On Monday’s broadcast of NewsNation’s “The Hill,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) stated that the October 7 attack was “rooted in” the fact that “in Gaza, they are taught to hate Jews and to want to kill Jews. And what we’re seeing on campuses all across America, but especially here at Columbia University, we are seeing antisemitism rear its ugly head, and these institutions have allowed it to happen.”
Lawler said, “Well, when you look at the terrorist attack of October 7, it was rooted in one thing, in Gaza, they are taught to hate Jews and to want to kill Jews. And what we’re seeing on campuses all across America, but especially here at Columbia University, we are seeing antisemitism rear its ugly head, and these institutions have allowed it to happen. If this was a racist protest, if this was a protest against gay people, if this was a protest against immigrants, you would see the institution crack down on it very, very quickly, and rightfully so. But what you’re seeing when it comes to Jewish students is that the institutions of higher education have allowed this to permeate from one end of the building to the next, and we have to crack down on it.”
He continued, “So, I was proud to be there today, along with my colleague Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to stand up and say, enough is enough. I’ve introduced two pieces of legislation: the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act, which would defund institutions like Columbia, including student aid, for promoting and sanctioning antisemitic events like this, as well as the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require the Department of Education to adopt the IHRA working definition of antisemitism and all of its contemporary examples for its enforcement cases.”
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