Wednesday, April 02, 2025

04/02 Links Pt2: The Unreformable Palestinian Authority; Why the Abraham Accords still matter; Eli Lake: Orientalism: How one book fueled 50 years of campus unrest

From Ian:

The Unreformable Palestinian Authority
With Israel poised to start taking and holding territory inside the Gaza Strip, the question of how to administer postwar Gaza has become more pressing. The Biden administration had been pushing for handing it over to a “reformed” or “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA). The PA, however, seems fundamentally resistant to reform. For instance, last year, the PA made a written promise to the EU that it would revise the anti-Semitic and jihadist curriculum in its schools. (Similar promises were made by Yasir Arafat.) A recent study found a “complete absence of such reforms.” Elliott Abrams comments:

Donors to the PA’s educational programs should take a closer look at what they are supporting. PA schools are teaching another generation to hate Jews and Israelis and to become terrorists. And this is against the background of significant textbook reforms in numerous other Arab and Muslim countries.

Likewise, there were reports in February that the PA has taken steps to end its policy of rewarding those who commit acts of terror, and their families, with money and jobs. I was suspicious of the story at the time, and those suspicions have since been borne out:

In March, payments for February were made as usual. I am reminded of a Politico article headlined “U.S. says Palestinians are close to changing ‘pay for slay’ program.” That article was dated March 29, 2024.

The PA may have changed the agency that pays terrorists, or the bank account, but there is zero evidence that the evil practice has been stopped. So as with textbooks, the PA has given new and convincing evidence that it does not seek and will not undertake reform. Those who believe there is now, or soon will be, a “reformed Palestinian Authority” are kidding themselves. The PA today continues to teach and to reward hate and violence. There has been no change of heart.
Why the Abraham Accords still matter
As chair of Labour Friends of Israel, last week I became the first British MP to travel between Israel and the UAE – an unimaginable reality before the historic Abraham Accords in 2020.

My flight – one of 18-daily ones which now shuttle back and forth between the two countries – was chockful of young Israeli families off on holiday and businesspeople. What was so remarkable about the journey is how quickly it has become normal.

The truth is that despite the terrible war in Gaza, the Abraham Accords demonstrate how durable peace is when underpinned by shared values and a commitment to security and prosperity.

A principal goal of Hamas’ 7 October attacks was to scupper the burgeoning process of normalisation with Israel for other countries in the region, especially Saudi Arabia. Iran and its terrorist proxies are bent on Israel’s destruction and the undermining of regional security for more moderate, pragmatic Arab states. Indeed, Israel’s further integration into the region will be key to maintaining security for Israel and those moderate Arab states alike.

In Abu Dhabi, I met with Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, a member of the UAE Federal National Council, to discuss the UK’s continued support for the Abraham Accords and our driving ambition to see further normalisation of relations in the region.

That’s why Labour Friends of Israel is calling on the government to create a Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords at ambassador level. We also discussed the country’s laudable efforts to promote tolerance in the face of Islamist extremism – a destabilising ideology embodied and exported by the regime in Tehran.
David Collier: I exposed Hamas links in BBC Gaza film: 'When the media spread lies it has consequences'
The BBC was recently caught publishing a documentary that secretly relied upon, and paid, the family of a senior Hamas official.

In the public outrage that followed, BBC executives were forced to take the documentary offline.

The documentary, titled "Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone," allegedly cost over half a million dollars to make, and yet the Hamas ties to the production were exposed in less than twelve hours of the show airing.

Media bias against Israel is not new, but the demographic shift in Europe has resulted in toxic anti-western ideologies being given an increasingly loud voice in many state institutions. In the UK, we see this mostly manifest itself in academia, politics, and, of course, the media.

For decades, outlets such as the BBC have used Qatari state mouthpieces such as Al Jazeera as a recruiting pool. How many ex-Al Jazeera staffers do you need to employ before you begin to look like Al Jazeera yourself?

Which means anti-Israel bias in the media is rarely an accident, it is almost always a feature of a far bigger problem.

The unique aspect of the "BBC-gate" documentary saga was that it exposed BBC anti-Israel bias across the entire news-delivery supply chain. Once it left the hands of Hamas propaganda agents in Gaza, across the fixers and journalists, all the way to the BBC executives who rubbed their hands with glee and dreamed of global awards, the failure was complete, catastrophic and inexcusable. Not one part of the system did its job properly.

The BBC’s anti-Israel bias is now undeniable. There is just nowhere left for them to hide. The BBC’s engine room is full of obsessive activists dressed in PRESS gear, all trying to find new stories and new angles that will help shift public opinion further against the Jewish state. The BBC traffic all goes one way.

I am reliably informed that for every story pitched by BBC journalists in support of the only actual democracy in the region, at least 10 are intended to make people sympathize with a Gazan population that not only voted Hamas into power, but whose families man the forces of multiple Jihadist terrorist groups.


Hostages Forum releases ‘Haggadah of Freedom’ for Passover
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has created its own Haggadah of Freedom, a Seder guide that includes personal stories from released Israeli hostages and hostage family members alongside the traditional Passover blessings.

The new interpretation of the Haggadah incorporates the story of the "Seder" that former hostages Liri Albag and Agam Berger held while in captivity; the letter that kidnapped soldier Hadar Goldin wrote to his fiancée on the eve of Passover before his abduction in 2014; the music that saved released hostage Sagui Dekel Chen; the story of Ethiopian-Israeli Avraham Mengistu’s release after ten years in Hamas captivity, and many more.

“This year, as we retell the story of liberation from Egypt, the Haggadah of Freedom adds the voices of today’s hostage families and released hostages,” said Nivi Feldman, an organiser from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum UK. “Their reflections and resilience sit alongside our ancient text, reminding us that the fight for freedom is not only our history—it’s our present.”

The book, which features illustrations by Vered Goldman, attempts to bridge the gap between the story of Exodus from Egypt and the contemporary struggles of the Jewish people through modern interpretations of the ancient experiences, with one section on Moses’ profound realisation explored through the story of Ruby Chen, the father of released hostage Itay Chen.
Bereaved families leave IDF's Nova massacre probe meeting in anger
Bereaved families of victims of the Nova music festival who attended the IDF’s Wednesday morning presentation of its investigation into the massacre left in anger, one after the other.

“We will not receive any answers until a real investigative committee with real authority is established,” families told Maariv. Several attendees also left after feeling unwell.

On Thursday, another meeting will be held with survivors of the massacre and their families, but many of them arrived on Wednesday to show support for the bereaved families.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the investigation was “superficial,” with facts that were “inaccurate at best, lies at worst.”

“Key questions remain unanswered: Why doesn’t the investigation include the massacre in the shelters and access roads? When did different ranks know about the Nova festival? And why is there no synchronization in the investigation between the IDF, Israel Police, and Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency]?” it said.

Independent investigations
Many from the October Council, which represents families directly impacted by the October 7 massacre, have conducted “independent investigations” to learn what happened to their relatives, adding that it is “unacceptable” that nearly two years after the October 7 massacre, no state commission of inquiry has been established.

The forum said the investigation is not a substitute for a state commission of inquiry that would investigate everything and everyone, including the political, security, military, and intelligence echelons.

“Without lessons learned, the next disaster is already at our doorstep. Only a state commission of inquiry will provide some peace to our souls and prevent the next disaster,” it said.
Ex-hostage Eliya Cohen: Terrorists killed captive who tried to flee before we entered Gaza
Former hostage Eliya Cohen, who was abducted from the Nova music festival and held captive for 505 days, said in an interview aired Tuesday that Hamas-led terrorists killed another captive who tried to escape as they were being taken to Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Speaking with Channel 12 news, Cohen also described the difficult conditions in captivity, saying that his captors drastically increased the amount of food he was given during his last weeks in the Gaza Strip after the gaunt appearance of hostages released before him sparked international outrage.

Cohen was held captive with Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were returned to Israel on February 8, dangerously emaciated. The three were also held together with Alon Ohel, who has yet to be released.

According to Cohen, he first encountered Ohel during the October 7 attack after fleeing the desert rave together with his fiancée Ziv to a roadside bomb shelter, later dubbed the “bunker of death” after terrorists attacked it by hurling grenades inside at partygoers.

“They threw the first grenade. Someone shouted, ‘Grenade! Grenade!’ I jumped on Ziv…and the first thing that came out of my mouth was: ‘Ziv, I love you.’ The grenade exploded and killed everyone at the entrance. Ziv replied to me, ‘Eliya, I love you.'”

Cohen said that off-duty Staff Sgt. Aner Shapiro then got up and told the group, “We cannot let them kill us like this,” before grabbing the next grenade tossed into the shelter and throwing it back outside.


Lawler criticizes NY theater refusing to screen Jew-hatred documentary
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) demanded answers on Monday from a cinema in his district after it refused to screen “October 8,” a documentary about the rise of antisemitism in the United States after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, N.Y., declined to screen the film, according to a spokesperson for the film’s studio, but is screening “No Other Land”—a controversial, Oscar-winning film co-directed by an Israeli-Palestinian collective showing Palestinian activists protecting their homes from demolition by the Israeli military.

While Lawler expressed his disappointment in the choice, he specifically questioned the center’s recent hiring of Eric Hynes, who holds anti-Israel views and accused the Jewish state of genocide, according to Lawler, as its director of film curation and programming. The congressman called the decision “a complete slap in the face to the Jewish community in the Hudson Valley.” (Many of the tweets Lawler linked as evidence of Hynes’s views could not be attributed to Hynes)

“Unfortunately, this hiring decision has reared its ugly head in the biased choice to refuse screening of ‘October 8,’ a critical film that highlights the challenges faced by Jews in the U.S. following the horrific Oct. 7 attacks,” Lawler stated. “Given Mr. Hynes’s praise for the antisemitic protests at Columbia University and at CUNY, one doesn’t have to wonder if his personal anti-Israel bias factored into his decision to refuse screening this important film.”

“The choice to screen ‘No Other Land,’ while simultaneously denying screening of ‘October 8,’ calls directly into question Mr. Hynes’s intent, and given his long track record of being anti-Israel and supporting antisemitic protests, I fear the worst,” he continued. “The Jacob Burns Film Center should reflect on its choices and step in to ensure that there is a balanced set of films,” rather than “one worldview pushed by someone with an axe to grind.”


The assault on Judaism: How Israel-bashing and anti-Zionism fuel global hatred
Paradigm shift: Countering the Israel-bashing ideology
Yet, it is important to clarify: Those recommendations are not “cures” to antisemitism; they are “conflict management” tools in the 2,300-year-old European opposition to Judaism.

Such opposition always followed the most relevant aspect of Judaism of the time. In our era, it is Zionism and the Jewish state.

While for over a decade, we have been arguing in the Judaism 3.0 think tank that Judaism is under a large-scale assault from the Israel-bashing ideology, October 7 provided funding, structure, and credibility to the assault.

Crafting a defense strategy requires new and different thinking, as our era’s attempt to eradicate Judaism differs from the last century’s.

It is ideological as opposed to physical. It is nuanced, committed by friends and foes, and no longer comes exclusively from Europe but also from its sphere of influence in the United States.

Therefore, the assault cannot be countered only through foreign policy actions. It also requires an ideological response, which capitalizes on the golden asset we have today that we did not have before: antisemitism itself.

For the first 2,300 years of the European-Jewish conflict, it was normative to openly hate Jews. Antisemitism was considered a legitimate European political movement in the late 19th century. Some data suggest that the majority of the French population at the time identified as antisemites.

Today, however, openly slandering Jews would end one’s career. Opposition to Judaism must be carried through the shield of Judaism 2.0 – the illusion that Judaism is merely a religion: “I am pro-Judaism, just anti-Zionism,” “I love the Jews, just oppose the Jewish state.”

Once there is a broader global recognition that Judaism has transformed and Zionism has become its anchor (Judaism 3.0), those carrying out the attacks would be deterred:

A US senator implying that the Jewish state is “a Pariah opposed by the world” (and therefore must be dealt with – whether through arrests, sanctions, embargoes, or siege) can only do so if he believes that by saying “Jewish state” as opposed to “Judaism,” he is protected from being perceived as an antisemite. As that senator soon found out, he was wrong.

The same goes for journalists, academics, influencers, and others partaking in the ideological assault on Judaism.

Attending the summit, Starr Haymes-Kempin, a member of the Judaism 3.0 think tank since its founding in 2011 and a prominent Palm Beach figure, commented: “Indeed, October 7 turned Judaism 3.0 from a thesis that we deliberated for years in corporate conference rooms and New York rooftop receptions, into a depiction of day-to-day life. Every American Jew feels it now.”
Standing up, speaking out: Erin Molan and the fight for Israel
Taylor Swift might be an international icon, but in Israel she’s got competition – not in record sales but reverence. Most find their spotlight dims when Erin Molan gets mentioned in the Holy Land. Now fronting Elon Musk’s 69X Minutes news show, on the platform formerly known as Twitter, Erin arrived in Israel for the first time last December, knowing she had out-Swifted Swifty.

“A few people had told me and I said, ‘Gosh, that’s amazing.’ But when I got there, I thought, ‘Wait, I’m bigger,’” Erin laughs.“That’s a joke by the way.” Only it wasn’t a joke. Erin, 41, got a welcome befitting of a modern-day Boadicea as social media warrior defending a threatened people against the anti-Israel cultural tide.

This stance, held since October 7, has both elevated and disrupted her career, but the beautiful Australian journalist stands firm.

“If you had told me 18 months ago that a terrorist attack would happen that saw 1,200 people slaughtered, hundreds more taken hostage, women and babies burnt alive – and that opposing the perpetrators would put you in the minority, make you controversial – I would’ve said, ‘Not a chance in hell.’ Not even in the most woke, ridiculous fantasy land could that happen …. Fast forward and here we are.”

Erin is never deflated, but her arms drop to her sides. “There’s no grey,” she sighs. “Supporting Israel is the most obvious thing in the world. How others don’t see it the way I do, I will never understand.”

The confusion – the head scratch – about Erin’s conviction is that she isn’t Jewish. So why, begs the inexplicable question, would she sign up with the team most likely to expose her to hate? “In terms of choices I’ve made in my life, there were none easier,” she clarifies.” It wasn’t even a choice. It’s a privilege to stand up for and with your people, and I’ll do it for the rest of my life.”

Sky Australia has never formally clarified why Erin left the network, which left everyone guessing and employees refuting suggestions of antisemitism. But does it really matter when, as Erin says: “People talk about how powerful my voice is in this space, because I’m not Jewish.”

That powerful voice is the reason Israel extended an invitation to visit, during which she met October 7 survivors, families of hostages and visited kibbutzim and the Nova festival site.
Europe's Illegal Land-Grab: The Unlawful Palestinian Settlements You've Never Heard Of
Israel's complete jurisdiction over Area C, which legally includes building permits, zoning, construction, law enforcement and planning, was recognized and agreed to by the Palestinian leadership and the world at large for almost three decades. As stipulated in the agreement, only when direct negotiations determine the permanent fate of the territories that had illegally been occupied by Jordan until 1967, can the Oslo Accords be replaced. Until then, it is the law.

First, they fabricated a name for this illegal encampment to make it appear "historic": "Khan al Ahmar." From there, they complained to the media that this destitute group of Arabs were being threatened with supposed "crimes against humanity": forced population transfer and ethnic cleansing. They accompanied their manufactured narrative with images of barefoot Bedouin children, and began pumping money into the settlement, and building these "dispossessed" children a school.

Khan al Ahmar is representative of a pattern of tactics that the PA regularly employs when wresting land rights from the State of Israel. First, it identifies a strategic point located far from an existing population center. Second, it illegally seizes the land, invents a name for this "historic" village that never existed, and insists the squatters have been there since the dawn of time, despite historic aerial photographs showing otherwise. Third, it broadcasts any pushback from Israel as "cruel" and "oppressive," and "ethnic cleansing".... Then, it finds another location to invade.

As of today, the PA has built over 90,000 illegal structures and aggressively seized more than 23,000 acres of land.

[T]he UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been known to partner with the PA, and it actually plowed over the royal city of Shomron (Sebastia), the seat of the ancient Israelite Kingdom and one of the largest, most important archaeological sites in the area. UNESCO has also literally "reinvented" the Tomb of the Patriarchs -- where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are buried -- as the purported tomb of a Muslim sheikh.

Attempted legal action against the EU, on the basis of its undermining the Oslo Accords, is met with the claim that its funding for the PA merely amounts to "humanitarian aid" and that the EU has full "diplomatic immunity." Carver, however, argues that this defense is invalid because the Vienna Convention stipulates that diplomats may only be granted immunity if they do not interfere in the internal affairs of a state, which the EU is actively doing by seizing land that is recognized legally as being under Israel's jurisdiction. In claiming immunity by falsely declaring that it is not interfering in Israel's internal affairs, the EU is also disregarding a foundational element of the UN charter: the principle of non-intervention.

The Europeans appear to want it both ways, on the one hand paying lip service to the Oslo Accords in order to criticize Israel, while on the other hand actively helping the PA to ignore the terms of the Accords. The chasm between proclaimed intention and actual behavior renders any commitment to peace laughable. The irony of the Europeans condemning Israel for expropriating questionable Palestinian land when the Europeans themselves are helping Palestinians to expropriate Israeli land is lost on the public at large.
ADL, AEN sponsor UCLA antisemitism conference that featured speakers tied to anti-Zionist groups
The Anti-Defamation League and Academic Engagement Network helped sponsor a conference on combating antisemitism in law at UCLA last week featuring speakers affiliated with anti-Zionist organizations, whom attendees said used the event to promote anti-Israel and antisemitism rhetoric. The ADL said afterward that it was “pleased to co-sponsor the conference,” while the head of AEN said she would have pulled out of the event had she known of the speakers’ list.

In addition to the ADL and AEN, the conference was sponsored by the UCLA Hillel, UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, Shotz Family Foundation in honor of Hebrew Helpers, People4Peace and Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP.

Speakers at the fourth annual Law vs. Antisemitism conference, which was held this year at UCLA for two days beginning on March 23, included University of Toronto law professor Mohammed Fadel; Thomas Harvey, a civil rights lawyer representing Faculty for Justice in Palestine; and Ben Lorber, a former campus coordinator for Jewish Voice for Peace.

Anat Alon-Beck, a Case Western Reserve University associate law professor who attended the conference, told Jewish Insider that she walked out of Lorber’s session titled “The Policy-Legal ‘Nexus’ in Regulating Campus Antisemitism” because she was “appalled” by Lorber’s “bias and invalidating of all of the antisemitism I’ve been experiencing on campus.”

The next panel Alon-Beck attended, about the Frankel v. UCLA Regents case, which featured Fadel and Harvey, was equally “disgraceful and one-sided,” she said. The federal suit, filed in June 2024, centers on the allegations of Jewish students and a UCLA professor that the university refused to clear what the plaintiffs called a “Jew Exclusion Zone” on campus, which they charged was a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

“Those were two very important topics [and] the speakers were not balanced,” Alon-Beck said.
J Street’s dishonest, anti-Israel, anti-peace, anti-democracy manifesto
J Street claims Israel’s policies threaten bipartisan support in the United States, yet Congress overwhelmingly backs Israel. Efforts to condition foreign aid, supported by J Street, were rejected.

J Street insists that American Jews can be “pro-Israel” while criticizing the Israeli government. However, Israelis have no obligation to listen to those who don’t live with the consequences. J Street lobbies the U.S. government to coerce Israel’s democratically elected leaders, which is neither democratic nor pro-Israel.

J Street ignores that Israel was ready to withdraw from captured territories in exchange for peace after 1967, only to be met with the Arab League’s “Three No’s”: no peace, no recognition and no negotiations. The 2009 Fatah conference reiterated this stance: no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and no end to armed struggle.

In yet another omission, J Street says that Israel’s “occupation” was supposed to be temporary, forgetting that U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, the basis for all peace talks, tied Israeli withdrawal to the Arab states ending their belligerency. Israel was not obligated to give up all the territory it captured but still withdrew from roughly 94%. The Palestinians were not mentioned and given no political rights.

J Street criticizes Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but says nothing about the repression of Palestinian rights by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

During the Obama administration, most Jews disagreed with his call to halt settlement construction. In 2019, only 25% supported dismantling all settlements; 41% supported dismantling some, while 28% opposed dismantling any. Meanwhile, a December 2024 poll found that only 29% of Israeli Jews opposed annexation, while 40% supported it.

The manifesto calls for “The 23-State Solution.” This is interesting because opponents of Palestinian statehood have long pointed out that since there are already 22 Arab states, there is no reason for a 23rd. Many people also note that Jordan is both geographically and demographically a Palestinian state. Yet another fact is that most Palestinians live in what was historically Palestine.

J Street falsely equates the “historical and emotional ties” to the land of Palestinians and Jews. They argue that adding another Arab state will lead to Israel’s acceptance by its adversaries and global recognition. The former, however, cannot be placated, and the latter has already been achieved.

The fact that all the peace agreements with Israel were made without concessions to the Palestinians proves that they are unnecessary. The Abraham Accords succeeded because the UAE and Bahrain were fed up with Palestinian intransigence and decided to put their interests first. J Street argues that Saudi Arabia will be different; however, the Saudis will likely follow the example of the others who normalized ties with Israel and bypassed the Palestinians—provided they get what they want from the United States.

J Street backs a return to the disastrous Iran nuclear deal and advocates a “diplomacy-first approach,” oblivious to the fruitless negotiations pursued by the Biden administration that allowed Iran to advance to the point it has the uranium to build multiple weapons.

Point eight reminds us that J Street added pro-democracy to its tagline. The problem is that it doesn’t support democracy unless the outcome suits its needs. The group rejects the democratic process in Israel because it disagrees with the representatives chosen by the people. The group also claims to support bipartisanship, yet it exclusively funds Democrats, including those who are openly hostile to Israel.

Regarding combating antisemitism, J Street defends antisemitic rhetoric under the guise of “criticism of Israel.” It falsely claims that right-wing groups exaggerate campus antisemitism while Jewish students face unprecedented harassment almost exclusively from the left. They mention “longstanding allies,” but not the fact that many turned on and often expelled Jewish students while endorsing Hamas. J Street defends radical groups that glorify terrorism, opposes anti-boycott legislation and objects to effective methods for motivating administrators to protect Jewish students.

Like other demonizers of Israel, J Street speciously attacks the internationally recognized (including the United States) definition of antisemitism proffered by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance for conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism by ignoring its explicit declaration: “Criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic.”

In its final catchall point that “everything else also matters,” J Street argues Jewish voters are not hawkish single-issue Israel voters. True, Jews don’t rank Israel high among the issues that determine their vote, and yet they consistently vote for pro-Israel candidates and oppose those who are anti-Israel.

The manifesto complains about “powerful and well-funded” lobbies, meaning AIPAC, which have those traits because they represent the bulk of the pro-Israel community. After years of being the largest “pro-Israel” PAC and filling Democratic candidates’ coffers, their funding is now dwarfed by AIPAC’s bipartisan support.

Reflecting its anti-democratic agenda, J Street denigrates “hawkish” voters, meaning conservative and Orthodox Jews who, in the last election, overwhelmingly favored Donald Trump in part or whole because of his positions on Israel. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, received the lowest percentage of the Jewish vote of any Democrat since Michael Dukakis, partly due to President Joe Biden’s policy toward Israel.

J Street pretends to represent Jewish interests, but its actions tell a different story. It supports policies that endanger Israel, disregards the will of Israelis and Arabs, and undermines Israel’s democracy.
Supreme Court appears undecided on PLO lawsuit
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Tuesday in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, a case that aims to determine — after decades of litigation and legislation — whether American victims of Palestinian terrorism can sue the PLO and Palestinian Authority for their payments to terrorists and their families.

The justices extensively questioned lawyers for the families of terror victims, the U.S. government and the PLO, giving few hints as to how the final ruling in the case would land.

“I think there’s a lot of ways the court could skin the cat and I think there will be multiple opinions written, and it’ll be a really interesting decision,” Mark Pinkert, an attorney with Holtzman Vogel, who filed an amicus brief on behalf of a slew of Jewish organizations in the case, told Jewish Insider.

Key issues that justices focused on at the hearing included whether the PLO and PA enjoy any due process rights under the Constitution, the extent to which the courts should defer to the executive and legislative branches on national security matters and the particular rules and tests that should be applied to determine whether the PLO and PA should be subject to U.S. jurisdiction for actions that take place outside the U.S.

The legislation underlying the case dictates that the PLO and PA subject themselves to U.S. jurisdiction under either of two conditions: first, that they continue the terror payments, and second, that they conduct activities within the United States.

The justices, Pinkert noted, seemed skeptical of the first condition as sufficient to provide American jurisdiction, and the U.S. government appeared to concede that issue during oral arguments. He said the justices may remand the case to the Second Circuit court to further deliberate on the second condition. Pinkert noted that the Second Circuit has not ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor in the past, so that outcome may not produce a favorable result for them.
Eli Lake Breaking History: Orientalism: How one book fueled 50 years of campus unrest
Pro-Palestine protests have been a feature of Columbia's campus since October 7. Now, Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to the university: get control of your campus or lose $400 million in Federal funding. But the target of the measures wasn't just security, but the Middle East Department too, which Columbia has agreed to place into five years of 'academic receivership'.

This week we take a deeper look at the ideology behind the unrest. One protester’s placard stuck out, it read: “Why make me study Said if I’m not allowed to use it?”. The placard was referring to academic Edward Said and this question gets to the very heart of the Columbia protests and the anti-Israeli sentiment felt on many American campuses today.

Edward Said was the author of a book called Orientalism that changed American universities forever. You can’t understand the Gaza protests without understanding Orientalism. But just how much is this radical 1970s academic text influencing contemporary thinking about the Middle East?
Nearly half of young Americans support Hamas, poll reveals
Nearly half of young Americans support Hamas more than Israel in the ongoing conflict between the two, according to a new Harvard University poll.

Among 18 to 24-year-olds, 48 per cent of those who expressed a view on the war favoured Hamas, with 52 per cent supporting Israel. Average support for Israel across age groups was 77 per cent, rising to 93 per cent among the over-65s.

The online survey, conducted by pollster HarrisX on 26 and 27 March 2025, included 2,746 registered voters across the United States, chosen to ensure a nationally representative sample. The results reveal a widening generational divide on US foreign policy, especially concerning Israel.

The youngest cohort’s support for Hamas has risen significantly since last year, when the same poll found that 72 per cent of the same age group supported Israel.

Nevertheless, 65 per cent of that age group – and 80 per cent in total – this year supported the proposition that “Hamas must release all remaining hostages without any conditions or face serious consequences”.

Further complicating the picture, 59 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds expressed disapproval of President Donald Trump’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, along with 51 per cent of those aged 25-34.

The poll's findings also resonate with concerns about the rising prominence of anti-Israel activism on US college campuses. In recent months, pro-Palestinian protests have gained momentum at prestigious universities including Columbia and Harvard.


Jonathan Sacerdoti: Sadiq Khan’s Eid message is a disgrace
London’s Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan published a video online earlier this week to mark the Muslim festival of Eid. Released under the guise of seasonal goodwill, this glib social media greeting is not merely problematic – it is an outright disgrace. Cloaked in the warm language of unity and peace, the Mayor of London delivered a politicised monologue that whitewashes terrorism, stokes division, and fundamentally misrepresents the moral landscape of the Israel–Palestinian conflict. This is not the conduct of a responsible leader. It is the conduct of a man either wilfully blind to barbarity or all too willing to exploit a religious holiday for ideological gain.

‘More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing military campaign, including more than 15,000 children,’ Khan states, with all the solemnity of a humanitarian appeal scripted by a Palestinian support group. But where do these numbers come from? He cites no source. In reality, these figures are unverified numbers released by the so-called ‘Gaza Health Ministry’ – a body we all know is directly controlled by Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organisation under UK law.

Hamas is not merely a political entity; it is a jihadi terrorist group responsible for grotesque crimes against civilians, including rape, torture, the killing of babies, and the kidnapping of men, women, children, and the elderly – on 7 October 2023 and for many years before. Yet in Khan’s message, Hamas is not mentioned once. Not once.

This is no accidental omission – it is a deliberate moral distortion. Hamas’s atrocities are the very genesis of this war, and yet Khan sees fit to mention only Israel’s actions, casting them as ‘betrayals of humanity [that] should weigh heavily on our collective conscience’.

Sadly, this is the level of intellectual and ethical engagement we have come to expect from our small-minded mayor, representing one of the world’s most diverse cities. To ignore the inciting act of mass terror by Hamas and frame the defensive response by Israel as the sole moral failing is not just misguided – it is morally repugnant, especially in a video greeting to Muslims, whose faith was used by the terrorists as a justification for their acts of horror and bloodshed.

More egregiously, this false framing is delivered during what should be an inclusive civic message. Khan speaks ‘as the Mayor of London’, not merely as a private citizen or religious leader. And yet, his address is pointedly communal in a way that excludes. ‘I want to send my warmest wishes to everyone celebrating Eid here in London and around the world,’ he begins, before pivoting into an indictment of Israel that, intentionally or not, validates the language of extremist protest and exacerbates social tensions in a city already teetering under the weight of anti-Semitic agitation.


UC Berkeley antisemitism lawsuit can proceed, US judge rules
A US federal judge has said Jewish groups may pursue a lawsuit accusing the University of California, Berkeley, of tolerating an “unrelenting” stream of antisemitic harassment toward Jewish students and faculty, in a decision made public on Tuesday.

US District Judge James Donato said two Jewish groups may pursue equal protection, free exercise of religion, and civil rights claims against school officials, including University of California President Michael Drake and former UC Berkeley chancellor Carol Christ.

Donato said the plaintiffs plausibly alleged that Jewish students and professors were treated differently at UC Berkeley because they are Jewish, and that the school was “deliberately indifferent to the on-campus harassment and hostile environment.”

The plaintiffs had cited myriad instances, including an Israeli professor having her invitation to teach at the school revoked; protesters calling Israeli students “Talmudic devils”; and a student with a Star of David necklace being surrounded by masked protesters, who told him, “Zionists can go back to Europe.”

At the same time, the San Francisco-based judge dismissed a contract-based claim surrounding student organizations’ bylaws prohibiting those who espouse Zionist beliefs.

He also, notably, declined to take up the plaintiff’s assertion that “Zionism is a central tenet of the Jewish faith,” saying that for the court to weigh in on such a matter would raise “a serious constitutional problem,” as it would involve weighing in on religious doctrine.

“It may be that the Court may properly determine whether Zionism is a sincerely held religious belief for some individuals, as circumstances might warrant, but the Court will not determine if it is a central tenet of Judaism,” Donato wrote.
UKLFI: Manchester Uni Friends of Israel Society counters biased and illegal student union motion
The Friends of Israel Society at Manchester University has hit back at a proposed motion of the University of Manchester Student Union (UMSU). The motion contains a litany of anti-Israel allegations and supports BDS against Israel and amplifying the voices of Palestinians.

The allegations include that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to colonisation and genocide for over 76 years”; that Israel practices ethnic cleansing; and that “Israel, in its entirety, is an apartheid settler-colonial state committing ongoing genocide against Palestinians”.

The motion also claims that “Starting 7th October 2023, the Israeli state has committed a genocide and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including collective punishment and ethnic cleansing.” It says nothing about Palestinian atrocities on 7 October, but appears to justify Hamas’s actions as a “right to resist occupation.”

UMSU has postponed the vote on the motion while it takes legal advice.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) assisted the Friends of Israel Society to formulate a letter setting out why the motion and UMSU’s procedure are unlawful:
1. UMSU’s procedure does not appear to allow opponents of the motion a fair opportunity to counter the many false and one-sided allegations in the motion by a communication circulated to students before they vote on it. According to advice by leading barrister, Christopher McCall KC given to and adopted by the National Union of Students (NUS), student unions are permitted to arrange motions on political issues, provided they further the union’s proper educational purpose; but in order to further this purpose, they must be conducted in a balanced and non-partisan manner, ensuring a fair opportunity for different viewpoints to be expressed.
2. The motion effectively promotes a BDS campaign. It calls on the University to cut all ties with Israel, end exchange programmes with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, cut joint research programmes with Tel Aviv University and divest from shareholdings in companies linked to Israel. It endorses earlier, unlawful BDS motions without qualification, implying that they were lawful and proper, and that they can and should be reaffirmed and implemented – even though UMSU had rightly accepted that the earlier motions should not be put into effect after receiving legal advice that it would be unlawful to do so.
3. The motion provides for UMSU to fund amplifying the voices of Palestinians, and campaigns to cut ties with Israel and adopt BDS. This would constitute unlawful discrimination against students with ethnicities other than Palestinian and/or philosophical beliefs that do not favour the Palestinian cause, in breach of the Equality Act 2010. It would also result in unfair allocations of funding to different societies in breach of section 22 of the Education Act 1994.

The Friends of Israel Society has asked UMSU tor confirmation that UMSU will post their response to the motion and circulate a link to it to all students in advance of voting on the motion. The Society have asked for three weeks from the date this is confirmed to give them a fair opportunity to prepare their response
MEMRI: Emirati Political Analyst: U.S. Universities Have Become A Platform For Spreading Extremism, Hate And Antisemitism On Behalf Of Terrorist Organizations
Following the arrest in the U.S. of Mahmoud Khalil, a key figure in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, Emirati political analyst Salem Al-Ketbi warned that American universities and academic institutions have become a strategic platform used by extremist organizations to spread their ideas and even recruit supporters. Writing on March 16, 2025 on the Saudi website Elaph, Al-Ketbi stated that this is a broad and troubling phenomenon, whereby extremist and terrorist organizations use U.S. immigration laws to infiltrate American universities and form student cells whose members are eventually likely to receive U.S. citizenship, making it difficult for the U.S. to act against them. Some foreign students, he stressed, come to the U.S. not just to study but also to incite hatred and antisemitism, as part of a broader strategy to foster extremism on campus. Behind this strategy are countries, chief of them Iran, which fund terrorist organizations like Hamas while also employing charities and student organizations to recruit support for terrorism and cultivate a new generation of activists who promote extremist ideas without even realizing they are extremist. The extremist organizations, Al-Ketbi added, manipulate the academic discourse to justify their activities and ideology in the guise of humanitarian action. He called on the U.S. universities to reexamine their policy regarding foreign funding and activism by foreign students, and formulate clear guidelines for monitoring activities that transcend the boundaries of free speech and can become means for promoting extremism.

The following are translated excerpts from his article.
"On March 8, [2025] the American authorities arrested Syria-born Palestinian Mahmoud Khalil, a student activist and a high-profile mediator in the protests at Columbia University in support of the terrorist Hamas [movement], after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers raided his home. The arrest came after the U.S. State Department ordered to revoke his student visa because he was a key figure at the sit-ins on the Columbia University campus and in the negotiations between the student protesters and the university authorities. But [Khalil's] case goes beyond mere student activism: it sheds light on the way extremist organizations use America's immigration laws to insert their people into American society and build support networks [whose members] may later work to attain [U.S.] citizenship…

"Mahmoud Khalil was one of the prominent faces of Columbia University's Apartheid Divest (CUAD) movement that called to boycott companies that support Israel and stop investments in them. As the tensions surrounding the war in Gaza increased, the demonstrations in which Mahmoud Khalil participated drew harsh criticism from supporters of Israel, who accused him of promoting 'Hamas' terrorist propaganda.' Although his lawyers denied these accusations and no real evidence has been found of 'financing' terrorism, his case sparks a debate about a graver issue: the way the American immigration laws are used facilitate the infiltration of terrorist elements and the establishment of cells supporting [terrorism, whose members] will hold American citizenship in the future, making it difficult to pursue them.

"Mahmoud Khalil is not an isolated case. The American universities – which attract students from all over the world – have become a strategic target for extremist organizations, because the student visa programs allow foreign students from various countries, including Palestinians, to attend them. But some of these students don't come just to study, but also to disseminate extremism and to foment hatred.

"In 2019, for example, an investigation of the American National Security Agency into a network of foreign students at the University of California revealed that they had used their academic positions to spread the extremist ideas of Al-Qaeda and that there were other cases of this sort, like that of a Pakistani student at New York University who turned the university's student dorms into centers for recruiting young people to ISIS. These examples demonstrate how the universities can be used to inculcate extremist ideology.
New Survey Reveals Escalation of Antisemitic Incidents on Australian University Campuses
The 2024 Survey of Antisemitism in Australian Universities, conducted by the Australian Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism (5A), reveals a troubling escalation of antisemitic incidents affecting Jewish students and staff across the nation’s higher education institutions. The survey was carried out by two expert social scientists, Andrew Markus and Efrat Eilam. This comprehensive study sheds light on the prevalence of antisemitism on campuses, the profound impact on the Jewish academic community, and the perceived inadequacies in university responses.

Key Findings
The survey, which gathered responses from 548 individuals across 30 universities—including 395 students and 149 staff—highlights an unsettling picture. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported personally experiencing antisemitic comments. Only 38 percent of students and 36 percent of academic staff stated that they felt safe on campus. Perhaps most concerning, a majority of respondents—60 percent of students and 54 percent of staff—felt that university management is not doing enough to address the issue.

These findings suggest that antisemitism is not an occasional or isolated problem, but a systemic issue affecting the wellbeing and safety of Jewish individuals in academic environments.

The Human Impact
Beyond the data, the survey documented more than 21,000 words of personal testimony. These stories reveal a deep sense of alienation, emotional harm, and anxiety. Many Jewish students and academics described feelings of rejection and isolation, and some have withdrawn from campus life altogether. Nearly half of both students and academic staff reported a decline in their interactions with non-Jewish peers since October 7, 2023. Alarmingly, 45 percent of students said they had reduced their class attendance due to feeling unsafe or unwelcome.
Australian univerisity investigates rally speech: 'It's our duty' to make Jews 'uncomfortable'
The University of Technology Sydney is investigating an anti-Israel campus rally last Wednesday in which a speaker said it was their “duty” to make Jews “uncomfortable,” a UTS spokesperson confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

At the rally, which was part of the Australia-wide 2025 National Day of Action for Palestine, academic Peter Slezak stated that “Jews in particular should feel uncomfortable and it’s our duty to make them uncomfortable.”

Slezak had been paraphrasing Macquarie University professor Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah, adding that he agreed with the sentiment. The Jewish academic intoned that it was important to stand against the State of Israel’s alleged crimes being carried out in the name of other Jews.

Making Jews uncomfortable on campus
“The UTS spokesperson assured that the university has no tolerance for racism or discrimination,” said the spokesperson. “Vice-chancellor Prof. Andrew Parfitt has been clear and continues to make very clear to all staff and students, that while UTS supports the right for students and staff to discuss and debate contentious issues, this should not be at the expense of the safety and wellbeing of others.”

The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement last Thursday that Slezak’s remarks were evidence of how activists were working to make Jews uncomfortable on campus.

“That anyone thinks saying this out loud is acceptable demonstrates how big the problem is on our university campuses,” the board stated.

“Calls for one group of Australians to target another undermine social cohesion and attack the Australian values we all hold dear. Jewish students and staff have a right to study and work without being harassed and targeted.”
Jewish Princeton Student Prosecuted for Filming Antisemitic Protests Found Not Guilty
Tension had been building at Princeton University as pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied a white-columned, Greek Revival-style building at the center of campus and the police moved in. An angry crowd had surrounded a bus where two demonstrators were being held after officers led them out of the building.

“It was a tense time as there were hundreds of protesters that were attempting to interfere with lawful arrests,” reads a police report from that day, April 29, 2024.

David Piegaro, then a Princeton junior, was there filming with his phone. Mr. Piegaro says he was not one of the protesters, and he opposes much of their language and tactics. He described himself as a pro-Israel “citizen journalist” who was concerned by what he saw as the university’s insufficient response and wanted to bear witness by recording.

By nightfall, he was one of more than a dozen students charged with wrongdoing at the elite New Jersey school. He joined the roughly 3,100 people arrested or detained last spring on campuses across the country amid a wave of student activism over the war in Gaza.

Trespassing charges are pending against the pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Princeton that day. But Mr. Piegaro, who was charged with assaulting a police officer after he was blocked from entering a campus building, was the first person to go to trial. On Tuesday, the Princeton Municipal Court judge who presided over Mr. Piegaro’s two-day trial in February found him not guilty.

“Incidentally colliding with an outstretched arm may have been unwise, or even defiant, but it does not amount to reckless disregard,” the judge, John F. McCarthy III, said as he announced the verdict.

“The defendant, in my opinion, showed poor judgment in a tense moment, but it does not rise to the level of criminal recklessness.”


SUCCESS: Reuters Quietly Removes Images by Photojournalist Who was Kissed by Hamas’ Sinwar
In a significant success for HonestReporting, a spokesperson for Reuters confirmed on Tuesday (April 1) that the news agency had removed images from its global database by compromised Gazan photojournalists following the media watchdog’s campaign. This included images by a photojournalist with ties to terrorists and who was pictured being kissed by former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The agency acted quietly, after initially doubling down on its decision to sell the images by Hassan Eslaiah and other compromised Gazan photojournalists via the state-run Turkish agency Anadolu.

Reuters has also removed images by Moahmmed Fayq Abu Mostafa, who was exposed by HonestReporting for infiltrating Israel during Hamas’ massacre on October 7, 2023 — as was Eslaiah — and for publicly laughing at the atrocities he’d witnessed before calling on Gazans to go to the border and “grab a settler.” Hassan Eslaiah (r) with former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar (l)

On March 6, HonestReporting revealed that Reuters and Getty Images had been distributing the tainted content of Abu Mostafa and Eslaiah in collaboration with Anadolu — an arrangement that seems to have enabled the media companies’ profit without liability and allowed a back route for compromised journalists into Western media.

Getty Images, to their credit, swiftly removed all content that was flagged by HonestReporting. Reuters, however, gave us the following statement referring to the “Connect” platform it operates:


Security forces report 80% drop in Ramadan terror attacks, after West Bank crackdown
There was a significant decrease in terror attacks in the West Bank this Ramadan compared to last year, according to a joint statement released by IDF and Shin Bet on Wednesday.

Ramadan 2024 saw 27 major attacks originating from the West Bank, while this year, only three occurred, marking an 80 percent drop, the statement said.

The IDF and Shin Bet attributed this downturn to intensified security efforts and counterterrorism operations, particularly in the northern West Bank. The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21.

The security forces said they arrested 401 wanted suspects, eliminated 13 terrorists, and seized 105 weapons during Ramadan this year.

Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, is observed by Muslims worldwide as a period of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community, commemorating the first revelation of the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad.

This year, Ramadan lasted from February 27 to March 29. The month’s end is determined by the sighting of the crescent moon, marking the beginning of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which was celebrated this week.


Study finds Egyptian state media overwhelmingly anti-Israel, antisemitic
Egypt’s state-controlled media is overwhelmingly hostile to Israel and features rampant antisemitism, with 87 percent of opinion articles about Israel in the country’s two leading news outlets speaking negatively about the Jewish state, according to a new study.

The research, which used artificial intelligence to analyze 4,000 opinion and commentary articles from the Al-Ahram and Al-Gomhuria newspapers published between January 2024 and March 2025, found that 29% of articles mentioning Jews contained antisemitic content, according to the report by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).

The report sought to examine how Egyptian media shapes public perceptions of Israel during the ongoing war in Gaza.

“These findings weren’t surprising,” a member of the research team that conducted the study told The Times of Israel. “There is a very tense situation right now in which the Egyptians have been amassing military forces in the Sinai, in violation of the Camp David Accords. Last week, for the 46th anniversary of the signing of that peace treaty, there was absolutely no commemoration on the Israeli or Egyptian side. It’s just another example of how, unfortunately, the peace between Israel and Egypt never trickled down to civil society.”

Of items that mentioned Israel, 70% expressed “very negative” sentiments, 12.5% were “negative,” and 4.5% were “somewhat negative,” as scored based on keywords used in the articles. Only 12.5% were categorized as “neutral,” and less than 1% were classified as “positive,” the study found.

Many articles portrayed Israel as a “colonialist entity,” “the Zionist enemy,” or “a cancerous plague,” while accusing it of seeking regional expansion and the displacement of Palestinians, the report said.

Of 180 opinion and commentary articles tagged as referencing the Jews, 30% were found to be explicitly antisemitic, using stereotypes such as Jewish greed, referencing “The Elders of Zion,” depicting Jews as disloyal and traitorous, and denying the Holocaust, the report said.
Turkey’s Upheavals and What They Could Mean for Israel
On March 19, Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was arrested on charges of corruption. The day before, the University of Istanbul revoked his diploma, effectively making it impossible for him to run for president in the future. Since the arrest, thousands of Turks have taken to the street to protest what they see as an attempt by the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to eliminate his leading political rival.

Meanwhile, Turkey is reportedly in talks with Syrian government to take over the T-4 airbase, which was used as an Iranian logistical hub during the civil war, and which the IDF has struck many times since 2011—as recently as last week. While indirect, de-facto cooperation between Damascus and Jerusalem brought about the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Turkey’s move to claim T-4 and expand its presence in Syria is apt to raise tensions between the countries. Erdogan didn’t calm the situation when, at end-of-Ramadan celebrations, he prayed for God to destroy Israel.

Hay Eytan Cohen Yanarocak explains the current situation, and the role Israel plays in Turkish politics:

A pivotal moment came on April 28, 2024, when İmamoğlu unequivocally condemned Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, explicitly characterizing the group as a terrorist organization. This statement provoked a vehement response from Erdoğan, who, in stark contrast, portrayed Hamas as freedom fighters on the domestic political stage. Facing a mounting backlash, İmamoğlu strategically navigated the political landscape by issuing statements that criticized Israel in an attempt to strike a more politically tenable balance.

While [Imamoglu’s] arrest appears to have been the trigger for these protests, the underlying motivation runs deeper: protesters are now fundamentally focused on defending democracy’s core principle of the free and fair transfer of power via elections. In this context, hundreds of thousands of people nationwide have taken to the streets to express their profound dissatisfaction with what they perceive as an assault on democracy. Supporters of İmamoğlu’s [political party] clashed with police in multiple locations. Consequently, many demonstrators, and journalists as well, were taken into custody.

At the same time, the present international geopolitical landscape paradoxically reinforces Erdoğan’s domestic standing. Both the European Union and the United States have shown marked diplomatic restraint regarding Turkey’s internal political dynamics. . . . Washington is actively pursuing rapprochement with Ankara, methodically addressing bilateral tensions and exploring avenues to normalize relations.
Seth Frantzman: Israel involved in conspiracy to divide parts of Syria, Iraqi militia leader claims
Israel is involved in a conspiracy to divide parts of Syria, according to Qais Khazali, a pro-Iranian militia leader in Iraq. He made his remarks this week in a speech on Eid al-Fitr, the festival ending Ramadan.

Khazali is the leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a powerful pro-Iranian militia in Iraq. He has long threatened Israel. In 2017, he went to Lebanon to view the Israeli border along with Hezbollah operatives.

Iraqi militias have carried out drone attacks against Israel since the October 7 massacre.

It is within this context that Khazali has claimed there now is a conspiracy to divide Syria. Something called the “David Corridor,” a “project aimed at expanding Israeli control to the Euphrates River, involves ‘parts of the Iraqi borders and Iraqi lands,’” he was quoted as saying by Rudaw Media Network, a broadcaster in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region.

Khazali and his group are also anti-Kurdish, as are other Shi’ite pro-Iranian militias in Iraq. These groups often claim that Kurds are linked to Israel and the US, and they view the Kurdistan Region as an adversary.

The goal of the “David Corridor” is to “reach the Kurdish lands in Iraq and Syria, considering the ongoing cooperation [between Israel and the Kurds],” Khazali said, adding that “the Israeli incursion and occupation of Syrian territory… are primarily aimed at realizing their ambitions to occupy Syrian territory and achieve the greater goal of reaching the Euphrates River.”

His remarks come at a time when Kurdish forces in Syria are expected to integrate into the new government of Ahmed Shara’a. Many Kurds in Syria live in areas run by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF includes Kurdish forces under the YPG, or People’s Protection Units. These forces are linked to far-left Kurdish movements, and Turkey has often opposed them, claiming they are part of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

This creates a complex situation in which the US is backing the SDF in Syria, but Turkey often attacks the SDF.Now there is hope for change. SDF leader Mazloum Abdi met Shara’a in Damascus in early March and agreed to integrate the SDF with Syrian government forces over the next year.


Unprecedented level of antisemitism in Switzerland in 2024
Antisemitic incidents in Switzerland reached an “unprecedented level” in 2024, rising 43% over the previous year, according to a new report by the Swiss Federation of Israelite Communities (SIG) and the Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism (GRA).

According to the report, 221 antisemitic incidents were recorded in all Switzerland during the year, compared to 155 in 2023 and 57 in 2022.

The report also noted a sharp rise in antisemitic violence during the year, including an attempted arson attack on a synagogue and 11 cases of assault. A knife attack in Zurich by a teen who is said to have shouted “Death to Jews” nearly killed a 50-year-old man.

Another 1,596 incidents were recorded online, with over 55% found on the Telegram platform. The figure is based on new software used for monitoring online media, and cannot be compared with previous figures, according to SIG.

The rise in antisemitism since Hamas launched its war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, has significantly affected the Jewish community’s sense of security, with many now avoiding displaying religious symbols in public out of fear of harassment or violence, the report states.
Germany could withdraw citizenship due to 'antisemitism'
The ongoing coalition negotiations between the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) are said to have been riddled with heated arguments — sometimes to the point of doors being slammed, according to information leaked to the press by participants. The working group dealing with immigration and integration issues, in particular, has battled with extreme differences.

However, a paper intended as a basis for the coalition agreement of the new federal government was eventually drawn up, and it has been reviewed by DW. Under the heading "Citizenship law," the paper states: "We are committed to the reform of citizenship law." It then continues:

"We will examine under constitutional law whether we can revoke the German citizenship of terror supporters, antisemites and extremists who call for the abolition of the free and democratic basic order, if they hold another nationality."

SPD politician Dirk Wiese, who was part of the working group responsible for "Domestic Affairs, Law, Migration and Integration," touted that as a success for his party. Wiese told DW that the SPD had ensured that the possibility of dual citizenship remained in place, while the CDU/CSU had wanted to roll it back. "We still have the option of naturalization after five years. If you arrive here in the country very quickly, [and] learn the language after three years."

The CDU/CSU's more far-reaching proposal to withdraw German citizenship from dual nationals under certain circumstances was recently still being resisted by the SPD –– however, the SPD apparently failed to prevail. Some Social Democrats fear the proposal will result in unequal treatment: Would naturalization ultimately just be some kind of probationary period? And: Would a German with a second nationality not be so German, after all?
MEP suspended for disrupting Holocaust memorial with Gaza remark
A Polish far-right MEP who shouted during a Holocaust remembrance event in the European Parliament has been suspended for 30 days.

Grzegorz Braun, a member of the Confederation party, disrupted a moment of silence on 29 January by declaring: “Let’s pray for the victims of the Jewish genocide in Gaza.”

His outburst during the annual Holocaust commemoration led European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to announce disciplinary action at the opening of Monday’s plenary session.

Braun, who leads the monarchist wing of the Confederation of the Polish Crown, has also been barred from taking part in the next Holocaust remembrance ceremony.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, the 30-day ban began on 10 March and includes a suspension of Braun’s daily subsistence allowance.

He previously made headlines in December after using a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Polish Parliament.
NY car wash charged extra for Passover service, since ‘their cars are so dirty’
Super 4 Seasons, a car wash in Rockland County, N.Y., must stop discriminatory business practices against Jewish customers preparing for Passover or face a fine of $75,000, the office of Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, stated on Monday.

An investigation by James’s office found that in the weeks leading up to the Jewish holiday, Super 4 Seasons advertised a “Passover special” cleaning promotion that cost more than three times its standard price for the same service. (JNS sought comment from the car wash and the attorney general’s office.)

“Targeting Jewish New Yorkers with deceptive pricing around Passover is a clear act of religious discrimination and will not be tolerated,” James stated. “Every New Yorker, regardless of their faith, deserves to be treated fairly and equally. My office will not hesitate to hold businesses accountable when they exploit families’ religious observance.”

The state opened an investigation of the car wash in April 2024, after several Jewish customers filed complaints with the attorney general’s office alleging that the business was charging $169 for a cleaning service that typically costs $47.

Since at least 2018, the company has advertised its cleaning services specifically as a Passover holiday promotion, per James’s office.

Jewish customers reported that they were denied access to standard service packages and were instead steered toward the higher-priced Passover promotions, according to the state’s investigation.

In a sting operation, the state sent two investigators to the site—one dressed in a manner that suggested the person was an Orthodox Jew and the other in different attire. The investigator dressed as an Orthodox Jew was told that the company is “not doing anything except shampoos and Passover cleanings right now,” and “we are doing this just for you guys,” per the attorney general’s office.

The other state investigator, who wasn’t dressed as an Orthodox Jew, asked for standard service and was given one at a regular price.

“When he inquired about the promotion, an employee responded that it was ‘for Jews,’ adding that they needed to pay more ‘because their cars are so dirty,’” per the attorney general’s office. The state “recovered sales records for this same period, confirming that regular services had, in fact, been provided throughout the holiday,” it added.


OECD chief praises Israeli economy, forecasts strong growth
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann during a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday emphasized the resilience of the Israeli economy and the vitality of its high-tech sector.

He stated that the OECD expects Israel’s economic growth in the coming year to surpass both the global average and the performance of other OECD member states.

The comments were made during a discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Prime Minister’s Office, where the two leaders exchanged views on current global economic conditions and their implications for Israel. The conversation focused on how advanced economies are navigating uncertainty and how Israel can sustain momentum amid ongoing regional and international challenges.

While the tone of the meeting was optimistic, recent OECD publications offer a more cautious forecast. In its December 2024 report, the organization downgraded Israel’s projected GDP growth for 2025 to 2.4%, a significant reduction from its previous estimate of 4.6%. The revision was attributed to elevated defense spending and a slowdown in consumer activity due to geopolitical tensions. A follow-up interim report in March 2025 also cited persistent inflation and recommended structural economic reforms to ensure long-term stability.
10 Israeli Inventions That Are Changing the World | Unpacked
From water pulled out of thin air to meat grown without animals, Israeli innovations are reshaping the future.

These 10 breakthroughs are transforming medicine, energy, food, and more, showing how bold ideas from a tiny country are solving global problems in big ways.

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:41 The PillCam
01:50 Flexible solar panels
02:46 Desert hydroponics
03:40 Eco-friendly packaging
04:43 The exoskeleton (Rewalk)
05:28 Drinking water from air
06:18 The emergency bandage (AKA the "Israeli bandage")
07:15 AI-assisted radiology
08:31 Lab-grown meat
09:22 Space technology
10:38 Outro






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