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Anti-Zionist Student Government President Convicted of Misconduct, Removed from Office at U of Michigan
University of Michigan PhD student, center, carries a sign that says ‘Free Speech! Free Palestine!’ at U-M’s Diag in Ann Arbor on April 4, 2024. Photo: Junfu Huan via Reuters Connect
The Central Student Government (CSG) of the University of Michigan has removed from office president Alifa Chowdhury — the controversial leader of the Anti-Zionist “Shut It Down” (SID) party who led a failed and unpopular effort to freeze funding for student clubs until school officials enacted a boycott of Israel — following her conviction on an impeachment charge.
Chowdhury faced three charges in total: incitement to violence, defamation, and dereliction of duty, the last of which she was found guilty on Dec. 23, according to a statement issued by the Central Student Judiciary (CSJ). Her vice president, Elias Atkinson, was convicted of the same offense.
“Today’s decision means that President Chowdhury and Vice President Atkinsonare removed from office with immediate effect, and that they are barred from holding CSG office in the future,” CSJ said, noting that its ruling marked the first ever expulsion of a CSG president. “It is not lost on us that today marks the culmination of the first impeachment proceeding in the Central Student Government’s history. Neither are we blind to the major political clashes — both within the Assembly and between the legislative and executive branches … But our decision today, and this court’s role, is beyond politics.”
It continued, “Impeachment is a constitutional process, an important element of CSG’s system of checks and balances. Although the Assembly’ role in triggering the impeachment process is essentially political, it is this court’s unflagging duty to resolve any impeachment process neutrally and impartially once the starter pistol has gone off. This court must be a steady ship in a sea tossed by raucous political winds.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Chowdhury’s anti-Zionist zealotry led her to allegedly commit several disqualifying acts which blighted her office and shocked her CSG representatives. In the articles of impeachment filed by Rep. Margaret Peterman, the now-former president was described as having “gravely endangered” students — for example, by participating in a protest of CSG which led to threats and an assault by spitting — as well as the “integrity of the democratic system.” She also failed to perform key functions of the presidency, including submitting reports, preparing committee members for their roles, and convening meetings with CSG’s executive council — a pattern of neglect which led to her conviction for dereliction of duty.
The takeover of CSG by Chowdhury’s party, SID, in March led to a historically dysfunctional administration, prompting the involvement of school officials at key moments when its brinksmanship threatened to derail core functions of the university. In August, the administration resolved to fund student clubs over Chowdhury and SID’s objections, effectively stripping the new government of the power of the purse. Explaining the intervention to The Algemeiner at the time, university spokesperson Colleen Mastony said it was prompted by Chowdhury’s “senior” colleagues in the CSG Assembly.
Founded in the months after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, SID allegedly committed multiple election code infractions to amass its unprecedented power. According to The Michigan Daily, students banded together to contest its election victory, citing multiple instances in which its members campaigned in proscribed areas and violated other rules regulating the use of posters and email communications. SID ultimately overcame the challenge following a controversial hearing which the student government, breaking precedent, conducted in secret.
After assuming power, Chowdury defunded the school’s 1,700 student clubs by vetoing the summer term budget, which had been “unanimously” supported by the CSG Assembly, and vowed to block any spending bill that would fund them in the fall term. The measure was, in SID’s view, strategic. It argued during the campaign that crippling university operations would inexorably lead to a boycott of Israel, a notion the university dispelled when it appropriated the funds anyway.
“CSG merely serves as an extension of an institution that has perpetuated systems of oppression by maintaining the current status quo of neocolonial capitalism,” the party said in a manifesto issued in March. “Every dollar coming out of this university is blood money. Student government cannot operate as usual as we witness the systematic murder of Palestinians. Student life cannot continue as normal when our tuition and labor are being used to fund a genocide.”
Those ideals manifested in the misconduct which have now disqualified Chowdhury and her vice president from ever holding a CSG position again.
“Today’s ruling is compelled by the All-Campus Constitution and the evidence,” the Central Student Judiciary said in explaining the convictions. “Our conclusions are a result of dozens of pages of briefing, the various evidentiary exhibits, and all the testimony and argument we heard over the course of a twenty two and a half hour hearing. Whatever political consequences might flow from our decision, we can only do our jobs.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Jewish Actor Wallace Shawn Calls Israel ‘Demonically Evil,’ in ‘Some Ways Worse’ Than Nazis for Gaza War
Actor Wallace Shawn speaks about Israel to Jewish groups gathered at Columbus Circle on the first night of Hanukkah during an action dubbed “Hanukkah for Ceasefire” on Dec. 7, 2023 in New York City. Photo: Photo by Michael Nigro/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Jewish actor Wallace Shawn, who is most famous for his roles in “Clueless,” the “Toy Story” franchise, and “The Princess Bride,” compared Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war to the war crimes committed by Nazis against Jews during World War II.
The New York-born actor and playwright, 81, said during an appearance on the podcast “The Katie Halper Show” on Monday that Israel is “doing evil just as great as what the Nazis did.”
“The Israelis invaded someone else’s territory. They took people’s homes and they did many of the things that the Nazis did to the Jews,” he claimed while speaking to Halper, a Jewish comedian and author. “And now they’re really doing it. You can’t be more evil than what they’re doing.”
“And in some ways it’s worse, because they kind of boast about it,” Shawn added. “Hitler had the decency to try to keep it secret. For some reason, Hitler didn’t want people to know he was doing these things to the Jews. The Israelis are almost proud of it, and it’s demonically evil. You can’t be more evil. And anybody who doesn’t recognize that it’s evil, I can’t properly communicate with that person. That might be temporary insanity.”
The “Young Sheldon” star has been a longtime critic of Israel and its military actions in Gaza during the war against Hamas terrorists controlling the enclave who orchestrated the deadly terrorist attack across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. After the massacre, he signed a letter from Artists4Ceasefire calling on former US President Joe Biden to push for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the war.
Shawn has repeatedly criticized US support for the Jewish state during the Israel-Hamas war. He accused Israel of “brutal occupation,” and of “massacring innocent people” and inflicting “deliberate cruelties” on Palestinians in Gaza. He has participated in rallies and events organized by the anti-Israel groups If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace, and is also a member of JVP’s advisory board.
During his appearance on Halper’s podcast, Shawn also accused Israel of “starving people, preventing children from getting medicine on purpose, and bombing hospitals” in Gaza. “If you don’t see that it’s evil to do those things to other human beings, then you’re in a different universe for me,” he argued
He additionally said, “I can imagine that some Israelis who are today in support of what their country is doing in Gaza or in the West Bank, even some of them might in 10 years wake up and say, ‘Why did I justify that?’ … Of course, [Israelis] must consciously or unconsciously know that every single day they are making the hatred increase. And the hatred level is something we can’t imagine.”
The post Jewish Actor Wallace Shawn Calls Israel ‘Demonically Evil,’ in ‘Some Ways Worse’ Than Nazis for Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Denies US-Israel Plan to Strike Iran, Calls for ‘Nuclear Peace Agreement’ While Reviving ‘Maximum Pressure’
US President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied that the United States and Israel are planning to carry out a military strike on Iran, saying he instead wants to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” with Tehran as Iranian officials suggested differences over the Islamist regime’s nuclear program could be resolved.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
It was unclear to which reports Trump was referring. In recent weeks, many analysts have raised questions over whether Trump would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, which both Washington and Jerusalem fear are meant to ultimately develop nuclear weapons.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper,” he continued. “We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”
Trump’s social media post came one day after he signed a presidential memorandum restoring his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
As he signed the memo, Trump expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader but added Tehran was “too close” to a nuclear weapon and “cannot” have one.
Later on Tuesday, Trump said that he would “love” to make a deal with Iran to improve bilateral relations — but added that the regime should not develop a nuclear bomb.
“I say this to Iran, who’s listening very intently, ‘I would love to be able to make a great deal. A deal where you can get on with your lives,’” Trump told reporters in Washington, DC. “They cannot have one thing. They cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon … I think that’s going to be very unfortunate for them.”
Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported in December that Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, at its Fordow site dug into a mountain.
The UK, France, and Germany said in a statement at the time that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Iran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
During his first term in the White House from 2017-2021, Trump pulled out of a 2015 agreement negotiated between Iran, the US under the Obama administration, and several world powers which placed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. The Trump administration also reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran, with the goal of imposing “maximum pressure” on the Islamist regime in Tehran, which US intelligence agencies have long considered the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Wednesday that the reimposition of a policy of heavy pressure against Iran will end in “failure” as it did during Trump’s first presidential term.
“I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure,” Araghchi told reporters.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed that point in a televised ceremony, downplaying the impact of sanctions on Iran.
“America threatens new sanctions, but Iran is a powerful and resource-rich country that can navigate challenges by managing its resources,” Pezeshkian said.
Meanwhile, Araghchi again claimed that Tehran is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
“If the main concern is that Iran should not pursue nuclear weapons, this is achievable and not a complicated issue,” he added. “Iran’s position is clear: it is a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Supreme Leader’s fatwa has already clarified our stance [against weapons of mass destruction].”
Iran’s nuclear agency chief Mohammad Eslami similarly insisted that his country remains committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying, “Iran does not have, and will not have, a nuclear weapons program.”
However, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a leading coalition of Iranian dissident groups, revealed recently that the regime has covertly accelerated activities to construct nuclear weapons, including by ramping up efforts to construct nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles at two sites.
While it’s unclear whether Trump will be able to renegotiate a new nuclear deal, Iranian officials have expressed a willingness to engage in diplomacy.
“The clerical establishment’s will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel’s sabotage,” a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday. The official added that Iran wanted the US to “rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal” with the Islamic Republic.
Iranian officials, including top leaders, routinely declare their intention to destroy Israel. In recent months, however, the Israeli military has decimated two of Iran’s top terrorist proxies in the Middle East — Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — and greatly compromised Iran’s air defenses in a military operation last year. Analysts have speculated that Iran’s current vulnerable position would make now an ideal time to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
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Oberlin College Course Uses Antisemitism as Sword and Shield
A memorial erected at Oberlin college by Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine. Photo: Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine / Facebook.
A description of a course beginning this week at Oberlin College, my alma mater, reads: “Popular conceptions of the relationship between Jews and power tend either to adopt (in the case of sympathetic accounts) a view of Jews as perennial victims or (in the case of hostile/antisemitic accounts) a view of Jews as overly or preternaturally powerful. This course attempts to complicate that bipolar framework by exploring a more diverse range of encounters between Jews and power from antiquity to the present.”
There’s nothing problematic about a take-down of the view that Jews are “overly or preternaturally powerful,” a trope popularized by the antisemitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The problem is with the other half of the course, which purports to “complicate” the “sympathetic account” of Jews “as perennial victims.”
It’s sadly become a generally accepted fact that antisemitism in the US has been making troubling inroads on both the left and the right of the political spectrum. On the right, antisemites are, at least, open, honest, unabashed — or even, at times — proud. This type of antisemitism is easy to spot and to diagnose.
The antisemitism encroaching from the left is more clever. It hides in plain sight, disguising itself frequently as pro-Palestinian or human rights activism. Other times, left-wing antisemitism poses virtuously as opposition to the antisemites of the right.
For example, the film Israelism complains, “American Jewish organizations have spent the last decade pouring millions of dollars into smearing and marginalizing human rights advocates … trying to brand Palestinian protest as antisemitic when there were neo-Nazis trying to kill us in our synagogues!” according to a review from StandWithUs. (Notably, the film was screened at Oberlin in November 2023, just a month and a half after the October 7 attack in which 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas.)
This attempt to promote the left-wing brand of antisemitism, even while using a critique of a different form of antisemitism as a shield, is what we see in the course.
The assertion that Jews, or those who “sympathize” with Jews, claim perennial victimhood in order to further malevolent ends forms the basis of a great deal of antisemitism; the “victimhood” canard is a straw man set up to demonize Jews. (For one example, see here.) Yet that is the very same assertion that is being made in the course description itself.
The Oberlin administration claims the course is designed to oppose antisemitism. That is partially correct, but it also serves to operate as a smokescreen. To understand this requires an acknowledgement that antisemitism can take different forms, and that antisemites of different stripes can at times come together (as when David Duke called Ilhan Omar “the most important Member of the US Congress”), and can at other times operate in opposition to each other, depending on what best suits their needs.
The pretense of opposing antisemitism, but only opposing antisemitism from the right, can serve to bolster the credentials of those who themselves promulgate a different flavor of antisemitism.
Even as the course, according to its description, knocks down one antisemitic trope, it promotes a different one: that Jews fallaciously claim victimhood for political gain.
Since the time when Oberlin made news because of a professor who, among other things, blamed Israel for the September 11 attack on the US, the new Oberlin administration, led by President Carmen Twillie Ambar, seemed to have made strides in combating antisemitism.
With a few of worst actors having departed the campus under various circumstances, President Ambar issued a decent statement regarding the October 7 attack on Israel, and recently blocked a terror-supporting speaker that a student group had attempted to bring to the campus. In the Spring of 2024, when antisemitic campus protests rocked the country, the protests at Oberlin were, in comparison, mild, and Oberlin stayed out of the news. But now, the Oberlin administration’s vision seems once again to be occluded when it comes to left-wing antisemitism, and this latest course offering threatens to bring the school back to an earlier era.
Karen Bekker is the Assistant Director in the Media Response Team at CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.
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