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‘Good Morning Britain’ Host Apologizes for ‘Mistake’ in Not Mentioning Jews as Victims of Holocaust
Ranvir Singh during a news segment on “Good Morning Britain” on Jan. 27, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
“Good Morning Britain” host Ranvir Singh issued an apology Tuesday on air after failing to mention Jewish victims of the Holocaust during her coverage of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“In yesterday’s news, when we reported on the memorial events in Auschwitz, we said six million people were killed in the Holocaust but crucially failed to say they were Jewish. That was our mistake, which we apologize for,” said Singh, 47.
During a news segment on the ITV show on Monday morning, Singh discussed the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland, and reported on how King Charles was set to become the first British monarch to visit the site of the former Nazi death camp later that day for a special ceremony in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Singh talked briefly about the history of the Holocaust but when listing its victims, she failed to include Jews, who the Nazis sought to eliminate through genocide during World War II.
“Six million people were killed in concentration camps during the Second World War, as well as millions of others because they were Polish, disabled, gay, or belonged to another ethnic group,” Singh said on air.
The British organization Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) criticized Singh in a post on social media for her failure to mention Holocaust victims who were Jewish.
“Jews. The word you’re looking for is ‘Jews,’ not ‘people.’ This truly beggars belief,” CAA said. “This dire reporting is not only factually incorrect but erases Jews from a genocide in which six million Jewish men, women, and children were slaughtered specifically because they were Jews.” It additionally noted that there was no mention of the word “antisemitism” in the news segment.
“To make matters worse, there is no reference to Jewish people at all for over two minutes into this segment, and when there finally is one, it is only done once and in regard to former history students taking a tour of the Jewish quarter of Kraków,” CAA observed. “If this is intended to pay respect to the victims of Holocaust Memorial Day, it has failed abysmally and ignores the true nature of this horrific event.”
Michael Dickson — the executive director of StandWithUs in Israel, a nonprofit that combats antisemitism — said “deleting Jews” when discussing the history of the Holocaust and “the attempt to annihilate them” is “a slap in the face to Holocaust survivors and victims’ families.” He also said Singh’s acknowledgement of the “mistake” is “the opposite of a full-hearted apology.”
After Singh’s apology on air, ITV released a statement about the incident.
“In our studio introduction to the report on the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz we failed to acknowledge the Jewish community which we have since apologized for live on air in today’s program,” ITV noted, according to the British publication The Sun. “This failure was done in error, however clear reference to Jewish people in the correspondent news report from Auschwitz immediately followed, as well as a further extended program report referencing the six million Jewish victims.”
“Yesterday’s program also included a live studio interview with a survivor of Auschwitz, Rachel Levy, alongside Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Trust, both of whom talked candidly about their own experiences as Jewish people,” the statement continued.
However, CAA said that even after ITV’s apology for the “scandalous blunder,” it would still like to know “how did such an obvious mistake happen in the first place?”
“The irony of this sort of ‘forgetfulness’ on a day of remembrance is not lost on us,” CAA added. “Holocaust Memorial Day is first and foremost a day to memorialize the six million Jewish men, women, and children murdered by gas and bullet by the Nazis and their collaborators. Its principal lesson is the need to bravely combat antisemitism whenever it arises, including in our own time. Given that Britain is currently experiencing the worst antisemitism in living memory, that lesson is more important than ever. Why, then, does our society keep failing to learn it?”
King Charles, 76, appeared to shed a tear as he listened to testimonies from survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp during Monday’s ceremony at the site. He was joined by other world leaders including King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of The Netherlands, Spain‘s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Belgium‘s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Norway‘s Crown Prince Haakon, and Sweden‘s Crown Princess Victoria.
King Charles also visited the Jewish Community Center in Krakow on Monday. During a speech, he said the “evil” that took place during the Holocaust should ensure the world will never again “be a bystander in the face of violence and hate.”
“As the number of Holocaust survivors regrettably diminishes with the passage of time, the responsibility of remembrance rests far heavier on our shoulders, and on those of generations yet unborn,” he added. “The act of remembering the evils of the past remains a vital task and in so doing, we inform our present and shape our future.”
The United Kingdom holds the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) — an intergovernmental organization comprising dozens of countries — from March 1, 2024, until Feb. 28 2025.
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US Immigration Judge Rules Palestinian Columbia Student Khalil Can Be Deported
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. Photo: Jeenah Moon via Reuters Connect
A US immigration judge ruled on Friday that Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, allowing President Donald Trump’s administration to proceed with its effort to remove the Columbia University student from the United States a month after his arrest in New York City.
The ruling by Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana was not a final determination of Khalil’s fate. But it represented a significant victory for the Republican president in his efforts to deport foreign pro-Palestinian students who are in the United States legally and, like Khalil, have not been charged with any crime.
Citing the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, Trump-appointed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined last month that Khalil could harm American foreign policy interests and should be deported for his “otherwise lawful” speech and activism.
Comans said that she did not have the authority to overrule a secretary of state. The judge denied a motion by Khalil’s lawyers to subpoena Rubio and question him about the “reasonable grounds” he had for his determination under the 1952 law.
The judge’s decision came after a combative 90-minute hearing held in a court located inside a jail complex for immigrants surrounded by double-fenced razor wire run by private government contractors in rural Louisiana.
Khalil, a prominent figure in the anti-Israel student protest movement that has roiled Columbia’s New York City campus, was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, holds Algerian citizenship and became a US lawful permanent resident last year. Khalil’s wife is a US citizen.
For now, Khalil remains in the Louisiana jail where federal authorities transferred him after his March 8 arrest at his Columbia University apartment building some 1,200 miles (1,930 km) away. Comans gave Khalil’s lawyers until April 23 to apply for relief before she considers whether to issue a deportation order. An immigration judge can rule that a migrant cannot be deported because of possible persecution in a home country, among other limited grounds.
In a separate case in New Jersey, US District Judge Michael Farbiarz has blocked deportation while he considers Khalil’s claim that his arrest was made in violation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech.
KHALIL ADDRESSES THE JUDGE
As Comans adjourned, Khalil leaned forward, asking to address the court. Comans hesitated, then agreed.
Khalil quoted her remarks at his hearing on Tuesday that nothing was more important to the court than “due process rights and fundamental fairness.”
“Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process,” Khalil said. “This is exactly why the Trump administration has sent me to this court, a thousand miles away from my family.”
The judge said her ruling turned on an undated, two-page letter signed by Rubio and submitted to the court and to Khalil’s counsel.
Khalil’s lawyers, appearing via a video link, complained they were given less than 48 hours to review Rubio’s letter and evidence submitted by the Trump administration to Comans this week. Marc Van Der Hout, Khalil’s lead immigration attorney, repeatedly asked for the hearing to be delayed. Comans reprimanded him for what the judge said was straying from the hearing’s purpose, twice saying he had “an agenda.”
Comans said that the 1952 immigration law gave the secretary of state “unilateral judgment” to make his determination about Khalil.
Khalil should be removed, Rubio wrote, for his role in “antisemitic protests and disruptive activities, which fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students in the United States.”
Rubio’s letter did not accuse Khalil of breaking any laws, but said the State Department can revoke the legal status of immigrants who could harm US foreign policy interests even when their beliefs, associations or statements are “otherwise lawful.”
After Comans ended the hearing, several of Khalil’s supporters wept as they left the courtroom. Khalil stood and smiled at them, making a heart shape with his hands.
Khalil has said criticism of the US government’s support of Israel is being wrongly conflated with antisemitism. His lawyers told the court they were submitting into evidence Khalil’s interviews last year with CNN and other news outlets in which he denounces antisemitism and other prejudice.
His lawyers have said the Trump administration was targeting him for protected speech including the right to criticize American foreign policy.
“Mahmoud was subject to a charade of due process, a flagrant violation of his right to a fair hearing and a weaponization of immigration law to suppress dissent,” Van Der Hout said in a statement after the hearing.
The American immigration court system is run and its judges are appointed by the US Justice Department, separate from the government’s judicial branch.
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Hamas Releases Video of Israeli-American Hostage Held in Gaza
FILE PHOTO: Yael, Adi and Mika Alexander, the family of Edan Alexander, the American-Israeli and Israel Defense Forces soldier taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, pose for a photograph during an interview with Reuters at the Alexander’s home in Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S., December 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephani Spindel/File Photo
Hamas on Saturday released a video purportedly of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who has been held in Gaza since he was captured by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, 2023.
In the undated video, the man who introduces himself as Edan Alexander states he has been held in Gaza for 551 days. The man questions why he is still being held and pleads for his release.
Alexander is a soldier serving in the Israeli military.
The edited video was released as Jews began to mark Passover, a weeklong holiday that celebrates freedom. Alexander’s family released a statement acknowledging the video that said the holiday would not be one of freedom as long as Edan and the 58 other hostages in Gaza remained in captivity.
Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda that is designed to put pressure on the government. The war is in its eighteenth month.
Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on January 19. In March, Israel’s military resumed its ground and aerial campaign on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.
Israeli officials say that campaign will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.
The US, Qatar and Egypt are mediating between Hamas and Israel.
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Some Progress in Hostage Talks But Major Issues Remain, Source tells i24NEWS
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – A source familiar with the ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal confirmed to i24NEWS on Friday that some progress has been made in talks, currently taking place with Egypt, including the exchange of draft proposals. However, it remains unclear whether Hamas will ultimately accept the emerging framework. According to the source, discussions are presently focused on reaching a cohesive outline with Cairo.
A delegation of senior Hamas officials is expected to arrive in Cairo tomorrow. While there is still no finalized draft, even Arab sources acknowledge revisions to Egypt’s original proposal, reportedly including a degree of flexibility in the number of hostages Hamas is willing to release.
The source noted that Hamas’ latest proposal to release five living hostages is unacceptable to Israel, which continues to adhere to the “Witkoff framework.” At the core of this framework is the release of a significant number of hostages, alongside a prolonged ceasefire period—Israel insists on 40 days, while Hamas is demanding more. The plan avoids intermittent pauses or distractions, aiming instead for uninterrupted discussions on post-war arrangements.
As previously reported, Israel is also demanding comprehensive medical and nutritional reports on all living hostages as an early condition of the deal.
“For now,” the source told i24NEWS, “Hamas is still putting up obstacles. We are not at the point of a done deal.” Israeli officials emphasize that sustained military and logistical pressure on Hamas is yielding results, pointing to Hamas’ shift from offering one hostage to five in its most recent agreement.
Negotiators also assert that Israel’s demands are fully backed by the United States. Ultimately, Israeli officials are adamant: no negotiations on the “day after” will take place until the hostage issue is resolved—a message directed not only at Hamas, but also at mediators.
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