Bangla Bandh today live updates: BJP calls for 12-hour strike over ‘Nabanna Abhijan’ clashes, train services hit
“Despite being a woman Chief Minister, Mamata ji has completely failed to ensure the safety of the women of Bengal,” BJP President Nadda said on Tuesday.
NDA holds majority in Rajya Sabha after 12 members elected unopposed
Twelve candidates including nine from BJP, two from its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and one from Congress have been elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in the elections to vacant seats in the Upper House of Parliament.
Massachusetts GOP demands information on state’s $1 billion in ‘secret’ migrant spending: ‘Veil of secrecy’
Massachusetts Republicans have submitted a formal request with the state’s government for information on the alleged “$1 billion in secret migrant crisis spending” as the Bay State grapples with the migrant crisis. In a release from the state’s Republican Party, MassGOP, the group demanded that Gov. Maura Healey’s administration provides a detailed cost breakdown of the toll that the migrant crisis has caused for the state’s residents. “The Healey-Driscoll Administration has shrouded nearly $1 billion spent in secrecy, leaving Massachusetts residents in the dark,” MassGOP chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement. “They have withheld critical information on 600 incidents involving police, fire and EMT. Blocking journalists at every turn, the administration has obstructed the flow of information to the public.” OVER 100 STUDENTS WITHOUT BUS SERVICE AS MASSACHUSETTS FUNDS BUSES FOR MIGRANTS In a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Carnevale demanded the specifics of the state’s funding to provide housing for migrants. MIGRANT CRISIS PROJECTED TO COST MASSACHUSETTS TAXPAYERS $1.8 BILLION OVER NEXT TWO YEARS In the FOIA request, Carnevale called for the Healey administration to provide the names of government and private entities that are providing emergency housing for migrants, where the emergency housing is located, any correspondents relating to public safety concerns, and any incident reports or police reports. Carnevale argued that the Democrats’ supermajority has created a “veil of secrecy” surrounding the migrant crisis. “Today, the Massachusetts Republican Party is standing against the veil of secrecy and the obstructionist efforts of the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Democratic supermajority,” she said. “We stand with the Massachusetts press corps in declaring: enough is enough. The public deserves transparency. Release the details on the vendors profiting from this crisis and the public safety issues affecting our communities.” “On behalf of Massachusetts residents, we are demanding accountability,” Carnevale added. The MassGOP’s request comes after the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released a report on July 24, which predicted Massachusetts will struggle to manage the growing number of migrants coming to the state. MIGRANTS TO BE BOOTED FROM LOGAN AIRPORT AS GOVERNOR SAYS SANCTUARY STATE IS FULL The report noted that the state has already spent more than $1 billion on the Emergency Assistance sheltering program that houses migrants. “The cost to Massachusetts taxpayers of temporary housing and shelters is enormous, but it pales in comparison to the costs that will accumulate in the future if those in the temporary shelters today remain in the Commonwealth for the long term,” wrote Jessica Vaughan, CIS director of policy studies. In addition to housing, some other costs taxpayers will have to cover include schooling, social services, medical care and public safety. The report estimated that the number of “illegal and inadmissible” migrants living in Massachusetts is about 355,000 with 50,000 new arrivals since 2021. It also reported that 10,000 migrants were minors with 8,500 being unaccompanied. Fox News Digital has reached out to the MassGOP and Healey’s office for comment. Fox News Digital’s Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.
California bill that would give undocumented first-time homebuyers funds despite budget deficit advances
California lawmakers voted a bill through the state Senate on Tuesday that would allow illegal immigrants to apply for their “California Dream for All” first-time homebuyers’ financial assistance program. AB 1840 requires the California Housing Finance Authority’s home purchase assistance program, or California Dream for All Program, to include undocumented applicants. CALIFORNIA CLOSE TO APPROVING $150K LOANS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO HELP PURCHASE HOMES The California Dream for All program passed despite funds running out just 11 days after being instituted in June, which awarded 1,700 first-time homebuyers at the time. Finding more funding for the program was the prime concern in floor debate. A spokesman for California’s Department of Finance confirmed to KCRA 3 on Tuesday that the California Dream for All has no money left to supply the program. The program awards first-time homebuyers up to 20% of a home’s value or up to $150,000 as down payment assistance. The bill now heads back to the California state Assembly to go over revisions made by the state Senate. If passed, the bill heads to California Governor Gavin Newsom‘s desk to sign into law. 5 CALIFORNIA TAXES KAMALA HARRIS COULD USE TO CRUSH THE MIDDLE CLASS The bill passed by 12 votes, following party line at 23-11. Some Democrats present did not vote. Democrats who supported the bill said in debate that undocumented immigrants who apply for the program must pay taxes and show proof of work; Republicans criticized the bill for potentially edging out groups like veterans from the California Dream for All Program. No funds were appropriated for the Calfornia Dream for All Program this year due to an expected budget shortfall for 2024-2025. Both the governor and state legislatures must approve of appropriating funds in the future to continue the program. California state’s 2024 legislative session closes after 11:59 PM on Saturday. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The California Department of Finance did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Pentagon says it can ‘walk and chew gum at same time’ when asked about absence of carrier in the Pacific
The Pentagon claimed it can “walk and chew gum at the same time” when asked how long the U.S. will go without an aircraft carrier group in the Indo-Pacific region. Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked by Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin Tuesday how long he expected there would not be an aircraft carrier strike group in the Indo-Pacific. She also asked if not having a carrier in the region was risky. “Well, look, you know, as we look at global force management and as we look at requirements around the world in support of our national security interests, we’re always taking great care to make sure that we can cover those commitments to include, in our priority theater, which is the Indo-Pacific region,” Ryder said. “And, so, we have a significant amount of capability there to include a large naval presence.” Two carrier strike groups — the USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Abraham Lincoln — are in the Middle East as part of America’s commitment “to support Israel’s defense against threats from Iran and its regional partners and proxies,” according to the Pentagon. 2 US AIRCRAFT CARRIER STRIKE GROUPS ORDERED TO STAY IN MIDDLE EAST WITH TENSIONS HIGH Both carriers are in the Gulf of Oman. Ryder told reporters the two carrier groups would remain in the region to provide additional capability and capacity to protect U.S. forces, support Israel’s defense and be ready for a variety of contingencies. In May, the USS Ronald Reagan departed from its Japanese home port, wrapping up nearly nine years of deployment in the Indo-Pacific, where it played a key role in the U.S. effort to bolster defense ties with Japan and regional partners. CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES TRADE BLAME AFTER SHIPS COLLIDE IN DISPUTED SOUTH CHINA SEA The Reagan will be replaced later this year by the USS George Washington carrier. Griffin asked Ryder how long he expected a carrier gap in the Indo-Pacific. “I’m not going to get into deployment timelines for operations security reasons, but the bottom line is we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Ryder said. US NAVY’S USS RONALD REAGAN DEPARTS JAPAN HOME PORT AFTER NEARLY A DECADE Last week, Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided at sea, damaging at least two vessels, the latest in increasingly alarming confrontations in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippines’ National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said two of the coast guard ships, BRP Bagacay and BRP Cape Engaño, “encountered unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” from Chinese coast guard vessels while en route to Patag and Lawak islands, which are occupied by Filipino forces, in the contested region. Beijing is rapidly expanding its military and has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims, giving rise to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though it is also involved in longtime territorial disputes with Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Gov. Kemp speaks out after Trump flips and praises former nemesis: ‘Small distraction’ in the past
EXCLUSIVE — Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp insists “the road to the White House is going to run through Georgia” and said he is focused on the future, downplaying former President Donald Trump’s tirade against him earlier this month as a “small distraction that’s in the past.” Kemp, the popular two-term conservative governor of the crucial southeastern battleground state, emphasized in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital that “there’s no path for former President Trump to win or any Republican … to get to 270 [electoral votes] without Georgia.” Kemp, interviewed Tuesday on the eve of Vice President Harris’ two-day bus swing through Georgia, said his state “should be one that we win if we have all the mechanics that we need. And I’m working hard to help provide those in a lot of ways and turn the Republican vote out.” “It’s my belief that we cannot afford four more years of [President] Joe Biden and Kamala Harris or Kamala Harris and [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, which I think would probably be worse than even Biden and Harris were,” Kemp said. 2024 COUNTDOWN: TRUMP CRISSCROSSING CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH 10 WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY The governor was interviewed a couple of days after Trump praised Kemp in a social media post “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.” “I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the Republican presidential nominee added. The comments from Trump were a major change of tune when it comes to Georgia’s governor. For two years after his 2020 election defeat to President Biden, which included a razor-thin loss in Georgia, Trump attacked Kemp for failing to overturn the election results in his state. WASH, RINSE, REPEAT: WHY JD VANCE IS CONCENTRATING ON THESE 3 STATES Trump toned down the criticism in 2022 after Kemp crushed Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary. Earlier this month, Trump went on a 10-minute tirade against Kemp at a rally in Atlanta just blocks from the Georgia State Capitol. Trump blamed the governor not only for failing to overturn the 2020 vote count but also for not stopping a county prosecutor from indicting the former president for his attempts to reverse the results. “He’s a bad guy. He’s a disloyal guy. And he’s a very average governor,” Trump said. “Little Brian. Little Brian Kemp. Bad guy.” Kemp told Fox News, “I’m not sure exactly what happened going into the rally. I’ve seen a lot of different stories and people’s explanations of what happened.” “To me, that was a small distraction that’s in the past,” Kemp added. And Kemp said Republicans “need to stay focused on the future. … We need to be telling people why they should vote for us, what we’re going to do to make things better than they are right now. And there’s a host of issues that I think you could contrast Kamala Harris and her record. “To me, that’s what we need to stay focused on, not some dustup from two or three weeks ago.” HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN 2024 ELECTION Asked about Trump’s reversal last Thursday, Kemp said, “You have to ask him those questions. I’ve been consistent for really the last couple of years that I was going to support the ticket, whoever our nominee was, in Georgia. That’s exactly what I’m doing, what I have been doing.” But Trump’s statement came moments after Kemp appeared on Fox News Channel and reiterated to host Sean Hannity that “we need to send Donald Trump back to the White House.” Asked Tuesday if he and Trump had connected since last week, Kemp said, “I haven’t talked to him.” “I’ve talked to a lot of other folks, and I think everybody has a good understanding of where everybody is and understands my position has not changed,” Kemp said. “I have been supporting him and the whole ticket in Georgia, and I’m still doing that and will continue to do that through November.” Republican strategists agree that to recapture Georgia, Trump will need assistance from Kemp’s well-oiled and funded political machine to turn out GOP voters. Kemp said he’s “working hard” to “turn the Republican vote out and make sure that we win this state in November.” “How that looks and how that goes will really be up to kind of how things play out and what states are in play and who’s going where and when,” Kemp added. “I’ve got other responsibilities in my duties with the Republican Governors Association, traveling around the country helping to raise money to win North Carolina and hold New Hampshire in our column and also helping our legislative races here.” Kemp also acknowledged that he’s asked for legal advice from the state attorney general on whether he can remove from the state election board three conservative members on the five-person panel who championed and passed a controversial set of new rules that mandate extra requirements for county election boards to certify their results. “We’ve asked the attorney general for an opinion on that on whether this would be an official complaint, if you will, and I’m waiting to hear back. So, I really wouldn’t be able to comment too much on that since we’re asking for legal advice,” Kemp told Fox News. Trump, who has been charged in Fulton County, Georgia, with election interference, praised the three members for pushing for the new rules and called them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.” Georgia Democrats call the new rules a “concerted effort to subvert democracy” and have challenged them, arguing they could delay election certification and spark major disputes. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Kemp’s message to Trump: ‘there’s no path…to get to 270 without Georgia’
EXCLUSIVE – Republican Gov. Brian Kemp insists “that the road to the White House is going to run through Georgia.” And Kemp, the popular two-term conservative governor of the crucial southeastern battleground state, emphasized in an exclusive national interview with Fox News Digital that “there’s no path for former President Trump to win, or any Republican…to get to 270 without Georgia.” Kemp, who was interviewed on Tuesday on the eve of Vice President Kamala Harris’ two-day bus swing through Georgia, said his state “should be one that we win if we have all the mechanics that we need. And I’m working hard to help provide those in a lot of ways and turn the Republican vote out.” “It’s my belief that we cannot afford four more years of [President] Joe Biden and Kamala Harris or Kamala Harris and [Minnesota Gov.] Tim Walz, which I think would probably be worse than even Biden and Harris were,” Kemp argued. 2024 COUNTDOWN: TRUMP CRISSCROSSING CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH 10 WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY The governor was interviewed a couple of days after Trump praised Kemp in a social media post “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.” “I look forward to working with you, your team, and all of my friends in Georgia to help MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the Republican presidential nominee added. The comments from Trump were a major change of tune when it comes to Georgia’s governor. For two years following his 2020 election defeat to President Biden – which included a razor-thin loss in Georgia – Trump attacked Kemp for failing to overturn the election results in his state. WASH, RINSE, REPEAT: WHY JD VANCE IS CONCENTRATING ON THESE THREE STATES Trump toned down the criticism in 2022, after Kemp crushed Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary. But earlier this month, Trump went on a 10-minute tirade against Kemp at a rally in Atlanta just blocks from the Georgia State Capitol. Trump blamed the governor not only for failing to overturn the 2020 vote count, but also for not stopping a county prosecutor from indicting the former president on his attempts to reverse the results. “He’s a bad guy. He’s a disloyal guy. And he’s a very average governor,” Trump charged. “Little Brian, little Brian Kemp. Bad guy.” Kemp told Fox News “I’m not sure exactly what happened going into the rally. I’ve seen a lot of different stories and people’s explanations of what happened,”” But he said “to me, that was a small distraction that’s in the past.” And Kemp said that Republicans “need to stay focused on the future…we need to be telling people why they should vote for us, what we’re going to do to make things better than they are right now. And there’s a host of issues that I think you could contrast Kamala Harris and her record.” “To me, that’s what we need to stay focused on. Not some dustup from two or three weeks ago,” he added. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING IN 2024 ELECTION Asked about Trump’s reversal last Thursday, Kemp said “you have to ask him those questions. I’ve been consistent for really the last couple of years that I was going to support the ticket, whoever our nominee was, in Georgia. That’s exactly what I’m doing. What I have been doing.” But Trump’s statement came moments after Kemp appeared on the Fox News Channel and reiterated to host Sean Hannity that “we need to send Donald Trump back to the White House.” Asked if he and Trump had connected since last week, Kemp said on Tuesday that “I haven’t talked to him.” But he shared that “I’ve talked to a lot of other folks and I think everybody has a good understanding of where everybody is and understands my position has not changed. I have been supporting him and the whole ticket in Georgia, and I’m still doing that and will continue to do that through November.” Republican strategists agree that in order to recapture Georgia, Trump will need assistance from Kemp’s well-oiled and funded political machine to turn out GOP voters. Kemp said that he’s “working hard” to “turn the Republican vote out and make sure that we win this state in November.” But the governor added “how that looks and how that goes will really be up to kind of how things play out and what states are in play and who’s going where and when.” And he noted that “I‘ve got other responsibilities in my duties with the Republican Governors Association, traveling around the country helping to raise money to win North Carolina and hold New Hampshire in our column, and also helping our legislative races here.” Kemp also acknowledged that he’s asked for legal advice from the state attorney general on whether he can remove from the state election board three conservative members on the five-person panel who championed and passed a controversial set of new rules that mandate extra requirements for county election boards to certify their results. “We’ve asked the attorney general for an opinion on that on whether this would be an official complaint, if you will, and I’m waiting to hear back, so I really wouldn’t be able to comment too much on that since we’re asking for legal advice,” Kemp told Fox News. Trump, who has been charged in Fulton County, Georgia for election interference, praised the three members for pushing for the new rules and called them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.” But Georgia Democrats call the new rules a “concerted effort to subvert democracy,” and have challenged them, arguing they could delay election certification and spark major disputes. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Vance claims ‘Democrats are helping China’ in pitch to autoworkers at Big Rapids campaign event
Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, speaking near the site of a major electric vehicle battery factory project, charged that Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and the current Democratic administration “are helping China destroy and replace our auto industry from the inside out.” Vance held a campaign event Tuesday in Big Rapids, Michigan near where Gotion Inc., a company that, according to FARA filings, was quietly registered as a Chinese foreign principal in 2023, is planning to build a $2.4 billion electric vehicle battery plant. Vance said that Harris’ “tie-breaking vote that she cast to send inflation through the roof,” referring to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, made “Chinese companies like Gotion eligible for millions of your taxpayer dollars.” “Even some of the folks in Obama’s administration said that the Gotion factory plant is a threat to America’s national security,” Vance told the audience. “But Kamala Harris not only wants to allow the Chinese Communist Party to build factories on American soil, she wants to pay them to do it with our tax money.” BIDEN-HARRIS DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OFFICIAL CALLS FOR ‘QUEERING NUCLEAR WEAPONS’ AS PART OF RADICAL DEI AGENDA “Democrats in this state, and including Kamala Harris, want to give hundreds of millions of dollars to those same companies that have been undercutting Michigan autoworkers. What a disaster, isn’t it?” he added. “Donald Trump has a different idea. He is going to drill, baby, drill. We’re going to unleash American workers and bring back those great factories.” The senator also touched on the drama surrounding former President Trump’s scheduled debate with Vice President Harris after reports that the presidential nominees were clashing over debate rules ahead of the live Sep. 10 event. THE HARRIS-WALZ ENERGY AGENDA: HIGHER PRICES, FEWER AUTOMOTIVE CHOICES “He thinks it’s important that the American people see him debate and especially see Kamala Harris, because she’s run from the media for pretty much the entire campaign,” Vance said in an exclusive interview with Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie at the Michigan event. “He also doesn’t like that they’re trying to change the rules at the very last minute, because they figured out that Kamala Harris, she’s just not that great at this.” Vance also addressed the letter that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sent to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Monday, revealing that he faced pressure from the Biden-Harris administration to censor Americans, particularly regarding COVID-19 content. “This should be bombshell news,” Vance told Fox of the letter. “The leader of one of the most important social networks in the world just came out and said, I censored Donald Trump in the run-up to the election because there were certain elements within the Biden administration and the Biden campaign that encouraged me to do that. That is crazy. That is the revelation of censorship in a way that affected an American election.” Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.
‘Total bulls—‘: Trump campaign rips ‘preposterous’ Harris pro-border wall narrative after media report
The Trump campaign on Tuesday pushed back against a narrative within the media that Vice President Kamala Harris is taking a more positive approach to border wall construction — calling such a claim “preposterous.” “How much longer will the mainstream media allow Kamala Harris to hide and use staff to speak on her behalf?” Karoline Leavitt, National Press Secretary for the Trump campaign said in a statement. “It’s DAY 37 of ZERO interviews and Kamala’s anonymous campaign sources are now claiming she supports President Trump’s border wall — this is a preposterous and false claim.” Axios ran a headline on Tuesday morning that accused Harris of a “flip flop” on border wall construction. It noted Harris’ support of a bipartisan border security bill introduced in January. The bill pushes funding to the border, while also authorizing limits on asylum entries. BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN REFUSES TO REVEAL NATIONALITIES OF TERROR WATCHLIST MIGRANTS NABBED AT BORDER The package, which has the support of the Biden administration but has so far failed to drum up enough Republican support to pass the chamber, also includes a limited amount of funding for additional border wall construction, but it is just a fraction of the $25 billion former President Trump eyed for the project. While Harris, along with President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, have consistently backed the bill, Axios said that her recent speech at the Democratic National Convention in which she said she would sign the bill was a sign of her embracing a more hawkish immigration policy. “Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal. Well, I refuse to play politics with our security, and here is my pledge to you. As president, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed, and I will sign it into law. I know — I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship and secure our border,” she said. New ads, in which the Harris campaign portrays the former California senator as tough on the border, show images of the Trump-era border wall. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN MOVE TO GIVE LEGAL STATUS TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SPOUSES OF US CITIZENS But the Trump campaign noted that, despite that limited support, Harris has a history of opposing the wall at the border. The Trump administration built more than 400 miles of border wall, and it was abruptly halted by the Biden-Harris administration in 2021. While there have been some gaps filled and some limited extra construction due to already appropriated congressional funds, the administration has consistently said it opposes border wall construction and there have been no indications of plans for significant extra construction. Additionally, Harris has long been a critic of the wall construction that took place in the Trump-era. In 2018, Harris called the wall “un-American.” That came a year after she joined Democrats in introducing a bill to block border wall construction. During her campaign launch in 2019, she dismissed the wall’s effectiveness. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS “On the subject of transnational gangs, let’s be perfectly clear. The president’s medieval vanity project is not going to stop them,” she said. In 2020, she called it “a complete waste of taxpayer money and won’t make us any safer.” The Trump campaign also sought to link her to the decision to halt border wall construction in her role “as border czar” — although that role was limited to international diplomacy related to root causes. “As Border Czar, Kamala Harris halted construction of the border wall. Kamala’s ACTIONS speak much louder than the WORDS of the anonymous staff she is cowering behind,” Leavitt said. Trump senior adviser Jason Miller described the report as “total bulls—” and said that Harris “hasn’t flip-flopped on anything.” “Harris opposes the wall, has always opposed the wall, and stopped wall construction as VP,” he said.
Columbia U anti-Israel student group kicked off Instagram for violating ‘dangerous organizations’ policies
The Columbia University student group that instigated nationwide anti-Israel demonstrations, built encampments at colleges across the country and that was criticized for acting as a proxy for Hamas was kicked off Instagram for repeatedly violating the platform’s “dangerous organizations and individuals” policies. The Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Columbia announced on X Monday evening that both its main Instagram account, containing roughly 124,000 followers, and its backup account were “permanently deleted” from the platform. The student group added that when it tried to create a new account, Instagram deleted it two days later. Meta’s “Dangerous Organizations and Individuals” policy says it addresses “some of the most serious threats to the safety of our users.” “In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on our platforms,” the policy states. “We assess these entities based on their behavior both online and offline, most significantly, their ties to violence.” UNC BRACES AS ANTI-ISRAEL GROUP DUBBED ‘VOICE FOR HAMAS’ CONDONES ‘ARMED REBELLION’: ‘BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ In April, Columbia’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter established a “Gaza Solidarity” encampment to protest the Israel-Hamas war and U.S. support for the Jewish state. The conflict that culminated with student and non-student protesters illegally occupying an academic building on Columbia’s campus ultimately set off a wave of other anti-Israel protest encampments at universities and colleges across the country. Many of these protests, in particular the one that took place at Columbia, were considered antisemitic by critics. Video from one evening of tense demonstrations at Columbia showed a protester holding a sign that pointed toward a group of Jewish students. The sign said “Al-Qassam’s Next Targets,” referring to Hamas’ military wing. Other protesters could be heard yelling “We Are Hamas” and calling pro-Jewish passersby “pigs.” Meanwhile, Arab-Israeli journalist Yoseph Haddad was physically assaulted by anti-Israel agitators. American families who lost loved ones Oct. 7 are pushing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine, which has a national body and a number of local chapters, for allegedly violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The families are asserting that Students for Justice in Palestine has been violating the law by working as a proxy for Hamas at universities and colleges across the U.S. “American campuses should be safe spaces for education, not platforms for spreading hate and violence,” the Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center, which is working on behalf of the families, wrote on Facebook last week. In addition to the FARA complaint, victims’ families are also suing the National Students for Justice in Palestine and its parent group with the help of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, a pro-Israel nonprofit, and several other groups. The plaintiffs in that suit have sought compensation for what they describe as a coordinated effort to justify Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to The Jerusalem Post. HAMAS USING ANTI-ISRAEL CAMPUS GROUPS TO RECRUIT FUTURE US LEADERS INTO ‘TERRORIST CULT’: LAWYERS Following the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine chapter’s removal from Instagram, the national Students for Justice in Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement and Columbia University Apartheid Divest extolled support and denounced the cancellation in a joint social media post. “The timing of this move is not coincidental. With the beginning of fall semester just days away, the Columbia administration has put all of its efforts into proactively suppressing any and all pro-Palestinian protest,” the groups said in their response. “SJP’s account ban now ensures the censorship of student organizers both on campus and online.” Fox News Digital reached out to Columbia’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine but did not receive a response.