Introduction
The anniversary of the October 7 Hamas massacres that began the Gaza War were marked by celebrations of the atrocities as ‘a necessary step,’ and vandalism of universities and Jewish institutions. The outbreak highlighted the intensity of pro-Hamas sentiment on campuses and growing support for violence. The sudden controversy over celebrity intellectual Ta-Nehisi Coates’ superficial book in which he analogized Israel to the Jim Crow American South also highlighted both the imperial extension of mendacious American cultural concepts and, more ominously, signaled shifts in American elite opinion. Set against the background of the November election, explicit Biden-Harris Administration threats to cut support for Israel, calls to drive Hillels off of campuses and to exclude Israel and pro-Israel Jews from the publishing world, the cultural and political landscapes for Israel and Jews appear ominous.
Editor’s Note
The enormous growth of BDS-related antisemitism since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack has required the BDS Monitor to be greatly expanded. Readers are reminded that a shortened version appears in The Algemeiner.
Analysis
October’s anti-Israel protests were focused on the tragic anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 massacres and the Israeli response that began the now year-long war. On campus protests included student walkouts, building takeovers, and vandalism at numerous universities including Columbia University, Pomona College, Tufts University, the University of Virginia, and Princeton University. At Concordia University demonstrators were dispersed with tear gas after breaking windows of university buildings.
The homes of the University of Michigan president and Chief Information Office were also vandalized, as was the office of the Detroit Jewish Federation. McGill University canceled classes for October 7 apparently for fear of widespread celebrations of the Hamas massacre. In New York City a Jewish counterprotestor was assaulted as pro-Hamas protests spread across Manhattan.
Other October protests included the attempted blockade of the New York Stock Exchange by 200 ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ protestors, which resulted in arrests, the vandalizing of ten offices across Britain belonging to the asset management firm Allianz, as well as a factory making parts for F-35 jets. Bomb threats were called into New York area synagogues on Rosh Hashana, while antisemitic materials were distributed across the Detroit area. Protestors outside a Jewish cultural center in London chanted “Palestine Is Not Your Home” and accused participants in an October 7th event sponsored by Ha’aretz featuring both left wing Israeli and Palestinian speakers of being “genocide supporters.”
Attacks on Jews and Jewish sites were common in October. These included the vandalizing of a Chabad sukkah in Pittsburgh by two Muslims males who were then indicted by the U.S. Justice Department. More serious were New York City car ramming attack aimed at a visibly identifiable Jew on Yom Kippur and a Chicago area shooting of a Jewish male on Simchat Torah, also by Muslim males.
The campus and other protests have been underpinned by a variety of funding and organizing groups. One key group is Samidoun, which was sanctioned as a “sham charity” and front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) by the US Treasury Department in October. Canada jointly announced similar sanctions on the Vancouver-based organization. Samidoun has provided training to and jointly sponsored campus and other protests with Within Our Lifetime, Palestine Youth Movement, ‘Jewish Voice for Peace,’ and other anti-Israel and pro-Hamas organizations which are now further implication in material support for terrorism.
Students
Campus protests in commemoration of October 7 were widespread. Building takeovers, some resulting in arrests, continued from that date including at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the University of Western Sydney, and the University of Minnesota, where a building was extensively vandalized and 11 arrests made.
Pro-Hamas vandalism was also noted at American University, Georgetown University, Bryn Mawr College, and the University of Pennsylvania, where signs were defaced with the words “Sinwar lives,” and where protestors later broke into a board of trustees meeting to shout their demands. Anti-Israel protestors also disrupted a talk by George Washington University’s president during alumni weekend.
More ominous were statements from a variety of student groups in support of violence. A statement from Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) and Columbia Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) that they “support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.” The school’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter quoted dead Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s ‘objectives’ “that Operation al-Aqsa Flood was launched with the objective to liberate Palestinian prisoners, the holy sites, and land of Palestine that has been occupied by the Zionist entity since 1948, in the context of the escalation of imperialist violence against Palestinians in scale and brutality over the past few years.”
The University of Michigan’s JVP chapter stated similarly that “Death to Israel is a moral imperative.” That posting was condemned by the university president and was removed by Instagram. As part of a coalition of Philadelphia organizations the University of Pennsylvania SJP chapter described October 7th as “not merely a symbolic gesture of revolution, but a necessary step towards the liberation of a colonized people.”
A number of SJP chapters also mourned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah while over 100 Columbia University clubs released a statement mourning Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Similar praise for Sinwar as a “leader, fighter, and martyr” was offered by other SJPs in the US, such as at John Jay College, which lauded Sinwar’s “life of honor,” as well as in Britain by numerous Arab and Muslim student groups. In response, Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) called for the FBI to launch an investigation. In a nationally coordinated effort SJP chapters have also begun to call for “escalations” of the “global student intifada.”
A new target for anti-Israel protests in October were job fairs. Protestors at a variety of schools including Cornell University, Tufts University, Case Western University, and the University of Massachusetts attempted to take over job fairs on the grounds that companies represented included ‘weapons manufacturers.’ Protestors were removed from these and other events including at Temple University where the Islamist group CAIR later alleged that police had removed a student’s hijab.
Despite the widespread failure to convince administrations or trustees student governments continue to support the concept of divestment. The Rice University student government passed several referenda demanding divestment and condemning Israel. The University of Massachusetts student government passed a resolution ‘reaffirming’ its support for divestment, as did a resolution by the University of California at Berkeley student government, and a student referendum at American University. Anti-Israel activists were also also permitted to make presentations to trustees at McMaster College.
Divestment was also supported by the Northwestern University graduate student union, and a poll of Columbia University engineering students. The City University of New York Graduate Center’s student government also passed a resolution barring purchase of any product “that support or benefit from the US-backed Israeli occupation of Palestine” including Starbucks and Israeli-produce. In contrast, the student government at Binghamton University overturned a BDS resolution that was adopted in 2023.
At the University of Michigan the student government had been taken over by BDS supporters who refused to fund any student clubs until the university divested from Israel. The university then funded clubs directly which forced a petition to the student government which ended the crisis. The student government was then unsuccessfully petitioned to send its budget to Gaza universities. This move failed as well and resulted in insults and death threats against opponents.
Strikes by graduate student unions as a means to protest university policies on Israel continue to emerge. A series of strikes by University of California graduate student unions focused on ‘Palestine’ but were cut short by a court injunction for violating the terms of the union contract with the state. Additional strikes over wages and workplace conditions are being considered. The question of whether graduate union strikes over politics are legitimate has also been raised at private institutions including Brown University. Observers suggest that the National Labor Relations Board is unlikely to rule that strikes unrelated to employment are protected.
A left wing schism is happening at Columbia with the “Columbia Palestine Solidarity Coalition” breaking away from “Columbia University Apartheid Divest,” alleging the latter “has lost focus, opting to center individual organizers and revolutionary ideals over our core demands.” The implication appears to be that the communist revolutionaries attracted too much attention. The attraction of violent Third World revolutionary stances for bourgeois students partially repeats 1960s student group patterns as do schisms into more and less violent factions.
Attacking Jewish organizations has become a formal strategy of pro-Hamas groups on and off campuses. The CAIR-backed ‘Drop Hillel’ campaign, which claims to be Jewish run but which is fronted by ‘National Students for Justice in Palestine’ and ‘Faculty for Justice in Palestine’ chapters, demands that Hillels be banned from campuses over their support for Israel. The campaign has received attention at a variety of campuses including Duke University, claims that “Over the past several decades, Hillel has monopolized for Jewish campus life into a pipeline for pro-Israel indoctrination, genocide-apologia, and material support to the Zionist project and its crimes.” It claims further that Hillel is a lynchpin in campus harassment of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian students and in Israel’s “racist and settler colonialist practices.”
The national ‘Drop Hillel’ campaign has also been accompanied by student protests directed at antisemitism training. An antisemitism workshop at Haverford College presented by the ADL was disrupted repeatedly by ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ protestors, who were then invited to give statements by a dean. The Rice University SJP chapter similarly complained about ADL training for faculty and staff.
A report by UCLA’s antisemitism task force has detailed the antisemitic harassment and violence that emerged after October 7th which culminated in the spring encampment and subsequent riots. The report noted that Jewish students were harassed and then prohibited from entering parts of campus. Some 100 physical assaults were also recorded. Two Jewish males have now been arrested in connection with the riots that ended the spring encampments. Several anti-Israel faculty and students at UCLA have also announced a lawsuit charging that the university’s decision to disperse the spring encampment unfairly ‘repressed pro-Palestinian speech.’
Finally, in an especially grotesque turn, anti-Zionist students erected a number of “Liberation Sukkahs” at a variety of universities including Columbia. Similar unauthorized installations at the University of California, Berkeley, Brown University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Northwestern University were dismantled by authorities, who were then accused of “antisemitism” by protestors. The Hillel sukkah at Simmons University was vandalized with the words “Gaza Liberation Sukkah” while the JVP chapter posted a note on social media stating “This is not antisemitism. Drop Hillel. Drop this bs.” These are in addition to several encampments, including at UCLA and University of California at Berkeley, which had been previously ruled illegal and have been repeatedly rebuilt and removed.
Administrations
University administrations continue to be challenged by anti-Israel students and faculty. One clear result has been declines in contributions. Donations to Harvard University in the first half of 2024 fell 14% or $151 million while Columbia University’s “Giving Day” reported a 28% drop in donations over the prior year.
A major donor to the University of Pennsylvania called the institution “unreformable” and has redirected $5 million to Israeli institutions. Penn’s Wharton school also reported a drop in donations but declined to provide figures. George Washington University’s endowment also declined by $200 in the past quarter which may reflect a drop in donations or investment losses.
The dependence of universities on contributions for operational expenses highlights the importance of endowments to their overall business model. In turn this helps explain the growing rejection of divestment by administrations and trustees which became apparent in October, most notably by Brown University. There the administration undertook a long process of consulting with anti-Israel students and faculty who were then surprised by the rapidity and finality of the corporation’s decision. A number of students there are now being investigated for harassing trustees. A similar decision was reached by Harvard University, Stanford University trustees and at Colorado College. Even the New School, with an endowment of less that $400 million, surprised observers by rejecting divestment.
The revised BDS strategy of focusing on divestment from ‘arms manufacturers’ rather than companies investing in or supplying Israel – a transparent rhetorical ruse – has had limited success. Portland State University, where pro-Hamas protestors caused $1.23 million in damages to a library which was ‘occupied’ in the spring, will apparently consider divesting from companies including Boeing. The removal of a number of companies from the University of California at Berkeley’s portfolio, however, has given rise to claims that this was a result of BDS pressure rather than a normal rebalancing.
Financial consideration and declining public trust in universities also help explain the rush towards institutional neutrality. This position was adopted by Yale University, the University of Michigan and Northwestern University but was rejected by Princeton University whose president stated the institution would take stances less frequently.
Neutrality may also be explained in part by the palpable failure of DEI initiatives. An exposé in the New York Times detailed the enormous cost of the University of Michigan’s DEI efforts. Over $250 million was spent and a vast bureaucracy empowered to oversee the campus and ensue that ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’ were inserted into all aspects of educational and social life. Rather than roll back programs as other institutions and university systems have done Michigan continues to expand the scale and reach of DEI programs even as the concepts are rejected by students and faculty including minorities.
Institutional neutrality, however, is tested by celebrations of Hamas on campus and calls for violence against Israel and Jews, the latter of which violates Title VI protections. Condemnations of such displays by university administrations have thus far been rare. Anti-Israel departmental statements and those from non-academic units such as ‘women’s centers,’ which university administrations have been slow to control, also undercut the notion of institutional neutrality. Faculty members, such as at Princeton University, also continue to argue for the right to make political statements through normal governance means such as the faculty senate.
Finally, administrations continue to slowly expand sanctions on students who violate regulations regarding protests and who undertake violence. A University of Chicago student was arrested for assaulting a police officer at an anti-Israel rally. Cornell University has suspended 15 students – ten of whom were permitted to remain on campus – involved in a confrontation with university police after they disrupted a September job fair. Video footage showed the masked students pushing past police to enter a university building. Pomona College has suspended and banned ten students who occupied and vandalized a university building.
Additional sanctions include banning SJP chapters at Brown University, Temple University and Tufts University (which continued to organize events), while the University of Illinois withdrew recognition for the local SJP chapter. But the refusal of Harvard University to aid prosecutors investigating assaults against Jewish students, and to support Jewish students generally, has resulted in a Federal lawsuit which has now advanced to the discovery stage.
In the international sphere, the University of Milan canceled an exchange agreement with Reichman University after pressure from Palestinian students.
Faculty
University faculty have begun to protest time, place and manner regulations on campus protests. This opposition gives faculty the opportunity to remain at the forefront of the anti-Israel movement but with the added cachet of ‘defending free speech’ and their students. One example of the latter is a letter of support from Jewish faculty at Cornell in support of students who invaded a job fair.
Faculty support for explicitly anti-Israel viewpoints is reflected in speaking invitations to pro-Hamas UN rapporteur and antisemite Francesca Albanese at Princeton University, Brown University, Barnard College, Georgetown University and elsewhere. A talk by Palestinian Christian theological Sari Ateek on the October 7th massacres at Virginia Theological Seminary is another example of an invitation to a known Hamas supporter.
‘Faculty for Justice in Palestine’ chapters also have taken the lead in organizing campus protests. October examples include Columbia/Barnards calling for the boycott of local Harlem businesses, the University of Pennsylvania’s joining an ‘Indigenous Person’s Day’ protest and calling for the university to break ties with a local high tech firm.
Faculty leadership is also represented by efforts from the “International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network” to associate Zionism with ‘white supremacy.” These faculty are in turn members of various ‘critical studies’ programs working to created anti-Israel and antisemitic K-12 curriculums. As an illustration of where these faculty efforts emanate from and lead to, calls to expel “white nationalist and Zionist” students and staff also appeared in a letter from the University of Buffalo’s “Communist Student League.”
In one example of an organized disruption, Harvard University faculty staged a silent demonstration in a university library in violation of new rules and in support of students who had similarly disrupted a library study area. In response some two dozen faculty members had their library access temporarily restricted. Teaching staff at Simon Fraser University are voting on an Israel boycott resolution.
University responses to faculty provocations have been sporadic. In an extreme example Muhlenberg College has fired a faculty member, Maura Finkelstein, who expressed support for Hamas and attacked “Zionists” on social media. One of the posts in question stated: “Do not cower to Zionists… Shame them. Do not welcome them in your spaces. Do not make them feel comfortable. Why should those genocide-loving fascists be treated any different than any other flat-out racist. Don’t normalize Zionism. Don’t normalize Zionists taking up space.”
While the terms of her firing have not been made fully clear by the college or by Finkelstein herself, her implicit threat to “Zionists” which created a hostile teaching environment and explicit uncollegiality may have played a role. A lawsuit alleging wrongful termination has been filed. Critics allege the firing is part of a pervasive pattern of ‘silencing pro-Palestinian voices’ on campuses and infringement on ‘academic freedom.’
Another extreme example of faculty support for terrorism is former Université de Montréal lecturer Yanise Arab who was recorded calling Jewish women “whores” and told Jewish students to “Go back to Poland” at a protest at Concordia University in 2023. Arab has now been arrested by French police on the charge of “apology for terrorism.”
K-12
Elementary and secondary school teachers and their unions continue to be at the forefront of anti-Israel activism. In Seattle a controversy emerged after it was revealed that the “Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference” included a number of anti-Israel presentations including one by well-known BDS supporter Alice Rothchild on “Incorporating K-12 Literature About Palestine — Preparing for False Allegations of AntiSemitism.”
Similar ‘social justice’ teacher training was reported in Chicago where a group offered sessions to promote “informed discussions on global issues, particularly settler colonialism, and we believe that addressing the complexities and misconceptions surrounding the Palestinian cause can contribute to promoting anti-racism and dismantling systems of oppression.”
Complementing ‘social justice’ opposition to Israel is opposition to antisemitism training from mainstream Jewish organizations. In a recent case, antisemitism training by the American Jewish Committee was targeted by San Francisco Unified School District teachers at the instigation of ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ which complained that materials were biased because they endorsed the existence of Israel.
The impact of pro-Hamas teacher training was evident even in the immediate aftermath of October 7th California teachers began to ask students “What does Palestinian freedom mean to you?” and “How are you engaged with the Palestinian freedom struggle?”
The background of the immense anti-Israel bias that has been built into K-12 curriculums and teacher activities was partially explained by a new report that noted how the New York City Department of Education has allowed unions and foreign supported activist organizations to provide curriculum materials and teacher trainings. Foreign entities including the American branch of the Qatar Foundation and local entities such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which is supported by Communist Chinese Party entities, are among those discussed.
Backlash against school districts which have created antisemitic curriculums and work environments expanded in October. In Los Angeles Jewish teachers have filed a suit against the United Teachers Los Angeles union over dues that support anti-Israel activities. Since the union is the sole bargaining representative union dues are automatically deducted from teachers’ salaries.
The suit details the pervasive anti-Israel activities undertaken under the union’s aegis before and after October 7th including advocacy for the racist ‘Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum.’ The union has now also voted to call for an arms embargo against Israel.
Jewish schools also continue to be targets for vandalism and other attacks. In Canada shots were fired for the second time at a Jewish school. Two individuals were later
Politics
On the verge of the presidential election Israel continues to be a central issue especially in battleground states such as Michigan with large Arab and Muslim populations. The depth of anti-Israel sentiment in Dearborn and other cities has been reflected in repeated rallies at which “death to America” “death to Israel” and calls for Jews to “go back to Poland” have been chanted with the participation of local politicians. Vigils for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other expressions of support for Hezbollah and Hamas and direct threats to Jews have been common.
At a campaign stop Vice President Harris also appeared to agree with a protestor who interrupted her speech to accuse Israel of ‘genocide’ saying “Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real. That’s not the subject that I came to discuss today, but it’s real and I respect his voice.” Observers were divided over whether Harris’s sympathy was real or whether she was simply pandering to the crowd but she gave the appearance of legitimizing the ‘genocide’ canard. Under pressure, her campaign later released a statement saying she did not agree with the protestor.
For his part former President Donald Trump stated that expanding the Abraham Accords would be his “absolute priority” were he to be elected. At the same time he was endorsed by a group of Michigan Muslims who lauded his commitment to peace in the Middle East and Ukraine. This followed a controversial endorsement from Hamtranck (MI) Mayor Amer Ghalib. Observers note that the Muslim endorsements come in part from staunch opposition to Democratic cultural agendas, especially LGBTQ, but also reflect an effort to reposition support from Republicans in advance of an expected Trump victory.
In a reflection that the optics of antisemitic protests have become politically costly, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that his office was taking a hard line against antisemitic hate crimes. California governor Gavin Newsom also signed legislation requiring public universities to update their codes of student conduct and undertake training on acceptable forms of protest.
In the international sphere European arms boycotts of Israel have now come into the open. The leaders of France and Spain have explicitly demanded international arms embargoes against Israel, calls that appear directed largely at the US, since their defense trade with Israel is minimal. Far left Spanish politicians have threatened to withdraw support for the government’s budget unless Spain breaks diplomatic relations with Israel. In Wales the nationalist Plaid Cymru party has also called for Britain to adopt an arms embargo on Israel as part of a full economic and cultural boycott. At the local level Greek dockworkers refused to load a shipment of ammunition bound for Israel, while a Palestinian controlled ‘human rights’ organization in Germany attempted to prevent a shipment of explosives from reaching Israel.
Targeting individual non-Israeli firms has also become more common. The Norwegian asset management company Storebrand announced it was selling its holdings in the American AI company Palantir over the latter’s software being used by the Israeli military. The decision came after the Norwegian government issued a warning regarding firms connected to ‘settlements.’ The company also referenced potential ‘human rights’ abuses.
In contrast German chancellor Olaf Schultz reaffirmed that country’s arms trade with Israel even as evidence emerged that exports have slowed. The French government again banned Israeli exhibitors from a defense fair but claimed the move was not a ‘boycott.’ The ban was later overturned by a court. Continuing a longstanding tradition of vilifying Israel the Irish parliament has advanced a bill outlawing trade with the ‘occupied territories’ Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris also called on the European Union to “review its trade relations” in the wake of Israel’s move to ban UNRWA, the international welfare agency for Palestinians.
An American arms embargo against Israel was explicitly threatened by the Biden Administration after allegations that humanitarian aid was moving too slowly into northern Gaza. The American threat came even as evidence continued to demonstrate that Hamas steals aid delivered to Gaza for sale and redistribution and despite statements from the Biden Administration that aid would halt if it was stolen by Hamas. The threat, which contradicts assurances given to Israel in August, may signal changes in American policy in a potential Harris Administration.
Arts and Culture
In the cultural sphere evidence continues to accrue regarding pervasive hatred of Israel and Jews among so-called ‘thought-leaders’ and ‘intellectuals.’ A call to boycott Israeli writers and cultural institutions except for those who repudiate ‘genocide’ by authors Sally Rooney and Arundhati Roy attracted over 400 signatures, mostly of Arab or Muslim descent from the global south. Observers note the call amounts to a “cultural ban of all Israeli voices.” A variety of reports, such as those detailing the rejections of Jewish and Israeli films from theaters and festivals in Britain, indicates that boycotts are already well established.
Another singular example that emerged in October is writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of a widely acclaimed book on race in America, who produced a new book The Message after a brief (10 day) visit to Israel accusing it of racism “beyond the Jim Crow South.” Coates amplified these themes in magazine articles and interviews including one in which he considered whether he would have joined Hamas’ attack on October 7. A follow-up interview by a CBS journalist who asked about this became controversial when he was attacked by senior management for not meeting ‘editorial standards’ and when it emerged that his mildly probing questions had not been pre-screened by the network’s “Race and Culture Unit.” The network planned to conduct a corporate-wide ‘training’ until it was revealed that the DEI trainer was a racist. The session went ahead and included a discussion of whether it is “fair to talk about whether Israel should exist at all.”
At the root Coates calls for a secular jihad that aims to legitimize radical violence against Israel, in part on the mendacious basis that Jews are ‘white,’ and to eliminate it morally if not practically. Support for Coates’ views on Israel have been found in a variety of publications such as the Washington Post while other platforms such as The New Yorker have been far more critical.
The Coates surge was accompanied by an admiring profile of retired Lebanese American porn star and anti-Israel activist Mia Khalifa in the New York Times. Restyling Khalifa as a ‘victim’ and ‘feminist icon’ legitimizes her viewpoints as coming from an ‘edgy’ individual. A fawning portrayal of the far left anti-Israel magazine Jewish Currents in the New Yorker similarly valorized generational angst over Israel and Judaism and extreme viewpoints. A social media posting from Amanda Stenberg, who delivered a poem at the Biden inauguration, which stated “The number one cause of child death on earth is Israel,” similarly points to the attitudes of untalented ‘influencers.’
‘Influencers’ are thus incentivized to adopt increasing anti-Israel and antisemitic stances as a means of gaining publicity and remaining in the good graces of conformist communities. Despite claims that ‘Israel-Palestine’ is a uniquely divisive issue that has torn newsrooms apart, the business model of portraying the situation as a David and Goliath morality tale which has prevailed since the 1980s continues today with the only difference being the eagerness of young staffers to control their superiors. Support for their viewpoints from DEI bureaucracies that attempt to override management was evident in reports regarding turmoil at media platforms owned by Conde Nast, such as Vogue, where staffers relentless insert anti-Israel biases into stories and images and their own social media postings.
The latter phenomenon was displayed when the owners of the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times refused to endorse Kamala Harris, triggering turmoil, a handful of resignations, and accusations of being ‘silenced’ especially from young staffers. In the case of the Los Angeles Times the owner’s daughter claimed that the decision was made to punish Harris for supporting ‘genocide,’ a claim that was immediately denied. A generational divide was also on display when the publishing trade publication Shelf Awareness refused to run an ad for Bernard Henri-Levy’s new book Israel Alone for fear the word would trigger publishing and bookstore staffers. The same publication ran ads for the anti-Israel children’s book P is for Palestine as well as for Coates’ book.
Observers warn that Coates book will give license to expressions of hatred for Israel, its supporters, and Jews among educated intellectuals. The class dimensions of the phenomenon point to the growing gap between coastal elites in industries such as media, education, and government, and the remainder of the country. As the higher education demographic cliff approaches, bringing with it a collapse of all levels of educational enterprises, these elites will either be disempowered by movements such as school choice or will seek to dominate new structures, such as through racially segregated schools.
Complementing this engineered shift in elite opinion is the takeover of Wikipedia by anti-Israel editors designed to commandeer what has become a basic platform. Reports have show that a group of some pro-Hamas editors systematically rewrote entries on Israel, Hamas, Zionism, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and related topics. The goal is to vilify Israel and Zionism, including describing Zionism as racism and ‘settler colonialism,’ removing references to the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, and whitewashing Hamas and Iran. Examples include efforts to remove the qualifier ‘Hamas-run’ from descriptions of the Gaza Health Ministry and to describe the ‘Nakba’ as ‘ethnic cleansing.’
Making thousands of small changes and overwhelming Wikipedia’s internal controls which are run by volunteers, the anti-Israel editors have completely undermined the authenticity and utility of the platform across many areas. They are aided by outside efforts coordinated on the Discord platform to both manipulate Wikipedia articles and use them in political pressure campaigns.
The intense antisemitism unleashed by the Gaza War among left wing groups is reflected locally in various contexts. One recurring example are food co-ops, such as the Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn (NY) where Israeli and Jewish members have been subjected to continual harassment and Israeli products have been boycotted. The concentration of antisemitism in various spaces dominated by educated progressives ostensibly dedicated to larger values suggests that the problem lies with the social class itself rather than particular institutions.
