How the Israeli lobby is quashing pro-Palestinian voices on elite US campuses

While the United States stood alone in vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza last Friday, there is also a concurrent initiative taking place in the country's elite university campuses to limit expressions of pro-Palestinian perspectives.

This became more apparent than ever following the recent resignation of the President of the University of Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Magill, in the wake of a contentious Congressional hearing on "antisemitism".

During a 5 December session titled "Holding Campus Presidents Accountable and Combating Antisemitism" at the US Congress Education and Labour Committee, Magill, along with Harvard President Claudine Gay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) President Sally Kornbluth, was called to answer questions about their approaches to "antisemitic incidents" on campuses.

For hours, the heads answered questions related to antisemitism, disciplinary activities against students, how universities represent different opinions, and campus security, by Elise Stefanik, a right-wing Republican and Trump ally.

During the interrogation of Magill, Stefanik stated that students had chanted support for "intifada," which many Jews hear as a call for violent armed resistance against them, thus constituting "antisemitism".

"Calling for the genocide of Jews," Stefanik asked, "does that constitute bullying or harassment?"

Magill replied, "If it is directed and severe, pervasive, it is harassment."

Stefanik responded, "So the answer is yes."

Magill said, "It is a context-dependent decision, congresswoman."

Stefanik exclaimed, "That's your testimony today? Calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context?"

Although it is being circulated widely by both right-leaning and purportedly liberal media outlets in the US that this particular conversation led to Magill's departure, with the university's board chair, Scott Bok, also resigning shortly after, there's more to the story than meets the eye.

As far as the resignation of Magill is concerned, it had been demanded by "major donors" since September, stemming from her refusal to cancel the Palestine Rights Literature Festival on campus.

Following Magill's resignation, the American Association of University Professors at Penn issued a statement denouncing the influence of external factors in shaping the destiny of the university's leader.

"The ability of donors, lobbying groups, and members of Congress to destabilise the University of Pennsylvania reveals the need to restore a strong faculty voice in the governance of the institution," read the AAUP statement in part.

The statement also alleged that donors and politicians distorted concerns regarding Palestinian casualties during extensive Israeli military attacks, resulting in numerous civilian casualties.

Therefore, it's needless to mention that the donors were, as a matter of fact, associated with pro-Israeli lobby organisations.

When it comes to donors and lobbying groups exerting influence on the Penn leadership, one name that stands out is Marc Rowan.

Rowan, the CEO of Apollo Global Management, one of the largest financial institutions in the US, also serves as the chairman of the advisory board of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Rowan is recognised as one of the major donors and supporters of pro-Israel lobby organisations. Known as one of the university's most significant benefactors, he is speculated to have donated at least $50 million to the university to date.

His name often surfaces in the US media in relation to lobbying groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and organisations such as the Democratic Majority for Israel, which aim to influence US politicians to allocate funds and provide weapons to Israel.

For example, several lawmakers who have promoted recent bills and resolutions supporting Israel have received political contributions from AIPAC in the past year. During the 2022 election cycle, many of these contributions were earmarked as individual donations to the committee.

Apart from financial support through political contributions and advertising, AIPAC also allocated over $2.2 million for in-house federal lobbying efforts in the first three quarters of 2023. This amount exceeds the spending in the same period of 2022 by approximately $260,000.

This same Rowan, along with other influential figures who graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, had called for cutting support for the university until President Magill resigned, after her refusal to cancel the Palestine Rights Literature Festival, which was scheduled for 22-24 September.

The Wharton Advisory Board, disturbed by the atmosphere created by university students expressing their reactions to the mass killings initiated by Israel in Gaza after 7 October, conveyed in a letter to Magill:

"As a result of the University leadership's stated beliefs and collective failure to act, our Board respectfully suggests to you and the Board of Trustees that the University requires new leadership with immediate effect."

The letter called for Magill to clarify her position on calls for harm to any group of people from the university, referencing Magill's statements in the US Congress and requesting a change in policies that would allow such calls.

The list of prominent donors also includes Ross Stevens, a graduate of the Wharton School of Business and the CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management. Following Magill's hearing on 5 December, his lawyers sent a letter to Penn Senior Vice President Wendy White, saying Stevens would be "withdrawing his gift," now valued at about $100 million, that was expected to fund the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance.

"Mr Stevens and Stone Ridge are appalled by the University's stance on antisemitism on campus," Stevens's lawyers wrote. "Its permissive approach to hate speech calling for violence against Jews and laissez-faire attitude toward harassment and discrimination against Jewish students would violate any policies or rules that prohibit harassment and discrimination based on religion, including those of Stone Ridge."

Elsewhere, Kornbluth finds herself in a comparatively secure position, perhaps influenced by her Jewish identity. MIT too, has expressed support for her, commending her "excellent work in leading our community, including in addressing antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate."

However, Harvard University President Gay, the first African American to lead the university, had been pressured to resign after defending freedom of speech regarding allegations of antisemitism on campus during the hearing at the US Congress Education and Labour Committee.

Still, she can consider herself luckier than Magill, as nearly 700 staff members rallied behind her, making the university board announce on Tuesday that Gay will keep her job.

But of course, this announcement came only after Gay apologised for saying in her testimony before Congress that while she "believed calls for the genocide of Jews were abhorrent, whether it would constitute a violation of Harvard's code of conduct regarding bullying and harassment depended on the context."

Afterwards, in an interview with Harvard's campus newspaper, the Crimson, she said: "When words amplify distress and pain, I don't know how you could feel anything but regret."

In its statement, the Harvard Corporation also said that calls for genocide were "despicable" and added that Gay's initial statement "should have been an immediate, direct, and unequivocal condemnation."

Certainly, this adds further complexity to an already intricate situation. And why wouldn't it?

It is indeed a fact that Palestinians are currently enduring the hardships of the war in Gaza, and their suffering has persisted ever since the establishment of Israel. Consequently, while advocating for their support, it is only natural that people express their solidarity through chants resembling protest or uprising, with "intifada" being one such example in this case.

It's worth noting that "intifada" translates more precisely to "shake off," even though many prefer using words like "uprising" and "rebellion" alternatively. Regardless of these interpretations, it does not equate to any heinous act; rather, it simply calls for freedom.

However, repeatedly suggesting that it is "a direct call for genocide" indicates a clear attempt to suppress pro-Palestinian voices and muzzle criticism of Israel, which faces condemnation for the soaring civilian death toll in its military offensive against Gaza.

Hence, even if Harvard's Gay or MIT's Kornbluth retain their jobs for the time being, unlike Magill, it isn't really making any difference.

If anything, it has only ensured that pro-Palestinian groups expressing their call for freedom won't be tolerated. And if they still prevail, those in power who are policing them won't be spared.

Jannatul Naym Pieal is a journalist, Illustration: TBS