The Friday Brief by Girl Friday
The Friday Brief is a news podcast by Girl Friday, a boutique global affairs firm in Washington, D.C. We believe awareness impels action for a world of good.
The Friday Brief by Girl Friday
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There are anti-Hamas protests in northern Gaza, with Palestinians calling for Hamas leaders to step down from power. Gaza isn't the only place with protests right now. This episode also covers the latest news from Turkey, where protestors are upset about the arrest of a prominent opposition leader. While the Trump administration has a lot on its plate, officials found time to oust the South African ambassador to the U.S. for being a "race-baiting politician," without evidence. But, the real question is, did they decide to declare him persona non grata in a Signal chat? Yes, we're covering the group chat debacle, too!
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Welcome to The Friday Brief, a news podcast by Girl Friday. I’m Phoenix Ricks, the CEO of Girl Friday and your host. This is your brief for March 26, 2025.
The BBC reported on the largest anti-Hamas protest in Gaza since the war began. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007. They won elections in 2006 and then got rid of their opposition. It is important to remember that not all Palestinians were for Hamas then, and they certainly aren’t now. During the protest, hundreds in northern Gaza chanted for Hamas to leave their positions of power. Armed Hamas militants tried to intimidate the protestors with lethal weapons and batons. With their homes decimated, loved ones lost, and bleak conditions in every corner of Gaza, it is not shocking that Palestinians would want Hamas to leave power immediately. Adding more confusion and uncertainty for Palestinians, NPR says that last Saturday, Israel's Cabinet approved a proposal to move forward with the "voluntary departure" of Palestinians. This is aligned with Donald Trump's proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza and rebuild it for yet-to-be-named communities. Palestinians have been quite clear on saying they do not want to leave Gaza, and global human rights groups have been equally clear that forced expulsion violates international laws and norms. Several days ago, the AP reported on more deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza and said that there are still 59 hostages in Gaza. Israel believes some of those remaining hostages are sadly already deceased.
Gaza isn’t the only place with protests this week. The BBC reported that tens of thousands of people in Turkey have been protesting. They are upset about the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu. He is an opposition leader and a known rival of President Erdoğan. This arrest happened mere days before Imamoglu was supposed to become a presidential candidate for the secular Republican People's Party. Despite the arrest, he was still confirmed as the party's candidate for 2028 from his prison cell. Prosecutors claim Imamoglu is guilty of corruption, but he has denied those charges. Many of these protests have been led by young people and students, which reminds me of the so-called “Bad Student” protests in Thailand several years ago. In Turkey, these protestors have had to face tear gas and rubber bullets, marking the worst period of civil unrest in Turkey for more than at least ten years.
South Africa has been in the news quite a bit recently. Last week, the U.S. ousted Ebrahim Rasool, the South African ambassador to the United States. Without providing any additional reasoning, CBS says Marco Rubio called him a "race-baiting politician.” That phrase sounds like an unsubstantiated accusation that would have been hurled at someone in 1925, not 2025. The administration declared the ambassador persona non grata, which, according to CBS, he wears as a badge of dignity. He was warmly welcomed by crowds when he landed in Cape Town. While at present it does not appear that the ousted South African ambassador was on a mission to maliciously talk about racial equity here, ironically, South Africa is having to respond to ongoing comments from the Trump administration about race in South Africa. The AP says that President Ramaphosa of South Africa refutes Elon Musk’s ongoing claims that white people in South Africa are persecuted. The president told South Africans in an address that they “should not allow events beyond our shores to divide us or turn us against each other.”
Looking at news in the U.S., every outlet talks about the same thing. Dinner plans are supposed to make it out of the group chat, not military strikes. U.S. politicians are reeling from the news that top Trump administration officials, including Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Michael Waltz, and Tulsi Gabbard, were in a Signal chat discussing military action in Yemen. While Signal is an encrypted app, no national security professional would ever consider hosting a conversation about upcoming U.S. military actions in Signal. That’s what Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, better known as SCIFs, are for. You go in person, in a secure facility, and leave all your electronics in an outer room. This helps ensure that the conversation is safe and protected. Now, in this Signal group chat, in addition to saying unflattering things about our European allies, one group member actually posted information about a CIA operative who is undercover.
All of these revelations came to light because someone in the group chat mistakenly added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief at The Atlantic. Rather than acknowledging the magnitude of these many grave errors, Donald Trump said, "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he’s a good man.” That tone has been echoed by other members of the Republican party who would have, undoubtedly, torn Democrats to shreds had this occurred on their watch. Remember how they talked about Hillary Clinton’s emails on a private server? If you were to try to compare Hillary Clinton, then the Secretary of State, using a private, secured email server, to the Trump administration using a commercially available phone app to discuss military engagements, you would have a hard time finding similarities between these situations. And that’s even before you consider that they accidentally added a journalist into the Signal chat.
In yesterday’s Senate hearing, NBC reported that Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe were “evasive” when answering questions about disclosing classified information. They said none had been shared, but Goldberg’s screenshots and interviews refute that testimony. He said the Signal chat included “precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.” When you work with sensitive government documents, you know that weapons packages and targets absolutely fall under the umbrella of classified information. So, no matter how the Republicans try to spin this scandal, there is no flattering explanation for them.
And that concludes your brief for today. Make sure you and your friends don’t miss an episode! Follow Dear Girl Friday on Instagram and TikTok. You can sign up for The Friday Brief newsletter and check out “This Week in DC” on deargirlfriday.com. Until next time, I’m Phoenix Ricks, signing off from Washington, D.C. Let’s work together for a world of good.
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