Congress Flocks to Columbia University To Denounce Anti-Israel Protests, Though Some Democrats Express Support

Members of Congress plan to maintain their focus on the ongoing protests at Columbia University, as well as at colleges across the country, with Republicans expressing their dismay over the antisemitism displayed and Democrats, with a few notable exceptions, supporting the students. Speaker Johnson appeared on campus Wednesday to deride the protest. Earlier in the day, he called for the resignation of the school’s president, Minouche Shafik, for not standing up to the occupiers of the university’s main campus. “President Shafik has shown to be a very weak and inept leader,” Mr. Johnson told a conservative radio host, Hugh Hewitt. “They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students. They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class. It’s just, it’s maddening.”“What we’re seeing on these college campuses across the country is disgusting and unacceptable,” the speaker said.Mr. Johnson appeared on campus Wednesday flanked by Republican lawmakers. He was met with jeers from the crowd as he stood overlooking the ongoing occupation of the green. Mr. Johnson announced he would call President Biden after his meeting and “share with him what we have seen here.” The speaker said he would urge the president to take “executive action” regarding campus antisemitism, and echoed the demands of some lawmakers for the New York governor to call in the National Guard. “There is an appropriate time for the National Guard,” he told reporters. The Republican New York House delegation, led by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, also called for Ms. Shafik’s resignation. “It is time for Columbia University to turn the page on this shameful chapter,” Ms. Stefanik said in a letter to the university. “This can only be done through the restoration of order and your prompt resignation.”The letter was first reported by the New York Post. Two of those New Yorkers, Congressmen Mike Lawler and Anthony D’Esposito, who represent suburbs of New York City, also appeared just outside of campus to decry the actions of the protesters. “Every single one of these college and university presidents who refuse to take action should immediately resign in disgrace, and if they don’t resign,” they “should be thrown out,” Mr. Lawler said at a press conference. “These children that are engaged in this antisemitic hate should be expelled immediately — every single one of them.”It isn’t just Republicans demanding better for Jewish students from the Columbia administration. On Monday, four Jewish House Democrats — Congressmen Jared Moskowitz, Josh Gottheimer, and Dan Goldman and Congresswoman Kathy Manning — toured the campus to meet with Jewish students. “We are standing here today as four Jewish members of Congress to make one thing clear: Jewish students are welcome here at Columbia. While the leadership of Columbia may be failing you, we will not. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe,” Mr. Gottheimer said at a press event after his tour.Governor Hochul has condemned the protests, but also said Mr. Johnson should not be appearing because he will “politicize” the demonstrations. “I think politicizing this and bringing the entourage to put a spotlight on this is only adding to the division,” she told reporters, according to Politico. “A speaker worth the title should really be trying to heal people and not divide them, so I don’t think it adds to anything.”The House Democratic leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, also condemned the protest, but stopped short of calling for Ms. Shafik’s resignation. “Intentionally targeting Jews or any community on the basis of race, religion, or ethnicity, acts of harassment and the use of physical violence will never be tolerated. No Jewish student or faculty member should fear for their safety on campus or anywhere else in our nation,” he said in a statement. “The effort to crush antisemitism and hatred in any form is not a Democratic or Republican issue. It’s an American issue that should bind us all together.”One Columbia University undergraduate, Nick Baum, tells the Sun that he is heartened to see a broad condemnation of the protesters and the antisemitism that has been present on campus in recent weeks. “I am happy to see that antisemitism on Columbia is being quickly identified as a bipartisan issue,” he says.Another undergraduate, Michael Lippman, also tells the Sun he appreciates the condemnations, especially the in-person visit by Mr. Johnson. “I welcome Speaker Johnson’s visit and am grateful to the many government leaders that have supported us in our fight to exercise our right to be on a campus that is safe for its Jewish students and free from harassment, assault, and imminent threats of violence,” Mr. Lippman says. “I am appalled at President Shafik’s paralysis in the face of obvious discrimination, law-breaking, and Jew hatred. These protests have exposed this movement, not as ‘pro-Palestinian,’ but as what they truly are — anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, and anti-American,” he continued. Not every member of Congress is willing to condemn the protests, however. Several Democrats have come out in support of the students camping on the lawn and have demanded that the New York City police department be barred from entering campus. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was recently suspended from Barnard College because of her participation in demonstrations, spoke to protesters at the University of Minnesota campus. “I am incredibly moved by your courage and bravery as a student body in putting your bodies on the line to stand in solidarity, to end the genocide that is taking place in Gaza at this moment. It’s been incredibly painful for the last five days,” Ms. Omar said. A New York Democrat, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, defended the protesters, saying Columbia is caving to “right-wing” Republicans who are pressuring the university to crack down. “I’m very concerned with some of Columbia’s actions,” he told Politico during an interview at the university. “They seem to be folding to pressure from a right-wing Congress’ weaponizing of the unfolding events in the Middle East as a means to suppress fundamental freedoms of expression.”

Congress Flocks to Columbia University To Denounce Anti-Israel Protests, Though Some Democrats Express Support

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