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Jews Who Hate Jews Have a Long Historical Track Record
Outside the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo: Josh White, JWPictures/©Academy Museum Foundation.
Jews hating Jews has a long history — going as far back as the Bible.
But medieval times made a real art of it. The psychology of these apostates is fascinating, but also so relevant today. Some felt rejected by their Jewish communities over theological issues. Others simply preferred to join the majority (which in that case, meant the dominant religion).
This was done either for financial gain, inducements or simply to escape the pressure and oppression of being part of a reviled minority.
In the modern era, the opportunity to abandon religion altogether was an attractive intellectual option. Many Jews reacted to the Holocaust by hiding their Jewish identity. You do not need me to give examples of the many well-known ex-Jews or Jews who side with our enemies today.
Two of the major names who stand out in Medieval Jewry were Nicholas Donin and Pablo Christiani.
Donin was a Jewish convert to Christianity in early 13th-century Paris. He was known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of huge numbers of copies of the Talmud and the expulsion of Jews. Latin sources referred to him as “Repellus,” which might have been the Latin name of his native La Rochelle. But also refer to what a repellent character he was.
Donin was excommunicated from the Ghetto of Paris by the famous (to Talmudic scholars) Rabbi Yechiel of Paris, because Donin had rejected the authority of the Talmud along with rabbinic traditions.
After ten years of living in excommunication, Donin was baptized into the Catholic Church and joined the Franciscan order.
In 1238 Donin went to Rome to denounce the Talmud to the Pope as offensive to Christianity. Thirty-five articles against the Talmud were drawn up, which Donin claimed attacked the Virginity of Mary and the divinity of Jesus — which is a point of contention and debate.
Nevertheless, the Pope was persuaded that the accusations were true, and the authorities were ordered to seize all copies of the Talmud and deposit them with the Dominicans and Franciscans. This order was generally ignored, except in France, where — in 1240 — the Jews were compelled to hand over their Talmuds and four of the most distinguished rabbis of France had to answer Donin in a public debate. The rabbis were forbidden from denying the holiness of Jesus or Mary, as well as disputing any other central Christian doctrine, and Donin was declared victorious. Louis IX condemned the Talmud to be burned and in 1242, 24 carriage loads (ten to twelve-thousand volumes) were burnt in public in Paris.
Donin was rewarded with promotion and a pension. King Louis was made a saint.
The other fierce turncoat was a Sephardi Jew, Saul — the son of Joshua. He was born in Spain sometime in the 13th century. He married a Jewish woman and fathered children with her. After he converted to Christianity, he took his children from his wife and converted them too. He then joined the Dominicans as a friar and called himself Pablo Christiani.
He followed Donin’s lead in attempting to ban the Talmud. He is known above all to this day for his role in the famous 1263 Disputation of Barcelona. A favorite schoolteacher of mine, Hyam Maccoby, wrote a book about it which was adapted into a BBC drama.
Christiani’s failure to convert anybody during the Disputation did not, however, discourage him. He went on missionary journeys, and compelled Jews everywhere to listen to his speeches and answer his questions, both in synagogues and wherever else he pleased. He even required his audiences to defray the expenses of his missions.
Christiani did not meet with the success that he had expected. In 1264, he went to Pope Clement IV to denounce the Talmud, just like Donin. The Pope then commanded King James to appoint a commission that consisted of Christiani and others to act as censors of the Talmud. Christiani and the rest of the commission redacted all passages that they deemed were hostile to Christianity. As a result, The Talmud of Christian countries were censored. The original texts were only preserved under Islam.
Five years later, Christiani went further than this campaign against the Talmud, and interceded with King Louis IX of France to enforce an edict that required Jews to wear badges that would single them out as Jews. He did not give up until his dying breath. There is no record of how many Jews he might have converted.
We are often our own worst enemies, seeking to find favor with majority fashions or ideologies — while at the same time, we face campaigns from the outside to denigrate and disenfranchise Jews. If there is not one excuse, our enemies will always find another. And yet this state has been the norm for thousands of years, and our survival nevertheless should give us hope.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently living in New York.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
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 now passed a law to suspend 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.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
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.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
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 tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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