Tal Fortgang and David E. Bernstein on Defending Jewish Civil Right on Campus: How the government can fight anti-Semitism effectively and legally

Jul 25, 2025

Tal Fortgang, a Manhattan Institute fellow and civil rights lawyer, teams up with David E. Bernstein, a George Mason law professor and author, to tackle rising anti-Semitism on campuses. They discuss the historic Columbia settlement and effective legal strategies for protecting Jewish students. The duo critically examines the relationship between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, advocating for a shift towards grassroots advocacy. They also explore the complexities of civil rights laws impacting Jewish identities and the necessity of a robust response from organizations to confront contemporary challenges.

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INSIGHT

Anti-Zionism Violates Civil Rights

The debate over anti-Zionism vs. anti-Semitism distracts from identifying the true intent behind hostility towards Jews.
Anti-Zionism demands eliminating Israel, which violates civil rights laws protecting national origin groups like Israelis.

INSIGHT

Feeling Unsafe Is Not Enough

Claiming Jewish students "feel unsafe" is insufficient to prove legal harassment due to campus administrators' lack of understanding.
Objective proof of discrimination is needed over subjective feelings, as many Jews do not feel threatened.

ADVICE

Use Title VI to Enforce Equality

Use Title VI civil rights law to fight discrimination against Jews and Israelis on campus by holding federal funding hostage.
Demand expulsions for offenders and third-party supervised admissions reviews to enforce accountability.

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This week, Columbia University reached a $200 million settlement with the Trump administration to resolve multiple federal civil-rights investigations. The deal—which the White House characterized as the largest anti-Semitism-related settlement in U.S. history—will also release hundreds of millions of dollars in suspended federal grants that had been withheld from Columbia as the administration sought to guarantee the rights of Jewish students and faculty at an institution that has become, since October 7, a hotbed of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel activism.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has acted aggressively against anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism at America's elite universities—taking aim at some of the most storied names in higher education: Harvard, Penn, Brown, Columbia. And this effort shows no signs of slowing down.

What are the legal tools that the executive branch departments and agencies—especially the Departments of Justice and Education—have at their disposal to protect the rights of Jews on campus? Is there a tension between the protection of Jewish civil rights, on the one hand, and the free speech of students and the academic freedom of faculty, on the other?

Last December, just before the new administration took office, Mosaic published an important essay by the lawyer Tal Fortgang, asking how the incoming Trump team could vigorously protect Jewish civil rights. Later that month, Tal joined the legal scholar David E. Bernstein of George Mason University for a conversation about his essay, which was originally made exclusively available to Mosaic subscribers. Today, as the Trump administration implements some of the very principles and strategies that Tal raised in the pages of Mosaic, we are pleased to share that discussion with you. You can also read the transcript here.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.