The Connection between Israel's Genocide in Gaza and Trump's Authoritarianism

Not all of the attacks on American freedoms started under cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump. When it comes to Israel and the Palestinians, Trump has continued the policy of former President Joe Biden of providing full, unequivocal support for Israel. Both Presidents have sought to squelch criticism of their policies and Israel's actions, especially among college students. The result has been the most pronounced assault on freedom of speech within the United States in modern history. Biden began the process by funding, supplying, and providing political support for Israel's genocide in Gaza and then backing attempts by Israel's supporters to classify almost any criticism of the country's actions as "antisemitism". Even the most modest critique of Israel's actions in Gaza is likely to be declared "antisemitic" or "pro-Hamas" and, in many cases, punished. This process began under Biden, but Trump has seized the cudgel of combating "antisemitism" to further his own interest in neutering universities as a source of opposition to his autocratic policies. Under both administrations, steps were taken to suppress freedom of speech, particularly on college campuses, in order to avoid criticism of the full-fledged support for Israel and Israel's atrocities in Gaza.

Fundamental to this discussion is the scale of U.S. support for Israel. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S. provided Israel over $13 billion in assistance in 2024. Almost all of this was in military assistance, and Israel relies heavily on U.S.-supplied military equipment. U.S. laws regulating the sale of weapons prohibit the supply to countries that violate human rights. Despite clear evidence of massive human rights violations by the Israeli military, the Biden administration repeatedly shielded Israel from repercussions. Biden Administration officials lied to Congress about Israeli violations of human rights, ignoring information provided by their own staff. Other than a brief delay on a small number of bombs, Biden did little to limit how Israel used the U.S. weapons. Trump has done nothing whatsoever. It should be clear to everyone that the U.S. has Palestinian blood on its hands. The U.S. is a full partner in the genocide that Israel is committing.

Just over a year ago, one of the most publicized Israeli atrocities occurred when IDF forces shot up a car carrying 6-year-old Hind Rajab and members of her family. Rajab spent 3 1/2 hours on a cellphone pleading with rescuers to come to her aid. When an ambulance approached the car, it was destroyed by Israeli tank fire, killing two paramedics. Eventually, Rajab would be found dead along with six of her family members. Rajab's killing inspired protests in the U.S., most visibly at Columbia University, where protesters took over a building and renamed it "Hind Hall". Columbia sent in the New York Police Department to forcefully remove the protesters, who would later be given harsh punishments. Hind Hall, meant to draw attention to the genocide being committed by Israel, became a source of outrage among those who wanted to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. Israel's supporters demanded that Columbia do more to combat what they described as "antisemitism" and "pro-Hamas" activity.

One of the negotiators representing the students occupying Hind Hall was Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil was recently arrested by the Trump administration and is currently detained while fighting attempts to deport him. A legal permanent resident, Khalil is married to a U.S. citizen and is not accused of having committed a crime. The attempt to deport him is solely due to his exercise of free speech in opposition to Israel's gencide in Gaza. Trump recently threatened to withhold $400 million in federal funding to Columbia if it did not take further steps to suppress pro-Palestinian activity on campus. The university quickly caved into Trump's demands. Columbia's acting president was removed due to concerns that she might not implement the concessions as aggressively as desired. To be clear, Trump probably has no strong feelings about students speaking out in favor of Palestinians. Rather, Biden supplied him with a handy issue that could be exploited to bludgeon universities into submission. Institutions of higher education are a critical component of civil society and one that Trump does not wish to exist independent of his control. The pro-Palestinian actions, labeled as "antisemitism" and "pro-Hamas" activity by Israel's supporters, simply gave Trump an excuse.

In the intervening year, Israel has grown only more brutal in its actions towards the Palestinians. In an event reminiscent of the killing of Hind Rajab, a Palestinian dispatcher lost contact with a Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance rushing to the scene of an Israeli bombing in Rafah in southern Gaza. A second ambulance located the vehicle and reported that the paramedics had been shot and wounded. Two more ambulances were dispatched, but contact was soon lost with all of them. After days of searching, rescuers discovered a mass grave containing the bodies of eight paramedics, six civil defense workers, and one U.N. staff member. Israeli forces had destroyed their vehicles and attempted to bury the vehicles and the bodies. According to the U.N., those in the mass grave had been killed "one by one", despite being in clearly marked vehicles and wearing paramedic uniforms. As reported in the Guardian, a "forensics consultant who examined five of the bodies says there is evidence of execution-style killing" and witnesses reported that "some of the bodies recovered from the grave had had their hands or feet tied." There are also reports that at least one body had been beheaded.

On Thursday, an Israeli strike on a school that was being used as a shelter killed dozens of Palestinians, including several children. Video from a local hospital showed more than a dozen wounded children being brought in. Israel has repeatedly ordered widespread evacuations of parts of Gaza, and many residents have been repeatedly displaced as they are forced from one area to another and then back again. Israeli officials are not shy about their plans. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz recently released a video in which he warned that the military would act with "unprecedented force" and urged Gazans to relocate to other countries. Otherwise, the "alternative is complete destruction and devastation." Israeli journalist Meron Rapoport recently wrote:

"Connecting all these dots leads to a fairly clear conclusion: Israel is preparing to forcibly displace the entire population of Gaza — through a combination of evacuation orders and intense bombardment — into an enclosed and possibly fenced-off area. Anyone caught outside its boundaries would be killed, and buildings throughout the rest of the enclave would likely be razed to the ground."

Rapoport wrote that a more precise description of what Israel is proposing is "concentration camp". He says "the idea appears to be: first, corral the population into one or more closed-off enclaves; then, let starvation, desperation, and hopelessness do the rest."

Israel is committing genocide right before our eyes, and the U.S. is fully supporting it. Yet, saying such a thing can have grave repercussions. Protesting Israel's actions can result in students being expelled from universities and even having diplomas withheld or retracted. As the case of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk shows, simply co-authoring an opinion article asking university officials to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide" can result in arrest and attempted deportation. In its determination to protect Israel, the U.S. government is eviscerating our right to freedom of speech. By demonizing legitimate protest and defining pro-Palestinian speech as "antisemitism", those desperate to protect Israel's interests have become enablers of Trump's most authoritarian instincts and provided him with a justification for subjugating our universities. Unequivocal support for Israel is corrupting our country both morally and politically and helping lead to the imposition of autocracy.