In an act of heroic defiance against the oppressive tyranny of Donald Trump, the leadership of Harvard University has bravely declared that, no matter what pressure Trump brings against them, they will not surrender their constitutional right to be the worst people in the country.
The conflict between the university and the administration began after hundreds of Harvard students flooded the campus calling for genocide against the Jews. Further investigation suggested the students may have picked up their antisemitic ideas from what they learned in such Harvard classes as Studies in Antisemitism in which the final exam required students to flood the campus and call for genocide against the Jews. Finally, then-Harvard president Claudine Gay refused to denounce the antisemitic actions and was forced to resign when the board discovered she wasn’t really gay, that just happened to be her name.
Trump reacted cruelly, threatening to deprive Harvard of billions of dollars in federal funding if the University administration does not at least try to demonstrate they possess something vaguely resembling human decency. In order to keep the federal dollars flowing, Trump says, Harvard’s leadership and faculty would have to (one) stop hating Jews, (two), stop teaching their students to hate Jews and (three), hire professors who will introduce students to ideas other than hating Jews or at least hint that such ideas exist or at least refrain from screaming at the students and calling them names when they wonder aloud whether such ideas might exist or if the whole intellectual world resembles the flaming hate-filled hellscape of Harvard University.
But Harvard’s current President, Adolf Ratbag, declares that he absolutely refuses to let a fascist like Trump bully him into humane behavior. In a statement that sounded better in the original German, President Ratbag shook his fist at Shlomo Judenstein, an invisible imaginary enemy who has followed him around since childhood, and shouted, “In a free society, our greatest university cannot compromise our right to sink into a morass of intellectual degradation based on false premises. We have a sacred responsibility to mold America’s best and brightest into dark, gnarled souls reminiscent of images of the damned in medieval paintings of the Last Judgement. It was one thing when Obama insisted we deprive male students of their due process rights whenever they got accused of sexual malfeasance by some girl who once got so drunk she slept with the entire crew team. It was another thing when Biden declared that Title IX required us to give equal treatment to women and men who say they’re women and a pair of poodles who were dressed up in pink sweaters and adorable fluffy hats by a six-year-old who wanted to pretend they were women. At least, those demands were in keeping with our undying commitment to sexual perversity and moral turpitude. But when a thug like Trump demands we have to replace our sterling array of professors who are morally deformed leftist troglodytes with teachers dedicated to shaping young minds to the good, he has crossed the line. As far as we’re concerned, Trump would be worse than Adolf Hitler, if Adolf Hitler were a bad guy.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show">WATCH: The Andrew Klavan Show</a></h3>
To further demonstrate the university’s heroically unyielding stance, Professor Ratbag released this year’s Harvard syllabus to the media. The syllabus promises that the university will continue to provide such classes as Western Civilization 101, What it is and how to destroy it; Introduction to Shakespeare and the King James Bible, How they can light our way if only we set them on fire; and Giving Up Whiteness, in which students will stop using any device invented by a white male beginning on the first day of class at noon and ending around 12:05 because, let’s face it, those bastards invented everything.
The Trump administration says it will continue to withhold funds until Harvard not only changes the syllabus, but also cancels a planned musical based on Mein Kampf and changes the school slogan back to “Veritas” instead of “Look Out, There’s a Jew Sneaking Up Behind You!”
Pledging resistance, President Ratbag and his administration have taken refuge in an underground bunker where they plan to watch the movie “Downfall” over and over in the hope it inspires them with some fresh ideas.
* * *
This excerpt is taken from the opening satirical monologue of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Andrew Klavan Show</a>.”
The views expressed in this satirical article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Andrew Klavan is the host of “The Andrew Klavan Show” at The Daily Wire. Follow him on X: @andrewklavan
Klavan is the bestselling author of numerous books, including the Cameron Winter Mystery series. The fourth installment, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1613165536?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_thcv_3&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Woman Underground.</a>” His most recent nonfiction release is “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Cain-Finding-Literature-Darkness/dp/0310368340/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=nMYjR&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_p=bc3ba8d1-5076-4ab7-9ba8-a5c6211e002d&amp;pf_rd_r=133-8344803-2786917&amp;pd_rd_wg=7a8J3&amp;pd_rd_r=5791ea0f-6d96-4732-9d6a-3a4e6b348bb5&amp;ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Kingdom of Cain: Finding God in the Literature of Darkness.</a>” (May 2025, Zondervan/HarperCollins).

TOPSHOT-US-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-PROTEST

Harvard President, Adolf Ratbag, Refuses To Allow Trump To Bully Him Into Humane Behavior

Andrew Klavan

Anti-Semitism

Donald Trump

Harvard

Humor

Israel

Ivy League

Jewish

President Trump

Pro-Hamas

Satire

When I enrolled at Indiana University I never thought I would see my peers graffiti “DIVEST NOW” across campus buildings and sidewalks. Now, to make matters worse, those same activists are threatening the university itself with ultimatums and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCffDcmxmyn/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demands</a>.
“IU has until January 13 to respond, or we escalate.”
As a Jewish student at IU, I’ve witnessed firsthand how their actions have disrupted our campus. Their constant protests, graffiti, and inflammatory rhetoric haven’t just created tension, they’ve made Jewish students feel unsafe and unwelcome. Let’s be clear: the demands they’re making aren’t just unrealistic — they’re reckless. Their tantrums have hijacked campus discourse, turning what should be a place for learning into a battleground of intimidation.
So, what exactly are their demands? It’s complicated.
For starters, they’ve called for the resignation of our administrative leaders, including IU President Pam Whitten, Provost Rahul Shrivastav, and Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Carrie Docherty. Why? Because, according to IU Divest, these administrators failed to properly respond to the group’s accusations—accusations grounded in rhetoric that many students, including myself, see as <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-801408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">antisemitic</a>.
The coalition’s second demand, and the basis for their name, is that IU <a href="https://iuidivest.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">immediately divest</a> from any Israeli-affiliated organization. They specifically target IU’s <a href="https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/01/iudc-protest-bloomington-faculty-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnership</a> with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, an institution involved in research collaborations.
But here’s the reality: In 2016, the state of Indiana passed a <a href="https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2016/bills/house/1378/details" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> prohibiting public funds from supporting institutions that discriminate against Israeli entities. If IU were to adopt the BDS movement’s goals, the university could lose over <a href="https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/01/iudc-protest-bloomington-faculty-council" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$250 million</a> in state funding. That includes money for faculty salaries, scholarships, research, and major campus projects.
Beyond the financial catastrophe, such a move would isolate IU from world-class Israeli institutions in medicine, technology, and academia. It would destroy opportunities for collaboration and innovation. Instead of fostering global dialogue, it would send a clear message that certain students and scholars aren’t welcome. IU would become less attractive to anyone who values academic freedom and global engagement.
And for what? Just to placate the tantrums of homegrown <a href="https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/opinion/columns/2024/12/08/column-indiana-university-antisemitic-pro-hamas-graffiti-must-stop/76771278007/">terror</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Tj4RwOpFg/?hl=en&amp;img_index=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">supporters</a> who seem more interested in performative outrage than constructive dialogue?
Then there’s IU Divest’s version of “activism.”
Since Hamas’s murder of 1,200 people on October 7, 2023, and the continued torture of Israeli hostages deep in the dungeons of Gaza, IU Divest continues to threaten the entire Indiana University and Bloomington community with their incessant calls for “resistance” and flagrant intimidation of Jewish students.
For example, two days after their “deadline,” the word &#8216;DIVEST&#8217;, accompanied by Palestinian flags, was <a href="https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/1879526605481033832">spray-painted</a> in the snow in Dunn Meadow — facing Chabad, a place for Jewish students to gather, a cornerstone of IU’s Jewish student life. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Jewish students at Indiana University were shocked to find &#39;DIVEST&#39; and Palestinian flags painted in the snow outside the campus Chabad—a disturbing act of targeted harassment. 
We urge <a href="https://twitter.com/IndianaUniv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IndianaUniv</a> to take this incident seriously and conduct a thorough investigation… <a href="https://t.co/NTCOCgSNa2">pic.twitter.com/NTCOCgSNa2</a>
&mdash; StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) <a href="https://twitter.com/StopAntisemites/status/1879526605481033832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Months earlier, the statue of <a href="https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/10/iu-statue-vandalism-herman-b-wells-iupd-search-warrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Herman B Wells</a>, a beloved IU figure, was defaced with red paint and a Palestinian flag. Around the same time, a fake bomb was left outside the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering causing panic and fear across the campus community.
Right now, Israel is being pressured to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners — many convicted of violent crimes — in exchange for just a few hostages. The irony of IU Divest’s self-righteous language is hard to ignore.
So, if it’s public knowledge that IU can’t legally adopt BDS without devastating consequences, why is the coalition still pushing this?
With all of this in mind, it seems reasonable to wonder if these student activists are merely ignorant ideologues or if this is all just political theater disguising a bigger urge to take out their personal inadequacies on IU’s proud, local Jewish minority.
The group is either ignorant or deliberately trying to intimidate Jewish students at IU. Hopefully, it’s now clear what “divest now” really means for IU and why supporting such a misguided movement is harmful.
This is exactly why Indiana’s state law includes the IHRA definition of antisemitism—because it recognizes the link between movements like BDS and real-world harassment. It’s comforting to see IU’s administration standing firm, but as students, we also have a responsibility to call this out. No student should be silenced. No university should be threatened into breaking the law. And no campaign should be allowed to hide its hostility behind slogans and spray paint.
* * *
Rachel Applefield is a senior at Indiana University studying Law and Public Policy with a minor in Social Welfare Advocacy and a 2024-2025 CAMERA on Campus Fellow.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Campus scene University of Indiana Bloomington

Antisemitic ‘Activists’ Have Turned My Campus Into A Battleground Of Intimidation

College

Education

Indiana University

Opinion

Protests

Students

The man suspected of setting the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion on fire while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping was motivated by his hatred for Israel, a 911 call reveals.
After 38-year-old Cody Balmer set fire to the mansion in the early hours of Sunday morning, he called the police to tell them he would not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” <a href="https://www.pennlive.com/crime/2025/04/arson-suspect-targeted-pa-gov-shapiro-for-what-he-wants-to-do-to-palestinian-people-search-warrant.html?outputType=amp">Penn Live</a> reported.
Balmer added that he wanted to “stop having my friends killed” and that “our people have been put through too much by that monster.” Police reportedly say Balmer appeared to be reading from a script, based on his intonation and cadence.
“You all know where to find me. I’m not hiding, and I will confess to everything that I had done,” Balmer said.
Balmer targeted Shapiro “based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine” and because of Shapiro’s faith, according to a warrant for his devices signed Tuesday by Corporal Benjamin Forsythe of the Pennsylvania State Police, Penn Live reported. The warrant reportedly does not cite the evidence that Shapiro was targeted for being Jewish.
Balmer’s storage unit in Swatara Township reportedly had stickers of South American Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara inside a toolbox.
Police <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25896483-balmer-criminal-complaint-and-affidavit-mdj-klein/">documents</a> reveal that Balmer admitted to harboring “hatred towards” Shapiro and planned on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/arson-suspect-planned-on-beating-josh-shapiro-with-hammer-police?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Arson+Suspect+Planned+On+Beating+Josh+Shapiro+With+Hammer%3A+Police">beating him with a hammer</a> if he encountered the governor during the attack, where he allegedly threw two Molotov cocktails into the Harrisburg home.
The attack, which did significant damage to the governor’s mansion, led to police waking and escorting Shapiro’s family from the home. The attack took place hours after the Shapiro family finished their Passover Seder meal.
Balmer has been charged with eight crimes, including attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism, and multiple counts of aggravated assault. He faces over 100 years in prison.
Balmer turned himself in to the police shortly after his ex-girlfriend alerted authorities that he was responsible. Balmer admitted to the attack and told police that he knew people could be harmed, according to a police affidavit.
“He advised on the date in question he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken Bottles he found at his residence,” the police affidavit says. “Balmer advised he walked for approximately one hour from his residence to the Governor’s Residence to throw his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence.” 
Balmer’s mother <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/josh-shapiro-governors-residence-harrisburg-fire/">told</a> the media that her son was “mentally ill and he went off his medication.”
Police were dispatched to Balmer’s home in January 2023 to respond to a report of domestic violence. When police arrived, Balmer told them he attempted suicide with a “bottle full of pills” and got into a fight with his wife and 13-year-old son, according to an affidavit from the Penbrook police department.
Balmer’s wife said he hit the boy and punched her in the face and bit her hand, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/politics/cody-balmer-shapiro-arson-suspect-invs/index.html">CNN reported</a>. His wife added that another 10-year-old son was elbowed in the chest multiple times, and had his already-broken leg stepped on. 
Balmer was reportedly charged with three counts of simple assault at the time, but it is unclear whether he entered a plea. The case is ongoing.

Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro’s Residence Set On Fire In Suspected Arson Attack

Arsonist Arrested For Attack On Josh Shapiro Hated Israel, 911 Call Reveals

Crime

Josh Shapiro

Palestine

Pennsylvania

Another legal battle is brewing over the deportation of half a million migrants allowed into the United States by Joe Biden. President Donald Trump pulls the federal funding rug out from under NPR, PBS – and Harvard. Will it hold up in Congress and the courts? And, Mark Zuckerberg is back in the hot seat as Facebook is accused of antitrust practices and cozying up to China.
It’s Wednesday, April 16, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/judge-blocks-deportation-effort-federal-funding-fights/id1576594336?i=1000703714504" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2>Trump Blocks Migrant Benefits, Border Crossings At All-Time Low</h2>
<div id="attachment_908237" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908237" class="size-large wp-image-908237" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-865x576.jpg" alt="" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Border-Wall-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />(Photo by Jorge Salgado/Anadolu via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: Border crossings continue to fall at a historic pace as President Trump takes new steps to prevent illegal immigrants from accessing taxpayer benefits.
In recent years, the Biden administration enacted a controversial humanitarian parole program that offered legal status and two-year work permits to migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. More than 530,000 people from those countries took advantage and flew directly to the United States. In March, President Trump moved to revoke legal status for those migrants, giving them until April 24 to leave the country or face deportation.
The White House argued these migrants were undermining American workers and faced little vetting before entering the country. But this week, a federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama blocked that effort, saying the Trump administration must instead offer each migrant a case-by-case review before revoking legal status.
However, in general, the Trump administration’s immigration efforts have borne fruit. The latest report from Customs and Border Protection confirmed that border crossings fell 95% in <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/icymi-illegal-border-crossings-hit-new-record-low-in-march/">March</a> compared to the same month last year, with just 7,100 migrants apprehended across the entire month – that’s roughly the number of migrants that came in every single day during Biden’s term in office. The Trump administration has also continued to go after the roughly 435,000 people living here illegally who’ve been convicted of additional crimes. ICE arrests have tripled in the last three months, and the number of illegal aliens in detention facilities is at an all-time high.
“We did in three weeks what Biden didn’t do in three or four years,” Border czar Tom Homan <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1911893560116592730">said</a>. “Right now as you and I are talking, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation and the data proves it.”
According to The New York Times, the White House is now seeking $45 billion in additional funding to construct new detention facilities so it can expedite its mass deportation effort. The public still broadly approves of Trump’s immigration policy.
<h2>Trump Moves To Cut Funding To NPR, PBS &amp; Harvard</h2>
<div id="attachment_908239" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908239" class="size-large wp-image-908239" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/NPR-PBS-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)</div>
Topline: President Trump is renewing his push to strip NPR and PBS of their funding while also freezing more than $2 billion in federal grants earmarked for Harvard. The moves have sparked heated debate, with supporters calling it a step toward fiscal responsibility and critics warning it threatens independent journalism and academic freedom.
Conservatives have talked about defunding NPR and PBS for years, but now they appear to have the political winds at their backs. Trust in the media is at an all-time low, and a lot of Americans are sympathetic to the idea that we do not need to spend billions of dollars in taxpayer money on these entities that many view as biased.
President Trump specifically accused NPR of being “a mouthpiece for the radical left.” And he’s calling on Republicans in Congress to introduce legislation that rescinds the funds that had been previously approved. Rescission would require the approval of the House and the Senate, where Republicans control narrow majorities and are already negotiating a major spending package.
Meanwhile: The Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard after the university refused demands to overhaul its policies, and as much as $9 billion in funding could be on the table. The White House, through its Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, claims Harvard hasn’t done enough to address antisemitism tied to radical anti-Israel and pro-Hamas campus protests. They demanded changes like banning face masks, which a lot of the protestors wear, and enforcing merit-based rather than race-based admissions.
Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, rejected these demands, calling them a violation of First Amendment rights and academic freedom, saying in a statement “No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”
<h2>Facebook Faces Antitrust Lawsuit</h2>
<div id="attachment_908241" style="width: 778px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-908241" class="size-large wp-image-908241" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-768x576.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-768x576.jpg 768w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Facebook-dislike-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" />(Photo by Alfieri via Getty Images)</div>
Topline: FTC vs Meta Platforms, Inc. began in court this week. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg sat for his second day of testimony in the trial that risks breaking up his social media empire.
This case was initially brought during President Trump’s first term and has taken more than four years to work through the courts. The FTC says that Meta is a monopoly that has bought its way out of competing. The government argues that when Facebook paid $1 billion for Instagram in 2012 and bought WhatsApp in a nearly $22 billion deal in 2014, Facebook illegally cornered what the FTC calls the “personal social-networking” market. According to the government, the only other major competitors to Facebook are Snapchat and an app called MeWe.
Meta disputes this. It says the market is actually much larger, and includes TikTok, YouTube, and X. For instance, when TikTok had an outage earlier this year, Instagram saw its usage spike, which suggests that people use the sites interchangeably. Meta has also argued that by going after it, the Trump administration is helping the Chinese-owned TikTok even more. TikTok was banned in the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-rages-after-u-s-passes-law-requiring-its-sale-from-chinese-parent-company">last year</a>, but earlier this month, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-extends-tiktok-sale-deadline-by-75-days-as-acquisition-talks-continue">extended</a> the pause on a Congressionally-approved ban on that app that was put into place in January.
This trial is expected to go on for eight weeks, so there will be plenty more ahead. But if Meta loses, it could be forced to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp.

The-White-House-Press-Secretary-Karoline-Leavitt-Had-Press-Brief

Morning Brief: Border Crossings Plummet, NPR Funding Trouble & Meta Antitrust

Anti-trust

Harvard University

Illegal Immigration

Mark Zuckerberg

Media

Morning Wire

National Public Radio (NPR)

Politics

The executive branch is now making the claim that Harvard University should have its funding removed because it is in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.
Harvard declared it was going to resist the Trump administration&#8217;s <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">demands</a> to change its governance structure over campus anti-Semitism concerns. And so the government responded by announcing a $2.26 billion freeze of Harvard&#8217;s multiyear grants and contracts.
Harvard President Alan Garber put out <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> complaining that the federal government was wrong for involving itself in this way. How dare the federal government actually attach strings to the things it has always attached its strings to?
The Trump administration asked for nine actions. Most of the demands concerned how the university operates. The government was asking for changes like a comprehensive mask bans, changes to governance and leadership, along with reforms to admissions and DEI programs.
These programs are in violation of the Civil Rights Act. There is no question that DEI would be predicated on the false notion that inequality of outcome by group must be due to discrimination and therefore must be rectified by reverse discrimination. That is in violation of the Civil Rights Act and certainly in violation of Supreme Court standards with regard to affirmative action.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2179-member-exclusive?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a> </h3>
As far as a comprehensive mask ban, the idea is you don&#8217;t want people who have shown up to campus on student visas participating in anti-American activity that would otherwise get them deported.
And the university is facilitating all of that. 
The government is also demanding necessary changes to address bias, improve viewpoint diversity and end ideological capture, fueling anti-Semitic harassment, according to the task force&#8217;s letter.
This will likely all get played out in the courts.
But the idea that Harvard University is somehow owed federal money is absurd on its face. There is no reason the Trump administration should not be able to attach strings to money that it is sending to a university with a $53 billion endowment.
You know what’s an easy way for Harvard to continue its policy of independence from the federal government? To be independent of the federal government.
Don&#8217;t get in bed with the government if you don&#8217;t want to be controlled. That tends to be a pretty good way of approaching life.
On Friday, the Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors sued the Trump administration, saying the government’s actions “overtly seek to impose on Harvard University political views and policy preferences advanced by the Trump administration and commit the University to punishing disfavored speech.”
That’s not correct; they&#8217;re simply saying if you engage in anti-Semitism, that it&#8217;s in violation of the Civil Rights Act.
When Lawrence Summers was the president of Harvard University, they became angry with him because he made the mere suggestion that perhaps the lack of women in scientific institutions might be due to the fact that women are less interested in scientific pursuits overall, as opposed to men. Not to mention that the ends of the bell curve with regard to scientific performance on tests tend to be heavily male. He was soon ousted from his position.
So don&#8217;t give me your free speech concerns when you&#8217;ve been cracking down on free speech yourself for a long time. If you want to say free speech doesn&#8217;t apply at Harvard because it’s a private university, then you have to be a private university. You can&#8217;t have it both ways. You can&#8217;t say, “Free speech applies to us; we are a free speech institution. And also, we want your taxpayer money.”
That&#8217;s not the way it should work.
The idea that Harvard did not violate the Civil Rights Act is ridiculous. Does that mean that every demand that the Trump administration is making is going to get upheld in court? Some of the demands will most likely be held to be extraneous.
But Harvard does not have any moral grounds to stand on when they insist that everyone else pay the bills so they can continue pushing whatever nonsense it is they are pushing.

Harvard University Pushes Back Against Trump Administration Demands

Trump Smashes Harvard

Civil Rights

Trump Administration

On Monday, the Trump administration’s Department of Education announced it would freeze $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60 million in multi-year contract value to Harvard University after the university said it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demand that the university <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Harvard-Response-2025-04-14.pdf">claimed</a> would “invade university freedoms.”
Last Friday, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services sent a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/research-funding/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2025/04/Letter-Sent-to-Harvard-2025-04-11.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Harvard in which they stated, “The United States has invested in Harvard University’s operations because of the value to the country of scholarly discovery and academic excellence. But an investment is not an entitlement. It depends on Harvard upholding federal civil rights laws, and it only makes sense if Harvard  fosters the kind of environment that produces intellectual creativity and scholarly vigor, both of which are antithetical to ideological capture.”
“By August 2025, the University must adopt and implement merit-based hiring policies, and cease all preferences based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin &#8230;” the letter noted, adding that the same attitude must prevail in admissions policies. The correspondence also declared that by the same date, the university must “prevent admitting students hostile to the American values and institutions inscribed in the American Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including students supportive of terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
The university “shall commission an external party &#8230; to audit the student body, faculty and leadership for viewpoint diversity” by August 2025, the letter continued, in order to ensure that the leftist perspective that dominates the university should be contrasted with other viewpoints.
Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University, responded with a <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/the-promise-of-american-higher-education/">statement</a> in which he said, “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement,” contending, “The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights” and claiming the administration’s demands violated “Harvard’s First Amendment rights &#8230; threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge.”
 “Our motto—Veritas, or truth—guides us as we navigate the challenging path ahead,” Garber continued. “Seeking truth is a journey without end. It requires us to be open to new information and different perspectives, to subject our beliefs to ongoing scrutiny, and to be ready to change our minds.”
The Department of Education’s Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/joint-task-force-combat-anti-semitism-statement-regarding-harvard-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> on Monday: &#8220;Harvard’s statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation&#8217;s most prestigious universities and colleges – that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws. The disruption of learning that has plagued campuses in recent years is unacceptable. The harassment of Jewish students is intolerable. It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support.”
“The Joint Task Force to combat anti-Semitism is announcing a freeze on $2.2 billion in multi-year grants and $60M in multi-year contract value to Harvard University,” the statement concluded.

US-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT-PROTEST

Trump Administration Freezes Billions In Grants For Harvard University

Department of Education

Harvard Univeristy

The Department of Homeland Security announced that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will immediately begin screening immigrants’ social media for anti-Semitic content and any history of physically harassing Jews.
The <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-to-begin-screening-aliens-social-media-activity-for-antisemitism">announcement</a> comes as the Trump administration arrests foreign students who had their visas revoked for involvement in anti-Semitic campus protests that have led to vandalism, harassment, and taking over campus buildings.
Any information found may be grounds for denying immigration benefit requests for immigrants applying for permanent residency, foreign students, and individuals affiliated with educational institutions linked to anti-Semitic activity.
In the screening process, USCIS will consider any social media content that “indicates an alien endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting antisemitic terrorism, anti-Semitic terrorist organizations, or other antisemitic activity as a negative factor in any USCIS discretionary analysis when adjudicating immigration benefit requests.”
DHS added that it will enforce all immigration laws and protect the homeland from terrorist aliens who support anti-Semitic terrorism, violent anti-Semitic ideologies, and various terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
According to DHS, the move is consistent with President Donald Trump’s executive orders issued to combat rising anti-Semitism.
“There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers, and we are under no obligation to admit them or let them stay here,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin. “Sec. Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for anti-Semitic violence and terrorism — think again. You are not welcome here.”
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-on-turkish-visa-student-getting-deported-i-encourage-every-country-to-do-that">explained</a> that the students being deported would not have been permitted into the United States if the government knew what they would do once reaching campus.
“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio said. “If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa.”
Rubio added that once a student loses their visa, they are no longer legally in the United States, and can be deported.
“I think it’s crazy to invite students into your country that are coming onto your campus and destabilizing it,” Rubio said. “Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn’t.”

Secretary Kristi Noem Delivers Welcome Remarks To DHS Staff

Homeland Security To Screen Immigrants And Foreign Students’ Social Media For Anti-Semitism

Department of Homeland Security

Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Terrorism

Nearly a full year since college soccer player Noam Nedivi came forward with his story of antisemitic abuse, his university is apologizing for not only its failure to protect the student, but also actions that derailed his college experience.
Lawrence Technological University actually kicked Nedivi off his team and declined to protect him from a roommate who subjected him to months of antisemitic verbal and physical abuse. The Michigan school has now formally apologized after his former roommate and teammate, Zavier Chimienti, pleaded guilty to ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor domestic violence in October. 
The ordeal, first <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-an-anti-semitic-college-roommate-derailed-israeli-students-soccer-dreams">reported</a> by The Daily Wire nearly a year ago, included Chimienti harassing Nedivi with anti-Jewish slurs, Nazi salutes, and full-on physical abuse. 
“Last year, a Jewish student reported verbal and physical antisemitic abuse committed by another student on campus,” LTU’s administration wrote in a press release. “The student’s complaint should have been handled better. In that way, we failed him and the LTU community, and caused unnecessary pain to our student. We apologize to our student for the hurt caused him [sic].”
Nedivi told The Daily Wire that he is relieved the situation has come to an end, but he&#8217;s far from satisfied.
“I am glad that most of the truth has come to light, but LTU’s campus was a hostile environment for me for more than a year after I reported Zavier’s harassment in my own campus apartment,” Nedivi said. “He was never suspended at any point, even after he pleaded guilty in state court.”
Nedivi added that the lack of prioritization of his safety made him decide to finish his degree online. “LTU acted more like a criminal organization than a university trying to protect me,” Nedivi added. “LTU’s administration deliberately falsified evidence, made up lies to ruin my reputation and kept me from accessing critical student resources.”
In 2022, Nedivi moved to Southfield, Michigan from Israel to play college soccer, <a href="https://www.thejewishnews.com/community/jewish-edu-an-israeli-at-ltu/article_b5d67282-df01-50a4-9344-eab72385c9b3.html">writing</a> in February 2023, that it felt “unreal” to make it to this level of competitive soccer, given that “high-level adult soccer teams in Israel play in stadiums that are the same size” as the one he was playing in as a scholarship athlete at LTU.
After a great first year, Nedivi moved into a room shared with Chimienti in an on-campus apartment where two other teammates also lived. Just a few weeks after, Nedivi says Chimienti became hostile after he hung up an Israeli flag. The apartment also had an Italian flag — symbolizing Chimienti’s ancestry — but it was the Israeli flag that set off months of harassment.
Nedivi said Chimienti would do the Nazi salute in front of the flag, call it ugly, disgusting, and “a Jew flag.” Chimienti would often make references to the Holocaust, remarking for example that “Jews should be put in the oven because they are stinky,” according to Nedivi.
Nedivi recalled one incident where he says Chimienti ran into their room to fart before exclaiming, “I gassed the Jew,” and leaving the room.
Nedivi, the son of an American mother and Israeli father, said he initially kept quiet because he feared causing problems in the close-knit team by reporting Chimienti.
This was all before October 7, 2023, when Hamas brutally massacred Israeli citizens, launching college students around the United States to engage in antisemitic demonstrations and harassment.
<div class="image"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-739269" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/IMG_2721-1.heic" alt="" /></div>
Nedivi said he told Chimienti about the accusations that Hamas put Israeli babies in an oven, only to have Chimienti, a few days later, take a Star of David piñata that belonged to Nedivi and put it in the apartment’s oven, stating, “That’s what I hope Hamas does to every Jewish baby.”
Chimienti did this act twice, according to a police report filed by Nedivi reviewed by The Daily Wire. Nedivi also says that Chimienti would frequently mess with the piñata and provided The Daily Wire with a photo of Chimienti wearing it on his head.
The abuse was also physical. Nedivi said that in more than 10 instances, Chimienti came up behind him while he was sitting at his desk doing homework and put him into a sleeper hold.
“Usually he would harass me and give me a whole bunch of antisemitism and Nazism and then without any warning he would put me in a sleeper,” Nedivi said. “I called for my other roommate when he was there a few times to tell him to tell Zavier to stop, which he would do. I couldn’t move my body, my arms or legs because I had no control due to the lack of oxygen.”
The same roommate said he witnessed Chimienti harass and assault Nedivi nearly every day, according to a police witness statement filed in March.
“From the beginning of September 2023 to December 2023, I witnessed one of my three roommates, Zavier Chimienti, physically and emotionally harass Noam Nedivi,” the roommate, who is also on the soccer team, wrote in the police statement. “Nearly every day from the given time range, Zavier would often put his hands on Noam, including poking, pushing, grabbing and choking.”
The roommate’s report cites Chimienti’s Nazi salute and says Chimienti called Nedivi a “dirty Jew” on “more than one occasion.” He also mentioned sexual comments Chimienti made about Nedivi’s sister in Israel.
<div id="attachment_738957" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-738957" class="size-large wp-image-738957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report-461x576.png" alt="" width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report-461x576.png 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report-240x300.png 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report-768x960.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report-1229x1536.png 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Police-report.png 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />Police report filed by Noam Nedivi&#8217;s roommate, accusing Zavier Chimienti of physical and verbal abuse.</div>
In Nedivi’s police report, he recounted that he was uncomfortable having his twin sister visit him from Israel because Chimienti made comments about wanting to “sexually abuse” her. He told The Daily Wire that his family called off a planned visit from his sister because of fears of what would happen if she stayed in the apartment.
Despite the harassment, Nedivi said he hoped the relationship with Chimienti would improve. The two were friends prior to being roommates, with Nedivi spending Thanksgiving with Chimienti’s family in 2022. But when the holiday came around in 2023, Nedivi said he was pressured to spend it with the Chimienti family again.
Thinking that Chimienti wouldn’t be offensive in front of his parents, Nedivi gave in and left campus with the family, who he says ended up joining in on the harassment.
“Fabio called his wife when I was at their house for Thanksgiving and told her that the family is hosting ‘the Jew,’” he recalled.
While driving to a Black Friday sale, Nedivi said Fabio pushed antisemitic tropes about Jews being cheap, and referred to him as “Jew” instead of by his name. 
“He used the name ‘Jew’ to refer to me and I told him at one point that I don’t like him calling me ‘Jew’ and being referred to as ‘Jew,’” Nedivi said. “I said how I thought it was disrespectful but he went on and said ‘that is how I will refer to you, you Jew.’”
Nedivi also claims Fabio encouraged him to purchase a striped shirt in the store because it “reminds him of a Jewish prisoner of the Nazis.”
In one instance during the holiday, Nedivi said Fabio Chimienti continually made rude remarks inside the house, provoking his wife in a different room to shout that she was coming to stop him. When Michelle Chimienti started walking into the room, Nedivi took out his phone and began filming. In the video shared with The Daily Wire, Fabio Chimienti pretends to be a Palestinian with a “Jew attacking” him as his wife approaches.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Nedivi says Chimienti&#8217;s father joined in on the harassment with Holocaust jokes and referring to him as &#8220;Jew.&#8221;
Nedivi took a video of him pretending to be a Palestinian being attacked. “I’m a Palestinian and she’s a Jew attacking me!&#8221; he says. <a href="https://t.co/AHVVteOVkn">pic.twitter.com/AHVVteOVkn</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1792953912460292505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2024</a></blockquote>
“Ahh! I’m a Palestinian and she’s a Jew attacking me,” Fabio Chimienti says as his wife pretends to punch him.
“Fabio made a lot of Jewish and Nazi comments, including the Nazi salute many times, and he said Heil Hitler many times,” Nedivi recalled. “He told me that when I go back to Israel, he wants me to bring him 100 foreskins of murdered Palestinians by the IDF.”
Chimienti’s mother disputed the claims about the Nazi salutes and the piñata, according to the investigation conducted by the school, accusing Nedivi of placing “the blame on Zavier for things that other people have said and done.”
At the end of the semester, on the morning Nedivi was set to fly back to Israel, he said Chimienti made more Nazi salutes and would put his finger to his lips to “symbolize Hitler’s mustache.”
When home, Nedivi decided to report Chimienti and make arrangements with his other roommates and the school to rectify the housing situation.
Text messages previously reported on by The Daily Wire between the two other roommates and Nedivi at the end of December reveal the seriousness of the situation, including the roommates admitting they witnessed the harassment.
<div id="attachment_738961" style="width: 841px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-738961" class="size-large wp-image-738961" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Cover-images-26-831x576.png" alt="" width="831" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Cover-images-26-831x576.png 831w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Cover-images-26-300x208.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Cover-images-26-768x532.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/Cover-images-26.png 1035w" sizes="(max-width: 831px) 100vw, 831px" />Text messages between Noam Nedivi and one of his former roommates.</div>
In January 2024, Nedivi reported Chimienti to his coach, Will Dyer, the Dean of Students Jolann Baldwin, and campus police. Both Chimienti and Nedivi were immediately suspended and banned from soccer team events, while Baldwin launched an investigation that included interviews of the roommates and other witnesses. 
Nedivi also filed a police report with the Southfield Police Department on January 15, 2024, and a warrant was issued for Chimienti’s arrest. 
Six weeks after her investigation began, Baldwin delivered her report, finding Zavier “not responsible for discriminatory conduct against Noam Nedivi,” implemented a “no contact directive” and determined it was not possible for either of them to remain on the men’s soccer team.
“The investigator believes that there is room for education regarding respecting other people’s physical space and comfort,” the report read. “To that end, Zavier will be required to complete an educational module.”
The report cited the Thanksgiving visits, and meals and gifts by Chimienti’s family as evidence of “a pattern of caring, familial, behavior.”
Nedivi rejected Baldwin’s finding and filed an appeal, prompting an outside law firm hired by the school to investigate Baldwin’s report. It concluded that there was a “clear error in the Dean of Students’ decision to dismiss Complainant’s allegations as unfounded.” 
At the time, the university’s provost Richard Heist declined to discuss specifics on the situation citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, but told The Daily Wire the school is “committed to the safety of each of our students and their access to fair consideration and due process through the university’s established policies and procedures.”
<div id="attachment_739267" style="width: 471px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-739267" class="size-large wp-image-739267" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-461x576.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-1229x1536.jpg 1229w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-1638x2048.jpg 1638w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/05/DSC6585_Original-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 461px) 100vw, 461px" />Noam Nedivi says he started in many of Lawrence Technological University&#8217;s soccer games during his time on the team. (Photo: Vincent Pultorak)</div>
Two days after The Daily Wire’s first report on Nedivi’s situation, he was notified that he was reinstated to the soccer team, though he declined.
“I didn’t want to rejoin the team with a coach who didn’t have my back and disrespected me,” Nedivi said. “I just wanted to finish my studies and get out of there.”
The same law firm was later hired by the school to launch an investigation into the situation with Nedivi and Chimienti, which concluded in July 2024. It found Chimienti responsible for harassment and violating the code of conduct, but stated that he did not “intend to harass or discriminate” but rather was joking and teasing Nedivi. It recommended that Chimienti be placed on a probationary period, read the book Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew by Emmanuel Acho and Noa Tishby, and have an “educational conversation with a LTU administrator or designee.”
The letter announcing the investigation concluded with a directive to contact Baldwin for additional information. 
In response, Nedivi’s lawyers filed a complaint against Dyer and Baldwin.
According to her <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolann-baldwin-ed-d-47612a47/">LinkedIn</a>, as of November, Baldwin is no longer employed at LTU.
“I appreciate the people who came to my defense and stood by me during what seemed like a never-ending battle,” Nedivi said. “I encourage all Jewish and Israeli students to fight for their safety and their rights, no matter what obstacles are put in their way.”
LTU did not respond to a request for comment. Nedivi said he&#8217;s looking forward to graduating early and joining the Israeli Defense Forces.

Noam Nedivi and  Zavier Chimienti

University Apologizes For Inaction After Student’s Antisemitic Abuser Pleads Guilty

Lawrence Technological University

The following is an excerpt from &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQQ47DR3">The Wake Up Call: Global Jihad and the Rise of Antisemitism in a World Gone Mad</a>,&#8221; by Israel Ellis (Post Hill Press/Wicked Son).
* * *
<h3>A Conversation on Healing and the Battle for Humanity </h3>
October 7 should be a traumatic jolt for anyone who is a lover of life. We must stand united and resolved to make the world a safer place for the future generations that will follow. For if the lovers of life cannot heal the hate, we are truly lost at sea.
I met George, a doctor from Germany, at a healing retreat on Koh Pha Ngan, an island in the south of Thailand. During the first of our many conversations, I described some of the ideas that would later become these chapters, and in answer to his piqued interest, I went on to explain to him the events that took place in Israel on October 7 and the theater of the world since. We got around to the existential question on what it takes to save our world from itself, and both readily agreed in the simplicity that peace comes from love. And to love is to heal. Our conversation turned to philosophy and the infinity of the cosmos. It’s the kind of place that leads you into these thoughts. I brought up the biblical story of Jonah, the unwilling oracle, who warned the people of Nineveh, who repented without question because they came to understand the severity of the warnings and the opportunity to change. I asked George: Where is today’s Jonah to tell the haters wrong from right? To warn us of the consequences of hate?
The next morning George sat beside me and told me had he reflected on the prior evening’s discourse. “I agree,” he said with slow, carefully chosen words. “Both sides need to heal.” He saw my body tense up at the reference to “sides.” The idea of shared moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas is a typical red herring of those that will not fully condemn Hamas and stand for Israel. George gently raised a placating hand and asked me for patience. “Can you for a moment accept that there is a part of Hamas within you?” I caught my breath.
We sat in silence while I pondered this and took effort to examine George through a different lens. He has no connection to Israel; he is not affected by what happened on October 7 except that he is a lover of life and a healer and he is saddened that this event has happened in a world he deems has turned itself upside down. He lives his life in a bubble, not intentionally, but rather because he was born into it; a privileged Western bubble with all the trappings, including the luxury to question his existence and the next steps in his life. He is a good person. He is not committed to any specific ideology, except for his life and those of his patients. He is not a liberal nor does he consider himself a conservative. He will not take up a placard and join a protest. He believes that all people should live together in peace. He stays out of business that is not his to judge, because he knows his opinion will have no effect on the outcome.
It occurred to me that his apathy is part of the challenge the world faces; he places his complete trust in his government to manage the situation. He corrected me when I suggested this, and instead claimed it is humanity itself that he trusts. “Humanity will eventually find their way, they always do,” he said.
But I disagreed. “This is not a stream of water trickling through the path of least resistance,” I said. “To avoid long and painful consequences, we sometimes must act to protect humanity from and for itself.”
The impossibility of the situation Israel finds itself in is a predicament for the free world. To counter the epidemic of Global Jihad will require some sacrifice of liberty, and this can be a slippery slope. And yet, it has already begun. The UK has the most extensive and sophisticated closed-circuit video monitoring system of its kind in the world, complete with facial recognition and AI capabilities. There are few places left in London where you can escape someone watching you. This invasion of privacy is the compromise for security. But this does nothing to weed out the problem of radicalization by its roots. These bandaid solutions will only drive the Jihad further underground into the metaphorical and literal tunnels. The only long-term solution depends on overhauling how the next generation comes to see their world. Confronting the hold that the radicals have institutionalized over young people, dismantling the arenas for hate, and policing the spread of lies and calls to Jihad, is of the most critical importance. Like the cameras in London, it is not pretty to impose law and confront hate.
<div id="attachment_901781" style="width: 383px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-901781" class="wp-image-901781 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-373x576.jpg" alt="Post Hill Press/Wicked Son" width="373" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-373x576.jpg 373w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-194x300.jpg 194w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_-768x1187.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/71mKLbBu7OL._SL1360_.jpg 880w" sizes="(max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px" />Post Hill Press/Wicked Son</div>
I returned to the present with the clang of a spoon against my metal cup. George waited for my answer. Can I accept that there is something of Hamas in all of us? It is a difficult question, because on the face of it it seems a bizarre and hurtful theory by someone who knows little about the situation on the ground. But I have come to respect George, and I knew he was not playing with me. What he asked me is if we are all capable of playing the part of Hamas if we were wearing the shoe on the other foot.
I looked across at George and asked him thoughtfully if he has siblings. “Yes,” he answered, not really sure of where I was going with this. “I have a sister, she is eight years younger than myself.” I asked him if he ever felt jealousy toward her. He assures me that he did. When she first arrived home, the focus of his entire world shifted to her. “Did you ever have evil and violent thoughts about how to deal with that? Did you plan to kill her?” I asked, to his wide-eyed look. Of course, this is extreme, but relevant. “I love my sister to this day,” he stammers. “I would never harm her.” He takes a slow breath in and admits “regardless of how much she may have infuriated me as a young boy.”
In the story of Cain and Abel. Cain, the older brother, is jealous at the acceptance of Abel’s’ sacrifice to God, and in response he kills him. Cain is new to all these powerful emotions, being only the third person to ever live, he has no context for dealing and how to manage these feelings. Leading up to the act, he could not have understood the consequences of his actions, yet as his brother lay unmoving beneath him, he realizes immediately by some intuitive force that he has committed a grave transgression. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” he responds to God, when questioned of Abel’s whereabouts, a clear defensive diversion away from the moral consequence of what he has done. There are direct lessons that can be interpreted from this story; the moral wrongness of murder, the accountability, the shame and regret, and the divine justice that follows.
In my own paraphrasing of Genesis 4:11-12, I quote; “Cain, the earth received your brother’s blood from your hand, thereby the ground will give you nothing in return, and you are banished and will walk the earth without home.” This is a very clear and powerful statement that is made, one that neither Jews, Christians, or Muslims will disagree with. A person who commits murder will become a wanderer, a refugee wherever they go. They are Cain, who was deserving of justice, even though no lawbook had ever told him murder was wrong.
What happened on October 7 was a collective sociopathic act that crossed a line from which there can be no return, not just for the Hamas terrorists that came armed with guns and bombs, but for the people of Gaza who supported the invasion and followed in its wake, rampaging through residential areas, pillaging, burning, and committing barbaric acts of rape and live dismemberment. The people of Gaza, everyday citizens, came to set fire to buildings with people still inside. If you poll Gazans today, the majority will support Hamas and celebrate the events of October 7. If you survey the Palestinian people in the lands controlled by the PA, chances are there will be a strong empathy for the Gazans whose immorality brought them to their own destruction. If you poll the Pan Arab world, you will likely find an alarming number of people in support of Hamas. 
The October 7 attacks ignited global outrage, revealing deep-seated hatred and a disturbing lack of empathy. Those who march in support of Israel’s destruction or celebrate Hamas’s violence are morally complicit in these heinous acts. Like Cain, who committed the first murder despite having no explicit prohibition, these supporters cannot claim ignorance as a defense for their actions. And this is the difference between a terrorist, a terrorist sympathizer, and a fundamentally good person. The masked people holding placards celebrating Hamas and chanting for the genocide of Jews, participating in protests and encampments, these are not just the useful idiots of Hamas, these are useful evildoers for Hamas.
* * *
Israel Ellis is <a href="https://israelellis.com/in-the-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an entrepreneur</a> and the father of an IDF soldier. He is the author of &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQQ47DR3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wake Up Call</a>&#8221; (Post Hill Press/Wicked Son).
This excerpt is published by permission from Post Hill Press/Wicked Son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-ISRAEL-PALESTINIAN-CONFLICT

‘Am I My Brother’s Keeper?’: Cain, Hamas, And The Aftermath Of October 7

'Am I My Brother’s Keeper?': Cain, Hamas, And The Aftermath Of October 7

Bible

Books

Gaza

Hamas

Islamic Jihad

October 7

The Trump administration task force on anti-Semitism has launched a review of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded grants and contracts to Harvard University.
The task force is scrutinizing $8.7 billion in multi-year grant commitments to Harvard and its affiliates, according to an announcement by the Department of Education. The review will also encompass $255.6 million in contracts between Harvard and the federal government.
“Harvard has served as a symbol of the American Dream for generations – the pinnacle aspiration for students all over the world to work hard and earn admission to the storied institution,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/ed-hhs-and-gsa-initiate-federal-contract-and-grant-review-of-harvard-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination – all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry – has put its reputation in serious jeopardy.”
“Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” she said.
Harvard President Alan Garber addressed the threat to the university’s federal funding in a Monday <a href="https://www.harvard.edu/president/news/2025/our-resolve/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">note</a>.
“The government has informed us that they are considering this action because they are concerned that the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment,” Garber wrote.
“Urgent action and deep resolve are needed to address this serious problem that is growing across America and around the world. It is present on our campus. I have experienced antisemitism directly, even while serving as president, and I know how damaging it can be to a student who has come to learn and make friends at a college or university,” the president said.
The task force is composed of the departments of Education and Health and Human Services and the U.S. General Services Administration.
The announcement came after the Trump administration has cut off $400 million in taxpayer funding from Columbia University. Last month, Columbia agreed to make a series of changes to their campus speech policies and practices, though it did not secure a return of the rescinded funding.
Last week, Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-president-steps-down-amid-turmoil-with-trump-admin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped down</a> amid blowback from faculty that the college acceded too much to the Trump administration in the agreement. Claire Shipman, a former CNN correspondent and co-chair of Columbia’s board of trustees, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbias-new-prez-doesnt-appear-to-be-much-better-than-the-last-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped in</a> as interim president.
The Trump administration cut funds to Columbia University after the federal government said the school failed to protect Jewish students amid chaos and unrest on campus over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. Pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas students protested, vandalized, and took over buildings on Columbia’s campus.

Trump Anti-Semitism Task Force Scrutinizing Billions In Taxpayer Funds To Harvard

Trump Antisemitism Task Force Scrutinizing Billions In Taxpayer Funds To Harvard

Linda McMahon

U.S.

Three men found guilty of murdering Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan last year were unanimously sentenced to death in the United Arab Emirates on Monday, state news agency <a href="https://www.wam.ae/a/bixy0yf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WAM reported</a>.
Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals&#8217; State Security Chamber found the defendants guilty of premeditated murder with terrorist intention. A fourth defendant was sentenced to life in prison.
Olimpi Toirovich, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, and Azizbek Kamlovich, who are citizens of Uzbekistan, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/three-uzbeks-arrested-in-uae-over-killing-of-chabad-rabbi-zvi-kogan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were arrested</a> for the act last year. It is not clear if all three of them were sentenced to death, or if one was the individual sentenced to life in prison.
Firing squad is the sole method of execution in the UAE.
Investigations by the state security prosecution revealed the convicts tracked Kogan before murdering him. Evidence during the trial included detailed confessions, forensic and autopsy reports, post-mortem examination findings, tools used in the crime, and witness testimonies, WAM reported.
Attorney General Dr. Hamad Saif Al Shamsi reportedly said the ruling “embodies the UAE&#8217;s unwavering commitment to combating terrorism in accordance with the highest standards of justice and the rule of law, and to providing fair trial guarantees.”
Capital punishment sentences are reportedly automatically subject to appeal under UAE law and are referred to the Criminal Division of the Federal Supreme Court.
Kogan, 28, a Moldovan and Israeli citizen, was last seen alive in Dubai before his body was discovered in Al Ain, a city near the Oman border approximately 90 minutes from Dubai.
Kogan worked as an emissary for the Jewish group Chabad, helping to support religious life for Jewish visitors and residents. He worked with the Chabad in Abu Dhabi and ran a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
The UAE has had a spike in Jewish and Israeli visitors since the establishment of formal ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords in 2020. The act of suspected terrorism may have been targeted at threatening the stability of the Abraham Accords.
The White House National Security Council under the Biden administration said at the time that the murder was a crime against supporters of peace.
“This was a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence,” <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-830567" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sean Savett, a spokesman for the council. “It was an assault as well on UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murder an anti-Semitic terrorist attack and said that the Jewish state will seek justice against those who dispatched the three men.
“This murder of an Israeli citizen and a Chabad emissary, is an abhorrent antisemitic terrorist attack,” Netanyahu said. “The State of Israel will use all means, and will deal with these murderers, and those who dispatched them, to the fullest extent of the law. None of them will get away.”
Almost a million dollars <a href="https://raisethon.com/zvi?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZfyckSvSjP40Xo9gPAgQXY3093pbsI-0KFxqj2zpHRadhwFygAOYTjoXM_aem_ilu3ZGyWKu8EUuBPp8JMNg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was raised</a> to support Kogan’s widow, who is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg. Holtzberg and his wife, Rikvah, were murdered by Islamic terrorists in Mumbai in 2008.

Uzbek Suspects

UAE Court Sentences Three Terrorists To Death For Premeditated Murder Of Rabbi

Death Penalty

Murder

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Columbia University’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, has resigned as the university struggles under pressure from the Trump administration stripping its federal funding.
Armstrong is the second president to vacate the role at the university in seven months. Columbia has been rocked by backlash to its handling of pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas protests that erupted on campus.
“Dr. Armstrong accepted the role of interim president at a time of great uncertainty for the University and worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community,” said David Greenwald, chair of the board of trustees. “Katrina has always given her heart and soul to Columbia. We appreciate her service and look forward to her continued contributions to the University.”
Armstrong will return to lead the school’s Irving Medical Center, Columbia said in a <a href="https://communications.news.columbia.edu/news/shipman-named-acting-president" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. Claire Shipman, the co-chair of the board of trustees, will take over as the university’s interim president.
“I assume this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us and a steadfast commitment to act with urgency, integrity, and work with our faculty to advance our mission, implement needed reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open inquiry,” Shipman said. “Columbia’s new permanent president, when that individual is selected, will conduct an appropriate review of the University’s leadership team and structure to ensure we are best positioned for the future.”
The Trump administration has stripped $400 million in taxpayer funding from Columbia. The university had received more than $1 billion in federal funds annually before the Trump administration crackdown over its protest policies.
The university last week agreed to make significant changes to its protest policies and security practices. The school made the concessions without securing any pledge from the Trump administration to restore the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds that have been cut off.
Armstrong has received blowback on campus from the agreement, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/columbia-university-interim-president-katrina-armstrong-is-stepping-down-7644f880?mod=hp_lead_pos5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>. In the days ahead of her resignation announcement, she met with faculty and staff who thought the university had given up too much in the agreement.
The battle between the Trump administration and Columbia University has been over what the federal government has said is a double standard by the university to enable its pro-Palestinian students while allowing a hostile environment to threaten its Jewish students.
The Trump administration’s anti-Semitism taskforce said in a statement after Armstrong’s resignation: “The action taken by Columbia’s trustees today, especially in light of this week’s concerning revelation, is an important step toward advancing negotiations as set forth in the pre-conditional understanding reached last Friday between the University and the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism,” according to WSJ.

Columbia University

Columbia President Steps Down Amid Turmoil With Trump Admin

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