Two Jewish Democrats reflect on Congressional efforts to combat surge in antisemitism : NPR

As Congress continues to deal with the policy and political implications of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel one year ago, lawmakers are also reflecting on the rise of antisemitism in the United States.

Jewish Americans represent about 2 percent of the population and were the target of 16 percent of hate crimes in 2023 – a surge of over 60 percent from the year before, according to the FBI’s hate crime statistics report. Current figures are likely higher, given reports that anti-Jewish animus has been higher since Oct. 7 and the report only captures a few months of data post-attack.

North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning and Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, two Jewish Democratic lawmakers, are working to address the issue despite political divisions within Congress and their own party.

“There’s been a change in this country from, you know, the swastika on a wall that happened once in a while or someone being accosted on the street once in a while to the point where you can’t even keep up with all the antisemitic attacks that are going on,” Moskowitz said.

Manning, who co-chairs the House bipartisan task force for combatting antisemitism, said she’s been tracking the rise in anti-Jewish hate over the last year.

“I think it’s important to remember the attacks began before Israel had any response, before they sent any troops into Gaza,” she said. “We saw people being threatened. We saw violent language used against Jews. And, of course, we’ve seen the eruption of antisemitic behavior on college campuses across the country.”

College campus protests and beyond

The rise in demonstrations on college campuses last spring was the subject of various committee hearings in the halls of Congress. House Speaker Mike Johnson brought a Republican delegation to visit Columbia University. Manning and Moskowitz were part of a separate visit with Jewish Democratic lawmakers.

“We didn’t go to Columbia because we had a problem with students protesting. They have every right to protest,” said Moskowitz. “We went to Columbia because Jewish students were afraid to go to school.”

Protesters on campuses maintained their aim was to show public support for the people in Gaza and to demand their universities divest from companies with ties to Israel.

“We’ve always been told that you can be anti-Zionist without being antisemitic. And I would say that you could. As it turns out, they’re just not,” Moskowitz said. “And the reason why is they’re not surrounding Israeli students going to class. They’re surrounding a kid wearing a Jewish star going to class. They don’t know his position on Israel. Maybe he’s anti-Israel, but he’s Jewish.”

He said the protests highlighted the need for Congress to step in.

“If what was happening on college campuses were not about Jews, if people in hoods were encircling Black kids, blocking them from class, or some right-wing extremist group was targeting the LGBT kids, we don’t believe it would have gotten past lunchtime on the first day,” Moskowitz said. “We believe Congress would have acted.”

A role for Congress

Congress has taken steps over the last year in response to rising antisemitism but there are ongoing divisions about what elements are most important to address at the federal level and which policies will actually lead to solutions.

In May, the House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would see the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism when reviewing complaints of discrimination in programs that receive federal financial assistance. The bill goes further than an executive order former President Donald Trump signed in 2019 and opponents say it could restrict free speech. The measure has not been taken up by the Senate.

Manning spent nine months with House colleagues and counterparts in the Senate negotiating what she calls the “most comprehensive bill” on antisemitism that incorporates the guidance outlined in the Biden administration’s national strategy to counter antisemitism. The result is the Countering Antisemitism Act, which would establish a position in the White House to coordinate federal efforts to counter antisemitism across various agencies and to conduct a study that analyzes the prevalence of online antisemitic content. The bill would also appoint a senior official within the Department of Education to be responsible for addressing antisemitism on college campuses.

That bill has yet to be brought to the floor for a vote by Republican leadership.

Divisions among Democrats

Moskowitz says the issue more broadly has highlighted what he calls schisms within his own party.

“It was real easy for Democrats, right, when it was just [GOP Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene talking about Jewish space lasers to go call her out, or easy when Tucker Carlson has a Holocaust denier on his show to call him out,” Moskowitz said. “I didn’t see the same level of interest on calling out the antisemitism when it was within your own tent.”

He said Democratic lawmakers weren’t unified in their condemnation of some of the violent language being used on campuses.

“As soon as they saw there was division in our party, the Republicans jumped right in from a political issue, from a fundraising issue, and wanted to drive that wedge. We made it easy for them to do that, by the way, when there are people protesting in front of college campuses saying, ‘go back to Poland, kill all the Zionists.’ And like several of my progressive members are like, ‘Oh, look, it’s raining today.’

Manning said the events of the past year have brought Jewish members in the House closer together but support from colleagues has been uneven.

“What I have experienced is not antisemitism from my colleagues, but willful ignorance of what so many of us are experiencing,” she said.

Moskowitz agreed.

“A lot of other members are scared to step out because they don’t want to get targeted,” he said. “They don’t want to get protested in their district and don’t want police in front of their house, which I have 24-hours a day.”

He said that police protection began within weeks of October 7, based on death threats against him and his children, ages 7 and 10.

“It’s not a pleasant time to be Jewish at the moment,” he said. “Almost every Jewish member has this story. My grandparents were Holocaust survivors. And there are bits and pieces of stories my grandmother’s told me that are repeating themselves. Different – not the same, but similar threats. And Jews see and feel that. So we’ll have to see what the new Congress wants to do. The schisms that exist on this issue are still going to exist.”

Manning adds she hears from Jews across the country worrying about what the future holds, and asking if Congress can help.

“I think so many Jews, particularly of my generation and older, carry all of those stories on their shoulders — the history of the Crusades, and the Inquisition, and the pogroms and the Holocaust. When I talk to people about what the difference is today is all those other disasters that happened to the Jews were perpetrated by the governments of those countries. What’s happening today in the United States, not only is it not perpetrated by our government, our government is trying to put into place structures to combat that antisemitism,” she said. “And that’s the thing that gives me hope moving forward.”