As anti-Israel protests on Columbia College’s campus devolved into anti-Jewish hate, President Biden’s Division of Training spoke out Tuesday after days of silence.
Since final week, protesters on the New York City campus have spent days protesting Israel’s conflict with Hamas terrorists, forcing authorities to arrest greater than 100 of the agitators. Incidents included a younger girl holding an indication with an arrow pointing to Jewish college students that learn “Al-Qasam’s Next Targets,” and anti-Israel agitators shouting “We are Hamas” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.”
A campus rabbi despatched a message to college students warning that the weekend’s occasions made clear Columbia College’s Public Security and the New York Metropolis Police Division “cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” and urged Jewish college students to remain dwelling “until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”
Training Secretary Miguel Cardona, who has most lately touted his company’s extreme crackdown on two of the nation’s largest Christian universities, addressed the unrest Tuesday in a publish on X, saying, “Antisemitic hate on college campuses is unacceptable” and that he’s “deeply concerned by what is happening at Columbia University.”
ANTISEMITISM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ‘PAINS ME TO SEE,’ PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT SAYS
Training Secretary Miguel Cardona remained silent as anti-Israel protests on Columbia College’s campus devolved into anti-Jewish hate. (Getty Photographs)
“Hate has no place in our schools. All education leaders must stand definitively against hate, antisemitism, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim sentiment,” Cardona mentioned.
When requested by Fox Information Digital if he would name for protections for Jewish college students on the campus who really feel unsafe or what actions his workplace would take to deal with the issue, Cardona’s workplace didn’t instantly reply.
“Universities are at their best when they promote the respectful exchange of diverse views and constructive debate. Our Office for Civil Rights interprets the civil rights laws we enforce consistent with free speech and other rights protected under the First Amendment. But we won’t tolerate hate or harassment that targets students because of who they are or who they’re perceived to be,” Cardona mentioned within the assertion.
PATRIOTS’ ROBERT KRAFT PULLS SUPPORT FOR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AMID ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE
The organizers of the protest – Columbia College Apartheid Divest and Columbia College students for Justice in Palestine – staged what they labeled a “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the campus and shut down a central garden on the college.
The protesters referred to as for Israel to finish its conflict in opposition to Hamas in Gaza and for the college to divest from firms which have ties to Israel.
By Monday morning, the unrest grew to guide the college’s president to make all lessons digital. President Biden mentioned Monday he condemns “antisemitic protests,” in addition to “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
By Monday night, the turmoil had spilled over to different campuses. NYPD made a number of arrests of anti-Israel agitators at New York College, the place some protesters could possibly be heard chanting, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan that many regard as a name to genocide. Others have been seen stepping on Israel’s flag.
President Biden mentioned he would “implement the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community.”
However on Tuesday, over two dozen Republican lawmakers advised Cardona and Legal professional Basic Merrick Garland they should do extra to quell the protests, calling on the company heads to prosecute these making threats, revoke visas for non-citizens collaborating in “promoting terrorism” and maintain college directors accountable.
Anti-Israel agitators assemble an encampment on Columbia College’s campus in New York Metropolis on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
Monday night marked the primary day of Passover, a significant Jewish vacation.
“What we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic,” Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of the Jewish Studying Initiative on Campus, advised his college students in a message Sunday.
“May we see better days on campus soon,” he mentioned.
At Yale University, 60 individuals have been arrested for refusing to voluntarily go away a portion of the Connecticut campus, the college president mentioned Monday night.
Final 12 months, the Division of Training opened investigations into at the least six schools and Ok-12 colleges for antisemitism or Islamophobia. The checklist of faculties included three Ivy League schools – the College of Pennsylvania, Cornell College and Columbia.
“While we can’t comment on pending investigations, every student deserves to feel a sense of safety and belonging at school,” Cardona mentioned Tuesday.
Final week, Cardona vowed to close down one of many nation’s largest Christian colleges, Grand Canyon College, after hitting them with a advantageous of $37.7 million on allegations that the Arizona-based greater studying establishment misled college students about the price of its doctoral packages over a number of years.
The college has strongly denied these allegations. Faculty officers advised Fox Information Digital the company’s crackdown is rooted in a “deeply held bias.”
Anti-Israel agitators collect on Columbia College’s campus in New York Metropolis on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Peter Gerber)
Arizona’s state Superintendent Tom Horne got here out in opposition to Cardona’s actions, calling them “unwarranted and unjust.”
“In the U.S., anyone accused of wrongdoing is presumed innocent and entitled to their day in court. Secretary Cardona’s threat is contrary to those constitutional guarantees and unworthy of his position,” Horne advised Fox New Digital.
Final month, the Training Division fined Liberty College – one other one of many largest Christian universities in America – $14 million for violations of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Safety Coverage and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, together with with respect to its printed crime statistics and therapy of sexual assault survivors.
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The quantity LU is ordered to pay is the biggest advantageous ever imposed for violating the Clery Act.
Liberty officers claimed the company “used a completely different standard” when investigating the college’s compliance with federal faculty campus security requirements. One official advised Fox Information Digital the overview was “unprecedented” and it lacked a foundation for “imposing such excessive fines given the Department’s long-standing precedent.”
Fox Information Digital’s Louis Casiano, Danielle Wallace, Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
