From Gaza to ICE raids, why is US firm Palantir under scrutiny?
From anti-immigration raids, Gaza kill lists and lucrative government contracts, US data firm Palantir has been under increasing scrutiny. Soraya Lennie breaks it down.
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Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
‘I've never heard that': Trump denies knowingly using anti-Semitic term
United States President Donald Trump has professed ignorance about a term he used that is widely considered anti-Semitic, explaining that he did not know it had that meaning. In the early morning hours of Friday, the Republican leader addressed the controversy around the term 'Shylock', which he used to describe unscrupulous bankers hours earlier. The term, however, originates from the 16th-century play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, which includes a depiction of a Jewish moneylender that some consider to be deeply anti-Semitic. The character's name, Shylock, has been adopted as a pejorative for loan sharks, particularly those of Jewish faith. 'No, I've never heard it that way. To be Shylock is somebody that, say, a money lender at high rates,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One, the presidential plane. 'I've never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I've never heard that.' Trump used the term while visiting Iowa on Thursday for the kickoff of his 'America250' celebration series, a string of events that will culminate in the 250th anniversary of the US in 2026. While addressing a crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, Trump played up his success earlier in the day with the passage of his signature budget mega-bill, which he refers to as the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'. The House of Representatives had passed a revised version of the bill in a final, party-line vote of 218 to 214, over objections that it would raise the national deficit and slash social safety-net programmes like Medicaid. Trump, however, had played up the fact that the mega-bill would allow his 2017 tax cuts to continue, while also raising exemptions under the estate tax — the tax on property transferred upon the death of a loved one. 'Think of that: no death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker and, in some cases, Shylocks and bad people,' Trump told the Iowa crowd. The Anti-Defamation League, a group established to fight anti-Semitism, denounced Trump's use of the term on Friday, pointing to its long history as a slur. 'The term 'Shylock' evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jews and greed that is extremely offensive and dangerous. President Trump's use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible,' the group wrote in a statement. 'It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States.' Thursday's speech was not the first time Trump and his associates have faced accusations of anti-Semitism. On the first day of Trump's second term as president, then-ally Elon Musk gave a speech at a rally at the Capital One Arena that culminated with him slapping his chest and then extending his arm outwards with a flattened palm — a gesture that many people interpreted as a Nazi-style salute. Trump himself has faced scrutiny for hosting a dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, both of whom have been accused of spreading anti-Semitism. The president was also criticised for downplaying the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacist participants chanted, 'Jews will not replace us.' Trump described the rally and its counterprotest by saying there were 'very fine people on both sides'. Trump, however, has made combatting anti-Semitism a central theme in his campaigns against Harvard University and other academic institutions where pro-Palestinian protests unfolded. Critics have described Trump's attacks as efforts to dampen free speech and academic freedom. The Republican leader, however, is not the first president in recent years to use the word 'Shylock' — and face a backlash. His Democratic predecessor Joe Biden, who served from 2021 to early 2025, once used the term to describe bankers pursuing foreclosures against military members deployed overseas. 'People would come to him and talk about what was happening at home, in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being — these Shylocks that took advantage of these women and men while overseas,' Biden said in 2022. In the days that followed, however, Biden apologised: 'It was a poor choice of words.'
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
Elon Musk revives third party idea after ‘One Big Beautiful Bill' passes
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has weighed in publicly for the first time since the passage of President Donald Trump's signature piece of budget legislation, commonly known as the 'One Big Beautiful Bill'. On Friday, Musk took to his social media platform X to once again float the possibility of a third party to rival the two major ones — the Democrats and the Republicans — in United States politics. 'Independence Day is the perfect time to ask if you want independence from the two-party (some would say uniparty) system! Should we create the America Party?' Musk asked his followers, attaching an interactive poll. Musk has maintained that both major parties have fallen out of step with what he describes as the '80 percent in the middle' – a number he estimates represents the moderates and independents who do not align with either end of the political spectrum. His desire to form a new party, however, emerged after a public fallout with Trump over the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', a sweeping piece of legislation that passed both chambers of Congress on Thursday. Yet again on Friday, Musk revisited his objections to the bill, albeit indirectly. He shared Senator Rand Paul's critique that the bill 'explodes the deficit in the near-term', responding with a re-post and the '100' emoji, signifying his full agreement. The 'One Big Beautiful Bill' has long been a policy priority for Trump, even before he returned to office for a second term on January 20. His aim was to pass a single piece of legislation that included several key pillars from his agenda, allowing him to proceed with his goals without having to seek multiple approvals from Congress. But the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' has been controversial among Democrats and even some Republicans. The bill would make permanent the 2017 tax cuts from Trump's first term, which critics argue disproportionately benefit the wealthy over middle- to low-income workers. It also raises the debt ceiling by $5 trillion and is projected to add $3.3 trillion to the country's deficit, according to a nonpartisan analysis from the Congressional Budget Office. Further funding is earmarked to bolster Trump's campaign to crack down on immigration into the US. But to pay for the tax cuts and the spending, the bill includes cuts to critical social services, including Medicaid, a government health insurance programme for low-income households, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps. Fiscal conservatives opposed the debt increase, while several other Republicans worried about how Medicaid restrictions would affect their constituents. But in recent weeks, Trump and other Republican leaders rallied many of the holdouts, allowing the bill to pass both chambers of Congress by narrow margins. Senator Paul of Kentucky was one of only three Republicans in the Senate to vote 'no' on the bill. In the aftermath of its final passage on Thursday, he wrote on social media: 'This is Washington's MO: short-term politicking over long-term sustainability.' Trump is slated to sign the bill into law in a White House ceremony on Friday. The debate over the bill, however, proved to be a tipping point for Trump and Musk's relationship. In late May, during his final days as a 'special government adviser', Musk appeared on the TV programme CBS Sunday Morning and said he was 'disappointed' in the legislation, citing the proposed increase to the budget deficit. 'I think a bill can be big or it can be beautiful,' Musk told a CBS journalist. By May 30, his time in the Trump administration had come to an end, though the two men appeared to part on cordial terms. But after leaving his government role, Musk escalated his attacks on the 'One Big Beautiful Bill', warning it would be disastrous for the US economy. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,' Musk wrote on June 3. Musk went so far as to suggest Trump should be impeached and that he had information about the president's relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, though he did not offer evidence. Those posts have since been deleted. Trump, meanwhile, accused Musk on social media of going 'CRAZY' and seeking to lash out because the bill would peel back government incentives for the production of electric vehicles (EVs). On June 5, Musk began to muse about launching his own political party. 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?' he wrote. In follow-up posts, he noted that his followers appeared to agree with him, and he endorsed a commenter's suggestion for the party's potential name. ''America Party' has a nice ring to it. The party that actually represents America!' Musk said. As the world's richest man and the owner of companies like the carmaker Tesla and the rocket manufacturer SpaceX, Musk has billions of dollars at his disposal: The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates his net worth at $361bn as of Friday. But experts warn that third parties have historically struggled to compete in the US's largely two-party system, and that they can even weaken movements they profess to back, by draining votes away from more viable candidates. Musk's estimate about the '80 percent in the middle' might also be an overstatement. Polls vary as to how many people identify as independent or centrists. But in January, the research firm Gallup found that an average of 43 percent of American adults identified as independent, matching a record set in 2014. Gallup's statistics also found a decline in the number of American adults saying they were 'moderate', with 34 percent embracing the label in 2024. Still, on Friday, Musk shared his thoughts about how a potential third party could gain sway in the largely bifurcated US political sphere. He said he planned to take advantage of the weak majorities the major parties are able to obtain in Congress. 'One way to execute on this would be to laser-focus on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts,' he wrote. 'Given the razor-thin legislative margins, that would be enough to serve as the deciding vote on contentious laws, ensuring that they serve the true will of the people.'
Al Jazeera
an hour ago
- Al Jazeera
UK's Palestine Action loses bid to pause ban as ‘terrorist' group
Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action's cofounder has lost a bid to pause the British government's decision to ban the organisation under 'anti-terrorism' laws pending their legal challenge. Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, had asked London's High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a 'terrorist' organisation. On Friday, the High Court in London heard a challenge to the order and Judge Martin Chamberlain ruled against Ammori, meaning the proscription of Palestine Action is upheld and will come into force at midnight. Proscription would make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Proscribed groups under British law include ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. After the parliamentary vote against the group on Wednesday, critics decried the chilling effect of the ban, which puts Palestine Action on a par with such armed groups. 'Let us be clear: to equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn't just absurd, it is grotesque. It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity, and suppress the truth,' said independent British lawmaker Zarah Sultana. Palestine Action activists broke into a military base last month and sprayed red paint on two planes in protest at the UK's support for Israel's war on Gaza. Ammori's lawyer Raza Husain said the proscription marked the first time the UK had sought to ban a group carrying out such direct action, describing it as 'an ill-considered, discriminatory, authoritarian abuse of statutory power'. Palestine Action describes itself as 'a pro-Palestinian organisation which disrupts the arms industry in the United Kingdom with direct action'. It says it is 'committed to ending global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime'. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, the UK's interior minister, has said that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and her lawyers say the case should be brought at the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission instead. Rights groups have accused Israel of repeatedly committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. Since then, at least 57,268 Palestinians have been killed and 135,625 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
