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Penn Hillel vandalized by person ‘experiencing a crisis,’ say police
(JTA) — A person whom police said had been “experiencing a crisis” entered and vandalized the Hillel at the University of Pennsylvania early Thursday.
The incident ignited fears on a campus where some Jews were already on high alert because of an upcoming Palestinian literature festival featuring speakers who have been accused of antisemitism.
The vandalism occurred as the building was being opened for the day just before 7 a.m., when Orthodox Jewish students meet for morning services. The alleged intruder slipped into the building behind a member of the Hillel community; smashed a table and podium; flipped over a table and trash can in the lobby; scattered papers; and yelled profanities, according to a report in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
Multiple students told the newspaper that they heard from witnesses that the intruder had made antisemitic comments, including, “F—k the Jews” and “They killed JC,” a reference to the accusation that Jews killed Jesus. The person also yelled, “Jesus is king.”
The intruder was in the building for about a minute before building staff chased him out and services went on as planned, according to a statement from Penn Hillel. No students witnessed the incident itself, the statement said.
Students said they were unnerved by what happened, the evidence of which was still visible later in the morning.
“When I heard, my stomach just immediately dropped,” Maya Harpaz, a junior and executive board member of Hillel, told the Daily Pennsylvanian. “It’s definitely a scary feeling that this could happen to somewhere that you consider very safe on campus.”
In an early comment, a representative from Hillel tied the incident to both the Jewish calendar and the Palestine Writes festival, which is set to begin Friday and run until Sunday afternoon. Pro-Israel groups from across the country have condemned the festival, and some have called on Penn to cancel it.
“This person did not accidentally choose to enter our building. He did not accidentally choose to shout antisemitic slogans. He chose our building,” the Hillel representative wrote to the Daily Pennsylvanian. “He chose to do so just three days before Yom Kippur. He chose to do so one day before a number of speakers are coming to campus who have histories of making antisemitic and hate-filled statements against Jews. This was not a coincidence.”
The exact details of the incident are still being determined. At first, a statement from Hillel indicated that the alleged intruder was a student. But in a later statement posted on the Hillel’s Instagram account, that description was reworded to “an unknown member of the campus community.”
The person in question had been behaving erratically before entering the building and was subsequently transported for “further evaluation,” Penn’s Division of Public Safety wrote in a statement to campus police, the university newspaper reported.
The Hillel building already has security in place during the hours that it is open. Hillel has asked the university to immediately begin providing full-time security in front of the building.
Starting on Friday, the Hillel is organizing a “Shabbat Together” demonstration “celebrating Jewish pride, unity and togetherness” in response to the Palestinian festival.
University president Elizabeth Magill wrote in a letter to Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, on Wednesday that she would not intervene in the conference, citing the university’s “commitment to open expression and academic freedom,” which she wrote “are central to our educational mission.” But she wrote that the university was working with the Hillel to “provide support” ahead of the literature festival and had increased security for on-campus Jewish groups during the High Holidays, which began on Sept. 15 and conclude at the end of Yom Kippur on Monday night.
“Especially at this moment where we are all witnessing a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents, including on college campuses, I am personally committed more than ever to addressing antisemitism in all forms,” she wrote.
Sydney Freedman, a senior and an active member of the Orthodox community, found the lobby in a chaotic state when she arrived late to services, she told the student newspaper.
“This morning when I went to pray with my community like I do every day, I found that the building was vandalized, and someone had come in and started yelling really violent and aggressive statements against my people,” Freedman told the Daily Pennsylvanian. “I felt so guilty about feeling scared and then something like this happens and it’s just really telling.”
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The post Penn Hillel vandalized by person ‘experiencing a crisis,’ say police appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.