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London Holocaust library defaced in latest incident of pro-Palestinian graffiti on Jewish site
(JTA) — A Holocaust library and research center in London was defaced with graffiti reading “Gaza,” the latest in a string of Jewish institutions and sites areound the world that have been vandalized with pro-Palestinian slogans.
Staff at the Wiener Holocaust Library discovered the spray-painted graffiti on Thursday morning on a prominent sign affixed to a fence outside the building, which is the world’s oldest Holocaust library and research center. The center will be replacing its sign, director Toby Simpson told the Jewish News.
“To use ignorance as a weapon against an institution of learning is stupid and wrong. To lash out against Israel by targeting a Holocaust institution is an action that can only make sense to antisemites and their enablers,” Simpson said. “The proliferation of antisemitic hate in the current climate should be a matter of grave concern to us all.”
One day earlier, on Wednesday, a wall in a Jewish cemetery in Vienna was defaced with a swastika and the word “Hitler,” and someone set fire to the cemetery’s ceremonial hall, according to London’s Jewish Chronicle. Firefighters extinguished the flames. Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer said in response to the incident, “Antisemitism has no place in our society and will be fought against by any political and legal means necessary,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center in New York City was graffitied with the words “Free Palestine” near the doorway. It is a Yiddish culture center in the Bronx that also rents space to Montefiore Medical Center, whose staff discovered the graffiti, according to the New York Post.
“Writing ‘Free Palestine’ or anything on a Jewish institution is an apparent attack against the Jewish community,” said Jeffrey Dinowitz, a New York State assemblymember representing the Bronx, in a statement. “Nonetheless, the act of vandalizing the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center in the Bronx with the words ‘Free Palestine’ is not solely an expression of anti-Zionism; it has antisemitic connotations.”
Pro-Palestinian graffiti was also reported this week at Canter’s Deli, a Los Angeles Jewish deli that opened in 1931. “How many dead in the name of greed?” and other slogans were painted underneath a mural showcasing Jewish life in Los Angeles in an incident that local police are investigating as a hate crime.
And last week, a wall outside of a high school in Pittsburgh’s Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill was graffitied with the words “Free Palestine from PGH to Gaza,” according to the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle. The graffiti was found shortly before the fifth anniversary of the synagogue shooting in that neighborhood, the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history. Multiple pro-Israel signs in the neighborhood were also graffitied. The high school’s principal condemned the graffiti “hurtful and divisive.”
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The post London Holocaust library defaced in latest incident of pro-Palestinian graffiti on Jewish site appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.