Yale University's decision to withdraw the student club status of a pro-Palestine group has sparked outrage and concern that the school is acting on misinformation and applying double standards.
The university revoked Yalies4Palestine's club status after demonstrations on Tuesday amid an off-campus speech by far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
"Yalies4Palestine sent out calls over social media for others to join the event, and this morning joined with an unregistered group in public statements taking credit for the event," a statement on the university's website read.
"This occurred only one day after Yalies4Palestine had met with Yale College officials to discuss recent policy violations and were warned that further violations would jeopardise the group’s privileges."
Mr Ben-Gvir had been invited to speak at the private event hosted by the Yale-based Jewish society group Shabtai.
“This is a dangerous moment,” said a faculty member at Yale. "Their physical, personal, professional and psychological safety is at risk, but we commend and stand with our students who are fighting for justice in Palestine, as well as all liberation movements."
The faculty member, who was also familiar with Yalies4Palestine, said there is much misinformation about what took place at the demonstration before and during Mr Ben-Gvir's speech.
Yalies4Palestine, the faculty member said, was not the official sponsor of the protests, and many entities on campus were involved in what started as a peaceful demonstration that also included Jewish students expressing opposition to Mr Ben-Gvir's visit.
"There was no aggression and by 11pm the protesters had left. But there were a few students from the local Chabad aggressively filming them and pushing their way in," the faculty member said, referring to a conservative Jewish group.
The Yale faculty member said that within hours, those who had been filming the demonstrations began to release the names of some of those attending the protest and have since tried to "dox and harass them".
Yale said that the demonstration, which took place on Hewitt University Quadrangle, did not have authorisation from the university, and took place in complete breach of "Yale's time, place and manner policies".
The university acknowledged that some students have been notified that they are subject to disciplinary action.
"Concerns have been raised about disturbing anti-Semitic conduct at the gathering," the statement read. "Yale supports free expression on campus, including permitting peaceful vigils, rallies, protests and counter-protests that comply with the university’s time, place and manner rules."
The National sought additional answers from Yale concerning the accusations made by the faculty member, but the university referred to the statement posted on its website.
Israel's punishing campaign in Gaza – which followed the 2023 attacks by Hamas-led fighters on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people and the capture of 240 hostages – has killed at least 51,355 people in Gaza and injured about 117,200.
The war has prompted the spread of anti-Semitism in various parts of the US, along with heightened Islamophobia and discrimination against Arabs.
This is not Yale's first controversy over how it has handled students and faculty expressing support for Palestine. The university was part of a mass movement that swept the country last year, with students and supporters setting up a camp on university grounds in protest against the war in Gaza.
In April, Helyeh Doutaghi, a Yale scholar of international law who was accused of having connections to terrorism by an artificial intelligence-powered news site, Jewish Onliner, was sacked by Yale Law School.
“I have been terminated based on unproven allegations, absent any due process or substantiated claim,” Ms Doutaghi posted to X. “This sets a chilling precedent.”
In a statement to The National, Alden Ferro, a senior associate of public affairs at Yale, said that the school repeatedly tried to talk to Ms Doutaghi and her lawyer but she refused to meet to respond to questions.
The Israel-Gaza war has prompted a surge in attempts from various groups using technology, AI and social networks to try to gain an upper hand in influencing public opinion. Those attempts have resulted in growing concern that demonstrators are being penalised without due process.
"Information and videos for doxxing seem to be getting out to national hate organisations – which Yale doesn't care to investigate," the Yale faculty member told The National.
Meanwhile, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce did not directly respond to reports of Mr Ben-Gvir attending a dinner at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this week.
Ms Bruce was also asked if the US approves the bombing of food and aid depots in Gaza, something Mr Ben-Gvir was reported to have said.
"That was one report," she said. "Getting food and aid in has been a north star for this administration."
Full Party in the Park line-up
2pm – Andreah
3pm – Supernovas
4.30pm – The Boxtones
5.30pm – Lighthouse Family
7pm – Step On DJs
8pm – Richard Ashcroft
9.30pm – Chris Wright
10pm – Fatboy Slim
11pm – Hollaphonic
Company%20profile
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
