The Israel-Hamas war is causing controversy at US college campuses

Universities across the country are struggling with how to approach the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in a way that’s inclusive to those with strong views on the situation.

• Many Jewish students and their allies have sought for schools to issue a forceful condemnation of Hamas and to support Israel after the surprise attack launched by Hamas militants on October 7.
• On the other side, many Muslim and Palestinian students have joined with allies in calling for schools to recognize decades of suffering by Palestinians in Gaza, and to strongly condemn Israel-caused civilian casualties.

Dozens of colleges have put out statements this month about the ongoing war – but many have faced criticism from students on both sides of the issue for either: 1) not going far enough in condemning Hamas' attack, 2) failing to condemn civilian deaths in Gaza, or 3) leaving out context and history from the region.

Non-student groups are also weighing in. Students at Harvard, Columbia, and NYU have lost job offers over their connection to controversial pro-Palestinian letters, top donors at UPenn and Harvard have canceled financial support over accusations the schools don’t do enough to fight antisemitism, and Florida yesterday banned the group Students for Justice in Palestine from state public universities for providing "harmful support for terrorist groups."

💥 In other Israel-Hamas news: Israel has agreed to delay its expected ground invasion of Gaza for an undisclosed amount of time to allow the Pentagon to deploy air defenses to the Middle East to protect US troops already stationed there, per a new WSJ report. This morning, however, The Guardian reported (citing the Israeli military) that Israeli troops backed by tanks attacked Hamas targets in a brief ground raid in the Gaza Strip.

• Hamas officials yesterday said the death toll from Israel’s ongoing airstrikes targeting the Gaza Strip rose above 6,500, including more than 2,700 children (figures which couldn’t be independently verified).