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California College Professors Bashed Israel; Here’s What They Got Wrong
One of the campus buildings at the University of California, Berkeley. Photo: Max Pixel/Creative Commons.
On November 21, the Palestine, Arab, and Muslim Caucus of the California Faculty Association, a union organized to platform pro-Palestinian voices, hosted a webinar titled “On Weaponizing Antisemitism.”
Rather than attempting to protect all students, the goal of the event was clearly to accuse pro-Israel and Jewish advocacy organizations of dishonestly using the widely embraced International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism to silence pro-Palestinian voices. They defended their claim by highlighting an observed rise in US Islamophobia since the October 7th massacre.
Despite this, the panelists ignored the major surge in antisemitic incidents in the US since Hamas’ massacre. Throughout the event, they refused to unequivocally condemn Hamas’ heinous attacks. They even went as far as denying the Jewish connection to the land of Israel, while expressing antisemitic conspiracies about Jewish power in America.
The moderator, associate professor Sang Hea Kil of San Jose State University’s Justice Studies department, held Israel entirely responsible for the current situation in the Gaza Strip, stating that “the Israeli regime is capitalizing on the October 7th military incursion to create another ‘Nakba,’ by forcing 1.1 million Gazans to forcibly leave their land, while simultaneously bombing them and preventing their escape to safe passage.” However, this cannot be farther from the truth. Israel ordered the evacuation of the civilian population of Gaza City, in accordance with the rule of law. Furthermore, it was Hamas who had been preventing the civilian population from evacuating towards the designated safe zones. Even after the civilians had successfully evacuated, this didn’t stop Hamas from using these safe zones to attack Israeli civilians.
Ironically in Sang Hea Kil’s anti-Zionist diatribe, she highlighted the importance of the anthropological relationship between people and their land, narrow-mindedly comparing the Palestinians to the Native American tribes who lived near her college. For seemingly arbitrary reasons, she denied all evidence proving the analogous connections that Jews have to Israel. As she should know, the contiguous Jewish presence in the disputed territories existed long before the Islamic conquests that brought Arab culture and society to the region.
Later, in an attempt to frame the ongoing war in Gaza, she mentioned “the bombing of hospitals, schools, and UN shelters” as an example of the ongoing “Israeli aggression,” which she claimed is in direct violation of the Geneva Conventions. She completely ignored the exception outlined in the same document allowing the targeting of such buildings if they are being used militarily, which is exactly what Hamas has been doing for decades. She also called Israel an apartheid state, which has continuously been proven to be a lie.
Judith Butler, a UC Berkeley professor of Philosophy and Gender Studies, argued that although antisemitism exists and needs to be combated, “we must [fight antisemitism] in an international framework that allows all of the forms of hatred to be understood in relationship to each other.” In other words, to properly address any form of hate crimes, people must take into consideration all forms of hate. An example she gave was the recent marches against antisemitism in France, which she claimed are counterproductive because they only address antisemitism.
Since she sweepingly declared that all accusations of Palestinian antisemitism contribute to anti-Palestinian prejudice (which apparently is a subset of Islamophobia), such accusations are by definition illegitimate. This is how she justifies her rejection of the IHRA definition of antisemitism because of her false belief that it grants immunity to Israel.
Hypocritically, while criticizing protests against antisemitism for not including Islamophobia, she ignored the severe degree of antisemitism in Islamic or Palestinian societies, especially the extreme level of support the Palestinians displayed for the October 7th massacre or the rampant antisemitism ingrained in Pro-Palestinian activism.
Not only are the opinions espoused by the webinar morally bankrupt and devoid of reality, but they contribute to an anti-Israel atmosphere on campus and around the world, which could lead to even more violence against Jews and Israelis.
The post California College Professors Bashed Israel; Here’s What They Got Wrong first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai
Around 200 people gathered for a pro-Israel demonstration at University of Toronto’s downtown campus at King’s College Circle—which was the site of one of Canada’s largest pro-Palestinian encampments during May […]
The post A pro-Israel rally at the University of Toronto was headlined by Columbia University professor Shai Davidai appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters
A statue of George Washington tied with a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh inside a pro-Hamas encampment is pictured at George Washington University in Washington, DC, US, May 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Craig Hudson
The campus group National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) is waging a campaign to gut Jewish life in academia, calling for the abolition of Hillel International campus chapters, the largest collegiate organization for Jewish students in the world.
“Over the past several decades, Hillel has monopolized for Jewish campus life into a pipeline for pro-Israel indoctrination, genocide-apologia, and material support to the Zionist project and its crimes,” a social media account operating the campaign, titled #DropHillel, said in a manifesto published last week. “Across the country, Hillel chapters have invited Israeli soldiers to their campuses; promoted propaganda trips such as birthright; and organized charity drives for the Israeli military.”
It continued, “Such actions reveal Hillel’s ideological and material investment in Zionism, despite the organization’s facade as being simply a ‘Jewish cultural space.’”
DropHillel claims to be “Jewish-led,” although only a small minority of Jews oppose Zionism, and the group has been linked to and promoted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters.
Hillel International has provided Jewish students a home away from home during the academic year. However, NSJP says it wants to “weaken” it and “dismantle oppression.”
The idea has already been picked up by pro-Hamas student groups at one college, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, according to The Daily Tar Heel, the school’s official student newspaper. On Oct. 9, it reported, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) unveiled the idea for “no more Hillel” during a rally which, among other things, demanded removing Israel from UNC’s study abroad program and adopting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Addressing the comments to the paper days later, SJP, which has been linked to Islamist terrorist organizations, proclaimed that shuttering Hillel is a coveted goal of the anti-Zionist movement.
“Zionism is a racist supremacist ideology advocating for the creation and sustenance of an ethnostate through the expulsion and annihilation of native people,” the group told the paper. “Therefore, any group that advocates for a supremacist ideology — be it the KKK, the Proud Boys, Hillel, or Heels for Israel — should not be welcome on campus.”
The #DropHillel campaign came amid an unprecedented surge in anti-Israel incidents on college campuses, which, according to a report published last month by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), have reached crisis levels.
Revealing a “staggering” 477 percent increase in anti-Zionist activity involving assault, vandalism, and other phenomena, the report — titled “Anti-Israel Activism on US Campuses, 2023-2024” — painted a bleak picture of America’s higher education system poisoned by political extremism and hate.
“As the year progressed, Jewish students and Jewish groups on campus came under unrelenting scrutiny for any association, actual or perceived, with Israel or Zionism,” the report said. “This often led to the harassment of Jewish members of campus communities and vandalism of Jewish institutions. In some cases, it led to assault. These developments were underpinned by a steady stream of rhetoric from anti-Israel activists expressing explicit support for US-designated terrorists organizations, such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and others.”
The report added that 10 campuses accounted for 16 percent of all incidents tracked by ADL researchers, with Columbia University and the University of Michigan combining for 90 anti-Israel incidents — 52 and 38, respectively. Harvard University, the University of California – Los Angeles, Rutgers University New Brunswick, Stanford University, Cornell University, and others filled out the rest of the top 10. Violence, it continued, was most common at universities in the state of California, where anti-Zionist activists punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Not Welcome’: New Pro-Hamas Campaign Aims to Abolish Hillel Campus Chapters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza
Former US President Donald Trump is seen at a campaign event in South Carolina. Photo: Reuters/Sam Wolfe
The “Muslims for Trump” organization has officially launched initiatives to help elect Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to the White House, arguing that he would be more likely to end the war in Gaza than Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said it will focus on recruiting Muslim voters in key battleground states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and North Carolina. The organization both praised Trump for his supposed “peace-focused” approach to ending the war in Gaza and condemned Harris for helping facilitate a so-called “genocide.”
“After meeting with President Trump, it was clear to me he is the right leader for Muslims to get behind,” Rabiul Chowdhury, co-founder of Muslims for Trump and former co-chair of the “Abandon Harris Movement,” said in a statement.
Chowdhury added that during his discussions with Trump, the former president vowed to “ending the escalation of wars and bringing peace to war-torn regions.” In contrast to Trump’s promise to stop the “bloodshed” in Gaza, he claimed, Harris has “recklessly pushed us toward World War III.”
Chowdhury, a self-described “peace advocate,” urged the Muslim community not to fall victim to supposed “misinformation” campaigns by the media and Democrats that paint the former president as hostile to immigrants. He claimed that the former president’s focus is on “ending war, not dividing families through false immigration claims.”
Samra Luqman, chair of the Michigan chapter of Muslims for Trump, underscored the need to punish the Biden administration for what he described as supporting a “genocide” in Gaza.
“The goal of this election is to hold the Biden administration accountable for a genocide. No amount of fear mongering or scare tactics will persuade my community into forgiving the mutilation, live-burning, and genocide of over 200,000 people,” he said.
According to data produced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, roughly 40,000 people have died in Gaza since the war began last October. Israel has said that its forces have killed about 20,000 Hamas terrorists during its military campaign.
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
On the organization Muslims for Trump’s official website, it claims that the Abraham Accords, a series of historic, Trump administration-brokered normalization agreements between Israel and several countries in the Arab world, helped stabilize the Middle East. It also says that had Trump not lost the 2020 presidential race, the so-called “genocide” could have been prevented.
“Under Trump’s leadership, the Abraham Accords were brokered, fostering peaceful relations between Israel and several Arab countries. Supporters might argue that Trump’s diplomacy prioritized peace and stability in the Middle East, reducing the likelihood of large-scale conflicts like genocide,” the group wrote.
Over the course of his campaign, Trump has repeatedly touted his support for the Jewish state during his singular term in office. Trump has boasted about his administration’s work in fostering the Abraham Accords, promising to resume efforts to strengthen them if he were to win November’s US presidential election.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under Trump crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, a strategic region on Israel’s northern border previously controlled by Syria, and also moved the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing the city as the Jewish state’s capital.
Despite Harris’s repeated efforts to woo Muslim voters, polling data indicates that the demographic has made a dramatic swing away from the Democratic Party. Polling data from the Arab American Institute reveals that Trump slightly edges Harris among Muslim voters by a margin of 42 to 41 percent. A report from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) shows that Green Party candidate Jill Stein leads Harris and Trump with Muslim voters in the key swing states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arizona.
The post ‘Muslim for Trump’ Launches Initiatives in Key Battleground States, Says Candidate Will Bring ‘Peace’ to Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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