INTERNACIONAL
Who is Julius Malema, the South African politician behind ‘kill the farmer’ chant?
JOHANNESBURG – Julius Malema, the South African politician who President Donald Trump wants arrested for repeatedly chanting «kill the farmer,» is reportedly a Rolex watch-wearing Gucci revolutionary, often seen in snazzy, expensive clothes, who champions the poor from a luxury mansion in what is said to be South Africa’s richest street.
He has also called for the further arming of the terror group Hamas and has been accused of stealing millions of dollars from the very pensioners he is trying to get to vote for him.
Trump confronted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a video of Malema shouting «Shoot to kill, Kill the Boer (the Afrikaner), kill the farmer,» when the South African president, a neighbor of Malema’s in Johannesburg, visited the Oval Office earlier this month.
SOUTH AFRICA’S PRESIDENT PUSHES BACK ON TRUMP’S DEMAND TO ARREST POLITICIAN WHO CHANTED ‘KILL THE FARMER’
File: Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). (Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump has offered Afrikaner farmers, descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, refuge in the U.S., citing controversial and disputed claims that they are facing White genocide and forced land seizures.
The self-styled commander in chief of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Party, Malema, a Marxist-Leninist, was the head of the Youth League of South Africa’s biggest party, the African National Congress (ANC), but he was kicked out for bad-mouthing its leadership.
In last year’s election, votes for the EFF slumped to under 10%, and both of Malema’s sidekicks, party co-founders and men he described as «brothers,» left him and joined a competing party.
So it did not come as a surprise to many that, allegedly to spite President Trump, Malema just days later jumped up, literally, onto the stage at the very next rally he was due to appear at to yell «Kill the farmer, I repeat kill the farmer.»
In 2022, South Africa’s Constitutional Court, the equivalent of the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled the chant is not hate speech, declaring it is only the words of a song. Malema sits on the Judicial Services Commission, a body which appoints the Court’s judges.
To Malema, critics say, the chant may be more than just song lyrics. At least twice he told reporters here, «We have not called for the killing of White people – at least for now.» On another occasion, he demanded, «We will cut the throat of Whiteness.»
TRUMP, SOUTH AFRICA IN GROWING ROW OVER HOTLY CONTESTED LAND LAW, COUNTRY’S DEALS WITH US FOES
South Africans protest in favor of President Donald Trump and against their government. (Getty Images)
Some say Malema is running two strategies – one which follows the mantra «There’s no such thing as bad publicity,» and the other to act like a small child that makes a lot of noise, hoping to be noticed, but with little real effect.
Analyst J. Brooks Spector told Fox News Digital that Malema «has crafted a political reputation as the ‘bad boy’ of South African politics.»
Spector, a former U.S. diplomat who lives in Johannesburg and is associate editor of the Daily Maverick, continued. «In a country with a third of its workforce unemployed, and higher among young people, and poverty still a fact of life for many more, his (Malema’s) populism initially drew significant support and enthusiasm among voters. However, his popularity as a political leader has faded somewhat.»
Malema openly supports the terror group Hamas, telling a rally in 2023, shortly after the October 7 attack on Israel, «when you are oppressed, you only have one option, shoot to kill. There is nothing wrong with what Hamas is doing. The EFF is going to arm Hamas.» He also shouted he intended to shut down the Israeli Embassy in South Africa. «We are going to remove this embassy,» he yelled to loud cheers.
A man brandishes a replica toy gun during a pro Palestinian demonstration organised by the South African opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in front of the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria, on October 23, 2023. (Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images)
Allegations also suggest that Malema and his then right-hand man, Floyd Shivambu, benefitted from «dodgy» deals with the South African VBS bank, which subsequently collapsed, leading to people losing their pension savings.
«In 2018, the VBS scandal exposed widespread looting by bank officials and politicians, including senior leaders of the EFF, Floyd Shivambu and Julius Malema,» the Opposition Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Baxolile Nodada stated last August.
On Friday, the DA’s federal executive member and national spokesperson, Willie Aucamp, told Fox News Digital the DA «isn’t letting the VBS scandal fade into the background. Not when over R2 billion ($111 million) was looted from pensioners, struggling municipalities, and poor communities. The DA has been leading the charge to expose those behind this daylight robbery, including Julius Malema, leader of the EFF.»
He continued, «The DA laid criminal charges back in 2018, but six years later, not a single charge has been prosecuted by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Justice for the victims of VBS is long overdue. The DA will continue pushing for the arrest and prosecution of every single person involved – Malema included.»
Speaking in Cape Town in July last year, Malema said «I will never be intimidated by VBS. No leader of the EFF received VBS money.»
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But now that Malema is on Donald Trump’s radar, the president might push back powerfully on Malema’s links to Hamas and the VBS saga, Max Meizlish, senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.
«Like the ANC that courts Iran and supports Hamas, Julius Malema would be wise to not provoke Donald Trump. After all, Malema was clearly implicated in the VBS scandal and has openly called to «arm Hamas.» Malema could very well find himself the target of Global Magnitsky Act sanctions — a tool which President Trump can wield unilaterally and at a moment’s notice,» Meizlish said.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Trump administration’s battle with Democrat-controlled jurisdictions and their sanctuary polices suffered a blow on Friday when a federal judge in Chicago dismissed a case challenging their legality.
Judge Lindsay Jenkins of the Northern District of Illinois, a President Biden appointee, granted the defendants’ motion for dismissal, ruling that the city’s ordinances are lawful protections not subject to federal enforcement mandates.
The Trump Justice Department, in a February filing, accused the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago of unlawfully interfering with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration as it aims to carry out mass deportations.
U.S. District Judge Lindsay Jenkins in Illinois has dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit that sought to block Chicago’s limits on cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities. (Getty; U.S. Senate)
TRUMP DOJ SUES NEW YORK CITY OVER LONG-STANDING SANCTUARY IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Sanctuary cities or sanctuary policies limit co-operation between local officials and law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. The Trump administration has long railed against the measures, arguing they make such areas a haven for criminal illegal immigrants and contribute to increased crime.
The Justice Department alleges these laws violate the U.S. Constitution’s «Supremacy Clause» under the Tenth Amendment, which states that federal law preempts state and local laws that may conflict with it.
But Jenkins rejected the argument, ruling that states retain significant powers not explicitly granted to the federal government.
«Finding that these same Policy provisions constitute discrimination or impermissible regulation would provide an end-run around the Tenth Amendment,» the judge wrote. «It would allow the federal government to commandeer States under the guise of intergovernmental immunity — the exact type of direct regulation of states barred by the Tenth Amendment.»
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, along with other federal law enforcement agencies, attend a pre-enforcement meeting in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. ( Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
MAYOR JOHNSON WARNS TRUMP AGAINST DEPLOYING FEDERAL TROOPS FOR IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN IN CHICAGO
The Chicago City Council passed an ordinance in 2012 that stops city agencies and employees from getting involved in civil immigration enforcement or helping federal authorities with such efforts. The Illinois legislature passed a similar state law, known as the TRUST Act, in 2017.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he was pleased with the decision and that the city is safer when police focus on the needs of Chicagoans.
«This ruling affirms what we have long known: that Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance is lawful and supports public safety. The City cannot be compelled to cooperate with the Trump Administration’s reckless and inhumane immigration agenda,» he said in a statement.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, left, said he was pleased with the decision and that the city is safer when police focus on the needs of Chicagoans. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images, left, and Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images, right.)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Trump administration has sued several jurisdictions over their sanctuary policies, including a filing this week against New York City. The administration has also sued several New Jersey cities, as well as Los Angeles.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the federal government was left with no choice but to protect New Yorkers by filing the suit.
«If New York’s leaders won’t step up to protect their citizens, we will,» she wrote on X.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it will resume airdrops of aid to Gaza Saturday night while disputing claims of deliberate starvation as the hunger crisis escalates amid its ongoing campaign against Hamas.
The IDF said in a statement Saturday the airdrop operation will be conducted in coordination with international aid organizations, Israel’s Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories and the Israeli Air Force.
«The airdrops will include seven pallets of aid containing flour, sugar, and canned food to be provided by international organizations,» the IDF said in a statement.
Designated humanitarian corridors will also be established «to enable the safe movement of U.N. convoys delivering food and medicine to the population,» according to the IDF.
HAMAS LOSING IRON GRIP ON GAZA AS US-BACKED GROUP GETS AID TO PALESTINIANS IN NEED
Preparations for Saturday night’s aid drop in Gaza. (Israel Defense Forces)
«The IDF is prepared to implement humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas and will continue to operate to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and eliminate terrorists in the areas of activity,» the IDF said. «This week alone, over 250 aid trucks were unloaded, joining hundreds of trucks waiting at the crossings to be collected by the U.N. and international organizations.»
Approximately 600 trucks of aid have also been distributed by the U.N. and other international organizations, Israel said.
Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen Friday. (Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)
Israel has also connected its power line to Gaza’s desalination plant.
«This is expected to supply approximately 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, up from the 2,000 cubic meters supplied until now, to serve about 900,000 residents in the area,» according to the IDF.
NEWS OUTLETS ‘DESPERATELY CONCERNED’ FOR THEIR JOURNALISTS IN GAZA, URGE ISRAELI AUTHORITIES TO HELP
The IDF said the reports about starvation in Gaza were a false campaign promoted by Hamas, but hunger is spreading across the region after the United Nations and the IDF previously failed to reach an agreement about aid distribution, Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported.
Palestinians vie for food from a charity kitchen during a hunger crisis in Gaza City July 14, 2025. (Reuters/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo)
Price gouging and disagreements about how to get aid to citizens are making the crisis worse.
The U.N. is warning of increased malnutrition and starvation in the area.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called the situation in Gaza a «horror show» this week «with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.»
«Responsibility for food distribution to the population in Gaza lies with the U.N. and international aid organizations,» the IDF said. «Therefore, the U.N. and international organizations are expected to improve the effectiveness of aid distribution and to ensure that the aid does not reach Hamas.»
Pallets of humanitarian aid ready to be dropped in Gaza. (Israel Defense Forces)
The U.S. State Department this week addressed expanding Israeli strikes in Gaza, saying the Trump administration is focused on negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
«Our focus has been to stop that war, to stop the fighting, to have a ceasefire,» spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said this week. «It is at the top of our mind as we work still to stop this carnage.»
INTERNACIONAL
Israel reanudó los lanzamientos aéreos de ayuda a la Franja de Gaza y habilitará corredores humanitarios
El Ejército de Israel reanudó este sábado los lanzamientos aéreos de ayuda humanitaria hacia la Franja de Gaza durante la noche y anunció la creación de corredores humanitarios para facilitar el transporte seguro de convoyes de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) con alimentos y medicinas. Según el comunicado emitido por las Fuerzas de Defensa de Israel (FDI), la primera tanda de entregas incluyó siete palés con harina, azúcar y alimentos enlatados provistos por organizaciones internacionales.
La institución militar publicó en Telegram que se “efectuó un lanzamiento de ayuda humanitaria con paracaídas como parte del esfuerzo por permitir y facilitar la entrada de ayuda a la Franja de Gaza”.
La medida tiene lugar en un contexto de creciente crisis humanitaria en Gaza debido a la aguda escasez de alimentos, medicamentos y productos básicos, una situación que según organizaciones internacionales ha generado graves riesgos de desnutrición infantil y mortalidad por hambre.
El ejército israelí informó que la decisión, adoptada tras una evaluación de la situación la tarde del sábado, forma parte “de sus esfuerzos para permitir y facilitar la entrada de ayuda a Gaza y refutar la falsa afirmación de hambruna deliberada en la Franja”. La operación de entrega aérea se desarrolla en coordinación con organismos internacionales y con el COGAT (organismo dependiente del Ministerio de Defensa de Israel encargado de la gestión civil en los territorios palestinos).
Las FDI notificaron que “la asistencia humanitaria designada permitirá el movimiento seguro de los convoyes de la ONU que entregan alimentos y medicamentos y cabe la posibilidad de declarar pausas humanitarias en zonas pobladas para facilitar la ayuda”.
Además de los lanzamientos aéreos, el ejército confirmó la reconexión de una línea eléctrica entre Israel y una planta de desalinización en Gaza, con lo que se ha incrementado la producción diaria de agua hasta los 20.000 metros cúbicos.
El comunicado detalla que las FDI “están preparadas para implementar pausas humanitarias en zonas densamente pobladas y continuarán operando para desmantelar la infraestructura terrorista y eliminar a los terroristas en las áreas de actividad”. A pesar de estas medidas, el ejército sostiene que “las operaciones de combate en el enclave no han cesado”.
Las FDI argumentan que “no hay hambruna en Gaza” y describen como “campaña falsa promovida por Hamas” las denuncias de las agencias de la ONU y organizaciones internacionales sobre la situación alimentaria. El ejército remacha que “la distribución de alimentos recae en la ONU y las organizaciones internacionales de ayuda”, y llama a estos organismos a mejorar la eficacia de la distribución y a evitar que la ayuda llegue a manos de organizaciones armadas.
Por su parte, el COGAT indicó que el sábado había 600 camiones a la espera de ser descargados por las organizaciones internacionales, mientras que el ejército israelí insiste en que “Israel no limita el número de camiones que entran a la Franja de Gaza”, y atribuye a las agencias humanitarias la responsabilidad de retirar la ayuda ya despachada en los cruces.
El jefe de la Agencia de la ONU para los Refugiados Palestinos (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, calificó este sábado como “ineficaz” la reanudación de los lanzamientos aéreos de ayuda humanitaria en Gaza frente a la magnitud de la catástrofe. Lazzarini señaló en su cuenta de X que “el lanzamiento aéreo no pondrá fin al hambre que se agrava. Es costoso, ineficaz y puede inclusive matar a civiles hambrientos”. Para el director de la agencia, el hambre en Gaza solo puede resolverse “por la voluntad política” y llamó a que la ONU intervenga “a gran escala y sin obstáculos”.
El viernes, un responsable israelí confirmó a la AFP que los lanzamientos de ayuda humanitaria por vía aérea serían coordinados por Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Jordania. El propio Reino Unido anunció que trabajará con Jordania para lanzar ayuda por vía aérea sobre Gaza y evacuar niños con necesidades médicas urgentes, de acuerdo a una declaración del primer ministro británico Keir Starmer.
La situación sobre el terreno en Gaza se ha deteriorado desde el endurecimiento del bloqueo impuesto por Israel a inicios de marzo, que ocasionó una escasez “grave” –según fuentes humanitarias– de alimentos, medicamentos y otros suministros esenciales. A finales de mayo, Israel alivió parcialmente las restricciones. Organizaciones internacionales denuncian desde hace meses obstáculos para responder a la crisis, afirmando que continúan enfrentando presiones y restricciones para acceder a la población necesitada y distribuir la ayuda.
El ejército israelí rechaza estas acusaciones, manteniendo que los organismos internacionales y la ONU deben hacerse cargo de la recolección y distribución eficaz de la ayuda, mientras el enclave palestino sigue enfrentando una emergencia humanitaria creciente.
(Con información de AFP, EFE y EP)
Middle East,Military Conflicts,ISRAEL-GAZA BORDER
Estuvo cerca de la muerte tras un brutal accidente en su Ferrari, volvió a jugar con el Sub 21 de su club y marcó dos goles
Karina, la arquitecta de la nueva fase libertaria
El Gobierno acelera las privatizaciones sin control del Congreso y crece la tensión institucional
Federal judge tosses Trump DOJ lawsuit against sanctuary policies in Chicago
Israel announces immediate resumption of Gaza aid airdrops amid growing hunger crisis
Milei vs. Kicillof. Cuál es la batalla oculta que desvela a los empresarios
🗳️ El chamuyo de las elecciones en la Provincia: se postulan, pero no a asumen
Fuerte malestar en la CGT por la ausencia de gremialistas en las listas bonaerenses del peronismo
Máximo Kirchner declaró una fortuna de 8.300 millones de pesos: representa un 76% más que el año anterior
La justicia de Santa Cruz desafío a la Corte Suprema e incluyó a Cristina Kirchner en el padrón electoral
El consumo en Argentina crece 4% en junio, ante menor inflación y más crédito
Qué dijo Javier Milei en la Derecha Fest: las frases más impactantes
Eduardo Eurnekian se fue de la Rural antes del discurso de Javier Milei y opinó sobre su gobierno
El empresario Eduardo Eurnekian visitó la Rural en la previa del discurso del presidente Javier Milei y afirmó que el...
La embajada de Ecuador le pidió al Ministerio de Salud información sobre el escándalo con el examen de residencia
El escándalo por las denuncias de fraude en el Examen Único de residencia médica que se rindió el pasado 1...
Milei habla ante el campo en el acto inaugural de la Exposición Rural de Palermo
El presidente Javier Milei hablará este sábado en la 137° Exposición Rural de Palermo en medio de una fuerte expectativa...
POLITICA2 días agoLa justicia de Santa Cruz desafío a la Corte Suprema e incluyó a Cristina Kirchner en el padrón electoral
- POLITICA2 días ago
Cristina Kirchner pidió salir a militar para que los que “están hambreando a la gente tengan su merecido en las urnas”
- POLITICA2 días ago
El candidato libertario por el que Kicillof despidió a 24 policías denunció “una cacería de brujas” en la Provincia
