A pro-Hamas demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/dieBildmanufaktur via Reuters Connect

Amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across Europe, anti-Israel demonstrators targeted synagogues in Poland and Switzerland over the weekend, heightening fears of further violence following last week’s antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC.

On Saturday, a pro-Hamas demonstration in Bern, the de facto capital of Switzerland, prompted a large-scale police operation and led to violent clashes as officers tried to contain the protest, leaving several police officers injured.

According to Swiss media reports, the march had not been authorized, yet around 2,000 protesters gathered and attempted to reach the city’s historic synagogue.

The demonstration was marked by antisemitic rhetoric and inflammatory chants, including the use of the banned slogan, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan is popular among anti-Israel activists and has been widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Local law enforcement attempted to contain the violent protesters who were trying to reach the Jewish synagogue, using tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons to bring the situation under control.

During the clashes, five police officers were injured after protesters attacked them with fireworks and hurled objects.

Violent clashes at the Pro Palestinian demonstration today in Bern, Switzerland. According to local reports, the demonstrators were trying to reach a synagogue but were stopped by police, pic.twitter.com/D38dRSMNJI

— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) May 24, 2025

Michel Ronen, co-chair of the Jewish Community of Bern (JGB), said these latest incidents underscore the increasing threat that Jews are facing nationwide.

“We are deeply concerned about the high potential for violence at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Naturally, this also raises serious concerns within the Jewish community in Bern,” Ronen told the German newspaper Juedische Allgemeine.

“The fact that this radicalized group of protesters was able to get so close to the synagogue is a clear warning about the security risks facing Bern’s Jewish population. We urge the city of Bern to treat this serious threat with the utmost urgency,” he continued.

Jonathan Kreutner, secretary general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), condemned the fact that “radical pro-Palestinian protesters” were able to get so close to the synagogue on Saturday, expressing his full support for the local Jewish community.

“We strongly support the demand for heightened vigilance and the introduction of concrete, forward-thinking security measures in the city of Bern,” Kreutner said.

In a separate incident, anti-Israel agitators also set their sights on a Polish synagogue.

On Friday, an anti-Israel group burst into a synagogue in Bielsko-Biała — a city in southern Poland — disrupting a private Jewish event with antisemitic slogans, hateful rhetoric, and inflammatory chants.

The event at the historic synagogue in Bielsko-Biała was disrupted when members of a pro-Palestinian group stormed in mid-program, waving flags and shouting over Holocaust survivors taking part in the ceremony.

According to local media, Holocaust survivors and community members were subjected to antisemitic insults and slurs.

Following the incident, event organizers attributed the attack to incitement by members of Poland’s far-left Razem party, calling it “the most blatant act of antisemitism the city has witnessed in decades.”

The post Anti-Israel Protesters Target European Synagogues Amid Escalating Antisemitism Crisis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Iranian Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi. Photo: Screenshot

Iran has warned it will carry out a “decisive strike” against Israel if the country makes what Tehran calls “another mistake,” amid rising regional tensions following the fifth round of nuclear talks between the Islamist regime and the United States.

On Monday, Iranian Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, threatened to attack Israel during a press conference, declaring that the Jewish state is too weak to withstand Iran’s military capabilities.

“The Zionist regime is too weak to harm the grandeur of Iran. Meanwhile, the power of the Islamic Republic can pose serious challenges to Israel and its backers,” the Iranian commander said.

“Even their own officials understand that they cannot endure such challenges. But since the current rulers are foolish child-killers, any misstep is possible,” he continued.

“If they are in a hurry to receive another ‘True Promise,’ we are fully prepared to deliver the appropriate blow,” Mousavi said, referring to the regime’s name for its ballistic-missile attack against Israel in October.

Meanwhile, in a post on X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned Tehran for praising last week’s antisemitic shooting of Israeli embassy staffers leaving a Jewish event in Washington, DC, and for openly calling for “terror attacks against Israel on US soil.”

“Kayhan, the mouthpiece of Supreme Leader Khamenei, praises the attack on Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC — one of whom was an American citizen — calling the killer the founder of the ‘Washington Basij,’ Iran’s brutal militia,” the statement read.

Kayhan is a Persian-language newspaper published in Iran widely considered to be a way of promoting the views of Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian regime’s Basij milia forces have been key to cracking down on anti-government protests across the country with violence.

Iran openly calls for terror attacks against Israel on U.S. soil.

Kayhan, the mouthpiece of Supreme Leader Khamenei, praises the attack on Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC — one of whom was an American citizen — calling the killer the founder of the “Washington Basij,”… pic.twitter.com/B7oNaRCs1t

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 26, 2025

Iran’s latest threats came after the regime and the White House concluded their fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome on Friday, with the Omani mediator describing the negotiations as having made limited progress toward resolving the decades-long dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

So far, diplomatic efforts have stalled over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition that Washington has firmly rejected.

Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.

As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.

For its part, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamic regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.

Ahead of Friday’s talks in Rome, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Iran from enriching uranium and obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.

Last April, Iran launched around 300 missiles and drones at Israel in a failed assault dubbed “Operation True Promise,” with nearly all of them intercepted by the Jewish state and its allies.

The attack was retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — a state military force and internationally designated terrorist organization.

At the time, Iranian officials said the operation showcased “Iran’s ability to strike Israeli military and intelligence targets with surgical accuracy,” adding that they had only deployed a fraction of their firepower.

Iran’s second direct attack on Israel in October came after Israeli forces killed several top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, both terrorist proxies of the Iranian regime, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran. The only fatality was a Palestinian man from Gaza who was in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho.

Israel responded to Iran’s second attack with a sophisticated three-wave strike that targeted Iranian missile production sites and air defenses, leaving Tehran vulnerable and crippling its key defensive capabilities.

According to Israeli defense sources, the operation also significantly hindered Iran’s missile systems and production capacity, reducing its ability to launch large-scale attacks.

The post Iran Threatens ‘Decisive Strike’ Against Israel Amid Rising Tensions Following Nuclear Talks With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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.