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Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
The December 5, 2023 Congressional Hearing on “Holding Campus Leaders Accountable and Confronting Antisemitism,” led by House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, displayed the frightening university leadership failings that have turned U.S. college campuses into a dangerous bastion and incubator of anti-Jewish hate, intimidation, bullying and violence.
University of Pennsylvania Presidents Elizabeth (Liz) Magill, Harvard President Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth made clear that they are frightened moral pygmies after Congresswoman Elise Stefanik repeatedly asked those top university leaders whether calling for genocide against Jews – that is, the mass murder of Jews – violates their universities’ rules or codes of conduct on bullying and harassment. The answer should obviously have been “yes.” But, incredibly and shockingly, none of those university presidents took a stand against calling for the annihilation of all Jews, even after Congresswoman Stefanik gave them multiple opportunities to do so. Magill, Gay and Kornbluth should all resign or be fired immediately. They demonstrated antisemitic and anti-American bigotry. Jews have civil rights too. Jewish lives matter.
Liz Magill insisted that determining whether calling for genocide against Jews violates Penn’s rules “is a context-dependent decision,” and “if the speech becomes conduct, it can be harassment.” Shocked, Congresswoman Stefanik appropriately responded: “Conduct, meaning committing the act of genocide? The speech is not harassment? This is unacceptable, Ms. Magill.” We agree. And notice that Magill did not even say that genocidal conduct against Jews necessarily violates Penn’s rules!
MIT’s Kornbluth similarly answered that chants calling for the destruction and massacre of the Jewish people “can be antisemitic depending on the context,” and only indicated that such genocidal chants would be investigated as harassment “if pervasive and severe.” What context would ever legitimize genocide of a people against whom it’s already been attempted in the Holocaust. How can a chant for the massacre of the Jewish people not be severe? And why the “pervasiveness” requirement? How many times does an antisemitic lynch mob have to chant for Jews to be murdered for MIT’s president to consider investigating and taking appropriate action against that mob’s members? They would never have made these frightening bigoted responses if they were asked about calling for genocide of Blacks, Muslims, gays or women.
Similar to her immoral colleagues, Harvard’s Claudine Gay repeatedly insisted that “it depends on context,” and that “conduct” is required. Apparently, threatening Jews with death is not enough; campus Jew-haters need to actually carry out their threats before any action may possibly be taken against them. Here is the Q&A with Claudine Gay:
Congresswoman Stefanik (a Harvard graduate): And Dr. Gay at Harvard? Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
President Gay: It can be, depending on the context.
Congresswoman Stefanik: What's the context?
President Gay: Targeted at an individual target, as at an individual.
Congresswoman Stefanik: It's targeted at Jewish students, Jewish individuals. Do you understand your testimony is dehumanizing them? Do you understand that dehumanization is part of antisemitism? I will ask you one more time. Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
President Gay: Antisemitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct, that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.
Congresswoman Stefanik: So the answer is yes. That calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard Code of Conduct. Correct?
President Gay: Again, it depends on the context.
Congresswoman Stefanik: It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes, and this is why you should resign. These are unacceptable answers across the board.
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