Over the last two weeks, what we have seen unfold on campus at places like New York University, Harvard and even MIT, in response to the Hamas attack on Israel has been downright sickening.
Now lawmakers from both parties are uniting to introduce a bill to deal with anti-Semitism on campus.
FOX News reports:
GOP and Dem lawmakers back bill to crack down on college ‘hotbeds of antisemitism’A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is backing a bill to require the Department of Education to consider antisemitism while enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws and to ensure that antisemitism on college campuses is “properly investigated and prosecuted.”The Antisemitism Awareness Act directs the DOE to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and its examples while investigating hate crimes.Republican New York Congressman Mike Lawler introduced the bill to quash the “disturbing and unacceptable” antisemitic demonstrations at universities, which “have long been breeding grounds of antisemitism.”Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the 2024 presidential candidate who is co-leading the bill, says America’s universities “have become hotbeds of antisemitism, especially in the wake of the brutal Hamas terror attacks against Israel and innocent civilians.””It’s critical the Department of Education has the tools and resources it needs to investigate antisemitism and root out this vile hatred wherever it rears its ugly head,” said Scott.Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Jared Moskowitz. D-Fla., and progressive Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, are also co-sponsoring the proposal, despite many progressive Democrats splitting with their colleagues on backing Israel and condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack.”Those who commit antisemitic attacks with the sole purpose of hurting the Jewish community must be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” said Moskowitz. “With the hatred we’ve witnessed over the last couple weeks, it’s beyond clear we need a multi-layered approach to stopping antisemitism.”
This is absolutely necessary.
Just look at the figures. These aren’t specific to higher education but it’s all related.
From Reuters:
US antisemitic incidents up about 400% since Israel-Hamas war began, report saysAntisemitic incidents in the United States rose by about 400% in slightly over two weeks since war broke out in the Middle East after Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, advocacy group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said Wednesday.THE TAKEThe advocacy group’s data – which showed a 388% rise in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. between Oct. 7 and Oct. 23 over the prior year – comes amid monitoring by American authorities of domestic threats due to the conflict.The ADL Center on Extremism said preliminary data showed 312 reported U.S. antisemitic incidents from Oct. 7 to Oct. 23, including harassment, vandalism and assault.About 190 of those were directly linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.Among examples cited by ADL were alleged physical assault; violent online messages, especially on messaging platform Telegram; and rallies where “ADL found explicit or strong implicit support for Hamas and/or violence against Jews in Israel.”In the same period of 2022, ADL recorded 64 U.S. antisemitic incidents, of which four were linked to Israel.
I’ll leave you with this.
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