A tenured art therapy professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) was suspended from teaching and placed under investigation following a student’s complaint about an assigned case study that mentioned violence against Palestinians.

Savneet Talwar. Photograph: Salome Chasnoff

 

We call it the P-word’: Chicago professor suspended after assignment mentions Palestinians

School of the Art Institute of Chicago professor put under investigation after a student complained about a case study

A tenured art therapy professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) was suspended from teaching and placed under investigation following a student’s complaint about an assigned case study that mentioned violence against Palestinians.

Savneet Talwar, a faculty member with the school’s art therapy and counseling program, assigned the case study in April to a class on the cultural dimensions of therapy. The assignment asked students to develop an ethical treatment plan for a hypothetical queer, Muslim woman living in the US.

The language of the assignment read: “While she was not particularly politically active in her home country, protests in support of Palestine resonated with her on a personal level. She felt deeply affected by the violence against Palestinian civilians and was critical of the home government’s limited response.”

The two-page assignment, which was reviewed by the Guardian, mostly focused on other elements of the client’s case, including her family history, relationships and status as an immigrant. It made no additional references to Palestine or Palestinians, and no mention of Israel. But Talwar’s department had already been mired in multiple complaints and investigations about alleged antisemitism involving the same student, and faculty had been required to take anti-bias training as the school sought to address the “climate” in the department.

The school was also sued in late 2023 by an Israeli student in the same program over alleged antisemitism, including an assignment for which students were asked to review images drawn by children depicting violence by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian civilians.

After Talwar’s student received the case study, the professor got a call from a dean asking whether she had assigned “anything with Palestine in it”. She was then called into an “urgent” meeting with the school’s provost, and her class for the following day was canceled. The following day, on 17 April, the school formally notified Talwar that she was being put on paid leave, and forbade her from speaking about the matter with students and colleagues... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/05/professor-suspended-assignment-mentions-palestinians

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"Between the Dome and the Sky" by Palestinian (Ramallah) Artist Wadeei Khaled (Born in Al-Arroub Refugee Camp in 1986)

Amazing Painting "Between the Dome and the Sky" by Palestinian (Ramallah) Artist Wadeei Khaled (Born in Al-Arroub Refugee Camp in 1986)

 GAZA, PALESTINE

This was a thriving nation with families, holidays, hopes, schools, hospitals and customs.

Bright Stars of Bethlehem: "You know when you live in a context like Palestine. Where our lives are being interrupted on a daily or weekly basis. We have almost every other year, a war. You feel everything is falling apart around you. And culture is the art to breathe. When everything around you is falling apart, culture keeps you sane. Culture keeps you going. Culture empowers you with a new vision and strength to continue and to excel in spite of everything. And so it wasn't by chance that we started the first and only university in Palestine with this focus on arts and culture." -Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

Bright Stars of Bethlehem

  ·

At its core, Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb is describing what it feels like to live in constant interruption in his quote.

 

When he talks about life being disrupted on a daily or weekly basis, he’s pointing to a reality most of us don’t live in. A place where plans don’t always hold, where stability isn’t guaranteed, and where the future can feel uncertain more often than not. Imagine trying to build something meaningful when everything around you can shift without warning.

 

“You feel everything is falling apart around you.” That part hits because it’s something we all understand on some level. We’ve all had seasons where life feels heavy, uncertain, or out of our control. Now imagine that feeling not as a moment, but as a repeated pattern.

 

And then he says something powerful. “Culture is the art to breathe.”

 

That line changes everything.

 

Culture, whether it’s art, music, storytelling, or design, is not just something extra. In this context, it becomes survival. It is how people process what they are going through. It is how they hold onto who they are.

 

When everything feels like it is falling apart, culture gives people a way to breathe.

 

It keeps them grounded. It reminds them they are still human in the middle of everything.

 

“Culture keeps you sane. Culture keeps you going.” This is resilience in its truest form. Not pretending things are okay, but choosing to keep moving forward anyway.

 

And then he takes it one step further. “Culture empowers you with a new vision and strength to continue and to excel in spite of everything.”

 

This is where hope lives. Not a shallow kind of hope, but one that exists right alongside hardship. The kind that says, even here, even now, something meaningful can still be created.

 

And that is why Dar al-Kalima University exists. It was not by chance. It was a decision.

 

In a place where so much tries to limit expression and possibility, they chose to build something centered on arts and culture. Because creativity there is not a luxury. It is a lifeline, identity, and a way forward.

 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1316852620490650&set=a.613653367477249

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This Week in Palestine- Digital Horizons: Entrepreneurship and Economic Resilience

Issue: 331, February 2026

This rendering of the sunbird, Palestine’s national bird, copyrighted by Paltrade, was chosen to represent high-tech export. 

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https://thisweekinpalestine.com/331-Feb-2026/ 

Palestine painting by Mohammed Jabr, an artist from Gaza https://thisweekinpalestine.com/mohammed-jabr/

Message from the Editor

The war in Gaza is continuing unabated despite the so-called ceasefire, as tens of Gazans are killed on a daily basis. Yet the world has turned to other hotspots, emerging due to a resurgence of imperialist colonialism – or is it simply gaining greater visibility as it is not confined to more distant areas? And while many of us feel helpless in the wake of events and our inability to end the aggression against Gaza and the West Bank, there is one way in which we can make a difference: through the outsourcing of business services that include software development, business management, finance and accounting, and marketing. When internet and electricity are available, a skilled, resilient, and adaptable workforce of Palestinian young professionals and recent graduates can support businesses abroad. At the same time, their resilience can be strengthened as they are enabled to earn livelihoods for themselves and their families.   

This issue of TWiP highlights organizations that support Palestinian professionals by facilitating online work opportunities. We hope that this exposure will not only create visibility but also encourage greater engagement from abroad in this invaluable resource for our people who, while persevering under great hardship – unimaginable in the case of Gaza – excel in ways that might be unanticipated for many.... READ MORE  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/message-from-the-editor-331/

Table of Contents

https://thisweekinpalestine.com/table-of-contents-331/

 

From Aid to Agency

Building an Investment Ecosystem for Palestinian Innovation

By Sharareh Noorbaloochi

Humanitarian aid remains indispensable. In moments of acute crisis, it saves lives and preserves dignity. But aid alone cannot rebuild economies, restore agency, or create long-term self-reliance. For that, investment is also essential. Not symbolic investment, and not charity framed as capital, but structured, accountable investment that treats Palestinian founders as builders on equal terms. 

The highest form of solidarity is not donation. It is investment on equal terms, with shared risk, shared upside, and shared accountability. For impact-focused investors and ecosystem enablers, this approach shifts engagement from supporting activity to building durable systems grounded in ownership, incentives, and long-term alignment. 

Why Success Stories Matter
Venture capital follows a power-law dynamic: A small number of successful companies generate the majority of returns. For emerging ecosystems, building even a handful of investable success stories can unlock follow-on capital, talent retention, and long-term economic momentum.

Innovation does not thrive in isolation. It scales when talent, capital, and markets are connected through a functioning investment ecosystem. In deeply fragmented contexts, entrepreneurship can also serve as a unifying force. It creates shared incentives where politics often divides, and measurable value where rhetoric alone cannot. When paired with the right capital structures, innovation becomes a practical tool for rebuilding systems, restoring livelihoods, and creating durable pathways to growth... READ MORE https://thisweekinpalestine.com/from-aid-to-agency/

The Palestinian Diaspora

A Strategic Asset for the Tech Sector

By Feras Nasr

The Palestinian diaspora refers to the large community of Palestinians living outside historic Palestine, forming transnational networks connected to their homeland. Currently, nearly 8 million Palestinians live outside historic Palestine, with the majority residing in the Middle East and around 1 million living in North and South America and the Far East. Despite decades of displacement, the Palestinian diaspora continues to maintain close ties to its homeland and plays a significant role in preserving Palestinian national identity while providing social, cultural, and economic support. 

Know Thy Heritage Diaspora Conference 2025.

Members of the Palestinian diaspora have achieved notable successes across various fields and have been advocates of the Palestinian cause around the world. Names include Edward Said in academia, Rashida Tlaib in politics, Amer Zaher and Mo Amer in arts and culture, and the Hadid family in fashion. As entrepreneurs and business executives, Palestinians have created enormous value with well-known leaders such as Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Elia Nuqul, Farouk Shami, Samer Khoury, Ibrahim Dabdoub, and others who have founded and led multinational enterprises. 

In addition to these well-known figures, the Palestinian diaspora includes countless individuals who provide vital support and solidarity to their homeland... READ MORE https://thisweekinpalestine.com/the-palestinian-diaspora/

 * Know Thy Heritage Leadership Program empowers Palestinian youth in the Diaspora by strengthening their knowledge of their Palestinian identity, culture, history, traditions, as well as their understanding of the Palestinian economic environment, political landscape, social structures and conditions.  https://www.kthps.org/

 

UpScrolled

Born from Resistance, Built for Digital Sovereignty

Courtesy of UpScrolled

We’re living in a world where mainstream social media platforms are actively suppressing voices that aren’t toeing the line. Freedom of speech has become monetized, colonized, and villainized. When an expression of solidarity or critical thinking results in users being shadowbanned, marginalized, or cancelled, the premise of real connection and human engagement turns into empty slogans and hollow promises. 

The throttling of Palestinian voices and the online deletion of the Palestinian struggle has made this undeniable. For over a year, independent journalists documenting Gaza have watched their reach collapse overnight. Accounts that built audiences over years suddenly couldn’t reach their own followers. Posts with verified footage were buried while misinformation circulated freely. They simply made it invisible. 

Founder of UpScrolled, Issam Hijazi, at Web Summit Qatar 2026.

UpScrolled was launched in 2024 by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist, with support from Tech for Palestine. The creation of UpScrolled was an act of resistance and solidarity. If a platform cannot advocate for everyone, then it becomes a mouthpiece for its billionaire founders’ agendas and just another place to gatekeep truth and determine what discourse does or does not have value... READ MORE  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/upscrolled/

PALESTINE PAINFULLY BEAUTIFUL

By Patricio Hales  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/palestine-painfully-beautiful/

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"This moment in Jerusalem feels heavy in a way that is hard to fully grasp. The Old City stands closed under the Israeli occupation, its narrow streets unusually silent, and for the first time in modern history, both Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been shut for such a prolonged period. Places that have always been alive with prayer, footsteps, and quiet devotion now feel distant, almost unreachable. For many, it is not just about restricted access, but about a deeper sense of separation from something sacred and rooted in identity. And still, people hold on, to faith, to memory, to the belief that these doors will open again, and that the life and spirit of Jerusalem will return to what it has always been." Palestinian Artist Sliman Mansour

Jerusalem (القدس), oil on canvas, 2010- Sliman Mansour.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWRYoApDR7R/    

sliman.mansour

This moment in Jerusalem feels heavy in a way that is hard to fully grasp. The Old City stands closed under the Israeli occupation, its narrow streets unusually silent, and for the first time in modern history, both Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been shut for such a prolonged period. Places that have always been alive with prayer, footsteps, and quiet devotion now feel distant, almost unreachable. For many, it is not just about restricted access, but about a deeper sense of separation from something sacred and rooted in identity. And still, people hold on, to faith, to memory, to the belief that these doors will open again, and that the life and spirit of Jerusalem will return to what it has always been.

 

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