In a Nov. 18 email to a parent, Rusch said Steigmann's presentation wasn't right for the school "given his messages around Israel and Palestine." In video obtained by CBS News New York from a virtual PTA meeting on Dec. 9, Rusch said she would arrange for students to visit museums that teach about the Holocaust and defended her decision about Steigmann. "When I reviewed the speaker's website ... I found the slides to be political in nature," she said. "DOE's policy is that students should learn in a politically neutral environment."
Rep. Tim Walberg, chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, wants to have a briefing with the mayor of Evanston, Ill., regarding his decision not to help dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University in April 2024. Walberg, a Republican, requested the briefing in a Jan. 28 letter to Mayor Daniel Biss, which included 13 pages of communications among then-Northwestern president Michael Schill and university trustees as well as between Schill and Biss.
I am very sorry to hear how troubling recent reports have been for you, he wrote. We fully recognise the seriousness of the behaviours described in the media, and we understand why you and others who were at the college during that period have felt compelled to speak out. Allegations of racist and antisemitic conduct are profoundly distressing, and it is important to say clearly that such behaviour is wholly incompatible with the values the college holds.
The legal action alleges Ireland's national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June. The group's lead singer, Pascal Robinson-Foster, known as Bobby Vylan, led a chant of death, death to the IDF, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, making global headlines and prompting a British police investigation. RTE's allegation that the band made antisemitic chants were categorically denied and entirely untrue, Phoenix Law Solicitors, a Belfast-based firm hired by the band, said in a statement.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Tuesday that, effective immediately, when reviewing applications, the agency will consider "any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations, as well as the use of discretion in adjudication of certain benefit requests where evidence of antisemitic activity is present." The applicant "bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted," the announcement states.
