Labour MP David Taylor also sent a letter to Glastonbury co-creator Sir Michael Eavis, pressuring him to remove Kneecap from the festival’s line-up in June. Taylor said it would be “deeply troubling” to see the band perform at the event.
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Jewish Life Stories: Hasidic filmmaker Menachem Daum, pioneering publisher Carol Hupping Fisher
This article is also available as a weekly newsletter, “Life Stories,” where we remember those who made an outsize impact in the Jewish world — or just left their community a better or more interesting place. Subscribe here to get “Life Stories” in your inbox every Tuesday.
(JTA) — Filmmaker Menachem Daum, a member of Brooklyn’s Gerer hasidic movement whose documentaries challenged preconceptions about haredi Jews and Polish gentiles, died Jan. 7. He was 77.
A gerontologist by training, Daum and his frequent collaborator, Oren Rudavsky, made the 1997 PBS documentary, “A Life Apart: Hasidism in America,” which introduced many Americans to his community from a rare insider’s perspective. In “Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust” (2004), he traveled to Poland in part to dispel his religious sons’ mistrust of gentiles by finding the Polish family that helped save his parents during the Holocaust. And in “The Ruins of Lifta” (2016), he and Rudavsky documented the efforts of an Israeli-Arab group trying to prevent an empty Arab village from being demolished by Israeli developers.
Daum was born October 5, 1946 at the Landsburg Displaced Persons Camp in Germany, and lived in Brooklyn most of his life. Last year, Daum told the news site Shtetl that he made “A Life Apart” as a way to honor his father, a Holocaust survivor and devoted Hasid. And he made “Hiding and Seeking” to challenge his community’s discourse around gentiles. “As a Jewish filmmaker, I use film to challenge stereotypes,” he told the Jewish Standard in 2022. “If Jews thought that all Poles were incorrigible antisemites, I can show films about the Poles who protected my family, and Poles who now are going to great lengths to protect Jewish cemeteries.”
Author and filmmaker Eva Fogelman, whose advice Daum sought in making “Hiding and Seeking,” told JTA she appreciated his “courage to speak out against intolerance within a religious community that was healing itself from persecution and is not ready to embrace ‘the other.’”
A bat mitzvah at 91
Holocaust survivor Eugenia Unger, then 91, celebrates her bat mitzvah in Buenos Aires in 2017. (Facebook screenshot)
In 2017, after decades in which she shared her experiences of surviving the Majdanek and Auschwitz concentration camps, Eugenia Unger made national news in Argentina by celebrating her bat mitzvah at age 91. She was called to the Torah at the Herzliya Jewish community center and synagogue in Buenos Aires, which also organized a birthday celebration in her honor. She told Argentine media that “the culmination of my whole life is my bat mitzvah.” One of the founding members of the Holocaust Museum of Buenos Aires in 2000, she wrote three books about her experiences. Unger died Dec. 19 in a private hospital in Buenos Aires. She was 97.
A tireless defender of public health
Sidney M. Wolfe (1937–2024), physician who challenged drug companies. (Wikimedia Commons)
In 1967, the Cleveland-born physician Sidney Wolfe traveled to the South to provide medical care during voter registration drives. There he met the consumer activist Ralph Nader, and the two would go on to found Public Citizen. As head of its affiliated Health Research Group, Wolfe demanded accountability from the pharmaceutical industry and government regulators, leading campaigns to drive dangerous or mislabeled prescription drugs and devices off the market. His book “Worst Pills, Best Pills: A Consumer’s Guide to Avoiding Drug-Induced Death or Illness” was a perennial bestseller. In 1992, Manhattan’s Central Synagogue presented him with its annual Shofar Award, given to those “whose accomplishment, mission, and goals in pursuit of social justice are informed by the highest principles of Judaism and the Jewish people.” Wolfe died Jan. 1 at his home in Washington. He was 86.
A Jewish publishing pioneer
Carol Hupping Fisher of the Jewish Publication Society served as publishing director, managing editor and chief operating officer. (Courtesy Fisher family)
When Carol Hupping Fisher interviewed at the Jewish Publication Society in the late 1990s, it felt like a perfect fit. “I was pursuing my Jewish education as somebody getting ready to convert,” Fisher, who grew up Protestant, told the Jewish Exponent in 2016, “and I was in publishing, so it was a beautiful blend of my personal life getting to extend … into my professional life.” Fisher would go on to become publishing director, managing editor and chief operating officer for the Philadelphia-based JPS, shepherding over 100 books into print — including “Etz Hayim,” the Conservative movement Torah commentary — and overseeing a partnership between JPS and the University of Nebraska. Before joining JPS, she was the first female and youngest vice president of publishing at Rodale Press, a publisher of health and wellness magazines and books. Raised in Merrick, New York, she died Dec. 14 of glioblastoma at her home in Collingswood, New Jersey.
A “rabbi’s rabbi” and scholar of Yiddish
Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith was a professor, pulpit rabbi and co-editor of “Dynamic Judaism: The Essential Writings of Mordecai M. Kaplan.” (Queens College)
As a scholar of Yiddish literature, Rabbi Emanuel S. Goldsmith taught Jewish Studies at Queens College and other universities, and was the author, in 1997, of “Modern Yiddish Culture,” described as the first history of the 20th-century Yiddishist movement. As a pulpit rabbi he led congregations in Scarsdale, New York; Hyde Park, Massachusetts, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. And as a committed Reconstructionist Jew, he became an expert in the work of his teacher and the movement’s founder, Mordecai Kaplan. “Manny was a rabbi’s rabbi,” Mel Scult, co-editor with Goldsmith of the book “Dynamic Judaism: The Essential Writings of Mordecai M. Kaplan,” wrote in a tribute. “Manny’s scholarship was vast, and he was particularly proud of the contacts and articles he published making Kaplan known not only to the Jewish community but also to many Christian colleagues.” Goldsmith died Jan. 5. He was 88.
A rabbi’s son who helmed The New York Times
Joseph Lelyveld served as executive editor of The New York Times during a period of peak profits and expanding readership. (©Nita Lelyveld/Penguin Random House)
Joseph Lelyveld, a rabbi’s son who became a renowned foreign correspondent and who served as executive editor of The New York Times from 1994 to 2001 — a period of peak profits and expanding readership — died Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 86. Lelyveld’s father, Arthur, was a leader of the Reform movement and a civil rights activist who helped influence President Harry S. Truman’s decision to recognize the State of Israel. In a 2005 memoir, Joseph recalled how his preoccupied parents shipped him off as a child to live with a Seventh-Day Adventist family and later his paternal grandparents in Brooklyn. As the son of a prominent Zionist, Lelyveld served as an intermediary with Jewish critics of the Times’ Israel coverage, but eventually lost his patience. “There has never been a Times correspondent who was considered honorable by the more extreme faction of pro-Israel readers,’’ he told a researcher in 2012.
Faces of Israel’s Fallen
David Schwartz, left, and Yakir Hexter were photographed learning together in the beit midrash, or study hall, of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shvut, in a program for Israeli soldiers. (Via Facebook)
Two Israeli combat engineers who were chevrutas, or study partners, at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Alon Shvut were killed Monday in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the Gaza city of Khan Younis, the IDF said. David Schwartz and Yakir Hexter, both 26, were part of a paratrooper force, and, as the Times of Israel explained, “tasked with some of the most dangerous work as part of the IDF’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, scanning Hamas’s tunnel networks and destroying them, along with other sites, with explosives.”
Schwartz was married to Meital Schwartz, whose father Joseph Gitler is the founder and chairman of Leket Israel, the country’s largest food non-profit. David’s sister Shira Meirman is currently an Israeli emissary at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. Both soldiers, who studied together as part of an army program for religious troops, had family connections to Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a Modern Orthodox seminary in Riverdale, New York: Schwartz, from Elazar, was a nephew by marriage to YCT alumnus Rabbi Marc Gitler of Denver, Colorado; Hexter, from Jerusalem, was the nephew of YCT board member Rabba Yaffa Epstein of New York’s Jewish Education Project. Schwartz and Hexter were among nine Israeli soldiers killed in combat on Jan. 8, including six troops killed in an explosion in central Gaza. Their deaths raised the toll in Israel’s offensive to 185.
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The post Jewish Life Stories: Hasidic filmmaker Menachem Daum, pioneering publisher Carol Hupping Fisher appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Cut From Major German Festivals, Loses US Visa After Anti-Israel Statements at Coachella
Mo Chara (Naoise O Caireallain), Moglai Bap (Liam Og O Hannaidh), Rich Peppiatt, and DJ Provai of Kneecap attend the 2025 BAFTAs on Feb. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
The Irish rap group Kneecap has been dropped from two major music festivals in Germany and must look for a new sponsor for their US work visas after parting ways with their US booking agency, all of which took place after the trio shaed a “f–k Israel, free Palestine” message on stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
While pro-Israel supporters are pressuring other music festivals to remove Kneecap from their event lineups, the Hurricane Festival in northern Germany — which is one of the largest festivals in the country — and its sister event, the Southside Festival in south of the country, announced on Friday that they have both canceled performances from the rap group scheduled for June.
“The band Kneecap will not be performing at Hurricane and Southside Festival this year,” the festivals said in a statement, without giving further details.
Both festivals will feature performances by Green Day, the American rock band that has regularly expressed support on stage for “Palestine.” Kneecap, from west Belfast, announced on X that it will instead perform their first ever German headline shows in Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne in early September. The group members go by the stage names DJ Próvaí, Mo Chara, and Móglaí Bap.
Kneecap’s US booking agency, Independent Artist Group (IAG), announced late last week that the group is no longer its client. IAG – whose clients include Billy Joel and Metallica – did not specify the reason, but the move took place between the first and second weekends of the Coachella music festival, where Kneecap stirred controversy with its anti-Israel remarks. IAG sponsored Kneecap’s US work visas, which is a common practice for booking agencies and international acts. But since being dropped by the agency, it’s unclear how the band will play shows in the US, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. Kneecap has a mostly sold-out US tour scheduled to start in October.
During their second set at Coachella earlier this month, Kneecap projected three screens on stage that featured anti-Israel messages. The first screen said, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” followed by, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” A third screen displayed the text: “F–k Israel. Free Palestine.” During the performance, group member Mo Chara talked about Palestinians being “bombed from the … skies with nowhere to go.” Kneecap also led the audience to chant, “Free, free Palestine.”
After the anti-Israel display at Coachella, Sharon Osbourne — the wife of Black Sabbath lead singer Ozzy Osbourne and a former judge on “The X Factor” — called for the group’s visas to be revoked. Creative Community for Peace said Kneecap “turned their Coachella debut into a platform for hate,” and that Coachella “owes the Jewish community and the festival attendees an apology.” The nonprofit organization — which is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry — added that it warned Coachella organizers “about Kneecap’s well documented support for terrorism, but they ignored it.”
Kneecap is still scheduled to perform at a sold-out, massive outdoor show in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, in late August. The band will perform at the Belfast Vital festival at Boucher Road Playing Fields on Aug. 29 as special guests of the Irish post-punk band Fontaines DC, whose guitarist said last year “F—k Netanyahu. F—K Zionism. Free Palestine,” referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kneecap said that 40,000 tickets for the August concert at Boucher Playing Fields sold out in 35 minutes.
Boucher Playing Fields is owned by the Belfast City Council. Some observers have expressed fury that public land is being used to host Kneecap, in light of their recent controversies. However, a spokesperson for the council told the Belfast Telegraph it is not responsible for Kneecap’s appearance, and “events programming remains a matter for the organizers.”
Kneecap has a number of shows listed on its website for the summer outside the US, and they include several major music festivals, such as Primavera Sound in Spain and Glastonbury in England in June. The group is represented by Primary Talent International outside of the US.
The British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said on Monday that it has sent letters to a number of festivals, including Glastonbury, urging organizers to pull Kneecap from their line-ups. The letters also pointed out several antisemitic remarks and actions that the group has uttered done in the past, which include uploading a post on X in December 2024 that featured a cartoon with the caption “Israel is a terrorist state – F–K ISRAEL,” and a Star of David intertwined with a Nazi swastika.
“Concertgoers must be allowed to enjoy live performances without worrying about whether they may be subjected to open support for proscribed terrorist organizations that have openly declared it their mission to murder Jews,” CAA wrote. “Indeed, venues and events which seek to be inclusive must not permit their facilities to be used to promote racist, divisive and inflammatory content.”
Kneecap is also being investigated by counterterrorism police in the United Kingdom for past comments that have recently resurfaced following the group’s anti-Israel messaging at Coachella. At a concert in November 2024 at the Kentish Town Forum in London, Kneecap voiced support for Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are US- and UK-designated terrorist organizations. It is also a crime to express support for the terror groups in the UK. A year earlier, at a concert in London in November 2023, one member of Kneecap said: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP [Member of Parliament].”
Metropolitan Police in the UK said on Sunday that videos from both shows are being assessed by its counterterrorism unit “to determine whether any further police investigation may be required,” according to The Times. Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch demanded that police prosecute Kneecap because of the group’s “dead Tory” comment and Katie Amess – whose father, MP Sir David Amess, was stabbed to death in 2021 – said the rap group should apologize for “saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric.”
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday that he does not think “individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding,” according to the BBC. A UK government spokesperson further denounced Kneecap’s remarks in a statement cited by the Belfast Telegraph.
“We unequivocally condemn threatening remarks made towards any individual,” said the UK government spokesman. “Political intimidation and abuse must have no place in our society. We recognize the chilling effect that harassment and intimidation of elected representatives can have on our democracy. All reports of intimidation, harassment, and threats are taken extremely seriously. We work with the police and Parliament to do everything in our power to crack down on threats to elected officials.”
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minster Micháel Martin called on Monday for the group to “urgently clarify” their comments in which they appear to show support for Hamas and Hezbollah. Martin said any support for the Iran-backed Islamist terrorist groups, both of which openly call for Israel’s destruction, “would be unacceptable.”
“I think it’s important that free speech is always facilitated and the capacity to speak out and criticize and condemn policies of others. That’s all legitimate. But in terms of life and security and safety of people, that’s a different issue,” he added.
Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald told BBC News NI she did not agree with the group’s comments but then proceeded to make her own anti-Israel comments.
“I think the most outrageous issue facing the world today is the ongoing genocide that we are seeing in Palestine and the bombardment that continues on a daily basis, the blockading of aid, the slaughter of innocent women and children and I think that’s what our focus should be on as an international community in bringing an end to that,” she said.
After they displayed the anti-Israel message at Coachella, Kneecap’s Mo Chara told Rolling Stone magazine on April 23 that their statement was “about [the Israeli] government’s sickening actions, not ordinary people.” Kneecap further claimed in a public statement two days later that it is the victim of a “coordinated smear campaign” by those who allegedly “weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.”
“We do not give a f–k what religion anyone practices,” the group wrote in a social media post on April 25. “We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are. What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes – and we will not stay silent.”
The post Irish Rap Trio Kneecap Cut From Major German Festivals, Loses US Visa After Anti-Israel Statements at Coachella first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Warns of Immediate Retaliation to Any Israeli Strike Amid Nuclear Talks With US
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi attends a press conference following a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia, April 18, 2025. Photo: Tatyana Makeyeva/Pool via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel of attempting to sabotage the ongoing nuclear talks between the United States and Iran, warning of immediate retaliation to any military strike.
Araghchi said that Tehran was confident in its ability to counter efforts by “malicious external actors” to undermine the country’s foreign policy or dictate its direction, emphasizing that he expected his US counterparts to adopt a similar stance.
“Israel’s fantasy that it can dictate what Iran may or may not do is so detached from reality that it hardly merits a response,” the top Iranian diplomat wrote in a post on X on Monday.
“What is striking, however, is how brazenly Netanyahu is now dictating what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran,” Araghchi said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments calling for the dismantling of Tehran’s entire nuclear program.
“There is no military option, and certainly no military solution. Any strike will be immediately reciprocated,” he continued.
Israel’s fantasy that it can dictate what Iran may or may not do is so detached from reality that it hardly merits a response.
What is striking, however, is how brazenly Netanyahu is now dictating what President Trump can and cannot do in his diplomacy with Iran.…
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 28, 2025
On Sunday, Netanyahu said that the only “good deal” between Washington and Tehran would be one that dismantled “all of [Iran’s nuclear] infrastructure,” drawing a parallel to Libya’s 2003 agreement with the West, which resulted in the country halting its nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile programs.
Netanyahu also said he had urged US President Donald Trump to ensure that any nuclear agreement between the two countries prevents Tehran from advancing its ballistic missile program.
“We are in close contact with the United States. But I said, one way or the other, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” the Israeli leader said at a conference organized by the Jewish News Syndicate.
Tehran has previously rejected halting its uranium enrichment program, insisting that the country’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, despite Washington’s threats of military action, additional sanctions, and tariffs if an agreement is not reached to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.
In his response to Netanyahu, Araghchi also accused him of misleadingly framing their talks with Washington as a revival of the JCPOA — a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
“Conveniently, Netanyahu’s Allies in the Failed Biden Team — who failed to reach a deal with Iran — are FALSELY casting our indirect negotiations with the Trump administration as another JCPOA,” Araghchi wrote.
“Many Iranians no longer believe the JCPOA is sufficient. They seek tangible dividends. Nothing Netanyahu’s Allies in the Failed Biden Team say or do will change this reality,” he continued.
On Saturday, Washington and Tehran concluded their third round of nuclear talks in Oman, with discussions on technical topics like uranium enrichment and sanction relief.
As part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
“The talks in Muscat were positive and productive. There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” a senior US official said in a statement sent to reporters.
Earlier this month, the two adversaries held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal. The second round of talks took place in Rome on April 19.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is serving as a mediator between the two parties, announced that both sides agreed to meet again on May 3 in Europe for the next round of talks.
Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapon development, Western states have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
The post Iran Warns of Immediate Retaliation to Any Israeli Strike Amid Nuclear Talks With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UK Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Palestinian Authority to Advance Two-State Solution
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Palestinian Authority’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa signed a Memorandum of Understanding in London, April 28, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
The United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday to advance “Palestinian statehood” as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy hosted the PA’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in London, marking the first official visit by a PA leader to the UK since 2021.
“This visit marks a significant step in strengthening our relationship with the Palestinian Authority — a key partner for peace,” Lammy said, emphasizing that Britain is dedicated to recognizing a “Palestinian state at a time that will have the greatest impact.”
The MoU reiterates the British government’s recognition of the PA as the sole legitimate governing power in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” rejecting any role for the terrorist group Hamas — which violently eliminated its Palestinian opposition in a brief conflict in 2007, taking full control of Gaza after winning legislative elections the prior year. It also underscores the importance of reunifying Gaza and the west Bank under PA control.
“The UK will continue to press for a return to the ceasefire and a return of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Starmer wrote in a post on X.
“We are committed to a two-state solution, with lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Lammy added.
The British government also announced a £101 million ($135 million) aid package intended to provide humanitarian relief, stimulate economic development, and strengthen governance reforms in Gaza and the West Bank.
The UK designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 2021, expanding its previous designation of only the group’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, to include its political entities, arguing that Hamas operates as a unified organization rather than separate branches.
Last week, Hamas announced it is challenging its designation through a legal petition seeking to be removed from the country’s list of proscribed terrorist groups.
The MoU comes amid international concerns about the PA’s ability to govern the war-torn enclave during reconstruction efforts, with leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron calling for reforms to boost the PA’s credibility.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas has previously called on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages held in Gaza, cede control of the war-torn enclave, and give up its arms. However, Hamas has previously rejected calls to disarm — a key condition in ceasefire negotiations with Israel and the United States.
The PA has attempted to publicly separate itself from Hamas while simultaneously pursuing Palestinian reconciliation talks. However, PA officials have regularly rationalized Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, in some cases even denying it took place or falsely claiming Israeli forces carried out the onslaught that started the Gaza war.
The PA, which has been riddled with accusations of corruption, has also long maintained a so-called “pay-for-slay” program, which rewards terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis, leading critics to question whether the PA can effectively govern Gaza.
Earlier this month, Macron said that France could recognize a Palestinian state at a United Nations conference in June, prompting criticism from Israeli officials and French Jewish leaders, who stated that such a move would only reward terrorism.
Last year, Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia recognized a Palestinian state, claiming that this approach would contribute to fostering a two-state solution and promote lasting peace in the region. At the time, Israel condemned the decision as an “incitement to genocide” against the Jewish people.
Out of the 27 European Union member states, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Sweden have also recognized a Palestinian state.
The post UK Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Palestinian Authority to Advance Two-State Solution first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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