ENROLLED
2024 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 353
BY REPRESENTATIVES BAYHAM, AMEDEE, BACALA, BILLINGS, BRYANT,
BUTLER, CARLSON, CHENEVERT, EDMONSTON, EGAN, EMERSON,
FIRMENT, GLORIOSO, HORTON, MIKE JOHNSON, OWEN,
SCHAMERHORN, SCHL EGEL, TAYLOR, VENTRELLA, AND WYBLE
A RESOLUTION
To condemn antisemitic violence on college campuses, including campuses in Louisiana,
and to express support for Louisiana's Jewish students, faculty, staff, and
communities.
WHEREAS, the United States Department of State has designated Hamas as a
terrorist organization; on October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a coordinated series of terrorist
attacks on Israel that resulted in the slaughter of women, children, and the elderly and the
deaths of Israeli Defense Force soldiers, police officers, and members of the Israel Security
Agency, Shin Bet; and
WHEREAS, Hamas terrorists abducted two hundred fifty people, including at least
six Americans, to use as hostages and human shields; the United Nations has issued a report
stating that its officials have found "clear and convincing" evidence that Hamas has sexually
assaulted its hostages, including gang rape; and
WHEREAS, since October 7, 2023, protests on American college campuses against
the State of Israel's response to the terrorist attacks have devolved into violent, antisemitic
mobs targeting Jewish students, faculty, and staff; protestors have "occupied" buildings and
taken over shared campus facilities to prevent Jews from accessing the interior; faculty who
engage in or help organize antisemitic collective actions are able to keep their jobs while
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Jewish professors have their access to campus revoked; university administrators have
canceled classes and other university activities or moved them online; and
WHEREAS, approximately forty percent of Tulane University's student population
is Jewish; Loyola University has a smaller Jewish population, but its Jewish students and
professors have also been threatened and harassed by protestors at demonstrations on or near
the campuses; on October 26, 2023, a rally near Tulane turned violent as protesters
attempted to set fire to an Israeli flag, a Jewish Tulane student was struck multiple times
with a flagpole, and another student was hit with a megaphone; and
WHEREAS, rallies and protests at or near Tulane, Loyola, and LSU have featured
slogans chanted by protesters that are explicitly antisemitic in origin; the chant heard at
protests, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free," refers to the Eastern and
Western borders of the current State of Israel; thus, the chant implies the destruction of the
State of Israel and the death or displacement of its Jewish citizens; and
WHEREAS, the chant heard at protests, "There is only one solution: Intifada
revolution," refers to the Intifadas, a systematized, coordinated series of terrorist attacks on
Israelis by Palestinian groups, and thus calls for more terrorist attacks on Jews around the
world; the chant's similarity to the Nazis "Final Solution" is intentional; variations of the
chant, "Israel, Israel, you can't hide: we charge you with genocide," including, "Tulane,
Tulane, you can't hide, we charge you with genocide", and "LSU, LSU, you can't hide, we
charge you with genocide" contain demonstrably false allegations of genocide; the slogans,
"Zionism is racism" and "Zionists are Nazis" replicate Soviet-era propaganda explicitly used
to purge and persecute Soviet Jewry and negate the Jewish people's right to
self-determination; and
WHEREAS, campus protests feature flags or insignia of designated terrorist
organizations whose purpose is the destruction of Israel and genocide of Jews; Jewish
symbols or items commonly associated with Jews, including the Star of David and the Israeli
flag, have been defaced at Tulane, including placement around campus of stickers depicting
the Star of David being thrown into a trash can, and signs depicting a defaced Star of David
have been seen at LSU; and
WHEREAS, Tulane buildings have been defaced with antisemitic graffiti, including
"From the River to the Sea" on the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library; Jewish students at
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Tulane and Loyola report having their property destroyed by protestors; Jewish students and
faculty at Tulane, Loyola, and LSU have been subjected to targeted verbal harassment by
protestors while attempting to access common campus facilities, walk to class, or walk to
their dormitories; and
WHEREAS, The Loyola Maroon, Loyola's student newspaper, published a letter to
the editor characterizing the Hamas terrorist attack as a justified response to "Israeli
Occupying Forces" activity and accusing the "Israeli Zionist entity" of "genocide"; The
Tulane Hullabaloo, Tulane's student newspaper, published an editorial cautioning that the
racialization of Jewish identity, including the proliferation of ideas that "Jews benefit from
white supremacy," and "all Jews are white colonialist oppressors" perpetuates antisemitism
and justifies the erasure of any protected status for Jews; the newspaper also reported that
chants of "N.O.P.D., KKK, IDF, they're all the same," and "Israel bombs, Tulane Hillel pays,
how many kids did you kill today," were chanted by protestors who disrupted an event
hosted by Hillel; and
WHEREAS, protestors on campuses, including Tulane and Loyola, have erected
encampments that create a disruptive and hostile physical environment in publicly accessible
places with the intent of intimidating Jewish students and administrators; protestors
explicitly bar "Zionists" from entering encampments, and as eighty percent of American
Jews identify as "Zionist," this is a de facto prohibition against Jews; protestors also bar
entry to students wearing Jewish symbols and prevent Jewish students from passing near or
through the encampment in order to attend classes or use shared campus facilities; and
WHEREAS, faculty and administrators on college campuses, including Tulane,
Loyola, and LSU, have provided unequal protections for Jewish students, faculty, and staff,
with faculty and administrators openly siding with protestors instead of maintaining a
commitment to the safety of all; student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine are
allowed to continue operation and disseminate pro-Hamas literature on school grounds,
despite Students for Justice in Palestine's funding being linked to known terrorist groups,
including Hamas; and
WHEREAS, fortified encampments are being set up on or near school grounds,
including at Tulane and Loyola, despite breaking rules against trespassing, vagrancy laws,
and other prohibitions; protestors wearing face coverings, balaclavas, and face-obscuring
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keffiyahs appear to run afoul of an anti-Ku Klux Klan law that prohibits people from
wearing masks to conceal their identities in public; and
WHEREAS, instigators of violent protests and organizers of the encampments are
not held fully accountable for their actions, and Tulane, Loyola, and LSU faculty members
have advocated for "restorative justice" and dropping student suspensions issued to those
determined to be responsible for campus violence and the encampments; and
WHEREAS, Loyola faculty members circulated a letter in support of students facing
criminal charges and university discipline as a result of their participation in the illegal
encampment and called upon the university to decline to hold the students responsible for
their actions by refraining from bringing charges of Code of Conduct violations; and
WHEREAS, administrators released statements denouncing both antisemitism and
Islamophobia, never antisemitism alone, which implies that the two are equivalent or caused
by each other; Tulane canceled classes or moved them online rather than clear out
encampments or protestors obstructing points of access to school facilities; nonstudent and
nonfaculty protestors are allowed access to school facilities and resources and illegally
trespass on school grounds, but Jewish students and faculty are prevented from accessing
school facilities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby condemn antisemitic violence on college campuses,
including campuses in Louisiana, and expresses support for Louisiana's Jewish students,
faculty, staff, and communities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives does hereby
condemn violence, intimidation, lawlessness, and acts of antisemitism on college campuses;
condemn protest activities that prevent Jewish students and faculty from accessing school
facilities, libraries, dining halls, and other common areas; support the right of all students
to peacefully assemble; support the right of Jewish college students, faculty, and staff to feel
safe and secure on their campuses; support the right of Jewish college students to attend
classes and access all areas of campus; and support the right of Jews to worship peacefully
and without fear of violence or intimidation.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Louisiana Chapter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Tulane Hillel, Hillel
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at LSU, Loyola University New Orleans, University of New Orleans, Anti-Defamation
League-South Central, Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana, Jewish Federation of Greater New
Orleans, Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge, North Louisiana Jewish Federation, and
Jewish Federations of North America.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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