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Anti-Israel Protests Are Growing; Here’s What You Need to Know
Student protests against Israel expanded greatly in February, with university administrations largely unwilling and unable to enforce regulations regarding what has euphemistically become known as “expressive activity.”
Some of the worst events include:
At the University of California at Berkeley, hundreds of masked pro-Hamas protestors shouting “intifada, intifada” attacked a theater where an Israeli speaker was to appear, smashing a window and forcing the Jewish students inside to be evacuated through tunnels.
At Columbia University, pro-Hamas students held an unauthorized protest on the main quad in which they dyed snow red and chanted “There is no safe place, Death to the Zionist state,” and “We don’t want two states. We want all of it.”
A pro-Hamas sit-in at Stanford University ended after 120 days, when university administrators agreed to formally hear protestors’ demands. The protestors stated they would resume their sit-in if the demands were not met.
Protestors at Stanford disrupted a Family Weekend welcome session hosted by the university and provost.
Brown University students undertook an “indefinite” hunger strike in support of divestment that lasted eight days. Harvard students undertook a 12 hour hunger strike in sympathy. Students at McGill University and Dartmouth College students also announced hunger strikes.
A talk by a Jewish Studies faculty member at San Jose State University advocating a “two state solution” was disrupted by pro-Hamas protestors who rejected the presence of a “Zionist.” After a violent confrontation the faculty member was escorted from the building by police.
At the University of Leeds, the Chabad rabbi who returned from reserve military service in Israel was driven into hiding by threats from Muslim students which came after a campaign orchestrated by Muslim Green Party members, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and the Muslim Council of Britain.
Walkouts and demonstrations were also held at Georgetown University, Stony Brook University, the University of Toronto, the University of Washington, the University of Michigan, Tufts University, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, McGill University, Condordia University, and other schools.
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolutions continue to be proposed in student governments:
The University of California at Davis student government voted in favor of a divestment resolution that prohibits any of the organization’s $20 million budget being invested in Israel.
A divestment and boycott referendum at Pomona College was also approved by the student body. The referendum had been criticized by the president as potentially antisemitic, a comment that was angrily rejected by organizers.
The Cornell University student government rejected a BDS resolution. In the aftermath a rally was held at which speakers condemned the student government and praised the “armed resistance in Palestine” as well as the Houthis.
The UCLA student government passed a BDS resolution, which alleged that Israel is engaged in “apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.” The vote came shortly after the graduate student association passed a similar resolution.
After a public hearing that was disrupted by BDS activists, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees agreed to review its investments in Israel.
The impact of campus protests were seen in the vandalizing of the University of Wisconsin Hillel building, unspecified threats emailed to the Brown University-RISD Hillel, identical active shooter threats emailed to a variety of individuals at Cornell University, Princeton University, and Dartmouth College, and assaults against Jewish students at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Strasbourg.
Figures collected by Hillel International indicate that more than 1,000 antisemitic incidents have occurred on campuses since October, include 44 assaults.
Faculty remain at the forefront of campus anti-Israel activities. The participation of faculty, staff, librarians, graduate students, and others indicates the depth to which anti-Israel ideology has penetrated the entire academic enterprise and compromises pedagogy now and in the future.
Among the worrying incidents:
The American Association of University Professors signed a call issued by labor unions including the United Auto Workers demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Harvard Faculty for Justice in Palestine reposted a student produced image showing a hand with a Star of David and a dollar sign lynching Muhammad Ali and Gamal Abdul Nasser. The classically antisemitic image, drawn from a 1960s era black power pamphlet, set off a firestorm of criticism.
Harvard’s Kennedy School hosted the antisemitic UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. Among other things Albanese accused Israel of “weaponizing” antisemitism and stated that Hamas had not displayed “aggression” against the Jews.
Reports also continue regarding informal boycotts of Israeli academics by international publications and foreign institutions. These appear strongest in the humanities and social sciences, but have spread to medicine and other scientific disciplines.
Investigations of colleges and universities by the Office of Civil Rights at the Department of Education for violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act expanded in February. Investigations were launched into the treatment of Jewish students at Yale University, Ohio State University, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, and others, as well as several local school districts.
Congress continues to be involved in addressing campus antisemitism. Congressional subpoenas have been issued to several universities including Harvard and Columbia, for documents related to their responses to anti-Israel and antisemitic protests. The situation has largely devolved along predictable party lines.
Focus also remains on anti-Israel bias in K-12 education. The American Federation of Teachers, a strong Biden ally, issued a statement calling for a ceasefire but avoided the condemnations of Israel used by other school unions.
Publicity has led schools to organize mendacious programs to proclaim “balance,” such as in a New York City high school where an anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace activist was invited to give a talk to balance a Palestinian activist’s “story of forced displacement, exile and resistance.” New York City public school teachers were also documented discussing means to bypass rules in order to teach about the “genocide in Gaza.”
The pedagogical impact of blatantly antisemitic curriculum in K-12 education was illustrated in Hayward, CA. The city had invested heavily in an organization “to train teachers to confront white supremacy, disrupt racism and oppression and remove those barriers to learning,” and which indoctrinated grade schoolers with concepts such as “resistance” and “Palestine.”
Similarly, the role of university Middle East studies in cementing anti-Israel attitudes was highlighted in an analysis of the curriculum produced by the Brown University Center for Middle Eastern Studies, which is dominated by anti-Israel activists. The curriculum describes Israel as an imperialist project, Jews as alien outsiders, and Israel as a violent illegitimate entity that routinely commits war crimes. According to its creators, the curriculum is used in hundreds, if not thousands, of schools.
As a result of surging harassment and intimidation, Jewish students continue to transfer out of school districts, such as Oakland, CA.
Non-academic protests in February continued to target transportation links and city centers, with the goal of disrupting daily life. These included the Golden Gate Bridge, New York City bridges and tunnels, the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Tennessee and Arkansas, major roads and intersections in and around Washington D.C., the Pennsylvania capitol, and central London on Saturdays. In Brussels, pro-Hamas protestors also disrupted the Flemish Parliament.
Protests also targeted institutions allegedly connected with Jews and Israel:
In Toronto protestors targeted Mt. Sinai Hospital, founded by the local Jewish community, raising Palestinian flags and shouting “intifada, intifada.” Political authorities including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the incident.
In New York City, protestors inside the Museum of Modern Art and Brooklyn Museum unfurled banners demanding a “ceasefire,” and accused Jewish members of the boards of trustees of complicity in “genocide, apartheid” and “settler colonialism.” No arrests were made.
Protestors also targeted the Jewish Museum, where anti-Zionist cultural workers disrupted a talk about the October 7 massacres and claimed an exhibition was “imperial propaganda” and a means to “manufacture consent for genocide.”
Individual members of Congress and Parliament have been targeted:
The Brooklyn office of Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) was vandalized for a second time.
Protestors swarmed a fundraiser for Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and a police officer was struck by a demonstrator.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) was heckled by pro-Hamas protestors at a talk in Ireland who accused him of being a “Zionist” and a “genocide denier.”
The protests are the most obvious manifestations of rocketing antisemitism and hate crimes in Britain, France, and the US, as are the escalating numbers of violent assaults, such as the stabbing of a Jewish individual in Paris, the beating of a Jewish individual in New York City, an assault against a Jewish student at Columbia University, an attack on a megachurch in Houston where a woman armed with a rifle with the words “Free Palestine” on the barrel began shooting and was quickly killed by police, and the kidnapping and torture of a Jewish individual in Melbourne, allegedly orchestrated by an anti-Israel activist.
A poll conducted by the AJC reports that 46% of American Jews have changed their behavior since October 7 as a result of fear of antisemitism. Jewish schools also report that their security costs have almost doubled since October.
Jewish and Israeli cultural and sports figures continue to be targeted and canceled over their origins or perceived support for Israel:
Singer Matisyahu’s performances in Tucson and Santa Fe were canceled for security concerns and staff shortages, after staff members at the venue refused to work for his show. Local BDS and pro-Hamas groups took credit. A performance in Berkeley was protested by those who accused the singer of supporting “genocide.”
A Cambridge (MA) performance by Israeli singer Ishay Ribo sponsored by the Harvard Chabad was boycotted and protested by the staff and Hamas supporters. The performance proceeded.
An International Women’s Day event in Toronto rescinded an invitation to cyclist Leah Goldstein to be the keynote speaker after activists complained about her service in the Israeli military in the 1980s. The entire event was later canceled.
Calls continue to eject Israel from the Eurovision song contest. The sponsoring organization has thus far rejected the demands. The Israeli song submitted to the contest which references October 7 was rejected by competition organizers as “too political” prompting Israeli threats to withdraw from the competition.
A number of private Manhattan art galleries were vandalized with pro-Hamas graffiti including “Stop selling to Zionists. Stop working with Zionists.”
Hundreds of artists have signed an open letter demanding that Israel’s national pavilion be banned from the Venice Biennale.
The Berlin Film Festival’s social Instagram account displayed a series of messages accusing Israel of genocide. Organizers claimed the account was “hacked.” The winners of the festival expressed support for “Palestine” and others made anti-Israel speeches.
An Australian WhatsApp group of hundreds of Jewish creatives was breached and messages were released leading to several participants being threatened, doxxed, and removed from bands, theater groups, and other venues. The move was defended as ‘”whistleblowing” since Jewish creatives had expressed concern regarding pro-Hamas journalists and organized letter-writing campaigns.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a different version of this article appeared.
The post Anti-Israel Protests Are Growing; Here’s What You Need to Know first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Six US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week requesting that he increase security measures along the northern border in response to Canada accepting an influx of refugees from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the terrorist group Hamas.
The six Republican lawmakers — Sens. Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Joni Ernst (IA), Tom Cotton (AK), Mike Braun (IN), and Josh Hawley (MO) — said they were “deeply concerned” that refugees from Gaza could sneak into the United States. The senators warned that allowing unvetted Palestinian refugees to cross the border poses a serious national security threat.
“On May 27, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intent to increase the number of Gazans who will be allowed into their country under temporary special measures,” the senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned and request heightened scrutiny by the US Department of Homeland Security should any of them attempt to enter the United States at ports of entry as well as between ports of entry.”
After arriving in Canada, the Palestinian refugees will be given a “Refugee Travel Document,” which serves as a valid form of identification, the letter claimed, adding that US Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes these documents as a valid substitute for a passport. The senators warned that “individuals with ties to terrorist groups” could potentially enter into the United States.
The letter argued that the US should maintain “common-sense terrorist screening and vetting” for any individual attempting to enter its borders from a foreign country. The lawmakers lamented that the Biden administration’s “”ax border enforcement” has rendered the country vulnerable to potential terrorist attacks. From April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations intercepted over 233 suspected terrorists at the northern border, according to the letter.
“[T]he possibility of terrorists crossing the US-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” the senators wrote. “It would be irresponsible for the US to not take necessary heightened precautions when foreigners attempt to enter the United States.”
On Oct. 7, Hamas launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre of 1,200 people across southern Israel. The Palestinian terrorist group also kidnapped over 250 hostages.
In response, Israel launched defensive military operations in Gaza with the aim of freeing the hostages and permanently dislodging Hamas from the neighboring enclave.
The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, still support Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel that started the ongoing war, and they would prefer a “day after” scenario in which Hamas remains in control of Gaza rather than the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, or other Arab countries, according to recent Palestinian polling. The same polling found that, when asked about support for Palestinian political parties and movements, a plurality chose Hamas.
US lawmakers are split along party lines as to whether the United States should accept refugees from Gaza. Republicans are largely opposed to importing refugees from Gaza, arguing that individuals from the war-torn enclave present “a national security risk” to the United States.” In May, Ernst and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent US President Joe Biden a letter, urging him not to accept any refugees from Gaza.
In June, however, a group of 70 Democratic lawmakers sent Mayorkas a letter, requesting he create “pathways” for more refugees of the Israel-Hamas war to resettle in America.
The post US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin
Screenshot of a widely circulated video published on social media showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel. According to reports, the video appears to be fake and of Russian origin.
A widely circulated video published on social media this week showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel appears to be fake and of Russian origin, according to reports.
The video — published on Tuesday on social media networks including X/Twitter and Telegram — featured a keffiyeh-clad man with his face covered, delivering an Arabic-language address threatening France with violence due to the country’s alleged support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
Addressing “the people of France” and “French President [Emmanuel] Macron,” the masked individual said, “You supported the Zionist regime in its criminal war against the people of Palestine. You provided Zionists with weapons; you helped murder our brothers and sisters, our children.”
“You invited the Zionists to the Olympic games. You will pay for what you have done!” continued the man, who wore a shirt adorned with a Palestinian flag. “Rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris. This day is approaching, God willing. Allah is the greatest.”
The video, published on X/Twitter by the account @endzionism24 and retweeted by Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan, ended with the speaker holding a prop severed head complete with fake blood up for the camera.
He is not a Palestinian:
A video clip has surfaced showing an individual wearing a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag badge, threatening France with a “river of blood” at the Olympic Games.
It is glaringly obvious to any Arabic speaker that this person is not Arab; his dialect… pic.twitter.com/rwWGkkbiAi
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 23, 2024
Hassan and other social media users immediately noted that the man speaking was clearly not a native Arabic speaker, citing his reasonably fluent but awkward and occasionally incorrect pronunciation.
Many social media users aware of the mispronunciations seemed to blame Israel for the video, implying the clip was a false flag meant to fearmonger and demonize Palestinians and Muslims. They did not address the fact that Israel has access to hundreds of thousands of native Palestinian Arabic speakers who would sound far more convincing than the man in the video.
On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that “French secret services and their partners have not been able to authenticate the veracity of this video.”
According to researchers at Microsoft, however, the video appears to be part of a Russian-linked disinformation campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics, which began with the opening ceremony on Friday.
The researchers from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center told NBC News that the clip appears to have come from a Russian disinformation group known as Storm-1516, an outgrowth of Russia’s Internet Research Agency.
The latest clip was linked to a similar disinformation video falsely alleging that Ukraine had sent arms to Hamas — a claim for which there is no evidence. According to the researchers, the more recent video appears to be part of a Russian scare campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics.
The video came just days before France’s rail infrastructure was hit on Friday, ahead of the start of the Olympics, with widespread acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from the rest of France and Europe just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. French authorities described the acts as “criminal” and “malicious.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the sabotage of France’s high-speed rail network was directed by Iran, which Western intelligence agencies have for years labeled as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
“The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam,” Katz wrote on X/Twitter. “As I warned my French counterpart [Stéphane Séjourné] this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians are planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants. Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot. The free world must stop Iran now — before it’s too late.”
Katz was referring to a letter he sent on Thursday to Séjourné raising alarm bells about what he described as a plan by Iran to attack Israel’s Olympic delegation.
Darmanin and French National Police both announced previously that they are taking increased security measures to ensure the safety of Israel’s Olympic delegation while they are in Paris amid mounting threats. These measures include providing them with round the clock security from French police. The Israeli delegation will also receive additional security details from Israel’s Shin Bet security agency during the Olympics.
The post Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’
US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey
The editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the largest daily newspaper in Missouri, has endorsed the opponent of US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), pointing to the incumbent congresswoman’s lack of legislative accomplishments and stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Post-Dispatch argued that Bush’s position on Israel and the Gaza war should be “disqualifying” for any elected representative. The outlet took umbrage with Bush for equating a close democratic ally of the US with a genocidal terrorist organization.
“Israel’s conduct of the war has been far from perfect, but it remains a democracy fighting for survival against an evil terrorist organization. Bush’s tendency to equate both sides — and even to side with the terrorists, as when she cast one of just two House votes against a resolution to bar Hamas members from the US — should in itself be disqualifying for re-election,” the editorial board wrote.
Bush has established herself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress. Only nine days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. As the war dragged on, Bush’s rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza without providing evidence.
Bush seems more interested in pandering to the far-left fringes of the progressive movement than serving her constituents, the Post-Dispatch argued. Bush’s membership in “The Squad” — a clique of far-left progressive, anti-establishment lawmakers in the House of Representatives — has rendered her completely incapable of “accomplishing anything” in the halls of Congress, according to the newspaper.
The editorial board urged its readers to vote for Wesley Bell, pointing to his moderated approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of his pragmatism and moral clarity.
“On Israel, Bell offers an appropriately measured stance, acknowledging the need to protect Gazan civilians and work toward a two-state solution, while supporting America’s closest ally in the Middle East,” the outlet wrote.
In contrast to Bush, Bell has expressed more sympathy to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, emphatically rejecting the notion that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”
Moreover, Bell has strengthened his ties with the Jewish community over the course of his campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, donated a reported $5 million to Bell’s campaign through its United Democracy Project super PAC. A group of 30 St. Louis-area rabbis penned a letter endorsing Bell, accusing Bush of a “lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred.” Bell also brought about an official “director of Jewish outreach” to increase turnout among the Jewish community.
A poll commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates and sponsored by the CCA Action Fund, a pro-Bell super PAC, showed Bell with a commanding 56 percent to 33 percent lead over Bush.
Supporters of Israel see the primary race as a prime opportunity to oust another opponent of the Jewish state from the halls of Congress. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a progressive lawmaker, lost his primary race to a pro-Israel challenger on June 25. Over the course of his reelection campaign, Bowman accused Israel of committing “genocide” and enacting “apartheid” against Palestinians. Bowman’s comments incensed Jewish constituents in the leafy suburbs of Westchester County, New York.
Furthermore, observers are looking to the race as a potential indicator of the Democratic electorate’s position on Israel. Opinions of the Jewish state among Democrats have soured in the months following Oct. 7, calling into question whether anti-Israel views are still a liability with American liberals.
The post Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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