Tuesday, September 09, 2025

09/09 Links Pt2: If ‘Palestine’ is born in blood, the world will reap the whirlwind; Tunisia denies Gaza flotilla claims of ‘drone attack’; Memorial for 68 IDF soldiers who fell in 2014 Gaza war

From Ian:

Dalia Ziada: If ‘Palestine’ is born in blood, the world will reap the whirlwind
Every day seems to bring a new, deluded world leader pushing a flawed framework on the Middle East, a region they do not understand. These leaders endorse recognition of a Palestinian state without any peace negotiations with Israel, which is effectively a reward for Hamas carrying out the atrocities of Oct. 7.

Countries worldwide, even unexpected ones like Japan, Canada and Australia, continue to say they may conditionally recognize such a state in the near future. But do they realize what they are endorsing?

Recently, Germany reversed its pledge to recognize a Palestinian state in the immediate future, as it came to realize what a dangerous precedent was being enacted.

Almost two years ago, I was forced to flee my homeland of Egypt at the hands of the radical Islamists, the same chauvinist fanatics who once vowed to “sabotage Western civilization from within.” As a liberal Muslim scholar of the Middle East, who cherishes the values of classical liberal democracy, and who owes the United States my education, my professional growth, and, most recently, my very life, I feel an obligation to sound the alarm against the Muslim Brotherhood and its most dangerous offshoot: Hamas.

Hamas, the Palestinian faction of the Muslim Brotherhood—designated by the U.S. as a Foreign Terrorist Organization—has run Gaza with an iron fist after it violently seized control from the rival Fatah party in June 2007 following a series of armed clashes. It was the mastermind behind and key perpetrator of the barbaric Oct. 7 massacre in Israel in 2023.

Hamas leaders purposefully exposed innocent civilians in Gaza to war so they could use their blood to gain legitimacy for their acts of terrorism, as well as win the sympathy and approval of the international community.

These facts are crucial to recall as several world leaders, under the deception of the Gaza war narrative cleverly crafted by Hamas’s propaganda machine in Qatar, seek to reward terrorism with the premature recognition of a Palestinian state.

Such a move will not bring the peace we all wish for. It will only serve to entrench Hamas, empower the Islamic Republic of Iran, deepen the region’s most chronic geopolitical conflicts and strip the Palestinians of the only real hope they deserve: a future free from Hamas’s tyranny.

Born in blood, this offer will give rise to more blood. The particular rotten proposal being offered would end the prospects for any final settlement short of violence because it essentially demands that Israel sign its own death warrant.
Western nations push for ‘Palestine’ at UN, Israeli experts urge strong response
A coalition of countries led by France—including the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, Australia and Portugal—are preparing to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the 80th United Nations General Assembly (Sept. 9–23) in New York.

Israeli legal experts warn the move will intensify political tensions surrounding the already fraught Israel-Palestinian conflict. They recommend Israel act decisively, urging it to make clear to its allies that any attempt to impose “foreign diktats” will come at a price.

Arsen Ostrovsky, a leading human rights attorney, CEO of the International Legal Forum and senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security, and Anne Herzberg, legal adviser at NGO Monitor, spoke with JNS about the implications of the planned recognitions.

Both agreed that Israel cannot afford to remain passive in the face of what they view as unilateral and destructive moves.

“Israel must make clear to other countries, as they have already, that they will not sit idly by in the face of unilateral recognitions of a Palestinian state,” said Ostrovsky, noting that Israel did well to reject French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent request to visit Israel, and to revoke visas for Australian representatives in Ramallah.

“These countries cannot expect it to be ‘business as usual’ as long as they conduct such actions,” Ostrovsky told JNS, adding that the Palestinian Authority, “which has been spearheading these initiatives,” must also be the subject of “punitive measures.”

He suggested holding its tax revenue and ceasing security collaboration. “You will also likely see some elements of the Israeli government calling for application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria as a response,” he said.
J Street declares war on Israel
J Street’s portrayal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as “messianic extremists” is not just inflammatory—it’s anti-democratic. Israel is a vibrant democracy, and its citizens choose its leaders. To vilify an elected government and call for punitive measures against it is to reject the legitimacy of Israeli democracy itself.

J Street’s rhetoric drives a wedge between American Jews and Israelis, sowing division at a time when unity is most needed. Ben-Ami’s organization seeks to rip apart the longstanding bipartisan support for Israel in Congress and shepherd the Democratic Party into the anti-Israel radical camp.

J Street claims to be guided by Jewish ethics, invoking the principle “do not treat others as we would not want to be treated ourselves.” Yet it fails to apply this principle to Hamas, a terrorist organization that targets civilians, uses human shields, and openly calls for Israel’s destruction. By focusing its ire almost exclusively on Israel, J Street creates a false moral equivalence between a democratic state defending itself and a terrorist regime bent on annihilation.

J Street’s vision of peace—one that hinges on pressuring Israel into concessions while ignoring Palestinian murder, incitement, corruption, and rejectionism—is a fantasy, one rejected by Israel’s citizens. Real peace requires mutual recognition, security guarantees, and an end to terrorism. By calling for restrictions on Israel’s ability to defend itself, J Street empowers those who seek to destroy it. That is not peace advocacy; it is sabotage.

Ben-Ami may claim J Street supports Israel, but its actions tell a different story. By lobbying to cut off military aid, demonizing Israel’s leadership, and promoting a one-sided narrative, it has positioned itself not as a partner for peace but as an adversary. In doing so, J Street has declared war—not on violence or extremism, but on Israel itself.


Aviva Klompas: Statehood recognition without reality achieves nothing
The history of Gaza since 2005 proves the point. That year, Israel unilaterally withdrew every Israeli from the strip. Peace has not followed. Instead, Hamas won the 2006 parliamentary vote, seized Gaza the following year and has ruled ever since with brutality and fanaticism. Rather than serving as a pilot project for Palestinian self-rule, withdrawal and elections produced a rocket statelet and a cycle of wars.

The argument that statehood would strengthen “moderates,” inspire hope and undercut Hamas is not borne out in the West Bank either. Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, is in the 19th year of a four-year term. He has canceled election after election for fear Hamas would win (and polling suggests it likely would). Even if Mr. Abbas’ Fatah prevailed, the Palestinian Authority’s practices offer little reassurance. By naming public squares after terrorists, teaching schoolchildren to imagine a world without Israel, and paying stipends to attackers and their families, the Palestinian Authority has crafted a political culture based on antisemitism.

Within this context, what (and who) would recognition empower? An unelected authority despised by its people? Or an Islamist movement that vows Israel’s destruction? Terrorists the world over would be empowered by recognition. Hamas has long claimed that “resistance,” not negotiation, forces the world’s hand. Recognizing Palestinian statehood in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023, would validate that message.

Sovereignty is a right and a responsibility. It carries preconditions: security for citizens, accountability under the law, the rejection of terrorism and a willingness to live alongside neighbors in peace.

Make no mistake, the moral case for Palestinian self-determination is real, as is the moral case for Israeli self-preservation. Israel is behaving rationally by insisting that it will not jeopardize its security to guarantee the statehood of another. Any road map to Palestinian statehood must, therefore, be worthy of both Israeli and Palestinian security. This begins with a basic diplomatic ethic: Align symbols with substance.

This means conditioning every diplomatic upgrade on offer to the Palestinians according to measurable reforms, such as abolishing terrorist stipends, purging the incitement of antisemitic violence from textbooks, guaranteeing fair elections, and proclaiming clearly to Palestinian audiences that peace means two nation-states for two peoples, one of them Jewish.

It also means Palestinians must reconcile with the hard truth that a “right of return” is incompatible with a two-state solution. Leaders who promise maximalist dreams are not preparing their people for peace — only for endless conflict.

Finally, recognition should be conditioned on Palestinians building the institutions and embracing the ideas that make coexistence possible. Ultimately, symbols are a starting point, not an end.

Until these conditions can be met, bestowing statehood is not an act of courage. It is the continuation of misery in Gaza, the repetition of past mistakes and the proof of a too-often-forgotten maxim in diplomacy: Don’t confer what you can’t enforce.
Unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state violates UN charter
It is reported that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, emboldened by the pronouncements of the Perfidious Quartet, hopes to declare a Palestinian state at the United Nations. However, the United Nations did not create Israel. In point of fact, U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181 was merely a recommendation that was never implemented. It was unequivocally rejected by the Arab world, which invaded Israel and sought by force of arms to eliminate any possibility of a Jewish state in any part of Israel, then referred to as the Mandate of Palestine. Thank God, Israel defeated them.

It is important to note that there is no reference in Resolution 181 to a so-called “Palestinian people.” The label was invented more than a decade and a half later. There was also no reference to a so-called “West Bank.” This was also an artificial construct by Jordan, which illegally annexed it to distinguish it from Jordan proper on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Resolution 181 just referred to the area as the hill country of Samaria and Judea.

It is critical to appreciate that the U.N. Charter explicitly provides, in Article 80, that:
“ … nothing in this chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which members of the United Nations may respectively be parties.”

Thus, the rights of the Jewish people to Israel described above, under the San Remo Declaration, as unanimously adopted by the Council of the League of Nations, take precedence over any U.N. resolution.

The League of Nations council resolution effectively confirmed the Jewish people as the recognized indigenous people of Palestine for more than 3,500 years and rejected the claims of others. This demolishes the fallacious claim that Jews are just modern-day colonialists.

The resolution did not purport to grant the Jewish people a newly minted right to Palestine; rather, it recorded that recognition had been given to the “grounds for” reconstituting their national home. Thus, it was a pre-existing legal right that was recognized and acknowledged. Consistent with this principle, it called for “reconstituting” the Jewish people’s national home in their homeland of Palestine.

The use of the term “country” in the council resolution is also cogent. It was no longer referred to as a geographical territory in the former Ottoman Empire; rather, Palestine was now referred to as a country. The sovereignty and legal title to the country of Palestine were vested in the Jewish people.

Most importantly for this discussion, Article 5 of the council’s resolution provided that: “[N]o Palestine territory shall be ceded or leased to or in any way placed under the control of the government of any foreign power.”

In essence, the title to the country of Palestine granted to the Jewish people at San Remo could not be revoked or granted to another by the mandatory authority or the League of Nations. This legally includes the United Nations as the successor to the league.
As the UN General Assembly meets this week, they’ll have a vocal new critic: Linda Frum
The United Nations General Assembly gets to work this week, beginning its 80th anniversary session on Sept. 9. And as the ambassadors gather in New York, there will be a new pair of Canadian eyes keeping tabs on how the world’s parliament lives up to its mandate of equitably improving human rights, especially on the Israel-Palestine file.

Former senator Linda Frum has been appointed the new chair of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization that has, for decades, exposed an alleged anti-Israel bias on the global stage. In the last few years, UN Watch has directed its lens in particular toward the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, which employed at least nine staffers who were possibly involved with the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel—and who were subsequently fired in the summer of 2024.

Frum steps onto the stage at what could be a pivotal moment in Middle Eastern history. The UN will bring world leaders together in a few weeks for a summit wherein many countries, including Canada, have signalled they will formally recognize Palestinian statehood. It’s a move Frum feels is “very dangerous” for the Jewish community here, as it will raise temperatures at home and put “a target on the back of every Jewish Canadian citizen.”

On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner is joined by both Linda Frum and UN Watch’s executive director, Hillel Neuer, a Canadian lawyer, to take a look ahead at the UN’s fall agenda and what’s at stake.


Cindy McCain facing calls to resign from UN post over failure to distribute emergency food in Gaza
Calls are mounting in both Congress and the Trump administration for the widow of late Arizona Sen. John McCain to resign from or be forced out of her United Nations post overseeing food distribution in the Gaza Strip, following months of botched aid drop-offs and rampant looting by Hamas.

UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain has been criticized by ex-colleagues, lawmakers and officials for failing to work with Israel’s military and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to provide food, water and other assistance to Palestinians.

“If WFP was doing its job,” one senior US official told The Post, “Hamas wouldn’t be enriched and able to continue to prolong the war.”

“It’s wild incompetence,” this person added of McCain. “She’s either a useful idiot or she’s an active accomplice in what is ultimately an enormous, fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars.”

Another former WFP official called McCain “a disaster,” adding that she was known to be doing the job from her home state of Arizona — while the global agency she ostensibly runs is “taking orders” from other officials in New York.

“She’s treating this like it’s some kind of a board chairmanship that you don’t really have to show up for, and it’s not that,” the official fumed. “It’s a highly operational job.”

In August alone, all but two of 2,309 trucks were intercepted and cleared out in Gaza, either by starving Palestinians or “forcefully armed actors,” according to a UN data tracking dashboard.

Nearly 33 tons have been ransacked off the vehicles since May of this year.

“If we learned anything from the reveal of USAID, it’s that billions of American tax dollars were misspent in every corner of the globe — and the public was kept in the dark,” said Jonathan Wilcox, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

“The US invests billions every year in the World Food Programme, and we have a right to expect the kind of transparency, efficiency and cooperation that reports indicate isn’t happening. It’s ‘trust, but verify’ time.”


Trump says Elizabeth Tsurkov, held hostage in Iraq for two years, is free
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov, 38, an Israeli born to Russian parents who was taken from Baghdad two years ago, has been freed.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton student, whose sister is an American citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah” and is now “safely in the American embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” the president wrote on Truth Social.

He also called on Hamas to release the 50 hostages, both alive and dead, who have been held in captivity in Gaza since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks that killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Tsurkov, who is Jewish, was kidnapped by the Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah (“The Battalions of the Party of God”) in early 2023 while studying in Baghdad for her Ph.D. dissertation.

She is believed to have been tortured for months.


Israeli envoy in Berlin: Attack on Elbit office is ‘terror’
Following vandalism at an office of Elbit Systems in Germany on Monday, Israel’s ambassador in Berlin, Ron Prosor, called the action an “act of terrorism” that should be punished severely.

“These attacks are terrorist acts—they must be called by their name and punished severely,” Prosor wrote on X about the action in Ulm, a city situated about 90 miles from Munich.

Police said five suspects were arrested after allegedly attacking the company entrance, leaving graffiti with political messages, setting off at least one smoke grenade and entering the premises.

Officers detained some of the suspects without resistance on the upper floor of the building. “Antisemitism and terror must have no place in Germany,” wrote Prosor, who added that the perpetrators were supporters of Hamas.

Authorities believe the vandalism was politically motivated, the DPA news agency reported.

The damage is estimated in the low six-figure range, according to the State Criminal Police Office.
Microsoft Under Siege
No Azure’s actions are part of a broader campaign of pro-Palestinian radicalism in Seattle. That campaign accelerated in May, when an occupation of the University of Washington’s brand-new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building culminated in the arrests of 33 demonstrators. The protesters blocked entrances, set dumpsters on fire, created explosions using e-scooters, and were ultimately removed from the building by force.

While many of the UW protesters were affiliated with Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER UW), some were also involved with other groups. Anna Hattle and Jade Chen Wu, for example, were arrested at both UW and a later No Azure event.

The University of Washington suspended SUPER UW in fall 2024, but the group continues to operate on campus and collaborate with No Azure. SUPER UW recently co-hosted an event called “Genocidal Tech is Cooked” with No Azure and joined the Microsoft demonstrators in endorsing an upcoming march for Gaza.

A week after the occupation of the engineering building, a new organization called Nidal was formed in Seattle. (Nidal is the Arabic word for “struggle.”) The group’s militancy is reflected in its logo, which resembles an AK-47 turned upside down.

Nidal’s mission is to create “a culture of resistance that resembles the one back home.” Its manifesto cites Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine spokesman Ghassan Kanafani as models. The group’s aim is to create a “popular cradle” that will support resistance from within the “imperial core.”

It has focused its activism on the fate of the “UW33,” the 33 activists and University of Washington students arrested during the occupation of the engineering building. Nidal, which has organized an event with SUPER UW, has called for all suspensions and charges to be dropped. The group also advocated for the release of Elias Rodriguez, who allegedly murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in D.C., and expressed its “firm solidarity” with Palestine Action UK, which has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom.

Nidal, No Azure, and the UW33 are part of a larger radical contingent in Seattle. The city is home to groups like Sông2Sea, South Asians Resisting Imperialism, bil-Yad, and the Kashmir Resistance Collective, which variously host radical teach-ins, organize fundraisers, and align themselves with the city’s more militant movements.

Will activists who break the law be held responsible? The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office still has not pressed charges for the vandalism at UW.

“Will people be held accountable for the million-plus dollars’ worth of damage? The answer is yes, if there’s evidence to do so,” office spokesperson Casey McNerthney told local news. “And many people would look and say, ‘You’re in the building; there’s a lot of damage.’ That’s enough evidence for me, but it’s not enough evidence under the law.”

It’s little wonder that Microsoft has sought the local FBI office’s involvement. Still, federal law enforcement officials should look beyond No Azure and its network of tech workers. That group is merely one head of a much larger hydra—one that could inspire radicals in other cities if it is not disrupted.


Tunisia denies Gaza flotilla claims of ‘drone attack’
Tunisian authorities have disputed the claim by activists aboard a Gaza-bound humanitarian flotilla on Monday that one of its boats had been struck by a drone.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which seeks to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, said on social media that “one of the main boats … was struck by what is suspected to be a drone,” causing no injuries, France 24 reported. The vessel had anchored about 50 miles from the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said when the incident occurred.

An AFP journalist on site reported that a fire broke out on board but was quickly extinguished. Tunisian national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli said investigators found “no drones have been detected,” and preliminary findings suggested the blaze began in the boat’s life jackets, possibly from a cigarette. The national guard described reports of a drone strike as “completely unfounded.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla describes itself as independent and not affiliated with any government or political party. Among its participants is Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who addressed pro-Palestinian supporters in Tunisia on Sunday.

Israel has already blocked a flotilla attempt carrying Thunberg in June. She was returned to her native Sweden and banned from entering Israel, along with another 11 anti-Israel accompanying activists, for 100 years.

In her second attempt, Thunberg is joined by hundreds of other anti-Israel activists in what Reuters described as the largest Gaza flotilla to date.


Cotton to Education Department: Investigate ‘Possibly Illegal’ Partnership Between ‘Pro-Terrorist’ CAIR and K-12 Schools
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) on Tuesday petitioned the Department of Education to investigate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for running "possibly illegal" anti-Israel educational initiatives inside the country’s public schools.

CAIR, whose leaders celebrated Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree, announced late last month its Philadelphia office is partnering with K-12 schools across Pennsylvania and Delaware "to make sure every student feels seen, safe, and supported." While the advocacy group says it wants to make public schools "more inclusive," its lesson plans actually "perpetuate pro-terrorist, anti-Israel rhetoric," Cotton wrote in his letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon.

These lesson plans include a handbook for teaching a course titled, "Teaching September 11, 2001 in Diverse Classrooms"—which instructs educators to avoid using "inaccurate and inflammatory terms such as ‘Islamic terrorists,’ ‘jihadists,’ or ‘radical Islamic terrorists’" when discussing the al Qaeda attack—and a class that focuses on "American Jews and Political Power."

"Such an organization should never have access to our nation's children," Cotton wrote. "The U.S. Department of Education must ensure that CAIR is not given an opportunity to push its radical, pro-terrorist, anti-Israel ideology on American schoolchildren."

In its "Educator’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices," CAIR argues "jihad" does not refer to "violence committed in the name of Islam," but to the internal struggle "to become a better person." The organization also claims "most" oppression of Muslim women "is not related to their adherence to Islam, but rather tied to local customs and traditions."

Other courses include "What is Sharia?" and "Politics, Islam and Violence."

The "American Jews and Political Power" class asks students to examine "the controversial topic if [sic] Jewish political power in a fair and balanced manner" and "discuss the key organizations in the American Jewish Community," like the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The course description says students will learn about "the heated debate inside the Jewish establishment over Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands" as well as "the young Jewish activists who are supporting the [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] campaign," a global movement that seeks to use economic warfare to bring about the end of the Jewish state.
In a Previous Life, He Ran an Organization That Funneled Money to Hamas. Now He's a Journalism Professor at Northwestern.
Northwestern University describes journalism professor Ibrahim Abusharif as a "former book publisher" who "has been involved in projects to translate—from Arabic into English—the Quran." It does not give examples of those projects, perhaps because they include the Quranic Literacy Institute (QLI), an organization Abusharif cofounded that raised and laundered money for Hamas and was forced to pay damages to the family of a teenaged terror victim.

Abusharif is a Chicago native who received his master's degree from Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism and worked as a senior lecturer at the university's Evanston campus in 2008. From there, he moved to Qatar, where he's served as an assistant and then associate professor of journalism at Northwestern's Doha campus for more than 17 years.

But Abusharif has not always worked in academia. From 1990 to 1998, he served as cofounder and treasurer of the QLI, an organization in suburban Chicago that ostensibly worked to "translate and publish sacred Islamic texts." It was actually a "money-laundering clearinghouse" for Hamas, as revealed in an early 2000s lawsuit from the family of David Boim, a 17-year-old American killed in a 1996 Hamas terror attack in Jerusalem. A federal court found QLI liable for the attack in a 2004 ruling that provided the Boim family with $156 million in damages. That ruling was re-affirmed in 2008.

Abusharif's status as a Northwestern Qatar professor is one example of how the university's partnership with the Gulf State "contributes to the creation of a hostile environment for Northwestern's Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students," according to a recent Middle East Forum report.

Abusharif teaches the "Doha Seminar," a required course for Northwestern students who spend a semester in Qatar before returning to Evanston. The seminar "discusses issues relevant to Qatar and the Gulf"—including "history," "arts and culture," and "regional and international foreign policy"—and examines "the interplay between modernity and tradition in Qatar." In other words, it exists to "promote the Qatari government's narrative," the Middle East Forum report states.

As QLI's treasurer, Abusharif oversaw the finances of an organization that in 1991 used nearly $1 million from a Saudi terror financier to purchase a rental property. Rather than keep the rental income for itself, QLI funneled it to Mohammad Salah, a Hamas operative whom QLI employed as a "computer analyst" to provide him cover for Hamas activities.

Salah, according to the Boim family's May 2000 complaint, took his cues from Mousa Abu Marzook, a former U.S. resident who served as Hamas's de facto foreign minister in America before his imprisonment in 1995 and subsequent deportation to Jordan in 1997. When Israel deported hundreds of Hamas terrorists to Lebanon in December 1992, the complaint states, Marzook directed Salah to "go to Israel" and "distribute $790,000 to Hamas cells" to shore up the terror outfit's chain of command.
Jewish Voice for Peace chapter encourages masks at protest despite ban at Temple University
The Jewish Voice for Peace chapter at Temple University encouraged participants of a recent protest to wear masks despite a change in the school’s code of conduct prohibiting them, the Temple News, a student paper, reported on Tuesday.

The Philadelphia public university’s code of conduct, updated at the start of the school year, now includes an “identity concealment” rule that prohibits students from wearing masks with the intent to intimidate any person or group, or for the purpose of evading identification while violating the law or university policy, according to the paper.

The changes, including the mask ban, were made in response to recommendations from the Anti-Defamation League, Temple president John Fry stated on Aug. 25.

Members of Temple Action Solidarity Coalition, a coalition that includes Jewish Voice for Peace, engaged in a protest on Sept. 4, after the guideline changes.

The chapter’s co-president stated that “demonstrators were told to wear masks for their safety, not for the purpose of engaging in harassment or intimidation,” according to the paper.

The changes, which also include explicitly referencing prohibited forms of conduct that include Jew-hatred and “anti-Israeli discrimination,” come after Temple received a “C” grade on the ADL’s Campus Antisemitism Report Card.


Davie: BBC aired ‘antisemitic broadcast’ with Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury show
BBC director general Tim Davie has admitted the corporation aired “an antisemitic broadcast” with its coverage of Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury Festival performance.

Appearing before the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Westminster, Davie said that broadcasting the concert, at which the lead singer led chants of ‘death, death to the IDF’ was a “very significant mistake”.

He added, “I knew absolutely that it was an antisemitic broadcast. I mean, the BBC made a very significant mistake.”

The rapper Bobby Vylan had launched into an incendiary rant at one stage about “Zionists”

Davie told the MPs he had arrived at the festival himself in June at around 5pm, a couple of hours after Bob Vylan’s concert had been aired by the BBC.

He added:”I don’t think I misread it, I just got there when I heard about it (at) about five o’clock … the performance was well done by then, and at that point I knew absolutely that it was an antisemitic broadcast.

“So, my decision to get that off on demand, simple as that, I mean, it wasn’t too complicated in my mind, and to your point, I do think it was deeply disturbing, deeply disturbing.

“I mean, personally, I’ve talked to many people about this, I thought was deeply disturbing what happened, I mean, the BBC made a very significant mistake, very significant, in broadcasting that.

“But you know the fact that those words were broadcast to that broad audience, it was frankly to your point, it was disturbing.”

Discussing the BBC’s response to the decision to broadcast Bob Vylan’s performance, Davie confirmed that those responsible were facing an ongoing process.


August 11th: IDF kills Hamas terror cell leader posing as ‘Al Jazeera’ journalist
The Israel Defense Forces killed Anas al-Sharif, who posed as a journalist for the Qatari Al Jazeera network but was actively serving as the head of a Hamas terrorist cell.

Al-Sharif, who was slain in Gaza City on Saturday, was responsible for orchestrating and advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, the Israeli military said.

The IDF previously released intelligence and recovered many documents in Gaza that confirmed al-Sharif’s “military” role within Hamas. These materials include personnel rosters, records of terrorist training courses, phone directories and salary documents, all substantiating his involvement as a combatant and commander in Hamas.

The evidence also highlighted al-Sharif’s integration within Al Jazeera, despite the media network’s efforts to distance itself from his activities.

The documents detail al-Sharif’s position as a fighter and cell leader since his enlistment in Hamas in 2013, including his leadership in rocket units and participation in elite Nukhba battalions. These records not only show clear affiliation with terrorist operations but also outline attempts to use journalistic credentials as a cover for operational activity.

“A terrorist with a camera is still a terrorist! I commend our security forces for eliminating the terrorist Anas Jamal Mahmoud Al-Sharif, who operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist,” Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon wrote in an X post on Sunday.
Censored tweet:
In a wedding video of Anas al-Sharif (03:09), his bride is Bayan Khaled Hasan al-Sinwar.
How close were Anas and Yahya Sinwar?
Despite media claims of “no connection” could Anas have been FAMILY?
This thread unpacks the secret the media maybe tried to hide.




Only let congregants on security teams bring guns to synagogue, security group advises
American congregations shouldn’t allow individuals to carry weapons to synagogue unless they are part of the synagogue’s volunteer security team, according to Michael Masters, national director and CEO of the Secure Community Network.

“Allowing individuals in an unstructured, unplanned way to carry guns in a house of worship is simply not a viable or responsible option given the threat environment or the potential impacts of doing that,” he told JNS.

Synagogues that allow arms ought to do so via organized teams “with clear roles and responsibilities, trained for threat recognition and response, coordinated with local law enforcement and governed by policies that ensure legal and ethical accountability,” according to a new report from SCN, a partner of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Masters told JNS that “far too few” Jewish congregations have a “thoroughly vetted, well-thought-out” gun policy.

When asked if people ought to carry guns to protect themselves and their families, the network responds that “the answer isn’t simple and it changes whether you’re trying to protect your family, yourself and your home, if you’re walking down the street or you’re walking into a synagogue or a Jewish facility.”

Masters told JNS that millions of Americans have bought guns in the past five years, “many for the first time.” “Among them are Jewish families and synagogue members, who now feel compelled to train and prepare,” he said.
‘Deeply disappointed’ Chicago office excluded Jewish groups from hearing, 18 aldermen say
A hearing of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, a city agency, excluded Jewish organizations on Monday and thus “largely downplayed the true scope of antisemitism in our city,” according to 18 city aldermen, including Debra Silverstein, the only Jewish member of the Chicago City Council.

“We are deeply disappointed in how today’s antisemitism hearing, hosted by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, was conducted,” the 18 aldermen wrote. “At a time when antisemitic hate crimes are rising across Chicago, this hearing should have been an opportunity to confront that reality head-on.”

Instead, the city representatives state, Brandon Johnson, the city mayor, and the commission “excluded most major Jewish organizations from participating in planning the hearing and invited only two actual victims of anti-Jewish hate to testify, out of nearly 30 speakers.”

The aldermen said that they hear from victims of Jew-hatred “daily.”

“We interact with Jewish Chicagoans who are being harassed, assaulted and targeted. Jewish Chicagoans who were not offered a voice at today’s hearing,” they said. “Synagogues and schools are under constant threat. The Jewish community lives this reality every day, and yet mainstream Jewish voices were pushed aside when planning CCHR’s hearing.”

The hearing, they said, “appeared designed to minimize or politicize antisemitism, treating it solely as a problem of the far right, while ignoring the full scope of threats Jewish Chicagoans face daily.”

The 18 representatives insisted that city leaders “stop treating antisemitism as a political issue and start treating it as the urgent crisis it is.”
Australia sees near-daily antisemitic incidents: 'Situation reached a boiling point'
Australia, once considered a safe haven for Jews and Israeli visitors, has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents, including the arson attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue during services and violent pro-Palestinian protests outside celebrity chef Eyal Shani’s restaurant, which involved smashed windows, thrown chairs, and chants of “Death to the IDF.” These events mark an alarming escalation of antisemitic acts following Hamas’ October 7 terror attack. According to the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAM), 198 antisemitic incidents were recorded in Australia from January through August 2025. The breakdown by state: New South Wales – 84; Victoria – 68; Queensland – 18; Western Australia – 9; South Australia – 6; the Australian Capital Territory – 8; Tasmania – 1; and 4 unassigned.

In response, CAM convened an emergency summit on the Gold Coast in collaboration with Mayor Tom Tate, drawing hundreds of government officials, local leaders, council members, faith and community figures, diplomats, cultural influencers, educators, artists, and business leaders. Discussions focused on creating policies and actionable plans to combat antisemitism and curb the rising wave of anti-Jewish hatred.

Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told attendees, “The Jewish community in Australia deserves the same security and protection as any other Australian citizen. We must do everything possible to eradicate antisemitism.”

CAM board member Robert Singer emphasized the local impact of leaders, saying, “Mayors are not distant policymakers. You can deploy police, protect schools and synagogues, and create public spaces where communities come together rather than drift apart.”

Alex Rivchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), warned that ignoring antisemitic events undermines essential policies and community support. “Denial of antisemitism is the main obstacle to its eradication,” he said.
Suspect in vandalism of Philadelphia Jewish museum turns himself in
A suspect connected to the recent vandalism at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia has turned himself in to police, the local NBC outlet reported on Tuesday.

On Aug. 18, an Israeli flag banner on the front of the museum was vandalized with red paint sprayed over words that read, “The Weitzman Stands With Israel.” The museum’s flag, which had been cleaned, and more sections of the building’s outside areas were again spray-painted in a separate incident on Aug. 25.

While the person is expected to face charges in connection with the incidents, an investigation into the vandalism remains ongoing, police said.

After the second incident, the museum said it would not replace the flag, instead deciding to “expedite” the placement of a “hostage-focused sign” planned to go up outside the building closer to the second anniversary of the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The museum reversed course on that decision, choosing to hang both banners after an immediate backlash from the community.

“What we certainly did not intend with this plan was to create a perception that we were capitulating to vandals or had somehow walked back our position of unequivocal support for Israel and its people,” Dan Tadmor, the museum’s president and CEO, stated in August.


Finland Deploys Israeli Gabriel-5 Missile
The Finnish Navy has officially placed the Israeli-made Gabriel-5 missile into operational service after a series of extensive exercises.

The Gabriel-5 has been installed on board the Hamina-class fast-attack missile boats, significantly expanding the Finnish Navy's strike capabilities.

Manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, the missile has combined anti-ship and land attack capabilities with a range of 300 km. at high speed.

The missile does not fly in a straight line toward its target, making it difficult to detect and hit. It also features sea-skimming capabilities that make it difficult for radars to detect and intercept.


Bill Ackman talks about ‘best investment,’ Oct. 7 and rise of antisemitism
American hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman said on Tuesday that his acquisition of 5% of the Israeli stock market was “one of the best investments” he made in his life, adding that he sees a bright future for the Israeli economy, which has proven to be resilient through regional turmoil since the start of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

“Less than two years ago, I predicted that there was no better time to invest in Israel, and I’m proud to say I was right,” he told JNS after ringing the opening bell of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange during a visit to the Jewish state.

Last year, the 59-year-old billionaire investor and his Israeli-born wife, Neri Oxman, spent $25 million for an equity stake of around 4.9% in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

“Owning an exchange is like owning a royalty on the success of a country,” said the CEO of the New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund.

The investor is one of the most prominent and influential figures in the U.S. capital market. He has been a staunch and vocal supporter of the Jewish state in the nearly two-year-old war against Hamas in Gaza, triggered by the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“I come from a very proud Jewish family, which was very supportive of Israel,” he said at the special Tel Aviv ceremony, citing the influence of both his late father, who was concerned over mounting antisemitism even before the Hamas attack, and his wife.

Ackman called the terrorist invasion “one of the worst days of my life,” which caused him to recognize that the simmering hatred his father had warned him about in a letter shortly before his death three years ago was “a much bigger problem in the world” than he had ever thought.

“I realized there was a much bigger problem in the world. That realization came from my own university, where 34 student organizations released a letter saying, ‘Israel is solely responsible for the acts of Hamas,’ even though Hamas was still operating on Israeli soil,” he stated.


Memorial inaugurated for 68 IDF soldiers who fell in 2014 Gaza war
The historic amphitheater in the Gvar’am Forest was officially reopened on Sunday as a memorial for the 68 IDF soldiers who fell during Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza in 2014.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by bereaved families, public officials, and representatives of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael–Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF).

“My son went out to fight for his home. For us, Protective Edge was not just an operation, it was a war for our existence, for our lives here,” said Shmuel Lavi, father of Captain Liad Lavi, who fell during the battle. “In the 11 years that have passed since, the pain has not lessened, and we have come to understand that this was not a passing moment but an ongoing reality,” he added.

The renewed site includes two main elements: a restored 1,400-seat amphitheater for cultural and community events, and a memorial plaza with 68 commemoration circles. Each circle contains an oak tree planted in memory of a fallen soldier, with design features developed in consultation with bereaved families. A memorial wall bearing the names of the fallen stands beside the plaza.

Launched in July 2014, Operation Protective Edge lasted nearly 50 days and was among the IDF’s most difficult and protracted campaigns in Gaza. Sixty-eight soldiers and five civilians were killed. The Gvar’am site is the first official memorial established in their honor. Its location, just a short distance from the Gaza border—an area that endured heavy rocket fire for some two decades—was deliberately chosen.

“The amphitheater inaugurated here, close to the Gaza border, will carry the memory of the fallen of Protective Edge. But above all, it will be filled with people, children and families coming to celebrate and live life, and that is the true victory,” said Ifat Ovadia-Luski, chairwoman of KKL-JNF. “This place will connect the story of those who fought for this land with the generations who will continue to grow here.”
StandWithUs Special Briefing with Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani and Diane Neal
Join StandWithUs TV for "Special Briefing". We’ll have the latest from the frontline with IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani and will be joined by “Law & Order: SVU” actress Diane Neal sharing her experience making Aliyah and advocating for Israel amid the global misinformation campaign.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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