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Los Angeles Times
08-05-2025
- General
- Los Angeles Times
‘Auf Wiedersehen' to another part of Anaheim's German heritage
Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. I'm Times California columnista Gustavo Arellano, writing from my native Orange County. For nearly 50 years, drivers exiting the 91 Freeway at Harbor Boulevard toward Anaheim were greeted by a pair of wooden signs that spoke to my beloved hometown's past and present. At the northwest corner of La Palma Park, three stone columns were connected by wooden planks that bore seals of the local chapters of do-gooder organizations like the Lions Club, Rotary International and the League of United Latin American Citizens. The top boards read 'Wilkommen in Anaheim 1857' and 'Welcome to Anaheim' in white, somewhat-Gothic letters, a nod to the city's founding by German immigrants who wanted to create a winemaking colony but instead started the best damn city in Southern California (sorry, Bradbury). Built in 1976 with money raised via garage sale, the 'Wilkommen' sign stood as Anaheim transformed from a working-class white town to one with large populations of Middle Easterners, Romanians, Pacific Islanders and especially Latinos, who now comprise the majority of the city's residents. The 'Welcome' guidepost embodied a city where multiculturalism was embedded from the start. It became one of the last public vestiges (besides streets named after pioneers) of Anaheim's Teutonic origins after the last local German restaurant closed in 2021 and the long-standing Phoenix Club moved up the 57 Freeway to Brea. This past fall, the sign was removed. I figured city workers stored it somewhere while La Palma Park — the second-oldest in Anaheim, and one where I grew up in because it was down the street from where I grew up — underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation. But when I drove down Harbor earlier this week, an ugly replacement now occupied the sign's location. The new marker, which went up last month, reads 'La Palma Park' in sans-serif script. The front of each letter is painted gray; their sides alternate between lime green and turquoise tones. That color scheme is so jarring that I thought my eyes were short-circuiting. The whole thing sits on a slab of concrete, in a planter currently surrounded by wood chips. A white sheet of paper has more personality than this weak-salsa excuse meant to greet people entering Orange County's largest city. Whenever I have a question about Anaheim, I always reach out to Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava, who represents the district where La Palma Park is located. My fellow Anaheim High Colonist (she's class of 1996, I'm class of 1997) told me residents complained to her the moment the 'Wilkommen' sign was removed. City staff did an internal review shortly after that to determine if it was worth keeping. They determined it wasn't. 'I'm disappointed that the original sign wasn't saved,' Rubalcava said, acknowledging 'some gaps in communication, including with my office.' She added that the city is working on a public display at La Palma Park that will honor the 'Wilkommen' sign and commemorate Anaheim's German heritage. The councilmember also said that she wants to pass a formal policy that will 'establish a clear process before removal or alteration of potentially historical items.' I'm glad Rubalcava is trying to make up for something that shouldn't have happened and I'll forgive her for telling me that the new sign 'looks good and serves as a welcoming gateway to our beautiful city' — come on, Natalie, you're cooler than that! And Anaheim does have far more pressing problems than the fate of a collection of old sticks and stones: gangs, housing inequality, the recent sentencing of former Mayor Harry Sidhu for pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, and the ever-influential campaign dollars of Disneyland (did you know the word for 'corruption' in German is Korruption? Now you do!) But the destruction of the 'Wilkommen' sign, in a city that usually cares more than most about its past, is just another sign of how folks pay attention to what they cherish in a city only after it's too late — myself included. What did Joni Mitchell sing in 'Big Yellow Taxi' again? Republicans in Washington keep on cutting In a new poll, Californians say they're stressed about money Los Angeles County reported another measles case L.A.'s fire recovery is not getting any easier Raises for airport and hotel workers could be put on hold What else is going on Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here. A family-run catalytic converter ring in Sacramento nets $38 million. Mom and two sons pleaded guilty. Tou Sue Vang ran a profitable family business in Sacramento with his brother, Andrew, and his mother, Monica Moua. But the lucrative family enterprise was illegal and involved buying stolen catalytic converters in a scheme that made more than $38 million for the family, according to authorities. Other must-reads How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Going out Staying in Betty says: 'HR is not your friend'Joyce says: 'Listening is not waiting for your turn to speak.' (We can all agree that one applies outside of work too) Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they're important to you. Today's great photo is from staff photo editor Raul Roa: It's not a total bust for wildflowers. Find a hidden field of poppies right in L.A. County Have a great day, from the Essential California team Gustavo Arellano, California columnistKarim Doumar, head of newsletters Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Washington Post
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
A militant Zionist group threatens activists online with a ‘deport list'
Almost six weeks before federal immigration officials detained Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a group called Betar US said on its X account that it had put the pro-Palestinian activist on 'our deport list.' 'It's 10 p.m. and ICE is aware of his home address and whereabouts,' the group posted on Jan. 29 under a video of CNN interviewing Khalil at a campus protest, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 'We have provided all his information to multiple contacts.' Khalil, a green-card holder married to a U.S. citizen, was detained on March 8. Three days later, Betar shared with The Washington Post a list of potential next targets it said it had recently flagged to Trump administration officials. At the top was Momodou Taal, a Cornell University graduate student who was suspended twice last year for his role in pro-Palestinian protests there. Now Taal, too, is fighting to stay in the country. Betar US, the newly revived and rapidly growing U.S. chapter of a century-old militant Zionist group, is claiming a share of the credit and moving on to the next names on its list. The Post couldn't determine whether the group played a role in the Trump administration's decision to target Khalil and Taal for deportation. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE 'is not working with or received any tips through the ICE Tip Line from the group identified as Betar.' But the Zionist group claims the government is listening, and so do attorneys for Khalil and Taal, whose student visa has been revoked: Both cited Betar in their respective lawsuits alleging that their clients are being targeted as part of an illegal crackdown on pro-Palestinian speech. 'We provided hundreds of names to the Trump administration of visa holders and naturalized Middle Easterners and foreigners,' said Daniel Levy, a spokesman for Betar. 'These jihadis who oppose America and Israel have no place in our great country.' Last fall, Betar was banned from Meta's platforms after it made veiled death threats to pro-Palestinian lawmakers and college students. Now the group's social media presence is unrestrained as it aligns itself with the Trump administration's enforcement of executive orders calling for the expulsion of foreign nationals who engage in antisemitism or support terrorism. Betar's rising profile shows how Trump's policies and rhetoric have emboldened a new crop of uncompromising Zionist groups that use social media to target individuals they view as antisemitic or sympathetic to Hamas — including some Jews. In November, a stranger approached Taal in person at a protest in New York and handed him an electronic pager — a nod to Israel's exploding-pager attack in September that killed or maimed scores of suspected Hezbollah members. Handing pagers to pro-Palestinian activists, and calling on X for its supporters to do the same, has become Betar's signature tactic. Its targets consider it a death threat; the group says it's just an edgy joke. On March 13, Betar published on X what it called a 'deport alert' for Taal, noting his Cornell affiliation and visa status and quoting from his past X posts that the group said show his support for Hamas, which the United States has deemed a terrorist organization. The group quoted Taal as saying 'glory to the resistance' after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people. Responding to a question about whether he supported the group, Taal told The Post: 'It is absurd to say that attending protests against the genocide makes someone a member of Hamas. I categorically reject this effort to conflate free speech with terrorism.' Taal and two others filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York on March 15 asking a judge to block the Trump administration from enforcing its executive orders against Taal and others in similar situations. The suit attributed his 'growing fear that he will be the target of an ICE removal operation' to 'a pattern of escalating attention' from Betar and other Zionist groups 'with the power to influence immigration enforcement decisions.' The fear turned out to be well-founded. On March 19, officials from the Department of Homeland Security visited Taal's residence in Ithaca, New York. Two days later, his attorneys received an email from Justice Department attorneys inviting Taal to surrender to ICE custody. A judge heard Taal's request for an injunction and temporary restraining order Tuesday and could rule at any time. Both Taal and Khalil had high-profile run-ins with authorities at their respective campuses before Betar began campaigning for their removal, and there's no direct evidence that Betar influenced the government's decision to pursue either of them. Nor is Betar the only pro-Israel actor claiming credit for helping the administration identify alleged Hamas sympathizers. The day after Khalil was detained, a group called Shirion Collective posted a memorandum on X that it had sent to DHS on Jan. 27, laying out the 'legal basis' for the Syrian-born Algerian's 'immediate detention and removal.' Shirion didn't respond to a request for comment. Another X account, called Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus at Columbia U, had posted about Khalil the day before his arrest, calling on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to revoke his visa, not realizing that he was in the U.S. on a green card. And after the government's detention last week of Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown University fellow from India, the conservative think tank Middle East Forum linked his arrest to a February article in which it reported on Suri's ties to a Hamas official. Following ICE's request for Taal to turn himself in, Betar spokesman Levy told The Post that the group has 'more and more reason to believe' that others on its list would soon be detained and deported as well. 'We want to say Shalom to many more Mahmouds and many more Momodous,' Levy said. Betar was founded as a paramilitary Zionist youth movement in Latvia in 1923 by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who believed a Jewish state in British-held Palestine could only be established by force. Among its alumni were conservative Israeli Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir, and the group still boasts strong ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling Likud Party. Though Betar faded from political relevance once Israel was established, 'the movement's historical image is one of aggressive right-wing nationalist and militant activism,' said Guy Fiennes, a researcher at the nonprofit Institute for Strategic Dialogue. The revival of its U.S.-based chapter came only after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel, said Ross Glick, who joined the resurgent group last year as its executive director, a role from which he stepped down in January. Glick, an entrepreneur and marketing consultant in New York City, said he was 'devastated' by the attack. When he saw pro-Palestinian demonstrators celebrating it on the streets of New York, 'a switch flipped' and he became enraged. He began trying to document the demonstrators' identities for potential investigation by law enforcement. He linked up in 2024 with Ronn Torossian, a politically connected public relations executive with a colorful past who shared Glick's penchant for confronting activists. Torossian was working to resurrect Betar in the U.S. as a hard-line Zionist movement. Before a visit to the University of Pittsburgh last fall, Glick announced on Instagram his plan to hand out pagers to members of the activist group Students for Justice in Palestine. That group reported Glick's post to law enforcement as a bomb threat, and Instagram's parent company, Meta, banned him and Betar from its platforms. Undeterred, Betar refocused its social media efforts on X, which has generally dialed back content moderation while taking a more restrictive line against anti-Israeli slogans. There, on its verified account, it has challenged numerous pro-Palestinian activists, often exhorting its followers to 'hand them a pager.' In January, Betar posted on X that it aimed to raise $1,800 to hand a pager to a prominent Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani. The post linked to a GoFundMe page for the group, where it said it was a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. That irked Jenin Younes, a D.C.-based First Amendment lawyer whose father is Palestinian and who considers herself a supporter of the Palestinian cause, though not of Hamas. Younes is no advocate of online censorship: She represented some of the conservative plaintiffs in a 2023 Supreme Court case that accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media platforms to censor conservative speech that it deemed misinformation. But she drew the line at what she considered to be a threat on Kiswani's life. Younes responded to Kiswani's post on X and said it was criminal conduct that neither X nor GoFundMe should allow. Betar quickly turned the tables, suggesting that its supporters give her a pager, too. Younes said she reported the posts to X but received no response. Within hours, she said, she began receiving dozens of calls a day from an unknown number. On at least one occasion when she picked up, the caller began cursing and telling her to go back to her 'Islamic s---hole.' 'I think when a group like this is making open death threats or threats of violence and nobody's doing anything about it, that emboldens them,' Younes said. X didn't respond to a request for comment. GoFundMe said Betar's efforts had been reviewed and found 'in compliance with our terms of service.' In February, Al Jazeera journalist Laila al-Arian posted what she said was a list of names of 'Palestinian babies Israel killed before they reached their first birthday.' Betar responded, 'Not enough. We demand blood in Gaza!' The post was removed, but Betar has since reposted screenshots of it. Betar has also gone after Jewish people who criticize Israel, such as the liberal commentator and City University of New York journalism professor Peter Beinart. In February, Betar told its X followers that if they see Beinart on New York's Upper West Side, they should give him a pager. 'Oppose my ideas all you want,' Beinart responded on X. 'But when you urge people in my neighborhood to give me a pager — in the wake of Israel's pager attack in Lebanon — that sounds like a death threat.' In a phone interview, Beinart said: 'It's probably not coincidental that in a moment of enormous political thuggishness, in which Donald Trump sets the tone, there are a lot more people and groups that might be inclined to speak in that tone.' In February, the Jewish civil rights group Anti-Defamation League added Betar to its glossary of extremism and hate, reporting that the group 'openly embraces Islamophobia and harasses Muslims online and in person.' Betar is the only Jewish group on the list. Glick said he has met with both administration officials and lawmakers who welcome his input, including Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and James Lankford (Oklahoma) and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman (Pennsylvania). He has posted selfies and a video of himself interacting with Fetterman in a Capitol hallway in November, with Fetterman saying 'I love it' when Glick described the 'pager stunt.' Neither Cruz nor Lankford returned requests for comment on their relationship with Betar. A spokesperson for Fetterman said the senator 'strenuously denies any involvement whatsoever' and has never interacted with Glick or Betar beyond a single, incidental hallway run-in. Glick stepped down as executive director of Betar in January after critics of the group resurfaced a scandal from his past, and Levy said Glick no longer speaks for Betar. Torossian declined to comment for this story. Since the run-in with SJP in Pittsburgh, the tables have turned in Betar's favor. Meta has reinstated Betar to its platforms, and earlier this month the University of Pittsburgh temporarily suspended SJP from its campus. On Thursday, Betar posted on X a video of ICE officers arresting Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey. 'She was on our list,' the group said, adding that it plans to send ICE a new list Monday of 'approximately 1800 more jihadis.' Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who is one of the attorneys representing Taal, said the degree to which Betar sets or merely aligns with the Trump administration's agenda is immaterial. 'They're still chilling speech, they're still intimidating, they're still creating a climate of fear,' he said, adding: 'It's ironic that a Jewish organization is putting together lists.'
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' SWMO officials address immigration fears amid national ICE raids
NOEL, Mo. — Law enforcement in McDonald County say national headlines have caused fear in their community. Noel City Marshal Randy Wilson says he serves a very diverse community. 'Last I knew, we had between 35 and 40 different cultures,' said Marshal Wilson. Among those, Pacific Islanders, Middle Easterners, and Hispanics. In the last few weeks, that population has grown fearful. 'We've had some that were pretty fearful and scared that we were going to be picked up.' Marshal Wilson is referring to raids by ICE, and he's been working to ease those concerns in the community. 'The ones that they're going after right now are the hardened criminals, ones that are out there breaking laws that, you know, are felony laws, and we kind of explain that to them the best that we can.' 'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' SWMO officials address immigration fears amid national ICE raids 'Swatting' calls placed at multiple Four State school districts Former Missouri police officer accused of pocketing DARE program donations Special prosecutor appointed in case of former school janitor accused of hiding camera in girl's locker room Three dead in McDonald County double-vehicle wreck Sheriff Robert Evenson says he's not aware of that happening in McDonald County. 'We're not participating, we're not conducting any kind of immigration enforcement actions, no raids, no door-to-door, no checkpoints on the highway. We're responding to calls, like we always do,' said Sheriff Evenson. Evenson says from time to time, a person will be arrested whose immigration status comes into question. For several years, standard protocol has been to call ICE in to investigate. 'That hasn't changed. The same thing is happening now that has been happening for twenty-plus years,' said Sheriff Evenson. I spoke to several immigrants, all of whom declined to go on camera for fear of what might happen. Marshal Wilson says nearly all of them can rest easy because they're not who is being looked for. 'They're wanting to get the hardened criminals at this time,' said Marshal Wilson. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
FREESTYLE DIGITAL MEDIA RELEASES DRAMEDY 'POMEGRANATE'
Dramedy Portraying Culture Clash Between Muslims and Iraqi Christians in Michigan During 2016 Election Debuts on Worldwide VOD Platforms and DVD March 4, 2025 'POMEGRANATE is a window into the lives of Middle Easterners, especially women, who've been confined to stereotypes. Understanding these lives opens the door to a more connected, compassionate world.' — Filmmaker Weam Namou LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, March 4, 2025 / / -- Freestyle Digital Media, the digital film distribution division of Byron Allen's Allen Media Group, has just released the culture clash dramedy POMEGRANATE, which is now available to rent/own on all global digital HD internet, cable, and satellite platforms, as well as on DVD, starting March 4, 2025. The March release date coincides with both Women's History Month and with International Women's Day (March 8th). Set during the U.S. presidential election season of 2016, POMEGRANATE tells the story of a young, liberal, Iraqi Muslim refugee who struggles to find her footing in a neighborhood of well-to-do, conservative Chaldeans (Iraqi Christians). Niran, age 20 is a politically liberal Muslim who wears fashionable hijabs, tight clothes, and lives with her family in a predominately Christian Iraqi suburb of Detroit, Michigan nicknamed 'Little Baghdad.' Directly across the street lives her nemesis, Mary, a politically conservative Christian who has a statue of the Virgin Mary in her front yard next to a large 'Make America Great Again' sign. Niran struggles with her identity while battling her family's fears of deprivation and demands of loyalty to Muslim traditions. Inspired by her idol Enheduanna, the first recorded writer in history and famed priestess of Ancient Mesopotamia, Niran navigates societal challenges, fights against cultural stereotypes, and most of all, aims to make her voice heard by all around her. With a desire to study, work, and love, Niran rediscovers her purpose in life. But surrounded by strong, opinionated women, can she live up to their expectations while meeting her own? The first Iraqi-American narrative film led by a creative team from the community being portrayed, POMEGRANATE was written and directed by an Iraqi woman, Weam Namou. POMEGRANATE, which has won over 30 international film awards, was produced by Sam Sako and executive produced by Scott Rosenfelt (HOME ALONE, MYSTIC PIZZA). The cast features Sam Rahmani ('Niran'), Zain Shami ('Hassina'), Ismail Taher ('Ali'), Natally Boutros ('Mary'), Lamar Babi ('Matthew'), Basim Alameen ('Sermad'), Amanda Kashat ('Nisreen'), and Jordyn Kashat ('Fatima'). POMEGRANATE, which has won over 30 international film awards, was produced by Sam Sako and executive produced by Scott Rosenfelt (HOME ALONE, MYSTIC PIZZA). 'POMEGRANATE is more than a movie, it's a window into the authentic lives of Middle Easterners, especially women, who have long been confined to stereotypes,' said filmmaker Weam Namou. 'By understanding the beauty, struggles, and resilience of these lives, we open the door to a more connected, compassionate world.' Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire POMEGRANATE directly with the filmmakers and Glen Reynolds of Circus Road Films. About Freestyle Digital Media The digital distribution unit of Byron Allen's Allen Media Group, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, satellite, digital, and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record, and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films. Recent releases include ALLSWELL IN NEW YORK starring Emmy award-winning actress Liza Colón-Zayas from the hit FX series THE BEAR, ALL HAPPY FAMILIES starring Josh Radnor and Rob Huebel, the drama based on a novel THE GHOST TRAP starring Zak Steiner from EUPHORIA and Greer Grammer of AWKWARD, and the Weekly World News horror-comedy THE ZOMBIE WEDDING. Other Freestyle Digital Media titles include THE ROAD DOG starring comedian Doug Stanhope, SURVIVE starring HBO's GAME OF THRONES star Sophie Turner and Corey Hawkins, the music documentary profiling blues guitar legends Jimmie Vaughan and Stevie Ray Vaughan, BROTHERS IN BLUES, DEAR ZOE starring Sadie Sink from the hit Netflix series STRANGER THINGS, Jessica Capshaw and Theo Rossi, the teen musical BEST SUMMER EVER featuring a fully integrated cast and crew of people with and without disabilities, produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Mary Steenburgen, and Ted Danson, and THE WEDDING YEAR starring Sarah Hyland and Anna Camp. Eric Peterkofsky Legal Disclaimer:
