tv U.S. House of Representatives Rep. Bowman D-NY on College Protests Amid... CSPAN May 2, 2024 1:44am-2:02am EDT
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they're even renaming some of the buildings after palestinian children that have been killed. these students should be praised for standing up for what they believe in, not vilified, smeared with misinformation campaigns and silence. i call on these universities to end the repressive tactics, to precise restraint -- exercise restraint, to stop suppressing the very activism, academic freedom and thoughtful debate that they seek to inspire in their students. mr. speaker, we don't want to see an apology years later. no. we want to see action today to protect these students. we don't want to have you all in 10 years praise the same students for doing what was right years later. we don't want to see that. we need it disease. mr. speaker, i rise to respond to one of my colleagues who i think some of you heard who was supporting what was going on the college campuses today. they describe -- she described
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it as peaceful protests. madam speaker, they're burning buildings. they are tearing up campuses. college presidents are not saying one word. this administration, this president is not saying one word about it. you have teachers, many of who are tonnured, are not saying -- are tenured are not saying one word. that is got to stop. they have government to have consequences. they have to have sheriffs who are willing to put a stop, whatever it takes, to stop this dooj our institutions -- damage to our institutions andinute. >> mr. speaker, i've had guns pulled on me multiple times by law enforcement simply for being a black man in america. mr. bowman: and now i see guns being drawn on peaceful protesters at columbia university. when i was 11 years old, i was a victim of police brutality simply for being black in america. and now i see that brutality
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being inflicted on peaceful protesters at columbia university. and for what? simply exercising their first amendment rights to peacefully assemble as they protest the collective punishment and murder of civilians in gaza. 100,000 killed and injured. mostly women and children. protesting our taxpayer dollars going to benjamin netanyahu to continue this mass murder. that is their right. they are supposed to push us to stand for what this flag represents. are we in a police state or is this a democracy? the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. bowman: we must stand with our young people and demand justice and freedom for palestinians and everyone in
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announcer: cox supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. zoom congressman ben sherman, democrat out of the state of california, a senior member of the house affairs committee. we are going to start in california this morning. congressman, i appreciate you joining us. the violence we saw overnight at ucla -- the protesters, the counter protesters, the police department eventually having to separate the 2 -- what is your reaction to what happened on that campus? guest: it is obviously a tragedy. we want everything to be calm and orderly. i am a brew and myself. at the same time, we cannot have a circumstance where students are not allowed into the library, or into classrooms unless they swear that they hate israel. that is a level of anti-semitism
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and a violation of title vi of the civil rights act. i look forward to order being restored, and i would hope that those who protest on one side would stay away from those protesting on the other side and should not be preventing students from going to the library. host: overnight at ucla, and people removing protesters from columbia university. we are expecting votes on the antisemitism awareness act. what with that building and are we supporting that legislation? guest: i support that legislation. i cosponsored it. to advocate the destruction of israel and all israelis, pushing them literally into the mediterranean, is antisemitic. it is strange. that should be obvious to
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everyone. apparently there are some who deny it. it is like saying abolish slovenia. if i said that, you would probably think i was anti-slovenian. this establishes a base of principal that of course you can criticize the israeli government. i do that often. every israeli i know does that at least once a week. but when you call for the forcible removal of all jews or the end of self-determination for those jews who live in the holy land that that is anti-semitic i think is pretty clear. by the way, that is the definition that the united states government has been using for 15 years and evaluating anti-semitism in other countries. the state department of course comments on human rights, including antisemitism and other
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countries. that is the definition we used to criticize the university of bucharest. we can use that same criteria to criticize columbia. host: jerry nadler of new york, member of the judiciary committee, warned that it buttoned to chill culturally protected speech, saying speech critical of israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination and this bill speaks too broadly. guest: i think jerry has not focused on how this definition has been used by the u.s. government under previous administration's. there is a belief that anti-semitism is free speech nazi-ism is free speech, racism is free speech. but on campuses, we do have a rule that when that rises to the level to interfere with education, it is not allowed.
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just defining something as anti-semitic or racist or homophobic does not mean that it is illegal. it may in some cases be protected by the first amendment. but when it forms the basis of an effort to prevent jews from getting an education on campus, it is not only anti-semitic -- it is illegal. host: going to overseas foreign relations but staying on the topic of israel, expectations for anthony blinken as he travels to the middle east, to israel this week? guest: the israelis have made an offer for a cease-fire that is basically the position that hamas was taking a month ago. the release not of all the hostages -- but every hostage that is seized is a terrible violation of human rights.
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but the release of those who are wounded, a release of some of them. hamas sees what is going on in the united states. do you think the position they took is something they are going to back away from and that somehow the united states is going to protect them while they refuse to even stick to the position that they offered a month ago? i think it is up to hamas to accept -- this is the position of egypt, qatar, the united states. host: as israel makes this offer, "the new york times" had netanyahu comments that israel wants to keep the fighting going. achieving all the goals is out of the question, he said in a meeting with families of hostages being held in gaza.
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he said we will enter rough of -- raffah with or without a deal to achieve total victory. guest: every side, every war asserts that its goal is total victory. this is a 30 day cease-fire brokered by egypt, qatar, and the united states. at the end of that cease-fire, hopefully, they will negotiate the departure of hamas from the region and the return to the palestinian controlled peaceful non-hamas gaza. if that cannot be done, keep in mind the statement of hamas's that they will drive israel's forces out of gaza and then repeat october 7, in their words, again and again and again. that is not a cease-fire. we need the release of some.
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and there needs to be governance in gaza that is not hamas, that is not dedicated to trying to kill a thousand israelis every night they possibly can. host: on this topic on the foreign relations front, the international criminal court is preparing to arrest -- issue arrest warrants, i should say, to israeli officials over the prosecution of this war in gaza. what do you make of that? is there a goal for the u.s. here? guest: if that were true, then someone call the international criminal court a kangaroo court, and i think that would be an insult. this is a court that has not indicted hamas, that has seen 500,000 people die in tigre in northern ethiopia, and has not issued an indictment. this is a court that has done nothing with regard to suydam
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for about a decade. this is a court that seems only to convene to get big headlines by attacking israel. the fact is that we have not ratified and joined this court for a reason. i think that they do themselves more damage, but i think they have done themselves great damage by their failure to focus on all the conflicts and all the crimes that the media does not cover, such as the nearly a billion people driven from their homes in myanmar and verma -- burma are the half-million who died in tigre, or the 18 million who are facing famine conditions in sudan because of war crimes. the icc only seems to focus on israel. host: if the icc does issue
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these warrants and israeli officials or benjamin netanyahu are targeted -- if they were to travel to the united states, with the united states have any responsibility to the icc? guest: absolutely not. if the north korean court were to indict you, that does not mean the american police will arrest you and send you two for phnom penh. we do not acknowledge and have not signed or ratified the treaty for the icc, nor do we recognize the north korean court. which of those two is less credible will be determined in the weeks to come. host: coming back to capitol hill, about half an hour ago, part of marjorie taylor greene's press conference, she said she
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would trigger her motion to vacate resolution against speaker johnson next week, moving ahead with that effort. your reaction to what this means for congress in the weeks and perhaps months to come? guest: i think this shows the disarray of the republican party , the conference, and the reason why democrats should be put back in control of the house of representatives. here is what speaker johnson -- he did the right thing, finally. they ask him to retreat because these defensive weapons are getting to them six months late. he finally did the right thing. instead of punishing him for delaying arming the ukrainians for six months, she is trying to punish him for finally doing what was necessary in order to defend ukraine. i think democrats -- i know democrats will not let that happen.
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