GOP Senators Denounce Pro-Palestinian Campus Protests as House Passes Antisemitism Bill Vote

On May 2, 2024, Republican Senator Tom Cotton led a group of GOP senators in denouncing pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, despite no reported encampments or sit-ins in Arkansas or Oklahoma. The senators criticized President Biden for being "harder on America's allies than he is on pro-Hamas radicals on American college campuses." Cotton called the campus protests "little Gazas" and "disgusting cesspools of antisemitic hate."

The senators demanded that the Biden administration take action to investigate and prevent the violence and chaos on college campuses, and threatened to defund universities that "won't protect the civil rights of their Jewish students." They accused Biden of being afraid to confront the "Hamas wing of the Democratic Party" and said he is "fine getting the pro-Hamas crowd to vote for him."

This came as the House voted to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism in its enforcement of anti-discrimination laws. The bill, introduced by Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Congressman Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), was in response to the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel and the subsequent increase in antisemitic incidents on college campuses.

Why this matters: The campus protests and political response highlight the ongoing tensions and debates surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its impact on college campuses in the United States. The Antisemitism Awareness Act and the GOP senators' demands for action against the protests reflect the increasingly polarized and heated nature of this issue.

The protests have raised questions about free speech on college campuses and put Democrats in an awkward political position, with some condemning the protests and others supporting the students' right to protest. Meanwhile, Republican leaders in Congress have seized on the unrest to score political points, with House Republicans visiting campuses and calling for the National Guard to be deployed. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee also announced a hearing on the protests at George Washington University.

Former President Donald Trump, who is currently on trial in a criminal case in New York, used the campus protests as a wedge issue, calling protesters "raging lunatics" and suggesting they were hired by liberal groups to draw attention away from the surge of migrants at the border. Trump urged college presidents to take a tougher approach to the protests and praised police action in arresting and clearing pro-Palestinian demonstrators at Columbia University.

The White House condemned the standoffs, with the National Security Council spokesperson stating that President Biden believes students occupying academic buildings is the wrong approach. However, Cotton demanded that Biden personally condemn the "hate-filled little Gazas" on college campuses. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, defended Biden's response, stating that he has spoken forcefully about combating antisemitism.

Key Takeaways

• GOP senators denounced pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses.
• Senators demanded Biden action against "Hamas wing" on campuses.
• House voted to pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act, defining antisemitism.
• Protests raise free speech debates, Democrats divided, GOP seizes on unrest.
• Trump used protests as wedge issue, urged tough police response.