Sens. Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton called on President Biden to mobilize the National Guard to protect Jewish American college students in response to anti-Israel, pro-terrorist demonstrations on campuses.
Mr. Hawley, Missouri Republican, wrote in a letter sent to Mr. Biden Monday:
“On college campuses across the United States, Jewish Americans are at risk. … In your statement on Passover, you stated that ‘in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous — and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.’ Now you must take action to match those words.”
He continued, “You must immediately mobilize the National Guard and any other authorities necessary to ensure the safety of Jewish American students and citizens.”
Mr. Hawley referenced President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1957 Executive Order 10730, which deployed the Arkansas National Guard and 101st Airborne Division to ensure the safety of Black students attending Central High School in Little Rock.
“I urge you to similarly mobilize the National Guard and other necessary authorities to protect Jewish American students on Columbia University’s campus and any other campus where Jewish students are at risk,” the senator said. “’Never again’ means never again,” a phrase often associated with the lessons of the Holocaust.
Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, said on X that the “nascent pogroms at Columbia have to stop.”
SEE ALSO: Columbia president declares ‘crisis’: Pro-Palestinian activity builds, Jewish students express fear
Referring to the mayor and governor, Mr. Cotton added, “If Eric Adams won’t send the NYPD and Kathy Hochul won’t send the National Guard, Joe Biden has a duty to take charge and break up these mobs.”
Mr. Biden on Monday stated he condemned the antisemitic campus protests as the tensions have increased amid pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University and other colleges.
“I condemn the antisemitic protests; that’s why I set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians,” he said.
Mr. Hawley noted that campus police and local law enforcement have failed to secure the campus of Columbia University for several days after anti-Israel action erupted at the school.
On Sunday, Rabbi Elie Buechler, the director of the university’s Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, said those authorities “cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety” and recommended that Jewish students “return home as soon as possible.”
The following day, on Passover, Columbia University President Minouche Shafik canceled in-person classes, citing “too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus.”
SEE ALSO: Biden to speak at Morehouse graduation, prompting fresh protest concerns
Mr. Hawley noted that demonstrators have “illegally established a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ on the university’s campus and engaged in shocking displays of antisemitism” as well as assaults on Jewish students, theft and attempted burning of an Israeli flag.
He also wrote in his letter to Mr. Biden that campus rioters are shouting “violent, genocidal rhetoric” such as “Never forget the 7th of October. That will happen not 1 more time, not 5 more times, not 10 more times, not 100 more times, not 1,000 more times, but 10,000 times.”
Last October, the Senate unanimously passed Mr. Hawley‘s resolution condemning Hamas and the antisemitic rhetoric emanating from campus student groups, which have continued to celebrate the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel.