RSS
Pro-Hamas Activists, Groups Turn Against Progressive Lawmakers, Allies as Anti-Israel Movement Shows Cracks
Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
A slew of anti-Israel groups and activists have turned on left-wing Democratic lawmakers and allies, dismissing them as “enemies” and calling into question their support and loyalty to the Palestinian cause.
In recent weeks, anti-Zionist organizations and public figures have taken to social media to lash out at high-profile left-wing politicians and activists for criticizing their methods of opposing the Jewish state. Staunchly anti-Israel groups such as Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have expressed outright indignation at allied lawmakers and activists for suggesting their extreme, sometimes violent tactics are counterproductive and risk cannibalizing the movement against the Jewish state.
SJP, which promotes anti-Israel propaganda on college campuses, lambasted US Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for criticizing a mob of pro-Hamas protesters who demonstrated outside an exhibition in New York City that commemorates the victims of the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel. The group asserted that any public disapproval of pro-Palestinian activists is tantamount to enabling “genocide” in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the Hamas terrorist group.
“We are not loyal to our oppressors; elected officials who choose to enable genocide, endorse the architects of said genocide, or otherwise stand in the way of Palestinian liberation will face the political consequences of those choices,” SJP wrote.
“Figures like AOC and Jamaal Bowman have utility insofar as they leverage their positions within the belly of the beast to shield the masses and our righteous struggles for liberation, directly challenge white supremacist power structures, and stand firmly against Zionism and all manifestations of US imperialism,” SJP continued. “Without these tangible actions, we regard these elected officials as our enemies.”
Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman have been among the US Congress’s most vocal critics of Israel, falsely accusing the Jewish state of “genocide” and “white supremacy,” relentlessly castigating its American supporters, and claiming that the charge of antisemitism has been weaponized for political purposes.
However, their anti-Israel comments and policy proposals haven’t seemingly gone far enough for SJP, which has been behind many of the pro-Hamas demonstrations that devastated universities this past academic year.
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an organization that promotes the eradication of Israel and Zionism as its central goal, similarly condemned Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez for not taking maximalist stances against the Jewish state. The group criticized the two lawmakers for “sanctioning Palestinian resistance” by voting in favor of a resolution which strengthens the authority of the US president to levy sanctions against entities that use human shields in conflict. Hamas has been widely criticized for its military strategy of embedding its terrorists within Gaza’s civilian population and commandeering civilian facilities like hospitals, schools, and mosques to run operations and direct attacks against Israel.
WOL also blasted the two lawmakers for perpetuating “debunked Zionist propaganda about sexual violence” by voting in favor of another resolution that condemned Hamas’ systematic use of rape and other forms of sexual violence against Israeli women during its Oct. 7 onslaught.
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of WOL and a prolific organizer of anti-Israel demonstrations, reprimanded Ocasio-Cortez for calling out her group’s protest of the exhibit honoring victims of the Nova Music Festival massacre.
“You are a genocide apologist,” Kiswani wrote, dismissing the display as a “zionist [sic] exhibit used to manufacture consent for genocide.”
“You are worse than any openly fascist politician. At least we know they are our enemies. Liberals like you will smile in our face as you lie to and backstab our communities,” Kiswani continued.
The WOL leader then fired shots at US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the first Palestinian American woman elected to Congress, for issuing a statement criticizing protests of Bowman’s reelection campaign rally. The congresswoman wrote that members of WOL harbor “unrealistic expectations of political perfection.”
“You think we care about Palestinians who repeat Zionist agenda and lies? Unfortunately Rashida Tlaib repeated the lies about Palestinians committing sexual violence on Oct. 7, the same lies used to manufacture consent for genocide. She needs to be called out too,” Kiswani wrote.
Kiswani also took aim at Rafael Shimunov, a Jewish activist and leader of the anti-Israel organization IfNotNow, for criticizing WOL’s decision to protest a rally supporting Bowman’s failed reelection campaign.
“Weren’t you already called out for being a liberal Zionist? Do you need to be dog walked again?” Kiswani wrote.
“Do you really think Palestinians have so little agency that we wouldn’t on our own volition protest politicians backing genocide Joe who we’ve chanted against for months?” Kiswani continued, using a nickname that pro-Hamas activists have given to US President Joe Biden due to his overall support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Beyond Congress, even avowed anti-Israel activists who have been at the front lines of the movement against the Jewish state have come under fire.
Ali Abunimah, director of the anti-Israel outlet Electronic Intifada, attacked Women’s March leader and progressive activist Linda Sarsour for criticizing the divisive tactics of pro-Palestinian organizations.
“Calling us ‘purists’ or accusing us of ‘demanding perfection’ from ‘progressives’ who pander to ‘Israel’ devalues lives of Palestinian genocide victims. These ‘progressives’ reap huge rewards from being ‘pro-Palestine’ while doing NOTHING to actually help Palestinians. Enough!” Abunimah wrote.
Sarsour has been among the most prominent anti-Israel voices in the US for several years.
Meanwhile, Abunimah has repeatedly called for the destruction and replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state. He regularly accuses Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Abunimah has also compared Israel to Nazi Germany, posting on X/Twitter that “supporting Zionism is not atonement for the Holocaust, but its continuation in spirit.”
Abunimah has dismissed Zionism as “one of the worst forms of antisemitism in existence today,” disregarding the fact that the vast majority of Jews self-identify as Zionist and believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish, democratic state in the ancient homeland of the Jewish people.
The post Pro-Hamas Activists, Groups Turn Against Progressive Lawmakers, Allies as Anti-Israel Movement Shows Cracks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire
Explosions send smoke into the air in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing said on Friday that while the Palestinian terrorist group favors reaching an interim truce in the Gaza war, if such an agreement is not reached in current negotiations it could revert to insisting on a full package deal to end the conflict.
Hamas has previously offered to release all the hostages held in Gaza and conclude a permanent ceasefire agreement, and Israel has refused, Abu Ubaida added in a televised speech.
Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States, have hosted more than 10 days of talks on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day truce in the war.
Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on a call he had with Pope Leo on Friday that Israel‘s efforts to secure a hostage release deal and 60-day ceasefire “have so far not been reciprocated by Hamas.”
As part of the potential deal, 10 hostages held in Gaza would be returned along with the bodies of 18 others, spread out over 60 days. In exchange, Israel would release a number of detained Palestinians.
“If the enemy remains obstinate and evades this round as it has done every time before, we cannot guarantee a return to partial deals or the proposal of the 10 captives,” said Abu Ubaida.
Disputes remain over maps of Israeli army withdrawals, aid delivery mechanisms into Gaza, and guarantees that any eventual truce would lead to ending the war, said two Hamas officials who spoke to Reuters on Friday.
The officials said the talks have not reached a breakthrough on the issues under discussion.
Hamas says any agreement must lead to ending the war, while Netanyahu says the war will only end once Hamas is disarmed and its leaders expelled from Gaza.
Almost 1,650 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed as a result of the conflict, including 1,200 killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies. Over 250 hostages were kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
Israel responded with an ongoing military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
The post Hamas Says No Interim Hostage Deal Possible Without Work Toward Permanent Ceasefire first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel
People hold images of the victims of the 1994 bombing attack on the Argentine Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) community center, marking the 30th anniversary of the attack, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, July 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Irina Dambrauskas
Iran on Friday marked the 31st anniversary of the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires by slamming Argentina for what it called “baseless” accusations over Tehran’s alleged role in the terrorist attack and accusing Israel of politicizing the atrocity to influence the investigation and judicial process.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on the anniversary of Argentina’s deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.
“While completely rejecting the accusations against Iranian citizens, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns attempts by certain Argentine factions to pressure the judiciary into issuing baseless charges and politically motivated rulings,” the statement read.
“Reaffirming that the charges against its citizens are unfounded, the Islamic Republic of Iran insists on restoring their reputation and calls for an end to this staged legal proceeding,” it continued.
Last month, a federal judge in Argentina ordered the trial in absentia of 10 Iranian and Lebanese nationals suspected of orchestrating the attack in Buenos Aires.
The ten suspects set to stand trial include former Iranian and Lebanese ministers and diplomats, all of whom are subject to international arrest warrants issued by Argentina for their alleged roles in the terrorist attack.
In its statement on Friday, Iran also accused Israel of influencing the investigation to advance a political campaign against the Islamist regime in Tehran, claiming the case has been used to serve Israeli interests and hinder efforts to uncover the truth.
“From the outset, elements and entities linked to the Zionist regime [Israel] exploited this suspicious explosion, pushing the investigation down a false and misleading path, among whose consequences was to disrupt the long‑standing relations between the people of Iran and Argentina,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Clear, undeniable evidence now shows the Zionist regime and its affiliates exerting influence on the Argentine judiciary to frame Iranian nationals,” the statement continued.
In April, lead prosecutor Sebastián Basso — who took over the case after the 2015 murder of his predecessor, Alberto Nisman — requested that federal Judge Daniel Rafecas issue national and international arrest warrants for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over his alleged involvement in the attack.
Since 2006, Argentine authorities have sought the arrest of eight Iranians — including former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who died in 2017 — yet more than three decades after the deadly bombing, all suspects remain still at large.
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, released a statement commemorating the 31st anniversary of the bombing.
“It was a brutal attack on Argentina, its democracy, and its rule of law,” the group said. “At DAIA, we continue to demand truth and justice — because impunity is painful, and memory is a commitment to both the present and the future.”
31 años del atentado a la AMIA – DAIA. 31 años sin justicia.
El 18 de julio de 1994, un atentado terrorista dejó 85 personas muertas y más de 300 heridas. Fue un ataque brutal contra la Argentina, su democracia y su Estado de derecho.
Desde la DAIA, seguimos exigiendo verdad y… pic.twitter.com/kV2ReGNTIk
— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) July 18, 2025
Despite Argentina’s longstanding belief that Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah terrorist group carried out the devastating attack at Iran’s request, the 1994 bombing has never been claimed or officially solved.
Meanwhile, Tehran has consistently denied any involvement and refused to arrest or extradite any suspects.
To this day, the decades-long investigation into the terrorist attack has been plagued by allegations of witness tampering, evidence manipulation, cover-ups, and annulled trials.
In 2006, former prosecutor Nisman formally charged Iran for orchestrating the attack and Hezbollah for carrying it out.
Nine years later, he accused former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner — currently under house arrest on corruption charges — of attempting to cover up the crime and block efforts to extradite the suspects behind the AMIA atrocity in return for Iranian oil.
Nisman was killed later that year, and to this day, both his case and murder remain unresolved and under ongoing investigation.
The alleged cover-up was reportedly formalized through the memorandum of understanding signed in 2013 between Kirchner’s government and Iranian authorities, with the stated goal of cooperating to investigate the AMIA bombing.
The post Iran Marks 31st Anniversary of AMIA Bombing by Slamming Argentina’s ‘Baseless’ Accusations, Blaming Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns
Murad Adailah, the head of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, attends an interview with Reuters in Amman, Jordan, Sept. 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Jehad Shelbak
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the Arab world’s oldest and most influential Islamist movements, has been implicated in a wide-ranging network of illegal financial activities in Jordan and abroad, according to a new investigative report.
Investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities — along with evidence gathered from seized materials — revealed that the Muslim Brotherhood raised tens of millions of Jordanian dinars through various illegal activities, the Jordan news agency (Petra) reported this week.
With operations intensifying over the past eight years, the report showed that the group’s complex financial network was funded through various sources, including illegal donations, profits from investments in Jordan and abroad, and monthly fees paid by members inside and outside the country.
The report also indicated that the Muslim Brotherhood has taken advantage of the war in Gaza to raise donations illegally.
Out of all donations meant for Gaza, the group provided no information on where the funds came from, how much was collected, or how they were distributed, and failed to work with any international or relief organizations to manage the transfers properly.
Rather, the investigations revealed that the Islamist network used illicit financial mechanisms to transfer funds abroad.
According to Jordanian authorities, the group gathered more than JD 30 million (around $42 million) over recent years.
With funds transferred to several Arab, regional, and foreign countries, part of the money was allegedly used to finance domestic political campaigns in 2024, as well as illegal activities and cells.
In April, Jordan outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s most vocal opposition group, and confiscated its assets after members of the Islamist movement were found to be linked to a sabotage plot.
The movement’s political arm in Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, became the largest political grouping in parliament after elections last September, although most seats are still held by supporters of the government.
Opponents of the group, which is banned in most Arab countries, label it a terrorist organization. However, the movement claims it renounced violence decades ago and now promotes its Islamist agenda through peaceful means.
The post Jordan Reveals Muslim Brotherhood Operating Vast Illegal Funding Network Tied to Gaza Donations, Political Campaigns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.