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NYC Mayor’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism Holds First Meeting With Reps From Nearly All City Agencies
The Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, led by Moshe Davis, held its first meeting on July 17, 2025, at City Hall in New York City. Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s interagency task force to combat antisemitism held its inaugural meeting on Thursday at City Hall in Manhattan.
Adams signed Executive Order 51 in May that created the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, the first office of its kind in a major city in the US. Moshe Davis is the executive director of the mayoral office and is also the head of the interagency task force. The task force’s main partners include the New York Police Department Hate Crimes Task Force, Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, and New York City Commission on Human Rights.
Representatives from nearly all New York City agencies attended the task force’s first meeting on Thursday, including members from the departments and offices of sanitation, education, family justice, environmental protection, small business services, health and mental hygiene, and correction. There were also representatives from the Fire Department and City Parks, and the Jewish community’s liaison for the city’s Commission on Human Rights attended as well.
During the meeting, the group collaborated and discussed ways to tackle antisemitism as it relates to their various fields, for example antisemitic crimes targeting small businesses, ensuring street entrances to synagogues are safe with the help of the Department of Transportation, and responding to hate crimes happening in parks such as antisemitic swastika graffiti. Around 4 percent of antisemitic hate crimes take place in the city’s parks, according to Davis.
“Our agencies are really excited to be doing this work,” Davis said. “They are saying, ‘Hey if there is a problem, we want to be a part of the solution. We are in. We want to do this.’ And there is really a diverse group of people.”
The Algemeiner sat in for the meeting’s opening remarks, but then members of the press were ushered out so representatives from the city agencies could speak openly and privately.
“We are all here to make sure that we become a shining example in city government of what to do, of what not to do, and of what will be tolerated,” First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said at the start of the meeting. “We are a city that welcomes diversity – diversity of race, background, socio-economic status … [we have to make sure] that our brothers and sisters in every religious community feel embraced and safe … we will be a better city. A city with a bigger heart.”
After the meeting, Davis told The Algemeiner that similar meetings with all members of the task force will take place in-person at least quarterly, but he will also meet one-on-one with task force members and teams on a regular basis.
Davis shared that during the meeting, attendees discussed the mission of the task force, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism – which New York City adopted in June – antisemitism training, how to keep synagogues safe, and other similar topics. He said the group also talked at length about specific measures that can be taken to combat antisemitism in “hot spots” throughout New York – most notably the Brooklyn areas of Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Midwood – where there are large Jewish populations and have been a number of recent hate crimes targeting Jews. Davis said the task force is focused on addressing antisemitism in these communities.
“Antisemitism is a pervasive, ugly disease that has sadly infiltrated so many sectors of our city, but we will never allow that to stand unanswered under our administration,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement shared with The Algemeiner. “Today, we continue to tackle this crisis head on by rooting out hateful rhetoric and ensuring it has no place in even the most remote corners of our city government. From schools to sanitation to police, our administration will never allow antisemitism — or any other form of hate — to persist. We will continue to build a future in which every New Yorker can live without any fear of hatred.”
After creating the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in May, Adams signed Executive Order No. 52 in June officially recognizing the IHRA definition of antisemitism and encouraging all city agencies to use it as a tool to help identify and response to antisemitic behavior in New York.
The city’s mayoral election is in November, and Adams — a strong supporter of Israel and the Jewish community – is running for another term as an independent. New York City Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a staunch advocate of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and a fierce critic of the Jewish state, won the Democratic Party primary in June and is a frontrunner to win the general election.
Adams did not attend the task force meeting on Thursday and instead showed face at a reelection rally that took place outside City Hall at the same time. During the start of the meeting, participants could hear rally goers chanting “four more years” outside the building.
Davis told press on Thursday that any future administration that wants to disband the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism would need to create an executive order to rescind Executive Order 51.
Many Jewish community members have expressed concern that antisemitism might increase under Mandani if he is elected in November because of his anti-Israel views. The Algemeiner asked Mastro about those concerns on Thursday, and in his response, he turned the focus to Adams, describing him as a uniter. “This mayor unites. He brings people from all races, background and faiths together,” Mastro said. “He stands up for all of that.”
Earlier this month, Mastro sent a letter to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander demanding documentation that explains the latter’s decision to withdraw tens of millions of dollars in city pension funds from bonds issued by Israel. Mastro’s deadline for Lander was Thursday. The deputy mayor told The Algemeiner he has yet to receive the requested documentation and does not expect to. He also hinted that he might be pursing legal action against the comptroller.
Lander “made a conscious decision to allow investments in Israel Bonds to run their course and not reinvest at all,” Mastro said. “He is the first comptroller in 50 years [ to do so]. But he said it’s not divesting … Today I do not expect to get any documentation from the comptroller … In the bond portfolio, Israel Bonds have performed better than the rest of the bonds. So why would you get rid of Israel Bonds? You have a fiduciary duty to maximum the return for the city … and certainly you have an obligation to provide documentation to show how this decision was made.”
The post NYC Mayor’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism Holds First Meeting With Reps From Nearly All City Agencies first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Biden Administration Accused of Helping Fund Anti-Netanyahu Protests in Israel
People hold Israeli flags during a demonstration as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist coalition government presses on with its contentious judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 11, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias
A new US congressional memo has accused the former Biden administration of indirectly funding anti-government protests in Israel targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform agenda.
The memo, released by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, alleges that US taxpayer dollars were channeled through the State Department, US Agency for International Development (USAID), and other federal agencies for use by a network of US and Israeli NGOs to support demonstrations opposing the Netanyahu government’s proposal to overhaul Israel’s judiciary.
The memo levels allegations against six organizations: Blue White Future, Movement for Quality Government in Israel, PEF Israel Endowment Funds, Jewish Communal Fund, Middle East Peace Dialogue Network, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. The committee claims these groups received US grants or served as intermediaries for federal funds, which were ultimately used to finance anti-reform activities in Israel.
According to the committee, these efforts “contributed directly and indirectly to the judicial reform protests that sought to undermine the Israeli government.”
The memo specifically sites activities by Blue White Future, which allegedly used donor-advised funds from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to help establish the protest headquarters in Tel Aviv. Another group, the Movement for Quality Government, reportedly received over $40,000 from US sources for so-called “civic activism training” in Israeli high schools. Critics allege these activities were politically charged.
Republicans also flagged concerns over PEF Israel Endowment Funds and the Jewish Communal Fund, which funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to organizations linked to the protest movement. Some of the NGOs under scrutiny have also been accused of having indirect ties to extremist groups, a charge that, if proven, could constitute violations of US laws governing nonprofit funding and anti-terrorism statutes.
The committee alleges that the Biden administration “potentially funded groups with ties to US-designated terrorist organizations.”
The Bayader Association for Environment and Development, a NGO that operates within Gaza, has received grant funding from American taxpayers despite openly collaborating with Hamas officials, according to the committee.
“These ties are not new,” the committee states. “For instance, in 2021, Bayader’s annual report notes ‘coordination’ and ‘meetings’ with Hamas’s Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Works, Ministry of Social Affairs, and Ministry of Agriculture.”
The allegations follow a broader political battle in Israel, where Netanyahu’s judicial reform efforts, which include limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to review legislation and giving the ruling coalition greater control over judicial appointments, triggered mass demonstrations across the country. Biden administration officials had publicly criticized the reforms, warning they could undermine Israeli democracy.
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, the Israeli public’s attention largely shifted to the conflict and the hostages kidnapped by Hamas, ending most of the protests over the judicial reforms.
The US House Judiciary Committee is expected to escalate its inquiry in the coming weeks, presenting additional document requests and potential subpoenas. While no criminal activity has been established, observers have noted the investigation raises significant questions about oversight of foreign aid, nonprofit transparency, and the boundaries of US involvement in the domestic affairs of foreign allies.
The post Biden Administration Accused of Helping Fund Anti-Netanyahu Protests in Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Antisemitic Incidents on Campus Spike to Record High Even as Assaults, Vandalism Decrease, New Data Shows
Pro-Hamas students rally at the encampment for Gaza set up at George Washington University students. Washington, DC, April 25, 2035. Photo: Allison Bailey via Reuters Connect
New data on antisemitic incidents on college campuses released on Thursday by Hillel International paints a picture of the Jewish higher education experience that is somewhat gray, showing improvements in some statistical categories and retrogression in others.
“While we’re encouraged by progress in some areas, any counting of incidents likely underrepresents the true scope of antisemitism, because so many incidents go unreported — especially as they become normalized,” Hillel’s vice president of Israel engagement and confronting antisemitism, Jon Falk, said in a statement. “We cannot allow this level of antisemitism to feel normal. That’s why we’re working on campuses every day, creating safe, inclusive, and vibrant communities for Jewish students everywhere.”
The number of antisemitic incidents counted by the group, which is the largest collegiate group for Jewish students in the world, surged to a record high during the 2024-2025 academic year — 2,234, an increase of more than 500 incidents compared to the 1,853 recorded in the 2023-2024 school year. During the 2022-2023 academic year, the last year before Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel and the onset of the Gaza war, Hillel recorded just 289 antisemitic incidents.
However, incidents of assault declined by 36 percent over the past academic year, and incidents of vandalism, and graffiti plummeted by 55 percent. Meanwhile, so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampments,” once the bane of Jewish college life and a source of early retirement for elite college presidents, fell 92 percent.
Alongside those numbers are indicators that antisemitism is migrating from the campus to the internet and social media, where it can be easily masked by burner accounts and faceless forum groups in which the cover of anonymity encourages extremism. According to Hillel, antisemitic online harassment increased by 185 percent. Additionally, anti-Israel activists are disrupting commencement ceremonies at marginally higher rates. The 2024-2025 school year saw 37 such incidents. The previous academic year saw 31.
“All Jewish students should feel they belong on campus, but unfortunately, too often we’re seeing environments that make Jewish students feel excluded and threatened,” Hillel International chief executive officer Adam Lehman said in a statement. “Over the past year, many universities have made significant changes to better clarify and enforce their policies and codes of conduct, supported by our work with them to achieve these improvements. When universities step up and enforce their rules, Jewish students and all students benefit from a safer, more inclusive campus environment.”
Other research has explored the role of social media in spreading antisemitic and anti-Zionist propaganda.
In May, a report produced by the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University, Bloomington and shared with The Algemeiner — titled “Anti-Israel Campus Groups: Online Networks and Narratives” — discussed the ways in which pro-Hamas student groups draw in the world beyond the campus to heighten pressure on university officials and create an illusion of inexorable support for anti-Zionism. Key to this effort, the report explained, is a vast and ambitious network of non-campus anti-Israel organizations which ply them with logistical and financial resources that significantly boost their capabilities beyond those of normal student clubs.
“Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, play a critical role in mobilizing these groups, spreading radical narratives, and coordinating actions at both local and national levels,” report authors Gunther Jikeli and Daniel Miehling wrote. “Social media shapes perceptions of the Israel-Hamas conflict in significant ways, often through highly emotive and polarizing content that fuels activism and, at times, incitement.”
Having modernized the manufacturing and distribution of political propaganda by reducing complex subjects to “memes” — some involving humor or contemporary cultural references which appeal to the sensibilities of the youth — social media has become the cheapest and most effective weapons in the arsenal of the pro-Hamas movement, the report said, adding that this was true before the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel precipitated an explosion of anti-Israel activity online.
However, extremist groups have been pushing such anti-Israel activism on campuses long before the Oct. 7 atrocities, according to the report.
From 2013 to 2024, Students for Justice in Palestine, pro-Hamas faculty groups, and others posted over 76,000 posts on social media which were analyzed by the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Over half, 54.9 percent, included only a single, evocative image.
“In contrast, Reels (5.3%) and Videos (4.9%) are used far less frequently,” the report said. “Based on these descriptions, we see a strong preference among campus-based anti-Israel groups for static visual formats, suggesting that this type of bimodal content represents the highest form of shareability within activists networks.”
To boost their audience and reach, pro-Hamas groups also post together in what Jikeli and Miehling described as “co-authored posts,” of which there were over 20,000 between 2013 and 2024. The content they contain elicits strong emotions in the individual users exposed to it, inciting incidents of antisemitic discrimination, harassment, and violence, the report continued. Such outrages increase in proportion to the concentration of anti-Israel groups on a single campus, as the report’s data show a relationship that is “particularly strong.”
Of all the groups responsible for fostering a hostile campus environment, SJP stands out for being “the most frequent collaborator with other anti-Israel organizations,” the report added. The group’s closest ally appears to be the Palestinian Youth movement, which maintains ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terror organization which became infamous in the 20th century for perpetrating a series of airplane hijackings.
“This close collaboration not only broadens SJP’s audience but also suggests that PYM’s radical anti-Zionist rhetoric and visual language may shape elements of SJP’s discourse,” Jikeli and Miehling explained. “PYM’s posts frequently incorporate imagery associated with socialist iconography, national liberation movements, and Islamist martyrdom. Such content often features slogans that reject the legitimacy of the Israeli state, depict convicted Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel as political prisoners, and glorify members of terrorist groups.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Antisemitic Incidents on Campus Spike to Record High Even as Assaults, Vandalism Decrease, New Data Shows first appeared on Algemeiner.com.