The tumult spreading through college campuses is especially tricky for the president as he works to rebuild the voting coalition from his 2020 win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As antisemitic incidents mushroom on college campuses, some Jewish leaders and lawmakers from both parties are accusing President Joe Biden\u2019s administration of taking a lax approach toward enforcement of civil rights laws, exposing Jewish students to continued harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They point to a surge of complaints filed with the Education Department that have yet to be resolved, creating a backlog that effectively eases pressure on school administrators to take action needed to protect Jewish students amid protests over the Israel-Hamas war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, sent a letter Thursday to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona objecting to the \u201cspeed of these investigations, delayed conclusions, and lack of adequate resources allocated to these investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The congressman asked Cardona for an update on the pending investigations into antisemitism on college campuses, noting that at Columbia University in New York, \u201cthe eruption of antisemitism \u2026 has created a particularly hostile environment for Jewish students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Neither Columbia nor the New York Police Department has released data on the number of antisemitic incidents at the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tumult spreading through college campuses is especially tricky for Biden as he works to rebuild the voting coalition from the 2020 presidential race. Many of the students protesting the war in Gaza say they are unhappy with him for not bringing about a cease-fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, some Jewish students and their defenders are displeased that the Biden administration isn\u2019t showing more resolve in stamping out antisemitic harassment on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The breakdown in support is not so tidy, though. Plenty of Jewish Americans across the country oppose Israel\u2019s conduct of the war and have joined with protesters in demanding a cease-fire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. At Columbia last week, one Jewish student stood near an encampment that has cropped up in the shadow of Butler Library and told NBC News he had quietly celebrated Passover inside the tents with other protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this volatile atmosphere, any position Biden takes is bound to alienate someone \u2014 and has.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey want to get re-elected, and they\u2019re afraid of what\u2019s going to happen in the swing states,\u201d Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., said of team Biden. \u201cThe joke is that the two-state solution is Michigan and Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Herbie Ziskend, White House deputy communications director, said that electoral considerations don\u2019t drive the president\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPolitics doesn\u2019t enter in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamas\u2019 surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and the ensuing Israel counteroffensive touched off a wave of antisemitic incidents around the country and turned college campuses into flashpoints of anger. In the two and a half months between the start of the war and the end of 2023, the Anti-Defamation League tallied more than 5,200 antisemitic incidents nationwide, exceeding the total for all of 2022 \u2014 though the group said<\/a> that number includes 1,317 rallies that were marked by \u201cantisemitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against the state of Israel and\/or anti-Zionism,\u201d which weren\u2019t \u201cnecessarily\u201d counted in prior tallies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What followed was a rash of complaints filed with the Education Department\u2019s civil rights office \u2014 an arm of the Biden administration that enforces Title VI, a provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the war began, the office opened 93 investigations into cases of discrimination against members of ethno-religious groups \u2014 about seven times the number begun in a comparable period before Hamas\u2019 attack. The complaints involve both secondary schools and some of the nation\u2019s most prestigious universities, including Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile the evidence is often clear and convincing, many Title VI investigations have remained unresolved for months, and even years,\u201d Gottheimer wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe proliferation of attacks and threats on Jewish and pro-Israel students demands immediate action,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Starting an inquiry is meaningless unless the department moves swiftly to resolve the complaint and hold schools accountable, others said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomething needs to give,\u201d said Brian Cohen of the Kraft Center for Jewish Student Life at Columbia\/Barnard Hillel. \u201cThe universities aren\u2019t acting fast enough. I don\u2019t think the Department of Education is working fast enough. Universities around the country are spiraling out of control and that\u2019s not good for anybody connected to higher education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Education Department did not make Cardona available for comment. In a prepared statement, he said: \u201cAs the nation\u2019s secretary of education, I am incredibly concerned by the reports we are hearing about antisemitic hate being directed at students. The Department\u2019s Office for Civil Rights is committed to actively investigating complaints from those who feel their institution is not protecting their civil rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Said Ziskend: \u201cThe president has forcefully condemned antisemitism and hate. He has spoken out with moral clarity on the need to condemn antisemitism. The whole administration has done that and continues to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Cohen by phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emhoff, who is Jewish, \u201cwanted to check in on me and our Jewish students and offer his support,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cHe ended the call by reminding me that the work we\u2019re doing is incredibly important and not to forget Jewish joy, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A longtime supporter of Israeli statehood, Biden has an affinity for the Jewish community, advisers say, and has taken myriad steps to combat antisemitism. Last May, he released a 60-page national strategy to counter antisemitism<\/a>, billing it as the first of its kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous \u2014 and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country,\u201d Biden said in a recent statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month into the war in Gaza, the Education Department\u2019s civil rights office sent a letter to schools<\/a> reminding them that they are legally obligated to prevent discrimination against students, be they Jewish, Israeli, Muslim or Palestinian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n