There are several international conventions that criminalize racism, hate speech, and related behavior—and these should be enforced against students promoting such conduct on college campuses, according to Amb. Alan Baker. Baker is the director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and heads the Global Law Forum.
Speaking last week at the Voices of Valor conference, Baker said the United States is a signatory to these conventions, along with most countries around the world.
“Since the United States is party to these conventions, then these countries are obliged to enact within the municipal law prohibitions and take whatever legal action is necessary,” Baker said. “This action has to be taken without hesitation.”
Voice of valor - Antisemitism Panel Shai Davidai Matan Yaffe Eden Yadegar Jonathan Davis Ambassador Alan Baker
(צילום: מיקי שמידט)
U.S. President Donald Trump echoed similar sentiments in a post Friday on Truth Social:
“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve.”
Trump first floated the idea in April. Behind the scenes, the IRS was reportedly exploring how such a move could be carried out. The proposal reflects a broader political struggle over free speech, ideological bias, and federal funding at Ivy League schools and throughout American academia.
Trump has said the goal is to eliminate extremist ideology from college campuses and crack down on antisemitism.
“I sense the university authorities have hesitated and are hesitating and need to be reminded” that racism, antisemitism and hate speech need to be removed from college campuses, Baker said. “I think these are the ways to remind them what needs to be done.”
For many Jewish students, college campuses have become increasingly hostile. Eden Yadegar, 21, a senior at Columbia University, described antisemitism at her school as “systemic” and “pervasive.”
“We still have students that are being singled out by professors,” she told ILTV. “We still have regular festivals of antisemitic hate... And we still have Jewish students being held to the ultimate litmus test, which is, while Jews are fine, Zionists are not, so you are only welcome here if you are willing to denounce your connection to the State of Israel, to your homeland.”
Shai Davidai, an Israeli assistant professor at Columbia Business School, said he witnessed similar behavior as early as October 12, 2023—before Israel launched its ground invasion into Gaza.
“It's like they were starting to protest against an imagined war,” Davidai said. “They were really just celebrating the massacre.”
He said he was stunned by the level of animosity.
“When you see hate up close, and when you see it at the place that you're supposed to feel most comfortable… it is just shocking,” Davidai said.
As a result of growing hostility, some Jewish students are transferring to other institutions—including Reichman University in Israel. According to Jonathan Davis, vice president for External Relations and head of the Raphael Recanati International School, Reichman has accepted students from 15 U.S. universities.
“A young woman showed me her transcript. Her transcript had all As and one B minus. What’s the B minus? Her professor was of a different ethnicity and of a different point of view, and gave her a B minus,” Davis recalled. “I, being the non-politically correct person that I am, crossed out the B minus and put in an A, and told her on the spot that she's accepted to the graduate program that she wanted to go to, even without consulting the dean.”
Davis said Zionism is a core value at Reichman: “We’re not embarrassed to call ourselves Zionists.” Still, he said he hopes students are not forced to come because of fear.
“I had a student from the University of Barcelona who was actually attacked in his dorm room,” Davis said. “I've met a whole bunch of people who have been impacted.”
Yadegar stressed that U.S. universities must take responsibility and act with moral clarity.
“I think that the biggest policy change that needs to be made is that we need our leaders to actually hold people that propagate antisemitism, that violate university rules and policies, accountable for their actions,” she said. “I'm purely talking about conduct. Students and faculty members that bar Jews from entering parts of campus, that close off gates, that harass Jewish and Israeli students need to be held accountable.”