Demonstrators participate in a pro-Palestinian protest in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on November 23, 2024 (Photo by Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto)

A Jewish man from France and his child were verbally assaulted at a gas station near Milan in Italy this week by a group of pro-Palestinian supporters — an incident that has triggered strong condemnation from the country’s Jewish community.

On Monday, a group of pro-Palestinian individuals shouted antisemitic slurs at a Jewish man and his son after spotting the child wearing a kippah, hurling phrases like “Free Palestine” and “murderers” as they passed by.

The incident was captured and widely shared on social media, showing the father shouting “Am Yisrael Chai” — Hebrew for “The people of Israel live” — in response to the antisemitic insults, while his child appeared visibly upset.

Amid a growing wave of antisemitic hate crimes, this latest incident has sparked widespread outrage on social media, with activists and the local Jewish community calling for urgent and decisive measures to combat the increasing anti-Jewish hatred across Europe.

Yossi Spitzky, a French-Jewish public relations activist, denounced the incident on social media, calling the surge in antisemitism “completely unbearable.”

“A Jewish man stopped at a gas station on a highway in Italy and was targeted with chants of ‘Free Palestine’ just because his son was wearing a kippah. He’s French — this has nothing to do with Israel,” he wrote in a post on social media.

“How far have we fallen? Don’t you think this has gone too far? In ten years, will we be saying ‘never again,’ or will we choose to stand up against this hatred now?” he continued.

The incident comes amid a surge in antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment across Europe and around the world since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

In Italy, Jewish individuals have been facing a surge in hostility and targeted attacks, including vandalism of murals and businesses, as well as physical assaults. Community leaders warn that such incidents are becoming more frequent amid growing tensions related to the war in Gaza.

Last month, a masked individual targeted a synagogue in Rome, spray-painting a swastika and antisemitic slogans — “Sieg Heil” (“Hail Victory”) and “Juden Raus” (“Jews Out”) — on a sign near the entrance.

In May, a restaurant in Naples forced an Israeli family to leave, telling them, “Zionists are not welcome here.”

Earlier this year, a homeless Egyptian man in Rome attacked a Jewish boy and injured a shopkeeper who tried to intervene. In a separate incident, anti-Israel protesters defaced a synagogue with graffiti reading “Justice for a Free Gaza.”

Last year, a hotel manager in Rome canceled an Israeli couple’s reservation just one day before their trip, accusing them of genocide and telling them the hotel would “be happy to grant free cancellation.”

“We inform you that the Israeli people as those responsible for genocide are not welcome customers in our structure,” the hotel manager told the Israeli couple.

The post Jewish Father and Son Verbally Assaulted in Italy Over Child’s Kippah first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Palestinian children compelled to participate in a Hamas military parade. Photo: Twitter.

The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel was a global wake-up call, directly threatening American national security. This calculated act of international terrorism, claiming nearly 1,200 lives and approximately 250 hostages from more than 40 nations, shattered any illusion of contained threats.

Hamas, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization and a core component of Iran’s “axis of resistance,” poses a direct imperative for American security. Its persistence sets a dangerous precedent, endangering US interests and citizens worldwide.

Hamas is an Islamist militant organization, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, explicitly committed to Israel’s destruction and the murder of Jews through jihadist violence. The October 7 attack, a chilling tactical shift, showcased its depraved disregard for human life. A core Hamas strategy is the cynical exploitation of civilian life: it deliberately embeds military assets — weapons, rockets, and extensive terror tunnels — within densely populated areas, using human shields. This calculated tactic weaponizes civilian casualties for propaganda, creating a perverse global incentive for terror groups.

Iran, Hamas’ critical benefactor, provides substantial financial, military, and political support, making Hamas integral to Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and US interests. Hamas’ actions and perceived resilience serve as a dangerous template for global terror networks. Under Hamas, Gaza became a radical Islamic entity and a haven for global jihadist organizations, with ideological convergence and operational crossovers evident with groups like Al-Qaeda. Its ability to execute large-scale assaults and survive creates an “operational success” narrative, and inspires emulation and recruitment. Innovative tactics, like using commercial drones and bulldozers to breach borders, demonstrate dangerous adaptability.

The Israel-Hamas war has profoundly reshaped the global terrorist threat, directly impacting the United States. Hamas’ brutal October 7 assault, driven by its radical Islamist ideology, has been seized upon by jihadist groups worldwide as a call to action. This perceived operational success and the group’s Islamist narrative, are actively exploited by international and domestic extremists to radicalize and recruit individuals across the United States, leveraging social media for unprecedented virtual access.

The Islamist ideology espoused by Hamas, fundamentally rejecting Western democratic ideals, directly fuels antisemitic and anti-Israel sentiment. This translates into tangible plots targeting Jewish communities, pro-Israel organizations, and US government and military interests.

Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including Hamas itself and Iran-backed Hezbollah — a critical partner in Iran’s axis of resistance — have explicitly called for violence against US assets and personnel globally. Hezbollah, with its established global criminal-financial network, has actively attempted to seed operatives within the United States, posing a direct and grave danger to American lives and interests.

Beyond direct violence, the threat extends significantly into the cyber domain, identified as one of the fastest growing dangers to US national and economic security. Pro-Iranian hacktivists and state-affiliated cyber actors, often linked to the same networks supporting groups like Hamas, may conduct disruptive attacks against US networks and critical infrastructure. The broader destabilization caused by persistent terror groups like Hamas and their state sponsors imposes a significant strain on US resources, diverting funding, increasing geopolitical risk, and fueling inflation, with long-term implications for economic stability and increased defense spending.

History warns against the dangers of persistent terror groups, and unresolved conflicts fuel tension and crises. While Hamas’ ideology may persist, its capacity for violence can be constrained, turning it from a major threat to a marginal irritant.

Eliminating Hamas is a self-interested imperative for US national security. Its military capabilities pose an enduring threat, allowing it to shape political reality. Hamas has historically reconstituted after attempted defeat, emerging scarred but triumphant from security vacuums. US counterterrorism strategy mandates persistent pressure to prevent reemergence. Denying Hamas its capacity for violence, dismantling its infrastructure, and severing its funding is a necessary, pragmatic step to secure America’s long-term interests and prevent future, more costly interventions.

America must therefore act decisively, leveraging its full national power — military, intelligence, diplomatic, and financial — to ensure the complete dismantling of Hamas’ operational capabilities and infrastructure. This pragmatic, self-interested approach is essential to safeguard the nation, protect American lives, and secure a stable future against the pervasive dangers of global terrorism. To tolerate Hamas’ continued existence is to accept a world perpetually menaced by those who reject peace and embrace violence

Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx

The post Beyond Borders: Why American Security Depends on Hamas’ Demise first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

A UN official is getting her due for persecuting Israel and the United States using a bogus international court system — and she won’t be the last.

On July 9, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese. Albanese has used her platform at the United Nations to relentlessly attack Israel and wage economic warfare against US companies.

The sanctions sent reverberations through other UN bodies that have been weaponizing international law to fuel illegitimate investigations focusing on the United States and Israel.

Days after the State Department’s announcement, all three commissioners of the UN’s Commission of Inquiry — another UN mechanism established for attacking Israel at Turtle Bay — resigned their posts.  

The Trump administration has sanctioned officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the past in response to attacks on the United States and Israel. However, this is the first time that Washington has acted not just against the overreaching court itself, but against those, such as Albanese, that directly engage in the ICC’s efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel.

On July 3, Albanese submitted a report to the UN that called on member states to boycott and sanction the Jewish State. The special rapporteur also urged UN member states and the ICC to investigate and prosecute corporations and their executives — including those of American companies — who have done business with Israel.

The ICC was established in 2002 with the lofty goal of prosecuting individuals for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The court was supposed to intervene only when countries were unwilling or unable to genuinely investigate or prosecute such crimes themselves, and the US government has long argued that the ICC has jurisdiction only over countries that are party to the Rome Statute.

When the court was established, both the US and Israel — two democracies that have robust judicial systems and internal review processes — declined to join the court, fearing it would become yet another venue for lawfare – i.e. the weaponization of law to pursue a political agenda.

Unfortunately, the American and Israeli fears were justified; the ICC has become one of the world’s premier venues for lawfare against both the US and Israel.

President Donald Trump’s efforts to combat the ICC began during his first term. In 2020, the court’s then-chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, opened an investigation that put the US military and the entire defense establishment at risk of arrest when traveling abroad. They could then be imprisoned until trial at The Hague.

Washington opposed the investigation, arguing that not only did the court lack jurisdiction, but the court was superfluous, as the United States was capable of handling such investigations. The Trump administration attempted to block the investigation, publishing an executive order that threatened visa bans and sanctions on ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members.

Despite the explicit warning from Washington, Bensouda pursued the investigation. And in September 2020, Washington sanctioned the chief prosecutor and one member of her staff, freezing their assets in the United States and listing them as “specially designated nationals,” a title usually reserved for terrorists and international drug traffickers.

The Biden administration foolishly reversed Trump’s order, arguing that engagement is the best way to make progress with those that wish to harm the United States and our allies.

Likely emboldened by the Biden administration’s decision, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in the last months of Biden’s term.

Trump remedied the Biden administration’s wrong-footed policy in February, publishing Executive Order 14203, designating the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan. Three months later the State Department added sanctions on four ICC judges.

The Executive Order broadened the administration’s authorities to tackle the ICC, authorizing sanctions on those directly engaged with the international court. Albanese would have been wise to heed the administration’s warning and think twice before producing the report that urged the prosecution of more than a dozen US companies and their executives.

 A July 18 preliminary injunction issued by a US district court judge in Maine has been characterized as blocking enforcement of the order. However, the injunction only bars the government from enforcing the executive order against two US citizens, and only in response to their “provision of speech-based services to the ICC.” All of the foreign persons sanctioned under the order thus far – Karim Khan, four ICC judges, and Francesca Albanese — remain sanctioned. 

The lawfare industry is robust and presents dozens of additional targets for sanctions under Trump’s executive order. Going forward, the Trump administration should sanction the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF). The group exists to pursue legal action, in both international and national courts, against individuals they deem responsible for alleged Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. The HRF is endangering more than 1,000 IDF soldiers by urging they be arrested if they leave Israel so that they can be tried for war crimes. By directly engaging with the ICC in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israelis , the Hind Rajab Foundation is clearly deserving of legal consequences, just as special rapporteur Albanese is.

Enia Krivine is the senior director of the Israel Program and the National Security Network at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow her on X @EKrivine.

The post Marco Rubio Fights Lawfare with Sanctions — and Wins first appeared on Algemeiner.com.