(RNS) — As someone who looks and dresses the part of the Orthodox Jew I am, I would be gratified were there no rabble-rousing antisemites on American campuses (or streets, or anywhere, for that matter).
Antisemites? Yes. Whatever I feel or anyone feels about Israel’s actions in her quest to destroy Hamas, antisemitism bubbles steadily beneath a good amount of ostensibly anti-Israel sentiment. That’s why Jews and Jewish institutions, willy-nilly, have been violently attacked since the Gaza war began. And why some otherwise seemingly sane people can openly celebrate groups whose goal is to render the Middle East what some in Germany last century called Judenrein (“Jew-free”).
I know too that there are critics of Israel’s actions who harbor no ill will toward Jews qua Jews (or even toward Israel qua Israel). I know that the freedom to express such sentiments is an essential part of our nation’s ethos — not to mention its Constitution.
There is also no way of identifying these groups — those whose protests of Israel’s military campaign are just that and those whose protests are fueled by darker things. We can only hold accountable those who engage in acts of violence or intimidation — whether aimed at Israel’s defenders or her critics — and if they are foreign citizens and the law permits, they should be considered candidates for deportation.
I stress if the law permits. The current administration’s attempts at deportation of students for their anti-Israel activism must pass that test. Due process isn’t a policy, or an ideological preference; it’s a constitutional principle and applies to all people on American soil, regardless of their immigration status.
Even if we could deport everyone who offended our sense of tolerance, it is unrealistic to imagine that antisemitism will be squelched by the removal of bad campus actors. There are enough homegrown citizens who will readily and happily take foreign agitators’ places. In any event, spreading lies and fomenting hatred at universities, or anywhere, hardly requires a physical presence on campus these days.
The only way to effectively fight antisemitism, or mindless anti-Israelism that considers the existence of a Jewish state in the historical Jewish homeland illegitimate, is with information. Wild libels against Jews and the deep pit of ignorance about Israel can best be opposed by teaching and by exposing inveterate slanderers and ignoramuses as such.
But casting the removal of campus protesters as a fight against antisemitism may have unintended consequences. Couching Jews as the threatened party here may sound noble, and concerns for Jews’ safety are in fact noble. But focusing on defending Jews exclusively is not only wrong, it is dangerous.
Wrong because the terrorism threatens not only Israelis or only Jews. It threatens all who value human life and liberty — including Gazans who wish only to live their lives. Moumen Al-Natour, who was arrested repeatedly and tortured by Hamas, recently penned an op-ed in The Washington Post in which he wrote: “Some in the West will be confused to see Palestinians openly calling Hamas terrorists. … To support Hamas is to be for Palestinian death, not Palestinian freedom … ”
Dangerous because singling out Jews as the only victims of hatred and terrorism can easily lead those who are already ill-disposed toward us — and even some who have no particular feelings about Jews — to blame us for the degradation of the rule of law.
If a hearing or trial confirms that a foreign student living here has in fact encouraged hatred and violence against innocents, then that person should be prosecuted or deported for that fact. But if a foreign national accused of endorsing Hamas is deported without due process, it doesn’t reflect well on either the administration or the people it wishes to protect.
(Rabbi Avi Shafran writes widely in Jewish and general media and blogs at rabbiavishafran.com. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)