Billboards in Berkeley, CA attacking anti-Zionist students were defaced with the message, “Free Palestine.” Police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime.

A group called “JewBelong” just launched eight billboards across Berkeley. “You don’t need to go to law school to know anti-Zionism is antisemitism,” they declare, an obvious reference to Berkeley Law School where Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine developed a bylaw calling on other campus groups to to refrain from inviting Zionists speakers. Meanwhile, some of the Berkeley Law students who belong to groups that endorsed the bylaw are now being harassed by another pro-Israel group who sent mobile billboards to be parked outside their homes calling them antisemitic.

The Harvard Kennedy School’s brazen move to rescind a fellowship to Kenneth Roth over criticism of Israel is becoming a massive own goal for the institution. Organizations are calling for Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf’s resignation, Roth hitting the interview circuit, and a fresh round of people checking out Human Right Watch’s apartheid report.

Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that the Biden administration would judge incoming Israeli leaders on their actions. So far it has remained silent as the new Israeli leaders have taken proactive actions in Jerusalem, and Israeli forces have killed four Palestinians in the first week of 2023.

Ben & Jerry’s is a company that made progressive politics part of its global brand from the very beginning. It’s openly embraced environmentalism, voting rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, and other causes. Palestine has long been viewed as a third rail issue, even among liberals, but not in this case. The political attacks and economic threats didn’t stop the company’s board from suing its parent company or deter it from adding the disclaimer and updated map to its website. If Ben & Jerry’s can show other companies that they can divest from apartheid and survive, that’s a positive.

This week the White House announced that it was beginning to develop a national strategy to combat antisemitism. It’s too soon to know what this effort will look like, but there are concerns it will include the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, which has been used to target critics of Israel.

Al Jazeera is submitting a case to the International Criminal Court over the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. Not surprisingly, the Biden administration doesn’t support it.

This week Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was unanimously elected to lead the House Democrats, taking over for the departing Nancy Pelosi. This move has upset the Democratic party’s left flank but there’s at least one group happy to see Jeffries rise: staunch supporters of Israel.

After months of pressure from activists, human rights groups, progressive lawmakers, and members of her family the FBI is finally launching a probe into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. The fact that the announcement was made shortly after the Israeli and U.S. elections can hardly be a coincidence.

A red tsunami never materialized and they’re still counting votes but it doesn’t seem like it will be much of a wave either. Maybe a small ripple at most.