DHS official testifies agency uses controversial website that catalogs academics’ anti-Israel statements

Posted on July 13, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Trump team used Canary Mission site to target anti-Israel activists for deportation
Asad Elia-Shalev
July 10, 2025

Newly unsealed court records and trial testimony show that top Trump administration officials relied heavily on Canary Mission, a controversial website that targets pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists, as part of a secretive effort to deport foreign students and academics from American universities…[Peter] Hatch, the assistant director for intelligence at Homeland Security Investigations, testified that more than 75% of the deportation referrals prepared by his unit were based on names first identified through Canary Mission, adding that the information was independently verified before being compiled into official reports, according to Politico. READ MORE

CANARY MISSION Our Mission

CANARY MISSION Report an incident or Contact Us If You See an Antisemitic Incident or Individual, Report it.

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“American values” was once shorthand for the animating ideals of liberal democracy. Now it’s become politicized. As we celebrate July 4, Jews must lead the way in reclaiming an idea that is meant to unite us, not divide us

Posted on July 9, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH JOURNAL
Why Jews Must Reclaim American Values
David Bernstein
July 2, 2025

Antisemitism is not a parochial grievance — it’s a societal warning sign and a civic emergency. It signals a breakdown of pluralism, law, and tolerance. Jewish advocacy should start reminding America that attacks on Jews are attacks on the very principles that protect everyone. When Jews are singled out, whether in radical DEI programs, academic boycotts, or threats on campuses and in the streets, it constitutes a broader assault on pluralism, civil society, and the rule of law—one that demands a collective response. READ MORE

FREE BEACON ‘Quite Shocking to Us’: Local Parents Fighting ‘Cesspool’ of Anti-Semitism in Philly Schools Say Josh Shapiro’s Office Stopped Meeting With Them Philadelphia’s public school system has become an “absolute cesspool” of anti-Semitism and anti-American hatred, according to local parents, who say Gov. Josh Shapiro (D.) has “completely ignored” their pleas for help. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, Philadelphia school officials have publicly defended terrorism, called for the release of convicted cop killers, claimed Israel is an “apartheid theocracy,” and denounced the United States as a “criminal Amerikan empire.”

FUTURE OF JEWISH The New Antisemitic Curriculum in America’s Public Schools There is a great deal of attention being focused on college-level antisemitic movements. In fact, the more attention the media and others eagerly lend to groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine, the more widespread the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel hatreds become. Yet, what is perhaps just as important — but drastically less well-known — is the prevalence of these same sentiments and sympathies in U.S. public schools at the K-12 levels. Despite the incomparable reporting from a small number of journalists, disturbingly (and problematically), very little is known about, or even acknowledged, regarding the profound levels of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and antisemitic “teaching” of the West’s younger students.

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All 54,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews eligible for military service will be called on to arrive for actual service by July 2026

Posted on July 9, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
IDF to summon over 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews in massive push for haredi draft
Yonah Jeremy Bob
July 6, 2025

The army on Sunday started summoning all 54,000 remaining eligible haredim for IDF service in the largest ever coordinated mass pursuit of that sector, in a campaign that will continue through July. These ultra-Orthodox will be called on to arrive for actual service by July 2026. This comes after 24,000 haredim were already summoned in split-up rounds of the last year, with very small results in actual haredim coming in for their military service, but under pressure by the High Court of Justice and public opinion to broaden the draft against the backdrop of unprecedented numbers of soldiers from all sectors being killed, wounded, and performing longer reserve service…The IDF is still demanding that the government pass sanctions that hit individual haredim to increase positive responses to draft notices. READ MORE

YNET ‘War on Torah’: Ultra-Orthodox leaders blast Haredi draft crackdown Israel set to begin enforcing new Haredi draft plan this month, with tighter measures at border crossings and limited amnesty offer for draft dodgers; Haredi leaders accuse AG of targeting Torah study and violating coalition agreements

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“The arrests of the Jews, who reportedly include several rabbis, appear to be part of a crackdown in which more than 700 people have been taken in since June 13, when Israel initiated its attacks on Iran”

Posted on July 9, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
24 Iranian Jews remain in prison as government launches internal crackdown
Larry Cohler-Esses
June 30, 2025

Twenty-four members of the Jewish community in Tehran and Shiraz remain in prison as of Sunday after being arrested along with hundreds of others in a sweeping government crackdown in Iran that began as fighting ended with Israel. The arrests took in 35 Jews originally, according to a report put out Saturday by HRANA, the Human Rights Activist News Agency, an affiliate of the Human Rights in Iran NGO. Mass arrests began early in the morning of June 23, according to the report. Eleven Jews have been released since the original arrests, according to a former senior Iranian communal leader, who would speak only on condition of anonymity due to concerns for his contacts in Iran. READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Top Iranian cleric issues Fatwa against Trump & Netanyahu In a significant escalation of rhetoric following the recent 12-day conflict between Israel, Iran, and the United States, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s most senior Shia clerics, has issued a fatwa declaring U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “enemies of God” and “mohareb”—those who wage war against Allah. Shirazi called for Trump and Netanyahu to be subject to “execution or crucifixion” and that any Muslim who helps either of them to face a similar fate or “amputation of the right hand and left foot or exile.”

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Secretary of State Rubio: The UN special rapporteur’s “campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated”

Posted on July 8, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Trump admin sanctions Albanese for spewing ‘unabashed antisemitism,’ supporting terrorism
Mike Wagenheim
July 9, 2025

The U.S. State Department announced that it is sanctioning Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian territories, under an executive order that states those who engage “directly” with an effort by the International Criminal Court to arrest or probe a “protected person” without the consent of the person’s country are subject to having their property and assets blocked. “The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a special rapporteur,” Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, said on Wednesday. “Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism and open contempt for the United States, Israel and the West.” READ MORE

UN WATCH Francesca Albanese freaks out when Hillel Neuer asks “Who funded you?” Pro-Hamas UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese appeared before the United Nations to tell terrible lies about Israel. Condemned for Holocaust distortion and antisemitism last year by France, Germany, Canada & the U.S., she now says “one people was enriched” by “erasing” Palestinians. Terrorist regimes embraced her. Then UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer took the floor.

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Kamala Harris aide urged her to more vocally call out the far-left elements of her party to win the election

Posted on July 8, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Harris overlooked advice to more strongly tout support for Israel, according to new book
Gabby Deutch
July 8, 2025

In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign solicited guidance on how to win over the moderate and persuadable Republican voters she would need to defeat Donald Trump.  One of the chief ways she could do that, according to a memo from political strategist Maria Comella, would be to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas. “It is wrong to draw moral equivalency between a terrorist organization in Hamas and the State of Israel. No terrorist organization should be celebrated. Our support for Israel and her right to self defense should not be questioned,” Comella wrote in one of four memos she sent to the Harris campaign in the fall. READ MORE

FUTURE OF JEWISH We need to talk about black antisemitism A couple months ago, on a sunny afternoon, I was weaving my way through crowds in Times Square, late for a rehearsal, moving at a New Yorker’s pace. Suddenly, my way was blocked by a tall young man. Our eyes met; his were wild with a visible rage. Then: Bam! He punched me square in the face, the bridge of my glasses cutting a bloody gash into my forehead. As I reeled from this sudden assault, he lunged at me as if to take another shot,but pulled the punch, and instead screamed, “Kike!” in my face, then vanished into the crowd. I mopped up the blood as three teenagers, who’d witnessed the attack, laughed at my distress.

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Former FIDF employees, lay leaders tell eJP that the board chair has effectively taken over the organization since the Oct. 7 attacks, creating a ‘poisonous’ work environment

Posted on July 7, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Friends of the IDF in crisis after internal report alleges financial abuse and toxic culture
Asaf Elia-Shalev
July 8, 2025

An American charity that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars by promising to meet the emergency needs of Israeli soldiers after the war in Gaza broke out is now facing internal turmoil over allegations of financial mismanagement, cronyism, and a toxic workplace culture.  The crisis at Friends of the Israel Defense Forces centers on the group’s chairman, Morey Levovitz, who is accused of consolidating power, awarding contracts to associates without oversight, and authorizing lavish spending that some insiders say betrays donors’ trust. The accusations were made public last week in an article published by Ynet, a major Israeli news outlet, which cited a report from an internal investigation commissioned by the group’s board earlier this year. READ MORE

EJEWISH PHILANTHROPY As FIDF reels from leaked memo detailing abuses, sources say group’s leaders engaging in deceptive fundraising practices, wasteful spending The report also found that Levovitz has demanded reimbursement for his travel expenses to Israel, which often include business and first-class seats, amounting to more than $53,000 — in contrast to previous chairs who paid for their own travel and accommodations, in addition to making six-figure donations to the organization, which Levovitz has also reportedly not made…All of the sources — coming from three different regions of the United States and Israel, most of whom had been involved with FIDF for many years, some for more than 20  — described a severe deterioration in the work environment at the organization in recent years, using terms like “cutthroat,” “poisonous,” “bullying” and “mafia-like.” 

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Heard in Jerusalem: “Hasbara” has become something resembling a dirty word

Posted on July 7, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM STRATEGIC TRIBUNE
In Israel, A Public Diplomacy Pivot
Ilan Berman
July 7, 2025

…Belatedly, Israeli authorities have concluded that an overhaul of their messaging is in order. Officials in Jerusalem now increasingly refer to waging a “war of knowledge” while hasbara has become something resembling a dirty word in official parlance. More concretely, and significantly, the country has begun allocating real resources to this endeavor. In March, the Israeli government for the first time passed a budget that earmarked some $150 million for public diplomacy. In comparative terms, Israel’s $150 million does not represent a significant investment. Qatar’s popular al-Jazeera channel, for instance, boasts an annual budget of $1 billion, while the Islamic Republic of Iran officially allocated at least $600 million between 2024 and 2025 for propaganda activities. Still, for Israel, which has never fielded a public diplomacy budget of any note, it represents a major evolution. READ MORE

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This is the Briton we should be talking about – not the sozzled, moneyed brats of Glastonbury who got a sick thrill from chanting ‘Death, death to the IDF’, but this fresh-faced warrior against Islamofascism

Posted on July 5, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

QUAERENS BLOG
Forget the bigots of Glastonbury – it’s the heroic IDF soldier, Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, we should be talking about.
Brendan O’Neill
July 1, 2025

The name we should remember from this weekend is not Bob Vylan. Or Pascal Robinson-Foster, to give the Israelophobic punk who caused such a stink at Glastonbury his real name. No, it’s Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld. For as Bob Vylan was whipping the smug mob of Glasto into a frenzy of violent loathing for the IDF, this young IDF soldier, himself a Brit, was laying down his life for the Jewish people. He was killed in Gaza on Sunday as he did battle with that army of anti-Semites, Hamas. Now that’s anti-fascism. Natan – as he was known – was 20 years old. He was born in London and moved to Israel 11 years ago. He was a sergeant in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion of the IDF. He was killed by an explosive device in northern Gaza. His sister’s boyfriend, also an IDF soldier, died in combat during Hamas’s pogrom of 7 October 2023. Natan’s father paid tribute to him this morning. He was fighting ‘for his parents, his family, his people’, he said. ‘I feel he has a place in history.’ READ MORE

JEWISH CHRONICLE Hen Mazzig:Glastonbury’s death cult: When ‘progressive’ Britain turns its back on Jews The IDF is not just another army; it is the world’s only Jewish state-security force, the fragile buffer between Jews and the abyss of history. Strip us of that, and you strip us of the most basic safeguard against a return to powerlessness, against the ever-present threat of another Holocaust. We are not paranoid, the world has turned a blind eye to our genocide in living memory, and remind us today they would do it again. This is not an abstract fear. On October 7 2023, Hamas terrorists massacred hundreds at the Nova music festival in Israel while simultaneously targeting Jewish families in their homes.

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Mossad initiated a targeted disinformation effort days before the Iran strike. Using falsified communications through Iranian channels, they triggered what appeared to be an emergency meeting.

Posted on July 5, 2025 by ArchitectGuy

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
Israeli secret services ‘used fake phone call’ to lure Iran’s air force elite to their deaths
June 17, 2025

Israel secret services used a fake phone call to trick the top commanders of Iran’s air force into gathering at a single location before taking them out in a targeted strike, an Israeli Channel 12 commentator has said. In a statement confirmed to the JC by Israeli sources, Amit Segal told the Call Me Back podcast on Monday: “What Israel did was create a fake phone call for 20 members of the air force senior staff an calling them to a specific bunker in Tehran.” This meant there was no one to give the order to fire the initial salvo of 1,000 ballistic missiles as Iran had previously threatened to do, he added. READ MORE

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