In a stark response to recent congressional hearings on antisemitism in academia, the Chairman of Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, has voiced grave concerns over the rising tolerance for antisemitic rhetoric on college campuses.
"Yesterday's congressional hearings addressing antisemitism on university and college campuses highlight the willful lack of accountability when it comes to Jews, Israel, and antisemitism on campus and in academia," said the chairman, Dani Dayan.
The statement specifically criticizes the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and UPenn for their alarming indifference.
Shock at their indifference
The Chairman expressed shock at their stance during the hearings, stating, "Yad Vashem is extremely alarmed by [their] refusal to claim that genocidal calls against Jews do not violate university policy and code of conduct."
Dayan, reacted strongly: "Any university, institution, or society that can 'contextualize' and excuse calls for genocide is doomed. I call upon university administrations to empower and train their faculty and students to better understand the dangers of antisemitism."
In a statement, Dayan invited university leaders to visit Yad Vashem during the university semester break. "We invite university leadership to visit Israel and Yad Vashem... to learn what past calls for the genocide of Jews has led to - the Holocaust. Never Again must begin with education," he emphasized.