Background Briefing: April 29, 2024
The Weaponization of Anti-Semitism Against Students Protesting on American Campuses
We begin with escalating tensions on campuses across America as pro-Palestinian demonstrators face off against supporters of Israel with the charge of anti-semitism weaponized against students expressing outrage over the war in Gaza. Joining us is Raz Segal, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies and an endowed professor in the study of modern genocide at Stockton University in New Jersey. He was at the University of Pennsylvania encampment yesterday giving a talk to students on the perils of antisemitism at campus protests.
The Strength of the Only Trial That May End Up Holding Trump to Account Before the Election
Then we assess the strength of the trial underway in New York, which may end up as the only court to hold Trump accountable before the election and speak with Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor and Chief Assistant City Attorney in San Francisco who has won cases of significance in the United States Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court. He currently serves as counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and he has two articles at Salon which we discuss, “SCOTUS majority abandons conservative principles to mount bizarre defense of Trump’s immunity claim” and “Underestimating Alvin Bragg’s case against Donald Trump is a historic mistake.”
Elections Underway in the World’s Largest Democracy and the Dark Side of Modi’s India
Then finally with elections underway in India, which is often referred to as the world’s largest democracy, we look into a disturbing article in today’s Washington Post, “An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi’s India,” and speak with Dr. Sumit Ganguly, who holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University in Bloomington. His books include India Since 1980, India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia and his latest book is The Oxford Handbook of India’s National Security.