(NewsNation) — The Biden administration announced several new actions to counter antisemitism in the United States on Tuesday, hours before the president gave a speech at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony.
The Capitol event, hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, also featured remarks from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“During these sacred days of remembrance, we grieve, we give voice to the 6 million Jews who were systemically targeted and murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II,” President Joe Biden said during the event. “We honor the memory of victims, the pain of survivors, the bravery of heroes who stood up to unspeakable evil, and we recommit to heeding the lessons of one of the darkest chapters of human history to revitalize and realize the responsibility of never again.”
However, Biden warned that “we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth” about the horrors of the Holocaust.
“This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world,” Biden said, adding that Hamas “brought to life” that hatred with the killing of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and kidnapping of hostages on Oct. 7. The attack spurred an Israeli military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.
“People are already forgetting … that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis,” Biden said. “I have not forgotten, nor have you. And we will not forget.”
Several actions laid out Tuesday build on Biden’s National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism that was released last year. Initiatives include every school district and college in the country getting a “Dear Colleague Letter” from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights outlining new guidance for protecting Jewish students.
The Department of Homeland Security is set to work with “interagency partners” to build an online campus safety resources guide, and also “develop and share best practices for community-based targeted violence and terrorism prevention.”
In addition, the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism at the State Department will convene technology firms to identify best practices to address antisemitic content online, the White House said.
On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre talked about “an alarming rise in antisemitism in the U.S. and our cities, our communities and on our campuses,” referring to allegations of antisemitism at recent pro-Palestinian protests at universities nationwide.
Demonstrators — many of whom have put up tent encampments on campus — are urging colleges to divest from companies with ties to Israel and are calling for a cease-fire. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
Johnson, speaking before Biden, said American universities are becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty.
“Now is the time for moral clarity and we must put an end to this madness,” he said.
Protesters have said, though, that those being antisemitic do not represent them and pointed out that many Jewish students are joining them in their cause. Some student demonstrators could be seen in photos holding signs saying “Jews for Free Palestine” or “Jews for Palestine,” while pictures on social media circulated of Passover seders being held at the encampments.
In addition, Palestinian and Muslim students have reported feeling unsafe and being victims of racist hate as well, though say their concerns have gone ignored by university officials, politicians and the media.
“The effort to combat antisemitism is not a Democratic issue or Republican issue, it’s an American issue,” Jeffries said at the ceremony. “We must crush antisemitism, along with racism, sexism, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Homophobia and all other forms of hatred together.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.