professors, gangs of students and entire academic departments seriously and repeatedly advancing the "political" idea or opinion that American Black folks should be re-enslaved or returned to Africa, or the "political" idea that African American people should count as only a fraction of a person are not creating a hostile environment for Black Americans studying, working or even visiting or living nearby that university and beyond? Should those who have adopted such ideas as their own and who repeatedly teach or promote such ideas be funded by public tax dollars -- in other words, by tens, even hundreds, of millions of Americans whose safety and welfare are directly and seriously threatened by those same political ideas?
If so, then shame, deep shame, on you.
3
A FESTERING SORE
Breitbart News managed by Steve Bannon, helped put Trump in the White House. Breitabart is also a significant focus of Aryan style propaganda, which targets Jews as natural enemies of Americans of North European origin. So far Trump has had it both ways : he is supported both by Israel and by all white nationalist factions including-vocally-by the Ku Klux Klan. There is something unreal and contradictory in this situation. I don't think it is in the interest of Jews to let this fester. More should speak up, or there will be more and more violence against them.
" B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students,..." while the Israeli occupation the West Bank is a form of welcome mat for Palestinians.
The attempt to conflate B. D. S. with anti-Semitism is a neat trick to use a real response to real anti-Semitism to provide a free pass for the Israeli government to do anything it wants in violation of international laws, boundaries and standards.
If something involves Jews, it must be legal, or it is anti-Semitic.
3
Trump has been campaigning and has occupied the White House for four years now and anti semitic acts and rhetoric has been rising for that whole time fueled by his own speech and his often racist followers. A tiny band over a cancer that has been spreading for so long signifies little except Trump's desire to cull a few more votes. Racism and anti Jewish sentiment have been the wave that carried him to the presidency and it continues to do so even as he tries to deny it with a few crumbs to Jews. Trump changes his tune and lies so often that no one can believe or should believe his false advertising.
The problem is that most people fail to distinguish critics with anti-Semitism. Juat because you criticize what’s happening in Israel or the Israel government’s policies, it doesn’t mean you’re anti-Semitic.
And what would happen to millions of Palestinians you displaced? You’ve built a country on the suffering of the people whose lands you take over, and you expect others to respect your right to the land. How about you also recognize and respect other people’s right to exist?
This is not supposed to be about a race. This is supposed to be equal standings between every race, as we’re all human beings.
1
Silencing Zionists and intimidating Jews does not qualify as academic debate. It is disingenuous to wrap bullying of that ilk, often edged with violence, in the flag of free speech. No one objects when a white supremacist, a misogynist or a homophobe is excluded from campus. Only when the target of hate speech is the Jew does it seem to some that might be a reasonable point of view worth exposing students to. BDS and its Islamist enablers advocate not change in Israeli policy, but the disappearance of the Jewish State and its people, a genocidal wish, unworthy of liberal defense and unworthy of taxpayer subsidy.
7
You say that “The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation. It’s to allow a healthy discourse ... .” You should have said “require” instead of “allow”. “Allow” sidesteps the issue of “speech” that devolves into harassment and discrimination. Institutions of learning must insure that all students have an equal opportunity to learn and grow.
2
Anti semitism appears to be the superpower of what used to be the radical weak. That they’re feeling they’re power now bodes ill, like a cold wind for those struggling to preserve the rule of law in general, and of course, for Jews in particular. What are the chances that the autocrats of the world and their minions both here and abroad will back off from antisemitism, as being a bridge to far?
Very little it seems fair to guess. If that assessment is right, then the fight is beginning. Democrats should now bring their wayward “ alt left” elements back to the fold.
The Gabbards , Steins, Greenwalds, and Taibbis of the party need to come aboard or be cast out. The last chance for democracy as we know it lies with a united Democratic Party, united in its belief in the rule of law and the value of truth. Fight for it. It’s a call to arms and a last chance. That’s just how it is.
2
Criticizing the policies of the modern nation-state of Israel does not necessarily constitute anti-semitism.
3
It is worth reading the actual text of the order before commenting on it.
https://www.scribd.com/document/439372691/Combating-Anti-Semitism-2019-Executive-Order#download
As you will note, it adds Jews as a group ( ethnic or otherwise defined) to other groups ( racial, gender, etc.) who are entitled to protection.
The reason this is necessary, as both parties agree, is that campuses have become a major center for attacks against Jews.
If this were done against other groups no one would have a problem.
Curious that when it is against Jews many, especially on the left, say this infringes on their free speech.
Visit this site which actually documents the incidents and people responsible and you will find that it is more than mere free speech. It is hate speech disguised as political discourse.
https://canarymission.org/
Happy Hanukkah to all, the festival of Light amidst darkness.
8
Antisemitism is despicable in every sense. I grew up hating it and admiring the Jewish left who fought against Jim Crow and every other kind of discrimination. But, the Times has been conflating antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and that is simply another way of justifying the mistreatment of Palestinians. It is really very simple -- one wrong does not justify another. Israel should abandon the settlements and withdraw from the West Bank completely for a starter. Then remove all the controls on Gaza that have turned it into a virtual concentration camp. Then restore full democratic rights to Palestinian citizens of Israel. Along the way we can take on Palestinian violence from the strongest possible position -- it would no longer appear to be the only option for a persecuted people. And, the divestment movement would go away as well. Many of the people who support it including me would love nothing more than an Israel that stands for freedom and equality for all. It's an unconscionable distortion to lay the blame for the recent rise of antisemitism on those including many Jews and lifetime opponents of antisemitism who oppose the mistreatment of Palestinians. That responsibility lies in the White House and with "many fine people" he has unleashed with his hateful rhetoric and tweets.
3
Did any one person at the speech DJT gave to the Israeli American Council stand up and walk out?
2
So this is the play: Attack free speech in its inner sanctum, our nations universities to appease the hard line Israeli supporter, but pay no mind, and even use dog whistles to stir up racist, gun toting white supremacists, (the ones we should really fear)because both are a sizable voting bloc; Trump’s political opportunism has no bounds.
1
It is not unreasonable to be pro-Israel and a pro-semite, but still have some sympathy for the BDS movement (though many of their stated goals are surely misguided). "Motivating" Israel to forge a real, likely two-State, solution to the Palestinian issue is inherently a GoodThing(tm).
This is very analogous to being a patriotic American and hating the policies of trump... loving Israel and hating the policies of Netanyahu.
I think the Antisemitism on the right and left come from a pretty similar sentiment--one articulated by Nietzsche. The sentiment is that powerful and strong=bad/immoral, and weak/oppressed=good/moral.
The antisemites on the left see Jews/Israel as the oppressors of Palestinians, and thus as bad guys. The antisemites on the right see Jews as the rich bankers and politicians oppressing the every-man.
(Ironically, Nietzsche thought that Jews as slaves in Egypt created this reversal whereby strong=bad and weak=blessed. Now we see the same sentiment expressed against Jews.)
Because left and right antisemitism take different forms, they play out in different ways. Both, though trade on the same trope of the Jew as controller of the world--a trope that goes back as far as Antisemitism itself.
The NYT will always interpret initiatives to make Trump look bad. The very logic of the NYT piece undercuts the NYT. Why must an initiative to reduce bad behavior now be depicted as the opposite?
1
Anti-Semitism is a disease that has to be addressed. But Trump's executive order is not the cure that's needed. Especially not if it stiffles free speech. It's only meant to bolster his standing with the Jewish voters of America. But they are not as gullible as Trump thinks they are.
We've seen this before: Trump only cares about Trump.
1
The Times hates Trump, so anything he does the Times condemns. I too don't like Trump, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.
It is well documented that The Times has historically had a problem with people who are "too Jewish" for the publisher's tastes. It is therefore no surprise that the Times thinks that government speech condemning anti-Semitism violates the right of free speech.
Sincerely,
George Orwell
3
The chant was “you will not replace us”—whatever that means.
Not a single mention of the horrible Anti-Semitism from the Left in America. Yes, White Nationalism is a problem. Yes, Israel is a far from perfect state. But there is a gaping hole in this editorial about how the Left is as much a part of the problem here, if not more, than the Right.
4
It remains clear Trump can’t spell Title VI. This remains a thinly veiled attempt at reaching “the Jewish vote” and would Trump have his way only those with deep pockets get to speak.
I realize that my comment is off the topic of BDS and college campuses, but what we should really be worried about is this quote from the article.
“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”
Any president that claims you have no choice but to vote for them is beyond problematic.
1
“Whatever its intent, B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students...”
Whatever its intent? Are you kidding? The founder of the BDS, Omar Barghouti, is crystal clear in his belief that Jews of the diaspora should not have the right to immigrate to his fantastical view of a Palestinian State stretching from the Jordan Valley to the Mediterranean. IE - a destruction of the Jewish State in its current form.
Please stop equivocating.
7
Interesting that Trump used anti-Semite pastor Robert Jeffress to speak at the WH Chanukkah party yesterday. When asked why he had a person like Jeffress at a Jewish holiday event, he said "I’d watch him on different shows, and I’d say, ‘I like that guy. Man, he talks really great about me,’” Trump said at the Hanukkah event on Wednesday. “And I like people that talk well about me.” Voting out this president will help to get rid of anti-Semitism.
3
Trump's ignorant (and loud) anti-semitic & nationalistic words, actions, policies, dog-whistles, rallies, campaign ads, and repetitive hate-speech have cause the alarming rise in anti-semitism across America.
Trump has made America less safe for Jewish Americans.
We need change in 2020.
3
Under Trump, I rue that I'm becoming a cynic. Is this executive order a ploy to appeal to the Jewish voter? Trump's very words and actions have long targeted minorities and he's exhorted his followers to violence.
1
This editorial is more Trump derangement syndrome by the left /democrat party apologist also known as the MSM. No matter what President Trump does the media will continue to denigrate rather than admit it is a good thing. When was the last time the NYT editorial board said smooth positive about this President? Never as far as I see, and that is with me of the best economies in decades. Please understand that this is why we stopped believing you about anything to do with the President.
2
You really, really must dislike Trump to have to spin this executive order as a bad thing. If it were any other president who did this it would be hailed as a triumphant move to fight hate.
Trump has literally made you insane.
3
"Should students be told what zionism is and then be told that federal rules prohibit any criticism of that lesson?"
Should students be told what \gender/ is and then be told that federal rules prohibit any criticism of that lesson?
I read that hate crimes are at all time highs across the board. So why are just Jewish folk going to be protected on college campuses? How about Muslims? Sikhs? Catholics? What about race and ethnicity? Sexual and gender orientation? Disabled? This smacks of pandering and a "gimme" for Kushner.
1
If Donald Trump was concerned about anti-semitism, he wouldn't have said "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." after the violent white-supremacist marches in Charlottesville, VA during which the marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us”. This new rule is a craven attempt to silence an important debate about Israeli actions in the West Bank under the guise of an attempt to prevent anti-semitism. We are not fooled.
1
Trump again subverts the truth for political gain. His objective is to squash criticism of Israel, not to protect Jewish students. His Orwellian double-speak is as appalling as ever, while his personal anti-Semitic tropes go on and on. Will this nightmare never end?
As a Jew, there are several issues here. First and foremost is trump's own shadowy anti-semitism. Until he STOPs using age old anti-semitic tropes, as he did last Saturday, and very publicly condemns white supremacy and nationalism and puts the government resources behind this, nothing will happen. Second, is that in doing this he is stating that being Jewish is a race, a nationality. I've heard that before - in any Holocaust Museum where Nazi propaganda pointed out the Jewish Race, making it a nationality (it is a religion and heritage, not a nationality). In doing so, trump also reinforces the anti-Semitic trope of dual loyalties. Third, trump took the safe approach, using what has been passed in Congress before many times. Nothing new, no teeth, no ramifications. For trump, with his ongoing support of white nationalists and telling Jewish conferences that they can loose money under Sanders (not true) or that Jews are not as loyal to Israel as they should be (there is a difference between Israel support and justified criticism of Netanyahu and his policies), this is just lip service for votes. The real fact is that since his presidential run and election, many who support anti-semitism are emboldened to be vocal and act. And sadly, that is not a coincidence.
" Whatever its intent, B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students, most of whom support Israel." Where do you get this? B.D.S. is not at fault for the anti-Semitic climate today, white supremacy is. Supporting the right of Israel to exist is *not* the same thing as supporting ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people, and most of the Jews I know, especially younger people and including Americans and Israelis, do not support Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people. Trump's actions are only a part of the larger picture of the fascist corporate American state's concerted efforts to take over our educational system, from kindergarten to college. See Privatization. See Betsy De Vos. See Professors fired for supporting Palestinian rights. See North Carolina declares Black History is not a requirement.
3
In the early 70's I was unaware of anti -Semitism until I began dating a Jewish man. There seem to always be haters but these President seems to stoke their angers and fears. We are going backward, not forward. I hope the next President can appeal to all the people, not just those he likes.
1
Trump uses Jews as pawns in his sick intuitive games of three-dimensional political chess. He puts Jews in the middle of a titanic culture war in which his dog whistles to the far right anti-Semites generate heat in the far left anti-Semites who in turn recruit support for anti-Jewish causes on college campuses. I shudder to think about where we will find a generation of newly minted college anti-Semites in government, corporate jobs, and broader society.
1
Trump's latest "executive order" is nothing but a fig leaf. It's designed to do nothing more than give an avenue for his rabid base to have yet another "hate Arabs" tantrum.
I'm a native-born American citizen. I'm in my 60's. And I am also Jewish. And I am appalled that any Jewish person in this entire country would support the likes of Donald Trump.
People, while Trump is signing his divisive "executive orders", there are several thousand Hispanic infants and children in internment camps on our soil. These children have committed no crimes. And this "administration" has no plans to ever reunite them with their families.
These actions should not be acceptable to any decent person. And they most certainly should not be acceptable to the U.S. Jewish community. And these children's lives should not be "for sale".
We, in the Jewish community, know quite well what anti-Semitism is. My inlaws are Holocaust survivors. My mother-in-law lost her entire family in Theresienstadt. And if we, American Jews, do not speak out against Trump, we are nothing more than enablers. American Jews who support Trump should do well to remember the screams of "Jews will not replace us" by the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville - you know, the ones that Trump said were "very fine people".
The suffering of these Hispanic families, whose children are in camps here, is our suffering. And we Jews ought to be pushing back against this abomination of a "president".
2
College Leftists are reaping the consequences of their own stance against free speech. For years, they’ve pushed back against the First Amendment by arguing 1) Hate speech shouldn’t be covered by the First Amendment; 2) What constitutes “hate speech” should be decided by the offended (and it doesn’t require unanimous agreement by the offended group; e.g. If some Native Americans don’t think the Cleveland Indians mascot is racist, their views don’t count).
Well guess what? Many (but not all) Jews view questioning the existence of Israel to be anti-Semitic. So by the standards of the Left, Trump’s executive order is a justifiable limitation of free speech.
Leftists should heed Martin Niemöller’s parable: When you condone censorship for things you don’t agree with, eventually the censors will come for you.
3
Leave it to The Times’s Board to omit the most crucial part of the executive order — this doesn’t squelch anti-Jewish or anti-Israel speech, or make it illegal in any way.
The BDS and other leftist groups can protest and boycott to their heart’s content. The government is not required to fund them. They can spew hate on their own dime.
3
Dear NYT editorial writers - have the guts to state your clear position on Trump's Executive Order using Title VI on this issue. If you're saying you support it, but the bigger issue is white supremacy, then simply state that. Well...we're waiting to hear.
1
"The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation."
What utter nonsense. Leftists don't care one whit about "free speech", in fact they are happy to stifle it when it offends them. Try going to any college campus today and spend the entire day wearing a MAGA hat. There is better than a 50% chance you not only will encounter verbal abuse but also violence.
3
This is all Trump showtime. Everybody, including Jewish Americans, should acknowledge this fact. Trump has created more hatred in the past three years than all politicians together since World War II.
1
Apples and oranges, NYTimes. There are many forms of anti-Semitism. You’ve grossly under appreciated the onslaught Jewish and Zionist students face on college campuses. This gives them actual recourse and protects them from the absolutely vile attacks coming from the anti-Israel movement, most especially SJP. This was a bold move, no matter who signed it into order. That it doesn’t deal with the sort of violence we saw in NJ this week is not the point. Give credit where credit is due?
5
Donald Trump has, as you point out, basked in adulation from white nationalist, neo-Nazi and often anti-Semitic hate mongers. He never does anything that does not benefit him or his company financially or politically. Anti-Semitic hatred on college campuses is a real threat, but Donald Trump is hardly a fit person to address it.
Four minutes on why crying wolf on antisemitism is a colossally bad idea: https://youtu.be/wlWDrXZhSIw.
It was done as part of an interview for The Canary in the UK, but I purposely link to the YouTube page so you'll maybe believe that I want to get the point across, not jack up ad rev. For anyone.
How many college students who stand against Israeli policies in the West Bank run around with guns and murder Jews? How many militant white nationalists and neo-Nazis are enrolled in our universities? Don't these people condemn our universities as bastions of liberal mind poisoning? Receiving a liberal arts education is the antithesis of white nationalism because an educated person would not want to be a white nationalist. Basically, the people doing the shooting aren't prevalent in institutions of higher learning.
I fear this ruling will just further brand Jewish people are being different, of belonging to another tribe. To claim that an American Jew is of a different nationality is akin to saying that person isn't a whole and complete American.
It also provides an excuse to justify cultural differences as being un American. There are Irish traditions, Italian traditions, Greek traditions, Japanese traditions. Should they too be labeled a specific nationality other than American?
I am a fully assimilated, first generation American Jew. I am not an Israeli. I do not belong to any other nationality other than American. I don't want any other labels painted across my chest.
3
You are oversimplifying the issues while at the same time exaggerating the free speech threat.
To say the existence of Israel is racist is repugnant and ridiculous. The free speech argument is that repugnant and ridiculous ideas are the ones that need protection most, and just as the Nazis had a right to march in Skokie, BDS has a right to spew their own hate brand.
But private campuses are not public streets; colleges can bar speech pretty much as they like within their sphere. In the age of the Internet, colleges are rethinking latitudes expanded in the 60s-80s which perhaps no longer serving the goal of creating a thriving environment of learning. (See: “safe spaces,” “trigger warnings,” etc.). At what point does aggregate free expression create a hostile and discriminatory environment? When is disruption too much?
But also, no private institution is entitled to public subsidy or to use taxpayer money to promote ideas, behavior, or speech that is repugnant. If something is defined as antisemitism when you analyze speech and “write reports,” why is it not antisemitism when it is made as speech? And why should incidents of that in subsidized private institutions not be counted and considered in public decisions about the expending of taxpayer money?
None of this means I support a heavy hand or am defending the new policy; but stop oversimplifying.
Talking about freedom of speech, how many people wearing "Make America Great Again" hats have we personally heard make raciest and/or anti-Semitic comments? It's a hypocritical paradox Trump fosters by being all things to all people - what ever he perceives to be self-serving at the time. Like calling Neo-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville - who shouted "Jews will not replace us!" - some "Very fine people."
1
Let us just note for the record here that the BDS movement is largely supported by liberals at these schools, and liberal lawmakers like Omar and Talib, whom have admitted to and apologized for making racist statements.
To ignore the above and insinuate that Trump is anti-Semitic is a joke given that Israel loves him and his own daughter and son in law are Jewish and are senior advisors to his Administration.
3
Trump, a proven anti-semite, isn’t trying to prevent anti-semitism on campuses. Combined with his deranged declaration that Jews constitute a nationality, he is merely trying to help his fellow sociopath Netanyahu, presumably for pay. As for the BDS movement, it’s adherents couldn’t care less about, and are therefore completely silent on, the injustices and mass murders taking place in America and countries around the world. For most, it is largely just a thin cover for their already present anti-semitism. It isn’t BDS that has made attacks on Jews on college campuses skyrocket, it is the daily vicious, bigoted rhetoric of Trump and Republicans who now openly call for hatred of many classes of Americans. BDS is largely just a symptom of the recrudescence of right wing bigotry in America.
What is absurd is that Trump is getting pats on the back for signing this piece of legislation when he has a Nazi sympathizer, Stephen Miller, operating out of the White House using cruelty and racism to craft immigration policies like caging children.
Trump is a bigot, and there has been a history and pattern of this for decades. His words like saying Nazis and white supremacists are "fine people" and calling Mexicans criminals and rapists are also on the record.
Facts and truth do not matter with bigots, and now, Trump's lies are being used as currency by others like the Republican Congress for personal gains or for the recruitment of those who want to blame others for their failures and shortcomings in life.
Personally, I think NYT editors and all of us should be advocating for the return of civics to primary and secondary school curricula nationwide. It would address some of the problems outlined and better empower our future electorate to properly understand and affect the decisions they and our government must make.
6
After reading this piece and the comments, one FACT emerges: people love to argue and fight. It appears to be an addiction. Fighting demands a person must pick a side to support and a side to denigrate. Sometimes that will not be sufficient to ignite the fight so True Believers will aggressively advertise their choice by wearing Special Hats, Sacred Scarves or Holy Hair Cuts, etc.
The rest is history.
1
"... people love to argue and fight."
Wrong analysis. People have the right to express their political and religious views. They do not have a "right" to threaten or harass other people.
Trump can't be gone soon enough for me.
8
I was born in NY and my parents were Jewish. I’m therefore a Jew who’s nationality is American. Given that there are also Jews who are Chinese, Ethiopian...the list goes on...and my forebears are pale Ukrainians, my ethnicity is white.
This EO is chilling. What’s next, helpful easy-to-identify arm bands?
12
@Dave Scheff
Me, too. All my grandparents were Ukrainian and two were Jewish. I'm a true Caucasian and am purely an American.
@Dave Scheff Amen !
I cringe when Donald J Trump uses ugly anti-Jewish tropes …. as he does regularly and did just this week.
But should we actually make laws or regulations banning these tropes.
Should Shakespeare's Jewish merchant be expunged from performances of the play because of the tropes?
We need a robust, educated, intellectually resilient society that can sort this stuff out without the thought police.
The Founders didn't enumerate a list of excluded categories from their articulation of the First Amendment.
3
This is a fascist power grab at the university level by our President, plain and simple.
And it enrages me that he's doing this under my name--a proud , committed and observant Jew.
Most Jews, though supportive of Israel, have also been critical of it as well. This should in no way be conflated with anti-Semitism and a legitimate attempt to combat it.
It is instead a one sided attack on progressivism.
14
Very good points. Opposition to the State of Israel is not anti-semitism. I am a supporter of a Democratic Secular Palestine, who is utterly opposed to anti-semitism. This is a move to censor anyone who disagrees with Israel.
Israel has laws on the books saying it is the state of the Jewish people. Not the state of Judaism, the state of the Jewish "people," as in "nation." If that doctrine weren't fundamental to Israeli state law and ideology, we wouldn't have the Israeli Palestinian conflict, which is entirely about Jewish nationalism shutting out non-Jews from equal citizenship in the state.
But that equation - "Jewish" as both a religious and a national identity - is really horrible. It's how we find the Star of David emblazoned on Israeli tanks and aircraft, on the uniforms of the soldiers harassing non-Jews at checkpoints, on the guard towers of the open air prisons into which non-Jews are stuffed. It's been been a terrible idea to link the great religion of Judaism to a state since Herzl dreamed up the idea back in the 1880s, initially to the horror of most Jews.
And now we're seeing that tragedy playing out here in the US: that our natural sympathy for religious freedom, our determination to defend people of the Jewish faith against the old scourge of anti-Semitism and our respect for the ancient teachings of Judaism run parallel to our disgust for a state and its wars, its aggression, its xenophobia and its apartheid. Israel plays on that confusion, and now Trump panders to it, but we can't afford to be duped. BDS and other principled nonviolent efforts must continue to oppose apartheid even in a state that claims the mantle of Judaism to slander us in our own country.
9
The Board's argument is upside down. In the sixties, Catholic doctrine held Jews responsible for killing Jesus. In my Irish Catholic suburb, that was very real. My friends told me that I was going to burn. This was not playful taunting. My friends literally believed that the door to heaven was locked for me.
My first job was as a teacher in the Bible Belt. I was the second Jew to have lived in Goldsboro, NC. And the prevalent attitude, among whites and blacks was that I was too regular a guy to be a Jew. The only reasonable strategy there was to retreat into the closet. After all, when I took attendance, I needed to have some kids in the seats.
Things have come a long way. Some Pope or other absolved the Jews. And word is that Goldsboro is less provincial. Baptists, black and white, now know Jews.
The number of hate crimes against Jews is indeed on the rise. But most are minor and I weathered as much 50 years ago. What is on the rise is mass shootings and other high profile attacks. But those sorts of attacks are on the rise across the board. The salient point isn't that antisemitism is on the rise, it is that there are more mass shootings.
In the sixties, antisemitism was be endemic. It was on your street, in the schools and at your job. Today. the main problem is haters with guns. Get rid of the guns and that problem is solved.
It is beyond debate that it is much easier being Jewish today. I am prouder about being Jewish than ever before.
4
This is simply a way of trying to muzzle students and faculty who demonstrate compassion for the Palestinian people.
7
No, there are many ways to show compassion for a group of people that don't malign an entire religion or an entire population of millions of people, or humiliate and even endanger people who are not themselves acting without compassion and are 1/2 a world away.
My Jewish neighbor is warm and welcoming to Palestinian kids and to non-Jewish kids in the area, but my neighbor's young kids are harassed at public school (receiving federal funds) because they are Jewish and have an Israeli-born American parent. To the point that they and their parents now have become afraid/cautious of sharing with others that they are Jewish or have Israeli heritage and relatives. That should not be, yet it happens. More often than you seem to be aware or to care about.
4
"“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”"
This is not ok. Not anywhere. The President's apologists in Congress are going to keep him in office till the next elections. His words (such as those in the article) must be printed far and wide, in large letters, to show voters how hate-filled and unhinged is trump. Maybe then they will learn that their vote cannot be wasted on him.
6
While the Times is correct that violent anti-Semitism from the right is a major concern of American Jews, the Times continues to turn a blind eye to anti-Semitism from the left and
the impact on Jewish students on college campuses across the country. When
Jews are attacked by Muslims in Europe or African-Americans in the USA, it is rarely even covered by the Times because it is contrary to the Times’ view that white nationalists are the only threat.
It is disingenuous for the Times to continually assert that BDS merely promotes a boycott of israeli products made on the West Bank in order to change Israeli policies. The reality - as Bargouti, the founder of BDS has made clear - is that BDS’ goal is to eradicate Israel. I hate trump, don’t like Bibi and am happy to debate Israel’s policies and have them debated on campus. But supporters of BDS prevent any pro-israel speaker from even speaking on campus.
The Times has correctly supported efforts by colleges to provide safe spaces for African-Americans, Muslims, the LGBT community and others. Trump’s executive order will help Jewish students feel safe and is long overdue.
8
It is about time! Most Jews identify, if at all, as an ethnic and national group, not religiously. Jewish "religion" is enmeshed in the ancient and broad culture, including everything from literature, music, cuisine, etc. Let's be clear: I wish to see Trump removed from office! However, on this issue, protecting Jewish students from antisemitism, he is correct.
5
"... Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, a movement advocating economic measures opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. "
The above characterization is NOT compatible with the usual chants in B.D.S. gatherings: "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free".
These kind of chants clearly means NO nation state for the Jewish people.
At least the B.D.S demonstrators have more authenticity than media articles describing them.
8
"These kind of chants clearly means NO nation state for the Jewish people."
Political slogans are meant to be catchy, not rigorous statements of political objectives.
Anyway, it should not be assumed that the "chanters" represent anyone but themselves.
Wait a minuet didn't the president threaten to withhold funding to the Ukraine if they did not do an investigation on Hunter Biden? I guess if at first you don't succeed...And speaking of hunting and the sons of presidents and VPs. So lovely that the bearded macho dreaming trump son bagged an endangered wild sheep in a canned hunt. What a brave guy.
1
All he had to do was pursue legislation or issue an executive order that makes religion-based discrimination illegal in the education arena.
As for the other piece, about anti-Zionism: 1st the order should have included a clear definition of (anti)-Zionism, because there are different types of Zionist ideas, goals, and values and they are not all equally ethical and, hence, the unethical and threatening aspects of anti-Zionisms differ as well. 2nd, the entire part about anti-Zionism should have been a separate order.
I went to school in a red county in PA. There were anti-Jewish slurs and swastikas graffitied in every bathroom and textbook. I never knew that it wasn’t normal until I went to college. Antisemitism is a real problem in America but trying to say that one party owns all of it is so very misleading.
5
It is not accurate to say that BDS is a "movement advocating economic measures opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank" - that's misleading. BDS calls for the full right of return, which means no Israel as a Jewish state, even within the pre-67 borders. Hence, BDS is anti-Semitic in that it doesn't support the right of Jewish people to have self-determination. BDS also supports a one-state solution: a Palestinian state (which will love Jews apparently..)
This article does not mention Antisemitism from the Left, which is just as prevalent and nefarious - look no further than Jeremy Corbyn. Antisemitism from the Muslim world cannot be ignored either. While anti-semitism from the right may lead to these horrible instances, Iran getting the bomb or a weakened Israel would lead to genocide and thus is just as big of a threat, if not bigger. BDS = many many dead Jews
11
The existence of anti-Semitism is as indisputable and ubiquitous as the existence of gravity. And in the same way that gravity is always exerting its force on all objects, so is the force of anti-Semitism, causing hateful actions and dishonest and harmful words to be directed at Jews, sometimes in the name of Israel, and other times simply because it's okay to express hatred toward Jews. Both of my children experienced this anti-Semitism (at the University of Michigan, Cornell University, and at NYU).
If they were people of color, it would not be tolerated. But because they are Jewish, it is acceptable.
8
"But the larger threat to American Jews goes beyond college students sparring over Israeli policy. Violent anti-Semitism is being fomented most significantly by white nationalists and the far right." - This is so wrong. The vast majority of violent anti-semitic acts, and threatening anti-semitic acts on campus in the world today are not made by white nationalists. On the contrary, they are made by people on the left.
6
I appreciate the Times publishing this editorial at the same time as the opinion note by Jared Kushner. Mr. Kushner's apologia is fundamentally nonsense. The Times editorial is not. The issue - if there is a single issue - of anti-Israel/anti-Jewish conduct and action on 'US college campuses' cannot be addressed nor solved by issuing an amendment to an existing federal regulation endorsing a fiction. All the executive order accomplishes is confusion, with an unsavoury historical analogue to the Nuremburg Laws of 1935, replacing the German citizenship of German Jews with a citizenship based on individual faith determined and enforced by the State. As my senator, "Brian Schatz, a liberal Jewish Democrat from Hawaii, summed it up: “The idea that a college campus would have its views on Israel regulated by the federal Department of Education? Oy Gevalt.” Indeed. When the State decrees, by law or implication that civil rights are conditioned on religious belief, it is wrong. When the United States of America does so, it violates the Constitution which governs it.
3
The BDS crowd need to realize that through these investments Palestinians gain experience, and one day being able to run businesses and enterprises on their own and this in turn enables them in establishing an economically viable entity.Employments in Eco sector of investors pays relatively better and that swells the rank of the middle class and the children get better fed and get educated well keeping them away from engaging in something rash.Unless the BDS crowd has some hidden score 2 settle they r in essence sabotaging Palestinians and creating more youths who feel dissafected.Hebrew is the oldest language in all of humanity's history which in turn means it has retained a lot more knowledge than others (sorry if this offended the sensitivity of those with a different mother tongues), so it shouldn't b surprising if they excel better than some why resent them for that and appreciating or acknowledging the excellence in others in areas of endeavor is a sign of wisdom, while scapegoating one Gp is dishonest and unwise.In any Univ community or society at large succumbing to just emotional bias diminishes it.Unfounded or non provable claims like "Israel is a Racist construct" is full of falsehood and inflammatory and why does it merit a 1st or 2nd Amend whatever protection.Campuses are 4 the pursuit of Truth not 4 propagating bias and pit 1 Gp against another( 4 a long time Academic or researcher or good students that is just obvious).TMD.
2
This is a start. Antisemitism, anti-faith activity and mass murders has to end at lightening speed by all means possible including confiscation of guns and preventive arrests. We are beyond enough is enough. Happy Hanukah to all those of Jewish faith. Merry Christmas to all the Christians. Eid Mubarak to all Muslims. Happy Kwanza, season's greetings and peace to the rest.
3
This editorial completely ignores the wider instances of anti-Semitism.
The most recent killings aimed at Jews in Jersey City were committed by African Americans. There are videos and recorded audio of numerous bystanders expressing joy at the deaths of the Jews in the kosher supermarket.
Why don't journalists report that there have been increasing attacks on Jews in the NY metro area over the last year - primarily in Brooklyn. And these attacks in the NY area are committed almost exclusively by African-Americans?
The attackers are not from the Middle East or Africa. They are home grown.
Neither are they right wing white men.
Hate directed at Jews has been with us for thousands of years, continues to the present and is shared by people of all colors.
7
Israelis are going to the pols for a 3rd time in less than a year. It’s quite possible that their new government might support many of the same policies BDS supports.
What then president Trump? What then BDS supporters?
@Dg
Actually, the prospect of BDS policies being represented by an Israeli government is impossible.
The fact is that there are no political parties, including the many Arab parties in Israel, that have indicated support for BDS.
I am surprised that nobody has commented on the double-edged nature of the executive order. While throwing a bone to those who resent any criticism of Israeli policy (at least as many Evangelicals as Jews!), it also enshrines in federal policy a position dear to the cold hearts of right-wing extremists everywhere: that Jews are, first and foremost, a race (not a faith tradition). This adds to the peril of being identified as Jewish wherever and whenever white supremacist ideology is voiced.
President Trump encouraged hate-spewing, anti-Semitic nationalists with his own rhetoric. Now he's pretending to do something about it, while actually pandering to his base and threatening the First Amendment. It's quite an accomplishment: he's raising hypocrisy to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Sure, there’s nothing wrong with a “healthy discourse about the country’s policies, its future and the role of American diplomacy and aid in the region.”
Unfortunately however some BDS supporters use their free speech as cover for their anti-Israel views, including questioning its very existence, which is anti-Semitism, and that can incite acts of violence against Jews.
4
As I wrote more than a decade ago, and have posted on the "Times" many times:
We are a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-racial, even post-racial, sectarian, mixing-pot-world of democracies on a small fragile planet --- and yet, we are still not beyond the danger of existential death at the hands of ancient and irrelevant tribal 'empire-thinking'.
As only Kurt Vonnegut's sense of ironic black humor might envision, "It is as if the whole human race was about to sit down to a celebratory picnic for successfully reaching our 21st century, when we are all unexpectedly killed by one remaining giant dinosaur."
The last people in the world who should want to stay in (or ever promote) a world of tribalism, are the Muslims and Jews ---- based on how they have been abused by various nationalist and other modern "-ism" Empires.
Fighter pilots have a saying that, "speed is life". But, for all the rest of us, "inclusiveness is life" --- and tribalism is death by the oldest lie of empire.
Racism is another deadly old lie of empire, as is aggressively fundamentalist religion.
Nationalism is a somewhat newer lie of empire, proving particularly deadly in the 20th century.
While, economic ideology is the newest, and current, lie of empire (which is causing our economic and environmental collapse).
But all the lies and deceptions of "empire-thinking" lead ineluctably to the very same grave --- so choose your empire poison, stupidly. Or choose your inclusiveness, wisely.
1
Once again, criticism of Israeli governmental policies is not defacto antisemitism, just as criticism of Saudi or Iranian policy is not defacto anti-muslim. Supporting BDS boycotts is not an attack on the Jews or the jewish faith, it is exercising one's free speech through consumer choices to express a moral and political point of view. The hysterias over political correctness on campus and left wing antisemitism are canards perpetrated by right wing groups to sow division and ultimately limit free speech and dissent. We need to be concerned with the very real, dangerous, and deadly antisemitism that festers in the white nationalist extremism of the right. And who do these groups support as president? Does anyone wonder why?
2
The NYT misses the point. Groups like BDS and Free Palestine are not interested in discussion. They harass, get in the face or Jewish students and they shout down any pro-Israel speaker, whether an American Jew or Israeli. If there were white supremacist groups on campus harassing, getting in the face of African American students and shouting down African American speakers the NYT would run article after article after article about intolerable campus life. If Muslim students were harassed and shouted down the NYT would also run articles about intolerable campus life. If gay students were harassed and shouted down the NYT would also run articles about intolerable campus life.
Students should be free to express themselves on campus, but not intimidate others with a different point of view or shout down and disrupt speakers who are pro-Israel. Ending that harassment and intimidation form BDS and Fee Palestine and colleges looking the other way is the goal of the executive order. Whatever else Trump has down doesn’t matter. Life for many Jews on campus has become dangerous. Readers may not see it, because it rarely makes the news, but it is there!
9
Anti-semitism is alive and well in the House of Representatives, as advocated by the "squad"; wh would have imagined America would devolve to this level? The Founders must be very disappointed.
4
Now I will have more freedom to criticize Israeli policies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem than I will have at an American university.
4
To me, the touchstone for issues like this is: What does the community in question think of it? Is this something that Jewish leaders and activists have been calling for? Do they believe it makes them safer or more free? Or have they criticized it?
@April
This is not really for Jewish people. Only about 10% of American Jews are Orthodox like Jared Kushner. If this is for anyone, it's for that 10%.
Since 10% of 6 million people is so small, I'd guess this is done for the crazy Evangelical crowd that loves Israel (not Jews or Judaism, Israel).
There will be lawsuits. Or is Trump the King now?
2
The backlash against free speech was intended. Trump is intentionally baiting liberal "snowflakes" into defending conservative college organizations. Meanwhile, the order effectively does nothing to prevent real world antisemitic violence. The order actually is worse than nothing.
Trump just classified the Jewish religion as a race. White nationalists are cheering. If classify Judaism as a race you legally ascribe the status to a group of people without their permission. Being Jewish is no longer a choice. The government says you're Jewish as a matter of descent. You are therefore legally Jewish. Not just a religious practitioner.
Think of it this way. Would you describe Evangelicals as a race? There are Evangelicals all over the world. Certain variations are extremely Zionist. Would that make a South African Evangelical subject to apartheid or other similar discrimination based on race? It certainly could because religion is a choice whereas race is not. This is exactly the world view white supremacy wants to project.
The evangelical Right is in the USA supports Israel because the unification of "greater Isreal" is required by their prophecies. The step after that is world war centered on Isreal. Eventually we get Armegedon and the second coming of Christ, who takes all the "christians" to heaven. The rest of us are "left behind" to die in chaos.
Jewish people that ally themselves with this ideology are empowering violent antisemites.
Antisemitism and support for Isreal are not mutually exclusive for the Right in the USA. In fact it is easier to use a People and discard them if you see them as less than human.
If Isreal wants to be secure, instead of allying itself with violent antisemites whose goal is to bring world war to Isreal, they should ally with those that believe in peace and Justice for ALL people, the Left.
Treating Palestinians as second class citizens and terrorizing them with "collective punishment," is not going to bring peace to Isreal.
Allying with Trump, who likes to perform Jew jokes for Jewish audiences, calls antisemites shouting "Jews will not replace us," "fine people" and is timing a war in Iran for October 2020, is not going to bring peace to Isreal.
It is not an accident that antisemites hate crimes are up 15% some Trump's re-election.
Trump's constant attacks on every minority is encouraging hate.
90% of hate crimes in the USA are committed by the Right and 70% of mass murders, including political terror attacks at synagogues, are from the Right.
Have some D.B.S. activists - occasionally - crossed the line? Absolutely! Are some of them anti-semites? Quite possibly! Are they a lethal threat to Jewish Americans? Absolutely not!
It are almost exclusively Neonazis and other white supremacists, who murder Jews out of hatred, and it are these "very fine people" who feel emboldened by the current administration.
This is a cheap move by Trump to please his evangelical base, shore up Netanyahu, and demonize the Palestinians - again in a transparent attempt to pander to the right.
I can't believe that right-wing Jewish Americans support this. Trump's decision is incredibly short-sighted and will spectacularly backfire. For those who love to hate "the Jews," Trump's little stunt has confirmed every anti-semitic conspiracy theory in the book.
2
My nationality is American. My religion is Judaism. Both are precious to me.
Trump’s new Executive Order is a trap. For the questionable benefit of eligibility under Title VI he defines Jewish Americans as something different from Americans. Our worst enemies have always begun their persecution by painting us as Other.
Jews should resist this reclassification.
3
Coincidentally the rise of conservatism worldwide seems to stoke the anti-semitic fires. Why are the Jews targets? This has always baffled me. They are a small collection of people worldwide in two major enclaves, Israel and the United States. They do not appear controversial in their positions and all seem to go about their business like the rest of us. What gives?
3
I watched part of the ceremony to mark this with Kushner and Ivanka in the back, and an Evangelical preacher talking, followed by Allan Dershowitz. It was cringe producing and creepy. Are these people aware that this is bill is unconstitutional, and falls into curtailing freedom of speech? So any criticism of Israel is now a crime? But it is okay to criticize China, Myanmar, India, Mexico, Venezuela, Ukraine, etc. Just not the land of the chosen Israel? This is not smart sensible or democratic. All kinds of fights are going to come out of this.
2
@ExhaustedFightingForJusticeEveryDay ". It was cringe producing and creepy. "
Why not say, more honestly that YOU cringed and were creeped out? What you think you saw is in your mind and and not in reality.
Trump hatred has reached such a pitch in some communities that people are literally unable to see things as they are.
Why are you consistently refusing to call out the equally dangerous anti-Semitism on the left coming directly from the mouths of freshman congresswomen Talib and Omar, from Bernie’s hired gun Sarsour and from the other organizers of the women’s march, just to name a few.
Anti-Semitism isn’t a just far right issue. It is coming from ALL sides. And that is why it is so frightening.
7
As the Polish-born daughter of Holocaust survivors, I feel far more threatened by “pro-Israel” zealots than by students - many of them Jewish - who support Palestinian rights. The Jewish values I was raised with reject collective punishment and dehumanization, practices that Israel - in its courts, military, and legislature - regularly employs against the Palestinian people. These practices humiliate and demean their targets, even as they corrupt their perpetrators. Tolerating and justifying such loathsome discrimination as “necessary” against Palestinians fuels a fire that threatens us all.
I watched part of the ceremony to mark this with Kushner and Ivanka in the back, and an Evangelical preacher talking, followed by Allan Dershowitz. It was cringe producing and creepy. Are these people aware that this is bill is unconstitutional, and falls into curtailing freedom of speech? So any criticism of Israel is now a crime? But it is okay to criticize China, Myanmar, India, Mexico, Venezuela, Ukraine, etc. Just not the land of the chosen Israel? This is not smart sensible or democratic. All kinds of fights are going to come out of this.
Jewish students on campus need protection. I agree that Trump is doing this for his own reasons, but the abuse heaped upon Jewish students on campus these days is tremendous. And the BDS movement isn't about the Palestinians on the west bank, it is, according to the BDS leaders, about their aim at destroying the one tiny Jewish democracy in the middle east and replacing it with the 23rd Arab dictatorship. The well funded (where is the $ coming from?) BDS movement has made campus life dangerous for Jewish students, any protection is welcomed.
8
There is probably no greater force driving anti-semitism in America than Trump. The best thing that could happen in America to reduce anti-semitic acts – and other forms of hate – would be to remove this despicable, deranged, corrupt man from office, and put his supporters, the Vichy Republicans out of power permanently.
1
Being Jewish, Zionism, support for Israel, analysis of Israel's government, and boycotts of Israelis are each complex matters and should be differentiated.
Who and what is a Jew is not as simple as one may think. Just look at trying to define Blacks in America. Obama has likely been looked upon by people in the street as being Black, but is as much "white". Being Jewish is both a genetic thing (ancestry), a religion, sometimes a "look", and a cultural way of being. And none of these is unambiguous nor exclusive of the others.
The state of Israel is a complicated polity. It exposes the historicism of the modern state -- something created out of a convergence of many historical activities. The modern nation-state, required the establishment of "imagined communities" to make a nation out of a state, and has survived with endless conflicts of borders, inclusion, exclusion, and theft (a term not appropriate for many cultures when it comes to land, but practiced by others in expropriating private property). In many ways Israel a unique nation-state, somewhat like the others (with all their faults) but also a product of a necessity that originated in anti-Semitism. Simply put, Jews have been told they don't really belong anywhere else.
Students should be able to discuss these issues and argue about them. The boycott movement, however, is a not a theoretical debate, it is a personal hurt and should be curtailed. And this is all of our problem, not just one for Congress.
It is a terrible statement the president made about Jewish real estate people. It fuels anti-Semitism. Trump is a serious threat to free speech and a free press.
1
"The president’s campus intervention ignores the bigger threat of anti-Semitism and threatens speech."
Surprise! Imagine that... the President misses the big picture again. Well, at least he's consistent.
1
Open letter to Jared Kushner
Dear Jared,
for years now, the GOP has massively spread hate speech against all kinds of minorities - and even against its political opponents.
Most of it was based on self-fabricated fake news, moreover.
How will an Executive Order that declares certain political disagreements with the current Israeli government "discrimination" against an entire nation/race/ethnicity, somehow help to turn the tide ... ?
Either you believe in "the free flow of ideas", EVEN the ones you personally find "detestable" or "lies" (so that those ideas can be defeated by refuting them), OR you start to try to get rid of those ideas by signing an Executive Order and remove them though the force of the government.
You seemed to want it both.
History - especially the Holocaust - has shown that that is not possible.
There seems to be some misunderstanding about the executive order and free speech.
It is my understanding that it places Jewish students in a protected class along with other minority groups while not restricting other's speech in any way, only preventing the university from participating in and supporting hateful speech outside of the classroom, as in allowing students campus facilities to promote such. It would not restrict the speech of students outside of the university.
Of course if the university chooses not to accept the government's money, the students can do anything they want.
5
"It is my understanding ..."
The executive order is online at the White House web site, so you can read it yourself. Do a web search for "Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism".
Note, in particular, the word "rhetorical" in this phrase: "Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism ...".
That sounds like a reference to speech, which means that the executive order could be unconstitutional under the 1st Amendment. Expect lawsuits.
It's not like Betsy Devos can manage Federal Funds to schools accordingly anyways. All Education funding must suit her agenda, or you will have to sue to force her to follow the law.
2
Israel pains my heart and soul. Its treatment of Palestinians is an achingly predictable, tragic reaction to the unspeakable event of the Holocaust that betrays the natal flaw of Christianity. But such inhumane policies are a predictable incubator of a renewed anti-Semitism. It is my love for the parent tradition of what my rabbi friend of blessed memory called my "minor Jewish sect" that calls me to condemn Israel's self-destructive lawlessness and blindness, not anti-Semitism. Israel is breaking my heart.
Trump and Jared Kushner, no so much, and for my own country.
1
Does this mean that any school with Arab studies will lose federal funding in the future if Trump doesn't like what they say? There goest the First Amendment.
3
No, because there are (increasing numbers of) Arab people who aren't against the idea or reality of the State of Israel or of Jewish self-determination, including but certainly not limited to many non-Jewish Israelis.
2
"There goest the First Amendment."
Nope. The President cannot override the US Constitution, although it may require the US Supreme Court to say so. IOW, expect lawsuits.
I think it's interesting that, as someone of Jewish ancestry, every single time I question the morality of any state based on ethnicity and religion, I am attacked by Zionists who insist that I'm ignorant and that a Jewish state is different from an Islamic State or a Christian State. Many of these people claim to be critics of Trump, but you can't have it both ways. Either accept that anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism are emphatically not the same or accept that you will be identified as a supporter of racism because, by definition, you are.
2
Phenomenal who Americans chose to represent them. Are we a fine line from extinction? Is it smart vs. dumb? Economically stressed vs economically solvent? Corrupt vs. honest? All of the above? This is human nature folks and it’s always lurking not too far behind waiting to make it’s move.
Many in organizations like Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions are Jewish. Most people conflate Judaism with Zionism, which is a mistake. Speaking out against Israel’s crimes against Palestinians isn’t hate speech or anti Semitism, it’s simply humane.
4
Actually, BDS is NOT a Jewish organization, nor is it a movement originally conceived and promoted by Jewish individuals.
4
As a middle aged white man, I strive to keep a low profile and avoid discriminating situations. For example, I avoid being too early to pick up my kids from school to avoid getting suspect “stink eye” from teachers, administrators and other parents. Unfortunately, we live in a world where racial profiling is horrified yet stigmatizing social profiling is widespread and commonly accepted. vis-a-vis, it’s not just the Jews. Identity politics and political correctness has exacerbated this in our society and it’s a disgrace.
4
If Trump was truly interested in taking action against anti-Semitism on campus without creating confusion and controversy about the meaning and implications of the Executive Order, he would just add/include “religion” to the EO and propose it be added to Title VI wording protecting minority groups. Any guess why he wouldn’t do that?
1
With all the misogamy, lies, hatred and treats spread by Trump, it is no wonder that all the bad guys are coming out of the wood works. I can't think of a single instance where Trump has said something nice to all people. Why does he have to be so nasty towards everyone who does not support him. It just encourages people to be nasty than nice.
1
Israel's activities against the Palestinians speak for themselves. The racist tirades raised by Netanyahu to gin up political support for his reelection are there for all to see. Anti Semiticism has a long despicable history in US and European history. Demogogic charges of Anti-semiticism have been raised against Jeremy Corbin, a longtime campaigner against racism and anti-semiticism, which have hurt him politically. As the editorial states violence ginned up against Jewish scape goats is on the rise. Indeed Trump has made a surprising embrace of anti-semiticism while condemning it. He must think that nobody is paying attention or that it really doesn't matter as long as he can benefit from it both ways.
1
Pure publicity stunt. He’s been getting hammered on Israel, and he’s been using the whole “Jewish” angle to inspire his base. Not only that, it’s yet another executive fiat, from the Great Deal Maker. Let’s call this what it is, please. This has nothing to do with protecting anything except votes for Trump.
3
Nothing he does is to protect anybody but Trump.
In the era of “safe spaces” it is imminently reasonable to extend the same privilege to Jews that other historically oppressed minority groups claim for themselves.
6
Anti-Semitism needs to be stamped out. Plain and simple. But don't conflate the Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement with Anti-Semitism. BDS grew out of criticism for policies by the Israeli government, not people who are Jewish.
There should be no room for the hatefulness that is Anti-Semitism in America. Just as there should be no occupation of Palestine or second-class citizenship for Palestinian residents in Israel.
2
I watched part of the ceremony to mark this with Kushner and Ivanka in the back, and an Evangelical preacher talking, followed by Allan Dershowitz. It was cringe producing and creepy. Are these people aware that this bill is unconstitutional, and falls into curtailing freedom of speech? So any criticism of Israel is now a crime? But it is okay to criticize China, India,Myanmar, Mexico, Venezuela, Ukraine, etc. Just not the land of the Israel? This is not smart sensible or democratic. All kinds of fights are going to come out of this.
I find this editorial missing a few nuggets. Campuses these days bend over backwards to provide "safe spaces" where you can go if you don't agree with something or it hurts you. I fail to see how curbing anti-Semitic words is putting a limit on freedom. We do not yell "Fire" in a crowded theater. We do not condone hate and violence. We ask for social media to show that attitude. Although Trump is doing this ONLY for his own benefit, there is no reason why we cannot benefit from this. There is a tremendous amount of anti-Semitism on campuses and it must be STOPPED.
3
Disagreeing with Israel’s policies and being anti-Semitic are not the same thing. We need to be careful to not confuse the two.
Penalizing speech critical of Israel, thereby weakening the free speech rights of every American, benefits no one. It certainly does not benefit Jewish students on campus, many of whom, with great conviction and courage, provide the strongest campus voices for justice in Israel/Palestine.
The editorial board gets it wrong again. The anti Jewish anti Israel narrative is endemic and systematic on many college campuses. It runs deep into the student bodies, faculty, and administrations. Campuses are fomenting restriction of free speech by not protecting conservative voices of their own student bodies or invited speakers. Yes, there certainly some fringe anti Semitic groups on the far right. But anti Semitic speech, tolerance of same, verbal and physical assaults on Jewish students are not the product of a few whacky white supremacists, but of the far left, and those of the Democratic Party that sit idly by.
4
Beware, this is not Trump's last stop in an authoritarian assault on free speech: "I'm going to open up our libel laws so when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money. We’re going to open up libel laws, and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
my imagination, or didn't Trump sign an executive order earlier this year protecting freedom of speech on university campuses?.....Oh well
1
Isn't the whole point of higher education to teach us how to critically think? How to entertain a myriad of opinions, to be exposed to various ideologies and to expose us to the wider world? To encourage free thought? To question?
Any kind of discrimination against Jewish people should be stopped, as any kind of discrimination against any culture, class, religion, gender, color of one's skin or the economically disadvantaged, such as children, the elderly, the homeless.
Trump is playing the game to win the support of the Jewish community right now, just as he plays to the White Supremacy members.
Trump could care less about discrimination in general. He cares only to lie his way to re-election. And to appeal to the basest of human emotions.
1
Anybody whose bedtime reading was a book of Hitler's speeches--and never denied it--cannot comment on antisemitism. That "anybody" is Donald J. Trump, whose first wife made that observation, and was never denied by Marvin Davis, who gave that volume as a gift.
I appreciate the sentiment of the Editorial Board here to distinguish anti-Semitism from criticism of Israel. But it is rather half-hearted, and misses the bigger point: We criticize Israel and oppose Zionism because they are a state and an ideology founded on the exclusion of another people who nevertheless exist and claim the same land. The Times rightfully acknowledges Jews living in fear here in the U.S. and in many places around the Western world these days. But we insist that they also acknowledge the Palestinians (who are not even mentioned in this editorial), who are terrified that their homes will be demolished, that the next wave of Israeli air strikes will come and kill them by the thousands. Jewish lives matter, but Palestinian ones do too: and too many Palestinian lives have been taken in the name of Israel's project of separating Jews from non-Jews. Can we live together? Can we acknowledge each other's mutual worth? Until we can, we insist on the right to criticize injustice wherever we see it, including in Israel.
1
There’s never going to be peace over there as long as everybody lives in their own little neighborhood. It’s a lot easier to see people as fellow humans when you live next door to them & your kids play together.
I have the right to criticize Israel, to question the decision to create the state of Israel, and to call for secularism and democracy by advocating a boycott of Israel.
Trump and Prince Kushner both want me to stop calling apartheid wrong. I refuse.
1
I wonder how many women were mutilated, tortured and murdered this year because of misogyny?
We probably don't even keep figures on that one.
Many more in Gaza and PA-controlled West Bank than in Israel, and mostly by their fellow Palestinians.
2
Right. If Trump rescued a kid from a burning building the intrepid editorial board would kvetch that he hadn't saved three. Just give it a rest and salvage a shred of credibility.
2
@John D Just because the right-wing media you watch does that, does not mean that other sources don't have higher standards.
This move is much more about denigrating the BDS movement than about fighting against antisemitism. BDS was effective against the Apartheid and no one equated it with racism.
To your last point, that is partly because nowhere in the world, and certainly not in South Africa, were white people in the minority power-wise. The same cannot be said of Jewish people, except for in the State of Israel, which since its inception has sought peaceful coexistence with non-Jewish populations in the region and worldwide.
1
Trump is not the source of rising anti-semitism. Press corps attempts to link every societal ill to our President only undermine the allegation. This kind of racism & bigotry did not begin in 2016.
1
Ok, you lost me after the second paragraph when you stated as fact that individuals showed up at the doors of the local synagogue here with semi-automatic rifles that fateful August morning two years ago. To do what? To threaten congregants? To protect them? Either way, this is a lie. It never happened. I am so sick and tired of the fantastic fabrications that have been put forth about that day by the media and yes, even synagogue leadership, to further their own selfish agendas. There is enough sad truth to support a recent rise in anti-semitism globally to withstand the need to promulgate outright lies.
You do your cause incalculable damage when you deal this way. A little due diligence is imperative to maintain any credibility for a point worth making. Readers beware!
Trump has a political problem, he has a white nationalist political base which includes many people who are antisemitic and he needs votes from Jews, particularly in Florida and Pennsylvania. Clearly his strategy has been to support the white nationalist conspiracy theories about Jewish control and to oppose antisemitism when it involves Israel. He wants both the white nationalists and Jews to believe he is on their side even though the white nationalists present a threat to Jews. It would seem that Jews in the US should be much more concerned about white nationalism antisemitism than the very complicated issue of antisemitism involving Israel. It is hard to understand how any Jewish person in the US could rationally vote for Trump. His total support for white nationalism represents an extremely serious threat to American Jews.
I think it is wrong to view this executive order solely through the lens of how it might or might not affect Jews. I think a more complete analysis will include the effect this order will have on Muslims and schools with large Muslim populations. Many Muslim students support BDS and do not accept that Israel has the right to whatever land it wants in the middle east. Many oppose the concept of Zionism. This executive order gives the government the power to punish those schools and students by withholding aid and loans. This may be simply more persecution of Muslims in the US.
BDS is a failure. Israel is stronger than at any time in its history, and there is less likelihood of any withdrawal from any territories than at any point in its history. Palestinians and Palestine are now at their nadir.
1
Every right afforded to Americans comes with limits. For example, one cannot slander or libel. There's a penalty for such action. This must be extended to words that carry with them the intent to isolate and harm others based on race, religion, or national origin. That would have been a better option than Trump's Executive Order, which ultimately and officially seeks to make Jews an "other". What's next, yellow stars?
3
Make no mistake, the GOP and the right wing don’t care about Jews. They are only interested in using the state of Israel to further their own political and ideological agenda, and since when are they interested in using the power of the federal government to protect American students?
This executive order is really in keeping with the modern conservative tradition of appealing to ideas like religious liberty, free speech, and public safety in order to undermine those very ideals.
1
Forget about anti-semitism. Donald Trump and his son in law made it a thing of the past. Now the administration is seeking to make the constitution irrelevant. Great family, lovely regime.
1
Federal funding needs to be eliminated from a president who stereotypes, denigrates and incites division and hatred. Even the audience of accused ‘killer’ Jewish real estate moguls should have some basic understanding of how Miller’s strategy works.
Yeah, it’s interesting that as impeachment ramps up, Mr. Trump’s go-to move is to try and divide American Jews, and fan the fires of antisemitism in his “base.”
Of course, there are few people in the universe less qualified than Trump to decide who or what would make “a good Jew,” or to lecture about divided loyalties.
As always, cleverly malevolent: (a) kicks colleges (whose faculty are overwhelmingly left-wing) where it hurts (the pocketbook), while (b) pandering to victims of anti-Semitism, while (c) putting the boot in to Rep. Ilan Omar (she of the famous 'squad') and other vocal supporters of BDS. All that being said, if it helps reduce harrassment of Jewish college students by the pro Palestinian Authority lobby on many campuses, it is probably worth it.
What are the American people supposed to think? There certainly is the feeling that Jewish interests are dominating politics in Washington. In my state of Florida, my governor and about 100 officials from all types of government posts along with Professors from our colleges, instead of taking a tour around Florida this past year to see what the Floridians needed, all boarded a plane (paid partly by the tax payer) and spent a "working" vacation together in Israel. They also signed something over there about college campuses in Florida and the curbing of the BDS movement. That is outrageous! How are us Americans not to think that the Israeli Lobby has a lot of power, scary power?!
Trump’s actions are, as usual, divisive and disingenuous. He always has an ulterior motive that is self-serving and could care less about the actual issue at hand. Here Trump pretends to “care” about Jews when all he wants is their vote. His methods divide the very people he claims to want to help and recklessly threaten free speech and the rule of law.
I suspect this is one of many oppressive "orders" from the "king" that we can expect in the painful years ahead under Trump. To pass a law that obstructs the 1st amendment to protect an oligarchy, which is what the state of Israel is today, is a direct challenge to the US Constitution. I swore to defend this sacred document with my life: I will if need be.
While I am not Jewish, I am a Liberal descended from Jewish immigrants. I put that out because I want to be clear about my Jewish sympathies.
But I have a legitimate question: How does a person not support Israel's policies, but not come across as anti-Semitic?
Personally, I definitely support the existence of Israel, but I'd prefer a "single state solution" with Israel being a formally secular state like the USA with Israel still as the Jewish homeland but also equally as the Palestinian homeland. I am not fond of Israel's policies regarding occupied land.
So, I ask, how do I vocalize my thoughts face-to-face without being branded as an anti-Semite? I live in the USA, yet, our hyper-PC culture de facto oppresses me from expressing my beliefs because of fear of being branded anti-Semitic.
I, of course, would not take up violence and love my Jewish friends and relatives no matter how we might differ, but I can't help but wonder if this sort of de facto oppression is part of the root cause of the problem here in the West. More specifically, that many, including non-Muslims, are seeing Israel's acts as unjust, yet any attempt to vocalize that is met with accusations of anti-Semitism and nothing changes. This reinforces the anti-Semitic belief by some that "the Jews are in control and need to be stopped".
1
@VJR How? Carefully, and being fully cognizant of the complexity of the issues you raise.
Treating the plight of the Palestinians as something that was imposed on them....that's a bad starting point. Arabs live in Israel, have lived in Israel since its creation. But the track record for multi-national states in the Middle East? Not been good. You might start by asking where all the Christians have gone in the Middle East--certainly none of the Muslim majority states have proven to be safe homes (that includes, of course, the Palestinian Authority).
The narratives have taken the place of thinking. My greatgrandmother was expelled from her home of 60+ years, in Jerusalem, by the Jordanian army. Who protested her treatment then? Why is the "status of the occupied territories" only an issue now, when the only occupied territories after 1948 were occupied by Egypt, Jordan and Syria? If the only reason that these questions arise today is that the Israelis won a war--then I'd say you are heading towards anti-Semitism....
3
To say that "the solution" to the rise of anti-semitism on campus, under the guise of pro-Palestinian advocacy, is to "allow a healthy discourse about the country’s policies" and "the role of American diplomacy and aid in the region," completely ducks the question. Those individuals and groups that incessantly attack Israel, calling it racist, apartheid, neo-colonialist, guilty of war crimes, genocide, illegal occupation, etc - has nothing to do with either of those things and everything to do with creating visceral hate toward Israel and, by extension, the vast majority of Jews who support it, whether actively or passively. College campuses thus become a hotbed for anti-semitism, just as they were in the UK leading up to the problems now evident in its Labour party. Former MP Joan Ryan said recently that for five years, people watched the hate toward Israel rising on British campuses and did nothing. Now, look at the problem. It's destroyed a major political party and endangered the well-being of the UK's long standing Jewish community. Something here must be done to stop it. The playing field is not level on the assumption that surely both sides may use their free speech rights with collegial civility. It's not working. The accusations against Israel are turning to brutality, intimidation and violence. See what happened just recently at York University in Canada. that way and the longer we wait to redress it, the worse the problem gets.
2
More to the point -- and I wish the Editorial Board had addressed this -- an executive order that effectively defines Jews as a separate "nationality" should sound a real note of alarm for anyone acquainted with twentieth-century history. What's next? Sorry/ not sorry to be alarmist, but will we soon be required to wear yellow stars "for our own safety"?
1
This is nothing more than a cheap political stunt designed to try to deceive Jews into supporting Trump despite his obvious infatuation with anti-Semitic White nationalists.
As an American Jew, I do not feel personally threatened by the BDS movement. It has the support of many Jews since it reflects a commitment to human rights.
On the other hand, I am deeply alarmed by the rising tide of anti-Semitism on the radical right. This has surely spurred a surge in hate crimes against Jews. Those hate mongers must be called out for their hatred & incitement to violence. But they are never criticized by Trump. Why? Because he shares the values of those bigots & welcomes their support.
No, Jews can see right through Trump's latest pitifully inadequate step to try to mollify Jews who are appalled by his embrace of anti-Semitism.
4
Is anyone asking WHY ? Has the government of Israel brought this on ? Do their policies toward fellow humans bring out the worst in human kind ? Let’s begin to look at all sides.
1
It seems to me that by defining Judaism as a "race" or "nationality" so that anti-Semitism can be shoe-horned to fit the protections offered by Title VI ("race, color, or national origin") this order actually would exacerbate the problem. Does the President's order specifically limit that "definition" only to situations involving institutions of higher learning or does it apply to all Jews at all times, on campus or off? If not, I fear how will it be interpreted by the "white nationalists and the far right."
1
Isn’t this just another example
of the Trump pattern (Charlottesville)
of starting the fire, then
grandiosely attempting to
put out the fire, etc
Enough already....
"Mr. Trump’s executive order points agencies to the definition of anti-Semitism prepared by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance."
The Board and the Times's news side are doing a terrible job of explaining the "threat" to freedom of speech, starting with the Times's failure to link to the ACTUAL executive order.
The problem is with the word "rhetorical" in this phrase: "Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism ...".
Worse, that text is from a third party -- the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
IOW, the White House is brazenly letting a partisan organization literally write government policy.
Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism
December 11, 2019
That can be found on White House web site.
Jewish students on many college campuses are terrified. Thank you President Trump for doing what the college administrators won’t do.
3
Protesting against the policies of the sovereign nation of Israel is not hate speech and is easily discernible from the hate speech at Charlottesville. Trump is writing executive orders that would not have been necessary had he, himself, and his Republican backers, not stoked the flames of antisemitism. The rise in antisemitic attacks coincide with mathematical precision to Trump's election, which gave the green-light to racists.
1
He raises hate in the country and then tries to legislate to a part of it. What about Muslims? Why not make it include religion? As a Jew, I feel a strong need to fight islamaphobia along with the trump supported antisemitism (“good people on both sides”)
If you find some members of the BDS movement to be overzealous, take it up with them on a case by case basis. Government should not be in the business of forbidding boycotts. Where would American racial justice be today if not for the art of boycotting?
You can't be pro White Nationalism and against anti-Semitism at the same time. Trump just can't connect the dots. His follower don't care, because they hear his white nationalism support and assume that he has his fingers crossed when he rails against anti-Semitism.
As a Jew, I believe that he does have his fingers crossed.
"Mr. Trump signed an executive order to combat Antisemitism on college campuses by using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to withhold federal money from schools that fail to counter discrimination against Jews. "
This enables an administration to place ANY college campus under a microscope using the Antisemitism magnification for the purposes of withholding funding. Look down the road, what do you see? There is already a lot of hissing that colleges are hotbeds of liberal brainwashing.
Remember. Whatever this president claims, the opposite is true.
This is the "Set-Up" to start attacking colleges that are not "conservative enough." Colleges that censor hate speech, or colleges whose students demonstrate against the Richard Spencer's of the world.
Not only is our federal government being attacked and hollowed-out from within, now the administration is going after our educational system to shape the minds and hearts of students.
It's the equivalent of Fahrenheit 451.
1
To paraphrase "Fiddler On The Roof":
Student: Rabbi, is there a blessing for President Trump and Jared Kushner"
Rabbi: Of course there is my son. "May God bless and keep President Trump and Jared Kushner. Far away from us!"
I doubt that there are more anti-Semites or racists than there were before Trump became President. The difference is that now they are encouraged to act on their hate and fear by the guy Trump sees whenever he looks in a mirror.
Enabling anti-Semitism and racism tends to be a family affair, apparent in this case by Trump's son-in-law's column yesterday in the Times, where Jared Kushner tries to establish his bona fides by saying, "As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I understand the horrors of anti-Semitism." As with all children, the more appropriate bona fides clearly devolve not from his grandparents, but from his parents, especially Jared's father, Charles, who was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering.
And of course should his father-in-law pardon his father , it would not be considered a quid-pro-quo for the son's writing, "I could not be more proud of President Trump’s new policy."
Jared Kushner's cynicism in trying to use the Holocaust to "justify" President Trump's anti-American (not merely un-American) words and deeds is pathological, which is not to let Kushner off the hook for his own culpability.
7
I can't see why campus life should be determined by attitudes toward Israel whatever they may be. As a campus organization
BDS has a right to express its antipathy - to say the least -
toward it just as pro Israel groups have equal right of support. But what's this got to do with the everyday life and administration of campus life? It also ignores the disproportion of this issue
to the ongoing destruction of life in the Mideast by it Muslim rulers and their cohorts elsewhere. And much as I've opposed
the occupation from the start, what changed the dynamic between the two sides had far more to do with Arafat's scuttling
Camp David 2 and abetting the second intifada, which more than
anything else spelled the demise of the Israel's left as a viable
force. A few years later Sharon's complete evacuation of
Gaza led to, despite the literal pleas of Israel and the PA , an American sponsored election that banged the nails into the coffin
by putting Hamas into power. So indeed, this is some of what
the campus adversaries ought to be talking about. Perhaps there's still something in it that can be mutually appreciated.
4
Maybe Congress can issue a resolution or proclamation defining Trump's nationality Guantanamo-Ian.
2
There is nothing in the eyes of the NYT Editorial Board that President Trump can do right. He took the initiative as Congress wouldn't pass an appropriate law to counter anti-semitism. Let Congress step in and then the order can be rescinded.
5
Not a fan of DJTrump, but you are correct that this is in part the fault of Congress, both for forgetting or choosing to not include religion or ethnicity or even ancestry in Title VI and all anti-discrimination laws AND for so far doing an inadequate job to remedy their predecessors' error.
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND YOUR SENATORS and ask/demand that they immediately and, if necessary, repeatedly introduce and/or SPONSOR CORRECTIVE LEGISLATION and work hard to get it passed, the sooner the better.
3
@Donald I wouldn't be surprised if your last name is Trump.
Just so’s ya know, the editorial’s point is that while BDS has some pretty dirty hands here, Trump’s executive action is yet again a perfect example of his making a loud noise, attacking his political opponents, and doing nothing whatsoever about the real problems.
In particular, he’s done zip about right-wing, white terrorism that has killed—not yelled at, KILLED—Jews, black folks, and many others since his election.
This is not about controlling anti-semitism on US campuses.
It is part of a well-organized and well-funded international effort to suppress criticism of Israel. Open discussion on US campuses and the potential election of Mr. Corbyn in the UK are real and present dangers to the colonization and annexation project of the far right in Israel.
7
Thank you for seeing this for its potential for abuse by (white) nationalists. Read no further than this very publication to see how “othering” religious/cultural/ethnic citizens and making legislation that differs for one subset can create a massive problem. See the article on India’s divisive citizenship bill.
I am very leery of any edict that says Jewish Americans are anybody but Americans.
3
It isn't freedom of speech that's at issue; it's rather the intimidation of Jews on campus. That the prepronderance of violence against Jews emanates from the right may be true, but that demographic has nothing to do with the invidious treatment of Jews on campus. To quote from the Anti-Defamation League: "ADL’s Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents has documented an 86 percent increase in reported incidents at colleges and universities – from 108 incidents in 2016 to 201 incidents in 2018. "
Moreover, the antipathy directed at Jewish students who convey pro-Israel sentiments on campus is no less a threat to freedom of speech.
11
@Abbott Katz
To be clear, antisemitic incidents includes things like a swastika drawn with permanent marker on a bathroom stall.
If you think antipathy towards pro Israel students is bad, try being a campus Trump supporter.
It is certain that the far right is responsible for violent anti-Semitism. But don’t think for a minute that the far left isn’t anti-Semitic; the far left is just more subtle, more insidious, and far more dangerous. It used to be said that higher education’s version of anti-Semitism was anti-Catholicism. That’s not true anymore, not by half.
3
I find it very interesting that The Editorial Board has declared that BDS’ and supporters’ goals are to “end West Bank Occupation”. Having been part of multiple “debates” with BDS supporters, the issue of simply ending a West Bank occupation is not what is held close. The organization has a far more destructive and sinister goal. And, that becomes quite clear if one were to engage most of her supporters, or record speeches and chants at BDS protests globally. If we point only to “The Right”, and shut our eyes to racism, anti-semitism, and other deadly forces coming from left, right, up, and down, we pervert and gloss over the destructive forces that lie on our own side of the political spectrum. Campus antisemitism is real, and terrifying. And, there really is no “Right wing” on most college campuses. Just as Nazism began as an economically left leaning “National Socialism”, hatred today does not only come from the Right.
5
@Andy
Nazism did not begin left leaning. The name "National Socialism" was a move to brand what was a fascist movement from the beginning as being "pro-workers."
It was stated that "It is true that anti-Israel speech, whether on campus or in Congress, makes some Jews feel unsafe." It is more that *some* anti-Israel speech makes *nearly all* Jews feel unsafe when rooted in antisemitism.
A line between speech that is critical of Israeli policy and antisemitism is blurry but exists and is very often crossed. Efforts to unblur that line, rather than ignore it, are needed.
"The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation. It’s to allow a healthy discourse about the country’s policies..."
To use the Editorial's example, Jews at Emory were targeted by BDS supporters for having mezuzot on their doors. To give another example, the BDS vote at my college was scheduled to take place while most Jewish students were away from campus to celebrate Passover with their families.
These actions have already had the effect of stifling conversation on campus. Whether Times Editorialists agree or not with the content of the executive order, it is clear something needs to be done to foster a "healthy discourse" on American college campuses around Israel that does not involve BDS supporters singling out and ostracizing their Jewish peers.
5
Trump really gives mixed messages. On one had he supports white nationalism and this certainly gives the anti Semitic crowd support and now he tries to discourage anti Semitic behavior speech. I really do not get it.
1
This is why George Soros is so important as a contemporary social philosopher of open societies and the liberal state. The more a society turns into an inward-looking, members-only, exclusive club, the harder it is to support it. Israel is simply one example among dozens of nations circling their wagons and pushing out "the other". The U.S. is also falling into the closed-society trap when a critical mass of people start to believe Donald Trump is "the Chosen One". It sounds like a religious cult to me and that puts me on the outside looking in. That's what theocracies do. They are good at it. They've had centuries of practice.
It's important that we not conflate anti-Semitism with opposition to Israel's anti-democratic policies under the current regime.
The editorial asserts that the BDS movement has created "a hostile environment for Jewish students.."
Where is the evidence that this is so?
The claim that most Jewish students support Israel is also unsubstantiated.
The BDS movement is animated by genuine opposition to Israel's behavior and not a blind hatred of Israel and Jews.
Israel's hysterical and heavy handed response to the movement reflects poorly on what once was a democratic beacon in a region of dictatorships.
Of course anti-Semitism should be fought and rooted out. The difficulty, of course, it's much like the problem of racism. It requires changing people's perceptions and ridding them of hateful biases.
3
Typical "Donald Trump" move. Create -- or exacerbate -- a problem, and then take steps to look like you're solving it (while not actually solving it).
1
I am sorry, but this explanation is deficient. Title VI forces the government to recognize Judaism as a Nationality or Race. It is plain in the text and any attempts to try and create a differentiation only undercuts the importance of not defining Judaism or Jews in such terms. Wilhelm Mahr, the person who coined the term Anti-Semitism 150 years ago in Hapsburg Europe did so with specific intent of racializing the Jews in a religiously tolerant empire. This move achieves that long stated goal and gives power to the White Nationalists who will see this as further proof of the old trope of Dual Loyalties. There is room for smart legislation around this issue. This is not smart, nor legislation.
2
Am I missing something here? Calls for boycott against South Africa were okay when they were living under apartheid, but calls for boycotts against Israel for imposing apartheid like treatment of Palestinians, (such as the recent dengration of Arabic to a second-class language, for example) are not? If we really want to be fair, calls for boycotts against China for their treatment of Muslims in so-called "reeducation camps" would not be out of place either, if justice is indeed the goal. It does seem a double standard, worthy of provoking a reaction if we allow exceptions to what should be a universal policy.
7
An excellent summary by the Editorial Board of the present state of judeophobia in the world, a term more specific than antisemitism. Even if the Jews are no longer accused of "having murdered Jesus Christ", the atavistic xenophobia drives the anti-judaic feelings everywhere, except perhaps in non-Christian and non-Muslim countries. But in the Christian Occident, wherever there are Jews, there is always judeophobia. Neither Trump nor his Judaic relatives-in-law can do nothing about this.
This is one more Trump stunt to cement his support from a right wing group. This time it is right wing jewish extremists like Sheldon Adelman but the action is no different than any of his other inflamatory actions. Other examples are claiming that Democrats are trying to outlaw Christmas or destroy Thanksgiving to win over evangelicals. Each time the action is characterized by an extremist gesture or comment to claim solidarity with a fringe group. Each action is designed to inflame political divisions in this country for political gain. Trump is a truely skilled hatemonger.
1
Your editorial fails to cite any leaders of Jewish groups who support this executive order such as Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL has tracked the very perceptible rise of anti-semitism in this country. The editorial also says, the solution to these worries is ....to allow a healthy discourse about Israel policies. This is just the point of the executive order, that there is not always a healthy discourse going on when there is bias in the curriculum and Jewish students are being harassed and intimidated to speak. Their free speech is not being protected. It is unfortunate that the order is coming from a President who does not take responsibility for his own incitement of anti-semitism. This should not take away from the need for this country to do what we can to combat a dangerous trend.
2
For the most part I agree with Ken Stern, but when my tax money is used to finance one sided anti-Israel propaganda outfits going under the guise of Middle Eastern Studies I have to object. The legislation providing for such funding is clear that it should be used for legitimate scholarly purposes and not political propaganda, but some MES programs clearly violate that principle and they should be called to account.
This editorial does a fine of dismissing the overwhelming tide of anti semitism that starts as anti zionism on our campuses. While the solution does not lye in an executive order, you cannot deny that the danger being posed to young Jewish students in our colleges needs to be addressed. As the paper that published Michelle Goldberg's "Anti Zionism is not Anti Semitism", please note that Anti Zionism means you don't think Jewish people should have a land of their own.
3
"The solution to these worries isn’t to stifle conversation. It’s to allow a healthy discourse about the country’s policies, its future and the role of American diplomacy and aid in the region."
Makes sense. But, I wonder what the effect of Trump's plan to 'nationalize' Jews. That is, I believe, saying that all Jews are citizens of Israel.
Mr. Trump should go after the neo-Natzi, Far Right and White Nationalist groups in the country to deal with the anti-Semitism that is occurring.
But I don't think he will. They are too much a part of his political base.
In light of recent attacks on Jewish people - as well as attacks on many different minorities - it would seem to make much sense and logic to regulate guns and bullets than to regulate human speech.
But that would definitely improve public safety for everyone as research has repeatedly demonstrated that less guns equals a lower.....and the Guns Over People party can't have that.
Words don't kill people....guns and bullets do.
7
"“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well, you’re brutal killers,” the president said. “Not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me. You have no choice.”"
I know Trump's acolytes love his directness. But I found what he said to the Israeli American Council to be offensive in the extreme, and condescending to boot.
As for this new presidential EO to withhold federal funding from colleges that don't crack down on antisemitic speech related to the nation of Israel, it seems to me a double-edged sword: the proverbial camel's nose in the tent of free speech suppression.
Could this be a test for Mr. Trump on what he can get away with? Where would he go next? And where would it end?
I'm with the board on this one: freedom of religion and free speech are foundational principles of US law. If Trump is so concerned about antisemitism, why doesn't he speak out about the real problem of white nationalism?
2
This Editorial has a very strong; hey it's not us it's them aspect. How dare the President highlight college campuses, it's the skin heads. Well its both.
2
It is reasonable to be pro-Israel and a pro-semite, and to also have some sympathy for the BDS movement (though some of their stated goals are clearly beyond the pale). "Motivating" Israel toward a viable, likely two-state, solution to the Palestinian issue is a GoodThing(tm) and should be be US policy.
Just as it is reasonable to be a patriotic American and hate where Trump is taking the country, one can love Israel and find nothing agreeable in Netanyahu policies. Equating such views with antisemitism is foolish and wrong-headed.
1
Anti-Zionism is on the rise.
The behavior of the state of Israel rightfully spurs criticism. Their treatment of Palestinians has been abysmal.
Many Americans are concerned about the number of dual Israeli-US citizens in high positions in US government and the influence of AIPAC on US elections. Being blunt, we would never allow any Islamic nation to have similar levels of direct power and influence in the US. NO foreign nation should be allowed it.
Israel's interests and those of the US do not automatically coincide. How many people remember the USS Liberty and
Jonathan Pollard?
Yet billions of dollars in aid go to this country every year.
There are many reasons for anti-Zionism and questioning of Israel. Do not confuse that behavior with anti-Semitism.
1
This op-ed states: "Whatever its intent, B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students..." This statement tends to discredit a perfectly valid political movement without offering the slightest shred of evidence that the statement is actually true.
The op-ed ends by saying the solution is not to stifle conversation, but this baseless disparaging of a perfectly legitimate political movement, BDS, does exactly that, it stifles conversation.
Colleges? Better start at the grade schools when it comes to teaching toleration. We didn’t celebrate Christmas, and I was going through my own personal journey on holidays and religion, and lost a handicapped sister on Christmas Eve, too, only to have the public school take all the children to see the “Polar Express”, and send our’s home with a large jingle bell. I personally prefer Hanukkah, however now my children are old and they laugh at me, and tell me I’m not Jewish. I think we are all Jewish.
1
The EO is actually a very dangerous thing. It is, at best, a bright, shiny thing to distract the public from prosecuting true political malfeasance while having the added bonus of officially "othering" Jews for their own protection. What's next - protected communities for the vulnerable?
If the POTUS really cared about such things, supporting legislation about strengthening attacks on all marginalized populations would be great start.
1
Perhaps the Trump Administration will stop badgering the NYT after the paper has given Kushner an outlet here. It's a tremendous credit to the editorial staff to allow this kind of dialog with such a contentious presidency and over such a fraught matter. I only wish this editorial had called out Kushner directly to clean his own house by forcing Stephen Miller out.
It will be interesting to see how effective Trump's anti-semitism effort will be while he enables and emboldens prejudice against blacks, Latinos, Muslims and gays. Hater of a different stripe are still haters; they usually don't discriminate in their discrimination.
2
Silencing criticism of the human rights abuses perpetrated by the state of Israel by calling it ‘antisemitism’ is a dangerous new trend. It should worry both those who care about human rights abuses and those who care about anti-semitism.
Does anyone seriously believe that Trump is concerned with fighting racial discrimination of any kind (except the ‘reverse racism’ from which he and the Fox and Friends crowd suffer daily)?
1
This editorial is troubling because it seems to be based more in the political tug of war between far-left and far-right wingnuts than in truly examining and defeating the growing problem of anti-Semitism. Mr. Trump took a significant, positive step of taking power from anti-Semites on campus. Their behavior was outrageously bigoted. Any and all steps to combat anti-Semitism wherever it is found should be welcomed by every single Jew and person with a conscience.
1
Yes, criticism of Israel is absolutely not antiSemitism.
But antiZionism, the opposition in principle to the Jewish people's right to self-determination, most certainly is.
We forget that critical distinction at our peril.
3
Everything Trump does to try to convince Jews to vote Republican is a cynical act, made to look like he cares while not antagonizing any of his real friends on the far right. Whether he wins re-election or not, I would love to be in the room watching his reaction the moment he realizes that a majority of Jews saw through his cheap actions and still did not vote for him.
2
It's too bad if Jewish students on campus feel uncomfortable when others protest Israels behavior and actions if the protests are not explicitly anti-semitic. They are not even Israelis. How do Chinese students, who are actually from China, feel about all the current criticism of China - is that racism?
At least he could have called it "national origin" or ancestry or even creed.
Most accurately Judaism is a religion, though white supremacists and other judeophobes conceive of Jewishness as a race and an abhorrent one at that, and then act accordingly
Jewishness is a religious identity and/or a matter of ethnic subculture.
Trump's handlers chose this route (officially labeling it a nationality) at least in part so they didn't threaten federal funding of right-wing mEvangelical
2
(continued)
... right-wing-leaning Evangelical colleges and universities that might be found to discriminate on the basis of religion. They want to keep their federal grants to their professors and staff and federal loans and scholarships to their students.
1
This order seeks to use criticism of Israel as a pretext for withholding Federal funds. Who's next?
There are many legitimate reasons for taking issue with Israel that have zero to do with being anti Jew. Right wing Israel has gone terribly astray but uses America's tremendous support for Israel for its own purposes, which are not America's purposes -- for example America values separation of church and state, inalienable rights, and democracy that values everyone.
Trump, the embodiment of the seven deadly sins, isn't about separation of church and state, inalienable rights, and democracy for everyone; frankly his behavior isn't pro American, it's pro Russian. Oy, Gevalt.
I think the bigger point is that the Executive Order promotes negative stereotypes which are harmful to the Jewish community. Judaism is a religion, not a race or nationality. Jews born in the United States or Jews who are naturalized citizens are Americans. That is our nationality. Signing an Executive Order that falsely identifies Judaism as a race or nationality feeds into the anti-Semetic trope that U.S. Jews are not Americans and that our allegiance is to Israel, not the U.S. The administration should think of a more legitimate way to discourage anti-Semetism on college campuses. This solution is at best strained from a legal perspective and at worst reminiscent of the ideology we fought against in WWII.
286
@Bonnie G
Although I'm of Jewish heritage, I certainly never identified with that as a race or a nationality. My passport claims I'm a citizen of the United States and I'll go with that. Thank you Bonnie for your well phased comments. I was shocked yesterday to hear the Presidents words and the unease still lingers.
36
Point in case: In Israel, Jewish immigrants from the USA are referred to as "Anglos" because our mother tongue is English, the primary language of the majority of American nationals.
6
@JTraveler Although Arlene's suggestion that she has "Jewish heritage" counters the point: if Judaism is JUST a religion, then what is the "heritage"? Either you follow the religion, or you don't. The idea that there is a "heritage" means there are practices, ways of seeing the world, traditions, that go beyond strictly religious beliefs -- such that if you don't follow the religion, you still have a "heritage" "left over." So Judaism is an ethnicity, a culture, even if not a "nationality" in the modern sense of a political unit. THat's why many Jews who are atheists can still say (as they do) that they are Jewish...
22
If there were an executive order on universal background checks for gun purchse (or ownership) with clauses on hate speech including anti-semitism, then I might favor the policy move. But the choice of Title 6 (federal funds for higher ed) coupled with the Pompeo and Kushner declarations equating anti-zionism and anti-semitism, reveal the true intentions. Watch Dept of Ed actions, which universities are the test cases, and how this correlates to the growing disinvestment effort on behalf of human rights and sustainable peace. The rhetoric, as usual, is cynical. Watch what they do.
2
This article is provocative and, interestingly the antisemitism Trump is attempting to address is "trumped" by his nationalistic approach and his tendency to attack peoples' qualities, rather than their policies. "Sleepy Joe", "Crooked Hillary" are ways he displays his pejorative opinions of others. Immigrants to him are all illegal "invaders". Muslims are to be kept out of the country. This type of attitude, modeled by our President has been responsible, or at least motivating, for many of the attacks on a variety of groups of people. If Trump sincerely wishes to end the influence of antisemitism, he must become a role model of respect for others regardless of their religion, color or country.
4
As a Jew, I want to be clear that this Executive Order should be deplored in the strongest terms. It does a great many terrible things. Here is one list:
- It brands Jews as a nation, basically endorsing an all too familiar nationalist trope.
- It defines political issues about Israel as anti-Semitism, cheapening the meaning of anti-Semitism.
- It blurs the boundary between secular and religious issues, a constant problem with this administration.
- As noted by the article, it pretends to address anti-Semitism, but actually skirts the real problem.
- It attacks an aspect of legitimate free speech, always a Trump objective.
Krugman had an article a couple of days ago about reasons Jews should resist Trump's pandering attempts for support. This is another serious case in point.
10
Anti-Semitic acts should be distinguished from debates that may upset some Jewish students.
Mock eviction notices can and should be punished by campus authorities, regardless of the identities of the targeted individuals. However, political debates are protected speech and that should be protected on campuses.
This EO is entirely inconsistent with the Trump administration’s previous threat to withhold fund from universities that don’t provide access to Trump’s provocative right wing allies.
Silly me. I’m expecting equal protection of the law. What a concept?
4
We on the left, and those to the far left especially, have blood on our hands today for having “greenlighted” antisemitism, making it downright trendy.
Granted there have been plenty of outside influencers helping to shape the thinking on the most impressionable members of the left, long before Putin our social media to work (remember the mid-aughts overseas-based, ANSWER coalition anyone? There was a period there where nearly every protest on the streets of SF was organized by that shadowy group).
It’s been going on a long time so it’s unsurprising, that more and more blood is being spilled here. This Salon piece is 16 years old and gives a window into these attitudes taking hold among the young left (now middle aged).
https://www.salon.com/2003/10/09/campus_3/
Stifling free speech is an ideal. However, the President’s action will not make Jews safer nor lower their criticism of Israeli policies. A government ban on speech will only amplify the critics of Israel and likely will create a crisis with a university sitting in with a student group against government censorship. The unfortunate victims will be Jewish students. BDS will get further press and like much of trumps’ approach, he will politicize and weaponize people on both sides.
2
The executive order withholding federal monies from schools that fail to counter discrimination against Jews is general. It doesn't identify the BDS movement or any other particular manifestation of anti-semitism that it seeks to eliminate. Like any other form of discrimination, it is possible to cloak anti-semitism in the guise of "free speech", e.g. the Colorado baker who defended his refusal to bake wedding cakes for same sex marriages as "free speech". But the "possibility" that laws prohibiting discrimination may adversely impact free speech has not prevented and should not prevent such laws from being enacted. Suggesting that anti-semitism be differently than other forms of illegal discrimination in this regard is itself a form of anti-semitism.
2
"You have no choice" is not a forward-looking, positive argument to vote for anyone much less Trump.
When the Trump base includes all of the far right nationalist crowd, this moves comes off as simply window dressing. We have an open racist in the White House - there is no mystery there. Hate crimes have gone up drastically since since Trump took over. No mystery there either.
2
"While Mr. Trump’s action might seem like a gesture of real concern, it does little to target the larger source of violent anti-Semitism in America and possibly threatens free speech rights."
Why, then, did the Times elect yesterday to give the hapless, supposed architect of the great, unrevealed plan to achieve peace in the mideast an official op-ed podium to justify and promote his father-in-law's deeply flawed, patently self-serving executive order ?
3
Maybe eliminating college history departments and majors wasn't such a good idea.
3
As much as I am appalled by violent Anti-Semitism, something must be done to prevent apartheid or ethnic cleansing once the West-Bank is annexed.
Preventing students in universities from speaking out against blatant theft of land and equating Anti-Semitism with Anti-Zionism is counter-productive for the Middle East peace process in the long run.
There must be a balanced approach.
4
Does curtailing free speech help or hurt Judaism? The world is fragmenting, beware of chaos.
1
It's really disturbing how so many commentators easily slide into accusing BDS of anti-Semitism, without any evidence. In my experience many backers of BDS, on campuses and elsewhere, are Jews. Jewish Voice for Peace, for example, strongly supports BDS. Is it an anti-Semitic organization?
Those who condemn Palestinian terrorism have argued Palestinians need to wage a peaceful struggle for their goals. BDS is a peaceful movement, so opponents of terror should welcome it. Or could it be they are just hostile to the Palestinian people, period?
1
@Justice To answer your question--it doesn't have to be.
But in practice? Yes, it is.
1
You want to know trump’s agenda? Just follow right wing media. He merely brings voice to their playbook. The man is incapable of an original idea. The last time our nation felt this scary was during the atomic bomb era. And that was a threat from the outside not from within. Frightening times.
There are a number of inconvenient truths for those who exalt President Trump as a true friend of the Jewish people.
In addition to the well-documented examples in this editorial, the fundamental problem is that Donald Trump has recruited and maintained his political support on the foundation of division and hate.
It is the laziest and most effective way to recruit an ardent base of support. Identify an aggrieved population, find someone to blame, and lie, lie, lie.
Lest we forget:
The preparation for his Presidential run was his oft-reapeated birthirism lie about President Obama;
In the very speech in which he announced his Canada, he called our neighbors to the South: "Murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and some... good people"
Antisemitism is a close cousin of all of these things, and no pretty words uttered by Jared Kushner in the New York Times changes that for a second.
This editorial gets it exactly right.
Thank you NYT editorial board.
1
Could a women's right advocate criticize, say, Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, or Al Franken without being slandered as an anti-Semite?
That is the problem with these types of regulations. While well-meaning they are easily exploited and used to innoculate bad individuals from legitimate sanction.
Trump's executive order appears more like an empty promise to gain Jewish votes, a tactic he has used often in the past with other underserved constituencies. The real record of the Trump administration is that DHS funding for the battle against domestic terrorism has declined to nearly nothing while 80% of the FBI's anti-terrorism efforts are directed at foreign extremists (read that as being Muslim). This, despite the fact that domestic terrorism accounts for the vast majority of terrorist violence in the U.S. and anti-semitic attacks are on the rise everywhere.
Why the NYT allowed Jared Kushner to trumpet this executive order in their paper today is a complete mystery to me. It does nothing to protect Jews from violence.
Anti semitism in any guise is abhorrent. And yes the far right is stoking violence which is even worse. But let's not confuse this with being anti Israel on campus. Young people are within their rights to speak out about 70 years of oppression and for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. The latter face a bleak future. Their plight needs urgent redressal.
I've seen, much too often, that any cricitism of Israel with respect to their shameless subjugation of the Palestinian people, no matter how legitimate and real it might be, is distorted to look like anti semitism.
Please!
Really?
1
Healthy discourse is imperative to combat hatred.
Trump's actions seem to amount to pandering. As a Jewish American, I see through his attempts at gaslighting us all.
1
@Jill
There are two problems with your post.
First, there is no "healthy discourse" when activist students threaten, demonstrate, and run out anyone with a differing opinion than theirs. They don't want to listen. How is that discourse?
Second, I take great exception to your "gaslighting" reference. It's ugly and I assume it is meant to be as inflamative as are so many of the ugly campus "activities."
2
Trump/Russia have ulterior motives behind this action; neither should be trusted nor given further aid and comfort for their treasonous behavior.
"While Mr. Trump’s action might seem like a gesture of real concern, it does little to target the larger source of violent anti-Semitism in America and possibly threatens free speech rights."
In other words, even when Trump does something the NYTimes likes, it STILL doesn't get praise. Clearly this paper is out to get this guy regardless of any action or inaction taken.
I wasn’t sure exactly how the Times would take something positive done by Trump and make it negative but they certainly try here.
Actually holding university’s accountable to stop discrimination by possibly withholding money from them is likely going to have positive results.
Too bad the Times can’t say this is something worth trying and get behind it.
Too bad indeed.
1
@Norville T. Johnstone Too bad you don't see that this could easily have larger repercussions in how the Jewish community is seen by - say, Trump's loyal white nationalist allies, for example. Trump could have just amended the law to include "religion," and wouldn't have been stopped. He has chosen the most ignorant and destructive solution.
I agree that the solution to the rise of anti-Semitism on campuses is not to stifle conversation or free speech. Yet you downplay the insidious nature of events on campuses propagated and tolerated by the progressive left. The free speech of Jewish students is being threatened and suppressed by groups like Students for Justice in Palestine. Guest speakers invited by Jewish student groups are routinely shouted down. Some progressive Jewish students are told they are not welcome to join progressive causes on campus, and their loyalty is often questioned. Jewish students are intimidated and harassed if they try to speak out in favor of Israel, with anti-Semitic incidents increasing. This goes far beyond your inadequate description of frightening incidents or feeling unsafe.
If you truly believe what you have written, “to allow a healthy discourse about the country’s policies, its future and the role of American diplomacy and aid in the region,” then you and all of us on the left must call out this dangerously illiberal behavior on campuses and give all Jewish students the voice they so rightfully deserve.
2
Any executive order issued by the worst and most divisive person to ever occupy the office of the presidency is, by default, as suspect as the issuer himself.
This is a fairly complicated topic, both in politics and in law. I don't think the Editors make the matter any clearer here, however; in fact they muddy the waters with a flurry of words and concepts that together evidently make up an argument; they include terms like white nationalism, anti-semitism, gunmen, shootings, blacks, BDS, hebrews, holocaust, France, German, civil rights, free speech, Hitler, gunmen, alt right, gay, and more. There's something here for just about everybody. But what is the point? In the end, the writers do coherently state that indeed, stifling speech on campus is counterproductive. But this is a misleading strawman: it seems a measured and cautious position, but their real position is framed up front in the article when they state, "The tides of anti-Semitism continue to rise higher, and more government action is sorely needed." What action would that be? They don't say. They create a tapestry of language, however, that suggests radical, if not severe special interest intervention based on a narrative of victimization. The Editors rather cleverly if not coyly are agitating for an effective global diktat legislating an ethno-religious carve-out of state protection. Their real complaint appears that Trump hasn't done enough.
1
The Second Amendment, which in practice has degenerated into a license for wanton killings, is absolute to this president, but the First Amendment, which espouses a free exchange of ideas, is not. Our "stable genius" dispensing his "infinite wisdom!"
Of course Trump's EO regarding anti-Semitic speech on college campuses is cynical, everything he does is cynical, but the opening for it was provided by Obama.
In 2009, Obama gave a speech in which he said “When there is no daylight [between Israel and the United States], Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arabs,”. He then went on to institute daylight opening policies, many of which Israelis believed posed a threat, but which failed to bring Arabs closer to the US.
Obama's policies were a response to the growing anti-Israel wing of the Democratic party which was most recently reflected in California when a third of party delegates voted for an amendment to the party platform that called for the right of return for Palestinians and eliminated references to the two-state solution, the effect of which would be the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state.
Trump is exploiting a clear rift between millennial Jews, only half of in a 2007 poll agreed “Israel’s destruction would be a personal tragedy.” and older Jews. The equating of anti-Semitic speech with Anti-Zionism is a reflection of this.
1
"Whatever its intent, B.D.S. has helped to create a hostile environment for Jewish students..." Serious Post Hoc problems with this statement: it's Israel's hardline policies toward Palestine, including the settlements, that created B.D.S. in the first place. Want less anti-semitism? Israel needs to be a better neighbor and world citizen.
Freedom of religion seems to have muddied the waters in this country so that whether it is your god or mine, my interpretations of the word of God, Jehovah, or yours, your church/cathedral/synagogue/huge building, we're all at each other's throats, literally. The many choices and names of all that is holy seem to bring forth hatred and violence as we careen toward more hatred and violence, not more love and peace.
Trump’s latest executive order is about protecting his base, not Jews. A constant conservative complaint has been college campuses are too liberal. The possibility of punishing what is seen as liberal speech at hated universities while establishing Jews are a race and/or nationality apart from other Americans is a win win for Trump. The executive order states, “Discrimination against Jews may give rise to a Title VI violation when the discrimination is based on an individual’s race, color, or national origin”. Jews will be blamed as the cause of withhold funding to higher education while being defined as a specific, invisible race. What is next, the Irish, Italian, Swedish races?
1
Given Trump's anti-Semitic statements, and his transactional approach to policy-making, this action is best seen as a way to shore up his evangelical base before the election.
1
The New York Times has reached an epiphany of excess and has gone too far in exposing its own bias. Whatever President Trump does for the good of others, in this case an executive order to combat anti-Semitism, it is wrong in the eyes of the NY Times Editorial Board. Their worse case scenario is a what if, not an actuality. This following line is a disgrace and outright fabrication. “While Mr. Trump’s action might seem like a gesture of real concern, it does little to target the larger source of violent anti-Semitism in America and possibly threatens free speech rights.”
This disparaging of Trump, this partisan bias knows no bounds and worse has no grounds other than contempt and hate. While love brings people together, hatred, particularly within the Left is the stronger bond, acting as the glue of social and politically driven emotions. Enough!
4
@Grant
I hate Ted Bundy. I know I am supposed to love him but does loathing him make me biased against him?
You say
"This disparaging of Trump, this partisan bias knows no bounds and worse has no grounds other than contempt and hate. While love brings people together, hatred, particularly within the Left is the stronger bond, acting as the glue of social and politically driven emotions."
What do you mean by the Left exactly? It is not a monolith.
Joe Scarborough and Jim Jordan are both on the right but that does not mean you can use the word" rightist" to cover both of them and present them as part of a one-size-fits-all monolith.
I think if you do not disparage Donald Trump, the serial groper, the destroyer of families and jailer of refugee children and the guy who says he has his own personal African American; I believe you are not doing your civic duty if you fail to disparage him. It does not make you biased to disparage him at all. Your kind of use of the word "bias" is a classic tactic redolent of right leaning partisan bias.
"Violent anti-Semitism is being fomented most significantly by white nationalists and the far right."
Not true and misses the critical nature of what is happening on American college campuses. This is an American issue, and is not about Israel at all.
The white nationalist movement and far right have been around for decades and antisemitic as well. They are ostracized by most rational human beings, college campuses, and do not affect future thought leaders.
BDS, SJP, and some Canary Mission identified middle eastern "professors" are far more dangerous because they bring a legitimacy to anti-semitism in the US. It is an attempt to justify anti-semitism by condemning Jewish students as "guilty by association" with the Israeli/Palestinian issue. Be condemned or renounce your Judaism is the message. Your average American Jewish Student, including many Jewish students of color ( many are NOT white) are either isolated or forced to renounce their Judaism to varying degrees, or certainly hide it.
The issue is one of hate, anti-intellectualism, and a poisoning of our University environments; justified under the banner of " Free speech." And University administrators are being in. Thus Oberlin College's new statue dedicated to terrorists. University of Massachusett's at Amhersts' new interestingly funded "department of one" with one purpose.
When our American University environment starts suffering regular violent acts against Jewish students, maybe some one will listen.
7
The inherent anti-Semitism of the students involved in the BDS movement cannot be ignored. (Mock eviction notices to students who have mezuzot on their doors? Does anti-Semitism get any more explicit than that?) Students graduate and become part of the "real world." They do not leave their biases on the college campus.
Yes, the white nationalist, neo-nazis are more dangerous. But that does not mean that college campus anti-Semitism should be ignored. The two are not mutually exclusive. I do not, and will never, support Trump, and I have no illusions about him. But that doesn't mean I don't support this particular measure.
7
No matter what Donald Trump does, no matter how good his intentions, the New York Times find reasons to chastise him. I think the American public has grown wear of this hatred towards Donald Trump. I know one thing: if the impeachment hearings never took place, Donald Trump would have handily lost the coming election. He was down in all the polls, his fate seemed sealed and then Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and the Times stepped in.
1
The left criticizes inequality and wants equal rights for the diminished. The right wants to kill everyone who does not agree with them. I vote for the left.
And how long will it be before Trump’s own words: ...”you are brutal killers, not very nice people.....” are used to justify violence?
Trump divides and inflames for his own game, then does some heavy handed public gesture to give himself cover. No accident that violence against ALL minorities has risen under his lead. It includes incivilities he praises like an official knocking down an interviewer.
There are many ways Trump can lead by example......unfortunately he will never accept that responsibility (even as his words goad others on.)
American democracy has been on a steep decline since Election Day 2016.
The saying a fish rots from the head is the best description today of what used to be the Republican Party.
History will ask how so many members of Congress
Surrendered to a liar, cheat and madman. But no one will be allowed to answer .
1
The rise in anti Semitism shows us that it never went away . It seems that once again that the Jewish community is once
again a focal point on which hate groups vent thier anger and fustrations. If it was another president other than Trump I probably would acknowledge this directive as a somewhat flawed attempt at stopping a growing problem. Trump through his actions has shown himself to be concerned only with his own needs. I suppose that he is trying to have the support of the Orthodox community in taking this action. He is unable to acknowledge that his words have fueled in large part hate that has been directed towards many groups including Jews. I would also like for AOC & the other so called "progressive" Democrats to think about the implications of the B.D. S movement before opening thier mouths. Israel is not South Africa. To equate one with the other is intellectual fallacy. I do not think that the current policies of West Bank settlements are constructive. I do think that small but increasingly politically active ultra religious Jewish groups in Israel are creating serious roadblocks to a solution of the problem. The B.D.S movement can only serve to further marginalize Israel and isolate it . Boycotting Israel will not change one thing except fuel the hard liners in Jerusalem. The only change will come about when both the governments of Israel & the US have new leadership . The political left & right both have dirty hands in all of this.
4
@DM
Creating a fake state within a state with second class citizens, requiring people to cross a border check point to go to work, taking and and giving land to others, collective punishment, attacks on journalists, etc., looks exactly like South African Apartheid to me.
You don't even explain why you think they are different.
This is reminiscent of Obama's "Dear Colleague" letter, which was released the day he announced his re-election bid.
1
In what world are we living where we think racism and racist can be selective? Hate speech about people of color bleeds over into any other group that is different. So are we to give racist credit that they can be anti black and anti brown and not be Anti Semitic? Racism and Hatred always Trumps common sense. Trump relishes in the us and them world. Would Trump be successful in states where there is little diversity if not for racism and the fear of the other? Did anyone really think Trump's hate speech would only be heard by people who fear black or brown people?
1
Trump has been pro Israel and its conservative regime for his whole presidency, something which has been the policy of the US since that country's formation. It has been a matter of extending our influence in the middle east and very often helping the Jewish people.
But Trump in a two faced position promotes anti semitism at home for his own political advantage. Trump ultimately is not a friend of the Jewish people no matter how he fawns over power in the middle east if he does not combat anti semitism at home which his current too little too late actions do little to muzzle his often anti semitic followers.
I am Jewish, but I consider my race to be Caucasian. If the Trump Administration wants to ban discrimination based on religion, they should lobby Congress to add religion to the statute, instead of this handwaving. Jewish students shouldn't be excluded from campus life due to their religion, but definition the Trump Administration is using for anti-Semitism is problematic.
1
It's a good point this editorial raises: Trump's campus intervention may look good on the surface, but the underlying problem is hatred of the "other," a nastiness Trump has whipped up for his political advantage.
Now threatened with impeachment, the report of Trump's last rally in Pa was that the crowd was angrier than ever. It's a scary time for all of us; will the time come when the anger and hatred Trump generates lead to uncontrollable violence in our streets?
2
Well, show us how antisemitism is being combatted elsewhere? The president’s move is not perfect or comprehensive, but it’s a thing! When Jewish college students are harassed on their way to Hillel, or moved from a student position because they were found to be Jewish, let alone have a balanced view on the middle east, and colleges DO nothing (which is effectively participating), then at least on this is one area where more might be done.
99
@Alberto Abrizzi
Mr. Trump didn't do this to support Jews; he did it to flex his power. He cares nothing for the Constitution.
16
@Alberto Abrizzi ~
Best as I know, ANY type of harassment can be considered a crime, and indeed colleges seem to deal with on ANY such incidents.
Making such a claim and succeeding in court is another issue, unaffected by this Executive Order.
4
@Alberto Abrizzi Yeah, those aren't things that are systemically happening, and we all know "balanced view on the Middle East" means "anti-Palestinian, pro-Israel."
6
Withholding Federal monies from Universities will not solve the problem of discrimination of Jews. If that were the case there would be no discrimination of Blacks, Latinos, etc. Free speech, is not the same as hate speech. Discrimination against Religion, culture, gender, class, etc. if already forbidden according to the Law.
Educational Institutions are supposed to be open to all speech, except hate speech. Teaching all of us about critical thinking
Wouldn't it be better to arrest those who would commit hate speech or incite others, as Trump has done, instead of using a law clearly not intended to be tied to public monies.
4
@Jean part of the problem is that, on many US college campuses, hate speech has come to mean: any speech I don't happen to agree with. For example, many NYT commentators believe that anything said by a Republican is by definition "hate speech".
The action of the Trump administration to address rising anti-semitism by arbitrarily classifying the religion of Judaism as a "nationality" is EXACTLY the sort of action lamented by conservatives when taken by the Obama administration (e.g., by taking the position that the term "sex" in anti-discrimination laws includes "gender identity"). The Trump administration and Congress should address this important issue through legislation, not by executive action that is unsupported by the underlying statutes.
Oh, and as an atheist of Jewish descent, my nationality is United States of America, not "Jew."
9
"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor be in too great a hurry and miss the way." (Proverbs 19.2) On the day Israel the UN recognized Israel as a nation, Arab nations were massing their military forces at the borders, and the United States gave up its trusteeship plan for Israel-Palestine, Abba Eban found the day to be more charged than any other day; the hope of national self determination and threat again of annihilation. Zionism had a long history among the diaspora Jews prior to 1948. It was more inspiration and hope until after WWII and the migration of Jewish refugees to Israel realized the dream. But now, there are other people in the land who are not Jews who also have ancestors who lived before where they lived. Zionism motivated Israelis to defend themselves and led to the building of settlements without the knowledge of who already lives there, who cares for the orchards and herds, and so missed the way as to what is Israel to be; one nation Jew and Palestinian? or two nations? BDS advocates for two nations. This discussion should be up for debate on college campuses and in Congress and not stifled by Executive Order.
1
Does anybody seriously think that Trump came up with this idea--or any other "policy"--on his own?
2
Anti-semitism is a huge and growing problem on US college campuses. The President did something to try to address the problem. The solution may impinge on people's freedom of speech, just as all hate speech legislation does.
The conflict between freedom of speech and hate speech legislation is worthy of debate. However, please don't say all hate speech is bad except hate speech against Jews. (And yes, I think all religions should be protected by Title VI, just as all races are)
The Executive Order referenced the IHRA definition of Anti-Semitism, which has been accepted by many countries around the world. It does not consider criticism of Israeli policies to be anti-semitic, only criticism of Israel's existence.
10
@Bill Mallory
From a logical perspective, why should criticism of Israel's existence be forbidden?
Russia now occupies Crimea. Like it or not they are there.
Should you, or I, or a Ukrainian college professor be prohibited from saying that the existence of Russian Crimea is illegitimate. That Russian Crimea should not exist in its present form?
Why is it different to argue that Israel might be illegitimate.
We allow the Sioux to say that American expropriation of their homeland is illegitimate.
The Sioux don't have permission to take back their homeland by force, but they are free to say what they think about our violent expropriation of their homeland.
Should a Palestinian American student be punished for saying what an American Sioux is permitted to say?
1
A first step would be to remove the trope adherents, Miller, Kushner, and Trump from positions of influence.Second, let America live its creed and protect all speech and all persecuted for it. A nation of immigrants. Now that we’ve stolen it, try to learn it, love in it, and live in it.
1
The stunning lack of insight of Trump's Executive Order attempting to address the rise of anti-semitism in the U.S. and especially on college campuses on the one hand, when he foments white supremacy and nationalistic ideas on the other, can only be compared to that of his wife, in the creation of her Be Best initiative to address bullying amongst children, when she is married to the biggest bully of them all! Thank you for this piece pointing out the lunacy in these actions.
2
You're really not going to give Trump even a nod when he does what I consider to be the right thing.
Campus hate and radicalism, which targets conservatives, the military, and Jews alike, DOES need to be addressed. While the press has mostly ignored outrageous demonstrations and over reactions by radical campus agitators, Trump is finally addressing it.
Good for him.
9
Freedom of Speech morphed into a Declaration of Hate. Another Exceptional character of Two-Faced American culture.
1
Trump doesn't do things for the right reasons. He does things that he believes attract voters to sustain his regime. Unfortunately his voters don't know the difference. Always an actor, not a true leader, Trump marches them to the sea as the lemmings they are.
3
How about the expression "New York lawyers" as bandied about yesterday during impeachment proceedings? I can't help but think that current Republican mentation (including the president's) encourages anti-Semitic sentiments and, perhaps, actions that may have been suppressed until now.
1
Ethnicity and religion- the two cultural forces that separated human beings for millennia, and if you just scratch the surface of every one of you, you are all exactly the same. I don’t know where I’m going after this world, but I hope they don’t have either of those things there!
1
Trump's action begs the question. When will he issue a similar executive order for Muslims or any other non Christian religion or group? I doubt we will see one during his term in office.
2
Is it the President? Are his advisors? Does this have any effect on potential antisemitism? Like in many other cases Trump's decisions seem to fit his tastes. He does not like to put money in public education. The measure does not, however. respond to
any important priorities but may distract some opinions
1
This is the beginning of the end of free speech in America.
The trial balloon for Trump to start picking and choosing what constitutes hate speech.
So America the question is do we want of all people,
Donald Trump deciding what Hate speech is?
1
The editorial fails to mention that in NYC, the rising tide of anti-semitism is not driven by the alt-right or white nationalist groups but by people of color, particularly Muslims.
In fact, according to the NYPD exactly zero have been linked to white supremacists.
That is in no way meant normalize those groups, but we can’t get anywhere if we aren’t at least honest as to the source.
9
I do believe that Trump is right to a degree but he is clearly pandering to a TV audience. I know I shouldn't criticize when he tries, but you know; that darn TV rules America and you can't just put a video band aid on the original problem. If you stay away from your TV like me you will become so much calmer and happier. Try it.
1
The responses to this editorial are truly disturbing.
Yes, Trump's action is clearly meant to stifle liberalism at colleges. However, the "outing" of "racists" and "sexists" at colleges and universities has become increasingly mob-like.
Trump's action does not lift Jews above other minority groups, but rather it adds the same protection to Jews that that African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities already benefit from.
Why oppose the protections of Title VI for Jews but not for other groups? Why is this called "suppression of free speech" when Jews are the targeted group, but not when other minorities are involved?
10
Trump and Kushner are acting in the interests of a certain foreign country with a move that violates the US Constitution. Is this not an impeachable offense?
3
Another modest proposal:
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction US companies which are supportive of policies that exploit workers and immigrants, that pollute the atmosphere, that deny climate change and kill wildlife or blot the landscape, that gorge sick people of their savings, that contribute to unnecessary and immoral war policies, that extort students, the aged, and parents of hungry children, that support policies of discrimination...and more. Do you suppose Trump would try to suppress such a movement?
1
The defensive reaction from the left to “left wing” vs. “far right” anti-Semitism” speaks volumes for the current mindset of this country.
It’s not a competition. Why not recognize that anti-Semitism exists in many forms and work to change it wherever it exists.
5
Really, New York Times? I'm a liberal, college age Democrat. I despise Trump, think he is an embarrassment and danger to our country, and would never consider voting for him (or any other Republican, most likely). Yet, even Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders vote with Donald Trump roughly 12% of the time (according to FiveThirtyEight). Not everything Trump does is evil and needs to be criticized. Not every Democrats do is perfect.
Making a free speech argument against a law enacted to protect Jews, a minority that you eloquently describe as in danger of rising anti-Semitism, verges into the offensive. Would you tell any other at risk group that free speech is more important than protecting them? How can you defend a system that intimidates and frightens Jewish college students, and shrug your shoulders when they ask for help because "free speech" is more important than their wellbeing? Why wouldn't you examine the problem and present an alternate solution instead of immediately attacking a measure meant to protect?
19
Whatever you think of the Emory university flyers, even the links from this article say that Jewish students weren't targeted. I am baffled why the editorial claims it was aimed at "students with mezuzot on their door": “In reviewing this incident, we found no evidence that individual students or a particular group were targeted,” the university said in a statement issued April 3. https://atlantajewishtimes.timesofisrael.com/emory-university-caught-in-israel-palestinian-flap/
3
Trump and Kushner actively participate in and defend the worst right wing abuses of Netanyahu. They give him whatever he asks and defend whatever he does.
Those abuses are commonly excused by reference to the very real problems of antisemitism. That is dishonest, but effective.
It then forces the rest of us into distinctions, this but not that, and exactly how do we redefine antisemitism from the most extreme excuses for anything pushed by Netanyahu and friends.
When we get down into the mud with them, they wrestle around and are happy to get everyone all muddy. The mud is their defense, muddy it up, and run it all together.
What Trump is trying to silence is the discussion of "this but not that," and any discussion of what can be done about the abuses.
This document is just one more effort to hide the ball under that mud.
2
President Trump's comments are despicable. And in themselves, they give courage to other individuals to hold, express, and defend stereotypes. They will carry a lot more weight with a lot more people than any executive order. The executive order is a function of the government. Mr. Trump's comments reveal his own attitudes and beliefs. His followers will cheer at those and ignore the executive order.
If Donald Trump really wants to curtail hate speech, he might want to start by curtailing his own.
4
Trump is just pleasing people who already support him. He really could not care what are the consequences if he pleases them.
Criticism of Israel and it’s policies towards Palestinian Arabs is asserted to be Anti-Semitic by some people. Those people are folding that into hate against Jewish people without regard to Israeli policies and actions. That turns the legal definition of hateful acts to disagreeable expressions by some people.
Persecution of anyone on the basis of religion is a crime. But criticism of the human rights violations of the government of Israel has nothing to do with religion. College students and faculty should be free to criticize Israeli actions, just as they're free to criticize actions of any other country. BDS is not anti-semitic.
Trump's executive order is a blatant and transparent sell-out of the right of free expression.
1
I’m an American who happens to be Jewish. I love the idea of Israel and I think it’s important for Jews.but I also don’t like the politics of the Netanyahu administration and the rabid anti-Palestinian viewpoints of some other Jews in the US and In Israel.
My Jewish father fought for three and a half years in Europe during WWII to protect this country and others from tyranny and anti-semitism but also for our right to free speech.
2
B.D.S. arguments on campuses are not anti-Semitic. They are healthy political debates. If they ever degenerate into anti-Semitism, that is a serious matter that has to be treated separately from political debate and in particular from B.D.S.
No one with eyes open can think that Trump's executive order (has he surpassed Obama yet?) is anything but an attack on higher education and freedom of thought and argument.
1
Neither legislation nor administrative policy will curtail antisemitism. As with racism, the seeds of hatred are planted in children by parents, teachers and at times, as hard as it is to accept, by clergy. We must teach equality and sensitivity. I visit Washington DC frequently and enjoy the free museums whenever possible. No experience was more enlightening and touching than a visit to the Holocaust Museum. Every school trim to DC should include a mandatory visit to this treasure.
1
Trump's action will do nothing to stifle anti-Semitic violence from the Right. It will stifle free speech on college campuses.
The recent rise in antisemitism on college campuses is real, but that rise is attributable almost entirely to the brazen, illegal, and oppressive actions of Israel in Palestine. What really troubles Israel's supporters is the fact that many students who are not anti-Semites are outraged and horrified by Israel's conduct. They understand that today's outrage can create problems for Israel years from now, when many of those students will occupy positions of influence in government and the media.
Trump did what he did because it will help him with evangelicals and peel off some Jewish voters from the Democrats. Others involved in the decision are taking what they perceive to be a more subtle, long-term view. But stifling debate on campuses is like trying to keep the lid on a boiling pot. The tighter you keep the lid, the bigger the explosion to come.
I'm just glad I live in a country where when someone wants to kill a lot of people with a semi-automatic weapon that they can easily do it.
2
So, does the executive order also apply to pre- primary- and secondary- schools and public school districts as well? We've encountered antisemitism at those levels, as students, parents, and teachers/administrators.
1
Penalizing support of the BDS movement in the name of fighting antisemitism is the same logic as penalizing other supposed hate speech on campus for the protection of minorities. It is therefore very hypocritical for the Trump administration to penalize speech, considering their past denunciation of campus speech monitoring. It is just as hypocritical for supporters of hate speech sanctions to suddenly come out in support of free speech, as it relates to BDS. Free speech should be protected regardless of ideological leaning.
68
@Sloane Lee But this is the entire "point," and precisely as Miller sees it: the entire theatre of revanchism that Trump has been conducting follows this same logic. E.g., the open nepotism of Jared & Ivanka's positions are balanced by Hunter Biden's position at Burisma which was legal but unseemly, which is very much intended to focus attention on "systemic hypocrisy." Then unstated question meant to be raised in all cases is, "if you can do it, then why can't we?"
That there are real differences is too fine a point to parse for most, which is the idea. The immediate goal is to stoke and maintain resentment, while the end result is to degrade norms. That, also, is a goal, of Trump himself if not of his more ideological enablers.
As someone with a Jewish father and a Jewish last name and kids with the same, I am not interested in participating in this theatre of resentment. It's endangering my family. Trumpists are not people I want defining terms on my "behalf." Their medicine is ultimately as bad as the disease.
15
@Sloane Lee
BDS supporters (of course not all of them) stifle speech of pro-Israel students within threats, violence and disruption. BDS as speech is completely fine, as long as they don’t harm others or infringe their right to also speak.
8
@Sloane Lee
You should do your homework on the BDS movement. It borders on calling for the destruction of Israel and is fixated on the ethno-state of Israel and how that can not be allowed to exist. Meanwhile what about the Arab ethno-states? Not a word. There is no free speech in this country unless its "woke" speak.
8
My daughter is half Jewish, and very liberal. She grew up in NYC.
The first time she experienced anti-Semitism was in college. She said she learned quickly to never say anything in support of Israel--despite the fact that it provided a safe home for the only member of my huband's extended European family to survive the Holocaust.
She says people her age--well educated, liberal, urban young people--are often anti-Semitic, not in a personal basis, but on anything to do with Israel.
107
@Joe
Israel is not an apiarthrid state. Israelí Arabs are represented in all levels of government. Israel will come an apartheid state of it annexed the West Bank and didn’t give voting rights to its population.
Stop lying or misleading. There are many fair criticisms of Israel (and PA) that can lift the debate and help get a better view or maybe find a solution to the conflict. Your words as the words coming from the Israeli far right are nothing more than propaganda aimed to generate more conflict.
19
@Talbot "She says people her age--well educated, liberal, urban young people--are often anti-Semitic, not in a personal basis, but on anything to do with Israel."
That sounds more anti-Zionist and anti-Israel than anti-semitic.
29
"The first time she experienced anti-Semitism was in college."
Please be specific.
What did she "experience" (comments, gestures, iconography, etc)?
Under what circumstances (classroom, sidewalk, dorm, etc.)?
Was it directed at her specifically or was it more generally directed?
7
It is typical yet reprehensible that our much ballyhooed president chooses to view a solution for campus anti-semitism through a monetary or economic lens. It would have been kinder that he simply lead the people of this country, who gifted him his lofty and powerful position in the first instance, in a genuine though quintessentially human moment emphasizing our commonality as sentient beings who just need to know that empathy exists in expressions of our common needs as human beings. But, Mr. Trump clearly does not possess such human-kindness, and we are all the poorer for his deficiencies. Fate has given him much in this life for many years and in many ways. His current status in the most powerful office on Earth amounts only to wealth borrowed from his fellow citizens of this country and the world; Pity he is incapable of, or simple denies existence of, the humanity he shares with all the rest of us who are not so fortunate or powerful!
57
@Brackish Waters, MD
We need to continually remind people that trump was NOT gifted his position by the voters, but by the Electoral College. His election may have been "legal" but it fell far short of the standards for being a manifestation of the public will in any self-respecting democratic republic! That makes his ongoing atrocities ever more intolerable. This is just one more step in his self-serving, anti-free-speech and anti-education agenda.
9
Why anti-semitism is rising during Trump administration. It is frightening to other minority groups as well. It seems that excellence in minority groups is a crime. Trump with his reckless talk unwittingly promoting anti-semitism. I shudder to think that it may take permanent root in this country, which could be legacy of Trump’s presidency.
60
Anti- semitism is older than this country and arrived and sprouted in this soil as soon as the fist Europeans stepped foot here.
2
"It is true that anti-Israel speech, whether on campus or in Congress, makes some Jews feel unsafe, especially those who feel that Zionism is intrinsic to Jewish identity." I agree with much of what is said in this article, but I object to this statement-- it is not anti-Israel speech that makes Jews feel unsafe, but rather the content therein, which often utilizes anti-Semitic language and tropes but is seen as unassailable by other progressives. Many young Jews do criticize the actions of the state, myself included: it is possible to do so in a way that is not anti-Semitic and when anti-Semitism in this context is called out, it is because that is what's expressed.
6
The "status" of American Jews is slippery. Certainly, it should not be considered a nationality but many Jews, unlike members of other religious groups, should also be considered as members of an "ethnic" group as well as a religion. Many Jewish Americans are not particularly observant but still consider themselves Jewish. Indeed, non-religious Jews are routinely identified as Jews by non-Jews regardless of religious observances. Jews share language, history, culture, customs & religion - as do other ethnic group members and this should not be confused with nationality. To be Jewish is complicated & we need to acknowledged that or we will never get our hands around rooting out the persistence of antisemitism in this country and world-wide.
10
@SRF
You are right that "to be Jewish is complicated"
It is also complicated to be a Parsi, to be a native American, to be a Marxist, to be an agnostic, to be a Vegan.
All these things cut across other aspects of someone's identify. Judaism does so neither more nor less than the rest.
We should not have special laws and executive orders to deal with the complexity of each an every American.
1
Violent forms of discrimination or hate are clearly crimes; should be legislated as such; and should be adjudicated as such. In the absence of legislation it is appropriate, indeed necessary, for an executive to take action.
3
@Doctor D
Have we seen evidence of violent forms of discrimination that are not treated as crimes and covered by existing law.
What act of violence could I perpetrate against a Sikh that would not be treated as a crime under existing law?
1
@John B Any act violence without visible aftermath.
Rather than deal directly with the issue and curb rhetoric that emboldens and encourages actual anti-semites, Trump leverages his image by having colleges do what they're already doing in most if not all instances. Where I work, such behavior would trigger a rapid response by a behavioral intervention team to address the situation from all sides. Meanwhile, Trump is telling Jews to vote for him because they love money. And the NYT publishes the nepotistically enabled Jared's letter. Boo hoo, Jared. Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.
2
This order follows Trump's declaration that the illegally constructed Israeli settlements in the West Bank are now no longer considered illegal by the U.S..
The Trump administration's real aim is to further support the far-right policies of Netanyahu and his ilk by curtailing any criticism of Israeli government policy.
In a similar vein the Israeli government seeks to undermine the funding, activities and free speech of NGOs in Israel who criticise human rights violations of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
146
@Colm
I don't think that this editorial was, in any way, about the abuses committed by the Israeli government. Conflating being Jewish with Israel's actions is an act of intellectual sophistry favored by anti-Semites (for example, Jeremy Corbyn)
2
By equating honest and compassionate discussion of equity for Palestinians with true egregious actions of anti-Jewish hatred in the United States, the Trump-Kushner coalition does a grave disservice to both.
It is not anti-Semitic to express fair and equal treatment of Palestinians, a future of opportunity, secure property, safety, quality of life, education, a decency, hope, peace and equality. Criticizing a government that denies basic human rights to an entire group of people is responsible and humane. Boycotting certain products to express concerns about human rights and human decency should be encouraged – this is a mature, responsible and non-violent choice.
It is anti-Semitic to scrawl offensive graffiti, yell hurtful and threatening statements, shoot up a market or place of worship, to exclude, ridicule, or make disrespectful jokes. This is wrong, and should be firmly sanctioned and punished.
By equating both under a single definition, this denies the legitimacy of those who abhor hateful treatment of people of ALL religions, ethnicities, national origins, genders and orientations.
Disrespectful and hurtful treatment and oppression of anyone, Jew or Muslim, Israeli or Palestinian, is exactly the same, and should not be tolerated.
The right to ‘self determination and a safe, productive homeland should apply to all.
One is not ‘better’ or more deserving that the other.
One life equals one life.
A firm and active belief in that is not anti-Semitic.
49
@organic farmer I am glad someone wrote this. It’s about the dignity and value of human life. How easily crafty leaders use our fears and ideologies to divide us into feeling that one life is more deserving than another.
15
@organic farmer
Well said. However, Israel’s very legitimacy and right to exist is threatened by political leaders of the Palestinians. Their stated desire is the total destruction of the nation of Israel.
Their advocacy for protracted violence against Israel joined by nations like Iran has been the battle cry of such leaders since 1948. This makes any real effort for compromise and real lasting peace impossible.
10
Firstly, would it be cynical to think Trump & Co. are courting a potential new voting cohort? See Kuschner Op.
Secondly, the Ed. Board emphasis of the anti-Semitism coming from the (extreme) Right, runs somewhat counter to the Op-Ed piece by Bari Weiss earlier in the week in which many of her concerns are aimed left of centre - eg. the UK Labour Party, complacency of (moderate democratic, even left-leaning) governments in Europe, and the BDS which in the UK and Europe certainly is sympathised with more from the Left.
I believe anti-Semitism is so pervasive, so potent, that focus on a particular segment (however despicable the ideology may be) should be avoided, as should any initiative that equates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism or legitimate concerns about Israel's political agenda.
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@AnneS rarely do extreme views come from the center. There are threats left and right. Trump, with a shocking number of supporters and apologizers, is so dangerous, because his attacks are aimed at truth and civility. He is setting precedent that will be exploited by the extreme left as soon as as they get a chance.
9
Once again The NY Times chooses to “whitewash” antisemitism by focusing solely on the right (which has existed forever) and not the left which is growing in leaps and bounds. At college campuses it isn’t the ”evil white people” who took those mezuzahs down and it it wasn’t white people who shouted down Israel at Binghamton university a few weeks ago. But I wouldn’t expect a newspaper that routinely publishes antisemetic cartoons (and subsequently apologizes for them) to suddenly be on the right side of this issue. The same paper that could care less when the Holocaust was going on can care less about what happens to young Jews in college. What a shameful response to Trump finally doing something good!
4
The problem with all this is that the NYT has been caught being anti-Semitic and Donald Trump hasn’t .
1
Jews feel unsafe on campus and around the world and the editorial board has no real solution. That’s the definition of half-baked.
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I'm sorry but the NYTimes board is hardly the folks I turn to when I wish to understand the modern faces of anti-semitism. Yes the rightists contain more lunatics, and more killers; for most Western Jews the daily discomforts and unpleasantness comes from the leftists The NY Times is so concerned about being silenced. When you begin to report on who is attacking Jews in Brooklyn, or the anti-semites amongst the Squad and the leadership of the Women's March I will take your concern for anti-semitism seriously.
Until then your board and its opinions are part of the problem, not the solution.
5
Why am I not in the least surprised the NYT Editorial Board has found a way, however tangentially, to blame President Orangutan for the recent shootings in New Jersey. Not even a supporter of that loser, still, as a long time subscriber, find the transformation of the once august paper into a nattering, partisan FOX NEWS style rag enormously depressing.
1
Funny while protecting Jews, the administration is actively working to strip the LGBT community of its rights.
Too bad the President’s favorite daughter wasn’t gay.
1
Your editorial has just excused at least 50 percent of the antisemitic rhetoric in this country. On Tuesday, a Black Israelite who repeatedly quoted Louis Farrakhan brought an arsenal of ammunition to Jersey City and murdered four people, specifically targeting a small, rather poor community of Jews who were priced out of Brooklyn. That was their crime. Yes, and of course, being Jewish— the bigger crime or “gutter religion,” according to Farrakhan. This murderer was clearly not a white supremacist. Your blind spot on the left is why so many “moderates” no longer believe your news is all the news that’s “fit” to print.
4
My overall observation is that we live in a time of very little anti-semitism. And at the same time we are inundated with immediate internet stimulous about synagogue shootings, bad language, the traditional vandalism in jewish cemataries, fraternities taking pictures of drunks presenting the nazi salute....on and on. Other than the murderous outbursts..(murder is a real crime).....the other stuff is embarrassing behavior that we should not encourage.
....
Now.....the other side......We all insist that America accept criticism for its behavior.....We demand that other nations answer for THEIR reprehensible behavior......yet........when a population group that seeks to be seen as a nation and also as "not a nation" recieves honest, objective, HARSH criticism for its own reprehensible behavior....it is to be condemned as a "Crime Against Humanity!"(intoned with deep belowing G-d like resonance).
Citicism of Israel, often done by so-called prophets and charlatans alike, is NOT the same thing as "cursing Israel".
It is NOT anti-semitism.
Violence against Israel....as Israel's violence against its own....is most definately a crime.
It takes two to tango.
and
You cant teach a Sneech.
There is a real difference, we have AntiSemitism that always exists beneath the accepted normalcy of society, that the Jews were always considered harmful to others, vermin. The current rise is being fanned into a conflagration by a dangerous ignorant fool.
The BDS movement is a totally different animal, this is a question of a Country's political policies that harm other residents. Young adults, students, have asked these questions and sought answers.
Factually this is a huge problem for Israel, what to do with the Israeli Settlements consuming Palestinian territories. If they grant the Palestinians citizenship, they lose the majority of the Jewish State. If not they become an apartheid Nation.
The real danger is our government confusing these separate issues and causing a greater problem.
Criticism of the actions of the State of Israel and taking action such as boycotts to make your criticism felt, are not antisemitism. They are protected political speech. There are of course those people who want any criticism of Israel to be condemned and illegal, Trump wants the same things for his actions. Both are wrong and Trump's latest stunt will be overturned on constitutional grounds.
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Since Trump took office, the bar defining appropriate presidential conduct had fallen so low that I'm pleased to see him condemn any sort of bigotry. But the man still has a very long distance to go before he approaches decency.
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@Quiet Waiting : Get real!! Trump doesn't do anything like this out of empathy or concern!! It's purely political whether it be for appearances or political favor! It's about him or something he wants. Beyond that, he could care less!! You can bank on that!!! Don't be giving the "benefit of the doubt" when the truth is there is NONE!!
When nationalism is on the rise, accompanying it is bigotry in all forms, racism, anti-Semitism, minorities, etc. Those leaders who promote this, us versus them, are by and far the catalyst allowing the hatred to foment.
We now have a divided country and we sorely need someone to unite us again. Trump cannot do it for sure, but my fear is no one can, at least for years to come.
And until that leader arrives, hatred will not abate.
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@cherrylog754,
I agree our nation needs a better leader, who unites rather than divides.
However, she/he will not “arrive”.
Rather, we - the electorate - must find him/her and vote her/him into office.
Along with a decent group of Representatives and Senators.
Until we - the electorate - step up and do our job, the country will continue to rot away.
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@cherrylog754
"Those leaders who promote this, us versus them, are by and far the catalyst allowing the hatred to foment."
No leader could ever promote "us vs them" mentality better than the identity politics operatives and their respective mobs. They have torn American identity into shards.
1
@cherrylog754
Quite true. It's obvious that we need some Leader -- you forgot the capital "L" -- to teach us how to behave. We can't possibly figure it out ourselves.
Jews on college campuses who voice pro Israel sentiments are routinely shut down under the mendacious claim of Israel being a racist apartheid country. Freedom of speech goes both ways. Anti-Semites should have no right to block support for Israel by often physically preventing Jewish individuals from speaking in support of Israel or as in UCLA preventing a student from student government participation because she supported Israel. The University of Toronto is considering banning kosher food because the Hillel house supports Israel. That is the road American universities cannot go down. This bill is simply intended to protect the rights of the minority - something colleges have simply failed to do.
3
Trump's actions have little to do with concern for Jewish students and everything to do with the wishes Israel Firsters like Sheldon Adelson, the casino billionaire and the president's biggest individual contributor - by far.
6
Jewish people are as diverse in their opinions as any other group. To blame all Jewish people for the actions of Israel is no different than blaming everyone of German descent for the actions of Hitler. If Trump really wants to do something about the rise of white supremacy, he should remove the white supremacists in his administration and take a good, hard look at his own rhetoric.
8
Every single thing named in this article could apply to Muslim students. They are subjected to stereotyping; told to leave; blamed for actions by other people who happen to share their religion. They sometimes feel unsafe.
Supporting or opposing the occupation of the West Bank is an opinion--an opinion that should be heard and respected.
Discriminating (including acts of harassment) on the basis of religion or nationality is wrong. Moreover, while we should recognize that minority religions are particularly vulnerable, those actions of harassment and/or discrimination are wrong regardless of the religion of the people who are targeted.
It may be true that most Jewish students are supportive of Israel. I'd guess that most students, regardless of religion, are supportive of Israel. But what does that mean? Does that mean that they are supportive of Netanyahu's approach? I would not assume that. In fact, I'd guess that support for Netanyahu's approach is higher among evangelical Christians than among Jewish individuals.
Jared Kushner and Donald Trump cannot speak for Jewish students or for students in general.
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Occasionally, it takes a terrible deed to shine a light on something which warrants our complete attention. Ever rarer, such a deed polarizes people. The past few years, we have seen such moments that invole police forces and the shootings of black men. Also, mass shootings; especially when they involve children. Now (I hope), this shooting in New Jersey will become one of those "polarizing" moments., for that is when we begin to see change for the better.
2
Sorry (or not) to be skeptical of Trump's motives, but if he REALLY wanted to curtail hate speech, he'd start with his own.
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This is a strange concept. If Title VI protection is a threat to free speech if extended to Jews, why is that not also true for other minorities? It is a strong libertarian argument that any speech, even harassing speech based on a person's national, ethnic, or religious heritage is in conflict with the 1st Amendment.
It is just strange to hear that argument from the NYT editorial board instead of Reason magazine.
8
@James
Homerun, James.
This is a pro-BDS article shamelessly hiding under the specter of the murder of two orthodox jews by members of a group of the FAR LEFT, not far right.
Unfortunately, typical of the Ilan Omer/AOC tendencies of both the angry left and the NYT.
"If Title VI protection is a threat to free speech if extended to Jews, why is that not also true for other minorities?"
The Times fails to link to the ACTUAL executive order, so it is very difficult to understand the issue.
The problem is with the word "rhetorical" in this phrase: "Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism ...".
Worse, that text is from a third party -- the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
IOW, the White House is brazenly letting a partisan organization literally write government policy.
The New York Times editorial board should qualify what they mean when they write that most Jewish-American students "support Israel." For example, as an American Jew my support of Israel includes a critique of its policies, and a concern for its future. Indeed I support the ideals of what I consider to be my homeland, the United States, but I am certainly critical of the current administration.
32
We live in a time where the right, who has the lion's share of the money, uses it and its power to suppress the left. Without this power, legislators would make laws that the people want and that are free from bias. Sadly every aspect of American life is being coopted and viewed through the lens of money. It's disgusting. And in this age of inequality, whom do you think will win the battle?
11
I'm against this rule, but I am also against college students illegally disrupting the lives of others. When speakers are deplatformed by student demonstrators who do not permit the person to give their speech, toss those demonstrators out of the university. When student find harassing notes of any kind on their doors, toss the perps out of the university. When drunk students harass other students illegally, whether sexually or otherwise, toss them out of the university. Colleges and universities have more applicants than they can handle. I am sure the slots can be filled by others with some respect for decorum and each other, within the broad expanse of the First Amendment.
29
Now if only the editors would apply the same logic to the campus thought policing of micro-aggressive speech, et al.
That doesn't mean that the editors are not more right than wrong in their expressed opinion this morning.
It does mean that their intellectual inconsistency on this core issue when presented in other contexts serves only to undermine their credibility on the issue of free speech.
12
"... their intellectual inconsistency ..."
That's the problem with a committee (i.e. the "Board") writing opinions. Of course, individuals can be intellectually inconsistent too.
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@PCG: Many Americans claim that holding, even advocating, mutually contradictory beliefs simultaneously, is the loftiest of intellectual attainments.
2
While any attempt to control anti-Semitism is commendable and many are increasingly necessary, I am concerned that labeling it as something other than a religious matter is a slippery slope and should be avoided. American Jews have long been subject to charges of having a dual loyalty when it comes to patriotism, and Trump's proposal won't help eradicate such accusations; it will only fan them.
Judaism is a religion, not a nationality. Israel is a country, not a religion, even if it is routinely referred to as "the Jewish state." There are many who claim that the United States is a Christian nation, but that does not make it so.
Care should be taken not to confuse religions and nationality, and Jared Kushner should not be the arbiter of such important decisions. As for Trump, it wouldn't be the first time he twisted facts and language to represent something other than the truth, purely for his own political convenience, and in this case, the truth is that no amount of labeling will make Judaism a nationality.
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@Quoth The Raven
Why are so many comments (on this & other topics) all about, "Let's make it SIMPLE." Unfortunately, that goal conflicts with THE TRUTH. "Jews will not replace us" is a frightening slogan that is NOT about whether there will be a tree or a menorah on "the town green." It certainly isn't about whether a cross or a 6-pointed star belongs on display in similar places.
Thus, this is NOT a question about religions. As it has been for thousands of years, some combination - and since many "on the attack" are either insane or poorly educated, it's tough to read their so-called minds - of Jews as an ethnic or racial group, Jews as roughly synonymous with Israelis in certain contexts, Jews as synonymous with liberals or educated Americans in other contexts, etc.
None of those are really about religious beliefs - things like whether Jesus was God's son, hence divine - or anything remotely like that.
2
@Quoth The Raven, actually, Judaism is a people with roots that go back three thousand years, a people historically oppressed and for whom it is a miracle that it has survived. There have been millions of non-religious Jews over the millennia who are still part of this people. It is transnational, but with roots in what is now the land of Israel. One can join this people and gain full recognition as a member, but the process is not easily. It is rooted in ideas, not DNA. There is actually no equivalent to it anywhere else on the planet. To think of it merely as a religion, like Zoroastrianism or being a Jehovah's Witness, it to denigrate it.
2
@Quoth The Raven
especially when done in so self serving and obvious manner
This governmental action should not have been necessary, but it was.
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@Conservative Democrat No, it wasn’t.
2
If the news accounts of this executive order are correct, then it's a very ill-conceived development.
If anti-Israel speech is squelched and people's 1st Amendment rights are violated, that will only aggravate the problem not ameliorate it.
Also to define Jews as a race or nationality has little factual basis. They are obviously not a nationality since they are dispersed all around the world and are comprised of peoples from multiple racial backgrounds. This designation only pigeonholes Jews for discrimination even more; protection as a religion is more than sufficient and is more in line with reality.
In other words, this Executive Order will probably enhance, not reduce, discrimination even though technically speaking it may slightly enhance the legal basis for curbing discriminatory practices.
12
As a member of Congregation Beth Israel, the tiny synagogue under siege during the Unite the Right Rally, there is a constant and continuous reminder of the climate of hate against Jews, that has blossomed since trump took office. Armed guards, which a member family pays an extra $250 per year for as well as key pads throughout the building provide additional security. We all feel safer, no doubt, but these extra protections were necessary after August, 2017, which makes me both sad and very, very angry.
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"... Congregation Beth Israel, the tiny synagogue under siege during the Unite the Right Rally, ..."
The city should have provided some security, but it failed to:
"[Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer, a member of the synagogue,] said he had requested a police car and an officer at the synagogue that day, but the department was unable to meet the request, the mayor said."
That sounds like a failure of government.
Source: Washington Post article by Ellie Silverman dated August 26, 2017.
4
@Sharon Salzberg Surely Sharon you realize Trump's son-in-law and Grandchildren are all Jews. He has done things I oppose like embassy in Jerusalem and the horrible act of accepting settlements in the Occupied Palestinian lands. These and much more which you probably know like squandering our Billions of tax money over there and you still say he has some connection to anti-Semitism. That's a stretch don't you see? did not think so.
@Sharon Salzberg How will the US government administer this executive order? To do so will inevitably
result in a government definition of what is a Jew.
The Nuremberg laws all over again ! And you support this>
The purpose of Trump's executive order is the same as every move he makes, it's to solidify his base for next year's election, in this case evangelicals. He has no ideology!
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He wants to open this door, let him. But I think people need to know that religious persecution is very much alive and well. As a Roman Catholic in the baptist south I hear very anti Roman Catholic comments weekly. The evangelicals also dislike presbyterians and lutherans. I on the other hand look at baptists and evangelicals as heretics. Modifying the word of God to suit their own very strange beliefs, they are not quite real christians to me. Opening this door may lead to more disaster.
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@Gordon Religion by its very nature promotes hate in all its forms from blinding hate to condescending hate. Each religious sect is totally convinced that theirs is the only or the best way to their God and that all others are wrong and lost.
Nevertheless, its appeal is that it fills a gap of aloneness and fear of the unknown that exists in most. But filling it leads to separation from other human beings.
8
@Gordon - Politics and power struggles seem to be the innate nature of man. It is important, as you mentioned, to contrast the example of Christ's exalted acts with the base actions of individuals who seek to use religion as a weapon to gain power or those who channel their deep seated anger and hatred toward innocent symbols of a particular religion. The TV series, The Family, is an eye-opener of how religion is being perverted for the few who seek to control populations secretly using the instruments of government.
"Religion is never the problem; it's the people who use it to gain power." - Julian Casablancas
I am for freedom of religion, & against all maneuvres to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another.
-Thomas Jefferson, letter to Elbridge Gerry, 26 January 1799
4
@Gordon
Criticism of your religion is not the same as persecution. Are you able to wear the symbols of your religion in public? Are you able to attend worship services freely, without fear of violence or arrest? Are you able to vote, to run for office, to hold a state job? Yes, of course you are. I'm not saying your neighbors (and you, for that matter) don't have ridiculous prejudices and likely say unkind things, but that is far different than persecution.
3
President Trump had criticized President Obama for being an "imperial president" because of his reliance of executive orders to accomplish his goals due to the Republican's refusal to compromise on any of his administration's legislative objectives. Now, the supposed Republican and libertarian champion, uses the power of executive orders to issue a threat of denying federal money to any college campus whose students commit acts of anti-Semitism. If a protest occurs on a college campus condemning Israel for actions that they don't agree with, then the entire campus may lose funding. So, hypothetically, if Israel decided to bomb an entire country, and college campuses protested around the country, then this new executive order could be wielded in order to shut down free speech. This seems like a slippery slop in which President Trump can build his autocracy in which he uses the power of the Presidency to shut down free speech anywhere and anytime under the guise of protecting minority groups. If, like most libertarians, President Trump truly believed in the freedom and rights of individuals to thrive without government intervention, then he would avoid interfering in communities governance, leaving this up to campus administrations and the local courts to maintain a safe and nurturing environment for individuals of all backgrounds, religions and creeds.
8
Semite is a linguistic designation applied to native residents of the Levant. Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages.
Historically/religiously, anti-Semitism is an artifact of a nascent Christianity that in time became doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church, and in Protestantism after Martin Luther split from the Church.
Socially/academically, anti-Semitism is a term that was created in the late 19th century to emphasize that discrimination against Jews was based on racial and ethnic grounds rather than religion. Secular Jews have been every bit as much targets of anti-Semitism as have been religious Jews.
What concerns me, along with several other things, is that by “declaring” Judaism a “nationality” Trump is making another target of opportunity for white nationalists, not just the usual run-of-the-mill anti-Semites.
It is small steps from religious ostracism to social ostracism to national scapegoat.
14
Is the ACLU taking the executive order to court? I certainly hope so. This is chilling.
22
Innocence is most fortunate if it finds the same protection as crime.
1
no matter what Trump does, many will rebuke it.
Yet, something needs to be done. Ok, rebuke me.
5
@Yes to Progressive: That’s because Trump is a sociopath and EVERYTHING a sociopath does is ONLY for his own benefit, no matter what he does. If anyone else benefits too, that’s pure coincidence. A sociopath will turn on his beneficiaries on a moment’s notice if he sees that as better for himself. Tomorrow Trump will cozy up to white nationalists again.