Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Harvard releases long-awaited report into campus antisemitism
Harvard University has released its long awaited report on antisemitism, making several recommendations to combat bigotry on campus.
The report gives what is likely the most detailed account to date of how pro-Palestine protests have swept the college since October 7, 2023.
"For many students, including Jewish ones, sympathy with the Palestinians was a natural response to Israel's massive military response to the October 7 attacks and a rapidly mounting toll of death and destruction," the report on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias stated. "This sympathy did not mean that each and every participating student was calling for Israel's violent downfall or hatred of Jews worldwide."
"Yet for some protestors, at times the anti-Zionism enunciated in the student protests crossed a line from a call for freedom and security for Palestinians and Jews alike to a stereotyped notion," it went on, "that Israel is not a state but rather a 'settler colony' of white Europeans, who have no real connection with the land they had stolen, that epitomised aggression and was bereft of virtues."
The report also noted that Jews and Israelis had been uniquely singled out at Harvard in allegedly biased academic courses.
"Some Jewish students in programs at the Harvard schools ostensibly most committed to social justice seemed to struggle to navigate environments they perceived as systemically antisemitic," the report added. "This struggle appeared particularly acute when they encountered what they believed to be one-sided programming that portrayed Israelis as uniquely villainous."
In his statement releasing the reports, Harvard president Alan Garber, who is Jewish, apologised for "the moments when we failed to meet the high expectations we rightfully set for our community".
"Harvard cannot – and will not – abide bigotry," Garber stated. "We will continue to provide for the safety and security of all members of our community and safeguard their freedom from harassment."
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Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Racist sticker on the Jewish cemetery
The sticker was found by someone from the Jewish community who happened to be walking by. It is made in the colours of National Socialism: black, white and red. There is also a logo that bears some resemblance to the Nazi swastika, Omroep Brabant reports.
According to the Jewish news site, the Jewish children's monument in The Hague has also become the target of anti-Semitism. Floral wreaths laid during a commemoration last week were reportedly destroyed there. Next Sunday, on the eve of Remembrance Day and Liberation Day, the Jewish cemetery in Eindhoven is organising a walk along the Stumbling Stones and a cemetery tour.
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Monday, April 28, 2025
Anti-Israel activists clash with Hasidic Jews outside Chabad HQ
Anti-Israel activists and hassidic Jews clashed outside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn on Thursday night, as protesters gathered outside the site to demonstrate against a visit by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Six people were taken into custody, the New York Police Department said on Sunday. Five of them were issued court summonses and one was arrested. Twenty-eight-year-old Oscar Vidal was charged with assault in the second degree, two counts of assault in the third degree, two counts of criminal mischief, and three counts of harassment in the second degree.
According to New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, in a Friday statement, one activist entered the building during an address by Ben-Gvir.
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Thursday, April 24, 2025
Outraged Jewish families flood N.J. council meeting again as town passes zoning changes
Linden's mayor and council passed a revised zoning ordinance on Friday over the objections of Jewish residents who say the new rules discriminate against large families moving into the Union County community.
Local officials said the revised ordinance was designed to address serious concerns from the local Jewish community after hundreds of Jewish residents crammed into city hall during a council meeting earlier this month to stop final passage of an earlier version of the ordinance.
A revised ordinance was unanimously passed on first reading Friday. The council is expected to take a final vote on the ordinance on May 20.
The new version of the ordinance pulled back on counting basements and cellars as part of the gross floor area of dwellings. But it left much of the original ordinance unchanged over the objections of Jewish residents.
"Until recently, our synagogue had a respectful and constructive relationship with the town," Rabbi Yosef Katz of Anshe Chesed of Linden said last week.
"But over the past few years, that relationship has shifted. Zoning laws that went unchanged for over 25 years have now been amended multiple times — changes that began shortly after Orthodox Jewish families started moving into the neighborhood. The timing and pattern raise serious questions."
The local Jewish community strongly objected to the zoning revisions, calling them veiled antisemitism. Jewish residents also called out Linden's mayor Derek Armstead, who was accused last year of making antisemitic remarks in discussions with local school officials.
Armstead later apologized for his remarks after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against him. The lawsuit remains ongoing, court records show.
Some of the proposed zoning changes include minimum ceiling height and square footage for bedrooms, according to the ordinance. Bedrooms and dwellings containing kitchens and bathrooms cannot be located in basements, the ordinance states.
Other revisions include reduced lot coverage in specific zoning districts, according to the ordinance.
Applications for variances must also include a landscape plan that considers tree management standards under the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's municipal tree management law.
The initial ordinance introduced in March would have set new restrictions on how square footages of homes are calculated and placed additional restrictions on impervious lot coverage and where bedrooms could be located inside homes.
The initial ordinance passed a first reading at a March 18 council meeting and was on the April 15 council meeting agenda for final passage. But hundreds of members of the Jewish community showed up in buses to object to the ordinance before the vote.
The April 15 meeting had to be rescheduled to Friday and moved to the Linden High School auditorium in anticipation of a large community turnout, officials said.
City officials said the revisions to the zoning ordinance are necessary to manage stormwater runoff and the use of small plots of land in the city as homes have expanded and green spaces have been reduced.
Due to new federal rules, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection implemented a Municipal Stormwater Management Program in 2004 to reduce stormwater runoff, Linden city engineer Nicholas Pantina said last week.
"There have been numerous changes to these requirements over the years, and the latest changes in 2023 have caused the City to re-evaluate its Zoning requirements," Pantina said in a statement.
Several people objected to the new zoning ordinance during public comment section of Friday's meeting, saying the Jewish community was not adequately included in shaping the ordinance.
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Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Ben Shapiro Selected to Light Torch at Israel’s Independence Day Ceremony
American conservative pundit Ben Shapiro has been selected to light a torch at Israel's upcoming Independence Day ceremony.
This year's ceremony theme is "Bridges of Hope," coming a year after a somber observance that featured only survivors and first responders from Hamas' October 7 massacre. The event scheduled for April 30th will include 36 torch-lighters in total, with Shapiro being chosen following recommendations from a public advisory committee.
"Ben Shapiro is one of Israel's greatest supporters in the world," Transportation Minister Regev announced on Monday. "Throughout his media career – and especially since the start of the war – he has demonstrated unwavering support for Israel, its right to self-defense, and the justice of its cause."
As host of The Ben Shapiro Show and founder of The Daily Wire, Shapiro has built a substantial following across social media platforms with over 20 million followers. He has consistently defended Israel's defensive war in Gaza and has participated in fundraisers for Oct. 7 victims. Shapiro was warmly received during his first speech in Israel in 2022, when he warned against importing "woke culture" to a packed crowd in Tel Aviv.
Though Shapiro has cultivated a following in Israel, his invitation to the ceremony has drawn protests from those troubled by his opposition to abortion rights and his history of contentious comments about LGBTQ+ individuals.
"You can't whitewash misogyny and LGBTQ hatred just because the person who expressed it supports Israel. This choice erases us, and it shames the ceremony, the country, and the values around which we are all supposed to unite," Israeli LGBTQ advocacy organization Aguda wrote on X.
The Israel Women's Network similarly condemned Shapiro's appointment, stating, "Ben Shapiro, the man who claims that women who have abortions are 'baby killers,' should not be lighting a torch on Independence Day. It's not an honor, it's an insult to women in Israel."
The ceremony will mark the beginning of Israel's 77th Independence Day celebrations, commemorating the signing of the state's Declaration of Independence in 1948. Among those joining Shapiro are former hostage Emily Damari, who was released in January after fifteen months of Hamas captivity, and Deni Avdija, whose NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers has made him a source of national pride.
Other torch-bearers include military officers, a 90-year-old woman who knits clothing for soldiers, relatives of soldiers killed in Gaza, and Rachel Edri, who became known for surviving the October 7 attack after offering cookies to her Hamas captors.
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Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Hasidic sect offers major cash boost to solve matchmaking crisis
A major Hasidic sect in Israel has announced it will double matchmaker compensation for marriages involving men and women over the age of 20, in a bid to address what insiders describe as a "severe matchmaking crisis."
The community-wide decision, approved by religious leaders, is aimed at encouraging more individuals to enter the matchmaking profession, which has seen a steep decline in activity in recent years. According to Kikar HaShabbat, a letter issued by the community's matchmaking association—signed by 26 matchmakers—explained that the decline in matchmakers has paralleled a worrying drop in successful shidduchim (match proposals).
In the Hasidic world, marriage is typically arranged through matchmakers (shadchanim), with strong emphasis on shared values, background, and lineage. Most marriages are made within the same sect, which in this case has created a limited dating pool and increased challenges for those who do not marry immediately after reaching marriageable age.
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Monday, April 21, 2025
Houston fake rabbi sentenced to 135 years for sexually abusing adoptive sons
To more than 300,000 TikTok followers, Hayim Nissim Cohen was a rabbi who had taken in nine adoptive sons and documented their Jewish lives. But after one of the children spoke out about the sexual abuse that was happening off-camera, that illusion came crashing down.
On Monday, April 7, Cohen, 40, pleaded guilty in a Houston state court to four counts of sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to four 40-year sentences with no parole for the sexual assault charges and an additional 15 years for the indecency charge to be served concurrently, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"You realize you are never going to get out of prison, you're going to die in prison?" Judge Danilo Lacayo asked Cohen in court, according to local CBS affiliate KHOU.
The crimes came to light in February 2023 when Cohen's 17-year-old adopted son called into a podcast and reported that he had been sexually abused by Cohen since age 11. CPS intervened, and the six youngest children were removed from the home, according to KHOU.
Cohen was arrested in 2023 at a time when he allegedly had been faking a chronic illness. In social media posts, he can be seen using supplemental oxygen and a wheelchair, but when detectives took him to two hospitals, they found nothing wrong with him.
Cohen also had claimed that he grew up speaking Yiddish as a Hasidic Jew in Williamsburg but, in fact, he was born with the name Jeffrey Lujan Vejil in Odessa, Texas, in 1984. He changed his name later in life, but there is no evidence that he ever converted, according to The Times of Israel.
At times, Cohen claimed to be a rabbi. He also said, despite evidence to the contrary, that his nine adopted sons came from Jewish families.
At the trial, he was still sporting payos, the sidecurls grown by Hasidic men, though he did not appear to be wearing a kippah.
"He changed their names in the adoption process and had them grow their hair and dressed them. He claims they speak Hebrew or Yiddish, but I don't think any of them do," Sherry Chandler, a lawyer for another child abused by Cohen in 2019, told The Times of Israel. "He's clearly not a rabbi. I think he woke up one day and said, 'I'm Jewish,' and went to Dallas County and had his name changed."
One of the sons, Avshalom Cohen, was arrested in 2023 and charged with sexual assault and human smuggling.
"I know you understand everything I've said to you from the beginning to the end," Lacayo said, "You ran an interesting con, sir. You violated all these boys and you're here today facing justice."
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Thursday, April 10, 2025
Montreal man arrested for synagogue arson and Jewish center vandalization
A Montreal man allegedly involved in the firebombing of a Dollard-des-Ormeaux synagogue and vandalization of a Jewish community building in December was arrested by the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Anjou resident was set to appear before the Montreal courthouse the same day to face charges for setting a fire to the Congregation Beth Tikvah synagogue with an "incendiary object" and smashing two windows of a nearby community center.
Despite the arrest, the criminal investigation is continuing, the SPVM noted in a Wednesday statement.
The Jewish Community Council of Montreal thanked the SPVM on X for their "focus, hard work and drive to get these horrible people off of our streets."
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Quebec praised law enforcement for their efforts, but noted that it was now the responsibility of prosecutors to ensure that deterrence would be established.
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Wednesday, April 09, 2025
New York street co-named after Chabad's Lubavitcher Rebbe
Crown Heights' President Street in New York now bears the co-name "Lubavitcher Rebbe Way," honoring the leader of the Chabad movement, the New York City Council confirmed after greenlighting the addition in December.
The honoree, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi, was born in 1902 in what is now Ukraine. He became the Rebbe in 1951 and led the Chabad movement until his death in 1994.
"After escaping the Holocaust and arriving in the United States in 1941, the Rebbe's leadership expanded Chabad-Lubavitch's global reach, establishing countless institutions: kindergartens, schools, drug rehabilitation centers, care homes and synagogues," said Democratic Council Member Crystal Hudson, who introduced the bill.
The renaming applies to the segment of President Street between Brooklyn and New York Avenues, the former home of the Rabbi and his wife, Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson.
The event was attended by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who later visited Rabbi Schneerson's grave. "During the most difficult days of my life — not only as mayor but also as borough president — I've found my way to the Grand Rebbe's grave," Adams said. Adams has visited the site at least six times, according to the New York Post.
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Tuesday, April 08, 2025
Pro-Palestine mob deface Jewish Passover package in 'disturbing' incident
A box of food delivered to a Jewish community in London ahead of Passover was vandalised with the words "Free Palestine" scrawled on it. Responding to the defacing of the box, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the European Jewish Association (EJA), the organisation which sent the box, said: "Passover is a time that unites Jewish communities around values of freedom, tradition and spiritual strength.
"We are proud of this year's successful distribution, which brought joy and support to so many. Unfortunately, the report from England is disturbing. While people may hold different political views, using a religious delivery to send such a message—particularly during a holiday—is inappropriate and unsettling for the community that received it."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2038595/jewish-passover-package-london-palestine
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Monday, April 07, 2025
Anti-Jewish hatred in Canada spiked in 2024, new audit says
Canada saw a big jump in antisemitic hate in 2024, according to an annual audit.
As documented in B'nai Brith's annual audit of antisemitic incidents, over 17 incidents of hatred against Jews were reported in 2024 — a worrying trend which saw a 7.4% increase from 2023, and a 124% increase since 2022.
"Over the past 18 months, a previously-unfathomable new baseline for the occurrence of antisemitic incidents in Canada has become established," said Richard Robertson, B'nai Brith's director of research and advocacy.
"Shamefully, the unacceptable has become the new normal."
The Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks, which saw Palestinian terrorists storm Israeli villages and conduct a campaign of murder, kidnappings and sexual assault, touched off an unprecedented spike in hatred targeting Canada's Jewish community.
Weekly hate rallies are common in many cities across Canada, with many anti-Israel marchers taking their case into Jewish neighbourhoods and places of worship, often with protection and escorts provided by local police services.
"Every region across Canada, except Ontario, saw a double-digit or greater increase in antisemitic incidents in 2024," Robertson said, adding that Alberta and Quebec saw triple-digit increases in Jew-hatred.
Last December saw 809 such incidents reported — the highest monthly total ever recorded by B'nai Brith Canada, which Robertson described as both "shocking" and "horrifying."
"Jewish persons were the target of physical assault, threatening harassment and grotesque intimidation," he said.
"In Canada, online and in-person hatred of the Jewish population was willfully promoted and publicly incited and the genocide of the Jewish people was advocated for."
B'nai Brith Senior Legal Counsel David Matas said the problem continues to grow.
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Thursday, April 03, 2025
Henderson man accused of online threat to Jewish community
A Henderson man is accused of threatening to kill Jewish people in an online post.
Michael Tomasino, 38, posted on the website 4chan that he is an "antisemite" and that he planned to "kill" as many Jewish people — he is alleged to have used an antisemitic epithet — as he could before he would die by suicide, according to an indictment returned March 27 by a Clark County grand jury.
Tomasino faces one charge of making threats or conveying false information related to an act of terrorism, according to court records.
The multi-agency Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center helped investigate the allegations, court records showed. Though the March 11 post was anonymous on 4chan, it was later traced to Tomasino's residence, according to court documents.
Tomasino's bail was set at $50,000. As of Wednesday evening, he remained in custody at Clark County Detention Center, according to online jail records.
Tomasino faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of not more than $5,000, according to Nevada law.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2025
Randy Fine prevails in Florida special election, bringing tally of Jewish Republicans in Congress to 4
Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican backed by President Donald Trump, has prevailed in a special election in Florida's 6th Congressional District.
The Associated Press declared Fine the winner with 54% of the vote 30 minutes after the polls closed, ending attention to a race that turned out to be closer than expected amid frustration with the Trump administration and an aggressive campaign by an unorthodox Democrat who far out-raised Fine.
Fine, who has fashioned himself as a MAGA-style culture warrior, attacked his opponent, a teacher named Josh Weil, over Weil's Muslim religion and past criticism of Israel.
Fine's election brings the number of Jewish Republicans in Congress to four, a number that the Republican Jewish Coalition said was unprecedented since at least the 1980s. The group said it was "gratified to have been the first organization to host a major fundraising event for Randy Fine immediately following his campaign launch."
After Trump posted excitedly on his Truth Social account about Fine's win, which solidifies Republican control of the House of the Representatives, Fine shared the post. "Because of you, Mr. President," he tweeted. "I won't let you down." PJC
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Tuesday, April 01, 2025
Rockland car wash targeted Jewish customers with Passover markup
A Rockland County car wash company targeted Jewish customers with a Passover promotion that cost three times the standard price for the same service, according to an investigation by the state attorney general's office.
Attorney General Letitia James said her office began investigating Super 4 Seasons in Spring Valley last April after receiving complaints that the car wash company was charging Jewish customers $169 for a service that was otherwise available for $47. The service was advertised as a "Passover Special" promotion, targeting Jewish customers cleaning their cars to remove "chametz," or leavened products, in preparation for the Jewish holiday, which commemorates the Israelites' hurried exodus from Egypt, when they didn't have time for bread to rise.
The attorney general's investigation found that Super 4 Seasons had promoted similar Passover-specific services dating to at least 2018 and that in the weeks leading up to Passover, Jewish customers had been routinely denied access to standard pricing and were falsely told that only the high-priced "Passover Packages" were available, according to a news release from the office's Civil Rights Bureau.
At one point during the probe, an investigator dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing inquired about standard pricing at Super 4 Season. He was told the company was "not doing anything except shampoos and Passover cleanings right now." The employee even told the investigator, "We are doing this just for you guys."
However, when another investigator who was not wearing Orthodox Jewish clothing asked for standard services, he was offered them. When the investigator asked about the Passover promotion, an employee said that it was "for Jews," who needed to pay more "because their cars are so dirty."
The attorney general's office recovered sales records for the same period confirming that regular services had been provided throughout the holiday.
Over the last three years alone, Super 4 Seasons sold at least 251 "Passover Specials" totaling more than $35,000 in sales, according to documents filed by the attorney general's office. That targeting of the Jewish community violated sections of New York's Civil Rights Law, General Business Law and Executive Law, making Super 4 Seasons subject to fines up to $161,000.
The attorney general's office and Super 4 Seasons reached a settlement in which the company acknowledged that it had discriminated against Jewish customers and agreed to stop charging them more than other customers for the same car wash services. Super 4 Seasons is also barred from changing its pricing or limiting available services in the two months leading up to and during Passover, according to the agreement. If the car wash company fails to adhere to these terms, it will be required to pay a penalty of up to $75,000.
Last week, James issued a consumer alert urging New Yorkers to be careful of discriminatory pricing practices at car washes in the days leading up to Passover and warning businesses that this practice is illegal.
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