President Donald Trump signed an order broadening the definition of anti-Semitism to help combat discrimination on college campuses. The new definition may include criticism of Israel. A Trump administration official said the order was not aimed at suppressing the boycott of Israeli products over Israel’s treatment of Palestine. (The Associated Press, December 11, 2019, by Matthew Lee and Jill Colvin)
Free speech advocates expressed misgivings about the order. FIRE released a statement arguing that the order would censor faculty and students on the basis of viewpoint. (Inside Higher Education, December 12, 2019, by Elizabeth Redden)
In a press release, December 11, 2019, Pen America’s Suzanne Nossel acknowledged the need for vigorous responses to the surge in anti-Semitism under Trump, but expressed concern for the new order. “At a time of rising anti-Semitism, university leaders have a special obligation to address this scourge,” said Nossel. “But the fact is that while some criticism of Israel is indeed tainted with anti-Semitic bias, there must be space on campus for reasoned and objective critiques that bear no trace of bigotry. The order’s invocation of the examples in the State Department anti-Semitism definition risks misinterpretation that could chill legitimate debate about Middle East policy.”