Spain leads European push to recognise Palestine
Spain is on a mission. As Israel’s war on Gaza rages on, Madrid wants to recognise Palestine as a state by July and is encouraging its neighbours to follow in its footsteps.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a longtime supporter of Palestinian rights, sees recognition as a way of reaching a two-state solution and a possible key to ending the devastating conflict that began in October.
“The time has come for the international community to once and for all recognise the State of Palestine,” he said in November. “It is something that many EU countries believe we have to do jointly, but if this is not the case, Spain will adopt its own decision.”
In all, 139 out of 193 United Nations member states consider Palestine as a state. Those which do include European nations such as Iceland, Poland and Romania, as well as countries like Russia, China and Nigeria.
Top USC graduate cancelled over Gaza speaks out
A Muslim graduate in the US has condemned a decision by the University of Southern California to cancel her graduation speech after complaints over the support she showed for Palestinians.
Why is Columbia University’s president testifying before US Congress?
Nemat “Minouche” Shafik is the latest leader of an elite US university to be called to testify before members of the US Congress on how her institution has responded to protests amid the Israel-Gaza war.
Her testimony comes four months after the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were also called to testify on the subject. That contentious, Republican-led hearing led to the resignation of Penn President Liz Magill and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
Protests since October 7 have forced private higher education institutions to grapple with their free speech policies. Pro-Palestine protesters have alleged that they have been unjustly stifled by university authorities on trumped-up allegations of hate speech. In turn, several university leaders have been accused of not doing enough to counter anti-Semitism on campus.
Read more about the stakes of the hearing, here.
