American Education accuses two universities of failing to deal with anti-Arab and anti-Semitism

The US Department of Education accused the University of Michigan and New York University of failing to deal with recent incidents characterized by anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Semitic sentiment.

The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the two universities agreed to deal with complaints in this regard and take some steps such as “reconsidering some previous complaints, informing the government of the results, training employees on how to deal with allegations of discrimination, and conducting further investigations to be able to evaluate such experiences.” of discrimination."

Since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, and the growing wave of protests in the United States, the first supporter and ally of Israel in the war, the US Department of Education has launched several investigations into the protests that have spread to many of its universities. Investigations into the University of Michigan and New York University are among the first to be completed. The two universities confirmed their agreement with the ministry’s decision, and said that they oppose all types of discrimination and harassment.

The United States has recently witnessed incidents and crimes related to hostility toward Arabs and Palestinians, including a stabbing incident in October that killed a 6-year-old American child of Palestinian origin in the state of Illinois, in addition to a shooting incident in November of 3 people. Students of Palestinian descent in Vermont, and a Palestinian-American man was stabbed in Texas in February.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza that has left more than 122,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly.