US Gov initiates campus 'anti-semitism' monitoring amid controversy

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
30 Oct 2023 19:04
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The Biden administration has instructed the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice to collaborate with law enforcement agencies at colleges and universities nationwide to surveil so-called online hate activities.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather for a protest at Columbia University, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in New York (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

US media reports on Monday revealed that the US federal government is initiating new efforts to monitor and address the purported rise in what is alleged to be "anti-semitism" on college campuses across the country, which is fallaciously argued to have surged since the war on Gaza began earlier this month.

NBC News reported that the Biden administration has instructed the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice to collaborate with law enforcement agencies at colleges and universities nationwide to surveil online hate activities.

According to the report, the administration will additionally allocate federal funding to educational institutions and has designated a team of cybersecurity and other security experts within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to offer their specialized knowledge in this endeavor.

The report also noted that the Department of Education is in the process of amending a previously issued regulation pursuant to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to explicitly prohibit certain manifestations of "anti-Semitism and Islamophobia."

On another occasion, contradicting what the US authorities are claiming to be anti-semitism, The New York Police Department has arrested 200 people after breaking up a mass demonstration of mainly Jewish New Yorkers who took over Grand Central Station in protest of "Israel's" indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.

The police department said 200 were detained but protest organizers said it was over 300 anti-Zionism protesters, while photos from the scene witnessed long lines of people in handcuffs wearing black shirts with the words "Not In Our Name" and "Cease Fire Now".

This is what genocide looks like. These are the 2913 Palestinian children killed by the Israeli military this month, as of Thursday, October 26. As the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza intensify, we recognize with horror and grief that this death toll is already inaccurate.

1/5 pic.twitter.com/MhRWhm7ogQ
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) October 28, 2023

The demonstration was organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City, where protestors held up banners reading "Palestinians should be free" and "Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living."

Organizers called the peaceful sit-in "the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years."

In a statement by organizers, Rabbi May Ye said, "While Shabbat is typically a day of rest, we cannot afford to rest while genocide is unfolding in our names."

Israeli efforts at silencing pro-Palestinian voices in US ongoing

According to The Guardian, many attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian views have been taking place in the US after the initiation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7.

Major conferences were canceled, workers who expressed sympathy for Palestinians were fired, and intimidation efforts targeting Arab American voices critical of Israeli policy were launched.

A pro-Israeli organization in the United States forced the cancelation of a major Palestinian campaign organization's national conference early this week, claiming it was a front for Hamas.

According to Palestinian American activists, following a campaign of "listener complaints", NPR and the BBC dropped advertisements for a critically acclaimed new book about the war on Palestine.

Hilton Hotels were pressured into canceling the Campaign for Palestinian Rights event in Houston at the end of October by The Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce. Rashida Tlaib was scheduled to be the main speaker at the event.

Pro-Palestine students, academics being threatened in US

Supporters of Palestine who spoke out against the Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip are being threatened in the United States.

The New York Post stated that a "doxxing truck" is circling Harvard University’s campus to expose students who allegedly signed a letter blaming "Israel" for the atrocities on Gaza, and the truck has been displaying students' pictures and standing outside their homes.

Doxxing is the act of publishing someone's private information in order to shame them or make them feel unsafe.

The president of news watchdog Accuracy in Media, Adam Guillette, who deployed the truck told The Post that his organization "expanded our fight against antisemitism at Harvard".

The truck’s LED screens displayed the phrase "Harvard’s Leading Antisemites". One homeowner "called law enforcement" according to Guillette who added that "As is always the case, authorities explained that we’re not breaking any laws," and that the aim was that "everyone in the community can learn who the antisemites are among them."

He claimed that law enforcement at the scene asked the homeowner "not to threaten the mobile billboard driver".