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German Domestic Intelligence Agency Designates BDS a ‘Suspected Extremist Case’

Anti-Israel demonstration supporting the BDS movement, Paris France, June 8, 2024. Photo: Claire Serie / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency has classified the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as a “suspected extremist case,” according to German media.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) on Tuesday issued a new report stating that after the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, groups linked to the BDS movement “frequently took part in anti-Israel gatherings” and called for “an end to the state existence of Israel,” the German news site Watson reported.

The BfV report also cited BDS’s links to “secular Palestinian extremism” and noted the movement is not a homogeneous association, party, or organization. The agency’s designation allows the German government to more closely monitor BDS activities, as they may be in support of an extremist movement.

BDS seeks to isolate Israel from the international community as a step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination. Prominent leaders of the movement have frequently declared their intention to abolish the Jewish state.

“All forms of antisemitism must be fought equally consistently,” said Volker Beck, president of the German-Israeli Society, according to the German Jewish weekly newspaper The Jüdische Allgemeine. “The trivialization of or even sympathy by some cultural institutions with BDS must finally stop! We need a debate here.”

The BfV report is not the first time the German government has acted against BDS. In 2019, Germany’s parliament voted to condemn BDS as antisemitic. Israel’s then-ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff, praised the move on X / Twitter, writing, “We welcome this initiative by its sponsors. It has broader European significance given that BDS makes no attempt to build coexistence and peace between Israel and its neighbors.”

The new report was issued by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who since Oct. 7 has challenged Muslim associations in Germany to condemn antisemitism without reservation and expressed support for deporting Hamas supporters from the country. Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitic incidents since Hamas’ invasion of Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

Germany is not the only country to act against BDS. Spain, Canada, and the Netherlands are among the other countries that have passed anti-BDS legislation. In the US, 38 states have adopted laws, executive, orders, or resolutions designed to discourage boycotts against Israel, according to Jewish Virtual Library.

In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities, proponents of BDS have continued to call for a complete boycott of Israel and repeatedly referred to Israel’s defensive war in Gaza as a “genocide” while accusing the Israeli military of war crimes. According to the Anti-Defamation League, BDS “demonizes the Jewish state” and openly calls for policies that “if implemented, would result in the eradication of the world’s only Jewish state.”

The post German Domestic Intelligence Agency Designates BDS a ‘Suspected Extremist Case’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations

Fans of Argentinian soccer club All Boys marched through the streets before their match against Atlanta soccer club, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Photo: Screenshot

Argentinian authorities and soccer officials have launched investigations following antisemitic incidents by Club Atlético All Boys fans during Sunday’s local match against Atlanta.

Atlanta, a soccer team based in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, has deep historical ties to Argentina’s Jewish community, which has long been a significant presence in the area.

This latest antisemitic incident took place outside the stadium before the game had even started.

All Boys fans were seen waving Palestinian and Iranian flags, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag, and handing out flyers bearing messages like “Free Palestine” and “Israel and Atlanta are the same crap.”

Then, during the match — which ended in a 0-0 draw — a drone carrying a Palestinian flag flew over the stadium, while some fans reportedly chanted anti-Israel slogans.

Local police confirmed they have issued citations to individuals accused of inciting public disorder and related offenses.

On Monday, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) condemned the incidents as “abhorrent” and confirmed the organization has opened a formal inquiry into the events.

“This is not folklore. This is discrimination,” the statement reads.

Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also announced that a criminal complaint has been filed, citing “acts of violence, expressions of racial and religious hatred, and public intimidation.”

In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, condemned the incidents and called on both local authorities and the soccer officials to “take firm action against these acts of hatred.”

“We urge the authorities to take all necessary actions and apply the full force of the law,” the statement reads. “Violence and discrimination must have no place in our society.”

Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Argentina has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes.

According to a recent report by DAIA, Argentina experienced a 15 percent increase in antisemitic activity last year, with 687 anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded — up from 598 incidents in 2023 — marking a significant rise nationwide.

The study indicates that 66 percent of the antisemitic incidents originated in the digital realm, with a significant rise in Nazi symbols and conspiracy theories, but there was also a 34 percent increase in reported physical assaults, with such hate crimes rising in schools and neighborhoods.

The post Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says

A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. Photo: File.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.” Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.

“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that,” Parnell told a news briefing.

U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran’s program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday’s briefing.

Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine.

“All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that Iran’s — those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said.

Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program have been.

Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.

But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.

A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged.

According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.

“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.

The post Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities

Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.

The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.

Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.

Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.

With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.

According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.

The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.

“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.

Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.

Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.

The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.

Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.

The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.

The post Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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