RSS
A UN ‘Nakba’ Exhibit Goes Beyond the War of Words
Poster for a 2022 Seattle ‘Nakba Day’ rally.
JNS.org – Walk into the U.N.’s New York headquarters, graced with impressive sculptures, tapestries and an uplifting Marc Chagall stained glass, and one has a palpable sense of the U.N.’s mission to limit conflicts to wars of words. That is, until one witnesses an exhibition in the lobby marking the nakba—Arabic for “catastrophe”—the Palestinians’ name for a defamatory narrative of Israel’s 1948 War of Independence.
With Hamas’s Oct. 7 atrocities still raw, the timing of the exhibit—which opened on Nov. 29—could not be worse. Nov. 29, 1947 was the day the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Partition Plan for then-Mandatory Palestine. In 1977, the UNGA desecrated this date by calling for Nov. 29 to be transformed into an annual observance of an “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”
The current 24-panel exhibit concentrates entirely on what it portrays as a vibrant Palestinian Arab society in pre-Israel “Palestine,” ignoring the fact that Jews lived there vibrantly as well. The exhibition begins with “Life Before the Nakba,” mostly consisting of images from Jaffa, and continues with “Life Upended,” “Longing: Life Uprooted,” “Belonging: Struggle for Life” and “Life: Against All Odds.” The pathos is so over-the-top as to verge on camp.
The “Palestine: A Land With a People” narrative begins with the premise that in 1948 “more than half of the Palestinians became refugees, tens of thousands were killed, and 500 villages and communities destroyed.” This tendentious narrative is not exactly how the Palestinians “became” refugees.
In fact, the Arab League made the Palestinians into refugees when it told them to leave the land, to which they could return after the Arab states had slaughtered the Jews of the Land of Israel and installed the Palestinian Arabs as supreme rulers.
As instructed, the Arabs left, but the Arab armies were defeated and their genocidal plans thwarted. The Arabs who defied orders and stayed in the new State of Israel became full citizens with equal rights. They are represented in all walks of Israeli life, serving as members of Knesset, mayors, judges and even in the army.
But multiple wars and intifadas later, the nakba narrative continues to underpin and justify the desire to destroy Israel “from the river to the sea.”
Indeed, the current exhibit’s narrative invokes a “mandate” given to the Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat in support of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. It calls for an end to the “Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and of the two-state solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, with an independent, sovereign and viable State of Palestine, living side by side in peace and security with Israel.”
The exhibit, of course, ignores the fact that the Palestinian leadership has consistently rejected such a state numerous times. The PLO and Hamas “covenants” calling for the destruction of Israel are still in place. Tens of thousands of missiles from Gaza and attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah and other jihadists prove that this ambition remains the same, culminating in the horrific Oct. 7 massacre.
In the end, one feels that the purpose of the exhibit is not to commemorate the nakba. It is intended to reemphasize and reinforce the U.N.’s obsessive dedication to hardline Palestinian nationalism.
This obsession regularly results in two-thirds approval of any anti-Israel resolution brought before the UNGA, which has occurred a stunning 79 times since 2010. It has also resulted in the corruption and politicization of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva and UNESCO in Paris and enables the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to collaborate with terrorists and poison the minds of the next generation of Palestinians with murderous hatred of Jews.
The U.N. has even granted “Palestine” a bizarre “quasi-nation” status, even though there is no “Palestine” and even the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas have no identifiable borders beyond Area A of Judea and Samaria—a failed remnant of the Oslo Accords that the Palestinians themselves destroyed with a campaign of terrorism. “Palestine” might speak and act like a state, but it is not a state.
In the end, the purpose of this exhibit seems to be only somewhat about the Palestinian Arabs. First and foremost, it is about the U.N. It is an attempt to validate a jumble of words that justify a growing number of expensive and biased U.N. committees and investigations.
Future U.N. exhibits should refrain from self-serving and tendentious narratives. As the world contemplates “day after” scenarios to the Israel-Hamas war, perhaps the U.N. should consider a blank canvas.
The post A UN ‘Nakba’ Exhibit Goes Beyond the War of Words first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.