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Drexel University Jewish Center Vandalized by Masked Culprits
The Raymod G. Perelman Center for Jewish Life at Drexel University photographed on September 24, 2023. Photo: Drexel Hillel/Screenshot
The Raymond G. Perelman Center for Jewish Life at Drexel University in Philadelphia has been vandalized, school president John Fry revealed in a statement condemning the incident.
According to Fry, the vandals removed large channel letters spelling out Perelman’s name from a brick structure bearing the building’s name. The disturbing act, which occurred amid an explosion of antisemitic hate crimes across the US, was filmed by surveillance cameras, but the culprits cannot yet be identified because they wore masks.
“It bears repeating that vandalizing centers of Jewish life and learning, defacing property with antisemitic graffiti, or ripping mezuzot off doorposts in residence halls does not constitute any legitimate form of protests,” Fry said on Tuesday. “Such acts are antisemitic in their intent to disrupt Jewish life and intimidate our Jewish communities, and have no place at Drexel or in our democratic society.”
Fry added that the incident is being investigated, by both Drexel Public Safety and the Philadelphia Police Department, as a hate crime. He also issued a call for tips and any information that could bring the vandals to justice.
“I want to remind everyone that our policy of zero tolerance for antisemitism and all acts of intimidation, harassment, and hatred remains in place,” he continued. “We especially want to put those who vandalized the Perelman Center or other campus property on notice that they will never succeed in disrupting Jewish life at Drexel. Quite the contrary: With Pesach starting in less than two weeks, we will continue to ensure that Jewish life, learning, and holiday celebrations will always flourish at Drexel.”
The latest vandalism is not the only act of hate targeting a Jewish institution to take place this month. Within a week, the Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El synagogue in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania was vandalized twice, with the perpetrators graffitiing a sign on the property with a swastika.
The incidents prompted a response from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D).
“Antisemitism and the vandalism of a house of worship of any kind have no place in this Commonwealth,” Shapiro said on X/Twitter. “These acts of hate will never change the fact that no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you love, or who you do and don’t pray to, you belong here in Pennsylvania.”
Antisemitic incidents in the US have skyrocketed by over 360 percent since Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to data published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in January. The group, which has tracked such data since 1979, recorded 3,283 antisemitic incidents, including 60 assaults and over 500 vandalisms of Jewish institutions and houses of worship in the three months following the Hamas atrocities. Another 500 occurred on college campuses.
“In this difficult moment, antisemitism is spreading and mutating in alarming ways,” ADL chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt said after the data became public. “This onslaught of hate includes a dramatic increase in fake bomb threats that disrupt services at synagogues and put communities on edge across the country.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Drexel University Jewish Center Vandalized by Masked Culprits first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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