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University of New Mexico Funds Plane Ticket Home for Israeli Student Worried About His Safety Amid Campus Protests
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The University of New Mexico (UNM) offered to buy a plane ticket to send one of its Israeli students — and star athletes — back to Israel this week after he expressed concern for his safety amid anti-Israel protests at the university.
Israeli sprinter Gal Arad, 24, was in the middle of his third year at the university, studying computer science, but stopped his studies and immediately went back to Israel.
“Mr. Arad asked to be sent home as soon as possible, as he did not feel safe being here,” Eddie Nuñez, the vice president and director of athletics at UNM, told The Algemeiner on Wednesday.
“As you are probably well aware, the University of New Mexico is no different than what most colleges are facing in regards to protest,” he added. “I cannot speak to what Mr. Arad was feeling but we supported him on his decision to go back home. At no point did we choose to send him home. We supported his decision and also funded the opportunity for him to be able to travel back home.”
Nuñez did not clarify if Arad will eventually return to UNM, but the Ramat Gan native told the Israeli publication Ynet that he will find another school where he can finish his studies. Arad previously studied at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, from 2020-2022.
Nuñez also explained that on April 2, Arad entered his name in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Transfer Portal, which is for student athletes who want to transfer between NCAA member institutions. Before officially entering the portal, UNM coach Darren Gauson offered Arad the opportunity to remain on the school’s team for next season with his full scholarship. By entering the transfer portal, his scholarship would not be guaranteed for the next year, which Nuñez told The Algemeiner is standard procedure.
The athlete was just in Israel on May 15 competing in a race in Jerusalem, where he won first place in both the men’s 100-meter sprint and 200-meter sprint. His finish time in the 200-meter dash — 20.70 seconds — is the second-best time in Israeli history for that race.
The same day as his race, New Mexico police removed a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” and arrested and charged students at the university. The students had camped out for weeks at the school in protest of Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip and also US support for the Jewish state. They were arrested after refusing to vacate the premises.
Nearly two weeks earlier, student protesters took over the university’s Student Union building, chanted “viva Palestine,” and demanded that UNM divest from companies associated with Israel. They also had confrontations with police, who arrested 16 people. UNM President Garnett Stokes said in a statement on May 14 that the school stands for peace “in all global conflicts” and will review and research its investment portfolios, with results being shared in August.
Because of his return to Israel this week, Arad was able to compete in the Jerusalem Grand Slam on Monday, the first international competition in Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, which launched the ongoing war. He finished fifth in the 200-meter race.
Arad did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment.
The post University of New Mexico Funds Plane Ticket Home for Israeli Student Worried About His Safety Amid Campus Protests first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
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Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
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Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”