PASSED: Blackburn, Rosen Resolution Condemning Antisemitism at Higher Education Institutions

October 26, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate today unanimously passed a bipartisan resolution led by U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) that denounces antisemitism at institutions of higher education and pushes college and university leaders, administrators, and faculty to voice their opposition to antisemitism on campus.

“After the horrific atrocities committed by Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, we witnessed a wave of antisemitism on college campuses by anti-Israel groups praising Hamas’ mass murder of Jews,” said Senator Blackburn. “Let me be clear: this kind of hatred has no place in America. I appreciate my Senate colleagues for swiftly and unanimously passing my resolution condemning antisemitism in our higher education institutions and urging campus staff to take action when it arises.”

“I’m appalled by the recent antisemitic incidents we’ve seen on college campuses across our nation, aimed at intimidating Jewish students and celebrating Hamas’s horrific terrorist attacks on Israel,” said Senator Rosen. “Schools have a responsibility to protect their Jewish students in the face of this blatant bigotry. I’m proud to have helped lead this bipartisan resolution to show that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are united in calling out this kind of hatred.”

ENDORSEMENTS:

  • This resolution is supported by the American Jewish Committee, Agudath Israel of America, Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, Hadassah -- The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish on Campus, Republican Jewish Coalition, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and World Jewish Congress.

BACKGROUND:

  •  Since the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel, there has been a noticeable rise in antisemitism on campuses across the country.
  • Professors at elite universities such as Columbia University and Cornell University have praised the Hamas slaughter of Israelis.
  • A Stanford University professor was suspended after reportedly asking his Jewish students to sit in a corner, calling them “colonizers,” and downplaying the Holocaust.

View the resolution here.

Click to download a video from Senator Blackburn on the resolution’s passage.