HLS 24RS-4341 ORIGINAL
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 123
BY REPRESENTATIVE BAYHAM
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: Condemns antisemitic violence on college campuses and
expresses support for Louisiana's Jewish students, faculty, staff, and communities
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To condemn antisemitic violence on college campuses, including campuses in Louisiana,
3 and to express support for Louisiana's Jewish students, faculty, staff, and
4 communities.
5 WHEREAS, the United States Department of State has designated Hamas as a
6terrorist organization; on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a coordinated series of terrorist
7attacks on Israel that resulted in the slaughter of women, children, and the elderly and the
8deaths of Israeli Defense Force soldiers, police officers, and members of the Israel Security
9Agency, Shin Bet; and
10 WHEREAS, Hamas terrorists abducted two hundred fifty people, including at least
11six Americans, to use as hostages and human shields; the United Nations has issued a report
12stating that its officials have found "clear and convincing" evidence that Hamas has sexually
13assaulted its hostages, including gang rape; and
14 WHEREAS, since October 7, 2023, protests on American college campuses against
15the State of Israel's response to the terrorist attacks have devolved into violent, antisemitic
16mobs targeting Jewish students, faculty, and staff; protestors have "occupied" buildings and
17taken over shared campus facilities to prevent Jews from accessing the interior; faculty who
18engage in or help organize antisemitic collective actions are able to keep their jobs while
19Jewish professors have their access to campus revoked; university administrators have
20canceled classes and other university activities or moved them online; and
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HCR NO. 123
1 WHEREAS, approximately forty percent of Tulane University's student population
2is Jewish; Loyola University has a smaller Jewish population, but its Jewish students and
3professors have also been threatened and harassed by protestors at demonstrations on or near
4the campuses; on October 26, 2023, a rally near Tulane turned violent as protesters
5attempted to set fire to an Israeli flag, a Jewish Tulane student was struck multiple times
6with a flagpole, and another student was hit with a megaphone; and
7 WHEREAS, rallies and protests at or near Tulane, Loyola, and LSU have featured
8slogans chanted by protesters that are explicitly antisemitic in origin; the chant heard at
9protests, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free," refers to the Eastern and
10Western borders of the current State of Israel; thus, the chant implies the destruction of the
11State of Israel and the death or displacement of its Jewish citizens; and
12 WHEREAS, the chant heard at protests, "There is only one solution: Intifada
13revolution," refers to the Intifadas, a systematized, coordinated series of terrorist attacks on
14Israelis by Palestinian groups, and thus calls for more terrorist attacks on Jews around the
15world; the chant's similarity to the Nazis "Final Solution" is intentional; variations of the
16chant, "Israel, Israel, you can't hide: we charge you with genocide," including, "Tulane,
17Tulane, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide", and "LSU, LSU, you can't hide, we
18charge you with genocide" contain demonstrably false allegations of genocide; the slogans,
19"Zionism is racism" and "Zionists are Nazis" replicate Soviet-era propaganda explicitly used
20to purge and persecute Soviet Jewry and negate the Jewish people's right to
21self-determination; and
22 WHEREAS, campus protests feature flags or insignia of designated terrorist
23organizations whose purpose is the destruction of Israel and genocide of Jews; Jewish
24symbols or items commonly associated with Jews, including the Star of David and the Israeli
25flag, have been defaced at Tulane, including placement around campus of stickers depicting
26the Star of David being thrown into a trash can, and signs depicting a defaced Star of David
27have been seen at LSU; and
28 WHEREAS, Tulane buildings have been defaced with antisemitic graffiti, including
29"From the River to the Sea" on the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library; Jewish students at
30Tulane and Loyola report having their property destroyed by protestors; Jewish students and
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1faculty at Tulane, Loyola, and LSU have been subjected to targeted verbal harassment by
2protestors while attempting to access common campus facilities, walk to class, or walk to
3their dormitories; and
4 WHEREAS, The Loyola Maroon, Loyola's student newspaper, published an editorial
5characterizing the Hamas terrorist attack as a justified response to "Israeli Occupying
6Forces" activity and accusing the "Israeli Zionist entity" of "genocide"; The Tulane
7Hullabaloo, Tulane's student newspaper, published an editorial cautioning that the
8racialization of Jewish identity, including the proliferation of ideas that "Jews benefit from
9white supremacy," and "all Jews are white colonialist oppressors" perpetuates antisemitism
10and justifies the erasure of any protected status for Jews; the newspaper also reported that
11chants of "N.O.P.D., KKK, IDF, they're all the same," and "Israel bombs, Tulane Hillel pays,
12how many kids did you kill today," were chanted by protestors who disrupted an event
13hosted by Hillel; and
14 WHEREAS, protestors on campuses, including Tulane and Loyola, have erected
15encampments that create a disruptive and hostile physical environment in publicly accessible
16places with the intent of intimidating Jewish students and administrators; protestors
17explicitly bar "Zionists" from entering encampments, and as eighty percent of American
18Jews identify as "Zionist," this is a de facto prohibition against Jews; protestors also bar
19entry to students wearing Jewish symbols and prevent Jewish students from passing near or
20through the encampment in order to attend classes or use shared campus facilities; and
21 WHEREAS, faculty and administrators on college campuses, including Tulane,
22Loyola, and LSU, have provided unequal protections for Jewish students, faculty, and staff,
23with faculty and administrators openly siding with protestors instead of maintaining a
24commitment to the safety of all; student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine are
25allowed to continue operation and disseminate pro-Hamas literature on school grounds,
26despite Students for Justice in Palestine's funding being linked to known terrorist groups,
27including Hamas; and
28 WHEREAS, fortified encampments are being set up on or near school grounds,
29including at Tulane and Loyola, despite breaking rules against trespassing, vagrancy laws,
30and other prohibitions; protestors wearing face coverings, balaclavas, and face-obscuring
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HCR NO. 123
1keffiyahs appear to run afoul of an anti-Ku Klux Klan law that prohibits people from
2wearing masks to conceal their identities in public; and
3 WHEREAS, instigators of violent protests and organizers of the encampments are
4not held fully accountable for their actions, and Tulane, Loyola, and LSU faculty members
5have advocated for "restorative justice" and dropping student suspensions issued to those
6determined to be responsible for campus violence and the encampments; and
7 WHEREAS, Loyola faculty members circulated a letter in support of students facing
8criminal charges and university discipline as a result of their participation in the illegal
9encampment and called upon the university to decline to hold the students responsible for
10their actions by refraining from bringing charges of Code of Conduct violations; and
11 WHEREAS, administrators released statements denouncing both antisemitism and
12Islamophobia, never antisemitism alone, which implies that the two are equivalent or caused
13by each other; Tulane canceled classes or moved them online rather than clear out
14encampments or protestors obstructing points of access to school facilities; nonstudent and
15nonfaculty protestors are allowed access to school facilities and resources and illegally
16trespass on school grounds, but Jewish students and faculty are prevented from accessing
17school facilities; and
18 WHEREAS, the New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police have
19directed Tulane campus safety officials to allow the illegal encampment to persist.
20 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
21condemn antisemitic violence on college campuses, including campuses in Louisiana, and
22expresses support for Louisiana's Jewish students, faculty, staff, and communities.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature does hereby condemn violence,
24intimidation, lawlessness, and acts of antisemitism on college campuses; condemn protest
25activities that prevent Jewish students and faculty from accessing school facilities, libraries,
26dining halls, and other common areas; support the right of all students to peacefully
27assemble; support the right of Jewish college students, faculty, and staff to feel safe and
28secure on their campuses; support the right of Jewish college students to attend classes and
29access all areas of campus; and support the right of Jews to worship peacefully and without
30fear of violence or intimidation.
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HCR NO. 123
1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
2Louisiana Chapter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Tulane Hillel, Hillel
3at LSU, Loyola University New Orleans, University of New Orleans, Anti-Defamation
4League-South Central, Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana, Jewish Federation of Greater New
5Orleans, Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge, North Louisiana Jewish Federation, and
6Jewish Federations of North America.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 123 Original 2024 Regular Session Bayham
Condemns antisemitic violence on college campuses and expresses support for the state's
Jewish students, faculty, staff, and communities.
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