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Marine Le Pen on trial while corrupt Ursula von der Leyen protected

By Ahmed Adel | April 10, 2025

Although European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should be in prison for the Pfizergate scandal, not to mention inciting war crimes in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, nothing will come of it as Brussels is evidently corrupt. However, following the verdict handed down to right-wing French National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, the question arises as to why Ursula von der Leyen has not been indicted for the Pfizergate scandal, which is worth several billion euros.

Le Pen has been sentenced to four years in prison, fined 100,000 euros, and banned from running in the 2027 presidential election. She was convicted of corruption, having allegedly embezzled 2.9 million euros from European Parliament funds. Nonetheless, no one cares whether Marine Le Pen will actually be in prison or not. What matters is that she is banned from political activity and that a coup is carried out against the National Assembly at a time when the ruling paradigm is in crisis.

The case against the former French presidential candidate is not the first instance of a political process canceling unsuitable politicians in the EU, nor is it a precedent, as seen in the ban on Călin Georgescu’s candidacy, where it is clear that the European Commission undermined democracy in Romania.

It is also recalled that in 1999 and 2000, when the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party won 27 percent of the vote in the elections, its then-leader, Jörg Haider, was supposed to be the prime minister. However, Brussels completely isolated Austria, and it ended with Haider giving up, even resigning from the party leadership, and eight years later, he died in a suspicious car accident.

Therefore, the ban on political activity by politicians unsuitable for Brussels is not a surprise, as the EU has never been distinguished by its democratic character, which is why it has often been advertised as “the greatest peace project.” The EU has long had a European Commission composed of unelected bureaucrats, which is why Ursula von der Leyen, as an unelected politician from Germany, has often been perceived as acting like the de facto leader of Europe, or one of two, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron.

EU elites support all authoritarians on the continent that suit their interests, such as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Moldovan President Maia Sandu, and even on Europe’s periphery, such as Syria’s self-designated president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, regardless of the fact that he committed genocide against Alawites and Christians last month.

Corruption is also an integral part of EU structures. It would not be so significant if it were not accompanied by political action. This is exemplified by the fact that liberal Ursula von der Leyen escapes prosecution for Pfizergate, while right-wing Marine Le Pen is imprisoned.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, von der Leyen made a deal with Albert Bourla, the CEO of US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, to purchase 1.8 billion doses of untested COVID-19 vaccines, valued at approximately $37.6 billion. Von der Leyen negotiated this deal through a series of text messages that she eventually deleted — supposedly by mistake — along with those she exchanged with her husband, Heiko, a medical director at a biotech company with ties to Pfizer. As a result, von der Leyen was accused of corruption and “abuse of power.”

Even before becoming European Commission president, at the end of her term as Germany’s Defense Minister (2013-2019), von der Leyen became the target of an investigation by the Federal Audit Office for continually awarding lucrative contracts to external consulting firms. In its 2018 report, the Federal Audit Office questioned the awarding procedures of some of these contracts, worth millions of euros, which appeared to have been made without proper cost assessment or a proper tendering process.

Although this may seem like incompetence at first, the American consulting firm McKinsey, for example, attracted attention when its Berlin office hired the daughter of von der Leyen. The firm eventually won contracts worth millions of euros.

While von der Leyen is protected from prosecution by German and European Union authorities, Le Pen is being prosecuted because she does not conform to the liberal values of Brussels and is described as far-right.

US President Donald Trump even demanded on April 4 for Le Pen to be freed and allowed to run for office, calling her ban a “witch hunt.”

On Truth Social, he described the court case as “another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech and censor their Political Opponent, this time going so far as to put that Opponent in prison.”

Trump added that it is “all so bad for France and the Great French People”, before ending his post with “FREE MARINE LE PEN!”

In this way, while von der Leyen is protected, Le Pen is being prosecuted on allegations stemming from her time in the European Parliament that are not yet fully substantiated, all because she threatens the rule of Macron, a loyal servant of Europe’s elites.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

April 10, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties | , | Leave a comment

Max Blumenthal: Banning Protests Against Israel

Glenn Diesen | April 9, 2025

The editor-in-chief of The Grayzone, Max Blumenthal is an award-winning journalist and the author of several books, including best-selling Republican Gomorrah, Goliath, The Fifty One Day War, and The Management of Savagery. He has produced print articles for an array of publications, many video reports, and several documentaries, including Killing Gaza.

Follow Prof. Glenn Diesen: Substack: https://glenndiesen.substack.com/

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Video | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lawmakers say RFK Jr. is spreading misinformation about psychiatric drugs

The real threat may be their attempt to silence the debate

By Maryanne Demasi, PhD | April 9, 2025

The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission, established by Executive Order, convened its first meeting last month.

Among the topics discussed was the “threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antipsychotics, mood stabilisers, and stimulants.”

Shortly thereafter, a group of legislators issued a strongly worded letter to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, accusing him of “promoting disproven and outright false theories” about these medications—reframing them as “behavioral health medication.”

They argued that even suggesting these drugs might pose a “threat” would “stigmatize” Americans with mental health conditions and potentially deter them from seeking medical care.

But labelling something a “threat” in a policy discussion is not a condemnation; it is an invitation to assess risk—a fundamental responsibility of medical oversight.

The letter, led by Senator Tina Smith, urged Kennedy to “adhere to the well-established and widely accepted scientific and medical consensus” on the matter.

Consensus? This is precisely the problem—they are appealing to authority to shut down inquiry rather than fostering critical examination.

The FDA itself has placed a black box warning on SSRIs, cautioning that studies have shown these drugs double the risk of suicidal ideation and behaviour in certain populations.

Should that warning be revoked for fear of discouraging treatment?

Are we now at a point where simply discussing the risks of medications is considered dangerous? What happened to informed consent?

And if we are to insist on evidence – as the legislators say – where is their study that suggests educating people about the harms and benefits of medication prevents them from seeking treatment?

It does not exist.

In many cases, psychotherapy should be prioritised over medication, as it is safer, more effective in the long run, and aligns with what most patients prefer.

Neither the MAHA Commission nor Kennedy has advocated for anyone to stop taking medication abruptly—a well-known risk—but rather to investigate the full scope of these drugs’ effects.

The legislators cited CDC statistics showing that “43 percent of children between the ages of 3 and 17 took medication for an emotional, concentrational, or behavioral condition,” then immediately noted that “youth mental health needs have only increased in the past five years.”

The contradiction is glaring—if these medications were the solution, why is the problem worsening? This is precisely what Kennedy seeks to investigate.

One of the most contentious points was Kennedy’s claim that SSRIs have been linked to school shootings in the U.S.

The legislators cited studies such as an analysis of FBI data on “educational shootings” from 2000-2017, which concluded that the majority of school shooters had not been previously treated with psychotropic medication.

However, these data are incomplete. Privacy laws restrict access to shooters’ full medical histories, making definitive conclusions about many of these analyses difficult.

Meanwhile, a 2015 study published in PLOS One by Moore et al. found a disproportionate association between certain psychotropic drugs and violent behaviour in the FDA’s adverse event reporting system.

The harms of antidepressants are often downplayed—even in the medical literature.

Comparisons between published studies and confidential regulatory documents have revealed significant discrepancies, including underreporting of suicide attempts and aggressive behaviour.

My point is, Kennedy is not asserting causation—he is calling for more research. The legislators’ dismissal of his concerns as “disproven” serves only to suppress an important discussion that demands further scrutiny.

At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy remarked, “I know people, including members of my family, who’ve had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than getting off of heroin.”

Legislators strongly objected to the comparison in the letter, but Kennedy was referring to the well-documented difficulties of SSRI discontinuation—affecting about half of those who take them, even though their dependency profile differs from that of opioids.

What most people don’t realise is that psychiatrists who specialise in tapering patients off antidepressants report that SSRI-withdrawal can last far longer than withdrawal from heroin.

In fact, some patients remain on SSRIs indefinitely—not by choice, but because withdrawal symptoms are so severe that stopping is unbearable. The legislators’ letter conveniently ignores this reality.

Instead of engaging with the substance of his arguments, Kennedy’s critics attacked his qualifications, claiming he was “unqualified” to weigh in on mental health or addiction.

True, Kennedy is not a psychiatrist—or even a physician. But as a lawyer who has spent decades exposing the failures of public health institutions, he understands where scrutiny is needed.

Moreover, Kennedy is not issuing medical directives—he is demanding accountability in a system that too often fails to critically examine the long-term effects of the medications it prescribes.

As Danish physician Peter Gøtzsche has shown, prescription drugs are a leading cause of death, surpassing even heart disease and cancer—and psychiatric medications alone are the third leading cause of death.

Why are these legislators so adamantly defending what is widely acknowledged as the rampant over-prescription of psychiatric drugs? Could it have anything to do with their deep ties to Big Pharma lobbyists?

Their eagerness to silence dissent suggests that the interests being protected may not be those of the public, but rather those of the industry that funds their campaigns.

I have been writing about this issue for years, exposing the pharmaceutical industry’s role in shaping narratives around psychiatric drugs while downplaying their harms.

The pattern is always the same — suppress uncomfortable discussions, attack those who raise legitimate concerns, and protect the status quo.

How fragile do these legislators think people are, that they shouldn’t be trusted with the full truth about the medications they take? And more disturbingly, what gives them the authority to control what information the public is allowed to access?

Kennedy pledged that “nothing is going to be off limits” in his effort to Make America Healthy Again—this is what he meant.

Raising questions is not misinformation. And shutting down debate is not science.

If policymakers are confident in the safety and efficacy of these drugs, they should welcome scrutiny—not suppress it.

Below is a letter from Kim Witczak, a drug safety advocate – addressed to Senator Tina Smith. It requests a meeting to discuss mental health and antidepressant safety concerns, referencing Witczak’s personal experience, attaching 15 studies highlighting issues like clinical trial misconduct and regulatory failures

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Science and Pseudo-Science | , | Leave a comment

Why Liberal MP, Alex Hawke, must Apologise to Novak Djokovic: Mandatory Vaccination was a Political Decision

By Judy Wilyman PhD | April 6, 2025

To Alex Hawke, Liberal MP for Mitchell (Northwest Sydney),

In 2022, as the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, you made a political decision to deport a world class athlete who had been invited to Australia on a valid Australian visa. This was Novak Djokovic who was coming to Australia to compete for his tenth grand slam title in our country, a place that he had always loved to visit and compete.

Novak is arguably the healthiest person on the planet yet you described him as a ‘risk to public health’ in 2022. It must be the first time in history that an athlete has been removed for not taking a drug. Does this sound like public health gone bad?

This ‘drug’ that you requested he take was a genetically engineered injected product, that was approved for Emergency Use Only (EUO) in 2021 and rushed onto the market. Yet the government promoted this drug as a ‘vaccine’, even though it was never tested to see if it prevented any COVID disease. Or to see if it stopped transmission.

  1. Did you know that it is against the law to mandate a drug that has EUO approval? Mandating a novel untested product in the population would be a risk to public health.
  2. Did you know that this drug not only doesn’t prevent transmission Mr. Hawke, but it increases the chances of getting COVID and other respiratory illnesses. Just ask the paramedics.
  3. At the time Novak Djokovic even stated that he had natural immunity to COVID from a previous infection. Natural immunity is known to be long lasting immunity and the CDC has admitted this is valid protection.
  4. Did you know that the excess deaths in Australia and all COVID vaccinated countries, increased after the genetically engineered, so called ‘vaccines’, were rolled out in 2021? Here are Australia’s National Statistics for 2022 showing the increase in hospitalisations and deaths after the vaccines were rolled out in February 2021.If the vaccine was effective why did the ABS statistics show that in January 2022, deaths were 22.1% more than the historical average? And deaths to COVID-19 were the second most common cause after cancers. Does that sound like an effective ‘vaccine’?
  5. Did you know that many more young people are dying since 2021 and it is not from COVID? This experimental drug is known to target the heart, reproductive organs, nervous system and cause cancers etc.
  6. Here is a report describing the under-reporting of the US CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the gas-lighting of people that have been injured by vaccines. This under-reporting is also a feature of Australia’s TGA reporting system and it means that causal links to adverse events cannot be determined after vaccination is promoted in populations. This means that if a vaccine is fast tracked without the minimum 10 years of testing, then people can be killed or disabled without any accountability by the government or pharmaceutical industry.

So, Mr. Hawke, how safe do you think a genetically engineered drug is if it is given Emergency Use Only approval after ‘operation warp speed’?

I would argue that this drug was the ‘risk to public health’, not Novak Djokovic, and under the best public health and human rights principles, it was illegal to make your political decision to deport Novak from Australia.

Novak Djokovic abided by the fundamental principles of law, human rights and public health, and many Australians believe that it is imperative for the integrity of our country that you redress this situation with a public apology. I hope you will acknowledge this open letter and recognise that human rights, including bodily integrity and freedom of speech, are essential principles of a healthy democracy.

Here is the film Witness Statement with all the evidence you need to take action to redress this situation.

Kind regards,

Dr. Judy Wilyman PhD

My book – ‘Vaccination: Australia’s Loss of Health Freedom’ published March 2020.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Civil Liberties, Timeless or most popular | , , | Leave a comment

AIPAC leader boasts of special ‘access’ to top Trump natsec officials in leaked audio

By Max Blumenthal | The Grayzone | April 9, 2025

During an off-the-record panel, AIPAC’s CEO detailed his organization’s grooming of Trump’s top national security officials, and how his group’s “access” ensures they continue to follow Israel’s agenda.

The Grayzone has obtained audio of an off-the-record session from the 2025 Congressional Summit of AIPAC, the main US lobbying arm of the state of Israel. Recorded by an attendee of the panel discussion, the audio features AIPAC’s new CEO, Elliott Brandt, describing how his organization has cultivated influence with three top national security officials in the Trump administration – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Director Mike Waltz, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe – and how it believes it can gain “access” to their internal discussions.

Joining Brandt on the panel was Dana Stroul, formerly the highest ranking civilian overseeing Middle East issues in the Biden administration’s Department of Defense. Stroul made it clear that defending Israel’s strategic imperatives from within the US government was a top priority, arguing that Washington should deepen its “mutually beneficial” special relationship with its “strong partner” in Tel Aviv.

Stroul dismissed the bloodbath in Gaza as the result of supposed Hamas tactics which supposedly aim to maximize the amount of children killed by Israel. At the same time, she and her fellow Israel lobbyists fretted about the impact of the post-October 7 war on public support for the self-proclaimed Jewish state. She was particularly troubled by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ attempts to force votes on military aid packages to Israel which, in her view, should never be debated in the open. Another unidentified AIPAC panelist worried that pro-Palestinian academics could eventually influence AI knowledge systems, leading to a dangerous shift in national security policy unless they were decisively suppressed.

The Congressional Summit was permeated with anxiety, as AIPAC leaders told rank-and-file members to hide their badges when they left the Marriott Hotel for fear they would be confronted by anti-genocide protesters. Other than a handful of sessions, such as a keynote address by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, the conference was strictly off-the-record.

With the cameras off, AIPAC leadership provided unusually candid details of their activities. In one revealing admission, Brandt explained how he and his lobbying organization groomed the future CIA director and other top Trump officials as pro-Israel assets.

AIPAC’s “lifelines” on the Trump national security team

Elliot Brandt was promoted to Executive Director of AIPAC in 2024, making him one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington. Though he is largely unknown to the American public, Brandt has spent around three decades building relationships on Capitol Hill. This was the key, he suggested, to cultivating the future leaders of America’s national security state as loyal servants of Israel.

Referring to Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, his National Security Director Mike Waltz, and Elise Stefanik, whose nomination to serve as the US ambassador to the United Nations was suddenly withdrawn to preserve the GOP’s majority in the House of Representatives, Brandt explained to AIPAC members, “Those three people have something in common: they all served in Congress.”

After relying heavily on pro-Israel donors to fuel their campaigns for office, “they all have relationships with key AIPAC leaders from their communities,” said the AIPAC CEO. “So the lines of communication are good should there be something questionable or curious, and we need access on the conversation.”

Brandt’s comments corroborate Representative Thomas Massie’s claim that each member of Congress is expected to answer to an “AIPAC person.”

The AIPAC director’s reference to his organization’s “access” to presumably internal national security discussions contains ominous echoes of past espionage scandals in which AIPAC employees were accused of forking classified information over to Israeli intelligence. In 2004, for example, the FBI arrested a Pentagon researcher named Larry Franklin, who had provided classified documents related to Iran to two AIPAC staffers, Keith Weissman and Steve Rosen, who then delivered the information to Israeli intelligence. That December, the FBI raided AIPAC’s offices and seized a computer belonging to Brandt’s predecessor, Howard Kohr. (In the end, Franklin received a slap on the wrist from the government while Weissman and Rosen were fired by AIPAC.)

In his remarks to the AIPAC Congressional Summit, Brandt also pointed to CIA Director John Ratcliffe as an important point of contact. “You know that one of the first candidates I ever met with as an AIPAC professional in my job when he was a candidate for Congress was a guy named John Ratcliffe,” he recalled. “He was challenging a long time member of Congress in Dallas. I said, this guy looks like he could win the race, and, we go talk to him. He had a good understanding of issues, and a couple of weeks ago, he took the oath as the CIA director, for crying out loud. This is a guy that we had a chance to speak to, so there are, there are a lot – I wouldn’t call them lifelines, but there are lifelines in there.”

Top Pentagon veteran comes out as Israel lobbyist

Dana Stroul works as director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a neoconservative think tank that was originally founded as the research arm of AIPAC. Stroul previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East in the Biden administration’s Pentagon, presiding over policy toward Iran, Syria and virtually every other issue of importance to Israel.

In a closed session at the Marriott hotel, seated before an audience of AIPAC members, Stroul sounded more like a veteran Israel lobbyist than a US national security expert, arguing at length that any and all US military aid packages to Israel provided a net benefit to American empire, while dismissing well-documented Israeli atrocities in the besieged Gaza Strip as the result of “clever” Hamas human shield tactics.

According to an attendee of the AIPAC Congressional Summit, Stroul began her remarks by recalling the frantic hours after she received word of the October 7, 2023 attacks. Personally summoned to work by then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Stroul described how she rushed her child to the Pentagon’s in-house daycare center so she could get to the work of surging munitions to the Israeli military. She said she worked continuously for the next 48 hours, helping the Pentagon transfer weapons from its own stockpiles to Israeli bases. (The AIPAC attendee was unable to capture audio of these comments by Stroul).

Even as she worked to ensure that Israel had all it needed to transform Gaza into a moonscape, Stroul privately acknowledged that the Israeli military might be committing war crimes, according to a series of emails leaked to Reuters. On October 13, 2023, Stroul fired off an email to top White House, State Department, and Pentagon officials about a phone call she had just held with the International Red Cross Committee’s (ICRC) Middle East director, Fabrizio Carboni. “ICRC is not ready to say this in public, but is raising private alarm that Israel is close to committing war crimes,” Stroul wrote. “Their main line is that it is impossible for one million civilians to move this fast.”

Since recognizing the likelihood of Israeli atrocities, Stroul has apparently kept her conscience clear by blaming Hamas for the over 50,000 civilians Israel has killed in Gaza. “I think if you’re in Iran, or you are the Houthis or any of these other proxy terrorist groups, and frankly, probably the Russians and the Chinese,” she told AIPAC members at the 2025 congressional summit, “you’re looking at the ways in which the international community so quickly moved on from October 7 and what happened to Israel and why Israel is at war, and you’re probably taking away that a great tactic in wars to put as many civilians on the front lines as possible so that they can just get killed. And so, the Hamas tactic had strategic effects, because Israel finds itself isolated on the international stage. And it’s a tactic by Hamas to both terrorize on the global stage, and number two, [for] propaganda and disinformation.“

Stroul went on to suggest that the Israeli military was superior in ways to the US military. “This is a mutually beneficial relationship. This is not just about what the United States gives Israel,” the former Pentagon official declared. “This is a partner that has flipped the script on what can be accomplished with military force in a way the United States military never conceived of doing against Iran and Iran’s proxies across the Middle East. We get as much intelligence from Israel, as we give to Israel. They are using our F-35 more than we are using it…”

In her view, Israel also served as an important proxy of the US by applying violence and taking casualties against its supposed enemies: “One thing that you hear that I think is common on the far right and the far left is that they don’t want young men, American men and women, service members going to war in the Middle East, or anywhere. So the way to not have young Americans on the line anywhere is to actually invest in strong partners who can defend themselves. That’s Israel.”

One month after Stroul delivered her comments to AIPAC, President Donald Trump restarted the US military assault on Yemen’s Ansarullah movement in order to protect Israeli shipping from its blockade of the Red Sea. The war has by now cost US taxpayers at least one billion dollars, but has failed to achieve freedom of navigation.

Like the other AIPAC panelists, Stroul was consumed with anxiety about Israel’s image among the American public. She singled out Sen. Bernie Sanders’ efforts to suspend military aid to Israel as a particular source of concern, though not necessarily because she believed they would be successful.

“What do I worry about? I think everyone who’s a supporter of this relationship needs to be wary of the manner in which sometimes it’s not going to be about – Israel is going to be about congressional versus legislative tussling, but Israel is going to be caught in the crosshairs. And I’m worried about that with these executive holds,” Stroul proclaimed.

I’m worried about it with things like the [Bernie] Sanders joint resolutions of disapproval, even if he doesn’t force a vote this time, we’re not getting through four years without him forcing a vote. And it is not good for Israel and for this relationship to make members constantly have to vote on it, even if they pass. That’s not the point. The point is to not have to debate every time.”

Fear of a pro-Palestine AI system

Asked about his greatest concern, an AIPAC panelist whom The Grayzone has not been able to identify pointed to academia and social media. According to the clearly seasoned Israel lobbyist, Israel was losing “the war of ideas” to a collection of professors and influencers with outsized influence among the future generation of America’s intelligentsia.

“Imagine five years from now, a staff, a congressional staffer, types into AI Claude, GBT, at that one. GBT, 14, whatever says, ‘Is supporting Israel bad for American national security?’ The answer that they get back is going to be informed by the information that’s on the internet today, which is why punching back in the information sphere becomes so important,” the Israel lobbyist urged.

“When you disengage, you leave an open playing field for precisely that sort of information that’s going to inform national security decisions five years from now. And by the way, Congress is not immune, because if a member of Congress, if his or her elector, is increasingly being read that type of information, it will skew how they pressure him or her to vote, or even to throw him or her out of office and pick somebody else. Right?… I mean, it starts in academia, but it doesn’t end there, right?”

AIPAC did not respond to The Grayzone’s request for comment about statements made during the off-the-record panel.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes, Wars for Israel | , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel orders closure of UNRWA schools in Jerusalem’s Shuafat camp

MEMO | April 9, 2025

The Israeli occupation state’s police have informed all school principals working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the Shuafat refugee camp, in occupied East Jerusalem, of official orders to close their schools within 30 days, Quds Press reported.

According to Palestinian sources, the Israeli authorities have instructed UNRWA’s school administration in Shuafat to transfer all students to schools run by the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem.

This decision follows repeated incidents targeting UNRWA’s operations in occupied East Jerusalem. Just a week ago, UNRWA reported that its headquarters in the area was deliberately set on fire once again, amid what it described as a sustained and systematic campaign of incitement against the agency.

UNRWA stated that “this condemnable act is part of ongoing and systematic incitement against the agency for months,” warning that UN staff and facilities across the West Bank are facing escalating threats.

The agency also recalled that, in January 2025, its staff were “forced to evacuate” its East Jerusalem premises as Israeli laws aimed at restricting UNRWA’s work came into effect after the Israeli Knesset voted to ban UNRWA’s operations within Israel in October 2024, labelling it a “terrorist group”.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance | , , , | Leave a comment

Meta’s Head Of AI Policy Is Ex-IDF Along With One Hundred Other Meta Employees

By Nate Bear – ¡Do Not Panic! – April 8, 2025

More than one hundred former Israeli spies and IDF soldiers work for tech giant Meta, including its head of AI policy, who served in the IDF under an Israeli government scheme that allows non-Israelis to volunteer for the Israeli army.

Shira Anderson, an American international rights lawyer, is Meta’s AI policy chief who voluntarily enlisted for the IDF in 2009 under the program which enables non-Israeli Jews who aren’t eligible for military conscription to join the Israeli army.

Through this program, known as Garin Tzabar, many non-Israelis who have fought for the IDF have been implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity since Israel’s genocide of Gaza began in October 2023.

Anderson served as a non-commissioned officer in the IDF for over two years where she worked in the Military Strategic Information Section, writing dossiers and public relations propaganda. She was also the liaison between the IDF and foreign military attaches stationed in Israel, and liaison to the Red Cross.

With AI a critical emerging technology for tech giants and militaries, Anderson’s role at Meta is an important one. She develops the legal guidance, policies and public relations talking points concerning AI issues and regulation for all of Meta’s key areas, including its product, public policy and government affairs teams.

At Meta, Anderson, who is based in Meta’s Washington DC office, is in familiar company. More than one hundred former Israeli spies and IDF soldiers are employed by the company, my new investigation shows, many of whom worked for Israel’s spy agency Unit 8200.

These ex-IDF members are based evenly across Meta’s US offices and its Tel Aviv office, and a significant number of them, like Anderson, have a specialisation in AI. Given that Israel has made extensive use of AI not just to conduct its genocide, but to establish its prior system of apartheid, surveillance and occupation, Meta’s recruiting of IDF AI specialists is particularly insidious. Did these former Israeli spies use their Unit 8200 connections to help the tech giant collaborate with the IDF to build kill lists? According to a report last year, Unit 8200 infiltrated WhatsApp groups and marked every name in a group for assassination if just one alleged Hamas member was also in the group, no matter the size or content of the group chat.

How did Israel’s spy unit gain access to WhatsApp user data held by Meta?

Meta has serious, war crime-related questions to answer.

Questions that Anderson has no doubt drafted PR responses for.

Anderson has a long-standing allegiance to Israel. She joined the IDF after studying for a history degree at the University of California, Berkley, then completed a law degree at Duke University before returning to Israel where she worked for an Israeli thinktank run by the former head of the IDF. After this she became a legal assistant to the head of Israel’s Supreme Court. It was Israel’s Supreme Court that two weeks ago rejected a petition to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, effectively greenlighting the use of starvation as a weapon. This is a war crime under the Geneva Convention.

Anderson herself is a strident denier of the genocide. During a podcast appearance last year she said, “I absolutely do not think genocide is happening” and denied Israel was deliberately targeting civilians. During the interview she called Hamas “a death cult” and said “Gaza is a failed state,” despite it not being a state, the central fact that underlies Palestinian resistance. This is something you’d hope an international rights lawyer would know. She made numerous genocidal statements during the interview, including that “the challenge in the West Bank” is that “international law doesn’t permit Israel to do what it does in Gaza” because the West Bank is occupied. As a result, she lamented, “different rules apply.” She invoked the trolley problem to argue why killing large numbers of civilians is justifiable and appears from her time as IDF Red Cross liaison to have a particular grudge against the aid organisation, saying it “acts like a country” in Israel. You can hear it all here.

Anderson’s path to serve in the IDF, via the Garin Tzabar program, is also highly controversial. This initiative has enabled non-Israelis (known as ‘Lone Soldiers’) to join the IDF, murder Palestinians, commit war crimes, and then re-integrate into their home societies. Legal cases against Garin Tzabar volunteers who have returned to their homes after serving in the IDF are moving forward in a number of countries. In the UK evidence of war crimes committed in Gaza by ten Britons living in London has recently been submitted to London’s Metropolitan police.

How many possible war criminals are employed by Meta?

You can find the Tel Aviv-based Meta employee names here and here. You can find the names of the US-based employees and their locations herehere and here.

Some of the former Israeli spies now working for Meta spent significant amounts of time in Unit 8200, in some cases jumping straight from the IDF to Meta. Guy Shenkerman, for example, spent over a decade in Israel’s spy unit before moving to the US to join Meta in the summer of 2022. Miki Rothschild, a vice president of product management at Meta’s Sunnydale campus, spent three years during the second intifada as a commander of the IDF’s Moran Squad which controls long range missile strikes. Maksim Shmukler who works for Meta in Menlo Park and has also worked for Google and Apple, spent six and half years in Unit 8200 before moving to Texas.

Shenkerman, Rothschild and Shmukler are Israelis, while Shira Anderson volunteered to use her skills to launder the legalese that Israel relies on to whitewash genocide. The fact that the person who volunteered her professional services for an AI-powered apartheid state now helps determine how Meta will use our data to power an AI future should worry us all. It should especially concern us in light of America’s brutal crackdown on those who speak against genocide.

In November we saw Meta’s vision for this AI future when the company announced it was making its ‘Llama’ AI tools available to the US and its so-called ‘Five Eyes’ allies for national security applications. In the announcement Meta said it was “thrilled” to be working with America’s preeminent weapons manufacturers and national security state corporations including Lockheed Martin, Palantir and Anduril.

To recap. A former IDF officer is the head of AI policy for Meta, where she works alongside more than one hundred other former IDF and Israeli spies, and they are all now directly mobilised to work with America’s national security state apparatus and alongside a federal government disappearing and detaining dissidents who speak out against genocide.

The news that large numbers of former IDF members are employed by Meta comes after my investigations earlier this year revealed the former Unit 8200 AI specialists working on AI for big tech companies, and the former spies imported into Google via its acquisition of Wiz.

With the proliferation of former Israeli spies and solders into US big tech we are looking at the complete capture of the US national security state by pro-Israel voices. By voices who deny genocide as we watch journalists burn to death in tents. Who deny genocide as we watch headless babies carried aloft through the rubble and ruins of once vibrant streets. Voices who deny genocide as Israel’s highest court waves through starvation policies. By voices who, in Trump, appear to have found the ideal man to execute the Zionist wish-list.

As an AI future advances, the people who constructed the digital architecture enabling total surveillance and control of the Palestinians, and who wrote the code that enabled their genocide, are now determining that future for all of us.

The prospect is truly terrifying.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Israel beats drums of war in run-up to Iran-US talks

Press TV – April 9, 2025

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revisited threats of deployment of military force against Iran’s nuclear facilities, demanding physical destruction of the nuclear sites, a few days before the Islamic Republic and the United States are slated to engage in indirect talks.

The Israeli official made the call in a video address on Tuesday, alleging that the prospect of using military force was the only means of ensuring, what he called, Tehran’s non-pursuance of “nuclear weapons.”

He asserted that any agreement between the United States and Iran could only succeed if Iran’s nuclear facilities were “blown up” and “dismantled” under American supervision.

“We agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said, referring to his discussions with US President Donald Trump. However, he dismissed the prospect of a purely diplomatic path, saying things would only work if the United States took direct military action to eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“If we go in, blow up the [nuclear] facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision and American execution — that is good,” he claimed.

“If that doesn’t happen,” he added, Iran could “drag out talks.” “Then the option is military,” Netanyahu alleged.

The Israeli premier also said he and Trump had discussed that scenario “at length.”

The remarks flew directly in the face of the Islamic Republic’s repeated assertions that it would neither pursue nor possess any such unconventional weapons as per clear moral and religious imperatives.

Netanyahu’s comments followed a tense meeting at the White House, where he appeared publicly out of step with Trump on several major issues, including Iran, regional diplomacy, and trade.

During the meeting, he found out from Trump firsthand that Iran and the US were to engage in indirect talks.

Several major Israeli media outlets later said the Israeli delegation had “shock written all over their faces” after the announcement, saying Netanyahu had returned from the meeting “empty-handed” and “humiliated.” One outlet even described the meeting as the “most failed” one to ever take place between an Israeli premier and a US president.

Nonetheless, Netanyahu tried to frame the visit positively, describing it as “very warm” and suggesting further announcements would be made in due time.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

USAID paid Czech groups to ‘wage war’ against Russia – former police chief

RT | April 9, 2025

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) financed a long-running anti-Russian campaign in the Czech Republic, former Czech police chief Stanislav Novotny has told RT. In an exclusive interview on Wednesday, Novotny said Washington’s primary channel for funding political projects abroad had played a major role in shaping Czech-Russian relations.

According to the former police chief, who is now a lawyer and journalist, US billionaire George Soros has also had a significant influence on the deterioration of ties between Prague and Moscow through his Open Society Foundations.

“A lot of money was poured into civil society organizations of political nature which were waging a war against Russia,” Novotny said. “Such organizations should simply be removed,” he added, accusing the Czech government of spending taxpayers’ money on stoking anti-Russian sentiment by contributing financially to the organizations.

US President Donald Trump launched the process of dismantling USAID shortly after returning to office in January, citing high costs and limited benefits associated with its programs. He also started negotiations with Russia aimed at improving ties and resolving the Ukraine conflict.

While commenting on the developments around USAID in early February, Novotny described the agency as “the monster that has taken over the world,” alleging it “orchestrated wars, organized mass migration, broke up national cohesion and destroyed indigenous cultures.”

The Czech Republic was formed in 1993 after the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to those events it was part of communist Czechoslovakia, a key member of the Soviet Union-led Eastern Bloc.

Prague has adopted a notably anti-Russian stance in recent years, particularly in response to the events in Ukraine, becoming one of Kiev’s staunchest supporters and labeling Russia a “terrorist state.”

Hundreds of Soviet-era monuments have been removed or modified in the EU state since the 1990s, with a renewed wave of demolitions after the 2014 armed coup in Kiev, Crimea’s decision to join Russia, and the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

The campaign to demolish the monuments was “among the policies that were aimed at provoking fear and hatred towards the Russians,” Novotny argued.

Novotny, who founded the Independent Media Association in the Czech Republic, said he came to Moscow to give the RT interview because “talking to Russian journalists is practically prohibited.” RT and other Russian media have been banned in the EU since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Russophobia | , , | Leave a comment

Ukraine risks losing Odessa if ideas of European troop deployment entertained

By Ahmed Adel | April 9, 2025

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Europe has its eye on Odessa and Lvov and is making plans for military intervention that are “reminiscent of the military intervention by the Entente” during the 1917-1922 Russian Civil War. Despite Western plans, Russia will not allow the presence of NATO forces on Ukraine’s territory, as this would pose a direct threat to national security.

Given the strategic importance of Odessa and Lvov, the West did not accidentally target these cities. Odessa is a port that leads to the Danube, and whoever controls the historically Russian city greatly influences the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Lvov is Ukraine’s gateway to the European Union.

Although Kiev, Kharkov, and Dnipropetrovsk are also large Ukrainian cities, the West will not risk its troops there, especially in the latter two, because they are too close to the front line. This is the same issue as Odessa, which is not far from the Dnieper and Kherson, but the city has too much strategic value to surrender.

Odessa, founded in 1794 by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great as a military and trading port on the Black Sea, has always been considered a Russian city. During the Russian Empire, it was part of Novorossiya, but during the creation of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin effectively gave it to Ukraine.

Odessa, a city that was occupied for more than 900 days during World War II, was liberated from German Nazi forces by Red Army soldiers. For Russians, Odessa is a hero city, but even more than that, because it was one of the first cities where the Russian Spring began, a mass action that was a response to the coup d’état in Kiev in 2014, when pro-Western and neo-Nazi currents took power.

Mass pro-Russian protests were held in many cities in southeastern Ukraine, and the discontented people, who were facing repression from the new Kiev regime, rose up to defend the Russian language and their rights. It all culminated in early May 2014 in Odessa, where supporters of the “Anti-Maidan,” opponents of the Ukrainian putschists, were burned alive in the Odessa House of Trade Unions. Ukrainian neo-Nazis shot those who tried to escape by jumping out of the building. Almost 50 people were killed and more than 250 were injured. The Ukrainian authorities have obstructed the investigation into this crime for years, and a decade later, this crime remains unpunished.

Despite all the tribulations and trials, Odessa has remained a Russian city historically, culturally, and in its mentality and spirit.

A “Coalition of the Willing” summit was held in Paris towards the end of March and representatives of about 30 countries, without the United States’ participation, discussed possible security guarantees for Kiev after the end of the Ukrainian conflict and the potential deployment of a military contingent on Ukraine’s territory.

Zakharova specified that the summit in Paris discussed the Franco-British initiative to deploy some “reassurance forces” in Ukraine after the conclusion of a peace agreement, rather than a peacekeeping contingent. According to her, this is reminiscent of the military intervention of the Entente forces during the Russian Civil War.

The parallels between that historical event and what is happening today are quite obvious.

European countries, the US, and Japan intervened in the Russian Civil War, hoping to grab their share of the crumbling Russian Empire. They thought that while fighting was waging on the front, they could grab Russia, including Ukraine, which was then in the process of being created. Ultimately, when they realized they were losing, they fled.

In essence, this is how they plan to introduce these contingents—it is unclear what kind—into Ukraine today.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said that it will not allow the deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine, while emphasizing that it was precisely the Atlantic Alliance’s expansion to the East that was the reason for the start of the Russian special military operation in February 2022.

NATO’s entry into any city, whether Lvov, Odessa, Kiev, or Kharkov, is unacceptable for Moscow, and it is clear that they will perceive this as NATO’s conquest of Ukrainian territory. Ukraine is the “soft tissue at the bottom of Russia’s belly,” and the entry of NATO forces would be an increased threat to Russian national security.

The loss of Odessa would be fatal for the Ukrainian economy and military, as Ukraine would lose its last major port on the Black Sea through which Western arms shipments now flow and where Ukraine can export to the world, particularly metals and wheat. Odessa has been mostly spared from the current war, with Russia not having yet attempted to liberate the city, but if discussions in the West to deploy troops continue and Kiev entertains it, it could instigate a Russian action to take the city. That would deal another major blow to Ukraine’s ailing economy and post-war recovery.

Ahmed Adel is a Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher.

April 9, 2025 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

More international students face deportation amid Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestine activism

An encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of Minnesota’s campus in Minneapolis, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
By Alireza Akbari | Press TV | April 8, 2025

On Friday, Fordham University President Tania Tetlow confirmed the revocation of an undergraduate student’s visa—marking the school’s first known case amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign targeting international students.

In a campus-wide email, Tetlow described the move as a source of “growing distress and anxiety,” admitting she had no power to reassure students affected by the Trump administration’s campaign.

She noted that it came as part of a broader pattern of student visas being canceled without “explanation or notice” to either the university administration or to the students themselves.

University spokesperson Bob Howe also stated that Fordham was not informed of the reason behind the revocation by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“The university does not believe that the student is connected to the protests at Fordham,” he said.

Following confirmation of the revocation, student organizations at Fordham, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), under the name Fordham SJP, called on the university to “publicly refuse cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the DHS in all forms.”

“We reject these attempts to suppress political expression and collaboration with state violence,” read the statement published on social media.

The group framed the visa revocation as “part of a broader campaign to criminalize dissent,” particularly targeting those who speak out against US imperialism and in support of Palestine.

The Fordham student’s visa revocation came just a month after the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and graduate student at Columbia University, who was arrested by ICE agents on March 8 at his New York City apartment.

Following Khalil’s detention, the Trump administration expanded its crackdown, resulting in the revocation of over 300 international student visas at universities across the country.

Among them, the University of California system reported nearly twenty visa cancellations, including cases at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Berkeley.

In many cases, students have been accused—without evidence—of supporting the Hamas resistance movement or posing vague “foreign policy” risks.

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla publicly criticized the visa cancellations, saying federal authorities provided no specific allegations and that students were given no opportunity to respond.

Harvard’s International Office similarly reported that affected students received no explanation for the revocations, which were carried out suddenly and without transparency or consistent legal justification.

Civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Middle East Studies Association, have condemned the visa cancellations as a violation of free speech and academic freedom, warning of the dangers in conflating peaceful political expression with extremism.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, at least 13 international students — including six current students and seven alumni on work extensions — have had their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records terminated, the university confirmed.

A SEVIS termination typically requires affected individuals to leave the US immediately.

UW-Madison stated that it had no role in the federal decision and has not observed any related law enforcement activity on campus.

The university also stated it has no reason to believe the terminations are linked to political engagement or free speech, though the exact reasons remain unknown.

At least 50 international students at Arizona State University (ASU) have also had their visas revoked, and at least three are reported to have been detained.

According to Arizona Luminaria, the number of affected students has grown quickly from an initial report pf eight cases.

Senior attorney Ami Hutchinson of the Tucson-based law firm Green Evans-Schroeder, which is representing the students, said many are bewildered by the sudden and shocking action.

“They still seem to think that someone made a mistake. That it shouldn’t have happened and this was just all a misunderstanding,” Hutchinson said.“They’re really, really afraid,” she added.

One student has reportedly been held in immigration detention for about 10 days. While ASU declined to confirm the total number of students impacted, Hutchinson estimates that around 1,000 international student visas have been revoked across the country, based on information from immigration attorneys.

Initially, ASU officials said that the cancellations were related to “various legal infractions” and emphasized that they were not connected to campus protests. The identities of the affected students have not been made public.

In response, student organizations—including Students for Justice in Palestine at ASU—organized protests calling for greater protection and support for international students.

Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a 34-year-old assistant professor and kidney transplant specialist at Brown University, was detained upon her return from a trip to Lebanon and deported—despite holding a valid H-1B visa and a federal judge’s order temporarily halting her removal.

US authorities allege that Dr. Alawieh attended the funeral of Hezbollah’s late leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut and had photos on her phone showing sympathy toward Hezbollah figures.

Dr. Alawieh maintains that her attendance was for religious reasons and not politically motivated.

Following her deportation, Brown University issued a travel advisory urging international students, faculty, and staff to reconsider or delay international travel due to uncertainty around reentry risks.

Khalil, who has been detained, now faces deportation proceedings. His arrest followed allegations related to his campus activism, though no criminal charges have been made public.

Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old doctoral student from India, left the US after her F-1 visa was revoked on March 5, reportedly due to her participation in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus.

Recent federal actions have led to the revocation of F-1 visas for 10 international students across Colorado State University (CSU) and the University of Colorado (CU) system.

At CSU, six students have been affected, including five Kuwaiti nationals and one Saudi graduate student employed on campus. University officials have reportedly advised the impacted students to contact their respective embassies for assistance.

The University of Colorado reported four affected students across its Boulder and Colorado Springs campuses but declined to release additional details, citing privacy concerns.

At Cornell University, international students have also been caught in the wave of federal visa enforcement. Among them is Momodou Taal, a British-Gambian Ph.D. student in Africana Studies who was forced to leave the US after his visa was revoked in March 2025.

The US government cited his participation in “disruptive protests” and alleged that he had contributed to a hostile environment for Jewish students.

Taal, however, denied these allegations and said he chose to leave due to fears for his safety and the “lawlessness” of the Trump administration.

In response, Cornell University advised students who receive any communication regarding visa revocation to contact the Office of Global Learning’s International Services immediately for support.

At Georgetown University, the recent detention of Dr. Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national and postdoctoral fellow, also raised significant concerns.

He was detained by ICE agents after his J-1 visa was revoked. The DHS accused him of disseminating “Hamas propaganda” and fostering antisemitism on social media—claims for which no evidence has yet been presented.

Dr. Suri, who is married to a Palestinian woman, is currently being held in a Texas detention facility under overcrowded conditions, and his academic work has been indefinitely suspended.

Following his arrest, his legal team filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging the legality of his detention.

On March 20, US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles issued an order temporarily blocking his deportation pending further court proceedings.

Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service expressed deep concern over his detention and emphasized the potential chilling effect on freedom of expression within academic institutions.

At NC State, two Saudi graduate students—including Saleh Al Gurad, who was studying engineering management and working on campus—had their visas abruptly revoked on March 25, without explanation or prior notification to the university.

According to his roommate, Al Gurad was apolitical and had no involvement in campus protests.

Both students chose to leave the US voluntarily to avoid possible detention. The university offered assistance to help them complete their semester remotely.

NC State officials expressed deep concern over the lack of communication from federal agencies and the sudden impact these actions have had on its international student community.

At Southern Illinois University, an international student’s visa was revoked on March 28, as confirmed by university officials.

The federal government did not provide a reason for the action, and the student’s identity and country of origin have not been disclosed.

In response, SIU’s administration issued a memo to its international students, advising them to carry photocopies of immigration documents, maintain proof of enrollment and US residence, and exercise discretion on social media and during political demonstrations.

The incident has sparked anxiety across SIU’s international community, with university officials stressing the potential immigration risks tied to protest participation and online activity.

At Temple University, an unnamed international student had their visa revoked by the US Department of State for unspecified reasons.

The student learned of the revocation only after being notified by Temple’s Office of Global Engagement and chose to return to their home country voluntarily.

Although no evidence or formal allegations were disclosed, advocacy groups like CAIR-Philadelphia have voiced concern that the action may be linked to anti-genocide or pro-Palestinian activism—mirroring a broader Trump administration’s pattern of targeting pro-Palestinian activism.

Temple’s Office of Global Engagement provided the student with legal counsel and facilitated communication with officials from the student’s home country.

In a campus-wide message, University President John Fry reaffirmed Temple’s commitment to its international student community and noted that no other student records had been altered at that time.

At Tufts University, Rumeysa Öztürk, a Turkish Ph.D. student and Fulbright Scholar, was also detained by ICE on March 25 while leaving her apartment to attend an Iftar dinner.

Öztürk’s visa was revoked shortly afterward, reportedly in connection with an Op-Ed she co-authored in The Tufts Daily, in which she criticized the Israeli regime and called for divestment from companies linked to Israeli acts of aggression in Gaza.

The DHS further claimed her visa was revoked due to support for Hamas. However, Öztürk has not been formally charged with any crime and remains in a Louisiana detention center.

Tufts University publicly condemned her detention, describing her as a valued member of the community who was in good academic and immigration standing at the time of her arrest.

University President Sunil Kumar stated that Tufts had no prior knowledge of her visa cancellation and reaffirmed the institution’s support for her and other international students.

At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), recent federal actions led to the revocation of several student visas, causing widespread concern across campus.

At least six international students had their visas revoked under unclear circumstances, reportedly linked to arrests or minor convictions, according to campus sources.

Chancellor Julio Frenk confirmed that the Trump administration revoked the F-1 visas of six current students and six former students who were participating in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program—a federal initiative that allows international graduates to gain work experience in their field of study.

Frenk acknowledged the uncertainty these actions have created within the UCLA community and emphasized the university’s commitment to supporting its international students.

Faculty groups have also raised alarm over the lack of transparency and the possibility that students are being targeted based on racial or political profiling.

Similar cases across the country have involved accusations tied to activism-related visa violations.

At the University of Alabama, the March 25 detention of Alireza Doroudi, an Iranian doctoral student in mechanical engineering, has sparked outrage.

Doroudi was arrested by ICE agents at his home early in the morning and later transferred to the Jena-LaSalle Detention Facility in Louisiana, a site previously criticized for human rights violations.

According to the DHS, Doroudi poses “significant national security concerns,” though no formal charges or evidence have been presented.

His attorney, David Rozas, stated that Doroudi has not been involved in any criminal activity or political protests. Doroudi first entered the US on a valid student visa in January 2023. Reports suggest that his visa was revoked six months later.

However, the university’s International Student and Scholar Services office had previously advised him that he could legally remain in the US as long as he maintained his academic status.

At the University of Cincinnati, several international students had their F-1 visas revoked by the DHS.

In a statement, UC President Neville G. Pinto confirmed that a “small number” of international students were affected.

While specific reasons for the revocations were not provided, President Pinto emphasized the university’s support for its international community and encouraged any impacted students to contact International Services for assistance.

At the University of Oregon, an international student had their F-1 visa revoked by the DHS on March 28 due to “unspecified criminal charges.”

The university confirmed it was not notified in advance and has no information about the charges. The student was given 15 days to leave the US unless they could find a legal pathway to remain.

UO expressed concern over the situation, emphasizing its commitment to the student’s privacy.

At the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), two international students had their legal status revoked following federal actions.

University staff discovered through routine checks of the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) that the students’ statuses had been terminated.

One student from India lost his status on April 3, 2025, while another from Lebanon faced termination on March 28.

Both were graduate students participating in Optional Practical Training (OPT), and both students chose to leave the country voluntarily to avoid detention.

Later, UT Austin voiced concern over the cancellations and is actively seeking more information from federal agencies.

Across University of California (UC) campuses, several international students have had their visas revoked due to federal actions.

At UCLA, Chancellor Julio Frenk reported that visas were revoked for six current students and six former students in the OPT program. At UC Davis, officials confirmed visa terminations for seven students and five recent graduates.

“These numbers may change. Federal agents have not entered our campus, and no community members have been taken into custody,” the university said in a statement on Saturday.

At UC San Diego (UCSD), five students lost their F-1 visas without notice. A sixth student was detained at the border and deported. No explanation has been provided.

At UC Irvine, five international students were affected by visa revocations, though details remain unclear. At UC Berkeley, at least six individuals—two undergraduates, two graduate students, and two recent alumni—had their visas revoked. No reasons were given, but advocacy groups believe activism may be a factor.

At UC Santa Barbara, three cases of visa revocations were reported, though no further details have been released.

At Stanford University in California, four students and two recent graduates had their visas revoked. The revocations were discovered during a routine check of the SEVIS database.

Stanford officials stated they were unaware of the reasons behind the actions and confirmed that no immigration authorities had entered the campus.

The affected individuals were notified, and the university is offering external legal assistance. No specific allegations have been disclosed.

At Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSU Mankato), federal actions have affected several international students.

In early April 2025, President Edward Inch informed the campus community that the DHS had revoked the SEVIS records of five students.

Inch called the situation “unprecedented and troubling,” urging the community to handle it with sensitivity due to privacy protections.

Neither the students nor the university had received advance notice of the terminations.

At Texas A&M University (TAMU), officials reported that three international students had their legal residency status terminated by DHS.

The university’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) has been providing guidance on immigration policy and connecting the affected students with legal resources.

At the University of Minnesota, a mass deportation effort under the Trump administration led to the detention and visa revocation of an international graduate student.

On March 27, Dogukan Gunaydin, a Turkish citizen and graduate student, was detained by ICE agents near his residence as he was leaving for class.

He reported that the agents did not initially identify themselves, leaving him to fear he was being kidnapped.

The DHS later claimed his visa had been revoked due to a prior DUI conviction. However, his legal team argues that the revocation took place roughly seven hours after his arrest.

Gunaydin has filed a lawsuit challenging his detention, alleging violations of his constitutional rights and seeking immediate release.

The suit contends that the retroactive visa revocation and subsequent detention are unlawful and infringe on his rights to free speech and due process.

At Kent State University in Ohio, four individuals affiliated with the university had their visas revoked.

KSU President Todd Diacon announced that the DHS revoked the visas of one current international student and three recent graduates who were on OPT work permits.

The reasons behind the revocations remain undisclosed. The university expressed concern over the lack of transparency and absence of prior notice.

At the University of Akron, visas for two international students were revoked.

On April 4, 2025, UA confirmed the actions by DHS and stated that the affected students were now working with immigration attorneys to navigate the situation.

The university also reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the students during this difficult time.

At Ohio State University, at least five international students had their F-1 visas revoked, according to university spokesperson Ben Johnson.

The reasons for the revocations remain unclear. The students are currently in the US and are working with attorneys and university officials to determine their next steps.

At the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), five international students had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government this past week.

Chancellor Javier Reyes shared the news on April 4, explaining that the university was not notified in advance and only discovered the revocations through proactive SEVIS database checks.

While the reasons are still unclear, similar cases nationwide have been linked to minor infractions or student activism.

UMass stated it is actively supporting the affected students, providing both on-campus and off-campus resources, including legal assistance.

At Central Michigan University, the DHS abruptly terminated the visa records of several current and former international students without prior notice.

The university discovered the terminations during routine checks of the SEVIS. Neither CMU nor the affected students were informed in advance, and no explanation has been provided.

CMU President Neil MacKinnon called the situation “alarming” and noted that the university has no authority to reverse the decisions or offer legal representation.

Students have been advised to consult immigration attorneys. In response, the university has designated certain campus spaces where ICE agents must present judicial warrants to enter.

Several institutions across Minnesota have reported an increasing number of visa revocations involving international students. The reasons for the revocations remain undisclosed, and federal authorities have not commented. Here’s what has been confirmed so far:

Ridgewater College (Hutchinson and Willmar campuses): One international student recently had their visa revoked. College officials have not released further information regarding the timing or cause.

St. Cloud State University: A “handful” of international students had their SEVIS records terminated by DHS. The university has stated it is working directly with affected students to provide support.

Metropolitan State University (St. Paul): One international student’s SEVIS record was terminated. It remains unclear whether their visa was also revoked, and no additional details have been disclosed by the university.

April 8, 2025 Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Full Spectrum Dominance, Solidarity and Activism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Trump touts record $1 trillion Pentagon budget

RT | April 8, 2025

US President Donald Trump has announced that his administration has approved a record defense budget of around $1 trillion despite an ongoing campaign to cut federal spending.

Trump made the remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

“We are very cost-conscious but the military is something that we have to build and we have to be strong because you have a lot of bad forces out there now,” Trump said. “Nobody’s seen anything like it.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stressed that “we intend to spend every taxpayer dollar wisely – on lethality and readiness.”

The defense secretary under the previous administration of President Joe Biden, Lloyd Austin, had proposed increasing the defense budget by roughly $50 billion more than projections for the fiscal year 2026.

In contrast to both Trump and Austin, in February the Pentagon proposed cutting spending by 8% but prioritizing expenditure on technologies such as drones, submarines, and defense operations at the US-Mexico border and operations related to deterring China.

The current US Defense Department budget is $895.2 billion. Despite the vast sums allocated to defense, the Pentagon has failed to pass an audit for seven consecutive years since the procedure was established.

Trump’s pledge for expanded military funding comes as his administration, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has implemented widespread federal spending cuts. Under DOGE, led by Elon Musk, roughly 280,000 federal workers have been laid off in recent months.

April 8, 2025 Posted by | Militarism, Sinophobia | | Leave a comment