The Jewish community in Lausanne issued a statement mourning the loss of two young girls after the deadly blaze, saying, “it is with great sorrow that we announce the deaths of Alicia and Diana, who were tragically killed in a fire. The community partakes in the family’s mourning and will stand beside it as needed.” Alicia and Diana Gunst were sisters, ages 14 and 15, whose bodies were confirmed earlier in the day.
ZAKA’s International Unit later reported that another missing victim from the same incident has now been identified. The organization said that the remains of Charlotte Needham, a 15-year-old Israeli citizen, were located and formally identified following the inferno at the ski resort in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, where she had been unaccounted for.
In the aftermath of the disaster, ZAKA personnel remain active on the ground, working in coordination with Swiss authorities. Their teams are continuing to assist local police, emergency responders, and security forces as recovery and investigative efforts proceed at the site.
The fire at the popular Alpine resort has sent shockwaves through Jewish communities in Switzerland and abroad, as confirmations of the victims’ identities bring a painful close to days of uncertainty surrounding those who had been missing.
{Matzav.com}A press conference held by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was momentarily interrupted when a Chabad truck drove past the event blasting the song “Hinei Ma Tov,” bringing the proceedings to a brief standstill.
The incident occurred as Mamdani was in the midst of announcing members of his new cabinet and outlining a series of administrative changes. As the music echoed through the area, aides and reporters paused, and the mayor stopped speaking until the truck passed and the sound faded.
“It’s a good song,” Mamdani said.
WATCH:
While announcing new members of his administration, Mayor Zohran Mamdani stopped to listen to a passing Chabad truck that was playing “Hinei Ma Tov.”
“It’s a good song,” Mamdani said. pic.twitter.com/OVnbcKMcHp
— Anash Reporter (@AnashReporter) January 3, 2026
Critics are sharply attacking the choice of schools chancellor made by Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, arguing that his appointee represents an aggressive ideological agenda focused on race and opposition to merit-based education, according to comments made to The New York Post.
At the center of the criticism is Kamar Samuels, a veteran educator who previously led school districts covering parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan and is known for dismantling Gifted & Talented programs. Mamdani selected Samuels to run the nation’s largest public school system after his tenure as a district superintendent.
Samuels previously oversaw District 13 in downtown Brooklyn and later District 3 on the Upper West Side. During that time, he promoted a series of policies framed around “equity” and “antiracism,” while regularly hosting town halls dedicated to those themes.
“I don’t like him, I’ve never liked him; he came in as an ideologue,” a Department of Education official told The Post, adding that he believes Samuels is an “idiot.”
Samuels, now 48, ran District 13 before being appointed in 2022 to lead District 3 by then-Mayor Eric Adams. In both districts, he organized and promoted repeated “Anti-Racist Town Hall” events that critics say pushed a woke agenda under the banner of equity. One such event in February 2022 featured far-left Brooklyn Councilwoman Crystal Hudson as a guest speaker.
“You are invited to join D3 town hall: A courageous conversation about equity,” Samuels wrote in a 2023 post.
“District 13 continues our conversation on serving all students in an Anti-Racist District tonight at 7pm when we hear from students at MS 266 and PS 133! Tuesday, June 7 @ 7:00 pm Anti-Racist Town Hall,” Samuels posted in June 2022.
Critics also point to Samuels’ social media activity as evidence of what they describe as an obsessive focus on race. Following the altercation between comedian Chris Rock and actor Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards, Samuels weighed in publicly.
“Just wondering … If Chris Rock were white, would Will Smith had slapped him?” Samuels wrote on X after what became known as “the slap heard round the world.”
In June 2023, Samuels hosted an “equity” town hall alongside Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, an outspoken opponent of standardized testing who has claimed such exams originated in the eugenics movement and has faced accusations of antisemitism.
“Israel is a terrorist state,” she wrote in an Oct. 1 post on X.
During Samuels’ leadership of District 13, he eliminated Gifted & Talented programs and replaced them with International Baccalaureate offerings, a move that drew significant backlash.
“What a pleasant surprise! Removing G&T gives us an opportunity to recreate and reimagine,” Samuels said in October 2021.
“He has a progressive vision that is evil, asking individuals to solve all of society’s problems is not something that’s generally worked,” the DOE official told The Post.
Despite the criticism, Samuels aligns closely with Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s education platform. Ending the long-standing Gifted & Talented program for kindergarten students was a central pledge of Mamdani’s campaign.
The program itself has been politically contentious in recent years. Bill de Blasio began phasing it out in 2021, before his successor, Eric Adams, moved to revive it during his administration.
{Matzav.com}
