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As Israel wages war on Hamas, colleges and companies take flak over their responses

(JTA) — On Oct. 10, three days into the war that began after Hamas militants killed some 1,400 Israelis and took nearly 200 others hostage, the president of Indiana University issued a statement saying “IU is heartbroken over the horrific violence that has occurred over the past few days.”
The brief statement by Pamela Whitten said the university would provide counseling and other support services to “students, faculty and staff affected by these attacks, especially those who may have family or friends in the region.”
The reaction to what in other contexts might have seemed an anodyne statement was swift — and angry. Jewish students and alumni complained that by mentioning neither Hamas nor its Jewish victims, the statement was an example of “both-sides-ism,” or drawing parallels between the Hamas attacks and Israel’s response.
“Now is only the time for swift and unequivocal condemnation of Hamas (a registered Foreign Terrorist Organization) and an unwavering commitment to the Jewish community,” read a petition organized by Ethan Fine, president of the campus-based Indiana Israel Public Affairs Committee. “We URGE you to retract your statement and issue a new, stronger statement condemning Hamas and showing your support for the Jewish people.”
On Oct. 12, Whitten issued a new statement. “Let there be no ambiguity, Israel has suffered grievous atrocities at the hands of Hamas terrorists,” the statement read in part. “We recognize the pain and fear that is affecting the Jewish community on our campuses.”
Indiana University wasn’t the only campus to be convulsed over a statement about the Hamas attacks. At Northwestern University, president Michael Schill first issued a statement saying that while he was personally “repulsed, sickened and disappointed” by Hamas’ actions, there would not be a university position on “political, geopolitical or social issues.” Later he released a follow-up note, saying “the abhorrent and horrific actions of Hamas on Saturday are clearly antithetical to Northwestern’s values — as well as my own.” But he still said the university would not be making an official statement because it “does not speak for our students, faculty, and staff on these matters.”
In an essay for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a professor at Chicago’s DePaul University School of Law wrote about her disappointment with an administration statement Oct. 9 saying “Our hearts ache to see the horrific violence and tragic loss of life taking place right now in Israel and Gaza. We pray for peace.”
“The university’s pleas for de-escalation in this context not only diminished the suffering of those who were so brutally attacked, but also compounded the pain for Jewish students, staff and faculty, all of whom were already feeling isolated and fragile,” wrote Roberta Rosenthal Kwall.
Clashes over statements reflect a wider debate over how and if universities and corporations should weigh in on global crises. For many Jews, however, the war of the statements is not just about “good governance” or corporate responsibility but whether elite American institutions apply a double standard when Jews are the victims of violence and invective.
“Condemning the worst mass murder [of Jews] since the Holocaust, clearly, unequivocally with heart, with concern, without context, was the right thing to do and the smart thing to do,” said Nathan Miller, CEO of Miller Ink, a strategic and crisis communications firm that works with Jewish and non-Jewish clients. “If you can’t see these images and speak with humanity about them, without justification, rationalization or context, it means you have a bad comms team.”
JTA reviewed more than 600 responses to the Israel-Hamas war by businesses, universities and politicians, compiled by a communications firm that asked not to be named. (Yale’s School of Management is also tracking statements.)
Statements by numerous corporations shortly after the attacks were unequivocal in denouncing Hamas as terrorists and offering sympathy for the Israeli victims. “In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks targeting Jews in Israel this past weekend, we must all do what we can to support the innocent people experiencing so much pain, violence, and uncertainty — particularly children,” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s CEO, said in an Oct. 12 statement. “We condemn these attacks, the hate that motivated them, and all acts of terrorism, and we will continue working to find more ways to provide support in the region, and to honor the victims, their families, and all those affected by this war.”
Starbucks issued a statement expressing its “deepest sympathy for those who have been killed, wounded, displaced and impacted following the heinous and unacceptable acts of terror, escalating violence and hate against the innocent in Israel and Gaza this week.” (JTA illustration by Mollie Suss)
But as the story shifted to Israel’s retaliatory air strikes on Gaza, some companies expressed increased concern for victims on both sides. “With each passing day, the horrific attacks on Israel and the intensifying hostilities become more painful and difficult to watch,” HP’s CEO, Enrique Lores, tweeted on Oct. 14. “My heart breaks for all who are facing unimaginable loss and uncertainty right now.”
On Oct. 11, Starbucks expressed its “deepest sympathy for those who have been killed, wounded, displaced and impacted following the heinous and unacceptable acts of terror, escalating violence and hate against the innocent in Israel and Gaza this week.” It also sought to put out a corporate fire after the Philadelphia-based union organizing the coffee chain’s workers posted “Solidarity with Palestine!” on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“To be clear: We unequivocally condemn these acts of terrorism, hate and violence, and disagree with the statements and views expressed by Workers United and its members,” Starbucks wrote. “Workers United’s words and actions belong to them, and them alone.”
In conversations with JTA, Miller and other communications professionals described the tightrope universities and companies walk when they comment on political and hot-button issues. (A few asked not to be named, saying they were protecting the confidentiality of their clients.) Each has advised clients or prospective clients on how to frame their responses to the Oct. 7 attacks. All agreed that institutions failed when they declined to call out the Hamas attacks as the unacceptable murder and kidnapping of civilians. But they also acknowledged that no single statement is right for every institution — and that companies, universities and nonprofits, including Jewish organizations, have to tailor their comments to their own goals.
‘That’s a good statement’
On Oct. 9, Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, chancellor of the City University of New York, issued a statement saying, “CUNY is devastated by the scope of death and destruction in Israel, still being assessed in the aftermath of Saturday’s violent attacks by Hamas militants. The University is putting in place counseling and related supports to our impacted students, faculty and staff. We are especially concerned about members of our community who have families, colleagues and friends in the Middle East.”
He continued: “We want to be clear that we don’t condone the activities of any internal organizations that are sponsoring rallies to celebrate or support Hamas’ cowardly actions. Such efforts do not in any way represent the University and its campuses.”
“That’s a good statement,” said Noam Gilboord, interim CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. “We’re proud that the chancellor put out a clear and unequivocal statement in support of Israel and the Jewish people.”
In recent years, Jewish critics have charged that the vast CUNY system has tolerated expressions of antisemitism and anti-Zionism from faculty and students. An internal report in 2016 concluded that some incidents on campus were antisemitic.
Gilboord said the JCRC has served as “a partner and an advisor on Jewish affairs” for CUNY, “to guide them in their ability to produce messaging and programs and other items that would help make the campus climate better for the Jewish community.”
CUNY’s messaging on the Hamas attacks suggested to him that the partnership has paid off. “They have become much more sensitive to the needs and positions of the Jewish campus community,” he said.
Gilboord said he couldn’t recall a specific conversation with university officials about its statement, but he said there were conversations concerning the attacks between JCRC and CUNY leaders, who were scheduled to travel to Israel together before the war’s outbreak scuttled those plans.
He is also aware of the pressures that are brought to bear on a large, diverse public university system like CUNY.
“The reality is that there are Israelis and Palestinians who are affected by this, and many university campuses are home to both populations. And they should be sensitive to their entire population,” said Gilboord. “At the same time, I do believe that our leaders both on campus and otherwise need to have the moral clarity to understand that a barbaric attack that killed at least 1,400 Israeli civilians [and soldiers] in a day through mass slaughter, torture, rape and kidnapping by an Iran-backed terrorist group, they should be able to condemn this. And they should also be able to differentiate between [that and] the Israeli Defense Forces’ attempts to defend their communities and disable Hamas’ ability to commit further attacks.”
‘People are getting stuck’
CUNY issued its first statement shortly after the Hamas attack, and before the scope of Israel’s anticipated response was apparent. In particular, it came before an explosion on Oct. 17 at a hospital in Gaza brought more international pressure on Israel to limit its military response. The attack was initially pinned on Israel, but both Israel and the United States insist, citing evidence, that a Palestinian group was responsible.
In turn, the international outcry over the hospital explosion brought pressure on institutions to weigh their outrage over the Hamas attack and hostage-taking against concern over Palestinian civilians caught up in the fighting.
“And that’s where I think a lot of people are getting stuck,” said the head of a communications firm that advises Jewish and non-Jewish groups. ”And this is what we’ve been talking to our clients about. You can criticize the terrorism [against] Israel, full stop — and still say that you shouldn’t take it out on Palestinian kids and babies. But there are people in our [Jewish] community who think no, you can’t do that. Like the second you say that, then you’re engaging in both-sides-ism. And I’m saying that’s not reasonable.”
In recent days, left-leaning Jewish groups have tried to strike that balance — and perhaps feel they have more leeway than universities and corporations to express concern for both Jewish and Palestinian lives. In a statement issued on Oct. 19, J Street, the liberal Jewish Israel lobby, wrote, “Like the Biden Administration, J Street stands with the Israeli people in their grief, and we support Israel’s right to defend its citizens, disarm Hamas, and respond to this horror in accordance with international law.”
The same statement added: “At the same time, we are profoundly worried for the safety of the over 2 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza — half of whom are children — as this conflict turns their streets and their homes into an active war zone.”
The communications professional who spoke about people getting “stuck” (and who requested anonymity, citing client confidentiality) also represents a range of clients, “everything from people calling for a ceasefire, to people who won’t use the word Palestinian, to those asking, ‘How do I write a statement beating the crap out of [Michigan Rep.] Rashida [Tlaib] because she still hasn’t taken down her tweet blaming Israel for the hospital’” explosion.
“I try to be an honest broker,” said the communications professional. “You have to craft your advice towards the organization, what it stands for and what their goal is.”
‘Is it your job?’
Universities and companies have often sought to remain neutral on social and political matters. In 1967, the University of Chicago issued a declaration saying a university “cannot take collective action on the issues of the day without endangering the conditions for its existence and effectiveness.” The economist Milton Friedman, who taught there, said famously in 1970 that the only social responsibility of business is to “increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game.”
But in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the feminist movement, student activists demanded that universities express where they stand. Universities have issued statements on climate change, LGBT issues and diversity. With the renewed racial justice movement that grew out of the police murder of George Floyd in 2020, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “many presidents released statements expressing solidarity with protesters and/or against systemic racism.”
In the 1990s, many companies saw that “corporate social responsibility” could be good for business. “Many consumers, particularly younger ones, really want to utilize their purchasing power now to address these challenges,” Geoffrey G. Jones, a Harvard Business School professor who wrote a history of corporate responsibility, told the Economic Times.
And yet PR experts understand why businesses and universities may not want to weigh in on political or controversial issues, out of fear of alienating consumers or, according to some campus free speech advocates and partisan critics, angering donors, students and faculty who don’t agree with the statements.
“Sometimes I ask people, is it your job to interpret Israel-Palestine issues for your employees? And they’ll say, ‘No, we just need to know how to help them to work safely,’” said a consultant who advises clients on prevention and response strategies to antisemitism. In such cases, the consultant may advise the client not to take a stand.
But the Hamas massacre was of a different nature than a controversial political issue, the consultant said, both because of its personal impact on Jewish students and employees and its shocking nature. “This is different. This is in the category of a mass shooting,” said the consultant. “It’s like something that happened on a neighboring campus, and you have a population that’s really impacted by this.”
Gilboord also thinks it was fair to expect institutions to issue statements about the Hamas attacks, especially universities and businesses in cities, like New York, with a large number of Jewish employees and students.
“If your business has individuals who are connected to this violence and who are affected by some of the worst violence we’ve seen since the Holocaust, and you feel you have a responsibility as a caring place of work, to ensure that your employees are cared for and that their suffering is acknowledged … it’s my belief that you should make a statement recognizing that terrorism is terrorism, and it should be condemned,” he said.
Miller, the communications executive, was disappointed by statements that either did not unequivocally condemn the Hamas violence, or that appeared to equate the attack on Israeli civilians with Israel’s military response.
“It’s important for the Jewish community to demand more than those initial statements that came out in the hours or days immediately following this horrific attack where they tried to give justification or rationalization,” he said. “I think it was an autopilot thing that many people did, but here are cases where I think there’s some malice as well, where they truly believe that Jewish blood is cheaper.”
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The post As Israel wages war on Hamas, colleges and companies take flak over their responses appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UK Police Arrest Two Men for Spraying Jewish People With Water in Viral Online Video

Two men sprayed water guns at Jewish pedestrians in a viral video taken in the UK. Photo: Screenshot
Authorities arrested two men in the United Kingdom on Thursday for squirting specifically Jewish pedestrians with water guns, as seen in a video that has gone viral on social media, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
The men, ages 26 and 36, were arrested in Farnworth, Bolton, and remain in custody for questioning on suspicion of racially aggravated common assault, police added. Authorities have also seized a vehicle and water pistol suspected to have been used in the incident.
“We are treating this incident with the utmost seriousness and have acted swiftly to make arrests,” said Chief Inspector Simon Ashcroft, of GMP’s Salford district. He noted that GMP has a “zero-tolerance approach to hate crime in any form,” and police are “committed to ensuring our communities feel safe and supported.”
“We continue to work closely with our partners to provide reassurance and encourage anyone affected to come forward,” he added. “We are also aware from other footage that there may be further victims, and we urge anyone who believes they have been targeted to contact GMP or the Community Security Trust (CST).” Police encourage anyone with information about the incident to contact authorities or file a report online.
The viral video – which was shared earlier this month on social media and has since been deleted — showed two men in a vehicle in Greater Manchester laughing and smiling as they sprayed water at Orthodox Jewish pedestrians, including children. The two men targeted Jewish people as the traditional Jewish song “Hava Nagila” played in the background.
The video was posted on social media by a Polish rap group called KONSP1RA, whose members include a YouTuber and UK resident named Kamil Galanty and his friend Mati. Both men are featured in the water gun prank video. KONSP1RA has posted similar water prank videos on social media, but the most recent was the first to specifically target only Jewish people. However, the group has targeted Jews in other prank videos, including one filmed in an airport and another in a supermarket.
CST, the UK’s Jewish security organization, condemned the “appalling antisemitic video” on Wednesday. The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said the pranksters behaved “like playground bullies” by harassing Jewish people and added that the incident “is not a prank but antisemitic abuse, and doing so from the comfort of your car is particularly cowardly.”
In response to backlash over the clip, KONSP1RA insisted in a statement on social media that they are not antisemitic. They claimed they “respect all races, all religions, and all people.”
“We strongly reject any form of hate, racism, or discrimination,” they wrote. “Our channel is based entirely on humor, entertainment, and light-hearted pranks. Our goal is to make people laugh – never to hurt or offend … If anyone interpreted our video in a harmful or offensive way – we are truly sorry. That was never our intention.”
KONSP1RA said they are being “wrongfully attacked” and labeled antisemitic — “something that does not represent us or our content in any way.” They said accusations made against the group are “extremely hurtful and unfair.”
“Let’s not spread hate where there was never any intention of it,” they stated in conclusion. “Peace and respect to all.”

Photo: Facebook
This week’s arrests came one day after CST published a new report detailing antisemitic incidents recorded during the first half of this year. CST recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June, marking the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by the nonprofit security group in the first six months of any year.
This year’s total was only surpassed by the first half of 2024, in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel.
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Azerbaijan and Armenia to Sign Peace Deal, White House Says

Residents in vehicles attempt to leave the city of Stepanakert following a military operation conducted by Azerbaijani armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited by ethnic Armenians, Sept. 24, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/David Ghahramanyan
Azerbaijan and Armenia will sign an initial US-brokered peace agreement during a meeting with US President Donald Trump on Friday, a deal aimed at boosting economic ties between the two countries after decades of conflict, the White House said.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told reporters that Trump would sign separate deals with both Armenia and Azerbaijan on energy, technology, economic cooperation, border security, infrastructure, and trade. No further details were provided.
Trump will meet separately with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House, beginning at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT), with a trilateral meeting set for 4:15 pm (2015 GMT), the White House said.
The agreement includes exclusive US development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.”
US officials said the agreement was hammered out during repeated visits to the region and would provide a basis for working toward a full normalization between the countries.
Neither the joint declaration due to be signed nor the separate bilateral agreements with the US were released.
It was not immediately clear how the deal being signed on Friday would address thorny issues such as the demarcation of shared borders and Baku’s demand for a change in Yerevan’s constitution, which includes a reference to a 1989 call for the reunification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, then an autonomous region within Soviet Azerbaijan.
Officials briefing reporters skirted over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh – a mountainous Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic Armenian population – broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan took back full control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 in a military offensive, prompting almost all of the territory’s remaining 100,000 Armenians to flee to Armenia.
US officials highlighted the opportunities presented for both countries and US investors through creation of the new transit corridor, which will allow greater exports of energy and other resources.
“What’s going to happen here with the Trump route is, this isn’t charity. This is a highly investable entity,” said one senior administration official, adding that at least nine companies had in recent days expressed interest in operating the transit corridor, including three US firms.
‘SAFER AND MORE PROSPEROUS’
Under a carefully negotiated section of the documents the leaders will sign on Friday, Armenia plans to award the US exclusive special development rights for an extended period on a transit corridor that will be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, and known by the acronym TRIPP, the officials told Reuters this week.
Trump would sign a directive to set up a negotiating team to work out details for how to operate the corridor, with initial commercial negotiations to begin next week, one of the officials said.
“The losers here are China, Russia, and Iran. The winners here are the West,” one of the officials said. “Both countries that have been in conflict for 35 years … are looking and talking about full peace with each other tomorrow.”
“It’s being done, not through force, but through commercial partnership … with these two countries,” the official said. “The joint declaration that we’re going to see signed today is the first-ever peace declaration signed bilaterally by the two countries since the end of the Cold War.”
Trump has tried to present himself as a global peacemaker in the first months of his second term. The White House credits him with brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand and sealing peace deals between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Pakistan and India. He also is intensifying efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, eyeing a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as early as next week.
Senior administration officials told reporters the agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan marked the first end to several frozen conflicts on Russia’s periphery since the end of the Cold War and said it would send a powerful signal to the entire region.
“This isn’t just about Armenia. It’s not just about Azerbaijan. It’s about the entire region, and they know that that region is going to be safer and more prosperous with President Trump,” a senior administration official said.
A peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey, and Iran that is crisscrossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts.
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US and UK Differ on Gaza but Share Goal to End Crisis, Vance Says

US Vice President JD Vance meets British Foreign Secretary David Lammy at Chevening House in Sevenoaks, Britain, Aug. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/Pool
Britain and the United States may disagree about how to address the crisis in Gaza, but they share a common goal in resolving it, Vice President JD Vance said as he met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Friday in southern England.
Vance, who has previously criticized Britain and its governing Labour Party, landed with his wife Usha and their three children in London before heading to Chevening, the large country residence used by the British foreign minister in Kent.
The visit comes amid increased attention on Vance‘s foreign policy views as he emerges as a key figure in President Donald Trump’s administration and his possible pick as successor.
Asked about Britain’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state, Vance said the US and Britain had a common objective to resolve the crisis in the Middle East, adding: “We may have some disagreements about how exactly to accomplish that goal, and we’ll talk about that today.”
Vance reiterated that the US had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state, saying he did not know what recognition actually meant, “given the lack of a functional government there.”
Britain, by contrast, has taken a harder stance against Israel, declaring its intention to recognize a Palestinian state along with France and Canada to put pressure on Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over the continuing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Close to Chevening House, a small group of protesters had gathered, some waving Palestinian flags and one holding up a sign showing a meme of Vance. Other protests are also planned during the visit.
Asked by a reporter about Trump’s suggestion this week that Vance was his likely heir apparent for the 2028 presidential election, the vice president said his current focus was to do a “good job” for Americans.
“I’m not really focused even on the election in 2026, much less one, two years after that,” he said, referring to the midterm election next year.
FISHING TRIP
Earlier on Friday, Vance and Lammy went fishing in the lake behind Chevening House, appearing relaxed in blue button-down shirts and sharing a laugh.
Vance joked to reporters that the “one strain on the special relationship” between Britain and the US was that all his children had caught fish but that the British foreign minister had not.
“Before beginning our bilateral, the Vice President gave me fishing tips, Kentucky style,” Lammy said in a post on X.
The pair have developed a warm friendship, bonding over their difficult childhoods and shared Christian faith, according to two officials familiar with the relationship.
“I have to say that I really have become a good friend, and David has become a good friend of mine,” Vance told reporters, sitting beside Lammy.
After spending two nights in Chevening with Lammy, the Vances will travel to the Cotswolds, a picturesque area that is a popular retreat for wealthy and influential figures, from footballers and film stars to media and political figures.
Vance has championed an America First foreign policy and once said last year’s election victory for Lammy’s center-left Labour Party meant Britain was “maybe” the first “truly Islamist” country with a nuclear weapon.
Lammy once called Trump a “far-right extremist” and a “neo-Nazi” but since coming to power has brushed off his remarks as “old news.”
Vance‘s trip will include several official engagements, meetings, and visits to cultural sites and a likely meeting with US troops, a source familiar with the planning said.
Trump, who traveled to Scotland for a private visit, is also scheduled for a historic second state visit to Britain next month.