By COLlive reporter
The House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing titled “Confronting the Scourge of Antisemitism on Campus.”
Chaired by Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), the hearing focused on the virulent antisemitism spreading on America’s college campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on Simchas Torah – Oct. 7, when terrorists murdered 1400 people and kidnapped 240 to Gaza.
Among those addressing the hearing were Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, and Sahar Tartak, a Student at Yale University who participates in campus programs run by the OU’s JLIC (Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus) program.
Rabbi Hauer spoke of the importance of college administrators intervening and supporting Jewish students who feel unsafe and threatened. He also underlined that campus should be a place for all students to express their beliefs freely without intimidation from violent protestors.
Tartak spoke about her own experiences as a Jewish student on campus at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Inspired by a Chabad friend, she opened her remarks by bringing a pushka and placing a coin in it for Tzedakah.
As is known, the Rebbe has encouraged those who spoke at legislative bodies to perform an act of kindness and charity before speaking or reciting a prayer.
Tartak described not being allowed into Pro-Palestinian rallies where fellow students called for Israel’s destruction and not having her articles about women being violated and babies beheaded by Hamas published in the Yale Daily News because the claims “weren’t substantiated.”
Tartak went on to say:
“Noting your commitment to democracy and the free world, I want to paint a picture of how, since Hamas’ October 7 massacres, college campuses became a place for the opposite — a love of Hamas and all the oppression it represents. Since October 7, there has been a 400 percent increase in reported antisemitic incidents of vandalism, harassment, and assault, in comparison to the same time frame in the previous year…
“Universities don’t get to feign helplessness. If they fail to prosecute an5semi5c acts and protect their minority students, they should be stripped of their federal funding. The federal government does not need to subsidize hotbeds of antisemitism. The Department of Education should proactively open Title 6 investigations, not just receive them passively. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices should be held extremely suspect of protecting every minority group other than mine.”
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The Rebbe would be proud,