Israeli security firms, contracted by several universities in the US and Canada, are being used to suppress pro-Palestinian protests.
Universities in the United States and Canada have entered into agreements with Israeli security firms to suppress pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Saturday.
The report highlights that after former US President Donald Trump pledged to penalize academic institutions failing to curb “radicals and Hamas supporters,” several universities turned to Israeli security companies, or those with ties to Israel, for managing pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
“One of the most prominent examples is the City University of New York (CUNY), which has recently become a focal point for such protests,” the report said. The university reportedly “approved a $4 million security contract with Strategic Security Corp., a company owned by Joseph Sordi, a former NYPD officer and Mossad alumnus.”
The report also referenced incidents at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where personnel from Magen Am, a company with ties to the Israeli military, allegedly acted aggressively during protests in May.
US & Canadian campuses are hiring Israeli security firms to curb anti-genocide protests pic.twitter.com/YmDNQ3zsTd
— Tameem | تميم (@TameeOliveFern) December 7, 2024
UCLA confirmed that Magen Am worked alongside local law enforcement and was paid $1 million for its services.
Additionally, the Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC), which operates an exclusive branch in Israel, was contracted to oversee demonstrations across multiple U.S. university campuses.
In Canada, Concordia University in Montreal enlisted two Israeli security firms: Perceptage International, led by Adam Cohen, a former head of security for the Israeli Central Court, and Moshav Security Consulting, operated by Eyal Feldman, a former Israeli army reserve commander and advisor to the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
In April, students and faculty at Columbia University in New York staged a sit-in opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza. They demanded the university sever academic ties with Israeli institutions and divest from companies supporting the occupation.
As US universities saw police intervention and arrests during protests, similar demonstrations spread internationally to campuses in France, the UK, Germany, Canada, and India.
Protesters expressed solidarity with their American counterparts and called for an end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
Several universities across the U.S. and Canada have engaged Israeli-linked security firms to suppress pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. pic.twitter.com/zOfOeveLLo
— Tehran Times (@TehranTimes79) December 7, 2024
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,664 Palestinians have been killed, and 105,976 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Ambulances Targeted, Doctors Expelled – Gaza’s Healthcare under Siege
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
