Wednesday, August 06, 2025

08/06 Links Pt2: Khalil: 'We Couldn't Avoid' Committing October 7 Massacre; AP Writes Puff Piece on Hezbollah 'Victims' of Israeli Pager Attack; The Vile Hypocrisy Of Jew Hatred

From Ian:

Meet the Zyklon B heiress who is sailing to Gaza
Sometimes something so perfect happens you find yourself Googling furiously to make sure it’s really true. The news that one Marlene Engelhorn from Austria is joining the next flotilla to Gaza is one such story. For Ms Engelhorn is an heiress of a German industrial dynasty that profited from the production of Zyklon B, the cyanide that was used to gas and slaughter millions of Jews during the Holocaust. Her family profited from the Nazi extermination of the Jewish people and now she rages against the Jewish State – who was it who said history doesn’t repeat itself but it sometimes rhymes?

Ms Engelhorn inherited $27.1million from her family’s coffers. And some of that generational wealth has pretty disgusting origins. She is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, who founded the German chemicals giant, BASF. In the 1920s, BASF merged with IG Farben. Some readers may have heard of that latter chemical conglomerate – its name lives in infamy as the producer of the poisonous gas the Nazis used to try to wipe the Jews from the face of the Earth. When her grandmother died in 2022, Ms Engelhorn got millions of Euros from this dynasty with a dark history.

And now she keeps herself busy by pontificating about the Jewish State. She’s been a key figure in Europe’s anti-Israel protests and next month she’ll set sail on the latest watery virtue-signal headed to Gaza to expose Israel’s ‘genocide’. Hen Mazzig put it best: so this is a ‘white, privileged, nepo baby’ whose family wealth comes in part from Nazi Germany’s ‘mass murder of Jews’ and she is ‘also anti-Israel’? ‘I did not see that coming’, he quipped, with excellent sarcasm.

Look, I am not for one minute suggesting Ms Engelhorn inherited her ancestors’ Nazi tendencies as well as their cash. And she is far from the first privileged white lady, or even the first nepo baby, to wang on morning, noon and night about the wickedness of Israel. The ‘pro-Palestine’ movement is lousy with aristocrats and leftists from Old Money and the overeducated middle classes who believe Israel is committing genocide as fervently as they believe you can have a todger and be a lesbian. Britain is especially bad. We’re overrun with Posh Twats for Palestine. Honestly, not since the days of Unity Mitford have I heard so many cut-glass voices hold forth on the ‘Jewish problem’.

And yet, you know what? If my forebears had been involved in the Nazis’ attempted annihilation of the Jews, I would simply sit out the Israel issue. I’d hold my tongue on the Jewish State. I certainly would not board a boat, Greta-style, and sail with other smug, preening, moneyed Europeans to point a bony finger of judgement at the Jewish nation for its ‘genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation’. Israel recently suffered a fascistic assault by a genocidal terror group devoted to slaughtering Jews, and now here comes a lady from Austria whose family profited from the Nazi regime’s industrialised slaughter of Jews? Think about the optics, Marlene.
Former Harvard Kennedy School Official Accused of Aiding Hamas Hides in Palestinian Territories To Avoid Summons
Lawyers representing the family members of nearly 200 Oct. 7 massacre victims believe that a former Harvard University official accused of aiding Hamas ahead of the attack is hiding in Palestinian territories to avoid a court summons.

The family members sued Bashar Masri, a Palestinian-American businessman, in April, calling his Gaza properties "crucial elements in Hamas’s attack plan." They said the terror group used them to store and launch rockets at Israel, probe the border fence, host Hamas leadership and foot soldiers, train Hamas naval commandos, and construct and conceal attack tunnels. The suit also alleges that Masri appointed "an individual closely tied to Hamas" to chair one of his Palestinian real estate companies just before Oct. 7.

Masri had been living in the United States and served on the dean’s council at Harvard Kennedy School. But he resigned from that post just days after the suit was filed, and efforts to track him down since then have proven fruitless.

"Masri is likely resident in the Palestinian Territories, but without any physical address known to Plaintiffs," lawyers wrote in a Friday court filing. They pointed to his frequent travel to Israel and interviews he’s given in the Jewish state.

"If there were any real suspicions against me, my friend, I’d at least have been interrogated," Masri told Yediot Ahronot, according to a translation by the plaintiffs filed on June 25. "If there were proof, I wouldn’t be sitting in Tel Aviv now chatting with you."

Since he's proven elusive, the lawyers proposed publishing the complaint and summons in Yediot Ahronot, an Israeli publication he clearly reads. They also requested using other "alternative means" such as messaging his verified X, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.

And given that he's provided "multiple interviews commenting publicly" on the lawsuit's allegations, Masri is aware of the complaint, the lawyers argued in Friday's brief.

Additional court filings in recent weeks detail the lawyers’ failed attempts to reach Masri. In an affidavit filed on June 25, a servicer said they went to Masri’s Washington, D.C., residence, but a woman who answered over an intercom refused to accept the documents. When the servicer tried again roughly a week later, the same woman again answered on the intercom and identified herself as Jane Masri. She said she had divorced Bashar Masri and that he no longer lived there and claimed she was answering the call remotely from abroad.

In an April statement, the Palestinian’s office called the allegations "false" and claimed that he "unequivocally opposes violence of any kind."

But in the months leading up to the Oct. 7 attack, Masri worked with senior Hamas officials, including one who developed the terror group’s Gaza military-industrial base, the lawsuit alleges. Other Hamas leaders, including the Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, "regularly used [Masri’s] hotels to host public and private Hamas events."
Seth Mandel: Schumer Picks His Successor
Schumer’s betrayal is meaningful, because he came up through the most Jewish city in the world outside of Israel and insisted he be regarded as “Schumer the shomer”—Schumer the watchman, the guardian, the sentinel of his beleaguered people. As Liel Liebowitz writes brilliantly in the May issue of COMMENTARY, Schumer has unburdened himself of the weight of communal responsibility.

Schatz never had any such pretensions, so Senate Democrats of the future will just get right to the point. No need to start off with pro-Israel platitudes, just open with the list of grievances. Schumer wanders in the desert for 40 years every time he wants to rail against Bibi Netanyahu; Schatz has Tom Friedman’s cab driver on speed dial and saves everyone the long trip.

Schumer, of course, is all in on Schatz—you barely have to change the name on the door. “Brian Schatz is not just a trusted colleague and a clear communicator—he’s a close friend and one of my most valued allies in the Senate. Over the past several months, Brian and I have worked hand-in-hand to build strong backing across the caucus, and I’m proud to endorse him for whip.”

It’s hard to know what Schumer is proudest of, regarding Schatz. Is it Schatz’s support for the Iran nuclear deal? His opposition to moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and thus recognizing the Jews’ historic capital? His vote to stop arming the Jewish state in its defensive war against the perpetrators of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and those who explicitly carry Hitler’s torch? His opposition to a bill that would let states choose not to contract with companies that boycott Israel? Or perhaps his overflowing self-righteousness, in which he forces himself to believe the worst about the Jewish state and then stomps around hectoring everybody to join him? All of it?

As for me, I think I may actually miss the disingenuous desert wanderings of Chuck Schumer. It’s a gesture toward a simpler time, when people at least pretended to feel bad about their poor decisions.

As for Schatz, the ultimate irony is that he replaced in the Senate Daniel Inouye—a true hero, a monumental figure, the embodiment of all that is great about America and its people. Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for his WWII service and was a lifelong defender of Israel and the Jewish people. With Schatz rising, the loss of Inouye stings anew.


DOJ To Seek Death Penalty Against Accused Jewish Museum Murderer Elias Rodriguez: Report
The Department of Justice will pursue the death penalty against Elias Rodriguez, who is accused of murdering Israeli embassy staffers Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside a Jewish history museum in Washington, D.C., according to a report.

"The indictment against Elias Rodriguez is expected to include special findings for capital punishment, where the Justice Department indicates it can pursue the death penalty," CNN reported Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

In addition to the death penalty, prosecutors will seek federal hate crime charges against Rodriguez in a grand jury indictment this week, sources told CNN.

Rodriguez, an anti-Israel activist, has remained in custody since May 21, when he allegedly murdered Lischinsky and Milgrim in cold blood as the couple left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum. He kept firing at Milgrim as she lay wounded on the ground, then shouted, "Free, free Palestine," after killing both victims, according to police.

A day after the shooting, prosecutors charged Rodriguez with first-degree murder, murdering foreign officials, and firearm offenses. He has not yet entered a formal plea in court.
Seth Mandel: Mahmoud Khalil’s Dehumanizing Worldview
When Mahmoud Khalil, the Syrian-born anti-Zionist protest figure at Columbia, was detained by ICE and threatened with deportation, his supporters portrayed him as a man of impeccable temperament without a hateful bone in his body.

So I was surprised to see that Khalil doesn’t present himself this way. In fact, in a wide-ranging conversation with Ezra Klein on the latter’s podcast, Khalil displayed casual cruelty toward American Jews, complete dehumanization of Israeli Jews, and an aggressive, parochial ignorance of the wider subject matter. I understand Khalil is angry with the Trump administration for detaining him, but Khalil made it perfectly clear that well before coming to Columbia he had shed any grain of empathy he might have once had.

Indeed, the interview leaves one wholly impressed not by Khalil but by the reputation-laundering public-relations campaign that preceded his big media tour.

Khalil first recounts his childhood in Damascus. His parents were middle-class civil servants, but he wanted to organize against the government and eventually fled to Lebanon to avoid reprisals. His grandmother used to live in Tiberias, and his parents raised him with the “sense that Palestine was taken from us, was stolen from us.” Stewing in the grievance toward the unseen Jew left Khalil in a familiar state of resentment. When Klein asked him about the anti-Zionist Jews he worked with while organizing against Israel at Columbia, he answered:
“⁠Having lived in the Middle East most of my life, unfortunately, the only Jew you hear about is the one who’s trying to kill you. For those in Gaza and the West Bank — that’s the only Jewish person they encounter: the one at checkpoints, the one raiding their homes.”

In Syria, Khalil wasn’t around Jews because Syria had made its Jews second-class citizens and then violently drove them away in and around 1948. A more discerning young man raised on nakba ideology might have felt a bit of kinship with them, but Khalil does not appear to have been that young man. As for his contention that the only Jew one meets in Judea and Samaria is some kind of demonic, murderous phantom—well, that level of ingrained ignorance speaks for itself.

That meant, of course, that he liked Jewish Voice for Peace and other anti-Zionist Jews because they “felt that they can’t remain silent while a country is committing crimes in their names, who wanted to fight antisemitism by showing what real Judaism is.” I’m sure Khalil has lots of insight into “what real Judaism is.”
Columbia's Mahmoud Khalil: 'We Couldn't Avoid' Committing October 7 Massacre
Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the anti-Semitic protests that have rocked Columbia University, made excuses for Hamas's bloodthirsty Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel during a Tuesday interview with the New York Times.

"It felt frightening that we had to reach this moment in the Palestinian struggle," Khalil told Times columnist Ezra Klein. "We couldn't avoid such a moment."

Hamas committed the attack "to break the cycle, to break that Palestinians are not being heard," Khalil went on. "That was my interpretation of why Hamas did the October 7 attacks on Israel."

Khalil in the interview also mentioned his work for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which last year fired nine staffers for participating in the October 7 attacks. He hid his work for the agency from his U.S. green card application, prosecutors say.

Khalil, a longtime anti-Semitic activist, last year emerged as a prominent leader of anti-Israel protests, which were organized by the student group Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD). The Trump administration detained Khalil, an Algerian national, in March after revoking his visa and green card. A federal judge ordered his release in June, after which the activist blamed a spike in anti-Semitism on U.S. support for Israel.


AP Writes Puff Piece on Hezbollah 'Victims' of Israeli Pager Attack
The Associated Press reached new heights of terrorist sympathy on Wednesday by publishing a compassionately credulous report on "the human toll of Israel's exploding-pagers attack targeting Hezbollah," the Iranian-funded terrorist group. The AP contacted the Hezbollah public relations department and was given the contact information of several "victims" of the September 2024 attack who agreed to discuss their "slow, painful path to recovery."

Shockingly enough, of the six people the AP interviewed, only one was a young man who admitted to being a terrorist. The rest were women, children, and an innocent "preacher" who taught "religious lessons" to Hezbollah members. The alleged man of faith lost three fingers and was blinded when his terrorist pager exploded. "It was not immediately clear why he had one," the AP reports with remarkable credulity.

Doing what comes naturally, the AP makes sure to note that the United Nations, a thoroughly unserious organization, and other so-called human rights groups have denounced Israel's attack—without a doubt the most precisely targeted anti-terrorism operation in history—as an "indiscriminate" war crime.

Readers are apparently expected to have a sympathetic reaction toward "victims" such as Mahdi Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah terrorist who was preparing to deploy to the Israel border and fire rockets at civilians. His beeper went off, and he went to check for updates from his terrorist bosses. He lost one eye in the explosion, and eventually went blind in his other eye. The terrorist laments that he "can no longer play football." He's depressed because his injuries have made it "impossible now to find a role alongside Hezbollah fighters." Tough break, dude.

"Some children now fear coming near their fathers," the AP writes of the suffering these terrorists have been forced to endure.

The AP mournfully recounts the injuries suffered by women and children, even though Hezbollah admits that "most of those wounded and killed" in the pager attack "were its fighters or personnel." Most of them refused to answer questions about how they got their hands on a terrorist's pager. The wire service spoke to a 12-year-old boy who "picked up the pager that belonged to his father," who was definitely a terrorist because otherwise the AP would have said so. The child was "a member of the Hezbollah scouts," and excelled at "reciting the Quran."


The Spectator's Douglas Murray vs Mohammed Hijab: inside the courtroom battle
The Spectator and Douglas Murray have comprehensively won a defamation case brought by Mohammed Hegab.

Hegab, a YouTuber who posts under the name Mohammed Hijab, claimed that an article about the Leicester riots, written by Douglas Murray and published by The Spectator in September 2022, caused serious harm to his reputation and led to a loss of earnings. However, the judge found that the article did not cause serious harm to Hijab, that what was published was substantially true, and that Hijab had ‘lied on significant issues’ in court and had given evidence that ‘overall, is worthless’. What does this case mean for the future of press freedom?

On today’s podcast, Michael Simmons discusses the case with Alex Wilson, The Spectator’s lawyer, and Max Jeffery, who attended court on behalf of the magazine.


David Mamet storms out of interview over 'inquisition' on his conservative views
Fragoso, seemingly trying to temper the conversation, said he was "genuinely curious" about Mamet's viewpoints. Still, the writer took specific offense to the reference to anti-war protests on college campuses.

"Twenty months prior to my birth, they were throwing Jewish kids into the ovens. So American Jews of the midcentury, our main tactic of accommodation was to keep our heads down and work harder and try to be liked," he said, referencing the Holocaust. David Mamet walks a red carpet during the 11th Rome Film Festival at Auditorium Parco Della Musica on Oct. 18, 2016, in Rome, Italy. What does it mean for something to be is antisemitic? How the age-old hatred manifests

"You know what, I'm not going to debate the Columbia riots with you. Ask me something else," Mamet said. Despite his request to reorient the conversation, the two had seemingly hit a point of no return, with Mamet circling back to what he saw as the antisemitism running rampant throughout the protests.

Protests against the war in Gaza, which spread across college campuses but found a locus at New York's Columbia University, were viewed by some in the Jewish community as promoting antisemitic tropes and encouraging violence against Jews. Proponents of the protests argued they were merely centered on a critique of the state of Israel and U.S. support of it, not the Jewish people writ large.

The two then veered into a back-and-forth about a quip from Mamet that Fragoso looked like he had never been punched in the face. While both men maintained even tones of voice, the acrimony between them was clear with Mamet calling Fragoso "squishy" (a reference to the host's feelings-forward approach) and Fragoso seeming disappointed with the turn the conversation had taken.

"I'm a Jew," Mamet said. "The River to the Sea means kill all the Jews. Support the antifada means kill all the Jews." Those phrases, used among student protestors to voice support for a liberated Palestinian people, were viewed by some in the Jewish community as manifestations of hate.

"For you to say, on the other hand, there may be some people out there that were involved in peaceful protest is (a) loathesome piece of antisemitism," Mamet said. "You don't know what … you're talking about. Thank you for talking to me."

He then got up, leaving Fragoso alone at the interview table looking a bit exasperated and confused, before he turned to the camera and said: "And that was David Mamet."


Young Kids Grapple With Antisemitism in New Book from Journalists Bianna Golodryga, Yonit Levi
Two veteran TV journalists want to help spark a discussion about antisemitism, but not through traditional journalism.

Bianna Golodryga, a longtime presence on CNN, and Yonit Levi, the anchor of Israel’s top primetime news program on Channel 12, have written “Don’t Feed the Lion,” a novel aimed at kids 8 through 12 that tackles topics around hate and bullying. In the book, three kids in Chicago — Theo, his sister Annie, and their new friend Gabe –are forced to grapple with a soccer star who makes an antisemitic remark and a swastika that appears on a school locker.

Published by Arcadia Children’s Books, a division of Arcadia Publishing, “Don’t Feed the Lion” will go on sale November 11.

“The alarming rise in antisemitism and antisemitic incidents has shaken communities around the world. Some of the most impressionable age groups — teens and pre-teens — are trying to make sense of a world that can feel confusing, frightening, or unfair,’ says Golodryga. “Our hope is that this book fosters greater understanding and empathy across all backgrounds and beliefs.”

The duo say they were surprised when visiting libraries and bookstore to find few books about antisemitism that speak directly to young readers, particularly as more incidents of such behavior surface. “We were alarmed by how antisemitism has become more visible and more violent in recent years,” says Levi. “As journalists, we follow these stories every day, but as mothers, we felt a responsibility to help children make sense of them.”

The pair have already won endorsements from notables. “This book is so needed right now,” says actor Gal Gadot. Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots who is also founder of the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, says the new book “shows how a single moment of hate can ripple—and how young people can choose to lead with strength and decency instead.”

“Our hope is that this book starts conversations, not just about antisemitism, but about identity, empathy, and the courage it takes to stand up for one another,” say Golodryga and Levi.
Don’t model antisemitism education on diversity training
So how should we teach students about antisemitism?
We should expose them to varied expressions of antisemitism, from far-right conspiracy theories to far-left anti-Zionist rhetoric. Students should examine classic tropes like the “Jewish cabal” conspiracy, as well as contemporary phenomena such as opposition to Israel’s right to exist cloaked in human rights language. They should be invited to explore how these ideas evolve, mutate and influence public discourse. They should be free to reject any idea, including that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism.

We should present diverse theories about the roots of antisemitism, including religious, economic, nationalist and ideological explanations. Instead of presenting one root cause as dogma, we should let students grapple with competing interpretations, each with its strengths and blind spots. This will equip them to engage thoughtfully with contemporary antisemitism without falling into reductionism.

For example, we should ask students to examine the domestic response and protests to the war in Gaza through multiple lenses: media representation, social media dynamics, political rhetoric and the impact on Jewish communities in the U.S., particularly on college campuses and in K–12 schools. We should encourage them to grapple with difficult questions: When does criticism of Israel cross into antisemitism? How do we distinguish between political disagreement and hate? What responsibilities do educational institutions have in ensuring both open dialogue and the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students?

This approach doesn’t water down the message. It models what liberal education is supposed to do: empower people to think, debate and grow.

We cannot defeat antisemitism by mirroring the same coercive methods that have damaged K–12 schools, higher education and civic life. Let’s reject the illiberal shortcut and rebuild trust by providing a true education on antisemitism — one that respects the minds of students.
Lee Smith: Epsteingate Is Russiagate 2.0
The Mossad angle is even more absurd. It’s hard to know exactly where the idea that he worked for Israeli intelligence first came from, but any conspiracy theory that involves a Jew—and nearly every conspiracy theory worthy of the name involves Jews—is at some point going to have to incorporate a secret Jewish network. Carlson’s obsession merits at least attribution of ownership if not authorship of the Epstein-Mossad narrative, with guest after guest—Glenn Greenwald, Darryl Cooper, Ana Kasparian, etc.—invited to elaborate on Epstein’s putative work for the Mossad.

Here’s the problem with the Mossad theory. For any foreign intelligence service to run an operation of that scope and for that period of time—two decades at least—it would have to avoid the attention of the FBI, which is the U.S. agency responsible for domestic counterintelligence, like catching foreign spies targeting Americans at home. And there’s no evidence the FBI has ever turned a blind eye to Israeli operations in the United States, never mind protected one. For instance, in 1985, the FBI arrested Jonathan Pollard, who was passing classified U.S. intelligence about Arab states to Israel. He served a 30-year sentence and moved to Israel in 2020 after his additional five-year parole expired.

Indeed, far from protecting Mossad agents on its home turf, the FBI is so determined to out Israeli spies that it invents them when there are none. In 2005, the FBI set up a sting operation and charged two American Israel Public Affairs Committee officials for sharing classified information with Israel. Only this time, there was no evidence that the information the men passed to Israeli, as well as American, officials was classified or even real. The DOJ dropped the charges in 2009.

Greenwald told Carlson during their recent chat about Epstein that U.S. spy services regard the Israelis as a major counterintelligence threat. So, then, what are the chances that a decades-long Mossad operation staged in a mansion in the middle of midtown Manhattan that drew in some of the world’s most famous men—some with private security, some even with secret service details—could have escaped the attention of the FBI? Slim. And with Bill Clinton’s reputation at stake, zero.

According to flight manifests unsealed with thousands of other documents days before Epstein’s August 2019 death, Clinton flew on Epstein’s private plane at least 26 times, with some trips including staff, associates, and Secret Service. Contrary to common wisdom regarding Epsteingate, Clinton’s appearance on that list does not support the idea that Epstein was an intelligence asset blackmailing powerful people—rather, it suggests the opposite.
Norway to review sovereign wealth fund's Israel investments
Norway's government said on Tuesday it had ordered a review of its sovereign wealth fund portfolio to ensure that Israeli companies contributing to the "occupation" of the West Bank or the war in Gaza were excluded from investments.

The review followed a report by the Aftenposten daily that said the $1.9 trillion fund had built a stake in 2023-24 in an Israeli jet engine group that provides services to Israel's armed forces, including the maintenance of fighter jets.

The fund's investment in the Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd group is worrying, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told public broadcaster NRK.

"We must get clarification on this because reading about it makes me uneasy," Stoere said.

BSEL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the fund, took a 1.3% stake in BSEL in 2023 and raised this to 2.09% by the end of 2024, holding shares worth $15.2 million, according to the latest available NBIM records.

In light of Aftenposten's story and the security situation in Gaza and the West Bank, the central bank will now conduct a review of NBIM's Israeli holdings, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen told NRK that BSEL had not appeared on any lists of recommended exclusions, such as by the United Nations or the fund's own ethics council.

Norway's parliament in June rejected a proposal for the sovereign wealth fund to divest from all companies with activities in Palestinian territories.
Colombia Buys $1B in Israeli Weapons — Then Bans Israeli Firms From Major Defense Expo
The decision was officially implemented through Corferias, the event organizer, amid deteriorating political relations between Colombia and Israel. Yet it appears paradoxical given the scale of recent defense cooperation: Israel has sold Colombia military equipment worth over $1 billion, including advanced air defense systems such as Barak MX, capable of intercepting ballistic threats. This was reported by Infodefensa.

According to the publication, Israel ranks as Colombia's second most important defense partner in terms of signed contracts. In addition to the Barak MX deal, Colombia has procured a wide range of other Israeli weapon systems in recent years.

This includes 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers ATMOS 2000 from Elbit Systems, Rafael combat modules for LAV-III armored vehicles, specialized equipment to convert two Boeing 737s into electronic warfare aircraft, and ongoing negotiations to locally produce 20,000 IWI Galil assault rifles under license.

Israel has also handled routine maintenance of Colombia's Kfir fighter jets, including servicing of Derby and Python air-to-air missiles, Spike anti-tank missiles for the army, and tactical radios like Taridan from Elbit Systems.

Colombia and Israel have maintained defense ties for 42 years, with a notable uptick in cooperation starting in the 1990s. The current diplomatic chill stems from remarks made by Colombian President Gustavo Petro regarding Israel's actions in Gaza, which led to official suspension of certain bilateral security agreements.

Infodefensa notes that Israeli officials appear to be taking a "wait-and-see" approach, anticipating a change in Colombia's political leadership that could eventually restore defense cooperation.

From Defense Express, we emphasize a broader pattern: Israel's arms export policy is driven primarily by pragmatic commercial logic — selling where it's most profitable, not necessarily where systems are strategically needed. But this approach can backfire, as seen now in Colombia.
Before And After: The Vile Hypocrisy Of Jew Hatred
I started writing my Orange County Jewish Life column (where many of my Substack articles originate) before October 7, 2023. The publisher and I were both aware at the time that antisemitism was rising to an alarming degree – and had been for some time. We both felt that awareness was a key tool in fighting that alarming trend. I have been grateful ever since for the opportunity to write this column for Orange County’s Jewish community.

However, post October 7 - I am not the same person who wrote that first article, and I assume that many of you are not the same either.

I have been very committed to Jewish life ever since I can remember. I am no Tzadik (righteous person), but I have always believed, and felt, that being Jewish is the greatest gift possible. I mean that. We all won the lottery. For me, all things Jewish - Judaism, our history, our customs, our humor, and everything else, has always been fascinating to me (I can thank my father for a lot of that). It’s fascinating to me in ways that nothing else is. I also am “passionate” (a word that is so overused – it’s almost useless now) about other things, so as they used to say: “I have what to compare it to.”

So, I am definitely Jewish-centric, and proudly so. But before October 7, I had more tolerance, and patience, with less overt types of behavior that could be classified, but also weren’t always, antisemitism.

Not anymore. Now I have zero patience for even the slightest appearance of anything that may be a product of an individual’s bias against Jews. To put it another way, I no longer care about the “benefit of the doubt,” whether an individual act is intentional or not, or whether the person expressing those views is “just ignorant.”

I’ve learned that people are far more aware of what they are saying than I thought previously. I’ve also learned that people don’t express negative, or seemingly negative, views about us unless they actually hold those views. That may sound obvious – but it isn’t. What used to seem potentially innocuous, I now know is usually the “tip of the iceberg.”

In fact, I couldn’t care less at this point what causes people to hate Jews. It doesn’t matter. We don’t deserve to be hated (quite the opposite), so their motivations are utterly irrelevant. The “why” is meaningless. The critical factor in the rise of antisemitism, before and after October 7, is that those who expresses those views, and/or acts on them – is doing so because it is socially acceptable for them to do so. Put simply: they do it because they can.
Day after notorious Bob Vylan chant was worst for antisemitism in 2025
Bob Vylan’s notorious chants of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury was immediately followed by the worst day for recorded antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2025, a new report has revealed.

The Community Security Trust recorded 1,521 incidents of Jew-hate between January and the end of June – the second highest total on record and topped only during the first six months of 2024 which saw 2,019 antisemitic incidents following the immediate aftermath of the 7 October Hamas terror attack on Israel.

In a clear sign that responses to October 7th continued to dominate discourse, 779 January-June 2025 incidents – 51% of the overall total – referenced or were linked to Israel, Gaza, the Hamas terror attack or the subsequent conflict.

Every month in the first half of 2025 saw at least 200 incidents, as has every month bar one since the 7 October attack. For comparison, in the first half of 2023, a period unaffected by a significant trigger event in the Middle East, this discourse was present in just 16% of antisemitic incidents.

But the figures also showed that overall antisemitic incidents had fallen by 25% from January-June 2024’s all-time high in the months after the terror attack in southern Israel.

The highest monthly total in the first half of 2025 came in June, with 326 incidents, coinciding with an escalation in the Israeli military operation in Gaza and war between Israel and Iran.

The highest daily total for antisemitic incidents in the first half of 2025 was 26 incidents reported on 29 June, the day after the punk-rap group, Bob Vylan, had led mass chanting of “Death, Death to the IDF” at the Glastonbury Festival, broadcast by the BBC.

The second worst day for anti-Jewish hate was 17 May, when 19 incidents were recorded, 11 of which involved antisemitic placards at an anti-Israel demonstration in London, the day after Israel announced an expansion of its military operation in Gaza.


Episode 34: My life in Al-Qaeda, a conversation with Aimen Dean
Aimen Dean was once a fervent young jihadi fighter, a passionate believer in radical Sunni Islam who had memorized the Quran by 12 and was fighting in the Bosnian jihad by 16.

Haviv talked to Aimen about the religious and psychological journey of a young jihadi, his experiences in the wars in Bosnia and Chechnya, his recruitment by Bin Laden himself in the mountains of Afghanistan, and his sudden and powerful disillusionment, both political and religious, that led him to become an MI6 spy in Al Qaeda's ranks.

They talked about present-day Islam, the "deradicalization" that Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa underwent in recent years, possible better futures for Gaza and whether Israeli-Palestinian peace was still possible. We also talked about why he thinks it's time to end Western experiments in reforming Middle Eastern governance and fall back on what he sees as the most natural and inclusive form of government for the region: The paternalistic monarchy.


States should defund Teach for America, a ‘radical’ terror supporter, Heritage scholar says
Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, stated on Aug. 1 that the Jewish state is guilty of the “mass starvation of innocent civilians” and of inflicting “heartbreaking and inexcusable” trauma on children and families. The word “Hamas” appeared nowhere in her LinkedIn post, titled “Thoughts and updates: standing in solidarity with Palestine.”

“As you all know, Teach for Palestine, our network partner operating in the West Bank, is continuing its vital work despite escalating violence, severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms and displacement and destruction of homes,” Kopp wrote. “As one fellow from Teach for Palestine shared, ‘Education in Palestine is power.'”

Anwar Mohamad Abu Ammash, the head of Teach for Palestine, lauded the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Facebook on Nov. 3, 2023.

“The men of Gaza have defeated Israel’s security and military arrogance and dragged its prestige through the mud of its fortified positions,” Ammash wrote, according to an artificial intelligence translation that Jay Greene and Jason Bedrick, senior research fellow and research fellow, respectively, at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, published in a Daily Signal article.

“It wasn’t hard for us to find Anwar Abu Ammash’s praise for the actions of Hamas on Oct. 7,” Bedrick told JNS. “It was right there on his public Facebook page. One wonders how much due diligence Teach for America did before partnering with him.”

In the article, Greene and Bedrick advise conservatives to stop funding “radical leftists.”

U.S. President Donald Trump “has made a significant dent in this foolish habit,” the two write, yet “conservatives, especially in state governments, continue to fund their political opponents. Case in point? Teach for America, a nonprofit that recruits graduates from selective universities to serve as teachers in challenging urban and rural settings.”
UKLFI: BDS Stickers to be removed from Archway Fruit Stall
Some Jewish passers-by were upset to see these divisive messages on a stall that was owned by Islington Council and complained to UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI). UKLFI wrote to Islington Council requesting their removal on the basis that they were illegal advertisements with no planning permission.

UKLFI further pointed out Islington Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty to have due regard to the need to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

UKLFI also drew attention to provisions of the Public Order Act 1986.

Islington is now set to remove the stickers, having decided that they are “litter” rather than advertisements.

Islington’s spokesperson pointed out that “Given that the stickers will be removed, I do not believe that the Public Sector Equalities Duty or Public Order Act are engaged.”

A UKLFI spokeperson commented: “We are very pleased that the stickers will be eradicated, and that Islington Council has explained how any future stickers found will be swiftly removed if reported to the council’s street cleaning team.”


Two mosques given warnings by Charity Commission over anti-Israel rhetoric
Two British mosques have been given official warnings by the Charity Commission after they were found to have failed to prevent “inflammatory and divisive” anti-Israel sermons and social media posts after the October 7th Hamas attacks.

The Commission opened a case into The Mosque and Islamic Centre of Brent after concerns were raised in the media about speeches held at the charity’s premises. The sermons were promoted on the speaker’s social media channel.

Jewish News understands the sermons were given by Sheikh Babikir Ahmed Babikir and included claims Zionists are plotting to “control the world” and claims “Gaza mujahideen are people whom Allah has chosen, Allah has empowered.”

Babikir had previously told the Telegraph newspaper that he “vehemently” disagreed with the notion that his stance was antisemitic and for “decades” had “emphasised the essence of brotherhood, transcending the bounds of blood ties, encompassing the Islamic and Abrahamic faiths”.

The Commission determined that of five speeches given at the charity’s premises in November and December 2023, four included inflammatory and divisive content, two contained content that could reasonably be interpreted as encouraging support of Hamas, a proscribed organisation, and one could be reasonably interpreted as discouraging worshippers from engaging with democratic processes.

The Commission found that, at the time of the speeches, the charity did not have effective policies in place to manage risks related to speakers at the charity.

In response to the regulator’s concerns, it said the charity’s trustees did not demonstrate that they fully understood the risk of reputational harm being caused by the sermon and were unable to offer adequate assurance that they would take action to prevent a similar failure in the future.


IRGC asks Taliban for leaked 'kill list' of suspected MI6 agents, collaborators
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) requested that the Taliban send them a leaked list of Afghans who assisted the UK during NATO's 20-year-long presence in Afghanistan, British outlet The Telegraph reported on Monday.

According to the report, a senior Iranian official confirmed to The Telegraph that the IRGC formally requested to share the leaked list.

In doing so, IRGC intends to increase its knowledge on spies working for the UK's Secret Intelligence Service, commonly referred to as MI6.

This may assist in granting Iran leverage ahead of nuclear negotiations with the E3 (UK, France, and Germany) slated to occur later this year, the report noted. The E3 has threatened to restore the "snapback mechanism" on Iran's sanctions if no progress is made in negotiations by August 30.

The Taliban's "kill list" sought by the IRGC contains the names of Afghans who applied for asylum, including soldiers for the US-backed administration, which the Taliban ousted in 2021. Some of these soldiers worked with the British Army and were intelligence assets. It is believed that a portion of those on the "kill list" fled to Iran for their own safety when the Taliban took over.


Anger over plan to build conference centre over ancient Jewish graveyard
“We are a secular organisation and we don’t intervene in the internal politics of any country, but our position is that Jewish law must be respected and observed – this is not just a matter for the Lithuanian Jewish population but one of respect for all Jewish people.”

Rabbi Andrew Baker, director of international Jewish affairs for the American Jewish Committee, believes the new government was influenced by the fact the site has become valuable since the erection of an international hotel opposite the cemetery built in anticipation of a conference centre following.

“The decision was unexpected and abrupt - it even took the Mayor of Vilnius, who had identified an alternative site for a conference centre, by surprise - and Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, who made the announcement, has now resigned due to corruption allegations,” he says.

He thinks the new regime was ignorant of or indifferent to the outcry caused by the announcement. “I think those who planned to turn what had been agreed should be a place of Jewish memory into a commercial venture were not aware of the international repercussions this decision will cause.

“The only course of action which would not be in contravention of Jewish law would be to landscape the site without digging into it in and provide Halachic oversight to make sure any development would not be invasive to the ground below. But most of all to keep its use appropriate for a cemetery, as had already been agreed.”
‘Day of Rage’ protests to target Israeli tourists in Greece
Greek left-wing groups and the BDS movement are planning a “Day of Rage” this Sunday, calling for nationwide protests against Israel over its actions in Gaza.

The demonstration, set for major tourist locations during peak travel season, aims to confront Israeli tourists directly and protest what organizers call “war crimes and genocide.”

Recent weeks have seen a surge in anti-Israel protests across Greece, including incidents where Israeli tourists and ships were targeted. The Israeli ambassador’s complaints about antisemitic graffiti in Athens were rebuffed by the city’s mayor, who accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and defended the right to free expression.

The war of words comes amid a series of antisemitic incidents targeting Israelis in Greece since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Last week, two coaches from Israel’s national soccer team were attacked in Athens while speaking Hebrew. In July, an Israeli tourist was assaulted by a group of Syrian migrants at a beach near the Greek capital, with one of them reportedly biting off a piece of his ear. A kosher burger eatery in the city was vandalized last month in full view of staff and patrons.
‘Death to the IDF’: Vandals Target American IDF Vet With Graffiti, Torched Cars
Three cars were torched next to graffiti that read "Death to the IDF" early Tuesday morning in a St. Louis-area incident targeting an American citizen who served in the Israel Defense Forces, according to local police and a Trump administration official.

Another message was also spraypainted on the Clayton, Mo., street, but the local outlet that published the footage, First Alert 4, blurred it "because it’s targeted at a specific individual." According to Leo Terrell, who heads the Trump administration’s anti-Semitism task force, it called the IDF veteran a murderer. He said the three destroyed cars belonged to the vet, his family, and friends.

"I am outraged. Antisemitic violence has no place in America, not in St. Louis and not anywhere," Terrell wrote in an X post. "We will pursue every avenue to bring the perpetrators to justice. If you commit antisemitic hate crimes, you will be caught. And you will be held accountable."

The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, according to the Clayton Police Department. There are no suspects, and no injuries have been reported.

"We are continuing to follow every lead that we have available," Clayton Police Department spokeswoman Jenny Schwartz told the Washington Free Beacon. "We are requesting anyone in the vicinity that has any surveillance footage to forward any possible information that would assist our investigation to our detective bureau."

Nearly 20 percent of Jewish households in Greater St. Louis reside in Clayton and nearby University City, giving it one of the largest Jewish populations in the area, according to Brandeis University.

Several St. Louis Jewish groups condemned the attack in a joint statement Tuesday. "This is more than vandalism; it is a hateful act of intimidation and only the latest example of what happens when antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric are normalized," the groups wrote.


Manchester Charedi community targeted with water guns in vile drive-by stunt
Two men filmed themselves laughing as they fired water pistols at Orthodox men in an as yet unidentified Jewish area of Manchester.

One of the two laughing men inside the Kia car has been named as Jestem Kamil Galanty, a UK resident originally from Poland and part of a group with social media accounts across Youtube, TikTok and Instagram.

In his profile biography, Galanty writes “Jesus First. Polish. Athlete. Artist.”

The water pistol footage was shared on Instagram account @konsp1ra, which also features videos of several Polish men playing a prank on visibly religious Jewish men at an airport and in a supermarket, against the musical background of Jewish song Hava Nagila. Jestem Kamil Galanty. Screenshot: Instagram

It involves using an Apple Pay card sound effect to simulate theft, tapping their phone against a stranger’s phone or wallet, fooling them into thinking they’ve been charged for a transaction.

Beneath each post, the group has written: “This video was made purely for humorous purposes. It is just a joke and not hate speech in any way. Please do not take it the wrong way.”

They also write “Jew-jitsu” with an image of a moneybag beneath another.

Collaborators in the group are referenced as “szmerg1u” or “Mati”, self-described as “The Kingpin of Konsp1ra” and another named only as ‘ga1anty’.


Rare coin from Year Four of the Great Jewish Revolt discovered in Jerusalem
Archaeologists have discovered a rare bronze coin minted by Jews in Jerusalem during the final year of rebellion against the Romans before the destruction of the Second Temple.

Uncovered near the southwest corner of the Temple Mount, the reverse side of the coin carries the inscription in ancient Hebrew script: “For the Redemption of Zion”.

Excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at the same site have revealed remains ranging from the Second Temple period to the Umayyad period (2nd Century BCE—7th Century CE).

Archaeologist Esther Rakow-Mellet called the find “an unexpected gift” and described waiting “anxiously for several days until it came back from cleaning, and it turned out that it was a greeting from the Jewish rebels in the Year Four of the Great Revolt.”

She added: “Two thousand years after the minting of this coin, we come along a few days before Tisha B’Av and find such a moving testimony to that great destruction, and I think there is nothing more symbolic.”

Researcher and curator Yaniv David Levy added: “On its reverse is a lulav, a palm frond used in the Sukkot festival ritual. Next to it are two etrogs, the citron used in that same ritual. The reverse bears the inscription: ‘Year Four’.” The reverse of the coin features a lulav flanked by two etrogs, with the inscription “Year Four.” Photo: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority

“This inscription denotes the number of years since the outbreak of the rebellion and allows us to accurately date the coin to the period between the Hebrew month of Nissan (March-April) of the year 69 CE, and the month of Adar (February-March) of the year 70 CE.”
Athletes, audience at JCC Maccabi Campus Games Opening Ceremonies pay tribute to terror victims
A night of speeches ended in dance. By design, nearly 2,000 teenage Jewish athletes at the JCC Maccabi Campus Games fulfilled the promise of former hostage Mia Schem, who, upon release from Hamas captivity, declared: “We will dance again.”

Those words, which Schem inked on her arm with the date Oct. 7, 2023, were referenced by social-media influencer Montana Tucker during her address to attendees of the Opening Ceremonies of the JCC Maccabi Campus Games.

“From the Maccabees who fought for our freedom thousands of years ago, to our grandparents who survived the Holocaust, to every single one of you standing here tonight, all of us in here are living proof of that spirit,” she said. Those who came here are doing so “not just to compete, but to connect and celebrate, and to show the world that Jewish spirit is stronger than ever, and that we are people who dance again.”

Tucker’s remarks, delivered inside the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center in Oakland on Aug. 4, were among a series of speeches imploring more than 3,000 participants to both promote Jewish joy and embrace the spirit of the Maccabi Games.

Established in 1982 as a North American Olympic-style competition, the JCC Maccabi Games are the signature summer sports event for young Jewish athletes, according to Barak Hermann, president and CEO of the JCC Association of North America. Since its inception, nearly 500,000 youth have participated in the Games, he said.




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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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