House Education and Labor Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) declined to say in a recent interview whether the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was an anti-Semitic call. They are demanding the resignation of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. Genocide of the Jews.
“Three months after October 7th and the heinous anti-Semitic demonstrations that followed, Secretary Cardona’s cowardly avoidance of the anti-Semitic nature of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ is inexcusable. No,” Fox said in a statement late Tuesday.
“We have far better rights in this country than the failure and deliberate misappropriation of taxpayer dollars. And Jewish students need a Secretary of Education who understands the hatred they face.” “We deserve to know that we have the courage and clarity necessary to confront it. It is time for the Secretary to resign.”
Cardona, 48, Interview published Tuesday by Jewish Insider magazine.In it, he asserted that university administrators must “establish clear boundaries around how students communicate so that they do not feel threatened or unsafe on campus.”
In response to a question about the chant being heard on college campuses across the country, he said, “That’s why I say we’re investigating each incident, but it’s difficult for me to comment on that here.”
Regarding the slogan, he added: “If students feel threatened by this, it is the responsibility of leaders to take action.” “I believe that anti-Semitism can include anti-Zionist statements. … We will take that into account as we review the incident.”
A senior Education Ministry official present at the interview said students were being “surrounded”, “barricaded” in rooms for their own safety, and even “attacked” by anti-Israel protesters. told the media that he was aware of it. .
In December, three prominent university presidents also spoke out during a House hearing on whether calls for the “genocide of Jews” violated school codes of conduct, including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) ) and was at a loss for words. or constitutes bullying or harassment.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz McGill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth all said it depends on “context.”
The testimony sparked widespread backlash, with significant rebuke from all three presidents of elite universities, and McGill and Gay later resigned from their positions, although Gay only resigned in the wake of another plagiarism scandal. .
“I can’t believe we even have to say this,” White House press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement after the hearing. “The calls for genocide are monstrous and the voices we represent as a nation are… It goes against everything.”
“Any statement defending the systematic murder of Jews is dangerous and revolting, and we all stand by human dignity and the most fundamental values that unite us as Americans. , we should firmly oppose them.”
The newspaper has contacted the White House and the Department of Education for comment.
Mr. Fox’s committee then launched investigations into Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and MIT over their handling of anti-Semitism on campus, which erupted in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, most of them civilians. A further 240 people were abducted by jihadists and brought back to the Gaza Strip, but at least 130 remain hostages, many of whom are believed to have died.
The Department of Education has also launched investigations into at least 10 U.S. colleges and universities, calling for “alarming nationwide incidents of anti-Semitism, anti-Muslimism, anti-Arabism, and other forms of discrimination and harassment on college campuses and campuses.” We will take aggressive action to address the growing situation.” It has been working in K-12 schools since the October 7 conflict between Israel and Hamas. ”
“It resonated with me when students said that anti-Semitism is normalized in some parts of our country,” Cardona told Jewish Insider about what she heard about the campus riots.
“At the Department of Education, this was a moment for everyone to come together. After the terrorist attack, we really realized that we had to step up,” he added.
But Cardona also said that long before Oct. 7, he was told by Jewish leaders that anti-Semitism was on the rise across university campuses, and in response he said the faculty had set up a grievance process. He replied that he had launched a web portal.
Nearly 73% of Jewish college students say they have witnessed or been a victim of anti-Semitism on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a joint survey by the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish College Students. This is an increase of 10 points from 2021. Hillel International.
“What I hear from young students is, ‘I have to hide who I am,’” Cardona told Jewish Insider about her knowledge of the current situation on campus.
“They might hide an Israeli flag sticker on their computer, or they might hide a Star of David that they didn’t hide before. That’s very concerning to me as an educator, as an educational leader. When students are not able to be themselves openly because of the conditions on campus, and they are not able to be themselves, that to me is an unsafe learning environment.”
