NY state senator pressures Democrats to take action against campus anti-Semitism
Sen. Simcha Felder called on state democrats to subject public universities to external accountability.
‘The complete antipathy toward rising antisemitic incidents and the abject failure of college administrators to provide safety on their campuses is deeply concerning.’
Republican New York State Sen. Simcha Felder recently sent letters to Sen. Charles (Chuck) Schumer (D-NY), New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams calling for greater accountability regarding campus anti-Semitism at the state’s colleges and universities.
Felder, a lifelong New Yorker, demanded that publicly-funded universities be monitored by third parties, stressing that accountability may prove vital for protecting Jewish students’ safety.
“The complete antipathy toward rising antisemitic incidents and the abject failure of college administrators to provide safety on their campuses is deeply concerning,” Felder said. “By having independent oversight, we can take concrete steps to safeguard Jewish students and indeed all students by preventing the dangerous influence of terrorist organizations like Hamas in our educational institutions.”
Felder went on to criticize anti-Israel protesters’ support for Hamas, voicing concerns that their growing popularity with American student groups is perpetuating domestic and foreign acts of terrorism.
“Hamas just murdered 6 hostages including American hostage Hersh Polin-Goldberg. For nearly a year after blowing off his arm, they denied him medical treatment, starved, tortured and finally executed him with bullets to the back of the head,” Felder said. “Instead of protecting American students, instead of providing a plan to make sure no more Americans are murdered, we are allowing Hamas supporters to harass, intimidate and threaten our students, incite violence against our citizens, recruit on our college campuses, and advocate for intifada terrorism on American soil.”
Gov. Hochul previously has sharply criticized universities’ handling of campus anti-Semitism. In 2023, Hochul pressed universities to implement accountability mechanisms similar to those suggested by Felder, noting that hate crimes against Jews had increased to historic highs.
”We will take on the antisemitism we have seen on college campuses. The problem didn’t begin with the weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks,” Hochul said. “It’s been growing on a number of campuses and seen most acutely in the City University of New York.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Sen. Felder and Schumer, Gov. Hochul, and Mayor Adams for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.