The widespread oppression of Jewish students and faculty across college campuses is coming from powerful and mainstream centers of authority, fueled by overseas money. Against such overwhelming force, Jews need a revolutionary spirit.
The post We Need a Jewish “Insurrection” to Combat Campus Antisemitism appeared first on Jewish Journal.
Jimmy Lai’s wife, Teresa (left), and retired Chinese Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun arrive at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to attend Hong Kong activist publisher Lai’s national security trial in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. / Credit: AP Photo/Chan Long Hei
CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Catholic human rights activist Jimmy Lai on Wednesday took the stand in his national security trial in Hong Kong, arguing in his own defense as he faces life in prison over allegations of sedition against the communist Chinese government.
Lai, 76, was first arrested in August 2020 under China’s newly instituted Hong Kong national security law. He has faced multiple trials since his arrest and has been convicted on multiple charges of unlawful assembly and fraud.
Advocates have argued that the charges are politically motivated. Lai, through several media enterprises including the long-running Apple Daily newspaper, has for years been a vocal pro-democracy voice in Hong Kong media, with Apple Daily itself encouraging citizens to participate in numerous pro-democracy demonstrations over the years.
Chinese Communist Party officials, meanwhile, allege that Lai has engaged in what they claim is seditious activism, in part by allegedly advocating for Hong Kong’s independence from mainland China.
At his trial on Wednesday, Lai denied allegations of sedition. “All I was doing was carrying a torch to the reality,” he told the court of his publishing activities.
“The more information you have, the more you’re in the know, the more you are free,” he said.
The publisher also denied that he had ordered the Apple Daily to continue as usual after his arrest. “I had written to them, asking them not to take risks,” he said.
The activist further disputed that he had colluded with the U.S. government in 2019 when meeting with then-Vice President Mike Pence.
“I would not dare to ask the vice president to do anything,” he said. “I would just relay to him what happened in Hong Kong when he asked me.”
Wednesday’s trial comes after the Tuesday sentencing of 45 other Hong Kong democracy activists, all of whom received stretches of up to 10 years in prison under the national security law.
Lai is a Catholic. He converted to Catholicism in 1997 and was received into the Church by Cardinal Joseph Zen. The cardinal was present at the trial on Wednesday, sitting with Lai’s family members, according to the Associated Press.
His yearslong imprisonment has drawn international rebuke, including from supporters in the United States. Last December the Congressional Executive Commission on China urged the U.S. government to sanction Hong Kong prosecutors and judges if they fail to release Lai.
The trial “is a political prosecution plain and simple and another sad example of the Hong Kong government’s increasingly repressive policies,” the commission said.
Father Robert Sirico, a Catholic priest and founder of the Michigan-based Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, told CNA in December 2023 that he “[doesn’t] have any hope” that the Chinese Communist Party will let Lai walk free.
”I want to be hopeful. I love the man,” Sirico said. “I have a deep respect for him. I’m inspired by his bravery. But I know what he’s up against.”
More recently, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in a report that the Chinese government should “release Mr. Lai immediately.”
The working group said the government should mount a “full and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Lai and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.”
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(RNS) — A sociologist, writer and preacher, he touched legions of people in his classrooms and millions in countless venues around the world.
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Senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center Joseph Meaney speaks to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. / Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”
CNA Staff, Nov 20, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
Vietnam, a country with one of the highest abortion rates in the world, spearheaded a United Nations initiative this week on the health care needs of infants born prematurely.
While the event in honor of World Prematurity Day aimed to spotlight the need for better care for preterm infants, a bioethicist is pointing to the irony of a country grappling with widespread abortion leading the charge.
“It’s a completely mixed message,” Joseph Meaney, a senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told “EWTN News Nightly” on Tuesday.
Advances in neonatal intensive care have made possible the survival of smaller and younger infants. The world’s most premature surviving baby is Curtis Zy-Keith Means, who was born at 21 weeks and one day in Birmingham, Alabama.
Vietnam’s laws allow unrestricted abortion procedures up to the 22nd week of pregnancy, but enforcement against later-term abortions remains lax.
A 2023 report identified the Southeast Asian nation as having the second-highest abortion rate in the world. Hanoi’s Central Obstetrics Hospital reported in 2014 that 40% of all pregnancies in Vietnam were terminated each year.
Meaney pointed out to “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol that “in one part of the hospital, they are delivering babies … and trying to keep them alive in the neonatal intensive care units, and in other parts of the hospital, they’re killing those same babies at the same age of gestation.”
Meaney noted that studies have found that women who have undergone multiple abortions face a higher risk of premature birth and miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies.
World Prematurity Day was established in 2008 to raise awareness about the challenges of premature births, which is the leading cause of death for children under 5. It is estimated that 13.4 million babies are born prematurely every year, according to UNICEF, which called for universal access to high-quality care for preterm babies in honor of the day.
“Of course, if they’re concerned about infant mortality, the highest rate of infant mortality is killing babies through abortion,” Meaney said.
Catholics in Vietnam help manage special cemeteries for victims of abortion, including one in the Archdiocese of Hanoi in which 46,000 unborn children are buried and another in Xuan Loc Diocese where more than 53,000 are buried, according to La Croix International.
A Catholic charity called the Life Protection Group collects the remains of unborn children from state-run hospitals and private clinics, noting that the group used to gather 25-40 aborted fetuses each day to bury.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 1.6 million abortions were performed in Vietnam between 2015 and 2019.
Asked by Sabol how premature births might be reduced in the U.S. and around the world, Meaney said: “One thing would be to have fewer abortions.”
As well, “actually having the hospitals help the mothers to continue their pregnancies” would help, he said.
“When they’re at risk of premature birth, the amount of days involved is very important. Just a few more days can really increase the likelihood the child will survive,” Meaney said.
“To actually have the hospitals willing to admit mothers who are in danger of premature birth” could help lower such incidences, he said.
Rabbi Jeff Salkin sits down with Rabbi Jonah Pesner and dive into the deeply rooted relationship of Judaism, politics and social justice, exploring why so many Jews align with liberal causes while maintaining a vibrant spectrum of political thought within the community.
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One of Gaza’s top Islamic scholars has issued a fatwa condemning Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack. But is it too little, too late?
The post A Muslim Scholar Criticizes Hamas: Sooner Would Have Been Better appeared first on Jewish Journal.