NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up March 21, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
GAZA
Netanyahu repeats threat to seize territory in Gaza as anti-Hamas protests continue (Guardian 3/26/25)
Benjamin Netanyahu has repeated Israeli threats to seize territory in Gaza if Hamas refuses to release the remaining Israeli hostages, as, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians joined protests against the militant group and demanding the end of the war…In a separate development on Wednesday, at least nine Palestinians were killed by two separate Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza, medics said…The resumption of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip had displaced 142,000 people in seven days, the UN said on Wednesday, warning of dwindling stocks of humanitarian aid…There has been no sign that Israel will open entry points to allow essential aid to flow or ease its new offensive. The Gaza health ministry said more than 50,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza and another 113,408 wounded since the beginning of the war.” See also Israeli airstrikes kill at least 65 people in Gaza in 24 hours, says health authority (The Guardian 3/24/25); Israeli evacuation orders and attacks on Gaza displace more Palestinians (WaPo 3/25/25);
‘We want to live’: Rage at Israel fuses with ire at Hamas as protests rock Gaza (Ruwaida Amer//+972 Magazine 3/27/25)
“For the past two days, Palestinians across the Gaza Strip have taken to the streets to demand an end to Israel’s genocidal onslaught and to Hamas’ rule of the territory. Beginning in the northern city of Beit Lahiya, demonstrations quickly spread to other parts of the enclave including Shuja’iyya in the north, Nuseirat and Deir Al-Balah in the center, and Khan Younis in the south. The protests are the largest since the war began, and the most significant public display of dissent against Hamas in Gaza in years…While holding Israel responsible for the slaughter of more than 50,000 people over the past year and a half, and for subjecting the Strip to a longstanding blockade that has further intensified during the war, the protesters are also directing their ire at Hamas: they are calling on the group to do everything in its power to stop the bombing before stepping aside to allow for free elections.” See also Amid rubble of Gaza, protesters decry Hamas (WaPo 3/26/25); Palestinians protest Hamas in a rare public show of dissent in Gaza (AP 3/26/25); Rare protests against Hamas erupt in Gaza: What to know (Al Monitor 3/26/25)
Weaponizing starvation, Israel seeks full control over Gaza aid distribution (Lee Mordechai and Liat Kozma//+972 Magazine 3/26/25)
“For almost a month, not a single drop of humanitarian aid has entered Gaza. Since March 2 — when the second phase of the ceasefire was due to commence, only for Israel to renege on its commitment to the deal — Israel has blocked the entry of all food into the Strip, along with fuel, medical equipment, and other essential supplies. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has warned that Gaza’s flour stores will likely run out completely before the end of this week. While the current policy is more extreme than anything we’ve seen since October 7, Israel has nonetheless imposed restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza throughout its onslaught. Already in December 2023, Human Rights Watch declared that Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war. Almost a year later, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in part on the grounds that they had “intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food.” The surge of humanitarian aid that Israel allowed to enter Gaza during the recent two-month ceasefire only served to underscore the cruel intentionality of the starvation policy. Israel argued for months — including in a year-long case at the High Court of Justice, in response to a petition by five Israeli human rights organizations — that any obstacles to the entry of aid were not its fault, attributing them instead to the inefficiencies of humanitarian agencies or looting by gangs. Yet the data paint a clear picture to the contrary.” See also Israel’s Systematic Destruction of Life Essentials in Gaza Has Forced Palestinians into a Hunt for Survival (Rasha Abou Jalal//Drop Site 3/27/25); Gaza medics issue malnutrition alert as total Israeli blockade enters fourth week (The Guardian 3/23/25); Food is running out in Gaza nearly a month into Israeli blockade (NPR 3/27/25)
Hossam Shabat’s Last Article (Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 3/24/25)
“Hossam Shabat is dead. I am beyond rage and despair as I write these words. The Israeli military bombed his car this morning as he was traveling in Beit Lahia. Videos fill my screen of his body lying on the street, carried to the hospital, grieved by his colleagues and loved ones. These are the kinds of tragic scenes Hossam himself would so often document for the world. He was an exemplary journalist: brave, tireless, and dedicated to telling the story of Palestinians in Gaza. Hossam was one of a handful of reporters who remained in northern Gaza through Israel’s genocidal war. His ability to cover one of the most brutal military campaigns in recent history was almost beyond comprehension. He bore witness to untold death and suffering on an almost daily basis for seventeen months. He was displaced over twenty times. He was often hungry. He buried many of his journalist colleagues. In November, he was wounded in an Israeli airstrike. I still can’t believe I am referring to him in the past tense. Israel obliterates the present.” See also Statement from Drop Site News on Israel’s Murder of Our Colleague Hossam Shabat: We Hold Both Israel and the U.S. Government Responsible (3/24/25); Israeli strikes kill two Gaza journalists, including Al Jazeera reporter (WaPo 3/25/25); Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza: What to know (Al Monitor 3/24/25); How operating drones became a death sentence for Gaza’s journalists (Youssr Youssef & Magdalena Hervada//+972 Magazine 3/27/25)
Gaza’s children: what can the future possibly hold for them? (Ahmed Moor//The Guardian 3/27/25)
“Meanwhile, the UN reports that at least 14,500 children have been killed – also probably a dramatic undercount. The real mortality figure is probably unknowable, not least because so many families have been killed at once, leaving no one to account for some babies or toddlers ever having existed. Beyond the mass death, international agencies suggest that at least 110,000 people in Gaza have been injured, including at least 25,000 children. And Unicef estimates that between 3,000 and 4,000 children in Gaza have had one or more limbs amputated. That small tract of earth is now home to more child amputees per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world. Much of what these kids are experiencing is hidden from the world – journalists still cannot enter Gaza, and many of those who called the place home have been killed. Yet, a handful of children have made it out for treatment, in the US and elsewhere…The many thousands of injured children are important. Yet together, their bodies tell a story, one that has been embossed for all time on the terrain of the 21st century. They act as the prism through which questions of international law and the protection of the vulnerable will be mediated. But if the loss these children have endured is a judgment, it is also prologue. Because their needs, their capacities and limitations, will define the contours of Palestinian society and memory forever.” See also “The Target is Unmistakable”: The Shooting of Gaza’s Children (Amel Guettafti//Drop Site 3/27/25)
Announcement That Death Toll Surpassed 50,000 Didn’t Faze Anyone, Not Even in Gaza (Jack Khoury//Haaretz 3/24/25)
“On Sunday, the Gaza Strip’s Hamas-run Health Ministry announced that the number of Gazans killed since the war began had surpassed 50,000. But for the international media, this was just another press statement, even though in the past, such numbers would have caused shock. And for Gazans, this milestone changed nothing….In the Israeli narrative, most of the dead are “terrorists” who deserve to die. And if some women and children and elderly people are killed in the process, that’s just collateral damage. This is dehumanization of the Palestinians at its finest. Even Gazans aren’t preoccupied by the number of dead these days. They’re busy with questions of day-to-day survival: Will Israeli attacks become as widespread as they were before the cease-fire? Will all of Gaza be reoccupied? And who will die today or tomorrow?” See also Israeli soldier tells CBS News he was ordered to use Palestinians as human shields in Gaza (CBS 3/26/25); 100 Gazans set to move to Indonesia as part of pilot work program — report (TOI 3/26/25); U.S. gave Hamas new Gaza ceasefire and hostage -release proposal (Axios 3/27/25)
REGION/GLOBAL
Israel hits Beirut after rockets fired from south Lebanon (Al Monitor 3/28/25)
“Israel made good on its threat Friday to strike Beirut after rockets were fired towards its territory, rattling an already fragile truce in Lebanon that had largely ended more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. It was the second time rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon since the November ceasefire, and the second time the Iran-backed Hezbollah denied involvement. After the attack, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said: “If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either.”’ See also Mass evacuations as Israel strikes Beirut suburb (WaPo 3/28/25); IDF strikes Beirut, southern Lebanon after 2 rockets fired at northern Israel (TOI 3/28/25); IDF strikes Lebanon after rocket fire in biggest exchange of ceasefire (WaPo 3/22/25)
I Am the Turkish President’s Main Challenger. I Was Arrested. (Istanbul Mayor Ekram Imamoglu, now imprisoned//NYT 3/28/25)
“For years, Mr. Erdogan’s regime has gnawed away at democratic checks and balances — silencing the media, replacing elected mayors with bureaucrats, sidelining the legislature, controlling the judiciary and manipulating elections. The large-scale arrests of protesters and journalists in recent months have sent a chilling message: No one is safe. Votes can be nullified and freedoms can be stripped away in an instant. Under Mr. Erdogan, the republic has been transformed into a republic of fear. This is more than the slow erosion of democracy. It is the deliberate dismantling of our republic’s institutional foundations. My detention marked a new phase in Turkey’s slide into authoritarianism and the use of arbitrary power. A country with a long democratic tradition now faces the serious risk of passing the point of no return.” See also Turkey’s opposition elects acting mayor as Imamoglu remains detained, protests persist (Al Monitor 3/26/25)
Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal (Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris//The Atlantic 3/26/25)
“The statements by Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, and Trump—combined with the assertions made by numerous administration officials that we are lying about the content of the Signal texts—have led us to believe that people should see the texts in order to reach their own conclusions. There is a clear public interest in disclosing the sort of information that Trump advisers included in nonsecure communications channels, especially because senior administration figures are attempting to downplay the significance of the messages that were shared.” See also The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans (Jeffrey Goldberg//The Atlantic 3/24/25); Judge orders Trump administration to preserve Signal chat about Yemen military operation (WaPo 3/27/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
‘I felt they wanted to kill me’: Hamdan Ballal recounts settler-soldier assault (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 3/26/25)
“Ballal, the Oscar-winning co-director of “No Other Land” (which he wrote about last year for +972), was attacked on his doorstep by settlers and Israeli soldiers while trying to protect his family. After an ambulance arrived to provide medical treatment, he was then arrested by soldiers and detained overnight on the grounds that he had thrown stones at the settlers (eyewitnesses told +972 that, contrary to the claims of Israel’s army and police, the settlers’ raid was entirely unprovoked)…When the soldiers realized — perhaps from reading the mounting media reports — that Ballal is an Oscar-winning director, things only got worse. “I heard the voices of the soldiers changing,” he recalled. “They always spoke in Hebrew but a few times they mentioned ‘Hamdan that got the Oscar.’ They kept making fun of me, hitting me and laughing and putting objects on my head.”…“This is the first time I’ve been subjected to such a severe attack,” he said, adding that he felt the aim was to kill him. “I really now think there is a serious threat to our lives after the success of the movie and the Oscar.”’ See also ‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank (The Guardian 3/26/25)
Oscar-winning Palestinian director attacked by Israeli settlers and arrested (Guardian 3/24/25)
“A Palestinian director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land has been arrested by the Israeli army after masked settlers attacked his house…Basel Adra, another of No Other Land’s four directors, who are all from Israel and Palestine, told the Guardian he thought the escalating settler violence might be a response to the international recognition won by the documentary. “Palestinians in the village have been under physical attack by settlers almost daily. The settlers’ violence is increasing here. Maybe it’s a revenge for the movie and the Oscar,” he said. Adra, who witnessed the attack in Susya described the violence as “horrific”. “There were dozens of settlers together with the Israeli soldiers and they were threatening us with weapons,” he said. “The police were there from the beginning and did not intervene. While the soldiers were pointing their weapons at us, the settlers started attacking the houses of the Palestinians.” See also Hamdan Ballal: Oscar-winning Palestinian director released from Israeli detention (The Guardian 3/25/25); ‘Like a punishment’: witnesses describe Israeli settler attack on No Other Land director (The Guardian 3/25/25); Oscars Doc Branch Members Slam “Heinous” Film Academy Statement on ‘No Other Land’ Co-Director Attack (Hollywood Reporter 3/27/25); It took an Oscar winner’s ordeal for the world to see the truth of settler violence. This is how to stop it (Ofer Cassif//The Guardian 3/27/25)
Palestinian Family Goes Out for Dinner, Returns to Find Israeli Settlers Took Over Their Home (Nir Hasson//Haaretz 3/24/25)
“Hebron returned home on Sunday to find that Jewish settlers had taken over their house. The Abd al-Basit family discovered the settlers – who claimed they had legally purchased the house – when they came back from an iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Upon arrival, the Israeli army prevented the family from entering their house as settlers emptied it of their belongings…Members of the Abd al-Basit family, who have owned the house for about 50 years, insisted they had not sold it and were in fact in the process of expanding it.”
‘When our grandchildren ask what we did during the genocide, I’ll say I refused’ (Oren Ziv 3/24/25)
“Ella Keidar Greenberg, a transgender refusenik, explains why prison is a small price to pay in the struggle against Israeli occupation and patriarchy.” See also I would prefer this over killing children:’ Why some Israeli teens are choosing jail over the army (CNN 3/27/25)
IDF Warns of Crisis: Many Reserve Soldiers Won’t Report Due to Recent Decisions by Israel’s Government (Haaretz 3/27/25)
“Several senior reservists warned of a 50 percent fall in the rate of reporting for duty. One senior reservist said that brigade and battalion commanders are dealing with scores of cases in which reservists have announced they will not report for duty, in most cases due to the violation of the hostage deal.” See also As war in Gaza continues, Israeli reservists weigh their return to battle (WaPo 3/26/25); Israeli Troops Blew Up a Palestinian Home’s Door. A Young Woman Paid With Her Life (Haaretz 3/22/25); Israeli Police Officer Shoots Teenage Girl Playing on Her Home’s Rooftop in East Jerusalem (Haaretz 3/28/25)
Why Israel’s having some of its biggest protests since the war in Gaza began (NPR 3/25/25)
“Israelis have taken to the streets across the country in recent days in some of the largest protests since the war in Gaza began in 2023. They’re demanding a deal between Israel and Hamas to release all remaining hostages, and also demonstrating against government attempts to weaken the judiciary. On Saturday, more than 100,000 people turned out at protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, according to organizers. For several days in a row, thousands marched toward and surrounded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem, waving Israeli flags or carrying signs calling for new elections and accusing the Israeli government of working against its people…Polls show a majority of Israelis are against the end of the ceasefire and want negotiations to continue. Many feel this return to war is a betrayal and that Netanyahu and his government are forsaking the remaining hostages, leaving them to die in Gaza. Israelis are also protesting what they say is a threat to their democracy, as Netanyahu has renewed his push for overhauling the country’s judicial system.” See also Netanyahu Knew Hamas Diverted $4 Million in Qatari Funds to Its Military Wing, His Office Says (Haaretz 3/26/25); Israel parliament defies protests to pass law tightening grip over judges (Guardian 3/27/25); Avatars, Tweets, Cover-ups: How the pro-Qatar PR Campaign Orchestrated by Netanyahu’s Aides Worked (Haaretz 3/23/25); Ignoring Massacres in Gaza City While Protesting for Democracy in Tel Aviv (Hanin Majadli//Haaretz 3/21/25)
Netanyahu’s ‘Antisemitism Conference’ Exposes a Grim Kinship Between the Far Right in Israel and Europe (Em Hilton//Haaretz 3/27/25)
“An antisemitism conference featuring Europe’s far-right politicians may seem like an oxymoron, and yet this is what is taking place in Jerusalem. The conference was organized by the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs, whose minister, Amichai Chikli, has been widely criticized for engaging far-right political figures accused of antisemitism. There is something particularly dystopian about the nature and timing of this conference: it serves as a microcosm of our current political crisis. There is a clear method to this madness: far-right politicians have meetings and photo-ops with Israeli politicians to distract or absolve their historic antisemitism and recast themselves as the protectors of Jews against the “real” threat facing Jews and wider Europe: namely Muslim communities and migrants from the Middle East. Israel, in the meantime, is happy to create alliances with whomever will allow them to continue their expansionist and oppressive policies in Gaza, in the West Bank, and in East Jerusalem…There is a second uncomfortable truth here. The far right’s affinity for Israel is also due to the fact that its government’s vision and its current policies provide a blueprint for an ethnostate that proudly discriminates against its minority; that uplifts military might above diplomacy; and that flouts international law so brazenly it beggars belief. Europe’s far-right politicians see Israel’s far-right government as an aspirational ally in the broader political realignment that they would like to see taking place across the world, especially the decline of liberal and social democracy and rise of authoritarianism.” See also European Far-right Politicians Dominate Israel’s Vexed Antisemitism Confab (Haaretz 3/28/25); Diaspora Minister Chikli kicks off antisemitism confab, calls Haaretz ‘beacon of lies and anti-Zionism’ (Haaretz 3/27/25); Former Paraguayan President Cartes, Accused of Hezbollah Ties, Attends Antisemitism Confab at Netanyahu’s Invitation, Source Says (Haaretz 3/27/25); The conference of shame (Michael Brenner//K 3/27/25)
U.S. SCENE
Tufts student from Turkey detained by masked officers, video shows (WaPo 3/27/25)
“As Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk made her way to an interfaith center to break the Ramadan fast Tuesday, plainclothes officers, some masked, descended on her. She screamed as an unmasked officer in a hooded sweatshirt grabbed her, security video shows. Within about a minute, the officers whisked her away in handcuffs. The widely circulated video of the immigration enforcement officers — who Ozturk’s lawyer said were from the Department of Homeland Security — sent shock waves through the university community in Somerville, Massachusetts, with thousands turning out Wednesday in the Boston suburb to demand her release…Ozturk, a 30-year-old from Turkey, is a Fulbright scholar working on a PhD in child study and human development on an F-1 student visa, her lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in an email. “We should all be horrified at the way DHS spirited away Rumeysa in broad daylight,” she wrote, adding that Ozturk has not been accused of any crime…“DHS and ICE investigations found Ozturk engaged in activities in support of Hamas,” DHS said in an emailed statement, without sharing evidence for the claim or responding to questions about the video. It added that “supporting terrorists” is grounds for visa termination.” See also “First, They Came for Mahmoud Khalil” (Drop Site 3/23/25); Columbia Expelled Me for My Palestine Activism, but I Won’t Be Silenced (Grant Miner//The Nation 3/26/25); The Insidious Doctrine Fueling the Case Against Mahmoud Khalil (Debbie Nathan//Boston Review 3/21/25); Pro-Israel watchdog takes credit after Cornell pro-Palestinian activist is told to surrender to ICE (JTA 3/21/25); Citing Jewish group’s targeting, Cornell grad student files suit against deportations of pro-Palestinian activists (The Forward 3/18/25); Columbia Student Hunted by ICE Sues to Prevent Deportation (NYT 3/24/25)
What We Know About the Detentions of Student Protesters (NYT 3/27/25)
“The Trump administration is trying to deport pro-Palestinian students and academics who are legally in the United States, a new front in its clash with elite schools over what it says is their failure to combat antisemitism. The White House asserts that these moves — many of which involve immigrants with visas and green cards — are necessary because those taken into custody threaten national security…The nine people who have been pursued and, in some cases, detained by federal officials include current and former students and professors. Most of them have publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views. Some have green cards, making them lawful permanent residents. Others have student visas, which allows foreign nationals to enter the United States for full-time study. The extent of their involvement in pro-Palestinian advocacy varies.” See also Rubio boasts of canceling more than 300 visas over pro-Palestine protests (Guardian 3/27/25)
How “Project Esther” forecast Trump’s plan to silence protests, boost deportations (Axios 3/25/25)
“The Trump administration’s push to cast pro-Palestinian protesters as Hamas supporters — and then use anti-terror and immigration laws to quiet campus demonstrations — was forecast in a little-known plan last year from the creators of Project 2025…That plan — dubbed “Project Esther” and based on months of chatter among some GOP leaders — was reflected in the White House’s moves to arrest Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil and pull universities’ funding over antisemitism allegations…Like Project 2025, Esther envisions expanding executive power and reshaping American life with a conservative agenda — this time focusing on colleges and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And like Project 2025, Esther and the Trump administration’s moves that mirror much of it are sounding alarms among progressives who say the effort promotes censorship, unfairly labels protesters as terror supporters and is a tool of Christian nationalism.”
White House withdraws Stefanik’s nomination for U.N. ambassador (JI 3/27/25)
“Trump said on his Truth Social website that he had asked Stefanik to remain in Congress to help pass key legislation. “With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” Trump said. “There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations.”’ See also Mike Huckabee’s extremist agenda will bring only destruction to the Middle East (Lily Greenberg Call//The Hill 3/26/25)
ADL Shutters Flagship Anti-Bias Program (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 3/27/25)
“Former employees say the organization is shifting away from educational content on racism and the LGBTQ experience and focusing more exclusively on antisemitism.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
The new definition of antisemitism is transforming America – and serving a Christian nationalist plan (Itamar Mann and Lihi Yona//The Guardian 3/23/25)
“Something unprecedented – and deeply unsettling – is unfolding: under the guise of a legal redefinition of antisemitism, the basic architecture of American public life is being radically transformed. What appears, at first glance, to be a technical change in terminology has become a powerful instrument for political control, solidifying executive power to enforce a narrow, state-sanctioned definition of Judaism. In the name of combating antisemitism, this effort threatens to reshape American public life – and with it, the pillars of American liberalism. But despite what some will have you believe, two things are clear: first, this campaign does not protect Jews – it endangers them; and second, this redefinition plays into a larger Christian nationalist project.” See also What Are We Allowed to Say? How Trump’s Department of Education has made it harder for me to teach Jewish Studies. (Joel Swanson//Slate 3/18/25)
The US is poised to use terror laws against students. This could be worse than McCarthyism (Thomas Anthony Durkin and Bernard Harcourt//The Guardian 3/21/25)
“On Monday, the Department of Justice announced the launch of “Joint Task Force October 7 (JTF 10-7)”. In an accompanying press release, the DoJ said it would bring to justice Hamas leaders who murdered and kidnapped innocent civilians in the deadly attack on Israel of 7 October 2023. Few would quarrel with this ambition. In the same breath, however, the press release claimed that the taskforce would also “investigate acts of terrorism and civil rights violations by individuals and entities providing support and financing to Hamas, related Iran proxies, and their affiliates, as well as acts of antisemitism by these groups”. In plain English, this means the student protesters. It could also include universities and colleges that have entered the government’s crosshairs. The legal risks are real. They are perilous, and they are alarming. Where a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) – such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or related organizations such as the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – is concerned, the line separating political advocacy from material support to terrorism can be razor thin, and any doubt tends to be resolved against those engaged in the political advocacy.”
Trump has turbocharged the attacks on free speech at US universities. I have seen it first-hand (Sandy Tolan 3/20/25)
“The enraged response to those of us who insist on bearing witness to this reality is a byproduct of the near-complete erasure of the Palestinian narrative. In the US media framing, with few exceptions, Palestinians are terrorists or victims, never fully human…Universities must resist our authoritarian leader’s dictates while there is still time. But the long erasure and dehumanisation of Palestinians is working against our urgent task. And robotic acceptance of bogus charges of antisemitism has only made the job of resistance that much more difficult…Billions of dollars in cuts are precisely what may compel universities, even private ones such as USC and Columbia, to comply with Trump dictates on student protesters and university diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) programmes. This is how last year’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters was a kind of test case. This is why acquiescence to this suppression, lazy acceptance of false charges of antisemitism, and passive erasure of Palestinians, have been so dangerous and consequential. They have led us to the present moment.”
Does Columbia still merit the name of a university? (Rashid Khalidi//The Guardian 3/25/25)
“It was never about eliminating antisemitism. It was always about silencing Palestine. That is what the gagging of protesting students, and now the gagging of faculty, was always meant to lead to…This was always about protecting the monstrous, transparent lies that a genocidal 17-month Israeli-American war on the entire Palestinian people was just a war on Hamas, or that anything done on 7 October 2023 justifies the serial massacres of at least 50,000 people in Gaza, most of them women, children and old people, and the ethnic cleansing of the people of Palestine from their homeland. These lies, generated by Israel and its enablers, which permeate our political system and our moneyed elites, were repeated ceaselessly by the Biden and Trump administrations, by the New York Times and Fox News, and have now been officially sanctioned by a once great university…After Friday’s capitulation, Columbia barely merits the name of a university, since its teaching and scholarship on the Middle East, and soon much else, will soon be vetted by a “senior vice provost for inclusive pedagogy”, in reality a senior vice provost for Israeli propaganda. Partisans of Israel, infuriated that scholarship on Palestine had found a place at Columbia, once named it “Bir Zeit on the Hudson”. But if it any longer merits the name of a university, it should be called Vichy on the Hudson.” See also Breaking: UCLA is silencing Jewish critics of Israel, Israeli-American student says (Akiva Colin Haskins//New Voices 3/23/25)
Scholasticide in Gaza (Avi Shlaim//Journal of the British Academy 3/10/25)
“This article examines the concept of ‘scholasticide’, the deliberate destruction of an educational system and its institutions, in the context of Gaza. Tracing its historical roots to the Nakba of 1948, the article situates scholasticide within the broader context of Zionist settler-colonialism and its policies of de-development, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing. The analysis pays special attention to the annihilation of Gaza’s schools, universities, and academic infrastructure throughout the most recent war in Gaza, whilst exploring the intertwined phenomena of cultural genocide, domicide, and ecocide. Contrary to prevailing beliefs about the nature and legitimacy of Israeli attacks on Gaza’s educational system and broader infrastructure, the article invokes international law to argue that Israeli actions were disproportionate, unjustified, and importantly, unlawful.”