Editorial: Trump brings much-needed muscle to fight against antisemitism
To all the antisemitic protesters chanting “Intifada! Intifada” on campuses last year while harassing Jewish students, your free pass is over.
Finally.
As the New York Post reported, President Trump was expected to sign an executive order Wednesday instructing all federal agencies to identify civil and criminal authorities available to combat antisemitism.
It outlines plans for the Justice Department to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, including on college campuses, according to a document describing the order.
It also calls for the deportation of resident aliens — including students with visas — who broke laws as part of anti-Israel protests following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that sparked the invasion of Gaza, the document reviewed by The Post says.
It’s called facing the consequences of one’s actions, and it’s long overdue.
Antisemitic incidents and attacks surged after Oct. 7, and Jews around the world were targeted for abuse, physical assaults, and hate-filled vitriol. American Jews weren’t spared, in a country that guarantees freedom of religion.
Political leaders made speeches and posted comments on social media, as attacks continued. On Nov. 6 of 2023, Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on X: “Terrorist attacks against Israel have been followed by a dangerous spike in anti-Jewish incidents. Threats against students, vitriol online, and acts of hate against Jews around the world — antisemitism in all its forms — is wrong.”
In May of last year, President Joe Biden said “We must give hate no safe harbor against anyone,” Biden said.
Nice sentiments, but where was the enforcement?
Enter Trump.
Last week, the president signed an order that called for the US to “ensure that admitted aliens and aliens otherwise already present in the United States” do not “support designated foreign terrorists.”
We’ve seen what support for terrorists look like. In July, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress in Washington, protesters carried banners supporting Hamas. One spray-painted “Hamas is coming” on a statue of Christopher Columbus.
This isn’t a time for speeches heavy with bromides, or treading softly lest young, progressive voters are offended — it’s time for action.
Harvard University, whose former president Claudine Gay infamously said that it depended on context whether calling for the genocide of Jews violated Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment, reached settlements last week in a pair of legal disputes that claimed the university failed to protect Jewish students.
Under the settlements, Harvard must reaffirm that antisemitism will not be tolerated at least annually, prepare a public annual report covering its response to alleged complaints, and invest in additional academic resources to study antisemitism.
It’s about time.
“Today’s settlement reflects Harvard’s enduring commitment to ensuring our Jewish students, faculty, and staff are embraced, respected, and supported,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to strengthen our policies, systems, and operations to combat anti-Semitism and all forms of hate.”
There’s no shortage of “antisemitism won’t be tolerated” talk from academia and political circles.
This time, it’s finally got some muscle behind it.
Editorial cartoon by Steve Kelley (Creators Syndicate)
