Israel orders ‘death corridor’ evacuation for Palestinians in central Gaza
Central Gaza Strip — Israel has ordered Palestinians to evacuate from parts of central Gaza, its latest such directive as it pushes more of the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million-strong population into a smaller area while widening its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military on Friday ordered families to flee for their “safety” to shelters in southern Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, from Bureij and areas of Nuseirat in central Gaza. The announcement has incensed the region’s weary and exhausted residents, many of whom have already been internally displaced several times since October 7. Scenes of mass displacement once again filled Salah al-Din Street that is linked to the entrance of the Bureij refugee camp. Salah al-Din, a road stretching across the length of Gaza, has been dubbed the “death corridor” by many in the Strip. In previous evacuations, Palestinians fleeing parts of northern Gaza have been arrested, shot at and even killed – despite it being declared as a safe route by the Israeli army. Scenes of mass displacement once again filled Salah al-Din Street [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] On Friday, hundreds of people carrying what is left of their personal belongings poured onto the street on foot. Others loaded pick-up trucks and donkey carts with mattresses, blankets, plastic chairs and whatever else they could grab. Some could barely move after sustaining injuries from previous attacks, yet found themselves with no choice but to escape once again. This was the case for Walaa al-Nuzeini, who was fleeing Bureij in a wheelchair and for the third time since the beginning of the assault. Al-Nuzeini lived in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City when an Israeli air strike targeted her home on November 7. “I lost my daughter, she died in my arms,” al-Nuzeini told Al Jazeera. “We stayed under the rubble for three hours before they got us out,” she said, adding that the entire area is now “destroyed”. Al-Nuzeini was badly hurt. She suffers from wounds in her leg, and said the nerve is affected which has been causing her “extreme pain”. She was taken to al-Shifa Hospital for treatment, but three days later Israeli soldiers raided the facility, Gaza’s largest hospital that is now no longer operating. Walaa al-Nuzeini lost her daughter in an Israeli attack on their home in Gaza City’s Shujayea [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] “We left running out of fear and had to walk all the way to Nuseirat,” she recalled. At the time, Israeli soldiers ordered doctors, patients and displaced people at the hospital to evacuate the medical compound, forcing some to leave at gunpoint, according to testimonies by doctors and Palestinian officials. More than 7,000 people, including patients in a critical condition and newborn babies, were sheltering inside al-Shifa Hospital. Humanitarian circumstances have become “very difficult”, al-Nuzeini said. She is now heading to Khan Younis, where her other children have set up a tent. “This is not a life. We have no water, no food, no freedom of movement.” ‘We’re exhausted’ Two months ago, the Israeli military called on Palestinians in northern Gaza to flee to the south, but has continued to target and bomb civilians even there. Khan Younis is now a focus of Israeli attacks. “There is no place that’s safe,” Salem al-Sheikh told Al Jazeera. The elderly man said he was forcibly displaced from his home in Nassr neighbourhood in the west of Gaza City. “They [the Israeli army] told us to leave, so I fled to al-Shifa Hospital, where I stayed for a month and a half. I then left to Nuseirat,” al-Sheikh said. He was among the thousands who sought refuge in al-Shifa Hospital before it was attacked by Israeli forces. Salem al-Sheikh has been forcibly displaced three times since October 7 [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Now, for a third time, he is being displaced from Nuseirat. The latest call for evacuation comes as Israeli ground troops continue to battle Palestinian fighters in southern and central Gaza. In the last 48 hours alone, at least 390 people have been killed as the enclave plunged into digital darkness for the sixth time amid a communications blackout, Gaza’s health ministry said. The United Nations says nearly 1.9 million people have now been displaced – more than 80 percent of the Gaza Strip’s pre-war population. Many are crammed inside the Rafah governorate in southern Gaza, where al-Sheikh is heading. The health ministry has warned that disease there is flourishing amid a lack of supplies, medicine, clean water and much-needed fuel. Meanwhile, UN-run schools have largely become overcrowded shelters for thousands of displaced Palestinians. “It’s been extremely difficult,” al-Sheikh said. “We walked from al-Shifa on foot … we passed Israeli army tanks until we made it to a school,” he said, referring to the second time he was displaced. The schools, however, “are full,” he said. “There is no space.” The United Nations says nearly 1.9 million Palestinians have been internally displaced in Gaza [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Many believe that the UN designation of these buildings will keep them safe from the constant Israeli bombardment. However, several of the schools have been targeted or sustained damage from Israeli air raids in their vicinities. According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), some 1.4 million Palestinians are trapped in overcrowded and unprotected shelters run by the body that are now uninhabitable. The poor conditions in the makeshift accommodations have already led to an outbreak of scabies and smallpox, among other infections. Al-Sheikh said he just wants to return home. “We’re exhausted, moving from one place to the next. They need to let us get back to our homes.” Some 60 percent of all residential units in the Strip have been damaged, or 254,000 homes. More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the latest offensive, including at least 8,000 children. Rights groups have warned of the consequences of mass displacement, with organisations including Human Rights Watch labelling it a “war crime”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to
Gaza’s journalists: ‘Targets’ or ‘casualties’ of Israel’s war?
Gaza’s journalists are being killed at an unprecedented rate. Plus, Israel’s most powerful allies in the US – Christian Zionist broadcasters. According to Gaza’s government media office, Israel’s military has now killed 97 journalists in the Strip. Israel has barred international media from entering Gaza, firsthand reporting on the onslaught there has been left to Palestinians already locked into the occupied territory – documenting their own genocide. Contributors:Amahl Bishara – Professor of anthropology, Tufts UniversityArwa Damon – Former senior international correspondent, CNNSari Bashi – Program director, Human Rights WatchWael Dahdouh – Gaza bureau chief, Al Jazeera Arabic On our radar: The settler movement – which has placed 700,000 Israelis on the West Bank in complete contravention of international law – now has its eyes on Gaza. Producer Flo Phillips on Israeli developers’ plans in post-war Gaza. The war in Gaza & the end times – the Christian Zionist view Evangelicals in the United States – many of whom call themselves Christian Zionists – are some of the biggest supporters of Israel in the US, and they broadcast their support on TV and radio networks that have huge audiences. Contributors:Chrissy Stroop – Senior correspondent, Religion DispatchesMelani McAlister – Author of The Kingdom of God Has No BordersSarah Posner – Journalist, author of Unholy Adblock test (Why?)
How to pay for genocide: Namibian victims of German colonialism want a say
Berlin, Germany – South of Berlin, the expansive Treptower Park stretches out alongside the Spree river – an oasis of tranquillity in an otherwise restless city. On a recent Saturday, small groups of people strolled along the paths, and on the river, a boat fitted with a jacuzzi floated lazily by. Towering trees, a combination of rust browns, greens and yellows against a grey sky, shook off tired leaves that carpeted the ground. The park, idyllic now, belies a dark past. Some 127 years ago, dozens of people pried away from their homes, were displayed in ethnological expositions or “human zoos” here and in other parts of the city to signal Germany’s entry into the colonial venture. Some of those exhibited were from colonies in South, East, and West Africa where violence was crucial to keeping the occupation in place. In southwest Africa, German settlers were pushing Indigenous people off their lands. When two ethnic groups rebelled and fought back, the Schutztruppe – or colonial guards – responded with such brute force that they almost wiped them out entirely. The massacre of the Nama and Herero peoples between 1904-1908, now in present-day Namibia, is widely recognised as an intentional extermination attempt. In May 2021, three years after the German government formally apologised for the massacres, the country announced a framework to address the tragedy. The scheme would see Namibia get 1.1 billion euros ($1.2bn) in “development aid”, with 50 million euros ($54m) set aside for research, remembrance and reconciliation projects, with the rest marked for the development of affected descendants’ communities. “Germany asks for forgiveness for the sins of their forefathers,” the Joint Declaration issued by the German and Namibian authorities read, and “the Namibian Government and people accept Germany’s apology.” The agreement was supposed to be a win-win. Germany would atone for its bloody crimes and Namibia would get needed funding. But for the surviving communities, it was a betrayal. Protests broke out in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, as people vehemently opposed the agreement, saying it was dictated by Germany. “I think the first response of the community was just total shock – so violent, so cruel, that what it (the declaration) did was re-traumatise us again,” says Sima Luipert, an adviser to the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA). Luipert, like many in the affected communities, says recognised members of the Nama and Herero were not present at the table and that the two governments were forcing the agreement upon them. “This was not a trilateral process. It was a bilateral process, so the document defeats its purpose and it lacks legitimacy because the legitimate people are not at the table,” Luipert says. The case underscores the challenges of righting historical injustices in ways that are acceptable to, and inclusive of the very people who were wronged. In January, lawyers representing the survivor communities sued Namibian authorities at the high court in Windhoek, urging the court to declare the agreement unlawful and thus, invalid. The suit is one of the rare cases globally – perhaps the only one – in which a court in a former colony passes judgement on the colonial power that ruled it. Although directly binding only on Namibia, the top court’s judgement could derail Germany’s attempts to rid itself of decades of colonial guilt by forbidding Windhoek from receiving those funds. Almost a year after it was filed though, the suit is frozen in “Status Hearing” – legal speak for a case suspended so the prosecuting party can gather more documents and draw a road map for its arguments. There have been no trials or seatings and Germany has so far disregarded the suit, promising instead to press on with its plans. Patrick Kauta, the lawyer who filed the suit, did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment. People hold banners as they stage a protest in Windhoek, Namibia, over colonial-era reparations on Friday, May 28, 2021 [File: Sonja Smith/AP Photo]. Carrying a painful history The arid southwest African region was home first to the San, then later, to the cattle-farming Herero and Nama people as far back as the 16th century. This was some 400 years before German missionaries came and before German settlers started acquiring land from Indigenous chiefs there. Following the partition of Africa by European powers in the 1885 Berlin Conference, Germany officially laid claim to the area. As settlers and colonists continued to descend on the region, enthralled by the prospects of diamonds they would later discover, they restricted the Indigenous nations to “reserves”, confiscating their land and cattle despite their resistance. In January 1904, the Herero staged a stunning revolt and invaded Okahandja – one of the biggest German settlements and the heart of Hereroland. Mounted on horses, they killed dozens of settlers and torched their homes, according to one account. The war raged for months, spreading to other cities. The Nama also joined the battle alongside the Herero, despite previous rivalry. Although the war favoured them at first, the revolters ultimately faced defeat. People died in their thousands, some driven into British territory in present-day Botswana and South Africa. Yet, when they signalled peace by heeding calls to assemble in certain locations from the well-trusted German missionaries who arrived way ahead of the colonialists, the German soldiers would not let up. On October 2, 1904, German military commander General Lothar von Trotha issued a chilling call to his troops: “…every Herero, with or without a gun, with or without cattle, will be shot. I will no longer accept women and children, I will drive them back to their people or I will let them be shot at.” German troops – numbering about 1,500 under the command of von Trotha – encircled the weakened fighters and forced them into the desert, the waterless Omaheke region, trapping them, Herero descendant Laidlaw Peringanda, who heads the Namibian Genocide Association (NGA), says. When those fleeing dug wells, the Germans snuck up and poisoned the water. Survivors of the thirst and slaughter –
ISRO’s big update on India’s first solar mission Aditya L-1, here’s what you need to know
India’s maiden solar mission Aditya-L1 will reach its destination, the Lagrangian point (L1) which is located 1.5 million km from the Earth on January 6.
Colorado Trump ruling can give new fuel to his campaign: experts
Former President Trump is taking to social media with a message for his supporters. “They just removed me from the ballot! Chip in now to show your support,” the former president wrote in a fundraising pitch by his campaign that has been posted multiple times on his Truth Social network. Trump’s pitch came in the wake of this week’s ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove him from the state’s 2024 ballot. The divided court ruled that Trump is ineligible to run for the presidency under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause, arguing that his actions fueled the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by right-wing protesters aiming to disrupt congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory. COLORADO SUPREME COURT DISQUALIFIES TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT The blockbuster development was immediately condemned from nearly all corners of the GOP. Additionally, Trump’s Republican rivals for their party’s presidential nomination – who are aiming to defeat him at the ballot box – quickly rallied around the former president. For most candidates, getting booted off the ballot would sink a campaign, but not Trump, who has long defied conventional norms and wisdom. TRUMP’S REPUBLICAN RIVALS RALLY AROUND THE FORMER PRESIDENT IN BALLOT BATTLE Trump made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime, but his four indictments — including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss — have only fueled his support among Republican voters. With less than a month to go until the first votes in the White House race, Trump remains the commanding frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he runs a third straight time for the presidency. “It’s another boost for President Trump with the base of the party,” seasoned Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said. “Every time he’s targeted by legal actions, it just improves his standing with the conservative base.” Michael Dennehy, a veteran New Hampshire-based Republican consultant who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns, said the Colorado case and his many legal entanglements have “helped him immensely among Republican primary voters. It solidifies Trump’s message that he is a victim.” TRUMP CAMPAIGN BLASTS COLORADO SUPREME COURT RULING KNOCKING HIM OFF THAT STATE’S BALLOT It is not just Republicans who say Trump will benefit politically. “All the legal challenges that have been thrown at Trump have so far helped strengthen him in the Republican primary, as he depicts himself as a victim. CO will be the same,” David Axelrod, who served as then-President Obama’s top political adviser, wrote on social media. “What seems like Kryptonite winds up being battery packs in the GOP primary.” Veteran Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, a Democratic National Committee member, said it helps “him continue to play the role of victim-in-chief.” The Colorado case also helped the former president politically in another way; it once again bumped Trump to the top of the headlines. “Right now Nikki Haley is surging in some polling, pulling into striking distance in New Hampshire, and that’s not dominating the headlines. Trump getting kicked off the ballot in Colorado is,” Williams emphasized. “It’s another instance of Trump getting a boost with his base and sucking up all the oxygen in the room.” The Colorado justices put their ruling on hold until Jan. 4, as they anticipated that the former president would appeal their ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. That is what the Trump campaign is in the process of doing, as it blasts the move in Colorado. “Everyone now is on the edge of their seats, waiting for the Supreme Court to decide on this Colorado case and then the likely impact that it will have on every other case around the country,” Dennehy said. The Colorado ruling is far from an isolated case. Roughly a dozen other states have pending challenges. Legal challenges to try dumping Trump from the ballot in Minnesota, Michigan and Florida were dismissed recently in state and federal courts. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling last month – keeping Trump on the primary ballot – noted that the petitioners could try again to knock the former president off the general election ballot. CHAIRS OF GROUP THAT LED EFFORT TO BOOT TRUMP FROM COLORADO BALLOT DONATED TO BIDEN While the Colorado ruling does not apply to other states, it could embolden others to take similar actions. President Biden this week weighed in on the news, telling reporters that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection. There’s no question about it. None. Zero … He seems to be doubling down on everything.” “Whether the 14th Amendment applies, I’ll let the court make that decision,” the president added. The question looking ahead to next November is whether swing voters will agree with Biden or buy into Trump’s narrative that he is being politically persecuted. “You know, we talk about democracy, but the whole world is watching the persecution of a political opponent that’s kicking his ass,” Trump charged during a speech a week ago in New Hampshire as he pointed to Biden. Williams noted that “if the Colorado decision’s overturned by the Supreme Court, it still gives Trump a talking point heading into the general election that he is a victim of political persecution. Whether that’s correct or not, it is another instance that he can point to say that he’s being targeted because of his political beliefs.” However, Cardona said “I don’t think it will play because the majority of Americans believe that he participated in an insurrection.” Additionally, if the Supreme Court surprisingly upholds the Colorado decision, Williams says, “then all bets are off. Red states are going to try to throw Joe Biden off the ballot as blue states will do the same for Trump.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Who are some of the Biden-appointed judges the Senate just confirmed?
The Senate prioritized confirming President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees up until the last hours of the upper chamber’s business sessions before the holiday recess, finalizing a portion of the more than 160 nominees Biden had advocated for this year. A majority of his picks are women and people of color, fulfilling his promise to “diversify” the federal bench. A Pew Research Center report found that as of Nov. 5, women who were black, hispanic, asian, or part of another minority group accounted for 42% of the judges Biden had appointed, including Biden’s sole appointee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the highest court. According to Ballotpedia, there are approximately 1,770 authorized judgeships distributed across 209 courts in the federal court system. Nearly half of these judgeships are filled by the president’s choice, entitling the appointees to lifelong terms. Others are chosen by current judges and serve for specific periods. COLORADO JUDGES’ DECISION TO REMOVE TRUMP FROM BALLOT IS ‘HOT GARBAGE,’ SAYS FORMER PROSECUTOR Here’s a list of a few of the judges the Senate confirmed in recent months: Jerry Edwards Jr.: Confirmed as the first Black federal judge in Louisiana’s U.S. Western District Court, Edwards served as first assistant U.S. attorney and chief of the civil division in Shreveport before his confirmation. His legal career and experience provide a fresh perspective to the Louisiana judiciary. Irma Carrillo Ramirez: Confirmed as the first Latina judge on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a notably conservative court. Ramirez has extensive experience presiding over civil cases. Her confirmation, with an 80-12 bipartisan vote, contrasts sharply with other contentious Biden nominees. Ramirez has extensive legal experience, from her bachelor’s degree at West Texas State University to her tenure as a federal magistrate since 2002. COLORADO NIXING TRUMP ‘STRIKINGLY UNDEMOCRATICALLY’ UNITES EXPERTS AS EX-SCALIA CLERK DECLARES ‘LAWFARE’ Loren AliKhan: Confirmed as the first South Asian woman on the federal trial court in the District of Columbia, AliKhan served as an associate judge on the DC Court of Appeals before her confirmation. Notable cases include representing the District of Columbia in a tax dispute and involvement in litigation concerning the Affordable Care Act. Shanlyn Park: Confirmed as the first Native Hawaiian woman federal judge in Hawaii’s U.S. District Court, Park previously served as a state court judge and assistant federal public defender. Her varied legal background contributes to a diverse perspective on the judiciary. Ana de Alba: Elevated to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, de Alba, a first-generation Mexican-American, previously served as a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of California. She’s recognized for her legal advocacy in civil and labor rights. Brandy R. McMillion: Nominated to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, McMillion is the 50th Black judge and the 101st person of color appointed under the Biden administration. McMillion brings legal experience from roles at Bryan Cave LLP, Perkins Coie LLP, and Pepper Hamilton LLP. Originally from Ohio and later moving to Michigan, McMillion earned her law degree from George Washington University Law School following engineering degrees from the University of Michigan. She has tried six cases to verdict or final decision, including involvement in a high-profile case prosecuting alleged health care fraud. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Mónica Ramírez Almadani: Confirmed as a federal district judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Ramírez Almadani brings a rich background from Public Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP, and the United States Department of Justice, emphasizing civil rights, immigration matters, and white-collar defense. From 2005 to 2009, Almadani worked at the national American Civil Liberties Union Foundation’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, handling immigration litigation in federal courts. She has also served as a Trustee of the Mexican American Bar Foundation since 2017. Jennifer L. Hall: Hall was confirmed as the next U.S. District Judge for the District of Delaware on Oct. 18. She served as a magistrate judge with significant experience in patent cases and has a legal background encompassing the U.S. Attorney’s Office, clerkships, and litigating patent cases. Hall presided over several high profile cases, including one involving an Eighth Amendment claim by an incarcerated individual who alleged being deprived of a mattress. She found the inmate had been without a mattress for a month, yet concluded it was due to a legitimate security reason, as he had damaged previous mattresses. In another case, she recommended dismissing certain discrimination claims by a black Muslim firefighter due to insufficient supporting details in the complaint. ATTEMPTS TO BAR TRUMP FROM 2024 BALLOT GAINING STEAM Mustafa Kasubhai: Kusaubhai stands as the successor to U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken, who transitioned to senior status retirement. His appointment as a magistrate marked him as the first Muslim American on the federal bench. Kasubhai was born in Reseda, California, in 1970 to immigrant parents from Mumbai, India. Kasubhai served on the Lane County Circuit Court for approximately a decade before his federal appointment. Prior to his tenure as a judge, he practiced civil law in Eugene and Klamath Falls. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1996. Following law school, he went into private practice, initially focusing on family law. Subsequently, he specialized in labor law litigation, representing injured workers before the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Board and in 1998 established his own labor law firm, Kasubhai & Sánchez. Rich Federico: Frederico, a Kansas federal public defender was confirmed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, marking Biden’s second appointment to the Denver-based court. The bipartisan vote of 61-29 on Dec. 11, backed by support from both of Kansas’ Republican senators, contributes to a record number of circuit court judges with public defender backgrounds appointed by Biden, marked the administration’s effort to diversify the federal bench traditionally led by former prosecutors and large law firm attorneys. According to the progressive advocacy group Alliance for
Migrant crisis increasing strain on border officials, immigration courts with massive numbers
The migrant crisis at the southern border is putting an increasing strain not only on border officials but also on the immigration courts, as both migrant encounter numbers and court backlogs hit enormous highs. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Friday announced that there were 242,418 migrant encounters at the southern border in November, including migrant encounters at ports of entry and illegal immigrant encounters by Border Patrol between ports of entry. That is the highest November on record and the third-highest month of the crisis so far. NOVEMBER SAW NEARLY QUARTER OF A MILLION MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AMID NEW BORDER SURGE Announcing the November numbers, acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said that the agency is facing a “serious challenge” and that it and federal partners need more resources from Congress as requested in the supplemental funding request. “Despite ongoing challenges, in November, the men and women of CBP continued their tireless work and recorded increased seizures of illegal narcotics while facilitating lawful trade and increased holiday travel,” he said. The Border Patrol union was more critical of the challenge facing agents. “While our agents are more than willing to sacrifice the holidays to protect fellow Americans, that’s not what they will be doing,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said Friday. “They will be processing the illegal border crossers for release into the U.S. while large parts of the border will be left wide open to exploitation by organized crime. These will not be happy holidays for the hard-working men and women of the Border Patrol.” Meanwhile, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University published data this week showing how the number of cases before the immigration courts has now exceeded three million cases. That number has spiked from around 530,000 in December 2016 at the end of the Obama administration. At the end of the Trump administration, it stood at around 1.3 million. That was before the massive migrant crisis that hit the southern border in 2021. By the end of 2021, the backlog stood at 1.6 million and 2 million by the end of 2022. As of November of this year, the backlog is now at 3.075 million. TRAC noted that the hiring of new immigration judges has accelerated under the Biden administration, with 682 judges now working and closing an average of 975 cases each during the latest fiscal year, but it has not been enough to keep up with the wave of migrants coming in. “Immigration Judges are swamped. Immigration Judges now average 4,500 pending cases each,” TRAC said in a report. “If every person with a pending immigration case were gathered together, it would be larger than the population of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States. Indeed, the number of waiting immigrants in the Court’s backlog is now larger than the population found in many states.” Sources also told Fox News that Border Patrol has released more than 386,000 illegal immigrants into the U.S. with Notices to Appear since October, not including releases by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Republicans have criticized the administration for releasing migrants into the interior and have called for greater restrictions on asylum and the use of humanitarian parole by the administration. MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS AT BORDER SOAR PAST THE 200K MARK IN DECEMBER, WITH OVER A WEEK STILL TO GO The administration has said it is dealing with a hemisphere-wide crisis and needs more funding and comprehensive immigration reform to reduce backlogs and fix a “broken” system. It has also implemented a rule to expedite asylum claims using U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers rather than immigration judges. The Biden administration’s funding request, meanwhile, includes $1.4 billion for additional immigration judges. The administration has expressed openness to restrictions on releases in order to get a funding deal done, but it is unclear if it will be enough for Republicans and if it will lose support of Democrats in the process — some of whom have loudly opposed restrictions on asylum. Lawmakers have expressed optimism at the possibility of a deal, but have warned that it won’t happen before January at the earliest. Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins contributed to this report.
IDF veteran turned NY GOP pick to replace George Santos vows to take on ‘Squad,’ slams Suozzi as fake moderate
Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Israeli Defense Forces veteran and Republican candidate vying to keep the embattled Rep. George Santos’ vacated district red, spoke at length with Fox News Digital about her message to New York voters, pitching herself as the best candidate to combat the far-left “Squad” of the Democratic Party in Congress. Pilip, an Ethiopian Jew, immigrant to Israel and the United States, married mother of seven children and a recent political newcomer, detailed her background and platform while campaigning for New York’s 3rd Congressional District ahead of a Feb. 13 special election against former Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi. Winning her first political campaign in 2021, flipping a county legislative seat from blue to red while pregnant with identical twins, Pilip is up against Suozzi, whose lengthy Long Island political career affords him name recognition and fundraising advantages after previously representing the same district six years. “You know what, Suozzi? Suozzi, a great politician. He’s absolutely a talker,” Pilip told Fox News Digital. “He is playing a game of ‘I am a moderate.’ He’s not.” NY REPUBLICANS TAP IDF VETERAN TO REPLACE SANTOS IN SPECIAL ELECTION Rejecting Suozzi’s claim to be a moderate Democrat who vows to take on the far left of his party, Pilip argued Suozzi’s voting record proves he almost always aligns with President Biden and the “Squad.” By contrast, Pilip said she is best suited to take on antisemitic rhetoric from the likes of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Cori Bush, D-Mo.; Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, because she and her Ukrainian-born husband know firsthand what it was like living in Israel during the second intifada of the early 2000s. “I know the fear. My family is living this life,” she said, noting how her relatives were in bomb shelters in Israel for several days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. “I know how bad and what the Israeli civilians right now are going through. And the only one who can speak really against the Squad, who are causing so much problems for us as a nation here, and especially about Israel. “The lie, the lie they are spreading left and right. It’s wrong, and the only one who can present things the way it is, is me, is me. And in all my community here, the Jewish community wants somebody who also can fight antisemitism. Since the war started, the Jewish community are living with fear.” Pilip condemned the testimony of the presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn, who failed to clearly state before a congressional hearing earlier this month whether calls for intifada or the genocide of Jews on campus violated their institutions’ codes of conduct. “They couldn’t even condemn the intifada in calling for genocide of the Jewish people. And it was nothing for them. They didn’t see the red flag on that. Now, I want to ask you if that was happening against African Americans, against any minority class or against LGBTQ?” Pilip said. “But here we go when this is happening to the Jewish students, all of the sudden, that’s OK. And I’m here to say that’s not OK. And I’m here to say it as a Black person, OK, as an immigrant, as a woman, as a Jew. I’m here to draw the line. That’s unacceptable. “We don’t have to hate each other. We have to respect each other,” she added. “We have to work together. We may not … agree with policies, which is normal. But let’s not forget, we are one nation here. We have America here. We are Americans. And we have to continue with that respect to each other, which this country, unfortunately, lost it. And I hope we’re going to be able to build a better future for our kids.” Citing the atrocities of Hamas burning and beheading babies, raping young women and taking hostages, Pilip advocated for continued U.S. support for Israel and Ukraine. “Tell me who else will do something like this? Evil,” she said. “The war that Israel right now is doing is not just for the future of Israel, the future of the Middle East, the future of the entire world. OK? And therefore, we need to make sure United States continues to support Israel and also Ukraine, because this is our interest, is American, is our national interest. We have to say no for injustice and Israel … And every day there is a price for that for both sides. Unfortunately, civilians are dying. But the only one we can blame is Hamas.” Pilip detailed how, at age 12, she was among the more than 14,000 Jews airlifted to Israel from famine-ravaged Ethiopia in 1991 as rebel forces were advancing toward the capital. DISGRACED CONGRESSMAN GEORGE SANTOS IN DISCUSSIONS WITH PROSECUTORS FOR POSSIBLE PLEA DEAL “It was a very emotional day for us to come to Israel, to a beautiful country, a country full of lights, a country, you know, that has so many opportunities,” Pilip said, recalling having to learn a new language and become acclimated to a new culture. “Right after I finished the school, I really wanted to join the Israeli Defense Force because I wanted to give back to the country that really gave me the opportunity. “I remember when I came to my dad and I said, ‘I want to serve.’ And he said, ‘No, you’re too skinny, too little. What are you going to do in the Israeli army?’” she recalled, “But very quickly he realized that was the things I would like to do, and he was very supportive. Later on, he was very proud. I learned a lot during the service. It was beautiful to see people from different countries who came to Israel to live joining the IDF and for one mission really to defend the country.” Describing herself as someone who hates promises, Pilip says she’s used the past two years as Nassau County’s legislator for the 10th District, encompassing Great Neck, Lehigh Park and Manhasset, to freeze property
Minnesota professor calls to ‘decolonize’ and ‘dismantle’ the US: ‘Go as hard as possible’
A liberal arts professor at the University of Minnesota called for people to “dismantle” and “decolonize” America during a pro-Palestinian event. Earlier this month, University of Minnesota liberal arts professor Melanie Yazzie took the stage with several other speakers as part of the anti-capitalist Native American advocacy group the Red Nation’s “teach-in” on the Israel-Hamas war. During the pro-Palestinian event, Yazzie made several controversial comments, including early on when she said she wanted a takeaway from the event to be that “we’re all indigenous people who come from nations who are under occupation by the United States government.” CONGRESS EXPANDS SCOPE OF HARVARD INVESTIGATION TO INCLUDE ALLEGATIONS OF PRESIDENT’S PLAGIARISM “And, of course, the U.S. bankrolls the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land,” Yazzie continued. “They’re one and the same, really.” “So it’s our responsibility as people who are within the United States to go as hard as possible to decolonize this place, because that will reverberate all across the world,” Yazzie said. “Because the U.S. is the greatest predator empire that has ever existed.” Yazzie said that she and her comrades “want [the] U.S. out of everywhere,” including “Palestine” and “Turtle Island” — a name used by some Native American tribes to describe North America. “And that the goal is to dismantle the settler project that is the United States for the freedom and the future of all life on this planet,” Yazzie said. “It very much depends on that.” Yazzie also appeared to imply she saw the “entire world” change after the Oct. 7 attacks by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on innocent Israeli civilians and claimed that “Palestine is the alternative path for native nations.” “It is a righteous struggle and it is so powerful that it has literally, in 60 days, changed the entire world,” Yazzie said. “The entire world has changed. I knew it the moment that it happened that nothing, and I mean nothing for colonizers or for any of the good, humble people of the Earth, would ever be the same ever again.” “And we need to lean into that. Lean into the fact that colonizers are scared,” she said, laughing. “Lean into scaring them and making them feel uncomfortable!” HOUSE LEFTISTS INCLUDE ANTISEMITISM IN RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ISLAMOPHOBIA, ‘ANTI-PALESTINIAN DISCRIMINATION’ Yazzie, who said she was the co-host of the Red Nation podcast “Red Power Hour,” decried “liberalism” as “bulls—” and “trash” that “was founded upon imperialism and colonialism.” “All it knows is the language of violence, and when it doesn’t use the language of violence, it uses the niceties like ‘Minnesota Nice’ to cover that s— up,” Yazzie said. “Enough! Enough with investing our time with liberalism!” she cried. “That is not resistance. “Resistance is the only thing… the only kind of death blows to colonialism, imperialism that have happened historically because indigenous people have resisted in the various places where this violence has touched down.” Yazzie also delivered a message to their “Palestinian relatives,” where she called the U.S. a “violent settler project” and she and her comrades have the “moral authority” to do so “as the original people” of America. “In addition to solidarity and the things that we might do, having the moral authority as the original people of these lands, to push back against the violent settler project that is the United States,” Yazzie said. “And to help to lead that, to be the tip of the spear here of all liberation struggles and the movements that seek a world of justice, equality, and peace, that seek to dismantle the United States,” she continued. “I hope you seek to dismantle the United States,” Yazzie added to applause from the audience. Yazzie also claimed that “decolonization” is “the only thing that’s going to save us as a species” and “the planet,” and said that people should “just be on board with it, no questions asked.” Yazzie, the University of Minnesota and the Red Nation did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Cuban-American lawmakers defend Monroe Doctrine amid progressive push to end 200-year-old policy
House lawmakers of Cuban-American descent are pushing back against progressives’ efforts to eliminate the Monroe Doctrine, a 200-year-old U.S. policy that categorizes political intervention in the Western Hemisphere by countries outside of it as an act of hostility. A group of leftists led by Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., introduced a new resolution this week calling for the Monroe Doctrine to be formally annulled. She called the policy “outdated and ineffective.” “For more than 200 years, the United States has used the Monroe Doctrine to justify a paternalistic, damaging approach to relations with Latin America and the Caribbean,” Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a press release. META OFFICIALS WARN CHINA, RUSSIA, IRAN PLAN ‘FOREIGN COVERT INFLUENCE OPERATIONS’ AHEAD OF 2024 ELECTION “As a result, the legacy of our nation’s foreign policy in those regions is political instability, deep poverty, extreme migration and colonialism. It is well past time we change our approach.” But Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., and Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital the centuries-old policy was critical to stability in the region. “The Monroe Doctrine is one of the most important foreign policy strategies the United States has ever developed. Today, threats to our security and liberty no longer come from London, Paris or Madrid, but from Beijing, Moscow and Tehran,” Salazar told Fox News Digital. CHINA TRAINS CHILDREN FOR ‘IRON ARMY’ IN LATEST EFFORT TO CREATE NATIONAL ‘COMBAT READINESS’: REPORT “Communist and authoritarian powers abroad are colluding with our enemies in the Americas by selling them weapons and propping them up economically.” Rather than scuttling it, she called on the U.S. to “renew our commitment to the Monroe Doctrine and keep our hemisphere free of intervention from overseas.” Earlier this month, Salazar led a bill aimed at affirming U.S. support for the Monroe Doctrine. Gimenez, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, said he knew firsthand why U.S. dominance was needed across North, Central and South America. FORMER US AMBASSADOR ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF SECRETLY SERVING AS AGENT TO CUBA: REPORT “I lost my native homeland of Cuba to a brutal communist dictatorship that continues to oppress the Cuban people and exports socialist terrorism across the region,” he said. “In my community, we understand firsthand that the Western Hemisphere is safer, more prosperous and freer when the United States takes a proactive role and actively engages with our regional partners.” The Monroe Doctrine dictates that the U.S. government will oppose any military or political intervention in any country in the Western Hemisphere by a nation outside of it. It’s taken on new significance in recent years. Although it was implemented as a blockade against European colonialism, it’s been referenced — particularly during the Trump administration — as China seeks to expand its influence in South America. But critics, primarily on the left, have said it perpetuates an imbalanced power dynamic between the U.S. and its neighbors.