Uncategorized
Concert to benefit Bondi Beach victims canceled after Greek choir refuses to sing with Jews
(JTA) — A concert to raise money for the victims of the shooting attack on a Hanukkah party on Sydney’s Bondi Beach has been canceled after the Greek choir that was to take part voted not to sing with a Jewish choir.
A majority of members of the 50-member Australian Hellenic Choir “politically objected” to singing alongside the Sydney Jewish Choral Society. Others said they did not feel safe in a joint performance with Jews.
“I was not expecting this to happen at all as we’d performed with the Jewish choir without issue in 2022,” the Greek choir’s founder and president, James Tsolakis, told the Australian newspaper. He added, “The Jewish people are all into it, I’m into it, but the Greek choir was a bit anti doing it because of the political climate.”
The “Concert for Hope and Unity,” which had received government support, was to have featured “The Ballad of Mauthausen,” about a romance between Greek and Jewish prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp. The groups performed the piece together in 2022, but the reaction to the Gaza war has perceptions of Jews across Australia, including, Tsolakis said, within his community.
“There’s a bit of antisemitism in the Greek community; I didn’t realize the extent of it. Unfortunately, we have a lot of people in the community blaming the Jewish community for what’s happening in Israel, Palestine … that’s not correct,” Tsolakis said. “You want to hate [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu? Hate Netanyahu, but what have the Jewish people done to you? The whole antisemitism thing has got be wound back.”
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and resulting war in Gaza, Australian Jews have faced mass anti-Israel protests, exclusion from arts and other communities, and spasms of violence, including arson attacks on synagogues and the Bondi Beach massacre, which killed 15 people who were celebrating during a Hanukkah party on the beach in December.
Following the Bondi Beach massacre, and under pressure from Jewish leaders to respond more forcefully, the Australian government established a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to examine policies and practices that have contributed to anti-Jewish sentiment in the country.
The Jewish Choral Society has made an official complaint to the Royal Commission, according to a letter sent by its chair, Anne Spira, to its 30 members informing them about the concert’s cancellation. Spira told the Australian that the incident reflected a broad dynamic that many Australian Jews have experienced.
“The result is, like many other Jews in the arts since 7 October, 2023, we have been cancelled,” Spira said. “We have been de-platformed and it is deeply upsetting for us and for the broader Jewish community who have been the target of anti-Jewish racism in this country for 2½ years.”
Australia’s largest Jewish groups did not immediately comment on the cancellation, but the Australian Jewish Association, a center-right advocacy group, tweeted that it was “pretty disappointing.”
The Greek City Times, an Australian publication, called the choir’s vote “embarrassing.”
The Australian said in an editorial that the incident was an appropriate topic for the royal commission. “The vote to opt out of the event almost beggars belief,” the editorial said. “In light of antisemitic tensions that have reared their ugly head in Australia since October 7, 2023, those who didn’t want to be associated with a Jewish choir event have displayed an alarming lack of historical empathy and understanding.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Concert to benefit Bondi Beach victims canceled after Greek choir refuses to sing with Jews appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
UK Counterterrorism Police Investigate Arson at Jewish Memorial Wall
An Orthodox Jewish man walks by at a wall showing pictures of protesters killed during anti-government demonstrations in Iran, in Golders Green, London, Britain, March 7, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jack Taylor
Police said on Tuesday they were investigating suspected arson at a memorial wall in a part of north London that is home to a large Jewish community, amid a recent spate of such incidents in the British capital.
London’s Metropolitan Police said the investigation was being led by Counter Terrorism Policing, though it was not being treated as a terrorist incident. They said no arrests had been made.
The incident occurred on Monday at the site of a memorial wall dedicated to people killed in Iran in a bloody crackdown after anti-government protests spread across the country in January. Police said the memorial wall had not been damaged.
“We recognize that this incident will heighten concerns in the Golders Green area, where residents have already faced a series of attacks,” Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams said in a statement.
Over the last month, counter–terrorism officers have arrested more than two dozen people as part of investigations into attacks on Jewish-linked premises, including the torching of ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer emergency service Hatzola in Golders Green on March 23.
Police said after an arson attack at a synagogue this month that they were investigating possible Iranian links to the incidents. A pro-Iranian government group has said it was responsible.
Uncategorized
Ukraine in Diplomatic Tussle With Israel Over Grain Kyiv Says ‘Stolen’ by Russia
A farmer operates a combine during the start of the wheat harvesting campaign in a field near the town of Starobilsk (Starobelsk) in the Luhansk Region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, July 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Ukraine and Israel traded diplomatic blows on Tuesday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned what he said were grain purchases from occupied Ukrainian territory “stolen” by Russia and threatened sanctions against those attempting to profit from it.
Kyiv considers all grain produced in the four regions that Russia claims as its own since invading Ukraine in 2022 as well as Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, to be stolen and has protested over its export to other countries.
Russia calls the regions its “new territories,” but they are still internationally recognized as Ukrainian. Moscow has not commented on the legal status of grain collected in them.
“Another vessel carrying such grain has arrived at a port in Israel and is preparing to unload,” Zelenskiy said on X, adding: “This is not – and cannot be – legitimate business.”
“The Israeli authorities cannot be unaware of which ships are arriving at the country’s ports and what cargo they are carrying,” added Zelenskiy.
Ukraine on Tuesday summoned Israel‘s ambassador over what Kyiv described as Israeli inaction in allowing shipments of grain to enter the country from Russian-occupied Ukraine.
Ukraine‘s foreign ministry said in a statement it handed the ambassador a “note of protest.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that Kyiv has not provided any evidence for its claims.
“The vessel has not entered the port and has yet to submit its documents. It’s not possible to verify the truth of the Ukrainian claims,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem.
Saar said Ukraine had not submitted any request for legal assistance and rejected what he called “Twitter diplomacy.”
“Israel is a state that abides by the rule of law. We say again to our Ukrainian friends, if you have any evidence of theft submit it through the appropriate channels,” he said.
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters that Kyiv has provided “extensive information and proof” that the cargo was illegal before going public. The foreign ministry published a timeline of its actions and contacts with Israeli authorities.
“We will not allow any country in any geography to facilitate illegal trade with a stolen grain that finances our enemy,” Tykhyi said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on Tuesday, saying Russia would not get involved. “Let the Kyiv regime deal with Israel on its own,” he said.
Traders have told Reuters that it is impossible to track the origin of wheat once it is mixed.
UKRAINE PREPARING SANCTIONS PACKAGE
Anouar El Anouni, EU foreign affairs spokesperson, said the bloc had taken note of reports that a “Russian shadow fleet vessel” carrying stolen grain had been allowed to dock at Haifa. He said the European Commission had approached Israel‘s foreign ministry on the issue.
“We condemn all actions that help fund Russia‘s illegal war effort and circumvent EU sanctions, and remain ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries if necessary,” he said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was preparing a sanctions package against those transporting the grain and the individuals and legal entities attempting to profit from the scheme.
Zelenskiy said Kyiv has taken “all necessary steps through diplomatic channels,” but the ship had not been stopped.
“Russia is systematically seizing grain on temporarily occupied Ukrainian land and organizing its export through individuals linked to the occupiers,” Zelenskiy said.
“Such schemes violate the laws of the State of Israel itself,” he added.
Ukraine expected Israel to respect Ukraine and refrain from actions that undermine bilateral relations, he added.
Uncategorized
Britain Challenges Court Decision That Palestine Action Ban Was Unlawful
Protesters from “Palestine Action” demonstrate on the roof of Guardtech Group in Brandon, Suffolk, Britain, July 1, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Chris Radburn
Britain on Tuesday sought to uphold a ban on anti-Israel group Palestine Action, which it has designated a terrorist organization, after a court ruling that the move unlawfully interfered with freedom of expression.
Palestine Action, which had increasingly targeted Israel‑linked defense companies in Britain with a particular focus on Israel’s largest defense firm Elbit Systems, was proscribed under terrorism laws last year.
London’s High Court ruled in February that the ban was unlawful, although it remains in force pending the outcome of the government’s appeal, which began on Tuesday.
Lawyers for Britain‘s interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, told the Court of Appeal that the finding that the ban had a significant impact on freedom of expression was “overstated and wrong.”
Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020 and brought the successful challenge, argues proscription has imposed “severe restrictions on the fundamental free speech and assembly rights of vast numbers of people.”
UK APPEAL COMES DURING CRIMINAL TRIAL
Palestine Action was banned shortly after a June break-in at the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton air base, in which activists damaged two military planes.
The ban placed the group on a par with Islamic State or al Qaeda, making membership a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
More than 2,700 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of Palestine Action, though charges could be dropped if the High Court‘s ruling is upheld.
After February’s decision, London’s Metropolitan Police said it would pause arrests while reviewing its position, but resumed enforcement earlier this month, arresting over 500 people.
The High Court‘s decision was announced shortly after six people charged over the 2024 raid on Elbit were all acquitted of aggravated burglary.
Those six are currently on trial for criminal damage, with one defendant also accused of assaulting a police officer with a sledgehammer. All have pleaded not guilty.