As anti-Israel protests on Columbia University’s campus devolved into anti-Jewish hate, President Biden’s Department of Education spoke out Tuesday after days of silence.
Since last week, protesters on the New York City campus have spent days protesting Israel’s war with Hamas terrorists, forcing authorities to arrest more than 100 of the agitators. Incidents included a young woman holding a sign with an arrow pointing to Jewish students that read “Al-Qasam’s Next Targets,” and anti-Israel agitators shouting “We are Hamas” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.”
A campus rabbi sent a message to students warning that the weekend’s events made clear Columbia University’s Public Safety and the New York City Police Department “cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” and urged Jewish students to stay home “until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved.”
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who has most recently touted his agency’s severe crackdown on two of the country’s largest Christian universities, addressed the unrest Tuesday in a post on X, saying, “Antisemitic hate on college campuses is unacceptable” and that he is “deeply concerned by what is happening at Columbia University.”
ANTISEMITISM AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ‘PAINS ME TO SEE,’ PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT SAYS
“Hate has no place in our schools. All education leaders must stand definitively against hate, antisemitism, anti-Arab, and anti-Muslim sentiment,” Cardona said.
When asked by Fox News Digital if he would call for protections for Jewish students on the campus who feel unsafe or what actions his office would take to address the problem, Cardona’s office did not immediately respond.
“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 said in the statement.
PATRIOTS’ ROBERT KRAFT PULLS SUPPORT FOR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY AMID ANTISEMITIC VIOLENCE
The organizers of the protest – Columbia University Apartheid Divest and Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine – staged what they labeled a “Gaza solidarity encampment” on the campus and shut down a central lawn at the university.
The protesters called for Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza and for the university to divest from companies that have ties to Israel.
By Monday morning, the unrest grew to lead the university’s president to make all classes virtual. President Biden said Monday he condemns “antisemitic protests,” as well as “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
By Monday evening, the turmoil had spilled over to other campuses. NYPD made several arrests of anti-Israel agitators at New York University, where some protesters could be heard chanting, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan that many regard as a call to genocide. Others were seen stepping on Israel’s flag.
President Biden said he would “implement the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community.”
But on Tuesday, over two dozen Republican lawmakers told Cardona and Attorney General Merrick Garland they need to do more to quell the protests, calling on the agency heads to prosecute those making threats, revoke visas for non-citizens participating in “promoting terrorism” and hold school administrators accountable.
Monday evening marked the first day of Passover, a major Jewish holiday.
“What we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic,” Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, told his students in a message Sunday.
“May we see better days on campus soon,” he said.
At Yale University, 60 people were arrested for refusing to voluntarily leave a portion of the Connecticut campus, the school president said Monday evening.
Last year, the Department of Education opened investigations into at least six colleges and K-12 schools for antisemitism or Islamophobia. The list of schools included three Ivy League colleges – the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University and Columbia.
“While we can’t comment on pending investigations, every student deserves to feel a sense of safety and belonging at school,” Cardona said Tuesday.
Last week, Cardona vowed to shut down one of the country’s largest Christian schools, Grand Canyon University, after hitting them with a fine of $37.7 million on allegations that the Arizona-based higher learning institution misled students about the cost of its doctoral programs over several years.
The university has strongly denied these allegations. School officials told Fox News Digital the agency’s crackdown is rooted in a “deeply held bias.”
Arizona’s state Superintendent Tom Horne came out against 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 told Fox New Digital.
Last month, the Education Department fined Liberty University – another one of the largest Christian universities in America – $14 million for violations of the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, or Clery Act, including with respect to its published crime statistics and treatment of sexual assault survivors.
The amount LU is ordered to pay is the largest fine ever imposed for violating the Clery Act.
Liberty officials claimed the agency “used a completely different standard” when investigating the school’s compliance with federal college campus safety standards. One official told Fox News Digital the review was “unprecedented” and it lacked a basis for “imposing such excessive fines given the Department’s long-standing precedent.”
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Danielle Wallace, Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
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