By Laura Gillen
Following Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack, antisemitism surged in the United States. The House has not enacted any enforceable laws or utilized funding to stop this horrific scourge. If elected, I will push for real, substantive policy changes to address three of the most acute forms of antisemitism: harassment of Jewish students on campuses, threats against synagogues, and hate propaganda on social media.
We have all seen the appalling scenes at U.S. universities: chants of “globalize the intifada” and signs espousing support for Hamas. To ensure college administrators implement and enforce codes of conduct on discriminatory acts, the federal government must leverage its funding. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requires schools to meet certain anti-discrimination standards in order to receive federal assistance. Institutions that fail to prevent or penalize antisemitism should lose federal funding. Such standards must be clear, strict, and enforceable. They should institute meaningful penalties such as the dismissal of faculty and expulsion of students who violate them. Although Congress has discussed the use of Title VI to address campus antisemitism, no action has thus far been taken to force policy changes at colleges.
The Department of Education must also be forceful. Congress should increase funding for its Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which investigates and pursues claims of antisemitism on campuses. Inexplicably, House Republicans recently voted to cut funding for the OCR by $10 million. Worse, a recent report from Haaretz noted that Project 2025 (a political initiative published by the Heritage Foundation that aims to promote conservative and right-wing policies to reshape the United States federal government should Donald Trump win the 2024 presidential election) would radically defund OCR, jeopardizing Jewish students’ ability to seek redress after enduring antisemitic hate. It is unconscionable that politicians who claim to care about antisemitism are simultaneously moving to weaken existing resources to combat it.
Antisemitic bigots have also targeted synagogues and other religious facilities with “swatting,” or hoax threats intended to disrupt services and wreak havoc. The Anti-Defamation League reported a staggering 400 Jewish centers across the country received fake bomb threats in just one weekend last winter. Even before October 7, on Rosh Hashanah 2023, five synagogues on Long Island were emailed graphic threats of violence, disrupting services during the High Holidays.
Though swatting is very difficult to prevent, strategies to track, monitor, and respond to the widespread schemes require coordination between federal law enforcement and local police. We must fully fund the FBI and the Department of Justice in order to optimize their capabilities to aid in this regard. Defunding those agencies, as proposed by Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s 2024 budget (whom my opponent, Anthony D’Esposito, supports) would weaken our ability to respond to threats. Abolishing or politicizing them, as called for by Project 2025, is equally unacceptable.
Finally, we must turn off the spigot of antisemitic hate speech that has flooded social media platforms, especially when tech companies are either unwilling or unable to act. For example, X, formerly known as Twitter, removed just 2% of the posts that denied or distorted the Oct 7 attack. Other than holding hearings with tech CEOs, Congress has done nothing to stop this reprehensible rhetoric from reaching millions of users, increasing the likelihood of real-world acts of violence.
Binding legislation is needed to rein in these social media platforms. They must be compelled to adopt stricter content moderation policies and enhance transparency measures. Allowing hate speech and antisemitic propaganda and lies to spread unchecked is dangerous, particularly for impressionable youth.
The rise of antisemitism in the United States, including on Long Island, is very alarming. However, we have strong tools to address this problem in schools, synagogues, and on social media. Congress has failed to utilize these tools, and in some cases is seeking to undermine them. In Congress, I will pursue a comprehensive policy plan to effectively combat antisemitism and take on anyone, including those in my party, who would deter these measures.
Laura Gillen is the Democratic nominee for New York’s Fourth Congressional District.