The mob attack at UCLA: David Myers; Hamas and Rape: Azadeh Moaveni; The Age of Insecurity: Astra Taylor.

·40 min·4 clips

A pro-Israel mob attacked UCLA students while police stood by for hours, raising questions about campus safety.

The episode begins with host Jon Wiener introducing the mob attack at UCLA on April 30th, where a pro-Israel group assaulted students in an encampment while police stood by for hours. Guest David Myers, a UCLA professor of Jewish history, describes the attack as unprecedented on a U.S. campus, likening it to pogroms and expressing shock at the lack of intervention. He details the encampment's peaceful nature, including Jewish students holding Passover Seder and Shabbat services. Myers recounts his experience on April 28th, where he and colleagues tried to de-escalate tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups, noting instigation primarily from the pro-Israel side and police inaction. He discusses a jumbotron showing traumatic images from October 7th near the encampment. The conversation shifts to the police crackdown on May 1st, where a massive force arrested over 200 people, contrasting with the earlier lack of response. Myers critiques UCLA's shift from restraint to militarization, comparing it to other universities that negotiated with students. In the second segment, Azadeh Moaveni addresses allegations of rape during the October 7th Hamas attack, questioning whether it was systematic and highlighting the political use of these claims to justify war. She references a UN report by Pramila Patten that lacks conclusive evidence on systematic rape. Moaveni argues for broadening the focus to include other gender-based harms, such as sexualized torture and abuse of Palestinian women in detention, citing reports from Israeli human rights groups. She emphasizes how sexual violence is instrumentalized in conflict and the stigma surrounding rape. The episode concludes with reflections on the ongoing war and student activism.

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