By Donald H. Harrison in San Diego
INTERNATIONAL
Samoa will open an embassy in Jerusalem, Samoa’s Prime Minister La’auli Leuatea Schmidt announced, joining South Pacific neighbors Fiji and Papua New Guinea. Juergen Buehler, president of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, told the Jewish News Syndicate, “Like Fiji, the island nation of Samoa has a large Christian population that wants its leaders to stand with Israel on biblical principles. We are optimistic that more countries will follow suit in the coming year.”
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Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, praised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement that a Royal Commission to investigate antisemitism will be established. Calling it the right decision at a critical moment, Aghion emphasized the need for a thorough and honest examination of the drivers of anti-Jewish hatred, including institutional failures and online incitement, the World Jewish Congress reported.
NATIONAL
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday reiterated his call for ICE to withdraw from his city. He said, “”We are a safe city; ICE is making us less so. We are a united city, but ICE is trying to divide us and tear us apart.”
The Trump administration released a video which seemed to contradict Frey’s version of the events leading up to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good, 37.
As told by Yahoo News! reporter Dylan Stableford, ICE agent Jonathan E. Ross, wearing a body camera, filmed his encounter with Good. As he videoed her SUV’s license plates, Good tells him, “That’s fine dude, I’m not mad at you.” Her wife, Becca Good, also videoing the encounter, said ‘That’s okay, we don’t change our plates every morning. Just so you know, it will be the same plate when you come talk to us later. … You want to come at us? You want to come at us? I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy.”
That was when another agent ordered Good to get out of the car, in which her dog was riding. She backed up, turned the wheel and the vehicle moved forward as shots rang out. As the car drives forward, an agent can be heard saying, “You fucking bitch.” Then a crash is heard.
Vice President JD Vance wrote on X, “Watch this, as hard as it is. Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn’t hit by a car, wasn’t being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self-defense.”
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Two Congressional bills targeting antisemitism in K–12 schools and on college campuses are before Congress. Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida) introduced the No Antisemitism in Education Act, which requires the adoption of the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, and Rep. Lois Frankel reintroduced the Protecting Students on Campus Act, which addresses violations of Title VI. Roz Rothstein, cofounder of StandWithUs and its CEO, commented, “Congress should follow up its Title VI awareness campaign by requiring all educational institutions receiving federal funds to create their own Title VI offices, staffed with highly qualified, well-trained professionals who are obligated to follow the Title VI policies and guidance of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.”
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Imprisoned Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s request that a judge vacate his New York State conviction on a charge of engaging in a criminal sex act was unsuccessful on Thursday. Weinstein indicated he might plead guilty to an unrelated rape charge if the sentence would run concurrently with the one that he is serving. He told the judge he lives in fear of dying in prison.
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Film director Steven Spielberg, who has taken up residence in Manhattan, met earlier this week with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a getting-to-know-you conversation, eJewishPhilanthropy reports in its newsletter.
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Historian and political commentator Rafael Medoff applauded Cooper Union’s ban of masks in campus protests. He said when bans were announced at other campuses, civil libertarians denounced them as having a chilling effect on free speech. “In fact, speech is as free as ever on America’s campuses. The only thing that has been chilled is the ability of terror-supporters to illegally harass and intimidate Jewish students from behind the protection of a face mask.” Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project, said the settlement that her organization in cooperation with the law firm of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP reached with Cooper Union, also provides a monetary award, a requirement for protesters to carry IDs during protests; recognition that for many Jews Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity; adoption of examples used by the IHRA definition of antisemitism; mandatory training addressing antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination; pre-approval for campus posters and digital postings to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination policies, and a policy that discrimination or harassment directed toward Zionists violates the college’s nondiscrimination policies.
STATE & LOCAL
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria responded angrily to Councilmembers Sean Elo-Rivera’s and Kent Lee’s criticism of the city’s rollout of paid parking in Balboa Park. In a memo, he upbraided the council members for their suggestion that the parking fees be suspended temporarily. “This reversal could introduce confusion among park users and would disregard investments already made to establish the system, potentially compromising the program’s effectiveness.”
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Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World