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The co-chair of Columbia Universitys Board of Trustees, Claire Shipman, told a congressional panel on Wednesday that the proliferation of anti-Semitism on the schools Manhattan campus is "shocking."

Shipmans husband, Jay Carney, served as press secretary under former president Barack Obama, a Columbia alumnus whose longtime friendship with one of the schools notorious anti-Semitic professors became a central issue in his 2008 campaign.

During Wednesday's House Education Committee hearing featuring testimony from Columbia president Minouche Shafik and other school leaders, Shipman was asked to respond to what one lawmaker described as "pro-terrorist expressions on campus on a significant scale."

"I think it says we have a lot of work to do. It's shocking," Shipman said. "I think it says that we have lost our way in terms of what we expect from each other in a learning community and in our society. I think we have to commit to speech that isn't laced with hate and isn't just meant to provoke."

Carney is probably more familiar with the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric that has percolated for decades on the Columbia campus, having accepted a job in the Obama administration in 2008, when Obamas friendship with one of Columbias most prominent anti-Semitic professors was a recurring theme.

Though Obama professed support for Israel, the Los Angeles Times reported in the spring of 2008 that, in fact, Obama was a "friend and frequent dinner companion" of Rashid Khalidi, an anti-Israel scholar who has taught in Columbia's history department since 2003. Obama lauded Khalidi at a going away party before the professor joined Columbia, saying Khalidi gave "consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases."

In the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, Khalidi argued the attack required "context," telling Democracy Now! that Israel's "settler colonialism" and "apartheid" regime was to blame.

"This has to be put within the context. And the context is not just occupation," he said. "The context is settler colonialism and apartheid."

"You cannot commit daily violence against Palestiniansone Palestinian has died every day this year, in fact, slightly morein the occupied West Bank. You cannot expect that not to lead to a reaction. The reaction will be violent."

In the 1970s, Khalidi routinely spoke to reporters on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a U.S.-designated terror group. As a Columbia professor, he has faced criticism over anti-Semitic statements.

In 2017, for example, Khalidi said supporters of the Jewish state would "infest" the Trump administration, invoking anti-Semitic propaganda that referred to Jews as "vermin."

"There are a group of people, a lot of them in Israel and some of them in the United States, who live in a world of their own," he said during an interview with a Chicago-based radio show. "That is to say, they think that whatever they want, and whatever cockamamie schemes they can cook up, can be substituted for reality."

"Unfortunately, these people infest the Trump transition team," he continued. "These people infestare going to infest our government, as of January 20. And they are hand-in-glove with a similar group of people in the Israeli government and in Israeli political life, who think that whatever they think can be imposed on reality."

In addition to his longtime friendship with Khalidi, Obama in 1998 attended a speech by the late Columbia professor Edward Said, according to the Times. Said called for a campaign "against Israeli apartheid."

Two years later, Said was photographed throwing a stone in the direction of Israel Defense Force soldiers positioned outside of a guardhouse. Columbia responded by issuing a letter defending the professor.

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Wife of Obama Press Sec Shocked by Proliferation of Anti-Semitism on Campus of Obama's Alma Mater - Washington Free Beacon

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By Michelle Obama

Updated: April 17, 2024 4:45 PM EDT | Originally published: April 17, 2024 7:10 AM EDT

Every once in a while, my good friend Thelma Golden will meet someone who is shocked to learn this tiny, energetic, and dynamic woman is a paradigm-shifting curator. Some would find this disheartening. But not Thelma. She sees it as her chance to show the world exactly what she can do.

As one of the most influential people in art, Thelma knows the power of flipping an assumption on its head. Her exhibits at the Studio Museum in Harlem and, previously, the Whitney not only stop you in your tracks, they also show you so much more about the depth of the Black experience. Her steadfast dedication has given voice to a new generation of artists and curators who are ready to stir our souls toofolks who may have otherwise gone unnoticed had it not been for Thelmas eye for talent and potential. She has broadened the world of art to better reflect the sum of us, rather than just a few. Thats power. And thats why, while some folks might go on underestimating her, Ill never be one of them.

Obama is a lawyer, author, and former First Lady of the United States

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Thelma Golden Is on the 2024 TIME100 List | TIME - TIME

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A citizen deposits a ballot into a box at the county clerk's office in Erie, Pa., on Oct. 15, 2020. Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

A citizen deposits a ballot into a box at the county clerk's office in Erie, Pa., on Oct. 15, 2020.

ERIE, Pa. - On a recent weeknight in Erie, Pa., the local minor league hockey team hosted a playoff game for the first time in years. The home team Erie Otters faced off against the Kitchener Rangers from Ontario, Canada.

But even as fans watched the action on the ice, another kind of face-off isn't far from the minds of Erie County residents.

"You go down different blocks or different streets and you see something, you know, Trump or Biden," said 34-year-old Bekah Mook, who was at the game. "You can't even have a glass of beer unless something is mentioned Democrat or Republican."

"It's everywhere you turn," she said.

While most counties across the country predictably lean Democrat or Republican, Erie County, in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, is what election watchers call a "boomerang county." It boomeranged from Democrats to Republicans and back in recent presidential election cycles.

The county went for former President Barack Obama twice, then former President Donald Trump in 2016, and narrowly for President Biden in 2020.

Now everyone is trying to predict what will happen this year.

Biden won Erie County in 2020 by less than 1,500 votes, or 1.03 percentage points. In 2016, the margin was less than 2,000 votes for Trump.

Mook, who works in a mental health practice, is one of those voters who flipped. She comes from a family of Christian Republicans, and once considered herself solidly in that camp. She supported Trump in 2016, largely due to her opposition to abortion.

But her feelings changed as she watched Trump in office.

Campaign signs sit in the Erie County Democratic Party office in Erie, Pa. Don Gonyea/NPR hide caption

Campaign signs sit in the Erie County Democratic Party office in Erie, Pa.

"Now I'm looking at everything else. And there are so many more issues than just abortion," she said.

One thing that particularly bothered her was Trump's policy of separating migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border, and the images of children being kept in detention at border facilities.

"I have 19 nieces and nephews, no kids right now, and I'm just a kid person," Mook said. "So when I see kids like that I'm just like, 'Oh, that's disgusting.'"

As for this year, Mook says she's still going back and forth with her presidential vote. She's currently leaning "60% Democratic." Another Erie County voter at the arena that night, 22-year-old Ethan Haynes, says he's an independent, but this year he's all in for Biden. For him, democracy is on the ballot.

"I think that with Trump and his messaging has very much shown that he is unwilling to give up power if he gets it again," Haynes said.

Head out to the more rural parts of the county, outside the city of Erie, and you find a much more conservative type of voter. After finishing his breakfast at a classic old diner in Girard, Pa., 66-year-old Tim Stevenson said he'll be backing Trump.

"We can't go through another four years of Joe Biden," said Stevenson, a retired township police officer who now runs an auto repair shop. "I don't think he has the capability to run an ice cream stand."

The local political party chairmen in Erie have long histories in the county, and both know that this place could be pivotal in November.

Erie County Democratic Party Chair Sam Talarico is focused on boosting turnout ahead of the November elections. Don Gonyea/NPR hide caption

Erie County Democratic Party Chair Sam Talarico is focused on boosting turnout ahead of the November elections.

"Erie County actually mimics the state very closely demographically," explained Sam Talarico, the Erie County Democratic Party chair.

"We have an urban core, we have suburban areas. And if you go south of Interstate 90, it's rural," he said. "So that's why we're kind of a bellwether county. We see how Erie goes, Pennsylvania goes. And that's that's been true in the last few elections."

Talarico says his job this year is to drive turnout. That means the grunt work of campaigning: door knocking, phone banking and voter registration drives.

"I think most people have already made up their minds because both of these candidates have been in the White House and they know who they are," he explained.

"So our real challenge is to find new voters and, you know, hopefully get them on our side," Talarico said.

Across town at the local Republican Party headquarters, county Chair Tom Eddy has a different goal: getting more Republicans to vote by mail.

Democrats currently have a massive advantage when it comes to mail-in ballots. While Biden won Erie by just over a single percentage point in 2020, he won 75% of the county's mail-in ballots. The same dynamic played out for Democrats in the 2022 midterms and 2023 state judicial elections.

That's a big problem for the GOP. Eddy puts it in very blunt terms, saying Republicans have been losing elections they could have won because voters in his party don't believe in mail-in balloting.

That rejection of a type of voting that is legal and in wide use in the state comes in large part because the practice has been loudly vilified by Trump, who has repeatedly lied and called it a major source of voter fraud, falsely citing mail-in voting as a cause of his 2020 defeat. There is no evidence of any such problems with mail-in ballots.

Erie County Republican Party Chair Tom Eddy says his party must embrace mail-in ballots in order to compete in Pennsylvania. Don Gonyea/NPR hide caption

Erie County Republican Party Chair Tom Eddy says his party must embrace mail-in ballots in order to compete in Pennsylvania.

Eddy, without himself completely dismissing or dispelling the incorrect claims of mail-in ballot fraud, does insist it's time for Republicans to move on. He says it's time to play to win, and that needs to include embracing mail-in voting.

"I still have people that are adamant against them (mail in ballots), they say, 'Well, it's it's it's an avenue for fraud.' And I said, 'Yeah, it could be,'" Eddy said. "But we've got to play that game. Otherwise we lose. We can't win an election without them."

Eddy and Talarico both see advantages when it comes to mail-in voting: It allows voters more flexibility and makes it easier to vote, thus boosting turnout.

It also allows party officials to focus their "get out the vote" efforts. Applications for a mail-in ballot are public information, and so is whether or not those ballots have been submitted. That means campaigns can reach out to voters directly and remind them to turn in their votes.

Voters can also check a box and have a mail-in ballot automatically sent to them for all future elections, making it even more likely they'll vote in the future. That's a huge help to political parties, and right now an area where Democrats enjoy a huge edge. As a Republican, Eddy describes that option this way: "If you can get people to check that [box], that's the best thing in the world."

But as Eddy tries to spread the gospel of mail-in voting to Republicans, he knows he's facing an uphill battle. He tells the story of what he encountered when he tried to hand out mail-in ballot applications at a Trump rally in Erie last summer.

"I started at 6:30 in the morning, and I went to everybody that was lined up, all 10,000 people, and I asked them, 'Here's a mail in ballot,' and I gave them my reasons why. And the majority of those people said, 'No,' because, one, Donald doesn't endorse it and two, it's fraud," Eddy remembered.

He says that he only managed to get about 300 people in that crowd of thousands to sign up. Trump's lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election that he lost have been convincing.

Democrats are hoping to keep their advantage in mail-in voting. This sign encouraging the practice hung in the Erie County Democratic Party office. Don Gonyea/NPR hide caption

Democrats are hoping to keep their advantage in mail-in voting. This sign encouraging the practice hung in the Erie County Democratic Party office.

That why it's easy to find that distrust in mail-in voting when you talk to Republican voters.

"I think you should go to the polls with your license and prove who you are and vote. That's it," Tim Stevenson, the auto repair shop owner, said.

Stevenson plans to vote in person.

State Sen. Dan Laughlin of Erie thinks that mindset leaves a lot to chance bad weather or a flat tire on Election Day could keep you at home.

Laughlin was a rare Republican supporter of mail-in voting back in 2020, and he says former President Trump does Republicans a disservice by continuing to bad-mouth mail-in ballots.

"If by chance, you use this clip in your interview and it gets back to him and he hears it, I hope he's listening," Laughlin said. "Because he's the only one that can fix it. Because the rest of us are trying, right?"

If Republicans don't get competitive on mail-in ballots, Laughlin said, "We're going to get our clock cleaned."

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How will a swing county in a swing state that chose Obama, Trump and Biden vote? - NPR

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Editor’s note: This report has been updated to clarify the Saudi sovereign’s advisory panel position on giving funds to Jared Kushner’s firm.

Former Obama deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner engaged in a “level of corruption that we’ve just never seen” when talking about his firm’s recent investments overseas. 

Rhodes made the comment when asked about The New York Times’s recent reporting that detailed that 99 percent of Kushner’s investment fund’s money came from foreign sources. The outlet also reported Kushner is working on developing hotels in the Balkans, specifically in Serbia and Albania, and noted that the firm has taken money from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

“I mean, look, this is not subtle corruption that we’re looking at,” Rhodes told MSNBC’s Alex Wagner during his Wednesday appearance on “Alex Wagner Tonight.”

“This is a guy, Jared Kushner, who had no expertise, no qualification whatsoever to be in the White House while he was there. He made it his account to work in the Gulf Arab states. He basically helped lead the cover-up for [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman]. Get him in from the cold after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”

Rhodes said Kushner securing a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia six months after leaving the White House is a way for Crown Prince Mohammed to exert influence on U.S. foreign policy if Trump returns to the Oval Office after the November election.

“Basically, what we can take from that investment is that in a second Trump term, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and around the world will be made entirely with the interests of Mohammed bin Salman in mind,” Rhodes said. 

Kushner oversaw Middle East policy during his time in the Trump administration. The investment was scrutinized after the Times reported in 2022 that the Saudi sovereign’s advisory panel was opposed to giving funds to Kushner’s firm, noting his “inexperience,” but the decision was reversed by a bigger board headed by the crown prince.

“He chose to work on issues in the Middle East, and he chose to work with the Gulf Arab states, knowing that the payout would be on the back end,” Rhodes said, pointing to the impeachment inquiry into President Biden by House Republicans, who allege his son, Hunter, used access to his father for profit.

“And here we have the president’s son-in-law, who worked in the White House — unlike Hunter Biden — who’s collected $2 billion on the back end of his service. Now he’s got his father-in-law running for president,” Rhodes said. “Right? This is not only unusual, this is unprecedented.” 

Kushner defended himself and his firm’s action regarding conflicts-of-interest allegations when asked by the Times.

“Following the laws and the rules is something we always do,” he told the outlet. “Perception, I’ve learned that from my time in politics, is important. But I can’t control what everyone is going to write or say about me.”

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) said back in August that Kushner “crossed the line of ethics” by accepting a $2 billion investment.

“This is just putting a price tag on American foreign policy,” Rhodes said. “This is a level of corruption that we’ve just never seen, and it’s hiding in plain sight.”

Updated on April 12 at 7:23 a.m. ET

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Former Obama adviser: Kushner engaged in level of corruption that weve just never seen with foreign relations - The Hill

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OPINION:

It is time to say what the Biden administration is desperate to hide. Iran sent Hamas forth on Oct. 7 to butcher Israelis in the most savage of attacks because it was not intimidated by Israels ability to hit back. That seems odd given Israels nuclear capabilities; therefore, one must conclude that Iran now has nukes to put on their missiles to nullify the threat of Israeli retaliation.

Irans belligerence is also directed at the West, and in particular at President Biden. We are now faced with a harsh reality of a nuclear-armed Iran, and the blame falls directly on Barack Obama and Mr. Biden. The Iranian mullahs are to a large extent a doomsday cult that will not hesitate to try to take us out. There is no going back, and the obtuse Biden team (all Obama carryovers) is directly responsible.

Nuclear weapons used against the Gulf oil powers spells a disastrous scenario for the world. And Mr. Biden sold off our strategic reserves to China for his own political gain.

These are dark times.

JAMES BARENDS

Wayne, Pennsylvania

Originally posted here:
Letter to the editor: What Obama and Biden have wrought - Washington Times

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