Friday, June 5, 2026

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

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

"... Propaganda has proliferated: Israel has quintupled its PR budget to $730m to take control of the narrative. Criticizing Israel can now stop you from getting a green card in the US and, it would seem from the Piker decision, a visa to the UK. Despite all this, however, more people are coming to understand that what is happening to Palestinians is not complex; it is fundamentally wrong."

Why is Hasan Piker ‘not conducive to the public good’? Because on Gaza, we punish the witness, not the crime

Arwa Mahdawi

The UK has banned Piker and Cenk Uygur from entry – but the objectionable things they’ve said are not more dangerous than Israel itself

This week, the British government banned Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur, two leftwing US commentators with millions of followers, from entering the country on the grounds that their presence would not be “conducive to the public good”. It did not spell out what it meant by this very broad phrase, but Piker and Uygur have accused the government of denying them entry because of their prolific criticism of Israel. Some critics have accused the pair of antisemitism, which they deny.

A lot has been written about the Piker-Uygur ban, and I don’t think I need to litigate everything they have ever uttered here. They have undeniably said some objectionable things (Piker, for example, said some Orthodox Jews are “inbred”, which he later apologized for). What sort of speech crosses a line that makes you detrimental to the public good, is not clear, however. Conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro, for example, has said that “Arabs like to bomb crap and live in open sewage”. While he later apologized for this, he has repeatedly characterized Arabs as barbarians who “value murder”. The British government has never banned him from speaking in the UK.

Neither Piker nor Uygur have said anything that is more divisive or dangerous than former Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s declaration that all Palestinians were responsible for the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023. A UN commission of inquiry found that Herzog incited the commission of genocide with this statement and said that his later modifications of that utterance were an effort “to deflect responsibility for the initial statement”. Still, the British seem fine with that first statement: Herzog met with Keir Starmer in London in 2025. Clearly that meeting was deemed to be conducive to the public good.

But, again, I don’t want to pronounce on each of Piker or Uygur’s statements here. I don’t want to fall into the trap of making this a story about two American commentators or the limits of free speech. Because at its heart, the Piker-Uygur ban is about a far more insidious issue. It’s about what Britain, and the US and Israel, wants us to believe is “good” – about the way in which our fundamental sense of what is “good” and “bad” are being manipulated.

Wherever you live, whatever you believe, wherever you sit on the political spectrum, most of us have a shared understanding of basic moral concepts, of what is good and what is bad. We understand that children are innocent and should not be killed in the thousands. We understand that a region’s healthcare system should not be systematically wiped out and medics targeted. We understand that there should be laws around warfare to protect civilians. We understand that people should not be expelled en masse from their land, their homes replaced with luxury settlements. We understand that collective punishment is a crime, one that is very much not “conducive to the public good”.

None of the above is complex, no matter what some people would have you believe. I come back to the diaries of American peace activist Rachel Corrie often because they very eloquently show how there is no room for moral confusion when you are watching atrocities unfold in front of your own eyes. When Corrie went to Gaza in 2003, more than two decades before 7 October 2023, she wrote how nothing could have prepared her for what she was seeing, which she characterized as “a somewhat gradual – often hidden, but nevertheless massive – removal and destruction of the ability of a particular group of people to survive”. It terrified her, she said. “I just want to write to my mom and tell her that I’m witnessing this chronic, insidious genocide and I’m really scared, and questioning my fundamental belief in the goodness of human nature,” Corrie wrote. Not long after writing this, she was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to save a Palestinian home in Rafah from destruction. Now, of course, the entirety of Rafah, once home to 275,000 people, has been razed to the ground.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/04/uk-hasan-piker-ban-israel

Thursday, June 4, 2026

UN experts warn about escalating Israeli settler terror and existential risk posed to Palestinian communities. “Attacks serve as instrument of coercion in the hands of the occupying power, facilitating ethnic cleansing.”

UN Special Procedures

@UN_SPExperts

#Palestine: UN experts warn about escalating #Israeli settler terror and existential risk posed to Palestinian communities. “Attacks serve as instrument of coercion in the hands of the occupying power, facilitating ethnic cleansing.” ohchr.org/en/press-relea

https://x.com/UN_SPExperts/status/2061433883657146441

GENEVA – UN experts* today issued a stark warning about surging Israeli settler terror in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the existential risk it poses to Palestinian communities’ presence on the land.

“Relentless attacks by the settler-colonial movement, carried out with the support and acquiescence of the Israeli State, have become a daily terror in Palestinian lives, sowing fear, uncertainty, and profound insecurity that inevitably compels the forcible displacement of the indigenous population,” the experts said. “The escalating violence, carried out with full impunity, serves as an instrument of coercion in the hands of the occupying power, facilitating ethnic cleansing.”

The experts noted a sharp increase in the number of Palestinians killed or injured in settler attacks in 2026. “Settler brutality has reached unprecedented levels this year, with at least thirteen Palestinians killed and close to five hundred injured in five months. Both fatalities and injuries are outpacing figures from previous years,” they said.

Whilst no part of the West Bank has been spared, the continued displacement of Palestinians would expose approximately 663 km² of land to further settlement expansion. Palestinian communities in Area C – which remains under full Israeli military and civil control – are disproportionately affected. This is particularly acute in the Jordan Valley and South Hebron Hills, where communities bear a heavy burden of violence and displacement. In communities such as Masafer Yatta, near-daily raids by Israeli settlers and occupying forces have become a pervasive feature of daily life.

“Violence is used as a calculated, targeted tool to deny Palestinians access to essential services, agricultural and grazing areas, with the ultimate aim of severing the people's connection to the land,” the experts said.

A stark example of this is the village of Umm al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills. It is now encircled by the Carmel settlement and a new outpost, for which construction began in July 2025. The community has faced repeated water and electricity cuts, demolitions, and violent attacks by settlers. In July, a human rights defender from the community was shot and killed, allegedly by an armed, sanctioned settler, during protests against that construction.... READ MORE https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/occupied-palestinian-territory-un-experts-alarmed-escalating-settler-terror

The Palestine Industry: The Rats of Gaza and the Opportunists among Us: The struggle for Palestinian freedom must remain anchored in the soil of Gaza. The global solidarity movement must not be permitted to mutate into a careerist industry.- By Ramzy Baroud

Volunteers in Gaza spray pesticides in an effort to combat rodents and insects. (Photo: via QNN)

By Ramzy Baroud

It all started with a call to my family in a displacement camp in northern Gaza.

Since internet lines rarely stay connected, I managed to send a message to the widow of my cousin—who was killed along with all of his sons during the ongoing Gaza genocide. I asked her a simple question: what do Gazans want?

My purpose was to gather raw testimonies from her neighbors to weave into a letter to a European official whose country is active in pursuing justice for Palestinians. I chose this approach to bypass clichéd political discourse and avoid the pitfall of speaking on behalf of those enduring genocide and famine. Palestinians in Gaza are entirely capable of speaking for themselves.

The responses, however, reframed my entire approach. While I am deeply tied to my community in Gaza, I had anticipated a direct focus on macro-political language—on statehood, rights, and global justice. Instead, I was met with the visceral reality of immediate physical survival.

“We want a life… we want a dignified life,” she said. “A dignified life with food, water, and even the ability to breathe. One feels so suffocated. We need so many things… so, so many things. We need psychological support, financial support, and moral support.”

Another neighbor said: “They (Israel) fight us with everything, absolutely everything; even when we are sleeping in our beds .. the mosquitoes drain us. Insects and rats are all around us, fleas, and the heat is killing us. There are no fans and there is no electricity.”

Yes, many spoke about Karameh (dignity), hurriye (freedom), and Haq al-Awda (the Right of Return), but these broad political and social rights were almost always tied directly to the everyday struggle for education, for water, for basic medical care, and—against rats.

The rats. This is the recurring nightmare in the minds of Gazan parents who find themselves unable to protect their children even from rodents. Nearly two million Palestinians remain displaced in horrific conditions, trapped in barely 40 percent of an already tiny, besieged Strip.

I spent the day trying to process the pain, grief, and humble expectations of these proud people.

Yet later that evening, a seemingly separate matter came to my attention. I learned of two characters—Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian from the 1948 areas, and Maoz Inon, an Israeli—who have been touring for months, promoting what they call their ‘The Future Is Peace’ tour.

These two individuals have achieved global celebrity status, sitting down with the likes of famed US comedian Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and ultimately meeting with Pope Francis himself.

To the unexamined eye, the two are peddling a message of ‘peace’ and ‘forgiveness’, routinely staging a display where they forgive each other at the end of their talks. All of this serves as a promotional springboard for their week-long ‘peace tour’ inside Israel, sold commercially at the competitive price of $4,200 per person, air tickets excluded.

The sad truth is that this corporate approach to ‘peacebuilding’ is not unique; it is a symptom of a broader trend exploiting Palestine. Even more tragically, many individual Palestinians have capitalized on the well-intentioned but often misunderstood concept of ‘centering Palestinian voices’ to accumulate personal wealth, status, and prestige, while their own brethren cannot find drinkable water and teeter on the brink of starvation.

The Arabic maxim, famous in Palestine for generations, has long contended that “the revolution is a tree watered by the blood of the martyrs, and its fruits are plucked by the opportunists and the cowards.”

Shouldn’t mass extermination be a moral threshold that stops opportunists from feeding their pathological greed?

Desperate for solidarity, Palestinians in Gaza continue to hope that global efforts will eventually aid their raw struggle for freedom, dignity, clean water, and relief from the rats. And millions worldwide are indeed well-meaning; they care about Gaza in ways that no social media post can ever capture.

The crisis is that the balance between genuine solidarity and outright exploitation at times risks tipping in favor of the exploiters. We are witnessing the rise of a lucrative cult of personality, built on high speaker fees and business-class tickets, circumnavigating the globe under the guise of advocacy... READ MORE https://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-palestine-industry-the-rats-of-gaza-and-the-opportunists-among-us/

The real function of the so-called Board of Peace was not to stop the genocide, but to manage perceptions while it continues

A Palestinian boy stands by the rubble of a residential building targeted overnight by an Israeli strike in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on 24 May, 2026 (AFP)

Eid in Gaza was another bloodbath. The ceasefire is a lie

Soumaya Ghannoushi

3 June 2026

Eid has just ended. Across much of the Muslim world, families gathered around tables, children wore new clothes, and homes echoed with laughter and celebration.

While communities elsewhere marked the occasion with joy and togetherness, Gaza endured another season of grief, displacement and death.

The images that emerged from Gaza during Eid al-Adha were not isolated tragedies. They were a glimpse into the reality that continues every day behind the convenient fiction that the war has somehow ended.

One image showed a mother, Hidayah, taking her daughters shopping for Eid clothes. The girls entered the shop while she remained outside. Moments later, an Israeli strike hit. They rushed back out in panic only to find their mother lying dead in the street, soaked in blood.

Another clip lasted only seconds. Amid the ruins of a building destroyed by an Israeli air strike, a man held the body of a small girl in his hands. Her body was shattered, charred and covered in blood. As he lifted her from the rubble, he screamed: "This is the first day of Eid!"

A third image showed tents burning in the darkness of an Eid night. Even the makeshift shelters of the displaced are not spared. It is no longer enough that Palestinians have been driven from their homes; even the scraps of canvas under which they seek refuge have become targets.

A meaningless ceasefire

These scenes were not anomalies. According to the United Nations and humanitarian organisations, more than 26 Palestinians, largely women and children, were killed during the first days of Eid alone.

On the first day of Eid al-Adha, an Israeli strike in central Gaza City reportedly killed at least 10 people, including four girls, one boy and three women.

For the victims, the debate over whether there is a ceasefire is meaningless. They are dead either way.

That is the great deception at the heart of the current discourse on Gaza.

The United Nations reports that Israeli forces have killed around 1000 Palestinians since the October ceasefire was announced, bringing the overall death toll since October 2023 to nearly 73,000. Thousands more are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

The reality is stark. Palestinians largely adhered to the ceasefire. Israel did not. Yet, Western governments, media organisations and political establishments continue to speak as though a ceasefire exists.

The new definition appears to be that Israel may continue carrying out air strikes, shooting civilians, demolishing homes and killing Palestinians on a near-daily basis, and the world will still describe the situation as a ceasefire. The moment a single bullet is fired from Gaza, however, headlines fill with accusations of violations and escalation.

This fiction serves an obvious purpose. It removes Gaza from the headlines, lowers public scrutiny and allows Israel to continue its assault while political leaders present themselves as peacemakers... READ MORE https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-eid-bloodbath-ceasefire-lie

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

"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.

Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting- Community Awareness Initiative | Your voice matters. Report. Engage. Protect. ... Key Concerns with AI Data Centers USA "When residents and councils want time to study the impact before approving more data centers, they're enacting temporary pauses. These moratoriums vary in duration and scope, but they share a goal: don't let the buildout get ahead of the planning."

AI Data Centers &
Our Communities

An initiative by Erin · Environmental Advocate

"The RACE to build AI infrastructures is unfolding town by town across America. In some places, data centers are welcomed. In others, they are delayed, contested or abandoned altogether. This MAP captures the real-world footprint of that race — revealing patterns of growth, conflict and uncertainty.

I am watching as YOU, the communities show up and speak out. In the famous words of Mark Twain … “The secret of getting ahead is getting started,” so let’s go!

— Erin" https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/index.html

⚡

Energy Consumption

High energy usage contributes to significant environmental impact and escalating costs for surrounding communities.

💧

Water Usage

Cooling systems often require substantial water resources, straining local water supplies and ecosystems.

♻️

E-Waste

Frequent hardware upgrades and replacements generate significant volumes of electronic waste.

🌊

Location Risks

Natural disasters, flooding, or geopolitical instability can disrupt operations and impact local infrastructure.

📈

Scalability & Efficiency

Growing demand strains local resources and infrastructure, often outpacing community planning capacity.

🔊

Noise

Constant humming from cooling systems, generators, and substations can disrupt sleep, daily life, and wildlife in surrounding neighborhoods.

AI Data Centers Across the United States

A map of major AI data centers in the U.S. that are either operational or under construction, overlaid with locations where community members have emailed in concerns. Click any marker for details.

Operational

built & running

Under Construction

announced or building

Proposed

in pipeline / pending approval

3674

Community Reported

locations nationwide

Last updated: May 28, 2026

Not all DATA centers are on this map

There are over 4,000 data centers operating in the U.S., many built before the AI boom. This map isn't intended to show every data center. It's focused on locations where community members are actively voicing concerns.

https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/index.html

Communities Making a Difference

Across the U.S., residents, town councils, planning boards, and lawmakers are organizing, voting, and litigating to shape how AI data centers come to their towns. Here are concrete examples of that work — drawn from the 2,971+ reports Erin has received from 49 states, and from coverage by reputable news outlets.

15+

Moratoria & Pauses

passed at the local, county, or state level

66%

Voter Approval

for Port Washington's nation-first referendum

Council Members Ousted

in Festus, MO after a data center vote

19%

Reports Citing Secrecy

of community submissions mention NDAs, secret deals, meetings, or no public voice

⏸️Moratoriums & Pausestowns and counties pressing the brakes

When residents and councils want time to study the impact before approving more data centers, they're enacting temporary pauses. These moratoriums vary in duration and scope, but they share a goal: don't let the buildout get ahead of the planning.

https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/community-impact.html

DATA Center backlash grows

In perspective... the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms..

A gold cup at the National Museum of Iran, from the first half of the 1st millennium BC

1776 Declaration of Independence USA National Archives

Cedar Tree of Lebanon

1920 With the end of World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies give France a mandate over Greater Syria... France divides Greater Syria into Syria and Lebanon

1948 End of the Nazi Holocaust & the emergence of The United Nations, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international law...

United Nations

Preamble

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms... READ MORE https://www.unonline.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.html

Golden Rule Thinking

FREEDOM OF & FROM RELIGION

Jesus Christ in Palestine AD 28-29 ancient mosaic from Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

Palestine - A crossroads for religion, culture, commerce, and politics, Palestine was among the earliest regions to see human habitation, agricultural communities and civilization.

Iran 559 BC

America 1776 AD

Lebanon 1920 AD

Israel 1948 AD

Hezboullah 1982 AD

The Guardian view on Trump and Lebanon: civilians need lasting peace, not short-term patches. The US president seeks to curb Israel’s intensified offensive as he looks for an exit from war with Iran, but turmoil in the Middle East will not easily be ended

The southern Lebanese port city of Tyre was targeted by Israeli airstrikes on 2 June 2026. Photograph: Marwan Naamani/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Editorial

“Let’s see how long that lasts,” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday night, addressing his attempts to de-escalate in Lebanon following Israel’s intensified military campaign. Within hours, Israeli drone strikes had killed eight people in the south, including a father and his two children, and damaged a hospital. Hezbollah continued launching rockets and drones.

Anxious to escape the illegal war that he launched on Iran, and with Tehran threatening to suspend peace talks over the Israeli offensive, the US president reined in Benjamin Netanyahu – for now – in what was described as an expletive-laden phone call. Mr Trump’s post, despite its unusual admission of doubt, still oversold the agreement. He claimed that Hezbollah and Israel had agreed to “stop all shooting”. Lebanon’s presidency suggested a more limited deal: Israel would not strike Beirut’s southern suburbs if Hezbollah did not launch attacks against Israel.

That people are discussing de-escalation at all when a ceasefire is already supposed to be in place epitomises the cruelty of this conflict. The truce has not prevented Israel killing hundreds of people in Lebanon, including civilians, and it had intensified its offensive in late May. Mr Trump’s intervention appeared on Tuesday to have achieved – for however long – a return to a lower rate of death.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/02/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-lebanon-civilians-need-lasting-peace-not-short-term-patches

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

Labels

Friday, June 5, 2026

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.

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

Why is Hasan Piker ‘not conducive to the public good’? Because on Gaza, we punish the witness, not the crime

Thursday, June 4, 2026

UN experts warn about escalating Israeli settler terror and existential risk posed to Palestinian communities. “Attacks serve as instrument of coercion in the hands of the occupying power, facilitating ethnic cleansing.”

The Palestine Industry: The Rats of Gaza and the Opportunists among Us: The struggle for Palestinian freedom must remain anchored in the soil of Gaza. The global solidarity movement must not be permitted to mutate into a careerist industry.- By Ramzy Baroud