Английская Википедия:2023 United States Congress hearing on antisemitism

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Файл:Virginia Foxx official photo (cropped).jpg

Virginia Foxx, Chair of the U.S. House Education Committee led the 2023 hearings on antisemitism

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On December 5, 2023, the United States House Committee on Education held a hearing on antisemitism, in which the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were called to testify.

In the widely televised hearing, the presidents answered questions about their schools’ policies, including those on antisemitism. The following week, UPenn’s president Magill submitted her resignation, partly in response to backlash resulting from the hearing.

Background

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, there were multiple anti-Israel protests at university campuses, which supporters of Israel allege to have had antisemitic undertones. Many universities were criticized for supposedly failing to adequately condemn the Hamas attacks and ensuing alleged antisemitic rhetoric, including UPenn and Harvard.

Hearing

The House Education and Workforce Committee invited the female presidents of four major universities to testify about antisemitism on their campuses. Those able to come included Liz Magill of the University of Pennsylvania, Claudine Gay of Harvard University, and Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The presidents were joined by Pamela Nadell, professor of History at American University.

Chairwoman of the House Education Committee Virginia Foxx (R-NC), led the congressional hearing on December 5th and noted that the rise of antisemitism on college campuses is disturbing and threatening to Jewish students, faculty, and staff. The presidents were each asked whether "calling for the genocide of Jews" violated their University rules. In a specific exchange, Rep. Stafinak asked the Harvard president, Dr. Gay: "At Harvard, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment, yes or no?", Gay answered, "It can be, depending on the context." The other presidents also replied that the answer at their institution depended on context. Their responses drew widespread criticism, including a coordinated call for them to resign by 70 Congressional Representatives. Magill, who had already been under pressure in October over the university's initial response, resigned four days after the hearing.

During the hearing, when MIT president denied hearing any calls for genocide, Rep. Elise Stefanik claimed that chants of "Intifada" (Arabic) may be considered a "call for the genocide" by the Jewish people. According to some sources, this US House Education Committee hearing on antisemitism was the most viewed Congressional hearing to date, that garnered 1 billion views worldwide.

Reactions and further remarks

The White House spokesman, Andrew Bates said that “It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are monstrous and antithetical to everything we represent as a country.” Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, said he found the responses by Elizabeth Magill, Penn’s president, “unacceptable.”

Gay released a statement noting that some “have confused a right to free expression with the idea that Harvard will condone calls for violence against Jewish students.”

Will Creeley, legal director at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, noted that though the university presidents' answers were "legally correct", it was frustrating “to see them discover free speech scruples while under fire at a congressional hearing,” rather than in a more principled way.

The hearing was portrayed in the cold open of the DecemberШаблон:Nbsp9 episode of Saturday Night Live Season 49, with Chloe Troast playing Stefanik.

External links

• Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Questions University Presidents on Antisemitism (on C-SPAN YouTube channel)
• Transcript: What Harvard, MIT and Penn presidents said at antisemitism hearing ( Rollcall.com)

See also

• Universities and antisemitism
• 2022 United States Congress hearings on UFOs