USA TODAY International Edition
Critics: Trump’s anti- Semitism order stifles speech
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday designed to cut off aid to colleges that tolerate anti- Semitism, though some critics called it an effort to stifle free speech and criticism of Israel.
“This is our message to universities: If you want to accept the tremendous amount of federal dollars that you get every year, you must reject anti- Semitism,” Trump said during a Hanukkah reception at the White House where he signed the executive order.
The order basically aims to extend the scope of the section in the Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin. It would now include anti- Semitic “hate.”
A White House statement said the order is written so as to enshrine “the definition from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance of anti- Semitism into an executive order, and clarify that Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act applies to anti- Semitic acts.”
Before signing the order, Trump said anti- Jewish hatred appears to be on the rise, and apparently was a motive for Tuesday shooting’s at a kosher deli in Jersey City, New Jersey, that killed a police officer and three other people.
Critics said the order is really targeting criticism of Israel, particularly the “Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel movement” ( BDS) that involves criticism of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
“This is not ‘ protecting Judaism under civil rights law,’ ” tweeted Sophie Ellman- Golan, director of an organization called Jews against White Nationalism. “This is using Jews and Judaism as a shield to go after Palestinians and antiauthoritarian professors and student activists.”
The U. S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights criticized the order as an attempt to silence protests against Israel, saying in a statement that it is “a clear instrument of repression targeting activism for freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people on college campuses.”