Y. Kerry Sara’s Post

This opinion piece expresses concerns about increasing antisemitism at prominent universities like Columbia, Yale, and NYU, fueled by anti-Israel protests. These universities have seen escalating pro-Palestinian demonstrations, involving harassment and threats against Jewish students. A specific instance at Columbia involved demonstrators targeting a Jewish student, using aggressive tactics to exclude them from a designated protest area due to the visible symbol of their faith, a Star of David. Additionally, the university's response has involved actions like removing students' belongings from dormitories, further complicating the situation. The leadership at Columbia has been criticized for being noncommittal, with temporary solutions like transitioning to online classes failing to tackle deeper issues of campus safety and free speech. Furthermore, the editorial discusses the broader educational atmosphere at these institutions, pointing to a pervasive failure to balance identity politics with free and open dialogue. This imbalance is said to cultivate an environment where antisemitism can thrive, masked as political activism, further evidenced by inflammatory remarks from faculty that seem to endorse violence and propagate hatred. The piece also brings to light the broader implications for academic freedom and campus safety, emphasizing that the issues at hand do not only affect Jewish students but potentially suppress free academic discourse for the entire academic community, regardless of background. It suggests that universities need to reconsider their approaches to create a truly inclusive environment that protects all expressions while actively combating hate speech and violence. This broader perspective emphasizes the need for robust policies that uphold both free expression and safety on campus. #CampusSafety #Antisemitism #AcademicFreedom #FreeSpeech #UniversityProtests

#HumanRights & #Freedom It is appalling that free speech and rights to protest are increasingly limited by criminalising words and physical presence. The narratives shared in news outlets are shifted quickly and strategically from the actual purpose of the protest ( stopping an ongoing occupation and slaughter, if that was not clear yet), to the form of protest: peaceful and inclusive encampments, and marches, which too often are suddenly surrounded by violent incidents. Violence that primarily caused by deliberate infiltration of violent counter-protester and rioters, with the sole aim of challenging law enforcement to intervene in an otherwise peaceful protest for peace. Pun intended. Gregg Gonsalves, codirector of the Global Health Justice Partnership and an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, highlights a grim outlook in the US as elections are in sight. Unfortunately, similar observations apply to Europe, with the upcoming European elections with several far-right parties and movements across Europe who seem to be flirting with elements of authoritarianism. "The potential next president and his allies are looking at the campus-led crackdown on free speech as a perfect dress rehearsal." "Should Donald Trump regain the White House, we now have a template for how to shut down protests without bringing in the National Guard .... Just get university presidents to do your dirty work. As my Yale colleague Jason Stanley, the philosopher and scholar of 20th-century fascism, has noted, the first thing authoritarians do is bring the universities to heel, either by force or by acquiescence, as these institutions are hotbeds of dissent." "Let me be clear: I don’t think these protests on college campuses now are perfect. ... they may not be perfect, but just because they’re not perfect doesn’t mean they’re not right. The image of the protests as sites of violence, lawlessness, and chaos is not something I or my colleagues at Yale have experienced. We’ve heard the same from colleagues elsewhere too. Critiques of this kind of characterization of the protests are now starting to mount from religious and secular writers." "If Biden loses in November, it is the students and the young whom we will have to rely on to help confront what happens next. It is exactly this kind of energy, creativeness, and persistence that we will need to fight back against rising authoritarianism. But the response to these protests now from their elders is disgraceful. Biden already struggles with the youth vote; getting them out to do more than that, to stand up to antidemocratic forces that Trump will unleash, is going to be that much harder. Some may not like these young rebels, but we’ll miss them when they’re gone." Universities Like Mine Are Providing an Authoritarian Blueprint for Trump, by Gregg Gonsalves, The Nation: https://lnkd.in/eTYdYFQe

In addition to their recent violent police crackdown on students protesting genocide in Israel, universities have long perpetuated colonialist violence in several ways, including through their curricula, research practices, institutional structures, and relationships with Indigenous and marginalized communities. 1. White Eurocentric Curricula: Many universities emphasize Western perspectives and knowledge systems while marginalizing or completely ignoring non-Western and Indigenous knowledge. This creates a biased educational environment that privileges European colonial history and thought. 2. Research Practices: Research often follows methodologies and paradigms rooted in Western traditions, which can invalidate or overlook Indigenous ways of knowing and methodologies. Universities sometimes conduct research on Indigenous lands and communities without proper consultation or benefit-sharing, effectively continuing practices of extraction and exploitation reminiscent of colonial times. 3. Institutional Structures: The governance and administrative structures of universities are often dominated by individuals from very wealthy and privileged backgrounds, lacking representation from Indigenous and other marginalized communities. Decision-making processes may not adequately consider or incorporate Indigenous voices and perspectives, perpetuating a colonial hierarchy within the institution. 4. Relationships with Indigenous Communities: Universities can contribute to the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous lands through their expansion and real estate projects. They may also fail to engage in meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities, instead opting for superficial inclusion efforts that do not address deeper structural issues . 5. Cultural Appropriation: Universities sometimes engage in cultural appropriation through the use of Indigenous symbols, ceremonies, and practices without proper understanding, respect, or permission. 6. Funding and Resource Allocation: Allocation of funding and resources often prioritizes fields and areas of study that align with Western interests and capitalist goals, sidelining research and education that could benefit Indigenous and marginalized communities. Financial barriers can also limit access to higher education for students from these communities, perpetuating cycles of inequality. Addressing these issues requires an approach that includes decolonizing the curriculum, adopting inclusive research practices, restructuring institutional governance, building genuine partnerships with Indigenous communities, respecting cultural protocols, and ensuring equitable access to education. By critically examining and transforming these aspects, universities can begin to dismantle the colonial legacies that persist within their systems. https://lnkd.in/gfnngY9m

“Consistent with a long-established democratic tradition, activists often engage in acts of civil disobedience. Such acts often involve breaking laws and is often resorted to when all other avenues have failed. Democratic thinkers have argued that civil disobedience — which includes sit-ins and roadblocks, vandalism, leaking sensitive documents, and even violence — is an important feature of a mature democracy. Without civil disobedience, slavery, Jim Crow Segregation Laws, colonialism in many nations, apartheid in South Africa and the Vietnam War may have dragged on for longer and the gender discrimination gap would be far wider than it is today, etc. Everyone should be safe on campus, but being safe and feeling safe are not the same. We have criminal laws, including hate speech provisions in the Criminal Code to tackle violence, advocating genocide, publicly inciting hatred likely to lead to a breach of the peace, wilfully promoting hatred The conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is creating confusion when evaluating whether expression is hate. Some Zionist students on campuses are claiming that they feel unsafe because protesters are highlighting the Israeli killing of over 40,000 and destruction of hospitals, schools and other civil society infrastructure.

Gorgeous Kogar Dear Papa and Mum just wanted to let you know that all is well. We are coming towards the end of our school year but instead of packing up the students are hunkering down. 2 schools of thought. the politicians are supported by the Jewish Lobby vs zero tolerance among the students for Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza. 90% are born after Year 2000. a lot of students don't know the history of Israel, 67 & Yom Kippur War etc. So their diet is mainly current YouTube shorts & TikTok and what they see is a disproportional reaction to the atrocities of Oct 7, basically a genocide of about 35000 civilians. I am ignorant of most of the arguments in both directions but I have the eyes of a Singaporean so these are my takeaways. 1. The US is built on Free Speech. You may not like what the other side says, but you need to allow them to speak. Free Speech. I believe our founding father's had too much at stake. So LKY decided that Freedom of Speech was unwanted distraction from Nation building which he focused on in the 1970' & 1980's. 2. Collateral damage. President and Chancellors of Universities in the USA are under pressure. They need to balance support between their student body who insist for Israel to stop the bombings and for Hamas to release the hostages and the BODs or governments within the universities who are under pressure from students who believe that Israel has gone too far in their genocide against the Gazans on 1 side and donors, generally white, Republicans and pro-jewish lobbies on the other. Again I claim ignorance on the details but I am trying to see through the rubble & find relevance that I can take home with me. my takeaway for Singapore I shall explain by example. In 2011, Singapore embarked on an experiment called Yale-NUS College & in 2021 decided to end the experiment by accepting their last batch of students. Students are a strange animal, they are direct decendents of you & yet wired differently because they don't understand or don't want to understand why things that happened many generations ago need to be factored into today's decision making. Yale-NUS College may discuss LGBT rights Abortion Issues Racial diversity or minority placement or affirmative action immigration policy. in Singapore are we ready to take on a little bit more open dialogue or is it still taboo? Wiping out history or pretending that something that is there is not there seems a little immature. I frequently summise that even though I am Indian, I speak better Mandarin than most Chinese and my friends are predominantly Chinese, I try in my Singaporeanness to see through color and creed and call a spade a spade. But I believe our 4Gen don't have the confidence in the 5Gen and 6Gen to debate, to discuss and to share is our weakness. We don't know how to handle differences of opinion and we simply believe the best way is to avoid rather than work though. wrong. Gorgeous Kogar

The crisis at #ColumbiaUniversity involves a tense standoff between pro-Palestinian student protestors and the administration, with broader implications involving issues of #Gaza, #Israel, and #US political culture. This essay examines the student's critique of the university's entanglement in global finance, military-industrial interests, and local real estate ventures, highlighting a sophisticated understanding of Columbia's role in larger systems of #power and #capital. READ: https://lnkd.in/gGD5pcNS

ARE COLUMBIA STUDENTS THE REAL EXPRESSION OF THE CONSCIENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES? THIS COLUMBIA PROFESSOR THINKS SO… “This is exactly backward. By peacefully protesting, the students at Columbia and on a growing number of other campuses are providing U.S. society and indeed the world with an education in democracy and citizenship. This has come home to me in encampment-side conversations with students from China and other countries who have marveled at the ability of Columbia’s students to push back through protest. Amid atrocity, they are saying enough, and almost always doing so peacefully. They are saying that standing up to horror requires more urgency than letter-writing campaigns to members of Congress or patiently waiting to vote in the next election. “Gaza is far from the only horror in the world, and we could all use more of these students’ moral urgency and civility. They are pushing where they most readily can, on the institutions for whom, as students, they form the very bedrock of community. If they can’t get the U.S. government to do something to stop the violence in Gaza and increasingly in the West Bank, which goes largely ignored, they can at least get their universities to stop supporting it. This is what the demand for divestment means: denying institutional support through investment in Israeli war efforts until there is peace. Many critics object that this is unrealistic and can never work. But what is the proper citizen response? Sitting on one’s hands in resignation?” “ But the threat to Zionism in today’s world doesn’t come from the students demonstrating on U.S. campuses. I would argue that the greatest threat to Zionism doesn’t even come from Hamas, whose attacks on Israelis are an abomination. No, the greatest threat stems from the blurring of any line between Zionism and the crushing of Palestinian lives and hope for the future. To the extent that the demonstrating students are sending this message, they are Israel’s friends.”

Vietnam. Apartheid. The Velvet Revolution. Civil Rights. The White Rose. Student uprising and protests are often at the leading edge of where society will go. They are not always successful - Iran in 1999 and Tiananmen Square did not free the country the way the students hoped. Some are still ongoing like Black Lives Matter. But mass student protests are often pointers to a shift happening in society. A moment when those who will define our future starts laying down the new set of rules. The direction we will (eventually) all follow. It often flows over into the workplace amongst especially those who are fresh out of college. They are more connected to the zeitgeist emanating from those colleges and universities. This puts businesses who attract the younger more dynamic workers in a difficult position. On the one hand they serve those lagging behind or who opposes the changing world. On the other hand their innovation and growth lies in the dynamics of those at the forefront of the shift. Of course it puts universities and colleges on a collision course too - they receive funding from those in power (eg government) while trying to attract the young leaders of tomorrow. What is happening on college campuses and business offices in the US, and worldwide, is another moment where a shift is taking place. It is setting down a new set of rules of what the future will look like - maybe not tomorrow but forever remembered as a moment when things changed forever; even if it is simply how people view a situation. I have no answers. Only my own observations. I was part of the anti-Apartheid movement on South African campuses that changed South Africa forever. Time will tell whether this is something that will spark a new workplace and education revolution or whether this is a long play. Whatever direction it goes - this moment will change our world forever. To business and education leaders - be careful of how you handle it as it is more than a simple protest. For political leaders - the challenge for them is they are playing for power today when the shift is changing the future. Whatever your view may be, we cannot deny that a major global shift happens when the youth says no more because that shift defines the future they will eventually control. The beauty is we are able to see it happen in real time. We are living history. https://lnkd.in/gcXyGr4f

I happened to see a clip of Elise Stefanik questioning the President of Columbia, Nemat Shafik, on whether she believed that demonstrations on her campus were antisemitic. Shafik, as the presidents of Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT before her, attempted to evade the question. In response to questioning by Ilham Omar, Shafik originally testified that "no protests at Columbia were antisemitic." Stefanik then read a litany of anti-Jewish slurs to Shafik that had been recorded at these protests and asked her if these slurs were antisemitic. Shafik allowed how the slurs did occur at these events and were antisemitic. She said though that the "protests" themselves were not "labeled" as antisemitic. As if, calling a protest one thing and then using it for another somehow changed its essential character. And this reluctance to call a thing what it is seems to be at the heart of why antisemitic protests flourish on campus. Take the Columbia example. After much criticism that some groups on campus were spreading Jew hatred and intimidating Jewish students, the administration banned Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Students for Peace (JVP) in November 2023. Both these student groups had been expressing solidarity with Hamas and harassing Jewish students on campus. But, in March 2024 both of these groups reformed under a new name, i.e. Resistance 101. Under this new name, the leaders of Resistance 101 launched another demonstration "using threatening and intimidating language." Beyond just permitting antisemitic demonstrations to continue unpunished, Jewish students report they are subjected to intimidation by professors. It should be noted that 170 professors signed a letter decrying the suspension of the banned student groups SJP and JVP and declaring the October 7th massacre of Israelis by Hamas as "a military response by an occupied people exercising a right to resist violent and illegal occupation." In other words, essentially defending Hamas and legitimizing their murder, rape, and kidnapping of Israeli citizens. This is the environment in which Jewish students are forced to deal with at Columbia and other Ivy League schools, where the Presidents of the schools "talk" about respect and safety of all students, but look the other way when openly antisemitic demonstrations and professors operate with impunity. It is not surprising then that enrollment of Jewish students in Columbia and other Ivy League schools is declining. And perhaps that is the plan all along. Every one of these elite schools had policies early in the 20th century limiting the number of Jews admitted. This ugly history seems to be repeating itself.