RSS
Following the Pogrom in Amsterdam, Europe Must Act Now to Protect Jews
Israeli football supporters are assaulted near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. Photo: X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Pogroms are events that many Jews once believed were confined to the darkest chapters of European history, relegated to memory and textbooks.
Yet, on November 7, 2024, a pogrom is precisely what we witnessed when Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam were ambushed, chased, and beaten by organized mobs.
Dutch authorities revealed that the attack was far from spontaneous; it had been meticulously orchestrated via WhatsApp, with a group chat calling for a “Jew hunt.” Targeting Jews everywhere is exactly what former Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh meant when he called to “globalize the intifada.”
The reality is stark: Europe — a continent that once prided itself on lessons learned from its past — is now witnessing those lessons unravel as antisemitic violence surges anew.
This incident in Amsterdam, following a year of rising antisemitic incidents across Europe, should have been a loud and clear wake-up call for European leaders. Yet the response has been woefully inadequate. As was the case in the immediate days following October 7, 2023, when antisemitic crimes escalated dramatically, much of the reaction has been confined to mere condemnations.
In the Netherlands, where the memory of the Holocaust and the nation’s failure to protect its Jewish population during World War II remain a national scar, this recent wave of antisemitism feels particularly perilous. Dutch officials, including King Willem-Alexander and Amsterdam’s mayor, have expressed sorrow and regret, but the time for words has long passed.
Over the last year, we have seen a 245% increase in antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands, a staggering 1,000% rise in France, nearly 600% in the UK, and similar spikes across Europe and worldwide. This is not an isolated surge confined to one country but a dangerous new era for Jews throughout Europe.
The Dutch government — and European governments at large — must move beyond apologies. While such gestures have their place, they are insufficient in addressing the scale and urgency of this crisis.
We need action. On November 19, I joined a group of European government ministers, convened at AJC’s urging by French Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp, to propose urgent and immediate measures that European governments must take to protect their Jewish communities. Importantly, the group acknowledged that this meeting was merely a first step, and that much more remains to be done.
The European Union must acknowledge the unfolding crisis and elevate it to the highest priority level, including by convening an emergency meeting of European heads of state. This cannot be business as usual. Antisemitism is not a problem for Jews alone, but a societal cancer that threatens the stability, cohesion, and future of Europe itself.
Europe’s leaders must establish a comprehensive, zero-tolerance policy on antisemitism. For too long, European governments have allowed antisemitism to fester on their streets, in their universities, and within social and public institutions, creating an environment where it thrives unchecked and unpunished.
We need a unified and unyielding response, especially as anti-Zionism has become the new guise for antisemitism. The narrative that equates anti-Zionism with legitimate political discourse too often goes unchallenged, providing cover for violent rhetoric and actions against Jews.
Laws and policies across the continent must reflect that demonizing Israel is not only discriminatory but also dangerous, with immediate consequences for those who engage in this form of hate.
European leaders — with a continent-wide strategy — must also address the surge of Islamist antisemitism specifically, recognizing that it presents a direct threat to both Jewish communities and Europe at large, including Muslim communities themselves.
Islamism is a weaponized, extremist political interpretation of Islam in which anti-Jewish hate is central. It is the ideology that drives Hamas and that sadly also has footholds in some parts of European Muslim communities. Leaders must confront the complex layers of this issue, from foreign funding that promotes divisive ideologies to the radicalization occurring within communities and to social media, and take steps to ensure that antisemitic violence — under any form or justification — is eradicated.
This issue is neither recent nor isolated; it is the result of longstanding challenges with integration and the manipulation of vulnerable communities by foreign and domestic actors in mosques, through community organizations, and even at home, by extremist groups on social media and antisemitic discourse promoted on foreign TV channels. These forces exploit failures in integration policies, using divisive narratives to incite hatred against Jews under the guise of solidarity with Palestinian causes.
The attack in Amsterdam, along with the surge of Islamist antisemitism and antisemitic incidents more broadly across Europe, must be recognized as an urgent warning. Without a full-scale campaign of enforcement, protection, and justice, Europe risks seeing that the “globalization of the Intifada” not only threatens Jews, but society at large.
Antisemitism is not simply a “Jewish issue;” it is a fundamental societal issue — one that demands a whole-of-society approach.
Amsterdam cannot remain a tragic headline or a cautionary tale. This is the moment for Europe to rise to its ideals and demonstrate that it will not tolerate hatred in any form — especially not under the guise of political discourse or religious conviction.
Simone Rodan-Benzaquen is the Managing Director of AJC Europe, overseeing AJC’s offices in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Prague, Rome, Sofia and Central Europe.
The post Following the Pogrom in Amsterdam, Europe Must Act Now to Protect Jews first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Under US Pressure, Syria and Israel Inch Toward Security Deal
Members of Israeli security forces stand at the ceasefire line between the Golan Heights and Syria, July 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Under US pressure, Syria is accelerating talks with Israel for a security pact that Damascus hopes will reverse Israel‘s recent seizures of its land but that would fall far short of a full peace treaty, sources briefed on the talks said.
Washington is pushing for enough progress to be made by the time world leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly at the end of this month to allow President Donald Trump to announce a breakthrough, four of the sources told Reuters.
Even a modest agreement would be a feat, the sources said, pointing to Israel‘s tough stance during months of talks and Syria‘s weakened position after sectarian bloodshed in its south inflamed calls for partition.
Reuters spoke to nine sources familiar with the discussions and with Israel‘s operations in southern Syria, including Syrian military and political officials, two intelligence sources, and an Israeli official.
They said Syria‘s proposal aims to secure the withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory seized in recent months, to reinstate a demilitarized buffer zone agreed in a 1974 truce, and to halt Israeli air strikes and ground incursions into Syria.
The sources said talks had not addressed the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized in a 1967 war. A Syrian source familiar with Damascus’s position said it would be left “for the future.”
The two countries have technically been at war since the creation of Israel in 1948, despite periodic armistices. Syria does not recognize the state of Israel.
After months of encroaching into the demilitarized zone, Israel abandoned the 1974 truce on Dec. 8, the day a rebel offensive ousted Syria‘s then-president Bashar al-Assad. It struck Syrian military assets and sent troops to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of Damascus.
Israel has shown reluctance during the closed-door talks to relinquish those gains, the sources said.
“The US is pressuring Syria to accelerate a security deal – this is personal for Trump,” said an Israeli security source, who said the US leader wanted to present himself as the architect of a major success in Middle Eastern diplomacy.
But, the source said, “Israel is not offering much.”
The offices of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who has been leading the negotiations, did not respond to Reuters questions.
A State Department official said Washington “continues to support any efforts that will bring lasting stability and peace between Israel, Syria, and its neighbors.” The official did not answer questions on whether the US wanted to announce a breakthrough during the General Assembly.
TRUST DEFICIT AT TALKS
Israel has voiced hostility to Syria‘s Islamist-led government, pointing to President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s former jihadist links, and has lobbied Washington to keep the country weak and decentralized.
But the US has encouraged talks – keen to expand the countries that signed peace deals with Israel under the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first administration.
Exploratory contacts began in Abu Dhabi following Sharaa’s April visit to the Emirates, which have ties with Israel. The two sides then met in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in July.
Days later, discussions were plunged into disarray when Syrian troops deployed to the southwestern Sweida region to quell sectarian violence between Bedouin and Druze militias. Israel said the deployment violated its enforcement of a “demilitarized zone” and bombed the defense ministry in Damascus. Sharaa accused it of seeking pretexts to interfere in Syria‘s south.
A US-brokered ceasefire ended the violence and, a month later, bilateral negotiations resumed in Paris – marking the first time Syria publicly acknowledged holding direct talks with its longtime foe.
However, the atmosphere in the room was tense, with a lack of trust between the two sides, according to two Syrian sources and a Western diplomat.
Negotiators are following a phased process modeled on deals Israel reached with Egypt that paved the way for a landmark normalization of relations in 1980. That involved the return to Egypt of the Sinai peninsula, seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
Six sources briefed on the talks said Israel would be unwilling even in the longterm to return the Golan, which Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli in his first term.
Instead, Israel floated a proposal to the US special envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, that it could withdraw from southern Syria in return for Sharaa relinquishing the Golan, the Israeli official said.
“Our feelers via the Americans suggest this is a non-starter,” the official said. Netanyahu’s office, Dermer’s office, and the US State Department did not respond to questions on the swap proposal.
A Syrian official told Reuters that Sharaa understood that “any compromise on the Golan would mean the end of his rule” and had told Barrack the security pact must be anchored in the 1974 lines.
While Sharaa is willing to accelerate talks with Israel to please Washington, he remains wary, according to a Western intelligence officer, the Israeli official, and Syrian source.
He has told Barrack that conditions are not yet ripe for a broad peace agreement. “The basic elements of trust are simply not there,” said the Syrian official.
A senior US administration official told Reuters that Trump was clear when he met Sharaa in May in Riyadh that “he expected Syria to work towards peace and normalization with Israel and its neighbors.”
“The administration has actively supported this position since then,” the official said. “The president wants peace throughout the Middle East.”
NARROW PATH FOR SHARAA
Realities on the ground have limited the Syrian leader’s options.
On the one hand, Israel‘s incursions and support for the Druze have hardened Syrian public opinion against any deal, a factor weighing on Sharaa, officials say.
On the other, Israel‘s land grabs in Syria pose a threat to Damascus, making a de-escalatory pact all the more important for Sharaa.
A Syrian military officer based near the border with Israel, who asked not to be identified, said Syrian army patrols in the south avoid confronting Israeli troops, who regularly raid villages and go door-to-door collecting household data and searching for arms.
In response to Reuters questions, the Israeli military said its operations had discovered “numerous weapons,” thwarted smuggling attempts, and apprehended “dozens of suspects involved in advancing terrorist activity.”
The Israeli military was operating in southern Syria to protect Israel and its citizens, the statement said. Israel has threatened air strikes on any significant Syrian military or intelligence presence near the border without its consent.
Israel uses its new post at Mount Hermon, which it seized after Assad’s fall, to surveil the region. Defense Minister Israel Katz said last month Israel would not cede the location.
Israel‘s military has imposed buffer zones in some neighboring countries following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, in which some 1,200 people were killed.
“As in northern Gaza and southern Lebanon, Israel is now enforcing a wider demilitarized zone in southern Syria,” Syrian security analyst Wael Alwan said.
DRUZE DEVELOPMENTS BOLSTERED ISRAEL
Israel‘s position has been strengthened by developments in Sweida, where Syrian forces stand accused of execution-style killings of Druze civilians. Druze leaders are calling for independence and a humanitarian corridor from Golan to Sweida – a challenge to Sharaa’s vow to centralize control of Syrian territory.
Two senior Druze figures, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said that since the Sweida fighting, Israel was helping unify splintered Druze factions and had delivered military supplies including guns and ammunition to them.
The two Druze commanders and a Western intelligence source said that Israel was also paying salaries for many of the roughly 3,000 Druze militia fighters.
Reuters was not able to independently confirm the munitions supplies nor the payments. The offices of Netanyahu and Dermer did not respond to Reuters questions on support for the Druze militia.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani dismissed the possibility of a humanitarian corridor at the Paris talks, saying it would infringe on Syria‘s sovereignty, according to a Syrian official familiar with the discussions.
Both sides agreed that stability in Syria‘s south was key to preventing a resurgence of covert agents linked to Iran, Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, or Palestinian terrorist groups – common enemies of Israel and Syria‘s new leaders. Israel agreed to allow interior ministry forces to deploy checkpoints in Sweida.
“Both parties are probing areas of common ground,” said the Syrian official.
Sharaa is keen not to provoke his southern neighbor, aware of how much damage its military can inflict, one close aide said on condition of anonymity: “Avoiding confrontation is central to his plan to rebuild and govern.”
Erdem Ozan, a former Turkish diplomat and expert on Syria, said Sharaa could accelerate talks to secure economic aid and reconstruction support from investors, Gulf benefactors, and Washington.
“Sharaa’s focus on economic delivery could push him toward pragmatic concessions, but he’ll need to balance this with maintaining legitimacy among his supporters,” Ozan said.
Concessions could include handing greater autonomy to regional groups, including the Kurds and Druze, Ozan said, as well as demilitarization near Syria‘s borders with Israel and Jordan.
RSS
Qatar, US Near Defense Deal After Israeli Strike in Doha
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as he speaks to media at Ben Gurion International Airport, as he departs Tel Aviv for Qatar following an official visit, near Lod, Israel, Sept. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
Qatar and the United States are on the verge of finalizing an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, top US diplomat Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, after Israel’s attack on Hamas political leaders in Doha last week drew widespread condemnation.
“We have a close partnership with the Qataris. In fact, we have an enhanced defense cooperation agreement, which we’ve been working on, we’re on the verge of finalizing,” Rubio said while departing Tel Aviv for Doha.
Rubio met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and discussed defense cooperation, Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said.
“This [Israeli] attack, of course, expedites the need for a renewed strategic defence agreement between us and the United States. It’s not something new per se, but certainly expedited,” Al Ansari said in a briefing after Rubio’s visit.
QATAR HOSTS BIGGEST US BASE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
The attack in Doha was especially sensitive as Qatar is a close US ally and home to the biggest US military base in the Middle East. Qatar has been hosting and mediating ceasefire talks – alongside Egypt – since the Gaza war started nearly two years ago.
When asked about the mediation efforts in light of the Doha attack, Al Ansari said: “Our focus right now is protecting our sovereignty and we will not look into other issues until this one is resolved.”
The Amiri Diwan, or Emir’s Office, said in a later statement that the emir discussed with Rubio the future of joint diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and release Israeli hostages held in the enclave, as well as Palestinian prisoners.
The two also discussed the repercussions of the Israeli attack in Doha, the Emir’s Office added.
TRUMP ‘UNHAPPY’ WITH ISRAELI STRIKE
US President Donald Trump said during a visit to Doha in May that Washington would protect Qatar if it ever came under attack. He said he was not informed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in advance about Israel’s attack.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
He sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again during a meeting with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday.
Rubio called for Qatar to continue its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza war, saying there was “a very short window of time in which a deal could happen.”
“If any country in the world can help mediate it, Qatar is the one. They’re the ones that can do it,” Rubio said while departing Tel Aviv for Doha.
Qatar called the Israeli attack “cowardly and treacherous,” but said it wouldn’t deter it from its role as a mediator, alongside Egypt and the United States.
Netanyahu threatened to attack Hamas leaders “wherever they are” during a press conference with Rubio on Monday, as the heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit to back Qatar after Israel’s attack last week in the Gulf state.
RSS
Israeli Military Targets Iran-Backed Houthis, Striking Yemen’s Red Sea Port of Hodeidah
Illustrative: Smoke billows following an Israeli air strike in Sanaa, Yemen, Sept. 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Israel said it struck a military infrastructure site in its latest attack on Yemen’s Houthi terrorists at the Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Tuesday.
The Houthis, Islamist rebels backed by Iran who control the most populous parts of Yemen, have attacked vessels in the Red Sea in what they describe as solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Tuesday’s attack came hours after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for the port and a few weeks after a major Israeli attack that killed Houthi officials in August.
Al Masirah TV, a station affiliated with the Houthis, said that 12 Israeli strikes targeted the port‘s docks.
Two sources at the port told Reuters the strikes targeted three docks restored after previous Israeli hits. Residents in the area told Reuters the attack lasted about 10 minutes.
“The Houthi terrorist organization will continue to suffer blows and will pay painful prices for any attempt to attack the State of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a post on X following the attack.
The Houthis have also in the past fired missiles towards Israel, most of which have been intercepted.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Telegram that the group’s air defenses had been able to force Israeli warplanes away but provided no proof.
The Israeli military‘s statement gave no details of the strike beyond saying they hit infrastructure.
“The Hodeidah Port is used by the Houthi terrorist regime for the transfer of weapons supplied by the Iranian regime, in order to execute attacks against the State of Israel and its allies,” it said.