"F-the University of Chicago"

Eman Abdelhadi

If you want a prime example of how our universities have gone off the rails, look no further than the University of Chicago's Eman Abdelhadi. Speaking at a socialist conference on July 5 in Chicago, she told the audience, "F- the University of Chicago." She called the university "evil" and also bragged about how she used her teaching position to advance the Palestinian agenda.

It's all about power, according to Abdelhadi. 

(All these years, I thought it was all about education.)

Here is her University of Chicago faculty page.

Checking the campus fishwrap, the Maroon, it seems there is no news on this as yet, but there is an article about a recent protest (March 2025) in support of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University student whom the government is trying to deport. Here is what she had to say on this occasion.

“Mahmoud Khalil has not been charged with a crime. I repeat, he has not been charged with a crime. Even according to the unjust system of laws that govern this country, Mahmoud Khalil is innocent,” Abdelhadi said. “Mahmoud Khalil is a political prisoner. Tyrant-king Trump is sending a message that we could all be political prisoners, that nothing can protect us if we dissent, not our legal statuses and not even the constitution of this land.”

And what is the reaction of the "evil" university administrators to Abdelhadi's most recent comments?

Jul 9, 2025

"The University is aware of a faculty member’s publicized comments at a recent conference. The University of Chicago is deeply committed to the values of academic freedom and the free expression of ideas, and for this reason does not limit the comments of faculty members, who speak for themselves and not for the University. It is the responsibility of our faculty to advance scholarship and to teach our students to the highest standards of the profession. That includes creating classrooms that are free from discrimination, welcome many different viewpoints, and focus on developing students' rigorous critical thinking skills. This is the basis on which faculty are evaluated. We take any concerns that our faculty are not fulfilling this responsibility seriously, and are investigating this situation."

In the interest of full disclosure, when I was teaching part-time at UC Irvine from 1998-2016, I criticized UCI and the entire UC system,  not to mention some of its presidents and chancellors. I even wrote an op-ed in the Orange County Register whose title and theme were that UCI had to do more to protect its Jewish students. But I always did it in a professional manner, and to its credit, the university respected my freedom of speech. However, I never called the university "evil" or said, "F- UCI". There is nothing professional about that kind of language about your employer. Where I come from, there are consequences for those kinds of insults about the people you work for.

I will leave it to the University of Chicago to decide if they want to keep Abdelhadi on their faculty given how she feels about the institution. I just wish universities would take a long, hard look at professors who use their positions and classrooms to advance their political causes.  And if Eman Abdelhadi wanted to embarrass her university, she certainly succeeded.

Italy: One Fine Day in Old Milano

-Il Sussidiario

-Zazoom.it 

This week in Milan, about 1,000 Shi'ite Muslims turned out on the streets to celebrate one of their holidays. This included a public prayer and a march from the Central Train Station to Piazza della Repubblica. The women, of course, were fully veiled and separated from the men by a security detail.

The below commentary by Il Tempo reporter Giulia Sorrentino is quite critical and points out that it is just the latest demonstration of how Islam considers women.  Sorrentino also states that it is the latest episode of the West subjugating itself to Islam. The article is translated by Fousesquawk. It also has a video of the public demonstration.

Milan, Chaos in the city center and Islamic invasion. Muslims gather for Ashura-Video

July 6, 2025

There was a real Islamic invasion in Milan where some 1,000 Shiite Muslims gathered on the occasion of the celebration of Ashura, the Islamic holiday that commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (grandson of the Prophet Mohammad) in the battle of Kerbala. But what is truly disgusting is the latest episode of female discrimination, which we had to witness in silence, and the absence of condemnation on the part of the left both during the moment of prayer with the imam and the march from the Central Train Station to Piazza della Repubblica , the women, entirely veiled, kept at a distance from the men, even with a security detail assigned to them. In this extremely radical demonstration, which has nothing to do with the values of the West, there was a maximum expression of the way Islam considers the female sex. Inferior, marginalized, and subjugated in the name of a man who has total supremacy over every single aspect of daily life. Commenting on the episode is Lega (party) Deputy, Silvia Sardone, who stresses that it is a clear signal of the increasingly marked Islamization, with cultures distant from ours that are imposing themselves, also due to our incapacity to defend our identity and traditions. After the prayer inside an enclosure that we saw in the recent Muslim holidays, a latest signal of how, in many Islamic communities, women are considered. The future of Europe that we imagine is certainly not one of mosques in continuous expansion, lights for Ramadan, schools closed for Islamic holidays, or students who go to pray in mosques. The risk is that of a Europe, which, year after year, subjugates itself to Islam. 

-Giulia Sorrentino

The Muslim Brotherhood in France (13)

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to see a new law passed by the end of this year aimed at stopping the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood in France. This follows on the heels of a French government-commissioned report that warned that the Brotherhood was a threat to national cohesion in France. As previously reported, that report was leaked to the French press.

The below article from France Bleu is translated by Fousesquawk. This is the latest in our series of translations of original European articles on the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe and the 13th such translation on France.

Emmanuel Macron announces a bill against Islamic "entryism before the end of the year".

Caption: Emmanuel Macron leaving the Council of Ministers on July 2, 2025.

On Monday, Emmanuel Macron announced that a bill aimed at Islamic "entryism", particularly by the Muslim Brotherhood, will be presented before the end of the year. The head of State wants to complement the 2021 law  against separatism, "strengthening the principles of the Republic."

On Monday, Emmanuel Macron announced that a bill aimed at Islamic "entryism", particularly by the Muslim Brotherhood, would be applicable "before the end of the year", and thus, ready before the end of the summer. The President spoke to various media outlets, including Franceinfo, after a new Council of Defense (meeting) on the topic, following an initial meeting at the end of May, judged to be unsatisfactory by the head of State.

Sensitize public awareness

With this bill, the head of State wishes to complement the 2021 law against separatism, "strengthening the principles of the Republic". Specifically, the text will propose technical measures to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from expanding its reach in society, with the possibility of dissolving donation funds that finance it and the seizure of assets of associations that act on its behalf.

The President also wants better control over the signature of the Republican Engagement Contract, which, since 2021, associations must sign to be able to receive public subsidies. "We want to sensitize public opinion," Emmanuel Macron told Francinfo, particularly within the perspective of the 2026 municipal (elections).

Emmanuel Macron had asked the government for "new propositions" by Monday after the leaks in the press of a report commissioned on the topic during the first Council of Defense at the end of May. The report noted a "threat to national cohesion", with the development of an Islamism "from below" on the part of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, born in 1928 in Egypt and banned in several countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan.

Netherlands: Tajiki Man on Trial for ISIS Recruiting

A 31-year-old man from Tajikistan, identified only as Abdusamad A., is on trial in Rotterdam charged with recruiting for ISIS. The public prosecutors is asking for an 8-year prison sentence.

The article below from Headliner.nl  (Reformatisch Dagblad) is translated by Fousesquawk. 

8 Years in prison demanded for terrorist suspect from Tajikistan

Monday 7 July 2025 at 16:21  Reformatorisch Dagblad

In this article:

The Public Prosecutor in Rotterdam has demanded a prison sentence of 8 years against Abdusamad A., a 31-year-old man from Tajikistan, for recruiting members for ISIS cells in various countries, including the Netherlands, with a view to preparing for attacks. The prosecutor placed him in the context of ISKP, the Afghan branch of the Islamic State. The man denies involvement and declared before the judge that he has nothing to do with ISIS. He was arrested in Eindhoven in July 2023 after a report from the AIVD*. His wife, who was arrested with him, was previously acquitted. The couple is since divorced and has remained in the Netherlands since 2022.

During an undercover operation, Abdusamad A. reportedly told an informant he belonged to ISIS, something that he downplayed in court as an attempt to make an impression due to the feelings of the other (person). The prosecutor states that in 2016, he tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS, but was then arrested in Turkey and sent to Ukraine, where, according to the prosecutor, he was part of an ISIS cell. The defense emphasized that the investigation brought forth little convincing evidence to prosecute him for participating in a terrorist organization.

*AIVD (Dutch Intelligence and Securrity Service)

Swiss Municipality Bans Foreigners from Public Pool

Porrentuy, Switzerland

It seems like there are big problems with public swimming pools in Western Europe, some of which we have recently reported on. In the Swiss municipality of Porrentuy in the Jura region bordering on France, the town has decided to ban foreigners from the pool. This is the direct result of incidents of bad behavior and aggression on the part of certain visitors from France.

The ban has caused consternation in France even with the conservative Rassemblement National party led by Marine Le Pen, which wants to stop Islamic immigration into France.

In defending the ban, the conservative Swiss People's Party (UDC) is pointing out that the "French" visitors who have caused the problems in Porrentuy are North Africans, Middle Easterners, and sub-Saharan Africans, who reside in high-crime areas in the neighboring French territory.

The below article from Le Matin (Switzerland) is translated from French by Fousesquawk. 

Swimming pool controversy

Porrentuy: The RN (National Rally party in France) complains....but the UDC (Swiss People's Party) applauds

The closure of the pool to foreigners is provoking a comical situation between the 2 parties of the extreme right, the Rassemblement National and the UDC.

Caption: The Porrentuy  swimming pool

The ban on the Porrentuy swimming pool to foreigners who do not reside or work in Switzerland continues to cause waves. On Sunday, the German-speaking press reported a position from the Federal Commission Against Racism, presided over by Ursula Schneider Schüttel, who believes that this measure is "problematic and irritating," according to Le Temps.

According to her, it is possible that this decision, "contravenes Article 8 of the federal constitution, which established a principle of non-discrimination (...) The community must verify if the general ban is actually proportionate, and if there are other measures that are less restrictive, such as banning individuals from swimming/bathing who repeatedly do not respect the rules.

In France, the political world is also in turmoil, and talking about discrimination in Switzerland. The regional councilor of the Grand Est region, Christian Zimmermann, a member of the Rassemblement National party, has denounced a "discriminatory and disproportionate" measure in a letter to the Porrentuy authorities, which has been reported by BFMTV (French news outlet).

X insert:

The mayor of Porrentuy is right to prohibit access to the pool to those who behave incorrectly, but it is not right that all French citizens are being penalized.

Letter from Christian Zimmermann, Regional Councilor, addressed to the mayor of Porrentuy concerning the restriction of access to the municipal swimming pool, limited only to persons of Swiss nationality.

Waldighoffen, July 2, 2025

Mr Mayor,

I have been informed by several French citizens that access to the open-air pool of your city was limited to people of Swiss nationality.

As an elected (cross-border) official, I ask that you withdraw this discriminatory and disproportionate measure vis-à-vis the people of neighboring France. 

Awaiting a positive response to my request.

Please accept, Mr Mayor, my respectful greetings. 

French citizens?

But in Switzerland, the UDC is applauding and denouncing a certain poor quality of the French population. The national councilor, Thomas Stettler (UDC/JU), stated on Monday: "For years, the Jura region on the border with France has been suffering incivility and outright aggressions committed by some visitors from the neighboring country (France)." According to him, "We must have the courage to say it: Many of them are from non-European immigration and living in urban zones where violence, disregard for authority, and gang crime have become a way of life.

Harmless swimmers/bathers?

Thomas Stettler talks about groups, "who come to the pool in organized gangs, who refuse to respect the rules, who insult, provoke, and attack Jura families. The ideology of denial wants us to believe that these are harmless and misunderstood bathers/swimmers. The truth is that, behind a French passport, you sometimes find North Africans, Middle Easterners, or sub-Saharaners, some of whom have never made the effort to integrate, even in France.

For the elected official of Jura, Porrentuy's decision, "should serve to give us a collective lesson. When a country no longer protects its borders and allows the importation of problems of integration from other countries, our families and our children are the ones who pay the price."

Belgium: Knife Fight Among 20 Afghans

From here....

To here: Lommel, Belgium

In the Flemish town of Lommel in Belgium, about 20 Afghans engaged in a knife fight in the middle of a bus stop. When it was over, 4 men were injured, two seriously, and 8 are in custody.

The below article from today's Nieuwsblad (Belgium) is translated from Dutch by Fousesquawk. It contains a video of the fight.

4 injured and 8 arrests in stabbing at bus stop in Lommel

Lommel- Police are conducting an investigation after a violent incident among a group of Afghans at the Van der Kerk bus stop in Lommel. A knife was pulled, and two people were seriously injured. As of now, the police have made 8 arrests.

Geert Van Baelen, Phillip Pergens

20:07

The stabbing occurred within a larger fight and must have happened around 17:30. Everything happened at the rest stop on the Kerk (Church) Street in Lommel. Emergency services, including ambulances and a MUG team (Mobile medical unit), came immediately to the scene and provided first aid to the victims. It was initially reported that two people were injured and 6 arrests were carried out, but that figure has been adjusted by  Acting Mayor Peter Vanderkrieken (CD&V party) to 4 injured and 8 arrests.  

Two of the injured are in serious condition and were taken to the Pelt hospital. It is not clear if they are also in life-threatening condition. The other two suffered light wounds.

Learning a lesson

Peter Vanderkrieken (CD&V) also said that it was a fight between a group of Afghans. "There were about 20, and they were fighting. Most of them are not from here, but came to Lommel because they wanted to attack a countryman who was staying at Fedasil (Refugee reception agency) in Lommel."

The local police from Lommel were the first to arrive at the scene and alerted the Limburg Prosecutor's Office. The exact circumstances are being investigated further. The area around the incident was closed off with police tape, and a forensic lab team was called in to search for evidence and make an assessment. Further arrests are not ruled out.

The big fight was filmed and caused a lot of consternation for the many witnesses. "The police, fortunately, were able to intervene quickly, and people from Fedasil also came to the scene to mediate," said Peter Vanderkrieken. The (mayor) would not communicate any further on the case and is letting the police and Public Prosecutor's Office do their jobs.

Belgium: Man Sets Ex-Wife on Fire: Had Been on Prison Leave

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes

Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium

It's yet another case of a preventable tragedy. In the Belgian town of Houthalen-Helchteren, a 37-year-old man set his ex-wife on fire inside a residence in front of their children. The suspect had been serving a 37-month prison sentence for beating the woman, kicking her in the stomach while she was 8 months pregnant, and knocking some of her teeth out. Yet, he was given a period of leave from prison. He then went to the residence and set her on fire before fleeing. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Subsequently, the man was located in a nearby abandoned residence. After a long standoff with police, the suspect fell off the roof, was slightly injured, and was arrested.

According to Remix (Hungary) News, and De Telegraaf (Netherlands), the family is from Kosovo. According to updated information today, the woman is still in critical condition, but stable and in an induced coma.

The article below from the Dutch-language news site VRT.Be. is translated by Fousesquawk. We are in the process of preparing video material from the Belgian press with English subtitles.

*Update (July 7, 2025) The aforementioned video appears following the written translation below. The video is by VTM Nieuws.Be. It is subtitled in English by Rair Foundation USA, Vlad Tepes, and Gates of Vienna. Translation by Fousesquawk.

Man who set ex-partner on fire in Helchteren arrested after a fall from roof

Around 2 'o'clock tonight, the 35-year-old man who set his wife on fire in Houthalen-Helchteren was taken to the hospital. The man had just fallen from the roof of a residence where he had entrenched himself hours earlier.

On Thursday, the man doused his ex-partner with a fire accelerant and set her on fire. That occurred in the presence of their children. The 41-year-old woman suffered life-threatening burn injuries. She was taken for care to the burn center in Leuven. She is still in critical condition.

The serious case of domestic violence occurred the day before yesterday on the Kazernelaan in Houthalen-Helchteren. Around 11:15 in the evening, on the same street,  the area around an abandoned residence for sale was closed off. There, the police, with the help of a drone, had located the electric scooter on which the man fled on Thursday.

The man fled up on the roof of the residence and threatened to jump. Mayor Alain Yzermans confirmed that the police and fire department were on the scene en masse, and that a negotiation team tried for more than an hour to get the man from the roof.

Around 1:50 am, he finally fell from the roof. After he was given first aid at the scene by emergency personnel, he was taken to the hospital.

Man was on leave from the penitentiary

A legal investigation has been opened for attempted murder. The man was serving a prison sentence, but he was given a leave from the penitentiary. That was the result of overcrowding in the prison, our editorial staff has learned from a good source.

In total, he has been convicted 10 times. Seven times for traffic offenses, once for receiving stolen property, once for illegal weapons, and once for serious domestic violence. The man had kicked his heavily pregnant wife in the stomach and knocked out her teeth. For that, he received a jail sentence of 37 months.

There had been earlier reports of domestic violence. Yesterday morning, the police had visited the family once after a report of an assault. At that time, a report was written, but the police judged that it was not necessary to take the man away immediately. Not much later, he went on to commit his gruesome murder attempt.

The prison system, up to today, had reportedly never been informed about the facts or incidents.

"You can certainly ask questions about the course of events: Why did the person involved, who had a track record, get penitentiary leave? Why was he able to go to the victim? Those are questions that I am going to ask the minister," says the mayor of Houthalen-Helchteren, Alain Yzermans (Vooruit -Flemish Social Democrat party).

Children present at time of the events

Five children in the family, between the ages of 2 and 15, were present in the residence at the time of the attempted murder. They were deeply affected and are receiving assistance from victims' aid. Meanwhile, they are being taken in by a family or an institution. A 6th child was not at home (at the time).

 Minister Verlinden: "Under emergency law, the man would still be in prison"

Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) describes a terrible tragedy for the wife and children. "These are traumatic experiences, and we must do everything to avoid them." She will not go into the details of the case. She says it is still too early. 

Several months ago, Verlinden proposed an emergency plan to tackle overcrowding in the prisons. Under the provisions, the man would still have been in prison, she says.

"The man had been granted an extended penitentiary leave. That is a measure made possible by the last Justice Minister (Paul van Tigchelt of the Open VLD party- editor). That is precisely why I submitted an emergency law to the parliament, because I wanted to free up capacity to send  the most dangerous criminals to prison as quickly as possible." 

"In addition, we are working on a law that will ensure that perpetrators of domestic violence cannot serve their electronic monitoring at the address of the victim."

Swedish Fugitive Busted in Turkey

Ismail Abdo

There is good news on the law enforcement front in Turkey, Sweden, and Norway. International police cooperation has resulted in the arrests yesterday of 20 criminal gang members, including a major fugitive gang leader, Ismail Abdo, who was wanted in Sweden. In addition, a fugitive from Norway was also arrested.

As a retired DEA agent who worked overseas in Thailand and Italy-in addition to working with police from dozens of other countries, I know one thing: International police cooperation is essential to combating international crime, including drug trafficking.

While I was stationed in Italy in the 1980s, I was involved in a case that resulted in the arrest of several Turkish heroin traffickers in Milan. As a result, I and a few of my Italian colleagues traveled to Ankara and Istanbul on two occasions. At the time, Turkey's head of narcotics enforcement was a dedicated counterpart who gave us great cooperation-not to mention hospitality. His name was Attila Aytek, and we became good friends. The two trips also opened up a closer cooperation between Italy and Turkey, and one of the aforementioned Italian colleagues later became Italy's narcotics attaché to Turkey.

Of course, there have been problems of corruption in Turkey, and with the current president, Recep Erdogan, cooperation can be delicate. At any rate, this is a positive development, and we hope that Mr Abdo (who will not be extradited to Sweden) spends many years in a Turkish prison. 

The below article from Dagens Nyheter is translated by Fousesquawk.

The warning from Strömmer: You will be found             

Updated 19:56    Posted 16:14

Caption: Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer

Turkey's Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, is thanking police in Sweden for the cooperation that led to 20 people being arrested in Turkey on Friday, including the Swedish gang leader, Ismail Abdo.

"I want to thank the Swedish and Norwegian police for their support in the operation," Yerlikaya writes in a posting on X.

The Interior Minister further writes that the police operation was aimed at three different criminal organizations, and that two of their leaders were arrested. In addition to Abdo-who is known as Jordgubben (the strawberry) - a suspected gang leader who was wanted by Norwegian police was also arrested, according to Yerlikaya, who also thanked the Norwegian police.

A large amount of narcotics were found in connection with the operation, including vehicles and businesses connected to the arrestees, seized by police, according to Yerlikaya.

The Turkish news service, Haber 7, reports that Ismail Abdo had access to assets worth about 360 million kronors, seized along with his arrest.

Sweden's Justice Minister, Gunnar Strömmer (Moderate party), says in a written comment that the arrest is the result of "a deepened cooperation between Sweden and Turkey," and that Swedish authorities are at Turkey's disposal "to assist in further investigative work when necessary."

"The message to all Swedish criminals is clear and unambiguous. You are not safe anywhere. You will be found, arrested, and prosecuted. And you will wind up without your assets," Strömmer writes.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also writes on Instagram that criminals who are hiding abroad, "have reason to worry-because you cannot hide."

Swedish prosecutorial authorities reported Friday that Abdo will not be turned over to Sweden since, in addition to his Swedish citizenship, he also has Turkish citizenship.

Ismail Abdo is suspected of several serious crimes in Sweden. Since the Foxtrot conflict in 2023, Abdo has been one of the most prioritized persons for the Swedish police to arrest.

As late as the spring of 2024, Abdo was arrested in connection with a traffic control in Turkey. This time, he was released on bail-although he was being internationally sought by Sweden.

This spring, he was charged for the second time in his absence by a Swedish court, this time for having organized the receipt and transport of 1.3 tons of cocaine that was seized by Customs in the spring of 2024 at Nynäshamn.

One Fine Day in Lahore, Pakistan

City of lions

Lahore

There's an old silent comedy film from the 1920s where the protagonist (I don't remember whether it's Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Harry Langdon or someone else) falls from a highrise building in a big city, but through sheer luck is saved, if I recall, by falling through a series of shades (or other improbable "miracles" that cushion his fall). Landing softly on the sidewalk, he heaves a sigh of relief, straightens his tie, and starts to walk away when he is jumped by a full-grown lion.  

Imagine walking down a busy street of a major city minding your own business, and suddenly, a lion jumps over the wall of the backyard where he is being kept by his owner and chases you down. 

Welcome to Lahore, Pakistan.

It seems that keeping animals like lions as pets is a status symbol in that part of Pakistan. So as a woman was walking down the street with her small children, a lion jumped the wall of his owner's house and chased her down. The video shows one man chasing the lion away. (There were no major injuries.) The news reports also state that the owner of the beast stood on the street, rather amused by the whole spectacle. He is now reportedly amusing himself in jail.

 The Daily Mail (UK) has the story and the video here.

Germany: The Great Swimming Pool Controversy

Hat tip Gates of Vienna and Vlad Tepes

In the past few days, we translated an article from Germany reporting the alleged sexual assault of several girls by a group of Syrian men at a public pool in Gelnhausen, Germany. Germany seems to have a recurring problem of immigrant men, mostly from the Arab world or Afghanistan, sexually molesting girls (and occasionally boys) at public pools.

In response, the city of Bueren in Paderborn District (North Rhine-Westphalia) has come up with a brilliant idea. They have placed posters at their public pool warning of sexual abuse and advising victims to call for help with a secret code word-Tiki- the name of a cartoon turtle. But it isn't that which is causing an angry reaction. The posters portray a German woman in a pool groping the buttocks of a young brown-skinned male with a prosthetic leg!

You can't make this up. It's called political correctness.

I can understand the local authorities not wanting to inflame emotions or paint an entire ethnic/immigrant group with a wide brush. The German public fully understands the problem. Wouldn't it have been better just to omit any pictures altogether rather than insult the public's intelligence by drawing a false and misleading image? They might as well have blamed it on the turtles.

The below article from Bild is translated by Fousesquawk.

*Update (July 4, 2025). I was on the phone today with a German friend. We didn't talk about this story, but after our conversation, he sent me a news article about it because his grandfather was born in Bueren. I texted him back to check out what I wrote on the story the day before. I said I was one step ahead of him.

"Summer sun safety

You have the right to your own body!

Stop! Groping is forbidden!

Nobody can touch you without your permission.

If you feel uncomfortable, you have the right to get help.

Say my name: Tiki!"

On a poster is pictured a woman groping a boy with an amputated leg on the buttocks

This is how the city of Bueren warns about public swimming pool gropers

Caption: A woman grabs a young boy with dark skin and a prosthetic leg. With this poster, the city of Bueren tries to prevent sexual attacks in public pools.

-Photo: City of Bueren

Paderborn (Northwest Westphalia)- It has been 11 days since 8 girls in Gelnhausen were sexually harassed at a public swimming pool. The alleged perpetrators were 4 young men. All of them are reportedly from the same Syrian family.

In the city of Bueren in Paderborn District, there are several posters warning of sexual attacks. However, on one of them is a woman in a red bathing suit, who is the perpetrator. She is grabbing a dark-skinned boy from behind in the pool. Above this drawing, a speech bubble says: "Stop! Groping is forbidden!"

The "Summer sun safety" campaign is to protect children in public swimming pools. From sexual assault. It is now even generating international concern. 

Drawing causes indignation

Critics accuse the city of trivializing the perpetrators and drawing a completely false picture of sexual assaults. The presentation is unrealistic and obscures who most of the perpetrators actually are.

The fact is: Nationwide, the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) recorded 423 criminal acts last year against sexual self-determination in indoor and outdoor pools as well as bathing areas. According to the reports, the (case) clearance rate was around 81%.

It was reported that of the 367 investigated suspects, 365 were male. The number of German suspects, according to the BKA, was 130, while that of the non-German suspects was 237. That corresponds to a proportion of around 64.58 %.

Caption: The public swimming pool in Bueren: The controversial posters were hanging here.

(Second poster)

"Summer sun safety

You have the right to privacy

Stop! Please knock!

Be considerate when you are in a changing room

If you feel uncomfortable, you have the right to ask for help.

Say my name.

Tiki!"

These posters caused indignation

Photo: City of Bueren

When Bild visited the public pool on Thursday, the posters had disappeared.

Mayor defends campaign

Bueren's mayor, Burkhard Schwuchow (Christian Democrat party), stands behind the action: "As a city, we bear the responsibility when it comes to the protection of children in our public facilities. The protection of children and young people is, for us, the highest priority.  Every form of sexual violence is unacceptable and must be consistently fought, no matter who does it."

Rainer Wendt (68), head of the German Police Union, told Bild: "This campaign has only one winner, the AfD (Alternative fuer Deutschland party). There are many losers here: Women and children. Their bad situation is being made fun of." 

Hesse (state) Europe Minister, Manfred Pentz (45, CDU) criticises in Bild" This can only be a bad joke! Right after the incidents we have experienced, this presentation is a mockery of those affected. What doesn't fit into their worldview cannot be (allowed)! Simply incomprehensible."

City reacts to criticism

So how did this presentation come about?  In a statement, the city explains: "The city administration takes the public criticism of individual design elements of the Summer-sun-safety campaign very seriously. This feedback is for the city administration an occasion for self-critical reflection. That also includes for us to evaluate our communication formats and make them more sensitive and differentiated in the future."

Mayor Schwuchow: "It was never our intention to discriminate against people or redirect blame. If this impression resulted, we would like to apologize."

Criticism from the USA

Meanwhile, the debate has (drawn) international attention. The right/conservative activist, Charlie Kirk, a supporter and close confidant of President Donald Trump, on X: "The German government has posted a PSA warning in which white women are groping defenseless immigrants, who for some reason, have prosthetic legs."

How many assaults have there actually been in the Bueren Public Swimming Pool, the city will not say in answer to Bild's question. Anyway, with the code word "Tiki"-the name of a turtle- children can alert the (pool) personnel in an emergency. Why they don't simply yell, "Help," remains unclear. 

Columbia President Shipman Promises "to Do Better"

Claire Shipman

"We need to get somebody from the middle east [sic] or who is Arab on our board," Shipman wrote in one message on January 17, 2024. "Quickly I think. Somehow."

Things keep going from bad to worse at Columbia University, still reeling from pro-Hamas encampments, anti-Semitic harassment, and the government's efforts to deport student Mahmoud Khalil for his alleged role in creating havoc on campus in the name of the Palestinian movement. Now Acting President Claire Shipman is feeling the heat after the release of text messages she wrote in 2023-2024, months after October 7, 2023, attacking Shoshan Shendelman, a Jewish member of the Columbia Board of Trustees, and calling for an Arab to replace her. She also reportedly downplayed and mocked allegations of campus anti-Semitism. Shipman, a former journalist for CNN, NBC, and ABC, and ex-wife of Jay Carney, who served as press secretary in the Obama White House, has apologized in a letter to certain university officials and says her words during a period of frustration and stress do not reflect how she feels.

She promises to do better.

Jay Carney

At the time of the text messages in question, Shipman was co-chair of the Board of Trustees. One of the recipients of the messages was Minouche Shafik, then president of Columbia. Shafik resigned under fire after her disastrous testimony before Congress on the ongoing problems of anti-Semitism on her campus, coupled with the eventual NYPD breakup of the occupation of a campus building

Here is the report from the Washington Free Beacon, which first broke the story.

And here is how the Columbia Spectator (campus newspaper) is reporting the mess. It also reports that Shipman was in favor of rolling back suspensions of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

Just as an aside, I should add that in the same online edition, the paper is endorsing none other than Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor. But I digress.

Of course, all this comes at a time when Columbia's accreditation has been under question by the Department of Education, $400,000,00 in federal funding was suspended by the Trump administration, and the university's reputation as a world-class university is in shatters.  Shafik's resignation was followed by the interim presidency of Katrina Armstrong, who "distinguished" herself by apologizing to pro-Palestinian students who were affected by the above NYPD action. She was eventually replaced by Shipman, who has now added to the mess at Columbia. 

It is pretty clear at this point that Shipman should resign or be replaced. She has continued the work of her predecessors in bringing disgrace to Columbia. Remember that this is the same university that has professors Rashid Khalidi (emeritus) and Joseph Massad on their faculty. These two so-called educators have done as much, if not more, than any other professor in the country to stir up anti-Jewish feeling on campus as part of their pro-Palestinian advocacy. In recent years, Columbia has arguably been the most hostile campus in the country for Jewish students. That's saying a lot given the sheer number of universities affected by this wave of anti-Jewish hate masquerading as promoting the Palestinian cause.

Columbia desperately needs new leadership. Shipman must go.

What if Cuba Did to Us What Hamas Did to Israel on October 7?

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Center- Che Guevara t-shirt. On the right, a Palestinian keffiyeh

                               

Amidst all the international debate over Israel's response to the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and the devastation in Gaza, let me pose a hypothetical question: What if on that dark day, instead of Hamas attacking Israel, it had been a battalion of Cuban troops landing on the shores of South Florida and attacking a dance festival in a small town? What if they had massacred some 1,200 people, men, women, and children? What if they had raped many of their female victims before killing them? What if they had slaughtered entire families in their homes, raping the mothers and beheading infants in their cribs or putting them into ovens to roast them alive in front of the horrified eyes of their parents? And all this was proudly videotaped by the murderers themselves.

What if they had taken 250 or so people back to Cuba in their boats as hostages? What if, upon arriving in Havana, they had been greeted by howling mobs of civilians who spat on the victims, helped beat them, desecrated corpses, and cheered the actions of their troops? What if two years later, they still held some 50 hostages/dead bodies, after murdering many of them? (I should note that I am only picking Cuba because we have an adversarial relationship with them, and they are near our shores. I don't actually foresee this scenario being played out.) 

How do you think our government would have reacted? Would we have simply demanded the release of the hostages and gone to the UN to ask for their support in their release? Would we have asked the UN to issue a condemnation of the Cubans' actions? Would we have applied sanctions? Would we have negotiated with the Cuban government?

Setting aside Jimmy Carter and the Iranian hostage crisis, the answer is clearly no. The overwhelming majority of the American public would demand a military response and the destruction of the Cuban military and government. That would involve a land invasion and aerial bombardment of Havana. There would be civilian casualties, hopefully, not deliberate, but inevitably, especially if the enemy chose to fight literally behind its civilians, as Hamas always does. 

So that brings us back to Israel, which, unlike the above hypothetical model, is fighting an existential battle to survive, not just to punish the evil attack on October 7. In spite of that, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are fighting honorably, trying to avoid civilian casualties. However, Hamas is perfectly content to have plenty of dead Palestinians that they can trot out for the UN and the international media to see so that they can issue condemnations against Israel.

But even in the hypothetical Cuba case, in some quarters, there would still be condemnation of the US. Some leftist professors in our universities and their indoctrinated students would march, protest, occupy, and wave Cuban flags while wearing their Che Guevara t-shirts. Just as today's American left supports Hamas, some misfits in our society would support Cuba even in the face of heinous atrocities committed against our civilians.

I have an anecdotal story to add to my hypothetical Cuban case: In January 2009, at the University of California at Irvine, where I was teaching at the time, I witnessed one of those countless anti-Israel events held on campus, sponsored by the Muslim Student Union (MSU). The speaker was none other than Amir Abdel Malik Ali, an Oakland-based imam and a leader in the As Sabiqun fringe of Islam, a group not noted for being "moderate". Ali, a fiery speaker who doesn't hesitate to insult Jews when attacking Israel, has spoken often at UC Irvine. On this occasion, I approached him, as I have on other occasions, after the q and a. I engaged in a debate with him one-on-one as his student audience gathered around, trying to look mean and intimidating. As I concluded my discussion with Ali, one of the MSU members made a remark to me that if I favored peace, why did I support what the IDF was doing in Gaza? In response, I asked him what the US would do if the Cuban government were lobbing rockets into Miami. His response? "We would deserve it."  Here is what I wrote on this event at the time. 

If I am not mistaken, today this young man is an attorney in Southern California. 

Sadly, we have a radical leftist fringe in our society that not only hates Israel, but also their own country as well. We see them regularly in the news, on our streets, in places like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and other places. We see them in our universities engaged in violent protests at schools like Columbia, Harvard, UC Berkeley, the University of Washington-the list goes on and on. No matter what Hamas did on October 7, 2023, they are openly supporting this evil entity, attacking police, and attacking Jews. More recently, they are attacking our ICE agents over the illegal immigration issue. They fight on behalf of violent illegal criminals we are trying to deport, as well as foreign students who are causing chaos on our campuses.

So the question begs: What if Cuba (or any other country) made a terrorist incursion into our country, murdered over a thousand people, and took over 250 hostages back to their country? How many of these radicals would put politics aside and stand with the USA and our military?