Category Archives: princeton

Toward an ICE-Free Jersey

Posted on by under activism, Electoral Ethics and Politics, migrant defense, Neutrality and Complicity, princeton, West Orange

The Princeton-area League of Women Voters recently held a candidates’ forum for the four Democratic candidates for Municipal Council. They’d asked voters for questions to ask the candidates, and as it happens, my question was the first one asked (starts at minute 3 of the video):

Would you be amenable to passing an “ICE-Free Princeton” ordinance banning the use of municipality-owned property by federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant? 

All four said “yes,” at least pending legal review. So the idea has advocates in both of the places where I’ve advocated it, West Orange and now Princeton. Now all we have to do is write up some legislation and pass it. Something to put on the to-do list for the second half of the year.

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Calling All Palestine Activists

Posted on by under activism, General announcements, Neutrality and Complicity, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, princeton, Princeton University, War with Iran

Converge on Princeton: Reunions, May 21-24
I’ve been making the case to pro-Palestine activists wherever I go: the experience of being shut down at LeMoyne, NYU, U of Texas at Dallas, and Rutgers (with the prospect of retaliation at Michigan) and elsewhere is certainly a dispiriting one, but the answer is not to keep demanding entry where entry has effectively been denied, but to find opportunities for visibility when and where they present themselves. Continue reading →

Guns and Poses

Posted on by under cancel culture, Fatwas, Neutrality and Complicity, Palestine, princeton

For weeks now, the papers in Princeton have been full of news items about anti-Semitic graffiti discovered around town. In virtually every case, the reports have been vague to the point of deliberate concealment about what the messages have actually said. Here’s a typical example, from the April 29 issue of Town Topics:

On April 21 at 1:05 pm, officers responded to headquarters for a report of a threatening letter received at a religious organization on Cherry Hill Road. The letter, which was intended for a separate Jewish group that uses the location for gatherings, contained anti-semitic threats of violence. Investigation revealed similar letters had recently been sent to multiple Jewish organizations throughout Mercer County and Bucks County, Pa. The incident remains under investigation (p. 13).

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Graffiti, Hate Speech, and Free Speech

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, Palestine, princeton

Statement to Princeton Town Council
400 Witherspoon St
Princeton, New Jersey
April 27, 2026

I’ve twice previously mentioned the Princeton Police Department’s decision to investigate anti-Israel graffiti as bias intimidation, mostly while discussing other things. In this comment, I want to focus specifically on the bias intimidation issue.

As you know, the issue arises from graffiti discovered in various places around town last August. The Princeton Jewish Center brought the issue to the attention of the Council, and the Police Department decided to investigate the graffiti as bias intimidation. Given the Council’s positive response to the Jewish Center’s input on the matter, I think it’s fair to conclude that the Council accepts the Police Department’s approach. Continue reading →

Free Speech in Princeton?

Posted on by under activism, cancel culture, Neutrality and Complicity, Notes on the Anti-War Movement, Palestine, princeton, Princeton University

Statement to Princeton Municipal Council
400 Witherspoon St
Princeton, New Jersey
April 13, 2026

Hi, my name is Irfan Khawaja; I live in Princeton.

Given the dearth of information we’ve gotten regarding this draft ordinance about public demonstrations, I, too, would like to put this issue into a wider context.

In May 2024, the University shut down Gaza Solidarity Encampment, had some people arrested, and shut Cannon Green down to “organized activity” for the first time in 250 years. It’s been closed for two years now, and there’s no indication of when, if ever, it will open.  Continue reading →

Little Municipality Can’t Be Wrong

Posted on by under Fatwas, migrant defense, princeton

Other people’s thoughts, they ain’t your hand-me-downs
Would it be so bad to simply turn around?

–The Spin Doctors, “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”

Here’s the latest installment in my ongoing struggle to restore facticity to political discourse in Princeton. My last go-round with Princeton’s Town Topics concerned its misdescription, graciously conceded by the editor, of the municipality’s acquisition of Westminster Choir College. This one concerns the paper’s insistence on repeating the municipality’s PR to the effect that “the Princeton Police Department does not participate in federal immigration enforcement.” Yes, it does. Repeating this “does not participate” mantra doesn’t make it true, but that doesn’t stop either the municipality or its amen-corner at Town Topics from repeating it ad nauseam. Continue reading →