House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith said the committee will hold a hearing to probe antisemitism on college campuses as Israel's retaliatory offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas continues.
In a Wednesday interview with Fox News, the Missouri Republican said that multiple witnesses will testify at the Nov. 15 hearing, including a Cornell University student who has reportedly experienced antisemitism amid the ongoing war.
"Cornell University, for one — one of our witnesses will be a student at Cornell, a Jewish student that has experienced antisemitism and ... will talk about how even one of the professors at Cornell University basically promoted what happened on Oct. 7 of over 1,000 people losing their lives," Smith told the outlet.
It was not immediately clear which professor Smith was referring to, but Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history at Cornell, went viral last month for telling students at a pro-Palestinian rally that Hamas' unprovoked attack on the Jewish state was "exhilarating" and "energizing." According to the New York Post, Rickford later apologized for his "horrible choice of words" and took a leave of absence from the university.
Earlier this month, in a separate incident at the Ivy League school, several antisemitic threats of violence were reportedly posted on an online discussion board that targeted the campus' Jewish center and kosher dining hall, with the latter being closed as a result.
Cornell is one of several institutions that have seen a spike in antisemitic incidents since Hamas broke through Israel's southern defensive wall last month and slaughtered more than 1,400 Israelis. In response, Israel launched a blistering assault on Gaza, including airstrikes and a ground offensive.
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict. The death toll numbers cannot be independently verified.