Posted on 06/11/25
| News Source: TNND
A House subcommittee convened on Capitol Hill Wednesday to address the alarming rise in antisemitic attacks across the United States and their implications for national security.
Both Democrats and Republicans expressed concern over the nearly 10,000 reported antisemitic incidents in 2024, the highest number since the Anti-Defamation League started keeping score 46 years ago.
The meeting followed a recent series of violent, targeted, and even deadly attacks. In April, an arsonist set Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home on fire during Passover. On June 1, a man in Boulder, Colorado, threw Molotov cocktails at a Jewish group raising awareness for the hostages still in Gaza.
Weeks before that attack, a gunman shot and killed two young Israeli embassy staffers at a Jewish event in Washington, D.C.
Democrats on the committee criticized the current administration for reducing resources and personnel at civil rights offices responsible for overseeing antisemitism concerns. Representative Seth Magaziner, D-Rhode Island, arguing, "We should be surging resources to those agencies, not gutting them."
Republicans, meanwhile, are examining the possibility of a broader threat. Rep. August Pfluger highlighted a recent video from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula calling for attacks on U.S. soil. The video used the attack in Washington, D.C. as an example others should follow.
"This should be a chilling reminder, anti-Jewish hate is being weaponized by foreign terror organizations and inspiring violence right here in our homeland. These incidents are not isolated," said Pflugar.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. R-Ga., asked the experts called for the hearing if the antisemitic and social unrest can be tied to China.
"There’s a lot of activity in the public record that show Chinese money is flowing into many of these organizations, so absolutely," said James Carafano, the E.W. Richardson Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
The national security risks associated with antisemitic incidents and social unrest have prompted the Trump administration to review the visa process for international students and implement a travel ban affecting 12 mostly African and Middle Eastern countries.