4 Suspended, 2 Arrested In Gaza Protest, Rutgers President Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday morning, Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway testified before Congress, where he was asked to defend his handling of the pro-Palestine protest that took place on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus in the first week of May.

The tensest part of the three-hour hearing was an exchange between Holloway and Virginia Republican Congressman Bob Good, one of the most conservative and far-right members of Congress.

Holloway would not answer when Good asked him if he thought Israel's government is genocidal.

But Holloway did reply: "I think Israel has a right to exist and protect itself."

"We should not be funding anti-Israel advocacy," Holloway also said, as Good continued to grill him.

Another Congressman, Glenn Grothman (R-Wisconsin), said Rutgers is "rewarding" Palestinians "for the trouble they're causing" by accepting 10 students from Gaza on a scholarship, which Holloway defended.

"I think it's a mischaracterization. We have programs that allow refugee students," replied the Rutgers president.

Alongside Holloway, the presidents of Northwestern University and UCLA were also interrogated by mostly Republican lawmakers, but some Democrats. This is the same congressional committee that grilled the former presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, both of whom resigned shortly after their testimony.

The fall-out from Holloway's testimony — if there is any — remains to be seen as the next few days unfold.

4 Rutgers students suspended due to the tent camps, 2 arrested for targeting a Jewish student

One of the biggest revelations from Thursday's hearing was that Rutgers has since suspended four students in connection with the tent-camp protest, and 19 other Rutgers students have disciplinary actions pending against them.

The tents were up at Rutgers for four days, from April 29 - May 2.

Two Rutgers students were arrested April 30 — the second day the tents were up — for using a photo of a Jewish student in posters placed in Demarest dorm hall. Rutgers has not released the names of those two students. Rutgers has also declined to tell Patch what exactly the posters said, and how the Jewish student's photo was used.

But both students have been charged with harassment, and their criminal charges are pending before the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

Rutgers announced here May 3 there have been reports of Jewish students being "targeted" on campus. They said they are investigating all reports.

Republican lawmaker: 'Antisemitism is tolerated' on American college campuses

Holloway was called to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, which is chaired by Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina.

Foxx opened her hearing by saying that American universities have “nurtured a campus culture of radicalism," where antisemitism has "become tolerated by administrators.”

Foxx said the schools should be “ashamed” of how they handled the protests. She also said students should not have been allowed to set up the tents in the first place.

"Why didn't you order an immediate removal of the campments?" asked South Jersey Congressman Donald Norcross, a Democrat.

"I woke up at 6:15 a.m. and that's when I discovered the Instagram post that you're referencing, sent out by SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine)," Holloway responded. "Within minutes, I was in touch with my leadership team and I would say by 6:30 we were on a Zoom. At that time, I said the encampment had to go down. This is a wild violation. We decided then to take the encampment down. The process would take a few hours to make sure there were a sufficient number of police there to make sure it could be taken down safely."

Holloway also said in his opening remarks:

"At Rutgers, this war has been a tragedy for our Jewish and Palestinian communities. I tell you with pride that Rutgers boasts one of the largest Jewish student populations in America ... Like so many other universities this spring, we saw a protest encampment take shape on our New Brunswick campus. It lasted for a little more than 72 hours. When, on the third morning, some student protesters called for a rally to disrupt exams, we moved quickly to shut the encampment down. We made a choice: that choice was to engage our students through dialogue as a first option instead of police action. We had seen what transpired at other universities and sought a different way. Without compromising on my fundamental stance against divestment and boycotts, we agreed to talk and to listen. If ever there was a time for dialogue and a focus on civil discourse, it is now."

Watch Thursday's entire Congressional hearing here; the tense exchange with Good begins at 1:53:

You can read Holloway's entire remarks before Congress May 23 here: https://www.rutgers.edu/presid... and here: https://www.rutgers.edu/presid...

Prior on this topic: Rutgers Agrees To 8 Demands From Pro-Gaza Protesters