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Dec
18
2023

Weekly Roundup - 12/18/23

This week: Editor-at-large Peter Beinart analyzes how Harvard’s new antisemitism task force is putting political concerns over academic integrity.

Senior reporter Alex Kane describes Democratic opposition to the Biden administrations’ unilateral arms sale to Israel. In our newsletter, fellow Jonathan Shamir explores how the Israeli right has managed to mainstream the idea of expelling of Palestinians from Gaza under the guise of “humanitarianism.”

In a Hanukkah d’var Torah, Lexie Botzum finds the generative potential in rejecting colonial conceptions of light and dark that dominate our understanding of the holiday.

And from our fall issue, executive editor Nora Caplan-Bricker reviews Isabella Hammad’s Enter Ghost, a novel about a Palestinian theater troupe that grapples with the relationship between art and politics and the tensions between individual and collective identity.

From the archive, we are sending associate editor Mari Cohen׳s report on how dissenting academics in Israel Studies are resisting donor pressure, and challenging the very raison d’être of their field.


Analysis
Harvard Is Ignoring Its Own Antisemitism Experts
The university’s new advisory group on antisemitism elevates political concerns over academic integrity.
Peter Beinart
Report
Democrats Slam Lack of Congressional Oversight on Israel Arms Sale
Despite its stated concern about the civilian toll in Gaza, the Biden administration is using emergency powers to expedite weapons transfers to Israel.
Alex Kane
Report
Israel’s “Humanitarian” Expulsion
The Israeli right is capitalizing on the aftermath of October 7th to build support for a permanent transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza.
Jonathan Shamir
Essay
The Luminous Dark
How can we understand Hanukkah in a way that rejects colonial conceptions of light and dark?
Lexie Botzum
Review
Staging Resistance
In Isabella Hammad’s Enter Ghost, art prepares the ground of the self for the demands of collectivity.
Nora Caplan-Bricker

From the Archive

Report
The Fight for the Future of Israel Studies
Donors view Israel studies as a vehicle for countering Palestine activism on campus. But many of the scholars they fund don’t toe the line.
Mari Cohen