Friday, March 28, 2025

03/28 Links Pt1: Human Rights Watch Relied on Terror-Tied Researchers To Produce Reports on 'Israel and Palestine,'

From Ian:

Human Rights Watch Relied on Terror-Tied Researchers To Produce Reports on 'Israel and Palestine,' Watchdog Report Finds
Human Rights Watch, an anti-Israel nonprofit funded by George Soros and the Ford Foundation, relied on staffers linked to Islamist terrorist groups to produce research on "Israel and Palestine," according to a new watchdog report.

One HRW staff researcher on "Israel and Palestine" issues, Milena Ansari, worked for an Israeli-designated terrorist group associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the report from Israeli watchdog NGO Monitor found. HRW also relied on a Lebanese researcher prominently quoted in one of its recent reports, Mahdi Sadeq, who is an open supporter of Hezbollah and works for an organization tied to the terror group.

The news comes as left-leaning U.S. foundations—including Soros’s Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund—pour millions of dollars into HRW, which in turn produces reports that often accuse Israel of war crimes. Anti-Israel lawmakers on the left, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), routinely cite those reports.

NGO Monitor said HRW’s reliance on Ansar and Sadeq is the latest indication of the group's extreme bias against Israel.

"HRW ‘reports’ continue the 25-year practice of citing propagandists and terror affiliates as expert sources," NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg told the Washington Free Beacon.

"Mahdi Sadeq is a clear Hezbollah supporter, and Milena Ansari worked with an NGO linked to the PFLP terror organization before employment at HRW. HRW's false accusations against Israel have exploited the facade of research to push an agenda of demonization."

The NGO Monitor report, shared with the Free Beacon, details those terror ties.

Milena Ansari, who serves as HRW’s "Israel and Palestine Assistant Researcher," previously worked as the international advocacy officer for the Palestinian nonprofit Addameer from April 2021 until November 2023, according to the report.

The Israeli Defense Ministry designated Addameer as a terrorist organization in 2021, saying it "operates as an arm" for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

While working at Addameer, Ansari repeatedly expressed support for terrorists. She called for the "right of the Palestinian people to resist this ongoing [Israeli] occupation with whatever means provided for them" during a podcast interview in 2022.
To Save the Remaining Hostages, Avoid the Mistakes of the Past Eighteen Months
Yesterday, as the IDF continued its military operations in Gaza, Qatari and Egyptian mediators met with Hamas representatives in Doha to discuss proposals for the release of hostages in exchange for a return to the cease-fire. The day before, the American negotiator Steve Witkoff offered his own proposals—also based on discussion with the Qataris—to the Israeli government.

Even if Hamas does agree to some sort of deal, it would almost certainly not involve the release of all hostages, and thus only be an opening for further negotiations. It is therefore of the utmost importance that both Washington and Jerusalem learn the lessons of the various failures, and few successes, of the diplomatic efforts since the war began. Eyal Tsir Cohen, who served as an Israeli negotiator during the first year of the war, and Jesse R. Weinberg explain what those lessons are:

If the goal is to weaken Hamas and bring hostages home, U.S. policymakers must recognize that any signal of Israeli restraint without parallel pressure on Hamas only emboldens the group.

During [previous] negotiations, a surge in Israel’s offensive before Ramadan in the spring of 2024 could have brought Hamas to a breaking point and led to a breakthrough in the negotiations. Instead, in direct contravention to Israel’s combat doctrine which places at its epicenter a quick and offensive approach, as well as the strategy laid out by the prime minister, Israel was forced to pull back as American pressure and diplomatic considerations limited Israel’s room to maneuver. Increased pressure at this critical juncture could have helped bridge gaps in negotiations and reach strategically reasonable prices for both the Israeli public and government.

If Washington is serious about preventing future hostage crises, it must ensure that its diplomatic efforts do not become Hamas’s most valuable weapon. Effective negotiations with terror organizations are not built on goodwill or rhetoric alone. They require the consistent application of leverage—primarily through sustained military pressure and credible threats of escalation.

Indeed, such an approach would likely have been more effective at fulfilling the Biden administration’s goal of securing the return of the hostages and minimizing Palestinian civilian deaths.


Ruthie Blum: Don’t be duped by the demonstrations in Gaza
In addition, he asserted, Hamas has an interest in highlighting internal pressure to reach a ceasefire/hostage-release deal—“to explain why it’s entering negotiations, when what it really wants is to buy time and drag out the process.”

More important, he went on, allowing the unrest to surface is Hamas’s way of dissolving U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for mass migration out of Gaza, by finding out who exactly is interested in leaving and “shoot[ing] them all.”

Yehezkeli’s conclusion was equally sobering: “Friends, most of the Gaza Strip supports Hamas. There’s a saying in Arabic: ‘Make yourself pitiful until you have a comeback.’ That’s what’s happening here. If those protesting had a chance, they would commit Oct. 7 again. … Hamas ideology—Palestinian ideology in general—hasn’t come to terms with [Israel’s] existence. …

“So, a bit of a critical eye is in order. Just look at the media coverage, even the quality of the filming of it, shows that someone wants to throw us bait. And everybody’s getting excited that maybe there’s a chance for peace. Forget about it. I’ve been in this business for 30 years. Don’t fall for it again.”

Never was a warning more warranted.

For one thing, though Hamas is severely weakened, it continues to hold a precious card: up to 24 live Israeli hostages and at least 35 dead bodies. None of the protesters in Beit Lahiya, Gaza City or elsewhere in the Strip has lifted a finger to free the captives.

Indeed, no Gazan “civilians” have stepped forward with information that would help in this endeavor. They did, however, come out in droves—with their children in tow—to attend the vile ceremonies Hamas staged while releasing what Trump called “drips and drabs” of hostages.

They also cheered, jeered and surrounded hostages being handed over by Hamas to the useless, at best, and complicit, at worst, Red Cross. No surprise there, since “civilians” were active participants in the Hamas invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023—gleefully abetting the perpetration of the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust.

Speaking of which, even under the Third Reich, there were Germans who risked their lives to hide or rescue Jews slated for extermination. Yad Vashem honors such individuals with the title Righteous Among the Nations—gentiles whose own justified fear of the Nazis didn’t prevent them from doing what was morally right.

Yet no Gazan has earned that distinction, despite efforts in Israel and abroad to encourage it. Not even Jerusalem’s unprecedented offer of a $5 million reward for returning a hostage and $1 million for information leading to the rescue of a captive has prompted a single individual to come forward.

Gazans are fed up with Hamas for instigating the war that’s been so destructive to them, and for stealing all the “humanitarian aid” meant to alleviate their suffering. But let’s take Yehezkeli’s advice and not imagine that they’ve had some sort of Western-style awakening.
Gaza Protests Can Contribute to Outside Pressure on Hamas
In Gaza, meanwhile, anti-Hamas protests have continued and even appear to have intensified. Neomi Neumann and Nikhil Samuel provide some important analysis:

Even if the demonstrations do not achieve the (currently unlikely) goal of undermining Hamas rule in Gaza, they have broken—or at least cracked—the barrier of fear surrounding the group. They also reflect emerging changes in Gaza’s public discourse, with growing legitimacy accorded to those who advocate ending the war and challenging Hamas’s image as the people’s sole representative.

Outwardly, this shift could push Hamas to become more sensitive to public grievances and acknowledge some degree of responsibility for conditions in Gaza. Internally, it may give greater weight to voices within Hamas who advocate a more flexible stance in the stalled negotiations over planning and implementing phase two of the cease-fire and exchanging hostages and prisoners.

The protests could also give outside mediators leverage to intensify pressure on Hamas—particularly Egypt, whom some protesters have asked to assume administrative responsibility in Gaza. Cairo is already amenable to taking action of some sort inside the Strip, if only to sidestep those who would pressure Egypt into opening its border and providing safe haven to Palestinian refugees displaced by the renewed warfare.


Jonathan Tobin: Huckabee nomination a test for US Jews
One doesn’t have to like Trump or be comfortable with the political views of evangelicals such as Huckabee to believe that the latter’s wholehearted support for Israel and realistic views about Palestinian intentions are not only sincere but a very good thing.

Prior to David Friedman, who served as ambassador to Israel during the first Trump administration, all U.S. ambassadors to Israel treated Jerusalem the way Roman proconsuls viewed subject peoples. They were primarily there to order Israelis around and impose policies based on failed “land for peace” patent nostrums. Their priority was not, as is the case for most American ambassadors to foreign countries, to promote better relations between their hosts and the United States.

Friedman was a powerful advocate for a rational policy based on the realities of the conflict rather than the conventional wisdom of the “experts” of the foreign policy establishment who had steered U.S. Middle East policy for decades.

As much as anyone, he deserves the credit for persuading Trump to ignore them and move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 and steered the president toward diplomacy that would end the ability of the Palestinians to hold the peace process hostage to their intransigent fantasies of Israel’s destruction.

Huckabee will be equally supportive of the alliance and of Jewish rights and realistic about the Palestinians. And, as an evangelical, his presence in Jerusalem can do much to promote better interfaith relations. Yet for liberal Jews who believe that Israel must make suicidal concessions to Palestinians, whose goal is to destroy the Jewish state, and who have no interest in good relations with evangelicals for reasons that have nothing to do with foreign policy, his nomination is anathema.

Attitudes toward the Huckabee nomination are, therefore, something of a test of American opinions about faith, radical ideologies and whether American foreign policy should aim at strengthening Israel’s efforts to defeat enemies or to weaken them. That so many Jews oppose him is a disturbing reminder of the profound problems currently facing American Jewry.
Trump reiterates support for controversial Kuwait ambassador nominee at White House iftar dinner
At a Thursday night iftar dinner at the White House, President Donald Trump praised Muslim Americans for supporting him in the November election and heaped praise on Amer Ghalib, mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., and Trump’s controversial nominee for ambassador to Kuwait.

“He’s done a great job as mayor, and he’s done a great job with his support of us,” Trump said of Ghalib. “You’re going to have a great time with Kuwait, wonderful people, and it’s a great place, so congratulations.”

Ghalib, who was born in Yemen and became the first Muslim mayor of Hamtramck as a Democrat, was one of a handful of prominent Michigan Muslim leaders to endorse Trump in the 2024 election, tapping into many Muslims’ frustration with the Biden administration’s support of Israel following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

“I also want to extend a very special thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Muslim Americans who supported us in record numbers in the 2024 presidential election,” Trump said at the iftar dinner, a traditional break-fast meal at the end of each day of Ramadan.

Ghalib’s views on the Middle East came under scrutiny after Trump appointed him envoy to Kuwait earlier this month. In May 2024, he supported a city council measure in Hamtramck proclaiming support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which pledged that the city would “refrain investment in the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid.”

Shortly after the Hamas attacks, in December 2023, Ghalib supported another city council measure to rename a main Hamtramck street to Palestine Avenue. The resolution stated that “the Mayor and City Council acknowledge the profound impact of the recent and ongoing events,” quoting a death toll touted by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry “compris[ed] mostly of completely innocent women and children.” Ghalib has also cast doubt on the stories of rape that occurred by Hamas fighters on Oct. 7.
‘Bizarre’ pro-Qatar questioning from Republican senator matches talking points given to him by Qatari foreign agents
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) left some people scratching their heads on Thursday after he provided an impassioned defense for the Islamic nation of Qatar during a congressional hearing. A Washington Examiner review of Foreign Agents Registration Act records found that the arguments Marshall made to defend Qatar matched talking points provided to his office by foreign agents working on behalf of the Qatari government.

“What was Qatar’s role in the hostage release of Americans?” Marshall asked Charles Asher Small, director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, during the hearing.

When Small began to answer by pointing out that Qatar funds Hamas, Marshall cut him off by saying, “The Qataris were vastly responsible for the freeing of American hostages and many others.”

Marshall’s statements echoed information provided to his office by lobbyists working for the Qatari government.

Shortly after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, foreign agents working on behalf of the Qatari government sent Marshall’s chief of staff an email “related to Qatar’s role in the release of Gaza hostages.” The email talked up the oil-rich nation’s efforts, according to FARA records. In January, the same Qatari foreign agent, employed by Venable, sent an update to members of Congress saying, “As you may know, Qatar worked closely with President Trump and his team on the latest ceasefire and hostage release” and providing a link to a Newsweek story with more details.

Marshall’s statements lined up with information handed off to his office by Qatari foreign agents not once but twice during his relatively brief questioning of Small.

“What was Qatar’s role in the evacuation of Afghanistan — and especially how did it impact Americans?” the senator asked as a follow-up question. When Small pointed toward Qatar’s close relations with the Taliban and the Iranian regime, Marshall again cut him off.

“It’s interesting the prejudice that I hear coming out of your mouth here,” Marshall said. “Qatar was so important. Of the 120,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan … 60,000 of them came through Qatar. Without Qatar, we would have had thousands more deaths.”


Randy Fine’s opponent Josh Weil called for withdrawing U.S. support for Israel
Josh Weil, the Democratic challenger to Florida state Sen. Randy Fine in Tuesday’s special election in Florida’s 6th Congressional District, said in 2021 that the U.S. should withdraw its support for Israel.

Weil, who was initially seen as having little chance of victory in a district President Donald Trump carried by 30 points, raised close to $10 million and has mounted an aggressive campaign against Fine, prompting consternation among top Republicans. Republican internal polling reportedly shows Fine trailing, though Republicans in the state say publicly that they’re confident he’ll win.

Weil, a teacher, previously ran a long-shot campaign for U.S. Senate in Florida in 2022. During that campaign, in 2021, Weil said that he sought an end to U.S. military aid to Israel while criticizing efforts at the time to evict Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of east Jerusalem.

Weil said he condemned “Israel’s state-sanctioned violence against Palestinians” and urged the U.S. government to work to stop the evictions.

In a recent podcast interview, Weil nodded in agreement as a co-host described Fine, who is Jewish and outspoken in support of Israel, as “unabashedly psycho pro-Israel” and said that a Weil victory would be “a direct shot across the bow against Zionism.”

Weil’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Fine has accused Weil of antisemitism and of having a “deep-seated hate of Israel and Jews.” He has branded Weil, who is Muslim, as “Jihad Josh,” accusing him of supporting Islamic terrorism. Fine has a history of comments that critics have characterized as Islamophobic.
Still ‘awful’ UN Human Rights Council resolution stripped of its most anti-Israel element
The United Nations Human Rights Council removed the most incendiary provision of an Israel-bashing resolution, which is set for a vote next week, but the revised document remains “awful,” a diplomatic source told JNS.

Pakistan put forward the new document, which the Organization for Islamic Cooperation backed, before the council, which considers and passes a large number of resolutions that critique Israel annually.

The resolution, JNS is told, would create a perpetual mechanism “to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed by all parties” in Israel and Palestinian-controlled territories.

Despite mention of “all parties,” the draft referred only to Israeli violations of international law, JNS understands.

The mechanism would have provided resources to prepare “case files in order to facilitate” what the document calls “fair and independent criminal proceedings” in courts around the world.

Following vigorous negotiations, that mechanism won’t be included in the final draft, per the diplomatic source. But the resolution still demands an arms embargo on Israel.

It also requires that the council-sponsored Commission of Inquiry “report on both the direct and indirect transfer or sale of arms, munitions, parts, components and dual use items to Israel, the occupying power, including those that have been used during the Israeli military operation in Gaza since Oct. 7 2023, and to analyze the legal consequences of these transfers,” JNS is told.

Given the potentially broad interpretation of dual-use items—those with military and civilian applications—states and officials around the world, including Americans, would be at risk of criminal prosecution for conducting arms transfers and a range of other business with Israel under the resolution.

The Commission of Inquiry has faced extensive criticism for its membership selection, including those with documented histories of Jew-hatred, and its reporting to date, which has almost exclusively criticized Israel.
Palestinian Authority set to run UN General Assembly presidency candidate
The United States opposes the candidacy of the Palestinian Authority for the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly.

Riyad Mansour, the authority’s longtime “permanent observer” to the global body, is mounting a bid to helm the assembly presidency in 2026-27, despite the authority holding non-state “observer” status.

The 22-member, U.N. Arab Group, which passed the nomination onto the 55-member Asia Pacific Group, backs the nomination. The latter group holds the rotating slot for the presidency in two years, based on regional rotation, and no other candidates have emerged so far.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s pro-Israel, outgoing foreign minister, is the frontrunner to be elected later this year as the 193-member General Assembly president for the 2025-26 session.

Mansour’s nomination is almost certain to set up a confrontation with the Trump administration, which has already been withdrawing massive funding from U.N. agencies.

A non-state member has never held the assembly presidency, creating legal and political uncertainty.

Last May, the General Assembly approved an unprecedented measure to give the Palestinian Authority novel rights beyond those reserved for a non-state member, including to speak on any matter before the General Assembly and to offer amendments to resolutions.


Rockets fired at Israel from Lebanon amid rising tensions
For the third time since the ceasefire with Beirut took effect on Nov. 27, terrorists in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel, with air raid sirens sounding in Kiryat Shmona and surrounding areas on Friday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed that two rockets were fired; one was intercepted while the other struck short inside Lebanon. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident follows a similar rocket barrage six days ago targeting Metula. Lebanese media reported Israeli artillery fire in response, with some schools in Southern Lebanon suspending activities due to the strikes, amid claims eight Lebanese were killed, Reuters reported.

No peace in Beirut if Israel attacked

Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would retaliate forcefully if attacks continued, stating, “If Kiryat Shmona and Galilee are not quiet, Beirut will not be quiet either.”

He emphasized that the Lebanese government bears responsibility for any attacks emanating from its territory and vowed that Israel would not allow a return to the security situation of Oct. 7, 2023.

Asaf Langleben, head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, condemned the attacks from Lebanon, stressing that the security challenge remains significant as residents return to the region.

“We will not accept sporadic rocket fire in any form. The second attack in less than a week is proof the threat is still here,” he said, calling on the Israeli government to immediately complete its northern defense infrastructure and to implement plans to strengthen the local economy and settlement efforts.

Despite the attack, local authorities announced that daily activities, including a planned farmers market and Agur Race, would proceed on Friday as scheduled.
IDF strikes Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold
For the first time in some four months, the IDF attacked Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh neighborhood on Friday, targeting storage facilities housing drones used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s air unit (Unit 127).

The strikes came in response to two rockets fired at the Galilee city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday morning, in the third such breach of the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon since it went into effect on Nov. 27.

Lebanese civilians were given three separate warnings about the impending Israeli action; Defense Minister Israel Katz issued one at 8 a.m., which was followed by an announcement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit in Arabic at 1 p.m. asking residents to leave the area, and an hour later, the Israeli Air Force undertook “roof knocking” before delivering significantly larger munitions.

There were reports of secondary explosions following the airstrikes, a sign of munitions detonating.

“Hezbollah has placed its terrorist infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population. This is another example of the terrorist organization Hezbollah’s cynical use of Lebanese citizens as human shields,” the IDF said.

According to Reuters, thousands of residents were fleeing in panic by car and on foot, following the IDF’s evacuation warning.


US launches strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, CENTCOM confirms
The US Air Force launched several strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, CENTCOM announced on Friday night.

Yemeni media reported 24 airstrikes on the Houthi controlled cities Sana'a, Saada, and the Al Jawf Governorate in the country's North, with Houthi-affiliated source Al-Masirah citing their correspondent in Saada saying that one civilian was killed and four others were wounded in the country's northwestern city.

Of the 24 strikes reported, the correspondent also claimed that 14 of them were in Saada alone.

The US strikes came a day after the Yemen-based terrorist organization had launched two ballistic missiles towards Israeli territory but were intercepted by the IDF before they could enter the country. As a result, sirens sounded across central Israel at around 1:09 p.m., including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Previous US strikes on the Houthis


The Tikvah Podcast: Micah Goodman on What He’s Learned about Israel in the Past Year-and-a-Half
In the months leading up to the October 7 attacks, Israel was bitterly divided along the tribal lines that had been hardened by the government’s effort to reform the country’s judiciary. There were major protests, acts of civil disobedience, and boycotts, coupled with enormous frustration, distrust, anger, and resentment among Israelis. Then, as you might expect after suffering so grievous and unprovoked an attack as Israelis suffered on October 7, the country responded by unifying, displaying great civic strength. The invisible filaments that hold a society together were pulled taut by the war. Most everyone was a part of it and most everyone was together: volunteering, cooking, babysitting, working, cleaning, helping, schlepping, driving, organizing. When Israel’s men returned to the reserves and left their families, their businesses, their startups, and their careers, friends and neighbors became family and kept each other going.

Now, nearly eighteen months into this war, that momentary unity seems like a distant memory. The war continues, and Israeli society is again divided.

To discuss these civic tensions, the writer and teacher Micah Goodman joins Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver. Goodman is the author of seven books, most recently The Eighth Day: Israel After October 7, and in the course of the conversation he speaks about what he has learned in the last year-and-a-half about Zionism, the Israeli people, and the precious, resilient state that they’ve built.
UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff discusses lawfare with Yoni Kempinski on Arutz Sheva
Natasha Hausdorff, Barrister, International Law Expert and Legal Director of UKLFI Charitable Trust, discusses the weaponisation of international legal institutions against Israel with Yoni Kempinski on Arutz Sheva-Israel National News. She warns that what starts with Israel doesn't end with Israel.




What you aren't hearing about Israel from mainstream media w/Avi Abelow | Judeacation
This week, Josh sits down with Avi Abelow, CEO of 12 Tribe Films and host of The Pulse of Israel, for an unfiltered, passionate conversation about the future of Judea and Samaria, the aftermath of October 7 and the critical role of Jewish sovereignty in Israel’s security.

Avi, a veteran Israeli media figure and IDF reservist currently serving in Judea and Samaria, reflects on the 2005 expulsion from Gush Katif and draws a direct line between that traumatic event and the security failures that led to the October 7th Hamas massacre. He shares why he believes the only path forward is full Israeli sovereignty—not only in Judea and Samaria but also in Gaza and beyond. From army service to global Jewish activism, this episode explores what it means to protect, preserve, and be proud of the Jewish state.

📌 Topics Covered:
The dangers and consequences of Israel’s disengagement from Gaza
The October 7th massacre and IDF preparedness
Israeli sovereignty in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza
The threat of civil unrest and media misinformation in Israel
The global silence on mass atrocities in Syria
The red-green alliance (Islamism and radical leftism)
Inspiring Aliyah and Jewish pride worldwide
The importance of alternative Jewish media like JNS and Pulse of Israel

This episode is a call to action for Jews everywhere: be proud, be informed, and recognize that Israel is not only the Jewish homeland—it’s the frontline of the entire freedom-loving world.

#JudeaAndSamaria #Israel #Gaza #IsraelDefenseForces

Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Judea and Samaria
01:07 Reflections on Gush Katif and Media Activism
04:31 Political Correctness and the Current Climate in Israel
13:01 IDF Service and Preparedness
16:49 The Future of Gaza and Israeli Sovereignty
21:30 Global Indifference and the Hypocrisy of Media
30:01 Inspiring Aliyah and Jewish Identity




Anti-Israel Gen Z Social Media Personality Launches US Congressional Campaign
Kat Abughazaleh, a popular social media influencer with over 220,000 TikTok followers and an extensive track-record of anti-Israel rhetoric, has launched a campaign to be elected to the US Congress.

Abughazaleh, the daughter of a Palestinian immigrant and Texas native, announced that she would be launching a campaign to become the representative for the 9th Congressional District in Illinois. Jan Schakowsky, a Jewish American and strident supporter of the US-Israel alliance, currently represents the district.

In a video posted to X/Twitter on Monday, Abughazaleh blasted the Democratic Party for failing to provide “real leadership” and for continuing to “work from an outdated playbook.” She repudiated the Democrats for supposedly “shrinking away” from conflict with the Republican Party and “cowering to [US President Donald] Trump” and the “authoritarians” within his administration. The progressive social media personality vowed to fight for “human rights and financial freedom” for all Americans.

Though Abughazaleh did not specifically mention the ongoing war in Gaza during her campaign launch video, a keffiyeh—a traditional Arab headdress that has been repurposed to signal support for the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel — was spotted in the background.

In a fundraising text message following the official launch of her campaign, Abughazaleh further repudiated the close relationship between the United States and Israel, writing that “Democratic leadership should do something to stand up for Palestinians.” She also condemned her primary opponent for voting to “send billions to Israel.”

On Instagram, Abughazaleh posted a painting depicting a woman wearing a keffiyeh wrapped around her head, captioned: “Collective liberation includes palestinian liberation. freedom for all means freedom for palestinians [sic].” She has also posted another photo of herself standing next to street art reading “Free Palestine” and wrote a caption saying “from the river to the sea” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.


Council PULLS funding after 'River to Sea' composer goes on anti-Israel rant
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has withdrawn $25,000 in funding for the Queensland Music Awards after a jazz composer used her acceptance speech to go on a tirade, accusing the Australian government of enabling Israel to commit war crimes.

Composer Kellee Green, who is also the arts director at Brigidine College, won an award at the Queensland Music Awards for her instrumental track “River to Sea” and used her speech to criticise Israel and the Australian government.

“Our own Government is complicit in war crimes by supporting Israel both in words and actions by allowing the export of weapons and weapon parts to Israel to directly kill innocent Palestinian men, women, and children,” Green claimed.

The decision by QMusic to award Green has been condemned by the Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies and other Jewish groups, who pointed out that the song’s title is antisemitic and linked to extremist rhetoric.

Schrinner called the award “deeply offensive” and accused QMusic of allowing the event to be “hijacked by extremists.”

“The promotion of antisemitism at Tuesday night’s Queensland Music Awards was utterly shameful and divisive,” Schrinner said. “The decision to hand a major prize to an offensively titled anti-Jewish song raises serious questions about whether the awards have been hijacked by extremists.”

Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg called for government funding of QMusic to be reviewed and for Green’s award to be revoked.

“The song has been accepted at the Queensland Music Awards … how does that happen, why is that okay?” Steinberg said.

Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek also condemned the speech and said he had sought an explanation from QMusic about the awards process.
Youth activists arrested over plan to ‘shut down’ London in anti-Israel campaign
Six members of the protest group Youth Demand have been arrested at a meeting in Westminster over plans to “shut down London” next month, in a campaign that accuses the UK government of facilitating genocide in Gaza and demands a complete halt to trade with Israel.

The Metropolitan Police said the individuals were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance after officers raided a welcome talk at the Quaker Meeting House at 7.30pm on Thursday.

The group, which describes itself as a “new youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide”, claimed more than 30 officers were involved in the raid and said the arrests showed that “police repression has reached a new level”.

A Met spokesperson said: “Youth Demand have stated an intention to ‘shut down’ London over the month of April using tactics including ‘swarming’ and roadblocks.

“While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.

“On Thursday, officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting where those in attendance were plotting their April action.

“Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.”

The force confirmed that a number of houses were also raided on Thursday and Friday as part of the same operation.

Youth Demand said the meeting was intended to be “an opportunity to share plans for non-violence civil resistance actions” and alleged that one of those arrested is a journalist.
Progressive cantor thanked by Palestine Action for supporting post 7 October fundraiser
The outgoing cantor of a reform synagogue in Leeds hosted a Palestine fundraiser just eight weeks after the 7 October Hamas atrocities.

According to a report in The Jewish Telegraph, six months before taking up her role at Sinai Synagogue, Rachel Weston compered the event for Palestine Action on behalf of The Zeudah Collective, whose Instagram account, on which it has promoted anti-Zionist marches, describes the movement as a group for “radical, queer Judaism in Leeds”.

The paper says her involvement in the event was promoted across social media and on her pseudonym account @rokhlmerlot.

Palestine Action, the group that has vandalised several branches of Barclays Bank across London and Edinburgh, later publicly thanked her for her involvement.

Weston was part of a ‘Kaddish for Gaza’ in 2018.

Following concern from the Leeds community, she later wrote a statement on Sinai’s website, saying she had participated “with others from progressive Jewish backgrounds” because “I believe in dialogue, human rights, mourning the loss of all human life, the power of communal ritual, freedom, and kindness”, adding that she was “deeply cognisant and saddened by the divisiveness and pain it caused in the Jewish community.”




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