Lawmakers Implore Biden to Crack Down on Pro-Hamas Demonstrations

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(LibertySociety.com) – Following the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, student groups at colleges across the United States have expressed pro-Hamas sentiments, sparking concerns. Over 44 Republican members of Congress sent a letter to Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, asking him to investigate the matter. The lawmakers believe that Cardona should visit the campuses and urged the Biden administration to protect Jewish students. Various groups at these colleges have released statements and led rallies over the last several days, calling for “resistance by any means necessary” from Palestinians.

A student group at Cornell University tried and failed to pass a resolution to justify the attack. Cornell Students for Justice in Palestine’s committee resolution said, among other things, that the attack was in response to “75 years of illegal occupation, settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid government.” Another chapter of the same group at George Washington University released a similar statement. Thirty-four groups at Harvard University released a joint statement blaming Israel for the attacks. Lawmakers wrote that some of the groups have used illustrations of Hamas paragliders as advertisements for rallies, indicating that they are backing the terrorist group.

The letter to Cardona was circulated within Congress, but no Democrats signed their names to it. Reports of violence against Jewish students have already arisen since the attack. A Jewish student who was posting signs of Israeli civilian hostages across campus at Columbia University was assaulted on October 11. The New York Police Department arrested the suspect and charged her with one count of assault.

Reportedly, the suspect had earlier approached other students who were posting signs, identifying herself as a Jewish person. She hung out with the group for most of the morning but was later seen wearing a bandana to cover her face and ripping the signs down. Following the Hamas attack, over 1,500 Israelis were reported to have been killed. As of October 13, 27 Americans were known to have been killed during the attack, with some still missing.