Israel Agreed to Terms of 60-Day Gaza Truce, Trump Says
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Congregation flees after arsonist sets fire to an Australian synagogue door
MELBOURNE, Australia -- An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured. A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m., a police statement said on Saturday. Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, police said. Firefighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance, police. A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in Gaza. Jewish and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups. The Australian government last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the community. Last year, two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne's southeast early on Friday, Dec. 6. They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it. A worshipper sustained minor burns. No charges have yet to be laid for that attack, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed on antisemitism. The Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes Victoria state police, federal police and Australia's main domestic spy agency, said the fire was likely a politically-motivated attack. Acting Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan described the latest synagogue fire as a serious crime. Police released a CCTV image of a suspect. 'I'd like to make it very clear that we do recognize that these crimes are disgusting and abhorrent. But at this stage, we are not declaring this a terrorist incident,' Dunstan told reporters. 'In the course of our investigation, we will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons involved, or person, to determine if this is in fact terrorism. At the moment, we are categorizing it as a serious criminal incident and responding accordingly,' she added. A terrorism declaration opens the investigation to more resourcing and can result in charges that carry longer prison sentences. The synagogue's president Danny Segal called for the wider Australian community to stand with his congregation. 'We're here to be in peace, you know, we're here for everybody to live together and we've got a fresh start in Australia, such a beautiful country, and what they're doing is just not fair and not right, and as Australians, we should stand up and everybody should stand up,' Segal told reporters. Also in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant. A Miznon restaurant window was broken. A 28-year-old woman was arrested for hindering police. Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said diners were terrorized as the group chanted 'Death to the IDF,' referring to the Israel Defense Forces. 'Melbourne, for one night, stopped being a safe place for Jews,' Abramovich said. Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both the synagogue and restaurant incidents. 'These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking,' Reece said. 'All of us as a community need to stand up against it.' Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said both incidents were designed to 'traumatize Jewish families.' 'Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,' she said in a statement.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Contributor: A refresher course in American truths
Is it possible, at this deeply ideologically divided time, to articulate a set of principles of American constitutional democracy that those across the political spectrum can agree upon? This was our goal in creating, along with Drexel University law professor Lisa Tucker, a project we titled, 'We Hold These Truths.' Our objective was to have a diverse group of individuals draft these principles, to release them on the Fourth of July, and to use them for public education. The first step was to recruit about 20 prominent individuals from across the ideological spectrum to volunteer their time to be part of the drafting effort. As we reached out to people, we were delighted at the enthusiastic response. The drafters included former Republican Govs. Christine Todd Whitman and Brian Sandoval. It included prominent Democrats such as Stacey Abrams, Pete Buttigieg and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin. Retired four-star Army Gen. Wesley Clark and civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill were among the first to agree to participate. We recruited a conservative former U.S. Court of Appeals judge, Thomas B. Griffith, and a liberal one, David Tatel. Best-selling author Brad Meltzer joined the drafting group. We added prominent law professors, former Yale Law School dean Harold Koh and New York University professor Melissa Murray. And we succeeded. In a little over a month, we were able to come to unanimous agreement on a set of basic principles of American constitutional democracy. We hope these principles remind us that what unites us as a country, our deeply held underlying values, is greater than what divides us. We decided early on to focus on five areas: the rule of law, democracy and elections, separation of powers, personal freedom, and equality. We divided into five subgroups to work on these topics and to propose principles to the entire drafting group. There then was the opportunity for responses and revisions. The key, of course, was to make the statements sufficiently specific so they were not platitudes, but also general enough to be articulation of basic values. For the rule of law, we stressed that to preserve liberty, fairness and the stability of our democratic society, the power of government and other actors must be limited by law and they must be accountable. All people, no matter their station, must stand equal before the law, subject to the same rules, protections, privileges and sanctions. The rule of law demands due process, that before the government may deprive any person of life, liberty or property, the individual must have a meaningful opportunity to challenge the deprivation before an independent and neutral adjudicator. Law enforcement — investigations, prosecutions, adjudications and pardons — must be conducted according to law, with respect for human dignity and without regard to the personal or political interests of the executive. And the rule of law cannot be preserved without an independent judiciary that is neither subject to intimidation by the executive or legislative branches of government, nor beholden to the demands of political parties. For separation of powers, we stressed that a fundamental structural feature of the Constitution, and its chief safeguard of our liberty, is separating and placing limits upon the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government such that they check and balance one another's power. For democracy and elections, the crucial point is that the one depends on the other. We elect representatives to make the laws we must abide by. To succeed, elections must be transparent and fair. A democratic society enfranchises voters to the fullest extent possible, makes elections accessible and refrains from erecting unnecessary barriers to voting. Voter suppression is antithetical to democracy, and it exists when eligible voters are unable to register to vote, cast a ballot or have that ballot counted. Also, our constitutional republic depends upon our shared commitment to the peaceful transfer of power, to accepting, honoring and respecting election results regardless of whether our preferred candidate wins. The personal freedoms accorded throughout the Constitution and its many amendments are an essential protection against government tyranny and reflect the inherent rights of every person in the United States. Democracy depends on freedom of speech and the press. The government has no right to intimidate or punish anyone simply on the basis of their views and ideas. The Bill of Rights protects those suspected and accused of crimes with provisions that limit police searches and arrests, ensure the privilege against self-incrimination and provide for fair trials. Our society respects fundamental aspects of autonomy, including the liberty to make important decisions about one's life. Finally, equality is a precondition of freedom. We all are free only when each of us, not just some of us, is free from discrimination, exclusion and threat. Our differences are our strength, not our weakness. Where autocracy and authoritarianism demand allegiance to uniformity, democracy demands the opposite — differences of people and opinion. Every person's voice is of equal worth in the workplace, the public square and the voting booth. Equality of opportunity — in education, employment and participation in our democracy — is a right, not a privilege regardless of color, ethnicity, religion, poverty or wealth. The government's decisions about our lives must be free of discrimination, racism, prejudice, and favoritism. Readers can find the principles, beginning July 4, at 249 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Our hope is that Americans of every political persuasion will reaffirm these values, acknowledging that government of, for and by the people — not monarchy, autocracy or religious rule — is the best way to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are not naive about what can be achieved through this effort. But we strongly believe that there is value in reminding ourselves, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, of the truths that we hold to be self-evident. Erwin Chermerinsky is the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law and a contributing writer to Opinion Voices. J. Michael Luttig served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit from 1991 to 2006; he was appointed by President George H.W. Bush. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Editorial: On July 4, celebrate our liberty and seek common ground
For some of the people reading this, America has never been better. For some of the people reading this, this nation's future has never been more terrifying. It's hard to imagine a nation more divided than we are right now. And it would be foolish to urge everyone to drop their differences, even for a day. But we're going to do it anyway. Because if you are reading this, it means you care about the future of this country. And that deep-seated love for our nation is — as it has always been — the shining beacon that guides Americans through contentious times. On this Independence Day, Central Floridians should celebrate the things that bind us together. And that begins with our independence, embodied in the rights our Founding Fathers secured for us when the United States was still new. Each of us has the right to speak our mind freely. The right to worship as we choose. The right to publish facts and opinions for others to read. The right to come together in protest or celebration. The right to confront our elected officials and speak our minds. The right to own firearms. The right to be protected against abusive police tactics, to have fair trials, to be protected against penalties that are cruel or unusual. The right of every person — regardless of race, gender or ideology — to be treated equally and fairly by their government. We should also contemplate the ways in which this nation has nurtured dreams of prosperity. This is truly the land of opportunity, and census data proves that: Last year, roughly 5.5 million small businesses were started. Many of them will grow to provide jobs and contribute to their communities' economy and the nation's wealth. Respect for shared rights and economic freedom binds Americans together, as we rely on the protections they provide. And this hints at a deeper mandate, one that the founders found so important that they included in the name of this new nation. Many Americans believe that we are no longer united, that the political and ideological rifts that have split this country are too deep to heal. These chasms must be bridged. The nation's future depends on it. The reassuring truth is that we've been here before. America has weathered a deep division over civil rights, a devastating economic depression — even a war in which hundreds of thousands lost their lives. With resolve and faith, Americans can weather this storm. The story of our country's founding may be the best example. The patriots who built the framework of this new nation disagreed on many things — whether slavery should continue, how much power the government should have, how states would associate with each other. Yet they managed to build a nation that became the greatest in the world. So on this Independence Day, the anniversary of the date that launched this great experiment, Americans should strive to abandon their sense of futility and cynicism. We have to find a way to talk to each other, and even more importantly, to listen. This has never been a nation where everyone felt the same, but in today's climate people are experiencing not just differences of opinion, but differences in perceived facts. That makes it nearly impossible to understand why the other side feels the way they feel. Understanding one another doesn't mean being blind to perceived threats to core liberties. It doesn't require you to betray your principles. But it can establish common ground, where Americans can collaborate and celebrate shared goals. There are efforts underway in our community to help bridge those gaps in understanding. One notable project: Central Florida Public Media's One Small Step project, a partnership with the national StoryCorps. It brings strangers with opposing views together to talk about controversial topics. The conversations are archived on their website (we'll put the link in the online version of this editorial) and definitely worth listening to. In addition, faith leaders and educators are hosting discussions on sometimes divisive topics. Programs like the Central Florida Pledge can also remind us of our common goals — a community where everyone is treated fairly and with respect. If you can't find one of these opportunities, consider making your own. But that's something for the future. Today is a day to spend with family and friends, to watch fireworks blossom across the sky, to revel in the love we share for this great nation, and the gratitude for all those who weathered the harsh debates — and put their lives on the line — to make the United States of America a lasting bastion of greatness. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Send letters to insight@
