House Democrat cautions Columbia president on antisemitic protests: Your position is at risk

Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) gave Columbia University President Minouche Shafik advice while visiting the campus on Monday, encouraging her to ask the former presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania “what not to do” when it comes to handling the rise of antisemitism.

Moskowitz spoke during a president-trump-trump-is-a-tyrant-video/” title=”Gov. Whitmer, Media Caught in Another Lie – Anarchist Arrested For Plot to Kidnap and Kill Whitmer Hates President Trump, ‘Trump is a Tyrant’ (VIDEO)”>press conference with Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Dan Goldman (D-NY), and Kathy Manning (D-NC), all of whom are Jewish. The House Democrats met with Jewish students at Columbia following clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters that devolved into antisemitism.

The Florida congressman spoke directly to Shafik, saying, “We’ve seen this show before.”

“There’s one theme that keeps coming up over and over again, which is the double standard,” Moskowitz said of his conversations with Jewish parents. “They know, and you know, deep down, if this was any minority group, this wouldn’t be happening. It wouldn’t have gotten this far, but because it’s Jews, we’ve fallen into this weird category: Oh, we’re not protected.”

In a statement to the Washington Examiner, Moskowitz said that if Shafik wants to know “what not to do, she should call the former Presidents of Harvard and UPenn.”

University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned in December last year, and Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned in January after the pair testified before the House Education Committee about the level of antisemitism on their campuses, inflamed by the war between Israel and Hamas. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) had launched a bipartisan effort to oust them from their positions.

Now, Shafik’s actions have come under fire from Stefanik and other congressional lawmakers who say she is not doing enough to protect Jewish students. New York House Republicans sent Shafik a letter demanding her resignation, saying, “You have failed.”

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A Columbia University rabbi encouraged Jewish students to go home because the school could not guarantee their safety. Shafik announced a shift to virtual classes on Monday, the beginning of Passover, due to the high levels of campus unrest.

“That’s why antisemitism is on the rise. That’s what the failures were in committee with those presidents, and that’s the failure that’s happening here today,” Moskowitz said, referring to Magill and Gay.