Top News | 'Trump Is in the Epstein Files,' Charges Musk

 

Thursday, June 5, 2025 ■ Today's Top News  As Israel Slaughters Gazans, US House Progressives Push 'Block the Bombs Act' "Netanyahu and Trump are a lethal, unaccountable, extremist duo," said Congresswoman Delia Ramirez. "Congress needs to assert its oversight authority." By Jessica Corbett With over 54,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip killed by the Israeli assault and the 2 million survivors suffering from the ongoing bombings and blockade on essentials, nearly two dozens progressives in the U.S. Congress came together Thursday to call for passage of a bill that would withhold offensive weapons from Israel. Like former Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden, Republican President Donald Trump has continued to provide diplomatic and weapons support to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose forces have left the Palestinian enclave in ruins since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. "Netanyahu has laid siege to Gaza, killing at least 54,000 people, repeatedly displacing the entire population, and cutting off access to desperately needed humanitarian aid." "Netanyahu and Trump are a lethal, unaccountable, extremist duo. Trump has bypassed congressional oversight on weapons transfers. The Israeli government is currently escalating attacks on the civilian population of Gaza. They are both out of control. Congress needs to assert its oversight authority," said Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) in a statement. "Enough is enough," Ramirez declared. "By introducing the Block the Bombs Act, a broad coalition is listening to the American people who don't want their taxpayers' money to continue supporting gross violations of U.S., international, and humanitarian law." Two former leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus—Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.)—as well as Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) are spearheading the fight for the bill alongside Ramirez. Another 18 Democrats in the House of Representatives have signed on as co-sponsors, including current CPC Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the only Palestinian American in either chamber. "For the last year and a half, Benjamin Netanyahu has laid siege to Gaza, killing at least 54,000 people, repeatedly displacing the entire population, and cutting off access to desperately needed humanitarian aid," said Pocan. "This commonsense bill will prevent more unchecked transfers of these offensive weapons systems that are used to violate international human rights laws and hopefully help bring this devastating conflict to an end." Although there was a cease-fire in place for nearly two months earlier this year, Netanyahu abandoned it in March. Since then, negotiations for an end to Israel's annihilation of Gaza and the release of both Palestinians held in Israeli prisons and hostages taken by Palestinian militants in 2023 have been unsuccessful. Throughout the war, efforts by progressives in both chambers of Congress—including multiple resolutions led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—to block U.S. weapons that Israel uses to massacre civilians in Gaza also have not been successful. A growing number of critics across the globe condemn the U.S.-backed Israeli assault as genocide. The new bill is backed by dozens of advocacy groups that have spent the past 20 months sounding the alarm about the soaring death toll, starvation, and destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, including Amnesty International USA, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Council on American-Islamic Relations, Demand Progress, Human Rights Watch, IfNotNow Movement, IMEU Policy Project, Indivisible, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, Justice Democrats, Institute for Policy Studies, Progressive Democrats of America, Rabbis for Cease-Fire, Sunrise Movement, Win Without War, and Working Families Party. "The Block the Bombs Act is a historic bill," but also "a straightforward challenge to United States complicity in Israel's genocidal campaign in Gaza as Israeli forces block humanitarian assistance and directly target schools, hospitals, and civilians," said CCR associate director of policy Brad Parker. "As the Israeli government escalates the murder, starvation, and forcible transfer of Palestinians with President Trump's full support, we recognize and appreciate the bold leadership of Reps. Ramirez, Jacobs, Jayapal, and Pocan." CCR also encouraged supporters of the bill to visit blockthebombs.org, which features a tool enabling U.S. voters to write to their members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the legislation, H.R. 3565. Federal Judge Orders Release of Massachusetts Teen in ICE Detention "It's not OK that students across the state are fearful of going to school or sports practice, and that parents have to question whether their children will come home at the end of the day," said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. By Julia Conley After staging a school walkout and paying tribute to their detained classmate earlier this week, high school students gathered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts on Thursday to demand the release of Marcelo Gomes da Silva from an immigration detention facility—and were overjoyed when they learned a judge had ordered the 18-year-old to be released on bond. Community members chanted Gomes da Silva's name after learning he would be released. They also displayed signed reading, "ICE Out of Schools," referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detained Gomes da Silva earlier this week. Gomes da Silva's hometown of Milford erupted in fury at the news of his arrest, which occurred when he was stopped on his way to volleyball practice. Authorities have said they were looking for Gomes da Silva's father, who owns the car the student was driving and who Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed "has a habit of reckless driving." The student's team dedicated a match to Gomes da Silva on Tuesday night, and supporters wore white to the game to honor him. Gomes da Silva appeared via video at the immigration court on Thursday from an ICE facility in nearby Burlington. "If you're detained here at the Burlington ICE facility, you do not see the light of day," his attorney, Robin Nice, said at the hearing. "You don't know what time it is. There's no TV. He asked for a Bible. He was not given a Bible. It is complete isolation." Nice said the 18-year-old has been sleeping on a cement floor since being taken to the facility. Gomes da Silva has been in the U.S. since he was 7 years old, having entered the country from his home country of Brazil on a visitor visa. He was later issued a student visa that has since lapsed, his lawyer told reporters. The government sought permission from a federal judge on Wednesday to move Gomes da Silva to an out-of-state detention facility, which the judge rejected. Gomes da Silva's immigration case is proceeding following his release on $2,000 bail. The immigration judge set "a placeholder hearing date for a couple of weeks from Thursday," The Associated Press reported. "We're optimistic that he'll have a future in the United States," said Nice. Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey expressed relief at the news that Gomes da Silva was being released. "Marcelo never should have been arrested or detained, and it certainly did not make us safer," said Healey. "It's not OK that students across the state are fearful of going to school or sports practice, and that parents have to question whether their children will come home at the end of the day. In Massachusetts, we are going to keep speaking out for what's right and supporting one another in our communities." 'Trump Is in the Epstein Files,' Charges Musk as Right-Wing Billionaire Bro Feud Goes Kaboom "That is the real reason they have not been made public," said Musk. By Common Dreams Staff Right-wing billionaire and the world's richest man, Elon Musk, dropped what he called the "really big bomb" on Thursday afternoon as the feud between him and President Donald Trump continued to escalate. The former accused the latter of being a named person in the so-called "Epstein Files," the documents that some believe would reveal which people may have been involved in Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex trafficking network. Musk tweeted: "Mark this post for the future," Musk added. "The truth will come out." The fallout between Trump and Musk has escalated rapidly and quite publicly over recent days. Still, the tensions crescendoed Thursday with a series of charges between the two, including Musk claiming that Trump would not have won the 2024 election without his help. Trump said the mega-billionaire, who until recently was running the president's government-gutting agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, had a presence that was "wearing thin" prior to his departure from the administration last month. As of this writing, there were not enough memes on the internet to adequately catalog the reactions to Musk's accusation. "This is so cool," said one social media observer to the squabble. "We're going to live through the dumbest civil war ever." MY FOOT NOTE:  When EPSTEIN's ISLAND was cleaned out, one of the photos made public was a little female kid, bound, gagged & blindfolded waiting to be sexually assaulted by these perverts. CRAIG UNGER wrote well researched books that included MAXWELL & EPSTEIN, available at your public library. excerpt: • How the Epstein-Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking operation provided a source and marketplace for sexual kompromat. • How the Epstein-Maxwell ring helped enable young women with possible ties to Russian intelligence to gain access to the highest levels of Silicon Valley and the worlds of artificial intelligence, supercomputers, and the internet. This, at a time when Vladimir Putin has asserted, “Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere [artificial intelligence] will become the ruler of the world.” • How John Mark Dougan, a former deputy sheriff in Mar-a-Lago’s Palm Beach County, says he acquired 478 videos confiscated from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, fled to Moscow, became only the fourth American to win asylum in Russia, and immediately gained access to Putin’s inner circle, showing the ongoing power that comes from kompromat and how its value is highest before it is “used.” JPMORGAN CHASE knew what EPSTEIN was doing & failed to report, just as they did with BERNIE MADOFF. JPMORGAN CHASE settled lawsuits in MANHATTAN & the VIRGIN ISLANDS & those documents should be made PUBLIC, as well as the SOURCES of EPSTEIN'S $$$$! One could speculate that there are a lot of intelligence sources, maybe money laundering, maybe extortion. Devastating Report Details an Occupied Palestine on 'Edge of Erasure' "The world is witnessing Israel relentlessly starve and bomb Palestinians with total impunity," said one humanitarian worker in the region. By Julia Conley A new report by a leading Quaker social justice organization urges observers of Israel's bombardment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and its accelerated annexation of the West Bank to see the "escalating violations" not as isolated pushes for control of the occupied territories but something much more sinister and profound. According to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), SC), the policies and violence Israel is perpetrating on people across the territories are "systematic and risk the erasure of Palestinians." The group joined leading humanitarian organizations that have spent years providing aid and services to Palestinians in Gaza—only to have their work impeded and made deadly by the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) attacks—in releasing The Edge of Erasure, a comprehensive look at the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The AFSC surveyed 46 international and Palestinian organizations on their experiences trying to deliver aid and services across Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from March 26-May 28. The groups were up against Israel's total blockade on humanitarian aid in Gaza, which was imposed starting March 2, two weeks before the IDF broke a temporary ceasefire and began intensifying attacks in the enclave. In late May Israel began allowing in a tiny fraction of the amount of 500 aid trucks that entered Gaza on a daily basis before the war; advocates have said the trickle of relief is far from enough. During the AFSC's survey, 93% of the groups said they had exhausted or were close to exhausting their aid supply in Gaza, including food, flour, fuel, hygiene kits, medications, and other essentials. "In the face of such systematic devastation, only a comprehensive, multi-sectoral response at scale can even start to address the overwhelming, man-made humanitarian crisis." Seven of the groups said their dwindling supplies were partially the result of Israeli attacks, with groups forced to leave materials behind due to forced displacement orders. Others said their supplies are in trucks stuck in Jordan or Egypt without the ability to enter Gaza, and some said that once they've gotten aid deliveries to distribute, they've been unable to hand out medicines because they're already expired. More than a third of the organizations said their facilities had been directly or indirectly struck by IDF attacks, despite acknowledgement from the Israeli military that humanitarian groups must be "deconflicted." "In several instances, no prior notification was given before the strikes," the AFSC said. At least 452 humanitarian workers are among the more than 54,000 people who have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, and eight of the groups reported staff being injured, while five reported workers being killed in Israeli attacks during the reporting period. While intensifying its bombing campaign and imposing a blockade that international experts said in May had pushed the entire population into a food insecurity emergency, with half a million people facing starvation, Israel has also turned at least 81% of Gaza into "no-go" militarized zones in recent months. More than two-thirds of the groups said during the survey period that they were no longer able to access certain areas, particularly in northern Gaza as well as the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah. "Recent Israeli forces' attacks have continued to dissect Gaza into increasingly isolated zones, cutting communities off from basic needs necessary for survival," reads the report. "In many cases, remaining residents have been literally unable to move, due to exhaustion, injury, illness, infirmity, disability, contamination with unexploded ordnance, or lack of alternatives. Some areas are formally cut off or declared inaccessible, while others have been subject to such intensive shelling and forces' attacks that they have been practically unreachable for aid delivery. These conditions effectively impose sieges within the siege, with parts of Gaza inaccessible for humanitarian operations." Gaza's population is now confined to just 19% of the enclave due to "increasingly expansive forced displacement orders," and people are facing "simultaneous and intersecting crises" including displacement, destruction of housing, destruction of water and sanitation networks, starvation, the loss of 95% of school buildings which had been used as shelters after the war began, and a decimated healthcare system. Palestinians have also been left without ways to maintain self-sufficiency, with less than 5% of Gaza's cropland now available for cultivation due to the Israeli military's access restrictions and damage. "The world is witnessing Israel relentlessly starve and bomb Palestinians with total impunity," said Hanady Muhiar, Palestine/Israel country representative for the AFSC. "Israel is weaponizing hunger and destroying a principled humanitarian aid system that could be providing lifesaving goods at scale to the Palestinian people in Gaza. We all have an obligation to prevent genocidal crimes. It is urgent that states, organizations, and individuals take immediate action to stop it." Meanwhile, the IDF has intensified attacks and demolitions of buildings in the West Bank, with 85% of structures in Masafer Yatta destroyed and over 100 homes in Nour Shams and Tulkarm refugee camps recently ordered demolished. Israeli settlers have also escalated attacks in the territory. "The deliberate and excessive use of violence, demolitions, and displacement is not merely hindering aid delivery," reads the report, "it risks forcible transfer and entrenching annexation, and the erasure of Palestinians from their land." Ninety-three percent of organizations in the West Bank reported "a sharp increase in movement restrictions throughout the reporting period." The Israeli military has rejected the groups' attempts to coordinate humanitarian work, denying nearly 70% of aid movement requests between April 30-May 6. A 51-year-old woman who spent three decades running a program for children with disabilities at Nour Shams refugee camp described being forced by Israeli soldiers to leave her home. "The Israeli forces gave me only two hours to collect my things," said the woman. "I was afraid to find someone hiding there. They cut the electricity, so it was dark. Everything is lost. There was a picture of me, a painting made by some artist. They stomped on it and ruined it... Everything is lost now. The parents are desperate. They don't know what to do. I try to give them advice, but it’s not the same." The AFSC demanded a permanent cease-fire; an end to the humanitarian aid blockade—which "states with influence" must "use all possible measures" to achieve; an end to Israel's "unlawful presence" in the occupied territories; and boosted funding for the relief response. "In the face of such systematic devastation," reads the report, "only a comprehensive, multi-sectoral response at scale can even start to address the overwhelming, man-made humanitarian crisis." Analyses Expose Ocean Protection Failures Before UN Summit on 'Unprecedented Crisis' "Conserving 30% of our ocean by 2030 is not just a target—it's a lifeline for communities, food security, biodiversity, and the global economy," said one advocate. By Jessica Corbett Ahead of the third United Nations summit on oceans, scheduled for next week, multiple analyses have highlighted how humanity is failing to address the multipronged emergency faced by the world's seas. "The ocean is facing an unprecedented crisis due to climate change, plastic pollution, ecosystem loss, and the overuse of marine resources," Li Junhua, secretary-general for the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), toldU.N. News. UNOC3 is co-chaired by Costa Rica and France, and set to be held in the French coastal city of Nice June 9-13. Its theme is "accelerating action and mobilizing all actors to conserve and sustainably use the ocean." "Only $1.2 billion of finance is flowing to ocean protection and conservation—less than 10% of what is needed." One of the new analyses—The Ocean Protection Gap: Assessing Progress Toward the 30×30 Target—was commissioned by the Bloomberg Ocean Fund and produced in partnership with nature groups, including WWF International. The report, released Thursday, focuses on the 30×30 goal from the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which is a commitment to conserve at least 30% of the world's land and ocean by 2030. The document warns that right now, "just 8.6% of the ocean is protected, with only 2.7% assessed and deemed effectively protected—a far cry from the 30% target." Additionally, "only $1.2 billion of finance is flowing to ocean protection and conservation—less than 10% of what is needed," the report notes. It urges governments behind the framework to boost funding, including honoring their pledge to "provide at least $20 billion by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030 in international biodiversity finance to developing countries." Calling the analysis "a wake-up call," Pepe Clarke, oceans practice leader at WWF, stressed that "we have the science, the tools, and a global agreement, but without bold political leadership and a rapid scaling of ambition, funding, and implementation, the promise of 30×30 will remain unfulfilled. Conserving 30% of our ocean by 2030 is not just a target—it's a lifeline for communities, food security, biodiversity, and the global economy." Another new report, released Thursday by the U.S.-based Earth Insight in partnership with groups from around the world, details "the global expansion of offshore and coastal oil and gas development and its profound threats to marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of coastal communities—drawing on regional case studies to illustrate these threats." The analysis found significant overlap between fossil fuel blocks—sites where exploration and production are permitted—and coral, mangroves, sea grass, and allegedly protected areas. It calls for halting oil and gas expansion, retiring blocks not already assigned to investors, ending financial support for coastal and offshore fossil fuel development, investing in renewables, ensuring a just transition, restoring impacted ecosystems, and strengthening legal, financial, and policy frameworks. Last week, Oceana released another analysis of fishing in France's six Marine Nature Parks in 2024. The conservation group found that over 100 bottom trawling vessels appeared to spend more than 17,000 hours fishing in these "protected" spaces. "Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive and wasteful practices taking place in our ocean today," said Oceana board member and Sea Around Us Project founder Daniel Pauly in a statement. "These massive, weighted nets bulldoze the ocean floor, destroying everything in their path and remobilizing carbon stored in the seabed. You cannot destroy areas and call them protected. We don't need more bulldozed tracks on the seafloor. We need protected areas that benefit people and nature." Nicolas Fournier, Oceana's campaign director for marine protection in Europe, urged action by French President Emmanuel Macron. "This is a problem President Macron can no longer ignore," said Fournier. "France needs to go from words to action—and substantiate its claim of achieving 30×30 by actually protecting its marine treasures from destructive fishing." Greenpeace has also recently called out the "weaknesses" of French marine protections—and then faced what the group condemned as retaliation from the government: Authorities blocked its ship, Arctic Sunrise, from entering the port of Nice. "Arctic Sunrise had been invited by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the 'One Ocean Science Congress' and in the ocean wonders parade taking place right before the U.N. Ocean Conference," the group explained in a Tuesday statement. "Greenpeace International had intended to deliver the messages of 3 million people calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining to the politicians attending the conference." Greenpeace International executive director Mads Christensen denounced the "attempt to silence fair criticism" before UNOC3 as "clearly a political decision" and "utterly unacceptable." "France wants this to be a moment where they present themselves as saviors of the oceans while they want to silence any criticism of their own failures in national waters. We will not be silenced," Christensen declared. "Greenpeace and the French government share the same objective to get a moratorium on deep-sea mining, which makes the ban of the Arctic Sunrise from Nice even more absurd." Trump's New Blanket Travel Bans Denounced as 'Beyond Shameful' While advocacy groups vow to fight the unlawful order, one Democratic lawmaker said, "We cannot continue to allow the Trump administration to write bigotry and hatred into U.S. immigration policy." By Jon Queally Progressive lawmakers, civil rights groups, and humanitarians responded with outrage and condemnation overnight and into Thursday after President Donald Trump announced a blanket travel ban on 12 countries and harsh restrictions on seven others, calling the move a hateful and "unlawful" regurgitation of a policy he attempted during his first term. In total, the executive order from Trump's White House would impact people and families from 19 countries. Twelve nations would face a total ban: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. People from seven other nations would face severe restrictions: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. In a video posted to social media late Wednesday night, Trump cited this week's attack, carried out by a lone individual in Colorado, to attempt to justify the need for the far-reaching restrictions, which the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, decried as "unnecessary, overbroad and ideologically motivated." "Just like his first Muslim Ban, this latest announcement flies in the face of basic morality and goes directly against our values. This racist policy will not make us safe, it will separate families and endanger lives. We cannot let it stand." —Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) While the order sparked fresh condemnation, it does not come as a surprise from the Trump administration, which has made xenophobic rhetoric and anti-immigrant policy a cornerstone of its tenure. As the Washington Postreports: Reinstating a travel ban has been a long-standing campaign promise for Trump. During his first term,he initially barred travel from seven Muslim-majority countries — under what became known as "the Muslim ban." After legal challenges, updated versions expanded the list to eight countries, including North Korea and Venezuela. President Joe Biden revoked the policy in 2021. "Automatically banning students, workers, tourists, and other citizens of these targeted nations from coming to the United States will not make our nation safer," said Nihad Awad, the executive director of CAIR, in response to Trump's new order. "Neither will imposing vague ideological screening tests that the government can easily abuse to ban immigrants based on their religious identity and political activism." Even with the exceptions outlined in Trump's executive order, said Awad, "this new travel ban risks separating families, depriving students of educational opportunities, blocking patients from access to unique medical treatment, and creating a chilling effect on travelers." Democratic lawmakers, including Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Pramila Jayapal of Washington spoke out forcefully against the presidential order. "This discriminatory policy is beyond shameful," said Omar in reaction to the news. "Just like his first Muslim Ban, this latest announcement flies in the face of basic morality and goes directly against our values. This racist policy will not make us safe; it will separate families and endanger lives. We cannot let it stand." In her statement, Jayapal said there "are a myriad of reasons that people come to the United States, from travel and tourism to fleeing violence and dangerous situations. This ban, expanded from Trump's Muslim ban in his first term, will only further isolate us on the world stage." Jayapal continued by saying the "discriminatory policy," which she noted is an attack on legal immigration processes, "not only flies in the face of what our country is supposed to stand for, it will be harmful to our economy and our communities that rely on the contributions of people who to America from this wide range of countries. Banning a whole group of people because you disagree with the structure or function of their government not only lays blame in the wrong place, it creates a dangerous precedent." Referencing the broader approach of Trump's policies, Jayapal accused Trump of "indiscriminately taking a chainsaw to our government, destroying federal agencies that keep us safe, indiscriminately cutting jobs, and hindering our progress across research fields. This will only further hurt our country, and cannot be allowed to stand." Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) offered a similar assessment: Oxfam America also slammed the announcement. "A new travel ban marks a chilling return to policies of fear, discrimination, and division," said Abby Maxman, the group's president and CEO. "By once again targeting individuals from Muslim-majority countries, countries with predominantly Black and brown populations, and countries in the midst of conflict and political instability, this executive order deepens inequality and perpetuates harmful stereotypes, racist tropes, and religious intolerance," said Maxman. "This policy is not about national security—it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States." The travel ban on predominantly Muslim-majority nations attempted by Trump during his first term sparked large public protests as well as a wave of legal challenges. The new ban is likely to garner a similar response. "This latest travel ban would deny entry to individuals and families fleeing war, persecution, and oppression, forcing them to remain in dangerous conditions. It will prevent family reunifications, and America’s historical legacy as a welcoming nation will be further eroded," said Maxman. "Oxfam will continue to advocate to ensure that this ban is struck down. The U.S. must uphold the dignity and rights of all people, no matter their religion or country of origin." JOIN THE MOVEMENT As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. JOIN WITH US TODAY ■ More News Greenpeace Denmark Complaint Accuses Dairy Giant of 'Systemic Greenwashing' Despite Columbia's Acquiescence, Trump Admin Targets the School's Accreditation 'Mamdani-Mentum': AOC Endorses Democratic Socialist for NYC Mayor New Trump Attack on Harvard and Foreign Students Denounced as 'Authoritarian Overreach' U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday released a directive invoking national security powers to impose a six-month ban on international students from entering the United States to study at Harvard University—a move that was quickly panned by observers and the university itself. The ban could be extended. The order also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider, at his discretion, whether non-Americans currently attending Harvard on F, M, or J visas should have their visas revoked. "This is for crucial national security reasons," according to the statement. The order from Trump is yet another escalation in the feud between the Trump administration and the Ivy League school that began this spring, and also comes not longer after a federal judge handed down a temporary restraining order halting the Trump administration's termination of the school's ability to enroll international students. "This is yet another illegal retaliatory step taken by the administration in violation of Harvard's First Amendment rights," said a spokesperson for Harvard in a statement that was sent to multiple outlets. "Harvard will continue to protect its international students." "This is ridiculous and has nothing to do with national security," wrote Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) on X on Wednesday. "It's a thinly veiled revenge ploy in Trump's personal feud with Harvard, and continued authoritarian overreach against free speech." Larry Sabato, the founder and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, wrote late Wednesday: "Absolute insanity. The damage Trump is doing to our country is incalculable." Separately, Trump on Wednesday announced a travel ban on 12 countries, including several in Africa, and restrictions on seven other countries. Trump's statement comes mere weeks after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sought to strip Harvard of it's Student Exchange and Visitor Program certification, effectively preventing the school from hosting any international students. The administration rationalized the move by alleging that the school's leaders have permitted "anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including many Jewish students. Many of these agitators are foreign students." Harvard challenged the move in court the following day and a federal judge temporarily blocked DHS from taking that action. The judge then extended the block and indicated a preliminary injunction would be forthcoming. Trump's order calls out Harvard for its financial ties to foreign countries, including China. "Our adversaries, including the People's Republic of China, try to take advantage of American higher education by exploiting the student visa program for improper purposes and by using visiting students to collect information at elite universities in the United States," the order states. A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry pushed back on Trump's latest move. "Education cooperation between China and the U.S. is mutually beneficial. The Chinese side has always opposed politicizing the cooperation," the spokesperson said. Harvard has over 10,000 international students and scholars. International students made up 27% of the student population during 2024-25 school year, making tuition from international students a sizable share of Harvard's revenue. VIEW ALL NEWS ■ Opinion When Will Western Support for Israeli Genocide Finally Crack? The U.S., U.K., Canadian, and other governments remain deeply complicit in Israel's atrocities and violations of international law. But the rhetoric is shifting and protest movement is growing louder. By Medea Benjamin,Nicolas J.S. Davies  After 20 months of horror in Gaza, political rhetoric in Western countries is finally starting to shift—but will words translate into action? And what exactly can other countries do when the United States still shields Israel from efforts to enforce international law, as it did at the UN Security Council on June 5th? On May 30th, Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, accused Israel of committing a war crime by using starvation as a weapon against the people of Gaza. In a searing interview with the BBC, Fletcher explained how Israel’s policy of forced starvation fits into its larger strategy of ethnic cleansing. “We’re seeing food set on the borders and not being allowed in, when there is a population on the other side of the border that is starving,” Fletcher said. “And we’re hearing Israeli ministers say that is to put pressure on the population of Gaza.” If the so-called international community were really “very, very clear on that,” the United States and Israel would not be able to wage a campaign of genocide for more than 600 days while the world looks on in horror. He was referring to statements like the one from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who openly admitted that the starvation policy is meant to leave Palestinians “totally despairing, understanding that there’s no hope and nothing to look for," so that they will submit to ethnic cleansing from Gaza and a “new life in other places.” Fletcher called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop this campaign of forced displacement, and insisted, “we would expect governments all over the world to stand for international humanitarian law. The international community is very, very clear on that.” Palestinians might wish that were true. If the so-called international community were really “very, very clear on that,” the United States and Israel would not be able to wage a campaign of genocide for more than 600 days while the world looks on in horror. Some Western governments have finally started using stronger language to condemn Israel’s actions. But the question is: Will they act? Or is this just more political theater to appease public outrage while the machinery of destruction grinds on? This moment should force a reckoning: How is it possible that the U.S. and Israel can perpetrate such crimes with impunity? What would it take for U.S. allies to ignore pressure from Washington and enforce international law? If impoverished, war-ravaged Yemen can single-handedly deny Israel access to the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, and drive the Israeli port of Eilat into bankruptcy, more powerful countries can surely isolate Israel diplomatically and economically, protect the Palestinians and end the genocide. But they haven’t even tried. Some are now making tentative moves. On May 19th, the U.K., France, and Canada jointly condemned Israel’s actions as “intolerable,” “unacceptable,” “abhorrent,” “wholly disproportionate,” and “egregious.” The U.K. suspended trade talks with Israel, and they promised “further concrete actions,” including targeted sanctions, if Israel does not end its offensive in Gaza and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid. The three countries publicly committed to the Arab Plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, and to building an international consensus for it at the UN’s High-Level Two-State Solution Conference in New York on June 17th-20th, which is to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. They also committed to recognizing Palestinian statehood. Of the UN’s 193 member states, 147 already recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation, including ten more since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza. President Emmanuel Macron, under pressure from the leftist La France Insoumise party, says France may officially recognize Palestine at the UN conference in June. Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, claimed during his election campaign that Canada already had an arms embargo against Israel, but was swiftly challenged on that. Canada has suspended a small number of export licenses, but it’s still supplying parts for Israel’s 39 F-35s, and for 36 more that Israel has ordered from Lockheed Martin. A General Dynamics factory in Quebec is the sole supplier of artillery propellant for deadly 155 mm artillery shells used in Gaza, and it took an emergency campaign by human rights groups in August 2024 to force Canada to scrap a new contract for that same factory to supply Israel with 50,000 high-explosive mortar shells. The U.K. is just as compromised. The new Labour government elected in July 2024 quickly restored funding to UNRWA, as Canada has. In September, it suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel, mostly for parts used in warplanes, helicopters, drones, and targeting. But, like Canada, the U.K. still supplies many other parts that end up in Israeli F-35s bombing Gaza. Declassified UK published a report on the F-35 program that revealed how it compromises the sovereignty of partner countries. While the U.K. produces 15% of the parts that go into every F-35, the U.S. military takes immediate ownership of the British-made parts, stores them on British air force bases, and then orders the U.K. to ship them to Texas for use in new planes or to Israel and other countries as spare parts for planes already in use. Shipping these planes and parts to Israel is in clear violation of U.S., U.K. and other countries’ arms export laws. British campaigners argue that if the U.K. is serious about halting genocide, it must stop all shipments of F-35 parts sent to Israel–directly or indirectly. With huge marches in London drawing hundreds of thousands of people, and protests on June 17th at three factories that make F-35 parts, activists will keep applying more pressure until they result in the “concrete actions” the British government has promised. Denmark is facing a similar conflict. Amnesty International, Oxfam, Action Aid, and Al-Haq are in court suing the Danish government and the nation's largest weapons company, Terma, to stop them from sending Israel critical bomb release mechanisms and other F-35 parts. These disputes over Canadian artillery propellant, Danish bomb-release mechanisms, and the multinational nature of the F-35 program highlight how any country that provides even small but critical parts or materials for deadly weapons systems must ensure they are not used to commit war crimes. In turn, all steps to cut off Israel’s weapons supplies can help to save Palestinian lives, and the full arms embargo that the UN General Assembly voted for in September 2024 can be instrumental in ending the genocide if more countries will join it. As Sam Perlo-Freeman of Campaign Against the Arms Trade said of the U.K.’s legal obligation to stop shipping F-35 parts, “These spare parts are essential to keep Israel’s F-35s flying, and therefore stopping them will reduce the number of bombings and killings of civilians Israel can commit. It is as simple as that.” Germany was responsible for 30% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023, largely through two large warship deals. Four German-built Saar 6 corvettes, Israel’s largest warships, are already bombarding Gaza, while ThyssenKrupp is building three new submarines for Israel in Kiel. But no country has provided a greater share of the tools of genocide in Gaza than the United States, including nearly all the warplanes, helicopters, bombs, and air-to-ground missiles that are destroying Gaza and killing Palestinians. The U.S. government has a legal responsibility to stop sending all these weapons, which Israel uses mainly to commit industrial-scale war crimes, up to and including genocide, against the people of Palestine, as well as to attack its other neighbors. Trump’s military and political support for Israel’s genocide stands in stark contradiction to the image he promotes of himself as a peacemaker—and which his most loyal followers believe in. Yet there are signs that Trump is beginning to assert some independence from Netanyahu and from the war hawks in his own party and inner circle. He refused to visit Israel on his recent Middle East tour, he’s negotiating with Iran despite Israeli opposition, and he removed Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor for engaging in unauthorized warmongering against Iran with Netanyahu. His decisions to end the Yemen bombing campaign and lift sanctions on Syria suggest an unpredictable but real departure from the neocon playbook, as do his negotiations with Russia and Iran. Has Netanyahu finally overplayed his hand? His campaign of ethnic cleansing, territorial expansion in pursuit of a biblical “Greater Israel,” the deliberate starvation of Gaza, and his efforts to entangle the U.S. in a war with Iran have pushed Israel’s longtime allies to the edge. The emerging rift between Trump and Netanyahu could mark the beginning of the end of the decades-long blanket of impunity the U.S. has wrapped around Israel. It could also give other governments the political space to respond to Israeli war crimes without fear of U.S. retaliation. The huge and consistent protests throughout Europe are putting pressure on Western governments to take action. A new survey conducted in Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain shows that very few Europeans—between 6% and 16% in each country—find Israel’s assault on Gaza proportionate or justified. For now, however, the Western governments remain deeply complicit in Israel’s atrocities and violations of international law. The rhetoric is shifting—but history will judge this moment not by what governments say, but by what they do. AI-tocracy Complete? The AI regulatory moratorium threatens to obliterate America’s frayed social contract. By Adelaida Jasperse VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams · PO Box 443 · Portland, ME 04112-0443 · USA Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194