Antisemitism has spread like wildfire across our nation’s colleges. Pro-Hamas and anti-Israel protestors have pitched tents in the common areas of universities, barricaded themselves in academic buildings, attacked students and police, and kept other students from attending classes. To make matters worse, many college officials who have the power to stop this nonsense are letting it happen. Now the “big guys” from Washington, D.C. are stepping in to bring order to this leftist chaos.
News headlines are full of accounts of campus unrest fueled by demands by students for schools to divest from Israel — with Columbia University being the epicenter of the protests. After protestors popped their matching tents on the lawn of the New York City Ivy League school, other encampments arose at Harvard, Yale, UC Berkley, Ohio State University, and Emory in Georgia organized by branches of the Students for Justice of Palestine. At Columbia University, two more organizations joined the mix — Jewish Voice for Peace and Within Our Lifetime. It should come as no surprise that these groups are funded by George Soros-backed organizations as well as The Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Last week, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) visited Columbia University with several of his colleagues. They met with Jewish students and professors and with Columbia’s President Minouche Shafik. Afterward, they held a press conference where Speaker Johnson called for Shafik to resign due to her mishandling of the situation and told protestors to “go home.” House Education Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) stated:
So, I have a message, President Shafik, and a message for you all too. The inmates are running the asylum. Take back control of this once great institution. You took action last week, it’s time to act again. If not, the committee will pursue every possible avenue to create a safe learning environment for Jewish students.
At a press conference this week, House Leadership along with the Chair of each of the House committees announced a Congress-wide effort to crackdown on schools that allow these violent and illegal protests to continue. Chairwoman Foxx sent notice to the heads of Yale, ULCA, and Michigan to appear before the House Education and Workforce Committee on May 23 for a hearing on their handling of the protests. Other committee Chairs are conducting investigations into what is happening at these colleges including violations of Title VI of the civil rights law that protects students from discrimination, and funding by foreign organizations and entities that are bankrolling illegal activities. Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said his committee “will follow the money trail, expose it to the American people, and seek to hold bad actors funding hate accountable.”
Republican Governors across the nation have also stepped up to ensure campus protests are lawful and non-violent. In January, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida would welcome Jewish students with “open arms” who want to transfer from hostile environments by waiving minimum credit hour requirements and application deadlines.
Recently, he stated:
At places like Columbia and Yale, Hamas protesters rule the roost, and the universities are too weak and scared to do anything — even as these mobs harass Jewish students and faculty. If you try that at a Florida university, you are going to be expelled.
Nine students from two colleges in Florida were arrested this week. The spokesman for the University of Florida system explained, “The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children — they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they’ll face the consequences.”
Others such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin, and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt have echoed similar sentiments.
The looming question is: Where is the Biden administration on these violent antisemitic protests? White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates released a statement for the President condemning the “antisemitic smears” and the term “intifada.” Still, no action has been taken by the President. He seems to be occupied with finding a way to pay off the student loans of college students despite a Supreme Court decision rebuking his attempts.
It’s abhorrent to think that our tax dollars could be funding students who are becoming radicalized by the very institutions that are supposed to be educating them. Yet, these are the consequences of “woke” universities that enjoy blank checks from the federal government. Last year, the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s plan to create a new student loan forgiveness program without going through the proper rulemaking or regulatory process. Then, in April, the Administration launched a new plan to cancel the loans of 30 million Americans. These actions are straining our economy and encouraging more and more young Americans to attend these indoctrination factories knowing that their neighbors will have to foot the bill.
Columbia University finally cracked down on the protests and encampment this week by threatening suspensions to those who violently occupied and vandalized a school building. Protests at Washington University in Missouri resulted in mass arrests, faculty being placed on leave, and students being barred from campus including their dorms. Hopefully, these swift and direct actions will send a strong message to Hamas sympathizers.
Sadly, these protesters are not just hurting themselves. The University of Southern California announced it would not hold its main graduation ceremony because of heightened security concerns. Classes have been canceled from UCLA to the University of North Carolina. Protestors threw water bottles at police breaking up an unlawful protest at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Eagle Forum applauds Speaker Johnson and House Leadership for unifying to protect Jewish students from illegal discrimination and violence on college campuses. The institutions of higher learning should be places of critical thinking and civil debate for the next generation, not places of Marxist and socialist indoctrination.