RSS
Michigan State University Student Government Endorses Divestment From Israel
Michigan State University student Saba Saed speaks at a rally in Lansing, MI on Feb. 16, 2024, calling for Michigan voters to oppose the US’s handling of the conflict in Gaza. Photo: Andrew Roth via Reuters Connect.
The student government of Michigan State University (MSU) has passed a resolution calling on school officials to endorse the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel, becoming the latest such body to attack the Zionist component of Jewish identity and advocate policies which would undermine Israeli security.
“The Associated Students of Michigan State University shall release a statement … reaffirming support for divestment from weapons manufacturers, the state of Israel, and investments firms and banks investing in weapons manufacturers, including, but not limited to Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Black Rock, and BNY Mellon,” the resolution, also known as “61-53,” said. “[We] shall continue to advocate for divestment during Board of Trustees meetings via liaison statements, meetings with Board members, meetings with administration, and meetings in academic governance.”
Formally launched in 2005, the BDS campaign opposes Zionism — a movement supporting the Jewish people’s right to self-determination — and rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish nation-state. It seeks to isolate the country with economic, political, and cultural boycotts. Official guidelines issued for the campaign’s academic boycott state that “projects with all Israeli academic institutions should come to an end,” and delineate specific restrictions that its adherents should abide by — for instance, denying letters of recommendation to students applying to study abroad in Israel.
BDS has received renewed support amid Israel’s latest conflict with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which was responsible for the rape and murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians during its invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023. Following its endorsement by Associated Students, MSU’s Jewish Student Union denounced what it described as the attempted erasure of pro-Israel Jews on campus.
“Our communities are deeply disappointed that the Associated Students of Michigan State University continues to pass antisemitic and divisive resolutions — as well as biased and hurtful statements that call for divestment from Israel,” the group said in a statement which followed the vote. “The BDS movement is an inherently antisemitic movement that creates division and emboldens anti-Jewish sentiment on campus.”
It added, “We condemn the passage of Bill 61-53 and will continue to advocate against the BDS movement.”
Associated Students president Connor Le defended the resolution in a statement to MSU’s student newspaper, The State News, saying it responded to “the differing and diverse needs of the student body” and that “while the language of 61-53, may be viewed as offensive to some communities, others on campus found it important to bring this issue to the General Assembly, the Board of Trustees, and the overall MSU community.”
Michigan State University has formally rejected the BDS movement and any other which would exert “political influence” on the university’s investment portfolio and undermine its “focus on strong financial stewardship that allows us to advance our educational and outreach mission.”
When anti-Zionist students installed an encampment on campus property and vowed not to leave unless school officials adopted BDS, university president Kevin Guskiewicz confirmed divestment was not on the agenda.
“We have no direct investments in gun manufacturers, and we do not have direct or indirect investments in the three publicly traded civilian firearms manufacturers,” he said. “Further, the university does not own an Israeli-issued security bond. Given this context, and as the Board has previously indicated, the university will not be making any divestment changes.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Michigan State University Student Government Endorses Divestment From Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.