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Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Far-left streamer Hasan Piker suspended from Twitch after broadcasting DC shooting suspect's manifesto
One of Twitch's most popular streamers was suspended from the platform over the weekend for reading the manifesto of the suspect in the killing of two Israeli Embassy staffers last week. Hasan Piker, a streamer with nearly 3 million Twitch followers and 1.6 million YouTube subscribers, is known for broadcasting far-left content under the handle HasanAbi. In a May 23 YouTube video titled "What People Miss About The DC Israeli Embassy Shooting," Piker went through the manifesto of Elias Rodriguez word for word. Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and multiple firearm-related counts after Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were killed outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. In the video, Piker expressed a desire to "understand the mindset" of Rodriguez, who shouted "Free, free Palestine!" as he was arrested. "The reason why I read this manifesto … is oftentimes to understand the mindset of this person, especially when there are a lot of mainstream narratives that will immediately design an alternative scenario," Piker said in the video. 'Cheerleading For Terrorism': Twitch Star Called For New 9/11, Dismissed Horror Of Oct 7 Read On The Fox News App "I don't think that this person acted out on an antisemitic desire or is a f---ing Nazi or anything like that, but that is dangerous in a separate way," he continued. "The very fact that a person who is this legible, who has their s--t together enough to be able to write a f---ing, write prose such as this one, in the act of vengeance, in the acts of vigilante justice in his own mind, is meaningful in and of itself." Piker disputed claims that the shooter, who killed the victims outside an event held by the American Jewish Committee, was antisemitic – despite the fact that Lischinsky was an Israeli Christian and Milgrim was an American Jew. The pair worked together and planned to marry. "The idea that this is a neo-Nazi that came after Jewish people, deliberately looking for Jews to kill, like all of that stuff, is incorrect," Piker said. "This is not a value judgment on the actions of the shooter, but it's obvious that this was a person that was brain-broken by a lot of the realities that are unfolding in Gaza." In a Saturday post on X, Piker announced the suspension and shared an email from Twitch. The email stated that Piker violated a rule about the improper handling of terrorist propaganda content. "Based on a review of your activity or content, we have issued a global suspension on your account," the Twitch email said. "As a result, your access to Twitch services is temporarily restricted. Please be aware that repeated violations may lead to more serious actions on your account, including longer temporary suspensions or permanent suspension." In response, Piker claimed that Twitch's terms of service "dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto." Tim Walz And Aoc Play Madden On Twitch In Attempt To Appeal To Young Male Voters "i believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom," Piker's post read. "ill take the suspension, but hope twitch changes this policy in the future." Piker has been known for creating extremist content in the past. He has regularly broadcast propaganda from the Houthis, an Iranian-backed group in Yemen that has been designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group, and claimed that "America deserved 9/11" during a 2019 stream. In March, Piker was temporarily suspended from Twitch after making a comment about murdering Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. "They're not tackling providers; they're not actually going after false billing. They are trying to cut recipients. [Fraud] is not happening at the point of recipient. If you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott," Piker said. The political commentator later walked back the statements, telling his social media followers that he was "sorry" over the incident. Click To Get The Fox News App "I'll choose my words carefully next time and say, 'if Mike Johnson cares abt (sic) medicare fraud (since he wants to cut 800m from Medicaid/Medicare) he'd call for MAX PUNISHMENT for current fl gop senator/former gov Rick Scott- who has done the most Medicare fraud in us history!'" Piker's post read. Fox News Digital's Nikolas Lanum contributed to this article source: Far-left streamer Hasan Piker suspended from Twitch after broadcasting DC shooting suspect's manifesto
Yomiuri Shimbun
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
For U.S. Jews, D.C. Museum Killings Deepen Resolve — and Fear
Valerie Plesch/For The Washington Post People gather outside the White House on Thursday night during a vigil for Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim. They were shot and killed on Wednesday after attending a 'Young Diplomats Reception' hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. For Rabbi Ruth Balinsky Friedman, who teaches Jewish text at a D.C.-area high school, the killings of two Israeli Embassy workers this week have deepened the isolation she's felt as an American Jew in recent years. Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's subsequent attacks on Gaza, followed by divisions around the world over what caused the conflict and who was at fault, left the 40-year-old mother of three feeling confused, with no easy solution to the war in sight. Now, after the shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, she feels similarly disoriented. 'Where do we as a people belong?' she said. 'Where do I belong?' And if Jews belong in America, 'why are people shooting us in broad daylight?' Late Wednesday evening, Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were shot after attending a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The alleged shooter shouted 'Free, free Palestine' before police took him into custody. For many Jewish Americans across the country, the shooting near the D.C. museum has reinforced a sense that they're unsafe – not safe to wear a yarmulke and not safe to go into Jewish institutional buildings, no matter how much is spent on security. For others, the attack on the young couple fueled their strength and confidence – in their faith, in their connection to Israel, in their visible Jewishness. And for yet others, May 21 was just another sad, complicated day to be an American Jew. The Jewish community has invested many millions in securing its buildings. What does it mean, Friedman said, that people could still be murdered right on the sidewalk? She felt 'tremendous sadness' after 'seeing the tragic loss of life and in such a senseless way,' she said. The couple was attending an event about humanitarian causes, including Gaza, she noted. 'They were fighting for the thing this shooter thought he was supporting.' According to the Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans saying there is 'a lot of discrimination' against Jews rose from 20 percent in 2021 to 40 percent in early 2024. Among Jewish Americans, 72 percent said Jews face a lot of discrimination – up from 48 percent in 2020. A 2024 University of Miami/NORC poll found 7 percent of U.S. Jews reported being physically threatened or attacked because they are Jewish since the Oct. 7 attacks, while 39 percent said they had heard colleagues or neighbors make slurs or jokes about Jews. 'I do show up boldly and proudly Jewish,' said Risa Borsykowsky, 58, of Long Island, who owns the Jewish Gift Place. Since the attacks of 2023, she wears a Star of David necklace, even though she is hesitant about it. 'I'm thinking, am I nuts for wearing this? I feel like I am putting myself out there as a target for verbal and physical abuse,' Borsykowsky said. The shooting in D.C. left her feeling 'rage and absolute outrage,' she said. But she refuses to change her day-to-day life in response, Borsykowsky said. That is her way of pushing back against anti-Israel college campus protests she calls 'antisemitic,' and against misinformation online that she believes has created an environment where antisemitism thrives. Those things 'just create such hatred for Israel and the Jewish people that it leads to crimes like what happened' Wednesday night, Borsykowsky said. 'It's scary. It's scary to me as a Jewish person.' Jeremy Krashin of Kansas said he was 'very shaken' by the attacks. 'It hurts. It feels like it could be your kids.' But Krashin, 43, said his family's response to the shooting will be to become more – not less – visible as Jews. Milgrim, one of the two Israeli Embassy workers gunned down in D.C., attended Shawnee Mission East High School a few miles from Krashin's home in Overland Park, Kansas. They had both graduated from the University of Kansas. 'We are increasing our involvement in the Jewish community. We're doing things like flying the Israeli flag outside of our house, going to synagogue and Jewish events more often. Just keeping our Jewish identity top of mind,' he said. 'We know there is a constant threat against us, and we are not cowering in fear.' Some Jewish Americans said they were drawing on lessons from previous attacks on their community. In 2022, a man with a gun and explosives held four people, including a rabbi, hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, a Dallas-area synagogue. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker was the leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville and among those held for 11 hours. The man repeated antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-U.S. comments during the ordeal, he said. Since the incident in 2022, and the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, his approach has remained the same, Cytron-Walker said: Focus on relationship-building. Focus on the positive. Focus on the concrete. 'I still don't believe we're in a situation where we as a Jewish community should panic. To the best of our knowledge, violent rhetoric is dangerous, but [the D.C. shooting] appears to be an individual situation and incident,' he said in an interview. Security costs at Jewish institutions have already risen 'eight- or nine- or tenfold' since the Oct. 7 attacks, he said. 'The number one point I've tried to make … is that we can't fight antisemitism alone. That's our reality,' he said. 'If only Jews are fighting against antisemitism, we've lost.' Local leaders and faraway friends reached out to Cytron-Walker as news of the D.C. shootings spread, he said. 'This is traumatic for Jewish communities through the country. The same way Palestinian people need love and support along with humanitarian aid, the same way as the Israeli public has been crying out for the return of hostages and an end to war. That's the kind of love and support we need right now.' It is too early to draw conclusions about the D.C. shooting, said Rabbi Nancy Kasten, a Dallas-area interfaith activist who knows people who were held hostage at Congregation Beth Israel in 2022 and others who attend the synagogue. Her worry, she said, was that politicians would use the museum killings as an excuse to limit free speech. 'I do not see that those tactics have worked in the past and don't know why we would think they could work to keep Jews, Israelis or anyone else safer in the future,' she said. For now, she is focusing on an event she's been planning, titled 'Two Peoples, One Land: What Americans Can Do to Promote Peace in Israel and Palestine.' However, she said, 'I wonder how it will fall now.' The shooting at the D.C. museum was tragic, said Joseph Landson, 56, a Navy veteran from Springfield, Virginia. 'It's a horrible time' to be Jewish in America, he said. The killings were 'just another in an unending string of anti-Israel attacks. Notice I wrote anti-Israel. I really don't consider the attack antisemitic. New data could change my mind,' Landson said. Landson, who can't work because of chronic disease, said he attempts to balance supporting Israel – but not unconditionally. While he tries, he wrote The Post, to walk a middle ground, 'it feels like moderation is becoming impossible.'
San Francisco Chronicle
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
'Parade' revival strikes chilling parallels between past injustice and present-day headlines
There's something terribly haunting about watching a work set in the past and being only able to think of the present. When the musical 'Parade' first premiered on Broadway in 1998, visuals like newspaper boys proudly waving confederate flags were a means of bringing audiences back to a dark political atmosphere from long ago. In 2025, such bone-chilling spectacles are emerging once again, marking the ominous and timely return of a show about Leo Frank, an American Jew falsely blamed, then lynched, in response to the murder of a 13-year-old girl in 1915. Theater titan Harold Prince co-conceived the original production, which won Tony Awards for best book and best original score. After undergoing significant restaging, the 2023 Broadway revival itself earned two Tonys (best revival of a musical, best direction of a musical), leading to a national tour that's currently playing San Francisco's Orpheum Theatre, in partnership with Broadway SF, from May 20-June 8. But the 2023 production's task in telling Frank's tale has changed from history lesson to alarm bell. Hopefully it's ringing loud enough for all to hear, especially in light of a ghastly killing of two Israeli Embassy aides outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., which happened less than 24 hours before Thursday's curtain rose. Led by stellar performances from Max Chernin, who continues his run from Broadway as the Brooklyn-born Leo, and Talia Suskauer as his devoted, daring wife Lucille, 'Parade' unfolds as a doomed love story set amid the deep-rooted racism and rising antisemitic sentiments of pre-WWI Atlanta, Ga. The pair provides genuine sparks as a couple that processes the false charges against Frank — first with genuine confusion, then calcifying resentment. Chernin and Suskauer add their impressive pipes to a talented cast that also includes longtime San Francisco actor Alison Ewing in the role of Sally Slayton, wife to Georgia Gov. John Slayton (played with aplomb by Chris Shyer). Staged with a high center square not unlike an elevated courtroom floor, elaborate backdrops and props are eschewed in favor of a screen that regularly projects archival photos of the real-life characters and settings from the time. It can feel like a lot, and though the music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown ('The Bridges of Madison County') never trade substance for frivolity, the need for song does occasionally feel forced by convention rather than warranted by plot. That said, some numbers do work quite well, including one led by Michael Tacconi as sleazy newspaper reporter Britt Craig. Employing an upbeat melody akin to the Pied Piper, Craig goes around enticing various townsfolk (including the victim's friends, the Franks' maid, and a security guard on duty at the factory where the girl was killed) to remember things that never happened. It's a clever way to portray how quickly disinformation can flourish — especially when it's being carried on the back of a deceptively sweet tune. Later, at the close of the show's first act, Brown plays with the convention of singing in the round to hammer home the identical wording and demeanor of three girls clearly coached to lie by the prosecution about Frank's alleged inappropriate conduct toward them. These are the moments where song and story most aptly collide, though a strong book from playwright Alfred Uhry ('Driving Miss Daisy') ensures the show never steers far off-course. If the first half of 'Parade' is an exercise in how to frame an innocent man, its concluding portion celebrates the tenacity of a woman desperate to free her husband from the ticking clock of a death sentence. Found guilty by a jury of his 'peers,' Frank loses hope in his jail cell following two years of failed appeals, inspiring Lucille to take her cause directly to Gov. Slayton. It's heart-wrenching to watch them inspire a host of witnesses to recant their testimonies while knowing the victory is ill-fated. Staged gracefully, the sequence of Frank being kidnapped from his cell and lynched in a nearby forest by a vengeful mob also offers one of the few moments in the entire show when he is free to speak his truth. After once again proclaiming his innocence, Frank uses his last breaths to recite the Sh'ma, a Jewish prayer often uttered as one's final words. It's a beautiful coda for a show that mostly finds the rest of its characters speaking on Frank's behalf.
Newsweek
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
Islamists' Murderous Lackeys Target the West
On Wednesday evening, a terrorist from Chicago named Elias Rodriguez, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, shot and killed a young couple outside an event held at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Rodriguez was filmed yelling "Free, free Palestine!" as he was finally taken into custody, having been inexplicably let into the museum after gunning the couple down. He also told the shocked and confused people inside the museum before being arrested, "I did this for Gaza. Free Palestine. There's only one solution. Intifada revolution." Please remember those words when you read on. But first, let us take a few moments to mourn the deaths of the young Israeli Christian Yaron Lischinsky, and the young American Jew, Sarah Lynn Milgrim. This beautiful couple were about to be engaged. Now they are going to be buried. People hold signs and Israeli national flags in a sign of support outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead, in Washington, DC, on May 22. People hold signs and Israeli national flags in a sign of support outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead, in Washington, DC, on May 22. DREW ANGERER/AFP via Getty Images Ironically, Milgrim was a peace activist and had visited Israel in 2023, promoting improved relations between Israelis and Palestinians. The event they were killed for attending was hosted by the American Jewish Committee to bring humanitarian aid to the Middle East and North Africa together with members of the D.C. diplomatic community. The theme was "turning pain into purpose"—but sadly, it ended in cold-blooded slaughter. Now, let's return to the murderer's claim about "one solution, Intifada revolution." Intifada is Arabic for uprising. The First and Second Intifadas were organized by terrorist turned "statesman" Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004 and was succeeded as head of Fatah, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and the Palestinian Authority by Mahmoud Abbas. Both intifadas were extremely violent and involved a tangle of groups, including the PLO, Hamas, and others. Tactics included the killing of 21 mostly teenaged girls and the wounding of 130 young people waiting in line to enter Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium disco, bombing pizzerias filled with young mothers and kids, bombings and shootings in restaurants and holiday festivities, and firebombing city buses. This is what Hamas-supporting protesters on U.S. campuses, in city squares, on social media feeds, and just last night in Washington, D.C., are calling for when they use their now-fashionable kaffiyehs, conveniently don surgical masks, or sunglasses to hide their faces and scream for intifada. When glorifying murder becomes fashionable enough, the masks will be off. The thugs who got on a New York subway train in June 2024 yelling, "If you're a Zionist, raise your hand. This is your chance to get out," sounded like Nazis because that's what they are. It is hard to see this kind of evil for what it is, look it in the face and name it as such. But stare the evil in the face we must. Now, we need to discuss the targets. It is obvious that there are many Americans who think this is only an Israeli problem or only a Jewish problem. It isn't. For others, this latest tragic horror in Washington is déjà vu. Before 9/11, it was tough trying to explain to Americans that the real targets of terrorists attacking Israel were the United States and the West. It wasn't until the towers came down that Americans began to understand. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which recent reports show to be involved in an influence campaign aimed at European Union institutions, with Qatari and Kuwaiti backing. Qatar is also reportedly giving billions of dollars in often undisclosed funding to U.S. universities, where money clearly talks. Hamas is also supported and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps in service of the Shi'ite Iranian theocratic dictatorship, the slogan of which is "Death to Israel! Death to America!" The Brotherhood and Iran mean what they say. The clock is ticking, and the stakes are extremely high. Attacking the Israelis, or the Jews, or the Zionists is just the opening act. It is never, ever the endgame. "Globalize the intifada" is not "simply" a call to have people rally for the Palestinian cause (which, according to Hamas's charter, involves the genocide of Jews and destruction of the State of Israel). "Globalize the intifada" means the violent destabilization of the U.S. and the West before their aspired conquest and destruction. That's why the Party for Socialism and Liberation, to which the assassin is reported to belong, and groups like it, are truly useful idiots or fellow travelers serving the mullahs of Tehran and the proxies they sponsor, like Hamas. They want the West ended. This is what the Red-Green alliance is all about. It's a fusion of political Islam with the radical left. The "enemies" to be destroyed "by any means necessary" are anyone or anything they can pin the label "colonialist" or "imperialist" on. They believe that U.S., Australia, Canada, etc., are all "settler colonialists," and they hate capitalism. After taking complete control in Tehran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had the leftists who had helped bring him to power executed with thousands of others. They, along with homosexuals, women, and girls protesting being forced to wear the veil, and other dissidents, became grist for the torturer's chamber and the executioner's noose. For now, the Red-Green Alliance is on the same page. They want America and the West brought down. Be forewarned. Ariel Cohen, Ph.D., is an expert on Russia, Eurasia, and the Middle East. He is Senior Fellow (non-resident) at The Atlantic Council ( Rena Cohen is the founder of the Books for Israel Project, which has delivered tens of thousands of English-language books to Jewish, Muslim, and Christian schools in Israel. She was born in Kibbutz Nachshon. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Can Israel and Palestinians ever work together to solve decades-long conflict?
To the editor: I am an American Jew, and I appreciate your printing of this article ('My family's archive shows why Palestinians are owed reparations,' May 13). We all know that terrible mistakes were made back in May 1948 by the British and the U.N., and that many Palestinians were unfairly treated. We, as Jews, having suffered atrocities in Europe, should know better. I am not at all happy with the current administration in Israel and cringe with shame as to what they are doing in Gaza. On the other hand, the Israelis have suffered untold losses as well at the hands of Palestinians. The lesson here, I believe, is that both sides have to acknowledge wrongdoing, and both sides need to come together and fix it. I realize this may be a pipe dream, but is there any other way out of this morass? Barbara Busch, Santa Barbara .. To the editor: Guest contributor Adel Bseiso's familial story is touching and sad. However, it is also incomplete. The Palestinian narration of the Nakba says primarily that the sovereign state of Israel abruptly swept in and displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, a planned act of aggression not unlike the Six-Day War in 1967. What was supposed to occur in 1948 was a United Nations-mandated partition of both Palestinian and Jewish nations. However, a coalition of Arab nations rejected that plan, and would come to lose that gambit and the war. The possibility of the Palestinians and Arab nations accepting the U.N. partition is a 'what if' of Middle Eastern history that for some reason is rarely discussed. In the spirit of widening this discussion, I would be curious whether Bseiso or scholars could return to his family archives — and determine what proportion of land his family would have retained had the partition plan been accepted. Ron Shinkman, Northridge .. To the editor: Bseiso's piece about his Palestinian family was anguishing to read. The situation in Gaza is appalling. This should not stand. Jeri Marston, Los Angeles This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
