Wednesday, April 29, 2026

04/28 Links Pt2: Three Years After October 7, Anti-Semitic Violence Is Still Rising; Oslo's Collapse - and the Cost Israel Kept Paying; Israel rebukes Norwegian Holocaust Center’s Nakba-Holocaust events

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Three Years After October 7, Anti-Semitic Violence Is Still Rising
Underlying our public debate about anti-Semitism is the belief that we’re dealing with a kind of punctuated equilibrium: periods of mostly stable levels of anti-Semitism followed by occasional bursts that give us a new normal.

But what if that’s wrong? What if there aren’t periods of stability anymore?

Post-October 7 anti-Semitism seemed primed to follow the usual pattern, in which certain metrics of anti-Semitism will improve after the surge and others will level off at the crest of the surge. So all the metrics are considered in light of the assumption that the surge will fade as the Hamas attacks get further in the rearview mirror.

But the surge is acting funny.

When Tel Aviv University released its annual report on worldwide anti-Semitism for the year 2025, the main headline was that more Jews had been killed in anti-Semitic incidents (20) than in any year in over three decades. It was no consolation to say that this was because there was a massacre in Australia that pushed the numbers so high and that such massacres are blessedly rare—after all, attempted anti-Jewish massacres continue to take place. If the recent attack on a Reform shul in Michigan had succeeded, God forbid, 2026 would far surpass 2025 on this metric just a few months into the year. To be Jewish in some parts of the world now is to feel more like a target than ever.

Delving into the report far beyond that headline statistic reveals why that feeling is so widely shared: Three years after October 7, violent anti-Semitism is still rising across parts of the West.
Oslo's Collapse - and the Cost Israel Kept Paying
As part of the Oslo Accords, Israel agreed to pursue peace and coexistence with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The PLO promised to end terrorism and "armed struggle" against Israel, prevent incitement to violence, actively combat terrorism, and avoid unilateral actions. The core concept was mutual commitment: the PLO-PA would deliver peace and coexistence, while Israel would provide financial support.

The PLO and the PA never fulfilled their commitments. The PLO, dominated by Fatah, the party of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, never truly abandoned terror. Fatah leaders have repeatedly stressed this. The PA education system has been consistently criticized for radicalization, antisemitism, and the promotion of violence against Israel and Israelis. Instead of combating terror, the Palestinian leadership refers to the genocidal terrorists of Hamas, who planned and executed the October 7, 2023, massacre, as legitimate "Palestinian factions."

Incitement to violence, terror, and murder, as well as the glorification of terrorist murderers, led by the PA, remain commonplace. The PLO-PA also developed and implemented a multi-million dollar "Pay-for-Slay" terror reward policy. In the international arena, the PLO-PA repeatedly acted unilaterally, requesting that the UN recognize the "State of Palestine."

While the PLO-PA did not fulfill most Oslo commitments, Israel continued to collect and transfer taxes which accounted for 65-70% of the PA's total budget. By continuing to transfer these funds to the PA, Israel was bankrolling its own potential demise. In June 2025, Israel ceased transferring the taxes to the PLO-PA.

Since the PLO-PA has fundamentally breached every provision of the Oslo Accords, Israel is fully within its rights to refuse to continue transferring the funds. If the PLO-PA does not fulfill its commitments, there is no reason whatsoever why Israel should be expected to continue funding Palestinian terror, whether the physical murder of Jews or the diplomatic terror in international forums.
U.S. Politics Broke Bipartisan Support for Israel
In his essay on the "sorting" of American politics and its implications for Israel advocacy, Uriel Zehavi argues that Israel lost Democratic support not because of any one war or settlement announcement, but rather that Israel became trapped inside the broader "great sort" of American politics, the decades-long process by which nearly every politically salient issue gets absorbed into partisan identity. Once that happened, a bipartisan consensus on Israel became structurally unstable.

In an earlier era, both parties contained ideological diversity. Liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats created overlapping coalitions. But modern American politics no longer functions that way. Party identity now acts as a master category through which voters interpret almost every issue.

Once progressive activists increasingly coded Israel as aligned with nationalism, militarism, and American conservatism, many Democratic voters followed elite cues from their own ideological ecosystem. At the same time, evangelical Christians and conservatives embraced Israel even more strongly, making support for Israel increasingly identified with Republican identity. The result was a widening partisan gap that could not have been avoided regardless of Israeli policy choices.

Organizations built for a consensus era are trying to defend ground that no longer exists. Instead of one message aimed at a unified political center, Israel advocates may need entirely different arguments, messengers, and vocabularies for Republican and Democratic audiences.

Nevertheless, there remains overwhelming revulsion among mainstream Americans, including most Democrats, toward terrorism and overt antisemitism. After Oct. 7, many Americans were horrified not only by the massacre itself but by celebrations of the attacks on elite campuses and social media. The more that radical anti-Israel movements fuse themselves with excuses for terrorism, harassment of Jewish students, or conspiracy-laden rhetoric about Jews and power, the more they may repel most Americans who still distinguish between criticizing Israeli policy and celebrating mass murder.


Karol Markowicz: Dems have the power to stop all the violent rhetoric — like Hasan Piker’s — and if not their silence is tacit approval
This was not a man reared in the darkest corners of the Internet, but someone parroting the words of his party’s elected officials and talking heads on cable networks.

In July, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez labeled Trump a rapist in a post on X.

A few months later, Rep. Ilhan Omar yelled out, “You have killed Americans” during Trump’s State of the Union address, calling him a “murderer” as her buddy Rashida Tlaib, seated beside her, screeched about the Epstein files.

In February, Rep. Ted Lieu of California claimed the Epstein files contained “highly disturbing allegations of Donald Trump raping children, of Donald Trump threatening to kill children.”

Needless to say, no such allegations are halfway credible — yet the would-be assassin thought they were.

Spreading disgusting lies like these should be a career-ender, but in the Democratic Party these people are becoming the standard-bearers.

Their media friends help out: Podcast host Touré called Trump a “pedophile” on CNN in November. Scott Galloway called Trump a “rapist” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe in January . . . and so on.

Outside Saturday’s event, protesters’ signs like “Death to the Tyrant” and “Death to All of Them” were barely shocking.

At the “Hands Off” rally a year ago, the precursor to the “No Kings” rallies that followed, signs like “8647” (slang for killing the 47th president) and “Hands Off or Heads Off” over a mock guillotine went all but unnoticed.

We’ve become desensitized to violent rhetoric like this when it comes from the left, specifically because it is mimicked by Democratic elected officials.

Bring it to a halt
Democrats can put a stop to this.

They can say this rhetoric doesn’t represent them, and make it abundantly clear they won’t stand for violence.

They can admit Trump is no rapist, no pedophile, no traitor.

They can tell the truth and call a halt to the intense hatred that’s motivating sick people to take their best shot at our president.

If they don’t, the American people should see their silence as tacit approval.
CBS News ousts London bureau chief Claire Day after she clashed with Bari Weiss over Iran, Gaza coverage: sources
CBS News has ousted London bureau chief Claire Day after she clashed with editor-in-chief Bari Weiss over the network’s coverage of Iran and Gaza, The Post has learned.

A CBS source told The Post that Shayndi Raice, a newly hired foreign editor from the Wall Street Journal, will lead all international coverage across CBS News and will be based out of London starting May 11.

In a memo to staffers, CBS News president Tom Cibrowski said: “Our London Bureau will be moving to a new editorial leadership structure, with the introduction of a foreign editor role overseeing all international coverage.”

He added that Day, who will leave the network on May 1, has been “dedicated to the craft of storytelling” and that “her work made a difference for CBS News.”

Behind the scenes, insiders said tensions have lately spilled over inside the London Bureau over Middle East coverage. One freelance cameraman and editor had accused Day of running the London bureau like a “Hamas cell,” according to a source.

On Monday morning, when addressing staff about her departure, Day asked the unnamed cameraman — who, according to a source, had claimed to have a “direct line” to Weiss — to step out of the room before she gave an “emotional” farewell and lauded “praise” on her team, a source said.

An internal probe over potential slanted coverage cleared Day of any alleged bias, sources said.

Neither Day nor CBS News commented.

Day, who was appointed London bureau chief two years ago and has worked at CBS News for two decades, had clashed with Weiss, a self-proclaimed Zionist, over coverage on Iran and Gaza, a source with knowledge said.

“Claire was pushing back on calls” with Weiss over coverage, the person said, also claiming that “Bari barely spoke to her” to address her issues.
Charity founded by Hamas member raising funds on US-based platform
Hamas member Muhammad Saleh al Bardawil founded Al Khair Challenge, a Gaza-based charity that remains active and continues to solicit donations, FDD’s Long War Journal has found. The US Treasury Department has previously sanctioned Hamas for exploiting charities and nongovernmental organizations as cover to obtain and move funds for terrorist activities.

On April 2, Al Khair Challenge announced on Facebook that it had created an award in the name of its founder. “On the anniversary of the founder’s martyrdom, al Khair Challenge is launching the Martyr Muhammad Saleh al Bardawil Award for Humanitarian Work, to serve as a beacon supporting the resilience of our people in the Gaza Strip and to honor exceptional efforts in providing relief to those afflicted,” the organization posted.

Roughly a year earlier, on April 4, 2025, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet intelligence agency announced that the Israeli military had killed Bardawil, who they said “served as a propaganda and psychological terror operative” for Hamas. The IDF, which did not mention Bardawil was affiliated with a charity, also published photos of him in a military uniform speaking at a Hamas ceremony.

In addition to references to his name, separate photos of Muhammad al Bardawil released by the IDF and Al Khair Challenge confirm Bardawil’s ties to Hamas and the charity organization. Bardawil was also a journalist and a “presenter at al Aqsa Radio,” a Hamas-run radio station based in Gaza City.

Following the killing of Bardawil, Al Khair Challenge launched a crowdfunding campaign in the name of the Hamas operative. The campaign has raised roughly $105,000 on Spotfund, a US-based crowdfunding website. Al Khair Challenge’s donation page on the platform does not say that Bardawil was a Hamas member. The charity organization is also raising funds for additional projects on the site, including a second donation page in its founder’s name.

Long War Journal reached out to Spotfund for comment about Al Khair Challenge’s donation pages but did not receive a response. LWJ also contacted Al Khair Challenge for comment on the Israeli military’s announcement about Bardawil’s role with Hamas but did not receive a response.

Hamas has not officially acknowledged that Bardawil was a member of the Islamist group.
Sydney benefit concert for Bondi terror victims scrapped after Greek choir objects to singing with Jews
A fundraising concert planned in support of victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack has been cancelled after members of a Greek choir reportedly refused to perform alongside a Jewish choral group.

The event, titled Concert for Hope and Unity, had been due to take place at Sydney Town Hall on 28 June and was expected to bring together the Australian Hellenic Choir and the Sydney Jewish Choral Society for a joint performance.

According to reporting by The Australian, the concert was called off after a vote during rehearsals last week found that more than half of the Hellenic choir objected to appearing on stage with the Jewish group.

Some choir members reportedly raised political objections, while others expressed fears over potential security risks linked to the event.

The concert had been organised as a fundraiser for victims of the December terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

In that attack, 24-year-old Naveed Akram and his father, Sajid allegedly opened fire during the gathering, killing 15 people before Sajid Akram was shot dead by police. Authorities said the attack was inspired by the Islamic State terror group.

Sydney Jewish Choral Society chair Anne Spira said the cancellation had left members deeply upset.

“The result is, like many other Jews in the arts since 7 October, 2023, we have been cancelled,” she told The Australian. “We have been de-platformed, and it is deeply upsetting for us and the broader Jewish community, who have been the target of anti-Jewish racism in this country for two and a half years.”

Spira also reportedly made a submission to Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which was established following rising concern over antisemitism after the Bondi attack.

One unnamed choir member told the newspaper: “It’s not hard to imagine how we’re all feeling.”

Australian Hellenic Choir president James Tsolakis acknowledged tensions within parts of the local Greek community.

“There’s a bit of antisemitism in the Greek community; I didn’t realise the extent of it,” he said. “The Jewish people are all into it, I’m into it, but the Greek choir was a bit anti doing it because of the political climate.”


School of War: The Attempt on Trump’s Life and Political Violence in America, with Douglas Murray
Douglas Murray, journalist and author of On Democracies and Death Cults, joins School of War to discuss the assassination attempt that we both witnessed in person at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. Was there a lapse in appropriate security? Is political violence being normalized? Can it be contained?

Times
02:44 - White House Correspondents Dinner
04:38 - Shots fired
06:51 - Security at the dinner
09:58 - Bobby Kennedy and Erika Kirk
16:25 - Secret Service valor
17:25 - Israeli security style
19:42 - Trump’s ballroom
21:35 - The shooter’s manifesto
27:26 - Past American political violence
29:13 - Assassinations can change history
31:09 - Hitler comparison
34:47 - Civic hygiene
36:49 - Justifying violence on NYT podcast
40:22 - Echoes of the Russian Revolution
47:05 - Failure of the education system
54:23 - The melding of the president and media


Jubilee: 1 Israeli vs 20 Pro-Palestine Activists (ft. Rudy Rochman) | Surrounded
00:00 Intro
01:23 Claim #1: Israel is not committing apartheid or genocide.
21:38 Claim #2: Antizionism is antisemitism.
48:22 Claim #3: Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel.
01:10:54 Claim #4: Zionism is not colonization - it's decolonization.
01:29:38 Dr. Soboh's Claim: Palestinians don't see a genuine desire among Israelis to achieve peace.




California Democrat Hosts CAIR Leader Who Said ‘Israel Should Be Attacked’
Leaders at the Council on American-Islamic Relations have touted the pro-Hamas group's role in electing Democratic Rep. Derek Tran (Calif.) over a pro-Israel Republican in 2024. Now, Tran is giving the controversial group its own boost, hosting a group of CAIR leaders—including one who said "Israel should be attacked"—at his offices on Capitol Hill.

Tran hosted Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR's Los Angeles chapter, last week as part of "Muslim Advocacy Day," an annual lobbying event organized by CAIR and other Islamist organizations.

"Proud to welcome folks from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for an important conversation about fighting Islamophobia and defending civil rights for every member of our community," said Tran, who posted a photo with CAIR members and a keffiyah-clad Ayloush.

"In a short time, Rep. Derek Tran has earned the respect of many in his district," Ayloush wrote after the meeting.

Tran's coziness with CAIR and Ayloush could create a political vulnerability as he seeks a second term in his toss-up district. Tran, whose district encompasses Orange County and parts of Los Angeles County, is considered one of the most vulnerable House Democrats up for reelection. He won his 2024 race against Republican Michelle Steel by just 653 votes, the smallest margin of victory of the cycle.

Ayloush has an extensive history of anti-Israel rhetoric. After Oct. 7, he preached at a California mosque that it was a "myth" that "Israel has the right to defend itself."

"An occupier never has the right to defend itself," Ayloush said at a Nov. 12, 2023, event at the Islamic Society of Orange County. "Israel should be attacked," he continued. "You want to pick up arms and defend your people and your land, that is a legitimate right."

In 2015, after two Islamic fundamentalists murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, Ayloush said the West was "partly responsible" for the rise in Islamic terrorism.
Mamdani attending gala of anti-Israel nonprofit
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, confronting a municipal budget crisis and local job and population loss, continues to dabble in Middle Eastern geopolitics — with plans to attend the gala of a leading anti-Israel advocacy group on Tuesday evening.

Hours after gathering with City Council Speaker Julie Menin to ask the state for further help in covering the city’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall — a request Gov. Kathy Hochul immediately rejected — the democratic socialist mayor was set to attend a party for the Institute for Middle East Understanding. The IMEU is a 21-year-old pro-Palestinian organization that accused Israel of genocide for years before the Oct. 7 attacks triggered the latest round of conflict with Hamas.

On Oct. 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas massacre against Israel, IMEU dispatched its communications director to MSNBC (now called MS NOW) to provide “crucial context: Israel commits violence against Palestinians daily through its military occupation and apartheid rule,” the organization said. The spokeswoman, who appears frequently in the group’s social media feed, is Diana Buttu, a former legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Though the Canadian-born Buttu joined the PLO’s team after the signing of the Oslo Accords, she later wrote that “the parties should not have started negotiating in the first place” and that talks were “futile.”

Nonprofit records show that much of IMEU’s funding comes through donor-advised funds: “dark money” vehicles that mask the source of contributions. The group has in turn issued grant money to a single organization: its own political arm, the IMEU Policy Project.
Opportunist or socialist? Mamdani-backed NYC Council candidate Lindsey Boylan lives lavish lifestyle, converts to Israel critic
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s hand-picked candidate for a City Council seat representing Greenwich Village is proving that socialism looks a whole lot better from a $6 million Westchester manor and a $3.7 million Chelsea condo, critics told The Post.

Lindsey Boylan — a former senior aide to ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo who was the first woman to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment — joined Mamdani as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America last year while campaigning to help him defeat her ex-boss. Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.

Boylan is married to investment banker LeRoy Kim, and lives with him and their daughter in a lush five-bedroom home in ritzy Bedford, NY.

During a Bedford zoning board of appeals meeting in December, Boylan whined about spending “thousands of dollars a month on landscaping” alone for the pristine property while seeking approval for a new deck.

Boylan, 42, and her family have also long lived in a swanky Chelsea condo valued at $3.7 million.

Kim is a deep-pocketed managing director of boutique investment banking firm Allen & Company, which notoriously holds an highly exclusive conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, widely nicknamed “Summer Camp for Billionaires.

Critics were galled by what they described as Boylan’s brazen opportunism.

“America, what a country!” marveled a top NYC union leader. “Lindsey Boylan can re-brand herself the socialist darling of the left while retreating to a seven‑figure country house upstate. At least she’s temporarily creating jobs for her third failed run for office.”

The silver-spoon socialist has embraced much of Mamdani’s Israel-hating beliefs while campaigning for Council, bashing the Jewish state for “unacceptable mass killing of civilians and journalists” and calling the war in Gaza a “genocide.”

The remarks fly in the face of her past advocacy for Israel.

“I’m someone who has an unshakeable support for Israel,” Boylan told Jewish Insider in 2019.


One Jewish State: Musician by Day, Elite IDF Commando by Night: Yoni Tokayer Reveals the Truth About Judea & Samaria
Yoni Tokayer is one half of the popular Israeli musical duo ‪@yoninamusic‬ and serves as a fighter in the elite IDF reconnaissance unit Haruv. He knows Judea & Samaria (the West Bank) better than most — from leading counter-terror operations and discovering ancient Jewish artifacts, to witnessing radical indoctrination and the intense reality on the ground after October 7th.

Enjoy the interview and if you got something from it please subscribe for more - / @onejewishstate

0:00 The Viral Music Journey
1:46 Aliyah Journey
3:22 IDF Religious Experience
7:41 IDF Service in Judea & Samaria
13:08 Counter Terrorism Arrests
16:00 Discovering Jewish Artifacts
18:31 October 7th in Judea & Samaria
24:58 Arab Mob Lynch News Story
29:56 Radical Indoctrination
34:11 Importance of Judea & Samaria
39:40 Can We Trust the PA?
41:22 How to Secure Israel's Future


One Jewish State: Why Is Hebron So Important?
In this episode, Sam Schubert discovers why Hebron means so much to the Jewish people. You’ll learn the city’s ancient history, how it’s split between Israeli and Palestinian control today, and visit the famous Cave of the Patriarchs – the burial place of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah.

Chapters:
0:00 – Introduction to Hebron
2:27 – How Hebron is Divided
3:16 – Interview with Education Minister Yoav Kisch
4:25 – Rabbi Mordechai Hellinger explains Hebron
6:31 – Outside the Cave of the Patriarchs
7:04 – Inside the Cave of the Patriarchs
10:19 – Why the Cave is so important in Jewish history


Proposed Florida district map could put Jewish, pro-Israel House Dems in peril
Several pro-Israel, Democratic House members, including multiple Jews, could face tough races to be reelected to Congress if proposed redistricting maps, which Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, unveiled on Monday come to pass.

“The proposed map is a blatant attempt to push out pro-Israel, Democratic champions in Congress,” Brian Romick, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, told JNS.

“It’s bad for our country. It’s bad for those who care about Israel, and it’s a violation of Florida’s redistricting constitutional amendment,” Romick said. “We urge lawmakers to reject this shameless partisan stunt.”

The Florida legislature must approve the maps for them to take effect. Some analysts warn that the governor’s plan could backfire based on a projected Democratic wave this year. Some also predict that Democrats could flip Republican-held seats in south Florida, where millions of registered Democrats would be combined in some Republican-held districts.

DeSantis aims to eliminate four of Florida’s eight Democratic-friendly congressional districts within the Sunshine State’s 28-member congressional delegation. A special session of the legislature, where Republicans holding a supermajority, is considering the measure.

The Florida governor told Fox News exclusively that “Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since.”

“Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage,” DeSantis told the channel. “Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.”

A source “familiar” with the proposed Florida map told Fox News that the governor is motivated more by population increases than responding to proposed Virginia maps, which would likely flip four Republican seats Democrat. “The governor has been planning this long before what took place in Virginia,” the source told Fox News.


spiked: How the Greens became the nasty party
James Dreyfus, Tom Slater and Fraser Myers discuss the Greens’ anti-Semitism scandal and the slipperiness of Zack Polanski.




Green Party faces yet more questions about extremist hate from candidates
The Green Party is facing further questions about some of its council candidates, including one who posted on social media that “you have designed with psychopathic patience and care all these years the narrative of ‘Jews eternal victims’ and ‘Islamic=terrorist’ and all this time we believed it and all this time the truth was exactly the opposite”.

Tina Ion, a Green candidate in the Blakeley and Cowgate ward of Newcastle, wrote the screed in Italian on Facebook in October 2025, in which she also effectively called for the ethnic cleansing of all Jews from the region, saying “It must happen that Israel humbly ask forgiveness and that they organise an exodus to their various lands of origin before the advent of Zionism…if I were in the shoes of the governments of the respective countries to welcome them, I would establish prevention rules against new occupational tendencies.”

Ion, who is believed to be of Romanian origin but previously gained Italian citizenship, also appeared to address Jews in Israel elsewhere in her Facebook post, saying: “You were welcomed with pity after the injustices suffered by the Nazi regime, and for the convenience of the West that did not want to take care of you. And how did you repay the generosity and Arab hospitality that is legendary? Kicking them out of their homes, killing their children and ensuring protection and economic ties with the strong so that you can now strangle them [the Palestinian] with impunity”.

Other posts by Ion included describing Jews in Israel disparagingly as “The Chosen people”. One post by Ion read: “God’s people: the chosen ones. Tell me again not to wish death on these shits”. Another shared a video by an account which showed a video of a strictly orthodox Jew removing bricks from a wall, with the unproved claim that “Palestinians can’t even lay a few bricks on their own land…settlers rush to destroy them before the cement dries”. Ion shared this with the caption “the chosen ones”.


Harvard Business School Is ‘Thrilled To Welcome’ Keffiyeh-Wearing Israel-Demonizer Who Uses ‘Retard’ as a Slur
A businessman who was ostracized in Silicon Valley for social media posts that demonized Israel is being touted by Harvard as a star speaker at an upcoming conference on artificial intelligence.

Amjad Masad, the CEO of a Foster City, California-based artificial intelligence company called Replit, posted in June 2025 that "Israel is the most destabilizing force in the world." When people pushed back that Iran is the real threat, he accused them of spreading "retarded propaganda."

He’s also likened Israelis to Nazis, posting, also in June 2025, "We are at the ‘I was just following orders’ stage of the genocide."

The extreme rhetoric has attracted press attention. A January 2026 profile of Masad in the San Francisco Standard described him as wearing a keffiyeh while shooting an AR-22. "Masad’s ultimate objective was to leverage his success in tech to help the Palestinian cause," that article reported. It says he made a deal to make Replit "the exclusive AI coding software for Saudi governmental agencies." The article says he’d never work with Israel: "it’s an illegitimate and criminal government … Netanyahu is a war criminal." The article said "Masad became a frequent topic in pro-Israel tech groupchats, a source said, where some investors accused him of being antisemitic." It also says "investors called him a ‘terrorist sympathizer.’"

Masad has complained publicly about being ostracized in Silicon Valley: "When I first spoke out about the genocide, I was one of the few voices in tech, and it came at a cost. I faced sabotage especially from the VC class: lies, leaks, threats, and blocked investments."

One place where there is no cost, and where there may even be rewards, for demonizing the Jewish state? Harvard University, which is breathlessly welcoming Masad as a star speaker at a faculty-organized conference on artificial intelligence.

"We’re thrilled to welcome Amjad Masad, Founder & CEO of Replit, to the Leading with AI 2026 conference at Harvard Business School, May 14-15," an email invitation from HBS Alumni Relations, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, says. "Amhad just raised $400M in a Series D and unveiled Agent 4; an AI that can vibe code an entire company from scratch. He’s not just building a product. He’s redefining what it means to be a ‘developer’—and what it means to run a business." That sort of endorsement from Harvard in the competitive AI field used to be worth something but is worth less than it used to be as Harvard’s reputation has declined amid a series of scandals about research fraud, left-wing bias, grade inflation, and antisemitism.
UCLA student government censured after condemning event with ex-hostage Omer Shem Tov
An event at the University of California, Los Angeles featuring the freed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov has become the latest flashpoint in campus dialogue over Israel, after the university’s student government issued a statement condemning the talk.

The event itself went off without disruption. But the school’s Undergraduate Students Associated Council issued a letter the same day declaring that bringing Shem Tov to campus was an example of “selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence.”

The statement ignited a firestorm. The student government has drawn ire from a sitting University of California regent, the campus Hillel, and its own president, who accused a faction of student leaders of passing the resolution with underhanded methods.

The controversy comes as UCLA continues to face scrutiny under the Trump administration’s campus antisemitism push, much of it tied to student protester actions after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. UCLA is currently facing a lawsuit from the Justice Department over what the administration said was the fostering of a hostile work environment when protesters took over sections of campus and sought to bar “Zionists” from entering; the school has also settled a $6.13 million lawsuit with Jewish groups over the same instances.

“I am disgusted and appalled by the Council’s recent statement condemning an on-campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov,” Jewish UC regent Jay Sures, a leading Hollywood talent agent, wrote in a lengthy open letter published earlier this week. “Talk about a missed opportunity.”

UCLA’s Hillel, together with the campus’s Israel Studies center and its Student Supporting Israel club, hosted Shem Tov for an event earlier this month coinciding with Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The school’s Jewish chancellor Julio Frenk, who has been outspoken about his commitment to combat antisemitism on UCLA’s campus, attended the talk with his wife.
Politico’s owner, Axel Springer, doubles down on corporate principles
Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Politico’s parent company, Axel Springer, doubled down in defense of the German publishing giant’s corporate values while addressing criticism from Politico‘s editorial staff on Monday, suggesting to journalists that if they do not feel fully comfortable with a mission statement that includes support for Israel’s right to exist and other principles known as “the essentials,” they should find work elsewhere, according to audio of the discussion obtained by Jewish Insider.

“Nobody should work for Axel Springer despite the essentials or in disagreement with one of the essentials,” Döpfner said on a 40-minute call that also included feedback from Politico executives who expressed alignment with the CEO. “If the essentials are not attractive, if the essentials are not a magnet, if the essentials are not a reason why to work for this company, I can only recommend to work for other companies.”

“There are many options where values do not play such a role — or where other values play a role,” he added, citing NGOs, “financial investors” and “other publishers.”

His comments received no pushback and even some tacit backing from Politico leaders who participated in the meeting, including Jonathan Greenberger, the outlet’s incoming editor-in-chief who takes the helm on Friday; John Harris, the company’s founder and outgoing editor-in-chief; and Goli Sheikholeslami, its CEO.

The meeting came in response to a letter sent by Politico staffers to Greenberger on Friday, accusing Döpfner of using the outlet “to promote his political agenda” and raising concerns that two opinion pieces he wrote for the publication “risk undermining” its “reputation as an impartial news source.”

The letter referred, among other things, to opinion articles in which Döpfner exhorted Europe to stand with the United States and Israel in their war with Iran and said that European aid to Palestinians helped fund terrorists, while arguing that the continent was “on the wrong side of history” in pausing assistance to Israel. The letter and subsequent conversation was first reported by Semafor on Monday, which characterized the meeting as company leadership being receptive to staffers’ concerns.
BBC News presents Hamas terrorist as ‘first responder’
The BBC’s report has not been updated to provide readers with that relevant context and BBC audiences have not been informed that the man presented to them as a ‘first responder’ purely on the word of a Hamas-run agency was in fact a terrorist.

BBC journalists have been uncritically quoting and promoting unverified claims made by the Gaza civil defence agency for over two years, often without adequate clarification of its connection to Hamas and the links of some of its employees to terrorist organisations. BBC reports published immediately following incidents in the Gaza Strip have all too often been based on unverified claims made by that Hamas-run agency, with no independent verification carried out.

Time and again, when new facts relating to a specific incident have emerged days or weeks later, the BBC has failed to provide its audiences with that information by updating its original reporting or producing new coverage.

As we have noted in the past – and as this example of a Hamas terrorist presented only as a ‘first responder’ once again demonstrates – the result of that editorial policy is that the BBC News website’s “permanent public record” increasingly promotes superficial and partial stories based on unverified claims made by Hamas-run agencies, baseless denials from that terrorist organisation and unconfirmed local eye-witness accounts, but with no effort made by BBC journalists to ensure that the public record includes the entire information relevant to understanding of a particular story and the broader subject matter.


'Grotesque distortion': Israel rebukes Norwegian Holocaust Center’s Nakba-Holocaust events
Israel’s embassy in Norway has condemned the Norwegian Holocaust Center’s decision to host events drawing parallels between the Holocaust, the “Nakba,” and the war in Gaza.

This is in reference to two upcoming events: one titled ‘Nakba and Holocaust as cultural traumas’ on April 30 and one titled ‘Holocaust memory after Gaza,’ set to take place on June 3.

Both form part of a series named ‘In the shadow of the war – the way forward,’ which is a collaboration between the Norwegian Holocaust Center and the University of Oslo.

The Holocaust and Nakba are both framed as “defining historical events for respectively Israeli and Palestinian societies.”

It will feature a lecture by Professor Nadim Khoury on how these traumas have shaped Israeli and Palestinian national narratives.

The memory of the Holocaust has been seriously drawn into contemporary politics since the war in Gaza.

Khoury is set to explore the question: “What meaning does the entanglement of the Holocaust and the Nakba gain in the shadow of October 7 and the war on Gaza?”

The 'Holocaust memory after Gaza' event is focused on how “the memory of the Holocaust has been seriously drawn into contemporary politics since the war in Gaza.”

The lecture will be given by Omer Bartov, professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University in the United States.

He calls Israel “a regime of apartheid” and in April 2025 said, “This is an occupation by the IDF designed to take over Gaza. There will, of course, be resistance, but it will be guerrilla resistance.”

“[This] is a grotesque distortion of Holocaust memory,” wrote the Israeli embassy.

“It dishonors the memory of more than 750 Norwegian Jews murdered by the Nazis and their Norwegian collaborators, and betrays the very purpose for which this institution was established.


Anti-Israel protesters shout 'child killers' at Oslo Independence Day celebration
Anti-Israel protesters yelled “child killers” through speaker phones at participants of an Israeli Independence Day celebration in Oslo, Norway on Sunday.

Videos shared with The Jerusalem Post show scores of pro-Palestine activists waving banners with slogans such as “Death to the IDF” and “Zionists are terrorists” while shouting “intifada revolution,” “No Zionists in our streets” and “child killers” at the several hundred pro-Israel celebrants.

The event was arranged by the Joint Committee for Israel to take place outside the Storting (Norwegian parliament). There were also many Iranian dissident attendees, and two speeches by exiled Iranians, who spoke warmly of the friendship between Iranians and the Jewish people. Israeli Independence Day celebration in Oslo, Norway. April 26, 2026.

Nevertheless, the celebration was marred by constant chanting from across the road. The chanting was also directed at the Iranians, with shouts of “No one will protect you, f****** Iranians!”

The clips were filmed by Norwegian Jewish podcaster Henrick Beckheim. He told the Post that a guard rushed over and said told him to stop filming “because it might provoke them.”
Austrian pleads guilty to foiled attack on Taylor Swift's Vienna concert
A 21-year-old charged with planning an Islamic State-inspired attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 that was foiled at the 11th hour pleaded guilty as his trial opened on Tuesday.

The defendant, an Austrian identified as Beran A, was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the US pop star in Vienna.

All three dates were then canceled, to the dismay of fans and of Swift herself, who wrote afterward that it was "devastating."

The trial in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, is focused on more than that planned attack.

Other attacks planned
Beran A is also accused, along with Slovak national Arda K, of planning attacks in the Middle East that they did not go through with, and of providing moral support to a third man who has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a knife attack in Mecca.

"I plead guilty in part," Beran A said at the start of his questioning by the presiding judge. Asked if he pleaded guilty to the charges relating to the planned concert attack, he said: "Yes."

Both defendants covered their faces as they entered the courtroom to avoid being identifiable in photographs. Beran A wore a dark blue shirt and jeans, Arda K a light blue shirt and beige trousers.

Prosecutors accuse Beran A of using video instructions by the Islamic State on how to make a shrapnel bomb, producing a small amount of the explosive triacetone peroxide, and illegally trying to buy weapons, including a machine gun and a hand grenade, for the planned attack.

He has been charged with various, mainly terrorism-related offenses, and faces 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted.
US soldier faces five years for alleged threats to take assault rifle and ‘kill every single Jew’ in synagogue
Jakob Marcoulier, a 22-year-old American soldier at Fort Polk, was charged with threatening to kill Jews in a synagogue and faces up to five years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana said on Monday.

“Threats against synagogues and Jewish Americans are threats to the religious freedom promised to every single one of us,” stated Zachary Keller, the U.S. attorney for the district. “This office and our law enforcement partners are committed to protecting those freedoms.”

Marcoulier was arrested and charged on April 23 with making the thread on the messaging platform Discord, according to the Justice Department.

Jonathan Tapp, the FBI special agent-in-charge in the New Orleans field office, stated that a “concerned citizen” contacted the FBI to report the message. Tapp said that the bureau the U.S. Army acted “swiftly.”

“This is a perfect example of how the public is law enforcement’s greatest partner,” Tapp stated.

The anonymous tipster told the FBI in February that the user “El Bostino” on Discord “made threats toward synagogues,” according to the Justice Department.

“FBI secured recorded audio from Discord in which the individual, later determined to be Marcoulier, made these threats, stating among other things that ‘after this deployment, if the Jews still have reign over our government, I am going to walk into a synagogue with my AK, with a 75-round drum mag, and all of my extra mags, with my level four plates, and my haka helmet that’s three plus, and I am going to kill every single Jew I know inside of that synagogue, and that’s my goal in life.”
Tal Oran Calls It Out: Middle Eastern Jew Uncovers Truth About Talking to Arab Muslims
In this episode of Ami’s House, I am joined by the legendary Tal Oran, better known online as "The Traveling Clatt." As a Mizrahi and Sephardic Jew, Tal brings a unique and often ignored perspective to the fight against anti-Semitism. We dive deep into why traditional institutional approaches to advocacy often fail and how Tal uses his background to directly engage with the Arab and Muslim worlds to flip the narrative.

From discussing the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Iraq to exploring the shared DNA between Israelites and Palestinians, this conversation challenges mainstream perspectives on the Middle East conflict. Tal explains his "slap and kiss" method of debate—tearing down false identities with logic while offering a shared story to find a path toward genuine coexistence.

Breakdown
01:34 – Critiquing the "Ashkonormative" institutional approach to advocacy.
07:50 – Exploring the "missing story" of Mizrahi Jews and their displacement from Arab lands.
14:50 – Historical links between Nazi ideology and the 1941 Farhoud in Iraq.
24:42 – DNA and identity: Shared ancestry between Samaritans, Jews, and Palestinians.
41:40 – Debating the future of democracy, tribal identity, and security in Israel.


This Isn’t Just Comedy Anymore | Ami Kozak | Behind the Bima #197
Some things are easier to say as a joke than to say directly. But once you hear it… you can’t un-hear it.

On this episode of Behind the Bima, Rabbi Efrem Goldberg and Rabbi Philip Moskowitz sit down with Ami Kozak, whose impressions have become a way of reflecting how people actually speak… about Jews, about Israel, and about each other.

This episode is about more than humor. It’s about what gets amplified, what gets ignored, and how to navigate a public conversation where not every voice deserves the same weight.

Subscribe to Rabbi Efrem Goldberg for more conversations like this: @RabbiEfremGoldberg

This season of Behind the Bima is sponsored by Julie Charlestein & Darryl Benjamin in honor of their grandparents, Morton & Malvina Charlestein, and their children, Ruby and Maccabi Benjamin.






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PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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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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