Polish students occupy top universities to cut ties with Israeli academia – Arab News

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WARSAW: Polish students have joined the global movement to end partnerships with Israeli institutions and were occupying the country’s top campuses on Saturday because of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Students and alumni of 12 universities in Poland have been calling on their management to publicly disclose which Israeli academia, research centers, organizations and companies they have been cooperating with and in what scope.
In open letters to rectors, they demanded that the universities “boycott Israeli institutions at the national and international level until the occupation of Palestine ends, recognize the right of Palestinians to equality and self-determination, and recognize the right of return for Palestinian refugees.”
As no action followed from university authorities, on Friday evening they set up encampments at the campuses of the University of Warsaw — the country’s largest academic institution — and of the Jagiellonian University — the oldest and most prestigious.
In a joint manifesto, the protesters said: “We will occupy the university space with our own bodies to demand action … we consider opposing genocide as our highest obligation.”
Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives in Gaza have since October killed 36,000 Palestinians with more than 80,000 wounded, the vast majority children and women. Many have lost their lives as most of the hospitals have been flattened by bombardment and no medical assistance could reach them.
Protesting students say that failing to oppose the onslaught would mean tacit consent — and complicity.
The University of Warsaw is linked through a research project to the Ben-Gurion University, whose Homeland Security Institute partners with the biggest Israeli arms manufacturers such as Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. It is also linked to the University of Haifa, which runs special programs for Israeli forces and intelligence.
“As a student, I feel I should have a say in what our university is investing and what its partners are. We know that the university is tied to the Israeli army, forces and apartheid system,” Agnieszka, a sociology student and one of the coordinators of the strike at the University of Warsaw, told Arab News.
“That’s why I’m here … I hope it will change something.”
Agnieszka was speaking from behind the university gate, which has been locked since Friday evening as campus authorities sealed all entry points, preventing anyone from leaving or getting inside.
People were coming to the gate and the campus fence to bring the students water, food and power banks, and to show support.
While no one could join their encampment anymore, the dozens of students gathered inside believed they could bring change.
“We’ve been protesting since October against the genocide that is occurring in Gaza, and now we’re sort of bringing it closer,” said Nena, who studies at the Faculty of Philosophy.
“We have more direct impact on the institutions we are part of.”
At the same time, 300 km away, students of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow were also locked up at their campus, posing the same demands as those in Warsaw, and vowing that they “will not be indifferent, will not be silent, will not be passive,” as they called for others to join.
“It’s important for me to be here,” Gabriela, an international relations student told Arab News from the Krakow protest site. “It’s important to show solidarity with other encampments around the world, so that authorities can’t ignore our demands any longer.”
The University of Warsaw and the Jagiellonian University have not engaged in any discussions with the protesters. Neither university commented on whether it would agree to the students’ demands. The spokesperson of the Jagiellonian University said that to “ensure the safety of the strike participants,” there was a person “appointed to monitor the situation.”
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United States on Monday announced a draft Security Council resolution supporting the Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan outlined by Joe Biden last week, urging Hamas to accept it.
“Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The draft text, seen by AFP, “welcomes the new deal announced on May 31, and calls upon Hamas to accept it fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
Biden outlined on Friday what he called an Israeli plan that in three phases would end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.
However fissures between the two allies emerged when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stressed that the ongoing war in Gaza would continue until all of Israel’s “goals are achieved,” including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Israeli media have questioned to what extent Biden’s ceasefire speech and some crucial details were coordinated with Netanyahu’s team, including how long any truce would hold and how many captives would be freed and when.
Earlier Monday, the White House said Biden told the emir of mediator Qatar that he saw Hamas as “the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire” in Gaza, and urged him to press the group to accept it.
Hamas last week said it viewed Biden’s outline “positively,” but has since made no official comment on the stalled negotiations, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have not announced any new talks.
Before Biden had made his Friday announcement, Algeria had last week circulated a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and a halt of the Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing the recent order to that effect from the International Court of Justice.
Washington at the time had said that the text wouldn’t be helpful, saying instead direct, on-the-ground negotiations were necessary for a truce.
No vote is scheduled for either draft resolution.
The council has struggled to find a unified voice since the war broke out with the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, followed by Israel’s retaliatory campaign.
After passing two resolutions centered on the need for humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, in March the council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire — an appeal that had been blocked several times before by the United States.
Washington, increasingly frustrated with the mounting civilian death toll, finally allowed that resolution to pass by abstaining from voting.
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump ‘s campaign and the Republican National Committee say they raised $141 million in May, a massive fundraising haul that includes tens of millions of dollars raised in the aftermath of his guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial.
Trump’s campaign is not required to publicly disclose its fundraising to the Federal Election Commission until later this month. But its decision to release the numbers early underscores how it sees the wave of contributions as evidence that last Thursday’s verdict has energized the former president’s supporters and as a sign that it will not hobble his efforts to return to the White House.
President Joe Biden’s campaign has yet to release its own May fundraising totals. Trump and the Republican Party reported raising $76 million in April, topping the more than $51 million reported by Biden and the Democratic National Committee that month for the first time.
It is unclear how much Trump and the GOP spent in May. But the sum could help them close the money gap with Biden that has persisted throughout the race.
Trump’s campaign said in a press release Monday that it had received more than two million donations in the month of May averaging $70.27. More than a third of that haul — 37.6 percent — came in the form of online contributions in the 24 hours after the verdict was announced, it said.
About a quarter of the donors, it said, were new to the campaign.
“We are moved by the outpouring of support for President Donald J. Trump. The American people saw right through Crooked Joe Biden’s rigged trial, and sent Biden and Democrats a powerful message – the REAL verdict will come on November 5th,” Trump Campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said the campaign would “see how the numbers actually shake out” when they are officially reported, but said, “one thing’s for certain: Trump’s billionaire friends are propping up the campaign of a white collar crook because they know the deal — they cut him checks and he cuts their taxes while working people and the middle class pay the tab.”
Trump’s campaign announced last week that it had raised more than $50 million online in the 24 hours after the Manhattan jury announced its verdict, making Trump the first former president — and first major party presumptive nominee — in the nation’s history to be convicted of a crime.
He will be sentenced on July 11.
WILMINGTON: A jury was sworn in on Monday for the trial of Hunter Biden on gun charges, a historic criminal prosecution of a sitting president’s son with the potential to influence the 2024 presidential election.
Hunter Biden, 54, went on trial at the federal courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, four days after Republican Donald Trump, the Democratic president’s rival for the Nov. 5 US election, became the first former president found guilty of a crime.
President Joe Biden’s son is accused of failing to disclose his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver and of illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in October 2018.
He has pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges.
The case, brought by US Special Counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee, is one of Hunter Biden’s two criminal cases. He also faces federal tax charges in California.
US District Judge Maryellen Noreika ended the day by swearing in the 12 jurors and four alternates. “Your job is to find the facts,” she told them and instructed them not to discuss the case with anyone, even among themselves.
The case is expected to center on Hunter Biden’s years of crack cocaine use and addiction, which he has discussed publicly and which was a prominent part of his 2021 autobiography, “Beautiful Things.” He told Noreika at a hearing last year that he has been sober since the middle of 2019.
Republicans have seized on Hunter Biden’s troubles to try to shift attention away from Trump’s own legal woes. Trump is due to be sentenced on July 11. He has pleaded not guilty in three other pending criminal cases.
Jill Biden, Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen Biden and his half-sister Ashley Biden were in attendance. Wilmington is the Bidens’ hometown.
“Jill and I love our son and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that a lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction.
Congressional Republicans spent years in vain trying to find evidence of a corrupt link between Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, including work for Ukrainian energy company Burisma, and his father’s political power.
JURORS DISCLOSE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH ADDICTION
The jurors included several who disclosed personal experience with drug addiction. One impaneled juror had a friend who overdosed and another, selected as an alternate, whose uncle’s drug use led to jail time.
“I feel like it’s an everyday part of the world,” said the alternate juror of substance abuse.
Few jurors expressed strong political views but a handful said they were acquainted with members of the extended Biden family.
One potential juror said she and her husband were acquainted with Hunter Biden. “Wilmington is a small place,” the potential juror told the judge before being dismissed.
All 12 jurors must agree he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to convict.
If convicted on all charges in the Delaware case, Hunter Biden faces up to 25 years in prison, though defendants generally receive shorter sentences, according to the US Justice Department.
Hunter Biden spent the weekend with his father in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with the pair biking and attending church together on Saturday.
GUN PURCHASE
Prosecutors will seek to prove that Hunter Biden knew he was lying when he ticked the box for “no” next to a question on a federal gun purchase form asking if he was an unlawful user of a controlled substance.
Prosecution lawyers disclosed in court filings that they may use details gleaned from Hunter Biden’s phone and iCloud account, including photos of him smoking crack and messages with drug dealers. They said they may call as a witness his former wife Kathleen Buhle, who accused Hunter Biden in their 2017 divorce proceedings of squandering money on drugs, alcohol and prostitutes.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers have indicated they may try to show he had completed a drug rehabilitation program before purchasing the gun and may have considered his answer on the gun purchase form to be truthful.
A plea agreement that would have resolved the gun and tax charges without prison time collapsed last year after Noreika questioned the extent of the immunity it extended to Hunter Biden. His lawyers blamed Republican pressure for the failure of the plea agreement.
Noreika, a Trump appointee to the bench, entered multiple orders over the weekend that were requested by prosecutors and that appeared to undercut the defendant’s legal strategy.
The judge said the defense could not introduce expert testimony that people suffering from substance abuse disorders might not consider themselves an addict.
That testimony could have helped Biden show that he did not know he was lying on the background check form. The government is required to prove that Biden knowingly lied.
WASHINGTON: A Georgia appeals court will hear arguments in October on whether to disqualify Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting Donald Trump for trying to overturn his 2020 defeat, a schedule that will likely postpone that trial until after the Nov. 5 election.
At issue is whether the prosecution is tainted as a result of Willis’ past affair with her one-time top deputy whom she hired to work on the probe.
Trump’s legal team has sought to use the affair as a reason to try to derail the case but the judge overseeing the trial said in March that Willis could remain on the case.
The Georgia election interference case is one of three criminal trials that Trump still faces, though all three have been delayed for a variety of reasons.
Last week, Trump became the first former president in US history to be convicted of a crime after a jury in New York City found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election.
The Georgia appeals court did not specify when in October it will hear arguments on whether to disqualify Willis, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the case will be heard Oct. 4.
Willis is also separately expected to ask the court to overturn a lower court ruling that dismissed several counts against Trump in the 2020 election subversion case on the grounds that the indictment was not detailed enough to sustain those charges.
JERUSALEM: At the start of its devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip, Israel set an ambitious goal: destroy Hamas. At the time, the Biden administration committed to the objective, giving Israel considerable stocks of weaponry and voicing its support.
Nearly eight months into the war, however, cracks have emerged between the close allies over what defeating Hamas actually looks like. Last week, US President Joe Biden said the militant group was no longer capable of launching an attack on Israel like the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war and that it was time for the fighting to end. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right ministers disagree.
Where the US seeks a quick end to the fighting, Israel’s leadership appears determined to push onward.
Here is how the leaders define the destruction of Hamas.
BIDEN: NO ABILITY TO POSE A THREAT
Biden on Friday said it was time to end the Israel-Hamas war, signaling that the objective of destroying Hamas had already been met because the militant group was “no longer capable” of carrying out a large-scale attack on Israel like the one on Oct. 7.
That day, Hamas militants astonished Israel with a large-scale assault, killing some 1,200 people and dragging about 250 hostages back to Gaza as rocket fire targeted Israeli cities and towns.
In the nearly eight months since then, Israel says its air and ground offensive has significantly depleted Hamas’ military capabilities. It claims to have killed 15,000 militants, half of Hamas’ fighting force, and wounded thousands of others. It also says it has destroyed a significant portion of Gaza’s labyrinthine tunnel network, command and control centers and rocket launchers.
Biden appeared Friday to believe this was enough to satisfy Israel’s objective. He urged Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement to release about 85 remaining hostages, along with the bodies of around 40 more, for an extended ceasefire.
NETANYAHU: ELIMINATE REMAINING MILITARY AND GOVERNING ABILITY
In response to Biden’s suggestion that Hamas was significantly depleted, Netanyahu said Israel would not agree to a permanent ceasefire until “the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
The Israeli army says the eradication of Hamas is still incomplete, with battalions of militants remaining in the southernmost city of Rafah and fighting still raging in Gaza’s north. Hamas has continued to launch rockets into Israel, although with far lower intensity than in the first months of war. The extent of the group’s governance across the strip remains unclear, though no alternative has emerged.
Still, Netanyahu admits it may be impossible to fully stamp out the ideology of Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, a year after winning legislative elections against the rival Fatah party. Hamas has managed to survive despite a 16-year blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt, and four previous wars against Israel.
“Hamas has to be eliminated, not as an idea,” Netanyahu said in late March. “Nazism was not destroyed as an idea in World World II, but Nazis don’t govern Germany.”
ISRAEL’S FAR RIGHT: ERADICATE HAMAS AND RESETTLE GAZA
The far-right firebrands within Israel’s ultranationalist government have staunchly rejected Biden’s ceasefire proposal, saying Israel must continue its war in Gaza until the militant group is completely stamped out.
Israel’s minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have both threatened to leave Netanyahu’s government if he endorsed Biden’s proposal. That would cause the coalition to collapse.
Smotrich said Monday that agreeing to a ceasefire would amount to a humiliation of Israel and a surrender. Increased military pressure, he said, is “the only language understood in the Middle East.”
Ben-Gvir has called for the “voluntary” emigration of Palestinians from Gaza and for a return of Israeli settlements. Israel unilaterally pulled out of more than 20 Jewish settlements in Gaza in 2005, ending a 38-year presence.
Speaking at a resettlement conference in May, Ben-Gvir said that the only way to make sure “the problem won’t come back” was to “return to Gaza now.”
“Return home!,” he chanted, “Return to our holy land!”

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