With the Trump administration escalating its confrontation with U.S. colleges to protect Jewish students from the bullying of pro-Hamas demonstrators, I’m torn between two sentiments.
On the one hand, it’s good to see that our government is taking seriously the anti-Jewish onslaught that began on college campuses right after the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7.
But if the government goes too far and uses “antisemitism” as an excuse to unlawfully kick out agitators, the effort will end up backfiring on the Jews. The last thing we need is to be held responsible for the overreach of an overly aggressive government.
Columbia University is ground zero in this fight. The university was shaken by pro-Hamas protests last year amid accusations it had become a safe haven for antisemitism. With Trump threatening to cancel millions in federal funds, Columbia bowed to a series of demands. But then last Friday, its interim president quit. The government called the resignation “an important step toward advancing negotiations” between the government and the university.
You can see where this is going: a president on an epic power trip throwing his weight around on behalf of Jews, with many of his actions being challenged in court. Anything bad that comes out of this, any perceived injustice, will be blamed not just on Trump but on the Jews.
Meanwhile, as a fuzzy and divisive search for justice was happening on college campuses, a real effort at justice was happening in a courthouse. A riveting lawsuit was filed against several antisemitic organizations directly implicated in the Columbia protests. The suit is the most comprehensive exposé I’ve read of the sophisticated coordination between myriad anti-Israel groups connected to Hamas and other terror groups.
The complaint reads like a small book. It overflows with facts, case law, and enough concrete examples to give any reader a migraine. In a court of law, this amount of credible detail is gold.
“This lawsuit should be required reading for all the reporters, pundits, activists, and politicians who have so shamelessly whitewashed anti-Semitism in America since Oct. 7,” Seth Mandel writes in Commentary. “[The groups named in the complaint] are unequivocally pro-Hamas and should always be identified as such. But now this lawsuit raises serious questions as to whether they are even fully independent of Gaza’s terrorist butchers.”
A crucial part of the suit is when it makes a crucial distinction on free speech.
“This case is not about individuals and organizations independently exercising their free speech rights to support whatever cause they wish — no matter how abhorrent,” it states. “Rather, it is about organizations and their leaders knowingly providing substantial assistance — in the form of propaganda and recruiting services—to, and in coordination with, a designated foreign terrorist organization, Hamas. This substantial assistance is valuable to Hamas and instrumental to its ability to engage in Oct. 7 and its subsequent and ongoing acts of international terrorism.”
Among the examples of illegal acts alleged in the complaint:
“It would be illegal for Hamas to directly retain a public relations firm in the United States or hire enforcers to impose their will on American cities. Yet those are precisely the services that the Associational Defendants knowingly provide to Hamas. Indeed, in many instances, they do so in direct coordination with Hamas itself and/or with AMP/NSJP [American Muslims for Palestine/National Students for Justice in Palestine].”
Because there is so much propaganda around issues connected to Jews and Israel, the straight talk of the lawsuit is perfect for the times.
The summary of the case gets to the core of the threat to Jews from this growing culture of terror:
“In short, Hamas relies on its propagandists around the world to do its bidding, spreading its falsehoods about Israel and the Jews far and wide, and to instigate a culture of violence and fear to sway global institutions to behave in Hamas’ favor. Global propaganda, particularly directed at the West and the United States, is not just one small part of Hamas’ broader strategy: it is Hamas’ grand strategy.
“Sadly, Hamas’ foot soldiers in New York City and Columbia’s campus have become so emboldened that they no longer feel the need to hide and are comfortable committing unlawful acts like taking over buildings.”
This is not the overwrought language of propaganda. This is the winning language of the law. These are facts with legal consequences.
Trump will do whatever Trump does, but we need not depend on him to fight our battles. His sledgehammer approach to get rid of bad guys may well turn us into the bad guys, as if Jews are killers of free speech and due process.
The free speech we need most right now is the freedom to file compelling lawsuits that will put the fear of the law, not the fear of Trump, in those Jew-hating groups who go after Jewish students.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.