In this episode, we have two interviews with our U.S. Correspondent, Michael Arria. First, Michael talks to Ryan Grim, Washington D.C. Bureau chief for The Intercept. Ryan has a new book out titled, “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.” In it, he reports on the fight between the squad of progressive Democrats first elected to Congress in 2018 and Israel lobby organizations AIPAC and Democratic Majority for Israel.
Later, we’ll hear from a student organizer at Columbia University about the school’s suspension of pro-Palestine groups on campus. In recent weeks, we’ve seen a disturbing wave of McCarthyism target Palestine activism across college campuses. A number of Students for Justice in Palestine chapters have been suspended or even banned at schools. One of the schools is Columbia University, which also suspended its Jewish Voice for Peace chapter. Michael spoke with a member of Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine about these developments. She is also a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition that has been relaunched in response to the suspensions. She asked Mondoweiss to withhold her name.
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Articles and links mentioned in the show
- Ryan’s new book, The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution
- Subscribe to Ryan’s newsletter, Bad News.
- Columbia University suspends Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, Michael Arria
- Columbia student groups form coalition to counter crackdown on Palestine activism, demand divestment from Israel, Michael Arria
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We want your feedback!
I sent this to the New York Times. (Also to the Toronto Star, which printed it almost verbatim, and the Globe & Mail, which omitted the first paragraph.)
There seems to be some confusion — deliberate in the case of right-wingers — between actual antisemitism, on campuses and elsewhere, and Jewish students feeling uncomfortable. Not afraid. Not under threat. Uncomfortable.
I was birding one day wearing my green FREE PALESTINE t-shirt. A man said I shouldn’t wear that shirt birdwatching in public, it might make some people feel uncomfortable. (What he meant, of course, was that it made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn’t have the koyach to say so.)
I said, “Good. That shows they still have a conscience.”
That shirt didn’t identify me as Jewish. I now have one that does. Would that have made him less uncomfortable? Or more?
Elizabeth Block
Member of Independent Jewish Voices
I sent this to the New York Times. (Also to the Toronto Star, which printed it almost verbatim, and the Globe & Mail, which omitted the first paragraph.)
There seems to be some confusion — deliberate in the case of right-wingers — between actual antisemitism, on campuses and elsewhere, and Jewish students feeling uncomfortable. Not afraid. Not under threat. Uncomfortable.
I was birding one day wearing my green FREE PALESTINE t-shirt. A man said I shouldn’t wear that shirt birdwatching in public, it might make some people feel uncomfortable. (What he meant, of course, was that it made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn’t have the koyach to say so.)
I said, “Good. That shows they still have a conscience.”
That shirt didn’t identify me as Jewish. I now have one that does. Would that have made him less uncomfortable? Or more?
Elizabeth Block
Member of Independent Jewish Voices