Trump To Sign Order To Interpret Judaism As A Nationality – TheNigerialawyer

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Wednesday
to interpret Judaism as a nationality and not just a
religion, a move that the Trump administration
believes will fight what they perceive as
anti-Semitism on college campuses, a White House official
said.^[1]

The impending order was first reported by The New York
Times.^[2]

It’s an order that would allow Trump to take further steps to
combat anti-Israel sentiments and divestment movements on college
campuses by requiring colleges and universities to treat those
movements as discriminatory in order to keep their funding.

The move would trigger a portion of the federal Civil Rights Act
of 1964 that requires educational institutions receiving federal
funding to not discriminate based on national origin, according to
senior administration officials. The Department of Education can
withhold federal funding from any college or educational program
that discriminates based on race, color or national
origin, according to the Civil Rights
Act.^[3]

Religion is not covered in that portion of the law so the
administration would have to interpret Judaism as a nationality in
order to potentially punish universities for violations.

Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law and a senior White
House adviser, pushed for the move, according to the Times.

The definition of anti-Semitism will be adopted from the State
Department, whose definition was originally formulated by the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the senior
administration officials said.

The executive order comes just days after several Jewish groups criticized Trump over
a speech^[4] he delivered
Saturday to an Israeli-American organization. The groups accused
him of using anti-Semitic stereotypes.

Speaking at the Israeli American Council National Summit in
Florida, Trump suggested that many of the attendees at the event
are wealthy and in real estate, and that their wealth would guide
their votes in the 2020 presidential election.

“A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you
very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all. But you
have to vote for me, you have no choice,” he said. The President
also admonished some Jewish Americans for not loving Israel
“enough.”

Trump drew similar condemnation^[5] during his
2016 presidential campaign when he told a group of Jewish
Republicans, “You’re not going to support me because I don’t want
your money.”

And while the US had traditionally called for a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump has offered
public flexibility on the matter and supported Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last month, the Trump administration announced a major reversal of the US’
longstanding policy^[6] on Israeli
settlements in the occupied West Bank, rejecting a 1978 State
Department legal opinion that deemed the settlements “inconsistent
with international law.”

The announcement, which breaks with international law and
consensus, is the latest in a string of hardline, pro-Israeli moves
that are likely to inflame tensions between the Trump
administration and Palestinians.

The policy reversal was hailed by Netanyahu, who faces possible
criminal indictment in three corruption probes, as well as being
involved in a fight to remain Israel’s leader, after inconclusive
elections.