Friends,
We are being used.
Since the day he entered office, Donald Trump has been exploiting genuine fears about antisemitism as a pretext for his anti-democratic assault on higher education.
Funding cuts. Political arrests. Deporting peaceful protesters. Trampling procedural rights. Slashing anti-discrimination programs.
It’s textbook authoritarianism: Exploiting genuine fears to control universities, attack ‘elites’ and intimidate opponents.
As Wesleyan University President Michael Roth wrote in The New York Times, “You cannot claim to protect Jews while dismantling the very rights and institutions that help keep us safe.”
To be candid: I’m also deeply, darkly worried about where this ends.
As Jewish and pro-Israel Americans, we have a special responsibility to unite and stand up. So if you’re as outraged as I am, please add your name to our petition:
Join Us To Say: No. Not In Our Name.
Make your voice heard 💪 Read, sign and share the petition now ✍️
Now let’s be clear, our community has been weathering a very real spike in antisemitism – fueled by conspiracy theorists and nationalists on the right and the extreme anti-Israel voices on the fringe left.
But Trump’s crackdowns aren’t keeping Jewish students safe; they’re thrusting them to the heart of a new culture war and ratcheting up campus tensions. The very programs designed to support minority students, including Jewish students, are being targeted and cut.
As Jewish and pro-Israel Americans, we cannot allow our legitimate fears to be exploited to justify policies that hurt fellow students, demonize foreigners and betray the very pillars of liberal American democracy that we hold dear.
Read, sign and share our petition here >>
Friends: Movements don’t start with results; they start with resistance.
We saw incredible success in Trump’s first term as Americans came together to call out Trump’s BS and frustrate his agenda.
Now, as he threatens to drag our country into something darker still, we must stand up again.
We have to press for stiffer spines from lawmakers, university administrators and our own community leaders.
The fight against those fueling antisemitism must be taken seriously – and we cannot allow Trump and the MAGA movement to hijack it for their own distorted agenda.
If you care about the future of our community and the future of our country, join us in sending a message: Read, sign and share the petition here >>
Yours,
Adina Vogel Ayalon
Vice President and Chief of Staff, J Street
