Jewish students describe tackling anti-Semitism on campus to members of Congress

Nine Jewish students from leading universities told members of Congress on Thursday that they feel unsafe on campus, but that their complaints about anti-Semitism had been dismissed by the university administration.

During a bipartisan roundtable hosted by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, students described several episodes of anti-Semitism they had experienced on campus since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, accusing their schools of pandering to violent and disruptive protesters while minimizing the threat to Jewish students.

“I have been told time and time again that the university takes these issues seriously, but no action is ever taken,” said Noah Rubin, a student at the University of Pennsylvania.

The roundtable in Washington was led by Representative Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina. The 20 members of Congress, including Ms. Foxx, who participated were evenly split between Republicans and Democrats.

The nine students — from Harvard, Penn, MIT, Columbia and five other universities — were chosen by the House committee, and the Republican majority on the panel had a stronger hand in choosing them, according to an aide to Ms. Foxx. Committee members looked for students from universities where there had been high-profile incidents of anti-Semitism.

Several Jewish groups showed their support for the congressional committee’s efforts Thursday by sending representatives to the public. But some critics have dismissed the hearings on the issue, seeing them as part of a broader Republican Party-driven culture war against colleges and universities, which are seen as bastions of liberalism.

The discussion, less formal than testimony at a Congressional hearing, was a follow-up of sorts to the Dec. 5 hearing in which the presidents of MIT, Harvard and Penn were grilled over anti-Semitism on campus. The leaders were asked whether calling for genocide against Jews on their campuses would be punished, and their response – that it would depend on the context – provoked strong reactions and led to the resignation of two of the presidents.

Questions about how to preserve free speech while cracking down on disruptive protests have roiled universities across the country since the Oct. 7 attack. While Jewish students have pushed for action from universities to combat anti-Semitism, with some filing lawsuits against their schools, Muslim students and other supporters of Palestinians have also filed complaints describing harassment and discrimination against them.

Several investigations are underway to investigate claims of anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim bias on campuses. The Ministry of Education has opened investigations into discrimination against Muslim students at Harvard and other universities. And the House committee is investigating anti-Semitism at Harvard, Penn, MIT and Columbia, and Ms. Foxx has said the investigation could be expanded. The roundtable would help inform the next steps in the investigation, she said.

Passionate, angry and defiant, students repeatedly said Thursday that they felt scared and abandoned, despite their efforts to be heard by university officials.

“By inviting me, you have actually done more than Harvard University has ever done for its Jews, which is to listen to us,” said Shabbat Kestenbaum, a student at Harvard Divinity School. Mr. Kestenbaum is one of six Jewish students at Harvard who have sued the university for discrimination.

Students, who were not under oath, discussed experiencing and witnessing episodes of violence and verbal attacks on campus. Some said that after being spit on and cursed, they stopped wearing their Star of David necklaces and skullcaps.

They also said that during war-related protests, some of which had turned violent, it appeared that campus police at their schools had been told not to stop demonstrators.

Jacob Khalili, a student at Cooper Union, described staying in a library while a pro-Palestinian protest was held outside. He said demonstrators rattled doors and banged on windows while “yelling anti-Israel, anti-Semitic chants.” He recalled that some people with him called police for help, but said authorities did not intervene.

Joe Gindi, a Rutgers student, said protesters once shouted at him, “We don’t want Zionists here!” and called him a ‘European colonizer’ even though his family had come from Syria. He also said police officers and administrators at the scene did not stop the protesters.

Lawmakers at the round table appeared shocked by the reports and sympathized with the students. House members said they were working to translate information from the hearings and discussions into law.

But some audience members pointed out Thursday that Jewish students aren’t the only ones facing discrimination on campus. A small group of protesters from Code Pink, an anti-war pro-Palestinian group, said Muslim and Arab students were also victims of abuse and deserved to be heard.

“There is a very real problem with Islamophobia,” said Moataz Salim, a graduate student at George Washington University, who said about 40 of his relatives had been driven from their homes in Gaza, while others had been killed. He knew a professor who had been accused of anti-Semitism for being outspoken about Palestinian rights and for inviting a speaker to whom Jewish students had objected, he said.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, a professor of history, race and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, said limiting Thursday’s discussion to anti-Semitism “ignores many forms of prejudice that exist on campuses.”