Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) blasted Stony Brook University over its failure to take action against a professor who has been involved in anti-Israel activism, including reportedly harassing and accosting patrons at a Long Island restaurant.

“University administrators who turn a blind eye to caustic antisemitism and harassment within the ranks of their institutions have spines made of gelatin. They cave to the political mob at every turn and tacitly endorse those who carry the water for this abhorrent ideology,” Foxx said in a statement to Jewish Insider. “It’s disgusting, shameful behavior. Our Republican majorities and this administration remain resolute in our mandate to snuff out antisemitism no matter where it may rear its ugly head.”

The statement from Foxx, who previously chaired the House Education & Workforce Committee and now leads the Rules Committee, came in response to a recent incident in which Stony Brook professor Joshua Dubnau allegedly engaged in a demonstration inside a restaurant In Sag Harbor, N.Y., accusing patrons and the owner of profiting from genocide in Gaza.

Dubnau was previously arrested, but not charged, for involvement in an anti-Israel encampment at Stony Brook.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, accused the progressive left of acting in “illiberal” ways by perpetrating and ignoring the harassment of Democratic lawmakers and candidates in recent years.

Smith made the comments in an interview with the far-left “Breaking Points” podcast, released Tuesday, where he called out critics of Israel who refuse to recognize that Israel’s creation came about in part because of the Palestinians’ refusal to offer them the equal rights that leftists now demand Israel provide to them. 

Smith and “Breaking Points” co-host Krystal Ball sparred throughout their 45 minute conversation, with the Democratic congressman arguing that progressive commentators have shrugged off the harassment of pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers by far-left actors while embracing candidates who believe Israel does not have the right to exist. 

“The biggest thing that I want in all this is the ability to have a conversation, and this is where this is my biggest problem with the left,” Smith said. “I have been unable to hold a town hall meeting for a year because a bunch of leftists show up and scream at me and don’t let anyone else speak.”

Rep. Adam Smith spoke to "Breaking Points" about his issues with the left acting in "illiberal" ways.

“I have been unable to hold a town hall meeting for a year because a bunch of leftists show up and scream at me and don’t let anyone else speak,” he said. “You talk about… pic.twitter.com/11FfrQ9ig9

— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) July 22, 2026

“You talk about illiberal? OK, having people stand out in front of my house screaming death threats at me and threatening my wife,” he continued. “The left goes, ‘Oh well of course we don’t support that. We’re peace activists. We would never do something like that.’ How about you just say, ‘No, they did it. It’s wrong. We’re against it. We are going to be liberal. We’re going to stand up for stuff.’ I think that whole thing has created a major problem as well, and that’s why I try to have these conversations.”

Smith went on: “So much of the left, and certainly we experienced this in Seattle, became an academic exercise,” he said. “They were spending all day long talking about the history of racism as opposed to going out into the community and saying, ‘These are people who have been discriminated against. Let’s get them access to capital so they can start businesses. Let’s get them access to capital so they can get homes. Let’s do workforce development so they can get jobs.’”

Smith disputed Ball’s assessment that Israel had become a litmus test in Democratic primaries, instead arguing that “the belief that we have not effectively fought” President Donald Trump and the failure of both parties to address income inequality were “driving the anti-establishment feelings in primaries.” 

Israel is “not the most important issue,” Smith said. “It’s not even close to the most important issue in these primaries.” Still, he acknowledged that Israel was “becoming more important” to voters.

The Washington Democrat also explained his reversal on Sec. 224 in the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the House on Wednesday afternoon. Smith told Ball he changed his opposition to oppose Sec. 224, which expands U.S.-Israel defense co-development programs, because he disagrees with how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has conducted itself in recent years. 

On his similar switch-up in supporting Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY) amendment cutting off all $3.3 billion in aid to Israel, Smith argued that he struggled with his support for “what Israel has historically been” and recognition of “the reality of what Israel is living in” with the actions of the Netanyahu government. 

Smith added that while he voted for the Massie amendment because of his opposition to Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza, he reiterated he also has  “concerns about Hamas, about Hezbollah, that people don’t seem to share.”

Smith said he was unlikely to support future U.S. aid packages for Israel until the Israeli government were to “actually go forward with something where they create a reasonable alternative for the Palestinians in Gaza, if they actually stop what they’re doing in the West Bank and get to peace in Lebanon, that may change. I don’t see that happening.” 

The two sparred over the consequences of the Palestinian people being granted the right of return to Israel, with Smith arguing that, “You have a situation where Israel is threatened on all sides — and I know it’s not saying they don’t have a right to exist, just that they have to let all the Palestinians back in, and then effectively the Jews no longer control Israel.”

“The practical result of this is — and there should be equal rights within Israel — but if Israel allows it they cease to exist as a country,” Smith said.

Smith continued: “Maybe that’s just what has to happen in the minds of some people, but understand the consequences of it, understand why Israel was created in the first place, so that the Jews would have some place to go. And to just blithely say, ‘Well, yeah, it’ll go away and it’ll be fine.’”

“Let’s say this plays out how you describe and there is no ‘Jewish ethnostate.’ The consequence of that is there is no Jewish state,” Smith argued. “You have the Palestinians and they would now be governing that area, and that means Hamas would be governing that area. Do you have any problem with that? Do you have any problem with Hamas suddenly becoming a much more powerful entity and having the country ‘from the river, to the sea’?”

Ball said she wasn’t convinced that the series of events Smith was laying out “would be the reality” and said she did not understand how the House Democrat could “get away from how illiberal it is to not support equal rights for people regardless of if they’re Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, etc.”

“Totally with you, but Hamas doesn’t support equal rights either,” Smith responded.

The pair did find common ground on their opposition to continued U.S. aid to Israel over its conduct in Gaza. Smith also said he supported the concept of a two-state solution, but acknowledged that it’s not currently viable. 

Smith also outlined the history of Israel’s creation, often expressing frustration that Ball wasn’t aware of basic facts surrounding the history of the creation of Israel.

“I know people say, ‘Well, this is a war to drive the Palestinians out,’” Smith said of Israel’s 1948 War for independence. “It was also a war to eliminate Israel, to basically kill Israel in the crib in 1948. They fought and they fought and they fought and they fought and at no point was there ever anything carved out for the Jews, and so the Jews have been fighting an existential fight.”

After Ball expressed confusion at how Smith could consider himself a classical liberal while supporting Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, the House lawmaker said in an exasperated tone: “There’s no liberal option on the table here. That’s what I’m telling you. You keep saying, ‘No illiberal Jews, illegal Jews we cannot have. Illiberal Palestinians are fine.’”

The language used by protesters who accosted and harassed California state Sen. Scott Wiener at a transgender pride march last week left little doubt that they harbored a deep-seated hatred toward Israel and Zionists. “F*** you and your Zionist handlers. F*** you and your Israeli masters,” one person shouted at Wiener as he walked toward a Pride Shabbat event, according to a video posted by one of the activists. 

Wiener, who is gay, said in a social media post that the protesters were so “physically and verbally aggressive” that he had to leave the event, which he has attended every year since its inception in 2004, entirely. 

He told CNN on Monday that the incident was “absolutely” antisemitic. “There were elected officials in that march who have not taken the positions that I’ve taken, and they were left alone,” said Wiener, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in the San Francisco-based seat. 

Wiener is a Jewish progressive who supports the U.S.-Israel relationship, but during the congressional primary he shifted further left and, under pressure from activists in January, described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide. Even after the reversal, he continues to be targeted by activists who deem him insufficiently critical of Israel. 

The trans march incident — which came days after Wiener was harassed at a bar by another protester who demanded he say the words “Free Palestine” on camera — was quickly and roundly condemned by elected officials in California. A divide emerged between the politicians who described the incident as antisemitic and those who did not.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, who is Jewish, criticized the incident as “targeted, hateful and antisemitic” in a social media post. 

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told Jewish Insider in a statement that Wiener was targeted for being Jewish. 

“It is sincerely disturbing to see Jewish lawmakers, including Senator Wiener, face deliberate and ugly attacks,” Schiff said. “Dissent and discourse should be expected during a campaign, but this is something totally different, and not within the bounds of what’s appropriate in a liberal democracy. When lawmakers are being targeted and harassed because they are Jewish, and viewpoints are being ascribed to them based on little more than their religious affiliation, that is a problem.”

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said in a statement that the actions against Wiener were “unacceptable” and “crossed a line.” 

“We’ve seen a deeply troubling rise in antisemitism, violence and hate of all forms directed at people in public life, and we have a responsibility to push back strongly against it,” Padilla said. 

San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan, Wiener’s competitor in the congressional race who is running to his left, said in a statement that she stands “firm against threats of violence and hate speech. There is no place for hate and violence in our city.” 

Asked whether Chan believed the incident targeting Wiener to be hate speech, a spokesperson for Chan declined to say.

“In this moment, what matters is how State Senator Scott Wiener felt and feels about the interactions. We must stand in solidarity against hate whenever someone tells us they are experiencing hate,” said Julie Edwards, the spokesperson. 

Pelosi, who endorsed Chan in the race, said in a statement that the harassment against Wiener “went too far, and I condemn all forms of threats and intimidation which have no place in American political debate.” Rep. Ro Khanna said in a post on X that what happened to Wiener “was simply wrong,” but used his condemnation to promote an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) to cut all U.S. aid to Israel. 

Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom did not respond to requests for comment.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for governor in California, weighed in as well, though he did not say if it was antisemitic. “We want people to be able to express their First Amendment right, but do it in a way that respects one another,” he told The San Francisco Standard. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for Republican nominee Steve Hilton, who has not spoken about the incident.

The state’s legislative Jewish caucus — which Wiener used to chair, until he stepped down earlier this year following criticism of his use of the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza — said the harassment definitively amounted to antisemitism.

“This was the latest in a series of hateful incidents targeting Senator Wiener that are part of a broader effort to exclude, isolate and ostracize him because of his Jewish identity,” declared a statement from the caucus, which is chaired by Los Angeles state Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel. 

Jewish leaders in California also decried the targeting of Wiener as antisemitic. 

“Attacking Jewish officials will not in fact ‘free Palestine.’ But these antisemitic incidents are sinister reminders to every Jew why we need Israel,” Tyler Gregory, CEO of the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, wrote in a post on X. Jewish California, a statewide coalition of Jewish groups, argued in a statement that “political grievance” is merely a “pretext” for attacking Wiener, while “his Jewishness is the target.” 

“The sin that he committed in going to the trans rally was he’s Jewish,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said on “Morning Joe” on Monday. 

After Wiener was forced out of the trans march, his campaign received the highest number of single-day donors since it launched, he told The San Francisco Standard. 

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), joined by Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), introduced the SACRED Act this week, a new bill aimed at protecting attendees at religious institutions from harassment and threats by demonstrators — a phenomenon seen repeatedly outside synagogues that has spurred “buffer zone” legislation in New York and elsewhere.

The bill, which applies within 100 feet of a religious institution, would create criminal and civil penalties for individuals who attempt to intimidate or obstruct someone in a manner that causes reasonable fear for physical safety to prevent them from entering or exiting a place of worship. It also applies — within that 100-foot zone — to individuals who intentionally approach within eight feet of a person seeking to exercise their freedom to worship, for the purpose of intimidating or harassing them.

The bill builds on the existing FACE Act, invoked by the Trump administration in recent lawsuits, which bans the use of force, threats or physical obstruction to prevent an individual from exercising their religious freedom at a place of worship.

Unlike some legislation at the local and state level, the bill would not ban all protests within the 100-foot buffer zone, specifically permitting peaceful picketing and other non-disruptive demonstrations.

First offenders would be subject to fines or up to one year in prison, with repeat offenders subject to greater fines and up to three years in prison. The bill would also create a civil right of action for both victims of harassment as well as the Department of Justice and state attorneys general.

Suozzi told Jewish Insider the bill was prompted by constituents from various religious communities who have expressed concern about “aggressive action” against them at their places of worship.

The spate of incidents outside synagogues has been “very disturbing,” Suozzi said, adding that he’s been hearing an unprecedented amount of fear and concern from Jewish friends and supporters since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks — ”[they] have said things to me that I never heard before, things like ‘We don’t know what to do? What would we do if they came for us?’ People are genuinely scared, and we see this hateful behavior not just [against] Jews but against other religious minorities as well.”

He described the bill as a delicate, and carefully crafted, balance designed to uphold First Amendment rights to both freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

“This is a very, very sensitive topic that involves First Amendment rights and also people’s concern about their safety and their not only their right to free speech, but also their right to worship,” Suozzi said. He added that he had consulted with a constitutional scholar, Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law School, in drafting the bill, who said it is compliant with the First Amendment.

“If you’re doing a peaceful protest and you’re leafleting or something like that — we don’t have a problem with that. It’s with these people that are going up to people and yelling at them and saying meanspirited, awful things with an intent to try to physically stop them from entering into their religious institution [that are the issue],” Suozzi continued, adding that even offensive but peaceful speech like opposing a religion or Zionism would be permitted.

“It would be [banned] if you came up close to people and you start yelling in their faces and saying, ‘you’re a Zionist pig,’ or something like that — trying to intimidate them,” he explained.

Miller said in a statement, “Every American deserves to practice their faith free from fear, intimidation, or harassment.”

“The SACRED Act ensures that people can access their place of worship safely and without obstruction, while still preserving First Amendment protections for peaceful expression,” he continued. “This commonsense legislation draws a clear line: intimidation and threats have no place in our communities.”

Suozzi emphasized that the bill is different from other recent state- and local-level buffer zone legislation, and he took pains to avoid modeling the bill after a Massachusetts law that was struck down in court which had banned all protests within a 35-foot zone. The eight-foot “floating buffer zone” was based on a Colorado law that was upheld by the Supreme Court, he said.

And, he said, “we’re only focused on people’s conduct, not their speech.”

In New York City, a slice of which falls within Suozzi’s district, the City Council recently passed buffer zone legislation for educational and religious facilities, but Mayor Zohran Mamdani is reportedly considering a veto. He has until the end of the week to do so, or the legislation will become law by default.

Suozzi said he sees much of the harassment at synagogues as linked to social media, which rewards extremism, and deliberate efforts by adversaries like Iran, China, Russia and North Korea to enhance division in the country.

“So we have to take new actions to try and address that. And this is a way to say, ‘You can disagree. You can protest. You can disagree completely with what I think — even though I think that you’re wrong, you’re completely allowed to do that, but you’re not allowed to come close to a person and try and scare them and try and prevent them from feeling safe to go practice their religion,’” Suozzi said.

Suozzi is set to be joined by Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt for a press conference on the bill at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County on Friday morning.

“No one should have to face harassment or intimidation as they are trying to pray in peace at a place of religious worship,” Greenblatt said in a statement. “This important and much-needed legislation reflects both the urgency of this moment and the fundamental principle that every person should be able to practice their faith freely and safely.”

Leaders from several communities impacted by antisemitic violence lobbied in favor of the bill on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

It’s also being backed by the American Jewish Committee, Orthodox Union, Hadassah, Hindu American Foundation, Islamic Society of North America, Jewish Federations of North America, UJA-Federation of New York, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center and Agudath Israel of America.

In a statement, AJC CEO Ted Deutch emphasized that the group’s recent national survey found that more than a quarter of American Jews said that an institution with which they are affiliated has been targeted in the last five years, and more than half have changed their behavior out of fear of antisemitism.

“At a time of rising threats against Jewish institutions, we applaud Representatives Suozzi and Miller for introducing the bipartisan SACRED Act to ensure safe access to houses of worship,” Deutch continued.

“Houses of worship are sacred spaces and visitors gathering there to pray or attend communal events should be free from harassment. The SACRED Act helps protect communities by creating a buffer zone around places of religious worship and individuals and imposes penalties for violations of this law,” Rabbi A.D. Motzen, the national director of government affairs for Agudath Israel, said in a statement. 

“Unfortunately, recent incidents in front of synagogues around the country highlight the need for additional protections,” Motzen continued.

Eric Fingerhut, the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, said, “Every American deserves to practice their faith free from intimidation, harassment, or fear at the doors of their place of worship. With incidents targeting synagogues and other houses of worship continuing to rise, we need this federal legislation to protect our fundamental right to religious freedom.”

“Intimidating and harassing people exercising their right to worship is unacceptable — anytime, anywhere,” said Carol Ann Schwartz, national president of Hadassah. “Hadassah has heard from Jewish women who are afraid to display symbols of their faith and who constantly watch their synagogue doors for attackers. The antisemitism these women face reflects the erosion of public safety at every place of worship, and we must act to keep sacred spaces safe.”

Since the joint U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran began last Saturday, Jewish communities worldwide have seen an increase in threats and harassment — including a 95% rise in violent online posts targeting Jews, according to a new report from a leading American Jewish safety and security organization.   

A bulletin distributed by the Secure Community Network to law enforcement on Thursday reports that the ongoing strikes on Iran, which included the killing of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, have widespread foreign and domestic security implications.

Iranian ayatollahs Hossein Nouri Hamedani and Naser Makarem Shirazi on Sunday issued a fatwa calling on Muslims worldwide to take revenge for the killing of Khamenei. They told Muslim adherents to “aveng[e] the blood of the martyred leader of the revolution” and added that it “is obligatory for all Muslims.” Additionally, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a public proclamation in Farsi that “the enemy … will no longer have security anywhere in the world, even in their own homes.” 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security responded in a confidential law enforcement report obtained by Jewish Insider that the fatwas, Iranian government rhetoric and online messaging heighten the threat of violent extremism in the U.S. 

SCN warned that the heightened risk of lone wolf attacks inspired by the strikes may have already begun to play out. Less than 24 hours after the killing of Khamenei, a gunman killed three people in a mass shooting at an outdoor beer hall in Austin, Texas. While authorities are still investigating a motive for the shooting, they noted that there were indicators on the suspect and in his vehicle that suggest a potential terrorist connection: During the attack, the suspect wore a hoodie with the words “Property of Allah” and a shirt with an Iranian flag design underneath. 

Since the airstrikes began in Iran, antisemitic online posts impacting the Jewish community — some of which use explicitly violent rhetoric — have nearly doubled, according to SCN, with 4,322 violent posts tracked in the past six days, compared to 2,211 in the week prior to the strikes. These posts include long-standing “Zionist Occupied Government” conspiracies about Israeli control over governments and influence in the U.S., as well as suggestions that the strikes were intended as blood sacrifices for the Jewish holiday of Purim. 

The Secure Community Network said it has not yet identified any specific threats to the Jewish community or U.S. homeland. In a list of precautionary recommendations, it urged law enforcement, security partners and Jewish institutions to remain vigilant, refrain from broadly advertising events and consider adding increased armed security. 

Retaliatory calls to harm American Jewish communities and facilities, in addition to general calls for “death to America,” have also proliferated online, including in tweets from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of over 80 university student groups. 

The Boulder chapter of “Run for Their Lives,” an organization that arranges weekly marches to advocate for the hostages held in Gaza, will no longer publicly advertise its walking route, the group announced on Wednesday. 

The decision comes “following weeks of escalating harassment and threats,” including from a candidate for city council, the group said, less than three months after a Molotov cocktail attack on the group left a participant dead and injured 15 others.

The weekly walks will take place “under heavy security at undisclosed locations,” going forward, the organization said.

In recent weeks, community members have stalked and shouted slurs at participants, such as “genocidal c**t,” “racist” and “Nazi,” and have threatened organizers’ children, according to the Colorado Jewish Community Relations Council. 

Among the demonstrators is a candidate for Boulder City Council, Aaron Stone, who called Rachel Amaru, founder of the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives, a “Nazi” during one of the walks. 

Boulder City Council member Tara Winer, who is Jewish and sometimes joins the walks, told Denver’s 9News that she has been targeted by the anti-Israel demonstrators while on the walks. “I have to deal with the agitators every two weeks [at open comment City Council meetings], if not more, and my weekend is my weekend, so I did not want to have to stand there and listen to that again,” she said. “I think that I have been targeted. Yes, absolutely.” 

“This walk has already been the target of deadly violence. Now participants are facing a level of harassment that makes it impossible to continue safely in public view,” Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Colorado JCRC, said in a statement. 

The torment comes as anti-Israel rhetoric has increased at Boulder City Council meetings and among council members since the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attacks. Last month, Councilmember Taishya Adams accused the City Council of “continuing to fund this genocide,” in reference to the Israel’s war with Hamas. She also wrote on social media that the killing of Native Americans was the “biggest genocide,” bigger than the Holocaust, and said their communities haven’t received reparations, “unlike Jewish people.” 

Adams also refused to condemn the June 1 firebombing, in which Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, threw a Molotov cocktail at participants of the solidarity walk for hostages being held by Hamas. Karen Diamond, 81, died weeks later after succumbing to her wounds.

The parents of an 11-year-old Jewish student at a private school in Northern Virginia say their daughter faced months of antisemitic harassment that went unaddressed by school officials, who also cancelled an annual event featuring a Holocaust survivor due to concerns that the event might exacerbate tensions related to the Israel-Hamas war. 

Days after the parents addressed the campus environment with school leadership, all three of their children were expelled, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday with the Office for Civil Rights in the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, Jewish Insider has learned. 

According to the complaint, Kenneth Nysmith, headmaster and owner of The Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, Va., canceled the event with the Holocaust survivor and expressed concern that it might inflame tensions within the school community in light of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.  

The complaint, filed by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under Law and Washington-based firm Dillon PLLC, alleges several antisemitic incidents that the parents of the 11-year-old Jewish student say she faced in the months leading up to the cancellation of the Holocaust survivor event. The complaint recounts that in October 2024, their daughter’s history teacher asked students to work together on an art project to create a large drawing featuring the attributes of “strong historical leaders.” The students collaborated on a large artistic rendering of a strong leader, featuring Adolf Hitler’s face. The parents learned of the project only after Nysmith School posted a photo of the children holding up their project, which is reproduced in the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that the 11-year-old student experienced harassment, including being told by other students that Jews are “baby killers” and that they deserved to die because of the Israel-Hamas war. The parents of the student allege that the antisemitic bullying got worse after the school hung a Palestinian flag in the gym.  

The complaint claims that the parents of the student being bullied asked Nysmith to take steps to protect their daughter. Nysmith, according to the complaint, told the parents to tell their daughter to “toughen up.” Two days later, on March 13, the headmaster sent the parents an email stating all three of their children — a son in the second grade and two daughters in the sixth grade — were expelled effective that same day. The complaint does not address any reason that Nysmith provided for the expulsions but noted that the children had no disciplinary record.

“The allegations in this complaint reflect what appear to be a growing trend of the normalization of antisemitism to the extent where a school feels compelled to censor a Holocaust survivor,”  Jeffrey Lang, senior litigation counsel at the Brandeis Center, told JI. “But the antisemitic harassment of a young Jewish student because of what’s happening in Israel is acceptable. It’s that trend that I find very worrisome.”  

According to Lang, the K-8 private school is in violation of the Virginia Human Rights Act’s definition of a “private accommodation,” which requires schools that accept tuition to provide a safe learning environment for all students.