Conservatives fighting ‘antisemitism’ are actively targeting US Jews. Why? | Josh Schreier

The pro-Israel campaign to protect' Jews by punishing anti-Zionist speech often targets Jews. That is no surprise

The Trump administration claims that its moves to defund universities, arrest and deport students and force schools to demote or monitor professors are meant to combat antisemitism, protect Jewish students and remove Hamas-supporting" foreign nationals from the country. American pro-Israel groups including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Hillel International, Aipac and the Heritage Foundation have united behind Republican measures to crack down on higher education and its putative antisemitism. Religiously identified groups such as the Orthodox Union and Christians United for Israel have joined the chorus, celebrating the punishment of supposedly antisemitic students and professors. Whatever their varied pasts, today's pro-Israel groups are not about protecting American Jews. Instead, they are allies in Maga's war on free speech, academic freedom and the US's democratic society itself.

To be clear: the pro-Israel campaign to protect" Jews by punishing anti-Zionist speech often targets Jews. After a student complaint about a tenured Jewish professor's Twitter post, Muhlenberg College fired her. The ADL has rewarded Muhlenberg by grading it better than most" colleges for fighting antisemitism". The ADL also accused Jewish Voice for Peace, a large, anti-Zionist Jewish group with chapters on many American campuses, of promot[ing] messaging" that can include support for terrorists". Under pressure from the Trump administration, Columbia University expelled a Jewish graduate student and United Auto Workers local president who demonstrated against the war in Gaza.

Joshua Schreier is a professor of history and Jewish studies at Vassar College.