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Trump expected to issue executive order against antisemitism on campus - The Jerusalem Post

US President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order on Wednesday invoking Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to fight antisemitic rhetoric on college campuses. The new executive order would also label Judaism as a nationality in addition to a religion, so it would fall into the category of Title VI. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance. The Department of Education could cut federal funding for institutions that fail to remedy antisemitic incidents that fall under the title.
A senior administration official said on Tuesday that often antisemitism on campuses is hidden in an anti-Israel agenda. He said the executive order would direct federal agencies to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism in cases of discrimination.Students who will feel that they are being bullied on college campuses would be able to complain to their institution's administration, who will then need to decide if the incident is considered antisemitic. 
"We began to focus on this issue in the late winter/spring of this year when we were alarmed frankly at a rise in antisemitic rhetoric, including unfortunately from leading political figures," said a senior administration official. "We looked at the data, and we saw that there'd been a rise in antisemitic incidents, and we began a policy process to figure out physically what we could do on the subject."Another official said the order would be "short and straightforward.""There's been a lot of un-clarity surrounding the application of Title VI to Jewishness because of a question about whether Jewishness is primarily a religion, in which case Title Six does not not apply to antisemitic discrimination, or whether it's a race or national origin," the official said. "[After] rigorous legal review, this executive order will clarify that Title VI applies to antisemitism."

He went on to explain the the policy of the executive branch is to enforce Title VI in order to prohibit discrimination rooted in antisemitism "as vigorously as against all other forms of discrimination," noting that this will be language used in the order.
RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman responded to news of the expected executive order. He said, "This is a truly historic and important moment for Jewish Americans. President Trump has extended to Jewish students very strong, meaningful legal protection from antisemitic discrimination.
"Sadly, every day, Jewish students on college campuses face outrageous attacks on their Jewish identity and beliefs," he continued. "The rapid increase in such incidents in recent years is of great concern."Coleman said that the Jewish people have "good reasons to call Donald Trump the most pro-Israel president in American history...  President Trump has shown himself to be the most pro-Jewish President, as well." He said that the executive order will have a real and positive impact in protecting Jewish college students from antisemitism.But not all Jewish activists celebrated the impending announcement.
Jewish Democratic Council of America Executive Director Halie Soifer instead called the president a hypocrite.
“It is the height of hypocrisy for President Trump to sign an executive order that he claims will combat antisemitism," Soifer said, accusing Trump of being "more interested in symbolic gestures that politicize Israel and use Jews as political pawns than actually doing something meaningful to ensure our security and that of Israel. "The timing of this signing reveals this is a PR stunt, plain and simple," she noted. “If President Trump truly wanted to address the scourge of antisemitism he helped to create, he would accept responsibility for his role emboldening white nationalism, perpetuating antisemitic conspiracy theories, and repeating stereotypes that have led to violence targeting Jews."J Street’s President Jeremy Ben-Ami released a similar statement: “This executive order, like the stalled congressional legislation it is based on, appears designed less to combat antisemitism than to have a chilling effect on free speech and to crack down on campus critics of Israel."He explained that the expert who drafted the definition of antisemitism that is being adopted by this executive order, Kenneth S. Stern, has opposed its application on college campuses. Stern wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that, "If this bill becomes law…students and faculty members will be scared into silence, and administrators will err on the side of suppressing or censuring speech."
Ben-Ami said that "the same right-wing groups who turn a blind eye to the president’s hateful rhetoric have promoted this executive order as part of a cynical push to turn the issue of antisemitism into a partisan political weapon, instead of seriously combating it in all its forms.”

Maayan Hoffman contributed to this report.

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Trump expected to issue executive order against antisemitism on campus - The Jerusalem Post
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