Republicans have found a new battering ram to attack Democrats: the demonstrations of anti-Semitism that are touring U.S. campuses over the Gaza war and which they say are being promoted by the “radical left,” which they say, d With Republicans, he is in favor of a ceasefire or, even more extreme, he dares to question the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. A meeting of the House Education Committee, attended by the presidents of three major universities (Harvard, Pennsylvania and MIT, the first two of the exclusive Ivy League), ended this Tuesday with a simple rhetorical question: Do school leaders condemn anti-Semitism? The three, who began their interventions with an explicit condemnation of the October 7 Hamas attack, gave the only possible response.
The aim of the hearing was to analyze the cases of anti-Semitism registered on campus, but above all the actions or omissions of the centers in responding to these events, as well as the measures taken to prevent incidents (harassment, threats, denunciation or signs) and ensure a safe environment for Jewish and Israeli students; Some incidents in which the victims were Arabs or Muslims were only mentioned in passing. But the Republicans who control the House of Representatives turned the session into a trap, if not an auto-da-fé, with untimely questions (Do you believe Israel has the right to exist?), the committee chairman asked principals who Republican Virginia Foxx) and other more misleading ones: South Carolina representative Joe Wilson, also a Republican, wanted to know how many conservative professors there are in each department. The principals responded that teachers were not asked about their ideology, to which Wilson responded that that was precisely the problem: their lack.
Claudine Gay, Chancellor of Harvard; Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania and Sally Kornbluth of MIT were joined by Pamela Nadell, professor of history and Jewish studies at American University, who attributed the rise in anti-Semitism, not just on campus, to the mandate of President Donald Trump. , but throughout the United States. The Republican’s ambivalent reaction to the racist incidents in Charlottesville in 2017 was “a turning point” for this speech, the moment when “the long tradition of anti-Semitism in the United States erupted again.” ” Nadell, Jewish like the rector of MIT, recalled the importance of the national strategy against anti-Semitism adopted by the White House in May, “an extraordinary document that must be followed by another against Islamophobia,” and called on Congress to implement all its recommendations to combat hate, especially on campus and in social networks. Several members of the committee, obviously Republicans, categorically rejected the equation of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
The only international conflict capable of mobilizing Americans to their core is pitting both sides increasingly against each other, with threats, denials and even physical attacks, such as the Thanksgiving weekend shooting of three students of Palestinian descent from Brown University (Vermont). One of them became quadriplegic. For the Republicans, the tension has led to a new casus belli against the Democrats: the well-known struggles of their culture war against anything that sounds woke (critical theories on gender, race, sexual identity, the LGTBIQ movement, etc.) have been added to the flag of the fight against anti-Semitism.
The street, like the campuses, does not hide its Palestinian sympathies – the flag flies clearly in the headquarters of some Columbia fraternities – and also some groups of American Jews who are very active on campuses, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace organization. , do not do so anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian. Harvard is in the spotlight after around thirty student groups released a letter blaming Israel for the attack following the brutal Hamas attack. The principal was initially reluctant to condemn the news, leading to accusations that the school was neglecting its Jewish students. Something similar happened with the Egyptian-born Chancellor of Colombia, Minouche Shafik, who preferred to leave room for debate and only belatedly – according to Jewish students and professors – the activities of Jewish Voice for Peace and another related group, the Students, ban on justice in Palestine.
Discrimination at Harvard
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In November, the Education Department opened an investigation into an alleged case of discrimination at Harvard, which the chancellor declined to comment on because it was ongoing. Therefore, Gay attracted more interest than her colleagues, although the intent of the call left no doubt about the suspicion that fell on them all: “The administrators [de las universidades] remained largely sidelined [de los incidentes], “allowing the terrible rhetoric to fester and grow,” Foxx said as he opened the session. The prologue to this was the screening of several videos of pro-Palestinian protests on campus with slogans such as “Long Live the Intifada” or “Intifada Revolution.” “When are you going to have the courage and do what you have to do, which is condemn terrorism and do what you can to protect your students?” Foxx shouted.
From the contributions of some members of Congress – which were filled with judgments to the point of incomprehensibility, as Magill pointed out several times when he was unable to answer due to the question’s lack of specificity – little was made clear, other than the fact that, in general, Republicans put the teaching staff in question, confusing academic knowledge with revealed truth.
The rectors’ ongoing plea for the university as a meeting place “for the exchange of ideas and freedom of expression” has been undermined by criticism and the unanimous condemnation of campuses as too liberal places with too few “conservative” professors.”, like Wilson highlighted (another Republican, Glenn Grothman, criticized the rector for the few Harvard professors who supported Trump in 2016 and 2020). “The free exchange of ideas is the foundation of a university,” Gay said. “This commitment has guided and continues to guide our behavior. (…) Anti-Semitism is above all a symptom of ignorance, and ignorance must have no place in the cradle of knowledge,” emphasized the Harvard rector.
Another Republican on the committee responded that it was not knowledge but “truth.” One of these “alternative truths” invented by the most radical wing of the Republicans came to light in the meeting when Republican Michelle Steel asked principals about “undeclared money from Middle Eastern donors” to fund the centers. All three denied the existence of counterfeit funds.
Republican Representative for New York Elise Stefanik fueled the debate by accusing Gay of failing to take disciplinary action against the students who chanted for the intifada because they represent the most extreme faction of the party in favor of a call, ” to commit genocide against the Jewish people.” Like Principal Gay, who stressed for the umpteenth time the importance of ensuring freedom of expression, the committee’s Democratic representatives emphasized the difficulty of distinguishing between speech that incites violence and speech that is abhorrent or unpleasant but legal.
Like Senate Majority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer, a prominent scourge of anti-Semites, Democrats have hardly budged from criticism from their university rivals for allowing events with anti-Semitic speakers, such as the recent Roger Waters. , the Pink Floyd musician, at the University of Pennsylvania. “Our approach is not to censor based on content, but to care about things like security and the time, place and manner in which the event would take place,” Magill said. “I think canceling this conference would have been highly consistent with academic freedom and freedom of expression, even though the opinions of some participants seem very, very offensive to me,” he added.
The rectors outlined a series of measures to ensure the physical integrity of students and teachers, such as information events – knowledge as an antidote to hatred – or strengthening psychiatric care, but his interrogators always spoke a different language. All three unequivocally condemned the October 7 atrocity by Hamas and any manifestation of anti-Semitism on campus, but their statements were contradicted by another rhetorical question from Republicans: “Are you experts on anti-Semitism, yes or no?” The second option, formulated by the three seemed to implicitly invalidate them as responsible for leading the centers amidst this vicious ideological tidal wave.
Harassment, threats and physical attacks
The auto-da-fé that Ivy League rectors endured this Tuesday is the latest academic disappointment after weeks of backlash and criticism. At Harvard and Pennsylvania, several historic donors have withdrawn their funding because of what they see as an inadequate response, while many Jewish students on campus report feeling unsafe in a context where a simple slogan like “No War” is seen as a threat is seen.
However, anti-Semitism was already on the rise before the war. According to the FBI, anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by 25% from 2021 to 2022. American Jews make up 2.4% of the population but are victims of 63% of reported religious hate crimes, according to federal data. After two previous hearings on free speech in general, this Tuesday’s session of the House of Representatives has only resulted in more recriminations as Republicans persist in their attempt to cut funding for the Department of Education and the Office for Human Rights, which closely handles cases of discrimination such as anti-Semitism.
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