Friday, October 23, 2026
Barack Obama’s Belfast speech was a shameful, distorted rewrite of Israel's history
Never mind 3,000 years of Jewish history, two Temples in Jerusalem, or centuries of Jewish longing for Zion. In Obama’s telling, the Jews somehow became interlopers in their own land.The Fraud Squad By Abe Greenwald
MORE DISTURBING still was Obama’s treatment of Palestinian violence.
Speaking about Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, Obama declared that “you could not have designed something that was less likely to produce meaningful change.”
Think about that.
When terrorists murder approximately 1,200 people and kidnap 251, the principal issue is not whether their actions will produce meaningful political change. It is that they committed an act of unimaginable barbarity.
By discussing the massacre in terms of its political effectiveness, Obama risks reducing a moral atrocity to a tactical mistake. Would the slaughter have been any less reprehensible had Hamas managed to advance its political objectives?
Indeed, no political claim, no matter how loudly asserted, confers a license to murder families in their homes or drag hostages into Gaza.
And terrorism did not begin with Israel’s founding, let alone the 1967 war. In 1929, Arab rioters murdered 67 Jews in Hebron, destroying an ancient Jewish community nearly two decades before independence.
WHAT OBAMA did in Belfast was more than distort Israel’s history. He turned the descendants of ancient Israel into trespassers in their own homeland, while treating the massacre of Jews as a failed political strategy.
Obama is, of course, entitled to his own opinions. But he is not entitled to his own version of history.
The Jewish people lived in the Land of Israel long before Barack Obama entered the world stage. And they will still be there long after his shameful revisionism has been forgotten.
Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here.Jonathan Tobin: Amanpour leaves ‘CNN,’ but a legacy of anti-Israel media bias remains
There’s a whole lot more to the curious case of Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a.k.a. Ilhan Abdullahi Omar, but it’s best to let the feds sort all that out. The point is, she’s a phony, and she’s made a career of pointing at Israel, AIPAC, the Jews, and the United States to draw attention away from her own fishy shenanigans.
On to Michigan. Abdul El-Sayed describes himself as a doctor and physician, yet he’s never held a license to practice medicine. Lately, he’s been playing up his all-American roots, but he’s also claimed to be an Egyptian citizen. El-Sayed portrays himself as a humble Michigander in a Senate race against fat cat Mike Rogers, who owns a yacht in Florida. But El-Sayed is also rich. He and his wife own properties around the world, including a place in Dubai. When asked about his family’s documented links to the Muslim Brotherhood, he simply lies. So, once again, a con artist.
And, once again, an Israel-hater and terrorist sympathizer. Like Omar, he attacks Israel and AIPAC to cast himself as a saint who wants to ensure that American resources go to Americans in need.
All the flimflam artists are on the same page these days, and it doesn’t matter if they’re associated with the “left” or “right.” Rich-kid socialists think that screaming “intifada” loud enough can drown out those calling them hypocrites. Democrats and liberal journalists regularly stage run-ins with Jews in Judea and Samaria to boost their resistance credibility. Hasan Piker—the Maoist with the $200,000 Porsche—says Israel is worse than Hamas. Tucker Carlson—who claims to have physically wrestled with demons in his bed—peddles Putin propaganda, nicotine pouches, and Jew-hatred. When Nick Fuentes inadvertently streamed himself watching gay porn, he blamed it on Zionist saboteurs.
At least these charlatans and imposters are getting something out of the anti-Semitism racket. Their earnest supporters and fans are just dupes.
Amanpour may like to claim that she was “fiercely independent” and devoted to the facts, though that has never been true of her work. And there is no better illustration than the way she has used her influential perch to skew coverage against the State of Israel, and to depict it and its people as uniquely evil and almost always in the wrong.
Her bosses at CNN and elsewhere have not only tolerated her bias but encouraged it. Indeed, if she’s a role model for the rising generation of the press, it’s because she has practiced a form of journalism and reporting the news from her own biased perspective. From the time she first became a star during the First Gulf War to the present, Amanpour turned the skewing of stories into an art form. She always managed to make whatever she reported conform to her pre-existing ideas about the good guys to be extolled and the bad guys to be vilified.
Coverage of Israel and its ongoing battle for survival against Arab and Muslim opponents who want to destroy it demonstrated this regularly.
The list of outrageous examples of her anti-Israel bias is too long to relate here. Those who want to take a deep dive into the extensive catalogue of her journalistic malpractice can visit the CAMERA media monitoring organization’s website page devoted to her for a taste of the consistent way in which she misrepresented the truth when it came to anything about the Jewish state.
Some of the highlights include incidents such as when she said on air on Oct. 25, 2025 that the Israeli hostages held by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, who were tortured, raped and starved by the terrorists, “were probably being treated better than the average Gazan.” Never mind that some of the hostages were actually being abused while held captive by “average Gazans.” While she was later forced to retract that lie, it was in line with the way she and others in corporate media became stenographers for Hamas, accepting every false claim the terrorist organization made, while treating anything coming from Israel with the deepest skepticism.
In 2024, she compared Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, currently serving a life sentence for five murders, to Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years until he was freed and eventually became that country’s first black president.
Her toying with the truth didn’t begin on Oct. 7.
Six months earlier, during Passover, she described a terror attack in Judea and Samaria of a Jewish family in which the wife and two daughters of Rabbi Leo Dee—Lucy Dee, and daughters Maia and Rina—who were ambushed and shot and killed while driving in their car as being a “shootout.” She apologized for this, but the instances in which she “misspoke” (most of which never generated retractions) almost always demonstrated outrageous bias against Jews.
Years before that, she provoked justified anger from the pro-Israel community for her 2007 CNN documentary series “God’s Jewish Warriors.” It depicted all Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria, as well as their supporters, as mad fanatics. The series never acknowledges the Islamist extremism that defines mainstream Palestinian Arab opinion and that has impelled them to reject every attempt at compromise for a century.
Amanpour never hesitated to demonize Israelis. She also played fast and loose with Jewish history. In 2020, she compared President Donald Trump to German Nazis who perpetrated the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938, a year before the start of World War II. Under pressure, she again apologized, though later retracted the apology.
In this, Amanpour was a forerunner for what would eventually become standard practice at liberal outlets like CNN or The New York Times. It’s an era in which a new generation of journalists considers it to be their obligation to promote their conception of woke truth, regardless of the facts, and dismiss efforts at objectivity and reporting both sides of a story as the “neutrality” she disdains.
And that’s why she fears any effort to return CNN or any other outlet to upholding honest journalism by Weiss and Ellison.
Douglas Murray: France is a warning – our civilisation is not immortal
Some people think this is pure incompetence. Others believe it is entirely planned. Both have their arguments. In recent days more people have finally realised how completely compromised our institutions of state are. I would normally say that Jonathan Powell – the Prime Minister’s national security adviser – is, like anyone else, entitled to a private life. But Powell is married to one of the most disgusting women in Britain: an activist called Sarah Helm. I had the misfortune of meeting her 20 or more years ago and to say she is a fanatic is to understate things. In recent days more people have discovered just how vicious she is: immediately after the 7 October massacre, it emerged, she devoted her time to contextualising the killing and later questioned whether the mass rape Hamas carried out had actually happened.Call me Back Podcast: Paris is Burning, but Europe Is In Denial - with Michael Moynihan and Simone Rodan-Benzaquen
Why do we think that we as a country can survive when all the following things happen all the time: we welcome in terrorists, have the people in charge of our security literally sleeping with the enemy and then prosecute anyone British like Danny Tommo who say that they have had enough of all this? While Yaseen walks around the Windsor Co-op, Tommo remains in custody for the ‘crime’ of slashing an inflatable dinghy belonging to an illegal smuggling gang transporting people to break the law by entering Britain.
The French riots have many causes. But among those burning France down are people the French allowed to come into their country. It isn’t that the French somehow failed to give them enough nice things or were racist. They simply invited in people who hated them.
What makes the situation in Britain so different that it hasn’t happened here? Only that the match has not yet been struck.
Of all the things that have been hardest to communicate in my life, this seems the most impossible: that our civilisation is not, by some law of nature, immortal. It has no right or likelihood to continue existing if it insists on committing harakiri. The people who are welcomed onto our airwaves, work in parts of our government and lead some of our political parties include those who would burn down this country in a heart-beat. They would look us in the eyes and kill us. And we know that because they have done it elsewhere.
They don’t do it at the moment because the time is not right. But when they feel it is, they will act. At which point I suppose people will have to decide whether they wish to be spectators at their own funeral pyre or not.
French unrest reveals a society fraying at the edges, leading its citizens toward both political extremes. France’s inability to address its economy, immigration issues, and rising antisemitism aren’t going away anytime soon—and similar issues could be seen throughout Europe soon.
Dan Senor speaks with Simone Rodan-Benzaquen, joining from Paris, and journalist Michael Moynihan, about the forces converging on France, the difficult choices facing French Jews, and the rise of political movements on both the left and right. Beneath the immediate crisis lies a bigger question: can Europe sustain the social and economic model it built after World War II, or is it reaching a breaking point?
𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲:
Who’s really driving France’s unrest?
Why antisemitism is a warning sign for Europe
The European social contract is under pressure
Do French Jews still have a future in France?
Macron’s failure and Europe’s crisis of leadership
From The MEMRI TV Archives: Palestinian Islamic Scholars Preach: Muslim Armies Will Crush Paris With Jihad, Remove Its Corrupt Civilization, And Establish Islamic Caliphate; Infidels May Convert, Pay Jizya Poll Tax, Or Die; French Citizens Are Already Converting To Islam Hourly https://t.co/wTQiGuKx1w
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026
ACLU of Indiana backs anti-Israel director amid resignations, allegations of Jew-hatred
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is defending its incoming executive director, Nikkita Oliver, an activist who blamed Israel for Oct. 7. It did so after four of its five principal lawyers reportedly resigned.‘It Blossoms in the Dark’: Mehdi Hasan Presides Over Anti-AIPAC Event Where Conspiracy Theorists Spun Tales of a Jewish Cabal Plotting World Domination
The attorneys alleged that Oliver questioned if Jewish lawyers could be fair toward Palestinian clients.
Oliver, who is originally from Indiana, spent years as an activist in Seattle with the Black Lives Matter movement and has called for anti-Israel boycotts and divestment.
On Oct. 18, 2023, soon after the Oct. 7 attacks, Oliver wrote that “if we want the violence to stop, we must stop the root cause. This means ending the occupation of Palestine by Zionist Israel, supporting Palestinian liberation and ending the apartheid state.”
In the same social media post, Oliver called for violent resistance and said that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “began to see the limits of non-violent protest in the face of an immoral and violent oppressor, who does not see and does not want to see those they brutalize, oppress and occupy as human.”
In November 2023, Oliver wrote that “being pro-Palestinian liberation is not a phase or a fad. It’s not the cute progressive thing to do.”
“It is a commitment to the liberation of all oppressed peoples and stopping the genocide of Palestinians being funded by our U.S. tax dollars that matters right now,” Oliver wrote.
Oliver has accused the Jewish state of “perpetuating the same classist, racist, sexist, ableist system that brutalizes black, indigenous, brown peoples and workers in the United States and globally.”
ACLU of Indiana’s legal director Ken Falk, deputy legal director Gavin Rose and attorneys Stevie Pactor and Josh Bleisch reportedly plan to leave the organization, according to an Oct. 22 Indianapolis Star report, with at least two other employees also submitting resignations.
Mehdi Hasan, the fired MSNBC host who now runs the virulently anti-Israel news startup Zeteo, presided Tuesday over a gathering focused on the malign influence of AIPAC—the pro-Israel American lobbying organization—which is being portrayed by a growing chorus of far-left conspiracy theorists as a shadowy Jewish Death Star hell-bent on world domination.
The centerpiece of the evening, held at Chicago’s historic Pickwick Theater, was the screening of Night Flower, a conspiracy theory-packed, Zeteo-produced documentary about AIPAC’s "fight for influence." Following the screening, Hasan led discussions with speakers who conjured up images that mirrored centuries of antisemitic propaganda about Jewish conspiracies. AIPAC was described as a corrupt dark money behemoth operating on orders from the Israeli government to clandestinely secure Jewish dominion over American foreign policy.
"AIPAC is performing antisemitic tropes and then getting mad when you criticize them," Hasan told the crowd during a live discussion after the film ended, quoting a line from Daniel Biss, the former Evanston, Ill., mayor who is currently running for Congress. "I think that was the best line in the film. I think you all did, too, because I know you burst into applause there."
Elsewhere in the discussion, Hasan invoked "moderator privilege," telling his audience that "clearly we need to have a more honest discussion about what Israel is doing in our politics, what they're doing with lobby groups."
America "wouldn't have gone to war with Iran were if not for Israel's role," he said.
Hasan added that while Israel lobbied multiple American administrations to attack Iran, "the only one dumb enough to say yes was Donald Trump."
The crowd of a few hundred at the Pickwick Theater, a historic landmark that boasts glittering marquees frontside and ornate high-domed ceilings within, had excitedly purchased popcorn and other sundries before settling into the theater’s deep red leather seats for the debut screening of Night Flower, which is only currently accessible behind a paywall on Zeteo’s site. Hijabs, keffiyahs, and even some COVID-era face masks dotted the theater hall, and prior to the show, one starstruck young girl argued with her friend about whether she should approach Hasan, who stood near the screen greeting guests. Another attendee approached a Washington Free Beacon reporter minutes before the film started to lobby him on opposing "Illinois’s investment in Israeli bonds," which have become a prime target for supporters of the antisemitic campaign to economically isolate Israel.
The film itself followed former Wall Street Journal reporter Dion Nissenbaum, who previously worked in Gaza, as he attempted to prove that AIPAC is in fact working at Israel’s behest in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, a federal law that requires lobbyists for foreign nations to disclose their work.
AIPAC is run by pro-Israel Americans, many of them Jewish, but its detractors have long smeared the group and its backers with accusations of dual loyalties to Israel and clear-cut violations of federal law. Smears about dual loyalties among Jews are nothing new—the idea of a global Jewish cabal plotting global domination is one of the oldest conspiracy theories in modern existence.
Brad Lander is running for Congress in New York. With Election Day less than two weeks away, he’s in the West Bank picking olives and filming campaign content. He says the trip is about exposing the “reality of the occupation.” But the timing makes the political calculation hard to miss. Instead of spending the final stretch before an election talking to New Yorkers about New York, he’s attaching himself to one of the most viral international stories of the moment. No new policy. No solution. No meaningful change for Israelis or Palestinians. Just a foreign conflict @bradlander turned into congressional clickbait.
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 23, 2026
@HeidiBachram Is she looking for the Death Star thermal exhaust port? https://t.co/WbGCnF9AjV
— Adam Ma'anit (@adammaanit) October 23, 2026
New El-Sayed ad features Tucker Carlson, far-right podcaster’s attack on Mike Rogers
A new ad by Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign features far-right influencer Tucker Carlson, who has increasingly engaged in antisemitic rhetoric and hosted a series of extremist guests on his podcast.
The ad aims to attract GOP voters by highlighting what El-Sayed said are areas of agreement between him and the MAGA base. It features clips from a series of right-wing figures to hammer the point home.
“I wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint,” Carlson states in one clip included in the ad — a criticism Carlson said on the show was driven largely by Rogers’ support for Israel.
The ad also includes a clip of podcast host Saagar Enjeti, who has also emerged as an anti-Israel figure, on Carlson’s podcast, calling El-Sayed, “America first.”
I teamed up with Mandy Patinkin to support Abdul El-Sayed in his race to the senate. Let's get the Muslim Brotherhood back where it belongs -- America! https://t.co/uFEPYd3e5J
— Lyle Culpepper (@ShutupLyle) October 23, 2026
Why wasn’t Jonathan Powell vetted before starting his security role?
UK vetting guidance is clear that ‘national security concerns’ can be triggered by ‘the individual or their family or associates having links with (or giving support to) terrorism’ (our italics.) It seems likely, therefore, that Helm’s activity would have been picked up in the vetting process.Green council leader claims ‘weaponisation of antisemitism’ amid Zionism row
We don’t know what subsequently happened. Was it decided that Helm’s activity did not constitute links with, or support for, terrorism? Or was it decided, as with Mandelson, to overlook any material flagged in the vetting process, and if so, who made that decision? Would it have been too embarrassing to un-appoint Powell ‘just’ because of his wife’s posts? Does he actually have full, unqualified, top-level clearance?
Nobody will say. A parliamentary answer in March stated merely that Powell’s vetting ‘was conducted to the usual standard set for Developed Vetting’ – in other words, a response about the process, not the outcome. It added that the government ‘does not comment on individual vetting cases’. Another question on whether Powell passed vetting without qualification was stonewalled.
Finally, McSweeney’s statements also seem to rule out that Powell already had clearance to the necessary standard from his previous job with Starmer as special envoy for the Chagos Islands between August and November 2024. Parliamentary answers are consistent with this. Unlike the government’s answer from March, which does at least state that Powell was put through the DV process for the National Security Adviser job, a parliamentary question on whether he was vetted for his Chagos role was referred to another response which does not answer the question.
A new question has now been tabled to try to get to the bottom of the mystery. It awaits an answer.
A Green Party council leader has claimed the “weaponisation of antisemitism” harms Jewish people, just weeks after a synagogue in his borough accused his party of making Jews feel unsafe.London Bridge charity gave £1.17m to group linked to charity facing Hamas investigation
Mark Blake, leader of Haringey Council, made the remarks in a public letter to three Labour MPs following the Green Party’s controversial decision to declare “Zionism is Racism” at its annual conference.
His response to Catherine West, Bambos Charalambous and David Lammy comes after Highgate United Synagogue rejected his earlier attempt at reassurances about Jewish community safety and demanded that he distance himself from the motion.
In the letter, shared on social media, Blake insisted that criticism of Zionism must not be confused with hatred of Jewish people.
“As politicians, we have a duty to hold anti-Zionism and opposition to antisemitism as two separate truths,” he wrote.
Addressing the MPs directly, he added: “What the motion says, and you have failed to recognise, is that criticism of Zionism is not the same as antisemitism.”
Blake also argued that the “weaponisation of antisemitism” does a disservice to Jewish people, particularly those who support Palestinians.
He went on to defend Palestinians’ right to criticise Zionism, arguing that they should not be expected to abandon opposition to an ideology they believe has been used to justify their displacement.
A charity responsible for maintaining five of London’s best-known bridges awarded more than £1.1 million to a Muslim organisation whose treasurer also runs a charity being investigated over alleged links to Hamas.NYC restaurants are standing up to anti-Israel bullies
City Bridge Foundation (CBF), which maintains Tower Bridge and London Bridge, gave £1.17 million to the Muslim Charities Forum (MCF) in 2023.
The funding has come under scrutiny after it emerged that MCF’s treasurer, Shuaib Yusaf, is also the chief executive of Al-Khair Foundation, which is being investigated by the Charity Commission over alleged links to the terrorist group.
According to the Daily Mail, the investigation follows the arrest of Mohammad Yousef Hasna, who worked for a charity partnering with Al-Khair to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Hasna was arrested in Britain on 31 July following an FBI investigation into allegations that millions of pounds intended for humanitarian relief were diverted to Hamas.
US prosecutors have charged him with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, conspiring to finance terrorism and financing terrorism.
Investigators allege he communicated with a senior Hamas leader about diverting food parcels and money to the group.
Al-Khair Foundation has denied any involvement in funding terrorism and says it is cooperating fully with the Charity Commission’s investigation, launched on 5 August.
The Muslim Charities Forum also insisted that none of the money it received from City Bridge Foundation was passed to Al-Khair or any other member organisation.
It said the grants were used to support its own programmes in Britain, including training and assistance for grassroots charities working with disadvantaged communities in London.
New York City likes to take pride in how “inclusive” it is, particularly for immigrants, but when it comes to identifiable Israelis, too many of its inhabitants are ready to make an exception.
Every Israeli restaurant owner can tell you that much.
Several times a week for the last few months, a guy has walked by Gazala Halabi’s eatery on the Upper West Side and spit on the window.
One day, Gazala chased him down and asked him why.
“You know why,” he replied. “It’s because you’re Israeli.”
No matter that Gazala is Druze, not Jewish, and makes dishes that have been in her family for generations.
The “I” word was all he needed to know.
Almost every Israeli restaurant in the city has experienced harassment, and often they’re lucky if it’s just spitting.
They’ve endured broken windows, graffiti and even (failed) employee-led boycotts.
Imagine Chinese or even Iranian restaurants treated this way — even though China and Iran, unlike Israel, are truly despotic.
The constant menacing both off and online (I spoke to several owners who all say they’ve been “review bombed” on Google and Yelp) has given way to a new kind of Israeli restaurant: one that doesn’t mention its origin at all.
Billed sometimes as Mediterranean or Middle Eastern, these places offer “chopped salads” instead of evil Israeli ones, or “traditional breakfasts” instead of the oppressive spreads of cheeses Israelis typically start their morning with.
Most of these restaurants are packed with happy diners (Israeli food — no matter what you call it — is great) who enjoy their non-denominational falafel without worrying about upsetting their Instagram followers.
Going incognito is not an easy decision. But the chefs prefer to focus on their dishes rather than have to explain to yet another arrogant graduate of TikTok University that they have every right to prepare food from their country of origin.
Mindless activists have long tried to argue that Israeli food, much like the Jewish state itself, has no right to exist.
Not sure why you’re going through my tweets from 2023, but anyways… Sabich was invented by Iraqi Jews (like my family) in Israel. The only one trying to steal our history is you lot.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 23, 2026
Political motives don’t excuse Jew-hatred, scholars say in Columbia janitors’ appeal
Three legal scholars urged a federal appeals court on Oct. 20 to revive civil rights claims made by two Columbia University janitors, who say protesters assaulted them and hurled anti-Jewish slurs during their takeover of Hamilton Hall in April 2024.Pittsburgh district defends ethnic-studies course, doesn’t address materials comparing Gaza to Warsaw Ghetto
The friend-of-the-court brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, supports janitors Mariano Torres and Lester Wilson, whose claims the court dismissed initially, because it said that they couldn’t prove that they were victims of discrimination and that the protesters had political motives.
“The suggestion that people can’t be guilty of discrimination if they have political motives is profoundly wrong and, if accepted by the Second Circuit, would imperil civil rights protections for all groups,” Matthew Segal, an affiliated practitioner at Yale Law School’s Brodie Center for Jewish and Israeli Law, told JNS.
“People engaged in discrimination often have political motives, too,” he told JNS. “The KKK surely did.”
Segal joined University of California, Los Angeles law professor Jon D. Michaels and George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein in submitting the brief.
The janitors alleged that protesters used anti-Jewish slurs during their takeover of the building. Torres was called a “Jew-lover,” while Wilson was told that “you work for the Jews,” according to allegations cited in the brief.
Colleen McMahon, a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed their federal claims on June 1. The amicus brief argues that she improperly resolved disputed questions about the protesters’ motives before the workers could obtain evidence through discovery.
They also challenge the court’s reliance on disagreement among Jews over whether anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic.
Pittsburgh Public Schools, which has about 18,000 students in about 55 schools, told JNS that it stands by its ethnic studies curriculum but didn’t comment on an assigned reading comparing Gaza and Judea and Samaria to the Warsaw Ghetto.Jewish groups raise alarm over anti-Israel sessions at American Studies Association conference
A syllabus for a college-credit course at Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, a public school in the district, assigns a 20-year-old academic article that suggests that Gazans are trapped in the Strip like Jews were in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust, JNS reported on Wednesday.
The North American Values Institute, which obtained materials from the district in a records request, told JNS that it was concerned about that article and about a unit titled “whiteness, privilege and antisemitism” and an assignment that says that “antisemitism, like other forms of racial oppression, has been used to divide marginalized communities and maintain systems of power.”
The public school district told JNS in a 550-word statement that it “strongly disputes the inaccurate and misleading characterizations of its ethnic-studies curriculum presented in a recent report by the North American Values Institute.”
“The report draws sweeping conclusions from materials that do not represent the full district curriculum and mischaracterizes the purpose, content and instructional approach of the course,” the district said.
Jewish groups are raising concerns about the American Studies Association’s annual meeting, which includes sessions titled “Zionism Is Racism: Introducing the Critical Zionism Studies Syllabus” and “Dezionizing the U.S. University,” as well as the inclusion of a speaker with a history of controversial remarks about terrorism.Georgetown Law student association denounces Ted Cruz staffer over Muslim Brotherhood lecture
The Anti-Defamation League and the Academic Engagement Network said the programming at the three-day conference, which started Thursday in Chicago, presents a one-sided ideological perspective on Zionism and risks making Jewish and Zionist scholars feel unwelcome. The groups also criticized the inclusion of Palestinian American scientist and author Mazin Qumsiyeh, who in a 2016 article praised Bahaa Alyan, the terrorist that participated in a 2015 Jerusalem bus attack that killed three people, listing him among “martyrs of freedom” and describing such figures as “heroes.”
The ADL and AEN argued that the conference programming threatens academic freedom and inclusion, warning that Jewish and Zionist scholars could face marginalization in their own professional communities.
“Academic freedom protects the right to criticize nations, governments, political movements, and ideologies,” the groups said in a joint statement to Jewish Insider. “But it also requires an intellectual culture in which contested claims are subject to scrutiny, disagreement is welcomed, and scholars are not marginalized or maligned because of their identities or beliefs.”
“Professional academic associations shape disciplinary norms, mentor early career scholars, and facilitate professional relationships and collaborations. When an association treats particular political claims and arguments as settled truths and those who disagree as morally suspect, it risks chilling open inquiry and fostering professional ostracism and exclusion,” they continued.
The groups called on ASA leadership “to uphold its stated commitment to critical thinking and public dialogue by reviewing its conference programming and speaker selection practices, creating genuine opportunities for intellectual exchange across differing perspectives, and unequivocally affirming that Jewish and Zionist scholars belong within the association.”
ASA, a scholarly organization with almost 5,000 members, is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. history and culture and publishes the journal American Quarterly in addition to hosting an annual conference that draws thousands of academics, researchers and educators.
Georgetown University law school’s Student Bar Association passed a resolution this week condemning a Jewish attorney on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) team and accusing her of Islamophobia after she appeared on campus to discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and her work representing victims of terrorism.
Erielle Azerrad has served as Cruz’s deputy chief counsel since December and has been heavily involved in the Texas senator’s recent efforts to target the Brotherhood. Prior to joining Cruz’s office, Azerrad — who attended Georgetown Law — co-founded the Center for the Middle East and International Law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where she remains a senior fellow. She also served at the National Jewish Advocacy Center.
Azerrad was hosted by Georgetown Law’s Conservative and Libertarian Student Association (CALSA) on Tuesday for an event titled, “The Muslim Brotherhood’s Network in America and Legal Strategies for Confronting It.”
During the hour-long summit, Azerrad delivered a lecture detailing the Muslim Brotherhood’s origins and how the group had expanded its operations in the U.S., according to a transcript of the event reviewed by Jewish Insider. Azerrad also noted the Muslim Students Association’s ties to the Brotherhood, though she disputed that such ties meant all Muslim students, or even all MSA members, were connected to the terrorist group.
“The Muslim Association of America was founded by Brotherhood folks who were upset with the direction of the Muslim Student Association in the United States and thought it had veered too far from Brotherhood principles,” Azerrad said at the event. “Until I see a single MSA chapter come forward and say: ‘We disavow the Muslim Brotherhood,’ I am inclined to believe they are still tied to their foundings. That’s my opinion.”
“I can only presume to answer that the organization itself is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood. I can’t speak to individuals that attend meetings,” she continued. “I do know for a fact that the Muslim Brotherhood embeds itself in the education centers of countries. That’s what it does. It recruits young people and it hopes to shape their minds, and then receives them after they graduate from college. So, I won’t presume to know every single individual who attends an MSA event, what their political leanings are.”
After the resolution condemning Azerrad was passed on Wednesday night, the SBA posted a photo of the document on Instagram. The caption alongside the photo describes it as a “Resolution In Solidarity With The Muslim Law Student Association of Georgetown Law.”
According to the post, the resolution, which does not name Azerrad outright, alleges that, “a speaker was brought to campus who, while here, promoted Islamophobic beliefs and conspiracy theories.” It also claims, without pointing to examples, that the speaker “has a well-documented record of false, bigoted, and harmful anti-Muslim rhetoric” and that “hosting such a speaker endangers Muslim students, undermines their belonging, and erodes their trust in the University.”
After years of monitoring Philadelphia public schools teacher Hannah Gann, CAMERA is not surprised by the recent news that the radical activist lied about her racial identity in order to deceive her fellow antizionists. https://t.co/2SWGL6ZPNr
— CAMERA (@CAMERA4Truth) October 23, 2026
The NEU antisemitism training loop https://t.co/B2AUsIK6tN
— Alex Hearn (@hearnimator) October 23, 2026
Update: antisemite Gabby El Baba of Houston TX, is no longer employed with Curtis and Associates Counseling.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 24, 2026
BBC investigates journalist over support for Palestine Action backer Sally Rooney
The BBC is investigating one of its journalists after she signed an open letter supporting an author who pledged to donate her book royalties to the banned group Palestine Action.
Megha Mohan, the broadcaster’s gender and identity correspondent, added her name to a public appeal after defending Irish novelist Sally Rooney after her books were withdrawn from sale in Britain.
According to The Telegraph, the BBC is examining whether Mohan’s decision to sign the letter breached its rules on impartiality.
The controversy follows Rooney’s pledge to use money from her book sales to support Palestine Action, which was banned under UK terrorism laws in 2025.
The group has targeted businesses linked to Israel and British defence sites, with its supporters accusing the UK of helping Israel’s military operations.
The open letter, published in the New Statesman, calls for Rooney’s books to return to British shops and criticises the legislation behind her withdrawal.
It states: “Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist. Her books must be available to the public.”
It adds: “We categorically reject censorship – whether direct or indirect – and urge the Government to change course, amending the legislation which has led us to this point of repressive absurdity.”
Other signatories include former BBC presenter Gary Lineker, actors Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar -Jones, and Irish rap group Kneecap.
Two other figures with BBC links also signed the appeal: documentary-maker Mobbed Azhar and Radio 4 presenter Shahidha Bari.
A BBC spokesman said: “This BBC has strict guidelines on impartiality and where we find breaches, we take the appropriate action.”
Brooklyn Imam Muhammad Albar Shortly After Death of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh: He Was a Martyr for a True Cause; Will We Fulfill Our Duty by Sacrificing for Allah and Remaining Loyal to the Blood of the Fallen Heroes? A Nation Capable of Producing Mohamed Morsi and Haniyeh Can Produce Thousands More Like Them
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026
Australian Islamic Scholar Mohamad Doar in Sydney Friday Sermon: In Islam, Men Are in Charge of Women and a Wife Must Obey Her Husband; Satan Tries to Corrupt Muslim Women by Making Them Believe This Is Oppressive or Backward https://t.co/ySFODKBWOV
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) October 23, 2026
Utah synagogue targeted in foiled bombing calls for all congregations to harden security
The president of Congregation Brith Sholem, a Reform synagogue in Ogden, Utah, which was the target of a foiled bombing plot, told JNS that she urges all synagogues that don’t have security “to act immediately to correct that deficiency.”
“Jews can no longer hope for the best and ignore the rampant antisemitism in the world today,” Janice Ward, president of the city’s only synagogue, told JNS.
Ogden is located about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.
Secure Community Network, the North American Jewish community’s official safety organization, notified police after discovering threatening posts made by Skyler Rose, according to Ward, who said that police responded to the news “rapidly.”
Rose, 22, who prosecutors said used Google Maps to search for the closest synagogue, was indicted on Wednesday. Officers also found pipe bombs in his bedroom and material to make more bombs, two rifles and ammunition.
“The indicted man has been in state custody since last December when the plot was foiled,” Ward told JNS. “The support of the Ogden police and mayor were fantastic along with support from the entire community, the FBI, the Department of Public Safety and other community partners.”
“We have had security at our synagogue for the past three to four years, well before this threat appeared,” she told JNS. “In the past year, we have added security to all our advertised events, either on our campus or off.”
Rest of the filing https://t.co/ULUugKH1PU
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) October 23, 2026
Suspect identified in West Hempstead, NY, synagogue arson attempt
The Nassau County Police Department said that Azzm Khan, of Lakeview, N.Y., was arrested for allegedly trying to burn an Orthodox synagogue in West Hempstead early Thursday morning.
Officers searched for a suspect accused of breaking the side mirror of an official police vehicle when someone stopped them and said that he “saw a person lighting a fire nearby,” the department said.
When officers arrived at the Young Israel of West Hempstead, they found Khan, 29, “and a bush actively on fire,” the department stated.
“During the investigation, it was determined that Khan had taken a lawn sign from the area and set it on fire,” it said. “He attempted to shove the lit sign under the door of the synagogue. He then took the sign and put it in the bush, causing it to ignite and went back to the synagogue door and repeatedly kicked it, causing damage.”
According to the department, Khan was also responsible for the damage to the police vehicle.
“The investigation is ongoing. At this time, there are no known active threats to the community,” it stated.
Khan was arrested without incident, according to the department, and has been charged with two counts of criminal mischief and two counts of arson.
In West Hempstead, NY 🇺🇸, a man was arrested after allegedly attempting to break in and set fire to a synagogue. Azzm Khan initially tried to kick down the front door, but when he failed, he tried to start a fire. Authorities were nearby and were able to take him into custody. When will this madness stop?
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 23, 2026
Teen who spread hatred against Jews admits possessing synagogue killer’s manifesto
A white supremacist teenager who posted material encouraging hatred against Jews has admitted to possessing the manifesto of a neo-Nazi gunman who attacked a German synagogue.Bill Ackman predicts Israel will produce a $1 trillion company within ten years
Damien Woolfenden, 18, formerly of Bury, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to 12 terrorism and hate-related offences at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Among the material found on his computer was the manifesto of Stephan Balliet, who attacked a synagogue in Halle, Germany, in 2019, after failing to force his way inside during Yom Kippur.
Woolfenden also possessed the manifesto of American white supremacist Payton Gendron, who murdered 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in 2022.
The court heard that he had published posts on X and Telegram intended to stir up racial hatred against Jewish people and foreigners.
Woolfenden had also written his own “personal manifesto”, with documents suggesting he was considering carrying out an attack using firearms after the elections in 2028.
He admitted sharing footage of the 2019 Christchurch mosque massacre, in which 51 Muslim worshippers were murdered, on a website describing itself as “pro-white”.
He also distributed the manifesto of Norwegian far-right terrorist Anders Breivik, who killed 77 people in two attacks in 2011, through a Telegram group.
Police found further documents relating to firearms and bomb-making.
Jewish billionaire investor Bill Ackman has predicted Israel will produce a $1 trillion company within a decade.Israel Weapon Industries delivers anti-drone rifle system to Thailand
Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, made the comment at the Sheba Medical Centre’s annual summit in Tel Aviv.
He said he had become very bullish on Israel in the wake of October 7 and had grown even more optimistic since, describing the economy as one of the best in the world, Reuters reported.
He also argued that Israel’s small population could be an advantage in the age of AI.
"The United States has $40 trillion of debt and a lot of that debt comes from supporting a very large population.
"There will be a trillion dollar market cap company that comes out of Israel. I would be surprised if not in the next five years, let alone the next ten," he said.
Ackman said the conflicts in the Middle East had "reset" the region and improved the chances of peace.
He added that if US President were to be successful against Iran, there would be “a massive peace dividend in the region".
He said he viewed Democratic Socialists as a "threat to democracy, capitalism, Israel and the Jewish people".
Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) has delivered its ARBEL Anti-Drone System (ADS) to Thailand’s Ministry of Defense. The system is deployed and now operational in Thailand’s military, the company reported on Thursday.Oscar-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon to speak at ‘Uncancelled’ conference
The ARBEL ADS is a computerized fire control system designed to improve accuracy. When the shooter pulls the trigger, the first round fires as in a standard rifle. While the trigger remains pulled, the system controls the fire cadence at an optimal rate. This eliminates the need for the controller to operate the trigger, allowing the shooter to focus on target tracking and aiming.
In drone interception scenarios, where targets are small, fast-moving, and maneuver unpredictably at a distance, ARBEL ADS automates follow-up shots to enable accurate engagements.
ARBEL ADS doesn’t require external equipment or retraining. It’s fitted onto a soldier’s existing weapon, letting soldiers use familiar weapons with standard 5.56 mm ammunition. They don’t need to learn a new platform and the system is optics-agnostic and compatible with a wide range of sighting systems.
“Small tactical drones have become a direct and growing threat to soldiers on the battlefield. We developed the ARBEL ADS to give soldiers an effective means of defending themselves against this evolving threat, while providing armed forces with a critical tactical advantage in an increasingly complex battlespace,” said SK Group’s Vice Chairman Ronen Hamudot.
IWI offers two options for the ARBEL ADS: 1) a complete IWI-manufactured rifle or 2) installed in a customer’s existing weapon. Thailand’s defense ministry chose the latter. IWI simply replaced the rifle’s lower receiver with the ARBEL ADS.
Thailand military officials are in discussions with IWI about an additional order for its ARBEL Anti-Drone Systems.
Across Southeast Asia, several countries are at various stages of procuring the ARBEL ADS, with additional deployments expected in the coming months, the company reported.
Oscar-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon and Oi Va Voi’s Josh Breslaw are among the speakers at the second annual Uncancelled: Jews in the Arts conference in north London next month.Can business save Israel-Australia relations? Ambassador says there is still hope
Held by Friends in the Arts (FIA) on the afternoon of November 22, Uncancelled is a solutions-focused conference tackling antisemitism and boycotts within creative industries in Britain.
This year’s programme includes talks by Emmy & BAFTA-winning filmmaker Lucie Kon, whose documentary Mr Nobody Against Putin – on which she was executive producer – won an Oscar, and Oi Va Voi’s founder and drummer Josh Breslaw, who also runs the record label Parallel Skies.
British band Oi Va Voi had two of their UK shows cancelled last year due to pressure by pro-Palestine activists and returned with a new track accentuating their Jewish heritage, Back to My Roots.
Comedian Philip Simon, who had his show at the Edinburgh Festival cancelled by the venue because of his views on the war in Gaza, will also speak, as will choreographer Rosie Kay, who co-founded campaign group Freedom in the Arts to protect freedom of expression, combat cancel culture and support artists experiencing pressure.
The event also features Larry Finlay, former managing director at Transworld Publishing who formed the Jewish Publishing Circle with Stephanie Thwaites, head of the book department at Curtis Brown, in the aftermath of October 7; soprano Ilona Domnich; human rights lawyer Adam Wagner KC; and music producer and composer Itay Kashti.
The Israeli-born musician who immigrated to the UK in 2007 will share his personal experience of the violent antisemitic attack he underwent in 2025, in which he was nearly kidnapped, because of his identity.
Relations between Israel and Australia have been something of a roller-coaster, with diplomatic tensions, political disagreements, and growing antisemitism threatening a partnership that Israeli Ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman believes still has enormous potential.
But Newman, who presented his credentials in February 2026, remains optimistic that the two countries can overcome their differences, and he sees business, innovation, and personal relationships as important parts of the solution.
“It’s really been like a roller-coaster journey, which has its ups and downs all the time,” Newman shared during a call with The Jerusalem Post ahead of the media outlet’s November 19 Australia Summit in Sydney. “It’s really upside down.”
The event will bring together senior business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, innovators, and decision-makers from Australia, Israel, and beyond for a high-level gathering focused on business, innovation, and collaboration. The summit aims to strengthen relations between Australia and Israel by connecting people and ideas across two countries with strong cultures of entrepreneurship, innovation, and global engagement.
Newman said Israel and Australia have always enjoyed “natural, excellent relations.”
The countries share similar values, with historical ties dating back to before the founding of the State of Israel, when ANZAC forces fought alongside Jewish forces in the campaign against the Ottoman Empire.
However, over the past several years, especially since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the ensuing war, there has been a “serious deterioration in relations,” Newman said. That deterioration was amplified by Australia’s decision to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state in the midst of the war.
Still, Newman, who arrived in Australia less than a year ago, said that in nearly every meeting, even at the highest levels, he has encountered a stated desire to improve relations.
At the beginning of the war against Iran, Australia stood with Israel and the US, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government providing strong verbal and strategic support. But as the fighting continued and energy prices rose, public sentiment began to shift.
Newman said he doesn’t believe negative sentiment will last. Although “it’s really difficult to assume how things will be when we have a new government in Israel and the war ends, I assume that things will improve dramatically.”
One of the core challenges, as he sees it, is Australia’s geographical distance from the Middle East. The countries are located more than 12,000 kilometers apart, and Australia, because of its relative isolation, “doesn’t really perceive the threats the same way Israel does,” Newman maintained.
Other major points of contention include the countries’ differing perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the issue of expansion in the West Bank.
Nevertheless, Newman believes trust can be rebuilt and stressed that Israel has both the desire and goodwill to improve the relationship.
“It’s up to Australia, really,” Newman said. “We say all the time that we must rise above the differences of opinion and the different issues.”
From Hamas hostage to a voice for peace! What extraordinary courage by this young Israeli woman, Daniella Gilboa, who will be performing in Australia, including Sydney's Opera House, this weekend! https://t.co/92boRXAr0E
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) October 23, 2026
