Home Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday in contrast the protests unfolding on American college campuses to what occurred at establishments of upper studying in Germany earlier than World Struggle II.
It was the “identical elite facilities of studying” from which “Jewish college and college students have been abruptly expelled” in Germany, Mr. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, mentioned in pointed remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony on the Capitol. At this time, he mentioned, American universities have grow to be “hostile locations for Jewish college students and school.”
“The very campuses which have been as soon as the envy of the worldwide academy have succumbed to an antisemitic virus,” he added. “College students who have been recognized for producing educational papers are actually recognized for stabbing their Jewish friends within the eyes with Palestinian flags.”
Mr. Johnson was talking on the ceremony forward of President Biden, who additionally condemned among the hateful rhetoric and property harm which have occurred as pro-Palestinian protests have swept U.S. faculty campuses in latest weeks. “To the Jewish neighborhood, let me say, I see your damage and your concern and your ache,” Mr. Biden mentioned.
Mr. Johnson has made the pro-Palestinian protests a important focus since passing a invoice to ship $60 billion of assist to Ukraine, a transfer that enraged his proper flank. The unrest at universities has provided him a brand new problem to highlight, as he seeks a political edge on a problem that divides Democrats.
He visited Columbia College final month, the place he known as on Mr. Biden to take motion to quell the protests, together with doubtlessly sending within the Nationwide Guard. He introduced extra congressional hearings with high college directors. And he delivered to the ground the Antisemitism Consciousness Act, which might crackdown on antisemitism on campuses — a invoice that ended up prompting weird backlash from some on the far proper.
On Tuesday, Mr. Johnson described in graphic element the horror of Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an assault in opposition to defenseless Israeli residents, evaluating them to lasting photos from the Holocaust.
“We’ve got to do all that we will to make sure that evil doesn’t prevail,” he mentioned. “This can be a time for all to return collectively.”
