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Northwestern University Students, Faculty Slam School for Forming Committee to Combat Antisemitism
Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators from the Midwest gather in support of Palestinians and hold a rally and march through the Loop in Chicago on Oct. 21, 2023. Photo: Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Dozens of student groups at Northwestern University just outside Chicago on Thursday dismissed concerns of rising antisemitism amid the Israel-Hamas war as “mass hysteria and collective psychosis,” seemingly calling for the destruction of the Jewish state and joining faculty in castigating the school for forming a new panel to combat Jew-hatred on campus.
On Monday, Northwestern President Michael Schill announced the creation of a new committee “on preventing antisemitism and hate.”
Comprising faculty, staff, students, alumni, and trustees, the committee was formed in response to an explosion of pro-Hamas sentiment and acts of antisemitism on campus following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
The school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter has falsely accused Israel of apartheid, genocide, and “settler-colonialism” at its events and in its social media posts. The group also marched around campus earlier this month chanting, “Hey, Schill, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?” In one incident — in which SJP has denied any involvement — an unknown group vandalized print copies of The Daily Northwestern, the campus newspaper, covering them in leaflets headlined, “Northwestern complicit in genocide of Palestinians.”
In Monday’s announcement, Schill disavowed such activity while noting specifically that chants of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” are perceived by “significant parts of our community” as “promoting murder and genocide.” The popular slogan among pro-Palestinian activists has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Nonetheless, in response to Schill’s announcement, 65 student organizations on Thursday signed an op-ed in The Daily Northwestern that was headlined, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“Indeed we know there is a genocide happening, and it is happening to Palestinians by the Israeli apartheid government,” the article read. “Palestine has always served as a litmus test of our collective imagination of what freedom could look like. When we say from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, we imagine a world free of Islamophobia, antisemitism, anti-Blackness, militarism, occupation, and apartheid. From the river to the seas, Palestine will be free. Until liberation.”
The op-ed dismissed efforts to combat the recent surge in antisemitic incidents on college campuses as “mass hysteria and collective psychosis,” arguing Schill is being “irresponsible” and “dangerous” by “denying genocide” and “mischaracterizing the mission of activists.”
The students also argued that “the destiny of all marginalized people — both in occupied Palestine and around the world — is intertwined. We believe in the liberation of all peoples from Chicago to Sudan to the Congo to Western Sahara to Palestine.”
Some members of the Northwestern community lambasted the op-ed.
“Ah, yes! Let’s lump this highly complicated and charged conflict in with all of the bad things in this world and blame it on the Jews!” Northwestern University student Josh Miller tweeted in response to the column. “I cannot believe that this op-ed ran in The Daily Northwestern.”
The student groups did not mention or denounce the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, when they invaded the Jewish state and murdered over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped more than 240 others as hostages. The brutality of Hamas’ onslaught — which included rape, torture, and the beheading of babies — has shocked the world.
Also on Thursday, over 150 Northwestern faculty and staff signed a letter accusing Schill of undermining academic freedom and free expression, as well as jeopardizing the safety of “staff and faculty of color.” The letter went on to argue that Israel is committing “genocidal violence in Gaza,” despite the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) taking precautions to prevent civilian casualties.
Antisemitic outrages are not new to Northwestern University.
Last November, SJP tacked together copies of an op-ed by a Jewish student, Lily Cohen, graffitied it with the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and zip-tied it to fences enclosing the Deering Library. SJP took responsibility for the offensive displays that evening in an X/Twitter post charging that “US and Israeli law enforcement agencies collaborate to develop violent tactics to subjugate Black and Palestinian communities — in the name of American and Israeli racism, materialism, and militarism.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Northwestern University Students, Faculty Slam School for Forming Committee to Combat Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Nominates State Dept Spokeswoman Bruce as US Deputy Representative to UN
FILE PHOTO: U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce speaks during her first press briefing at the State Department in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was nominating State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce as the next US deputy representative to the United Nations.
Bruce has been the State Department spokesperson since Trump took office in January.
In a post on social media in which Trump announced her nomination, the president said she did a “fantastic job” as State Department spokesperson. Bruce will need to be confirmed for the role by the US Senate, where Trump’s Republican Party holds a majority.
During press briefings, she has defended the Trump administration’s foreign policy decisions ranging from an immigration crackdown and visa revocations to US responses to Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s war in Gaza, including a widely condemned armed private aid operation in the Palestinian territory.
Bruce was previously a political contributor and commentator on Fox News for over 20 years.
She has also authored books like “Fear Itself: Exposing the Left’s Mind-Killing Agenda” that criticized liberals and left-leaning viewpoints.
In a post after Trump’s announcement, Bruce thanked him and suggested that the role was a “few weeks” away. Neither Trump nor Bruce mentioned an exact timeline in their online posts.
“Now I’m blessed that in the next few weeks my commitment to advancing America First leadership and values continues on the global stage in this new post,” Bruce wrote on X.
Trump has picked former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz to be his U.N. envoy. Waltz’s Senate confirmation for that role, wherein he will be Bruce’s boss, is still due.
Waltz was Trump’s national security adviser until he was ousted on May 1 after he was caught up in a March scandal involving a Signal chat among top Trump national security aides on military strikes in Yemen. Trump then nominated Waltz as his U.N. ambassador.
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Iran Says IAEA Official to Visit for Talks, No Access to Nuclear Sites Planned
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
A senior official from the U.N. nuclear watchdog will fly to Iran for talks on Monday, but no visit to nuclear sites is planned, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday.
Since Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have been unable to access Iran’s facilities, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain his top priority.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31, which led the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors to declare Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, said it remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Negotiations with the IAEA will be held tomorrow to determine a framework for cooperation,” Araghchi said on his Telegram account.
“A Deputy Director General of Grossi will come to Tehran tomorrow, while there are no plans to visit any nuclear sites until we reach a framework.”
Last month, Iran enacted a law passed by parliament suspending cooperation with the IAEA. The law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the IAEA needs approval by Tehran’s Supreme National Security Council.
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Over 400,000 Reservists Called to IDF as New Operation Expected to Start
Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. Photo: Twitter
i24 News – The government is set to approve extending the mobilization, potentially issuing up to 430,000 reserve call-ups by November 30, 2025. This move prepares for a major military operation anticipated to occupy Gaza City, expected to last at least six months according to military forecasts.
Israel’s government legal advisor, Gali Baharav-Miara, affirmed on Sunday that despite significant legal challenges, particularly regarding the unequal burden placed on different populations, there is no alternative but to continue mobilizing reservists.
This decision supports the ongoing expanded military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
In parallel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are preparing a large-scale evacuation of Gaza City’s over 800,000 residents. This process will move civilians to the Mawasi humanitarian zone over the next six weeks, ahead of ground operations expected to begin thereafter.
To support the humanitarian effort, Israel plans to increase aid deliveries significantly. Daily aid truck convoys will increase from 300 to 1,200, with intensified aerial drops and the construction of additional distribution centers.
The mobilization will start next month with the deployment of the 146th and 98th Divisions. Overall, six IDF divisions, including the 162nd, 36th, 98th, Gaza Division, 99th, and 146th, will participate in the operation. The IDF anticipates encircling Gaza City by October 2025.
If hostage negotiations do not yield results, Israeli security officials estimate the occupation could continue for at least half a year, marking a significant escalation in a conflict that has now stretched over 22 months.