RSS
A New Book Twists What Happens at Israeli Universities
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Dr. Maya Wind is a researcher in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia and holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Analysis from New York University.
For years, she has often ignored Palestinian terrorism against Israel, spreading anti-Israel rhetoric and enthusiastically supporting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS, which undermines the Jewish people’s right to self-determination and calls for the destruction of the world’s only Jewish state, is widely regarded as antisemitic. Like Wind’s book Towers of Ivory and Steel, BDS does not offer sustainable solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Towers of Ivory and Steel is described as exposing Israeli universities as “pillars of Israel’s system of oppression against Palestinians,” and it portrays Israeli academia as an active collaborator in Israel’s “colonial-settlement project.”
Wind’s Key Claims
In Towers of Ivory and Steel, Wind presents three main arguments accusing Israeli universities of aiding apartheid and colonialism.
1. Archaeology Departments and the “Colonial Project”
Wind alleges that Israeli universities’ archaeology departments collaborate with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Israel Antiquities Authority, and settlement organizations to further Israel’s colonial ambitions in Judea and Samaria.
However, Wind ignores the extensive historical and archaeological evidence of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel, documented in ancient synagogues and Hebrew writings completed thousands of years before the modern state’s establishment.
Additionally, as an anthropologist, Wind should acknowledge the ongoing destruction and looting of Jewish antiquities by Palestinians, often with the involvement of the Palestinian Authority. UNESCO considers such actions the erasure of cultural heritage and a violation of human rights.
2. Middle Eastern Studies and Military Collaboration
Wind claims that Israel’s Middle Eastern Studies departments support the IDF, citing the Havatzalot Program at Hebrew University, which provides military intelligence training alongside academic studies. She criticizes the university for allocating facilities to this program.
Yet, similar programs exist in democratic countries like the US, UK, France, and Japan, where academic institutions collaborate with military establishments to address national security needs. The Havatzalot Program helps the IDF recruit and train top talent to protect Israel, including Arab citizens. Notably, no Arab students have been displaced from dormitories or denied access to university resources because of the program.
3. Defense Industry Partnerships
Wind argues that Israeli universities collaborate with defense companies like Rafael and Elbit to develop technology and weapons that harm Palestinians.
While such collaborations exist, they aim to enhance precision and minimize civilian casualties. For example, Rafael’s Iron Dome system protects Israeli civilians — both Jews and Arabs — by intercepting rockets from Gaza, often preventing broader military conflicts. This technology has saved countless lives, reducing the need for ground invasions during operations like Pillar of Defense (2012) and Guardian of the Walls (2021).
Israel’s defense innovations address regional security threats beyond the Palestinian arena, including Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran. These technologies also enable the IDF to distinguish between combatants and civilians, using tools like precision missiles and early-warning systems to minimize collateral damage.
The Reality on the Ground
Despite Wind’s portrayal, the IDF’s military ethos prioritizes minimizing civilian harm. In the first year of the recent Iron Swords War, approximately 40,000 targets in Gaza were struck. Even if we would accept Hamas’ heavily manipulated casualty figures for this period (and it has since been proven those figures are inaccurate and manipulated, that indicates an average of one casualty per strike — an unprecedented ratio for a conflict of this scale.
Furthermore, the civilian-to-combatant casualty ratio is one of the most favorable in modern warfare history. This ratio stands out given Hamas’ practice of embedding terrorists within civilian populations.
Notably, independent analysts have raised concerns about the reliability of casualty reports from Hamas. And this report, for example, “reveals how Hamas distorted fatality statistics to shape international opinion and legal narratives against Israel.”
Ignoring Terrorism in Palestinian Universities
While Wind focuses solely on alleged Israeli transgressions, she overlooks the role of Palestinian universities in fostering terrorism. After Hamas took control of Gaza, universities there were used as hubs for weapons research, intelligence gathering, and terrorist training.
A striking example is the Islamic University of Gaza, which has long served as a center for Hamas’ military operations. The university, established in 1978, has trained operatives in weapons development and intelligence. It also hosts conferences to raise funds for terrorism and disseminates anti-Israel propaganda.
The university’s ties to senior Hamas officials, such as Jamal Zabda — who was killed in Operation Guardian of the Walls — underscore its role in supporting terrorism. Zabda, a former head of Hamas’ research and development division, held a prominent position at the Islamic University, illustrating the direct link between academic institutions and militant activities.
Conclusion
Maya Wind’s Towers of Ivory and Steel presents a distorted, one-sided narrative that ignores key facts and realities. Israeli universities are not pillars of oppression, but essential contributors to national security, scientific advancement, and the protection of civilians — both Jewish and Arab.
By turning a blind eye to Palestinian terrorism and the militarization of Gaza’s universities, Wind fails to offer a balanced perspective. Instead of fostering understanding or proposing viable solutions, her work perpetuates divisive rhetoric that undermines efforts toward peace and coexistence.
Tom Yohay is the campus advisor in Israel for CAMERA on Campus.
The post A New Book Twists What Happens at Israeli Universities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
RSS
Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
RSS
Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.