White House announces new steps to counter antisemitism, including on college campuses

The White House announced a handful of additional actions Tuesday intended to curb antisemitism on college campuses and elsewhere amid a rise in discrimination toward Jewish people following the attacks in Israel last October.

The Biden administration rolled out the new measures to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day. President Biden will mark the day by delivering remarks at a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

The additional steps include new guidance from the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to every school district and college in the country, providing examples of antisemitic discrimination and other forms of hate that could prompt investigations for violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Department of Homeland Security will work with partners to build an online campus safety resources guide to provide assistance to campuses via one portal.

The office of the State Department’s special envoy to combat antisemitism will convene technology firms to discuss how to best address antisemitic content.

Biden, in his remarks on Tuesday, is expected to discuss the rise in antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 attacks that left more than 1,000 Israelis dead, a White House official said.

He will also discuss the acts of antisemitism on college campuses in recent weeks amid intense protests against the war in Gaza, and he will call on all Americans to stand united against hate.

The Anti-Defamation League has reported an enormous spike in antisemitic incidents in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, and the Biden administration has already taken some steps to try to mitigate the resulting threats against Jews.

The administration also outlined a first-of-its-kind national strategy to combat antisemitism last May.

Biden’s remarks Tuesday will come as protests across the country over the war in Gaza have reached a boiling point, with the White House and lawmakers criticizing aspects of those demonstrations as promoting antisemitism.

The president last week criticized violence, vandalism and forms of hate stemming from those campus protests, arguing any demonstrations must remain peaceful and avoid devolving into chaos.

“There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,” Biden said last week. “There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It is simply wrong.”