Rising Threat: America’s Battle Against Antisemitic Terror

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Subcommittee will come to order without objection. The chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time. We welcome everyone to today's hearing on stopping anti-Semitic attacks. I'm going to now recognize the gentleman from Alabama to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and then I'm going to ask that everybody stay standing for a moment of silence.

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

nation under

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

God, indivisible, with

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

liberty and

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

justice for all.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Remain standing. I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. Welcome again, everyone, to today's committee hearing. I want to thank our witnesses. I want to thank you for being here. Time is precious. And welcome our fellow Americans who are joining us this afternoon. Today, we convene to confront a crisis that threatens the very fabric of the United States of America, an alarming and a dangerous escalation in violent antisemitic incidents occurring across our United States of America. In 2023, there were over 9,300 documented antisemitic incidents in the United States, 2023 the most ever recorded in our history. And while Jewish Americans represent just 2.4% of the population, they are nearly the target of just about 70% of all religious hate crimes, according to the FBI. That's based upon 2023 statistics as well. It's not speculation. It's data. It's real, and it's getting worse. We've seen it in Boulder, Colorado, where a peaceful gathering to raise awareness about hostages held by Hamas was attacked with firebombs. We've seen it here in Washington, D.C., where two beautiful Israeli embassy employees were murdered. They were shot and they were killed. We've seen it in Pennsylvania, where an arsonist targeted the home of a sitting governor, Governor Shapiro, during a Passover celebration. They intended to kill him. We've seen it on our college campuses where Jewish students report harassment, exclusion, fear of their personal safety, and are even afraid—and this bothered me so much—to wear anything that indicates they are Jewish. I will never forget we had testimony from somebody that's sitting where you all are sitting. Beautiful young lady, articulate, smart. She was a college student from a big university, and she said it was a sad day when her mother came to her and said, I think you should probably take off your Jewish star. She didn't. She was brave. But the fact that we even have to think that way. According to the Anti-Defamation League, more than 500 protests sympathetic to Hamas has occurred on U.S. campuses after October 7th. At many of these events, chants calling for intifada and from the river to the sea were not some fringe comments. They were a message to their fellow Jewish students. Antisemitism at its core is incompatible with American values. It is un-American. And when expressions cross the line into threats, intimidation, or glorification of violence, that is not protest. That is not the American tradition. It is something far more dangerous. We've seen this from foreign nationals abusing our visa system to enter this country when engaging in and promoting hateful, extremist activity. We've seen universities refuse to take firm action when antisemitic behavior occurs at their campuses. And we've seen public institutions respond with statements that fall too short of the clarity that this moment, this inflection point in our history, demands. Let me be clear. Let me be crystal clear. Antisemitism is not just a threat to one group. It is a warning sign. It's a warning sign of a greater societal breakdown. The persecution of the Jewish people is not a new phenomenon. It is one of the oldest forms of hate known to civilization. It began over 3,000 years ago when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, their identity suppressed, and their freedom denied until Moses led them to liberation. We saw it again during the Siege of Jerusalem when Roman legions destroyed the Second Temple and violently uprooted Jewish life in its holiest city. We saw it in Spain during the Inquisition in 1492 when Jews were forced to convert, flee, or face execution for practicing their faith. We saw it in the pogroms in Eastern Europe, particularly between the 1880s and the 1920s, where Jewish communities were massacred, homes burned, and families driven into exile by state-tolerated mobs, to the atrocities of the Holocaust, where 6 million, 6 million Jews were murdered by Nazi regime. And we have some professors in some universities that deny that any of this or that all of it ever existed. History has taught us time and again that when antisemitism festers, violence is not far behind. The United States was founded—we are a different country. We were founded in a different way, in large part as a refuge from that kind of religious persecution. Our Founding Fathers enshrined freedom as a core—as part of our religion, as a core tenet of the American experiment. This is everything that America doesn't stand for. At that time, it was unique, yet deliberate to move to do so. America stands apart from so many other nations because it is committed from the beginning to the idea that people of all faiths should be able to live without fear, or coercion, or violence. We have a responsibility, not just as elected officials, but as Americans, to address this with the seriousness that it deserves. With the same vigor we use to protect our other rights and freedoms, like free speech, this committee should speak out with one unified voice that type of hatred has no place in our communities and that Jewish Americans, like all Americans, have the right to live, learn, worship, and participate fully in society without fear, because hatred rarely stops with its first target. When we stay silent while others are attacked, the hate doesn't disappear. It grows. It festers. It becomes bolder, and eventually it will turn to each and every one of us. If we wait until it's our turn to care, it will already be too late. You know, the American experiment is unique. It is why I truly believe that we are a gift from God and that, with all our faults as a country, we are still the best nation on the face of the Earth. And part of that American experiment makes this so unacceptable. This is something we thought, it happens in other countries; it happens in Europe; it happens in Asia. America's different. We were founded in a different way. We are better than that. I don't mean that we're superior to anybody, but I mean that our ideology as a nation, we are better than that. We don't expect that here, and we shouldn't expect it here, and we shouldn't tolerate it here. So, it's time to move on, and I thank you again, all, for being here. And I see that you're not going next. I'm sorry. Okay. So, we're—yes, the—I never know how you all are going, including my side, by the way. That's a bipartisan thing. I never know how everybody's going to go. I am going to recognize the ranking member of the entire committee, Mr. Raskin from Maryland.

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

Well, thank you, Chairman VanDrew Drew, for your leadership. And thanks to all the witnesses for joining us today. Antisemitism is the world's oldest hatred, a form of racism that has mutated in ever more dangerous ways over the centuries, from religious persecution based on allegations of deicide to medieval blood libels to Russian pogroms to Nazi eugenics and the Holocaust to contemporary anti-Zionist antisemitism, holding all Jews everywhere accountable for the actions and policies of the Israeli government and imputing monolithic ethnic thinking, collective guilt, and guilt by association. Antisemitism is a perennial threat not only to millions of Jews all over the world, but to reason, tolerance, and prospects for human progress. Antisemitism has had a dark career in America. We've seen plenty of outbreaks of antisemitic violence and hatred: the framing and lynching of Leo Frank in 1913, which some antisemites are defending to this very day; the official refusal to accept ships filled with Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution; neo-Nazis at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017 chanting, Jews will not replace us; the mass murder of 11 Jews worshiping at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh by extremist Robert Bowers, who promoted the Great Replacement theory; the antisemitic arson attempt against Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and his family on the first night of Passover; the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers outside of the Capital Jewish Museum here in Washington; and a firebombing attack in Boulder at a gathering calling for the return of Hamas-held Israeli hostages. Since Hamas's vicious terror attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 people, and the subsequent bloody war in Gaza, in which more than 57,000 Palestinians and Israelis have been killed, the number of antisemitic incidents around the world has exploded. This resurgent antisemitism has drawn bipartisan condemnation in Congress, such as in Mr. Van Drew's resolution we were all proud to support. But now is the time to act against antisemitism, not just denounce it. I confess little faith in this administration's willingness to actually do that, and I'm not alone. Nearly two-thirds of all Jewish voters disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing to fight antisemitism. It's not surprising, for several reasons, the first being that Trump has populated his administration with antisemites and fans of neo-Nazis. He's nominated people like Ed Martin and Paul Ingrassia to top-level positions despite their documented support for and close relationships with neo-Nazis and antisemites. Ed Martin, Trump's once nominee for the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has enthusiastically embraced Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, a neo-Nazi who paints a Hitler mustache on himself and tells coworkers that Hitler should have finished the job. Martin, who is Trump's acting U.S. attorney, called Hale-Cusanelli "an amazing guy and a great friend." Though Martin tried to cover up and minimize their friendship, Trump was eventually forced to withdraw the nomination and named Martin instead the U.S. Pardon Attorney, which does not require U.S. Senate confirmation. Others in his administration have shared antisemitic posts on social media. Antisemitism Task Force head Leo Terrell shared a post by prominent neo-Nazi Patrick Casey saying that Trump, quote, "can revoke someone's Jew card." And who can forget Elon Musk's shocking fascist salutes? Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson posted on X that the Great Replacement isn't a right-wing conspiracy theory, it's reality. Trump himself has a disturbing history of antisemitic actions. He invited over to his house for dinner at Mar-a-Lago Nick Fuentes, a vicious neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier, and self-proclaimed Hitler lover Ye. He saw very fine people on both sides of the antisemitic riot in Charlottesville. He's claimed that prominent Jews in our government were bad Jews, calling Senator Schumer not Jewish anymore, and repeatedly referred to him as a Palestinian, including just this morning, and said that any Jewish person who doesn't vote for Trump should have their heads examined. So when Trump claims he's actively combating antisemitism, we know there's a lot more to the picture than meets the eye. He's thoroughly destroyed the infrastructure within our government to detect, prevent, and prosecute domestic extremism, hate crimes, and antisemitic attacks. In just a few months, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Homeland Security have fired experienced domestic terrorism experts and deleted key offices which monitor and act to prevent terrorist attacks and racial hate crimes. On the day after Trump took office, the DOJ demoted senior career attorneys in the National Security Division and Criminal Division, reassigning them to the new Sanctuary Cities Task Force. Nearly all left the Department of Justice instead, draining the government of decades of counterterrorism experience. The DOJ slashed its Civil Rights Division that's charged with prosecuting hate crimes. It's illegally gutted the Community Relations Service, which has been a crucial tool for countering hate crimes by working directly with communities across the country. The FBI has cut staffing in its domestic terrorism unit and has stopped using a nationwide database to track domestic terror and hate crimes. The Department of Education cut in half the Office for Civil Rights, the agency tasked with addressing discrimination and hostile learning environments, including antisemitic events on campus. The Trump administration froze or canceled community safety, violence intervention, and terror prevention programs across America. It's ending a terrorism prevention program focused on lone-wolf attacks—attacks like the ones we just saw in Boulder and outside of the Capital Jewish Museum here in D.C.—because the programs, quote, "do not align with the administration's priorities." DHS has also cut grants to programs supported by the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, or CP3. Since 2020, CP3 has helped prevent more than 1,000 violent plots in what national security experts have called pioneering work with an enormous public policy payoff. Ignoring this track record, the Trump administration gutted CP3, fired 75% of its staff, and froze tens of millions of dollars for violence prevention. He even appointed a 22-year-old with no national security experience to run what is left of CP3. It's shocking that a guy who graduated from college last year would be tasked with leading the fight against extremist political violence in America, although in fairness, he did do Model United Nations in the fall semester of his senior year. Other DHS-supported programs, including the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which helps Jewish institutions install security cameras, train staff, and add protective barriers, has also been left without adequate funding. The decimation of counterterrorism and hate crime capabilities is reckless in today's heightened threat landscape. Even as DHS demands over half a billion dollars more for immigration enforcement and border security, it is neglecting its basic responsibilities to monitor and prevent hate crimes and domestic terrorism. This negligence has been accompanied by a spike in shocking antisemitic attacks across America. Beyond countenancing antisemitism in its own ranks and dismantling the infrastructure that opposes it, the administration has also repeatedly invoked fighting antisemitism as a vague and arbitrary all-purpose excuse for eroding constitutional rights and imposing authoritarian control. Seizing control of college student admissions, faculty hiring, and curricular content at colleges and universities has nothing to do with protecting Jewish students. Conducting ideological purges in the name of the Jewish community just exposes Jews to recrimination and revenge. When the government uses fighting antisemitism as the pretext for snatching graduate students off the streets and jailing them for exercise of their free speech rights, this ploy practically invites people to blame Jews for the erosion of civic freedom and constitutional liberty in America. When government deploys antisemitism as the rationale for canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of federal research grants for treating cancer, curing cystic fibrosis, and conquering other diseases, that does not make Jews safer from antisemitism. Rather, it makes Jews the scapegoat again, the reason why the public is losing progress in science and medical care. If the administration truly wants to fight antisemitism, it should begin by firing the antisemites it has hired. It can then restore and rebuild the anti-terror and anti-hate-crime infrastructure that it has demolished, and then it can call off the sinister effort to dress authoritarianism in the language of opposing antisemitism. The late Jewish leader Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks said, Antisemitism is about the inability of a group to make space for difference. And because we're all different, the hate that begins with Jews never ends with Jews. Antisemitism is the world's most reliable early warning sign of a major threat to all freedom, humanity, and the dignity of difference. It matters to all of us, which is why we must fight it together. I hope we can do that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, and I now recognize the chairman of the full committee, Congressman Jordan.

Full Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH)SPEAKER_12

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate the long history that you laid out about this disgusting behavior, and as well as the ranking member. But we need to look no further than the past 3 months: April 13th, Governor Shapiro's home was arson fired his home; May 21st, Israeli embassy workers were killed right here in D.C.; June 1st, out in Boulder, Colorado, a terrorist attack on Jewish individuals; and of course, just last week, one of our colleagues, Max Miller, faced it himself. So, this is as real and present as it gets. And so I appreciate the chairman and our witnesses for being here to talk about how we should do everything—talking about it, doing everything we can. There's resolutions I think we should pass on the floor. Anything and everything we can do to stop this disgusting—excuse me, wrong behavior. So again, thank you, Mr. Chairman, for doing this. Thank you to our witnesses for being here, and I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you. Without objection, all their opening statements will be included in the record. Oh, I am sorry. You went— okay. I now recognize the ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee, Jasmine Crockett. I apologize.

Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)SPEAKER_00

No worries. I will absolutely give you some of your time back so that we can move on to these amazing witnesses. And I want to thank each and every one of the members that have opened and given a resuscitation of the hate that has taken place. I want to go a little bit further, though, since I can skip over some of my remarks about Nick Fuentes and about Elon and others. And I want to be clear that one of the things that is so hurtful to me that we have consistently discussed as I've been out on the road is the fact that there is a consistent rise in hate in general in this country. And I think that if we continue to allow people to divide us, then our country will continue to fall down this terrible rabbit hole that we've fallen down. The reality is that united we stand and divided we fall, and what we've got going on now is that people are saying, if you like this type of person, then you got to hate this kind of person, and that kind of stuff. And frankly, I think that we need to have more hearings on hate overall. We need to be addressing racial hate, homophobic hate, and yes, even political hate. Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise of all of it. This hate is being directed at our neighbors, our community, and even members of Congress. The violence and death threats that people are experiencing, including some of my colleagues here today, because of their faith, or their presumed faith, or simply because of their political affiliation, is unconscionable and needs to stop. You're not allowed to be different, or You're allowed to be different. You're allowed to have your own faith. You're allowed to disagree. But what we won't allow is using these differences to justify threats and violence against people different than you. Everyone, including Congress and the president, needs to do all that we can to reject hate and violence in all forms. But to do that, then my colleagues need to be honest about what's allowed this behavior to flourish. That means confronting the fact that Donald Trump has played a significant role in emboldening this behavior by repeatedly legitimizing extremists who've continued to spread and promote antisemitism and religious hate. Growing up, we were told we need to lead by example, lead others in a way that you see the world or how you think it should be. For me, I lead by example by acknowledging what's right and what's wrong, by standing up for marginalized communities, by calling out and combating hate, and finding the humanity in everyone and everything. But how does the man currently occupying the Oval Office choose to lead by example within the context of antisemitism? It's Trump who again invited Nick Fuentes. It's holding a press conference to say that there, quote, "were some very fine people on both sides," end quote, after Charlottesville. And we know that the reason we have to talk about Charlottesville is because there were white supremacists who flocked to that city and held torches and Nazi flags, chanting, You will not replace us. It's Trump refusing to condemn the January 6th insurrectionists who carried Nazi flags into these very halls of Congress, and then after all of that, deciding to pardon them. It's Trump who recruited Elon Musk, and we know that he not only did the Nazi salute on the inaugural stage, but he also told Germany two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day that, quote, there is "too much focus on past guilt." It's allowing Musk and others to continue to enable religious hate groups to post hate and threats online. It's redirecting attorneys at the Department of Justice's Office for Civil Rights, the primary office for enforcing discrimination laws, including religious discrimination, away from their work and placing them to work on immigration cases. It's Trump redirecting attorneys on the Department of Justice's Office for Civil Rights, who are supposed to work on things such as religious hate. It's Trump having his Department of State ban the term racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism from classification and the style guide at the State Department. That is how Trump is supposedly leading by example here. Now, you'd think that an administration wanting to take this seriously would place highly qualified individuals in agency roles tasked with combating religious terrorist hate threats and violence, and yet Trump hasn't even cleared that low hurdle. Because we know that we ended up with Thomas. The guy that Trump currently has in charge of the Department of Homeland Security's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, a division tasked with working with state and local governments and other stakeholders to prevent terrorism, including religious terrorism, is just 23 years old, with no experience in government, antiterrorism, or really anything else. The person Thomas took over for had over two decades of national security experience. But now, under Trump, we have an immature, incompetent, infantile person who's barely even lived for two decades in charge of this important work. It's ridiculous, it's shameful, and it's dangerous. Allowing religious hate to thrive in one corner allows it to spread everywhere, across all corners, all denominations, and all faiths. As members of Congress, we cannot allow another synagogue, or for that matter another church or mosque or home, risk being attacked or shot up by Nazis or extremists simply because elected officials don't have the courage and leadership to condemn them before they act. Trump's disgusting refusal to cut ties from Nazi supporters and sympathizers have given violent extremists both a figurative and literal get-out-of-jail-free card. It's signaling that these hateful beliefs and actions will be tolerated so long as they pledge their loyalty to Trump. We owe it to every American to condemn this behavior and fight back by confronting this intolerance with courage and leading from our hearts. I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Okay, without objection, Mr. Goldman will be permitted to participate in today's hearing for the purpose of questioning witnesses if a member yields him time for that purpose. Without objection, all other opening statements will be included in the record. We will now introduce today's witnesses: Ms. Debra Cooper. Ms. Cooper is the chief of digital activism at the End Jew Hatred, a grassroots organization that focuses on combating discrimination and oppression targeting Jews. She's also director of strategy of the Jewish Advocacy Research and Writer Group. Her work focuses on the development and the implementation of advocacy efforts to protect the right of Jews and Israelis in the United States and abroad. Welcome. It's good to see you again. Mr. Kenneth L. Marcus. Mr. Marcus is the founder, chairman, and CEO of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law,

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN

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Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

a nonprofit organization that works to advance the civil and human rights of Jewish people. He also serves as a lecturer at the George Washington University Law School and previously served as the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights. Mr. Dan Schneider. Mr. Schneider is the vice president for free speech at the Media Research Center, a media watchdog organization. He previously served in the White House, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and as a House and Senate staffer. I want to pronounce your name right. Mr. Matt Nosanchuk. Got it. Good. Mr. Nosanchuk is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operations and Outreach in the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education. He previously co-founded and led the New York Jewish Agenda, a nonprofit organization focused on education and advocacy for the Jewish community in New York. We're going to begin by swearing you all in. Would you all please rise? Raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information, and belief, so help you God? Thank you. Be seated. Let the record reflect that the witnesses have answered in the affirmative. Please know that your written testimony will be entered into the record in its entirety. Accordingly, we ask that you summarize your testimony in 5 minutes. Ms. Cooper, you may begin.

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Good afternoon. My primary focus on strategy, research, and writing is really on education as it relates to groups with links to terrorism. I also work directly with students, teachers, and other victims of antisemitism, as well as with affected community members. America is in crisis, experiencing levels of Jew-hatred not seen since the Holocaust, as well as other religious hate and extreme anti-America, anti-Israel, and, generally, hate of the West. This has morphed into what has become normalized, dangerous, open support and praise for violence and terrorism, and the outright rejection of our laws, tolerance, decency, and democratic values. October 7th offered plausible deniability for the explosion of open Jew-hatred in America. It has been brewing for decades, but now has escalated to a dangerous, unprecedented level due to the prior administration's failure to take meaningful action despite the clear threats and signs of imminent escalation and danger. Hamas offshoots CAIR, AMP, PYM, and NSJP—that's the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, and National Students for Justice in Palestine—and other dangerous groups have been allowed to operate freely in our country, with demonstrations spearheaded by them promoting hatred, terrorism, violence, and death to Jews in America without any consequences. CAIR has been infiltrating our educational institutions for at least 20 years, poisoning the minds of our young people, our most vulnerable population, with false narratives demonizing Jews, Israelis, and the State of Israel, narratives no honest educator actually believes. Insidious Jew-hating teachers, professors, and educational unions have taken over our schools, silencing Jewish voices through intimidation, harassment, and covert means and manipulation. Without challenge or investigation by our government, our educational institutions allowed antisemitism, in violation of Title VI, to flourish under the pretext of academic freedom. University administrators used the guise of intellectual inquiry and the balancing of interests to allow Jew-hatred to pose as legitimate academic discourse. The laws and policies were only an abstract thought, and our government, those ultimately responsible for the safety and security of our nation, including protecting our civil rights, did absolutely nothing in response to the school administrators' repeated failures to enforce the laws and school policies even as events escalated. We have created a culture of Jew-hatred, the normalization of Jew-baiting, the constant hateful rhetoric directed at the Jewish people where they become demonized and dehumanized. This is precisely what the Nazis did during the Holocaust to foster a climate of indifference against the Jews that permitted the murder of 6 million Jews. And now, unsurprisingly, 20 months later and probably even longer, emboldened by inaction and a lack of meaningful consequences, America and Americans of all backgrounds are being terrorized by our young people who reject and hate everything we value in America. What has become clear from these demonstrations is that pro-Palestinian advocacy uses code words such as anti-Israel, workers' rights, freedom of expression, and anti-America rhetoric, all of which are nothing more than a pretext for Jew-hatred and the destruction of Western civilization. What has also become clear is that the Free Palestine movement is not a grassroots or spontaneous movement, or even in response to the Hamas-Israel war. Instead, the movement is well-organized, complete with toolkits and professional signage, statements and press releases, even identical encampment tents, clearly with outside funding. The prior administration allowed brazen, dangerous hatred to flourish in the country unabated, and each failure at every level, our young people were emboldened to escalate further. And now we are seeing the dangerous, real-time consequences both in our colleges and on our streets. The recent Los Angeles protests, the murders of a young couple outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Denver, Colorado attack with a makeshift Molotov cocktail, which set several Americans on fire, are just the start of this escalating trend. We are now, for the first time, seeing progress. We ask you to use your authority to identify and investigate these individuals and organizations who are clearly working together to conspire to deprive Jewish Americans of their civil rights and to destroy America and Western civilization. Thank you.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, Ms. Cooper. Mr. Marcus, you may begin.

Mr. Kenneth L. MarcusSPEAKER_05

Chairman VanDrew Drew, Ranking Member Crockett, distinguished members of this committee, my name is Kenneth L. Marcus. I'm chairman and CEO of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. Thank you for this invitation. And more than that, thank you for the strong words of the chair, the ranking members, and the members of this committee condemning antisemitism. As Americans, it is good to hear unity. It is good to hear that the voices against antisemitism and hate are strong. We as Americans are reeling. We are reeling from a drumbeat of lethal antisemitism, violence that has surged from campus encampments into the streets, fueled by the extremist rhetoric and fostered by institutional complacency. The same confrontation between terror and democracy that has sparked war between Israel and Iran now plays out in the United States, where anti-Israel activists have called for the eradication of Western civilization. Since October 7, 2023, much violence has focused on Jewish targets, but we know, as members have emphasized already today, that what begins with the Jews does not end with the Jews. And we see that what developed on our campuses does not remain on our campuses. This lethal unrest is a threat to all Americans, and it must be stopped. The roots of this crisis are both global and domestic. Israel's recent war with both Iran and also ongoing with Hamas have emboldened anti-Jewish sentiment worldwide. At home, that sentiment has taken on a violent and organized character. What we are witnessing on American campuses is not a collection of spontaneous protests, but part of a broader, well-resourced campaign coordinated by student activists, external organizations, and aligned faculty networks. As described in a Brandeis Center complaint, the violent takeover of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, for example, was premeditated and planned in concert with outside pro-Hamas groups, which held strategy meetings just hours before the takeover, attended by over 100 individuals and featuring breakout sessions on resistance. Similarly, at UCLA, one encampment organized by Students for Justice in Palestine created a de facto exclusion zone where Jewish students were physically prevented from entering parts of campus. Participants used coordinated messaging, occupation tactics, and physical intimidation to advance a hostile agenda. Last year, then-Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines confirmed that Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, noting that individuals tied to Iran have posed as activists online, encouraged demonstrations, and even provided financial support to protests. Members that were originally created to combat discrimination, like diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, have in some cases been co-opted to excuse or normalize antisemitism. It's not just that antisemitism or Jewish identity are excluded from DEI initiatives, but rather that some of this programming reduces everyone to either oppressor or oppressed, sometimes castigating Jews as if Jews were white supremacists, with Jews being told to own our privilege, including Jews who might be descendants of Holocaust survivors. This can lead to age-old stereotypes of Jewish power and privilege. Let me be clear, nothing in my testimony is intended to restrict exercise of free speech. Criticizing any government, including Israel's, is protected under the First Amendment. But the harmful and often violent ideology plaguing our universities is no longer confined to the campus. We're seeing it in K-12 classrooms, healthcare facilities, workplaces, unions, other taxpayer-funded programs. In education, both K-12 schools and universities have become breeding grounds for anti-Israel and antisemitic indoctrination. Under the banner of decolonization or liberated ethnic studies, some curricula portray Jews as colonial oppressors, erasing indigenous connection to the land of Israel, and reframing Jewish identity as inherently oppressive. For example, in Santa Ana, California, the Brandeis Center filed suit after the school district approved ethnic studies curricula that erased Jewish identity, promoted antisemitic narratives, and excluded Jewish voices from the curriculum process. Steering committee members openly referred to the sole Jewish participant as a colonized Jewish mind and discussed scheduling meetings on Jewish holidays in order to reduce Jewish participation. In healthcare, antisemitism is increasingly surfacing under the guise of decolonizing therapy and similar movements. Under decolonizing therapy, this approach to mental health casts Zionism as a mental illness and frames Jewish identity as a symptom of colonial privilege, marginalizing Jewish patients and professionals alike. In one case, a Jewish patient was denied a prenatal appointment after the provider described Israel as a colonial oppressor. Another patient reported that her therapist equated Jewish identity with white supremacy. In view of all of this, I'm grateful both for the whole-of-government approach of the Trump administration and the whole-of-Congress approach of this Congress, and urge both additional legislation, both to implement the Trump executive order on combating antisemitism and also additional measures to ensure continued strong enforcement by the executive branch. And I thank you.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, Mr. Marcus. Mr. Schneider, you may begin.

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

Thank you, Ranking Member Crockett. Sadly, this hearing is very timely. We all know the data. We have the stories before us. The question is why? Why is there this massive spike in antisemitism? It's not because of a handful of neo-Nazis in their mother's basements. We have always had people who hate, who hold hate in their hearts and in their minds. Sadly, we always will. What's the difference? Why this spike? I believe it's because there are a handful or a few of these massive mega corporations that now create, curate, and distribute information to an unprecedented degree. And these corporations are intent on amplifying narratives that harm Jews. And let me be very clear, just as the chairman and the ranking member have been very clear. When Jews are attacked, our entire society is hurt. So what are these organizations? Well, they are politicized legacy media outlets, starting with the Associated Press. It's agenda-driven publishers, especially Wikipedia. It's big tech platforms, including search engines like Google and AI systems. And I will point out in particular Microsoft's Copilot. But first, let me address legacy media and the AP. When AP and its stylebook create double standards and use those standards to target Jews and to target Israel, it creates license for others, not only within its own, on its own payroll, but for other media outlets to attack Jews, either through attacking Israel and condemning Jews broadly because of attacks against Israel, or when they fail to identify the reason that there are attacks on American Jews. Covering stories that ignore why somebody was harmed, why there were massive mobs of people going after Jews after a soccer game, why a terrorist with a homemade flamethrower was going after protesters in Boulder. When the media fails to cover these stories, it gives license for more people and for hate to grow. Let me turn to the Associated Press in particular. It has a long history. The Nazis allowed the AP to stay in its country in the 1930s because the AP was willing to comply with the Nazi rules, firing all the Jews on staff, and only publishing stories and images that the Nazis approved. The AP stylebook has very poor definitions of genocide, of antisemitism, and of the Holocaust itself. That is why when there are stories written by the AP and by other media outlets, it glosses over the harm that's really being caused, and it gives license for people to throw around the term genocide in inappropriate ways that smear both Jews in America and the Israeli government when the Israeli government is simply trying to defend itself against terrorism. Let me point out other media outlets and what they've done. A Washington Post journalist recently posted that it's a beautiful thing, 600 Israeli dead. An NPR journalist called Jewish people pigs and posted, "Let it be a curse upon the Jews and their supporters." PBS's Jeffrey Brown called American Jewish students the face of oppression. A CBS journalist asked the question, Are the Jews human? CNN's Jessica Dean said that the Boulder terrorist attack was not necessarily a terrorist attack. I'm not sure what she thought it would have been. For those who are really concerned about genocide and try to flippantly throw that term to blame Israel for defending itself, why are they not asking about what happened in Rwanda? Why are they not asking about what's going on in the Congo? Why are they not asking about what's happening to the Uyghurs in China, where true genocide is taking place? I also want to turn to Wikipedia. Wikipedia has a long history now. Sadly, it was founded as an online encyclopedia to democratize information. It has instead been hijacked by radicals to promote a radical agenda. Wikipedia has treated Jews, Judaism, and Israel in abominable ways. It also has a series of blacklists to prevent media outlets on the right, and including pro-Israel and pro-Jewish outlets on the left. If one wonders what it takes for the ADL and other left-wing organizations to be banned by Wikipedia, here's the answer: be Jewish. Mr. Chairman, I have additional information in my written testimony, but I'm happy to answer questions.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you for your statement, and that opportunity will definitely come to you. Mr. Nosanchuk, you may begin.

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Matt Nosanchuk. I'm a former senior government official and Jewish community nonprofit leader. Galvanizing action and developing policy to counter antisemitism has been a central focus of my work. I want to thank you, Chairman VanDrew—Chairman VanDrew Drew and Ranking Member Crockett and Ranking Member for the full committee Raskin, for inviting me to testify before the committee today. Last month, I attended the opening of a new exhibit at the Capital Jewish Museum where, six days later, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrom were fatally gunned down in an act of cold-blooded antisemitic violence. Because the museum is just blocks away from my home, I heard the sirens. The proximity made one thing devastatingly clear: the victim could have been me. That's how hate violence works. It makes every member of the targeted group feel afraid and vulnerable. Add to this horror the arson at the Pennsylvania Governor's residence and the firebombing of a demonstration in Boulder. By every measure, antisemitism is still increasing and getting more brazen and violent. According to FBI statistics, antisemitic hate crimes more than doubled between 2021 and 2023. Jews are targeted at a rate of 291 per 1 million people, a much higher rate per capita than any other group. The latest shootings confirm that antisemitism is dangerous no matter where it is tolerated and fueled. From the right, it is well established that the increase in domestic terror results principally from the actions of white supremacists. In addition, we see normalization of conspiracy theories and the appointment of antisemites into positions of political power. From the left, criticism of Israel's policies has at times crossed into antisemitic rhetoric and violence, as we saw in recent months. Also, when Jews are asked to renounce or check their relationship with Israel at the door in order to participate in coalitions, civil society is not just failing Jewish community members, they are falling short of progressive ideals of pluralism and respect for difference. I described in my written statement my role in OCR at the Department of Education, supporting the unprecedented number of antisemitism investigations after October 7th. However, by the time a government investigation is warranted, we have missed opportunities for earlier intervention. America is failing Jews when antisemitic hate is normalized in the public square and tolerated or endorsed by the most prominent national officials, when Nazi symbols and ideas are publicly evoked, when Holocaust education and remembrance are eliminated in our federal agencies, when leaders invoke countering antisemitism to demonize other ethnic groups and use Jewish vulnerability to trample on the freedoms and due process rights of any group, when we allow charges of antisemitism to be used as a political wedge issue to sow divisions between Jews and other communities, and when we fail to recognize that rising antisemitism is part of a broader rise in hate that can only be eradicated if we find common cause with other communities. My message is this: Leaders who respond to rising antisemitism by imposing draconian policies that trample on due process of others, advance anti-immigrant policies, and strip billions in funding from universities do not make Jews any safer. They undermine democratic institutions and norms under which Jews and other groups have thrived, and they actually make antisemitism worse by justifying these measures in the name of combating antisemitism, putting Jews in the position of being scapegoated. By contrast, I commend Chairman VanDrew Drew and his co-sponsors for passing House Resolution 481, which focused on condemning violent antisemitism, not scoring partisan political points. We will succeed only if we recognize that antisemitism is antisemitism wherever it originates on the ideological spectrum, and to focus not on fearmongering, but on effective strategies that bring communities together to fight it. First, government leaders need to speak out and condemn antisemitism from wherever it emanates. Second, continue implementation of the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism. For example, restore critical funding for hate crime prevention grants that were terminated, and funding for the Justice Department's Community Relations Service. Fully fund OCR, and restore the expertise that has been lost through the mass layoffs and closure of regional offices. Expand Holocaust education and antisemitism awareness programs, and work with social media companies to address antisemitic conspiracy theories and incitement. Antisemitism is a clear and present danger to Jews and to America's values, but we must fight it in a way that strengthens rather than weakens the democratic institutions that have been the foundation of Jewish safety and belonging in America. Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. I look forward to your questions.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, Mr. Nosanchuk. We will now proceed under the 5-minute rule with the questions you eagerly anticipate. The chair recognizes the gentleman from the great state of Alabama.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. President Trump established a dedicated antisemitism task force within the Department of Justice and reinforced the Federal Bureau of Investigation's resources and directives to proactively identify, investigate, and neutralize threats against Jewish communities nationwide. Additionally, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights is investigating colleges and universities that allow antisemitism to occur on campuses without serious consequences. And the president has restricted foreign student visas for Harvard University. Mr. Marcus, what other actions has President Trump taken so far in his second term that have helped?

Mr. Kenneth L. MarcusSPEAKER_05

Thank you, Congressman Moore. We have never seen such active, energetic, aggressive enforcement of laws against antisemitism as we have seen from this administration. In addition to the task force efforts that you've seen, I would say, first, the Justice Department has engaged in a very serious way, which we hadn't seen in the prior administration. We have seen proactive investigations from OCR rather than waiting for complaints to come in the door. We have seen significant outreach. Now, we got that from the prior administration also, but we've seen significant outreach. And we have seen a much more muscular approach using the whole of government, including agencies like GSA that had previously not been engaged whatsoever. So, novel, forceful approaches to deal with the extraordinary crisis that we're now seeing.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

Ms. Cooper, how does an open border make America more susceptible to attacks from anti-Semitic, pro-terror groups? Turn your mic on, please, ma'am.

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Part of the problem is that we've had an open border. We've had probably 20 million or more come into our country. We don't know if they're terrorists. We don't know who they are. We don't know if they're bringing drugs, if they don't know if they're trafficking children or women, an open border is probably in large part why we're here today.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

So you think maybe a lot of the protesters may have come across an open border at some point in the past?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

I think so. I would have to say there's probably a good number of people who are here, but there's also— the problem actually started many years ago. The Jew-hatred movement is not just something that's happened since October 7th. It's been formulated. It's been created in our schools, in our— in politics, in our social society. It's been a plan, and I think October 7th was really just like the impetus that let the Jew-hatred and the hatred of America explode. I don't think it's necessarily related to the influx of immigrants, although I'm sure it's feeding into it for the purposes of the illegal activities. But this problem is much, much deeper than just some protests on campus, and I'm not minimizing anything. I'm not minimizing what happened in D.C. or in Colorado, but the problem is much deeper, and it's a little bit under the surface.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

This weekend I was at an event, and it was a group of ladies that leads America. And there was a young girl, she was 13 years old, and she called me off to the side, and I could just tell in the education system that she thought the people in Gaza were the good people. And I really had to walk her through that process. Having been to the Gaza Strip and been in those tunnels, when you see somebody that'll spend a lifetime drilling in limestone rock 6 inches at a time to kill their neighbors, there's a great bit of hatred there. And so I was trying to walk her through. But all of a sudden, I realized the education system in America is failing American students, certainly in these narratives that they get off the media. And so, another question, Ms. Cooper, what are the digital warning signs, if any were visible from some of the recent attacks, or do y'all see those visible warning signs?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Sure.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

Is it on social media where these 13-year-olds are going in and seeing that stuff? Is that what's going on? Or when you see a digital warning sign, what does that look like?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Okay, so I want to just address the first question that you said.

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

Sure.

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

The 13-year-old isn't necessarily getting the information from social media. Our teachers in K through—not just universities, there is a really deep problem in K through 12. So even starting out in kindergarten, you're getting that false—that essentially it's the Hamas narratives that the Jews, Israelis, Israel, basically we commit these crimes, or that they portray a false narrative in which Jews, Israelis, State of Israel are demonized, delegitimized. They're accused of crimes they do not commit. And this has been taught and is being taught right now in our schools. It's not even just limited to the classroom. It's extracurricular activities. It's the unions, both at the K through 12 level and at the college level, are insidiously antisemitic. I can go into detail about that, but

Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL)SPEAKER_06

thank you, Miss Cooper. Please don't. I'm out of time. But, and with that, Mr. Mr. Chairman, I'll yield back. Thank you, though.

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Thank you.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank the gentleman. I now recognize the gentleman from the great state of Georgia.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)SPEAKER_08

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake about it. Hate is on the rise in the United States of America. And for the past recent years, the Jewish community, the Jewish people have been at the bullseye of hate. And I want to make a statement today. I stand on the side of my Jewish brothers and sisters against hate and antisemitism. The Trump administration and MAGA Republicans have a lot of empty talk about fighting antisemitism. They talk a big game while they strip funding from the agencies that fight domestic terrorism, pause vital security grants to synagogues and religious schools, and filled Trump's administration with right-wing extremists who cozy up to Nazi sympathizers. The Trump administration and MAGA Republicans use these empty words because their focus on antisemitism is not actually about the safety of Jews. Instead, they are cynically weaponizing antisemitism to justify anti-immigrant and anti-First Amendment actions that make Jews less safe. Trump and MAGA Republicans' silencing of free speech and the turn towards nativism are bad for Jews, just as they are bad for all minority groups who depend on America's robust democracy for safety. And now I yield the balance of my time to my friend, Representative Goldman.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY)SPEAKER_11

I thank the gentleman from Georgia, and I think it's a very important point that the gentleman raises, because, as a number of my colleagues on the Democratic side have raised today, the antisemitism that seems to be given permission from this administration through its hiring of avowed antisemites and through its defunding of a number of programs that would fight antisemitism stands in stark contrast to a lot of the rhetoric that we hear. Now, I am going to do as Mr. Nosanchuk suggested, which is I will call out antisemitism wherever it exists. It certainly exists on the right. Mr. Schneider, you are right. That has been there for a long time. We've seen it in circles, Unite the Right and other neo-Nazi extremist groups, and there is no question that we are seeing a significant rise on the extreme left. I'm a Democratic elected official who condemns extremism and antisemitism wherever it is, on the extreme right and the extreme left, including phrases such as globalize the intifada or from the river to the sea, or all sorts of other slogans that are well understood to be antisemitic by Jews. And as a Jew, I can tell you I'm sick and tired of being told by others what is antisemitic and what is not. But we all need to take a bipartisan view of this, a nonpartisan view of this if we're going to tackle this problem. And I say that to my Democratic colleagues, and I say it to my Republican colleagues. And the reason why you hear frustration on the Democratic side of the aisle here is because we hear so much lip service from our Republican colleagues about antisemitism, about how terrible the protests are and the rallies and what's going on on universities. And I agree. But then on the other hand, we see nonprofit security grants funded at $305 million, which is the same as fiscal year '23 before October 7th, that protects Jewish synagogues. We're seeing a rise in violent hate crimes now where Jewish institutions need much more protection. We're not getting it. We see antisemitism being used as a pretext to go after immigration policy or to go after universities that has nothing to do with antisemitism. And I concur with Mr. Nosanchuk, and I have said this to the chairman himself: I was very pleased that he introduced a very straightforward resolution condemning antisemitism. Unfortunately, on that same day, there was another resolution that tried to use antisemitism as a pretext with the Boulder, Colorado, shooting related to some immigration policy. And I hope to have a little bit more time to ask some questions, but I really want to take this opportunity to urge all of my colleagues and all of these witnesses here to stop playing the blame game. And let's focus on antisemitism. Let's put the funding where it needs to be so that we can actually attack the issue. And I thank the chairman. I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

The gentleman yields back to the gentleman from Georgia. The gentleman from Georgia yields back. I will now recognize the gentleman from Missouri.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all the witnesses for being here today. We're holding this hearing today in light of the recent antisemitic violence, including the arson at the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, the brutal murder of Israeli embassy employees, and of course, the barbaric Boulder, Colorado terrorist attack that injured 15 people and even the road rage incident affecting one of our own members. Mr. Schneider, has the media accurately reported on the motives of the suspects in these recent attacks?

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

Congressman, thank you for the question. Once— broadly speaking, what the media does is fail to report stories more often than not. And when they do report stories, they fail to report the facts,

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

or they report stories that fit their narrative.

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

They ignore so many stories and then focus on the things that they want to focus on, oftentimes for a political agenda. And then, for example, as I previously indicated, when the terrorist in Boulder with a flamethrower attacked Jews who were simply asking for Hamas to return the hostages, so many media outlets failed to indicate that this was a terrorist act. Peaceful

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

protesters, elderly protesters.

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

That's right, sir. And we see time and again our public broadcasters, NPR and PBS, time and time again, they'll run stories oftentimes with antisemitic tropes over and over, ignoring root causes of the war, ignoring root causes of antisemitism, and instead going after the other side, those responsible for these sorts of attacks.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

If I recall, the media outlets initially downplayed the ideological motives of the attacker in Boulder, Colorado. Am I wrong there?

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

This is a consistent pattern with so many in legacy media.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

Are there any particular regions or cities where— we know campuses, college campuses, but where anti-Semitic violence has surged more than others?

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

Congressman, I'm not aware that there's any particular city that's worse than others. What we do see, if you look at a map, like a heat blister map, you'll see that these anti-Semitic protests or anti-Semitic empowered protests are all over. You'll see media outlets, large, small, public, private, all employing the same sort of devices. That's why I really do focus on on like the Associated Press and the stylebook that sets the definition and the tones for so many of these things.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

And we see that in so many areas.

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

That's right.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

gender-affirming care, give me a break. It's in the AP Stylebook. No, thank you. Ms. Cooper, what do you identify as the key failures of the Biden administration regarding the vetting and border enforcement that allowed Mohamed Sabry Soliman to execute a year-long plot that ultimately culminated in the firebombing in the pro-Israel rally?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

I just want to expand on one comment about the exacerbation of antisemitism. I don't— it's I've seen— I know I read recently some report that says that the universities that have chapters of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine have a far higher incident rate of antisemitism than universities that do not. Faculties for Justice, the FJP, was basically started the month after October 7th, and they are, essentially, the teachers that are involved in the encampments, the protests, they work with the students.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

So, yeah, I hadn't heard. I heard of Students for Justice in Palestine, but Faculty for Justice in Palestine started shortly after October 7th.

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Correct. Okay. The National Students for Justice in Palestine, they have various chapters on the campuses that we always read about, which are the SJP, Students for Justice in Palestine. And FJP was started to support the Students for Justice in Palestine.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

And you mentioned an issue of unions in our educational institutions playing a role in the rise of antisemitism. I'm assuming—I always like to name names—K through 12 schools, we're talking about American Federation of Teachers and NEA?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Yes, and then you're talking about the AAUP on college campuses. Yes.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

And how about the unions we don't necessarily always consider as being teachers unions, SEIU, AFSCME?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

I'm not sure about them, but the major unions, I know, for example, the NEA, which is one of the largest unions, they were involved in some recent national day of protest. They created the toolkit for it. It was for in the name of Palestine or the Free Palestine Movement. But a union—

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

what's a union have to do with that?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Right.

Rep. Robert Onder (R-MO)SPEAKER_03

Well, thank you. And I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, Dr. Onder. I do recognize the gentleman from Florida.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)SPEAKER_10

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I have all sorts of notes on this, but I'm living it every day now, every day. To be Jewish in this country now is an out-of-body experience on what's going on. You know, my grandmother escaped the Holocaust. She was part of the Kindertransport out of Germany. Parents were killed in Auschwitz, lost all sorts of other family in in Poland. And this is not comparable to that, but the very beginnings of that are very comparable, right? Because you got to you got to dehumanize them first, right? You got to make them others. You got to make them feel like they don't belong, right? You got to make other people feel— you got to build coalitions. You got to build consensus that, you know, the Jews don't belong. And I want to be clear, this theory out there that, Oh, you can you can be anti-Zionist, or you can be anti-Israel and not be anti-Semitic. I would say that theoretically you could, but that is not what's happening. It is not what's happening. You can absolutely go criticize a government. Great, wonderful, we do it here. But that is not what's happening. It wasn't what was happening on university campuses. I went to Columbia, as did Mr. Goldman, during Passover to be with those students. That was not what was happening when they were holding up signs saying, Go back to Poland. It's nothing to do with Netanyahu. And people were silent. And the Jewish families across the country knew the stuff that was going on college campuses. Okay? If that was happening with any other minority group, it wouldn't have gotten past lunchtime on the first day. I have police outside my house 24 hours a day. You think that's because of Netanyahu, right? My kids, death threats against them. I had an assassination attempt by a resident guy that was picked up, going to go to jail for a decade, right? Had an antisemitic manifesto, my name was the target, was Googling where my wife worked, was Googling wind resistance and distance, had a scope, had a vest, had hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and had a sniper. So I know what's going on in this country, but I would tell you, there is one thing that is uniting the left and the right, and that is Jews. This is not just a problem on the left. Go look what's going on on social media on the woke right. It isn't just some Nazis in a basement anymore, okay? Marjorie Taylor Greene is holding up the Antisemitism Awareness Act because she wants to be able to say the Jews killed Jesus. So this is a problem in both of our houses. And pretending it is not is one of the reasons why we're not cleaning it up, because we're just saying, Oh, you know, you over there, or You over there. This is not going well for Jews right now. And it isn't getting better, by the way. We have not yet peaked to where this is going to go. And yet we can talk about the legacy media all day long, Mr. Schneider, but that's not where we're losing the youth of this country. We're losing them on TikTok, which is owned by a foreign country, that the president now has extended beyond what the law has allowed. I don't want TikTok to go away, but I want it to get out of the hands of the Chinese. Okay? They are doing the Nazi playbook. They are dividing us. They are fomenting. They don't need to do it with B-2 bombers. That's not what the Chinese plan is. The Chinese is to get us fighting amongst ourselves. The Chinese plan is to get us angry and divisive. And the Chinese plan is to start with the easiest target possible, and that is us. And so until we stop doing this, you know, who did what to who stuff, okay, we're not going to solve this. Jews are losing their usual allies, those allies that we've had for decades and decades and decades, groups that Jews have stood up for. We're losing them by the moment, especially amongst young people. So, you know, I'm called a foreign asset, right, that I'm a foreign lobbyist. I mean, it's just endless. Go look, any post I put up, the hatred, the vitriol that's going on. And so I appreciate this hearing, Mr. Chairman, but this hearing ain't going to fix shit, okay? This is a virus that is spreading. And until we're serious about stopping what's going on online and the brainwashing of our kids, this is going to get worse, and more people are going to die in this country. And it is going to be us. I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Gentleman yields back.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA)SPEAKER_08

If the gentleman would yield for just a quick second.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)SPEAKER_10

If the chairman would allow me just an extra 15 seconds, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

I— if we'll record everything, or maybe there'll be a chance further on down the road. But if I— In all fairness, if I give it to you, then I have to give it to everybody. I understand. I won't

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)SPEAKER_10

say that was antisemitic.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

And we'll be here a long— it's not. I think, you know,

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)SPEAKER_10

humor doesn't hurt. A little humor doesn't hurt.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Okay, we don't agree. He is a funny guy. I tell him that all the time. He's got a great sense of humor in all times. And you know that I agree with some of what you said, but I'm going to yield some time to myself and then Mr. Schmidt will actually—you'll come in the next round. I wanted to address some of those things. So, I've really attempted to do this hearing in as nonpartisan a way as I possibly can. And I would agree with Mr. Moskowitz that there is some fault on the right. There's no question we have some extreme right wing, and I'm conservative. I'm a very conservative person. But there's no room for this on any side. But some of the examples that are given of how this administration is antisemitic or done the wrong thing by Jews, in general, I don't buy that. I really don't. Let me be clear. Some of the government-funded agencies were promoting antisemitic, anti-equality—I don't use equity, I use equality—proposals. Let me be clear. Many universities, Ms. Cooper, you and I have spoken about it. My university, I graduated undergraduate, I went to dental school after, but undergraduate—I'm just pouring out my heart here, I don't have this all written down. I went to Rutgers University. I'm proud of Rutgers. It's a good school. It's a good public school. Some of the things that are said and are going on, some of the professors that are tenured, you've got to be kidding me. So, I would say the same thing to my friends on the left, on the Democrat side, whatever you want to say. Don't tell me that you don't see that, because if you don't, then your eyes are closed. We have a real problem. Want to talk about a real problem? We got a real problem in our universities. We've got a real problem in our colleges. We've got a real problem with what we're teaching young kids. There is a desire to change the fabric and structure of the United States of America. And this is one of a number of ways they want to go about it. Our healthcare system, I think it was Mr. Marcus, I'm not sure, Mr. Schneider mentioned, even our healthcare system doesn't really exhibit equality and has gone after Jews. Some of the DEI policies weren't DEI policies for everyone, and I don't even like the policies to begin with. Equality for everyone, absolutely. Opportunity for everyone. But some of them were inherently anti-Jewish. Corporation policies they were actually promoting were anti-Jew, anti-Jewish, antisemitic. Let's tell the truth. It's tell-the-truth time. Media policies, I notice this all the time. I'm sorry, and I'm not trying to be partisan, damn it. I just see it. I see the coverage of things. I see when I'm at a meeting, and I understand you should cover both. You should cover the right. You should cover the left. Universities should cover everything. But allowing hate and venom and a call to violence, some of these young people are influenced by that. And the most ironic part of it all is, in these universities and colleges, the very people who are doing the anti-Jewish propaganda would never be anti-United States government and recommending— again, it's their right to speak out, but to do in a way that encourages violence and pain and hurt is wrong. And, my God, if they were in any of these countries that they're promoting— some of these countries women can't drive, some of these countries women can't show their face, some of these countries, if you're gay, you'll be killed. Let's tell the damn truth since Mr. Moskowitz wants to tell the truth, and I know he does, and I respect him. But let's tell the truth on this.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY)SPEAKER_11

Would the gentleman yield for a

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

minute? In a second. And let's be also clear, we're trying to—and I get you don't like President Trump. I get it. I do. You don't. It's okay. There's differences on the right and left, conservative, liberal, Democrat, Republican. But the statistics that we're using, because it takes a number of years to actually develop them, are not from when he was even in the presidency. They are from when Joe Biden was the president of the United States. And I'm not going to lay that on Joe Biden's feet either, but the point is to push that all on President Trump is inherently unfair. So let's stop it. And I know, Mr. Moskowitz, you say that this isn't enough, but damn it, we had to start somewhere. I wish I had more time, because I can't overuse my time either. But, Ms. Cooper, I'm going to ask you questions real quickly, and I just want a yes or a no. Are universities that tolerate harassment of Jewish students violating their obligations under Title VI? Yes or no? Has the threat environment on campuses escalated tremendously, including Rutgers—and I hope somebody from Rutgers, including the new president, is watching—since October 7th, 2023? Yes or no?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Yes.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Has the Trump administration strengthened enforcement of Title VI through investigations, etc.? Yes or no?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Yes.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Should colleges that allow open support for terrorist groups like Hamas on their campuses be subject to loss of federal funding? Yes or no?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Yes.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

What are the—

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

or

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

the consequences of university administrators when they treat chants like from the river to the sea as protected speech instead of addressing them as threats? Is that right? Yes or no?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

It's not right.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Not right. Should student groups that glorify terrorist organizations face disciplinary questions and consequences? Yes or no?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Yes. And more.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Do you believe that some of the current federal civil rights enforcement tools are too slow or too weak for modern Congress and modern campus antisemitism?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Very weak. Yes.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Okay. Thank you. I yield my time back. Next is—and we ask the ranking member from the great state of Texas, as she always likes to point out, right?

Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)SPEAKER_00

Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Chair. And as I was listening to Mr. Moskowitz, it reminded me of the reason that I started off the remarks the way that I did when I talked about being united. He mentioned the alliances, and as a civil rights attorney, you can't come up in the civil rights world and not be told about the alliance that existed, the alliance that has been oftentimes referred to as the Grand Alliance between Black and Jewish Americans. And there's an article that has some really great information in it. But what I want to get to is this one part, because I do want to yield more time to my colleagues. It says, "The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience, and that will be a day not of the white man, not of the Black man, that will be the day of man as man." And this was in reference this was a quote from King, Martin Luther King, because Martin Luther King marched with so many amazing Jewish leaders, and they came together for the purpose of moving forward in this country. And it was a great Texan that signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 65 into law just a few months after Dr. King was quoted as saying this. And the reason that I bring this up is because when we start to talk about policy, I do want to be clear that this administration has been very clear that it is anti-DEI. And while they have defined things such as DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, to be basically Black, if you just Google, it will tell you that it refers to the presence of differences among people, encompassing various characteristics like age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and more. The reality is that there was a time in which our leaders understood that marching together for civil rights would somehow lead to the liberty and the freedom of all, and that is really where I want us to get. Instead of saying that it's okay to love and support one group and hate another, we need to come together and stand against hate as a whole. And I will yield to Mr. Moskowitz.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL)SPEAKER_10

Thank you, Ranking Member. Just 30 seconds. Mr. Chairman, I know what's going on in the universities. I promise, I've been there, right? I know the foreign money that has come into these universities. I know programs that are being taught there. No one is denying that that's the deal, and it's by design. It's to go after the youth, right? It's targeted. Okay. Maybe the left is a couple of years ahead of you, but I want you to understand this is not a partisan problem. What you saw, okay, in the in this strike in Iran, if you look at social media, I want you to understand that there are a lot of people on the woke right that it turned out they hated Jews more than they liked the president, and they picked a side. That's how much they hated Jews. And it is people—yes, there's all sorts of bots on Twitter, but it is people with millions of followers, and they are brainwashing. And so now it's happening on both sides, okay? And you know what's happening? It's coming like this: It starts over here, and then it goes, and then it goes, and then you have consensus. And that's where we're headed. And so I'm not debating with you that you're not correct, but I want you to open your mind to understanding that this is a problem everywhere now. I'll yield back.

Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett (D-TX)SPEAKER_00

And I will yield to Mr. Goldman.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY)SPEAKER_11

And thank you to the ranking member. And I'll pick up on on where Mr. Moskowitz— Mr. Chairman, as you may know, I'm the co-chair of the Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, and I will make a deal with you. I will call out all the antisemitism that I see on the extreme left if you lead by example and call out all the antisemitism you see on the extreme right. Because the more that we go back and forth and accuse the other of being worse and try to prop up, oh, what this administration has done on Title VI or on DOJ or or whatever the litany of questions that you asked Ms. Cooper, the less we are able to tackle the problem. The reality is that unfortunately, this administration has decided to move its enforcement of Title VI from the Department of Education and OCR, which Mr. Marcus led in the first Trump administration and Mr. Nosanchuk was a deputy in the last administration, and now it's to DOJ. Now, you can make an argument, as Ms. Cooper will likely make, that that's a stronger cudgel against antisemitism. That may be the case, but it moves a lot slower. And so I would urge us to talk about how we can tackle this problem, because it's got to be through both. We need a robust Office of Civil Rights that can move quickly to investigate antisemitism on campus and remedy the problem before we get to litigation, which takes a very, very long time. And what I hope we can do is recognize that to address the issue on the substance, we have to take the politics out of it. Because, yes, you may have Harvard or Columbia or Penn, and that may get a lot of attention, and it may seem like you're really cracking down on antisemitism. But Mr. Nosanchuk can correct me, there were almost 200 complaints of antisemitism that were filed to the Office of Civil Rights during the last administration. At one point, there was an average of 51 investigations per employee at the Office of Civil Rights. Nobody can do 51 investigations. So let's get to the bottom of the substance here rather than try to put one party ahead of the next. And I say this as somebody who, like Mr. Moskowitz, is eager and open to calling out the antisemitism that occurs on the extreme left, on campuses. And I will continue to do that, and I will be a leader in calling out my own party. But we need people on both sides to be calling out antisemitism on both sides in order for us to address this. And I thank you for the extra time, and I yield back.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you, and rest assured, when I see antisemitism, I'm willing to work hand in hand with folks on both sides of the aisle. Today's attempt, the resolution that I did on the floor, today's attempt as well, there's no doubt that there's fault that can be found on both sides, but there is fault on both sides. I don't want it to be that just everything Trump is bad, everything Trump is wrong, this all came because of Trump. This came from a variety of things happening at once. It's a very challenging time in America for people of Jewish descent. It just is. It's a serious thing. This is no joke, and I will agree with you that this is no joke. It should be beyond partisanship. We never seem to succeed in Congress to be beyond partisanship. Maybe this can be an example of where we will. I am absolutely willing to give it a shot. With that, I want to yield to Mr. Schmidt. 5 minutes.

Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-KS)SPEAKER_01

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank our witnesses and and thank my colleagues for what I think has been a genuine exchange of points of view today. I've heard a passion on this committee today that I've not always heard as I've served in the last 5 months, and I'm actually grateful for that. And I will tell you, Mr. Chairman, I'm as I've heard the the most recent discussion here, a particular individual came to mind. This is this is an issue that's connected to my state. There was a fellow who was from North Carolina a number of years ago. He had moved to southern Missouri. He had in years past been a member of the White Patriot Party. He then became a member of the Democratic Party. He then became a member of the Republican Party. He then re-registered as an independent. And on the eve of Passover in 2014, he drove from southern Missouri across the state line into Kansas, went to the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas, with the intent of killing Jewish people, and shot and killed 3 people who were present, Frazier Glenn Cross or Glenn Miller—he went by both—and he ultimately died in prison in the state of Kansas. So I realize that's not precisely on point, but I would use that case to underscore this exchange that I've just heard among my colleagues of goodwill, that there is nothing partisan about this on on either side of the ledger. We also just had a very recent case that touched our state of Kansas. Sarah Milgrim, who was one of the 2 young people who was murdered here on the streets of Washington just last month, was a young Kansan. She was raised in the greater Kansas City area, is an alumna of my alma mater at the University of Kansas. And so we've all been touched in our own ways, and certainly these are fresh wounds for us in the great state of Kansas. So I'd like to explore an idea with any of our witnesses, but I'm going to start with Mr. Schneider. I mean, as we've, as we've heard the discussion today, the prepared testimony, the back and forth, the questioning, it does seem to me that there is an awfully lot of of general agreement that we have, uh, from Mr. Schneider testimony, we have out there both in some of the legacy media but also he mentioned Wikipedia and some of the online sources, we have folks whipping things up either with a specific intent to cause ill action or, or otherwise. And it becomes difficult when we start talking about what government can do in response, what type state action may be permissible to respond to even the most atrocious and heinous, uh, discussion, whether it's online or otherwise. And I guess I would just ask Mr. Schneider, you've obviously given this area a great deal of thought, are there things in our current sort of architecture of the First Amendment, either as the courts have interpreted it or as we've advocated it, that we ought to be focused on, concerned about? Boundaries? Is the architecture suitable for us to do some things in this space?

Mr. Dan SchneiderSPEAKER_14

Congressman, that's an excellent question, and it actually gets to what Congresswoman Crockett was getting to as well. NetChoice before the U.S. Supreme Court last year, arguing on behalf of these Big Tech platforms, literally argued essentially a resurrection of an even worse version of the Plessy v. Ferguson standard of separate but equal. These Big Tech platforms literally are arguing that they have a First Amendment right to discriminate against anybody for any reason, that they have a right to discriminate against somebody if they're Black, if they're Jewish, or for political speech. This is a dire threat that these platforms think that they are above the law, that they can discriminate for any reason whatsoever, and they are. We're seeing Jews getting kicked out of Uber cabs. And Uber, Lyft, these rideshare companies, they are, in fact, Big Tech platforms. We are seeing people of faith whose accounts are being shut down in the name of Big Tech claiming that they've got the right to discriminate based on faith. This is one place where Congress can explore, investigate, and push back on Big Tech. These are common carriers. They should not be allowed to discriminate. The state of Texas is doing good work here; others are too. Maybe you and Congresswoman Crockett could work together to address this real problem.

Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-KS)SPEAKER_01

Appreciate it, Mr. Schneider. And Ms. Cooper, in the time we have left, you talked a bit about threats. Can you tell us what type of online threats we're most commonly seeing against the Jewish community? And I ask the question against the backdrop of, in terms of the judicial interpretation of the First Amendment, the speech clause, we've generally seen true threats and incitement as probably the most applicable exceptions to. What are we seeing and how do they fit?

Ms. Debra CooperSPEAKER_07

Every time, every— aside from, like, plans, events, incidents, etc., whenever something big happens, like, for example, what's happening right now with Iran, I can I can Yeah, I can give you, like, a few examples. You see the groups, the most virulent, rabid antisemitic groups who are posting things that incite violence, murder, more. So, right now, in the last few days, after initially, like, just a few days ago with Iran, the Palestinian Youth Movement—you need to investigate them; they're a scary group—they posted under the guise of, like, immigration also, they posted, We will win. And these are just, like, little snippets that I took. Then they, National NJP posted, Death to occupation. They also posted in a separate post, The empire will fall from Gaza to Tehran. And then they wrote, The unprovoked attacks against the US, The unprovoked attacks by the US and the Zionist army have launched against Iran provide one thing: imperialism in the region will not stop at suffocating Palestine.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

The gentlelady's time has expired. Sorry. I recognize the gentleman, the ranking member from Maryland, Mr. Raskin.

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I want to thank my colleague, Mr. Schmidt, for his very thoughtful

SPEAKER_UNKNOWN

And,

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

But I've noted that we've been here for a few hours and the three majority witnesses have not uttered a single word against antisemitic violence and rhetoric on the right. My colleague Dan Goldman said repeatedly he, like all other Democrats, denounces antisemitism on the extreme left, on the extreme right, and somehow there's this troubling silence which emerges when it comes to that. And I want to try to get to the bottom of it. But I would

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Will the gentleman yield for 5 seconds?

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

Sure.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you. I have clearly stated that when there is this kind of behavior on the right, I am opposed and I have called it out in the past. And I

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

heard that. And I thank you very much. And I was referring to the witnesses and not to you. I'm very pleased with everything I've heard from the dais today. I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Part of me thinks maybe this is just a partisan problem, that they think that it somehow breaks from Republican ranks if they acknowledge right-wing antisemitism in America or anywhere else on the world. But I mean, what if Joe Biden had invited a neo-Nazi Holocaust revisionist to come have dinner with him and Kanye West and then didn't apologize, say he would never do it again, but that's just accepted as a norm? What if Joe Biden had found very fine people on both sides of an antisemitic riot called— that began with a march in front of a synagogue 15 minutes from where my sister lives in Charlottesville, with people chanting, Jews will not replace us, Jews will not replace us, and Heather Heyer was killed, and all we hear from Donald Trump is, They're very fine people on both sides? The worst antisemitic mass shooting in American history in Pittsburgh at the Tree of Life Synagogue done by apparently a Lone Ranger neo-Nazi, but we get dismissive language like from Mr. Schneider saying, Well, we really shouldn't be worried about a couple of neo-Nazis living in the basement? I mean, my constituents are afraid to go to synagogue because of neo-Nazis living in the basement, not because of the American Federation of Teachers, not because of the AAUP, not because of the Associated Press. So somehow the people who have great antisemitism detectors in major media institutions can't see what it means to have neo-Nazis at large in America threatening people's lives. And people are afraid, and it's costing Jewish institutions a lot of money to try to protect themselves against this. So, Mr. Nosanchuk, you were working with President Biden in the White House. I remember clearly the US national strategy to counter antisemitism, actual real steps to move forward, and we couldn't get—forgive me, Mr. Chairman, it sounds like a partisan point. I'm not trying to make it a partisan point. We couldn't get bipartisan cooperation on doing all these things. I wonder if you would say a word about what's in there, but more importantly, why is it that some people just want to see antisemitism on one side, whether it's the extreme right or extreme left? But I would go beyond that, because there's antisemitism in the center, in the government. I mean, I don't know exactly what Elon Musk is, but that guy used a fascist salute. And when people protested about it, he sent out a text making fun of the whole thing. Some people—he's using Nazi war criminals to make a joke: Some people will Goebbels down anything. Stop Göring your enemies. His pronouns would have been he/Himmler. Bet you did Nazi that coming. Okay, so it's a big joke to Elon Musk. How come we can't get across-the-board denunciation of that? Why must it be a partisan football? If you take a few seconds on that, Mr. Nosanchuk.

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

Sure. Thank you, Ranking Member Raskin. First, on the national strategy, what I'd like to say, and I brought it with me as well because I had an opportunity to both have input into it before it was released in 2023 when I was outside of government, and then when I was inside of government following September of 2023, I was very much involved in implementing it. It contains more than 100 recommendations for a whole-of-government approach to addressing the problem of antisemitism. And every agency in the federal government that had any stake in addressing the problem, from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Education, to the Department of Defense, to the Department of State, all looked at what they could do to effectively address the problem of— And

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

to move forward. And let me intervene here just to ask you, why is it that groups that are at least nominally organized around antisemitism will not call out antisemitism in the government, like with Ed Martin, who embraces a neo-Nazi who wears a Hitler mustache and he defends him? Why can we not get the groups who are nominally organized around this to say anything about it?

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

Right. I mean, as somebody who was a nonprofit leader in the Jewish community, I was very insistent on calling out antisemitism on the right or on the left, wherever it—

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

or in the center,

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

or in the center, for that matter, as well. And I also said that most of the domestic terror is originating from the antisemitism on the right. That is a fact. And when I was in New York, we had instances where there were bomb threats that were foiled, that were white supremacists who were coming into Manhattan to try to blow up a synagogue. And so it's critical to be even-handed, as Mr. Goldman said and as others have said, about calling this out wherever it arises.

Full Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD)SPEAKER_13

All right. Thank you. I yield back to you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Thank you. I recognize the gentleman from the great state of Texas, Mr. Gill.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)SPEAKER_09

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks for holding this hearing. I agree. Wherever antisemitism is found, we should denounce it vehemently. This is a huge issue that has come up, particularly in the past few years. I think antisemitism is rooted not just in an ancient bigotry against the Jewish people, but oftentimes in a movement that seeks to fundamentally unwind civilization, particularly Western civilization. Of course, our Western civilization that we enjoy is rooted in Judeo-Christian values, the very cultural foundations that we as conservatives seek to conserve. But unfortunately, we find too often that there are organizations, particularly and oftentimes on the left, that are vehemently anti-Semitic. We've seen for years the BDS movement grow in the United States, a movement that refers to Israel as an apartheid state, refers to their supposed genocide, calls them a settler colonialist state, refers to them as supremacist. We've seen the rise in the Students for Justice in Palestine movement, a movement linked to Hamas that openly across college campuses, after October 7th, praised Hamas and defended them, making college campuses oftentimes completely inhospitable for Jewish students, shut them down oftentimes. And then we have CODEPINK. We saw some of their members in this room earlier today. A group that is connected to the CCP that is ostensibly anti-war, and yet right after October 7th, the day after October 7th, put out a statement not condemning the genocide of Jews, but supporting the Palestinian movement, saying, quote, "Resistance is a human right. The human reaction to being oppressed is to resist, and Palestinians deserve that right just as much as everyone else on the planet." They went on to say, Palestinians are confronting the world with their truth, and it is one that should be supported and respected. That was the day after October 7th. And then we have members of Congress comparing Jews to termites, saying that Israel has hypnotized the world and calling it evil, and then, of course, shouting the slogan From the river to the sea. There's a leading mayoral candidate in New York right now, right now, who refuses to condemn the phrase Globalize the intifada. That is sickening that this is in our political system. I again want to thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing. Mr. Nosanchuk, thank you for being here and for the work against antisemitism that you do. Do you believe that the slogan From the river to the sea is anti-Semitic?

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

So terms have different meanings. Terms have different meanings to different people. But it's clear that some language has now fueled violent attacks on Jews, and those terms must be understood through that lens.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)SPEAKER_09

Well, do you believe that that phrase is anti-Semitic, though? I agree we should. Disagree with the substance of it?

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

I think it depends on the, the way in which the terms are used. It can— many Jews hear that as antisemitic, and in that vein, they should— people who say it need to understand that that is how it is experienced. And in assessing, you know, from a civil rights perspective whether there has been antisemitism, we look to bias motivation And certainly language like that can be probative of antisemitic bias.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)SPEAKER_09

It seems to me a phrase that excludes the existence of the Jewish state would be pretty clearly antisemitic. Do you believe that the phrase globalize the intifada is antisemitic?

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

When I hear the phrase globalize the intifada today, in light of the shooting that occurred at the Capital Jewish Museum, in light of what happened at Boulder, in light of what happened to Governor Shapiro's house, there is no question that I experience that as being incredibly problematic, and

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)SPEAKER_09

problematic. Yes, I agree. Do you believe that it's antisemitic, and are you willing to condemn that phrase?

Mr. Mathew S. NosanchukSPEAKER_04

I condemn the use of that phrase. Yes.

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX)SPEAKER_09

Thank you. Thank you guys for being here. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Chairman Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ)SPEAKER_02

Gentleman yields back. I want to thank you all for being here. Time is precious, and I appreciate you sharing your time. It concludes today's hearing. We thank our witnesses again for being here. Without objection, all members will have 5 legislative days to submit additional written questions for the witnesses or additional materials for the record. And without objection, this hearing is adjourned.