Latest news with #antiIsrael
The Sun
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Rappers Kneecap will play Wembley Arena in biggest UK gig despite band member facing terror charge
RAPPERS Kneecap will play Wembley Arena in their biggest UK show — despite one of the band facing a terror charge. The Irish group hope to sell out the 12,500-capacity venue on September 18. 3 3 They announced: 'All London heads. Our biggest headline show outside of Ireland will take place on September 18 at the OVO Wembley Arena. The belly of the beast — let's go!' They also released a poster featuring a Buckingham Palace guard with his uniform painted green, and an Irish tricolour balaclava under his bearskin hat. The band have sparked controversy with their anti-Israel stance. Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, is charged over the alleged display of the flag of Hezbollah — classed as a terror group by the UK — at a London gig. He is due in court on June 18. Counter-terror cops previously investigated Kneecap after videos emerged allegedly showing the band telling fans: ' The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' In another clip, they appeared to shout ' up Hamas, up Hezbollah '. The group apologised to murdered MPs' families but insisted footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised'. They say they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Labour's David Taylor urged the BBC not to show Kneecap's Glastonbury set on June 28. Kneecap perform surprise gig in London hours after rapper Liam O'Hanna, 27, charged with terror offence The Beeb said: 'Decisions will be made in the lead up.' 3
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
MIT class president is banned from graduation ceremony after jaw-dropping pro-Palestinian speech
The class president at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was banned from walking across the stage to receive her diploma after she gave a jaw-dropping anti-Israel speech. Megha Vemuri was set to serve as the marshal of this year's graduation ceremony on Friday, but received an email earlier in the day that she could not attend the event, and her and her family were banned from campus for most of the day, the Boston Globe reports. 'You deliberately and repeatedly misled Commencement organizers,' MIT Chancellor Melissa Nobles wrote in the email. 'While we acknowledge your right to free expression, your decision to lead a protest from the stage, disrupting an important institute ceremony was a violation of MIT's time, place and manner rules for campus expression.' The email came just one day after Vemuri veered from her prepared statements at the OneMIT commencement ceremony to instead call on the university to cut all ties with Israel. 'You have faced the obstacle of fear before and you turned it into fuel to stand up for wat is right,' she told her fellow graduates, university officials and even Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey - who was sitting in the audience. 'You showed the world that MIT wants a free Palestine,' Vemuri said of the widespread anti-Israel protests at the Cambridge campus. 'You called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and you stood in solidarity with the pro-Palestine activists on campus,' she continued. 'You faced threats, intimidation and suppression coming from all directions, especially your own university officials, but you prevailed because the MIT community that I know would never tolerate a genocide.' Vemuri then concluded her speech by saying she and her fellow graduates will carry 'the stamp of the MIT name - the same name that is directly complicit in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, so we carry with us the obligation to do everything we can to stop it.' Data from the US Department of Education shows MIT reported receiving $2.8 million in grants, gifts and contracts from Israeli entities between 2020 and 2024, according to the Globe. It is unclear, however, whether the funds came from individual, academic or government sources or how the money was spent. But Vemuri's speech caused a stir, as video obtained by Fox News showed Jewish students walking out of the annual ceremony. Some students and audience members could also be heard jeering, while others cheered and applauded Vemuri's remarks. When University President Sally Kornbluth then took the podium to speak at the ceremony, she tried calming down the rhetoric. 'OK listen folks, at MIT we value freedom of expression, but today's about the graduates,' she began, as the cheers and shouts continued. 'There is a time and place to express yourselves and you will have many, many years to do it,' she continued. 'Let's talk about the graduates,' said Kornbluth - who previously had to testify before Congress about the school's alleged failure at protecting Jewish students. She was then met with applause, and the ceremony continued as planned. But the MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance suggested she did not go far enough, as it issued a statement criticizing the university leaders who 'failed to prevent a rogue student from taking over yesterday's graduation ceremony.' The group said Vemuri 'took the opportunity to hijack the ceremony and to dedicate the entirety of her speech to berating and defaming Israel and promoting Hamas-inspired propaganda. The MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance argued school officials should have done more 'to address or acknowledge what had transpired' 'One attendee who traveled from Israel with his family to receive his PhD diploma commented that his children were distraught over the speech and he needed to explain to them why a random person halfway across the world hates them,' the Jewish Alumni Alliance continued in their statement. 'This is not what a graduation ceremony is meant to be. A graduation ceremony is meant to honor its graduates and their accomplishments,' they argued. House Speaker Mike Johnson even hit out at Vemuri for her remarks, which he called 'ignorant, hateful [and] morally bankrupt. 'Where is the shame - or appropriate response from the institution?' he wrote on X. 'Have your children avoid MIT and the Ivy League at all costs,' he added, apparently referring to the embattled Harvard University. Yet others seemed to support Vemuri, with some even chanting at the ceremony on Friday 'Let Megha Walk.' Emma Zhu, who graduated with a combined degree in computer science and economics, also told the Globe that she supported Vemuri's right to protest at graduation 'even if it is a bit inflammatory. 'At the end of the day, she should have the right to say her opinions and this is probably her biggest moment to be able to express what she feels to the world,' Zhu said. In fact, Vemuri told the Globe ahead of the graduation festivities that she wanted to 'optimize my impact.' 'I'm nervous because I want to make the absolute most of this opportunity,' she said at the time. 'It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing... It's literally some of the greatest minds of our generation who are going to be listening to me, right?' Still, a university spokesperson said that while the school 'supports free expression' it 'stands by its decision' to bar Vemuri from graduation, as the speech she gave 'was not the one that was provided by the speaker in advance.' Vemuri, who grew up in Georgia, will still receive her degree, though, in computation and cognition and linguistics, according to the New York Times. She now says she is not disappointed to miss the ceremony. 'I see no need to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide,' the graduate said. But she added that she is 'disappointed' in the school's response, and claimed university officials 'massively overstepped their roles to punish me without merit or due process.' She also told CNN she can 'handle the attention, positive and negative, if it means spreading the message further.' Yet Vemuri is not the only university graduate this year to face backlash for anti-Israel remarks as President Donald Trump cracks down on schools that condoned the widespread protests amid the war in Gaza - and even cut funding to Harvard for what he claimed was a failure to protect Jewish students. At New York University, officials withheld a diploma from Logan Rozos, who referred to 'the atrocities currently happening in Palestine' in his commencement speech. At George Washington University in Washington DC, a graduate named Cecilia Culver also used her speech to urge others not to donate to the school and repeated requests for it to divest from companies that do. The university similarly responded by barring her from campus and any further university-sponsored events, the Times reports.
Fox News
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Bestselling author calls murdered Israeli embassy employees 'genocide cheerleaders' in social media post
An influential anti-Israel author expressed anger on Thursday towards the two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered in Washington, D.C. last week. Author Susan Abulhawa attacked the murder victims, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, in an X post, calling them "genocide cheerleaders" and saying there is too much bloodshed at the hands of Israel to feel sorry for them after they were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum. "Now we're supposed to feel bad for two genocide cheerleaders after watching these colonizer baby killers slaughter people by the hundreds every day for two years," Abulhawa wrote on social media the day after the soon-to-be-engaged couple were killed. Lischinsky and Milgrim were shot and killed while departing an event at the museum on Wednesday. A man authorities identified as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago has been charged in the killings and faces the death penalty. Upon his arrest, Rodriguez screamed, "Free Palestine!" Abulhawa's post continued: "I've seen the inside of too many children's skulls to give a crap about the human garbage who get off on mass murder. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a false flag to focus on manufactured antisemitism instead of the actual holocaust being committed by Jewish supremacists." In a previous post, Abulhawa rationalized that the murders were a natural response to Israel going unchecked for its "holocaust" in Gaza. "Natural logic: when governments fail to hold Israel accountable for an actual holocaust being committed before our very eyes, no genocidal Zionist should be safe anywhere in the world. What Mr. Rodriguez did should come as no surprise. In fact, I'm surprised it has not happened sooner," she wrote. Abulhawa also suggested that the suspect was following his conscience, adding, "Human beings with a conscience literally cannot bear to witness such evil day and day out being inflicted upon the bodies, minds, and futures of an utterly defenseless people, by such a hateful, racist, colonial state." Abulhawa is the author of several books, including "Mornings In Jenin," a novel about a Palestinian family displaced from their homes by Israel in 1948, that has sold over one million copies. Her social media account on X is filled with anti-Israel posts. She has also written a number of articles for the digital outlet, "The Electronic Intifada," several of which accuse Israel of committing a "holocaust." In one, titled, "Israel is dragging the world into darkness," she wrote, "Israel does not belong in the modern world. It is the child of European colonialism and Europe's genocidal anti-Semitism, imposed by force and fire and Western guilt on a land already inhabited by an indigenous people." Abulhawa did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
National Post
24-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
NP View: When progressives become indistinguishable from Islamists
Video of Elias Rodriguez — the suspect charged in the shooting deaths of two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday — bears striking resemblance to scenes that have been witnessed at anti-Israel protests on Canadian streets and university campuses in recent years. The senseless murder of a young couple solely because they were Israeli and taking part in an event at a Jewish museum is the logical conclusion of calls to Globalize the Intifada. Article content Article content Article content Although Rodriguez was clean cut and not trying to hide his identity, he was seen waving a keffiyeh and began the now familiar chant of 'free, free Palestine' as he was being led away by police. A manifesto posted online after the shooting, purportedly written by Rodriguez, reiterates many of the usual talking points against Israel, but laments that, 'Thus far the rhetoric has not amounted to much.' Rodriguez then attempts to justify 'the morality of armed demonstration,' and claims others will understand that what he did was 'the only sane thing to do.' The social media post was accompanied by a call to 'Escalate For Gaza' and 'Bring The War Home.' Article content Article content Notably, Rodriguez does not appear to be a radicalized Muslim or a recent immigrant from a Middle Eastern country with high rates of antisemitism. He more closely resembles your run-of-the-mill social justice warrior: the type of person who worked as an 'oral history researcher' on African-American communities at an educational non-profit; attended Black Lives Matter protests and other anti-capitalist demonstrations; gave an interview to a socialist magazine lamenting how Amazon was responsible for the 'whitening of Seattle'; and had past ties with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, an anti-Israel communist group. Article content According to his manifesto, Rodriguez wasn't even aware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until 2014. In the same fashion as the kids who were radicalized in mosques after 9/11 and went on to fight with the Taliban and ISIS, Rodriguez appears to have transformed from a fairly typical American lefty into a cold-blooded killer in just over a decade. In too many cases, the progressives have become indistinguishable from the Islamists. Article content Article content While we don't know how Rodriguez — who has a BA in English from the University of Illinois Chicago — was radicalized, those who have been paying attention to the antisemitism and anti-Israel bias that has come to dominate universities, the media and left-wing narratives should not be surprised that it eventually led to blood being spilled in the streets of a western capital. Article content At the encampment set up at the University of Toronto last spring, for example, signs reading Revolution Until Victory, Glory to All Martyrs, This is the Intfada (sic) and Globalize Resistance were commonplace. Based on the clueless statements made by some students during last year's encampment craze, it's clear that at least some of them did not fully appreciate the meaning of these phrases, or the history of the Middle East conflict. Those people now need to take a hard look in the mirror, because the deaths of Sarah Milgrim, 26, and Yaron Lischinsky, 30, is the fruit of their labour.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
‘I'm willing to do it again': The students who could lose their diplomas due to pro-Palestinian activism on campus
With graduation season underway, universities across the country are taking action against anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian activists who speak out at commencement ceremonies and during the final weeks of classes, in some cases threatening to withhold their degrees. Administrators accuse the students of breaking campus rules and marring graduation festivities, while activists say the punishments are the latest way school officials are demonizing pro-Palestinian views and repressing students' rights to political expression. The controversy all happens in the long shadow of the Trump administration, which has stripped universities like Harvard and Columbia of millions in federal funds over alleged failures to stop antisemitism during the protests, while detaining campus activists and revoking the student visas of non-citizens involved in the Palestinian cause. At Virginia Commonwealth University, two students' diplomas are on hold after they took part in a modest gathering in late April that the school says was not permitted. VCU senior Selma Ait-Bella, 21, one of the students facing discipline, described the situation to The Independent as a massive overreaction meant to deter future activism. 'They're using these bureaucratic methods to scare other students,' the sociology major said. 'If we're paying thousands of dollars to go to this university, get an education, and build a community, if they can take that away, for speaking out against a genocide, it leaves everybody feeling like their situation is increasingly precarious.' The campus action began on April 29, the last day of classes, she said. A group of about 40 students gathered informally to sit and talk on a lawn, marking a year since a multi-agency group of riot police used pepper spray, and tear gas to clear a student Palestinian protest encampment, while authorities and school officials say protesters threw objects and used chemical spray on officers. This time around, there weren't any speeches or chants or tents, though the participants did use cloth protest banners from past events as picnic blankets. Eventually, school officials and police arrived, telling the group the gathering wasn't allowed, but that they could relocate to a campus 'free speech zone,' Ait-Bella said. Organizers began telling students to leave, fearing another police crackdown. However, in the ensuing confusion, some remained. A student holding a sign that read, 'Gonna us again, you f***ing monsters' was eventually arrested, Ait-Bella said. The Independent has contacted the VCU administration and police department for comment. Ait-Bella was able to walk in VCU's commencement this month, but her degree is on hold, pending an investigation. The situation has left her with unanswered questions beyond her grad status. Will she be able to travel freely? Will she be able to get a job? Will she or her parents, Moroccan immigrants, face any repercussions, given the Trump administration's immigration dragnet? Still, she knew the risks she was incurring by being an activist, and says she doesn't regret taking them now. 'Everybody that is a part of this movement understands there is something to risk,' she said, adding, 'I'm willing to do it again.' For many involved in the campus push, the status quo is a risk, too. The other VCU student whose diploma is in limbo, Sereen Haddad, is a Palestinian-American who has lost over 200 family members in the conflict. 'My activism isn't a choice—it's a duty,' Haddad told The Independent. 'As a Palestinian, I carry generations of resistance in my blood. I've watched my people be dehumanized, displaced, and massacred while the world turns its back...I will never be silent while this is happening.' Clashes have also taken place over commencement ceremonies themselves. Two people were arrested this week at Columbia, where protesters booed the university president, burned diplomas, and shoved police, just weeks after over 70 were detained for occupying a library in the run-up to semester finals. Across town, at the May 14 ceremony for New York University's Gallatin liberal arts program, student-selected speaker Logan Rozos used his brief remarks to address the war as well, which has killed over 1,000 Israelis and over 61,000 Palestinians, according to their respective governments, stretching into a brutal stalemate in which the Israeli government is accused of blocking aid and causing mass starvation in Gaza. The conflict was sparked by the bloody Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into Israel of Hamas terror squads who slaughtered over 1,200 Israelis and kidnaped about 250, taking them back into Gaza. Rozos, a filmmaker and actor, told the crowd he had been 'freaking out' about what to say, but ultimately concluded, 'My moral and political commitments guide me to say that the only thing that is appropriate to say is in this time and to a group this large is a recognition of the atrocities currently happening in Palestine.' His remarks were met with some cheers from the crowd, but the school swiftly condemned Rozos for having 'stolen' the moment by sharing 'one-sided political views.' 'He lied about the speech he was going to deliver and violated the commitment he made to comply with our rules,' the school said in a statement. 'The University is withholding his diploma while we pursue disciplinary actions.' The Independent has contacted Rozos and NYU for further comment. Outside reaction was split, with groups like the Anti-Defamation League claiming Ross made Jewish students uncomfortable with 'rhetoric that promotes harmful lies about Israel,' while some faculty members criticized the administration for what they saw as a heavy-handed attempt to avoid scrutiny from Trump. 'They are bending over backward to crack down on speech that runs counter to what the current administration in Washington espouses,' Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis, told ABC News. Even for those who have already graduated are feeling the consequences. Three days after Rozos's speech, George Washington University graduate Cecilia Culver, who received her degree in December, told a commencement crowd to 'withhold donations and continue advocating for disclosure and divestment' of ties between the university and Israel. 'I am ashamed to know my tuition is being used to fund this genocide,' she told a crowd of about 750. The school soon announced that Culver was banned from its campuses and events, saying she had been 'inappropriate and dishonest' and veered from pre-rehearsed remarks. In an interview with the school paper, the economics and statistics grad said she had no regrets, either. 'There was just never any point where I was not going to say something,' she told The GW Hatchet. Culver declined a request for comment from The Independent. She has retained legal representation from Palestine Legal, which has defended her remarks. 'Students are harbingers of how future generations will view this historical moment and the role of universities in it,' the group said in a statement to The Washington Post. 'History will celebrate principled students like Logan Rozos at NYU and our client Cecilia Culver at GWU.' Whatever history thinks of these students, the institutional conflict over how to treat them shows no signs of abating, even as the school year comes to a close. On Thursday, Trump's feud with Harvard escalated, with the administration attempting to pull the university's ability to enroll any international students, the same day a federal court in California temporarily barred the administration from the revoking visas of a wide swathe of international students. Even after all the lawsuits, investigations, dueling protests, and immigration arrests on campus, there are those like Ait-Bella and Haddad determined to keep sharing their perspective on campus, come what may. People in Gaza are starving and eating grass, with children writing their wills and parents writing their names on their arms so their bodies can be identified if they get bombed in their sleep, Haddad says. 'Compared to that, what do I have to fear?' she said. 'If you're someone staying silent, I ask you—who is your silence benefitting? It's not the people under the rubble.'
