President Trump Comments on New Jersey Shooting, Vows to Combat Anti-Semitism

U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the New Jersey shooting, Wednesday, December 11, during a hannukah reception at the White House, one day after an attack at a kosher market left six people, including two suspects, dead.

An executive order issued by President Trump interpreting members of the Jewish religion as part of a distinct nationality is intended to help battle growing anti-Semitism on U.S. college campuses.

Some major Jewish organizations hailed Wednesday’s action because it means universities could lose federal funding if they do not stop discrimination against Jews on their campuses.

Others said they were uncomfortable with government action to create an ethnic categorization, and they also worried about its potential to suppress free speech at schools.

“This is a very critically important move made by the president of the United States that will set an environment wherein Jewish students who were targeted with anti-Semitism on university campuses in America will actually have some semblance of protection and recourse,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a major Jewish human rights organization.