'Mealy-mouthed, spineless leaders': Congresswoman puts US universities on notice
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More than 1,000 people have been arrested from university campuses across the US as pro-Palestinian protests continue unabated.
Demonstrators and law enforcement officers clash during a pro-Palestinian rally at Virginia Commonwealth University. (Source: AP)
New Delhi,UPDATED: May 1, 2024 17:01 IST
The Republican-led US House of Representatives has called for an investigation into universities where pro-Palestine protests have continued for weeks now for their failure to protect Jewish students against reported antisemitism and maintain order on campus. In a message to "mealy-mouthed spineless college leaders", a party lawmaker warned "we have come to take our universities back".
The probe launched on Tuesday will look into federal funding for the universities where the protests have erupted in an effort to halt grants aimed at increasing pressure to stop the anti-Israel campus encampment protests.
The protests intensified after the April 18 mass arrests at Columbia University in New York.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday evening, Virginia Foxx, Chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, announced that the heads of Yale University, the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Michigan have been called to testify before her panel on May 23 in connection to the investigation.
"Republican leaders have a clear message for mealy-mouthed spineless college leaders. Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of duty to your Jewish students. American universities are officially put on notice that we have come to take our universities back," she said.
While praising House Speaker Mike Johnson for "expanding the Committee's ongoing investigation into a Congress-wide initiative", the 80-year-old North Carolina Representative said,"No stone must go unturned while our buildings are being defaced, campus greens are being captured or graduations being ruined."
ðè @EdWorkforceCmte's antisemitism investigation is now a Congress-wide probe.@virginiafoxx: "As Republican leaders, we have a clear message for mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of your duty to your Jewish students." pic.twitter.com/JweUHuGRxl — House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) April 30, 2024
"A college is not a park for play-acting juveniles or a battleground for radical activists. Everyone affiliated with these universities will receive a healthy dose of reality. Actions have consequences. One of those consequences is that I've given notice to appear to Yale, UCLA and Michigan to appear before the Education and Workforce Committee on May 23 for a hearing on their handling of these most recent outrages," she added.
Also addressing the same press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that "antisemitism is a virus that the Biden administration and woke university presidents are permitting to spread".
Antisemitism is a virus that the Biden administration and woke university presidents are permitting to spread.
Today my colleagues joined me in announcing a House-wide effort to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses.
We will use all the tools available to us to end it. pic.twitter.com/p0UZNmgUZ0 — Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) April 30, 2024
"We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus. And that's why today, we are here to announce a House-wide effort to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses," he said.
Across the country, campus protesters have called for their institutions to cut financial ties to Israel and decried how thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed by Israel following the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Jewish students, meanwhile, have reported being targeted and say campus administrators have not done enough to protect them, The Associated Press reported.
The ongoing pro-Palestine demonstrations are the biggest outpouring of US student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020, according to the Reuters news agency.
Published By:
Karishma Saurabh Kalita
Published On:
May 1, 2024