Wednesday, April 30, 2025

04/30 Links Pt2: Israel at 77: Why a Jewish state matters; Harvard Hamasniks’ Jew-Tracking Network; David Horowitz, ’60s radical turned conservative, dies at 86

From Ian:

Eli Sharabi is Jewish resilience
Earlier this week I, along with 1,400 other British Jews, attended an evening at St John’s Wood Synagogue to listen to Eli Sharabi share his story from hell.

Eli Sharabi was kidnapped from his home in Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and held hostage in tunnels under Gaza for 491 days. His wife and two daughters were killed on the day he was taken, though mercifully he wasn’t aware of their fate until he was released.

The Sharabi family asked that none of Eli’s words were recorded and out of respect for Eli and his family I won’t share what was said.

That moment when Eli walked in felt spiritual. We all stood and applauded as he made his way to the stage. I was crying the moment I stood, before I even saw him, as were many others. Perhaps it was the overwhelming sense of togetherness we felt or the shock of seeing someone from that horrific day in real life. When I did see him, my mind went to the image we all saw when he was released; the photo that showcased the unimaginable suffering the hostages had been through, and are still going through, at the hands of terrorists. I tried to shake that picture out of my head as I looked at the man standing in front of me. The sadness in his eyes gave away his loss yet his presence felt hopeful and strong. He was defiance, true resilience, in the face of true terror.

As the audience continued their applause, I felt so many things. Awe. Sadness. Guilt. Anger. Without meaning to sound hyperbolic I felt as though I was in the presence of something divine. Something bigger than me. Of course Eli himself is a simple, normal man by his own description but what he represents – well, it’s beyond words.

We’ve all had experiences with people who move us in some way. Film stars, musicians. I understand what it’s like to be starstruck, to not believe that someone you admire is standing in front of you. This was not that. Eli is not a celebrity. He’s not a martyr. But being in that room tapped into something on a different frequency that I had not felt before; perhaps it’s the same feeling people describe when they visit the Kotel or a glimpse of what it might have felt like at Mount Sinai.

I recall an ethics lesson in high school where we discussed what we’d live for and what we’d die for. We learnt about war and the concept of dying for one’s country, for something greater than yourself. From a young age we were taught stories of people who risked their lives to celebrate Chanukah or light Shabbas candles whilst living through times of persecution. This idea has always stuck with me; the idea that there is something greater than the individual human experience, something worth that risk. Hearing the words of Eli Sharabi, I felt that abstract idea as a visceral emotion.

Life has changed for the Jewish people since October 7 and the truth is that many of us have come together because of it. There has been so much sadness, such a depth of darkness, that it feels wrong to credit it as the catalyst for this renewed sense of unity. But there has also been so much light. Jewish sadness is an important part of who we are, it brings us together in divisive times and reminds us of what we fight for but it is Jewish joy, community, hope and unity that will keep us going.
Seth Mandel: Harvard Hamasniks’ Jew-Tracking Network
The long-awaited Harvard report on its own campus anti-Semitism is more than 300 pages long. By now, we have heard most of these stories or stories just like them, and the subsequent lack of impact is no doubt what Harvard was betting on by dragging out this process as long as it has.

But “most” is not “all,” and there is one story buried within the dense report that is genuinely shocking, even after all we’ve seen. I’m going to include the crux of the story, which isn’t long, in the words of the faculty member who experienced it. Every single Jew in America should read this story to understand the current situation and where it is headed.

The faculty member had walked over to a campus Gaza encampment to listen to what participants had to say about the conflict during an open-mic period. Here is the key part of what she recounted to the anti-Semitism commission that produced this report:

“While I quietly stood watching the open mic in the encampment (I attended alone and not in ‘counter protest’), a Harvard alum and former student called me on the phone, and then texted several times, which is not normal. When we were able to speak after I left the yard that night, he informed me that he had seen my name come up on an internal chat (apparently a large group communication for ‘marshals of the encampment’) and that there was concern with my presence there. I was described so that others could recognize me and identified as a ‘Zionist.’ It was unclear if he was alerting me to warn me to be careful or to ask me to leave, but during our brief conversation he wrongly associated me with counter protest and communicated that he was hoping I’d act in an especially nonthreatening way because my presence was a concern. It was chilling.

“What I’m taking from this, and perhaps I’ve internalized it in the wrong way, is that I was surveilled, identified by name, and profiled as a ‘Zionist’ threat in a chat that reached far enough that an alum not at the protest, who I had no idea was even involved, knew exactly where I was and reached out with concern. I have not shared any of my views (complex and ever-changing) with students or in any public setting save for asking a question at a ‘teach in.’ I have no idea what I did to end up on a blacklist, but whatever the reason I was profiled, beliefs about me that are inextricable from my Jewishness seem to have made me a potential target.”
Abe Greenwald: A Tale of Two Reports Via Commentary Newsletter sign up here.
Here are the first two sentences of the New York Times’ write-up on two newly released Harvard task-force reports on “bias” in education and life at the university. See if you can spot the crucial difference in focus between the two:

Sentence 1: “A Harvard task force released a scathing account of the university on Tuesday, finding that antisemitism had infiltrated coursework, social life, the hiring of some faculty members and the worldview of certain academic programs.”

Sentence 2: “A separate report on anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias on campus, also released on Tuesday, found widespread discomfort and alienation among those students as well, with 92 percent of Muslim survey respondents saying they believed they would face an academic or professional penalty for expressing their political opinions.”

It’s not hard to see the game that’s being played here. The report on anti-Semitism documents the actions of anti-Semites on campus. The report on “anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias” surveys Muslim students’ self-reported feelings. It’s not about “bias” at all.

Jew-hatred is demonstrably rampant at Harvard, and 92 percent of the school’s Muslim students feel oppressed. Thanks for the update.

The anti-Semitism report documents anti-Semitism on campus because it’s a real phenomenon; the Islamophobia report documents perceived victimhood because Islamophobia is not.

The term “Islamophobia” came into popular use after the attacks of 9/11, because the first thing liberals worried about after a devastating terrorist attack on the U.S. was American bigotry. When that bigotry failed to appear, the term was repurposed. “Islamophobia” is now summoned to apologize for those rare moments when liberals are forced to acknowledge anti-Semitism—for example, when violent, pro-jihadist Jew-hatred has overtaken one’s own institution and the president of the United States demands accountability. That’s when liberals are compelled to acknowledge Muslims’ feelings of alienation.

Holocaust education has a lot to answer for, but at least there aren’t any “Holocaust and Germanophobia” centers.


Those we have lost
Stories of civilians and soldiers killed since Hamas’s onslaught on Israel on October 7, 2023


IDF Podcast: Their Stories: In Memory of Dani Ben David
In this Remembrance Day episode, we sit down with a son who lost his father — a soldier who fought in both the First and Second Lebanon Wars. He shares how growing up without his father shaped his journey, the ways he carries his memory forward, and how loss became a lifelong source of strength and purpose. His story is a powerful reminder that even in absence, love and legacy continue.


Former hostage Emily Damari shares testimony about her time in captivity
Just before the start of Israel’s Remembrance Day, Emily Damari, a former Gaza hostage, released a video in which she shared her testimony about her time in captivity on Tuesday.

In the video, Damari recounted how she and fellow hostage Romi Gonen realized, while still held by Hamas, that the day had marked Remembrance Day—exactly one year ago. Despite the unimaginable conditions they faced, the two women managed to recognize the significance of the date and chose to mark it in their own way. 'Incredibly difficult days for me,' Damari said

“These are incredibly difficult days for me,” Damari said, reflecting on her return. Today marks 100 days since I came home. Not a day goes by that Gali and Ziv aren’t in my thoughts. I speak to them, I pray for them—everything I can do, I do for them.”

She went on to describe the moment she and Gonen understood the date: “A year ago, we somehow gathered from Al Jazeera that it was Memorial Day. Romi and I decided that at 11 a.m., we would simply stand for a minute and remember everyone. We let ourselves feel the pain. It was one of the most powerful moments we experienced there. To be in the lowest place imaginable, and still find a way to mark the day—that meant everything.”

Damari concluded by urging the public to remember the fallen and stand with bereaved families.

“It is vital that we all bow our heads in memory, that we be there for the bereaved families, and that we stay united. That’s what matters most. I love you all. Thank you for your support. With God’s help, may we see better days.”


Ex-hostages star in recorded Independence Day ceremony after live event canceled
The pre-recorded dress rehearsal of Israel’s 77th Independence Day opening ceremony was broadcast on Israeli television on Wednesday evening after heavy winds in the Jerusalem area forced the cancellation of the live ceremony.

The winds later caused fires to flare and spread widely outside the capital, leading to the evacuation of citizens, the closure of roads, and the cancellation of almost all Independence Day parties.

The annual ceremony opened with a large dance number while the final letters of fallen soldiers to their families were intermittently read aloud by an announcer.

Following opening remarks by the ceremony’s emcees, freed hostage Agam Berger played the violin as singer Dudu Fisher sang a prayer for the return of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Afterward, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered prerecorded remarks from his office, hailing the wonders of Israel and the warriors who fell defending the country.

He said Israel is determined to achieve “complete victory” over all of its enemies, and to bring home all the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Historically, prime ministers have not delivered remarks at the Independence Day ceremony, as the main speaker was typically only the Knesset speaker to maintain the ceremony’s apolitical character. In recent years, however, Netanyahu has disregarded this custom.


Fighting for Israel’s legitimacy is today’s frontline for Jews worldwide
Throughout our people’s history, persecution of Jews was often manifested by the targeting of our religious practices and laws. Our oppressors mocked and undermined the very commandments and rituals that distinguished us from other nations. We needed great conviction to follow our values.

As we mark the celebration of the 77th anniversary of the founding of Israel, we are forced to reckon with a painful reality: What was true of opposition to Judaism then has mutated into opposition to the Jewish state. We are now mocked, maligned, and delegitimized, not for being Jews or adhering to Judaism but for supporting and being part of the Zionist endeavor and Jewish statehood.

The blood libels we were accused of have transformed. No longer are the accusations about contaminated Jewish blood, as Hitler claimed, nor medieval allegations of Jews killing Christian children to make matzah.

Today’s blood libel focuses on Zionism itself. Israeli leaders and soldiers – the very defenders of Jewish sovereignty – are falsely accused of deliberately killing Palestinian children. These defenders of the Jewish state face not only condemnation in public opinion but also malicious charges in the International Court of “Justice,” where they stand accused of murder, genocide, and severe human rights violations.

We are once again called upon to display enormous courage and conviction in defense of Jewish values – to stand up, often alone, and fight for Jewish destiny.

Every Jew must defend Israel's right to exist
We all now stand on the frontlines in the battle for Israel’s legitimacy. Every Jew is called to defend our values and uphold the moral right to a Jewish state. In Israel, many risk their lives as soldiers defending the country’s physical existence, just as countless brave soldiers and civilians did on October 7 and have continued to do every day since.

Others fight through legal channels, challenging false accusations in international courts.

Many wage the battle of public opinion, using pens, keyboards, and cameras as their weapons, often standing alone against prejudice and misinformation. On college campuses, courageous students confront the growing tide of antisemitism that disguises itself as anti-Zionism. Wherever we are, however isolated we may feel, each of us bears the responsibility to stand up for Zionism and the Jewish state’s right to exist.

This mission demands boldness and courage from each of us. Being Jewish has always required the strength to uphold our values against fierce opposition. Today, we need this courage more than ever to withstand the storms of hostility directed at our most fundamental beliefs and to preserve our heritage for generations to come.


David Horowitz R.I.P.
On behalf of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, we are very saddened to announce the passing of the Center’s founder, David Horowitz. After a lengthy battle with cancer, David passed yesterday at the age of 86.

The Freedom Center’s founder and guiding force was a relentless conservative warrior who survived a previous brush with death (chronicled in his book Mortality and Faith), confrontations with the Black Panthers, campus radicals, government investigations, death threats, and hate campaigns, some led by his former friends and allies, without ever considering giving up or letting up. Nothing short of the end that comes for us all could silence his voice. He continued writing, working, and steering the Center to the very last; his final article, “The Biggest Lie of All,” appeared earlier this month.

Although he was a giant in the conservative liberty movement for over 40 years, David was raised a Marxist and was one of the leading intellectuals of the New Left movement at Berkeley in the 1960’s. But David, along with his writing partner and Freedom Center co-founder Peter Collier, eventually had a political epiphany and joined the side of freedom in the early 1980‘s. They committed the second half of their lives and work warning Americans of the dangers of the Progressives whose intellectual roots and totalitarian aims they understood better than many Leftists themselves.

David’s legacy is vast and the number of people that he inspired, mentored, and impacted is incalculable. That we live in a world today where there is a fighting chance of defeating the Leftist utopians who would enslave us is due in no small measure to the rare courage and unflagging passion that exemplified David’s work these past 40 years.

Over the years, David became something of a Saul Alinsky for the conservative movement, shaking a complacent Right out of its sleep and reinventing it as a war machine, laying out the strategies and principles for defeating the Left in too many bestselling books, articles, and pamphlets to count.


David Horowitz, 86, ‘red diaper baby’ turned conservative writer
David Horowitz, the Jewish conservative writer and founder of FrontPage magazine, in addition to an eponymous freedom center, died on April 29. He was 86 years old.

Known for his 1998 memoir Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey, about his journey from “red-diaper baby” born to Communist parents to conservative activist, and for his assertive responses to opponents on the left, Horowitz drew widespread accolades from the many who admired him, including those in government.

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel and former Arkansas governor, wrote that Horowitz’s death was “heartbreaking news.”

“David was one of the most brilliant minds in the conservative movement and came to his convictions by intellectual honesty,” the envoy stated. “We will miss you, my friend.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote that Horowitz was “a friend and an extraordinary voice for liberty” and that as a “former Marxist, he powerfully understood the evil of the radical left. He loved America, and he was utterly unafraid to speak the truth.”

The pro-Israel Dutch politician Geert Wilders called Horowitz a “dear friend and ally.”

“David was an American hero, a giant, a warrior for freedom, one of the bravest patriots I have ever met,” Wilders stated.

Yoram Hazony, co-founder and president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and a leader of national conservatism, wrote that Horowitz’s memoir “is still one of the most gripping autobiographical works I’ve ever read” and “no book is as good at describing what the left really is.”

Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet magazine, wrote that “whatever your politics, if you haven’t read Radical Son, you do not understand something central about America.”

‘A true original’

Horowitz also drew praise from within the Trump administration. “David inspired generations of bold conservative leaders, building a lasting legacy,” stated Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and U.S. homeland security advisor.

“He selflessly gave his time, energy, support and mentorship to young patriots fighting a corrupt and oppressive system,” Miller said. “I will always be grateful to him and will never forget his kindness.”

Writing on a personal social-media account, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, said she met Horowitz when she was a “young campus activist” at Dartmouth College and he was an invited speaker.

“We became friends, and he asked me to write a chapter in his book, Second Thoughts on the 60s,” she stated. “Decades later, the Berkeley College Republicans invited him to speak on campus, but Berkeley wouldn’t let him, and I sued Berkeley over it and won. We maintained a legal and personal relationship after that for years.”

“David was a true original, a man unafraid of the woke mob and deeply committed to freedom of thought and speech,” Dhillon stated.

Horowitz was “a radical leftist turned conservative firebrand,” who “never lost his appetite for combat—or his belief in the power of ideas to shape history,” said Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal. He added that Horowitz’s memoir “remains one of the most compelling political memoirs of the last few decades.”
“As My Own Death Approaches, I Weigh the Life I Have Lived,” David Horowitz
“As my own death approaches, I weigh the life I have lived against what it might have been. I ask myself: Could I have been wiser? Could I have done more? When I look at my life this way from the end, I can take satisfaction that I mostly gave it my all and did what I could… It is the certainty of death that finally makes a life acceptable. When we live as fully as we can, what room is left for regret?”
David Horowitz, Mortality & Faith: Reflections on a Journey through Time

In an article that will appear later this week, I wrote that “David Horowitz first came down with cancer after 9/11. He wrote about that in ‘The End of Time’. He continued fighting cancer and writing about his experiences facing death in ‘A Point in Time: The Search for Redemption in This Life and the Next‘. He nearly died in 2015 and wrote about that in ‘You’re Going to Be Dead One Day: A Love Story’ and then collected all three together in ‘Mortality and Faith’ in 2019.”

This excerpt from that collection has David contemplate the question of his own mortality. And though he lived long after that contemplation, it is central to who he was as a writer, as a thinker and as a man.


Israel Advocacy Movement: Louis Theroux LOSES IT at this Israeli Settler Grandma



Columbia protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi released from detention
A federal judge in Vermont ordered the immediate release on Wednesday of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian student at Columbia University who helped organize campus anti-Israel demonstrations.

Mahdawi, a 34-year-old green card holder born and raised in the West Bank who has lived in the U.S. for a decade, was arrested on April 14 upon arriving at an appointment at an immigration office in Vermont, becoming the latest high-profile target of the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign students engaged in anti-Israel campus activism. Mahdawi is expected to graduate from Columbia in May.

U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford ordered that Mahdawi be released on bail, pending the resolution of his habeas petition.

In a comment outside of the courthouse, Mahdawi told a crowd of supporters, “To my people in Palestine: I feel your pain, I see your suffering, and I see freedom and it is very very soon.”

Mahdawi played a central role in organizing anti-Israel protests at Columbia that roiled the campus after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.

He helped to revive the anti-Israel student group coalition Columbia University Apartheid Divest after the Oct. 7 attacks and was a member of the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. He also appeared on “60 Minutes” in December 2023 in a segment on pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia, where he said, “I did not say that I justify what Hamas has done. I said I can empathize. To empathize is to understand the root cause and to not look at any event or situation in a vacuum. This is for me that path moving forward.”

At the time of Mahdawi’s arrest, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said in an email to Jewish Insider that he “was a ringleader in the Columbia protests,” sharing a New York Post article citing anonymous State Department sources claiming that he had used “threatening rhetoric and intimidation” against Jewish students.

According to a DHS notice for Mahdawi to appear, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that his “presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise a compelling U.S. foreign policy interest.”
Freed anti-Israel activist Mohsen Mahdawi ‘not afraid of ’ Trump admin
Mohsen Mahdawi, 34, a student who led anti-Israel protests at Columbia University, issued a message to U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration on Wednesday after a judge released him from federal custody.

“I am not afraid of you,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

Mahdawi was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on April 14. He played an active role in the fall 2024 student protests at Columbia University and “has engaged in antisemitic conduct through leading pro-Palestinian protests and calling for Israel’s destruction,” a senior State Department source said, per the New York Post, after his arrest.

Geoffrey Crawford, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, ruled that Mahdawi can attend his upcoming Columbia graduation in Manhattan, per the AP. The government can appeal the decision.

Mahdawi, co-president of Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, led chants of “no fear” and “free Palestine” outside the Vermont courtroom.

“Never give up on the idea that justice will prevail,” he said, per the wire. “We want to stand up for humanity, because the rest of the world—not only Palestine—is watching us, and what is going to happen in America is going to affect the rest of the world.”

The AP reported that “the government says his detention is a ‘constitutionally valid aspect of the deportation process’ and that district courts are barred from hearing challenges to how and when such proceedings are begun.”

“District courts play no role in that process. Consequently, this court lacks jurisdiction over the petitioner’s claims, which are all, at bottom, challenges to removal proceedings,” stated Michael Drescher, Vermont’s acting U.S. attorney.


Long-awaited Harvard antisemitism report shows intense campus hostility to Jews, Israelis
Harvard University on Tuesday released its long-awaited internal report on campus antisemitism, depicting a hostile atmosphere toward Jews and Israelis before and after the October 2023 invasion of Israel.

The report came amid heavy pressure on the university from the Trump administration and outlines a series of recommendations the university should take to remedy the campus environment.

“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” Harvard’s interim president Alan Garbar said in a statement.

Jewish students, and especially Israelis, were often subject to harassment, social shunning and bullying, the report said.

The 311-page document opens with an anecdote that, the authors said, reflected many of the campus tensions. A Jewish student speaker at a conference had planned to tell the story of his Holocaust survivor grandfather finding refuge in Israel. Organizers told the student the story was not “tasteful” and laughed at him when he expressed his confusion. The story would have been seen as a way to “justify oppression,” the authors said.

“Perhaps the best way to describe the existence of many Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard in the 2023-24 academic year is that their presence had become triggering, or the subject of political controversy,” the report said, adding that Jews had landed “on the wrong side of a political binary that provided no room for the complexity of history or current politics.”

“No other group was constantly told that their history was a sham, that they or their co-religionists or coethnics were supremacists and oppressors, and that they had no right to the protections offered by antibias norms,” the report said.


Harvard uni president apologises to Jewish students over shocking antisemitism report
Harvard University’s president has apologised for the campus climate over the last year and a half, in a letter accompanying a long-awaited report from a university task force on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias.

The task force found that Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard experienced pervasive “shunning” and were relentlessly targeted for their identities by both peers and faculty in the days and months after Hamas’ 7 October 2023, attack on Israel, according to the report, released on Tuesday.

“I am sorry for the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community,” wrote President Alan Garber, who convened the task force. He continued, “Harvard cannot — and will not — abide bigotry.”

The 311-page report lands 16 months after the committee first formed — and days after the Trump administration publicly called for its release. The school also published a parallel report, authored by a task force Garber convened on Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian bias. The two groups jointly collected nearly 2,300 responses to a campus climate survey, with the antisemitism task force also conducting listening sessions with around 500 Jews on campus.

The detailed reports (the Islamophobia one runs 222 pages) arrive as the Ivy League school is locked in a fierce legal battle with the White House, which has pulled billions of dollars in federal funding to the university, citing its failure to manage antisemitism. In response, Harvard has sued the administration, which has also threatened to revoke the school’s tax-exempt status.

The school delayed the reports’ release amid the sparring, according to the Crimson, the student newspaper; a Harvard representative declined to comment on the reports’ timing to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Task force co-chair Derek Penslar, director of Harvard’s Jewish Studies program, also declined to comment.

Garber praised both reports’ release in an accompanying letter to the campus community, in which he promised to establish “a research project on antisemitism” as well as “support a comprehensive historical analysis of Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians at Harvard.” He also pledged to review school disciplinary policies and find new ways to promote “viewpoint diversity.”
Jewish leaders claim double standard with Harvard antisemitism, Islamophobia reports
Harvard University’s long-awaited twin reports on campus antisemitism and Islamophobia, which depicted an academic year marked by strife for Jewish and Muslim students in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, was largely praised by Jewish leaders — both on and off campus — as an “overdue and important step.” But when comparing the two reports side-by-side, some raised concern that there are “major holes” and “asymmetry.”

“My general take is that they did a good job in detailing what happened and in making recommendations about how to fix the immediate problems,” Rabbi David Wolpe, a former visiting scholar at Harvard’s Divinity School, told Jewish Insider of the more than 300-page antisemitism report released on Tuesday, authored by the 15-member task force which was formed in January 2024. Wolpe was a former member of a separate antisemitism advisory group that the elite university formed last year as a response to record-high levels of antisemitism that roiled the campus.

But after reading the nearly as lengthy 200-page Islamophobia report, Wolpe noticed a “a real difference in tone” between how the two were written, calling the report on Muslim students “more disparaging and negative about Harvard than the antisemitism report.”

The Islamophobia report did not “acknowledge that Jews weren’t protesting, breaking into classrooms and preventing people from getting where they wanted to go,” Wolpe said. “There was a real asymmetry in the responsibility of the unrest on campus to start with.”

“A major hole in their analysis,” Wolpe said, was that the Islamophobia report “complained about [Jewish] donors and the antisemitism report does not talk about the tremendous contributions of Middle Eastern countries and I think that’s a crucial variable.”

The antisemitism report was made public amid alumni frustration and pressure from the Trump administration, which gave the university a May 2 deadline to release the findings. In the report, Harvard committed to partner with an Israeli university; provide additional resources for the study of Hebrew and Judaic studies; host an annual academic symposium on antisemitism; ask the leadership of Sidechat, a social media app that allows college students to post anonymously, to enforce its content moderation policies; and launch a pilot program in the business school addressing contemporary antisemitism.


Harvard 'Human Rights' Lecturer Fawned Over ‘Hero’ Hamas Leader
A Harvard University faculty member who teaches courses on human rights law and international "negotiation skills" recently praised the slain leader of Hamas as a "hero" and called the terrorist organization a "movement for freedom, for liberation."

Harvard refers to Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lecturer in its Division of Continuing Education, as an "international human rights" lawyer who has worked as "the only female negotiator" in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. She has also worked as a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization and has sympathized with Hamas.

On Oct. 7, 2023, the day Hamas murdered 1,200 Israeli civilians, Buttu told MSNBC that the attack was the "natural consequence, unfortunately, of 56 years of military occupation and the denial of freedom."

"I don’t think we should underestimate the desire of people to be free," she said.

In an Oct. 22, 2024, interview, Buttu praised Hamas as a "movement for freedom, for liberation," and hailed its leader, Yahya Sinwar, after his assassination in an Israeli drone strike. "The Israelis will never understand what it means to die a hero," she said of Sinwar.

Beginning in June, Buttu will teach "Women Leaders: Advancing Together," and "Negotiation Skills: Strategies for Increasing Effectiveness," at the Harvard Division of Continuing Education, according to the school’s website. She taught the negotiation skills course in summer sessions in 2021 and 2022, and a course on "International Human Rights Law" during the 2023-2024 school year.

Buttu will teach on Harvard’s storied campus as it tries to assuage concerns over enabling anti-Semitic and anti-Israel fervor. Harvard released a report Monday that acknowledged it has "mainstreamed and normalized" anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias in course work, through faculty hiring decisions, and other aspects of campus life.

Earlier this month, Harvard rescinded a fellowship offer to a former Columbia University professor who was fired from that school for indoctrinating students with anti-Israel views, such as references to it being a "colonial settler state."

Buttu has embraced similar rhetoric, and made other inflammatory statements over the years.

In April 2013, she smeared Judea Pearl, the father of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, as a "racist" for remarks he made at an anniversary event for his son, who was beheaded by al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Pearl read aloud his son’s statement before his murder, and remarked that "Jews could celebrate Muslim Mentality Week every year, and we have a good reason to expose their violations of human rights and their apartheid practices."
UN Watch: PLO's Diana Buttu goes SPEECHLESS in Al Jazeera debate with Hillel Neuer
Al Jazeera tries to silence UN Watch's Hillel Neuer, but even a bit of truth managed to throw ex-PLO lawyer Diana Buttu & Human Rights Watch's Bill van Esveld on the defensive. July 24, 2014.


Prosecutors Decline To Charge Hundreds of UCLA Encampment Arrestees, Citing School's Failure To Assist Investigation
UCLA failed to help prosecutors investigate the anti-Israel activists who set up an encampment last spring that blocked Jewish students from parts of campus, according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. Of the hundreds arrested, only two—both counterprotesters—are facing criminal charges, while a third was referred to an informal proceeding.

Chaos broke out at UCLA last May when anti-Israel protesters, holed up in a weeklong encampment, and counterprotesters clashed, leading police to arrest 205. But almost all of those were thrown out, in part because of the "university’s failure or inability to assist," the city attorney’s office announced Friday.

"Most of these cases were declined for evidentiary reasons or due to a university’s failure or inability to assist in identification or other information needed for prosecution," the office wrote.

The development comes as UCLA continues to argue that it didn’t have a responsibility to stop the encampment from excluding Jews from parts of campus. The University of California system is also facing a Justice Department investigation into whether it "has engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race, religion and national origin against its professors, staff and other employees by allowing an Antisemitic hostile work environment to exist on its campuses."

University of California regent and United Talent Agency vice chairman Jay Sures told the Washington Free Beacon, "It’s absolutely pathetic" that the school hasn’t punished the encampment activists.

"Regardless of whether there was enough evidence to criminally prosecute those involved in the encampment, UCLA had enough evidence to take disciplinary student action. It’s absolutely pathetic that there’s been no discipline," Sures, an outspoken defender of Israel and Jewish students, said. "UCLA must revamp, rethink, and retool the way student and faculty disciplinary processes are handled to ensure swift and appropriate action in the future."

Sures and his family have faced their own anti-Israel harassment. In February, UCLA’s Students for Justice in Palestine, an encampment organizer, and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine chapters vandalized Sures’s home, surrounded a family member’s vehicle, and held a sign that read, "Jonathan Sures you will pay, until you see your final day." In response, the university temporarily suspended the anti-Israel student groups as it conducts an "administrative review."


MSNBC Host Says Anti-Israel Student Protesters Are ‘Advocating for Peace.' Roll the Tape.
MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin said anti-Israel student activists, who have threatened and accosted Israelis, stormed university buildings, and caused millions of dollars in damage, are "advocating for peace."

Mohyeldin said the Trump administration’s "abduction" of foreign students "is being done on the false premise that their speech is both a threat to American foreign policy, which we have said many times on this show is a laughable claim and that their protests are anti-Semitic and a threat to the safety of Jewish students."

"But that’s a dangerous and, quite honestly, a dishonest smear," he added during a Saturday episode of Ayman Mohyeldin Reports. "We have heard the words of [Mohsen] Mahdawi and their allies and partners in their protest movements are, in fact, Jewish students, many of them advocating for peace."

Mohyeldin, who in February was demoted from a primetime slot to cohosting a weekend show, didn’t mention that Mahdawi said he "can empathize" with Hamas and honored terrorists ahead of his arrest by ICE officials earlier this month. Mohyeldin also neglected anti-Israel agitators’ destructive and violent protests and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Two Harvard University students, Elom Tettey-Tamaklo and Ibrahim Bharmal, for example, faced criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate during an October 2023 anti-Israel "die-in" protest. Just days after Mohyeldin's comments, a judge ordered the pair to participate in an in-person anger management class and perform 80 hours of community service as part of a pretrial diversion program.

And in perhaps the most notorious example, Columbia University students stormed a school building in April 2024, smashing windows, barricading the entrance, and accosting some who attempted to impede the takeover or film the chaos, including a Washington Free Beacon reporter. That was after agitators set up illegal encampments and terrorized the campus for two weeks.




Newsweek Exploits Pope Francis’ Death to Launder Hamas & Hezbollah’s Crimes Against Christians
As Catholics worldwide mourned the passing of Pope Francis last week, the mainstream media generally followed suit with respectful obituaries and reflections on the pontiff’s legacy. But, as ever, there had to be an exception—and this time, Newsweek eagerly stepped into the role.

Instead of focusing on the global significance of the pope’s passing or the tributes from international leaders, Newsweek’s Middle East correspondent, Amira El-Fekki, took the novel approach of spotlighting reactions from Hamas and Hezbollah—two terrorist groups notorious for violently persecuting Christians across Gaza and Lebanon.

In an April 21 piece headlined, “Hamas Reacts to the Death of Pope Francis,” El-Fekki detailed the “mourning” expressed by the Palestinian Islamist group, emphasizing Hamas’ gratitude for the pope’s past condemnations of humanitarian suffering in Gaza. According to El-Fekki, Hamas’ condolences mattered greatly because Pope Francis had been “a prominent voice calling for peace and human dignity,” respected by “many Palestinians,” despite most Palestinians being Muslims.

Remarkably, Newsweek’s report avoided inconvenient truths, such as Hamas’ well-documented abuses against Palestinian Christians. One might expect journalistic integrity to compel at least a brief acknowledgment of Hamas’ treatment of Gaza’s Christian minority. Instead, readers were presented with an image of Hamas as an inclusive, tolerant entity, rather than a jihadist organization responsible for terror attacks and atrocities.

For those unfamiliar with Hamas’ actual relationship with Gaza’s Christian community, consider the reports from independent human rights groups that detail horrific abuses: vandalizing and bombing Christian schools, homes, and institutions, as well as murdering members of the community. A Canadian NGO even documented Hamas “repeatedly desecrating Christian graves and exhuming bodies to ‘decontaminate’ Palestinian land of Christian corpses they deemed unworthy.”

Yet, astonishingly, Newsweek wasn’t done. Two days later, on April 23, El-Fekki doubled down with another article, this time highlighting the “backlash” Hamas and Hezbollah received for their condolences. In an almost Orwellian inversion, she portrayed these terrorist organizations as moderate voices being targeted by “hardliners.”


‘Antisemitism tax’: Jewish day schools spending 84% more on security since Oct. 7, per report
Amid rising Jew-hatred since Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish day schools in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania are spending almost 85% more on security, per an April 2025 report from Teach Coalition, the Orthodox Union’s Jewish educational advocacy group.

Each of the 63 Jewish day schools in those states, which the report covered, spent $184,228 annually on security on average during the 2022-23 school year, or about $445 per student. They charged some 40% of students a separate security fee, and overall, spent some 1.85% of their total budget on keeping people safe.

By 2024–2025, that figure rose sharply to $339,297 annually per school on average—an 84% increase—or $807 per pupil.

Gabriel Aaronson, director for policy and research at Teach, told JNS that security costs for Jewish day schools are rising almost 10 times faster than other school expenses.

“Overall, budgets for these schools went up by about 9% over the course of two years,” he said. “But security expenses ballooned by 84%. It’s not like all costs went up evenly. Security is what has really skyrocketed.”

Jewish schools are carrying a heavier financial burden, which is unrelated to general inflation or rising economic costs, according to Aaronson.

“Non-Jewish schools don’t face this kind of extra cost,” he said. “It’s almost like an antisemitism tax. Schools are paying more just because they’re Jewish, through no fault of their own, and that’s a really powerful point when we talk to legislators.”

Families ultimately assume the burden via higher tuition fees.
US, Germany agree to improve public education on local Holocaust history
The U.S. and German governments announced on Tuesday that they have new ways that they intend to expand the U.S.-Germany Dialogue on Holocaust Issues, which they launched in 2021.

The two governments said that they intend, based on feedback in the past three years, to better educate the public about the ways the Nazis rose to power, the “transnational impact and implications” of Nazi policy leading up to World War II and the Holocaust’s legacy in “present-day cultures of memory and definitions,” per the U.S. State Department.

They will also focus on “early warning signs for mass atrocities,” per Foggy Bottom.

The group includes the State Department, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, German Federal Foreign Office and German Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It said it is also working on a guidance paper about “attempts to restore the reputations of Holocaust-era criminals and individuals and organizations that promoted Holocaust-era crimes,” which it said are becoming increasingly common.

Another concern is the tendency to address only “central” sites related to the Holocaust, such as major concentration camps.

“The Holocaust happened everywhere, from smaller camp sites spread across Europe to the killing fields all over central and eastern Europe,” the two governments stated.

The two “welcome growing awareness of this through local initiatives that make local Holocaust history accessible and visible through local research and acts of remembrance,” the duo said. “This is an important and innovative way to build knowledge of the history of the Holocaust.”

They added that their future efforts “will also include working to identify and address options to support Holocaust remembrance in Ukraine as a key partner country and address Holocaust distortion campaigns elsewhere.”
‘Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies’: Abbott slams San Marcos council
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott penned a letter to Jane Hughson, the mayor of San Marcos, on Tuesday, decrying what the Republican said is a “proposed antisemitic resolution” that flouts Texas state law “openly.”

“Israel is a stalwart ally of the United States and a friend to Texas,” the pro-Israel governor wrote. “I have repeatedly made clear that Texas will not tolerate antisemitism. Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies.”

After Oct. 7, Abbott issued an executive order on Jew-hatred in higher education. “I have proudly signed legislation prohibiting government entities from supporting efforts to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel,” he stated. “That remains the law here.”

Abbott’s office “is currently reviewing active grants to determine whether the city has breached terms,” the governor wrote to the San Marcos mayor. “If the city adopts the antisemitic resolution, the office of the governor will immediately terminate all active grants not in compliance with state law.”

The San Marcos City Council considered a resolution on April 15 that calls for transferring “permanent sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories” and an “embargo on the State of Israel,” according to the governor.

“The resolution claims to be rooted in the principle that ‘all people are entitled to live life in safety and free from violence'” and states that it denounces targeting civilians “unequivocally,” Abbott added. “But I have not found any past resolution that ‘unequivocally condemn[s] targeting civilians’ by Hamas or affirms that the Jews murdered on Oct. 7 were ‘entitled to live life in safety and free from violence.'”

“City Council members voted to bring this pro-Hamas resolution to a formal vote at their next meeting on Tuesday, May 6, 2025,” he stated.

An agenda for the city council’s meeting noted a discussion “regarding a possible resolution calling for the immediate and permanent ceasefire in occupied Palestine, an arms embargo on Israel, recognition of Palestinian sovereignty and the protection of constitutional rights for all people under national and international law.”


Israel at 77: Why a Jewish state matters
Antisemitism and anti-Zionism threaten Israel’s security, its citizens and the Jewish Diaspora. On Oct. 7, Hamas and Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel’s border and went on a rampage—killing, raping, mutilating and kidnapping civilians, soldiers and anyone in their path. They slaughtered some 1,200 men, women and children. Since then, Israel has endured relentless, near-daily attacks from not only Hamas but also from Hezbollah and other Iran-backed terrorist groups.

The very hatred that gives rise to these current attacks on Israel is what makes Israel’s existence vitally important for all Jews. To ensure the safety of Jewish people around the world, we must not only strengthen policies that combat antisemitism but, at the same time, maintain and strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Israel and the United States face a complex set of threats from shared enemies, including Iran, that jeopardize the safety of both countries. The ability of U.S.-Israel defense initiatives like the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and the Arrow defense system to repel the vast majority of Iran’s drone and missile attacks against Israel sends a strong message that keeps us all safe from Iran’s military aggression.

U.S.-Israel partnerships on technology, defense and medicine deepen the countries’ ties and introduce innovations that would otherwise be out of reach for most patients and citizens worldwide. Moreover, the Abraham Accords are normalizing previously strained relationships, creating new alliances and establishing economic ties in the Middle East that benefit the entire world.

This isn’t just a matter of policy. It’s personal.

Late last year, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, surveyed Jewish women to collect their stories and be their voice. We found that antisemitism affected the daily lives of 64% of respondents. More than 60% of them reported feeling afraid, while more than 50% reported they have taken steps to hide their Jewish identity. The experiences the women shared included being yelled at and threatened by strangers in public; ghosted by close friends and family; excluded from activities; and isolated in their workplaces by managers, colleagues and customers. Many of the women shared that they are afraid of losing their jobs because they are Jewish.

But among the stories of isolation, fear, uncertainty and sadness were stories of bravery, kindness and resilience. One respondent said, “The more hate I encounter, the more I speak out, and the more I wear my [Jewish] star and show my Judaism. I refuse to let hate rule the day.”

That is a lesson for all of us. As we continue to speak out against antisemitism and the need for a Jewish state, we must also build community, helping women and men feel empowered to take pride in and celebrate their Jewish and Zionist identities. Each time we speak out, stand up and show our values, we are helping people find the power to be brave and resilient. We are educating our communities, working to counter hatred and standing up for Israel’s right to exist.
Independence Day 2025: 77+1 Reasons I Love Israel
78 reasons I love Israel
1. The Ayalon Mall shut down to allow the five returned hostage young women to shop in privacy.
2. When the lifeguard at Gordon Beach in Tel Aviv heard that four hostages were rescued in Gaza, he announced it to the swimmers and sunbathers, to cheers along the waterfront.
3. From the smallest kibbutz to the largest cities, the hostages’ photos and yellow flags are displayed.
4. Eden Golan sang magnificently at the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden, despite being booed for representing Israel. She came in fifth out of 37 entries.
5. In Golan’s song, “Hurricane,” images of a sun rising during the music video was a tribute to the lives lost at the Supernova music festival.
6. The site of the Supernova music festival is the most popular KKL-JNF park, with an estimated 7,000 visitors a day.
7. Yuval Raphael, representing Israel at Eurovision this year, is a survivor of the Supernova massacre.
8. Raphael began her singing career only in 2023. In three languages – English, French, and Hebrew – she’s singing “New Day Will Rise,” which includes a quote from the “Song of Songs.”
9. Hundreds of new songs have been written by Israeli musicians since Oct. 7, 2023.
10. The music of the late Aner Shapira, who tossed back seven grenades thrown at the shelter near Re’im, was turned into an album.
11. At a sold-out concert in Jerusalem, popular singer Yonatan Razel performed with Col. Golan Vach a new melody of the 23rd Psalm that Vach had learned from musician and school principal Yossi Hershkovitz, who was killed fighting in Gaza.
Five facts for 77 years: The links between the Jewish Diaspora and the Jewish state
Hundreds of British Jews show their pride in Judaism and Israel at a rally in Kensington.

The State of Israel is marking its 77th Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day), in what may be one of the most tumultuous times the country has faced since its formation.

The October 7th attacks, the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, the dozens of Israelis still being held hostage, and the political divides within Israeli society over the government’s plans and actions have taken their toll not only on Israeli citizens, but on Jews everywhere. Israel is more than just the homeland of the Jewish People: it is also a key component of Jewish identity, home to many friends and family of Jews across the globe, and the main exporter of Jewish products, culture and thought to the wider world.

So, to celebrate the country’s 77th, here are five key data points and ideas that have struck me from recent JPR research about the connections between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora.

The 7.2 million Jews living in Israel constitute 46% of the total number of Jews worldwide

Earlier this year, it was announced that the total population of Israel had crossed the 10 million threshold. When Israel was established in 1948, only 650,000 Jews lived in the country that set out to be a home for all Jews, constituting about 6% of the global Jewish population after the Holocaust. Today, the 7.2 million Jews living in Israel make up 46% of world Jewry.

The cultural makeup of the Israeli Jewish population has changed over the years too, primarily due to immigration from post-WW2 Europe, from Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and from the Former Soviet Union following the collapse of communism.Still, in recent years, Israel’s growth has happened primarily due to robust natural growth.

About half the Jews living in Europe say ‘supporting Israel’ is very important to their Jewish identity.

In a pan-European survey JPR conducted for the European Commission Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), we asked Jews across 12 European countries about which aspects of Jewishness were most important to their Jewish identity. 51% of the 16,400 Jews who completed the survey said ‘supporting Israel’ was ‘very important’ to them – lower than the proportions who said ‘remembering the Holocaust’, ‘fighting antisemitism’ and ‘feeling part of the Jewish people’ but higher than the proportions who highlighted ‘Jewish culture’ and ‘believing in God’, and about the same as those who said ‘sharing Jewish festivals with family’.


Israel’s population tops 10 million for 1st time, on eve of 77th Independence Day
In an annual report ahead of Independence Day, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday that Israel’s population stood at almost 10.1 million people, marking a twelvefold increase since the country was founded in 1948.

The figure, which represents an increase of some 135,000, or 1.4 percent over the previous year, includes roughly 7.7 million people, or 77.6%, who are registered as Jewish or “other” — a category that was previously counted separately. This category includes non-Arab Christians and people with no ethnicity listed, most of whom are entitled to live in Israel because of a Jewish grandparent or Israeli spouse, the CBS said.

Some 2.1 million people living in Israel, or 20.9%, are Muslim, Christian or Druze Arabs, the CBS said. Another 250,000 people, or about 2.5%, belong to neither category, and include international students, foreign workers and undocumented immigrants, the agency reported.

Over the past year, according to the report, some 174,000 babies were born in Israel, 28,000 people immigrated to the country and 50,000 Israelis died. Israel has a relatively young population, 27% of which is under the age of 18 compared with 13% aged at least 65, the CBS said.

Israel’s population grew rapidly in comparison with the world population, which grew by some 0.9% to just over 8 billion in 2023, the last year for which the World Bank has made data available. However, Israel’s population growth this year was slightly lower than it was last year, when the CBS reported that the population had grown about 1.9% to 9.9 million people.

Part of the decline could be attributed to the 24% decrease in immigration to Israel over the past year, as recorded in a pre-Independence Day report by the Aliyah and Integration Ministry on Monday.


Netta Barzilai gives new life to ‘Chai’ in Independence Day music video
To mark Israel’s 77th Independence Day, Israeli singer Netta Barzilai has released a new rendition of the iconic anthem “Chai,” in partnership with The Jewish Agency for Israel.

Originally performed by Ofra Haza at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest, Barzilai, who won Eurovision for Israel in 2018 with her song “Toy,” reimagined Chai to reflect the resilience and unity she has seen in the Jewish people since Hamas launched its war with Israel on October 7, 2023.

“Since October 7th, the strongest feeling I’ve had within our collective sense of loneliness is that it demands togetherness. That our unity is our strength,” said Barzilai. “Together, we amplify the light in this ongoing darkness.”

Barzilai’s version features an emotionally charged music video showcasing new immigrants who arrived during wartime, global Jewish volunteers, youth from Israel’s conflict zones, terror survivors, and freed hostage Dafna Elyakim. Together, they bring to life a message of hope and solidarity.

At the video’s climax, Barzilai joins Elyakim to sing the line, “So here’s to life — to all my friends and to those yearning to return,” against a backdrop of barren land symbolically renewed by their presence.

“Chai” written by Ehud Manor and Avi Toledano, has become an Israeli anthem of Jewish pride, frequently covered by Israeli pop stars, social media figures, a cappella troupes, and communal singing productions.

Ofra Haza’s second-place performance at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest in Munich was seen as particularly poignant given the contest’s location in post-Holocaust Germany.




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

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