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Munich Residents Form Human Chain to Protect Synagogue From Anti-Israel Protest Marked by Antisemitic Chants
Anti-Israel protesters march through Munich’s city center near the main synagogue during Shabbat prayers. Photo: Screenshot
Munich residents formed a human chain around a local synagogue in a show of solidarity with the Jewish community in Germany, as an anti-Israel protest marched through the city center during Shabbat prayers.
On Friday night, around 750 people protested against the war in Gaza in central Munich, rallying near the main synagogue at Jakobsplatz as Shabbat prayers took place inside — a demonstration that sparked fear among members of the Jewish community and prevented some from attending services, German media reported.
Organized under the slogan “Stop the Genocide. Free Palestine,” the protest was marked by openly antisemitic chants, as demonstrators shouted “Death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces],” “Zionists are fascists, child murderers, and racists,” and “There is only one state: Palestine.”
„Wir müssen wieder in Angst und Schrecken leben“, so Charlotte Knobloch vorhin an der Synagoge. Aktuelle Bilder aus München nur wenige hundert Meter vom Jakobsplatz entfernt. pic.twitter.com/uKjDv3dYVy
— Sandra Demmelhuber (@SDemmelhuber) July 18, 2025
Participants in the demonstration not only deny Israel’s right to exist but also dismissed the suffering of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas as a “lie,” minimizing the atrocities perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist group
One speaker at the rally asserted that the hostages are “mostly Israeli soldiers” and characterized them predominantly as war criminals.
In response to the anti-Israel demonstration, hundreds of Munich residents gathered to form a human chain around the synagogue, rallying under the slogan “Protect Our Synagogue.”
Hier à Munich des citoyens ont formé une chaîne humaine autour de la synagogue pour la protéger d’une manif pro-
qui voulait intimider la communauté juive locale.
S’il y en a pour reconnaître le vieux démon malgré ses nouveaux habits, c’est les Bavaroispic.twitter.com/Ufg08URY6l
— Fennec des Fagnes
(@FennecdesFagnes) July 19, 2025
According to local media, one of the speakers at the protest dismissed the human chain around the synagogue as a staged performance by “friends of Zionists and fascists,” claiming that “Zionists are the real antisemites.”
The speaker also asserted that those participating in the human chain were trying to “buy their freedom” from the crimes of their parents’ generation.
Local law enforcement later took over synagogue security, deploying around 150 officers from the Munich Police Department, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
Charlotte Knobloch, a Holocaust survivor and president of the Jewish Community of Munich (IKG), sharply criticized local authorities for allowing the protest to take place and condemned the demonstration as a “deliberate attempt at intimidation.”
She also expressed her gratitude to the “Munich is Colorful” alliance and the group “Grandmothers Against the Right” for their efforts to protect the synagogue and show solidarity with the Jewish community.
“This human chain sends an important message, especially to the city. Once again, they have proven they can be relied upon — they take action when it matters,” Knobloch said.
Bernhard Liess, the city council chairman, also criticized the decision to allow a pro-Palestinian demonstration with anti-Israel slogans to take place during Shabbat.
Even though demonstrations only require registration and not approval, local authorities can consult with organizers to discuss possible changes if any issues are anticipated.
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct.7, 2023.
The number of antisemitic incidents in Germany almost doubled last year, the semi-official German body that tracks antisemitism reported last month.
The Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism (RIAS) said it had registered 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism, and threats against Jews in Germany, almost twice the 4,886 recorded in 2023, and far ahead of 2020’s 1,957.
In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total for all of the prior year and reached the highest annual count on record, according separate figured from RIAS.
The figures in Berlin were the highest count for a single year since the federally-funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year.
However, experts believe that the true number of incidents is much higher but not recorded because of reluctance on the part of the victims.
The post Munich Residents Form Human Chain to Protect Synagogue From Anti-Israel Protest Marked by Antisemitic Chants first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.