Tag: Israel

Police Union Pushes Back over Claims About University of Connecticut Protesters

The Center Square
UConn Division of University Safety

The union representing University of Connecticut police is pushing back on claims officers injured pro-Palestinian protesters when they broke up an encampment last month and arrested more than two dozen people.

The Connecticut Police & Fire Union, which represents UConn police, said the claims about the April 30 encounter made by another union in a letter to school leaders was an “unconscionable attack” on the officers who were just “doing their jobs” by shutting down the “unauthorized” encampment on school grounds.

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Legislators Debate Whether to Help University of Minnesota Pay for Costs Associated with Anti-Israel Camp

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Palestine Protest on UMN Campus

It’s been less than a week since a group of anti-Israel activists on the University of Minnesota’s Minneapolis campus packed up their tents and provisions and ended their encampment protest on Northrop Mall.

And now come the questions: How much was the damage incurred by the boycott/divestment/sanctions protesters? Who will pay for it?

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Anti-Israel Demonstrations at University of Tennessee Continue Into Sixth Day

Matthew Giffin
People’s School for Gaza

Anti-Israel demonstrations at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (UTK) continued into their sixth consecutive day on Monday, May 6. A non-student organization calling itself the People’s School for Gaza held demonstrations at multiple locations on UTK’s campus.

The group announced a meeting at 9 a.m. ET in an initial Instagram post and moved across campus throughout the day. By 1:50 p.m. ET, demonstrators had moved to the lawn of the Student Union, according to a post later in the day.

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Lawsuit Accuses Pro-Palestine Groups of Being ‘Collaborators and Propagandists’ for Hamas

Just the News
Pro-Palestine Protest

In a landmark lawsuit filed Wednesday, the law firm representing several victims of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel laid out compelling evidence that National Students for Justice in Palestine and its affiliates were acting as “collaborators and propagandists” for Hamas in the United States.

Earlier in the week, Just the News reported on the formation of National SJP—an umbrella organization purportedly organized by American Muslims for Palestine to coordinate the efforts of the hundreds of Students for Justice in Palestine groups at universities across the country.

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Leaders at College in Tennessee Cave to Demands of Pro-Palestine Protestors

Peter D'Abrosca
Dr. Robert Pearigen

Leaders at the University of the South reportedly caved to the demands of pro-Palestinian protestors who were occupying the All Saints’ Chapel on the school’s campus. 

Among other things, the protestors demanded full disclosure of how the school spends its $400,000 endowment, and that the school cut ties with any organizations that makes weapons used against Palestinians. 

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Congressman Andy Ogles Among House Republicans Seeking to Prevent the Resettling of Palestinians into the U.S.

Kaitlin Housler
Andy Ogles

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) is among a group of House Republicans requesting that a provision be included in the Fiscal Year 2025 spending bill to prohibit Palestinian refugees from being imported and resettled into U.S. communities.

Ogles, along with U.S. Representatives Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) and Scott Perry (R-PA-10), are specifically seeking a provision in the funding bill that “prohibits expenditures of any funds to issue a visa or grant parole to any alien holding a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority.”

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‘Would Be Unacceptable’: Blinken and Netanyahu Meeting Hits Crossroads as Israeli Invasion of Rafah Looms

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Secretary of State Antony Blinken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister met in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war — and disagreements over the next phase of conflict.

The Biden administration is backing an effort to reach a deal between Israel and Hamas for a temporary ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages. During their meeting on Wednesday, Blinken discussed the ceasefire deal with Netanyahu and “the need to avoid further expansion of the conflict,” underscoring the Biden administration’s “clear position” on opposing an Israeli invasion of Rafah, the southernmost region of Gaza, according to a readout of the meeting.

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Congressional Probe Opened on ‘Mealy-Mouthed, Spineless College Leaders’

The Center Square
US Rep Virginia Foxx

For “mealy-mouthed, spineless college leaders,” actions will have consequences, the North Carolina congresswoman leading a key U.S. House of Representatives committee said Tuesday amid ongoing college campus disruptions.

The war between Israel and Hamas has led to significant demonstrations or encampments on at least four dozen campuses nationwide, a national observer of such activity reports. U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., with support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the Committee on Education and the Workforce she chairs has opened a congressional probe and on May 23 will hear from presidents of Yale and Michigan and the chancellor of UCLA.

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Commentary: Big Money Behind the Astroturf Pro-Hamas Campus Riots

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Pro-Palestine Protest

Pro-terrorist occupations and protests have exploded across American college campuses—coincidentally, as final exams approached. Many have asked how these Hamas-loving protesters seemed so organized, coordinated, and well-supplied. The source of funding and strategy has been an open question as tent cities and occupations pop up simultaneously at universities across the country.

Reports have begun to emerge that indicate the usual suspects have coordinated everything from tents to strategies to direct cash payments to agitators. This echoes the paid, coordinated riots that occurred in 2020, another presidential election year, after the death of George Floyd and the rise of Black Lives Matter (BLM).

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Congress Seeks to Unmask Funding for Students for Justice in Palestine and Its Anti-Israel Protests

Just the News
National Students for Justice in Palestine

The National Students for Justice in Palestine is a driving force in the anti-Israel protests sweeping across the country at college campuses. The national group says it supports 350 “Palestine solidarity organizations” throughout North America, primarily SJP chapters across America.

The funding of the student chapters largely come from U.S. universities, however, National SJP is funded through intermediaries and it is not required to disclose its own finances. This dark money arrangement has obscured funding sources and donations to the group and has spurred congressional interest.

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Senators Blackburn and Hagerty Among Few to Vote Against Ukraine Funding Bill

Peter D'Abrosca
Marsha Blackburn Bill Hagerty

Tennessee’s two U.S. senators were among only a handful who voted against a bill that will send nearly $100 billion to foreign nations.

Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) both voted against the Senate’s version of H.R. 815, a bill that was initially meant to help veterans receive more healthcare reimbursements but quickly ballooned into a funding package mainly for the country of Ukraine.

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Roger Simon on Pro-Hamas, Anti-Israel Protests on College Campuses: ‘What Happened in Germany in 1937’ Is ‘What We’re Undergoing Now’

Kaitlin Housler

Roger Simon, the co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, said the pro-Hamas protests unfolding on Ivy League college campuses across the nation are comparable to the scene in Germany in 1937.

Simon made the comments on Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show after listening to audio of a clip taken from Columbia University where pro-Palestine protesters formed a human chain to keep Jewish students out of an encampment on the university’s campus.

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Johnson Sets Up Ukraine Showdown Vote

The Center Square
Mike Johnson

The U.S. House is expected to vote on funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan this weekend, a controversial climax to months of battling in both chambers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has arranged the vote for this weekend, likely on Saturday, despite calls from many in his own party to abandon funding for Ukraine, which is set to receive about $60 billion in foreign aid in its war against Russia’s invasion if the measure passes this weekend.

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Rep. Burchett: ‘We Could Have Built the Wall’ Instead of Funding Ukraine

Peter D'Abrosca
Tim Burchett Border Wall

A Congressman from Tennessee took to NewsMax to ensure Americans that he won’t vote to continue sending taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, and noted that many domestic problems could have been solved with the money Congress has already allocated to the country. 

“Of course I’m not going to vote for any more funding for Ukraine,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) said in a segment on the news station Monday. “$116 billion dollars? We could have built the wall, I believe six times. We could have fixed the Flint, Michigan lead situation a dozen times, probably. We could give every homeless veteran a million dollars in this country with the money we’ve spent on Ukraine.”

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Columnist Roger Simon: The U.S. Government Paying for Iran’s Attack on Israel Is the ‘Single Greatest Disgusting Thing in American History’

Kaitlin Housler
Roger Simon Israel

Roger Simon, the co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, said the U.S. government paid for Iran’s Saturday attack on Israel, which saw 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles launched at the country.

Simon said the money trail could be traced back to the Obama administration when billions of dollars were sent to the Mullahs.

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GOP Representative Blasts Squad Democrats for Trying to Block Sale of F-35s Israel Used to Defend Against Iran Attacks

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Rep. Brian Mast

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida blasted Democrats for trying to get the Biden administration to block the sale of advanced F-35 jets to Israel that defended on Saturday against Iran’s large-scale drone and ballistic missile attack in an exclusive statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi joined 39 Democratic colleagues, including members of the “Squad,” in an April 5 letter urging the president to reverse his decision authorizing a weapons sale to Israel after an Israeli airstrike killed seven humanitarian workers in Gaza. The transfer included U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets and other American-origin weapons needed “to ensure Israel can survive” amid threats and attacks from Iran, Mast, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement to the DCNF.

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Vanderbilt Graduate Assistant Claims University Denied Bathroom Breaks to Anti-Israel Protesters in ‘Inhuman and Disgusting’ Display

Tom Pappert
Vanderbilt students pro-Palestinian protest

Students at Vanderbilt University staged a sit-in that led to arrests on Tuesday amid unrest over the institution’s refusal to allow the Student Government Senate to consider joining the anti-Zionist Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to isolate Israel.

Vanderbilt University graduate assistant Amar Latif Qazi told The Tennessee Star that the First Amendment rights of the university’s students were infringed after Vanderbilt refused to allow a vote following a petition, reportedly signed by 600 students, which sought to amend the Vanderbilt Student Government Constitution in order to join the BDS movement.

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Commentary: Biden Administration Abuses U.S. Intelligence Community to Undermine Netanyahu’s Leadership

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President Joe Biden and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Something reprehensible happened this week during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the U.S. Intelligence Community’s annual worldwide threats report. In addition to discussing threats to our country from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and terrorist groups, the report questioned the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said large protests in Israel demanding his resignation could drive him from power.

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Knoxville to Consider Resolution Demanding Biden Admin End Support for Israel, Seek Ceasefire in Gaza

Tom Pappert
Amelia Parker

The City of Knoxville will consider on March 19 a resolution that would call for Tennessee’s U.S. Congressional delegation to join the city in demanding the Biden administration cease providing military support to Israel until the country agrees to a ceasefire with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Filed by Knoxville City Council At-Large Seat C Representative Amelia Parker, the resolution urges the United States act to force Israel to comply with an International Court of Justice (IJC) ruling that raised concerns about Israel’s practices in its defensive war against Hamas.

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Coalition for Jewish Values Defends Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles’ ‘Death to Hamas’ Comment

Kaitlin Housler
Ogles Hamas

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) came to U.S. Representative Andy Ogles’ (R-TN-05) defense over comments he issued last month in response to an activist who pressed him on the situation unfolding in the Middle East, specifically between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza.

“Given that Rep. Ogles stated unequivocally that he was speaking about Hamas, a terror organization that has both declared and evidenced its intent to massacre all Jews, his is the only morally correct position,” CJV Midwestern Regional President Rabbi Ze’ev Smason said in a statement. “It is deplorable that organizations and even left-wing media outlets have deliberately falsified his words in order to malign and slander him.”

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Commentary: Foreign Cash Could Be the Culprit Turning Our Kids into Terrorist Sympathizers

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Texas A&M

Shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, a Harvard CAPS-Harris X poll found that 48 percent of Americans ages 18-24 supported Hamas over Israel. This is in direct contrast to 95 percent of Americans 65 years of age and older who sided with Israel. This stark difference begs the question: why do half of young Americans support a group that has been designated by the State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since October 1997? Our ongoing fight for transparency suggests at least some of the answers lie in Qatar’s pocketbooks.

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U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Stands Firm on ‘Death to Hamas’ Comment, Says ‘These Terrorists Deserve to Die’

Kaitlin Housler
Andy Ogles

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) is standing firm on comments he issued in response to an activist who pressed him on the situation unfolding in the Middle East between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza.

Footage shared on social media shows the activist pressing Ogles while walking through a corridor in the U.S. Capitol.

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Roger Simon Says Trump Is a ‘Force of Nature’ Following Nashville Speech

Kaitlin Housler
Donald Trump Speaking

Roger Simon, the co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, attended former President Donald Trump’s speech at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention in Nashville on Thursday,

Simon, noting how Trump was nearly two hours late to the event after having delivered a speech at an earlier fundraiser event, said the former president was a “force of nature,” proving those who believe he has “lost a step” wrong.

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U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Sends Four Letters to the House Appropriations Committee

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) sent four letters to the House Appropriations Committee on Friday advocating for the defunding of “America-last directives” as the committee works on funding accounts for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2024.

In one letter to the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Ogles requests that a provision be added to any upcoming spending legislation prohibiting President Joe Biden’s recent executive order granting Deferred Enforced Departure to Palestinians in the U.S. for 18 months.

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Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine Asks Biden Not to Send ‘Offensive Weapons’ to Israel

Tom Pappert
Tim Kaine Joe Biden

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) revealed details of a letter he sent to President Joe Biden on Wednesday to urge his administration to refrain from sending “offensive weapons” to Israel. Kaine said sending such weapons would hurt the chances of successful negotiations to secure the release of hostages taken during the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and ease tensions with the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Kaine’s office said the senator “underscored the importance of pursuing a deal to immediately release all hostages taken by Hamas” during the radical group’s October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, “end the violence in Gaza,” and all for the distribution of humanitarian aid.

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U.S. Senate Passes $95 Billion Foreign Aid Bill to Ukraine, Israel

The Center Square
Chuck Schumer

The U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after days of delay from Republicans who did not want to pass the funding without provisions to secure the southern border.

The legislation passed early Tuesday morning after a filibuster largely led by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., ended. Now the legislation goes to the House, where it remains unclear if they can get the votes.

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Nashville Metro Councilman Jeff Eslick: Leftists are Using Public Comment Period to Advance Pro-Hamas Agenda During Meetings

Kaitlin Housler
Metro Council

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick joined Thursday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments and work from the Metro Nashville Council.

Eslick said the council’s meeting on Tuesday consisted of some good discussions on issues; however, it was dragged out by council members trying to convince other members on how to vote on certain ordinances as well as activists taking advantage of the public comment period to speak on the current situation in the Middle East.

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Former Trump Campaign Spokesman Steve Cortes Calls Senate Border Deal a ‘Monstrosity’

Kaitlin Housler
Steve Cortes

Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, joined Monday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the Senate’s recently unveiled border deal.

On Sunday, the Senate Appropriations Committee announced the details of the $118.3 billion emergency spending package that would fund U.S. national security efforts in Ukraine, Israel, and at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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