Lawmakers and experts agree that antisemitism is a problem on campuses across the country, but they remain divided on how to combat the growing problem.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing Thursday to address antisemitism on college campuses.
The hearing highlighted the complexities between combating antisemitism on campuses while balancing academic freedom and protecting students’ safety while questioning foreign influences in educational settings.
Senators and witness experts sparred at times over the attempt by President Donald Trump’s administration to combat antisemitism by investigating 60 universities with possible violations of Jewish students’ civil rights.
Some argue that efforts to eliminate antisemitism are leading to a different kind of violation of civil liberties, including free speech.
The debate between lawmakers touched on the campus safety of Jewish students, who, since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, have increasingly reported feeling threatened on college campuses across the country, and how the federal government can combat the rise of antisemitism.
In many cases, pro-Palestine protests involved outright calls for violence and support for Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.
Between 2023 and 2024, according to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents were up by 500% on college campuses, totaling 1,200 reported.
One witness, Dr. Charles Asher Small, Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, pointed to links between foreign funding, specifically billions from Qatar, and an increase in antisemitic activities.
Small argued that universities that take money from the Qatari regime have “300% more instances of antisemitism” compared to universities that don’t receive the funding. He went on to claim that foreign influences, like Qatar, are funding certain institutes and professors, as well as supporting organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine, arguing they spur antisemitism.
Small called for investigations by the Department of Education into foreign funding and its impact on higher education.
However, Small’s testimony faced pushback from Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kans. Marshall accused Small of displaying “prejudice” against the Qatari government and unfairly targeting the country, which Marshall described as a “great ally” of the United States.
He noted that other countries, such as China, have also contributed over $3 billion to universities.
Small further warned against a “red-green alliance,” which he argues is a collaboration between radical Islamists and left-wing, socialist organizations that benefit from Chinese funding.
One of the other witnesses, Kenneth Stern, Director at the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, warned against codifying the definition of antisemitism into law for fear that it could suppress free speech.
Carly Gammill, Director of the Legal Policy Stand With Us Center for Combating Antisemitism, believes that passing an antisemitism awareness act is key to addressing antisemitism on campus.
The hearing also led to a debate over the Trump administration’s plan to shutter the Department of Education and a need to increase funding for the Office of Civil Rights in an effort to investigate incidents of antisemitism, which some lawmakers argued are at odds with one another.
