
It would take all day to list all the disconcerting developments in the United States since Donald Trump became president again three months ago, but here’s one of them: Any criticism of Israel has been branded as not just “antisemitic” but a form of pro-Hamas terrorist activity. International students who’ve expressed solidarity with Palestine are getting whisked away in unmarked vehicles and jailed without charges in blatant violation of the First Amendment. Many universities are complying with Trump on these matters, especially those that have been targeted with massive freezes of federal funding for political reasons, so it is perhaps not surprising to hear about what’s happened at Cornell.