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Calls Mount for Chicago Public School Board President to Resign for Antisemitic Comments

The Chicago skyline seen from Lake Michigan. Photo: Mr.TinDC/Flickr

Jewish groups and Chicago officials are demanding the resignation of the city’s new president of public schools, citing his lengthy history of making what critics described as antisemitic comments about Jews and Israel.

Twenty-six aldermen in Chicago issued a letter on Wednesday stating that they were “deeply troubled” by Chicago Public School Board President Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson’s “antisemitic and pro-Hamas comments.”

“The thousands of Jewish families who send their kids to Chicago Public Schools deserve representation who values them and does not express hate towards the Jewish community. We call on Rev. Johnson to apologize and step down from his position immediately,” the letter continued. “This situation is a failure of leadership and judgment on the part of Mayor [Brandon] Johnson and his executive team. Earlier this month, Mayor Johnson told reporters his appointees would be thoroughly vetted before they were sworn in. It is clear that did not take place.”

The aldermen went on to argue that in the months following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Johnson “crossed major red lines” by peddling antisemitic and incendiary rhetoric on social media. The aldermen condemned Johnson for “his explicit support for Hamas” and “collectively blaming all Jews for Israel’s military decisions.”

Johnson’s defense of the Oct. 7 slaughter as an “absolute right” is “disqualifying from public service,” according to the letter, which slammed the new school board chief for weaponizing the war in Gaza against Jewish city officials by writing, “My Jewish colleagues appear drunk with the Israeli power and will live to see their payment.”

Johnson came under fire after Jewish Insider reported on his vocal support for Hamas on social media, where he also compared Jews to Nazis. 

“The Nazi Germans’ ideology has been adopted by the Zionist Jews,” Johnson wrote in February.

“The Israeli government offers a renewal of Nazi language once directed toward European Jews, ‘savages, dogs, vermin,’” he  later posted in March. 

Defending Hamas’s Oct. 7 murder spree, he wrote, “I have been saying this since October 2023. People have an absolute right to attack their oppressors by any means necessary!!!”

Johnson also shared a video by anti-Israel writer Miko Peled which voiced support for the Oct. 7 attacks. He encouraged his “Jewish friends” to react to the video 

“The single most direct video that has crossed my feed,” Johnson wrote. “I invite my once Jewish friends to respond to this video with honesty, integrity, and morality.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said the appointment of Johnson was “offensive and insulting to a Jewish community reeling from the attacks of this weekend and increased antisemitism over the past several months.”

The American Jewish Committee’s branch in Chicago also called for Johnson’s resignation, as did other Jewish groups.

Meanwhile,the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest said of Johnson: “It is incomprehensible that someone with these antisemitic views was appointed to lead the Chicago Public School system, designed to promote education, coexistence, and inclusion.”

Johnson said he would not resign but on Wednesday apologized, saying he was “deeply sorry for not being more precise and deliberate in my comments” and acknowledging that some of the social media posts that he shared “could be construed as antisemitic.”

“Let me start by apologizing to the Jewish community for the remarks I posted, which were clearly reactive and insensitive,” Johnson told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ in an interview. “Since that time, I have asked for and received feedback from my Jewish friends and colleagues who helped me be more thoughtful as I addressed these sensitive matters.”

The push to oust Johnson came amid ongoing controversy over the city of Chicago’s response to the shooting of an Orthodox Jewish man in the city last Saturday.

Mayor Brandon Johnson, who sparked outrage among the Jewish community earlier this year when he referred to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza as “genocidal,” released a statement on the shooting that made no mention of the victim being Jewish. In the statement, Johnson said that “our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his loved ones from this weekend’s shooting incident that took place in Rogers Park.”

The victim, 39, was shot by a 22-year-old gunman, Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, in an area of Chicago home to many Orthodox Jews, according to police. The attacker reportedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” during a gunfight after being confronted by law enforcement.

Abdallahi was charged with six counts of attempted first-degree murder, seven counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward a police officer or firefighter, and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm.

Community leaders expressed outrage over Abdallahi not being charged with a hate crime among the other felony charges. Many took particular aim at Johnson for his response.

“The victim was a Jewish man, who was wearing traditional Jewish garb, walking to a Jewish place of worship on the Jewish day of rest,” said Chicago’s 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein in response to Johnson’s statement. “Don’t erase his identity and don’t try to minimize the fear and anxiety my community feels after this attack. We’re scared and we need to know that our mayor has our back.”

The Chicago Jewish Relations Community Council similarly slammed Johnson for his statement, saying that the mayor “failed to identify that the victim was a Jewish man, in a densely populated Jewish neighborhood, going to synagogue for Shabbat morning prayers.”

“What will it take for you to acknowledge the Jewish community?” the organization added.

The post Calls Mount for Chicago Public School Board President to Resign for Antisemitic Comments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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‘Globalize the Intifada’ Becomes Reality as Amsterdam Erupts in Fresh Wave of Antisemitic Riots

Pro-Palestinian protesters face Dutch police while taking part in a non-authorized protest in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Anthony Deutsch

“Globalize the Intifada.”

It’s the chant that has become a staple at anti-Israel protests sweeping across the West after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks ,and throughout Israel’s subsequent war against the terrorist group in Gaza. The phrase is a call for Israel’s destruction, and a thinly veiled invitation to target Jews worldwide.

Unfortunately,“Globalize the Intifada” is fast becoming a reality. On Monday night in Amsterdam, violence erupted again. Rioters, reportedly “youth claiming solidarity with Palestinians,” attacked police with fireworks and projectiles, destroyed property, and set a tram ablaze.

This time, there were no Israeli sports fans in sight and no alleged provocation. Just a city under siege, with attackers chanting “Cancer Jews” into the night.

What’s more, the violence appears to be escalating, with Belgian police announcing on Monday the arrest of five people in Antwerp as calls spread on social media for a “Jew hunt” in the city, which was already grappling with a surge in antisemitic assaults.

The scenes in Amsterdam last week hinted at what was to come: Israeli soccer fans were ambushed in what we now know was a coordinated attack planned in advance and unleashed after the Maccabi Tel Aviv versus Ajax match.

And yet, many media outlets were predictably reluctant to call it what it was: antisemitic violence.

Meanwhile, media pundits like Mehdi Hasan and Owen Jones rushed to rationalize the attacks, implying Israelis “brought it on themselves” by singing offensive songs before the game — as if that justified being hunted down by a baying mob (and ignoring that he attack was planned.)

This, despite the Mayor of Amsterdam condemning the attacks as perpetrated by “antisemitic hit-and-run squads,” and Dutch police confirming evidence of premeditation.

In other words, Israeli fans were targeted not for their chants, but simply for being Israeli.

So, how are the media covering Monday’s fresh wave of violence? Mostly, they’re not.

The Associated Press and BBC are among the few major outlets to report on it in any capacity, and even they avoid linking it to the recent antisemitic surge — ignoring footage of rioters screaming “Cancer Jews.”

The conclusion? “No Jews, no news.”

If there’s no angle to subtly blame Jewish victims, the mainstream media doesn’t seem interested.

The attacks in Amsterdam last Thursday night, reminiscent of Nazi-era pogroms, are the direct result of the “Globalize the Intifada” movement that anti-Israel protesters have been championing for over a year. This slogan isn’t just a catchy chant; it’s a blatant call for violence against Jews, mirroring the atrocities of the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas.

Just days before Israelis were hunted down in the streets of Amsterdam, reports emerged from the Netherlands revealing that some Dutch police officers were refusing to guard Jewish sites, citing “moral dilemmas.” Such inaction and moral equivocation effectively serve as a green light for the violence we’ve witnessed, both last week and this week.

Welcome to the “globalized intifada” — it didn’t begin in Amsterdam, and it certainly won’t end there.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Becomes Reality as Amsterdam Erupts in Fresh Wave of Antisemitic Riots first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor: Terror Is Legal, But Only PLO Can Decide on ‘The Armed ‎Option’

The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is trying to have its cake and eat it too.

On the one hand, the PA is still angry that Hamas launched its terror war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, without consulting it first, and that Hamas has been able to take all the credit for successfully massacring over 1,100 Israelis. As a result, Hamas has overwhelming support among Palestinians in the West Bank.

Accordingly, despite the animosity, the PA needs Hamas on board with the PLO, due to the vast support among Palestinians for Hamas. Despite the destruction Hamas has brought on the Gaza Strip, the terror movement is still 2.5-3 times more popular than its rival Fatah, the ruling party in the PA/PLO.

To balance those competing interests, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, made the following statement, sending two messages that stand somewhat at odds with each other:

  1. The PA/PLO endorses terror as “legal” and does not oppose “the armed option”
  2. Hamas or other terror organizations are not allowed to single-handedly decide and launch terror attacks. Such decisions must be made “together” and only “in the framework of the PA/PLO” — in other words: Hamas must subordinate to the PA/PLO

Click to play

Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “It is unacceptable to say that the resistance [i.e., terror] is legal or illegal — it is legal. No one can cancel this fact or evade this fact. But the resistance needs to be a comprehensive national project. Not a project of one movement that drags all the Palestinians after its decision

. No, if we want to choose the armed option, we must all go together in a national decisionThe national decision needs to be made in the framework of the PLO, the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people. No faction that feels like carrying out armed resistance can take the Palestinian people together with it without taking into account the considerations, results, and consequences.” [emphasis added]

[Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 1, 2024]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the PA, and Al-Habbash specifically, have criticized Hamas for not consulting with the PLO before it attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launching the 2023 Gaza war

. However, they have never criticized Hamas for the massacre itself, but rather applauded and celebrated it.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.

The post Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor: Terror Is Legal, But Only PLO Can Decide on ‘The Armed ‎Option’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Paramount+ Announces New Docuseries About World’s First Israeli-Palestinian Boy Band As1one

A promotional photo for the new Paramount+ docuseries “”AS1One: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey.” Photo: Paramount+

Parmount+ announced on Wednesday that it will premiere a four-part docuseries in December focusing on the world’s first mixed Israeli-Palestinian pop music group, As1one.

“As1one: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey” will premiere Dec. 3. The coming-of-age docuseries, which will detail how six young men joined forced to form the global hit pop group, was produced by The As1One Production Company in association with Best Production Company for MTV Entertainment Studios. It was co-produced by the band’s founders, American music entrepreneurs Ken Levitan and James Diener, who developed bands such as Kings of Leon and Maroon 5.

The group is comprised of four Jewish Israelis and two Palestinians — Ohad Attia and Neat Rozenblat from Tel Aviv; Sadik Dogosh, a Palestinian Bedouin Muslim from Rahat; Aseel Farah, a Palestinian Christian from Haifa; Niv Lin from the southern Israeli town of Sapir; and Nadav Philips from Holon.

The docuseries will follow the band members over a five-year period and show how they founded the band, navigate the music industry, face challenges among themselves, and even cope with the deadly Hamas-led terrorist attacks that took place in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“The band members share their ups and downs including the challenging audition process in 2020; their language barriers, intense rehearsals, emotional highs and lows as they found their footing; navigating the very unexpected world events that happened on October 7th, 2023 — the morning after they flew to LA to record their first album; and the monumental challenges they have faced each day since,” Paramount+ said in a press release. “With so much more at stake because of the war, the band finds greater purpose in their music now representing something much greater than the six of them.”

The docuseries “spotlights the work of platinum-selling artists and producers, stylists, choreographers, and industry leaders, all collaborating to create a group that embodies unity, with members agreeing to disagree on the war in their homeland as they focus on making music together,” Paramound+ added.

The docuseries will also feature original music from the group, including their debut single “All Eyes On Us” featuring Nile Rodgers, as well as their upcoming single “Stranger,” which the band will debut on Friday.

Watch the trailer for “AS1One: The Israeli-Palestinian Pop Music Journey” below.



The post Paramount+ Announces New Docuseries About World’s First Israeli-Palestinian Boy Band As1one first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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