The Curious Exit of Shai Davidai
A twist in Columbia’s harassment case, Canary Mission collaborates with America’s gestapo, and Israel plans a concentration camp in Rafah
Quick editor’s note for new readers: I send this out every Saturday or Sunday. It opens with a short reflection on what’s been on my mind, followed by a weekly news roundup organized by region—Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, the US, and occasionally elsewhere. The stories come from American, Arab, Israeli, and European outlets, as well as firsthand testimony, with links to the sources provided throughout, along with my own reporting. All this is to say that if the length feels intimidating, feel free to just read the opener or skip ahead to whatever section speaks to you.
The Professor
I’ve spent the past few days chasing a bizarre story I stumbled into about Shai Davidai, the Columbia Business School professor who became a pro-Israel cause célèbre after filming himself confronting pro-Palestine students and targeting them online.
Davidai had previously been barred from campus after Columbia determined he had “repeatedly harassed and intimidated” staff. Until this past week, he was under investigation by the university’s Office of Institutional Equity following harassment complaints from multiple students.
The Letters
On Wednesday, the dean of the business school emailed faculty to say Davidai had “decided to depart Columbia.”
That same morning, Davidai posted this on X:
Just over an hour later, one of the student accusers posted this:
There’s a clear discrepancy: the student’s letter explicitly states that the investigation was “terminated without any determination” because Davidai left the university. His version omits that context and offers only a vague summary—that the investigation was “closed… without findings or conclusions of wrongdoing,” leaving just enough ambiguity for him to frame it as exoneration.
The Typo
While re-reading the letters, I noticed a typo in the letterhead of Davidai’s letter that wasn’t present in the student’s:
I posted about it on X, and many pointed out that, on top of the typo, the letterhead used a different font than the student’s—one that doesn’t match Columbia’s strict brand guidelines.
On Thursday, I called Columbia’s Office of Institutional Equity. They refused to confirm whether the letter was authentic and referred me to Public Affairs, which hasn’t responded. The apparent signatory, Vice Provost Laura Kirchstein, hasn’t either.
On Friday, after my post on X about the typo gained traction, Davidai replied:
The DM
Today, Davidai sent me a DM. I can’t share what he said just yet—there are now lawyers involved—but I’ll just say this: I continue to believe it’s unlikely that Davidai forged an official university document given the legal exposure that would open him up to, but his own explanation complicates the picture in ways I didn’t expect.
I’ll be reporting it out this week and will share more here as soon as I’m able.
(Cover photo credit: David Dee Delgado/AFP)
If you’ve been finding this newsletter valuable, consider supporting it with a paid subscription. It comes out weekly, and an annual subscription breaks down to just $1.54 per issue, less than a cup of coffee to help keep this work going.
If that’s not an option, I always appreciate you sharing this newsletter on social media or with anyone you think might benefit from reading it:
Here’s this week’s roundup.
Gaza
The Business of Killing
A France24 investigation revealed the shadow network of ex–CIA operatives, evangelical Trump allies, and private military contractors running the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose “aid distribution” operations have led to Israeli forces killing over 800 Palestinians, including 31 on Saturday.
UG Solutions, one of the contractors securing the sites, posted job listings seeking skills in “advanced combat,” “snipers,” and “reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.” (France24)
A top State Department official and DOGE operative overrode 58 expert objections and nine legal safeguards to fast-track $30 million to the GHF. “I’m taking the bullet on this one,” he wrote. (Times of Israel)
Concentration Camps
The GHF pitched a $2B plan to the Trump administration to build “Humanitarian Transit Areas” where Palestinians could be “deradicalized” and prepped for relocation, laying the groundwork for Trump’s dream of a “Riviera of the Middle East.” (Reuters)
On Monday, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, unveiled a plan to build a “humanitarian city” atop Rafah’s rubble during the proposed 60-day ceasefire and forcibly relocate all 2 million Gazans there, beginning with 600,000 people, calling it part of the “emigration plan.” Netanyahu reportedly backs the scheme: “Give them Ben & Jerry’s, for all I care.” (Haaretz)
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called the proposed “humanitarian city” a “concentration camp.” (Guardian)
Even one of Israel’s own ICJ defense lawyers is now accusing the state of war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying the population transfer orders are so illegal that soldiers have a legal and moral duty to disobey them. (Just Security)
“Learning Through Blood”
Israel is deploying Chinese-made drones rigged with grenade-dropping “iron ball” devices—many crowdfunded from Israel and the US—to police Gaza’s “no-go” zones. Soldiers say they deliberately target civilians to teach others not to return: “You see someone approaching, the first one gets hit with a grenade, and after that, the word spreads. One or two more come, and they die. The rest understand.”
Troops described deliberately targeting civilians trying to return to their homes, and a boy riding a bicycle. “This technology has made killing much more sterile,” one operator said. “It’s like a video game. There’s a crosshair in the middle of the screen, and you see a video image.” (+972)
A Gazan journalist wrote that Israel’s ever-changing map of “red” and “green” zones offers only the illusion of refuge: “Between us and death is one street.” (Nation)
War on Children
On Thursday, an Israeli airstrike targeted a Project HOPE nutrition clinic as women and children waited for food supplements, killing 17. (WaPo)
On Sunday, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a crowd waiting for water beside a tanker in Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 10 people, including six children; the IDF claimed it was a “technical error.” (BBC)
Israel has killed an average of 27 children per day in Gaza since October 7. (UNICEF)
After his fifth mission to Gaza, UNICEF’s James Elder described “fourth-degree burns I didn’t know existed,” children screaming in pain with no anesthetics, and others dying of thirst or treatable illnesses with no immune systems left. (TNY)
At least 5,870 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in June. (MEM)
Miscellaneous Killings
Israeli airstrikes on homes, tents, and shelters killed hundreds and wounded thousands across the Gaza Strip this past week, including in a strike on a school sheltering displaced families and a tent where seven members of one family were killed. (Haaretz)
On Sunday, an airstrike hit a home in Zawaida, killing nine, including children. Another strike on a public market killed at least 12, including Dr. Ahmad Qandeel, a surgeon at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. (Guardian, Quds)
A Palestinian man trapped under burning rubble spoke to his cousin by phone, pleading for help. Hours later, a rescue team found him dead. (Al Jazeera)
In the weeks before Israel assassinated Dr. Marwan al-Sultan in a “safe zone,” officers repeatedly called him with ominous messages—urging him to “stay safe” while warning, “we know where you are.” (Drop Site)
Destruction
The UN says Gaza’s fuel supply has hit a “critical point” under Israel’s months-long blockade, with hospitals rationing care, ambulances stalled, and water systems collapsing. (Al Jazeera)
After a brief freeze, dozens of U.S.-made Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, used to flatten homes across Gaza, have arrived in Haifa in what Israel’s Defense Ministry calls the largest delivery of its kind. (Quds)
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday that Gaza should remain destroyed “for decades,” and that Israel has no intention to help rebuild. (MEM)
Gaza’s economy is in total freefall: Israel has blocked cash inflows, nearly every bank and ATM is shuttered, inflation has surged 230%, unemployment has hit 80%, savings have vanished, merchants are rejecting worn-out bills, and residents are forced to rely on predatory brokers. (AP)
Survivors
Al Jazeera reported on three-year-old Amr al-Hams, who lies in a Gaza hospital with shrapnel lodged in his brain, unable to walk, speak, or eat, after an Israeli airstrike killed his pregnant mother, siblings, and grandfather. (Al Jazeera)
The Washington Post profiled eighteen-year-old Marah Maher, who lost both her legs and nearly every member of her family to an Israeli airstrike. Now recovering in New York, she scrolls Gaza news on her phone and says she’d rather have died at home than survive in exile: “My legs are the least of what I’ve lost.” (WaPo)
Israeli Casualties
Five Israeli soldiers were killed and 14 wounded in what the IDF described as a “well-prepared Hamas ambush” in Beit Hanoun on Tuesday, where militants planted explosives after studying troop movements. (Ynet)
Shifting Story
On Wednesday, Hamas militants attacked Israeli forces conducting demolition work in Khan Younis, killing an IDF bulldozer operator, Abraham Azulay.
The IDF initially claimed the gunmen had emerged suddenly from a tunnel, tried to abduct Azulay, and were repelled after he fought back. According to their statement, Azulay was shot during the struggle.
But a Hamas-released video contradicted the IDF’s narrative, showing militants surveilling Israeli troops from a damaged building before launching an RPG at Azulay’s excavator, and opening fire from a distance. The video shows no struggle—just Azulay fleeing the vehicle under fire, then lying on the ground as militants take his weapon and shoot him again.
The IDF says it’s investigating the discrepancy. (Times of Israel)
At Azulay’s funeral, friends recalled how he would return from duty bragging that “another 200 Arabs won’t return to Gaza.” A rabbi at Yitzhar, the extremist settlement where Azulay lived, framed his death as a religious sacrifice “commanded by God,” likening his demolition service in Gaza to an altar of holy war. (Haaretz)
Ceasefire
Despite weeks of negotiations, Israel appears to be sabotaging another ceasefire deal by proposing terms it knows Hamas will reject, including the seizure of nearly 40% of Gaza and the continuation of aid through the GHF.
In the event a deal is reached, Netanyahu left little doubt about his post-ceasefire intent: “We were told, ‘You will not return to war,’ after the first ceasefire, and we did return. We were told, ‘You will not resume your fight,’ after the second ceasefire, and we did. Now they’re saying, ‘You will not continue fighting’ after the third ceasefire. Do I need to say more?” (Quds, BBC, Times of Israel)
West Bank
Quiet Annexation
Israel launched a new settler-staffed police unit, arming over 100 volunteers with tactical gear and special authority to use force. At the inauguration, West Bank police chief Moshe Pinchi declared that protecting settlements now trumps enforcing law and order. (Haaretz, Times of Israel)
State Violence
An Israeli soldier shot 14-year-old Eyad Shalakhti multiple times during a raid near Nablus, then left him bleeding for 15 minutes while firing on children who tried to help. He died days later after multiple surgeries, making him Israel’s 206th child victim in the West Bank since October 7. (DCIP)
In Jenin, soldiers shot 55-year-old Ahmad al-Amour, ran over his body with a military vehicle, then confiscated the corpse. (New Arab)
Israeli forces arrested Dr. Nasser Laham, a prominent Palestinian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Ma’an News Agency. (Haaretz)
In Hebron’s Old City, Israeli forces are raiding Palestinian homes weekly, often at night, dragging families from bed, beating residents, and smashing their belongings. (Haaretz)
Record-Setting Demolitions
Israel is demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank at the highest rate since it seized the territory in 1967. (Al Jazeera)
Since a June directive cleared the last legal obstacles, Israel has begun fast-tracking demolitions in Masafer Yatta, where 1,200 Palestinians face imminent expulsion. (Guardian)
Daily Pogroms
Former PM Ehud Olmert said Israelis are killing Palestinians daily in “Judea and Samaria,” and dismissed the idea that the violent Hilltop Youth gang is just a fringe group: “They are not a minority, on the contrary, they are supported. Otherwise, they couldn’t be doing this.” (Anadolu)
On Monday, settlers set fire near Taybeh’s ancient Church of Saint George in what local priests call a wave of “dangerous, systematic attacks” aimed at uprooting the last entirely Christian town in the West Bank. (Nabd El-Haya)
In June alone, settlers raided East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at least 25 times. (MEM)
Settlers Kill Another American
Settlers beat 20-year-old Palestinian American Saif al-Din Musalat to death while he defended his family’s land in Sinjil, and shot 24-year-old Mohammed al-Shalabi dead. Musalat, who worked at his family’s ice cream shop in Tampa, had come to visit relatives.
Eyewitnesses said settlers attacked him with batons, then blocked medics for over three hours. Al-Shalabi was found with signs of choking, burning, and blunt trauma.
Musalat’s family is demanding a US investigation. The State Department acknowledged the death, claimed it “has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas,” and then directed “questions on any investigation to the Government of Israel.” (Times of Israel, Haaretz)
“Israeli Emirate”
A WSJ column touting a supposed plan by Hebron “sheikhs”—five individuals from the prominent al-Jaabari clan—to break from the Palestinian Authority and join the Abraham Accords was swiftly and forcefully disavowed by the clan’s leadership, which called the initiative a fabrication by a non-member and reaffirmed its support for national liberation. (Haaretz)
Attack on Settlers
Two Palestinian Authority police officers from Halhul opened fire and attempted a stabbing at a West Bank shopping center on Thursday, killing a 22-year-old Israeli before being shot dead. (Haaretz)
Israel
The Lion of Israel
A Times investigation detailed how Netanyahu ignored repeated warnings about October 7, rejected a unity government to stay tethered to far-right allies, and sabotaged multiple ceasefire deals—one of which would have freed 30 hostages—because continuing the war helped him avoid elections, delay prosecution, and stage a political resurrection through regional escalations. (NYT)
Despite 62 Israeli soldiers killed so far this year, Netanyahu hasn’t visited a single bereaved family. (Haaretz)
Torture Camps
Haaretz reported on the deadly conditions at Israel’s Megiddo prison, where a 16-year-old Palestinian boy imprisoned for alleged stone-throwing emerged looking like a “mummy,” covered in scabies scars, suffering from intestinal disease, and 40 pounds lighter. In March, 17-year-old Waleed Ahmad collapsed and died there, his body emaciated, blood pouring from his mouth. (Haaretz)
Over a year after five Israeli soldiers were arrested for beating, tasing, and sexually assaulting a Gazan detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman facility—inflicting a punctured lung, fractured ribs, and a rectal injury—a military judge proposed they enter mediation instead of facing trial, citing the “difficulty” of the process for the accused. (Haaretz)
War Crimes on War Crimes
The IDF has delayed its long-promised update on war crimes investigations for the third time, citing the Iran strikes. It has yet to publish findings on over 1,000 incidents, including dozens of cases involving the abuse or death of Palestinian detainees. (JPost)
Money Talks
Jack Khoury argues in Haaretz that if the West can rehabilitate Syria’s al-Sharaa—a mass murderer associated with ISIS and Al Qaeda—for the sake of profits and alliances, then it could do the same for Hamas: “Bloodshed doesn’t talk; money and interests do” (Haaretz).
Freedom of Speech
An Israeli broadcaster, Arad Nir, apologized after calling Gaza’s “humanitarian city” a “concentration camp”:
A journalist was jailed and charged with incitement to terrorism for posting that “the world is better this morning without five young people who participated in one of the cruelest crimes against humanity,” referring to Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. (Haaretz)
The Knesset suspended left-wing lawmaker Ofer Cassif and docked his pay for accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. (Haaretz)
Snuff Film
Israeli arms company Rafael released a drone promo video showing its weapon targeting and killing a person walking alone in Gaza.
Coup Part 2
Netanyahu’s coalition is reviving judicial overhaul with bills targeting dissenters: stripping benefits from “disloyal” ex-IDF officials, scrapping appointment oversight, subordinating legal advisers, and shielding soldiers from wartime investigations. (Haaretz)
US
Netanyahu in Washington
After their Iran strike victory lap, Trump and Netanyahu are now at odds over what comes next: Trump reportedly wants diplomacy while Netanyahu is pushing for regime collapse, sustained strikes, and a “Libya model” denuclearization. (Times of Israel)
During his visit, Netanyahu told Trump he’d nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. “It’s a great honor, especially coming from you,” Trump said. (NYT)
Netanyahu blamed Israel’s plummeting popularity among US voters on a “funded” social media campaign of “vilification,” and vowed to fight back by “spreading the truth.”
Khalil Fights Back
Mahmoud Khalil is suing the Trump administration for $20 million over what he calls a politically motivated 100-day detention without charges.
While They Were Calling Me “Kapo”…
Unsealed court records revealed that Trump officials at DHS and ICE relied on Canary Mission—a shadowy, anonymously-run website that doxxes pro-Palestine activists—to identify students and scholars for deportation, with 75% of their targets coming from the site. (Politico)
The Failing ADL
The 3-million-member National Education Association, the country’s largest teachers’ union, voted to cut all ties with the ADL, accusing it of weaponizing antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel, smear educators, and dox union members. (Labor Notes)
The father of an Israeli captive in Gaza accused ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt of spreading “gross lies,” including the false claim that his other son wants to return to fight in Gaza. “We, the Cohen family, are literally fighting to end this war,” he said, adding that Greenblatt has refused to meet with him despite publicly invoking his son. The family has demanded that the ADL call for a ceasefire and stop using their son’s name.
UN Smear Campaign
The US sanctioned Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on Palestine, accusing her of antisemitism and “lawfare” after she called Israel’s assault on Gaza genocidal and urged ICC prosecution of US executives profiting from the war. (WaPo)
Hate Speech
Republican Congressman Randy Fine continued his campaign of obscene Islamophobia:
No word yet from Rep. Fine—or any top Florida politician—on the Floridian beaten to death by settlers in the West Bank.
Europe
Bake Sale News
The EU’s top antisemitism official lobbied against Israel sanctions by dismissing atrocities in Gaza as “rumours about Jews” and warning about “new forms of antisemitism,” like “bake sales for Gaza.” (EUobserver)
Thanks for reading. As always, I welcome your thoughts, questions, etc. in the comments.
I find it strange that Columbia refuses to say whether the letter is authentic or not. But I agree - I don't think it's likely that he forged the letter as that would land him in serious legal trouble. Shai has that strange but I guess not uncommon mix of being small, petty and also dangerous. Easy to laugh at his tantrums, but he has caused a lot of damage.
It's becoming increasingly unbearable to follow the news, so I really appreciate this weekly round up 🙏 It allows me to pause, reflect & read with more intention.
Learning about the plans to build a concentration camp on top of the ruins of Rafah & now Israel deciding to ban the sea, one of the few remaining respites from this genocide, has my mind spinning. And I think many of us are experiencing compassion fatigue at this point 😞
A few days ago also marked the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. 7 more victims were laid to rest. 30 years later and they're still finding remains. Some may never be found or identified because their entire families were also killed. While generals and other high-ranking officials have been prosecuted, thousands of others who took part in the genocide were never held accountable. Many returned to their hometowns and now live alongside the women whose husbands, fathers, sons and uncles they massacred. 30 years later and there's still pain, trauma, and so much that's unresolved and unhealed.
I can't help but wonder if this is Gaza's future and how many will go unpunished and slip through the cracks? Thousands buried under the rubble whose remains will never be found or identified? So as much as I want this to be over, the aftermath of it all will be daunting.
Great list of links. Another article I found interesting is the links between Zionism and Evangelism in Guatemala.
https://electronicintifada.net/content/guatemala-gaza-genocide-denial-thwarts-justice/50792