House Education Committee chair demands answers after Northwestern University caves to anti-Israel agitators

Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., the chairwoman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, sent a missive to Northwestern University leaders connected Friday, demanding answers connected an statement reached with anti-Israel agitators. 

In the letter, Foxx announces her committee has opened an probe into the university's "response to antisemitism and its nonaccomplishment to support Jewish students." She demands documents and communications concerning the encampment and alleged antisemitic incidents that person taken spot astatine Northwestern since the Oct. 7 onslaught connected Israel, successful summation to different materials. 

"I person sedate concerns regarding Northwestern's persistent nonaccomplishment successful addressing antisemitism," Foxx writes. 

The missive comes aft Northwestern's apical administrators — including President Michael Schill — person faced aggravated disapproval implicit an statement with pupil protesters to extremity an amerciable encampment connected campus. 

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY HIT WITH FEDERAL COMPLAINT AFTER CAVING TO ANTI-ISRAEL MOB'S DEMANDS

Representative Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, speaks during a quality league astir the ongoing protests happening connected assemblage campuses, astatine the US Capitol successful Washington, DC, US, connected Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Campuses crossed the US person been grappling with anti-Israel protests and antagonistic demonstrations since the Oct. 7 onslaught connected Israel by Hamas. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"Most recently, Northwestern’s determination to capitulate to antisemitic, pro-terror encampment organizers prompted 7 members of Northwestern’s antisemitism advisory committee to resign successful protestation and for 3 nationalist Jewish organizations, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Louis D. Brandeis Center, and StandWithUs, jointly to telephone for President Schill’s resignation oregon removal," Foxx's missive states.

The alleged "Northwestern Liberated Zone" was established connected April 29, 2024, by a radical of students and module who staged an unauthorized five-day anti-Israel protestation and encampment connected Deering Meadow astatine Northwestern University successful Illinois. It was portion of the nationwide question that began astatine Columbia University with students and Hamas supporters demanding that institutions of higher learning afloat divest from Israel and condemn the warfare successful Gaza.

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Under the agreement, Northwestern said it plans to screen the afloat outgo of attendance for 5 Palestinian students who be the schoolhouse for the duration of their undergraduate careers.

The statement besides provides for contiguous impermanent abstraction for [Middle East and North Africa] MENA/Muslim students and a location for MENA/Muslim students that is conducive to assemblage gathering arsenic soon arsenic practically possible, oregon sometime aft 2026.

NORTHWESTERN PROFESSOR, WHOSE SCHOOL GAVE IN TO ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS, IS SON OF NOTORIOUS TERRORIST RADICALS

Students and residents campy extracurricular Northwestern University during an anti-Israel protest, expressing solidarity with Palestinians with banners successful Evanston, Illinois, United States connected April 27, 2024.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Northwestern's section of Students for Justice successful Palestine (SJP) celebrated the woody arsenic "a landmark triumph made successful our conflict for mandate liberation," and, Foxx's missive notes, "an important measurement toward our eventual goal: divestment from Israel (emphasis successful original)." 

Such incidents see an April 25 confrontation erstwhile protesters physically resisted Northwestern University Police officers who attempted to wide the encampment. Faculty members participated successful the demonstration, including Steven Thrasher, the Medill School’s Daniel H. Renberg Chair of Social Justice successful Reporting. 

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT CALLS ON STUDENTS TO CONDEMN ANTISEMITIC PHRASES; SCHOOL GROUP CLAPS BACK

Students acceptable up tents extracurricular Northwestern University arsenic portion of an ongoing protestation successful enactment of Palestinian rights, demonstrating their committedness to the origin successful Evanston, Illinois, connected April 25, 2024.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

On the aforesaid day, a Jewish Northwestern pupil was reportedly assaulted by an encampment subordinate portion signaling the encampment, according to video posted connected X. Other Jewish students reported harassment from protesters, including a pistillate who said she was "told to spell backmost to Germany and get gassed," and a pupil wearing a yarmulke who reported being spat astatine arsenic helium walked past the encampment.

Foxx's missive besides points to antisemitic incidents astatine Northwestern University that predate the encampment, including a Jewish pupil who was "called a violent and a colonizer" aft she wrote an op-ed discussing antisemitism astatine the university. It besides cites a connection from Northwestern's SJP issued successful effect to the Oct. 7 onslaught connected Israel, which stated, "the occupied and oppressed person the undeniable close to defy and question their state without stigmatization arsenic instigators and terrorists." 

Hamas, a U.S.-designated violent group, killed 1,200 Israelis arsenic they brutally raped, tortured and murdered their mode done confederate Israel during the Oct. 7 attack, taking immoderate 250 captives backmost to Gaza.

SEVERAL ANTISEMITISM COMMITTEE MEMBERS RESIGN AFTER NORTHWESTERN MAKES DEAL WITH ANTI-ISRAEL AGITATORS

Protest signs impeach Israel of genocide successful the warfare successful Gaza astatine an encampment astatine Northwestern University.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The missive notes astatine slightest 7 different examples of alleged antisemitic incidents astatine Northwestern that took spot earlier the encampment and astatine slightest 13 that happened since April 25. 

"The grounds makes wide that President Schill and different Northwestern leaders person not lone failed to code the pervasive antisemitic harassment and disruptions of a harmless learning situation that person plagued the University successful a superior manner, but person besides surrendered to the malefactors liable for this hatred and chaos," Foxx writes. "This is an unacceptable dereliction of duty." 

Northwestern University did not instantly respond to a petition for comment. 

Schill wrote an op-ed successful the Chicago Tribune published Thursday that stated that "University presidents are betwixt a stone and a hard spot erstwhile it comes to the question of protests and structure encampments connected our campuses."

The file was titled "Here’s wherefore I reached an statement with Northwestern protesters."

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Schill wrote that anti-Israel protesters astatine Northwestern "asked for respective changes to assemblage policy, including divestment from Israel and the extremity of an world programme that focused connected Israeli innovation. We said a level nary to both. But we did accidental we understood their isolation and alienation and wanted to enactment with them to amended beingness astatine Northwestern for Muslim students and students from the Middle East and North Africa."

"Ultimately, we came to an statement that they would instrumentality down the structure encampment and bring the objection into compliance with our rules and regulations," Schill said, adding that the schoolhouse has agreed to "establish a location for Muslim and Middle Eastern students to eat, commune and socialize, thing already enjoyed by our Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Black and pistillate students," among different changes.

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman, Greg Wehner and Jon Street contributed to this report.