WASHINGTON (CN) — Testimony from a panel of experts warning about the rising tide of hate crimes against Jewish and Arab Americans nearly faded into the background Tuesday, as Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sparred with witnesses — and even the audience — over antisemitism on college campuses.
The upper chamber’s legal affairs panel met to analyze threats to the U.S.’s Jewish and Arab communities amid what experts describe as a rising wave of hate crimes, supercharged by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza.
But proceedings quickly became tense as the committee’s Republican members fumed over what they said was a refusal from Democrats to specifically address the threat of antisemitic speech and needled witnesses over pro-Palestine protests at university campuses.
“The message that is being sent today at this hearing is that antisemitism isn’t enough,” Missouri Senator Josh Hawley said. “The attempts to kill Jews on campuses, that’s not a topic worthy of discussion. You’ve got to add something else to it.”
Tuesday’s hearing examined the recent spate of hate crimes perpetrated against both Jewish and Arab communities in the U.S. and featured testimony from experts who warned about threats to both groups.
Maya Berry, executive director of the Arab American Institute, pointed out that hate crimes against Jewish and Arab Americans spiked by as much as 50%, respectively, last year. Nearly half of hate crime incidents reported in 2023 occurred between October and December, she added.
“Every year since the 2016 presidential election, the trajectory has been a dangerous increase of hate crimes in our country,” Berry told the committee.
And some of these hate crimes have been characterized by extreme violence. In October, six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea al-Fayoume was killed in his Illinois home by his mother’s landlord, who authorities say was motivated by the Israel-Hamas war. Hanaan Shahin, al-Fayoume’s mother, was also critically injured in the attack.
In his opening statement Tuesday, Senator Dick Durbin, chair of the Judiciary Committee, acknowledged Wadea’s killing, as well as the 2018 mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh — where a gunman killed 11 worshippers and wounded six in the deadliest attack on Jewish Americans in U.S. history.
“Violence and threats of violence are always wrong, no matter the motive and no matter the target,” Durbin said.
But the committee’s Republican contingent was not satisfied, arguing that antisemitism — particularly among pro-Palestine demonstrators on college campuses — was a uniquely dangerous issue that deserved special attention.
Rabbi Mark Goldfeder, director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and the GOP’s witness, contended that there is an “acute” problem with antisemitism in the U.S. He warned that hate crimes against Jews are a gateway to future threats against other groups.
“Stopping antisemitic hate crimes is for all Americans, because even if you aren’t Jewish, they are coming for you next,” he told lawmakers.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, the Judiciary Committee’ ranking member, said Republicans have for months asked Democrats to hold a hearing on “flagrant civil rights violations” targeting Jewish student on college campuses.
“This is not the hearing we’re getting,” he said during opening remarks. “So, we’ll work with what we’ve got.”
Committee Republicans sought to reframe Tuesday’s discussion specifically around antisemitism and accused pro-Palestinian advocates of taking their marching orders from foreign actors such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, which all aim to destroy the state of Israel.
Lawmakers pointed to images from university protests, where demonstrators held up signs and displayed slogans apparently sympathetic to Hamas, as proof that these movements were underpinned by foreign influence.
But Berry said that it was “highly problematic” to suggest that protest movements in the U.S were beholden to foreign actors or that demonstrators share their values. She argued that such assertions are part of “dehumanizing” protesters and that they don’t belong at a hearing about hate crimes.
“Hamas, Hezbollah or Iran — not only do they have views on Israel, they have views on the great United States,” Berry said. “We can have that conversation in a foreign policy context, but I just don’t think that’s the reason that people are marching.”
Congress should instead be discussing why hate crimes occur and how to address them, she said.
That failed to convince some Judiciary Committee Republicans. Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, in one particularly tense moment, accused Berry of supporting Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran in rapid succession.
Berry was incredulous. “I find this line of questioning extraordinarily disappointing,” she told the Louisiana senator, arguing that he was targeting her because she leads an Arab civil rights group and is a Muslim woman. “You have Arab American constituents that you represent.”
Berry later argued that the questioning she faced from Republicans was demonstrative of the larger issue posed by hate crimes in the U.S.
“This has been, regrettably, a real disappointment, but very much an indication of the danger to our democratic institutions that we’re in now,” she said. “We have a very real problem, and at the center of it is understanding why people hate and what we can do to respond. If we intend to actually take this seriously, it’s not a conversation about Israel and foreign policy, it’s what we are doing to understand that we must improve this response — which includes no longer dehumanizing Palestinians.”
The audience gathered in the chamber Tuesday repeatedly voiced their displeasure at Republicans’ questioning, with many groaning audibly as Kennedy accused Berry of supporting foreign actors. As many as five people were physically removed from the room by U.S. Capitol Police after they stood up to address GOP lawmakers directly.
One man, who stood up to call Texas Senator Ted Cruz a “liar” as he opined about antisemitism on college campuses, could be heard calling the lawmaker a “fucking moron” as he was being escorted from the chamber.
And following the hearing, pro-Palestinian activists accosted Durbin in the hallway outside the committee chamber, accusing him of allowing Republicans to make the proceedings solely about antisemitism.
“You didn’t listen,” Durbin told the demonstrators.
“That was a disgrace of a hearing,” one protester told the chairman. “You’re an embarrassment to America.”
Tuesday’s hearing on hate crimes comes as the Republican presidential ticket faces scrutiny over their rhetoric toward Haitian Americans. Both former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, have amplified unsubstantiated claims that Haitian Americans living in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing and eating dogs and cats.
The mayor of Springfield, local police and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine have all disputed these rumors, but many Republican members of Congress have continued to cite them. DeWine on Monday said the city has received as many as 33 bomb threats related to the false claims.