Latest news with #antiSemitic
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Reform's Zia Yusuf apologises over ‘like' for anti-Semitic post
Zia Yusuf has apologised after his social media account liked an anti-Semitic post which targeted Robert Jenrick and his family. Reform UK's efficiency tsar issued a statement after it emerged his X account had interacted with a malicious post about the shadow justice secretary. Mr Jenrick cast doubt on Mr Yusuf's claims, saying 'I call bulls---' and demanded that Nigel Farage sack him from his top team. It comes after days of bitter in-fighting between the Tories and Reform after the disclosure of the Afghan data leak. User likes on X are private but a video taken by an anonymous account called 'British Racial Chauvinism' tweeting from the handle @Enoch_Is_Right showed Mr Yusuf's account was one of 91 to like the post. The post read: 'Reminder that Jenrick is a traitorous Zogbot with a Jewish wife and family. 'I'm sure its [sic] unrelated that he imported infinite brown savages to rape our women and children.' The term 'Zogbot' is sometimes used online as a derogatory reference to Zionists. In a statement on X on Friday afternoon, Mr Yusuf insisted the like had been an accident and that one of his staffers had been responsible. He said: 'One of the team who post to my X account accidentally pressed like on an awful anti-Semitic tweet earlier today. I apologise for this. 'The post also refers to 'brown savages', and is equally racist against me. Clearly it was not intentional. 'The amount of anti-Semitism and racism on this platform is spiralling out of control, and I hope that changes soon.' But in a post of his own, Mr Jenrick said: 'I call bulls---. You've spent the last 48 hours calling me a 'traitor' for not drawing attention to a leaked spreadsheet with our special forces and MI6 officers' names on. 'But we're meant to believe this tweet attacking me as a traitor for having a Jewish wife & family was liked 'accidentally' by 'one of the team.' You must think we're all thick. 'No. The mask has slipped. Likes are private. You thought nobody would ever know. Unfortunately for you, the racist account who posted the tweet and could see the likes exposed you. Reform should give you the boot.' Responding to Mr Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said: 'Well said, Rob. Well said indeed.' Mr Yusuf's statement was also criticised by Jack Rankin, the MP for Windsor, who called for Reform to sack him. 'When people tell you who they are, believe them,' Mr Rankin said. 'Zia Yusuf's mask has slipped and [he] must be sacked.' A Tory source said: 'Which tweets are Zia's and which aren't? Which staffers are tweeting from his account?' Earlier in the week, Mr Yusuf had heavily criticised Mr Jenrick and Suella Braverman, who were the immigration minister and home secretary when the Government learnt of the Afghan data breach. Both politicians then criticised the super-injunction that kept a veil of secrecy over the data loss and a subsequent refugee resettlement scheme, saying they could not have spoken out against it. Mr Yusuf nonetheless continued to criticise the pair, and his X account shared a post that claimed every Tory cabinet minister at the time was 'guilty of treason' and should face the possibility of jail. His attacks on Mrs Braverman prompted Rael, her husband, to resign his Reform membership just six months after joining. Writing on X on Friday, Mr Braverman confirmed Mr Yusuf's continued importance in the party had been the reason for his departure. He said: 'I left Reform because I cannot be in a party 'led' by Zia Yusuf.' The Telegraph has also learnt that Mrs Braverman will not work with Reform in any capacity while Mr Yusuf, a former chairman of the party, continues to have a formal role.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jon Stewart Invites Elmo on ‘The Daily Show' to Explain His ‘Alt-Right' Tweets
Jon Stewart revealed that he scrapped his intended opening monologue after the X account belonging to beloved Sesame Street character Elmo was hacked over the weekend. The Daily Show host explained that due to the anti-semitic, violent tweets that appeared on Elmo's account he felt he had to address the issue. 'Let me be completely frank: We had a tremendous show planned for you,' Stewart said. 'Well-designed, articulate, a tremendous deconstruction of the most interesting issues of the day. We prepared a whole piece on the new Trump tariffs, breaking down the different rates and their secondary impacts—a truly illuminating dive into the overlooked role of the commodities markets in trade deficit accounting. It was going to be so funny. But sadly at the last minute we had to scrap all that because Elmo lost his fucking mind.' More from Rolling Stone Gavin Newsom Calls Trump a 'Son of a B-tch' Jeffrey Epstein Hired Private Investigators to Intimidate FBI Agents: Officials Grok Rolls Out Pornographic Anime Companion, Lands Department of Defense Contract The host then played a clip of a news anchor describing how a hacker had posted anti-semitic tweets on Elmo's X account on Sunday. 'This is what happens when you go too long without tickling Elmo,' Stewart quipped. Stewart added that the tweets were 'especially shocking' to him because he has collaborated with Elmo in the past. 'I've worked with Elmo, as everybody definitely remembers,' he said, showing a very old photo of him with the muppet. 'The truth is, I'm being honest, Elmo at the time was great to work with. He was. Was there a ton of coke on set? Of course. But hateful, racist Elmo is not the Elmo that I remember. I know what's in Elmo's heart. Stewart then invited a rudimentary, hand puppet version of Elmo to join him on the show. The puppet appeared in front of an incel-inspired bedroom and began to chat with Stewart about the hacking incident. Hilariously, Stewart did the puppeteering and Elmo's voice himself during their conversation. At first, Elmo insisted he really had been hacked. 'They hacked Elmo!' the muppet said. 'They guessed Elmo's password was Elmo! Elmo123. Elmo knows passwords should have more numbers, but Elmo only knows three numbers.' But when Stewart demanded more accountability Elmo admitted, 'It's true, Elmo wasn't hacked. It was Elmo. But Elmo was radicalized by the manosphere. Elmo is part of the male loneliness epidemic. You-you-you see, what happened was, Elmo was doing his own research on flu shots. Six hours later, because of the algorithm, Elmo was moderating the QAnon Discord chat and building homemade bombs.' He continued, when Stewart pressed him to take responsibility about being a role model for kids, 'Are you canceling Elmo?! Once again, the so-called tolerant left is policing speech that's inconvenient to their woke dogma. Who's the real puppet now, Jon?! You! You're the real puppet.' The host replied that Elmo was getting caught up in 'alt-right talking point word salad.' 'Yeah, you said it, not Elmo,' the puppet said. 'Elmo's alt-right. No reason to cancel Elmo's funding then.' 'Is that what this is about?' Stewart replied, pretending to be shocked. 'You're pandering to the right so you can keep your government funding for public broadcasting?' 'Elmo can't go back on the streets, Jon,' Elmo replied. 'You have no idea what it's like. Elmo's too pretty to live under a bridge, Jon. It's a life brought to you by the letter sucking dick, OK? Elmo won't! Elmo won't go back. Elmo can't go back. No!' In the second half of the show's opening segment, Stewart reflected on the right wing response to Trump's unwillingness to release the Epstein files. At the end, Elmo reappeared to shout, 'Viva la revolución! Antifa forever!' The puppet said that listening to Stewart's 'trenchant analysis of the many hypocrisies of the right have re-radicalized Elmo to the populist left. Free Luigi!' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Best 'Saturday Night Live' Characters of All Time Denzel Washington's Movies Ranked, From Worst to Best 70 Greatest Comedies of the 21st Century
Al Bawaba
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Bawaba
Elmo's X account got hacked: demands Trump to release Epstein files, calls to 'kill all Jews'
ALBAWABA - Elmo's official account on X (formerly known as Twitter) went viral after it was allegedly hacked and used to post an anti-Semitic rant demanding that Trump release the Epstein files, following the US President's meltdown on Truth Social. Elmo wrote on X, "RELEASE THE FILES [Donald Trump] CHILD F***ER" and several other posts calling for the death of Jews over their "control" of the world. Additionally, the hacked social media account accused Trump of being Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's puppet, claiming further that the US President is in the Epstein files, which prevents him from releasing them to the public. The hacking incident caused a flood of comments and posts from social media users on the same platform. An X user wrote, "Elmo isn't wrong about tr*mp though." Another added, "Elmo is done playing games." Reports about Jeffrey Epstein were reignited by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after they revealed that he committed suicide during his prison sentence and didn't have a client list for his notorious island. In addition to its official claims, the DOJ released a video that captured Esptein in his cell alone during the night he died, revealing no foul play or an external factor. However, the closure of years of speculation, conspiracy theories, and political tensions didn't sit well with many individuals, sparking more debate and rumors on social media.
Russia Today
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Google founder claims UN is ‘transparently anti-Semitic'
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has denounced the United Nations as 'transparently anti-Semitic' over a report accusing tech firms, including Alphabet, of profiting from Israel's war in Gaza, The Washington Post has reported. Brin made the remarks at an internal Google DeepMind forum last week, according to screenshots reviewed by the newspaper, which reported the exchange on Wednesday. His response came after a recent publication by Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, which claimed that Google and its parent company Alphabet had provided cloud and AI tools to the IDF during its operation in Gaza – actions the report described as 'the genocide carried out by Israel.' 'With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides,' Brin, who is Jewish himself, wrote. 'I would also be careful citing transparently anti-Semitic organizations like the UN in relation to these issues.' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected suggestions that his troops are committing genocide in Gaza, saying his country is acting in self-defense against an attempted genocide by Hamas. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 57,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed during Israel's military operation against the militant group. Albanese has repeatedly labeled Israel's campaign a 'genocide.' The US mission to the UN has pushed for her removal, accusing her of anti-Semitism and bias. On Wednesday, Washington imposed sanctions against her. Brin's spokesman told the Post that the comments were made in response to a 'plainly biased and misleading report.' Google reportedly declined to comment. A statement from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's office noted that rapporteurs operate independently and are appointed by the Human Rights Council. Brin, born in Moscow in 1973, immigrated to the US with his family at age six. He and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page stepped back from day-to-day operations in 2019, although the multi-billionaire has since re-engaged with the company's AI efforts. According to The Post, Google expanded AI support to the Israeli military following Hamas's October 2023 attack. The company and Amazon had earlier secured a $1.2 billion cloud contract with the Israeli government under Project Nimbus. Google has faced mounting criticism over its role in the conflict. In February, it removed a pledge from its AI guidelines not to develop tools for weapons or surveillance. The company has also faced scrutiny over alleged political bias. Russian officials have accused it of discriminating against state media and restricting access for users. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, the US-based tech giant has restricted monetization tools for Russia-linked entities and suspended payments to app developers with Russian bank accounts.
TimesLIVE
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Kanye West barred from Australia over antisemitic song praising Hitler
American rapper Kanye West has been denied entry into Australia after the release of a controversial track in which he praises Adolf Hitler. The decision was announced by Australia's minister of home affairs Tony Burke who cited concerns about promoting bigotry. West, 47, released the song Heil Hitler on May 8 as part of his new album WW3. The track was widely condemned for glorifying Nazism and antiSemitic messaging, prompting several streaming platforms to remove it. The release date was especially provocative, as it coincided with V-E Day, the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 in Europe. Speaking to ABC, Burke confirmed West's visa had been cancelled after a review by immigration officials. 'He's been coming to Australia for a long time. He's got family here and he's made a lot of offensive comments my officials looked at again,' said Burke. 'I'm not taking away the way the act operates, but even for the lowest level of visa, when my officials looked at it, they cancelled that after the announcement of that song. We have enough problems in this country without importing bigotry.' The Heil Hitler track contains disturbing lyrics in which West references personal grievances, including custody battles and financial restrictions, rapping: 'These people took my kids from me and they froze my bank account.' The song ends with a sample of a 1935 speech by Hitler. Adding to the controversy, West posted a video on X featuring a group of shirtless black men draped in animal skins professing their love for Hitler, fuelling outrage online. West has been embroiled in a long-standing custody dispute with his ex-wife, reality star Kim Kardashian. The pair who finalised their divorce in 2022 share four children: North West, 11, Saint, 9, Chicago West, 7. and Psalm West,m 5. Despite agreeing to joint custody, West has publicly claimed he has limited access to his children. Adding a personal dimension to the travel ban is that Kanye is now married to Australian-born architect and designer Bianca Censori who was raised in Melbourne and has frequently travelled with West during his international visits. Neither Kardashian nor the Kardashian-Jenner family have commented on the latest controversy. As this adds another chapter in his increasingly turbulent career, global backlash continues to grow over his recent actions and statements.
