WASHINGTON, Thursday, December 12, 2019 (WAFA) – US President Donald Trump plans to sign an Executive Order attacking First Amendment rights, specifically free speech critical of Israel, on college campuses, according to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

The order is falsely guised as an attack on anti-Semitism. It changes the classification of “Judaism” from a religion to a nationality. This order will allow the Department of Education (DOE) to use Title VI funding to force college campuses to censor any criticism of the abusive apartheid state of Israel, said ADC in a press statement.

"One of the main purposes of the order is to attack the right to participate and show solidarity with the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement and criminalize the Palestinian narrative by illegalizing pro-Palestine speech as well. It is intended to silence the growing peace movement on college campuses aimed at crushing the debate around peace, Palestinian rights, and an end to Israeli aggression and occupation," it said.

“From the start this Administration has been hell bent on targeting pro-peace activists and attacking the First Amendment rights of college activists," said ADC National President Samer Khalaf. "The first red flag was the appointment of Kenneth Marcus, who is anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian to the position of Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights at the DOE. Using such tactics is a clear indicator that the Administration has no concept or understanding of the First Amendment and will even restrict the rights of American citizens in an effort to defend the Apartheid State of Israel."

ADC is currently organizing to fight this executive order "through all mechanisms possible."

M.K.