Mahmoud Khalil’s case is setting up an epic first amendment battle with Trump
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/mahmoud-khalil-first-amendment-trump
#Palestine #genocide #maga #trump #fascism #authoritarian #democracy #AcademicFreedom #racism #whitesupremacy #xenophobia #nativism
France offers to take in #US scientists. Aix-Marseille University in the south of France is launching the Safe Place For Science program…for American researchers wishing to pursue their work free from persecution… the university says it is launching a scheme dedicated to welcoming those wishing to pursue their work "in an environment conducive to innovation, excellence, & #academicfreedom."’ | The Register https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/14/france_us_science_offer/
Histoire et enjeux de la liberté académique, menacée de toutes parts aujourd’hui : https://theconversation.com/liberte-academique-et-democratie-en-peril-comment-un-prix-nobel-de-la-paix-pourrait-les-defendre-251647
With Mahmoud Khalil’s Arrest, US Violence Abroad Is Coming Home
https://truthout.org/video/with-mahmoud-khalils-arrest-us-violence-abroad-is-coming-home/
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/11/mahmoud_khalil_ice_columbia_university_palestine
“This Is All Retaliatory”: Judge Blocks Mahmoud Khalil’s Deportation as Trump Vows More Arrests
Arrests of Columbia pro-Palestine activists will not save Israel’s image
As handbook editors and authors of this account it was and is always important to us to show #emdiplomacy in its diversity. This means different forms of #emdiplomacy in different European countries as well as different diplomatic actors. Therefore, we introduce you to black #emdiplomats last month.
Moreover, for us this also means giving researchers from different countries a voice: either by introducing you to their work or during the editing process by including them in the #handbook. For us this is fundamental and connected, because only by listening to different (academic and historical) voices we can understand the complexity of (historical and current) societies. But again, we can only do this, when we have academic freedom. (4/5)
Therefore, it is our duty as historians and academics to stand up for democracy, human rights and academic freedom. We cannot be silent and excuse ourselves by saying our research topics are purely historical, because we can only do our job properly in a democratic society that values academic freedom. (3/5)
#Pelatine-Israel / Ben-Gurion University condemns Government Censorship Laws while suspending Professor Ben Daniel for saying that IDF soldiers murder babies bot because of orders, but because they were educated to be baby killers
Ben-Gurion University has illegally suspended Dr. Sebastian Ben Daniel after 18 years of teaching computer science for criticizing #IDF actions in the West Bank. His "crime"? Using the pseudonym "John Brown" on social media to condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians, including a pregnant woman and a 7-year-old child.
The right-wing organization "Im Tirtzu" orchestrated a pressure campaign, collecting 1,000+ student signatures demanding his firing. Shamefully, the university administration caved immediately, bypassing proper procedures and due process.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has condemned this as "a hasty and illegal suspension" that "represents another step in academia's abandonment of fundamental values of free expression." They note this is part of a broader attack on democratic institutions, with parliament simultaneously advancing legislation to restrict academic freedom.
Prof. Oded Goldreich (who faced similar persecution when ministers tried to block his Israel Prize) defended Ben Daniel: "A university lecturer who is also a journalist and citizen published his opinion on a public forum unrelated to the university. His opinion is based on humanistic moral principles and extensive knowledge, but it's very unacceptable to fascist silencing organizations."
This isn't about "protecting students' feelings" as the university claims. It's about silencing critical voices and establishing a dangerous precedent where right-wing pressure can dictate who can speak and teach.
[…] "Ben Daniel has been serving as a computer science lecturer in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Ben-Gurion University for 18 years. Fourteen years ago, he began publishing criticism of Israel on social media (as well as in 'Haaretz' and other media outlets), alongside investigations on topics such as Military Police investigation files and arms trafficking. About three weeks ago, Ben Daniel referred to IDF activity in a refugee camp near Tulkarm where a Palestinian child was shot, writing, among other things: 'The IDF doesn't shoot at religious terrorists who attack civilians, but does murder a pregnant woman and a 7-year-old child because 'he looked at the ground,' not because of orders but because they were educated to murder Palestinian children.'"
Coverage in Hebrew:
https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/2025-03-07/ty-article/.premium/00000195-6ced-d46d-a3f7-eded22220000 or https://archive.is/2ujuA
@academicchatter
@israel
@palestine
#AcademicFreedom
#FreeSpeech
La tribune du relai Français du mouvement a été publiée dans le monde:
Please sign (even if anonymously) and share, if appropriate.
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"We, faculty and staff at colleges and universities in the United States, vow to help protect our students, staff, and faculty..."
Science must remain free from political control.Update. "ALLEA Statement on Threats to Academic Freedom and International Research Collaboration in the United States"
https://allea.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ALLEA-Statement-on-Threats-to-Academic-Freedom.pdf
"The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities expresses grave concern over the escalating threats to academic freedom, both in the United States and beyond. Recent developments regarding science and scholarship in the U.S., including executive orders freezing billions in federal research funding and censorship around topics such as climate change and gender, are forcing many U.S. science agencies and research organisations to abruptly suspend normal operations. Such censorship and political suppression of language, research topics, and methodologies—whether through funding restrictions, legislative control, or institutional interference—fundamentally compromise the integrity of scientific and scholarly endeavours not just in the U.S. but around the world due to the global nature of the research ecosystem."
"I think war crimes should be prosecuted regardless of who commits them."
That's a statement that could result in my residency revoked and deportation from Israel if a new law introduced into the Knesset passes.
And no scholar who has said such a thing would be admitted into the country either.
This is just one part of a four-part bill intended to silence dissent. The bill would also make it illegal for anyone to cooperate with any ICC or ICJ investigation against Israel for genocide or crimes against humanity.
Read more from my colleague Itamar Mann here: https://verfassungsblog.de/criminalizing-knowledge/
#US / Harvard Divinity School administrators resign citing university's tolerance of anti-muslim bias and attacks on pro-Palestinian voices
Two administrators at Harvard Divinity School's Religion and Public Life program have resigned, citing the university's failure to address a hostile environment towards Muslims and those critical of Israel.
Hussein Rashid, the assistant dean, explicitly accused Harvard of tolerating racist and defamatory statements against the program, particularly from Jewish groups like Hillel and #Chabad.
[…] He cited as an example an Instagram post by Harvard Chabad, led by Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, that said: “There are numerous Harvard academic centers that essentially function as Hamas or Palestinian embassies,” citing the Religion in Public Life center “in its entirety,” and concluding, “it’s stunning that there’s no call for some of these centers to be shut down or rebuilt in its entirety.”
@israel
@palestine
@academicchatter
#IsraelOccupation
#IsraelWarCrimes
#Islamophobia
#AcademicFreedom
"Instead of asking whether science should be political,
we should ask how politics can be more scientific." - Lancet Infectious Diseases editorial
Tell me more about woke #CancelCulture, please.
"Every federal agency in the U.S. is currently trying to figure out how to purge forbidden words from documents posted online, in a desperate attempt to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to purge “DEI” from every facet of American life. "
#Censorship #Science #AcademicFreedom #Fascism
https://gizmodo.com/the-list-of-trumps-forbidden-words-that-will-get-your-paper-flagged-at-nsf-2000559661
#AcademicFreedom might seem a small and esoteric thing to worry about in the context of what is unfolding in the US, but it is essential to science. It’s enshrined in UNESCO declarations and, in many countries, it’s enshrined in law. For example, in Germany, Art 5, III guarantees freedom of science (along with freedom of press and the arts) as a fundamental human right that constitutes part of the core of Germany’s constitutional order, an inviolable core that cannot be abolished by law, even through changes to the constitution itself (see Art. 79, GG). In the UK it is guaranteed by the UK universities act.
It matters!
