French philosopher Monique Canto-Sperber shut down an appearance by the late Stephane Hessel at a leading French school four years ago because it was sponsored by a group favoring BDS against Israel. On April 24 she comes to NY to give a lecture on “Free Speech.”
Why is the liberal press not embracing Rand Paul’s antiwar position? Because the elites have nothing to lose from another war in the Middle East, and even Dems have big political contributions to gain.
This week a horrific scene unfolded in Syria as a besieged Palestinian refugee camp fell under attack by ISIS and al-Nusra Front, another extremist Salafi group. When the fighters gained control of Yarmouk in Damascus, harrowing reports circulated of ISIS’s iconic beheadings and executions. This time it was Palestinian refugees who were victim and amid the chaos 18,000 Palestinians and Syrians were stranded and starving behind ISIS sharpshooters. In response, Palestinian leaders in the West Bank announced they were planning to coordinate a major convoy that would truck humanitarian aid inside of Yarmouk. Then yesterday, the Palestinian officials reversed their decision.
On January 6, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb spoke at Stanford Hillel about why she supports BDS “as a conflict transformation tactic.” Stanford joins Harvard and Wesleyan Hillels in open defiance of Hillel International’s red lines on who students can hear.
Students for Justice in Palestine at Los Angeles Valley College: “We urge that the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, that has the privilege of representing all 112 of California’s community colleges, to stand on the right side of history by urging divestment from companies that profit from human rights abuses in Palestine—in which our tuition dollars is invested, and to send a message that human rights abuses is unacceptable no matter where they may be.”
Naseer Aruri, a Palestinian-American scholar of renowned thoughtfulness, kindness and commitment to Palestine in the Diaspora, died in February in Massachusetts at 81. He will be memorialized in Massachusetts this Saturday.
About 120 New York University (NYU) professors are calling on the school to divest from companies linked to the Israeli occupation. Students and faculty suspect that the university, like other institutions in the U.S., has investments in U.S. companies that supply the Israeli army with weapons.
A NYT editorial saying that Netanyahu seeks to dictate terms of the Iran deal is far too polite, taking all his complaints seriously and never questioning his belligerent judgment. Jeffrey Goldberg, wrong on Iraq, gets similar respect from NPR.
The BDS call represents as close to a consensus as possible within Palestinian civil society. It targets academic institutions, including the Muslim Leadership Institute of the Shalom Hartman Institute, which has now sent two small cohorts of Muslim-American leaders to Israel/Palestine. MLI’s stated purpose is to shape the understanding of these cohorts with regards to Judaism and Zionism.