Friends,
Far from lowering the temperature on campus tensions and supporting students from all backgrounds, the Trump Administration is making a challenging situation worse – which is what J Street U is hearing from our students across the country.
At J Street, we’re appalled by the Trump Administration’s persistent, cynical exploitation of the real fears and legitimate concerns of Jewish Americans about antisemitism as cover for its all-out assault on key pillars of American democracy and success: Immigration, higher education and the rule of law.
The administration seems hell-bent on destroying all that has made this country a secure and welcoming home for Jewish Americans for generations. The American Jewish experience is rooted in our own families’ stories of immigration, of opportunity provided by public and higher education and of protection of our civil and equal rights through enforcement of the Constitution.
We were absolutely shocked by scenes earlier this week of a young graduate student at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, being ambushed on the street in front of her home and pressed into a car by masked agents. These are images straight out of playbooks run by authoritarian regimes that Jews spent generations fleeing.
This is just the latest example of the administration’s disregard for rights and freedoms – and it makes none of us safer. In fact, this administration’s actions are increasing tensions for Jewish students on campuses and in communities around the country.
It’s chilling for us – as Jews – to see the rights of immigrants and minorities being undercut by state authorities in our name.
Our history and our values compel us to speak out, and we call on the leaders of other major American Jewish institutions to join the chorus. Even as we fight antisemitism and other forms of hate and bigotry with all our strength, so too we must be all in on the fight to protect fundamental pillars of this country’s strength – including the right to free speech and academic freedom.
If the Trump Administration is truly committed to fighting antisemitism, it can start by taking responsibility for the hateful rhetoric and thinly veiled antisemitic conspiracy theories propagated by those it has elevated to senior positions and to immediately stop weaponizing very real Jewish concerns to push its own anti-democratic agenda, undermining the vital fight against those who actively fuel antisemitism.
And at J Street U, we’re continuing to provide a network of support - and a national platform - for students across the country who need it now more than ever.
Thank you, sincerely, for your ongoing support
Erin Beiner
Director, J Street U
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