Communication about conflict is the fundamental starting point for future action. In modeling non-violent communication, university leaders can proactively counter potential extremism.
The US put a pause on an arms shipment to Israel as it launched a Rafah offensive. This is not the first time the US and Israel have publicly disagreed, despite their strong diplomatic relationship.
How university campuses respond to concerns about student safety can set the stage for learning or encourage its opposite: divisiveness and censorship.
Almost 56 years to the day after the anti-war protests in 1968, New York City police evicted Columbia University students from an on-campus occupation.
Prosecuting leaders indicted for war crimes is difficult. But the trial of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the early 2000s offers a potential playbook.
Even if you disagree with their concerns or their tactics, students should not be penalized for thinking critically about world events and trying to bring about positive social change.
Ontario’s Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act threatens to undermine university autonomy, and could serve to censor critical thinking and dissent on campuses.
In 2015, I saw Jewish and Muslim students forge a set of group agreements so they could dialogue on the Middle East conflict. Initiatives like this or a ‘Semester in Dialogue’ program are promising.
Israel’s latest missile strike on Iran may be more a face-saving exercise aimed at satisfying members of its coalition government than a true escalation of hostilities.
Since the war began, Israel has exchanged tit-for-tat cross-border attacks with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah. It is imperative to prioritize diplomatic solutions that end the violence.
Refugee programs in Canada have always been politicized, but more so in recent years, evidenced in discrepancies between programs for refugees from Gaza and Sudan and those from Ukraine.
Jordan Tama, American University School of International Service
Israel has historically made statements and taken actions to placate US anger without always following through. But will Biden’s threat to put conditions on aid force Israel to behave differently?
The government’s rhetoric in response to the death of the Australian aid worker is stronger than we’d previously seen, but in a conflict with no clear solutions, little will change.