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Columbia University announced it would take action against several masked protesters who disrupted a modern Israeli history class on Tuesday.

The protesters entered the classroom, banged on drums, chanted "Free Palestine," and handed out posters that read "crush Zionism," featuring an image of a jackboot stomping on the Star of David. The protesters also held up a sign featuring an illustration of armed Hamas fighters and attempted to plaster it on the classroom walls.

The disruption occurred on the first day of the spring semester, marking a shift after several relatively quiet months on campus.

Interim President Katrina Armstrong condemned the incident in a statement.

We strongly condemn this disruption, as well as the violent imagery on the fliers, which is unacceptable on our campus and in our community," Armstrong said. "No group of students has the right to disrupt another group's learning in a Columbia classroom."

She added that the university would "act promptly to investigate and address this incident" and stressed that "any act of antisemitism, discrimination, harassment, or intimidation against members of our community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

President Armstrong also indicated that the disruption likely violated the rules of university conduct and may have breached other university policies, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

The class was led by Israeli historian Avi Shilon, who was teaching his first course at Columbia. Shilon told Haaretz that as he was presenting the syllabus and outlining how the course would explore conflicting narratives on Israel and Palestine, the protesters stormed into the classroom.

"I was surprised," he said. "I thought that with the cease-fire in place, things would settle down. I even told my wife this morning it should go smoothly."

Shilon said that much as he wasn't fazed by the protesters, there's an uneasy feeling. "It was like someone bursting into your house."

He approached the protesters and suggested that if they had strong opinions, they should join the class and engage in the discussion. He said they refused and continued to interrupt.

Shilon, author of books on David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, and the decline of the left-wing in Israel, as well as a contributor to Haaretz and other publications, began his tenure at Columbia that day. Shilon said he was hired to fill the university's need for a historian specializing in Israel.

"I am a historian. I didn't come to represent the Israeli government. I am interested in research and dialogue," he said. "This isn't a protest on the street; it is a place of work."

The protesters left after a few minutes of disruption, and security arrived shortly after. Shilon said that the administration was supportive and had even offered protection for his next class, an offer he declined.

"Having security goes against the idea of open engagement. But if this keeps happening, there might not be another option, and that would be very sad," he said.

Outside, dozens of protesters, their faces covered with keffiyehs and masks, gathered on Columbia's main quad and at the entrance to the Morningside Heights campus.

Despite the cease-fire, pro-Palestinian activists have vowed to continue protesting the university.

Police in Australia believe a string of antisemitic attacks, including the torching of a daycare center in Sydney early Tuesday morning, may be coordinated by foreign actors, as authorities struggle to contain the scourge.

Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw said Tuesday that a special anti-terror operation set up to combat serious antisemitic crimes was actively investigating 15 serious allegations, though only a single person has been arrested thus far. There have also been dozens of arrests by local police in Victoria and New South Wales, the Australian government said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called a snap meeting of the national cabinet Tuesday to discuss the issue following the daycare center attack, a move opposition parties and Jewish community leaders have been demanding for weeks. Officials there agreed to establish a national database to track antisemitic incidents and behaviors in order to better coordinate responses across different departments and states.

Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said Australia’s political leadership was finally starting to understand the severity of the problem after failing to properly address mounting anti-Jewish incidents for over a year, much of it thought tied to Israel’s war against the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip.

Attacks have included anti-Jewish and anti-Israel graffiti smeared on properties or vehicles in areas with large Jewish populations, and arson attacks on synagogues in Sydney and Melbourne.

The latest attack occurred just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning when a childcare center adjacent to a synagogue in the Sydney neighborhood of Maroubra was firebombed and graffitied with the message “f**k the Jews.” The building was unoccupied at the time and there were no reports of injuries.

In a statement Tuesday, Kershaw said Australian Federal Police were investigating the possibility that overseas actors were paying local criminals to carry out attacks against the Jewish community and whether young people who had been radicalized online were behind the incidents.

Kershaw noted that payments may have been made in cryptocurrency, making it harder to track.

The pattern of foreign actors paying locals — usually via cryptocurrency — to carry out acts of petty vandalism and setting cars on fire could dovetail with a similar phenomenon in Israel. According to the Shin Bet security agency, dozens of Israelis have been arrested in recent months for accepting money from figures in Iran to graffiti cars and walls with anti-Israel or pro-Iran messages, and to torch cars.

A similar phenomenon has also been reported in Europe, with Russia accused of recruiting locals to commit arson attacks and other acts of sabotage in a bid to undermine support for Ukraine.

Australian officials did not elaborate on the avenue of investigation, but Kershaw said the antisemitic attacks had been brought up with the Five Eyes, a high profile intelligence sharing network between Australia, the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand.

“Regardless, it all points to the same motivation: demonising and intimidating the Jewish community,” he said in the statement, promising that more suspects would be charged as more evidence is gathered.

An executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to target, among others, foreign nationals who participated in anti-Israel protests that swept throughout the country since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught, and which sometimes featured support for the Palestinian terror group.

The Executive Order Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Threats stated that the government must be “vigilant” in issuing visas to foreign nationals and ensure that those approved “do not intend to harm Americans or our national interests.”

The order signed by Trump shortly after his inauguration required the US government to ensure that foreign nationals “not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles, and do not advocate for, aid, or support designated foreign terrorists and other threats to our national security.”

Trump campaigned on cracking down on the anti-Israel protests, particularly those on college campuses, but it was not yet clear how exactly he’d go about doing it, given free speech laws in the US.

“When I am president we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals,” Trump said at a rally in May. “If you come from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to our campuses we will immediately deport you. You’ll be out of that school.”

The Republican party also included a commitment to “deport pro-Hamas radicals and make our college campuses safe and patriotic again” on a list of 20 promises made in the party platform adopted at its National Convention in July.

The legality of expelling foreign nationals from the United States for participating in a protest has not yet been tested, but the move would likely be extremely controversial.

It is not clear how many foreign students have been involved in the anti-Israel protests. GOP officials and pro-Israel groups told NBC News last year that they have so far identified only four who were known to have been arrested, expelled, or barred from graduating due to their participation in the demonstrations.

Columbia has identified and suspended a University affiliate in connection with the Tuesday disruption of the History of Modern Israel class, according to a Thursday Columbia News statement.

The suspension will remain in effect until the University completes a “full investigation and disciplinary process,” the statement read. A University spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding the nature of the individual’s affiliation to Columbia.

The University is still investigating the disruption and working on identifying the remaining three participants.

“Disruptions to our classrooms and our academic mission and efforts to intimidate or harass our students are not acceptable, are an affront to every member of our University community, and will not be tolerated,” the statement reads.

Protesters disrupted the first session of the class History of Modern Israel, a graduate-level Jewish studies course taught by history lecturer Avi Shilon, on Tuesday, the first day of classes in the spring semester.

Multiple individuals walked into the Fayerweather Hall classroom and distributed flyers to the class, according to a video posted on X. One flyer depicted a boot stomping on the Star of David with the words “Crush Zionism.” Another included the words “Burn Zionism to the ground” with the image of an individual wearing a keffiyeh holding a burning Israeli flag.

The disruption overlapped with pro-Palestinian demonstrations on and around campus on Tuesday. Interim University President Katrina Armstrong, Barnard President Laura Rosenbury, and Columbia College Dean Josef Sorett condemned the disruption.

In a Wednesday article in YNet News, Shilon detailed his experience in the classroom. He wrote,“The moment I saw the masked men, my first instinct was to think they were terrorists.” Shilon wrote that the experience showed him “how important it is to teach about Israel and the conflict from a complex perspective, one that does not see only one side.”

Elisha Baker, CC ’26, a student in the class, wrote in a statement to Spectator that he is “heartened by Columbia’s swift suspension.”

“Accountability is crucial as a measure to disincentivize this kind of behavior which runs completely counter to the fundamental purpose of the university,” he wrote. “And I hope to see swift discipline for the other perpetrators.”

Armstrong wrote in a statement on Wednesday that the University had conducted an expedited investigation of the incident and modified security protocols to require CUID swipe access for buildings on the Morningside campus.

Public Safety will be “identifying and directing additional resources to classes at increased risk for disruption,” the Wednesday statement read.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticized the disruption in a post to X on Wednesday and dozens of Columbia and Barnard faculty condemned the disruption in a Wednesday letter to the editor published in Spectator.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce condemned the incident in a post on X, claiming that “failing to combat antisemitism will no longer be tolerated in the Trump administration.”

“Outrageous that masked students disrupted class at @Columbia, which receives billions in taxpayer dollars, to pass out flyers calling for the murder of Jews,” the committee wrote.

New Zealand’s government immigration authority has begun to require Israelis applying for a visa to report details of their military service as a condition for entry, and at least one person has been denied admission after doing so, The Times of Israel has learned.

Israelis of reserve service age who applied for tourist visas to New Zealand have been asked to report whether they had served in the Israel Defense Forces — as almost all Israeli citizens are required to do — and whether they are active reservists. Those who answered affirmatively were required to complete detailed questionnaires about their military service.

In the first questionnaire, visa applicants were asked about the dates of their military service, the location of their bases, the corps and units in which they served, the military camps where they were stationed, their rank, details of their roles, and their military ID numbers.

In the second questionnaire, they were asked:

“Have you been associated with any intelligence service or group, or law enforcement agency?”
“Have you been associated with any group or organization that has used or promoted violence or human rights abuses to further their aims?”
“Have you committed or been involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or human rights abuses?”
Those who can’t disclose details of their military service due to security concerns are not exempt from filling out the questionnaire; as a result, they are unable to complete it and obtain a visa.

At least one soldier who served in Gaza during the ongoing war against Hamas has been denied entry to New Zealand. He said that this was a direct result of his answers to the questionnaire, while noting that he said he had not been involved in war crimes in Gaza.

Australia has been operating a similar policy, and at least two Israelis have been denied entry as a result.

New Zealand’s Immigration Authority (INZ), reached for comment, did not deny the details of this report, but said that serving in the current war did not automatically disqualify Israelis from entering the country.

he authority’s response also noted the following statistics: “As of 14 January 2025, we have received 944 applications from Israeli nationals across both temporary and residence visa applications. Of those received, 809 have been approved, 37 declined, 69 [are] in progress and the remainder have been withdrawn.”

During the same period, the authority saw 259 applications from Palestinian passport holders, of which 177 were approved, 53 declined, 21 are in progress and the remainder have been withdrawn, it added.

New Zealand anti-Israel activists opened a hotline to track down IDF soldiers and reservists visiting the country, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA) announced, causing outrage this week among politicians and Jewish community groups.

Activists can call a phone number if they come across Israeli soldiers or reservists holidaying in the country, according to a Wednesday PSNA newsletter.

“Israeli soldiers should not enjoy rest and recreation from genocide in New Zealand,” PSNA said in the newsletter. “We need your help to track them down so we can let them know they are not welcome here.”

PSNA National Chair John Minto said on Facebook that the “genocide hotline” was part of holding Israel and the New Zealand government to account for “the most horrendous war crimes [of] the 21st century.”

The announcement hotline was met by enthused supporters, Minto said on social media on Tuesday, asserting that it would save Palestinian lives by sending a message to Israel that the Western world does not accept its alleged war crimes. The PSNA leader said the outrage and accusations of antisemitism from detractors were expected and rejected the framing.

'Extreme totalitarian behavior'
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters denounced the hotline as “extreme totalitarian behavior.”

“John Minto’s call to identify people from Israel holidaying in New Zealand via a ‘dob them in [snitch] hotline’ is an outrageous show of fascism, racism, and encouragement of violence and vigilantism,” Peters warned on social media on Tuesday.

ACT Party MP Simon Court accused Minto and his followers of “undisguised antisemitic behavior” that could create a “real-life version of the Hunger Games movies,” referring to the film and book series in which characters hunt each other down in a contest to the death.

“Military service is compulsory for Israeli citizens. This means any Israeli holidaying, visiting family, or doing business in New Zealand could be targeted by John Minto’s hateful campaign,” Court said. “This is not normal political activism, it is intimidation targeted toward Jewish visitors. It mirrors the worst instincts of humanity and should be condemned by parties across Parliament.”

ACT called on the New Zealand Parliament to condemn the hotline.

New Zealand Human Rights Commission Chief Commissioner Stephen Rainbow said that while the campaign didn’t meet the threshold for unlawful speech, he called for the closure of the hotline because it was potentially harmful to Israeli and Jewish people in the country.

“Israeli and Jewish people have as much right as everyone else in New Zealand to be safe, secure, and free from harassment,” said Rainbow, whose commission reportedly received more than 90 complaints about the hotline. “This sort of action has the risk of a ripple effect which may cause harm in the community.”

The Israel Institute of New Zealand, which had raised awareness of the call to action, said setting up a hotline so citizens of certain states could be harassed or worse was abhorrent “discrimination and incitement.”

“No visitor or citizen should be hunted down by vigilantes,” said IINZ.

New Zealand Jewish Council (NZJC) spokesperson Juliet Moses said Minto had launched an incitement campaign against a nationality, noting that Minto had denied that the November Amsterdam pogrom was motivated by antisemitism.

The Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, an organization of indigenous activists that support Israel and affirm the Jewish people’s indigenous status, said the hotline was reminiscent of Nazi-era Europe and called for a rejection of divisive rhetoric and hatred. The organization called on supporters to report Minto’s Facebook page to Meta and said the NZ police had been notified of the hotline.

Minto on Tuesday decried the responses as an attack by a “Predictable lineup of apologists for Israel.” Minto rejected the Human Rights Commission’s statement that the campaign was targeting Israelis or Jews, since Israeli soldiers could also be Druze or Arab.

He also slammed the NZJC as a “deeply racist” organization that regularly makes false antisemitism accusations in a manner that took attention from actual antisemitism. Minto said Peters should have pressured Israel to end the supposed genocide and stopped Israelis with addresses in the disputed territories from obtaining visas for entry into New Zealand.

PSNA last Wednesday had in its newsletter called for the suspension of all visas for Israeli soldiers. The anti-Israel organization said a 2019 visa waiver allowed soldiers to enter the country for three months without needing a visa.

Minto called for nationwide rallies for the visa ban on Saturday, arguing on Facebook, “We wouldn’t allow Russian soldiers to come here for rest and recreation from the invasion of Ukraine so why would we accept soldiers from the genocidal, apartheid state of Israel?”

A third of British Jews don't see a future for them in the United Kingdom, and half of them have recently considered leaving the country, according to a poll published Monday and conducted by the NGO Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).

The June survey of 4,078 British Jews found that 50% of respondents had considered leaving Britain due to antisemitism. Younger participants were more likely to have contemplated leaving the country, with 67% of adults 18 to 24 years of age and 63% of adults 25-49 years of age agreeing with the sentiment.

Only 30% of UK Jewish pensioners had considered leaving due to anti-Jewish animus. Orthodox and Haredi Jews were also more likely to have considered leaving the kingdom, with other groups hovering around the 45-50% range for agreement with the question.

When asked which two factors most motivated their consideration for leaving the British Isles, 76% of participants said the surge of antisemitism in the UK since the October 7 Massacre. Thirty-nine percent of respondents cited general prejudice towards Jews in society, and 38% cited antisemitism in political parties.

While many Jews had considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism, 34% percent of respondents still believed that Jews had a future in the country. Yet this optimism was eclipsed by the 37% of participants who didn't believe their co-religionists had a future in the UK, and a further 29% didn't agree or disagree with the belief in a Jewish future in the country.

Though uncertain of their personal and communal future, many respondents felt welcome in the UK as a Jew. Forty-three percent of participants felt welcome in the country, while 34% felt unwelcome.

British Jews feel unwelcome
"Less than half of British Jews feel welcome in the UK. Antisemitism has become our nation’s great shame, and time is running out," a CAA spokesperson said in a statement.

Over half of British Jews may make attempts to conceal signs of Judaism when venturing out into the public, according to the poll, such as hiding a Star of David necklace or kippah. Fifty-eight percent of participants concealed signs of Jewish identity, while 22% did not.

However, the most visible Jewish participants, Orthodox and Haredi Jews, were less likely to conceal physical Jewish shibboleths, with only 45% hiding these symbols compared to around 60% among other sects.

Jewish Brits are most concerned about Islamist extremism rather than radicalism from other ideological groups. Seventy-six percent perceived Islamism as a very serious threat to British Jews, and 19% saw the movement as a moderately serious threat.

Sixty percent and 31% of participants saw the far-left as a very serious threat and moderately serious threat, respectively. Only 26% saw the British far-right as a threat to Jewry, but a further 41% viewed the radical political wing as a moderate threat. When asked how much the authorities protect Jews from each ideological radical group, 92% said that not enough was done against Islamists, 88% said not enough was done against far-leftists, and only 60% said not enough was done against far-rightists.

British Jews also identified different levels of antisemitism among different political parties, viewing the British right wing more favorably than the left. The political parties most identified by respondents as too tolerant of antisemitism among politicians, members, and supporters were the Green Party with 72%, the Labour Party with 71%, followed by the Scottish National Party and Sinn Fein with 52% and 42%, respectively.

The parties that were seen as least tolerant of antisemitism in their ranks were the Reform Party with 19%, the Democratic Unionist Party with 21%, followed by the UK Independence Party and Conservative Party with 22%.

British Jews were not satisfied with London Mayor Sadiq Khan's performance regarding Jewish residents since the October 7 Massacre. Eighty-five percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Khan, in comparison of 33% disapproval of Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, with 55% of participants saying that they didn't know if they were satisfied or not with Burnham.

Politicians in general were seen by respondents as not doing enough to protect Jews. Eighty-two percent said that politicians didn't do enough to safeguard British Jewry, and 77% said that the government doesn't do enough.

The 2024 survey indicated that British Jews may have a severe distrust and dissatisfaction with UK law enforcement. Eighty percent of participants believed that the police didn't do enough to protect Jews, a sentiment extended by 66% and 61% to the Crown Prosecution Service and Courts, respectively.

Three-quarters of British Jewish poll participants were not satisfied with how local police forces had addressed anti-Israel marches in their cities. In London, which has seen weekly marches and on January 18 saw mass arrests of anti-Israel activist leaders for violating police conditions meant to protect Jewish worshippers, three-quarters didn't have confidence and trust in Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley. Another Sixty percent of respondents went further, saying that Rowley should not continue in the position.

A potential mass casualty terrorist attack against Australian Jewish targets was averted by the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives in a Sydney suburb, Australian law enforcement and political leadership announced on Wednesday.

The caravan was discovered on January 19 on a rural, residential Dural property, about 25 kilometers northwest of the New South Wales state capital, with indication, according to NSW Police Force Deputy Police Commissioner David Hudson, that multiple Jewish community sites or persons were being targeted. NSW Premier Chris Minns and Hudson assured during a Wednesday joint press briefing that the threat had been fully contained and there was no further threat to the Jewish community.

"That caravan contained an amount of explosives and some indication that those explosives might be used in some form of antisemitic attack," Hudson said.

Hudson didn't detail the exact targets but said that relevant Jewish community actors would be made aware of the plot against them. The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said in a Wednesday statement that the caravan allegedly contained a note outlining potential Jewish communal targets.

During the ten days of investigation authorities had made arrests on the "periphery" of the case, but Hudson did not disclose how many or the nature of the charges. Law enforcement is still looking for those that stored the explosives in the vehicle and orchestrated the foiled attacks.

Hudson said that investigators believed that the planned attack was connected to a spate of antisemitic arson and vandalism incident that had afflicted the greater Sydney area in recent weeks.

"We believe that there is some connection between some of the targets we've charged under Strike Force Pearl and this investigation," Hudson said, referring to the task force established in December to address anti-Jewish motivated crimes in the Sydney area.

The substance stored in the caravan were Powergel putty explosives that Hudson believed were stolen from a mining site. Law enforcement didn't believe that there were further explosives in play in this plot.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese assured in a Wednesday statement that the "full might" of Australian law enforcement would be brought to bear in a major investigation of the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

A European Union Parliament’s moment of silence for the victims of the Holocaust on Wednesday was interrupted by a Polish member accusing Israel of a Jewish-conducted genocide in Gaza.

“Let’s pray for the victims of the Jewish genocide in Gaza,” far-right, monarchist Confederation of the Polish Crown chairman and MEP Grzegorz Braun twice shouted during the moment of silence.

Far-right Polish MEP Grzegorz Braun disrupted a Holocaust memorial in the EU Parliament, shouting about Gaza during a minute of silence. President Roberta Metsola ordered his removal to applause. pic.twitter.com/Y1iscHJ4gh

As performers prepared to play Maurice Ravel’s “Kaddish” violin and piano piece based on a Jewish prayer of the same name, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola expelled Braun from the chamber’s applause.

Braun claims he 'did not disturb the ceremony'
Braun later added on social media that he did not disturb the ceremony for International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp but had rather supplemented the proceedings.

“I shared the comment that apparently all victims are equal, but some are more equal than others,” Braun said on X/Twitter.

Fellow Polish MEP and European People’s Party member Lukasz Kohut condemned Braun on social media as a “disgusting creature” for desecrating the minute of silence.

Dutch Reformed Political Party MEP Bert-Jan Ruissen called Braun antisemitic on X and urged the “highest possible sanction” that the EU body could impose.

The EJC noted that Braun had once used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Polish parliament, defending his actions as restoring “normality.”

He had said at the time, “Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed.”

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledge to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel.

A fact sheet on the order promises “immediate action” by the Justice Department to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews” and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called “the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets” since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian terror group Hamas.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in the fact sheet.

I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” the president said, echoing a 2024 campaign promise.

Rights groups and legal scholars said the measure would violate constitutional free speech rights and would likely draw legal challenges.

“The First Amendment protects everyone in the United States, including foreign citizens studying at American universities,” said Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech would be unconstitutional.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group whose leader hailed the Hamas-led October 2023 atrocities, said it would consider challenging the order in court if Trump tries to implement it.

The faculty union for New York City’s public university system, the City University of New York, voted last week to boycott Israeli entities, putting the 30,000-member union at odds with the US university’s administration and the state government.

The union, the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), has been a battleground for anti-Israel activism for years. Jewish professors said the boycott resolution was the latest discriminatory measure by the union, their sole labor representation. The resolution also divided the union’s delegate assembly, the governing body that voted on the measure.

The text of the resolution cites the death toll in Gaza and anti-Israel measures from the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice as reasons for the boycott.

The resolution said the PSC will divest its own funds from “investment vehicles that include Israeli corporate stocks and government bonds” by the end of January.

The resolution also calls on the Teachers’ Retirement System, a New York City municipal institution, to enact a “complete disinvestment from Israel.” Around one-quarter of the union’s pension plan participants contribute to the retirement system, the PSC told The Times of Israel.

The union will also establish a volunteer committee to investigate further divestment. That committee will report to the union’s delegate assembly by next month, the resolution said.

The resolution passed PSC’s delegate assembly by a close vote of 73-70, on January 23, the union confirmed. The union’s executive council and principal officers opposed the resolution, the PSC told The Times of Israel.

“Many PSC delegates oppose the Israeli government’s conduct of the war in Gaza and are concerned about how the pension funds and union dues of PSC members are invested,” PSC President James Davis said in a statement to The Times of Israel. “We were elected to protect PSC members’ rights, to improve their pay and working conditions, and to strengthen their union. Keeping focus on these primary responsibilities while engaging in wider struggles for justice and peace is important.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the measure in a Wednesday statement to The Times of Israel.

“In my first week as governor, I signed an executive order to divest public funds from institutions that participate in the harmful BDS movement — and that order remains in effect,” Hochul said. “I strongly oppose the resolution narrowly passed by the PSC-CUNY delegates and will continue standing up against antisemitism and hate in all forms.”

In 2016, Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, signed an executive order that demands state entities divest public funds from companies or institutions that boycott Israel. Hochul reaffirmed that order after taking office in 2021. Hochul’s statement did not address what specific actions would result from the PSC boycott.

In response to the governor’s statement, union chief Davis said, “The PSC unequivocally deplores all forms of hate, including antisemitism. The divestment resolution was an incredibly close vote on an issue on which our members have deep, sincere disagreements.”

The CUNY administration also condemned the resolution.

“Our university has consistently denounced BDS activity and we condemn the resolution passed by Professional Staff Congress delegates calling on the union to divest,” a CUNY spokesperson told The Times of Israel. “The PSC-CUNY organization does not speak for the university and this vote does not reflect the university’s position or our values. CUNY will not participate in any form of BDS activity.”

Two groups representing Jewish and pro-Israel faculty in the CUNY system blasted the resolution as discriminatory.

One of the groups, Students and Faculty for Equality at CUNY, said it had filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights against the boycott. New York anti-discrimination law bars labor organizations from excluding or expelling members based on creed or national origin, and the complaint argues that the resolution discriminates against Jews and Israelis. The complaint also says the resolution violates the executive order against Israel boycotts.

The CUNY Alliance for Inclusion, another pro-Israel faculty group, said in a Tuesday statement that the resolution “disgraces CUNY.”

It was unclear what the legal ramifications for the resolution would be, if any. New York State’s Division of Human Rights did not respond to a request for comment and Hochul’s office did not address a question about whether the executive order would prevent the state from working with the union. Asked about the legal ramifications, a PSC spokesperson said, “The PSC is not a state entity. The Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York is a City entity.”

Manfred Philipp, a former member of the delegate assembly who has maintained ties to the union, said the legal fallout was still unclear, but the vote would affect the union’s ties to the public and the state.

“Where this goes, I don’t know,” he said.

He noted the Teachers’ Retirement System is not controlled by the union.

Donald Trump has signed an executive order to “combat antisemitism” that asks agencies to explore ways to deport pro-Palestinian activists, including student protesters.

The US president’s order instructs federal agencies to identify available civil and criminal authorities in order to “combat antisemitism”, specifically by deporting resident aliens – such as students with visas – who were found to have broken the law during protests.

Department and agency leaders will be required to provide recommendations to the White House within 60 days. It also instructs the Department of Justice to investigate pro-Hamas graffiti and intimidation, including incidents on college campuses.

The order appears to target students and other activists who engaged in pro-Palestinian demonstrations following the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent Israeli war in Gaza.

Republicans have been threatening for months to punish colleges that allow pro-Palestinian protests. In October of last year, top Republicans warned that they would pull billions of dollars of federal funding from several of the most prestigious universities in the US, and strip them of official accreditation, to punish them for “allowing” the protest

While opponents of the executive order warn that it sets a troubling standard for suppressing dissent and targeting vulnerable groups, supporters welcomed Trump's "historic commitment to protecting the Jewish community by deploying ALL levers of American federal power to combat the scourge of antisemitism in our country.

The order came with a direct warning from the order directs federal agencies Trump: "To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."

New Jewish Narrative President and CEO Hadar Susskind said "This order isn't about protecting American Jews, it's about demonizing pro-Palestine speech. Despite claims to be our 'protector' Donald Trump and his administration have repeatedly given cover for those sympathetic to Nazi ideologies. This Executive Order rings hollow and we will not allow our identity to be used as a fig leaf for this administration's repressive and Islamophobic agenda."

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs also condemned the order. "History has made clear that our safety as Jews is inextricably linked with inclusive, pluralistic democracy. A focus on countering antisemitism on campus and beyond is welcome. Undermining inclusive democracy in the name of countering antisemitism only makes Jews - and so many others - less safe."

Jonathan Jacoby, National Director of the Nexus Project, an organization focused on addressing antisemitism while opposing its misuse to silence Israel criticism said the order "cynically weaponizes legitimate concerns about Jewish safety to suppress constitutionally protected speech and threaten vulnerable student populations."

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action CEO Jamie Beran criticized the order for stifling Jewish self-expression. "The order also promotes the false premise that Jews and Israel are one entity. This idea reinforces the antisemitic 'dual-loyalty' trope. Jews feel many ways about Israel and Palestine, and the protests on college campuses have included and continue to include many Jewish participants."

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) Senior Scholar Sarah McLaughlin warned, "The revocation of student visas should not be used to punish and filter out ideas disfavored by the federal government. The strength of our nation's system of higher education derives from the exchange of the widest range of views, even unpopular or dissenting ones."

Golnaz Fakhimi, Legal Director at Muslim Advocates, a civil rights organization focused on combating anti-Muslim discrimination compared the order to Trump's 2016 Muslim ban, arguing it targets minorities rather than addressing real threats. "We need only look at its openly white supremacist, Christian nationalist agenda, which flatly demonizes a staggering amount of principled expression about urgent moral issues. That's especially true of any dissent voiced by anyone who's not white, not a Christian, and not a U.S. citizen."

Some Jewish groups welcomed trump's executive order.

Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director said, "We welcome this effort by President Trump to put the full force of the federal government against rising antisemitism in our country. Combating antisemitism requires a whole-of-government approach, and we are eager to see every federal agency and department take concrete measures to address this scourge."

AIPAC put out a tweet saying, "We welcome this important action by Trump to combat the tidal wave of antisemitism that was unleashed by anti-Israel extremists on the nation's campuses and streets in the aftermath of the barbaric Hamas attack of October 7."

The American Jewish Council, said that while it "endorse[s] without hesitation the instruction to identify statutes to prevent discrimination against Jews," it called for caution with regard to "other provisions in the Executive Order which have the potential to be broadly interpreted to threaten certain ethnic and religious groups be implemented with strict adherence to existing law."

A pro-Palestinian group at the University of Michigan has been suspended for two years and will lose its funding in connection with protesters’ demands for divestiture from companies doing business with Israel.

Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, also known as SAFE, was accused of violating the university’s standards of conduct for recognized student organizations following a protest last spring outside a regent’s home and a demonstration without school permission on its Ann Arbor campus.

The University of Michigan’s sanctions against SAFE were handed down nearly two weeks earlier, on January 16. The group also is prohibited from reserving university spaces. It has until next Thursday to appeal.

The suspension could be lifted earlier than two years if the group satisfies all the sanctions against it and meets with school officials to discuss the university’s decision and the awareness of policies for student organizations. However, that could occur no sooner than winter 2026.

Two Columbia University schools were vandalized by anti-Israel activists on Wednesday afternoon, according to the institution and activist groups, with cement flushed down toilets and a building facade sprayed with red paint.

In a video and manifesto supposedly anonymously submitted to activist group Unity of Fields by vandals, the alleged perpetrators revealed that they flushed concrete down the toilets in Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs to cement “the sewage lines of the entire building, forcing them to shut down business-as-usual.”

The facilities were vandalized with graffiti that included “disturbing, personal attacks,” according to Columbia.

“Keren eat Wiener,” was graffitied with a stencil according to a video published on social media by Unity of Field, formerly known as Palestine Action US.

The accompanying manifesto claimed that it had attacked the school because it had expelled an anti-Israel student activist. The vandals mentioned the school’s dean and former IDF intelligence soldier Keren Yarhi-Milo as a “killer.”

The vandals also blamed New York Police Department Intelligence and Counterterrorism Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner, who according to her LinkedIn is also adjunct assistant professor at the school, for the clearing of the April activist occupation of Columbia’s Hamilton Hall.

'Unacceptable and abhorrent'
The university responded in a Wednesday statement saying “acts of vandalism of University buildings and property and attempts to harass and intimidate members of our community are unacceptable and abhorrent and will not be tolerated at Columbia.”

Other graffiti proclaimed “Hind called, we must answer,” referencing Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl killed during the war against Hamas in Gaza. The manifesto claimed that they had conducted the attack on the anniversary of her death.

“Inspired by Hind, and the bravery of every Palestinian child who has faced down Israeli genocide for the last century -- whether they threw a Molotov at a checkpoint, a rock at a tank, or made a call for help,” the vandals allegedly said. “So long as they resist, so must we.”

The entrance of the Columbia School of Business was painted with red pant, according to the Public Affairs Office. The manifesto claimed that the activists had targeted the school because it was engaged in “violent gentrification projects into Harlem” and because one of its 11 global centers included Tel Aviv.

The video shared by Unity of Fields called for the fall of Columbia and rise of Gaza, urging others not to fear arrest, suspension, or expulsion and to join them in taking action.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of activists and groups that have been on the forefront of anti-Israel activism on the campus, also shared the vandalism video on Instagram. CUAD held a vigil in Rajab’s memory outside the campus gates on Wednesday, “so that Columbia may never forget its crimes against Hind and all Palestinian martyrs.”

On Tuesday, the university announced that a graduate students teaching assistant had inserted their political views into an Astronomy class session. According to the group Columbia University Jews and Israelis, a lab handbook included a section on “astronomy in Palestine” which detailed how it was important to understand the privilege of being able to engage in astronomy without “being caught up in an airstrike.”

“As we watch the genocide unfold in Gaza, it is also important to tell the story of Palestinians outside of being the subjects of a military occupation,” read the document, requested students read the articles “Wonder and the Life of Palestinian Astronomy” and “In Gaza, Scanning the Sky for Stars, Not Drones” about how unmanned aerial vehicles and Israeli military operations interfere in the science in Gaza.

Columbia said that the inclusion of these items breached policy and apologized to the students enrolled in the class. The university assured that the violation was being addressed and new review procedures were being implemented.

Cars and houses in Sydney were daubed in antisemitic graffiti, police said on Sunday, the latest in a string of incidents targeting Jews in Australia's biggest city.

In the latest incident, police said on Sunday that vehicles and residences were damaged with antisemitic graffiti in Sydney’s east, an area with a significant Jewish community, overnight.

"Crime scenes have been established," police said in a statement, a day after they doubled to 40 the number of officers in a special taskforce set up in December to target antisemitic crime in the country's most populous state of New South Wales.

Jewish students in Sydney returned to school on Friday with a heightened security presence, days after police said they foiled a planned antisemitic attack in the city using a trailer filled with explosives.

A spate of attacks in recent months have alarmed the country's Jews, drawn criticism from Israel and placed pressure on the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who faces re-election in polls that must be held by May.

Antisemitic graffiti was sprayed on three sites including the Mount Sinai College in the city's east early on Thursday, one of almost a dozen incidents in the city in recent months that police say appeared to be coordinated.

Students there returned on Friday after Australia's summer break, with police and private security stationed outside the building.

"I love this country, I think it's the best country in the world, but for the first time in my life I actually feel really let down by Australia."

Matt Thistlethwaite, the federal lawmaker for the area that has a high Jewish population, said he had been working with local police to increase patrols in the area.

SECURITY HEIGHTENED
The escalating attacks have prompted Jews to hire security guards for private events and remove visible signs of their Jewish identity, according to security companies and community leaders.
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia's Jews, said some Jews were removing skull caps worn by men as a symbol of faith while outside, and taking down mezuzah, a parchment scroll containing Hebrew verses traditionally attached from the doors of Jewish homes.

"The more of these attacks that we see, and particularly given their gravity and the scale, people will begin to question how they can live in Australia as Jews, and that will then force them into a very difficult choice," he said.

Stephen Vogel, founder of Sayeret Security, a private security company catering to the Jewish community in Sydney, said he had seen an increase in business in recent weeks.
"People are a little bit more nervous at the moment and want to have security for them for their functions, just to mitigate any potential risk," he said.

A man who fired a gun in the air outside of an Albany, New York, synagogue while shouting “Free Palestine!” has pleaded guilty to hate crime and firearms charges.

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that Mufid Fawaz Alkhader, 29, had pleaded guilty to obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs by threat of force as well as two gun-related charges. He faces seven to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of up to $750,000. He will be sentenced in federal court on June 6.

According to the Justice Department’s statement, Alkhader walked up the front steps of Temple Israel, a Conservative congregation, on Dec. 7, 2023 — two months after Hamas’ attack on Israel and shortly before the beginning of Hanukkah that night. He then took a shotgun out of a duffel bag and fired it in the air twice while shouting “Free Palestine!” He also attempted to take down an Israeli flag flying outside the synagogue.

Betar USA, the American branch of the right-wing Betar movement, has targeted prominent Jewish writer and New York Times contributor Peter Beinart, after he published an op-ed piece criticizing Israel called "States Don't Have a Right to Exist. People Do."

The right-wing group attacked Beinart over his op-ed in a post on X published Monday, "We urge all Jews on the Upper West Side to give Peter Beinart a pager. He is a traitor, a kapo and we must oppose him," the group wrote on its X account, referencing the near-simultaneous explosion of 3,000 to 4,000 pagers used by Hezbollah operatives attributed to Israel.

In the New York Times op-ed, Beinart argued that Jewish safety and sovereignty should not come at the cost of Palestinian rights. The op-ed was published to coincide with the launch of Beinart's book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, which urges American Jews to reckon with Israel's war in Gaza and the ongoing occupation.

In a phone call with Haaretz, Beinart said that some critics have expressed anger toward him, but none have ever threatened violence. "This felt like a magnitude beyond anything I've experienced before."

Beinart noted that many people have reported the group to X. "It felt important to expose the tweet so it would have social ramifications." Despite this, he said he isn't inclined to involve law enforcement.

While Beinart described this incident as unlike any other he has experienced, he said it reflects a broader political climate in both the United States and in Israel.

"We are living in an era of increasingly thuggish politics, symbolized by figures like President Donald Trump or Itamar Ben-Gvir in Israel, where the specter of violence serves as a guiding ethos," he said. "It's frightening to see politics take this turn."

Betar USA is known for inflammatory rhetoric and controversial actions. In November, Meta blocked its social media accounts. The move followed posts in which the group threatened to distribute "pagers" to individuals they labeled as "Judeophobes," including Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, as well as pro-Palestinian activists on college campuses.

Recently, the group has begun using artificial intelligence to identify and report university students it claims support Hamas.

The group encourages complaints to university administrators, analyzing protest footage and cross-referencing faces with online profiles. Messages circulating in Jewish and Israeli WhatsApp groups urge users to report individuals perceived as Hamas supporters, often with little or no evidence.

This initiative aligns with President Donald Trump's executive order on combating antisemitism, which includes measures to deport foreign nationals involved in pro-jihadist protests and revoke student visas for those deemed "Hamas sympathizers."

Beinart said this incident is an indicator of the deterioration of public discourse, especially after October 7, 2023. "I don't think people have changed their views, but their positions have hardened," he said. "It's becoming more difficult to foster conversations across ideological divides."

A federal judge in Manhattan said the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art must face a lawsuit claiming it did nothing to help Jewish students who locked themselves in a library for protection from pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrators.

US District Judge John Cronan ruled on Wednesday that the private college must face claims it violated federal and New York civil rights laws by subjecting Jewish students to “severe and pervasive” antisemitic abuse that did not qualify as constitutionally protected speech.

Cronan, appointed to the bench by US President Donald Trump, also said the 10 plaintiffs can seek punitive damages and an injunction to end what they called an antisemitic, anti-Israel campus environment. The judge dismissed some other claims.

A spokesperson for Cooper Union said the school was confident the evidence “will strongly refute the allegations being made in this case and it looks forward to the opportunity to present them before the court.

2023, not 1943
Jewish students said that at the October 25, 2023 Cooper Union rally, demonstrators stormed past security guards and banged loudly on the library’s doors and nearly floor-to-ceiling windows, making hateful chants and carrying antisemitic signs.

The students said school administrators did nothing during the 20-minute ordeal, and told law enforcement to back off even as the school’s president left the building through a back door.

They said Cooper Union’s fostering of a hostile educational environment violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars federal funds recipients from allowing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin.

Some demonstrators told media at the time of the protest they were not targeting individual students, and were not engaged in antisemitism.

Cooper Union argued that the demonstrators engaged in political speech protected by the First Amendment, and there was no proof it was deliberately indifferent to the harassment.

But the judge said he was “dismayed” by Cooper Union’s suggestion that the students could have hidden elsewhere or left, and that it did enough by locking the library doors.

These events took place in 2023 – not 1943 – and Title VI places responsibility on colleges and universities to protect their Jewish students from harassment,” Cronan wrote.

“The physically threatening or humiliating conduct that the complaint alleges Jewish students in the library experienced is entirely outside the ambit of the free speech clause,” he added.

El Paso’s law enforcement have begun investigating a possible antisemitic incident after two local synagogues were graffitied with Nazi symbols on Thursday, according to local media reports.

B'nai Zion synagogue and Temple Mount Sinai were spraypainted with red swastikas entwined with Magen Davids, according to images circulating online

The graffiti at B'nai Zion synagogue was cleaned off in the hours after its discovery, according to CBS4.

Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are supporting the El Paso Police Department’s investigation.

A radical Islamic group's Canadian conference for the establishment of a caliphate across much of Europe, Africa and the Middle East will be held online Sunday, after restrictions and pressure from local politicians led to the physical event's cancellation.

Hizb ut Tahrir Canada announced on Instagram Saturday that it would hold the 2025 Khilafah Conference online with the opportunity to engage with speakers through a question and answer period.

Bnai Brith Canada responded to the move on Wednesday, demanding that Canada join 13 other states in banning them by listing them as a terrorist entity.

Public Safety Minister David McGuinty said ahead of the physical event that law enforcement agencies would monitor the event for violations of the law, and that his ministry was assessing if the group should be proscribed as a terrorist entity.

HT Canada announced the cancellation of the event on January 14, saying that the decision "was necessitated by circumstances that were beyond our reasonable control."

Advertisements and registration restored
Advertisements and registration links were removed from the Hizb ut Tahrir Canada website and social media, but new ones have since been published.

The original advertisements for the Khilafah conference highlighted the territory that HT wished to replace to establish the caliphate, including Spain, Greece, India, much of the Balkans, and the upper half of Africa. The new advertisements show a map, globe, but don't highlight the proposed caliphate.

In a draft constitution on its HT Canada's website, which explains how a Jizya tax will be leveled on non-Muslim Caliphate residents, it is also detailed that a caliphate would be obligated to continue a war against Israel until it would be destroyed, as all "Muslim land" had to be reclaimed.

"Islam requires that all of the Muslims fight against it, and so their armies must be sent to fight, and all those capable of fighting be gathered in the army, and for this to continue until the Jewish State is finished," read the proposed constitution.

The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at Bowdoin College, a highly selective liberal arts school in Maine, launched an anti-Israel encampment overnight, taking over the school's main student union. Protesters already face disciplinary hearings.

The SJP members entered the Smith Union building around 10 p.m. Thursday, set up tents and a "community library," and renamed the building the "Shaban-Al Dalou Union," photos and videos show. Bowdoin security officials entered the building around 1 a.m. Friday to take the names and student IDs of participants. They told students who stayed in the building that they were "on a path to no longer be Bowdoin students."

By 8:30 a.m. Friday, those officials surrounded the building, locked the doors, and disabled key card access, preventing students from accessing the building. Shortly thereafter, Bowdoin administrators began notifying student participants of disciplinary hearings scheduled for 9:40 Friday morning, less than 12 hours after the start of the encampment, according to emails Bowdoin SJP posted to Instagram. Those hearings kicked off as protesters remained in the student union building.

Bowdoin's disciplinary action, while swift, did not prevent students from bypassing the security perimeter around the Smith Union building just past noon on Friday, setting the stage for further escalation.

The Bowdoin SJP students said they launched the encampment over Trump's call for the United States to "own" the Gaza Strip.

"This encampment is the first of its kind since the start of the Trump administration," the school's SJP chapter said in an Instagram post. "Trump has vowed his unequivocal support for Israel's genocide, most recently calling for the United States to ethnically cleanse and annex Gaza."
"As Israeli aggression obliterates Palestinian homes and guns down children in Jenin, as unspeakable suffering continues in Gaza, and as America slides farther into fascism every day," the chapter wrote, "we ask—what type of institution does Bowdoin want to be?"

The encampment also corresponded with a Bowdoin Board of Trustees meeting that took place on Thursday. Last May, Bowdoin SJP issued a "Solidarity Referendum" demanding that the school divest from Israel. It passed the student government's general assembly, which does not control Bowdoin's endowment, with 66 percent vote.

"Today as the Board of Trustees convene for their triannual meeting, we are launching the Shaban al-Dalou Union encampment," Bowdoin SJP announced Thursday. "This move comes in response to a blatant months-long stalling campaign by the College to avoid implementing the demands of the Bowdoin Solidarity Referendum."

The Hollywood premiere of Captain America: Brave New World on Tuesday was picketed by several dozen pro-Palestine protesters upset over the inclusion in the film of an Israeli superhero, Ruth Bat-Seraph, aka Sabra, played by Shira Haas, Variety reported.

Sabra, in the original Marvel comics version, first appeared in the early 1980s as a Mossad agent, but Brave New World producer Nate Moore added in February that Sabra is “not Mossad” in the film and although she’s a first-generation Israeli, she now “works within the US government.”
That softening of the character didn’t deter the protesters, who held signs reading “Sabra has got to go” and “Disney supports genocide” while shouting out “Free, free, free Palestine” and “Disney, Disney, you can’t hide.”

Sabra originally appeared in the 1980s in the Incredible Hulk comic series, created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Sal Buscema.

The character has superhuman strength, speed, and life-force transferal. She is typically armed with a cape that allows her to fly and shoot quills.

Who is Shira Haas?
One of Israel’s most celebrated actresses, the Tel Aviv-born Haas is best known for her roles in the show Unorthodox, which propelled her to international stardom.

She was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 2020 for her performance as religiously torn Esther Shapiro.

One-third of American Jews said they were a target of an antisemitic incident in 2024, and 77 percent said they feel less safe as Jews in the United States, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

The survey of 1,732 Jews, taken between October 8 and November 29, showed that perceptions of the threat of antisemitism had gotten worse in almost every category compared to 2023, the report’s authors noted. This was the sixth such annual survey conducted by the AJC.

“Antisemitism has reached a tipping point in America, threatening the freedoms of American Jews and casting an ominous shadow across our society,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for leaders across the U.S. We must act now to protect Jews – and America – from rising antisemitism. That one-third of American Jews have been the target of antisemitism in the past year should raise red flags for every American and our leaders.”

Some 33% of respondents said they had been the victim of an antisemitic attack, personal remark, vandalism, online post, or other form of antisemitism during 2024.

The survey found that 93% of respondents view antisemitism as a problem in the US, with 54% calling it a “very serious” problem. Some 91% of respondents agreed that antisemitism has increased over the past five years, a figure that has risen consistently for four years in a row.

Some 56% of Jews said they changed their behavior in the past year due to antisemitism. This includes avoiding wearing certain clothing or symbols, going to certain places, and posting content online that would identify them as Jewish or reveal their views on Jewish issues.

Roughly seven in ten Jewish adults reported having experienced antisemitism online or on social media, including those who say they have been personally targeted and those who say they have seen or heard antisemitic incidents without being a target themselves.

One in three college students said they experienced antisemitism personally while in college, and 48% said they changed their behavior to avoid antisemitism during the past year, the report said.

Some 67% of US Jews have seen antisemitic content online, and 20% of those said it made them feel physically threatened.

On the community level, 30% said their Jewish institution had been the target of antisemitism in the past five years. About 25% said local Jewish businesses where they live had been targeted in the past year.

The survey revealed a troubling trend regarding the reporting of incidents. A significant 78% of respondents indicated that they did not report antisemitic incidents they experienced, with 54% of these saying they believed nothing would be done in response to their complaints.

The survey also asked 2,056 non-Jews about their attitudes about antisemitism. It found that 74% say antisemitism is a problem in the US today, and 59% noticed that it had increased over the last five years. Almost 40% said they had personally seen or heard antisemitism occur in the past year.

Encouragingly, 95% of US Jews and 90% of the general public agreed with the statement “Antisemitism affects society as a whole; everyone is responsible for combating it.” Nearly 80% of the general public said it is an unacceptable form of protest against Israel to boycott American Jews, and more than 90% said it was unacceptable to protest Israeli policies in front of a Jewish school, business, or synagogue.

British Jews experienced 3,528 antisemitic incidents during 2024, a figure that is second only to the 4,296 incidents recorded the year before, according to a new report by a nonprofit that monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain.

“Where 2023 saw record totals due to the unprecedented scale of the antisemitic spike immediately following the 7 October attack, the story of antisemitism in 2024 was one of enduring anti-Jewish hate throughout the year,” the Community Security Trust (CST) wrote in its report.

The report followed a survey published last month by the Campaign Against Antisemitism that found that only one-third of British Jews believe they have a long-term future in the United Kingdom, and half have considered leaving Britain in the past two years due to antisemitism. A majority of British Jews said they hide their Judaism due to antisemitism, with only 43% saying they feel welcome in the UK.

The 2024 figures reported by CST included 2,892 reports of abusive behavior, 250 threats, 157 cases of damage and desecration of Jewish property, and 27 incidents of antisemitic literature.

The report charted 201 incidents of assault in 2024, along with a case of extreme violence: The arson attack in March on a Hackney apartment that injured five and forced a family to throw their baby down to relatives. The 64-year-old suspect in that case was sentenced to life in prison in September.

A record 223 incidents targeted synagogues and their congregants during 2024, according to CST, among them 164 against synagogues, including congregants and staff, and 59 targeting congregants heading to or from prayers.

Some 260 cases involved schools, with 63 antisemitic incidents recorded at Jewish schools and a further 88 incidents targeting Jewish schoolchildren away from school. An additional 109 incidents were recorded affecting Jewish schoolchildren or staff at non-religious schools.
Additionally, 1,240 online antisemitic incidents were recorded in 2024, accounting for 35% of all antisemitic incidents, the report said.

Macklemore has come out with his latest song slamming Israel — and it links the war in Gaza with economic hardship in the United States. It also alleges nefarious control of banks and the media.

Near the end of the music video, a frame juxtaposes a photo of a Palestinian child in the West Bank city of Jenin with one of the most infamous images of the Holocaust: a child raising his hands in the Warsaw Ghetto.

“If you still haven’t said s— about the genocide, know your grandkids one day are gonna ask you why,” Macklemore raps as the image flashes on screen.

The song, called “F—ed up” and posted yesterday, has garnered more than 14 million views on X alone. It celebrates protests against President Donald Trump and his multibillionaire adviser Elon Musk as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and is closely tied to the headlines: The video includes images of Trump’s meeting last week with Netanyahu, and the chorus alludes to Elon Musk’s Nazi-like salute on Inauguration Day.

Much of the song and video focuses verbal fire on Israel and pro-Israel policy. One of the first lyrics is, “New era ushered, but white supremacy is still in charge. Talkin’ colonizing Gaza from the White House lawn” — a reference to Trump’s proposal, endorsed by Netanyahu, for the United States to take over Gaza.

From there, the song draws a connection between U.S. military aid to Israel and income inequality at home: “Killin’ Palestinian kids and we gettin’ hit with the cost,” Macklemore raps. “Why the f— you think you can’t afford the rent in your building? And you can’t afford groceries?”

Macklemore takes aim at “the oligarchy and men that control us all” while, in the video, images of tech moguls Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Musk and Trump, flash on screen. He then says there are powerful forces controlling the worlds of finance and media, in part to suppress pro-Palestinian activism.

“That’s your money, and yes, it’s all connected,” he raps. “And they controlling your feed, the information that they censor. Blockin’ hashtags, can’t say ‘#FreePalestine.'”

The video is a followup to Macklemore’s May song, “Hind’s Hall,” which was an ode to the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University, where students forcibly occupied a campus building. That song, like this one, is filled with images of pro-Palestinian protests and accuses Israel of apartheid and genocide. It also included an extended section saying anti-Zionism was not antisemitic. He released another pro-Palestinian song, “Hind’s Hall 2,” later in 2024.

There are images of Jews throughout the video released on Tuesday as well, not all of them in positive contexts. The beginning of the video accuses Stewart Resnick, who owns the Wonderful Company, and his wife Lydia of owning California’s water — an echo of an accusation that circulated during the recent wildfires in Los Angeles.

The video portrays Trump, Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir
One frame shows an illustration of a jigsaw puzzle that combines the Israeli flag with a $100 bill. Another shows far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir handing out guns. Another shows Trump pushing Netanyahu’s chair in at at conference table — an image that the neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes recently suggested indicated American subservience to Israel. It refers to Netanyahu as “the colonizer.”

The song also says, “You can kill people – resistance grows in the wake. And while our president sends billions to Israel’s safes, ethnic cleansing’s never gonna make Israelis feel safe.”

Pro-Palestinian voices have praised the video, while Israel advocates on social media have accused it of antisemitism.

The Toronto District School Board adopted a new antisemitism report following a meeting that saw fierce debate about antisemitism in Canadian education, anti-Zionism, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion projects.

The TDSB held a meeting on Wednesday with almost 100 delegates discussing the merits of the “Update: Affirming Jewish Identities and Addressing Antisemitism and the Combating Hate and Racism Strategy” report, which detailed the result of consultations with Jewish students, parents, and community groups about antisemitism in the school system and recommended ideas of how to combat anti-Jewish sentiment.

Adding to the experiences detailed in the report, some of the parents emphasized at Wednesday’s meeting how their children had been subject to antisemitism in the schoolyard.
Canadian Women Against Antisemitism’s Revi Mula said that her children had experienced antisemitism from students, staff, and teachers.

Her children allegedly endured swastika graffiti on the school grounds and students raising Nazi salutes. One student reportedly told her child to remove their Star of David necklace, and while she was told that the student would be spoken to, she was distrustful of the past disciplinary processes taken by the school district.

Jewish parent Joanna Barsky, who said she was representing a few dozen other Jewish families, said her eight-year-old son witnessed children playing a Pro-Palestinian-themed war game in which the participants roleplayed attacking Jews. She also claimed the child had seen student artwork of a Palestinian figure with a weapon, stating they would win.

Pro-Palestinian concerns
ANTI-ZIONIST Jews and Palestinian families expressed concerns about their own students, arguing that the report restricted Palestinian identity and delegitimized pro-Palestinian activism.

One third-grade student told the TDSB Planning and Priorities Committee that when she had a Remembrance Day school project to show what peace looked or felt like, she drew herself and her parents at a pro-Palestinian protest.

Her teacher said they couldn’t accept political entries, and the girl argued it was unfair that Palestinians were being bombed because Israelis wanted control over theml

Iman Annab of the Toronto Palestinian Families group, saying she represented over 250 families, said that the report criminalized Palestinian identity. The report, which recommended addressing the impact of geopolitical protests on Jewish students and interrupting claims that Jewish and Israeli staff and students were colonizers, framed Palestinian activism as a problem, according to Annab. “Palestinian students continue to be erased and misrepresented in their schools while the board now faces a serious and frankly shameful problem with anti-Palestinian racism,” she said.

The report recommended action items that included addressing discrimination based on Zionist identity, but some meeting delegates argued it was an extreme political ideology. They contended that Zionism was separate from Judaism. Many cited their connection to the Holocaust and Jewish values as the reason they were standing against a supposed genocide in Gaza now.

Anti-Zionist Jews argued against the report – in which one action item proposes providing staff lessons to understand antisemitism, “including modern manifestations such as anti-Zionism” – saying it was not antisemitism to oppose the State of Israel. Parent Ben Losman said, “It’s not automatically or inherently antisemitic to condemn the actions of the Israeli state or its people or to call for Palestinian liberation.”

David Mandelzys told the board that he was one of 23 Jewish TDSB members who sent a letter last Monday to trustees and senior staff sharing their concerns about the report.

He argued that the TDSB Jewish Heritage Committee involved in the report was a non-elected group that didn’t adequately represent the diverse voices in the Jewish community. The report prioritized pro-Israel Jewish groups and minimized non-Zionists, according to Mandelzys and other delegates, who also often rejected the narrative that anti-Zionist Jews were a fringe Jewish Canadian sect.

FRIENDS OF Simon Wiesenthal Center senior advocacy director Jaime Kirzner-Roberts said it was fine for Jews not to hold Zionist beliefs but said they should not mislead and speak for the broader community by pretending to be a significant portion of the demographic.
Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation’s Michael Teper said the board was seeing a sophisticated propaganda exercise by people who otherwise don’t engage with the Jewish community.

Richard Robertson from B’nai Brith Canada and other mainstream Jewish representatives argued that a significant portion of Jewish Canadians supported the existence of the Jewish state.
Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs Ontario VP Michelle Stock said it was important for the school district to be able to identify when legitimate criticism of Israel strayed into antisemitism. Parent Maya Fitzpatrick explained to the board that the issue was not about the criticism of policies but the vilification of Israel and calls to destroy the state.

A significant portion of delegates were Zionists and attacked anti-Zionist narratives but were not supportive of the report because they saw it as a continuation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies.

Irit Targonsky said that DEI policies were doing more harm than good and that it was unacceptable to divide students by race or religion, adding that politics should be kept out of the classroom altogether.

Parent Miriam Zemell-Bloom said antisemitism had escalated in the school system since 2023 but took umbrage with the framing and rhetoric of the report, claiming that antisemitism could not be fought in a DEI framework. She contended that Jews were seen as oppressors in the DEI lens.
Jewish Educators and Families Association’s Tamar Gottlieb said the quotas for Jewish staff suggested that DEI had excluded Jews in the first place. Gottlieb also slammed the meeting for becoming a forum for what she said were the most active members of the anti-Israel movement, some of whom are not Toronto residents.