Friday, March 13, 2026

03/12 Links Pt2: The Horseshoe Effect and Anti-Jewish Incitement; Gunman shot dead after ramming vehicle into Michigan synagogue

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The ethnostate illusion
Jews have benefited hugely from the civilized society that allowed them to prosper in America and Britain. So they have a duty to lend their voices to the defense of the West against Islamization and cultural takeover.

Unfortunately, virtually the only Jewish voices to be heard are those demonizing this as “white supremacy,” racism and “Islamophobia.” In Britain, Jewish leaders have supported government proposals to introduce protection for Muslims that will have a chilling effect on necessary debate about Islamic extremism.

This is very wrong in itself. But it’s also guaranteed to make resentment of the Jews even worse by appearing to prove the charge that the Jews “don’t care about the rest of us.”

“So what?” many Jews would say in response; “antisemitism lies beyond reason and it’s eternal, so there’s no point even trying to fight it.”

This is simply wrong. As I say in my new book, published this week, Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege, there’s plenty that can and should be done to combat it.

True, antisemitism can never be defeated, but Jewish passivity makes it worse. Failing to produce arguments and evidence to show that claims of Jewish power over U.S. policy are groundless reinforces the belief that they are true.

Jews have to stand up for themselves in the right way. The Jewish world has consistently been doing so in the wrong way, and then wonders why it hasn’t gotten anywhere.

In my book, I set out a strategy for both individuals and community leaders that turns many of these flawed assumptions upside down. Community leaders should start speaking truths that Jews shy away from, such as the prevalence of Muslim antisemitism or Israel’s legally watertight claim to the land. Individuals should use difficult encounters about Israel as an opportunity to surprise their foes and so open their minds by at least a crack.

Even in today’s poisonous climate, this can have a remarkable effect. In any event, Jews—who have an obligation to stand up for truth against lies—should take on those foaming right now about “war-mongering for Israel” simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Seth Mandel: The Horseshoe Effect and Anti-Jewish Incitement
Those Epstein files are public largely because of the efforts of folks like Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from California, and Tom Massie, a Republican from Kentucky. Khanna and Massie have coined the phrase “the Epstein class” to refer to a wide variety of people who don’t include Ro Khanna and Tom Massie and their friends, though it has mostly just poured fuel on the fire of Epstein-related anti-Semitic conspiracy theories not too dissimilar from Owens’s idiotic “Baal-worshiping” stuff.

Khanna’s cynicism is the subject of an excellent column by James Kirchick in the Washington Post today. Khanna responded to Kirchick’s reporting by accusing Kirchick of protecting “the Epstein class” and being a shill for Israel’s government. Then he defended Pat Buchanan.

Ah, Pat Buchanan, trailblazing anti-Semitic populist. The old Republican hand and former presidential candidate is having a moment. A new generation of young right-wingers are discovering him and hoping to carve his face into Mount Rushmore. A couple of Republicans in the Senate want him to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As should be clear from Khanna, Buchanan’s bipartisan appeal isn’t policy-based. Rather, it’s the insinuations that American Jews are disloyal citizens acting on behalf of the Israeli government. Platner sounds a bit like him but so does someone who once called out Buchanan’s anti-Semitism: Tucker Carlson. The influential conservative podcaster and former Fox News host has morphed into a Pat Buchanan cover band.

In addition to accusing Israel of controlling Washington, Carlson now also recites the classic pogrom-incitement propaganda of accusing the Jews of planning to conquer Al Aqsa, the old mosque at the Temple Mount complex. It’s an idea Tucker shares with his left-wing buddies in the Squad like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who goes back to the well of Al Aqsa incitement more than some Palestinian leaders do.

This is what is termed the horseshoe effect, where right and left go far enough to meet on the other side. When it comes to Israel and the Jews, the political horseshoe is more like a closed circle, dizzying and without exit.

And by the way, another possible motive for attacks on Jews these days all over the world is the activating of Iranian agents who are retaliating for Israel’s refusal to let the mullahs have a nuclear bomb. Iran’s terror regime has defenders on both sides of the aisle too, for what it’s worth.

The point is that in the past, knowing an anti-Semitic terrorist’s specific motivation was useful information, a knowledge trail that one could follow to see how to prepare for the next attack. But right now it feels like that trail would just send you around in a circle. America’s domestic radicalization problem is the new melting pot, where all the ingredients get mushed together into a one-bowl meal. If, somehow, you still have an appetite.
Seth Mandel: Canada’s Colossal Failure on Anti-Semitism Since October 7
Just after a Purim celebration on March 2, a synagogue in Toronto was hit with gunfire. Four days later, shooters fired into a different Toronto synagogue while people were still inside. A half-hour after that, shots were fired at a third Toronto synagogue.

It’s fair to say this is cause for alarm. Especially when you consider the recent history of such incidents. In the summer of 2024, a Jewish girls school in Toronto was hit with gunfire. A few months later, the same school was shot at again. Two months after that, it was shot a third time.

Also in 2024, in the span of a month, yet another Toronto synagogue had its windows and doors smashed up twice. By November 2025, that synagogue—Kehillat Shaarei Torah—was vandalized 10 times. Then there was the Jewish schoolbus that was torched, and the popular bookstore that was vandalized because it is owned by a Jew… welcome to Toronto.

This doesn’t include all the incidents of nonviolent anti-Semitism, which were numerous and saw a steep increase each year after October 7.

The pattern is easy to figure out: Anti-Semitic activists go around targeting Jewish institutions, and the more dangerous the attack, the more likely it is to be repeated.

Yet the mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, has decided the way to address rising anti-Semitism is to pour fuel on the fire. In November, she went before a national Muslim group and added her voice to the “genocide” blood libel against the Jewish state.


From Every Direction By Abe Greenwald
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Violent anti-Semitism is now coming from so many directions, and has been stoked in so many different ways, that Jews rightly feel surrounded by those who want to do them harm.

On Sunday, the socialist mayor of New York City hosted an anti-Semitic terrorist-supporter at Gracie Mansion. Yesterday, Tucker Carlson blamed Israel for the likely American, and obviously accidental, bombing of a girls’ school in Iran. Today, Candace Owens tweeted that this makes sense since “Israel is required to mass murder children because they worship Baal.”

There are times when I think this can’t last. The West’s leading Jew-haters are becoming so outlandish, and they’re making ever more preposterous claims with each passing day. Aren’t they bound to discredit themselves, I wonder, even among the most gullible of their fans? After all, there was a time not so long ago when we all understood jihadist bloodlust to be, in purely colloquial terms, crazy. Surely, we can still recognize maniacal hatred.

And then, there are days like today, too many of them, when it seems as if that’s a foolish hope.

Anti-Semitism isn’t just the world’s oldest hatred. It’s also the most impervious to reason. Jew-hatred can take hold in the most technologically advanced and enlightened societies because it functions as a superstition, and modernity cannot eradicate the superstitious impulse. At best, it can redirect it toward more benign fixations. At worst, the massive scope and breakneck pace of modern advances can leave people grasping for false gods, soothing delusions, and scapegoats. What all the anti-Semites share, no matter their particular camp, is an affinity for the primitive. Times are miserable because the savages are on the march.
Gunman shot dead after ramming vehicle into Michigan synagogue
A gunman has been shot dead after ramming a truck into a synagogue in Michigan, in what American authorities have described as a deliberate attack on one of the country’s largest Jewish congregations.

The attack took place on Thursday afternoon at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, around 25 miles north of Detroit, after the attacker drove a vehicle into the front of the building before opening fire.

He was confronted by an armed security guard who opened fire, neutralising the threat before any other casualties occurred, officials said. No other injuries were reported.

Footage from the scene showed smoke billowing from the roof of the building as dozens of police vehicles surrounded the synagogue.

Temple Israel, which has around 12,000 members, describes itself as the largest Reform synagogue in the United States.

The site also houses an early years education centre and a religious school for pupils from nursery through to sixth form.

Officers from multiple agencies across Oakland County were deployed to the site, alongside state police and FBI agents.

Michael Bouchard, the Oakland County Sheriff, told reporters: “At least one individual came to the temple, security saw him, engaged him in gunfire.” He added that law enforcement was working to establish whether the attacker had acted alone.

Bouchard said authorities had been preparing for weeks amid concerns that an attack on the site could occur, suggesting the swift security response was part of a pre-planned readiness operation.


Michigan maniac ID'd Temple Israel wannabe car bomber who rammed into preschool ID’d as Lebanese American granted citizenship under Obama
The maniac who drove a vehicle full of explosives through a preschool at a Michigan synagogue in an antisemitic attack Thursday has been identified as a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, federal officials announced.

The wannabe car bomber, who died after smashing through the doors of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, was ID’d as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, the Department of Homeland Security told The Post.

Ghazali, who is married to a US citizen, entered the US through Detroit in 2011 and became a US citizen himself in 2016 under the Obama administration, acording to DHS.

“He entered the United States on May 10, 2011 at Detroit Metropolitan International Airport on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen after alien relative and fiancé petitions filed in December 2009 were approved in April 2010. He applied for naturalization on October 20, 2015 and was granted U.S. citizenship on February 5, 2016 under the Obama administration.”

The armed driver was found dead inside the car, which was loaded with mortar shells, after the temple’s security opened fire when they plowed through the entrance, police and sources said.

The explosive-laden truck sparked a blaze, with aerial footage from local outlets showing smoke wafting from the building in the aftermath as authorities swarmed the synagogue.

Miraculously, no students or staff members were harmed in the attack and were swiftly evacuated from the building.

Police said the lead security guard was struck by the car and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he is expected to recover.


Man detained at Trondheim synagogue in Norway after security incident, police say
A man was detained by the Norwegian police after a security situation was reported at the Trondheim synagogue in Norway on Thursday, according to police and the Jewish community.

The local outlet VG, citing the incident commander at the scene, two people were initially seen in a car near the synagogue.

One of them got out of the vehicle, while the other drove away at high speed, leading to a car chase heading out of the city and toward Orkanger.

John Arne Moen, chairman of the Jewish community in Trondheim (DJST), told VG earlier on Thursday that "there is an ongoing police operation at the synagogue."

A neighbor described a large police presence, with officers wearing bulletproof vests, helmets, and carrying rifles.
Synagogue in Belgium damaged in blast, no injuries, say police
A synagogue was damaged in a blast overnight in Liege, eastern Belgium, police say, adding they are investigating the cause of the explosion.

No injuries are reported, with “only material damage,” a spokesman for the police in the city of Liege says in a statement.

The blast took place around 4 a.m. in front of the synagogue, blowing out the windows of the buildings across the road, the spokesman adds.

A security perimeter was erected, and the federal police are expected at the scene, according to the French-speaking RTBF public broadcaster.

Built in 1899, the synagogue also serves as a museum for the history of Liege’s Jewish community, according to the its website.


Old Dominion shooter previously convicted for supporting ISIS
A gunman who opened fire at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday and killed one person and wounded two others was previously convicted of attempting to aid the terrorist group ISIS.

Law enforcement officials identified the shooter as Mohammed Bailor Jalloh, 36, of Virginia, NBC News reported. FBI director Kash Patel said that the FBI is investigating the attack as an act of terrorism.

Jalloh reportedly opened fire on a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps class at Old Dominion on Thursday morning. The two injured are reportedly in stable condition.

The victims have not been identified, but the New York Post reported that the deceased victim was the class instructor, a retired military officer.

Patel said students in the class subdued and killed Jalloh after he began shooting.

Jalloh was a former member of the Army National Guard who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017 for trying to provide material support to ISIS. Jalloh was born in Sierra Leone and was a naturalized U.S. citizen, according to the U.S. Department of Justice complaint.

He was released from prison in 2024.
Old Dominion ROTC instructor killed by convicted ISIS terrorist ID’d as chair of military science department
The instructor who was fatally shot by convicted ISIS-supporter Mohamed Bailor Jalloh was a decorated chair of Old Dominion University’s military science department who served several tours in the Middle East.

Lt. Col. Brandon Shah was in the middle of teaching an ROTC course at ODU Thursday morning when Jalloh, 36, stormed inside the classroom and opened fire.

Shah completed several tours with the Army since he enlisted in 2003, including deployment to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and a rotation to Atlantic Resolve, according to his university biography.

The veteran also served with the Virginia National Guard – of which Jalloh was a member before he became an ISIS ideologue, according to the Department of Justice.

The Virginia National Guard did not have any information regarding Shah, but confirmed to The Post that Jalloh was honorably discharged in April 2015, just one day shy of completing six years of service.

Shah was a proud alumnus of ODU, the University of Georgia, and the University of Kansas, according to his bio.

He collected more than 17 awards linked to his storied military career, including the Air Medal of Valor and three Army Commendation Medals.

Shah additionally recorded more than 1,200 hours flying three different aircrafts on top of 600 combat flight hours, according to his university profile.


'Debilitating': Australia's Jewish community raises concerns over Bondi Royal Commission after Dennis Richardson quits
The Australian Jewish community has been left in the lurch following its relentless fight to have the Albanese government establish a Royal Commission into the Bondi Beach terror attack.

It comes after former spy chief Dennis Richardson quit the national inquiry, despite Mr Albanese describing him as the “most qualified person” to investigate intelligence issues.

Mr Richardson, the former chief of ASIO, said the inquiry’s structure reduced his role as a strategic adviser.

"I felt I was the fifth wheel," Mr Richardson told Sky News on Thursday.

His departure has prompted alarm in Australia’s Jewish community, which had campaigned for the inquiry for weeks.

Australian Jewish Association president Robert Gregory told SkyNews.com.au the resignation risked undermining confidence in the process.

“Everything about this Royal Commission has been problematic from the outset,” Mr Gregory said on Thursday.

“The Albanese government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to establish it, and serious concerns have existed from the beginning about its structure and terms of reference.

“The resignation of Dennis Richardson now raises further questions that must be answered.

“If this Royal Commission is to have any real impact, it must be prepared to seriously examine the failures within our intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

“This development risks further undermining public confidence in the inquiry.”
‘No longer adding sufficient value’: Dennis Richardson opens up about Royal Commission resignation
Former intelligence chief Dennis Richardson details why he resigned from the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

“I felt I was no longer adding sufficient value, I believe the Royal Commission will get to the same destination, I think the community should have full confidence,” Mr Richardson told Sky News host Sharri Markson.

“In terms of my own role, I felt that, as I’ve said … I was simply surplus to requirements.”




Zohran Mamdani’s Wife Provided Illustration for Essay by Author Who Called Oct 7 ‘Spectacular’ and Attacked ‘Jewish Supremacist Vampires'
Rama Duwaji, the first lady of New York City, provided a featured illustration for an essay by an author who called Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack "spectacular," has frequently decried what she describes as "Jewish supremacist vampires," and said Jewish Israelis are "rootless soulless ghouls."

Duwaji, wife of Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D., N.Y.), provided a drawing for "A Trail of Soap," an essay in the collection Every Moment is a Life compiled by Susan Abulhawa. The essay, published last month in Everything Is Political—an offshoot of self-described "environmental & social justice nonprofit organization" Slow Factory—details a Gazan woman's attempt to find a bathroom in the territory.

Abulhawa, an author and anti-Israel activist, has a long history of supporting terror and demonizing Jews. Just days after Oct. 7, she wrote an op-ed in Electronic Intifada in which she called the massacres "a spectacular moment that shocked the world" and insinuated that Israel allowed the attack to happen.

"Whether or not Israel indeed knew of the plans in advance, those few freedom fighters inspired not only the whole of Palestine, but the oppressed masses worldwide, to imagine what freedom looks like; what resistance is possible; and what life is attainable," she wrote.

Abulhawa has spent the years since Oct. 7 offering thinly veiled attacks against Israelis, "Zionists," and "Jewish supremacists" on social media.

She wrote in one December post on X that Israelis are "rootless, soulless ghouls" and in September called Israel a "cultureless, rootless human aberration in the form of a manufactured 'nation,'" adding that "we live in the time of jewish supremacist demons."

Also in September, Abulhawa described a pro-Israel commentator as a "lying Jewish supremacist cockroach" and bemoaned "Dual loyalty zionists."
The Ask Project: Palestinians: What do you think about taking civilians hostage?

The Ask Project: Palestinians: If you could vote in Israeli elections, who would you vote for?

Israel supporter Clay Fuller expected to replace MTG on Capitol Hill
Clay Fuller, a veteran and district attorney, is expected to succeed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in the House, bringing a pro-Israel voice to replace one of the House’s most anti-Israel Republicans.

Fuller led all Republicans on the all-party primary ballot in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, winning 35% of the vote. Even though he finished narrowly behind Democrat Shawn Harris, a military veteran, the Republican vote is likely to consolidate behind Fuller in next month’s runoff election.

Fuller has expressed support for Israel and for the U.S. strikes on Iran.

“President Trump tried the peace route with Iran not once, not twice, but THREE separate times — and they refused. He’s the peace President, but you can’t negotiate with a death cult,” Fuller said in a post on X last month, emphasizing he had supported operations against Iran during his time in the military and that the regime and its proxies had killed many Americans. He added, “This mission is not in vain. Victory through strength.”

Fuller’s Air Force career included work on counterterrorism operations, and he was deployed in 2024 to the Al Udeid airbase in Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command operations.

The day after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, Fuller blasted the Biden administration for unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds as part of an earlier hostage deal, highlighting Iran’s support to Hamas.

In 2024, he praised Israel and the IDF for eliminating senior Hezbollah official Ibrahim Aqil, pointing to Aqil’s involvement in the attack on the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut in 1983.
Unpacked Podcasts: The Fight Over Anti-Zionism Explained
What is anti Zionism, and how is it different from antisemitism? Mijal and Noam sit down with Adam Louis-Klein to unpack one of the biggest debates in Jewish life today, from campus discourse and academia to Israel, identity, and the language of hate. They explore where criticism ends, where anti Zionism begins, and why this conversation matters so much right now.


Under the Jewish Spell By Abe Greenwald
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It’s hard for people to grasp the unique and miraculous story of the Jews without appealing to the supernatural. Those who marvel at it may determine that we really are God’s chosen. Those who resent it cling to fantasies about devilish sorcery and so on.

There’s an additional psychological factor behind the anti-Semite’s claim that Jews cast spells on people. It’s that they, the Jew-haters, can’t quite account for how they’ve become so entranced by the subject of the Jews. They sense in their own single-minded obsession something beyond their will to control. Anti-Semites see themselves falling into a maze in which Jews are hiding around every corner. Their fixation becomes indistinguishable from possession. Carlson, Omar, Candace Owens, and all the rest are, in fact, bewitched by Jew-hatred.

Anti-Semitism is undoubtedly a curse. Just look at what Jew-haters become: delusional, paranoid misfits unable to cope with the world as it is. To devote one’s life to hating Jews is to ensure one’s own endless misery. And for this burden, the anti-Semites must blame the Jews themselves. The only way they can do that without admitting to their own wretched state is to project their demons onto philo-Semites and supporters of Israel. Thus, Mike Huckabee is adduced as a victim of Jewish wizardry.

Now, take a look at Carlson—red-faced and ranting in an eternal tantrum—and take a look at Huckabee—the very portrait of a contented soul with a blessed life. I have no doubt that the supernatural plays a lead role in the story of the Jews. And God is evident not only in our survival. Just consider what He does to those who hate us—and what He does to those who call us friends.


Palestine Action supporters WILL face arrest at Al Quds day protest, Met suggests
The Metropolitan police have released further information relating to their policing plans for Al Quds Day protests on Sunday, including plans to use the river Thames as a natural barrier between pro and anti-Iranian regime groups, and indicating that those supporting Palestine Action will face arrest.

At press briefing this afternoon, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, described how a static (stationary) protest and counter-protest would take place between 13:30 – 15:00, between Lambeth and Vauxhall bridges. Those supporting Al Quds Day would be positioned on the Albert Embankment, while those opposing it will be placed on the Millbank side of the river. Those breaching conditions set for the protest, Adelekan said, “will mean facing arrest.”

The senior police commander also said that “officers on the ground will be briefed on placards, flags and chanting that will cross the line into hate crime or support for proscribed groups”, and indicated that as per previous statements by the Met police commissioner, “officers will act on chants of ‘Intifada’”. Adelekan said that while predictions on protest numbers could be incorrect, he believed that there could be 6,000 or more people attending in support of Al Quds day, with a similar number of counter protestors. He confirmed that 4 different groups – including Stop the Hate and the Lion Guard of Iran – had applied to the Met with regards to counter-protesting, with other organisations requesting to join. 1,000 officers at minimum would be involved in the policing operation, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner confirmed.

When asked by Jewish News whether police arrests for those supporting proscribed organisations would also apply to Palestine Action, with considerable ambiguity in recent week’s due to the Supreme Court’s judgement on the legality of the government’s proscription (with the government having committed to appealing the decision), Adelekan referred Jewish News to his previous answer regarding proscribed organisations. This appeared to indicate a difference in stance from a Met statement in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling last month, which noted that pending the outcome of any appeal Palestine Action remained proscribed and that expressing support for it was still a criminal offence, but said that “officers will continue to identify offences where support for Palestine Action is being expressed, but they will focus on gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time.”


Conservative students alarmed about College Republicans leader with Nick Fuentes ties
Some pro-Israel conservative students are voicing concern over the College Republicans of America’s new political director, citing his ties to neo-Nazi influencer Nick Fuentes as evidence of the party’s increasingly “alarming” shift toward extremism.

Kai Schwemmer was tapped last week as political director of the campus group, which has grown to more than 200 active chapters across U.S. universities since it was established in 2023 as an offshoot of the College Republican National Committee.

Schwemmer, known on social media as Kai Klips, has a channel on Fuentes’ invitation-only streaming platform Cozy, which he launched with far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Schwemmer appeared in a 2021 video promoting Fuentes’ “White Boy Summer” tour and was featured as a “special guest” at Fuentes’ 2022 APFAC III conference, the progressive advocacy organization People for the American Way reported.

Schwemmer has also been outspoken about his affiliation with Fuentes’ “America First” political movement. Though Fuentes’ “America First” podcast was initially inspired by the speeches and platform of President Donald Trump, he later adapted the term for his own purposes, after distancing himself from the mainstream GOP, to attract young conservatives.

Schwemmer, who lamented on X that “the white population is globally declining and … the acceleration of mass immigration is one major part of this,” was also one of several America First activists to be featured in the 2022 pro-Fuentes documentary “The Most Canceled Man In America.” In the film, he credits Fuentes’ rhetoric with bringing him into the America First movement and radicalizing him on the issue of immigration.

Fuentes refers to his supporters as “Groypers” or the “Groyper Army,” “who see their bigoted views as necessary to preserve white, European American identity and culture,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
UC Berkeley Allows SJP Chapter To Display Symbol Hamas Uses To Mark Israeli Targets
The University of California, Berkeley, is allowing its Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter to include an inverted red triangle—a symbol Hamas uses to denote Israeli targets—in its logo. The image is displayed on an official university webpage for the group and is permitted to appear at its sanctioned events on campus.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof told the Washington Free Beacon that the logo is part of the group's "First Amendment rights." Berkeley's online "Free Speech FAQ," however, says incitement to "commit acts of violence" is not protected—and Foundation for Defense of Democracies senior analyst Joe Truzman said the Hamas triangle is "absolutely" an example of such incitement.

Hamas has "used it countless times in videos that they've published of attacks against Israeli soldiers," Truzman told the Free Beacon. "This is a symbol of a foreign terrorist organization that's been designated by the United States."

"The presence of the symbol on Berkeley's website may be viewed by some as promoting hate," he added. "This red triangle symbol is very deliberate. [SJP] knows what they're doing."

Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, echoed Truzman's assessment. "It is a symbol used by Hamas to designate targets to attack," he said, describing the inverted triangle as a "terrorism symbol" used to "communicate a message of threat, intimidation, and violence."

UC Berkeley has been known to take a permissive stance when its campus groups affiliate with terrorist groups and espouse violence. In October, the university's Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine chapter endorsed a post echoing Hamas's call to avenge a Gazan propagandist's death: "Death to the occupation. Death to Zionism. Death to all collaborators." Berkeley's Bears for Palestine, another recognized student group, defended an April 2024 Iranian attack on Israel, blaming it on the Jewish state.
Columbia student worker union authorizes strike amid contract talks, Israel boycott demands
Student Workers of Columbia, a union representing roughly 3,500 graduate and undergraduate student workers at Columbia University, has “overwhelmingly” authorized a strike as part of ongoing contract negotiations with the university, including demands for an institutional boycott of Israel.

The union, affiliated with the United Auto Workers, wrote in a social media post on Wednesday that “it’s time to turn up the pressure.” The vote allows union leaders to call a strike at a future date but does not constitute an immediate work stoppage.

Union leaders say their bargaining agenda goes beyond traditional labor issues, including demands tied to recent campus political conflicts. Among the proposals are amnesty and reinstatement for students disciplined after the April 2024 occupation of Hamilton Hall during pro‑Palestinian protests, restrictions on campus police use of force, and removal of university security cameras.

Grant Miner, president of the union, was expelled and banned from campus for his role in the Hamilton Hall takeover, and is still paid $46,000 a year by the union, according to The Free Press.

SWC also opposes Columbia’s academic partnership with Tel Aviv University and the Columbia Tel Aviv Global Center, reflecting broader calls by some students and faculty for institutional disengagement from Israel.
Mamdani’s alma mater Bowdoin gets a D in combating antisemitism — while NYC’s New School has F: ADL report
Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s alma mater, Bowdoin College, got a lowly “D” grade — and The New School in New York City got an embarrassing “F” — in The Anti-Defamation League’s third annual campus report card on combating antisemitism.

Mamdani honed his policy and advocacy skills at Bowdoin, a prestigious liberal arts college in Maine, where he created a chapter of the controversial anti-Israel group Students for Justice in Palestine.

But the school, which costs a whopping nearly $94,000 per year, keeps failing when it comes to fighting antisemitism, according to the ADL, which dropped Bowdoin’s grade to a D from a C in 2025.

The ADL flagged what it called “hostile anti-Zionist groups” on the Brunswick campus. In February 2025, an anti-Israel encampment was established inside Bowdoin’s Student Center building, with protesters calling for divestment from and boycotts of Israel, which the new Big Apple mayor supports.

In New York, the New School maintained its F streak for the third consecutive year as the ADL cited a “level of severe antisemitic and anti-Zionist incidents” on the Greenwich Village campus as well as “hostile anti-Zionist student groups.”
Union Theological Seminary Pushes Event Featuring ‘Activist-Scholar’ Off Campus In Wake of Free Beacon Report
Union Theological Seminary, a Columbia University affiliate, said an event featuring Mohamed Abdou—a self-described "activist-scholar" who was banned from teaching at Columbia—could not proceed on its premises in the wake of a Washington Free Beacon report on that event.

"Authorization for this event was initially obtained through the withholding of key information," a spokeswoman for seminary, Afsheen Shamsi, told the Free Beacon. "Upon becoming aware of the unacceptable imagery and rhetoric used to promote the event and its ties to violence, President Jones revoked approval for what was to have been an Iftar (evening meal to break Ramadan fast) and made it clear to students that Union does not support violence or hate speech."

The Wednesday event, titled "Death to the Akademy: How To Be a Thorn in Their Throat Amidst Snakes in the Grass," was set to focus on "decolonial organizing lessons from Gaza's warrior mujahideen."

After it was moved off-campus, one of the organizers, Queer Muslims of NYC, condemned the move in a post on Instagram. It also quoted an unnamed Union Theological Seminary official who told the group, "we support your offer to host the iftar at an off-site location."

"I wish you a successful event and hope we can remain partners in better communication for future events you wish to hold on campus," the official allegedly added.

Shamsi did not answer questions about the post.

Abdou still appeared for a virtual talk hosted by Queer Muslims of NYC.

"Let us engage in jihad, and there are rules for jihad, and Muslims know that Allah has commanded rules," he said. "We don’t engage in wanton violence, but we don’t accept the negative peace either."


Tim Davie says trust in institutions like BBC in ‘full on crisis’
Public trust in institutions such as the BBC is in “full on crisis,” the corporation’s outgoing director-general Tim Davie has warned.

Speaking on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Mr Davie also acknowledged that the BBC has made some “serious mistakes, which we regret”.

His appearance as a guest on the podcast comes as he prepares to step down from his position next month after resigning following a series of scandals at the BBC.

Last summer the corporation faced criticism for its live broadcast of punk duo Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury Festival set, as the group led chants of “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)” during their performance.

And in November it emerged that the BBC selectively edited a speech made by Donald Trump on the day of the US Capitol attack for a Panorama documentary.

Mr Davie told the podcast’s hosts, Richard Osman and Marina Hyde: “We have a crisis.

“It is – we should call it – a full-on crisis that people do not trust too many of our institutions.

“And in the UK, we’re well ahead of the world. We hate to even be happy about things, but it is a wonder that we have these institutions and they’re there to serve.

“But trust is built and I’m semi-obsessed by this – trust is built by people absolutely believing that someone is acting in their interest and that they listen to them.”
Owen Jones article alleging bias by BBC editor was ‘defamatory’ but stated ‘opinion’, judge rules
Allegations of bias made against the BBC's regional Middle East online news editor in an article by journalist Owen Jones were defamatory but constituted a statement of opinion, a High Court judge has ruled.

In an article published in December 2024, Jones claimed BBC staff had told him Raffi Berg "plays a key role in a wider BBC culture of 'systematic Israeli propaganda’” and "repeatedly seeks to foreground the Israeli military perspective while stripping away Palestinian humanity".

Berg, who joined the BBC in 2001 and has been Middle East regional editor for its news website for 12 years, denies the claims in the article, titled The BBC's Civil War Over Gaza.

He is now suing Jones for libel and is seeking damages, an injunction preventing Jones from republishing the article, and an order requiring websites to take down the piece.

Jones is defending the claim and has previously said he will "vigorously" defend his reporting.

At a hearing earlier this month, barristers asked a judge to rule on several preliminary issues in the case, including whether the article was a statement of fact or an expression of opinion.

In the early-stage decision on Thursday, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled the "central allegation" that Berg's work on the Israel-Palestine conflict is biased and does not meet editorial standards "would strike the reasonable reader as a statement of opinion".

In the written ruling, the judge said parts of the article "convey the general impression to the reader that the claimant's alleged lack of objectivity may be subconscious".
Treasury slaps sanctions on four Hamas sham charities in Turkey, Indonesia
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Thursday on four groups in Turkey and Indonesia that used charitable donations as a front to fundraise for Hamas.

The department cited internal documents from the terrorist group showing that the so-called “sham charities” sent funds to Hamas fighters, paid for its construction projects and integrated with the group’s military-wing security apparatus.

“Hamas continues to rely on deceitful practices to hide its revenue-generating activities behind civilian organizations under the pretense of conducting humanitarian work, while in reality supporting the group’s continued efforts to fund its terrorist operations,” the department said.

“Hamas’s continued reliance on these types of organizations highlights the duplicity of its leaders, who prey on donors’ sympathies to siphon large sums of money into prolonging the suffering of Palestinians,” it added.

Three of the groups that the Treasury Department targeted are based in Turkey: Ghazi Destek Dernegi; Hayat Yolu; and the Palestinian White Hands Assistance and Solidarity Association. The department noted that Hayat Yolu also serves as a banking and financial hub for the Muslim Brotherhood, some branches of which the Trump administration has designated as terrorist organizations.

A fourth, Komite Nasional Untuk Rakyat Palestina, is based in Indonesia.
Killer of Sarah Halimi arrested over violent robbery
Kobili Traoré, the man who tortured and killed 64-year-old Jewish doctor Sarah Halimi in her Paris home in 2017 but did not face a criminal trial, has been arrested over a violent robbery.

Traoré and two other men have been accused of entering an apartment, spraying their 40-year-old victim with tear gas, attacking him, tying him to a chair and stealing valuables worth between 50,000 and 100,000 euros.

According to news reports the victim had been a drug dealer to the three suspects.

Sarah Halimi’s brother, William Attal, hopes the recent arrest of Traoré may encourage prosecutors to reopen the case over her killing.

In the Halimi case, France’s highest court ruled against a criminal trial of Traoré because, it was claimed, he had suffered a psychotic episode on the night he attacked her and threw her off her balcony.

“New elements in the case could prove that Kobili Traoré was fully aware of his actions and that he has attacked several people,” Attal told the JC. “There is also a recording of the killing that could be improved through artificial intelligence.”

Protests erupted in 2017 when courts ruled against a criminal trial for Traoré, whose psychotic episode on the day of Halimi’s killing, psychiatrists claimed, had been prompted by the consumption of cannabis.

On April 4, 2017, he first entered an apartment neighbouring Halimi’s flat. He then went to their balcony, crossed onto Halimi’s own balcony and entered her apartment.

Traoré beat Halimi, who screamed, leading several neighbours to alert police, who arrived within minutes. Neighbours described how Traoré shouted that Halimi was Satan and recited verses from the Koran.
Israeli-American player sues Pokémon Company over alleged tournament discrimination
The National Jewish Advocacy Center filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Tuesday, accusing The Pokémon Company International of barring a Jewish Israeli-American player from competing in organized Pokémon tournaments.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges that the Bellevue, Wash.-based company interfered with professional player Dov Aloof’s ability to compete in sanctioned events and later indefinitely suspended him from official Pokémon programs.

“This case is about a basic principle: if you open competitive events to the public, you do not get to exclude people because of who they are or where they come from,” Mark Goldfeder, director and CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JNS.

According to the lawsuit, Aloof—an Israeli-American dual citizen described in the complaint as having high-functioning autism—has long advocated for greater access for Israeli players in official Pokémon tournaments.

“Pokemon has been an arena where he can be himself,” the suit states.

Competitive Pokémon events operate under the company’s organized-play system, known as the “Play! Pokémon” program, which awards ranking points that can qualify players for major competitions. Israeli tournaments are not included in the official ranking system, the lawsuit states, requiring Israeli competitors to travel abroad to earn points. Aloof first began contacting the company in 2018 to request rank-impacting tournaments in Israel.


Amid war, Israeli Para athlete stands tall as she proudly displays national flag
The only Israeli athlete at the Milan Cortina Paralympics will leave the Games without a medal but full of pride from displaying her nation’s flag at a time of distress back home.

Sheina Vaspi’s best finish was 12th place in the women’s Para alpine combined standing race. She is not expected to compete again because of a lingering injury and because of Shabbat, when she does not compete in accordance with traditional Jewish law. She missed a Paralympic race last weekend, too, because of the Jewish day of rest.

She has taken the slopes at a fraught time, amid a climate of rising antisemitism globally, and during Israeli and US strikes on the Iranian regime that began on February 28, less than a week before the opening ceremony at Milano Cortina.

“There’s a feeling that we should hide the Israel flag because it’s not safe right now to show it, not safe to show you are Jewish around the world,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press. “So I’m really happy I had the chance, like, at least to have it big on the helmet and show up, because I’m really, really proud of where I come from. I’m really proud of my people and of what they’ve been through in the last two years. I’m so happy I had the chance to represent that.”

The 24-year-old Vaspi, who had her left leg amputated in a car accident when she was a toddler, said it was tough to compete amid the ongoing war.

“It’s not easy because you need to be focused on the training and the performance and be in the moment,” she said. “And at the same time, you know, the people you love being in the shelter all night. I try really hard to keep focused, but it’s definitely a challenge.”




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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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