PhD Student Halts Education After Refusing to Sign Statement Equating Anti-Zionism with Anti-Semitism

Northwestern University has blocked more than 300 students from registering for classes after they refused to complete a mandatory anti-Semitism training created by a pro-Israel organization, sparking controversy over academic freedom and political influence on campus.

The training requirement has drawn sharp criticism from students who claim it promotes political indoctrination and misrepresents Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. The dispute has quickly evolved into a broader debate about institutional power and the boundaries of mandated education on U.S. college campuses.

Didem Kaya Bayram, a PhD student in Religious Studies at Northwestern and mother of one, experienced significant consequences for refusing to complete the training.

“When we refused to complete this training, the University put a registration hold on our accounts. This means you are not able to register for courses. This leads to the inactivation of international student’s SEVIS documents and visas,” Bayram told TRT World.

For international students like Bayram, the stakes extend far beyond academic penalties. “Given the recent abhorrent collaboration of university administrations with providing the names of their pro-Palestine students to the Trump administration and ICE, we did not want to risk ourselves and our child by continuing to stay in the U.S.,” she explained.

Northwestern’s training mandate comes amid increasing pressure from the Trump administration on universities to adopt federal definitions that link anti-Zionism with hate speech. The university required students to complete two modules – one addressing Islamophobia and another on anti-Semitism – to maintain enrollment status.

The anti-Semitism module was developed by the Jewish United Fund (JUF), a Chicago-based pro-Israel organization that has publicly opposed ceasefire efforts in Gaza. Critics note this raises questions about objectivity and potential bias in the educational material.

By contrast, the Islamophobia training, created by a corporate diversity consultancy, reportedly made no mention of Palestine or anti-Palestinian discrimination on college campuses – an omission that further fueled student concerns about imbalanced representation of complex geopolitical issues.

Bayram described the personal, academic, and financial toll this situation has taken on her family, but emphasized that attention should focus on “the shameless perpetrators who, with complete impunity, have thrown the full weight of their institutions behind an ongoing genocide.”

“I refused to complete this so-called training because it is disrespectful and humiliating,” said Bayram. “I am a 32-year-old scholar invited to Northwestern on a fully funded PhD program for the merit of my intellectual work. Then I am being asked to sit down and nod in silence, watching the total erasure of the past and contemporary crimes against Palestinians. For what? A degree from an institution that is shamelessly supporting an ongoing genocide.”

The dispute has now entered the legal arena. On October 15, affected students, including Graduate Workers for Palestine, filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Northwestern University. The lawsuit alleges that the university has effectively forced students to align with its political and cultural views by requiring completion of training that equates criticism of Israel or Zionism with anti-Semitism.

According to the legal complaint, Northwestern “has enacted policies and practices that prohibit expressions of Palestinian identity, culture, and advocacy for self-determination and silence those, including Jewish students, who express solidarity with Palestinians or even engage in critical academic engagement with Zionism.”

Students who have reviewed the anti-Semitism module, titled “Antisemitism Here/Now,” claim that while it presents itself as an educational resource against prejudice, the material contains numerous factual distortions.

This controversy at Northwestern reflects broader tensions at American universities, where administrations face increasing pressure to police speech related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Similar disputes have emerged at other institutions, raising fundamental questions about the role of universities in politically charged global issues and the extent to which they can mandate specific political frameworks through required educational modules.

For students like Bayram, the consequences of such policies extend far beyond the classroom, potentially affecting their immigration status, academic careers, and personal safety.