Connect with us

RSS

Palestinian Authority Indoctrinates Children: Israel Shouldn’t Exist, Balfour Declaration Was ‘Satan’s Promise’

The opening of a hall that the Palestinian Authority named for a terrorist who killed 125 people. Photo: Palestinian Media Watch.

Marking the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration — which declared that the British government “views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” — the Palestinian Authority (PA) stressed its belief that Israel has no right to exist in any borders.

The PA presents the establishment of Israel as “theft” and the Balfour Declaration, the letter from British Foreign Secretary Balfour to Baron Rothschild, as “the ominous promise,” through which “one who has no ownership” — i.e., Britain — “gave a promise to one who has no right” — i.e., the Jews.

This message is taught to Palestinian schoolchildren throughout the year, and the PA Ministry of Education makes sure to particularly emphasize it on the November 2 anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

During a school event commemorating “the ominous promise,” young school children held signs and Palestinian flags. One sign read “Satan’s promise”:

Text on yellow sign: “Satan’s Promise
Nov. 2, 1917”
Text on pink sign: “Lod [i.e., an Israeli city]”

[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]

The anniversary of the Balfour Declaration also serves as the perfect opportunity to emphasize the PA’s antisemitic ideology.

The Palestinian antisemitic explanation for the Balfour’s Declaration is that Britain led the initiative to create a state for the Jews so they could “get rid of them,” because the Jews “tried to take control of the economy … in most of the European states”:

Click to play

Palestinian Writers’ Union General Secretariat member Talal Abu Afifa: “These Jews, ever since they arrived in Britain in the 18th century… at the start of the 20th century, they began to constitute a problem for Britain. Especially because the Jews, wherever they settle, they try to take control of the country’s economy and wealth. When the Zionists in Britain began to do this, bitterness and complaints began from the civilians, economists, and statesmen, that the Jews are attempting to take control of Britain. They did this not just in Britain, but in most of the European states…”

Official PA TV host: “Indeed, wherever they arrived destruction followed.

Talal Abu Afifa:: Therefore, Britain thought about how it would get rid of the Jews [and issued the Balfour Declaration].” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, In Memory, Nov. 2, 2024]

A retired PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. repeated another part of the PA’s narrative regarding the establishment of Israel in general: That it was, and still is, part of a “colonialist project”:

Click to play

PA Security Forces Maj. Gen. (ret.) and national security expert Ahmed Issa: “Israel is the only state that was not established by its people on its land. It was established through theft, and it is a product of a large colonialist project led by the colonialist states under the leadership of Britain.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Israel in the News, Oct. 28, 2024]

Along with the colonialist conspiracy theory, the PA sees the Balfour Declaration as marking the West’s submission to “the desires of global Zionism”:

The Balfour Declaration’ was tantamount to the West’s first step on the path to establishing an entity for the Jews on the land of Palestine, while acceding to the desires of global Zionism at the expense of a people that has been planted in this land for thousands of years … The Jews succeeded in exploiting this piece of paper of [then British Foreign Secretary] Arthur Balfour … to realize their dream, and on May 15, 1948, Israel was established. [emphasis added]

[WAFA, official PA news agency, Nov. 2, 2024]

As mentioned above, the PA actively reinforces the message to children in PA schools — that Israel has no right to exist in any borders — and uses the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration to reinforce it.

The PA Ministry of Education posted additional photos from school events, “rejecting and condemning the ominous promise”:

Posted text: “The adults will die and the young will not forget.

As a sign of rejecting the ominous Balfour Promise and an expression of the importance of preserving the national memory and affiliation among our students, activities were held condemning this ominous promise on the radio this morning [Nov. 3, 2024].

#The_Balfour_Promise”

Children kneel to form the PA map of “Palestine” that presents all of Israel together with the PA areas as “Palestine” with their bodies.

They are wearing red, black, white, and green shirts and form the Palestinian flag, indicating Palestinian sovereignty over the entire Israel, thereby presenting a world without  Israel.

Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise was given by one with no ownership to one with no right”

Text on sign in center: “The Balfour Promise is null and will be nullified”

Text on paper: “The ominous Balfour Promise”

[PA Ministry of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]

In a video posted by the South Hebron Directorate of Education — a branch of the PA Ministry of Education — a schoolgirl appears with the PA map of “Palestine” that includes all of Israel in the colors of the Palestinian flag painted on her face.

The text posted by the Directorate of Education stresses that the activity was connected to “the ominous Balfour Promise”:

Posted text: “The participation of female student Sham Lafi Al-Haroub from the Beit Shean Elementary School for Girls in the South Hebron Directorate of Education (i.e., branch of the PA Ministry of Education) in commemorating the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Promise”

[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]

School events marking the anniversary of “the ominous Balfour Promise” were held in PA schools:

Posted text: “Pictures from the schools of the South Hebron Directorate of Education during school radio activities, which were dedicated today, Sunday, [Nov. 3, 2024,] to talking about the anniversary of the ominous Balfour Declaration (see note below -Ed.).
#The_Balfour_Promise (i.e., Declaration)”

Text on girl’s sign: “We will not forget the ominous promise
The Balfour Promise
Which was given by one who has no ownership to one who has no right
Nov. 2, 1917”

[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]

Text on sign: “The [Balfour] Promise is null and the [Palestinian refugees’] right of return is what is legal”

Text on sign: “The Balfour Promise to steal a homeland”

Text on sweatshirt: “All of Palestine is my homeland
(The following is in English -Ed.) Free Palestine”

[South Hebron Directorate of Education, Facebook page, Nov. 3, 2024]

Fatah’s magazine for children, Waed, stated in their November 2024 issue that the Palestinians issued their declaration of independence in 1988 in Algeria as a response to the Balfour Declaration to “nullify everything that resulted from the Balfour Declaration.” In other words, elimination of Israel:

“The PLO — the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — declared the establishment of the State of Palestine on Nov. 15, 1986 (sic., 1988) in Algeria. This declaration came 70 (sic., 71) years after the Balfour Declaration to emphasize the Palestinian people’s determination to liberate Palestine and nullify all that has happened as a result of the Balfour Declaration.” [emphasis added]

[Waed Magazine, Issue 45, November 2024]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed many other problematic and dangerous messages taught to children by Fatah through its youth magazine Waed in the report Teaching Terror to Tots, and documented decades of PA’s rejection of Israel’s right to exist, which peaks on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.

The post Palestinian Authority Indoctrinates Children: Israel Shouldn’t Exist, Balfour Declaration Was ‘Satan’s Promise’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls Zohran Mamdani an ‘Antisemite’ Who Has Embraced Hamas, Says Jews ‘Should Be Concerned’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends an “October 7: One Year Later” commemoration to mark the anniversary of the Hamas-led attack in Israel at the Summer Stage in Central Park on October 7, 2024, in New York City. Photo: Ron Adar/ SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has accused mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani of spreading antisemitic views, citing Mamdani’s past remarks and anti-Israel activism as he starts his efforts to thwart the progressive insurgent.

Adams’s repudiation comes in the aftermath of a heated mayoral Democratic primary in which Mamdani, a 33‑year‑old democratic socialist, former rapper, and New York City Assembly member, achieved a stunning upset over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday. While Mamdani has denied being antisemitic, Adams argued that some of Mamdani’s rhetoric, including his defense of the phrase “globalize the intifada,” crosses the line into inflammatory territory and risks alienating Jewish New Yorkers.

In the Thursday interview with journalist Don Lemon, Adams slammed Mamdani for his “embracing of Hamas” in his public comments and rap lyrics. The mayor labeled Hamas a “murderous organization” that murders members of the LGBTQ+ community and uses “human beings as shields” when engaging in military conflict with Israel.

“You can’t embrace Hamas, and the mere fact that you embrace Hamas says a lot,” he said.

During his rap career, Mamdani released a song praising the “Holy Land Five,” a group of five men connected to the Hamas terrorist group. The men were accused of funneling millions in cash to Hamas through the Holy Land Foundation — a charity organization that was shut down by the federal government in 2001 for having links to terrorist groups.

The mayor added that the city’s Jewish community should be “concerned” with Mamdani’s comments.

Adams is battling to keep his political future alive amid mounting legal and political troubles. A federal bribery probe into foreign campaign donations cast a shadow over his administration until charges were unexpectedly dropped by a Trump-aligned Justice Department, sparking accusations of political favoritism. Since then, Adams has leaned into right-wing rhetoric on crime and immigration, forging relationships with allies of US President Donald Trump and refusing to rule out a party switch, moves that have alienated Democratic leaders and progressives alike and caused his approval ratings to spiral.

Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent, had reportedly hoped for Mamdani to emerge victorious in the Democratic primary, believing that a face-off against the progressive firebrand would create an opportunity to revive his near-moribund reelection campaign by highlighting the democratic socialist’s far-left views.

Mamdani, a progressive representative in the New York State Assembly, has also sparked outrage after engaging in a series of provocative actions, such as appearing on the podcast of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas influencer Hasan Piker and vowing to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York.

During an event hosted by the UJA-Federation of New York last month, Mamdani also declined to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

“I believe that Israel has a right to exist with equal rights for all,” Mamdani said in a carefully worded response when asked, sidestepping the issue of Israel’s existence specifically as a “Jewish state” and seemingly suggesting Israeli citizens do not enjoy equal rights.

Then during a New York City Democratic mayoral debate, he once again refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, sparking immediate backlash among the other candidates.

In 2023, while speaking at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in New York, Mamdani encouraged the audience to applaud for Palestinian American community activist Khader El-Yateem, saying, “If you don’t clap for El-Yateem, you’re a Zionist.”

High-profile Democratic leaders in New York such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have congratulated and complemented Mamdani but have not yet issued an explicit endorsement. Each lawmaker has expressed interest in meeting with Mamdani prior to making a decision on a formal endorsement, indicating discomfort within Democratic circles regarding the presumptive Democratic mayoral nominee’s meteoric rise over the past few months.

The post NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls Zohran Mamdani an ‘Antisemite’ Who Has Embraced Hamas, Says Jews ‘Should Be Concerned’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Civil Rights Nonprofit Slams Pro-Hamas Briefs Defending Harvard Lawsuit Against Trump

April 20, 2025, Cambridge, MA, USA: Harvard University and Harvard Square scenes with students and pedestrians. Photo: Kenneth Martin/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect.

A new amicus brief filed in the lawsuit that Harvard University brought in April to stop the Trump administration’s confiscation of some $3 billion of its federal research grants and contracts offered a blistering response to previous briefs which maligned the institution’s decision to incorporate the world’s leading definition of antisemitism into its non-discrimination policies.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, legal briefs weighing in on Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al. have been pouring in from across the country, with dozens of experts, think tanks, and student groups seeking to sway the court in what has become a historic confrontation between elite higher education and the federal government — as well as a showdown between Middle American populists and coastal elites.

Harvard’s case has rallied a team of defenders, including some who are responsible for drawing scrutiny of alleged antisemitism and far-left extremism on campus.

Earlier this month, the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) — which blamed Israel for Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel mere hours after images and videos of the terrorist organization’s brutality spread online — filed a brief which compared Zionists to segregationists who defended white supremacy during Jim Crow, while arguing that Harvard’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism — used by hundreds of governing institutions and widely accepted across the political spectrum — is an instrument of conspiracy and racist oppression.

“Adopting the IHRA definition, granting special status to Zionism, and penalizing pro-Palestinian student groups risks violating the Title VI rights of Palestinians on campus,” the filing said. “There is ample evidence that adoption of IHRA and other policies which limit speech supporting Palestinian rights are motivated by an intent to selectively silence Palestinians and students who advocate on behalf of Palestinians. Such action cannot be required by, and indeed appear to violate, Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act].”

The document added, “Though the main text of the definition is relatively benign, the illustrative examples — seven of the eleven which pertain to criticism of Israel — make clear that they are aimed at preventing Palestinians from speaking about their oppression.”

Similar arguments were put forth in other briefs submitted by groups which have cheered Hamas and spread blood libels about Israel’s conduct in Gaza, including the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and other anti-Zionist groups.

“Harvard’s incorporation of IHRA was an overdue and necessary response to the virulent and unchecked antisemitic discrimination and harassment on its campus,” the Brandeis Center said in its response to the arguments, noting that Harvard itself has determined that embracing the definition is consistent with its obligations under Title VI, which have been reiterated and stressed by the US Office for Civil Rights (OCR) guidance and two executive orders issued by President Donald Trump.

“Misunderstandings about what antisemitism means — and the form it takes — have long plagued efforts to address antisemitic conduct. Modern versions of antisemitism draw not only on ancient tropes, but also coded attacks on Zionism and the Jewish state, which often stand in for the Jewish people in modern antisemitic parlance,” the organization continued. “Sadly, this is nothing new: Soviet propagandists for decades used the term ‘Zionist’ or ‘Zio’ in this coded way. This practice has become commonplace among antisemites in academia who seek to avoid being labeled as racists.”

The Brandeis Center also argued that IHRA does not “punish or chill speech” but “provides greater transparency and clarity as to the meaning of antisemitism while honoring the university’s rules protecting free speech and expression.” The group stopped short of urging a decision either for or against Harvard, imploring the court to “disregard” the briefs submitted by PSC, JVP, and MESA.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Harvard sued the Trump administration, arguing that it bypassed key procedural steps it must, by law, take before sequestering federal funds. It also said that the Trump administration does not aim, as it has publicly pledged, to combat campus antisemitism at Harvard but to impose “viewpoint-based conditions on Harvard’s funding.”

The Trump administration has proposed that Harvard reform in ways that conservatives have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Its “demands,” contained in a letter the administration sent to interim Harvard president Alan Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of [diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives],” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implored Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”

On Monday, the attorneys general of Iowa, Kansas, Georgia, Florida, and 12 other states said the Trump administration took appropriate action to quell what they described as Harvard University’s flagrant violation of civil rights laws concerning its handling of the campus antisemitism crisis as well as its past history of violating the Constitution’s equal protection clause by practicing racial preferences in admissions.

Harvard both admits that it has a problem with antisemitism and acknowledges that problem as the reason it needs a multi-agency Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. Yet when the federal government acted to rectify that acknowledged violation of federal law through a negotiated practice, Harvard cried retaliation,” the attorneys general said in their own brief. “Its characterization of its refusal to follow federal nondiscrimination law as First Amendment speech is sheer chutzpah.”

They continued, “There is strong evidence of Harvard’s discriminatory animus, and the First Amendment does not shield it from consequences. This court should deny summary judgement and allow the federal government to proceed with enforcing the law. Perhaps if Harvard faces consequences for violating federal antidiscrimination law, it will finally stop violating federal antidiscrimination law.”

Trump addressed a potential “deal” to settle the matter with Harvard last Friday, writing on his Truth Social platform, saying a “deal will be announced over the next week or so” while praising the university’s legal counsel for having “acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right.” He added, “If a settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be ‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.”

To date, Harvard has held its own against the federal government, building a war chest with a massive bond sale and notching a recent legal victory in the form of an injunction granted by a federal job which halted the administration’s restrictions on its international students — a policy that is being contested in a separate lawsuit. Garber has reportedly confirmed that the administration and Trump are discussing an agreement that would be palatable to all parties.

According to a report published by The Harvard Crimson on Thursday, Garber held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”

The Crimson added, “He also did not discuss how close a deal could be and said instead that Harvard had focused on laying on steps it was already taking to address issues that are common ground for the University and the Trump administration. Areas of shared concern that have been discussed with the White House included ‘viewpoint diversity’ and antisemitism.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Civil Rights Nonprofit Slams Pro-Hamas Briefs Defending Harvard Lawsuit Against Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

University of Virginia President Resigns Amid DEI Controversy With Trump Administration

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as US Attorney General Pam Bondi and US Attorney General Todd Blanche listen, on June 27, 2025. Photo: Reuters Connect

The University of Virginia (UVA) is without a president following the reported resignation of James Ryan, a move which the US Justice Department stipulated as a condition of settling a civil rights case brought against the institution over its practicing racial preferences in admissions and hiring, a policy it justified as fostering “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI).

As first reported by The New York Times, Ryan tendered his resignation in a letter to the university’s corporate board on Thursday, noting that he had originally intended to step down at the conclusion of the 2025-2026 academic year. Recent events hastened the decision, the Times added, including several board members’ insisting that Ryan leave to prevent the institution’s losing “hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding” that the Trump administration would have impounded had he remained in office.

Ryan drew the scrutiny of the Justice Department, having allegedly defied a landmark Supreme Court ruling which outlawed establishing racial identity as the determinant factor for admission to the university as well as a series of executive orders US President Donald Trump issued to shutter DEI initiatives being operated in the public and private sectors. Such programs have been accused of fostering a new “anti-white” bigotry which penalizes individual merit and undermines the spirit of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement by, for example, excluding white males from jobs and prestigious academic positions for which they are qualified.

Another DEI-adjacent practice was identified at UVA in 2024, when the Equal Protection Project, a Rhode Island based nonprofit, filed a civil rights complaint against the university which argued that its holding a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Alumni-Student Mentoring Program is discriminatory, claiming no public official would think it appropriate to sanction a mentoring program for which the sole membership criterion is being white. UVA later changed the description of the program, claiming that it is open to “all races, ethnicities, and national origins” even as it stressed that it was “created with BIPOC students in mind.”

The university’s tactics were allegedly employed to hide other DEI programs from lawmakers and taxpayers, with Ryan reportedly moving and concealing them behind new names. He quickly exhausted the patience of the Trump Justice Department, which assumed office only months after the BIPOC program was reported to federal authorities.

“This is further demonstration that the Trump administration is brutally serious about enforcement of civil rights laws. This will send shock waves throughout higher education, and it should,” Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told The Algemeiner on Friday, commenting on the news. “It is a clear message that university leaders will be held accountable, personally and professionally, if they fail to ensure their institutions’ compliance.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the Trump administration is leading a campaign against colleges and universities it has deemed as soft on campus antisemitism or excessively “woke.” Over the past several months, the administration has imposed catastrophic financial sanctions on elite universities including Harvard and Columbia, rattling a higher education establishment against which conservatives have lodged a slew of criticisms for decades. The actions coincide with a precipitous drop in public support for academia caused by an explosion of pro-Hamas demonstrations on campuses and the promotion of views which many Americans perceive as anti-meritocratic, anti-Western, and racist.

Since January, the administration has impounded $3 billion in Harvard’s federal funds over the institution’s refusal to agree to a wishlist of policy reforms that Republican lawmakers have long argued will make higher education more meritocratic and less welcoming to anti-Zionists and far-left extremists. Contained in a letter the administration sent to Harvard interim president Alan Garber — who subsequently released it to the public — the policies called for “viewpoint diversity in hiring and admissions,” the “discontinuation of [diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives],” and “reducing forms of governance bloat.” They also implore Harvard to begin “reforming programs with egregious records of antisemitism” and to recalibrate its approach to “student discipline.”

Columbia University has announced that it acceded to similar demands put forth by the Trump administration as prerequisites for the restoration of its federal funds — including a review of undergraduate admissions practices that allegedly discriminate against qualified Jewish applicants, the enforcement of an “anti-mask” policy that protesters have violated to avoid being identified by law enforcement, and enhancements to the university’s security protocols that would facilitate the restoration of order when the campus is disturbed by unauthorized demonstrations.

Harvard is reportedly prepared to strike a deal with Trump as well, according to a Thursday report by The Harvard Crimson.

Garber, the paper said, held a phone call with major donors in which he “confirmed in response to a question from [Harvard Corporation Fellow David M. Rubenstein] that talks had resumed” but “declined to share specifics of how Harvard expected to settle with the White House.”

The Crimson added, “He also did not discuss how close a deal could be and said instead that Harvard had focused on laying on steps it was already taking to address issues that are common ground for the university and the Trump administration. Areas of shared concern that have been discussed with the White House included ‘viewpoint diversity’ and antisemitism.”

Meanwhile, others continue to argue that Trump’s reforms of higher education threaten to mire the university in politics while describing Ryan’s resignation as a setback for academic freedom.

“It is a sign that major public research universities are substantially controlled by a political party whose primary goal is to further its partisan agenda and will stop at nothing to bring the independence of higher education to heel,” Michigan State University professor Brendan Cantwell told Inside Higher Ed on Friday. “It undercuts both the integrity of academic communities as self-governing based on the judgement of expert professionals and the traditional accountability that public universities have to their states via formal and established governance mechanisms.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post University of Virginia President Resigns Amid DEI Controversy With Trump Administration first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News