Do progressive Americans care about the Israel/Palestine issue? I think they do. Last night Josh Ruebner spoke at Brooklyn College and supported BDS (then rode Amtrak back to DC) and tonight Ben White will be speaking there, despite a vigorous campaign to shun him. His subject is Israel: Apartheid not Democracy. The British author will “unpack the facts” about segregation and colonization in Palestine.

Check out these amazing photos of pro-Palestine activists bracing for the two speeches. The one above is particularly moving, because it is so defiantly about the status of the Other in American society– a category that minorities and majorities, from blacks to Jews to women, have defiantly occupied when they sought their rights.

More photos here and below, from friends at We Will Not be Silent.

Naturally, the New York Daily News is going nuts over Ben White’s appearance. It publishes an attack by Tammi Rossman-Benjamin:

Does Brooklyn College have a Jewish problem? For the second time this year, the university’s political science department has outraged the Jewish community by agreeing to co-sponsor events hosted by Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine, an organization whose sole mission is to engage in campus activities that demonize and delegitimize the Jewish state.

And this editorial slamming Brooklyn College’s administration, for not having more pro-Israel speakers on campus. I wonder how many students are demanding such appearances?