White House to address rise in college antisemitism amid Israel war

The White House will announce on Monday several new actions aimed at addressing the rise of antisemitic events across U.S. college campuses since the onset of the war between Israel and Hamas earlier this month.

President Joe Biden, who has reiterated the United States’s support for Israel following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, has directed the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to work one-on-one with campus law enforcement to monitor and track hateful online rhetoric. They are additionally providing federal resources to the colleges and universities.

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According to a White House official, both the DOJ and DHS have been providing safety information to schools and have held several calls with campus, local, state, and other law enforcement. Additionally, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency within the DHS has tasked 125 protective security advisers and 100 cybersecurity advisers with school engagement.

On Monday, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona will be meeting with leaders of various Jewish groups, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Anti-Defamation League, the Orthodox Union, Jewish Federations, Hillel, and the National Council of Jewish Women, with whom they will discuss the rise in antisemitic events on college campuses. Cardona, along with White House domestic policy adviser Neera Tanden, will further go to an unspecified college campus for a roundtable discussion with Jewish students later in the week.

“These grotesque sentiments and actions shock the conscience and turn the stomach. They also recall our commitment that can’t be forgotten: ‘never again,’” White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement.

The administration will also roll out an updated version of the complaint form, which was expedited given the current rise in antisemitism. The White House plans to emphasize that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars some forms of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.

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The official further noted that the Department of Education visited schools in San Francisco, St. Louis, and Maine in the last few weeks to investigate antisemitism. This week, the department will head for similar visits to both New York City and Baltimore.

These actions come as antisemitic activity, particularly threats against Jewish students, continues to climb at universities across the country. Demonstrations against Israel as well as vigils for Palestinian “martyrs” emerged shortly after the war began.