Dem senator blocks Hawley bill condemning campus anti-Semitism. Hawley flattens him.
'Calling for the death of Jewish people is not just another opinion... celebrating the genocide of Jewish babies, is not just another opinion. Celebrating the assaults on Jewish people in this country is not just another opinion,' said Hawley.
"The Senate should be clear and stand with moral clarity and say, 'This is wrong.'"
Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD) and Republican Senator Josh Hawley (MO) traded barbs over a bill to condemn anti-Semitism on college campuses.
Hawley introduced a bill on the floor of the Senate to condemn pro-Hamas rallies on Thursday. Hawley moved to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but Van Hollen objected, leading to a tense exchange between the two Senators.
“Perhaps incredibly disturbing– maybe almost as disturbing as the facts of these terrible attacks themselves– is the response of some people in this country, on our college campuses in this country, who promptly took to the streets, to the courtyards of these campuses, to the airwaves, to broadcast their support for this genocide against the people of Israel. That’s right, I said their support for the genocide against the people of Israel.”
Hawley pointed to several statements made by student groups on campuses across the country, including Harvard, NYU Law, Ohio State, and the University of North Carolina, which endorsed or expressed support for the attacks. Hawley also pointed out that students on campus had been threatened and violently assaulted on campus since the demonstrations began. He slammed university leaders for their lax response to the students’ rhetoric.
Hawley conceded that the students have the First Amendment right to make statements, but the Senate has no duty to endorse them. “Calling for the death of Jewish people is not just another opinion. Calling for the genocide, celebrating the genocide of Jewish babies, is not just another opinion. Celebrating the assaults on Jewish people in this country is not just another opinion. The Senate should be clear and stand with moral clarity and say, ‘This is wrong.’”
Van Hollen stood in objection to Hawley’s resolution. “This resolution is not about condemning Hamas’ attacks on Israel. What this resolution does is condemn certain speech around the country,” he said.
“What this resolution does is attempt to smear students, many of whom engaged in anti-Semitic remarks, but many who did not. My view is that when you come to the Senate floor to pass such a resolution, and you’re talking about freedom of speech, it’s very important not to paint with a broad brush and condemn everybody engaging in speech. This is what this resolution does.” Van Hollen did acknowledge, however that the rhetoric espoused at the rallies was “repugnant.” After some brief back-and-forth, Van Hollen left.
”It’s hard to believe what we just heard on this floor,” Hawley said. ”Defense of the most vile anti-Semitic rhetoric under the excuse that to call out specifically the specific statements and denounce them one at a time and say this is wrong, that that is somehow a smear. What that is is a failure of moral nerve. What it is is a failure of moral clarity. What it is, frankly, is sympathizing with this rhetoric.”
”I don’t know why it’s so hard, but I guess we’ve now found out why college presidents won’t come out and say this is wrong,” he concluded. ”We cite the specific words. Why is it wrong to say that it includes violence? Why is it wrong to condemn this? When students say ‘the heroic resistance in Gaza should be praised,’ they’re not referring to something in general. They’re talking about the attack on Israel, the slaughter of innocent Israelis, and that’s perfectly fine? Those are legitimate concerns?.. [T]he moral equivalency that has seeped into our college campuses and, I guess, the floor of the United States Senate, is unbelievable.”
Campus Reform reached out to Senators Hawley and Van Hollen for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
