Michigan Senate Democrats on Thursday shot down multiple budget amendments proposed by Republicans aimed at addressing rampant anti-Semitism and support for terrorists on the state’s university campuses.

Monroe Republican Sen. Joe Bellino offered an amendment to the upper chamber’s higher education appropriations bill on Thursday that would have withheld funding increases for universities with sanctioned student organizations that have “a demonstrated history of supporting terrorist organizations or threats of violence to others,” Michigan Advance reports.

Another amendment from Brighton Republican Sen. Lana Theis aimed to block students from state-funded scholarships if they violate the student code of conduct with “support of a terrorist organization.”

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

The motivation, the senators said, came from pro-Hamas protests at Michigan universities amid the terrorist organization’s ongoing war against Israel. Those protestors have targeted Jewish classmates, incited violence, and called for “Death to America” in literature distributed on campus.

“Students are choosing to set their education aside and instead stand in line with extremism, violence, and antisemitism. Worse yet, American students are participating in anti-American chants and support a US. Government-designated terrorist organization, Hamas,” Bellino said. “This is both dangerous and concerning.”

“Why would we continue to use taxpayer dollars to fund the educational goals of those who are also supporting groups that are recognized terrorist organizations?” Upper Peninsula Republican Sen. Ed McBroom added, according to WEMU.

Southfield Democratic Sen. Jeremy Moss, the Senate’s only Jewish member who was presiding over the amendment process, refused to vote on either amendment because he was “super pissed off” by the proposals he described as “nakedly political,” the news site reports.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

“You don’t really have a care for the Jewish students on campus,” he said. “There are avenues to resolve the antiemetic problem on our campus. This is not one of them.”

Other Democrats including Trenton Sen. Darrin Camilleri, who has called for a ceasefire, Detroit Sen. Stephanie Chang, and Northfield Township Sen. Sue Shink defended student protestors.

“These demonstrations are overwhelmingly focused on safeguarding human rights and dignity for all, no matter their race, religion, or nationality. Those are American values,” they said in a statement cited by the Advance. “I urge my colleagues to focus more of their attention on the tens of thousands of lives that have been lost rather than how students are exercising their First Amendment rights.”

Both of the proposed amendments were narrowly defeated, with a vote of 16-17 for Bellino’s amendment and 15-17 for Theis’ amendment.

The votes came a little over a week after the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 113 by Theis to formally recognize April 29, 2024 as “End Jew-Hatred Day” in Michigan.

“We’re seeing a rise in hateful behavior toward the Jewish community in recent months, and it’s a problem that is plaguing college campuses across the country, including here in Michigan,” she said at the time. “Not only is it a stain on human history, but it is also an active threat to our present and future.”

The same resolution introduced in the lower chamber by Orion Township Republican Rep. Donni Steele has not received a vote, despite support from at least five Democrats.

“We’re being blocked by a small group of radical members who aren’t willing to condemn antisemitism,” she said. “I know there are Democrats that will support this resolution.”