A bicycle with the Palestinian and Irish flags is seen at the University College Dublin (UCD) ‘Palestinian Liberation Encampment’ on June 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

A growing chorus of US lawmakers is voicing sharp criticism of a proposed Irish bill that would ban trade with Israeli communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, warning that the measure could seriously damage US-Ireland relations and risk fueling antisemitism.

The so-called “Occupied Territories Bill,” which was recently approved by the Cabinet and has now moved to the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade for pre-legislative scrutiny, would criminalize the importation or sale of products from Jewish communities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem — areas characterized by the legislation as “occupied Palestinian territory” — into Ireland.

The measure has sparked backlash in Washington, where several members of Congress say the bill unfairly targets Israel and undermines efforts to promote peace in the region.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the most strident supporters of Israel in Congress, accused Ireland of attempting to “economically isolate” the Jewish state and vowed that Dublin’s anti-Israel policies “would not go unnoticed” by Washington.

“I hope that Ireland will reconsider their efforts to economically isolate Israel, as they are in a fight for their very existence,” he posted on X. “I do not believe these efforts would be well received in the United States and they certainly would not go unnoticed.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) also condemned the proposed law, calling the legislation “foolish” and accused it of unfairly targeting Israel.

“This foolish move not only wrongfully targets Israel and the Jewish Community, but also harms American businesses,” Scott wrote. “They should think twice about the message they’re sending by passing this bill, which complicates our economic relationship and targets our ally.”

Legal experts have argued that if the Irish bill becomes law, it could chase American capital out of the country while also hurting companies that do business with Ireland. Under US law, it is illegal for American companies to participate in boycotts of Israel backed by foreign governments. Several US states have also gone beyond federal restrictions to pass separate measures that bar companies from receiving state contracts if they boycott Israel.

“Ireland’s proposal to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel is blatantly antisemitic — and it will hurt American companies too,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) posted on X, referring to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. “I strongly urge Ireland to reverse course and reconsider. There is no place for this kind of hate.”

Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), chair of the House Republican Conference, added that any legislation “boycotting, divesting, or sanctioning Israel would be a huge mistake for Ireland,” arguing that “this type of extreme antisemitic hate is unacceptable and should be rejected.”

Several other American lawmakers expressed similar sentiments, describing the bill as discriminatory and suggesting the US could respond with punitive measures.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee urged Ireland to “sober up” and claimed that the nation was engaging in “diplomatic intoxication.”

“Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness & propose something so stupid that it would be attributed to act of diplomatic intoxication? It will harm Arabs as much as Israelis. Sober up Ireland!” Huckabee said in a post on X.

Ireland is the first European nation to advance legislation to ban and criminalize goods from Israeli settlements.

Observers believe that the legislation, if enacted, could strain the historically close ties between Dublin and Washington. A large number of American companies maintain Irish operations, many of which have ties to Israel. Critics have also argued that the law disproportionately targets the Jewish state while ignoring Palestinian conduct and broader complexities of the decades-long Middle Eastern conflict.

During a hearing of the Irish parliament’s joint committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on Tuesday, Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish representative council of Ireland, warned that the bill “might drive Jewish communities here in Ireland further into fear and isolation.”

Alan Shatter, a former member of parliament who served in the Irish cabinet between 2011 and 2014 as minister for justice, equality and defense, also told the committee that the bill was “based on falsehoods” and “abandons all lessons learned in our own peace process.” He went on to compare the bill to Jews being targeted during World War II, saying it is “the first initiative of any European government to enact legislation to intentionally boycott and discriminate against Jews since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.” Shatter told The Algemeiner in an interview last year that Ireland has “evolved into the most hostile state towards Israel in the entire EU,” explaining that antisemitism in the European country has become “blatant and obvious.”

Ireland has been one of the fiercest critics of Israel on the international stage since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Gaza, leading the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin.

The American Jewish Committee, Anti‑Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations issued a joint statement asserting that the Irish legislation “could create significant risks for US companies doing business in Israel and would fuel rising antisemitic and anti‑Zionist sentiment in Ireland and elsewhere.”

The statement continued, “We fully support the Jewish community in Ireland in combating this antisemitism which is manifesting itself in demonization of Israel.”

Irish supporters of the bill argue it is a principled stand against what they see as illegal occupation and settlement expansion.

“Ireland is speaking up and speaking out against the genocidal activity in Gaza,” Irish Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Simon Harris said during a press conference last month.

“The situation in Palestine remains a matter of deep public concern,” he added. “I have made it consistently clear that this government will use all levers at its disposal to address the horrifying situation on the ground and to contribute to long-term efforts to achieve a sustainable peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”

The Irish diplomat also told reporters at the time that he hopes the “real benefit” of the legislation will be to encourage other countries to follow suit, “because it is important that every country uses every lever at its disposal.”

However, the bill’s advancement has reportedly triggered unease in European diplomatic circles, with some viewing it as a potential breach of EU trade law.

Israeli officials have condemned the legislation as discriminatory, and the Israeli Embassy in Ireland warned it could encourage a new wave of boycotts against Jews.

The post ‘Antisemitic Hate’: US Lawmakers Condemn Proposed Irish Ban on Trade With Israeli Settlements first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Pro-Hamas demonstrators at Columbia University in New York City, US, April 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

Columbia University will enact a series of reforms to address campus antisemitism, interim president Claire Shipman announced on Tuesday as the institution nears a deal to pay $200 million to settle allegations that it exposed Jewish students and faculty to discrimination.

In a statement, Shipman said the university will hire new coordinators to oversee complaints alleging civil rights violations; facilitate “deeper education on antisemitism” by creating new training programs for students, faculty, and staff; and adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism — a tool that advocates say is necessary for identifying what constitutes antisemitic conduct and speech.

Shipman also announced new partnerships with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and other Jewish groups while delivering a major blow to the anti-Zionist movement on campus by vowing never to “recognize or meet with” the self-titled “Columbia University Apartheid Divest” (CUAD), a notorious pro-Hamas campus group which has serially disrupted academic life with unauthorized, surprise demonstrations attended by non-students.

“I would also add that making these announcements in no way suggests we are finished with the work,” Shipman continued. “In a recent discussion, a faculty member and I agreed that antisemitism at this institution has existed, perhaps less overtly, for a long while, and the work of dismantling it, especially through education and understanding will take time. It will likely require more reform. But I’m hopeful that in doing this work, as we consider and even debate it, we will start to promote healing and to chart our path forward.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Columbia University’s campus has yielded some of the most indelible examples of anti-Jewish hatred in higher education since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel set off explosions of anti-Zionist activity at colleges and universities across the US. Such incidents included a student who proclaimed that Zionist Jews deserve to be murdered and are lucky he is not doing so himself and administrative officials who, outraged at the notion that Jews organized to resist anti-Zionism, participated in a group chat in which each member took turns sharing antisemitic tropes that described Jews as privileged and grafting.

Amid these incidents, the university struggled to contain CUAD, which in late January committed infrastructural sabotage by flooding the toilets of the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) with concrete. Numerous reports indicate the attack may have been the premeditated result of planning sessions which took place many months ago at an event held by Alpha Delta Phi (ADP) — a literary society, according to the Washington Free Beacon. During the event, ADP reportedly distributed literature dedicated to “aspiring revolutionaries” who wish to commit seditious acts. Additionally, a presentation was given in which complete instructions for the exact kind of attack which struck Columbia were shared with students.

In September, during the university’s convocation ceremony, CUAD distributed literature calling on students to join Hamas’s movement to destroy Israel.

“This booklet is part of a coordinated and intentional effort to uphold the principles of the thawabit and the Palestinian resistance movement overall by transmitting the words of the resistance directly,” one of the pamphlets given to freshmen students said. “This material aims to build popular support for the Palestinian war of national liberation, a war which is waged through armed struggle.”

Other portions of the text expressed explicitly Islamist aspirations for global jihad, invoking the name of “Allah, the most gracious” and referring to Hamas as the “Islamic Resistance Movement.” Proclaiming, “Glory to Gaza that gave hope to the oppressed, that humiliated the ‘invincible’ Zionist army,” it said its purpose is to mobilize an army of Muslims worldwide.

Citing these issues, the Trump administration in March canceled $400 million in federal research grants and contracts previously appropriated to Columbia. Since then, the university has reportedly agreed to restructure itself to comply with conditions for restoring the money — a process which may see it review undergraduate admissions practices that allegedly discriminate against qualified Jewish applicants, enforce an “anti-mask” policy that protesters have violated to avoid being identified by law enforcement, and enhance the university’s security protocols to allow for a quick restoration of order if and when the campus is upended by unauthorized demonstrations.

In Tuesday’s statement, Shipman, Columbia’s fourth chief administrator since 2023, said that the institution is turning the page.

“I want to reiterate that the university has zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment based on protected traits, including Jewish and Israeli identity,” she said. “And while our university rules and policies are well-defined on this matter, beginning this 2025-2026 academic year, Columbia will make clear our ‘Zero Tolerance for Antisemitism and Hate’ in regular community messages.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Columbia University Pledges New Campus Antisemitism Reforms first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

A flyer for “Jewish Joy Con.” Photo: Jewish Joy, LLC

A unique three-day convention that will celebrate Jewish pop culture, the arts, and creativity was officially launched on Tuesday by organizers, and will take place in early spring 2026.

The inaugural Jewish Joy Con is scheduled for March 13–15, 2026, at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The convention will include live music, comedy, and storytelling; panel discussions with bestselling Jewish authors and special guests; meet-and-greets with Jewish actors, writers, leaders, and influencers; a marketplace highlighting Jewish-owned businesses and vendors; immersive experiences with Jewish food, tradition, and spirituality; and discussions about Jewish identity, resilience, and joy. There will also be a Shabbat dinner experience and “Matzah Ball” dance party.

The convention will unite authors, readers, artists, creatives, influencers, and small business owners. The space can hold up to 10,000 attendees, more than 300 vendors, and a main stage with more than 2,500 seats.

The convention is being organized by Jewish Joy, LLC, an umbrella organization that includes various initiatives including the Facebook group Jewish Women Talk About Romance Books, The Jewish Joy Book Club, The Jewish Joy Box of curated and delivered packages, and Jewish Joy Con. The founder and CEO of Jewish Joy LLC is international bestselling author Jean Meltzer. Jewish Joy LLC is organizing the convention in collaboration with Mischief Management.

Meltzer is the author of five novels: “The Matzah Ball,” “Mr. Perfect on Paper,” “Kissing Kosher,” “Magical Meet Cute,” and “The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.” She is also a founding member of The Artists Against Antisemitism, and the creator and host of the podcast “Chronically Fabulous with Jean Meltzer.”

For more information about sponsoring, exhibiting, or presenting at Jewish Joy Con, people can visit the event’s website. Ticket sales will open in August.

The post Inaugural ‘Jewish Joy’ Convention Highlighting Pop Culture, Arts Scheduled for March 2026 in Florida first appeared on Algemeiner.com.