'Do You Have An Opinion On Anything?': Bob Good Hammers Rutgers President Over Campus Protests

5 months ago

During Thursday's House Education Committee hearing, Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) grilled Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway about anti-Israel activity on campus.

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Transcript

00:00Madam Chairman, President Holloway, the Rutgers Newark campus hosts a think tank called the

00:08Center for Security, Race, and Rights, or CSRR. In just the past week, CSRR, which astonishingly is

00:1650 percent funded by your chancellor's discretionary budget, and their director's

00:21$232,000 salary, of course, is paid for by the university. Well, again, in just the past week,

00:26CSRR, again a so-called think tank called the Center for Security, Race, and Rights,

00:31has exposed its anti-Semitic agenda in a post on X. CSRR called Israel's government,

00:38quote, genocidal. Do you think Israel's government's genocidal?

00:46Sir, I don't have an opinion on Israel's, in terms of that phrase.

00:52You do not have an opinion as to whether Israel's government's genocidal?

00:56No, sir. I think Israel has a right to exist and to protect itself.

00:59Do you think Israel's government's genocidal?

01:02I think Israel has a right to exist and to protect itself, sir.

01:05But you will not say that Israel's government's not genocidal. You can't say that.

01:11Sir, I believe in the government's right to this.

01:13You can't be that surprised by the topic of the discussion today, and you can't say that Israel's

01:16government's not genocidal. That's interesting. Another CSRR post said the Biden administration's

01:22shift on Israel is a gain that can and must be built on, meaning the Biden administration's

01:27betrayal of Israel. Another post from the center said the real threat to American Jews comes not

01:33from students, but from MAGA Republicans who are shouting about anti-Semitism the loudest.

01:41Do you agree with this? Again, Rutgers-funded think tank, half funded by your chancellor's

01:45discretionary budget, director has a $232,000 salary funded by Rutgers. Do you agree that

01:50MAGA Republicans are a threat to American Jews? Sir, these statements that you're reading,

01:57I find all deeply troubling and unsettling, sir. This would start with a yes or no. Do you think

02:01that MAGA Republicans are a threat to American Jews? I'm not in position to answer that question,

02:07sir. Are you in position to answer any questions? Yes, sir. Do you have an opinion on anything

02:12on this subject that's at hand today? I mean, what does that mean? Do you think that

02:16anti-Israel political advocacy, anti-Israel political advocacy is an appropriate use of

02:21taxpayer dollars by a public university like Rutgers? I think at a public university,

02:27we have to abide by the first amendment and be a place for- So should Rutgers fund

02:32anti-Israel political advocacy? Sir, we should not be funding anti-Israel advocacy, no. Okay,

02:38that's good to hear. On the 20th anniversary of September 11th, CSRR sponsored an event featuring

02:45a speaker who was convicted in 2006 for material support of a terrorist group, the Palestinian

02:51Islamic Jihad. His name is Sami al-Arian, and he pled guilty to several charges. The event was

02:58designed to so-called challenge the narrative surrounding 9-11 and how 9-11 supposedly

03:03legitimized a war on terror and other imperialist wars and interventions. I should note that 750

03:11New Jerseyans died on 9-11. They were murdered on 9-11. So do you think it's acceptable for New

03:16Jersey State University to sponsor an event about 9-11 with a speech by a convicted terrorist

03:21conspirator? I learned about that person's involvement. I don't support that person's

03:27ideas in the least. I think they're wildly offensive. I also- Well, that's all to stop

03:33there, sir. I'm sorry? I was ending my question. Well, you were president at that time. Did you

03:38do anything about this event taking place on your campus or to prevent future events like

03:42this from taking place? Did you ask if I would prevent that from happening, sir? Is that what

03:47you said? Again, do you think it's okay for New Jersey State University Rutgers to sponsor an

03:53event about 9-11 with a speech by a convicted terrorist conspirator? You said no, you did not

03:57think so. That's correct, sir. Did you do anything about it when you learned about it? You were

04:00president at the time. Sir, we're a community of 100,000 people. There are events happening on

04:04every day of the campus that I'm not aware of at any given moment. As noted before, the director

04:09of CSRR, Sahar Aziz, has made numerous anti-Semitic statements, again with her $232,000 Rutgers-funded

04:18salary. She signed a statement condemning, quote, the racial supremacy of Jewish Zionist nationals,

04:27saying that Jews are more privileged than Muslims and delegitimizing both Israel and the US as,

04:33quote, racist settler colonial states. Given that statement and her center's anti-Semitic

04:40pro-terrorist activities, do you think it's appropriate for Rutgers to continue to fund

04:43this office and pay her salary of $232,000? Is that okay? Is that cool with you and Rutgers?

04:48There's very little that I find easy about the center, sir. I personally disagree deeply with

04:53a lot of the ideas that come from that center. Are you going to close the center or just keep

04:58on funding it, keep paying that salary? I have no plans to close the center, sir.

05:02I'm not surprised. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I yield back.

'Do You Have An Opinion On Anything?': Bob Good Hammers Rutgers President Over Campus Protests

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