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North Carolina Lawmaker Faces Backlash From Local Jewish Leaders, Fellow Democrats Over Attacks on Israel, Zionists
Raleigh City Council member Mary Black. Photo: Screenshot
Last week, The Algemeiner reported that Mary Black, a member of the Raleigh City Council in North Carolina who recently filed for re-election, has come under fire for regularly attacking Israel and Zionists, despite her job having no apparent responsibilities concerning Middle Eastern affairs.
Since then, Black, 30, has come under increased scrutiny from the media, community members, and fellow Democrats. The North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus told The Algemeiner they have endorsed Mitchell Silver, a former New York City Parks Commissioner and Raleigh Chief Planner, who is running for the Raleigh City Council seat currently held by Black.
Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue, the largest congregation in Raleigh, publicly endorsed Silver this week in a widely read and shared social media post.
Over the weekend, a local progressive paper reported on some of the Jewish community’s concerns about Black. In addition, a group of more than 20 prominent Democrats wrote a letter asking the Wake County Democratic Party — which includes Raleigh — “not to endorse between Democrats in local elections in Raleigh this fall.” Multiple political insiders told The Algemeiner this is significant because there is widespread agreement that Black won her seat in 2022 in large part based on the endorsement of the Wake County Democratic Party.
Black has alienated many voters and members of the Jewish community by working closely with a pro-Hamas activist and spending much of her time in office attempting to have the Raleigh City Council pass a divisive, anti-Israel, one-sided Gaza ceasefire resolution. After several attempts, the resolution did not pass.
To get a better sense of how local Jewish Democrats are responding to Black’s intense and disproportionate focus on the world’s lone Jewish state and its supporters, The Algemeiner interviewed Conner Taylor, 2nd vice chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party Jewish Caucus; Linda Brinkley, president of the Wake County chapter of the caucus; and Lynn Schwartz, vice president of the Wake chapter caucus
The Jewish Caucus representatives were clear that while their statewide caucus has endorsed Silver in District A (the seat currently held by Black), the local Wake County chapter does not make or ask for specific endorsements when Democrats, such as Silver and Black, are running against one another.
Taylor explained that the Jewish community is concerned about much more than Black’s support for a ceasefire resolution. “For many of Raleigh’s Jews, I think the real turning point, that really galvanized the Jewish community, was her [Black’s] very close working relationship with Rania Masri.”
The Algemeiner was the first to report that in November, Masri spoke at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, declaring that Oct. 7 — when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel and perpetrated the biggest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust — “was a beautiful day.” Masri expressed pride and admiration for Hamas and their paragliders and went on to “demand the eradication of Zionism.” In addition, Masri posted a video on Facebook that called Hamas fighters “heroes.”
In March, Masri asked her Facebook followers to vote for Black for “Best Politician in Wake County.” In June, a smiling Masri attended Black’s campaign kickoff event.
Taylor explained the “betrayal” felt by the Jewish community observing Black and Masri’s close working relationship, seeing Black pose for photographs with Masri, speak on a panel with the pro-Hamas activist, speak at a fundraiser with Masri standing behind her, and speak at a local rally standing with the controversial figure.
“A very important piece of context here,” Taylor shared, “is that Mary Black, in District A, represents the heart of Raleigh’s Jewish community. Two large synagogues are there … Many, many Jewish Democrats who voted for Mary Black in 2022 then had to see their member of City Council — who was supposed to be representing all of her constituents, including her Jewish constituents — openly embracing a woman [Masri] who has said that the rape and murder of Jews is a beautiful thing.”
Rabbi Solomon has attempted many times to start a dialogue with Black. Solomon, a political progressive, recently wrote a widely shared social media post in which he denounced Black’s “incitement” and endorsed her opponent Silver in the upcoming election.
Solomon explained why he went from voting for Black in 2022 to supporting one of her opponents in 2024: “I speak to CM [Council Member] Mary Black *privately* beseeching her to stop speaking/posting about the Gaza War as her words are a source of incitement. After the Pittsburgh Synagogue terrorist attack and the October 7th massacre, District A Jews are living in fear. I explain we need her help, not her antagonism. I am careful not to call her an antisemite but her focus on this issue above all others as well as the tenor and content of her comments lean into antisemitic tropes. Her positions are not pro-Palestinian; they are pro-Hamas.”
The rabbi noted that Black has held many community meetings during Shabbat and on a Jewish holiday, when observant Jews are unable to attend, and devoted significant time and energy to Israel-related issues that are “not relevant” to the City Council’s business.
“CM [Council Member] Black holds numerous District A community discussions on the Jewish Sabbath and one session on Hanukkah during the exact time when it is customary to light candles,” Solomon wrote in his social media post. “I find a way to attend the meeting, racing out by leaving my wife and children behind in hopes that a respectful, face-to-face meeting will help her realize the seriousness of the issue. Nearly all attendees agree with my words and urge her to stop bringing Gaza War resolutions to the council … I speak publicly against Mary Black because she continues to post insidious one-sided statements and videos that are not relevant to the City Council and continues to threaten me and my community.”
As reported by The Algemeiner, Black has publicly used the antisemitic slur “zios,” a term that was originally deployed by far-right extremists and has more recently been used by activists on the progressive far left. In an apparent attempt to delegitimize Israel and its supporters, Black has used an asterisk when discussing Israel, by writing “Isr*ael,” and misspelled Zionist as “xionist.” On a local Jewish social media group, a Raleigh resident explained, “She’s throwing around Zionist like a curse word.”
When asked about Black’s use of the word “zios,” Taylor responded, “It’s bizarre that a Democratic elected official is using online slang that originated with the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Black has also been accused of trivializing the Holocaust, implying that Israel has treated the Palestinians like the Nazis treated the Jews and comparing politics in Raleigh to “Nazi Germany.”
Taylor told The Algemeiner, “As someone who lost many family members to the Holocaust, I don’t think anything happening in Raleigh approaches the Holocaust or is comparable to the Holocaust. I think that is an incredibly bizarre statement regardless of what she may have meant by it. I think many, many of her constituents, just generally speaking, have viewed these social media posts about all of this as unsettling, as bizarre, as unprofessional, and as unbecoming of an elected official.”
Others have also described Black’s social media posts to The Algemeiner as bizarre and unsettling.
Black, a self-described “intersectional environmentalist,” recently shared a post on Threads that celebrated the attempted assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump. She also posted that those who she calls “zionologists” have taught her that “the massacre of children is justified because Babies [sic] voted for Hamas” and has expressed concern that Palestinians have difficulty obtaining cilantro.
In 2022, Black was endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party.
The Algemeiner reached out to local and statewide party leaders for additional information and comment for this story. Kevyn Creech, chair of the Wake County Democratic Party; Anderson Clayton, chair of the state party; and Jonah Garson, first vice chair of the state party did not respond.
In addition to attacking Israel, Black has recently attacked the United States, writing, “IM [sic] AMERICAN! We do war crimes for breakfast.”
Taylor told The Algemeiner that Jews in Raleigh, as well as the broader population, are unhappy with the polarization that has taken hold of the City Council and its intense focus on foreign affairs far out of the purview of local lawmakers.
Raleigh City council members Mary Black, right, and Christina Jones. Photo: Screenshot
“Many, many people in the Jewish community in Raleigh, over the past year, have been dismayed with how divisive the City Council has become,” he said. “There have been members of the City Council that have become hyper focused on issues happening thousands of miles away that the City Council has no ability to impact, to the neglect of local issues — things like schools, things like housing, things like transportation. In general, the Jewish community is really searching for, and supportive of, Raleigh-focused candidates for City Council, like … Silver.”
Taylor explained the enthusiasm that the statewide Democratic Party Jewish Caucus has for the candidacy of Silver.
“He’s a Raleigh-focused candidate. He is not campaigning on solving issues in Yemen or Gaza or Tibet or Ukraine,” Taylor argued. “He is focused on Raleigh, North Carolina … He is really a phenomenal candidate. He helped draft Raleigh’s 2030 comprehensive plan.”
Taylor discussed what he described as Silver’s “really robust housing and zoning policy ideas” which, he said, focus on development while protecting “existing communities.” The Jewish caucus’ 2nd vice chair added that Silver’s experience as a former New York City Parks Commissioner and Raleigh Chief Planner would benefit the Raleigh City Council, again noting that he is discussing local concerns rather than Israel or Gaza.
In a recent social media post, Black suggested that opposition to her candidacy was based on racism, noting the Democratic Jewish Caucus’ efforts to oppose her re-election.
In response to the accusation, Taylor told The Algemeiner: “We have endorsed an African-American candidate [Silver]. So, I’m not really sure how anyone could have the impression that our decision not to endorse Mary Black was related to her being African American when we have endorsed an African American for this same seat.”
Black’s social media posts are filled with concerns about racism and white supremacy. Yet, she has also harshly criticized what she calls “black capitalism.” On Threads, Black shared an image which read, “CAPITALISM RUINS EVERYTHING AROUND ME,” followed by the anarchy symbol. She also stated on Threads, “Black capitalism is truly a plague on our people.”
North Carolina civil rights leaders, such as the late Floyd McKissick, took the opposite view, embracing and championing Black capitalism and entrepreneurship in the state.
On Aug. 8, Black was endorsed by a local Democratic Socialists of America chapter “to keep her seat as an anti-Zionist leader on the Raleigh City Council.”
Black has recently dismissed concerns that she is antisemitic as being “funny.” She took to Threads this week to share, “Reading what I’ve written on social media about this war on Gaza and all the responses last week about me being antisemitic when this is who I am is so funny to me.”
Peter Reitzes writes about issues related to antisemitism and Israel.
The post North Carolina Lawmaker Faces Backlash From Local Jewish Leaders, Fellow Democrats Over Attacks on Israel, Zionists first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
The Trump administration has imposed sweeping sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, citing the UN official’s lengthy record of singling out Israel for condemnation.
In a post on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions under a February executive order targeting those who “prompt International Criminal Court (ICC) action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives.” He accused Albanese of waging “political and economic warfare” against both nations and asserted that “such efforts will no longer be tolerated.”
“Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt [International Criminal Court] action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives,” Rubio announced on X/Twitter.
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,” declared the Trump administration’s top foreign affairs official. “We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.”
Rubio concluded: “The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”
The decision to impose sanctions on Albanese marks an escalation in the ongoing feud between the White House and the United Nations over Israel. The Trump administration has repeatedly accused the UN and Albanese of unfairly targeting Israel and mischaracterizing the Jewish state’s conduct in Gaza.
Albanese, an Italian lawyer and academic, has held the position of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories since 2022. The position authorizes her to monitor and report on alleged “human rights violations” by Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Last week, Albanese issued a scathing report accusing companies of helping Israel maintain a so-called “genocide economy.” She called on the companies to cut off economic ties with Israel and warned that they might be guilty of “complicity” in the so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
Critics of Albanese have long accused her of exhibiting an excessive anti-Israel bias, calling into question her fairness and neutrality.
Albanese has an extensive history of using her role at the UN to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize Hamas’ attacks on the Jewish state.
In the months following the Palestinian terrorist group’s atrocities across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Albanese accused the Jewish state of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people had been killed in the Gaza war as a result of Israeli actions.
The action comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington, where he has received a warm reception from the Trump administration. Netanyahu has been meeting with US officials to discuss next steps in the ongoing Gaza military operation.
Gideon Sa’ar, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Israel, commended the Rubio announcement with his own post on X/Twitter, exclaiming: “A clear message. Time for the UN to pay attention!”
The post US Clamps Sanctions on Israel-bashing UN Rights Monitor Albanese first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations
US President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
The Trump administration escalated its showdown against Harvard University on Wednesday, reporting the institution to its accreditor for alleged civil rights violations resulting from its weak response to reports of antisemitic bullying, discrimination, and harassment following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre across southern Israel.
The US Department of Education (DOE) announced the action on Wednesday. Citing Harvard’s admitted failure to treat antisemitism as seriously as it treated others forms of hatred in the past, the DOE called on the New England Commission of Higher Education to review and, potentially, revoke its accreditation — a designation which qualifies Harvard for federal funding and attests to the quality of the educational services its provides.
“Accrediting bodies play a significant role in preserving academic integrity and a campus culture conducive to truth seeking and learning,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “Part of that is ensuring students are safe on campus and abiding by federal laws that guarantee educational opportunities to all students. By allowing anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination to persist unchecked on its campus, Harvard University has failed in its obligation to students, educators, and American taxpayers.”
The DOE, McMahon added, “expects the New England Commission of Higher Education to enforce its policies and practices, and to keep the Department fully informed of its efforts to ensure that Harvard is in compliance with federal law and accreditor standards.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Harvard’s Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism has acknowledged that the university administration’s handling of campus antisemitism fell well below its obligations under both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its own nondiscrimination policies.
In a 300-plus-page report, the task force compiled a comprehensive record of antisemitic incidents on Harvard’s campus in recent years — from the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee’s endorsement of the Oct. 7 terrorist atrocities to an anti-Zionist faculty group’s sharing an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as murderers of people of color. The report identified Harvard’s past refusal to afford Jews the same protections against discrimination enjoyed by other minority groups as a key source of its problem.
Coming several weeks after President Donald Trump ordered the freeze of $2.26 billion in federal research grants and contracts for Harvard, the task force report found it was “clear” that antisemitism and anti-Israel bias have been fomented, practiced, and tolerated not only at Harvard but also within academia more widely.”
The university is now suing the federal government over the funding halt.
President Trump has spoken scathingly of Harvard, calling it, for example, an “Anti-Semitic, Far Left Institute … with students being accepted from all over the world that want to rip our Country apart” in an April post to his Truth Social platform.
In recent weeks, however, both Trump and McMahon had commended Harvard’s constructive response in negotiations over reforms the administration has asked it to implement as a precondition for restoring federal funds. The requested reforms include hiring more conservative faculty, shuttering diversity, equity, and inclusion [DEI] programs, and slashing the size of administrative offices tangential to the university’s central educational mission.
The administration has since changed its tone in the wake of a report by The Harvard Crimson that interim Harvard President Alan Garber has said “behind closed doors” that he has no intention of doing anything that would make Harvard more palatable to conservatives.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration’s Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism issued Harvard a formal “notice of violation” of civil rights law. Charging that Harvard willfully exposed Jewish students to a flood of racist and antisemitic abuse both in and outside of the classroom, it threatened to strip whatever remains of Harvard’s federal funding.
“Failure to institute adequate changes immediately will result in the loss of all federal financial resources and continue to affect Harvard’s relationship with the federal government,” wrote the federal officials comprising the multiagency Task Force. “Harvard may of course continue to operate free of federal privileges, and perhaps such an opportunity will spur a commitment to excellence that will help Harvard thrive once again.”
In Wednesday’s announcement, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Harvard’s conduct “forfeits the legitimacy that accreditation is designed to uphold.”
“HHS and Department of Education will actively hold Harvard accountable through sustained oversight until it restores public trust and ensures a campus free of discrimination,” he said.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Hardball: Trump Administration Reports Harvard to Accreditor Over Antisemitism Allegations first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks
IDF operating in southern Lebanon. Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Israeli forces uncovered and destroyed Hezbollah weapons caches in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as a new report indicated that despite ongoing U.S.-led efforts to secure a disarmament deal, the Iran-backed group is making repeated, largely concealed attempts to rebuild its military presence in the area.
Troops carried out several operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, destroying weapons depots, explosives and multibarrel launchers concealed in forested terrain, the IDF said, in violation of the November ceasefire, which requires Hezbollah to withdraw its forces 20 miles from the Israeli border.
A new report released this week by the Alma Research and Education Center found that Hezbollah is focused on rebuilding in three areas: operational deployment, weapons acquisition, and financial recovery.
“Hezbollah didn’t give up its resistance narrative and motivation,” Alma’s director, Lt. Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, told The Algemeiner.
“It wants to rebuild its capabilities and infrastructures, whether it’s the villages that will be used as human shields or the military infrastructure in South Lebanon and in Lebanon in general.”
According to Zehavi, Hezbollah is attempting to return Radwan fighters to positions south of the Litani River as part of a wider plan to restore its elite forces to operational readiness. The IDF on Monday killed Radwan commander Ali Abd al-Hassan Haidar in a targeted strike. The action came hours after US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in Beirut to discuss a long-term deal that would include an Israeli withdrawal and complete disarmament of Hezbollah.
Barrack described the Lebanese response to the proposal as positive. Later, he issued a blunt warning to Hezbollah in response to a vow by the terror group’s leader, Naim Qassem, not to lay down its arms. “If they mess with us anywhere in the world, they will have a serious problem with us,” Barrack said in an interview with Lebanese news network LBCI. “They don’t want that.”
Zehavi said it was premature to predict the outcome of the diplomatic efforts. She warned that the challenge of disarming Hezbollah remains enormous and emphasized that the Lebanese Armed Forces have not demonstrated the capability or willingness to confront the group.
“It’s too soon to be optimistic or pessimistic,” she said, noting that no firm commitments have emerged from the Beirut talks.
Hezbollah’s efforts to smuggle and manufacture weapons have been complicated by both Israeli strikes and the regional realignment over recent months. While Israeli strikes have disrupted many supply routes, according to Zehavi, Syrian authorities have intercepted far more Hezbollah-bound weapons than the Lebanese Army, which claims to have uncovered 500 arms caches but has provided no evidence.
The financial front marks the third aspect of Hezbollah’s rebuilding effort. Last week, the group halted cash payments to Shiite civilians whose homes were damaged in the war, citing liquidity problems. Zehavi attributed the shortfall to disruptions in Iran’s funding networks — an outcome of the 12-day war against the regime in Tehran — and said the constraints would likely hamper Hezbollah’s ability to compensate its base and sustain operations.
“I hope they will continue to have problems with the cash flow, that way it will be very difficult for them to recover,” she said.
The post IDF Strikes Hezbollah Sites in South Lebanon as Terror Group Pushes to Rebuild Amid US Disarmament Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.