WASHINGTON (TND) — Lawmakers spoke about antisemitism and the escalating tensions on college campuses due to the ongoing anti-Israel protests.
“Since October 7, we had over 5,000 antisemitic incidences in the United States just between October 17-January 1," Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said. "It is so important for the leader of our country to be out there and say very strongly and clearly that this kind of hatred against any race or any religion is wrong.”
President Joe Biden condemned antisemitism at a Holocaust Remembrance Day event, not only addressing the Holocaust but also the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“Now here we are, not 75 years later, but seven and a half months later and people are already forgetting, already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror," Biden said.
The Israel-Hamas war has sparked nationwide protests on college campuses as anti-Israel protesters cause chaos in the area and an increase in antisemitism, leaving many Jewish students fearing for their safety.
“It's been growing on the left for some time now and we can see it erupting on our college campuses and in the halls of Congress," Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., said. "It is high time that this administration took a strong stand against this movement before it begins to do serious damage to American liberty.”
Tensions continue to rise on college campuses as administrators call for law enforcement to break up the protests and clear the encampments.
“Well, I went to college during the Vietnam War years, so I was part of some of those demonstrations," Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., said. "I've taught on the U.N.L.V. campus for a long time so I know that universities are a place to express opinions, to demonstrate, to peacefully show different positions but once that moves from being free speech into being violent or harmful to somebody else's rights or destruction of property, then that's a different story.”
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