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Indiana woman attacks Black Hebrew Israelite building, believing it to be Jewish
(JTA) — She thought she was attacking an “Israel school” on behalf of “her people back in Palestine.” Instead an Indiana woman backed her car into a building being used by a group that uses Jewish symbols while often engaging in antisemitic harassment.
That’s according to local news reports and Jewish leaders in Indianapolis, after police arrested Ruba Almaghtheh, 34, Saturday for her attack on a building belonging to a Hebrew Israelite sect, a Black nationalist group.
The police report said she admitted she had intentionally backed her car into a building labeled “Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge,” which has a logo of a distorted Star of David on the front, and announced she did it for “her people back in Palestine” after watching news coverage of the war. There were children inside the building at the time; police labeled Almaghtheh a “terrorist” and leveled a preliminary charge of criminal recklessness.
The local Jewish federation issued a security alert for its community in the wake of the incident on Saturday.
“Although a Jewish facility was not targeted, solely due to ironic misidentification, this is yet another reminder to maintain security protocols, remain vigilant of suspicious activity and to report same promptly to the appropriate authorities,” said the statement signed by leaders of the federation and the local Jewish community relations council.
The incident adds to a growing list of planned or actual attacks on Jews amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and spiking antisemitism that has accompanied it. In the United States, people have been arrested in recent weeks for breaking into Jewish homes and directing antisemitic threats at Jewish organizations, Jewish politicians and Jewish college students, while Jews in France have also been attacked and an antisemitic mob recently swarmed an airport in Russia’s Dagestan region.
Following Almaghtheh’s arrest, the local Jewish federation, Jewish Community Relations Council and its security advisory group, Safe Indiana, alerted the local Jewish community to the incident. The groups stated that the “threat level” for Jewish safety in the area “has not increased,” even as it appeared Almaghtheh had meant to target a Jewish building.
The Israelite School of Universal and Practical Knowledge is one of a number of Hebrew Israelite sects condemned as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League because of their tactics and rhetoric, which includes claiming that Black people are the only “true” Jews. (Not all Hebrew Israelite sects employ those tactics and rhetoric, and some Hebrew Israelites collaborate with Jewish communities. The ADL is careful to distinguish the sects from actual Jews of color.)
Almaghtheh is expected in court on Wednesday. Local police have alerted the FBI to the incident. Requests for comment to the Safe Indiana regional security advisor were not returned.
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The post Indiana woman attacks Black Hebrew Israelite building, believing it to be Jewish appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.