RSS
Jewish Homes Defaced With Swastikas in Baltimore, Police Investigating
Swastikas graffitied in the Glen neighborhood of Baltimore. Photo: Screenshot
Baltimore’s mayor and police chief have denounced a recent slew of antisemitic incidents in which the homes of Jewish families in the Glen section of the city were graffitied with swastikas.
“Our Baltimore Jewish community has endured violence, vandalism, and other acts of hate that only seek to intimidate and threaten,” Mayor Brandon Scott (D) said in a statement issued on Thursday. “To those individuals who are responsible, we only have one message: these antisemitic acts are despicable, and you will be held accountable.”
As many as 10 homes were targeted in the spree of hate, according to a local NBC affiliate, shocking locals who were dismayed that the incidents occurred in their neighborhood. Meanwhile, Baltimore law enforcement officials, who this week decried similar incidents that struck the city in recent months, have opened a hate crime investigation to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“We will not tolerate any form of hate, towards any community or any person in our city,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said on Thursday. “I remain resolute that the [Baltimore Police Department] will investigate all acts of hate, intimidation, or violence towards anyone or any community. Any individual found to be responsible will and must be held accountable, and we will work with our local, state, and federal partners to pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law for these incidents.”
Antisemitism on the streets of Baltimore, one of the most progressive cities in the US, has brutalized the Jewish community there, according to numerous reports by local outlets and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has documented incidents of vandalism, harassment, and assault.
In December, for example, vandals twice “slashed” a pro-Israel sign displayed on the lawn of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in Pikesville, local media reported. In a later incident in March, a gang of teenagers mugged and assaulted two Jewish men who were walking into their synagogue. The youths reportedly chased one of the men and stole a “large amount of cash” from the other. More recently, an Israeli flag was ripped and stolen from the porch of a doctor’s office earlier this month.
Across the state of Maryland, which had the seventh most antisemitic incidents in the US in 2023, outrages targeting the Jewish community increased 211 percent compared to the prior year, according to the ADL’s latest data. Virginia, a neighboring state, saw a 223 percent increase in 2023, a problem lawmakers have sought to address by applying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism to hate crimes investigations. Across the US, antisemitic incidents spiked to record levels following Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7.
“We’re seeing it on our college campuses in the area,” Baltimore Jewish Council executive director Howard Libit told the Baltimore Jewish Times in December amid a torrent of anti-Jewish hatred which followed Hamas’ atrocities. “We’re seeing it in some of high schools. We’re seeing it on social media in particular. Everyone involved in social media, whether they’re here or anywhere in the world, is seeing a huge spike in antisemitism.”
Baltimore is not the only major city where antisemitism is rampant. According to an Algemeiner analysis of New York City Police Department (NYPD) Crime Statistics data, between October and April, there were 285 antisemitic hate crimes in New York City’s five boroughs, a figure just slightly lower than the total recorded in all of 2022.
Recently, the district attorney’s office of Manhattan indicted a sixth man for participating in a May 2021 gang assault on Joseph “Joey” Borgen, a Long Island resident who had been attending a pro-Israel demonstration when he was brutally attacked by men screaming antisemitic epithets.
Borgen was wearing a kippah while walking in Manhattan when Mohammed Othman, along with five other men, ambushed him without being provoked. They also shouted antisemitic slurs at and discharged pepper-spray into the eyes of the pro-Israel advocate, who suffered a concussion, wrist injury, black eye, and bruises all over his body during the attack. Two years after the attack, Borgen told The Algemeiner that the injuries he sustained that day, both physical and psychological, continue to diminish his quality of life.
Across the US, 8,873 antisemitic incidents were perpetrated against Jewish the people— an average of 24 every day — in 2023, amounting to a year unlike any experienced by the American Jewish community since the organization began tracking such data on antisemitic outrages in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all spiked by double and triple digits, with California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Massachusetts accounting for nearly half, or 48 percent, of all that occurred.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Jewish Homes Defaced With Swastikas in Baltimore, Police Investigating first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.
RSS
Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson
Illustrative. Vandals defaced the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia on June 22, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – A wave of antisemitic incidents across Melbourne is under urgent investigation by Victoria Police, after a synagogue was set alight, a Jewish-owned restaurant targeted by protesters, and a third attack saw multiple cars torched at a business in the city’s northeast.
The third incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at a business on Para Road in Greensborough. Offenders set fire to three vehicles and sprayed graffiti on both the cars and a nearby building wall. One car was destroyed, and two others sustained moderate damage.
“There were references of antisemitism in the graffiti,” Dunstan confirmed, adding that the business had previously been linked to pro-Palestinian activism.
While police say no direct link between the three incidents has been established yet, they are not ruling out the possibility of coordination.
The attacks began Friday night, when a man was seen pouring a flammable liquid on the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and setting it alight around 8 p.m., while around 20 people were inside for Shabbat services. Worshipers quickly evacuated through the back, and the fire was contained to the front of the building. No injuries were reported.
Police have released an image of a suspect believed to be in his 30s, of Caucasian appearance, with a beard and long hair.
Just hours after the synagogue arson, a protest of around 70 people moved through Swanston Street before a smaller group gathered outside Miznon, a popular Jewish-owned restaurant in the CBD, chanting offensive slogans. One man was arrested and later released on summons for hindering police.
In response to the series of attacks, federal agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) have joined the investigation.
“This is disgraceful behavior by a pack of cowards,” said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. “Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate. Any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism. There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is.”
The post Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump said he would discuss Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the White House on Monday.
“I would say it’s set back permanently,” Trump said as he traveled to New Jersey after an Independence Day celebration at the White House. “I would think they’d have to start at a different location. And if they did start, it would be a problem.”
Trump said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.
The U.S. and Israel say Iran was enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg (880 pounds) enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
The post Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.