Monday, February 16, 2026

02/16 Links Pt2: Sen. Graham: Trump, Netanyahu are of one mind on Iran; Where is the fury over the plot to massacre Manchester Jews?; Green Party activists say Zionism is a form of racism

From Ian:

Brendan O'Neill: Where is the fury over the plot to massacre Manchester Jews?
Then there’s the left. ‘Fascist!’, these people cry at everyone from the mums in pink tracksuits who protest outside migrant hotels to those northern communities that are planning to vote for Reform UK. Yet when two men are jailed for an advanced plot to carry out the bloodiest of pogroms, they go schtum. For the first time ever the word ‘fascist’ clogs in their throats. We need a franker verison of that Martin Niemöller poem to describe such rank cowardice and snivelling silence in the face of true racism: ‘When they came for the Jews, I said fuck all.’

We need a reckoning with this culture of chilling indifference to Islamo-fascism. With the failure of our self-styled moral leaders to speak clearly about the surging poison of anti-Semitism. Last year there were 3,700 anti-Semitic hate incidents in the UK, the second-highest annual total ever. Sickeningly, 80 of those incidents were recorded in the 48 hours after the terrorist assault on the Heaton Park Synagogue, also in Manchester, on Yom Kippur in October, when two Jews were killed. Some of those incidents involved ‘face-to-face taunting’ of Jews and ‘celebration’ of the Heaton Park attack. It’s the 21st century and people are responding to the murder of Jews by jeering at Jews. Where are the anti-racists? Their silence indicts them in ways they cannot fathom.

To watch the clip of Amar Hussein in his police interview coldly saying ‘Yes’ when asked if he supports ISIS is to look into the face of evil. His arms crossed, his demeanour arrogant, he announces with nauseating pride his allegiance to the sworn enemies of Western civilisation. The questions pile up. Hussein is from Kuwait and Saadaoui is from Tunisia – what were they doing here? Were they emboldened in their Jew hate by the Israelophobic mania that swept Britain after 7 October 2023? It is undeniable now: our broken immigration system, our failure to tame the anti-Semitism of the post-7 October moment and officialdom’s dread of calling out Islamism for fear of being called ‘Islamophobic’ – these craven trends have mingled to create fertile territory for the violent rebirth of the world’s oldest racism.

There are 40,000 suspected jihadists on Britain’s terror watchlist. Hundreds of young men from anti-Semitic cultures arrive illegally on our shores every week. Venomous hatred for the world’s only Jewish nation has become the moral glue of the chattering classes. Anti-Semitic attacks are spiking. Jews are being murdered, or mercifully saved from murder. What signal does it send to Jew-haters when we fail as a society to speak out about these horrors? The elites’ yellow-bellied nonchalance on the Islamist threat doesn’t only betray Britain’s Jews – it also emboldens those who loathe them.
David Collier: ChatGPT is protecting the mythical status of Palestinian identity
Some stories take months to uncover. Others are stumbled across by accident. This is one of the latter. But it is no less important for it.

Artificial Intelligence engines (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are not neutral observers of reality. They are policing the boundaries of Palestinian identity, shielding it from scrutiny and elevating it to a sacred moral construct.

That should concern everyone.

Wikipedia was once the world’s primary reference point. It evolved, in many areas, into a partisan battleground where anti-Jewish narratives could be shaped and manipulated in plain sight. But at least Wikipedia’s distortions were visible. Its edit history could be examined. Its biases could be traced.

AI is different.

It is now rapidly replacing Wikipedia as the dominant interpreter of truth. Yet it operates as a black box. There is no edit trail and no transparency.

If these systems are quietly protecting a mythologised version of Palestinian identity – treating it as a moral token that must be defended – then we are not simply drifting into a post-truth world – we are engineering it.

The Palestinian from Aleppo
While recently researching an anti-Israel propagandist, I encountered a familiar piece of Nakba revisionism. Wafic Faour presents himself as a Palestinian, and his family history follows a well-worn script: innocent civilians violently uprooted when their Arab-Palestinian village was attacked in 1948 by Zionist militias. He claims his family was expelled to Lebanon and eventually made their way to the United States. Today, he serves as the local “Palestinian” face in Vermont, leading protests that demonise and ostracise Israel.

For him, Palestinian identity is his key credential.

On examination, however, his claims quickly began to unravel. Archival records show that his village had been openly violent. Its inhabitants fled only after their military position collapsed. This is how his family ended up in Lebanon.

More significantly, a local history written by the villagers themselves records that the activist’s family originated in Aleppo, Syria, and had migrated into the Mandate area, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century.

The story, as presented publicly, could not withstand scrutiny. The family’s documented origins lay in Aleppo, Syria. The activist himself was born in Lebanon and later built a life in the United States. There was no evidence of deeper ancestral roots in Palestine. The identity he projects is a political construct built on omission.

I incorporated these findings into a wider investigation documenting his distortions and propaganda.

As part of my normal publication process, I ran the final draft through ChatGPT to check for grammatical errors.

What happened next was unexpected.

ChatGPT did not focus on spelling or grammar.

It challenged my description of him.
Shany Mor: Many on my feed are understandably outraged by this essay, which they feel is a cynical misuse of the memory of the Holocaust, deployed in a contemporary political debate for which it is entirely unsuited.
Many on my feed are understandably outraged by this essay, which they feel is a cynical misuse of the memory of the Holocaust, deployed in a contemporary political debate for which it is entirely unsuited.

I don't think they're seeing the whole picture.

Let's start by looking at this gem, also from the NYRB, from 2023 that ostensibly argues AGAINST the use of the memory of the Holocaust as a way of making sense of a current event.

It's signed by all the "genocide scholars" that would become rockstars in the ensuing months, and at first glance, it would appear that the two articles contradict each other (which is allowed) and show a cynical preferece for Holocaust analogies only when convenient.

But a closer read shows something else. These articles are not arguing opposite things at all, and are in fact entirely consistent with one another.

What unites both pieces is an unbridled resentment at Jews for the "luxury" of the Holocaust and its memory.

Both essays are centered around claims that powerful Jewish figures are gatekeeping the trauma of the Shoah in order to exploit it. And both go to great lengths to imply, not with much subtlety, that today's Jews are the real Nazis anyway.

Both pieces make some incredibly weak arguments about current events: The 2023 piece gives a potted history of the conflict, and flips its own argument on its head in just four paragraphs at the end in order to slip in the Israelis-as-Nazis meme. The 2026 piece can't seem to distinguish immigration policy from extermination. But skip the weak arguments. Both pieces can't conceive of Jewish memory of the Shoah as anything but a feint. This is deep ontology of "genocide studies" and much progressive thought on race and social justice.




Open letter to Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation
I furthermore appreciated your statement that you understood my concerns; your agreement that many of Carlson’s statements were concerning; and your promises soon publicly denounce Carlson; demand that Carlson retract his odious, bigoted positions and statements; end Heritage Foundation funding of Carlson; and distance yourself and the Heritage Foundation from Carlson’s future Jew-baiting statements and other hideous declarations. I was also gratified by your promise to invite me to speak at Heritage on the Arab-Israeli situation and by your offer to even come to my home outside of Philadelphia for our next meeting.

Unfortunately, it is now more than six weeks since we met, and you and the Heritage Foundation have not, to my knowledge, denounced or cut off Carlson; made the promised demands on Carlson; or distanced yourselves from any of his many recent and recently revealed radical statements.

Please let me know when you can fulfill the promises you made to me. This is the honorable, moral and just action to take. It’s the right thing for you, for Heritage and for America.

In addition to the long list of Carlson’s dangerous, anti-American, antisemitic and anti-Israel statements I provided to you during our meeting, there have since been even more of Carlson’s barrages of anti-American, anti-Israel and antisemitic statements.

As we discussed in December and as demonstrated by the items I provided during our meeting, Carlson’s statements and actions are disturbing, dangerous, bigoted and contrary to Trump administration policy, U.S. interests and national security.

Indeed, U.S. President Donald Trump himself has admonished Carlson’s dangerous willingness to enable the bloodthirsty Iranian regime to build nuclear weapons to destroy Israel and the West.

On June 16, 2025, the president wrote on Truth Social: “Somebody please explain to kooky Tucker Carlson that IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!” and “AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including the fact that IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

It is deeply disappointing that you and the Heritage Foundation, who claim to support the United States and the Trump administration, have still apparently said nothing about Tucker Carlson.

I respectfully and strongly urge you to promptly remedy this state of affairs and to follow through on promises made during our December meeting.
‘Jews are white’: US minority psychologists’ coalition rejects Jewish ethnic recognition
The coalition of minority ethnic psychologists within the American Psychological Association (APA) has opposed the recognition of the Association of Jewish Psychologists (AJP) as an Ethnic Psychological Association, claiming that most Jews “identify as white.”

As first reported by The New York Times on Sunday, the Coalition of National Racial and Ethnic Psychological Associations (CONREPA) released a statement criticizing the recognition of a separate ethnic minority group for Jewish psychologists, saying that Jews are not underrepresented in the APA.

The statement was endorsed by the Asian American Psychological Association, the American Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Psychological Association, the National Latino/a Psychological Association, the Association of Black Psychologists, and the Society of Indian [Native-American] Psychologists. The groups collectively represent about 2,000 people.

“Conflating religion, race, and ethnicity is a critical issue with serious consequences in that it obscures the role of racism, white privilege, and white supremacy in the historical and contemporary oppression of people of color,” CONREPA said.

It added that “The majority of Jewish Americans in the United States identify as white” and that Jewish psychologists of color “already have a home in each of the existing EPAs [Ethnic Psychological Associations].”

“EPA seats were intended to address underrepresented groups within APA. Jewish psychologists are not underrepresented within APA.”

CONREPA went on to describe antisemitism as a form of religious discrimination.

This is not exclusively the case. As antisemitism refers to the targeting of Jews as a group, it can encompass religious discrimination, racial discrimination, and ethnic discrimination. ADL slams APA group over dismissal of Jewish identity

“This statement is not just troubling – it is indefensible,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. “It reflects a profound and dangerous distortion of Jewish identity and a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of antisemitism. Jewish identity encompasses religion, ethnicity, and culture, a complexity that CONREPA’s statement dismisses entirely. To suggest that Jewish psychologists do not face discrimination or deserve representation within this group is both factually wrong and harmful.”

It is notable that the CONREPA statement came amid an ongoing investigation by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce into antisemitism at the APA, which is the largest psychological organization in the world.

The move followed multiple reports of harassment of Jewish members “because of their Jewish identity, their efforts to speak out against antisemitism, and their Zionist beliefs.”
Speaker who compared Gaza to Holocaust teaches CofE primary pupils Muslim prayer
A Church of England primary school invited a Muslim speaker who compared the war in Gaza to the Holocaust to teach pupils how to pray to Allah.

Mark Khadim Jackson, a white Muslim convert, spoke to pupils aged seven and eight at Chester-le-Street CE school, in County Durham, on Thursday.

The school published photographs of the visit on Facebook that showed Mr Jackson and the children kneeling as if in prayer and a girl trying on a hijab.

Mr Jackson, who visits schools in the North East to teach children about Islam, has previously compared the war in Gaza to the Holocaust.

In a social media post in April 2024, he quoted remarks by Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, about Gaza.

“‘I have seen evidence myself, in terms of very up-to-date photographic evidence, of plentiful food packages and trucks of food, water and medicines getting to the people of Gaza’,” he wrote.

“The above is an extract from Suella Braverman’s comments on Radio 4. I have seen photos of the band playing at Auschwitz and Jewish people well fed and dancing. Funnily enough I didn’t believe it!”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said Mr Jackson’s remarks were an “insult” to Holocaust survivors and that the school should not have invited him to speak to pupils.

“Comparisons between events taking place in Gaza and the Holocaust are clear breaches of the international definition of anti-Semitism,” a spokesman said. “They show a woeful ignorance of history, insult the victims of the Holocaust and their descendants and diminish and trivialise the genocide of the Jews.

“The idea that anyone espousing these views would be invited to educate young children is an utter disgrace. The school has serious questions to answer [...] and owes a full explanation as to how this happened under its watch.”

Mr Jackson’s visit to the primary school prompted a backlash from parents, one of whom questioned why a Church of England school was “encouraging Islam”.
Berlinale chief urges ‘cool heads’ amid backlash over Wim Wenders’ no-politics comment
The head of the Berlin Film Festival has sought to draw a line under a row over whether filmmakers should take political stances that has marked the opening days of the event.

In a statement released late Saturday, festival director Tricia Tuttle reacted to the controversy sparked by comments made by jury president Wim Wenders at a press conference on Thursday when he was asked about the German government’s support for Israel.

“We have to stay out of politics,” Wenders said, stressing that filmmakers had to “do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”

That prompted a backlash, including the decision by award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy to withdraw from the festival, where she had been due to present a restored version of a 1989 film she wrote, “In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones.”

“It is hard to see the Berlinale and so many hundreds of filmmakers and people who work on this festival distilled into something we do not always recognize in the online and media discourse,” Tuttle said in her statement.

Some have defended Wenders, saying his remarks were taken out of context.

In the press conference he also spoke of how “movies can change the world” and of the power of films to “change the idea that people have of how they should live.”

In her statement Tuttle thanked the filmmakers, juries and others working at the festival for their “cool heads in hot times.”

She emphasized that artists “are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose” and should not “be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to.”
Green Party activists say Zionism is a form of racism
Green Party activists have said Zionism should be treated as a form of racism, a leaked dossier has revealed.

Grassroots members of Zack Polanski’s party are calling for the belief in the right of Jews to self-determination to be classed as a “racist ideology”, in a motion put forward for discussion by the party.

The dossier suggests that Israel should not exist because the “only viable solution” is a “single” Palestinian state and argues that the term “anti-Semitism” should not be used because it discriminates against Arabs.

Other motions put forward by members include drastically reducing investment in the police and prisons, leaving Nato and allowing transgender people to take part in women’s sport.

Members hope they will be able to turn the motions, leaked to The Telegraph, into official party policy at their spring conference.

While some motions may not be voted on because of time constraints, parties from across the political spectrum were quick to condemn them as “dangerous”, accusing elements of the party of supporting “anti-Semitic tropes”.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism described the motions as “disgusting”.

A spokesman said: “According to our polling, 89 per cent of British Jews consider anti-Zionism a form of anti-Semitism. Delegates should bear this in mind before entertaining this disgusting motion.”

The Greens have enjoyed a surge in the polls since Zack Polanski became leader last September. The party is polling at an average of 14.2 per cent, fewer than five points behind Labour and the Conservatives.
Green Party leader faces prospect of branding own mother ‘racist’ over anti-Zionist motion
Green Party leader Zack Polanski faces branding his own mother and other close family members as “racists” if his party adopts a proposed extreme anti-Zionist policy at its upcoming conference.

Jewish News previously reported that Polanski, who grew up in a Jewish family in north Manchester, is under increasing pressure from rabidly anti-Israel activists in the party to support a motion declaring Zionism should be “treated as any other form of racism,” and calling for a ban on members who identify as Zionists.

It can now be revealed that Polanski’s mother has openly expressed support for Israel across several social media posts.

To protect her privacy, Jewish News is not naming her.

Other immediate family members, including Polanski’s sister, have also voiced support online for pro-Israel organisations and events in the north west of England.

In one post, Polanski’s mother backs a pro-Israel counter-demonstration in Manchester, staged in response to a large pro-Palestinian protest.

She has also criticised a Labour MP online for comparing Israeli actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis.

Other relatives have posted in support of organisations such as Stand With Us and the Campaign Against Antisemitism.


Gerald M. Steinberg: Activist prof used U of T law department to promote anti-Israel agenda
Yap’s activities exemplify the morphing of the University of Toronto Law School program into a satellite branch of an activist NGO with no external oversight or academic credentials. My research institute, NGO Monitor, has studied this issue at the University of Toronto in great detail. Yap advanced his biased agenda by involving students, faculty, and the institutional credibility of the law school.

In 2024, Yap co-signed a lobbying letter with Shawan Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq — which has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, and which Israel has accused of operating on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a listed terrorist entity in Canada. Yap also appeared as a representative of the university before UN bodies such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is known for its deep bias against Israel.

In August 2025, Yap participated in a Toronto event organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) — an organization whose leadership and activities have documented ties to, and voiced support for, the PFLP terrorist group, and which also played a central role in the orchestrated encampments on other Canadian and American campuses. These activities reinforce and extend the antisemitic environment at the University of Toronto, as documented in detail.

Furthermore, IHRP’s student “working groups” include “Israeli Apartheid: Canada’s Obligations” (IA:CO), which partners with an NGO involved in the infamous campus encampments of 2024.

When the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern about Canada’s “insufficient” oversight on arms transfers to Israel, IHRP publicly claimed credit for prompting the report. Further reflecting Yap’s dual role, in January 2026, IHRP prepared an anti-Israel lawfare submission to the UN Human Rights Committee titled “Exporting Violence: Canada’s Arms Transfers and the Devastation of Civil and Political Rights in Gaza.”

Beyond the U of T, many other university programs platform NGO officials without academic backgrounds. Powerful NGOs with massive budgets, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and a web of local activist groups provide adjuncts, fellows, speakers, internship placements, research material, and the narrative framing on many campuses. Their methodologically flawed and blatantly biased reports are treated as authoritative texts. Fact-based debates, the cornerstones of the university, are replaced by manipulated narratives.

Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights is another clear example of NGO ideological activism in the guise of the pursuit of knowledge. In addition to numerous anti-Israel NGO seminar speakers, presented as “experts,” the Center awarded a veteran NGO anti-Israel propagandist entirely lacking academic credentials (Ken Roth) a prestigious fellowship.

Partisan NGO messaging only contributes to the already overwhelmingly trendy campus monoculture of hostility toward Israel, and exacerbates the systematic harassment of Jewish students. Such programs, courses and speakers accompany illegal encampments, initiatives demonizing Israel with false claims of genocide, and slogans attacking zionism.

By participating in the IHRP travesty, among other examples, the University of Toronto’s Law Faculty has contributed to campus politicization, the wider academic “truth deficit,” and silencing of Jewish students. In contrast, the restoration of the essential distinction between truth-seeking scholarship and ideological brainwashing is a vital and urgent requirement.


Alleged Hamas Front Group Launches Third Wikipedia Training Program in Gaza
Last Thursday, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor launched the third round of its "WikiRights" project. The Geneva-based pro-Palestine organization has alleged ties between its leadership and Hamas, according to watchdog groups. The program is designed to train participants in documentation work and professional Wikipedia editing related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

According to the organization’s announcement, the training includes creating, developing, and updating content using Wikipedia’s editing tools in both Arabic and English. The program also emphasizes “live field documentation and interviewing victims and witnesses,” which it says is necessary to counter attempts to conceal the “true story” of events.

While training contributors in Wikipedia mechanics is not unusual, the program’s framing highlights a clear advocacy objective. Critics describe that emphasis as a cause for concern about how such work aligns with Wikipedia’s own policies governing neutrality, sourcing, and conflicts of interest.

The Training Program Violates Wikipedia’s Editorial Standards
Wikipedia is governed by three core content policies — Neutral Point of View (NPOV), Verifiability (V), and No Original Research (NOR).

These rules require that content summarize “reliable, independent, published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy.” Personal testimony collected in the field qualifies as a primary source, which isn’t sufficient for contentious claims about ongoing conflicts.

The WikiRights description, however, places strong emphasis on interviewing victims and witnesses and documenting events directly. That approach may be valuable for advocacy reports or journalistic investigations, but Wikipedia itself is not intended to function as a platform for publishing newly gathered evidence. Instead, such material must usually be vetted and published by independent outlets before it can be cited in encyclopedia entries.

Another issue concerns transparency. Wikimedia’s paid-contribution disclosure rules require editors who are compensated or directed by an organization to disclose their affiliation. If participants in the program receive stipends, equipment, or structured direction on what topics to edit, disclosure would normally be expected under those terms. Without clear public guidance on how trainees are instructed to handle conflicts of interest or disclosures, the program naturally raises questions of coordinated advocacy editing rather than neutral volunteer participation.


The Birmingham ward where a convicted terrorist is running for office
When it rains in Sparkhill, the uncollected rubbish turns to mulch. You can see it near the top of Shakespeare Street, where black bin bags dumped on the kerbside are marooned in a grey-brown sea of muddy detritus.

Plastic bottles, soft drink cans and food containers remain identifiable. Other, more shapeless items are so trodden into the ground, they’re unrecognisable.

For locals in this Birmingham neighbourhood, the unlovely state of the streets is a recurring theme in conversations about what they’d like the Labour-run council to sort out. Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas canisters (their sale and disposal), are mentioned frequently. Drug dealers. Safety. These are the issues that will be on the minds of voters when they go to the polls in May’s local elections.

They are not uncommon concerns in urban areas, although Birmingham’s long-running bin strike has turned the litter problem into something more dystopian than elsewhere. More unusual is the choice of representatives that could be on offer here, where sweeping demographic changes in recent decades mean the white working class now makes up less than 8 per cent of the population, and 92 per cent are from black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.

Shahid Butt, a man convicted of terrorism, plans to stand in the Sparkhill ward for a seat on Birmingham’s city council, as an independent candidate.

Butt was 33 when he was found guilty of plotting to blow up the British consulate in Yemen in 1999, as well as an Anglican church and a Swiss-owned hotel in the country. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

He claims the charges were fabricated, and that he was tortured into signing a confession. But he also says he understands people’s “speculation and concern” over his candidacy, which is backed by a pro-Palestine alliance of independents running for office throughout Birmingham.

In any case, his sentence is spent, and he is now legally eligible to stand for a seat on the city council, Europe’s largest unitary authority.

If this wasn’t bizarre enough, the name of a possible rival candidate has also raised eyebrows. Sharon Osbourne, wife of the late Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, was invited by the leader of Birmingham’s Conservative group earlier this month to stand for the party as a councillor.


Seth Frantzman: Why Syria's FM is changing his messaging to Israel - and why it matters
Israel, US, Syria meeting changed tone of relationships
Ever since a trilateral meeting between Israel, the US, and Syria in January in Paris, there has been a change in tone. Syria has now worked with the Syrian Democratic Forces in eastern Syria to extend Syrian control over northeast Syria.

This has changed Syria and means that talks with Israel may now enable accommodation with the Druze in Sweida or a way to get through other hurdles. Reports on social media that Syria may be interested in opposing Hezbollah more in Lebanon certainly could be linked to Damascus’s new policy.

The reports about Syria’s position on Israel have been highlighted in Beirut-based newspaper Al Akhbar, which is pro-Iranian. This shows that Hezbollah may be concerned. If Syria-Israel tensions are reduced, then more focus might be on Hezbollah. Iran would prefer to see Syria and Israel at odds.

Now, cooler heads may be prevailing.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with Shaibani and Mazloum Abdi, the head of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and Commander-in-Chief of Syrian Democratic Forces Mazloum Abdi at the Munich Security Conference,” the US Department of State said. “The Secretary affirmed the United States’ support for a Syria that is stable, at peace with its neighbors, and that protects the rights of all its ethnic and religious minority groups. Secretary Rubio welcomed the Syrian government’s commitment to fully cooperate with the United States and the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.

“The Secretary emphasized the importance of implementing the permanent ceasefire and integration agreement in northeast Syria, and ensuring full respect and safety for the rights of all Syrians,” the State Department said.


Sen. Graham reassures Israel: Trump, Netanyahu are of one mind on Iran
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) met with top Israeli leadership and held a press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, focusing on efforts to bring about regime change in Iran. “The offensive to weaken the Iranian regime and its proxies is paying dividends,” he said.

Graham said the purpose of his visit was to “reassure the Israeli people” that there was no daylight between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when it came to Iran, and “about what to do and how to do it.”

“We’re on the verge of eliminating the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the region,” Graham said, describing Iran and its leadership as at “their weakest points since 1979.”

Trump is only “weeks away” from a decision on the best way to bring about regime change in the Islamic Republic, whether through diplomacy or military means, he said.

“There are two lines in the water right now. One’s the diplomatic line, trying to find a way to end this regime diplomatically that will advance our national security interests. The other line is the military option,” Graham said. “I think President Trump is looking for which line can catch the biggest fish. The bottom line is we’re … weeks, not months, in terms of decision making.”

The senator said he hopes that if a diplomatic solution can’t be found, then the United States and Israel would “engage in a great endeavor” to support the people of Iran in their demand for freedom and a normal life.

“As to the Iranian regime, you’re weak because of your ideas. You’re weak because of the way you treat your people. You’re weak because you’re evil,” Graham said.

He acknowledged that Iran can cause damage if attacked, but the risk of doing nothing, “of blinking, and pulling the plug,” far outweighs the risk from an Iranian retaliatory strike.


Israeli arrested for taking pictures near Gallant’s home on Iran’s behalf
An Arab Israeli was arrested last month after taking pictures near the home of former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on behalf of a “foreign agent,” prosecutors said on Monday.

Fares Abu al-Hija, 32, from the village of Kaukab Abu al-Hija in the Lower Galilee, carried out “a series of tasks” after being promised payment by a foreign agent who identified himself only as “Martin,” prosecutors added.

The State Attorney’s Office did not specify the origin of the foreign agent. However, the Israel Police and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that they identified the handler as an “Iranian intelligence entity.”

The suspect allegedly “purchased and concealed mobile phones and chargers at several locations in Haifa and Kiryat Haim, activated these devices, installed communication applications on them, documented the hiding locations and transferred documentation to his handler.”

Later, Abu al-Hija was said to have been asked to deliver an envelope with a password to a cryptocurrency account to a location in Zikhron Ya’akov, as well as to take pictures of an unidentified café in Tel Aviv.

The defendant was eventually caught red-handed and arrested after he traveled to Moshav Amikam, taking photos of the streets surrounding Gallant’s home and transferring them to the agent, prosecutors said.

Since the beginning of the War of Redemption on Oct. 7, 2023, around 40 indictments have been filed against some 60 Israelis recruited by Tehran. Most are ordinary citizens with no prior criminal record.

Last year, the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Moti Maman, 73, to 10 years in jail after convicting him of contact with a foreign agent and unlawful entry into an enemy state.
Film industry group calls out Hollywood’s double standard on Iran: ‘Selective outrage’
Their silence is deafening.

The Brigade, which counts some 750 filmmakers, agents, managers, publicists, executives and actors, is taking a not-so-subtle jab at the town’s most vocal pro-Palestinian activists for their “selective” outrage and failure to condemn the atrocities being committed in Iran.

Page Six Hollywood has obtained an open letter penned by the group, which was launched in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel. The letter says: “We refuse to tell future generations that when artists were needed to bear witness, we chose silence or selective protest instead.”

In the two-plus years since Hamas carried out its deadly assault in Israel, the Brigade has only released a few open letters, opting instead to work behind the scenes to stem what it sees as an uptick in antisemitism cloaked in Israel critiques.

In September, the Brigade partnered with the Creative Community for Peace on a letter rejecting Hollywood’s boycott of the Israeli Film Industry. The Brigade has never made its membership roster public, but signatories of the boycott letter included Liev Schreiber, Mayim Bialik, Gene Simmons, Debra Messing, Sharon Osbourne, Greg Berlanti, Jerry O’Connell, Howie Mandel, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lisa Edelstein, Erin Foster, Anthony Edwards, Rebecca De Mornay, Sherry Lansing, Shari Redstone and Haim Saban.

In February 2025, the Brigade also published a letter urging red-carpet walkers to ditch the trendy Artists4Ceasefire pins. The group took issue with the pins, claiming that the red hands symbolize Jewish bloodshed. At last year’s Oscars, the Artist4Ceasefire pins were worn by Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef and Mahershala Ali.

“It is very telling that the people who were the loudest voices about [justifying] the red hands are refusing to speak out about this,” says one prominent Brigade member. “More people in Hollywood need to be speaking out.”

Only a few industry figures have voiced their concerns about the Iranian government’s recent crackdown on civilian protesters that left thousands dead. The small list of celebrities who have spoken out include Iranian pop star Googoosh, actress Nazanin Boniadi, JK Rowling and Marion Cotillard.

Israeli influencer and thought leader Hen Mazzig, whose supporters include Messing and David Schwimmer, says he is not surprised by the fact that those calling out Israeli human rights abuses have said nothing when it comes to Iran.


X strips Iranian officials’ blue ticks, spurring wave of parody accounts
Social media platform X removed premium verification badges from senior Islamic Republic officials, triggering a surge of blue-ticked parody accounts that impersonate them and blurring the line between official statements and satire.

Within hours of the badges disappearing, accounts styled as satirical versions of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and senior official Ali Larijani began drawing thousands of views and followers.

One parody account using Larijani’s name published a post arguing that anyone who believes a meaningful agreement can be reached with the Islamic Republic is naïve.

Another account in Araghchi’s name, which was suspended later, published the monarchist slogan “Long live the King.”

X also removed blue ticks from accounts attributed to Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to a review of the platform.

An account using the name of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted a message suggesting he seek refuge with the Taliban. “If our friendly neighboring brothers, the Taliban, kindly issue six-month tourist visas, the situation is dire,” the post read.

Separately, parody accounts posing as parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and late Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani posted mocking replies in comment threads.

One fake Ghalibaf account warned the United States that if it repeated a hostile act “once more, it will become twice,” mimicking official rhetoric in an exaggerated, satirical tone.

A parody account impersonating former president Ebrahim Raisi posted a Valentine’s Day message lamenting that “no one sent us a teddy bear,” while another billed itself as “the first president in Iran’s history to be eaten by a bear” – a darkly comic nod to the online satire that has persisted around his death.

Most of the new profiles visibly carry the label “Parody account,” a designation that appears when a user identifies their profile as satirical.

Under X rules, accounts that present themselves as real individuals without clearly disclosing their unofficial nature can face suspension, prompting many users to add the parody label to reduce the risk of removal.

A parody account created in Khamenei’s name drew nearly 9,000 followers within hours. Similar accounts impersonating Araghchi and Larijani quickly grew to more than 20,000 and about 12,000 followers, respectively.


US envoy slams Belgium over mohel probe
The U.S. ambassador to Belgium, Bill White, on Monday criticized what he termed local authorities’ “antisemitic harassment” of mohels, performers of Jewish circumcision.

White, an appointee of U.S. President Donald Trump, undertook the unusual intervention in a pointed 316-word post on X, in which he appeared to reference a criminal investigation that led last year to raids on the homes of several mohels in Antwerp.

The post was addressed to Belgian Health Minister Frank Vanenbroucke, and it rebuked him for allegedly having an anti-American bias.

U.S. diplomats have in the past expressed support for enshrining the religious rights of minorities in Europe and beyond, but they rarely comment publicly in such harsh tones on the internal affairs of Western allies such as Belgium. White penned his post amid concern about plans for legislation to limit nonmedical circumcision in Belgium, a leader of Belgian Jews told JNS under condition of anonymity.

“Antisemitism is UNACCEPTABLE in any form, and it must be rooted out of our society,” White wrote as a preface to the post, to which he copied the accounts of Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, among others.

“To Belgium, specifically, you must drop the ridiculous and antisemitic ‘prosecution’ now of the three Jewish religious figures (mohels) in Antwerp! They are doing what they have been trained to do for thousands of years,” the text read, all in capital letters.

The reference to the mohels seems to have been about three religious Jews who, in May, saw police raid their homes due to a complaint by a local Jew.

The complainant, Moshe Aryeh Friedman, claimed that six mohels, whom he identified to police, had endangered children by sucking the blood from the penises of babies on whom they’d performed the Jewish ritual, a custom known as metzitzah b’peh. One of the mohels denied these claims in a May interview with JNS.
Woman guilty of stealing hostage memorial
A Brighton woman has been found guilty of stealing part of a memorial to hostages kidnapped by Hamas and throwing it in a seafront bin.

Fiona Monro, 58, also wrote “Pray for the 30,000 murdered Palestinians” on the Palmeira Square memorial the following week – but was acquitted by a jury today of criminal damage in relation to that.

Monro, of Belgrave Place, told the court she did not think the memorial should have been put up in the Hove square, describing it as political propaganda.

She said she did not know at the time that a poster she took down was of a hostage, Tsachi Idan, whose cousin, Adam Ma’anit lives in Hove.

It has since emerged that Idan, whose teenage daughter Maayan was shot by a Hamas gunman, was killed while in captivity.

After she put the board with his poster on and placed it in the bin, it was retrieved by Mr Ma’anit and his wife Heidi Bachram and put back in the square.

On Thursday, the trial heard from Magdalena de Laurans, who watched Monro take the board on 5 February, 2024, four months after Hamas had taken the hostages.

On Friday, witness Stephen Fixman told the jury he saw her taking a poster off the board and writing on it with marker pen on 12 February, a week later.

The court was told that Monro was invited to a voluntary interview in April, at which she gave police a prepared statement saying she was concerned Zionists had exaggerated evidence because of her husband Tony Greenstein [a "notorious antisemite"], who she described as a Jewish activist outspoken against Zionism.


Jewish community outraged after Israel effigy 'executed' at Andorra carnival
A traditional carnival ceremony in Andorra has sparked outrage among members of the tiny Jewish community after an effigy depicting the State of Israel was put on public “trial,” shot and set ablaze during festivities attended by local officials.

The incident took place Monday in the Encamp district of the small principality between France and Spain, which holds a seat at the United Nations. Images from the event showed a large blue-and-white effigy bearing a Star of David on its face. The figure was hanged, symbolically tried and sentenced to death before being shot and burned.



The ceremony was part of Andorra’s annual Carnival tradition centered on “Carnestoltes,” a mock king whose effigy is typically put on trial, hanged and burned in a symbolic act marking the end of festivities. However, members of the Jewish community said this was the first time the effigy included Jewish symbols or imagery associated with Israel.

Esther Pujol, one of about 160 Jews living in Andorra, said the community was deeply shaken.

“This is a ritual they perform every year as part of carnival, where they mock many things,” she said. “This time they dressed the effigy in the colors of the Israeli flag, with a Star of David on its face. They put it on trial, sentenced it to death and carried out the sentence by shooting and burning it. It is completely unacceptable.”
Israeli visitors called ‘crazy child killers’ and ejected from Madrid museum
Three elderly Israeli women were forcibly expelled from Madrid’s Reina Sofía museum on Saturday 14 February after visitors harassed them for displaying Jewish symbols, including a Star of David necklace and Israeli flag.

The Spanish news outlet Okdiario first reported the incident. According to its account, museum-goers reacted angrily to the women, with several shouting insults, including the accusation that they were “crazy child killers”, “murderers” and “genocidal maniacs”.

Staff at the Museum, which reports to the Ministry of Culture, offered them no protection, instead ordering them to leave, with an armed security guard personally escorting them from the building.

The three women were told “some visitors were disturbed” by their Jewish identity; those making the complaints were allowed to stay.

The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain’s national museum of 20th century art, features works by Dali and Picasso.

Since 7 October 2023, it has presented an exhibition titled “From the River to the Sea” in solidarity with Palestinians, later changed to ‘Critical Thinking Gatherings, International Solidarity With Palestine’ following outrage from the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community; and also hosted anti-Israel demonstrations.


Israel’s Zim shipping company inks $4.2 billion takeover deal by German giant
German shipping behemoth Hapag-Lloyd announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement together with Israeli private equity fund FIMI Opportunity Funds to buy Haifa-based shipping rival Zim Integrated Shipping Services, in a deal worth $4.2 billion.

Hapag-Lloyd will acquire 100 percent of Zim’s shares for a consideration of $35 per share in cash. The price tag represents a 58% premium on the shipping firm’s share price on February 13. Zim operates 145 ships, including 130 container vessels.

As part of the deal, Israeli financial investor FIMI will take ownership of a portion of Zim’s business related to the shipping firm’s Israel operations and form “New Zim.” The Israeli container shipping company will serve global trade routes into Israel and provide continued secure liner shipping services to the country. This is intended to maintain shipping routes and supply to the country in emergencies, such as in the event of war, since the vast majority of imports of goods arrive in Israel via the sea.

With a fleet of 16 vessels, New Zim will directly connect Israel with major global ports in the EU, the US, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd will take control of Zim’s international operations, including shipping routes between East Asia and the Americas, and between Asian ports.

“FIMI recognizes and believes in the strategic importance for the State of Israel of a strong independent Israeli shipping company,” said FIMI Funds founder and CEO Ishay Davidi. “We will create a stable Israeli company, New Zim, and view Hapag-Lloyd as a significant strategic partner for its ongoing operations.”

“New Zim will integrate significant transatlantic capabilities, alongside additional shipping routes to Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea, supported by advanced global maritime transport capabilities,” Davidi added.
Israeli actress Shira Haas to star in the upcoming WWII movie 'Triumph of the Will'
Israeli actress Shira Haas will appear in a new film, Triumph of the Will, according to a report in Variety.

The entertainment industry publication described the film as “a sprawling period movie set during WWII, written and directed by American filmmaker Gabriel Nussbaum.”

Haas was the breakout star of the Israeli series about the ultra-Orthodox community, Shtisel, and was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance in another drama series about haredi Jews, Unorthodox on Netflix.

She also appeared in the latest Captain America movie, Captain America: Brave New World, last year, opposite Harrison Ford. She won the 2020 Best Actress Award in the International Narrative category at the Tribeca Film Festival for the Israeli film, Asia.

In Triumph of the Will, Haas portrays a woman who leaves her husband in Amsterdam in 1937 with her daughter and moves to Berlin, where she gets involved with a rabbi trying to get Jews out of the country.

David Kaplan, the film’s producer, who also made the movie, Josephine, which won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival last month, described the story to Variety, saying, “This good man is trying to help people get out of Berlin, but he is perhaps more focused on doing good work than he is on saving himself or his new family. It starts as a romantic drama about somebody trying to find happiness, have the life they want, even if it’s slightly irrational.”
Israeli producer of ‘Tehran’ TV series dies aged 52
An Israeli producer of the hit Tehran television series has died during the filming of the show’s fourth season in Athens, with Israel’s public broadcasting corporation praising “her professional and personal legacy”.

Dana Eden, 52, was found unresponsive in her hotel room in the Greek capital after concern from friends and family that she had failed to answer messages. The production company she co-led, Donna and Shula Productions, published a statement saying that it “wants to make it clear that the rumours of the death being criminal or nationalistic are not true and baseless.”

Greek police have said that the death is being treated as a suicide, based on evidence and testimonies.

Tehran, which premiered in 2020, became a hit both in Israel and internationally, being aired on Apple TV. The third series, delayed due to the 7 October mass-terror attacks and resulting Gaza war, aired in late 2024.

The IBC said: “We mourn the passing of our colleague and partner in a long line of productions, series, and programs at the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – Dana Eden.

“Dana was among the senior figures in Israel’s television industry and played a central role in creating and leading some of the corporation’s most prominent and influential productions. Her professional and personal legacy will continue to shape Israeli television for many years to come.”

The official statement from Donna and Shula productions said:
“We are shocked and heartbroken by the untimely passing of our beloved friend and partner, Dana Eden.

“Dana, a gifted creator with an international reputation, worked in the industry for more than 30 years, and for the past 18 years at Dana and Shula Productions won numerous awards, including an International Emmy for producing the international series ‘Tehran.'”


Takamitsu Muraoka, Japanese pioneer of Dead Sea Scrolls Hebrew studies, dies at 88
Japanese pioneer Hebraist Takamitsu Muraoka died last week in Leiden, the Netherlands, at age 88, after suffering a stroke a few weeks earlier and never fully recovering.

A specialist in Semitic languages and biblical Hebrew, Muraoka was proud to describe himself as the first Japanese student to complete a doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, according to Steven Fassberg, the Caspar Levias Professor of Ancient Semitic Languages at the Hebrew University’s Department of Hebrew Language, who knew Muraoka since the early 1990s.

The Japanese scholar, he added, advanced the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls from a linguistic perspective and remained connected to Israel and in close contact with Israeli scholars for the rest of his life, even as he moved across the world to pursue his academic career, teaching at Manchester University in the United Kingdom, at Melbourne University in Australia, and finally at Leiden University, until he retired some 20 years ago.

“[Muraoka] did a doctorate with [prominent Semitic Languages Professor] Chaim Rabin, which was published years later as a book called ‘Emphatic words and structures in Biblical Hebrew,’” Fassberg told The Times of Israel over the telephone. “While he was doing his doctoral work, he took courses with all the greats at the university at the time.”

Fassberg explained that although Muraoka’s thesis was on biblical Hebrew, he also became an expert in Aramaic. By the end of his career, he knew several ancient and modern languages.

“He was a polyglot,” Fassberg said. “His English was impeccable. His Hebrew was excellent. He knew French and German. When he went to the Netherlands, he learned Dutch so he could lecture in Dutch. And, of course, he knew the ancient languages, Greek, Aramaic, Ugaritic… He was a very, very impressive scholar.”




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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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