Columbia Standard

U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses during a committee hearing today. This follows the October 7 attack on Israel.

In May 2024, Graham led all Committee Republicans in urging Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) to hold a hearing on civil rights violations of Jewish students and the spread of terrorist ideology on college campuses. However, Chairman Durbin instead convened a hearing on hate crimes in general. The Democrat-led Senate has not held any hearings specifically addressing anti-Semitism since October 7, 2023, while the U.S. House of Representatives has conducted at least ten such hearings during the same period.

Graham expressed his concerns: "What I would like this committee to do is deal with the systematic problems that exist regarding what’s going on [at] American colleges today… There is an organized effort to intimidate, harass and physically assault Jewish students. What’s going on today is an effort on multiple fronts to wipe Israel off the map. This is not an academic discussion."

During the hearing, Graham questioned Maya Berry from the Arab American Institute, Kenneth Stern from the Bard Center for the Study of Hate, and Rabbi Mark Goldfeder from the National Jewish Advocacy Center.

Graham asked Stern about various groups' intentions towards Israel:

GRAHAM: "[The Office of the Director of National Intelligence] has observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters… Mr. Stern, is it Hamas’ goal to destroy the Jewish State?"

STERN: "Absolutely."

GRAHAM: "Is Hezbollah’s goal to destroy the Jewish State?"

STERN: "Absolutely."

GRAHAM: "Is it Iran’s goal to destroy the Jewish State?"

STERN: "Yes."

Turning his questions to Berry:

GRAHAM: "Okay, Ms. Berry, do you agree with that?"

BERRY: "I think these are complicated questions. I really don’t want to talk about foreign policy."

GRAHAM responded sharply: "No it’s not. There’s nothing complicated about it. That’s the most ridiculous testimony ever given in this committee. If you think it’s complicated to figure out that Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran want to kill all the Jews, I should not listen to anything else you’ve got to say —and I won’t."

The full video recordings of Graham's opening statement and subsequent questions are available online.

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