Argall: Pennsylvania Colleges Must Fight Campus Antisemitism

HARRISBURG - After hearing disturbing accounts of antisemitism on college campuses across Pennsylvania, state Sen. Dave Argall (R-29) called on college administrators to take stronger actions against the perpetrators of this hatred during a public hearing of the Senate Education Committee.

"It's deeply troubling to hear that blatant antisemitism was allowed to fester on campuses here in Pennsylvania," said Argall. "Let me be absolutely clear: action must be taken to prevent this from happening here again."

Argall, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, called this public hearing to hear directly from students about their ordeals since the October 7 massacre, where Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,000 Israelis, most of whom were civilians. Since that day, many organizations that track instances of antisemitism have documented a dramatic rise in incidents.

The Anti-Defamation League testified that the number of antisemitic instances on college campuses jumped from 9 in 2022 to 54 in 2023, an increase of 500%. They also shared that since the terror attacks, the share of students who feel comfortable with others knowing they are Jewish declined from 63.7% to 38.6%.

Benjamin Messafi, a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania and the Co-President of the Penn-Israel Public Affairs Committee, listed the severe cases of antisemitism he was exposed to when an illegal encampment took over Penn's campus, including a student wearing Nazi propaganda and displays of footage from the October 7 massacre.

Alon Lesham, a board member of the Student Coalition for Israel at the University of Pittsburgh, shared that when students held a vigil for the victims of the October 7 massacre the day after the attack, they were met by masked protesters chanting about a globalized intifada, invoking a troubling period of heightened violence and suicide bombings in Israel in the early 2000s.

Mackenzie Borine, the Student President of Penn State Hillel, shared stories of students banging on Hillel building windows and graffitiing elevators in the apartment attached to the building.

Testifiers noted the importance of the Stand with Israel Act, legislation which would prevent Pennsylvania colleges and universities that boycott or divest from Israel from receiving any state tax dollars. Earlier this year, Argall voted in favor of this bill when it was approved by a strongly bipartisan vote of 41-7 in the state Senate. It now awaits consideration by the House State Government Committee.

The hearing in its entirety and all written testimony can be found on the Senate Education Committee website.

CONTACT: Jim Brugger