RSS
Chilean mayor under fire for saying being Jewish is a ‘supremacist conception’
(JTA) — The mayor of a Chilean municipality is under fire for calling Judaism a “supremacist” religion and comparing it to Nazism.
Daniel Jadue, the mayor of Recoleta, outside of the capital of Santiago, made the comments last week while attending an event centered on Chilean journalist Pablo Jofré Leal’s book, “Zionism: The ideology That Exterminates.” His comments were recorded on video, which he shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
“Being Jewish starts from a conception that has to do with the supremacist conception of being part of a chosen people, so, if you are already part of a chosen people you do not believe in the equality of all human beings before anything, right?” he said. “Well, here we are faced with an ideology that I believe is the most Nazi thing I have seen in my life.”
Jadue, who is of Palestinian descent and is a Marxist politician and self-declared communist, also said it was a “contradiction” to be both Jewish and a leftist, though he also said he had “many friends” who are leftist Jews.
In an opinion piece written in a local publication, Carmen Hertz, a Chilean communist Party politician and human rights lawyer, and Miguel Lawner, a prominent architect who worked for Salvador Allende’s leftist Popular Unity government until Allende’s 1973 assassination and the coup d’état by Augusto Pinochet, criticized Jadue’s comments and called it “inconceivable” that Judaism and leftism are incompatible. The authors, who are both of Jewish descent, demanded that he apologize for his comments.
“You will understand that it is paradoxical, extraordinarily contradictory and aggravating for us to hear the words uttered by our comrade Daniel Jadue, stating that he considers it a contradiction to be Jewish and hold left-wing ideas,” Hertz and Lawner wrote.
They also pointed out that Jadue had recently signed a declaration by Chileans of Palestinian and Jewish origin condemning the war in Gaza. (Chile is home to the largest Palestinian community outside of the Middle East.)
“I respect Carmen and Miguel, but they are wrong,” Jadue responded in a post on X. “At the presentation of the book I commented on the type of discussion I have had with left-wing Jewish friends. The allusion to the Nazis is not to them but to the ideology that the book breaks down.”
He added, “I regret this false controversy and I do not accept the cancellation that is sought through a right-wing media, widely replicated, while thousands of innocents continue to be murdered by Israel in the midst of a genocidal occupation!”
Jadue has been accused of making antisemitic remarks in the past. In 2021, his high school yearbook page was unearthed, in which classmates wrote that the best gift they could give him was “a Jew to target.” Other notes in the yearbook described him as an “antisemite” and said he was destined to become “Chief of the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization], to clean the city of Jews.” He has also referred to the country’s Jewish community as the “Zionist community,” and has said “I get along very well with Jews… I have some problems with Zionists.”
In response to the yearbook affair and a demand from the Chilean Chamber of Deputies at the time that he deny the allegations of antisemitism, Jadue posted “Get Serious” on Twitter and portrayed the controversy as a distraction ginned up by right-wing politicians.
On Tuesday, Jadue drew a parallel between Israel and Nazi Germany, posting a clip in which someone tears down a poster of Adolf Hitler to reveal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his place, giving a Nazi salute. The text accompanying the post read, “Never again!”
—
The post Chilean mayor under fire for saying being Jewish is a ‘supremacist conception’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Security Warning to Israelis Vacationing Abroad Ahead of holidays
A passenger arrives to a terminal at Ben Gurion international airport before Israel bans international flights, January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) published the latest threat assessment to Israelis abroad from terrorist groups to the public on Sunday, in order to increase the Israeli public’s awareness of the existing terrorist threats around the world and encourage individuals to take preventive action accordingly.
The NSC specified that the warning is an up-to-date reflection of the main trends in the activities of terrorist groups around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad during these times, but the travel warnings and restrictions themselves are not new.
“As the Gaza war continues and in parallel with the increasing threat of terrorism, the National Security Headquarters stated it has recognized a trend of worsening and increasing violent antisemitic incidents and escalating steps by anti-Israel groups, to the point of physically harming Israelis and Jews abroad. This is in light of, among other things, the anti-Israel narrative and the negative media campaign by pro-Palestinian elements — a trend that may encourage and motivate extremist elements to carry out terrorist activities against Israelis or Jews abroad,” the statement read.
“Therefore, the National Security Bureau is reinforcing its recommendation to the Israeli public to act with responsibility during this time when traveling abroad, to check the status of the National Security Bureau’s travel warnings (before purchasing tickets to the destination,) and to act in accordance with the travel warning recommendations and the level of risk in the country they are visiting,” it listed, adding that, as illustrated in the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a tangible and valid threat potential.
The statement also emphasized the risk of sharing content on social media networks indicating current or past service in the Israeli security forces, as these posts increase the risk of being marked by various parties as a target. “Therefore, the National Security Council recommends that you do not upload to social networks, in any way, content that indicates service in the security forces, operational activity, or similar content, as well as real-time locations.”
RSS
Israel Intensifies Gaza City Bombing as Rubio Arrives
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate to the south, in the central Gaza Strip September 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the terrorist group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas’ last bastion.
The group’s political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages – of whom 20 are believed to be still alive – still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them (the Israeli leadership). We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” Rubio said before heading to Israel where he will stay until Tuesday.
ABRAHAM ACCORDS AT RISK
He was expected to visit the Western Wall Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem on Sunday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and hold talks with him during the visit.
US officials described Tuesday’s strike on the territory of a close US ally as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests. Rubio and US President Donald Trump both met Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on Friday.
Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state – a move the United Arab Emirates warned would undermine the US-brokered Abraham accords that normalized UAE relations with Israel.
Israel, which blocked all food from entering Gaza for 11 weeks earlier this year, has been allowing more aid into the enclave since late July to prevent further food shortages, though the United Nations says far more is needed.
It says it wants civilians to leave Gaza City before it sends more ground forces in. Tens of thousands of people are estimated to have left but hundreds of thousands remain in the area. Hamas has called on people not to leave.
Israeli army forces have been operating inside at least four eastern suburbs for weeks, turning most of at least three of them into wastelands. It is closing in on the center and the western areas of the territory, where most of the displaced people are taking shelter.
Many are reluctant to leave, saying there is not enough space or safety in the south, where Israel has told them to go to what it has designated as a humanitarian zone.
Some say they cannot afford to leave while others say they were hoping the Arab leaders meeting on Monday in Qatar would pressure Israel to scrap its planned offensive.
“The bombardment intensified everywhere and we took down the tents, more than twenty families, we do not know where to go,” said Musbah Al-Kafarna, displaced in Gaza City.
Israel said it had completed five waves of air strikes on Gaza City over the past week, targeting more than 500 sites, including Hamas reconnaissance and sniper sites, buildings containing tunnel openings and weapons depots.
Local officials, who do not distinguish between militant and civilian casualties, say at least 40 people were killed by Israeli fire across the enclave, a least 28 in Gaza City alone.
RSS
Turkey Warns of Escalation as Israel Expands Strikes Beyond Gaza
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not seen) at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
i24 News – An Israeli strike targeting Hamas officials in Qatar has sparked unease among several Middle Eastern countries that host leaders of the group, with Turkey among the most alarmed.
Officials in Ankara are increasingly worried about how far Israel might go in pursuing those it holds responsible for the October 7 attacks.
Israel’s prime minister effectively acknowledged that the Qatar operation failed to eliminate the Hamas leadership, while stressing the broader point the strike was meant to make: “They enjoy no immunity,” the government said.
On X, Prime Minister Netanyahu went further, writing that “the elimination of Hamas leaders would put an end to the war.”
A senior Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, summed up Ankara’s reaction: “The attack in Qatar showed that the Israeli government is ready to do anything.”
Legally and diplomatically, Turkey occupies a delicate position. As a NATO member, any military operation or targeted killing on its soil could inflame tensions within the alliance and challenge mutual security commitments.
Analysts caution, however, that Israel could opt for covert measures, operations carried out without public acknowledgement, a prospect that has increased anxiety in governments across the region.
Israeli officials remain defiant. In an interview with Ynet, Minister Ze’ev Elkin said: “As long as we have not stopped them, we will pursue them everywhere in the world and settle our accounts with them.” The episode underscores growing fears that efforts to hunt Hamas figures beyond Gaza could widen regional friction and complicate diplomatic relationships.