As anti-Israel protests escalate on college campuses, New York Rep. Rich Torres condemned the “intimidation” of Jewish students and efforts to put their safety at “risk.” Torres, a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, and New York Rep. Mike Lawler joined “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday after Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a member of the Democratic “squad” , some Jewish students “favored genocide.”
Protesters call for ‘amnesty’, universities crack down on anti-Israel agitators
represent. Richie Torres: Remember, the First Amendment applies to government, not private universities, which have their own policies and codes of conduct.But even if it does apply to private university, It is limited by time, place and manner. First, there is a difference between free expression and intimidation, between free expression and harassment. What we see at places like Columbia University is systemic harassment and intimidation of Jewish students; hostile environment for jews Violation of Title VI on college campus. So this isn’t about free speech; This is behavior that endangers the safety of Jewish students across the country.
Lawmakers’ bipartisan bill aims to combat anti-Semitism in universities, with prominent universities such as Columbia University, UCLA, Emory University, Yale University, University of Southern California, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and others already seeing anti-Israel Mobs of agitators stormed the campus and even occupied university buildings.
Omar, meanwhile, has faced backlash in recent days for comments he made during a visit to an anti-Israel camp at Columbia University last week.
“So I met a lot of Jewish students at the camp,” Omar replied. “I think it’s very unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish children deserve to be safe and that we shouldn’t tolerate anti-Semitism or bigotry from all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide.”
The “squad” member was condemned by Republicans and her own Democratic colleague, Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who accused her of “throwing gasoline” on the United States. Anti-Semitism is on the rise.
On Tuesday, Omar silenced Fox News congressional reporter Aisha Hasni while trying to pressure her over recent comments.
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Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.
