Second gentleman Doug Emhoff issued a stark warning amid the rising tide of anti-Jewish hate in the two months since Hamas’ attack on Israel during remarks at the National Menorah lighting ceremony Thursday.
“What have we seen? We’ve seen the presidents of some of our most elite universities literally unable to denounce calling for the genocide of Jews as antisemitic. That lack of moral clarity is simply unacceptable.” Emhoff said. “We’ve seen a restaurant owner, who’s a friend of mine, accused of genocide simply because he’s Jewish. We’ve all seen college students afraid to go to class. We’ve seen people afraid to go to markets, afraid to go to synagogues, literally being attacked on our streets.
“Let me be clear: When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs, or identity, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and it must be condemned and condemned unequivocally and without context.”
The White House issued a full-throated condemnation of any calls for genocide Wednesday, just one day after university presidents from Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania faced intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill for failing to say whether calling for the genocide of Jews would necessarily violate their code of conduct.
“I think the president has been very clear, he’s had total moral clarity on this, and the president has set an example for all leaders during this gut-wrenching increase in antisemitism,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told CNN’s MJ Lee during Wednesday’s press briefing. “He’s spoken very forcefully against it. Calls for genocide are unacceptable, it’s vile, and it’s counter to everything this country stands for. I can’t believe I even have to say that.”
Presidents of both Penn and Harvard have since clarified…
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