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Anti-Israel Protesters Target European Synagogues Amid Escalating Antisemitism Crisis
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/dieBildmanufaktur via Reuters Connect
Amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across Europe, anti-Israel demonstrators targeted synagogues in Poland and Switzerland over the weekend, heightening fears of further violence following last week’s antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC.
On Saturday, a pro-Hamas demonstration in Bern, the de facto capital of Switzerland, prompted a large-scale police operation and led to violent clashes as officers tried to contain the protest, leaving several police officers injured.
According to Swiss media reports, the march had not been authorized, yet around 2,000 protesters gathered and attempted to reach the city’s historic synagogue.
The demonstration was marked by antisemitic rhetoric and inflammatory chants, including the use of the banned slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan is popular among anti-Israel activists and has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Local law enforcement attempted to contain the violent protesters who were trying to reach the Jewish synagogue, using tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to bring the situation under control.
During the clashes, five police officers were injured after protesters attacked them with fireworks and hurled objects.
Violent clashes at the Pro Palestinian demonstration today in Bern, Switzerland. According to local reports, the demonstrators were trying to reach a synagogue but were stopped by police, pic.twitter.com/D38dRSMNJI
— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) May 24, 2025
Michel Ronen, co-chair of the Jewish Community of Bern (JGB), said these latest incidents underscore the increasing threat that Jews are facing nationwide.
“We are deeply concerned about the high potential for violence at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Naturally, this also raises serious concerns within the Jewish community in Bern,” Ronen told the German newspaper Juedische Allgemeine.
“The fact that this radicalized group of protesters was able to get so close to the synagogue is a clear warning about the security risks facing Bern’s Jewish population. We urge the city of Bern to treat this serious threat with the utmost urgency,” he continued.
Jonathan Kreutner, secretary general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), condemned the fact that “radical pro-Palestinian protesters” were able to get so close to the synagogue on Saturday, expressing his full support for the local Jewish community.
“We strongly support the demand for heightened vigilance and the introduction of concrete, forward-thinking security measures in the city of Bern,” Kreutner said.
In a separate incident, anti-Israel agitators also set their sights on a Polish synagogue.
On Friday, an anti-Israel group burst into a synagogue in Bielsko-Biała — a city in southern Poland — disrupting a private Jewish event with antisemitic slogans, hateful rhetoric, and inflammatory chants.
The event at the historic synagogue in Bielsko-Biała was disrupted when members of a pro-Palestinian group stormed in mid-program, waving flags and shouting over Holocaust survivors taking part in the ceremony.
According to local media, Holocaust survivors and community members were subjected to antisemitic insults and slurs.
Following the incident, event organizers attributed the attack to incitement by members of Poland’s far-left Razem party, calling it “the most blatant act of antisemitism the city has witnessed in decades.”
The post Anti-Israel Protesters Target European Synagogues Amid Escalating Antisemitism Crisis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.”
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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.
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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.