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Spectator
02-07-2025
- General
- Spectator
Tim Franks goes in search of what it means to be Jewish
It's hard to classify this thought-provoking book – part memoir, part philosophical exploration, but mostly a deeply researched family history. And what a history that is. Tim Franks, born in 1968, has been a BBC reporter for almost two decades, and now presents Newshour on the World Service. So he knows how to tell stories about other people. But the events here concern himself, and many of them are heartbreaking, as he searches for an answer to the question of what comprises identity and to what extent we are products of our ancestors. Franks is descended from rabbis, including one who played a part in keeping Bevis Marks, the oldest continually functioning synagogue in Europe, at its present site in London; another went to lead the congregation in Curaçao, then a Dutch colony, and by the 18th century one of the most important Jewish communities in the New World. He is also a reporter who is prepared to take risks. While working in Venezuela, chasing a story of corruption ahead of parliamentary elections, he found himself on the back of a motorbike taxi on a busy highway in Caracas when his helmet flew off. He not only gripped harder but recited the Sh'ma, a key Jewish prayer. He survived and reported the story, thus perfectly blending his identity as a Jew and a journalist. He is full of questions, curiosity being the essential quality in his profession, as he takes us through the centuries – from Portugal, where he goes to discover 'the oxymoronic story of Jewish Lisbon' and on to Constantinople, Curaçao, Cuba, Amsterdam, Lithuania and Auschwitz. Family history starts in this book with Ester Orobio Furtado, Franks's five times great-grandmother who sailed for Amsterdam in the early 18th century to escape the gruesome torture of the auto-da-fé inflicted on Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. Along the way he introduces us to a vast swathe of characters, including Hannah Arendt, George Eliot and Jean-Paul Sartre (not relations), as well as Benjamin Disraeli (who was). 'Cousin Diz,' as Franks calls him, rejected Judaism but mythologised his Jewishness. Pages are devoted to explaining why Disraeli indulged the oft-repeated but erroneous additional name of Villa Real given to his ancestors. It meant that his was no ordinary Jewish stock – rather, as Franks writes, consommé juif. But disproving it matters, since accepting it downplays the role of England as a nation of fluidity and opportunity, not just for Disraeli, prime minister, but also for Franks, BBC presenter. But if Disraeli was exceptional, the story of another relation is included here precisely because he was not. David Van Ryn, Franks's great-uncle, moved from the Netherlands to Canada and then returned to Europe to fight in the first world war, where he was killed in 1915, aged 21. He is referenced because he was just one of thousands of young men slaughtered. Equally, 20th-century Amsterdam proved no safe haven for large numbers of Franks's forebears, descendants of Ester from 'Jewish Lisbon', who were killed by the Nazis. Only one in four Dutch Jews survived the Holocaust. Those who might be expecting here an expansion of Franks's 2010 broadcast From Our Own Correspondent – in which he memorably discussed his role and other people's perceptions of him as the BBC's Middle East correspondent as both a Jew and a journalist – to examine the Middle East today, will be disappointed. But he sees that experience as 'the founding solipsism' of this book, and his three-and-a-half years in the region as deeply seared into his identity. He is unflinching in describing the horror he witnessed at first hand when, for example, Dr Izzedin Abu-Eleish took him around the remains of his Gaza home to see his dead daughters' hair glued in clumps on the ceiling. To the question 'How far does a journalist go to convey the trauma of a devastated father?', all the way is the response. When Franks talks of the periodic cataclysms that have befallen Jews through the ages he is unwilling to say whether that is the fate of Jews or simply their experience. Don't expect neat answers to this question, as he has already warned readers that he much prefers to interrogate the answers of others than to proffer his own. This is partly rooted in what he calls his 'humourless and utter devotion to the idea that the BBC is better off when its staff don't mouth off'. Franks concludes, as of course he must, that his identity is both Jewish and journalist. No need to choose. The one makes him better at being the other.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's new ban dodges pitfalls faced by last attempt, experts say
US President Donald Trump has issued a sweeping new travel ban for people from 12 countries, revisiting a hallmark policy of his first term in office. There are some key differences, however. The original travel ban suffered a series of legal defeats. This time, the policy appears to have been designed to avoid the same pitfalls. Its predecessor, which targeted seven predominantly Muslim countries and was dubbed the "Muslim ban" by critics, was ordered just a week after Trump took office in 2017, during his first term in the White House. The ban was amended twice to overcome court challenges, after opponents argued it was unconstitutional and illegal because it discriminated against travellers based on their religion. A scaled-back version was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018, which this new ban closely resembles. Legal experts told the BBC that it appeared Trump had learned lessons from his first attempt. Christi Jackson, an expert in US immigration law at the London firm Laura Devine Immigration, said the new ban was more legally robust as a result. While the first lacked "clarity", the new restrictions were "wider in scope" and had "clearly defined" exemptions, she said. While there are some similarities in the nations chosen by the 2017 ban and the 2025 ban, Muslim-majority states are not the express target of the latest order. Barbara McQuade, professor of law at the University of Michigan and former US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme that, on this basis, it seemed likely to win the approval of the Supreme Court, if it was ever referred up to that level. Trump's travel ban: Follow live updates Everything we know about the ban so far Why are these 12 countries on the list? Trump suspends foreign student visas at Harvard The 12 countries subject to the harshest restrictions from 9 June are mainly in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, including Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia. There will be partial restrictions on travellers from another seven countries, including Cuban and Venezuelan nationals. Trump said the strength of the restrictions would be graded against the severity of the perceived threat, including from terrorism. But besides Iran, none of the 12 countries hit by the outright ban are named on the US government's state sponsors of terrorism list. In a video announcing the ban posted on X, Trump cited Sunday's incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which a man was accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators attending a march for Israeli hostages. The alleged attacker was an Egyptian national. However, Egypt does not appear on either list. Trump also specified high rates of people overstaying their visas as a reason for listing certain countries. However, Steven D Heller, an immigration lawyer based in the US, said there was a "lack of clarity" over what threshold had to be met by a country's overstaying rate in order for that country to be placed on Trump's ban list. That could be the basis for a successful legal challenge, he suggested. "If they're relying on this notion of excessive overstay rates... they have to define what that actually means," he told the BBC. Unlike the first ban, which was to last for only 90 to 120 days, today's order has no end date. It has been met with dismay in the targeted countries. Venezuela has described the Trump administration as "supremacists who think they own the world", though Somalia has pledged to "engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised". The original ban spurred mass protests and sowed chaos at US airports. It was repealed in 2021 by Trump's successor, President Joe Biden, who called the policy "a stain on our national conscience."
The Age
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Very mad': Columnist Niki Savva's identity stolen with fake social media account
Turnbull takes to the airwaves When we brought news last week that Malcolm Turnbull would be skipping the country on election day, we jested that it wouldn't be long before the former PM would be offering up his two cents on the outcome. Loading How right we were. On Saturday, UK time, Turnbull phoned into BBC's Newshour to offer a few hot takes on the Liberal Party's demolition. He could hardly disguise his glee at one-time adversary Peter Dutton 's political demise. 'Look, Dutton and I have a history, full disclosure. Dutton was the figure, the person, who instigated the coup, backed by the Murdoch media, that ultimately resulted in the end of my prime ministership in 2018,' Turnbull said. He later added that Dutton's style 'has been to promote and take advantage of division'. And Turnbull had plenty more to say, but was silenced by host Celia Hatton, who hastily cut off the former PM just as he was getting a wind up about China. 'Malcolm Turnbull, I'm sorry we'll have to leave it there,' she said. We've heard that one before. Can't keep away The Albanese government's decision to invite a posse of progressive influencers into the federal budget lock-up in March forced some of our elder media colleagues to grapple with big new trends like Instagram. It also kicked off a rather fruitful election season for 26-year-old new media personality Hannah Ferguson, founder of Cheek Media, which includes a Substack, podcast, and, er, a line of bespoke vibrators. Kids these days. After a budget week interview with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Ferguson has appeared on a bunch of TV panels but she ain't done yet. Up next – an address at the National Press Club, and beyond that, a potential return to Canberra beckons, with Ferguson telling her Instagram followers she had aspirations of becoming an independent senator. The next election isn't due until 2028, but it's never too early. 50 Shades of Green We can now say with confidence that cardboard box-recycling billionaire Anthony Pratt at the Met Gala was easily this weekend's most successful Green. Not because of any affiliation with the troubled environmental political party, but because the chair of Visy and Pratt Industries served an arresting, green-themed look at the fundraiser in New York that we describe as clashing in confidence. CBD loves a clashing print (heck, any sort of clash is good copy). So we were pleased to see Pratt's suit teamed with the green theme and heroes the 'Pratt 100% Recycled' decals that were such a feature of last year's Met Gala Willy Wonka pink suit. Pratt repeated the mix of lime, green and lemon decals on a bright-green shirt and tie, in contrasting styles so bold they risked triggering our photopia. Loading Pratt offset his two-piece suit with a dark-green hat and cane. But he swapped out last year's Balenciaga runners for more sensible Brooks sneakers, potentially sourced from the House of Rupert Murdoch. Throwing together the fashion fundraiser at the Metropolitan Museum of Art – the world's silliest 'look at me' event – with a billionaire's concept of style invokes CBD trepidation. Clearly, the event's theme of 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' was a tricky and ultimately impossible brief for Pratt, who went solidly for 50 Shades of Green despite his personal colour palette not screaming 'spring'. Pratt, who now has a US green card and an honorary title of Kentucky colonel, was accompanied by his sister and Visy deputy chair Fiona Geminder. The family wealth is put at $25 billion. The pair's last big social function mentioned in dispatches was a lavish Visy party in March for the packaging industry and clients in a massive marquee at the Pratt family mansion of Raheen in Melbourne's Kew. Air Supply and DJ Mark Ronson performed, while the prime minister flew all the way from Sydney just to give a short speech. Dutton was an apology. Also spotted in their orbit, Amazon sustainability executive Kara Hurst, clearing a key client of all those recycled boxes. All Met Gala attendees must be personally invited by US Vogue editor- in-chief Anna Wintour – and that's before they need to shell out the required $US75,000 ($113,000) per ticket. Pratt was days before front and centre of US President Donald Trump 's economic initiative after promising to invest billions in the United States, which earned him a personal shout-out at the White House, as this masthead reported. Loading 'Executive global chairman of Pratt Industries, friend of mine, Anthony Pratt – he's investing $US5 billion ($7.82 billion), thank you,' Trump said as Pratt stood in his blue suit, flashed his hand up in thanks, and sat down again. It is a far cry from two years earlier when Trump labelled him a 'red-headed weirdo'. Now Pratt is feted by both Trump and Wintour. Is anyone more central in US power culture right now?
BBC News
03-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Germany defends AfD extremist classification after Rubio criticises 'tyranny in disguise'
Image source, Reuters Germany's Foreign Office has defended a decision to classify the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremist, after sharp criticism from the White House. US Vice-President JD Vance accused "bureaucrats" of rebuilding the Berlin Wall, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the designation as "tyranny in disguise". In an unusual move, the foreign office directly replied to Rubio on X, writing: "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped." The intelligence agency that made the classification found AfD's "prevailing understanding of people based on ethnicity and descent" goes against Germany's "free democratic order". The AfD came second in federal elections in February, winning a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote. The agency, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), had already classed the AfD as right-wing extremist in three eastern states where its popularity is highest. Now, that designation has been extended to the entire party. The AfD "aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society", it said in a statement. The agency said specifically that the party did not consider citizens "from predominantly Muslim countries" as equal members of the German people. Joint party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said the decision was "clearly politically motivated" and a "severe blow to German democracy". Beatrix von Storch, the party's deputy parliamentary leader, told the BBC's Newshour programme that the designation was "the way an authoritarian state, a dictatorship, would treat their parties". AfD classified as extreme-right by German intelligence The new classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the AfD using tactics like phone interception and undercover agents. "That's not democracy - it's tyranny in disguise," wrote Marco Rubio on X. But the German Foreign Office hit back. "This is democracy," it wrote, directly replying to the politician's X account. The post said the decision had been made after a "thorough and independent investigation" and could be appealed. "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped," the statement concluded - a reference to Hitler's Nazi party and the Holocaust. JD Vance, who met Weidel in Munich nine days before the election and used a speech to the Munich Security Conference to show support for the AfD, said that "bureaucrats" were trying to destroy the party. "The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt - not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment," he wrote on X. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, separated East and West Berlin for nearly 30 years during the Cold War. The new designation has reignited calls to ban the AfD ahead of a vote next week in the parliament, or Bundestag, to confirm conservative leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor. He will be leading a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Lars Klingbeil, the SPD leader who is expected to become vice-chancellor and finance minister, said that while no hasty decision would be made, the government would consider banning the AfD. "They want a different country, they want to destroy our democracy. And we must take that very seriously," he told Bild newspaper.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany defends AfD extremist classification after Rubio slams 'tyranny in disguise'
Germany's Foreign Office has defended a decision to classify the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremist, after sharp criticism from the White House. US Vice-President JD Vance accused "bureaucrats" of rebuilding the Berlin Wall, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the designation as "tyranny in disguise". In an unusual move, the foreign office directly replied to Rubio on X, writing: "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped." The intelligence agency that made the classification found AfD's "prevailing understanding of people based on ethnicity and descent" goes against Germany's "free democratic order". The AfD came second in federal elections in February, winning a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote. The agency, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), had already classed the AfD as right-wing extremist in three eastern states where its popularity is highest. Now, that designation has been extended to the entire party. The AfD "aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society", it said in a statement. The agency said specifically that the party did not consider citizens "from predominantly Muslim countries" as equal members of the German people. Joint party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said the decision was "clearly politically motivated" and a "severe blow to German democracy". Beatrix von Storch, the party's deputy parliamentary leader, told the BBC's Newshour programme that the designation was "the way an authoritarian state, a dictatorship, would treat their parties". AfD classified as extreme-right by German intelligence The new classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the AfD using tactics like phone interception and undercover agents. "That's not democracy - it's tyranny in disguise," wrote Marco Rubio on X. But the German Foreign Office hit back. "This is democracy," it wrote, directly replying to the politician's X account. The post said the decision had been made after a "thorough and independent investigation" and could be appealed. "We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped," the statement concluded - a reference to Hitler's Nazi party and the Holocaust. JD Vance, who met Weidel in Munich nine days before the election and used a speech to the Munich Security Conference to show support for the AfD, said that "bureaucrats" were trying to destroy the party. "The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt - not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment," he wrote on X. The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, separated East and West Berlin for nearly 30 years during the Cold War. The new designation has reignited calls to ban the AfD ahead of a vote next week in the parliament, or Bundestag, to confirm conservative leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor. He will be leading a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). Lars Klingbeil, the SPD leader who is expected to become vice-chancellor and finance minister, said that while no hasty decision would be made, the government would consider banning the AfD. "They want a different country, they want to destroy our democracy. And we must take that very seriously," he told Bild newspaper. German politics froze out the far right for years – is this about to change? AfD embraces mass deportation of migrants as German election nears Musk interviews German far-right frontwoman
