On Oct. 7, Hamas invaded southern Israel and massacred at least 1,400 people and seized more than 200 hostages. According to captured documents, the goal of the brutal atrocity was to kill as many Jews as possible, and after the fact universal condemnation was not forthcoming.
In ostensible allegiance with the Palestinian cause, demonstrators in the U.S. and many countries across the world voiced support for the abhorrent actions of Hamas. Some of these demonstrations included open expressions of antisemitism far removed from geopolitics, such as the cry “Gas the Jews!” chanted by Australians in front of one of the world’s most famous cultural landmarks, the Sydney Opera House.
In the U.S., college campuses have been the site of many demonstrations, with a devolution into antisemitic acts including harassment and physical intimidation of Jewish students at several prestigious universities. Some of these acts are documented on video, university administrators essentially refusing accountability by doing nothing or mildly tut-tutting the perpetrators. In the face of such overt antisemitism and inaction by the colleges themselves, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has spoken very little on campus antisemitism. Why the hesitation?
There are complicating issues of politics and free speech in whether to investigate these actions. Criticism of Israel is not synonymous with antisemitism, although the events of Oct. 7 have fostered an environment in which some demonstrators hold all Jews responsible for the actions of Israel and question Israel’s right to exist. The campus graffiti, bullhorn chants and ripping down of posters of hostages indicate there’s a signpost up ahead and the next stop is antisemitism.
Protecting free speech is paramount, no matter how obnoxious or odious the speech is — and there has been plenty of that on campus. Here’s a thought experiment: What if someone said George Floyd’s death was “exhilarating” and “energizing” as a Cornell University professor said of the Israeli deaths? Or if someone said gay people “are very bad people. Irredeemable excrement. May they all rot in hell,” as one instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago said of Jews? One suspects condemnation and ostracism would be swift and some First Amendment advocates would not be so ready to champion each rabble-rouser’s cause.
But this is America, and the right thing to do is to grant a wide berth to First Amendment rights even in the face of chants of “Death to Israel.” Despite what some people say, speech is not violence.
But violence is violence. At Harvard University, an uninvolved Israeli student was intimidated, pushed and shoved by jeering students as he attempted to cross campus. At Columbia University, an Israeli student was beaten with a stick outside the law library.
At Cooper Union, Jewish students were trapped in the library by protesters who beat on the doors and windows, threatening to break in. A helpful librarian offered to hide the students in the library attic, in an act of tragic irony. One student said it reminded her of Anne Frank: “Go hide in the attic. Really, I have to hide, in the United States of America? I can’t sit in a place where there’s windows because I might be attacked. That’s basically what she said. She was trying to be helpful.” This is merely the tip of the iceberg and doesn’t include the growing list of lesser indignities such as the Stanford University instructor who physically segregated the Jews in a classroom before berating them for colonialism.
Antisemitism on campus is clearly growing — a recent Harvard University poll indicates 51% of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the Hamas atrocity was justified — and it demands prompt action by the Department of Justice. The DOJ could open an investigation into an unjust pattern of practice that denies individuals access to or the same rights, privileges and opportunities that others enjoy in a place of public accommodation. Courts have granted the attorney general broad discretion in deciding what constitutes an issue of “general public importance” for investigations by the DOJ. This is especially important when institutions fail to exercise effective accountability.
Garland, who is Jewish, understands antisemitism. I know that because he and I grew up in the same neighborhood and attended the same high school, and both of us lost relatives in the Holocaust. The White House press secretary can sidestep a question on antisemitism, claiming she misheard it, but Garland’s actions must leave no doubt where he stands.
In view of the current lack of action on campus antisemitism, one has to wonder, as they might ask in Texas: Are the attorney general and his DOJ all hat and no cattle?
Dr. Cory Franklin is a retired intensive care physician.
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