Antisemitism in the u. S. Following the hamas attack on israel. We want to get your reactions to the speech. How do you define antisemitism . Do you think it is on the rise . If you are jewish, how do you define it . Republicans can call 202 7488001. Democrats at 202 7488000. Independent colors can call 202 7488002. You can also text 202 7488003. Welcome to todays washington journal. People get started with a portion of the president s speech from yesterday. [video clip] President Biden we must not give safe harbor to anyone for everyone in our nation. We know that scapegoating and demonizing any minority has affected every minority and our democracy. We had to put these principles into action. I understand people have strong beliefs about the world. In america, we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech. To protest peacefully and make our voices heard. There is no place on any campus in america for antisemitism, hate speech or violence of any kind. [applause] whether against jews or anyone else. Destroying property is not peaceful protest. It is against the law, and we are not a lawless country. We are a civil society. The uphold the law and no one should have to hide just to be themselves. [applause] the Jewish Community want you to know i see here hurt and your pain. Let me reassure you, as your president , you belong. You always have and you always will. My commitment to the safety of the jewish people, the security of israel is ironclad, even when we disagree. [applause] host we are getting your reaction to that speech and what the president is calling a versus surge of antisemitism in the u. S. An update on the war in gaza. U. S. Paused the shipment of bombs to israel. The article says the Biden Administration paused the administration among controvert among mounting concern about their plans to expand military operations into gaza that could increase the conflict death toll. Yesterday, they said israel should not launch a ground operation in rafah, where people are sheltering with nowhere else to go. We are especially focused on the end use of the bombs and the impact that they could have in dense, urban settings. And take a look at this. This is the Trump Campaign has recently put out this ad, arguing that the Biden Administration is not doing enough to fight antisemitism. [video clip] facing pressure to step up response across College Campuses. President biden i understand their passion. They are accusing President Bidens administration of taking a lackluster approach. They have a point. Mr. Trump we have seen antisexism on university campuses, and the Public Square and entrance against jewish citizens. This is my pledge to you. We will confront antisemitism. We will stamp out prejudice. We will condemn hate speech. We will bear witness and we will act. When i get back into office, i will put every University President on notice. We will not subsidize the creation of terrorism on american soil. I will defend our friends and allies like no one has ever defended it before. I will always stand with the jewish people. Host we will go to the phone now and start with david in minnesota. Morning. Caller good morning. The rise of antisemitism is mostly due to a change of definition. It is not more people being antisemitic, such as marching in the street with tiki torches saying certain groups will not replace as. It is more people calling for an end to the oppression of palestinians. They want them to have equal rights, such as everyone in america has equal vote. Everyone in america people just one palestinians to have the same ability. From sea to shining sea or from the sea to the river, i just do not think that equates to something you should kill people over, wanting equal rights. I think it is terrible that we are using one genocide to justify another genocide. Host this is what the adl put out. I want to get your reaction to it. From the river to the sea, palestine will be free is a common slogan featured at demonstrations. The rallying cry has long been used by israels voices. They seek israels destruction. It is fundamentally a call for palestinian state extending from the jordan river to the sea. It would mean the dismantling of the jewish state. What do you think of that, david . What would happen to the state of israel . Caller currently, there is a country called israel, which has the blessed bank in gaza, where palestinians live. They are taking their land. In my mind, there would be a whole country. I do not care what you call it. Everyone would have equal rights. It would not be a jewish state or a palestinian state. It would be a state for all of its people, where people could live safely. That is what a river to the sea means. Can i say one more thing . The adl was also against the movement in south africa and the apartheid there. I do not think we should take them seriously at this point. There are Palestinian Jews and palestinian christians. No one is asking anyone to hurt the jewish people or the israeli people. Host i have to move on, but youre you are right. There are definitely palestinian christians. But they were offered citizenship. Stephanie, in melbourne, florida. Go ahead. Caller good morning. I would like to say that israel has made a fool of those in the white house. Israeli politics into congress. The students are protesting against genocide. It is not antisemitic. The more you repeat israels terms on cspan, the more they get to highlight those enticing medic things that they are saying. Stop the lies. To israeli genocide. Africanamericans, if we can use wouldnt we have rights . Thank you. Host joshua from silver spring, maryland. Caller it is really important to recognize that commenting on Israeli Government policy is totally fine. Standing against the government, Benjamin Netanyahu is fine, but when you are out there protesting on the campuses, there is one thing to be out there protesting palestinian rights, great. You want to promote that and advocate for that, but what is happening at the encampments, that focus on what causes violence, when they are screaming death to zionists, it is no longer just an expression. It is an expression of he against a group specifically jewish people. For those who say it is focused on zionism, it is a part of jewish identity. We need to recognize these forms of antiisrael expression are a form of antisemitism in this country that is very problematic. Host do you believe that antisemitism is on the rise in the u. S. . Caller absolutely. Antisemitism is one of the only forms of hate that comes from the west and the left and right. There are more overt forms of antisemitism. There are swastikas drawn on doors. And then there is the denigration of jewish identity that has brought in from the left. Usually have to check your zionist proisrael identity in order to enter those spaces. Not as a form of antisemitism. When you are saying that a part of your identity is not acceptable, and order to be part of a space, that is antisemitism. Host right thing and we will eck in on facebook here. Out made and calling for isras destruction when they respond. Americans will not recognize antisemitism if they tripped over. Absolutely shameful. Tammy on facebook, it is not antisemitic to think that they are being immoral by killing men women and children. The protests are over their behavior. Client is next. Caller hello. Clive is next. Caller hello. I think they coopted percent of the protesters who went a little overboard. 97 of them are for the palestinian genocide. That is all they are therefore. It is sort of like what the right wing does. They take one little thing and they blow it into a eager thing. I do not see where this he is coming from matt advocating for the genocide. Not only the genocide but the coopting of territories that do not belong to them. That is not even being talked about. Host do you think antisemitism outside the protests are on the rise in the u. S. . Caller i think it has always been steady. It has always been steady in america. Host do you think it should be . You seem kind of resigned to that. Caller you know, what we want and what is our two different things. This is the hypocrisy of our democracy. It is just part of the fabric of this nation. Host here is the front page of the journal. You can see President Biden on the front with speaker johnson. Holding up pictures of victims of the holocaust. We will take a look at another portion of the speech from yesterday. [video clip] pres. Biden on the sacred jewish holiday, the terrorist group hamas unleashed the deadliest day of the jewish people since the holocaust. Driven by is desire to wipe the jewish people off the face of the earth. Innocent people. Babies, parents, grandparents, slaughtered. Massacred at a music festival. Raped and mutilated. Thousands more carrying wounds. Bullets and shrapnel from the memory of that terrible day that they endured. Hundreds taken hostage. Now, here we are. Not 75 years later, but just 7. 5 months later. People are already forgetting. They are already forgetting that hamas unleashed this terror. , hospitalized israelis. It was hamass who took hostages. We will not forget. [applause] host back to the phone lines now. Independent. Good morning. Caller i hope everything is going good. We have spoken before. It was probably eight months ago or Something Like that when we talked about intellectual property. Now we are talking about hamas and israel. This is what i think about it. It is crazy to me to see how everyday people like you and me go through life. These people at the top of the pyramid schemes are negotiating. Why dont we open it up . We are seeing negotiations worldwide. It should not be closed doors. If they want to negotiate with the hamas government, lets see what kind of game they are playing. Lets open it up. Lets open up the courtroom. We have the Supreme Court in the u. S. Host i get that. But what do you think of antisemitism . Caller i think hate is a game from the people at the top of the pyramid scheme. Keep them in their box. No one hates jews. No one hates palestinians, but these legions at the top take us hate each other. You understand what im saying . We all go to a better place in this world. This planet becomes amazing instead of killing each other. You understand what i am saying . Host i do not. Lets talk to mary in fort washington. Caller hello. How are you doing . The question is about the surge in the surge of antisemitism in the u. S. . No. This is swaying us from what we are actually discussing which is genocide in war. Why is it antisemitic when it is about jewish people but when it is against black people it is just plain racism . I believe right now it is just a movement to keep us protecting jewish rights. You cannot hide behind the holocaust forever. When we talk about reparations, we get laughed at. But getting back to the question, no. It is the same amount of racism. It is not antisemitic. From the river to the sea, let palestine be free. Does that make me antisemitic . No. I do not i do not want to see babies slaughtered because of israel. They are not an Israeli Defense force. Ar an Israeli Death they are an Israeli Death force. It is out there for everyone to see. If you do not get the congress to stop this, imagine what the future will be. There is nothing but hate. You forget that they have voting rights. They will remember this in november. Congress, democrats, you better watch out. That is all i have to say. Host she mentioned the term antisemitism. This is from the u. S. Holocaust memorial museum. It says the term antisemitism was coined in the 19th century. The antijewish hatred and judeo phobia date back to ancient times and have a variety of causes. There is more about the term, the origins. Prejudice against or hatred of jews. The holocaust, the state sponsored murder of jews by nazis in germany through 1933 to 1945 is historys was the extreme example of antisemitism. The word itself came in 1979 from a journalist. He originated the term, denoting the hatred of jews and hatred of cosmopolitan and International Trends of the 18th and 19th centuries often associated with jews. Kyle is in new mexico. Caller thank you. A quick housekeeping note. On your website, you can search for joseph what an, the Florida Surgeon general. You have it misspelled. That is just a housekeeping note. Host thank you for letting us know. Caller i would like to know, on social media i want that to be fixed because he says some really important stuff, but you cannot find him on your website and you cannot see what he has to say. Host thank you. Caller otherwise, a note about the genocide. It is not genocide. I love to see some many republicans and democrats calling in and agreeing that this is not genocide. We do not care what faith is put on it. It is genocide. That is about it. Thank you. You guys are awesome. Host thank you for calling. This is a text fro frank in north carolina. I do not agree that there is a ferocious surge of antisemitism in colleges andniversity. They were a mixture of antiwar with a minority that were outside agitators and not actually students. This is from alfro in man, michigan who says that the protest at the universities are not antisemitism but antigenocide. Palestine has the same rights. Lets talk to cornell. Good morning. Caller good morning. Anytime you have Chuck Schumer and sanders, the most influential jewish senators that we have, speaking against Benjamin Netanyahus behavior, it is a landgrab actually. Just recently, when hamas agreed to a deal, Benjamin Netanyahus government escalated into roth. Now, the problem is, they do not want a two state solution. The u. S. Position is, we want a two state solution and we give israel more money than we give any other person, any other government, and yet we constantly have to tell them, you have to be mindful and be careful to not hurt the civilians and everything, but it is tragic that people died. But when you are talking about 35,000 palestinians, most of them, women and children, that is a serious problem, and how many stations have the United Nations israel basically says, we are going to do what we want to do. That is really the problem because like i said before, this week they held back weapons from israel because they are afraid israel is going to keep bombing women and children. Benjamin netanyahu said even when they are finished, they do not want any of the male palestinians coming back to gaza. Wake up. Host all right. You did mention the negotiations that are ongoing. Here is the New York Times from yesterday that says hamas has offered to hand over 33 hostages. We are not clear whether they revealed in the cease fire negotiation how many of the 33 would be freed. And nelson, upper marlboro, maryland. Good morning. Caller good morning. Can you share me . Hear me . Host we can. Caller one of your caller name was joshua. He said the jewish state is an integral part. Kind of it is funny that he said that because before the Zionist Movement left europe, jews were living sidebyside. They did not have any problems. There were jews living in iraq and ethiopia come all across the globe. The concept that anything you say against the killing of babies and children in palestine is anticipated, i think that is wrong. The majority of people do not hate the jews. The senseless killing of babies and women nobody likes that. The students are standing up to it. Every time students are protesting, they are saying it is antisemitic, but it is not. It is the senseless slaughter of babies and children in palestine. I remember back in the day, the president of u. S. Would call the president of israel and say knock it off. Stop what you are doing. And they would listen. But now, Benjamin Netanyahu can do whatever he wants and he does not care. It is just a landgrab. He does not care. I do not think the majority of americans are antisemitic. The actions of this meeting cam. Thats all i got. Host nelson, here is a portion of speaker johnsons remarks at that same ceremony yesterday. [video clip] rep. Johnson we are seeing universities become hostile places for jewish students. They have succumbed to an antisemitic virus. Students who were known for producing academic papers are known for stabbing their jewish peers in the with palestinian flags. Faculty who produced research are linking arms with protesters calling. Administrators who were once lauded by their peers for leadership are borrowing jewish faculty and choosing not to protect their jewish students. These jewish students are physically threatened when they walked on campuses, their peers hold posters repeating the nazi propaganda in the program the final solution. Now is a time for moral clarity, and we must put an end to this madness. [applause] host we will continue to take your calls for the next half hour. The numbers are by party. 202 7488001 republicans. Independents 202 7488002. We will go to the democratic line, ricky in birmingham, alabama. Caller good morning. Can you hear me . Host yes, we can. Go ahead, ricky. Caller i think that we woke up on the wrong side of the world. What i mean by that, our socalled highprofile leaders have not really sit down and thought about this thing at all. We in gods country and we all need to take a step back and pray about this thing. I dont care where you live in the world, wrong is wrong and right is right. And when you kill someone, its wrong. Innocent people get hurt for no reason. I mean, we got leaders at the top wont even discuss this. We need to try to love one another. Host wont even discuss what, ricky . Caller right and wrong. You know, war is wrong. And these kids have nothing to do with whats going on in the world. We supposed to be leaders. But were not. Were going up the wrong path. If we dont stop it soon, its going to get worse. I enjoy all of your comments this morning. Host lets talk to fred in cherry hill, new jersey, independent line. Caller good morning, mimi. I agree 100 with what i just heard from speaker johnson. He is exactly right. When people say from the river to the sea, and we are hearing that from a lot of these protesters, but they are really talking about is the destruction of israel. That can only happen if there