A “disturbing pattern of defensiveness and denial” has permeated organizations, universities and other institutions and has gone unchecked by administrators and government officials, according to a congressional report.
The December 18 report issued by the House of Representatives and seven congressional committees found that rather than address rising antisemitism, many of these institutions “dismissed congressional and public criticism and abdicated responsibility for the hostile environments they have enabled. This refusal to acknowledge or address the issue has allowed antisemitism to take root and thrive in spaces that contravene the values of this great nation.”
The 41-page report includes recommendations, particularly for schools, for Congress and for the executive branch to consider in order to confront and eradicate antisemitism. In particular it slammed the antisemitism that was tolerated on too many college campuses, recommending cutting funding to educational institutions that boycott Israel.
“Across the nation, Jewish Americans have been harassed, assaulted, intimidated, and subjected to hostile environments—violations that stand in stark contrast to America’s fundamental values, including a foundational commitment to religious freedom for all,” stated the report.
The bipartisan reporting effort was spearheaded by House Speaker Mike Johnson and involved the committees on Education and the Workforce; Energy and Commerce; Judiciary; Oversight and Accountability; Veterans’ Affairs; and Ways and Means. Collectively they uncovered “alarming” and “astounding” failures among federal government departments and agencies and universities.
In its findings on college campuses it noted that some prominent universities refused to crack down on antisemitism and that many handed down disparate disciplinary actions for Jewish students versus their antagonists. It pointed out that many of those agitators were behind the antisemitism through encampments and use of other intimidating tactics such as campus checkpoints and through tax-exempt organizations that enabled and funded violent campus protests.
The House Ways and Means Committee in its investigation found American Muslims for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine provided “tangible support,” including flyers, talking points, pamphlets and other materials, to help support unauthorized and illegal encampments on college campuses across the country. The House report urged Congress to pass legislation cutting off funding for groups providing material support for terrorism, among other recommendations.
It singled out Northwestern University and Columbia University for not halting pro-Palestinian encampments last spring that intimidated Jewish students. “Students must learn that actions have consequences—not that there is a different standard based on race or ethnicity,” stated the report.
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Chair Virginia Foxx, conducted six hearings and a student roundtable on antisemitism in postsecondary education. Among those questioned at the hearing was Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway and a Jewish Rutgers student. The university, which was forced to cancel some finals on its main campus in New Brunswick at the end of last year when students from the encampment threatened to disrupt them, is among those being investigated for Title VI violations by the Office of Civil Rights of the federal Department of Education. The university negotiated an end to the encampment with protesting students following the threat.
Among the universities the report specifically singled out was Columbia University, which had acknowledged that its campus became a “hostile environment” in violation of Title VI. The report cited examples of the university’s “egregious failure” to combat antisemitism on its campus, going as far as to note the situation had become so hostile there that it “stands out” among a roster of disruptive campuses.
Among the other major universities singled out for their failures to control antisemitism were Harvard, University of Pennsylvania and UCLA. The encampment at Columbia was eventually ended by the NYPD, which also removed protesting students who had occupied a campus building.
The report recommended that universities must recognize that discrimination against “Zionists” is an unacceptable antisemitic civil rights violation, and increase transparency in handling of conduct incidents and protect student safety to maintain a safe and uninterrupted learning environment.
Another finding cited in the report was that the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its grant-making agencies have avoided any accountability for the institutions to which they award millions of dollars annually.
Among the recommendations is for Congress to explore ways to ensure tax-exempt organizations don’t provide funding to projects that don’t further their tax-exempt purpose, organizational mission or result in illegal activity; and enact mechanisms to force transparency and hold minority bad actors more accountable for illegal activity conducted by the projects they sponsor.
The report also stated HHS and one of its awarding agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), must ensure institutions receiving taxpayer dollars from HHS or NIH comply with relevant federal civil rights laws and are providing safe environments for all, particularly Jews.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce investigation found that HHS, NIH and HHS’s Office of Civil Rights additionally failed to act in the wake of emerging antisemitism across college campuses, medical schools and medical systems. HHS leadership also has refused either to cooperate with congressional inquiries or require federal taxpayer-funded institutions to comply with civil rights laws and prevent antisemitism at their institutions.
The report recommended: NIH-funded institutions create a task force or commission of external experts in civil rights—including an expert in antisemitism—to review their curriculums for bias, discrimination and indoctrination; create an antisemitism task force to review the current climate within the institution, evaluate actions taken by the institution, put processes and procedures in place for responding to these incidents; and update recommendations for action and training for harassment and discrimination to include antisemitism.
The Jewish Federations of North America in a statement said the report “confirms much of what we already know—antisemitism is a major crisis on college campuses and within the healthcare system.”
Debra Rubin has had a long career in journalism writing for secular weekly and daily newspapers and Jewish publications. She most recently served as Middlesex/Monmouth bureau chief for the New Jersey Jewish News. She also worked with the media at several nonprofits, including serving as assistant public relations director of HIAS and assistant director of media relations at Yeshiva University.
