The US Department of Justice said Thursday that its recently created “Federal Task Force to Combat Antisemitism” will be heading to four US cities as part of the Trump administration’s broad crackdown on college protests critical of Israel.
The DOJ said the task force, led by attorney Leo Terrell, will be visiting the leadership of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles to discuss “their responses to incidents of antisemitism at schools and on college campuses in their cities over the last two years.”
While the pro-Palestine protests that swept college campuses have been labeled “antisemitic,” many Jewish students and organizations have participated. The DOJ said that Terrell informed city leaders that he “was aware of allegations that the schools in their respective cities may have failed to protect Jewish students from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi accused officials of not taking enough action against the protests. “Too many elected officials chose not to stand up to a rising tide of antisemitism in our cities and campuses following the horrific events of October 7, 2023,” she said. “Actions have consequences – inaction does, too.”
The DOJ, along with several other federal agencies, recently announced the cancellation of approximately $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over claims of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students” even though Columbia has taken a heavy hand against students critical of Israel.
The federal agencies said the grants were being canceled in “light of ongoing investigations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” which the agencies are likely enforcing using a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of the state of Israel.
Back in 2019, President Trump signed an executive order directing all executive departments to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and the organization’s list of examples of “contemporary antisemitism” when enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The IHRA’s examples of “contemporary antisemitism” includes “drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.” It also lists applying “double standards” to Israel by “requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” and “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” by “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
Civil liberties groups have sounded the alarm about the administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests, including the effort to deport Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder arrested by ICE over the weekend for his role in protests at Columbia. Khalil has not been accused of a crime, and the administration is trying to deport him by claiming he’s been involved in activities “contrary to US foreign policy.”
Khalil has been accused of being “pro-Hamas,” a label that the administration hasn’t defined and appears to apply to all critics of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The White House alleged Khalil was involved in distributing “pro-Hamas propaganda fliers,” but hasn’t offered evidence for the claim.
The administration does not just want to target foreigners, as Terrel has said he wants to put “Hamas supporters” in jail and that federal hate crime indictments would be coming soon. “You see all these disorderly demonstrations, supporting Hamas and trying to intimidate Jews? We are going to put these people in jail — not for 24 hours, but for years,” he told Israeli media last month.
