Trump administration accuses Columbia University of violating anti-discrimination laws
The Department of Education says Columbia University has violated federal anti-discrimination laws stemming from the handling of campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war. NBC News' Yamiche Alcindor reports on the meaning of the alleged violation of Title VI protections.June 4, 2025
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NBC News
25 minutes ago
- NBC News
U.S. hits International Criminal Court judges with sanctions over investigation into Israel
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is slapping sanctions on four judges at the International Criminal Court over the tribunal's investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza and in the West Bank. The State Department said Thursday that it would freeze any assets that the ICC judges, who come from Benin, Peru, Slovenia and Uganda, have in U.S. jurisdictions. The move is just the latest step that the administration has taken to punish the ICC and its officials for investigations undertaken against Israel and the United States. 'As ICC judges, these four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. 'The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies,' Rubio said. 'This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty and national security of the United States and our allies, including Israel.' In February, The Hague-based court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, was placed on Washington's list of 'Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons,' barring him from doing business with Americans and placing restrictions on his entry into the U.S. Khan stepped aside last month pending an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct. Within minutes of the administration's announcement, the court condemned its actions. 'These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution,' ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement. The new sanctions target ICC Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, who is from the West African country of Benin and was part of the pre-trial chamber of judges who issued the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year. She also served on the bench that originally greenlit the investigation into alleged Israeli crimes in the Palestinian territories in 2021. The 69-year-old was also part of the panel of judges who issued the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023. Last year, a court in Moscow issued a warrant for her arrest. From Slovenia, Beti Hohler was elected as a judge in 2023. She previously worked in the prosecutor's office at the court, leading Israel to object to her participation in the proceedings involving Israeli officials. Hohler said in a statement last year that she had never worked on the Palestinian territories investigation during her eight years as a prosecutor. Bouth Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, from Peru, and Solomy Balungi Bossa, from Uganda, are appeals judges at the ICC. Each woman has worked on cases involving Israel. Neither the U.S. nor Israel is a member of and neither recognizes the legitimacy of the court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes over his military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel in October 2023. Israel strongly denies the allegations. During his first term in office, Trump targeted the ICC with sanctions, voicing displeasure with investigations into Israel and complaints about alleged war crimes said to have been committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Those sanctions were rescinded by President Joe Biden 's administration in early 2021. Rubio said the U.S. would continue to take action to protect its and Israel's interests at the court. 'The United States will take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our sovereignty, that of Israel, and any other U.S. ally from illegitimate actions by the ICC,' he said. Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said the Trump administration's sanctions 'aim to deter the ICC from seeking accountability amid grave crimes committed in Israel and Palestine, and as Israeli atrocities mount in Gaza, including with U.S. complicity.' 'U.S. sanctions on ICC judges are a flagrant attack on the rule of law at the same time as President Trump is working to undercut it at home,' Evenson said in a statement. 'Sanctions are meant to put a stop to human rights violations, not to punish those seeking justice for the worst crimes.'
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘Send her home': Son of Irish woman, 70, in Israeli detention pleads for her release
The son of a 70-year-old Irish woman currently in Israeli detention has pleaded for her release amid concerns over his mother's health. Deirdre Murphy, who has eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, was detained in the recently-demolished West Bank village of Khalet al-Daba'a. According to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), she has not been provided legal counsel since Monday. Ms Murphy, who is originally from Cork and now based in Swansea, was arrested alongside 48-year-old Swedish national Susanne Björk, who claimed to The Independent that the pair had to 'fight to even be allowed to go to the toilet' during their detention. 'Who doesn't allow a 70-year-old woman to go to the toilet? It's certainly not something a democratic country would be doing,' said UK resident Ms Björk, who has already been deported from Israel. Israeli police did not address this claim when approached by The Independent. Khalet al-Daba'a, a West Bank village demolished by Israel earlier in May. Ms Björk said allegations by Israeli police that they had failed to show their IDs and were in an area they were not permitted to be on were false. International and local activists have been stationed in Khalet al-Daba'a since its demolition on 5 May in an attempt to prevent nearby Israeli settlers from damaging the remaining buildings. After refusing to leave Israel voluntarily, Ms Murphy and Ms Björk were told they had been arrested and would be deported. Ms Murphy decided to challenge the deportation order. Dale Ryan, Ms Murphy's son, has called on Israeli authorities to 'treat her with dignity and respect' while she is in detention - and pleaded with authorities to 'send her home quickly'. 'Israel is meant to be a civilised country, so you think [the detainees] basic rights would have been met. But maybe that trust is a little bit misguided,' said Mr Ryan, 46, who added that he is 'really proud' of his mother. He explained that his mother has bronchiectasis, a long-term condition which can cause an inflammation of the airways in the lungs. 'Stress can make symptoms worse as well,' Mr Ryan explained. 'So I am a little bit concerned. I just hope my mother's in good health, but also my mother is quite a resilient person… I know she will gain strength from this.' Along with other activists, Ms Björk and Ms Murphy were filming and following settlers who activists say have been roaming the demolished landscape of Khalet al-Daba'a, grazing their sheep and damaging the homes that remain standing. The two women were complying with an order to leave the land when they were apprehended by a settler in military uniform who demanded to see their passports, Ms Björk said. After police were called, the pair were detained, as authorities accused them of being in an area they were not allowed in and of failing to show their IDs. 'These are completely false accusations,' Ms Björk said. 'As soon as they told us we were not allowed in the area, we tried to leave. The soldiers had at first our passports, and then the police took our passports. We complied with all instructions.' Video footage seen and published by The Independent shows armed Israeli authorities in possession of the two women's passports. The video ends before the pair left the area, where they were then apprehended by the settler in military uniform. Ms Murphy and Ms Björk were released on Saturday evening, and after declining to voluntarily leave the country on Sunday, they were told they would be detained for 72 hours before they were deported after a hearing. Ms Murphy chose to fight the deportation and was moved to Givon Prison in Ramla on Tuesday, according to the ISM. The group alleges that Ms Murphy was brought to her deportation hearing on Wednesday without legal representation nor notification to her lawyer, despite her request. Speaking on Thursday morning, Ms Björk was keen to emphasise that their treatment in detention was better than that of Palestinians. She recalls seeing two 'small boys who were blindfolded and zip tied' being brought into the police station after their initial detention. 'They looked about 13 or 14, these boys were obviously terrified. I mean, we were getting water and being fed and everything, so we're very privileged in one way, because the way we were treated and the way Palestinians are treated is wildly different,' she said. A spokesperson from the Irish foreign affairs ministry confirmed to The Independent that they were aware of the case and were providing consular assistance. Israeli Police told The Independent that the women were detained on 'suspicion of violating a military order' and were therefore restricted from the West Bank for 15 days. 'Over the weekend, police received a report from the security coordinator of the community of Ma'on regarding the presence of several suspicious individuals near a structure in the area of Khirbet al-Dab'a, located within an active military firing zone near the community of Avigayil in the South Hebron Hills,' they said in a statement. 'Officers from the Hebron station, along with IDF forces from the subdistrict, arrived at the scene and identified the individuals as two foreign nationals, who were present within the closed military zone in violation of a standing military order. Information provided by the Judea and Samaria Central Investigations Unit (YAMAR) indicated that one of the suspects are known abroad for involvement in anti-Israel activity. 'Following the hearing on Sunday, it was determined that both individuals would be removed from the country,' they added. 'One of the suspects agreed to the removal order and signed a declaration stating that she would not appeal the decision. The second notified authorities of her intent to file a petition against the decision.' Ms Murphy will remain in custody at Givon Detention Facility until 'her departure or the legal resolution of her appeal', they said.
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Telegraph
BBC blamed Israel for aid massacre on word of single Palestinian source
A BBC report claiming Israeli troops killed Palestinians at an aid distribution centre was based on the accounts of a single Palestinian journalist and a Hamas spokesman, it has emerged. The White House has attacked the BBC's coverage of the incident, accusing the broadcaster of taking Hamas's word as 'total truth'. The BBC's first report on the June 1 incident said that at least 15 Palestinians had been killed by 'Israeli tank shelling and gunfire', according to 'medics and local residents'. But the 'local residents' amounted to one Palestinian journalist, Mohammed Ghareeb, who told the broadcaster that Israeli tanks had approached and opened fire on the crowd queuing for food. No medics in the article spoke of tank shelling or gunfire, only reporting the number of dead and injured. The BBC also included a quote from Mahmud Bassal, a civil defence spokesman, claiming that victims were killed and wounded 'due to gunfire from Israeli vehicles towards thousands of citizens'. The broadcaster did not mention that civil defence in Gaza is run by Hamas. As highlighted by the White House, the story was altered several times during the day. The first report was published on the BBC News website at 5.15am. The story was updated two hours later to increase the claimed number of fatalities from at least 15 to 26. The death toll was increased to 31 in a third version of the story, published at 2.12pm. That story was updated to include denials from the Israel Defence Forces and from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the aid distribution centre. Another update, at 4.23pm, included a denial from an IDF soldier in Rafah, who contacted the BBC to say that Israeli soldiers fired near the crowd but not at them, and nobody was hit. Finally, at 8.34pm, the headline and opening paragraph were changed to remove references to Israeli tanks and gunfire, instead admitting that the incident was the subject of 'disputed reports'. The BBC Verify unit – billed by the corporation as experts in fact-checking and rooting out disinformation – also looked into the incident, and concluded the following day that 'it's extremely complicated because we have conflicting reports from multiple sources'. Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza. On Tuesday, the contentious reporting was held up for ridicule by Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's press secretary. She brandished a print-out of the changing headlines on the BBC story, saying: 'Unlike some in the media, we don't take the word of Hamas as total truth. We like to look into it when they speak… unlike the BBC.' The BBC has rejected the claims. Danny Cohen, the BBC's former director of television, said he expected the corporation to dismiss the White House criticism. 'Anti-Israel bias in newsroom' Speaking to the Daily T podcast, he said: 'They will take on an uber-defensive posture in response to this, because it has come from the Trump administration, rather than actually look at what they've said.' Mr Cohen claimed that there was 'anti-Israel bias in the newsroom' and condemned the BBC's rush to put out stories without first checking their validity. 'The BBC should no longer be using this approach, which is 'report first and ask questions later' because it leads to dangerous misinformation from a genocidal terrorist group into the mainstream,' he said. Mr Cohen added of BBC Verify: 'If it wasn't so serious, it would be a really bad joke. First of all, there is an absolute obsession with Israel. And second of all, it often doesn't verify anything. It just does a report and doesn't prove anything.' Verify is the brainchild of Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC news and current affairs. A day after the offending report, she announced the launch of BBC Verify Live, in which the team will share its work throughout the day in a rolling news feed on the corporation's website. Ms Turness described it as 'a new way of working, and an exciting step towards even greater transparency'. Asked about the Gaza story, a BBC spokesman said: 'As we made clear already, we stand by our journalism, including the accurate attribution of sources throughout our coverage. We continue to press for international independent journalists to be able to report from inside Gaza.'
