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Major Australian City Considers Boycott of Israel Amid Explosion of Antisemitic Hate
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore addressing media during a press conference on March 1, 2024. Photo: Dan Himbrechts via Reuters Connect.
A major Australian city may soon adopt the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel amid a surge in antisemitic incidents there.
The city council of Sydney — one of Australia’s largest and wealthiest cities — on Monday passed a motion calling on lawmakers to review its investment portfolio to determine whether it is linked to companies which provide arms and other services to the state of Israel. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who is not formally affiliated with any political party, backed the idea.
“Leaders must strive to break the cycle of violence in this region and ensure that neither Israelis nor Palestinians live in fear and at risk of harm or death. Now more than ever, we must use our voices to call for peace,” Clover said in comments quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald. “If the city’s voice in this campaign can put additional pressure towards a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis, then I think we should carefully review our investments and suppliers.”
The passing of the motion — reportedly initiated by Green Party councilor Sylvie Ellsmore, Labor Party councilor Linda Scott, and Yvonne Weldon, another independent — was met with a burst of acclamation from anti-Zionist activists who attended the session in which it was considered. Among the companies singled out by the measure was Hewlett-Packard, a US-based company which has a government contract with the city and has invested over $100 million in building data centers there.
Australia’s Jewish community expressed outrage at the city council’s decision to pursue a potential boycott.
“Elected officials should not to be peddling in racism and hatred. They can attempt to hide behind deceptive language, but their actions must be called out for what they are: racism and Jew-hatred,” Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory said in a statement. “Of course, nobody in the Middle East will take notice of some entitled local councilors inserting themselves into an international conflict. What the Jewish community will take notice of, is that this is the latest in a series of actions hostile to the Jewish community taken by Mayor Clover Moore. We thank the Liberal councilors for being the only ones on Council to stand with the Jewish community and against this ugly hatred.”
The BDS movement seeks to isolate Israel on the international stage as the first step toward the Jewish state’s eventual elimination. The pro-BDS effort in Sydney came as anti-Jewish hate crimes in Australia continued to spike amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, the number of attacks on Jews — digital, political, and physical — has skyrocketed in Australia since Hamas’ massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7. In just the first seven and a half weeks after the Oct. 7 atrocities, antisemitic activity in Australia increased by a staggering 591 percent, according to a tally of incidents by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
In one notorious episode in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas onslaught, hundreds of pro-Hamas protesters gathered outside the Sydney Opera House chanting “gas the Jews,” “f—k the Jews,” and other epithets.
The explosion of hate also included vandalism and threats of gun violence, as well as incidents such as a brutal attack on a Jewish man in a park in Sydney.
In late October, an elderly Jewish man was walking through a children’s playground in Arncliffe when he spotted an advertisement for a pro-Palestinian rally that had already been held and was mostly torn, according to Sky News Australia. He “absent-mindedly” tore the rest of it down, the report noted, but a father at the children’s playground saw him and approached, asking if he supported Israel and threatening, “I will murder you.”
Frightened, the man called the police, but they did not arrive before an anti-Israel mob of men and women quickly encircled him, shouting slurs and insults. Someone reportedly thumped him on the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. Then, three men joined in and proceeded to punch and kick him while calling him a “pro-Jew dog” among other names.
In another incident in December, far-left Australian politician Jenny Leong spread conspiracies about the “tentacles” of a so-called “Jewish lobby” and “Zionist lobby” influencing policy, an insidious expression of antisemitic demagoguery that was once limited to the fringes of the political spectrum but has now become mainstream in the pro-Palestinian movement.
“They [the Jewish and Zionist lobby] rock up to every community meeting and event to offer that connection because their tentacles reach into the areas that try and influence power and I think that we need to call that out and expose that,” Leong proclaimed at a Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney.
Video of Leong’s comments surfaced in February, forcing the lawmaker to apologize for her remarks.
Jewish students at the University of Sydney have also been targeted by pro-Hamas groups, a pattern of behavior that is reportedly the subject of a forthcoming class action lawsuit. This month, The Daily Telegraph reported that a law firm in the city is seeking potential witnesses for a complaint alleging that Jewish students were victims of “sustained and toxic” antisemitism during a pro-Hamas group’s occupation of campus — on which it erected a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” where members lived and refused to leave unless school administrators commenced a boycott of Israel — at the end of the academic year.
“We have received numerous, concerning reports of anti-Jewish intimidation and harassment on campus. Instead of removing the hate encampment, the university has surrendered to the camp’s demands,” Gregory told The Telegraph, commenting on the news. “It certainly doesn’t surprise me that legal action is being contemplated, but it is upsetting that the University of Sydney has allowed the situation to deteriorate this badly.”
Pro-Hamas sentiment has also led to vandalism. Earlier this month, the US consulate in Sydney was vandalized and defaced by an unidentified man carrying a sledgehammer who smashed the windows and graffitied inverted red triangles on the building.
The inverted red triangle has become a common symbol at pro-Hamas rallies. The Palestinian terrorist group, which rules Gaza, has used inverted red triangles in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked, and anti-Israel protesters on university campuses have been using the symbol in their demonstrations. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Major Australian City Considers Boycott of Israel Amid Explosion of Antisemitic Hate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Western-Backed Project’: Founder of Radical Anti-Israel Group Comes Out Strongly Against Ukraine
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on August 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, has come out strongly against Ukraine in its defensive war with Russia, derisively labeling the country a “Western-backed project” that is comparable to Israel.
“Sorry, but Ukraine is nothing like Palestine,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Friday. “Palestine is a people fighting against settler colonialism. If anything, Ukraine is more like Israel — a Western-backed project propped up for geopolitical interests & sustained by empire.”
She went on to argue that “people need to stop forcing comparisons between Ukraine and Palestine. They are not the same struggle, not the same history, and not the same reality. These false parallels only distort the truth and erase the unique brutality of zionist [sic] settler colonialism.”
Adding that she “actually feel[s] bad for” the Ukrainian people, Kiswani argued that “their leadership, especially [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky, sold them out, propped up Azov Nazis, and let the West use Ukraine as a pawn.”
Kiswani’s comments came on the same day that US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance got into a heated argument in front of the media at the White House. During the in-person meeting, Trump and Vance called on Kyiv to express greater gratitude for US support and move in good faith toward ceasefire with Russia, despite a lack of clear security guarantees from Washington.
The leading anti-Israel activist’s social media posts also came before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Zelensky, who is Jewish, a “pure Nazi” and a “traitor to the Jewish people.”
Kiswani also objected in her comments to what she sees as Ukraine’s pro-Israel stance, writing, “I’m not saying Ukraine is just like Israel, but highlighting ridiculous comparisons to Palestine. But if you don’t like that tell it to Zelensky who praised Israel and called it an inspiration for Ukraine. He even said Ukraine should become a ‘big Israel.’”
She added that Ukraine is “using Zionist tactics in its war strategy.”
Kiswani went on to point out that the “Palestinian resistance” is not aligned with Ukraine.
“Funny how people with red triangles in their bios [are] coming at me for this when the Palestinian resistance has rejected alignment with Ukraine, which is backed by the same imperial powers arming Israel. Solidarity should be rooted in reality, not projection,” she wrote on Sunday in a follow-up to her original thread.
The inverted red triangle has become a common symbol at pro-Hamas rallies. The Palestinian terrorist group, which rules Gaza, has used inverted red triangles in its propaganda videos to indicate Israeli targets about to be attacked. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the red triangle is now used to represent Hamas itself and glorify its use of violence.”
Kiswani and her group Within Our Lifetime (WOL) have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
The post ‘Western-Backed Project’: Founder of Radical Anti-Israel Group Comes Out Strongly Against Ukraine first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘We Didn’t Provide Aid to Nazi Germany’: US Sen. Tom Cotton Defends Israel’s Decision to Block Aid Into Gaza
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) defended Israel’s decision to pause aid deliveries into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, pointing out that the United States did not provide humanitarian assistance to Nazi Germany during World War II.
“We didn’t provide aid to Nazi Germany during World War II. The idea is preposterous. Why should Israel be forced to provide aid to Hamas-run Gaza?” Cotton posted on X/Twitter on Sunday night.
The White House also expressed support for Israel’s decision.
“Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement. “We will support their decision on next steps given Hamas had indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier in the day that Israel would block humanitarian aid transfers into Gaza.
Netanyahu’s announcement came after his government presented the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas with a proposal for a six-week extension of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal. The proposal would mandate that Hamas release half of the remaining Israeli hostages who were kidnapped into Gaza at the beginning of the extension. The rest of the hostages would be released at the end, if Hamas and Israel can agree on a permanent ceasefire deal. Israel would retain the right to restart the war in Gaza if negotiations are unsuccessful by the 42-day mark.
According to Jerusalem, the ceasefire extension proposal was the brainchild of US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hamas has refused to extend the first phase of the ceasefire deal, claiming that the Jewish state has violated the terms of the original agreement.
The Netanyahu government reportedly believes that pausing aid transfers into Gaza will pressure Hamas into accepting the ceasefire extension. Hamas, which started the Gaza war when it killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, dismissed Israel’s decision on Sunday as “cheap blackmail.”
“Unfortunately, Hamas rejected the proposal. As the first phase of the framework has ended, we have halted the entry of trucks into Gaza,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a statement.
Israel’s decision to block aid deliveries into Gaza was met with widespread backlash, with some observers accusing Jerusalem of committing “genocidal acts” and violating “international law.”
However, others have pointed out that over the past few months, Gaza has experienced a surge of humanitarian aid.
“In the last six weeks, Israel has flooded Hamas Gaza with 25,000 trucks of aid,” noted former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy. “The enemy territory whose government is committed to permanent jihad against Israel is amply stocked for months.”
Cotton, the chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has staunchly defended Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza. In October 2024, Cotton wrote a letter to then-US President Joe Biden, condemning his administration for threatening an “arms embargo” against Israel.
In December 2024, Cotton introduced legislation to mandate the US federal government refer to the West Bank as “Judea and Samaria” — terminology preferred by Israel. Cotton has also lambasted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) for allegedly diverting funds intended for humanitarian aid into the hands of the Hamas terrorist group.
The post ‘We Didn’t Provide Aid to Nazi Germany’: US Sen. Tom Cotton Defends Israel’s Decision to Block Aid Into Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Cut Off Aid to Gaza After Hamas Rejected Ceasefire Deal — And That’s Completely Legal
Trucks carrying aid move, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri
In what may be perhaps the most significant single strategic move since the start of the war in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced this weekend that, “the entry of all goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip will be halted.”
Contrary to claims of “war crimes” and “starving civilians,” this new approach to Gaza is not only completely consistent with international law — but is likely to save civilian lives on all sides and bring the war to a close far more quickly than any other approach.
The massacre of October 7, 2023, saw the largest murder of Jews since the Holocaust. The internationally-designated Hamas terror organization, along with Palestinian civilians and UN staff, invaded Israel, killed over 1,200, took 251 hostage, committed mass torture and mass rape, and brought about 16 months of war.
As I wrote the other day, Israel and Hamas completed “Phase 1” of a three stage ceasefire agreement, which resulted in the release of some of the Israeli hostages. However, the parties have so far failed to negotiate the terms of “Phase 2.” US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, presented a framework for continuing negotiations, which Israel accepted but Hamas rejected.
In response, Israel made this weekend’s announcement, and closed Gaza to aid deliveries.
Israel maintains a legal weapons blockade on Gaza, which is governed by the Geneva Conventions, The Hague Conventions, and the San Remo Convention. Under these agreements, a legal blockade is permitted as a defense against armed attack. Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which began in 2007, fits this requirement, as it is a response to Hamas’s ongoing rocket barrages on Israeli civilians.
Under these same international rules, the blockading party may not intentionally starve civilians as a tool of warfare. This effectively means that the blockading power is required to transfer humanitarian aid into the blockaded area — a requirement that Israel has fulfilled at a massive scale.
However, the aid that enters into Gaza is typically not transferred to civilians. To the contrary, Hamas, habitually steals international aid, as well as torturing and killing civilians who attempt to take the aid for themselves.
This reality has been confirmed by multiple international sources including the United Nations, and has been caught on camera numerous times.
Hamas uses stolen aid supplies to fuel its rockets, equip its troops, and sells some of what’s left to civilians as a way of raising funds for its war effort. Indeed, many of the resources Hamas used on October 7, and in the months since, were taken from aid supplies, including the tunnels where Israeli hostages are currently held, which were built with cement funded by America’s USAID agency.
In effect, Israel has been fighting a war of survival while also funding both sides: a strategy doomed to fail. This kind of national suicide is absolutely not required by international law.
To the contrary, Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV specifically states that a power is not required to allow the passage of humanitarian aid unless it is satisfied that the aid will not be diverted to enemy combatants. Therefore, not only is Israel not required to transfer aid under the present circumstances, but pressuring Israel to do so is, in itself, a war crime.
International law is structured this way for good reason: funding both sides of a conflict only serves to prolong hostilities and thus increase completely avoidable harm to civilian populations on all sides.
In this case, aid to Gaza ends up almost exclusively in the hands of an internationally -designated terror organization that is also an enemy combatant. The international community has had 18 years since the beginning of the blockade in 2007, and 16 months since the October 7 massacre, to find a solution to this particular war crime, yet has both failed and refused to do so. The consequence has been to prolong the current war, the captivity of the Israeli hostages, and also war’s deleterious impact on the lives of both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
For the moment, this war crime of compelling Israel to provide aid to enemy combatants, in violation of Article 23 of Geneva Convention IV, has come to an end. This can only result in a quicker defeat of Hamas, and a quicker end to the current war. Such a result will, in turn, provide immeasurable benefits to Israelis, to Palestinians, and to the entire world at large.
Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.
The post Israel Cut Off Aid to Gaza After Hamas Rejected Ceasefire Deal — And That’s Completely Legal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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