RSS
American Singer Matthew Koma Raises Roughly $18K for Holocaust Survivors With Anti-Kanye West Shirt
One style of the “F—k Ye” shirt that Matthew Koma is selling. Photo: Screenshot
American musician Matthew Koma has helped raise roughly $18,000 to aid Holocaust survivors with the sale of shirts that directly respond to the decision of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, to sell shirts featuring a Nazi swastika.
Koma, who is Jewish and the husband of American singer and actress Hilary Duff, began selling the “F—k Ye” white t-shirts on Tuesday, and all proceeds are being donated to Blue Card, a nonprofit organization that provides direct financial assistance to needy Holocaust survivors living in America. The shirts feature the anti-Ye message on the front and sell for $20. They are sold two ways — with the profanity spelled out in full or with asterisks.
Masha Pearl, executive director of Blue Card, told TMZ that although final sale numbers have not been tallied yet, the charity’s website has already received around $18,000 in donations because of Koma’s help drawing awareness to the organization. Koma is also matching the donations being given to Blue Card, Pearl told TMZ. He added that because of all the publicity, more Holocaust survivors have also reached out to the charity for help, including with trauma assistance and emotional support.
“We are so grateful to Matthew Koma and Hilary Duff for quickly springing into action and realizing that this is not OK and that they have to do something, and utilizing fashion to get the word out there,” she said. “They learned about Blue Card on their own, reached out and had quickly created the t-shirts and had spread this on social media — both Matthew and Hillary … It’s a way for people to feel that they’re doing something positive and not just innocently standing by.”
There are about 40,000 Holocaust survivors living in the US, Pearl said. Among the survivors that Blue Card assists, three-quarters are over the age of 78, according to its website. Nearly 70 percent of the Holocaust survivors that the charity aids live alone, and many of them struggle to afford necessities such food and health care. More than half of them also live 200 percent below the federal poverty line, with an income of less than $24,980 annually.
Koma began selling the “F–K Ye” shirts after the rapper went on a rabid antisemitic rant on X – during which he called himself a Nazi and racist – and then proceeded to sell on Yeezy.com a white t-shirt emblazoned with a black swastika, a symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party that is also used by far-right extremists. The “Flashing Lights” singer also aired a commercial during Super Bowl LIX on Sunday night that drew attention to Yeezy.com and the shirt, which was being sold online until Tuesday morning, when Ye’s website was shut down.
Commenting on Ye’s recent antisemitic behavior, Pearl said: “I don’t want to attack him personally. When I denounced his actions, I don’t denounce him as a person. I can’t speak to his mental health. But I do see is someone who is exhibiting very hateful and very dangerous behavior that has serious ramifications.”
“I don’t even want to say this rap artist’s name because I think so much of what he does is for shock value and attention,” she added. “And this is such a dangerous rhetoric that is being spread, which has enormous ramifications. This is promoting Nazism and atrocities of millions of people being murdered, including children, and this is something that is completely unacceptable and should be denounced in every which shape and form.”
The post American Singer Matthew Koma Raises Roughly $18K for Holocaust Survivors With Anti-Kanye West Shirt first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.