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The Bright and Dark Sides of the Hostage Deal

A woman walks past posters of hostages kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Israeli headlines were bursting on Wednesday night with the dramatic news of a deal to bring home the remaining hostages and end the war in Gaza.

Over the course of six weeks Hamas will gradually release the “first phase” of hostages: 33 women, children, and elderly. Israeli intelligence believes that most are alive, but some will be returned as corpses. Yet phase two, during which Israeli men would be released, has not even been fully negotiated yet, and there is a disturbing possibility that it will never be.

To understand Israel’s bitter-sweet reaction, one needs to realize that there are two main representatives of the hostages’ families: the “Hostages and Missing Families Forum” and another called the “Hatikva Forum,” and they hold fundamentally different views.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is mostly comprised of families of women, children, and the elderly who would be released in phase one. This forum has long demanded a deal at any price, often through furious and ongoing public protests. On Wednesday night we saw Israeli families screaming for joy, breaking down in tears, and other heartbreaking and heartwarming displays.  Words like “catharsis” and “relief” have dominated Israeli headlines, and every Israeli feels this deeply.

The Hatikva forum, however, is not expecting to see their children any time soon, because their loved ones are mostly young men — in other words, hostages who will not be released in phase one. These families have long insisted on releasing all hostages at once, comparing a phased deal to the practices of the Holocaust, in which Nazis separated Jews into groups that would live or die. Indeed, Hamas’s previous demands with respect to a potential phase two have crossed all of Israel’s red lines, making a phase two appear highly unlikely.

Even more concerning is that after phase one, Israel will have given up much of its leverage and military momentum. If the deal fails after that point, the children of the Hatikva families might be effectively abandoned in Gaza, permanently. Over the past 24 hours the Hatikva families have been mostly ignored by Israeli media, and they describe the entire situation as a “betrayal.”

Israel is preparing to release approximately 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre. The IDF will leave the “Netzarim corridor” which separates northern and southern Gaza, allowing Palestinians (and presumably also Hamas) to return to northern Gaza. Most of the attacks on Oct. 7, 2023 initiated from northern Gaza, making this area especially sensitive from a security perspective. Israel will also reportedly reduce (though not entirely end) its presence in the “Philadelphi corridor,” which connects Gaza to Egypt, and has long been a source of Iranian resupply to Hamas.

Finally, if we do reach beyond the first and second phases of this deal, Israel will announce a permanent ceasefire and Gaza will be subject to a flood of aid and reconstruction. Reconstruction is expected to be supervised by Qatar (one of Hamas’s main sponsors), Egypt (which is lately rumored to be preparing to open military hostilities against Israel), and the United Nations (which has long supported Hamas’s terror activities through its UNRWA organization).

Crowds took to the streets in Gaza to celebrate the news of a ceasefire, chanting, “We are the people of Muhammad Deif” (one of the architects of the Oct. 7 massacre). And just in case there was any doubt  about the prevailing sentiment in the Arab world, the late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was recently declared the Arab world’s “Person of the Year” by Egypt’s Hurriyat news network, with 85 percent of the wide-ranging vote.

There is, however, cause for hope.

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fox claimed Tuesday evening that the current deal “is the same deal as May 27” which Hamas had rejected. Hamas has long insisted that any deal begin with an immediate and permanent end to the war, immediate and complete IDF withdrawal from the entirety of Gaza, and a significant role for Hamas in post-war Gaza, along with binding international guarantees of the same.

In the latest deal, Hamas has achieved none of those goals, and there’s a reason why. Since Hamas rejected a similar deal in May, the IDF has defeated and dismantled the last of Hamas’s 24 formal battalions, it’s leadership, (including Oct. 7 architect Sinwar) has been mostly killed, Hezbollah has been reduced to a shadow of its former self in Lebanon, Syria’s Bashar al-Assad has fallen, Iran has been militarily humiliated, and the United States has elected a new president, Donald Trump, whose incoming national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said just this week, “Gaza has to be fully demilitarized, Hamas has to be destroyed to the point that it cannot reconstitute … Israel has every right to fully protect itself, [and] all of those objectives are still very much in place.”  This is a significant departure from the rhetoric of the prior US administration, giving Israelis hope of maintaining its military leverage through phase two and beyond.

There are other benefits to this deal: thousands of IDF reservists desperately need to return to their families and careers, and the IDF needs to redeploy its readiness to face new and emerging challenges (including a rapidly changing Syria and the possibility of a direct confrontation with Iran). Most importantly, Israelis have not been able to rest knowing that one of the principal goals of the war, the return of the hostages, had yet to be accomplished even after more than 400 days.

The promise to protect every Israeli is central to the covenant between Israel and its people. This means bringing home the hostages, but it also means protecting all Israelis — including those who could potentially become the next hostages or targets of future terror attacks. At times it seems difficult or impossible to accomplish both of these imperatives at once.  Yet the Middle East is a vastly different place than it was on Oct. 6, 2023, in many respects for the better.

The next six weeks of “phase one” will be a kind of emotional torture for Israelis, with highs and lows, terrible suspense, joyful reunions, and tragic disappointments. All the while, Israel’s young, male hostages will remain in captivity as their families hope against all odds that they too might eventually come home. Finally, the months and years to come will determine whether Israel and the Middle East become safer and more prosperous, or whether we will repeat the same long-term mistakes that brought us to this torturous year in the first place.

Daniel Pomerantz is the CEO of RealityCheck, an organization dedicated to deepening public conversation through robust research studies and public speaking.

The post The Bright and Dark Sides of the Hostage Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Northwestern University Touts Progress on Addressing Campus Antisemitism Amid Federal Scrutiny

Signs cover the fence at a pro-Palestinian encampment at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. on April 28, 2024. Photo: Max Herman via Reuters Connect.

Northwestern University on Monday touted its progress in addressing the campus antisemitism crisis, issuing a statement containing a checklist of policies it has enacted since being censured by federal lawmakers over its handling of pro-Hamas demonstrations which convulsed its campus during the 2023-2024 academic year.

“The university administration took this criticism to heart and spent much of last summer revising our rules and policies to make our university safe for all of our students, regardless of their religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, or political viewpoint,” the statement said. “Among the updated policies is our Demonstration Policy, which includes new requirements and guidance on how, when, and where members of the community may protest or otherwise engage in expressive activity.”

The university added that it has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a reference tool which aids officials in determining what constitutes antisemitism, and begun holding “mandatory antisemitism training” sessions which “all students, faculty, and staff” must attend.

“This included a live training for all new students in September and a 17-minute training module for all enrolled students, produced in collaboration with the Jewish United Fund,” it continued. “Antisemitism trainings will continue as a permanent part of our broader training in civil rights and Title IX.”

Other initiatives rolled out by the university include an Advisory Council to the President on Jewish Life, dinners for Jewish students hosted by administrative officials, and educational events which raise awareness of rising antisemitism in the US and across the world. Additionally, Northwestern said that it imposed disciplinary sanctions against several students and one staff member whose conduct violated the new “Demonstration and/or Display Policies” which regulate peaceful assembly on the campus.

“In closing, although Northwestern has made significant progress in the fight against antisemitism on campus, the university remains vigilant and will continue to do what is necessary to make our campus safe,” the statement concluded. “Importantly, the fight against antisemitism is NOT [sic] a zero-sum game. All members of our communities on campus — all religions, races, national origins, genders, sexual orientations, and political viewpoints — deserve to feel safe and know that our rules will be enforced to protect them against hate, discrimination, harassment, and intimidation. Northwestern is committed to this principle.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Northwestern University struggled for months to correct an impression that it coddled pro-Hamas protesters and acceded to their demands for a boycott of Israel in exchange for an end to their May 2024 encampment.

University president Schill denied during a US congressional hearing held that year that he had capitulated to any demand that fostered a hostile environment, but his critics noted that part of the deal to end the encampment stipulated his establishing a scholarship for Palestinian undergraduates, contacting potential employers of students who caused recent campus disruptions to insist on their being hired, creating a segregated dormitory hall that will be occupied exclusively by students of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Muslim descent, and forming a new advisory committee in which anti-Zionists students and faculty may wield an outsized voice.

The status of those concessions, which a law firm representing the civil rights advocacy group StandWithUs described as “outrageous” in July 2024, were not disclosed in Monday’s statement.

Northwestern University is not the only school creating distance between itself and the anti-Zionist movement, a step many colleges have taken in response to US President Donald Trump’s vowing to cut the flow of taxpayer funds supplementing their budgets should they refuse to crackdown down on illegal protests and antisemitism. Following the Trump administration’s cancelling of over $400 million in federals contracts and grants awarded to Columbia University, former interim president Katrina Armstrong proposed a list of reforms the school would agree to undertake — in areas ranging from undergraduate admissions to campus security — to restore the funds.

Armstrong later resigned from her position, saying in a statement which explained the decision that she wishes to return to her role as executive director of the university’s Irving Medical Center, as well as several other positions she holds.

Meanwhile, Harvard University recently fired a librarian whom someone filmed ripping posters of the Bibas children, two babies murdered in captivity by Hamas, off a kiosk in Harvard Yard and denounced him as “hateful.” Additionally, it paused a partnership with a higher education institution located in the West Bank, a move for which prominent members of the Harvard community and federal lawmakers had clamored in a series of public statements. The Trump administration initiated a review of $9 billion in taxpayer funds it receives anyway, prompting interim president Alan Garber to defend Harvard’s handling of the issue.

“For the past fifteen months, we have devoted considerable effort to addressing antisemitism,” Garber said. “We have strengthened our rules and our approach to disciplining those who violate them. We have enhanced training and education on antisemitism across our campus and introduced measures to support our Jewish community and ensure student safety and security.”

Northwestern University is in the Trump administration’s crosshairs too. It is one of 60 universities being investigated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights over its handling of campus antisemitism, a project that will serve as an early test of the administration’s ability to perform the essential functions of the agency after downsizing its workforce to increase its efficiency.

“The department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite US campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in March. “US colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by US taxpayers. That support is a privilege, and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Northwestern University Touts Progress on Addressing Campus Antisemitism Amid Federal Scrutiny first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pressure Mounts on UN Members to Block Reappointment of Controversial Anti-Israel Official

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, attends a side event during the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 26, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

The United Nations is facing growing pressure to block the reappointment of Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who has an extensive history of using her role to denigrate Israel and seemingly rationalize the terrorist group Hamas’s attacks against the Jewish state.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is set to reappoint Albanese for another three-year term on Friday, despite calls from several countries and NGOs urging UN members to oppose her reappointment due to her controversial remarks and alleged pro-Hamas stance.

Since taking on the role of UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories in 2022, Albanese has been at the center of controversy due to what critics, including US and European lawmakers, have described as antisemitic and anti-Israel public remarks.

In the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, atrocities, across southern Israel, Albanese accused Israel of perpetrating a “genocide” against the Palestinian people in revenge for the attacks and circulated a widely derided and heavily disputed report alleging that 186,000 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli actions.

She has also previously made comments about a “Jewish lobby” controlling America and Europe, compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and stated that Hamas’s violence against Israelis — including rape, murder, and kidnapping — needs to be “put in context.”

Last year, the United Nations launched a probe into Albanese for allegedly accepting a trip to Australia funded by pro-Hamas organizations.

In the past, she has also celebrated the anti-Israel protesters rampaging across US college campuses, saying they represent a “revolution” and that they give her “hope.”

On Monday, US Rep. Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to the president of the UNHRC, Ambassador Jürg Lauber, to express his strong opposition to Albanese’s reappointment.

In the letter, Mast claimed that Albanese has failed to act “in an independent capacity with a professional, impartial assessment, and maintain the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.”

“Ms. Albanese unapologetically uses her position as a UN special rapporteur to purvey and attempt to legitimize antisemitic tropes, while serving as a Hamas apologist,” the letter read.

“In her malicious fixation, she has even called for Israel to be removed from the United Nations while likening Israel to apartheid South Africa,” Mast wrote in a letter signed by six fellow lawmakers. “Regrettably, Ms. Albanese’s rhetoric has perverted the very institution and its foundational principles in which she was appointed to serve.”

Governments worldwide, including France, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands, have condemned her statements as antisemitic and urged that she not be given another term in her role.

Last month, 42 members of the French Parliament publicly urged the government to oppose Albanese’s reappointment, arguing that it “would send a regrettable signal to victims, human rights defenders, and states committed to credible multilateralism.”

This week, British Labour Member of Parliament David Taylor also objected to Albanese’s reappointment, saying “there is no place for such alleged antisemitism on the international stage.”

“Albanese’s response to the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century was to describe it as ‘a response to Israel’s oppression,’” Taylor told the Jewish Chronicle. “She described Israel as being a ‘settler colonial conquest.’”

“Making statements of this nature in a UN capacity is abhorrent and does so much damage to communities already torn apart by horrific violence, going against everything the United Nations stands for,” Taylor said.

Human rights groups and NGOs have also campaigned to prevent the anti-Israel rapporteur from receiving a second term.

UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, has organized a petition against her reappointment, which has garnered over 83,000 signatures.

Last month, Maram Stern, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress, sent a letter to the president of the UNHRC urging him to reject the renewal of Albanese’s mandate, citing what she described as the UN official’s history of anti-Israel animus and antisemitic statements.

“Ms. Albanese has repeatedly made public remarks that propagate harmful antisemitic tropes, question the legitimacy of the State of Israel, and employ rhetoric that undermines the credibility of the Human Rights Council itself,” the letter read. “Her persistent lack of objectivity and failure to uphold a balanced and impartial approach required of her as special rapporteur compromises her credibility as an independent expert.”

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) also urged UN Members to reject Albanese’s second term, saying she “has systematically demonstrated a troubling pattern of conduct and expression that is incompatible with the responsibilities, neutrality, and integrity expected of a UN special rapporteur.”

“Her actions not only betray the victims of terrorism and antisemitism but also are a stain on the credibility of the Human Rights Council itself,” the AJC wrote in a letter.

The post Pressure Mounts on UN Members to Block Reappointment of Controversial Anti-Israel Official first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Three Jewish Coaches Lead Teams in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four

Florida Gators head coach Todd Golden and Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl talk before the game as Auburn Tigers take on Florida Gators at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

The men’s 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four bracket includes four No. 1 seed teams, three of which have Jewish coaches who will lead the way in the two national semifinals taking place on Saturday.

Auburn University Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl has contributed Auburn’s success in the NCAA in part to God and his Jewish faith. He described Israel as the “ancestral homeland for the Jewish people” and called for the release of American-Israeli Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity at a post-game conference last month. He also took the Auburn team on a trip to Israel, where they made stops at the Western Wall and Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

The Tigers will compete on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament Final Four against the Florida Gators whose Jewish coach, Todd Golden, is an Israeli citizen who previously played two years professionally for Maccabi Haifa in Israel.

In 2009, Golden was co-captain of the USA Open Team, coached by Pearl, that won gold at the Maccabiah Games, which is an international multi-sport event for Jewish and Israeli athletes. Golden has been the coach of the Tigers for two seasons, but prior to that he was the assistant coach at Columbia, the head coach at San Francisco, and even worked under Pearl. Golden was director of basketball operations for the Auburn staff for the 2014-15 season and was promoted to assistant coach for the 2015-16 campaign.

Duke and Houston also play each other on Saturday in the Final Four. The head coach of the Duke Blue Devils, Jon Scheyer, also formerly played in Israel and holds Israeli citizenship. He played professionally for Maccabi Tel Aviv from 2011-12. In October 2023, not long after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, Scheyer commented on the conflict and said in part: “My heart breaks for the people in Israel — that have hostages, American lives that are taken, mourning loved ones.” Scheyer is leading Duke to the Final Four in only his third year as head coach.

The Houston Cougars – the fourth men’s team competing in the Final Four – do not have a Jewish coach, but they have a player who was born in Israel and played for Israel’s national youth squad. Guard Emanuel Sharp, who is the son of Derrick Sharp, was part of Israel’s under-16 national basketball team and also played for Maccabi Tel Aviv for over a decade.

This year’s Final Four have a combined record of 135-16. Since seeding began in 1979, this is only the second time in history that all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four. It previously happened in 2008. Larry Brown was the last Jewish coach to win the NCAA Tournament when he led Kansas to the victory in 1988.

The 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four begins on Saturday, with two national semifinals taking place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, and ends on Monday with the national championship.

The post Three Jewish Coaches Lead Teams in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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