Tuesday, May 27, 2025

05/27 Links Pt2: How the American Left Descended into Anti-Semitic Murder; Gene Simmons meets 100-year-old veteran who liberated his mom from Nazi camp

From Ian:

An American Problem
What we’re witnessing is an issue not with Israel, but with America. When violence aimed at Jews—or those seen as aligned with them—is dismissed, excused, or rationalized, it undermines the civic norms that hold our society together. Elite institutions that once upheld liberal pluralism now indulge a form of identity politics that prizes grievance over justice. Some of the ugliest reactions to the D.C. shooting treated the murders as incidental—or even deserved. That’s not just moral failure. It represents a worldview that treats violence as politics by other means. Such rationalizations have been used to justify the ideological murder of a health-care executive, coordinated arson attacks on Tesla dealerships by anti-capitalist extremists, and, now, executions outside a Jewish museum in the nation’s capital.

The denial of Jewish legitimacy—whether of the state of Israel or of American Jews participating in public life—is no longer a fringe opinion. In too many quarters, it’s treated as respectable. It is not. It is bigotry. And when paired with the belief that those claiming oppression are justified in doing “whatever it takes,” the result isn’t justice. It’s carnage.

We do not argue that speech should be criminalized; our First Amendment freedoms need to be protected. And it is possible to criticize Israeli policies, or those of any other government, without crossing the line into incitement.

But we must be honest about what’s happening. When networks of activists treat unrepentant killers as heroes, coordinate illegal activity, and agitate for the collapse of Western society, they’re not engaged in civil disobedience. They’re waging political warfare. That some of these groups are backed by hostile foreign regimes only underscores the urgency of a serious response.

The way forward is not to panic, but to draw a clear line. We must reaffirm that no political grievance justifies murder. That Americans—of any faith or background—should not have to fear for their lives while leaving a museum event. That violence in the name of justice is still violence. And that democracy works only when we preserve the norms that keep politics from devolving into civil conflict.

The murders of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were horrific. They were also predictable. If Americans continue down this path—excusing, indulging, and minimizing political violence when it comes from favored factions—we will see more such tragedies.

It is not enough to mourn. We must act. Not by censoring ideas, but by enforcing the law, defending civic order, and refusing to normalize an ideology that leads, inexorably, to bloodshed.
How the American Left Descended into Anti-Semitic Murder
In the brief manifesto the thirty-year-old Chicagoan circulated the day before he murdered Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, he explains that he first wanted to kill Jews to express his anger at Israel in 2014, but felt that he wouldn’t have gotten sufficient sympathy. Kathleen Hayes provides a firsthand account of the leftist ideological cesspool that produced, and then encouraged and intensified, his way of thinking:
I’m quite familiar with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the radical Maoist organization he once belonged to; my now-ex-comrades supported the PSL’s candidates in the 2024 presidential election and I had many encounters with its predecessor group, the Workers World Party. . . . His beliefs and delusions were, broadly speaking, mine.

Today they’re shared by a wide swath of liberal society—people who would never shoot a young man and woman in cold blood, but who think there’s a context in which the shootings are, if not justifiable, then at least comprehensible as a response to Israel’s “genocide.” As Time magazine helpfully explains: “The shooting comes amid rising tensions over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, which has left an estimated at least 50,000 Palestinians dead and millions more displaced since October 7, 2023.” With so much Palestinian suffering, they imply, what’s a couple of Israeli embassy staffers?

Then there’s the open gloating, enthusing, and calling for more.

Twentieth-century Marxism had its (totalitarian) problems, but at least in 1989, my comrades and I defended Salman Rushdie against Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa. Twenty years later, we asserted Iran’s right to nuclear weapons and denounced Rushdie as a pro-imperialist stooge. Iran and Rushdie didn’t change—we did, and a large swath of Western society changed with us.




Losing Yaron
The memory of my last hug with Yaron Lischinsky stays with me. It was quick and familiar, as I crossed the street. He smiled, warm and full of life, and said goodbye with a steadiness that made it feel like we’d see each other again the next day. I didn’t know it would be the last time.

Now every detail stands out. The light in his eyes. The way he carried himself. How he made ordinary moments feel meaningful. Yaron was a rare person, thoughtful, kind, and generous. He had a way of making people feel valued.

He was also one of my closest friends.

Though we both held public roles in spaces that demanded constant engagement, we were more reserved by nature. We found comfort in the pauses that didn’t need filling, in the ease of simply being around each other. Where the world pushed for attention, we found meaning in presence, in the steady rhythm of thoughtful conversation.

We met two years ago, and since our first exchange, we never stopped talking. Long lunches between meetings, dinners stretched by ideas, I would find every excuse to invite him to events I was hosting. We spoke about books, belief, politics, and the future. After Oct. 7, when the world shifted in ways that were hard to name, I could see something change in Yaron. His expressions became more focused, his silences heavier. The work he had always taken seriously now carried an added urgency. He spoke less, but when he did, it was with clarity shaped by grief and resolve. The hostages weighed on him. He thought about them and their families constantly.

Yaron’s life was a testament to duty without fanfare: a man who served not for recognition, but because it was who he was. Working with him was a rare kind of partnership. His insights brought steadiness to discussions. I was often the fire in our conversations. I would vent about writings, ideas or opinions that bothered me. Yaron was always calm. He’d listen, lean back, a faint smile tugging at his lips, and say, “Ah, you know ...” Then, thoughtfully, he’d unravel the knot of my anger, helping me carry it without letting it consume me. I left every exchange with a clearer head, more certain of what mattered.

His memory was a gift that held your words long after they were spoken. Days after a conversation, a message would arrive, a quote, an article, a recommendation, always prefaced with, “You’ll find this interesting …” And it always was.
Kansas Jewish community holds funeral for Israeli Embassy staffer slain in DC
Family and friends of Sarah Milgrim, one of two Israeli Embassy staffers fatally shot last week in an antisemitic ambush in Washington, DC, gathered for her funeral Tuesday in the Kansas community where she grew up.

Milgrim, a 26-year-old from the Kansas City suburb of Prairie Village, Kansas, was leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum alongside 30-year-old Yaron Lischinsky on May 21 when they were shot to death.

A suspect, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, was arrested and shouted “Free Palestine” as he was led away. Charging documents said he later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”

Lischinsky had bought an engagement ring before the shooting and was planning to propose to Milgrim in the coming days, those who knew the couple have said.

Instead of an upcoming wedding, those close to Milgrim prepared to eulogize her at a private service Tuesday at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, Kansas, the temple she attended through high school with her family.

Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance visited the Israeli Embassy in Washington earlier Tuesday to pay his respects to the victims.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter thanked Vance for the visit.

“The care and compassion you and the Trump administration have shown in the wake of this murderous attack are testaments to the enduring friendship between our two countries and peoples, and our mutual battle against terrorism,” Leiter wrote in a post on X.
MKs request death penalty for embassy killer in letter to US Attorney General
Fifteen members of Israel’s parliament signed a letter on May 22 to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting that she pursue the death penalty against Elias Rodriguez, the alleged killer of two Israeli Embassy staffers on May 21.

“In light of the gravity of the crime—its premeditated nature, the likely ideological motivation, and the victims’ diplomatic status—we believe it would be appropriate for you to seek the death penalty for its perpetrator,” the letter states.

“I could not stand idly by in the face of the despicable murder of Israeli diplomats in the heart of Washington, that had a clear antisemitic motive,” MK Yitzhak Kroizer of the Otzma Yehudit Party, who initiated the letter, told JNS.

“To remain silent in such a case is to abandon justice, and that is why I saw the utmost importance that a clear, ringing Israeli voice should be heard—not only to demand accountability, but also to convey a strong message: Antisemitic violence and harm to Israel’s representatives overseas will not go unnoticed,” he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, titled, “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety,” instructing the U.S. Attorney General to “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use,” the letter noted.
‘I didn’t sign up for this!’
It suddenly became clear to me that many of the leaders I had followed do not seek the peace that I have been after. They are not, in fact, against genocide, but they actually seek the death of all of those with whom they disagree. It occurred to me then—and I am not proud to admit it—that my words and actions have contributed to making the world less safe, less tolerant and less righteous.

Now I know what they mean by “Globalize the intifada.” I thought it meant let’s raise our voices and make ourselves heard, but what it truly means is let’s bring terrorism everywhere. Now I understand that “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” doesn’t mean creating equity for all people in Israel. It means murdering all of the Jews that live there—and why stop there? Jews everywhere are fair targets.

I have decided to stand up and speak out because I have made a terrible error, and if I don’t correct it, then I am partially guilty for the blood that is spilled on account of the words that I have chanted and promulgated. I have wanted to fight for truth, and now that I see the truth, I cannot ignore it.

I did not become a part of this to take lives, but to save lives. I realize now that saving lives means clearly disavowing violence and murder. It is shocking to me that there are those with whom I have previously stood shoulder to shoulder who are continuing to support a cause that has been exposed to be precisely the illiberal and racist-fascist movement that it pretends to oppose.

I have always believed that it is courageous and even heroic to stand up against the crowd and say what needs to be said, no matter how unpopular it may be. I am praying that my admission of tremendous error will enable some of my peers to similarly shake themselves from the spell that they have been under, as I was.

The events of May 21 represent a clear turning point. If we do not course correct now, we are heading down a road far more destructive than we can imagine.”

While I have not yet seen such a letter, I maintain my hope and eternal optimism that there are some sensible people who recognize that the rubicon has been crossed and the gig is up. If so, feel free to take these words as your own and share them with your friends. It is not too late, but it may be soon. Already, there are those who are cheering these murders and calling for more of the same.

You have a dire choice to make. Is this what you signed up for?
Radical Group Involved in Columbia Protests Rallies Behind DC Jewish Museum Shooter Elias Rodriguez
Unity of Fields, an anti-Semitic, anti-American group involved in the protests at Columbia University, urged protesters to post stickers in honor of Elias Rodriguez, the Chicago man who murdered two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish history museum in Washington, D.C.

"You can print these stickers and post them everywhere," Unity of Fields wrote in a Monday X post. One sticker shows Rodriguez's image over a Palestinian flag, while the other features the killer beside the words "Courage Is Contagious" and "For Gaza From Elias."

The group called on supporters to distribute its zine containing Rodriguez's manifesto, titled "Escalate for Gaza, Bring the War Home." It also pinned a statement on its X page that says Rodriguez's cold-blooded slayings were "a legitimate act of resistance against the zionist state."

Rodriguez on Wednesday evening gunned down Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as the couple left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. The 31-year-old anti-Israel activist kept firing at Milgrim as she lay wounded on the ground, then shouted "free, free Palestine" after killing both victims, according to police.

Unity of Fields, a self-described "militant front against the US-NATO-zionist axis of Imperialism" that has received funding from Cox Enterprises heir and self-avowed communist James Chambers, has been involved in many of the anti-Semitic protests at Columbia. On May 7, for example, the group handed out pro-Hamas pamphlets and shared live footage of demonstrators occupying and vandalizing a campus library during finals week, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

"LONG LIVE THE MILITANT INTELLECTUAL BASEL AL-ARAJ! INTIFADA EVERYWHERE UNTIL VICTORY! DEATH TO IMPERIALISM!" Unity of Fields wrote on X at the time.

As police arrested dozens of protesters, the group posted, "We not only call for the total destruction of 'Israel' but for the total destruction of the United States of Amerika as well. Anyone who isn't saying both isn't saying much of anything at all."


Trump Admin Poised To Cancel Harvard’s Remaining $100 Million in Federal Contracts, Citing Free Beacon Reports
The Trump administration aims to terminate its remaining contracts with Harvard University, totaling roughly $100 million, over the Ivy League school’s discriminatory practices and failure to rein in campus anti-Semitism, according to a General Services Administration (GSA) letter that references recent Washington Free Beacon reports.

"Harvard's ongoing inaction in the face of repeated and severe harassment and targeting of its students has at times grounded day-to-day campus operations to a halt," the GSA letter, sent Tuesday to federal agencies, read. It notes that these disruptions have "deprived Jewish students of learning and research opportunities to which they are entitled, and profoundly alarmed the general public."

The letter called racial discrimination and anti-Semitism at Harvard a "deeply troubling pattern." Of the 30 remaining contracts the federal government holds with the university, GSA recommended the agencies terminate any they deem non-critical, find new vendors for any considered critical, and "seek alternative vendors for future services where you had previously considered Harvard."

Included on the chopping block is a contract to research health effects from consuming energy drinks. Another contract at risk is for a management and leadership course that Harvard offers. Both were originally awarded for more than $500,000 during the Biden administration.

The move represents the Trump administration's latest foray in an ongoing battle against Harvard. It’s already frozen around $3.2 billion in grants and contracts with the university and is aiming to prohibit Harvard from enrolling international students.

Tuesday’s GSA letter points to recent examples of racial discrimination and honors awarded to students accused of anti-Semitic attacks as reported by the Free Beacon.

In one example, internal Harvard Law Review documents revealed by the Free Beacon exposed a pattern of pervasive race discrimination in its article selection and editor appointment process. In one instance, an editor labeled an author's race as a "negative" when recommending his article be dropped. And at least seven internal memos showed editors arguing that an author’s minority status counted in favor of publishing their article.

GSA also noted that a Harvard faculty committee approved the law review’s decision to award a $65,000 fellowship to Ibrahim Bharmal, a law school student who faced criminal charges for assaulting an Israeli classmate. Harvard Divinity School appointed a second student charged in that incident, Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, as class marshal for the upcoming graduation ceremony.


Meet the Professor Northwestern Hired As Part of Deal With Student Radicals
A Northwestern University professor—hired as part of a deal with anti-Israel groups to end last year’s encampment—sits on the boards of two organizations that were founded by and frequently partner with Palestinian terrorists, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

Last year, Northwestern president Michael Schill struck a deal with radical student groups, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), to end their encampment, agreeing to recruit two Palestinian professors and provide full rides to five students from Gaza.

Northwestern tapped Mkhaimar Abusada last fall as a visiting associate professor of political science to fill the first of those faculty slots, teaching a weekly undergraduate course on the "Palestinian National Movement."

Abusada also serves on the boards of two organizations that present themselves as human rights groups—the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)—that, in reality, maintain close ties to terrorists. ICHR has praised Hamas and met with the terror group’s leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, while PCHR has Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) members on its payroll—with one serving as its leader.

NGO Monitor president Gerald Steinberg condemned Northwestern for hiring Abusada.

"His employment as a faculty member is a heinous violation of basic academic norms and moral principles," he said.

Scholars for Peace in the Middle East executive director Asaf Romirowsky echoed that sentiment.

"When you're signing an agreement with SJP and their sympathizers, they're going to find people who are in agreement with their echo chamber of individuals," he said.

"The number one issue is that the institutions are doing no background checks," Romirowsky added. "This is not a matter of academic freedom. This is a matter of national security. This is a matter of threats to the universities themselves. And there needs to be clear red lines."


BBC Arabic sorry after presenter denies verified 7 October atrocities on air
BBC Arabic issued an on-air apology this month after one of its presenters denied verified facts about the 7 October atrocities during a broadcast, as the Corporation as a whole faces a thematic review into its coverage of the war in Gaza.

In late April, Israeli Researcher Idit Bar was challenged by Mohamed Abdelhamid, a presenter on BBC Arabic’s Talking Points show, after she stated that “we were attacked on October 7, 2023. They slaughtered entire families, they kidnapped little infants as well, they raped our women, burned families, I told you, and also kidnapped elderly people.”

Abdelhamid interrupted Bar, saying that “there is no evidence” for “burning whole families”. When Bar asked to be allowed to complete what she was saying, Abdelhamid responded that he was “obliged to comment if you repeat several stories which do not have any evidence.”

There is significant evidence regarding the burning of Israelis on 7 October, including that of families in their own homes. Following a complaint from media watchdog, CAMERA Arabic, BBC Arabic made an on-air apology earlier this month, stating: “In the Wednesday, April 28 episode of the “Talking Point” program, our guest from Israel Idit Bar was interrupted in a way contrary to fact[s] and our editorial guidelines. The BBC apologises for this mistake.”

Earlier this month, BBC chairman Samir Shah told Times Radio that the BBC would be conducting a thematic review of its coverage since 7 October, specifically stating that: “the [BBC] Arabic service, we are looking at it, we’ve been examining it.

“I think this whole business of how we’ve covered Israel-Gaza is a proper thing to examine thoroughly, which is why we’re going to identify… we’re going to get hold of an independent figure to look at our coverage.”

CAMERA Arabic told Jewish News that despite his words regarding challenging statements which he believed not to be based in evidence, Abdelhamid had not done so on October 10th 2023, three days after Hamas infiltrated Israel, murdering 1,200 people and taking 250 hostage. On that day, Abdelhamid interviewed a contributor from Gaza, who stated that: “Israel controls and dominates international media. This is a disgrace not so much to Israel as it is to the countries whose media [outlets] Israel controls and directs. This is the problem.” Abdelhamid did not challenge these remarks.


Shin Bet foils ISIS-linked bomb plot by Israeli citizens
The Shin Bet announced on Monday the arrest of three Israeli citizens suspected of plotting terrorist attacks against Israeli forces in cooperation with Islamic State operatives in Syria.

The suspects, all residents of Ar’ara in northern Israel, swore allegiance to ISIS and intended to carry out attacks inside Israel, police said.

A joint investigation by the Israel Police’s Coastal District and Shin Bet revealed that the three men clashed with Border Police officers in January. Following the confrontation, they allegedly established contact with a foreign agent and decided to target Jews.

Police said that the suspects received guidance from ISIS operatives in Syria on how to assemble bombs. They are also alleged to have conducted a test detonation in an open area, with the goal of creating a high-powered bomb to be used against Israeli security forces.


Israel launches anti-terror raids on West Bank money changers
Israeli forces raided foreign exchange stores in several West Bank cities, including Ramallah and Nablus, on Tuesday, accusing their parent company of “connections with terrorist organizations,” according to an army closure notice.

“Israeli forces are taking action against Al-Khaleej Exchange Company due to its connections with terrorist organizations,” a leaflet left at the company’s Ramallah location read.

Several army vehicles were seen at the store’s entrance while soldiers came out carrying items covered by a cloth.

Two army vehicles escorted one of the store’s employees away from the premises.

A military official confirmed to The Times of Israel that the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police had launched an operation across the West Bank aimed at seizing “terror funds.”

The owners of money exchange companies who Israel believes are funneling cash to terror groups will be detained, the official added.


Lebanon Has a Chance to Disarm the Palestinian Militias within Its Borders
Yesterday, the Lebanese prime minister, Nawaf Salam, in an interview with Sky News Arabia, declared that “the days of spreading the Iranian revolution are over. We will not remain silent about weapons in Lebanon that are outside the control of the government.” This was a not-so-subtle reference to Hizballah, the Iranian proxy that had exerted de-facto control over the country until the devastating Israeli attacks of last year. In the past, Lebanese politicians have been killed for this sort of rhetoric.

Yet Hizballah is not the only armed group that Salam had in mind, for there are also numerous Palestinian militias, Hamas among them, that have operated in the country for decades. The Lebanese president Joseph Aoun and the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmoud Abbas made a similar statement last week about disarming these factions.

This seems possible in large part because the IDF has been carrying out occasional airstrikes against Hamas, Hizballah, and other groups in Lebanon, keeping them on the defensive. Hanin Ghaddar and Ehud Yaari write:
Disarming the different factions in Lebanon’s sixteen Palestinian refugee camps is a complicated task for the limited forces currently at the government’s disposal. According to the Cairo Agreement that Beirut signed in November 1969 with Yasir Arafat under Egyptian auspices, jurisdiction over the camps was transferred from Lebanese security agencies to the Palestine Liberation Organization’s “Armed Struggle” units, a sort of police branch at the time. Lebanese forces have not ventured into the camps since then.

Today, the roughly 200,000 inhabitants in these camps include a few thousand members of multiple armed factions with varying political affiliations. . . . These factions mostly operate as independent local units, though some enjoy support from Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.

In fulfilling this commitment, Lebanese officials should formulate one strategy for disarming Palestinian groups and Hizballah alike. Knowing the depth of their coordination, Beirut needs to change its mindset of treating these files separately.

Of course, the price of conflict with Palestinian and Hizballah forces would be high in terms of local casualties and damage. Yet the price of failing to disarm them would be even higher—namely, another full-fledged war with Israel and perpetual Hizballah dominance over the country’s coffers and foreign policy.

The next step, it seems to me, should be to end the status of these “refugee camps”—really towns and suburbs—as statelets within the Lebanese state. This would best be accomplished by dismantling the UN infrastructure that supports them and keeps their inhabitants in a state of permanent dependency, and instead allowing them to be integrated into Lebanese society and participate in the Lebanese economy.


Jewish filmmaker Marcel Ophuls dies at 97
Marcel Ophuls, an award-winning Jewish documentary maker, died peacefully at his home in southwest France on May 24 at the age of 97, his grandson Andreas-Benjamin Seyfert confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday.

A German, French and American actor and director, Ophuls was best known for feature documentaries such as “The Sorrow and the Pity” (1969), which demolished the myth that most of France had resisted the Nazis and was banned in France until 1981, and “Hôtel Terminus” (1988), a powerful portrait of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie that won an Academy Award.

His first documentary, “Munich Or Peace In Our Time” (1967), about Neville Chamberlain’s surrender to Hitler’s territorial claims over Czechoslovakia, received international acclaim. He also made a notable documentary on how journalists cover war, entitled “The Trouble We’ve Seen” (1994).

In 2014, Ophuls began crowd-sourcing funds for an unfinished film to be directed by Israeli filmmaker Eyal Sivan titled “Unpleasant Truths,” in which he reportedly planned to link the Israeli war in Gaza that year with the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe.
Hungary appoints antisemitism envoy
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has named his minister of European Union affairs, János Bóka, as the country’s envoy for combating antisemitism.

The announcement came on Monday during a cultural event in Budapest hosted by MERKAZ—The Hebrew and Israeli Cultural Centre, marking 77 years since Israel’s founding.

“The Government of Hungary has a long-standing policy of zero tolerance towards any manifestation of antisemitism. The Hungarian Government remains committed to this policy,” Bóka wrote on X.

“We guarantee the security of the diverse and vibrant Jewish communities in Hungary and promote their development. We feel responsible for the security and prosperity of all European Jewish communities, as European Jewish life is part of our common European heritage,” Bóka added.

He told attendees on Monday that the government’s commitment to standing against antisemitism includes forms disguised as anti-Zionist or anti-Israel.

Bóka said his role will include developing policy recommendations, maintaining dialogue with international and E.U. institutions, and promoting domestic and international initiatives to combat antisemitism.

“This is more than symbolic. It shows true commitment,” Maya Kadosh, Israel’s ambassador to Hungary, said regarding the appointment, deeming it a statement of responsibility and leadership.
Sens. Cornyn, Blumenthal introduce bill to help Jewish families recover Nazi-looted art
Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced bipartisan legislation last week aimed at eliminating loopholes used by museums and other stakeholders to continue possessing Nazi-looted artwork that Jewish families have been trying to recover.

Introduced on Thursday, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act would expand on Cornyn’s 2016 legislation of the same name, which was passed at the time by unanimous consent, by ending the Dec. 31, 2026, sunset date on the original bill and strengthen the existing procedural protections to ensure that victims’ claims are not dismissed due to non-merit-based factors such as time constraints.

“The artwork wrongfully ripped from Jewish hands during the Holocaust bears witness to a chapter in history when evil persisted and the worst of humanity was on full display. I’m proud to introduce this legislation to support the Jewish people and Holocaust survivors by helping them recover art confiscated by the Nazis that they are rightfully owed and give them the justice and restitution they deserve,” Cornyn said in a statement.

“The theft of art by the Nazi regime was more than a pilfering of property — it was an act of inhumanity. Our bipartisan effort seeks to strengthen measures to bring long overdue justice to families whose cherished art was brazenly stolen by the Nazis,” Blumenthal said.

Many families of Holocaust victims in the U.S. who have located artwork from deceased relatives and sued to recover those items face the deadline at the end of next year before the statute of limitations sets in. Thousands of stolen works of art remain unreturned to their rightful owners from the Nazi plunder, and there are scores of ongoing cases to resolve disputes over ownership of those items.

“Unfortunately, many museums, governments, and institutions have contradicted Congress’ intent and obstructed justice by stonewalling legitimate claims, obscuring provenance, and employing aggressive legal tactics designed to exhaust and outlast Survivors and their families. Rather than embracing transparency and reconciliation, too many have chosen to entrench and litigate, effectively preserving possession of stolen works rather than returning them to their rightful owners,” a press release for the bill states.
Vandal behind attack on Holocaust survivor murals identified by Italian police
The man responsible for the antisemitic defacement of Holocaust memorial murals in Milan has been identified and reported following an investigation by state Police.

According to the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office, the perpetrator is a 35-year-old man of South American origin residing in the city. He has been officially reported for aggravated damage motivated by racial hatred and discrimination after targeting two large-scale public artworks by renowned pop artist aleXsandro Palombo.

The murals, created for International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2025, honoured three of Italy’s most prominent living Holocaust survivors – Liliana Segre, Edith Bruck and Sami Modiano – and featured provocative imagery in Palombo’s signature “Simpsons-style” pop aesthetic. One mural also depicted Pope Francis holding a sign that read “Antisemitism is Everywhere”.

Both works were vandalised with large swastikas, racial slurs, and red paint smeared across Star of David symbols. Segre’s face was erased, Pope Francis defaced, and the Israeli flag draped over Bruck in one image was completely destroyed. One of the slogans sprayed across the wall read “Israeli Nazis”.

“These acts are not mere defacements: they are an attack on memory, history and democratic values,” Palombo said in response to the findings. “To strike at the faces and symbols of Holocaust survivors is to attempt to erase testimony, deny horror, and fuel hatred.”

The investigation was driven by surveillance footage and on-the-ground police work, culminating in the man’s identification earlier this week.
UK Jewish boy hospitalized after antisemitic assault in North London
A British Jewish boy has been hospitalized after a “racially motivated assault” at Hampstead Underground Station in North London on Monday, according to the Shomrim neighborhood watch group.

A spokesperson for Shomrim North-West London said the charity had responded on Monday night to “reports at Hampstead Underground Station regarding a racially motivated assault on three Jewish boys.”

“Suspects are believed to be a group of six to seven males. One of the victims was admitted to hospital for observation,” the group stated.

In a statement to British media, the British Transport Police confirmed that its officers were called to the station “around 8.30 p.m. yesterday (26 May) following reports of racially aggravated assault and robbery.” It noted that the police investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Shomrim said in its statement that it was appealing for “any witnesses or anyone with information to come forward,” adding: “Please contact us on 0300 999 1234 quoting reference NW209 – 26 May 2025.”
Brooklyn bus driver suspended after antisemitic tirade
A school bus driver in Brooklyn has been suspended after delivering an unsolicited and deeply troubling religious lecture to a group of elementary school students, including antisemitic remarks that left at least one child in tears, the New York Post reported on Monday.

The incident occurred during a morning route to Brooklyn Prospect International Elementary Charter School. According to accounts by parents and students, the driver abruptly pulled the bus over and launched into a religious rant, proclaiming Jesus as the only savior and encouraging the children to accept Christian beliefs.

“The only one who can deliver you isn’t religion, it’s Jesus,” the driver reportedly said, while handing out white hats inscribed with a black cross and the words, “I Am With You Always.” He also allegedly asked the children to join him in prayer and spoke at length about sin, salvation and the afterlife.


Argentina’s President Milei to receive $1m Genesis Prize in Israel
Argentina’s President Javier Milei will be awarded the $1 million Genesis Prize during his visit to Israel next month.

The staunchly pro-Israel leader is to receive the prize during his June 11 speech at Israel’s parliament. The award was announced in January in recognition of his unequivocal support for the Jewish state.

Organizers say Milei will donate the prize money to launch an initiative aimed at improving diplomatic relations between Israel and Latin American countries and fighting antisemitism in the region.

Established in 2013, the prize honors individuals “for their outstanding professional achievements, contribution to humanity and deep commitment to Jewish values.”

Previous winners have included business owner and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actors Michael Douglas and Barbra Streisand, violinist Itzhak Perlman, sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor, filmmaker Steven Spielberg, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former Soviet political prisoner Natan Sharansky.

Milei is being recognized for reversing Argentina’s decades-long history of anti-Israel votes at the United Nations, designating both Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations and reopening investigations into the bombings of Jewish and Israeli targets in Argentina in the 1990s.

He has also repeatedly pledged to move Argentina’s embassy to Jerusalem.
Air France resuming flights to Israel
Air France has confirmed that it is resuming flights to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, after halting service following the Houthi missile attack on Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport earlier this month.

The French flag carrier said Monday that it will be renewing daily flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Ben-Gurion Airport just outside Tel Aviv.

The announcement follows last week’s move by Delta Air Lines, which beat out major foreign carriers including rival United in restarting flights to Israel.

While some international airlines have resumed service to Israel since the May 4 Houthi missile attack, others are pushing back restart dates.


Mosaic on display in the Negev ‘one of the most impressive’ ever found in Israel
A 1,600-year-old mosaic said to be “one of the most impressive” ever discovered in Israel has gone on public display in the Negev desert, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced Tuesday.

The colorful mosaic, which was discovered in a monastery 35 years ago south of Kibbutz Urim near the border with the Gaza Strip and recently underwent conservation, is now being showcased for the first time in the Merhavim Regional Council’s headquarters in southern Israel.

The Be’er Shema (Birsama) mosaic includes 55 medallions decorated with scenes of hunting, animals and everyday life, was dated to the Byzantine period (324-638 CE).

“This beautiful mosaic, a living testimony to life that existed in the Negev some 1,500 years ago, will be preserved here and become a focal point for visits and learning—for tourists, students, and residents from across the country,” said Merhavim Regional Council head Shay Hajaj.

The impressive work of art is being made public in southern Israel nearly 20 months after thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed the area, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting some 250 hostages back to Gaza in the single worst attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The new site will serve the public as an open archaeological garden, with explanatory signs, an access road and seating areas.
Persecution of Moroccan Jews Through the Ages – The Untold Story
The Untold Story of Moroccan Jews – 2,000 Years of Faith, Survival, and Persecution

This video uncovers a chapter of Jewish history that few know—and even fewer are willing to talk about: the long, painful history of Jewish persecution in Morocco.

From Roman times through Islamic rule, the rise of the Almohads, the mellahs, forced conversions, pogroms, and all the way to the modern exodus after the founding of Israel—this is the true story of North Africa’s largest Jewish community.

You’ll hear about:
The dhimmi status and discriminatory laws under Islamic rule
Pogroms in Fez, massacres in the mellahs, and the martyrdom of Sol Hachuel
Why Jews were trusted advisors yet constantly scapegoated
The deep connection Moroccan Jews had to the Land of Israel—long before modern Zionism
The hidden truth about Jewish aliyah, Zionism, and mass flight from Arab lands
At its peak, Morocco’s Jewish community numbered 250,000. Today? Only about 2,500 remain.
This is not a story of colonialism. It’s a story of survival.


Call me Back Podcast: Shavuot asks - What’s the point of it all? - with Rachel Goldberg-Polin
In one week, Jews in Israel and around the world will be celebrating the holiday of Shavuot. But, for many Jews, it’s one of the least understood or familiar holidays, and yet it’s among the most important. So today we are providing a Shavuot crash course for the Call Me Back community as well as some inspiration. For all the obvious reasons, it feels like we need it.

Rachel Goldberg-Polin returns to Call Me Back to help us prepare for Shavuot after she helped so many of us navigate our Passover Seders.

00:00 Introduction
05:19 Conversations with a purpose
09:54 What is Shavuot?
25:00 What do you do on Shavuot?
29:42 Studying the Torah
33:39 The Book of Ruth
46:30 The Torah as a metaphor
50:00 Shavuot this year
54:44 Outro


KISS rocker meets 100-year-old veteran who liberated his mom from Nazi camp
An extraordinary moment unfolded Monday evening in Washington when Gene Simmons, the 75-year-old frontman for legendary rock band KISS, encountered Harold “Hal” Urban, a 100-year-old World War II veteran who participated in the liberation of the concentration camp where Simmons’ mother was imprisoned as a teenager.

Urban’s memories of liberating Mauthausen remain vivid and traumatic even at age 100. He described the overwhelming stench of burning human remains, emaciated prisoners stumbling in confusion and terror and the psychological trauma that proved more devastating than conventional combat. His unit buried approximately 500 corpses within 24 hours of the camp’s liberation—a grim testament to the Nazi regime’s systematic extermination efforts.

While Urban cannot definitively recall meeting Flora Klein, Simmons’ mother, during those chaotic days, both were present at Mauthausen when American forces arrived. Klein was just 14 years old, one of thousands of Jewish prisoners whose survival depended entirely on the Allied advance reaching them before the Nazi machinery of death could complete its work.

Following the war, Urban returned to civilian life, establishing himself as a farmer in Illinois and raising nine children. However, the psychological wounds from his wartime service, particularly his experiences at the concentration camps, never fully healed. “The psychologist said that when you raise a family, the nightmares subside. And when your children leave home, they return. And that’s what happened,” Urban reflected.

Simmons, born in Israel after Klein’s immigration following the war, grew up understanding his mother’s Holocaust survival in only the broadest terms. Klein, like many survivors, rarely discussed her experiences in detail. Only in recent years has Simmons learned the complete scope of how narrowly his existence depended on historical circumstances beyond anyone’s control.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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