RSS
‘Blood on your hands’: Jewish congressman’s office defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti
(New York Jewish Week) — The Brooklyn office of Rep. Daniel Goldman was defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti, as antisemitic crimes surge in New York during the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Vandals scrawled the phrases “Blood on ur hands,” “Free Palestine,” and “Let Gaza live” in red and white paint on the facade of the Jewish Democratic congressman’s office on 9th Street in Park Slope, as well as on the sidewalk in front of it.
A spokesperson for Goldman said a staffer arrived at the office around 8:50 a.m. Friday morning to find police already on the scene.
The NYPD’s 78th precinct told Goldman’s office that officers had been responding to graffiti at a couple of other sites in the area when they discovered the vandalism on the congressman’s district office, and that police were looking into the incident.
Security footage showed at least two people defacing the building. However, the perpetrators put a plastic bag over the camera so the images were unclear, Goldman’s office said.
“Harassing, intimidating, and outright attacking the staff of a Jewish elected official at a time of rising violence and rampant antisemitism is dangerous and unacceptable,” said Goldman’s communications director, Simone Kanter.
These guys need to learn that we will never let terrorism win.
Just curious if all Congressional offices were targeted, or just the Jewish ones like @RepDanGoldman? pic.twitter.com/NvHLZKmg4U
— Yaakov (Jack) Kaplan (@JackKaplanNY) November 17, 2023
Goldman is a moderate Democrat who represents New York’s 10th congressional district, which covers Lower Manhattan and a large swath of western Brooklyn.
He has been vocal about the war since it began on Oct. 7, and has expressed support for both Israel and Palestinian civilians. In recent weeks, he has spoken at a rally in support of Israel; joined other Jewish Democrats in censuring U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib for using the term “from the river to the sea”; called to protect Palestinians in the U.S. from being deported to a conflict area; expressed support for the release of Israeli hostages and for humanitarian pauses in the fighting; and condemned violence by Israeli settlers.
The NYPD and Jewish security groups have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents since Hamas attacked Israel six weeks ago. In New York, the incidents range from graffiti to physical attacks and threats of violence.
On Thursday, posts by a radical pro-Palestinian group urging its 121,000 followers to target the offices of Jewish organizations with protests drew alarm from elected officials and Jewish community leaders. The group, Within Our Lifetime, calls for a “global intifada” and the destruction of Israel, and activists affiliated with the organization have been imprisoned for hate crimes against Jews.
In the posts, the group shared a map of Jewish organizations in New York City, saying they had “blood on their hands,” echoing the language used in the graffiti on Goldman’s office.
—
The post ‘Blood on your hands’: Jewish congressman’s office defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.