Hoyer Statement on Antisemitism on College Campuses

WASHINGTON, DC - Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) released the following statement today on the recent sharp increase of antisemitism on college campuses across the United States:

"This week, we've seen vile acts of antisemitism and calls for violence against Jews and the State of Israel at campus protests across the country. At Columbia University, a leader of the student encampment previously said 'be glad - be grateful - that I'm not just going out and murdering Zionists.' Just outside Columbia's gates, pro-Palestinian protestors shouted 'we're all Hamas' and chanted 'Al-Qassam (Hamas), you make us proud, take another soldier out. We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground.' At the George Washington University encampment, one protestor carried a sign that called for the Nazis' 'Final Solution' to exterminate all Jews.

"Even if a protest is peaceful, it is inherently antisemitic and dangerous to heckle and threaten violence against Jews, call for the destruction of Israel, glorify the Holocaust, and praise Hamas - a terrorist organization with a self-stated objective to 'fight Jews and kill them.' Jews deserve to feel safe on college campuses, as do all students. These incidents, however, have caused many Jewish students to live in fear. That is unacceptable. Intimidating Jews does nothing to protect Gazans or to further the supposed - and often stated - goals of these protests.

"I support every American's right to organize, and I recognize the importance of open dialogue. Brazen antisemitism and violent threats are not legitimate discourse, however. This antisemitism endangers Jews in America, Israel, and around the world. It also undermines those who wish to bring attention to the humanitarian situation in Gaza and voice their concerns with the Israeli government's conduct in a productive manner. We each have a responsibility to stand against this antisemitic hate, and I urge university and college administrators to do so. If the organizers of these protests truly believe in the principles of nonviolence - as many of them claim - then they ought to do the same with their actions and rhetoric."