RSS
As School Year Begins, Palestinian Student Groups Get Increasingly Violent, and Colleges Appear to Take Action
Anti-Israel protests continued to escalate throughout August. Pro-Hamas protestors blocked the I-405 freeway in Los Angeles, vandalized AIPAC headquarters in Washington, D.C., vandalized elementary schools in Stamford, CT, and Bethesda, MD, and smashed the windows of a Ralph Lauren store in Manhattan.
Patrons attending a production of Fiddler on the Roof in London were harassed, as were children at a science museum in south London, and Hezbollah and Hamas flags were waved at various demonstrations including those mourning Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Sporadic demonstrations against Israel were also held at the Paris Olympics.
An Israeli owned factory in Britain was again vandalized and a Jewish man in Brooklyn was stabbed by an individual yelling “free Palestine.” The individual was charged with attempted murder and a hate crime.
Thousands of protestors were bused into Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. On the first full day, barriers were torn down, but the number of protestors appeared far below the tens of thousands anticipated. Bomb threats were called in to hotels hosting delegates, American and Israeli flags were burned, the Israeli consulate was picketed, and dozens of arrests were made.
In contrast to other groups, Jewish groups were made to keep their locations secret. A session held by an Orthodox group was nevertheless disrupted by pro-Hamas protestors.
The eliminationist goals espoused by the protestors, along with their fundamental anti-American and anti-Western ideologies, is a threat to all Americans. But press accounts emphasized the minimal turnout and underplayed the seriousness of the messages and the movement.
The situation was markedly worse on college campuses.
In the faculty sphere, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a statement endorsing academic boycotts. Without mentioning Israel the statement claimed:
when faculty members choose to support academic boycotts, they can legitimately seek to protect and advance the academic freedom and fundamental rights of colleagues and students who are living and working under circumstances that violate that freedom and one or more of those rights. In such contexts, academic boycotts are not in themselves violations of academic freedom; rather, they can be considered legitimate tactical responses to conditions that are fundamentally incompatible with the mission of higher education.
An early indicator of faculty involvement in the semester’s anti-Israel activities was a request on social media for Columbia and Barnard’s faculty to appear at the institutions’ gates to “protect” pro-Hamas protestors, who were disrupting students moving into their dorms.
Threats from New York University’s Faculty for Justice in Palestine to “withhold their labor” represent another level of coercion against the institution, as well as fellow faculty and students.
The most notable college administration related event of August was the sudden and unexpected resignation of Columbia University president Minouche Shafik, who will leave the US and return to Britain for a position in the Labour Party led Foreign Office. Her tenure of 13 months is the shortest in Columbia’s history.
Shafik is the third Ivy League president to resign. Her handling of the post-October 7 campus crisis had been harshly criticized on all sides. For their part, Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter stated “any future president who does not pay heed to the Columbia student body’s overwhelming demand for divestment will end up exactly as President Shafik did.” Columbia’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter commented “The students of Columbia will never forget the sheer violence unleashed upon us by Minouche Shafik, and we will not be placated by her removal as the university’s repression of the pro-Palestinian student movement continues.”
Legal action in response to the 2023-2024 school year continues to play out.
In one notable case, a Federal judge issued a ruling that excoriated UCLA for permitting pro-Hamas protestors to shut down portions of campus to Jewish students who identified as Zionists, saying: “In the year 2024, in the United States of America, in the State of California, in the City of Los Angeles, Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith.”
The university had argued that it bore no responsibility “because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters.” The judge instructed the university to present a plan to address the issue, or prepare to shut down operations entirely. Observers suggest that the ruling will motivate other universities to take steps to protect Jewish students from harassment and abuse.
A Massachusetts court also permitted a lawsuit under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 against Harvard University to proceed. The suit alleges the university permitted antisemitic harassment against Jewish students to proceed unchecked. A similar suit against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was dismissed by the same judge, who ruled the university at least took steps to restore “civil order and discourse to its campus.”
In another suit, a Federal court ruled Jewish MIT students did not have to pay dues to the graduate student union, which had endorsed BDS. The students had claimed the union’s decision violated their religious beliefs and freedom of association.
Graduate unions, frequently affiliated with the United Auto Workers or United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, have become a notable target for the BDS movement. Additional lawsuits are pending including at the University of Chicago.
In general, universities have spent the summer revising policies regarding protests, access, encampments, masking, and various “expressive activities” such as signage and departmental statements, to avoid the breakdowns seen in the 2023-2024 school year.
Institutions with specific guidelines and prohibitions include the University of California system, the California State University, and University of Texas systems.
In a particularly specific example, New York University issued new guidelines that mentioned “code words” like “Zionist:”
Using code words, like “Zionist,” does not eliminate the possibility that your speech violates the NDAH Policy. For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity. Speech and conduct that would violate the NDAH if targeting Jewish or Israeli people can also violate the NDAH if directed toward Zionists. For example, excluding Zionists from an open event, calling for the death of Zionists, applying a “no Zionist” litmus test for participation in any NYU activity, using or disseminating tropes, stereotypes, and conspiracies about Zionists (e.g., “Zionists control the media”), demanding a person who is or is perceived to be Jewish or Israeli to state a position on Israel or Zionism, minimizing or denying the Holocaust, or invoking Holocaust imagery or symbols to harass or discriminate.
In some cases, such as Columbia, faculty involved in anti-Israel protests are involved in creating new guidelines. The AAUP has also condemned new guidelines, calling them “overly restrictive” and a threat to democracy.
Institutions have also mandated civic dialogue and antisemitism and Islamophobia training programs.
Jewish faculty and students have expressed concerns that the fall semester will repeat or intensify the disruptions of the past year.
Another significant policy change are the increasingly widespread adoption of “institutional neutrality,” in which universities refrain from issuing statements regarding situations that do not directly affect it.
Institutions adopting such policies now include Harvard University, Cornell University, the University of Texas system, the University of South Carolina, the University of Colorado at Boulder, Johns Hopkins University, Emerson College, and Purdue University. The University of Minnesota’s institutional neutrality policy extends to its investments.
Institutions have also quietly announced that divestment from Israel will not be considered. This was made clear in a long statement from the Oberlin College trustees, and a short statement from the head of the University of Pennsylvania trustees, who also condemned the BDS movement.
San Francisco State University, however, announced that it was divesting from four American companies including Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar as part of a deal with protestors. The move was specifically described as a move away from companies involved in “weapons manufacturing” rather than Israel.
At the same time, however, many universities and district attorneys have quietly dropped disciplinary cases against students who disrupted campuses in the previous school year, including at the University of Chicago and Cal State Humboldt. In the latter case, protestors did several million dollars worth of damage to a building. Columbia University students who had been arrested during the May building takeover nearly all remain in good standing, and will return this fall. Suspended students from several universities have filed lawsuits to have punishments lifted.
George Washington University administrators, however, have urged local authorities not to drop charges against students and have barred several from campus, even as they (and the University of Vermont, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ohio State University, and Rutgers University) have barred SJP from campus for the fall.
In a sign of changing Jewish attitudes towards the Ivy League, a report notes that the Ramaz school in Manhattan will not send any students to Columbia for the first time in its history. Another sign is a sharp rise in new enrollments and transfers at Yeshiva University, Brandeis University, and Touro University.
Over the summer, we learned that pro-Hamas students had participated in training sessions held at various campuses. Reports indicated that the training emphasized organizing tactics, as well as Marxist-Leninist and jihadist ideologies. Evidence also emerged of students conspiring with outsiders and discussing how to fabricate allegations against Jewish faculty members, specifically Shai Davidai of Columbia University.
The tone of pronouncements from various SJP chapters was frank regarding planned disruptions and revolutionary intent.
The University of North Carolina SJP chapter stated its “support for the right to resistance, not only in Palestine, but also here in the imperial core,” and condoned “all forms of principled action, including armed rebellion, necessary to stop Israel’s genocide and apartheid, and to dismantle imperialism and capitalism more broadly.”
Columbia University’s SJP issued a statement claiming that, “We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization” and that “Our intifada is an internationalist one-we are fighting for nothing less than the liberation of all people. We reject every genocidal, eugenicist regime that seeks to undermine the personhood of the colonized.”
The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University SJPs also issued an Instagram image with red Hamas targeting triangles above President Biden and Vice President Harris.
Jewish organizations on campus have also been targeted by pro-Hamas demonstrators. Protestors outside of the Baruch College Hillel called to “bring the war home,” and carried signs saying “Let the intifada pave the way for people’s war.”
Masked protestors also waved Palestinian flags outside the Temple University Hillel and the Toronto Metropolitan University Hillel.
In response, at the end of the month, the Columbia SJP’s Instagram account was permanently deleted, as was that of the New York University SJP.
A spokesperson for Meta, owner of Instagram, stated that Columbia SJP’s “account was disabled for repeated violations of Meta’s dangerous organizations and individuals policies.”
The use of the encrypted messaging app Telegram by student and Chicago protest organizers pointed to a high level of organization and security. The inclusion of pro-Hamas and pro-Iran Resistance News Network content on various Telegram channels also suggested outside facilitation or sponsorship of pro-Hamas protests.
Early campus disruptions this semester have included Columbia University, where even before the semester began, the Chief Operating Officer’s apartment building was vandalized, while at the beginning of school new students moving in were harassed and the convocation was disrupted.
Student governments will remain a focal point for anti-Israel agitation.
At the University of Michigan and the New School, the pro-Hamas leadership of the student governments voted to freeze all funding of student groups until the administrations gave in to their demands for divestment. These are efforts to leverage student bodies against administrations, even at the risk of backlash against themselves. The move quickly backfired at the New School when the university administration transferred funding responsibility from the student government to itself. The Michigan administration has announced a similar move.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where an extensively different version of this article appeared.
The post As School Year Begins, Palestinian Student Groups Get Increasingly Violent, and Colleges Appear to Take Action first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire

Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel

People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns

Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.