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The Spreading Oil Slick of Obsessive Israel Hatred
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
Like an oil slick from a disabled tanker, hatred of Israel is spreading to some expected — and unexpected — places.
In January, the annual business meeting of the American Historical Association (AHA), by a lopsided vote of 428-88, condemned Israel for “scholasticide”: what it called the intentional targeting by Israel of Palestinian schools, libraries, and archives, as Israel fights a defensive war against Hamas.
The vote was overruled by the AHA Council, citing the issue as being outside the organization’s core mission. That, in turn, brought howls of protest from such organizations as Historians for Palestine and the National Students for Justice in Palestine, with the former charging the AHA with denying “Palestinian existence.”
The AHA resolution did not mention Hamas and its use of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) schools as weapons depots or — as we have now learned — places where Israeli hostages were held and as classroom laboratories of hatred.
And, of course, nothing was noted in the AHA resolution about Hamas’s use of Palestinian civilians as human shields as a principal tactic of war across Gaza.
The AHA vote was reminiscent of votes in recent years at the annual meetings of the Middle East Studies Association — a group that has frequently taken similar positions highly critical of Israel.
Now enters a new player in the “demonize Israel” game in academia and in professional associations: the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE). A periodical of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture founded in 1947, its mission statement notes “it is a platform for architectural educators, scholars, designers, writers, and organizers committed to the ongoing transformation of architectural education and the culture of architectural research toward an inclusive, just, and sustainable future.”
The hijacking of this publication occurred in a call for papers for an issue focusing on “Palestine.” In its outreach to readers and association members, the language leans on the side of the academic, but the message is clear: “In the face of the ongoing genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, this issue …. will build on existing knowledge, research, and publications to learn from and with practices of resistance to the Zionist, militarist, carceral, and capitalist regime of Israeli settler colonialism and apartheid.”
And to make sure it has not left out any of the hackneyed anti-Israel verbiage of the street and campus demonstrations of the past year, the call for papers invites “contributions that document the architectural and special tools that participate in or are complicit in imperial formations of settler-colonial apartheid and genocide. Contributions could evidence how bombing, demolition, destruction, ruination, and scorched earth constitute military strategies planned and implemented for decades to fragment, debilitate, and destroy Palestinian built, social, economic, cultural, and natural environments.”
The call for papers also quotes the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, whose anti-Israel rants are a go-to repository of hate often used by Israel’s incessant global critics. She calls Israel’s Palestinian policy one of “erasure.” And, in the spirit of the American Historical Association’s charge of “scholasticide” the JAE states that “contributors might map, represent, theorize, and historicize genocide, ecocide, spaciocide, terracide, and urbicide.”
The request for papers closes with a revolutionary-style exhortation to potential contributors: “We invite authors to engage with such formations of anti-colonial struggle within and beyond Palestinian geographies, reflecting on how Palestine has inspired pathologies of hope, constellations of coresistance, and infrastructures of resistance the world over.”
There is no mention in the call for papers of Hamas, of the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre against Israelis, or even of a two-state solution.
Well, one gets the point. This special issue will be loaded with paroxysms of doctrinaire anti-Israel bile. But that should come as no surprise. One of the “Theme Editors” was actually born in Haifa and is a graduate of the famed Bezalel School. Think of the hypocrisy: for all of Israel’s alleged policies of “genocide,” this Palestinian professor, now teaching in New York, was the beneficiary of what was most likely an outstanding education at Israel’s premier institution of art and design.
Academics everywhere continue to pile on Israel in a variety of ways, making Jewish students fearful, as they became caught in a vise between anti-Israel students (including many who protest), their professors, violence on the quad, and intellectual bullying in the classroom.
The Trump administration’s executive order addressing campus antisemitism sends an early and strong message to those who believe that chaos and violence will become accepted practice at American universities.
Now, though, the problem is moving from the campus to professional associations. The call for papers and the forthcoming issue of the JAE is one of hatred-creep dressed up in an academic wrapper. The language, the charges of genocide, and “settler-colonialist” occupation (interesting note: the three pages issuing the call for papers contain only two actual mentions of “Israel”; the other references to it are couched in anti-Israel terminology) could have been written in Gaza or Ramallah.
Architecture is a time-honored profession. Every day, we marvel at new buildings and old, and transformed cities and neighborhoods, and the artistic and mathematical creativity that produces such edifices. The turn by some in the field to politicize and demonize Israel is an ugly detour that sullies both the Journal of Architectural Education and those who will surely be submitting a series of heavily biased papers to it.
Daniel S. Mariaschin is the CEO of B’nai B’rith International. As the organization’s top executive officer, Mariaschin directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities, and staff around the world.
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Shock Poll: Most Jews Approve of Trump’s Job Performance, Strike on Iran
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
A new Siena Research poll finds that a majority of Jewish voters in New York approve of President Donald Trump’s job performance and his handling of the Israel-Iran war.
The survey found that a majority of Jewish respondents, 57 percent, approve of the job Trump is doing in his second term as president, compared to 42 percent who disapprove.
Even more striking, 64 percent of Jewish voters say they approve of Trump’s handling of the Israel-Iran conflict, signaling strong alignment with his foreign policy stance in a community that has historically leaned Democratic in national elections.
The poll results highlight a notable political shift in one of the most reliably liberal constituencies in the country. In 2020, Trump won only about 30 percent of the Jewish vote nationally, and similar trends held in New York. But since his return to office in the 2024 election, a victory that itself stunned many observers, Trump has emphasized an aggressive pro-Israel posture, including increased military aid and unwavering rhetorical support during Israel’s war with Iran and Hezbollah.
The Israel-Iran war, which erupted earlier this year following escalating attacks between Israel and Iran, and Tehran’s deepening involvement with proxy forces in Lebanon and Syria, has become a key flashpoint in international politics and a central issue for American Jews. Trump has repeatedly vowed to back Israel “without hesitation,” and his administration has taken steps to provide military resupply, expand intelligence sharing, and block UN resolutions critical of Israeli operations.
In response, his approval ratings among Jewish voters, particularly Orthodox and pro-Israel segments, appear to have climbed sharply.
“This marks a significant departure from previous voting patterns,” said Lauren Saperstein, a political scientist at NYU focused on Jewish American voting behavior. “Trump has successfully tapped into security concerns, especially in light of the Iran threat, and that’s resonating with voters who may have disagreed with him on other issues in the past.”
Past data has suggested Orthodox Jewish voters tend to favor Republican candidates more heavily, while Reform and secular Jews lean Democratic. The new 57 percent approval figure indicates broader support than Trump has previously received from the Jewish electorate in New York.
Democrats, for their part, have struggled to maintain a cohesive stance on the Israel-Iran conflict. Many Democrats criticized Trump for deciding to strike at Tehran’s nuclear facilities, arguing that the president unnecessarily risked causing a broader regional war. Within the Democratic Party, divisions over Israel policy have widened, with younger progressives more likely to criticize the war and push for conditions on US aid to its longtime ally.
The poll results could have significant implications for upcoming congressional races in New York, where Jewish voters represent a sizable and politically active bloc. Several House districts in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island could be influenced by the shift in sentiment, particularly if Democrats are seen as divided or insufficiently supportive of Israel.
As the conflict in the Middle East continues, Trump appears to be benefiting from his strong messaging in favor of Israel and against antisemitism.
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The Anti-Israel Mob Never Mentions Women’s Rights in Israel — Compared to the Middle East
Paris 2024 Olympics – Judo – Women -78 kg Victory Ceremony – Champ-de-Mars Arena, Paris, France – August 01, 2024. Silver medallist Inbar Lanir of Israel celebrates. Photo: REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi
In parts of the Middle East, women still live in deeply patriarchal, often brutal systems. Changes exist more on paper than in practice. Power remains in the hands of men, religious systems, and political elites — and this repressive treatment often goes unchallenged.
This happens in places like Gaza under Hamas, in Afghanistan under the Taliban, in Iran under the ayatollahs, and even in Saudi Arabia, where “reforms” like women driving made headlines in 2018.
Let’s be clear: not every Muslim-majority country treats women this way. In places like Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey, many women work, study, and participate in public life. But even there, legal protections and personal freedoms often lag behind. And in the four examples mentioned — Gaza, Iran, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia — women face severe, institutionalized oppression. These are not fringe cases; they reflect the governing ideologies of millions.
Now contrast that with Israel.
In Israel, the only liberal democracy in the region, both Jewish and Arab women live with rights and freedoms unheard of in most of the Middle East.
In Israel, women:
- Vote and run for office
- Serve as Supreme Court judges, ministers, professors, doctors, and CEOs
- Join the military, even in combat roles
- Protest publicly without fear of being shot or jailed
- Choose how to dress, where to work, whom to marry, and what to believe
- File police reports and expect legal protection
Women in Israel are not just present, they lead. They command battalions, fly fighter jets, debate in the Knesset, run start-ups, and shape policy. Gender equality is not perfect — no country is — but legally, all women are fully protected.
And this is the part that’s almost never said: Arab women in Israel also enjoy more rights than in any Arab country. They study in top universities, vote freely, become doctors, lawyers, and leaders. Yes, some face traditional cultural pressures in their communities, but under Israeli law, they are citizens with equal rights, and legal recourse when those rights are violated.
Can the same be said for women in Gaza, ruled by Hamas? For women under the Taliban in Afghanistan? Or for the brave Iranian women imprisoned for removing their headscarves?
If you are a self-respecting feminist in the West, this should be a moral line: Israel is the only place in the Middle East where women are truly free. In Tel Aviv, if a woman is raped, she can go to the police. She’ll be heard, investigated, supported.
In Tehran, she might be blamed. In Riyadh, she could be imprisoned. In Kabul, she might be killed. In Gaza, she might be forced to marry her rapist.
So ask yourself: if you support women’s rights, why are you aligning with regimes or movements that strip women of their humanity?
Something is deeply broken when women in free societies chant slogans for groups that would silence, veil, and imprison them. When feminists march with Palestinian flags, are they aware that under Hamas, there is no LGBTQ+ freedom, no feminist activism, no legal protections for women?
You don’t have to support every policy of the Israeli government to recognize this truth: Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a woman can live as a full, free citizen.
Western feminists need to wake up. When you champion groups like Hamas or regimes like Iran “for the cause,” you are betraying the very values you claim to fight for.
Until that realization comes, I ask just one thing: If you truly care about women, why on earth are you standing against Israel?
Sabine Sterk is the CEO of Time To Stand Up For Israel.
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The Mob’s Efforts to Colonize the American Mind
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
A few days before Israel began Operation Rising Lion, Facebook blocked my account. I cannot thank Mark Zuckerberg enough for that mitzvah. Instead of having to watch neo-Hellenistic Jews do anything possible to hide their Judaism and people try to to steal the spotlight, I got to witness an endless array of Iranian dissidents thanking Israel on X.
They post Persian graffiti blessing Israel, the horrific history of the 46-year-old Islamic Republic, as well as what little protests they are able to engage in. And they remain as stunned as the rest of us at the protests both here and in Europe — which are in favor of the sociopathic, homophobic, misogynistic regime in Iran that is stifling not just their people’s freedom, but the lives of their families.
Qatar, China, Russia, and Iran have been unquestionably successful at one thing: the colonization of the American mind. Through antisemitic professors, “ethnic studies,” infiltration of leftist media (hello, Washington Post), and an intense disinformation campaign on social media, leftists have been fed a steady stream of lies and propaganda to the point that the protesters are ardently embracing a regime that kills women for showing their hair in public, hangs gay people, and considers child rape sacred.
In 2018, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff published The Coddling of the American Mind. They discussed how a culture of “safetyism” interferes with social, emotional and intellectual development. In retrospect, that seems to have been Stage I of what’s now called the red-green alliance.
Stage II is a complete colonization — OK, obliteration — of brain cells. Disinformation so steeped in anti-facts it makes the Soviets look like amateurs. All of which led to a cognitive dissonance so septic some protesters simultaneously hold up posters celebrating both gay pride and the mullahs who would hang them.
It also led to a mass conformity during precisely the period when most healthy teens and 20-somethings rebel. There is only one word for this level of mass conformity: cult.
But for the moral inversion to be complete — for young women in the West to support the most evil patriarchy that has ever reigned — something else had to happen: a complete soullessness. Morality begins in our souls. If you choke off the soul — through a negation of spirituality, creativity, nature — you can easily be convinced to do anything and feel nothing. Thus, the increasing political violence here and in Europe.
Meanwhile, on the far right, Qatar has exerted a different sort of disinformation trap: buying off “influencers” to mouth jihadist talking points without even flinching. A recent exchange between Tucker Carlson and Glenn Greenwald over an alleged Osama bin Laden letter is truly jaw-dropping. The mastermind of 9/11 didn’t hate the US or the West, according to these two pundits. Three thousand Americans lost their lives because of US support for … Israel.
I would say that they both should win Academy Awards for their performances — but I actually think they believe it. We always knew that the Arab world excelled at propaganda. But this surpasses the KGB in its ability to turn formerly mildly intelligent men into Islamist puppets.
All of this will no doubt get far worse, even after Iran is freed. But we’re already seeing hopeful signs in Gen Z. Yes, older Gen Zers can barely be distinguished from their millennial teachers. But at least in New York City, millennials took leftism to such an extreme — trying to use Gen Z as their own puppets — that younger Gen Zers have begun to rebel: pushing back against the lies even in the classroom.
But the onus for real change begins in the home, where morality is either learned or spat on. And, of course, houses of worship, which needed to be depoliticized yesterday. We need to return to a world that privileges values over politics, education rooted in facts not opinions, a media that returns to objectivity.
A millennial here recently said to me: “There’s no such thing as objectivity.” I responded: “Is this a table?” She nodded. “Is it made of wood?” She reluctantly nodded again. “So can we agree on the fact that this is a wooden table?” She got angry. “Yes, but so what? That’s basic.” Yes, I said. But that’s where we are: returning to the basics. Facts, values, morality — all represent the foundation of this great country. And if we’re ever going to return to it, we need to start there.
Just as the Iranians are about to do.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine. A version of this article was originally published by The Jewish Journal.
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