On Friday, Israel launched attacks on Iran, intending to hit Iran’s uranium enrichment site, where it is building nuclear arms, as well as the country’s military sites.

Iran has since retaliated with aerial attacks on Israel. Over the course of a week, the Israeli military has killed at least 224 people in Iran, and Iran has killed 24 people in Israel. This past weekend, Israel asked the U.S. to join its side in the war, since Israel lacks the capacity to destroy the space where Iran is developing nuclear weapons. 

Although, CNN reports that U.S. intelligence officials are saying Tehran was up to three years away from fully developing a weapon, and that it’s not actively pursuing a bomb. Still, the U.S. continues to provide weapons and warplanes to Israel, including a recent shipment. But it has yet to directly engage militarily in the war, and Trump, thus far, has called for Iran’s “Unconditional surrender.”

Saeed Khan, an associate professor of teaching in near eastern studies at Wayne State University, joined The Metro on Wednesday to discuss what this says about Israel’s role in the Middle East, and how America will respond.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Since October 7th, the world has felt different for many American Jews, and antisemitism has been on the rise. More recently, two people were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., and a man with a flamethrower in Colorado attacked Israeli hostage advocates.

At the same time, Israel, a Jewish-majority country, has continued its attacks against Hamas in Gaza. On Sunday, 13 Palestinians were killed and over 150 injured after Israeli troops and American contractors opened fire on crowds waiting for food near two aid distribution sites. Israel’s months-long blockade of food aid has left one in five Palestinians on the brink of starvation.

Since October 7, 2023, an estimated 57,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks. So where does this leave American Jews? What does it mean to hold a range of difficult, sometimes opposing, views on an issue that remains a lightning rod in American discourse?

This tension has long shaped American Jewish identity. Today on The Metro, we explore the evolving challenges faced by American Jews—focusing on the rise in antisemitism and the often-misunderstood distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. While Zionism refers to Jewish nationalism, antisemitism is rooted in prejudice against Jews.

The 1967 Six-Day War marked a major turning point, deepening loyalty to Israel for some American Jews while prompting resistance from others—particularly those influenced by anti-colonial movements during the Vietnam War era. Over time, Israel’s role in American Jewish identity has become increasingly divisive.

Julian Levinson, professor of American Jewish studies at the University of Michigan, works with students—many of them young Jews—to hold space for multiple perspectives. He emphasizes the importance of engaging with the complexity, rather than flattening it.

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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has abruptly dropped all charges against seven pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an on-campus demonstration last year.

The felony charges alleged that the protesters were obstructing and resisting arrest as police were breaking up a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Michigan Diag. 

Nessel was reportedly asked by members of the University of Michigan Board of Regents to investigate the protesters after local prosecutors decided not to press charges.

Civil rights attorney Amir Makled says it never made sense for the AG to get involved in the first place. Citing concerns of potential bias, Makled asked the judge in the case to urge the state end the prosecution.

“It is a little surprising that on the eve of a motion to disqualify the attorney general’s office that the defense filed, the AG decides to just drop the case entirely,” he said.

In a statement, Nessel denied allegations of bias and criticized the pace of the judge handling the case – calling the matter a “circus-like atmosphere.”

Nevertheless, Makled says dismissing the case was the right move.

“We hope this sends a clear message to institutions across the state and the nation that protest is not a crime and dissent is not disorder,” he said.

Nessel — who is Jewish — says her involvement in the case was not evidence of bias and called the accusation “baseless and absurd.”