The presidents of Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Pennsylvania will come to Congress today (Tuesday) for a special discussion on the increasing antisemitism on campuses and the insecurity that Jewish students are feeling at these prestigious academic institutions.
The chairman of the Education Committee of the House of Representatives, Republican Senator Virginia Fox, announced the hearing to be held under the title "Holding campus leaders to accountability and confronting antisemitism."
Ahead of the debate that will take place today at 10:15 a.m. US time, Fox said that "Over the past few weeks, we have seen countless examples of antisemitic protests on college campuses. The heads of the universities largely stood by, allowing horrible rhetoric to fester and grow."
During the debate, the members of Congress, together with the heads of the prestigious universities, will examine several events with an antisemitic background that have taken place on campuses in the last two months since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and the debate will focus on the university heads' handling of the anti-Semitic demonstrations and protests on the campuses.
The heads of the universities will be asked to answer questions. One of the main events about which the members of Congress will discuss with the heads of the universities is a video that was circulated on social networks in which anti-Israel demonstrators vandalized businesses and police cars on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania while calling for a Palestinian uprising against Israel. This is not the first discussion surrounding the increasing antisemitism on US campuses.
Members of Congress from the Republican Party have already convened two previous hearings on the rise of antisemitism in schools in the US, bringing in experts who said schools were not doing enough, as well as Jewish students who testified they did not feel safe on campus.
A report by the Anti-Defamation League found a hundred percent increase in the number of antisemitic incidents since the outbreak of the war in Israel compared to the same period last year.