A view of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Photo: Chip East via Reuters Connect

A US federal judge ruled on Tuesday that an antisemitism lawsuit accusing the powerful Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA) union can continue over the objections of the organization’s formidable legal counsel, which attempted to have the case dismissed by arguing that it is “self-serving” and “anti-democratic.”

On Wednesday, officials from the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which is representing the aggrieved parties, hailed the procedural victory in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York as a testament to the veracity of the allegations of which the ALAA is accused.

“We are enormously gratified with this ruling vindicating our clients’ federal labor law rights to oppose antisemitism in their union, including their right to sue over a virulently anti-Israel resolution proposed just weeks after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack,” Brandeis Center chairman and founder Kenneth Marcus said in a statement. “The Brandeis Center will defend Jewish and non-Jewish union members who stand up for themselves and against antisemitism and with all the lawful tools available to them.”

Brandeis Center senior counsel Rory Lancman added, “In standing up for what it is right, these courageous legal aid lawyers faced expulsion and a campaign of demonization that has taken an enormous toll on then, both professionally and personally. We look forward to proceeding with this case and fully vindicating their rights under federal labor law.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the union for New York public defenders allegedly degenerated into a “cornucopia of classic modern antisemitism” in the months following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. Just weeks after the massacre, the ALAA passed a virulently anti-Israel resolution which made only a passing reference to Hamas’s atrocities and launched a smear campaign against Jewish members who opposed it. Following that, the union facilitated the filing of “formal charges” against Jewish and Zionist members, attempting to expel them from its ranks.

Antisemitic conduct in the ALAA took other forms, the complaint alleged. Members commended Hamas’s violence, chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and denied that the terrorist group had murdered women and children. In one incident, someone allegedly asserted that Zionist beliefs would prevent Jewish attorneys from “zealously” defending Muslims, Palestinians, and Arabs and lead them to conspire against them and sabotage their cases.

“If they support Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, why would they not have a reason to collude with prosecutors and other adversaries to deprive our clients of justice in the courts,” ALAA member Marlen Bodden wrote in an “officewide” email on Nov. 16, 2023.

“It is a legitimate question,” Monica Dula responded.

A ranking official attempted to stop the conversation from descending into a pitch and catch of antisemitic tropes, but the idea that Jews would work against their clients had allegedly been planted weeks earlier. On Oct. 13, 2023, Saara Ashid suggested that a Jewish attorney would not “stand up for Black and Brown folk in the same way,” according to the lawsuit. She added, “I’m starting to worry about all of your clients.”

By Nov. 17, ALAA was scheduled to vote on a resolution that the complaint describes as a “1,147-word diatribe against the existence of the Jewish state, replete with deceitful blood libels designed to arouse the most ancient antisemitic hatreds.” Resolved to stop it from taking place, several Jewish members, accusing the union of breach of contract and fostering a professional culture that would discourage Jews from seeking legal counsel from ALAA affiliated attorneys, sought and were granted a temporary restraining order which delayed the proceeding.

Angered by the ruling, their colleagues allegedly sought to expel them from the union entirely, with one member accusing them “of snitching behavior.” A volley of similar comments were launched in an email thread over the next several days, the lawsuit notes, with Emmanuel Garcia writing “if you are a snitch please do us a favor and kill yourself” and David Tobias commenting “careful, snitches are in this thread, they might snitch on you and air strike your home with your family in it.”

ALAA then moved to file charges against its Jewish members, accusing them of attempting to “interrupt a democratic process on an internal union matter” and violating the union’s “core” mission. The anti-Israel resolution has since been passed, and a trial of the members is forthcoming.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post US Federal Judge Allows Antisemitism Lawsuit to Proceed Against Powerful Lawyers Union first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Smoke rises while Syrian security forces sit in the back of a truck as Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday following two days of clashes, in Sweida, Syria July 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday outlined Israel’s two primary strategic goals in Syria as ensuring southern Syria is demilitarized and protecting the Druze religious minority in the same area.

“We have set forth a clear policy: demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area. That’s rule number one. Rule number two is protecting the brothers of our brothers, the Druze at the Druze Mountain,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“Both those rules were broken by the regime in Damascus,” the Israeli premier continued. “The [Syrian] regime sent troops south of Damascus, into the region that has to be demilitarized, and began slaughtering the Druze. That we could not accept in any way, and I therefore directed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces to take action — and take powerful action. The Air Force attacked both the gangs of murderers and the armored vehicles. I added another target, to also attack the Ministry of Defense in Damascus.”

Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, damaging the defense ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze communities in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

The strikes came after days of heavy fighting broke out in the predominately Druze city of Sweida, where local Druze fighters clashed with regime forces amid growing tensions and reports of atrocities against civilians.

Clashes between Druze and the Bedouins, a collection of Sunni Muslim farmers who have long-standing frictions with the Druze, earlier this week prompted the Islamist-led Syrian government to send troops to Sweida to quell the fighting, but the violence then escalated.

The Israeli strikes followed appeals from Druze leaders who accused the regime of waging “a war of extermination.”

Druze are followers of a religion that is an offshoot of Islam and spread between Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

Describing Syria’s new rulers as barely disguised jihadists, Israel has consistently vowed to prevent them from deploying forces in southern Syria, which borders northeastern Israel, and pledged to protect the region’s Druze community — motivated in part by appeals from Israel’s own Druze minority.

“We will not allow Syrian army forces to enter the region south of Damascus, and will not allow any harm to the Druze at the Druze Mountain,” Netanyahu said on Thursday.

PM Netanyahu:
“I would like to brief you on what we have done in Syria, and what we are going to do in Syria.
We have set forth a clear policy: demilitarization of the region to south of Damascus, from the Golan Heights and to the Druze Mountain area. https://t.co/PmvHEprmfC pic.twitter.com/36CEpSxIer

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 17, 2025

His statement came after Syrian government officials and Druze leaders announced a renewed ceasefire on Wednesday — a development for which the Israeli premier took credit.

“As a result of that powerful action [the Israeli strikes], a ceasefire came into force, and the Syrian forces retreated back to Damascus. That is important,” Netanyahu said. “This is a ceasefire that was reached through strength. Not by making requests, not by begging — through strength.”

Netanyahu’s statement came after Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa accused Israel of fueling instability in his country.

In a televised speech on Thursday, Sharaa condemned what he described as “Israeli interference disguised as protection for the Druze community” — just hours after the ceasefire took effect and regime forces began withdrawing from the southern province.

“The Israeli entity is trying to turn our land into a theater of chaos,” the Syrian leader said. “Since the regime fell, Israel has sought to dismantle Syria.”

Sharaa said Israel’s airstrikes had only escalated tensions, accusing the Jewish state of targeting both civilian and government infrastructure in an effort to sabotage Syria’s new government and its attempts to restore order.

“Syria is not a testing ground for foreign conspiracies,” Sharaa added. “We, the people of Syria, know who is trying to drag us into war and divide us.”

“They want to ignite a conflict on our soil to split our homeland and spread destruction,” he continued.

In his Thursday speech, Sharaa spoke directly to the Druze community, emphasizing their integral role in the country and affirming the government’s commitment to safeguarding their rights and unity.

“You are an inseparable part of our nation. Syria will never be a place for division or internal strife,” Sharaa said. “Protecting your rights and freedoms is a top priority. We reject any effort to lure you into siding with foreign interests.”

The US-brokered ceasefire announced on Wednesday following a previous attempt that had collapsed, amid mounting international pressure to resolve the conflict.

The newly brokered ceasefire paves the way for Sweida’s full integration into the government, requiring regime forces to withdraw from the southern region and transferring security responsibilities to local Druze fighters.

Sharaa became Syria’s transitional president after leading a rebel campaign that ousted long-time leader Bashar al-Assad, whose brutal and authoritarian Iran-backed rule had strained ties with the Arab world during the nearly 14-year Syrian war.

The collapse of Assad’s regime was the result of an offensive spearheaded by Sharaa’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al Qaeda affiliate.

Despite reservations about the nascent Syrian regime, Israeli officials have expressed interest in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversary Syria if certain conditions are met.

The US under President Donald Trump has lifted sanctions on the Syrian government and pushed for the new regime to normalize relations with Israel. US Special Envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack recently called for a non-aggression pact between the long-time Middle Eastern foes, saying that he believes peace between Israel and Syria is possible.

The post Netanyahu Defines Israel’s Policy in Syria as Demilitarization, Druze Protection first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Police pictured at an Anderlecht supporters village at the Atomium, before the final of the ‘Croky Cup’ Belgian soccer cup, between Club Brugge and RSC Anderlecht, May 4, 2025. Photo: BELGA/HATIM KAGHAT via Reuters Connect

Dozens of European Jewish leaders are calling on the European Union to take action against Belgium over recent police raids on the homes of several trained circumcisers known as mohels — a move that has drawn sharp criticism and intensified fears over growing restrictions on religious practices.

On Wednesday, 60 rabbis and Jewish community leaders, led by the European Jewish Association (EJA), urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to call on the Belgian government to address the mounting concerns of Jewish communities regarding the recent raids.

In a formal letter, they argued that the Belgian police’s actions “represent a breach of an EU fundamental right, that of freedom of religion” and warned that this “echoes one of the darkest chapters in European history.”

“This alarming action directly targets Brit Milah — a sacred commandment that has been safely practiced by the Jewish people for thousands of years across the world,” the EJA wrote in a post on X.

“Out of deep concern for the preservation of religious rights and the protection of Jewish communities in Europe, the European Jewish Association has launched an urgent and coordinated campaign to defend Brit Milah,” the statement read.

On May 14, Antwerp police raided the homes of three mohels, confiscated religious instruments, and demanded a registry of circumcised infants. This alarming action directly targets Brit Milah — a sacred commandment that has been safely practiced by the Jewish people for thousands… pic.twitter.com/N2WqVG3ysd

— EJA – EIPA (@EJAssociation) July 16, 2025

In May, Belgian authorities raided the homes of several mohels in Antwerp, a northern Belgian city, seizing their circumcision tools after a local anti-Zionist Jewish rabbi filed a complaint.

A mohel is a trained practitioner who performs the ritual circumcision in Jewish tradition known as a bris.

Among the homes raided by the Belgian police was that of Rabbi Aharon Eckstein, a highly experienced mohel and a prominent leader within the Antwerp Jewish community.

According to a police report, the searches were ordered by a judge following a complaint filed in 2023 by Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman — an anti-Zionist activist previously accused of Holocaust denial — against Eckstein and other mohels within the Jewish community.

In his complaint, Friedman accused six mohels of endangering infants by performing the metzitzah b’peh ritual, in which the mohel uses his mouth to suction blood from the circumcision area.

However, Eckstein and other rabbis, along with parents of children circumcised by them, have denied such accusations, insisting that they do not perform this practice.

In Antwerp, Friedman is known for publicly criticizing several customs that are important to ultra-Orthodox Jews, who represent the majority of the city’s 18,000 Jewish residents.

“Circumcision is much more than a key tenet of Judaism,” the letter read. “It is what defines the Jewish male, a religious commandment.”

“It represents a core pillar of our faith and a practice carried out over millennia without incidents by meticulous and highly-trained mohalim,” it continued.

Along with their formal letter, the EJA included an open letter from 19 doctors across Europe affirming that “the benefits of male circumcision greatly outweigh the potential negatives, over the lifetime of a male.”

“In our shared experience, those performing the circumcision — known as Mohalim within the Jewish communities — have studied extensively, are proficient in anatomy and hold the required medical experience,” the letter said.

“They are, with their inter-generational experience transmitted for millenia, more than capable of carrying out the procedure,” it added.

Despite several attempts to ban the practice across Europe, ritual circumcision remains legal in all European countries, though many, including Belgium, limit the practice to licensed surgeons and often perform it in a synagogue.

The post European Jewish Leaders Demand EU Action After Belgian Police Raid Mohels’ Homes, Raising Religious Freedom Concerns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.