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Fox News
2 hours ago
- General
- Fox News
MORNING GLORY: Antisemitism is shameful and evil. None of us should ever be neutral on such hate
An attack on any Jew in America is an attack on every Jew in America. It does not matter if the victim of the intended violence was murdered, maimed or escaped unharmed. It does not matter in the least if the targeted Jew was an American, an American-Israeli, a Jew from a third country, or a gentile mistaken for a Jew or an Israeli, or a supporter of either the Jewish people or the state of Israel. The perpetrators of the violence are all evil. Deeply evil. Diseased in mind and soul. Their accomplices, whether in the display of action or via expressed or unexpressed sympathy —and including the apologists thereof attempting to explain motives — all are evil. As a Catholic Christian, I believe in Hell. Those who indulge antisemitism in act or word or in the silence of their mind are headed to Hell absent genuine repentance. For antisemitism is the exact opposite of Christian beliefs and practice. The "Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love," stated the document, "Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, "decries hatred, persecutions, displays of antisemitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone." So, let's hear this in some homilies this Sunday and from the pulpits of Protestant churches. The Catholic Church's doctrine was unequivocal in its condemnation of antisemitism: "At any time." By "anyone." Including, of course, the attacks on Jews in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1, 2025, the murder of two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 2025, outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, and the firebombing of the home of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on April 13, 2025. Antisemitism extends far back in the U.S. to the numerous attacks against Jews on American campuses and streets since October 7, 2023, and to the long trail of antisemitic violence before that horrific massacre which came primarily from the far right, including the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, on October 27, 2018, and the attack on April 27, 2019, at Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California. The "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August of 2017, like its predecessor proposed march of the Nazis in Skokie, Illinois, in 1976, are more recent examples. (The march in Skokie never happened but was moved to Chicago after extensive litigation upholding the right of the antisemites to march.) Those are just incidents in my memory. American antisemitism has a long and shameful history. But so too does non-Jewish opposition to antisemitism have a distinguished pedigree which includes, most famously, President George Washington's 1790 letter to the Jewish congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. The "father of our country" wrote then that the new nation he was helping build would give "to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance." President Donald Trump's condemnations of the violence directed at Jews has been equally unequivocal. Good. There has always been clarity on this issue. Too many, however, dodge the horror. Where is the non-Jewish chattering class today? Mostly silent or mumbling or posting attempts to link the criminals to Trump, or Elon Musk or a dozen different excuses. "But, but, but" is the first refuge of the Jew hater afraid to go public. There are some notable exceptions to the quiet or the equivocal. "The Editors" podcast from National Review of June 2, titled "Horror in Colorado," set an excellent bar of condemnation, but it has far too few equivalents in either the conservative or legacy press. Indeed, there are many accomplices to the ancient evil online and in print. Silence is indeed complicity right now, and outright complicity in knowingly platforming antisemitism is especially repugnant at a moment when diseased minds seem poised to follow the examples of the criminals in D.C. and Boulder. Match meet gasoline. Who and where, exactly, is today's equivalent of the French journalist and novelist Émile Zola played a key role in defending Alfred Dreyfus through his famous "J'accuse" open letter, published in the newspaper L'Aurore in January 1898. (If you'd like to learn the outline of the Dreyfus affair, try the excellent 2013 novel by Robert Harris, "An Officer and a Spy." The complicated persecution of Dreyfus can be difficult to trace more than 125 years after the fact, but Harris does it for the reader in an excellent example of the good that historical fiction can do to repair the damage done by the collapse of elementary and secondary education in world history in the U.S.) There are columnists and platforms of note. Have they filed yet? There are athletes and musicians and actors who are quick to rally to popular causes which trigger cascades of virtue signaling. Have they posted? I have yet to see a hashtag or open letter demanding the shaming and shunning of antisemitism in America. Perhaps such a statement is circulating now and about to appear. Perhaps a "We Are the World" is even now being rehearsed, recorded and set for release that will condemn this latest American variant of the ancient evil. Thus far, though, the silence is deafening. Singer-songwriter John Ondrasik of "Five for Fighting" has set the example. Will anyone else from the vast community of media join him? Hugh Hewitt is a Fox News contributor, and host of "The Hugh Hewitt Show" heard weekday afternoons 3 PM to 6 PM ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel's news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University's Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcasting. This column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/tv show today.
CNN
2 hours ago
- General
- CNN
Judge issues order halting deportation of Colorado antisemitic attack suspect's family
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered a halt to the deportation of the family of the Egyptian man charged after an antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado – a day after the White House said the family's deportation was imminent. Judge Gordon P. Gallagher of the US District Court in Colorado directed the federal government to stop the deportation proceedings of Mohamed Soliman 's wife and five children. They were taken into ICE custody Tuesday. 'Defendants SHALL NOT REMOVE,' Soliman's wife and her five children from the District of Colorado or the United States 'unless or until this Court or the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacates this order,' Gallagher wrote in his order. Gallagher further stated, 'Moreover, the Court finds that deportation without process could work irreparable harm and an order must (be) issue(d) without notice due to the urgency this situation presents.' The White House had said Tuesday the family was facing expedited removal from the United States, writing in a post on X, 'THEY COULD BE DEPORTED AS EARLY AS TONIGHT.' Soliman's family was held 'incommunicado' and without access to representation after they were placed in ICE custody on Tuesday, their lawyers said in court records, according to the Washington Post. The attorneys wrote that the family applied for asylum, emphasizing that the administration can't legally speed up their deportation. The suspect's wife was surprised when she learned her husband had been arrested, her lawyers said in the documents, according to the Post. She said that she and their five children should not suffer the consequences of Soliman's arrest. 'Punishing individuals — including children as young as four-years-old — for the purported actions of their relatives is a feature of medieval justice systems or police state dictatorships, not democracies,' family attorney Eric Lee said in a Wednesday statement to CNN. 'The detention and attempted removal of this family is an assault on core democratic principles and must provoke widespread opposition in the population, immigrant and non-immigrant alike.' Soliman's family members have not been charged in the attack. The FBI identified Soliman as the lone suspect in the attack, in which he is accused of using a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails to set people on fire at an event in downtown Boulder held in support of hostages in Gaza. He now faces a federal hate crime charge and state charges of attempted murder. His family is being held in Florence, Colorado, and immigration officials had said they planned to transfer them to a detention facility in Texas, a law enforcement source said. It remains unclear to which country the family was intended to be deported. Soliman, his 41-year-old wife, and their children — an 18-year-old daughter, two minor daughters, and two minor sons — are Egyptian citizens, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The family arrived in the US in August 2022 and were initially granted entry until February 2023, DHS said in a Wednesday statement. Soliman applied for asylum in September 2022 in Denver, the agency said. In 2023, Soliman received a two-year work authorization that expired in March of this year, a DHS official told CNN earlier this week. Following the attack, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem directed multiple federal agencies under her purview to ramp up the review of immigration records and 'crackdown on visa overstays,' DHS said Wednesday. 'We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it. I am continuing to pray for the victims of this attack and their families. Justice will be served,' Noem said in a statement Wednesday. Soliman told detectives after he was arrested that 'no one' knew about his attack plans and that 'he never talked to his wife or family about it,' according to the affidavit for his arrest filed Sunday. There were at least 15 victims, between the ages of 25 and 88, in the attack in Boulder, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Denver office. A dog was also injured, the agency said. Soliman appeared in state court Monday and is expected to appear in state court again Thursday and in federal court on Friday. CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment. Investigators are examining a notebook that contains a manifesto and multiple videos Soliman recorded on his phone, according to a law enforcement source. The manifesto is written in English but certain lines written in Arabic were being translated as of Tuesday, the source told CNN, noting police recovered the notebook after Soliman told them where to find it. The videos Soliman recorded are in both English and Arabic, the source said. One video has cropped up on social media that appears to show Soliman speaking in Arabic while driving. CNN has not independently verified the authenticity of the video. Officials have also been working to assess whether Soliman has any possible mental health issues, a source familiar with the investigation previously told CNN. CNN's Jamiel Lynch, John Miller, Josh Campbell and Jillian Sykes contributed to this report.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
What is Trump's new travel ban, and which countries are affected?
Nearly five months into his second term, Donald Trump has announced a new sweeping travel ban that could reshape the US borders more dramatically than any policy in modern memory. The restrictions, revealed through a presidential proclamation on Wednesday, would target citizens from more than a dozen countries – creating a three-tiered system of escalating barriers to entry. The proclamation represents one of the most ambitious attempts to reshape the US's approach to global mobility in modern history and potentially affects millions of people coming to the United States for relocation, travel, work or school. What is a travel ban? A travel ban restricts or prohibits citizens of specific countries from entering the United States. These restrictions can range from complete visa suspensions to specific limitations on certain visa categories. READ MORE Trump's day one executive order required the state department to identify countries 'for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries'. His travel ban proclamation referenced the previous executive order, as well as the recent attack by an Egyptian national in Boulder, Colorado, upon a group of people demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. [ Trump signs ban on citizens entering the US from 12 countries, including Iran, Haiti and Afghanistan Opens in new window ] What is a presidential proclamation? A presidential proclamation is a decree that is often ceremonial or can have legal implications when it comes to national emergencies. Unlike an executive order, which is a directive to heads of agencies in the administration, the proclamation primarily signals a broad change in policy. Which countries are listed in the travel ban? The following countries were identified for total bans of any nationals seeking to travel to the US for immigrant or non-immigrant reasons: Afghanistan Myanmar Chad Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Haiti Iran Libya Somalia Sudan Yemen He's also partially restricting the travel of people from Burundi Cuba Laos Sierra Leone Togo Turkmenistan Venezuela Why were these countries chosen? The proclamation broadly cites national security issues for including the countries, but specifies a few different issues that reach the level of concern for the travel ban. For some countries, such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and Venezuela, the proclamation claims that there is no reliable central authority for issuing passports or screening and vetting nationals travelling out of the country. For other countries, such as Myanmar, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Burundi, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo and Turkmenistan, the proclamation cites a high rate of immigrants overstaying their visas in the US. Finally, there are several countries that are included because of terrorist activity or state- sponsored terrorism, including Iran, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia and Cuba. How does this travel ban differ from the one in 2017? The 2017 ban initially targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries before expanding to include North Korea and Venezuela. This new proclamation is broader and also makes the notable addition of Haiti. During his 2024 campaign for the presidency, Trump amplified false claims made by his running mate, JD Vance, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were 'eating the pets of the people that live there'. The proclamation falsely claims that 'hundreds of thousands of illegal Haitian aliens flooded into the United States during the Biden administration' and this 'influx harms American communities'. In fact, about 200,000 Haitians were granted temporary protected status, which gives legal residency permits to foreign nationals who are unable to return home safely due to conditions in their home countries. Also notable are the restrictions on Afghans, given that many of the Afghans approved to live in the US as refugees were forced to flee their home country as a result of working to support US troops there, before the full withdrawal of US forces in 2021.0 The agreement with the Taliban to withdraw US troops was negotiated by Trump during his first term. Last month, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem announced 'the termination of temporary protected status for Afghanistan', effective May 20th. – Guardian
Malay Mail
4 hours ago
- General
- Malay Mail
US judge temporarily blocks deportation of family of Colorado attack suspect
WASHINGTON, June 5 — A federal judge in Colorado on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting the wife and five children of the Egyptian man charged in a fire-bomb attack in Boulder, Colorado. US District Court Judge Gordon Gallagher said in an order that deporting the family members, who include children ages 4 to 17, without adequate process could cause 'irreparable harm.' His ruling, which set a hearing for June 13, came in response to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the family of the Egyptian national charged with tossing gasoline bombs at a pro-Israeli rally in Colorado on Sunday. The family's suit, filed in federal court in Colorado, sought to win their release from custody and block their deportation while they seek asylum in the US, according to court documents. The Trump administration said on Tuesday that the family members were arrested and would be deported in a fast-track proceeding known as expedited removal. The family's lawsuit argued the process was not applicable because they have lived in the US more than two years. The lawsuit said Hayam El Gamal 'was shocked' to learn that her husband, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, was arrested in the Boulder attack on a gathering that commemorated Israeli hostages. 'It is patently unlawful to punish individuals for the crimes of their relatives,' a filing seeking their release said. 'Such methods of collective or family punishment (violate) the very foundations of a democratic justice system.' White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said in an X post that Gallagher, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, was giving 'extraordinary preferential treatment to illegal alien foreign terrorists.' 'The Boulder terrorist is an illegal, his entire family that he imported to America are illegals, and now a Biden Judge is blocking their deportation,' he said. 'End the judicial coup.' Federal officials have said Soliman was in the US illegally after overstaying a tourist visa and had an expired work permit. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said federal agents were 'investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack — if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided any support for it.' El Gamal, 41, is an Egyptian national who was born in Saudi Arabia, according to the lawsuit. She and her children entered the US on visitor visas in August 2022 and are dependents under her husband's still-pending asylum application, the suit said. El Gamal is a network engineer and had applied for a work visa, the filing said. — Reuters
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Washington Post
Vigil held for victims of Boulder firebombing attack as suspect's family fights deportation
BOULDER, Colo. — Hundreds of people squeezed into the Jewish Community Center in Boulder, Colorado, for a vigil that featured prayer, singing and emotional testimony from a victim and witnesses of the firebombing attack in the city's downtown , while a federal judge has blocked the deportation of the suspect's family.
