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Orthodox Union pitching ads condemning antisemitism to more than 20 campus newspapers
(JTA) — The Orthodox Union is seeking to run a full-page ad in more than 20 university newspapers across the United States reprinting the text from a congressional resolution denouncing antisemitism on college campuses.
“Thank you Congress for standing with Jewish students on campus,” reads the all-caps headline of the ad, which is printed in red and blue text on a white background. Following a description of the resolution, it says, “Where do you stand in this moment of truth?”
The ad has so far been accepted for publication in five papers. It is running at a time when tensions are high on North American campuses in the month following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the launch of Israel’s ensuing war against the terror group in Gaza. Jewish students have faced death threats on multiple campuses, and pro-Palestinian groups at schools across the country have celebrated or endorsed the Hamas attack.
In light of that climate, the O.U., an Orthodox umbrella group, said it wanted to send a message of reassurance to Jewish students — and an admonition to those who celebrated the Oct. 7 violence. So far, seven schools’ papers have accepted the ad.
“With rising antisemitism across America’s college campuses, we at the Orthodox Union felt it crucial to show Jewish students action was being taken to support them in these challenging times,” Nathan Diament, the O.U.’s executive director of public policy, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a statement.
“Purchasing ads in university newspapers that display the resolution passed nearly unanimously in Congress denouncing campus antisemitism also serves as a reminder to college students siding with Hamas that they are on the wrong side of history,” he added. “American Jewish students have the right to live freely and safely, and we will continue protecting this right in whichever way possible.”
The O.U. has reached out to more than 20 newspapers, including some on campuses whose names have become associated with inflammatory statements and actions, and where donors and professors have called on administrators to do more to protect Jews.
They include the University of Pennsylvania, which has lost donors who called for a more robust response to antisemitism; University of Massachusetts Amherst, where a student was arrested for punching a Jewish peer; Cornell University, where a student was arrested for threatening to “shoot up” the kosher dining hall; Columbia University, where someone was arrested for assaulting an Israeli student; and others.
The non-binding resolution, introduced by Rep. Burgess Owens, a Republican from Utah, passed last week 396-23. Among other clauses, the resolution states that the House of Representatives “condemns the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education, which may lead to the creation of a hostile environment for Jewish students, faculty, and staff,” and calls upon college administrators to condemn antisemitism on their campuses and protect their students.
The ad has been accepted for placement at Santa Monica College and Western University, which share a newspaper; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Maryland; Washington University in St. Louis; and Binghamton University.
Some papers did not respond to the O.U.’s inquiry. The University of Chicago, which had initially accepted an ad placement, later retracted that decision, saying they do not accept political advertisements, according to an email shared with JTA
Josef Katz, director of marketing and communications for the O.U., said the organization chose universities that already have an established Orthodox Union-Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program, which aims to engage students in Orthodox Jewish life.
“We want to make sure that everyone feels safe and respected on these campuses, and do what we can to work with schools to make sure that these protests — it’s getting worse than protests in some cases, where there’s assaults, people fearing for their lives — are being addressed appropriately,” Katz said.
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The post Orthodox Union pitching ads condemning antisemitism to more than 20 campus newspapers appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says
An Israeli flag flies in Lebanon, near the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as seen from Metula, northern Israel, Dec. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
Israel said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold talks to demarcate its border with Lebanon, adding it would release five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military in what it called a “gesture to the Lebanese president.”
A statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel had agreed with Lebanon, the US, and France to establish working groups to discuss the demarcation line between the two countries.
Though Israel has largely withdrawn from southern Lebanon under a ceasefire deal agreed in November, its troops continue to hold five hilltop positions in the area with airstrikes in southern Lebanon citing what it described as Hezbollah activity.
The ceasefire deal ended more than a year of conflict between Israel‘s military and the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah that was playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
The fighting peaked in a major Israeli air and ground campaign in southern Lebanon that left Hezbollah badly weakened, with most of its military command killed in Israeli strikes.
The post Israel Agrees to Talks on Lebanon Border, to Free Five Lebanese, PM Office Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The United Nations Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday over Iran’s expansion of its stock of uranium close to weapons grade, diplomats said on Monday.
The meeting was requested by six of the council’s 15 members – France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain, and the US.
They also want the council to discuss Iran’s obligation to provide the UN nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – with “the information necessary to clarify outstanding issues related to undeclared nuclear material detected at multiple locations in Iran,” diplomats said.
Iran’s mission to the UN in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the planned meeting.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level, the IAEA has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Iran reached a deal in 2015 with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia, and China – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
Washington quit the agreement in 2018 during Donald Trump’s first term as US president, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
Britain, France, and Germany have told the UN Security Council that they are ready – if needed – to trigger a so-called snap back of all international sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
They will lose the ability to take such action on Oct. 18 this year when the 2015 UN resolution on the deal expires. US President Donald Trump has directed his UN envoy to work with allies to snap back international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.
The post UN Security Council to Meet Over Iran’s Growing Stockpile of Near-Bomb-Grade Uranium first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Entire Families Killed in Syria’s Military Crackdown, UN Says
A man inspects a damaged car in Latakia, after hundreds were reportedly killed in some of the deadliest violence in 13 years of civil war, pitting loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad against the country’s new Islamist rulers, Syria, March 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Haidar Mustafa
Entire families including women and children were killed in Syria’s coastal region as part of a series of sectarian killings by the army against an insurgency by Bashar al-Assad loyalists, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.
Pressure has been growing on Syria’s Islamist-led government to investigate after reports by a war monitor of the killing of hundreds of civilians in villages where the majority of the population were members of Assad’s minority Alawite sect.
“In a number of extremely disturbing instances, entire families – including women, children, and individuals hors de combat – were killed, with predominantly Alawite cities and villages targeted in particular,” UN human rights office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said, using a French term for those incapable of fighting.
So far, the UN human rights office has documented the killing of 111 civilians and expects the real toll to be significantly higher, Al-Kheetan told a Geneva press briefing. Of those, 90 were men; 18 were women; and three were children, he added.
“Many of the cases documented were of summary executions. They appear to have been carried out on a sectarian basis,” Al-Kheetan told reporters. In some cases, men were shot dead in front of their families, he said, citing testimonies from survivors.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk welcomed an announcement by Syria’s Islamist-led government to create an accountability committee and called for those investigations to be prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial, the spokesperson added.
The post Entire Families Killed in Syria’s Military Crackdown, UN Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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