The White House announced a series of measures Monday intended to fight antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of pro-Hamas protests that occurred across the country, according to NBC News.
College campuses experienced a wave of antisemitic incidents following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead and hundreds held hostage, with some student groups refusing to condemn the terrorist group and blaming Israel for the attacks. In light of this, the White House said that it was working with the Department of Justice, Homeland Security and the Department of Education to fight Jewish and Islamophobic hate on campus, according to NBC. (RELATED: German Woman Found Dead After Being Kidnapped By Hamas At Israeli Music Festival And Paraded Through The Streets)
“These grotesque sentiments and actions shock the conscience and turn the stomach. They also recall our commitment that can’t be forgotten: ‘never again,'” Andrew Bates, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to NBC.
The DOJ and Homeland Security will work with university police departments to create a tracking system for hate-related speech online and give the schools access to federal resources, according to NBC. Federal cybersecurity experts have also been dispatched to work with schools dealing with large protests and hate-motivated incidents.
Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University to show their support for Palestinians in Gaza at a rally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on October 14, 2023. (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, who is also Jewish, and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona are set to meet with a group of Jewish organizations Monday to discuss antisemitism on college campuses, NBC reported. Emhoff also held a roundtable discussion on rising antisemitism in the U.S. in December 2022, which prompted the White House to create a National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism that was released in May.
Both Cardona and Neera Tanden, a domestic policy advisor for the White House, are set to visit several universities later this week to talk to Jewish students, according to NBC. Over 100 colleges had plans for walkout protests in support of Palestinians and many universities saw an uptick in antisemitic incidents over the last few weeks.
George Washington University students projected the statements “President Granberg Is Complicit In Genocide In Gaza,” “Free Palestine From The River To The Sea” and “Glory To Our Martyrs” on the side of a building on Oct. 24. The university decided to suspend its diversity summit that was scheduled for October in order to prioritize “campus safety” and due to the “war in the Middle East.”
Michigan State University is conducting an investigation into an image of Adolf Hitler that was played ahead of a football game against the University of Michigan on Oct. 21. A Jewish student’s dorm room door was set on fire at Drexel University on Oct. 10, resulting in an investigation to determine if the incident was motivated by “bias, discrimination, or hate.”
Student groups at Harvard University signed onto a statement earlier this month blaming Israel for the attacks and refused to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. Major donors have begun to withdraw funding from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, arguing that the schools’ leadership was too slow to condemn the support for Hamas and declare the group as terrorists.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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