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Jewish Leaders Discuss Campus Antisemitism, Trump Deportation Policy at US Senate
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas students rally at the encampment for Gaza set up at George Washington University students. Washington, DC, April 25, 2024. Photo: Allison Bailey via Reuters Connect
Jewish civil rights advocates, faith leaders, and academics appeared as witnesses for a US Senate committee hearing on Thursday to discuss the ongoing campus antisemitism crisis and the Trump administration’s recent crackdown on anti-Zionist activity, a subject that has sparked a hotly contested debate on civil liberties and the limits of academic freedom.
Held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the hearing came on the heels of a policy offensive in which the Trump administration has canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in federal grants to Ivy League schools accused of ignoring antisemitic discrimination, created a federal inter-agency task force on antisemitism, and ordered the deportation of anti-Zionist students and faculty who are accused of providing material support to Hamas and participating in other seditious activities.
“Educational institutions are not public streets or sidewalks, and students need not be permitted to engage in expressive activity wherever, whenever, and however they wish — for example, including by wearing masks to conceal their identities — especially when such allowances ultimately contribute to the creation of hostile educational environments,” Carly Gammill, legal policy director at StandWithUs, told the committee, making the case for regulating utterances of campus speech and assembly which undermine Jewish students’ civil rights to a college education free from discrimination.
Other speakers included Rabbi Levi Shemtov of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), Rabbi David Saperstein of Religious Action Center of Reform, and Kenneth S. Stern, director of Bard College’s Center for the Study of Hate.
“Antisemitism is not just an age-old prejudice, it is a contemporary crisis manifesting on campuses across the nation,” Shemtov said. “As my father once taught me, it is not enough for people, especially for public figures, to not be antisemitic, we must be anti-antisemitic. We must demand the same of our universities and governmental institutions.”
Representing a civil libertarian viewpoint, Stern argued against codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism into law and imposing punitive measures on college students and faculty accused of promoting antisemitism.
“Students, including Jewish students, have a right not to be victims of true threats, harassment, intimidation, bullying, discrimination, let alone assault. However, they should expect to hear ideas that cut them to their core,” Stern told the committee. “If we bludgeon the campus into submission, we risk destroying an institution that has made America the envy of the world.”
He continued, “I am more worried now that the campus tensions over [the Israeli-Palestinian conflict] threaten higher education, as each side tries to silence the other. Pro-Palestinian activists sometimes use a heckler’s veto to promote academic boycotts and sometimes exclude Zionists from social spaces, which is almost always McCarthy-like and sometimes clearly antisemitic. But I’m more worried about the use of the law to silence pro-Palestinian speech.”
Stern also criticized US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) high-profile arrest and detainment of Mahmoud Khalil — a Columbia University alumnus who was an architect of the Hamilton Hall building takeover and other disturbances in the New York City area this semester — as “McCarthyism,” prompting a rebuke from HELP committee member Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO).
“As you very well know, United States law says that a noncitizen is inadmissible for entry into this country if they, and I quote, ‘endorse or espouse terrorist activity or persuade others to do the same.’ That same law provides you can be removed for the same reasons,” Hawley responded. “That is what Mr. Khalil has been accused of. He has further been accused of, by the United States government, lying on his visa application. That on its own would be sufficient to remove him from this country.”
Hawley added that Khalil is named as a defendant in a new lawsuit which accuses him of “terrorizing and assaulting Jewish students, unlawfully taking over and damaging public university property, and assaulting Columbia University employees.” He then asked Stern, “You’re telling me that it’s McCarthyism to remove this individual?”
Republican lawmakers have called for holding higher education accountable since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel set off an explosion of antisemitic sentiment on college campuses, causing a succession of conflagrations which still are still burning hot at schools such as Columbia University.
In December, the Republican-led US House Committee on Education and the Workforce issued a report which said that nothing short of a revolution of the current habits and ideas which constitute the current higher education regime can prevent similar episodes of unrest from occurring in the future. Colleges, it continued, need equal enforcement of civil rights laws to protect Jewish students from discrimination and “viewpoint diversity” to prevent the establishment of ideological echo chambers.
The report also said that “academic rigor,” undermined by years of dissolving educational standards for political purposes, would guard against the reduction of complex social issues into the sloganeering of “scholar activism,” in which faculty turn the classroom into a soapbox and reward students who mimic them.
Earlier this month, US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) proposed two new bills which would impose legal sanctions on purveyors of pro-terror ideologies on university campuses and the higher education institutions that harbor them.
The “No Student Loans for Campus Criminals Act” would prevent any campus protestor convicted of a crime from receiving federal student loans or student loan relief, and the “Woke Endowment Security Tax Act (WEST)” would levy a 6 percent excise tax on the endowments of 11 American universities, using the proceeds to pay down the national debt and secure the southern border shared with Mexico. According to Cotton’s office, the bill would generate $16.6 billion in revenue.
“The American people should not be on the hook for the tuition of Little Gaza inhabitants,” Cotton wrote on social media. “Second, our elite universities need to know the cost of pushing anti-American and pro-terrorist agendas.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Jewish Leaders Discuss Campus Antisemitism, Trump Deportation Policy at US Senate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Says Lebanon Move on Army Plan Is ‘Opportunity,’ Urges Israel to Commit to Ceasefire
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and members of the cabinet stand as they attend a cabinet session to discuss the army’s plan to disarm Hezbollah, at the Presidential Palace in Baabda, Lebanon, September 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qmati told Reuters on Saturday that the group considered Friday’s cabinet session on an army plan to establish a state monopoly on arms “an opportunity to return to wisdom and reason, preventing the country from slipping into the unknown.”
Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday welcomed a plan by the army that would disarm Hezbollah and said the military would begin executing it, without setting a timeframe for implementation and cautioning that the army had limited capabilities.
But it said continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon would hamper the army’s progress. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lebanese information minister Paul Morcos stopped short of saying the cabinet had formally approved the plan.
Qmati told Reuters that Hezbollah had reached its assessment based on the government’s declaration on Friday that further implementation of a US roadmap on the matter was dependent on Israel’s commitment. He said that without Israel halting strikes and withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s implementation of the plan should remain “suspended until further notice.”
Lebanon’s cabinet last month tasked the army with coming up with a plan that would establish a state monopoly on arms and approved a US roadmap aimed at disarming Hezbollah in exchange for a halt to Israeli military operations in Lebanon.
Qmati said that Hezbollah “unequivocally rejected” those two decisions and expected the Lebanese government to draw up a national defense strategy.
Israel last week signaled it would scale back its military presence in southern Lebanon if the army took action to disarm Hezbollah. Meanwhile, it has continued its strikes, killing four people on Wednesday.
A national divide over Hezbollah’s disarmament has taken center stage in Lebanon since last year’s devastating war with Israel, which upended a power balance long dominated by the Iran-backed Shi’ite Muslim group.
Lebanon is under pressure from the US, Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah’s domestic rivals to disarm the group. But Hezbollah has pushed back, saying it would be a serious misstep to even discuss disarmament while Israel continues its air strikes on Lebanon and occupies swathes of territory in the south.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem last month raised the specter of civil war, warning the government against trying to confront the group and saying street protests were possible.
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UK Police Arrest Dozens at Latest Protest for Banned Palestine Action
Demonstrators attend the “Lift The Ban” rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in just one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban on Saturday, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers had begun arresting those expressing support for Palestine Action. Police did not say how many arrests were made but a Reuters witness said dozens of people were detained.
Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
“I can be unequivocal, if you show support for Palestine Action – an offense under the Terrorism Act – you will be arrested,” Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan said on Friday. “We have the officer numbers, custody capacity and all other resources to process as many people as is required.”
Human rights groups have criticized Britain’s decision to ban the group as disproportionate and say it limits the freedom of expression of peaceful protesters.
The government has accused Palestine Action of causing millions of pounds worth of criminal damage and says the ban does not prevent other pro-Palestinian protests.
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Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
i24 News – French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.
“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.
“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.
Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”
The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.
But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.
Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”
Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.
i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.