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‘Take Back the Campus’: Hundreds of Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Major Unity Conference
Israel on Campus Coalition Conference 2025. Photo: ICC
Over 500 Jewish and pro-Israel students from across the US gathered in Washington, DC this week to craft strategies for countering the anti-Zionist movement on college campuses and attend lectures by dozens of the biggest scholars and social media influencers in the American Jewish community.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, Jewish college students face an unprecedented crisis in American academia. Following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, higher education saw paroxysms of antisemitic and pro-Hamas protests, as well as acts of violence, vandalism, and assault. Elite colleges such as Harvard University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University became centers of anti-Zionist agitation, exporting methods and tactics to other campuses and upending the assumptions Jewish Zoomers believed about their place in the progressive movement and, more broadly, the United States.
Held at the Grand Hyatt, the event was the third National Leadership Summit held by the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). According to the organization, 153 colleges and universities were represented there.
Founded in 2002, the Israel on Campus Coalition is a nonprofit organization that describes its mission as inspiring college students to defend and be proud of Israel. One of its major initiatives is the “microgrants” program, which helps pro-Israel campus groups organize events about Israeli culture and society. Another, the ICC Community Impact Fellowship, awards college students a $1,000 stipend for completing a leadership seminar in which they are trained in civic engagement, coalition building, and rapidly responding to antisemitic and anti-Israel events on their campuses.
On Tuesday, ICC chief executive officer Jacob Baime told The Algemeiner how Oct. 7 changed college life for Jewish students and how this year’s conference prepared them for what will likely be two more semesters of pandemonium, during which the US will elect its next president and Israel’s wars against Hamas and Hezbollah may escalate into a region-wide conflagration.
“After this explosion of vile antisemitism that we’ve seen on campuses from coast to coast, it’s time to empower Jewish and pro-Israel students to take back the campus — to take it back from these forces of hatred, antisemitism, and anti-Americanism,” Baime explained. “What I said to the students, and I really think that it’s true, is that the challenges are enormous, but there is hope right here. And it’s been really interesting to see how many students want to get up off the bench.”
He continued, “We have 500 people here at this conference, and there’s still a large waiting list also. Logistically, we could not accommodate the surge of interest, which isn’t going to go away. There’s a renewed sense among pro-Israel Americans and students of purpose and identity. The interest and the passion of Jewish students and their friends is at an all-time high, and next year we’ll need to have a much larger gathering to include the student leaders who want to stand up for what’s right.”
The idea of pro-Zionists reclaiming their place in higher education inspired University of California, San Diego student Shani Menna, who attended for the first time, said. She stressed the importance of a speech by Tel Aviv Institute senior fellow and co-founder Hen Mazzig.
“In Hen Mazzig’s speech, he said, ‘If you’re not on the table, you’re on the menu,’” Menna told The Algemeiner. “And it’s true. We saw throughout this year the importance of Jewish student involvement in student government and conversations with administration. Overall, this conference reminded Jewish students of the strength that we have as a people, as well as the strength of the values of democracy, Western civilization, and peace of love — all of these things that have been clouded with all the hate on campus.”
Netanel Crispe, an Orthodox student at Yale University, stressed that the state of college campuses is still perilous.
“It’s a very hard time to be on campus, and we have faced horrific opposition. I gain strength from knowing I have the backing of so many wonderful people,” he said. “A primary concern for everybody on campus is the upcoming election. We recently got a new president at Yale who has yet to be tested, and while a lot of people are trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, there is a lot of concern that we have yet to see any proactive measures being taken by the administration to prepare or address what we expect or what many of the [anti-Zionist] organizations have clearly publicly stated will be a repetition of the previous year’s events — activism, protests, mobs, and encampments.”
Several students who attended the conference noted that many of its speakers — which included Nova Music Festival survivor Shye Klein, Aviva Klompas, Miriam Elman of the Academic Engagement Network (AEN), and Adam Lehman — were highly accessible, sharing advice, book recommendations, and opportunities for further involvement in pro-Israel activism. Social media influencers, who have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on platforms such as Instagram, proved to be popular with Zoomer students, 50 percent of whom receive daily news from social media.
As The Algemeiner walked through the Grand Hyatt, it spotted one such Instagram favorite who is immensely popular with students, Emily Austin. She was surrounded by students seeking selfies and counsel on how to merge the Zionist and professional components of their identities. During an interview, she told the paper that the students gave her hope that higher education is not lost yet.
“I attend a lot of conferences, but the room of students that gathered for this one were super, super motivated, and they are actually move makers and game changers. Many of them are leading Jewish clubs on their campuses or suing their school for antisemitism,” Austin said. “It was nice to see that students are starting to fight back and defend themselves, because most of my speeches aim at making students feel motivated or empowered, and it seemed that this cohort of students are already strong. It’s refreshing to know that this is our next generation of Jewish leaders.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post ‘Take Back the Campus’: Hundreds of Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Major Unity Conference first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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