Friday, September 18, 2026

09/17 Links Pt2: Dara Horn: What Nobody Understands About Antisemitism; The Mackle-morons are not supporting justice, but hatred; 2,000-year-old Jewish ritual bath uncovered intact in southern Israel

From Ian:

Brendan O'Neill: Ed Sheeran, Macklemore and the tyranny of the Israel-haters
So that's it: you're not even allowed two hours off from Israel-hate. You can't even go to an Ed Sheeran concert without being lectured about what a barbarous state Israel is. It's not enough that our streets have fallen to zombie armies of Gazaholics and that our social-media feeds froth with anti-Israel invective. Now even Ed Sheeran must come with a side order of Jew State bashing.

People are alarmed that American rapper Macklemore has been ditched as the opening act on Sheeran's U.S. tour, after he barked "Free Palestine" and wanged on about Israel's "genocide" to 90,000 Sheeran fans at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Is nowhere safe from the marauding moralism of our insufferable cultural elites?

Then Sheeran's other support acts walked out in solidarity with Macklemore. His backing band walked, too. It will just be Sheeran and his guitar at this rate, which, to be fair, he's done before. If the whole tour falls apart, it would be a fitting if grim tribute to the joy-sucking dogmatism of Israelophobia. Music burnt at the altar of ideology. How very Hamas.

Isn't there something creepy, even a little authoritarian, about turning a middle-of-the-road pop gig into a neo-Nuremberg rally against the Jewish State? Israelophobes have a Tourette's-like urge to blab their puffed-up virtue to every poor soul they meet. I'd be fuming if I got dressed up for a night of harmless pop, only to find myself being harangued by a nerd about the murderous lunacy of the Jewish nation.

Palestinianism has become a neo-religion, seeking to conquer every nook and cranny of public life. If you don't go along, you'll be branded a genocide denier, even as "complicit" in the crime of the century. Like all cults, the Gaza cult splits us into the enlightened and the damned. Sheeran is being damned all over X as a genocide apologist. And all because he failed to meekly, compliantly bow down to the truthless commandments of the Gaza cult.
Good Riddance to Macklemore
The rapper Macklemore has now been booted as Ed Sheeran's opening act. At New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, Macklemore devoted most of his set to prattling about Gaza, ululating about Palestine, and praising the terrorist sympathizers on American college campuses. It's tempting to laugh off the whole kerfuffle as yet another case of a very minor artist suffering from very major delusions of self-importance. But l'affaire Macklemore teaches us important lessons.

Macklemore has spent the last several years repeatedly and shrilly calling on artists to boycott Israel. He even wrote a song dedicated to championing the BDS movement, which promotes sanctions against the Jewish state. Now that he's received a taste of his own medicine, he's crying foul and claiming to be a victim. He's anything but. If the culture you help create calls for canceling those whose opinions you don't like, don't be surprised if you too are canceled one day.

Once upon a time, the performers we hailed were the ones who could actually do something: sing, dance, act and move us with their art. Like other preening pro-Palestine provocateurs, Macklemore's true art is stirring up cheap controversy by trying to cower others into submission.

It's a very good strategy for mediocre entertainers, who can get famous quick by pretending to be great moral crusaders and plugging into hot-button political issues they barely understand. But it's terrible for everyone else because it hijacks truth and beauty and turns every aspect of life into an ugly, muddy political battlefield.
Nicole Lampert: The Mackle-morons are not supporting justice, but hatred
Their historical illiteracy and ignorance were summed up by Irish singer Aaron Rowe, who said: “As Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation. I cannot stand by and allow billionaires to use their position of power to silence the rightful voices of those who speak up against Israeli genocide and who highlight the savage murder of children.”

It is worth mentioning that not a single cry of Free Palestine has ever helped the Palestinians. In fact, by perpetuating what Palestinian intellectual Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib calls the “resistance narrative” – the idea that if the Palestinians keep trying to kill Israelis, they will somehow get their state – it has only made life more difficult for them.

And their demand for freedom of speech is highly selective. None of these musicians, as far as I know, spoke up when British band Oi Va Voi was cancelled from UK venues because their singer is Israeli, when Radiohead star Jonny Greenwood had to cancel gigs because of security threats to his Israeli partner, when Boy George was forced out of a musical for singing “I stand with the Jews”, or when Róisín Murphy dared to speak up against the medicalisation of trans kids.

They pose as free speech martyrs, but like Irish band Kneecap and English rappers Bob Vylan, who found fame thanks to their anti-Zionism, Macklemore may find the pro-Palestine grift is lucrative. He has already gained more than one million followers on Instagram since the fuss started.

Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert, meanwhile, exposed the obsessive hatred that gives the Free Palestine movement rocket fuel, in a statement oozing with the kind of tropes that a neo-Nazi would be proud of: “As Jewish billionaires who control America and fund the IDF decide who can and who can’t perform despite breaking no laws…The IDF is still murdering kids.”

This is also the thing about being Jewish when someone begins a “Free Palestine” chant. Either you suck it up, or perhaps silently leave, knowing they will do the same to others tomorrow. Or you try and stop it and get accused of having too much control, of too much power. Heads you lose, tails they win.


Coleman Hughes: What Nobody Understands About Antisemitism, with Dara Horn
Dara Horn’s book People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present examined how contemporary culture sentimentalizes Jewish suffering while ignoring Jewish life. Her new book, provocatively titled The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living, picks up where that one left off, with an answer she says took her years to actually arrive at.

I sat down with Dara onstage at the 92nd Street Y. She walked me through her central argument: Antisemitism isn’t ordinary prejudice—it’s a script, and the only thing that changes across centuries and ideologies is which value a given society claims Jews are secretly destroying. We got into how little most people actually understand about this history, elected officials included, as they throw around loaded terms without knowing where they came from or what they mean. She also made the case that treating this as a left-versus-right problem gets the diagnosis wrong from the start, since the same underlying accusation keeps resurfacing on every part of the political map.

Toward the end, we shifted to something that reaches well beyond this one topic: what to actually do when someone you love starts repeating things they picked up from an algorithm rather than a person. Dara’s advice wasn’t to come armed with counterarguments—it was to get genuinely interested in where the idea came from, and let that interest do more work than any rebuttal could.


The Brink: The Untold History Of Fascism The Left Won’t Want To Hear - Historian Roger Moorhouse
In this episode of The Brink, Andrew and Jake are joined by historian Roger Moorhouse to ask what became of fascism after the Second World War, and whether its influence can still be seen in politics today.

From Nazi influence in the Arab world and the rise of Islamism to Putin’s Russia and Donald Trump’s America, Roger explores which elements of fascism have survived and why the label itself may now be doing more harm than good.

The conversation also turns to the populist right, political extremism and the attempts from both left and right to rewrite the legacy of Winston Churchill and the Second World War.

Chapters
00:00 What Is Fascism?
02:26 How Fascism Became a Political Insult
06:10 Racism, Antisemitism & Nazi Germany
10:05 Humiliation: The Fuel of Fascism
16:08 Fascism’s Influence on the Arab World
20:51 Hitler, Al-Husseini & Political Islam
28:02 Is Putin’s Russia Becoming Fascist?
30:20 Trump & the Fascism Question
40:36 Erdoğan & the Problem with the “Fascist” Label
44:55 What Fascism Can Teach Us Today




Jonathan Sacerdoti: Why I refused to stay quiet about Hamas — Sean McGinty: what you’re allowed to think inside the BBC
What happens when a BBC journalist challenges his own organisation’s coverage of Hamas, Israel and October 7? After 22 years at BBC Radio Lancashire, Sean McGinty lost his job. He tells Jonathan Sacerdoti why he spoke out, what he believes his dismissal reveals about the broadcaster, and why he still hopes the institution he loved can be saved.

McGinty describes the private email he sent to presenter Nihal Arthanayake after a social media post recommending “context” for the October 7 attacks. He explains why it appalled him, how his criticism of BBC journalism extended to transgender coverage and cuts to local radio, and what happened as his relationship with management deteriorated.

Having recently lost his employment tribunal case, McGinty gives his account of the disciplinary process, his struggles with mental health and the isolation he says he experienced among former colleagues. He questions whether the BBC applies its standards equally to local journalists and its biggest stars, discussing Gary Lineker, Huw Edwards and the limits of speaking freely inside the organisation.

💬 We Discuss:
📧 The private email challenging Nihal Arthanayake’s response to October 7
📰 Why the BBC’s language about Hamas matters
🇮🇱 How McGinty reacted to the attacks on Israel
⚖️ His dismissal, employment tribunal and allegations of unequal treatment
🧠 Mental health, workplace isolation and the human cost of his dispute
🤐 Self-censorship and the consequences of questioning editorial decisions
📺 Gary Lineker, Huw Edwards and the treatment of the BBC’s biggest names
✡️ Allegations of antisemitism and failures in the BBC’s Israel coverage
🏥 Reporting of the Gaza hospital explosion and accountability for mistakes
🎥 The controversy over the BBC’s Gaza documentary
🏳️‍⚧️ Transgender coverage, safeguarding and the WPATH files
🗳️ Brexit, Blackpool and the voices McGinty says went unheard
📻 Cuts to local radio and the communities left behind
📱 How chasing social media numbers changes journalism
🇬🇧 Whether the BBC can regain public trust


Robert Kraft was right about Macklemore, the explanation was all wrong
The problem was not Robert Kraft’s decision. The problem is how we explain it.

We removed the messenger from the stage without confronting the lie he was spreading. We focused on Macklemore–his rhetoric, his history, the hurt his words cause–when the far greater threat is the message itself. And in doing so, we inadvertently helped create precisely the narrative Macklemore and his defenders wanted.

Now the story practically writes itself: Macklemore dared to “speak truth to power.” He said what others supposedly do not want Americans to hear, and for his courage, a Jewish billionaire and other venue owners took away his microphone. Macklemore becomes the martyr. His cancellation becomes evidence of his righteousness. And Jews assume precisely the role his rhetoric already assigns us: morally compromised and willing to use our influence to suppress anyone brave enough to expose an uncomfortable truth.

We should stop defending ourselves against the accusation and start challenging the accusation itself.

Macklemore did not belong on that stage because he was using it to spread hateful lies about the Jewish state. He was telling an audience that the world’s only Jewish state is committing “genocide” and practicing “apartheid,” presenting those accusations not as arguments to defend, but as settled truths.

That is not the same as supporting Palestinians or criticizing Israel. Macklemore remains free to say what he believes. But freedom of speech does not entitle anyone to someone else’s microphone, particularly an entertainment stage before thousands who bought tickets for a concert rather than to hear a political polemic.

There is also a bitter irony in the outrage over Macklemore being “canceled.” Where was this defense of artistic freedom when American Jewish musician Matisyahu had concerts canceled after activists targeted venues over his support for Israel, creating security and staffing concerns? Macklemore did not lose his place because of his identity. He lost that stage because of what he chose to do with it.
The Macklemore battle presents a trap that pro-Israel activists have yet to escape
Some argue that by refusing to host anti-Israel invective, Kraft wasn’t chilling the free speech of others but exercising his own. And some pro-Israel advocates have countered that keeping crowds in 80,000-seat stadiums from listening to, and cheering for, accusations of genocide is well worth the public heat.

For example, when Macklemore addressed his “Jewish brothers and sisters” from the stage, saying that “criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you,” the Jewish pop star Pink shot back on Instagram. She wrote that Macklemore “dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn’t about them. You don’t get to decide that for us.”

But those pro-Israeli activists also must now grapple with Macklemore’s sentiments being broadcast across the globe, with Kraft and those supporting him depicted as censorious villains.

The popular anti-Israel streamer Hasan Piker, for example, is celebrating. On a recent episode, he scrolled through the statements of the bands that have left the Sheeran tour, one of which decried “the silencing of Macklemore by Zionist lobbies.” Another ended its statement with “FREE PALESTINE” in all caps. Piker was giddy, at one point literally screaming in joy.

“This is what solidarity looks like!” he crowed, accentuating each word. And then, in an almost word-for-word echo of StopAntisemitism, he added, “This is how it’s supposed to be done.” New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft arrives for the NFL football fall meetings in New York, October 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Nor is Macklemore exactly the victor here. Yes, he has become the cause celebre du jour for many who see him as a courageous artist willing to sacrifice fame on the altar of principle. But he’s also lost out on a co-billing with one of the world’s most popular singers — and may have risked future gigs of that nature. He’s clearly eager to tie himself to the pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel cause. But next time a big act is looking for an opener, will they want that rhetoric on their tour, having seen how this saga played out? And for Sheeran, of course, this has been, in the words of a BBC commentator, a “disaster,” as his attempt to save his tour may in fact be destroying it. Ticket prices on his remaining dates are plummeting. For Kraft, the consequences will almost certainly be milder. An octogenarian billionaire best known for owning the New England Patriots, an iconic NFL franchise, he’s weathered controversy before and probably will again. Still, it’s clearly affected him enough that he’s put out two statements about it, both stressing that just because he’s a pro-Israel philanthropist who’s dedicated millions to fighting antisemitism doesn’t mean that he supports “diminishing the suffering of innocent Palestinians or denying anyone the right to advocate on their behalf.”
Pink says defending Jews has been ‘lonelier’ than she expected
Pink has said speaking up for Jewish people has proved “lonelier” than she expected after facing a backlash over her criticism of Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian performance at an Ed Sheeran concert.

The Jewish American singer said she wanted to explain her position after sharing a social media post criticising Macklemore’s set at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, where he shouted “Free Palestine”, accused Israel of genocide and performed his protest song Hind’s Hall.

In a lengthy Instagram statement posted ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Pink said: ‘And now I’m standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be.

“And it’s lonelier than that. But I’m doing it anyway.”

The row began after Pink reposted a message from the campaign group StopAntisemitism, which accused Macklemore of subjecting Jewish concertgoers to “anti-Israel propaganda”.

Pink has now stressed that the words in the original post were not hers and did not necessarily reflect how she would have expressed her concerns.

“A repost isn’t a statement, and a meme isn’t a spine,” she wrote. “Social media makes all of us cheap and fast, and we all know it. But I’d rather be disagreed with for what I actually said than hated for what anybody else wrote.”

The singer, born Alecia Beth Moore, said her Jewish identity had led people to make assumptions about her political views.

“I was born a Jew. I didn’t pick it, and I’ve never hidden it,” she said. “And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I’ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word ‘Jew’ were apparently enough to fill in the rest.”

She added: “Hamas is a terrorist organisation. Palestinians deserve a future that honours their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody’s child.”

Pink also made clear that her criticism was not aimed at stopping Macklemore from advocating for Palestinians.

“I have never asked for another artist to be silenced, and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund,” she said.

“What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘That scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda.”
Jewish leader brands Ed Sheeran tour chaos a ‘business lesson’ amid Macklemore fallout
However, Mr Gregory said the withdrawals highlighted the dangers of working with politically divisive figures, arguing the incident should be seen as a “business lesson” for artists.

“Ed Sheeran has placed himself in a difficult position. Most of his fans are not attending his concerts to receive extremist political lectures,” Mr Gregory told News24.com.au.

“His decision to select an act well-known for being politically provocative to tour with him has now blown up in his face.

“While people should be free to express themselves, there is a business lesson here for others considering working with figures who are well known for extremist political agitation.

“Jews across the world are facing a wave of hatred often disguised as criticism of the Jewish State. Ed Sheeran should have listened to the concerns of his Jewish fans earlier."

Mr Gregory said that while Macklemore is entitled to freedom of speech, he is not immune to criticism or even the guarantee of a platform for his political views.

"Macklemore is entitled to express his political views, just as venues, promoters and audiences are entitled to respond to them,” he said.

“Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism or a guaranteed platform.

“There is a broader context to the concerns about Macklemore, including previous imagery and rhetoric that members of the Jewish community have found deeply offensive.”
Robert Kraft says singer Sheeran asked him to match $2 million aid pledge amid Macklemore beef
Musician Ed Sheeran asked New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to match what he said was a $2 million donation for aid to the Middle East, the high-profile businessman and philanthropist said Wednesday. Using social media, Kraft said Sheeran challenged him “to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis,” without specifying which crisis.

Kraft’s statement came amid a high-profile spat over pro-Palestinian rapper Macklemore, who had been slated to open for Sheeran on September 25 and 26 at Gillette Stadium, a Boston-area venue owned by Kraft.

Kraft, a billionaire who supports pro-Israel and Jewish causes, has taken credit for Macklemore’s removal from the Sheeran tour, though the move sparked controversy.

In his most recent statement, however, Kraft tried to strike a conciliatory tone, adding that Macklemore had also challenged him to donate to a cause he believes in.

Macklemore said he would donate the entirety of his $1 million paycheck from Sheeran’s Loop Tour to six organizations that support Palestinians: Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, HEAL Palestine, Gaza Soup Kitchen, Medical Aid for Palestinians, UNRWA USA and Anera.

“I invite Robert Kraft to match my donation,” he wrote in a lengthy social media post. “Whatever we disagree about, perhaps we can agree on this: Palestinian lives are worth protecting.”

Kraft did not say whether he would match either Macklemore or Sheeran’s pledges, but noted that Sheeran would “reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”


Commentary Podcast: Mackleless
Today we discuss Trump holding the Kennedy Center hostage, the tightening senatorial races in Ohio, Texas, Michigan, and elsewhere, JD Vance's ongoing descent into Tucker Carlsonian thought, and our producer Noam Blum joins us to discuss the controversy over Macklemore being removed from the Ed Sheeran tour.




Ami Kozak: Macklemore Got Dropped. Here’s What EVERYONE Is Missing
Macklemore gets dropped. Opening acts pull out of Ed Sheeran’s tour. Suddenly everyone is talking about free speech.

But is that really what this controversy is about?

I break down the Macklemore - Ed Sheeran spectacle, the selective use of “free speech,” what’s actually being communicated by the slogans surrounding the anti-Israel movement, and why this entire controversy feels like a microcosm of the larger Israel–Palestinian conflict.

Sometimes the slogan sounds a lot better than the ideology behind it.




Commentary Podcast: Head on a Piker
It's Thursday, and our friend Matt Continetti is back to discuss Hasan Piker's Axios interview and his comments on 9/11 and Al-Qaeda, and how this might impact Abdul El-Sayed and the Michigan senate race. Plus, a review of battleground state polling, the Fed raises interest rates in defiance of Trump, the Saudi-Houthi war, the fight over the Kennedy Center, and Matt recommends the book Mind vs. Machine.


Hunter Biden accuses Israel of allowing Oct. 7 massacre to carry out ‘plan’
Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, claimed on Wednesday in an interview with Britain’s LBC that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew in advance that a Hamas attack was planned for Oct. 7, 2023, and failed to act to stop it.

Biden went further, claiming that “they” deliberately allowed the attack to happen so that they could carry out a “plan” that would not otherwise have won support. He made the comments in response to a question from interviewer Andrew Marr about his father’s stance on Israel in the wake of the Gaza war.

‘Bombshell report’
Biden opened with a sharp attack on Netanyahu and his government led by the Likud Party, pointing to a “bombshell” report that he said had been published a few days earlier, apparently referring to claims by Haaretz.

He cited “the quote unquote bombshell report that came out a few days ago, that Bibi Netanyahu was fully aware that there was an attack being planned for October 7th and did absolutely nothing about it.”

Biden then moved from a personal accusation against Netanyahu to a broader claim. “Everyone that has looked at this over the course of since October 7th—the event, which was horrific, horrific, and Hamas is horrific—has looked at it, they’ve said this,” he continued. “They knew what was coming, and they allowed it to happen for the purposes of being able to execute on a plan that no one would have ever given them the green light to do without it.”

Biden did not clarify who exactly he meant by “they,” did not present evidence that the attack was deliberately allowed and did not specify what “plan” he was referring to. In the interview, Biden also added that what is happening in Gaza is “akin to genocide” and claimed that Netanyahu has made the world’s Jews “more unsafe than they’ve ever been since World War II or since the Holocaust.”

‘Evil incarnate’
This is not the first time Biden has attacked Netanyahu and raised conspiracy theories about the Jewish state. In an interview last month with conservative and anti-Israel commentator Tucker Carlson, he called Netanyahu “evil incarnate” and claimed that a “Netanyahu operation center, the Israeli side,” was among those who spread material from his laptop ahead of the 2020 presidential election. He acknowledged, however, that he had no confirmation of who was behind the leak.

In that same interview, Hunter Biden came to Carlson’s defense and rejected accusations of antisemitism against him. “I know you’re not an antisemite. I’m 100% sure you’re not,” Biden told Carlson.
Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools planning to pray outside NYC mayor’s residence on Friday
Two prominent New York City Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools plan to send students to pray the Friday morning service outside the mayor’s residence.

“The choice of venue is obviously intentional,” Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, principal of SAR Academy, told JNS. “It’s a positive statement that we’re here. We’re Jewish. We want to be safe and express our Zionism.”

The Ramaz School, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, also intends to send students to the service, according to Krauss, and worshipers will also come from Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, a Modern Orthodox synagogue associated with Ramaz.

Krauss hopes additional schools will join them on Friday morning, when he expects about 240 students from SAR and Ramaz.

Mamdani was asked about the planned prayer session at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday.

“Mayor, the students at Ramaz and some other Jewish schools are planning a prayer vigil outside Gracie Mansion on Friday morning to talk about their support for Israel and for Bibi Netanyahu,” a reporter said. “I wonder if you have any plans to go out and talk to them and explain your concerns and your views and hear what they have to say?”

“I welcome them. They can have a vigil, or I’ve heard some describe it even as a ‘protest,’” the mayor said. “Whatever it is intended to be, they have the room and space to do so outside of Gracie Mansion. I think that at the time that they are there, I will probably be somewhere else across the city.”

Rabbi Joshua Lookstein, associate head of school, rabbinic and communal leadership at Ramaz, told JNS that he expects to bring about 140 students from the 8th and 11th grades. Since the police permit that the schools obtained is for 500 people, he said that the entire upper school, which is about 450 students, is not coming.

“The message is that we, the Jewish community, feel vulnerable, and don’t feel as safe as we should,” Lookstein said. “The mayor is the one to change that so that we, his citizens, feel safe. We think he will get that message whether he is there or not.”

“It is more important that we’re there than that he’s there,” he told JNS. “Because it’s about learning how to show up and be present.”


El-Sayed met with Temple Israel rabbis in closed-door sit-down
In the most significant sign of his efforts to make inroads with skeptical Jewish voters in Michigan’s Senate race, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, recently met with rabbis at Temple Israel for a closely guarded conversation, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

Two rabbis who were said to have participated in the conversation, details of which were unclear, declined to comment when reached on Wednesday. El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

The meeting came after El-Sayed apologized last month to Jewish Democrats for his equivocal response to the March terrorist attack against Temple Israel, a prominent Reform synagogue outside Detroit, which he had downplayed with the explanation that “hurt people hurt people.”

The covert nature of the meeting, which neither party has publicized, underscores the sensitivities felt among some Jewish leaders who have remained wary of publicly associating with El-Sayed because of their continued discomfort with his positions on Israel and remarks about antisemitism.

One rabbi at Temple Israel joined a rally last month at which Vice President JD Vance laid into El-Sayed while touting his Republican rival, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) — who has successfully courted some Jewish Democratic voters. Vance mentioned the rabbi in his speech, but not by name. A Jewish leader confirmed that a Temple Israel rabbi participated in the event.

Despite the unusual show of resistance, El-Sayed has, following his apology as well as a vow to hire a Jewish campaign liaison, made some inroads as he seeks to ease tensions with Jewish voters in the final stretch of a closely contested election.

He has since won endorsements from several progressive Jewish leaders including former Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). Former longtime Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), in a statement on Tuesday, backed El-Sayed in spite of what he called “significant disagreement” over the nominee’s hostile approach to Israel — concerns about which some Jewish voters in Michigan have dismissed in recent opinion articles. While Levin held a pro-Israel record during his time in the House, his son Andy was highly critical of Israel while in Congress and ended up losing to Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in a hotly contested 2022 primary.

Meanwhile, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), who is one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in Michigan, is now urging fellow caucus members to rally behind El-Sayed after remaining neutral in a heated primary where Stevens, a vocal supporter of Israel, was narrowly defeated.
Abdul El-Sayed Railed Against 'Disturbing' Funding for Breast Cancer Research, Said Disease Affects People With 'Social Power and Privilege'
Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed in a fiery essay railed against the "breast cancer lobby" and blasted breast cancer advocacy groups for creating the impression that women were "in imminent danger" from the disease.

In a 2012 essay entitled "The Pink Ribbon Lobby and Everyone Else," El-Sayed, who has a medical degree and refers to himself as "Dr. El-Sayed" in political ads, bemoaned the increase in federal funding for breast cancer research, calling it a "disturbing" trend that diverts federal funding to study other serious diseases.

The culprit, according to El-Sayed, was the all-powerful "breast cancer lobby," which he also derided as the "pink ribbon lobby," a reference to the pink ribbons that commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month each October.

"The breast cancer lobby has done an incredible job raising my 'awareness' of Breast Cancer," El-Sayed wrote for the 2x2 Project, a journal sponsored by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, where El-Sayed worked as an epidemiologist. El-Sayed noted that the George Washington Bridge in New York City was adorned with pink lights and that his alma mater's football team, the Michigan Wolverines, were decked out "in pink cleats and arm bands."

"If I weren't an epidemiologist, it would have me believing that the women around me were in imminent danger," said El-Sayed, who asserted that the significant funding for breast cancer created problems "for equity in health research allocation" by prioritizing funding for diseases that affect people with "social power and privilege."


Abdul El-Sayed's Imam Scrubs Videos of Sermons Lauding Hamas Leader, Urging Congregants To Vote for El-Sayed
Left-wing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed's imam scrubbed videos of his sermons from YouTube, including one in which he gave an "absentee funeral prayer" hailing the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a "heroic martyr" and another in which he urged his congregants to vote for El-Sayed.

The Muslim Community Association (MCA) of Ann Arbor's YouTube channel featured dozens of recordings of Imam Abdelhamid Algizawi's sermons as recently as Tuesday but now shows only the message, "This channel doesn't have any content." A video of Algizawi's Aug. 2, 2024, sermon eulogizing Haniyeh, which was also accessible on Tuesday, is now "unavailable" and set to "private." So is a sermon Algizawi delivered in the wake of El-Sayed's primary victory, which the imam described as a "very big victory for Muslims" and "for the Islamic nation."

The removal comes in the wake of a series of Washington Free Beacon reports on Algizawi and the MCA of Ann Arbor, where El-Sayed typically prays, according to a source familiar with the situation. There, Algizawi spoke about El-Sayed personally, telling his congregants that the Muslim community had an "obligation" to vote for El-Sayed in November to "change the society." He also eulogized Haniyeh in a sermon delivered two days after the late terrorist leader died from an explosive device smuggled into his guesthouse in Tehran.

"He is a symbol of jihad, a symbol of struggle, a symbol of patriotism, and a symbol of devotion," Algizawi said of Haniyeh. "No one loves him except someone who loves God and his Messenger, and no one hates him except an enemy of Islam. He is a righteous man, one of the righteous. … He wanted to liberate Palestine, his land and his homeland. He sought nothing more than that. Yet despite this, the unjust and wicked killed him. … We ask Almighty God to grant him a place in Paradise. O God, place him among the martyrs and the righteous."

In other sermons, Algizawi railed against homosexuality, calling it a "fashion" and saying Muslims must reject it because it "cannot bring stability to life" and is "against human nature."

"Also, Muslims cannot compromise their religion," Algizawi said in 2022. "We cannot say, 'Hey, because I am a Muslim, I'm American, we are living in America, we have…' No, we cannot compromise our religion."


Charges dropped against pro-Palestine activists accused of intimidating jurors
Charges against six activists who were accused of “intimidating” jurors during a Palestine Action criminal trial have been abandoned.

Jennifer Moy, 55, Susan Hampton, 70, Claire Marris, 63, Richard Warren, 68, Adrian Cadbury, 38, and Moshe Dixon, 25, were all accused of obstructing or disrupting jurors during a protest outside Woolwich Crown Court in April.

It was alleged that they refused to comply with public order instructions issued by the Metropolitan Police, “trespassed” onto court land, and “displayed signage and chanting which intimidated and deterred the jurors of the ongoing trial”.

The charges stemmed from April 29, when supporters had gathered outside the south-east London court during the trial of Palestine Action activists who were accused over a raid on an Israeli defence contractor’s UK factory.

All six denied charges of obstructing or disrupting a person engaged in a lawful activity and of being a public assembly participant failing to comply with a condition at a hearing in June, and were due to appear again in court on Thursday.

But the Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the charges, in a decision which court records show was rubber-stamped at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

At a hearing last month, prosecutor Robert Simpson indicated that the CPS had taken a provisional view that there “isn’t a realistic prospect of conviction” in this case.

The court heard that no evidence had been put forward to support the proposition that the defendants were actually on private land.

The Metropolitan Police were given until the end of August to deliver more evidence to support the criminal charges.

The defendants were on unconditional bail during the criminal proceedings.


UC Irvine to Offer Course Taught by Palestinian Professor With Apparent PFLP Ties
The University of California, Irvine, a public research university, is set to offer a Fall 2026 course titled “Settler Colonialism & Palestinian Cinema” taught by visiting professor Ahlam Muhtaseb, a filmmaker and professor at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB).

Muhtaseb’s public record extends well beyond academia. Her academic CV and public activity document more than two decades of involvement with the radical anti-Israel group Al-Awda, appearances at events involving Samidoun, repeated public support for members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and apparent familial connections to a PFLP commander.

Muhtaseb grew up in Hebron, known in Arabic as al-Khalil. She came to the U.S. in 1998 on a Fulbright scholarship, originally intending to only stay one year. In a Mondoweiss interview, she said, “My father was a political prisoner. He was arrested many times,” and alleged that he had been tortured while in Israeli custody.

Those details closely match a Palestine Photo Project profile of an individual named Hatem Muhtaseb from al-Khalil. The profile, written by someone identifying as Hatem’s child, described him as “a commander in the Palestinian Popular Front in the Southern Region of Palestine,” said he had been imprisoned by Israel several times, and similarly claimed that he had been tortured.

Additional records indicate that the Hatem Muhtaseb profiled by the project appears to be Ahlam Muhtaseb’s father. She has been publicly identified by her full name, Ahlam Hatem Almuhtaseb. In Arabic naming conventions, a person’s father’s given name commonly appears after their own given name. That naming match, together with Muhtaseb’s statement that she grew up in Hebron and that her father was repeatedly imprisoned and allegedly tortured, is nearly identical with the Hatem Muhtaseb described by the Palestine Photo Project. Professor Muhtaseb did not respond to request for comment about her father’s identity.

Muhtaseb has also described her own upbringing during the First Intifada. In a December 2024 episode of the Foundation for Middle East Peace’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, she said she “came out of the first Intifada” and claimed she was shot when she was 16.
Occidental SJP Promotes Militant Imagery Amid Recognition Questions
Occidental College’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) has begun the academic year by promoting campus meetings with a graphic that appears adapted from historical photographs of Fatah guerrilla recruits studying Chinese communist ruler Mao Zedong’s writings.

The posts come as the chapter’s current recognition status remains unclear. Occidental’s public organization directory does not list Oxy SJP among recognized student groups, although the chapter continues advertising events under the university’s name. The chapter signed the accompanying post, “Until liberation.”

The armed image appears to be adapted from a well-known series of photographs of Palestinian guerrillas studying Maoist literature in Jordan around 1970. Photographs show Fatah guerrilla recruits reading Arabic translations of Mao Zedong’s Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung, commonly known as the “Little Red Book,” while undergoing commando training near the Israeli border in Jordan.

SJP Missing From Occidental’s Current Club List
Oxy SJP’s new activity comes with an unresolved institutional question. The current Occidental clubs and organizations roster, published alongside the Fall 2026 involvement fair, lists more than 100 organizations, but does not list the Oxy SJP chapter.

The college’s student-organization policy, last reviewed July 1, requires recognized organizations to register with Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement, provide updated officers each semester and maintain at least two student executive-board members and a faculty, staff or administrative adviser. It also states that it does not oversee or condone the activities of groups that are not recognized by the college.

Occidental was still dealing formally with Oxy SJP mid 2024, when the chapter and Oxy JVP submitted a joint divestment proposal targeting Boeing, Elbit Systems, Caterpillar and Lockheed Martin.

Oxy SJP’s publicly available pages do not identify its current officers or executive board.


North Carolina man arrested over antisemitic threats sent to Jewish leaders, Holocaust memorial
Federal authorities arrested a North Carolina man accused of mailing antisemitic threats to Jewish organizations and leaders, including a Holocaust memorial and officials with the American Jewish Committee and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Brian Charles was charged with mailing threatening communications, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. The FBI alleges that Charles mailed the letters from Charlotte, N.C., to recipients in Florida and Washington, D.C., in June and July.

The letters included statements such as, “I am going to destroy many Jews” and “Many shall die by my wrath,” according to the complaint.

JNS reported exclusively in July that leaders at the AJC and AIPAC had received graphic, handwritten letters containing threats, including at their homes. An AJC spokesman told JNS at the time that the organization was cooperating with law enforcement.

According to the FBI, investigators identified Charles through a latent fingerprint found on the letter sent to AJC Palm Beach. Several envelopes also bore his name and a Charlotte return address. The complaint says forensic examiners identified a fingerprint belonging to Charles on the AJC letter, while comparisons involving other letters were still pending.

The FBI said the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach received a letter addressed to two members of its board of directors. AJC Palm Beach received another, while an AIPAC executive received letters at a former home address in Palm Beach County and at AIPAC’s Washington office. Another letter was sent to two U.S. Secret Service protectees at an address in Jupiter, Fla., according to the complaint.

Charles previously pleaded guilty in 2018 to five counts of mailing threatening communications in a case brought in New Mexico. He was sentenced to 542 days in prison and three years of supervised release, which he violated multiple times, according to the complaint.

Vlad Khaykin, head of global advocacy at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told JNS that “the allegations in this case are chilling.”

“Multiple Jewish institutions and individuals, including a Holocaust memorial, were sent letters threatening death and collective punishment against Jews,” Khaykin said. “Such threats are intended not merely to offend, but to terrorize: to make Jewish Americans afraid to open their mail, enter their institutions or live openly as Jews.”

“Antisemitism is not simply a prejudice remembered from history,” he told JNS. “Sadly, it is an urgent American reality. This incident must be understood within the broader context, as it comes amid a sustained and historically elevated wave of antisemitism across the United States, and around the globe.”
Three-quarters of religion-based hate crimes in Hawaii last year targeted Jews, who are less than 1% of the state
Of four religion-based hate crimes in Hawaii in 2025, three targeted Jews, according to newly released official statistics from the state’s attorney general.

The fourth hate crime based on religion targeted a member of an unnamed faith.

The three hate crimes (75%) targeted three Jews, and one of the three offenders was arrested, the state said.

On June 10, the U.S. U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii said that Eric Lee Boltz, 51, of Montana, was charged with sending a “series of threatening and antisemitic voicemails with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s office” in December 2025. Green, a Democrat, is Jewish. JNS asked the state if one of the three 2025 hate crimes against Jews was the one targeting the governor.

Overall, there were 44 hate crimes in Hawaii last year, meaning that 6.8% of the hate crimes in the state targeted Jews. According to 2024 estimates, 0.69% of Hawaiians are Jewish, suggesting that Jews are disproportionately targeted by hate crimes in the state by an order of 10.

There were no anti-Muslim or anti-Arab hate crimes in the state last year, per the official data, which includes anti-Arab as a category under “race/ethnicity/ancestry” rather than “religion.” There was no anti-Israel category.

According to the state, hate crimes were down about 52%, from 92 in 2024 to 44 in 2025. In 2023, there were 71 hate crimes in Hawaii, eight less than in 2022 and 14 less than the 85 in 2021.

In 2024, all four of the religion-based hate crimes in Hawaii targeted Jews. There were four Jewish victims, and one of the four offenders was arrested. That year, there were 92 hate crimes, meaning Jewish Hawaiians were targets of 4.3% of all hate crimes in the state. Arabs were not targeted in hate crimes in the state in 2024.

Jews were targets of three (about 43%) of seven religion-based hate crimes in Hawaii in 2023, or about 4.2% of all 71 hate crimes in the state that year. None of the three offenders who targeted three Jewish victims that year were arrested.

One Muslim was targeted in a hate crime in Hawaii in 2023. No Arabs were.
As judge gives him 90 days for attacking Jews in Times Square, man flashes ‘victory sign’
Yehia Amin, of New York, smiled and flashed what court observers saw as a “victory sign,” as he was sentenced on Tuesday to 90 days in jail for stalking kippah-wearing Jews through Times Square and punching an Israeli tourist days after Oct. 7, 2023.

Amin pleaded guilty in March to third-degree assault as a hate crime under a plea agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He originally faced seven charges stemming from an attack on Oct. 18, 2023.

Glenn Richter, founder of the New York Jewish Community Judicial Watch Group, told JNS that Amin arrived at court late in the day with his mother after failing to appear in the morning.

“Mr. Amin, who should have been there in the morning, saunters in in the afternoon, along with his mommy,” Richter told JNS. Court staff had to locate an Arabic interpreter, which pushed the case to the end of the day, he said.

During the sentencing, Althea Drysdale, a judge in the New York City Criminal Courts, saw Amin smiling and asked him about it.

“I see you smiling,” the judge told Amin, as Richter recalled. “This is a serious matter. Why are you smiling?”

Amin said, via the interpreter, that he was smiling because he wanted to look good for the photographs, Richter told JNS.

Amin’s demeanor struck Richter as especially jarring given that he was being sentenced to jail. “What kind of guy grins at this very, very, very tough judge Althea Drysdale as she’s sentencing him to prison time?” Richter told JNS.

Richter said that he did not interpret Amin’s hand gesture as a peace sign. “To me, it’s a V for victory,” he said. “It’s possible that he thought, listen, there were originally seven charges that were going to be thrown against him, and it was plea-bargained down to one charge of third-degree assault as a hate crime.”

“Maybe to him this was a victory,” Richter told JNS.


Israel, Morocco agree to upgrade diplomatic ties, expand flights at US-backed summit
Israel, Morocco and the US held a trilateral diplomatic summit in New York on Wednesday, agreeing to advance the Abraham Accords.

The meeting of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, and US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz comes a day after the sixth anniversary of the Abraham Accords.

The three countries reaffirmed their commitment to steps including upgrading diplomatic relations between Israel and Morocco, raising the status of their respective diplomatic missions to embassies and appointing ambassadors.

The Israeli government's official Arabic-language X/Twitter account also published details of the agreements reached at the summit.

Israel, Morocco agree to deepen economic ties
Israel and Morocco also agreed to conclude agreements on investment protection and the prevention of double taxation by the end of 2026.

The agreements are intended to facilitate reciprocal investment and strengthen economic and business ties between the two countries.

It was also agreed to expand flights between Israel and Morocco to include flights operated by Moroccan airlines, implementing this expansion by the end of 2026.

The sides further agreed that Israel and Morocco would hold reciprocal high-level visits in the coming months.


U.S. Ambassador: America Has Never Defended Israel, Only Its Own Interests
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee makes Israel's case as he notes the growth of Israel's Christian population from 34,000 in 1948 to nearly 200,000 today; Arab doctors heading departments at Hadassah Medical Center and supervising Jewish staff; and the fact that his own wife was treated by an Arab doctor and a Jewish doctor who have worked together for 20 years. "So if that's apartheid, they're not good at it," he said.

Asked what the U.S. would be prepared to do to defend Israel, Huckabee responded, "America has never defended Israel. Not one time since 1948 has America ever put boots on the ground for Israel. When we are partnering against Iran, we're not defending Israel, we're defending the United States. Israel is maybe the appetizer, but we're the entree." For nearly 50 years, Tehran has been saying "death to America," and Washington should take that threat seriously. Partnering with Israel serves American interests.

Huckabee said President Trump had made the calculation of what was in America's best interest twice during his tenure, first by sending B-2 bombers against Iran and then during the 2026 war with Iran. "He didn't do that because Israel was over here begging, saying, 'Please help us, we can't handle it.' Israel never begged anything. Israel never pushed President Trump into engaging. He did it from his own volition. He did it because he sees Iran as a threat to America and to Americans."


2,000-year-old Jewish ritual bath uncovered intact in southern Israel
A 2,000-year-old Jewish ritual bath unearthed in southern Israel has been extracted from the ground whole, offering evidence that a hitherto unknown Second Temple community existed at the site, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Thursday.

The 25-ton bath, or mikveh, was discovered in July in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, located about 25 miles north of Beersheva, ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood, the state-run archaeological body said.

A crane was used to extract it intact, and the mikveh will later be returned to the city for public display.

“The Jewish settlement we discovered here is the first and the only known one in this area,” said Elena Kogan-Zahavi, who led the excavations at the site. “In the Judean Lowlands, many Jewish settlements from the Roman period are known, but in the seam between the Judean Lowlands and the northern Negev no Jewish settlement was known until now.”

The excavation also uncovered stone measuring vessels which were widely used by Jews during the Second Temple period.

Their findings indicate the settlement was apparently abandoned during the Bar Kokhba Revolt against the Romans in the second century C.E. About 500 years later, during the Byzantine period, the area was revived, but with an entirely different population composition.

Transporting the immense ancient cargo to the IAA storehouse became an engineering operation in itself, with the road closed to traffic, and escort vehicles driving in front of and behind the truck.

“Once you lift up a structure like this, there’s no going back,” said Eyal Kaho, senior conservator at the IAA, who led the operation.

“The ritual bath uncovered in Kiryat Gat adds an important dimension to our understanding of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple period,” said Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu.

“Its future incorporation into the neighborhood’s public space will enable residents and visitors to encounter tangible evidence of Jewish life from 2,000 years ago as part of their daily lives,” he added.





 




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