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NYU Proscribes Using ‘Zionist’ as Racial Slur
A New York University (NYU) building near Washington Square Park. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
New York University has issued a new policy which acknowledges the “coded” subtleties of antisemitic speech and its use in discriminatory conduct that targets Jewish students and faculty.
On Friday, the university updated its Non-Discrimination and Harassment Policy (NDAH), including in it language which identified “Zionist” as a racial dog whistle that sometimes conceals the antisemitic intent of speech and other conduct that denigrates and excludes Jews.
The updated NDAH listed numerous examples of the use of “Zionist” in perpetrating discriminatory behavior, including, “excluding Zionists from an open event, calling for the death of Zionists, applying a ‘no Zionist’ litmus test for participating in any NYU activity, using or disseminating tropes, stereotypes, and conspiracies about Zionists” as well as “demanding a person who is perceived to be Jewish or Israeli to state a position on Israel or Zionism, minimizing or denying the Holocaust, or invoking Holocaust imagery or symbols to harass or discriminate.”
NYU went further, recognizing that Zionism is central to the identities of the world’s 15.7 million Jews, an overwhelming majority of whom believe the Jewish people were destined to return to their ancient homeland in the land of Israel after centuries of exile. “For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity. Speech and conduct that would violate the NDAH if targeting Jewish or Israeli people can also violate the NDAH if directed toward Zionists,” the university said.
The NDAH covered examples of behavior that have occurred across the US, both on and off college campuses, especially since the launch of the Israel-Hamas war in October.
In 2022, student groups at the University of California, Berkeley passed a bylaw, initiated by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which banned Zionists from speaking at certain events. In 2023, the founder of a radical pro-Hamas group stormed onto a New York City subway car and demanded that all “Zionists” deboard it. Just a month earlier at the University of Los Angeles, California, a pro-Hamas activist called someone a “Zionist pedophile rabbi,” abusing the man for no other reason that he appeared to be Jewish.
The update to the university’s rules came seven weeks after it paid an undisclosed sum of money to settle a lawsuit brought by three students who sued the school for responding, allegedly, to antisemitic discrimination “with deliberate indifference.”
In resolving the case, NYU avoided a lengthy civil trial which would have revealed precisely who and which office received but failed to address numerous reports that — according to the court documents filed in November — NYU students and faculty “repeatedly abuse, malign, vilify, and threaten Jewish students with impunity” and that “death to k—es” and “gas the Jews” were chanted by pro-Hamas supporters at the school. Because the details of the settlement are confidential, it is unclear whether the new rules are a direct consequence of it.
The suit was one of many filed against colleges and universities after an explosion of antisemitic conduct that followed Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. It charged that “pleas for help and protection” were ignored and that NYU administrators “gaslighted” Jewish students instead of punishing those responsible for the discriminatory acts to which they were subjected.
“The parties have agreed to a confidential settlement of the litigation, including monetary terms,” NYU spokesperson John Beckman said in announcing the resolution of the case. “None of the confidential terms detracts from NYU’s obligations to combat antisemitism under the agreement. As a result of the agreement, NYU is creating a new Title VI coordinator position — among the first major universities in the country to do so.”
Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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‘Globalize the Intifada’ Becomes Reality as Amsterdam Erupts in Fresh Wave of Antisemitic Riots
Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police while taking part in a non-authorized protest in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Anthony Deutsch
“Globalize the Intifada.”
It’s the chant that has become a staple at anti-Israel protests sweeping across the West after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks ,and throughout Israel’s subsequent war against the terrorist group in Gaza. The phrase is a call for Israel’s destruction, and a thinly veiled invitation to target Jews worldwide.
Unfortunately,“Globalize the Intifada” is fast becoming a reality. On Monday night in Amsterdam, violence erupted again. Rioters, reportedly “youth claiming solidarity with Palestinians,” attacked police with fireworks and projectiles, destroyed property, and set a tram ablaze.
This time, there were no Israeli sports fans in sight and no alleged provocation. Just a city under siege, with attackers chanting “Cancer Jews” into the night.
What’s more, the violence appears to be escalating, with Belgian police announcing on Monday the arrest of five people in Antwerp as calls spread on social media for a “Jew hunt” in the city, which was already grappling with a surge in antisemitic assaults.
The scenes in Amsterdam last week hinted at what was to come: Israeli soccer fans were ambushed in what we now know was a coordinated attack planned in advance and unleashed after the Maccabi Tel Aviv versus Ajax match.
And yet, many media outlets were predictably reluctant to call it what it was: antisemitic violence.
The following video has been circulating on social media showcasing riots breaking out in Amsterdam, again.
Rioters are damaging property and shouting “Kankerjoden,” which means “Cancer Jews.” pic.twitter.com/dWqqE9GVSz
— Jewish News Syndicate (@JNS_org) November 12, 2024
Meanwhile, media pundits like Mehdi Hasan and Owen Jones rushed to rationalize the attacks, implying Israelis “brought it on themselves” by singing offensive songs before the game — as if that justified being hunted down by a baying mob (and ignoring that he attack was planned.)
This, despite the Mayor of Amsterdam condemning the attacks as perpetrated by “antisemitic hit-and-run squads,” and Dutch police confirming evidence of premeditation.
In other words, Israeli fans were targeted not for their chants, but simply for being Israeli.
When antisemitic mobs in Amsterdam launched a coordinated assault on Jewish fans, some media pundits glossed over the premeditated nature of the attack.
This wasn’t a random clash—it was a planned assault, but that context was lost in the media’s dangerous spin. pic.twitter.com/KRiiuOLjU8
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 11, 2024
So, how are the media covering Monday’s fresh wave of violence? Mostly, they’re not.
The Associated Press and BBC are among the few major outlets to report on it in any capacity, and even they avoid linking it to the recent antisemitic surge — ignoring footage of rioters screaming “Cancer Jews.”
The conclusion? “No Jews, no news.”
If there’s no angle to subtly blame Jewish victims, the mainstream media doesn’t seem interested.
Footage from the scene caught at least one of the participants shouting, “Cancer Jews.”
But @AP leaves that bit out to avoid linking this arson attack on a tram to the same people who attacked Israelis and Jews in Amsterdam only a few days ago. pic.twitter.com/KjERhNNYM7
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) November 12, 2024
The attacks in Amsterdam last Thursday night, reminiscent of Nazi-era pogroms, are the direct result of the “Globalize the Intifada” movement that anti-Israel protesters have been championing for over a year. This slogan isn’t just a catchy chant; it’s a blatant call for violence against Jews, mirroring the atrocities of the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas.
Just days before Israelis were hunted down in the streets of Amsterdam, reports emerged from the Netherlands revealing that some Dutch police officers were refusing to guard Jewish sites, citing “moral dilemmas.” Such inaction and moral equivocation effectively serve as a green light for the violence we’ve witnessed, both last week and this week.
Welcome to the “globalized intifada” — it didn’t begin in Amsterdam, and it certainly won’t end there.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor: Terror Is Legal, But Only PLO Can Decide on ‘The Armed Option’
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is trying to have its cake and eat it too.
On the one hand, the PA is still angry that Hamas launched its terror war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, without consulting it first, and that Hamas has been able to take all the credit for successfully massacring over 1,100 Israelis. As a result, Hamas has overwhelming support among Palestinians in the West Bank.
Accordingly, despite the animosity, the PA needs Hamas on board with the PLO, due to the vast support among Palestinians for Hamas. Despite the destruction Hamas has brought on the Gaza Strip, the terror movement is still 2.5-3 times more popular than its rival Fatah, the ruling party in the PA/PLO.
To balance those competing interests, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, made the following statement, sending two messages that stand somewhat at odds with each other:
- The PA/PLO endorses terror as “legal” and does not oppose “the armed option”
- Hamas or other terror organizations are not allowed to single-handedly decide and launch terror attacks. Such decisions must be made “together” and only “in the framework of the PA/PLO” — in other words: Hamas must subordinate to the PA/PLO
Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “It is unacceptable to say that the resistance [i.e., terror] is legal or illegal — it is legal. No one can cancel this fact or evade this fact. But the resistance needs to be a comprehensive national project. Not a project of one movement that drags all the Palestinians after its decision
. No, if we want to choose the armed option, we must all go together in a national decision. The national decision needs to be made in the framework of the PLO, the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people. No faction that feels like carrying out armed resistance can take the Palestinian people together with it without taking into account the considerations, results, and consequences.” [emphasis added]
[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 1, 2024]
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA, and Al-Habbash specifically, have criticized Hamas for not consulting with the PLO before it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launching the 2023 Gaza war
. However, they have never criticized Hamas for the massacre itself, but rather applauded and celebrated it.
The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.
The post Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor: Terror Is Legal, But Only PLO Can Decide on ‘The Armed Option’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Paramount+ Announces New Docuseries About World’s First Israeli-Palestinian Boy Band As1one
A promotional photo for the new Paramount+ docuseries “”AS1One: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey.” Photo: Paramount+
Parmount+ announced on Wednesday that it will premiere a four-part docuseries in December focusing on the world’s first mixed Israeli-Palestinian pop music group, As1one.
“As1one: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey” will premiere Dec. 3. The coming-of-age docuseries, which will detail how six young men joined forced to form the global hit pop group, was produced by The As1One Production Company in association with Best Production Company for MTV Entertainment Studios. It was co-produced by the band’s founders, American music entrepreneurs Ken Levitan and James Diener, who developed bands such as Kings of Leon and Maroon 5.
The group is comprised of four Jewish Israelis and two Palestinians — Ohad Attia and Neat Rozenblat from Tel Aviv; Sadik Dogosh, a Palestinian Bedouin Muslim from Rahat; Aseel Farah, a Palestinian Christian from Haifa; Niv Lin from the southern Israeli town of Sapir; and Nadav Philips from Holon.
The docuseries will follow the band members over a five-year period and show how they founded the band, navigate the music industry, face challenges among themselves, and even cope with the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attacks that took place in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The band members share their ups and downs including the challenging audition process in 2020; their language barriers, intense rehearsals, emotional highs and lows as they found their footing; navigating the very unexpected world events that happened on October 7th, 2023 — the morning after they flew to LA to record their first album; and the monumental challenges they have faced each day since,” Paramount+ said in a press release. “With so much more at stake because of the war, the band finds greater purpose in their music now representing something much greater than the six of them.”
The docuseries “spotlights the work of platinum-selling artists and producers, stylists, choreographers, and industry leaders, all collaborating to create a group that embodies unity, with members agreeing to disagree on the war in their homeland as they focus on making music together,” Paramound+ added.
The docuseries will also feature original music from the group, including their debut single “All Eyes On Us” featuring Nile Rodgers, as well as their upcoming single “Stranger,” which the band will debut on Friday.
Watch the trailer for “AS1One: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey” below.
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