RSS
‘They Can Never Defeat Us’: Jewish Students Commemorate Oct. 7 Victims at George Washington University
George Washington University senior and Chabad GW president Sabrina Soffer delivering a speech at “Remember, Resolve, Rededicate,” a commemoration of the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre, on Oct. 5, 2024. Photo: GW Chabad
Jewish students at George Washington University in Washington, DC came together on Saturday to commemorate the lives of the kidnapped and deceased ahead of the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, a tragedy which claimed more Jewish lives in one day than any since the Holocaust.
Organized by Chabad GW, the event — titled “Remember, Resolve, Rededicate” — was held at Kogan Plaza, a section of campus that has seen both memorials to the victims of Hamas’s barbarism and celebrations of their afflictions led by pro-Hamas activists. On Saturday, however, a generation of Jewish students whose lives and conceptions of self have been upended by the events of the past year claimed the space as exclusively theirs, transforming it into a realm of healing and perseverance.
Speaking to The Algemeiner on Monday, several students who attended the gather remarked on the swiftness of the passage of time and why, one year removed from Oct. 7, it still feels like only the day after.
“It still feels like Oct. 8, because we’re still missing our loves ones,” GW Chabad president Sabrina Soffer said during an interview on Monday. “Israel is such a small country, and there, everyone is like family. We’re still missing over 100 people; we’ve lost so many, people are displaced from their homes — and the war is still ongoing and only escalating from here. I just hope that Israel will achieve victory. I want the war to end, but Israel must win.”
The presence at the vigil of those seemingly hostile to those gathered in support of Israel and the Jewish community also shrunk the distance between one year ago and now. At one point, a young woman wearing a keffiyeh roamed through the crowd, taking pictures of the students as they listened to speeches and comforted one another. She did not disclose what the pictures were for nor which media outlet she represented.
“It was an amazing visualization, the more I think about it,” freshman Nate Neutstadt told The Algemeiner. We’re here together as a community celebrating life, celebrating love, and on the other hand, there were people coming up to us trying to fuel the fire and spread hate.”
A native of San Diego, California, Neutstadt chose to attend GW — which he described as his “dream school” for its highly reputed school of international affairs — fully aware that every day on campus would see his Jewish identity scrutinized and maligned. Resisting any notion that Jewish identity can be driven underground, he accepted the challenge. The unknown woman was one of many obstacles against which he, as well as other first-year Jewish students, had steeled themselves long ago. Soon, she became an afterthought. No one photographed her in return.
“We were all just here in the moment, celebrating. And I think all of our mindsets at this point is that they’re going to do what they’re going to do and we’re going to be here celebrating life and love,” he added, explaining that he intends to fight hatred with Jewish pride. “There’s so much hate going around towards Jews just over our existing, and I think the best way to fight against it is to be a proud Jew, to live Jewish life in the face of hate. Because no matter what these antisemites try to do, chanting in the streets ‘intifada, intifada,’ they can never defeat us.”
Others, such as senior Ari Shapiro, have experienced an awakening of Jewish identity in the post-Oct 7. world. Throughout most of his life, Shapiro explained, Jewishness was an overlooked component of his identity, a detail of his biography which entitled him to a bar mitzvah but was attenuated by the comfort and banality of suburbia.
“I’m in a different boat than some of the others Jewish students you’ll talk to,” he said. “Before Oct. 7, 2023, I had never really considered what it meant to be Jewish. I never really felt an attachment to the identity or had even considered it to be a barrier between me and anyone else who wasn’t Jewish. That’s ironic, I know, given my name, which doesn’t get more Jewish than that. But seeing how Hamas butchered and slaughtered thousands of people, many of whom were part of the kibbutzim, which is usually the farther left group in Israel; and then seeing people on this campus demonstrate in support of their killers — that forced me to realize that no matter how much I made being Jewish as part of my identity, I would still share in the fate of others whose Judaism and Jewishness is the basis of how they are perceived by the world.”
For Natasha Halbfinger, who lived in Israel for four years during adolescence, Oct. 7 affirmed values in which she has always believed.
“We, as the Jewish people, will continue to be proud of our identities,” she proclaimed during a speech delivered on Saturday night. “We will not be Jews with trembling knees. We will continue to turn horror into beautiful celebrations of life — because Am Israel Chai.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘They Can Never Defeat Us’: Jewish Students Commemorate Oct. 7 Victims at George Washington University first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson
Illustrative. Vandals defaced the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia on June 22, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – A wave of antisemitic incidents across Melbourne is under urgent investigation by Victoria Police, after a synagogue was set alight, a Jewish-owned restaurant targeted by protesters, and a third attack saw multiple cars torched at a business in the city’s northeast.
The third incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at a business on Para Road in Greensborough. Offenders set fire to three vehicles and sprayed graffiti on both the cars and a nearby building wall. One car was destroyed, and two others sustained moderate damage.
“There were references of antisemitism in the graffiti,” Dunstan confirmed, adding that the business had previously been linked to pro-Palestinian activism.
While police say no direct link between the three incidents has been established yet, they are not ruling out the possibility of coordination.
The attacks began Friday night, when a man was seen pouring a flammable liquid on the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and setting it alight around 8 p.m., while around 20 people were inside for Shabbat services. Worshipers quickly evacuated through the back, and the fire was contained to the front of the building. No injuries were reported.
Police have released an image of a suspect believed to be in his 30s, of Caucasian appearance, with a beard and long hair.
Just hours after the synagogue arson, a protest of around 70 people moved through Swanston Street before a smaller group gathered outside Miznon, a popular Jewish-owned restaurant in the CBD, chanting offensive slogans. One man was arrested and later released on summons for hindering police.
In response to the series of attacks, federal agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) have joined the investigation.
“This is disgraceful behavior by a pack of cowards,” said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. “Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate. Any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism. There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is.”
The post Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump said he would discuss Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the White House on Monday.
“I would say it’s set back permanently,” Trump said as he traveled to New Jersey after an Independence Day celebration at the White House. “I would think they’d have to start at a different location. And if they did start, it would be a problem.”
Trump said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.
The U.S. and Israel say Iran was enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg (880 pounds) enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
The post Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.