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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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US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’
Bob Vylan music duo performance at Glastonbury Festival (Source: FLIKR)
The US State Department has revoked the visas for the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan amid ongoing outrage over their weekend performance at the Glastonbury Festival, in which the pair chanted “Death to the IDF.”
The State Department’s decision to cancel their visas would preclude a planned fall concert tour of the US by the British rappers.
“The [US State Department] has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants. Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X/Twitter on Monday.
During a June 28 set at Glastonbury Festival, Bob Vylan’s Pascal Robinson-Foster ignited a firestorm by leading the crowd in chants of “Death, death, to the IDF,” referring to the Israel Defense Forces. He also complained about working for a “f—ing Zionist” during the set.
The video of the performance went viral, sparking outrage across the globe.
The BBC, which streamed the performance live, issued an on‑screen warning but continued its broadcast, prompting criticism by government officials for failing to cut the feed.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and festival organizers condemned the IDF chant as hate speech and incitement to violence. The Israeli Embassy in London denounced the language as “inflammatory and hateful.”
“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” the BBC said in a statement following the event.
“These abhorrent chants, which included calls for the death of members of the Israeli Defense Forces … have no place in any civil society,” Leo Terrell, Chair of the US Department of Justice Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, declared Sunday in a statement posted on X.
Citing the act’s US tour plans, Terrell said his task force would be “reaching out to the U.S. Department of State on Monday to determine what measures are available to address the situation and to prevent the promotion of violent antisemitic rhetoric in the United States.”
British authorities, meanwhile, have launched a formal investigation into Bob Vylan’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury. Avon and Somerset Police confirmed they are reviewing footage and working with the Crown Prosecution Service to determine whether the performance constitutes a hate crime or incitement to violence.
United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the premier entertainment talent agencies, dropped the duo, claming “antisemitic sentiments expressed by the group were utterly unacceptable.”
The band defended their performance on social media as necessary protest, stating that “teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”
The post US State Department Revokes Visas of UK Punk Rap Act Bob Vylan Amid Outrage Over Duo’s Chants of ‘Death to the IDF’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
US House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) urged Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani to “aggressively address the rise in antisemitism” if he wins the general election in November.
“‘Globalizing the intifada’ by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries said Sunday on ABC’s This Week. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward.”
“With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development,” he added.
Jeffries’s comments come as Mamdani has been receiving an onslaught of criticism for defending the controversial phrase “globalize the intifada.”
Mamdani first defended the phrase during an appearance on the popular Bulwark Podcast. The progressive firebrand stated that he feels “less comfortable with the banning of certain words.” He invoked the US Holocaust Museum in his defense, saying that the museum used the word intifada “when translating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic, because it’s a word that means ‘struggle.’”
The Holocaust Museum repudiated Mamdani in a statement, calling his comments “offensive.”
Mamdani has continued to defend the slogan despite ongoing criticism, arguing that pro-Palestine advocates perceive it as a call for “universal human rights.”
Mamdani, the 33‑year‑old state assembly member and proud democratic socialist, defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other candidates in a lopsided first‑round win in the city’s Democratic primary for mayor, notching approximately 43.5 percent of first‑choice votes compared to Cuomo’s 36.4 percent.
The election results have alarmed members of the local Jewish community, who expressed deep concern over his past criticism of Israel and defense of antisemitic rhetoric.
“Mamdani’s election is the greatest existential threat to a metropolitan Jewish population since the election of the notorious antisemite Karl Lueger in Vienna,” Rabbi Marc Schneier, one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in New York City, said in a statement. “Jewish leaders must come together as a united force to prevent a mass Jewish Exodus from New York City.”
Some key Democratic leaders in New York, such as US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Gov. Kathy Hochul, have congratulated and complimented Mamdani, but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each official has signaled interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement.
The post Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries Urges Mamdani to ‘Aggressively Address’ Antisemitism in NYC if Elected Mayor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israel is interested in establishing formal diplomatic relations with long-standing adversaries Syria and Lebanon, but the status of the Golan Heights is non-negotiable, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.
Israeli leaders argue that with its rival Iran weakened by this month’s 12-day war, other countries in the region have an opportunity to forge ties with Israel.
The Middle East has been upended by nearly two years of war in Gaza, during which Israel also carried out airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah, and by the overthrow of former Syrian leader and Iran ally Bashar al-Assad.
In 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco became the first Arab states to establish ties with Israel since Jordan in 1994 and Egypt in 1979. The normalization agreements with Israel were deeply unpopular in the Arab world.
“We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization, while safeguarding Israel‘s essential and security interests,” Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
“The Golan will remain part of the State of Israel,” he said.
Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 after capturing the territory from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War. While much of the international community regards the Golan as occupied Syrian land, US President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over it during his first term in office.
Following Assad’s ousting, Israeli forces moved further into Syrian territory.
A senior Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria would never give up the Golan Heights, describing it as an integral part of Syrian territory.
The official also said that normalization efforts with Israel must be part of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and not carried out through a separate track.
A spokesperson for Syria‘s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The 2002 initiative proposed Arab normalization with Israel in exchange for its withdrawal from territories including the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza. It also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Throughout the war in Gaza, regional power Saudi Arabia has repeatedly said that establishing ties with Israel was conditional on the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
Israel‘s Saar said it was “not constructive” for other states to condition normalization on Palestinian statehood.
“Our view is that a Palestinian state will threaten the security of the State of Israel,” he said.
In May, Reuters reported that Israel and Syria‘s new Islamist rulers had established direct contact and held face-to-face meetings aimed at de-escalating tensions and preventing renewed conflict along their shared border.
The same month, US President Donald Trump announced the US would lift sanctions on Syria and met Syria‘s new president, urging him to normalize ties with Israel.
The post Israel Eyes Ties With Syria and Lebanon After Iran War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.