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Thousands of Pro-Israel Activists Demonstrate in Front of London Theater Vandalized for Hosting Israeli Film Festival
An Israeli soldier walks near pictures that are part of an installation at the site of the Nova festival, where people were killed and kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, in Reim, southern Israel, Jan. 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu
Over 2,000 pro-Israel supporters demonstrated outside London’s oldest running theater on Thursday night to show solidarity with the venue after it was vandalized for participating in an Israeli film festival and hosting a screening of a film about the Supernova music festival attack, The Jewish Chronicle reported.
Seret International, the largest Israeli film festival in the world, took place in the United Kingdom from May 16-23. As part of the week-long film festival, the Phoenix Cinema held a private screening on Thursday night of “Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre,” a documentary about the Hamas massacre of 360 people at the Supernova music festival in Re’im, Israel. The screening at Phoenix Cinema was sponsored by the London-based, pro-Israel charity UJIA, and the film festival’s sponsors and supporters include Israel’s Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom, and the Israel Film Fund.
Early Thursday morning, the Phoenix Cinema was found vandalized by anti-Israel activists who spray painted “Say no to artwashing” in red letters on the front doors of the venue and splattered red paint on the theater’s signage. A fundraising campaign was organized to help cover the costs of cleaning and repairing any damage caused by the vandalism.
Also on Thursday, two filmmakers, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, announced their decision to resign as patrons of the Phoenix Cinema because the venue was participating in the Seret film festival.
At the pro-Israel rally that took place outside the Phoenix Cinema on Thursday night, ahead of the “Supernova” screening, supporters of the Jewish state waved Israeli flags, held posters advocating for the return of the hostages held by Hamas for seven months, and danced in the street, forcing traffic to come to a stand-still, according to The Jewish Chronicle. Some held signs that read, “Shouldn’t artists support the truth?” and “Why be so afraid of the truth when the Hamas terrorists documented it themselves?” — which is a reference to the firsthand footage from Oct. 7 that is featured in the Supernova documentary.
A small group of around 50 anti-Israel protesters also demonstrated outside the venue, on the other side of the street, before the screening started, The Jewish Chronicle noted. Some pro-Israel supporters confronted their opposers before police ordered for the groups to remain on different sides of the street. Police later escorted the anti-Israel demonstrators away from the scene as others chanted, “Terrorist supporters off our streets.”
Organizers of the Seret film festival released a statement addressing the opposition they have faced by anti-Israel activists.
“In recent months, the festival has faced challenges and pressures on cinema houses, with threats of boycotts and demands for cancellations. However, SERET remains steadfast in its commitment to promoting Israeli culture through cinema and refuses to succumb to censorship or cancellation,” the organizers said. “SERET UK is honored to continue its mission of promoting Israeli culture and cinema on the international stage, providing audiences in the UK with a glimpse into the rich tapestry of Israeli life and creativity through the art of filmmaking.”
The post Thousands of Pro-Israel Activists Demonstrate in Front of London Theater Vandalized for Hosting Israeli Film Festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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