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Arrest Made as Spree of Antisemitic Crimes Continues Across Australia
Illustrative: Southern Sydney Synagogue in the suburb of Allawah, Australia, was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti on Jan. 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
The recent wave of hate crimes targeting Jews in Australia has shown no sign of abating, with more incidents over the weekend as political leaders and law enforcement stepped up efforts to counter an alarming surge in anti-Jewish incidents.
The New South Wales (NSW) Police announced on Monday they had charged an unnamed 21-year-old man with stalking and intimidation intended to cause fear or physical harm after a woman reported an incident of alleged antisemitic abuse in Bondi on Saturday. Law enforcement also charged the unnamed man with an unrelated Jan. 15 incident of destroying or damaging property and breach of bail.
Separately, Jewish women said that three young men threw eggs at them from a car, also in Bondi over the weekend, in a crime that Detective Superintendent Darren Newman believed to be motivated by their appearance. Law enforcement later found an abandoned car with egg cartons and a gas can. Reports said that three men fled the scene of the crime.
On Saturday, the NSW police announced plans to double the officers assigned to Strike Force Pearl, a division created to counter the wave of antisemitic crimes. NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said that the “extra investigators under Strike Force Pearl means those who commit antisemitic acts will be caught and brought before the courts. I want to reassure the Jewish community that we will do everything we can to find the perpetrators of these hateful crimes.”
On Sunday, the NSW Jewish Board said that in three weeks they had seen 10 publicly reported antisemitic incidents which included vandalism and arson. The group said that number “doesn’t include the graffiti appearing in our streets on a daily basis or the abuse and harassment that goes unreported.”
Other regions of Australia also experienced antisemitic vandalism in recent days. Someone graffitied a house in Melbourne on Friday. Police say they believe the suspect also spat on a man passing by the scene. Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford said in a statement that “while, thankfully, this incident did not involve physical injuries, it is still a cowardly attack targeting Port Phillip’s Jewish community.” She added that Port Phillip “celebrates and values its diverse community. An attack on any group is an attack on our city’s long-standing value of inclusion for all.”
In Perth, a home, a “for sale” sign, and a traffic sign each received antisemitic vandalism. Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said that “the graffiti we have seen in parts of Perth overnight is absolutely vile” and that he stood “with Western Australia’s Jewish community and offer my full support to all those affected by these cowardly actions.”
Cook went on to express confidence in law enforcement finding those responsible: “We know that the police intelligence unit are on top of this — they have a number of leads that they are pursuing and they will stop at nothing until these thugs are apprehended.”
On Saturday night, individuals spay painted homes and multiple vehicles in Sydney suburbs. Also in Sydney, on Wednesday someone vandalized Mount Sinai College, a Jewish day school, and a shopping center. The black message read, “Jews are real terrorists.” The school is located near a child care center which someone graffitied with “F—k the Jews” and set on fire the previous week.
On Friday, police arrested a 37-year-old man in Kingsford for allegedly vandalizing a wall with “a number of drawings and writings, including a Nazi symbol and a swastika.”
NSW police say that they have charged 12 people so far through the investigations of Strike Force Pearl. These crimes include fires at two businesses in Bondi in October 2024, damage of 10 vehicles and buildings in Woollahra in November 2024, and property damage in Woollahra in December 2024.
NSW premier Chris Minns said on Saturday morning that he wanted to make clear that “whether it is malicious damage, vandalism, graffiti, or whether it is a potential mass casualty event, terrorism in our streets, we regard all of it as appalling and will do everything we possibly can to combat it.” He added, “I am of the strong belief that violent acts don’t begin with violent acts; they begin with hateful words at some point earlier in the process.”
Member of Parliament Allegra Spender announced plans to introduce a measure on Tuesday to criminalize the promotion of hate based on race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, nationality, ethnic origin, or political opinion. Spender said that “this law doesn’t constrain people’s opinions, but it does restrain people from promoting hatred because we’ve seen that promotion of hatred leads to real-world violence.”
Calling herself “a very big advocate for free speech,” Spender argued that “if you are trying to vilify groups to drive hatred, I think Australians want to see a line drawn on that. I think we need to have laws against extreme expressions of words that can really create an environment where hatred and violence can flourish.”
Executive Council of Australia Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim said the legislation “is not a radical departure from what we’ve seen elsewhere, for instance in Western Australia.” He said that “the provisions in Western Australia have been in place for more than a generation and they have been tested in front of juries, which have convicted and imposed stiff sentences. And they have broad public support.”
In a letter sent on Thursday, Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli wrote to Australian Jews that “we are following closely the alarming rise in antisemitism across Australia. On behalf of the government and citizens of Israel, we send you our love, support, and unwavering solidarity.”
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Terror Ties Conveniently Ignored in Lawsuit Accusing British Citizens of Committing ‘War Crimes’ in Gaza
Israeli military jeeps maneuver in Gaza, amid a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, Feb. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The Guardian and the BBC reported that 10 British citizens have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza. The report in question covers the period from October 2023 to May 2024, and was submitted by three parties: renowned British barrister Michael Mansfield, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and the British-based Public Interest Law Centre (PILC).
Michael Mansfield, nicknamed “Moneybags Mansfield” and dubbed a “Champagne socialist,” built his career on representing underdogs, earning a reputation as a people’s lawyer. That career also brought him substantial financial gain — an income reportedly around £300,000.
This striking contrast between the lawyer’s wealth and his radical rhetoric can raise some concerns regarding his own moral integrity and consistency. But it all pales once compared to the troubling background of the other co-filer of the report.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Its Ties to Terror
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), based in Gaza, is the second entity behind the complaint. According to extensive documentation by NGO Monitor, PCHR has longstanding ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — a terror organization designated as such by the EU, US, Canada, and Israel.
The PFLP’s long history includes suicide bombings, shootings, and assassinations. It also played a role in the brutal October 7 attack on Israeli civilians.
Despite all of it, the director of PCHR, has never distanced himself from the terror group. And why would he do it to his dear alma mater? Yes, you read it right. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights’s director was a member of PFLP. In a 2014 statement, years after assuming his leadership role, Sourani said:
I was in the ranks of the Popular Front, and there were comrades who taught us with their own hands. This organization has given us much more. We hope that the direction and the sense of belonging that were planted inside us will remain in our minds. We don’t apologize and don’t regret our past, we are proud that once we were members of this organization and we fought in its ranks. [emphasis added]
So, it comes as no surprise that PFLP members have attended events hosted by PCHR.
And it comes as even less of a surprise that neither The Guardian nor the BBC mentioned PCHR’s ties to terrorists.
British Military Perspective
We asked Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer and veteran of operations in Afghanistan, to comment on the complaint by Michael Mansfield and PCHR. This is what Colonel Kemp, who was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire and the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery, offered to HonestReporting:
This is a despicable political action intended to reinforce anti-Israel smears and to intimidate Jews in the UK. It is a deliberate falsehood to state that the IDF has been carrying out systematic war crimes. The reality is that Israel does all it can to avoid civilian deaths while fighting in Gaza.
I very much doubt that the allegations against these ten individuals are linked to any specific allegations. It is more likely they are using the names of 10 British citizens who are lawful members of the IDF in the general context of false allegations.
If so, there is no possibility of this action leading to convictions in British courts. These lawyers will know this, and their actions are therefore intended as political warfare against Israel. They also want to harass British Jews and discourage them from joining the IDF, which they are lawfully entitled to join under both British and Israeli law.
The British legal system should reject these shameful applications. Britain and Israel are allies, and Britain benefits enormously from Israeli military and intelligence contributions. If these perverse legal proceedings are entertained by the Metropolitan Police or Crown Prosecution Service, that will be an indictment of the UK itself—and a further blow against our Jewish community, which has been under sustained attack and discrimination by the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas mobs since October 7, 2023.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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The Palestinian Authority Continues to Cozy Up to China, Urges End to US Role in World Affairs
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is greeted by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang during a July 2017 visit to Beijing. Photo: Reuters/Mark Schiefelbein
The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to strategically align itself counter to American interests in the greater geopolitical arena.
Earlier this month, Mahmoud Abbas again rejected Taiwan’s independence as he “emphasized that the State of Palestine will continue to stand by its friend, the Peoples Republic of China, and to support the One China policy and the protection of China’s national interests” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 27, 2025].
As opposed to the Western countries that fund the PA, Abbas has consistently stood firmly with China’s dream of conquering Taiwan, as he said last year:
The Palestinian Presidency underlined the significance of preserving China’s territorial integrity, including the status of Taiwan … [and] voiced its firm support for China’s right to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, endorsing the reunification of the entire land of China, which includes Taiwan.
[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, Jan. 13, 2024]
In a letter in January 2023, Abbas Zaki, a senior official in the PA’s ruling Fatah party, also wrote:
I express the stable and well-rooted position of Fatah in its support for the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan, which we consider an integral part of the united Chinese lands.
[Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki, Facebook page, January 8, 2023]
On a greater level, the PA has frequently stressed the idea of a strategic partnership both between China and the PA and China and the Muslim world.
Abbas’ senior advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash says the PA wants to see the end of US world leadership, with the US being pushed aside for a “new multipolar world order” made up of “the Islamic world, Russia and China” to “realize justice.”
The official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida recently reported that Abbas also “praised the firm ties between the two states and the depth of the historical and continuous connection between Palestine and China, which has reached a level of strategic relations.”
This follows Al-Hayat‘s report in January 2025 following a meeting between Mahmoud Abbas and the Chinese envoy to the Middle East, when it wrote the following:
President Mahmoud Abbas … expressed his appreciation for China’s positions that support the Palestinian rights in the international forums — which expresses the depth of the historical ties between the two countries and the two friendly peoples. He also expressed his great appreciation for [Chinese] President Xi Jinping and his positions that are committed to tightening the friendly relations, which have strengthened thanks to strategic ties between Palestine and China.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 19, 2025]
In October 2024, the official PA news agency, WAFA, also reported about Abbas’ meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying the meeting “emphasized the significance of the strategic partnership between the state of Palestine and its friend, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)” [WAFA, official PA news agency, Oct. 23, 2024].
Similar statements have also been made by other senior PA officials, such as Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh, who said in November 2024:
China needs to continue to strengthen its strategic ties with the Arab states and move on to a stage in which it will take action to reshape the international system.
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 28, 2024]
The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), where a version of this article first appeared.
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Georgetown University Postpones Passover BDS Vote Following Outcry
In Washington, DC, on March 23, 2025, a group of Georgetown University students and community leaders protest. Photo: Andrew Thomas via Reuters Connect.
Georgetown University’s student government has rescheduled an anti-Israel boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) referendum that it initially scheduled to take place during the Passover holiday following outcry from Jewish students, who argued the original timing effectively disenfranchised them by depriving them of a chance to express opposition to the measure at the ballot box.
As previously reported, the Georgetown University Student Association’s (GUSA) senators voted via secret ballot for a resolution to hold the referendum — which will ask students to decide whether they “support … divesting from companies arming Israel and ending university partnerships with Israeli institutions” — on April 14-16. The move outraged Jewish students, as well as GUSA senators who deplored the body’s passing the measure by allegedly illicit means.
“This referendum, cloaked in the language of human rights, represents not only a troubling overstep into Georgetown’s academic and fiduciary independence but also a campaign rooted in the discriminatory logic of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement,” said a letter the university’s chapter of Students Supporting Israel (SSI) sent to university president Robert Groves. “The passage of this measure would not occur in isolation. It would embolden future efforts to marginalize Jewish and Israeli students, deepen campus polarization, and risk fueling the disturbing rise in antisemitism seen at other institutions. Universities that have permitted such one-sided campaigns are now facing not only fractured communities and repetitional harm but growing federal scrutiny — including potential impacts to public funding.”
GUSA said on Monday that it moved the referendum date, issuing a statement which acknowledged concerns raised by SSI, as well as Chabad Georgetown, Georgetown Israel Alliance, and the Jewish Student Association.
“We made this decision after hearing concerns about the placement of the election during a religious holiday,” the governing body said in a statement posted on Instagram. “Although the election has been rescheduled, formal campaigners may continue to campaign for the referendum until the end of the campaigning period. Individuals may continue to register as formal campaigners until the end of the campaigning period.”
The referendum must still be contested for other reasons, SSI told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.
“We commend the decision to move the vote past Passover but are still intent on combating the procedural irregularities surrounding the referendum,” the group said, referring to the fact that the resolution only passed because GUSA senators, the campus newspaper reported, “voted to break rules” which require referenda to be evaluated by the Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), a period of deliberation which establishes their merit, or lack thereof, for consideration by the senate.
Georgetown is one of 60 colleges and universities being investigated by the federal government due to being deemed by the Trump administration as soft on antisemitism and excessively “woke.” Such inquiries have led to the scorching of several billion dollars’ worth of federal contracts and grants awarded to America’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.
On Monday, the administration impounded more than $2 billion in federal funding previously awarded to Harvard University over the institution’s refusal to agree to a wishlist of reforms that Republican lawmakers have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists.
In March, it canceled $400 million in federal contracts and grants for Columbia University, a measure that secured the school’s acceding to a slew of demands the administration put forth as preconditions for restoring the money. Princeton University saw $210 million of its federal grants and funding suspended too, prompting its president, Christopher Eisgruber to say the institution is “committed to fighting antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.” Brown University’s federal funding is also reportedly at risk due to its alleged failing to mount a satisfactory response to the campus antisemitism crisis, as well as its alignment with the DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] movement.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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