Columns

ABUHASHIM | The Greatest Good for Whom? 

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“Cornellians are united by a shared purpose.” “To do the greatest good.” These quotes written by Ezra Cornell have been plastered on every known surface on campus. It begs the question: The greatest good for whom? This year, Cornell Progressives released the Disorientation Guide, a manual on all of Cornell’s shady business and not-so-known secrets. In the guide, stories of Cornell’s neglect and greed are overwhelming but not surprising. In 1985, Cornell’s trustees refused to divest from companies in South Africa despite the apartheid. Whose “greatest good” were they striving to achieve? Many low-income and BIPOC students could already testify that they knew this “greatest good” didn’t apply to them, but this guide made it clear to the masses. Diving deep into Cornell’s history, policies and actions, it’s evident that Cornell’s administration only caters to itself, the wealthy majority and the Global North.

apartheid

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: On Human Rights

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Not a day passes without Israel escalating its assault on the Palestinian people. The 2018 Nation State Law has drawn mass outrage from Palestinians and ethno-religious minorities such as the Druze and Coptic Christians and Israeli Jews. Despite the law’s virtual confirmation of Israel as a racialized apartheid state, the United States has been steadfast in their support for the occupying regime. Since Israel’s origin, the state has dispossessed countless Palestinians through violent means, starting with the 1948 al-Nakba (“The Catastrophe”) in which nearly a million indigenous Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes or otherwise murdered by Zionist militias. The U.S. shares a common history with Israel as a fellow settler-colonial project rooted in genocide, making the countries’ current close relationship unsurprising.