British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a reception, following the UK-EU summit, in London, Britain, May 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Pool

The British government is increasing pressure on Israel over its military campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, by halting free trade talks and imposing sanctions on Israeli residents in the West Bank.

On Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the situation in Gaza as “abominable,” sharply criticizing Israel’s defensive campaign throughout the war-torn enclave and its handling of humanitarian aid.

Despite an existing trade agreement between the two countries, the British diplomat warned that negotiations cannot proceed as long as the Jewish state pursues what he described as “egregious policies in the West Bank and Gaza.”

“The world is judging,” Lammy said in a statement. “History will judge them. Blocking aid. Expanding the war. Dismissing the concerns of your friends and partners. This is indefensible. And it must stop.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry denounced the UK government’s latest decision as “anti-Israel” in a statement on X, arguing that the free trade agreement was mutually beneficial and in the best interests of both nations.

“If, due to anti-Israel obsession and domestic political considerations, the British government is willing to harm the British economy — that is its own prerogative,” the statement read.

The Israeli government also condemned the sanctions targeting Israeli residents in the West Bank, asserting that the UK’s actions would not deter Israel from defending its security or its right to exist.

“The sanctions against residents of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] are unjustified, and regrettable, especially at a time when Israel is mourning yet another victim of Palestinian terror — Tzeela Gez, of blessed memory, who was murdered on her way to the delivery room,” the statement read.

“The British Mandate ended exactly 77 years ago. External pressure will not divert Israel from its path in defending its existence and security against enemies who seek its destruction,” it continued, referring to Britain’s administration in the early to mid-20th century over what is today Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank.

Following the UK’s announcement that it will suspend free trade agreement negotiations with Israel and impose sanctions on settlers:

Even prior to today’s announcement, the free trade agreement negotiations were not being advanced at all by the current UK government. More than…

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 20, 2025

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also criticized Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, calling the suffering of children in Gaza “utterly intolerable” and urging an immediate ceasefire.

“I want to put on record today that we are horrified by the escalation from Israel,” Starmer said in a press conference.

The UK’s latest actions against Israel came just one day after the country joined France and Canada in a joint statement, warning that “concrete measures” would be taken if the Israeli government does not end its renewed military offensive and significantly ease restrictions on humanitarian aid.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the leaders of France, the UK, and Canada, accusing them of rewarding terrorism with their threats and condemning their stance.

“By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed, and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa, and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, while inviting more such atrocities,” the Israeli leader said in a statement, referring to the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the current war.

“The war can end tomorrow if the remaining hostages are released, Hamas lays down its arms, its murderous leaders are exiled, and Gaza is demilitarized. No nation can be expected to accept anything less, and Israel certainly won’t,” the statement continued. “This is a war of civilization over barbarism. Israel will continue to defend itself by just means until total victory is achieved.”

By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottowa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more…

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) May 19, 2025

Meanwhile, Hamas welcomed the joint statement by the UK, France, and Canada, calling it “a step in the right direction” — a response that, according to Israeli officials, shows these countries are on “the wrong side of history.”

“When you’re praised by Hamas — a jihadist terrorist organization that murders children and rapes women — you’re on the wrong side of history,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a post on X. “What a disgrace.”

When you’re praised by Hamas — a jihadist terrorist organization that murders children and rapes women — you’re on the wrong side of history.

What a disgrace. pic.twitter.com/5ZT7rS8lt2

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) May 20, 2025

Israel has strongly denied allegations of causing starvation in Gaza, emphasizing that, prior to its recent blockade, it had consistently delivered substantial humanitarian aid to the enclave throughout the conflict.

Israeli officials have also stated that much of the aid entering Gaza is diverted by Hamas, which uses it to fund terrorist activities and sells the remainder at inflated prices to civilians in the enclave.

Jerusalem has also argued that aid distribution should not be entrusted to international organizations, accusing them of allowing Hamas to seize supplies meant for the civilian population.

According to media reports, Israel will resume humanitarian shipments through a US-backed organization scheduled to begin operations in Gaza by the end of May. Around 60 trucks carrying essential food and household supplies will enter the Strip each day, inspected by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

The aid will then be distributed at designated centers in southern Gaza, secured by American contractors, while non-governmental organizations will handle direct distribution to ensure Hamas does not divert the supplies.

The post UK Intensifies Pressure on Israel, Suspends Trade Talks and Imposes Sanctions Amid Gaza Conflict first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Anti-Israel students protest at Columbia University in New York City. Photo: Reuters/Jeenah Moon

Anti-Israel groups on college and university campuses in the US employ an array of methods for spreading their extremist worldview and coercing higher education institutions into adopting it, according to a new report published by the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism at Indiana University, Bloomington.

Shared with The Algemeiner, the report — titled “Anti-Israel Campus Groups: Online Networks and Narratives” — explores the ways in which pro-Hamas student groups draw in the world beyond the campus to heighten pressure on university officials and create an illusion of inexorable support for anti-Zionism. Key to this effort, the report explains, is a vast and ambitious network of non-campus anti-Israel organizations which ply them with logistical and financial resources that significantly boost their capabilities beyond those of normal student clubs.

“Social media platforms, particularly Instagram, play a critical role in mobilizing these groups, spreading radical narratives, and coordinating actions at both local and national levels,” report authors Gunther Jikeli and Daniel Miehling write. “Social media shapes perceptions of the Israel-Hamas conflict in significant ways, often through highly emotive and polarizing content that fuels activism and, at times, incitement.”

They continue, “Organizations such as NGO Monitor have highlighted the critical role played by the WESPAC Foundation and off-campus groups like the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which maintain documented ties to the US designated terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). These groups not only influence campus activism but also help disseminate extremist rhetoric that is difficult to distinguish from that promoted by terrorist organizations.”

Social media platforms, which have modernized the manufacturing and distribution of political propaganda by reducing complex subjects to “memes” — some involving humor or contemporary cultural references which appeal to the sensibilities of the youth — are the cheapest and most effective weapons in the arsenal of the pro-Hamas movement, the report explains, adding that this was true before the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel precipitated an explosion of anti-Israel activity online.

However, extremist groups have been pushing such anti-Israel activism on campuses long before the Oct. 7 atrocities, according to the report.

From 2013 to 2024, Students for Justice in Palestine, pro-Hamas faculty groups, and others posted over 76,000 posts on social media which were analyzed by the Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. Over half, 54.9 percent, included only a single, evocative image.

“In contrast, Reels (5.3%) and Videos (4.9%) are used far less frequently,” the report says. “Based on these descriptions, we see a strong preference among campus-based anti-Israel groups for static visual formats, suggesting that this type of bimodal content represents the highest form of shareability within activists networks.”

To boost their audience and reach, pro-Hamas groups also post together in what Jikeli and Miehling describe as “co-authored posts,” of which there were over 20,000 between 2013 and 2024. The content they contain elicits strong emotions in the individual users exposed to it, inciting incidents of antisemitic discrimination, harassment, and violence, the report continues. Such outrages increase in proportion to the concentration of anti-Israel groups on a single campus, as the report’s data show a relationship that is “particularly strong.”

“Universities with a high number of recorded antisemitic incidents tend to have a large number of active anti-Israel groups on their campuses,” the report states. “Antisemitic incidents correlate with the number of anti-Israel groups active on campuses.”

Antisemitic incidents on campuses surged immediately following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 onslaught, with the average number of antisemitic incidents spiking from 4.5 per day in early October 2023 (Oct. 1–6) to over 20 incidents per day between Oct. 7 and 26, just before the start of Israeli military’s ground offensive in Gaza. Such incidents also skyrocketed during the wave of so-called “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” in April and May 2024.

Of all the groups responsible for fostering a hostile campus environment, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) stands out for being “the most frequent collaborator with other anti-Israel organizations,” the report adds. The group’s closest ally appears to be the Palestinian Youth movement, which maintains ties to PFLP, an internationally designated terror organization which became infamous in the 20th century for perpetrating a series of airplane hijackings.

“This close collaboration not only broadens SJP’s audience but also suggests that PYM’s radical anti-Zionist rhetoric and visual language may shape elements of SJP’s discourse,” Jikeli and Miehling explain. “PYM’s posts frequently incorporate imagery associated with socialist iconography, national liberation movements, and Islamist martyrdom. Such content often features slogans that reject the legitimacy of the Israeli state, depict convicted Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel as political prisoners, and glorify members of terrorist groups.”

Jikeli and Miehling, who plan to release more findings in the near future, conclude that university officials, as well as policy makers, are obligated to respond now, not later, to the campus antisemitism crisis.

“Ensuring the safety and inclusion of Jewish students should become a critical component of diversity and inclusion efforts, alongside clear guidelines that distinguish legitimate political discourse from hate and incitement,” they say.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, the anti-Zionist campus group Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) is also fueling antisemitic hate crimes, efforts to impose divestment on endowments, and the collapse of discipline and order on college campuses, according to a “groundbreaking” study, titled “Academic Extremism: How a Faculty Network Fuels Campus Unrest,” that antisemitism watchdog AMCHA Initiative published during the start of the 2024-2025 academic year.

A faculty spinoff of SJP, a group with numerous links to Islamist terror organizations, FJP chapters have been established on colleges since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Since the 2023-2024 academic year, its members, which include faculty employed by the most elite US colleges, have fostered campus unrest, circulated antisemitic cartoons, and advocated severing ties with Israeli companies and institutions of higher education. AMCHA Initiative said that its presence throughout academia is insidious and should be scrutinized by lawmakers.

Using data analysis, AMCHA Initiative said it discovered a correlation between a school’s hosting an FJP chapter and anti-Zionist and antisemitic activity. For example, the researchers found that the presence of FJP on a college campus increased by seven times “the likelihood of physical assaults and Jewish students” and increased by three times the chance that a Jewish student would be subject to threats of violence and death.

FJP also “prolonged” the duration of the Spring 2024 “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” protests on college campuses, in which students occupied a section of campus illegally and refused to leave unless administrators capitulated to demands for a boycott of Israel. The report said that such demonstrations lasted over four and a half times longer where FJP faculty were free to influence and provide logistic and material support to students. Professors at FJP schools also spent 9.5 more days protesting than those at non-FJP schools.

“Our investigation alarmingly reveals that campuses with FJP chapters are seeing assaults and death threats against Jewish students at rates multiple times higher than those without FJP groups, providing compelling evidence of the dangerous intersection between faculty activism and violent antisemitic behavior,” AMCHA said at the time. “The presence of FJP chapters also correlates with the extended duration of protests and encampments, as well as with the passage of BDS resolutions on their campuses.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Anti-Israel Campus Groups Resourceful in Finding Ways to Harass Jewish Students, Report Shows first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Zahra Billoo, the executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco branch. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook

Zahra Billoo, the longtime executive director of the San Francisco chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), used the news of former US President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis as an opportunity to warn the former commander-in-chief of the eternal punishment tied to his administration’s support for the Jewish state during the conflict in Gaza.

“There is no amount of cancer treatment that can protect President Joe Biden from the prayers of the oppressed and ultimately God’s wrath. Say, Ameen,” Billoo wrote on Facebook on Sunday, the same day Biden’s personal office announced he was diagnosed last week with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer.

A commenter responded “Trump first” to Billoo’s post, referring to incumbent US President Donald Trump.

Billoo answered that “his time will come too.”

Other vocal far-left, anti-Israel activists expressed similar sentiments about Biden following his cancer diagnosis, notably Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King (“I hope his final days are painful”) and former Washington Post tech writer Taylor Lorenz, who said she hoped that the grandfather of seven “rots in hell and rests in piss.”

Billoo has long attracted attention for her regular radical rhetoric and antisemitic sentiments.

In 2021 at an American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) meeting, she said “we need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). We need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation … the Zionist synagogues … Hillel chapters on our campuses.”

She told those in attendance that those advocating for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “are your enemies,” and that “there are organizations and infrastructures out there who are working to harm you. Make no mistake of it. They would sell you down the line if they could. And they very often do behind your back. I mean, the Zionist organizations, I mean the foreign policy organizations who say, they’re not Zionists, but want a two-state solution.”

Billoo has made her anti-Israel animus blunt. At a previous AMP meeting in 2018 she said,”I am not going to legitimize a country that I don’t believe has a right to exist.”

In July 2024, Billoo mourned the death of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, writing, “‘Never say that those martyred in the cause of Allah are dead — in fact, they are alive! But you do not perceive it.’ Tonight, we mourn Ismail himself but know his martyrdom is not in vain. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

The phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that 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.

In July 2017, Billoo told audiences at a conference of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) that “I definitely don’t agree with the brother that’s willing to participate in any Department of Homeland Security program, and don’t agree with elected officials or with Muslims who want to go on Zionist-funded trips to apartheid Israel and say that that’s going to build interfaith relationships.”

In November 2014, Billoo seemingly justified Islamist terrorism against Israel, arguing that “blaming Hamas for firing rockets at [Apartheid] Israel is like blaming a woman for punching her rapist.”

Billoo has offered more recent pro-Hamas commentary too.

In February, the CAIR executive reposted a statement from anti-Israel journalist CJ Werleman, proclaiming that “Hamas deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for keeping Israeli prisoners safe from indiscriminate Israeli carpet bombing, which destroyed +90% of all buildings and slaughtered +100,000 people.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) responded, writing on X that “The Executive Director of CAIR’s San Francisco Chapter has been caught retweeting the outrageous statement that Hamas ‘deserves a Nobel Peace Price.’ Never mind that Hamas murdered, maimed, mutilated, raped, and tortured thousands of Jews. Never mind that Hamas has left hostages starved and emaciated after holding them captive for nearly 500 days. If the Anti-Israel movement were a country, useful idiocy would be its leading export.”

Nihad Awad, co-founder and longstanding executive director of CAIR, garnered widespread condemnation for his comments following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks across southern Israel. “And yes, I was happy to see people breaking the siege and throwing down the shackles of their own land, and walk free into their land, which they were not allowed to walk in,” he stated.

The ADL says that “some of CAIR’s leaders, such as Nihad Awad, CAIR’s executive director, were previously involved in a now-defunct organization that openly supported Hamas and, according to the US government, functioned as its ‘propaganda apparatus.’” CAIR has responded that it “unequivocally condemn[s] all acts of terrorism, whether carried out by al-Qa’ida, the Real IRA, FARC, Hamas, ETA, or any other group designated by the US Department of State as a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization.’”

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