National

The House approved a bill on Wednesday 320-91 aimed at broadening the definition of antisemitism within the Department of Education’s jurisdiction for enforcing anti-discrimination laws. This move comes as a response to the ongoing nationwide student protest movement related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Yesterday, California Senatorial Candidate Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) supported the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, bolstering the administration’s capacity to tackle antisemitism on college campuses.

This was his statement:

“Free speech and passionate disagreement are fundamental to our democracy, and college campuses must be places where those values are both taught and exemplified. But violence, vandalism, and antisemitic harassment and intimidation are not free speech and those engaging in this behavior should be held accountable.

Over the past weeks, from Columbia University to UCLA and far too many campuses in between, many of those demonstrations have turned violent, and created unsafe and wholly unsustainable learning environments for all students. We’ve seen explicit, repeated targeting and intimidation of Jewish students – many of whom have been blocked from entering buildings or called unspeakable things on the basis of their faith and background. This is patently unacceptable and must end.

Jewish students need to both be safe and feel safe on their college campuses. That will never be the case as long as universities allow hateful, antisemitic rhetoric, violence or intimidation to go unaddressed. A university is either safe for everyone and everyone has access to it, or it is not meeting its obligation as an institution of higher learning.

The effort to combat this type of hatred should not be a partisan issue, or be used as a political cudgel. That’s why I voted for the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act – and will always stand firm in condemning and combating antisemitism in all its forms.”