A look inside the 2023 Boom Festival in Portugal. Photo: YouTube screenshot

A Jewish artist revealed to Israel’s Kan news on Monday plans by far-left activists to attack and poison thousands of Israelis attending this year’s music and intercultural Boom Festival set to take place from July 17-24 in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal.

A woman from Portugal using the pseudonym Sarah said she was added to a WhatsApp group chat titled “Left wing argument” where the plans were discussed. She was included in the chat because of her work as an artist, but the group did not know that she was Jewish, she believes. Sarah shared with Kan screenshots of messages sent in the group chat that included discussions about torching the tents of Israelis attending the Boom Festival and spiking drugs at the biennial event.

“What started off was just silly ideas then started to become plans. And as you can see, it’s truly sinister,” she told Kan. “[There were] plans to defecate on Israelis tents, urinate in their food, set their tents on fire, put bad substances inside other substances that they may take, plans to upend them to make them feel uncomfortable. Plans to attack.”

“Their idea was that they needed to infiltrate the Boom Festival because a lot of Israelis go there after doing their service in the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” Sarah added. “And they felt that it was unfair that [Israelis] should be included in the Boom [festival].”

One member of the group chat wrote: “They are all pretty much IOF [Israel Occupation Forces] veterans, boys and girls. I was thinking of giving them a taste of their own medicine. Wake them up and let them know that they are getting a humanitarian warning to leave their tents, make sure they are at a safe(ish) distance away, and then torch their tent. I’d let them know that I am the most moral arsonist in the world and then give them the strychnine drop to cheer them up.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, strychnine is a highly toxic, crystalline alkaloid that if ingested, can lead to muscle spasms, seizures, and respiratory failure possibly leading to death and brain death within 15 to 30 minutes.

The same group chat member who talked about wanting to give Israelis the poisonous alkaloid also wrote: “Oh c’mon strychnine in their acid is not dismemberment of babies … they are all former or current IOF after all … what’s a little strychnine to people who have torn babies to shreds while wearing their mother’s stolen underwear?”

Another message in the group chat talked about support for the cultural boycott of Israelis, calling it “an excellent tactic of psychological warfare” and that “the entire world needs to adopt this tactic wherever Israelis are found … especially in the ‘culture’ sphere.”

Sarah said members of the group chat also had discussions in group phone calls about attacking Israelis at the Boom Festival and she listened in on those calls. She told Kan she was “absolutely appalled” by what she read and heard as part of the WhatsApp group chat.

“First of all, our nature party scene has always been very inclusive. We become one when we are on the dance floor,” she noted. “So, reading these vile, racist, actually criminal plans to hurt Israeli people, especially after what happened on 10/7 [Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel], was really appalling to me. It’s victim-blaming.”

Sarah said she told festival organizers about the plot to target Israelis at the event, but that “nothing has been done about it.”

“Hence, I scrambled to try and warn the 4,000 Israelis that I know are coming to be on that dance floor. They need to be careful. There is a plan to hurt them,” she said. Sarah added that Boom festival organizers told her they would speak to Portuguese authorities about her concerns. She said she also spoke to police in Portugal but claimed they “just did not take me seriously at all.”

“After what we’ve seen in Washington and Boulder and in France, it’s imperative that this is taken seriously,” she stated.

Sarah recently moved out of Portugal because of “institutionalized antisemitism,” she told Kan, which included being spat on when she wore in public a Star of David and tags calling for the return of the hostages abducted by Hamas-led terrorists from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The post Jewish Artist Exposes Plot to Poison, Attack Israelis at Boom Music Festival in Portugal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Tens of thousands of French people march in Paris to protest against antisemitism. Photo: Screenshot

Nearly a year after the brutal gang rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl, the trial of three French boys accused in the case began Wednesday — a crime that deeply shook the local Jewish community amid a surge in antisemitism and drew international outrage.

As France continues to grapple with a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes, a regional juvenile court in Nanterre, a suburb of western Paris, initiated a closed-door trial scheduled to run until Friday for the three assailants, all aged 13 to 14, accused in the attack.

Two of the three suspects are facing charges of group rape, physical violence, and death threats aggravated by antisemitic hatred. The third, the girl’s ex-boyfriend, is accused of threatening her and orchestrating the attack, also motivated by racist prejudice.

If convicted, the alleged rapists could face several years of incarceration in a juvenile facility.

However, because the girl’s ex-boyfriend was under 13 at the time of the attack, he will not face prison but will instead receive “educative measures” if found guilty.

According to police reports from the time, two French boys cornered the girl on June 15, 2024, inside an empty building in Courbevoie, a northwestern suburb of Paris, questioned her about her Jewish identity, and then physically assaulted and raped her.

The assailants also allegedly called her a “dirty Jew” and uttered other antisemitic remarks during the brutal gang-rape.

Local reports indicate that part of the assault was recorded, and at least one assailant allegedly demanded 200 euros from the girl to withhold the footage, which was eventually circulated.

The ex-boyfriend sent footage of the assault to a boy the girl had gone out with that afternoon, with the message “Look at your chick,” according to law enforcement. After receiving such a message, the boy informed the girl’s family, who found her an hour after the attack.

The brutal crime sparked outrage throughout France and among the Jewish community, unfolding against the backdrop of a disturbing surge in antisemitism that has gripped the country since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

At the time, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the “scourge of antisemitism” and called on schools to hold discussions on racism and hatred of Jews.

Antisemitism in France continued to surge to alarming levels across the country last year, with 1,570 incidents recorded, according to a report by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) – the main representative body of French Jews.

The total number of antisemitic outrages in 2024 was a slight dip from 2023’s record total of 1,676, but it marked a striking increase from the 436 antisemitic acts recorded in 2022.

In late May and early June, antisemitic acts rose by more than 140 percent, far surpassing the weekly average of slightly more than 30 incidents.

The report also found that 65.2 percent of antisemitic acts last year targeted individuals, with more than 10 percent of these offenses involving physical violence.

The post French Teens Face Trial for Antisemitic Rape of 12-Year-Old Girl as Anti-Jewish Hate Crimes Rise first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks with Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger inside her offices at the State Capitol Building on Jan. 8, 2025. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday sent a letter to the state legislature’s Speaker of the House Steve Montenegro to explain her decision to veto House Bill 2867, legislation which would have empowered parents to file lawsuits against their children’s K-12 public school teachers over allegations of presenting antisemitic ideas in class.

Hobbs, a Democrat, acknowledged that “antisemitism is a scourge on our society and a deeply troubling issue in our country,” adding that she continued to “proudly stand with Arizona’s Jewish community against acts of hate, violence, and harassment, and remain[s] committed to fighting antisemitism in all its forms.”

After noting her administration’s efforts to counter hate through expanding Holocaust education, Hobbs stated that “unfortunately, this bill is not about antisemitism; it’s about attacking our teachers. It puts an unacceptable level of personal liability in place for our public school, community college, and university educators and staff, opening them up to threats of personally costly lawsuits. Additionally, it sets a dangerous precedent that unfairly targets public school teachers while shielding private school staff.”

The governor cited organizations which had opposed the bill, including the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona, the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, and the Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project. A letter from the groups co-signed by others urged Hobbs “to veto HB 2867. This bill weaponizes legitimate concerns about antisemitism to attack public education. If signed into law, it will push well-meaning educators out of the classroom while doing nothing to protect Jewish students.”

Hobbs wrote that “I believe this bill would undermine public education at all levels. Students and parents already have avenues through the State Board of Education to report allegations of unprofessional conduct, including antisemitism and all other forms of hate they may encounter in the classroom. I am confident that by using those tools, we can fulfill our moral and legal responsibility to eradicate hate and discrimination in our public school system.”

The bill had passed the Arizona House with a vote count of 33-20 which included some Democrats crossing the aisle.

“HB 2867 aims to ensure that pernicious form of hatred, antisemitism, and its often-violent outcomes, have no place being actively taught in our classrooms or in publicly funded institutions of higher learning,” the legislation’s sponsor, Rep. Michael Way, wrote in a letter to Hobbs. “It is not true that there are no instances of teachers in Arizona schools teaching antisemitism.”

Way responded to the veto on X.

“In her most disgraceful veto yet, Governor Hobbs struck down a bipartisan bill to stop antisemitism in Arizona schools,” Way wrote. “I am deeply disappointed by her decision — paying lip service to opposing antisemitism while backing away from a law with real teeth.”

Way wrote that rather than “standing with Jewish students and faculty,” Hobbs chose to side with “those who promote hate and hostility on campus. This bill was aimed at prohibiting the teaching of egregious and blatant antisemitic content. To suggest that it threatened the speech of most Arizona teachers is disingenuous at best. House Republicans acted to confront antisemitism — Hobbs’ veto protects it. I will continue to stand with the Jewish community in Arizona and in my district to ensure taxpayer dollars are never used to fund violent political indoctrination.”

Darrell Hill, policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, wrote that the bill would “chill speech on Israel and Jewish culture generally because teachers, administrators, and speakers will fear the possibility of lawsuits if a classroom discussion veers off course or a student expresses opinions that some may consider improper criticism of Israel.” He warned that “to limit liability and protect themselves, teachers will broadly avoid speaking about Israel and any discussion of current or past conflicts involving Israel.’”

On May 8, Hobbs signed HB 2880, a measure sponsored by Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson, who is Jewish. The law criminalized “establishing or occupying an encampment on a university or community college campus” with the intent of countering pro-Hamas campus protests.

Hernandez wrote on X following the bill’s adoption that “I am proud that AZ became the 1st state to take action to prevent this situation from unfolding here.”

She told The Algemeiner at the time that “I am especially proud that this was accomplished in a bipartisan manner. I want to thank Governor Hobbs and my colleagues from both parties who helped make this legislation a reality. HB 2880 is now the law of the land in Arizona, and I’m honored to have played a part in making it happen.”

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