Pinned
Erica L. Green and Michael D. Shear
Erica L. Green reported from Capitol Hill, and Michael D. Shear from Washington.
The president is set to deliver the keynote address at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony.
Image
President Biden on Tuesday condemned a “ferocious surge of antisemitism” in the United States following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel and said people were already forgetting the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Speaking at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance, Mr. Biden tied the anti-Jewish sentiment that led to the Nazi effort to exterminate Jews directly to Oct. 7.
“This ancient hatred of Jews didn’t begin with the Holocaust,” he said. “It didn’t end with the Holocaust, either.”
For Mr. Biden, a self-described Zionist, the speech was a clear assertion of his support for Jewish Americans as he struggles to balance his support for Israel with increasingly forceful calls for the protection of civilians in Gaza.
Mr. Biden’s address also comes as protests against Israel’s war in Gaza roil college campuses, with students demanding that the Biden administration stop sending weapons to Israel. In some cases, the demonstrations have included antisemitic rhetoric and harassment targeting Jewish students.
“I understand people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world,” the president said. But, he added, “there is no place on any campus in America, any place in America, for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind.”
Mr. Biden also denounced attempts to minimize the Hamas attacks, which killed 1,200 people in Israel and sparked a war that has killed an estimated 34,000 people in Gaza.
“Now here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and half months later, and people are already forgetting,” Mr. Biden said. “They are already forgetting. That Hamas unleashed this terror. It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages.
“I have not forgotten, nor have you,” he told the crowd of more than 100, including Holocaust survivors. “And we will not forget.”
Since the outset of the war, Mr. Biden has faced criticism from Arab Americans and Palestinians who have said they don’t hear Mr. Biden talk about the plight of their people with the same empathy and emotion that he uses to describe Israel and the Jewish people.
The leader of the World Food Program has said that parts of Gaza are experiencing a “full-blown famine,” in part because of Israel blocking humanitarian aid.
Jewish groups have been pressuring the administration to take firmer policy steps to combat antisemitism on college campuses, in particular. On Tuesday, the Biden administration fulfilled some of those requests.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights released new guidance to every school and college outlining examples of antisemitic discrimination, as well as other forms of hate, that could lead to investigations for violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
The law prohibits discrimination based on race, color and national origin, and the department has interpreted it as extending to Jewish students. Since the Oct. 7 attack, the department has opened more than 100 investigations into complaints about antisemitism and other forms of discrimination. The administration also announced that the Department of Homeland Security would also offer new resources, including an online campus safety resource guide.
Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, one of the groups that has been lobbying the administration for more measures for weeks, said that the Jewish community “need them implemented rapidly and aggressively.”
“President Biden’s speech today was an important statement of moral clarity at a time when too many people seem to be morally confused,” Mr. Diament said. “Just as important as the president’s words today is the announcement that his administration is taking more steps to counter the surge of antisemitism in the U.S.”
The president promised that his commitment to the security of Israel “and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. Even when we disagree,” a reference to the arguments his administration has had with Israel’s right-wing government about the toll the war is taking in Gaza. The speech came against the backdrop of Israel’s plans to move forward with a ground operation in Rafah, which Mr. Biden opposes. More than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah.
Mr. Biden made a tacit acknowledgment during his speech that the pro-Palestinian cause has resonated with other minority groups with histories of violence and oppression.
“We must give hate no safe harbor against anyone — anyone,” Mr. Biden said in his speech, adding that Jewish people helped lead civil rights causes throughout history.
“From that experience,” he added, “we know scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority and the very foundation of our democracy.”
But Mr. Biden largely focused on the issue at hand. After his address, he stayed to watch three Holocaust survivors, who carried photos and mementos as they recounted their memories of loved ones. They invited the audience to stand and raise black-and-white photos of Holocaust victims that were placed on audience chairs in the air.
Mr. Biden held a photo of four children to his chest.
May 7, 2024, 2:12 p.m. ET
The New York Times
Here’s what Biden said in his remarks at the Holocaust remembrance ceremony.
Image
President Biden delivered these remarks on Tuesday at the Capitol for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance.
Thank you, Stu, for that introduction, for your leadership of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. You’re a true scholar and statesman and a dear friend. Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, members of Congress and especially the survivors of the Holocaust. If my mother were here, she’d look at you and say, “God love you all. God love you all.”
Abe Foxman and all of the survivors who embody absolute courage and dignity and grace are here as well. During these sacred days of remembrance, we grieve. We give voice to the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. We honor the memory of victims, the pain of survivors, the bravery of heroes who stood up to Hitler’s unspeakable evil. And we recommit to heading and heeding the lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history, to revitalize and realize the responsibility of never again.
Never again, simply translated for me, means never forget. Never forget. Never forgetting means we must keep telling the story, must keep teaching the truth, must keep teaching our children and our grandchildren. The truth is, we are at risk of people not knowing the truth. That’s why growing up, my dad taught me and my siblings about the horrors of the Shoah at our family dinner table. That’s why I visited Yad Vashem with my family as a senator, as vice president, as president. And that’s why I took my grandchildren to Dachau, so they could see and bear witness to the perils of indifference, the complicity of silence, in the face of evil they knew was happening.
Germany 1933, Hitler and his Nazi Party’s rise to power by rekindling one of the oldest forms of prejudice and hate: antisemitism. His role didn’t begin with mass murder; it started slowly across economic, political, social and cultural life. Propaganda demonizing Jews. Boycotts of Jewish businesses. Synagogues defaced with swastikas. Harassment of Jews in the street and the schools, antisemitic demonstrations, pogroms, organized riots. With the indifference of the world, Hitler knew he could expand his reign of terror by eliminating Jews from Germany, to annihilate Jews across Europe through genocide, the Nazis called the final solution. Concentration camps, gas chambers, mass shootings. By the time the war ended, six million Jews — one of every three Jews in the entire world — were murdered.
This ancient hatred of Jews didn’t begin with the Holocaust. It didn’t end with the Holocaust either. Or after — even after our victory in World War II. This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world and requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness. That hatred was brought to life on October 7th of 2023. On the sacred Jewish holiday, the terrorist group Hamas unleashed the deadliest day of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Driven by ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the Earth, over 1,200 innocent people, babies, parents, grandparents, slaughtered in a kibbutz, massacred at a music festival, brutally raped, mutilated and sexually assaulted.
Thousands more carrying wounds, bullets and shrapnel from a memory of that terrible day they endured. Hundreds taken hostage, including survivors of the Shoah. Now here we are, not 75 years later, but just seven and half months later and people are already forgetting. They are already forgetting. That Hamas unleashed this terror. It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten nor have you. And we will not forget.
As Jews around the world still cope with the atrocity and the trauma of that day and its aftermath, we have seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world. Vicious propaganda on social media. Jews forced to keep their — hide their kippahs under baseball hats, tuck their Jewish stars into their shirts. On college campuses, Jewish students blocked, harassed, attacked while walking to class. Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans, calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world’s only Jewish state.
Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and October 7th, including Hamas’s appalling use of sexual violence to torture and terrorize Jews. It’s absolutely despicable, and it must stop. Silence and denial can hide much, but it can erase nothing. Some injustices are so heinous, so horrific, so grievous, they cannot be married — buried — no matter how hard people try.
In my view, a major lesson of the Holocaust is, as mentioned earlier, it is not — was not — inevitable. We know hate never goes away; it only hides. Given a little oxygen, it comes out from under the rocks. We also know what stops hate. One thing: All of us. The late Rabbi Jonathan Sachs described antisemitism as a virus that has survived and mutated over time. Together, we cannot continue to let that happen. We have to remember our basic principle as a nation.
We have an obligation, an obligation to learn the lessons of history so we don’t surrender our future to the horrors of the past. We must give hate no safe harbor against anyone. Anyone. From the very founding, our very founding, Jewish Americans represented only about 2 percent of the U.S. population and helped lead the cause of freedom for everyone in our nation. From that experience, we know scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority and the very foundation of our democracy.
It’s in moments like this we have to put these principles that we’re talking about into action. I understand people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world. In America, we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech. To debate, disagree, to protest peacefully, make our voices heard. I understand, that’s America. But there is no place on any campus in America — any place in America — for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind. Whether against Jews or anyone else. Violent attacks, destroying property is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. And we are not a lawless country. We’re a civil society. We uphold the rule of law, and no one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves.
The Jewish community, I want you to know: I see your fear, your hurt, your pain. Let me reassure you, as your president, you’re not alone. You belong. You always have and you always will. And my commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad even when we disagree.
My administration is working around the clock to free remaining hostages. Just so we have freed hostages already. And we will not rest until we bring them all home. My administration, with our second gentleman’s leadership, has launched our nation’s first national strategy to counter antisemitism that’s mobilizing the full force of the federal government to protect Jewish community, but we know it’s not the work of government alone or Jews alone.
That’s why I’m calling on all Americans to stand united against antisemitism and hate in all its forms. My dear friend, he became a friend, the late Elie Wiesel said, quote: “One person of integrity can make a difference.” We have to remember that now more than ever. Here in the Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol, among the towering statues of history, is a bronze bust of Raoul Wallenberg. Born in Sweden, as a Lutheran, he was a businessman and a diplomat. While stationed in Hungary during World War II, he used diplomatic cover to hide and rescue about 100,000 Jews over a six-month period.
Among them was a 16-year-old Jewish boy who escaped a Nazi labor camp. After the war ended, that boy received a scholarship from the Hillel Foundation to study in America. He came to New York City penniless but determined to turn his pain into purpose, along with his wife, also a Holocaust survivor. He became a renowned economist and foreign policy thinker, eventually making his way to this very Capitol on the staff of a first-term senator.
That Jewish refugee was Tom Lantos, and that senator was me. Tom and his wife, Annette, and their family became dear friends to me and my family. Tom would go on to become the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, where he became a leading voice on civil rights and human rights around the world. Tom never met Raoul, who was taken prisoner by the Soviets, never to be heard from again. But through Tom’s efforts, Raoul’s bust is here in the Capitol. He was also given honorary U.S. citizenship, only the second person ever after Winston Churchill.
The Holocaust Museum here in Washington is located on a roll — road — in Raoul’s name. The story of the power of a single person to put aside our differences, to see our common humanity, to stand up to hate and its ancient story of resilience from immense pain, persecution, to find hope, purpose and meaning in life we try to live and share with one another. That story endures.
Let me close with this. I know these days of remembrance fall on difficult times. We all do well to remember these days also fall during the month we celebrate Jewish American heritage. A heritage that stretches from our earliest days to enrich every single part of American life today. Great American — great Jewish American — Tom Lantos used the phrase the veneer of civilization is paper-thin. We are its guardians, and we can never rest.
My fellow Americans, we must, we must be those guardians. We must never rest. We must rise against hate, meet across the divide, see our common humanity. And God bless the victims and survivors of the Shoah. May the resilient hearts, courageous spirit and eternal flame of faith of the Jewish people shine their light on America and all around the world. Praise God. Thank you all.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:54 p.m. ET
Annie Karni
Reporting from Washington
Speaker Mike Johnson says U.S. universities are ‘hostile’ to Jews.
Image
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday compared the protests unfolding on American university campuses to what happened at institutions of higher learning in Germany before World War II.
It was the “same elite centers of learning” from which “Jewish faculty and students were suddenly expelled” in Germany, Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said in pointed remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony at the Capitol. Today, he said, American universities have become “hostile places for Jewish students and faculty.”
“The very campuses which were once the envy of the international academy have succumbed to an antisemitic virus,” he added. “Students who were known for producing academic papers are now known for stabbing their Jewish peers in the eyes with Palestinian flags.”
Video
transcript
0:00
/
0:58
-
0:00
transcript
By the turn of the 20th century, Germany was a thriving democracy. They were on the cutting edge of technology. They had a strong economy. They were highly educated. But that did not stop evil and darkness from overtaking that country. German universities, like those at Strasbourg, were at the heart of renaissance and intellectual life. But it was at those same elite centers of learning where Jewish faculty and students were suddenly expelled, where anti-Jewish courses were introduced and where professors performed horrific pseudoscience experiments on Jewish people brought from nearby concentration camps. We remember what happened then. And now today, we are witnessing American universities quickly becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty. The very campuses which were once the envy of the international academy have succumbed to an antisemitic virus.
Mr. Johnson was speaking at the ceremony ahead of President Biden, who also condemned some of the hateful rhetoric and property damage that have occurred as pro-Palestinian protests have swept U.S. college campuses in recent weeks. “To the Jewish community, let me say, I see your hurt and your fear and your pain,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Johnson has made the pro-Palestinian protests a main focus since passing a bill to send $60 billion of aid to Ukraine, a move that enraged his right flank. The unrest at universities has offered him a new issue to spotlight, as he seeks a political edge on an issue that divides Democrats.
He visited Columbia University last month, where he called on Mr. Biden to take action to quell the protests, including potentially sending in the National Guard. He announced more congressional hearings with top university administrators. And he brought to the floor the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would crackdown on antisemitism on campuses — a bill that ended up prompting bizarre backlash from some on the far right.
On Tuesday, Mr. Johnson described in graphic detail the horror of Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack against defenseless Israeli citizens, comparing them to lasting images from the Holocaust.
“We have to do all that we can to ensure that evil does not prevail,” he said. “This is a time for all to come together.”
May 7, 2024, 12:14 p.m. ET
Erica L. Green
President Biden received a standing ovation as he ended his roughly 16-minute speech. He shook hands with audience members before taking a seat next to Speaker Mike Johnson and is watching the next segment of the program, which is hearing from Holocaust survivors and their families.
May 7, 2024, 12:11 p.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
That speech was as forceful as Biden has been about the Oct. 7 and antisemitism since the immediate aftermath of the attack. He did not mention the plight of Palestinians killed in Gaza since Israel began the war in response to the Hamas attack.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:08 p.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
Biden is finished after 16 minutes.
Image
May 7, 2024, 12:08 p.m. ET
Michael Crowley
Many Arab-Americans and Palestinians say with anger and frustration that they don’t hear Biden talk about the plight of their people with the same authenticity and emotion that he uses to describe Israel and the Jewish people.
Republicans have tried to use the protests to depict Biden as weak and unable to control chaos in the country. Biden is clearly pushing back on that characterization in this speech and putting some distance between himself and the behavior of some of the protesters.
May 7, 2024, 12:07 p.m. ET
Katie Glueck
President Biden, who describes himself as a Zionist, is denouncing attempts to minimize the actions of Hamas on Oct. 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:06 p.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
Biden has been a staunch defender of Israel for nearly half a century. That support is clearly on display in this speech.
May 7, 2024, 12:06 p.m. ET
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Biden just noted that the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, is leading his administration’s antisemitism strategy. Emhoff held calls with Jewish students and Hillel leaders yesterday to discuss their experiences with antisemitism on college campues.
May 7, 2024, 12:06 p.m. ET
Michael Crowley
Biden is obviously in a comfortable and familiar place here, asserting moral high ground on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people, as he has been for many decades. He has been less comfortable grappling with the widespread anger over Israel’s war in Gaza and its policies toward the Palestinians.
May 7, 2024, 12:04 p.m. ET
Katie Glueck
President Biden speaks directly to the Jewish community, at a time when a number of Democratic Jewish lawmakers have said it feels “lonely” to be a Jew in America today.
Image
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
Destroying property as has happened on college campuses, Biden said, “is against the law.”
May 7, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
“To the Jewish community, let me say, I see your hurt and your fear and your pain,” Biden says.
May 7, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
This is a much stronger condemnation of some of the hateful rhetoric and destruction that’s been present on college campuses than Biden has given to date. “We are not a lawless country,” he says. “No one should have to hide just to be themselves.”
Video
May 7, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Biden’s defense of Israel is rooted in a long career in the Senate, as well as his upbringing in Delaware. In his book, “Promises to Keep,” he described hearing his father decry the Holocaust and question how the world did not intervene faster.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:03 p.m. ET
Erica L. Green
Biden precedes his remarks on protests by saying, “We know scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority.”
May 7, 2024, 12:02 p.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
Biden appears angry while delivering this speech. It is a strong condemnation not only of the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, but also of the rhetoric that has swept across college campuses during the protests in recent weeks.
May 7, 2024, 12:01 p.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
Biden also makes clear that Hamas committed sexual violence on Oct. 7, claims that some pro-Palestinian protests have disputed.
May 7, 2024, 12:01 p.m. ET
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Biden started his speech by diving into the history of antisemitism but within a couple minutes has brought us to the current moment. “Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing the horrors of the Holocaust,” Biden says, adding people are also forgetting the atrocities on Oct. 7. “It’s absolutely despicable and it must stop.”
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 12:00 p.m. ET
Michael Crowley
Many U.S. officials have been stepping up their emphasis of Hamas’s responsibility in recent weeks, reflecting concern that Israel is bearing disproportionate blame for the events of the past seven months.
May 7, 2024, 12:00 p.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
This is a very strong condemnation of the kinds of harassment and hatred many Jews have been described since Oct. 7.
May 7, 2024, 11:58 a.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
“People are already forgetting,” Biden said, “that Hamas took and continues to hold hostages.”
May 7, 2024, 11:58 a.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
The hatred of Jews “continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world,” says Biden, before citing the murders on Oct. 7 as a prime example of such ongoing antisemitism.
Video
transcript
0:00
/
0:56
-
0:00
transcript
This ancient hatred of Jews didn’t begin with the Holocaust. It didn’t end with the Holocaust either. Or after — even after our victory in World War II. This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world. And requires our continued vigilance and outspokenness. That hatred was brought to life in Oct. 7 in 2023. On a sacred Jewish holiday, the terrorist group Hamas unleashed the deadliest day of the Jewish people since the Holocaust, driven by ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the earth. Over 1,200 innocent people — babies, parents, grandparents slaughtered in their kibbutz, massacred at a music festival.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 11:57 a.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
Biden warns that the country and the world are at risk of forgetting the lessons of the Holocaust and is running through a brief history of how the Nazis moved toward the slaughter of Jews in concentration camps.
May 7, 2024, 11:54 a.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
The cable networks have broken away from covering Donald Trump’s criminal trial to carry President Biden’s speech.
May 7, 2024, 11:51 a.m. ET
Erica L. Green
President Biden has entered Emancipation Hall to a standing ovation.
May 7, 2024, 11:49 a.m. ET
Erica L. Green
Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, gets claps in the audience when he went on to include racism, sexism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate in his call to eradicate antisemitism. That is notable given the tension between Jewish and other minority communities over the Israel-Hamas war. Some in the audience also stood at the end of his remarks.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 11:40 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and minority leader, noted that Oct. 7 marked the largest loss of Jewish life on a single day since the Holocaust. “We are witnessing a deeply disturbing rise in antisemitism on campuses,” he says. Jeffries last week voted for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would crack down on antisemitic speech on college campuses. The legislation divided Democrats — 70 voted against it, expressing concerns that its purpose would legally make criticism of Israeli policy antisemitism.
Image
May 7, 2024, 11:37 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
A bill could withhold funding for schools that fail to restrict antisemitism on campus.
Image
A bipartisan push in Congress to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings.
The House passed the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, overwhelmingly last week, and Senate leaders in both parties were working behind the scenes on Thursday to determine whether it would have enough backing to come to a vote in that chamber.
House Republicans rolled the bill out as part of their efforts to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests that have surged at university campuses across the country, and to put a political squeeze on Democrats, who they have accused of tolerating antisemitism to please their liberal base.
But in trying to use the issue as a political cudgel against the left, Republicans also called attention to a rift on the right. Some G.O.P. members said they firmly believe that Jews killed Jesus Christ, and argued that the bill — which includes such claims in its definition of antisemitism — would outlaw parts of the Bible.
The bill would for the first time enshrine a definition of antisemitism into federal law, and instruct the Education Department to consider it when investigating allegations of discrimination against Jews on college campuses. That could lead to federal funds being withheld from colleges or universities that fail to restrict a broad range of statements covered by the definition, which includes “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” and claiming that Israel’s existence is a “racist endeavor.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, said she opposed the bill because it “could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.”
May 7, 2024, 11:33 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Johnson pledges “unequivocal support to the nation of Israel.” He has also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to address a joint session of Congress. A date has not yet been set.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 11:33 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Johnson is giving graphic descriptions of what happened to individuals on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack against defenseless Israeli citizens. “We have to do all that we can to ensure that evil does not prevail,” he says. “This is a time for all to come together.” He said that he was proud that Congress passed a security package to send billions of dollars in assistance to Israel. “We told the world, Israel and the Jewish people are not alone,” he said. It's notable that Johnson makes no mention of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That aid package included more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and Ukraine — something Democrats insisted be included in the package.
May 7, 2024, 11:29 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
House Speaker Mike Johnson is comparing the protests unfolding on university campuses to what happened in Germany during World War II. He said it was the “same elite centers of learning” from which “Jewish faculty and students were suddenly expelled” in Germany. Today, he said, American universities have become “hostile places for Jewish students and faculty.”
Video
transcript
0:00
/
0:58
-
0:00
transcript
By the turn of the 20th century, Germany was a thriving democracy. They were on the cutting edge of technology. They had a strong economy. They were highly educated. But that did not stop evil and darkness from overtaking that country. German universities, like those at Strasbourg, were at the heart of renaissance and intellectual life. But it was at those same elite centers of learning where Jewish faculty and students were suddenly expelled, where anti-Jewish courses were introduced and where professors performed horrific pseudoscience experiments on Jewish people brought from nearby concentration camps. We remember what happened then. And now today, we are witnessing American universities quickly becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty. The very campuses which were once the envy of the international academy have succumbed to an antisemitic virus.
May 7, 2024, 11:24 a.m. ET
Erica L. Green
President Biden has been criticized for his muted response to protests on college campuses against the Israel-Hamas war. Those protests have included instances of antisemitic episodes, and his administration says we can expect that Biden will use the protests to strongly condemn antisemitism. He is also expected to draw parallels between the response to the Holocaust and Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
May 7, 2024, 11:14 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Republicans are trying to present themselves as the true friends of Jews, Israel and the leaders fighting antisemitism on college campuses. It’s worth remembering that those leading the fight are accolytes of former President Donald J. Trump, who in 2017 issued a statement International Holocaust Remembrance Day that omitted any mention of Jews or antisemitism. The statement referenced the “victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust.” It made no mention of the fact that 6 million Jews were murdered because they were Jews, as past presidents had done.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 11:10 a.m. ET
Dana Goldstein and Sarah Mervosh
A House committee will examine reports of antisemitism in K-12 schools.
Image
School district officials have faced off with students, parents, school board members and teachers about issues related to the Israel-Hamas war — but until now, not members of Congress.
On Wednesday, leaders from three public school districts — New York City; Berkeley, Calif.; and Montgomery County in Maryland — are scheduled to be questioned by members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which has grilled four college presidents on accusations of campus antisemitism, helping to topple two of them.
The three school districts, all diverse, have robust American Jewish communities. They are also in staunchly liberal areas, making them ripe targets for the Republicans who run the committee. And they have had their share of controversies.
In New York City, an elementary school posted a map of the “Arab world” that did not label Israel, identifying the country as “Palestine.” In Montgomery County, outside Washington, swastikas have been drawn on school desks. And in Berkeley, several teachers presented lessons that referred to Israeli “apartheid” against Palestinians.
The district leaders — David C. Banks, chancellor of New York City schools; Enikia Ford Morthel, superintendent of Berkeley schools; and Karla Silvestre, the school board president in Montgomery County — must walk a tightrope at the hearing. They are likely to face complex questions about free speech and the point at which protest of Israel veers into antisemitism. Those are matters of contentious debate, both nationally and in their own communities.
In addition to the House hearing, the Education Department is investigating the districts for their handling of antisemitism accusations, after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Muslim and pro-Palestinian organizations have also said that many public schools are hostile to their views, whether by omitting Palestinian history from the curriculum or by limiting pro-Palestinian speech.
While the specific incidents may differ from those discussed at the college antisemitism hearings, “the underlying issue is the same,” said Representative Kevin Kiley, Republican of California, who is a committee member. “We’re trying to ensure that campuses, whether secondary school or college campus, are safe for students and complying with civil rights laws.”
Troy Closson contributed reporting.
May 7, 2024, 11:09 a.m. ET
Erica L. Green
As the Holocaust remembrance ceremony begins, Holocaust survivors and members of Congress have filed into Emancipation Hall on Capitol Hill to a somber violin solo. President Biden is scheduled to deliver his keynote address at 11:30.
May 7, 2024, 10:59 a.m. ET
Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Reporters at the White House are gathering to cover President Biden’s departure to Capitol Hill. When it comes to protests on college campuses, Biden will likely follow up on his comments from last week and draw a distance between the White House and the protests by condemning any antisemitism and vandalism taking place. It is less clear how much time he will spend talking about Israel’s war against Hamas. As Biden speaks, Israeli tanks are in Rafah — the Biden administration has said it opposes an incursion into the southernmost city in Gaza without a detailed plan for evacuating hundreds of thousands of Palestinians there.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 10:56 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Ahead of Biden’s speech, Representative Don Bacon, Republican of Nebraska, said he planned to release on Tuesday afternoon his resolution to formally rebuke Representative Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, for recent comments in which she suggested that some Jewish students at Columbia University were “pro-genocide.” Bacon, who represents a district Biden won in 2020, has a hard-right challenger in his primary.
May 7, 2024, 10:57 a.m. ET
Annie Karni
Omar made the statement while visiting the Morningside Heights campus in New York to stand in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian protesters, including her daughter, who is a student activist there.
“I think it is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe,” she said when asked about antisemitism on campus. “We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they’re pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
May 7, 2024, 10:49 a.m. ET
Lisa Lerer
As the protests have spread on colleges across the country, Biden has been at his most forceful when it comes to denouncing antisemitism on campus. It’s the area that he’s seemed to feel most comfortable wading into, while taking more cautious steps on the issue of free speech on campuses.
May 7, 2024, 10:39 a.m. ET
Mitch Smith,Jamie Kelter Davis and Yan Zhuang
On college campuses, pro-Palestinian protesters urge supporters to rally nationwide.
Image
Galvanized by an Israeli military incursion into Gaza’s southern end, pro-Palestinian demonstrators escalated campus protests and urged supporters to rally on Tuesday across the United States, thwarting university officials’ hopes of minimizing disruptions ahead of commencement events.
Protests are scheduled on Tuesday at campuses including the University of California, Berkeley; California State University, Los Angeles; and the University of Washington.
Early on Tuesday, police officers removed the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of Chicago, a move that was sure to be closely watched across higher education because the university has long considered itself a model for free expression on campus.
Arrests on Monday have raised the total number of people detained on campuses to more than 2,500 at 50 schools since April 18, according to a New York Times tally.
The protests have affected spring graduations. Columbia University officials announced the cancellation of its main graduation ceremony, citing security as a main reason. Other schools across the country have adjusted their ceremonies or increased security.
Advertisem*nt
SKIP ADVERTIsem*nT
May 7, 2024, 10:37 a.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
The speech is an opportunity for Biden to stake a claim on the political middle — putting daylight between himself and protesters who represent a far-left wing of American politics. He ran a similar political playbook nearly four years ago, when protestors across the country pushed for police departments to be defunded. Biden resisted, calling for more resources to be sent to local law enforcement.
May 7, 2024, 10:32 a.m. ET
Reid J. Epstein
President Biden’s speech on antisemitism today will be his first major speech on the protests that have roiled college campuses for weeks, and follows a brief unscheduled address last week. Biden has at times shown empathy toward those publicly pushing for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza, but as protests have grown larger and student demands have grown, he has been mostly silent.
