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Opinion: A history of expulsion in 1948 is the key to understanding the Palestinian struggle
The San Diego Union-Tribune
May 21, 2021
Ahlam Muhtaseb, professor of communication studies at California State University San Bernardino, and Andy Trimlett, a documentary filmmaker, who together produced the documentary film, “1948: Creation & Catastrophe,” wrote an op-ed that provided historical context to the Palestinian struggle today.
“For Israelis, 1948 was a year of creation. Shmuel Toledano’s eyes sparkled when he recalled the founding of his state and ‘the feeling of, “You have a state of your own,” a Jewish state.’ He said, ‘No one … has ever lived such a situation.’ It was a feeling of finally being secure, finally having a place to call home after centuries of persecution,” they wrote.
“But for Palestinians, 1948 was a catastrophe. Mazen Elkhairy recalled the day Israeli soldiers took over his town of Ramle, ‘They came into each house at gunpoint, “You leave!”’ Eight out of every 10 Palestinians who lived in what became Israel were forced out of their homes by Israelis. Palestinians saw their homes taken over by Europeans and Russians, nearly all of whom had arrived in Palestine only within the past few decades.”
Read the complete article at “Opinion: A history of expulsion in 1948 is the key to understanding the Palestinian struggle.”
CSUSB professor marches in San Diego in support of Palestinian rights
Fox 5 San Diego
May 23, 2021
Ahlam Muhtaseb, a CSUSB professor of media studies, marched on May 23 alongside her family at a rally in downtown San Diego calling for Palestinian rights, and honoring those killed in Gaza during the 11-day war between Hamas and Israel.
Muhtaseb says she wants the U.S. to stop aiding the Israeli military. “Stop sending about $3.8 billion in annual military aid to Israel and use this in our communities, we need them here, we need to support social programs for our communities that are suffering,” said Muhtaseb.
Read the complete article and watch the related video report at “Hundreds march in support of Palestine in downtown San Diego.”
CSUSB professor participates on panel discussing impact of Middle East conflict on local communities
KPCC
May 21, 2021
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism and professor of criminal justice at California State University, San Bernardino, was one of the panelists on the program “Air Talk” to discuss how local Jewish and Muslim communities are dealing with geopolitical anxiety as the potential for hate crimes against each increase.
Joining Levin were Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Rabbi Naomi Levy, rabbi and author of many books, including her latest, “Einstein and the Rabbi” (Flatiron Books, 2017).
Listen to the program at “How local Jewish and Muslim communities are dealing with geopolitical anxiety as potential for hate crimes increase.”
Anti-Semitic attacks tend to rise when conflicts occur between Israel and Palestinians, CSUSB professor says
USA Today
May 22, 2021
The recent conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestinians has increased tensions in the U.S. – online and in person – between supporters of Israel and Palestinians.
The isn't the first time the U.S. has seen a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes following conflict in the Middle East, according to Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
"Since national data collection began in 1992, the worst months of each decade revolved around disputes in the Holy Land or around conflictual elections," Levin said.
In the 1990s, the month that saw the most antisemitic hate crimes in the U.S. was March 1994, following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, when an American-Israeli man fatally shot 29 people and wounded more than a hundred in the West Bank, Levin said.
In the 2000s, the worst month for anti-Semitic hate crimes in the U.S. was October 2000, during the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Over the last decade, however, the most hate crimes happened around the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, Levin said.
In 2019, anti-Semitic hate crimes hit multiyear highs and, for the first time in recent memory, Jews were the top target in America's three largest cities, Levin said. But as coronavirus pandemic lockdowns took effect, antisemitic hate crimes declined significantly as crimes against Asian Americans surged, he said.
"This month, as violence in the Middle East escalated, that pause in anti-Semitic violence appears to be over," Levin said.
Read the complete article at “Jewish groups sound alarm on rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes amid tensions between Israel, Hamas.”
Anti- Semitic incidents heightened across U.S. amid Israel-Gaza fighting; mosques were damaged, too
NBC News
May 21, 2021
Preliminary research by a prominent Jewish civil rights group found an increase in online and real-world incidents of antisemitism amid the latest conflict in Gaza.
And research from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, found spikes in anti-Jewish bias during major conflicts in the Middle East in past years, as well as a rise in anti-Muslim bias after incidents, such as the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 dead.
Brian Levin, the center's director, said bias incidents against Jewish Americans worsened in 2018 around the midterm elections, "when bigoted anti-Jewish conspiracy theories were widely circulated," and with the attack that year on a Pittsburgh synagogue that claimed the lives of 11 people.
"Unfortunately, Jews in the U.S. get targeted around both international conflicts and domestic ones," he said in an email.
Read the complete article at “Anti- Semitic incidents heightened across U.S. amid Israel-Gaza fighting; mosques were damaged, too.”
CSUSB professor discusses training documents related to Washington, D.C., police response to left-wing protests
Al Jazeera via MSN
May 21, 2021
Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, and former New York Police Department officer, was interviewed for an article about leaked training documents that appear to show Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) justification of “an aggressive police response” to left-wing demonstrations. Ransomware group Babuk stole the documents from MPD several weeks ago and asked a bounty of $1m for their return. MPD did not pay, resulting in their leak.
“DC is a little bit of a different oasis, as far as extremism, or even public demonstrations,” Levin said. He noted former President Donald Trump had been in power for two years when the training documents appeared to be written, during which time Republicans controlled Congress. As such, people were more likely to protest against right-wing Republican policies.
Left-wing protests were “what they were seeing on the ground,” Levin said. Also, that is where “intelligence gathering and dissemination went to during that last administration.”
Levin noted that agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security downplayed white nationalist threats, and MPD would likely have relied on those agencies for intelligence.
Read the complete article at “Leaks show DC cops justify ‘aggressive’ protest tactics: Expert.”
CSUSB professor judges Ontario art show
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
May 21, 2021
Kathryn Ervin, a professor in the department of theater arts at Cal State San Bernardino, judged the entries in the 11th Biennial Ontario Open Art Exhibition of the Associates of the Ontario Museum of History & Art, the newspaper reported.
The exhibition will be open through Aug. 15 at the Ontario Museum of History & Art, 225 Euclid Ave., Ontario. The museum is open noon-4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
For now, visitors can view the exhibit in person only by appointment through OntarioMuseum.org. Viewing in person in the coming weeks will depend on which COVID-19 tier San Bernardino County is in.
Read the complete article at “Ontario Museum of History & Art announces art show winners.”
CSUSB professor discusses latest book, ‘Solving the Problem of the Origin of Space’
The American Reporter
May 24, 2021
Through his books, “The Project VIPIN,” Professor Vipin Gupta, professor of management at California State University, San Bernardino, offers a precise solution for the problem regarding the origin of space. He was interviewed about his fourth book, “Is Divine Energy.”
Read the complete article at “Solving the Problem of the Origin of Space.”
The CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism’s latest research on hate crimes against Asian Americans was cited in the following:
Yes, there has been a spike in anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic
WHAS 11 Louisville, Ky.
May 21
Hate crimes against Asians rose by 145% in 2020 even though overall reported hate crimes dropped by 6%.
In March of 2021, the Center for Study of Hate & Extremism (CSUSB) published a report documenting changes in hate crime patterns for all of 2020 in 16 American cities. In those 16 cities, which include most of the largest cities in the United States, hate crimes against Asians rose by 145% in 2020 even though overall reported hate crimes dropped by 6%. Of the 16 cities in the report, there were 122 reported cases of hate crimes with anti-Asian bias which is more than double the 49 documented cases recorded in 2019.
Asian Americans emerged as an important voting bloc in 2020. Activists fear new voting restrictions could silence them
CNN
May 22, 2021
Asian American voters are more likely to be immigrants than other major racial or ethnic groups. Two-thirds of eligible Asian American voters in 2020 were naturalized citizens, compared to about 25% of Latinos, according to Pew's figures.
As a result, former President Donald Trump's immigration policies and his rhetoric about the coronavirus' origins proved a galvanizing force for these voters last year, said Varun Nikore, president of the AAPI Victory Fund, which mobilizes progressive voters. During his White House tenure, Trump used words such as "China virus" and "kung flu" to refer the coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China.
And during the pandemic, Asian Americans have faced escalating violence, with reported hate crimes against Asians in nearly two dozen of the nation's largest cities and counties up 194% in the first quarter this year over the same time period last year, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino.
Torrance event held to build community awareness, combat anti-Asian violence
KTLA 5
May 23, 2021
Violence against Asian Americans and Asians continues to rise despite increased national attention and political action to end anti-Asian hate, a recently released report shows.
A report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino found an increase in anti-Asian hate crime reports in the first quarter of 2021 compared to last year.
A special workout and community-building event was held Sunday at Wilson Park in Torrance to bring awareness to this issue.
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”