At Bates College, we pride ourselves on cultivating critical thinkers equipped to tackle the world’s challenges, and to help humanity.

Yet, the local chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) seems determined to undermine these principles by championing the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. BDS is not a campaign rooted in justice; it is an effort to destroy the Jewish State, through the use of economic harm, divisiveness, and intellectual dishonesty.

Last year, SJP urged Bates President Garry Jenkins to mark the beginning of his tenure by disclosing the college’s investment portfolio and divesting from what they call “systems of oppression and genocide.” While their rhetoric may resonate with the uncritical, it collapses under scrutiny — because Israel does not commit genocide, and does not operate under a system of oppression.

The BDS movement draws its inspiration from the international pressure that helped end apartheid in South Africa. But in completely distorting the meaning and history of apartheid, BDS is not only dangerous, but spreading historical falsehoods.

The term “apartheid,” as defined by the United Nations, refers to policies designed to establish and maintain racial domination. To equate this with Israel’s treatment of its citizens and its handling of territorial disputes is an egregious distortion. Since its founding in 1948, Israel has granted full citizenship, legal equality, and access to state institutions to all its Arab citizens. Israeli Arabs vote, serve in the Knesset, and hold prominent positions in society — a reality that utterly contradicts the claim of systemic racial domination.

Critics, including SJP, often point to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as evidence of Israel’s so-called apartheid policies. But these claims ignore the historical and legal context.

Under the Oslo Accords, Palestinians in these territories have self-governance. Their status is not the result of racial discrimination, but of the unresolved conflict and their own leadership’s persistent refusal to negotiate in good faith. And just as Americans and Canadians do not have the same rights — it is absurd to suggest that people inside and outside of Israel should all be covered by the same set of laws. To suggest that Israel owes full citizenship rights to individuals outside its recognized borders is as absurd as expecting Americans to vote in Canadian elections.

In practice, BDS’ initiatives have also inflicted serious economic hardship on Palestinians. Consider the 2014 closure of SodaStream’s West Bank factory, where 90% of the workforce was Palestinian. Workers lost jobs offering wages and benefits far superior to local alternatives — all because BDS advocates prioritized ideological purity over pragmatic solutions.

Before the current war, over 100,000 Palestinians enjoyed similar employment opportunities in Israel. If BDS advocates had their way, how many Palestinian families would be left to suffer under the weight of their society’s self-wrought economic failings?

Even prominent Palestinian voices reject BDS. Human rights activist Bassam Eid has labeled the movement counterproductive, arguing that it fosters “hatred, enmity, and polarization” rather than advancing Palestinian nationhood. He’s right. BDS isn’t about building a future; it’s about tearing one down, regardless of the collateral damage.

At its core, the BDS movement is antithetical to the ideals of a liberal arts education. Rather than promoting intellectual rigor and open dialogue, it traffics in ideological conformity and intellectual censorship. By embracing BDS, SJP pushes Bates toward a path of illiberalism, where complex geopolitical realities are flattened into simplistic slogans and dissent is stifled. This is not progress — it is regression.

As the new semester begins, Bates College has a choice to make. Will it remain a place where critical thinking and genuine dialogue flourish, or will it succumb to the pressures of a movement that substitutes propaganda for policy and division for dialogue? If SJP’s agenda prevails, Bates will fail its mission and betray the very principles it claims to uphold.

David King is a recent graduate of Bates College and a fellow with CAMERA on Campus, which works to promote fair and accurate coverage of Israel and the Middle East in academic settings.

The post The Perils of BDS at UK’s Bates College first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Yemen’s Houthis will limit their attacks on commercial vessels to Israel–linked ships provided the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented, the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOOC) said.

The Sanaa-bsed HOCC, which liaises between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators and is associated with the Houthi military, said it was stopping “sanctions” against vessels owned by US or British individuals or entities, as well as ships sailing under their flags.

“We affirm that, in the event of any aggression against the Republic of Yemen by the United States of America, the United Kingdom, or the usurping Israeli entity, the sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor,” it said in an email sent to shipping industry officials dated Jan. 19.

“You will be promptly informed of such measures should they be implemented.”

The HOCC said the Iran-backed Houthis, an internationally designated terrorist organization, would stop targeting Israeli-linked ships “upon the full implementation of all phases of the agreement.”

Many of the world’s biggest shipping companies have suspended voyages through the Red Sea and diverted their vessels around southern Africa to avoid being attacked.

The Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships since November 2023 and sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers.

They have targeted the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which are joined by the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait, a chokepoint between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Hamas released three Israeli hostages in Gaza and Israel freed 90 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, the first day of a ceasefire suspending a 15-month-old war.

CAUTION

Executives from shipping, insurance, and retail industries told Reuters last week that they were not ready to return to the Red Sea trade route because of uncertainty over whether the Houthis would continue to attack shipping.

A spokesperson for Germany container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd said on Monday the company was still monitoring the situation, adding: “We will return to the Red Sea when it is safe to do so.”

The Houthis have attacked ships in recent months based on outdated information, Jakob Larsen, chief safety & security officer with shipping association BIMCO, said.

“In recent months, they have made several false claims about successful attacks, thereby slightly undermining their credibility,” he said on Monday.

“Assuming the ceasefire holds and the US also refrains from using force, shipping companies are expected to gradually resume operations through the Red Sea.”

Insurers were also were waiting for test voyages to determine if war risk premiums would ease, market sources said on Monday, asking not to be named.

Higher war risk insurance premiums, paid when vessels sail through the Red Sea, have meant additional costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars for a seven-day voyage for any ships still sailing through the area.

The Houthis hold the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader and its 25 crew members, which was seized by the militia’s commandos in international waters in November 2023.

“The Filipinos, Mexicans, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Ukrainian who were on board are desperate to leave Yemen,” the vessel’s owner Galaxy Maritime Ltd and manager STAMCO Ship Management said on Monday.

“Some have been hospitalized with malaria and one can only guess at their mental state.”

The post Yemen’s Houthis to Target Only Israel-Linked Vessels Following Gaza Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night as details of a tentative ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas were announced.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani announced the agreement, which was followed by a speech by US President Joe Biden, who described the deal as one primed to bring a “permanent end to the war.”

While some of the exact terms remain unclear — including the names of those who will be released and the precise timing — what is certain is that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, many jailed for violent and deadly terrorism offenses, will be set free. This includes approximately 1,300 terrorists, around 250 of whom are serving life sentences.

Yet, the media’s coverage of the ceasefire deal has defied belief, managing to portray the release of over 1,000 Palestinian terrorists and prisoners not only as a positive step — but also as somehow morally equivalent to the freeing of Israeli hostages kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attacks.

The Associated Press, for example, claimed the deal would involve the release of “hundreds of Palestinian women and children imprisoned by Israel” — a gross misrepresentation of the facts by one of the world’s largest news agencies.

Enough with the false moral equivalence, @AP. The “hundreds of Palestinian women & children imprisoned by Israel” are in jail for terror and violent offenses while Israel’s hostages were brutally kidnapped by Hamas.

And there’s more abysmal reporting of a possible ceasefire pic.twitter.com/BjFu6i5PIY

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 15, 2025

Sky News went even further, claiming the exchange involved “the release of a number of hostages in exchange for [the] release of Palestinian prisoners as well, including women, children, sick, and elderly on both sides” — drawing a grotesque and false equivalence between innocent hostages and prisoners held for violent offenses.

“The release of a number of hostages in exchange for a release of a number of Palestinian prisoners as well, including women & children & sick & elderly on both sides.”

No, @SkyNews, Israeli hostages are not morally equivalent to Palestinian prisoners held for terror offenses. pic.twitter.com/gRWSpaZaEa

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) January 15, 2025

Meanwhile, the AFP devoted its coverage to the families of Palestinian prisoners feeling “hopeful” about the ceasefire deal.

In a shamelessly sympathetic piece, the AFP interviewed Wafaa Ghalmi, whose husband, Ahed Ghalmi, is serving a life sentence plus five years for leading the terror cell that assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001.

Ghalmi expressed her delight at the possibility of her husband’s release, calling it a “happy” time for her family and others in Gaza.

In addition, numerous outlets, including Reuters, NPR, and Sky News, opted to describe the Palestinian prisoners as “detainees,” suggesting they are being held for political reasons rather than for violent terrorist acts.

Even more worryingly, some media outlets suggested that Israel is violating the terms of the deal — before it even took effect.

Reuters, for example, implied that Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday night were a breach of the ceasefire, despite the fact that the truce has not yet commenced. Former MSNBC pundit Mehdi Hasan also weighed in, claiming the agreement would only hold if “Israel sticks to it,” conveniently ignoring Hamas’ long history of breaking ceasefire agreements.

In the coming days, as the ceasefire continues to take effect in stages, it is crucial to remind the media of some key facts:1. Israel has never violated a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

2. Hamas initiated this war on October 7, 2023, when its terrorists crossed the border, massacred innocent civilians, and kidnapped hundreds of men, women, and children. These hostages have been held in inhumane conditions in Gaza’s underground tunnels.

3. There is no moral equivalence between the Israeli hostages — innocent civilians ripped from their homes and a music festival — and the hundreds of terrorists legitimately held in Israeli prisons for violent offenses.

4. Israel’s war in Gaza is against Hamas, a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s annihilation. Hamas has vowed to repeat October 7 “again and again,” while using Palestinian civilians as human shields and refusing to release the innocent people it abducted.

The media must do their job and report these facts.

The post Revolting: Media Claim Moral Equivalence Between Terrorists and Hostages in Appalling Ceasefire Coverage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.