RSS
UCLA Student Newspaper Protects Oct. 7 Supporters, and Attacks Jews
A mock Israeli checkpoint set up during a past ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ at the University of California at Los Angeles campus. Photo: AMCHA Initiative.
At UCLA, a troubling pattern has emerged: individuals engaged in antisemitic discrimination are being recast as victims, while those targeted are portrayed as villains for speaking out.
Nowhere is this clearer than in the case of a staff member who resigned amid allegations that she actively excluded Jewish students from hiring decisions. Rather than holding her accountable or looking seriously into the accusations, UCLA’s student paper — the Daily Bruin — portrayed her as a martyr, while ignoring her actions regarding the Jewish community.
To compound the issue, the Daily Bruin’s coverage of a protest outside the home of UC Regent Jay Sures — where activists threatened him and vandalized his property — was presented with misleading context, making the demonstrators appear justified.
Undergraduate Students Association Council Cultural Affairs Commissioner Alicia Verugo stepped down from her job, after she was accused of directing her office to exclude Jewish students from employment. She claims she only resigned out of fear for her personal safety. Here are the facts, according to the Daily Bruin:
In a copy of the petition, which [Bella] Brannon provided to the Daily Bruin, Brannon accused Verdugo of directing their staff to not hire “Zionist” applicants to the commission. She cited screenshots that she said a member of Verdugo’s office provided to her.
“Lots of Zionists are applying,” Verdugo allegedly said in a message appended to the petition. “Please do your research when you look at applicants and I will also share a doc of no hire list during retreat.”
Verdugo justified Hamas’ atrocities on October 7, saying it was an “unprecedented” and “historic” moment. Furthermore, she did so in a publicly recorded event just days after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
Yet, in the Daily Bruin’s coverage, these damning details were omitted. Instead, the article emphasized her support for UCLA’s BIPOC community, whitewashing her actions and shifting the focus away from her discrimination.
The section of the article reporting on her plan to use a member of the extremist anti-Israel group, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), as a defense witness is even more problematic. The journalists identify JVP as merely “critical of Israel.” That would be like describing the KKK as a group “critical of minorities” in a story about them using their nonexistent moral authority to defend a segregationist.
Instead of presenting the facts of what Verdugo had done, the Daily Bruin framed her as a victim of political pressure, allowing her to escape accountability.
This misleading portrayal is dangerous. It reinforces the insidious trend where Jewish students raising concerns about discrimination are smeared as aggressors, exacerbating campus hostility toward Jews and Israel at UCLA.
The contrast is glaring when compared to the Daily Bruin’s reporting on the harassment of UC Regent Jay Sures. Protesters accused Sures of being a “genocide enabler,” vandalized his property with red handprints — a symbol with deep ties to historical antisemitic violence — and ominously threatened him.
Yet, instead of condemning the harassment, the Daily Bruin’s article dedicated its final section to listing Sures’ affiliations with pro-Israel organizations, concluding with an uncritical quote from Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) attacking him.
The implication? That such harassment was, if not justified, at least understandable.
When a Jewish leader and his family are threatened, the Daily Bruin frames the narrative as an “underdog vs. powerful figure.” But when a student leader is caught discriminating against Jewish students and justifying the massacre of civilians, the paper downplays the charges and shifts focus to her supposed victimization.
This blatant discrepancy exposes a disturbing editorial bias: Jewish students who fight back against discrimination are ignored — or worse, smeared — as part of an imagined Zionist effort to silence free speech. Meanwhile, anti-Israel activists who face legitimate consequences for their actions receive glowing, sympathetic coverage; their ethical breaches are reframed as minor inconveniences imposed by an all-powerful Jewish establishment.
Thousands of UCLA students and alumni will now likely believe these politicized narratives. Fortunately, the university itself has demonstrated more professionalism, suspending both SJP and its graduate counterpart for their disgraceful treatment of Sures, his family, and his neighbors.
The Daily Bruin has a responsibility to correct the record. True journalism demands fairness, not selective storytelling that whitewashes antisemitism under the guise of political nuance. If the paper values integrity, it must fully acknowledge the scope of both controversies — and ensure future reporting treats discrimination with the seriousness it deserves, no matter the target.
Bias and distortion must no longer mislead the UCLA community. Journalism should illuminate the truth.
Seth B. Mendel is the West Coast Campus Advisor for the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA)
The post UCLA Student Newspaper Protects Oct. 7 Supporters, and Attacks Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced “extreme cautious” about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.
US President Donald Trump has signaled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical… there are still differences, both on major issues and on details,” Araqchi told Iranian state TV.
“There is seriousness and determination on both sides… However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious.”
A senior US administration official described the talks as positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon.”
“There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the official added.
Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another “high-level meeting” provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.
Ahead of the lead negotiators’ meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
“The presence of experts was beneficial … we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” Araqchi said.
An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”
The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was “to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact’s nuclear curbs including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalizing the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.
Tehran insists its defense capabilities like its missile program are not negotiable.
An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile program as a bigger obstacle in the talks.
The post Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.
Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main PLO faction which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Abbas. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist with very close ties to Israel.
He was named PLO vice president after the organization’s executive committee approved his nomination by Abbas, the PLO said in a statement.
Reform of the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank, has been a priority for the United States and Gulf monarchies hoping the body can play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pressure to reform has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza, where the PLO’s main Palestinian rival Hamas has battled Israel for more than 18 months, leaving the tiny, crowded territory in ruins.
The United States has promoted the idea of a reformed PA governing in Gaza after the war. Gulf monarchies, which are seen as the most likely source of funding for reconstruction in Gaza after the war, also want major reforms of the body.
CALL FOR HAMAS TO DISARM
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the destruction of Hamas but it has also ruled out giving the PA any role in government there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas, which follows a militant Islamist ideology, has controlled Gaza since 2007 when it defeated the PA in a brief civil war after winning an election the previous year. It also has a large presence in the West Bank.
At a meeting of the PLO’s Central Council on Wednesday and Thursday that approved the position of vice president without naming an appointee, Abbas made his clearest ever call for Hamas to completely disarm and hand its weapons – and responsibility for governing in Gaza – to the PA.
Widespread corruption, lack of progress towards an independent state and increasing Israeli military incursions in the West Bank have undermined the PA’s popularity among many Palestinians.
The body has been controlled by Fatah since it was formed in the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993 and it last held parliamentary elections in 2005.
Sheikh, who was imprisoned by Israel for his activities opposing the occupation during the period 1978-89, has worked as the PA’s main contact liaising with the Israeli government under Abbas and been his envoy on visits to world powers.
The post Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – The third round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has concluded on Saturday, US media reported.
The two sides are understood to have discussed the US lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.
On April 12, the US and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.
All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.
According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether Washington will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran’s right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.
The US, Israel and other Western actors including the United Nation’s nuclear agency reject Iranian claims that its uranium enrichment is strictly civilian in its goals.
The post 3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman first appeared on Algemeiner.com.