Fifteen Republican senators are demanding answers from the U.S. Education Department for what they say is the federal funding of antisemitic activities on college campuses.
Their demand came in a Wednesday letter spearheaded by Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho. Also signing the letter were: Mike Crapo, of Idaho, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mike Braun of Indiana, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Marco Rubio of Florida, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ted Cruz of Texas.
"We write with grave concern that the Department of Education, over the course of decades, has been allowing taxpayer-funded antisemitism to take place on college campuses throughout the United States," they said in the letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
"The obsessive negative focus on Israel and the Jewish people is rampant on college campuses throughout the United States Some universities may have even violated anti-terrorism laws by hosting convicted terrorists as speakers."
In their letter, the senators state:
- 93% of the University of California Los Angeles' Center for Near East Studies sponsored public events "displayed bias against Israel."
- In 2020, New York University aired a webinar event featuring a woman, who had been "convicted of hijacking two planes full of Israeli civilians, and she is an unrepentant member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terror group that has murdered Americans."
- "Universities with faculty who actively support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel were 3.6 times more likely to have their Jewish and pro-Israel students targeted for physical harm on campuses."
Risch in a Wednesday tweet wrote: "I'm concerned about the @usedgov [U.S. Education Department], over the course of decades, has allowed taxpayer-funded antisemitism on college campuses. This has no place in the U.S.
"@SecCardona must answer for the taxpayers' dollars funding anti-Semitic events & activities."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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