NOTE: Faculty, if you are interviewed and quoted by news media, or if your work has been cited, and you have an online link to the article or video, please let us know. Contact us at news@csusb.edu.
Friday Forum: Israel and Palestine, yes there is a path to peace
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
Ahlam Muhtaseb (communication studies) joined Estee Chandler, longtime film and media professional and now human rights activist, and Benjamin Kersten of Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, for the Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace’s Friday Forum to discuss pathways to peace in Israel and Palestine.
Europe’s largest news aggregator orders editors to play down Palestinian deaths
The Intercept
Oct. 19, 2023
Ahlam Muhtaseb (communication studies) was interviewed for an article about Upday, an app owned by the German media giant Axel Springer, that is instructing journalists to cover the war in Gaza, specifically in regards to civilian casualties in Palestine, with a pro-Israel bent, according to a news report.
“There is a very absurd media push for really dismissing and invisibilizing any Palestinian sympathy,” said Muhtaseb, when asked about Upday’s internal directives. “The one-sided Israeli victimhood narrative demands buy-in from media institutions and the U.S. government itself.”
When Israeli-Palestinian conflicts erupt, threats against U.S. Jews and Muslims surge
NPR
Oct. 26, 2023
Surges in religious hate crimes in the U.S. historically follow conflicts between Israel and Palestinians. Extremism experts say the latest outbreak of U.S. violence may have more profound effects. And while there are currently no hard numbers, the patterns of the past can often be a guide, according to Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino.
“I think historic information can help us,” Levin said. “What we’ve seen, for instance, in 1994, after the Hebron massacre terror attack by a Jewish extremist in the Holy Land, that following month, we saw FBI figures show a decade high for anti-Jewish hate crimes, and a homicide in New York.”
And while statistics show that such surges typically subside, Levin said he is concerned about another surge as the nation moves into a presidential election year, which, since 1992, historically has seen increases in hate crimes.
These news clips and others may be viewed at “In the Headlines.”