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What happened when a Jewish group and the right-wing Moms for Liberty shared a conference hotel
(JTA) — It was still winter when the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs learned that its June conference would share space at a hotel with an unexpected guest: a conservative “parents’ rights” group that is driving book bans across the United States.
Among the books pulled from classrooms at the behest of Moms for Liberty members have been several Holocaust-related or Jewish titles, including a version of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The group’s conference would bring together backers of the group’s agenda, purportedly to protect children from dangerous influences in their schools. It would also attract protesters who view Moms for Liberty as a vanguard for a radical right wing that is increasingly taking aim at LGBTQ rights.
That gathering at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown took place alongside the national convention of the men’s club group and took its attendees by surprise, said convention co-chair Mark Givarz.
“We didn’t rent the whole building. We rented half of it,” Givarz, , who lives in Florida, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “But we never expected to have a group of controversy next to us.”
It was too late for the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, which is associated with Judaism’s Conservative denomination, to reconsider its conference location. The group had already signed a contract with the Marriott, and approximately 400 attendees from across the country had already booked travel for the event, which ran June 28 to July 2. Plus, the organizers had already put together a whole program and made plans to set up a temporary synagogue for the duration of the event.
So the group proceeded, putting out a statement rejecting Moms for Liberty and emphasizing that it holds very different values.
“We believe that every person is made b’tzelem elohim — in God’s image, and deserving of loving-kindness, respect, and dignity,” the statement said. “As such, the FJMC strongly advocates for equal rights for all, including the LGBTQIA+ community. At the FJMC we welcome all participants with love, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, which is why our Inclusion Initiative is a vital part of our programming.”
The statement went on, “While the FJMC recognizes that Moms for Liberty and their speakers have the constitutional right to peaceably assemble, the FJMC does not endorse either the organization, its leadership, or the sentiments that they or their speakers may express during their conference.”
As the event drew nearer, Givarz and his co-chair Rick Wronzberg continually monitored the Moms for Liberty website for updates on guest speakers, concerned about the possibility of security issues at their own event. In the days before the conference, Moms of Liberty announced that three Republican candidates for president would speak: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been a particular champion of the parental rights movement. All three draw support from Republican Jews —including a subset of the men’s club convention attendees — driven in part by their records on Israel.
Moms for Liberty also ignited new controversies as the conference neared. A chapter in Indiana quoted Adolf Hitler in a newsletter; an apology followed, but so did an illumination of other instances when group members had cited Hitler approvingly. A report in Vice documented ties between the group and multiple white supremacist and extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, whose founder has a history of antisemitism and whose members were integral to the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol. And the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate, officially declared Moms for Liberty an “extremist” organization, along with several other parental rights groups.
A few people who had planned to attend the FJMC conference canceled because of the overlap out of concerns for the atmosphere, Givarz said.
“They didn’t want to disrupt their Shabbos with the nonsense,” he said. “Can you blame them?”
Eric Weis, a member of the group’s board of directors from New Jersey, canceled his plans to attend despite having attended each of the group’s conferences over the last 22 years. “There was just no way we could have fun,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer, which first reported about the overlapping conferences.
Another group member, Elliott Dubin, did travel from Northern Virginia to attend with his wife but told the local newspaper that the conference overlap was particularly galling because of his group’s membership.
“I just wondered who is the genius that booked two sort of opposing groups in the same hotel?” Dubin said. “Many of the Holocaust survivors went through book burnings in Germany and this seems to be the same type of thing.”
Tensions were high as the conferences got underway, as hundreds of protesters against Moms for Liberty gathered outside the Marriott. Police, Secret Service and hotel security amassed to keep the peace and protect the political speakers, and several protesters were arrested.
Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs leaders said they and their attendees felt safe despite the crowding. And Givarz said encounters between the two conferences were mostly neutral.
Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich speaks during the Moms for Liberty “Joyful Warriors” national summit at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown on June 30, 2023 in Philadelphia (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Only at one moment was there tension, when attendees of the men’s clubs conference got to bypass a security line and Moms for Liberty attendees got upset — but Givarz compared it to a dispute in the line to get soda at a baseball game. JTA has reached out to Moms for Liberty for comment on the confluence of the conferences.
“We’re very, very pleased with the Philadelphia Police Department and the Marriott for providing excellent, very assuring and unobtrusive security,” Alan Budman, the newly installed president of the mostly volunteer organization, told JTA.
On Saturday, a group of about 50 men set out on a short walking tour — and wound up with police escorts.
“We didn’t ask for it — they sent police officers on bicycles to accompany them on the walk down to the tour which was about a seven- or eight-block walk and then on the tour itself and back,” Budman said. “So it made our people feel much more secure.”
Givarz said that throughout the conference, he had brief, cordial conversations with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich. He said she complimented his kippah, which was made by the Abayudaya Jewish community in Canada. (There is a FJMC chapter there, but Ugandan group members were unable to attend the conference because of visa issues.)
Givarz said he made contact one last time with Descovich on Sunday as both conferences were wrapping up — for a goodbye that he said was not particularly memorable.
“At the end of the day, in my opinion,” Givarz said, “Moms for Liberty were like a mosquito that got swatted around but did no damage.”
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The post What happened when a Jewish group and the right-wing Moms for Liberty shared a conference hotel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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French Authorities Replant Memorial Olive Tree and Launch Seventh Ilan Halimi Award
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
French authorities planted a new olive tree on Wednesday to honor Ilan Halimi, nearly a decade after the young French Jewish man was tortured to death and two weeks after a previous commemorative tree was cut down.
Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the norther Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.
With a commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, the first olive tree will be planted in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region.
“In the context of rising antisemitic acts, the community aims to reaffirm its steadfast commitment against hatred, forgetfulness, and indifference,” Chevreau said in a statement. “This gesture of reflection and resilience responds to the serious act of vandalism in Épinay-sur-Seine, where the commemorative tree was deliberately cut down.”
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, numerous prominent figures attended, including France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, and Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé.
At the event, Bergé announced the launch of the seventh edition of the Ilan Halimi Award, marking 20 years since his disappearance.
Established in 2018, the award seeks to fight racism and antisemitism by inspiring young people to take action.
Since then, French authorities have annually recognized projects led by young people aged 13 to 25 from schools, universities, associations, and civic or integration programs.
“The launch of the 2026 edition of the Ilan Halimi Award in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is more than an act of remembrance — it is a pledge to the future,” Bergé said during the ceremony.
Ils peuvent tronçonner un arbre, nous replanterons.
Ils peuvent abattre un arbre, nous ferons vivre la mémoire.Nous ne laisserons pas Ilan Halimi disparaître une nouvelle fois.
Le Prix Ilan Halimi 2026 est lancé. pic.twitter.com/Tn9SxlARJA
— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) September 2, 2025
Last week, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested in France for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
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After Deadly Firebombing, Boulder Jews Forced to Hide Weekly Hostage March Due to Escalating Harassment
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
A group of Jewish activists advocating for the Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza has announced plans to cease publicizing planned demonstrations and increase security in response to continued community intimidation in the months following a June 1 Molotov cocktail attack that left one person dead and 13 injured.
The group Run for Their Lives includes more than 230 chapters globally, and the one based in Boulder will now take extra measures to protect participants since the attack, for which authorities have charged alleged assailant Mohamed Sabry Soliman, which has in turn provoked further opposition.
Videos reviewed by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) show anti-Israel demonstrators calling event attendees “Nazi,” “racist,” and “genocidal c**t.”
A local politician running for city council has also demonized the hostage supporters.
CBS Colorado reported that Aaron Stone allegedly called Rachel Amaru, the chapter’s Jewish founder, a “Nazi,” a slur he defended as “a very strong word to use.” He further said that in looking at Amaru he was “not seeing a Jewish person” but rather “someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the two million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza.”
Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, said in a statement that “participants are facing a level of harassment that makes it impossible to continue safely in public view.”
Stefanie Clarke, who serves as co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, added in a statement that “it is unacceptable that less than three months after a deadly antisemitic attack, Jews in Boulder are once again being forced into hiding.”
Clarke stated that “we will not be intimidated, and we will not be driven out of public spaces where we should feel safe. The fact that someone seeking a seat on City Council is at the center of this harassment should be cause for alarm. Boulder cannot claim to be a city of inclusion and justice while giving a platform to Jew hate.”
The mountain states regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its own statement in support of the pro-Israel activists.
“We stand in firm solidarity with the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives following their difficult decision to no longer publicly disclose the location of their events,” the organization said. “It is deeply unfortunate that after enduring the horrific June 1 firebomb attack that resulted in the death of a community member, participants now face such persistent harassment that they must keep their gatherings secret to simply stay safe.”
On July 15, Soliman, who pleaded not guilty, waved his right to a preliminary hearing in a case where the 150 state charges and 12 federal charges include murder and attempted murder. He will see a judge on Tuesday for a scheduled arraignment and faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Prosecutors say that Soliman, an Egyptian who came to the United States on a B-2 Tourist Visa in August 2022, told police that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people” and that he sought to murder 20 of the demonstrators. A note found in his car read “Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land.”
Soliman also reportedly said that he had planned the attack for a year and planned it for after his daughter’s graduation. Federal officials sought to deport Soliman’s family; however, a judge blocked that effort.
“This is a proper end to an absurd legal effort on the plaintiff’s part. Just like her terrorist husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody for removal as a result,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”
In August, the ADL released a report ranking Colorado — which contains approximately 110,400 Jewish residents, accounting for 1.9 percent of the population — as eighth in the country for combating antisemitism.
“I am thrilled that the Anti-Defamation League has recognized Colorado as a national leader in fighting antisemitism, but there is much more to do,” the state’s governor Jared Polis said at the time. “Such hate and violence have no place in our Colorado for All, and that is why Colorado is leading the way to combat these trends and protect Coloradans’ right to worship how you want, making Colorado safer.”
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Lead Writer of Upcoming DC Comics Series Celebrated Oct. 7 Massacre in Resurfaced Social Media Posts
Gretchen Felker-Martin joins a virtual discussion from home. Photo: Screenshot
Gretchen Felker-Martin, an author and film critic who was recently announced as lead writer of the upcoming DC Comics series “Red Hood,” has an extensive history of endorsing terrorist acts and defending the murder of Jews and Israelis, according to a review of the writer’s social media posts.
In the posts — screenshots of which circulated on X/Twitter and other platforms this week — Felker-Martin appeared to praise Osama bin Laden for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US and expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
During the Oct. 7 onslaught, as Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages in the deadliest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Felker-Martin argued that Israeli civilians are “settlers” and an “occupying force whose daily lives serve to grind out the hope, culture, and memory of those they oppress.” She also seemingly defended Hamas’s murdering of Israeli babies, saying that Israel is an “imperialist nightmare” and that Hamas is trying to “survive their rule by any means necessary.”
Hamas is designated by several countries as a terrorist organization.
“You cannot subject human beings to brutal conditions under which no hope for a meaningful future exists and then blame them for violent action taken to correct this state. Free Palestine,” she wrote on Oct. 7.
Later that month, Felker-Martin wrote that “Zionism is full-fledged Nazism and has accrued mainstream support throughout the west because of that, not in spite of it.”
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As the ensuing war in Gaza continued in the months ahead, Felker-Martin sharpened her criticisms of Israel, condemning Zionists as “crazy” and comparing them to “slime.” The writer also lambasted Neil Druckmann, the Israeli creator of the popular “The Last of Us” video game series, for being a “Zionist.” She encouraged fellow progressives not to support then-US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, condemning Harris for not “moving an inch on the genocide.” She also falsely accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza and repudiated actress Hailee Steinfeld as a “Zionist piece of s**t.” Steinfeld has seemingly not made public statements about Israel but came under fire from leftists after she visited the Jewish state with family in 2019 for a party.
Felker-Martin separately defended Osama bin Laden’s role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, writing that “blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he ever did.”
Jewish organizations and antisemitism watchdog groups quickly condemned the remarks. StandWithUs, a nonpartisan pro-Israel organization, urged DC Comics to reconsider hiring Felker-Martin, citing her inflammatory and offensive commentary.