The Rise In Anti-Semitism & Hatred of Israel (Consolidated)

[shalom]

Anti-Israel groups say they sparked recent fires at UC Berkeley
JNS

UNCATEGORIZED

JUNE 18, 2024


Anonymous anti-Israel groups claimed responsibility for arson attacks on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, in recent days.



In a post to the “Palestine” forum of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay) website, a group calling itself Marilyn’s Daughters said that it set a construction site on fire on Sunday afternoon.



“Phase two of the Escalate movement heats up at UC Berkeley with a construction site set on fire in broad daylight,” the group wrote. “This was done in retaliation for UCPD’s violent assaults on vulnerable student demonstrators and to punish the University of KKKalifornia system for supporting the genocidal Zionist-Israel entity.” (UCPD is the University of California Police Department, and the latter spelling of the university system was an apparent reference to the Ku Klux Klan.)



“This was an autonomous initiative in concert with the current Week of Action currently underway: operation campus flood,” which runs from June 14 to June 19.



“Campus flood” is an apparent reference to “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” which is what Hamas called its massacre of 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7.



The arson attack was timed to coincide with Father’s Day, according to Marilyn’s Daughters, in part, “for all the Palestinian fathers who have lost their children at the hands of the Zionist and AmeriKKKan settler states.”



It signed off: “Glory to the martyrs.”



Another anti-Israel group called Student Intifada posted to the Indybay Palestine forum on Thursday that it “unloaded a firebomb on the side of a campus building,” claiming that it was in response to University of California, Los Angeles students, who were attacked on Wednesday night. The Student Intifada post identified one anti-Israel student that it said was attacked.



‘Hold accountable those who commit these acts’



Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of communications and public affairs at UC Berkeley, told The Daily Caller there were two “small arson” fires on campus and no damage or injuries in either incident.



“These incidents are now under investigation by the State Fire Marshal and UCPD is supporting that investigation,” Mogulof told The Daily Caller.



Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area commented on Thursday’s firebombing.



“The so-called ‘student intifada’ is far from peaceful; these actions are criminal and unacceptable. Intimidation and violence will not ‘free Palestine’ or accomplish BDS efforts,” the JCRC said. (BDS refers to the movement to boycott Israel.)



“It is imperative that our leaders take immediate and decisive action to hold accountable those who commit these acts,” it added.



Earlier this month, a Berkeley police car was set on fire “in solidarity with our Palestinian siblings assaulted by the Zionist state in Rafah,” the J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported.



Berkeley and other California campuses have been a hotbed of anti-Israel activism and unrest since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, with multiple incidents reported.

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The Anti-Defamation League reported in March that there had been a 2,000% increase in antisemitic incidents at California campuses since Oct. 7, compared to the same period the previous year.

[Pink Rose]

Horrified Parisians condemn 'monster' youths who gang-raped Jewish girl, 12, 'for hiding her religion from ex' as campaigners plan mass rally over shocking anti-Semitic attack


A police source said they forced the girl to have sex while uttering death threats

Protesters have lined the streets around France to denounce antisemitism

Several organisations are calling to rally today at Place de la Bastille, Paris

By DAVID AVERRE and SABRINA PENTY



PUBLISHED: 09:45 EDT, 20 June 2024 | UPDATED: 09:50 EDT, 20 June 2024


Enraged French citizens have condemned as monsters three young boys involved in the shocking gang-rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in an abandoned hangar at the weekend as they took to the streets to protest anti-Semitism.



Hundreds of protesters lined the streets in Paris and several other French cities on Wednesday and today, toting placards that read 'do not sacrifice French Jews' and 'this could have been your sister'.



Another rally is being organised for Thursday evening by French organisations such as anti-racism group SOS Racisme and the Women's Foundation at the Place de la Bastille in Paris.



Commenting on the horrific gang-rape of the young girl, SOS Racisme said: 'It was with horror that we learned of the gang rape of a 12 year old child, because she was Jewish', adding that it expressed its solidarity with 'this young girl, scarred by misogyny and anti-Semitic hatred, as well as with her family'.



'We call on all women and men to rise up in unity against this particularly sordid anti-Semitic and misogynistic act', the organisation said when announcing the Place de la Bastille rally, which it said will 'denounce antisemitism and violence against women'.

Full story with pictures at the link

[J.J.Gibbs]

Like the Islamists keep saying, first they'll come for the Saturday people (Jews) and then the Sunday people (Christians).


Large Terror Attack On Synagogue & Orthodox Churches In Russia's Dagestan

BY TYLER DURDEN

SUNDAY, JUN 23, 2024 - 08:25 PM


Unknown terrorists went on a rampage using automatic weapons against religious sited in Dagestan, Russia on Sunday night. Authorities in the southern Russian republic situated in the Caucuses say that police officers were killed and wounded as the gunman targeted a synagogue and an Orthodox church.



At least nine are dead, and 25 injured. An Orthodox priest was also slain. A fire also resulted at the synagogue, with emergency response crews subsequently battling the blaze. Some reports say that two Orthodox churches were hit in the assault, and that a priest was killed.



According to Russia's state-run TASS: "At approximately 18:00 [Moscow time] in Derbent, unknown persons fired at a synagogue and a church with automatic weapons. According to preliminary information, one police officer was killed and one was wounded."



"The car in which the suspects fled was identified as a white Volkswagen Polo, license plate 921 The circumstances are being clarified. Information about the dead and wounded police officers is being clarified."



And a Russian Internal Affairs Ministry statement indicated: "In Makhachkala, unknown persons fired at a traffic police post on Ermoshkin Street. The 'Interception' plan was announced. The identities of the attackers are being established."

It appears that at least some of the attackers may have gotten away, with RT reporting the following statement:



The suspects drove away in a white Volkswagen Polo, the police said, adding that they are currently searching for the vehicle.



The below includes more details via state-backed RT:



The assailants in Derbent reportedly broke into the Orthodox church and killed a local priest by slitting his throat, said Shamil Khadulaev, the head of the regional public oversight committee which monitors the observance of human rights in prisons. Other regional authorities have not commented on this information.



The synagogue was reportedly set on fire. Videos and photos have surfaced on social media purporting to show the building engulfed in flames.

Judging from some of the details to have emerged thus far, this appears to have been an Islamist terror attack, possibly by ISIS or an affiliated group.



The situation including efforts to apprehend the gunmen may have occurred over a period of hours.

Videos show large fires over the city of the attack and a heavy police response, with running street battles...

Potential Jewish casualties from the synagogue attack remain uncertain in the immediate aftermath, and as more details emerge.



Russia has been on edge ever since the March 22, 2024 Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow, which killed at least 145 and wounded hundreds more after heavily armed gunmen stormed the mall and concert venue. ISIS-K took responsibility for the large-scall killings in the aftermath. This new Dagestan attack could be a copy-cat incident.

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[PrisonerOfHope]

This is Sergio, from The Superior Word. He's a completed Jew, and here he tells what happened yesterday in Sarasota, FL.


Beach Offender Draws Swastika, Jews' Shocking Response

[ExquisiteGerbil]

Pro-Palestinian Mob Targets Another Synagogue in Los Angeles
JOEL B. POLLAK
23 Jun 2024
3:49


LOS ANGELES, California — Several dozen pro-Palestinian activists targeted an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the heart of the Pico-Robertson on Sunday, blocking the entrance to an event promoting real estate investment in Israel.

A source on the scene told Breitbart News that the activists were blocking pedestrians on the south side of Pico Boulevard, the main street through a predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in west Los Angeles.

According to the Forward, a left-wing Jewish publication, the protest targeted the synagogue in part because of an event within the Jewish community promoting Israeli real estate, whether for emigration, vacation, or investment.

There has been a worldwide surge among Jews in applications to emigrate to Israel — to make aliyah, or “ascent,” as it is described within the community — after October 7 in solidarity with Israel and in reaction to local antisemitism.



Sundar marked was the second time pro-Palestinian activists have targeted a synagogue in L.A. in the past several days. On Friday, protesters targeted another synagogue and school in the Valley Village area, for unknown reasons.


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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Biden ‘Appalled’ by Antisemitic Mob Targeting Los Angeles Synagogue

ELIZABETH WEIBEL
24 Jun 2024

Joe Biden said that he was “appalled by the scenes” from an antisemitic mob that had targeted the Adas Torah synagogue in the Jewish neighborhood of Pico-Robertson on Sunday.



In a post on X, Biden described the situation on Sunday as being “dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American.”



As Breitbart News previously reported, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters targeted the Adas Torah synagogue on Sunday morning and blocked the entrance to the synagogue, preventing Jewish members of the community from entering an Israeli real estate event.

“I’m appalled by the scenes outside of the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles,” Biden wrote. “Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American.”

“Americans have a right to peaceful protest,” Biden added. “But blocking access to a house of worship – and engaging in violence – is never acceptable.”



Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) showed up in riot gear after verbal confrontations between pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters escalated into violence, ABC7 News reported.



The LAPD was also seen having closed off Pico Boulevard in front of the synagogue after the pro-Palestinian protesters and counter-protesters had clashed.

In response to the antisemitic mob targeting the Adas Torah synagogue, several other lawmakers issued statements labeling the actions of pro-Palestinian protesters as being antisemitic.



Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) stated in a post on X that “blocking entry to a synagogue” was not a protest, but “plain antisemitism.”



“Blocking entry to a synagogue. Attacking Jewish people and their businesses indiscriminately. That’s not protest. That’s pure, plain antisemitism. The horrifying violence in Pico-Robertson on Sunday has absolutely not place in California.”

Los Angeles Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky (D) issued a statement on Sunday calling the “antisemitic violence” that broke out in front of the Adas Torah synagogue “deeply concerning.”



“The antisemitic violence that broke out this afternoon in Pico Robertson would have been completely unacceptable anywhere in Los Angeles, but that it was planned and carried out in front of a synagogue in the heart of LA’s Jewish community should be deeply concerning to us all,” Yaroslavsky said. “Everyone has the right to protest, and everyone also has the right to be safe from fear and violence. We deserve answers for how this situation escalated, which is why I will be joining Mayor Bass, the Jewish Federation, LAPD and others for a community meeting in the coming days. The safety and well-being of all our communities must be our top priority.”



Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also issued statements about the antisemitic mob targeting the Adas Torah synagogue.



Watch: Pro-Palestinian Mob Blocks Synagogue in Los Angeles  Video at link

[ExquisiteGerbil]

CAIR Backs Antisemitic Protest at L.A. Synagogue; Blasts Mayor Karen Bass

JOEL B. POLLAK
26 Jun 2024
4:25


The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) “condemn[ed]” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass Wednesday for speaking out (belatedly) against an antisemitic protest at a synagogue on Sunday, saying the protest was legitimate.



As Breitbart News reported, a mob of pro-Palestinian activists targeted the Adas Torah synagogue in the Jewish neighborhood of Pico-Robertson, blocking the entrance to bar access to an event about buying real estate in Israel.



It was the second protest at a synagogue in Los Angeles in the space of three days. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers eventually cleared the protesters, after violence broke out aith pro-Israel counter-demonstrators.



Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Mayor Bass (D) condemned the protest late on Sunday evening (after Breitbart News reported that neither had done so). On Monday, President Joe Biden also condemned the protest, calling it “dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American” for targeting a synagogue. The Israeli government also weighed in, calling the targeting of a Jewish house of worship, and the subsequent violence, “absolutely shocking.”



But CAIR objected to Bass’s words when she repeated her condemnation of the protest on Monday, June 24.



In a statement, CAIR said:



On June 24, Mayor Bass spoke at a press conference held in response to the violence that broke out when pro-Israel counter-protesters confronted pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were gathered outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles to protest a real estate event organized by an Israel-based agency that reportedly markets real estate in Israel and the illegally occupied West Bank.



During the conference, Mayor Bass condemned the pro-Palestinian protesters and characterized the demonstration as “violent” and “abhorrent.” She did not mention the violence that was perpetrated against the pro-Palestinian protesters by pro-Israel counter-protesters or the reports that law enforcement on the scene did little to stop the violence against them.



CAIR denied that the protest was antisemitic, claiming that there were Jews involved in the demonstration. CAIR did not explain why the protesters blocked access to a house of worship rather than protesting peacefully nearby.



As Breitbart News has noted:



In 2007-8, CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the terror financing trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. That case, in turn, led the FBI to discontinue its work with the organization. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that the government “produced ample evidence to establish” the ties of CAIR with Hamas, the Palestinian terror organization. The United Arab Emirates labeled CAIR a terrorist organization in 2014 (a decision that the Obama administration opposed).



CAIR executive director Nihad Awad praised the Hamas terror attack of October 7, leading the White House to distance itself from the group, which had — bizarrely — been involved in drafting Biden’s antisemitism “strategy.”



The company staging the event, A Home in Israel, placed advertisements in local Jewish newspapers that showed coastal property, not homes in “the illegally occupied West Bank.”



The company has denied advertising real estate on “stolen” land; most of its homes are in sovereign Israeli territory. Past exhibitions have included homes in three “settlements” in the West Bank that are part of the Etzion Bloc, which is an area from which Jews were expelled by the Jordanian army in 1948, and to which Jews returned after the 1967 war; it is expected to be part of Israel in any final peace deal.

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[schwartzie]

What I Saw at a Terrorist Rally Outside a Synagogue

by Daniel Greenfield

June 28, 2024 at 5:00 am



Despite knowing that a terrorist rally was planned outside a synagogue, the LAPD had allowed the terrorist supporters to take over the entire sidewalk, leaving only a thin lane for attendees to walk through to get inside. The LAPD did little to interfere with the terrorist supporters, but did block Jewish counterprotesters from reaching their own synagogue.



Media accounts, especially from the Los Angeles Times, CNN and the JTA, falsely characterize the violence as coming from the Jewish counterprotesters rather than the terrorist supporters.



[T]he LAPD brings out the riot gear, allows the radicals free rein and waits as long as possible before taking any action.



Why is this happening? ... Mayor Karen Bass is a close political ally of BLM LA boss Melina Abdullah, who has backed the pro-terrorist campaign against Jews. When Jews were attacked at UCLA, Democrat members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion to fund legal support for the terrorist supporters. The resolution to use taxpayer money to fund legal defenses for antisemites was put forward by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath who 'represents' Council District 3 where the synagogue hate riot was taking place. After all the antisemitic violence at UCLA, the only one facing serious charges is a Jewish student.



The Democrat leadership of Los Angeles does not stand with the Jewish communities being targeted by hate, but with the antisemitic mobs surrounding synagogues.



Behind the masks, keffiyehs and the terrorist flags is the new Democratic Party.

Continued at 

[shalom]

Hamas hostage posters ripped from outside Illinois congressman's Capitol office

Schneider said on social media that the hostage posters, which included the names and faces of eight American citizens, were shredded and thrown across the hall.

By MICHAEL STARR

JULY 5, 2024 18:42

Updated: JULY 5, 2024 22:52





Illinois Congressman Brad Schneider said that his Capitol office was vandalized on Thursday, with posters of those held in Hamas captivity torn from the wall.



My Capitol office was vandalized yesterday in a vile act of hate in which the posters of the more than 100 people still held hostage in Gaza (including 8 Americans) were ripped from the wall, shredded and tossed across the hallway. pic.twitter.com/zSh86mdvIX



— Rep. Brad Schneider (@repschneider) July 5, 2024


Schneider said on social media that the hostage posters, which included the names and faces of eight American citizens, were shredded and thrown across the hall.

"This was a shameful act on any day, but especially on July 4, our country’s Independence Day. Sadly, it was but one of many hateful, un-American actions that took place across the country on the day we celebrate freedom and democracy," said Schnieder. "I’ve been disgusted by the videos and reports of individuals calling July 4th a 'terrorist holiday' and burning American flags."



The Jewish representative said that the same groups that marched through Chicago on July 4 were the same that had protested outside his home last Saturday in the middle of the night.





A woman looks at posters depicting missing Israeli citizens likely among the hostages held in Gaza, with the word ''kidnapped,'' following Saturday's attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas against Israel, in a street in Paris, France, October 13, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor)


Activists associated with the US Palestinian Community Network, American Muslims for Palestine Chicago, and Students for Justice in Palestine Chicago banged drums, sounded sirens, and chanted with bullhorns in an attempt to wake Schneider. The activists demanded that Schneider reinstate US funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and cut military aid to Israel.



No remorse

“We must hold him accountable for the deaths of over 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza,” Direct Actions for Palestine wrote on Instagram on Sunday. “Gaza doesn’t get justice, then you don’t get no sleep. This is just the beginning.”



Protesters held similar demonstrations outside the home of Illinois Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker on Sunday night, demanding that the state divest from Israel.



"These actions don’t advance peace. Instead, they play directly into the hands of Hamas terrorists enabling them to continue to hold hostage not only those they kidnapped from Israel, but all civilians in Gaza as well," Schneider said on Friday.

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

‘No Future’: French Jews Express Fear After Far-Left Election Victories


PAUL BOIS
7 Jul 2024


French Jews fear they may have “no future” in the country after the far-left’s victories in the parliamentary elections over the weekend.



As Breitbart News reported, French President Emmanuel Macron’s alliance with the New Popular Front delivered a victory over the Marine Le Penn’s populist right, which has sparked concerns about rising antisemitism.



Moshe Sebbag, a rabbi for the Synagogue de la Victoire, told the Times of Israel that “it seems France has no future for Jews” while advising young Jews in the country to leave for Israel.



“But people my age, who are 50, 60, we’ve made our life here and we fear for the future of our children,” he said.



While Moshe Sebbag certainly did not welcome the New Popular Front victories, he ultimately lamented about the mainstreaming of antisemitism in general.



French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy said this weekend’s victories mark a rise in the “new antisemitism.”



“The left is once again kidnapped by the infamous Melenchon. Divisive language. Hate of the republic on the lips. Around him right now are some incarnations of the new antisemitism. A chilling moment. A stain: Continue to fight against these people,” French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote on X.



Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the France Unbowed far-left party, or LFI, previously called French Jews “an arrogant minority that lectures to the rest” and is even “on record in an earlier speech as celebrating anti-Israel protesters days after some of them stormed a synagogue, condemning in that speech only French Jews who demonstrated to show solidarity with Israel,” according to the outlet.



“Melenchon’s victory is a terrible signal of impunity sent to the anti-Jewish Islamo-Faschists,” wrote French-Jewish journalist Yohann Taieb on X.



Karys Rhea, a producer with the Epoch Times, said on X that the rise of Melenchon will lead to more stable unrest for Jews.



“This will be a disaster for the Jews, because Macron will have to sit with Melenchon, who will essentially be the deal breaker and demand a lot from Macron. Melenchon is a cut-throat, power-hungry, fierce communist- almost Antifa level. So, Macron has a serious problem, as there is no history in post-war France of sharing that kind of power. I believe Jews will leave in the tens of thousands,” she wrote.

Much like the United States and other parts of the West, France has seen an uptick in antisemitism since the October 7 attack in Israel at the hands of Hamas last year. As Breitbart News reported just last month, “the Jewish community in France was left horrified as a 12-year-old girl in Courbevoie was subject to antisemitism-inspired gang rape by a group of boys, who are alleged to have dragged her to an abandoned building where they anally and vaginally raped her.”

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[Midnight]

Former Israeli Defense Minister Urges Jews to Flee France After Rise of Far-Left: ‘There Is No Time’
JOSHUA KLEIN
8 Jul 2024

Former Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is urging French Jewry to flee France, warning that “there is no time” following the far-left’s triumph in the country’s parliamentary elections.



As Breitbart News reported, French President Emmanuel Macron’s alliance with the New Popular Front delivered a victory over Marine Le Pen’s populist right, which has raised concerns about antisemitism, with many French Jews feeling increasingly uncertain about their place in France.

The unexpected shift in political power has sparked fears within the roughly 500,000-strong Jewish community, boosting worries about the potential implications for its safety and rights.



In response, Lieberman expressed his concerns regarding the matter.



“In light of the victory of the radical left in France, I call on all French Jews to immigrate to the State of Israel,” the Israeli parliamentarian wrote on Monday, warning that “there is no time.”



Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu Party, slammed Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the new kingmaker in French politics, for having “spoken out more than once against Jews and the State of Israel.” He also described Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed Party as “representing pure antisemitism” and an expression of the “significant rise” in Israel hatred.



The matter comes as French-Jewish leaders express deep concern over rising antisemitism, advising young Jews to emigrate to Israel, especially in light of the recent political victories of Mélenchon and his far-left party.



Prominent French Rabbi Moshe Sebbag of Synagogue de la Victoire told the Times of Israel that it appears that France has “no future for Jews” and advised young Jews to move to Israel.



Mélenchon, who has vowed to recognize a Palestinian state, is seen by 92 percent of French Jews as contributing to the increase in antisemitism.

Similar to the United States and other Western countries, France has experienced a rise in antisemitism since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack in Israel. The French government reported more than 360 attacks on Jews in early 2024, a 300 percent increase from the previous year.



As Breitbart News reported in June, “[T]he Jewish community in France was left horrified as a 12-year-old girl in Courbevoie was subject to antisemitism-inspired gang rape by a group of boys … alleged to have dragged her to an abandoned building where they … raped her.”

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[shalom]

Shocking Displays of Nazi Salutes and Antisemitism Mar Olympic Spirit in Paris
Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz

Antisemitism

July 31, 2024


The Olympic Games, which are meant to be a celebration of athletic excellence and international unity, have been tarnished by despicable acts of antisemitism targeting the Israeli men’s soccer team. These incidents serve as a stark reminder that the scourge of Jew-hatred persists even in what should be a bastion of sportsmanship and mutual respect.



During Israel’s match against Paraguay at the Parc des Princes, a group of protesters brazenly chanted “Heil Hitler” and booed the Israeli team during their national anthem. This reprehensible behavior echoes history’s darkest chapters and has no place in civilized society, let alone at a global sporting event. The sight of individuals performing Nazi salutes and waving Palestinian flags while spewing hatred against Jewish athletes is a chilling throwback to an era we had hoped was long behind us.



These antisemitic demonstrations are not isolated incidents. The Israeli team faced similar hostility during their previous match against Mali, where protesters again attempted to disrupt Israel’s participation through intimidation and harassment. The persistence of these acts highlights the urgent need for stronger measures to combat antisemitism on the global stage.



More alarmingly, three Israeli athletes have reportedly received death threats, prompting a police investigation. This escalation from verbal abuse to potential physical harm underscores the very real dangers faced by Jewish participants simply for representing their nation. It’s a stark reminder of the tragic events at the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists.


The security concerns for the Israeli delegation are not unfounded. With Israel entering its 10th month of war against Hamas, the threat of violence against its citizens abroad is palpable. The need for elite tactical units to escort Israeli athletes and provide round-the-clock protection speaks volumes about the hostile environment they must navigate, even in a supposedly peaceful international setting.



The discovery of Iranian hackers attempting to publish personal information about Israeli delegates and send threatening messages adds another layer of complexity to the security challenges. This cyber threat, coupled with warnings of potential Iranian-backed plots targeting Israeli athletes and tourists, paints a disturbing picture of the multifaceted dangers facing Jewish participants.



While Olympic organizers have condemned these acts and increased security measures, more must be done to ensure that antisemitism has no place in international sports. The expulsion of protesters from the stadium is a start, but it’s clear that stronger preventative measures and harsher consequences for such behavior are necessary.


The Israeli team’s resilience in the face of this hostility is commendable. As coach Guy Luzon stated, these protests will only fuel their determination to perform better. This spirit of perseverance in the face of adversity is truly Olympic, even if the behavior of their detractors is not.



As the Games continue, it is crucial for the international community to stand united against antisemitism and all forms of hatred. The Olympics should showcase human achievement and cooperation, not a platform for bigotry and threats. Only through collective action and unwavering commitment to combating antisemitism can we hope to restore the true spirit of the Olympics and ensure that Jewish athletes can compete without fear or intimidation.


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[schwartzie]

Orthodox Jew Stabbed in New York City by Attacker Yelling ‘Free Palestine’

Frank Bergman
August 12, 2024 - 2:04 pm



A young Orthodox Jewish man has been stabbed in New York City by an attacker who was reportedly yelling “Free Palestine.”



The incident occurred early on Saturday morning in the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Crown Heights in Brooklyn.



The attacker, Vincent Sumpter, reportedly yelled “Do you want to die?” after hurling anti-Semitic statements at the victim, Yechiel Michel Dabrowskin.



Sumpter, 22, was charged with second-degree assault as a hate crime for stabbing Dabrowskin.



The attack occurred around the corner from the headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.



Yaacov Behrman, a spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, issued a statement in a post on X, saying:



“The perpetrator, a black male in his early 20s, shouted ‘Free Palestine’ and, after an exchange of words with the victim, allegedly asked, ‘Do you want to die?’ before stabbing him.”

“When you look at the footage you can see that me and a friend of mine were trying to distance him from us,” Dabrowskin stated.


“All of a sudden he pulled out a knife.



“The knife went very close to my heart.



“We all tackled him and we all called the police.”



Security footage shows the chilling moment Sumpter lunged at his victims with several violent stabbing motions.


Dabrowskin and his friend were walking along the sidewalk when Sumpter appeared to block their path before launching the attack.



WATCH:

Orthodox Jew Stabbed in New York City by Attacker Yelling ‘Free Palestine’


A friend of the victim told CBS News:



“The guy started to say, ‘Free Palestine,’ and stuff like that…



“Two of my friends came a little bit closer and told him to go away.



“And after a couple of minutes, the guy said, like, ‘You wanna die, what’s going on?’…



“We said nobody wants to die, go away, we’re going to call the police…



“It was like a second – took a knife, opened it like that, and stabbed him by the stomach.”



Mark Treyger, chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, wrote:



“This abhorrent and abominable attack on a young Jewish person in Brooklyn because of his identity should not and cannot be seen in isolation.”



Treyger then posted a list of the numerous anti-Semitic acts that have taken place recently in New York.



He noted the chants of “Zionists are not welcome here” at college campuses, the “Hunting for Jews” mobs on the city’s subways, and “throwing smoke bombs at a Nova exhibit in Lower Manhattan where young people were trying to turn their pain into purpose after witnessing their peers slaughtered and abducted” by Hamas on October 7.


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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Anti-Israel Radicals Block 405 Freeway in Kamala Harris’s L.A.

Joel B. Pollak
13 Aug 2024



LOS ANGELES, California — Anti-Israel radicals blocked L.A.’s 405 freeway, the country’s busiest, on Tuesday morning to demand an end to U.S. support for Israel, as Israel battles Hamas terrorists who still hold 115 innocent hostages.



The Los Angeles Daily News reported:



A group of protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and an end to U.S. military support of Israel marched onto the southbound 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles Tuesday, halting traffic and creating a miles-long backup at the tail end of the morning rush hour.



The protesters, organized in part by the group IfNotNow Los Angeles, walked onto the freeway around 9 a.m. in the area of Venice Boulevard, creating an instant backup of traffic south of the 10 Freeway.



…



“American Jews and allies have shut down the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles in protest of U.S. support for Israel’s assault on Gaza,” said a statement from the organizers. “With one week to go before the Democratic National Convention, protesters are coalescing around three demands for all elected officials: call for a lasting ceasefire, reject the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and legislate an arms embargo.



The “American Jews” of IfNotNow have a history of support for terror, including reciting the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, for Palestinians — the vast majority of whom were Hamas members — killed by Israeli soldiers after trying to infiltrate Israel across the Gaza border in 2018. They also support radical anti-Israel politician such as Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — who is also supported by Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.



IfNotNow claimed on social media to be observing Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem — though, in effect, they were actually siding with terrorists trying to destroy Israel today.



There were reportedly nine arrests after the demonstration, as California Highway Patrol arrived to clear the road.



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[shalom]

‘We Support Israel’ sign vandalized at Maryland synagogue

It occurred following antisemitic graffiti found over the weekend at a nearby elementary school.


(August 14, 2024 / JNS)

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington released a statement on Wednesday reporting that antisemitic graffiti was discovered on a “We Support Israel” sign at Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County in Bethesda, Md.



It came just days after vandals spray-painted antisemitic messages such as “Israel rapes men, women and children” over the weekend onto the main sign of the Bethesda Elementary School.



“We call on our community and allies to continue making it clear that antisemitism and hate speech have no place in Greater Washington,” Federation said in its statement. “We are in close contact with local law enforcement, and we appreciate their swift responses to these incidents to ensure our community’s safety.”



Montgomery County includes Maryland’s largest Jewish community, accounting for 45% of the state’s Jews. The population of Bethesda—its name is derived from the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, possibly an ancient mikvah (Jewish ritual bath)—numbers 68,056, according to the 2022 census.



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[shalom]

Bomb threats reported at more than 100 Canadian Jewish institutions

(August 21, 2024 / JNS)


Canadian law-enforcement officials are investigating some 100 bomb threats on Wednesday at synagogues, and other Jewish community centers and organizations across the country.



Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said it is “deeply concerned” about the development, which Michael Levitt, its president and CEO, called “absolutely chilling.”



“For many, many months, Canada’s Jewish community has raised alarm bells about the escalation of rampant Jew-hatred, as incitement and hateful rhetoric have become normalized online, on our city streets, and on our university and college campuses,” he stated.



“Repeated calls for violence against Jews and Jewish institutions are a stark reminder that extremism and radicalization are thriving in Canada, and must be confronted before it’s too late. The time for our leaders to step up is now,” he added.



Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the threats “blatant antisemitism” and wrote that he is “disgusted” about the news.



The Royal Canadian Mounted Police “is in contact with local law enforcement to investigate, and we’re working with them to keep Jewish Canadians safe,” he added.



“Those who make threats to any religious institution in Canada, whether churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, gurdwaras, etc. should be charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Anthony Housefather, a Jewish Canadian parliamentarian. “Nobody should be intimidated from entering community buildings.”



Melissa Lantsman, a Jewish Canadian parliamentarian, wrote that it was “another week, another openly brazen threat to the Jewish community. “



“How on earth is this tolerated in Canada? Antisemitic hatred is spreading like a plague across our country and Trudeau is silent. We must act now to protect our people,” she wrote. (Her tweet was sent some six hours before Trudeau posted his.)



“It should never become normal for any worship services to be disrupted and evacuated from threats,” she added. “Canada is not the free country we know and love if the right to worship freely and safely needs to be protected. Immediately. Now. Today.”



B’nai Brith Canada stated that it, too, received a bomb threat.



“This is not just an attack on our safety—it’s an attack on the fabric of Canadian society,” it stated. “Authorities are treating this as a hate crime and are taking immediate, decisive action to protect our people.”

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[shalom]

State comptroller: 44% of New York hate crimes in 2023 aimed at Jews

From 2018 through last year, hate crimes against Jews rose from 253 to 477, an increase of 89%.
(August 28, 2024 / JNS)


Data from the state of New York shows that reported hate crimes for 2023 jumped 69% from 2019.



The office of State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released a new analysis on Wednesday titled “The Concerning Growth of Hate Crime in New York State,” which broke down hate-crime reports by intended target and compared the results with previous years.



“In 2023, nearly 44% of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88% of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims, the largest share of all such crimes,” the report said.



DiNapoli stated that “fighting hatred and bigotry demands that we communicate with, respect and accept our neighbors. It requires our spiritual, political, community and business leaders to take active roles in denouncing hate, investing in prevention and protection efforts, and increasing education that celebrates the value of New York’s diversity.”



In 2023, hate crimes were divided along the lines of nearly half based on religion and about one-third for race or ethnicity, with the LGBTQ community targeted by 17%.



Between 2018 and 2023, hate crimes against Jews rose from 253 to 477, an increase of 89%. During the same period, hate crimes against Muslims in the state rose from 18 to 37, a rise of 106%.



“We are deeply grateful to State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for producing this critical report,” said Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. “It’s a crucial reminder that each hate-crime statistic represents a New Yorker who is suffering.”



He added that the report “challenges every New Yorker, from our government offices, religious institutions, private industries, to our schools, to actively build strategies to combat all forms of hatred.”

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Pro-Palestinian Activists Target Jewish Student Center with Violent Threats in New York

Joel B. Pollak
28 Aug 2024

A group of pro-Palestinian students targeted the Hillel, the Jewish student center, in a rally at New York City’s Baruch College on Saturday — the latest sign that antisemitism is returning to college campuses this fall with a vengeance.



The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported:



A small group of protesters gathered outside Baruch College in New York called for “war” in the United States and targeted the college’s Hillel Jewish student club, a further sign of escalating rhetoric on campus just ahead of the semester beginning on Wednesday.



On Saturday, the demonstrators held a banner that said “Bring the war home” alongside an image of an assault rifle, and a sign that said, “Let the intifada pave the way for people’s war.”



…



According to images the protesters posted on social media, the demonstrators carried a sign that said, “Hillel go to hell,” with an inverted red triangle, a symbol the Hamas terror group uses to identify targets in propaganda videos. In the images, the activists wear keffiyehs and their faces are blurred. It was unclear how many of them were Baruch students.



Protests have already erupted at Cornell University and the University of Michigan as students return to class.



The Biden-Harris administration has done very little about campus antisemitism. Former President Donald Trump, who extended civil rights protections to Jews on college campuses during his first term, has promised to remove the accreditation and federal funding from any college or university that allows antisemitic protests to continue.

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Pro-Palestinian Students Take Over U. Michigan Student Gov‘t, Suspend Funds to Groups Until Divestment

Joel B. Pollak
28 Aug 2024

Pro-Palestinian students have assumed control of student government at the University of Michigan with the return to fall classes, suspending funding for student groups until the administration agrees to divest from, and boycott, Israel.



The New York Times reported Tuesday:



At the University of Michigan, many student activities are usually funded or subsidized by the Central Student Government, known as C.S.G., an elected undergraduate and graduate council that decides how to dole out roughly $1.3 million annually to about 400 groups.



But last spring, pro-Palestinian activists, running under the Shut It Down party, won control over the student government. They immediately moved to withhold funding for all activities, until the university committed to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s war in Gaza.



…



Some of the almost two dozen groups that endorsed Shut It Down were also at risk of losing funding, including Students Organize for Syria, the Muslim Students Association and United Students Against Sweatshops.



The student government’s stance has added to a tense atmosphere on campus. On Wednesday, four pro-Palestinian activists were arrested during a protest on the campus’s main quad, known as the Diag.



The Detroit Free Press reported:



Police arrested four pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday at the University of Michigan after a group tried to disrupt a university event, a school official said.



During a Festifall event being held Wednesday afternoon, some protesters who oppose Israel showed up at the Diag and started demonstrating. The group of about 50 protesters were asked to disperse, Colleen Mastony, assistant vice president for public affairs, told the Free Press. None of the four arrested were students, Mastony said.



The university has refused to divest, as students vow to continue their protests.

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[shalom]

Year two of the siege on Jewish students begins

The start of the semester means a renewed surge of delegitimization of Zionism and open antisemitism. Merely denouncing outrageous examples of hate won’t be enough.
Jonathan S. Tobin
(August 30, 2024 / JNS)


A note to readers: As many of you may have noticed, the usual steady stream of JNS content with my byline came to an abrupt halt earlier this month. It was due to a serious medical ailment that required hospitalization. Though I am not ready to resume my daily schedule of columns and podcasts, I have returned to writing with this piece. I want to thank my wonderful JNS colleagues, friends, readers and viewers for all of their good wishes and prayers during this difficult time.



The passage of a few months since the end of the spring school semester doesn’t seem to have changed much. Students returning to colleges and universities across the United States this past week were often greeted with indications that the war on the Jews on campuses is hardly over. On the contrary, round two may be just as dangerous for their ability to live openly as identifiable Jews and supporters of the one Jewish state on the planet as the past school year.

Throughout the nation came evidence that the infrastructure and the funding, whether from domestic radicals or dark foreign sources such as Iran, of pro-Hamas and openly antisemitic activists have not dissipated during the summer.



At the University of Michigan, Israel-haters not only harassed newly arriving students but shut down student government to push the school to adopt an illegal discriminatory BDS divestment program.



At Temple University in Philadelphia, members of the openly antisemitic Students for Justice in Palestine made clear their intentions and strategy by starting off the semester with a demonstration outside of the school’s Hillel chapter while waving the flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated foreign terrorist organization. That they would choose to target Hillel, which has, for the most part, not been in the vanguard of the pro-Israel movement but is in most cases simply a communal group for Jewish undergraduates, says all there is about what it means to be “pro-Palestine” in 2024.


These are just two of many examples where anti-Israel agitators have shown that they are prepared to resume the same siege on Jewish campus life that was the hallmark of the 2023-24 academic year in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks and atrocities on southern Israel that launched the current war.



Some university presidents have lost their jobs for their indifference to the surge in Jew-hatred within their institutions; others have voluntarily resigned, albeit under pressure from their actions—or rather, their inaction. But for the most part, the end result from those in charge of America’s elite and sometimes not-so-elite schools remains one in which they regard the problem as navigating between two supposedly equally legitimate interests. In doing so, they place the right of Jews to live and learn on campus without being attacked for their faith and beliefs as being no more important than the right of those who are allied with the genocidal antisemites of Hamas to openly express their hateful beliefs. And to make life difficult, if not impossible, for Jews who are not willing to go along with leftist intellectual fashion and denounce Israel.



The focus on the presidents of schools also ignores the far more important part that is being played by their lower-level employees who staff diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments that, among other duties, help craft student orientation programs that set the parameters for appropriate behavior. Since these are the very people who help promote the false doctrines of critical race theory and intersectionality that provide an intellectual cover for the hatred of Israel and Jews, resistance against any effort to promote awareness of antisemitism is likely.



More than just college campuses



Moreover, as we’re increasingly learning, the danger is not confined to institutions of higher education. The situation in secondary schools and even the lower grades in many places across the country is just as, if not more, dire. The educational establishment and teachers’ unions have been captured by leftist ideologues just as ready to falsely label Israel as a “settler/colonialist” and “apartheid” state and to regard it and Jews as “white” oppressors.



The question then arises as to what, if anything, should be different about the response of the Jewish community, organizations, educators, parents and students to this challenge.



Each school and community is different. Some institutions behaved better than others in responding to the way that pro-Hamas mobs tried to take over campuses and create hostile environments for Jewish students and faculty. It’s also true that many schools exhibited no lack of decorum, where the crisis passed without there being much evidence of its impact.



But whether individual school districts are relatively free of antisemitic and anti-Israel propaganda or where they run rampant, the need for Jews and friends of Israel to think seriously about how to respond to another several months of ongoing siege warfare is imperative. At the college level, the same is true for parents, students and alumni to understand that recycling the community relations strategies of earlier times or merely hoping that the storm will pass or be dissipated by the end of fighting in the Middle East (a doubtful outcome) won’t address the problem.



There is no shortage of ideas about what to do. Some involve withdrawing Jewish kids of all ages from the secular system for education. Some say just abandon the current elite schools for places where more sensible policies are employed, or create new colleges altogether. Others promote pressure campaigns in which funding—either from alumni of specific schools or from the government—would be cut to offending institutions.



There is something to be said for all these ideas. But in terms of a broad strategy in dealing with what must be understood as a crisis for Jewish life in America, what is needed is a consensus about basic principles.



The first requires Jews to drop the pretense that the current debate about Israel and antisemitism in American education is one in which there is something to be said for those on both sides of the demonstration lines popping up at campuses across America.



They don’t ‘have a point’



Contrary to what President Joe Biden said at the Democratic National Convention or what Vice President Kamala Harris has said in several different contexts in the last three years, those falsely accusing Israel of genocide do not “have a point.”



Whatever people think about specific Israeli military actions, the purpose of the protests in the United States is no different from those of the terrorists who carried out the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7. Whether they call themselves “pro-Palestine” or anti-Zionists, the goal of eradicating Israel—something that could only be accomplished by the genocide of its population—is the same.



No one who cares about the safety of Jews in the United States, the greater diaspora or Israel should concede the point that there is a moral equivalence between the Palestinian war to destroy the Jewish state and efforts to defend it.



It is also vital that every Jewish and campus community understand that treating anti-Zionism as a valid idea worthy of debate in the current context is a betrayal not only of Israelis fighting for their lives but of Jewish kids who are caught up in the current political maelstrom. Rather than seek to paper over these differences, we must make it clear that those chanting “from the river to the sea” or cheering on Palestinian terrorism are engaged not just in hate speech but in open incitement to carry out acts of violence against Jews.



Don’t fall for the Islamophobia trap



Part of that must also involve something difficult for many liberal Jews, and especially, the largely failing organizations that purport to represent them. They must drop their acceptance of the moral equivalence between the fight against antisemitism and the entirely dubious cause of addressing “Islamophobia,” a stance embraced by the Biden-Harris administration. The vast majority of what is now labeled Islamophobia is no more than an acknowledgment of the rampant anti-Jewish hatred among American Muslims and those who claim to represent them. Muslims are not being targeted on college campuses. Jews are.



That also means that the Jewish community must stop relying on failed liberal groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee to speak up for their interests. Despite their outsized budgets and impressive public relations campaigns in which they have sought to position themselves as responding to the crisis, such organizations have proven unable to shake off their past allegiance to the same toxic leftist doctrines that created this mess. As much as it is instinctual for Jewish groups to try to unite in such circumstances, they are arguably as much a part of the problem. Like they must do at and for academic institutions, Jews need to seek to build new groups and coalitions that understand what is at stake and can move forward with concrete actions to help mitigate antisemitism across America.



Another key point to keep in mind is for those defending Jewish kids to put forward solutions that defend free speech while treating anti-Jewish hate language the same way society deals with racism against other minorities. We must be clear that criticizing Israeli policies or even expressing opposition to Israel’s existence is entirely legal. But calls for Jewish genocide or support for Hamas and its allies should be treated, especially in private venues rather than public squares, the same way authorities deal with advocacy for anti-black racism or support for the Ku Klux Klan. Which is to say, it cannot be tolerated. And just as history teaches that anti-masking laws helped take down the KKK, the same can happen to those hiding their identities behind face masks and keffiyehs.



Perhaps even more difficult for American Jews to understand is that there is no possible compromise with the anti-Zionists either in the context of campus protests or in efforts to rid K-12 schools of antisemitic propaganda, whether it is labeled human-rights advocacy or “liberated” ethnic studies. There is no halfway point at which Americans can agree to disagree with those who think the grievances of the Palestinians justify destroying the only Jewish state or terrorism. The unspeakable atrocities of Oct. 7 were a feature of the Palestinian and anti-Zionist cause, not a bug. Those who think otherwise or believe such “resistance” is understandable, if lamentable, are not taking a reasonable point of view but justifying mass murder. That will remain the case whether or not there is some temporary halt to the fighting in Gaza or even if Israel avoids an expansion of the war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and their paymasters in Tehran.



Jews are not alone



Another mistake is overestimating the strength of contemporary antisemites.



Though they largely control the educational establishment and have a powerful grip on popular culture and other sectors of society, antisemites remain a minority among Americans, most of whom continue to support Israel, the sole democracy in the Middle East. Whatever one may think of the sincerity of those on the left, including Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who maintain that they are supportive of Israel while also being reflexively hostile, their fear of being labeled “anti-Israel” is an acknowledgment of political reality. Jews are not alone in this country. Even as support for Jerusalem has lessened among Democrats and liberals, who have fallen prey to woke ideas that bolster the myth of the “settler/colonial” Jewish state, most independents and Republicans remain solidly pro-Israel. The same can be said about a sizable minority of Democrats. These basic facts show why a timid approach to confronting the pro-Hamas mobs is a terrible mistake.



Lastly, we must never lose sight of the foundation for contemporary antisemitism: woke ideology. The surge in left-wing antisemitism would be unimaginable without the way American institutions of higher learning have been steeped in critical race theory and intersectionality. They have indoctrinated a generation of educators, academics and students in a belief in an endless and unwinnable race war in which all oppressors and all victims are somehow linked. That is why so many otherwise ignorant students now reflexively believe that Israelis are all “white”—though a majority are, by the definitions of the left, people of color because they trace their origins to the Middle East or North Africa—and that the conflict with the Palestinians is one about race, rather than Islamist intolerance of the Jewish presence in their ancestral homeland.



Any solution to the current problem of American antisemitism must therefore include a rolling back of the woke tide and DEI infrastructure in education, the arts and government.



Above all, Jews who worry about another year of a siege of Jews in American education must remember not to play by the rules of the antisemites. We must push back and stand up, rather than seek shelter and concede the public square to the Jew-haters. Anything else is a recipe for the further erosion of Jewish safety.

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[shalom]

‘Serious and pervasive’ Jew-hatred at Columbia, per report from school’s task force

The report found that “some” members of the university “have been unwilling to acknowledge the antisemitism many students have experienced.”
(August 30, 2024 / JNS)


Hundreds of Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia think that the Ivy League school “has not treated them with the standards of civility, respect and fairness it promises to all its students,” according to a report from Columbia’s task force on antisemitism released on Friday.



The 91-page report, which draws on interviews with almost 500 students, found that Jew-hatred on campus is “serious and pervasive.”


“These student stories are heartbreaking, and make clear that the university has an obligation to act,” the task force’s report states. (It wasn’t clear from the report how many of the 500 students were Jewish or Israeli.)



“Unfortunately, some members of the Columbia community have been unwilling to acknowledge the antisemitism many students have experienced—the way repeated violations of university policy and norms have affected them and the compliance issues this climate has created with respect to federal, state and local anti-discrimination law,” the report states.



“Many of the events reported in the testimonials took place well before the establishment of the encampments and the takeover of Hamilton Hall,” it adds. “The experiences reported during that period were even more extreme.”

Students, who often didn’t know how to report Jew-hatred to Columbia, found that “some faculty and staff responded with compassion and determination,” but “others minimized the concerns of these students, reacting sluggishly and ineffectively even to the most clear-cut violations,” the report states. “Even students who had successfully reported an incident spoke of a recurring lack of enforcement of existing university rules and policies.”



The task force suggested its own working definition of Jew-hatred for Columbia to use, and recommended “in-person workshops about antisemitism and Islamophobia, as well as a range of optional training and workshops for others in our community, including on implicit bias and stereotypes, bystander interventions and having difficult conversations.”



“Many Jewish students said they now avoid walking alone on campus,” the report states. It quotes a student who said that walking on campus with a visible Star of David or wearing a kippah “could start World War III.”



“The experiences of these students demonstrated that there is an urgent need to reshape everyday social norms across the campuses of Columbia University,” per the report. “We need to promote a richer ethic of pluralism, which would encourage greater tolerance of and respect for differences in religion, culture and national origin.”


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“If we were really to succeed in promoting tolerance, students would come to understand and value these differences,” it added.

[Midnight]

University of Maryland grants permit for pro-Palestinian group’s campus rally on October 7

The permit is the latest example of concerns around renewal of student activism around the war in Gaza.

By ANDREW LAPIN/JTA

AUGUST 31, 2024 02:21


(JTA) — Jewish campus groups and parents are criticizing a reported decision by the University of Maryland allowing a pro-Palestinian group to hold a rally on campus on October 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel.



The permit was given to Students for Justice in Palestine, according to the campus Hillel and Jewish Student Union, who decried SJP on Instagram without criticizing the university directly.



“October 7 is a day of tragedy for the Jewish and Israeli community around the world. It is alarming to see that SJP has chosen this date, a day of Jewish mourning, to hold an event on campus,” the groups wrote Thursday on Instagram Stories.



They added, “While SJP followed university protocol in making this reservation, it is nevertheless condemnable that they did.” The Jewish groups also said their own October 7 memorial was in the works.



The SJP chapter confirmed to the Washington Post that it was planning an action on McKeldin Mall, the College Park campus’s main green, for October 7. The university declined to comment by press time on Friday.



A man walks dogs near pictures of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 26, 2024 (credit: REUTERS/FLORION GOGA)Enlrage image

A man walks dogs near pictures of hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 26, 2024 (credit: REUTERS/FLORION GOGA)

Rabbi Ari Israel, director of Maryland Hillel, told the conservative news outlet The Daily Wire he expressed concern about the event to university leadership. Local Jewish leaders and parents say they fear that the rally might glorify the killing of 1,200 Israelis, a stance that other SJP chapters have taken over the past year.



“Any effort to celebrate the death of 1,200 members of our community on October 7, 2023, even within the context of celebrating ‘freedom fighters,’ ‘martyrs,’ etc., will be taken by the UMD Jewish community as a direct threat to the safety of the Jewish community at UMD,” reads an open letter to the school’s senior leadership currently circulating among Jewish parents and faculty.



This week, the university’s SJP chapter this week mounted a flag display on campus commemorating the victims of Israel’s war in Gaza. The school’s recently reformed Jewish Voice for Peace chapter attended the event. The display claimed Israel had killed upwards of 150,000 people in Gaza, drastically overstating even the Gaza Health Ministry’s own reported death tolls since the start of the war.



The permit is the latest example of concerns around renewal of student activism around the war in Gaza. As the fall semester begins, there have been arrests and some circulation of antisemitic material at various campuses, including a protest staged outside a Hillel center at Temple University (also organized by an SJP chapter).



The letter opposing the Maryland permit, which does not publicly list its signatories, goes on to make specific recommendations and outlines areas of activism that, community members say, could veer into antisemitism. It pushes Maryland to adapt hate-speech guidelines recently unveiled at New York University that discourage students from targeting “Zionists.”


A right to assemble?


“To be clear, we are not asking that SJP be denied their right to assemble. But we cannot abide an event that demonizes our community, applies a double standard to our community that is not used with any other group, or calls for the destruction of our community,” the letter continues.



The letter also details other kinds of speech that, its authors say, “would contribute toward a hostile environment for the Jewish community on campus going forward.” Among the listed items: calls for “intifada”; use of the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”; any accusations that Israel is committing genocide; any claim Israel is an apartheid state; and any recitation of a Gaza death toll number “that is not agreed to by the US State Department.”



Like many other schools, the University of Maryland recently revised its speech policies in anticipation of another semester of protest. It revised the rules to include stricter limitations around the posting of signs, flyers, chalk and other materials around campus and to emphasize that student groups should seek to schedule activities through the university’s formal procedures.

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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Anti-Israel, Pro-terror Protest Sets off Smoke Bombs at NYC March
Joel B. Pollak
2 Sep 2024

An anti-Israel, pro-terror march in Manhattan on Labor Day brought 5,000 demonstrators into the street, chanting radical slogans, setting off smoke bombs, and overwhelming police who tried to control the illegal demonstration.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 2: A person runs holding a flare during a protest in support of the war in Gaza, on Labor Day on September 2, 2024 in New York City. Following the deaths of six hostages in Gaza, protestors demand that Israel reach a deal with Hamas. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)



The Post added that some New York Police Department (NYPD) officers tried to stop the march, but failed.



The protest was a contrast to the vigil the day before by pro-Israel demonstrators, who had gathered to show solidarity with Israel after Hamas murdered six hostages, including U.S. citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.



The New York Post reported:



A massive mob of rowdy anti-Israeli protesters — including some proudly waving terrorist flags — stormed through the Big Apple on Labor Day, lighting flares and setting off smoke bombs as they marched toward the heart of the city.



The unruly demonstrators, who police sources said may have reached as many as 5,000, gathered at Union Square in Manhattan in the early afternoon and began their raucous march to Washington Square Park.



…



The crowd held Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah flags, chanting “Free Palestine!” and, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.” Hezbollah is a Lebanese terror group that has been fighting with the Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.



In contrast, a pro-Israel vigil on Sunday had been peaceful, with American and Israeli flags prominently displayed.

The Times of Israel noted:



Some 2,000 people gathered at Columbus Circle in New York on a hot and humid night Sunday for a vigil mourning the six Israeli hostages whose bodies were found in Gaza over the weekend, an impromptu gathering of song, prayer and tears about 24 hours after the news of the captives’ death sent Israel and the Jewish world reeling.




The crowd waved American and Israeli flags, some of them also featuring the yellow ribbon that symbolizes advocacy for the hostages. Some wore other symbols of the fight for the hostages, such as dog tags or shirts reading “Bring them home now.”



Hamas terrorists shot the six hostages in the head late last week before Israeli soldiers could rescue them. There has been silence from pro-Palestinian groups thus far in condemning what was a brutal, cold-blooded mass murder.



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[ExquisiteGerbil]

Anti-Israel Protesters March on New York City Streets: ‘Israel, Go to Hell’
Nick Gilbertson
2 Sep 2024



Thousands of anti-Israel protesters took to the streets of Manhattan on Monday as the Democratic Party remains fractured over the Israel-Hamas war.



The protest — organized by two leftist groups, the pro-Palestinian organization “Within Our Lifetime” and “Healthcare Workers for Palestine” — began in Union Square before protesters marched to Washington Square Park, chanting phrases like “Israel, go to hell.” Within Our Lifetime said the March is part of a broader nationwide movement, CBS News reported.

Violence erupted early in the protest when a demonstrator battered a man, who is reportedly a pro-Israel counter-protester, over the head with a tambourine, according to a video from NYC-based video journalist Peter Hambrecht and FreedomNews.TV shared to X by @scootercasterny. Oliya “Scootercaster” is a producer at FreedomNews.TV, per her LinkedIn.

Protesters set off red smoke bombs and flares, according to @scootercasterny, who credits another New York City freelance journalist and FreedomNews.TV for the footage. Others carried Palestinian flags.

As the march wore on, it was reported protesters were in the thousands.

In a post on X ahead of the protest, Within Our Lifetime instructed protesters on how to “circumvent NYPD surveillance operations.” The instructions advised demonstrators to cover their faces “and other identifying traits like tattoos” while also directing them to place their phones in airplane mode or “Faraday bags to prevent location tracking.”

A flier shows that the group is protesting “Western media” and its coverage of the war and pro-Palestinian and anti-protests. The march is also against Big Tech for “providing the technology needed to commit genocide,” another post from the group shows, and the NYPD for what it called “violent suppression” of pro-Palestinian voices.



The march was organized ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris’s disastrous CNN interview on Thursday in which she reaffirmed her commitment to Israel and said she would not support withholding arms to Israel. The rhetoric further fractured the Democratic Party, with prominent progressives blasting Harris for sticking by her and President Joe Biden’s policies.



Fox News caught up with one protester who held a sign blasting Harris for failing to achieve a ceasefire since the war began nearly a year ago. When the man who hails from Boston was asked how the administration’s handling of the war is going to “impact the election,” he said he “cannot support the Democrats in this.”

“I mean, I’d hate to see Donald Trump win. I hate to say I know you guys are from Fox, but on the other hand, genocide is worse than anything Donald Trump has done, so I definitely cannot support the Democrats in this,” he said.



“The whole Democratic Party is complicit in genocide, and at this point, I would say, not just say complicit, but responsible for, and basically committing the genocide because it wouldn’t be happening without all the weapons Biden is sending,” he added.



When asked if he was thinking about voting for Harris at one point, he said, “If it wasn’t for the genocide, we’d be totally psyched out about–well, maybe not Kamala–but Tim Walz is pretty decent.”

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[maybetoday]

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Return to Columbia: Vandalize Statue, Urge Boycott of Classes
Joel B. Pollak
3 Sep 2024

Pro-Palestinian protesters returned to Columbia University on Tuesday for the start of classes — picketing, calling on students to boycott their classes, and even vandalizing the Alma Mater statue at the center of the New York campus.



The Associated Press reported:



Someone splattered red paint Tuesday on a statue in front of the Low Memorial Library. Outside the gates of the university, a small group of protesters marched on a picket line and urged arriving students and faculty to join them rather than go to class.



“As long as Columbia continues to invest and to benefit from Israeli apartheid, the students will continue to resist,” Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student who represented campus protesters in negotiations with the university, told The Associated Press last week ahead of the start of classes. “Not only protests and encampments, the limit is the sky.”



The vandalism was celebrated by the national parent organization of Students for Justice in Palestine.


From today’s actionists at Columbia:



“Divestment is not an incrementalist goal. True divestment necessitates nothing short of the total collapse of the university structure and American empire itself. It is not possible for imperial spoils to remain so heavily concentrated in… pic.twitter.com/bfGAYGVoGN



— National Students for Justice in Palestine (@nationalsjp) September 3, 2024



House Republicans, who have led inquiries into antisemitism on college campuses, commented on the renewal of Columbia’s protests.

Last week, a Columbia task force on antisemitism found that the university had failed to stop antisemitism on campus.



Columbia president Minouche Shafik resigned last month after failing to contain last semester’s protests, which ended with the violent takeover of a university building by anti-Israel rioters.

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