RSS
Columbia U. student charged with hate crimes in reported attack on Israeli student
(New York Jewish Week) — A Columbia University student is facing hate crimes charges for attacking an Israeli student during a confrontation related to Hamas’ attack on Israel.
The student, Maxwell Friedman, who police said is a 19-year-old from Brooklyn, was charged with four counts for allegedly striking another student with a stick. The altercation happened after that student, who police said is 24, put up posters on campus about Israeli casualties and hostages.
Friedman was arraigned on Thursday, has pleaded not guilty on all charges and was granted supervised release ahead of the next hearing on Nov. 28. Her lawyer declined to comment to the New York Jewish Week on the case.
The incident, which took place on Wednesday night outside the main campus library, happened as student groups across the country have staged rallies and made statements backing Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel or blaming Israel for the bloodshed. As war between Hamas and Israel has continued, battles have raged online over university responses, and Jewish groups have pressed for a more forceful response to pro-Palestinian groups’ rhetoric. Some major Jewish donors have pulled funding from universities due to their perceived lackluster condemnation of the attack.
Columbia closed its campus to the public on Thursday ahead of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies.
The man who was allegedly attacked on Wednesday, whose name was not given, told the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office that he and others had printed flyers with information about the number of deaths in Israel, along with a photograph of a kidnapped Israeli family, and posted the flyers in designated news bulletin areas on campus.
The alleged victim said he saw Friedman take down and rip up several of the flyers. He said Friedman told him and others, “F— you. F— all of you prick crackers.”
She also said, “I disrespected you. What are you going to do about it?” according to a complaint filed with the district attorney’s office.
Friedman then shoved the complainant and struck him in the hands with what appeared to be a broomstick, slicing and fracturing his finger, the complaint said.
A friend of the alleged victim, who is also Israeli, told the campus newspaper, the Columbia Spectator, that the suspect approached the pro-Israel students while they were putting up the flyers and asked to join them, saying she was Jewish. She remained with the group that morning, but later in the day, the Israelis noticed her with a bandana over her face tearing down the posters.
When the pro-Israel group confronted her, she shouted at them, hit the man with the stick and attempted to punch him in the face, one of the Israeli students told the Spectator.
Friedman was charged with one count each of assault in the second degree as a hate crime; assault in the third degree as a hate crime; aggravated harassment in the second degree; and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.
“Our community woke this morning to the terrible news that an Israeli student was assaulted outside of Butler Library last night,” the school’s Hillel said in a statement after the attack. “To be clear: we condemn any violence against any student on campus, and we especially condemn the antisemitic targeting of Israelis or Jewish students at this time.”
Three deans from Columbia University said in a joint statement on Thursday, “We know that the atmosphere on campus is extremely charged and many are concerned for their personal safety.”
“Community members are observing and experiencing disturbing anti-semitic and islamophobic acts, including intimidation and outright violence — as was experienced on campus outside Butler Library late yesterday afternoon — with some students being targeted based on their religious identity or political speech,” the statement said. “It is paramount — in a moment where it is most difficult to be together across our differences — that we recommit ourselves to doing precisely that.”
—
The post Columbia U. student charged with hate crimes in reported attack on Israeli student appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville
i24 News – The United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.
France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.
French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.
This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.
However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.
The post Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack
A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
i24 News – The Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.
Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.
The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.
He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.
The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.
His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.
The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.
The post Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.
“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.
Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.
The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.
Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.
German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.
Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.
The post Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.