Friday, June 27, 2025

06/27 Links Pt2: Nova massacre doc ‘We Will Dance Again’ wins Emmy; Exposing Gaza: What the World Wasn’t Supposed to See; Gentrifying the Intifada; Dems to Mamdani: Take My Party, Please!

From Ian:

The Metaphysical Root of Antisemitism and Ziophobia
Conclusion: The Endurance of Antisemitism and Ziophobia
Antisemitism and Ziophobia are not merely political phenomena or temporary social biases. They are deeply embedded in the theological and metaphysical frameworks of Christianity and Islam, which have historically claimed to replace or supersede Jewish identity. These religions’ foundational narratives involve both the appropriation and the delegitimization of Jewish history and sovereignty.

Because these belief systems continue to exist—as do the real Jewish people and the modern state of Israel—and, in many cases, remain unexamined or unrepentant in their supersessionist doctrines, antisemitism and its modern mutation, Ziophobia, are likely to persist for as long as Christianity and Islam endure.

This also explains why UNRWA and its system of hereditary “refugees” will likely persist as well. It is not merely a humanitarian agency—it is the institutional expression of an unresolved metaphysical resentment.

As long as Islam and Christianity continue to view themselves as rightful heirs to Israel—spiritually, historically, or territorially—without acknowledging that the Jewish people never relinquished their identity, sovereignty, or covenant, the conflict will remain unresolved not just politically, but ontologically.

And let’s be honest: supersessionism is just a theological euphemism for stolen identity, stolen covenants, stolen prophets, and ultimately, a stolen God. And whoever you’ve stolen from, you don’t want around. The continued existence of the Jewish people is an unbearable reminder of that theft—a living contradiction to the replacement story.

Understanding this is crucial: combating antisemitism and Ziophobia requires more than political or social measures. It demands confronting centuries-old theological narratives and the metaphysical resentments they perpetuate—along with the institutions, like UNRWA, that have grown out of them.
Boulder, DC Terror Attacks Targeting Jews Were 'Political,' Not Anti-Semitic, NYT Columnist Suggests
New York Times opinion columnist Masha Gessen suggested that the terror attacks targeting two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, D.C., and a group of Jews marching in support of Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colo., weren’t anti-Semitic but rather "political."

Gessen argued in a Wednesday column that "violence that looks antisemitic may—even when it very effectively serves to scare a great many Jews—be something else." The columnist suggested the attacks were instead politically driven.

"Neither of these events was exclusive to Jews, as a synagogue service might be. Both events were inextricable from the war in Gaza," Gessen wrote. "And though the violence in Boulder was wide ranging, the shooting in Washington seems to have been very specifically targeted—at two representatives of the Israeli government."

Both attackers, however, targeted events that would attract Jews specifically. Elias Rodriguez shot and killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum at point blank range and screamed "Free, free Palestine" upon his arrest. Mohamed Soliman threw two molotov cocktails—with 16 more and a makeshift flamethrower nearby—at a group that meets weekly to support Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity, injuring 15, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor. Soliman was caught on film yelling to "end Zionists."

The terror attacks have reverberated across Jewish communities. Boulder-area Jews rallied after the firebombing, but told the Washington Free Beacon that the incidents have left them on edge, if not fearful.

Gessen’s column comes as anti-Semitic incidents surge across the nation, with the Anti-Defamation League reporting more than 10,000 incidents in the year after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, marking over a 200 percent increase. It also contradicts a piece from the New York Times editorial board, which stated, "No political arguments or ideological context can justify" growing bigotry against Jews. It also recognized that "antisemitism has become an urgent problem" leaving "Jewish Americans at a greater risk of being victimized by a hate crime than any other group."

While Gessen acknowledged that the D.C. and Boulder incidents, which occurred less than two weeks apart, were terror attacks, the columnist also argued that they stemmed from "Israel’s devastation of Gaza following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7." Gessen pointed out that Rodriguez didn’t mention "Jews" or "Zionists" in his 900-page manifesto, opening "the possibility that he had a different motive."

New York Times spokesman Charlie Stadtlander defended Gessen’s column as part of the paper’s effort to "put forth original perspectives on the world, and any fair reader of our opinion report will understand this inherently. There isn’t another media institution, digital, print or broadcast, that commits more resources to audiences' understanding of multiple viewpoints."
Stephen Pollard: Lord Hermer’s idiocy is boundless
It is meant to be that of a quiet, sagacious legal adviser. Lord Hermer, however, seems to treat it as a chance to pretend to be a heavyweight politician whose opinions the world needs to know.

Last month, for example, Lord Hermer told the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) that both Nigel Farage’s Reform and Kemi Badenoch’s Tories had adopted Nazi ideology by asserting that national law supersedes international agreements, in reference to the idea of withdrawing Britain from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): “The claim that international law is fine as far as it goes, but can be put aside when conditions change, is a claim that was made in the early 1930s by ‘realist’ jurists in Germany, most notably Carl Schmitt”. It was a grotesque comparison for which he was later forced to issue a humiliating apology.

Then there was his role in the handover of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, which he asserted was about “honouring our obligations under international law” – even though the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion on the issue was not legally binding.

It is remarkable how often Lord Hermer, a renowned KC, seems to speak before fully engaging his brain.Which brings us to today’s comments. Lord Hermer was referring to – dismissing, rather – accusations after the riots last summer, when it was argued that the rioters were treated unduly harshly.

But he of all people will surely be aware that there is another element to accusations of two-tier justice, which he appears to have ignored altogether: the way in which the so-called Free Palestine marches have been allowed to continue with minimal intervention despite open chants calling for “globalising the intifada” (ie killing Jews) and support for terror against Jews.

I simply do not see how it is possible not to accept that there is two-tier justice, when the hate marches have not merely been protected by the police – but when counter-demonstrators condemning Hamas or peacefully waving Israeli flags have been arrested.

Hermer clearly fancies himself as some sort of moral conscience, when in reality he is merely the latest – albeit the most exalted and most egregious – of political buffoons embarrassing himself and the Government of which he is a part.


‘We Will Dance Again’ BBC doc wins Emmy for searing coverage of Nova massacre
A BBC documentary about the 7 October massacre at the Nova Music Festival has won one of the most prestigious awards in global TV.

We Will Dance Again took the outstanding current affairs documentary gong at the Emmys in New York last night – adding the title to the International Emmys Honor Award for most impactful film to society.

It tells the story of the Nova music festival that became a killing field as Hamas terrorists stormed the site near Re’im, murdering over 360 people and abducting dozens more.

The documentary weaves mobile phone footage recorded by victims with first-hand testimony from survivors of the Nova Music Festival massacre. Leo Pearlman.

Leo Pearlman, producer and co-chief executive at Fulwell Entertainment, told Jewish News: “This award is for those who died, those who survived, those who fight and those who refuse to back down.

“This award is a clear message to all those who seek to demonise the only Jewish state, diminish or deny the atrocities committed on Oct 7th, to dehumanise global Jewry and who seek to redefine the true meaning of what it is to be a Zionist. Stand up, speak out, be proud. Am Yisrael Chai.”

First aired on BBC Two and now distributed globally, the documentary has drawn praise for its raw depiction of trauma, courage and humanity in the face of terror.


Cheryl Wrote It: The History of Zionism
We’ve all read and heard the haters tell us how a bunch of Jewish Zionists in Eastern Europe woke up one day in 1897 and decided to start a movement to coerce and manipulate the entire world into “stealing” an Arab land because these evil Jewish Zionists just wanted to take back a land their ancestors lived on and were forced from almost 1800 years earlier.

But what if you knew that the Ottoman Empire itself wanted to return the Jewish people back to their land? What if I told you that it wasn’t even just a Jewish ambition, but that Christians understood and believed that the land of Israel belonged to the Jewish people and that the Jews should be allowed to return, long before political Zionism even existed? When the Romans destroyed our second temple, massacred hundreds of thousands of Jews after the Jewish Revolt, and forced many to leave our land, it was a dark day in our history. But history shows us that not all Jews left their land. In fact tens of thousands remained.

And as early as 250-300AD, Jews in the diaspora that had fled would slowly return in small numbers.

But I’m going to focus on a few people, and not just Jews, who started what would become known as the Zionist movement.

When the Ottoman Empire conquered all the lands of the Levant in the early 1500’s, they found the land that is now Israel almost entirely barren and uninhabited. Aside from Jerusalem where the majority were Jews and Christians, and Safed where mostly Jewish communities existed, plus a few towns and villages spread around, the land was empty and desolate, deserted and left to die. The Ottomans controlled it, and tried to revive it, and so would bring in a few Arab communities and Turks, but they themselves knew that historically the land belonged to the Jews.

During the same period, Jews were being slaughtered and oppressed in Europe, especially during the Spanish Inquisition. And it was from that event that a safardi Jewish “Princess” and her nephew fled and became close friends to the Ottomans.


Exposing Gaza: What the World Wasn’t Supposed to See
She never set out to become a voice for truth, but what she discovered couldn’t be ignored.

As an Israeli wife and mother simply trying to improve her Arabic, Jacqui Peleg stumbled onto something few were willing to see: everyday life in Gaza that shattered the global narrative. From luxury cars and beachfront cafés to overflowing markets during wartime, she began documenting what the world was never meant to notice.

Now, in the aftermath of October 7, she continues to expose the staggering divide between what’s claimed and what’s real.

This conversation reveals the truth behind Gaza’s aid economy, the propaganda machine, the silence around the hostages, and how one ordinary citizen is using TikTok and timestamps to turn fake news on its head.


Seth Mandel: Dems to Mamdani: Take My Party, Please!
British politics has a reputation for erudition—debate culture, the prime minister taking questions in the House of Commons, etc.—but back in the summer of 2015 the UK’s most common political term of art was something more primitive: “morons.” That was the label given to Labour Party MPs who enabled the rise of Jeremy Corbyn.

“The moronic MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn to ‘have a debate’ need their heads felt,” former Tony Blair adviser John McTernan had said. “They should be ashamed of themselves. They’re morons.”

The old Trotskyite fool in the vest and baker’s cap had surged into power because of a Wile E. Coyote-esque performance by party leaders who had been too clever by half. Party elites had wanted to halt the Corbynites’ momentum by enabling Jeremy Corbyn to run for party leadership and lose. They ended up only getting the first half.

The idea was this: Help Corbyn get the necessary backing among MPs to qualify for a leadership run. Then, open the voting to pretty much anybody in who had paid Labour’s membership fee nationwide, plus its “affiliated” supporters such as unions. That way, Corbyn could no longer complain that leadership contests were rigged against a candidate like himself from even qualifying, and then Labour voters would deliver him the humiliating drubbing he deserved.

So 35 MPs gave Corbyn their backing, enabling him to run for party leader even though they mostly detested him. Opening the voting to the public then enabled Corbyn’s fanatical supporters to flood the gates. And just like that, Jeremy Corbyn was the new leader of the Labour Party.

Labour Party leaders simply believed that the large portion of the British left that they represented were far more moderate. We can let an unreformed socialist run, they thought, because the ensuing debate will bring in the young socialists who follow Corbyn and allow them to believe they have a stake in the party. But they won’t win. Hence, Labour gets to scoop up Corbyn’s new voters without having to pay Corbyn himself any mind.

McTernan would be vindicated, of course. The loony anti-Semite with long-discredited left-wing politics won—and then led Labour to electoral disaster when he turned out to be even worse than anyone thought.

I don’t know if the U.S. Democrats’ leap into the socialist pool will lead to electoral disaster, but the rise of Zohran Mamdani shows America’s party of the left is following very closely in the footsteps of their brethren across the pond.
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: Pro-Palestine Activists Fell for Iran’s Propaganda
The Islamic Republic of Iran will never cease its meddling in the Palestinian issue, because Tehran needs the conflict to feed its propaganda machine. The reality is that a secure, stable, independent Palestine will remain a remote possibility as long as the Islamic Republic exists in its current form and is allowed to maintain its pro-Palestine pose. Only by calling out this evil regime and distancing from it can the pro-Palestine movement hope to be effective.

The pro-Palestine lobby would do better to take its cues from the regime’s internal opponents, the brave Iranian people who have, in successive waves of a popular movement for reform and freedom, protested their violent, repressive government. The partisans of the Palestinian cause should stop to ask themselves how else Israel’s intelligence agencies would have been able to gather the kind of information that has led to its stunning military success in the opening hours of the war. Many Iranians inside Iran today view Israel as their only hope of overthrowing the mullahs. Unfortunately, but understandably, many Iranians have come to resent the Palestinian cause—precisely because the regime has used it as a pretext to squander the country’s precious resources on its militia proxies in the name of fighting Israel.

Ultimately, the Iranian people should be the ones to decide their nation’s future. This war, which may not be truly over despite the current cease-fire, must avoid the error of mission creep by keeping its focus solely on eliminating Tehran’s nuclear program and military capacity to destabilize the region. Confronting the Iranian regime need not repeat Iraq in 2003; at present, the United States seems mindful of that risk.

What onlookers in the West should know is that the Islamic Republic is no true friend of Palestine. The misguided slogans of anti-Israel leftists and overzealous social-justice activists that echo the Iranian regime’s anti-Zionist talking points do nothing but harm the Palestinian cause. They are a form of sabotage, not solidarity. Cheering Iranian missiles as they cause death and harm in Israel is no way to advance the Palestinian people’s just aspirations for freedom, dignity, and self-determination.


Zohran Mamdani’s progressive intifada will be a disaster for New York
The left seems not to have noticed this or perhaps doesn’t care. We can expect Mamdani to persist with his fantasy politics of rent control, free buses and government-owned grocery stores, even as those expected to fund his projects flee for sunnier, redder states. Mayors of a similar progressive stripe – such as Chicago’s Brandon Johnson and LA’s Karen Bass – have already left legacies of staggering mismanagement and have overseen significant population flight.

All of this amounts to an undeserved gift to the Trumpians, formerly known as the Republican Party. Vice-president JD Vance was quick to congratulate Mamdani as the ‘new leader’ of the Democrats. The GOP seems eager to identify Democrats with the Mamdani / AOC wing and to foreground their potty views on transgenderism, defunding the police and anti-Zionism.

Certainly, Mamdani’s triumph will do little to slow the ongoing migration from blue states like New York and California to the red states. Key industries like aerospace are relocating to Texas and Florida, while cities like Miami and Dallas jostle to replace New York in finance. The Democrats are not just undermining their own cities – they’re also creating fertile ground for a Republican resurgence.

Meanwhile, New York’s Jewish community – long a mainstay of Democratic voting and finance – seem understandably traumatised by the result, given Mamdani’s endorsement of the slogan ‘globalise the intifada’. He says it’s a call for ‘equality and human rights’; Jews see it as a call for violent anti-Semitic terror.

Is there a possible counter to the rise of the progressives? Business-minded moderates have recently won mayoral races in blue cities like Houston and San Francisco. Some anti-police, pro-criminal district attorneys have been recalled or voted out in recent years.

Somewhere, even in the bluest cities, there must still be enough intelligence to realise that Mamdani’s politics is no way to deliver the prosperity, liberty and security that voters deserve.


Sen. Gillibrand rips NYC mayor hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s controversial intifada comments, insists he should ‘denounce it’
US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has ripped mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani’s controversial comments on the intifada — insisting the Democratic socialist should emphatically “denounce it” if he wants to rep the Big Apple.

Gillibrand, a pro-Israel Democrat, laid into Mamdani for refusing to condemn the “Globalize the intifada” rallying cry used by others as she demanded a sit-down with him so he can explain himself.

“As a leader of a city as diverse as New York City with 8 million people, as the largest Jewish population in the country, he should denounce it. And that’s it. Period,” Gillibrand said during an appearance on WNYC on Thursday.

The senator stressed that it was not enough for the 33-year-old Queens assemblyman to dubiously claim that “intifada” is not a call for violence but a broader term referring to resistance and uprisings.

“It doesn’t matter what meaning you have in your brain, it is not how the word is received. And when you use a word like ‘intifada,’ to many Jewish Americans and Jewish New Yorkers, that means you are permissive for violence against Jews,” Gillibrand said.

“It is a serious word. It is a word that has deep meaning. It has been used for wars across time and violence and destruction and slaughter and murder against the Jews,” she continued.

“It is a harmful, hurtful, inappropriate word for anyone who wants to represent a city as diverse as New York City with 8 million people.”


DMFI board chair, former Rep. Kathy Manning blasts NC Dems for tolerating antisemitism
Former Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC), now the board chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, blasted the North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) leadership for what she described as allowing anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism within the state party, in a statement first shared with Jewish Insider.

Manning’s statement comes ahead of anticipated North Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee votes this weekend on a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel and accusing it of apartheid and genocide — along with a resolution drawing equivalence between Israel and Hamas, saying both committed “terrorism” and have taken “hostages” and calling for the U.S. to exert influence to remove Israeli officials from power, among several others.

“Time and time again, the Jewish Caucus of North Carolina has attempted to unify and collaborate with the leadership of the North Carolina Democratic Party, which seems unwilling or unable to reciprocate. Instead, Party Chair Anderson Clayton and First Vice Chair Jonah Garson have continued to tolerate extreme anti-Israel rhetoric and antisemitism from within the party on social media, in executive committee meetings, and even in the exclusion of Jewish members from Interfaith Caucus meetings,” Manning said in her statement.

“DMFI condemns the continued tolerance of bad faith actors within the NCDP, and we stand with the Jewish Caucus in urging all members of the NCDP State Executive Committee to vote for unity tomorrow,” she continued.

The resolution votes are the latest development in the ongoing tensions between Jewish Democrats in North Carolina and the state party. The state party, in 2023, voted against recognizing the NCDP Jewish Caucus, a vote condemned by senior leaders in the state, including now-Gov. Josh Stein.


UK police arrests 4 anti-Israel activists over break-in, vandalism at air force base
British counterterrorism police have arrested four people in connection with a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protest last week in which military planes were sprayed with paint at an air base in England, authorities said on Friday.

A woman, 29, and two men aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, while another woman, 41, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, the police statement said.

Two activists from the Palestine Action group broke into the air base in Oxfordshire in central England on June 20, spraying red paint over two planes used for refuelling and transport, and further damaging them with crowbars, an act that was condemned by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “disgraceful.”

Within days of the incident, UK Interior Minister Yvette Cooper set out plans to use anti-terrorism laws to ban Palestine Action, saying its actions had become more aggressive and caused millions of pounds of damage.

Palestine Action has regularly targeted British sites connected to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems and other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza.

In response to Friday’s arrests, the campaign group accused authorities of “cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine.”
Video reveals Palestine Action intention to target more RAF bases
The Ministry of Defence has described the Palestine Action group as “a threat to our national security”, after the anti-Israel group’s plans to target further RAF bases emerged.

As reported by the Telegraph, an ‘online action workshop’ for Palestine Action took place this week, in which the organiser identified three further military sites to be targeted – RAF Cranwell and RAF Barkston Heath in Lincolnshire, and RAF Valley on the island of Anglesey. Palestine Action claims that these bases all have links to Elbit, an Israeli defence firm which is a focal point of the organisation’s attacks.

The Telegraph videoed the online workshop, which is believed to have been attended by as many as 50 people. An unnamed Palestine Action member who presented the workshop decried the Government’s plan to proscribe the organisation as “draconian and dangerous” and said that even if it were proscribed, it would “continue to operate”.

Last Friday the Home Secretary announced her intention to proscribe Palestine Action, after members of the group infiltrated RAF Brize Norton and filmed themselves damaging a military plane. The group uploaded footage on social media, claiming that two planes had been damaged and that its “actionists” had managed to escape undetected.

Responding to the Telegraph’s story about further bases being targeted, the Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The UK’s defence estate is vital to our national security and this government will not tolerate those who put that security at risk.

“This Government is taking the strong step of proscribing Palestine Action due to its activities, which are a threat to our national security.”


Glastonbury is a national embarrassment
Where there is coverage, there must be controversy. And this year Glastonbury has a doozy in the form of Kneecap – the Israelophobic Belfast rap trio, who are playing at the West Holts Stage on Saturday, despite the denunciations of His Majesty’s Government. One of the rappers, who goes by Mo Chara, is facing terror charges for allegedly flying a flag in support of Hezbollah, the anti-Semitic terror army, at a gig in November last year. Keir Starmer, channelling his inner schoolmarm, says their inclusion is not “appropriate”, while Kemi Badenoch has told the BBC it “should not be showing” Kneecap’s performance.

I loathe Kneecap. Mainly for their anti-Israel bigotry and flirtations with Islamofascist militias. But also for their godawful music – an irksome mix of rave and rap that would make much more sense if it was actually a work of parody, more Goldie Lookin Chain than NWA. But I can’t help but feel the censorious pearl-clutching over their set is giving both Kneecap and Glastonbury an appearance of edginess that neither truly deserves.

I don’t begrudge anyone their fun. I’m as partial to getting wrecked in a field as the next man. I went to Glastonbury when I was sixteen, when Jay Z headlined and upset Noel Gallagher, and had such a grand old time I can barely remember any of it. But could we please drop the nonsense that it is countercultural, at the bleeding edge of interesting, against-the-grain, perhaps even revolutionary, sentiment? Google Glastonbury and you’ll find listicles on the BBC, giving “top tips” on how to enjoy it with your kids. It’s basically now one giant Butlin’s for Britain’s metropolitan middle classes.

It’s long been a carnival of conformity. Who could forget the Glastonbury immediately after Brexit, when Damon Albarn took to the Pyramid Stage and declared “democracy has failed us”. The working classes revolt against the technocratic European Union and the supposed icons of popular music denounce the plebs from on-high. There was no better symbol of how far the cultural set has drifted from – to crib a phrase from this year’s rumoured surprise act, Pulp – common people. This year, those looking to have their E-addled brains broadened at the festival’s various political events will have to make do with Zarah Sultana and Gary Lineker.

So if you’re going to Glastonbury, go nuts. Have a good time. But let’s not pretend it’s anything more than that, shall we?


How Qatari Cash Influences Georgetown—and America's Future Diplomats
Georgetown University’s relationship with Qatar has the potential to influence the future diplomats who come out of the School of Foreign Service (SFS), among other institutions, according to a new report detailing ties between the university and radical "Islamist movements and entities associated with the Muslim Brotherhood."

The university, which maintains a satellite campus in Doha, allows Qatar’s Hamas-friendly government to wield outsized influence over several key schools and centers, including SFS, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU).

"Georgetown’s key centers function as platforms promoting political Islam, minimizing the threat of Islamist extremism, and advancing anti-Israel narratives," a new probe by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) states. "Affiliations include extensive networks linked to Islamist movements and entities associated with the Muslim Brotherhood."

These influence networks, the report found, extend far past Georgetown’s campus, with consequences that reverberate across the American government: "A substantial number of Georgetown alumni occupy prominent positions in the U.S. State Department, intelligence agencies, media, and NGOs, effectively introducing and reinforcing these ideological perspectives within American foreign policy-making processes."

Georgetown’s Doha campus, founded in 2005 when the school entered into a 10-year, multimillion-dollar arrangement with the Qatar Foundation (QF)—a state-run nonprofit that Doha has used to peddle its influence in American higher education—gives the Qataris wide latitude in the management of the institution.

Under the school’s initial agreement, QF assumed "responsibility for the construction, ownership, and running of the School of Foreign Service campus infrastructure." Georgetown renewed this lucrative partnership in 2015 and then again in 2025, with the current contract slated to extend into 2035.

During a ceremony earlier this year in Doha marking the 20th anniversary of Georgetown’s campus there, the school presented one of its highest honors to Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, QF’s leader and the mother of Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The award came just months after Sheikha Moza praised former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, proclaiming, "They thought he died, but he lives."


‘Gas the Jews’ graffiti, a desecrated mezuzah, and Jewish staff crying on campus: Goldsmiths inquiry reveals scale of antisemitism at London university
Goldsmiths College in London has apologised to Jewish staff and students after an 93-page independent inquiry uncovered a culture of antisemitism on campus.

Shocking incidents revealed in the report include graffiti featuring swastikas and the phrase “Gas the Jews” found on campus, along with accounts of at least two Jewish staff members breaking down in tears due to a hostile environment.

In another disturbing account, one Jewish student felt pressured to leave college accommodation after their mezuzah was removed and desecrated, and a fellow non-Jewish student cooked pork using their pan and utensils. When the Jewish student explained why they could no longer use their kitchen equipment, they said they were “abused”.

The inquiry, launched in May 2023 and chaired by Mohinderpal Sethi KC of Littleton Chambers, was commissioned to determine whether Jewish students and staff had experienced antisemitism at the college since 2018. Goldsmiths opened a call for evidence that month, inviting students, staff and organisations to submit their responses.

In his conclusion to the inquiry, Sethi said that Jewish students and staff had been subjected to antisemitism and that Goldsmiths had failed to do enough as an institution to ensure its Jewish community feels “welcome, included and safe” from anti-Jewish discrimination.

“A culture has built up over the years at Goldsmiths that, at the very least, has resulted in Jewish students legitimately feeling significant discomfort on campus,” he said.

“It is apparent that from the evidence reported to me that Jewish students have likely been subjected to antisemitism.

“This is plainly not unique to Goldsmiths, but this Inquiry relates to Goldsmiths and I consider that it has not done enough as an institution to ensure its Jewish students and staff feel safe and welcome.”

Goldsmiths, part of the University of London, said it “fully endorsed” the findings of the inquiry and confirmed it had appointed Professor Adam Dinham to lead a “two-year antisemitism action plan”.


Omission and inaccuracy in BBC report on recovery of hostages’ bodies
Notably, Mackintosh refrains from informing readers by whom the bodies of Ofra Keidar and Shai Levinson were “taken into Gaza” and has nothing whatsoever to tell audiences about the circumstances of the abduction of Yonatan Samerano’s body:
“Earlier on Sunday, Mr Samerano‘s father announced that his son’s body had been recovered by the Israeli army.

Posting on Instagram Kobi Samerano wrote: “Yesterday was Yonati’s Hebrew birthday. On his 23rd birthday, on the very day he was born, our Yonati was rescued in a heroic operation by the brave soldiers of the IDF and the Shin Bet.””

That omission is particularly relevant in light of the BBC’s repeated promotion of UNRWA’s narrative concerning the participation of some of its employees in the October 7th massacre because, as reported by the Times of Israel and others:
“One of Samerano’s captors was an employee of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees. He was one of 12 people employed by the agency who “actively participated” in the Hamas-led onslaught, then-defense minister Yoav Gallant revealed to the public in February 2024.”

The video released in February 2024 shows UNRWA social worker Faisal Ali Mussalem al-Naami and another infiltrator abducting Yonatan Samerano’s body.
BBC NEWS COVERAGE OF TERRORISM IN ISRAEL – MAY 2025
The Israel Security Agency’s report on terror attacks during May 2025 shows that a total of 426 incidents took place in Judea & Samaria, Jerusalem and within the ‘green line’. The agency recorded 42 attacks with petrol bombs, 20 attacks using pipe bombs, 297 incidents of rock throwing, three shooting attacks, 60 arson attacks, one vehicular attack and three stabbing attacks.

69 attacks were thwarted throughout the month and 288 terror-related arrests were made.

In addition, the report records thirty-five missiles launched into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip throughout May. The ISA report does not include casualties from attacks related to Operation Swords of Iron.

Two people were murdered and thirteen injured in attacks in Judea & Samaria, Jerusalem and inside the ‘green line’ during May.

On May 15th the BBC News website reported a shooting attack that had taken place near Bruchin the previous night in which a woman on her way to give birth was murdered and her husband injured. That report was not updated when the Hamas-linked terrorist was later eliminated and BBC audiences saw no reporting when the victims’ baby died fifteen days later.


IDF rescues Israelis after clashes with Palestinians at Joseph’s Tomb
Israel Defense Forces soldiers rescued a group of Israeli civilians overnight Thursday after they clashed with Palestinians while trying to reach Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, central Samaria.

After several of the pilgrims managed to enter the Jewish holy site in the Palestinian city, a violent confrontation developed between them and locals, the military said.

Some of the Israelis sustained light injuries. They were evacuated by the IDF and handed over to the Israel Police for questioning.

“The entry of Israeli civilians into Area A is dangerous and prohibited by law,” the military said, referring to places under the full control of the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo Accords.

In March, 15 mayors of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria signed on to an initiative calling for a permanent Jewish presence at Joseph’s Tomb. The initiative—led by Rabbi David Ben-Natan, whose son Sgt. Shuvael Ben-Natan was killed in action Southern Lebanon last year—has also received support from Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.

The local leaders are demanding that Jerusalem restore Jewish rule over Joseph’s Tomb, return the Od Yosef Chai Yeshivah to its initial location in the tomb’s compound and allow the general public to visit and pray.

Joseph’s Tomb has frequently been the target of Arab vandals. When the Israeli government abandoned the site days after a deadly attack there in 2000, it elicited a promise from the Palestinians that it would be protected. It was destroyed shortly afterward.


Drug-addict Hamas supporter called for Jews to be ‘burnt alive’
A Hamas supporter with a £600-a-week cannabis habit has been jailed after calling for Jews to be “burnt alive”.

Zakir Hussain, 29, used the social media site X to write a spate of anti-Semitic posts over a three-month period.

Hussain first posted on November 3 2023, less than a month after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks in which more than 1,000 Israelis were killed. He wrote: “Hezbullah come quick finish them like rodents.”

Later that month, Hussain wrote: “7 October was a beautiful day, Jews stop hiding.”

On December 25 2023, he commented: “October 7 was a beautiful day”, “In the UK, we are hunting them for fun” and “Go on Hamas, finish them and maybe we can find the beheaded urine babies”.

The posting continued into January last year, when Hussain wrote on January 5: “I’m in London, any Jew out there come out and stand up for your religion.”

Four days later he posted: “Wish it was more in that festival slaughter them IDK terrorists, burn them alive” in reference to the Oct 7 attack.

He also wrote: “Long live Hamas, Hezbollah” and “Hamas, Houthi, Hezbollah finish these little rats.” ‘Burn them alive’

His final post came on Jan 10, when he wrote: “Burn them alive, no religion can abuse children the way they do.”

Hussain, of no fixed address, admitted four counts of expressing support for a proscribed organisation and seven counts of stirring up racial hatred between November 3 2023 and January 10 last year.
California EPA Employee Charged With Threatening Jews, Attempting To Provide Guns and Money to ISIS
A hazardous substances engineer at the California Environmental Protection Agency was arrested and charged on Tuesday with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Since February, 33-year-old Ammaad Akhtar of Stockton, California, has been communicating with a person he believed was a member of ISIS but who was actually a law-enforcement controlled individual, according to the Department of Justice.

“In these conversations, Akhtar voiced his support for ISIS and jihad, expressed a desire to travel overseas to join and fight with ISIS, and stated a desire to send guns and money to ISIS,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

In April 2025, Akhtar began providing financial support in a few payments to what he thought was ISIS. When he was told by a federal asset that ISIS was able to purchase firearms with the money, he responded “may Allah destroy our enemies” and promised to send more money that day.

On June 23, Akhtar met with an undercover federal employee who he thought was also a part of ISIS and provided clothing, binoculars, $400 cash, two loaded guns, and six additional magazines. He also then swore bayat (a pledge of loyalty) to ISIS, according to the Justice Department.

Akhtar, a graduate of the University of the Pacific, describes himself as a “great team player” and a “great leader” on his LinkedIn, as first reported by Jewish News Syndicate.

The California EPA listed Akhtar on its website and a spokesperson confirmed that he is an employee, telling JNS, claiming that the department “became aware of this situation after the arrest and intend to fully cooperate with the federal investigation.”
Sweden Democrats apologize for past Nazi links, antisemitism as election nears
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats apologized on Thursday for the party's past Nazi links and antisemitism, part of efforts to present a more moderate, mainstream image to voters ahead of a national election next year.

The Sweden Democrats were presenting the results of a specially commissioned study that found Nazi and antisemitic views to have been common at party functions and in its printed materials in the 1980s and 1990s.

"That there have been clear expressions of antisemitism and support for National Socialist ideas in my party's history, I think, is disgusting and reprehensible," Mattias Karlsson, a member of parliament often described as the party's chief ideologist, told a news conference.

"I would like to reiterate the party's apology, above all to Swedish citizens of Jewish descent who may have felt a strong sense of insecurity and fear for good reasons."

Separation from the past
The commissioning of the study sought to acknowledge and break with a past that has long hindered its cooperation with Sweden's mainstream political parties. The Sweden Democrats hope to join a future coalition government after the 2026 election.

The party first entered parliament in 2010 and currently supports Sweden's governing right-wing coalition government, but has no members in the cabinet.

Tony Gustafsson, the historian hired by the party to write the book, said the party had emerged in the 1980s out of neo-Nazi and white supremacist organizations and that it had continued to cooperate with them into the 1990s.

"The collaboration seems to have involved using these groups to help distribute election materials," Gustafsson said, adding there were strong indications that one such group, the "White Aryan Resistance," had served as security guards at party gatherings.
Mayor forced to remove Israeli flag from Nice city hall
Following a decision by the administrative court in Nice, France, Israeli flags have been removed from City Hall.

The city’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, announced that the flags have been replaced by photos of hostages detained by Hamas in Gaza and of two French hostages held in Iran.

The announcement follows a decision by the administrative court, which, after several appeals, ordered the City Hall to remove the flags within five days, citing the principle of neutrality of public services.

The mayor had chosen to display the Israeli flags since the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. Opponents of this decision accused him of supporting the Israeli government.

“I have been forced, by a court decision, to remove the Israeli flags from the town hall. I naturally respect and comply with my country’s judicial decision, but I refuse to equate an Islamist terrorist movement [i.e., Hamas] with a humanitarian gesture,” Estrosi wrote on X.

“Since Oct. 7, LFI [the far-left La France Insoumise, or ‘France Unbowed,’ Party] has been multiplying its antisemitic allusions and turning the Israeli flag into a symbol to be torn down,” he said.

On June 16, Laurent Hottiaux, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes department, asked the mayor to remove the Israeli flag and expressed his opposition to any foreign flag, whatever it may be, at town halls, “in the name of the principle of neutrality in public service.”


Maryland man arrested for threats to Philadelphia Jewish museum
The federal government arrested a Maryland man accused of sending threatening letters to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and other Jewish institutions for over a year.

Clift A. Seferlis, 55, of Garrett Park, Maryland, was arrested on June 17 and charged with mailing threatening communications, one of which referred “Kristallnacht,” a Nazi pogrom carried out in 1938.

In one letter sent on May 7, which Philadelphia Magazine reported was allegedly sent to the Weitzman museum, Seferlis appeared to threaten the institution and accuse its leaders of not caring about Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

“Do you — deep down — really care [sic] — really — about what is going on in Gaza? Will it take something happening to your beloved [institution] to make that happen,” it continued, according to a press release by the United States Attorney’s office.

The museum, which was not identified in the press release, had allegedly received the threatening letters since April 2024. Other targets were described as “Jewish organizations and entities located in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.”

In other letters, Seferlis allegedly referenced the museum’s “many big open windows,” “Kristallnacht,” “anger and rage” and a future need to “rebuild” the institution following its destruction, according to the press release.

“After 18 months of threatening letters sent to Jewish institutions from NY to DC, the FBI has made an arrest,” wrote The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington in a post on X following the arrest.


Liverpool theatre reviews booking performer with the pronouns ‘He/Hamas’
A Liverpool theatre is reviewing its procedures after agreeing to host a comedian who says Israel murdered the kidnapped Bibas brothers.

On 10 July, the Unity Theatre is scheduled to host Sundeep Bhardwaj, who since the Hamas atrocities in October 2023, has published antisemitic tropes about ‘rich’ Jews and posts accusing Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

He appears to personally associate with Hamas by declaring his pronouns to be ‘he/Hamas’ and comparing Israel to the Covid virus.

Referring to Israel, he says “all the problems in the world right now are coming from that one little experimental lab that has been set up in the Middle East”, calling it an “illegitimate bullshit experiment that needs to be shut down” before adding “they need to wrap it up and find a vaccine for it.”

In another recent post, he says: “Just wanted to let you know that the leading causes of antisemitism in the world is Israel. You’re welcome.”

In a post entitled ‘Israel Square’, he wears what appears to be dollar bills to imitate the payot worn by Orthodox men, and says “The best things in life are free, but if you’re Israeli, the best things in life are stolen” and calls Israel’s former minister of defence Yoav Gallant a “war criminal”.

Bhardwaj’s Liverpool performance is part of his ‘Ceasefire’ for Palestine comedy tour to Glasgow, London’s iconic Comedy Store and parts of Europe including Sweden and Norway. He is also promoting a performance in Dubai on August 29th.

Born in India, Sundeep Bhardwaj’s biography describes him as someone who “identifies as a Luxembourger. With his unique style of comedic storytelling, Sundeep has entertained audiences with his misadventures as an Indian immigrant, from being married to a Polish woman and getting thrown out of a church, to being mistaken for a kidnapper.”


Learning about Anti-Semitism in a Leper Colony
When Jews today think of leprosy, it’s most often in the context of the biblical dermatological ailment of tsara’at—which, although traditionally translated as “leprosy,” likely refers to some other disease. But Irina Velitskaya grew up in an actual leper colony, or, more precisely, in a remote village in the southeastern corner of European Russia built around a sanitorium for lepers. She came of age not knowing she was Jewish, but frequently bullied by classmates who were convinced she was. Later in life, she had three revelations. The first was that her classmates were right.

The second was my recent discovery, in a very rare conversation with my elusive and taciturn father, that the entire settlement of Sinegorskiy, including the leprosy clinic, the homes, and the roads, had been built by his father and my grandfather, Danil Fyodorovich Bykoder. He served as engineer and general contractor of the project as a form of forced labor under the Stalin regime, this after two stints in prison camps and service on the Finnish front during the Second World War. His crimes included criticizing Stalin, being an intellectual, and being Jewish; I understood now why my parents were so reluctant to disclose their religious background.

The next revelation was my discovery, through my studies at the University of California, Berkeley of a repellent Egyptian priest who lived one century before the birth of Christ: Lysimachus of Alexandria, one of history’s earliest spreaders of anti-Semitic “pathogens.” I had been aware, of course, of pre-Christian anti-Semitism but had never given it a great deal of thought until encountering Lysimachus. He described the “people of the Jews being leprous and scabby,” claimed that Moses was a leper, and posited that the children of Israel were expelled from Egypt [and] left to starve in the desert, supposedly because they suffered from leprosy and other wasting diseases that were causing crops to die.

Here in the U.S., I sometimes still feel like an outcast, and a silenced outcast at that. I am a Jewish student, and a strongly pro-Israel one, in one of the more hostile environments in America, the campus of Berkeley. I often feel constrained from speaking my mind in classes where I am the lone supporter of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. Still, I am determined to make something of myself, to state forthrightly what I think.


Gal Gadot to be special guest at this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival
Actress Gal Gadot and producer Lawrence Bender will be the special guests at this year’s Jerusalem Film Festival, which will open on schedule, from July 17 through July 26.

The July dates are the original schedule for the 42nd edition of the film festival, which will hold its opening night as usual at Jerusalem’s Sultan’s Pool arena with an audience of 6,000 viewers and guests.

Full details for the opening event, the screening times and ticket bookings are not yet available on the festival website.

“Despite the war that is still ongoing, the festival chooses to be a cultural beacon, reminding us of the power of art to heal and inspire hope,” stated the festival organizers in a press release. “We are currently working at full power and are excited to hold the festival on time and present the finest in Israeli and global cinema.”

The festival will feature dozens of film premieres from around the world, showcasing the best films in Israeli cinema, as well as award-winning films that premiered at international festivals, including Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Sundance, Tribeca and others.

The festival will host international film industry guests alongside prominent Israeli filmmakers, actors, directors, producers, festival directors and film fund executives.




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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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