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SvennoJ on 29 April 2024
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Jewish student lays out why he is protesting Israel’s war on Gaza

Elijah Kahlenberg, a Jewish-American student who took part in the pro-Palestinian protests at the University of Texas at Austin, said he believes Israel’s actions in Gaza “do constitute genocide”.

The 21-year-old told Al Jazeera: “In most Jewish education, when it comes to Palestinians, you’re not told about 1948. You’re not told about the Nakba. You’re typically told sometimes outright racist things about Arabs and Palestinians. I began a process of unpacking a lot of what I was told in Hebrew school, but also engaging with Palestinians and the conclusion I came to is that Palestinian culture is more similar to my culture than to any other culture in the world.”

He said that speaking out on behalf of Palestinians is not anti-Semitic.

“I’ve personally dealt with a lot of accusations that I’m either a self-hating Jew, and even worse, some have called me a Kapo, which is a Jew sellout of fellow Jews to the Nazis, all for the stances I’ve taken for my Palestinian brothers and sisters. And that’s personally very hurtful to me. I lost family in the Holocaust. But it doesn’t stop me. I understand what I’m doing is just. I am standing with my Palestinian brothers and sisters for a very noble cause. And I view them as my family.”



Students at Yale University set up new protest camp

Students protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza have pitched a new encampment on Yale University’s campus in the northeastern state of Connecticut. The move comes a week after Yale police broke up a protest camp at the university and arrested 44 students for trespassing, according to the Yale Daily News.

University authorities again urged students to disperse, the news website said, adding they risked arrest and suspension if they failed to do so.



Pro-Palestinian protests not a ‘threat’ to Jewish students: Australian Jewish Council

The Australian Jewish Council has rejected claims that pro-Palestinian student protests in the country are a “threat” to Jewish students and staff.

“Attempting to silence or censor these protests by deceitfully accusing them of antisemitism is a dangerous overreach that if acted upon, risks stifling free speech on campuses. Universities must be places where diverse perspectives can be voiced and debated openly,” the council said in a statement on Monday.

“We should be proud of all of the students, many of whom are Jewish, who are speaking out against this unfolding genocide,” Elizabeth Strakosch, executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said.

“The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic freedom that universities should uphold and defend. The student protests against the unfolding genocide in Gaza are legitimate expressions of political speech and human rights advocacy.”

Students from universities in Australia have joined their global peers in organising on-campus protests in solidarity with Palestine.



Students set up Gaza protest encampments at Sorbonne University

Students at Paris, France’s Sorbonne University are also staging demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza, according to posts on social media. The students chanted “Free Palestine!” at the university’s gates while some students set up tents in the courtyard.

Several French politicians, including Mathilde Panot who heads the left LFI group of lawmakers in the National Assembly, called supporters to join the Sorbonne protests on social media.

The protests follow last week’s student demonstrations at another Parisian institute, Sciences Po, and are the latest sign that demonstrations on US campuses are spilling over to Europe.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 29 April 2024