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Tuesday, November 10, 2026

11/10 Links Pt2: The lessons of Kristallnacht and the wake-up call of Bondi; The Schwinntifada Folds; Natan Sharansky on Campus Fear and the Silent Majority; Why Bondi hero would DO IT ALL AGAIN

From Ian:

US midterms exposed frightening new reality for American Jews – time to unite and fight back
The suggestion that Jews should subordinate their own survival to a supposedly greater good carries a disturbing historical echo.

In August 1934, The New York Times reported a declaration by the Association of National German Jews, whose members said they had “always, in war or peace, placed the good of the German people and the German Fatherland above our own good”.

The declaration continued: “Accordingly, we greeted the national uprising of January 1933, although it brought rigours for us, for we saw it as the only means to clear away the damage done in fourteen unhappy years by un-German elements.”

The “national uprising” was Hitler’s accession to power. What those Jews described as “rigours” would be followed by the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, and, ultimately, the Holocaust.

The circumstances are profoundly different. The warning concerns the reasoning: Jewish safety must never become expendable in pursuit of a supposedly higher political good.

Jewish voters who supported el-Sayed doubtless had various reasons. Some may have shared Nessel’s thinking; others may have dismissed concerns about him or considered Republican control of the Senate the greater danger. For some, an attenuated Jewish identity, expressed chiefly through universal ideals rather than attachment to Jewish peoplehood or Zionism, may also have played a part.

Universal concern is admirable. But when attachment to Jewish particularity becomes a source of discomfort, and Jewish self-preservation is viewed as an obstacle to the greater good, something has gone profoundly wrong.

Nessel’s words raise a question that reaches well beyond Michigan: when did concern for Jewish survival become a form of self-interest that Jews should be prepared to surrender?

There is nothing narrow or shameful about Jews defending their own safety, continuity, and right to exist. And no political party or individual is entitled to ask them to sacrifice any of those things.

A world that cannot make room for roughly 16 million Jews has a profound moral problem. Jewish contributions to ethics, science, medicine, and culture are extraordinary. But Jews should not have to present a catalogue of achievements to justify their existence.

Nor should tiny Israel, roughly one per cent the size of Saudi Arabia, have to prove its usefulness to earn the right to exist. Its manifold contributions to meeting humanity’s challenges deserve recognition. Its people’s right to live in peace and security, however, does not depend on them.

Michigan was not the only warning. After the Republican shellacking, Vice President JD Vance included “change our relationship to Israel” among four priorities he cited for winning back voters who had deserted his party.

The vice president of the United States was making the relationship with the Jewish state part of the explanation for his party’s electoral humiliation. He is also widely expected to seek the presidency in 2028. The pattern is all too familiar: when things go wrong, find a Jewish address for the blame. This time, the address is Israel, the lone Jewish-majority state.

Coming from someone a heartbeat away from the presidency, those words demand far more than a passing expression of concern.

Increasingly, the place of Jews in America is being called into question – a prospect many previously considered unimaginable.

Concerned Jews and Jewish groups must face these realities unflinchingly, show far greater unity of purpose, demonstrate courage and spine, develop innovative strategies, strengthen young Jews’ understanding of their history and identity, and build strong alliances.

If this is not the moment to wake up, then when is?
The Schwinntifada Folds By Abe Greenwald
Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here. Look, it’s sickening that this happened at all. At the start of the “Free Palestine” craze, protesters wouldn’t have plainly organized an attack on Jewish-owned businesses for being Jewish-owned businesses. But they’ve grown bolder since then, winning media and political sympathy and lifting unapologetic anti-Semites into important political offices.

So if this is a kind of arms race, I’m heartened to see a significant number on our side who are ready to escalate.

I rarely give unbidden advice, and I don’t resent those who choose not to follow my counsel. But I’ve been asked, over and over, by Jews and other concerned Americans, “What can we do about the explosion in anti-Semitism?”

The truth is, it’s hard to know what to say, and my answers often come up short: learn self-defense, obtain a legal weapon, use the law to protect your rights, make a fuss, and vote for the right people—it’s not terribly inspiring. But the events of Sunday are inspiring, and I’ll say this: Look at what the Jews and their allies did in Philadelphia, repeat it, grow it, and don’t stop. Show up everywhere. Outnumber the scum and get in their faces. Above all, be brave. Don’t steer clear of targeted businesses or neighborhoods or shuls. Don’t change your life one bit to accommodate the thugs.

Think of it like this: For three years, Israeli life was upended by a brutal war. Families watched as their young men and women went off to fight the most depraved murderers on the planet. IDF soldiers hunted down their enemies from the skies and in dark tunnels and explosive-rigged buildings, and many courageous Jews have died in the process. We merely have to be brave enough to exercise our God-given rights as citizens in this free country. So, my advice is to go where you want to go, say what you want to say, and don’t back down against the likes of “Philly Bike on Your Left,” or anyone else who expects you to cower.
New Zealand’s antisemitism problem is in New Zealand, not the Middle East
New Zealanders have every right to criticize Israel, advocate Palestinian self-determination and protest peacefully. They are free to criticize any country. Those rights do not extend to threats or nationality-based harassment.

The coalition mentioned above criticized slogans such as “from the river to the sea” and “globalize the intifada,” which many understand as threatening Israel’s existence or encouraging violence.

It highlighted the Free Palestine Party, which it says received $82,000 in public election broadcasting funding, and alleged that its leader, Paul Hopkinson, celebrated Oct. 7 as a victory for Palestinian resistance. It also criticized activist John Minto for reportedly publishing photographs of Israeli visitors and encouraging hostile attention toward them.

These allegations raise questions about enforcement. New Zealand designated Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist entity in 2024 and has laws addressing material support for terrorism, harmful digital communications and harassment. Offensive political speech is not automatically criminal. But have authorities examined the reported incidents, and what conclusions have they reached?

Freedom of speech is fundamental. It does not confer a right to threaten people or facilitate violence. The law must protect Jewish citizens and Israeli visitors as firmly as everyone else.

The coalition also challenged New Zealand’s media, arguing that coverage has too often relied uncritically on Hamas-controlled sources without sufficient balance or context. Journalists must scrutinize claims from all sides, report civilian suffering honestly and distinguish verified facts from propaganda.

Mฤori, Christian, Jewish and Iranian representatives have united around a principle beyond politics: Jews and Israelis deserve the same safety and dignity as everyone else.

The coalition calls on politicians to act responsibly, journalists to uphold professional standards and police to respond decisively to threats and violence.

New Zealand must reflect urgently on where this hostility could lead. The antisemitic terrorist attack at Australia’s Bondi Beach last December is a stark warning of the devastating consequences of hatred. Geographical isolation offers no immunity. New Zealand must act to prevent a similar tragedy on its own soil.

New Zealand cannot control the Middle East’s geopolitical realities. But it can control how it treats Jews and Israelis within its borders.

Jewish citizens and Israeli visitors must be able to live without fear. If New Zealand cannot meet that basic standard, the problem is not in the Middle East. It is in New Zealand.


‘Horrifying’ Germany still not safe for Jews, chancellor says on Kristallnacht anniversary
Standing inside Munich’s Ohel Jakob Synagogue, which shares its name with a nearby synagogue burned down by the Nazis during Kristallnacht 88 years earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned on Monday that Jew-hatred was once again “omnipresent” in Germany.

“We see it and hear it on our streets, in our cities, in the cities of our European neighbors and throughout the world, in parliaments, in associations and in schools,” Merz said in German.

“Sometimes it is disguised in the language of anti-colonial liberation struggles or criticism of Israel,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, from time to time it is justified through the distortion of history.”

Among those listening was Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, who was 6 years old during the Nazi pogrom of Nov. 9-10, 1938, when synagogues were burned, Jewish homes and businesses were ransacked, and Jews were murdered across Germany and Austria.

Merz quoted the biblical verse “How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel,” from the Book of Numbers, from which the synagogue takes its name.

“I cannot imagine how this psalm must have sounded in the ears of those who, in Munich and other German cities, were awakened on the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938, by armed squads breaking into their businesses, their homes and the centers of Jewish communal life with stones, axes and gasoline canisters,” he said.

“You, dear Mrs. Knobloch, experienced it,” Merz told the 94-year-old, who also serves as vice president of the European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress. “You experienced what no human being—and what no 6-year-old child, no child at all—should ever have to experience.”

He then invoked the millions of Jews who were arrested and deported to concentration camps in the days and years that followed.

“How must this psalm have sounded in the ears of the millions of men, women and children who, in the days and years that followed, were arrested and deported to hell on earth, to the hell of the concentration camps?” he said.

Germany recorded a record 8,725 antisemitic incidents in 2025, up from 8,627 in 2024, according to the Berlin-based Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism. The figure was more than triple the 2,480 incidents recorded in 2022.

The 2025 total included 178 assaults and 257 cases involving threats. Jew-hatred related to Israel accounted for 68% of all incidents.
Iranian prince invokes Jewish-Persian bond ahead of Auschwitz visit
In a speech that evoked 25 centuries of shared history, Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi on Monday predicted the resumption of an Iranian-Jewish alliance, as he prepared to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau for the first time.

“The bond between Iranians and the Jewish people is not a matter of sentiment and is not a matter of political convenience, it is older,” Pahlavi said at a ceremony in Krakow, where he received the King Solomon Award from Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA). He said the bond would resume when the regime of the Islamic Republic is toppled.

The group honored Pahlavi for his support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism, Margolin said. Pahlavi called for greater international pressure on the Islamic Republic. He advocated military intervention against Iran’s security apparatus to help protesters overthrow the regime.

In his acceptance speech, Pahlavi, who lives in the United States, invoked the biblical account of Cyrus the Great. The Persian king permitted Jews to return from exile in Babylon and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Pahlavi also noted the biblical story of Esther and Mordechai, and nearly 3,000 years of Jewish life in Iran.

“It is a fundamental part of Iranian history that we are truly proud of,” he said.

Pahlavi contrasted this historical record with the antisemitism of the Islamic Republic, whose revolution in 1979 had forced Iran’s last shah, Reza Pahlavi’s father, into exile.

“In 1942 and prior to the Islamic Revolution, Tehran was a name that meant life. I want Tehran to be a name that means life again,” Pahlavi said.

The EJA ceremony took place on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogroms of November 1938, ahead of a visit by an EJA delegation to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on Tuesday.

Pahlavi noted that his late father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, had visited Auschwitz in 1966 with Reza Pahlavi’s mother, who wrote about the visit’s emotional impact on her in her memoirs.

At a press conference before the award ceremony, Pahlavi described the Islamic Republic as an “existential threat to Iranians” and Israelis alike. He accused Iran’s leaders, whom he described as an “occupation force,” of embracing an ideology reminiscent of Nazi Germany.


Arsen Ostrovsky: The lessons of Kristallnacht and the wake-up call of Bondi
We must recognise that antisemitism does not begin with a bullet. It begins with a lie, a slur, a conspiracy theory, or the simple decision to look away or, worse, to excuse it.

This is precisely why Kristallnacht is relevant here. The shattered windows and burnt synagogues were not the beginning of the story. They were the culmination of a process in which hatred was progressively normalised, and the boundaries of what society was prepared to tolerate steadily shifted.

There is another uncomfortable lesson from 1938: the role of bystanders. The Nazis and their enablers were responsible for the pogrom, but countless others watched in silence. Some even cheered or participated. Others convinced themselves that what was happening was not their concern.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel implored us to “take sides”, warning that “neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim” and that “silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

That is why Bondi needs to serve as a transformational wake-up call and a national reckoning. It should force all Australians to confront an uncomfortable truth: antisemitism is not simply a battle for the Jewish community to fight alone but a responsibility we all share, because when hatred is directed at one community, it is an attack on the values and principles that underpin our entire society.

Australia now has an opportunity, through the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which will shortly hand down its recommendations, to confront these questions honestly and chart a path forward.

We cannot afford another round of expressions of concern and pious words, followed by “business as usual”. We should be long past that stage.

If Bondi is to be a truly transformational turning point, as it rightfully should, we must ensure that no Australian is targeted because of their faith or background and that the democratic values underpinning our society are protected for generations to come.

Kristallnacht was not inevitable, and neither was Bondi. Both were preceded by unmistakable warning signs, escalating hatred and too many people willing to excuse, minimise or look away.

The circumstances may be different, but the lesson is the same: when antisemitism is allowed to flourish unchecked, the consequences can be devastating.

“Never Again”, therefore, must not remain a slogan reserved for Holocaust commemorations. It must be a commitment to confront antisemitism before yet another tragedy strikes. Like Kristallnacht, Bondi has shown us the terrible cost of failing to do so.
Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed shares first photos of his horrific scars - as he reveals two bullets remain lodged in his shoulder
Bondi hero Ahmed Al Ahmed has shared the first photos of the stitches that helped heal his wounds after he was shot several times during the mass shooting in Sydney.

Mr Al Ahmed, 44, gained international praise after wrestling a firearm from a gunman at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025.

On Tuesday, he told 2GB's Ben Fordham he has struggled to regain full use of his left arm after being shot five times, with doctors advising it is safest to leave two bullets in place.

'I was shot five times, [I've had] three operations and three bullets removed. Two bullets are still in [my] shoulder, which is not easy,' Mr Al Ahmed said.

'It's a long process to recover, it's not easy.'

One of the remaining bullets is lodged about 5cm from his heart, he told Fordham. He shared the first photos of the stitches holding together the wounds on his arms, as well as an image of a bullet entry wound.

Mr Al Ahmed, who lives in Sydney's south, had been out getting a coffee when he was forced into action after hearing the screams of people running from the park.

He spent two weeks in hospital following the incident while footage of him disarming 50-year-old Sajid Akram went viral around the world.
Why Bondi hero would DO IT ALL AGAIN - Fresh revelations in exclusive interview | 2GB Sydney

HonestReporting: How Free People Lose Their Freedom: Natan Sharansky on Campus Fear and the Silent Majority
Natan Sharansky was five years old when Stalin died. His father took him aside, told him a miracle had saved the Jews, and told him never to repeat it. The next day at kindergarten he cried along with all the other children, with no idea which of them were really crying and which were crying like him. "That's the typical life of Soviet citizens," he says. "You say what you're supposed to say."

After 1967, that changed. Sharansky became a refusenik, one of the Soviet Jews refused permission to leave for Israel who decided to fight instead of wait. At the same time he became a spokesman for the Soviet human rights movement. In 1977, the KGB arrested him for treason. He was sentenced to 13 years and served nine before his release in February 1986. He tells us about the months spent in isolation, the interrogators who reminded him he could be sentenced to death, and the friend, Andrei Amalrik, who predicted that a regime spending all its energy on controlling people's minds would eventually exhaust itself.

In 2003, as the Israeli minister responsible for the diaspora, Sharansky toured American campuses. A Jewish graduate student at Harvard Business School told him she wanted to sign a letter supporting Israel but wouldn't, because three professors who mattered for her career weren't signing. Out of those years came his 3D test. When Israel is demonized, delegitimized or held to a double standard, he says, "that's antisemitism simply in the clothes of antizionism." He applies the test to the genocide charge, and he explains why he believes any student can criticize Israel's government without crossing those lines.

He calls today's woke movement "primitive Bolshevism," and he argues that liberals made a huge mistake by confusing progressivism with liberalism. Then he answers the question at the heart of his new Tablet essay: how can the whole world believe something that isn't true? His answer comes from Ahad Ha'am's 1892 essay on the blood libel, and from the Passover Seder.

Also in this episode: the Six-Day War as a Soviet humiliation; Jewish Voice for Peace and the Soviet antizionist committee; the silent majority who say nothing to stay in the WhatsApp group; Gorbachev, Reagan and "Free Sharansky"; why Amnesty International wouldn't separate dictatorships from democracies in its reports; and the second Seder his family holds every year on the anniversary of his release.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Cold Open & Introducing Natan Sharansky
03:46 What was a refusenik?
08:54 The day Stalin died
13:33 1967 and Soviet antizionism
17:10 Soviet slogans on American campuses
20:46 The 3D test: where criticism becomes antisemitism
23:22 October 8th on campus
28:45 The silent majority
31:38 Arrested for treason
36:39 Gorbachev, Reagan and the end of the USSR
40:12 Human Rights Watch, from Helsinki Watch to Israel
45:56 Bolshevism on campus
48:42 Is antizionism antisemitism?
55:40 Progressives vs. liberals
1:00:02 Clapping for Stalin
1:04:07 Is the whole world wrong?
1:07:42 Closing thoughts


Deborah Lipstadt: Is Israel really the cause of surging antisemitism?
Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.

In this episode of the new series, we speak with Emory University Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, the former US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.

Lipstadt is in Israel to accept Bar-Ilan University's Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual, in Memory of Samuel Gewurz z”l.

In an era of rising global antisemitism, Borschel-Dan has received dozens of emails pointing fingers at Israel and the war in Gaza as the sources of the hatred.

In a no-holds-barred conversation, Lipstadt assesses the nature of contemporary Jew-hatred and weighs in on whether Israel's actions indeed may be contributing to its rise.

We hear her thoughts on whether "anti-Zionism" is a new form of antisemitism or its own distinct hatred and what the proverbial Venn diagram looks like.

But to start with, we return to 1967, when university student Lipstadt was here in Jerusalem during the Six Day War and hear her firsthand account of life in the newly unified capital.




Hezbollah Mouthpiece in Lebanon Lashes Out at Free Beacon Over Report That Led to US Expelling Diplomat Who Celebrated Deadly Marine Barracks Bombing
A Lebanese newspaper closely aligned with the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah is lashing out at the Washington Free Beacon over reports that led to the removal of the Lebanese diplomat Ibrahim Charara from the United States over his praise for Hezbollah's 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 American service members.

Al-Akhbar, a Hezbollah mouthpiece founded in 2006, published a lengthy defense of Charara, who until last week served as consul general to Detroit, on page 2 of its print edition, portraying his expulsion as the result of a politically motivated smear campaign.

"An article published by journalist Chuck Ross in the Washington Free Beacon (a publication with a long history of attacking Arab and Muslim Americans) on the morning of the US elections stands out," reads the Al-Akhbar article, entitled "Are Trump supporters taking revenge on Lebanese people in Michigan?"

The article refers to a Free Beacon story on November 2 exposing Charara's social media posts, in which he celebrated the 1983 Hezbollah attack, which killed 58 French military personnel and 5 civilians in addition to 241 U.S. servicemen. It was the deadliest terrorist attack against Americans until 9/11 and the second-deadliest day for the Marines after Iwo Jima.

"On this day, the heroic resistance to the American military occupation of Beirut ended with a single strike that documents the defeat of neocolonialism on our land," Charara wrote on Oct. 23, 2021. Charara's banner image on Twitter is of a burning Israeli flag.

The State Department declared Charara persona non grata in response to the story last week, a severe diplomatic punishment in which host nations can declare foreign diplomats to be unwelcome. Charara was ordered to leave the United States by Sunday.

Al-Akhbar claims, without evidence, that Charara "was a victim of the resounding defeat suffered by Trump's team" and that he was punished due to his "political views" and his "insistence on cultivating good relations in Michigan with Lebanese figures" who have criticized the Trump administration.

The Free Beacon has reported before on Al-Akhbar's Hezbollah ties. In 2020, the paper published a list of American military bases in the Middle East as "possible targets" for Iranian strikes in retaliation for the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, the Free Beacon reported.

Charara did cultivate close ties to political leaders in Michigan during his brief diplomatic stint.
Revealed: Chris Rabb Has Longtime Relationship With Organizers of Antisemitic Boycott He Won’t Condemn, Joined Them in Effort To Free Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamal
Socialist congressman-elect Chris Rabb—under fire for failing to speak out against a far-left "bicycle boycott ride" targeting Jewish and Israeli businesses in his Philadelphia district—has a longtime relationship with the groups that organized the event, having cooperated with them in an effort this year to free convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

In April, Rabb cosigned a letter with Philadelphia Palestine Coalition and Philadelphia Black Alliance for Peace, which urged Gov. Josh Shapiro (D.) to release Abu-Jamal from prison, where he is serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The cosigners referred to Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther and NPR reporter, as a "Black freedom fighter" and "elderly political prisoner," and vowed political retribution against lawmakers who opposed his release from prison.

The Philadelphia Palestine Coalition and Black Alliance for Peace are two sponsors of a boycott against "Zionist business owners" to show "solidarity with the Palestinian community and oppressed folk everywhere." The protesters had planned to ride their bicycles past Jewish- and Israeli-owned businesses in downtown Philadelphia, wave Palestinian flags, and "show these zionist business owners that we see them for the disgusting humans they are," according to the groups' original Instagram post.

The event, which was largely thwarted by counterprotesters who turned out to defend the targeted businesses, drew widespread condemnation, in part because it was held on the eve of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass," in which Nazi enforcers attacked Jewish businesses and synagogues across Germany and Austria and rounded up thousands of Jewish men to be sent off to concentration camps. It was a watershed moment in the Holocaust, the first time the Nazis rounded up Jews just for being Jewish.

Rabb has faced blowback for being one of the few local leaders to stay silent on the anti-Jew hatefest, which took place in his congressional district.

"He's going to be my congressman," Allan Domb, the owner of Schlesinger's Deli, one of the restaurants targeted by the protesters, told Jewish Insider. "When an owner of a business in his district, who happens to be Jewish, is threatened by a group of people who say they want to shut me down, it seems to me that my congressman should speak up about that."

Shanin Specter, the son of the late Sen. Arlen Specter (D.), called Rabb "a sack of shit" for staying mum on the boycott.

Rabb's silence is in stark contrast to his recent pressure campaign against his alma mater, Yale University, for negotiating with the Trump administration regarding its admissions practices. Rabb demanded the university "say 'f— you' to fascists." He is poised to be one of the most radical left lawmakers when he takes office in January and has a lengthy history of embracing radical rhetoric, especially on the issue of Israel.
'We Pushed Them Into a Fight': Congressman-Elect Adam Hamawy Refuses To Call Iran a US Adversary
New Jersey Democrat Adam Hamawy, the longtime associate of the notorious "Blind Sheikh" terrorist mastermind who will soon represent the state's 12th Congressional District, refused to call Iran a U.S. adversary, saying, "We pushed them into a fight."

During a Tuesday appearance on CNN's The Situation Room, host Pamela Brown asked Hamawy if he "see[s] Iran as the adversary."

"I see—we pushed them into a fight, and so I think we both have to step back and say, 'Is this helping either one of us?'" Hamawy said. "But are they the adversary?" Brown asked. "We're making adversaries when we should be making friends," said Hamawy. "They've been saying 'death to America' for decades," Brown responded. "We've been saying 'death to Iran' for decades, as well," Hamawy said.

When Brown noted that Iran has "killed a lot of Americans," Hamawy responded, "We've killed a lot of them, as well." He went on to argue that the United States should use its "economic" power "to create friends in the region." Iran has killed and kidnapped more than 1,000 Americans since 1979.



Hamawy's remarks reflect the radical nature of the freshman class of House Democrats.

Hamawy, a Princeton, N.J., plastic surgeon who once worked in a hospital Hamas operated out of in Gaza, won his deep-blue district by nearly 50 points last week after defeating nine other Democrats in his tighter June primary race. Hamawy faced scrutiny for his close ties to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Omar Abdel-Rahman, better-known as the Blind Sheikh. Hamawy served as a defense witness at the 1995 trial that saw the Islamic cleric put away for life and acknowledged that he heard Abdel-Rahman speak of "conquering the land of the infidels" and of "jihad." Hamawy argued during his primary campaign that Abdel-Rahman was actually a "community leader."

"He was a leader of the community that talks about how to pray, how to wash, how to practice as a normal Muslim," Hamawy said in May. "He wasn't preaching death and destruction all the time," Hamawy said. The mosque Abdel-Rahman preached at, described as a "jihad office" in court records, was where the bombing conspirators met. Hamawy said the Blind Sheikh "always" talked about jihad, but refused to condemn his longtime mentor.


J Street memo calls for pause on weapons sales to Israel, conditions on cooperative programs
A policy platform released by J Street on Monday calls for the U.S. to pause arms transfers to Israel and to place conditions on any future defense and technology cooperation programs with the Jewish state.

The policies largely aren’t new for J Street, but they represent a unified agenda for the group in the coming Congress and are likely to be influential within the substantial Democratic majority coming to Capitol Hill. The group’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, declared after last week’s midterms that the election results were a “resounding victory” for the group and place it at the “center” of the party’s approach to Israel policy.

The memo repeats J Street’s call to “rapidly and responsibly phase out” U.S. direct aid to Israel, including U.S. support for Israeli missile-defense programs, as well as calls to “pause delivery of offensive weapons until it is confirmed that Israel is no longer violating U.S. laws and values.”

Further arms sales, the group argues, should be evaluated “on a case-by-case basis according to U.S. interests and Israeli actions in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank, and elsewhere, while continuing to ensure Israel is able to obtain Iron Dome and other exclusively defensive systems.”

The group also calls to link “any new significant … defense and technology cooperation programs” to Israeli cooperation with U.S. policy goals and approaches in the Middle East.

“Until Israel changes course, a Democratic Congress or President should terminate or suspend any significant agreements signed by the Trump Administration over the next two years, including a potential new long-term 10-year Memorandum of Understanding or dramatically expanded joint defense and technology cooperation as proposed” in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, the memo continues.
US senators urge block on Israel military tech pact
In a letter to congressional leaders, 11 Democratic senators and independent Bernie Sanders warn that proposed legislation could give Israel greater leverage over sensitive American military technology, restrict US decision-making, and undermine national security.

Twelve US senators have urged congressional leaders to remove three provisions from the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would expand defense technology cooperation and intelligence sharing between the United States and Israel, warning that the measures could undermine American national security interests.

In a letter dated November 10, the senators argued that the proposed provisions would deepen Washington’s technological and intelligence ties with Israel at a time when, in their view, the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and elsewhere in the region are increasingly at odds with American interests. Advertisement

“These provisions would constrain the Administration’s ability to independently determine how best to protect US national security and would lock in long-term commitments despite our serious concerns with the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza, the West Bank, and other parts of the region,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Peter Welch, Edward Markey, Jeff Merkley, Brian Schatz, Patty Murray, Tina Smith, Ron Wyden, Andy Kim, and Tammy Duckworth, along with independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.


German ex-culture commissioner regrets criticizing anti-Israel film
Claudia Roth, who served as Commissioner for Culture and the Media (2021-2025) under German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government, walked back her criticism of anti-Israel remarks made by the filmmakers of “No Other Land,” at a 2024 awards ceremony, during a Nov. 4 German-language podcast.

Roth, 71, said she regretted her criticism against the documentary’s co-directors, calling her remarks a “huge mistake” and a “great stupidity,” in an interview with the podcast “Jung & Naiv” (“Young & Naรฏve”), a German national public-service broadcaster, Deutschlandfunk, reported on Nov. 6.

Roth, who is a member of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, for the Alliance 90/The Greens party, often referred to as the Greens, blamed the Central Council of German Jewry, the principal umbrella organization representing Jewish communities in Germany, along with other parties, for pressuring her to make her criticisms. “She said she was too weak or overwhelmed in that situation,” Deutschlandfunk reported.

At the 74th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) in February 2024, the documentary film “No Other Land” won two major awards. (In 2025, it would win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.) The film is about Masafer Yatta, a collection of illegal Arab settlements built on land Israel had declared a military zone. Israeli politicians and Israel supporters criticized the film as one-sided.

Two of the four co-directors, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, (who, together with Rachel Szor, another of the film’s co-directors, is behind the controversial 2026 documentary “Naza”), used their award speeches to make political statements. Adra said it was difficult for him to celebrate his film’s success while people in Gaza were “being slaughtered and massacred.” He called on Germany to stop arms exports to Israel. Abraham said that in Israel a “situation of apartheid” existed.

German politicians criticized their comments at the time. Joseph Chialo, Berlin’s State Minister for Culture and Social Cohesion, posted to X: “This year’s award ceremony of the Berlinale was marked by self-righteous anti-Israeli propaganda that has no place on the stages of Berlin.” Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner posted to X: “The full responsibility for the deep suffering in Israel and the Gaza Strip lies with Hamas.” Social Democrats spokesperson Melanie Kuhnemann-Grunow said, “The Berlinale has suffered damage—whether this can be healed remains to be seen,” ScreenDaily reported.


Pro-Palestinian activists target Arab-Jewish coexistence concert in boycott call
Pro-Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of an Arab-Jewish musical ensemble performing in London on Tuesday evening, despite the group’s longstanding efforts to promote coexistence between the two communities.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) is urging demonstrators to gather outside the British Library at 6pm in opposition to a concert by Shesh Besh, a six-piece ensemble associated with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The planned protest has prompted a counter-demonstration by Stop The Hate UK, which accused activists of targeting Israeli musicians.

“Tonight, a group of haters plan to target and harass Israeli musicians who are performing at the British Library,” the group wrote on X.

“We won’t let their hate go unanswered. We will be countering their nasty protest.”

The concert, organised by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Foundation UK, is being promoted as an evening of “extraordinary music and shared humanity”, bringing Arab and Jewish musicians together through classical and traditional Middle Eastern music.

However, PSC has condemned the event as part of a “propaganda campaign”, accusing the orchestra of complicity in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and calling for a boycott under the slogan “No Genocide Orchestra”.

Shesh Besh, whose origins date back to the late 1990s, features three Arab Israeli and three Jewish Israeli musicians and has performed internationally as part of efforts to encourage cultural dialogue.

Its work includes bringing Arab and Jewish schoolchildren together to explore each other’s musical traditions.

According to the orchestra, approximately 2,000 Arab and Jewish secondary school pupils have attended its concerts since 2022.

The ensemble’s visit to Britain, its first since 2009, also includes educational activities at Jewish schools and performances in Oxford and London.


Maldives moves to enact permanent ban on Israeli passport holders, blocks Israeli investment
The Maldives is moving to make its ban on Israeli passport holders permanent, with President Mohamed Muizzu announcing on Monday that Israelis “will not be permitted to enter the Maldives under any circumstances.”

During a press conference held at the Maldives President’s Office yesterday, Muizzu explained that earlier proposals sought to prohibit entry “until Israel halted the genocide that began following October 7, 2023.”

However, the current bill provides for an unconditional ban on entry for anyone holding an Israeli passport, irrespective of changing circumstances.

Muizzu accuses Israel of genocide
Beyond Muizzu referring to Israel’s actions against the Palestinian people as “genocide,” he said that the Maldives had consistently maintained this position on international platforms and advocated for the Palestinian cause through various legal avenues.

“We do not accept the genocide being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people, and it is something the Maldivian people cannot accept under any circumstances,” he said.

Muizzu told the media that the proposed Immigration Bill had been drafted to reflect these considerations and clearly establishes the Maldives’ position on the matter.

The government has submitted the Immigration Act amendment to the People’s Majlis – the Maldives' legislative body.

It is unclear how the proposed entry ban would affect Israeli citizens with dual nationality.
Save the Children UK refuses to adopt IHRA definition despite antisemitism review recommendations
Save the Children UK has been condemned by politicians and whistleblowers after the charity opted against adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, despite an independent review suggesting it does so.

The review, which looked at antisemitism and anti-Muslim prejudice, was commissioned last March by the charity and carried out by consultants Global HPO (GHPO), found that “there appears to be a lack of appreciation and understanding of what constitutes antisemitism in the workplace”.

Its findings stated: “The impact felt by those who are Jewish and their colleagues hasn’t been fully understood, and people have been unable to speak about some of their experiences until now in an independent review.”

The report suggested adopting the IHRA definition, among other recommendations, but the charity instead has decided to stick with the Equality Act and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) guidance on race and religion or belief discrimination to guide its antisemitism policies.

Critics of IHRA have argued against its adoption, largely due to its provisions listing the denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, comparison of contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis, and the suggestion that Israel’s establishment was an inherently racist endeavour as examples of contemporary antisemitism.

On its decision to reject the report’s recommendation to adopt the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, Save the Children UK told the Telegraph: “Following the consultation with staff equality networks, Save the Children’s leadership agreed we will use the Equality Act and Acas guidance on race and religion or belief discrimination.”

Jon Pearce, a Labour MP and the UK’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, told The Telegraph: “The IHRA definition is the internationally recognised benchmark for identifying antisemitism.

“You cannot tackle a problem you are unwilling to identify, and Save the Children’s failure so far to adopt it is a deeply troubling indication of a wider cultural problem and a serious failure of leadership.

“It is sad to see where an organisation once held in such high regard has fallen. The independent report raises fundamental questions about whether Jewish staff can expect the same dignity, respect and equality as their colleagues.

“If it cannot guarantee that, how can it be trusted to fulfil its charitable objectives? I hope the Charity Commission will step in.”

The report also recommended that staff “resist the use of Hitler, Nazi and Holocaust metaphors, distortions and comparisons” when discussing the situation in Gaza.

And it urged that the word “Zionist” be employed “advisedly, carefully and never euphemistically or as part of personal abuse”.

Save the Children decided not to adopt an official policy specifically for this, writing: “On the question around use of Nazi and Holocaust metaphors and the use of the term ‘Zionist’, the recommendation was around their usage rather than for the establishment of a policy.

“We agreed, and this was in line with our existing communications guidelines and code of conduct, which colleagues are expected to follow and which we continue to implement.”

A former staff member, who has remained anonymous, claimed that anti-Israel attitudes within the charity have not changed since the report came out 18 months ago.

Citing one example of this, they said they have “concerns about different standards of attribution”.

When talking about the Gaza conflict, “Israel is named directly, while Hamas is described generically,” they went on.

“The wording is notable because Hamas is clearly named when discussing negotiations but not when attributing the October 7 attack.”
Edinburgh bookshop accused of unlawful discrimination after cancelling Jewish poet’s event over alleged Zionist beliefs
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has challenged an Edinburgh bookshop over its decision to cancel a poetry event after receiving complaints that its Jewish organiser had performed “Zionist/racist” poems at other venues.

UKLFI has written to Typewronger Books on behalf of Jewish poet Tracey S. Rosenberg, arguing that the cancellation of her Dead Poets’ Slam was likely to constitute unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

The event, scheduled for 2 December 2026, was a light-hearted poetry competition in which performers would impersonate deceased poets and recite their work. Ms Rosenberg was due to host the evening in the character of Dorothy Parker. The event had nothing to do with Israel or Gaza.

Typewronger initially welcomed the proposal, describing it as “an excellent idea, and very us!” The event was advertised on Eventbrite, tickets were booked and performers had begun signing up.

However, on 19 October, the bookshop contacted Ms Rosenberg claiming it had received complaints about “potential safeguarding issues”. These included allegations that she had performed “various Zionist/racist poems” at other Edinburgh open mic events and accused other poets of antisemitism for using the phrase “Free Palestine”.

In its email to Ms Rosenberg, Typewronger stated that it did not want to create the impression that it supported Israel and declared: “Free Palestine is very much the opinion of those who work here.”

The bookshop then asked Ms Rosenberg to clarify her own position. When she requested a telephone conversation, Typewronger insisted on communicating by email, stating: “I hope our position is unambiguous, please let me know yours.”

Ms Rosenberg replied that she was unsure what was expected of herHowever, Typewronger refused to engage further with Ms Rosenberg, instead choosing to cancel the event less that two hours after first raising the allegations.

The cancellation appears to have been prompted by the Zionist beliefs attributed to Ms Rosenberg, rather than by anything connected with the planned event.

Ms Rosenberg identified three poems on subjects relating to Israel and her Jewish identity that she performed at spoken word events. These related to the 7 October terrorist attacks, antisemitism in Britain and anti-Israel protests. None of them was racist.

UKLFI argues that Zionism, understood as belief in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their homeland, is capable of protection as a philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. The Act also protects Jewish ethnicity and religion.

UKLFI has asked Typewronger to explain who decided to cancel the event, disclose the complaints and other evidence relied upon, acknowledge the alleged discrimination and apologise to Ms Rosenberg.


Unable to pay teachers, PA cuts West Bank students’ classes for fourth year running
For three days a week, Mahdi Daraghmeh sends his three kids, 6, 8 and 13 years old, off to elementary school.

The rest of the week, though, the school is shuttered, leaving the kids staring at screens at their northern Jordan Valley home rather than learning in a classroom.

“They’re on smartphones and playing games,” Daraghmeh told the Times of Israel. “They forget everything they learned.”

The three-day school week is not unique to Daraghmeh’s West Bank town of al-Malih, nor is it a new schedule.

For the fourth year running, hundreds of thousands of students attending Palestinian Authority schools across the West Bank are learning only part-time, their educational prospects curtailed by a financial crisis that has no end in sight.

Though there has been little international attention or public outcry among Palestinians over the issue, test scores published in September showed declining levels of educational attainment among Palestinian 15-year-olds in 2025, seemingly offering the first hard evidence of the damage being caused by the reduced schooling.

“International organizations and experts in the field are certain that there has been a decline in academic performance because three days aren’t enough,” a West Bank principal, who asked not to be named, told The Times of Israel. “It’s a dangerous sign for the future of education.”

At the school he runs, serving first to ninth grades, students and teachers are present just three days a week rather than the standard five, as they were for the previous three academic years.

Like other teachers and PA employees, the principal said he has been receiving only a partial salary for the past three years — 50 percent of his regular pay, or around NIS 2,800 ($911) a month. Others have been getting even less.

The PA has long struggled with financial solvency, relying heavily on foreign aid amid widespread allegations of official corruption. Those issues have been compounded by Israel increasingly withholding tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians, which previously averaged around NIS 700 million ($270 million) a month and accounted for some 60% of the PA’s budget.


Pink scores massive career win as she announces history-making residency at The Sphere in Vegas... after pro-Palestine activists tried to cancel her over Ed Sheeran support
Pink is clapping back at the cancel culture club with a history-making residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

The So What singer announced her residency at the splashy arena via a social media announcement on Monday, a mere two months after she faced brutal backlash for slamming rapper Macklemore's 'pro-Palestine' speech that got him booted as the opening act on Ed Sheeran's Loop Tour.

'Makes me think of celebration. Makes me feel like I’m on top of the world,' the 47-year-old singer, born Alecia Moore, hyped of the gig that will make her the first-ever solo female pop artist to headline the $2.2 billion venue, following high-profile acts like U2 and Metallica.

'This idea has been bubbling up for years. And I finally get to share it with all of you! Let’s celebrate!' she continued in the message to her 11.7 million followers on Instagram.

The residency, a series of nine shows, will take place across a five-week period in September and October of next year.

The Get This Party Started pop diva continued in her post, 'The highs, the lows, the new, the scary, the never been done before. For the first time, I’m giving a show a home and I hope you’ll visit. It’s my FIRST EVER residency. @spherevegas, 2027. I can’t wait to have you over.'

Pink ignited her feud with Macklemore when she reposted an Instagram Story from StopAntisemitism which slammed the rapper's performance at an Ed Sheeran concert earlier this fall.

'Awful – Jewish fans bought tickets to see Ed Sheeran sing last night in NJ, not to be ambushed by Macklemore's anti-Israel propaganda,' the caption on StopAntisemitism's original post read.

'Instead, Macklemore walked onstage in a keffiyeh, shouted “Free Palestine,” accused Israel of a false “genocide,” and turned a mainstream event into a political nightmare against the Jewish state. Concertgoers are owed apologies and refunds.'

Days after she stoked controversy with the post, the three-time Grammy winner published an essay on Instagram that explained her reasoning for slamming Macklemore and clarified that she didn't completely support the pro-Israel message of the original poster.

'I’ve been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn’t like me. So here they are,' she began her attempt to clarify her stance beyond a series of confrontational memes she reposted that appeared to be aimed at her critics.

'Last Sunday I reposted somebody else’s post about Macklemore’s set at Ed Sheeran’s show. It said things in words I didn’t write, and I wouldn’t have chosen all of them,' Pink wrote alongside a photo of herself gazing into a sunset. 'Then the comments came, and I did what I do when I’m hurt, which is post snarky memes and act like I’m fine. That’s on me.

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



 

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