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Monday, July 08, 2024

07/08 Links Pt2: Anti-Semitism has exploded in British universities; Virginia Foxx, Heroine; Demythologizing the mystic belief in Palestinianism

From Ian:

Helena Ivanov: Anti-Semitism has exploded in British universities
In interviews, students recounted harrowing details of their campus experiences. One student at an unnamed university described being pelted with red juice and told that Jews are terrorists who should go back to Europe. This student also recounted a staff member who, during a webinar, claimed that no Israeli women were raped on 7 October. Due to security concerns related to the pro-Palestine encampments on campus, the student stopped attending university in person and felt compelled to relocate to a different city.

Another student from a different university explicitly stated they no longer feel safe on campus. Jews are steering clear of certain areas, while some opt to avoid campus altogether. The student told us how academic staff are increasingly involved in the encampments. Allegedly, some professors even participated in protests where calls for the deaths of Jews were made. Despite this, the university has failed to take any steps to address the problem.

It’s not just Jewish students who are being intimidated and harassed at their institutions, either. Jewish academics are also being silenced. ‘Unless a Jewish person disavows Israel’, one professor told us, ‘and explicitly states that it is apartheid and genocide, they are considered complicit… So much of academia is anti-Semitic that some training sessions will not help.’

Why are universities so reluctant to address the appalling treatment of Jewish staff and students? Some have cited concerns about curtailing the right to protest or limiting free speech. Of course, universities must not chill these fundamental rights. But these same institutions have rarely had qualms about censorship before, often standing behind students when they hound lecturers or speakers off campus for holding views they consider ‘problematic’.

Clearly, there is something else going on here. Universities have reached a critical point where they are failing in their essential duty – to provide education for everyone and to prevent significant discrimination against their students and staff.

Yes, pro-Palestine students have the right to protest. But when this crosses the line into action, into Jewish staff and students being harassed and intimidated, it must be stopped. Universities are allowing Jews in academia to feel increasingly isolated. It is unacceptable that this particular brand of racism has been completely normalised on campus. Anti-Semitism must not be allowed to fester in our places of learning.
Seth Mandel: Virginia Foxx, Heroine
In April, the New York Times sent a reporter to find out why Rep. Virginia Foxx, the Republican House education chair, was giving elite universities such a hard time.

Foxx was in the middle of uncovering a massive anti-Semitism scandal-in-waiting at these schools, and the Times couldn’t figure out why she cared. After all, the unspoken conceit of the piece suggested, it was only anti-Semitism.

Both the question and the answer were typical of the unwelcoming atmosphere after October 7 for Jews in blue metro areas of America and on elite college campuses. Why exactly, then, would the House education chair have to be motivated by a hidden agenda to investigate the highest echelons of education?

Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers, as the saying goes. The Times determined that Foxx, who turned 81 about a week ago, had been president of a community college thirty years ago, and was therefore carrying a chip on her shoulder when it came to places like Columbia and Harvard. “‘She is touchy about anything that implies community colleges are lower status institutions… Her loyalty to these institutions is real,’ said Peter Lake, director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law.”

So we have two explanations for why Virginia Foxx was doing her job as a member of Congress and a chairman of one of its committees. The first: She was carrying out a multi-decade vengeance plan, which required her to get to Congress, climb the ladder of seniority, hold the chairmanship when Hamas carried out the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, wait for campus radicals to react, then… pounce!

Or: She knows that anti-Semitism is bad, and its presence is almost always an indication of thorough institutional rot.

The answer, of course, is the latter. It’s true that you can reverse-engineer more cynical explanations for the Republican chair’s focus on anti-Semitism: for example, the issue divides Democrats and unites Republicans. Yet it also must be remembered that Foxx didn’t trick anyone. She simply subpoenaed college presidents, and the first batch of them put their own heads on the block. Nobody really understood how bad things had gotten in American academia until the heads of elite universities were asked questions only slightly more difficult than “what is your name” and they bellyflopped. One by one, they were unable to denounce mass-mob threats of genocide against Jews as harassment, a failing so spectacular it eventually led to Harvard President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill losing their jobs.

In other words if, as the Times theorized, Foxx was suffering from some sort of inferiority complex, she shouldn’t have: It turned out the supposed “elites” could barely tie their shoes.

But no institution’s self-engineered implosion would match Columbia University’s, which has now arguably crossed the point of no return. Last month, four university administrators were suspended when photos of some of their text messages mocking Jewish students were published. Now Foxx’s committee has published the actual text chain. You can read the texts here. You can’t do much better for a summation than this paragraph from JTA: “Columbia University administrators said Jewish students occupied a ‘place of privilege,’ called a Hillel official a ‘problem’ and wrote ‘Amazing what $$$$ can do,’ during a panel on Jewish campus life in May, newly released text messages showed.
NGO Monitor: Euromed Feminist Initiative’s board members celebrate October 7 Hamas Massacre
The Paris-based EuroMed Feminist Initiative (EFI)1 describes itself as a “policy platform” seeking “an egalitarian and demilitarized world where respect of human rights of women and men is a leading value and practice and where the principle of non- discrimination – based on gender, sexual orientation, age, class, ethnicity, disabilities – is social rule and life.” The EFI umbrella framework, with 16 members, receives significant funding from European governments, notably the European Union, France, and Sweden – as detailed below.

Individuals who serve on EFI’s board and a number of EFI member organizations have published statements justifying and celebrating the October 7th attack, calling to annihilate Israel, denying Hamas atrocities, and promoting antisemitic imagery. Additionally, in multiple statements, EFI itself has labeled Israeli operations “tantamount to the destruction of the population of Gaza” and joined the propaganda campaign falsely claiming that “today Gaza [sic] population is facing a large-scale massacre and genocide.”

EFI board members serve in senior positions at NGOs in several Middle Eastern countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, West Bank and Gaza, and Turkey). These local NGOs also receive funding from European governments and from EFI.

Furthermore, an EFI member NGO is “the women’s framework” of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), an Israeli-designated terror organization that participated with Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the October 7 attacks. This NGO regularly posts pictures of DFLP activists wearing military gear and DFLP paraphernalia.

Celebration and justification of the October 7th massacre by EFI board members and member organizations

Several EFI board members and EFI member organizations have publicly celebrated the October 7th massacre and engaged in atrocity inversion. Amal Khreishe (PWWSD)

EFI board member Amal Khreishe serves also as General Manager at Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD), an EFI member NGO.

On October 7, 8, and 10 2023, Khreishe published several posts (see below) that celebrated Hamas massacre, describing the October 7th terror invasion as “A morning of glory and pride.” Khreishe further stated that “October 7th shall remain a unique symbol of a special step in the path of national liberation.”

- On October 7, 2023, Khreishe shared a video of what seems to be Hamas terrorists on a boat shooting at an Israeli navy vessel, and shared a text she published on Al-Wattan on the same day, “And the flood shall reach all corners of the nation and sweep away all the Oslo delusions from the Land of Palestine….Today, October 7th, the waves of dignity and pride will spread throughout the nation’s skies. Today, the flood of Jerusalem will sink the disorder that is called the occupation state which considers itself above international and humanitarian law and human rights law. Today, the resistance sends a message to all the men and women martyrs who have embraced the costly nation and that are still in the freezers of the Zionist government…October 7th shall remain a unique symbol of a special step in the path of national liberation. May the brains, hearts, hands and legs that drew the features of this day be blessed…Allah has truly commended you, the flood of Gaza, and we shall see it in time.”

- On October 8, 2023, Khreishe shared a video showing images in support of the Hamas-led attacks and featuring a man explaining that the events of October 7th present “a true victory…accomplished by the Palestinian resistance by occupying, or liberating, the [Israeli] cities adjacent to the Gaza Strip…” Khreishe posted, “A morning of glory and pride. A morning of our people’s rebellious will force to break free…A morning of resistance…[and of] voices which do not know political stammer and which call the consciences to wake up with resistance in its various forms. I want to paint all of my male and female friends’ day with rainbow from the Galilee to Rafah, throughout the skies of historic Palestine, so that joy and hope will spread in the hearts and entirely to the bottom of the souls as happened to me on this morning of October 8th after ‘the mighty October 7th.’ And [I wish well] to Gaza, the resistance forces that made the epic Jerusalem flood, which brought out history, geography and political conceptions in all their theories and interpretations, from the path of dullness, illusions, oppression and night blindness of the Zionist politicians, their followers and their allies in the region and the world.”

- On October 10, 2023, Khreishe shared an illustration of a Palestinian boy making the symbol of victory with the text “a morning of dignity and honor” and posted, “The resistance and its great flood which it unleashed in order to wash away the occupier’s vanity and disputed friends’ normalization and the racism of countries that call for democracy and respecting human rights day and night…This is a chance that shall not come again, to bring back the legitimacy of the political regime that rests on a revolutionary and liberation perspective…Allah has indeed told the heroes of Jenin, Nablus, Beita and Gaza and the camps, and the list goes on, the message of the men and women martyrs. This is because all the people shall not lose the combative compass, despite of the heavy fog of Oslo that has been going on for 30 years. Will you answer the heartbeat of the people?! The time of premises [about peace] has passed and the only things that are absolutely everlasting are the comrades and brothers [a euphemism for members of terror groups]. Today, the resistance rests on the blood and minds of the youth, revived by the oxygen of revolution.”


Yisrael Medad: Demythologizing the mystic belief in Palestinianism
At this moment in time, a moment that has been developing over the past few decades, there is a general agreement—and we can mourn it out of our deep disappointment—that there exists a country called “Palestine” and a people called “Palestinians.” It is almost axiomatic for politicians, diplomats, human-rights workers, liberals, progressives, academia and many of today’s younger generation to believe in those elements. They see a Palestinianism triumphant.

That little is rational and factual in that belief is, perhaps, frustrating but it is the reality. Yet reality can be changed and the reasons for it being claimed as a reality can be denied. We can bring about a new reality. We, too, are all part of this generation. We can right what has gone wrong.

The Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, some 180 years ago, wrote of a generation that “desired to level and to be emancipated, to destroy authority and … started the hopeless forest fire of abstraction.” He wrote of individuals who must work for themselves, no matter how confused or dizzy, as he put it, engaged in a “short-sighted compassion.” Following his challenge to overcome the abyss, the time has come to make a leap—not one of faith as much as one of fact.

There is a need, as Kierkegaard phrased it, even a requirement, to “plunge confidently into the absurd,” the absurdity that is Palestinianism and to demythologize it. We have a duty to highlight its absurdities, stress its untruths and emphasize its irrationality. We need to illustrate its artificial construction. It is an emperor with no clothes.

What follows is a pilot exercise. It is a concise summary of several of the asserted myths deconstructed. Perhaps a pedagogical team can turn it into a proper educational tool.
Phyllis Chesler: American Jews’ October 7
In unison—almost as if they have taken a page from the 9/11 hijackers who excelled in choreographed, simultaneous attacks—Israel-haters, often individuals and sometimes mobs, continued to tear down posters of Israeli hostages. When their actions and faces were caught on video, they smirked, cursed and seemed very pleased with themselves.

Someone, alone or with collaborators, just tore down such posters on Capitol Hill outside Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.)’s office over the July 4 holiday. For good measure, a masked band of 50 protestors with drums and horns demonstrated in front of his home in the middle of the night. His crime? He has favored sanctioning Iran, led visits to Israel and (gasp!) is a Jew.

Last week, a Jewish cemetery in Cincinnati and a kosher bagel shop in Miami were vandalized. Many restaurants in my own once-fair city have been splashed with red paint meant to appear as blood and covered with jihadist graffiti. Every day, we discover how many pro-jihadist Jew-haters are legislators, city council members, university administrators, professors, psychologists, publishers, etc.

How do Americans, especially but not only Jews, demilitarize the hate propaganda against Israel and against America? How do we get people to understand that today, anti-Zionism is the most toxic form of antisemitism? How do we convince them that America, however imperfect, is still by far the best country on earth?

What’s new is that suddenly, for the first time, more Jewish-American donors are pulling their funds from Ivy League universities. More Jewish parents are reconsidering where they want to send their children to high school and college.

What’s also new is the amazing young college students who are pro-Israel and filled with energy and purpose. I met with some of the Columbia students who wrote a most excellent letter for which they obtained 500 signatures.

Is this really enough? Is it too little, too late? Aren’t we coming from too far behind? Hasn’t our government fatefully refused to stop Iran—in fact, unleashed Iran—which is now close to becoming a nuclear power?

In any event, as Pirkei Avot (“Ethics of the Fathers”) teaches us: We are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are we free to neglect it.
The anti-Israel media are failing due to their bias
Many major American media are in a death spiral. News outlets like CNN, NPR and The Washington Post are losing audiences in droves, hemorrhaging cash and laying off staff.

A key reason for these failures is surely the media’s lowest public trust rating in history. Indeed, a Gallup poll showed that nearly four in 10 Americans have zero confidence in the media—a new record in distrust. Little wonder: So many former bastions of “objective coverage,” like The New York Times, have abandoned balanced, fact-based reporting for journalism that blatantly pushes a biased, political agenda.

Nowhere is this bias more obvious than in the reporting by leading media on Israel in general and its war against Hamas specifically. Even today, media like CNN, The New York Times and NPR persist in trumpeting the lie that Gaza faces imminent famine—a myth they’ve been promoting hysterically for nearly nine months.

Yet amazingly, just last week, the U.N.’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued a report stating there is no famine in Gaza: “The available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring.”

Almost since the Israel-Hamas war’s beginning, the media have parroted the claim made by various aid organizations that famine is imminent or actually taking place in Gaza. Back in January, a CNN headline falsely claimed, “Hundreds of thousands are starving in Gaza as famine arrives at ‘incredible speed.'”

Even today, despite the U.N.’s admission that no data supports these famine fears, major media have continued to perpetuate unverified claims of starvation. Two weeks ago, NPR‘s Hadeel al-Shalchi reported, “In Gaza, which aid groups say is on the brink of famine, food is hard to come by.” This is despite reports of overflowing Gaza markets.

If the media want to regain Americans’ trust—and aid their own survival—they would be well-advised to return to the tradition of balanced, fact-based journalism. They should abandon coverage that promotes strictly “progressive left” (especially anti-Israel) narratives that avoid offering facts and opinions that challenge their biases.
Ruthie Blum: Shame on the State Attorney for charging heroes with homicide
The only ray of light shining on this week’s revelation that three Israelis are under investigation for the Oct. 7 “murder” of a Nukhba terrorist is that most of the public is horrified that the men in question, who risked their lives to rescue victims while battling Hamas monsters, are being treated like criminals rather than heroes.

When the gag order on the case was eased on Sunday, and reports of the arrest of the trio emerged, two of the “suspects,” Saar Ofir and Yisrael Biton, came forward to identify themselves and present their version of events to local media outlets.

Their stories rang completely true. But even if they hadn’t, an account of the details shouldn’t have been necessary. Whatever way the Hamas barbarian met his death on Oct. 7, it was justified. It beggars belief that the State Attorney’s Office feels otherwise.

It’s particularly outrageous that the civilians who rushed to the south as soon as they realized that atrocities were being committed—during the hours that security forces were still waiting for orders to act—should be charged with anything, let alone homicide.

Given the behavior of State Attorney Amit Aisman, it’s a wonder that the guys in question weren’t also slapped with speeding tickets. Aisman and his crew don’t see it that way, of course.

Incensed at the criticism being heaped on them, they released a statement on Sunday—following what they called “serious incitement against prosecutors and police officers”—clarifying the reason for their move.

“In Dec. 2023, an investigation was opened after information was received about the theft of weapons from National Counter-Terrorism Unit (Yamam) fighters who were killed in battle on Oct. 7,” the statement began. “As a result of this information, an investigation was conducted that led to the filing of an indictment against ‘R’ for weapons offenses and impersonation [of a soldier], and he has been detained until the end of the proceedings.”

It went on: “Another suspect, ‘S,’ was also investigated, and during his investigation, written statements from him at the time were found, in which he allegedly confessed to killing several terrorists whom he and others had captured alive, as well as to severe acts of violence against the terrorists outside the context of combat. After examining the matter, it was decided that these statements, in which the suspect allegedly confessed to killing terrorists who were captured alive, justify his investigation under caution. During his investigation, it became clear that these were allegedly boastful remarks. Additionally, during a search of the home of the suspect ‘S,’ an illegal pistol and parts of M-16 rifles were found, and he was also investigated under caution for this.”

In an interview with Channel 14, Ofir rightly argued that “there is no such thing as murdering a terrorist; there is either eliminating a terrorist or neutralizing a terrorist.”


Mordechai Kedar: Why did Armenia recognize a potential Palestinian terror state?
The whole world, including Armenian politicians, has seen the results of the establishment of the terror state in Gaza, especially since the massacre committed by Hamas against some 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023 and its consequences in Gaza ever since.

If a Palestinian state is established, it will without any doubt become a Hamas state, whether through elections as happened in January 2006 or through a violent takeover as already happened in Gaza in June 2007.

Is this what Armenia wants?

The explanation for Armenia’s conduct is found in the events between Armenia and Azerbaijan in recent years.

Since Israel supported Azerbaijan during the Second Karabakh War (2020), there has been a steady rise in antisemitism in Armenia. According to The Jerusalem Post, Armenia is the “most antisemitic country in the post-Soviet space,” with 58% percent of the population harboring antisemitic views. The local synagogue in Yerevan and the local Holocaust memorial have been attacked several times.

The president of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), one of Europe’s largest rabbinical organizations, demanded that the Armenian authorities detain Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) members, outlaw the organization and increase security for the Jewish community after the terror group targeted the local synagogue in Yerevan.

CER warned, “If there is no proper response and Jewish blood is spilt in the streets, the responsibility will be on the head of the Armenian government.”

Despite this, none of the perpetrators were detained.

It is clear that Armenia’s recognition of a Palestine state following the Oct. 7 massacre can be considered just another example of antisemitism.
What does the rise of Mélenchon mean for French Jews?
In a result almost no one anticipated, France has rejected the far-right in favour of the far-left alliance the New Popular Front (NPF), put together over the past week to fight Sunday’s second round of assembly elections.

Led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has a long history of accusations of antisemitism and is said to be pro-Putin, the NPF’s surprise victory has understandably concerned French Jews.

Rabbi Moshe Sebbag, from the Grand Synagogue of Paris, went as far as to tell the Times of Israel that “it seems France has no future for Jews,” and advised young Jews to leave for Israel.

Mélenchon, who leads the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI), has been accused of underplaying antisemitism, dog whistling, and playing into antisemitic stereotypes, over his long career in politics – all of which he denies.

A spokesperson from the European Jewish Congress (EJC) told the JC that LFI’s success “is a serious cause for concern due to Mélenchon’s repeated antisemitic statements and targeting of French Jewish organisations”. They continued: “The decision of other left-wing parties to align with the LFI in these elections represents an abandonment of French Jews at a time when they are increasingly threatened by the far-left in the public sphere”.

The socialist politician has repeatedly underplayed antisemitism in both his party and across France. In June 2020, Mélenchon dismissed reports of chants of “Dirty Jews” at a left-wing demonstration in Paris. He alleged the reports were fabricated by police, who he accused of “peddling gossip about antisemitism”.

As antisemitic incidents surged post-October 7 – with four times as many reports of antisemitism in 2023 compared to the year before – Mélenchon continued to deny there was a problem. In a blog post published last month, he asserted that antisemitism was “absent” from anti-Israel rallies in France.

Since October 7, the far-left leader has repeatedly refused to condemn Hamas. LFI’s initial statement on the terror attacks called them an “armed offensive by Palestinian forces” that came “in the context of the intensification by Israel of the policy of occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem”. Mélenchon doubled down in response to a backlash, failing to condemn his deputy Daniele Obono, who called Hamas a “resistance movement”.

The left under Mélenchon has focused on the Palestinian cause. In his concluding speech in the first round of elections, the leader stood next to Rima Hassan, a prominent figure in LFI. A French-Palestinian lawyer, Hassan has called the October 7 attacks a “legitimate action”.

Mélenchon has also been accused of playing into antisemitic stereotypes. In an interview on a French news channel in 2020, he accused Jews of being responsible for the death of Jesus. During a discussion about protests in France, Melechon said the police needed to “stay put like Jesus on the cross without reacting.” He added: “I don’t know if Jesus was on a cross, but he was apparently put there by his own people”.
How antisemitism 'fractured the nation,' before the French elections
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON spoke and lectured about the issues that had been abandoned by the left, but did little. According to Brossier the center had constantly taken a “yes, but” approach, “to give a little bit to everyone and not having a firm line” on pivotal social issues. The refusal to take a strong defense on values made politics more vulnerable to extremes.

“The left-wing is getting stronger with the narrative of oppressor and oppressed and anti-capitalism, and the right wing, little by little, took the place that should have been taken by Emmanuel Macron in defending our values,” said Brossier, adding that it was no wonder that 30% of voters supported National Rally in the first round of parliamentary elections.

Althan said that the response to October 7 was an important part of the failure of values for Macron.

“Right after October 7, there was a march, walking against antisemitism that was created in France. Usually, the person to lead such a march would be the president,” said Althan. “He didn’t go, which was a really, really bad signal to everyone, that antisemitism can be an [acceptable] opinion.”

Antisemitism had only grown worse since the march. Althan had already told his children not to talk about Israel and Jewishness outside the home, and after the Hamas pogrom in southern Israel last year, he had to be even more careful.

Althan said that what was needed was more discipline in school, with professors and teachers being supported instead of having to censor themselves. In early June a 12-year-old girl, just a little older than Althan’s children, was gang-raped in an antisemitic attack. No one took it seriously, according to Althan, and only the Jewish organizations and lawyers championed the girl’s case. He called it Hamas-like methods. Brossier said that children were being taught Islamic radical ideologies through groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, and because nothing was being done about it, it was no wonder many were turning to the far-right for answers.

Brossier believed that many French people understood what happened to Israel on October 7, having had the evils of terrorism visited upon them with the 2015 Bataclan theater massacre, the Charlie Hebdo shooting, and the 2012 Toulouse and Montauban massacres. Yet the groups promoting antisemitism were aggressive and virulent, with half-measures taken by the center.

“We need political courage, and not only in words. I think we need to be very firm also with the Muslim Brotherhood network that is definitely influencing European institutions. The French people need to be reassured, and they need to restore their confidence in their politicians,” said Brossier. “I think this is a big issue for us French, as voters, that our politicians represent them. They [politicians] really need to make sure that they will defend and protect our republican democratic system.”
Macron’s far-left allies could threaten French Jews
Macron is a banker. His goal is to protect France from financial collapse and despite the importance he attaches to fighting antisemitism, it is likely that protecting the economy from an overly generous policy towards the poor is his first priority.

Therefore, we should expect a significant change in France’s foreign policy with respect to Israel. Macron, until now considered a friend of Israel, may adopt a more critical line to placate his new allies. Such a change could negatively affect the status of the Jewish community in France and increase its sense of isolation.

Additionally, there is concern that Macron’s rapprochement with the far-left will lead to a weakening of the fight against antisemitism and radical Islam. The far-left tends to ignore or even justify violence against Jews in the name of fighting “occupation” or “imperialism.” If the government takes this approach, it could lead to an increase in antisemitic incidents and jeopardize the security of French Jews.

It is important to note that the Jewish community in France is already suffering from a rise in antisemitism in recent years. Many of its members have chosen to emigrate—to Israel or other countries—due to a sense of insecurity. Macron’s alliance with the far-left could exacerbate this trend and lead to a new wave of emigration.

The emerging alliance between Macron and the far-left poses a significant threat to the Jewish community in France. Community leaders must be vigilant to these dangers and act firmly with the government to ensure the continued protection of the rights and security of French Jews. The international community, especially Israel, must closely monitor these developments and exert diplomatic pressure if necessary.

It is important to remember that history has taught us that when political leaders are willing to sacrifice their principles and the security of minorities for short-term political gain, the consequences can be devastating. The French public as a whole must wake up and understand the dangers inherent in Macron’s alliance with the far-left, not only for Jews but also for the values of the French Republic: liberty, equality and fraternity.
France’s Melanchon promises to recognize Palestinian state
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (La France Insoumise), a key member of the victorious left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) coalition in Sunday’s National Assembly elections, said his government would recognize the “State of Palestine” as soon as possible.

Mélenchon made his remarks to a large gathering of supporters following the win.

Recognizing a Palestinian state has been a key campaign promise of New Popular Front. At a rally in May, Mélenchon said, “France must recognize the Palestinian state now.”

Other France Unbowed members reiterated that promise. Mathilde Panot, a France Unbowed candidate re-elected in the Val-de-Marne, said, “Within the next two weeks, we will recognize the State of Palestine.”

The New Popular Front has condemned Israel’s Gaza operation as “genocide” and Mélanchon has been accused of antisemitism. He has refused to call Hamas a terrorist group.

When France reported a 300% increase in antisemitic attacks in the first three months of 2024, Mélanchon said French Jew-hatred was “residual.”

Two weeks after the Oct. 7 attack, Mélanchon accused Yaël Braun-Pivet, the Jewish president of the National Assembly, then paying a solidarity visit to Israel, of “camping out in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre.”

Prominent French Jews decried Mélanchon’s victory.

Public intellectual Bernard-Henri Lévy tweeted on Sunday: “The left has once again fallen prey to the infamous Mélenchon. Surrounding him now are some of the new faces of antisemitism. A chilling moment indeed.”

Writing in news magazine Causeur on Monday, non-Jewish French journalist Céline Pina questioned whether there were “still red lines in politics now that antisemitism has become a value assumed by the left.

“If you were Jewish, in France, today, would you get yourself together in the event that the situation forces you to leave? I would,” she wrote.

“Well, if the very fact that we can ask ourselves this question does not speak to our collective moral decline, I do not know what will,” Pina added.
No Time: Liberman calls on French Jews to flee to Israel after far-left victory in France
French Jews were plagued on both sides of the political spectrum by extreme candidates, some with a long history of antisemitism and some with a very recent one.

The elections led to no overall winner but saw the NPF come out with the largest vote share and, thus, the greatest chance to form a coalition.

However, the NPF comprises five major parties and many smaller ones, ranging from center-left to far-left, leaving the total number of member parties in the dozens.

Mélenchon’s France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) champions the far-left faction, the Ecologists back the Greens, and the Socialist Party supports the center-left.

In addition, there are further parties and factions in the broad bloc, including the French Communist Party and several separatist and regionalist groups.

The bloc also receives support from several major trade unions and left wing NGOs.

In contrast, the Right formed a much smaller bloc composed of the traditional conservative party of France, Les Republicans, and the far Right National Rally, which is the ideological descendant of the Nazi collaborators and the extreme Right. Although it has moderated in recent years under Marine Le Pen, it has not been able to shake this heritage.

In the center lies the ailing Ensemble party of Presiden Macron, which took heavy losses to both the left and the right, losing 77 seats in the election.

French Jews were effectively disenfranchised by the current political climate, which saw them unwilling to vote for Macron's party due to the rising antisemitic violence experienced by French Jews, unable to vote for the left due to their alliance with far-left antisemites and strong anti-Israel stances, with some even justifying October 7, and regretting being forced to look to the far-right as ironically the only party willing to tackle antisemitism in France.

Liberman's call for a mass French Aliyah is not the first call for such a move, with the Rabbi of Paris Grand Synagogue Moshe Sebbag telling The 'Post' "There is no future for Jews in France."

Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer responded to criticism that the government had not done enough to help Jews from Western countries make aliyah, saying, "The State of Israel is the home of the Jewish people, and the State of Israel invites you to return home, and we will welcome the Jews of France."

He added that they were working to speed up procedures for French Jews, and a minister in the Immigration Ministry said they were planning for a "significant wave of aliyah" from Western countries.


Rep. Cori Bush draws ire of St. Louis Jewish community
During her time in office, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), who is fighting for her seat in her Aug. 6 primary, has consistently ignored and rejected efforts from members of the mainstream Jewish community to communicate and connect with her and her office, six Jewish leaders supporting her opponent told Jewish Insider.

Bush is fending off a challenge from Wesley Bell, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, who has leaned into support for Israel in his campaign and picked up the backing of national pro-Israel groups.

A group of more than 30 rabbis from the St. Louis area came together in March to write a letter condemning Bush and endorsing Bell, accusing the Missouri congresswoman of antisemitism and of having “continually fanned the flames with the most outrageous smears of Israel, accusing the Jewish state of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’ as it has fought to defeat the terrorists.”

The letter follows one sent on Nov. 1, signed by local rabbis as well as the leaders of the local chapters of the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, J Street, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Hillel, National Council of Jewish Women and other Jewish institutions.

That letter condemned Bush for her comments on Israel, accusing her of a “lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred.” Her behavior, the letter charged, “not only fails to advance peace, but it incites anger and the potential of further violence toward the Jewish community.”

Signatories to the March 4 rabbis’ letter supporting Bell described Bush’s response to the Oct. 7 attack as a breaking point in long-simmering frustrations with the incumbent congresswoman dating back to her earliest days in office.

“The groundswell is really taking place post-Oct. 7, because when you are basically siding with Hamas two days after the attack and calling out Israel and calling for a cease-fire when Israel hasn’t even attacked, the Jewish community at that point basically threw their hands up and said, ‘We’re not going to be able to work with this person. We need to find an alternative,’” said Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham of Congregation B’nai Amoona, a Conservative synagogue in the St. Louis suburb of Creve Coeur.

Abraham organized the March 4 letter. Bush’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Jewish leaders highlighted Bush’s statements in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 calling for a cease-fire and blaming U.S. support for Israel for the Oct. 7 attack, as well as her votes against a resolution condemning Hamas and a bill barring Oct. 7 attackers from the U.S. as particularly offensive.

Bush was also the lead sponsor of an Oct. 16 cease-fire resolution which made no mention of Hamas or the hostages taken by Hamas.


Pro-Palestine activists who targeted Starmer plan to disrupt King’s Speech
A pro-Palestine protest group which targeted Sir Keir Starmer’s house are planning to disrupt the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

Youth Demand, a new organisation formed of different pro-Palestinian and environmentalist groups, has warned they plan to target the new Prime Minister.

The group, which drew heavy criticism for protesting outside his home, is rallying members to disrupt the event on July 17, where the King will set out the new government’s legislative agenda.

In an email sent on Saturday evening, the group, which does not believe the Prime Minister has been strong enough in its criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, boasted that it plans to cause chaos.

In an email, the group said: “Youth Demand will be disrupting the State Opening of Parliament.

“We disrupt because it is our duty to fight back in every way we non-violently can and because we refuse to despair, but instead are full of hope that another way is possible.”

The group gave members details of a meeting point in the email.

It added: “The Tories have collapsed, and Labour has won the sham election.

“But Sir Keir Starmer does not represent us: He has used the rigged two-party system to slither his way into Downing Street despite one of the lowest voter turnouts in 75 years.

“Millions of young people across the country refused to vote for Labour and their deadly policies backing genocide in Palestine, and across the globe by driving climate disasters.
New Justice Secretary Mahmood's Past of Promoting Mob Rule
Shabana Mahmood, the UK’s new Secretary of State for Justice, brings a troubling record to her new role. In 2014, she was accused of promoting “mob rule” after leading a protest backing the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, forcing a Sainsbury’s in Birmingham to close for hours. Taking the law into her own hands…

She later boasted of the Sainsbury’s shutdown to a rally:
“Last week I was with 200 activists outside in the centre of Birmingham and we lay down in the street and we lay down inside Sainsbury’s to say that we object to Sainsbury’s stocking goods from the illegal settlements and that they must stop. We managed to close down that store for 5 hours at peak time on a Saturday. This is how we can make a difference.”

At the time, she was slammed by Mike Freer, then MP for Finchley and Golders Green: “For any Parliamentarian to encourage mob rule as a way of protesting is shameful.” Is this the sort of enforcement of justice Mahmood will be promoting as the new Secretary of State?




Protesters drape Westfield Stratford in colossal Palestinian flag
A huge Palestinian flag was draped down several floors of Westfield Stratford this weekend.

A handful of protesters covered their faces and used loudspeakers to chant anti-Israel messages in the East London shopping centre, as the roughly 30ft flag dominated the central atrium of the centre.

Demonstrators shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and condemned the new Prime Minister with the chant, “Starmer, Starmer, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”

Videos shared on social media suggest between eight and 12 demonstrators made their way into the shopping centre to demonstrate on Sunday, carrying the enormous flag and several other smaller flags.

As the red, white, green and black flag was unfurled over a railing in the shop, the message, “#SavePalestine” could be made out.

A handful of security officers appeared to have been present as the giant flag was flown, and most shoppers passed by unperturbed by the massive flag, which spanned several floors of the shop.

The protesters celebrated the action on social media, writing on TikTok, “I love living here.”

Since October 7, protesters have attempted to target a string of shops inside Westfield, including Zara, H&M and Starbucks.

During the Boxing Day sales last year, protesters poured into the shopping centre, protesting outside a branch of H&M, chanting “while you're shopping, bombs are dropping”, and swamping a Zara.

The Westfield group was cofounded by Jewish Holocaust survivor and Australian-Israeli businessman, Sir Frank Lowy, who served in the IDF during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The shopping giant was acquired by French company Unibail-Rodamco in 2018.


Pro-Palestinian Greens senator's jaw-dropping response after she is asked a simple question about the terror group Hamas FIVE times
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has repeatedly refused to answer whether she believes 'Hamas should be dismantled,' arguing it's not up to her to say 'who should be gone or not'.

Ms Faruqi appeared on ABC's Insiders on Sunday morning following the party's failed attempt to have parliament recognise Palestinian statehood this week.

The issue saw now-independent senator Fatima Payman resign from Labor after being frozen out when she crossed party lines to side with the Greens.

Ms Faruqi called out Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his government for not supporting the motion without adding 'caveats'.

When grilled on her stance however, Ms Faruqi could not say whether she wanted Hamas to be abolished as a condition to statehood.

The NSW senator was asked five times whether the Islamic terrorist group responsible for the October 7 attacks needed to be either removed or disbanded.

'Hamas has nothing to do with recognising Palestinian statehood,' she told host David Speers.

'Recognising Palestinian statehood is about Palestinians being able to self-determine.'

When questioned further on the issue, the senator said: 'I can't keep repeating it again and again, (Hamas) has nothing to do with Palestinian statehood'.

'Palestinians need to decide where they want to go with their own region, not intervention from western countries.'

Speers noted Hamas is listed in Australia as a terrorist organisation and told the senator 'surely you're able to say whether you'd like to see them gone or not'.

'It's not up to me to say who should be gone or not,' she replied.

Ms Faruqi said she couldn't answer the question because it's based on a 'hypothetical situation' if Palestinians were to be granted statehood.
Anti-Israel Group Planning Protest in Front of Michigan Holocaust Museum
An anti-Israel organization is planning to hold a protest in front of a Holocaust museum in Michigan to “end genocide” and “stop US-Israel war crimes,” referring to the Jewish state’s military campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The group, Coalition Against Genocide, released a graphic calling on its supporters to assemble in front of the Zekelman Holocaust Museum on July 14 to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s supposed “genocide” of Palestinians. The graphic draws parallels between the ongoing war in Gaza and the Holocaust — a comparison that many Jewish leaders have decried as false and antisemitic.

“Never again for anyone,” the graphic says.

“Stop US-Israel war crimes,” the graphic adds.

News of the planned protest circulated like wildfire on social media, with critics calling the event “pure antisemitism” and “political propaganda.” The Michigan chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shared on X/Twitter that it is “working with the Zekelman Holocaust Museum and local authorities to address safety and community concerns.”

Political protests in front of Holocaust museums and exhibits are generally considered to be deeply disrespectful to the victims of the Holocaust and their families. Many believe such demonstrations minimize the horrors of the Holocaust by drawing a false comparison between Israel’s defensive military actions and Nazi Germany’s attempted extermination of Jews. Six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
Columbia removes three deans who mocked campus Jew-hatred event
Columbia University announced on Monday that it “permanently removed” three senior administrators who mocked concerns about Jew-hatred on campus.

Minouche Shafik, the Ivy League school’s president, wrote that the text message exchanges were “very troubling.”

“This incident revealed behavior and sentiments that were not only unprofessional but also disturbingly touched on ancient antisemitic tropes,” Shafik wrote in a message to the “Columbia community” on Monday.

“Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community that is antithetical to our university’s values and the standards we must uphold in our community,” she wrote.

Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who is leading an investigation into antisemitism on campuses as chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, told JNS that Columbia’s response was insufficient.

“To put it simply: not enough,” Foxx said. “Every rock that this committee’s investigation turns over is more proof that ‘elite’ institutions are rotting away and antisemitism is as rampant as ever.”

“Students deserve better, and Columbia is far from off the hook,” she told JNS.

During a May 31 event titled “Jewish life on campus: past, present and future,” the three administrators traded jokes about Jewish campus leaders exploiting antisemitism to raise money and questioned the experiences of Jews and Israelis on the school’s campus.

“Amazing what $$$$ can do,” wrote Cristen Kromm, then-dean of undergraduate student life at Columbia, after a discussion at the event of an opinion article that a campus rabbi penned.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing and how to take full advantage of this moment,” wrote Matthew Patashnick, then-associate dean for student and family support, in response to the executive director of Columbia Hillel.

“Huge fundraising potential,” he added.
Moving the Priests Around: Columbia To Reassign Deans at Center of Texting Scandal
The sanctions stop short of demands from over 1,000 students and alumni who signed a petition last week calling for the dismissal of all four administrators involved in the text exchanges.

"All four of the deans implicated must be held accountable and terminated," the petition read. "Columbia University must deliver an immediate and unambiguous message that antisemitism will not be tolerated."

Instead, Columbia will require all faculty and staff to complete a "new antidiscrimination training," developed by the provost's office, that "includes antisemitism training," Shafik and Olinto said Monday.

Harvard and other elite universities have instituted similar trainings in response to the campus ferment unleashed by the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. That approach had divided Jewish leaders, with some, including former Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman, arguing that the diversity, equity, and inclusion framework on which such trainings are based is itself part of the problem.

"DEI has evolved into a mammoth, ideologically-driven presence on many campuses," David Harris, the former CEO of the American Jewish Committee, said in December. "I don't believe that outside efforts, however well-intentioned, that nibble around the edges or simply seek to add Jews to the DEI agenda, address the heart of the problem."

Monday's email marks the first time that Shafik and Columbia have publicly addressed the messages that set off a month-long public relations crisis. Shafik wrote that the texts, which were first reported by the Free Beacon, were "not only unprofessional" but also "touched on ancient antisemitic tropes."

"Whether intended as such or not, these sentiments are unacceptable and deeply upsetting, conveying a lack of seriousness about the concerns and the experiences of members of our Jewish community that is antithetical to our university's values and the standards we must uphold in our community," Shafik wrote. "We are taking action that holds those involved in this incident accountable."

Two of the officials, Kromm and Patashnick, separately suggested that Jews were using their wealth—"$$$$," as Kromm put it—to foment panic about anti-Semitism, while a third, Chang-Kim, said that Jewish students' concerns come "from such a place of privilege."

Other messages used vomit emojis to describe a Columbia rabbi's op-ed and expressed disdain for the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Orly Mishan, who said that her own daughter was "hiding in plain sight" at Columbia.

"I'm going to throw up," Chang-Kim wrote as Mishan was speaking.

Sorett himself joined in the pile-on, indicating that he found the panel "difficult to listen to" and endorsing a sarcastic message about the university's Hillel director, Brian Cohen, after Cohen said on the panel that his "soul has been broken" by the protests on Columbia's campus. Those protests included calls to kill Jewish students and "burn Tel Aviv to the ground."

"LMAO," Sorrett wrote.

Sorett's Monday morning email marks his third attempt at an apology for his own role in the incident. He initially referred to the leaked text messages, which were captured by an audience member during a May 31 panel on "Jewish Life at Columbia," as an "invasion of privacy" and said he had "already spoken to each person involved," omitting any mention of his own role in the affair.

When the Free Beacon sent a reporter to his resident to seek comment, Sorett, who signed a 2020 letter calling to defund the NYPD by $1 billion, called the police.


Anti-Israel serial arsonist receives support from Columbia encampment protest groups
The Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition that led the encampment at the college has issued a statement of support for an alleged anti-Israel serial arsonist.

The Jewish Voice for Peace Columbia, Students for Justice in Palestine Columbia, and CUAD, a coalition of around 100 student groups, published on Instagram a statement of support for Casey Goonan, who was arrested on Monday for involvement in four firebombing and arson attacks at the University of California, Berkeley.

“CUAD stands in full support of Casey Goonan and all of our comrades who have bravely undertaken the call to escalate for Palestine,” said the coalition in the Thursday statement. “Even if Casey G[oonan] is innocent, the entire Palestine solidarity movement must support them as if they truly did take bold and heroic actions to protect millions of lives.” The series of arson attacks

Goonan’s alleged arson spree of a UC Berkeley Police Department vehicle, a construction site, a brush area near a library, and a building was described by the coalition as a “rational action of targeting state infrastructure” in response to US support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

“The fires on UC campuses have been in direct response to the university’s violent police repression of their own students. The spark ignited on US campuses during the intifada of the last few months cannot be quelled, and further repression will only continue to transform these sparks into flames,” said CUAD.

CUAD denounced those who attacked Goonan’s tactics as ineffective or unwise, saying that they had clear “ethical content.”
WaPo: How Stanford can do away with campus antisemitism
These forms of bias are not unique to Stanford. But, as we propose in our report, it is possible to stop the spiral of polarization and discrimination: Universities must return to core principles and restore a culture of pluralism and tolerance.

First, they must ensure that their students are safe. Not from divergent ideas — students should face those in abundance — but from bigotry. Schools have an obligation to protect students from identity-based harassment and to provide psychological counseling and moral support when needed.

They must carefully construct and enforce “time, place and manner” restrictions on expression — content-neutral policies that preserve the university’s ability to function. Stanford has free speech zones where protests can take place. But parts of the campus where essential business of teaching, research and administration would be disrupted are off-limits. The experience at Stanford over this past academic year — which culminated in early June with 11 students and two others being arrested for breaking into the offices of the president and provost — suggests the value of enforcing rules.

Students must be held accountable for violations of the rules, and university leaders must hold themselves accountable by establishing clear goals for addressing bigotry and reporting regularly on incidents of bias and the administration’s responses.

Universities should be cautious in taking institutional positions on issues of the day, and they should confront and denounce antisemitism, anti-Israeli bias, Islamophobia and other forms of identity bias.

The paramount task at Stanford and elsewhere is to restore a culture of pluralism and tolerance. We endorse Harvard Professor Danielle Allen’s call for “a framework of confident pluralism — inclusion and belonging, academic freedom and mutual respect.” Also needed is improved education about the Middle East and about Jewish history. This must be coupled with classes to promote norms of critical inquiry and respectful dialogue. Faculty members need training in how to teach these skills.

Yet these efforts alone will not be enough. Students, faculty and staff must also work to create a culture of critical inquiry. This means weighing their arguments against evidence and competing values — and seeing their peers as human beings of equal worth and potential.
University of Texas at Austin Disciplines Pro-Hamas Rioters
The University of Texas at Austin has levied disciplinary sanctions against four students who illegally occupied the campus as part of a pro-Hamas demonstration aimed at pressuring the university to boycott and divest from Israel.

Three students have been sentenced to deferred suspensions, a form of probation which allows them to continue their studies so long as they comply with school rules going forward, according KUT News, a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate. As part of their punishment, they must pass an exam testing their knowledge of school policies on free speech and protests and formally declare their awareness of the harsher, full suspensions they will receive should they violate school rules again.

One student, KUT added, was given a “full” two-year suspension during which he is banned from campus. The suspension effectively disenrolled him from the university, but he can reapply for readmission in 2026.

“The University of Texas at Austin provided a world-class learning environment where every student can thrive,” said a letter, as quoted by the outlet, sent to one of the students who was placed on deferred suspension. “At this juncture, suspension appears to be the appropriate consequences for these serious infractions.”

It continued, “However, recognizing your commitment to educational growth, we want to offer you an alternative path to avoid suspension by proving that you have learned from this experience. We offer you the choice to accept a deferred suspension.”

The University of Pennsylvania has also disciplined pro-Hamas rioters for their conduct this past semester. According to a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) splinter group — Freedom School for Palestine — four students have been “placed on semester-ling or year long suspension.”

Harvard University and Stanford University barred several of its protesters from graduation, withholding their degrees pending further review of their conduct. Meanwhile, Columbia University reportedly suspended over a dozen protesters, some of whom vandalized school property.

Administrators and faculty have been disciplined for their conduct too.

Last week, Drexel University president John Fry announced that professor Mariana Chilton “has been placed on administrative leave” for participating in a mass theft of items from a synagogue in a suburb outside Philadelphia. Chilton, 56, a professor of health management and policy at Drexel, is accused of and criminally charged with stealing pro-Israel signs from the Main Line Reform Temple in Lower Merion Township, traveling there from her neighborhood of residency, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Chilton allegedly drove the getaway car while two other accomplices, Sarah Prickett and Sam Penn — who is from New York — trespassed the synagogue and absconded with the loot.

Chilton’s case is unlike any other reported in the past year. While dozens of professors have been accused of abusing their Jewish students and encouraging their classmates to bully and shame them, none are alleged to have resorted to stealing from a Jewish house of worship to make their point.
Biden admin closes probe of Brown, after school seemed to overlook bias, including Jew-hatred
The U.S. Department of Education announced on Monday that it came to an agreement with Brown University to close its investigation of the Ivy League school for allegedly turning a blind eye to bias, including Jew-hatred, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“I commend Brown University for assessing its own campus climate and undertaking responsive reforms to comply with Title VI, in addition to the terms it agrees today to undertake in response to OCR’s investigation,” stated Catherine Lhamon, U.S. assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department’s Office for Civil Rights looks forward to working with the university in Providence, R.I., “to ensure a nondiscriminatory learning environment for its Jewish, Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian students and students of all other backgrounds,” Lhamon added.

The original complaint that the department investigated was filed in December—the same month that StopAntisemitism gave Brown an ‘F’ grade for Jew-hatred on its campus—and alleged anti-Jewish bias, according to the Education Department. The department announced the investigation in January.

The department wrote to Brown on Monday that it opened an investigation on Jan. 9 about whether the school “failed to respond to alleged harassment of students based on national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) in a manner consistent with the requirements of Title VI.”

The department “reviewed records and information provided by the complainant, the university and publicly available information,” it added. “These materials also reflected incidents of alleged harassment of students based on national origin on other bases, specifically shared Palestinian, Arab and/or Muslim ancestry.”

Brown received about 75 allegations of “antisemitic, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim harassment against students from October 2023 through late March 202,” the Education Department added in a press release.

“But the university appears to have taken no or little action in response other than to acknowledge receipt of the reports, list support resources and request to meet with the complainant, consistent with its policies then in effect,” it stated. (It didn’t say how many of the 75 alleged Jew-hatred.)


Mark Ruffalo called out for 'Islamophobia'
Oscar-nominated actor and Avengers star Mark Ruffalo, known for his left-wing activism, has recently drawn accusations of Islamophobia following his criticism of the right-wing initiative, Project 2025, which he likened to “the Sharia law of the ‘Christian’ crazy people,” in a post on X last week.

Project 2025 consists of an assortment of right-wing-aligned policy proposals that the Heritage Foundation conceptualizes. They aim at influencing the White House in terms of unifying its executive power should the next US president be a Republican.

Proponents of the project, Ruffalo wrote, “aren’t Christians at all but want to control every aspect of your life through their narrow and exclusionary interpretation of Christ’s egalitarian, inclusive, and kindly teachings... Forced birth and forced religion. Trump’s American Taliban.”

Comments garner criticism
His comments drew a storm of criticism, with many accusing him of Islamophobia.

“White liberals will really not miss any opportunity to use Islam as the standard of what needs to be purged. White Christian nationalism is the founding ideology of your whole country; what the f*** do Muslims and Sharia [laws] have to do with it?” wrote political comedian Aamer Rahman.

“Making sure you see how Islamophobic you’re being here, my guy,” wrote media critic Sana Saeed. Another X user, Cinema Shogun, wrote, “Wow, I had no idea Mark Ruffalo was this Islamophobic. I’m going to throw all of my Avengers DVDs in the trash now.”

Dozens more replies to Ruffalo’s post echoed these sentiments. Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, US progressives have gone so far in their quest to delegitimize Israel and support Hamas that now even criticizing Sharia law and the Taliban raises their ire.
LA Times Falsely Blames Home Sales in ‘Palestinian’ Land for Attacks on LA Jews
A photo caption in the print edition article also repeats the inaccurate terminology: “Building settlements on seized Palestinian land violates international law. . . “

But the land on which Israeli settlements are located have never before in history been under Palestinian control or sovereignty. As Fleishman himself correctly notes further down in his article, the West Bank “was seized from Jordan in the Six-Day War.” Prior to Jordan’s illegal occupation which lasted from 1948 to 1967, the West Bank was under control of the British, as part of the British Mandate. Before the British Mandate starting in 1917, the territory was under Ottoman control. Going back earlier in history, Palestinian Arabs never held control over the West Bank or any other territory.

On what basis, then, is the disputed territory on which Israeli settlements sit “Palestinian”?

The territory’s status, like that of all of the West Bank, is to be resolved by negotiations anticipated by U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian interim accords, the 2003 international “road map” and related diplomatic efforts taking 242 and 338 as reference points. The co-authors of resolution 242, U.S. Under Secretary of State Eugene Rostow, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Arthur Goldberg, and British ambassador Lord Caradon made clear at the time and subsequently that Jews and Arabs both had claims in the territories, no national sovereignty over the territories had been recognized since the end of Ottoman rule and negotiations would be necessary to resolve competing claims.

If the West Bank were simply Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, in particular territory belonging to another sovereign state and acquired by aggression, then Israel would be required to withdraw and no negotiations would have been necessary. But since Israel is the obligatory military occupational authority, having won the territory from Jordan in a war of self-defense in 1967 and retained them in a similar conflict in 1973, and competing claims remain unresolved, the West Bank is land Palestinians want for a future state, and land at least some of which many Israelis claim for Israel.

Notably, The Los Angeles Times itself has previously commendably corrected the identical error in 2019. About the West Bank’s Jordan Valley where many Israeli communities are located, the Times’ Sept. 18, 2019 correction rightly stated:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to “Palestinian territory” in the Jordan Valley. The land in question was seized from Jordan in 1967 and has been occupied by Israel. Palestinians want it as part of a future state.
After HRC Exposé, Sadia Zaman & Her Employer Offer Apology, But No Concrete Action
On July 2, HonestReporting Canada exposed and raised the alarm regarding Sadia Zaman, the CEO of the Inspirit Foundation who is also a board member of the Canadian Journalism Collective (CJC), the body created by Google to assist the technology company in helping to disburse 100 million dollars in annual grants, as part of its agreement with the federal government.

As noted by HonestReporting Canada, on social media, Zaman has shared many anti-Israel, and in our view, antisemitic posts, including one which grotesquely compared Israel’s counter-terrorism operations against Hamas in Gaza with the Nazi’s murder of Jewish babies in the Auschwitz death camp during the Holocaust, as well as another post which appeared to rationalize, or at the very least seem to explain away, the genocidal rationale of Hamas in its October 7 massacres in Israel.

She had also used her position at the Inspirit Foundation, whose mandate is to promote “a more inclusive and pluralist Canada where our differences are valued and engaged,” to outrageously and falsely accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Following HonestReporting Canada’s alert, on July 6, The National Post published a detailed article on the affair, written by reporter Matthew Hanick, entitled: “Journalism Collective director apologizes for antisemitic re-posts”.

In the article, Hanick reported that, following HRC’s exposure of her comments, Zaman had issued an apology on July 3, saying “I acknowledge that some of the content I reshared on social media adds to the pain of Jewish communities and I apologize for that unreservedly.”

Her apology continued: “I am unequivocally opposed to antisemitism and all violence against Jewish people. Immediately upon learning about these concerns, I reached out to leaders in the Jewish community to listen and will continue to do so. I have devoted my career to anti-racism work, and I will continue to speak out against racism, discrimination and violence in all its forms.”

The following day, the Inspirit Foundation, signed by co-chairs James Chan and Deborah Irvine, issued its own apology in an emailed statement to The National Post, which read “The social media content reshared by CEO Sadia Zaman is inappropriate. For that, we unreservedly apologize to the Jewish community and others who were hurt by these actions “Ms. Zaman has also expressed regret and apologized. Inspirit is unequivocally opposed to antisemitism and all violence against Jewish people. Ms. Zaman is in the process of contacting members of the Jewish community directly to express her regret for these social media posts.”

While these statements are welcome, they also come only after HonestReporting Canada publicized the issue, raising questions as to what degree Zaman’s views could potentially play a role in helping to decide which news media outlets could receive significant funding from Google.

While the apologies are welcome, as of yet there have been no concrete steps outlined as to how Zaman will take responsibility for her past actions, nor from the Canadian Journalism Collective as to how the body will ensure that Zaman’s previously-expressed anti-Israel views, and in our opinion, antisemitic content, will in no way colour the grants paid for by Google, and directed by the CJC.
Star Columnist Faisal Kutty Attempts To Spin Stinging Failure By Campus Mob Into A Win
On July 2, Justice Markus Koehnen of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an injunction ordering a small group of anti-Israel activists off a lawn at the University of Toronto, where they had been present for two months, refusing to leave. The judge gave until 6pm the following day for them to vacate the premises, otherwise police would be empowered to remove them by force.

In the hours before the deadline, the occupiers packed up and surrendered without a fight, despite long promising not to do so until their demands were met. And in the end, their demands for the University of Toronto to divest from Israeli academic institutions was not met.

While it is apparent that the small group of occupiers, who – despite their lofty rhetoric about resistance – folded like a house of cards without a fight, lost the battle without anything to show for it.

But that abject failure did not stop Faisal Kutty, a Toronto Star columnist and one of the newspaper’s most reliably anti-Israel commentators who bills himself “the Muslim lawyer” on social media, from attempting to spin an abject loss into somehow a win.

In his July 7 column entitled: “Court ruling a vindication for pro-Palestinian protesters at U of T,” Kutty twisted himself into a pretzel in attempting to convince readers that a loss isn’t really a loss.

Much of Kutty’s argument rested on seizing on a few isolated lines from Koenen’s judgment, including where he refers to the occupiers as “young idealists fighting” for a cause, despite evidence showing that most of them were older adults, and not students at all.

Kutty tried to reframe reality, calling occupiers “students” and somehow ignoring the majority of whom were precisely not students, and in so doing, attempted to lend the motley group an air of legitimacy and youthful energy.

Although Kutty’s column purported to claim how the occupiers were somehow vindicated – by being forced to leave without any successes – he also complained about other schools “such as York, Calgary, Alberta, and Laval, cleared them (occupiers) without any express legal authority,” and whined to readers about the University of Waterloo suing the demonstrators for 1.5 million dollars.
Daily Mail omits that emaciated Gazan suffers from cerebral palsey
First, there are no Israeli restrictions on purely humanitarian aid entering Gaza, which is why there have been no credible reports of anyone in the Strip, who didn’t have a pre-existing condition, dying of malnutrtion. Indeed, studies have revealed that the food supply provided to Palesinians in the Strip has averaged 3,374 calories per person daily, well above the 2,100 recommended by the Sphere humanitarian movement as the minimum standard.

But, of even greater importance is one glaring omission in the Daily Mail article: the fact that Ahmed Al-Najjar, as even pro-Palestinian outlets and activists have reported, has cerebral palsy, a condition that can cause malnutrition because it “affects the muscles and movements involved in chewing, swallowing, and eating and can cause gastrointestinal issues”. Other symptoms include accelerated musculoskeletal aging, accompanied by severe muscle atrophy.

In other words, the Mail omitted the one fact that would have contradcited their desired narrative.

Earlier today, we contacted Daily Mail editors asking that they amend the article to note Ahmed’s cerebral palsey.
BBC News framing of a strike on terrorists using human shields
This latest exploitation of an UNRWA school by terrorists is of course by no means the first. In addition to the other school in the same neighbourhood that was targeted in early June, IDF forces have recently discovered terrorists operating out of UNRWA schools in the “Alqahirah” School in Al-Furqan and the “Musa” School in Daraj Tuffah as well as others in Shuja’iya, Shati and elsewhere. Additional types of UNRWA installations have also been exploited by terrorists, including its main headquarters in the Gaza Strip.

Neither, of course, is this by any means the first conflict in which UNRWA facilities have been compromised by terrorists.

Clearly – as the Colonna report acknowledges – UNRWA’s “due diligence mechanisms” do not work. But instead of challenging UNRWA’s communications director on the issue of why its supposed regular inspections have not signalled “critical breaches” that result in civilians being used as human shields by terrorists, Abualouf and McArthur instead preferred to once again provide her with an uncritical platform from which to promote her talking points.


Israelis arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport planned to join ISIS in Syria
Two Israeli citizens from the northern Arab town of Ar’ara were indicted on Monday on charges of attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria, the State Attorney’s Office announced.

Abdel Mahdi Gabarin and Naim Gabarin were arrested last month at Ben-Gurion Airport as they tried to board a flight to Turkey, from where they had planned to cross into Syria, according to the charges.

Prosecutors said the suspects met following prayers at a mosque in the city of Umm al-Fahm, near Ar’ara, where Abdel Mahdi served as an imam.

The two men were said to have consumed online propaganda that glorified ISIS’s actions, including beheading videos put out by the terrorist group, and are suspected to have prepared for the fighting in Syria through combat training and shooting drills at firing ranges in Israel.

On June 17, the Israel Police revealed that security forces had arrested a resident of the Muslim village of ‘Ara, northeast of Hadera, on suspicion of preparing to join ISIS in Somalia. He was said to have made extensive preparations, including by writing a will, collecting funds, applying for a foreign passport and maintaining contact with “hostile elements.”

Earlier this year, ISIS spokesman Abu Huthaifa al-Ansari called on the group’s supporters around the world to attack Jews and avenge the killing by the Israel Defense Forces of Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The Arab terrorist who murdered a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd in Samaria in April was inspired by ISIS, having become interested in jihad and the Islamic State around a year before he carried out the killing.


Don’t fall for the spin that Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, is a reformer
Masoud Pezeshkian’s victory in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s presidential contest should be treated with significant scepticism. The “elections” in Iran — or as many Iranians call them, “selections” — are not free or fair. The president’s power is extremely limited and beware of the hype promoting Pezeshkian’s ascendance.

Pezeshkian is a career Islamic Republic loyalist. He has boasted of his role in promoting forced hijab in the early years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and rose through the ranks of Iran’s medical system because of his adherence to its hardline ideological mores. While at times criticising the Iranian system’s response to a variety of crises — for example the murder of Mahsa Amini in 2022 — which have won him the misleading moniker of “reformist,” he has never defected or departed from Tehran’s party line: adherence to the supreme leader’s rule and the founding precepts of the Islamic Republic.

A former health minister, member of parliament and deputy speaker of parliament, Pezeshkian will be a weak president, especially as he lacks a pedigree from the security establishment. Despite nominally chairing the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), the SNSC will be dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and other hardened men from the most repressive institutions in Tehran. Even if his hardline opponent, Saeed Jalili, had won — who had experience as a nuclear negotiator — he too would have been a rubber stamp for the supreme leader.

Khamenei is looking for individuals he can control. And Khamenei would never have allowed Pezeshkian to run if there was a risk of him being a true wild card. Pezeshkian hits a sweet spot for Khamenei as he is untested, unknown on the international stage and carries the brand of being a “reformist” which could prove useful in creating fissures in the international community to neutralise pressure campaigns. This is especially relevant for Iran as it is preparing for the possibility of the return of Donald Trump to the White House. This could be seen in the Iranian presidential debates, where a Trump second term loomed large in the conversations. Public reporting even suggested that Iran’s Foreign Ministry had created an “informal working group” last spring to prepare for Trump. Thus, having Pezeshkian in the presidential chair with a smiling face saying all the right things could prove helpful for Khamenei in thwarting a Trump administration’s ability to form international coalitions isolating Iran that may destabilise the Iranian system as he prepares for the succession.
Iran's president-elect reaffirms countries anti-Israel stance
President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian reaffirmed Iran's anti-Israel stance on Monday, saying resistance movements across the region will not allow Israel’s "criminal policies" towards the Palestinians to continue.

"The Islamic Republic has always supported the resistance of the people of the region against the illegitimate Zionist regime," Pezeshkian said in a message to Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group.

The comments signaled no change in the regional policies of the incoming government under the relatively moderate Pezeshkian, who defeated his hardline rival in last week’s runoff election.

"I am certain that the resistance movements in the region will not allow this regime to continue its warmongering and criminal policies against the oppressed people of Palestine and other nations of the region," Iranian media quoted Pezeshkian as saying.

Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah and the Palestinian Sunni Muslim Hamas are part of a group of Iranian-backed factions in the region known as the Axis of Resistance. An anti-Israel billboard is seen next to the Iranian flag during a celebration following the IRGC attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2024. (credit: Majid Asgaripour/WANA/via Reuters)
Satellite photos show Iran expanding missile production
Recent satellite imagery shows major expansions at two key Iranian ballistic missile facilities that two American researchers assessed are for boosting missile production, a conclusion confirmed by three senior Iranian officials.

The enlargement of the sites follows an October 2022 deal in which Iran agreed to provide missiles to Russia, which has been seeking them for its war against Ukraine. Tehran also supplies missiles to Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the Lebanese Hezbollah, both members of the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance against Israel, according to US officials.

Images taken by commercial satellite firm Planet Labs of the Modarres military base in March and the Khojir missile production complex in April show more than 30 new buildings at the two sites, both of which are located near Tehran.

The images, reviewed by Reuters, show many of the structures are surrounded by large dirt berms. Such earthworks are associated with missile production and are designed to stop a blast in one building from detonating highly combustible materials in nearby structures, says Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

The expansions began at Khojir in August last year and at Modarres in October, Lewis said, based on images of the sites.

Iran’s arsenal is already the largest in the Middle East, estimated at more than 3,000 missiles, including models designed to carry conventional and nuclear warheads, experts say.


Israel doubles security budget for Olympics as athletes fear hostility in Paris
Israeli athletes will face alienation from other delegations and security threats at the Olympics this year, say members of the country’s national team.

The Olympics in Paris this summer will be Israel’s 18th appearance at the competition, despite calls for the country to be excluded from the Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) assured Israel in March that there will be no threat to the country’s Olympic status, saying “there is no question” that Israeli athletes will be allowed to compete.

IOC President Thomas Bach also assured the Israeli delegation that there would be “special measures” taken regarding the security of Israeli athletes.

Israel has doubled its own security budget this for this year’s Games. Flag-bearer and judo champion Peter Paltchick told US news site Jewish Insider that he was confident, given the extra security, that the Olympics this summer would be “safe and secure” for all Israeli athletes competing.

“There are so many people who are taking care of us and making us feel secure,” he said. “The staff is really amazing, and I feel that we have nothing to worry about, we are all just focusing on preparing for the game ahead.”

Security has been a priority for the Israeli delegation since the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich when eleven Israeli coaches and athletes were killed in a terrorist attack. The Palestinian militant group Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village, where they killed two members of the Israeli delegation, and took another nine hostage.

Eytan Ben David, former lead of the dignitary protection unit in the Shin Bet, told Jewish Insider that athletes and coaches this year will be protected with the “highest level of security that exists”. He also said yh that given the successful protection of Eurovision singer Eden Golan, security will be prepared.

But for Israeli athletes competing in France, it isn’t just a matter of physical safety, but of alienation. Following calls for boycotts and sanctions, Israeli athletes feel unwelcome at the Games. “Many of the athletes who used to be my friend do not want to talk to me anymore or shake my hand,” Peter Paltchick told The Jewish Insider.

“I’m sure there will be other provocations,” he continued, “but I am trying to stay focused on the technical stuff and on competing. Just being there and trying to win is the best representation for my country”.

Israel will be competing in 16 events at this summer’s games, sending 87 athletes to compete in events including archery, Judo and surfing.
Swedish Maccabi Haifa Player Wants to Leave Team Amid Safety Concerns During Israel-Hamas War: Report
Swedish professional soccer player Daniel Sundgren wants to be released from the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Haifa because he fears for his safety in Israel amid the country’s ongoing war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, according to Ynet.

Sundgren’s family — he has a daughter with his Swedish fiancé, who is Jewish — does not wish to return to Israel because of the war and concerns about a possible confrontation in northern Israel with the Hezbollah terrorist organization, Ynet added in its report. Maccabi Haifa officials are reportedly aware of Sundgren’s concerns and will not stand in his way if he decides to leave the team.

The 33-year-old signed with Maccabi Haifa in 2022 and plays as a right-back for the Israeli Premier League club. He became an Israeli citizen last year, but in November 2023, he came under fire for refusing to join his teammates in holding a banner on the soccer field that called for the return of the hostages abducted by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir appealed to revoke Sundgren’s Israeli citizenship in light of his refusal to hold the banner, Israel’s Kan reported at the time.

Following the incident, Sundgren took to social media to defend himself. “It’s just about a misunderstanding that caused a lot of damage,” he reportedly wrote in an Instagram post. “I came back to play for a club I love, Maccabi Haifa. We didn’t know what was on the banner, and all we want is peace. I hope all the hostages can be released and return to their families. I am grateful for everyone showing love. I love you guys, and I hope we’ll be able to figure this out.”


A congressman from the Bible Belt comes to Israel as a friend
He is one of two Jewish Republicans in all of Congress and hails from a heavily evangelical district in Tennessee.

The politically conservative district in eastern Memphis and West Tennessee that Congressman David Kustoff represents, he recounted in Jerusalem last week, has almost as many church steeples as McDonald’s golden arches.

When he first campaigned for Congress in 2016 and went knocking on doors, he was often asked what church he attended. His answer, ‘Temple Israel,’ generated much enthusiasm. He often received the response: “I love Israel. What can we do to support Israel?”

Kustoff, who serves as the chairman of the House-Knesset Parliamentary Friendship Group, was in Jerusalem last week on a 72-hour solidarity visit.

“I want to tell you that I am here simply because I am a friend of Israel, and friendship is essential in times such as these,” he said in his address to the House-Knesset Friendship Group. Kustoff spoke at the invitation of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and in the presence of U.S. Ambassador Jack Lew.

In an interview with JNS in Jerusalem on July 4, the soft-spoken 57-year-old chose his words carefully. The former United States attorney for the Western District of Tennessee is neither verbose nor sensationalist.

He expressed concern over U.S. President Joe Biden’s level of commitment to Israel of late, particularly the administration’s withholding of certain munitions (“Given the number of mixed messages over the last couple months I am concerned about the Biden-Netanyahu relationship”).
Yemenite Jews Rescued to Cairo in 2021 Now Seek Immigration to Israel After US Hopes Fade
Tens of Yemenite Jews, who were rescued from Yemen to Cairo in 2021 by an Arab country without diplomatic relations with Israel, are now hoping to immigrate to Israel, according to Zman Yisrael (Times of Israel’s Hebrew site)

The refugees, part of a group of over 100 who were brought to Cairo, have come to the conclusion that they will not receive US citizenship as they had hoped and have turned their attention to Israel. [many of them identify with Satmar, which had encouraged them to apply for US citizenship.]

The group is headed by Yosef Levi, and most of them are from the Marhabi and Hamdi families. A few weeks ago a relative of the families from Israel visited them and some said they had despaired from reaching the US. Others are still hoping to reach the US, which demands that they waive their Yemenite passports if they wish to receive refugee status. There are other procedural difficulties with moving to the US.

Dr. Yigal Ben-Shalom, a former Welfare Ministry director-general and now the head of the association for developing the community, culture and heritage of Yemen, told Zman Yisrael that “Israel is the homeland which the Jews of Yemen prayed to and yearned for, and to here Jews from Yemen should come.” Ben Shalom is trying to promote their aliya via the Jewish Agency and the International Fellowship.

In 2021, an Arab country helped Israel evacuate close to 100 Jews from Yemen and move them to Egypt. The rescued Jews were the final remnant of a community with a two millennia history. They lived in a secure complex in Sana’a, protected by the authorities from being harmed by the Houthi rebels, who had taken control over large parts of Yemen during the Muslim country’s yearslong civil war.

The Jews moved to Sana’a after their stay in a less secure compound in Raydah, a city to the north of the capital, once home to a large Jewish community. But in Sana’a, the danger was visible every day, and the need to evacuate them from Yemen became critical.

Israel requested emergency assistance on the matter from an Arab country that does not have ties with Jerusalem. Envoys of that country traveled to Sana’a to conduct negotiations on the evacuation of the Jews from the compound.
What Awaits Israel in Space: A Discussion
Last week, Mosaic’s senior editor Andrew Koss spoke with Arthur Herman, the author of our June essay, about the possibilities and importance of the Israel space program. Read the transcript of their discussion below.

Andrew Koss:
I am here with Arthur Herman, who is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the author of ten books—enough to make a minyan. He has written Mosaic’s June essay, “Israel in Space,” about the importance and the potential of the Israeli space program. Arthur has written a lot about how industry, technology, national security, government, and the private sector come together, and that’s very much the perspective of this essay. He has written about a ton of other really interesting things too, in Mosaic and elsewhere. He’s also, if you’re into that sort of thing, worth following on Twitter—or, excuse me, X. (We’re going to be talking about Elon Musk today a little bit, so we better call it X.)

Arthur Herman:
Thank you.

What you said about this piece is really true. This piece has been part of a series of pieces that I’ve done over the last several years for Mosaic that reflect on how Israel is seen or should be seen by others, whether it’s the essay that I did about how East European countries and the Baltic republics were looking at Israel as an example of a small state that can survive surrounded by hostile neighbors, or in a complex security environment. I also did two about how China was encroaching into, and looking for ways to get access to, the advanced technology and the startup-nation smarts that Israel was able to offer. And this one is likewise about how countries should think about the enormous asset that the Israeli space industry constitutes. It’s very small as compared with other countries, but there’s a lot going on there and there’s immense potential that I think the United States really shouldn’t be overlooking.

Andrew Koss:
I want to talk about that last point shortly, but I have to ask you another question, because I think it’s the proverbial elephant in the room. According to my computer, we’re having this conversation on July 2, 2024, but for me, and for many of the people reading this, today’s date is October 8, 2023 and it has been October 8th for a long time now. Israel is fighting a war in its backyard that it can barely contain, and a much worse war in Lebanon seems increasingly likely to happen. There’s the threat of a nuclear Iran. There’s a major internal crisis that is unfolding this week regarding the drafting of haredi yeshiva students. How is it that you are trying to tell us that we should be thinking about outer space?

Now, just to be clear, we more or less had this conversation in an editorial meeting, and I said, “If we can get Arthur Herman’s piece about space as our June essay, we should really go for it. I think it’s a great thing.” But I would like you to explain to a skeptical audience who might be thinking that you literally have your head in the clouds, or above the clouds, by focusing on this now.




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