The Northwestern antisemitism scandal escalated after hundreds of students refused to participate in a mandatory anti-Semitism training video required under President Donald Trump’s crackdown on campus hate. At least 300 students boycotted the 17-minute training, leading the university to block them from registering for fall classes, the Forward reported.
The video, created by the Jewish United Fund, defines anti-Zionism as “the opposition to the Jewish right of self-determination,” warning that most forms are “anti-Semitic because they work against Jewish human rights.” It also presents quotes from anti-Israel activists alongside remarks from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. “The fact that you can’t tell the difference is terrifying,” the narrator states.
Northwestern officials emphasized that “students are not required to agree with the training modules,” only to watch them. Still, resistance has mounted despite a series of alarming campus incidents. Vandals scrawled “Death to Israel” in red paint on a building that houses the school’s Holocaust center during Passover. Earlier, Students for Justice in Palestine hosted an anarchist training session that featured propaganda from a U.S.-designated terror group.
The Trump administration has responded by freezing $790 million in federal funding to Northwestern and launching two civil rights investigations into the school’s handling of antisemitism. The pressure contributed to university president Michael Schill’s resignation earlier this month.
Harvard, Columbia, and Brown have also faced penalties, with Brown paying a $50 million settlement and Columbia agreeing to $221 million in reforms. As the administration warned, “the thing is, to most Jewish people, they feel the same because they are the same”—a reminder that anti-Zionism and antisemitism cannot be separated.
