Attacking Those In Academia Who Condemn The Israel-Gaza War

All across this country, academic freedom is once again under severe attack. Why?…because at colleges and universities, professors who dare to speak out in defense of the Palestinian people and condemn Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people, are being censored, disciplined and fired. These attacks on academic freedom are not limited to actions by university administrators, but include those by the federal government, as well. Visiting scholars, adjuncts and lecturers without tenure have also had their contracts terminated, or not renewed. Some had their classes suddenly cancelled. Faculty members who espouse views contrary to official U.S. policy vis-a-vis the Israeli/U.S. war in Palestine have been criticized in ways that have trampled on their reputations and hurt their careers. As an excuse for this present-day McCarthyism, college and university administrators often claim their censorious actions are undertaken only on behalf of ensuring their Jewish students feel “safe” on campus. But there is a distinct lack of evidence to support their claimed motivation. And, in fact, the largest pro-Palestinian actions on campuses are generally organized by Jewish groups, such as Jewish Voice for Peace.

So today we’ve invited a professor from the University of Michigan to join us. We’ll ask him about McCarthy-styled witch hunts against academic personnel, both in the past and again today. Learn how federal law is being misused as a mechanism of political repression against academia. And discuss the role that controversy over slogans condemning Zionism play in this new attack on academic freedom, and what strategies are best employed today by the anti-war movement in its fight back against these attacks, as the ever more deadly Israeli/U.S. war in Palestine continues.

Guest - Professor Alan Wald, the H. Chandler Davis Collegiate Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan. Prof. Wald has authored eight books related to today’s topic. He has been a socialist scholar since the 1960’s, and is currently an editor of the journal Against the Current, as well as a member of the editorial board of Science and Society. And Prof. Wald was a founder of the University of Michigan’s Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine committee.

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New Leadership Within The Department of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002. Trump has nominated Kristi Neer, the Governor of South Dakota, to be its new head. The DHS has consolidated previous separate departments and brought into a single sprawling entity 22 pre-existing agencies. It became the nation’s third largest government department. Today it has a budget of over $100 billion and employs a quarter of a million people. Every danger is now conceived as a threat to homeland security.

As governor, Neer sent South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas eight times to fight what she called “the Biden border crisis”.

Trump said, “she will work closely with “Border Tsar” Tom Holman to secure the border and will guarantee that our American homeland is secure from our adversaries.”

Neer said, “I look forward to working with Border Tsar Tom Homan to make America safe again. With Donald Trump, we will secure the border, and restore safety to American communities, so that families will again have an opportunity to pursue the American dream”.

In 2017 she supported the Trump Muslim travel ban. In 2021 she opposed Afghan refugees coming into South Dakota.

In her memoir, she wrote about how she shot and killed her fourteen month old dog “Cricket” because he was not a good hunter.

Guest - Arun Kundnani, a Philadelphia based writer who moved from London to the U.S. in 2010. He has recently co-authored the pamphlet, Homeland Security: Myths and Monsters. His books include What is Anti-racism? And Why it Means Anti-capitalism, The Muslims Are Coming, and The End of Tolerance. A former editor of the journal Race and Class, Kundnani has been described by the Guardian newspaper as “one of Britain’s best political writers.“