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Middle East crisis pushes Education Department to curb campus protests

October 18, 2023

Middle East crisis pushes Education Department to curb campus protests

Politico

Bianca Quilantan

October 12, 2023

A Donald Trump-era push to squash antisemitism on college campuses is seeing new life as student protests erupt in the aftermath of the violence between Israel and Hamas.

The latest wave of activism is putting pressure on the Education Department to release a proposal — one twice delayed by the Biden administration — that could force university leaders to referee pro-Palestinian advocacy and discrimination against Jewish people. It would potentially force college administrators to investigate claims of discrimination against ethnic groups or risk losing federal money, making it harder for them to stay out of debates about campus protests.

The absence of the regulation will likely be felt as dozens of campuses expect to host pro-Palestinian rallies on Thursday with the backing of the National Students for Justice in Palestine. The group has been coordinating its 200 solidarity groups for a “day of resistance” since Monday — a wave of protests that has spurred nearly 150 Jewish student organizations to demand that campus administrators “condemn” the groups for their “campaign to glorify the Hamas attacks.”

Harvard, Columbia and dozens of other universities have rushed to put out statements declaring who they support. But the resulting attempts to sympathize with civilians on both sides while fielding concerns about the potential for antisemitism and Islamophobia has rarely satisfied campus factions.

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