Over TWENTY Democrats including AOC and Rashida Tlaib vote against resolution condeming surge in antisemitism on college campuses in the wake of Hamas terrorist attack
Twenty-two Democrats voted against a resolution condemning growing anti-Semitism and support of Hamas on college campuses.
Still, the resolution passed overwhelmingly, with 213 Republican votes and 183 Democrats.
One Republican – Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky – voted no, citing free speech concerns.
‘Freedom of speech means protecting the speech you don’t like, not just the speech you do like. And who defines anti-Semitism?’ he wrote on X.
The resolution calls on university leaders not to speak out in support of Jewish and pro-Israel students. It urges them to condemn anti-Semitism and ensure these students have the right to free speech on campus.
The resolution also condemns support for Hamas and Hezbollah on campus.
The departments of Homeland Security and Justice are currently working with campus police to combat what the Biden administration describes as an “alarming increase” in anti-Semitic incidents and threats against Jewish students.
The Democrats who opposed the resolution were: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Summer Lee, D-Pa., Jim McGovern, D-Mass. ., Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., Ritchie Torres, DN.Y., Nydia Velázquez, DN.Y., Maxine Waters, D-Calif., Bonnie Watson Coleman, DN.J., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. , Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., Mark Takano, D-Calif., Jared Huffman, D-Calif., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., Jonathan Jackson, D-Ill., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., André Carson, D-Ind., Cori Bush, D-Mo., Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.
Progressive Squad members Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., were among those who voted against the resolution
Meanwhile, fourteen Democrats in the Senate are now publicly calling for a pause in violence in Gaza to allow for humanitarian aid.
They wrote a new statement urging a “cessation of hostilities” in Gaza after the White House said it would urge Israel to grant a humanitarian pause.
“The failure to adequately protect non-combatant civilians risks a dramatic escalation of the conflict in the region and seriously damages the prospects for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians,” the statement said.
“Based on the consensus of U.S. and international aid officials, it is virtually impossible to provide sufficient humanitarian assistance to protect civilian lives under current circumstances,” the senators added. “We thus join President Biden in calling for a brief cessation of hostilities that pose a high risk to civilians, aid workers or humanitarian workers in Gaza.”
Since the Hamas attacks and subsequent conflict, nearly 100 incidents of anti-Semitic violence or intimidation have been recorded at American colleges and universities.
Drawing a Crowd: A Pro-Palestine Rally at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
“I think we need a break. A break means you get time to get the prisoners out,” Biden said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently in Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would not give up its attacks unless Hamas releases the 240 hostages it took during the October 7 attack.
Blinken said he and his Israeli counterparts have identified “mechanisms” to get fuel into Gaza. Fuel and electricity supplies were cut off by the Israelis because they feared they would be siphoned off for Hamas purposes.
According to the Israeli military, about 1,400 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s initial attack, and more than 9,000 Palestinians were killed in response, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Neither figure has been independently verified.