There's no easy answer here...
Is there a limit to legitimate protest? |
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Protests are held at universities across the country on Tuesday. |
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Israel's war against Hamas and its devastating toll on civilians in Gaza has rocked US political life more than any foreign policy crisis since the Iraq war.
Pro-Palestinian protests are spreading across college campuses, as are reports of antisemitic incidents. Now education authorities have a dilemma. How do they protect voices of protest, dissent and questioning of the status quo that are essential to the mission of higher eduction while ensuring that all students feel safe?
This is not on the level of Vietnam War-era campus protests just yet. But police cleared one protest camp at Columbia University before another one sprung up. More than 100 people were arrested at New York University Monday after authorities cited "intimidating chanting and several antisemitic incidents." New York leaders say political extremists infiltrated some student demonstrations. It's not illegal for protestors to voice support for Hamas or Hezbollah. But when some of them chant for Tel Aviv to be razed, it's clear that a line has been crossed from criticism of Israel to antisemitism.
Tensions are so high at Columbia that classes and even end-of-year exams are going virtual. The protests represent a sincere outburst over the more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's retaliation against Hamas' terror attacks on October 7. Protestors at Columbia want the university to divest from firms and investments profiting from links to Israel. But some Jewish students say they are also being subjected to intimidation and racial abuse, and the university maintains the protest is responsible for vandalism, harassment and discrimination against some students.
"Exposure to uncomfortable ideas is a vital component of education, and I applaud the boldness of all of our students who speak out," the president of Barnard College, Laura Rosenbury, argued on Tuesday. But, she continued, "no student should fear for their safety while at Barnard, and no one should feel that they do not belong." How will authorities reconcile the situation? Perhaps university boffins hope things will simply cool down when students go home for the summer. But there are fears the unrest could impact coming graduation ceremonies.
President Joe Biden, already facing a revolt from progressive, young and Arab American voters, used his Passover message to condemn "harassment and calls for violence against Jews," adding "this blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country." Biden's Republican opponents -- who love nothing better than blasting elite academe -- are demanding more resignations. Several college presidents were forced out in recent months after failing to forcibly condemn antisemitism during a congressional hearing late last year. Ex-President Donald Trump weighed in from his hush money trial in New York Tuesday, blaming Biden for the "disgrace" on college campuses in his narrative of an out-of-control nation and world.
There's no easy answer here -- which is not surprising since the conflict setting US campuses on edge has never looked more insoluble. |
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Kyiv is holding its breath as the US Senate considers a new aid bill to replenish Ukrainian stocks of weapons and military equipment. Israel's war with Hamas hit its 200th day as recovery crews in southern Gaza unearthed a mass hospital grave following Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area earlier this month. And a Peruvian woman became the first person to die by euthanasia in her country. Meanwhile in America, millions of salaried workers will soon qualify for overtime pay. The Justice Department reached a $138.7 million settlement with victims of disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar over the FBI's initial failures in investigating the sexual assault case. And pro-Palestinian protests are rocking major American universities. |
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Donald J. Trump with tabloid publisher David J. Pecker in 2010. |
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The second day of testimony in Trump's hush money trial lifted the lid on the seedy culture of US supermarket tabloid journalism — in a way that is hardly likely to improve perceptions of the ex-president's character among undecided voters.
David Pecker, the former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified about a a 2015 agreement with Trump and his then fixer/attorney Michael Cohen to squelch negative stories about the then-GOP candidate and to smear his political rivals.
The magazine's "catch and kill" operations are central in a case in which prosecutors allege Trump's hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels led to accounting violations to cover it up and to mislead voters in the 2016 election.
Pecker said he attended a meeting with Trump and Cohen in August 2015 where he told Trump he would be his "eyes and ears." Pecker said he offered to tell Cohen "about women selling stories" so that Cohen could have them killed or for someone to purchase them. He also agreed to contact Cohen directly if he heard any negative stories about Trump or his family. He also testified that Cohen would request the Enquirer run negative stories about Trump's opponents.
This arrangement had mutual benefits to the National Enquirer and Trump's campaign, Pecker testified. The tabloid publisher is an important figure in the case because he allegedly helped broker a deal with Daniels and arranged to "catch and kill" a story about an alleged affair between Trump and Karen McDougal, a model. Pecker was granted immunity from prosecution to testify to a grand jury, while Trump has denied having any affairs and has pleaded not guilty in the case. |
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