Anti-Israel activists lead push to repeal Illinois anti-BDS laws

Posted on February 9, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

MIDWEST ADL
Help defeat two BDS bills now being considered by the Illinois legislature

Two bills have been introduced in the Illinois House and Senate to repeal Illinois’ decade-old anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) law. We need your help to stop this effort, starting in the Illinois House of Representatives. Legislators must hear clearly from our communities that repealing this law would legitimize discriminatory boycotts against Israel. Advocates for repeal are telling lawmakers that the Jewish community supports this move and repealing the anti-BDS law, and advancing the broader BDS movement, benefits Jews. That is false. These claims come from a small fringe and do not represent the broader Jewish community in Illinois. Silence allows that distortion to stand. A broad coalition of Jewish organizations – including Agudah Israel, the American Jewish Committee, ADL, JUF/Federation of Chicago, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, StandWithUs, and Jewish leaders and clergy statewide – is leading the effort to defeat these bills, but the voices that matter most to legislators are those of their constituents. Email Your State Lawmakers; Join ADL in urging your legislators now and tell them to vote NO.

NPR ILLINOIS Lawmakers seek to reverse Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel A growing number of state lawmakers are moving to repeal a 2015 Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel to protest its policies toward Palestinians. Amid concerns about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, lawmakers in Springfield supporting human rights for Palestinians have increasingly signed on to legislation opposing the decade-old anti-boycott law. But so far, these bills have stalled.

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“The tzitzit became a must-have accessory for boys. They buy long, hefty ones and leave them hanging out—either complementing a sporty-elegant outfit or a modern skater/rapper look”

Posted on February 8, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Hashem Is Headlining
Dana Kessler
February 11, 2026

…Since Oct. 7, what was once a minor trend has become a flood. According to a special report on the war’s effect on religiosity (emphasizing youth up to age 25) published in November 2025 by the Jewish People Policy Institute, many Israelis report increased observance of tradition since the onset of the war. A quarter of Jewish Israelis say they are more tradition-observant than in the past; the share is higher among young people…Much of this is driven by the continually increasing influence of the Mizrahim (Israelis originating from Jewish communities that lived in Muslim and Arab countries). Many of them come from traditional households that are secular but hold on to various religious practices, such as keeping kosher or observing Shabbat, as tradition. In many of these families, the grandparents were religious, the parents became secular while still observing tradition, and now the young generation is rediscovering religion and finding new meaning in their parents’ traditions. READ MORE

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Memo to all Jews: “The future of Jewish life will not be secured by pleading our case before the world”

Posted on February 8, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

MORNING MUSINGS
No More Pleading for Permission: The New/Old Jewish Priority
Peter Himmelman
February 8, 2026

Last week at the 92nd Street Y, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens spoke about the state of world Jewry. What stayed with me was not a political argument but a change of direction. He suggested that Jews have spent too many years pleading for understanding and too few years investing in the only strategy that has ever preserved us: becoming more Jewish. Listening to him, I felt the relief of hearing aloud what I have been saying, often to deaf ears, for decades…For millennia, until today, Jews have used a word that has vexed the world. They have used it stubbornly, courageously, with great faith, and at times at great cost. The word is no. No to serving idols of any kind. No to tyrants. No to cheap strains of universalism. No to assimilation into other faiths and ideologies. And no to a world that bows to the latest ism. Most vexing of all has been Jewish success despite that refusal. The world has often demanded that we dissolve into its fashions, and time and again we have answered with a single inconvenient syllable. READ MORE

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“The fact that a candidate as far to the left as Mejia could prevail in one of the most affluent, suburban districts in the country speaks volumes about the state of the party”

Posted on February 7, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Analilia Mejia’s lead in N.J. primary signals growing far-left influence in Democratic Party
Josh Kraushaar
February 6, 2026

The results in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District last night may not make national headlines, but should be sending a shock wave across Democratic campaigns and pro-Israel institutions. Analilia Mejia, the far-left, Bernie Sanders-endorsed activist, narrowly led in a crowded field of Democratic candidates in a primary election for an affluent, moderate-minded district, despite long odds. With most votes counted, Mejia leads former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), who was considered the favorite, 29-28%. Former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, favored by pro-Israel groups and endorsed by Democratic Majority for Israel, finished in third place, winning just 17% of the vote. READ MORE

NBC NEWS How a pro-Israel super PAC made a losing bet to open Democratic primary season United Democracy Project, a super PAC affiliated with AIPAC, is expected to play a big role in Democratic primaries this year. It got off to a bad start in New Jersey on Thursday.

ALGEMEINER North Carolina Democratic Party Muslim Chair Says Zionists Are Nazis, and a ‘Threat to Humanity’ Elyas Mohammed, president of the North Carolina Democratic Party’s (NCDP) Muslim Caucus, recently posted on social media, “Zionists = Modern day #Nazis.” Mohammed, also a member of the NCDP’s State Executive Committee (SEC), posted, “#Zionists are a threat to #Humanity.” He has publicly referred to Israel as “IsraHell.”

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“As Iran weakens, Arab states warn of war while quietly fearing the rise of unchecked Israeli power. The Middle East prefers a half-dead Iran, and a contained Israel, in one package”

Posted on February 5, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
When the Iranian threat collapses, a New Middle East emerges
Amit Segal
February 5, 2026

Abbas Araghchi will not be the first foreign minister to fly urgently to meet Americans in an attempt to prevent war. Before him came Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz, in a futile meeting with his counterpart James Baker. Saddam Hussein promised both President George H. W. Bush and President George W. Bush that the United States would discover hell in Iraq, that its forces would die there in droves, and that his country would stand firm. Aziz ended his life in a Baghdad prison; Saddam went to the gallows. The Iranians are no more flexible, no less fanatical, and burdened with the same problems as their hated Iraqi predecessors. Their almost last hope of preventing action lies with the Sunni states of the Middle East. Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia publicly warn that an American strike could escalate into a regional war. In practice, a Middle East expert told me this week, what truly worries them is the almost inevitable outcome of eliminating the ayatollahs’ regime: Israeli hegemony in the Middle East. READ MORE

FDD Negotiating With Iran Is Wrong. Doing So in Oman Is Worse The scheduled talks in Muscat between the United States and Iran on February 6 shines much needed light on the regional role of their host, the Sultanate of Oman. Oman cannot be regarded as a trusted intermediary. While the Gulf state has always claimed neutrality, boasting about its role in helping to secure the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the United States, it has maintained a close strategic relationship with Iran. Currently, Oman serves as a key hub for one of Iran’s most dangerous proxies, the Houthis in Yemen. The choice of Oman as the venue of the talks, which were originally to be hosted by Turkey, could spell trouble for American negotiators.

JPOST Missile barrages and cyber operations: Iran outlines multi-front war plan against US.  Iran has published a detailed concept for war with the United States, describing missile barrages, proxy escalation, cyber operations, and threats to global oil flows, according to the IRGC-linked Tasnim news agency.  The war scenario published by Tasnim begins with US strikes on nuclear and military sites in densely populated areas, followed by a rapid Iranian counter-barrage aimed at US regional base…The plan surfaced this week as US-Iran talks were set for Friday in Muscat, Oman, and after Donald Trump said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be “very worried,” raising fears of renewed escalation.

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“Memo to Trump: No one in the region wants the regime to survive…Turkey is essentially proposing that Iran and Turkey switch places, with Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the steward of all the mullahs’ ill-gotten gains”

Posted on February 5, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

COMMENTARY
Is Iran Attending Its Own Funeral?
Seth Mandel
February 3, 2026

Mideast summit this Friday looks like it will play host to a group of countries that claim to want to save Iran from U.S. strikes—but in reality want to bury the Islamic Republic alive. For Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which both plan to be represented at the meetup in Istanbul, it’s pretty straightforward. The Saudis are rivals for Iran’s influence and power projection around the Gulf, and Egypt stands to benefit from a loosening of Iranian proxies’ troublemaking in the Red Sea shipping lanes and its sponsorship of Hamas. The reason for Turkey and Qatar’s bad-faith participation in the summit becomes clear when you see the kind of proposed “solutions” coming out of Ankara. Haaretz reports: “Turkey might propose, among other things, that the enriched uranium in Iran — including around 440 kilograms (970 pounds) that are enriched to 60 percent — be transferred to Turkey, with a promise that it would never be returned to Iran.” READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM Turkey’s nuclear path is a risk Israel cannot ignore Ankara is using nuclear technology strictly for civilian purposes, but the infrastructure it is building could, under certain conditions, later help pave the way toward military applications. As long as the current president remains in power, efforts to edge closer to a nuclear weapons capability are unlikely to stop. The question is how long it would take, and how Israel should respond.

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“Mamdani’s silence on the oppression in Iran is a betrayal of New York’s core value”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

TABLET MAG
Letter to Mayor Mamdani
Masih Alinejad
February 4, 2026

Mayor Mamdani, While mass killings are unfolding in Iran, you have chosen silence. While women are being beaten, imprisoned, and killed for refusing compulsory hijab and the entire Islamic regime in Iran, you have offered no sympathy, no solidarity, not even a basic condemnation. This silence matters…I came to New York yearning to breathe free. Free from the violent oppression imposed on women by the Islamic Republic of Iran. In my country of birth, women are forced by law to wear the hijab. Refusal is punished with beatings, prison, torture, and death. Mahsa Jina Amini was murdered in 2022 for showing her hair. Thousands of women since have paid a similar price. Schoolgirls are poisoned. In Iran, the Islamic Republic has carried out one of the largest massacres of civilians in its history. Protesters are shot in the streets. Detainees are raped and killed. Hospitals are raided.READ MORE

JPOST Trump cares more about Iran’s nuclear weapons than its protesters, Vance says The Trump administration is significantly more concerned with Iran’s nuclear capabilities than the mass killings of protesters by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), US Vice President JD Vance said in a Wednesday interview on the Megyn Kelly Show. “What the president has always been focused on, even with this most recent round of protests…is nuclear weapons,” Vance told Kelly. Asked how the administration juggles its “America First” domestic policy promises with pressing foreign policy issues, Vance claimed that the issue of Iran’s nuclear arsenal is a domestic issue, as it pertains to the safety of US citizens.

JPOST Former Iranian official reveals IRGC trained for years for violent crackdown on protesters The violent, bloody crackdown on Iran’s protests on January 8-9 was part of a “multi-layered process” planned by the regime since 2022, Iran International reported on Thursday, citing a former Iranian Interior Ministry official speaking on the condition of anonymity…The plan reportedly granted security forces authority to kill “as many people as necessary in order to stay in power,” identified “high-risk” individuals likely to organize protests, and ordered commanders to escalate rapidly to lethal force.

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Somaliland recognition “simultaneously provides Israel a strategic foothold opposite Yemen, greater proximity to the ongoing threat posed by the Houthis, a deeper stake in Red Sea security, and the potential to become a much bigger player in African politics”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
What Israel Sees In Somaliland
Ilan Berman
February 3, 2026

Although it has been pushed off the front pages by the Trump Administration’s dramatic early January ouster of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro and the current unrest roiling Iran, another recent geopolitical development deserves sustained attention. In late December, Israel unexpectedly announced that it was unilaterally recognizing the sovereignty of the East African territory of Somaliland. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar made clear that the move was the culmination of months of quiet, intensive diplomacy between Jerusalem and Hargeisa, leading to “mutual recognition and full diplomatic relations…The Trump Administration defended Israel’s right to choose its diplomatic partners while simultaneously stressing that America’s own policy remains unchanged. Still, many now think that the Trump Administration should follow Israel’s diplomatic lead in recognizing Somaliland—and that it soon might (Indeed, Israel’s recognition seems to have already touched off a potential domino effect, with countries like Morocco, the UAE, Kenya, Ethiopia and India also reportedly considering doing the same.) READ MORE

JEWISH INSIDER Riyadh and Ankara jointly condemn Jerusalem’s recognition of Somaliland, call for Israeli withdrawal from Syria The two countries outlined their alignment on several regional issues, including rejecting Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and calling for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Syria, as well as a two-state solution.

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One of Q.ai’s financial backers, GV said that the deal marked Apple’s “second-largest acquisition in its history”

Posted on February 3, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

REUTERS
Apple acquires Israeli audio AI startup Q.ai
Stephen Nellis
January 29, 2026

Apple on Thursday said it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup working on artificial intelligence technology for audio. Apple did not disclose terms of the deal for Q.ai, which was backed by venture capital firms Matter Venture Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Spark Capital, Exor and GV, formerly known as Google Ventures. The deal valued the startup at about $1.6 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter. Apple did not say how it will use Q.ai’s technology but said the startup has worked on new applications of machine learning to help devices understand whispered speech and to enhance audio in challenging environments. READ MORE

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“US State Department reportedly filed evidence to Congress that the programme, which provides funding to the families of convicted terrorists, continued under a different name”

Posted on February 2, 2026 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH CHRONICLE
PA paid out $200m in pay-for-slay despite pledge to end scheme, US claims
Jacob Jaffa
January 30, 2026

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been accused of paying out $200 million to the families of terrorists in 2025, despite pledging it would stop doing so. According to the US State Department, the payments were still disbursed even after PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced the end of the so-called “pay-for-slay” programme. The scheme, officially named the PA Martyrs Fund, has been running since the late 1960s and sees the authority provide financial support for the families of Palestinians convicted of terror offences in Israel. READ MORE

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