“This is a glorious beat down on Mamdani and his radical cronies”

Posted on April 30, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Mamdani-endorsed NYC Council candidate trounced in special election
Debra Nussbaum Cohen
April 29, 2026

Lindsey Boylan, whom New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed and who has called the Israeli prime minister a “war criminal and a danger to Israel” and accused the Jewish state of “genocide,” conceded the special election in the New York City Council’s third district on Tuesday night…Some news outlets have reported that Carl Wilson’s win could mean that his the council would overturn the mayor’s recent veto of a bill that would call on the New York City Police Department to make a plan for a “buffer zone” free of protest obstruction around educational institutions. READ MORE

JTA Zohran Mamdani vetoes school ‘buffer zone’ bill against wishes of major Jewish groups Mayor Zohran Mamdani vetoed a “buffer zone” bill insulating “educational facilities” from protests on Friday morning, drawing the ire of a number of Jewish organizations that supported it. The bill, introduced by Jewish City Council member Eric Dinowitz, was part of a legislative package proposed in response to a pair of pro-Palestinian protests outside synagogues in the fall. In a statement — and an accompanying video — Mamdani said Dinowitz’s bill, Intro 175-B, posed concerns about limiting people’s right to protest, including “college students demanding their school divest from fossil fuels or demonstrating in support of Palestinian rights.”

FREE PRESS The Editors: Mamdani, Scapegoating the Rich Won’t Fill a $5.4 Billion Budget Hole New York City’s wealthy pay 40 percent of its bills. The mayor just declared war on them…The mayor’s class-warfare rhetoric may drive away the wealthy with more force than the actual tax. Mamdani singles out billionaire financier Ken Griffin in the video, exclaiming the $238 million price tag of his penthouse and putting the building on camera. It’s as if to say, There’s the enemy, New Yorkers, looking down on you from his spare palace.

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“Protesters chant ‘Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer’; UK raises terror alert to ‘severe’ as anti-terror chief says attacks on Jews are ‘biggest national security emergency’”

Posted on April 30, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Starmer booed at site of Golders Green terror; promises to tackle antisemitism, extremism
Zev Stub
April 30, 2026

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed on Thursday to deal with “the root causes of extremism and antisemitism” after the stabbing of two Jewish men in the heavily Jewish London neighborhood of Golders Green…The attack occurred at approximately 11:16 a.m. on Wednesday on Highfield Avenue. CCTV footage captured the suspect walking casually toward a 76-year-old man wearing a kippah who was waiting at a bus stop. The assailant suddenly lunged, grabbing the victim with his left hand while repeatedly swinging a knife at his upper body. Approximately 10 minutes later, a 34-year-old man was also stabbed nearby. Witnesses described the suspect as appearing to “hunt” for anyone visibly Jewish…The attack took place some 300 yards from the site of an arson attack earlier this month targeting four Hatzola ambulances parked outside a synagogue. READ MORE

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“Israel exists precisely because Jews learned, at unbearable cost, that eloquence without power is fragile, and law without force is often meaningless”

Posted on April 30, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ARUTZ SHEVA
Israel is the ultimate response
Dr. Alex Grobman
April 23, 2026

Now that we have celebrated Yom Haatzma’ut, it is worth stating a truth that much of the West still does not understand: the greatest memorial to the Holocaust is not found in stone, glass, or ceremony. It is the sovereign State of Israel. Museums matter. Memorials matter. Testimony matters. But none of them can stop a pogrom, intercept a missile, rescue hostages, or defeat an army sworn to destroy the Jewish people. Israel can. That is why Jewish independence is not merely a political achievement…When Jews say “Never Again,” they are not reciting a line for memorial ceremonies. They are making a declaration of policy. This is also why so many in the West fundamentally misread Israel. They assume the conflict is mainly about borders, settlements, “occupation,” or competing national narratives. Those on our side imagine that with enough diplomacy, enough concessions, and enough hasbara, the hostility will subside and the Jewish state will finally be accepted. READ MORE

MELISSA BRODSKY SUBSTACK The Fire Is Here: An Open Letter to Jewish Organizations and Leaders  They came prepared. You came with a Insta quote graphic. An open letter to the organizations we trusted with our lives. After every attack you find the words. After every funeral you find the words. After every vigil…you find the words. Words aren’t the problem. You are. And you’ve had years of practice writing the perfect statement after Jews get hurt because you’ve never bothered to build a reason not to write one.  Jews are being hunted in Canada, the UK, Belgium, Australia, France, Spain, across Europe, and right here in the United States. Synagogues. Community centers. Malls. Restaurants. Early childhood classrooms. The street. The targets aren’t random and the pattern isn’t subtle. This is a coordinated, escalating, global campaign against Jewish people. And it’s working, in part, because the people and institutions that exist to stop it are too busy carefully crafting politically correct statements to actually fight back.

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“America’s team of real estate developers and financiers may beat Iran’s diplomats at the bargaining table”

Posted on April 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
The US is negotiating with Iran like a venture capitalist
Ariel Beery
April 29, 2026

If there is one meme that sums up the mistake many make when thinking about the negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, it’s the one best expressed by Mir Mohammad Alikhan’s description of the negotiating teams. He writes, “Irani: PhD, PhD, PhD, PhD, PhD,” to contrast with the other team: “American: Real Estate Developer, Real Estate Lawyer, Venture Capitalist.” Most people who read the tweet used it to make fun of the Americans for being outwitted at the negotiating table, echoing a sentiment shared by many if not most policy analysts and politicians. As someone who has experienced both the policy and private equity worlds (of which venture capital, or VC, is a subset), I’m pretty sure they are wrong, and it is the Islamic Republic that has been outgunned. READ MORE

AXIOS Israel sent “Iron Dome” system and troops to UAE during Iran war Israel sent the United Arab Emirates an Iron Dome air defense system with troops to operate it early in the war with Iran, two Israeli officials and one U.S. official tell Axios. The military, security and intelligence cooperation between Israel and the UAE has reached new heights during the war. The unprecedented deployment of the Iron Dome system during the war was not previously made public. This was the first time Israel had sent an Iron Dome battery to another country, and the UAE was the first country outside of the U.S. and Israel in which the system was used, a senior Israeli official said…“We are not going to forget it,” a senior Emirati official said of the assistance from Israel and Netanyahu at a critical moment.

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“Jews must stop being dependent on others for our safety. By turning our communal centers into well-fortified bunkers, we’re teaching our children that it is normal to associate Jewish life and identity with anxiety, with insecurity, with lack of confidence in ourselves and in our neighbors”

Posted on April 29, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Armed Guards Aren’t the Answer
Liel Leibovitz
April 28, 2026

On a recent Sunday in New York City, my family and I went on a walk that turned from a nice neighborhood stroll into a survey of our current state of institutional security. First, we passed a synagogue with three armed guards outside; they had earpieces firmly in place and looked furtively around. Another shul had two armed guards, a set of locked doors, and more security cameras than your average bank vault. The Jewish community center had concrete bollards on the sidewalk—the sort you’d find in front of the American embassy in a European country—and a metal detector greeting you as soon as you walked in the door. According to recently available data, a typical Jewish organization spends about 14% of its overall budget on security, with the total communal expenditure now reaching $765 million—every year…What I want to propose here, without everyone losing their minds, is that our approach to communal security is creating more vulnerability—of all kinds. READ MORE

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Politico establishes a red line on Israel

Posted on April 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Politico’s owner, Axel Springer, doubles down on corporate principles
Matthew Kassel
April 28, 2026

Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of Politico’s parent company, Axel Springer, doubled down in defense of the German publishing giant’s corporate values while addressing criticism from Politico‘s editorial staff on Monday, suggesting to journalists that if they do not feel fully comfortable with a mission statement that includes support for Israel’s right to exist and other principles known as “the essentials,” they should find work elsewhere, according to audio of the discussion obtained by Jewish Insider…The meeting came in response to a letter sent by Politico staffers to [incoming editor-in-chief Jonathan] Greenberger on Friday, accusing Döpfner of using the outlet “to promote his political agenda” and raising concerns that two opinion pieces he wrote for the publication “risk undermining” its “reputation as an impartial news source.” READ MORE

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From Judaism Unpacked: What Jews Know About Rest That We Forgot

Posted on April 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JUDAISM UNPACKED
What Jews Know About Rest That We Forgot
April 2026

Why do Jews step away from phones, work, cooking, driving, and electricity every week for 25 hours? Shabbat isn’t just a day of rest. It’s a weekly break from the noise of everyday life and a reminder of creation, freedom, family, community, and what really matters. From challah shopping in Jerusalem to the deeper meaning behind the rules, this video explores why Shabbat has endured for thousands of years. Click here to watch this short, fascinating video.

More videos from Judaism Unpkd

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UCLA Student Council: Omer Shem Tov event was “selective platforming” of an Israeli voice — with no Palestinian counterpart — that would “legitimize and normalize” Israel’s war in Gaza and bombings of Lebanon”

Posted on April 28, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

LA TIMES
UC Regent Jay Sures condemns UCLA student government for criticizing Israeli hostage event
Jaweed Kaleem
April 24, 2026

In a rare rebuke, UC Regent Jay Sures is speaking out in a blistering criticism of UCLA student government leaders amid a growing controversy over the campus visit of a freed Israeli hostage held by Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Saying he was “disgusted and appalled” by recent statements from the undergraduate student government voicing opposition to an on-campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, Sures, in a letter to student government leaders, said that the “failure of some student leaders in your council to listen to and acknowledge views of people with whom they disagree” is “disappointing and dangerous.”…The growing controversy stems from a statement the UCLA Undergraduate Student Assn. Council published this month “condemning” the campus Hillel for bringing Shem Tov to speak at an April 14 event tied to Yam HaShoah…READ MORE

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“Women living under Hamas rule in Gaza describe to the Mail how they are sexually abused by the terror group’s fighters and forced to have sex in return for food aid”

Posted on April 27, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Gaza women break silence on sexual abuse and extortion under Hamas rule
Bar Shaffer
April 22, 2026

Gazan women living under Hamas rule are describing sexual abuse by men in senior positions, sexual extortion in exchange for aid or money, and exploitation by those in positions of power, according to testimonies obtained by Britain’s Daily Mail. The accounts are emerging amid growing concern that the terrorist organization has reasserted control in much of the Gaza Strip, while global attention is fixed on Iran. A Gazan man, who identified himself as a member of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the “military” wing of Hamas, confirmed to the Mail the dire situation facing widows. He said he had reported to the leadership that some Al-Qassam members were exploiting martyrs’ widows” in a tent in the Gharabli area of Deir al-Balah. He said he was ordered to remain silent. READ MORE

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Tennessee General Assembly votes to change all official references to the region to “Judea and Samaria”

Posted on April 27, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

WPLN.ORG
Tennessee bans the name ‘West Bank’ from official documents
Marianna Bacallao
April 13, 2026

Tennessee will no longer recognize the Middle Eastern region known as the West Bank in official state documents. The General Assembly voted to change all official references to the region to “Judea and Samaria,” as it’s referred to in the Bible. “The ideological and cultural conflict over Judea and Samaria represents a broader civilizational struggle between Judeo-Christian values,” HB 1446/SB 1663 reads. “Radical Islamic ideologies … seek to undermine Western democratic principles and religious freedom. Evangelical activist Laurie Cardoza-Moore, who led a campaign against the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, testified in favor of the bill…Anwar Arafat, a Palestinian American from Memphis, opposed the bill. As an imam, Arafat argued that the land known as the West Bank was also called Canaan, a more politically-neutral name. READ MORE

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