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Blinken to Visit Israel on Mideast Tour Aimed at Preventing Regional War
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures upon his arrival at Cairo airport, Egypt, June 10, 2024. Photo: Amr Nabil/Pool via REUTERS
JNS.org — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will depart on Tuesday for a Middle East tour aimed at securing a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas while at the same time preventing a wider war in the region, according to Axios reporter Barak Ravid.
The top American diplomat will reportedly visit Israel, Egypt, and Qatar.
Ravid noted that the trip could still be postponed if Iran chooses to attack the Jewish state directly ahead of Blinken’s anticipated departure.
On Monday, Blinken spoke to his Turkish counterpart “about the importance of Hamas’ return to negotiations on Aug. 15 to finalize the framework for achieving an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, securing the release of all hostages, and ending the war,” according to a State Department readout of their call.
Hours earlier, Hamas announced a boycott of the final round of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement set for this Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Hamas terror master Yahya Sinwar is demanding a full halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza as a precondition for participating in the negotiations.
Israel immediately accepted last week’s invitation by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar to attend the meeting, which is to take place in either Cairo or Doha. Despite Hamas’ decision not to send representatives to the talks, the mediators are still planning on holding them, Kan News reported.
Meanwhile, US Special Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk was set to arrive in Cairo on Tuesday to work on additional components of the prospective hostages-for-ceasefire deal, according to Ravid.
McGurk will try to reach understandings with senior Egyptian and Israeli officials on security arrangements for the critical Philadelphi Corridor and the reopening of the Rafah Crossing, both of which straddle the border between the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza.
Last week, Blinken said that “the negotiations have now reached a final stage,” even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Hamas had not responded to Jerusalem’s latest proposal.
John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, also told reporters that ceasefire negotiations were “as close as we’ve ever been” to achieving a breakthrough.
“The gaps are narrow enough that they can be closed,” he said.
Asked whether a deal is being impeded by Hamas or by Netanyahu, Kirby said that both sides must compromise.
“The deal hasn’t been accepted, because neither side has signed up to it,” Kirby said. “We believe that both sides need to do the final bit of work here, to come to a conclusion on this thing.”
Washington is engaged in “intense diplomacy” to prevent an Iranian retaliatory strike on Israel after the killing of Hamas terror chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Kirby said.
“We don’t want to see an escalation,” he said. “If there is one, my goodness, we’re going to be ready to defend Israel and defend ourselves as appropriate.”
A revised Israeli intelligence assessment suggests that Iran is slated to launch an assault on the Jewish state “within days” in a joint attack with its Lebanese Hezbollah proxy, Axios reported on Wednesday night.
The report, which cited two sources with knowledge of the issue, said that Israeli intelligence indicates Tehran’s attack could be launched before the ceasefire talks scheduled for Thursday.
The attacks are anticipated to be larger and more complicated than Tehran’s April strike on the Jewish state and include the launching of missiles and drones at targets in Israel’s densely populated center.
Three senior Iranian officials told Reuters on Tuesday that only a Gaza ceasefire deal coming out of Thursday’s talks can prevent an Iranian attack on Israel.
One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said that Iran and its regional terror proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or if Jerusalem is perceived to be dragging out the negotiations.
Iran has been conducting an “intense dialogue” with the United States and other Western countries on “ways to calibrate retaliation,” said the sources according to the report.
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Glastonbury Festival Says Kneecap Will Still Perform Despite Anti-Israel Remarks, Hezbollah-Tied Terror Charge

Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
The Irish rap band Kneecap will in fact perform at the 2025 Glastonbury music festival in the United Kingdom later this month, organizers confirmed on Tuesday, despite facing pressure to drop the trio after they made anti-Israel comments and allegedly expressed support for the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Glastonbury organizers on Tuesday released online the full line-up, stage splits, and stage times for this year’s event. The Belfast-based band is set to perform on the West Holts Stage on June 28 as part of the music festival, which runs from June 25-29 and will feature over 3,000 performances.
The BBC will broadcast more than 100 sets from Glastonbury this year and said it plans to still air Kneecap’s set on TV, radio, iPlayer, and BBC Sounds even in light of the controversy surrounding the band, a spokesperson for the broadcaster told The i Paper.
Last month, Kneecap member Liam O’Hanna was charged with a terrorism offense by Metropolitan Police in the UK for allegedly expressing support for Hezbollah during a concert on Nov. 21, 2024, in north London. The rapper shouted “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” while having a Hezbollah flag draped over his shoulder. He is due to appear in court on June 18, exactly a week before Glastonbury. Counter-terrorism police said they were also investigating the band for allegedly calling for the death of British parliament members at a 2023 concert.
After the group, whose members include Naoise Ó Cairealláin and J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, displayed anti-Israel messages during their set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in April, a number of their concerts were canceled. Several politicians in the UK, Jewish organizations, a Holocaust survivor, and pro-Israel supporters in the entertainment industry have called for them to be banned from performing at other music festivals, including Glastonbury. Public pressure to have them removed from the Glastonbury lineup of performers increased even more after footage resurfaced of their offensive comments from 2023 and 2024.
At Coachella this year, Kneecap projected on the backdrop of their stage messages that said “F–k Israel, Free Palestine” and “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.” They also led the crowd at Coachella to chant “Free, Free Palestine.”
The band also led chants of “Free, free Palestine” during their performance at a music festival in London on May 23.
A BBC spokesperson told The i Paper that all performances aired from Glastonbury must meet its editorial guidelines, which prohibit “unjustifiably offensive language.” The broadcaster said it is also required to reflect a range of opinions to avoid giving the impression that it endorses any particular political campaign. There will be a delay between live performances and the broadcast, which the BBC will reportedly use to edit out strong language and controversial remarks before it goes on iPlayer.
“As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organizers,” the spokesperson said. “Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our broadcast output will be made in the lead-up to the festival.”
During their performance at Glastonbury last year, Kneecap displayed on screen a “Free Palestine” message and another message that falsely accused Israel of murdering over 20,000 children. The trio additionally led the audience in chanting “Free, free Palestine.”
The post Glastonbury Festival Says Kneecap Will Still Perform Despite Anti-Israel Remarks, Hezbollah-Tied Terror Charge first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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There Is Massive Antisemitism in the Workplace; Here’s What You Need to Know

FILE PHOTO: A man, with an Israeli flag with a cross in the center, looks on next to police officers working at the site where, according to the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary, two Israeli embassy staff were shot dead near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Most people think they would recognize antisemitism if they saw it: a slur, a swastika, or someone saying Jews deserved to be attacked on October 7. However, the public rarely hears about such antisemitism permeating workplaces in almost every industry nationwide.
In my work as a non-profit lawyer specializing in workplace antisemitism, I’ve learned that some of the most insidious harm happens and remains behind closed doors.
Since October 7, 2023, there’s been a visible spike in antisemitism worldwide. Jewish students are experiencing a surge in discrimination and harassment, Jewish institutions are being defaced, a patron at a Jewish-owned bar paid for a sign to be held up saying “F*** the Jews,” and Ye (Kanye West) recently released a music video titled “Heil Hitler.”
In workplaces, antisemitism is just as present and egregious, but far less publicized. That is because most workplace antisemitism cases do not end up in headlines. Often, workplace antisemitism cases end in a signature on an ironclad nondisclosure agreement (“NDA”) and subsequent silence.
Since approximately more than half of employment law cases settle at some point before trial, the lack of publicity on Jewish civil rights violations in workplaces is not surprising. Still, the secrecy surrounding how those cases are resolved has devastating ripple effects. Given that most workplace cases settle, employees experiencing workplace antisemitism rarely hear about other similar incidents, which could have empowered them to enforce their rights or set a meaningful precedent in the courts to help them assess their chances of success. Another reason workplace antisemitism cases often do not make headlines is that many employees do not report their concerns out of fear of retaliation.
In my work on employment-related antisemitism matters as Senior Counsel at StandWithUs Legal, a division of StandWithUs, many of our cases involve employees in medicine, education, service industries, and technology who simply wanted to do their jobs. What they experienced instead were hostile comments from colleagues, exclusion from diversity programs, denials of promotions, or even termination. Some were mocked for their Israeli nationality or Jewish identity in team meetings. Others were treated unfairly based on Israel’s military actions, were told that Jews started the California wildfires with laser beams, or were called genocidal by colleagues. One was repeatedly subjected to “Anne Frank” jokes by her supervisor.
Employers rarely know how to handle antisemitism, and since these cases usually settle and involve NDAs, employers often can avoid directly addressing the problem. Jewish identity is frequently treated as invisible or controversial. Some employers encourage political discussions about every global injustice except those affecting Jews, drawing lines around Jewish identity that no other minority group is asked to navigate.
Antisemitism in the workplace remains a largely invisible problem — one that’s growing, unchecked, simmering just beneath the surface. The chilling effect of these settlements, NDAs, and silence is profound. When someone is fired for raising concerns about antisemitism, or pushed out under the guise of “performance” after reporting a hostile work environment, they’re often offered severance in exchange for silence in an NDA. It’s a cruel choice: rebuild your life with some financial security, or speak out and risk everything. Most understandably take the deal, but that means the problem continues to go unaddressed.
Whether guiding an employee through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) process, partnering with firms nationwide to sue, or interfacing with human resources or corporate general counsels to resolve the issue, I’ve seen firsthand how powerful the law can be in the workplace. It can force accountability, restore dignity, and, at its best, prevent future harm.
Louis Brandeis once said, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” While many of the victories I help achieve remain confidential, the mission is clear: to give voice to those who were silenced, empower employees to enforce their rights, and ensure that silence is no longer the cost of employment.
Deedee Bitran is Senior Counsel and Director of Pro Bono with StandWithUs Saidoff Legal.
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The Netherlands Also Has a Campus Antisemitism Problem

Anti-Israel protesters face Dutch police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Esther Verkaik
The Netherlands often presents itself as a beacon of tolerance and progress. But in recent years, that image has started to crack — especially in its universities. These institutions, which should champion open discussion and critical thinking, are now becoming known for something else: hostility toward Jewish and Israeli voices.
Recently, the heads of Dutch universities published a “Statement on Academic Freedom.” It’s full of idealistic talk about openness, free debate, and the importance of diverse opinions. But for many Jewish and Israeli academics, these words ring hollow.
Where was this concern for free expression over the past two years, when Jewish speakers were uninvited, Israeli scholars were boycotted, and students of multiple religions were silenced just for expressing support for Israel?
Where was this defense of dialogue when protests took over campus buildings, tried to intimidate and force out Jews, and declared these buildings and institutions were “Zionist-free”?
And let’s be clear — “Zionist-free” isn’t just about Israel; it’s a chilling phrase that echoes a much darker history.
And this isn’t just about silence. In some cases, universities actively supported or ignored clear discrimination against Jews and anyone who supported Israel’s right to exist.
At Wageningen University, for example, staff openly pledged not to supervise Israeli students. That’s not protest — that’s academic discrimination, pure and simple. The administration said nothing.
At TU Delft, a course described Israel as a colonial project and framed all Israelis as colonizers. Some of the people involved had even supported terror groups like Hamas, or downplayed the Holocaust. This wasn’t fringe — it was university-approved.
At Maastricht University, Jewish speakers were denied platforms due to “security concerns,” while pro-Palestinian speakers with long histories of hate speech were welcomed. The university even gave office space to a group known for antisemitic rhetoric and threats of violence. And Jewish professors needed security just to walk through campus.
So when these same universities now suddenly say they care about academic freedom — after ignoring these issues for years if they involved anyone Jewish or who supported Israel’s right to exist — it’s hard to take them seriously. It feels less like a change of heart, and more like damage control.
The truth is, academic freedom only means something when it’s applied fairly — not just to those with popular opinions, but also to those who face criticism and hostility. That includes Jewish and pro-Israeli voices.
If Dutch academia wants to rebuild trust, it must begin with honesty: admit the past failures, recognize the harm caused, and commit to applying its values consistently. That’s the only way forward.
This isn’t just a policy issue. It’s a moral one.
Sabine Sterk is CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
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