Friday, January 24, 2025

01/24 Links Pt2: Enough promises: Unleash the law in the fight against antisemitism; Israeli Victory Protects American Jews; Just how useful are the ‘useful idiots’?

From Ian:

Arsen Ostrovsky: Enough promises: Unleash the law in the fight against antisemitism
What should be done
A much more aggressive legal approach also needs to be added.

In Canada, lawsuits targeted Toronto Metropolitan University and unions, while court injunctions were sought and obtained to protect synagogues, Jewish schools, and Jewish community centers. In Australia, legal proceedings have also been initiated against the University ofSydney, under racial vilification laws, paving the way for the first broad class action lawsuit tackling post-October 7 campus antisemitism, with new laws also introduced against doxing, the display of neo-Nazi material and ensuring that glorifying and praising acts of terrorism are criminal offenses under Commonwealth law.

However, laws and task forces are only as good if they are backed by political willpower andenforced by the police and judicial authorities.

The police and security agencies cannot continue to allow the perpetrators of antisemitic attacks or those expressing support for proscribed terror groups to continue evading justice. Doing so will only encourage more attacks, as the perpetrators know they can act withimpunity.

Legislation should also be considered mandating graver levels of punishment, including mandatory prison sentences for some of the most violent forms of antisemitic attacks and hate crimes, such as fire-bombings of Synagogues or Jewish schools.

There must also be a recognition that chanting phrases like “Globalize the Intifada” or “Free Palestine” are not calls for peace, and do not depend on ‘intent’ or ‘context’, but are a clear and unmistakable incitement to violence, directly targeting Jews. This should be codified into law.

Moreover, we should consider whether non-citizens who commit acts of antisemitism and terror should be deported. There can be zero tolerance or place for such hatred in our democratic societies.

Political leaders must also understand that when they effectively throw Israel under the bus in the international legal arena, such as the United Nations and the international courts in The Hague, for their own domestic expedience, this leads to a more pervasive discourse on Israel and a direct correlation in the surge of antisemitism, as does repeatedly singling out the Stateof Israel for opprobrium, lecturing and differential treatment at home. This only emboldens perpetrators of antisemitism with a warped sense of justification to carry out their attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions.

The sad truth is that once great democracies, Australia and Canada, have failed to protect their Jewish communities.

Unremitting campaign of terror
Today, whereas the world’s only Jewish state has been forced to defend itself from Hamas and existential wars being waged by Iran and their terror proxies, another unremitting campaign of terror has been unleashed upon the Jewish communities of Canada and Australia.

Many Jews are increasingly asking if they are still welcome in the countries they have called home for generations, or if they have been abandoned by the political leadership and society at large.

Britain’s former Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks, once noted that a society that has no space for Jews has no space for humanity. As we look ahead to 2025, and on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz death camp, both Australia and Canada must therefore ask if they still have space for Jews and what kind of societies they wish to have.
Israeli Victory Protects American Jews By Abe Greenwald
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A friend once remarked to me that liberals love Jews so long as those Jews don’t have power. There’s a lot to this. The liberal worldview romanticizes the cute Jew, the funny Jew, and even the brilliant Jew. The strong Jew, however, the armed Jew ready to fight, is treated as an unsettling deviation from type. Take this to its logical end and you arrive at the writer Dara Horn’s formulation: “People Love Dead Jews.”

If this is true, and I believe it is, then how do we explain that the recent rise in global anti-Semitism, including in the United States, began not when Israel showed its strength and invaded Gaza but the instant it broadcast vulnerability on October 7, 2023? Recall that it was on October 8, one day after the Hamas attack, that protesters took to Times Square and elsewhere to chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” And on social media, the Jew-haters didn’t even wait that long to speak up. Anti-Semitic posts came spewing forth at the first word of Hamas’s massacre.

Here was the weak, or weakened, Jewish state having suffered the worst day in its history—and its very weakness was summoning a deluge of worldwide anti-Semitism that seemed unimaginable days earlier. Israel was mourning 1,200 dead Jews. So where was the love?

Getting at the answer requires that we differentiate between liberalism and leftism. Liberals are discomfited by Jewish strength; leftists are deterred by it. For the left, Jewish weakness signals an opportunity to attack. And attack they did. Leftist organizations, in coordination with Islamists, swung into action to advance Jew-hatred on city streets and university campuses while the Jews were wounded and traumatized.

As with all radical protest movements, some liberals followed the leftists into the fire, imagining that they were somehow still on the side of the angels. Others, particular Jewish liberals, were forced to reevaluate the aims of their revolutionary compadres.
Just how useful are the ‘useful idiots’?
The idea that Jews of any social class in Israel would abandon their own state to become a minority in an Arab-dominated, Soviet-controlled republic was always outlandish. But for the Israeli Communists—and even the handful of Israelis further to the left, such as the Matzpen group that actively identified with Palestinian terrorist groups—the abiding belief was that Jews would be a welcome presence in the socialist Palestinian state that would replace Israel.

It is on this last point that the current crop of Jewish anti-Zionists has shifted. However ridiculous all the old slogans about a “joint struggle” with the Arabs against Zionism were, and however shameful the political alliances these beliefs nurtured, all this was preferable to what we have now. This generation of anti-Zionists fervently believes that Jews have no rightful place in the Middle East at all, regardless of who governs them.

In the last 20 years, social media has dramatically amplified the voices of the miniscule number of Jews who hold this position. Some readers might remember Israel Shamir, a Russian-Israeli writer who converted to Christianity and whom many were convinced was an agent of the Russian secret services, and Gilad Atzmon, an Israeli jazz musician who relocated to London, both of whom delighted in baiting other Jews with antisemitic tropes and who spoke and wrote about Israel in demonic terms, particularly during the wars in Gaza in 2008-09 and 2014. A decade on, Shamir and Atzmon have become pretty much invisible, but their inheritors are out there.

The best, and therefore the worst, current example of what I’m talking about is an individual I’d never heard of before the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. His name is Alon Mizrahi, and from what I can tell from his social-media presence, he is a former Israeli who quite literally sees his homeland as the root of all the evil in the world. In a sane environment, someone like this would have only a handful of followers, but Mizrahi has close to 100,000. His imbecilic posts are lauded by Hamas supporters and attract the ire of Jews. Even the identity he adopts—an “Arab Jew” because his family are Mizrahim—is scorned by other Jews of Mizrahi and Sephardi origin, me among them.

What distinguishes Mizrahi is the unvarnished pathology he displays. Whereas Meir Wilner was guilty of holding the ludicrous belief that the promise of the Soviet Union could sway the Jews away from Zionism, Mizrahi is guilty of spitting uncontrolled bile in their direction. In one post, he said the claim that the Nazis were driven by antisemitism is rooted in Jewish “narcissism.” In another post after last week’s release of three female Israeli hostages, he viciously mocked concerns about sexual abuse in captivity, in turn, sparked by the ordeals of the Israeli women raped and violated on Oct. 7. “Deep sense of disappointment in Israel: None of the returning hostages is pregnant,” he wrote.

The question persists: How useful is this latest iteration of “useful idiocy”? Not that useful. Unlike the PLO, Hamas doesn’t care whether it has Jewish cheerleaders since its goal is to eradicate Jews from the face of the earth. The millions across the globe who have attended pro-Hamas demonstrations similarly don’t care whether they are joined by dissenting Jews because theirs is the Palestinian cause, and Jews are simply in the way. There’s no need, anymore, for people on the left to protest that some of their best friends are Jews because in these circles, Jews are not a historically persecuted minority but the most affluent white community out there. Therefore, the function of someone like Alon Mizrahi is to entertain Hamas supporters when he trolls Jews and Jewish concerns, but nothing more than that. He may think of himself in heroic terms, but he is actually one of the clowns in the circus of the left.

If history is any guide, there will be other Jews and Israelis tempted to follow in the footsteps of Mizrahi and his forebears. At one time, I might have said that solid, informed political argument was the best way to win them over. But now, I would advise those friends and family members who love them to get them in front of a therapist. Because what today’s Jewish anti-Zionism shows us is it is no longer political. It is a mental disorder that traffics in antisemitic hate to win the respect and admiration of non-Jews. Don’t be that guy.


Here I Am With Shai Davidai: Netflix Star on an Unorthodox Mission to fight Jew Hatred | EP 25 Julia Haart
In the podcast episode "Here I Am with Shai Davidai," host Shai Davidai interviews Julia Haart, a business leader, activist, social media influencer, and star of the Netflix show "My Unorthodox Life." The conversation delves into Julia's journey from growing up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community to becoming a prominent figure advocating for women's rights and Jewish civil rights.

Julia shares her experiences of living in a restrictive environment where women were expected to be silent and subservient. She discusses her transformation after leaving that community, her rise in the fashion industry, and her activism for women's financial independence. Julia also talks about her involvement in humanitarian efforts, such as helping refugees in Ukraine and advocating for women's rights globally.

The episode touches on Julia's strong connection to Israel, her views on Judaism as an ethnicity rather than a religion, and her efforts to combat antisemitism. She emphasizes the importance of unity and support within the Jewish community and beyond, advocating for a future where love and kindness prevail over division and hatred.


Egyptian human rights activist Majed el-Shafie highlights Israeli struggles in new documentary
Egyptian human rights activist Majed el-Shafie is shedding light on the realities of conflict and survival through his latest documentary, Dying to Live. In an exclusive interview with The Media Line, El-Shafie discussed his personal journey, his human rights advocacy, and the film’s mission to foster understanding amid ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.

El-Shafie, the founder of One Free World International, shared his harrowing experience of being tortured in an Egyptian prison before fleeing to Israel for refuge. “I was tortured very severely underground. The scars on my body are my Medal of Honor,” he said, explaining how his suffering motivated him to establish his global human rights organization. Reflecting on his first interactions with Israelis, El-Shafie stated, “For the first time, I sat down with Israelis and understood their compassion and their love. God used Israel to save my life.”

His documentary, Dying to Live, not only recounts the brutal October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel but also aims to counter extremist ideologies. “The first purpose is to tell the truth about the situation in Israel to the Western world. The second purpose is to tell the Israelis that they are not alone; in fact, an Egyptian is by their side. The third purpose, and the most important, is to duplicate this movie in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu to fight extremist ideology and denialism in the Middle East,” El-Shafie explained.

David Parsons, vice president of the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem, praised the film’s emotional depth. “Majed humanizes the people and their suffering. The camera captures special moments, like Harel Lapidot mourning the loss of his niece, making Israelis real—not horrible or scary—but real human beings who have suffered,” Parsons remarked.

One of the film’s most moving stories is that of Harel Lapidot, who lost his niece, Tiferet, during the Hamas attack at the Nova Festival. Lapidot expressed his grief, telling The Media Line, “Every day that I wake up in the morning, I tell myself, perhaps it’s just a nightmare. Tiferet was our sunshine, hunted like an animal during a peace festival. She was murdered just because she was a Jew.” Lapidot also recalled Tiferet’s compassion, highlighting her dedication to helping children of all faiths in South Africa and Israel.
Israel Advocacy Movement: Jew SCHOOLS Islamic Preacher With Bible

Germany's Cultural Elites' Perverted "Debate" on Israel
Behind the thin facades of false antisemitism and "silencing," the goal of this campaign is to end German military and diplomatic support for Israel. While much of the German elite continues to acknowledge the nation's post-Holocaust responsibility towards Israel and the Jewish people, this consensus is opposed by the ex-Communist far left, including many involved in arts and culture, and who are primarily supported by institutions funded by the German Federal government.

These frameworks are frequently exploited for promoting virulently anti-Israel and antisemitic events and exhibits, such as the infamous 2023 Documenta festival of contemporary art, which was widely condemned both inside and outside of Germany. Indeed, the Bundestag resolutions calling for an end to public funding for such events are direct responses to this abuse.

In the 15 months since the October 7, 2023 atrocities and the Israeli military response, German cities, as elsewhere, have been the sites of violent "pro-Palestinian" mob actions, including attacks on pro-Israel and visibly Jewish targets and against the police. Jews are routinely intimidated, Jewish life in Germany is under threat, and Israeli academics are often excluded from scholarly exchanges. The leaders of these discriminatory and blatantly antisemitic actions attempt to justify their behavior by repeating the false allegations of "genocide" and similar labels.

Fringe activists and their "positions of moral outrage" continue to be funded by the German government, with high visibility platforms to promote their blatant anti-Israel and antisemitic campaigns.

In the face of poisonous propaganda, the Bundestag resolutions calling for an end to German government funding to "organizations or projects that spread antisemitism [or] question Israel's right to exist" are important. Implementing them and stopping the support via cultural and academic institutions will not "silence" the voices of hate, but at least the German state will no longer be providing them with resources or legitimacy.
Why the Germans (and Europeans) don’t understand the Arab-Israeli conflict
If you want to hear everything I have to say on my Jerusalem tour (and if you like my videos and want to support my work), then you’re going to love my Jerusalem crash course -

0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Did the Germans learn their lesson?
2:13- Evil is worse than war
4:30 - Cycle of violence
16:10 - The religious factor


Wiki bans: Eight editors barred in Israeli-Palestinian edit wars
Eight Wikipedia editors accused of disruptive behavior have been barred from making changes to articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following a a ruling issued Thursday by the crowd-sourced encyclopedia’s highest oversight body.

Of the editors banned from the topic area by the Arbitration Committee, often referred to as Wikipedia’s “supreme court,” six are from the pro-Palestinian camp and two from the pro-Israel camp.

The Arbitration Committee also introduced new rules aimed at hardening the platform against intentional distortions and restoring civility to contentious debates over Israel-related content on one of the world’s most visited websites.

“While we haven’t engaged in such drastic measures before, I think the time is now,” wrote CaptainEek, a member of the committee, who, like most Wikipedia editors, works under an anonymous alias, in a public conversation about the changes.

Officially prompted by formal complaints against several individual editors, the case emerged amid allegations of widespread anti-Israel bias that have escalated into attacks on Wikipedia’s credibility as a source of information. Those attacks have dovetailed with a right-wing campaign accusing the platform of a liberal skew.

The decisions were reached by the panel — an elected body of 15 experienced editors — after months of public deliberations involving hundreds of users and extensive commentary. Individual administrators — editors who have earned an elevated status in the Wikipedia community — routinely discipline users who violate the site’s rules. But it’s unusual for the Arbitration Committee to issue, or even consider, bans against multiple editors, reflecting the challenge of dealing with an entrenched and ideologically driven dispute involving many users.

Battles over Israel are nothing new for an online encyclopedia that theoretically allows anyone to alter its articles. Four previous arbitration cases, going back to 2008, have dealt with the issue often arising in tandem with flare-ups of violence in the Middle East. The editing disputes started intensifying again after war between Israel and Hamas broke out in late 2023. In the discussion section of particular articles, editors have fought over, for example, whether it’s appropriate to call Israeli military operations in Gaza a “genocide” or to apply labels such “settler colonialism” and “apartheid regime” to the country.
Anti-Israel MP jeered over ‘hostages on both sides’ comment
An MP has been criticised after calling for the release of “hostages on both sides” in a question put to Keir Starmer on the Gaza conflict during PMQs.

The Independent MP Iqbal Mohamed asked a question relating to allegations about Israel and the West Bank in which he also said: “Let’s all pray that the remaining hostages on both sides are released as soon as possible.”

His attempt to describe those innocent civilians kidnapped by Hamas with Palestinians placed in prison by Israel brought groans from several MPs in the House.

Mohamed, the MP for Dewsbury, continued: “Since the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect, Israeli forces have placed the whole of the West Bank under strict military inspection as part of the iron wall operation.

“The IDF has launched a large-scale offensive operation in the city of Jenin with numerous drone strikes on the infrastructure and a military raid by IDF troops and special forces in the occupied West Bank.

“At least nine people have been killed by Israeli forces and 40 people injured, including several healthcare workers.

“What steps is the Government taking to urgently protect Palestinians, including healthcare workers, and to prevent atrocities in the West Bank? And will he outline the UK’s response to the ICJ advisory opinion on Israel’s unlawful occupation?”

But when the PM responded he failed to reference the hostages comparison and said he was “deeply concerned by what’s happening in the West Bank”.

Asked by Jewish News if the PM agreed with MP Mohamed’s hostage comparison, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “No absolutely not.


New Irish government walking back anti-Israel trade policy as Trump takes office
The new Irish government plans to roll back some of its anti-Israel policies, sparking speculation that it is doing so to appease the Trump administration, even as it remains committed to pursuing a war crimes lawsuit against Israel.

The Dáil, as the Irish parliament is known, convened with its new members on Wednesday for the first time since the country’s November election, and with a more moderate governing coalition than in previous years, formed by centrist parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The parties approved their 162-page “draft programme for government 2025” this week. The section titled “The Middle East” is focused solely on Israel and the Palestinians.

The document says the new government will “progress legislation prohibiting goods from Occupied Palestinian Territories,” referring to a bill that would ban trade with Israelis in the West Bank. Subsequent governments have blocked the bill despite proclaiming support for it because it would violate EU trade guidelines for Ireland to have its own law on the matter, as opposed to following Brussels’ policy.

Irish writer Éamann Mac Donnchada‬ said that the government “only undertakes to progress the Occupied Territories Bill, not to actually pass it into law” is “a modest sign that the incoming Irish government isn’t going to torch the economy on a bonfire of self-love.”

Despite what its program says, the government may not advance the bill at all, according to The Irish Mail on Sunday. The newspaper’s front page led with the headline, “Israeli trade ban will be dropped to appease Trump. Move to be announced before a diplomatic trip by [new Irish Prime Minister Simon] Harris in February.”

“The bill is now unlikely to ever make the statute books,” the article states, “amid deepening fears it will damage Ireland’s corporate and diplomatic relations with the U.S.”
EU to fund BDS group accusing Israel of ‘mass extermination’
The European Union is set to provide substantial funding to an Arab Christian organization in Jerusalem that equates Israel’s military operations with the crucifixion of Jesus and accuses the Jewish state of “genocide” and “apartheid,” the NGO Monitor watchdog group revealed on Thursday.

According to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) database, the Sabeel—Liberation Theology Center will receive €1 million ($1.09 million) between 2024 and 2028. This funding is earmarked for a project titled “Faithful Futures: Religious Leaders for Accountability, Justice and Peace through the Two-State Solution.”

While the project’s stated aim is to combat eroding support for peace prospects, Sabeel works against this goal by advocating for “a bi-national state in Palestine-Israel” and “one state for two nations and three religions.”

Operating from Jerusalem, Sabeel describes itself as an “ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians” working to mobilize global Christian support for the Palestinian cause.

NGO Monitor’s assessment is unequivocal: the organization “should be disqualified” from receiving state funding due to its antisemitic messaging and rejection of Israel’s legitimacy. Though Sabeel claims to separate Judaism from Zionism, its statements frequently cross into antisemitic territory.

In response to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, Sabeel issued a statement referring to “armed Palestinian resistance groups” while contextualizing the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

The organization claimed that “Palestinians have been under attack, suffering dispossession and dehumanization from Zionism, for over 75 years,” adding that Israel’s “apartheid” policies are enabled by “dominant global powers, notably the U.S.”
Australian University blasted for ‘disturbing antisemitic lecture’ during ‘anti-racism’ conference
A univerity in Australia has come under fire for allowing a “disturbing antisemitic lecture” as part of an “anti-racism” conference.

The event, sanctioned and hosted by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) saw speakers accuse Jewish groups of being complicit in the spread of “racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment”

Footage posted to social media showed Sarah Schwartz, a Jewish human right lawyer, speaking at an even called The Greatest Race Debate ahead of QUT’s National Symposium on Unifying Anti-Racist Research and Action

Schwartz is an executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, a community organisation set up in 2024 to represent non-Zionist Jews in the country and known for its fiercly pro-Palestnian stance.

During her talk, she presented a slideshow in which she mocked Jewish supporters of Australian politician Peter Dutton.

In the leaked video, Schwartz displayed a slide depicting a mocked-up superhero character dubbed “Dutton’s Jew”.

The character was then given stereotypical attritbutes including that he “hates Palestinians, Arabs and Mulisms” and “thinks of anitsemitism as the only form of racism”.

Schwartz also claimed that the Jewish community was being exploited to promote division and support right-wing political agendas, notably those of Dutton.


The Greatest Race Debate was part of the QUT’s official program for the symposium and tickets for the latter also provided entry to the former, according to the event listing.

Addressing the controversial statements, Schwartz allegedly told attendees: “The reality is that for Dutton and his ilk, us Jews are the perfect avatars for peddling racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment.” Her comments, which she says were misinterpreted, included a statement that Dutton used the Jewish community as a “human shield” to support his political views.
Columbia Promptly Suspends Student That Stormed Israeli History Class. It Has a Long History of Dropping Similar Suspensions.
Columbia University announced Thursday that it had identified and suspended one of the pro-Hamas students who stormed an Israeli history class and targeted Jewish students with anti-Semitic flyers two days prior. Whether that suspension sticks could provide early insight into how seriously the Ivy League school is taking threats from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.

"In connection with Tuesday’s disruption of a History of Modern Israel class, Columbia University has identified and suspended a Columbia participant, pending a full investigation and disciplinary process," a university statement read. "Disruptions to our classrooms and our academic mission and efforts to intimidate or harass our students are not acceptable, are an affront to every member of our University community, and will not be tolerated."

The school leveled similar suspensions on students who participated in illegal anti-Israel protests last spring. But it went on to drop the overwhelming majority of those suspensions. Of the 40 students arrested or disciplined when the university called police to campus to clear an anti-Israel encampment on April 18, only 2 remained suspended by Aug. 6, according to disciplinary data released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Police arrested another 35 students for failing to leave a second encampment on April 29, but none of them faced suspensions. Thirty-one of those students were in good standing with Columbia by early August. And of the 22 that were arrested in Hamilton Hall after storming the campus building, only 3 faced suspensions. A fourth was on disciplinary probation from a prior hearing, while the remaining 18 were in "good standing," according to the congressional report.

At that time, federal oversight into Columbia and other elite higher education institutions was limited to the GOP-led House. While the Biden administration launched investigations into complaints of anti-Semitism at some universities in the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, it settled many of those complaints on terms favorable to the schools. In the Senate, meanwhile, then-majority leader Chuck Schumer privately assured Columbia's leaders that their "political problems are really only among Republicans," according to a House report released late last year.

Those Republicans now control the House, Senate, and White House, and they've pledged to crack down on schools that go easy on pro-Hamas radicals. Trump, for example, has said that U.S. colleges "will and must end the anti-Semitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support." He's also threatened to deport campus radicals in the country on student visas, saying, "As soon as they hear that, they're going to behave." Congressional Republicans in both chambers have echoed those sentiments.

Columbia's handling of the Tuesday class storming, then, could provide a window into how the school's administrators assess those threats. Should it suspend more students connected to the storming—and keep those suspensions in place—the moves would suggest that interim Columbia president Katrina Armstrong is keen to take a stronger stance against student radicals under the Trump administration. Armstrong has already enlisted the lobbying firm of Trump transition alumnus, Dan Murphy, to "provide strategic counsel and advocate on issues related to higher education and appropriations," according to disclosures filed with Congress.

A Columbia spokeswoman did not answer questions on the details of the suspension and how long it would last.


Think antisemitism was bad on TikTok? Wait till you see Rednote
When TikTok returned after its approximately 36-hour hiatus, and users discovered their inability to make that same comment on their old favorite app, many said they would simply have to keep using RedNote to continue to access information they believe the U.S. government wants hidden.

But RedNote doesn’t just allow users to post “Free Palestine.” It also is filled with vitriolic hate speech against Jews.

Like many other “TikTok refugees,” as they’re called on RedNote, Jewish creators posted excitedly to RedNote, introducing themselves and their content to a new audience. “Chinese don’t like the Jewish, you should know,” read one typical comment, replying to a rabbi. “You Jewish sow should leave here. We Chinese don’t like you,” read another, on a video made by a child who appeared to be around age 10.

If you search for Jewish topics on RedNote, some of the top posts encourage users to discuss their “most offensive topics” because “unlike the United States, China has the advantage in free speech for the Jewish Question.” Images of Hitler in traditional Chinese robes pop up. Conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the internet circulate freely. In one post, a user asserted falsely that Jews, in a search for cultural dominance, feared the proliferation of “Eastern values.” Nazi propaganda made similar claims about Jews seeking to eradicate Western Christian and German values.

TikTok also struggled to police antisemitism before its ban, and there were a plethora of posts endorsing antisemitic conspiracy theories, threatening Jewish users and praising Hitler. But TikTok was beholden to international standards and at least made attempts to moderate hate speech. RedNote, at least as it operates currently, wasn’t designed to moderate issues important outside of Chinese discourse.

While some Jewish leaders concerned about antisemitism on TikTok might applaud the new censorship of “Free Palestine,” skeptical users see it as confirmation of what they already believed: Israel, and Jews, control the media, the government and much of the Western world. Apparently, Chinese censorship is the only way out.
Pro-Palestine protesters accuse BBC editor of ‘killing babies’ at London demonstration
A BBC editor was accused of “killing babies” by pro-Palestine protestors outside the broadcaster’s London headquarters in a demonstration on Thursday evening.

Raffi Berg, the corporation’s Middle East online editor, was also accused by the crowd of supporting genocide.

“Raffi Berg shame shame, all this lying in your name,” shouted demonstrators, according to the Jewish News. “Killing children in your name. Killing babies in your name. BBC shame shame.”

In another chant, the JC understands that demonstrators shouted: “Raffi Berg, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.”

Demonstrators gathered to rally against what they perceive as the broadcaster’s pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the war between the Jewish state and Hamas.

It comes after Berg has been on the receiving end of dozens of death threats after journalist Owen Jones published an article on Drop Site accusing him of pushing pro-Israel bias at the BBC.

Berg is now intending to sue Jones for the torrent of antisemitic abuse which followed his accusation.

The JC understands that no arrests were made at the demonstration, but police were in attendance.

Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who represents Berg’s constituency of Harrow East, told the JC: “The attempt to single him out, given that what he's doing is obviously giving an honest opinion and providing honest material, is a gross violation of his rights.

“We want the BBC to be impartial in how it reports things, [and] many Jewish people in my constituency would say that the BBC is profoundly biased against the State of Israel.”

Blackman confirmed that since Jones’ article, Berg has “been on the receiving end of antisemitic abuse”, which he has been supporting his constituent through.

Regarding the chants about Berg at yesterday’s protest, Blackman called the event an “escalation” and promised he would be “calling it out”.

When asked whether the police present should have done more to stop the chants, Blackman told the JC that he has previously complained to the Met “that sometimes it appears that no action is being taken”.

He said the police claim to “film” incidents and then later decide what should happen to perpetrators, a process which he thinks is ineffective.


Video appears to show Hamas shooting several alleged ‘collaborators’ in Gaza
Hamas operatives reportedly executed several alleged “collaborators” in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and a video shared by the popular online media channel Gaza Now showed Hamas gunmen firing at the men lying on the ground.

Gaza Now, which boasts 1.7 million followers on Telegram, published a video showing more than a dozen Hamas operatives, many of them in uniform, opening fire on three men.

The video was captioned “The moment of punishing the agents of the Zionist occupation who caused the killing of thousands of our Palestinian people in Gaza.”

The graphic video could not immediately be verified.

It came after Palestinian reports were cited by the Kan public broadcaster Thursday that the terror group had executed six Palestinians in southern Gaza’s Rafah on suspicion of spying for Israel, and that 17 other Palestinians, among them merchants, were shot in the feet for allegedly raising prices.

Hamas did not issue an official confirmation of the reports, but the terror group’s police chief told Qatari network Al Jazeera that the group will “beat with an iron fist anyone who does harm to security and order in Gaza.”

Hamas has regularly issued death sentences for people it says were found guilty of “collaboration” with Israel, executing dozens of Palestinians in recent years.

Under Palestinian law, a death sentence requires the approval of the president of the Palestinian Authority which is headquartered in the West Bank, but Hamas ignores this.
Hundreds of Palestinians Visit Death Site of Hamas Butcher Yahya Sinwar to Honor Him
Hundreds of Palestinians are reportedly making pilgrimages to the neighborhood in Rafah where Hamas terrorist leader Yahya Sinwar was killed in October, turning the ruined building where he died into an impromptu shrine.

The owners of the property say they might turn it into an actual shrine or museum.

Sinwar was killed on October 16, 2024 while attempting to sneak out of Rafah with a few bodyguards and bags of cash. He had the misfortune of blundering into an Israeli military patrol that engaged his retinue without realizing who he was.

The Hamas leader was cornered in a bombed-out building. An Israeli drone recorded him seated in an armchair upstairs, with one of his hands missing. His final act was to weakly fling his weapon at the drone, which proceeded to record his death in an explosion several moments later.

Hamas has mythologized the death of its leader into a courageous act of “resistance” and defiance – and it is a mythology many Palestinians seem eager to buy into.

The National reported on Wednesday that “hundreds of visitors” have flocked to the neighborhood of Tel Al Sultan where Sinwar died and clambered over the rubble of the building where he was killed, treating the ruined house as a “symbol of honor and defiance.”

Some residents have spoken of renaming the area “Tel Al Sinwar” in tribute to the Hamas leader, while the owners of the ruined building are thinking of building a Sinwar museum.

“I am so proud that Sinwar was martyred in my house,” owner Ashraf Abu Taha told The National. “I’m not sad that my house was destroyed because the last one to stay in it was Sinwar.”

“I plan to turn the house into a shrine to honour his memory. I’m thinking of rebuilding it and dedicating a special room as a museum, showcasing the items Sinwar used during his last moments,” he said, proudly boasting he has recovered the very armchair Sinwar was sprawled in when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blew him to smithereens. If nothing else, that chair was extremely well made.

“This couch shows Sinwar in his final moments and proves that he wasn’t hiding – he was fighting alongside his comrades,” a visitor to the house proudly declared.


Queen’s rallying cry: ‘Never forget Holocaust atrocities amid rising antisemitism’
The Queen issued a rallying call yesterday to “never forget” the atrocities of the Holocaust as levels of antisemitism reached “their highest level for a generation.”

Addressing the annual Anne Frank Trust UK lunch, Camilla urged those gathered to “heed the warning” of Holocaust survivor Marian Turski, a Polish Jew, who warned against complacency in the wake of rising antisemitism.

Her Majesty met Holocaust survivors Eva Clarke BEM, who was born in Mathausen concentration camp just before it was liberated 80 years ago, and Mala Tribich MBE, who was in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the same time as Anne Frank, as well as John Wood, whose father Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Berney liberated Bergen-Belsen in April 1945.

The Queen also lit a candle in memory of victims of the Shoah.

Camilla added: “The deadly seeds of the Holocaust were sown at first in small acts of exclusion, of aggression and of discrimination towards those who had previously been neighbours and friends.

“Over a terrifying short period of time, those seeds took root through the complacency of which we can all be guilty: of turning away from injustice, of ignoring that which we know to be wrong, of thinking that someone else will do what’s needed – and of remaining silent.”

The Queen concluded her speech with: “Let’s unite in our commitment to take action, to speak up and to ensure that the words ‘Never Forget’ are a guiding light that charts a path towards a better, brighter, and more tolerant future for us all.”

Last year, Camilla was announced as the first royal patron of the Anne Frank Trust UK.

Anne Frank was a committed royalist. One of her hobbies while in hiding was to trace the family trees of European royal families. On 21 April 1944 she recorded in her diary the 18th birthday of “this beauty” Princess Elizabeth of York, later HM Queen Elizabeth II.

Her picture postcards of Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret can still be seen on the walls of her bedroom in what is now the Anne Frank House Museum, visited by over 1 million visitors a year.
German police arrest man for throwing Molotov cocktail at synagogue after TV appeal
After nine months of investigations, Germany's police arrested a 27-year-old man for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue in Oldenburg, Bild reported on Friday.

The arrest was made after a successful TV appeal in which police released footage of a hooded attacker setting the synagogue alight.

Police reportedly received multiple tip-offs following the release, leading to the suspect’s arrest.

The parties who informed the police will receive a 5000 euro reward, the site reported.

The suspected arsonist
"Further investigations strengthened the suspicion against the man so that he was located and temporarily arrested by police forces in the city of Vechta in the middle of the day," a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office told the German media site.

The suspect reportedly admitted to the attack during interrogations and is now in custody.


NYPD seeks suspect who broke into Queens synagogue, drank liquor
“When wine enters,” according to the Talmud, “secrets come out.”

The New York City Police Department is hoping for clues that might be revealed about a man wanted for breaking into a synagogue in Queens, N.Y., by “manipulating a basement door with a coat hanger” and then imbibing alcohol.

The man, who wears a black kippah in photos that police released on Friday, is accused of burglary at 144-49 72 Drive, per the police incident report that JNS viewed. That address is the address for the Orthodox synagogue Hashevaynu.

“Every Shabbos, over 150 people come together in tefillah (‘prayer’) and camaraderie, which makes the extremely warm Hashevaynu minyan unique and well-loved,” the synagogue website states.

The suspect, upon entering the synagogue at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 7, “opened two bottles of liquor and consumed the liquor in cups,” per the incident report.

“The unidentified individual fled the location on foot to parts unknown,” it added. “There were no injuries reported.”

In one of the photos that police released, the suspect looks at the surveillance camera and lifts up a plastic cup with a clear liquid in it.

NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $3,500 for information about the incident.


South Africa's activist rabbi takes global stage in Israel's defense
Leading with conviction
South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein has long defied the conventional rabbinic mold

‘While I do see my mandate as wide, I still take it from the Torah. After all, I am indeed a rabbi, not a politician,” said Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, who became South Africa’s youngest chief rabbi in 2005 at the age of 32.

In the two decades since, Goldstein has effectively combined his Torah scholarship with a PhD in constitutional and human rights law, reshaping the role of a traditional rabbi and transforming it into advocacy and action.

“The Torah is not just about personal development; it’s a framework for creating a just and ethical society,” he explained.

Following the tumultuous events of October 7, he underscored the moral obligation he now feels to unapologetically and unequivocally confront injustices.

“When redlines are crossed, silence is not an option,” he asserted.

Community leadership
Early in his tenure, he put his thesis on the convergence of Western and Jewish law into practice, launching South Africa’s “Bill of Responsibilities.” The act, a companion to the country’s Bill of Rights, integrates the concept of mitzvot, or responsibilities, into civic life. Today it is part of the country’s national education curriculum, teaching duty and accountability alongside rights.

Goldstein’s leadership has also been marked by his commitment to tackle societal issues head-on. In response to South Africa’s violent crime epidemic, he spearheaded the creation of Community Active Protection, a community-based anti-crime initiative that has reduced violent crime in its areas of operation by 90%.

“Some might ask why a rabbi is involved in crime prevention,” he said. “When people are suffering, the mitzvah is to act. As a community leader, I could not stand by and do nothing.”

Similarly, Goldstein has been a vocal critic of the widespread corruption in South Africa, particularly during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, when he joined the protests against state capture.
Israeli soccer player Dor Peretz dedicates goal to released hostage Emily Damari
Israeli midfielder Dor Peretz dedicated a goal he scored on Thursday to the released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari, who was released days earlier as part of the first phase of the hostage deal with Hamas.

Peretz scored his goal against the Norwegian soccer club FK Bodø/Glimt, which won the match with a score of 3-1 in the end.

After scoring the goal, Peretz raised all his fingers but kept his middle and ring fingers down, a hand gesture that has garnered traction on social media as a symbol to celebrate Damari's release after 471 days.

Damari had lost both those fingers when Hamas abducted her from her apartment in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She was shot in the hand and sustained shrapnel wounds to her leg on October 7.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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