Alex Kent/Getty Images(NEW YORK) Student protesters critical of the Israeli government s military actions in Gaza have continued to face accusations of antisemitism, as politicians from across the ideological spectrum react to the widening demonstrations on college campuses.But many of the student groups behind the protests – including Jewish activists voicing their support for a cease-fire in Gaza – said that individuals making inflammatory remarks do not represent their groups or their values concerning the war in Gaza."At universities across the nation, our movement is united in valuing every human life," read a statement from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, one of the groups involved in the protests. "As a diverse group united by love and justice, we demand our voices be heard against the mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza."Some Jewish students have long warned against conflating antisemitism with views critical of Israel s government and blanket portrayals of all protesters as antisemitic."It is unacceptable for school administration and politicians . to co-opt our shared identity to silence Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, and Jewish students," said MIT Jews for Ceasefire, Harvard Jews for Palestine, and University of Pennsylvania Chavurah in a December 2023 statement to Congress. "These actions only serve to obfuscate real cases of antisemitism and put Jewish students at even greater risk."College students tackle the debateTensions have been high on college campuses since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel in an unprecedented surprise attack. The Israeli military then began its ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip.Since Oct. 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 34,183 people and injured 77,143 others in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.In Israel, at least 1,700 people have been killed and 8,700 others injured by Hamas or other Palestinian militants, according to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Students nationwide have been camping out on their college and university campuses, calling for their schools to divest funding from Israeli military operations amid the humanitarian crisis and rising death toll in Gaza.The college protests have been largely peaceful, officials say, though hundreds of students and faculty have been arrested at campuses across the country, primarily for trespassing. School administrators across the country have also said that some instances of violence have largely been connected to unaffiliated non-students.Incidents go viralSeveral antisemitic incidents in or near protests have trended online – including a photo that appears to show an individual holding up a sign that states "Al-Qassam s Next Target," referring to a military wing of Hamas, pointing toward people holding Israeli flags on Columbia University s campus on April 20. It remains unclear who the person is and whether they are a student.Another video trending on social media appears to show another person shouting "We are Hamas" as a man draped in an Israeli flag walks outside the Columbia University campus on April 17."We will not be a city of lawlessness, and those professional agitators seeking to seize the ongoing conflict in the Middle East to sow chaos and division in our city will not succeed," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.At Cal Poly Tech, administrators say that "hateful graffiti" has been painted on university property, but did not elaborate in their statement on what the graffiti entailed."The University condemns in the strongest terms all forms of hatred, bigotry, and violence," the school s April 24 statement read. "Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, hatred, and bigotry in all forms have no place at Cal Poly Humboldt. The University is actively offering support to all students and has been in touch with local Jewish community leaders.President Joe Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others have denounced alleged instances of hate amid ongoing debate around the Israel-Hamas war."Even in recent days, we ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews," Biden said earlier this week in a statement. "This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country."Students share concernsIn a March U.S. House committee hearing, other Jewish students and groups said that the intensifying debate regarding the Israel-Hamas war has created a "climate of hatred and fear," and highlighted alleged antisemitic harassment and intimidation since the start of the war.One student told the committee that she has had slurs like "F - you, Jew," shouted at her since the war began on Oct. 7."This is the reality as a Jewish student who wears the Star of David," Yasmeen Ohebsion, of Tulane University, said at the hearing.Jewish students in support of pro-Palestinian efforts have said they ve also experienced antisemitism from those who disagree with their position."Jewish supporters of Israel at MIT have called me an antisemite, Hamas, a self-hating Jew, and have told me that I am not a real Jew and that God made a mistake by having you born a Jew ," read one testimonial submitted to Congress.Higher education institutions have come under scrutiny for how they ve handled the unrest from all sides with Jewish, Muslim and Arab students alike calling out their respective administrations for allegedly failing to protect students with identities tied to the conflict overseas."I also want to be clear that we will not tolerate intimidating, harassing, or discriminatory behavior," said Columbia President Minouch Shafik, who has been the center of criticism for some students and politicians alike, in an April 23 statement.She said her administration is working to identify protesters who have violated policies against discrimination and harassment: "The right to protest is essential and protected at Columbia, but harassment and discrimination is antithetical to our values and an affront to our commitment to be a community of mutual respect and kindness."Authorities and civil rights groups across the country have noted a rise in incidents targeting Jewish, Arab, and Muslim communities."The situation on campus has become utterly and categorically untenable for an educational institution that has the responsibility of ensuring its students have a productive academic environment conducive to continued learning," said Students Supporting Israel s Columbia University chapter in an online statement about recent protests.Amid the intensifying debate, some Jewish students say there should also be room for a conscious effort to reject and unlearn normalized antisemitism across the political spectrum."There have been both beautiful moments of solidarity for Palestinian liberation and moments of real distress for Jewish students," said Columbia Jews for Ceasefire in an online statement.The student group said it is the "utmost importance" for the focus to be on the crisis in Gaza, but the group will "continue to call out and condemn antisemitism where we see it because all identity-based hatred is at odds with liberation."Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week condemned protesters critical of Israeli policy. "What s happening in America s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities," Netanyahu said. "They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty."Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is Jewish, responded to Netanyahu in a statement Thursday night, saying, in part, "It is not antisemitic or pro-Hamas to point out that in a little over six months your extremist government has killed 34,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 77,000 – seventy percent of whom are women and children. It is not antisemitic to point out that your bombing has completely destroyed mor
Mark Peterson-Pool/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) As various Supreme Court justices themselves acknowledged during a high-stakes hearing on Thursday, they could potentially reshape the contours of presidential power when they rule on whether Donald Trump is entitled to some amount of immunity from prosecution for alleged acts in the White House as he pushed to overturn his 2020 election loss.Over nearly three hours on Thursday, with demonstrators gathered outside, the justices grappled with arguments from both Trump s attorney and an attorney for special counsel Jack Smith, who has charged Trump in connection with his effort to stay in office after losing to now-President Joe Biden.Trump denies all wrongdoing and disputes some of what he is accused of doing while he maintains that other actions were part of his presidential authority.The oral arguments included several notable and important exchanges. Here are 10 of the key moments.A decision is expected from the court by the end of June.Could a president assassinate his rival?Justices Sonia Sotomayor and then Samuel Alito touched on one of the most provocative hypotheticals raised in Trump s battle for "absolute immunity" from charges over what he claims were official acts: Could a commander in chief order SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival and not face prosecution?Sotomayor raised it first while questioning Trump attorney John Sauer. She pointed back to an earlier exchange Sauer had in a lower court proceeding."I m going to give you a chance to say .if you stay by it: The president decides that his rival is a corrupt person and he orders the military, or orders someone, to assassinate him is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?" she asked."It would depend on the hypothetical," Sauer answered. "We could see that could well be an official act."Sotomayor pressed on that point: "Immunity says even if you did it for personal gain, we won t hold you responsible what do you how could that be?"Sauer pointed back to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from the 80s that held a president is immune from civil liability related to this official acts, which Sauer said is a basis for their own argument now about criminal liability."That s an extremely strong doctrine in this court s case law in cases like Fitzgerald," he said.Later, Alito referred back to a president s hypothetical use of the military as elite assassins as he and Sotomayor split on whether "plausibleness" was a useful standard for scrutiny versus "reasonable.""One might argue that it isn t plausible to order SEAL Team 6 and I don t want to slander SEAL Team 6 because they re no, seriously they re honorable, they re honorable officers and they are bound by the uniform code of military justice not to obey unlawful orders [but] I think one could say it s not plausible . that that action would be legal," Alito said.To Sauer, he said, "I m sure you ve thought of lots of hypotheticals where a president could say, I m using an official power, and yet the power uses it in an absolutely outrageous manner." What was up with the pardon of President Nixon? Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pressed Sauer on his contention that without immunity all future presidents would feel paralyzed to take official acts that could put them in criminal jeopardy."I mean, I understood that every president from the beginning of time essentially has understood that there was a threat of prosecution [upon leaving office]," Jackson said.Sauer responded by quoting Ben Franklin from the constitutional convention, to which Jackson seemed skeptical."But since Benjamin Franklin everybody has presidents who have held the office [who knew] that they were taking this office subject to potential criminal prosecution, no?" she said.She cited one well-known example of a former president who came under legal scrutiny.8 years after the National Enquirer s deal with Donald Trump, the iconic tabloid is limping badly"What was up with the pardon for President [Richard] Nixon? . If everybody thought that presidents couldn t be prosecuted, then what what was that about?" she said."He was under investigation for both private and public conduct at the time official acts and private conduct," Sauer said, going on to indicate that there had long been established an understanding that presidents could be prosecuted for private acts."Counsel on that score, there does seem to be some common ground between you, your colleague on the other side, that no man s above the law and that the president can be prosecuted after he leaves office for his private conduct, is that right?" Justice Neil Gorsuch asked."We agree with that," Sauer answered."And then the question becomes, as we ve been exploring here today, a little bit about how to segregate private from official conduct that may or may not enjoy some immunity," Gorsuch said.That underscored what could emerge as a key part of the court s ultimate decision: how to separate out Trump s conduct that is protected by the presidency, under a ruling of some executive immunity, and what he is accused of doing outside the bounds of his presidential authority that can be prosecuted.But Trump s attorney concedes some conduct was privateNot long after, Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned Sauer precisely where some of the described conduct falls, between official and private protected or unprotected."You concede that private acts don t get immunity," she said."We do," Sauer said.Barrett then specifically cited various alleged acts from Trump s push to overturn the 2020 election, as described by prosecutors.Barrett, quoting from court filings, said, "I want to know if you agree or disagree about the characterization of these acts as private. Petitioner turned to a private attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims of election fraud to spearhead his challenges to the election results. Private?""We dispute the allegation, but that sounds private to me," Sauer said.Barrett continued: "Petitioner conspired with another private attorney who caused the filing in court of a verification, signed by petitioner, that contained false allegations to support a challenge. Private?""Also sounds private," Sauer said."Three private actors, two attorneys, including those mentioned above, and a political consultant, helped to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding and petitioner and a co-conspirator attorney directed that had effort." Barrett said."I believe that s private," Sauer replied."Those acts you would not dispute," Barrett said. "Those were private and you wouldn t raise a claim that they were official."Sauer said back: "As characterized." That s like a one-legged stool, right? A notable response came shortly after from Chief Justice Roberts when Sauer pushed the justices to remand the case back down to the lower courts to piece through which allegations in the indictment amount to a protected "official act" under the presidency."The official stuff has to be expunged completely from the indictment before the case can go forward," Sauer argued."That s like a one-legged stool, right?" Roberts said. "I mean, giving somebody money isn t bribery unless you get something in exchange. If what you get in exchange is to become the ambassador to a particular country, that is official, the appointment, it s within the president s prerogatives. The unofficial part is I m going to get a million dollars for it. "After this exchange, Justice Clarence Thomas raised unprompted whether Trump s legal team was challenging the legality of the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, a questionable theory previously pushed by right-wing lawyers like former Attorney General Ed Meese.Sauer said Trump s legal team was making tha
Former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign has already paid the city in full to reimburse it for costs related to a planned beachfront rally May 11, reports the Press of Atlantic City. City officials said the campaign is paying about $54,000 to cover local costs related to the rally, including the increased cost for police, . Read more
Editor’s Note: If you are interested in adopting one of these animals, please check with the shelter or rescue to be sure the animal is still available.