US students, faculty fight silencing of anti-genocide protests

Students and faculty are returning to their universities after the summer break amidst accelerating repression by administrations that are trying to silence support for Palestinian rights and protect their political and financial interests. Already, at New York University, the administration has essentially placed a gag order on anyone who wishes to criticize Zionism, a political ideology, by categorizing it as a protected identity class. At Barnard College, which is part of Columbia University, the administration adopted its so-called institutional neutrality policy and identified the word “Zionist” as a potential “code word” that may constitute prohibited discrimination or harassment against Jewish and Israeli students, the Columbia Spectator reported. Palestine Legal says that Columbia University’s school year began with New York City police violently arresting student picketers demanding divestment from genocide on the first day of classes. At the University of Michigan, four peopl