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Thursday, November 05, 2026

11/05 Links Pt2: Laundering Libel; After US elections, Iran knows its strategy is working — against everyone but Israel; Mr. Vice President: The Problem Was Not the Iran War. It Was the Ceasefire

From Ian:

Laundering Libel
The false characterization of Zionism as settler colonialism did not begin as neutral scholarship. It took shape as a Soviet-led campaign against Israel’s existence driven by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and was later propagated by activist academics who gave it scholarly veneer. In 1965, Fayez Sayegh, the founding director of the PLO’s Palestine Research Center in Beirut, published Zionist Colonialism in Palestine, mapping the political vocabulary of 20th-century decolonization onto Zionism. Sayegh, then a member of Kuwait’s delegation to the United Nations, was the principal author of the 1975 U.N. resolution declaring that “Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” The General Assembly revoked that resolution in 1991, but by then the idea had found a home in academia, where it has flourished ever since.

Maxime Rodinson’s essay “Israรซl, fait colonial?” (“Israel, a colonial fact?”) appeared in 1967 as the lead piece in a special issue of Les Temps Modernes, the influential journal founded and edited by Jean-Paul Sartre, France’s most celebrated philosopher at the time. The issue, running to hundreds of pages, focused on a single question: Was Israel a colonial state? Sartre’s journal lent that question the prestige of the European intellectual left. Its contributors divided on the answer, but Rodinson’s essay, later published in English as “Israel: A Colonial-Settler State?,” proved influential and helped carry the framework into Western academic discourse.

Its timing was telling. The journal issue appeared before the Six-Day War in June 1967, when Israel did not yet control the West Bank or Gaza. In other words, the colonial charge did not begin as a criticism of the occupation. It was aimed at Israel’s very existence—which is why South Africa traces Israel’s “colonization” back to 1948. Most of the writing from the communist world and the Global South that cast Israel as a colonial state came after the war. Over the following decades, versions of the claim spread through universities, activist groups, NGOs, and international institutions, and each repetition gave it another layer of apparent authority.

But repetition is not proof. The settler-colonial characterization depends on substantial historical erasures. Jews are a people whose national identity originated in the land of Israel and who maintained both a presence and a connection there through centuries of exile and persecution. Zionism had no imperial mother country directing Jewish migration for its own economic or strategic benefit. No metropole extracted colonial wealth. Jews arrived from numerous countries—often fleeing persecution in those very countries. For many Jews, Zionism represented refuge, national restoration, and self-determination in their ancestral homeland.

“Colonizer” and “colonized” cannot simply be assigned as self-proving identities and then substituted for historical analysis. Yet that is the framework South Africa brought to the International Court of Justice. Once again, a false narrative about Jews, developed outside of law, had entered an official legal proceeding.

South Africa did not ask the ICJ to examine the Gaza war solely as a conflict following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. Its application asked the judges to view the allegations within a much longer history. At the January 2024 hearing, South Africa’s ambassador invoked an “ongoing Nakba” produced through “Israel’s colonization since 1948.”

Why 1948, when the relevant narrative should begin on Oct. 7, 2023? The settler-colonial framework is designed to perform substantial legal work before one even reaches the alleged elements of genocide. It attempts to fix the parties’ identities as colonizer and colonized and to stretch the timeline back to Israel’s establishment in 1948. It also attempts to thread a revisionist continuity through the Jewish national project from the establishment of Israel, to subsequent wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the present war.

The point of the imposed narrative through-line is to supply an asserted criminal motive that is integral to Israel’s very existence: Israel’s military conduct can be understood not primarily as conduct in a war initiated by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, but as the latest stage of an allegedly eliminatory colonial enterprise.

Settler colonialism, however, is not a crime under the Genocide Convention. Nor is it an element of genocide. Its importance to South Africa’s argument is subtler. It is the narrative through which South Africa asks the ICJ to interpret the evidence of genocide.

That is particularly consequential because genocide requires specific intent: the intent to destroy a protected national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, in whole or in part, as such.

The ICJ has imposed a demanding standard when genocidal intent is inferred from a pattern of conduct. In Croatia v. Serbia, the ICJ held that the inference of genocidal intent must be the only reasonable inference available from the conduct alleged. Alternative explanations therefore matter. Israel has maintained that its military objectives included defeating Hamas, preventing another Oct. 7, dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure, and recovering the hostages Hamas had taken. These objectives matter enormously to a legal inquiry asking whether genocidal intent is the only reasonable inference from Israel’s conduct.

The settler-colonial narrative short-circuits that inquiry. Once Israel is defined as an eliminatory project since 1948, there is no need to weigh why Israel acted as it did after Oct. 7; the premise has already supplied the answer. Conduct that the war itself could explain is instead read as evidence of an eliminatory purpose supposedly built into Zionism since 1948. The false narrative ends up doing the work that proof of specific intent is supposed to do.

Then comes the second stage of laundering. The accusation acquires a case name, a docket number, written pleadings from sovereign states, hearings broadcast live from the Peace Palace, judicial orders, and a permanent place in the international legal record. None of those things proves the accusation. But each institutional layer increases the distance between the narrative, along with its ideological origins, and evidentiary defects.

The provisional-measures stage marked a particularly significant transformation. In January 2024, the ICJ was not deciding whether Israel had committed genocide. It was deciding whether interim measures were warranted as the litigation proceeded.

Among other requirements, the ICJ considered whether it had prima facie jurisdiction, whether at least some of the rights asserted under the Genocide Convention were plausible, whether those rights were linked to the requested measures, and whether there was a real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice.

The ICJ found plausible the right of Palestinians in Gaza to be protected from acts of genocide and related prohibited acts, and South Africa’s right to seek Israel’s compliance with the Genocide Convention. That was not a finding that genocide had occurred. It was not a finding that genocidal intent had been proved. And it was not a ruling on, much less an acceptance of, the settler-colonial narrative through which South Africa had framed its case.

But outside the courtroom, South Africa called the order a “decisive victory” and said it established that Israel’s actions were “plausibly genocidal.” Plausible rights became a plausible case, a plausible case became plausible genocide, and plausible genocide became apparent judicial confirmation. The legal proceeding added another layer. And then came integration. The provisional order began to be invoked in arguments that third states were now “on notice” of a danger of genocide and therefore faced obligations concerning their relationships with Israel.

The ICJ proceedings became part of disputes over arms transfers and military assistance. Civil-society organizations invoked the litigation in challenges to arms exports.

The ICJ was not necessarily the cause of each subsequent governmental decision, lawsuit, boycott, divestment demand, or diplomatic condemnation. But the mere existence of the proceeding supplied a powerful new source of institutional authority. The result is a loop: The narrative enters a legal proceeding; the proceeding generates consequences; and those consequences are then invoked to authenticate the narrative. That is the recursive structure of juridical narrative laundering, and it explains why the process does not require a final judgment.

Money laundering succeeds when dirty money can circulate as legitimate wealth. Juridical narrative laundering succeeds when an unproved accusation can circulate as legally validated fact. By that measure, the merits judgment may come almost too late. The accusation can accomplish much of its diplomatic, legal, economic, and reputational work years before a court decides whether it is true.
Melanie Phillips: Not waving but drowning
For Muslims, hatred of Israel is the obsession that drives out all other concerns. Now this unhinged tunnel vision is being promoted by Vance too.

Unforgivably, he has now undermined the war against Iran by all but urging immediate surrender.

But the reason Iran was a losing electoral issue was that Trump had not won the war. Instead, he abandoned it at a crucial juncture, declaring victory when Iran remained undefeated and able to push up the price of oil as a weapon of its war against America.

And a major force behind America’s policy of preemptive surrender was reportedly Vance.

Now Vance blames voter anger against Israel for the Republican rout. He fails to observe that this anger was fueled by the lies and distortions about Israel and the war that have been allowed to spread unchecked—not least by him.

The scene is now set for a titanic struggle on both sides of the American political divide. In the Democratic Party, centrists will struggle with anti-West, anti-Israel Muslims and leftists. In the Republican Party, conservatives will struggle with radical Jew-haters, white supremacists and conspiracy nuts.

The momentum is with the hard-left, the Jew-haters and the Islamists because the centrists on both sides of the aisle lack a moral and intellectual spine.

The outlook for America’s alliance with Israel is therefore ominous. That’s the real menace in the sudden ending of America’s $4 billion in military aid to Israel.

This is not in itself the blow that many have taken it to be. The suggestion came from Israel itself and is absolutely the right decision. That’s because, by transitioning to joint U.S.-Israel military projects, it transforms the Jewish state from being viewed as a demeaning supplicant into a partner.

This will free Israel, which is now urgently developing its own huge arms industry, from the stranglehold of dependency by which successive U.S. administrations have lethally curtailed Israel’s ability to defend itself.

The reason Israel wanted this was that it saw the catastrophic erosion of support for it among the American public. And that’s the ominous point.

The red-green alliance is destroying Britain and Europe because there’s now a critical mass of their public that has been left ignorant and unable to think because of an education system that’s gone Marxist and nihilist.

America has been afflicted by the same instruments of chaos for years. Now those forces have conquered the citadel.

Most people don’t like extremes. That’s why Trump was elected: to defeat the lunatics of the intersectional left.

The best argument for Trump was that the alternative was unconscionable. Now the unconscionable have captured Congress and much of America’s governing class.

Blue wave? America isn’t waving but drowning.
NYPost Editorial: Philly’s Nazi-laden boycott proves it was never actually about Palestine — just the Jews
A despicable Nov. 8 protest against Jewish-owned restaurants in Philadelphia proves that the alleged bright line between antizionism and antisemitism is a dirty lie.

Philly bicycle activism group On Your Left is launching a bike-by protest in support of Boycott CookNSolo drive to shut down six restaurants in the tony Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, all owned by Jews.

“These Zionist establishments must go! Not in our city!” On Your Left demands.

These eateries, it says, must “die,” along with the “political ideology of Zionism.”

Zionists? Of the four restaurant owners called out by name for death or expulsion, one is Israeli-American; the other three are American Jews, but that’s all boycotters need to know.

One target, Marti Lieberman, who runs a popular mac’n’cheese spot, explains that her business has nothing to do with Jews, Israel or Zionism — except that she sometimes wears a Star of David necklace.

So, for the boycotters, simply being Jews is enough to make these people “disgusting humans” who should be driven out of business.

More damning still: The protest date, Nov. 8, coincides closely with the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht — the “Night of Broken Glass,” when Nazi thugs burned more than 1,400 synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses.

The organizers admit they knew this, but excuse themselves their event is the day before Kristallnacht.


US close to a ‘danger point’ with new class of politicians who hate Israel and Jews, experts say
North of the 12th district and its newly elected blind sheikh “sympathizer,” in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, Rep. Analilia Mejia (D-N.J.), who won a special election for the seat in April, won again on Tuesday with 60.2% of the vote.

She has also accused Israel of “genocide” and said that “Congress must end the blank check for Trump and Netanyahu.”

“As elected leaders prepare to govern, Jewish New Yorkers and New Jerseyans deserve more than assurances,” stated the Anti-Defamation League’s regional New York and New Jersey office.

“They deserve leaders who recognize antisemitism, confront it regardless of its source and take concrete action to strengthen security for Jewish institutions and protect Jewish safety and equal rights,” the ADL said.

“The election of new officials aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America,” including “but not limited to” Valdez, Lander, Avila Chevalier, Hamaway and “several state DSA candidates in New York, marks a shift in our region’s political landscape,” the ADL said. It added that it has “serious concerns about DSA rhetoric and positions that normalize antisemitism, deny Jewish peoplehood or condition Jewish participation in public life based on special litmus tests.”

In Pennsylvania, democratic socialist Chris Rabb won the open House seat in the 3rd Congressional District with 93.6% of the vote. He campaigned alongside antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker and accused Israel of “genocide.”

After the results were finalized, the ADL Philadelphia office said that Rabb has invoked “antisemitic tropes that delegitimize Israel” and aligns with antisemitic figures.

In Colorado, where a terrorist murdered a Jewish woman during a march for Israeli hostages last year, 78.3% of voters in the 1st Congressional District elected Melat Kiros, a democratic socialist, who has appeared on Piker’s show and who said that she was unsure if the killer’s actions were antisemitic.

She also said that the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks were an “inevitable consequence” of Israel’s actions. The United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization since 1997.

Susan Rona, director of the ADL’s mountain states region, said that it has “serious concerns” about Kiros’s “deeply flawed understanding of antisemitism” and that “refusal to condemn or even recognize a blatant act of antisemitism can fuel an increasingly hostile environment for the Jewish community and has no place in politics or public discourse.”

Some 2,000 miles away, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) lost to Troy Jackson, who secured 53.3% of the vote. Jackson, who has accused Israel of “genocide,” stepped in after the prior Democratic candidate, Graham Platner, dropped out after allegations of rape against him were reported widely in the media.

Platner also had a Nazi tattoo. He claimed that he didn’t understand its symbolism, but some of those who knew him said that he had referred to it as a Nazi tattoo.

Jackson, who has made cutting aid to Israel part of his campaign, told a local news outlet of “genocide” that “there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because, you know, they’re Jewish and, you know, what that means to them with the Holocaust.” He later said that he “misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I meant to say” and apologized “for the pain that caused.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition posted a list of what it said are “the most unwanted Democrats,” who are “the most radical, far-left public officials in history,” on Thursday.

The RJC included William Lawrence, who won 51% of the vote in Michigan’s 7th Congressional District and said, when asked if the Iranian regime is evil, “I do not believe any regime in the world is wholly good or wholly evil,” and Angela Gonzales-Torres, who won 59.7% of the vote in California’s 34th Congressional District and campaigned with Hasan Piker.

It also listed Randy Villegas, who won 66.4% in California’s 22nd Congressional District and said that “increasingly, people are aware that we are sending billions and billions of dollars to this genocidal regime that has universal healthcare” while “we do not.”

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a Democrat, won the Senate race over former sportscaster Michele Tafoya, with 53.7% of the vote. Flanagan has accused Israel of “genocide” and supported cutting military aid to Israel.

In Ohio’s 15th Congressional District, Don Leonard, a former Ohio State University professor, unseated Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) with 51.9% of the vote. Leonard has accused Israel of “genocide” and said, during an April campaign appearance, that those who don’t see things that way don’t deserve to be in Congress.

Donavan McKinney, a Democratic state representative, won 76.5% of the vote in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. His campaign website called for Israel to “end the genocide” and for the United States to end military aid to Israel.

Tyler Stapleton, senior director of government relations at FDD Action, told JNS that he wouldn’t comment on individual members, but “it’s very troubling.”

“A large Democratic majority in the Senate will have a mandate to reject President Trump’s handling of the Iran war,” he said. “It is likely they will place restrictions on the Department of Defense until there is a clear exit strategy from the conflict.”

Stapleton believes that “support to Israel will also come under a microscope as the president this week indicated foreign aid should be reduced.”

“This is in line with statements made by Israeli officials, but Senate Democrats may move to restrict aid and military sales in the first weeks of the new Congress starting in January,” he told JNS.

“Israel will also come under scrutiny in the coming months for any additional military action in Lebanon, the West Bank or in Gaza,” he said. “The incoming Democratic majority will be pressed to reject many of the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu and may pursue boycott or sanctions legislation against him and his key advisors.”

Incoming House and Senate majority leaders “will be pressed hard to take stronger action against U.S. and Israeli military cooperation and arms sales,” he said.
After US elections, Iran knows its strategy is working — against everyone but Israel
The US midterms were absolutely brutal for the President Donald and the Republican Party.

Democrats seized control of both houses of Congress, and won races in traditionally deep red states like Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas.

They also made massive gains in state legislatures and statehouses across the country.

Democrats, of course, are celebrating, as are many world leaders who were fed up with Trump’s tariffs, approach toward Russia and war on Iran.

The regime in Tehran did not hide its glee either. “Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” wrote top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

“Driven by greed and hubris, and acting in the service of a deceitful regime, you dragged your country into an unlawful and atrocious war against Iran,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei. “Your calculations failed, your assumptions collapsed, and your strategic misjudgments became painfully evident.”

Iran’s embassy in India went further, sharing an AI-generated video of White House staff throwing an unconscious Trump into a dumpster labeled, “Hazardous Waste.”

It is crude, over-the-top messaging from a regime that produces an endless stream of anti-American and antisemitic propaganda.

But in this case, the Islamic Republic has reason to celebrate. Its military might be in tatters and its economy in a dangerous spiral, but its strategy for surviving a war against the US is working.
Commentary Podcast: The Blame Game
Contributing editor Eli Lake is back to discuss the election postmortems and the Republican recriminations after their stunning defeat, how big a part did the Iran war play in voter dissatisfaction with the GOP, and the factional dispute within the right and its impact on JD Vance's chances in 2028. Plus, how can Jews respond to these negative trends?
El-Sayed's Victory Culminates Years of Muslim Brotherhood Infiltration
According to JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin, President Donald Trump and the Republicans weren’t the only big losers in the midterm elections. Supporters of the U.S.-Israel alliance and those who worry about the surge of antisemitism that has swept across the globe over the past three years should, he says, be equally worried about the implications of the Democrats’ midterm victory.

He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by commentator & author Josh Hammer who said the assertion that the war against Iran was the sole reason for the GOP’s defeat is mistaken. The economy in general, the impact of Trump’s tariffs, corruption and the administration’s focus on things voters don’t care about played just as big a role in the voters’ decisions.

Hammer also believes that it would be a mistake to underestimate the negative impact of the election of anti-Israel and antisemitic leftist candidates to Congress. But he is especially alarmed by the victory of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. He called it “a turning point moment in American history.” What’s important is not that he’s the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.

It is, he says, what he stands for, in terms of a campaign that revolved around antisemitism as well as “who he is surrounded with, what he has said, and what he has failed to say.” Hammer termed his election as the “singular culmination of the Muslim Brotherhood's decades-long effort” to insinuate itself and other Hamas supporters into mainstream politics.

Hammer also asserts that the “biggest loser” of the midterms isn’t Trump but Vice President JD Vance, who clearly intends to run for president in 2028. “His entire pitch is that he wants to be the third term of Trumpism and MAGA. Well, I hate to say it, but as of this past Tuesday evening, MAGA and Trumpism are dead. They are deader than dead. That the coalition is not just in shambles, it is literally dead.”

Hammer believes the Republicans will need someone, unlike Vance, who is not associated with the administration or a conspiracy and hate monger like Tucker Carlson, to come up with a new vision for the country.


Filmmaker claims Jewish Americans don’t ‘vote on antisemitism’
Filmmaker Ami Horowitz says the Jewish American population “don’t vote on antisemitism,” stating that’s “not what drives the vote”.


Ari Fleischer: Mr. Vice President: The Problem Was Not the Iran War. It Was the Ceasefire
[In response to Vice President Vance's remarks on the reasons behind the U.S. midterm election results]: Mr. Vice-President, please allow me to present a different perspective. The problem was not the Iran War. It was the ceasefire. If you start a war, you need to win it and finish it - otherwise don't start it.

This war should have been over six months ago, with the Strait of Hormuz wide open and oil flowing. The second and third tiers of Iranian leadership should have been destroyed, and we should have supported the pro-Western forces who could have taken leadership.

We stood on the brink of a new, more peaceful Middle East - and then we blinked. We had a chance not only to deny Iran nuclear weapons, but to get rid of the world's biggest supporter of terrorism. Instead, we had a ceasefire, which was followed by months of will we or won't we finish the job.

In June 2025, America was not involved. This was an Israel vs. Iran issue. No one forced the U.S. to attack Iran then, or in February 2026. It was a decision made by President Trump. In my opinion, it was the right decision. Once the decision was made, we should not have stopped until the regime fell. But instead, you negotiated a ceasefire that didn't last, didn't work, and left us in no man's land, with higher prices and our troops still deployed.


Vance’s post-election political dance underscores his 2028 vulnerabilities
Vance’s quick efforts to primarily blame the GOP’s midterm drubbing on Israel and the Iran war are deliberate choices that underscore the degree to which he is boxed in. But it’s also a sign of the politically unhelpful ideological commitments that he holds, and how he’s hoping to create a new GOP coalition, one made up of disaffected young podcast bros and isolationists, while casting aside the traditional conservatives and evangelicals who have long made up the core of the Republican Party.

The reality is that after Tuesday night, there will likely be an opening for a conservative candidate distant from the Trump orbit to emerge in the 2028 presidential primary, someone untainted by an unpopular administration. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be auditioning for that role, but there will be other contenders to watch from governors’ mansions, such as outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

And the one big wild card is how the results impact the political standing of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is a more nimble and charismatic politician than Vance, but has claimed little interest in pursuing the presidency in 2028. He also would likely be hampered in a general election by his Trump loyalty, but has shown the political dexterity to overcome challenges throughout his political career.

There’s plenty of evidence from Tuesday’s results that Vance’s MAGA-fied, scorched-earth political identity is a nonstarter for the American public. The reality is that the midterms were a widespread rebuke of Trump’s second term, and while the Iran war certainly played a key role in the GOP defeat, there were myriad other factors that contributed to the Trump collapse. High gas prices alone don’t turn reliably red states like Texas, Kansas and South Carolina blue.

Vance’s ideologically driven unwillingness to grapple with the larger meaning of the midterms isn’t a good omen for his own political prospects. Being so focused on fighting a factional battle — which happens to be shared by Tucker Carlson — is a good way of ignoring the political realities staring him right in the face.


Providence voters approve ballot initiative that would back divestment from Israel
Voters in Providence, Rhode Island, have approved a ballot measure that could result in the city divesting public funds from Israel, in a major victory for the Israel boycott movement.

With 81 of 82 polling locations partially reported, the Rhode Island Board of Elections tallies 75% voting to approve the measure versus 25% rejecting. Both the Rhode Island Current and the Boston Globe report the measure was approved.

The ordinance calls for the capital city to refrain from investing in “foreign countries conducting ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal military occupation, or genocide.” Though the ballot language does not mention Israel by name, it was heavily supported by local pro-Palestinian groups and opposed by some Jewish and pro-Israel groups.

A representative for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island previously told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the group would explore legal options to challenge the ballot measure in the event that it passed.

The vote makes Providence the largest municipality yet to vote in favor of some form of Israel divestment, following the lead of Somerville, Massachusetts, whose voters approved a nonbinding divestment measure last year. Providence is home to an estimated 15,000 Jews, or around 7% of its population. Progressive Jewish groups, including the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, were among the ballot measure’s advocates.


CAIR suspends Florida operations following state domestic terror designation
The Council on American-Islamic Relations has suspended operations in Florida as the state’s designation of the group as a domestic terrorist organization takes effect.

The announcement came on Thursday, a day after Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor of the Northern District of Florida declined to block the designation. Winsor granted CAIR limited relief, however, allowing the organization to continue receiving legal services while its federal lawsuit proceeds.

“We have suspended our operations in Florida because of Gov. DeSantis and other state officials’ baseless and unconstitutional enforcement of the state’s unprecedented new ‘domestic terrorist organization’ laws against us,” CAIR-Florida stated on its website. The site’s homepage now displays the message against a black background.

In a Nov. 4 order, Winsor granted CAIR’s request for an injunction only insofar as it protects the organization, its employees and third parties providing it with legal services from prosecution under the state’s material-support law. The injunction takes effect upon the posting of a $1,000 bond.

Winsor wrote in his ruling that the issue was not whether CAIR is a terrorist organization, but rather that it had not shown sufficient legal grounds to block the designation while its lawsuit proceeds.

“Florida is holding CAIR accountable,” Gov. Ron DeSantis stated.

DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet voted on Sept. 29 to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, while designating more than 90 other organizations as foreign terrorist organizations. State officials accused CAIR of ties to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.


Wiener to hold Pelosi’s House seat after race in which both candidates attacked Israel
Wiener’s anti-Israel statement sparks backlash from Jewish institutions

Wiener’s statement that Israel committed genocide sparked backlash from major Jewish institutions and cost him his leadership role in the state legislature’s Jewish caucus. He has also clashed over the years with anti-Zionist Jews, saying in 2024 that the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace served to “give tokenistic cover to people who make antisemitic statements.”

Wiener was harassed by protesters criticizing his positions on Israel and Gaza at the San Francisco Trans March in June. He said the protesters forced him to leave the event and called their confrontation “antisemitic.”

Some local Jews urged their community to support him. Arthur Slepian and Jan Reicher, the current and former presidents of the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, said that Wiener “did not abandon his commitment to Jewish security, Jewish education or the physical safety of Jewish institutions” in an op-ed in J, The Jewish News of Northern California. They argued that Chan represented a greater threat, saying her supporters “have undermined Jewish safety and seek Israel’s outright destruction.”

Wiener was backed by J Street, the liberal pro-Israel advocacy group, whose independent expenditure arm, J Street Action Fund, announced a $60,000 ad campaign for him in the primary.

Chan was supported by JVP and the Bay Area chapter of IfNotNow, another left-wing Jewish group. She also received an endorsement from Pelosi, despite the former House speaker’s more moderate politics and longtime support for Israel.


‘Squad’ Alum Cori Bush Registers as Paid Foreign Agent, Will Lead Anti-Israel Propaganda Tours of West Bank for Shadowy NGO
Former Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) has registered as a foreign agent for a shadowy European NGO to lead "fact-finding" missions to the West Bank—part of a seemingly elaborate propaganda campaign against Israel.

The ex-Squad member, who once warned pro-Israel advocacy groups that she was coming to "tear your kingdom down," signed on as an independent contractor for the International Federation for Rights and Development (IFRD), a Brussels-based "human rights" nonprofit, according to disclosures she filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act last week.

According to the contract, IFRD will pay $25,000 to Bush and her friend and campaign manager, Stephany Spaulding, for a project through January to "coordinate fact-finding delegations" to Gaza and the West Bank to elevate "the narratives of Palestinian farmers and residents with settlers in the West Bank and other occupied territories." The women's contract provides for $6,000 a month in compensation and another $7,000 for dealing with FARA compliance.

It is unclear who funds IFRD, which is led by Palestinian filmmaker Gamaal El Attar. The group does not disclose its backers, but claims it does not receive money from any foreign governments. Bush's foreign agent disclosure pulls back the curtain on its well-orchestrated PR campaign, the details of which have not been previously reported.

Bush visited the West Bank region last month. She described the mission in a post on Oct. 8, the day after the third anniversary of the Hamas-led massacre of Israelis: "Let's go to the West Bank and stand with the Palestinian who are being attacked by (invaders) settlers," she wrote.
AIJAC welcomes major education reforms and action on antisemitism
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) welcomes the announcement today by Australian federal and state Education Ministers of a number of major education reforms, particularly the commitment to strengthening civics education and teaching students about the evils of antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust.

AIJAC has long called for a stronger focus on civics education and for the curriculum to do more to confront the scourge of antisemitism. In the wake of the Bondi terror attack, ensuring young Australians understand where hatred can lead, and the importance of standing up to it, has never been more urgent. Equally important is teaching students about Jewish history and culture, and the integral contributions Jewish Australians have made to this country and our national story.

Education is absolutely fundamental to building a cohesive and resilient society, grounded in Australian values of democracy, mutual respect and shared civic responsibility.

AIJAC looks forward to working constructively with governments, educators and the wider community to advance these important objectives and ensure that education remains at the heart of efforts to combat antisemitism and strengthen social cohesion.
FAILURE: Sharri Markson rips into Albanese for letting antisemitism escalate
News24 host Sharri Markson has ripped into Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his failure in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack.




Nicole Lampert: Jolyon Maugham is back, and he’s as shameless as ever
This week the nasal-voiced Maugham – who once described on Twitter how he had bludgeoned a fox to death in his garden while wearing his wife’s kimono – announced he was thinking about suing the Labour Government for accepting the IHRA definition as a starting point for schools to fight anti-Semitism.

The tenor of his fundraising appeal seemed to be that it should be fine to call Jewish kids Nazis and racist (two things IHRA says are anti-Semitism). “Students whose innocent family members have been killed by Israel’s destruction of large parts of Gaza will not be able to say that Israel is a racist state or that its actions are reminiscent of the Shoah,” he raged, while insisting there had to be “space for criticism of Israel’s appalling actions. We think those criticisms are important, are necessary in a moral society.”

The problem for him is twofold: schools are already meant to be politically neutral places. That doesn’t mean that Israel will never be criticised in schools, simply that it has to be done in a neutral way. Bell’s report emphasises this.

The other is that harassing Jews, in particular children, is not conducive to a moral society. In fact, it breaks the Equality Act, which protects Jews from harassment.

The only possible glimmer of light comes in the knowledge that almost all Maugham touches turns to dust. Most of his well-financed judicial reviews and legal actions end in failure.

But I wonder how he squares this with his own heroic self-image. He is the Mandela figure whose latest grifting wheeze is to halt plans to stop Jewish children being abused in our schools. Do you think he realises just how low he has gone?


Joe Rogan Casually Slips Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Into His Podcast
Rogan claims that the “reason why you can’t get genetic testing in Israel” is because “most of those people are not Semites.” What evidence does he offer to support this assertion? The existence of European Diaspora Jews.

While the largest ethnic Jewish group in Israel is Mizrahim – Jews whose Diaspora experience was in the Middle East – the places where Jews spent their time in exile do not negate the Jewish people’s historical and ancestral connection to the Levant region and the land of Israel in particular. Ashkenazi Jews, like other Jewish communities, maintained a distinct identity, religious tradition, and collective historical connection and memory to their ancestral homeland, despite generations spent living outside it.

In fact, genetic research has continuously demonstrated that Ashkenazi Jews share substantial ancestry with other Jewish communities, including Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. A 2013 review of genetic research on Ashkenazi Jewish origins found that Ashkenazi Jews showed their greatest genetic similarity to Sephardi Jews, followed by North African Jewish populations. Another study in 2020 similarly identified shared genetic relationships among Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, and North African Jewish communities. In other words, Ashkenazi Jews’ European ancestry does not negate their shared Jewish ancestry or their historical connection to the Middle East or to the Jewish people.

Still, Rogan uses this age-old conspiracy about Ashkenazi Jewry to claim that “the real Semites are the Palestinians,” who he says were Jewish prior to converting to Islam. From this premise, he argues that the term antisemitism is misleading and should be better labeled as anti-Jewish to ensure it does not refer to the Jews who are “not necessarily Semites.”

Yet antisemitism was coined in nineteenth-century Europe specifically to describe hostility toward Jews, not those who are speakers of Semitic languages. Thus, the historical meaning of the term antisemitism is unrelated to whether Jews were forcibly converted, nor does such conversion make the rest of the Jewish population any less Jewish as Rogan’s premise suggests. By recasting a term for hatred of Jews as debate over who qualifies as Jewish, Rogan intentionally obscures the very prejudice it is meant to describe.

Rogan’s warping of the IDF’s war against terrorism alongside the insertion of historical antisemitism and conspiracy theories into an otherwise casual podcast conversation reveals the normalcy in which unrelated topics can be connected and redirected toward Israel and the Jews. For even when Rogan’s broader focus is not on Israel or the Jewish people, the re-introduction of these narratives in unrelated conversations displays how longstanding tropes can enter the mainstream under the guise of discussion, enabling the subtle reinforcement of the beliefs.


Westminster city council to propose cross party “Zionism is Not Racism” motion
Conservative and Labour councillors in Westminster have joined together to submit a cross-party “Zionism is not Racism” motion to be heard at the next council meeting, affirming that “support for the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not racist, and Jewish people are entitled to the same right to national self-determination as any other people.”

The motion, which is to be moved by Labour councillor Hannah Galley and seconded by Conservative Councillor David Boothroyd, notes the Green Party’s decision to adopt a “Zionism is racism” motion at its conference last month, and that “The Board of Deputies of British Jews and other Jewish community representatives have expressed serious concern about the motion”.

Westminster city council, which includes a significant area of central London, is currently run by the Conservatives, who hold 32 of its 54 seats, with Labour holding the other 22.

The motion goes on to affirm that Zionism is not racism and explicitly reject the Green party’s position. It also goes on to state its “support for the Jewish residents of Westminster, its opposition to antisemitism in all its forms, and its continued commitment to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.” It pledges to “ask the Leader of the Council (with the Leader of the Opposition) to write to local synagogues across Westminster and the London Jewish Forum to share this resolution and to offer reassurance to Jewish residents.”

Commenting ahead of the council meeting, the Westminster Labour said that it supported the joint motion “because antisemitism must be challenged whenever and wherever it occurs.

“In its widest sense, Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to national self-determination. We reject the Green Party’s position that Zionism should be treated as racism, as this risks branding most Jews as racist on the basis of part of their identity.”


Report: England Greens leader reposted antisemitic users
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has repeatedly shared posts from accounts that have trafficked in antisemitism, a watchdog group said on Wednesday.

Polanski, who is Jewish, did not write antisemitic content himself, but reposted content from users known for spreading it, according to the report by the Campaign Against Antisemitism.

Last month, the Board of Deputies of British Jews labeled the Greens a “racist party” over a party resolution calling Zionism a form of racism.

One user amplified by Polanski suggested that the March torching of ambulances belonging to a Jewish group in London was a “false flag.” The term is used to claim that Jews or Israel staged an attack to portray themselves as victims or to justify war. That user posts under the handle “Karl Marx.”

Another account Polanski amplified, under the name “Jeremy David Parker,” falsely claimed that Hamas mostly targeted soldiers in its Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the Daily Mail reported, citing the report.


Lifting Palestine Action ban would ‘re-arm sinister and dangerous movement’, Supreme Court warned
Lifting the ban on Palestine Action would “re-arm and revitalise a sinister and dangerous movement” and risk giving a “green light” to violent antisemitism, the Supreme Court has been warned.

Adam Wagner KC, representing the Community Security Trust (CST) and Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), said the UK Jewish community was “especially vulnerable to Palestine Action’s violent activities”, with activists having attacked Jewish charities and Jewish-owned businesses.

In written submissions to the UK’s highest court, he warned that overturning the group’s proscription could embolden perpetrators of “violent antisemitism more broadly”.

The warning came as five Supreme Court justices considered an appeal by Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori against the Government’s decision to outlaw the group under anti-terrorism legislation.

The court reserved its judgment on Thursday, meaning the ban will remain in place while the justices consider their ruling.

Ms Ammori launched her legal challenge after then-home secretary Yvette Cooper banned Palestine Action in 2025.

Three High Court judges ruled in February that the decision was unlawful, but five Court of Appeal judges overturned that finding in June, concluding that the ban was lawful and a “justified and proportionate” interference with freedom of expression rights.


Liverpool FC takes action against fake Palestine football shirts after UKLFI raises concerns
Liverpool Football Club has confirmed that it is taking action against unauthorised Palestine-themed football shirts bearing altered versions of its famous crest, after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) raised concerns about the use of Premier League clubs’ branding for political campaigning.

UKLFI wrote to Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea on 25 October 2026, warning that shirts being sold online appeared to imitate the clubs’ official kits while incorporating pro-Palestinian political messages.

All four clubs responded to UKLFI’s correspondence, with Liverpool confirming that it was already taking enforcement action.

Liverpool FC’s Manager of Brand Protection, told UKLFI:
“We are aware of the products in question and have already been taking action in relation to them. This includes reporting the relevant listings and content to website hosts and social media platforms on the basis of trade mark infringement.”

He added that Liverpool would continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate steps to protect its intellectual property rights.

Manchester United confirmed that it had referred UKLFI’s concerns to its Brand Protection Team. Chelsea said that the matter had been forwarded to the relevant department. Manchester City also acknowledged UKLFI’s letter.

The shirts are being marketed by a business trading as “From Palestine to the World”, through the website freepltn.com and social media.

The Liverpool version features a modified Liver bird emblem with the initials “P.L.C.” replacing “L.F.C.”, while the Manchester United version incorporates an altered club crest bearing the words “WITH GAZA”.


Menin praises ‘inclusive’ Met theme replacing canceled Galliano exhibit
More than two months after opposing a planned exhibition honoring British fashion designer John Galliano over his history of antisemitic and racist remarks, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin praised the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Thursday for choosing a different theme for its 2027 fashion exhibition.

“I am pleased that the Metropolitan Museum has chosen an inclusive new theme that celebrates the artistry and creativity of the fashion industry,” Menin, the council’s first Jewish speaker, told JNS on Thursday. “The original plan to honor John Galliano, after his horrific record of antisemitism and hate, was a divisive choice and antithetical to the values of our city.”

The museum announced Thursday that its Costume Institute will present “extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday,” an exhibition exploring the creative potential of ordinary clothing and everyday materials.

“From jeans, T-shirts and puffer coats to paper, plastic and metal, the exhibition will reveal how the seemingly unremarkable can inspire delight, surprise and wonder,” the museum stated. The exhibition will also examine how clothing acquires meaning through use and care.

The Met canceled “John Galliano: Horizons” on Aug. 31 following widespread criticism. Menin had held multiple meetings with museum leaders to oppose the planned tribute.

In an Aug. 28 letter to the museum’s leadership, Menin called the decision a “serious mistake,” citing Galliano’s “long public record of antisemitism, racism and anti-Asian bigotry.” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, also criticized the planned exhibition as “misguided.”
‘My UK team canceled my contract because I'm Israeli’: Olympic cyclist Rotem Gafinovitz speaks out
After riding in tears with a Star of David after Oct. 7, Rotem Gafinovitz reached the Paris Olympics; she says her British team then canceled her contract over her Israeli passport, leaving her without funding as she weighs LA 2028 or retirement

Rotem Gafinovitz has already fulfilled her Olympic dream, but she now finds herself at one of the most difficult crossroads of her career. The 34-year-old road cyclist, who represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was recently crowned a masters world champion, still does not know where the road will take her over the next two months. On one hand, her passion for competition burns as strongly as ever, and she dreams of reaching Los Angeles 2028. On the other, thoughts of retirement accompany her on every ride, refusing to disappear no matter how many kilometers she covers.

With the start of the Olympic qualification period, the clock is ticking. But unlike a time trial, where she knows exactly what is required of her, this time her fate does not depend solely on her performance on the road. If she cannot secure the financial backing needed to compete in races around the world, she will have to retire. Age, she stresses, is not the obstacle. The problem is the personal toll and energy required to keep competing under the current conditions.

"I realized what was required of me, and that's what brought me to this crossroads," she says. "It's not just the sacrifices, but also knowing what I need in order to succeed. Making it to the Olympics is amazing, but I don't want to go to another Games just to say, 'I did it.' I want to achieve something. I finished 77th in Paris. I did everything I could to meet the federation's qualification criteria, and now I know I can do more. I went through a major crisis after Paris."
SNP-funded arts body gave £900k to group behind controversial Palestine event
An arts group behind a controversial pro-Palestinian event in Glasgow has received more than £900,000 in public funding, sparking criticism over its use of a slogan widely condemned by Jewish groups.

Arika, which is organising a five-day event called Episode 12: From the Rivers to the Seas, was awarded £911,950 by Creative Scotland, a public arts body funded by the SNP-led Scottish Government, for the period 2025 to 2028.

The funding was revealed by the Daily Mail, which reported that the event had sparked accusations of antisemitism over its title.

The programme, taking place from 11 to 15 November at Glasgow’s Tramway arts venue, will bring together artists, academics and activists to discuss Palestine, colonialism and social justice.

Its title is a variation of the slogan “from the rivers to the seas”, which many Jewish organisations regard as a call for Israel’s destruction. Supporters argue that the phrase represents a demand for Palestinian freedom.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay criticised the use of public money to support the organisers.

He told the Daily Mail: “The SNP’s arts quango might want to wash its hands of this show with its antisemitic title.

“But Creative Scotland has bankrolled them with almost a million pounds of taxpayers’ cash, so they must bear some responsibility and accountability.”

Jewish campaigner Elliot Davis, former chairman of the Judeo-Christian Alliance, also condemned the event’s title, describing it as “virulent hate speech as it calls for the eradication of the tiny Jewish state of Israel”.

He accused the SNP government of supporting antisemitism through its funding of Creative Scotland.

The programme, which organisers say aims to “pluralise Palestine to unsettle colonialism everywhere”, will feature contributors from several countries, including Palestine, Lebanon, Algeria and Scotland.

Arika has defended the event, saying it reflects its solidarity with Palestinians and connects their experiences with wider struggles against colonialism.


Egyptian prosecutors seek ‘maximum penalty’ for Christian convert for contempt of Islam
Egyptian prosecutors are pursuing the “maximum penalty,” either execution or 25 years in prison, for Christian convert Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, his lawyers announced in a statement on Tuesday following a hearing in his case.

Abdelrazek, who converted from Islam, was arrested in July 2025 and has been detained by Egyptian authorities since then on undisclosed charges. He was previously arrested in 2023 for allegedly posting videos depicting the desecration of the Quran, for which he served a year-long prison sentence.

Following his release, he fled to Russia, but was deported after his asylum application was rejected. He was detained again in 2024 and released shortly afterward. In April 2025, he was rearrested after beginning to publish social media content about his conversion and efforts to have his religious status legally changed.

Prosecuted for his refusal to 'renounce Jesus'
According to the NGO Coptic Solidarity, Abdelrazek was charged with contempt for Islam, inciting public disorder, disseminating false information, and joining a banned terrorist organization, an accusation that carries the possibility of the death penalty.

Said Fayez’s office, which is representing Abdelrazek, alleged that he was being charged with running an organization that does not exist and was being prosecuted because he refused to “renounce Jesus.” His legal representative also confirmed that the court adjourned the case until December 8, 2026, when the defense will be allowed to present its arguments.

Throughout his imprisonment, Fayez’s office has alleged that Abdelrazek has been tortured and subjected to medical negligence at the 10th of Ramadan Prison. It claimed he has been held in a crucifixion position and denied medical care despite having a heart stent.


Sweden makes Holocaust denial a criminal offense
The Swedish parliament on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation outlawing denial of the Holocaust.

The move comes amid a sharp increase in Holocaust denial and distortion around the globe following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

The law, which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

It required two parliamentary decisions separated by an election, and is considered particularly important for addressing hate propaganda and incitement against an ethnic group online.

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem said Thursday that Sweden had taken an “important step” in criminalizing Holocaust denial under its constitution.

“Holocaust denial and distortion not only falsify history—they contribute to the spread of antisemitism and desecrate the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators,” wrote Yad Vashem in a statement sent to JNS. “There must be no tolerance for attempts to erase, minimize or distort the crimes of the Holocaust.”
Dutch mayor pledges to reverse museum decision to cancel Jewish exhibition
The mayor of the central Netherlands city of Amersfoort has reportedly promised to reverse a local museum’s decision, citing ‘Middle East tensions’, to cancel its exhibition on the synagogue’s 300th anniversary.

The synagogue, dating from 1727, is the oldest Ashkenazi synagogue in Western Europe still in use. Following recent and extensive renovations of the building, celebrations of its tricentennial are scheduled from February 2027, with the exhibition due to run alongside concerts and the publication of a commemorative book.

According to Dutch media reports, Jewish community leaders and local political figures in Amersfoort were furious after Museum Amersfoort made a last-minute decision to cancel the showcase, suggesting the ongoing conflict in Gaza could prove a potential security risk.

Jewish community board member Jitschak Elzas, told AD News: “I had consultations with Museum Amersfoort (formerly Flehite, ed.) several times. Then things were quiet for a while, until recently, completely unexpectedly, we received the news that the management is abandoning the exhibition.”

The news outlet goes on to quote Paul Baltus, director of art and culture umbrella group ‘Amersfoort in C’, expressing concern that “tension has increased worldwide” since the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October 2023, adding: “As a result, an exhibition has been cast in a completely different light” and expressing concerns for the safety of volunteers selling tickets:

“I find the tension that this brings with it difficult. As a small, vulnerable organisation, I don’t want to confront my people with that. Of course, you can deploy security guards or install cameras, but the fact remains that our volunteers have to deal with all kinds of possible reactions.”

Writing on their website, the managing board of the synagogue said: “We find this decision unacceptable. An exhibition about 300 years of Jewish history in Amersfoort must not be made dependent on international political developments. Our history is inextricably linked to that of the city. Especially now, it is important that Jewish life and our history remain visible.”

On 4 November, US Jewish news outlet Algemeiner reported that Mayor Lucas Bolsius had apologised to the local Jewish community, assuring its members that the exhibition would go ahead as scheduled, reversing the initial controversial cancellation.
Brick thrown through Brussels synagogue window
Unidentified individuals hurled a brick through a window of a synagogue in Brussels on Monday, shattering the glass in a suspected antisemitic attack, police said.

A police spokesperson told the SudInfo news site that the incident at the Orthodox Jewish community in Anderlecht is under investigation.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the Brussels-based European Jewish Association, wrote on X: “We stand with the congregation and call on the authorities to establish what happened. Everyone should be able to enter a place of worship without fear.”

Unia, Belgium’s equality body, received 192 reports of antisemitism in 2025. That was down from 277 in 2024 but up from 121 in 2023. Annual tallies in the two years before that were below 100.
'Into the oven': Montana man admits to cyberstalking after threatening Hawaii's Jewish governor
Eric Lee Boltz, 52, pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking after previously being charged with harassing Hawaii Governor Josh Green, the US Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.

Green, who is Jewish, has served as Hawaii's governor since 2022.

Boltz, who currently resides in Montana, was originally charged in June. After pleading guilty, he was remanded into custody. His sentencing is scheduled for March 4, 2027, when he will face up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, as well as a term of supervised release

According to court records, between December 4 and December 15, 2025, Boltz left nine threatening and antisemitic separate voicemails with Green's office. Disguising his voice, Boltz threatened to kill Green and his family and sexually assault his daughter.

"Ooh dumb f***ing Jew, you and your kids go in the oven and then you’ll be looking over your shoulder the rest of your f***ing life," a transcript of one of the voicemails read. Hawaii Governor Josh Green listens to country singer Trisha Yearwood perform during post-dinner entertainment at a black-tie dinner at the White House on February 24, 2024.
Montreal kosher bakery torched in second suspected arson attack within 48 hours
A Montreal kosher bakery burnt down following an suspected arson attack on Wednesday morning. This incident was the second of two alleged arson attempts directed at the Jewish-owned bakery, Mimimelon, within 48 hours. In both cases, the bakery was empty and no injuries were reported.

The Montreal police said there is no evidence yet that the incident was motivated by antisemitism. However, the hate crimes and arson units have been assigned to investigate the case, given the bakery’s ties to the Jewish community.

The first incident took place on the night of Monday, November 2, when Mimimelon co-owner Jennie Volfson received a security notification that someone was attempting to open the bakery’s back door. When Volfson checked her business’ security cameras, she saw flames and immediately called Montreal police and firefighters. Upon arrival, firefighters were able to control the fire and keep damage to the bakery minimal.

Volfson, who owns Mimimelon with her husband and father-in-law, said she received a second notification from the bakery’s security system around 12:30 AM on Wednesday, November 4. When she checked Mimimelon’s security cameras, Volfson saw a flash of light and “an explosion,” before the live feed cut out.

This time, Volfson said the blaze could not be contained. “I expected that the damage would be bad, but it’s complete destruction. There is nothing to rebuild. We’re going to have to scrap everything,” said Volfson, adding that she was uncertain of the future for the bakery.

Based on the shop’s security footage, Volfson surmised, “There was a person who was able to get inside the bakery this time, probably because the door was compromised from the day before.”


Israeli AgTech and WaterTech AreTaking Root in Colorado
At Schell Farms outside Sterling, Colorado, cameras and ground-penetrating radar, designed in Israel, are bolted to a center pivot and scan the corn and soil on every pass.

"When corn is 10 feet tall in July, you can't see what's happening in the middle of the circle," said Daniel Schell.

"Having the pivot tell my phone, 'Hey, nozzle 14 on span 3 is clogged,' before the crop shows stress, that's huge."

Israeli company Autonomous Pivot sells an annual membership instead of a $50,000 hardware package and now runs more than 800 systems across the High Plains.


60,000 Christians, Jews March in Peru in Support of Israel
More than 60,000 people marched in Lima on Saturday to participate in the March of Life, an international movement that brings together Jewish and Christian communities to honor the memory of the Holocaust, express support for Israel, and condemn antisemitism.

At the event, attended by Israeli Ambassador to Peru Gali Dagan, participants wore white T-shirts, and carried Israeli flags.

Dagan highlighted two Peruvian diplomats, Jose Gambetta and Jose Barreto, who facilitated passports so that persecuted Jews could escape Europe and find refuge in Peru.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Government of Peru for its decision to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
Hundreds of Black Christian leaders travel to Israel
A delegation of 500 African-American and African Christian leaders arrived in Israel on Thursday as part of the "Unfinished Business" pilgrimage, an initiative organized and led by the Black Christian Leadership Council on Israel Relations (BCLCIR).

The visit seeks to fulfill plans for a trip to Israel envisioned by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. nearly six decades ago but never happened, BCLCIR explained.

According to the BCLCIR website, King planned to lead “hundreds, possibly thousands” of Black Americans on a tour of Israel in November 1967. The plans were detailed in private correspondence between King and then-prime minister Levi Eshkol, as well as former prime minister David Ben-Gurion, exchanged between January and May of that year.

The trip was postponed following the Six Day War and rescheduled for 1968, the year King was assassinated, according to the BCLCIR.

The council organized the November 2026 pilgrimage to mark what would have been the 59th anniversary of King's planned visit.

“For Black American supporters of Israel, Dr. King’s Holy Land tour represents unfinished business,” BCLCIR stated.



 

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