Democrats demand Trump cut funding for controversial Gaza aid organization
The letter, led by senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Peter Welch of Vermont, comes as international criticism mounts over the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's operations, arguing that its model 'shatters well-established norms that have governed distribution of humanitarian aid since the ratification of the Geneva Conventions in 1949' by blurring the lines between aid delivery and military security operations.
'According to reports and eyewitness accounts, civilians have been fired at by tanks, drones, and helicopters, as well as soldiers on the ground, as they attempt to get food and humanitarian supplies,' the senators wrote.
The Trump administration authorized a $30m grant to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in late June, with $7m already disbursed according to documents seen by the Guardian. The organization, which is backed by both Israeli and US interests, has been given preferential access to operate in Gaza through coordination with the Israeli military and private US security contractors.
However, the rollout of the new scheme has been marked by death and destruction from the outset. Jake Wood, the founding executive director and former US marine, resigned on 25 May, saying: 'It is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.'
Boston Consulting Group, the US firm handling some of the foundation's logistics, also withdrew shortly after.
Since launching in May, the foundation's four distribution sites have become killing fields. UN human rights officials report 766 people were killed trying to reach GHF sites specifically, with nearly 5,000 more injured in the chaos. More than 1,000 have been killed trying to go to food aid sites in general, according to UN figures, and 100 are believed to have died of starvation.
The senators also highlighted concerns about the US security contractors involved in the operation. Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions have reportedly been contracted to provide security at distribution sites, with Associated Press reporting: 'American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food.'
According to the AP report they cite, 'bullets, stun grenades and pepper spray were used at nearly every distribution, even if there was no threat,' despite many contractors lacking combat experience or proper weapons training.
UG Solutions, one of the North Carolina-based contractors, is reported to have recently hired the crisis communications firm Seven Letter, whose leadership includes former Biden and Obama administration spokespersons, bringing in former Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh in June, according to a press release on a now taken-down website.
Anthony Aguilar, a US Army veteran and former contractor for the foundation, told BBC News over the weekend that he witnessed Israeli forces 'shooting at the crowds of Palestinians' and firing 'a main gun tank round from the Merkava tank into a crowd of people'. He described the operation as 'amateur' and said he had 'never witnessed the level of brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population'.
The senators criticized the Trump administration for exempting the foundation from standard oversight procedures, including comprehensive audits usually required for first-time USAID grant recipients. They noted that USAID officials had raised 'critical concerns' about the proposal, citing 'operational and reputational risks and lack of oversight'.
The foundation has maintained that it has distributed more than 95m meals to civilians across Gaza and denies that violence has occurred at its sites, attributing reports to Hamas misinformation.
While on a presidential visit to Scotland, Trump on Sunday claimed that Hamas was stealing food aid sent to Gaza, parroting a similar allegation by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu which is being used to justify restrictions on humanitarian deliveries, despite Israel's own military officials admitted to not having any evidence to substantiate it..
In recent weeks, the organization has become increasingly aggressive in its social media responses, with posts claiming the UN 'can't successfully move their aid to Palestinians' and that 'they've simply stopped trying.' The foundation's executive chairperson, the Rev Johnnie Moore, also dug in, publishing an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal proposing to take over delivery of all UN aid sitting idle in Gaza. Moore wrote that there were hundreds of UN trucks loaded with food in Gaza, and offered to 'deliver all of this aid, for free, on behalf of the U.N'.
However, the senators argue that the foundation's model, with only four militarized distribution sites, cannot replace the UN-led network that previously operated more than 400 aid distribution points during temporary ceasefires.
The letter also lands as two prominent Israeli human rights groups, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel, declared on Monday that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Their assessment, citing 'coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society', marks the first time major Israeli rights organizations have publicly reached this conclusion.
The senators gave Secretary Rubio two weeks to respond to a series of detailed questions about civilian casualties, funding mechanisms, contractor operations, and compliance with humanitarian principles.
'There should be no American taxpayer dollars contributing to this scheme,' the senators wrote.
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BreakingNews.ie
17 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Dozens killed while seeking aid at Gaza crossing as US envoy heads to Israel
At least 37 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday while waiting for food at a crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to a local hospital that received the casualties. The latest violence around aid distribution came as the US Middle East envoy was heading to Israel for talks. Advertisement Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said the dead and wounded were among crowds massed at the Zikim Crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid to northern Gaza. It was not immediately clear who opened fire and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which controls the crossing. Palestinians rush to collect humanitarian aid (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) Israeli strikes and gunfire had earlier killed at least 46 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, most of them among crowds seeking food, health officials said. Israel has come under mounting international pressure in recent days as its ongoing military offensive and blockade have led to the 'worst-case scenario of famine' in the coastal territory of some two million Palestinians, according to the leading international authority on hunger crises. Advertisement US envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led the Trump administration's efforts to wind down the nearly 22-month war and release hostages taken in the Hamas attack that sparked the conflict, will arrive in Israel on Thursday for talks on the situation in Gaza. Of those killed in the earlier violence, more than 30 were seeking humanitarian aid, according to hospitals that received the bodies and treated dozens of wounded people. Another seven Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on any of the strikes. It says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas, because the group's militants operate in densely populated areas. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said that it received 12 people who were killed on Tuesday night when Israeli forces opened fire towards crowds awaiting aid trucks coming from the Zikim Crossing. Advertisement Thirteen others were killed in strikes in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun, the hospital said. Palestinians inspect the site where an Israeli strike hit in Muwasi, Khan Younis (Mariam Dagga/AP) In the southern city of Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital said it received the bodies of 16 people who it says were killed Tuesday evening while waiting for aid trucks close to the newly built Morag corridor, which the Israeli military carved out between Khan Younis and the southernmost city of Rafah. The hospital received another body of a man killed in a strike on a tent in Khan Younis, it said. The Awda hospital in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp said that it received the bodies of four Palestinians. It said they were killed on Wednesday by Israeli fire close to an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the Netzarim corridor area, south of the Wadi Gaza. Advertisement Under heavy international pressure, Israel announced a series of measures over the weekend to facilitate the entry of more international aid to Gaza, but aid workers say much more is needed. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the leading world authority on hunger crises, has stopped short of declaring famine in Gaza but said on Tuesday that the situation has dramatically worsened and warned of 'widespread death' without immediate action. COGAT, the Israeli military body that facilitates the entry of aid, said more than 220 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed, and which entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. The United Nations is still struggling to deliver the aid that does enter the strip, with most trucks unloaded by crowds in zones controlled by the Israeli military. The alternative aid system run by the Israeli-backed GHF has also been marred by violence. Advertisement Palestinians scramble for aid packages dropped into the Mediterranean Sea (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP) More than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid since May, most near sites run by GHF, according to witnesses, local health officials and the UN human rights office. The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots at people who approach its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. International airdrops of aid have also resumed, but many of the parcels have landed in areas that Palestinians have been told to evacuate while others have plunged into the Mediterranean Sea, forcing people to swim out to retrieve drenched bags of flour. A total of 89 children have died of malnutrition since the war began in Gaza. The ministry said that 65 Palestinian adults have also died of malnutrition-related causes across Gaza since late June, when it started counting deaths among adults. Israel denies there is any starvation in Gaza, rejecting accounts to the contrary from witnesses, UN agencies and aid groups, and says the focus on hunger undermines ceasefire efforts. Hamas started the war with its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023, in which militants killed around 1,200 people and abducted 251 others. They still hold 50 hostages, including around 20 believed to be alive. Most of the rest of the hostages were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Its count does not distinguish between militants and civilians. The ministry operates under the Hamas government. The UN and other international organisations see it as the most reliable source of data on casualties.
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Experts describe the slow and agonizing symptoms of starvation, as Melania joins President Trump to decry the plight of Gaza children
Donald Trump broke ranks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, rejecting his claim that 'there is no starvation in Gaza '. Trump, who has been a strong backer of Israel in its war with Hamas, seems to have changed his stance after images of starving children in the embattled area gripped First Lady Melania Trump. 'She thinks it's terrible,' Trump said on board Air Force One on Tuesday. 'She sees the same pictures that you see. And that we all see. And I think everybody – unless they're pretty cold-hearted or, worse than that, nuts. And during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump said of the images showing malnourished kids in the territory, their limbs emaciated and ribs protruding: '...Those children look very hungry.' 'Some of those kids are – that's real starvation stuff. I see it and you can't fake that.' While many of us may recognize extreme malnutrition when we see it, few are familiar with how it feels. Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene became the first Republican in Congress to describe the situation in Gaza as a 'genocide,' reflecting the growing skepticism on the right about Israel's conduct of the war. Daily Mail spoke with medical experts and humanitarian aid workers about the slow and agonizing effects, both physical and psychological, of prolonged food deprivation. All said it starts out the same as for any of us who've skipped meals or fasted – with cravings for food, stomach growls and intense hunger pangs that can feel like cramps. After a few days, the body begins to feed off glycogen, a carbohydrate stored in the liver. But those supplies are limited, so the body then starts breaking down fat for energy. It can take weeks or longer for fat reserves to be depleted. Once they are, the body begins consuming muscle tissue. This phase leads to weight loss and weakness that can perpetuate malnutrition even further. A severe drop in strength makes it difficult to stand up, let alone search for or prepare food. As aid groups told us, the Palestinians we see on the news trekking miles with kitchen pots in hand to beg for food at aid distribution sites or chasing after bags of flour airdropped into Gaza are those who still have the strength to do so. People experiencing more advanced stages of extreme malnutrition are likely confined at home or in tents or makeshift shelters, where most of the estimated 90 percent of Gazans who've been displaced by the war have been living. Their circumstances have become even more dire due to a lack of clean water and the recent extreme temperatures above 90 degrees with 70 percent humidity. As the body breaks down the protein in muscles, cells and organs start to malfunction. Aid groups on the ground told Daily Mail that those who haven't hit the stage of hunger where they can no longer walk are often seeing trekking for miles with kitchen pots in hand to beg for food at aid distribution sites The heart slows, breathing becomes difficult, and the immune system loses its ability to fight off viruses and bacteria, which are prevalent in disaster areas that lack basic water and sanitation systems. Even though a person in this stage of starvation may feel hunger, they typically can't eat or digest enough food to recover without the kinds of slow, steady medical interventions that generally are no longer available in Gaza. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 94 percent of hospitals there have been damaged or destroyed. Terminal starvation usually causes nausea and vomiting, extreme weakness and fatigue. It makes moving nearly impossible, requiring victims to be carried from place to place and frequently moved into different positions to avoid bed sores. Their bodies physically shrink under these conditions, causing their cheeks to hollow, their hair and skin to lose color and their pulse and blood pressure to drop. Starving children often experience 'kwashiorkor,' a severe protein deficiency causing fluid retention and swelling in their feet, ankles and bellies. In babies and toddlers, starvation hampers brain development. And Israel has been blocking shipments of baby formula to the territory. 'Humanity is gone... today we begin surviving on water and salt,' Hasan Essam, who describes himself as a programmer and accountant from the northern Gaza Strip, posted on X last Thursday, July 24. Daily Mail could not independently verify his identity. Humanitarian groups blame Israel for blocking food and medical aid from entering Gaza and for allowing its forces to open fire on desperate civilians gathered at aid distribution points – while relief shipments sit idle inside Israel The United Nations' World Food Program says a third of Gaza's population of about 2 million have been going for days without eating as hundreds of thousands of people there live in 'famine-like conditions' 'The greatest achievement in Gaza today is to live another day,' Essam posted on Saturday. 'I know nobody cares about us, I know we're just a post and it's going to end but I'm really hungry, I'm saying we're hungry.' Essam posted again on Monday to say, 'My body is starting to shrink, and I feel dizzy, tired, and extremely hungry. I only eat one meal a day, or maybe nothing at all. I'm really hungry.' Along with physically breaking down the body, extreme malnutrition also breaks down the mind and spirit. Starving people become obsessed with food to the point of total distraction, and their concentration and problem-solving abilities wane. They usually experience mood swings, including intense irritability and even bouts of rage, even toward loved ones who are trying to care for them. Aid workers say the horror of starvation can be compounded by fury among family members who are normally close. 'A lack of food can turn even the most loving people into animals. That's a natural human reaction,' said a Canadian doctor who has worked among starving populations for the Swiss-based Médecins Sans Frontières, an international group providing medical care in war zones and sites of natural disasters. As physical exhaustion sets in, so, too, do depression, apathy, isolation and withdrawal. Many starving people spend their last days or weeks with altered perception – an almost delirious state that removes them from the reality of their situations. Without any food, humans usually die within two months, depending on their age, size and overall health before starvation sets in. With occasional scraps to eat, the agonizing process drags on longer. Hasan Essam, who describes himself as a programmer and accountant from the northern Gaza Strip, is one of the many Palestinians describing the mass hunger on X, writing that his 'body is slowly falling apart from malnutrition' Rahil Mohammed Rasras, a 32-year-old Palestinian woman suffering from severe malnutrition, succumbed to her hunger and lack of medical access since the majority of hospitals in the area have been destroyed, passing away on July 21 Humanitarian aid groups blame Israel for blocking shipments of food aid and medical care from Gaza and for allowing its army to shoot into crowds of desperate civilians seeking food at aid distribution centers. The Israel Defense Forces killed at least 32 aid seekers on Tuesday. Israel, in turn, blames Hamas for not allowing food supplies to be distributed within the territory. 'Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bold-faced lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,' Netanyahu said on Sunday. 'What is interdicting the supply of humanitarian aid is one force – Hamas. Again, the reverse of the truth. Hamas robs, steals this humanitarian aid and then accuses Israel of not supplying it,' he continued. Aid groups this week are warning of an inflection point in Gaza where the window to prevent mass death is rapidly narrowing. The International Rescue Committee reported Tuesday that 'famine thresholds have now been surpassed in Gaza City and that the worst-case scenario is unfolding across much of the Gaza Strip.' 'In the coming days, thousands of Gaza's children will either be rescued or allowed to die,' said the IRC's president. The Israel Defense Forces killed at least 32 Palestinians seeking food at aid drops on Tuesday. But Israel has blamed Hamas for not allowing food supplies to be distributed within the territory The United Nations' World Food Program says a third of Gaza's population of about 2 million have been going for days without eating as hundreds of thousands of people there live in 'famine-like conditions.' The World Health Organization said there has been a 'marked spike' in starvation-related deaths recently, totaling 63 in July, including 25 children. Trump generally has been uncritical of Israel's handling of its war on Hamas, which started after the Gaza-based Palestinian terror group and its allies launched a surprise attack on Southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages. Partly at the urging of First Lady Melania Trump, the President said Monday that the US will become 'more involved' in fighting starvation by setting up food centers in Gaza, where the number of people killed since the war began surpassed 60,000 this week, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. That office says the total number of deaths from famine and malnutrition over the last 22 months is 147, including at least 88 children. Human-made famines such as those in Gaza and in Sudan where civil war is having a devastating effect are considered violations of international humanitarian law. British Prime Minister Starmer announced Tuesday that the UK will join France in recognizing Palestine as an independent state in September unless Israel takes 'substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza,' including a ceasefire and a commitment to a long-term peace process.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Antisemitism training designed by pro-Israel groups is becoming compulsory at US colleges. What's in it?
Near the end of an antisemitism training video that Northwestern University students are required to watch, the narrator urges viewers to play a guessing game. Six statements pop on to the screen – the viewer must choose whether they were made by 'anti-Israel activists' or the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke. Among the statements: 'Every time I read Hitler, I fall in love again.' The video reveals that the statement was made by an 'anti-Israel activist'. The narrator then states: 'The fact that you can't tell the difference is terrifying.' He adds that for most Jews, being anti-Israel and antisemitic 'are the same'. The video is part of a wave of controversial antisemitism trainings being implemented by universities across the US starting this school year, in response to Trump administration threats to pull funding for institutions that, in its view, fail to adequately address campus antisemitism. It is not clear how universities will enforce student participation. The Northwestern training was produced by the Jewish United Federation (JUF) , a pro-Israel advocacy group, and it drew pushback from some students. The Hitler statement was probably tweeted in 2013 by a high school student, members of pro-Palestinain Northwestern groups found. They accused JUF of cherrypicking a child's comment made 12 years ago to portray all criticism of Israel and Zionism as antisemitic. Moreover, the Hitler comment was placed among statements that legitimately criticize the Israeli government and are not antisemitic. The broader goal is to silence opposition to Israel's genocide in Gaza, said Micol Bez, a Jewish graduate student at Northwestern who is supportive of Palestinian rights. 'We were shocked by the video … which directly vilifies the movement for rights for Palestinian people and non-Zionist Jews who stand against genocide,' Bez said. 'It explicitly requires students to adopt the position that there's no room for anti-Zionism, and that all anti-Zionism is antisemitic.' The trainings' opponents, many of them Jewish, say the material does little to protect Jews. They accuse the Trump administration of wielding often false claims of antisemitism for two ends – to cut funding for universities as the president wages a culture war on higher education, and to help rightwing pro-Israel groups silence legitimate criticism of Israel. At least 60 universities so far have been investigated by the US Department of Education for potential violations of Title VI, a law that prohibits schools from discrimination based on race, ethnicity and religion. Columbia University, City University of New York, Harvard University and Barnard University are among those implementing the antisemitism trainings, which were generally developed after the Trump crackdown, and may aim to appease the Trump administration. At Northwestern, which is under multiple federal investigations for alleged antisemitism, the university emailed students in March to say that the implementation of the training 'will adhere to federal policy including President Donald Trump's Jan. 29 executive order, 'Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism''. Students who do not complete the training cannot register for classes, while graduate students can lose stipends. Bez said she had viewed the training, but had so far refused to officially complete it and the university had put a hold on her registration. Introducing the training has not helped Northwestern's relationship with the Trump administration. Even after implementing it, the administration cut $790m in research funding. Trump is now trying to extract further concessions. 'They thought this would save them – it did not,' said Noah Cooper, a Northwestern sophomore and an anti-Zionist with Jewish Voice for Peace who completed the training. The Guardian reviewed training materials developed by the JUF and the Anti-Defamation League, which both push pro-Israel agendas in the US, and found the overarching message is that criticism of Israel or Zionism is antisemitic. The materials advise students on how to respond to antisemitic or anti-Israel speech, and spread a pro-Israel message. That includes tips on effective online debating, media strategies and how to pressure administrators into cracking down on anti-Israel campus speech. Some Jewish and free speech groups have raised a litany of concerns about the materials, including that they are often one-sided, misleading, vague and sometimes historically inaccurate. Not only did the trainings do little to protect Jews from antisemitism, the universities and Trump may even be endangering Jews because they are 'allowing antisemitism to be used for other political purposes', like attacking higher education, said Jeremy Jacobs, executive director of J Street, a center-left, pro-Zionist lobbying and cultural organization. 'If people start to see that their universities, their medical research and their neighbors' immigration status and right to due process are being endangered because the Jewish community is pressuring for enforcement in ways that go way too far – that will generate actual antisemitism,' Jacobs added. In an email, a Northwestern spokesperson said students 'are not required to agree' with the antisemitism trainings and stressed that the speaker in the video said he did not speak for all Jewish people. 'However, he does represent how many in the Jewish community feel when targeted with certain actions and words, and we believe it is important for our students to have an understanding of that,' the spokesperson wrote. The ADL also has created their own antisemitism training and is partnering with Columbia among other universities to implement it. A centerpiece of their 'Think. Plan. Act.' toolkit for higher education is a section titled 'How can I be prepared for antisemitic and anti-Israel bias on campus? Scenarios and best practices.' It lays out 10 hypothetical antisemitic and 'anti-Israel situations', why the ADL views them as a problem and advises students on how to respond. One scenario explains why someone spray-painting swastikas on a Jewish fraternity home is a problem, while another example examines why fliers criticizing the Israeli government for demolishing Palestinian homes is similarly an issue. A third raises concerns over a hypothetical 'charge that a sponsored Israel trip Is 'pro-apartheid propaganda''. Lumping together examples of legitimate criticism of Israel's government and obvious antisemitic acts is designed to convince students and administrators that the actions are similarly problematic, critics say. It also appears to raise the specter of Title VI discrimination violations, said Veronica Salama, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union. However, Title VI doesn't protect against criticism of countries, and a term like 'anti-Israel situation' has no legal meaning, but critics say the intent is evident. 'Scaring schools into adopting these rigid speech limitations to avoid a federal investigation or a possible Title VI suit turns academic freedom and free speech principles on its head,' Salama said. The ADL's hypothetical scenario involving flyers critical of Israel's demolition program encapsulates many other issues that those who reviewed the material or completed a training raised. The scenario begins with a student leaving their dorm room to find a flyer taped to the door 'warning that your residence hall will soon be demolished'. 'The rest of the flyer contains 'facts' about how many Palestinian homes have been demolished by the Israeli military to collectively punish and 'ethnically cleanse' Palestinians,' the toolkit continues. The ADL is referring to the highly charged debate over Israel's mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. The training material then offers the Israeli narrative around the demolitions, claiming they target 'terrorists' and 'deter others from terrorist action'. Other homes were demolished because they were 'built without proper permits', the ADL states. 'While you may agree or disagree with these Israeli government actions, the charge that Israel has demolished these homes to 'ethnically cleanse' Palestinians is inaccurate and inflammatory,' the ADL material states. The Palestinian perspective on the demolitions is not found in the training material, and excluding their side story is a problem, those who reviewed the material said. As many as 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank alone, including refugee camps, are estimated to have been forced from their homes since the beginning of 2024, in addition to millions more in Israel and the Palestinian territories in previous decades. A UN special rapporteur in March warned of an 'ethnic cleansing' in the West Bank as Israel has accelerated demolitions. Meanwhile, the Israeli military often won't issue building permits to Palestinians. The antisemitism training video was shown as part of a new mandatory bias training called Building a Community of Respect and Breaking Down Bias. The antisemitism video is shown alongside a separate video made in partnership with The Inclusion Expert, a bias training company, on anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias, and a third video about campus protest. The Islamophobia training covers forms of bias and racism toward Arab, Muslim and Palestinian people. But, unlike the JUF antisemitism video that presented a pro-Israel viewpoint on the conflict, there was no historical context or basic arguments for the Palestinian cause. Nor did it mention what has happened in Gaza after the 7 October Hamas attack. 'The point was not to foster conversation or give people a nuanced view of this conflict,' Northwestern's Cooper said. 'The point was to get people to agree on one particular worldview.' The trainings also drew criticism because they are often vague, and demand different standards for the Israeli and Palestinian causes. The ADL concedes that the hypothetical flyers criticizing Israel over its demolition of Palestinian homes 'could represent legitimate political discourse'. But it states that the flyers would be 'less acceptable' if the university administration had approved of them. 'What this training is saying is, 'If your school allows let's say Students for Justice in Palestine to put up a flyer like this, then they are necessarily violating Title VI', and that is just not true,' Salama said. The ADL's material repeatedly advises students on how to respond to criticism of Israel and antisemitism. It suggests pressuring administration to respond, contacting Hillel, reporting issues to the ADL or writing op-eds, among other actions. 'Strategize with your friends, campus Hillel and/or representatives of the pro-Israel community about countering the false allegations made in the flier and further educating about Israel's security challenges,' the ADL states. Northwestern students pointed to a list of controversial statements and claims made throughout the antisemitism training video, called 'Antisemitism Here/Now'. It employs a controversial and legally dubious definition of antisemitism written by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, that critics say equates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The video states that Israel was founded in 1948 'on British land', and refers to the West Bank as 'Judea and Samaria', the biblical name controversially used for the region by the Israeli government. The original Jewish homeland comprises parts of modern-day Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, the video states. Bez questioned why the university did not utilize Northwestern scholars on the region and its history, and instead hired an outside pro-Israel group to develop the training. 'The content is incredibly unscholarly and has really, really egregious claims,' Bez said. 'It erases the pain and suffering of Palestinian people, and normalizes language that is being used to push the occupation.' In a statement, a Northwestern spokesperson said, 'part the University's mission is exposing our students to viewpoints that are different, and in some cases challenging, from their own – a key part of Northwestern's mission.' Meanwhile, as the narrator attempts to conflate Judaism and Zionism, it states that the 'vast majority' of Jewish people are Zionist. 'I am an anti-Zionist Jew and it doesn't make me feel good, safe or protected in the way the video claimed to,' Cooper said.
