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Sunday, July 13, 2025

07/13 Links: Netanyahu says he’s ‘confident’ hostage deal can be reached; Charter Signed by Hundreds of Muslim Scholars Supports Hamas's Oct 7 Attack; Anti-Semitism ‘normalised in middle-class Britain’

From Ian:

MEMRI: Charter Signed by Hundreds of Muslim Scholars Supports Hamas's October 7 Attack on Israel: It Was Jihad Against the Infidels
On June 27, 2025, hundreds of religious scholars and clerics from across the Muslim world held a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, and issued the "Charter of the Islamic Nation's Religious Scholars" to give religious sanction to Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and to reject calls to disarm Hamas. The charter states, similarly to the ideology of the Hamas movement itself, that the conflict with Israel is a religious one between Muslims and infidels, and that Hamas's "resistance" against Israel constitutes "jihad for the sake of Allah."

According to the charter, Palestine "from the river to the sea" - namely all of Israel's territory - is Islamic land, and anyone who gives up any part of it is a traitor. It says the demand to disarm Hamas is "treason against Allah" and it highlights the necessity of educating the younger generation to wage jihad for the sake of Allah. Many of the signatories are senior members of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) based in Doha, Qatar, and backed by the Qatari and Turkish regimes.
Red Flags Everywhere: How U.S. Public Opinion Is Tilting toward Palestinians
The view of unbreakable American support for Israel may be a political mantra that may be true now, but a closer look at trends among the American population will show that a conceptual change may be taking place in full view.

A few "red flags" are out there. The most glaring is the precipitous increase in antisemitism. Jewish leaders have called "for the government to take strong and aggressive action to stop the antisemitic murders, attacks, violence, and harassment."

Hillel reports a 700% increase in antisemitic incidents against Jewish students. The recent overt acts of violence resulting in Jewish deaths in Washington and Boulder lend credence to these sentiments.

If people are moving toward having less of a favorable attitude towards Israel, it is only a matter of time before the politicians that represent them do the same.

In repeated polls over the last year and a half, sympathy for Israel over Hamas is indeed significant, but when "Palestinians" is substituted for "Hamas," this support wanes meaningfully. There is also a large swath of the population that is ambivalent on the matter, citing equal support for "both sides." The data we see all point to behaviors that don't support sympathetic attitudes toward Israel.

If the political balance in the U.S. swings over from what we see today, the policy ramifications may be grave. Taking today's America for granted may be understandable, but taking tomorrow's America for granted may be simply foolish.
Confessions of a Reformed Anti-Zionist
I grew up with 16 years of American Jewish day school. At seventeen, I stood on the train tracks of Auschwitz wrapped in an Israeli flag, convinced that Jewish survival deserved any cost. When I arrived at college, my professors taught me that Zionism is a colonial project, depicted Jews as European interlopers, and described Israel's existence as dependent on the continual subjugation of Palestinians.

So I walked away. First from Zionism, then from Judaism itself. At that point, I thought I had liberated my conscience. In truth, I had only hollowed it out. In my mind at the time, rejecting Zionism and recognizing my "privilege" equaled solidarity with the oppressed. Really, though, I was living in a borrowed story - a story written by others, for whom Jewish pain is always suspect, Jewish safety always provisional.

After Oct. 7, while enrolled as a PhD student at Stanford, I experienced firsthand how quickly "political anti-Zionism" slips into irrefutable Jew-hatred. I lived it. I am trained in critical race theory, ethnic studies, and Jewish and Middle Eastern history. Most Stanford classmates measured my solidarity by my willingness to endorse the murder of Jews, the rape of Jewish women, and the immediate dissolution of the Jewish state as necessary for the project of "decolonizing Palestine."

To my classmates (and quite a few professors), to mourn the loss of Jewish lives was invalid - the selfish conspiracy of an oppressor. The same progressive thinkers who demanded I acknowledge complexity in every other struggle refused to grant even a fraction of that nuance to Jewish experience. They interpreted my attempts to humanize Jews as proof of my complicity in empire and racism. My classmates assured me that unless I was in agreement that Jews deserve to be murdered in the fight for "Palestinian liberation," I would never belong in their intellectual community.

Being a Jew has always meant refusing to abandon our inheritance simply because it makes others uncomfortable. I am no longer willing to apologize for being a Jew. I have come back to my community, not because it is flawless, but because it is mine. And I will never again let anyone tell me that loving my people is something I must outgrow.


Netanyahu says he’s ‘confident’ hostage deal can be reached, Iran in ‘deep trouble’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was “confident” he will be able to reach a deal to free hostages held in the Gaza Strip, in an interview with US media aired late Saturday.

Speaking to Fox News’ Mark Levin, Netanyahu said that during his visit to Washington, DC, last week he had worked with US President Donald Trump on efforts for a deal to release half the hostages, both living and dead, in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire.

“I want as many saved. And in the process, we hope that we can get an arrangement where we can bring humanitarian aid to the civilian population [in Gaza] without having Hamas loot it,” Netanyahu said.

“That’s what they do. They loot it, jack up the prices and use the money to recruit 14-, 15-year-olds to their terror army. I hope that changes. So we’re working on it, but I think we’ll end up meeting all our goals, achieving the release and safe return of our hostages, all of them, destroying Hamas,” he said.

Netanyahu said the “only reason” the war was still going on was the hostages, and that Israel was making efforts not to harm them amid the war.

He has previously insisted he would not give up on the goal of destroying Hamas, and has so far rejected the idea ending the war in Gaza via a deal that would include the release of all the hostages.

In the interview, he described Gaza as “the last stronghold for Iran in our neighborhood,” after Hezbollah was seriously weakened in Lebanon during its war with Israel last year — which the Iran-backed terror group instigated with cross-border attacks a day after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre — and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
Netanyahu: Trump has ushered in ‘a different America’ the ‘free world has longed to see’

What Israel's doing to free hostages from Hamas 'MONSTERS'



Eugene Kontorovich: BDS Will Be Bad for Irish Business
The bill harks back to the long-since abandoned Arab League boycott of Israel. It would require American companies with a substantial presence in Ireland to violate federal statutes designed to combat the earlier boycott.

The bill’s sponsors claim such rules are required for “compliance” with an International Court of Justice advisory opinion from last year. But advisory opinions create no legal obligations. Even assuming the territories in question are occupied as a matter of law, trade with them is legal under international law. The European Union and the U.S. explicitly allow for the importation of such goods, with America labeling them “Made in Israel.”

The Irish legislation would apply even to areas that the U.S. recognizes as fully under Israeli sovereignty, such as Jerusalem. The U.S. Embassy is in an area of Jerusalem the Irish bill treats as an illegal “settlement.”

The Arab League boycott, adopted in 1951, coerced third-country companies to refuse trade with Israel. In 1977, with broad bipartisan support, Congress enacted a law that prohibited American companies from taking actions “with intent to comply with, further, or support any boycott fostered or imposed by any foreign country, against a country which is friendly to the United States and which is not itself the object of any form of boycott pursuant to United States law or regulation.”

The antiboycott law is about preventing American companies from being pressured by foreign countries to discriminate impermissibly. Even representing to Irish enforcement authorities that a company hasn’t conducted any forbidden trade would be a violation.

The first Trump administration helped block the passage of a predecessor bill. Even the Biden administration warned Dublin of “consequences.”

The federal antiboycott statute helped end the Arab League boycott. Now, as Israel negotiates normalization with Syria, which used to host the league’s Central Boycott Office, Dublin seeks to take the place of Damascus as the center of Israel boycott efforts. But Syria was an economic backwater. Ireland has a lot more to lose.
Jake Wallis Simons: Macron’s peace plan is a disaster for the Middle East but there is another way
When it came to the Middle East, Emmanuel Macron made two demands in Parliament on Tuesday. Firstly, he said the war in Gaza must end “without any conditions”. This would mean leaving the hostages in the catacombs and Hamas in power, incubating more bloodshed for the future.

Secondly, he said Britain and France should recognise a state of Palestine. This, he insisted, was “the only path to peace”, even though the one-track pursuit of the two-state solution has brought only blood and tears and has been rejected several times by Ramallah.

Sir Keir Starmer applauded heartily. In the sumptuous surroundings of the Royal Gallery, grand statements were made about the fates of distant peoples before all was forgotten at the state banquet.

Three days earlier a different proposal was put forward, this time by conservative Arab chieftains who live in the dust and heat of the region.

Led by Wadee al-Jaabari, head of Hebron’s biggest clan, a coalition of sheikhs proposed seceding from the Palestinian Authority to form an independent emirate that would make peace with the Jews.

Established by the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, the Palestinian Authority is as hated by its own citizens as it is loved by the likes of Macron and Starmer.

Its president, Mahmoud Abbas, is in the 20th year of his supposedly four-year term. His regime is known for its brutality; in 2021, the popular Palestinian human rights campaigner Nizar Banat was beaten to death by Abbas’s thugs (who had been trained by the British Army at the taxpayer’s expense).

It is also corrupt. Consider the gleaming hospital built with aid money at Halhul, on the outskirts of Hebron. Despite the desperate need for healthcare, it has been largely deserted, as officials earn kickbacks by referring patients to private clinics. It is named after Mahmoud Abbas.

This is typical of the Arab world, where the trappings of Western democracy have been crudely imposed on an ecosystem of honour and tribal loyalty. Macron and Starmer may turn a blind eye, but the locals have had enough.
Anti-Semitism ‘normalised in middle-class Britain’
Anti-Semitism has been normalised in middle-class Britain, a Government-backed report has found.

The review warned that Jewish people in the UK were suffering increasing prejudice “in our professions, cultural life [and] public services” and felt they were “tolerated rather than being respected”.

The report, commissioned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the country’s largest Jewish community organisation, found anti-Semitism to be pervasive in the NHS, at universities and in the arts.

The inconsistent policing of hate crimes against Jews, including at pro-Palestine protests, was also highlighted.

The review was co-authored by Lord Mann, the Government’s anti-Semitism adviser, and Dame Penny Mordaunt, the former defence secretary.

Writing in The Telegraph, they said they had been “stunned into silence” by the evidence gathered during six months of research for the Commission on Anti-Semitism.

They wrote: “We heard about the noisy demonstrations and how intimidating people find the current environment, but as we dug deeper, what really scared us was the increasing normalisation of far more extreme, personalised and sometimes life-changing impact directed at individuals purely and simply because they are Jewish.”

The pair added: “We are two non-Jews from opposite sides of the political spectrum and we have both come to realise that if our Jewish community is facing discrimination, this is a failure of our society.”

Judaism ‘should be recognised as an ethnicity’
Among 10 recommendations made in their report, which will be published on Tuesday and considered by the Government, are recognising Judaism as an ethnicity, an overhaul of the policing of anti-Semitic crimes and the launch of an “anti-Semitism training qualification” for employers.

After the Oct 7 attacks in 2023, anti-Semitic incidents hit record highs, according to the Community Security Trust, which monitors reports of anti-Jewish hate in Britain.

The co-authors said that British Jews were often “held responsible for the actions of the Israeli government”, which are frequently the subject of pro-Palestine protests.

The report also raised concerns that police had struggled to effectively tackle anti-Jewish hate, arguing that “improvements can be made to ensure that there is a consistent standard and understanding of anti-Semitism across all police forces throughout the country”.

The war in Gaza following the Oct 7 attacks triggered mass protests that were branded “hate marches” by Suella Braverman, the home secretary at the time, in October 2023.

Police have repeatedly been accused of a “two-tier” approach for allowing what critics have described as “intimidating” pro-Palestine protests outside Jewish places of worship.


Landmark report uncovers shocking antisemitism across public services
Dame Penny Mordaunt has said she was “stunned into silence” as she undertook a Government-backed review into antisemitism.

The former Conservative minister joined Lord John Mann, the Government’s antisemitism adviser, in chairing an independent commission on antisemitism on behalf of the Board of Deputies.

Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, the pair described themselves as “hard-nosed politicians” who are “used to dealing with the extremes of human emotions and catastrophe”.

But they added: “Even with decades of these experiences, we were still stunned into silence by the evidence that we received as independent chairs of the Board of Deputies Commission on Antisemitism, particularly from young people in the Jewish community.”

“This is an urgent issue not just for the Jewish community but for the United Kingdom as a whole,” the pair added.

They also said: “We are all harmed if we tolerate the abuse of some of our fellow citizens by those who hold warped or extreme views.”

Their warnings of growing antisemitic prejudices across British society, from the NHS to arts organisations and the police, comes as the report they authored is set to be published on Tuesday.

Among its recommendations are that the NHS should hold a summit to tackle the “specific unaddressed issue of antisemitism” within the health service.

Lord Mann and former defence secretary Dame Penny set out 10 recommendations calling for educators, public services and trade unions to do more to tackle antisemitism.

Among them was a recommendation for every NHS trust to have “basic training on contemporary antisemitism”.

They stated: “From evidence that we heard, we can identify that there is a specific unaddressed issue of antisemitism within the NHS. We recommend that a summit should be held with NHS leaders across the UK to begin to address this.”
UN rapporteur slams US sanctions as ‘dangerous precedent’
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the “Palestinian territories,” described the Trump administration’s recent decision to sanction her over antisemitism and support for terrorism as “scary” and as setting a “dangerous” precedent.

The Italian lawyer, academic and activist claimed in comments to Reuters on Friday that “there are no red lines anymore,” adding that she now faces asset freezes and potential travel restrictions.

“It might block me from moving around. It will have a chilling effect on people who normally engage with me, because for American citizens or green card holders, this is going to be extremely problematic,” Albanese said, adding, “My plans are to continue what I’ve been doing.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on Wednesday, in the first time a U.N. special rapporteur has been sanctioned by the U.S. for actions related to his or her mandate.

Executive Order 14203 names her a “specially designated national,” and so forbids all U.S. persons and companies from doing business with her.

The American diplomat said Albanese had “spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West,” citing her recommendations to the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders as evidence of her unfitness for her U.N. role.

Rubio added that Albanese escalated her campaign by sending “threatening letters” to dozens of global entities, including major American companies, urging ICC investigations and prosecutions.


Filipino caregiver dies of wounds caused by Iranian missile strike
Leah Mosquera, a Filipino caregiver working in Israel, has died of injuries she sustained when an Iranian missile struck her apartment building in Rehovot during the June Israel-Iran war, the Philippine Embassy in Israel announced Sunday.

“It is with deep sorrow that the Philippine Embassy in Israel announces the passing of Ms. Leah Mosquera, a 49-year-old Filipina caregiver from Negros Occidental. She succumbed this morning to severe injuries suffered when an Iranian missile hit her Rehovot apartment on June 15,” the embassy posted on Facebook.

Mosquera was rushed to Shamir Medical Center, where she underwent many surgeries and spent several weeks in the intensive care unit. Her sister Joy, who also works in Israel, cared for her throughout her hospitalization. Joy shared news of Leah’s passing and consented to the public release of information. The embassy expressed its deepest gratitude to Joy and extended condolences to the Mosquera family in the Philippines.

The embassy noted that Leah would have turned 50 on July 29.

“Throughout her years in Israel, she dedicated herself to supporting her family back home — an enduring symbol of the courage and sacrifice of overseas Filipino workers worldwide,” the statement said.

Iranian missile attacks last month killed 29 people, wounded more than 3,000, and displaced over 13,000.


Israeli Teens Facing Military Draft Say They Are Determined to Fight
Yonatan Baba started his junior year of high school taking classes on Zoom as a security precaution after Hamas's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Over the course of the war, he said, friends of his have been killed or injured while fighting in Gaza. Last month, on the eve of what was supposed to be his graduation ceremony, Baba huddled in a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv, comforting a neighbor amid a barrage of Iranian missiles.

Across Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jewish citizens above 18, a cohort of high school students who graduated last month will be among the next wave of conscripts entering the Israel Defense Forces - their views on Israel's place in the world shaped by fire. And now many say they are determined to fight.

"We need to be ready to sacrifice ourselves and to protect our country," said Baba. While he has seen friends come home from Gaza physically wounded and withdrawn, he has only grown more resolved, he said, because "I don't want my kids to grow up in a place with rockets and kidnappings."

Many young Israelis across the political spectrum saw their sense of security shattered in the wake of Oct. 7 and as a result have grown more hawkish, said Tamar Hermann, director of the Center for Public Opinion at the Israel Democracy Institute, which conducts regular surveys. "Young people, and especially young men, see themselves as part of the national war effort," she said. "They see the war as meant to guarantee Israel's security in the future."

The IDF is getting more requests to join elite combat units. Elite units are highly competitive, with top students vying for front-line positions. Physical and mental tests start years before draft day. Shahaf Davidovich, 18, whose family evacuated their home in northern Israel after Oct. 7, when Hizbullah began firing rockets into Israel, will join the paratroopers in August. "Everyone knows that we are surrounded by people who don't want us here," he said. "We know that we want to contribute as much as we can to defend the only Jewish country that we have."
IDF announces deaths of senior Hamas, PIJ terrorists in Gaza over past two weeks
The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have conducted joint operations to kill terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in Gaza over the past two weeks, naming nine senior terrorists who were killed during this period in an announcement by the military on Sunday.

Eight of the terrorists were from Hamas, and one was a PIJ member.

The nine terrorists who were killed ran units which operated to rebuild their military capabilities, including Hamas's Weapons Production Headquarters and their Military Intelligence Unit, the military added.

The Weapons Production Headquarters is responsible for restoring and expanding the terror group's weapons arsenal, and the Military Intelligence Unit provides intelligence in an attempt to maintain the operational control of Hamas's military wing, Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, and to advance terror activities against Israel, the military noted.

Names and responsibilities of the nine terrorists
Muhammad Abu Awwad was a senior terrorist in Hamas's Weapons Production Headquarters, specifically the Projects and Development Department. He was responsible for developing and advancing Hamas's precision missile project, and served as head of Production and Technical Control, the military said.

Mustafa Dababesh was the deputy head of a department in the Weapons Production Headquarters.

Bilal Abu Shikha and Tayseer Shareem were both section commanders in the Weapons Production Headquarters.

Mundhir Salami was a production site commander in the Weapons Production Headquarters who oversaw the production of various types of weapons, including significantly contributing to the terror group's military buildup in Gaza, the military announced.

Bilal Musallam was a section commander in Hamas's Military Intelligence Unit, and Ahmad Abu Shamala was a squad commander in the same unit.

Rabi' Mustafa Rabi' Sukhweil was a financial operative in the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades who was involved in transferring millions of dollars in terror funds to Hamas, thus financing its continued terror activities and reestablishment, the military announced.

Muhammad al-Bayouk was a senior terrorist in the PIJ's Weapons Production Apparatus.


IDF 'Alpine' Unit raids Syrian Assad-era command posts to prevent weapons smuggling
Reservists in the IDF's 810th 'Alpine Brigade,' under the command of the 210th Division, raided Assad-era command posts on Mount Hermon over the past week in an effort to prevent attempts to smuggle weapons, the IDF said Sunday.

These command posts were responsible for overseeing the Syria-Lebanon region during Assad’s regime.

In addition to their mission in the Mount Dov sector, the unit has discovered military equipment and more than three tons of ammunition, including anti-tank mines, dozens of explosives, and rockets.

The IDF confiscated all findings.

IDF's commitment to defending northern Israel
These raids in the area of the Syria-Lebanon border to prevent smuggling attempts between the two countries are done in order to uphold the security of Israeli citizens and residents of the Golan Heights in particular.”

Earlier this month, the IDF’s elite 504 unit aided in the arrest of an Iranian terror cell operating in southern Syria, as they continue to operate in the region, reaffirming their commitment to protecting Israeli citizens at all costs.


Israel, Hamas talks drag as aid group chair tells UN to stop acting like the ‘mafia’
Negotiations to secure a 60-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas seem to have hit an impasse amid hopes from top mediators, including President Donald Trump’s Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, that a deal can be reached soon.

There are several issues that remain major hurdles in securing lasting peace in the Gaza Strip and the return of all the hostages, according to multiple sources that Fox News Digital has spoken with.

But one of the top sticking points has reportedly been the question of aid to the Palestinians and who exactly should be distributing the direly needed support. Trump and Netanyahu meet at the White House

"This is a complex political environment right in the middle of a ceasefire negotiation," Chairman for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Rev. Johnnie Moore told Fox News Digital. "I understand on the first night of the ceasefire negotiation, one of the primary issues that Hamas and their negotiators brought up was they wanted to see the elimination of the GHF.

"Which ought to tell you something," he continued. "Hamas didn't want 70 million meals of food in the Gaza Strip for the people they allege they care about – this is absurd."

Following Israel’s near-three-month blockade on aid to the Gaza Strip, the GHF – a U.S. and Israeli-backed aid mechanism – was, in late May, permitted to initiate food delivery with the assistance of the Israel Defense Force (IDF) as a means to ensure food trucks were not overrun and ransacked by the Hamas terrorist group.

The GHF, which has faced stiff backlash for its divergence from traditional humanitarian assistance methods, has argued that its convoys have been far better secured from Hamas attacks than United Nations’ delivery trucks, and therefore ensured the aid has actually ended up in the hands of Palestinian civilians.

Hamas has long used humanitarian assistance as a means of control over Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and as a tool for recruitment, going so far as to threaten starving civilians from accepting GHF food aid for their families in late May, telling them they "will pay the price, and we will take the necessary measures."

The GHF has delivered some 70 million meals to between 800,000 and 1 million Palestinians, Moore confirmed.


City Hall accuses NYC comptroller of targeting Israel in city pension policy
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent to retain his seat, called for a review of the city comptroller’s decision to pull pension fund investments from Israel Bonds.

Under the tenure of Brad Lander, the city comptroller, the city’s pension system holdings in Israel Bonds “have declined sharply, from tens of millions of dollars across multiple pension funds to now less than $1.2 million held only by the Police Pension Fund,” stated Randy Mastro, the city’s first deputy mayor, in a letter to Lander on Thursday.

Lander, who is Jewish, ran as a Democrat in the mayoral primary. He cross-listed with and has supported Zohran Mamdani, an anti-Israel state assemblyman who secured the Democratic nomination.

“This reduction appears to be the result of a sustained and coordinated decision on your part not to reinvest in State of Israel Bonds upon maturity,” Mastro wrote. “Moreover, this decision has adversely affected the performance of the pension funds’ bond portfolios, because State of Israel bonds have outperformed other bonds in which the pension funds are invested.”

Lander said his office is no longer investing in sovereign debt, but the letter notes that Israel Bonds are the only sovereign bonds in which the city had invested, suggesting that the policy targets Israel alone.

“This divestment, occurring amid a global ‘boycott, divestment and sanctions’ campaign against Israel, appears to be in furtherance of that BDS campaign, regardless of the adverse financial consequences for city pensioners,” Mastro stated. “You have a fiduciary duty to the city’s pensioners that is now called into question by your decision in this regard.”

Adams stated that Lander “was elected to safeguard New York City’s financial future, yet he continues to pander to the antisemitic BDS movement at the expense of taxpayer dollars and our city’s best interests, and New Yorkers deserve to know why.”


Northwestern Professor Revealed as Advisor for School's Jewish Voice for Peace Chapter
Professor Wendy Pearlman, Crown Professor of Middle East Studies and Interim Director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Northwestern University, also serves as an advisor for the campus’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter (JVPNU), the Jewish Onliner can reveal. The group’s parent organization regularly promotes classic antisemitic rhetoric and expresses support for violence and U.S.-designated terror groups, according to critics.

At the same time, Northwestern professor Mkhaimar Abusada, accused of having ties to Hamas, is facing potential deportation by immigration authorities. This situation raises additional questions about the university's position on radical activism, ahead of an upcoming congressional hearing with Northwestern's president, Michael Schill. Professor Wendy Pearlman is listed as an “officer” for the JVP chapter at Northwestern University. Credit: northwestern.campuslabs

JVPNU’s constitution excludes Zionist Jews from membership and mandates that faculty advisors must be “Jewish Anti-Zionists.” The group has hosted events featuring controversial slogans such as “From the River to the Sea” (a phrase widely interpreted as calling for the elimination of Israel) and attacked university antisemitism training as “Zionist propaganda.”

Alleged Ties to Terrorist Groups & Support for Radical Movements
Concerns about Pearlman’s affiliations escalated after she promoted a 2020 event by Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement. Masar Badil is linked to Samidoun, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which participated in the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Additionally, leaders of Masar Badil referred to October 7 as a “glorious, heroic” attack on Israel. Wendy Pearlman promoted an event by Masar Badil, which is linked to U.S.-designated terror groups Samidoun and the PFLP. Credit: Wendy Pearlman on X

Pearlman’s also held an internship role at Al-Mezan, a Gaza-based NGO with alleged ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). For example, in 2017, Issam Younis, the director of Al Mezan, participated in a panel discussion on "The Requirement for Supporting and Ensuring the Success of Palestinian National Reconciliation." The panel included several representatives from Palestinian terrorist organizations, such as Kayed Al-Ghoul, a member of the PFLP Political Bureau, Khaled Al-Batsh from the PIJ Political Bureau, and Yahya Sinwar, the former head of Hamas. Younis shared the stage with Sinwar during this discussion.

Pearlman reposted a comment on X published by Al-Mezan, writing that she was “In awe of Gaza’s human rights defenders,” in reference to the Hamas-tied group. Her academic career includes time spent at Birzeit University in the West Bank, which is closely tied to Hamas, according to multiple investigations.

Pearlman has long supported the campus divestment campaigns against Israel, dating back to 2002. She was previously the leader of the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at Harvard and now holds a professorship funded by Lester Crown, a major donor to pro-Israel causes.


Seth Frantzman: For Iraq's Kurdistan area, Kurdish-Turkey deal provides hope for new era in region
Things are moving fast in northern Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on Saturday to discuss the peace process between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Meanwhile, the KDP on Saturday also said it is giving Baghdad a “final opportunity” regarding a dispute over energy deals and salaries. In addition, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani met on Friday with members of the Turkish Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party). The DEM party is a left-leaning party in Turkey that appeals to many Kurdish voters. It is often accused by Ankara of being sympathetic to the PKK. Peace talks matter for the DEM because it could mean Ankara stops arresting its members, accusing them of “terrorism.”

Over the weekend, members of the PKK symbolically handed over their weapons and burned them, showing they are laying down their weapons. At the same time, Masoud Barzani indicated a willingness to meet the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan has called on the PKK to drop its weapons. Parents of the PKK members who have put down their weapons have embraced the peace process, Rudaw media in Erbil says. This is an emotional time, the same media notes. The PUK has also embraced the peace process, calling it a “historic step.”

The optimism in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region is clear. The KRG hopes this could open up a new era. However, there are signs of trouble on the horizon. In Syria, the Damascus government is chafing against the US-backed SDF. It doesn’t want them to have autonomy. In essence, Syria is saying it doesn’t want the Kurdish region of eastern Syria to have the autonomy that the KRG has had since the 1990s.

This could cause trouble for the KRG if there is conflict in eastern Syria. There are also tensions in Altun Kapri on the border of the Kirkuk region, where Turkmen are angry with the KRG over a political appointment. Turkey cares deeply about the Turkmen of northern Iraq, who are concentrated in Kirkuk and Tal Afar. In addition, their energy dispute with Baghdad has not been bridged. Pro-Iranian militias have also been using drones to attack the KRG.

There are questions about the US role in the KRG as well. While some financial support may be coming for the Peshmerga and also for eastern Syria, the US role in Syria and Iraq is unclear. The US has a new consulate in Erbil. This is important. However, there are questions about what may happen next with the Kurdish Peshmerga. The Peshmerga have been divided on political lines between the PUK and KDP in the past. The PUK is usually said to control the Peshmerga’s Unit 70, while the KDP controls Unit 80 of the group.

These political-military groupings were supposed to be dismantled over the last decade. The war on ISIS postponed reformed. Baghdad’s attack on the KRG in 2017 after an independence referendum also led to a setback.

Now, there is talk that the promised reform will happen and the Peshmerga will be depoliticized. As the KRG looks to a new area potentially free from the PKK-Turkey war, there is much to be hopeful about.
Seth Frantzman: Houthis now becoming more emboldened after sinking two ships in Red Sea
The Houthis also boarded the ships and then blew them up in what was a complex mission. It's not easy to stop a large cargo ship that is making speed. It is also not easy to disable it and then board it. Yet this took place over a period of two or three days, while seemingly no navy units tried to help. The Wall Street Journal described the attack: “Two ships desperately tried to fight off Houthi attacks. Help never arrived.”

There is no more poignant a conclusion to this disaster than the WSJ headline. Why did no one assist these ships? An international coalition called Prosperity Guardian had been assembled in November 2023 to prevent these attacks and help ships in distress. The US also attacked the Houthis in mid-March to try to stop their attacks.

Where was the US Navy that has assets within the Central Command’s area of operations? What about other navies, such as the British, French, or Chinese? There are naval assets in this area. Could they have reached the site in time?

Usually, US Carrier Strike Groups have had several destroyers, cruiser escorts, and other ships with them. Currently the USS Carl Vinson and USS Nimitz are supposed to be somewhere in the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean. It’s not entirely clear where they are; however, US Central Command published footage of the Vinson launching F-18s on July 11. On July 12 the US Navy also published a photo of an F/A-18 launching from the USS Nimitz.

The carriers were also photographed together by CENTCOM on July 8. The US naval ships can usually make in excess of 30 knots, meaning in a day they could sail more than 600 nautical miles. They also have aircraft that can fly around 1,500 mph.

This would give the US and other navies that ability to assist the ships in the Red Sea. So why has this not been a priority? There are also foreign naval and air force assets in Djibouti usually. This is relatively close to the area where the ships were sunk.

Overall, the fact that so many countries in the region did not assist the ships quickly in order to deter the Houthis shows that it is not a priority. The Houthis seem to know this, and they feel they have impunity. The question now is whether they will feel emboldened to do more attacks.


MEMRI: Iranian Religious Establishment Declares Jihad Against President Trump: $42 Million Has Been Raised for His Assassination
In Iran in recent days there has been an increase in explicit calls for assassinating President Trump from the Iranian regime's religious establishment due allegedly to a threat by Trump to assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei - even though Trump said he had actually prevented such a move.

These calls are backed by fatwas issued in late June by Iranian grand ayatollahs.

The fatwas stated that the punishment for Trump is the same as for a muhareb - an enemy of Allah and Islam - and that is death, and the permitting of spilling his blood.

Assembly of Experts members who are close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior clerics and lecturers at the Howza-e Ilmiyya seminaries, and the regime's Friday preachers are explicitly calling for Trump's assassination.

The regime's religious elite has also called on young Muslims and on "cells of resistance" across the world to carry out this fatwa, presenting the fight against Trump as a religious obligation that will be greatly rewarded, including with entry into Paradise.

A new movement in Iran, called "Blood Covenant," claims to have raised $40 million for assassinating Trump.

These calls to assassinate Trump are coming from above and being echoed in the street and through all strata of society, including in the Iranian media.

The struggle is depicted not as a political clash but as an all-out religious war between Islam and the "leader of apostasy" and the "enemy of Islam," and between the messengers of Allah and the enemies of Allah.
Iran Hosting and Protecting Al-Qaeda Leadership, Says UK
Intelligence officials in the UK believe that Iran is hosting the headquarters of al-Qaeda, giving the terrorist leadership a lifeline. Parliament's security and intelligence committee reported, "Being based in Iran has allowed [al-Qaeda] to retain some oversight of franchises internationally, creating a complex intelligence landscape, as Iran is a less accessible environment for the West than other parts of the Middle East - which, in turn, may have increased the [al-Qaeda] threat."

The committee said that Richard Moore, head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), "told us, the Iranian regime has been 'extremely pragmatic for many years in terms of the partners it will enlist, if they are prepared to work against its common enemies in the shape of the United States, the West, Israel in particular.'"

Committee chairman Lord Beamish said, "Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals and UK interests. As the committee was told, Iran is there across the full spectrum of all the kinds of threats we have to be concerned with."

He said Iranian interference in the UK ranged from infiltration, espionage and cyber attacks to direct threat to lives within Britain. The committee found that between the beginning of 2022 and August 2023, there had been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap of British nationals or UK residents by Iran.
Open letter to Thomas Friedman: Calls for diplomacy with Iran have poor timing
In your column published June 16, 2025, you rightly noted: “To be ready to out-crazy the crazies has been a necessary condition for Israel to survive in the Middle East.” Yet, you also acknowledged that this strategy leads to an endless cycle of violence and that exploring peaceful alternatives is essential – not only for Israel’s interests but also to isolate Iran.

I agree that diplomacy must be pursued. However, I question the timing, especially given the current regional and global circumstances. Your call for renewed diplomacy when Iran appears weakened raises critical questions: Would a nuclear deal similar to the 2015 JCPOA, even if it temporarily prevents nuclear proliferation, truly serve Israel’s interests? Would it address Iran’s ongoing regional malign activities? And can Israel accept the potential consequences of such an agreement?

The reality today is that Israel can no longer afford the strategy of “kicking the can down the road.” October 7 marked a paradigm shift: Israel must abandon complacency and recognize the opportunity to fundamentally reshape its security posture. This moment offers a chance – not just for Israel but for the entire region – to reset its course toward a more secure future.

I fear that your repeated calls, Mr. Friedman, to prematurely pursue diplomacy and a ceasefire will miss the mark. Only through a decisive victory can the dream of genuine, lasting peace become attainable. I long for a future where Israelis no longer see peace as a fragile hope shadowed by fear, but as a natural outcome of strength and resolve.

The bold and determined actions we undertake in the coming weeks are essential – not only to eliminate threats and secure Israel’s future but also to lay the foundation for peace rooted in victory, not weakness.
Twilight of the Mullahs?
REVIEW: ‘Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History’ by Vali Nasr
In publishing, as in much of life, timing is everything. And by that measure, if by no other, Iran’s Grand Strategy, Vali Nasr’s latest analysis of the Islamic Republic, is a smashing success. First available just two short weeks before Israel’s stunningly successful aerial campaign against the mullahs, Nasr’s book attempts—but fails—to frame the Islamic Republic as having "evolved into a prototypical nation-state" whose "aims are now secular in nature." To Nasr, a professor and distinguished Middle East specialist at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies who emigrated from Iran to the United States after the ayatollahs seized power in 1979, Islam is merely "an instrument in the hands of [Iran’s] political class and military leaders to realize political and economic interests at home and define national interest abroad." Iran, he argues, is essentially a normal country following a rational path. Yet Nasr’s analysis repeatedly undermines his own thesis, as history amply demonstrates how the regime’s insistence on religious and ideological purity has over and over again—including in its most recent humiliation by Israel—stymied the country’s political, economic, and military goals. As Henry Kissinger famously put it in 2006, "Iran has to take a decision whether it wants to be a nation or a cause"; since then, it has repeatedly opted for the cause. Nasr begins his narration in earnest with the revolution, when the clerics overthrew the shah and kidnapped 66 American embassy employees. He concedes that "Iran’s foreign policy effectively abandoned any pragmatic considerations that could have involved engaging the United States; instead, it became a battle between good and evil." So, too, did Ayatollah Khomeini’s determination to "export the revolution" to neighboring countries, entailing the expenditure of vast sums on proxy armies across the Levant, short-circuit any reasonable prospects of economic and political success. The absurd nine-year-long Iran-Iraq war, which claimed over one million lives and resulted in no territorial gains, served to consolidate the clerics’ viselike grip on the country and calcify its combative approach to foreign policy. Far from practical, Khomeini announced that "the path to Jerusalem ran through Karbala," a city in Iraq.
Iranian official claims Israel used 'the occult and supernatural spirits' during 12-day war
A senior Iranian official claims that Israel deployed "the occult and supernatural spirits" during its war with Iran, Iran International reported on Friday.

Abdollah Ganji, former editor of the IRGC-linked newspaper Javan, told his 150,000 followers on X/Twitter on Wednesday that a “strange phenomenon” had taken place during the 12-day war.

"After the recent war, a few sheets of paper were found on the streets of Tehran containing talismans with Jewish symbols," he wrote. "In the first year of the Gaza war, news had also leaked about Netanyahu meeting with occult specialists.

"A few years ago, the Supreme Leader had stated that hostile countries and Western and Hebrew intelligence services use occult sciences and jinn entities for espionage."

The Mossad's official X account in Farsi responded to Ganji's post on Tuesday.

"Using drugs and talking to the jinn are not desirable traits for someone leading a country," they wrote.

Waleed Gadban, Israel's Political Advisor to the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations, reposted the Mossad's X post, with the caption in Farsi, "Jinn, jinn are everywhere," with a ghost emoji at the end.

Jinn are also said to have the capability of assuming different forms and exercising extraordinary powers.

They were first mentioned in the Quran and are conceptualized in Islam "as creatures parallel to human beings who are capable of choosing between good and evil and must thus face eventual salvation or damnation," Britannica explained.
Iran’s Pezeshkian lightly injured in June 16 Israeli strike. per regime media
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sustained a minor leg injury in a June 16 Israeli airstrike that targeted the country’s Supreme National Security Council, Iranian state media reported over the weekend.

The unsourced Fars News Agency report claimed six bombs or missiles hit the building in western Tehran as Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi and other senior officials gathered on the fourth day of the Israel-Iran war.

The blasts blocked the building’s entry and exit points and disrupted airflow, but officials managed to escape through an emergency hatch that had been prepared in advance, the Fars report said, adding that Pezeshkian and other officials were injured during the evacuation.

Given the accuracy of the intelligence used in the Israeli strike, the report said authorities were investigating the possibility of a mole.

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Mohsen Rezaei told Iranian TV last week that the Israeli military had “struck six points at the location where the Supreme National Security Council was meeting,” claiming “not the slightest harm was done to any of its members.”

Pezeshkian has also accused Jerusalem of trying to kill him during the 12-day war, telling U.S. conservative commentator Tucker Carlson on July 7: “They did try, yes. They acted accordingly, but they failed.”


Royal Academy condemned for exhibiting “antisemitic” art for second year running
The Royal Academy of the Arts has been condemned for exhibiting “antisemitic” art works in its summer exhibition for the second year in a row, with the country’s preeminent art institution accused of not taking Jewish visitor’s concerns into account.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to the Royal Academy regarding two works submitted by Michael Sandle, an academy member, for the RA’s Summer Exhibition 2025.

The first work by Michael Sandle, showing what appears to be a Hamas terrorist next to an Israeli airforce pilot, is titled “Terrorist versus smiling mass murderer of innocents”, and is priced at £6,000.

A second work, which appears to be a slightly larger variant on the first piece and priced at £25,000, is titled “Apropos terror – a pilot doesn’t hear the screams of the women and children he is massacring with impunity.”

Last year, there was considerable anger within the Jewish community at another work submitted by Sandle, titled “The mass slaughter of defenceless women and children is not how you deradicalize Gaza”, depicting a faceless pilot in an aircraft emblazoned with a Star of David.

Two artworks submitted by students as part of the RA’s youth competition, one of which seemingly compared Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza to Nazism, were withdrawn from the RA’s exhibition, but Sandle’s work remained.

In a statement, UKLFI said it had written to the RA’s new chief executive, “explaining why the two drawings are antisemitic, and asking for their removal from the exhibition”.

It added: “The titles of both these drawings imply Israel is purposely slaughtering women and children, on a mass scale. This is far from the truth, since the Israeli army does all it can to avoid harming women and children, while targeting Hamas terrorists, who unfortunately use women and children and human shields… UKLFI explained that Israel has killed far fewer civilians in proportion to the number of terrorists that have been killed, than other countries during urban warfare. The proportion is 1 or 2 civilians to 1 terrorist. In other conflicts, 8 or 9 civilians are killed for every one terrorist. While every civilian that is killed is of course a tragedy, this is unfortunately inevitable during a war in urban areas.”

The legal organisation further stated that the pictures submitted by Sandle therefore, in their opinion, “‘apply double standards by requiring of Israel a behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation,’ which can be antisemitic according to example 8 of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism… The titles of Michael Sandle’s drawings… claim that Israelis (or Jews) are carrying out a mass murder of innocent women and children with impunity. Accusing Jews of murdering babies or children is an enduring blood libel. Michael Sandle should be aware that Israel aims to kill terrorists, not innocent children and others.”

A spokesperson for UKLFI said: “The Royal Academy has shamefully ignored the views of its Jewish and Israeli visitors, and once more displayed antisemitic, anti-Israel artworks. We hope that they will now remove these offensive items.”
Polish lawmaker probed for calling gas chambers ‘fake’
Polish authorities are considering criminal charges against a lawmaker who said last week that the Nazi gas chambers were “fake” but antisemitic blood libels were true, according to the Associated Press.

Speaking to Poland’s Wnet radio on Thursday, lawmaker Grzegorz Braun, a high-profile antisemite who in winter used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles at the Polish parliament, said that “ritual murder is a fact, and such a thing as Auschwitz with its gas chambers is unfortunately a fake,” according to the Polish Press Agency. The reporter then ended the interview.

The incident followed a scandal over a ceremony earlier on Thursday that centered on the denial of the slaughter of hundreds of Jews in 1941 in the eastern town of Jedwabne.

A spokesperson for the Warsaw district prosecutor’s office told AP that prosecutors were conducting a preliminary investigation into Braun’s potential denial of Nazi crimes.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the remarks. “This blatant Holocaust denial fuels antisemitism, spreads hate, and desecrates the memory of millions murdered by the Nazis,” a ministry spokesperson posted on X. Braun “should be brought to justice for these crimes—the sooner, the better,” the post continued.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described Braun’s words as “a disgrace,” adding, “We must do everything so that no one in the world associates Poland with such people, such faces and such actions.”

Earlier on Thursday, Braun had attended a ceremony at Jedwabne, where far-right activists had gathered for the inauguration of a so-called memorial area that they had set up without a permit. Placed near the official commemoration site for at least 340 Jews murdered by Poles in 1941, the area features boulders with plaques blaming the Nazis for the murders, and revisiting Communist crimes, allegedly perpetrated by Jews.

Israel’s embassy in Poland also condemned that event, writing in a statement: “Instead of honoring the victims, we witnessed manipulation. Antisemitic and pro-Palestinian slogans were used, inciting hatred and confirming that the Holocaust is still being politicized and exploited to distort history,” read the statement.
'No Zionist is safe here': Kosher restaurant vandalized in Athens by hooligans, owners tell 'Post'
King David Burger, a new kosher restaurant in Athens, was vandalized by a group of anti-Israel protesters on Saturday night, the owner, Zvika Levinson, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.

“I was shocked,” Levinson told the Post. “It has taken us by surprise.”

The restaurant opened shortly after Shabbat ended at 10 p.m., and just 12 minutes later a group of individuals entered, throwing flyers and spraying anti-Israel messages on the walls, including “no Zionist is safe here.” The flyers featured the words “Free Palestine” in English, or “victory to the Palestinian resistance” in Greek, alongside the pattern of a keffiyeh.

While the group was vandalizing the restaurant, they were shouting “go back to Israel,” “stop killing babies,” and the like, Levinson added.

“One of my employees who was inside said he wanted to get out, and he was told, ‘stay there if you don’t want to be injured.’”

The Post also spoke to the manager – Sivan – who said that the employees are not Israeli and were “pretty scared because they are not used to it.”

Both Sivan and Levinson said that the police were standing nearby, but it still took 15 minutes for them to arrive at the restaurant. The police presence also did not seem to have deterred the “hooligans.”

“They didn’t care,” said Levinson. “They didn’t even put on masks.”


Israel gymnasts register for world championships in Indonesia
The Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGA) said on Sunday that it had registered to take part in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships set to take place in Indonesia this fall.

The Southeast Asian nation, which does not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel and has the world’s largest Muslim population, recently informed the national governing body for gymnastics in Israel that it would welcome Israeli athletes to the October games.

Indonesia was previously sanctioned by the international soccer association for its refusal to host Israeli players in the past.

“We are in direct contact with the organizers and believe that extraneous considerations will not overshadow the sport,” a spokesperson for the IGA told JNS. “We expect the competition organizers to approve the entry of the delegation as well as the security requirements for the delegation’s safe participation in the championship.”

One of the potential Israeli competitors is Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat, who secured gold and silver medals in Tokyo and Paris, respectively, and won the floor exercise at the World Championships two years ago.

The games will be held in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta from October 19-25.

Indonesia has been named among the Muslim nations that could potentially join the landmark Abraham Accords, which saw Israel normalize relations with four Arab countries during the first Trump administration.
SpaceX launches ‘Dror-1’ Israeli communications satellite
Israel’s new national communications satellite, “Dror-1,” was launched into space on Sunday morning, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced.

Designed to meet Israel’s national communication needs, the Israeli-made satellite lifted off at 8 a.m. local time from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Weighing 4.5 tons and with an 18-meter wingspan, Dror-1 separated from its launcher approximately 40 minutes after liftoff and began independently orbiting the Earth. The satellite is expected to reach its final geostationary orbit, 36,000 kilometers above the equator, within about two weeks following a series of maneuvers.

Dror-1 was developed and manufactured by IAI to ensure the country’s industrial and technological independence in this strategically vital sector. Its geostationary position will allow for continuous and flexible communication coverage for various government systems.

“Israel Aerospace Industries has led the nation’s space program since the 1980s, when the first observation satellite, Ofek-1, was launched. Since then, IAI has developed, produced, and launched additional communications and observation satellites for national, civilian, and scientific missions both in Israel and abroad,” the company said.




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