When President Trump began his assault on higher education, freezing well over a billion dollars in research funding at leading universities, he implausibly claimed to be responding to campus antisemitism — some of which was real, although much was exaggerated or imagined.

In either case, many universities took proactive steps to address the issue, in hopes of restoring crucial grants.

At Northwestern University, where I am an emeritus professor, a mandatory anti-bias training program now requires students to watch video presentations on antisemitism and Islamophobia. The module on antisemitism has some students up in arms, declaring that they will risk suspension from the university rather than subject themselves to a 17-minute video titled “Antisemitism Here-Now.”

The video lacks a certain nuance, which has helped fuel the controversy, but it is still no cause for alarmism. One student called it “propaganda that justifies the Israeli Zionist occupation project.” Others complained that it “equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.” Neither charge is accurate.

It is impossible to address antisemitism without discussing Israel, which is constantly the target of both legitimate and bigoted denunciations. Northwestern’s antisemitism module,........

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