President-elect Donald Trump Nominated by Harmeet K. Dhillon To lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Jewish students breathe a sigh of relief as anti-Semitic incidents continue to spread on campuses across the US
Trump announced Dillon's nomination for the role on Monday, praising her as a civil rights activist who fought landmark legal battles defending free speech, religious rights and anti-woke discrimination cases.
But it's Dillon's outspoken stance against Ivy League schools Failure to combat anti-Semitism Which made many students hope that help was on the way.
Americans Are Eager for Change: Harmeet Dhillon
Harmeet Dhillon, attorney and Republican National Committee member, speaks to members of the media during the Republican National Committee's winter meeting in Dana Point, California, US, on Friday, January 27, 2023. (Photography: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Dillon has repeatedly taken a hard line against anti-Semitism on American campuses. In April, Sahar Turkak, a Yale University student from Long Island, wrote on X that she was hospitalized after she was attacked by an anti-Israel mob for walking with her visibly Jewish friend on campus.
Dillon urged Tartak and others to take legal action against the university and its attackers.
Dillon responded to X: “Sue Yale. Sue every university that refuses to keep students safe based on their religion. Make them regret their choices.” They exhausted their endowments. Prosecute every violent protester and organizer. They drained their bank accounts. Sew. salt in their careers.”
In a Separate video Circulating online, Dillon described anti-Israel protesters who were preventing Jewish students from reaching their universities as “little terrorists.”
“If you want to strap on guns and block access to campus… tap a cop on the head, find out, you should be arrested and taken to jail…,” Dillon said. section. “I think these students are little terrorists. They are terrorizing Jewish students, they are terrorizing everyone who wants to get an education on that campus, and that is not allowed under the First Amendment…”
Web page on the Dillon Law Firm website Demonstrates its commitment To represent victims of anti-Semitism on campus as part of their larger mission to “support civil rights and defend constitutional principles throughout the country.”
“We are proud to offer our unwavering legal support to Jewish individuals who have faced discrimination, retaliation, or harassment in their school or workplace environments,” the website reads. “Our company is prepared to devote extensive resources to supporting individuals who have suffered due to anti-Semitism.”
Harmeet Dhillon gives a blessing at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
Tartak, now a student at Yale University, praised Trump's nomination of Dillon, telling Fox News Digital that she and other Jewish students Still wrestling With disturbing anti-Semitic incidents on campus regularly.
“Because the university does not demonstrate moral clarity and refuses to stand up for what is right, the environment at Yale has been and continues to be unsafe for Jewish students,” she said. “It is very important and a relief to have someone of her stature and role to not only advocate for Jewish students but also to defend our country and our civilization. I hope she doesn't have to do that.”
Tartak said Trump's selection of Dillon puts Yale and other universities “on notice” while fulfilling his pledge to uncheck anti-Semitism and violence on campus.
Harvard Shabbos graduate Kestenbaum, who is currently suing the university alleging widespread and systemic anti-Semitism, He also praised Trump's selection of Dillon, warning that “Harvard should be very nervous.”
“This has been a consistent theme within the Trump transition team, which is that promises made will be kept,” he told Fox News Digital. “There is a moral and legal imperative for institutions of higher education that have betrayed American taxpayers, discriminated against Jewish students and enabled a culture of political indoctrination, to finally be held accountable.”
It is “a damning indictment of the current administration that we Jewish students are counting down to January 20 to finally see justice,” Kestenbaum said.
The Harvard graduate praised Dillon as “someone who has been at the forefront, not just on social media but within the political landscape, amplifying the voices of Jewish students and encouraging them to hold their colleges accountable,” and told Fox News Digital that students around the world feel U.S. She was “incredibly relieved” at the news of her nomination.
Shabbos Kestenbaum at the Jewish Unity March in Boston (Shabbos Kestenbaum)
“By January 20, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, and any other university that has failed to adequately address anti-Semitism on campus should expect this to happen.
“If they're not shaking in their shoes, they're not paying attention,” he said. “The American people in November rejected the Ivy League’s values, sense of moral hypocrisy and elitism, and certainly, Harvard in particular, will feel the sting of the Trump administration if it continues to behave this way.”
Harvard University did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Trump's victory has put colleges and universities on high alert after he pledged to take on higher education as part of his plan to reform the American education system. American universities have come under scrutiny in recent months for their weaknesses Response to anti-Semitism Protests and camps have swept across universities across the country amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Many universities chose to look the other way, leading to an exodus by donors who withdrew millions in endowments and severed ties with their universities.
Harmeet Dhillon greets President Trump after his arrival aboard Air Force One at Moffett Federal Airport in Mountain View, California to attend a Republican Party fundraiser at an undisclosed location on Tuesday, September 17, 2019. ((Photo by Paul Chen/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images))
Trump repeatedly targeted colleges and universities during his election campaign, and pledged to liberate higher education in America from the grip of what he called “Marxist lunatics.” His 2024 platform called for “deporting pro-Hamas extremists and making our college campuses safe and patriotic again.” Trump has also vowed to combat “wokeism” and a progressive culture in education, and has repeatedly attacked DEI initiatives, which he believes are unintentionally discriminatory.
In July, Trump said he would introduce a measure that would impose “fines on schools up to the full amount of their endowment” if they do not stop DEI programs that engage in “blatant and unlawful discrimination under the guise of fairness.” I have He also threatened To withhold federal dollars from schools that play a role in internet censorship as part of his plan to “smash the left-wing censorship system.”
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One student in New York told Fox News Digital that his selection of Dillon for this assignment “proves that he's putting his money where his mouth is.”
She and the president-elect largely agree on this issue. In May, Dillon Posted on X, “It's an incredible number of future doctors and lawyers shouting 'from the river to the sea' while wearing the keffiyeh and calling for death to Israel. No wonder these soft minds continue to push the ideology of gender, pronouns, and DEI. If you stand for nothing “You'll fall for anything.”
