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Judge Dismisses University of Pennsylvania Anti-Zionist Faculty Group Lawsuit
Anti-Israel encampment at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, USA in May 2024. Photo: Robyn Stevens via Reuters Connect/
A US federal judge has dismissed an amended lawsuit which attempted to halt the University of Pennsylvania’s cooperation with a congressional investigation of campus antisemitism by arguing that it was suppressing the anti-Zionist movement and fostering racial bias.
“Plaintiffs once again fail adequately to allege any injury arising above speculative harm,” wrote US District Court Judge Mitchell Goldberg, dismissing the complaint, filed by members of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) group, for the second time. “This is not enough to make out standing. Because. I cannot describe plaintiffs’ potential injuries without using the word ‘if,’ I must dismiss for want of standing.”
Goldberg, who was appointed to the bench in 2008 by former US President George W. Bush, continued, “The dismissal is with prejudice.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, FJP’s lawsuit dismissed concerns about rising antisemitism at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), describing efforts to eradicate it as a conspiracy by “billionaire donors, pro-Israel groups, other litigants, and segments of the media” to squelch criticism of Israel and harm Arab students and academics. It also castigated the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, calling it a tool of a “militant minority which believes that Israel can do no wrong.” The IHRA definition and its use by the US House Education and Workforce Committee in its investigation into antisemitism at Penn, the lawsuit continued, is “unconstitutional” and part of a larger plan of a “social engineering movement to repeal the First Amendment.”
The suit’s primary complainant, Penn professor Huda Fakhreddine, played an outsized role in inviting to Penn anti-Zionists who have spread blood libels as well as conspiracies of Jewish control to a 2023 “Palestine Writes Festival” and praised Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre across southern Israel as a “new way of life.” She argued in the suit that Penn’s cooperating with Congress would inexorably lead to violations of professors’ privacy and other harms, such as doxxing and harassment. Additionally, Fakhreddine charged that a “new form of McCarthyism” animated the inquiry and that she is a victim of “a conspiracy motivated by race discrimination,” claims which Goldberg rejected for being sensationalist.
Penn is still repairing its image after a slew of antisemitic outrages during the 2023-2024 academic year prompted a donor exodus as well as the resignation of a president whose tenure was the shortest in school history.
In Fall 2023, it held the “Palestine Writes Literature Festival,” which featured prominent anti-Zionists who have weaponized classic antisemitic tropes to undermine support for Israel. Speakers listed on the event’s initial itinerary included University of Gaza professor Refaat Alareer, who said in 2018, “Are most Jews evil? Of course they are,” and Salman Abu Sitta, who once said in an interview that “Jews were hated in Europe because they played a role in the destruction of the economy in some of the countries, so they would hate them.”
Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd frontman, was also a scheduled speaker, despite that his antisemitism was previously exposed in a documentary which detailed Waters’ long record of anti-Jewish barbs. In one instance, a former colleague recalled Waters at a restaurant yelling at the wait staff to “take away the Jew food.”
By the time former Penn president Elizabeth Magill, who resigned in December 2023, appeared before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Dec. 5 to testify about her handling of the literature event — which included refusing to cancel it — anti-Zionist protests at the university set off by the Israel-Hamas war had descended into demagoguery and intimidation of Jewish students, as activists flooded the campus to celebrate the Oct. 7 massacre.
At one point, during a gathering of the protesters in front of the Van Pelt Dietrich Library, a high school senior — referred to as “MJ,” who attended the Specialized Science Academy in Philadelphia — was invited to speak. He accused Israel of genocide and harassed others in the area, according to students who witnessed his remarks.
“The Israeli Jew has bastardized Judaism! Bastardized it! Trampled on it! How could you let this genocidal regime crap all over your God and your religion like this?” the speaker bellowed, as seen in footage posted by the anti-Zionist student group Penn Against the Occupation (POA) and reviewed by The Algemeiner. “How can you, as a people who have seen the same amount of oppression in the past, stand by the same genocidal tactics, and lies, and methods that they use on our people? How could you stand for that? Look at you — you’re not even looking at this direction. You’re scared. You’re scared of being wrong.”
Donors and alumni quickly lost their tolerance for such outrages. In October 2023, venture capitalist David Magerman stopped giving money to the university and donated to Israeli universities instead. So too did Stephen Levin — who graduated from the institution in 1967, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian — while billionaire Marc Rowan threatened disgorgement of a $100 million dollar gift he gave to the university.
McGill, who then served as Penn’s president, ultimately resigned due to the mounting controversies, and since then the university’s handling of antisemitism has been mixed.
In May 2024, a task force it created to study antisemitism on the campus issued a report denouncing the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel — which aims to isolate the Jewish state as the first step toward destroying it — as “discriminatory” and “anti-intellectual,” but it opposed adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Describing the widely accepted IHRA definition as “controversial,” the report’s authors explained that other definitions of antisemitism, such as the “Jerusalem Definition” and the “Nexus Document,” are in tension with IHRA’s, preventing them from reaching a consensus about which is best.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Israeli Arms Firm Threatens to Sue France Over Blocked Off Booths at Paris Air Show
View of the closed IAI stand at the 55th Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport on June 16, 2025. Photo: Facebook/Israel Ministry of Defense
The Israeli weapons company Rafael said it will sue the French government for closing off its stand at the 55th Paris Air Show this week because of “offensive” items on display amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Since the start of the world’s biggest aviation trade show on Monday in Le Bourget Airport, four of the nine Israeli companies presenting at the event — Rafael, Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and UVision — have been completely blocked off behind black walls, which were erected by event organizers on behalf of the French government. French authorities claimed Israel was displaying “offensive” weapons systems in violation of an agreement with the Israeli government.
“Offensive weapons equipment marketed by the firms could not be exhibited, given the situation in Gaza,” said French authorities.
“France considers that this is a terrible situation for the Gazans, a situation from a human and humanitarian point of view, from a security point of view, extremely heavy,” French Prime Minister François Bayrou said during a visit to the air show. “France wanted to demonstrate that offensive weapons should not be present in this show.”
When the four Israeli firms refused to remove the equipment from display, exhibition organizers blocked off the booths in the middle of the night on Sunday, leading into the show’s opening on Monday morning. More barricades were added to close off the entrance to the booths, as shown in videos shared on Facebook by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (IMOD).
“I assure you that we will sue the French government for what they have done to us,” Rafael’s Executive Vice President Shlomo Toaff told Euronews. “We are going to sue them for causing financial damage, for not giving us access to the property that we had rented. We think this is an unjust decision. We’re not getting equal rights like the other exhibitors.”
Israeli defense companies petitioned to a French court earlier this week to reverse the ban on its display of weapons and the blocking of Israeli pavilions at the Paris Air Show, but the court ruled that it does not have the authority to intervene in the decision made by the French government, the IMOD said on Tuesday.
IMOD Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram condemned the “absolutely, bluntly antisemitic” decision by the French government to block Israeli pavilions at the show. He accused France of “commercial exclusion to prevent successful Israeli industries from competing with French ones.”
“It’s regrettable and immoral to see discrimination based on extraneous considerations that mask French economic interests aimed at undermining the competition from the Israeli industry,” Baram said. “The scandalous French decision will achieve the opposite result. Despite the French attempt to harm us, visitors, including heads of state and military leaders from around the world, flocked to the Israeli industry pavilions, proving that Israeli defense systems are more sought-after and attractive than ever. The entire world sees the exceptional achievements of Israeli systems in Iran and other arenas. Battlefield performance speaks for our products far better than any exhibition on French soil.”
Toaff told Euronews that his company rented a booth at the Paris Air Show a year prior, submitted blueprints to event organizers months ago, and the equipment cleared French customs. “We invested a lot of money in getting this booth and a lot of effort in preparing for it. I can’t tell you the exact cost, but we’re talking millions of euros,” said Toaff.
“I was totally disappointed,” Sasson Meshar, senior vice president for Airborne Electro-Optics Systems at Elbit, told Euronews. “We invested a lot of money in the exhibition.”
“We don’t understand the logic of the decision, because from our perspective, it’s discrimination, because everybody around is showing the same systems,” he added. “It’s a defense, military system, and that’s what we are showing. We are not all here for some kind of flower exhibition.”
In a statement on Monday, Israel’s Ministry of Defense accused the French government of “hiding behind supposedly political considerations to exclude Israeli offensive weapons from an international exhibition — weapons that compete with French industries.”
“This is particularly striking given Israeli technologies’ impressive and precise performance in Iran,” the ministry stated, alluding to the Israel-Iran war that started mere days before the Air Show.
US Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders condemned the move by the French government as “pretty absurd,” according to Reuters.
Earlier this month, a court in Paris rejected a request by several companies to ban Israel from this year’s Paris Air Show.
The 55th Paris Air Show runs from Monday through Thursday for trade visitors only, but will open to the general public from Friday through Sunday. The event is organized by SIAE, a subsidiary of the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS). This year’s show included 2,500 exhibitors from 48 countries.
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US Military Ready to Carry Out Any Trump Decisions on Iran, Hegseth Says
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump’s budget request for the Department of Defense, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
The US military is ready to carry out any decision that President Donald Trump may make on Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, suggesting that the US direction could become clearer in the coming days.
Testifying before a Senate committee, Hegseth was very cautious in his public testimony, declining to say whether the Pentagon had prepared strike options against Iran.
But when pressed by lawmakers, he acknowledged being ready to carry out any orders on Iran and cautioned that Tehran should have heeded Trump’s calls for it to make a deal on its nuclear program prior to the start of Israel‘s strikes on Friday.
“They should have made a deal, President Trump’s word means something. The world understands that. And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options and that’s precisely what we’re doing,” Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hegseth was then asked whether the Trump administration was moving to re-establish deterrence, a term used to describe actions meant to constrain an adversary from taking hostile action.
He responded: “I think we already have in many ways in this environment re-established deterrence. The question is, in the coming days, exactly what direction that goes.”
Trump on Wednesday declined to answer reporters’ questions on whether the US was planning to strike Iran or its nuclear facilities, and said the Iranians had reached out but he feels “it’s very late to be talking.”
“There’s a big difference between now and a week ago,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “Nobody knows what I’m going to do.”
Trump said that Iran had proposed to come for talks at the White House. He did not provide details. He described Iran as totally defenseless, with no air defense whatsoever, as Israel‘s strikes entered a sixth day.
A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Still, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected Trump’s demand for unconditional surrender.
Iranians jammed the highways out of the capital Tehran, fleeing from intensified Israeli airstrikes.
In the latest bombing, Israel said its air force destroyed the headquarters of Iran’s internal security service.
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Israel Launches Airlift to Bring Home Stranded Citizens After Iran Strikes
Passengers, who had left Israel on June 17, 2025, aboard the Crown Iris cruise ship due to the closure of Israel’s airspace amid the Israel-Iran war, board a bus after their arrival at the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, June 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
Israel on Wednesday launched a phased airlift operation to bring home its citizens, after the country’s military strike on Iran closed air space across the Middle East, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stuck overseas.
The first rescue flight, operated by national carrier El Al, touched down at Tel Aviv Airport early Wednesday morning, returning passengers from Larnaca, Cyprus.
Worldwide, Israel‘s transport ministry estimates that more than 50,000 Israelis, stranded after airlines halted flights to the country, are trying to come home.
Foreign citizens have also been fleeing Iran overland. China started evacuating its citizens from Tehran to Turkmenistan by overland bus on Tuesday. Hundreds of other foreign nationals fled to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan.
El Al has said repatriation flights are already scheduled from Athens, Rome, Milan, Paris, Budapest, and London. Smaller carriers Arkia and Israir are also taking part.
“We are very emotional about receiving the first rescue flight as part of ‘Safe Return,’” Transportation Minister Miri Regev told the captain of the arriving El Al flight.
While many Israelis want to come back, around 38,000 tourists are stranded in Israel, with much of the country in lockdown, and all the museums and holy sites closed.
The US embassy in Jerusalem said on Wednesday it was organizing evacuation flights and ship departures for US citizens who wanted to leave, while the Tourism Ministry said it would start coordinating flights out for foreigners.
Around 1,500 Americans on a Jewish heritage program were evacuated overnight to Cyprus via a cruise ship, which will now sail back with Israeli citizens aboard.
“We didn’t sleep for nights on end. We are all very exhausted and it’s a sigh of relief,” said Dorian, 20, from New York, after he had disembarked.
“In Israel, I was very afraid. I was never used to anything like that. Sirens, missiles, or anything like that. New York is pretty much very safe, and this was new to me.”
Iran has fired more than 400 ballistic missiles at Israel since Friday, triggering air raid sirens and a rush to bunkers. At least 24 people, all civilians, have died so far in the strikes, according to Israeli authorities.
Iranian officials have reported at least 224 deaths, mostly civilians, though that toll has not been updated for days.
CYPRUS HUB
Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport has been closed to passenger traffic since Israel launched its pre-dawn attack on Friday and commercial aircraft are sitting out the war in foreign airfields.
The Airports Authority reinforced staffing on Wednesday to ensure arriving passengers left the airport quickly. Relatives were advised to avoid travelling to pick up family members for security reasons.
The airlift is being carried out in stages, based on risk levels and security assessments, a spokesperson for the Airports Authority said.
Large numbers of Israelis seeking to get home have converged on Cyprus, the European Union member state closest to Israel. Flights from the coastal city of Larnaca to Tel Aviv take 50 minutes.
Nine flights were expected to depart Cyprus on Wednesday for Haifa, and four for Tel Aviv, carrying about 1,000 people, sources at Cypriot airport operator Hermes said.
The carrier Arkia asked customers abroad to remain patient. “Tens of thousands of Israelis are still waiting to return home, and we are doing everything we can to bring them back quickly and safely,” it said in a statement.
Cruise operator Mano Maritime, whose “Crown Iris” ship carries 2,000 passengers, has said it will make two crossings from Cyprus to Israel‘s Mediterranean port city of Haifa.
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