Dozens of lawmakers are calling on President Biden’s Department of Education to act after student groups across the country published messages supporting Hamas terrorists this week.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., authored the letter and signed it along with 43 other lawmakers on Thursday. The letter calls on Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to take action to protect Jewish students on college campuses across the U.S., with anti-Semitic incidents spiking amid war between Israel and Hamas.
“Many student groups have issued statements condoning and even celebrating the terror attack, which should be considered a modern-day pogrom. Some student groups have even utilized imagery of a paraglider to advertise their rallies, unequivocally celebrating the despicable tactics used by Hamas– a terrorist organization that President Biden stated is a ‘group whose stated purpose for being is to kill Jews,’” the letter reads.
Walberg called out universities for portraying themselves as “inclusive and tolerant” and speaking out regarding social issues while remaining silent on the current crisis.
CASUALITIES, KIDNAPPED AND MORE NUMBERS SINCE HAMAS’ ATTACK ON ISRAEL
“In recent years, schools have been quick to weigh in on a plethora of social issues, but suddenly, many have gone silent as anti-Semitism rages across college campuses. This deafening silence and lack of moral clarity by college administrators comes as student groups openly celebrate a terrorist attack motivated by bigotry,” Walberg said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “These schools pride themselves on being inclusive and tolerant, but it is clear there is an anti-Semitism crisis on these campuses, so we’re calling on the Biden administration to take action to protect Jewish students and to visit these schools to examine why they are such a hot-bed for anti-Semitism.”
Several dozen Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at various universities across the country have released statements claiming that Israel is not a victim and Hamas is fighting for liberation.
“We call to attention that the Israeli occupation has created a multi-generational diaspora that is inextricably linked to the insurmountable destruction of the Palestinian way of life,” the University of California, Berkeley, chapter wrote. “Hence, Israel, as a settler colonial state, renders Palestinian existence inherently an act of resistance. We invariably reject Israel’s framing as a victim. Whereas to demonize and condemn indigenous resistance is to overshadow the decades of oppression, ethnic cleansing, and destruction of the Palestinian people.”
HARVARD STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS CLAIM ISRAEL ‘ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE’ FOR GAZA ATTACKS
The George Washington University chapter wrote, “GWU Students for Justice in Palestine stands in full support of the liberation of our homeland and our people’s right to resist the violent 75-year long colonization of our homeland by any means necessary.”
“Over the past few days, Palestinians in Gaza and across occupied Palestine have mobilized against the Zionist entity, seizing settlements imposed on our land in violation of international law,” the statement said. “For the first time in our history, Palestinians have reclaimed land that we were ethnically cleansed from in 1948. Over 50% of Gaza’s population is under 18 years old. The vast majority of them have never been outside of the colonial prison walls, have never set foot on a single inch of the land that their families were violently ethnically cleansed from. This past weekend we witnessed them breaking free, tearing down the prison walls, and making it known to the world: WE WILL BE CAGED NO LONGER.”
HARVARD LAW STUDENT LINKED TO STATEMENT BLAMING ISRAEL DENOUNCES CONTENTS, SAYS SHE DIDN’T READ IT
Saturday’s unprecedented attack by Hamas terrorists killed at least 1,200 people in Israel, including at least 25 Americans. Hamas also took more than 100 people hostage, and President Biden’s administration says there are Americans among those hostages as well.
Cardona’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
