<p>Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) in a Thursday <a href="https://www.moreno.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Bondi-Bowser.pdf">letter</a> called for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to investigate the horrific murder of two Israeli embassy staff as an act of domestic terrorism.</p>
<p>Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgram, 26, were exiting an event for young Jewish professionals, where they were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-embassy-staff-murdered-by-unidentified-shooter-outside-capitol-jewish-museum?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=Two+Israeli+Embassy+Staffers+Murdered+By+Keffiyeh-Wearing+Man+Shouting+%E2%80%98Free+Palestine%E2%80%99+In+DC">shot</a> at close range by 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, who is now in custody.</p>
<p>Moreno, who has positioned himself as a staunch supporter of Israel, mourned the loss of the young couple: “As members of the Jewish community gathered in our nation&#8217;s capital this week from all over the world, their worst fears became reality.”</p>
<p>“Last night, this young couple, with the rest of their lives in front of them, was gunned down by a terrorist screaming ‘Free Palestine,’” Moreno said.</p>
<p>Lischinsky had bought a ring and planned to propose to Milgram in Jerusalem next week.</p>
<p>Moreno demanded immediate action from the DOJ and D.C. police: “The violence against Jews must stop.”</p>
<p>“In light of this horrific attack, I respectfully request you immediately launch an investigation into this hate crime and act of domestic terrorism. The city of Washington D.C. must also conduct a full review of the security failures that allowed this terrorist attack to happen,” Moreno said.</p>
<p>U.S. law enforcement appears to be moving in this direction, with FBI Director Kash Patel on Thursday characterizing the attack as “act of terror” and “targeted anti-Semitic violence.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last night’s act of terror has the full attention of the FBI. Targeted anti-Semitic violence is an attack on our core values and will be met with the full weight of federal law enforcement. The individual responsible will be held accountable, and the Bureau will continue pursuing…</p>
<p>— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) <a href="https://twitter.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1925580650381238714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 22, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Moreno further <a href="https://www.adl.org/resources/report/audit-antisemitic-incidents-2024">emphasized</a> the urgency of addressing antisemitic violence, noting, “In 2024, the nation saw the highest number of antisemitic incidents in almost 50 years,” in addition to the “344 percent increase in antisemitic incidents over the past five years and an 893 percent increase over the past 10 years,” per the Anti-Defamation League.</p>
<p>Moreno requested that authorities “launch an investigation into this hate crime and act of domestic terrorism, prosecute the heinous murderer to the fullest extent of the law,” and report to his office a review of &#8220;all protocols to identify how this security failure occurred.”</p>
<p>“Religious liberty is the very foundation of the origins of our great nation. We must do everything we can to stop hate crimes, domestic terrorism, and antisemitism in America, including prosecuting those who commit domestic terrorism and hate crimes, fully funding the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and appropriating funds to the Department of Justice for grants to states for law enforcement to protect our religious institutions against acts of terror,” Moreno concluded.</p>


Senator Demands Feds Investigate Israel Embassy Shooting As Domestic Terrorism

Anti-Semitism

Bernie Moreno

Crime

Department of Justice

domestic terrorism

Hamas

Israel

Palestine

Pam Bondi

U.S.

<p>A Boston hotel owned by an infamous slumlord cancelled two Passover meals at the last minute. It hosted anti-Israel Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib instead.</p>
<p>The Iris Hotel Boston in Brookline — a Boston suburb with a large Jewish population — was supposed to host two Passover Seder meals on Saturday evening. But just two days before the dinners were set to take place, the hotel canceled, a source involved with coordinating the events told The Daily Wire.</p>
<p>The Seders had been referenced on a schedule for staff posted in the hotel, which was reviewed by The Daily Wire.</p>
<p>After canceling the events, the hotel hosted a private screening of a film about Palestinians with Tlaib, a member of the far-left “Squad.” A staff member at the hotel confirmed to The Daily Wire that Tlaib was at the hotel on Saturday night.</p>
<p>One of the hotel’s owners, Anwar Faisal, is a major Tlaib donor who has been criticized for renting “slums” to college students. Boston Magazine <a href="https://www.bostonmagazine.com/2013/12/31/anwar-faisal-worst-landlord-boston/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">once claimed</a> Faisal’s buildings had “as many rats under his roofs as undergraduates.”</p>
<p>Upon welcoming Tlaib, the Iris Hotel flew a Palestinian flag under an American flag on its flagpole, though the flag appears to have been mistakenly hung upside down.</p>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-909359" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-4-266x576.jpg" alt="" width="266" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-4-266x576.jpg 266w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-4-138x300.jpg 138w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-4-708x1536.jpg 708w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/Image-from-iOS-4.jpg 738w" sizes="(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px" /></div>
<p>Sosi Rochel, who was invited to the Passover meal, told The Daily Wire she was disappointed it was cancelled.</p>
<p>“My family and I were excited to be invited to a Passover meal at a non-Jewish establishment located in the heart of Brookline’s Jewish community,” Sosi Rochel said.</p>
<p>“Once we heard what happened and saw the Palestinian flag flying outside at the same time, we were disappointed and asked the hotel what happened. They gave a very canned statement and did not take our concerns seriously.”</p>
<p>Sosi Rochel, who asked to withhold her last name for fears of retribution, said she feels like it is a “jab for the hotel to choose to support a congresswoman with a history of antisemitism over its own local community.”</p>
<p>A spokesperson for the Iris Hotel’s management company, Wagner Hospitality Management, declined to give The Daily Wire a statement more than “your tip is incorrect” and that “the Iris Hotel has no further comment on past events that took place at the hotel.”</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/wagnerhospitality/posts/pfbid0QK8Vn1u9SjNS6Dr6jaNt9iXzjjqfTw7CRRWqiMQCiAm8KgK1JWRwg7kygruLxNu7l" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post on its public Facebook page</a>, Wagner Hospitality Management wrote that the flag was flown as a “sign of respect” during Tlaib’s “brief stay to honor her heritage.”</p>
<p>“This flag should not be a contentious symbol and we would show the same respect for any dignitary choosing to stay with us regardless of their heritage or ethnicity,” the management company posted.</p>
<p>The post added that the flag was “only there for that day” and “has nothing to do with politics.”</p>
<p>“We have many Jewish guests staying at our hotel and we respect everyone,” Wagner Hospitality Management wrote.</p>
<p>According to public records, the Iris Hotel is owned by Adil Lamtioui and Anwar Faisal. Faisal, a well-known Palestinian figure in Boston, has been dubbed a notorious slumlord for his mismanagement of rental properties, many of which are leased to college students. Faisal has also used his status as a wealthy immigrant as a defense in housing court, Boston Magazine reported.</p>
<p>According to FEC records, Faisal donated the maximum campaign contribution of $3,300 to Tlaib in her primary and general election in 2023. Also in 2023, he gave an additional $5,000 to the Rooted in Community Leadership PAC, which is affiliated with Tlaib.</p>
<p>Tlaib <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-house-votes-to-censure-democrat-rashida-tlaib-for-supporting-genocide-of-israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was censured</a> by the House of Representatives shortly after Hamas’s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians for “promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” Tlaib, a Palestinian-American has used her platform to routinely espouse antisemitic and anti-Israel viewpoints.</p>
<p>“It is abhorrent that in 2025, Jewish Americans continue to be the targets of vicious antisemitism,” Sam Markstein, the spokesperson of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told The Daily Wire.</p>
<p>“The hotel in question should be ashamed, and its owners owe the Jewish community of Massachusetts an apology and answers as to why they abruptly canceled Passover celebrations with virtually no notice and welcomed deranged antisemite Rashida Tlaib to their property with open arms,” Markstein added.</p>
<p>Liora Rez, the executive director of StopAntisemitism, told The Daily Wire that the hotel’s cancellation is a new low.</p>
<p>“For a hotel to cancel a Jewish religious event in order to host one of America’s most notorious antisemites isn’t just offensive — it’s a staggering new low, and a blatant act of complicity in hate,” Rez said.</p>


Rashida Tlaib

After Canceling Passover Seder, Boston Hotel Welcomes Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Member Rashida Tlaib

anti-Israel

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The man suspected of setting the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion on fire while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping was motivated by his hatred for Israel, a 911 call reveals.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After 38-year-old Cody Balmer set fire to the mansion in the early hours of Sunday morning, he called the police to tell them he would not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” </span><a href="https://www.pennlive.com/crime/2025/04/arson-suspect-targeted-pa-gov-shapiro-for-what-he-wants-to-do-to-palestinian-people-search-warrant.html?outputType=amp"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Penn Live</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reported.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer added that he wanted to “stop having my friends killed” and that “our people have been put through too much by that monster.” Police reportedly say Balmer appeared to be reading from a script, based on his intonation and cadence.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“You all know where to find me. I’m not hiding, and I will confess to everything that I had done,” Balmer said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer targeted Shapiro “based upon perceived injustices to the people of Palestine” and because of Shapiro’s faith, according to a warrant for his devices signed Tuesday by Corporal Benjamin Forsythe of the Pennsylvania State Police, Penn Live reported. The warrant reportedly does not cite the evidence that Shapiro was targeted for being Jewish.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer’s storage unit in Swatara Township reportedly had stickers of South American Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara inside a toolbox.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police </span><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25896483-balmer-criminal-complaint-and-affidavit-mdj-klein/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">documents</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> reveal that Balmer admitted to harboring “hatred towards” Shapiro and planned on </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/arson-suspect-planned-on-beating-josh-shapiro-with-hammer-police?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Arson+Suspect+Planned+On+Beating+Josh+Shapiro+With+Hammer%3A+Police"><span style="font-weight: 400;">beating him with a hammer</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> if he encountered the governor during the attack, where he allegedly threw two Molotov cocktails into the Harrisburg home.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The attack, which did significant damage to the governor’s mansion, led to police waking and escorting Shapiro’s family from the home. The attack took place hours after the Shapiro family finished their Passover Seder meal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer has been charged with eight crimes, including attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism, and multiple counts of aggravated assault. He faces over 100 years in prison.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer turned himself in to the police shortly after his ex-girlfriend alerted authorities that he was responsible. Balmer admitted to the attack and told police that he knew people could be harmed, according to a police affidavit.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He advised on the date in question he removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken Bottles he found at his residence,” the police affidavit says. “Balmer advised he walked for approximately one hour from his residence to the Governor’s Residence to throw his homemade Molotov cocktails into the residence.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer’s mother </span><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/josh-shapiro-governors-residence-harrisburg-fire/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">told</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the media that her son was “mentally ill and he went off his medication.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Police were dispatched to Balmer’s home in January 2023 to respond to a report of domestic violence. When police arrived, Balmer told them he attempted suicide with a “bottle full of pills” and got into a fight with his wife and 13-year-old son, according to an affidavit from the Penbrook police department.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer’s wife said he hit the boy and punched her in the face and bit her hand, </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/14/politics/cody-balmer-shapiro-arson-suspect-invs/index.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CNN reported</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. His wife added that another 10-year-old son was elbowed in the chest multiple times, and had his already-broken leg stepped on. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Balmer was reportedly charged with three counts of simple assault at the time, but it is unclear whether he entered a plea. The case is ongoing.</span></p>


Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro’s Residence Set On Fire In Suspected Arson Attack

Arsonist Arrested For Attack On Josh Shapiro Hated Israel, 911 Call Reveals

Josh Shapiro

Pennsylvania

<p>Israeli Minister of Finance Betzalel Smotrich announced Sunday that Israel plans to create a “special Emigration Administration” to support President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Gazans.</p>
<p>“We are creating a special Emigration Administration,” Smotrich <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/smotrich-government-establishing-migration-administration-for-gaza-exodus/">said</a> during a meeting of the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus. “In order for the tremendous price our nation has paid and their tremendous determination not to devolve into yet another round of fighting the same war again, we must grab this opportunity with both hands, adopt the plan that has been floated by the US President.”</p>
<p>The authority is being prepared under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Minister of Defense Israel Katz, according to Smotrich, who added that “budgetary constraints will not stand in the way.”</p>
<p>The authority’s first task will be working with the Trump administration to identify countries to absorb Gazans. Smotrich noted that such a plan would be complicated because even if 5,000 people were relocated each day, it would still take a year for emigration to be completed.</p>
<p>“The logistics are complicated because we have to know who the émigré’s are, where each one is going, what the needs are, and more,” he said.</p>
<p>More than 100 participants discussed and proposed practical steps to execute Trump’s plan for voluntary Gazan emigration and promote long-term stability in the region during the Knesset <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/EjLdWdQFw3k" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caucus session</a> titled, “The New Middle East: The Plan for Voluntary Migration from Gaza.”</p>
<p>“Things that seemed impossible for many years are now completely legitimate topics for policy initiatives,” Caucus co-chair MK Yoel (Yuli) Edelstein said during the session. “We must not squander the opportunity to take the right steps toward the new Middle East we are discussing. I am pleased that we have convened to think together about the ways to build implementable programs that once seemed beyond imagination.”</p>
<p>Co-chair MK Simcha Rothman called Trump’s plan a “common sense revolution.”</p>
<p>“Time is of the essence and the clock is ticking; we must speak loudly and clearly in positive language — not only what must not be, but what must be,” Rothman said, adding that those who act against Trump’s plan for emigration are “collaborating with Hamas.”</p>
<p>MK Limor Son-Har-Melech, who is also a co-chair of the caucus, called for “large-scale Jewish settlement of Gaza, the restoration of Jewish life there, Jewish children once again playing in the streets of Gaza.”</p>
<p>Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-says-he-wants-to-permanently-relocate-all-gazans-in-meeting-with-netanyahu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously said</a> he does not support Israel building settlements in Gaza again, because he thinks Gaza isn’t a place for anyone to live until the reconstruction plan is complete. Several Jewish settlements were present in Gaza until 2005, when Israel removed 8,600 Israeli residents from their homes as part of its disengagement from Gaza.</p>
<p>Other participants included Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Smotrich, Minister of Settlement Affairs and National Projects MK Orit Strock, and former Minister of National Security MK Itamar Ben-Gvir.</p>
<p>Strock said that even if Hamas is subdued in Gaza, the strip still poses a threat to Israel.</p>
<p>“Even if we subdue Hamas as a civil and military leadership, so long as we do not enable the majority of the population of Gaza to emigrate we will not remove the threat,” Strock said. “That is what we must do and I say as a member of the government and the cabinet — this government will take responsibility.”</p>
<p>Israel Ganz, who heads the Binyamin Regional Council in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, called for Hamas members in his area to be removed because of the security risk.</p>
<p>“This is a historic moment for the  State of Israel: We have an American president in office who is encouraging us to think out of the box,” Ganz said. “We don’t need any other suggestions — we need only to get to work! The time has come for the Israeli government to take active steps toward implementing President Trump’s vision.”</p>
<p>Ben Gvir, who has become the boogeyman to Western media due to his hawkish, right-wing views, pointed out that he has proposed the plan before Trump.</p>
<p>“Since the beginning of the war, I have said repeatedly that the only &#8216;day after&#8217; solution for the Gaza Strip is to encourage voluntary emigration,” he said. “At first I was ridiculed, but today it is clear to everyone that this is the only realistic solution. Encouraging voluntary emigration is the order of the day. Government of Israel — Forward, to action!”</p>
<p>The Knesset Land of Israel Caucus is the largest in Israel’s parliament, with 80 Knesset members.</p>
<p>Israel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hamas-ignores-deadline-to-release-hostages-israel-cuts-off-electricity-to-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut off electricity</a> to Gaza following Hamas ignoring a Saturday deadline to release more of the 59 hostages still in captivity.</p>
<p>Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/israel-to-cut-electricity-in-gaza-immediately-energy-minister-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> on Sunday, adding on <a href="https://x.com/elicoh1/status/1898756463222260177" target="_blank" rel="noopener">X</a>, “I have now signed an order to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip immediately. Enough with the talk, it’s time for action!”</p>


Kamal Adwan Hospital after Israeli attacks on Gaza

Israel Announces Plans To Create An ‘Emigration Administration’ To Relocate Gazans

Donald Trump

Gaza

<p>A D.C. court has ordered prominent anti-Israel activists to pay a rabbi $182,000 for falsely accusing him in court of &#8220;stalking&#8221; after he prayed at the Israel embassy, which they staked out for months in a protest.</p>
<p>Hazami Barmada, who “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230604221715/https://www.aspendigital.org/person/hazami-barmada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">held</a> several high-level positions at the United Nations&#8221; and in 2023 &#8220;joined the faculty of George Washington University,” and Atefeh Rokhvand, founder of Teachers Against Genocide, abused the court system by seeking a restraining order against Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia’s Domestic Violence Division ruled last week. The restraining order could have essentially prevented the rabbi from coming near the Israel embassy, because the pair was leading an around-the-clock protest there.</p>
<p>Video contradicted statements in the activists&#8217; legal filings and showed that the rabbi had peacefully prayed at the embassy while Barmada mocked him through a megaphone, Judge John McCabe <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.267988/gov.uscourts.dcd.267988.36.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> last week in a previously unreported ruling. Far from being scared of the so-called stalker, Barmada ridiculed his presence at the embassy as “hilarious,” he found.</p>
<p>“There is no evidence that Respondent ever threatened the Petitioners. There is no evidence that he ever followed, monitored or placed them under surveillance. The only times he ever saw them was at the location of the protests on three occasions (only two with regard to Ms. Rokhvand). The evidence suggests that his presence on those occasions was not an attempt to locate Petitioners or any other particular individuals; he was going to the embassy to pray,” the ruling said.</p>
<p>After Hamas&#8217; October 7, 2023 terror attack, Barmada and Rokhvand led virtually permanent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/immigration-agent-who-celebrates-hamas-is-using-paid-leave-from-dhs-to-threaten-military-officials">protests</a> at Israel&#8217;s embassy in Washington and outside the home of former Secretary of State Antony Blinken. &#8220;Hazami Barmada is 40 years old. She received an MPA degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School and has worked at the Aspen Institute,&#8221; the ruling said. &#8220;She stated that she sometimes protested at the home of (now former) U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in northern Virginia, at times throwing fake blood in the direction of motor vehicles entering or exiting his home.&#8221;</p>
<p><b data-stringify-type="bold"><a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/subscribe" data-sk="tooltip_parent">PRESIDENTS’ DAY SALE! 40% Off DailyWire+ Annual Memberships With Code DW40</a></b></p>
<p>As experienced protesters who routinely engage in abrasive behavior against others — activities which they defend as free speech — they would have known that the rabbi’s actions were also permitted, the judge said. As a result, he ordered the pair to pay Herzfeld’s legal bills under the anti-SLAPP Act, which aims to discourage “lawsuits filed by one side of a political or public policy debate aimed to punish or prevent the expression of opposing points of view.”</p>
<p>The anti-Israel activists sought charges against the rabbi alleging that he had stalked them based on three dates where he was present at the embassy. But on one day, Rokhvand was not even present, and “Barmada’s description in her petition of the events of March 21 did not accurately describe what had occurred,&#8221; the judge wrote.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was only upon observing the video evidence that the Court was able to clearly see that the Respondent’s activities were not even directed at the Petitioner in particular (other than his agreeing with her that inhumanity is awful no matter who is to blame), that Petitioner Barmada and her fellow protesters were far louder and more confrontational than Respondent, and that Petitioner Barmada was not in any way intimidated by the Respondent as she remarked about how &#8216;hilarious&#8217; he and his companions were while speaking into a megaphone,” the ruling said.</p>
<div id="attachment_881179" style="width: 615px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-881179" class="size-large wp-image-881179" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/megaphone-605x576.png" alt="" width="605" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/megaphone-605x576.png 605w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/megaphone-300x286.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/megaphone-768x731.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/megaphone.png 1416w" sizes="(max-width: 605px) 100vw, 605px" /><p id="caption-attachment-881179" class="wp-caption-text">Barmada with megaphone / Instagram</p></div>
<p>On the second day, the rabbi drove by in a car and asked through the window, “Why do you support the raping of innocent women?” The judge wrote that “The Petitioners may very well have been offended by what the Respondent said on May 2, just as the Respondent was likely offended when Petitioner Barmada called him a Nazi and a supporter of terrorizing children on March 21, 2024. However, as Petitioner’s own attorneys asserted&#8221; in justifying their own conduct, &#8220;these comments, while offensive, are constitutionally protected.”</p>
<p>In the third instance, on May 7, Rokhvand claimed the rabbi “went through my stuff.” The judge said video showed he had “simply directed his companion to take photographs of [a] basket of ear plugs,” which the rabbi said protesters were using to shield their own ears while subjecting others to excruciating noise levels. The judge added that the basket was not even near Rokhvand.</p>
<p>In May, the rabbi filed a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.267988/gov.uscourts.dcd.267988.1.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">civil lawsuit</a> in federal court alleging that Barmada and Rokhvand damaged his hearing by having their comrades blast a siren at him after he came to the embassy on a religious holiday to pray for the release of Hamas&#8217; hostages. &#8220;The physical attack consisted of using speakers, sirens, and other sound-emitting devices to produce siren-like sounds in the range of 95-100 decibels—more than 1,000 times the noise level permitted under D.C. law— with the purpose and intent to injure Rabbi Herzfeld,&#8221; it said.</p>
<div id="attachment_762931" style="width: 445px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-762931" class="size-large wp-image-762931" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/blinken7-435x576.jpg" alt="Outside Blinken's home / Instagram" width="435" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/blinken7-435x576.jpg 435w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/blinken7-227x300.jpg 227w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/blinken7-768x1017.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/07/blinken7.jpg 840w" sizes="(max-width: 435px) 100vw, 435px" /><p id="caption-attachment-762931" class="wp-caption-text">Outside Blinken&#8217;s home / Instagram</p></div>
<p>The next week, the protesters filed the action in city court against Herzfeld.</p>
<p>In an email to The Daily Wire, Barmada and Rokhvand suggested that that the rabbi&#8217;s lawyer, Steven Lieberman, was being greedy, saying the $182,000 figure was &#8220;over-inflated legal fees.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We were shocked by the tone and findings outlined in the subsequent order granting outrageous legal fees. Albeit ultimately deemed &#8216;protected speech,&#8217; the evidence at trial showed Rabbi Herzfeld and his cohorts, on multiple occasions, came inappropriately close to females and made offensive and vile remarks to intimidate them, e.g. &#8216;why do you support rape,'&#8221; they said. &#8220;We will appeal, and look forward to a final ruling on the matter.&#8221;</p>
<p>The statement was sent through their lawyer Asim Humayun, who on Instagram has called for a “registry for Americans in IDF” and said he wears a Palestinian flag pin as a “piece of s—t repellant.” One picture shows that Media Benjamin, a prominent CodePink activist known for hounding pro-Israel congressmen, attended a hearing in the stalking case.</p>
<p>After the D.C. judge granted a temporary restraining order against the rabbi early in the case, Humayun posed smiling with Barmada, writing: “We had to take out a restraining order against a rabbi who keeps coming and harassing us, has wrongfully sued us, and lied about us in the news. We won’t be silenced!”</p>
<p>Herzfeld may be able to collect on the $182,000: despite Barmada presenting herself as a tent-dwelling radical at the around-the-clock protest in front of Blinken’s home, she apparently lives in a $1.5 million house with an indoor pool, according to the address in court records.</p>
<p><strong>Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/soros-prosecutor-wont-shut-down-pro-palestinian-encampment-outside-antony-blinkens-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soros Prosecutor Won’t Shut Down Pro-Palestinian Encampment Outside Antony Blinken’s Home</a></strong></p>


Hazami Barmada (center) and Atefeh Rokhvand (right) protesting the Israel embassy / Instagram

Anti-Israel Activists Ordered To Pay $182,000 After Falsely Accusing Rabbi Of Stalking

D.C.

<p>A tenured Columbia University law professor says she was effectively terminated after an investigation found she discriminated against Jewish and Israeli students.</p>
<p>Katherine Franke, who was investigated after she gave an interview claiming that Israeli students were harassing students on campus, on Friday announced she was retiring and <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2025/01/Statement%20from%20Katherine%20Franke.docx.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a statement</a> criticizing the university.</p>
<p>“For the last year and a half, as students at Columbia University and across the globe have protested against the Israeli government’s genocidal assault on Palestinians after the October 2023 attacks, a response that has resulted in horrendous devastation in Gaza, I have ardently defended students’ right to peaceful protest on our campus and across the country,” Franke began her statement. “I truly believed that student engagement with the rights and dignity of Palestinians continued a celebrated tradition at Columbia University of student protest.”</p>
<p>She said she had been “targeted” for her “support of pro-Palestinian protesters – by the president of Columbia University, by several colleagues, by university trustees, and by outside actors.”</p>
<p>“This has included an unjustified finding by the University that my public comments condemning attacks against student protesters violated university non-discrimination policy,” she added.</p>
<p>Those <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/25/columbia_palestine_protest_attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public comments</a>, however, suggested Israeli students were the ones harassing other Columbia students, particularly Palestinian students.</p>
<p>“So many of those Israeli students, who then come to the Columbia campus, are coming right out of their military service,” she said in January 2024. “They’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus.”</p>
<p>In that interview, Franke also repeated the false allegation that Israeli students had sprayed anti-Israel protesters with skunk spray, with Franke claiming they were hospitalized due to a “chemical attack.” She also claimed the students responsible were part of Columbia’s dual degree program with Tel Aviv University – but they weren’t.</p>
<p>“The students were able to identify three of these exchange students, basically, from Israel, who had just come out of military service, who were spraying the pro-Palestinian students with this skunk water,” Franke said in her interview with the leftist organization “Democracy Now.”</p>
<p>The “chemical attack” was actually a non-toxic gag spray from Amazon, and Columbia paid $395,000 to a Jewish student after it suspended him for the incident.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25</a></strong></p>
<p>Other professors at Columbia Law filed a complaint against Franke following this interview, arguing that Franke “harassed members of the Columbia community based on their national origin,” <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/probe-finds-columbia-university-professor-discriminated-against-israeli-students/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Times of Israel</a>. The investigation determined that Franke violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy during her interview and also violated school policy regarding retaliation by revealing to a reporter the name of a professor who reported her. On social media, Franke also targeted the professors who filed the complaint.</p>
<p>“As made public by parties in this matter, a complaint was filed alleging discriminatory harassment in violation of our policies,” Columbia said in a statement to the Times. “An investigation was conducted, and a finding was issued. As we have consistently stated, the University is committed to addressing all forms of discrimination consistent with our policies.”</p>
<p>Franke also supported the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to harm Israel economically for perceived slights while targeting no other nation for similar or worse aggressions.</p>
<p>Protesters at Columbia and other Ivy League universities have promoted open calls for violence, the Times previously <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/columbia-student-group-retracts-apology-of-member-who-said-zionists-deserve-to-die/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-university-giving-day-donations-plunge-nearly-30-following-anti-israel-protests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, these student protests likely caused Columbia’s annual “Giving Day” donations to plunge nearly 30% in 2024.</p>


Columbia University Anti-Israel Protest

Columbia Professor Retires After Investigation Found She Discriminated Against Jewish Students

Columbia University

Education

<p>Media outlets around the world reported Thursday that five Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza by Israel, even though those “journalists” were members of a terrorist group.</p>
<p>The BBC’s headline <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yg57wrgl7o?xtor=AL-99999-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&amp;at_medium=social&amp;at_ptr_name=twitter&amp;at_bbc_team=editorial&amp;at_campaign_type=owned&amp;at_link_origin=BBCWorld&amp;at_link_type=web_link&amp;at_link_id=54910A0E-C370-11EF-9ED0-BBDB6976FC3C&amp;at_campaign=Social_Flow&amp;at_format=link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared,</a> “Five Gaza journalists killed in Israeli strike targeting armed group,” and began its coverage by citing Quds TV, a Palestinian TV channel that is affiliated with the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).</p>
<p>The PIJ is described by the BBC merely as “an armed group that took part in 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.” The BBC also, early in its report, mentioned that the wife of one of the “journalists” was about to give birth. The outlet waited until the fourth paragraph to mention that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted “Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists&#8221; and that steps were taken to avoid harming civilians.”</p>
<p>But immediately after, the BBC included a comment from the Committee to Protect Journalists saying it was “devastated by the reports” and that &#8220;Journalists are civilians and must always be protected.&#8221; The outlet spends most of the article claiming that Israel has been killing “journalists” in Gaza.</p>
<p>The five men killed were Ibrahim Jamal Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali, Faisal Abdallah Muhammad Abu Qamsan, Mohammed Ayad Khamis al-Ladaa, Ayman Nihad Abd Alrahman Jadi, and Fadi Ihab Muhammad Ramadan Hassouna, all of whom the IDF labels as PIJ operatives.</p>
<p>Other outlets also followed the framing that the men were merely journalists. The Associated Press, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-lebanon-hezbollah-iran-news-12-26-2024-2e8c33648410c2da94ae7d0d73c0b1a1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for example</a>, cited the notoriously unreliable Gaza Health Ministry as its source that the men were journalists. Only after claiming they were journalists did the AP acknowledge that the Israeli military says the men were posing as journalists and were actually Islamic militants.</p>
<p>CNN also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/25/middleeast/journalists-death-israeli-strike-gaza-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used this framing</a>, citing Gaza authorities.</p>
<p>Eitan Fischberger, a former staff sergeant for the IDF, posted a thread on X identifying each of the men as terrorists, including their public postings, which include pro-terrorism statements.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Faisel likes to indoctrinate children into a life of terrorism, because “journalism” <a href="https://t.co/C3S9iiQ3ZN">pic.twitter.com/C3S9iiQ3ZN</a></p>
<p>— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) <a href="https://twitter.com/EFischberger/status/1872244010376744974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 26, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Media outlets routinely present stories from the side of the Palestinians over Israel. In August, more than 80 outlets had to issue a correction after republishing an article from the AP that falsely stated the civilian death toll in Gaza had “exceeded 40,000,” The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eighty-media-outlets-issue-correction-on-ap-story-that-inflated-gaza-civilian-death-toll" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.</p>
<p>But “not even Hamas has alleged that more than 40,000 Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been killed in the war between Israel and the terror organization,” the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA), which monitors Arab media, <a href="https://www.camera.org/article/press-release-more-than-80-north-american-media-outlets-correct-after-ap-outflanks-hamas-casualty-claims/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.</p>
<p>“While the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza has reported over 40,000 total deaths among Gaza’s residents, its data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israeli sources, meanwhile, estimate that over 17,000 of those killed are Hamas combatants,” the organization added.</p>
<p>Media outlets have also repeatedly cited the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, even though it routinely lies about civilian casualties, The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hamas-run-gaza-health-ministry-cited-by-legacy-media-has-history-of-lying-about-civilian-casualties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.</p>


Israeli Strike On Gaza

Media Claims 5 Gaza Journalists Were Killed By Israel. They Were Terrorists.

Media Bias

World

<p>Arabs living in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/netherlands" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amsterdam</a> chased Jews through the streets after a pro-Palestinian protest, spurred by a soccer match involving an Israeli team, devolved into a scene resembling a “pogrom,” according to reports and shocking videos.</p>
<p>Video posted by the Instagram account week.4palestinenl showed someone struggling to stay afloat in a river, as a man orders him, “Say ‘free Palestine’ and we go.” The man, who had seemingly been in thrown in the river, acquiesced, and his tormenter said “good.”</p>
<p>The group posted alongside the video, “A zionist got a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDbOL2IyDT/?img_index=4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free swimming lesson</a>… Who’s street? Oh yeah, our street.”</p>
<p>The <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2024/11/07/amsterdam-bans-pro-palestine-rally-ajax-maccabi-tel-aviv-match" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NL Times</a> reported that the group Week 4 Palestine planned a protest in Amsterdam’s Dam Square over the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel Aviv playing Amsterdam’s Ajax team, but that the city’s mayor Femke Halsema banned the protest, citing the potential for “violent confrontations.”</p>
<p>But “rioting broke out when several other groups of people chanted pro-Palestinian slogans at the Israeli fans,” the paper said. Some <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2024/11/07/arrests-amsterdam-pro-palestinian-activists-heckle-maccabi-tel-aviv-fans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrests</a> were made, but police would not say whether they were pro-Palestinian activists or others, it added.</p>
<p>The Week 4 Palestine Instagram account posted videos of its members marching with torches and wrapped in Palestinian flags. It said, “When people stand up against genocide and want to speak out against the zionist state of Israhell, @burgemeesterfemkehalsema chooses to silence them and sends the riot police against demonstrators while IOF and the Mossad are given free rein in the city of Amsterdam.”</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDbOL2IyDT/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px;"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDbOL2IyDT/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Week.4PalestineNL (@week.4palestinenl)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>The group also posted videos of Arab men knocking over security barriers, captioned “There is no normal life when a genocide is happening in Gaza.”</p>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDbOL2IyDT/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div style="flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px;"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent;"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div>
</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCDbOL2IyDT/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Week.4PalestineNL (@week.4palestinenl)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the attacks by sending two airplanes to Amsterdam in order to pull Israelis safely out of the city.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-sends-planes-to-amsterdam-to-rescue-jews-from-pogrom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the prime minister&#8217;s office stated: &#8220;The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked. Prime Minister Netanyahu views the horrifying incident with utmost gravity and demands that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens.”</p>
<p>“There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024,” Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, wrote on X Thursday night, alongside a video of an Arab man chasing another man through the streets. “The Dutch authorities must take decisive action against terrorism now.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">We are receiving very disturbing reports of extreme violence against Israelis and Jews on the streets of Holland. There is a pogrom currently taking place in Europe in 2024. <br />These are the true faces of the supporters of the radical terrorism we are fighting. The western world… <a href="https://t.co/LwMC6q1Grf">pic.twitter.com/LwMC6q1Grf</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) <a href="https://twitter.com/dannydanon/status/1854705141338776050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister of Israel, said, “At this very moment in Amsterdam, Jews are being attacked at multiple locations with brutal force. It’s a pogrom in action. I call upon the Dutch authorities, the Amsterdam authorities, to act immediately to prevent further injury and to prevent the loss of lives.”</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">At this moment Jews are being attacked in multiple locations in Amsterdam. </p>
<p>I call upon the Dutch authorities to act NOW. <a href="https://t.co/VZtLNw45KH">pic.twitter.com/VZtLNw45KH</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) <a href="https://twitter.com/naftalibennett/status/1854696885652799672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-California) <a href="https://x.com/BradSherman/status/1854711002392154534" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X: “This is outrageous. The government of the #Netherlands must protect Jews from these attacks and prosecute the assailants.”</p>


Protesters

Jews Attacked In Amsterdam ‘Pogrom’ After Israeli Team’s Soccer Match

Europe

Terrorism

<p>The governments of the United States and Canada said this week that a group tied to the anti-Israel protests on college campuses nationwide is tied to a terrorist group.</p>
<p>U.S. Department of the Treasury stated in a <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2646">press release</a> on Tuesday that the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is a “sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization.” Treasury named Samidoun a terrorist entity in conjunction with Canada, a designation that makes it illegal for Americans to have a financial relationship with the group.</p>
<p>“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said.</p>
<p>The Department of the Treasury said the Vancouver-based Samidoun is a “front for the [PFLP] in countries where the PFLP is declared a terrorist organization. While the organization ostensibly supports Palestinian prisoners and their family members, in practice Samidoun provides financial support to the sanctioned PFLP.”</p>
<p>It said PFLP is “committed to terrorist activity through its armed apparatus, the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and the group has been active in the Israel-Hamas conflict, to include participating in the horrific attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023.”</p>
<p>Samidoun co-founder Charlotte Kates <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/pro-hamas-group-that-helps-organize-protests-shares-plans-for-oct-7-anniversary-220959813750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told NBC</a> earlier this month that “there’s nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas,” and was seen at a rally saying, “Long live October 7th.” She referenced “colonialism” — language that has become popular among U.S. left-wing activists on college campuses — more than 40 times in an interview with NBC.</p>
<p>Also on Tuesday, Canada specifically named Kates&#8217; husband, Khaled Barakat, as a member of PFLP’s leadership. PFLP is a Marxist-Leninist group.</p>
<p>Samidoun used the Arizona-based Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ) as a financial pass-through in the United States. Last month, House Republicans asked the IRS to rescind the nonprofit status of the “anti-capitalist” Alliance, whose status is also put at risk by the Treasury designating Samidoun a terrorist group.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/samidoun-sanctioned-as-terrorists-why-its-a-bigger-deal-than-realized/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Capital Research Center</a>, which authored a report on the financial backing of the college campus protests last month, highlighted Samidoun as a key group. CRC researcher Ryan Mauro wrote Wednesday that &#8220;AFGJ supports virtually every anti-U.S. government, including North Korea. It is <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210601233509/https:/unac.notowar.net/statement-of-solidarity-with-the-syrian-people/">fully supportive</a> of the Iran-backed dictatorship in Syria and <a href="https://afgj.org/afgj-position-on-ukraine">defends</a> Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”</p>
<p>CRC said the group has been funded by the Democratic Party’s biggest players, including the Tides Center, which has given $6.5 million to AFGJ since 2019; the Tides Foundation, which has given $3.62 million since 2018; the New Venture Fund, which has given $750,000 since 2020; and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, which has given AFGJ $250,000.</p>
<p>Among examples of AFGJ&#8217;s involvement in campus demonstrations, CRC pointed to Columbia University, where &#8220;In March, Kates, Barakat, and [Within Our Lifetime] leader Nerdeen Kiswani held a joint <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/at-columbia-an-israeli-designated-terror-group-teaches-palestinian-resistance-101-and-lauds-plane-hijackings/">event</a> for <a href="https://www.influencewatch.org/organization/columbia-university-apartheid-divest-cuad/">Columbia University Apartheid Divest</a>, a pro-terrorism coalition of over 115 groups. The three spoke in support of terrorism, especially PFLP, with Barakat hailing airplane hijackings as “one of the most important tactics that the Palestinian resistance have engaged in.”</p>
<p><strong>Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-says-university-must-let-anti-israel-group-hold-oct-7-event">Federal Judge Says University Must Let Anti-Israel Group Hold Oct. 7 Event</a></strong></p>


Samidoun co-founder Charlotte Kates / NBC

U.S. And Canada Say Nonprofit Linked To College Protests Is A Terrorist Front

Canada

<p>A pair of Department of Education programs meant to boost national security are funding college departments that employ anti-American professors associated with campus anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>The<a href="https://iris.ed.gov/iris/ieps/brochures/NRC.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> National Resource Centers (NRC) Program</a> and Foreign Language and Area Studies (<a href="https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ope/iegps/flaspresskit.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FLAS</a>) Fellowships program aim to bolster “the security and prosperity of the United States&#8221; by training future diplomats and foreign language experts. But these grants often go to university departments housing radical professors whose ideologies clash with that of the United States diplomatic corps.</p>
<p>According to an analysis from <a href="https://openthebooks.substack.com/p/a-year-after-107-radical-professors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenTheBooks</a>, Columbia University used its radical professor Dr. Joseph Massad as a selling point in a successful grant application to the Department of Education. Massad called Hamas’ October 7 attack “a stunning victory of the Palestinian resistance.” According to the Middle East Forum, students said Massad “takes a categorically anti-U.S. tack at every possible opportunity,” and lists “the West’s various cultural crimes ad nauseam.”</p>
<p>“In 2002, Massad gave a talk at Columbia called ‘On Zionism and Jewish Supremacy,’” OpenTheBooks said.</p>
<p>Between 2020 and 2024, Columbia received $2.8 million under the FLAS program alone, making it the second-highest recipient of Middle East FLAS funding, OpenTheBooks found. It also received numerous NRC grants, including one ongoing grant intended to shape how the Middle East is <a href="https://iris.ed.gov/iris/ieps/search.cfm?type=ADV&amp;tab=BRW&amp;goFind=go&amp;programs=13" target="_blank" rel="noopener">taught<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in American schools.</a></p>
<p>The top overall grant recipient was Indiana University, which employs professor Abdulkader Sinno, the faculty advisor for a group that protested Jewish students on campus and accused Israel of “Genecide” [sic] and “colonialism.” Sinno was suspended for the Spring and Summer 2024 semesters after violating the rules to host an event for the radical Palestinian Solidarity Committee.</p>
<p>The university&#8217;s vice provost had “concerns regarding [Sinno&#8217;s] judgment,”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> and noted his </span>“threatening behavior toward a colleague.&#8221; and bias reports filed against him. Sinno eventually gave a speech at an “alternative” graduation for Palestinian students.</p>
<p>Georgetown University, long a breeding ground for U.S. diplomats, was the third-highest recipient of Middle East FLAS grants. The director of its Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the School of Foreign Service is Fida Adely, who sits on the national advisory board of the Faculty for Justice in Palestine, the sister group of Students for Justice in Palestine, which has been banned from some campuses for supporting terrorism and promoting anti-Semitism.</p>
<p>“FJP’s ‘Back to School 2024’ statement criticizes ‘mechanisms for suppressing speech, criminalizing protest and weaponizing fragility.’ They say Israel’s war against Hamas exposes ‘the depths of settler colonial depravity,’” OpenTheBooks said. FJP collaborates with Birzeit University, a radical university in the West Bank where the student council is dominated by Hamas supporters. And Adely argued that a “dialogue” about Israel is not enough, and a boycott is necessary, not a “fantasy of ‘coexistence.’”</p>
<p>Georgetown has received more than $1 billion from foreign countries, a Daily Wire review of federal records showed, including more than $800 million from Qatar, where Hamas leadership operates. The university has also received $30 million from Saudi Arabia, in part to fund the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.</p>
<p>The Foreign Service department, which has a program named after Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, employs professor <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2017/02/11/islamic-georgetown-prof-offers-tortured-defense-of-slavery-and-non-consensual-sex-under-islam-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan A.C. Brown</a>, who has defended slavery because it is authorized in the Quran, and is married to the daughter of a man who was deported for funding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.</p>
<p>In 2019, the Department of Education <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/09/17/2019-20067/notice-of-a-letter-regarding-the-duke-unc-consortium-for-middle-east-studies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote to</a> the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to say that the money it received under the NRC program was not being used for its intended purpose.</p>
<p>“Federal funding is conditioned on a demonstration that a given center or program is a ‘national resource’ for teaching of any modem foreign language [and] for instruction in fields needed to provide full understanding of areas, regions, or countries in which such language is commonly used,” it said. “It is unlawful for institutions of higher education to use Title VI funds differently.”</p>
<p>The Department found “very little serious instruction preparing individuals to understand the geopolitical challenges to U.S. national security and economic needs but quite a considerable emphasis on advancing ideological priorities.&#8221;</p>
<p>Instead of teaching actual language skills, the university was offering low-effort programming film criticism in the Middle East or about “Love and Desire in Modern Iran,” and left-wing ideology like “gender-bending and subversion on the early modern Ottoman Intellectual History.”</p>
<p>“While the Duke-UNC CMES may certainly offer programs in Iranian art and film, these programs should not be funded or subsidized in any way by American taxpayers under Title VI unless you are able to clearly demonstrate that such programs are secondary to more rigorous coursework helping American students to become fluent Farsi speakers and to prepare for work in areas of national need,” it said.</p>
<p>The UNC program “appears to lack balance as it offers very few, if any, programs focused on the historic discrimination faced by, and current circumstances of, religious minorities in the Middle East, including Christians, Jews, Baha&#8217;is, Yadizis [sic], Kurds, Druze, and others.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p>
<p>It was also training aspiring teachers to teach students about “the positive aspects of Islam, while there is an absolute absence of any similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion or belief system in the Middle East.”</p>
<p><strong>Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-school-system-sold-china-a-handbook-on-how-to-clone-americas-top-stem-school">Virginia School System Sold China A Handbook On ‘How To Clone’ America’s Top STEM School</a></strong></p>


Anti-Israel Columbia Protest

DOE Program Meant To Boost National Security Funds Anti-American Professors, Study Finds

<p>Woke activist author Ta-Nehisi Coates suggested Wednesday that he would not have been above participating in Hamas&#8217; October 7 attack on Israel had he been born and raised in Gaza.</p>
<p>Speaking on Trevor Noah&#8217;s “What Now?” podcast, Coates said he didn&#8217;t know if he was &#8220;strong enough or even constructed in such a way&#8221; to say that the attacks of October 7 were &#8220;too far.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t said this out loud, but I think about it a lot,&#8221; Coates said.&#8221; Were I 20 years old, born into Gaza, which is a giant open-air jail&#8230;if my mother picks the olive trees and she gets too close to the wall, she might be shot&#8230;and I grow up under that oppression and that poverty and the wall comes down. Am I also strong enough or even constructed in such a way where I say this is too far? I don&#8217;t know that I am,&#8221; Coates said.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ta-Nehisi Coates suggests he&#8217;s not above taking part in an October 7-style attack:<br />
&#8220;And I grow up under that oppression and that poverty and the wall comes down. Am I also strong enough or even constructed in such a way where I say this is too far, I don&#8217;t know that I am.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/KTXALjCyM2">pic.twitter.com/KTXALjCyM2</a></p>
<p>— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1844499893442007450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>None of what Coates describes about life in Gaza is accurate. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.unocha.org/publications/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-strip-hospital-capacities-oct-17th-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Thirty-six hospitals were operating</a></span><a href="https://www.unocha.org/publications/map/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-strip-hospital-capacities-oct-17th-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> in Gaza</a> prior to the October 7 attacks on Israel, which killed more than 1,200 and wounded more than 5,000 more. Palestinians didn’t need a permit to go to these hospitals, as they were controlled by authorities in Gaza, most of whom were members of Hamas, the terrorist group that has held power in Gaza since 2006. In addition, the international community — including doctors in Israel – sent <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/israel-palestinians-gaza-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">billions of dollars</a> to these hospitals.</p>
<p>There’s also no evidence that a fisherman or an olive picker would be shot simply for getting too close to the border, and Coates’ claim that Gaza is essentially an “open-air jail” is false on its face. Were Gaza truly a prison, it would be impossible for Hamas to build underground tunnels and place rocket launchers throughout the area, as the have done for years.</p>
<p>Coates also said during the podcast that wanting to attack alleged oppressors was “not unique to Palestine” and compared it to slavery in the United States.</p>
<p>&#8220;The example I think about all the time is like Nat Turner, right? Like Nat Turner launches his rebellion in 1830. This man slaughters babies in their cribs. You know what I mean? Like, and I&#8217;ve done this thought experience experiment for myself over and over. Does the degradation and dehumanization of slavery make it so that you can look past something like that?&#8221; Coates asked, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/ta-nehisi-coates-doesnt-know-he-would-strong-enough-oppose-oct-7-he-were-gazan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Fox News</a>.</p>
<p>Coates has been at the center of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cbs-vetted-questions-for-ta-nehisi-coates-anchor-went-off-script" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a scandal</a> at CBS News, after employees objected to anchor Tony Dokoupil&#8217;s questioning of Coates about his stance on Israel. At one point, Dokoupil told Coates: “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim, took the cover off the book, publishing house goes away, the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”</p>
<p>Now, amid the network’s denigration of Dokoupil, Coates has admitted he may have gone along with the extremists who slaughtered Israelis on October 7, 2023.</p>


Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates Suggests He Would Have Participated In An October 7-Style Attack On Israel

Politics

<p>California teachers union members pushed their views on the Israel-Hamas war on students, posing questions such as “What does Palestinian freedom mean to you?&#8221; and &#8220;How are you engaged with the Palestinian freedom struggle?” documents shared with The Daily Wire show.</p>
<p>Documents obtained by <a href="https://defendinged.org/incidents/oakland-unified-school-district-emails-reveal-teach-in-for-gaza-materials-featured-pro-hamas-anti-israel-content/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parents Defending Education</a> through a public records request show a sustained effort by California teachers to push anti-Israel views in public schools, particularly after October 7. On October 25, just weeks after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel, a teacher emailed her students to tell them that she would be speaking before the school board to call “for an end to the invasion and attack on Gaza,” and that “If you’d like to speak out on this important issue you can sign up.”</p>
<p>The following month, Tania Kappner, a teacher and leader of the By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) faction of the National Education Association (NEA), offered extra credit to students who agreed to “use this slide deck to learn more about the current war in Gaza and write a paragraph.” Kappner is a longtime Israel critic who in February communicated with the Revolutionary Community Party, documents show.</p>
<p>“This is yet another data point exposing how the hate we are seeing on college campuses is being taught in K-12 classrooms,&#8221; Michele Exner, Senior Advisor at Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;These radical teachers are using school resources to fuel a disturbing cycle of propaganda and hate that is creating a generation of students filled with antisemitism and anti-America sentiments.&#8221;</p>
<p>Kappner is a longtime crusader against Israel, introducing a <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-teachers-unions-increasingly-debate-israel-and-in-some-places-back-boycotts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union resolution in 2021</a> that said Israel was committing “ethnic cleansing” and calling on the United States to stop “arming and supporting” Israel. Kappner said she was inspired when the longshoremen’s union refused to unload cargo from an Israeli-owned ship in Oakland, which Vice President Kamala Harris considers her hometown.</p>
<p>In February 2024, a representative of the Revolutionary Community Party emailed Kappner to ask whether the communist group “could visit one of your classes with an overall topic of what a rare time we are facing in the year 2024… from Gaza to the elections.”<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>Kappner responded, “Just marched in SF today! I no longer work at the high school level and now work online. Glad you are organizing for Gaza, but I don’t have a classroom available.”</p>
<p>Kappner has repeatedly run for the NEA’s executive committee. In 2022, her <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/AirgoodandKappner.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">campaign flier</a> said she wanted “mandatory masking” and to “Defeat the Right-wing Trump movement.” A <a href="https://www.nea.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/airgoodkappnerhoag.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 flier</a> said she was running for NEA vice president as part of a slate “committed to building integrated, militant, mass action,” and that “Our labor, student, civil rights, and immigrant rights movement must build mass unified action and strike to win.”</p>
<p>Kappner did not respond to questions from The Daily Wire, including a request to view the “slide deck.”</p>
<p>Kappner is not the only California teacher found to have pushed anti-Israel views in the classroom. On April 30, Nicoletta Karam — an Oakland teacher who has written <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/6607350.Nicoletta_Karam" target="_blank" rel="noopener">books</a> about “The 9/11 Backlash” and “A Cross-Dressing Burlesque Farce”— wrote to colleagues to share “May 1st Day of Solidarity with Palestine Curriculum Materials” for “anyone wanting to give students a May 1st update about Gaza.” The resources included a “Palestine loss of land map,” “college protest and divestment demands,” and a link to Arab news source Al Jazeera about calls to arrest Israel&#8217;s leadership.</p>
<p>Karam and her colleagues worked at Sojourner Truth Independent Study, a K-12 program where Oakland students don&#8217;t have to attend school in person at all, and only <a href="https://caaspp.edsource.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12% are proficient in math</a>. Adarene Hoag, who ran for NEA treasurer on the BAMN slate and worked as a Resource Specialist at the school, distributed the materials to teachers.</p>
<p>Hoag also shared a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1yHuTs87SSfWaM6qeM6y3RXgEOzjiKF_c75fLMN-2fZk/mobilebasic?pli=1#h.pg1gql1c1zfc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> titled “Educational Resources on Palestine Gathered &amp; Created by Members of the Oakland Education Association” that aims to push views on Palestine with books such as “P is for Palestine” for children just learning to read, “Colonialism, in Regards to Palestine” for middle schoolers, and a “Settler Colonialism Worksheet” for high schoolers, in addition to views such as “Gaza Fights for Freedom,” “Why is Israel called an apartheid state?” and “Abolition Means No More War.”</p>
<p>Mark Airgood, who ran for NEA president on the BAMN slate, also replied to Karam&#8217;s email thanking her. Airgood was <a href="https://www.alamy.com/eighth-grade-teacher-mark-airgood-protests-for-stronger-covid-19-safety-protocols-on-friday-jan-7-2022-in-oakland-calif-along-with-fellow-teachers-he-staged-a-sickout-friday-urging-oakland-unified-school-district-to-provide-n95-masks-conduct-weekly-covid-19-testing-and-institute-two-weeks-of-remote-learning-to-reduce-transmission-rates-ap-photonoah-berger-image506827684.html">photographed</a> in 2021 protesting against school re-opening, with a sign saying it would lead to &#8220;dead children&#8221; and directing people to BAMN.com. With COVID over, the <a href="https://www.bamn.com">BAMN website</a> now rails against Israel and seemingly praises Hezbollah, saying &#8220;Victory to the Palestinian Struggle Against Israel and Imperialism By Any Means Necessary! Victory to the Lebanese Resistance to All Israeli Attacks By Any Means Necessary!&#8221; It <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LFuy_hpKdbWGkR-tKAMKyVuq2pXWN97Q/view">adds</a>, &#8220;Renew the Palestinian intifada!&#8221;</p>
<p>On December 6, the OEA for Palestine caucus, another faction within the teachers union, held an online “teach-in” for students and staff, followed by “Q&amp;A from students.” It noted that participants must be signed in to their official school online accounts in order to access the materials. A document for students watching the webinar had them write down “What does Palestinian freedom mean to you? How are you engaged with the Palestinian freedom struggle?&#8221;</p>
<p>John Sasaki, a spokesman for Oakland Unified, told The Daily Wire that teachers are told that “With regard to local and national elections, staff members are not allowed to pressure students or tell them to support one candidate over another, and that includes through posters in physical or online instructional spaces or wearing clothing that has campaign imagery on it. School employees are reminded that it’s our schools’ responsibility to teach young people how to think, not what to think.” He said that applies “to political speech outside campaign season.”</p>


Tania Kappner, a high school in Oakland Photo By Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

California Teachers Pushed Anti-Israel Views In Classrooms After Oct. 7, Docs Show

California

Labor Unions

Menu