Mideast War blowback

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A man attempted to set fire to a centuries-old historic synagogue in East Melbourne on Friday, Australian authorities confirmed. The incident occurred only shortly before an Israeli restaurant in the city was attacked.

At the time of the attempted arson attack, 20 people were inside the synagogue but did not suffer injuries as a result of the incident, according to Victoria Police. Firefighters attended the scene within minutes and extinguished the blaze on the Synagogue’s front door, the Victoria fire department said.

A man is understood to have poured flammable liquid on the front door around 8 p.m. local time.

Protesters attack an Israeli-owned restaurant[b]
The arson attack followed heightened tensions and protests across the city hours earlier over the perceived excessive security at protests, the New York Times reported.
Some 20 protesters were recorded yelling “Death to the IDF” at the Israeli-owned Miznon restaurant. A recording shared by the Daily Mail Australia revealed chairs, food, and glassware being thrown at the venue.

They came in with their drums and their mic and stuff saying Miznon is not welcome here,” a diner told the Herald Sun. “Then they started getting aggressive, throwing tomatoes, chairs, and glasses. They caused lots of damage to the businesses down here.”
One protester from the restaurant incident was reportedly arrested and received a summons.

“Several other protesters were spoken to by police and had their identities clarified for the purpose of follow-up investigation,” a police spokeswoman told [i]Daily Mail Australia. “Victoria Police continued to support the rights of Victorians to protest peacefully, but will not tolerate the kind of anti-social and violent behavior that was witnessed this evening.

Members of the National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest teachers' union, have voted to sever ties with the civil rights group Anti-Defamation League (ADL) over the war in Gaza.

Why it matters: The member-backed measure calls for the union to no longer use ADL material on antisemitism and Holocaust education, nor will it promote other ADL statistics or programs.

Driving the news: The proposal was adopted by NEA delegates at the 2025 Representative Assembly this week in Portland, Oregon.

However, because it was determined to be a "sanction item," it is an automatic referral to the NEA Executive Committee, an NEA spokesperson, Staci Maiers, told Axios.
"Therefore, the official action on (proposal) is adopted and referred to committee," Maiers said.

Zoom in: According to the proposal text, "NEA will not use, endorse, or publicize any materials from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), such as its curricular materials or its statistics."

In addition, "NEA will not participate in ADL programs or publicize ADL professional development offerings," the measure read.

Context: The ADL has provided public schools with materials about the Holocaust, anti-hate training and antisemitism for four decades.

It also provides an annual report on antisemitism in the U.S., which can also be shared in schools.

Caveat: If the NEA Executive Committee adopts the ADL ban, schools can still use ADL material.

Yes, but: It sets up potential future showdowns with local NEA unions and school districts if the war in Gaza continues.

Between the lines: It is the latest episode of historic liberal-leaning groups and unions at odds over the war in Gaza, support for Israel and interpretations of antisemitism.

Earlier this year, a union representing over 30,000 faculty and staff at the City University of New York (CUNY) passed a resolution to divest its union funds from Israeli companies and government bonds.

Last year, the San Francisco Unified School District held mandatory antisemitism training for staff at four high schools, prompting the teachers' union, United Educators of San Francisco, to state that it would support any educator who chose to opt out of the mandatory training.

What we're watching: The NEA Executive Committee will have a final say on the measure.
How it votes could give a preview of boiling tensions between Democratic-leaning unions and some Jewish voters, who are largely Democrats, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Columbia University has agreed to pay $200m (£147m) to President Donald Trump's administration over accusations it failed to protect its Jewish students.

The settlement, which will be paid to the federal government over three years, was announced in a statement by the university and confirmed by the president on social media.

In exchange, the government has agreed to return some of the $400m in federal grants it froze or terminated in March.

Columbia was the first school targeted by the administration for its alleged failures to curb antisemitism amid last year's Israel-Gaza war protests on its New York City campus. It had already agreed to a set of demands from the White House in March.

The deal with Columbia University is "a seismic shift in our nation's fight" to hold universities accountable, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

Claire Shipman, Columbia's acting president, said in a statement: "This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty."

Trump posted on Truth Social platform on Wednesday: "Columbia has also committed to ending their ridiculous DEI policies, admitting students based ONLY on MERIT, and protecting the Civil Liberties of their students on campus.

"Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming."

The university said the settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing.

"This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty," Shipman said.

"The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track."

She added that the terms of the agreement would safeguard the school's independence.

Columbia University announced on Tuesday that it is disciplining more than 70 students over anti-Israel protests that took over Butler Library on the New York City campus earlier this year and during Alumni Weekend last spring.

Most of the disciplined students received two-year suspensions or expulsions in the first punishments meted out by the university's Provost's Office.

The punishment stemmed from violations that occurred in May, when students took over the Butler Library during a pro-Palestinian protest, and from an illegal encampment students established on campus during Alumni Weekend in the spring of 2024, according to the university.

"The speed with which our updated UJB system has offered an equitable resolution to the community and students involved is a testament to the hard work of this institution to improve its processes," the university said in its statement.

Following the Butler Library protest, which the university said affected hundreds of students attempting to study, the school launched an investigation, banned participating individuals from affiliated institutions and non-affiliates from campus, and placed Columbia participants on interim suspension.

"The University Judicial Board held hearings, in which respondents had an opportunity to be heard and make their case, and then determined findings and issued sanctions approximately 10 weeks following the incident," according to the university's statement.

Columbia also agreed to ban masks on campus, one of the Trump administration's key demands, saying in the memo, "Public safety has determined that face masks or face coverings are not allowed for the purpose of concealing one's identity in the commission of violations of University policies or state, municipal, or federal laws."

News outlets around the world have given front-page prominence in recent days to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with graphic images and urgent headlines highlighting severe hunger and conditions in the Strip.

On Wednesday, the U.K.'s Daily Express, a staunchly right-wing tabloid, featured a front page with the image of a starving one-year-old boy from Gaza with the headline: "For Pity's Sake, Stop This Now: The suffering of little Muhammad clinging on to life in Gaza hell shames us all."

The Express is known for its support of the Conservative Party, Euroscepticism, and generally pro-Israel stance – especially after October 7. The paper's Head of News, Callum Jones, shared the cover on X accompanied by a stark message: "The brutal suffering in Gaza must end," he wrote. "The shocking image shows Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, one, who weighs the same as a three-month-old baby due to the humanitarian crisis following the continued blocking of basic aid to civilians by Israel."

Reactions to the cover were mixed. Some praised the tabloid for "finally" acknowledging Gaza's humanitarian crisis, while others saw it as a sign of how dire the situation has become. Independent correspondent Richard Hall noted of The Daily Express, "That it has devoted its front page to the starvation of Gaza is a sign of how dire the situation has become – and how impossible it is to ignore."

Others were more critical. "It's no doubt a good thing to see this categorical, raw Daily Express front page," journalist Hamza Yusuf wrote on X. "But when it mattered most, it manufactured consent for the very horrors it is now condemning."

Left-leaning outlets in the U.K., which have spent months trying to draw attention to the crisis, also featured Gaza on their front page. The Morning Star, a socialist daily, demanded, "Stop Starving Gaza," and The Daily Mirror, a Labour-aligned tabloid, ran the headline "End This Horror Now."

Globally, from The Guardian and The Times in London to El País in Spain and The National in the UAE, outlets gave prominence to Gaza – often accompanied by graphic images of the crisis. On Wednesday, the UN reported that the rate of child malnutrition has risen, as reports of starvation in the Strip worsen, with over 20 deaths from starvation or malnutrition since Monday alone.

The Washington Post led with "Mass Starvation Stalks Gaza," and a photo of a woman holding her skeletal toddler. The Financial Times featured a grieving mother holding her malnourished infant. El País showed a child's outstretched hand holding a crust of bread under the headline, "Hunger in Gaza sparks global outcry to stop the war." India's Economic Times ran a rare front-page editorial calling Israel's actions "genocidal," paired with a photo of empty pots lined up outside a damaged building.

In the U.S., The New York Times ran a digital front-page story titled "Severe Hunger Grips Gaza." It included a searing video of a crush of Palestinians crowding for food as two small children, bowls in hand, cried for help.

While many of these outlets lean left, others – like The Washington Post and FT – have at times drawn criticism for echoing Israeli narratives, making their explicit coverage and imagery particularly noteworthy.

In the U.S., even the staunchly pro-Israel, right-wing Fox News appeared to break with its usual narrative, running a story headlined "News agency says its Gaza journalists suffering health woes as union warns they will die without intervention," detailing AFP freelancers' reports of dizziness, hunger, and collapse.

The wave of coverage was accompanied by a rare joint call by four major global news outlets urging Israel to allow adequate food supplies into the Strip. "We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families," said a joint statement by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Reuters and the BBC.

More than 200 students at Cheltenham High School in suburban Philadelphia have petitioned for the school's alumni hall of fame to eject Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who graduated from the school in 1967.

Officers of the school's alumni association are meeting with school district officials on Friday to consider the petition, according to a report in The New York Times, which said the association's secretary privately said the group was inclined "to keep Netanyahu up, but maybe with an update in his biography."

Netanyahu was inducted into the hall of fame in 1999, during his first term as Prime Minister.

The petition, submitted last month by roughly 15 percent of students, cited Netanyahu's criminal indictment and arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, the newspaper reported.

“When students see these alumni on the wall of fame as we walk past every day, we understand that these are people we should look up to, and we strive to be like them one day," two of the students wrote when they submitted the petition last month, according to The New York Times.

They added, "As such, we feel it is not right for him to continue to be recognized in our school."

Netanyahu lived in Cheltenham twice, from 1956 to 1958 when he was in elementary school, and from 1963 to 1967 when he was in high school, while his father taught at a local Jewish studies institute.

At Cheltenham High, he participated in soccer, debate, and chess clubs, and reportedly skipped his graduation ceremony to return to Israel and enlist in the Israel Defense Forces.

Stanford University has suspended a student “co-op house” on its campus for discriminating against Jewish students by labeling them as “Zionists” and requesting that they leave the house.

The investigation into the co-op house, called Kairos, began last spring after multiple reports were filed alleging that Jewish students participating in an unnamed extracurricular activity were “asked to leave the house and told that, among other things, the presence of ‘Zionists’ in the group was making residents of the house uncomfortable,” Stanford said in a statement

Following an investigation, the school’s Title VI office found that the unnamed extracurricular project had “nothing to do with the Middle East and that none of the students present had shared their political beliefs,” according to the school.

As a result, the school found that the students involved were “targeted based on their perceived Jewish identity” — a pattern that Jewish students have reported on campuses across the country during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that has triggered widespread protests against Israel.

“It is simply not acceptable that Jewish students would be excluded from a university space, or asked to explain their political beliefs to remain in that space,” Stanford’s statement said

The now-suspended co-op house, which was established in 1988, is one of several other Stanford-owned and student-managed residences on the campus, many of which host programming that is open to non-members. Prior to the suspension, the theme of Kairos was “BIPOC solidarity and/or arts appreciation,” according to the Stanford website.

It has hosted events for the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, according to posts on Instagram, and last year required those applying to join to commit to several values, including advocating for a “Free Palestine” and the “Landback” movement to restore land to Indigenous peoples.

The suspension follows a separate series of complaints filed against the co-op during the previous school year about “students being required to make disparaging statements about Israel before being allowed to enter a party at the house,” according to the statement.

The school said that while steps had been taken to address the complaints against the house that year, in light of the severity of the recent incident of antisemitic discrimination, “the university has determined that stronger remedial steps are now needed.”

The co-op will now operate under university management and oversight during the suspension period, which will last at least a year, according to the university.

An Illinois man who was sentenced to 53 years in prison for the murder of a young Palestinian American boy in a 2023 hate crime that shocked the nation has died in prison, authorities said Saturday.

Joseph Czuba, 73, died on Thursday while serving his sentence, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. Officials did not release his cause of death.

In February, Czuba was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and hate crimes for fatally stabbing 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and injuring the boy’s mother just days after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel and the launch of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Authorities said Czuba targeted the boy’s family “due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.” The mother and son were living in a room rented in Czuba’s home in Plainfield Township, a suburb of Chicago.

Czuba was sentenced 53 years in prison for killing Wadee and attacking Shaheen, after pleading not guilty.

Shaheen, who moved to the U.S. from the West Bank as a teenager nearly 15 years ago, testified that in the days before the stabbings, Czuba told her “your people” are killing Jewish people. Czuba also demanded that she and her son move out of his home, she said.

President Donald Trump's call for additional aid to Gaza as children there starve has put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and split the Republican Party on Capitol Hill.

One of Trump's top allies in Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has been a big proponent of the “America First” agenda, has gone so far as to call the situation in Gaza a “genocide.” And she publicly slammed one of her GOP colleagues, Rep. Randy Fine, of Florida, for saying Gazans should “starve away” until the hostages held by Hamas are released.

Greene, who led a 2023 resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over tweets criticizing the Israeli government and supporting Palestinians, represents a small but growing faction of congressional Republicans who are expressing outrage at the starvation in Gaza.

Asked by NBC News on Tuesday about Trump’s rhetoric on Gaza and calls for food centers, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said, “I think that I share the president’s view.”

“When you see people hurting in a need like that, is to want to help meet that need and alleviate that pain,” Thune said at his weekly press conference. “I think all of us want to see, obviously, a peaceful solution there that gets the hostages freed and ends the reign and rule of Hamas in the region. But in the meantime, do everything we can to ease the pain and the hunger that’s afflicting so many of the people in that region.”

But other Republicans said they disagreed with Greene and suggested that additional aid, if it is given at all, should be conditioned on the release of hostages. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, said “no,” he does not believe there is a genocide in Gaza and “no,” Congress shouldn’t be doing more to help provide relief. Sen. Ron Johnson, of Wisconsin, said it’s “between the other governments” to solve and doesn’t think Congress should provide additional aid.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, of Alabama, said, “If they would let the hostages go, they’d get a lot more food.”

Regardless of whether they support aid for Gaza, many Republicans said that Hamas, not Israel, is to blame for the humanitarian crisis there.

Rep. Lance Gooden, of Texas, called for “rejecting the killing and starvation of children in Gaza," in a post on Twitter, adding: “We must allow aid to enter Gaza. Ending this hunger crisis will not only spare the lives of children but will strip Hamas of its ability to use innocent children as pawns in their depraved acts of barbarism."

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, sounded cool to the idea of setting up food centers, as Trump has suggested, and said people are suffering there because of Hamas.

“You got to look at what, how this is all going to play out. We don’t want American soldiers in that war zone,” he said. “So the idea that we’d have American soldiers at risk, I’m not for that.”

Moreno said that what's happening in Gaza is “sick” and “disturbing,” but when asked if he agreed with Greene that it’s a genocide, he said: “I think she should go there and be educated.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said that it was flat out “wrong” to call it genocide, but that people are entitled to their opinion.

“You know, if it wasn’t for the First Amendment, how would we know who the fools are?” he said. “What I would respond is that they’re wrong. They’re just people that hate Israel. And one of the astounding things to me as a result of this war, I see it not just in the United States, but I see it worldwide, is how much antisemitism there is in the world.”

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., however, didn’t outright dismiss Greene’s remarks.

“I’ve not been to Gaza, so until you get there, I guess you don’t know exactly what’s going on, but you don’t want people at war. You don’t want people starving,” he said. “At the same time, I’ve been over to Kfar Aza. I’ve been in Israel, Kfar Aza, which is half a mile from Gaza. I watched what happened to people because of what Hamas did. It’s despicable. Hamas could end this today."

The poll by Gallup is the latest in a series by the polling firm about US attitudes about the war. Early on, in November 2023, it found that half of Americans approved of the actions Israel was taking in Gaza, and fewer disapproved. (Some said they did not know.) By last June, more Americans disapproved than approved, Gallup found, but there was still 42 percent approval.

Now, after more than a year later, the proportion of Americans who say they approve of Israel’s war in Gaza has fallen to 32 percent, according to the poll. Among Democrats, who started out at 36 percent approval, the proportion has fallen to just 8 percent.

The proportion of Republicans who approve of Israel’s actions in Gaza is at the same level today — 71 percent — as it was in November 2023, Gallup found. The gap was the largest partisan divide on the issue that the poll has ever found.

The poll was conducted 7 – 21 July, starting when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington, D.C., and continuing during a period when concerns about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza were simmering but had not reached their current level. The results add to mounting signs of that Israel is losing the support it has long enjoyed among Democrats.

The poll also found both a plummeting approval rating for Netanyahu and sharp disapproval for Israel’s military actions in Iran among Democrats.

Senate Democrats are imploring US President Donald Trump’s administration to step up its role in addressing suffering and reported starvation in Gaza, with at least 40 senators signing onto a letter Tuesday urging the resumption of ceasefire talks and sharply criticizing an Israeli-backed American organization that had been created to distribute food aid.

In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Republican president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, the US senators said the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, created in February with backing from the Trump administration, has “failed to address the deepening humanitarian crisis and contributed to an unacceptable and mounting civilian death toll around the organization’s sites.”

Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it was “not at all credible” to think the Israeli military — one of the most advanced in the world — is incapable of distributing food aid or performing crowd control.

“They made a choice to establish a new way of doing food distribution,” he said. “And it’s not working at all.”

he letter, obtained by The Associated Press, calls for a “large-scale expansion” of aid into Gaza channeled through organizations experienced in working in the area. It also says efforts for a ceasefire agreement are “as critical and urgent as ever.”

The message was led by four Jewish members of the Democratic Caucus — Sens. Adam Schiff of California, Chuck Schumer of New York, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Schatz — and also calls for the return of the 50 hostages, 20 believed to be alive, who have been held by Hamas terror group since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which started the ongoing war.

The signatures from 44 senators — the vast majority of the Senate Democratic Caucus — on the letter show the extent to which Democrats have achieved some unity on a foreign policy issue that deeply divided them while they held the White House last year.

They called for an end to the war that sees Hamas no longer in control of Gaza and a long-term goal of both an Israeli and a Palestinian state, and opposed any permanent displacement of the Palestinian people, which they noted “would be antithetical to international humanitarian law.”

Meanwhile, Republicans are backing Trump’s handling of the situation and supporting Israel. Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was satisfied with Trump trying “to referee that, but the Israelis need to get their hostages back.”

till, images of the worsening hunger crisis in Gaza seemed to be reaching some Republican members of Congress.

Over the weekend, far-right Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who routinely calls for an end to foreign aid, said on social media “What has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific. This war and humanitarian crisis must end!”

For Schatz, it was a sign that many Americans do care about suffering in other parts of the world, even after Trump won the election with “America First” foreign policy goals and kick-started his administration by demolishing US aid programs.

“They are seeing images of chaos, images of suffering that are either caused by the United States or at least could have been prevented by the United States,” Schatz said. “And it is redounding negatively to the preside

Dozens of US left-wing rabbis were arrested Tuesday morning after staging a protest at the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, calling for aid in Gaza and an end to what they called the Israeli government’s “blockade” of the enclave.

The arrests came a day after eight rabbis were arrested at a separate demonstration in New York City, in a sign of surging Jewish concern about the condition of Gazan civilians.

In Washington, the group of 27 rabbis affiliated with the advocacy group Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza entered Thune’s office at around 11:10 a.m. Tuesday morning, and displayed banners reading “Rabbis say: Protect Life!” and “Rabbis say: Stop the Blockade.”

Over the past two months, over 23,500 American Jews, including over 750 rabbis and over 100 Jewish congregations, synagogues and organizations, have signed a statement titled “Jews for Food Aid for People in Gaza.” More than 1,000 rabbis worldwide signed an open letter this week demanding that Israel “stop using starvation as a weapon of war.” Jerusalem vehemently rejects this allegation.

“We are here to demand that our elected officials protect life and take immediate action to end the starvation for all people in Gaza, including Palestinians in Gaza and Israeli hostages who are still being held captive in Gaza,” a rabbi said at the sit-in in Thune’s office.

Two rabbis read briefly from Lamentations, the text recited on the upcoming fast day of Tisha B’Av that describes the siege of ancient Jerusalem, translating the phrase, “Little children beg for bread; none gives them a morsel.”

The group of rabbis then began singing Psalm 23 using a tune traditionally used at Jewish funerals, before Capitol police arrested them and removed them from the Senate Office Building.

Of the group of arrested rabbis, many have been vocal supporters of pro-Palestinian Jewish movements, including Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, the former director of the social justice organizing program at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; Rabbi Abby Stein, the first openly transgender female rabbi from a Hasidic background; and Rabbi Andrue Kahn, a Brooklyn-based Reform rabbi who heads the historically anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism. One of those arrested, Rabbi Amelia Wolf, is the leader of the Conservative congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington, Virginia.

“This is about life and death. Our most urgent spiritual responsibility as Jews and as rabbis is to protect life,” Rabbi Alissa Wise, the founding director of Rabbis for Ceasefire, said in a statement. “All life is sacred, but Palestinian lives are not treated as such, and that is a blot on our collective humanity. We are here to insist on the sanctity of life of every Palestinian, of every Israeli, of all of us.”

The arrests came a day after eight rabbis were arrested in a protest organized by T’ruah and New York Jewish Agenda outside of the Israeli Consulate in New York City. The rabbis, along with hundreds of other demonstrators who were part of the protest, were calling for increased aid into Gaza, an end to the war and the return of all hostages.

The group of rabbis was held in a Manhattan jail for over two hours before being released, according to an Instagram post by Rabbi Evan Traylor, the assistant rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn.

The University of California has agreed to a sweeping settlement in a high-profile lawsuit that accused UCLA, one of 10 campuses in the UC system, of enabling antisemitic discrimination during campus protests in 2024.

The settlement came the same day the US Justice Department accused the university of discriminating against Jewish students, in violation of the US Constitution and 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, includes roughly $6.13 million in payments, according to Becket, the religious liberty law firm that backed it. It also includes a permanent court order requiring the university to prevent the exclusion of Jewish students from public spaces.

The lawsuit, Frankel v. Regents of the University of California, was filed by students and supported by Becket. It alleged that during last year’s pro-Palestinian encampment, UCLA officials allowed protestors to establish what the lawsuit called a “Jew Exclusion Zone,” barring Jewish students and faculty from accessing parts of campus, including classrooms and libraries.

A federal judge granted preliminary relief last summer, ordering UCLA to ensure the free movement of Jewish students, and this week’s agreement makes that injunction permanent.

“When antisemites were terrorizing Jews and excluding them from campus, UCLA chose to protect the thugs and help keep Jews out,” said lead plaintiff Yitzchok Frankel, a recent UCLA Law graduate. “That was shameful … but today’s court judgment brings justice back to our campus.”

A nationwide wave of demonstrations in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the war in Gaza included frequent expressions of support for terror groups, as well as flagrant violations of school rules and sometimes local laws.

In the aftermath of the UCLA encampment, the university set up a task force, which acknowledged the university allowed antisemitism to fester amid pro‑Palestinian protests, citing incidents such as swastikas drawn inside classrooms, hateful slogans like “Israelis are native 2 hell,” and assaults on Jewish students and staff that went insufficiently addressed by administration.

Still, UCLA initially fought the lawsuit for over a year before conceding to a judgment and settlement. In a joint statement with the plaintiffs, both parties said, “We are pleased with the terms of today’s settlement. The injunction and other terms UCLA has agreed to demonstrate real progress in the fight against antisemitism.”

Trump administration: UCLA discriminated against Jews
The Trump administration, which joined the lawsuit in March, announced Tuesday that the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division found UCLA violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students.”

UCLA will contribute $2.3m to NGOs focused on antisemitism
As part of the settlement, UCLA will contribute $2.33 million to eight Jewish and antisemitism-focused organizations, including Hillel at UCLA, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles’s Campus Impact Network. An additional $320,000 will go to UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism, a program launched earlier this year by Chancellor Julio Frenk, who is Jewish and assumed his position on January 1.

The total financial outlay, including damages to the plaintiffs and attorney’s fees, makes the deal the largest private settlement in a campus antisemitism case, according to Becket. Columbia recently agreed to pay more than $200 million in a settlement with the Trump administration over antisemitism allegations there.

University of California officials framed the agreement as an extension of ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism systemwide.

“Antisemitism, harassment, and other forms of intimidation are antithetical to our values,” UC Board of Regents Chair Janet Reilly said in a statement. “Today’s settlement reflects a critically important goal that we share with the plaintiffs: to foster a safe, secure and inclusive environment for all.”

The case sets a legal precedent, said Mark Rienzi, Becket’s president. “Campus administrators across the country willingly bent the knee to antisemites during the encampments,” he said in a statement. “They are now on notice: Treating Jews like second-class citizens is wrong, illegal, and very costly.”

ewish singer-songwriter Regina Spektor shot back at a pro-Palestinian protester who interrupted her concert Saturday night, telling the protester, “You’re just yelling at a Jew.”

Later, she engaged in a back and forth with another audience member about the hunger crisis in Gaza, in a dramatic example of how deeply Israel’s war in Gaza is interceding in the public consciousness and shaping the experience of Jews.

The confrontation came 10 songs into Spektor’s performance at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon, when a protester began shouting “Free f—ing Palestine” from the crowd.

Spektor, who emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States as a child, has faced scrutiny for her pro-Israel activism on social media. In November 2023, the singer rebuked fellow artist Bjork for sharing an infographic about the displacement of Palestinians, and in July 2024 she was targeted by the Instagram account Zionists in Music for being a “proud Zionist who frequently posts her support for Israel on Instagram and X/Twitter.”

During an event in New York to commemorate the anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that started the ongoing war, Spektor sang a rendition of “Avinu Malkeinu,” the classic High Holiday prayer.

On Saturday, the singer stopped her concert and began speaking directly to the pro-Palestinian protester.

“You’re just yelling at a Jew,” she said to the person who interrupted her set. To the rest of the crowd, she said, “I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing. I really appreciate the security. We had a really hard time last night, when I said, ‘Shalom aleichem.’”

Most of the crowd responded by cheering for Spektor while others laughed, and several people yelled, “Am Yisrael Chai,” according to video of the concert posted on social media. Later, while an audience member who had yelled “Free Palestine” left the venue, Spektor said, “I thought this was different than the internet. This is real life.”

When another audience member said, “There’s a genocide happening,” Spektor said, “You can leave the show if you want. This is not an internet comment section. I know that you are mistaking my show for a YouTube video.”

The audience member then replied, “I’m watching children dying. That hurts.”

“I think you should go because this is not the place for that conversation,” Spektor replied.

“The only reason I even speak English is because I came here to escape this s**t,” Spektor continued after several audience members left the concert. “I only speak English because I came from a country where people were treating Jews as others, and now I’m being othered here, and it sucks. It’ll be nice if one of my family’s generation didn’t have to go to a new country and learn a new language.”

The Reform movement in North America on Monday issued a statement saying that the Israeli government was "culpable" in the spread of hunger in the Gaza Strip.

The largest Jewish denomination in the United States, the Reform movement, issued its statement just hours after the American Jewish Committee became the first major legacy organization in the Jewish community to express deep concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"No one should be unaffected by the pervasive hunger experienced by thousands of Gazans," the Reform movement said. "No one should spend the bulk of their time arguing technical definitions between starvation and pervasive hunger. The situation is dire, and it is deadly."

"Nor should we accept arguments that because Hamas is the primary reason many Gazans are either starving or on the verge of starving, that the Jewish State is not also culpable in this human disaster," they added. "The primary moral response must begin with anguished hearts in the face of such a large-scale human tragedy.

The statement was signed by leaders of the Union for Reform Judaism (the congregational arm of the movement), the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the American Conference of Cantors. The latter two come under the auspices of the Reform movement.

As reports of mass starvation in Gaza have spread, sparking international condemnation, mainstream Jewish organizations and movements – usually quick to respond to any major news developments pertaining to Israel – have kept silent. Other Jewish groups, more closely aligned with the left and progressive causes, have already spoken out.

In its statement, the Reform movement warned that Israel was crossing a "moral line."

"Blocking food, water, medicine, and power – especially for children – is indefensible," it said. "Let us not allow our grief to harden into indifference, nor our love for Israel to blind us to the cries of the vulnerable. Let us rise to the moral challenge of this moment."

At the same time, the Reform movement said it was "encouraged" by the weekend announcement that the Israeli army would revive the practice of dropping aid from airplanes and make it easier for aid convoys to move through Gaza along designated humanitarian corridors.

"Our tradition teaches that all people are created b'tzelem Elohim – in the image of God," said the statement. "One consequence of this is the moral priority, which is affirmed throughout the Bible and rabbinic tradition, of feeding the hungry – both for the individual and for the self-governing Jewish community."

"Starving Gazan civilians neither will bring Israel the 'total victory' over Hamas it seeks, nor can it be justified by Jewish values or humanitarian law," the movement's statement said, addressing such concerns. "

The AJC, among the oldest Jewish organizations in the United States, said in its statement, issued on Sunday, that it was "deeply concerned about worsening food insecurity in Gaza," and expressed "immense sorrow for the grave toll this war has taken on Palestinian civilians."

Dozens of people were arrested in Manhattan on Friday after activists from Jewish Voice for Peace staged a sit-in at the offices of Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as part of a wave of Jewish protests calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

Shortly after noon, more than a hundred activists, including New York State Assemblywoman Claire Valdez, crowded into the lobby at 780 Third Avenue, banging pots and pans, singing and unfurling banners that read "Jews Say Stop Starving Gaza."

While cease-fire protests organized by the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace movement have been occurring since 2023, the most recent surge in demonstrations has been led by a broader coalition of Jewish groups

Eleven rabbis were arrested on Monday outside the Israeli consulate in New York in a protest organized by Liberal Zionist groups New York Jewish Agenda and T'ruah. On Tuesday, more than two dozen rabbis from various left-wing Jewish groups were arrested in the office of the Republican Senate majority leader, John Thune, while demanding action by Congress to provide food aid for Gaza.

Friday's protest by Jewish Voice for Peace came two days after three-quarters of the Senate, including both New York senators, voted to block two resolutions sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders that would have halted certain U.S. weapons sales to Israel.

Among those participating was Ita Segev, an Israeli-American activist. "As someone who grew up in Jerusalem, I learned from the elders around me about the long-time impacts of forced starvation," she said. "And if I knew about it, clearly the Israeli government and the architects of this genocide are aware of it, too. So I am standing proudly with Jewish New Yorkers calling to end this genocide."

Rabbi Abby Stein, a New York City–based rabbi and Israeli citizen, said she joined the sit-in because she could not stay silent in the face of what she called atrocities. "I'm watching the Israeli government, supported by the U.S., commit this horrific genocide," she said. "Starvation is being used as a tool of war – which is already a war crime. It is impossible to watch and stay silent."

Police eventually moved in to clear the offices, escorting dozens of activists into waiting vans. Outside, supporters continued to chant for an end to U.S. military support for Israel.

The American Jewish Committee is giving $25,000 to the Archdiocese of New York to aid in repairs of Gaza’s Holy Family Church, which was damaged by an Israeli strike last month.

The donation is notable because it marks a rare if not unprecedented donation by a mainstream U.S. Jewish group toward Gaza Palestinians while Israel is at war in the enclave. It also responds to damage caused by Israel’s operations, which the AJC and other major Jewish groups have refrained from criticizing.

The damage to Holy Family drew widespread condemnation last month, with critics of Israel alleging that its army was attacking Christians in Gaza and that it had destroyed the enclave’s only Catholic church. The pope lamented the incident, in which three people were killed and others injured.

It soon became clear that while there was damage to the church during the July 17 incident, it was not destroyed. Israel said the damage was caused by “stray ammunition” from a nearby operation and the church was not targeted.

The AJC’s announcement of the donation notes Israel’s explanation and says the organization was seeking to demonstrate that the Jewish-Catholic alliance, which the group has sought to nurture for decades, can withstand the war.

“In the wake of this tragedy, we want to be there for Catholic partners who have been there for the Jewish people in our times of need,” the AJC’s director of interreligious affairs, Rabbi Noam Marans, said in a statement. “Together, as Christians and Jews, we can affirm the shared humanity of all.”

More than a dozen House Democrats have now signed onto a letter urging the Trump administration to recognize a Palestinian state, and at least one plans to introduce a pro-statehood resolution, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The surge in efforts to secure Palestinian statehood is a byproduct of lawmakers' discomfort towards the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Even some Republicans and staunchly pro-Israel House Democrats have ramped up their criticism of Israeli leadership in recent weeks in response to mounting evidence of a famine in Gaza.

Driving the news: Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) are the latest members to have signed the letter, which is being led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Axios has learned.

That's in addition to nine earlier signatories: Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.), Al Green (D-Texas), Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).

Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.), one of three Muslim American members of Congress, has also signed on, his spokesperson told Axios.
The letter was first reported by Jewish Insider.

Zoom in: "This tragic moment has highlighted for the world the long overdue need to recognize Palestinian self-determination," reads the letter to President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a copy obtained by Axios.

The lawmakers pointed to French President Emmanuel Macron's recent pledge to recognize the State of Palestine at a UN meeting in September, which Rubio harshly criticized.

"We encourage the governments of other countries that have yet to recognize Palestinian statehood, including the United States, to do so as well," they wrote.

Zoom out: The letter comes amid mounting international recognition of a Palestinian state, most notably from France, the United Kingdom and Canada.

The U.S. is unlikely to follow suit, however, as the Trump administration has positioned the U.S. as a close ally of Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Still, even Trump has wavered in recent days, telling Axios' Barak Ravid he is working on a plan to "get people fed" in Gaza after casting doubt on Netanyahu's claims that there is no starvation there.

Between the lines: The number of Democrats who have signed on so far is nearly triple the amount who co-sponsored a resolution introduced by Green in 2023 affirming the "State of Palestine's right to exist."

That measure was backed by just five of the members during the last Congress: Carson, Doggett, Escobar, Frost and Watson Coleman.

Khanna, in a statement to Axios, said he "just started outreach this past week" on the letter and that "the response has been overwhelming."

What they're saying: "The recognition would come by embracing the 22 state Arab League Plan just passed this week that calls for a Palestinian state and the recognition of Israel as a Jewish democratic state," Khanna said.

Noting that over 147 countries have recognized a Palestinian state, the California Democrat added: "We cannot be isolated from the rest of the free world."

Watson Coleman said in a statement: "If we're to see an end to war, famine, and the return of hostages, the recognition of a Palestinian state, contingent on the disarmament of Hamas and security guarantees for both Israel and Palestine, must be a part of that process."

What we're hearing: Lawmakers told Axios to expect similar pro-Palestinian initiatives in the coming weeks and months in response to worsening conditions in Gaza.

"You know there will be," said one House Democrat, saying the situation in the region is "too awful not to have more."
Green told Axios he intends to reintroduce a resolution this Congress affirming Palestine's right to exist but still needs to consult staff on the specific language: "Something will be introduced."

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that Israel’s status in the United States “has never been so bad” and that it is being seen as a “leper state” in a lengthy social media post on Tuesday.

The post castigating the current government’s public diplomacy efforts came after Bennett, who plans to run in next year’s elections, spent 10 days in the US. It follows a raft of polls and other indicators showing decreasing support for Israel and its war against Hamas in Gaza, among both major American political parties.

“The Democratic party hasn’t been with us for some time. We’re also losing the Republican party, whose support for Israel could once be counted on,” he wrote, though he credited US President Donald Trump with retaining support for Israel within his administration.

“Even those who have been our friends are having a hard time defending the State of Israel,” Bennett continued. “Israel is being seen more and more as a liability and burden on the USA and Americans.”

Bennett said the current government, of which he is a longtime critic, is to blame for the situation. He accused it of a disorganized and self-destructive approach to making Israel’s case around the world, and wrote that the government is doing “terrible damage” and “still does not understand the magnitude of the disaster.”

Some of those responsible for such efforts had “received a salary from Qatar,” he added. Earlier this year, two of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aides were arrested on suspicion of having committed multiple offenses tied to their alleged work for a pro-Qatar lobbying firm, all while also working for the prime minister. Qatar is a funder of Hamas, and the terror group’s leaders live there.

Bennett also took aim at two of his former allies, Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in addition to Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and MK Nissim Vaturi, who have all drawn backlash for their statements about the war.

Eliyahu said Israel is “racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out.” Smotrich said most of the enclave would be “totally destroyed,” and that it is an “inseparable” part of Israel. Chikli drew attention recently for calling British pundit Piers Morgan antisemitic. Vaturi has called to “burn Gaza.”

He said the four lawmakers “babble on and cause us unimaginable damage with devastating quotes that will haunt our soldiers in passport lines in countries around the world.

“Do you really think that what you say in interviews in Israel isn’t being heard abroad?! Don’t you care that you will lead to the prosecution of our soldiers?” Bennett wrote.

Bennett wrote that the accusation that Israel is causing starvation in Gaza has gained wide purchase in the United States. A range of human rights groups have said there is deepening hunger and malnutrition in the enclave. Israel has denied that there is widespread starvation, but recently increased the flow of aid to Gaza in response to international pressure.

“The ‘starvation’ campaign in Gaza has grown to enormous proportions, and in fact, for most of the American public and various influencers, it is almost a fact,” he wrote.

The rise in anti-Israel sentiment, he added, has led to a spike in antisemitism in the US. Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that began the war in Gaza, US Jewish groups and law enforcement agencies have documented a significant increase in antisemitic incidents.

“American Jews are subject to a foul wave of antisemitism, the likes of which I can’t remember in the days of my life,” Bennett wrote. “For years, I’ve felt that there isn’t really a mass of antisemitism in the USA. Now there is.”

The number of antisemitic incidents recorded in the UK between January and June 2025 is the second highest figure ever seen by the Community Security Trust (CST) in any first half of a year. This half year comes second only to the same period last year in terms of the quantity of antisemitic incidents.

CST, a charity that monitors antisemitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, recorded 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK during the first half of 2025, with at least 200 incidents every month. Nevertheless, this is 25% lower than the first six months of 2024, which saw 2,019 antisemitic incidents.

The new CST report, released on Wednesday, reveals that more than half (51%) of the overall total antisemitic incidents in the first six months of 2025 were linked to Israel, Gaza, the Hamas terror attack, or the subsequent conflict.

The highest monthly total came in June 2025, with 326 incidents, which the trust pointed out coincided with the Israel-Iran war.

In total, 76% of all incidents showed evidence of one or more political or ideological discourses or motivations – whether anti-Zionist, far Right, Islamist, or other – alongside anti-Jewish language, motivation, or targeting.

CST also recorded 76 violent anti-Jewish assaults in the first six months of 2025, three of which were so severe as to be recorded in the category of Extreme Violence. Of these three attacks, one involved a bottle, one involved a box-cutter, and the other involved a hammer.
The other 73 were classed as assault, including 20 incidents where the victim was punched or kicked, and 15 where something was thrown, such as eggs, stones, or bricks.

One case study of assault provided in the report occurred in April, when a non-Jewish woman was told “You’re f***ing Jewish, I hate you, f*** you” by a group of men and women at a Lancashire hotel pub. The victim replied that she is not Jewish and left, but was followed by the group. One of the women started attacking her, punching her and knocking her to the ground, continuing to punch her, and one of the men started to kick her in the ribs.

In addition to the violent incidents, there were 84 cases of damage and desecration of Jewish property, 96 direct threats, 21 incidents of mass-produced antisemitic literature, and 1,236 incidents in the category of abusive behavior.

Most incidents occured in Greater London
In terms of geographical distribution, the highest number of incidents was in Greater London, followed by Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Hertfordshire, West Midlands, Scotland, and Sussex, in that order.
“These are extreme levels of Jew-hatred, committed in the name of anti-Israel activism,” CST Chief Executive Mark Gardner said.

“In such difficult times, CST is proud to give strength to British Jews when they most need it.”

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Antisemitic incidents and crimes remain shamefully and persistently high and every incident has a profoundly damaging impact both on the individuals affected and the wider Jewish community,” adding that “this Government remains steadfast in its commitment to root out the poison of antisemitism wherever it is found.”

Cooper noted that the government is providing £54 million in multi-year funding to CST to administer in order to provide vital protective security for the Jewish community to 2027/28.

She also announced that the government is creating a new Antisemitism Working Group to advise on how best to respond to incidents across society.

Several cars were set on fire and “Death to the IDF” graffiti was spray-painted in a residential neighborhood in the St. Louis area, according to local reports and the head of the Trump administration’s antisemitism task force.

Leo Terrell says the “horrific antisemitic attack,” in which three cars were torched, targeted an American citizen who served in the Israel Defense Forces who had returned to his family home in Clayton.

“Soon after, he and his family were targeted,” Terrell writes in a post on X.

There are no reports of injuries. Local media reports a suspect has been taken into custody.

KMOV 4 News says that in addition to “Death to the IDF,” further graffiti was spray-painted on the street that it described as “a direct attack on an individual.” The outlet adds that it blurred that “part of the threatening message because it’s targeted at a specific individual.”

Terrell says the graffiti “accused him of being a murderer.”

'Jews are evil' graffiti in Canada
In Victoria, Canada, graffiti was sprayed on the Congregation Emanu-El synagogue on Saturday with the words “Jews are evil! Because genocide is evil! Stop the genocide, stop the Jews!”
The vandalism also said, “Jews are murdering thousands of gentile children. In the future, Palestinians will get their revenge against you, child-killing Jew-monsters!”

Berlin Holocaust memorial vandalized
The police in Berlin announced on Sunday that vandals had defaced the Putlitz Bridge Holocaust deportation memorial with white paint splashes and parcel tape.

This site, which commemorates the deportation of over 32,000 Jews, has faced repeated antisemitic vandalism since its creation.

Section 27 police forces were able to wipe off the fresh paint but were unable to remove the parcel tape without leaving any residue.

Oregon Jewish and Holocaust museum painted with swastikas
On Saturday, police in Portland, Oregon, launched a crime investigation after a vandal drew several swastikas at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

According to Oregon Live, workers were left shaken after discovering about a half-dozen antisemitic emblems on the front door and a window mural at their Northwest Portland museum.

“Anger. Sadness. Frustration. Fear. All of that,” Rebekah Sobel, the museum’s executive director, said on Saturday. “This is the first time it’s ever happened at this building.”

“I feel that if you’re going to work for a Jewish organization in a downtown area like this, this just might happen,” Sobel said. “So we have a lot of conversations about safety and safety protocols, and we have a person who does our security in person when people enter the building.”

Spanish airline Iberia said Tuesday that it had opened an investigation after a passenger who requested a kosher meal received his food tray with the words "Free Palestine" written on the packaging.

Several other Jewish passengers on the flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid received meal trays marked with the initials "FP" for "Free Palestine", according to DAIA, the umbrella organisation of Argentina's Jewish community, calling it a "serious act of antisemitism".
"We strongly condemn this discriminatory act and have contacted the airline authorities to demand explanations and immediate action," the group said in a message posted on X.

The post included a photo showing a meal tray with a handwritten white label marked "Free Palestine" in black letters.

Kosher refers to food prepared according to Jewish dietary laws.

In a statement, Iberia confirmed that some passengers on the flight that landed early Tuesday reported "handwritten pro-Palestinian messages" on their meal packaging.

"The Iberia crew documented the incident and took action to assist those affected. The captain personally approached them to apologise on behalf of the airline,” the statement said.

The airline said it was conducting an internal investigation and working with its catering providers to determine how the labels were added.

he man accused of fatally shooting two staff members of the Israeli Embassy in Washington outside a Jewish museum has been indicted on federal hate crimes charges, according to court documents unsealed Wednesday.

The indictment, filed in federal court in Washington, charges Elias Rodriguez with nine counts, including a hate crime resulting in death. The indictment also includes notice of special findings, which would allow the Justice Department to potentially pursue the death penalty.

Elias Rodriguez is accused of gunning down Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they left an event at the museum in May. He was heard shouting “Free Palestine” as he was led away after his arrest. He told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza,” federal authorities have said.

Rodriguez had previously been charged with murder of foreign officials and other crimes, and the hate crimes charges were added after prosecutors brought the case to a grand jury. It means prosecutors will be tasked with proving Rodriguez was motivated by antisemitism when he opened fire on Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple who were about to become engaged.

Prosecutors have described the killing as calculated and planned, saying Rodriguez flew to the Washington region from Chicago ahead of the Capital Jewish Museum event with a handgun in his checked luggage. He purchased a ticket for the event about three hours before it started, authorities have said in court papers.

^ That sort of behaviour really can't be condoned.

I wouldn't assume MKL is obnoxiously pro-genocide in Palestine, but for sake of argument let's assume the outcast is a literal Nazi or pro-genocide in Palestine, or literally any other position one might find morally repugnant (pro-forced abortion, pro-deporting all non-white Americans, etc).

Cornering them and beating their ass probably isn't going to change what they believe, and isn't going to make that position less popular in the broader world.

It's one thing to use violence if they're actively posing a physical threat at the moment, but just for believing in something you're repulsed by, no.

Beyond that, it's probable that this girl wasn't some obnoxious hate monger and instead is just being scapegoated by her peers who feel powerless to express their outrage in a constructive fashion, but ultimately still can find constructive outlets and are just choosing a particularly lazy outlet.

There's no rational way those kids could believe bullying a classmate will do anything to help Palestinians. If only they'd realize their behaviour makes it more likely American Jews will flee to Israel and contribute to further harming Palestinians.

If they're genuinely motivated by concern for Palestinians, their own actions will have second-order effects harmful to that cause, making them part of the problem rather than part of anything that can be regarded as a solution.