The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has launched an investigation into a group behind anti-Israel protests on university campuses.
The committee sent letters to Columbia University, Barnard College, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), according to documents obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. A letter was also sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel, urging them to take action on the matter.
According to the letters, the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is supported by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), which has “personnel with reported ties to the Foreign Terrorist Organization Hamas,” the committee wrote in the letters.
“Activity that threatens the safety of others is not constitutionally protected free speech, and conduct that violates campus rules should not be tolerated,” the letters read. “Reports of individuals with ties to terrorist groups or their affiliates engaging with students on college campuses are also cause for the highest alarm.”
Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) revealed during a Thursday committee hearing that antisemitic incidents on college campuses have increased nearly 500% between 2023 and 2024.
“At colleges and universities, Jewish students were harassed and attacked for who they are,” he said. “According to the Anti-Defamation League, there were 1,200 reported antisemitic incidents on college campuses between 2023 and 2024— a 500 percent increase from the previous year.”
“Instead of standing up for Jewish students, too many university officials failed to respond or refused to even condemn these horrific incidents,” Cassidy noted.
Announcing the investigation into the campus protest group, the senator said, “Today, as Chair of the HELP Committee, I launched an investigation into the American Muslims for Palestine, demanding answers about their activities on college campuses. This group’s leaders have ties to Hamas and helped create the group Students for Justice in Palestine. I also requested information from the Justice Department and several universities on these groups.”
