DV Journal

For college senior Elisheva Asiag, campus antisemitism limited the graduate schools she’s applying to for her master’s in social work.

Asiag, 22, will graduate from Tuoro College this June with a degree in psychology.

“When I was looking into schools, my advisor (said) the University of Pennsylvania has a really good social work program and also NYU,” said Asiag. So I was thinking of applying to those places, but then all this stuff happened.”

The Montgomery County resident watched three university presidents being questioned by Congress and decided she did not want to go to Penn.

In that December hearing, former Penn President Liz Magill said calling for Jewish genocide is allowed “in context.” Her performance before Congress led to Magill’s resignation.

Asiag’s research also led her away from New York University.

“They didn’t defend the (Jewish) students, and then all the protests were going on, and things were happening to Jewish students on campus,” said Asiag. She thought, “I don’t have to put myself through that if I can go to a different place, that’s also good.”

She applied to Tuoro’s graduate social work program and the Wurweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University.

This week, the Antidefamation League (ADL) released a campus antisemitism report card for various colleges. Penn was graded “D,” Drexel “B,” and Swarthmore College “F.” The report card helps parents and students decide where to go to college.

The ADL used 21 criteria in three groups: administrative action and policies, incidents on campus and Jewish student life. Groups of 160 students per campus and “stakeholders,” such as Hillel and Chabad directors, were surveyed.

The report card warns that just because a school receives an “A” or “B” does not mean there is no antisemitism problem. It means the school complies with existing laws. Schools with “C” or “D” may support Jewish students but have a lower grade due to the severity or frequency of incidents.

ADL also reported Tuesday that there was a 140 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2023, with a “massive spike” after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel and subsequent war.

In 2023, there were 8,873 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism around the U.S., according to the ADL. Pennsylvania ranked sixth place among the states, with 86 acts of antisemitic vandalism and 303 incidents of harassment. Slightly more than a third of the vandalism included swastikas. Philadelphia had the most incidents, followed by Montgomery County and Chester County.

“The level of antisemitic activity has reached levels that I have never seen before,” said Andrew Goretsky, ADL Philadelphia’s regional director. “It is particularly concerning that in Pennsylvania, we documented five assaults in 2023, all perpetrated against schoolchildren. This does not include over 300 incidents of harassment. Jewish children and adults are being targeted simply for being Jews. When antisemitism is left unchecked, it paves the way for broader waves of intolerance, putting other communities at risk. It is imperative to identify and confront antisemitic incidents as the despicable acts of hatred they are, affirming that such behavior is utterly unacceptable.”

Asiag has not experienced an antisemitic incident directly, but the last six and a half months since the Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza have her on edge.  Posters of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas that were placed on her dorm walls in New York have been repeatedly torn down. She thought about buying a hostage dog tag necklace but is concerned it would “put a target on my back” as she takes public transit in New York City.

“I thought we were more progressive, in today’s generation, and that people would be more accepting,” said Asiag. “But when something happens to us, you see that people don’t really care about Jewish people and just turn on you in two seconds.”

“Bam, your whole world gets turned upside down.”

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When Andrew Goretsky was in college, he had a friend from a rural town in upstate New York who had never met a Jew before.

Goretsky said he was going home for Rosh Hashanah, and his friend asked him what that was. When Goretsky told him it was the Jewish New Year, “He looked at me dumbfounded and said, ‘You’re Jewish?’”

“He said, ‘You can’t be’…He looked at me deadpan and said, ‘Andrew, you don’t have horns.’”

“This was 1991. He was told the reason we wear hats and yarmulkes was we’re covering up our demon horns because we killed Jesus Christ,” said Goretsky, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Goretsky spoke at a seminar for teenagers and parents on dealing with antisemitism Sunday at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy in Bryn Mawr.

According to Goretsky, there were more than 750 complaints of antisemitism filed with the ADL in this region, which also includes South Jersey, in 2023 alone. That’s up from about 500 in 2022. And since the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents have increased, especially at colleges and universities.

Andrew Goretsky

Jewish students are suing the University of Pennsylvania for antisemitism on campus. Its former president, Liz Magill, resigned due to her lackluster congressional testimony on the topic, as did Harvard’s president. Drexel and Temple face federal civil rights investigations over antisemitism. And in March, Haverford College students held an “Israel Apartheid Month.”

The two speakers at the Bryn Mawr event agreed that Jewish students should know their connection with Israel and be able to articulate what Israel means to them.

Dimas Guaico is the regional campus manager for the Jewish youth organization StandWithUs. Raised as a Christian to Latin American parents and a graduate of Bob Jones University in South Carolina, Guaico detailed Jewish history in Israel from biblical times on.

On May 14, 1948, the British pulled out, and the Jews declared a state.

“After 1,900 years of oppression, they finally have their Jewish state, Israel,” said Guaico. The next day, “five Arab armies invaded Israel for the sole purpose of destroying the newly created Jewish state,” he said.  There were 750,000 Arab refugees and, at the same time, nearly one million Jewish refugees who were driven out of Arab countries and sought refuge in Israel. About 60 percent of Israelis are descendants of Jews from Arab countries, he said.

“It is a myth that Jews lived as equals with Arabs in the Middle East,” he said. Instead, they were “dhimmis,” or second-class citizens and slaves.

The Israelis turned Gaza over to the Palestinians in 2005. In 2006, the Palestinians elected Hamas as their government. Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of Israel.

Goretsky said social media skews the conversations about the Hamas-Israel conflict.

“I want to encourage you to take the conversations off social media and engage in different ways…because the algorithms are really going to be giving you feedback of emotion,” he said.

“For those of you about to embark on college, you need to think about your own stories as it relates to Judaism, as it relates to Israel. How do you intend to share that?” Goretsky asked.

Many critics of Israel often have a double standard. For example, Israel isn’t the only country that receives U.S. foreign aid, but it’s the country being targeted for ire, he said.

“We’re not saying don’t be critical of Israel. We’re saying don’t be antisemitic,” said Goretsky.

Huntingdon Valley resident Ed Beck, president emeritus of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, has a grandchild about to go to college and is concerned. Jewish institutions “need to provide more resistance training” because campus antisemitism “isn’t going to go away,” he said.

“A lot of my peers who don’t understand what’s going on with the conversation may be perpetuating harmful stereotypes or things that aren’t true are getting this information from TikTok or Instagram,” a teenage girl said and asked where to send them for accurate information.

Carl Nathan, a Jewish activist from Newtown Square, said people should know what the claims of pro-Palestinian protestors are so they can respond, and he recited a list.

Guaico referred both to the StandWithUs website.

“If people aren’t willing to have conversations, there is never going to be a road to peace. For us, education is the key to peace,” he said.

The seminar was  hosted by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

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What began as two acts of antisemitic vandalism led to a supportive community gathering at Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El in Wynnewood Monday evening.

About 1,000 people, some carrying Israeli flags or “United against Antisemitism” signs, packed the sanctuary and overflowed into a nearby room.

“We are not worried that bad things are going to happen,” said Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky. “Our biggest concern is that bad things are going to happen and that no one else will care. As we look around at this room, we know that is not the case.”

Christian and Muslim clergy came to support the Jewish congregation, as well as elected officials.

“We truly live our motto of ‘Our house, your home,’” said TBHBE President Josh Kohn. Since he got a phone call telling him about the swastika painted on their sign, he’s had dozens of phone calls. “We’ve all experienced a wide range of emotions. Many of us are angry. Many of us are sad. Many are confused and frustrated at the kind of world we live in…Many of us are scared, as well, worried that minor physical damage could lead to much more.”

On a recent visit to Israel, he discovered that the Israelis he talked to were optimistic. One survivor of the brutal Hamas Oct. 7 attack told him, “We will dance again.”

The synagogue hosted the Overbrook Presbyterian Church in the wake of a fire and the pastor, the Rev. Adam Hearlson, spoke.

“We are here as neighbors, as people bound by the common commandment to love your neighbor…We stand with you in this time,” he said.  “We have a common cause of peace and love and joy, to sing together, to live together.”

Witkovsky said the swastika was meant to “make us afraid.”

“The swastika may have been painted on our property, but it hurts the entire community. It hurts to see the symbol, which, for many of us, has existed only on old photos from a horrible time…We worry, maybe those times are upon us again,” said Witkovsky.  There is a feeling “in the pit of our stomachs” that “something is happening to the Jewish people in our country.”

“Antisemitic acts have been increasing across our country for years. We worry we’re no longer welcome in this land,” he said. But after two generations “of the most peace and prosperity our people have known anywhere, we worry that this swastika, sprayed on a banner, means we’re doomed to go back to a world of swastikas again.”

“We can’t allow the terrible thing this stands for back into our world,” said Witkovsky. But the world is now different from that of “those grainy photographs.” Jews no longer fear the government, and “non-Jews around us have reached out,” he said.

He urged the audience to “fight hatred in all of its forms wherever it’s found.”

“Know you have an ally in us, and we’re thankful to have an ally in you,” he said.

“To the Jews who are here in the room, what is different from past eras of antisemitism? Today, ultimately, each person here, by dint of being alive in this time and this place, each of you has more power and agency in your lives than the rabbis of the past ever imagined was possible,” said Witkovsky. “Each of us has a phenomenal ability to stand up for ourselves, thank God. And we bear the responsibility of that power, to stand up when someone says something, when someone paints something, when someone does something.”

“There is antisemitism around us, to be sure, and it seems to be getting worse or bolder,” he said. “But it is up to us to use the resources we have to stand up for ourselves and each other.”

Ranita Thomas, a TBHBE vice president, told DVJournal she believes there has always been antisemitism, but Oct. 7 and the ensuing war against Hamas have allowed “people to be overt.”

“People are using Oct. 7 as permission to be more antisemitic,” she said. “A lot  of people who have jumped on the Free Palestine bandwagon are truly antisemitic. They feel it’s justified to say what they’re saying now.”

Vandalized sign at Temple Beth Hillel/Beth El.

Adam Ehrlich, also a TBHBE vice president, told DVJournal, “I think it feels more visceral. It feels like large parts of the world are against us. If something like this (terror attack) happened anywhere else, the world would be rallying around a lot more.”

Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia President Michael Balaban attended the gathering at TBHBE.

The federation “strongly condemns the disturbing antisemitic vandalism that occurred at Temple Beth Hillel – Beth El (Sunday). As antisemitism continues to rise nationally and locally, we must work together as a community to make it clear that hate has no place here. We stand with Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El as they address this vandalism while continuing their critical work to unify the Wynnewood Jewish community through prayer, inclusion, and love.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro on X: This is the second message I’ve written like this in as many days. It’s two too many. Antisemitism and the vandalism of a house of worship of any kind have no place in this Commonwealth. I’ve spoken to Rabbi Witkovsky and told him we stand with his wonderful congregation and against hate. PSP is coordinating with our law enforcement partners to apprehend the person(s) responsible. These acts of hate will never change the fact that no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you do and don’t pray to, you belong here in Pennsylvania.”

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) said on X: “Sickened to see this hateful desecration of a synagogue — and on Easter no less. Antisemitism has no place in Montco or this country. No one should be using nazi symbols in 2024. We must find the people responsible and hold them accountable for this dangerous display of hate.”

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Imagine you’re a Jewish student at a small, exclusive college on the Main Line, where other students are hosting a seminar blaming Israel for allegedly using COVID “as a tool for settler colonialism in Palestine.”

That’s what’s happening at Haverford College this week, part of the school’s “Israel Apartheid Month.”

The Jewish Federation is among those decrying the meeting, which is espousing antisemitic tropes that harken back to Medieval times when “blood libel” was a common antisemitic myth and used to justify pogroms (attacks) against Jews.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia called on Haverford College officials to condemn the student-organized campus event entitled “COVID in Times of Genocide: How Israel uses COVID as a Tool for Settler Colonialism in Palestine.”

“The event’s title dangerously and inaccurately implies that Israel spread coronavirus to advance its global control, repackaging a centuries-old antisemitic trope that Jews take advantage of global crises as a means for their own gain and advancement. In this case, the event’s narrative takes on a new form of the antisemitic blood libel trope, accusing Jews of committing ritual murder and perpetuating the harmful stereotype of Jews as evil and conniving,” the federation said.

“Higher education institutions have a responsibility to establish college campuses as a space for free speech and critical thinking. However, it must be rooted in academic integrity rather than disinformation.

“Haverford College and institutions of all sizes have a responsibility first and foremost to protect the safety of their students. This event and the tension on campus that has led to Jewish students and faculty being vulnerable and victimized constitutes a failure of leadership.

“There should be no tolerance for student events that permit dangerous antisemitic tropes and threaten the safety of Jewish students and faculty, particularly when antisemitism is at an all-time high on college campuses following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel,” the nonprofit said.

“We urge Haverford College to take immediate action to show its Jewish students and community members that there is zero tolerance for the spread of misinformation and hate on its campus.”

College officials justified allowing students to hold their event.

“At a time of wide-ranging responses to current global matters, our campus is navigating the complexities of learning in community, articulating political and social points of view, and strengthening the relational bonds that allow learning and expression to happen in a safe environment,” said Chris Mills, a Haverford spokesman.

“Haverford supports its community members’ rights to expressive freedom, including around political matters. The ability to challenge ideas and understand conflicting views is foundational to our academic mission. We also expect that even the most well-intentioned individuals will make mistakes in these arenas, and even–and especially–in those moments, we aim to provide learning opportunities that will lead to greater empathy, mutual understanding, and constructive citizenship in a world that is struggling to reach peaceful solutions to conflict,” said Mills.

Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, told DVJournal, “At a semi-prestigious university you would think that students would be smarter than this. But going into conspiratorial, libelous rhetoric is very dangerous and disturbing.”

The students “should have more critical thinking skills than to buy into conspiratorial claims like this. It’s really dangerous.”

Rav Shai Cherry, senior rabbi at Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park, said, “Can’t we expect more from our elite college students than to traffic in a regurgitated blood libel? Is there no commitment to honesty or accuracy in political protests in the age of TikTok?”

“It’s pure insanity,” Holtzman added. “I can’t believe the college would allow this event to go on when antisemitism is at an all-time high on college campuses.”

Haverford is not the only area campus where some students apparently are embracing antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel. The president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned after trying to defend that institution’s policies before Congress.

Haverford College, founded in 1833 by Quakers, has about 1,400 undergraduate students.

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The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine sent a letter on Jan. 26 to Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler in an effort to restore its state funding.

In December, the state legislature voted against sending the veterinary school $33 million in state funding in the wake of antisemitic incidents at the University of Pennsylvania. The vote was also a response to congressional testimony from then-President Liz Magill in which she was unable to say that “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated the university’s policies, calling it “a context-dependent decision.”

In the wake of that testimony, criticism from students and alumni, and the withdrawal of support from some significant donors, Magill resigned.

The letter, signed by Penn Vet interim president J. Larry Jameson, M.D. Ph.D. notes the school “provides world-class training to future veterinarians; exceptional clinical care to animals; vital diagnostic testing against devastating diseases; some of which also impact humans; and innovative research that benefits both animal and human health.”

As to the antisemitic incidents on campus that caused the House to vote to remove funding from Penn Vet, the letter notes the university’s division of public safety is working with the FBI and local police to investigate threats and violence. Two students and another person have been arrested.

Regarding faculty and staff, two Penn employees “have separated from university because of their behavior.” All complaints against employees have been referred to the proper disciplinary bodies.

The university condemns “hateful acts.”

The university’s task force on antisemitism has been asked to speed up its timeline for action items. Its Presidential Commission on Countering Hate and Building Community met for the first time on Dec. 19 and will meet again on Feb. 15.

The school supports the General Assembly’s bills to combat antisemitism and stands “clearly and strongly against antisemitism in all its odious forms,” the letter said.

Also, “Penn has investigated all reported acts of antisemitism on campus, and we will continue to do so, taking action in accordance with our policies and the law,” the letter said. “At this time, one student organization has an active case file with the university’s Center for Community Standards and Accountability. We have determined this organization did not receive university funding. We are following our established processes and remain committed to ensuring an environment where students can thrive.”

Jason Gottesman, a spokesman for Cutler, said, “We have had constructive dialogue with leadership at the University of Pennsylvania and hope to continue those productive conversations over the coming weeks as we work toward the shared goal of eliminating antisemitism and calls for the genocide of Jewish people.”

However, antisemitic incidents continue to arise at Penn. Most recently, DVJournal reported that Dwayne Booth,  a lecturer in the Annenberg School of Communication, has been drawing and publishing antisemitic cartoons since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Reacting to those drawings, Michael Balaban, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said, “Dwayne Booth’s cartoon dangerously invokes the classic antisemitic propaganda of the blood libel. At a time when antisemitism is on the rise across the country, these cartoons only serve to demonize and isolate the Jewish community, minimizing the legitimate threat of antisemitism. We call on the University of Pennsylvania to address Booth’s tenure to show that perpetuating antisemitic tropes should never be tolerated.”

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Antisemitic cartoons drawn by a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania have re-opened the debate over the Ivy League school’s reputation as an enclave of anti-Jewish hate.

“Penn Lecturer Is Behind Grotesque Anti-Semitic Cartoons” is the headline at the Washington Free Beacon, which links to the work of Dwayne Booth. According to the news site, Booth “joined Penn’s Annenberg School for Communication as an adjunct faculty member in 2015 and teaches two classes at the Ivy League institution, publishes political cartoons under the pen name ‘Mr. Fish.'”

Booth’s work includes antisemitic tropes such as Zionists drinking the blood of Gazans, and a Nazi flag featuring the Star of David.

“Dwayne Booth’s cartoon dangerously invokes the classic antisemitic propaganda of the blood libel,” said Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. “At a time when antisemitism is on the rise across the country, these cartoons only serve to demonize and isolate the Jewish community, minimizing the legitimate threat of antisemitism. We call on the University of Pennsylvania to address Booth’s tenure to show that perpetuating antisemitic tropes should never be tolerated.”

Eyal Yakoby, a senior majoring in political science and modern Middle East studies, said, “Penn’s ambivalence has emboldened bad actors to behave however they please. The prevailing atmosphere at Penn is inhospitable. This is directly influenced by employees of the university or agents of the university, such as this lecturer. These ‘educators,’ if you can call them that, prove to the rest of the community that they can act with impunity, no matter how vile or unlawful their actions are, resulting in a climate where anyone feels unrestricted in their actions.”

Yakoby, one of the Jewish students suing Penn, added, “Stories like this should show how (the lawsuit) is even more necessary now than ever. It was not only [former UPenn President Liz] Magill. It is a systemic problem at Penn.”

Magill was forced to resign after her widely-criticized testimony before Congress during a hearing on rising antisemitism on U.S. college campuses. She was unable to answer whether calling for “the genocide of Jews” was a violation of Penn’s policies covering campus speech.

A group of wealthy donors also announced publicly that they would no longer support the university, and alums also issued scathing condemnations.

Jewish students who were subjected to harassment and antisemitism on campus filed a lawsuit demanding their tuition be refunded.  The issues began before the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas against Israel when Penn hosted a Palestinian Writes Literature festival that featured noted antisemites like Roger Waters and Marc Lamont Hill, who was fired from CNN for using the phrase “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” which equates with the destruction of Israel and all who live there. The festival was held just before Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

The federal Department of Education filed and then dropped a civil rights complaint against the Ivy League school, saying the charges were the same as those in the students’ lawsuit.

Penn Interim President J. Larry issued a statement:  “I will not, and should not, respond to every event on our campus, but I want it understood that these political cartoons, posted on a personal website, were not taught in the classroom and do not reflect the views of the University of Pennsylvania or me, personally. I find them reprehensible, with antisemitic symbols, and incongruent with our efforts to fight hate. They disrespect the feelings and experiences of many people in our community and around the world, particularly those only a generation removed from the Holocaust. And, for me, it is painful to see the suffering and tragic loss of life of noncombatants in Israel and Gaza be fodder for satire.

At Penn, we have a bedrock commitment to open expression and academic freedom, principles that were unanimously reaffirmed last week by our Faculty Senate Executive Committee. We also have a responsibility to challenge what we find offensive, and to do so acknowledging the right and ability of members of our community to express their views, however loathsome we find them.”

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The fallout from campus antisemitism that claimed the job of former University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill is far from over, as evidenced by the ouster of Harvard’s Dr. Claudine Gay.

Gay resigned as president of Harvard University on Tuesday (though she will keep her $900,000 annual paycheck as a tenured professor), less than a month after Magill was forced out at Penn. Both Gay and Magill, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth, received heavy criticism over their performance during a congressional hearing on antisemitism on their campuses. None of the three would say that “calling for the genocide of Jews” violated their schools’ code of conduct. Gay infamously claimed it depended on the “context.”

Major donors to all three schools either reduced their contributions or cut them off entirely in response.

Magill stepped down without much drama, publicly accepting her fate. Not so with Gay, the first Black woman to serve as Harvard’s president. She claimed to be a victim of racism-fueled, trumped-up charges of plagiarism.

“It has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor—two bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am—and frightening to be subjected to personal attacks and threats fueled by racial animus,” she said in her resignation statement. “These last weeks have helped make clear the work we need to do to build that future—to combat bias and hate in all its forms, to create a learning environment in which we respect each other’s dignity and treat one another with compassion…”

In fact, Gay’s minimal academic output — only a handful of published papers during her career — was riddled with nearly 50 examples of either “inadequate citations,” as her Harvard defenders called it, or outright plagiarism. “In a 2001 article, Gay lifts nearly half a page of material verbatim from another scholar, David Canon, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Now, some members of the Jewish community are concerned that the plagiarism issue will take the spotlight off what they see as the far more serious problem of antisemitism on America’s elite college campuses.

“The problems at Harvard have been years, if not decades, in the making,” Jeremy Burton, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, told Jewish Insider. “Whatever your opinion about Gay’s decision to step aside and how that came about, we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we pretend that this in any way moves us closer to resolving the root problems with the campus environment at Harvard.”

Many members of Congress agree. Magill and Gay’s responses to the “genocide of Jews” questions inspired a bipartisan House resolution heaping scorn on antisemitism on university campuses. That resolution easily passed 303 to 126 last month. However, none of the “yes” votes came from local Democratic Reps. Madeleine Dean, Chrissy Houlahan, or Mary Gay Scanlon.

Scanlon and Dean voted “no,” while Houlahan voted “present.”

Bucks County Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick voted “yes.”

Penn has emerged with a reputation as one of the most antisemitism-friendly campuses in the U.S., and its problems are far from over.

Penn is being sued in federal court by two Jewish students who claim it has become an “incubation lab for virulent anti-Jewish hatred, harassment and discrimination.” That includes claiming pro-Palestinian protesters called one student “a dirty Jew” and said, “You know what you’ve done wrong.” The suit also accuses Penn faculty of “deliberate and targeted harassment” of Jewish students.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives killed a bill last month that would have funded Penn’s veterinary school.

House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) sent a letter to Penn leadership explaining that Magill’s resignation and a new antisemitism task force are great starts, but there’s more to be done.

“The task force’s initial report will be due in February, and the final report will be issued in May,” he wrote. “That time frame does nothing to bring about immediate change. It will not help students currently enrolled in the university experiencing this abhorrent form of hate, and it will be too late for students currently deciding whether to attend Penn.”

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In 2023, we were reminded that evil lurks in the world and is on the rise, and that we need strong leadership and moral clarity to deter and overcome it.

Over the last three years, the world has become an increasingly dangerous place for the United States and our allies as adversaries probe for weakness.

First, America’s enemies watched as our commander-in-chief botched our withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thirteen brave servicemen and women lost their lives and America was humiliated because of this failure of leadership.

Having witnessed President Biden’s weakness, Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, killing tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and destroying peace in Europe. Meanwhile, the Chinese Communist Party has continued one of the largest military buildups in history and escalated pressure on Taiwan and the Philippines.

Then, Hamas launched a barbaric assault against innocent Israelis that was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Since then, Iranian-backed terrorist groups have attacked U.S. forces across the Middle East and paralyzed international shipping in the Red Sea. This is a stark reminder that the enemies of Americans, Israelis, and others who enjoy freedom and prosperity remain a significant threat.

At home, we’ve seen protests calling for the genocide of Jews, a dramatic rise in hate crimes, and leaders of our country’s most elite institutions failing to show moral clarity and the leadership needed to meet this moment.

The world is watching to see whether our leaders will stand up for the American people, and this has been a brutal wake-up call that all is not well for America and our closest allies.

We need leaders with the strength, the will, and the moral clarity to meet these challenges. Leaders who will make our enemies think twice about attacking America and our allies. Leaders who defend America’s interests. And leaders who will make serious, generational investments in rebuilding our military.

President Joe Biden and Senator Bob Casey will do none of these things.

Their every move has weakened our position on the world stage, undermining deterrence, and showing our adversaries that the United States may not be the superpower it once was.

Biden’s failures have had the support every step of the way of rubber stamp Senator Bob Casey.  Pennsylvania’s senior senator votes for the president’s disastrous agenda 98 percent of the time and repeatedly has failed to use his position of power when it matters most.

Pennsylvanians deserve better than weak, ineffective leaders who have proven themselves to be incapable of keeping America and our friends safe.

In the business world, when someone fails to deliver results, they’re fired. I learned that the hard way while CEO of an investment firm. My boss initially decided I was not cutting it in the job, and demoted me. I learned some hard lessons and later earned my way back to CEO and successfully led the company for a number of years.

Bob Casey should be held to the same high standard. Congress had a historically unproductive year, with the fewest bills signed into law in decades, and Casey has not seen a single significant piece of his own legislation become law in 17 years in the Senate.

The world is a scary place. We need leaders who are capable of protecting the American people and America’s role in the world.

My decades of leadership experience demonstrate I’m equipped for this dangerous moment, and I’d be honored to carry the torch as the new U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania.

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Philadelphia is a diverse city known as the birthplace of America. Despite these accolades, Philadelphia is unfortunately still not immune from the rising antisemitism that we’ve seen grow across the nation following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel.

It’s time that we, as Philadelphians, face that fact head-on.

Less than a week after Hamas’s atrocities against Israeli civilians, the Philly Palestine Coalition released a statement that not only expressed solidarity with Hamas, but also asserted that “Israel is solely responsible” for the barbarity of October 7. Their embrace of victim-blaming would shock the conscience even if it were limited to Israelis – but it isn’t.

Recent protests organized by the Coalition in Center City made it clear that they hold American Jews just as responsible for Israeli military policy. Agitators vandalized a Jewish after-school center for children ages 5-12, and chanted accusations of genocide at an Israeli restaurant in what Governor Shapiro called “a blatant act of antisemitism”. Even the name of the protest, “Flood Philly for Gaza,” evoked Hamas’s name for its terrorist onslaught: “Al-Aqsa Flood”.

Many of the protesters were the same age as the Israeli civilians who were assaulted and murdered by Hamas on October 7. This did not seem to provoke empathy; in fact, Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Drexel, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford all belong to the Coalition.

Hamas’s founding document lays out its vision for a Jew-free world, and its spokesmen have repeatedly issued calls for genocide, yet the Coalition refers to Israel as “a genocidal death machine… founded on blood and sustained through blood.”

As our Philadelphia neighbors, who cannot plead ignorance, cheered on antisemitic terrorism, how should we respond?

It cannot be with indifference, which Elie Wiesel called “the opposite of love”.

Makom Community, the vandalized Jewish after-school center, set an example with its response. Rather than ignoring the incident or shrinking into a defensive posture, they proudly covered the graffiti with a sign wishing passers-by a Happy Hanukkah and encouraging them to “let your light shine.”

Philadelphia’s annual Hanukkah celebration proceeded as scheduled, albeit with increased security.

A December 10 rally at Congregation Rodeph Shalom also showcased the power of solidarity and resilience. Speakers decried antisemitic incidents from campuses to downtown – but it was by no means a pessimistic event. Presenter after presenter emphasized the importance of positive, forward-thinking action.

Bipartisan legislators promised to support antisemitism education. Students applauded the dismissal of UPenn president Liz Magill after her failure to denounce calls to antisemitic genocide. Rabbi Eli Freedman punctuated the evening by asserting that the event’s message was one of hope and compassion, not hate or vengeance.

For Jews, the stakes of this moment go far beyond the vandalism that emerged from the Philly Palestine Coalition protests. As FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress, Jews make up only 2.4 percent of the US population, yet are the victims of about 60 percent of all religious-based hate crimes.

Jews have been persecuted for millennia, and we can’t pass this latest wave of hate off as an aberration that will subside on its own. Our response, both as a Philly community and as a nation, should mirror the responses above. Antisemitism must be clearly identified, condemned, and addressed with an eye toward the long term.

Accepting that whatever you may think of Israel’s government, Israel’s civilians did not deserve the violence they were subjected to is a necessary first step for anyone interested in building a diverse and welcoming community.

I look forward to a time when hate will not blind people to fundamental moral truths. Until then, happy holidays.

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“There is only one solution: Intifada revolution.” Imagine being a Jewish student at the University of Pennsylvania and hearing this chant around campus.

This isn’t a plea for peace, a cease-fire, or even a two-state solution.  It’s full-throated support of a terrorist organization, Hamas, and their goal of Jewish genocide.

Imagine then, just a short time later, the President of the college you attend says of calling for the genocide of Jews – and make no mistake, “There is only one solution: Intifada revolution” is a call for genocide – “if the speech turns into conduct, it can become harassment.”

According to CBS News, one student from Penn said: “I could not believe what I was hearing from Liz Magill and refusing to say that Jewish genocide constitutes harassment. It’s been very difficult to be a Jewish student and seeing peers and university leaders turning their backs on us.”

House Republicans are willing to lead not just with words but with action.  I, along with others, called for the resignation of President Magill after her horrific Congressional testimony.  I was pleased to see Magill’s resignation, but we cannot stop there.

At this time, given the current environment at the University of Pennsylvania, I am unwilling to provide a penny of state money to Penn.

This process started when the House returned to session this December.  House Democrats brought up funding for the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, which requires a 2/3 affirmative vote to pass.  Enough Republicans held the line and blocked the funding.

Unfortunately, antisemitism has been allowed to percolate at Penn for years.  Under the guise of “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” events like “Palestine Writes Literature Festival” promoted antisemitic speakers.

Why? The diversity, equity, and inclusion promoted on college campuses doesn’t include pro-Israel speakers (or conservative speakers).

The university proclaimed it will “fiercely support the free exchange of ideas,” adding, “This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values.”

This is a curious position for Penn to take, given the credible allegations of silencing female swimmers who did not feel comfortable competing with a man.  “The university wanted us to be quiet, and they did it in a very effective way,” Paula Scanlan told the Daily Wire. “They continued to tell us that our opinions were wrong and if we had an issue about it, we were the problem.”

Pennsylvania taxpayers have funded colleges and universities owned and affiliated with the Commonwealth for too long without proper oversight.  Earlier this year, my House Republican colleagues and I withheld funding for Penn State, Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln until legislation was passed to require greater transparency by further subjecting them to the Right-to-Know Law.

The days of handing blank checks to higher education institutions are over.  We are demanding transparency and a safe campus for ALL students without trampling the First Amendment.

Free Speech is the bedrock of American freedoms.  The selected speech curated on college campuses is incompatible with the First Amendment.

Protestors are free to spew hateful slogans and display despicable signs in public spaces.  As Thomas Jefferson once said, “If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed.”  It’s not the government’s job to police speech.

When that speech crosses the line to harassment, as it has at the University of Pennsylvania, we have an obligation to stop it.  Until Penn steps up and ensures a safe campus, state dollars in any form should be withheld.

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