Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication. As Harvard’s feud with Trump escalated, so did tensions over an ‘education and Palestine’ issue of a prestigious journal. Scholars blame the ‘Palestine exception’ to academic freedom

The Palestine issue was slated to include a dozen research articles, essays and other writings on topics ranging from education in Israel-Palestine and among the Palestinian diaspora, to academic freedom in the US.

A copy of the Harvard Education Review previewing a future issue dedicated to education in and about Palestine. Photograph: Thea Abu El-Haj

Alice Speri

Tue 22 Jul 2025 07.10 EDT

Last modified on Tue 22 Jul 2025 12.31 EDT

In March 2024, six months into Israel’s war in Gaza, education in the territory was decimated. Schools were closed – most had been turned into shelters – and all 12 of the strip’s universities were partially or fully destroyed.

Against that backdrop, a prestigious American education journal decided to dedicate a special issue to “education and Palestine”. The Harvard Educational Review (HER) put out a call for submissions, asking academics around the world for ideas for articles grappling with the education of Palestinians, education about Palestine and Palestinians, and related debates in schools and colleges in the US.

“The field of education has an important role to play in supporting students, educators, and policymakers in contextualizing what has been happening in Gaza with histories and continuing impacts of occupation, genocide, and political contestations,” the journal’s editors wrote in their call for abstracts. 

A little more than a year later, the scale of destruction in Gaza was exponentially larger. The special issue, which was slated to be published this summer, was just about ready – contracts with most authors were finalized and articles were edited. They covered topics from the annihilation of Gaza’s schools to the challenges of teaching about Israel and Palestine in the US.

But on 9 June, the Harvard Education Publishing Group, the journal’s publisher, abruptly canceled the release. In an email to the issue’s contributors, the publisher cited “a number of complex issues”, shocking authors and editors alike... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/22/harvard-educational-review-palestine-issue-cancelled

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Don’t just blame Trump [and Republicans] – Democrats paved the way for this campus crackdow. Both parties are responsible for the mess facing Columbia and other institutions

‘Virtually every aspect of the Trump administration’s posture rests on track laid by the Biden administration and the Democratic party.’ Photograph: Dana Edwards/Reuters

Musa al-Gharbi  

"... Even before Trump had a chance to weigh in, Joe Biden immediately characterized the protests at Columbia as “antisemitic” and declared that “order must prevail” on college campuses. Democratic lawmakers put aggressive pressure on the former Columbia University president Minouche Shafik to crush the protests. She ultimately did so with the assistance of New York City’s Democratic mayor, Eric Adams (who justified his clampdown via evidence-free statements that the protests were driven primarily by “outside agitators”). Trump celebrated the pictures and videos of students getting roughed up by the NYPDand, upon Trump’s reclaiming the White House, the justice department interceded on behalf of Adams – making his criminal investigation go away in apparent exchange for the mayor adopting a more aggressive posture on immigration – a move that critics claim is a quid pro quo.

In a similar vein, it was Biden who enshrined the IHRA definition of antisemitism into federal guidance, despite the definition’s author repeatedly describing it as a “travesty” to use this definition to regulate speech and behavior. Building on Biden’s introduction, Trump is poised to sign a bill that would implement this same definition into federal anti-discrimination law – and in the meantime, he’s insisting Columbia and other schools adopt this definition in their own codes of conduct. NYU and Harvard have already taken this step, overriding concerns by civil rights and civil liberties organizations – from the ACLU, to Fire and the AAUP, to Israeli civil rights groups – who stressed that IHRA’s definition is extremely vague and provides strong leeway for institutional stakeholders to censor most critical discussion of Israel, Zionism or Judaism more broadly, by Jews and non-Jews alike.

Likewise, before Trump called upon Columbia to put its Middle East studies programs into receivership, New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, took the extraordinary step of demanding that the City University of New York eliminate a job posting for scholars who study Palestine. This is the same type of overreach Trump is exercising at Columbia – politicians setting the agenda for what can be taught and who can be hired – justified on the same grounds.

The Democrats will not save colleges and universities. They have been key partners and pioneers for all of the actions currently being undertaken by the Trump administration in this domain...."  READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/26/universities-columbia-trump

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Israel is banning Al Jazeera, America is banning TikTok. We know why: What the two laws have in common is desire to silence Israel-Gaza war critics.

‘The TikTok law, like the Al Jazeera one, isn’t limited to its initial target.’ Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

Seth Stern 

The White House rightly said it was “concerning” when Israel’s parliament laid the groundwork to shut down Al Jazeera within its borders in April. On Sunday, Israel made its move. The Foreign Press Association called it a “dark day for democracy”.

If the White House remains concerned, it has a strange way of showing it. Joe Biden and his administration have supported and encouraged recent censorial laws and court cases that virtually ensure that “dark days” are ahead at home as well.

The best-known example is the bill Biden signed into law last month to ban or force a sale of TikTok. Like Israel’s Al Jazeera ban, that law relies on unsubstantiated assertions of national security concerns, ignoring Justice Hugo Black’s prescient warning in the Pentagon papers case that “the word ‘security’ is a broad, vague generality whose contours should not be invoked to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the first amendment”.

Another thing the two laws have in common is that it’s an open secret that those concerns are pretexts for silencing the growing backlash against the Israel-Gaza war. Senator Mitt Romney essentially acknowledged as much in a recent conversation with Antony Blinken, the secretary of state. He wasn’t the first to say the quiet part out loud.

The TikTok law, like the Al Jazeera one, isn’t limited to its initial target. It opens the door for future bans of other platforms – including foreign-controlled online news outlets... READ MORE   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/07/israel-al-jazeera-us-tiktok-ban

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Razia Iqbal: I teach democracy at Princeton. Student protesters are getting an education like no other- Students across the US are forging bonds in the face of brutal power structures. You might say they’ve already won

 "What’s clear in this international, student-led movement that continues to defy college and state authorities in the face of arrest and expulsion is that it has also energized many academics in support of their students. The American Iraqi novelist and scholar Sinan Antoon, an associate professor at NYU, arrested on 23 April, told me: “Make no mistake, this is a wake-up call for all citizens: the erosion of citizens’ rights, the surveillance state and the violation of academic freedom. The exceptionality of this country is being challenged. The protests are the best thing to have happened in years. I have never been prouder of my students, their morality, their decency, protesting against the killing of children.”"

‘You don’t have to agree with everything or anything they are standing for, but if you believe in democracy, surely you believe in their right to stand for it.’ Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

I teach democracy at Princeton. Student protesters are getting an education like no other

Razia Iqbal

 

Students across the US are forging bonds in the face of brutal power structures. You might say they’ve already won

Teaching an undergraduate class on democracy at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs this semester has felt urgent and clarifying. In the classroom, we’ve been looking at backsliding and the slow corrosion of democratic norms in so-called democratic countries. Meanwhile, what’s been happening outside the classroom in more than 120 universities around the US and the world tells us a more ominous story about democracy.

For two weeks, we focused on the United States... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/article/2024/may/04/university-protests-democracy-faculty-princeton

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Academic freedom and free speech are essential. Universities must protect them. - ACLU's Open Letter to College and University Presidents on Student Protests

five basic guardrails to ensure freedom of speech and academic freedom while protecting against discriminatory harassment and disruptive conduct:

Schools must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment

Schools must protect students from targeted discriminatory harassment and violence, but may not penalize people for taking sides on the war in Gaza, even if expressed in deeply offensive terms

Schools can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral protest policies, but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves

Schools must recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students and are a measure of last resort

Schools must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions

 

Open Letter to College and University Presidents on Student Protests

Academic freedom and free speech are essential. Universities must protect them.

 

April 26, 2024

 

Anthony D. Romero,
ACLU Executive Director

David Cole,
ACLU Legal Director

Dear College and University Presidents:

We write in response to the recent protests that have spread across our nation’s university and college campuses, and the disturbing arrests that have followed. We understand that as leaders of your campus communities, it can be extraordinarily difficult to navigate the pressures you face from politicians, donors, and faculty and students alike. You also have legal obligations to combat discrimination and a responsibility to maintain order. But as you fashion responses to the activism of your students (and faculty and staff), it is essential that you not sacrifice principles of academic freedom and free speech that are core to the educational mission of your respected institution.

The ACLU helped establish the right to protest as a central pillar of the First Amendment. We have defended those principles for more than a century. The First Amendment compels public universities and colleges to respect free speech rights. And while the Constitution does not apply directly to private institutions, academic freedom and free inquiry require that similar principles guide private universities. We approach this moment with appreciation for the challenges you confront. In the spirit of offering constructive solutions for a way forward, we offer five basic guardrails to ensure freedom of speech and academic freedom while protecting against discriminatory harassment and disruptive conduct.

Schools must not single out particular viewpoints for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment

First, university administrators must not single out particular viewpoints — however offensive they may be to some members of the community — for censorship, discipline, or disproportionate punishment. Viewpoint neutrality is essential. Harassment directed at individuals because of their race, ethnicity, or religion is not, of course, permissible. But general calls for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea,” or defenses of Israel’s assault on Gaza, even if many listeners find these messages deeply offensive, cannot be prohibited or punished by a university that respects free speech principles.

These protections extend to both students and faculty, and to speech that supports either side of the conflict. Outside the classroom, including on social media, students and professors must be free to express even the most controversial political opinions without fear of discipline or censure. Inside the classroom, speech can be and always has been subject to more restrictive rules to ensure civil dialogue and a robust learning environment. But such rules have no place in a public forum like a campus green. Preserving physical safety on campuses is paramount; but “safety” from ideas or views that one finds offensive is anathema to the very enterprise of the university.

Schools must protect students from discriminatory harassment and violence

Second, both public and private universities are bound by civil rights laws that guarantee all students equal access to education, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This means that schools can, and indeed must, protect students from discriminatory harassment on the basis of race or national origin, which has been interpreted to include discrimination on the basis of “shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics,” or “citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.”

So, while offensive and even racist speech is constitutionally protected, shouting an epithet at a particular student or pinning an offensive sign to their dorm room door can constitute impermissible harassment, not free speech. Antisemitic or anti-Palestinian speech targeted at individuals because of their ethnicity or national origin constitutes invidious discrimination, and cannot be tolerated. Physically intimidating students by blocking their movements or pursuing them aggressively is unprotected conduct, not protected speech. It should go without saying that violence is never an acceptable protest tactic.

Speech that is not targeted at an individual or individuals because of their ethnicity or national origin but merely expresses impassioned views about Israel or Palestine is not discrimination and should be protected. The only exception for such untargeted speech is where it is so severe or pervasive that it denies students equal access to an education — an extremely demanding standard that has almost never been met by pure speech. One can criticize Israel’s actions, even in vituperative terms, without being antisemitic. And by the same token, one can support Israel’s actions in Gaza and condemn Hamas without being anti-Muslim. Administrators must resist the tendency to equate criticism with discrimination. Speech condoning violence can be condemned, to be sure. But it cannot be the basis for punishment, without more.

Schools can announce and enforce reasonable content-neutral protest policies but they must leave ample room for students to express themselves

Third, universities can announce and enforce reasonable time, place, or manner restrictions on protest activity to ensure that essential college functions can continue. Such restrictions must be content neutral, meaning that they do not depend on the substance of what is being communicated, but rather where, when, or how it is being communicated. Protests can be limited to certain areas of campus and certain times of the day, for example. These policies must, however, leave ample room for students to speak to and to be heard by other members of the community. And the rules must not only be content neutral on their face; they must also be applied in a content-neutral manner. If a university has routinely tolerated violations of its rules, and suddenly enforces them harshly in a specific context, singling out particular views for punishment, the fact that the policy is formally neutral on its face does not make viewpoint-based enforcement permissible.

Schools must recognize that armed police on campus can endanger students and are a measure of last resort

Fourth, when enforcement of content-neutral rules may be warranted, college administrators should involve police only as a last resort, after all other efforts have been exhausted. Inviting armed police into a campus protest environment, even a volatile one, can create unacceptable risks for all students and staff. University officials must also be cognizant of the history of law enforcement using inappropriate and excessive force on communities of color, including Black, Brown, and immigrant students. Moreover, arresting peaceful protestors is also likely to escalate, not calm, the tensions on campus — as events of the past week have made abundantly clear.

Schools must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions

Finally, campus leaders must resist the pressures placed on them by politicians seeking to exploit campus tensions to advance their own notoriety or partisan agendas. Recent congressional hearings have featured disgraceful attacks by members of Congress on academic freedom and freedom of speech. Universities must stand up to such intimidation, and defend the principles of academic freedom so essential to their integrity and mission.

The Supreme Court has forcefully rejected the premise that, “because of the acknowledged need for order, First Amendment protections should apply with less force on college campuses than in the community at large.”

“Quite to the contrary,” the court stated, “the vigilant protection of constitutional freedoms is nowhere more vital than in the community of American schools.” In keeping with these values, we urge you to resist the temptation to silence students or faculty members because powerful voices deem their views offensive. Instead, we urge you to defend the university’s core mission of encouraging debate, fostering dissent, and preparing the future leaders of our pluralistic society to tolerate even profound differences of opinion.

2024 USC canceled Asna Tabassum's valedictorian speech after receiving a wave of hate online for supporting Palestine.... please read her statement in full

Asna Tabassum: "Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all,"

Statement by University of Southern California Student Asna Tabassum, Class of 2024 Valedictorian:

I am honored to have been selected as USC Class of 2024 Valedictorian. Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all.

This campaign to prevent me from addressing my peers at commencement has evidently accomplished its goal: today, USC administrators informed me that the university will no longer allow me to speak at commencement due to supposed security concerns. I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the University is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.

I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university—my home for four years—has abandoned me.

In a meeting with the USC Provost and the Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance on April 14, I asked about the alleged safety concerns and was told that the University had the resources to take appropriate safety measures for my valedictory speech, but that they would not be doing so since increased security protections is not what the University wants to “present as an image.”

Because I am not aware of any specific threats against me or the university, because my request for the details underlying the university’s threat assessment has been denied, and because I am not being provided any increased safety to be able to speak at commencement, there remain serious doubts about whether USC’s decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety.

Instead of allowing the campaign of hatred to define who I am and what I stand for, let me therefore take this opportunity to tell you about myself.

I am a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim whose passion for service stems from the experience of my grandparents, who were unable to access lifesaving medical technology because they had been displaced by communal violence.

I am a biomedical engineer who learned the meaning of health equity through developing low- cost and accessible jaundice for babies whose darker skin color conceals the visual yellowing of their complexion.

I am a proud Trojan who loves my campus that has enabled me to go from building a walker to shipping medical gowns to Ukraine to writing about the Rwandan Genocide to taking blood pressure measurements for our neighbors in Skid Row.

I am a student of history who chose to minor in resistance to genocide, anchored by the Shoah Foundation, and have learned that ordinary people are capable of unspeakable acts of violence when they are taught hate fueled by fear. And due to widespread fear, I was hoping to use my commencement speech to inspire my classmates with a message of hope. By canceling my speech, USC is only caving to fear and rewarding hatred.

My identities and experiences inspired me to think outside the box—a mindset I cultivated at USC, and it is this very quality that contributed to my selection as USC Valedictorian.

As your class Valedictorian, I implore my USC classmates to think outside the box—to work towards a world where cries for equality and human dignity are not manipulated to be expressions of hatred. 

I challenge us to respond to ideological discomfort with dialogue and learning, not bigotry and censorship. And I urge us to see past our deepest fears and recognize the need to support justice for all people, including the Palestinian people.

Tabassum, who is South Asian-American and Muslim, said in a statement that as a result of the backlash, she has faced "a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all."  NPR NEWS  https://www.npr.org/2024/04/16/1244990599/usc-valedictorian-speech-canceled

 

USC canceled Asna Tabassum's valedictorian speech after she received a wave of hate online for supporting Palestine.

On Tuesday, April 6, the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism announced on social media that USC student Asna Tabassum was selected as valedictorian for the class of 2024. Shortly after the announcement, she began receiving harassment online from a social media account called 'We Are Tov,' which reportedly launched a dishonest and defamatory attack against Asna and created a petition calling on USC to remove her from the position of valedictorian.  

USC released a statement on Monday, April 15, stating that while Asna would retain the title of valedictorian, she would not be allowed to speak during the commencement ceremony due to the hate campaign against her "to maintain the safety of our campus and students." 

For what may be the first time in USC history, the school's commencement ceremony will not include a speech from its valedictorian. This decision to cancel Asna's speech empowers voices of hate, violates USC's obligation to protect its students, and sends a terrible message to not only Muslim students at USC but all students who dare to express support for Palestinian humanity. CAIR PETITION   https://cair-la.salsalabs.org/usc-cancels-valedictorian-speech/index.html

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. The UDHR is widely recognized as having inspired, and paved the way for, the adoption of more than seventy human rights treaties, applied today on a permanent basis at global and regional levels (all containing references to it in their preambles).

Criticism of Israeli State Policies Is NOT ANTISEMITISM

 "Globally, scholars who criticize Israel are facing an increasingly uphill battle to protect their academic freedom.

Redefining antisemitism

At the heart of the issue rests the new definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Proponents of the IHRA definition are part of what some are calling a new antisemitism movement that seeks to label criticism of Israel as antisemitic.

While challenging antisemitism is vital, Canadian critics of the IHRA definition argue that the new language could “chill political expressions of criticism of Israel as well as support for Palestinian rights.”

The IHRA definition is vague. It fails to connect antisemitism to other forms of racism. It also appears more intent on silencing critics of Israel than halting antisemitic threats from far-right white supremacists.

A series of open letters by scholars have warned against adopting this definition, including in Canada, the United Kingdom and Israel.

The main issue with the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism is not its short 38 word definition, but the 11 illustrative examples of anti-Semitism. Seven of these examples equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Two of them reference Israel without mentioning Jewish people.

Israel should be subject to the same critiques as other nations.

One of the original draftees of the IHRA definition, Kenneth Stern, now says that the new language “weaponizes” the definition of antisemitism." ... READ MORE

Criticizing Israel is not antisemitic — it’s academic freedom

Published: November 15, 2020 9.03am EST Updated: April 19, 2021

https://theconversation.com/criticizing-israel-is-not-antisemitic-its-academic-freedom-148864

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My Letter to the NYTimes RE Steven Salaita and the Quagmire of Academic Freedom

Academic Freedom... Illustration credit: Google Images revealing  line drawing by Tim E. Ogline who has "always sought to draw on the Right Brain for the Left Brain."

RE Steven Salaita and the Quagmire of Academic Freedom
http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/steven-salaita-and-the-quagmire-of-academic-freedom/?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

Quite a quagmire indeed.  Your story Steven Salaita and the Quagmire of Academic Freedom brought up many very interesting points, but missed a few crucially important ones.

Starting with actual beginnings: All people here in America were at one time immigrants, with the earliest arrivals coming from Asia long before written records. Those earliest immigrants did not call this place America, that word is a much more recent arrival. Furthermore the phrase "Native American" takes the word "native" which specifically means born in a particular place, and uses that word to exclude a huge portion of native born American citizens. 

America's written records, combined with our constitution, our Bill of Rights, our free libraries and schools and many other factors give every one both the ability to explore many topics including many horrific tragedies, and the ability to weigh in with facts and opinions, ultimately shaping both domestic and foreign polices.

Times have changed. Today's world has jobless Palestinians braving death to migrate ... Today's world also has The New York Times headlining the editorial  The Fundamental Horror of ISIS , as well as the editorial Mr. Netanyahu’s Strange Course clearly articulating the fact that Americans are questioning Israel’s commitment to a peaceful negotiated settlement to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Native Americans/American Indians were uniformly granted U.S. citizenship in 1924, decades before Martin Luther King Jr helped make America a more real democracy, and a full 24 years before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and modern Israel's heavily armed sovereign quest to become demographically Jewish by disenfranchising native non-Jewish Palestinians. Most Palestinian men, women and children have been pushed into poverty and forced exile, creating the largest, longest running refugee crisis in the world today.

Some readers might judge Salaita based on his stance regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, some on his scholarship- others might judge him based on the tone of his tweets, his rage/righteous indignation as well as his exact words and his obvious lack of diplomatic tact in a very public forum.  Various people will find various reasons to agree or to disagree, some will voice what they think, some won't but they'll "vote with their feet"... Here in America parents who are able to send their kids to college invest a huge amount of time and money in their kids, even before college. College itself tends to be punitively expensive.  In researching colleges to consider many resources are used: Parents, potential students, and donors can easily google various professors and read public tweets.   

Here in America good role models help our young people get and keep good jobs. Colleges need to keep that in mind, and so should any one seeking to convince Americans to care about Palestine. 

Sincerely
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
The New World (according to wikipedia) was dubbed "America,  a name derived by Martin Waldseemüller from Americus Vespucius, the Latinized version of Amerigo Vespucci, the name of the Italian merchant and cartographer who explored South America's east coast and the Caribbean Sea in the early 16th century."

STAY CONNECTED... Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to: Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

US sharply criticizes new Israeli housing project

Non-violent resistance is Palestine’s most powerful weapon

Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity

Normalizing Intelligent Conversations, Diplomatic Support, and Hope for Palestine... ATFP Panel Briefing: Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape.

ATFP... American Task Force on Palestine

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace : "The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine." Ziad Asali


International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2014

UNRWA photo and film archive for Palestine refugees

About UNWRA: ’The Long Journey of Palestine Refugee Women’ candidly portrays the lives and experiences of Palestine refugee women, this collection is a testament not only to their own strength and dignity, but also to the richness and resilience of their community.

Walking Palestine & The Abraham Path... a creative space for stories that highlight the unique culture, heritage and hospitality of the region

It's time for Palestinians and Israelis to share a just peace... It's time for freedom from occupation... It's time for equal rights.... It's time for the healing of wounded souls..... World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel: "Let my people go!"... 21 - 27 September 2014 An initiative of the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) of the World Council of Churches

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

1948

Time and time again I have watched the cycle of incitement and spin sabotage support for Palestine

Clarifying why Arab and Muslim Americans should be smart rather than stupid

Live by the Golden Rule

• “Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remembering - remembering and not using your right to hit back.”

An Anne Frank Moment ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

America/Israel/Palestine 1776

America/Israel/Palestine 1948: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

Excellent letter published in the Baltimore Sun: Academic freedom and Israel by Carole C. Burnett

A detail from The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Jacopo da Empoli. Scientists have proved that the camels in the story of Abraham and Isaac are a fiction. Photograph: Corbis...  The Guardian: The Old Testament's made-up camels are a problem for Zionism The earliest camel bones have been dated at 1,500 years after Genesis – which undermines Zionists' promised land narrative

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-free-speech-letter-20140214,0,2139677.story

Academic freedom and Israel [Letter]

3:00 p.m. EST, February 14, 2014 

Thank you for publishing the commentary by Melani McAlister ("Maryland bills would stifle academic freedom," Feb. 12). She has presented a balanced summary of the arguments supporting and opposing the ASA boycott. More importantly, I applaud her lucid explanation of how the proposed Maryland legislation, in withdrawing normal support from scholars who act on their conscience, is a serious threat to academic freedom.

I would add my own speculation that the underlying issue among legislators is their reluctance to believe that Israel is violating human rights. While Zionists wallow in denial, Israel continues its ongoing violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits an occupying power from settling its own citizens on occupied land. Moreover, it is necessary only to visit the West Bank to see how the Palestinians are suffering from the "separation barrier" (most of which lies inside the West Bank, not on the Green Line between Israel and the occupied territory), checkpoints resembling cattle yards, the diversion of water supplies into settlements and home demolitions.

Yes, Israel is violating human rights, and because the U.S. gives it more than $3 billion per year, we should expect more cooperation and a higher standard of morality.

Carole C. Burnett, Silver Spring