Palestine and the American University feat. Dana El Kurd

It Could Happen Here

Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Daily News, Politics, News

4.3 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dana El Kurd outlines what is happening in higher education, how and why the Trump administration is attacking universities, and the role Palestine plays in all of this.

Sources:

Clifford Ando – The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump - https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-crisis-of-the-university-started-long-before-trump/

Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism - https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/

Ken Stern on IHRA definition - https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5326047/kenneth-stern-antimsietim-executive-order-free-speech

2023 Pew Research Center Poll on Black Lives Matter - https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/06/14/views-on-the-black-lives-matter-movement/

Marc Bousquet – How the University Works - https://nyupress.org/9780814799758/how-the-university-works/

PBS Reporting on Harvard University negotiations with Trump administration - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/harvard-nearing-settlement-with-trump-to-pay-500-million-and-regain-federal-funding

The Intercept’s reporting on Columbia University settlement with the Trump administration - https://theintercept.com/2025/04/16/columbia-middle-eastern-studies-trump-attacks/

Middle East Studies Association statement on Columbia University settlement - https://mesana.org/advocacy/letters-from-the-board/2025/03/28/joint-statement-regarding-columbia-university-and-the-department-of-education

Results of the Middle East Scholar Barometer - https://criticalissues.umd.edu/sites/criticalissues.umd.edu/files/November%202023%20MESB%20Results.pdf

Human Rights Watch statement on the IHRA definition - https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/04/human-rights-and-other-civil-society-groups-urge-united-nations-respect-human

Axios reporting on The Nexus Project and Trump’s use of antisemitism investigations - https://www.axios.com/2025/03/31/college-campus-antisemitism-trump-nexus-project

American Association of University Professors – Academic Freedom - https://www.aaup.org/issues-higher-education/academic-freedom/faqs-academic-freedom

2024 Announcement of 40 new AAUP chapters - https://www.aaup.org/academe/issues/winter-2025/warm-welcome-new-or-reestablished-aaup-chapters

Executive Order on Combatting Antisemitism - https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/

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Transcript

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1:06.5	CoolZone Media.
1:10.6	Hello, everyone, and welcome to It Can Happen Here.
1:13.6	My name is Danelle Kurd, and I'm a writer, analyst, and researcher of Palestinian and Arab politics.
1:19.8	I'm an associate professor of political science and a senior non-resident fellow at the Arab Center, Washington.
1:25.0	I'm also occasional co-host of the Fire These Times.
1:28.5	Today I want to talk about the attacks on American universities and American academia
	...

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