Tuesday, March 17, 2026

03/17 Links Pt2: How to fight the lunatic haters: don’t get scared — get smart; What Jurgen Habermas Knew; Mamdani accuses Israel of genocide on St. Patrick’s Day stage

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: How to fight the lunatic haters: don’t get scared — get smart
Today, Jews are at the sharp end of this onslaught — but all those seeking to defend Israel and America must also begin to make themselves heard.

The security of all Americans is in peril if we refuse to grasp the threats of Islamism at home and of Iran abroad.

My home country of Britain should stand as a warning.

The United Kingdom’s traditional freedoms and liberties have been all but lost amid its leaders’ supine appeasement of a politically powerful Muslim community.

That community has made steady progress toward its goal of Islamizing the country — just as Mayor Zohran Mamdani appears to be attempting in New York.

The Islamists are only able to make such inroads because of their all-too-willing accomplices on the left.

They are bound together by their shared goal of bringing down Western society — despite diametrically opposed views of what should replace it — and their mutual hatred of Jews and Israel.

We aren’t merely witnessing a rise in antisemitism, but a global madness that threatens the West as a whole.

Not just the Jews, but all who are desperate to defend civilization against barbarism need to fight back.
Seth Mandel: What Jurgen Habermas Knew
For the past 96 years, cynicism had few greater enemies than the super-famous philosopher Jurgen Habermas, the former leader of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, who died on Saturday. Among the numerous ways Habermas stood out from his peers in modern social theory was that this former Hitler Youth went to his grave defending Israel’s right of self-defense.

This meant breaking with the post-October 7 manufactured consensus in academia that the Jewish state was guilty of the same category of crimes committed against the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. Yet Habermas’s philosophy made his objection to this calumny inevitable: He believed in the power of engagement—his most famous idea arguably remains his belief that societal problems can and should be solved in the public square—and by the time of his death, that made him an outsider among intellectuals.

Indeed, his peers’ turn against Israel was inseparable from their turn against Enlightenment ideals. Official and unofficial speech codes in academia cast the Jewish state out of the public square: BDS became not just a boycott-focused tactic against Israel but a way of life. You simply did not talk to those who held insufficiently hostile opinions about the Jews.

Habermas understood precisely where that attitude can lead. But his critics on the left misunderstand the way his Germanness informed his fairmindedness on Israel. The last great intellectual controversy of his life is instructive.

In November 2023, Habermas and three co-authors published the following:
“The Hamas massacre with the declared intention of eliminating Jewish life in general has prompted Israel to strike back. How this retaliation, which is justified in principle, is carried out is the subject of controversial debate; principles of proportionality, the prevention of civilian casualties and the waging of a war with the prospect of future peace must be the guiding principles. Despite all the concern for the fate of the Palestinian population, however, the standards of judgement slip completely when genocidal intentions are attributed to Israel’s actions.”

In retrospect, of course, Habermas was well-served by his reluctance to join the mob. As we now know, the “genocide” accusation against Israel has no basis and has been revealed as a bad-faith libel constructed by supporters of a “global intifada.” That Habermas wasn’t fooled by it remains unforgivable to his progressive critics.
Ivan Jablonka, historian: 'The use of last names is a particular trait of antisemitism'
A history professor at Université Sorbonne-Paris Nord and a member of the Institut universitaire de France, a French academic honorary institution, Ivan Jablonka has published several works on the history and memory of the Holocaust. He is the founder of the Traverse series and co-director of the La République des Idées ("The Republic of Ideas") series at the Seuil publishing house. He is also the author of A History of the Grandparents I Never Had (2016).

The leader of La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, made a sarcastic remark during a meeting in support of his movement's candidates for the municipal elections in Lyon on February 26, about the name of the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He suggested that the American pronunciation of Epstein's last name [Epsteen] was intended to hide his Jewish identity by making him seem Russian. The Socialist leader, Olivier Faure, condemned what he called a drift into "the dark waters of antisemitism." How do you interpret the remarks made by the LFI leader?

Jean-Luc Mélenchon recently joked about the pronunciation of two Jewish names, Jeffrey Epstein and [on March 1] Raphaël Glucksmann [a French member of the European Parliament]. These remarks are part of a consistent series of statements dating back to 2020. According to him, Jesus was crucified "by his own compatriots." Eric Zemmour [far-right figure] is said to reproduce the "cultural scenarios" of Judaism that are hostile to creolization and Yaël Braun-Pivet [president of the Assemblée Nationale] allegedly "went camping in Tel Aviv to encourage the massacre" in Gaza. La France Insoumise also boycotted the march against antisemitism [in November 2023] and published a poster of Cyril Hanouna [a French TV personality] using Nazi iconography from the 1930s [in March 2025].

This way of referring to Jews reminds me of [late far-right leader] Jean-Marie Le Pen. The daughter [Marine Le Pen] has made people forget the father's misdeeds, but he was a specialist in antisemitic mockery about last names. In 1985, he listed the names of four Jewish journalists – Jean-François Kahn, Jean Daniel, Ivan Levaï and Jean-Pierre Elkabbach – before referring to "all the liars of the press." A few years later, he made the grim pun "Durafour crématoire" [a play on the name of then minister Michel Durafour, alluding to cematorium].

That is where Jean-Luc Mélenchon now stands. He does not advocate an anti-Jewish agenda, as some politicians did between the late 19th century and the Vichy regime, but he offers an interpretive framework typical of antisemitic thinking: Jews are pulling the strings and leading the world into war.


Stephen Daisley: The real reason the Guardian is so hostile to Gail’s
Liew muses that ‘perhaps this is simply the nature of an increasingly disenfranchised age’, contending that Palestinian activism has ‘never been less capable of exerting a meaningful influence on global events.’ Oh, I don’t know. October 7 was a nifty bit of Palestinian activism: invade your neighbour, murder 1,200 people, rape women, burn children and get rewarded with a state while your neighbour gets accused of genocide for fighting back. Sounds like meaningful influence to me.

But in Liew’s alternative reality ‘small acts of petty symbolism’ – including ‘a smashed window’ – now define the Palestinian cause. You can’t stop the US or Israeli militaries, or make the council boycott Israel, or support Palestine Action, and so ‘some people then direct their ire at the bakery with distant links to Israeli security funding’. If you can’t take on an army, prevent others from buying medjool dates, or support a banned organisation, isn’t smashing up a bakery vaguely connected to the Zionist entity to be expected?

Liew never recommends this course of action; he just sighs wisely about the humanity of it all. It’s a one-sided humanity, though. Smashing the windows of a Palestinian cafe would not be a small act of petty symbolism; it would be a traumatising hate crime. This is why discourse is impossible with a progressive. They simply do not believe in common standards or rules. They believe in Good People (them and theirs) and Bad People (you and yours). Had Gail’s been a Pakistani-owned business targeted by white Britons aggrieved by the grooming gangs, the state collusion and cover-up, and the absence of a full public inquiry, the Guardian would not soft-pedal it as a symbolic act in a disenfranchised age.

There’s a good reason for that: the Guardian regards every ethnic minority as a victim group, to be treated with respect; shielded from hatred; and permitted to define their own victimisation without question or quibble. Every minority except one, and there’s a good reason for that, too. The Guardian regards Jews as white, wealthy, influential, and oppressors of the saintliest people ever to walk the earth. It might be a devoutly disbelieving newspaper but in its political theology the Palestinians appear to hold an almost Christ-like status. The progressive worldview is a meeting place for the worst of post-Christian piety, Soviet anti-Zionism and critical race theory.

Jonathan Liew writes like someone who wants to be liked, keen to hit all the right notes so that people he regards as high-status regard him as one of them. It’s hardly the gravest sin. Most people want to be liked. The error of judgement here is on the part of the Guardian. A good editor would have read this and refused to let Liew embarrass himself or the paper.
German antisemitism commissioner quits far‑left party over anti-Israel resolution
The antisemitism commissioner for the German state of Brandenburg has resigned from his far-left party over a resolution passed Sunday condemning Israel.

After 11 years in Die Linke (The Left), Andreas Büttner has quit its ranks over the position taken by members in Lower Saxony, in former West Germany. But it’s also personal: Büttner said he’s had enough of what he has described as harassment from within his party.

“It’s no longer possible. And I can’t go on … without betraying my own convictions,” Büttner wrote in a statement to party leaders. The letter was shared with the dpa, the German press association.

Die Linke is the successor to the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the ruling communist party of former East Germany, and has a platform that is critical of capitalism and of NATO. Die Linke notched a better-than-expected finish in last year’s national elections, drawing 9% of the vote despite internal tensions over Israel and Germany’s handling of antisemitism.

According to news reports about Büttner’s resignation, Brandenburg’s party leaders expressed “great regret and respect,” and promised to continue fighting antisemitism with him.

“This is not a question of party affiliation,” wrote Stefan Wollenberg, the party’s managing director in Brandenburg.

The trigger for Büttner’s move was a resolution condemning current forms of Zionism, put forward by the party’s youth delegation in Lower Saxony. They insisted that the resolution — passed at their convention in Hanover last weekend — was not against Zionism per se, only against “existing political manifestations of Zionism.”

But Büttner, who has long stood up for Israel in defiance of his party, and has openly criticized antisemitism from all corners, said the message was unmistakable.
PwC pulls out of Sydney Biennale, police called over DJ’s diatribe
Major backer PwC has pulled out of the Sydney Biennale over an opening night speech by a DJ who praised “martyrs” who attacked Israel, as the NSW premier warned arts festivals would lose corporate and government funding if they did not avoid divisive acts.

The big four consulting firm wrote to staff on Tuesday to say “with disappointment … that we have decided to withdraw PwC Australia’s association with the Sydney Biennale festival” due to the comments by DJ Haram, first revealed by The Australian Financial Review on Saturday.

Zubeyda Muzeyyan as DJ Haram delivering her speech on stage at the Sydney Bienniale.

New York-based Zubeyda Muzeyyen, who uses the stage name DJ Haram, dedicated her set on Friday to targets of Israel’s military actions and vowed that “one day they will all be free from the Zionist entity”.

The speech has been condemned by NSW Arts Minister John Graham, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, which has referred it to police. The biennale has distanced itself from the remarks and is investigating the incident.

“We entered this partnership to support an experience and series of arts and creative culture events which would be welcoming and inclusive for everyone,” PwC wrote.

“Following comments made by a performer at the opening night event, we no longer have confidence that the festival can meet our expectations.

“We condemn the comments made and reject antisemitism and all forms of hate.”

The withdrawal means PwC’s name and logo will be removed from marketing materials, but the decision will otherwise have no financial implications for the festival. A PwC client event with the biennale that was due to be held on Thursday will be cancelled.
Meet two sides of the antisemitic coin
Megyn, because she’s smarter, is more subtle. She does not openly spout antisemitic rhetoric and has a paper trail of saying the right things about her Jewish friends (most of them now former) in the pod sphere. But she refuses to condemn raging Jew haters like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson, cozies up to people who platform antisemites like Piers Morgan and mocks the very legitimate concerns of more authentic commentators like Ben Shapiro and her once ride-or-die Dave Rubin. Even Sean Hannity, who is no one’s idea of a liberal, and some of her erstwhile podcast guests like Bethany Mandel have jumped off of the Kelly express, wondering what happened to her.

And when people point it out, begging her to come to her senses she doubles down by saying she’d rather die than condemn Candace, the woman who has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Satan.

Rama and Megyn are opposite sides of the same coin. Mrs. Mamdani represents the absolute worst of the pro-Hamas left, trying to cloak their embrace of terrorism and hatred of Jews behind a facade of human rights. Rama cares deeply about Gazan babies who are victims of their parents’ tragic political choices but has no concern for murdered Israeli toddlers whose only crime was being born Jewish.

Megyn is the much prettier but equally lethal face of right-wing antisemitism, a philosophy that hides its bigotry behind what it pretends is legitimate criticism of Israel or America First isolationism.

This country should shun both of them, and the movements they represent.
Tucker Carlson’s smears against Chabad could fuel hate in California
In April 2019, a man entered a San Diego County synagogue with a gun and a desire to kill as many Jews as possible.

He killed one and wounded several others before fleeing.

The day was the conclusion of Passover, commemorating the miraculous splitting of the Red Sea.

Unlike last week’s Michigan attacker, the gunman did not choose the largest synagogue, or even the closest. He chose a synagogue from Chabad, an affiliate of a worldwide network of Orthodox Judaism, where celebration of the redemption from slavery is seen as connected to a future messianic redemption.

And yes, Chabad is the same group defamed in recent days by San Diego County-raised Tucker Carlson.

Carlson claimed that Chabad engineered the war with Iran as a prelude to redemption and the rebuilding of the Temple.

His “evidence” was images of arm patches warn by some soldiers, depicting the Temple. And to him, the proof was clear and in plain sight because he found it through a two-minute internet search.

Perhaps a few extra minutes would have informed him that the patches are not related to Chabad. Perhaps a few more might have educated him about the true nature of Chabad.

Most Chabadniks I know do want Moshiach (the messiah) to come, and the Temple to be restored, as Carlson says. In fact, his own Christian faith is built on Jewish messianic prophesy.

But Chabad is not unique. Praying for the Temple and Moshiach are in every variant of the traditional Jewish prayer, dating back to the times of the Roman Empire.
Jonathan Greenblatt calls out Chris Van Hollen, Ro Khanna at ADL’s national conference
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, called out two Democratic lawmakers from the main stage of the organization’s Never is Now conference in Manhattan on Monday, accusing them of perpetuating antisemitism.

“For the senior senator from Maryland — a state with one of the largest, most active and most observant Jewish populations in the country — he blamed AIPAC, which he slandered as ‘un-American,’” Greenblatt said during his State of Hate address, referring to Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s (D-MD) address at the J Street convention where he attacked the pro-Israel advocacy group earlier this month.

“Then, there is the U.S. congressman who stated that he stands against the ‘neoconservatives’ who led the U.S. into the current war [with Iran] and instead is ‘proud to stand’ with Hasan Piker, one of the most outspoken, virulent antisemitic influencers in the world … who the congressman described as one of the representatives of the ‘new moral order,’” continued Greenblatt, a reference to Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

Van Hollen and Khanna have previously faced blowback from Jewish leaders and centrist Democrats for their antagonistic rhetoric.

“Other elected officials fell over themselves to make big splashy announcements of not taking money from the largest pro-Israel organization in the country — but seemingly have no problem taking money from anyone else,” Greenblatt added.
Parents of slain Israeli Embassy staffer urge Jewish community to carry on her legacy
Ten months after his daughter, Israeli Embassy employee Sarah Milgrim, was shot dead alongside her boyfriend and colleague, Yaron Lischinsky, outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, Bob Milgrim said he feels a “deeper connection to the Jewish community [than] we ever felt before.”

On Tuesday evening, at the conclusion of the Anti-Defamation League’s Never is Now conference in Manhattan, Milgrim was joined in conversation with his wife, Nancy Milgrim, and CBS News reporter Jonah Kaplan. In June, Kaplan conducted the family’s first interview after Sarah was killed.

The support from the Jewish community since Sarah’s death, when she was shot by a gunman who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” while leaving an event for young diplomats and Jewish professionals hosted by the American Jewish Committee last May, has been “totally overwhelming in a positive way,” said Bob Milgrim.

The Milgrims spoke days after another Jewish community was rocked by an antisemitic attack last week, in which an assailant drove a truck filled with explosives into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., one of the largest Reform synagogues in the country, while 140 children were inside. Security guards prevented any casualties in the attempted terrorist attack.

Two months earlier, an antisemitic arsonist heavily damaged Beth Israel Congregation, the only synagogue in Jackson, Miss.

“It’s very easy to lose hope with what’s happening, especially with what happened at Temple Israel … and Mississippi,” said Milgrim. “There’s no end to it. But when you have hope you have to act. Even when you don’t have hope, you have to act.”


WikiLeaks: From Classified Database to an Anti-Israel Propaganda Platform
Founded in 2006 as a platform for leaked documents exposing war, espionage, and corruption, WikiLeaks built its reputation on radical transparency. Despite the controversy surrounding its publication of classified material, the organization gained global recognition, winning numerous awards and becoming best known for releasing documents related to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today, its X account tells a very different story.

With more than 5.6 million followers, WikiLeaks has increasingly become a hub for anti-Israel conspiracy theories — content that bears little resemblance to its original mission of publishing classified material.

Rather than exposing new information, the account now appears to construct narratives about Israel and the Jewish people using documents that are neither classified nor newly revealed, amplified through carefully timed posts.

The pattern is clear. Two months into Israel’s war with Hamas, WikiLeaks resurfaced a document it first published in 2010 claiming that an “Israeli intelligence chief encouraged Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip” — a framing that shifts blame for the conflict onto Israel.

Since the start of 2026, the account has posted 15 times (excluding replies). Of those, 11 focused entirely on Israel or the Jewish people.

Its most recent example is particularly telling. WikiLeaks “leaked” a document dated July 21, 1947, written by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, which includes derogatory remarks about Jews.


spiked: Melanie Phillips: Iran’s evil empire | The Brendan O’Neill Show
Melanie Phillips – author of Fighting the Hate: A Handbook for Jews Under Siege – returns to The Brendan O’Neill Show. Melanie and Brendan discuss Iran’s decades-long war on the West, the insanity of the ayatollah apologists and why anti-Zionism is indistinguishable from anti-Semitism.


‘Jihadi Death Cult Trying To Destroy West’ | Antisemitism Record HIGH In London
The only known UK-based British–Israeli dual national who survived the October 7 attack said she believes antisemitism is “running riot”, as she described feeling “abandoned” after the massacre.

Anat Ron-Kendall, whose father Shlomo Ron was killed that day in 2023, described a scene of “dystopia” and “chaos” as she spoke for the first time about her ordeal.

Fleur Hassan Nahoum joins Talk’s Jeremy Kyle to discuss this further.




PragerU: Inside the Conservative Civil War: Ami Kozak on Groypers, Free Speech, and the Future of MAGA
Comedian, impressionist, and political commentator ‪@amikozak_official‬ joins Shabbos Kestenbaum to unpack the growing divide on the right over Israel, free speech, and the future of MAGA. From the viral Tucker Carlson–Mike Huckabee interview to the broader fight over how conservatives should talk about Israel, Kozak explains why the phrase “Israel has a right to exist” is often misunderstood—and why Israel is held to a standard no other country faces.

They also discuss the debate over “platforming” controversial voices within the conservative movement, whether the right is developing its own version of cancel culture, and how online personalities are shaping internal ideological battles inside MAGA. Kozak also weighs in on Candace Owens controversies, the rise of what some call the “woke right,” and President Trump’s second term.

00:16 — Have Jews Gotten Their DNA Tests Yet?
01:54 — Does Israel Have a "Right" to Exist?
06:43 — Is Israel a Unique Country?
09:03 — Candace Owens and Israel's Muslim Quarter
12:00 — Who Defines Conservatism?
15:45 — Grifting in the Political World
22:43 — Assessing Trump One Year Out




Zohran Mamdani accuses Israel of genocide on St. Patrick’s Day stage
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani took the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day and the presence of former Irish President Mary Robinson in New York to talk Middle East politics and praise Robinson’s controversial tenure as the United Nations’ high commissioner for human rights.

Speaking at a breakfast at Gracie Mansion, Mamdani acknowledged Robinson from the lectern and lauded her record of advocacy, particularly singling out her stance on Israel. The Irish presidency is a largely ceremonial role.

“I think also of how she stood steadfast alongside the people of Palestine,” the mayor said in listing Robinson’s accomplishments. “I say this as over the past few years as we’ve witnessed a genocide unfold before our eyes, there has been deafening silence from so many. For those who have long cared about universal human rights and the extension of them to Palestinians, silence, however, is nothing new. For Palestinians are so often left to weep alone. Yet former President Robinson has never been silent.”

During her tenure at the U.N., Robinson chaired a preparatory meeting for the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia gathering in Tehran that blocked the participation of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and representatives from the persecuted Baha’i faith. Robinson blamed the obstruction on “procedural and technical” issues, though she voiced support for the general right of such groups to take part.

The eventual conference, held in Durban, South Africa, was a notoriously disorganized fiasco that led to the end of Robinson’s commissionership. The conference saw the withdrawal of American and Israeli delegations over draft document language from Arab governments attempting to reinstate a repealed U.N. resolution that declared Zionism to be a form of racism and to compare Israeli policy to the Holocaust.


Woman found not guilty of expressing support for Hamas during march
A woman who told a crowd that Hamas is “fighting for freedom” and “fighting for the people” has been found not guilty of expressing support for Hamas.

Kwabena Devonish, 27, of Pentrebane, Cardiff, denied a charge of expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000.

Bristol Crown Court heard she attended a march in Cardiff in November 2023 and addressed a crowd gathered at Ty William Morgan in Central Square, telling them she was “sick of being told to condemn Hamas”.

A jury unanimously acquitted Devonish, who was arrested in January 2024 after a video of her speech was posted on social media, of the single charge against her following a two-day trial at the court.

Supporters of the defendant, who were sitting in the public gallery, cheered and clapped the jury after the verdict was delivered on Tuesday afternoon.


University leaders, faculty and students driving Jew-hatred and failing to fight it, House panel report says
University leaders, professors and students aren’t doing enough to curb Jew-hatred, and at times are fueling antisemitism, and “satellite” school campuses in the Middle East “are failing in critical ways to fulfill their stated goal of promoting American values,” according to a new report from the House Education and Workforce Committee.

“America’s universities have become breeding grounds for antisemitism because too many leaders refused to act,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the committee, told JNS.

“This report exposes how radical faculty and student groups have been given free rein while Jewish students are left to fend for themselves,” Walberg said.

The House panel has probed Jew-hatred on campus in a focused way since Oct. 7, and university leaders, including presidents at Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania, have lost their jobs after testifying before the committee that it wouldn’t violate their campus rules to call for killing all Jews.

“Decisive, strong leadership by university presidents is critical for preventing and correcting a hostile antisemitic environment on campus, as is apparent from every case study in this report,” the new publication states.

Such leaders enforce policies protecting Jewish students, decry antisemitism publicly, conduct and follow up on investigations and “seek to hire faculty who are committed to scholarship rather than activism,” among other behaviors, according to the report.

“Institutions without such leadership allowed antisemitism to proliferate unchecked,” it states.

The report adds that professors “have played a significant role in legitimizing and amplifying antisemitism on college campuses,” and that students, particularly Students for Justice in Palestine, have “consistently acted as ringleaders for the antisemitic harassment faced by Jewish students on campus.”
Legacy organizations skittish on confronting the scourge of anti-Zionism on campus
Anti-Zionism, as a social movement, arrived on North American campuses in 2001. It began with grassroots efforts by student groups mobilizing around Palestine. By 2005, within just four years, Israel Apartheid Week was launched, soon becoming an annual fixture of campus life alongside the growing BDS movement. Together, these recurring campaigns became powerful vehicles for recruiting and radicalizing students, particularly into the anti-Zionist cause.

Confrontational and intimidating, campus anti-Zionism quickly created a hostile campus climate for Jews. Chants such as “Zionist settlers leave us alone, Palestine is our home,” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Zionism has got to go” became normal university slogans from coast to coast.

However, the movement reached a dramatic escalation during the 2023-24 campus encampments, which in several instances resulted in discrimination, harassment and physical assaults against Jewish students and faculty. In some cases, phrases such as “Death 2 Zionism” and “Zionist Baby Killers” were scrawled on buildings or sidewalks. In other instances, Jewish students and professors identified as “Zionists” were prevented from moving freely on campuses.

At Columbia University, encampment leaders declared, “We have Zionists who have entered the camp,” before calling on protesters to link arms and surround Jews who had made their way inside.

The picture is troubling, but it also raises an unavoidable question: How have the major Jewish organizations responded to the rise of the anti-Zionist campus movement from its inception in the early 2000s? The short answer is: They haven’t.
Harvard to Recruit at Jewish Day Schools After Study Finds Steep Decline in Jewish Enrollment
Harvard College’s dean of admissions and financial aid, William Fitzsimmons, says Harvard is following Brown University’s lead in admissions outreach targeting Jewish day schools, and that results so far this year have been encouraging.

The dean’s remarks, made February 20 at a Harvard Chabad shabbat dinner at Harvard Business School where a former Brown chancellor was the honored guest speaker, are being reported here for the first time. Fitzsimmons also joined Harvard president Alan Garber and Harvard Chabad in December in publicly lighting the Harvard Chabad chanukah menorah in Harvard Yard.

The news comes as the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance, the university’s official Jewish alumni group, released a 64-page report, A Narrowing Gate: Jewish Enrollment at Harvard and Its Peers, 1967-2025.

"Harvard’s Jewish undergraduate enrollment stands at 7 percent today, the lowest level recorded since before World War II and the lowest of any Ivy League institution with reliable data. That is roughly half what it was a decade ago, and less than a third of the 25 percent share Jewish students held for much of the latter twentieth century," the report says. "Among well-documented peer institutions, no school has seen a steeper recent-decade decline."

The report calls on Harvard to count Jewish applicants, admits, and enrollment, to "commission an independent, third-party investigation" and correct any disparities.

"Our Jewish community share at Harvard is at lows we haven’t seen in 100 years. Other institutions subject to similar pressures have not seen such severe drops," the president of the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance and an author of the report, Adrian Ashkenazy, told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview. "Why is Brown succeeding where Harvard failed?"
'Information Sharing and No Surprises': Qatar Demanded American Schools in Doha 'Be Aligned' in Wake of Oct 7, Emails Show
In the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack, the Hamas-friendly regime in Qatar demanded that American universities operating campuses in Doha "be aligned and in touch" when it came to their official communications, emails released by the House Education Committee show. On the same day, the dean of Northwestern University’s campus in Qatar (NU-Q) refused to sign on to a statement from his colleagues in the United States criticizing an NU-Q professor who downplayed the attack.

The emails are part of a report released Tuesday by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, "How Campuses Became Hotbeds: The Rise of Radical Antisemitism on College Campuses." The messages show that, on Oct. 17, 2023, the government-controlled Qatar Foundation held a call with representatives of American universities in Doha to discuss "how it is going" in the wake of the attack, according to a readout of the call sent from NU-Q associate dean James Shaw to campus dean Marwan Michael Kraidy. A Qatar Foundation official, President of Higher Education Francisco Marmolejo, requested "information sharing and no surprises," Shaw wrote.

"Also each PU's [partner university's] Comms Team to be aligned and in touch with QF," Shaw continued, relaying the Qatar Foundation's demands. He went on to express "slight concern"—not about NU-Q’s alignment with the terrorist-friendly regime in Qatar, but rather that the school "navigated the first 10 days of this crisis with minimal comms support due to absence."

The pressure from Doha appears to have had an effect on NU-Q's leaders.

Just hours after the Qatar Foundation call, Kraidy, the NU-Q dean, refused to sign on to a statement Northwestern issued criticizing NU-Q professor Khaled Al-Hroub. In an Oct. 16, 2023, interview with an NPR affiliate in Boston, Al-Hroub said that he had not seen "any kind of credible media reporting" that Hamas terrorists had killed Israeli civilians in their beds or raped Israeli women. When Fox News contacted Northwestern for comment on the interview, the school drafted a statement condemning "Al-Hroub's attempt to minimize or misrepresent the horrific killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas on Oct. 7." Kraidy disapproved of that statement, according to emails included in the House report.

"Not sure about the rape issue," Kraidy wrote in an Oct. 17, 2023, email to Northwestern communications head Jon Yates. "But we really don't want to be on the wrong side of the facts here. For NU in particular … with many scholars of news and misinformation, we should be extremely careful on this issue."


Pro-Palestine activists go door-to-door to sway voters
Pro-Palestine activists are intimidating voters into backing pro-Gaza candidates at the May local elections, it has been claimed.

Grassroots campaigners for the Vote Palestine 2026 movement are accused of making lists of people who fail to denounce Israel as they go door-to-door.

Critics claim that the activists risk “stoking divisive sectarian politics and hatred”, and “distracting voters from local issues” by injecting Gaza into the heart of the local elections in two months.

Vote Palestine 2026, launched on Feb 24, is determined to gain the backing of councillors and the electorate and mobilise them into supporting the cause of the Palestinians in Gaza.

More than 1,000 councillors have already signed a pledge rejecting “genocide” in Gaza, including 59 per cent of councillors in both Islington and Tower Hamlets.

Some 40 per cent of councillors in Woking have made the pledge, followed by 35 per cent in Edinburgh City and 30 per cent in Bradford.

But the group’s tactics have been criticised. A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Unlike regular canvassing, which is designed to identify supporters, these crazed activists are making lists of those who don’t agree with them. This is despicable intimidation masquerading as virtuous activism, and with local elections upon us, it risks becoming voter intimidation.

“All political parties should condemn this conduct and the authorities must investigate.”


Zarah Sultana accused of ‘peddling anti-Semitic conspiracy theory’
Zarah Sultana could face an investigation by the parliamentary watchdog after being accused of peddling an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

The co-founder of Your Party is accused of “normalising anti-Semitic rhetoric in British political discourse” through social media posts.

On March 4, Ms Sultana posted on her X account that “Zionism is one of the greatest threats to humanity”, responding to footage of air strikes in Tehran.

Three days later, the MP for Coventry South wrote “they love killing kids” in response to an Al Jazeera news update which said: “Four children among six people killed in Israeli attack on Lebanon’s Shmestar town, according to the country’s Health Ministry”.

A complaint, seen by The Telegraph, has been submitted to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards over the two posts.

It states: “The accusation that Israelis derive pleasure from killing children is a modern iteration of the medieval blood libel, one of the most enduring and dangerous anti-Semitic conspiracy fantasies in history.”

It claims that Ms Sultana’s X post “employs the same rhetorical framework” as the blood libel – a bogus claim of ritualised murder that has been used in the past to justify violence against Jews.

The complaint also claims that Ms Sultana’s characterisation of Zionism – the belief that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland – “echoes historical anti-Semitic propaganda that portrayed Jews as an existential danger to civilisation”.
Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden accused of sharing 'anti-Semitic conspiracy theories' criticising Israel and branding Donald Trump a 'pervert'
As a stalwart of Dragons' Den for 20 years she is one of the BBC's most recognised faces.

Now Deborah Meaden, 67, is at the centre of an astonishing row after she shared posts online criticising Israel and calling Donald Trump a 'pervert' following the strikes on Iran.

The entrepreneur has been accused by Danny Cohen, the BBC's former director of television, of spreading 'anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, misinformation and Iran regime propaganda' to her nearly 700,000 followers on X. He said she was 'bringing the BBC into disrepute' and demanded the corporation act.

But the BBC sought to dismiss the controversy on the grounds she is not a BBC employee. A spokesman said: 'Deborah Meaden is a freelance contributor and, as such, is not required to uphold the BBC's impartiality through her actions on social media.'

In response, Mr Cohen told The Mail on Sunday: 'The BBC should not try to side-step responsibility for dealing with this.

'Deborah Meaden has been a BBC presenter for 20 years on a flagship programme. Attempting to use her exact employment status as an excuse for not addressing the problem is not good enough given the deeply concerning nature of her posts.'

In recent weeks, she has reposted numerous statements from other X users about the escalating tensions involving Iran, Israel and the US, including claims that Mr Trump is 'Israel's slave' and that the US Congress is 'owned and operated by the Zionist lobby'.

Other reposts implied that Israel poses a greater global threat than Iran, and accused the US of committing war crimes after attacking Iranian ships. Several also contained inflammatory language about Mr Trump, including describing him as a 'pervert', a 'pig' and a 'brain-dead moron who bombs children and protects paedophiles'.


PA Admits Inflating Palestinian Population in Judea and Samaria
The Palestinian Authority consistently inflates the Palestinian population in Judea and Samaria. In a recent "brief on the status of the Palestinian people at the end of 2025," the PA Central Bureau of Statistics claimed a population of 5.56 million in the State of Palestine, with 3.43 million in the West Bank.

Yet, recent PA admissions for upcoming municipal elections reveal that the actual population in Judea and Samaria is at most 2.9 million - 530,000 fewer people than previously claimed.

Similar to the death tolls in the war in Gaza, the PA and other Palestinian actors often distort population statistics to promote their political agenda.
How Israel's Mossad Brought the Nazi "Butcher of Riga" to Justice
Herberts Cukurs, a Latvian pilot who joined Nazi forces during World War II, became one of the most notorious Holocaust perpetrators in Eastern Europe. Responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Jews, he earned the nickname "the Butcher of Riga" because of his extreme brutality. In 1965, Mossad agents tracked him down in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Before the war, Cukurs was known in Latvia as a pioneering aviator, who was dismissed from the Latvian Air Force because of disciplinary issues. In 1940, Latvia lost its independence when it was annexed by the Soviet Union. A year later, Nazi Germany invaded the country. Cukurs joined the Arajs Commando, a Latvian unit operating under Nazi SS command.

According to survivor testimony and Latvian witnesses, Cukurs played a central role in mass killings in the Riga Ghetto and in the Rumbula forest massacre, where about 25,000 Jews were murdered. He was known for riding through the streets of Riga on horseback, randomly shooting Jews. Witnesses said he took pleasure in burning synagogues with worshippers inside and throwing Jewish children from rooftops before shooting them. He was directly responsible for the murder of 13,000 Jews and oversaw the killing of 30,000 more.

When Soviet forces recaptured Latvia, Cukurs escaped to Brazil. Latvian Holocaust survivors recognized him and began pursuing him. West Germany requested his extradition, but because he had never been a German citizen, the request was rejected. After being attacked by Jewish activists in Rio de Janeiro, he moved with his family to a fortified neighborhood in Sao Paulo.

The Mossad decided the assassination could not take place in Brazil. Israeli officials feared backlash against the local Jewish community and the possibility that captured agents could face the death penalty. So an agent posing as an Austrian businessman convinced Cukurs to meet in Montevideo to discuss new investment opportunities. After he was killed, the team placed Cukurs' body inside a crate and attached a document listing the crimes he had committed. The message was signed: "Those Who Will Never Forget."
Antisemitic hate crimes ‘less likely’ to reach court than anti-Muslim offences
Antisemitic hate crimes in England and Wales are significantly less likely to result in a charge than offences targeting Muslims, according to newly released Home Office data.

Figures covering the 12 months to March 2025 show that just 3.8 percent of recorded antisemitic offences led to a charge or summons – roughly one in 26 cases. By contrast, 6.7 percent of anti-Muslim hate crimes resulted in prosecution, equivalent to around one in 15.

The data, obtained via Freedom of Information requests and spanning 35 police forces, indicates that alleged perpetrators in cases involving Muslim victims were around three-quarters more likely to be prosecuted than those accused of antisemitic offences.

The disparity comes despite longstanding evidence that Jewish people are disproportionately targeted. Separate Home Office statistics show Jews are nearly ten times more likely than Muslims to be victims of religious hate crime when adjusted for population size.

In the same period, there were 106 religious hate crimes per 10,000 Jewish people, compared with 12 per 10,000 among Muslims. Jews make up around 0.5 percent of the population of England and Wales, compared with roughly 6.5 percent who are Muslim.

Across both communities, the most common offences were public order incidents involving fear, alarm or distress. More than 1,200 such cases were recorded against Jewish victims, compared with nearly 1,900 involving Muslims. However, only 6.7 percent of cases affecting Jews led to a charge, versus 9.2 percent for Muslim victims.

In more serious cases, including assault with intent to cause serious harm, none of the six recorded incidents involving Jewish victims resulted in a charge. Of the 13 equivalent cases involving Muslim victims, three led to prosecution.
Four teens arrested in Dutch synagogue explosion as new terror group claims responsibility
Four teens were arrested Monday on suspicion of setting off an explosion outside a Dutch synagogue, which Israel claims was conducted by a new terrorist group.

Prosecutors say the teens, who were not publicly identified, were behind the terror attack at a synagogue in the port city of Rotterdam, where the explosion caused a blaze inside the temple on Friday.

The arson attack was specifically “aimed at instilling serious fear in a population group, in this case the Jewish community,” the Rotterdam Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

The suspects — two 19-year-olds, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old — were arrested shortly after the explosion outside the temple, with the teens caught near another synagogue in Rotterdam.

The suspects were ordered held for two weeks as police investigate the attack.

The teens’ arrests come as police probe another set of explosions in Amsterdam, including one outside a Jewish school on Saturday.

While Dutch police have yet to name a suspect in the attacks, a new Islamist terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bombings on social media without evidence.


Rachel Goldberg-Polin makes ‘USA Today’ Women of the Year list
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the mother of a hostage murdered in Gaza, was selected on Monday to feature in USA Today’s “2026 Women of the Year” list, in which she recounted how her personal grief is touching tens of thousands of strangers worldwide.

“I’m trying very hard to own and greet the grief that I feel every single day, in a way of actually thinking of it as a privilege. I had this beautiful son. He was and he is a blessing,” she wrote.

Her son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was held hostage by Hamas for 328 days in underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip, in the wake of his abduction from the Supernova music festival in the western Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli-American captive was executed by gunfire at close range in a Rafah tunnel in southern Gaza in August 2024.

“I’m still very much this symbol of pain and a trigger for a lot of people’s trauma,” his mother told the newspaper.

She related that her story has touched thousands of people from all over the world, who contact her to express their condolences and to also share their own accounts of loss.




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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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