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December Was Filled with Outrage on Campus and Elsewhere; Here’s What Happened
Throughout December, campus BDS and antisemitism remained shaped by the ongoing war in Gaza.
The main event of the month was the appearance of the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before a House committee investigating antisemitism on campus.
Most controversially, the presidents were asked if calls for genocide against Jews would be protected speech.
Then-UPenn president Liz Magill stated that “If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes,” adding that “It is a context dependent decision.” The answer was echoed by Harvard president Claudine Gay, who stated that “it depends on the context,” and MIT president Sally Kornbluth, who noted the school would act “if the speech turns into conduct.” Gay added that calls for intifada were “evil,” and “personally abhorrent,”and “at odds with the values of Harvard,” but declined to say whether they violated university policies.
The presidents’ inept responses provoked a firestorm of criticism from the White House, the public, lawmakers, and alums, and resulted in Magill’s and Gay’s resignations, along with the head of Penn’s board of trustees.
The donor revolt against academia that began in October when universities faltered in issuing statements condemning Hamas widened in December. Several elite institutions, especially Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, reported losing major gifts, missing fundraising targets, lowering the “donor door” for special consideration, and expressing the need to reestablish relationships with alumni.
At the same time, the Hamas attack and the BDS-inspired campus responses have made the larger problem of academia’s intellectual and political monoculture more broadly understood.
This situation has long been cast in terms of political parties, such as the near absolute dominance of Democratic voters and donors within the humanities and social sciences. But the intellectual aspect was fully revealed by support for Hamas’ atrocities from students and professors defending “decolonization” and violence.
In response to the donor revolt at the University of Pennsylvania, some 900 faculty members signed a letter expressing opposition to what was described as “attempts by trustees, donors, and other external actors to interfere with our academic policies and to undermine academic freedom.”
Donor objections to specific presidents and policies, above all Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and their powerful bureaucracies, have been in the open since October. Reports from Princeton and elsewhere have shown that concerns from Jewish students are dismissed and even ridiculed by DEI bureaucrats. As calls to dismantle DEI bureaucracies have increased, Jewish organizations have sought to integrate Jewish concerns within existing DEI initiatives. These run counter to the emerging political wave against DEI as a whole.
Faculty members remain at the forefront of “pro-Palestine” activities on campus. “Faculty for Justice in Palestine” chapters continue to be formed, including at Rutgers University, Princeton University, the University of Michigan, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Hawaii, and elsewhere. The groups are formed under the aegis of the leading BDS organization, the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
Faculty groups in December also shifted to issuing statements affirming their right to “academic freedom.” This was cast exclusively terms of “Israel/Palestine” and demands that faculty be given absolute impunity to explicitly politicize pedagogy.
UCLA faculty demanded the university, “Publicly reject the deliberately mendacious and misleading conflation of criticism of the Israeli state with antisemitism,” and “Offer resources, services and accommodations to students, faculty, and staff affected by the genocide in Palestine and mounting repression campaigns.”
University of Wisconsin faculty stated that, “using stereotypes about Jewish people in criticism of Israel would indeed be antisemitic, but simple critique (or even condemnation) of the state of Israel must be protected as part of a healthy educational discourse.”
Swarthmore College faculty claimed that, “The suggestion that the classroom is not a political space or that the College is a neutral institution that is in some way hermetically sealed from our broader geopolitical context contradicts the College’s commitment to rigorous scholarship that engages with the most pressing contemporary issues. This fantasy also obscures the College’s ongoing complicity with U.S. militarism.”
The notion that faculty are among the real victims in campus politics is also widespread. Middle East studies faculty continue to complain that they are being “silenced” and that “academic repression” surrounding “Israel-Palestine” is “widespread.”
Revelations also continue to emerge regarding the antisemitic content forced into K-12 education through ethnic studies curricula, which cast Israelis and Jews as oppressors.
Despite a stream of revelations regarding teachers effectively preaching jihad in the classroom, few have been removed, particularly in systems such as New York City, where union regulations make it nearly impossible. Reports also note the widespread presence of Democratic Socialists of America’ members in schools and on school boards providing protection for anti-Israel and anti-capitalist propaganda. Statements such as that from the Massachusetts Teachers Union accusing the US of complicity in “genocide” confirms the far left and anti-Israel orientation of these groups.
Fortunately in California, the epicenter of ethnic studies, a University of California committee narrowly decided to drop ethnic studies as an admission requirement for the state university system. This would have forced high schools across the state to present such courses, which are have been developed by anti-Israel faculty.
The impacts of anti-Israel sentiment in academia after October 7 has also been felt in informal boycotts of Israeli faculty and institutions. Publications, invitations, collaborations, and requests for sharing of materials and data have reportedly been slowed. These boycotts have the potential for harming Israel’s economic and academic standings, and may have an impact on global science, given Israel’s outsized contributions.
Campus protests continued during December. Sit-ins were undertaken at Swarthmore College, the University of Massachusetts, Vassar College, Stanford University, Harvard University, Occidental College, and New York University, among others.
Many protests were aimed at disrupting university operations. University trustees, presidents, and Jewish events were particular targets:
BDS supporters also undertook a variety of illegal activities. A student referendum on BDS at the University of Michigan was canceled by the administration after pro-Palestinian students illegally accessed a campus wide email system to send messages. At George Washington University, students illegally recorded the university president and edited the audio to make it appear she had expressed “anti-Palestinian” views.
Consistent with the explicit calls to “Globalize the intifada,” public protests and riots ostensibly in support of the “Palestinian cause” were widespread in December. Transportation was specifically targeted. Traffic was stopped on bridges in the New York City area, the 110 freeway in Los Angeles, and the Bay Bridge in Oakland, access roads to JFK Airport, O’Hare Airport, and countless other locations. Grand Central Station, Penn Station, and other rail links were also targeted. Numerous sites including the Lincoln Memorial were vandalized with Free Gaza graffiti.
Christmas and festive celebrations and shopping were disrupted in parks, malls, stores and public venues ,such as midtown Manhattan and London, by protestors declaring “Christmas is canceled.” Assaults and arrests were reported. Protests were also held on Christmas morning outside the homes of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and national Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Efforts to shut down New Year’s celebrations were made in major cities.
The situation in Gaza was the ostensible motive but the actions were undertaken by pro-Palestinian groups as well as a wide array of communist and social groups including The People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The support for “Palestine” given by climate change personality Greta Thunberg demonstrated the unity of these and other far left causes.
Another direct reflection of “Globalize the Intifada” protests were hundreds of bomb threats and swatting threats called in to Jewish institutions, apparently from outside the US. Violent protests were held outside of Jewish owned business in cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Property crimes directed against Jewish owned businesses and other sites in New York City also rose 85% in December. S
Shabbat services at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles were relocated for the first time in history after a pro-Hamas demonstration was scheduled in a park across the street.
The House of Representatives also passed a resolution condemning the October 7 attack and stating that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism. The measure passed 311-14 but 92 Democrats voted “present.” The pro-BDS “Squad” comprised the no votes along with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
The increasingly wide distribution of Muslim communities in the US and their growing political action around the single issue of opposing Israel is a growing factor in future electoral calculations, particularly in states such as Michigan, Virginia, and New Jersey.
At the same time pro-Hamas activists have continued to target Democrats. In one incident a Michigan Democratic Party holiday event was disrupted when members of the Palestinian Youth Movement and Party for Socialism and Liberation entered the venue to harass Congresswoman Shri Thanedar (D-MI). The resulting fight sent several individuals to the hospital. Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) was harassed by pro-Hamas protestors at the 92nd Street Y who shouted “Ritchie Torres, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” Pro-Hamas protestors also vandalized the offices of several Democratic Congressmen. as well as the home of Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA). The willingness to attack politicians is a grave escalation in the war against Israel in the US.
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a version of this article was first published.
The post December Was Filled with Outrage on Campus and Elsewhere; Here’s What Happened first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday

US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.
He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.
The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.
Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.
Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.
“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.
Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.
Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.
“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”
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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.
Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.
Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.
Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.
A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.
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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg

FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
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