IndustryStandard

In a congressional hearing in July of last year, a research scholar on antisemitism named Charles Asher Small shared an explosive finding: Funding from the government of Qatar had fueled a 300% spike in antisemitism on university campuses in the United States. Members of Congress responded with rapt interest. “I want everybody to hear this. So universities that took money from Qatar had a 300% increase in antisemitism [compared to] other universities?” said Iowa Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra.9

The statistic about Qatari funding for antisemitism became the highlight of Small’s testimony to Congress. But this precise statistic was never actually recorded in his study.

Small repeated the same claim in a Senate hearing in March of this year. But when contacted for comment about the figure, ISGAP could not point Drop Site to any specific report or finding. One ISGAP study published in 2023 did report that, from 2015-2020, universities that received money from “Middle Eastern” donors had a 300% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to those that do not. But this report is also disputed—and there is no data in it specifically linking Qatari funding to a rise in antisemitic incidents.

Drop Site interviewed over a half-dozen former employees and scholars of ISGAP, many of whom explained that the organization has strayed from the mission of academic study of antisemitism into a hyper-fixation on Qatari funding of U.S. institutions—while ISGAP itself has accepted foreign funding from Israel.

A former Israeli army commander, Herzi Halevi, has confirmed that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in the war in Gaza, and that “not once” in the course of the conflict were military operations inhibited by legal advice.

Halevi stepped down as chief of staff in March after leading the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the first 17 months of the war, which is now approaching its second anniversary.

The retired general told a community meeting in southern Israel earlier this week that more than 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million population had been killed or injured – “more than 200,000 people”. That estimate is notable as it is close to the current figures provided by Gaza’s health ministry, which Israeli officials have frequently dismissed as Hamas propaganda, though the ministry figures have been deemed reliable by international humanitarian agencies.

A former Israeli army commander, Herzi Halevi, has confirmed that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in the war in Gaza, and that “not once” in the course of the conflict were military operations inhibited by legal advice.

Halevi stepped down as chief of staff in March after leading the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the first 17 months of the war, which is now approaching its second anniversary.

The retired general told a community meeting in southern Israel earlier this week that more than 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million population had been killed or injured – “more than 200,000 people”. That estimate is notable as it is close to the current figures provided by Gaza’s health ministry, which Israeli officials have frequently dismissed as Hamas propaganda, though the ministry figures have been deemed reliable by international humanitarian agencies.

edit: Utah governor not FBI agent.

The Israeli military has killed at least 41 people in Gaza, including 12 aid seekers, over the last 24 hours as it continued to order the population of Gaza City to evacuate before its planned offensive.

The evacuation orders were accompanied by intensified Israeli bombing of the city, the Israeli military interspersing orders with announcements of high-rise towers they had bombed.

“For your safety, take the time to protect yourself and your family members,” Avichay Adraee, the Arabic spokesperson of the Israeli military, said while sharing videos of crowds of people fleeing Gaza City.

The Israeli military has tried to push the around 1 million residents of Gaza City to what it says is a humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, for weeks before finally issuing an official evacuation order on Tuesday.

At least three students are in critical condition after a shooting at Evergreen High School in Evergreen, Colorado, where more than 100 law enforcement officers are working to clear the school “room by room” as it remains on lockdown, officials said.

No suspects are in custody and and authorities are working to determine whether there was one or multiple shooters involved, said Jacki Kelley, public information officer for the sheriff’s department.

A court in South Korea has acquitted a woman convicted six decades ago for biting off part of a man’s tongue during an alleged sexual assault, after she challenged the ruling, inspired by the country’s #MeToo movement.

Choi Mal-ja was 19 in 1964 when she was attacked by a 21-year-old man in the southern town of Gimhae. He pinned her to the ground and repeatedly forced his tongue into her mouth, at one point blocking her nose to stop her from breathing, according to court records.

Choi managed to break free by biting off 1.5cm of his tongue.

In one of South Korea’s most contentious rulings on sexual violence, the aggressor received only six months in prison, suspended for two years, for trespassing and intimidation – but not attempted rape.

Choi, now 79, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and handed a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. That decision was overturned on Wednesday by the Busan district court which ruled her actions constituted “justifiable self-defence” under South Korean law.

Donald Trump has asked the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China as part of an effort to force the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine, according to reports.

The US president made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times, BBC and Bloomberg, who cited sources familiar with the discussions.

One US official reportedly said that Trump administration was “ready to go, ready to go right now, but we are only going to do this if our European partners step up with us”.

Remains of the dropped weapon which was likely an incendiary grenade:

Looks similar to

Additional video comparing to previous incendiary bombing and Israeli one in Gaza:

https://i.imgur.com/nXuG4Uf.mp4

Daniel Raab shows no hesitation as he watches footage of 19-year-old Salem Doghmosh crumpling to the ground beside his brother in a street in northern Gaza.

“That was my first elimination,” he says. The video, shot by a drone, lasts just a few seconds. The Palestinian teenager appears to be unarmed when he is shot in the head.

Raab, a former varsity basketball player from a Chicago suburb who became an Israeli sniper, concedes he knew that. He says he shot Salem simply because he tried to retrieve the body of his beloved older brother Mohammed.

“It’s hard for me to understand why he [did that] and it also doesn’t really interest me,” Raab says in a video interview posted on X. “I mean, what was so important about that corpse?”

Mohammed, who loved chicken wings and helped his mother knead dough for family bread each day, was the first to head out. He picked up his cousin Youssef* at his home nearby, and the two men headed out.

His last moments may have been filmed by Israeli forces. Gilbert’s montage includes two grainy videos of targeted killings. Youssef says he recognises himself, walking with his hands in his pockets beside Mohammed, his lifelong friend.

Raab describes that video as Graetz’s “second elimination”, in their first days in Tal al-Hawa. Graetz, who grew up in Munich, can be seen in Gilbert’s video, and his identity was confirmed by facial recognition technology and interviews with former classmates.

Establishing an invisible “security perimeter” then shooting civilians who cross it has become common practice in Gaza, Israeli soldiers have testified.

When asked how his squad decided whether to shoot unarmed Palestinians, Raab said: “Its a question of distance. There is a line that we define. They don’t know where this line is, but we do.”