Monday, May 05, 2025

05/05 Links Pt2: Benjamin Netanyahu vs. Edward Said; How “America First” Got Played by Iranian Propaganda on Anti-BDS Bill; Yuval Raphael carries Nova survival story to Eurovision

From Ian:

A Comma in the Blood
How Natalia Ginzburg’s doctrine of ‘universal compassion’ empowered the exhausted morality of our times, in which it is both easier and more righteous to side with the losers

This was Ginzburg’s mindset when she sat down to write “The Jews,” and it helps explain why she refers to the members of Black September, who carried out the massacre, as “guerrillas” rather than terrorists. (In this, she foretells the practice of news agencies such as the BBC and CBC to label Hamas terrorists, “militants.”)

Ginzburg begins her piece with a truism: When a tragedy happens in the world, we find ourselves considering how we would have acted if we had the power to do so. “If I were Golda Meir, I would have acquiesced to the guerrillas’ demands. … If I were the head of the German police, I would have let the guerrillas escape.” As for the guerrillas, Ginzburg describes their state of mind as “inhuman desperation.” They exist in a “stone desert,” where the “usual sentiments disappear” and where “the guilty and the innocent no longer exist.” These desperate ones, devoid of “hatred, scorn, or pity,” are “imbued with a power impossible to reach with our voices.”

The second part of her essay is far more interesting and revealing. She begins with the affirmation “I am Jewish” and continues, “When I heard about the Munich massacre, I thought: Once again they’ve killed people of my blood … but when I thought it, I felt contempt for myself. … I don’t believe in the least that Jews have blood different from that of others. I don’t believe there are blood divisions.”

Realignment of thought becomes her overwhelming project: “As a child, I inhaled the idea that the Jews were superior to others.” Such thoughts, she states, “are flaws of our education,” and so she asks us, as adults, “to remove these tattoos from our souls.” As for the Jews of Israel: “I thought they were superior to the Arabs. … Then, at a certain point, I found this idea monstrous. I tried to rip it from my mind and stamp it out.”

Ginzburg’s reeducation leads to the following: “After the war, we loved and pitied the Jews who went to Israel. … They’d survived an extermination and had nowhere to go. … We loved them for their fragility, their weary gait, and their shoulders weighed down by fear. … We had hoped that they would be a small, cozy, powerless country.”

This is shockingly naive and only to be matched by her romanticizing of Arabs as “poor peasants and shepherds.” Her conclusion is to be expected if one has followed her train of thought from “Universal Compassion”: “The only choice available to us is to be on the side of those who die or suffer unjustly. … I don’t want to be on the side of those who use weapons, money, and culture to oppress peasants and shepherds.”
Gadi Taub: Benjamin Netanyahu vs. Edward Said: The global war against woke ideas
Netanyahu’s mission is not, of course, to argue the fine points of queer theory or to point out the contradictions in the late Palestinian-American activist professor Edward Said’s teachings. But his instinct for calling out cultural and moral relativism goes right to the heart of the problem.

“This is not a clash of civilizations,” he told Congress, alluding to Samuel Huntington’s popular book. “It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization. It’s a clash between those who glorify death and those who sanctify life.”

Framing the war in this way and calling barbarism by name, Netanyahu set out to overthrow a worldview, not just an opinion. His call was for the restoration of our immune systems, so that we may regain moral clarity and be able to tell right from wrong. His speech was the virtual opposite of the worldview expounded in Cairo on June 4, 2009 by Said’s most influential disciple—Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama’s own disciples were still at the helm when Netanyahu spoke to Congress. He could not say this explicitly, but he must have been fully aware that he was asking the world’s greatest superpowers to jettison Obama’s woke moral compass and reverse course. It thus fell to the leader of a small country to call America, and the West as a whole, to its senses.

“For the forces of civilization to triumph, America and Israel must stand together,” he said, adding Ronald Reagan’s famous Cold War quip: “Because when we stand together, something very simple happens—we win, they lose.”

Despite the standing ovation he received from senators and House representatives, Netanyahu was facing an administration that refused to rise to the challenge, or even to call evil by name. It was not only trying to appease the barbarians; it was even refusing to call them that.

It is high time we bring back truth to our language. The word “barbarism” must be returned to our lexicon if we are to understand the meaning of the war in the Middle East as well as almost every central aspect of politics—domestic and foreign—in every Western democracy.

The question isn’t whether the term does or does not give us a clue as to the alleged residual racism of those who use it. It is not a misnomer designed to excuse Western domination over innocent victims. It is an accurate, truthful description of powerful enemies who mean it when they say they are out to destroy Western civilization.

It fell to Israel not only to fight these barbarians for its own survival, but also to wake the West up from its woke dreams, and exhort it to return to itself. We Israelis are not the unpleasant remnant of your guilty past. We are the key to your future survival. That was the deeper meaning of Netanyahu’s speech.

Not all values are created equal. We will not be able to defend ours if we continue to use Obama-era sanitized language and talk of “radical extremism,” instead of calling the terrorists of Hamas, the Pakistani grooming gangs in Britain, the Muslim murderers of Charlie Hebdo journalists in France or the assassin of gay director Theo Van Gogh in Holland by the name that describes them truthfully: jihadi barbarians. Foes of humanism. Enemies of liberalism and democracy.

This is not all theory. Israel is now fighting not only against a military enemy. It is also waging a simultaneous culture war against a constellation of lopsided “human rights” organizations, think tanks and NGOs, biased international tribunals, woke newspapers, “progressive” media outlets and social-media platforms, corrupt universities and peace processors who are trying to tie our hands.

We need to openly defy them. We need to go on the offensive and destroy their moral credibility. Above all, we need to win on the battlefield despite their best efforts to stop us, because it is crucial not only for Israel’s exitance. It is also essential to demonstrate that democracies can defend themselves. That they will not let their moralizing elites turn their own values against them, demanding in effect surrender to the barbarians.

We cannot desert our values by pretending to adhere to them more scrupulously. Israel must now prove that the West can be diverted from the path of cultural suicide.

We are now the West’s boots on the ground, in the cultural war as well.
Bassam Tawil: What Are Palestinians Really Interested In?
"These fires put both Israelis and Palestinians at risk and are causing severe damage to the land these terrorists claim to be fighting for. These people are not pro-Palestinian, they are pro-terrorism against Jews." — Bassem Eid, Palestinian human rights activist, X, April 30, 2025

Decades of anti-Israel propaganda by Palestinian leaders and media outlets are directly responsible for this hatred. For that reason, any talk about a peace process with the Palestinians has unfortunately become nothing but a sick joke.

Palestinians are far more interested in murdering Jews and setting Israel on fire than they are in "coexisting." They do not want Israel "coexisting" on even one millimeter of the Jews' own historical homeland.

The world needs to realize that the Palestinians have raised a whole generation that worships destruction and death for the Jews -- and even for themselves -- far more than a better and prosperous life.


How “America First” Got Played by Iranian Propaganda on Anti-Boycott Bill H.R. 867
HR 867 is one page long bill, yet somehow, a small amendment to U.S. anti-boycott law became the center of a manufactured foreign propaganda campaign, sparking outrage over imaginary jail time for Americans who wish to boycott Israel. The reality? The bill doesn’t criminalize anything, doesn’t restrict individual speech, and doesn’t impose penalties of any kind.

So what does it do? It updates 2018 U.S. anti-boycott laws—which already prohibit Americans from complying with foreign-government-sponsored boycotts of Israel—to also apply to intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) like the United Nations and European Union. The message: foreign governments and institutions can’t coerce U.S. companies into participating in anti-Israel boycotts.

That’s it. No criminal provisions. No fines. No targeting of private citizens. Just a clarification of scope within existing trade policy. How “America First” Got Played by Iranian Propaganda on HR 867
1. The disinformation campaign seems to began with PressTV, the Iranian state-controlled propaganda outlet, which published an article on May 2nd which falsely claimed the bill would "punish Americans for boycotting Israel with prison and million dollar files." The framing was intentionally inflammatory and entirely false.
2. Lara Friedman, head of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) repeated the same misleading narrative a few hours later, lending it credibility in progressive and policy circles.
3. From there, the narrative moved to Drop Site, a fringe publication tied to individuals with known connections to Hamas who retweeted Lara Friedman’s post. The Drop Site amplified the lie that HR 867 would restrict free speech and criminalize dissent—knowing full well that American audiences, especially in activist and fringe-right spaces, would take the bait.
4. Next came the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization with documented historical ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas-affiliated networks. CAIR launched a full-blown campaign to pressure lawmakers into voting against HR 867. CAIR organized outreach to Congress, mobilized followers, and flooded social media with disinformation.

Rather than verify the bill’s text, several “America First” Republicans joined the outrage mob. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, and Anna Paulina Luna all announced their opposition to HR 867—citing the exact same false claims promoted by Iranian state media, Hamas-linked journalists, and CAIR.

Conservative influencers like Charlie Kirk joined the pile-on, amplifying the disinfo without examining the legislation. He, like many others, opted for outrage over research.

For a movement supposedly devoted to fighting foreign influence and standing against radical Islamist networks, the irony is inescapable. Kirk, MTG, Massie, and others uncritically parroted Iranian, Hamas-linked, and Muslim Brotherhood narratives to millions of people. All over a one-page bill. They could have read the bill in five minutes. Instead, they echoed foreign propaganda.

The Real Problem: Credibility in Freefall. When U.S. representatives and leading influencers are so easily manipulated by hostile foreign propaganda—from Iran, Hamas affiliates, and Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups like CAIR—we don’t just have a political problem. We have a national security vulnerability.
House leadership nixes vote on Israel boycott bill
Republican House leaders axed a planned vote on Monday for a bill intended to protect Israel from boycotts, amid a backlash from some conservatives over free speech concerns.

Former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz compared the provisions in the legislation to the 10th biblical plague of Egypt: the death of the firstborn.

“If this bill becomes law, how many Israeli products do I need in my home to avoid fines or prison?” Gaetz asked. “If I leave an Israeli-made product outside my home, is it the 2025 version of lamb’s blood that keeps my family safe?”

The bipartisan bill, titled the International Governmental Organizations Anti-Boycott Act, would extend existing anti-boycott legislation that bars Americans from complying with bans imposed by foreign countries to also forbid compliance with boycotts imposed by international governmental organizations, like the United Nations.

The legislation doesn’t mention Israel explicitly, but the Jewish state has long been the target of international boycott efforts.


Ehud Barak calls for civil insurrection to collapse government
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday repeated his call for a civil insurrection to topple the Netanyahu government.

“We need to get to a civil insurrection,” said Barak, during an appearance on “Moriah & Berko,” a Channel 13 news show co-hosted by Moriah Ashraf and Eyal Bercovic.

Asked to explain what that meant, Barak said he meant hundreds of thousands taking to the streets guided by political, academic, high-tech and market leaders, among others.

When Ashraf asked what the limits of the insurrection should be, Barak said, “The limits are the shutdown of the country until the government falls.”

Barak, who served as prime minister from 1999 to 2001, and later as deputy prime minister and minister of defense in a Netanyahu government 2009 to 2013, has become a bitter opponent of the current prime minister.
Israel debates 80% tax on foreign donations to NGOs
An Israeli parliamentary committee on Monday began debate on a law that would impose an 80% tax on non-government organizations that receive the majority of their funding from foreign entities in a bid to reduce foreign influence on the state.

Under the proposed law, these NGOs would not be able to petition Israeli courts, including the Supreme Court. Israel's finance minister, though, would be able to grant an exemption from the tax.

Organizations funded by the Israeli state and those with an annual turnover of below 100,000 shekels ($27,668.64) would be exempted.

The debate in the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee was at times heated and divided along coalition lines. The panel is preparing the bill for a first reading in the main plenum.

"This law will preserve a Jewish state and a democratic regime, and will block improper foreign interference," said Ariel Kallner, the bill's sponsor, during the debate.

Kallner noted that between 2012 and 2024, 1.3 billion shekels was transferred from overseas to 83 Israeli organizations, or an average of about 300,000 shekels per day.

"These funds are not designated for social, educational, or peripheral development projects, but primarily for influencing Israeli policy through the judicial system, media, and international arena," he said, adding "the future of the State of Israel should be shaped by Israeli citizens, not foreign governments."
Louis Theroux and The Settlers: The BBC Documentary That Paints Every Israeli as an Extremist
Louis Theroux first visited the West Bank in 2011 to film a documentary titled Louis and the Ultra-Zionists, part of his long-running series for the BBC. Back then, he at least seemed to possess a trace of journalistic curiosity. Even the title signaled a degree of editorial caution — framing his subjects as a small, ideological fringe rather than representative of Israeli society as a whole.

At the time, Theroux made an effort to clarify that he was profiling a narrow segment of Israelis. He showed legally purchased Jewish homes (sold by Arab landowners, no less) and acknowledged the regular — and at times deadly — terror attacks faced by Israeli civilians living in the area, often requiring military protection. There was condescension, certainly. But there was also context.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the curiosity is gone — though the bemused, slightly smug expression remains. His new BBC documentary, Louis and the Settlers, drops even the soft qualifiers. No “ultra.” No nuance. Just “settlers.” And with that, Theroux makes it clear: half a million Israelis living in the West Bank are one and the same — extremists who, we’re told, want every last Palestinian removed from the land.

This time, the documentary doesn’t begin with questions. It begins with conclusions. And Theroux uses a brief, unrepresentative snapshot of life in the West Bank to draw sweeping indictments of the entire Israeli state.

The message is unmistakable: Israel is the problem. Settlers are the villains. And Palestinians are passive, blameless victims of a colonial project.

Within the opening minutes, Theroux plants his ideological flag. He refers to the West Bank as “Palestinian territory” and describes every Israeli community within it as illegal under international law — a sharp departure from his more qualified approach 14 years earlier. And while his personal views seep in throughout the film, they become crystal clear during one exchange at a checkpoint, where an Israeli soldier casually refers to their location as “Israel.” Theroux shoots back: “We’re not in Israel, are we?”

And just like that, the BBC and Louis Theroux have redrawn Israel’s borders. No Knesset debate needed.


Spain, Ireland enable Jew-hatred: Israeli government report
A government ministry in Jerusalem on Monday accused authorities in Spain and Ireland of enabling antisemitism through inflammatory rhetoric on Israel, as well as singled out France and Britain over their “moral ambiguity.”

The accusations appear in the “State of Antisemitism Report for 2024,” published by the Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. It’s a rare rebuke by Israel of individual governments, some of which have diverted significant resources to curbing antisemitism, that have seen a surge in that hatred as they adopted critical and sometimes inflammatory language on Israel in connection with the war in Gaza.

The report speaks of an increase in antisemitic incidents worldwide and growing acceptance in Western societies and beyond of this hatred.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, in a statement in the report, lauded U.S. President Donald Trump’s “real leadership” and “real fight against antisemitism,” including in Leo Terrell’s action team in the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with addressing campus antisemitism.

The report places the United States and Germany in Category 1: “countries perceived as supporting the fight against antisemitism.” At the federal level, “the United States has taken many important steps in combating antisemitism,” the report states. Previous antisemitism reports by the ministry did not feature categories of governments.

“The Israeli government will not hesitate to point out those who encourage antisemitism—governments, universities, media outlets or social networks,” Chikli wrote in a statement about the report.

Spain, Ireland and South Africa, which have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, were placed in Category 2: “Countries that enable antisemitism through their selective criticism of Israel and abuse of the language of human rights.”

France and the United Kingdom belong to Category 3 of countries exhibiting “moral ambiguity—countries that have taken significant steps to combat antisemitism, while promoting critical statements and policies on Israel that affect the local Jewish community.” This leaves local Jews “feeling that the government’s position toward Israel enables antisemitism locally, such as France and the U.K.,” the 153-page document states.
Report: UK Muslim advocacy chief justified Oct. 7, denied rapes
The leader of two prominent Muslim advocacy groups in the United Kingdom appeared to justify Hamas’s taking of hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and denied that the terrorists had raped women during the massacre, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.

In a video discussion with U.S. Imam Tom Facchine recorded in November 2023, British-Iraqi Anas Altikriti, CEO of The Cordoba Foundation and the listed director of the Muslim Association of Britain, said the hostages would be “looked after” and “cared for” by Hamas. They had been abducted “in order to negotiate more freedoms, more rights, the breakout of this prison that we call Gaza, this concentration camp that we call Gaza,” he said.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Altikriti tweeted: “What did we think was going to happen? That Palestinians would stay silent whilst forever subjugated, victimised, abused, violated, murdered and tortured?!” He added: “This is for every time Western governments stayed silent and whitewashed Israel’s crimes and violations.”

In December 2023, Altikriti rejected the British government’s classification of Hamas as a terrorist group and further claimed: “Allegations of rape made by Israel are false. It’s a lie … Just like every other allegation made by Israel turns out to be a lie, including the mass slaughter of Israeli citizens on the 7th of October. That too was a lie.”

The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) told The Telegraph that Altikriti “does not speak for, nor represent the views of the MAB,” although the U.K. government’s register of companies lists him as a director of that group. MAB did not immediately reply to a query by JNS seeking clarification on this point.

Both MAB and The Cordoba Association have been accused of having ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, including in a 2015 parliamentary report commissioned by the then-prime minister David Cameron.


This isn’t Harvard’s first rodeo when it comes to institutional antisemitism
It’s been an annus horribilis for Harvard. A long-awaited internal antisemitism and anti-Israel report, released in late April after intense pressure from the Trump administration, showed the extent to which America’s wealthiest university struggled to contain the world’s oldest hatred on its campus.

The findings showed that almost 60 percent of Jewish students at Harvard had experienced “discrimination, stereotyping, or negative bias on campus due to [their] views on current events.”

On October 8, 2023, less than 24 hours after more than 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals were slaughtered by Hamas and 250 more were brutally kidnapped to Gaza, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee issued a joint statement with more than 30 other student organisations, where they “held Israel responsible for all unfolding violence…The apartheid regime is the only one to blame.”

311 pages long and a product of 50 “listening sessions” with around 500 Jewish students, the damning report, released more than 18 months later goes into encyclopaedic detail about how Harvard fell short of combating antisemitism in the wake of the October 7 atrocities.

It enumerates grotesque examples of Jew hatred going unchecked, ranging from isolated incidents like a recently admitted medical student being told by a classmate that “Zionists are not welcome at HMS” [Harvard Medical School], to more institutional infractions, including Jewish students being placed in Harvard-run “privilege trainings,” where “they were told that they were deemed to be too privileged not only by dint of being identified as White but also because of their Jewishness, which allegedly endowed them with an even higher level of privilege.”

The report added that this “discourse created absurd situations in which Jewish students from working class backgrounds are told by authority figures that they are oppressing classmates from much wealthier backgrounds and with stronger preparation for academic and social life at Harvard.

The report’s length also suggests that such antisemitism did not spontaneously emerge out of a vacuum, pointing to a longer, under-explored yet equally disturbing history at the Ivy League stretching back to the 1920s.
Columbia Med Students Condemn University After Classmate Who Stormed Library Returns to Campus
Columbia University medical students accused the Ivy League school of pushing a double standard after a classmate who was suspended following her arrest for storming a Barnard College building returned to campus. The student, Gabrielle Wimer, appears to be on course to graduate later this month.

Wimer was one of the four anti-Israel Columbia students arrested for storming Barnard’s Milstein Library in March. The Ivy League university promptly suspended the quartet and restricted them from campus, though officials didn't say how long the punishments would last. "Any violations of our rules, policies, and of the law must have consequences," a Columbia spokeswoman told the Washington Free Beacon at the time.

But several sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Free Beacon they’ve seen Wimer attending "Ready 4 Residency Course," a month-long required class Columbia medical students must pass in March or April of their final year in order to graduate. Others confirmed that they’ve seen her on campus or entering the room where the class is held.

Those witnesses offered sharp criticism of Columbia. One accused the university of "a troubling double standard."

"The response to this situation undermines the integrity of the medical profession and disregards the commitment of countless students and physicians who have upheld the standards faithfully," the individual said. "For the institution, what is being labeled a ‘suspension’ effectively is an extended vacation, rather than a serious academic or professional sanction."

Ready 4 Residency has strict participation requirements that Wimer likely did not meet due to her suspension. It’s unclear why she would begin attending the class after already violating its attendance policy, but one classmate believes it’s because Columbia is bending the rules to allow Wimer to graduate.

"I don’t find it surprising that Columbia has bent the rules as this has been their MO over the past 18 months," the student said. "What struck me was how quietly and nonchalantly they did it without any notice."
St Andrews rector wins appeal after Gaza email controversy
In Maris’s message to students sent in October 2023, she described a vigil at the university as occurring “following weeks of genocidal attacks by the Israeli government against Gaza.”

“We must continue to recognize and condemn acts that are internationally regarded as humanitarian and war crimes,” she added.

“It is also crucial to acknowledge and denounce the actions by Hamas that qualify as war crimes, notably the taking of hostages and deliberately targeting civilians, which I have and continue to do,” she clarified.

According to the BBC, the email included a link to a website that carried a story titled “The evidence Israel killed its own citizens on October 7,” but Maris says she sent her email two days before the website published that article.

In August 2024, the BBC reported Maris as stating, “It is clear that I have been removed from court because I called for an end to Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians, and I will not apologize for doing so.”

University court chair Ray Perman said Maris was in “serious and persistent breach of her responsibilities” after emailing students with her personal opinions on the Israel-Hamas War, the BBC added.

“We recognize that parts of the rector’s statement were an important source of comfort to students affected by the conflict in Gaza. We also wish to stress most explicitly that the rector has never been asked to diminish or change her support of the Palestinian cause, only to acknowledge that in her handling of this matter, she caused distress and fear to some students, whom it was her duty to support and represent,” Perman said.


BBC Arabic journalist who shared anti-Israel tweets wins thousands in tribunal
A BBC Arabic journalist who reposted anti-Israel tweets has won more than £14,000 in a race case.

An employment tribunal heard that Safaa Jibara, a colleague, said Ahmed Rouaba’s speech was of a “Bedouin character” after he allegedly shouted at bosses.

Mr Rouaba was awarded the sum after claiming the comments made by Mr Jibara made him appear “uncivilised” and “savage”.

The Telegraph previously revealed Mr Rouaba reposted a tweet which suggested that Israel had lied to the International Court of Justice in the recent genocide case brought against it by South Africa.

He also reposted a tweet describing elements of Israel’s Gaza blockade as “pure evil”, as well as one suggesting that Israel was “starving” Palestinians “to save money bombing them”.

The employment tribunal, which took place in central London, found that the statements were “patently related” to Mr Rouaba’s race and were “potentially problematic” as well as “derogatory”.

Mr Rouaba was awarded £14,246.40 in compensation.

In July 2019, allegations were raised about his conduct during a staff meeting, including that he had raised his voice at his boss and complained of discrimination after someone asked him to speak in “formal Arabic”.

‘A Bedouin character’
At the same time, Mr Rouaba submitted a grievance about both his manager and his boss’s manager.

In August 2020, Mr Jibara was interviewed by HR about the meeting the previous year and told them there was a “violence” and something of a “Bedouin character” to Mr Rouaba’s way of speaking and that he could be “sharp” during discussions.

He said: “We have to mention [Mr Rouaba’s] character and the fact he is from Algeria. There is a violence behind it [the way he speaks], a Bedouin character.

“He always shouts when he tries to give his opinion, he comes across as sharp. He can’t explain himself in a mild way. He always shouts and is nervous. This belongs to his character and his cultural character.”


Turkish citizen arrested over visit to Israel
A 29-year-old Turkish citizen who visited Israel last month and posted a picture of himself next to an Israeli flag on a Tel Aviv beach on social media was arrested, fired from his job at Turkish Airlines and forbidden to travel abroad pending a trial.

Umut Ataseven, who worked at Istanbul Airport as a visa/passport officer for Turkish Airlines as well as a freelance blogger for a Turkish paper, was in Israel as a tourist on April 6-12. He posted the picture of himself and the Israeli flag in a WhatsApp group.

A screenshot of the photo was subsequently posted on Twitter with fallacious allegations that he was a dual citizen who was taking part in a “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza as an Israeli soldier.

On his return to Turkey, he was fired. Four hours later, Ataseven was taken into police custody, JNS has learned. He was released on the condition that he report to a police station near his home twice a week, ahead of a trial, and was barred from leaving the country.

Nevzat Çiçek, the editor of Independent Türkçe, a Turkish affiliate of the British newspaper The Independent, where Ataseven was a freelance contributor, wrote on social media that his articles had to do with Jewish history and antiquity, and none were about the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ataseven, who has received death threats, maintains his innocence and plans legal action to fight against the case.

About 14,000 Jews live in Turkey.
Hamas hands over rocket terrorist to Lebanese Army after warning
Hamas transferred a suspected terrorist to the custody of the Lebanese Army in connection with rocket attacks on northern Israel, the army confirmed on Sunday.

The man, identified only as M.G., was handed over at the entrance to the Ein el-Hilweh camp southeast of Sidon. He is suspected of involvement in two rocket launches at the Galilee in March, which prompted Israeli airstrikes on Hamas targets in Southern Lebanon and Beirut.

The move comes after Lebanon’s Supreme Defense Council warned Hamas and other terrorist groups on May 2 that any attacks from Lebanese territory would be met with “the harshest measures.”

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of Israel, the terrorist group has carried out several attacks from Lebanon. Israel has responded with targeted strikes, including the January elimination of senior Hamas commander Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.


Jew-hatred ‘raging’ in New York streets, Stefanik says
U.S. President Donald Trump was right to seek the removal of Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of House Republican Leadership and a Harvard alumna, told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News.

“One hundred percent, President Trump did the right thing. This is an issue that I have been the leader on in the house, and it takes a strong president to deliver zero tolerance when it comes to antisemitism,” Stefanik told Fox News.

“The reality is, if you look at the report that Harvard released from its task force, this is a systematic issue that has happened not just since Oct. 7 but over decades at Harvard,” she added, “whether it’s the curricula, whether it’s the professors, or whether it’s the university’s failure to enforce the rules.”

Trump “absolutely is taking the correct action, and not all schools are making the same choice as Harvard,” added Stefanik, who was Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations until he withdrew her name, citing the importance of strengthening the Republican majority in the House.

Some “elite” schools have strong policies on combating Jew-hatred, according to Stefanik.

“Columbia, I put on the bad list with Harvard, and we continue to support President Trump’s efforts, but the governor of New York, bring this back to New York, Maria Kathy Hochul, has failed to protect not just Jewish students, but Jewish families,” she said.

“In the state of New York, there is antisemitism raging in our streets, and there needs to be a zero tolerance policy from the governor of New York, like there is from the president United States,” she added.
Passengers sue United for alleged Jew-hatred on flight to Israel
A group of 57 passengers recently sued United Airlines for alleged antisemitic discrimination, claiming the airline turned a plane around mid-flight to Tel Aviv from Newark, N.J., because many of the passengers were Jewish, the New York Post reported.

The plane was turned around roughly three hours into a flight from Newark Liberty International Airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport on April 22, 2023, when a passenger sat in a flight attendant’s seat while waiting for the restroom. The crew member then told the pilot there was a “security threat,” according to the suit filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court.

The lawsuit alleges that the flight crew “blamed all the rest of the passengers,” many of whom were “visibly Jewish,” and who were traveling home for Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut. The “ill-trained and/or unvetted crew” then allegedly acted with “prejudice,” according to the suit, the Post reported.

Passengers state they did not receive assistance in rebooking new flights upon their return to Newark, with one passenger alleging that a flight attendant told them to “go ask your own kind” for help, per the lawsuit.

The suit added that United “acted willfully, wantonly and with reckless disregard for the plaintiffs’ rights, targeting visibly Jewish passengers as a group, denying them the continuation of their journey and subjecting them to humiliation and prejudice solely based on their religion and ethnicity.”

United said the suit was “meritless.”
‘Shocked, disturbed,’ New Orleans music hall says of performer who wore swastika shirt
Ohm Lounge, which bills itself as the “premiere nightlife destination” in New Orleans, expressed “regret” on Saturday after a performance the prior night by the rapper Waka Flocka, in which it said that “a New Orleans-based co-performing artist wore apparel featuring a symbol widely recognized as one of hate and violence.”

“This symbol has no place in our venue, our values or our city. Notably, Waka Flocka’s manager, who is Jewish, was just as shocked and disturbed to learn how the situation unfolded online today,” the music venue’s ownership and management stated.

Images that circulated on social media and in news reports showed the performer wearing clothing with a swastika.

“At this time, we do not know the performer’s intent. The front of the shirt appears to reference political conflict and may have been meant as a form of satire,” Ohm Lounge stated. “However, no explanation has been provided, and regardless of the message or purpose, wearing such a symbol in any context is deeply offensive and completely unacceptable.”

The venue stated that it “stands firmly against hate, racism, antisemitism, inflammatory political statements and all forms of discrimination.”

“We regret that this occurred within our space and are taking immediate action to ensure it does not happen again,” it stated. “This includes updating our code of conduct, revising performance guidelines, and training our staff to better recognize and address attire or imagery that could be perceived as threatening, hostile or divisive—regardless of intent.”


Plaque in memory of deported Jewish children vandalized in Marseille
A plaque commemorating Jewish children deported during World War II was vandalized on Friday in the southern French city of Marseille, La Provence reported.

The incident occurred in the city’s 13th arrondissement, at the Château de la Verdière, from where several Jewish children were deported during the war. According to authorities, one suspect was arrested shortly after the act.

City officials condemned the vandalism, calling it “intolerable.” In a statement posted on X, Mayor Benoit Payan said the city would file a formal complaint and had ordered immediate restoration of the damaged plaque.

The local branch of CRIF, the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions, also announced plans to file a civil suit in response to the incident.


How a Jewish-American student leader faced down hate to become a global influencer
Tessa Veksler vividly remembers the wave of pain and panic she felt sweeping over her when she walked into a room at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in April 2024. She was about to face a recall vote as student government body president. Her ostensible infraction: mourning, on social media, the victims of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and defending Israel’s right to exist.

Veksler recalls noticing “how many people showed up because they were passionate about removing me from office.” The 23-year-old also remembers seeing some empty chairs on the side of the room where her supporters had gathered.

Over several hours, she listened to accusations, insults and verbal abuse. When she gave her statement, students shouted, laughed and smirked. She didn’t waver, but there was fear in the back of her mind, she says, recalling thinking, “What if this motion passes? What if I get removed from office? Is this going to be my legacy on campus?”

The recall vote failed narrowly, and Veksler finished her term as president, all the while setting her sights on the future.

“I didn’t want to just survive this. I wanted to thrive,” she says.

She now lives in New York and works for a PR firm while traveling the country as a sought-after public speaker on antisemitism and anti-Zionism. She’s also one of the main interviewees in “October 8,” a documentary about the explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, social media and the streets of America immediately following the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were brutally slaughtered and 251 abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip.

Veksler’s journey exemplifies what many Jewish students in the United States have undergone after October 7 and shows how this experience has created a new generation of Jewish leaders, says Jonathan Falk, vice president of the Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program at Hillel International, the largest Jewish student organization in the world.

Veksler’s story began receiving publicity a year ago when anti-Israel protests at US universities reached a boiling point.

Across the country, tens of thousands of students at more than 140 universities disrupted classes, vandalized property and intimidated Jewish students. Once the protests died down, several universities launched internal investigations; there were congressional hearings and resignations. Veksler’s former school, the University of California, Santa Barbara, faces several investigations over allegations of discrimination and civil rights violations against Jewish students and staff.
Rob Rinder and Susanna Reid dance with Holocaust survivors at ‘triumph of joy’ reunion
Yvette Cooper last night lauded a group of 732 Holocaust survivors who found refuge in the UK after the war as a “cherished and vital part of this nation’s history”.

After the Shoah, 732 surviving children were flown from Prague by the RAF to the Lake District to start new lives. They became known as ‘The Boys’, later forming the ‘45 Aid Society to raise money for survivors and teach the lessons of the Holocaust.

Addressing nearly 600 survivors and their relatives at the annual 45 Aid reunion, the home secretary said: “This is the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the most inspirational people, of the most phenomenal generation who built families after enduring so much suffering.

“We are here to honour how from acute pain came such purpose. What we have seen tonight is the triumph of joy.”

Yvette Cooper added: “We also look forward to building the Holocaust memorial and learning centre in front of the Houses of Parliament, in the shadow of democracy. The Holocaust was the failure of democracy, and it will be a fitting reminder for the future.”

The senior Labour politician closed by citing the “appalling torrent of antisemitism since the barbaric terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th” and insisted, “it will not be tolerated now or ever.”

Held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, memorial candles were lit by six of ‘The Boys’, accompanied by their grandchildren, before being interviewed on stage by Judge Robert Rinder, himself a grandson of one of ‘The Boys’, Moishe Malenicky.

The 80th anniversary gala also saw national Holocaust Memorial chairs Ed Balls and Sir Eric Pickles and celebrity guests Rob Rinder – whose mum chairs the Aid Society – and Susanna Reid join survivors and their families in numerous rounds of song and dance to celebrate life.
Last minute goal by Israeli striker gives Leeds United Championship victory
Israeli international Manor Solomon fired Leeds United to the English Championship title on Saturday with a stoppage-time winner in a 2–1 victory over Plymouth Argyle.

Solomon, a 25-year-old winger or attacking midfielder on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, scored in the 91st minute to seal the club’s return to the Premier League with 100 points. He ends the season with 10 goals and 13 assists, drawing praise for his dynamic play.

According to Leeds Live, he was “the most dangerous attacking threat” for the club. Leeds won 22 of the 31 matches he started, a club-record 71% win rate.

“At the moment, no talks have taken place about staying,” Solomon told Israel’s N12 News. “I have three more years left on my contract with Tottenham.”

Leeds is reportedly interested in a permanent deal, though competition and cost may complicate a transfer. At least three Premier League clubs are said to be monitoring the Israeli star.

Solomon was signed by Tottenham in 2023 and transferred to Leeds last season. The striker was met with anti-Israel and antisemitic abuse following his signings to both clubs.

Solomon was attacked online for his Israeli background and service in the IDF, and the news of his signing for Leeds reignited the abuse towards Solomon, with one X user writing that they’d rather the team be “relegated” than sign “that Zionist Manor Solomon.”
Israel and Cyprus advance energy cooperation in high-level meeting
Israel and Cyprus agreed on Sunday to finalize a deal later this year to construct an electricity cable connecting the two countries, as part of the broader India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project.

The decision was made during a diplomatic meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, who were joined by Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen and Cypriot Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister Giorgos Papanastasiou.

The undersea cable, which will initially connect Israel and Cyprus and eventually link Cyprus to the broader European grid, is seen as a strategic step toward enhancing regional energy security. Israel, often described as an “energy island,” views the project as a vital infrastructure corridor bridging East and West—from India to Europe.

“One of the ideas that we talked about is IMEC, which is a very revolutionary and transformative development that we want to bring into place,” said Netanyahu on Sunday.

“I discussed it with Mr. Modi, [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi of India, just a few days ago. We want to have a common discussion with him. We also want to have a trilateral meeting in Israel between Israel, Cyprus and Greece. We’ve done that over the years. We want to renew it as soon as possible,” he added.


Yuval Raphael carries Nova survival story to Eurovision
Just before departing for Basel, Switzerland, to represent Israel in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest, Yuval Raphael visited the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Monday. She was warmly welcomed by President Isaac and first lady Michal Herzog, who praised her courage and spirit.

Raphael, a survivor of the Oct. 7,2023, Hamas massacre at the Supernova music festival, will perform “New Day Will Rise,” a powerful anthem penned by songwriter Keren Peles. She earned her place at Eurovision by winning Season 11 of “The Next Star” television competition and is scheduled to compete in the second semifinal on May 15.

Herzog offered his heartfelt support, saying: “You have a wonderful personality, your story is incredible, and every time I hear the song, my heart swells with pride. We are immensely proud of you and wish you the best of luck in this mission,” according to a press release from the President’s Residence.

Raphael emphasized that simply standing on the Eurovision stage is a profound personal victory. “On the one hand, I’m working as someone who wants to win,” she told the president. “But on the other hand, just being there feels like a victory. I have the privilege to do this.”

That privilege is not to be taken for granted. On that dark Simchat Torah morning 19 months ago, Raphael was dancing with friends at the music festival near the Gaza border when the massacre began. For seven harrowing hours, she hid in a small bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri, lying beneath bodies, pretending to be dead—even after being hit by shrapnel. “I had to step on bodies to get out,” she recalled. “It was unbearable.”

She wrestled with heavy survivor’s guilt. “You ask yourself: ‘Why was I saved and not them?’” she said. “Once I made peace with that, I decided to give my dreams a chance. I got a second shot at life. To let fear hold me back would be dishonoring those who didn’t survive. I have to fly with what I’ve been given.”

The trauma still echoes, but so does her resolve. “We’re coming to win no matter what,” she said. “It feels like training for the Olympics—we’re working around the clock.”




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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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