MILWAUKEE – The presidents of multiple Ivy League universities are facing criticism over a congressional hearing on Anti-semitism on college campuses earlier this week.
The leaders of Penn, MIT, and Harvard gave careful responses about circumstances and conduct when asked if advocating genocide was a violation of school policy. The university leaders called it a context-dependent decision.
“It’s hate,” Mark Shapiro, of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, told Wis. Morning News on Thursday. “I don’t know why the leaders of our most prestigious higher education institutions, of all people, can’t just say it. You cannot allow people to use words like ‘genocide.'”
It’s the latest example allowing for the rise of Anti-semitism, according to Shapiro. The incident comes as the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah stars Thursday at sundown.
“Hanukkah is a holiday that is about shining light on something,” he explained. “It’s a holiday where the menorah is supposed to be in the window of your house. There is going to be a lot of people who aren’t going to put up decorations in their window because of a fear of what’s happening.
“(Jews) have to persevere. That’s what Hanukkah is about.”
