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Genuine Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations Should Call to ‘Free Gaza’ From Hamas, Says Israel’s Antisemitism Envoy
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
Activists who truly care about the plight of the Palestinian people in Gaza should focus their energies on rallying against the ruling terrorist group Hamas, not opposing Israel, according to Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism.
“Genuine support for human rights means advocating for freedom from oppressive groups like Hamas and Hezbollah,” Michal Cotler-Wunsh told The Algemeiner in an exclusive interview during a recent trip to the United States, referring to the Iran-backed Islamist terrorist groups in Gaza and Lebanon, respectively.
Her comments came amid rising concerns over escalating hostility toward Jewish communities worldwide during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The US is just one country among several that has experienced a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes and demonstrations since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, with university campuses emerging as a hub for antisemitism and pro-Hamas activism.
“If [these demonstrations] actually are pro-Palestinian and pro-human rights, they would be calling to free Gaza from Hamas, to free Yemen from the Houthis, to free Lebanon from Hezbollah, to free the people of Iran from the Islamic Republic,” Cotler-Wunsh said.
Across the US and Europe, prestigious universities such as Harvard and Columbia have drawn international attention for allowing raucous, unsanctioned, and sometimes violent anti-Israel demonstrations which have included calls for the murder of Jews and the destruction of the Jewish state. The protesters have largely argued their activism is in support of the Palestinian people and human rights.
“Silence, impunity, and false moral equivalency are fueling and normalizing this tsunami of antisemitism,” Cotler-Wunsh warned.
“We realize this is not about human rights or Palestinian advocacy, but reflects support for terrorism, antisemitism, and anti-Western ideologies,” the top Israeli official told The Algemeiner. “They are pro-terror, pro-antisemitism, pro-anti West protests.”
After taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has taken swift action to address antisemitism in higher education institutions. The US Department of Education is investigating dozens of schools and universities for potential civil rights violations related to their alleged failure to address campus antisemitism.
Last month, for example, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in funding to Columbia University, citing the school’s alleged failure to combat faculty, students, and staff from disciplinary action for anti-Jewish discrimination
According to Cotler-Wunsh, higher education institutions “have become platforms easily used for indoctrination, spreading dangerous ideologies.”
“Universities are facing a moment of reckoning: They must decide whether their mission is to teach students what to think or how to think critically,” she told The Algemeiner.
“There seems to be an inability, unwillingness, or lack of courage to enforce existing policies to combat antisemitism and hold those promoting such behavior accountable,” the special envoy continued. “Leadership has failed to understand that this is not a political issue, but rather it is an existential one for all who cherish life and liberty.”
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order that calls for “using all appropriate legal tools to prosecute, remove, or otherwise … hold to account perpetrators of unlawful antisemitic harassment and violence.”
In addition, the order authorizes the deportation of extremist “alien” student activists, whose support for terrorist organizations, both intellectual and material, such as Hamas, has contributed to fostering antisemitism, violence, and property destruction on college campuses.
In the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, Cotler-Wunsh argued that the rise of anti-Zionist protests worldwide reflects “the modern strain of ever-mutating antisemitism.”
She explained that anti-Zionism “denies the right of the Jew among nations to exist, stripping Jews and Zionists of their identity, and of the right to return to their ancestral homeland.”
“There’s a systematic dehumanization, delegitimization, and double standards that denies the Jewish state’s right to exist,” the Israeli official told The Algemeiner. “Zionism is integral to the identity of most Jews and many non-Jews who believe in Israel’s right to exist.”
Far from being limited to US colleges, the rise in anti-Jewish demonstrations and antisemitic rhetoric has skyrocketed worldwide since Hamas’s invasion of Israel.
“The mainstreaming and normalization of antisemitism is deeply concerning, not just for Jews, but as a historically reliable predictor of a major threat to humanity and freedom,” Cotler-Wunsh said. “Antisemitism, when legitimized and normalized in this way, becomes an existential threat.”
According to a report from the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel, there has been a staggering 340 percent increase in antisemitic acts worldwide in 2024 compared to 2022.
The report showed a sharp rise in antisemitic outrages in North America and Europe, with the US up 288 percent, Canada increasing by 562 percent, and Britain seeing a 450 percent spike, with nearly 2,000 incidents recorded in the first half of 2024 in the UK.
The post Genuine Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations Should Call to ‘Free Gaza’ From Hamas, Says Israel’s Antisemitism Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.