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Europe Wants to Commemorate the Holocaust, But Perpetuates Gross Crimes Against the State of Israel
A monument to the Jewish victims of the 1941 Jedwabne pogrom in Poland after it was vandalized with swastikas by Neo-Nazis in 2011. The graffiti on the left reads “I am not sorry for Jedwabne,” while the right it reads “They were highly flammable.”
Photo: Reuters/Marcin Onufryjuk.
On July 10, 2025, participants in the annual commemoration of the Jedwabne massacre encountered something disturbing: seven newly installed stone plaques just outside the memorial.
Placed by far-right Polish nationalists, the texts denied Polish responsibility for the 1941 massacre and blamed it entirely on German occupiers. One read, “The crime was committed by a German pacification unit.” Another revived antisemitic tropes, suggesting Jews had “betrayed” Poland.
This act of historical sabotage preceded the ceremony. What followed was direct provocation: Grzegorz Braun, a far-right MP and MEP, arrived with supporters, blocked vehicles — including that of Poland’s Chief Rabbi — and harassed those in attendance. That same morning, Braun went on national radio to declare that Auschwitz’s gas chambers were fake, and to affirm the medieval blood libel as historical fact.
The backlash was swift. Polish prosecutors opened a criminal case. Yad Vashem called it a “dangerous distortion,” the Auschwitz Museum condemned it as a “conscious lie,” and Polish leaders across parties voiced outrage. So did EU figures, condemning Braun’s denialism and hate speech.
And yet here the standard shifts. Holocaust distortion, when it appears in classic denialist form, as with Braun, is rightly met with condemnation. But when the distortion wears new clothes, particularly in the context of Israel, it often passes unchallenged.
Within EU institutions, certain publicly-funded NGOs and elected officials promote the claim that Israel is committing genocide or even a new Holocaust against Palestinians. These statements are rarely contested. Organizations such as Al-Haq and others have received EU or member-state funding while using Holocaust-associated language to frame current conflicts. Groups like Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, though not funded by the EU, have contributed to the normalization of such terminology in European discourse.
This, too, is Holocaust distortion. To equate Israeli policy, however contested, with the industrial extermination of European Jewry is to trivialize the Holocaust. It dilutes historical specificity. Worse, it often turns victims into perpetrators in public imagination.
Irish MEP Clare Daly called EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen “Frau Genocide” — a sarcastic use of the German honorific “Frau” (“Mrs.”), meant to accuse her of enabling what Daly described as Israel’s genocide in Gaza. She also accused von der Leyen of supporting Israel’s “brutal apartheid regime.”
Former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Israel’s war in Gaza as “the largest operation of ethnic cleansing since the end of World War II.”
MEP Mick Wallace has repeatedly called Israel an apartheid state committing genocide.
These are not fringe voices. They sit in the European Parliament — or, in Borrell’s case, held the Union’s highest diplomatic office. Yet unlike Braun, they face no condemnation. Their statements remain in the official record and circulate .
Why this inconsistency? Why is Holocaust inversion condemned in Poland but tolerated — and sometimes even amplified — in Brussels?
Many such claims originate in NGO reports, some backed by EU funding. These groups frequently label Israel a “colonial,” “apartheid,” or “genocidal” state, often without legal or historical precision. Some circulate Holocaust analogies or imagery. Yet few EU leaders speak out when these narratives echo antisemitic motifs or weaponize Shoah memory.
Take the apartheid claim. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch assert that Israel enforces apartheid “from the river to the sea.” But Arab citizens of Israel vote, hold office, serve on the Supreme Court, and enjoy equal legal rights. Or consider the genocide charge. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese accused Israel of “one of the cruelest genocides of our time.” Some EU parliamentarians echoed her words. There is no evidence of a systematic plan to exterminate a people. Using “genocide” in this context is not forensic, it is rhetorical violence.
The most grotesque accusation is that Israel behaves like the Nazis. Across Europe, protesters chant that Israel is a “Nazi state.” Signs compare the Star of David to the swastika. Some NGO (including some that receive support from EU member states), refer to Gaza as a “ghetto” or liken it to a “camp.” These comparisons are not analysis, they are rhetorical shock tactics that erode historical understanding and hollow out Holocaust memory.
At Jedwabne, the newly placed plaques implied that Jews had brought violence upon themselves by siding with the Soviets. Today, that logic returns in inverse form: the descendants of those burned in barns are cast as the new perpetrators of genocide. What once accused Jews of being complicit in their own destruction now accuses them of repeating it. This is not remembrance. It is reversal.
The same Europe that prosecutes Holocaust denial and funds Shoah education stays silent when antisemitic analogies are repurposed against Jews today. That silence is not neutrality — it is complicity.
Jedwabne survivor Rivka Fogel described the hours before the fire: “They made us stand in the square, with brooms in our hands, in the heat. We swept dust that did not move. We knew what was coming. Then they took the children.”
These words were not written to flatter history. They were written to warn us. And now we are warned again.
Historical truth is indivisible. The standards we use to guard Holocaust memory must apply equally whether the distortion and trivialization comes from the far right or from those cloaking modern antisemitism in humanitarian language. You cannot mourn Jedwabne while tolerating new blood libels in Brussels or Geneva.
There is a difference between legitimate criticism of Israeli policy and the weaponization of Jewish history to delegitimize Jewish sovereignty. Terms like “genocide,” “apartheid,” and “Nazi state” have become political weapons, not analytical tools. And weapons cause harm — not just to Israel, but to truth itself.
As the Yizkor Book wrote: “There was no one left to say Kaddish. So we wrote their names. This book is their prayer.”
That prayer is now ours. To speak their names. To guard the truth. To call out distortion, not only when it comes from deniers, but also when it comes masked as justice.
Amanda Kluveld is a Holocaust historian and associate professor of history at Maastricht University.
The post Europe Wants to Commemorate the Holocaust, But Perpetuates Gross Crimes Against the State of Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
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