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Amherst College Rejects Divestment Proposal, Setting Back Anti-Zionist Campus Movement
Illustrative: A projection is seen with a picture of US President Joe Biden along with text reading “Genocide Joe” on the wall of the George Washington University during a pro-Hamas protest on campus in Washington, DC, May 7, 2024. Photo: Probal Rashid via Reuters Connect
The board of trustees of Amherst College, a liberal arts institution in western Massachusetts, has rejected an anti-Zionist faction’s proposal for divestment from companies which sell arms to Israel, the school announced on Monday.
Guided by the fundamental principle of respecting the diversity of opinion in our community — and noting the practical challenges — the board has decided unanimously not to pursue the divestment actions requested in the faculty and [Amherst Associated Students] resolutions,” Amherst College president Michael Elliott, as well as the board of trustees chair and chair-elect Andrew Nussbaum and Chantal Kordula, respectively, said in a statement.
“To be very clear, the board’s position is neither an endorsement of Israel’s campaign in Gaza nor a statement in support of violence rather than peace,” they continued. “It is, instead, a carefully considered response to the demand that the institution adopt a defined position on global events that are of intense interest to many at Amherst — events subject to ongoing debate and disagreement whose outcome will be shaped not by our investment decisions but by the decisions of governments across the world.”
Amherst College’s rejection of divestment — a core tenet of the boycott, divestment, and and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel — delivers a blow to the anti-Zionist movement on its campus, blocking its aim of capturing the institution’s key policy making bodies. While protests there have not involved the kinds of illegal acts perpetrated at other colleges and universities, Jewish student leaders have expressed concern about the rhetoric and tactics used by anti-Israel protesters, which have included comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, calling on the college to make “investments” in Hamas, and harassing Jewish students.
In May, leaders of Amherst Hillel published an open letter in The Amherst Student saying that “dangerous” ideas have proliferated on campus. Antisemitic conspiracies of Jewish control have been posted by students on a popular social media application, the group explained, and the personal information of Jewish students has been leaked online. In one incident, a Jewish professor’s private letter arguing against divestment was leaked on social media despite Amherst faculty’s insisting on keeping deliberations about the issue private.
“While not all anti-Zionism is antisemitic, these cases highlight the worrying role of antisemitism when discussing opposition to Israel,” the group continued. “Many Zionist students have stopped expressing their views because of this antisemitism, resulting in a lack of productive discourse. On this campus, antisemitism silences the Zionist perspective so that the anti-Zionist voice thrives.”
Amherst College faculty have taken a leading role in promoting anti-Zionism on campus, writing letters in The Amherst Student and passing one of the divestment resolutions that the board of trustees ultimately rejected. Faculty first called for the measure in March in a missive which accused Israel of violating norms of “international law and human decency.” One of the professors who signed it, anthropology instructor Christopher Dole, later celebrated when the faculty senate voted for divestment.
“I’ve been at the college for 20 years, and this vote was an incredible, historic moment,” Dole told The Amherst Student. “And I think it was not possible without the amazing work of students. Tireless, relentless work of reaching out and organizing and coordinating with faculty. And I just couldn’t be happier.”
Other elite colleges and universities have rejected the BDS movement following an explosion of anti-Israel protests and riots which roiled schools across the US during the final weeks of the academic year. In May, Williams College rejected divestment in a report which said there is no “shared understanding” among scholars and experts, nor among its own community, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that would make divesting from Israel as morally cogent as divesting from South Africa in the 1980s or, more recently, fossil fuels.
Days later, Harvard University announced that it will no longer take sides in polarizing political debates. The new university policy, described as “institutional neutrality,” was the final recommendation of a report issued by a faculty group which interim president Alan Garber convened to study whether Harvard “should use its official voice to address matters of social and political significance.” According to The Harvard Crimson, Garber, as well as the Harvard Corporation, embraced its conclusion.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Amherst College Rejects Divestment Proposal, Setting Back Anti-Zionist Campus Movement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.