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February 2016

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Majoring in Anti-Semitism at Vassar A number of events over the past two years have transformed a prestigious institution into a parody ripe for ridicule. By Mark G. Yudof and Ken Waltzer

By on February 18th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/majoring-in-anti-semitism-at-vassar-1455751940

Anti-Israel sentiment mixed with age-old anti-Semitism has reached a fever pitch at Vassar College. It is time that faculty and administrators take a stand against this toxic brew on behalf of academic values.

The campus of this private liberal-arts college in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has experienced more than its share of anti-Israel activity. In the spring of 2014, the boycott of a course in the International Studies Program—because it involved a trip to Israel—included heckling students and picketing the class. During the fall of 2015, attempts were made to boycott Sabra hummus because the maker of this popular food is partly owned by an Israeli food company.

The most recent incident was a talk on Feb. 3 by Jasbir Puar, a Rutgers associate professor of women’s and gender studies. The address, “Inhumanist Biopolitics: How Palestine Matters,” was sponsored by eight Vassar departments and programs, including Jewish Studies and American Studies. READ MORE AT SITE

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WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Chun Han Wong& Gordon Lubold :U.S.-Beijing Spat Escalates Over South China Sea Secretary of State John Kerry questions President Xi Jinping’s credibility over Chinese leader’s pledge not to ‘militarize’ disputed islands

By on February 18th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/south-china-sea-missile-deployment-entrenches-u-s-chinese-positions-1455729019

The Obama administration sharply criticized Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday after charging that China’s military had deployed batteries of advanced missiles on a disputed South China Sea island.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the missile deployment was at odds with a pledge made by Mr. Xi while visiting the White House last year to refrain from militarizing clusters of disputed islands throughout the South China Sea.

Chinese officials, while not directly confirming or denying U.S. and Taiwanese claims about the missiles, said they plan to keep strengthening defensive capabilities in the South China Sea.

While both sides have no appetite for open conflict, their entrenched positions are narrowing their options for a diplomatic solution, while fueling the potential for dangerous flare-ups.

U.S. officials said Wednesday that they had confirmed commercial satellite imagery appearing to show the deployment of surface-to-air missiles on Woody Island in the disputed Paracel chain. The commercial images, from the firm ImageSat International NV, indicate the missiles were deployed sometime after Feb. 3.

The U.S., which in recent months challenged Beijing by sailing warships and flying bombers near Chinese-held islands, had warned against China’s buildup in a region where both sides increasingly find themselves locked into opposing positions.

“When President Xi was here in Washington, he stood in the Rose Garden with President Obama and said China will not militarize in the South China Sea,” Mr. Kerry said on Wednesday. “But there is every evidence, every day that there has been an increase of militarization of one kind or another. It’s of serious concern.”

The rebuke appeared to douse any lingering warmth from Mr. Xi’s state visit to the U.S. For its part, just a month after the Obama-Xi summit, the U.S. started testing China’s posture with what it labeled as freedom-of-navigation patrols near islands controlled by Beijing. READ MORE AT THE SITE

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