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Jewish Graves Found in Gaza From WWI Fighting

Israeli soldiers operate at the Shajaiya district of Gaza city amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Yossi Zeliger

Soldiers in the IDF’s 188th Brigade were surprised to find Jewish gravestones during fighting in the Gaza Strip. According to reports in Hebrew media, the soldiers were operating in the central Gaza town of Al-Maazi when they noticed stars of David on some of the tombstones at a cemetery in the town.

The cemetery, it turned out, was one of the fallen British soldiers of World War I who fought in the land of Israel against the Ottoman Empire some 110 years ago. The photos of the gravesite holding an Israeli flag went viral on social media due to the irony of the situation. One of the soldiers there, Lt. Col. Oren, told Hebrew media “It was damaged a bit in the battles, but it can be restored. We noticed the stars of David on the tombstones and names like Goldreich. We returned after a few days to the place and said Kaddish on the graves after many years.” The kaddish prayer is one typically said by Jews to honor the dead.

According to the troops, there are seven Jewish tombstones in the cemetery that was found near a Hamas weapons cache. Oren added “We also found there, next to the cemetery, a cache for the production of many weapons. We did not check if there was an underground tunnel under the cemetery because we did not want to harm its sanctity. In other cemeteries, we located combat tunnels that Hamas had built underneath. We were amazed that we found such a pure place in this cursed area.”

The land of Israel was a central battleground during World War I, after which the British took reign of the land from the Ottomans who had controlled it for centuries prior. Due to their control of the land for three decades, there are today eight British military cemeteries spread across the country, many of those buried being British soldiers or policemen.

The post Jewish Graves Found in Gaza From WWI Fighting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Syrian Government Rejects Claims of Goods Ban from Israel, Iran, and Russia

Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, waits to welcome the senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

Damascus’s new authorities have denied circulating reports about a ban on goods imported from Iran, Russia, and Israel from entering the country.

Mazen Alloush, the public relations officer at the General Authority for Land and Maritime Crossings, told Enab Baladi, an independent Syrian media organization, that reports regarding the restriction of goods stem from pages impersonating the Syrian government.

This comes after an account on Telegram, under the name of the Syrian Land and Sea Ports Authority, claimed that the country’s Ministry of Finance had ruled the prohibition of goods originating from Iran, Israel, and Russia from entering Syrian territory, with authorities ordering their confiscation at all land and sea border crossings.

This fake account was also advertising several job openings at various border crossings, including Dara’a, Jdeidet Yabous, Kassab, and others.

However, the General Authority for Land and Maritime Crossings does not have any social media accounts, Alloush explained, adding that all decisions are issued exclusively by the official Syrian news agency (SANA).

The interim Damascus government established the Authority for Land and Maritime Crossings in late December 2024 after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Despite no official ban being in place so far, the Ministry of Economy is working on preparing “negative lists” to support local production and protect the agricultural calendar. 

Given that Syria has no formal ties with Russia, Iran, or Israel since the new administration took power after the fall of al-Assad’s regime in December, Damascus likely receives little to no imports from those countries.

Following the rebel takeover last year, the absence of official media has led to the widespread circulation of fake news.

This fake Telegram account also published a document, falsely claiming it was issued by Syrian authorities, that allegedly bans the entry of Israelis and Iranians through land, air, and maritime crossings.

Even though this document is false, Turkish Airlines announced last week a set of travel conditions for its resumption of flights to Syria, stating that these conditions, issued by Syrian authorities, allow citizens from all countries to travel, except for Iranians and Israelis.

After the collapse of al-Assad’s regime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces to deploy in the buffer zone between Israel and Syria to protect their border and prevent terrorist attacks. This marked the first time since the end of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 that Israeli forces have remained in the area for more than a few hours.

At the time, Netanyahu referred to the collapse of Syria’s old regime as a “historic” victory for Israeli strategy and security, calling it “a pivotal step toward regional stability and peace.”

The post New Syrian Government Rejects Claims of Goods Ban from Israel, Iran, and Russia first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Harvard University Settles Antisemitism Lawsuits, Promises to ‘Combat Antisemitism’

Demonstrators take part in an “Emergency Rally: Stand With Palestinians Under Siege in Gaza,” amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, Oct. 14, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Harvard University has settled two antisemitism lawsuits, which were merged by a federal judge in Nov. 2024, that blighted its reputation while feeding an impression that Ivy League universities have become bastions of anti-Jewish hatred and pro-terror ideologies.

As previously reported by the Algemeiner, Harvard was sued, separately, both by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law (The Brandeis Center) and Students Against Antisemitism (SAA) in 2024. The Brandeis Center alleged that the university’s neglecting to discipline a professor whose mistreatment of Israeli-Jewish students was confirmed by a third-party investigator violated civil rights protections mandated by federal law. SAA, citing similar legal infractions, alleged that the university failed to quell an explosion of antisemitic behavior on the campus, including harassment and hate speech.

Harvard initially fought the suits in court, attempting to have their allegations thrown out of court on the grounds that they “lacked standing” and a “legally cognizable claim” even as it proclaimed “the importance of the need to address antisemitism at the university,” according to court documents.

With the settlement, which comes one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump — who has vowed to tax the endowments of universities where antisemitism is rampant —Harvard avoids a lengthy legal fight that would have been interpreted by the Jewish community as a willful refusal to acknowledge the discrimination to which Jewish students are subjected.

“Today’s settlement reflects Harvard’s enduring commitment to ensuring our Jewish students, faculty, and staff are embraced, respected, and supported,” Harvard said in a press release. “We will continue to strengthen our policies, systems, and operations to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate and ensure all members of the Harvard community have the support they need to pursue their academic, research, and professional work and feel they belong on our campus and in our classrooms.”

Per the agreement, it will apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to its non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies (NDAB), recognize the centrality of Zionism to Jewish identity, and explicitly state that targeting and individual on the basis of their Zionism constitutes a violation of school rules.

According to the Harvard Crimson, one plaintiff, Shabbos Kestenbaum, has declined to be a party to the settlement agreement and chosen to pursue an independent legal remedy, as well as representation by a new attorney.

All other parities commended the outcome of the case as progress.

“We are heartened that Harvard has agreed to take numerous important steps necessary to creating a welcoming environment free from anti-Semitic hate, discrimination, and harassment,” Brandeis Center chairman Kenneth Marcus said in a statement announcing the settlement. “We thank those within Harvard, including administrators, faculty, students, and alumni, who have worked tirelessly to achieve this result. In turn, we look forward to working with Harvard on the important work in this agreement to ensure that the rights of all students are protected.”

SAA attorney Marc Kasowtiz told Reuters, “These measures are going to very, very protective of the interests and rights of Jewish students on the Harvard campus.”

Harvard University is not the first elite university to settle a claim brought by Jewish students.

In June, Columbia University settled a lawsuit in which it was accused of abdicating its obligation to foster a safe learning environment amid riotous pro-Hamas protests that were held at the school throughout the final weeks of the academic year. The resolution of the case included Columbia’s hiring “Safe Passage Liaisons,” who will monitor protests, and “walking escorts,” who will accompany students whose safety is threatened around the campus. Other details of the settlement included “accommodations” for students whose academic lives are disrupted by protests and new security policies for controlling access to school property.

In July, New York University (NYU) agreed to pay an undisclosed sum of money to settle a lawsuit brought by three students who sued the school for responding, allegedly, to antisemitic discrimination “with deliberate indifference.” Like Harvard University, NYU agreed to formally recognize Zionism as a component of Jewish identity.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Harvard University Settles Antisemitism Lawsuits, Promises to ‘Combat Antisemitism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Trump Executive Orders Reverse Sanctions on Israelis, Suspend Aid to Palestinians

Then-US President-elect Donald Trump makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, Jan. 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

In a series of executive orders signed during his first day back on the job, US President Donald Trump rescinded a Biden administration policy sanctioning Israelis living in the West Bank and put a hold on foreign aid for 90 days, a decision which will impact support for Palestinians.

Trump revoked former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14115, signed on Feb. 1, 2024, which imposed sanctions on “persons undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank.”

The executive order stated that Biden felt “the situation in the West Bank — in particular high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction — had reached intolerable levels and constituted a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region.”

Biden claimed that those sanctioned “undermine the foreign policy objectives of the United States, including the viability of a two-state solution and ensuring Israelis and Palestinians can attain equal measures of security, prosperity, and freedom. They also undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to lead to broader regional destabilization across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests.”

The executive order then said that the United States would seize the property of those sanctioned.

Two Americans — Issachar Manne and Levi Yitzchak Pilant, both of whom were sanctioned this past summer — sued the Biden administration earlier this month for their inclusion in the list of those sanctioned. Biden officials would later admit error in the targeting of Manne and Pilant.

Eugene Kontorovich, a legal consultant on the lawsuit and a professor at George Mason University Law School told the Washington Free Beacon that the Biden administration “has carried out this sanctions program with scant regard for the underlying facts and scant independent investigation, relying instead on the say-so of virulently anti-Israel groups in order to impose life-changing penalties on people.” On Monday, Kontorovich thanked Trump for rescinding the executive order.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised Trump’s decision.

“These sanctions were a severe and blatant foreign intervention in Israel’s internal affairs and an unjustified violation of democratic principles and the mutual respect that should guide relations between friendly nations,” Smotrich wrote. “Mr. President, your unwavering and uncompromising support for the State of Israel is a testament to your deep connection to the Jewish people and our historical right to our land.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir, the former Israeli national security minister, additionally celebrated the rescinding of Biden’s order, writing that he welcomed the “historic decision of incoming US President Donald Trump to lift the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration on the settlers of Judea and Samaria [also known as the West Bank]. This is a righting of an injustice of many years, in which distorted policies were pursued by the American administration and also by local elements who confused lovers with enemies.”

Trump also signed an order on Monday declaring a goal of “reevaluating and realigning foreign aid,” a move which will impact support for Palestinians.

The order stated that “the United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values. They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries.”

Trump’s decision will result in a 90-day suspension of all foreign aid in order to conduct an “assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy.”

The move puts a hold on a Biden administration decision from November which would provide $230 million to Palestinians. Amy Tohill-Stull, the West Bank and Gaza mission director at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said at the time that “our commitment to the Palestinian people remains steadfast” and that “this funding demonstrates our resolve to support sustainable development and provide essential services that enhance the quality of life for all Palestinians and further reduce the influence of Hamas.”

Newly confirmed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will lead efforts to determine which foreign aid qualifies as in alignment with the administration’s foreign policy objectives. At his confirmation hearing last week, he said that “every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?”

The post Trump Executive Orders Reverse Sanctions on Israelis, Suspend Aid to Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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