CALLER.COM MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024 5A A bipartisan bill is set to be intro- duced in Congress that would allow the Department of Education to set up an antisemitism monitor at colleges and universities that receive federal fund- ing. The move comes amid a wave of Pro- Palestinian protests at colleges across the country, and sponsors of the legis- lation say an antisemitism monitor is needed to protect Jewish students from discrimination. Schools would be forced to comply with the monitor, who would publish public reports of their or lose federal funding. Rep. Ritchie Torres, issued a written statement Friday: and I have spoken with countless Jew- ish students from campuses across America who feel deeply unsafe, purely as a result of their religious and ethnic identity.
This is a blatant violation of Title VI and the federal government cannot allow this to continue un- The COLUMBIA Act, or the College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandat- ing Bias Investigations and Account- ability Act, would allow the secretary of education to appoint a monitor who would be tasked with in detail the progress that a college or uni- versity has made toward combating antisemitism on campus and issuing policy recommendations to Congress, the Secretary, and state and local reg- ulators as Torres said he would co-sponsor the bill with Rep. Mike Lawler, Recent data shows incidents of both antisemitic discrimination and Islamo- phobic discrimination are up amid the Israel-Hamas war. The Department of Education has launched several investigations into discrimination claims of both kinds at U.S. schools, Reuters reported in No- vember. The Council on American Islamic Relations says it has seen a spike in Is- lamophobia and hate incidents since the start of the war.
lot of people in the Muslim com- munity reported that the time period felt a lot worse to them than CAIR attorney Zanah Ghalawanji said earlier this month. Upheaval over the Israel-Hamas war began at Columbia University in New York City when University President Nemat spoke in Washington about how the Ivy League school planned to address antisemitism on campus. After her testimony, pro-Palestinian students launched a protest on the Co- lumbia campus April 17 by pitching tents on campus grounds in what they called a Solidarity Encamp- They demanded the university sever ties to Israel amid the war. Protests have spread to other schools, and police across the nation have arrested hundreds of students and faculty protesters. Columbia Uni- versity suspended some students.
Tex- as Gov. Greg Abbott sent Texas state troopers to arrest protesters at UT-Aus- tin. The University of Southern Califor- nia has canceled its main commence- ment ceremony because of the unrest. Contributing: Krystal Nurse, USA TODAY Bill includes antisemitism Fighting in east Ukraine monitor for universities Kayla Jimenez USA TODAY Recent data shows incidents of antisemitic discrimination and Islamophobic discrimination are up amid the Israel-Hamas war. Lawmakers have introduced a bill to address antisemitism on campuses.
CAITLIN From London to Geneva, dueling groups of pro-Palestinian and pro-Isra- el demonstrators in Europe have for months been holding solidarity rallies, marches and vigils in connection with the Israel-Hamas war. But they look like the Columbia University protest encampments and confrontations, which now have spread to other U.S. universities. From Oct. 7 last year to mid-April, there have been more than 3,100 dem- onstrations in Europe related to the war in the Gaza Strip.
In the U.S. over the same period, there have been about 2,700 such events, according to data provided by ACLED, an organization that tracks and analyzes global political activity and violence. Pro-Palestinian protesters have de- manded a in the Gaza Strip and more aid for Palestinians, called on their governments to stop sup- plying arms to Israel, and urged other forms of divestment. Pro-Israel demon- strations have focused on raising awareness about the hostages held by Hamas and combating what they say is antisemitism that has made Jews feel less safe all around the world. But unlike in the U.S., where some of the most prestigious universities have been trying to defuse campus tensions over the war, on European col- lege campuses have either appeared limited or have under the radar.
Precisely why that is, political ex- perts and campaigners say, is not easy to explain. They say it could be because of ent protesting cultures, demographics, speech laws, university regulations, policing habits, lack of viral traction on social media, and even opportunity. Some European governments have ac- tively sought to place restrictions on the right to protest in support of Palestinian rights. Some say these have taken place and the media has largely ignored them. Pro-Palestinian protests every Saturday in London Matt Beech, who directs the Center for British Politics at the University of Hull, said one reason there may be fewer combative on-campus protests in the U.K.
compared with the U.S. could be because there are regular, larger-scale demonstrations, most of them pro-Pal- estinian, in London and other British cities each Saturday. At these marches in London, which are routinely attended by tens of thou- sands of people, Beech said may feel they are making a and having their voices as part of a bigger protest community, where they have a bigger audience. The frequent pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel rallies in the U.S., by contrast, have not matched the ones in London each weekend. Beech, who also sometimes lectures and teaches at the University of Califor- nia, Berkeley, said the First Amendment may also explain why some U.S.
cam- puses have erupted, and over the Israel-Hamas war. The First Amendment, he said, al- lows students in the U.S. to engage pub- licly in what Beech described as involving others during marches amid a large in- crease in antisemitic incidents since Oct. 7. Stella Swain, a youth and student co- ordinator for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which describes itself as largest Palestinian advocacy organization, nevertheless said there have been student of uni- versity campuses in the U.K.
and else- where just that nobody has paid much attention. Swain pointed out that student pro- testers at Goldsmiths, University of London, shut down some of the col- departments for more than a month earlier this year. The students demanded that the uni- versity cut all its ties with gov- ernment and divest from companies that support military occupa- tion of Palestinian territory. Similar pro- tests have taken place in British colleges in Bristol and Leeds. However, Swain said, it would be for British police to be called to a as has happened at Columbia, Yale, New York University and other U.S.
college cam- puses in recent days. She also claimed that there has been a by British authorities over the past dec- ade to down the ability to orga- protests and other advocacy on Palestinian-related issues. The protests in the U.K. and Europe, on and campus, have not, in other words, been tension-free even if ACLED data show the vast majority more than have been peaceful. The for the U.S.
is similar. In an emailed statement on Wednes- day, Campaign Against Antisemitism said hatred and objectives of anti- semites on campuses in the U.K. is the same as in the U.S.: to intimidate Jewish students and ostracize But Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti disagreed with that assess- ment. He said in a WhatsApp message Thursday that the college campus pro- tests in the U.S. resembled protests and activism against the war in Vietnam and South anti-apartheid movement.
will he predicted, oth- er universities in the Hate speech laws in the U.K. may act as a deterrent on what people are willing to say in a campus environment, when these statements can easily slide into Islamophobia and antisemitism, as both sides in the U.S. campus protests say. Government action in Europe may also be a factor. In Germany, which has long viewed itself as having a unique responsibility to stand up for Jews and Israel because of the Holocaust, have repeat- edly refused to authorize many pro-Pal- estinian protests, saying limits are needed to prevent public disorder and antisemitism.
In France, home to large Muslim and Jewish communities, a series of legal proceedings ended with courts deciding to allow protests on a case-by-case ba- sis after authorities said they could lead to incitement to hatred. Threats of visas getting revoked for praising Hamas In Britain, have threatened to revoke visas or expel foreign students who praise Hamas. The country has also given police new powers to arrest protesters who threaten or intimidate Possible explanations: laws, cultures Kim Hjelmgaard USA TODAY Pro-Palestinian supporters speak with a police officer in London, where there are regular demonstrations each Saturday. BELINDA FILE Overseas campus protests not like US KYIV Fighting in eastern Ukraine has worsened and troops have fallen back to new positions in at least three places along the front, top general said on Sunday. Russian troops have been steadily advancing in the east, with the focal point of near the town of Cha- siv Yar and northwest of Avdiivka, which Russian forces captured in Feb- ruary.
Oleksandr Syrskyi said on the Tele- gram messaging app that his troops had taken up new positions west of the villages of Berdychi and sem*nivka, both north of Avdiivka, and Novomyk- hailivka, further south near the town of Maryinka. general, the enemy achieved cer- tain tactical successes in these areas, but could not gain operational advan- he said. Syrskyi added that freshly rested Ukrainian brigades were being rotated in those areas to replace units that had losses. defense ministry said on Sunday its forces had taken over the village of Novobakhmutivka, near Ber- dychi, but military has not commented on the claim. Russia threatens West with severe response if assets touched Russian threatened the West on Sunday with a re- sponse in the event that frozen Russian assets are promising legal challenges and tit-for-tat measures.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokes- woman Maria Zakharova said Russia would never cede territories seized from Ukraine in exchange for the return of frozen assets. motherland is not for Zakharova wrote on Telegram. assets must remain un- touched because otherwise there will be a severe response to Western thiev- ery. Many in the West have already un- derstood this. Alas, not In response to war in Uk- raine, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with central bank and ministry and blocked about $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West, most of which are in European insti- tutions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a separate comment that there was still a lot of Western money in Rus- sia which could be targeted by Mos- counter-measures. Russia says it destroyed 17 drones launched by Ukraine air defense systems de- stroyed 17 drones launched by Ukraine over its territory, defense min- istry said on Sunday, with a regional of- saying the attack targeted an oil storage facility in the Kaluga region. The defense ministry said on Tele- gram that three of the Ukraine- launched drones were downed over the Kaluga region, south of Moscow. Vladislav Shapsha, regional gover- nor of Kaluga, said the drones fell near an oil depot near the town of Lyudino- vo. were no casualties or dam- Shapsha said in a statement on Telegram.
worsens, top general says Dan Peleschuk REUTERS Ukrainian servicemen a multiple launch rocket system toward Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, last week. OLEKSANDR.
