Kenneth Stern says Trump’s antisemitism definition stifles Jewish speech

The Trump administration is taking a hardline approach to what it alleges is a failure to protect students from antisemitism on college campuses.

The administration canceled $400 million in federal funding to Columbia University, claiming the school failed to address antisemitism on campus. The Department of Education also sent letters to 60 colleges and universities, warning they are under investigation for accusations of antisemitism.

Kenneth Stern, director of the Center for the Study of Hate at Bard College and the lead drafter of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, said the administration’s approach is making Jewish students feel less safe. The administration adopted Stern’s IHRA definition in its executive orders.

“It puts pro-Israel Jewish students in a situation where they may be seen as trying to suppress speech rather than answer it,” Stern said.

He also said that the definition is being distorted and used to silence anti-Israel critics. He was the lead drafter of the definition in 2004-2005 to help European countries have a common definition to track data on antisemitism. Then it was officially adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016.

Stern acknowledges the existence of antisemitism on campuses but believes that the Trump administration’s approach could create a much worse situation.

He noted that while most Jews, including himself, are Zionists, there is a growing number of younger Jews whose understanding of Judaism leads them to an anti-Zionist position. While he would debate the political implications of this shift, he would not label them as antisemites.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Interview highlights

We’re seeing an attempt to not do things like saying, OK, we’re going to make a distinction between actual harassments, true threats and so forth. We’re going to go after the views of people and hurt the university that way. I mean, the case with Khalil…

To me, one of the things that’s important for our ability to combat antisemitism and other forms of hate is having strong democratic institutions. When we’re assaulting free speech, that’s McCarthyism. We don’t have strong democratic institutions anymore.

Ally Schweitzer edited the audio version of the story.