The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling out House Republicans for calling on the Treasury Department to investigate the finances of pro-Palestinian student protesters who have set up camp at numerous U.S. colleges in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) asked the department for suspicious activity reports on 20 groups, from who they believe funded and supported the protests on campus.
“Your request lacks any legitimate congressional intent and reflects the witch hunts of the McCarthy era. “It also represents the latest political ploy in a consistently dishonest and increasingly desperate attempt to shield a foreign government from criticism by vilifying American students who are exercising their constitutional right to criticize that foreign government,” said Robert McCaw, superintendent CAIR’s government affairs division, in a letter to Republican lawmakers on Thursday.
McCaw condemned the flurry of recent congressional hearings that focused on anti-Semitism in schools, saying the committees had ignored anti-Palestinian discrimination and conflated criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.
“Abusing the authority of Congress to launch witch hunts against Americans with whom you disagree tarnishes the democratic process. The same goes for using your power to denigrate and silence the college students who independently organized the diverse and organic student camp movement,” he said.
The Education Committee has scheduled another questioning hearing for next week Schools that have agreements in place to end pro-Palestinian camps without police. In the agreements, the schools agreed to lesser penalties for those who broke the rules and allowed students to suggest to university boards strategies to turn away from Israel.
“It is no coincidence that the day after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, anti-Semitic mobs appeared on college campuses across the country. These protests were coordinated and well organized, suggesting that outside groups or influences may be at play. American education is under attack. It is critical that Congress investigate how these groups – which are destroying our institutions – are funded and counseled before it is too late,” Foxx said.
McCaw responded, “Since you can’t convince young people to support genocide, you try to vilify and silence those young people.” Please know that your efforts will ultimately fail, God said just as the proponents of apartheid and segregation did before you.”
