The Committee on Education and the Workforce alerted the University of California at Berkeley on Tuesday that it has "grave concerns" and will investigate charges of antisemitism and the failure of the university to protect Jewish students.
The letter was sent to Dr. Carol T. Christ, chancellor, Dr. Michael V. Drake, president, and Ricard Leib, chair of the Board of Regents for the University of California system.
The letter from Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the committee, states: "On February 26, 2024, an anti-Israel protest organized by the student group Bears for Palestine erupted into a violent riot in which anti-Israel activists assaulted Jewish students and shattered glass windows, forcing the cancellation of an Israeli speaker's lecture."
The investigation comes on the heels of months of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incidents since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel. In the February incident, Israel Defense Forces reservist and senior leader at the Kohelet Policy Forum, Ran Bar-Yoshafat, was forced to cancel a planned lecture at Berkeley after hundreds of protesters became violent.
According to witnesses, protesters blocked the venue, smashed windows, and physically attacked some students who tried to attend the event. University police ordered the venue evacuated at the last minute after they said they could not guarantee student safety.
In addition to requesting documents dating back nearly 10 years regarding specific incidents of antisemitism on Berkeley's campus, the committee also requested information regarding foreign donations and funding, including, but not limited to, the Qatar Foundation.
Antisemitism accusations have recently plagued prestigious U.S. universities, including Cornell, Yale, and Harvard.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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