The president of Columbia University took a stand against anti-Semitism on Wednesday as she denied accusations from Republicans who see the New York campus as a hotbed of bias.
But Nemat Shafik was more guarded over whether certain phrases from some supporters of Palestinians were forms of harassment.
Ms Shafik and board of trustees members were questioned by members of the House of Representatives committee on education and the workforce about their response to claims of on-campus anti-Semitism.
She arrived on Capitol Hill four months after a similar hearing that led to the resignations of two Ivy League university presidents.
From the start, Ms Shafik took a more decisive stance than the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, who gave lawyer-like answers when asked whether calls for the genocide of Jews would breach school policies.
She and three other Columbia officials responded unequivocally that it would. But Ms Shafik seemed to prevaricate on specific phrases.
Representative Lisa McClain, a Republican from Michigan, asked her if phrases such as “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” or “long live intifada” are anti-Semitic.
“I hear them as such; some people don't,” Ms Shafik said.
Ms McClain posed the same question to David Schizer, who leads an anti-Semitism task force at Columbia.
Mr Schizer responded that such phrases are anti-Semitic.
It was a shaky moment for Ms Shafik, who otherwise avoided the type of answers that turned the previous hearing into a frenzy for Republicans, who say elite schools are havens for anti-Semitism.
“Anti-Semitism has no place on our campus and I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly,” Ms Shafik said.
“Columbia strives to be a community free of discrimination and hate in all its forms and we condemn the anti-Semitism that is so pervasive today."
Ms Shafik said the university has suspended 15 students and taken disciplinary action against several faculty members.
“We have 37,000 students and I think the numbers that we are talking about who are crossing these lines are, you know, a very, very small number,” she said.
The Columbia administrators were the latest school leaders called before Congress for questioning about protests at US university campuses related to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill resigned in December after her responses to a congressional committee and Harvard University's Claudine Gay stepped down in January.
The fallout from the conflict has been felt around the world, and is particularly intense on US university campuses, where both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups say they are being victimised and silenced.
The hearing came after the University of Southern California cancelled plans this week for a May 10 graduation speech by a Muslim student over what it said were safety concerns.
Pro-Israel groups had criticised the selection of Asna Tabassum as the class valedictorian, accusing her of using “anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist" speech.
Ms Tabassum condemned the decision, which she said was the result of the university “succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice”.
Paltan
Producer: JP Films, Zee Studios
Director: JP Dutta
Cast: Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Arjun Rampal, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha and Harshvardhan Rane
Rating: 2/5
Match statistics
Dubai Sports City Eagles 8 Dubai Exiles 85
Eagles
Try: Bailey
Pen: Carey
Exiles
Tries: Botes 3, Sackmann 2, Fourie 2, Penalty, Walsh, Gairn, Crossley, Stubbs
Cons: Gerber 7
Pens: Gerber 3
Man of the match: Tomas Sackmann (Exiles)
Where to buy
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
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FIXTURES
Saturday
5.30pm: Shabab Al Ahli v Al Wahda
5.30pm: Khorfakkan v Baniyas
8.15pm: Hatta v Ajman
8.15pm: Sharjah v Al Ain
Sunday
5.30pm: Kalba v Al Jazira
5.30pm: Fujairah v Al Dhafra
8.15pm: Al Nasr v Al Wasl
Red flags
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- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
