University of Cincinnati Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter Announces It Faces Suspension
[AmericanIsraelite] The University of Cincinnati (UC) chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) announced on July 12 that it is facing disciplinary action over its April 21 protest of an on-campus event focused on the Abraham Accords. The chapter is now soliciting testimony and video to fight the sanction through the website of YUSRA, a Cincinnati nonprofit co-founded by the same non-student activist who led the chants that day.
SJP states that UC alleges the chapter failed to register the protest, ignored an official’s request to lower its megaphone, disrupted the conference with noise, and obstructed an entrance. SJP denies all four, arguing outdoor gatherings under 5,000 people don’t require registration, that the volume request was never a formal directive, and that attendees reported no delays getting in or out. The chapter calls the sanction retaliation against its majority Arab and Muslim board.
The allegations stem from the final day of “Shifting Paradigms, New Horizons: The Abraham Accords, U.S.–Israel Relations, and the Future of the Middle East,” a three-day conference hosted by UC and supported by the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, Academic Engagement Network and AJC Cincinnati. Organized under the leadership of UC history professor Mark Raider, the conference brought together diplomats, scholars and public officials to examine the Abraham Accords and the future of regional diplomacy.
On the conference’s final day, 100 to 150 protesters gathered outside, after spending the morning outside a UC Board of Trustees meeting. They initially assembled yards from the conference entrance with signs, speakers and a microphone.
Roughly 15 to 20 protesters then tried to register as attendees. After discussion of who could legally be excluded, students were let in and nonstudents turned back. Several who entered told organizers they hadn’t yet formed opinions on the conflict; none acknowledged opposing the event.
Once inside, students photographed attendees and made eye contact with a man outside conferring with protest leadership through the windows. As former Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin began speaking, demonstrators outside moved closer to the glass doors – while inside, protesters stood one after another to interrupt over roughly 20 minutes.
Each time police escorted an interrupter from the auditorium, the crowd gathered around the building’s exits cheered. The first attendees to leave were escorted out as protesters shouted expletives and threats; the rest were held out of sight until officers had cleared the exits.
The April 21 demonstration was driven and largely attended by outside activists rather than UC’s own students. Laila Shaikh, a 2025 graduate who founded the campus SJP chapter, appeared to direct the disruption while wearing a “Long Live the Intifada” shirt. Shouting through a megaphone loud enough to be heard indoors, she led activists in a chant calling for Zionists’ deaths: “Free Palestine until all the Zionists are f**ing dead.” Shaikh has since co-founded a local nonprofit, YUSRA, with a former CAIR Ohio executive. SJP’s campaign to fight the suspension links directly to YUSRA’s website, where the group has posted a pre-drafted email template along with contact information for the Board of Trustees, the Provost’s Office and the President’s Office.
Shaikh wasn’t the only outside voice. Northern Kentucky activist Mohammad Ahmad, a regular at Norse SJP and Northern Kentucky 4 Palestine events, told the crowd, “How many more videos of Israeli terrorists filming themselves blowing up an entire house, killing an entire family of Palestinians, sniping babies for target practice, carpet bombing an entire concentration camp, looting homes and destroying them like my grandfather’s cousin’s house, desecrating Masjid Al Aqsa, persecuting Christians…we will not stop until UC is fully divested from Zionism. And until the Zionist project in Palestine collapses, which is inevitable and will happen within our lifetime.”
A banner reading “The screams of Palestinian mothers will haunt us,” displayed at the April 21 protest, had appeared a year earlier at a Fort Thomas demonstration organized by Northern Kentucky for Palestine. The April 21 protest announcement was also published collaboratively on Instagram by SJP UC, Northern Kentucky for Palestine, Cincinnati Socialists, Cincinnati Palestine Solidarity Coalition and UC Young Democratic Socialists of America – four of which are non-student activist groups.
Mamdani taps Israel-hating, anti-cop radicals for NYC school board
[NYPost] Mayor Zohran Mamdani has inserted radical anti-police and anti-Israel members to the Panel for Education Policy, including one who is pushing public schools to have segreagated racism-reflection rooms, The Post has learned.
Among Mamdani’s 13 picks for the agency is race-obsessed former Department of Education official Lucas Koehler, head of the $500 million endowment for the Foundation for City College. Koehler — who is white — pushed his agency to “dismantle white dominant culture” and supported segregated spaces in city classrooms for non-white educators to reflect on their purported anti-black racism. Koehler, who worked for the DOE from 2014-2022, also called on the agency to sever all ties with the NYPD and said that cops pose a “threat” to minority students, as part of the letter he signed on to.
Another radical anti-cop pick for the board is Raysa S. Rodriguez, who heads the Citizens Committee for Children, a group that has repeatedly called to defund the police.
Another pick Mamdani placed on the board is Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center alum Dr. Madeline “Maddy” Fox, who signed a letter accusing Israel of genocide and denying the existence of widespread antisemitism on college campuses.
“There is no rampant crisis of antisemitism on our campuses, despite prolonged attempts by the current administration to persuade the public that there is one,” read the 2025 letter, signed by Jewish faculty at CUNY, Berkley and Georgetown. The letter went on to accuse the Trump administration of “Islamaphobia” for its attempts to combat antisemitism.
The PEP’s 24-member board approves contracts for the Department of Education — which boasts a $45 billion budget, sets policies and manages school closures.
Of the board’s 23 voting members, 13 are picked by the mayor.
Trump administration defends freeze on $2.2 billion of Harvard research funding as ACLU-led coalition backs university on appeal
[CampusReform] The administration argues Harvard failed to address anti-Semitism and other institutional concerns before nearly $2.2 billion in federal research funding was frozen, and the federal government has authority to condition taxpayer funding on universities’ compliance with federal requirements. An ACLU-led coalition is urging a federal appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling restoring the funding, while a Jewish advocacy group argues Harvard's problems remain unresolved.
The appeal stems from the administration’s April 2025 decision to freeze billions in federal research grants after demanding reforms at Harvard involving campus anti-Semitism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, admissions, hiring, governance, and student discipline. Harvard subsequently filed suit challenging the decision.
An April 11 letter from the administration said federal support “is not an entitlement” and called on Harvard to eliminate DEI programs, audit departments for viewpoint diversity and anti-Semitism, adopt merit-based hiring and admissions practices, strengthen disciplinary procedures, and implement a campus mask ban.
U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, an Obama appointee, ruled in September 2025 that the administration violated the First Amendment
”Jew-hating is a right, not a privilege. Beating them up and ruining their careers is merely an incidental pleasure.”
and federal administrative procedures by freezing the funding. At the same time, Burroughs acknowledged Harvard “could (and should) have done a better job” addressing anti-Semitism on campus.Whatever better means in this context. Also should.
The administration appealed that ruling in December 2025, arguing the district court lacked jurisdiction, misinterpreted Title VI, and improperly characterized the administration’s proposed reforms as unconstitutional coercion.Now, an ACLU-led coalition of 12 organizations has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to uphold the district court’s ruling. The coalition includes the American Civil Liberties Union, five ACLU affiliates, the Cato Institute, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Knight First Amendment Institute, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Rutherford Institute.
Carnegie Mellon cracks down on Fence vandalism following anti-Israel messages.
Over in jolly old England:
🚨 Cambridge University: first the Jason Arday disaster, now this.
— Donna-Louise (@NoLongerTheFuzz) August 11, 2026
They’ve appointed Farah Ahmed as Assistant Professor of Education — a woman who called Western education a “threat” to Muslims, democracy a “corrupt tradition,” and literacy plus qualifications un-Islamic. She…
Palestinian students and faculty sue Columbia University, claiming discrimination
[IsraelTimes] Lawsuit alleging a hostile environment amid anti-Israel protest movement is latest fallout from demonstrations that rocked campus after October 7 Hamas attack and start of Gaza war.
US judge drops Trump case alleging Harvard failed to protect Jewish students
[IsraelTimes] Federal court says evidence presented by administration was ‘too isolated and episodic’ to back plausible claim of institutionalized noncompliance with Civil Rights Act. US District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston said in his ruling that the administration’s lawsuit, which was filed in March, had not plausibly shown an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law on Harvard’s campus.
Judge in Harvard Antisemitism Case Was Anti-Israel, Anti-War Activist, McGovern Campaign Aide
[WashingtonFreeBeacon] The federal judge who has dismissed a series of antisemitism cases—by the Trump administration against Harvard, by Jewish students at MIT, and by a Harvard Business School student, Yoav Segev, who was assaulted by anti-Israel protesters—turns out to have his own history as a student anti-Israel and anti-war activist. The judge, Richard Gaylore Stearns, also found in a separate case that "Harvard failed its Jewish students." Yet the new information puts these rulings in a fresh light, at least for some who remember the context. "So 54 years later, Richard Stearns finally gets his revenge on the Jews," is the way a longtime New York Post editorial writer, Eric Fettman, put it.
Parents at US high school sue over field trip that pushed students to wear hijabs[IsraelTimes] Parents at Palo Alto High School in California are suing the school for taking students on a field trip to a mosque, where students were allegedly pushed to wear hijabs and given Qurans. The trip was part of the school’s “Social Justice Pathway” and the trip framed Islam as aligned with social work, The New York Post reports. The lawsuit is brought by a group called the Plaintiff Community Members for Religious Neutrality in Public Schools. The Palo Alto Unified School District and the high school principle are also named in the lawsuit.
The parents’ children are Jewish, Hindu and Zoroastrian, the report says.
The students on the trip also met Zahra Billoo of the Council of American-Islamic Relations, the report says. Billoo has a history of extremist statements against “Zionists.”
A school administrator tells The San Francisco Chronicle that, according to the school district’s policy, says that lessons about religion must be neutral, academic, and not devotional, and would not comment on pending litigation.
Palestinian Dentist/Professor calls for “Death to Zionists Everywhere”, says they "Worship the Devil"
[MazelitsCorner] A top California dentist and professor at Triton College has made no secret of his hatred towards Zionists since October 7th, and has posted hundreds of Instagram stories calling for the “death” of people who support Israel. According to a review of his social media, Dr. Ahmed Mataria — who owns Mataria Dental Group in Torrance, California — is currently calling for “DEATH TO ZIONISTS EVERYWHERE” according to his Instagram bio.
NY judge says Columbia University did not discriminate against pro-Hamas professor
[IsraelTimes] Court dismisses Mohamed Abdou’s case alleging discrimination in university president’s Congressional testimony and by pro-Israel instructor.
Someone else doing the same work:
Friday campus antizionism-antisemitism roundup
— Andrew Pessin (@AndrewPessin) August 21, 2026
[To stay abreast, follow @AndrewPessin on X and https://t.co/rseEBAAQO8]
Clemson U: Clemson University to Launch First Ever Hillel International Office for Jewish Studentshttps://t.co/JiADwFk7ID
U of Illinois Chicago: The…
… U of Illinois Chicago: The University of Illinois Chicago is expected to respond to a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finding that the school discriminated against three faculty members because of their Jewish religion or their Israeli national origin. StandWithUs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating antisemitism, said an investigation by the EEOC’s Chicago District Office found reasonable cause to believe harassment occurred from at least January 2022 at the Chicago campus. The EEOC did not confirm or deny the finding.“Under federal law, both charges filed with, and charge inquires made to the EEOC are confidential,” an EEOC spokesperson said in a statement to The Center Square.
https://thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_3428380e-ddb4-4666-97a4-af6e8372551d.html
Clark U: Clark University joins national effort to address campus antisemitism mental health impact: The initiative is between the Ruderman Family Foundation and Project Shema based on an 18-month, $220,000 grant, according to eJewishPhilanthropy. The two organizations aim to have up to 25 colleges and universities across the country take part in it, the announcement said
https://masslive.com/centralmass/2026/08/clark-university-joins-national-effort-to-address-campus-antisemitism-mental-health-impact.html
Federal govt moves to de-certify the American Bar Assn as an accrediting institution (has become a progressive partisan org)
https://x.com/MayMailman/status/2090773562667786514?s=20
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Thurs Aug 20
CUNY: significant victory for anti-Israel BDS forces: CUNY Law SJP (in collaboration with CUNY for Palestine and others) released a statement titled, "Disclosure Today, Divestment Next. BREAKING: CUNY STUDENTS WIN DISCLOSURE. CUNY Will Disclose All of its Stock & Bond Holdings Within Fifteen Days" which read, in part, "two years ago, we filed a request under New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for CUNY’s investments in Israeli settler colonialism and genocide. Nearly one year ago, a New York Supreme Court ordered CUNY to disclose its investments. Today, CUNY has agreed to drop its appeal of this court order and will disclose its investments in fifteen days. On or before September 02, CUNY will disclose: (1) All stocks under its name (2) All bonds under its name (3) All purchase orders it holds with companies on the BDS list.
https://x.com/AMCHAInitiative/status/2090132878235722029?s=20
Cornell: new BDS campaign launching from Usual Suspects (SJP etc), aiming to break Cornell’s relationship with Technion
https://x.com/AMCHAInitiative/status/2090139684072730870?s=20
Penn State U Jewish Studies running a semester long speaker series filled with antizionists
[flyer]
New report on Higher Education unions that marginalize Jewish faculty/staff
https://algemeiner.com/2026/08/19/higher-ed-unions-marginalize-jewish-faculty-grad-students-need-stronger-university-response-report-finds/
New Hampshire K-12, Keene State College: The Keene State College Program Manager at the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies — who runs Holocaust education programs for New Hampshire teenagers — has spent years calling Israel “apartheid” and “genocidal,” claiming Israel “continues to forcibly displace, unlawfully detain, systemically control and claim the lives of Palestinians in cold blood.” These are lies — and they fuel the deadliest wave of antisemitic violence in decades. She sits on the state commission that shapes how NH schoolkids learn about the Holocaust and genocide. Your tax dollars fund her salary.
https://facebook.com/groups/1740690739327849/pending_posts/28190111537292409/
Pennsylvania K-12: Pennsylvania removes school guide amid complaints over Jew-hatred definition
The state guidance, which replaced the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism with the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, was removed after parents contacted Jewish advocacy groups
https://jns.org/news/u-s-news/pennsylvania-removes-school-guide-amid-complaints-over-jew-hatred-definition
Canada: deep dive on campus antisemitism-antizionism in Canada
https://israel-academia-monitor.com/2026/08/19/canadas-campus-antisemitism-and-student-experiences/
Provocative essay on “The Muslim Question” relevant to campus matters
https://elderofziyon.substack.com/p/the-muslim-question
Portugal: Portugal Seeks Criminal Probe of Antisemitic Campaign at University of Coimbra That Forced Israeli Student to Abandon PhD: The formal request was also sent to Portugal’s Central Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution and prosecutors in Coimbra. Possible offenses it listed included discrimination, incitement to hatred and violence, public glorification of a terrorist organization, threats, and bodily harm, spanning several university faculties between July 2024 and May 2026. The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) first reported on Harel’s case in the summer of 2025, after he documented swastikas, Hezbollah flags, and pro-Hamas imagery across Coimbra. Stickers read: “The chosen people like to kill babies,” “Zionists should carry a certificate proving they’re humans.” and “Zionism is an evil cult.” One poster cited by Harel said “Attack your local Zionist” and another portrayed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the architecht of the October 7th massacre, as a hero.
After Harel published his research, he was doxxed and branded a “war criminal.” Flyers said he should not be allowed to buy bread. One message declared, “Your family deserves a second Holocaust.” He said he was later assaulted for carrying a small Israeli flag.
https://combatantisemitism.org/cam-news/portugal-opens-criminal-probe-of-antisemitic-campaign-at-university-of-coimbra-that-forced-israeli-student-to-abandon-phd/