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US Lawmakers Demand Columbia Administrators Hand Over Texts Mocking Testimonies of Campus Antisemitism
The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” at Columbia University, located in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on April 25, 2024. Photo: Reuters Connect
US lawmakers on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have demanded that Columbia University administrators hand over text messages which purportedly mocked concerns over rising antisemitism on campus.
On May 31, Columbia held several panel discussions as alumni arrived at the New York City campus to celebrate their class reunions. One of the panels focused on Jewish life on campus, during which top Columbia administrators exchanged text messages belittling the testimonies of the speakers, according to The Washington Free Beacon.
While the event was underway, one administrator reportedly sent a vomit emoji in the group chat. Another stated that the testimonies were “difficult to listen to” but they were “trying to keep an open mind.” One message suggested that Jewish figures on campus were exploiting the moment for “fundraising potential.”
The leaked messages sparked outrage and circulated like wildfire on social media. After being made aware of the texts, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce this week demanded the university release the entirety of the exchanges. The committee has given the university a deadline of June 26 to comply with its demands.
“I was appalled, but sadly not surprised, to learn Columbia administrators exchanged disparaging text messages during a panel that discussed antisemitism at the university,” Rep. Virignia Foxx (R-NC), the committee’s chairwoman, said in a statement. “Dean Josef Sorrett’s weak private ‘apology’ to the College’s Board of Visitors shows that the school doesn’t get it. Columbia’s Jewish community deserves better than this. I have requested Columbia produce these administrators’ texts by June 26.”
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student at Harvard who has chronicled the surge of antisemitic campus incidents following the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel, told The Algemeiner that he is not surprised that Columbia administrators mocked Jewish community members through texts.
“The story at Columbia simply reinforces what Jewish students across the country already know: we are treated categorically different than every other minority group,” Kestenbaum said.
The committee has been trying to hold Columbia University “accountable” for enabling an allegedly antisemitic environment on campus.
In February, Foxx sent Columbia a request to hand over documents related to its internal antisemitism investigation, citing “assaults, harassment, and vandalism” targeting Jewish students on campus. Later that same month, the chairwoman held a roundtable with Jewish students from multiple campuses — including Columbia — which were embroiled in high-profile antisemitism scandals.
In April, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce summoned Columbia President Minouche Shafik and other university leaders to attend a hearing on her administration’s alleged failure to address antisemitism, which prompted a congressional investigation
Later that month, Foxx accompanied House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to visit Columbia University as violent and disruptive encampments erected by pro-Hamas activists rocked their campus.
“I have a message. President Shafik, the inmates are running the asylum. Take back control of this once-great institution,” Foxx said.
The post US Lawmakers Demand Columbia Administrators Hand Over Texts Mocking Testimonies of Campus Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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