Executive Order 13899

Executive order announced by U.S. President Donald Trump

CAS Combating Anti-Semitism

Number| 13899
President| Donald Trump
Signed| December 11, 2019
Federal Register details
Federal Register
document number| 2019-27217
Publication date| December 11, 2019

The Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism, officially Executive Order 13899, is an executive order announced on December 10, 2019, and signed the next day by U.S. President Donald Trump. The said purpose of the order was to prevent antisemitism by making it easier to use laws which prohibit institutional discrimination against people based on race, color or national origin to punish discrimination against Jewish people,[1][2] including opposition to Israel uniquely as a Jewish nation-state (the right of a Jewish country to exist) without opposition to other nation-states.[3] The definition of antisemitism used in the executive order was written by the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and has been criticised as conflating it with criticism of Zionism or the state of Israel.

## Background

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According to the executive order, cases of antisemitism had increased since 2013. A 2006 report by the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) had found that antisemitism persisted on college campuses. In the recommendations of the report, the USCCR called for the Office for Civil Rights to vigorously enforce Title VI against recipients that deny equal educational opportunities to all students.[4]

### Anti-Semitism Acts of 2018 and 2019

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The executive order which Trump announced on December 10, 2019, and signed December 11, 2019 followed the introduction of two acts in Congress – the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2018 and the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2019. These bills aimed to broaden the definition of antisemitism in attempts to enable its enforcement as a Title VI violation. These acts were controversial at their times of introduction in Congress, prompting the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to write a letter opposing the initial bill from 2018. In the letter, the ACLU argued that the definition of antisemitism used in the bill extended to criticism of Israel and Zionism, thus limiting free speech.[5]

## Antisemitism definition used

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The definition of antisemitism which is used in the executive order was written by the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which defines it as, "...a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities."[6]

CNN reported that a White House official had indicated that the order would define Judaism as a nationality rather than a religion in the United States, but the order which was ultimately released did not contain this definition of Judaism.[1] The new order neither defined Judaism as a nationality nor did it define Judaism as an ethnicity, nor did it change the way in which complaints of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 violations are handled.[7] The order does not mean that all antisemitic incidents can be classified as a Title VI violation, it only specifies that the Office for Civil Rights must review incidents to determine if they should be enforced under Title VI.[7]

## Reception

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The order set off a firestorm of criticism among many Jewish and Palestinian leaders.[8] Some American Jews praised the order,[3] while others objected to defining Judaism as a nationality (as the order was initially indicated to do, though it ultimately did not), claiming that "Trump's reclassification of Judaism mirrored sentiments used by white nationalists and Nazi Germany" and that "the move appears to question whether Jews are really American". Some decried the order as a political stunt, and called on Trump to more directly address the threat of white nationalism.[3][1][2] Groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and the Orthodox Union were supportive of the order.[3]

## Trump and antisemitism

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Further information: Donald Trump and antisemitism

Throughout his first presidency, Donald Trump was accused of antisemitism numerous times. In a speech at the Israeli-American Council in 2019, Trump referenced classic antisemitic tropes in his appeal to Jewish voters.[9] Discourse around Trump's relationship with Judaism in America was revived later in his presidency. In October 2022, Trump called for American Jews to "appreciate Israel before it's too late", aligning with his past claims that American Jews no longer love Israel.[10]

## See also

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* Antisemitism in the United States
* History of antisemitism in the United States
* List of executive orders in the first presidency of Donald Trump
* Executive Order 14188

## References

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1. ^ a b c Stracqualursi, Veronica; LeBlanc, Paul; Klein, Betsy (December 11, 2019). "Trump to sign order to interpret Judaism as a nationality". CNN. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
2. ^ a b Baker, Peter; Haberman, Maggie (December 10, 2019). "Trump Targets Anti-Semitism and Israeli Boycotts on College Campuses". The New York Times.
3. ^ a b c d Smith, Allan (December 11, 2019). "Trump to sign executive order targeting college anti-Semitism, Israel boycotts". NBC News.
4. ^ "Findings and Recommendations of the United States Commission on Civil Rights Regarding Campus Anti-Semitism" (PDF). United States Commission on Civil Rights. April 3, 2006.
5. ^ "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2018". ACLU. June 4, 2018.
6. ^ "Romanian Chairmanship" (PDF). International Holocaust Remembrance Association. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 24, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
7. ^ a b "Questions and Answers on Executive Order 13899 (Combating Anti-Semitism) and OCR's Enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964" (PDF). United States Department of Education - Office for Civil Rights. January 19, 2021.
8. ^ Perper, Rosie (December 11, 2019). "Jews angry over Trump's reported decision to define Judaism as nationality". Business Insider. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
9. ^ Levin, Bess (December 9, 2019). "Trump Goes Full Anti-Semite in Room Full of Jewish People". Vanity Fair. Retrieved October 27, 2022.
10. ^ Concepcion, Summer (October 16, 2022). "Trump attacks American Jews, says they must 'get their act together' on Israel 'before it's too late'". NBC News. Retrieved October 27, 2022.

## External links

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* Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism at Whitehouse.gov

* v
* t
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Antisemitism in the United States

Part of
antisemitism, racism in the United States

History|

* List of incidents
* General Order No. 11 (1862)
* Lynchings
* Samuel Bierfield (1868)
* Abraham Surasky (1903)
* Leo Frank (1915)
* Death of Lazarus Averbuch (1908)
* Massena blood libel (1928)
* 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden
* Knickerbocker Case (1945–1950)
* Nixon Jew count (1971)
* Murder of Neal Rosenblum (1986)
* Crown Heights riot (1991)
* 1994 Brooklyn Bridge shooting
* 1997 Empire State Building shooting
* 2002 Los Angeles International Airport shooting
* Murder of Ariel Sellouk (2003)
* 2005 Los Angeles bomb plot
* 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot
* 2017 Jewish Community Center bomb threats
* Unite the Right rally
* 2017–18 Bergen County eruv controversy
* Murder of Blaze Bernstein (2018)
* Pittsburgh synagogue shooting (2018)
* Poway synagogue shooting (2019)
* 2019 Jersey City shooting
* Monsey Hanukkah stabbing (2019)
* Attack on Joseph Borgen (2021)
* Austin synagogue arson (2021)
* Attack on Matt Greenman (2022)

Higher education|

* Jewish quotas
* 2023 Congressional hearing
* Columbia University

Manifestations|

* Franklin Prophecy
* Triple parentheses

Reactions|

* Anti-Zionism on Campus
* The Believer
* Berlin 36
* Crossing the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus
* Gentlemen's Agreement (novel, film)
* Protocols of Zion

Academic study|

* Journal for the Study of Antisemitism
* Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism
* Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy
* Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism

Opposition|

| Organizations|

* AMCHA Initiative
* Anti-Defamation League
* Committee of Catholics to Fight Anti-Semitism
* Fagin the Jew
* HIAS
* Hollywood Anti-Nazi League
* Simon Wiesenthal Center
* Southern Poverty Law Center
* StopAntisemitism

|

Government|

* United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
* U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism
* Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism
* Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism

Related articles|

* Donald Trump and antisemitism
* Nazism in the United States
* Alt-right
* White supremacy
* Normalization of antisemitism

By jurisdiction|

* Connecticut
* Florida
* Maryland
* New Jersey
* Virginia
* Washington, D.C.

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