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Anti-Jewish Violence Persisted in November: The Scene from Cities and College Campuses
Pro-Hamas Columbia University students march in front of pro-Israel demonstrators on Oct. 7, 2024, the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Photo: Roy De La Cruz via Reuters Connect
November was marked by escalating attacks on Jews worldwide.
In Amsterdam, Israelis visiting to attend a soccer match were chased and assaulted by gangs of thugs and criminals. These riots were condemned by national politicians, as well as the mayor who later regretted using the word “pogrom” and expressed concern for the marginalized Muslim perpetrators.
A rampage through Montreal also saw Muslim and leftist protestors burn effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, burn cars, and smash windows. The Montreal riots came after campus disruptions and walkouts organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) led to one local college being closed.
A coalition of anti-Israel groups also promised “global escalation” and carried out disruptions of Thanksgiving holiday travel and celebrations, including the Macy’s Parade in New York City.
Additional attacks were reported:
- In Chicago, a visibly Jewish man was shot on a Saturday morning by a Muslim assailant who shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he engaged in a gunfight with the police. The Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson, declined to name the victim or describe the circumstances,
- In the United Arab Emirates, a Chabad rabbi was abducted and murdered. Three Uzbek citizens suspected of working for Iran were later arrested,
- In Berlin, a Jewish youth team was attacked by local Muslims,
- In Sweden, shots were fired at an Israeli owned firm, apparently by local Muslim gang members paid by Iran,
- In Chicago two Israeli students were attacked by local Muslims,
- Pyrotechnics were thrown at Italian policemen at a pro-Hamas protest in Turin,
- In a Jewish neighborhood of Sydney, a car was burned, and a number others were vandalized with the words “F*** Israel,” as was a local restaurant. Mohammed Farhat was arrested in connection with the crimes as he attempted to leave the country.
Other pro-Hamas protests included:
- In London, police allowed protestors to block Parliament Square during Remembrance Day commemorations,
- A march through a Jewish neighborhood of Bergenfield (NJ) to protest an Israeli real estate fair,
- Outside the Jewish National Fund annual conference in Dallas,
- Outside a Toronto synagogue, where an Israeli was to speak,
- A march through a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn,
- At the United Nations climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Other incidents included:
- The home and car of University of Washington president Ana Marie Cauce were vandalized,
- In Los Angeles, Jewish owned businesses were vandalized,
- Tunnels at the University of Rochester were covered with “wanted posters” depicting Jewish faculty. Four students were later arrested for the crimes, but the student government passed a resolution condemning the university’s response,
- Spray painting the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial with red paint,
- In Milan, a mural depicting Italian Holocaust survivors was defaced,
- In Amsterdam, the offices of a pro-Israel Christian group were vandalized. The mayor also banned a march by the same group,
- CNN personality Dana Bash was confronted by a CodePink protestors at a talk inside her synagogue,
- Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský was booed at a talk at University College, London, and had to be removed from the room,
- An Israeli restaurant across the street from Columbia University was vandalized with the words “free Palestine.“
At the University of Manchester, a bust of Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first president and a noted chemist, was “abducted” and then “beheaded” by the domestic terror group Palestine Action, who filmed the entire episode.
The bust of another university faculty member was also stolen and destroyed. The theft was intended to highlight the Balfour Declaration which, as the group put it, “began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by signing the land away.”
Most seriously, two individuals were arrested in Pittsburgh, including one self-described “Hamas operative,” and charged with vandalizing a local Jewish facility and collecting explosive materials for a mass casualty attack. Mohammad Hamad’s accomplice is Talya Lubit, a Dickinson College graduate in Middle East studies.
University administrations
University administrations appear unsure how to respond to the incoming Trump administration, though many had already acted after the US Congress made it clear that their conduct in the 23-24 academic year was completely unacceptable.
In the meantime, some pushback against obvious student excesses has continued:
- Tufts university suspended its SJP chapter until 2027, citing its promotion and celebration of violence. The SJP chapter then announced its had disaffiliated itself from the university,
- The University of Pennsylvania has suspended a business school fraternity for posters mocking Israeli hostages,
- The University of Michigan has begun disciplinary proceedings against its student anti-Israel coalition, which may result in up to a four-year suspension,
- Harvard Divinity School issued a two week suspension to students who conducted a pray-in in the school’s library,
- The New York State Supreme Court upheld Columbia University’s suspension of its SJP and JVP chapters, ruling the school’s decision was “neither arbitrary or capricious, irrational or in violation of clearly established University policies.”
At the same time, Columbia University has agreed to a $395,000 settlement for two Israeli students who were suspended after being falsely accused of using a “chemical weapon” against pro-Hamas protestors in the spring semester.
Students
The overall volume and intensity of student protests against Israel have been more subdued in the Fall semester, alternately attributed by pro-Palestinian students and faculty to exhaustion and repression.
On other campuses, the protests continue unabated. Several student strike days saw walkouts and building occupations, in part as a response to the National SJP’s ‘Take a Building Challenge,’ including at the University of Arizona and Sarah Lawrence College. A building at Sarah Lawrence remains occupied with little university reaction.
An ‘International University Day of Action’ organized by SJP saw walkouts at the Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and other institutions. Some 85,000 students in Quebec reportedly walked out, including at Concordia University (where a woman was filmed shouting at Jews about a “final solution coming your way”).
Campus Jewish institutions are increasingly frequent targets of protests.
Students at Columbia demanded the university “sever all ties with Hillel,” At Harvard University, the appearance of a former Israeli soldier prompted calls of “Zionists not welcome here,” while at Brooklyn College protestors outside the Hillel chanted “We don’t want no Zionists here” and “You support genocide.”
Pro-Hamas protestors also harassed donors at a fundraising dinner hosted by the Harvard University president.
Walkouts were also held, as unionized students and employees continued to conflate “Palestine” with campus labor issues, for example at UCLA where students rallied for a strike as well as for Gaza. An “anti-Veterans Day” protest was also held at Columbia University by pro-Palestinian students to “honor the martyrs’ and reject the ‘American war machine.”
Despite the almost uniform repudiation of BDS by university administrations and trustees, Trinity College and Macalaster College, student governments continue to pursue these mechanisms, either in earnest or as means to undermine social cohesion on campus. Pro-Hamas students, including at Yale University and Princeton University employ the tactic of aiming divestment at “weapons manufacturers” rather than Israeli companies as a whole.
Efforts by student governments to directly boycott Israel also continue. In an ironic turn of events, however, the University of Michigan student government leaders who held the organization hostage and demanded that it support BDS and Gaza have now been impeached for dereliction of duty, incitement of violence, and seizing control of social media accounts. They will now face trial by a student judiciary panel.
Student governments were also the scene of complaints regarding invitations to outside speakers opposed to Hamas, especially Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef.
Finally, CAIR and other Islamist organizations continue to file complaints and lawsuits alleging Islamophobia of various universities. A variety of “human rights” groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch also issued an open letter complaining that some 20 colleges and universities have employed “excess force” against pro-Hamas protestors.
Faculty
In the wake of the Trump electoral victory, the tone of “resistance” regarding Israel continued unabated. This was seen in faculty defenses of students participating in building takeovers, as at the University of Minnesota, protest votes by University of Michigan faculty against trustees who refused to divest from Israel, and in protests to commemorate Palestinian “martyrs,” including at New York University.
In an interview, the president of the American Association of University Professors struck a defiant tone regarding the profession and its involvement with political issues, including boycotting Israel.
At the same time, some faculty recognize that Israel boycotts have compromised academia’s social standing and legal positions. One example of the latter is a decision by the leadership of the Modern Language Association to prevent a boycott resolution from being put forward to the full membership. But individual faculty continue to emphasize the unique evil of Israel in course offerings, which are then defended under the banner of academic freedom.
Medical education continues to be a locus of especially notable antisemitism.
Reports on how the University of California at San Francisco Medical School curriculum has been comprehensively restructured around “social justice” are examples of how institutions continue to embed racism under the rubric of opposing white supremacy and “settler colonialism.”
The author is a contributor to SPME, where a different version of this article appeared.
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Iran Moves to Restore Ties With Bahrain, Egypt Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iran has begun efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Bahrain and Egypt, signaling a potential shift in regional alliances as tensions escalate across the Middle East.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that Iran has officially begun the process of restoring diplomatic ties with Bahrain and Egypt after years of strained relations.
Since Iran normalized relations with Saudi Arabia in 2023, Araghchi said Tehran has made several requests to renew ties with Bahrain, with ongoing efforts expected to soon yield positive results.
In 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran, following Saudi Arabia’s decision to cut relations after an attack on its embassy in Tehran, which was sparked by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia Muslim cleric.
In 2023, Tehran and Riyadh reached an agreement in Beijing to restore diplomatic relations and reopen their embassies and diplomatic missions.
Since then, the Islamic Republic has taken further steps to strengthen its relationship with Bahrain. Last year, Araghchi met with Bahrain’s King, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, in the country’s capital to discuss bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.
Bahrain normalized relations with Israel, which Iranian leaders regularly say they seek to destroy, in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.
As for Egypt, the country severed diplomatic relations with Tehran in 1980 following Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution and Egypt’s recognition of Israel.
Araghchi said ties between the two countries have strengthened significantly, with regular high-level meetings and continuous dialogue.
Iran’s expanding relationship with Egypt comes at a time of increased tension between Cairo and Jerusalem, amid Israeli accusations that Egypt has violated their peace agreement.
Israeli defense officials have previously expressed growing concern over Cairo’s military buildup and armed presence in the Sinai Peninsula.
These concerns come amid escalating tensions between Israel and Egypt since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, particularly over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, where Cairo has demanded Jerusalem withdraw its forces.
While details about Egypt’s military buildup remain unclear, “satellite images have shown the movement of tanks and battalions that exceed the limits set by the Camp David Accords,” Mariam Wahba, research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told The Algemeiner.
Under the 1979 peace treaty, Egypt can request permission from Israel to deploy more than the 47 battalions allowed. However, some estimates suggest that there are currently camps for 180 battalions.
“The Camp David Accords have long been a pillar of peace and stability in the Middle East,” Wahba explained. “A breakdown of the agreement would have serious implications, not just for Israel and Egypt but for the broader region. It could embolden actors like Iran and its proxies to exploit tensions and could lead to increased militarization along Israel’s southern border.”
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EU to Review Agreement With Israel Over Gaza Concerns, Kallas Says
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas attends a press conference with Moldova’s President Maia Sandu following their meeting in Chisinau, Moldova, April 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza
The European Union will review a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel due to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday after a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.
International pressure on Israel has mounted in recent days amid complaints about the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza and as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government launched a new military offensive against the Hamas terrorist group in the enclave.
Kallas said a “strong majority” of the ministers meeting in Brussels favored such a review of the agreement with Israel, known as an association agreement, in light of events in Gaza.
Diplomats said 17 of 27 EU members backed the review, which will focus on whether Israel is complying with a human rights clause in the agreement, and was proposed by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.
“The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The aid that Israel has allowed in is of course welcomed, but it’s a drop in the ocean. Aid must flow immediately, without obstruction and at scale, because this is what is needed,” Kallas told reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Israel on the EU decision. Israeli officials have said their operations in Gaza are necessary to destroy Hamas, the Palestinian group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. Hamas also kidnapped several hostages that Israel is trying to free from captivity in Gaza.
Under the pact, which came into force in 2000, the EU and Israel agreed that their relationship “shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy.”
In a letter proposing a review, Veldkamp raised concerns about Israeli policies “exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation.”
He also cited “statements by Israeli cabinet members about a permanent presence that alludes to a reoccupation of (parts of) the Gaza Strip, Syria and Lebanon” and a “further worsening of the situation in the West Bank.”
On Tuesday, Dutch minister Veldkamp called the review “a very important and powerful signal,” echoing sentiments of officials from France and Ireland.
But others did not back a review. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky suggested the bloc could hold a meeting with Israel under the association agreement to raise concerns.
Kallas said EU sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank had been prepared but have so far been blocked by one member state. Diplomats said that country was Hungary.
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Syrian Leadership Approved Return of Executed Spy Eli Cohen’s Belongings to Israel, Sources Say
Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, looks at photographs depicting her late husband during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel, Oct. 6, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Syria’s leadership approved the handover of the belongings of long-dead spy Eli Cohen to Israel in a bid to ease Israeli hostility and show goodwill to US President Donald Trump, three sources told Reuters.
Israel announced its recovery of the trove of documents, photographs, and personal possessions relating to Cohen on Sunday, saying its spy agency Mossad had worked with an unnamed foreign intelligence agency to secure the material.
However, a Syrian security source, an adviser to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and a person familiar with backchannel talks between the countries said the archive of material was in fact offered to Israel as an indirect gesture by Sharaa as he seeks to cool tensions and build Trump’s confidence.
Cohen, who was hanged in 1965 in a downtown Damascus square after infiltrating Syria’s political elite, is still regarded as a hero in Israel and Mossad’s most celebrated spy for uncovering military secrets that aided its lightning victory in the 1967 Middle East war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Cohen on Sunday as a legend and “the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state.”
While Israel has long sought to recover his body for reburial at home, the return of his archive held for 60 years by Syrian intelligence was hailed by Mossad as “an achievement of the highest moral order.”
Israel has not publicly revealed how the archive came into its possession, saying only that it was the result of “a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service.”
Netanyahu’s office, Syrian officials, and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Syria’s role in Israel‘s recovery of the Cohen archive.
COHEN DOSSIER
After rebels led by Sharaa suddenly ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, ending his family’s 54-year-long rule, they found the Cohen dossier in a state security building, according to the Syrian security source.
Sharaa and his foreign advisers quickly decided to use the material as leverage, the source added.
The Syrian security source said Sharaa had realized that the Cohen archive was important to the Israelis and that its return could amount to a significant diplomatic gesture.
Ending Israeli attacks on Syria and improving relations with the United States and other Western countries are vital for Sharaa as he seeks to revive his shattered country after 14 years of civil war.
Israel regards Sharaa and his ex-insurgents, who once formed the al Qaeda faction in Syria, as unreconstructed jihadists. Israeli forces staged an incursion into border areas last year and have repeatedly bombed targets in support of Syria’s minority Druze sect.
This month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates had set up a backchannel for talks between Israel and Syria that included efforts to build confidence between the sides.
There have also been other indirect channels for talks, according to two people familiar with the matter.
In the talks, Syria agreed to measures including returning the remains of Cohen as well as three Israeli soldiers killed while fighting Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1980s, a person familiar with those talks said. The body of one of those soldiers, Zvi Feldman, has been returned, Israel said last week.
The return of the Cohen archive came in the context of those confidence-building measures and was done with Sharaa’s direct approval, the person said.
Last week, Trump held a surprise meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia where he urged him to normalize ties with Israel and announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria.
Syrian officials have said they want peace with all states in the region, and Sharaa confirmed this month that Damascus had carried out indirect talks with Israel via states it has ties with in order to calm the situation.
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