GOP Pols Want to Send U.S. Citizens to Work in Gaza For Crimes Unrelated to Anti-Israel Protests

A group of three U.S. representatives have proposed a bill, spearheaded by Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), which could send U.S. citizens to Gaza, an active war zone, even if their crimes are completely unrelated to antisemitism or Israel.

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“It’s time for all the woke, liberal terrorist sympathizers who have committed crimes in the name of Gaza to get a much needed reality check. That’s why@TXRandy14, @RepJeffDuncan and I introduced legislation that would send them to Gaza to complete their six months of community service,” said Rep. Ogles on X.

The bill, called the Antisemitism Community Service Act, was co-sponsored by Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).

“Proud to join @RepOgles to introduce a bill that would send any person charged & convicted for illegal activity on a college campus in Gaza for at least six months. I am going to bet that these pro-Hamas supporters wouldn’t last a day, but let’s give them the opportunity,” said Rep. Weber on X.

The Antisemitism Community Service Act and one other bill, the Study Abroad Act, were introduced by the three Republicans in an attempt to address the anti-Israel protests raging across college campuses in recent weeks, some of which have led to antisemitic violence and vandalism.

The Study Abroad Act, seeks to address the issue directly, by revoking the visas of any students who have participated in rioting or unlawful campus protests since the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel.

In many of the prominent protests, students and outside agitators have illegally camped out on campus property, leading to the cancellation of graduation proceedings.

In some of the most prominent cases, such as the Columbia campus protests, many of the students involved in the rioting are foreigners in the U.S. on school visas.

If Ogles’ Study Abroad Act passed, many of those students, who have been involved in the violent protests, would lose their legal right to study in the U.S., and would be forced to return to their native countries.

Unlike the Study Abroad Act, which directly addresses the campus protestors and only applies to foreign students, the Antisemitism Community Service Act, does not actually have anything to do with antisemitism, targets U.S. citizens, and applies to any crimes whatsoever committed on college campuses, regardless of whether the crimes have anything at all to do with the anti-Israel protests.

Under the bill, anyone convicted of a crime on a college campus will be sent to Gaza, an active war zone, to serve out a minimum of six months worth of community service, doing unspecified work serving the community of a foreign, hostile nation in recompense for harm done to the U.S. community.

Ogles has claimed that his bill targets people who commit crimes during the antisemitic protests, but the actual text of the bill says otherwise.

“If you’re committing a crime on these campuses, during these antisemitic protests, you get to go to Gaza and do your community service there,” said Ogles, in a video promoting his new bill.

The text of the bill, however, makes no mention of the protests at all, and does not apply only to crimes related to antisemitism; it does, however, apply only to crimes committed on or after October 7.

“Any person convicted of unlawful activity on the campus of an institution of higher education on and after October 7, 2023, shall be assigned to Gaza for the purpose of providing community service for a period not fewer than six months,” said Ogles in his bill.

As written and proposed by Ogles, the bill applies to any crime whatsoever.

If the Antisemitism Community Service Act were passed into law as written, college students convicted of any “unlawful activity” whatsoever on a college campus, would be required by law to do community service in an active war zone for a minimum of six months, regardless of the nature or severity of the crime.

As written, a 21-year-old frat boy who illegally bought a pack of Zyn for his 20-year-old friend on October 8, a crime utterly unrelated to antisemitism, would, by law, be sent overseas to Gaza for at least six months.

The act, however, is more likely a publicity stunt than a serious proposal, as it is extremely unlikely to pass.

The vast majority of Democrats would likely oppose it, and it would almost certainly fail to receive unanimous Republican support.

If, somehow, the bill passed through the House, it would almost certainly fail in the Democrat-controlled senate.

The Study Abroad Act, which would not send anyone to a war zone and only impacts foreigners actively involved in the campus protests, is unlikely to pass for similar reasons.

Ogles’ bills come as lawmakers across the country have focused on the antisemitic protests erupting on numerous college campuses.

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Earlier this month, the U.S. house passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act with overwhelming support, with only 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans opposing it.

That bill, H.R. 6090, implements an official definition of antisemitism provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which labels certain criticisms of the state of Israel, along with claims that the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, which is explicitly stated in the Bible, as hate speech.

A small contingent of Republicans voted against the bill because they feared that it constitutes a violation of the First Amendment, as it attacks both freedom of speech and freedom of religion by labeling parts of the Bible as hate speech.

Many of the Democrats who voted against the bill, including Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) have consistently opposed Israel in its war against Hamas.

Even President Joe Biden has addressed the protests, although he waited until they had been raging for weeks before delivering three minutes worth of lackluster comments.

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During the short address, Biden criticized the violence and vandalism taking place during the protests, and issued a condemnation of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

“So let me be clear, peaceful protests in America. Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs; destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it’s against the law,” said Biden.

He then concluded his address by answering two questions with the single word “no” as he shuffled out of the room.