Pro-Palestinian Protesters Disrupt House Hearing on Antisemitism

Pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly interrupted a congressional hearing dedicated to examining the state of free-speech rights in higher-education amid rising antisemitism across the U.S.

Anti-Israel protesters periodically disrupted the testimony of six witnesses during the House Judiciary hearing on Wednesday.

Immediately after Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) swore in the witnesses, a protester stood up with a sign reading, “Pro-Palestine [doesn’t equal] antisemitism.” He shouted, “Over 10,000 people have been killed, and you’re trying to silence the free speech of students.”

There were several instances of interruptions at the beginning of the hearing before the first witness could speak.

“We appreciate people being here, but the committee has to be in order,” Jordan said, as he was interrupted by a protester shouting that Representative Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) was silenced over her anti-Israel sentiments. The Palestinian-American congresswoman was officially censured by the House on Tuesday night, with 22 Democrats joining most Republicans in approving the resolution.

“We will remove every single person who disrupts the committee,” Jordan added. The interruptions waned as the hearing went on.

According to the committee’s website, the “Free Speech on College Campuses” hearing examined “the current state of the First Amendment on the campuses of American colleges and universities,” as well as “the rise in antisemitism, anti-Israel sentiment, and violence towards students supporting Israel.”

Witnesses who testified about the state of the First Amendment and the rise in campus antisemitism included: University of Iowa student Jasmyn Jordan, Cornell University student Amanda Silberstein, Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law founder and chairman Kenneth Marcus, University of Buffalo alumnus Connor Ogrydziak, American University’s Jewish Studies Program director Pamela Nadell, and Anti-Defamation League public-policy strategist Stacy Burdett.

Brandeis University, which has no relation to the Louis D. Brandeis Center, became the first private college to ban Students for Justice in Palestine from its campus earlier this week, citing the group’s support for Hamas. Florida governor Ron DeSantis also ordered state colleges and universities to revoke the group’s status as a registered campus organization over its hostility to Israel.

Jordan also spoke about colleges and universities allegedly targeting conservative student groups, like Young Americans for Freedom, and the simultaneous rise in censorship of such students and other Americans with conservative views.

In the two weeks since Hamas first invaded Israel and the Jewish nation subsequently declared war against the terrorist group, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. rose significantly by 388 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the ADL Center on Extremism. Of the 312 antisemitic incidents in that 16-day timeframe, 190 were directly connected to the Middle Eastern conflict.

As recently as Monday, a 69-year-old Jewish man named Paul Kessler died from a brain hemorrhage after a pro-Palestinian protester struck him on the head over the weekend. The homicide investigation is still ongoing.