[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 178 (Monday, October 30, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Cornell University

  Madam President, about what happened at Cornell, I am sickened and 
frightened by the news that has come out of Cornell University where, 
over the weekend, messages appeared on a noncampus online forum calling 
for violence--violence--against the school's Jewish community. The 
posts made specific references to a building on campus housing the 
Center for Jewish Living and called for violence toward Jewish 
students.
  Cornell has decried this appalling act and has alerted the FBI. The 
incident targeting Cornell's Jewish community is utterly revolting, 
but, unfortunately, it was not an isolated occurrence. Across the 
country, on campuses and in public spaces, the ancient poison of anti-
Semitism has found new life. The ADL reports that the incidents of 
anti-Semitism are up over 300 percent since Hamas's attack in Israel on 
October 7.
  In cities ranging from L.A. to Indianapolis to New York--and, in 
fact, all around the world--Jews are receiving death threats, 
vandalism, and public assaults for no other reason than because of who 
they are. In one instance reported by the ADL, a woman was punched in 
the face in Grand Central Terminal in New York. When she asked her 
assailant why he did that, he said: ``You are Jewish.''
  Anti-Semitism is absolutely on the rise here in America, and we have 
an obligation--a strong obligation--to condemn this behavior whenever 
we see it, wherever we see it, and no matter who spreads it. Every 
single American--no matter his or her background, no matter their 
beliefs, no matter how they feel about the awful violence in the Middle 
East and its history--ought to condemn with full-throated clarity anti-
Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of racial and religious 
prejudice. We must condemn all forms of hate.
  Nobody denies that people of good will can have disagreements about 
the conflict in the Middle East, but the redline is crossed when these 
disagreements lead to violence or threats of violence like what is 
happening, unfortunately, in too many communities around the country.
  And no matter what our beliefs are, all of us must remain vigilant--
absolutely vigilant--against critiques that quickly turn into threats 
of violence and outright anti-Semitism. Here in America, we must 
condemn anti-Semitism, always. We must condemn all forms of 
Islamophobia, always. We must fight all discrimination and preserve the 
values that make us American to begin with: that all people have 
dignity and a right to live securely always.