IfNotNow Responds to Congressional Hearing with Univ. Presidents

For Immediate Release
December 11, 2023

Contact:
press@ifnotnowmovement.org
 

In response to the recent congressional hearing with university presidents, Eva Borgwardt, national spokesperson of IfNotNow, released the following statement:

“The hearing was not a serious discussion about antisemitism, it was a shameful political stunt designed to chill criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza.

It is shocking that members of Congress are choosing to focus hearings, resolutions, and bills on student activists who hold little influence in government rather than holding powerful Israeli officials accountable for over 17,000 civilian deaths in Gaza.

We watched with disappointment while Democrats failed to challenge Representative Stefanik — a Trump supporter who has endorsed the antisemitic and racist Great Replacement Theory — to present concrete evidence that students are calling for the genocide of Jews on campuses.

The silence from Democrats and university presidents and refusal to offer any context for why students might be angry about the war in Gaza helped Republicans and war hawks in their chief goal: to do anything to make Americans look away from the bombs dropping on tens of thousands of civilians — which are being made in the US and funded with our tax dollars.”

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