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Officials Investigate Suspected Arson Outside Jewish Museum of Maryland and Baltimore Synagogue

Scorch marks found outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland on Aug. 5, 2024. Photo: Screenshot

US federal and Baltimore City officials have teamed up to investigate a suspected arson attack that took place on Sunday night outside the Jewish Museum of Maryland and its neighbor, the B’nai Israel Synagogue, which, according to its website, is the only remaining active synagogue in the East Baltimore/downtown area.

“We are in the very early stages of the investigation,” Baltimore Police Department spokesperson Lindsey Eldridge told Baltimore’s FOX45 News on Wednesday. “Through the course of the investigation, officers will be able to determine if the incident will be investigated as a hate crime.”

The Maryland Republican Jewish Council said that on Monday, a worker from the construction crew renovating the Jewish Museum of Maryland discovered scorch marks on the ground outside the museum. Surveillance camera footage showed that on Sunday night, a person pulled up to the museum in a vehicle, put something on the ground outside the museum’s gate, set the item on fire, and then left in the vehicle.

The museum is located between two historic synagogues on Baltimore’s Lloyd Street: the B’nai Israel Congregation and the Lloyd Street Synagogue. The latter opened in 1845, making it the oldest synagogue in Maryland and the third oldest standing synagogue in the US. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The fire was set outside of the Jewish Museum of Maryland but also right next to the B’nai Israel Synagogue, which reportedly shares a security gate to the south of the museum.

David Folderauer, the director of security for the Baltimore Jewish Council, told FOX45 News the fire caused “minor damage” that “should not impact the renovations” at the museum, which has been closed for the past year. Folderauer added that while the motive for the suspected arson attack remains unclear, “this can only be viewed as antisemitism.” 

The Maryland Republican Jewish Council released a statement on Wednesday condemning the arson attack. The council’s treasurer, Andrew Koch, has been a member of B’nai Israel Congregation for over 10 years.

“I’m very disturbed and outraged that someone deliberately set something on fire outside my religious home and the Jewish Museum of Maryland, which highlights the rich Jewish history of downtown and East Baltimore,” said Koch, who is also the treasurer on B’nai Israel’s Board of Trustees. “It’s blatant that this was an attempt to intimidate the small Jewish community of downtown Baltimore.”

Koch further said in a Facebook post: “This case of arson was without a doubt antisemitic in nature. It was a hate crime … The virulet [sic] hatred towards Jews that has exploded off the charts in the US since last October has now reached my synagogue, which is the only remaining active synagogue in downtown Baltimore.”

The Baltimore Police Department said that its ongoing investigation will determine whether authorities will pursue the incident as a hate crime.

The post Officials Investigate Suspected Arson Outside Jewish Museum of Maryland and Baltimore Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians

US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.

While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.

Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”

The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.

“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.

Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.

Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.

The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home

Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.

He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.

During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.

Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.

“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.

Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.

His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.

His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.

“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.

“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”

Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.

“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”

Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.

The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.

“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.

The post Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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