House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx is demanding that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona resign for refusing to say in a recent interview whether the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is an antisemitic call for the genocide of Jewish people. many
“Three months after October 7th and the disgusting antisemitic demonstrations that followed, there is no reason to ignore Secretary Cardona’s cowardice over the antisemitic character of the phrase ‘from the river, to the sea,'” Foxx (R-NC) said in a statement. late Tuesday.
“This country deserves better than reckless and willful misuse of taxpayers’ money. And Jewish students deserve to know that their Secretary of Education understands the hatred they face and has the courage and clarity to confront it. It is time for the Secretary to resign.”
Cardona, 48, made the remarks in an interview published Tuesday by Jewish Insider, in which he asserted that university administrators must “set a clear line on how you communicate while not making students feel threatened or unsafe on campus.”
“That’s why I said we investigate every case, and it’s difficult for me to make a statement here on that,” he said in response to a question about chants heard on college campuses across the country.
House Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) is demanding the resignation of President Biden’s education secretary, Miguel Cardona. AP “Three months after October 7th and the disgusting antisemitic demonstrations that followed, there is no excuse for Secretary Cardona’s cowardly avoidance of the antisemitic character of the phrase ‘from the river, to the sea,’” Foxx said in a press release late Tuesday afternoon. AP
“If students feel unsafe with that, it is the leadership’s responsibility to act,” he added about the slogan. “I believe antisemitism can include anti-Zionist statements. … We take that into account when looking at cases.”
A senior Education Department official present during the interview said that the agency was aware of students being “surrounded”, forced to be “restricted” in rooms for their own safety, and even “attacked” by anti-Israel protesters. .
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In December, three prominent university presidents were also at a loss for words when grilled by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during a House hearing on the question of whether calls for the “genocide of the Jews” violate their school’s code of conduct or constitute bullying and harassment.
“That’s why I said we investigate each case, and it’s difficult for me to make a statement here about that,” Cardona said in response to a question about whether the chant “From the river to the sea” was an antisemitic call for genocide. Getty Images
Harvard University president Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill and Massachusetts Institute of Technology president Sally Kornbluth all said that it depends on “context.”
The testimony drew widespread reaction – and mea culpas from all three elite university presidents, with Magill and Gay later resigning their posts, though Gay only quit in response to a separate plagiarism scandal.
“It’s unbelievable that this has to be said: Calls for genocide are terrible and against everything we stand for as a nation,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement after the hearing.
“If students feel unsafe with that, it’s the leadership’s responsibility to act,” Cardona added. “I believe antisemitism can include anti-Zionist statements. … We take that into account when looking at cases.” Getty Images
“Any statement that supports the systematic killing of Jews is dangerous and revolting – and we must all stand firmly against them, on the side of human dignity and the most basic values that unite us as Americans.”
“Secretary Cardona has been consistent that calls for genocide cannot be tolerated, that antisemitism can include anti-Zionist statements, and that university leaders have a responsibility to act when students feel unsafe on campus,” a Department of Education spokesperson told The Post in a statement.
“He and the Department are well aware that many consider the song threatening and antisemitic. Students should not feel unsafe on campus, and the Department’s Office of Civil Rights will continue to investigate universities to ensure they address hostile learning environments to ensure the safety of all students.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foxx’s committee has since launched investigations into Harvard, Penn and MIT for their handling of antisemitism on campuses that exploded following the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
“It’s unbelievable that this needs to be said: Calls for genocide are terrible and against everything we stand for as a nation,” a White House spokesman said in a December statement. Annabelle Gordon / Pool via CNP / SplashNews.com
Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians. A further 240 people were abducted by jihadists and taken back to the Gaza Strip, where at least 130 remain hostages, with a number of the cohort believed dead.
The Department of Education has also launched investigations into at least 10 US colleges and universities – and vowed to “take aggressive action to address alarming increases across the country in antisemitism, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and other forms of discrimination and harassment.” on campuses and in K-12 schools since the October 7 Israel-Hamas conflict.”
“The students’ words really resonated in my mind when they conveyed that antisemitism in some parts of our country has become normalized,” Cardona told Jewish Insider about hearing stories of campus unrest.
Cardona, 46, made the remarks in an interview published Tuesday by Jewish Insider, in which he asserted that university administrators must “set a clear line on how you communicate while not making students feel threatened or unsafe on campus.” AP
“In the Department of Education, this is a multi-purpose moment. After the attack, the terrorist attack, we really realized that we had to step up,” he added.
But Cardona also said Jewish leaders had told him antisemitism was on the rise across college campuses before Oct. 7, to which he responded that his department had set up a web portal to submit complaints.
Nearly 73% of Jewish college students say they have witnessed or been a victim of antisemitism on campus since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, a 10 percentage point increase from 2021, according to a joint study by the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel International.
“What I hear from younger students is, ‘I have to hide who I am,'” Cardona told Jewish Insider about her knowledge of the current climate on campus.
“They might hide an Israeli flag sticker on their computer, or they might slip in a Star of David, where before they didn’t. That, to me, as an educator, as an educational leader, is very concerning. When students can’t be themselves unapologetically because of the situation on campus, that to me is an unsafe learning environment, if you can’t be yourself.”
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