US, Canadian colleges enlist Israeli firms to suppress Gaza protests
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Following a pledge by former US President Donald Trump to penalize universities that failed to address pro-Palestine protests, many institutions have turned to firms with Israeli ties.
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Police in riot gear stand guard as pro-Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York, US. (AP)
A report released on Saturday by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth disclosed that universities in the United States and Canada have partnered with Israeli security firms to suppress pro-Palestinian demonstrations on their campuses.
According to the report, this trend began following the election of former US President Donald Trump, who vowed to penalize universities failing to control "radicals and Hamas supporters." In response, several academic institutions sought assistance from Israeli security companies or firms with Israeli ties to handle Palestine solidarity protests.
The City University of New York (CUNY), which experienced significant protests last year, recently signed a $4 million deal with Strategy Security Corp. The company's owner, Yosef Sordi, a former New York City police officer, has openly mentioned his professional training in" Israel".
The report also highlighted incidents at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where security personnel from Magen Am, a firm with ties to the Israeli military, were accused of aggressive behavior during protests in May. UCLA confirmed that Magen Am collaborated with local police to manage the demonstrations and was paid $1 million for its services.
Another firm, Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC), which operates a branch in "Israel", has been hired to oversee protests on various US campuses.
Not an isolated incident
In Canada, Concordia University in Montreal contracted two Israeli security companies: Perceptage International, led by Adam Cohen, the former head of security for "Israel’s" Central Court in occupied al-Quds, and Moshav Security Consulting, managed by Eyal Feldman, a former Israeli army reserve commander and advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Security.
In April, students and faculty at Columbia University in New York staged a sit-in protesting "Israel's" military aggression on Gaza. They demanded the university end its academic partnerships with Israeli institutions and divest from companies supporting the occupation of Palestinian territories.
As police cracked down on protesters and made arrests on US campuses, solidarity demonstrations erupted globally, including in France, the UK, Germany, Canada, and India, with participants calling for an end to the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
New report shows pro-Palestine protests suppressed in Democracies
A recent report by TIME magazine discussed a trend in civic liberties throughout the world: crackdowns on Palestinian solidarity marches in every kind of society, from the most open to the most closed.
Tara Petrović, author of a study by CIVICUS Monitor, a worldwide coalition of civil society groups headquartered in Johannesburg, highlights the war on Gaza's effect on civic space as a key lesson for the year. "We've seen expressions of solidarity and we've seen repression of these expressions of solidarity at pretty much every corner of the globe."
Western countries downgraded from 'open'
The annual CIVICUS study, People Power Under Attack, assesses civic space in 198 nations, ranging from "open" to "repressed," and discovered that approximately one-tenth of the protests blocked by authorities referenced "Israel's" war on Gaza, or solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Global protests have erupted following the ongoing onslaught on the strip, which has killed over 44,532 people and injured over 105,538.
However, the organization notes that excessive force was used against Pro-Palestine demonstrators, including those where civic freedoms are listed as "narrowed," like the Netherlands (whose standing was downgraded from "open" this year), Australia, and Italy. Some countries, such as France, have outright outlawed protests because they believe they constitute a security danger.
Germany has been particularly noted according to Petrovic, as it has criticized pro-Palestinian activism, including canceling events, raiding activists' homes, and enforcing travel bans on pro-Palestinian figures.
Recently, it introduced a rule requiring naturalization applicants to affirm "Israel's" right to exist. In 2023, Germany's ranking on the CIVICUS Monitor dropped from "open" to "narrowed" due to its crackdown on both climate activists and Palestinian solidarity campaigners.
In the United States, whose CIVICUS rating has been "narrowed" since 2022, college campuses have been the focal point of controversy over pro-Palestine demonstrations, with over 3,100 individuals arrested or jailed at rallies that frequently featured encampments, the great majority of which were nonviolent.
The disputes lost numerous Ivy League university officials their jobs, and several colleges changed their policies about legal campus action and implemented additional disciplinary processes in an apparent attempt to prevent such demonstrations from occurring in the future.
