By S. Amjad Hussain

Mar/Apr 25

After 15 months of relentless bombing of Gaza in which much of the walled-off territory was reduced to rubble and more than 64,000 civilians were killed (as calculated by The Lancet journal in January 2025), Israel has agreed to a ceasefire. In essence, the conditions of this ceasefire render it identical to the proposal that then-U.S. President Joe Biden announced last summer.

Why did it take more than six months to implement a proposal that had already been agreed upon? It seems that Israeli domestic politics got in the way. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government depends on the support of six extreme right parties that together make up 64 of the ruling coalition’s seats in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset.

These parties were set against the ceasefire and vowed to leave the government if Netanyahu agreed to it. Israel’s avowedly fascist Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was true to his word in this case and resigned his position in protest, but most of the others within the coalition stayed and saved the government from collapse.

The question remains: What made the Israeli government agree to a ceasefire in the first place? Israel felt pressured by the return of Trump. 

In the final negotiation, Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff (who is not a diplomat, but a New York real estate investor), played a pivotal role in pressuring Netanyahu to accept the deal that he had rejected many times before over the past year. Allegedly, Netanyahu was ultimately convinced to accept the deal when the Trump team also promised to empty the Gaza Strip of Palestinians. 

The ceasefire calls for phased release of Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But Palestinians in Israeli prisons are, in fact, hostages. When innocent men, women, and children are kidnapped from their homes in Gaza and on the West Bank and kept in administrative detention without being charged with any crime, they are hostages held by the occupying state. And when these hostages are “tried” in Israeli military courts, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Israeli military courts have a higher than 95% conviction rate for Palestinian defendants since 1967.

The ceasefire also calls for an increase in the flow of food into the Gaza strip. During their assault on Gaza, Israel allowed in a fraction of the food that was ready to enter the Strip. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch stated that Israel was using starvation as a weapon. In the first three days after the ceasefire, though, at least 2,400 food and aid trucks entered Gaza.

However, the ceasefire is, at best, a murky arrangement as Israel continues its aggression in what is left to Palestinians in the West Bank. And considering the power held by the Israeli lobby on the American political establishment, it cannot be ruled out that Israel would find some flimsy excuse to restart their genocide against the Palestinians once all of its people have been retrieved. 

One wonders why Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were not able to accomplish what Trump did even before becoming president? The simple answer is pressure.

Biden refused to use America’s enormous leverage against Israel and continued sending billions in military aid to a state committing genocide until the very end of their administration. But as the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz put it succinctly, Israel only understands force. By not using political leverage while at the same time repeating the fatuous mantra of two-state solution, Biden and Blinken were really talking from both sides of their mouths. As a result, over the course of the past four years, we have seen precious little accomplished by the Biden administration to achieve any sort of peace in the Middle East.

On Jan. 15, 2025, Blinken addressed the Atlantic Council think tank, stating: “It is time to forge a new reality in the Middle East in which all people are more secure, all can realize their national aspirations, all can live in peace. Is that hard to achieve? Yes. Peace in the region has always been. Is it impossible? No. Is it necessary? Absolutely, yes.”

The ad nauseum repetition of a two-state solution has become a joke, especially coming from the former U.S. Secretary of State. More than any other person in Biden’s circle, Blinken knew that Israel would never agree to a two-state solution.

Trump injected another element into this complex equation when he suggested the idea of having Indonesia take in one million-plus Palestinians. No sooner had he made that ridiculous suggestion than he lobbed another idiotic bombshell, asking Jordan and Egypt to take refugees from Gaza. Upon finding no response, he even brought up the possibility of bringing Albania into the deal.

Trump is parroting the views of Israeli, American, British, and European right-wing politicians. They want to build Jewish settlements in Gaza by “voluntary” repatriation of Gazans to other Arab countries. In common parlance, Trump’s proposal is nothing more than ethnic cleansing.

For Palestinians it is a double whammy. First a genocide with the tacit approval of the United States and now an attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza for good.

It is said that Arab countries have sold their honor and traditions to the interests of the United States. Following this line of thought, the Jimmy Carter engineered Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt was the first step in this surrender. Subsequently other Arab countries – typically ruled by despots – have also given up on solidarity with Palestine mostly in exchange for American military products and/or protection. 

And now the Abraham Accords have brought most Arab countries into the United States’ sphere of interest and in turn, into Israel’s. The only notable regional hold out so far is Saudi Arabia.

Considering Trump’s propensity to retaliate against those who refuse to buckle under his dictates, it is not beyond him to issue an ultimatum to his Arab client states to either toe the line or be ready for retaliation.

That is why it is time that all Arab countries come together and devise a common strategy for the future of the Middle East that is based on their shared history and values. Only then Palestine will have a true ally in the region. 

S. Amjad Hussain, MD, FRCSC, FACS, D.Sc. honoris causa, is Emeritus Professor of Cardiothoracic surgery at the College of Medicine and Life Sciences; and Emeritus Professor of Humanities, College of Arts and Letters University of Toledo.

An earlier version was published in The Blade of Toledo, Ohio, on January 29, 2025.

The post Israel Has Committed Genocide in Gaza appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Charlie Jaay 

Jan/Feb 25

Education is a fundamental human right according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet Israel’s occupying forces have, in one year, damaged or destroyed over 90% of Gaza’s schools and all its universities. In addition, Gaza’s Ministry of Education says that 11,852 students have been killed and 18,959 injured since the beginning of Israel’s invasion of Gaza following Oct. 7 2024. Additionally, more than 560 teachers and administrators have been killed and an additional 3,729 have been injured throughout Palestine during this period. 362 government schools, universities and their buildings, and 65 affiliated with UNRWA have been bombed and/or vandalized in Gaza. This systemic and widespread destruction and the arrest, detention or killing of teachers, students and staff, has led UN experts to ask that Israel’s comprehensive destruction of  the Palestinian education system be labeled as “scholasticide”.  There is also evidence to suggest this is part of a wider campaign to make Gaza uninhabitable and to erase Palestinian life from the region.

Learning has been severely disrupted for all of Gaza’s 625,000 school-aged children, and the lives and livelihoods of its almost 23,000 teachers have been hugely impacted. As of January 2025, More than 70,000 tons of bombs have been dropped, turning Gaza into a vast wasteland of rubble. Massacres have become the norm, with entire families wiped off the civil registry. At least 16,500 of the over 42,500 people killed have been children, leading the UN to declare Gaza as the most dangerous place in the world to be a child. The U.N. Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released Oct. 21, 2024, that if the war ends tomorrow and Gaza returns to the status quo before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, it could take 350 years for its battered economy to return to its precarious prewar level.

A new report from the University of Cambridge and the Centre for Lebanese Studies in partnership with the UNRWA is the first to quantify the toll Israel’s genocide in Gaza has had on children, young people and teachers, and includes many interviews with vital actors in the field.

Learning Loss Has Accumulated in Gaza

Researchers of that report found that between 2019 and August 2024, schoolchildren in Gaza had already lost the equivalent of two academic years because of Covid-19 and Israel’s 2021 bombing campaign. As a result, a “learning poverty,” the proportion of children unable to read a basic text by age 10, has increased by at least 20%.

“We have accumulated a loss of learning. That which accumulated before the war, and another new loss that is happening now. The younger you are the more difficult it is to make it up. If this is prolonged – and we are moving into a protracted conflict – we are basically saying that a whole generation will be uneducated. It is not known when children will go back to school,” said Professor Maha Shuayb, director of the Centre for Lebanese Studies.

Shuayb is worried the daily attacks on Gaza’s schools will now spread to Lebanon and prevent children there from attending school. “That’s my worst nightmare, but that’s what happens when no one makes sure international law is protected. Schools have been systematically attacked, and huge numbers of children systematically killed or disabled, yet we seem unable to do anything. We are facing a really, really serious issue,” she added.

If Israel’s war on Gaza continues until 2026, the report suggests students would lose five years of education, and this is without taking into account the additional effects of mass displacement, hunger, disease, and trauma which are affecting the vast majority of the population. Life is being decimated in Gaza. Children have witnessed horrific things, which have left them with deep scars, and they are losing so much in terms of hope, a future, and human rights. This will change the way they see the world.

Gaza – A Child’s Mental Health Crisis in the Making

“Teachers told us of the difficulties they face when trying to educate their students about democracy, human rights, and international conventions in law, when all they see on a daily basis is that they are being abandoned,” said Yusuf Sayed, Professor of Education at the University of Cambridge.

The international community has failed Gaza’s children. More than 19,000 are orphaned, and many thousands have life changing injuries. Even before the events of Oct. 7, 98,000 children already had a disability. Their challenges have now worsened due to inaccessible shelters, lack of essential services and loss of  assistive devices, which are now entirely unavailable, as Israel prevented their entry into the Strip. Before Israel’s latest military offensive, more than 500,000 children were already in need of Mental Health and Psychosocial support in the Gaza Strip. Today, the figure is one million.

“Adults and children alike have undergone tremendous shock and suffering, with physical and mental scars that are shaping their world view and threatening their faith in any future, let alone in human rights,” said UNRWA Spokesperson Jonathan Fowler. “The consequences of constant military operations and forced displacement are taking a heavy toll on people’s mental health, and have exacerbated a preexisting mental health crisis, which was conditioned by years of blockade and recurrent hostilities. UNRWA social workers report a surge in symptoms of depression, stress, anxiety, and trauma among the people they serve – one that is especially noticeable among children, who have been bearing the brunt of this brutal war. In Gaza, every second person is a child. So, this is a children’s mental health crisis.”

Education Brings Hope to Gaza’s Children

Palestine has one of the world’s highest literacy rates, and Palestinians invest a huge amount in education as it provides their young people with the skills and knowledge needed to advocate for their rights, and contribute to their communities, and gives them hope. It also helps preserve Palestinian history, culture, and identity, and is a source of pride and identity for the population.

Some may see education as a luxury, especially when people are dying from hunger, and essential food and medical aid is blocked from entering Gaza. But the report reminds us that education offers much more than just academic achievement for these children. Children in Gaza have just been surviving – nothing more. There is a real need for some normalcy, a future vision and, in this respect, education is extremely important. 

School buildings that have not been destroyed have been repurposed as emergency shelters for some of Gaza’s 1.9 million internally displaced people, but these are extremely overcrowded and lack basic resources. They too have become the targets of Israeli attacks even though, under international humanitarian law, schools are protected during conflict.

Salem Abu Musleh, Ph.D. works for the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and is the Gaza coordinator of the Palestine Astrophysics Program. He and his family have been displaced several times due to the bombing and have been forced to travel backwards and forwards between Khan Younis and Rafah, looking for a safe place to stay. His son had been offered a scholarship to study in Turkey but has been unable to take up the offer, due to the border closure. Abu Musleh is now in Khan Younis teaching 14- to 18-year-olds. He says his classes – which take place either outside, in good weather, or in a tent that has been converted into a classroom – aim to not only increase his pupil’s knowledge, but also help with their psychological rehabilitation. 

“We use astrophysics to help our students express their feelings,” he said. “By teaching them about the sky, the stars and the galaxies, we try and give these girls and boys hope, and show them they can do, they can learn, and they can continue their lives, in spite of the war and the bad situation here in Gaza.”

Emergency Education Efforts Threatened by Restrictions Imposed by Israel

Although their rights are constantly violated, Palestinians are known for their resilience, and Israel’s attempts to erase them are constantly thwarted. Emergency education efforts are now on the rise all over Gaza. Small-scale initiatives, like Abu Musleh’s, aim to keep children learning and minimize the impacts of the genocide on their mental health. Temporary Learning Spaces provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs provide over 30,000 school-aged children with mental health support and essential literacy and numeracy skills. In August, UNRWA also began its “back to learning” program, which includes games, drama, arts, music and sports activities to try to the war’s impact on children’s mental health. 

But these emergency education efforts also face serious problems. They are not only threatened by ongoing Israeli violations, but also by the weather. Current restrictions on the entry of waterproof tents, and similar materials, mean that many are expected to face flooding without proper protection rendering makeshift schools inaccessible due to heavy rains during winter. 

“Now we are looking for plastic to cover some of the places, to protect our students from rain. We face such a great problem. There are no materials here, no plastic comes here. We have found some old plastic, but it’s not enough to cover the main area, so the problem still exists,” said Abu Musleh. 

Although the report focuses on schools, school-aged children and young people, university students have also suffered greatly. Sixth year medical student, Mohammed Al Zebda attended Gaza’s Al- Azhar University but, like many, was unable to take his final exams and graduate this year because Israel bombed his university. His educational journey took a drastic turn for the worst.

No Safe Place in Gaza

“As a student, my primary focus shifted to finding a safe place for me and my mother, and ensuring we had enough food, water and other necessities. It was nearly impossible to think about education while the Israeli army was bombing everywhere, and there was no safe place in Gaza,” Al Zebda.

He used to live in a beautiful area near to Al Shifa Hospital in Central Gaza but was displaced from his home within the first week of Israel’s bombing campaign.

“We took only the most necessary things – passport, essential papers, laptop, phone and some clothes. I remember each of my family members carrying a bag filled with clothes and important documents, nothing more,” he said. “Every previous war had lasted only one or two months, but we soon found this war was far more aggressive and unimaginable. My family and I were displaced four times, and this was an extremely tiring and stressful situation. During this time, I wished I could die, and my family and I witnessed death multiple times.”

In August 2023, he traveled to London to take part in a plastic surgery course in an effort to help the injured, and put his new skills to good use. For five months, Al Zebda assisted in a hospital emergency room and burns department.

“I saw and witnessed massacres right before my eyes; children without hands, without ears, and without legs, dead people, and injuries I had never studied before. I encountered difficult cases, including children with burned-out skulls, with their brains exposed outside their skulls,” he said.

In May, after waiting a month for his name to be called out, and paying $5000, Al Zebda managed to leave Gaza for Egypt, where he is now continuing his studies and working with Children Not Numbers to help injured children travel outside Gaza to receive treatment. He said that he is very grateful to this NGO for supporting his education, and now feels safe although he was “forced to start from zero.”

Immense Suffering of Faculty Staff and Students

Dr. Mohamed Riyad Zughbur, has been dean of the Palestine Faculty of Medicine at Al Azhar University for the past five years, and is one of Al Zebda’s lecturers. His home was blasted at the start of Israel’s bombing and he was displaced many times before reaching the safety of Egypt where he now resides. While recounting the university’s destruction, and the many deaths of faculty students and staff, Zughbur said he feels “indescribable sadness and pain.” Two of hi relatives attended the university but lost their lives when they were bombed by F-16 aircraft. Ten months later, their bodies were pulled out from the rubble.

“Some students are the last in their family to be killed by Israel, and that family is then permanently removed from the civil registry,” he said. “And there are students whose family members have all been killed, and they remain alive alone, struggling to survive. And there are students in the Faculty of Medicine who had limbs amputated after the bombing.’’

Al-Azhar’s Faculty of Medicine, which was established in 1999, was the first medical faculty in the Gaza Strip. Last year, Israeli forces bombed the building, destroying Zughbur’s dream of further developing the facility. “It is now 75% destroyed, and the infrastructure including sewage, communications and electricity, like everywhere else in Gaza, is no longer functioning,” he said. “After it was bombed, the Israeli army came in and destroyed laboratories and university archives, bulldozed lecture halls and looted the new laboratories.” 

The university resumed clinical training in late April, and an e-learning platform has been available for the rest of the university since June. Lectures are either through Zoom meetings or recorded and uploaded for students. However, there are still huge problems to face, with many faculty members struggling to protect their families and often not having enough food and water. Most are living in tents, so also struggle to charge their mobiles and phones, and lack internet.

But Zughbur said that despite the bombing, killing, and forced displacement, those students who have stayed in Gaza are committed to their training and are continuing their studies despite all the difficulties in their daily lives. No doubt, these students will play an important part in helping to rebuild Gaza’s health system when rebuilding starts, yet again.

Educational Resources in Short Supply, Even Before Oct. 7

Dr. Mohammed Albaba is the dean of Al-Azhar University’s Faculty of Dentistry, and the only staff member from his faculty who is still in Gaza. The others have left to safer places such as Egypt.

Since withdrawing its forces from Gaza in 2005, Israel has carried out five bombing campaigns there, and continues its 17-year land, sea and air blockade, heavily restricting many imports and virtually all exports, further isolating the strip. As a result, there is a complete lack of educational resources including books, pens, and paper. This problem has been exacerbated since Oct. 7.

“In terms of education, the blockade really affects our faculty’s improvement, and therefore our education level in Gaza,” said Albaba. “If I want some equipment for our university, it may take months or even years to get them here, if it arrives at all. But the blockade doesn’t just include equipment and goods, but also people. We faced, and continue to face, a real problem in travelling. For example, if there is a dental conference abroad, this would be impossible to go to.” 

There are two options for those wanting to leave Gaza – either to cross the border with Israel, which is almost impossible for Palestinians, or to cross by the Rafah Crossing, the border with Egypt. Even before Israel’s latest military attack, those crossing the Egyptian border had to pay the authorities thousands of dollars, but Albaba says this cost has now risen sharply.

Cost of Living Crisis has Led to a Staff Shortage

“The cost of crossing the border has now tripled since the start of the war,” Albaba said. “This is a total mess, and it’s impossible to improve anything. It does not only affect education. Many patients from Gaza face death, as they cannot afford to cross the border to seek medical treatment. Considering the situation people face, it’s also impossible for many of them to afford to leave Gaza, if they wanted to.”

This latest Israeli aggression has changed the lives of the people of Gaza beyond recognition, and they are exhausted. In common with Zughbur, Albaba has lost his home and has not been paid any wages but is continuing to volunteer as a Dean of the faculty because he is trying to help his students finish their education.

“The last time I was paid was two months ago,” he said. “The university hasn’t paid us any salary, because it has been destroyed. People have lost their lives, their homes, their money, so there is no income. But at the same time, we are trying to educate the students. Most of the University’s staff have now left Gaza, and are seeking jobs abroad, but we need staff, and they need financial support to continue their lives, and continue to work with their students.”

The huge financial problems have led to a staff shortage, so Albaba is looking for volunteer staff outside of Gaza, through Academic Solidarity With Palestine, a nonprofit which has proven invaluable to the many educational facilities in the region looking for volunteers at this difficult time. Al-Azhar used to be financed through student tuition fees, and some international support for the educational system, but this has all stopped. The university has been destroyed and the fees are not being paid. This is an extreme challenge as circumstances are especially difficult, and prices extremely high, while employees still need to support their families. But it is not only staff members who are suffering from financial hardship.

“Considering What Other People are Going Through, My Situation is Perfect!“

“Even if students have internet connections, many students don’t have the equipment. You at least need a laptop, but due to the financial problems people are facing they are now selling their laptops and their phones. They are even selling their clothes,” he said.

Lecturers and students alike are facing severe problems, not only with lack of internet, water and electricity, but also finding safe spaces to stay. Albaba has been displaced nine times since last October.

“You keep moving because you are running from the ground invasion, from place to place, looking for somewhere safe,” he said. “I have stayed with relatives, lived in a tent, rented a room for $500 a month which was not suitable for human beings, and now there are 10 of us, including my wife and son, staying in a store. This is my situation. It isn’t easy but considering what other people are going through, it’s perfect!”

Albaba considers himself lucky because he can, at the moment, cope with the financial problems he is facing, but says many other people unfortunately do not have this ability. Still, he is undecided about his future.

“This is my job. I want to stay in Gaza, but unfortunately after the war there will be nothing left here,” he said. “It’s a very difficult situation. I can’t explain in details what we are facing, but for now I am trying to do my best to help the students, as I am still in Gaza now although the other staff outside of Gaza are also supporting them.”

The future outcome of Gaza’s young people depends on when this war ends, and how quickly the education system is restored. 

Lack of Funding for Education

Once this genocide ends, there will be significant challenges in resuming the educational process. A permanent ceasefire is essential as a first step to rebuilding the education system. The blockade also needs to be lifted and the occupation ended. But children and young people cannot wait. They need access to safe educational spaces and learning activities now, to ensure their wellbeing. For this to happen there also must be increased educational funding. But funding has not been forthcoming. Every year, since 2003, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has launched a humanitarian appeal to support the Occupied Palestinian Territory, but education continues to be one of the least funded sectors. In this year’s $3.42 billion flash appeal, education received only 3.5% of the appeal funding. The United Kingdom only gives just over 2% of the appeal funding for education, while major donors such as the U.S. and Germany have completely neglected education in their aid packages.

When people are focused on a dire situation with loss of life, they think of the immediate emergency context, and not about education. But the report argues that there should not be a choice between one or the other. There needs to be adequate funding for both. For 76 years and counting, the international community has turned its back on the Palestinians, and their children. They should be given more than just the bare minimum to live, and need a secure future, with equal rights.

Education is central to stabilizing the decline in Gaza, and Sayed is still hopeful that the challenges can be met. “Things are bad, but if and when we get a permanent ceasefire, and allow things to stabilize, there is a strong possibility that with time, commitment and reconstruction that has Palestinians at the heart of it, we might be able to make up for some of the learning loss,” he said.

[Editor’s Note: Republished with permission. An earlier version of this report was first published in UK publication The Canary on 8 October, 2024, https://www.thecanary.co/long-read/2024/10/08/israel-gaza-education/).

The post Israel Has Devastated Gaza’s Education System appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Jay Willoughby

Nov/Dec 2024

On Oct. 7, 2023, Christian Zionism once again raised its ugly head in the U.S., this time in the guise of the Biden administration. A self-professed, life-long, practicing Catholic, he seems to have concluded that he can remain as such while violating its core values, such as “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12), “Be merciful” (Luke 6:36), and “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other” (Ephesians 4:32).

As of November 2024, Al Jazeera reports that Israel has killed 41,000+ people, including 11,000+ children. According to Bragi Guðbrandsson, Vice Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, “The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history. . . I don’t think we have seen before a violation that is so massive as we’ve seen in Gaza.” There is surely a staggeringly high number of even more dead in the omnipresent rubble.

Perhaps Biden believes that no Palestinian Christian children exist, or that if they do they are “less-than” and therefore unworthy. One wonders if he has even heard of Bethlehem-born Rev. Munther Isaac (academic dean, Bethlehem Bible College), who pastors Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church and Beit Sahour’s Lutheran Church. He states that at times the Christians were a majority; however, many of them left, either willingly or not, during the final days of the Ottoman Empire; the British didn’t allow them to return. Israel has only followed London’s example.

Rev. Isaac relates that, from what he has read, the Palestinian diaspora contains 500,000 or more Christians, and that close to 170,000 or 180,000 more live within historic Palestine – close to 130,000 of them in Israel; close to 45,000 in the Occupied Territories and West Jerusalem, and 900 to 1,000 in Gaza. He notes that 17 years ago there were maybe 3,000, but that the blockade made life so tough that they left whenever they could. 

Biden and the rest of us should watch the “Rev Munther Isaac says Palestinian Christians are under attack; that the West Bank is not livable” and “Christian Palestinian delegation describe ordeal of living under Israeli military occupation.” Christian Zionists and perhaps Western Christians in general appear to be unfazed that Jesus’ birthplace and Christianity’s homeland might one day contain no Christians. This unconcern might be generational, but it also reveals the power of ideology over the world’s largest religion.

Definition and a Little History

In her book, “Christian Zionism: Navigating the Jewish-Christian Border”, Faydra Shapiro, founder and executive director of the Israel Center for Jewish Christian Relations, writes, “In [Christian Zionists] reading of the Bible, God has decreed a special role and status for the Jews sealed in an eternal covenant, together with a promise to restore them to their land. Thus, Christian Zionists see their own solidarity with the Jews and the modern nation of Israel to be paying homage to the God of Israel.” 

Genesis 12:3 records Yahweh as saying that He will bless/curse those who bless/curse Israel. Christian Zionists contend that this statement is eternal and unconditional. In short, Israel can ignore its supposedly divine mission or not. Denise Bruno’s Aug. 22, 2024, article for the Times of Israel summarizes Israel’s mission as “to help the world see who God truly is: loving, just, merciful, and holy.”

According to Richard D. Land, writing for www.christianpost.com/ on March 23, 2015, “we are also admonished to support the Jews if we want to be blessed individually and collectively as a nation.” Just an aside to the Biden administration, Land also states that “If we really care about Israel, we are compelled to tell her when we believe she is acting wrongly or contrary to her self-interest.” 

Palestinian-Israeli History Didn’t Begin on Oct. 7, 2023

In fact, according to Netanyahu, it bean thousands of year ago. “You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. And we do remember.” According to Exodus 17:8-16, the Amalekites ambushed the Hebrews after they left Egypt. An enraged Yahweh swore, “I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven” and “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”

One should ask who the Amalekites are today, for “Forty-seven percent of Israeli Jews said in a poll conducted last month that Israel should ‘not at all’ consider the ‘suffering of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza’ in the next phase of fighting. Casting the enemy as Amalek reinforces that attitude.” Reporter Noah Lanard uses the following formation as his subheading: “His [Netanyahu’s] recent biblical reference has long been used by the Israeli far right to justify killing Palestinians.”

Rabbi Jill Jacobs (head of T’ruah, a rabbinical human rights organization) notes that “rabbis generally agree that Amalek no longer exists, and that references to it do not provide a morally acceptable justification for attacking anyone.” She further asserts that historically it has been seen as a metaphor commonly understood as to “stamp out evil inclinations within ourselves.” 

And yet, she continues, “it remains common for Israeli extremists to view Palestinians as modern-day Amalekites.” For example, in 1980, “Rabbi Israel Hess wrote an article that used the story of Amalek to justify wiping out Palestinians. Its title has been translated as “Genocide: A Commandment of the Torah,” as well as “The Mitzvah of Genocide in the Torah (Ibid).

Washington’s Blindspot 

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, from 1949-2023 the U.S. has given Israel $160,552.96 billion, $112,277.10 billion of which has been for “military” – the chart’s category – aid. Of course that figure has now increased by a quite a few more billions. 

The Biden administration announced Friday that it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel violated international law using U.S. weapons in its military campaign in Gaza. Perhaps the administration also believes that the best way to “mow the grass,” à la the Zionist entity, is to kill off the mothers so they can’t produce the next generation and to slaughter as many children as possible before they have a chance to reproduce. 

Or maybe this is Netanyahu’s version of the Great Replacement theory so beloved by certain Americans. After all, as Arnon Soffer (professor of geography, Haifa University), points out in the Times of Israel, “When the number of non-Israeli nationals is taken into consideration, it leaves the Jewish proportion at between 46% and 47% of the total.”

Maybe they’ve taken Josep Borrell’s (foreign policy chief, EU) Oct. 13, 2022, comment – since apologized for – to heart, “Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden. The gardeners should take care of it, but they will not protect the garden by building walls. . . A nice small garden surrounded by high walls in order to prevent the jungle from coming in is not going to be a solution. . . The gardeners have to go to the jungle.”

Stanley L. Cohen, an attorney and human rights activist who has done extensive work in the Middle East and Africa, identifies  an often overlooked fact: “In accordance with international humanitarian law, wars of national liberation have been expressly embraced, through the adoption of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, as a protected and essential right of occupied people everywhere.” Israel has not signed it; the U.S. has signed but not ratified it.

As University of North Texas professor Elizabeth Oldmixon remarks, “When we talk about the Holy Land, God’s promise of the Holy Land, we’re talking about real estate on both sides of the Jordan River. So the sense of a greater Israel and expansionism is really important to this community.”

Bump mentioned another interesting statistic found by The LifeWay poll: 80% of evangelicals believed Israel’s creation of Israel was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy that would bring about Christ’s return. A 2003 Pew Research Center poll revealed that about a third of Americans hold this view, while more than 60% evangelicals agreed.

Moreover, “What kick-starts the end times into motion is Israel’s political boundaries being reestablished to what God promised the Israelites according to the Bible,” Pastor Nate Pyle told Newsweek in 2018. The previous month, President Trump had recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and ordered the embassy moved there, much to the delight of countless Evangelicals.

A Major Christian Zionist Voice

Evangelical pastor John Hagee (founder, John Hagee Ministries; founder and chairman of Christians United for Israel), is “America’s most prominent Christian Zionist [known] for his controversial and violent views.” After all, how could he not be after making such a sensational statement [recorded by NBC] during the Nov. 14, 2023, “March for Israel” on the National Mall as “‘God sent a hunter’” and that Jews were killed “’because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.’” 

This was not just an off-the-cuff remark spoken in a moment of enthusiasm, for in a 1999 sermon he declared, “God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land” (He apologized almost a decade later, saying that “I grappled with the vexing question of why a loving God would allow the evil of the Holocaust to occur…I regret if my Jewish friends felt any pain as a result.”)

These comments reveal what really drives Christian Zionism: “Evangelicals believe that the rebirth of Israel is hastening not just the second coming of Christ, but a particular kind of second coming, one that includes fire, fury, and war that will consume the Jewish people … Evangelicals support Israel to hasten the apocalypse, while Israelis … humor the Evangelical community and milk that support for tourist dollars and political power.”

Jay Willoughby, former Islamic Horizons copyeditor, has retired to the Virginia Home for the Permanently Bewildered.

The post The Hold of Christian Zionism on American Evangelicals appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

Nov/Dec 2024

In recent years, popular social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have emerged as powerful tools for raising awareness and supporting humanitarian causes worldwide. Theve presented information that may not appear in traditional news outlets: supported the organization of demonstrations against foreign policy and illuminated protests against human rights violations. Currently, social media is also helping in raising funds for Palestinians suffering in Gaza.

TikTok Filters Help Raise Money and Awareness for Gaza

In November 2023, one month after the genocide started, a filter named FILTER FOR GOOD started making its way into young people’s TikTok feeds. Created with augmented reality (AR) effects — digitally-added objects, text, or images that enhance the real world seen through a phone, computer, or AR headset — by designer Jourdan Johnson (@xojourdanlouise), it allows users a free and easy way to donate to Palestinians. The more a filter is used, the more money it generates. Johnson has donated all the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders and to buy eSIMs for Palestinians to stay connected. 

While raising thousands of dollars, this filter has also opened a new pathway especially for young donors. Thousands of TikTok creators started making videos, filters, and sounds to donate the proceeds to Gaza. Using the watermelon emoji as a symbol of support for Palestine became popular as well, so that videos weren’t flagged or taken down.

These methods made it easy to help those in Gaza. Filming a video with a filter or sound takes less than 10 seconds; however, it could help a family evacuate. This online activism also educated many TikTokers about the conflict. 

Additionally, many Gazans have now turned to TikTok to raise donations directly. Palestinian families have created their own filters and sounds, and regularly post them on TikTok asking for contributions to their GoFundMe accounts. Many TikTokers use this platform to donate directly to those accounts by interacting with their videos, using their filters, and creating sounds to help them generate money.

Instagram Gathers Support 

Many of these activism techniques are available on Instagram. Palestinian families and those trying to raise funds for organizations in Palestine turn to the reels feature, short videos similar to  TikToks, to gain support. Instagram users interact with these videos to generate money for the creator, and often share these videos on their public stories to raise awareness and increase donations.

Instagram is also a central platform for journalists and press in Gaza. Bisan Owda (@wizard_bisan1), a journalist who has been documenting her life of displacement in Gaza, has accumulated over 4 million followers since October 2023. Her activism has reached many, and her account has allowed supporters to track her life and truly understand the conditions in Gaza. 

Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza (@motaz_azaiza) is another key figure in spreading awareness via Instagram.. Although he evacuated Gaza in January 2024, his work reporting under Israel’s bombardment gathered him over 17 million followers and an extremely large amount of support. His photos of life during the genocide  have been shared in thousands of stories, bringing more support and awareness to the ongoing issue. .

Let’s Talk Palestine (@letstalkpalestine), an organization dedicated to conveying accurate information about the conflict’s background, has almost 1 million followers. With posts such as Israeli Apartheid for Beginners, A Guide to Boycotting for Palestine, and numerous ways to donate to and support Palestinians, the account  is  a key player in educating Instagram users. Their broadcast channel contains daily updates on Palestine.

Additionally, many such activist organizations establish their home base on Instagram. National organizations such as Hearts in Gaza Project, Operation Olive Branch, and Doctors Without Borders use it as a central point of their platform, by reaching a wide audience and directing them to their website via their accounts. One of these organizations, Watermelon Warriors (@watermelonwarriors.io), uses Instagram as one of its main platforms.

How Using Social Media Platforms Benefits Organizations

Watermelon Warriors is a Palestinian-run nonprofit that works to distribute eSIMs in Gaza. Adan (who chose not to reveal her last name to protect her family in Gaza), one of the cofounders, explains how she partnered with a friend working in tech to build the organization. 

“We grew up in Wisconsin and we went to the same undergrad. He started Watermelon Warriors (WW) because he has a tech background,” she says. Originally, WW was an organization that helped people advocate for Palestinians by sending letters to representatives. 

WW currently has over 12K followers on Instagram and consistent post engagement. “We find that people share our posts [on] a lot of their stories,” Adan states. “We also found that a lot of people take our posts and then host fundraisers of their own within their communities. And they’re able to raise hundreds of dollars at a time to donate eSIMs, which has been really special. And we’re so grateful for it.”

The organization also prioritizes educating their supporters. “We’re trying to have more informative posts moving forward with historical information so people are able to educate themselves and share that information with others,” Adan says. 

Most members of WW’s  current audience are licensed professionals. “Doctors, teachers, community members, especially a lot of psychologists, have been reaching out to promote us and ask how they can help. We’re finding a lot of 30–50-year-old professionals willing to help,” Adan said. 

Since Adan is based in Texas and her partner in Chicago, the organization relies heavily on volunteer support. “Our volunteers are all over the world – one in Germany, one in Spain, obviously our distributors in Palestine, and then a bunch around America who, if they have a minute, will create a post for us and help us keep up a regular social media schedule,” Adan says. “So, it takes a village, and we’re so grateful for all the volunteers for even donating a little bit of time and effort to help us.”

What You Can Do to Help

Large social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have enabled users to donate to Palestinians, even if they may not be able to afford to donate money directly. Liking, sharing, and commenting on more than nine words on videos from the accounts of Palestinian families can generate money for their account and make their videos reach a wider audience. Using filters and sounds created to donate to Gaza can also help generate thousands of dollars and help evacuate families from the apartheid system. Additionally, sharing these videos and content on your public social media accounts can increase awareness and, potentially, donations.

Sanaa Asif, a senior at Hinsdale (Ill.) Central High School, is an avid reader and loves to learn and write about others and their experiences.

The post Social Media Creators Play A Key Role in Advocating for Palestine appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By the ISNA Green Initiative Team

Sep/Oct 2024

The barbaric and genocidal onslaught in Gaza, among the worst cases of slaughter and destruction in history, has been extensively covered in the media and Islamic Horizons. It now sits in the top quartile of the most devastating bombing campaigns, as evidenced by a group of satellite images taken from the U.S. space technology firm Maxar Technologies (Julia Frankel, Jan. 11, https://apnews.com/).

Environmental and Ecological Impact

The coastal territory’s orchards, strawberry fields, and sandy beaches that were once the Gazans’ pride are now a dehumanizing landscape of military bases, craters, and ruins. Two-thirds of the land in northern Gaza was agricultural, but not much of it is left. Israeli bulldozers have razed fields, destroyed centuries-old olive trees, and orchards to clear a buffer zone more than one-kilometer-wide (0.6-mile) inside Gaza along the northern border between Israel and Gaza. 

The army has built dikes and earthen mounds to protect its tanks and clear the view. In addition, 2,000 agricultural buildings have been razed — including 90% of all the northern districts’ greenhouses. 

According to a June 18 United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) report, the Gazan slaughter’s environmental impact has created unprecedented soil, water, and air pollution problems that have destroyed sanitation systems. Explosive weapons have generated some 39 million tons of debris. Each square meter of Gaza is now littered with more than 236 pounds of debris. The report also found that water, sanitation, and hygiene systems are now almost entirely defunct, because Gaza’s five wastewater treatment plants are no longer operational.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that 67% of Gaza’s water and sanitation system, poor at the best of times, has now been destroyed (Jon Donnison, June 21, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd119dz515wo).

A study titled, “A Multitemporal Snapshot of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Israel-Gaza Conflict,” conducted by an international team of researchers and published on June 6, details the significant environmental impact of the ongoing genocide. Co-authored by Benjamin Neimark (senior lecturer, Queen Mary University, London) and Patrick Bigger (research director, the Climate and Community Project), it provides a comprehensive estimate of the ensuing enormous greenhouse gas emissions. This report says the additional emissions associated with rebuilding Gaza are projected to be higher than many countries’ annual emissions (www.researchgate.net/).

Environmental and ecological impact is among the immense problems that Palestine will have to deal with in the coming decades. The planet-warming emissions generated during the first two months of Israel’s genocidal campaign was greater than the annual carbon footprint of over 20 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations. In addition to its water supplies and food security already being threatened by sea level rise, drought, and extreme heat, Israel’s indiscriminate bombing has rendered Gaza’s environmental situation catastrophic. 

During this and previous military campaigns, Israel has prioritized weaponizing water, gas, electricity, and other resources. It has also targeted the environment by destroying essential infrastructure. For instance, during the genocide’s first days, Israel limited Gaza’s water, electricity, and fuel supplies. As electricity and fuel are essential for water pumps and desalination, raw sewage continues to flow into the Mediterranean Sea (Zeinab Shuker, Dec. 19, 2023, www.tcf.org).

Besides the severely damaged public water supply systems, wastewater treatment facilities, and drainage networks, the toxic oil and other chemicals leaking from demolished plants into surface and groundwater has brought risks of soil erosion and triggering long-term health disasters, including sanitation crises and the spread of waterborne diseases. 

The rockets and missiles not only cause immediate humanitarian crises, but also have long-lasting hazardous impacts worldwide. Specifically, toxic residues, including those from metals, plastic, and electronic waste, heavily contaminate the soil with widespread pollution. As a result, local agricultural areas will suffer from desertification, soil erosion, and land degradation. 

Since 1967, Israel’s military actions have induced the uprooting of over 2.5 million trees — more than one million of which were olive trees — an essential source of income in the region. This ongoing destruction of native trees and crops has worsened the habitat fragmentation of local species and accelerated biodiversity loss and desertification. 

Heavy bombardment has not only decreased the amount of human habitat, but has also increased air pollution, as toxic and hazardous compounds are released into the environment from burning buildings and industrial facilities. Green spaces and agricultural land have also been heavily damaged. The generational and other profound health effects in children are unknown. The same goes for how exposure to toxic chemicals affects pregnant women. 

Ana Rule, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told Grist.com, “These microparticles can be kicked up by footfall or vehicles or lofted to other places on the wind” (https://www.scientificamerican.com, Jan. 29). Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to climate solutions and a just future.

Inhaling silica, a key ingredient in cement and glass, also increases the risk of cancer. The long-term projections of cancer and pulmonary diseases will not be known for some time. These typically have lag times. For cancer, it’s 20 to 40 years, a period that could be accelerated by repeat exposures. Intensive bombing, demolition, and damage to multistory buildings has spread huge amounts of cement particles and other particulates over both Israel and Egypt. These will be inhaled by people and deposited on farmland, with as-yet long term and unknown dire consequences.

The Future

Air and water pollution, as well as soil contamination, have no geopolitical boundaries and thus also affect global natural resources and ecosystems for generations. Therefore, recognizing the urgency of environmental preservation and ecological responsibility even amid warfare is crucial. 

Forty public health scientists have called for an immediate cessation to the violence. The authors have drawn attention to the urgent need to rebuild Gaza’s health care system and restore the physical and human infrastructures that make a livable environment possible and promote human health and well-being (Environmental Health, June 28). 

In addition, these individuals say that environmental remediation should form one of the most important parts of international effort to assist reconstruction, through which it is hoped lasting peace could be achieved. Health and sustainable development are among the accepted international human rights obligations. 

They have also urged that the global community support Gaza and the Palestinians in its post-war recovery and reconstruction, including the rebuilding of the health system, the remediation of environmental pollution arising from Israel’s extensive use of weaponry, and the implementation of population-wide mental health programs to address the current, future, and intergenerational effects of trauma.

Sadly, the quieting of the bombs and guns will merely mark the end of one chapter of Gaza’s suffering. Once this genocide ends, the UN and the international community must find a way to launch and scale up reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. Such a collective commitment to post-war environmental restoration will contribute to a sustainable and resilient future by rebuilding the linkage of global well-being and environmental governance.

In Palestine, there will be a special need for investment in water storage facilities, both for domestic consumption and agricultural use. Ecosystems will require additional protection, because saltwater will likely push into coastal aquifers. Endemic species are now under threat (Israel and Palestine are part of the Mediterranean Basin biodiversity hotspot, https://tcf.org/). The Mediterranean Basin hotspot is home to about 515 million inhabitants, 33% of whom live on the coasts. But Gaza’s in a weaker position than ever before for providing any of these protections. Any lasting peace in Gaza must go beyond a ceasefire and political solution, difficult as the latter may be to attain. Peace will also require environmental justice.

Given that climate change doesn’t recognize borders and political arrangements, Israel will also experience environmental degradation. For instance, Ashkelon (originally al-Majḍal), a mere eight miles from Tel Aviv (originally Yafa), one of Israel’s desalination plants has been shut down several times during the past few years due to pollution from Gaza. As the genocide will increase the amount of pollution in Gaza, Israel’s water security will also be jeopardized. Without enabling the Palestinians to protect their own environment, Israel cannot protect itself from a cross-border environmental disaster.

The current movement among universities to divest from those companies that produce these armaments and supplies to Israel is encouraging. We, as supporters of peace and justice for the Palestinians and other oppressed people, should raise our voices against production and profiting from such destructive armaments. A sovereign Palestinian state must be established as soon as possible so that its people can live with dignity, honor, and peace. But this can only be achieved if the U.S. becomes an honest broker. For a lasting peace to hold, environmental justice must be part of any solution.

ISNA Green Initiative Team members include Saffet Catovic, Nana Firman, Uzma Mirza, and Saiyid Masroor Shah (chair)

 Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Pollution Knows No Boundaries appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

Sep/Oct 2024

“Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interests in the region.” Senator Joe Biden, 1986.

On-the-ground Palestinian journalists are being martyred, and foreign-based media outlets and social media sources are being cyberattacked, expelled, slandered, and censored. 

The Zionist regime routinely asserts that these martyred journalists are related to Hamas or other Muslim organizations. It alleges that “approximately 30% worked for media outlets affiliated with or closely tied to Hamas” (The Guardian, June 25). 

According to Niqnaq, “The Guardian published an investigation showing some in the Israeli army view journalists as legitimate targets in war, though doing so is a violation of international law” … The Guardian added that Israeli officials have repeatedly characterized journalists killed in the war as ‘terrorists.’ … A senior Israeli military source told The Guardian:’ I’m sure that if you count the number of dead teachers, the number of dead janitors, the number of dead taxi drivers, you will end up with higher numbers as well’” (https://niqnaq.wordpress.com, July 6).

Working with the Jordan-based nonprofit Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ, https://en.arij.net), the Guardian identified at least 23 individuals killed since October 7 who worked for the largest Hamas-run outlet in Gaza, the al-Aqsa media network. Considered to be the movement’s official channel, it employed hundreds of people and operated a widely watched TV channel and numerous radio stations until the war curtailed its output. 

In 2018, the IDF bombed al-Aqsa’s offices, claiming that its building was used for military purposes. The following year, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is also defense minister, used broad legal powers to designate Al-Aqsa a “terrorist organization.” 

“Asked about the al-Aqsa network casualties, a senior IDF spokesperson told reporters in the Gaza project consortium that there was ‘no difference’ between working for the media outlet and belonging to Hamas’s armed wing, a sweeping statement legal experts described as alarming” (https://dailystormer.in).

However, a legal expert told The Guardian (June 25) that such designations, which were made in domestic law, is not a license to kill its employees. Under the laws of war, journalists can lose their civilian status if they plan, prepare, or carry out combat operations. In other words, simply working for an organization such as al-Aqsa doesn’t make its employees a legitimate target.

“Reporting the news is not direct participation in hostilities,” says Janina Dill (co-Director, the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict). “Even if they reported the news in a biased way, even if they did propaganda for Hamas, even if Israel fundamentally disagrees with how they report the news. That is not enough” (Elvis Dunderhoff, https://dailystormer.in, June 26).

Israeli Censorship

Alain Gresh (director, online journal Orient XXI), wrote in his “Palestine: Un peuple qui ne veut pas mourir” [Palestine: A People Who Refuse to Die] (Les Liens qui Libèrent, 2024)) says “Lastly, unlike in other Western countries, there is strict censorship in Israel — though the general support for the army’s objectives means it’s far from vital. Israeli academic Sebastian Ben Daniel (who also writes under his pseudonym John Brown) has described ‘a parody of journalism’ in which the army is exalted and the IDF spokesperson’s pronouncements [are designed to] convince the public that all is swell [sic].’” (How Israeli journalists carry out PR for the army, Feb.19, www.972mag.com/).

Akiva Novick, a prominent news anchor and correspondent for Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, believes that the role of journalists is to raise the national morale (Haaretz, Jan. 14, 2024). No one wants to hear bad news.

Gresh says that “With an added advantage that other states lack: Western officials and media start from the assumption that Israel tells the truth.”

Daniel Boguslaw (investigative reporter, The Intercept) revealed that the “CNN runs Gaza coverage past the Jerusalem team operating under shadow of IDF censor” (The Intercept, Jan. 4, 2024). 

Israel also has the advantage of being a “Western” country, which means it’s always given the benefit of the doubt. A CNN journalist explained where this bias leads, ‘“War crime’ and ‘genocide’ are taboo words. Israeli bombings in Gaza will be reported as ‘blasts’ attributed to nobody, until the Israeli military weighs in to either accept or deny responsibility. Quotes and information provided by Israeli army and government officials tend to be approved quickly, while those from Palestinians tend to be heavily scrutinized and slowly processed” (Alain Gresh, “Hasbara: the dark art of spinning a war,” Le Monde Diplomatique, May 2024). 

Congress also continues to abet Israel’s suppression of the truth. The House of Representatives passed Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s (D-Fla.) amendment to H.R. 8771 H. Amdt.1052, which prohibits the State Department from citing statistics obtained from Gaza’s health officials.

Are Journalists Legitimate Targets?

The ARIJ investigation, part of the Gaza Project, involves 50 journalists from 13 organizations and is coordinated by Forbidden Stories (https://forbiddenstories.org), said, “Attacked in the field, in the office, and at home, 1 in 10 reporters in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s military campaign” (“Israel’s War on Gaza is the Deadliest Conflict on Record for Journalists,” The Intercept, June 25).

After stating that 100+ journalists were killed in the first nine months, the deadliest conflict on record for reporters, they added: “The exact number … is difficult to determine, with several organizations collecting the information differently, but they all agree that the number is record-breaking.”  Aljazeera’s report “How deadly is the Israel-Gaza war for journalists?” (Nov. 9, 2023) states, “The Israel-Hamas war has seen more journalists killed in the first month of conflict than any other conflict since the CPJ first started collating statistics for journalists covering conflict in 1992” (“Israel’s War on Gaza is the Deadliest Conflict on Record for Journalists,” June 25, https://theintercept.com).

Hoda Osman (executive director, ARIJ) stated that “Gaza is the deadliest place on Earth for journalists by far. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, over 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate puts the figure even higher at 140 journalists and media workers killed since the start of the war. According to the group, the deaths represent 10% of all journalists in Gaza” (www.democracynow.org, June 27).  

An ARIJ survey said that almost all of the 200+ journalists in Gaza said they had been displaced; half said they were living in tents. In addition, 86% said their homes had been either partially or entirely destroyed (“‘The Grey Zone’: How IDF Views Some Journalists In Gaza As Legitimate Targets,” June 25, The Guardian).

In her June 27 podcast, Osman told Amy Goodman, “And by any standard, it’s unprecedented. … Nothing like this had ever happened to journalists before. It’s a crisis not just for Palestinian journalists or Arab journalists, but it should be a crisis for journalists worldwide, the journalists’ community. And to be honest, we weren’t seeing the outcry, the sort of the reaction that this crisis deserves” (www.democracynow.org, June 27).

“It’s psychologically very difficult,” said Mohammed Abed, a Gaza-based Agence France-Presse photojournalist. “So many journalists have died while sleeping along with their families. When we interviewed the survivors, they told us they were at home. ‘We had dinner and talked to the neighbors. And when we went to sleep they bombed us.’”

Officially, the Israeli military maintains that journalists aren’t being deliberately targeted. On June 25, The Guardian echoed this assertion. Many in the military attribute the record number to the IDF’s intensive bombardment of a densely populated territory. The Guardian also cited the scale and intensity of the bombardment.

“However, an investigation by the Guardian suggests that amid a loosening of the Israel Defense Force’s interpretation of the laws of war after the deadly Hamas-led attacks on 7 October, some within the IDF appear to have viewed journalists working in Gaza for outlets controlled by or affiliated with Hamas to be legitimate military targets” (https://dailystormer.in).

Carlos Martinez de la Serna (program director, CPJ) said, “Without protection, equipment, international presence, communications, or food and water, they [the journalists] are still doing their crucial jobs to tell the world the truth. Every time a journalist is killed, injured, arrested, or forced to go to exile, we lose fragments of the truth” (June 25, https://cpj.org/).

In 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Israel was the sixth-worst jailer of journalists globally. 

“The scale is really astounding,” Odeh told VOA from Ramallah, adding that she thinks the goal behind the crackdown is “showing who’s boss.… You don’t really have to do anything to get arrested. There is no protection,” Odeh said. “There’s nothing that will shield you” (Liam Scott, www.voanews.com, Jan. 18).

The official hostility toward those journalists in Gaza and elsewhere who are doing their best to keep us informed, not to mention the many others who have been bought off or become no more than mouthpieces for government propaganda, reveal a depressing truth: We need more journalists who are committed to telling us the truth of what is happening in our increasingly violent and fractured world. 

Umberine Abdullah is a freelance writer.

 Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Genocide Needs a Cover Up appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Naazish YarKhan

July/Aug 2024

Zahra Basha, a newly minted graduate of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, used her May wedding as a platform against the genocide in Palestine. It made perfect sense, considering she was one of 46 students arrested for protesting on campus. Every place setting at her wedding had the name and age of a martyr, and the program had a designated moment for guests to make dua for their assigned martyr. “Free Palestine” embossed wrappers adorned 650 chocolate coins. Her speech made sure that Palestine was on every single mind during the festivities. 

Basha is still shocked at the police brutality she and her peers were subjected to at their school administrators’ behest. It began in response to a peaceful student sit-in on Nov. 17, 2023. “The Regents and UMich administration mobilized not only campus security and police, but also police departments in neighboring counties. They not only kept us from entering the school building, but the way the police handled the situation was inherently escalatory,” Basha recalls. “They were violently brutalizing, handcuffing, shoving students who were peacefully exercising their right to freedom of speech. Students were thrashed on the ground. It caused mass hysteria.” 

Among the 200+ protesters, Basha and 45 others were arrested and criminally charged that day. A police officer yanked off her hijab. As PR director for Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE; www.facebook.com/SAFEUmich/), her role has been to record everything — and she has horrific footage of that day. What unfolded that first time has only been the beginning of extremely violent repression of its students.  

The injustices against Palestinians have always struck a chord with Basha, particularly as a Muslim with Indian origins who saw the links and connections between Israel’s occupation of Palestine and India’s occupation of Kashmir. Having attended a “very Zionist high school that was always pushing a particular agenda about Palestinians and misconceptions about Muslims,” joining SAFE, once she was at college, was only natural. 

When she was a sophomore, SAFE comprised seven board members. “Palestine, then, was an issue that only those in the Muslim community or those affected by it spoke up about,” she remarks. Raising awareness was SAFE’s first order of business. Though tiny in terms of scale, it held annual cultural events, a mock Apartheid Wall demonstration to display the on-going injustice, protests against the Birth-Right trip event on campus, as well as teach-ins about the history of the occupation, how Israel came into being and what the term Nakba means. 

Michigan is familiar with large-scale protests and mass organizing in support of Palestine, given that Dearborn is home to a huge Palestinian population. That said, on campus “it was the same people, the same SAFE board members who were mobilizing and organizing. Few others cared to respond or show up.” As a result, the organization faced little backlash from school administrators during her first years on campus. Naturally, all that changed after October 7th. In addition, she had never anticipated the level of police brutality, how violently administrators would crack down on the student movement or how consistently they’d ignore student demands.  

She believes the urgency is so much more potent today. The current board has grown to 20 members. SAFE is also at the forefront of a coalition of 69+ student organizations, mainly comprising minority student groups and those centered around civil rights. Beginning in early October 2023, the coalition issued a list of student demands asking the school to take accountability for the anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments being encouraged on campus even by the administration. It also continued to call on the school to stop profiting from The Genocide in Palestine and to divest. “It’s our tuition that goes towards the school’s endowment that profits from war, and not just in Israel but across the globe. We continue to demand that the school stop funding the murder of some of our student’s family members in Palestine,” says Basha.

Even as students were being criminally prosecuted, brutalized by the police and doxed, the demand for dialogue was ignored. Even worse, the school responded with policies to repress freedom of speech. This became the spark for the encampments. “The encampments were a physical manifestation of the students’ refusal to be silenced and ignored,” Basha said. What began as a student-led effort burgeoned to include community members who’ve been willing to put their jobs and careers on the line.  

On May 22, 30+ days into the encampments, the police used bulldozers and tables to plough through tents and destroy property, tear-gassed and pepper sprayed students. “Even after this next level of violence, our movement has not only grown but been strengthened by our refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer. We must remember that the repression we are facing is part of a global hegemonic system to perpetuate colonial agendas and silence minorities,” Basha concluded.

At the time of writing, the UMich administration continues to ignore demands to engage in dialogue.

Naazish YarKhan is a writing tutor and college essay coach. To learn more, visit WritersStudio.us.  

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post UMich Green Lights Police Brutality on Campus appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Nayab Bashir

July/Aug 2024

There is an American dream beyond the standard striving for upward mobility. It’s a dream of inclusion and integration, of equity. Perhaps that is what some mothers were looking for when they signed their daughters up for Girl Scouts Troop 149. 

The Girl Scouts has long been a coming-of-age rite of passage. One in three women in the U.S. was a Girl Scout at some point in their life. The organization claims to build “girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” Unfortunately, as of late, some disagree. 

This past cookie season, Troop 149 of St. Louis, Mo., wanted to sell bracelets instead of cookies and donate the proceeds to Palestine. Not long after they announced their plans, their parent chapter, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, aggressively responded with a very clear message that the organization didn’t participate in political and partisan activities: “Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri and Girl Scouts of the United States have no other choice than to engage our legal counsel to help remedy this situation and to protect the intellectual property and other rights of the organization” (Erum Salam, “Girl Scout troop disbands after parent chapter blocks Palestine fundraiser”, March 5, 20245, The Guardian). Not only was this surprising, but also hypocritical, as other Girl Scout troops had organized to help Ukraine after Russia’s February 2022 invasion. The Girl Scout’s website shows a troop in Ohio awarded one of the organization’s highest recognitions, the Girl Scout Bronze Award, for collecting medical supplies and packing first aid kids, friendship bracelets and cookies to be distributed in Ukraine (www.girlscouts.org/en/site-search.html?q=ukraine).

Hurt and Disappointment

Aside from the fear that accompanies a threat of legal action, the situation was hurtful and triggering for Troop 149’s founder Nawal Abuhamdeh, a Brooklyn-born Palestinian American. The stark contrast of the organization’s response to the Ohioan troop and her own stirred memories of being excluded as a child because of her identity. Both her parents were born in Beit Hanina, a West Bank village on the road connecting Ramallah to al-Quds (Jerusalem). Despite a daily yearning to return to her homeland, Abuhamdeh hasn’t visited her beloved Palestine since 2016. “Palestine is my home, my true love, and I dream of a day I can live there freely,” she states. 

A freelance product designer and mother of four, Abuhamadeh has worked with various Islamic nonprofits in St. Louis. She and her husband have dedicated their lives to raising practicing Muslim children who will make a positive difference in the world. “We want to ensure that they have more opportunities as second-generation Muslim Palestinian Americans than we did as the first-generation,” Abuhamadeh said. 

“This was one of the reasons behind founding the troop in 2019. My intentions were clear: ‘I wanted our girls to learn the skills they need to be strong, independent community leaders, using their Muslim identity as their superpower.’”

She believes the Girl Scouts’ mission aligned with her values of boosting “girls’ courage, confidence and character.”  She feels it’s like following the Prophet’s (salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) sunnah — to use our values to make the world a better place. 

Every year, the troop put in a lot of energy into cookie season, selling about $8,000 worth of them each year. They followed each rule. 

But this year was different, for there are no rules and policies when it comes to advocating against a genocide. Thus, the troop decided not to participate in the annual cookie season. “We believe that in times of crisis and hardship, it is crucial to prioritize empathy, compassion and support for those who are suffering,” Abuhamadeh said. “At such a time cookies didn’t feel like the right focus. We couldn’t fathom selling cookies when our brothers and sisters are being forced to starve. We couldn’t sell cookies during a genocide.

“I am no longer going to stay quiet to make other people feel more ‘safe’ or comfortable about my identity. How could anyone see images of children and people in shreds, videos of children being amputated without anesthesia, mothers screaming for their children, children begging for their parents and not do anything about it? It is all horrific. And the worst part is that this is all man-made and our ‘leaders’ are doing nothing about it.” 

While the leaders may not be doing much, when the 10-year-olds in troop saw the images, they were in tears and ready for action. They watched “Farha,” – a 2021 internationally co-produced historical drama film about a Palestinian girl’s coming-of-age experience during the Nakba (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farha_(film)), at a group movie night and followed it with a restorative circle with a mental health specialist where each girl cried and expressed their feelings about what is happening in Palestine. They said they felt guilty for being happy when kids in Gaza are being killed, displaced and injured. 

The girls, of Pakistani, Jordanian, Somali and Palestinian heritage, didn’t feel they could be happy selling cookies. They asked if they could sell bracelets instead to raise funds for Gaza. Adults agreed and quickly set their idea in motion. 

Girl Scouts Disapproves

It is uncertain how exactly The Girl Scouts of USA found out about the troop’s plans. It was never a secret, as at the time the foundation’s reaction was unexpected.

Before Abuhamadeh could respond to the first email, she had three more in her inbox. She was afraid they may take legal action against her. The message was clear. The email called for immediate removal of all communication, social media posts and reference to the organization in the troop’s efforts, stating clearly that this was not an approved activity. Upset, confused and worried, Abuhamadeh contacted CAIR-Missouri and was asked to “keep them in the loop.”

“I independently responded to them, expressing that this is not political or partisan and how dire the humanitarian crisis is in Gaza.” More than anything, she was disappointed. She exchanged a few emails and texts with CAIR but was told that “they didn’t notice a discrimination case.” Some feel the matter is resolved; however, Abuhamadeh and her troop do not agree. 

The troop disbanded because it felt that The Girl Scouts don’t practice what they preach. Prior to this situation, everything their troop had participated in embodied the organization’s values. Abuhamadeh ensured that the meetings and activities were girl-led, that members left each meeting better than they’d come, were honest and fair with each other and the people they were around and made their communities better through their service. 

The Girl Scouts no longer holds any appeal for the former troop. “After their long silence, we aren’t expecting them to apologize. We’ve come to accept that, and [it] further makes us feel that we made the right decision to leave Girl Scouts. Their organization isn’t a good fit for us, who we are and the causes we stand for. If you aren’t pro-peace and anti-genocide, we don’t want to be associated with you. We’d prefer to stay on the right side of history.” 

After CAIR contacted Girl Scouts, their chief executive, Bonnie Barcykowski wrote that they “were disappointed and disheartened by what recently transpired” and they “recognize the greater clarity and additional education is needed regarding fundraising policies.” Further adding “this is a learning moment for our organization as we realize we can always do better. We know we should always lead with empathy and recognize the incredible need for kindness and compassion during this difficult time, we are also deeply committed to advancing belonging, inclusion, and anti-racism as an organization and within our membership, and we will continue to ensure that we address all communities, including the Muslim and Arab communities. GSUSA will be working alongside our council partners to review this incident and make the necessary adjustments to prevent it from happening in the future. We realize we missed an opportunity to champion our troops while they make a difference.”

Bracelets Bring Big Bucks

The resilient group of girls has moved onward and upward. On their first order form they sold 600 bracelets in two weeks. Once the story hit social media, they sold 2,106 bracelets in less than four days and had to close orders again. They called out to volunteers and were humbled by the response as people from all over southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois joined them to help complete and dispatch orders. 

As of early May, the troop has raised over $20,000 for Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. 

Abuhamadeh accepted every interview request from all media sources, including STLPR, NBC, Washington Post, The Guardian and more, but refused to interview with FOX for their biased and racist coverage of Gaza. “I wasn’t going to give them an opportunity to slice my interview into being the story that they want to tell, putting me in jeopardy of portraying me in a negative light.”

Her daughter Mariyah Abdelbaset,11 joined her for an interview with NPR. It was an emotional moment for both. “It was my first interview with my daughter, and I was proud of her for using her voice. I was sad to hear her talk about how she doesn’t feel like she could be happy when the kids of Gaza are not. I was thankful that I was given the opportunity to tell our story, amplify the voice of Palestinians and could inspire others to stand up for what is right in the world. It is only when we are united that we can make an impact in the world.”

Unsure of what the future holds, Abuhamadeh and the girls are choosing to focus on the positive and hope to enter the new chapter with excitement and motivation to make a positive difference in the world. 

Nayab Bashir is a literature aficionado with an English literature degree to prove it. 

 Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Cookies Without Conscience appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Naazish YarKhan

July/Aug 2024

A generation once written off as soft and self-absorbed, as kids raised on filters, selfies and trigger warnings, is showing the world what they are truly made of. Shorouk Akarah, a senior at DePaul University, joined the pro-Palestine, pro-ceasefire efforts through the DePaul Divest Coalition, a group of organizations that want to make sure that DePaul is on the right side of history. She also worked on efforts to get Chicago to pass the resolution in favor of a ceasefire. 

“In a sense, Chicago passing a resolution gave us a leg up to do more things. I had never imagined it would get to encampments,” Shorouk said. “That students would have to camp out for days and weeks on end for schools to acknowledge that this was happening. We don’t know exactly where our tuition dollars are going, and students across campuses want to know. Our tuition dollars are killing our family members in Gaza. No matter whether you have a relative in Gaza or not, we are all Palestinian.”

Her role in the DePaul encampment is to manage the supply, medic and food tents, and collect donations, to ensure that those staying at the encampments overnight have all they need. “Us students are the next generation. We are the ones that are going to see this through, insha Allah,” Shorouk said. “No matter how old or young you are, it is very important [to be involved] not just as Palestinians, but as people in general. It is about time.” Awareness and education are critical to keep the momentum going, she emphasizes. 

She agrees that this all started way before Oct. 7, 2023. The siege on Gaza is heading into 17 years. The occupation has [lasted for] over 76 years.  “Why do people continue to let it happen? Knowing all this is very important, because it keeps you going,” she said. She believes that calling for divestments, besides the economic ramifications, is also a call for schools to recognize what is happening right now. 

Police Brutality

However, the police brutality that ensued in response to the encampments across some campuses did not surprise her.  

“We’ve always been taught that the police look at us as ‘the other,’ the aggressors, when it is the opposite. Police escalate things or do nothing to protect the students in encampments,” she relates. “That is why we always say at the DePaul encampments, ‘We protect ourselves; we protect each other. We don’t need outside security.’ We check in with fellow students. We have trained marshals who know what to do if the cops show up. We also have lawyers on hand, just in case.”

These youth believe that the Palestinians are showing them what resilience looks like. They feel the encampments are not just important for them, but also to other minority groups who’ve come together to create this coalition. “The encampments and protests show that Palestinian voices have been heard and are being lifted by us,” Shorouk said. 

“We can do more here to help them there. My university is trying to give us ‘our space’ but, sooner or later, we expect them to come and say, “Enough is enough.” But we are not going to back down. Our school is openly Zionist, and our end goal is to get DePaul to divest. One thing we are doing well is to ask our administration to send people who can help us with our negotiations, people in positions who can help us.”

All this is not to say she wasn’t afraid. She is pursuing law and wants to work for the state. She is, to an extent, afraid because she has had people come to the campus and take photos. We emphasize safety and [ask students to] put masks on. Someone I know is on the Canary Mission website. He told me, “Being on that website is a badge of honor.” I’ve started to say that a lot myself. 

As we witness the second Nakba unfold, Shorouk and those around her hope that their efforts and the efforts of all those around them will, God willing, destroy the status quo when it comes to Palestine. 

Naazish YarKhan is a writing tutor and college essay coach. To learn more, visit WritersStudio.us. 

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post Palestinians Demonstrating Resilience  appeared first on Islamic Horizons.

By Luke Peterson

July/Aug 2024

The great majority of U.S. pundits and talking heads within the authoritative news media estimate that between 80 and 100 of our country’s institutions of higher learning are currently in turmoil, having seen a wellspring of protest encampments as the Spring semester of 2024 ends. 

Located on many universities green spaces, their occupants gather to protest Israel’s ongoing war against Gazans (and to a less immediate extent, the West Bank) and, more specifically, to seek to compel their respective universities to divest from Israeli war industries. In so doing, they are both defying university edicts against such public displays and facing intimidation and threats from universities and/or city officials who declare such assemblies unlawful, against university policy or, using an all-too-familiar mode of castigation, antisemitic. 

Many of these brave students have been disciplined, punished, censured or expelled for their humanitarian actions for Palestine. In other places, particularly universities across the South, students have been set upon by riot police or National Guardsmen, even though Lois Beckett, writing for The Guardian (May 10), noted that nearly all of their activities have been peaceful and non-threatening to staff or students on campus. 

In all, 2,000+ students and supporting faculty members have been arrested and an untold number maced, trampled or beaten by police. In one case, Columbia and Barnard University students arrested at encampments during the first week of May were tortured via denial of food and water for 16 hours (Akela Lacy, May 6, https://theintercept.com). 

But what has prompted this organic expression of solidarity with Palestine among American university students now? One obvious answer is the duration of Israel’s current cruelty toward Gaza’s civilian population, all funded and at least tacitly supported within their country’s halls of power. 

But a closer look at the proscription of academic discourse surrounding Palestine and Israel may provide a more detailed answer. Indeed, the university system has seen a notable uptick in activity from a number of well-organized and evidently well-funded organizations. Their remit is to censor students, professors and other members of university communities nationwide who accuse Israel of crimes against humanity or suggest that its targeted attacks against Palestinian civilians — 40,000+ deaths in Gaza since October 2023 — constitute genocide (Julia Frankel, https://apnews.com, April 6).

One such organization that exists solely to target and condemn any human rights advocacy in North American academia is the online extremist organization Canary Mission (https://canarymission.org/). Its raison d’être is to meticulously document any scholarship and advocacy that is even remotely critical of Israel or its primary paymaster, the U.S. Canary Mission has organized branches in North America for the stated purpose of documenting “individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond.” Their scope and reach is as ambitious as it is broad, and they clearly view their remit in contemporary political discourse as critical — their website tagline reads, “Because the world should know.”

In that regard, that organization and this author agree. The world should know that, despite protestations to the contrary, Canary Mission is an explicitly political organization whose operational goals have nothing to do with creating safe spaces for university students or protecting marginalized or vulnerable populations. Rather, it seeks to silence every utterance of Israeli criminality, past or present, across North American university campuses. 

For example, its “Organizations” tab brazenly equates international media organizations like Al-Jazeera with neo-Nazi agitators like the Daily Stormer and the Goyim Defense League. Such falsification of plainly non-existent connections makes Canary Mission’s painfully clear: Paint with as broad a brush as possible, condemn and associate as many individuals as possible and tarnish all who dare to criticize Israel as hateful antisemites no matter the truth or logic of their arguments. It’s a clumsy practice, as dishonest as it is dangerous, and potentially, if defamation laws were to be applied fairly and on balance, an illegal one. 

Operating with an identifiable hubris and self-importance, Canary Mission clearly fears no reprisals for publicly listing the names and affiliations of professors and students, aid organizations and media outlets, who speak out against the ongoing genocide. Its operations seem to grow daily: pointing out and castigating as many critics of Israel as they can, maneuvering with increasing impunity in the wake of the militarized American response to the ongoing university protests, and Canada’s very tepid response to the protests of hundreds of Canadian students and organizations. 

In sum, any U.S. university student questioning Israel’s official narratives about its creation and brutal military record over 75 years, or publicly asking about this country’s uncritical fealty to Israel, is a suitable target for identification. Reminiscent of other oppressive, authoritarian organizations, the Canary Mission’s blacklists continue to grow.

A similarly constituted group, the anti-Palestine propaganda initiative CAMERA (Committee For Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis; www.camera.org) and Camera on Campus, targets and defames pro-Palestinian groups located on American university campuses. Its supporters take videos of pro-Palestine demonstrations and protests, spuriously reclassifies them publicly as hate speech or antisemitic antagonism and then posts the humanitarian demonstrators’ personal details online to engender negative professional and personal consequences for them. 

Professing to be non-partisan defenders of the truth behind Zionism, Camera on Campus (https://cameraoncampus.org/), like other anti-Palestine hate groups, deliberately ignores Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948-49, its mass confiscation of land designated for a future Palestinian state via the U.S.-funded settler movement since 1967. Camera on Campus also deliberately obfuscates the idea of indigeneity within historic Palestine, using an indigenous spokesperson from American Samoa in a highly skewed and historically inaccurate video on their X page to praise with false laurels the Zionist colonial project. 

The intent of this loose coalition of anti-Palestine groups is to quieten any and all criticism of Israel on American university campuses and to do their best to dehumanize Palestinians to the greatest extent possible. This hate campaign is being conducted alongside a simultaneous repackaging of organic pro-Palestine university demonstrations as thinly veiled antisemitism, a baseless hatred of Jews as a whole. 

In effect, these groups intend to gaslight membership of the American academy by convincing the public writ large that the Palestinian victims of genocidal oppression are in fact the victimizers of Israel and global Jewry. Supporters of Palestine are falsely castigated as mindless thugs, and as modern-day brownshirts who intend anti-Jewish violence simply for the sake of it while having no coherent political agenda to speak of. 

The monitoring, outing and doxing campaigns organized by Canary Mission, CAMERA, and other like minded organizations censor free speech and humanitarian action focused on aiding the besieged and bombarded Palestinians of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They have had real-world, lasting consequences for conscientious student-activists. Emboldened by the false equivalence that equate legitimate criticism of Israel with blanket antisemitism, in the months since campus protests have mounted against the Israeli genocide in Palestine, Zane McNeill notes that a number of otherwise talented and qualified university students nationwide have had job offers rescinded (https://truthout.org, Oct. 19, 2023).

In other cases, protesters for Palestine have been disciplined, fired or denied tenure simply for being outspoken on behalf of Palestinian rights within the context of the American educational and political system (https://www.chicagotribune.com/2019/03/06/steven-salaita-rejected-by-u-of-i-over-israel-tweets-seems-to-have-found-peace-driving-a-school-bus/).

These cancellations, broken promises and false equivalencies continue to haunt doxed pro-Palestinian speakers in the academy and in professional circles around the country. This reality demonstrates these techniques’ effectiveness and the damaging nature of the sanctioned anti-Palestine hate speech now common within popular discourse. As such, it would seem evident that the much-lauded right to free speech said to resonate throughout this country in the contemporary political era continues to be conditioned by that speech’s content and the speaker(s) in question’s proper alignment with the ideological and/or political interests of both the U.S. and Israel. 

Luke Peterson received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at The University of Cambridge — (King’s College). His new book, “The U.S. Military in the Print News Media: Service and Sacrifice in Discourse,” has been published by Anthem Press.

Tell us what you thought by joining our Facebook community. You can also send comments and story pitches to [email protected]. Islamic Horizons does not publish unsolicited material.  

The post A License to Hate appeared first on Islamic Horizons.