RSS
NYPD Shuts Down Anti-Israel Protests Outside Chabad Headquarters During Torah Ceremony
A protest targeting the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters on Sunday, May 25, 2025. Photo: Shomrim
Dozens of anti-Israel demonstrators appeared across the street of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York city on Sunday during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, a prominent leader of the global Hasidic movement within Orthodox Judaism.
Showing up at 770 Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, the approximately 30 anti-Israel activists waved a Palestinian flag and a black-and-white Puerto Rican flag, indicative of alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement. One black-and-red sign at the protest read, “Having said that Floyd was killed by IDF-trained cops meanwhile ‘Israel’ commits genocide and racial apartheid,” seemingly trying to draw a connection between Israel and the 2020 death of George Floyd while being arrested by police officers in Minneapolis.
At Sunday’s protest, a brown, cardboard sign featured the names of those killed in police shootings including George Floyd, Jordan Neely, Eric Duprey, and Michael Rosado.
According to Yaacov Behrman, a public relations spokesman for Chabad, “Known agitator and antisemite Terrell ‘Relly Rebel’” was present at the protest. “He is being mostly ignored by the community, which is gathered across the street at a synagogue to celebrate the arrival of a new Torah,” Behrman added.
A masked protester held a sign with a black American flag and the phrase “Israel’s bitch” with “Israel” in quote marks to imply the Jewish state’s illegitimacy. Many others present obscured their identities with keffiyehs, hats, sunglasses, and face masks. One sign held by a woman in a black mask proclaimed, “King Leopold Killed 10-15M in Congo but it’s Genocide When It Happens to White People,” an apparent racialized diminishment of the Holocaust.
One photo from the event shows a man wearing a red-and-white head covering and large gray hoodie holding a cardboard sign saying in blue and red letters that “George Floyd Should Be Alive” and “Let Black Men Grow Old.”
Jewish security service Shomrim described the confrontation at the Siyum Sefer Torah ceremony in a post on X.
“A known antisemitic agitator, accompanied by approximately 30 cohorts, staged a brief demonstration across the street from 770,” Shomrim explained. “They remained for about 30 minutes and were largely ignored by the community. Our commanding officer, Captain Perez and his NYPD [New York City Police Department] 71st precinct and the NYPD 77th precinct team, alongside NYPD Brooklyn South, responded swiftly and professionally, doing an outstanding job of escorting them out of Crown Heights and ensuring the safety and security of the neighborhood.”
Police officers soon arrived and formed a line between the demonstrators and the synagogue. Another image of the scene captured seven NYPD vehicles parked in response.
Behrman praised Shomrim “for their strong response” and “the Community Affairs team at City Hall for staying in constant contact.”
“On one side of the street, there was a beautiful Hachnosas Sefer Torah in memory of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, marking one year since his passing,” he added. “On the other side, a small group of antisemites tried to cause trouble — but were completely ignored. Shomrim did an outstanding job managing both sides of the street.”
At the “Rellyrebel” instagram account, an individual identifying as Terrell Harper describes himself as the founder of We the People, a group which says it seeks “building & organizing together through our mutual aid efforts. We take care of us! Centering ALL Black lives! FOR the people-BY the people.”
Harper also writes in his bio that “we pig hunting” with a pig and red X emojis. The user photo features a man with long dreads, a red and white head covering, and a cardboard sign reading “Zionism Out of Brooklyn.”
On April 27, We the People’s Instagram posted an appeal on behalf of Harper requesting “outreach and trial support needed.” The group described “Relly Rebel” as “a dedicated and passionate community organizer and activist who has been protesting and doing mutual aid in NYC since 2020. Since he began this work, the NYPD have put a target on his back, intensifying their tactics against him each year. They sent the US Marshals to his house on a protest warrant, they sent him to Rikers, and now, they are taking him to trial on false charges.”
On Friday, Harper left a Brooklyn court with charges of breaking into a police officer’s house dropped by prosecutors following a review of video footage.
“This vile, cop-hating defendant routinely brags online about harassing police officers. He has made it his mission to prevent us from doing our job to protect the public, and the justice system is helping him do just that. When we say that the system doesn’t have our backs, this is what we’re talking about,” Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry said in response.
Following Harper’s case dismissal, his Instagram posted, “We aren’t done yet, Relly still has one more case in Manhattan that he needs our support for! The next court date for Manhattan is June 9th 2025, 100 centre st, 9:00am, Part C. Flyer coming. That case is on for trial and we need numbers to show the NYPD we still and always will have Relly’s back. Zionists are also threatening to come out to court so be early and pack the court with our support [sic].”
Sunday’s demonstration came less than a month after anti-Israel activists attempted to swarm the Crown Heights neighborhood to protest “Zionism,” heightening safety concerns among the New York City borough’s Orthodox Jewish community.
Scores of pro-Palestinian agitators sought to descend upon the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Crown Heights, confronting visibly Jewish individuals, shouting obscenities, and throwing punches at counter-protesters. However, the NYPD deployed officers to prevent the anti-Zionist activists from wreaking havoc.
The post NYPD Shuts Down Anti-Israel Protests Outside Chabad Headquarters During Torah Ceremony first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.