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New Mural in Milan Against Antisemitism Vandalized, Stars of David Again Defaced
The defaced mural “Halt! Stoj!” by AleXsandro Palombo. Photo: Provided
Two more murals by Italian contemporary artist aleXsandro Palombo in Milan, Italy, that draw attention to antisemitism and the Holocaust were vandalized shortly after they debuted on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, The Algemeiner has learned.
In honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on Jan. 27, Palombo created two large murals that focused on antisemitism and denial, and paid tribute to three of the last living Italian survivors of the Holocaust and the Auschwitz concentration camp. All the Stars of David on the two street artworks were defaced by vandals.
In the first mural, the large blue Star of David has been removed from the Israeli flag draped over the shoulders of Italian-Hungarian writer and poet Edith Bruck as she stands under the words “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”), which is the motto featured on the main gate of Auschwitz. The mural is aptly titled “Arbeit macht frei.”
Palombo’s second mural features Bruck as well as Italian Senator Liliana Segre and Italian author Sami Modiano. All three Holocaust survivors are depicted as characters from “The Simpsons” — a popular style for Palombo — while dressed in striped concentration camp prisoner uniforms. They also wear bulletproof vests that have yellow Stars of David on them as they stand under the words “Arbeit macht frei.”
To the left of the three Holocaust survivors is a sign that says “Halt! Stoj!” with a skull and crossbones symbol, which is seen throughout the Auschwitz concentration camp. Pope Francis is additionally portrayed with a sign on his chest that reads “antisemitism is everywhere” while with his hand he shakes a bell, to warn the world about the spread of antisemitism. All the Stars of David on the mural — titled “Halt! Stoj!” — have also been removed by vandals.
The defaced mural “Arbeit macht frei” by AleXsandro Palombo. Photo: Provided
The defaced mural “Halt! Stoj!” by AleXsandro Palombo. Photo: Provided
Last year, another mural by Palombo about antisemitism and the Holocaust was repeatedly defaced in Milan in Novemberand then completed painted over by antisemites in December. He has since recreated that defaced mural, and it was recently acquired by the Shoah Museum in Rome, where it will be a part of the institution’s permanent collection. It is now on display in front of the ancient complex Portico d’Ottavia in the historic Jewish ghetto of Rome.
“The repeated attacks on works of street art dedicated to the memory [of the Holocaust] and portraying survivors of Auschwitz not only cause infinite bitterness, but also show how the value of democracy and all our freedoms are in danger,” Palombo said in a statement. “Segre wanted the word ‘indifference’ to become a warning, the key to understanding the cause of evil, and it is clear that those who continue to be indifferent to these repeated antisemitic outrages become accomplices to this terrible social, civil and cultural drift.”
Mario Venezia, president of the Shoah Museum in Rome, described the vandalism of Palombo’s new murals as “despicable.” She said the museum is working with Palombo to recreate the defaced artworks.
“Edith Bruck, Liliana Segre, and Sami Modiano, with their tireless commitment to dialogue, have always chosen the path of constructive confrontation, speaking to thousands of young people and interacting with civil and religious institutions. And yet the acrimony of the haters has struck again, defacing the works that the artist aleXsandro Palombo had dedicated to them,” she said. “This time, too, we will not remain silent. We are already working to restore what has been violated, forcefully reaffirming our message. We do so to honor the survivors, to send a clear signal to those who attack the memory [of the Holocaust] and to all those young people who, with passion and respect, support its value and legacy.”
Palombo has included a “Simpson” reference in many of his artworks. For a mural created at the Iranian Consulate in Milan in 2022, he created a lookalike of Marge Simpson but had her iconic hair cut in solidarity with Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman who died while in custody of Iran’s morality police for not wearing a hijab correctly in accordance with the country’s Islamic laws. Carolyn Omine, the executive producer of “The Simpsons,” shared images of the mural on X.
Palombo has regularly created social-political art throughout his 30-year career. In 2015, he created a series of works titled “Never Again, The Simpsons deported to Auschwitz” and painted part of the series on the walls of the Shoah Memorial in Milan in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2023. That mural has been defaced five times, including once when vandals wrote “W Hitler” and “F—k Israel” over the artwork.
In October 2024, Palombo’s mural that highlighted Vlada Patapov — a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre that took place during the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, — was also defaced by vandals. In November 2023, a month after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Palombo painted a mural that featured Holocaust victim and teenage diarist Anne Frank next to a girl from the Gaza Strip. He made a second mural of a boy from Gaza dressed as a Hamas terrorist. The boy stands next to an adult terrorist and together they point their guns at a young Jewish boy from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.
The post New Mural in Milan Against Antisemitism Vandalized, Stars of David Again Defaced first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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French Authorities Replant Memorial Olive Tree and Launch Seventh Ilan Halimi Award
A crowd gathers at the Jardin Ilan Halimi in Paris on Feb. 14, 2021, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Halimi’s kidnapping and murder. Photo: Reuters/Xose Bouzas/Hans Lucas
French authorities planted a new olive tree on Wednesday to honor Ilan Halimi, nearly a decade after the young French Jewish man was tortured to death and two weeks after a previous commemorative tree was cut down.
Hervé Chevreau, mayor of the norther Paris suburb Épinay, announced that several olive trees will be replanted in Halimi’s memory, praising “a remarkable outpouring of solidarity” reflected in the donations.
With a commemorative ceremony on Wednesday, the first olive tree will be planted in Saint-Ouen, a northern suburb of Paris in the Île-de-France region.
“In the context of rising antisemitic acts, the community aims to reaffirm its steadfast commitment against hatred, forgetfulness, and indifference,” Chevreau said in a statement. “This gesture of reflection and resilience responds to the serious act of vandalism in Épinay-sur-Seine, where the commemorative tree was deliberately cut down.”
Halimi was abducted, held captive, and tortured in January 2006 by a gang of about 20 people in a low-income housing estate in the Paris suburb of Bagneux.
Three weeks later, he was found in Essonne, south of Paris, naked, gagged, and handcuffed, with clear signs of torture and burns. The 23-year-old died on the way to the hospital.
In 2011, an olive tree was planted in Halimi’s memory. Earlier this month, the memorial was found felled — probably with a chainsaw — in Epinay-sur-Seine.
Halimi’s memory has faced attacks before, with two other trees planted in his honor vandalized in 2019 in Essonne.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, numerous prominent figures attended, including France’s Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, Yonathan Arfi, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, and Minister for Gender Equality and the Fight Against Discrimination Aurore Bergé.
At the event, Bergé announced the launch of the seventh edition of the Ilan Halimi Award, marking 20 years since his disappearance.
Established in 2018, the award seeks to fight racism and antisemitism by inspiring young people to take action.
Since then, French authorities have annually recognized projects led by young people aged 13 to 25 from schools, universities, associations, and civic or integration programs.
“The launch of the 2026 edition of the Ilan Halimi Award in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois is more than an act of remembrance — it is a pledge to the future,” Bergé said during the ceremony.
Ils peuvent tronçonner un arbre, nous replanterons.
Ils peuvent abattre un arbre, nous ferons vivre la mémoire.Nous ne laisserons pas Ilan Halimi disparaître une nouvelle fois.
Le Prix Ilan Halimi 2026 est lancé. pic.twitter.com/Tn9SxlARJA
— Aurore Bergé (@auroreberge) September 2, 2025
Last week, two 19-year-old Tunisian twin brothers, undocumented and with prior convictions for theft and violence, were arrested in France for allegedly vandalizing and cutting down Halimi’s memorial.
Both brothers appeared in criminal court and were remanded in custody pending their trial, scheduled for Oct. 22.
They will face trial on charges of “aggravated destruction of property” and “desecration of a monument dedicated to the memory of the dead on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion,” offenses that, according to prosecutors, carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
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After Deadly Firebombing, Boulder Jews Forced to Hide Weekly Hostage March Due to Escalating Harassment
Boulder attack suspect Mohamed Sabry Soliman poses for a jail booking photograph after his arrest in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 2, 2025. Photo: Boulder Police Department/Handout via REUTERS
A group of Jewish activists advocating for the Israeli hostages still held captive by Hamas terrorists in Gaza has announced plans to cease publicizing planned demonstrations and increase security in response to continued community intimidation in the months following a June 1 Molotov cocktail attack that left one person dead and 13 injured.
The group Run for Their Lives includes more than 230 chapters globally, and the one based in Boulder will now take extra measures to protect participants since the attack, for which authorities have charged alleged assailant Mohamed Sabry Soliman, which has in turn provoked further opposition.
Videos reviewed by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) show anti-Israel demonstrators calling event attendees “Nazi,” “racist,” and “genocidal c**t.”
A local politician running for city council has also demonized the hostage supporters.
CBS Colorado reported that Aaron Stone allegedly called Rachel Amaru, the chapter’s Jewish founder, a “Nazi,” a slur he defended as “a very strong word to use.” He further said that in looking at Amaru he was “not seeing a Jewish person” but rather “someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the two million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza.”
Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, said in a statement that “participants are facing a level of harassment that makes it impossible to continue safely in public view.”
Stefanie Clarke, who serves as co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, added in a statement that “it is unacceptable that less than three months after a deadly antisemitic attack, Jews in Boulder are once again being forced into hiding.”
Clarke stated that “we will not be intimidated, and we will not be driven out of public spaces where we should feel safe. The fact that someone seeking a seat on City Council is at the center of this harassment should be cause for alarm. Boulder cannot claim to be a city of inclusion and justice while giving a platform to Jew hate.”
The mountain states regional branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its own statement in support of the pro-Israel activists.
“We stand in firm solidarity with the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives following their difficult decision to no longer publicly disclose the location of their events,” the organization said. “It is deeply unfortunate that after enduring the horrific June 1 firebomb attack that resulted in the death of a community member, participants now face such persistent harassment that they must keep their gatherings secret to simply stay safe.”
On July 15, Soliman, who pleaded not guilty, waved his right to a preliminary hearing in a case where the 150 state charges and 12 federal charges include murder and attempted murder. He will see a judge on Tuesday for a scheduled arraignment and faces life imprisonment if convicted.
Prosecutors say that Soliman, an Egyptian who came to the United States on a B-2 Tourist Visa in August 2022, told police that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people” and that he sought to murder 20 of the demonstrators. A note found in his car read “Zionism is our enemies untill [sic] Jerusalem is liberated and they are expelled from our land.”
Soliman also reportedly said that he had planned the attack for a year and planned it for after his daughter’s graduation. Federal officials sought to deport Soliman’s family; however, a judge blocked that effort.
“This is a proper end to an absurd legal effort on the plaintiff’s part. Just like her terrorist husband, she and her children are here illegally and are rightfully in ICE [US Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody for removal as a result,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. “This terrorist will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are investigating to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack, if they had knowledge of it, or if they provided support to it.”
In August, the ADL released a report ranking Colorado — which contains approximately 110,400 Jewish residents, accounting for 1.9 percent of the population — as eighth in the country for combating antisemitism.
“I am thrilled that the Anti-Defamation League has recognized Colorado as a national leader in fighting antisemitism, but there is much more to do,” the state’s governor Jared Polis said at the time. “Such hate and violence have no place in our Colorado for All, and that is why Colorado is leading the way to combat these trends and protect Coloradans’ right to worship how you want, making Colorado safer.”
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Lead Writer of Upcoming DC Comics Series Celebrated Oct. 7 Massacre in Resurfaced Social Media Posts
Gretchen Felker-Martin joins a virtual discussion from home. Photo: Screenshot
Gretchen Felker-Martin, an author and film critic who was recently announced as lead writer of the upcoming DC Comics series “Red Hood,” has an extensive history of endorsing terrorist acts and defending the murder of Jews and Israelis, according to a review of the writer’s social media posts.
In the posts — screenshots of which circulated on X/Twitter and other platforms this week — Felker-Martin appeared to praise Osama bin Laden for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US and expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
During the Oct. 7 onslaught, as Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages in the deadliest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, Felker-Martin argued that Israeli civilians are “settlers” and an “occupying force whose daily lives serve to grind out the hope, culture, and memory of those they oppress.” She also seemingly defended Hamas’s murdering of Israeli babies, saying that Israel is an “imperialist nightmare” and that Hamas is trying to “survive their rule by any means necessary.”
Hamas is designated by several countries as a terrorist organization.
“You cannot subject human beings to brutal conditions under which no hope for a meaningful future exists and then blame them for violent action taken to correct this state. Free Palestine,” she wrote on Oct. 7.
Later that month, Felker-Martin wrote that “Zionism is full-fledged Nazism and has accrued mainstream support throughout the west because of that, not in spite of it.”
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As the ensuing war in Gaza continued in the months ahead, Felker-Martin sharpened her criticisms of Israel, condemning Zionists as “crazy” and comparing them to “slime.” The writer also lambasted Neil Druckmann, the Israeli creator of the popular “The Last of Us” video game series, for being a “Zionist.” She encouraged fellow progressives not to support then-US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, condemning Harris for not “moving an inch on the genocide.” She also falsely accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza and repudiated actress Hailee Steinfeld as a “Zionist piece of s**t.” Steinfeld has seemingly not made public statements about Israel but came under fire from leftists after she visited the Jewish state with family in 2019 for a party.
Felker-Martin separately defended Osama bin Laden’s role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks, writing that “blowing up the World Trade Center is probably the most principled and defensible thing he ever did.”
Jewish organizations and antisemitism watchdog groups quickly condemned the remarks. StandWithUs, a nonpartisan pro-Israel organization, urged DC Comics to reconsider hiring Felker-Martin, citing her inflammatory and offensive commentary.