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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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Hamas Releases New Hostage Body It Claims Is Shiri Bibas
Israelis sit together as they light candles and hold posters with the images Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, on the day the bodies of deceased hostages, identified at the time by Palestinian terror groups as Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children, were handed over under the terms of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itay Cohen
Hamas released a body on Friday it claimed to be that of Israeli hostage Shiri Bibas, whose misidentification in a handover this week threatened to derail the fragile Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israeli medical authorities said forensic teams were preparing to examine the body, which Hamas transferred via the Red Cross, and confirm its identity.
The Palestinian terrorist group had agreed to hand over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two young sons Kfir and Ariel along with the remains of a fourth hostage on Thursday under the ceasefire that has halted fighting in Gaza since last month.
Four bodies were delivered and the identities of the Bibas boys and the other hostage, Oded Lifshitz, were confirmed.
But Israeli specialists said the fourth body was that of an unidentified woman and not Shiri Bibas, who was kidnapped along with her sons and her husband, Yarden, during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, said “unfortunate mistakes” could occur, especially as Israeli bombing had mixed the bodies of Israeli hostages and Palestinians.
“We confirm that it is not in our values or our interest to keep any bodies or not to abide by the covenants and agreements that we sign,” he said in a statement.
The failure to hand over the correct body and the staged public handover of the four coffins on Thursday caused outrage in Israel and drew a threat of retaliation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will act with determination to bring Shiri home along with all our hostages – both living and dead – and ensure Hamas pays the full price for this cruel and evil violation of the agreement,” he said in a video statement.
Hamas said in November 2023 that the children and their mother had been killed in an Israeli air strike. Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Netanyahu “bears full responsibility for killing her and her children.”
But the Israeli military said intelligence assessments and forensic analysis of the bodies of the Bibas children indicated that they were deliberately killed by their captors. Chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the boys were killed by the terrorists “with their bare hands,” but gave no details.
The UN Human Rights Office said it had no information of its own on the hostage deaths and called for an effective investigation into the causes.
“The return of the remains of the deceased is a basic humanitarian goal,” the office said.
The incident underscored the fragility of the ceasefire agreement reached with US backing and with the help of Qatari and Egyptian mediators last month.
SATURDAY EXCHANGE
Six living hostages were due for release on Saturday in exchange for 602 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, according to Hamas, and the start of negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire was expected in the coming days.
“Hamas must return the hostages as agreed in the ceasefire – the living and the deceased,” Israeli military spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said in a statement on social media platform X. “They have to bring Shiri back, and they have to release the 6 living hostages expected tomorrow.”
Netanyahu’s office confirmed it had been officially informed of the names of the six hostages to be released, which Hamas sources said was expected at around 8:30 am (0630 GMT).
As the tension over the Gaza ceasefire rose, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify operations in another Palestinian territory, the West Bank, after a number of explosions blew up buses standing empty in their depots near Tel Aviv.
No casualties were reported but the explosions were a reminder of the campaign of suicide attacks on public transport that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.
‘THEY MAKE A JOKE OF US’
Both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused the other of ceasefire violations, with Hamas threatening to delay the release of hostages over what it said was Israel‘s refusal to allow housing materials and other aid into Gaza, a charge Israel denied.
The Red Cross told Reuters it was “concerned and unsatisfied” that the handover of the bodies had not been conducted privately and in a dignified manner.
“It’s like they make a joke of us,” said 75-year-old Israeli Ilana Caspi. “We are so in grief and this is even more.”
One of the main groups representing hostage families said it was “horrified and devastated” by the news that Shiri Bibas’ body had not been returned but called for the ceasefire to continue to bring back all 70 hostages still in Gaza.
“Save them from this nightmare,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
Despite the outrage over Shiri Bibas, there was no indication that Israel would not take part in talks over a second phase of the ceasefire deal.
The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that Israeli negotiators were considering seeking an extension of the 42-day ceasefire, to delay moving to a second phase, which would involve talks over hard-to-resolve issues including an end to the war and the future of Hamas in Gaza.
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US Rep. Nancy Mace Torches Colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Suggesting Cuts to Israel Military Aid
US Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC). Photo: Reuters
US Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has lambasted fellow Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) over her previous suggestions that the United States cut funding to Israel for humanitarian purposes.
Mace posted on social media that she is currently visiting Israel to witness the aftermath of the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks which left roughly 1,200 dead and 250 abducted.
“I’m in Israel where last night 3 buses were bombed. I’m here to see the evil that invaded Israel and deeply harmed her Jewish people on 10/7,” Mace wrote.
“We gave $9 billion in humanitarian and disaster aid for Gaza last year – at least half of which, $4.5 billion since AOC can’t count, ended up funding terrorism. Our resources have enabled mass terrorism in Gaza and elsewhere. See UN and USAID as additional examples,” Mace continued. “Also – what’s democracy to terrorists who want to kill all Jews and Christians. Move to Gaza since you and your caucus love Hamas so much.”
Observers have argued that humanitarian funding for Gaza, including money from the US, often ends up going to the Hamas terrorist group, the most powerful and organized faction in the Palestinian enclave. Many countries, including the US, have paused funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is responsible for Palestinian refugees and their descendants, for harboring close ties to Hamas terrorists. The Israeli government and research organizations have publicized findings showing numerous UNRWA-employed staff, including teachers and school principals, directly participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.
Mace was responding to an April 2024 clip from “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” in which Ocasio-Cortez accused Israel of inflicting a famine on Gaza as revenge for Oct. 7. The firebrand progressive accused Israel of “human rights” violations in Gaza and argued that the Jewish state has undermined Palestinian “civil rights.” Ocasio-Cortez lamented that “US taxpayer assistance” has helped facilitate what she considers a dereliction of American values.
“It’s not just about Israel. It’s not just about Gaza. This is about us, because this is US taxpayer assistance and what is being financed with our resources, and if any conflict is going to have US resources, then it does become a matter of our values,” Ocasio-Cortez said to Stephen Colbert.
She then called on the United States to reaffirm its “commitment to human rights, to the sanctity of civil rights, to the rules of war” by canceling arms transfers to Israel.
Over the past year, Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly condemned the Jewish state’s response to the Hamas terrorist group’s brutal Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout southern Israel. She has accused the Jewish state of committing a “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, arguing that the conflict has been “generationally radicalizing” for young Americans. She has also boasted of leading a “whip operation” to garner votes from fellow Democrats to block aid to Israel.
Since entering Congress in 2021, Mace has often defended Israel. Earlier this week, Mace repudiated Palestinian American supermodel Bella Hadid for holding a map that depicts the elimination of Israel. In May 2024, Mace defended Israel’s military conduct in Gaza as “biblical warfare,” and she has slammed her Democratic colleagues for not being more outspoken about the widespread rapes of Israeli women during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 rampage.
“I can’t think of anything more shameful than to see these women’s groups, to see women on the left, women in the House, my colleagues on the left who refuse to say what this is, which is shameful. It’s disgusting. It’s barbaric,” she said. “And we ought to be condemning it from every corner of our country. Every woman should be condemning this. And I think it’s shameful.”
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Swarthmore College Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Over Building Takeover
Illustrative: 2023-2024 anti-Israel encampment installed on the Swarthmore College campus in Pennsylvania. Photo: Screenshot
Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has temporarily barred Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) from operating on its campus while school officials investigate the group’s surprise but unsuccessful attempt to take over an administrative building earlier this week.
“We cannot ignore the ways in which some of the behavior we experienced Wednesday put the safety and well-being of our community at risk,” college president Valerie Smith, the school’s highest ranking official, said in a statement. “Wednesday’s actions constitute significant, numerous violations of the Student Code of Conduct, and individuals found responsible for violating college policies will be held accountable.”
She continued, “We have notified Swarthmore’s SJP chapter that the group is on an interim suspension effective immediately. During this interim period, SJP will be unable to access college funs, schedule or host events on campus, or access any other college resources available to student organizations.”
As previously reported by The Algemeiner, SJP raided the college’s Parrish Hall dressed like Hamas fighters, their faces wrapped with and concealed by keffiyehs. The move came as a surprise. While the group had announced an “emergency rally” scheduled for noon that day, there was little indication that it planned on commandeering the building and remaining inside of it indefinitely.
By the time the college formally warned the students that their behavior would trigger disciplinary measures, they had shouted slogans through bullhorns, attempted to break into offices that had been locked to keep them out, and pounded the doors of others that refused to admit them access. Meanwhile, SJP collaborators reportedly circumvented security’s lockdown of the building to smuggle food inside. Several students then grew impatient and attempted to end the lockdown themselves by raiding the building, and in doing so caused a physical altercation with security, whom they proceeded to pelt with expletives and other imprecations.
“What the f—k is your problem?” a female student, captured in video shared by The Phoenix, the official campus newspaper, can be heard screaming at an official who used his body to block a protester from forcing his way inside. “B—ch! F—k you! Stop f—king touching people, bruh!”
The protest lasted 11 hours, according to The Phoenix, after which communications vice president Andy Hirsch suggested that no one would be punished over the incident because SJP evacuated the building before an 11pm deadline set by student affairs vice president Stephanie Ives.
Smith’s latest statement on the incident walked back Hirsch’s, stressing that SJP committed egregious infractions of the school’s code of conduct.
“SJP organized and led the actions described above, creating an untenable learning, living, and working environment that no member of our community should have to endure. The group’s alleged behavior runs counter to the college’s values and our commitment to inclusivity and well-being,” she said. “As we uphold and promote the important role of peaceful protest and dissent, I hope we will do so in ways that result in meaningful, productive dialogue rather than deeper divisions.”
Swarthmore College is not the first US college or university to see the attempted takeover of school property this semester, and it is one of several to levy sanctions against either an entire chapter or its individual members.
Earlier this month, SJP installed an encampment inside Bowdoin’s College Smith Union to demand a boycott of Israel and signal its opposition to US President Donald Trump’s proposing that Gazans be resettled elsewhere while the Palestinian enclave is transformed into a hub for tourism and job creation under American control. Bowdoin, moving quickly to quell the disruption, persuaded its students to abandon the effort after just four days by levying interim suspensions on several dozen of them and notifying their families.
Days before, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) suspended both Students for Justice in Palestine and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine following their vandalizing the home of a Jewish member of the Board of Regents, the governing body for the University of California system.
According to The Daily Bruin, on Feb. 5 roughly 50 of the groups’ members amassed on the property of UC Regent Jay Sures and threatened that he must “divest now or pay.” As part of the demonstration, the students imprinted their hands, which had been submerged in red paint to symbolize the spilling of blood, all over Sures’ garage door and cordoned the area with caution tape.
The behavior crossed the line, UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said in an email, portions of which were quoted by The Bruin and can be found online, sent to the entire student body.
“Rigorous, healthy dialogue is central to everything we do to advance knowledge,” he explained. “What there should never be room for is violence. No one should ever fear for their safety. Without the basic feeling of safety, humans cannot learn, teach, work, and live — much less thrive and flourish. This is true no matter what group you are a member of — or which identities you hold. There is no place for violence in our Bruin community.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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