Is Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza? - Fareed Zakaria GPS - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Today on the show, Omer Bartov, one of the world's foremost genocide and Holocaust scholars, talks with Fareed about why he thinks what Israel is doing in Gaza now meets the legal definition of genocide.
Then, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers joins Fareed in a conversation about the impacts of President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" and impending tariffs.
Finally, the British Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch sits down with Fareed to discuss the future of the party and changing immigration policy in Britain.
GUESTS: Omer Bartov (@bartov_omer), Larry Summers (@LHSummers), Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch)
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CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Concerns raised over Columbia University's $200 million settlement with Trump administration over antisemitism on campus
There are concerns about how the recent settlement between Columbia University and the Trump administration could impact dozens of other schools under investigation for antisemitism on campus. Columbia will pay more than $200 million to resolve the allegations, but the school continues to deny any wrongdoing. The school's president addressed the issue on Thursday. This fall, the policy changes Columbia promised the Trump administration it would make are going to be monitored by Bart Schwartz, who was most recently the watchdog for the New York City Housing Authority. David Bloomfield, an education law professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, said he's concerned. "It's extraordinary to have a federal monitor looking over the shoulder of a private university the way Rikers was under a federal monitor," Bloomfield said. The New York Civil Liberties Union has called the agreement a form of capitulation, which the university's interim president, Claire Shipman, pushed back on Thursday on CNN. "Courage versus capitulation is just wrong. It's too simplistic," Shipman said. "Yes, we had many other legal options, that's true, but we did look carefully at that, and we saw we could have some short-term victories. But we worried we would have long-term damage." Shipman cited the potential loss of important research, but Bloomfield said what's also troubling is the university agreeing to "maintain merit-based admissions policies" and provide "all-female sports, locker rooms and showering facilities." The NYCLU said it worries the school is losing academic freedom, with a senior vice provost conducting a "thorough review" of the Middle Eastern Studies Department. "They will not allow criticism of Israel. That's not academic," NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. "How on earth can students learn if they don't have the freedom to engage in discourse, in discourse dialogue, free from threat they will be expelled or suspended?" In addition to Columbia, New York University had also been under scrutiny by the Trump administration for potential civil rights violations. Gerard Filitti, senior counsel for the group EndJewHatred, said the agreement fails to address the root cause of antisemitism. "For example, Columbia saying masks are not allowed at unauthorized protests, but it's not saying they can't be worn at all. It's saying taking over academic buildings may be bad, but it doesn't completely ban protest from them," Filitti said. Filitti said the school also falls short of acknowledging that antizionism is antisemitism, saying that clarity is needed to protect pro-Israel and Jewish students. The University of Pennsylvania also previously settled with the Trump administration, while Harvard University remains in litigation.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Columbia janitors trapped, attacked by anti-Israel mob settle for undisclosed amount
Two Columbia University custodians, who filed complaints against the school over their chilling experiences of being trapped by an anti-Israel mob and forced to scrub swastikas, have decided to settle with the Ivy League, The Post has learned. Lester Wilson and Mario Torres, whose complaints sparked a civil rights probe, have opted to take advantage of Columbia's recently announced $220 million settlement for civil rights violations and racially discriminatory practices. The settlement is for an undisclosed amount of money. While that wraps up Wilson's and Torres' battle against Columbia, the two men are still forging ahead with their lawsuit against more than 40 protesters whom they allege held them hostage during the Hamilton Hall riot last year. Columbia had inked the $220 million deal with the Trump administration to restore the bulk of federal funding to the elite institution. 4 Mario Torres repeatedly dealt with anti-Israel agitators throughout last year. Getty Images The settlement featured $200 million for settling discrimination claims and about $20 million to employees who alleged they suffered civil rights violations. Wilson's and Torres' settlement comes from the $20 million pot specifically, as they had filed Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints that sparked a civil rights probe into the school. Neither Wilson nor Torres is Jewish, but the two men were horrified and traumatized by the storm of anti-Israel protests that ripped through campus in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack. 'The university set up the situation and ended up putting them into that situation, now the issue is holding accountable those who carried it out and were responsible for the takeover and the assault,' Brandeis Center president Alyza Lewin said in an interview. 4 The two janitors have not been able to return to work due to their injuries, a source told The Post. Getty Images The Brandeis Center and Torridon Law are working together on the ongoing lawsuit against the protesters. Both men had worked at the school for five years and suffered injuries during the protests and riots on campus. Neither man has been able to return to work since, a source told The Post. During the student takeover of Hamilton Hall in April of last year, Wilson and Torres were assaulted and chastised as 'Jew-lovers' by some of the rioters, according to the complaints they filed last October. ''I'm going to get twenty guys up here to f–k you up,'' one masked rioter who had 'violently' shoved Torres threatened, per his complaint. 'Mr. Torres pulled a fire extinguisher, which was within arm's reach, off the wall to defend himself and replied, 'I'll be right here.'' 4 The two janitors were traumatized by the hate they witnessed at Columbia University. Torres was repeatedly bludgeoned on his back by rioters before escaping, while Wilson had gotten shoved and had furniture pushed into him on his battle to get outside, per the complaints. Eventually, the NYPD intervened and cleared out the building, leading to over 100 arrests. Even before their traumatizing experience at Hamilton Hall, the two custodians had been forced to deal with racist and antisemitic graffiti scrawled on campus as early as November 2023. 'Mr. Wilson recognized the swastikas as symbols of white supremacy,' his complaint alleged. 'As an African-American man, he found the images deeply distressing. He reported them to his supervisors, who instructed him to erase the graffiti. 'No matter how many times Mr. Wilson removed the swastikas, individuals kept replacing them with more.' Torres, who is Latino, counted up dozens of swastikas that he was forced to scrub and grew enraged over time as he kept seeing the hateful graffiti around Hamilton Hall. 4 Columbia University has since agreed to a settlement and to change its policies to combat antisemitism on campus. Getty Images He was particularly troubled by the fact that Columbia didn't take aggressive action against the perpetrators, given that the school has security feeds and requires an electronic ID to get into the hall, which is nestled on the school's Morningside Heights campus. 'They were so offensive, and Columbia's inaction was so frustrating, that he eventually began throwing away chalk that had been left in the classrooms so vandals would not have anything to write with,' Torres' complaint alleged. 'However, Mr. Torres was reprimanded by his supervisor for doing so.' At one point, after Wilson reported a masked protester running through Hamilton Hall chanting, 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' and scribling swastikas in the building, campus security told him that 'the trespassers and vandals were exercising their First Amendment rights' and that 'nothing could be done,' according to his complaint. Former US Attorney General Bill Barr's firm Torridon represented the two janitors in their complaint against Columbia. The Post contacted Columbia for comment. Additional reporting by David Propper
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
U.N. warns Lebanon's at a ‘turning point,' faces prolonged crisis risk
BEIRUT, Lebanon, July 24 (UPI) -- The United Nations has warned that war-torn Lebanon is at "a turning point" and must undertake urgent and immediate recovery efforts to avoid prolonging its six-year multifaceted crisis that has been exacerbated by the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. The report, prepared by the United Nations Development Program and United Nations Economic and Social Council for Western Asia, in collaboration with other U.N. agencies, highlighted the devastating impact of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict -- that began Oct. 8, 2023, and escalated in September 2024 -- by examining its effects on Lebanon's economy, infrastructure and society. More than 4,285 people, including 292 children and 861 women, have been killed and some 17,200 wounded as of Jan. 9. Since the Nov. 27 cease-fire agreement took effect on Feb. 18, an additional 200 people, including civilians and Hezbollah operatives, also have been killed. The war, moreover, displaced over 1.2 million people, damaged or destroyed nearly 64,000 buildings and disrupted education for hundreds of thousands of students, according to the U.N. report. It indicated that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up 90% of Lebanon's economy, were hit especially hard: 15% shut down permanently, 75% suspended operations during the war and nearly 30% lost their entire workforce. In the most heavily bombed areas, up to 70% of businesses were forced to close permanently. Moreover, about 500,000 students experienced severe educational disruptions during the war, with 69% of children out of school until the cease-fire. Child nutrition also reached critical levels, particularly in the eastern Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa governorates, where more than 51% and 45% of children under the age of 2, respectively, suffered from severe food shortages. Some 1.6 million people are expected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, including 928,000 Lebanese citizens, the report warned. The proportion of Lebanese citizens living below the poverty line more than tripled between 2012 and 2022 -- rising to 33% from 11% -- and that the 2024 war, particularly in eastern and southern Lebanon, further exacerbated poverty. Moreover, the war significantly deepened Lebanon's labor market crisis. During the conflict, employment among private sector workers declined by 25%. In the areas most heavily affected by bombardments, 36% of workers lost their jobs, compared to 17% in regions less impacted. Even after the cease-fire, 14% of workers remained unemployed. The report explained that the economic impact has been profound, with Lebanon's economy contracting by 38% between 2019 and 2024, while the country's Human Development Index fell back to 2010 levels; marking a 14-year setback caused by the compounded effects of the crisis and war. Key sectors of the economy have been severely affected, including tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, trade and finance. The tourism sector has taken a significant hit, with its contribution to the economy in 2024 expected to have declined to just 5.5%. "Lebanon is at a turning point," said Blerta Aliko, the resident representative of the U.N. Development Program in Lebanon, emphasizing the need for Lebanon to shape "a nationally led recovery plan." Aliko said it was imperative that "state institutions are strong and well-equipped" to drive a sustainable and inclusive recovery process. The report indicated that a reform-driven recovery could help reverse the economic decline, with projections estimating GDP growth of 8.2% in 2026 and 7.1% in 2027. However, even with these necessary reforms, GDP would remain 8.4% below its pre-crisis 2017 peak of $51.2 billion. To sustain recovery, key sectors such as agriculture, construction, tourism and manufacturing must be prioritized, it said. It recommends the Lebanese government to focus on four key areas for its recovery: rebuilding and strengthening state institutions; revitalizing the economy and generating employment; restoring basic services and expanding social protection; and rehabilitating damaged environmental ecosystems. Tarik Alami, the economic and social panel cluster leader on governance and prevention, said Lebanon continues to face a "polycrisis" that was made worse by the recent devastating war. "This critical juncture calls for the urgent and accelerated implementation of essential reforms; particularly within public administration, as well as across socio-economic and financial sectors," Alami said. He emphasized that "the root causes of recurring hostilities along Lebanon's southern border must be addressed decisively and sustainably," in full accordance with international law and relevant U.N. resolutions. The U.N. report noted that Lebanon's path to recovery requires urgent, coordinated action between the government, donors, U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations, while substantial financing will be required from domestic resources, private sector investments, international development assistance and foreign direct investment. "Without immediate intervention, economic rebound will take longer, poverty will deepen, state institutions will further weaken and Lebanon's social stability will be at risk," it warned. Last March, the World Bank estimated that Lebanon would need $11 billion for its reconstruction and recovery needs after the Israel-Hezbollah war. However, any international or Arab financial support remains unlikely unless Lebanon implements the necessary reforms and fully disarms Hezbollah -- a condition Israel has set as a prerequisite for halting its ongoing attacks on the country. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
