(ReliableNews.org) – ABC News recently reported that the instances of antisemitism in the United States have drastically increased since the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel on October 7. Chief Field Operations Officer of the American Jewish Committee Melanie Pell said when “tensions flare” around the world, the repercussions of that conflict are “felt everywhere.” At the end of October, the news outlet reported that the DOJ charged Cornell University student Patrick Dai with threatening Jewish students with horrific acts of violence while on campus.
In the wake of this concerning trend, Congress invited three college presidents to testify about antisemitism on their campuses. Their words sparked fury, ending in one president’s resignation and a group aiming to procure the remaining two via billboard trucks.
The Testimony
On December 5, Harvard President Claudine Gay, then-University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) President Liz Magill, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth spoke before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. During the testimony, Harvard alum and Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) asked the trio if calling for the “genocide of Jews would violate” their respective universities’ “code of conduct.” Instead of giving a straightforward yes or no answer, each president qualified their responses or expounded on the answer. Gay said, “It is at odds with the values of Harvard.” Magill responded, “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment,” and Kornbluth said if the speech was targeted at individuals, it would violate the college’s bullying and harassment policies. She also said context matters and instances would be investigated if they were “pervasive and severe.”
The Resignation and Calls
On December 9, the Associated Press reported that Magill stepped down as UPenn president after receiving harsh criticism about her testimony from donors and others. She will continue in the position until the university finds an interim replacement and will continue as a faculty member of UPenn’s Carey Law School.
On December 10, Fox News stated billboard trucks were roaming nearby Harvard with images of Gay and Stefanik’s exchange during the president’s testimony and calls to “fire Gay” on the sides. According to Fox News Digital, the private funder running the truck campaign plans to also hire a plane to pull a banner that says, “Harvard — Stop Jew Hatred.” Their goal is to remove all three presidents from their positions. The anonymous private funder reportedly stated, “1 down, 2 to go.” It’s unclear if Gay and Kornbluth will also cave to the pressure.
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