The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 30th, 2024: Chaos Consumes Columbia & Biden Accuses Israeli Battalions Of Human Rights Violations

Episode Date: April 30, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    The anti-Israel protests engulfing Columbia University further devolved into chaos overnight, as activists stormed an academic building and administrators began issuing suspensions. We'll have the latest on the campus chaos across the country, and how some colleges are beginning to aggressively crack down. The Biden administration has accused five Israeli IDF units of committing gross human rights violations, pointing to alleged incidents that occurred prior to the 7 October attacks and subsequent Israeli response. We’ll discuss the implications and the looming threat of sanctions from the White House. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's episode is brought to you by Beam. Transform your sleep with Beam's dream. It's the secret behind 15 million nights of improved sleep, and that's a lot of nights of improved sleep. You fall asleep faster, you stay asleep longer, and you know what, you wake up refreshed. Get up to 40% off at shopbeam.com slash PDB and use code PDB. It's Tuesday, 30 April. Welcome to the PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, the anti-Israel protests at Columbia University further devolved into chaos overnight as activists stormed an academic building, smashing windows, breaking into the building,

and then barricading themselves inside. As administrators, finally grew a pair and began issuing suspensions. Also, the Biden administration has accused five Israeli IDF units of committing human rights violations, citing alleged incidents that occurred in years prior to the 7 October attacks and subsequent Israeli response. We'll discuss the applications and the blooming threat of sanctions from the White House. But first, our afternoon spotlight. The anti-Israel protests at New York City's Columbia University turned more chaotic overnight as activists refused to vacate the campus and then later stormed an academic building,

expanding their occupation of the school grounds. Several deadlines for protesters to leave the campus imposed by Columbia University administrators came and went last week, forcing school administrators to announce yet another deadline. Administrators gave the latest deadline for protesters to end their encampment by 2 p.m. on Monday, though they ignored that threat again. Following the latest failed deadline, Columbia announced Monday that they would begin suspending students who continued to participate in the protests. The students, however, appeared, well, undeterred as a mob stormed the school's iconic Hamilton Hall shortly before 1 a.m., clashing with staff and police. Yeah, that would qualify as undeterred.

The mob is currently occupying the building, barricading themselves inside using wooden tables and zip ties on the doors. They smashed windows and hung an anti-Semitic banner, reading from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. The chaotic scene forced Columbia to take the unprecedented step of locking down the campus, urging students and faculty to stay indoors. Officials said the campus would remain closed indefinitely, quote, until circumstances allow otherwise. In a statement, officials said, the safety of every single member of this community is paramount. In light of the protest activity, access to campus has been limited to students, residing in residential buildings on campus and employees who provide essential services, end quote.

The scene was replicated on campuses across the country as protesters moved to illegally occupy college buildings, prompting a statement this morning from the White House, which read, quote, forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful, it is wrong, end quote. Well, okay, I'm glad the White House was able to clear that up. Maybe, and look, I'm just spitballing here, but maybe, maybe maybe now would be an opportune time for a brief Oval Office talk from the president. Elsewhere, the chaos continues to spread. Overnight, police arrested six protesters at Tulane University in New Orleans, while nine were arrested at the University of Florida, and dozens were taken into custody

at the University of Austin and Texas. Meanwhile, at the University of Southern California, administrators remain locked in negotiations with student protesters to end the demonstrations. However, officials said Tuesday that no progress has been made. Now, it is worth noting that not every university has let the protesters run roughshod over their schools. Administrators at Virginia Commonwealth University, VCU, had police arrest both students and non-students engaging in what officials described as a violent protest near the university's

library on Monday. Following the arrests, the university swiftly dismantled the protesters' encampment. Similarly, authorities at the University of Boston arrested hundreds over the weekend and cleared an anti-Israel encampment on school grounds. Officials at UNC Chapel Hill were similarly inclined, instructing police to begin clearing protesters on Tuesday after they failed to meet a deadline imposed by the university. Officials at UNC have told students they face arrest, suspension, and possible expulsion if they continue to participate in the anti-Semitic activity. Administrators of Virginia Tech and the University of New Mexico have also responded swiftly to anti-Israel protests,

arresting dozens and clearing the demonstrations. Meanwhile, officials at Cornell University have stated that they will begin suspending students who continue to engage in unauthorized protests. While they were initially reticent to crack down on protesters, administrators at Yale and the University of Connecticut have also finally moved to clear the pro-Palestinian encampments on their grounds. Now, standing as outliers, officials at the University of Pennsylvania and also Brown University have signaled that they are willing to discuss the possibility of divestment with campus protesters

if they continue to engage in negotiations with the university. All told, more than 1,200 protesters at more than 20 college campuses across the country have been arrested over the past week of anti-Israel protests. It would be instructive, I think, to know just how many of those 12, arrested are actual college students and how many are outside activists and non-students? We'll dig into that question for a future episode. All right, coming up after the break, the U.S. is considering sanctions after accusing five units of Israel's security forces of committing human rights violations in the years prior to the current war in Gaza. I'll be right back. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. I wanted to follow up on a story where he brought you two weeks

ago about the United States potentially levying sanctions on units within the Israeli defense forces, the IDF. It had been widely expected that the U.S. State Department was going to announce sanctions against the IDF's controversial Netsu Yelhuda Battalion, a military unit made up of ultra-Orthodox men for human rights abuses in the West Bank. The sanctions stemmed from America's Leahy law, which states that any foreign military unit found to have committed gross violations of human rights can be prevented from receiving U.S. military assistance. Well, as it turns out, Netze Yehuda isn't the only unit that the U.S. has determined committed these kinds of violations. In total, the United States found five units of Israel's security forces responsible for violations of human rights.

It's worth noting that all of the alleged incidents took place outside of Gaza, before conflict broke out between Israel and Hamas in October, a State Department spokesperson announced the findings on Monday, but added that four out of the five units would still be eligible for U.S. military assistance. The spokesperson said, quote, four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do. For our remaining unit, we continue to be in consultations and engagements

with the government of Israel, and they have submitted additional information as a pertainer, to that unit." End quote. Now, that remaining unit is believed, again, to be Netza Yehuda, which was implicated in the 2022 death of Omar Assad. The 78-year-old Palestinian American reportedly died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion. The State Department will make a decision on whether or not to sanction the unit after reviewing new Israeli information. Finally, it would be interesting if an enterprising journalist, perhaps covering the White House

or State Department, would ask officials about the timing of the U.S. government's decision to announce these potential sanctions against the IDF. If the violations took place in years past, well, the question would be, what prompted the move now? Did the investigations just conclude? How long has the U.S. government been considering these sanctions? Is the current Israel-Khamas conflict in Gaza what triggered the talk of sanctions? against the IDF, were there any domestic political considerations involved in the timing?

And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday, 30 April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And remember, if you want to listen to the show ad-free, be sure to check out our premium membership at PDB Premium.com. It's 100% of the news and analysis with 0% ads. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.