(WatchDogReport.org) – President Joe Biden’s administration has announced several additional measures meant to clamp down on antisemitism on university campuses after a reported increase in discriminatory language aimed at Jewish people following the October 7 attacks. As police moved in to dismantle Pro-Palestine protests on the campuses of the University of California, Los Angeles, and New York’s Columbia University, the White House announced the new measures to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day. Biden spoke at a ceremony held at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to mark the occasion.
New measures include new guidance to be provided by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights to all school districts and colleges in the country. The guidance uses examples of antisemitic hate that could warrant investigation for potentially violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964. As Biden faces mounting pressure from both students and more progressive Democrats to ensure a ceasefire in Gaza is agreed, the move to clamp down on antisemitic rhetoric risks further alienating a key Democratic voter base.
Democratic Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, whose own daughter was suspended for protesting, openly supported the protests. Omar condemned the president for supporting the “genocide” of civilians in Gaza and ignoring the plight of over 34,000 Palestinians allegedly killed in the conflict since October. Pro-Palestine activists, who laid down strict rules for those attending the protests, reported that the encampment followed days of harassment and an assault by masked Pro-Israel counter-protesters who arrived at the UCLA campus and violently attacked the protesters.
At the remembrance event, Biden warned of a “ferocious surge” of antisemitism across the country. In his speech, the president reiterated his stance that the White House’s commitment to Israel’s security and right to exist is “ironclad.” Biden suggested that the hatred experienced by Jews during WW2 had been reignited by the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas.
Though the Israeli regime is, according to polls, more popular with Republicans than Democrats, even some Republicans have criticized Biden’s support for Israel. Republican Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the most vocal against the approved $95 billion foreign aid bill, which includes Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. After the new measures against antisemitism were introduced, Greene raised concerns that the bill rejects the gospel and could result in the prosecution of Christians due to the Gospel’s view that the Jews handed Jesus to his executioners.
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