Latest news with #Anti-Palestinian
Axios
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Harvard president "sorry" after reports on antisemitism, Islamophobia
Harvard University's president apologized and vowed to make changes after two internal reports on antisemitism and anti-Arab bias were released Tuesday. The big picture: The reports come as the Ivy League university is suing the Trump administration for freezing billions in federal funds in a battle that's officially about fighting antisemitism but has also become about governmental regulation of higher education. Driving the news: Task forces composed of faculty and some students released final reports, which were commissioned by the university, on Tuesday — one on campus antisemitism and another on anti-Muslim, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Palestinian bias. The first report found antisemitism to be present on campus, through class work and academic programs, in social settings and in hiring faculty. The Islamaophobia report found that 92% of surveyed Muslims believe they'd face academic or professional consequences for expressing their political beliefs. "Separately and together, the task force reports reveal aspects of a charged period in our recent history, offering searing personal accounts as they hold up a mirror to our interactions with one another," said Harvard President Alan Garber, who convened the task forces, on Tuesday. What they're saying:"I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community," Garber said in a letter accompanying the reports on the previous academic year. "Separately and together, the task force reports reveal aspects of a charged period in our recent history, offering searing personal accounts as they hold up a mirror to our interactions with one another." Garber called the 2023-24 academic year "disappointing and painful" and said the Israel-Hamar war brought long-simmering tensions to the surface. He said the university has made "necessary changes and essential progress" over the past year but vowed to take further action to address tensions, saying "Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry."
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UCLA students had visas revoked by US government, chancellor says
The Brief UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that the U.S. government revoked the visas of six current and six former students. The revocations follow an executive order by President Trump targeting students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed 300 visa revocations impacting several California schools. LOS ANGELES - UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk announced that the U.S. government has revoked the visas of six current and six former students participating in a training program, raising concerns within the UCLA community as calls for action and support for affected students grow. What we know The visa revocations occurred following a routine audit of SEVIS records, with terminations attributed to violations of visa program terms, Frenk said in a letter sent to the UCLA community on Sunday. "The termination notices indicate that all terminations were due to violations of the terms of the individuals' visa programs. At this time, UCLA is not aware of any federal law enforcement activity on campus related to these terminations," he wrote. The Backstory The revocations follow an executive order by President Donald Trump threatening visa revocations for students involved in pro-Palestinian protests amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. SUGGESTED: Hamas: Israeli airstrikes put hostages at risk as ceasefire breaks down Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of 300 international student visas, affecting several California schools, including UCLA. What they're saying The Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, and Anti-Muslim Racism, co-chaired by Gaye Theresa Johnson and Sherene Razack, expressed alarm over UCLA's response to the visa revocations. They urged the administration to take protective measures for affected students and challenge the Department of Homeland Security's actions. SUGGESTED: Two pro-Palestinian student groups suspended at UCLA "We write as the Task Force on Anti-Palestinian, Anti-Arab, and Anti- Muslim Racism to express our growing alarm regarding UCLA's response to the recent revocation of visas held by nine UCLA international students. These revocations follow similar and more extreme actions nation-wide, such as termination of legal status for international students and scholars on visas, and detention and deportation of international students without warning. Students who have spoken in support of Palestinian human rights have been specifically targeted, as have students from countries that the Federal government has deemed to be adversaries of the United States," the letter states. "... With no comment or instruction from the UCLA administration thus far, there is growing concern that students are unprotected." What's next Frenk advised UCLA students to visit online resources such as: UCLA's Undocumented Student Program UC Immigrant Services Legal Center UCLA's Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars The chancellor said he would continue to meet with UC President Michael Drake and other UC chancellors to prepare for and respond to any federal policy changes. He said he is also in constant contact with senior campus leaders. SUGGESTED: Federal antisemitism task force to visit UCLA, USC campuses months after protests Frenk assured the community that the administration is "committed to supporting our students as we abide by the law. The Source Information for this story is from a letter published by UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk on April 6, 2025.
Arab News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Evidence of Israeli genocide keeps stacking up
The reports keep rolling in. The leaders of the world's most powerful states just roll their eyes. Those who dare to speak out get hammered. The stack of evidence of Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and, yes, genocide against Palestinians grows thicker by the day. UN agencies, human rights groups, doctors, aid agencies and other professional outfits have overloaded our inboxes with heavily footnoted, weighty reports. Last week, the UN Human Rights Council's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the conflict contributed a 49-page report into the mix. It covered sexual and gender-based violence carried out by Israeli forces and settlers. It shakes up the narrative of the Western establishment. Anti-Palestinian groups want the focus to be solely on Israeli victims of sexual crimes — those carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. This has to change. The huge number of Palestinian women killed undermines Israeli claims that their operations were targeted. October 2023 may have been the deadliest month for Palestinian women ever recorded, with 1,213 killed. Children make up a third of all casualties, women another third. These percentages are much higher than in the 2008-09 conflict, the report argues, because of Israel's far greater use of heavy air bombardment. Prominent Israeli figures are not ashamed of sharing genocidal views, including against Palestinian women. Take Eliyahu Yosian, a commentator from the Misgav Institute for National Security, who told Israeli TV that, in Gaza, 'the woman is an enemy, the baby is an enemy and the pregnant woman is an enemy.' This alone should be punishable as incitement under the Genocide Convention. Prominent Israeli figures are not ashamed of sharing genocidal views, including against Palestinian women Chris Doyle The report also covers another aspect of genocide, namely the intent to impose measures intended to prevent births within the group. To back this up, the report covers the shelling of an in vitro fertilization clinic in December 2023. Israeli commanders knew the purpose of the clinic. The report also details the remarkable number of Israeli strikes on maternity wards —part of the broader Israeli decimation of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza. As one Palestinian doctor told me: 'Not only do you not want to get sick in Gaza, you do not want to get pregnant.' Giving birth without proper medical facilities has become so dangerous that many women opt to risk giving birth at home. Because of Israel's policy of starvation as a weapon of war, women and newborns are typically malnourished and many women say they cannot produce milk to breastfeed. Nobody needed Nostradamus-like powers to predict the Israeli leadership's reaction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired off his usual fusillade of condemnation so fast that it is doubtful he got past the first page of the report, if he looked at it at all. This was 'an anti-Israel circus.' As for the UN Human Rights Council, Netanyahu fumed that it 'has long been exposed as an antisemitic, corrupt and pro-terror body that has no legitimacy.' He was not so critical last June, when the same UN body produced an excoriating report on the Oct. 7 attacks, including Hamas' use of sexual violence. Netanyahu rejects the UN report as blood libel. Listen to him and practically the whole world is antisemitic. The Israeli PM has called the UN a 'house of darkness' and a 'swamp of antisemitic bile.' US student protests are antisemitic. The International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan was described as one of 'the great antisemites in modern times.' Netanyahu said: 'The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.' In fact, he also accused the ICC of antisemitism back in 2019. One group Netanyahu is quiet about is what can be called the antisemites for Israel — those who indulge in anti-Jewish hatred and conspiracies but support Israel. The grotesque way unevidenced smears of antisemitism are hurled at entire institutions to intimidate and distract from the reality of Israel's war crimes and genocide has to be challenged. Genuine antisemitism is rising but what Netanyahu et al are doing undermines that cause. Netanyahu rejects the UN report as blood libel. Listen to him and practically the whole world is antisemitic Chris Doyle The challenge is to ensure the overwhelming deluge of evidence of genocide counts — a tough ask given the tidal wave of career-ending pile-ons against those in power who dare to utter the 'G' word. The eminent genocide scholar William Schabas, who lost family in the Nazi Holocaust, summed it up perfectly: 'One day, Western countries will all recognize what happened in Gaza as a genocide. It will be like apartheid South Africa, when the West stayed silent for decades and then suddenly grew conscious when they think it is safe to.' Those who are prepared to stand up and be counted should be honored. The legions of politicians, advisers and officials who know the truth but cower in fear must step forward. A day of reckoning will come when those who have been complicit in Israel's crimes will be held to account. It is time to be on the right side of history.
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Wife of Columbia graduate student detained by Ice speaks out about his arrest
Mahmoud Khalil's wife, who is now eight months pregnant, issued a statement on Tuesday night after the Columbia University graduate student and activist was arrested in New York by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) as part of the Trump administration's attempt to revoke his green card and have him deported. 'I am pleading with the world to continue to speak up against his unjust and horrific detention by the Trump administration,' Khalil's wife, who is a US citizen, said in her statement, remaining anonymous for fear of harassment. She spoke out about the dramatic incident after Khalil was taken away in handcuffs in front of her on Saturday night, when law enforcement intercepted them as they were about to enter their residence in university housing. He was taken downtown, then to New Jersey and then flown to Ice detention in Louisiana. A court hearing on his case is due in Manhattan on Wednesday. Khalil was the lead negotiator between protesters and Columbia University officials last spring for the Gaza solidarity encampment set up on campus in Manhattan by pro-Palestinian activists and allies. Donald Trump called Khalil's arrest 'the first of many to come' aimed at protesters of Israel's war in Gaza and claimed, without evidence, that many similar activists are 'paid agitators.' Khalil completed his graduate studies at Columbia this past December and is due to graduate from his master's program this May. The attempt to revoke Khalil's green card which allows him permanent residency in the US, and his arrest by the authorities, citing support for terrorism, has incited outrage and protests. Free speech organizations have called the arrest an extreme attack on his first amendment rights that 'reeks' of McCarthyism. Khalil's wife said in her statement: 'On March 8, at around 8.30pm, as we were returning home from an Iftar dinner, an Ice officer followed us into our building and asked, 'Are you Mahmoud Khalil?' Mahmoud stated Yes.' Iftar is the meal eaten at sunset when Muslims break their daily fast during Ramadan. She continued: 'The officer then proceeded to say 'We are with the police, you have to come with us.' The officer told Mahmoud to give me the apartment keys and that I could go upstairs. When I refused, afraid to leave my husband, the officer stated 'I will arrest you, too.' The officers later barricaded Mahmoud from me.' She said they were not shown any warrant 'and the Ice officers hung up the phone on our lawyer'. She said they cooperated fully and her husband remained calm, even though it was terrifying and traumatizing. 'Within minutes, they had handcuffed Mahmoud, took him out into the street and forced him into an unmarked car,' she said. Khalil's wife said that the lead-up to the arrest had also been 'a nightmare'. 'Six days ago, an intense and targeted doxing campaign against Mahmoud began. Anti-Palestinian organizations were spreading false claims about my husband that were simply not based in reality. They were making threats against Mahmoud and he was so concerned about his safety that he emailed Columbia University on March 7,' she said. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Her statement added: 'In his email, he begged the university for legal support, 'I haven't been able to sleep, fearing that Ice or a dangerous individual might come to my home. I urgently need legal support and I urge you to intervene,' he said in his email. Columbia University never responded to that email,' she said. A request for comment has been sent to the university. Khalil was among several students at the elite private Ivy League college being investigated by a newly created university committee looking into students who have been critical of Israel, amid accusations of antisemitism on campus during protests against Israel's military response to the attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023 led by Hamas from Gaza, the Palestinian territory it controls. 'I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with,' Khalil said last week. His wife said on Tuesday: 'Instead of putting together our nursery and washing baby clothes in anticipation of our first child, I am left sitting in our apartment, wondering when Mahmoud will get a chance to call me from a detention center. I demand the US government release him, reinstate his green card, and bring him home.' She added: 'I was born and raised in the midwest. My parents came here from Syria, carrying their stories of the oppressive regime there that made life unlivable. They believed living in the US would bring a sense of safety and stability. But here I am, 40 years after my parents immigrated here, and just weeks before I'm due to give birth to our first child, and I feel more unsafe and unstable than I have in my entire life. US immigration ripped my soul from me when they handcuffed my husband and forced him into an unmarked vehicle.' Federal judge Jesse Furman on Monday blocked Khalil's deportation and scheduled a hearing for 11.30am on Wednesday. His lawyers hope to secure his release.
Arab News
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Palestinians must be given the chance to rebuild Gaza
Does US President Donald Trump have a point? To an extent, maybe. Gaza is a 'hellhole.' In fact, it has been a hellhole for years as a result of previous Israeli bombardments. Rebuilding Gaza will be some challenge. The UN estimates there is about 50 million tonnes of rubble, intermingled with an array of unexploded ordnance. Technically, it would be easier to empty Gaza temporarily. The trouble is that this was not what Trump was suggesting. Trump wants a Palestinian-free Gaza to indulge his real estate dreams. He made it clear Palestinians would not be allowed to return — a violation of international law constituting the forced displacement of a civilian population. This plan exhibits no understanding of the historical Palestinian experience, whereby 70 percent of the Palestinian population became refugees between 1947 and 1949, hundreds of thousands were displaced again in 1967 and, during the last 16 months, 90 percent of the population of Gaza was again forcibly displaced. This was no great humanitarian proposal, as the White House tried to make out. Palestinians have long demonstrated a determination not to be forcibly displaced yet again. It is their right to stay on the land. They show no signs of leaving it. Anti-Palestinian groups argue that Palestinians in Gaza could leave voluntarily. There can be nothing voluntary about leaving in a situation where they have already been bombed and starved into near-oblivion. This dream was not an off-the-cuff moment. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner made similar comments about cleaning up Gaza last year. Trump was shown ambitious plans for the Gaza riviera development that were devised by an economics professor at George Washington University, Joseph Pelzman. Why can Palestinians not dream of their riviera on the Mediterranean in Gaza? Is this so outlandish? Just as most of the world argued that any solution for the Syrian Arab Republic must be Syrian-led, any solution for Palestine has to be Palestinian-led. Gaza is for Palestinians and all designs on the future of the Strip must be devised by them, for them and with them. Pelzman's paper was decidedly not this and it reads as if it had been drafted by a committee of Israeli settler pogromists. It states that the administration of Gaza would be 'subcontracted to the selected investors and/or their representatives.' The education curriculum would be based on those from other states. Gaza is for Palestinians and all designs on the future of the Strip must be devised by them, for them and with them Chris Doyle Arab states are hurriedly devising their own plans. This includes the state of Palestine. This is vital given the need to demonstrate that there is a workable alternative — and there certainly is — to the suggestions emanating from the White House. The costs will be astronomic — the UN estimates about $50 billion. However, until a proper assessment is carried out, it is only educated guesswork. No donor state will fund this, nor will private businesses invest unless there are cast-iron guarantees that Israel will not flatten Gaza again. Who would even dare to suggest that Israel pays compensation, let alone contribute to the reconstruction costs, as it should? It should be understood that Gaza was not, as Trump described, a 'demolition site.' It has been bombarded into rubble as a deliberate Israeli strategy. Israel has a responsibility, though few suggest that Israel should offer temporary shelter to Palestinians with no homes. Reconstruction requires the blockade to be lifted and the unimpeded entry of construction materials and equipment. The dual-use system Israel enforces has to be ditched, as it prevents the import of essential construction materials. The systematic Israeli destruction of the healthcare system means that hospitals need to be rebuilt. The Israeli-orchestrated scholasticide also saw the bombing of every single university site in Gaza, while 87 percent of schools have been damaged or destroyed. This means that the education system also needs to be rebuilt. The entire water, sanitation and power infrastructure has to be rebuilt. To encourage the return of proper economic life in Gaza, which has been throttled by decades of occupation and siege, it needs a port, an airport and safe passage to the West Bank, all of which were agreed to under the Oslo Accords. The political system needs to be rebuilt too. It requires a Palestinian administration in Gaza that, first and foremost, has the support of Palestinians. It also has to attract the confidence of the international community. This is unlikely to be Hamas. So, who? A refreshed Palestinian political order is a medium- to long-term project for Palestinians, but a technocratic government would be a start. Israel should not have a veto, nor should the US. If Israel wants security and not territory, then a thriving Gaza is definitely in its best interest. Palestinians are capable of rebuilding Gaza themselves, if permitted, although genuine international assistance would be welcome. They have the skills, the motivation and the experience. But they cannot do this with the dead weight of the Israeli occupation blunting any endeavor. • Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech
