As Extreme Far-Left Democrats Lend Support To Protesters Spouting Antisemitic Rhetoric, The Biden Administration Fails To Clearly Condemn The Protests Or Do Much Of Anything At All
The Left Flank Of The Democratic Party Is Making Common Cause With College Campus Encampments That Have Descended Into Support For Terrorists And Antisemitism Yet Progressive Democrats In Congress And The Biden Administration Keep Seeking Their Support
SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “For months, the most elite corners of American higher education have made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Unfortunately, they’re still finding new ways to embarrass themselves with vile, anti-Semitic radicalism…. Education never has anything to do with it; it’s about dangerous, radical politics…. The hateful ideas pouring out of campus encampments are not new to America’s universities. The world’s oldest form of hate has been alive and well in higher education for some time now. From the vile ‘boycott, divest, and sanction’ movement that began over a decade ago to the establishment of outfits like the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights, the forces of bigotry have been on the move.” (Leader McConnell, Remarks, 4/30/2024)
· “Unfortunately, the President … refuses to render an unqualified rejection of campus anti-Semitism. In fact, when asked about it, he seemed to say – well, there are good people on both sides. It’s hard not to see this mealy-mouthed equivocation for what it is: a President prioritizing the feelings of his political supporters over moral clarity. Anti-Semitism is not a nuanced academic theory. It is not just one of many ‘difficult viewpoints,’ as the White House Press Secretary seemed to suggest yesterday in reference to campus disruptions. It is not justified by political disagreements with Israel and its government. It is not entitled to take over campuses and make life miserable for Jewish students.” (Leader McConnell, Remarks, 4/30/2024)
· “Leaders must lead. Administrators must take charge of their institutions. The basic objectives here couldn’t be clearer: On campus, protect Jewish community members. Clear the encampments. Let students go to class and take their exams. And allow graduations to proceed. Here in Washington, withdraw radical nominees. And force the Departments of Justice and Education to investigate civil rights violations. If moral clarity does not prevail – in the ivory tower and in the Biden Administration – this could go down as a particularly shameful moment in our history.” (Leader McConnell, Remarks, 4/30/2024)
Hard-Left Democrats Have Lent Their Support To Pro-Hamas Encampments Taking Over American Universities And Joined Protesters In Spouting Outrageous Rhetoric
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): “I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe and that we should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide…” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
· “Another clip of Omar’s visit showed the congresswoman and her daughter greeting protesters at the university. Unverified claims made on social media said Omar embraced student protester Khymani James, who was later that day banned from the campus by university administrators. The ban came after a video from January surfaced in which James said that ‘Zionists don’t deserve to live’ and people should be grateful James wasn’t killing them.” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
· “James’s ties to another member of the so-called ‘Squad’ of progressive Democrat lawmakers also emerged over the weekend. In 2021, James posted images of himself with Rep. Ayanna Pressley describing her as ‘my mentor and friend.’” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
“The head of the Anti-Defamation League on Saturday accused Democratic US Representative Ilhan Omar of spreading a blood libel after she implied Jewish students who support Israel amid its war against Hamas are ‘pro-genocide.’” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
· “In a post on Saturday to the X platform, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt slammed Omar, saying ‘it’s patently false and a blood libel to suggest that ANY Jewish students are ‘pro-genocide.’ ‘It is gaslighting to impute that Jewish people are somehow at fault for being harassed and menaced with signs and slogans literally calling for their own extermination,’ he continued. ‘It is abhorrent that a sitting member of Congress would slander an entire group of young people in such a cold, calculated manner.’ ‘This is how people get killed.’” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
“New York Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, both members of ‘The Squad,’ were seen Friday mingling with anti-Israel agitators at Columbia University, where ‘support’ was offered to those in the encampment established to protest the Israeli military's actions in Gaza.” (“‘Squad’ Members Descend On Columbia Encampment, Offer 'Support' For Anti-Israel Agitators,” Fox News, 4/26/2024)
· “In one video shared on social media, a smiling Ocasio-Cortez is shown speaking with those inside the encampment and offering her support for those who have become engaged in the protest. Photographs of Bowman also circulated on social media, showing the cheerful New York Democrat listening to those who were taking part in the encampment protest.” (“‘Squad’ Members Descend On Columbia Encampment, Offer 'Support' For Anti-Israel Agitators,” Fox News, 4/26/2024)
· “Asked NY Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a member of the squad, if he’s OK with the protestors occupying Columbia building. ‘The protestors are gonna do what they got to do. For me, it needs to just remain nonviolent, make sure no person is harmed in the process.’ …” (CNN’s Manu Raju, @mkraju, Twitter, 4/30/2024)
“College Democrats of America, the student organization of the Democratic Party, endorsed pro-Palestinian campus protests on Tuesday and called on President Biden to support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza. In a statement approved by the organization’s executive board by a vote of 8 to 2, the College Democrats praised student protesters for having ‘the moral clarity to see this war for what it is: destructive, genocidal and unjust,’ and condemned college administrators for suspending and calling in the police to arrest them.” (“College Democrats Of America Back Protests And Criticize Biden’s Israel Policy,” The New York Times, 4/30/2024)
Elite Universities Across The Country Are Littered With Accounts Of Antisemitic And Eliminationist Statements Proudly Chanted And Displayed By Protesters
“Social media videos from the anti-Israel demonstration that has been staged for days on Columbia’s campus show activists cheering on the deaths of Israeli soldiers and showing support for Hamas. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe on campus and shared stories of being verbally and physically assaulted.” (“‘Squad’ Members Descend On Columbia Encampment, Offer 'Support' For Anti-Israel Agitators,” Fox News, 4/26/2024)
· “Anti-Israel protesters, meanwhile, have been heard chanting ‘Al-Qassam, you make us proud, kill another soldier now!’ ‘We say justice, you say how. Burn Tel Aviv to the ground!’ and ‘Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too!’” (“‘Squad’ Members Descend On Columbia Encampment, Offer 'Support' For Anti-Israel Agitators,” Fox News, 4/26/2024)
· “‘They were pushing and shoving me. . . . They threw rocks at my face. At that moment, my life was totally threatened. And there was no safety authority on campus,’ one student told NY1 over the weekend.” (“‘Squad’ Members Descend On Columbia Encampment, Offer 'Support' For Anti-Israel Agitators,” Fox News, 4/26/2024)
“As students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at college campuses across the United States dug in Saturday and dozens of demonstrators were arrested, some universities moved to take action against students or shut down encampments amid reports of antisemitic activity. Cornell University said that it had suspended several students for breaking school rules and for antisemitic chants at the rallies.” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
· “The statement said the school is ‘deeply distressed by chants made at some of the rallies near the encampment, particularly the phrase, ‘There is only one solution: Intifada Revolution.’ The protesting group has repeatedly stated that their protest is political and not antisemitic, but these chants belie that claim.’” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
“Meanwhile, a photograph purportedly from the George Washington University campus showed banners declaring that student protests would continue until the Jewish state was dismantled. Banners read ‘Students will leave when Israelis leave’ and ‘Students will go back home when Israelis go back to Europe, US, etc. (their real homes.)’” (“ADL Accuses Rep. Omar Of ‘Blood Libel’ For Saying Some Jewish Students Pro-Genocide,” The Times Of Israel, 4/28/2024)
The Anti-Defamation League Is Cataloguing The Vicious Antisemitic And Pro-Terrorist Slogans Emanating From These Encampments
ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE (ADL): “Anti-Zionist student groups on more than 50 U.S. college and university campuses have established ‘encampments’ in recent days to ostensibly protest Israel’s actions in Gaza and their academic institutions’ alleged ‘complicity’ in those actions…. Several protesters, including those who are participating in the encampments or have demonstrated in support of the encampments, have expressed explicit support for Hamas terrorism and urged Hamas to commit further violence against Israel. Some protesters have also directly confronted Jewish students on and near campus, at times using antisemitic rhetoric. Many protestors have called for ‘Zionists’ to be excluded from campus communities.” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
ADL: “Protesters at Columbia University, including students affiliated with the encampment and other individuals who have gathered at the campus’ main entrance gates in solidarity, have repeatedly expressed explicit support for violence. For example, there have been multiple instances of support for Hamas and their October 7 attack on Israel. On April 17, a protester yelled ‘We are Hamas’ and others chanted: ‘Al-Qassam [in reference to the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing] you make us proud, kill another soldier now!’ On April 20, an anti-Israel protester on Columbia’s campus held a sign that read ‘Al-Qasam’s [sic] next targets’ with an arrow pointing toward a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters standing nearby waving Israeli and American flags.” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
· “In the late evening hours of April 18, anti-Israel protesters who were gathered just outside the campus gates to support the student encampment reportedly screamed at a group of Jewish students, repeatedly referencing Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel. One protester stated: ‘Remember the 7th of October? That will happen not one more time, not five more times…but 10,000 more times.’ Another added, ‘Never forget the 7th of October…The 7th of October is about to be every f***ing day for you. You ready?’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
· “During a speech on campus at the Columbia encampment on April 20, Tai Lee, a member of Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) who has previously expressed explicit support for Hamas’s October 7 attack at anti-Israel protests in New York City, said, ‘Let it be known that it was the Al-Aqsa Flood [Hamas’s name for the October 7 attack] that put the global Intifada back on the table again. And it is the sacrificial spirit of the Palestinian Freedom Fighters that will guide every struggle on every corner of the earth to victory.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
· “Also at Columbia, a sign displayed on one of the encampment tents read: ‘Whoever is in solidarity with our corpses but not our rockets is a hypocrite and not one of us. Until Victory.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
ADL: “At the University of Michigan, where students began their encampment on April 22, protesters hung a banner next to their tents that read ‘LONG LIVE THE INTIFADA.’ Intifada is a reference?to two historical periods in the late 1980s and early 2000s during which Palestinian terrorists committed indiscriminate acts of violence against Israelis, including suicide bombings, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,000 people. At Columbia on April 20, protesters held signs that included such messages as ‘Fight for worldwide Intifada’ and chanted familiar slogans like ‘Globalize the Intifada’ and ‘There is only one solution; Intifada, revolution.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
ADL: “Protesters on multiple campuses have also displayed the symbols of US-designated terror groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hezbollah. For example, encampment protesters at both California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities displayed flags with the PFLP logo. At Princeton University, where students launched their encampment on April 25, a protester displayed a Hezbollah flag.” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
ADL: “Protesters have also glorified figures affiliated with terror groups, such as the PFLP and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. At Columbia, protesters displayed a sign with the PFLP logo alongside an image of Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned general secretary of the terror group. Signs also bore the names and photographs of?convicted terrorists such as Nasser Abu Hamid, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades; Walid Daqqa, PFLP; Leila Khaled, PFLP; Ahmad Qatamesh, PFLP; and others.?Protesters at Yale University, who began demonstrating earlier in the week as part of a hunger strike and officially launched their encampment on April 19, similarly displayed signs with illustrations of Walid Daqqa and Leila Khaled.” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
ADL: “Some of the protest slogans at the encampments have included calls to destroy Zionism and to hound Zionists. The overwhelming majority of Jews identify in some way with Zionism or with Israel, and such statements are essentially calls for the exclusion of Jews. At Columbia on April 17, a protester told the crowd: ‘We will never let up and we will never let down until Palestine is free, Zionism is destroyed, and Zionists start to hide like the Nazis.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
· “Protesters also chanted slogans that demonized Zionists and Zionism, including: ‘Say it loud, say it clear; we don’t want no Zionists here’ and ‘Free our prisoners, free them all; Zionism will fall.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
· “On April 21, anti-Zionist slogans included: ‘Zionists, you’re a liar; you set Palestine on fire’ and ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine is all you’ll see.’ In other footage from Columbia, protesters could be heard calling Jewish students ‘Yehudim’ (Hebrew for ‘Jews’) and telling them, ‘Go back to Poland.’” (“Campus Antisemitism Surges Amid Encampments and Related Protests at Columbia and Other U.S. Colleges,” Anti-Defamation League Website, 4/22/2024)
‘To Talk With Many Jewish Students Who Have Encountered The Protests Is To Hear Of The Cumulative Toll Taken By Words And Chants And Actions That Call To Mind Something Ancient And Ugly’
“Some people have reported antisemitic chants and messages at and around the Columbia campus, and similar concerns have been reported at other universities. Some Jewish students say they’ve felt unsafe on campus.” (“Biden Tries To Navigate The Israel-Hamas War Protests Roiling College Campuses,” The Associated Press, 4/29/2024)
“Some Jewish students at Columbia said that they have felt threatened walking on school grounds. After meeting with Johnson, one told NBC News that he has spotted Hamas flags on campus. Another said that he’s heard chants of ‘Go back to Europe.’ ‘It’s time to say, ‘Enough,’’ said Ben Solomon, 22, who is studying economics and political science. ‘This isn’t speech. This is disruption. This is intimidation.’” (“Biden Administration Faces Pressure To Step Up Its Response To Antisemitic Incidents On College Campuses,” NBC News, 4/28/2024)
THE ATLANTIC: “Many protesters argue that, from the river to the sea, the settler-colonialist state must simply disappear. To inquire, as I did at Columbia, what would happen to Israelis living under a theocratic fascist movement such as Hamas is to ask the wrong question. A young female protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, responded: ‘Maybe Israelis need to check their privilege.’” (“The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone,’” The Atlantic, 4/22/2024)
· “But to talk with many Jewish students who have encountered the protests is to hear of the cumulative toll taken by words and chants and actions that call to mind something ancient and ugly.” (“The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone,’” The Atlantic, 4/22/2024)
· “Earlier in the day, I interviewed a Jewish student on a set of steps overlooking the tent city. Rachel, who asked that I not include a surname for fear of harassment, recalled that in the days after October 7 an email went out from a lesbian organization, LionLez, stating that Zionists were not allowed at a group event. A subsequent email from the club’s president noted: ‘White Jewish people are today and always have been the oppressors of all brown people,’ and ‘when I say the Holocaust wasn’t special, I mean that.’ The only outward manifestation of Rachel’s sympathies was a pocket-size Israeli flag in a dorm room. Another student, Sophie Arnstein, told me that after she said in class that ‘Jewish lives matter,’ others complained that her Zionist beliefs were hostile. She ended up dropping the course.” (“The Unreality of Columbia’s ‘Liberated Zone,’” The Atlantic, 4/22/2024)
“A Jewish Princeton University freshman recounted the virulent antisemitism he witnessed on the Ivy League campus at an anti-Israel protest encampment this week.” (“Jewish Student Slams Princeton For Permitting Terror Group Flags, Antisemitism On Campus: 'Must Be Stopped,'” Fox News, 4/29/2024)
· “Maximillian Meyer of New York told Fox News Digital that protesters flew Hezbollah flags and chanted in support of Hamas as the wave of anti-Israel activism that continues to wash over some of America's top institutions came to Princeton — placing Jewish students in fear of attending classes and engaging in regular student life.” (“Jewish Student Slams Princeton For Permitting Terror Group Flags, Antisemitism On Campus: 'Must Be Stopped,'” Fox News, 4/29/2024)
· “‘The craziest thing to me is the fact that I saw the Hezbollah flag multiple times, and I wasn't even shocked,’ Meyer said in an interview. ‘And I thought that that is more emblematic of the moral rot that has taken hold on our college campuses — of our so-called elite college campuses — than anything else. The fact that not only do we have Hezbollah flags, not only are there chants supporting the Houthis, chants supporting Hamas, but that we're not even surprised. It has become ubiquitous. And that is devastating.’” (“Jewish Student Slams Princeton For Permitting Terror Group Flags, Antisemitism On Campus: 'Must Be Stopped,'” Fox News, 4/29/2024)
Shamefully, President Biden And His Administration Keep Grasping For A Middle Ground, Failing To Clearly Condemn The Antisemitism On Display While Simultaneously Seeking The Support Of The Protesters And Their Allies
“Biden on Monday sought the same middle ground that he’s staked out for months…” (“Biden Tries To Navigate The Israel-Hamas War Protests Roiling College Campuses,” The Associated Press, 4/29/2024)
· PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: “I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians…” (“Biden Aims To Strike Careful Balance As College Protests Spread,” The Washington Post, 4/23/2024)
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD: “President Biden opened his campaign-announcement video in 2019 by excoriating Donald Trump for suggesting a ‘moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it.’ He was referring to Mr. Trump’s remarks following the 2017 Charlottesville, Va., demonstration in which some racists shouted, ‘Jews will not replace us.’” (“Biden Has A ‘Very Fine People’ Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/2024)
· “This week Mr. Biden had his own moment of unclarity. Asked on Monday about current events on campus across the country, he said: ‘I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.’ He then mumbled a few unintelligible words. Mr. Biden seemed to be saying that pro-Hamas demonstrators are no worse than pro-Israel demonstrators who believe that ‘what’s going on with Palestinians’ is ultimately Hamas’s fault for invading Israel, barbarically attacking its people, and using Palestinian civilians as human shields.” (“Biden Has A ‘Very Fine People’ Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/2024)
· “Mr. Biden should unqualifiedly condemn antisemitism and harassment and violence against Jews. Trying to balance that justified condemnation by suggesting a false moral equivalence is wrong and will hurt him politically. Most Americans understand the difference between the murderers and rapists of Hamas and the defenders of Israel, even if they sometimes fault Israeli actions. If Mr. Biden fails to understand that difference—or, worse, understands but deliberately blurs it—voters will see through his politicization of a clear moral issue.” (“Biden Has A ‘Very Fine People’ Moment,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/23/2024)
“In a roughly three-minute-long opening statement in front of Senate appropriators, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona mentioned nearly every major issue in higher education today — except campus unrest. Only after Republican nudging did Cardona address the protests, encampments and antisemitism at campuses across the country and what his department is doing to support students.” (“Education Secretary Initially Ducks Talk Of Campus Protests With Lawmakers,” Politico, 4/30/2024)
‘The Tumult Spreading Through College Campuses Is Especially Tricky For Biden As He Works To Rebuild The Voting Coalition From The 2020 Presidential Race’
“The tumult spreading through college campuses is especially tricky for Biden as he works to rebuild the voting coalition from the 2020 presidential race. Many of the students protesting the war in Gaza say they are unhappy with him for not bringing about a cease-fire.” (“Biden Administration Faces Pressure To Step Up Its Response To Antisemitic Incidents On College Campuses,” NBC News, 4/28/2024)
“At best for Biden, the protests are a passing distraction while the White House presses forward with negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas while pushing Israel to limit casualties … At worst, they build momentum toward the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, potentially triggering scenes of violence that could recall the unrest of protests against the Vietnam War during the party’s convention there in 1968.” (“Biden Tries To Navigate The Israel-Hamas War Protests Roiling College Campuses,” The Associated Press, 4/29/2024)
“Biden won Wisconsin by barely 20,000 votes in 2020, giving him little margin for error there as he runs for reelection. More than 48,000 Democratic primary voters — about 8 percent of those who voted — marked their ballots ‘uninstructed’ this month instead of voting for Biden, many of them to protest Biden’s handling of the war. One of them was Kirsten Thell, the incoming president of the UW Eau Claire College Democrats, who said she wanted to send a message to Biden with her vote. ‘He can see those numbers,’ she said. ‘He can see how we’re not voting for him. And he knows why.’” (“Ro Khanna Urges Students To Back Biden Despite Gaza Frustrations,” The Washington Post, 4/29/2024)
· “Thell, a 19-year-old sophomore from Mankato, Minn., said she would definitely vote for Biden in November — but she’s worried other students won’t. ‘I’m hearing a decent amount of students who are not voting for Biden unless he does something,’ Thell said after meeting with Khanna. ‘And it's not a situation where Biden is lesser of the evil and so I guess I'll vote for him. It's, ‘No, I'm not voting for him unless something is done — a ceasefire is done and the war is over.’’” (“Ro Khanna Urges Students To Back Biden Despite Gaza Frustrations,” The Washington Post, 4/29/2024)
· “Zach Britt, a 23-year-old field organizer for the Wisconsin Democratic Party at the university, has surveyed hundreds of students since he arrived on campus in January. About half of them said their No. 1 issue is Gaza — and ‘a lot of people unfortunately have said that they’re not going to vote for Joe Biden if he doesn't do anything on Gaza,’ Britt said.” (“Ro Khanna Urges Students To Back Biden Despite Gaza Frustrations,” The Washington Post, 4/29/2024)
‘Jewish Students And Their Defenders Are Displeased That The Biden Administration Isn’t Showing More Resolve In Stamping Out Antisemitic Harassment On Campus’
“At the same time, some Jewish students and their defenders are displeased that the Biden administration isn’t showing more resolve in stamping out antisemitic harassment on campus.” (“Biden Administration Faces Pressure To Step Up Its Response To Antisemitic Incidents On College Campuses,” NBC News, 4/28/2024)
“‘Something needs to give,’ said Brian Cohen of the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at Columbia/Barnard Hillel. ‘The universities aren’t acting fast enough. I don’t think the Department of Education is working fast enough. Universities around the country are spiraling out of control and that’s not good for anybody connected to higher education.’” (“Biden Administration Faces Pressure To Step Up Its Response To Antisemitic Incidents On College Campuses,” NBC News, 4/28/2024)
“Kenneth Marcus, who headed the Education Department’s civil rights office in the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations, said, ‘The department’s office of civil rights should be seizing the moment and taking charge of this situation. It’s not enough merely to wait passively for complaints to come in and log them and indicate that investigations have been opened.’ ‘They should be proactively opening investigations rather than waiting,’ added Marcus, who chairs the Brandeis Center, which promotes civil and human rights for Jews.” (“Biden Administration Faces Pressure To Step Up Its Response To Antisemitic Incidents On College Campuses,” NBC News, 4/28/2024)
Meanwhile, President Biden Was Appearing At A Fundraiser With Extreme Democrats Who Have Supported The Protesters Or Echoed Their Toxic Rhetoric
“President Joe Biden spoke for 20 minutes to about 100 guests seated under a tent at the campaign fundraiser on Thursday at the Westchester County home of actors Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, according to an account by a White House reporter admitted to the private event.” (“Biden Jabs At Trump In Speech To 100 At Westchester Fundraiser With Actor Michael Douglas,” The Journal News, 4/26/2024)
“[President Biden] gave a shoutout to two current and former congressmen in the crowd, both running in Westchester in different districts this year. One was Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who's being challenged in a June 25 Democratic primary by Westchester County Executive George Latimer; the other was former Rep. Mondaire Jones, who's taking on Republican Rep. Mike Lawler on Nov. 5.” (“Biden Jabs At Trump In Speech To 100 At Westchester Fundraiser With Actor Michael Douglas,” The Journal News, 4/26/2024)
Bowman And Jones Have Come Under Fire For Antisemitic Messages
“Democrat Mondaire Jones, a former House member running again in New York's 17th district, apologized a day after sending a message that many social media users, including members of his own political party, viewed as antisemitic.” (“Dem Candidate Apologizes For 'Antisemitic' Post After Receiving Backlash From His Own Party: 'Disgusting,'” Fox News, 10/04/2023)
· “Following California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy's ouster from the speaker role in a 216 to 210 vote on Wednesday — where eight Republicans joined every Democrat in the lower chamber — Jones took to X to post a picture of McCarthy with Jewish leaders while adding, ‘Well this was a waste of everyone's time.’” (“Dem Candidate Apologizes For 'Antisemitic' Post After Receiving Backlash From His Own Party: 'Disgusting,'” Fox News, 10/04/2023)
“In the weeks after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Rep. Jamaal Bowman not only publicly cast doubt on reports that Israeli women were raped, but also called those accusations ‘propaganda.’ ‘There was propaganda used in the beginning of the siege,’ Bowman (D-N.Y.) told a Nov. 17 rally of about 50 pro-Palestinian protesters in Westchester, according to a post on TikTok reviewed by POLITICO. ‘There’s still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women. But they still keep using that lie [for] propaganda.’” (“Bowman Reverses After Calling Reports Of Oct. 7 Sexual Assaults In Israel ‘Propaganda,’” Politico, 3/26/2024)
· “Squad member Rep. Jamaal Bowman promoted wild conspiracy theories about 9/11 on his personal blog during his previous career as a middle school principal, The Daily Beast has discovered. … What begins as a meditation on a decade-plus of world events, recollecting anxiety over Y2K and controversy around the 2000 Florida recount, swiftly delves into the world of 9/11 trutherism.” (“NY Rep. Jamaal Bowman Promoted 9/11 Conspiracy Theories on Blog,” The Daily Beast, 1/29/2024)
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