Saturday, November 08, 2025

11/08 Links: Hamas claims to recover body of Hadar Goldin, IDF soldier killed in 2014 war; Why Britain’s Jews no longer feel at home; The Overton Window and Zohran Mamdani: How Antisemitism Became Respectable Again

From Ian:

Why Britain’s Jews no longer feel at home
There are now streets we must avoid at the weekend, football matches it is no longer safe to attend. Pupils at Jewish schools are now told to hide the school’s emblem on their uniforms to avoid harassment. The often celebrity-led campaigns to exclude Israelis from academia, culture and sport have picked up pace. Even in the National Health Service, there are growing concerns over anti-Semitism among medical staff.

In the media, our own national broadcaster, the BBC, still won’t call Hamas ‘terrorists’ and happily broadcast the threat to kill Jews, ‘Death, death to the IDF’, during its coverage of the Glastonbury festival. Just last month, renowned interviewer Louis Theroux put out his latest podcast, a lovely cosy chat with the creator of the ‘Death to the IDF’ chant, punk-rapper Bobby Vylan. During the podcast, Theroux and Vylan revealed they both essentially equate Zionism with white supremacy. As Theroux put it, ‘Jewish identity in the Jewish community, as expressed in Israel, has become almost like an acceptable, quote, unquote, way of understanding ethno-nationalism’.

Hearing someone as mainstream as Theroux not only nod along, but also seemingly agree with such an obnoxious idea is a powerful reminder of just how far the constant demonisation of Israel has gone.

The hatred among our cultural and political elites towards the Jewish State, the determination to prioritise the war in Gaza over all other conflicts, has unsurprisingly – albeit, in some cases, unintentionally – led to the demonisation of Jewish people. The line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism has all but disappeared. That is why the British Jewish community was not surprised by the Manchester synagogue attack, carried out in the name of the Islamic State. We knew something like that was inevitable.

We Jews now live with the constant hum of anti-Semitism as the background noise to our lives – something I would have considered unthinkable when I was growing up, rarely fearful of being Jewish. We can still go about our day-to-day business, and nowhere is expressly verboten, but something has changed. It may be imperceptible to our non-Jewish friends, but we now change our behaviour in myriad, tiny ways. The internal Alvy Singer voice is always piping up, and now we are listening. My husband and I moved to our new house two years ago, but it remains without a mezuzah (a religious parchment in a small ornamental case hung on a door post) – because we worry about indicating that Jews live there. The cheder (Sunday religion school) where I bring my children runs armed-attacker drills, and after Yom Kippur our rabbi had to explain to children as young as four that there had been an attack on a synagogue.

Then there is the constant internal monologue: ‘I’m wearing my Star of David today – did I bring a scarf, lest I inadvertently “antagonise” someone? Which of my friends can I speak honestly and openly to about Israel? How long will it be before my son encounters anti-Semitism at school?’

And where can we go to be free of this constant attempt to break our spirit and undermine our Jewishness? Well, we thought we could take shelter at our communal centres – but even that comfort has been denied to us since the Manchester synagogue attack.

Such is the success of this relentless campaign of anti-Semitism, that a community once so confident and well-integrated is now being ‘Othered’ once again. We question ourselves, we look over our shoulders, and we wonder how long it will be before the rest of the country realises that this is no Woody Allen-esque neurosis: anti-Semitism has become our lived reality.
BBC ignored second memo on Gaza war bias
The BBC has been accused of ignoring a second memo alleging bias in its reporting of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Sir Vernon Bogdanor, the author of the memo and a constitutional expert, has called on Tim Davie to resign with “immediate effect” as director-general of the BBC.

The eminent academic, a former professor of government at the University of Oxford, said the broadcaster had “ignored internal reports” that had made allegations of distortion and bias in its journalism.

Mr Davie has faced growing criticism in the wake of a leak to The Telegraph of an 8,000-word letter sent to members of the BBC board by Michael Prescott, a former standards adviser to the corporation.

The letter detailed bias in its reporting of the Gaza war as well as the doctoring of a speech by Donald Trump.

The emergence of Sir Vernon’s memo will fuel the crisis at the corporation and comes after Mr Trump’s official spokeswoman branded it “100 per cent fake news”.

Karoline Leavitt condemned the doctoring of the president’s speech and said British taxpayers were being “forced to foot the bill for a leftist propaganda machine”.

Ms Leavitt told The Telegraph: “Every time I travel to the United Kingdom with President Trump and am forced to watch the BBC in our hotel rooms, it ruins my day listening to their blatant propaganda and lies about the president of the United States and all that he’s doing to make America better and the world a safer place.”

Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, has also suggested Mr Davie quit his post.

Mr Johnson said on Friday that he would no longer be paying the licence fee and suggested that reporters should camp outside the BBC boss’s home.

“A few days of that and Davie should eventually emerge from his foxhole, and when he does, he should either give a convincing explanation for the Left-wing bias at the BBC, or else resign in favour of someone who will stop the rot,” he said.

“Unless he does so I am simply going to stop paying my licence fee and suggest you do the same.”


Hamas claims to recover body of Hadar Goldin, IDF soldier killed and abducted in 2014 war
A Hamas official said on Saturday that the terror group had recovered the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, an IDF soldier who was killed and abducted by the terror group during the 2014 Gaza war.

A senior officer in Hamas’s military wing was cited by Qatar’s Al Jazeera as saying that Goldin’s body had been located in an IDF-held area of southern Gaza’s Rafah. The source added that the bodies of six “martyrs” — apparently referring to Hamas fighters — were also recovered.

In a video the terror group issued of the recovery, operatives pinned the name “Hadar Goldin” to a body bag dug out from the sands.

The terror group did not immediately announce its intention to return the body, which it has held for 4,117 days, to Israel.

Following the Hamas claim that Goldin’s remains had been recovered, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Eyal Zamir visited the home of Leah and Simcha Goldin, Hadar’s parents. The family said in a statement that they were awaiting official confirmation of the return of Hadar’s body to Israel.


Slain hostage Lior Rudaeff returned to Israel for burial
Hamas returned to Israel overnight Friday the remains of Israel Defense Forces Warrant Officer (res.) Lior Rudaeff, who died defending Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7, 2023.

IDF representatives informed Rudaeff’s family that his body had been returned to Israel, after it was identified on Saturday morning by the National Center of Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Israel Police and the IDF Rabbinate, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

Rudaeff, 61 at the time of his death, fought bravely against the dozens of terrorists who invaded the kibbutz. He was part of Nir Yitzhak’s civilian rapid response team, which managed to repel the invaders. Five residents were murdered and eight were abducted into the Gaza Strip.

His body was taken by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, according to IDF intelligence.

Rudaeff’s death was officially determined by the Israeli army on May 7, 2024. He leaves behind his wife, Yaffa, four children, Noam, Nadav, Bar and Ben, three grandchildren, father, sister and brother.

The IDF on Saturday extended its “profound condolences” to the family and said it “continues to make every effort to return all the deceased hostages and is prepared for the continued implementation of the [ceasefire] agreement.”

The Prime Minister’s Office also expressed its sorrow, adding that “The Hamas terrorist organization is required to uphold its commitments to the mediators and return [the fallen hostages] as part of the implementation of the agreement. We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the deceased hostages, every last one of them.”

Rudaeff made aliyah to Israel from Argentina in 1969, and had lived in Nir Yitzhak in the “Gaza Envelope” ever since.

His son Bar survived the Hamas-led attack on the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im on Oct. 7, 2023.

Hamas claimed that it found Rudaeff’s remains during searches in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, Israel Hayom reported.

There remain five deceased hostages in the Strip; four are Israeli—Meny Godard, Lt. Hadar Goldin (whose remains were taken in 2014), Sgt. Maj. Ran Gvili and Dror Or—and one is Thai, agricultural worker Sudthisak Rinthalak.


Starved, blindfolded, beaten: Ex-hostage Rom Braslavski recalls torture in captivity
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) tortured and beat him not because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, but because he was a Jew, former hostage Rom Braslavski said in an interview with Hazinor, published on Channel 13 Thursday night.

"It's wrong to say that they tortured me because Ben-Gvir is provoking them in prisons," Braslavski said, recalling the words of one of his captors. "They only tortured me for one reason, because I am a Jew. This is why I got everything I got. Not because of Ben-Gvir, not because of Netanyahu, nothing else."

Braslavski's captors significantly worsened his situation in March 2025, after the second ceasefire deal concluded. At that point, Braslavski said that more of the family members of the terrorists were being killed.

His captor told him at that point that if he converted to Islam, he would be given a lot of food, and nobody would touch him. Braslavski refused. "I knew in my head that it would never happen. I told [the terrorist], I was born a Jew, I will die a Jew."

Then his captor told him that he received a note from above, instructing him to blindfold Braslavski. After a few days of being blindfolded, the captor also limited his bathroom breaks to three times a day: at 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. "I was holding my pee for hours. It was a nightmare," Braslavski recalled. Then they reduced his drinking water from a liter to half a liter a day. At that point, he would receive only one falafel ball per day and a little rice.

The terrorist would ask if he could see any traces of light. When Braslavski said yes, he put another two shirts over his eyes so it would be pitch black.

"Everything was black," Braslavski recounted to Hazinor, "I was afraid I would lose my sight."


Hamas terrorist involved in Oct. 7 living in Belgium, traveling freely across Europe, antisemitism watchdog says
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7, 2023, massacre is living in Belgium and has been traveling freely across Europe, the Belgian JID antisemitism watchdog finds.

Mohannad al-Khatib, who defines himself as a freelance journalist, was seen in images inside Israel on October 7 and makes regular anti-Israel posts, according to Hebrew media outlets citing the watchdog report.

JID Vice President Ralph Pais tells Channel 12 news that they have handed a 65-page dossier to the authorities with evidence that Khatib was involved in the massacre and is now publishing anti-Israel propaganda from Belgian soil.


Gil Hofman: Israel should let journalists into Gaza, and this is why
Blocked access gives Gazan 'journalists' control of the narrative
Blocking access to Gaza has meant that reporting fell to “journalists” like Abdallah Aljamal, the Gaza correspondent for The Palestine Chronicle, whom the IDF killed while rescuing three Israeli hostages he was holding in his home.

He was no outlier.

While the Associated Press and CNN fired Oct. 7 infiltrator Hassan Eslaiah, who was photographed being kissed by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, after an HonestReporting investigation revealed his terror ties, The New York Times rehired Gazan stringer Soliman Hijjy on October 8, 2023, despite being aware that his Arabic social media posts praised Adolf Hitler.

Just three weeks ago, ABC News interviewed Gaza Civil Spokesman Mahmoud Bassal, an active Hamas operative, as “an emergency responder searching for missing Gazan civilians.” It apparently did not cross the interviewers’ minds to do the most basic due diligence a journalist can – a background check on those being interviewed.

Had they done a check, they would have found that Bassal was an active member of the Zeitoun Battalion of the Izz-ad Din-al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, directly involved in planning and carrying out terrorist attacks.

Gazan stringers have fed top media outlets incorrect and biased information throughout the war, while biased organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists blamed Israel for the deaths of active terrorists who may have moonlighted as reporters but were killed while doing their day job.

It is true that, according to the CPJ, nearly 200 journalists and media workers have been killed during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. However, an analysis of these names shows that at least 40% of those killed had an affiliation with terror groups (including working for terror-run media organizations) and that several had participated in active combat against Israel.

With the embedding of Hamas forces in civilian areas, it is tragic but inevitable that civilians, including journalists, will be killed during military activities. This is not, however, evidence of intentional targeting of journalists.

Aside from using local stringers as proxies, Hamas has done everything it can to take advantage of the journalism vacuum. Propaganda chief Abu Obeida employed 1,500 content creators who served in every Hamas battalion and brigade, outfitting them with GoPro cameras, camera protection kits and batteries, and a team of video editors to cut propaganda videos. He crafted every hostage video and release ceremony to maximize their impact.

International journalists need to reckon with truth on the ground
The result has been massive damage to Israel’s reputation, which might have been avoided if the war against Hamas had been covered firsthand by professional journalists – whatever their agendas – and not by stringers whose lives depend on promoting Hamas narratives.

Officials involved in Israeli public diplomacy have expressed concern that images of devastation emerging from Gaza will reignite negative reporting about Israel and protests throughout the United States and major cities across the globe. But the ban hasn’t stopped such reporting and protests from proliferating during the war, so how could lifting it make things any worse?

If anything, it could force journalists entering Gaza for the first time to reckon with some uncomfortable contradictions.

Why is Hamas interrogating alleged “collaborators” in hospitals if all of Gaza’s hospitals have been destroyed, and

Hamas is not using hospitals as its headquarters?

How did 27,000 high school students take matriculation exams if the schools of Gaza were destroyed?

Why are Gaza’s markets fully stocked with food mere weeks after a famine was declared?

It’s time for Netanyahu to recognize that controlling the media narrative is impossible, and that the hard questions that come with open press access are preferable to the easy wrong answers that come with restriction.
How a High Court ruling on journalists could ignite battle over Gaza’s war narrative
The High Court ruled last week that the government must consider allowing foreign journalists into Gaza, but also granted a one-month extension due to the still-unclear situation in the Strip. Eventually, it will happen, and the IDF must prepare, because when the journalists enter, a final, high-intensity battle will erupt over the narrative of the war. Needless to say, Israel begins that battle from a catastrophic starting point.

There are two possible paths forward. In one, the world continues to believe that Israel bombed people in tent camps to “punish” Palestinians for what Hamas did on October 7, and for the dispiritingly high levels of apparent popular support for that atrocity. In this version, the war will be remembered as a collective punishment marked by daily war crimes. If this narrative takes root in the world’s collective memory, Israel will be judged harshly, and its standing will suffer for generations.

However, there’s another way: the world could understand that Israel faced a truly satanic organization that consciously sought the suffering of its own people to score propaganda victories. That Hamas hid behind civilians, operated from mosques, schools, hospitals, and UN facilities, and left the IDF with a battlefield where every choice came at a terrible cost.

If that second understanding prevails, it will become clear that the Gaza war, despite its bloody toll, was not an act of revenge, and certainly not genocide, but an unavoidable confrontation with a fanatical, demonic, and unrestrained enemy that is also the enemy of the West, and indeed, of the Palestinians themselves.

With sober reflection, it may even be seen that the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths, though horrifying, was among the least bad in the history of counterterror warfare. It all depends on what emerges once the full picture is revealed.

The first path leads to accusations, boycotts, and long-term demonization; the second opens the way to understanding, to rebuilding trust, and to rejoining the moral consensus of the democratic world.


Israel Police concludes suspected arson on Palestinian-owned house result of electricity failure
A Palestinian-owned house and vehicle in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah in the West Bank were set on fire likely as a result of an electrical failure inside the house, Israel Police announced on Saturday, after reports claimed the incident was caused by an arson attack by Jewish rioters.

The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) have opened an investigation into the incident, and an investigator from Israel Fire and Rescue said that it was most likely caused by an electrical failure. Despite this, Army Radio quoted Palestinians as saying that Jewish rioters had arrived at the scene wearing masks.

No suspects were found in the area by the time Israeli forces arrived. Police also announced that no remains of Molotov cocktails and/or flammable materials were found at the scene.

Two Palestinian adults, along with their four children, were inside their home during the incident. All six suffered from smoke inhalation and needed to be evacuated for medical treatment.

Several Palestinians in the area were evacuated for medical treatment as well, also due to smoke inhalation.
Lebanon runs out of explosives as it rushes to disarm Hezbollah in the south
Lebanon’s army has blown up so many Hezbollah arms caches that it has run out of explosives, as it races to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the Shiite terrorist group in the south of the country under a ceasefire agreed with Israel, two sources told Reuters.

The explosives shortage, which has not been previously reported, has not stopped the army from stepping up inspection missions to search for hidden weapons in the south, near Israel, the two said. One was a security source and the other a Lebanese official.

It would have been unimaginable for Lebanon’s military to undertake such a mission at the height of Iran-backed Hezbollah’s power just a few years ago, and many observers were skeptical even after the ceasefire agreement.

But Hezbollah was hit hard by Israel’s war last year, which killed thousands of terrorists and the upper ranks of both its military and political leadership, including its leader Hassan Nasrallah. The war also killed more than 1,100 women and children and destroyed large areas of southern and eastern Lebanon.

The United States has continued to pressure Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, which Washington designates as a terrorist organization. President Donald Trump’s deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus is in Beirut this week to discuss progress on disarmament with Lebanese officials.

As they await U.S. deliveries of explosive charges and other military equipment, Lebanese troops are now sealing off weapons sites they find instead of destroying them, said one of the sources and two other people briefed on the army’s recent activities.

Their searches uncovered nine new arms caches in September, the two other officials said. The security source said dozens of tunnels used by Hezbollah had also been sealed, and more soldiers were steadily being recruited to deploy to the south.
IAF slays two Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon
The Israeli Air Force targeted and killed two Hezbollah terrorists in the area of Chebaa (aka Shebaa) in southeastern Lebanon on Saturday.

The two belonged to the Lebanese Resistance Brigades, which operate under the direction of the Hezbollah terrorist group, the IDF said.

They were involved in smuggling weapons used by Hezbollah, and their activities constituted a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon, the military added.

“The IDF will continue to operate in order to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel,” the army said.

In a statement issued a few hours later, the IDF said it had slain another Hezbollah terrorist in southeastern Lebanon on Saturday, in the Baraashitar area.

“The terrorist was involved in attempts to rehabilitate Hezbollah military infrastructure in the area,” the military said.

The IDF has ramped up its operations in Lebanon over the past week, with reports in Hebrew media saying that another round of fighting could soon break out due to Hezbollah’s efforts to rebuild its terrorist capabilities.

On Thursday, the Israeli Air Force carried out an hours-long wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian-backed group across Southern Lebanon.

“The IDF, led by Northern Command and carried out with the Air Force, struck terror infrastructure and several weapons storage facilities of the Radwan Force unit in Southern Lebanon,” according to a statement.

Hezbollah “continues efforts to rehabilitate terrorist infrastructure in Southern Lebanon and is concentrating on rebuilding the unit’s capabilities with the aim of harming the State of Israel,” it said.


Victor Davis Hanson: If Only William Buckley Was Around to Debate Nick Fuentes
On today’s Election Day edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor and Jack unpack the controversies surrounding Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes and how the legacies of William F. Buckley Jr. and “Firing Line”—a show that confronted radicalism head-on—need to serve as examples for how conservatives handle extremists and bad-faith actors, as well as a recent poll out of Gaza showing alarming support for Hamas among Palestinians.


Call me Back Podcast: Between Mamdani and Tucker, Are Jews Getting Squeezed? - with Jonah Goldberg (SNEAK PEEK)
This is a sneak peek into Friday’s members-only INSIDE Call me Back episode with Jonah Goldberg. The episode explored the growing pressure on Jews coming from both ends of the American political spectrum, and due to the importance of this conversation we decided to unlock a part of it for our listeners.

This past Tuesday, democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani won the race for mayor of New York City, home to the largest number of Jews outside Israel. Mamdani is a 34-year old self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist and staunch anti-Zionist. His election has caused many Jewish New Yorkers to fear for the future of communal life in their city. Meanwhile, over recent months, we have witnessed a disturbing rise in unabashed antisemitism on the Right. Just last week, Tucker Carlson interviewed far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, who has been open about his support for both Hitler and Stalin.

To discuss the precarious situation of diaspora Jews as they're squeezed between the far left and the far right, Dan was joined by Jonah Goldberg. Jonah is the editor in chief and co-founder of The Dispatch and author of multiple books on political history and conservative ideas, including Suicide of the West and Liberal Fascism. He’s also the host of the indispensable podcast, The Remnan


The Overton Window and Zohran Mamdani: How Antisemitism Became Respectable Again
We’ve Seen This Movie Before
For Jews, this moment carries an echo. We’ve seen it before — in Warsaw, Minsk, Baghdad, and Tripoli — cities that were once over 30% Jewish and home to flourishing Jewish life. In each, the pattern was the same: what was once unspeakable became debatable; what was debatable became acceptable.

Within a generation, those cities became Judenrein — emptied of Jews — not by accident but by political design. It always began with talk: the idea that the Jews were powerful, disloyal, manipulative. That “the people” were suffering because of them. Then talk became action.

Americans flatter themselves that it can’t happen in the USA — that its institutions and pluralism are too strong. But Overton Windows don’t move because of evil people; they move because of complacent or cowardly ones.

The Moral Drift
Today, antisemitism doesn’t always come in jackboots. It travels in hashtags and soundbites. It calls itself “humanitarian,” “anti-imperialist,” “decolonial.” It thrives in elite universities, “progressive” city councils, and digital echo chambers — and on the identitarian right, where “replacement theory” and “globalist” conspiracies recycle the same poison in a different accent.

It comes dressed as virtue and camouflaged in the moral language of the age.

That’s why the 2019 “all hate” resolution mattered. It wasn’t merely a procedural dodge — it was a moral surrender. It told every rising activist and politician: if your antisemitism is ideological enough, you can survive it — even thrive. And thrive, they have.

Drawing the Line
There’s a Jewish lesson older than America itself: when societies decide antisemitism is acceptable — even in coded form — they do not remain moral or safe for long.

Yes, the Overton Window has shifted. But it can shift back — if we make antisemitism, in every form, politically toxic again. That means calling out the right’s conspiracies and the left’s moral inversions with equal force.

History has already shown us where silence leads. The only question is whether we recognize the warning signs — or once again pretend the rhetoric is “complicated.”


Customers vow to boycott M&S after it uses Dawn French in Christmas advert
Marks and Spencer customers have said they are boycotting the store after comedian Dawn French appeared in the chain's Christmas advert months after "mocking" the October 7 massacre.

French, who appeared as a fairy in the M&S campaign, earlier this year posted a video about the Gaza war.

"Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no," it began.

Then, in the video, in a high-pitched voice, she said: "Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us, yeah but no. But we want that land... and we have history… No. Those people aren't really even people, are they really? No."

French was met with backlash on social media, including actress Tracy-Ann Oberman who said she was "so saddened" by the post.

"[The video] appears [to] be mocking... the most horrific terrorist attack involving rape, sexual violence, burning alive, child mutilation and taking of civilian hostages," she wrote.

French later apologised "unreservedly" for the video.

Now, her presence in the M&S advert has reignited anger over her comments on the conflict.

One person wrote on X: "Sorry if this sounds horrible. I was about to go to Marks and Spencer and then caught sight of their Christmas advert featuring Dawn French. I just couldn't bear to go there right now."

Another wrote: "Safe to say Marks and Spencer won’t be receiving any custom from me this Christmas season."

Another post read: "Another added to the boycott list, it appears John Lewis got the message this year, so I suggest everyone take their business from Marks and Spencer to them."

Another added: “Sorry but I don’t forgive or forget the vile Dawn French for her [...] rant a few months back.

“I’m surprised Marks and Spencer have stuck with her to be honest.


Danny Cohen: Louis Theroux has taken another step towards the normalisation of anti-Semitism
Theroux’s comments do not exist in isolation. They are part of a wider cultural drift, in which hatred of Jews has become the one form of bigotry that can still be excused, rationalised, or dressed up as intellectual critique.

Across British culture, the moral boundaries that once protected Jews from vilification are eroding. Again and again, institutions and individuals who proudly parade their anti-racist credentials fall silent when the victims are Jews. In too many spaces, anti-Semitism has become the one form of hatred that still earns a hearing.

Over the past two years, Britain’s Jewish community has warned of a growing normalisation of anti-Semitism in mainstream culture. What was once the language of extremists is now spoken comfortably in our cultural institutions and by mainstream celebrities.

That is why this moment matters. Louis Theroux was not some anonymous podcaster courting controversy; he is a central figure in our broadcasting tradition. To hear him describe Jewish identity as a prototype for white nationalism, to see him so openly flirt with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories should frighten us all.

The question is what happens now? Will the BBC cease to work with Theroux or will they turn a blind eye because it is easier and more convenient to do so? Do BBC executives really mean it when they say that anti-Semitism in any form is unacceptable? And will Netflix, Theroux’s new partner, tolerate this and proudly feature him on their platform?

No one should look away when anti-Semitism attempts to hide behind sophistication. If we stay silent when anti-Semitism arrives wrapped in apparent respectability it will not stop with podcasts. It will spread further into our classrooms, our workplaces, and on to our streets.
‘Death, death to the IDF’: My night with the Bob Vylan zealots
Vylan is an exuberant frontman with a certain charisma to him, but constant lyrics about Mrs Thatcher (who left Downing Street long before he was born), “gammons” and the iniquities of the economy wear thin quickly.

To be fair to him, he remembered most of the lyrics to his own songs – save for one that they were playing live for the first time, when he forgot the words to the third verse of Killing Punk. Later, the on-stage sparklers malfunctioned, leading a stressed-looking roadie to try frantically to fix things. In the week that marks the 50th anniversary of the Sex Pistols’ first gig, it is depressing to see what modern punk has become. Bobby Vylan ain’t no Johnny Rotten.

Not that the fans in attendance cared. He knows how to get them going: at one point he read a sign from the crowd that simply read “F--- the King”, and then said he hoped the Scottish people would “take me with you” if another independence referendum were successful, because “it’s crazy over there” in England.

As things wound up, another exhortation from Vylan to “free Palestine” was inevitable, but it was followed by him also imploring for a “free Sudan”. Somebody had messaged him on Instagram about the civil war in the African country, which has sparked the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis and accusations of genocide against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Vylan said he was asked to chant “Death, death to the RSF” at the gig because “they’re slaughtering people over there in Sudan”. Needless to say, it got a much more muted reaction from the crowd than the anti-IDF stuff.
Bob Vylan are suing a Jewish organisation who called for their Manchester gig to be cancelled... having called for the death of the Israel Defence Force at Glastonbury
The punk band who called for the death of the Israel Defence Force at Glastonbury are suing a Jewish organisation after it appealed for a forthcoming gig in Manchester to be cancelled.

Bob Vylan, the duo who prompted outrage when they chanted ‘death, death to the IDF’, have called in lawyers after they were labelled ‘antisemitic’ and accused of ‘incitement’ by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester ahead of next month’s planned concert.

The Jewish communal group have been joined by at least ten MPs who have demanded the gig scheduled for the Manchester Academy on November 5 be called off, citing the terror attack in the city earlier this month at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.

The decision by the band to go on the offensive was last night labelled an ‘outrage’ by one source in the Jewish community.

Another told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We were shocked but perhaps not surprised to receive letters from lawyers representing Bob Vylan.

'They don’t seem to realise that it’s their own hateful and dangerous actions that are the problem, not us.’

It is understood that a letter has been sent to the JRC of Manchester, alleging defamation in labelling the band antisemetic.

Bob Vylan is also understood to be intending to take action against radio broadcaster LBC for the same reason.


4 arrested over Israeli orchestra concert interruption in Paris
French authorities arrested on Friday four suspects connected to the coercive disruption to a concert performed by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra in Paris the previous day.

Three women and a man were detained on charges of violence, destruction and organizing an unauthorized protest, Reuters cited the Paris Prosecutor’s Office as stating.

Activists were seen on videos posted on social media throwing flares and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans at the Philharmonie de Paris complex in the city’s northeastern 19th arrondissement, as audience members and security personnel tried to remove them.

At least one hooligan could be seen dodging individuals who tried to stop him or her. The incident apparently lasted a few minutes.

The concert went ahead despite three interruptions, the venue said.

“I strongly condemn the actions committed last night during a concert at the Philharmonie de Paris. Nothing can justify them,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on X.

“I thank the personnel from the Paris police who enabled the rapid arrest of several perpetrators of serious disturbances inside the venue and contained the demonstrators outside. Four people have been placed in custody,” he added.
Toronto police arrest five over forced entry at Jewish event
The Toronto Police Service arrested five people on Nov. 5 for forcible entry at a Jewish event at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Videos that circulated on social media showed attendees at a Students Supporting Israel event, which featured Israeli soldiers, barricading a door with furniture, as anti-Israel protesters banged on the glass.

The school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, which was behind the protests, stated in a flier for an “emergency rally” that “Zionist war criminals have once again been welcomed into this city.”

According to Toronto police, the protesters “caused those in attendance to fear for their safety,” and “one individual sustained injuries from broken glass during the forced entry.”

“During the arrest process, some of the accused obstructed officers, and one individual assaulted an officer while attempting to prevent an arrest,” police stated.

Police identified those arrested as Nicole Baiton, 25; Kiana Alexis, 22; Fatimah Mugni, 23; Chelsea Wu, 29; and Manal Kamran, 21. All are scheduled to appear in court in early January.


Revealed: Pro-Palestine mob plotted to hunt down Maccabi players
Anti-Israel activists plotted to hunt down players from Maccabi Tel Aviv’s football team during their visit to Birmingham, leaked WhatsApp messages seen by the JC reveal.

The Israeli side, in the UK for a European fixture, became the target of a coordinated plan involving hotel stakeouts and surveillance by protesters determined to track the team and have the match cancelled.

The fixture on Thursday went ahead as planned, without any Maccabi fans present in the stadium. Protests outside the game resulted in 11 arrests.

Chants of “death to the IDF” and “intifada revolution” were shouted by a crowd of Gaza protesters, while a smaller group of pro-Israel counter-protesters were confined to a caged basketball court by police.

It has now emerged in a leaked WhatsApp message seen by the JC that organisers of the Gaza protest outside the stadium planned a “search for Maccabi team” the day before the match.

Activists intended to track down the players in Birmingham hotels and shared a link with the players’ faces so they would be able to identify the Israeli side.

In a WhatsApp group chat used for West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) discussions, one message read in capital letters: “ATTENTION. SEARCH FOR MACCABI TEAM WEDNESDAY.”

The message continued: “We need volunteers for Wednesday (tomorrow) for MISSION CRITICAL search actions. We can still cancel this match if we obstruct team Maccabi from attending the match.


Iran to begin restricting water use in Tehran as drought reaches critical levels
Iran was laying plans on Saturday to cut off water supplies periodically to Tehran’s 10-million-strong population as it battles its worst drought in many decades.

Rainfall in the capital has this year been at its lowest level in a century, according to local officials, and half of Iran’s provinces have not seen a drop in months.

Now, to save water, the government is planning water cuts in Tehran — and several local news outlets have already reported pipes running dry overnight in some areas.

“This will help avoid waste even though it may cause inconvenience,” Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Ali Abadi said on state television.

In a speech broadcast on Friday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian had warned that Tehran might have to be evacuated if no rain falls before the end of the year.

“If it doesn’t rain in Tehran by late November, we’ll have to ration water. And if it still doesn’t rain, we’ll have to evacuate Tehran,” Pezeshkian was cited as saying a day earlier.

However, the president gave no details about how such a vast operation would be conducted.

Tehran nestles on the southern slopes of the Alborz mountains and has hot dry summers usually relieved by autumn rains and winter snowfall, though no such precipitation has come yet this season.
Florida police kill Turkish man threatening Tallahassee synagogue, Ron DeSantis
A Florida resident shot and killed a Turkish national on Thursday after deputies said they saw him reaching for a gun while they were serving him a warrant related to threats he had made against both a Tallahassee synagogue and public officials, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office said.

Ali Bayhan, 38, was suspected of making threats against multiple elected officials, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and of calling in a bomb threat to Temple Israel in Tallahassee, the office told local media station WCJB.

Tallahassee police officials told local media that the synagogue received the non-credible bomb threat on Wednesday via phone call, determined to have been made by Bayhan.

In a statement released following the threat, the synagogue said that it had called law enforcement after evacuating the building. “The threat, though later proven groundless, was taken seriously, handled following our emergency procedures, and resolved thoroughly and efficiently,” Temple Israel’s statement read.

“It is important to note that the threat contained neither antisemitic nor anti-Zionist content. All indications are that it came from a mentally troubled individual,” it added. Suspect was flagged for involuntary mental health evaluation

Bayhan had posted notions on social media about destroying the temple, Fox News reported.

“Yeah, they suspended Tallahassee Temple Israel today. I will destroy it until they apologize and pay punishment, besides other things,” Bayhan had written in one of his posts. The police attempted to serve Bayhan with a felony warrant on Thursday in Gainesville, but said that he reached for his gun, leading officers to fire their weapons, killing Bayhan.
Junior doctor who joked on Twitter about gassing 'the Jews' and said videos calling the Holocaust a sham were 'pretty convincing' is let off with a warning
A junior doctor who joked about gassing 'the Jews', referred to Jewish people as 'Jew banker goblins' and said videos calling the Holocaust a sham were 'pretty convincing' has escaped being struck off.

Dr Martin Whyte, a former executive member of the British Medical Association (BMA), was suspended in 2023 over a series of 'utterly vile' tweets that he posted on his social media, including calling for people to boycott Israel 'out of spite'.

Now the General Medical Council (GMC) has concluded that while his posts were 'grossly offensive' they fall 'just short of that which would be considered serious enough to pose a risk to public protection'.

An investigation committee heard that Dr Whyte had made comments that were not 'intentionally antisemitic' and had drawn its conclusion based on the fact that it was 'not the doctor's intention to be antisemitic'.

Dr Whyte, who is currently employed by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust as a specialist trainee in paediatrics, has instead been given a formal warning by the medical regulator.

It states: 'On 18 April 2018, 27 October 2018 and 23 November 2018 Dr Whyte posted comments on Twitter (now known as X) which were grossly offensive.

'This conduct does not meet the standards required of a doctor. It risks bringing the profession into disrepute and it must not be repeated.'
Dave Portnoy again targeted with vile antisemitic abuse before confronting the heckler
A passer-by hurled vile antisemitic abuse at Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy while he was filming on the streets of Mississippi on Friday.

A member of the public caught the moment on camera as they were recording Portnoy doing one of his famous 'one bite' pizza reviews. He is in town for Mississippi State's college football showdown against Georgia on Saturday.

As Portnoy, who is Jewish, was talking to the camera, a man interrupted him by shouting: 'Hey, f*** the Jews, f*** you Dave.'

Portnoy looked understandably shocked as the crowd that had gathered around him immediately turned around and condemned the abuse.

'Why don't you come in the camera, buddy?' Portnoy then called out, and the member of the public who filmed the incident turned their own phone around to show what appeared to be a young man in a baseball cap who was the perpetrator.

Portnoy then walked up to the heckler and they appeared to exchange words which were not caught on the video that has appeared on social media. The exchange did, however, appear to be filmed by Portnoy's own cameraman.


How a major police slip up allowed a Neo-Nazi rally to be held outside the NSW Parliament
NSW Police have been slammed after they allowed a neo-Nazi rally to be held outside the New South Wales Parliament on Saturday morning.

Politicians and community leaders have condemned the event, calling it a 'shameful act of hate' and a chilling threat to Australia's multicultural values.

The protest, organised by the National Socialist Network, saw 67 men dressed in black chanting antisemitic slogans and holding a banner that read 'Abolish the Jewish Lobby'.

'The Jewish lobby is one of the most powerful lobbies in Australia. They bribe our politicians, they coerce our politicians,' they said.

The rally concluded with the chanting of a Hitler Youth slogan.

The event, which lasted approximately seven minutes, was approved by NSW Police following a Form 1 application submitted by the White Australia group on October 28.

However, both NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon and Premier Chris Minns said they were unaware of the protest until after it occurred.

'There was a communication error in the police force for which I did not personally know that today's protest was taking place,' Commissioner Lanyon said on Saturday.


S&P Global Ratings raises Israel outlook from negative to stable
S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor’s) revised on Friday its outlook on Israel from negative to stable in light of the ceasefire in Gaza brokered by the Trump administration.

The American credit rating agency provides independent credit ratings on debt issued by companies and governments, assessing their creditworthiness on a scale from AAA to D.

The agency affirmed its “A/A-1” long- and short-term sovereign credit ratings on Israel, but with an improved outlook.

The “military de-escalation, underpinned by the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, has lowered immediate security risk for Israel,” S&P Global Ratings writes.

The S&P Global division said that it could raise Israel’s credit ratings if its growth and fiscal outcomes proved stronger than currently projected.

It emphasized that while military tensions have eased, the geopolitical risks Israel faces remain high, citing the Israel Defense Forces’ continued activities in Lebanon and Syria and possibly another round of fighting with Iran as factors that increase regional uncertainty.

The agency moreover stated that Israel’s GDP “will likely remain below the pre-war trend … due to the lasting effects of the war.
Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver to star in Israeli director’s new thriller
Award-winning Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar is working on a new thriller titled “Useful Idiots” featuring Hollywood stars Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver, US outlets reported over the weekend.

Streep stars as a disillusioned veteran real estate journalist investigating the identity of a shadowy penthouse buyer.

A synopsis of the movie cited by the Hollywood Reporter says it revolves around “a mysterious oligarch, whose influence stretches across Manhattan and beyond – protected by a network of fixers, enablers and a brilliant young strategist. Out of her depth, Diane digs deeper into the investigation, her determination to uncover the truth revealing a web of corruption and danger at the highest levels, ensnaring Diane, her family and all those around her.”

Streep, a three-time Academy Award winner widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s greatest actors, is starring in a movie for the first time in over four years, with her last major role being in the 2021 political satire “Don’t Look Up.”

Weaver, herself a three-time Academy Award nominee, will join Streep on screen, though details of her character have not yet been revealed. She is best known for her action hero roles in James Cameron’s epic “Alien” and “Avatar” franchises, as well as dozens of other memorable comedies and dramas.

Cedar cowrote the script with Shachar Bar-On, a producer for “60 Minutes” on CBS. The film is being produced by independent studios Black Bear and Fifth Season.

“Useful Idiots” will be the sixth feature film for the Israeli writer and director, with his previous five all receiving critical acclaim.
Israel’s Omri Haviv wins jiu-jitsu gold as Kazakh rival disqualified for illegal kick
Israel’s Omri Haviv won a gold medal at the Jiu-jitsu World Championships in Bangkok on Friday after his Kazakh rival was disqualified for an illegal kick and then refused to shake his hand.

The clash came a day after Kazakhstan confirmed it would join the Abraham Accords normalization agreement with Israel.

Haviv, 23, took first place in the category for adult men under 69 kilograms (152 pounds) competing without a Gi, the traditional jiu-jitsu uniform. He was leading over his opponent Aldiyar Serik during the final match when Serik lost his temper and kicked him.

Kicking and hitting are illegal in Jiujitsu, a martial art that relies on grappling an opponent into submission.

The judge immediately disqualified Serik, who stormed away. Footage from the scene showed Haviv getting up, shaking the judge’s hand, and then running after Serik to shake his hand as well, only to be turned away.

“He got really upset, but I kept my cool, both because I didn’t want to hurt my chances of winning and because I’m not that kind of person,” Haviv told Israeli sports outlet ONE after the match. “I tried to shake his hand and end it honorably. Of course, he was unwilling to shake my hand, didn’t even turn around and didn’t want to talk.”

Earlier in the tournament, Haviv told ONE, he bested rivals from Mexico and Russia, and acceded to the finals after the Kuwaiti rival he was set to face off against in the semifinals refused to fight an Israeli.




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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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