Trump says US colleges could lose accreditation over ‘anti-Semitic propaganda’ if he’s elected
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US presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism – an apparent reference to the protesters.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LAS VEGAS – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Jewish donors on Sept 5 that US universities would lose accreditation and federal support over what he described as “anti-Semitic propaganda” if he is elected to the White House.
“Colleges will and must end the anti-Semitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump said, speaking remotely to a crowd of more than 1,000 Republican Jewish Coalition donors in Las Vegas.
Protests roiled college campuses in spring,
Republicans have said the protests show some Democrats are anti-Semites who support chaos. Protest groups say the authorities have unfairly labelled their criticism of Israel's policies as anti-Semitic.
The Association of American Universities, which says it represents some 69 leading US universities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the United States, universities are not directly accredited by the federal government, but it has a role in overseeing the mostly private organisations that give colleges accreditation.
In his speech, Trump also said he would ban refugee resettlement from “terror infested” areas like Gaza and arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism – an apparent reference to the college student protesters.
Under both Trump and US President Joe Biden, similar numbers of Palestinians were admitted to the US as refugees. From fiscal years 2017 to 2020, the US accepted 114 Palestinian refugees, according to US State Department data, compared with 124 Palestinian refugees from fiscal year 2021 to July 31 of 2024.
While Trump sketched out few concrete Middle Eastern policy proposals for a second term, he painted a potential Harris presidency in cataclysmic terms for Israel.
“You’re going to be abandoned if (US Vice-President Kamala Harris) becomes president. And I think you need to explain that to your people... You’re not going to have an Israel if she becomes president,” Trump said, without providing evidence for such a claim.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s speech.
Ms Harris has hewed closely to Mr Biden’s strong support of Israel and rejected calls from some in the Democratic Party that Washington should rethink sending weapons to Israel because of the heavy Palestinian death toll in Gaza.
She has, however, called for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the situation there “devastating”.
The health authorities in Gaza say more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault on the enclave since the Oct 7, 2023, attacks led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Some 1,200 Israelis were killed in the surprise attack and about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
The subsequent assault on Gaza has displaced nearly its entire 2.3 million population, caused a hunger crisis and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.
Wish list for Trump
The Republican Jewish Coalition Victory Fund says it is spending some US$15 million (S$19.6 million) to support Trump by helping bring out Jewish voters in battleground states.
The network had been financially supported by Mr Sheldon Adelson, the late American casino mogul, and his Israeli-born widow Miriam Adelson.
Republican Jewish Coalition members gathered this week for their annual conference at The Venetian Resort, which was developed by Mr Adelson’s company, the Las Vegas Sands. Mrs Adelson is also the lead financier of a super political action committee spending group that has said it is looking to raise over US$100 million to support Trump.
In a half-dozen Reuters interviews at the conference, attendees broadly voiced three priorities for a potential second Trump term: expanding the Abraham Accords, pursuing a tougher line on Iran, and either reforming or defunding the United Nations.
The Trump administration in 2020 helped broker the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab nations.
But US-backed plans to normalise ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel were put on ice in 2023 as war escalated between Israel and Hamas.
Republican Jewish Coalition chairman Norm Coleman, who is also a lobbyist for Saudi Arabia in Washington, told Reuters he was still hopeful the Abraham Accords could be expanded under Mr Biden.
“But if it’s not done, I would hope that president Trump would do what he did before and play a role in bringing the region together,” Mr Coleman said. REUTERS
