Tuesday, May 06, 2025

05/06 Links Pt2: Hamas 'deliberately and systematically' using Gazans as 'human shields'; US education secretary: No new grants for Harvard; Far-Left Michigan AG Drops All Charges Against Anti-Semitic Protesters

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The Destruction of History for a Lie That No One Believes
Indeed, the story is full of examples of academics and researchers losing their standing, access, and career paths for the crime of even participating in studies of ancient Israel. The idea is simple, if diabolical: Even if a few archaeologists defy the ban, they’ll have nowhere to publish their findings.

The culprits aren’t shy about the coordination. A few days after TPS’s first report, the service got on-the-record confirmation from the top editor of a leading archaeological journal based in London that covers the Levant. “Publication in [Palestine Exploration Quarterly] is guided by the PEF’s ethical policy,” the editor told TPS. “The main aspect of this is international law, by which many academic institutions and publications, including PEQ, are bound.”

There is one way to publish results from Judea and Samaria in the journal, however: if the authors “have cooperated with the relevant Palestinian authorities to do so.”

In other words, get permission from the Palestinian bureaucrats who are in charge of destroying evidence of Jewish history. And here’s where the other side of the boycott comes in: “There is no cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in the field of archaeology in Judea and Samaria, but not because the Israelis don’t want it,” an archaeologist at Bar-Ilan University said. “I would love to conduct a joint research with my Palestinian colleagues…. But it’s impossible because they are afraid to cooperate with Israelis. They would be treated as traitors for this.”

It’s pure academic segregation, in other words. Botbol notes that the United Nations and other international forums play a key role in the denial of history because they have “automatic anti-Israel majorities” for any votes. Those same authorities turn a blind eye when Jewish sites are violated, as happened in Jericho. “The burial grounds of Hasmonean kings—the largest necropolis in the Middle East from the Second Temple period—have been plowed and used for farming and construction,” an Israeli think tank director told Botbol. “In one case, we found human bones scattered in the fields. The Israeli Civil Administration had to collect and rebury them.”

So what are the silver linings? Well, this may come off as cold comfort, but the most important lesson from all this is that the entire world knows that Jews are indigenous to the land and that this history is well-established fact. That includes Palestinians and their advocates—no one in the world argues in good faith for the “colonialist” interpretation of Zionism.

This is the anti-Semitism version of flat-earth theory. It exists outside the very idea of knowledge. That is what is so threatening to the academic world: Their defensiveness is a tacit acknowledgement that the Palestinian-fueled anti-Zionist narrative of the land is universally regarded as a made-up story.

If there’s a second silver lining, it’s in the form of a lesson learned the hard way. Israel is the only trustworthy steward of the region’s history. Those dark ages the academic world is working so hard to bring about? The state of Israel is what stands in their way, and it isn’t going anywhere.


10 big lies Palestinians tell to deny Jewish history in the Land of Israel
Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas recently claimed that the First and Second Jewish temples were in Yemen, not Jerusalem, citing the Quran. Not only does all reputable archeological research locate the temples in Jerusalem, but the Quran does not assert that they were in Yemen. So much for Abbas’s “facts.” Indeed, the Palestinian narrative claiming rights to “Palestine” is based almost entirely on deceitful attempts to nullify deep Jewish connections to the region. Lacking any evidence of Palestinian peoplehood earlier than the 20th century, let alone any existence of any ancient Palestinian governance, leadership, distinct culture or archeological artifacts, they resort to falsifying history using outright lies.

Just as Palestinianism is fundamentally a movement to eliminate the Jewish state rather than build one of their own, the focus of its leaders is to discredit the abundantly proven Jewish role in the region’s history.

When examined rationally, Palestinian examples denying established records of Jewish sovereignty, religion, architecture and artifacts are almost comical or, at least, embarrassing in their blatant fabrication. But like most big lies, when told often enough to those with no other source of information, the locals (e.g., Palestinians) come to believe them, while many elites, who know better, patronizingly ignore them.

Ultimately, however, falsehood makes an unstable foundation for nationhood. Lies are not only deceptive and eventually disproven, they are also mean-spirited and thus morally brittle. In either case, they don’t wear well.

Here are 10 of the most egregious lies comprising the Palestinians’ argument they hope will justify their right to a state “from the river to the sea” in the Land of Israel.

Lie No. 1: There were no Jewish temples in Jerusalem. Even Muslim scholars refute this lie. Persian historian Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Jarir al-Tabari (838-923), for example, described David’s and Solomon’s involvement in building on the Temple Mount in a way that corresponds exactly to the Bible’s description of the process. Extensive archeological evidence also confirms the existence of both temples. No wonder guidebooks published in the 1920s and 1930s by the Supreme Muslim Council, responsible for Muslim religious affairs in British Mandatory Palestine, unequivocally identified the Temple Mount as the location of Solomon’s Temple.

Lie No. 2: Biblical figures were Palestinians. Many Palestinians, for example, claim Jesus was a Palestinian. But the Christian Bible clearly identifies Jesus as a Jew, saying he was born in Bethlehem, circumcised according to Jewish law (Luke 2:21), attended synagogue on Shabbat (Luke 4:16), and celebrated Passover in Jerusalem (John 2:13). Moreover, the term “Palestine” didn’t even exist in Jesus’s lifetime. It was invented by the Romans decades later.

Lie No. 3: Jews have no claim over Jerusalem. Though Palestinians persuaded the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to designate Jerusalem and its Jewish sites as “Palestinian,” Jerusalem has always been the spiritual, religious and national center of the Jewish people. It was the capital of the biblical Jewish kingdoms and has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Furthermore, Jews have lived in Jerusalem, almost continuously, for 3,000 years.

Lie No. 4: Jews have no right to sovereignty in “Palestine.” In fact, Jews had sovereignty and self-rule during three ancient periods: the United monarchy under kings Saul, David and Solomon (circa 1047-930 BCE); the Kingdom of Judah (circa 930-586 BCE); and the Hasmonean Dynasty (circa 140-63 BCE). All periods are confirmed by major archeological evidence. In contrast, no archeological or historical findings reference a Palestinian people or state.

Lie No. 5: Jews have no connection to Hebron. Despite biblical references to Abraham settling in Hebron and purchasing the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs as a burial site for his wife, Sarah, Palestinians convinced UNESCO to call the tomb the Ibrahimi Mosque, negating its Jewish origins. Furthermore, Hebron was the first capital of King David’s Israelite kingdom. In modernity, Jews lived there continuously for 500 years until 1929, when an Arab pogrom murdered many of the Jewish residents and exiled the remainder.
Seth Mandel: Heroes and Martyrs
The 34-year-old Columbia University activist was arrested in mid-April during the Trump administration’s crackdown on noncitizens playing prominent roles in the spread of anti-Semitic harassment in support of Hamas’s bloody invasion of Israel.

In 2015, Mahdawi visited a Vermont gun store and his interaction with the owner convinced the owner to alert the police. According to the filing: “The gun shop owner told Windsor, Vermont, police officers that Mr. Mahdawi had visited his store twice, expressing an interest in learning more about firearms and buying a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon and that he ‘had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine’.”

A volunteer at a nearby firearms museum, according to the filing, said he’d had a similar conversation with Mahdawi, who apparently had a bit of a reputation as someone who bragged about shooting Jews.

It’s not as though Mahdawi had appeared to be a peacenik before that filing. Video appears to show him blaring a bullhorn in the face of Jewish students who were chanting for the release of hostages. The Columbia protest movement was among the more violent and openly anti-Semitic in the country, chiefly responsible for a campus anti-Israel culture that deployed swastikas with abandon and attacked and harassed non-Jewish building employees as “Jew-lovers.”

Do Mahdawi’s alleged threats and overall high-profile role in a racist student movement make revoking his residency the right response? That’s the question playing out in the courts at the moment.

But Democrats have gone much further than advocating for due process in immigration enforcement. Democratic Sen. Peter Welch made a pilgrimage to Mahdawi while he was in custody, pitching him as a model of upstanding values: “He talked about his activism, which included working with Jewish Americans who shared his goal for peace, and he is at peace even though his life has been upended since he was detained last Friday.”

It was reminiscent of the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats who turned another campus anti-Zionist activist into the subject of an online worship campaign when he, too, was detained. And not too dissimilar to the series of pilgrimages Democrats made to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison and inappropriately treated by the Trump administration, but whose initial portrait as an innocent family man went bust: His wife filed a protective order alleging a horrifying pattern of physical and mental abuse.

After Mahdawi left custody defiant, one progressive wrote in New York magazine, “I’ll admit, watching the video, my heart leaped.”

Can America’s two mainstream political movements advocate for due process without celebrating ostentatiously rancid ideas or lionizing people who are themselves a threat to the rights of others? It would give our political discourse a needed dose of sanity.


Hamas 'deliberately and systematically' using Gazans as 'human shields' in Israel war
A damning report has found that Hamas are “deliberately and systematically” using Gazan civilians as human shields in order to use their deaths for propaganda purposes. The group, which the US and UK have designated as a terrorist organisation, launched a brutal assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered and 251 were taken hostage.

The resulting conflict has seen as many as 50,000 people killed in Israeli strikes, according to Palestinian health authorities, although this number is impossible to verify, as is the cause of death of those included in the statistics. Israel has been largely condemned for its part in the killing, with a case being lodged in the International Court of Justice accusing the country of genocide, but the report’s author believes that the role of Hamas in the killing is too often overlooked.

Andrew Fox a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society who previously served as a Major in the Parachute Regiment, told the Daily Express: “This report is the missing chapter from every UN statement, every NGO report, and every media narrative that has ignored how Hamas weaponised Gaza’s civilians.”

Fox, who served three tours of Afghanistan, believes that the group “want their fellow Palestinians to die in vast numbers” and have “created ‘death trap’ conditions for millions of people” deliberately.

He added: “The truth is simple and devastating: every death Hamas could provoke became a propaganda asset.”

Co-author Salo Aizenberg, a leading researcher on media bias and casualty data, believes that the terror group are fighting a war on multiple fronts, including in the information sphere.

She said: “This war wasn’t just fought with rockets. It was fought with camera lenses and casualty counts.

“By ignoring how Hamas deliberately blurred the line between combatant and civilian, much of the world became an unknowing accomplice in their war strategy.”

Since the Israel Defence Force (IDF) commenced military action in Gaza, pro-Palestinian marches have erupted regularly across Europe and North America, highlighting the disparity between criticism of Israel and that directed towards Hamas.


Israeli Hostages’ Lawsuit Against News Outlet That Paid Hamas Terrorist Will Head to Trial, Judge Rules
A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a lawsuit filed by Israeli hostages against an American news outlet that hired a Hamas kidnapper can go to trial, rejecting the media organization’s motion to dismiss.

Three former hostages sued the Washington-based Palestine Chronicle last year, alleging that the media organization knowingly paid their Hamas-operative captor, Abdallah Aljamal, who simultaneously worked as a Gaza correspondent for the nonprofit news site.

Hamas kidnapped Almog Meir Jan, Shlomi Ziv, and Andrey Kozlov during its attack on the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023. The Israel Defense Forces ultimately rescued them from Aljamal’s home eight months later.

Palestine Chronicle leadership has claimed there is no evidence its staff was aware of Aljamal’s involvement in the kidnapping and argued that its payments to the Hamas operative had no impact on the hostages.

But Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said the news outlet’s arguments were "unpersuasive," and ruled that the plaintiffs’ case is strong enough to move to the trial and discovery process.

"Plaintiffs allege that Defendants had actual knowledge that Aljamal was a Hamas operative in the months following the October 7 attacks, when it was commonly known that Hamas was holding Israeli hostages in Gaza," wrote Cartwright.

She said the facts the former hostages presented "support a reasonable inference that [the Palestine Chronicle] knew Aljamal was affiliated with Hamas and involved in the October 7 attack."

The court also "concluded that the timing and extent of Aljamal’s employment supported the reasonable inference that the payments provided assistance with substantial effect on Jan’s captivity."
Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood cancel UK concerts amid safety threats
Israeli musician Dudu Tassa and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood have canceled their upcoming performances in Bristol and London after threats were made against the venues and staff.

The shows, scheduled for June as part of their Jarak Qaribak collaboration—an album fusing Middle Eastern musical traditions—were called off due to safety concerns raised by organizers. The artists criticized the cancelations as an act of cultural censorship.

Tassa addressed the situation on Instagram, writing: “It’s very sad when music—whose purpose is to bring people together—falls victim to polarization and fear. We’ll continue to create and perform wherever we can, for anyone who wants to listen.”

The cancelations have sparked backlash from free speech advocates and reignited debate over artistic freedom amid heightened tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.


72 former Eurovision competitors call for Israel’s Nova survivor entry to be banned
The Artists for Palestine pressure group has published an open letter from 72 former Eurovision competitors, calling for a ban on Israel, and its national broadcaster KAN, from this year’s contest in Switzerland.

The letter, addressed to the European Broadcasting Union, (EBU) accuses KAN of “being complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people”.

Last year’s Israeli entrant, Eden Golan, was subjected to severe harassment and barracking during Eurovision in Sweden. She was forced to change the lyrics of her song, October Rain, because of perceived reference to the 7 October Hamas attacks.

But one of the contestants, Ireland’s Bambie Thug, who is non-binary, complained that KAN had harassed them during dress rehearsals to the point of physical violence, leading to the EBU reproving the Israeli broadcaster, though taking no further action.

The letter says that last year’s contest was “the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant” in Eurovision’s history.

It also compares Israel unfavourably with Russia, which has been banned from Eurovision since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The signatories say: “By continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes.

“The EBU has already demonstrated that it is capable of taking measures, as in 2022, when it expelled Russia from the competition. We don’t accept this double standard regarding Israel.

“We stand in solidarity with this year’s contestants and condemn the EBU’s repeated refusal to take responsibility.”


Duke University Press Is an Anti-Israel Defamation Machine
All three editors signed a “Scholars Against the War on Palestine” 2023 letter calling for a “permanent ceasefire now,” stating, “We stand with Palestinians everywhere.” The letter relentlessly attacked Israel and did not mention — a single time — Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack, or the hundreds of hostages being held at the time by Hamas-led terrorists. Some of these hostages remain today in Gaza in horrendous conditions. The words “Hamas” and “hostages” did not even appear one time in the letter.

Such severe anti-Israel bias helps explain how Duke University Press apparently found no problem with a journal article stating that Israelis view Palestinians as rapeable.

In 2024, the Transgender Studies Quarterly journal, a Duke Press publication, published an article in which the authors explain, “the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) [are] referred to by resistance movements as the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF).” The authors then immediately used the term “IOF” twice in the column. For example, the authors discuss what they call “an IOF missile ostensibly on its way to destroy lives in Gaza.”

This article makes it clear that Duke University Press is being used as part of the “resistance movement” against Israel.

Duke University Press has a long history of publishing antisemitic works. For example, “The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability” by Rutgers University professor Jasbir Puar, published in 2017, updated blood libels against the Jewish people. She states Israel specifically targets Palestinian children to maim them and then profit from their incurred disabilities. Like other Duke University Press authors, she compares Israelis to Nazis.

In 2018, I reported that seven members of the Duke University Press Editorial Advisory Board signed initiatives related to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

The Duke University Press website explains that during the peer review process, the publisher “performs an intellectual gatekeeping function, ensuring that only scholarship of the highest quality receives the imprimatur of Duke University.”

The Duke University Press peer review process is apparently a colossal failure that puts hateful, antisemitic content into the world, year after year after year.

Duke University Press is functioning at times more as an advocacy organization for promoting anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian positions than as a scholarly publisher. Perhaps Duke Press should change its name to “The Palestinian Point of View Publishing House.”
Far-Left Michigan AG Drops All Charges Against Anti-Semitic Protesters, Shocking Attorneys
Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel (D.) on Monday dropped all charges against seven anti-Semitic protesters arrested last year at the University of Michigan, a move that shocked even the protesters' lawyers.

Even though Nessel acknowledged that "based on the evidence, a reasonable jury would find the defendants guilty of the crimes alleged," she said the case had devolved into a "circus-like atmosphere" following months of court delays and allegations of bias on her part, Detroit's FOX2 reported. Nessel stood by her original decision to pursue felony and misdemeanor charges but said the proceedings were no longer a "prudent use of my department's resources" and moved to dismiss the cases.

Nessel, who became Michigan's attorney general in January 2019, has been no stranger to controversy.

She came under scrutiny in 2023 for taking a lavish island vacation with a major campaign donor, according to emails and photos obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. In 2022, she called for "a drag queen for every school" and threatened to jail a Republican opponent who criticized her refusal to enforce Michigan's abortion ban.

Nessel's Monday decision to drop charges caught many off-guard, including the protesters' own attorneys. "Inside the courthouse, the decision to drop the charges stunned defense lawyers, who were prepared to offer closing arguments in a preliminary exam that began in February," the Detroit Free Press reported.

The seven defendants were among dozens of activists who set up a month-long encampment at the University of Michigan last spring, part of a broader wave of anti-Israel campus demonstrations nationwide. When police tried to clear the site, the protesters used "physical force to counter" officers, Nessel said when she first filed felony charges. According to police, the protesters ignored commands, linked arms, and threw tables and chairs to obstruct the clearing effort.
Michigan AG suggests Jewish group caused her to drop charges against anti-Israel protesters
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel unexpectedly dropped charges against seven pro-Palestinian student protesters, suggesting that an improper statement from a Jewish group motivated her decision.

Nessel brought the felony and misdemeanor charges in September against the protesters, who had participated in the University of Michigan’s encampment last May. They stood accused of obstructing police and trespassing.

Critics, including Palestinian-American Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, said Nessel brought the case because of “bias.” Nessel, who is Jewish, responded that Tlaib’s claims were “antisemitic and wrong,” but the criticism persisted. Last month, lawyers for some of the defendants called on Nessel to recuse herself from the case.

“It’s our position that either the bias or the appearance of it is enough to merit recusal because the public has got to have faith that prosecutors are acting in the best interests of justice and are treating individuals fairly,” said one of the defense lawyers, Jamil Khuja, according to Michigan Public.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Ann Arbor aimed to rebut those accusations when it issued a statement supporting Nessel last Friday.

“If it were successful, this would mark the first time a prosecutor would be disqualified from prosecuting a case based on perceived bias due to their religious faith,” said the statement from the JCRC, which is an arm of the local Jewish federation. “The notion that AG Nessel is biased against Muslims and Americans of Arab descent is unfounded and deeply offensive.”

If the statement aimed to encourage the case to press forward, it appears to have had the opposite effect.
No new grants for Harvard, US education secretary says
Harvard University has a tax-free endowment of $53.2 billion, which is larger than the gross domestic product of 100 countries, and it gets billions of taxpayer dollars each year. But instead of using those monies “to advance the education of its students,” it engages “in a systemic pattern of violating federal law,” according to Linda McMahon, the U.S. education secretary.

“Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into the country and why is there so much hate?” McMahon wrote to Alan Garber, the Harvard president, on Monday. “The biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?”

The secretary charged that Harvard “has made a mockery of this country’s higher education system” and invited foreign students, “who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States,” onto campus.

“This letter is to inform you that Harvard should no longer seek grants from the federal government, since none will be provided,” she wrote. “Harvard will cease to be a publicly funded institution and can instead operate as a privately funded institution, drawing on its colossal endowment and raising money from its large base of wealthy alumni.”

“Today’s letter marks the end of new grants for the university,” she said.


Dozens of Pro-Hamas Protesters Arrested After Storming University of Washington Building, Setting Dumpsters on Fire
Dozens of anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas protesters were arrested Monday evening after taking over a building at the University of Washington in Seattle and setting nearby dumpsters on fire in an attempt to demand that the school cut ties with Boeing over the company's defense contracts with Israel.

"Individuals who mostly covered their faces blocked access to two streets outside the building, blocked entrances and exits to the building and ignited fires in two dumpsters on a street outside," university spokesman Victor Balta told CNN. Hours later, police arrested "about 30 individuals" who now face charges including trespassing, property destruction, disorderly conduct, and conspiracy, Balta said.

The University of Washington is among many universities that have drawn scrutiny over anti-Israel protests on campus since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023. The group that organized the Monday protest, Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return, is a "suspended student group" that has published a manifesto overtly praising Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel, Balta told CNN.

A separate group, whose members were dressed in all black, appears to be responsible for blockading at least one road and confronting a security guard, according to KOMO News.

Protesters on Monday occupied the Boeing-funded Interdisciplinary Engineering Building and called on the University of Washington to divest from the aerospace giant for supplying weapons used in Israel's war against Hamas terrorists. Video footage shows several nearby dumpsters on fire, with one protester shouting, "Abolish the police. Every cop dead is a victory for the resistance."

"The University of Washington is a direct partner in the genocide of the Palestinian people through its allegiance to its partnership with Boeing," the student group wrote in a Monday evening Facebook post, urging protesters to "wear a mask, and cover idntifiable [sic] features."
George Washington University Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine for One Year
George Washington University (GW) has suspended the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter operating on its campus until Spring 2026, punishing the group for a series of unauthorized demonstrations it held on school property last month, according to a recent report in The GW Hatchet.

The move marks one of the severest disciplinary sanctions SJP has provoked from the GW administration since it began violating rules on peaceful expression and assembly, as well as targeting school officials for harassment, following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Until next May, SJP is barred from advertising and may only convene to “complete sanctions or consult with their advisor,” according to report.

A number of SJP chapters around the country have been disbanded or suspended by university administrators over the past two years.

The gatherings in question occurred during GW’s so-called “Palestine Liberation Week,” the Hatchet added. Administrators repeatedly told SJP to “cease” the activity, but it the ignored their directives, choosing instead to charge ahead with a “teach in” and another event to which it denied an administrator access. By the time the group’s leaders were hauled before the disciplinary panel which shut it down for an entire academic year, it had racked up a bundle of additional misconduct charges for, the Hatchet said, “disorderly conduct, discrimination, and non compliance” — of which it was ultimately found not guilty.

SJP will be placed on probation for one year after its suspension is lifted, the paper continued, during which it must request and acquire prior approval for any expressive activity. Additionally, members will be required to attend “teach-ins on university policy” for “ten consecutive semesters.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, George Washington University has been a hub of extreme anti-Zionist activity that school officials have struggled to quell. A major source of the troubling conduct is SJP, which recently escalated its behavior by issuing an ominous warning to a professor who was involved in crafting a proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza.

“This notice is to inform you that you are hereby evicted from the premises of the George Washington University,” SJP wrote in a missive it taped to the office door of international affairs professor Joseph Pelzman, who first shared the resettlement plan with Trump’s presidential campaign in July 2024, according to an account of events he described to the podcast “America, Baby!” the following month.

Denouncing Pelzman as the “architect of genocide,” SJP added, “Pelzman’s tenure is only one pernicious symptom of the bloodthirsty Zionism permeating our campus … The proprietors of this eviction notice demand your immediate removal.”
Thirty members of Hamas-glorifying student group arrested after occupying Washington U building
Thirty pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested after illegally occupying a University of Washington building to demand divestment from Boeing on Monday night, the university announced early on Tuesday.

The occupation of the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building was led by the pro-Palestine student group Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (Super UW). Super UW called for the protest in a manifesto published earlier in the day, in which the group also lauded the October 7 massacre.

"We are taking this building amidst the current and renewed wave of the student Intifada, following the uprising of student action for Palestine after the heroic victory of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, which shattered the illusion of zionist-imperialist domination and brought Palestine to the forefront for all justice-loving people of the world," the manifesto said.

Super UW posted pictures and statements on social media showing it had renamed the engineering building 'Shaban al-Dalou Building,' after a 19-year-old Palestinian from Gaza who was reportedly killed during the bombing of Al-Aqsa hospital on 14 October 2024.

According to UW spokesman Victor Balta, Super UW is a suspended student group. Balta said the protest created "a dangerous environment in and around the building."

"The University will not be intimidated by this sort of offensive and destructive behavior and will continue to oppose antisemitism in all its forms," he added.

Balta stated that the individuals were mostly wearing face coverings, and had blocked entrances and exits to the building as well as started dumpster fires in two locations. Super UW's manifesto had urged supporters to “wear a mask and cover (identifiable) features."

UW Police and local law enforcement successfully cleared the building at 10:30 p.m.

"The 30 individuals were arrested and charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct, and conspiracy to commit all three, will be referred to the King County Prosecutor’s Office," Balta added.


Taliban Earning Billions, Giving American Weaponry to Terrorist Groups as Afghanistan Once Again Becomes Jihadi Hotbed: Report
The Taliban took in $3.4 billion in revenue over the last year, boosting its cash supply by 14 percent amid the return of Afghanistan as a central safe haven for terrorist organizations across the Middle East, according to a U.S. government watchdog group.

The repercussions of the Biden administration’s disastrous 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to reverberate across the war-torn country, with multiple al Qaeda affiliates accessing American-supplied "weapons seized from the former Afghan National Army," according to a new oversight report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).

The United States left 78 aircraft, 40,000 military vehicles, and over 300,000 weapons in Afghanistan in a withdrawal that saw 13 American service members lose their lives. According to the SIGAR report—which the watchdog group delivered to Congress on April 30—the Taliban transferred many of these arms directly to terrorist affiliates, while others made their way to the black market.

The Pentagon assesses that of around $18.6 billion worth of U.S. equipment provided to the Afghan Army over decades of support, $7.12 billion in weaponry remains in the Taliban’s possession. As a result, "terrorist groups continued to operate in and from Afghanistan amid ongoing U.S., UN, and regional concerns that the country remains a terrorist haven."

More than two dozen terrorist organizations are currently active in Afghanistan, including the Islamic State-affiliated Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). At least four al Qaeda offshoots are also using the country to organize operations. "Terrorist groups," SIGAR reported, "continued to use Afghan soil to train and plan attacks and a ‘small but steady’ flow of foreign terrorists continued to travel to Afghanistan and join one of over two dozen terror groups based there."

The findings come just months after the Trump administration terminated virtually all U.S.-funded assistance programs in Afghanistan, citing the Taliban’s ability to steal millions annually in American taxpayer cash. The Biden-Harris administration pumped nearly $4 billion into Afghanistan after the Taliban retook control of the country, with several million in previously allocated funds continuing to flow up until March 31 of this year. During much of this time, SIGAR repeatedly exposed instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement that plagued U.S. aid efforts after the Taliban took power.

The White House reversed course earlier this year when it dissolved the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the primary organization pumping taxpayer cash into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
RFK Jr. Calls Out King Abdullah: Jordan Not Fulfilling a Pledge to Take 2,000 Sick Gaza Children
It’s a rare moment today in American politics that Donald Trump’s West Wing, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi are on the same side of an issue. And it’s rarer still that each of these parties is irritated at the same person.

Yet as Jordan’s King Abdullah II returns to Washington on Monday, top Trump aides, Kennedy, and Pelosi are venting their frustration with one of the Middle East’s longest-serving monarchs.

At issue: the commitment Abdullah made in February sitting by Trump’s side in the Oval Office to accept 2,000 children from Gaza with cancer and other grave illnesses.

Abdullah, say multiple high-ranking officials in both parties, is slow-walking his pledge, and Jordan has only accepted a fraction of sick children because of fears Israel will not let them and their families return to Gaza after treatment.

“They took 44, and then they’ve cut us off,” Kennedy told me over the weekend.

Alluding to Abdullah, an adviser and ally to American presidents for over a quarter-century, Kennedy said: “I would encourage him to put the welfare of these children first and put the politics aside.”

The health secretary pointedly recalled that the king’s “statements to President Trump were really unconditional.” Kennedy repeatedly emphasized the life-and-death urgency of the patients. “These kids are very, very fragile,” he said.
Gazan activist recounts escape from ‘human slaughterhouse’ where he was tortured by Hamas: ‘I came out broken, hopeless’
Leaving Hamas in power is “dangerous” for Israel and Gazans, said a young Palestinian from Gaza who narrowly escaped three days of torture in a “human slaughterhouse” at the hands of the terror group following his arrest on charges of spying for the Jewish state.

The 24-year-old from Gaza City told The Post he was left battered and bloodied following days of physical and psychological torture that included interrogators hanging him, flogging his entire body with iron ropes, beating his feet with hammers and using his own phone as a weapon against him.

“Because I didn’t confess to anything the way they wanted .. they smashed my phone over my head,” said the man, who was left with several fractured bones and asked that The Post not reveal his name for fear of retaliation against him and his family. “[They] accused me of inciting systematic campaigns against Hamas” in addition to receiving aid from Mossad and collaborating with Egypt, Jordan and the rival Palestinian Authority.

Last Monday, he was filming protests in Central Gaza exposing dissent against Hamas when four militants captured him. They forced him into a white Jeep and drove him to a grim prison compound.

While jailed, the dissenter thought he would be killed one way or another.

“They were armed and they threatened me many times,” he recalled to The Post through a translator from the Center for Peace Communications.

He constantly feared being shot in the feet or legs, a common practice in Hamas’s torture playbook.

“This is what they do with those who oppose them — shoot them on feet and legs to paralyze them forever,” said the man, who was only released after militants failed to get a confession out of him. “I came out broken, hopeless, scared, and hungry. Even now, I still feel fear.”


Seth Frantzman: 'Eagles of Civilization 2025' the joint Egypt-China air force drill and its significance
The Daily News Egypt was clearer about what comes next.

“For decades, Egypt has been told what weapons it may possess, how it may defend itself, and what threats it should prioritize – all dictated by Washington’s rigid commitment to maintaining Israel’s military supremacy,” an op-ed in the paper said.

“Last week’s historic drills with China were not just military exercises; they were a declaration of sovereignty: Egypt will no longer accept being a second-tier ally in its own region.”

An op-ed like this in an Egyptian publication would likely only appear if it reflects the views of the government to some extent. Therefore, it is obvious that Cairo is moving away from the West or, at least, hedging its bets. The country has also done more outreach to Iran recently.

Egypt is in an interesting position. It didn’t prevent the October 7 attack, and in the wake of the attack, Cairo has not been very critical of Hamas. Nevertheless, its role in the hostage talks is seen as important. This is increasingly clear as Israel’s leadership has become more critical of Qatar.

However, Egypt’s agenda is unclear. It doesn’t want Gazans moving in or Sinai destabilized. But weapons smuggling from Sinai to Israel with drones is increasing.

There are also key questions about what Cairo knew before October 7 and how Hamas received so many weapons. It is possible that Egypt looked the other way regarding Hamas’s threats as part of Cairo’s reconciliation with Ankara and Doha.

In essence, Qatar and Turkey accepted Egypt suppressing the Muslim Brotherhood at home as long as it purposely didn’t notice what Hamas was up to. Cairo has long-term interests in Gaza; therefore, preventing the destructive war of October 7 should have been a priority.

Egypt has not gotten involved in the Houthi issue, preferring to let the US sort things out in the Red Sea. However, it is involved in neighboring Sudan, embroiled in a deadly civil war.

Thus, Cairo can see it is ringed with conflict. Working with China is thus a logical turn for Egypt. This may raise eyebrows in Washington and Jerusalem, and Iran will be watching closely. It is in Iran’s interests to see China balance the US role in the region.


Turkish Bank Appeals Iran Sanctions Decision to US Supreme Court
Turkey’s Halkbank asked the US Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling saying it can be prosecuted for allegedly helping Iran evade American sanctions, a US-based lawyer for the bank said on Monday.

The Supreme Court had given Halkbank until Monday to file a petition appealing the Oct. 22, 2024, decision by the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan allowing the prosecution.

In a letter to the appeals court, Halkbank‘s lawyer Robert Cary said the bank has filed the petition. The petition was not available on the Supreme Court‘s website. Cary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Halkbank pleaded not guilty to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges over its alleged use of money servicers and front companies in Iran, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions.

US prosecutors said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash to benefit Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.

Brought in 2019, the case has been a thorn in US-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling it an “unlawful, ugly” step.

The countries’ ties have soured in the last decade, amid disagreements on Syria, Ankara’s ties with Moscow, and other matters.

But on Monday, Erdogan and US President Donald Trump each said they had a very productive phone call earlier in the day, and had invited each other to their respective countries.

Halkbank‘s case is making a second trip to the Supreme Court.


Far-Left Antisemitism Surged 324.8% Around the World in 2024, New Report Finds
Global antisemitism surged by a staggering 108 percent in 2024 compared to the prior year, fueled largely by far-left ideology, according to a new report.

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), a coalition of hundreds of organizations that fight anti-Jewish bigotry around the world, has released its annual report of antisemitic incidents, identifying 6,326 total cases last year with the vast majority — 4,329, or 68.4 percent — fueled by far-left ideology, a reversal from the group’s 2022 research in which the far right dominated and the 2023 findings which found a parity between the political spectrum’s two extremes.

“We are now facing the most severe wave of antisemitism since the end of the Second World War, a phenomenon that demands urgent global attention,” the CAM report states in its introduction. “Jewish communities worldwide have been subjected to an unrelenting onslaught of violence, harassment, and systemic discrimination, fueled by a fusion of far-left, far-right, and Islamist extremism. The international failure to combat this resurgence threatens the very security and stability of Jewish life around the world.”

CAM’s researchers found that incidents motivated by far-left beliefs had increased 324.8 percent from 2023 and Islamist-centered incidents (461) jumped 54.8 percent, while far-right-driven incidents (461) had fallen 54.8 percent. CAM attributed “radicalized social movements, media disinformation campaigns, and efforts to target Jewish communities under the guise of anti-Israel activism” as the primary culprits behind the jump in leftist antisemitism. The group also stated that Islamist recruitment tactics specifically target “vulnerable individuals susceptible to radicalization.”

To explain for the drop in right-wing incidents, the report’s authors suggested that “amid widespread and intensive media coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and related protests, political activity, and antisemitism – typical of far-left and Islamist circles – relatively less coverage is dedicated to far-right antisemitic incidents.”

While the report documents an increase in anti-Israel antisemitic speech, it also explains that classical antisemitism remains more likely to motivate hate crimes including vandalism, threats, and assaults.

“Far-right incidents are slightly more likely to manifest as violence and much more likely to involve vandalism than far-left incidents,” the report states, noting that 4.6 percent (21 of 461) of far-right incidents included violence or threats, compared to 3 percent (132 of 4,329) of far-left incidents. “Such trends suggest that far-right antisemites have a greater propensity than far-left antisemites to damage property or harm others,” CAM said.

Of the 6,326 total recorded incidents, 4,907 (77.6 percent) involved hate speech, 822 (13 percent) included vandalism, and 597 (9.4 percent) manifested as physical violence or threats.
New documents shed light on ‘Angel of Death’ Mengele’s escape from Nazi Germany
Document recently discovered in Argentina detail how Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele fled Europe after the end of World War II and lived under various aliases in South America, according to German public broadcaster MDR.

An investigation conducted by MDR revealed for the first time that Mengele, known as the “Angel of Death” for the sadistic experiments he conducted on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp, filed a request to travel from Argentina to West Germany in 1959 using his real name.

The request came at a time when Mengele’s father was reportedly ill in Germany, suggesting that Mengele felt confident enough in his safety to use his true identity, Historian and Nazi expert Bogdan Musial told MDR. The German Foreign Office told MDR it had no information confirming such a visit, the report said.

“The documents show that several countries likely had more accurate information on Mengele than previously thought,” Musial said. Mengele’s identity was well-protected during his exile, despite significant attempts by the German government and the Mossad to capture him, he noted.

Mengele, a German SS officer and physician, was notorious for his experiments on twins, pregnant women, and individuals with physical abnormalities, often without anesthesia and with lethal results. Mengele played a central role in the selection process upon prisoners’ arrival, deciding who would be sent to forced labor and who would be killed immediately.

After the war, Mengele fled Europe in 1949 and evaded capture until his death of a heart attack in 1979.
Jewish surgeon sues anti-Israel groups for defamation after volunteering in IDF
An Atlanta Jewish surgeon who served in the Israeli Defense Forces in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks is suing several anti-Israel groups after a medical student made defamatory accusations that the surgeon’s service aided and abetted a genocide in Gaza, rendering him unfit to provide medical care.

The statements were circulated by major organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations and National Students for Justice in Palestine.

After Oct. 7, Dr. Josh Winer took leave as a physician and professor at Emory University School of Medicine to serve as a doctor in an IDF reconnaissance unit in Gaza, providing medical care to wounded soldiers. Upon returning to Emory, Winer “encountered hostility as a supporter of Israel,” he told Jewish Insider.

Umaymah Mohammad, an Emory medical student, accused Winer of war crimes and genocide, according to the lawsuit. Her statements were initially made during a segment of “Democracy Now!,” a daily news program broadcast on the internet, television and radio.

She repeated the statements in an op-ed, a podcast hosted by the International Union of Scientists and at a press conference. CAIR Georgia, CAIR National, Doctors Against Genocide Soceity, NSJP and Emory Students for Justice in Palestine — which are all named as defendants in the suit alongside Mohammad — published, reiterated and expanded upon Mohammad’s claims. Emory SJP, for instance, created social media posts that claimed Winer was a threat to students and patients of color.

Mohammad is an MD/PhD candidate at Emory’s School of Medicine and Sociology Department. She was an active member of the university’s chapter of SJP — months after Oct. 7, she sent an email to the entire medical school with the subject: “Palestinian blood stains your hands, Emory University and School of Medicine” — and was suspended from the university in November 2024 for one year as a result of her statements about Winer.
Union critical of Israel targets Monsey Hasidic community with anti-Lawler ads
A new campaign is targeting Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish voters in Monsey, N.Y., with ads calling on voters to contact Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) to oppose proposals cutting Medicaid funding. But the group behind those ads has its own checkered history with Jewish community issues.

The ads, which are running both in Yiddish and English in local Jewish community publications, direct viewers to a website to send a form email to their lawmakers, identifying themself as a member of the Jewish community and opposing cuts to Medicaid programs as particularly harmful to local Jewish communities. Republicans have said such cuts are likely as part of the upcoming budget reconciliation bill.

The campaign largely targets Lawler, who represents many of the Hasidic communities in Rockland County and has been fending off accusations from Democrats and liberal groups that he is backing cuts to Medicaid. He has pledged that he will “never cast a vote that takes Medicaid away from eligible recipients who rely on this vital program,” but instead wants to crack down on fraud within the program.

One of the groups behind those advertisements, healthcare union 1199SEIU, has a history of anti-Israel activism.

In December 2023, the group called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, while also condemning the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and calling for the unconditional release of hostages. It suggested both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes.

In October 2024, the group called for an arms embargo on Israel, saying, “the Netanyahu government has used the October 7 atrocities to justify inexcusable destruction and killing in Gaza, creating an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the region.”

It also condemned Israeli operations in Lebanon, while also accusing both Israel and Hezbollah of war crimes.

The national SEIU umbrella organization has criticized crackdowns on antisemitic activity on college campuses.
Bowling alley fires staff after ‘five Jews’ appears on scoreboard
Staff at a Belgian bowling alley have been fired after an antisemitic incident targeting a group of Jewish players.

Five young men paid for a round of tenpin bowling at Gamestate Bowling in Antwerp on Sunday. But when they checked into the lane they were allocated they found that the digital display did not show their names but a message stating “5 joden,” meaning five Jews.

The players, all aged 18 and wearing kippot, complained to staff at the bowling alley, which is part of a Dutch chain with branches across Europe – but to no avail. They later reported that they were ignored throughout their interactions with staff.

The bowling alley had previously been flagged to Belgian campaign group Stop Antisemitisme after a member of staff was seen wearing a t-shirt with the word ‘Palestine’ emblazoned across the front instead of the company’s required uniform.

Baroness Regina Sluszny, a Holocaust survivor and president of the country’s Forum of Jewish Organisations, described the incident as “very shocking” in a phone call with Jewish News.

“This kind of thing should not happen in Belgium,” she said, adding that levels of antisemitism have skyrocketed since the events of October 7 2023 and the war in Gaza.

“This shouldn’t be happening in Belgium,” she said. “They’ve imported everything here and nobody does anything about it.”

In a statement sent to Jewish News, Roel Veltmeijer, CEO of Gamestate, confirmed that the staff involved were dismissed as soon as the incident came to light.


US academic is first winner of prize in honour of Rabbi Sacks
Professor Robert Putnam, emeritus professor of public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, has been named as the first winner of the Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize.

The prize, worth just over £20,000, was established by the Gewurz family of Montreal, in memory of Samuel Gewurz. The intention is to recognise individuals who have made exceptional contributions as public intellectuals, advancing the ideas, values, and practical concerns central to the work of the late distinguished leader and thinker, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

Professor Jonathan Rynhold, academic director of the Jonathan Sacks Institute, which is based at Bar-Ilan University, said: “Both Professor Putnam and Rabbi Sacks highlighted the threats posed by excessive individualism, religious extremism, and polarisation. Their research emphasises the necessity of dramatically increasing social capital—the networks, norms, and trust that enable cooperation for mutual benefit, both within and between groups.”

The author of 15 books, Professor Putnam is the most cited academic in the field of political science in the past 50 years. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal, America’s highest honour for contributions to the humanities, his expertise has been sought out by global leaders including Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, as well as British premiers Tony Blair and David Cameron.

Prof. Putnam said: “Jonathan Sacks was one of the greatest moral, intellectual, and religious leaders of the last half century. I am deeply honoured to receive the inaugural Jonathan Sacks Prize.”
French lawmakers want Dreyfus promoted, 130 years after treason scandal
A group of French members of parliament said Tuesday they wanted Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army captain wrongly convicted of treason in 1894, to be awarded the rank of brigadier general.

The parliamentarians, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, said a law to that effect would be an act of reparation for Dreyfus, whose condemnation came against a backdrop of the late 19th century’s rampant antisemitism in the French army and wider society.

It would, said Attal, also send the signal that the fight against antisemitism continues today, more than a century after the Dreyfus affair divided French society and gave rise to writer Emile Zola’s famous “J’accuse” pamphlet in favor of the disgraced captain.

“The antisemitism that targeted Alfred Dreyfus is not in the distant past,” Attal said in a draft law to be submitted to parliament.

“Today’s acts of hatred remind us that the fight is still ongoing.”

There has been a rise in reported attacks against members of France’s Jewish community since Israel launched a military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in response to the Palestinian terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack on Southern Israel.
Israel, Germany mark 60 years of relations with state visits
To mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between their nations, President Isaac Herzog will travel to Berlin on May 12 for a one-day state visit, followed by a reciprocal visit to Israel by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Herzog will depart for Berlin on Sunday night, May 11, at Steinmeier’s invitation. During his time in Germany, the Israeli head of state is scheduled to meet with Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other senior officials. He will also attend a state event at Bellevue Palace, Steinmeier’s official residence.

Steinmeier will accompany Herzog to the Track 17 Memorial at the Grunewald train station in Berlin—one of the sites from which thousands of Jews were deported to concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Another highlight will be a joint meeting with more than 100 Israeli and German youth. It will focus on shared history, reconciliation and building a future rooted in cooperation and mutual understanding.

Discussions between the two presidents are expected to cover a range of pressing topics, including ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, strengthen bilateral cooperation and develop joint initiatives.

The visit underscores the strategic alliance and growing friendship between Israel and Germany, as well as their shared commitment to remembrance, democracy and peace. It carries historic weight, reflecting how relations have evolved over the decades from post-Holocaust reconciliation to partnership.

Following Herzog’s visit to Berlin, Steinmeier will accompany him back to Israel for his own state visit. The German president’s itinerary includes a return visit with Herzog to Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities during the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. It will be the second time the two leaders have visited the kibbutz together since the outbreak of the war.
travelingisrael.com: Israel’s Memorial & Independence Days: From Grief to Joy (The Soul of a Nation in 48 Hours)
For 48 hours, Israel transforms — from sirens and silence to fireworks and celebration.

This video follows my personal experience through Yom HaZikaron (Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day), two back-to-back days that reveal the heart of Israeli society.

From national ceremonies to private moments, from stories of fallen soldiers to shared joy with friends — this is what it means to be Israeli.

If you want to understand Israel beyond politics, history books, and headlines — start here.




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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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