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Global Response to Oct. 7 Shows the ‘Collapse of Morality,’ Says Israel’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism

US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Israel’s special envoy for combating antisemitism on Wednesday night lamented what she described as the global “collapse of morality” revealed in the world’s response to the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel.

“What the responses to 10/7 were, were an indication to a collapse of morality,” Michal Cotler-Wunsh said to a packed room at the Moise Safra Center in New York City. “If you could not unconditionally condemn without a ‘but,’ — unequivocally, without a ‘but’ at the end of the sentence — what happened on 10/7, that’s not progress that’s regress. If you could not unequivocally condemn it that was an indication of collapse of morality.”

Cotler-Wunsch, who currently has three children serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, made the remarks at an event celebrating the publication of the 20th anniversary edition of “A Letter in the Scroll” by the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom. The event involved a panel discussion about Jewish identity, antisemitism, and other topics that featured Cotler-Wunsh, as well as human rights activist Natan Sharansky and others.

Cotler-Wunsh, who grew up in Canada but now lives in Israel, also discussed the “tsunami of antisemitism” that has taken place around the world post-Oct. 7, and how it can “only be identified and combated” with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. Beyond classic antisemitic behavior associated with the likes of the medieval period and Nazi Germany, the IHRA definition includes denial of the Holocaust and newer forms of antisemitism targeting Israel such as demonizing the Jewish state, denying its right to exist, and holding it to standards not expected of any other democratic state.

Wednesday’s event came after the Anti-Defamation League released a report earlier this year showing antisemitic incidents in the US rose 140 percent last year, reaching a record high. Most of the outrages occurred after Oct. 7, during the ensuing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Meanwhile, such outrages have also skyrocketed to record highs in several other countries around the world, especially in Europe, since the Hamas atrocities.

Cotler-Wunsh told the crowd gathered at the Moise Safra Center that she believes its also important to educate the younger generation about antisemitism and help them interpret and understand the rise in anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiments around the world following Oct. 7.

“What has been the most overwhelming piece of my exchanges and interactions with young Jews is to try to make it accessible how it can be that in response to the worst attack of Jews since the Holocaust — fueled by antisemitic hate that burned, raped, mutilated, massacred, and abducted hundreds on 10/7 — what we have witnessed is a tsunami of antisemitism.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, kidnapped 251 hostages, and perpetrated mass sexual violence, including torture, and gang-rape, during their surprise invasion of the Jewish state last fall. The onslaught started the ongoing war in Gaza, the enclave ruled by Hamas.

“It is the oldest hatred in the world that has mutated, as Rabbi Sacks explained, by latching on to the guiding social constructs of the time,” Cotler-Wunsh said on Wednesday, while explaining the evolution of antisemitism to now include visceral opposition to Israel. “And the understanding that in that way antisemitism has mutated over thousands of years, creating new strains, enables us to understand what we have seen.”

“The IHRA definition has never been more important if we are going to be able to identify and combat all strains of what Rabbi Sacks described as an ever-mutating, shape-shifting virus [that is antisemitism],” she added.

During the panel discussion, Sharansky discussed being “shocked” at how anti-Israel sentiment has spread like wildfire across American college and university campuses following the Oct. 7 attacks, and how “they will be so open talking against human rights [and] rights of women.” The famed refusenik, who was a political prisoner in the Soviet Union, also talked about “celebrations on campuses” following the deadly Hamas massacre and said he was extremely disappointed in how “easily American public opinion, a big part of it, is not our allies in this.”

Anti-Israel protests erupted on university campuses across the US this past academic year, with demonstrators declaring support for Hamas, calling for Israel’s destruction, and in some cases even threatening and attacking Jewish students.

Sharansky — who has been appointed chair of the global advisory board of The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Foundation — was also critical of Israeli intelligence agencies for being “arrogant” and “so unprepared” regarding the Oct. 7 massacre, and failing to prevent it from happening or taking action to stop the attacks early on.

Wednesday night’s event ended on a positive note as Cotler-Wunsh discussed an “awakening” that has happened among Jews around the world and how they have risen up to show support for Israel after Oct. 7. She mentioned the troves of people from all corners of the world who traveled to Israel post-Oct. 7 to show support for the country as volunteers but also to serve as reservists in the military.

She said, “140 percent of the people called up on 10/7, showed up. That’s an incredible statistic. That’s unbelieved. They came from all over the world. They got on planes, they sat in the bathrooms that El Al let them sit on. When you were collecting money for tactical gear [for the IDF] that my 17-year-old was then disseminating all over Israel, the reason that you were collecting is because [you] showed up.”

“And that is the most important notion of ‘Hineni,’” she said, citing the Hebrew word from the Torah that translates to “here I am.” In Judaism, it refers to the concept of being present in the moment.

“If this is not going to wake us up, I don’t know what will,” she said of Oct. 7 and how it is affecting global Jewry. “[Do] not wait for the someone else to do it. There is no one else. It is on us, each and every one.”

The post Global Response to Oct. 7 Shows the ‘Collapse of Morality,’ Says Israel’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday

US President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, May 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

US President Donald Trump’s order banning citizens of 12 countries from entering the United States goes into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT) on Monday, a move the president promulgated to protect the country from “foreign terrorists.”

The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.

Trump, a Republican, said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a “large-scale presence of terrorists,” fail to cooperate on visa security, have an inability to verify travelers’ identities, as well as inadequate record-keeping of criminal histories and high rates of visa overstays in the United States.

He cited last Sunday’s incident in Boulder, Colorado, in which an Egyptian national tossed a gasoline bomb into a crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators as an example of why the new curbs are needed. But Egypt is not part of the travel ban.

The travel ban forms part of Trump’s policy to restrict immigration into the United States and is reminiscent of a similar move in his first term when he barred travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Officials and residents in countries whose citizens will soon be banned expressed dismay and disbelief.

Chad President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno said he had instructed his government to stop granting visas to US citizens in response to Trump’s action.

“Chad has neither planes to offer nor billions of dollars to give, but Chad has its dignity and its pride,” he said in a Facebook post, referring to countries such as Qatar, which gifted the U.S. a luxury airplane for Trump’s use and promised to invest billions of dollars in the U.S.

Afghans who worked for the US or US-funded projects and were hoping to resettle in the US expressed fear that the travel ban would force them to return to their country, where they could face reprisal from the Taliban.

Democratic US lawmakers also voiced concern about the policies.

“Trump’s travel ban on citizens from over 12 countries is draconian and unconstitutional,” said US Representative Ro Khanna on social media late on Thursday. “People have a right to seek asylum.”

The post Trump’s Travel Ban on 12 Countries Goes Into Effect Early Monday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it struck a member of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in southern Syria’s Mazraat Beit Jin, days after Israel carried out its first airstrikes in the country in nearly a month.

Hamas did not immediately comment on the strike.

Israel said on Tuesday it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel for the first time under the country’s new leadership. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz held Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa accountable.

Damascus in response said reports of the shelling were unverified, reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party.

A little known group named “Martyr Muhammad Deif Brigades,” an apparent reference to Hamas’ military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024, reportedly claimed responsibility for the shelling. Reuters, however, could not independently verify the claim.

The post Israeli Military Says It Struck Hamas Member in Southern Syria first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg

FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.

Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.

“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen .. does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.

“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”

Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.

Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist terrorists launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave.

Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.

“The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.

The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.

FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.

Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.

The post Israel Orders Military to Stop Gaza-Bound Yacht Carrying Greta Thunberg first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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