By JACKIE HAJDENBERG (JTA) — Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack will step down from her position next month, the third Ivy League leader to announce her resignation amid fierce campus debate surrounding antisemitism and protests over the Israel-Hamas war.  Cornell University President Martha Pollack. (Kenneth C. Zirkel/Wikimedia) In an email sent to the Cornell community, Pollack cited the “enormous, unexpected challenges” posed by the war and incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia. She emphasized that the decision to retire from the position was her own. “Local and worl ..read more

By SHIRA LI BARTOV (JTA) — As the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicks into full gear, organizers who insist the event is “non-political” are fighting a crescendo of protests over Israel’s participation amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Eden Golan from Israel performs the song “Hurricane” on the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest during rehearsals for the second semifinal in the Malmö Arena, May 8, 2024. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images) The European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the global competition held in the Swedish city of Malmö this year, has tirelessly pushed one sl ..read more

By JACKIE HAJDENBERG (New York Jewish Week via JTA) — More than 400 Jewish students at Columbia University have signed an open letter defending their support for Israel and decrying harassment they’ve faced surrounding the school’s pro-Palestinian encampment. A Columbia student wraps tefillin, while in the background, a pro-Palestinian encampment enters its third day. (Jackie Hajdenberg) The letter also addresses two groups that, signatories say, have purported to speak for them: their anti-Zionist Jewish peers, and pro-Israel alumni who have come to the school to protest. “We are here, writ ..read more

By PHILISSA CRAMEER (JTA) — The social media company Meta is adjudicating whether a key phrase used by pro-Palestinian activists constitutes acceptable speech. A sign reading “From the river to the sea” can be seen in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 21, 2024 (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images) The company’s Oversight Board, an independent body tasked with reviewing Meta’s content moderation decisions, has taken up the question as it reviews three cases involving posts that use the phrase “From the river to the sea.” The phrase has been used by Palestinian nationalist mo ..read more

By ALAN SMASON The 31st Jazz Fest Shabbat is being held this year on the second week of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival  due to the intersection last week with the celebration of Passover. While Passover can affect the Jazz Fest schedule, it usually only does so in a year when the additional month of Adar II is added backing up the celebration from late March or early April to late April. Sweet Crude will be featured at tonight’s Jazz Fest Shabbat at Touro Synagogue. This year’s Jazz Fest Shabbat will again be marshaled by Cantor Kevin Margolius and will feature local indie p ..read more

By RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona had a presentation ready on combating antisemitism in schools and universities — an issue that has been at the center of a burning debate in recent weeks over pro-Palestinian encampments at campuses nationwide. Miguel Cardona, secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, participates in a public event in New York City, April 12, 2023. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) But he had to present it twice, because at least five Jewish organizations boycotted the first meeting because they did not want to sha ..read more

By JACOB GURVIS LOS ANGELES (JTA) — For the past couple of days, Eli Tsives has watched a video of himself spread online. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters clash during violence at an encampment at UCLA early in the morning of May 1, 2024. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) It shows him trying to enter his campus, the University of California, Los Angeles, and go to class, only to be blocked by a growing number of pro-Palestinian activists wearing keffiyehs, or Palestinian scarves. Tsives, who is in his first year, handed his phone to another Jewish student who filmed ..read more

By ANDREW LAPIN (JTA) – While hundreds of Israel protesters on campuses across the country came to blows and arrests continued to mount this week, students in Providence, Rhode Island, faced a calmer reality on Wednesday. Pro-Palestinian students take down their encampment after reaching a deal with Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island on April 30, 2024. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images) There, the tents in the pro-Palestinian demonstration came down peacefully. And the organizers of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” celebrated, dancing and partying on Brown University’s Main Gre ..read more

By RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who has been criticized in the past for her dalliances with antisemitic tropes and influencers, explained her vote against a bill defining antisemitism by saying that the bill it rejects the “gospel” that “the Jews” handed Jesus over to his crucifiers. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, center, and Lauren Boebert, left, are seen during a group photo with freshmen members of the House Republican Conference in Washington, D.C., Jan. 4, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Greene’s opposition to ..read more

(New York Jewish Week via JTA)— Police stormed the Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian students on Tuesday night, arresting dozens, as the school’s Jewish center was placed on lockdown with students inside. Student anti-Israel protesters are arrested by police and removed from the campus of Columbia University in New York City, April 30, 2024. (Luke Tress) The scenes at Hamilton Hall saw protesters lying prone as they were cuffed and loaded onto NYPD vans. The arrests took place after the students broke into the building on Monday night and barricaded it with c ..read more