Rise in antisemitism leads to controversial federal directives 

Antisemitism is on a drastic uphill rise in the United States according to data from multiple credible agencies, organizations and members of the Jewish community.  

Data from the Anti-Defamation League showed that antisemitic incidents have climbed steadily since 2021, reaching a peak of 9,354 in 2024. The FBI Crime Data Explorer shows surges as well, with hate crimes against Jewish Americans making up more than ¾ of all religious hate crimes in the United States in 2024. 

This rise in antisemitism has even begun to take root at the local level in Northeast Ohio. Daniel Blain, CEO of JewishAkron, said he’s never seen antisemitism become this prevalent in the U.S. in all of his life. 

“It has become very public, really tragic and sadly fairly mainstream,” he said. “It’s been really sobering the last couple of years.”  

In August, the city of Hudson was exposed to an antisemitic incident when several individuals used hateful signs and language at the town square. According to a Facebook video, signs compared Jews to pedophiles, claimed that the Epstein files were Jewish blackmail and claimed the ADL was created to protect a Jewish child murdering pedophile.

“It was very unsettling,” Blain said.  

To combat this rise in antisemitism, President Donald Trump has taken federal action. In January, Trump reaffirmed and expanded Executive Order 13899, which clarified that discrimination against Jewish Americans fit the bill of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VI prohibits discrimination of any kind in programs or activities that receive federal funding. 

Kelly Fishman, Regional Director at ADL Ohio River Valley, said the political climate of the U.S. fuels antisemitism. She added that the normalization of extreme rhetoric and spread of hate has contributed as well. Due to this, she believes the Trump Administration policies at the federal level were necessary. 

“Federal and state initiatives, especially those focused on data collection, interagency coordination, education and community safety, are essential to addressing this threat systematically,” Fishman said. “The Trump administration has taken some important steps, such as strengthening the enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students and ADL believes that more comprehensive, sustained and inclusive efforts are necessary to effectively curb antisemitism.” 

Blain also said the political climate plays a big role in the rise of antisemitism. He called the United States’ political climate “incredibly divisive and almost tribal.” 

“We see that stemming from Washington and on down,” Blain said. 

Despite the intentions and potential necessity of federal policies, the Trump Administration’s efforts have come under a lot of scrutiny. 

To apply pressure on college campuses, Trump threatened to revoke federal funding from any public university that has had antisemitic incidents on campus such as Columbia and Harvard. He has also threatened to deport or remove visas from foreign students who engage in antisemitic behavior. 

Michael Hurley, a government affairs counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the Trump Administration is within its own rights to enforce Title VI. However, he added the administration has gone too far in its implementation. 

“The problem is that the administration has gone well beyond the mandate of Title VI and also failed to follow a lot of essential procedures,” Hurley said. 

Hurley said the Trump Administration is within its rights to revoke funding from public universities, but it hasn’t sought voluntary compliance from the institution or given them, or Congress, a specific notice of the allegations they’re facing. 

According to Hurley, the most pressing concern is how the administration is using Title VI to go “well beyond” Title VI issues. He said the universities of Columbia and Harvard are being coerced into auditing entire student bodies, departments and programs to locate potential signs of antisemitism. 

“These are things that go well beyond discriminatory conduct,” Hurley said. “There are major concerns whenever the federal government wields its funding to try to tell private institutions what campus discourse needs to look like.” 

It’s also hard to say whether or not these initiatives have been successful. Fishman said antisemitism continues to rise in spite of the efforts. Blain said it’s hard to give a definitive answer due to the complexity of the situation.

However, Blain did say that more and more universities are coming to the realization that jewish students need more protection on campus as time goes on. 

“From that vantage point, I have no problem with the pressure they’re getting from the federal government,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there isn’t going to be a quick fix. It’s going to take a multi-dimensional effort and probably a number of years to get back to where we were a couple of years ago.”

For future cases involving Title VI, Hurley hopes that universities officially adopt the Supreme Court’s definition for student on

student harassment set forth in Davis vs Monroe County of Education in 1999. Universities use various standards to define harassment, so the process of identifying harassment can be complicated. By using the Davis Standard, it would allow schools to take action against students that engage in conduct that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a student equal access to an educational benefit. 

According to Hurley, this would provide a consistent and uniform standard to meet for all future cases of similar nature. He also said it would provide clarity and draw a line between protected speech and harassment, an issue that plagues universities. 

“The Davis standard sets a pretty high bar for what speech can cross that line,” Hurley said. “It’d ensure that speech rights are protected, while at the same time creating a clear picture for when schools need to act to protect their students from discriminatory conduct.” 

Addressing antisemitism can also be a difficult approach. Blain and Fishman both said a multifaceted approach is necessary, and that it starts with community and education. JewishAkron and the ADL work to advocate and represent jews at the local and national levels while also holding events for educational programming. 

“Combating antisemitism starts with listening to and standing in solidarity with the Jewish community,” Fishman said. “Educating oneself, speaking out against antisemitic rhetoric and fostering inclusive spaces are powerful tools in resisting hate.” 

Link to Data Visualizations for better/clearer look: Pie Chart and Bar Graph