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Jewish students from nine American universities shared their recent experiences with campus antisemitism at a Capitol Hill roundtable forum hosted on Thursday by the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee.
Students from Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Rutgers, Stanford, Tulane, and Cooper Union talked about challenges they have faced as Jews in their day-to-day lives at their schools, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas massacre in Israel, which triggered a global surge of antisemitism.
“In the past five months, I have become traumatized,” Talia Khan, a second-year graduate student at MIT, told lawmakers.
MIT, Khan said, has become “overrun with toxic antisemitism” and by “terrorist supporters that directly threaten the lives of Jews on our campus.”
“It is not overly dramatic to ask that something be done when our very existence is under threat,” she noted.
Eden Yadegar, a junior at Columbia University and president of the school’s Students Supporting Israel (SSI) chapter, recalled, “We have been attacked by sticks outside our library. We have been attacked by angry mobs and we have been threatened to ‘Keep f—ing running.'”
Harvard Divinity School student Shabbos Kestenbaum detailed how he had written to Harvard’s antisemitism task force more than 40 times regarding discrimination, but had yet to receive a response. One of his complaints was about a Harvard employee who sought to debate him on “whether Jews orchestrated 9/11.”
“That same Harvard employee posted a video on his social media with a machete and a picture of my face saying he wants to fight and has a plan,” Kestenbaum said. “For three days I had private armed security outside my house. I had armed security follow me to Shabbat prayer services for my own protection.”
He added, “While I immediately flagged this issue to Harvard and to the police, this individual is still employed by Harvard. This is the reality of being a Jew at Harvard in 2024.”
“Harvard has a strong track record of disciplining speech that they do not like,” Kestenbaum pointed out. “The only single exception is Jews.”
University of Pennsylvania student Noah Rubin commented, “I’ve been told over and over again that the university is taking these issues seriously, but always no action.”
In her opening remarks, Committee Chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx (NC-5) stated, “Let me be clear, this is not about policing speech, or opinions, even if disagreeable or offensive. It is about protecting Jewish students from the harassment, threats, intimidation and assaults plaguing the campuses.”
Rep. Foxx lamented that schools were “still not correcting course,” even following the Dec. 6 committee hearing on campus antisemitism that led to the resignations of the University of Pennsylvanian and Harvard presidents after their refusals to explicitly say calls for genocide of Jews violated anti-harassment rules at their institutions.
Rep. Kathy Manning (NC-6), called the testimonies of the students “incredibly horrifying.”
She continued, “I cannot help but wonder: Is this 1932 Germany all over again? Is this Russia in 1903, when my grandparents fled the deadly pogroms and came to this country seeking refuge from antisemites? Every one of us in Congress should be asking ourselves: How did we get here, and what can we do to stop this?”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21) said, “Straight to the camera for the lawyers for these universities that have failed. If you think this is going to get brushed under the rug, the list is getting longer by the day. This Congress will not stop until we hold you accountable. That’s a promise.”
From today’s roundtable on combatting antisemitism on college campuses:
“Straight to the camera for the lawyers for these universities that have failed. If you think this is going to get brushed under the rug, the list is getting longer by the day.
This Congress will not stop… pic.twitter.com/4pXobJNK8U
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) March 1, 2024
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has been actively collaborating with the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee to address the issue of campus antisemitism.
“I’m proud to work with Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, Ranking Member Bobby Scott, Rep. Elise Stefanik, and other members of the House Education and Workforce Committee to combat the alarming rise in antisemitism impacting campuses and Jewish students,” CAM CEO Sacha Roytman stated on Thursday. “No student should feel unsafe on campus. It’s time for schools and universities to take action to protect all students. Every student deserves to feel welcome and protected. ”
Watch a recording of Thursday’s roundtable here:
