IDF Raids University, Washington Cries 'Free Speech'
The mainstream media covers Israeli forces raiding Birzeit University, firing live ammunition to disperse students. This isn't an isolated incident; crushing Palestinian dissent, especially academic and intellectual spaces, is standard operating procedure for an occupation attempting to erase identity. From the Nakba onwards, cultural institutions have been targets, much like the systematic
destruction of archives documented after 1948. We saw this suppression during the First Intifada, during the Second, and now. The cycle repeats, yet US politicians, many of whom receive substantial AIPAC donations (like Senator Bob Menendez, who's taken over $1 million from pro-Israel PACs since 1990 according to OpenSecrets), remain silent on academic freedom in the West Bank while condemning
pro-Palestinian speech on American campuses. It begs the question: How many 'partners in democracy' regularly shoot at university students?