‘Anti-Semitism should not be weaponised’: USC law professor
Jody Armour, a law professor at the University of Southern California, says anti-Semitism should not be weaponised to silence “valid protests” against what “may plausibly be genocide”.
“We have lots of Jewish and Muslim and Palestinian and Catholic, like I am, Protestants, too, intergenerational, coming together,” Armour said.
“Everybody should hate anti-Semitism and fight anti-Semitism, but being opposed to Israel’s slaughter in Gaza that the UN has said may plausibly be genocide, does not mean that you’re anti-Semitic,” he said.
“We need to stop allowing people to weaponise anti-Semitism against real, valid protests.”
Students sit in a circle during a pro-Palestine encampment protest at the University of Southern California’s [USC] Alumni Park in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday
US House speaker Johnson threatens use of National Guard against student protesters
Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, has warned that the National Guard could be deployed to quell student protests at US universities.
During a visit to New York’s Columbia University to show support for Jewish students, Johnson described the antiwar protesters as “lawless radicals and agitators” who had taken over the campus, and he called for the resignation of Columbia President Minouche Shafik.
“If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard,” Johnson said during a speech, which was drowned out by heckling students and chants of “Mike, you suck!”
“He definitely shouldn’t have come here. We don’t want some people that really don’t know what’s happening and then come here to intervene,” Columbia student Grace Dai told the Reuters news agency.
“What makes us scared or threatened is that the president had to bring the NYPD to our campus and people like him say he’s bringing the National Guard to our campus. We don’t need that. That is the thing that makes us feel scared and threatened,” Dai said.
Students want universities to cut ties with companies arming Israel
A growing number of students are calling on their universities to end investments and partnerships with weapons manufacturers they say are profiting from Israel’s war in Gaza.
At Cornell University in New York, just under 70 percent of students who voted in a recent referendum said the university should divest from companies supporting the ongoing war in Gaza. The question specifically named several companies including BAE Systems, Boeing, Elbit Systems and Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, in Australia, students participating in a Gaza Solidarity encampment at the University of Melbourne issued a statement calling for their university to cut ties with companies including BAE Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
