(The Center Square) – At a Senate Judiciary hearing on “the tide of hate crimes in America,” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted pro-Hamas rioters and Democrats for allowing antisemitism to skyrocket in America. Then one broke out in the chamber and Cruz said, “we now have a demonstration of antisemitism.”
After citing examples of death threats made by students at Ivy League schools, Cruz was interrupted by pro-Palestinian and Hamas supporters in the chamber.
The protestors screamed obscenities and disrupted proceedings, prompting the committee chair, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-IL, to call for order.
“This is the kind of anger and hate that is encouraged,” Cruz said. “You’re now seeing the hate manifesting right here. We now have a demonstration of antisemitism.”
Cruz is the only committee member who has regularly had pro-Hamas protestors outside of his home. He and U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-Texas, have been harassed for their support of Israel, her office was also vandalized, The Center Square reported.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, antisemitic incidents more than doubled in the U.S., Cruz said, and “college campuses have become vile incubators of hatred of Jews.” He cited examples of hate speech made by students who threatened to kill and rape Jews, also telling them “to go back to the gas chambers.”
At Columbia University, when Jewish students displayed American and Israeli flags, a pro-Hamas rioter held up a sign saying, “‘Al-Qassam’s next target.’ Al-Qassam is the military arm of Hamas. According to social media, this particular student is a wealthy student from Georgia. She’s not Palestinian, but she has been taught lies and hatred and she feels perfectly comfortable advocating the murder of her fellow students at Columbia,” Cruz said.
As violence erupted on college campuses nationwide, “the Biden-Harris administration has been utterly absent,” he said. If the Klu Klux Klan had orchestrated the riots, terrorizing and threatening African American students, he said the FBI and federal prosecutors would have arrived and “we would see federal funding cut off to universities. But when it comes to anti-Semitism, the Democrats have a problem.
“I would note this is occurring in blue states with blue governors because the Democrat Party is terrified of the pro Hamas wing of their party. In states like Texas and Florida, we don’t allow this. When violent protesters threatened Jewish students, police officers arrested them,” Cruz said. “That’s what happened when you enforce the law.”
Both he and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said that pro-Hamas rioters were shut down at the University of Texas in Austin and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers promptly arrested them. The university also enforced its own policies preventing students from taking over the campus, The Center Square reported.
Surveys continue to show that Jewish students nationwide still don’t feel safe on US college campuses, The Center Square reported.
In response to a question asked by Cornyn, Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, the director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center in Atlanta, said university presidents and deans of law schools “who claim the First Amendment is hard to understand and they can’t possibly enforce its limits don’t belong running universities or law schools.
“The First Amendment is not a free pass to threaten, harass, intimidate or otherwise violate the rights of others. There are limits to what constitutes speech and there are rules for when it crosses over into actionable conduct. If you can see those rules when it applies to racist, sexist, homophobic and misogynistic speech, and not when it comes to anti-Semitic speech, your problem is not with that line, your problem is with anti-Semitism.”
The hearing was held after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott again warned Texas higher education institutions to quickly condemn antisemitism and take necessary actions to address violent protests and dismantle illegal encampments.
“As I have already made clear, antisemitism is never acceptable in Texas and there is zero tolerance for acts of antisemitism on Texas college and university campuses,” Abbott said in a statement. “As we approach the one-year anniversary of the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel, and in light of recent events and rising tensions in Gaza, it is crucial that Texas colleges and universities stay vigilant. It is imperative that you continue taking the necessary steps to combat antisemitism on your campuses and ensure a safe environment for Jewish staff, students, and faculty. Texas will continue to stand with Israel and the Jewish community in the fight against antisemitism.”
Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, Abbott advanced multiple resources to support the Jewish community in Texas, he and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt traveled to Israel to meet with Israeli leaders and survivors and family members of victims, and issued multiple directives for public education statewide to combat antisemitism, The Center Square reported.
In March, Abbott issued an executive order requiring all higher education institutions in Texas to review their free speech policies to establish appropriate punishments for antisemitic rhetoric and acts on their campuses and enforce them. Islamic groups sued Abbott arguing it violated the First Amendment.
In response, Abbott doubled down, saying the pro-Hamas rioters “belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.”
