France has increased security at Jewish sites nationwide following the antisemitic shooting in Washington, DC, this week as the country’s local Jewish community calls for stronger government action amid mounting fears of escalating violence.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau ordered local law enforcement to “step up surveillance at sites linked to the Jewish community” after a gunman fatally shot two Israeli embassy staffers in the US capital on Wednesday night. The 30-year-old suspect who was charged with murdering the victims shouted “Free Palestine” as he was being taken into custody and said at the scene of the shooting, “I did it for Gaza,” according to court documents.

Shortly after the attack, prominent Jewish groups and leaders worldwide quickly decried the act of violence, expressing deep concern over the global rise in antisemitism. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot condemned the deadly assault as “an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity.”

On Thursday, Retailleau called for increased patrols around synagogues, as well as Jewish schools, shops, and events, with additional support from soldiers assigned to France’s domestic anti-terror unit. He also emphasized that security measures must be “visible and dissuasive.”

Local law enforcement has been stationed to secure the Israeli embassy in Paris, with increased patrols maintaining a strong presence around the area.

Ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays, the French diplomat also called for “extreme vigilance” and urged local officials to closely monitor identity checks, bag inspections, and vehicle searches.

The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) — the main representative body of French Jews — welcomed the latest security measures and government response following the deadly shooting.

Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, France has seen an alarming surge in antisemitic incidents, with 1,570 recorded last year, according to a report by CRIF.

In late May and early June, antisemitic acts rose by more than 140 percent, far surpassing the weekly average of slightly more than 30 incidents.

The report also found that 65.2 percent of antisemitic acts last year targeted individuals, with more than 10 percent of these offenses involving physical violence.

Following the antisemitic attack in Washington, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused European governments of spreading “toxic antisemitic incitement,” which he said contributed to the hostile climate that led to the fatal shooting.

“There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder,” the top Israeli diplomat said at a press conference, referring to the two Israeli embassy staffers killed on Wednesday night.

“This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe,” Saar continued.

French authorities rejected such an accusation, calling it “outrageous and unjustified.”

“France has condemned, France condemns, and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of antisemitism,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said in a statement.

European governments have strongly criticized Israel’s defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, as well as its management of humanitarian aid to the enclave.

On Monday, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire and supporting the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state. The statement also accused Israel of causing starvation in Gaza — a claim that Israeli leaders have vehemently denied.

The three countries warned that “concrete measures” would be taken if the Israeli government does not end its renewed military offensive and significantly ease restrictions on humanitarian aid.

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 as being on “the wrong side of history.”

“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 onslaught on Israel 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.”

The post France Boosts Security at Jewish Sites Amid Rising Antisemitism Following Washington Embassy Shooting first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

U2 lead singer Bono urged the Hamas terrorist organization to release the remaining hostages abducted from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and “stop the war” with Israel during an acceptance speech at the annual Ivors Novello Awards ceremony on Thursday, held at Grosvenor House in London.

At the 70th year of the awards ceremony, which recognizes achievements in songwriting and screen composition, U2 became the first Irish songwriters to be inducted into The Ivors Fellowship Academy, which hosts the award ceremony and is the leading organization representing songwriters and composers. The band accepted the award from pop star Ed Sheeran.

Before performing an acoustic rendition of U2’s 1983 hit song “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” Bono pleaded for peace, while also criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership of the Israeli government. “Sunday Bloody Sunday” references the Bloody Sunday shootings in Derry, Ireland, in January 1972, where members of the British army opened fire on protesters and killed 14 unarmed demonstrators.

“I used to introduce this next song by explaining that it wasn’t a rebel song,” Bono, whose real name is Paul David Hewson, began by saying. “Believing in the possibilities of peace was then and is now a rebellious act, and some would say a ridiculous one. To believe peace was attainable between your country and ours, between our country and itself was a ridiculous idea that we’re pleased we hold on to very tightly right now. Peace creates possibilities in the most intractable situations. And Lord knows, there’s a few of them out there right now.”

“Hamas, release the hostages,” the Irish singer added. “Stop the war. Israel, be released from Benjamin Netanyahu and the far-right fundamentalists that twist your sacred texts. All of you protect our aid workers, they are the best of us.”

At a Las Vegas concert in October 2023 — one after the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 in Israel – Bono offered his condolences and dedicated a song to the hundreds of music lovers who were murdered by Hamas-led terrorists at the Supernova music festival during the terror group’s deadly rampage across southern Israel.

“In the light of what’s happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems somewhat ridiculous, even laughable, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence,” Bono told the audience at the U2 concert. “But our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed. So, sing with us … and those beautiful kids at that music festival.”

The band then proceeded to perform “Pride (In the Name of Love).” Bono changed the track’s closing lyrics to “Early morning October 7, the sun is rising in the desert sky, Stars of David, they took your life, but they could not take your pride.”

“We sing for our brothers and sisters, who they themselves were singing at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel,” Bono further told the crowd at the concert. “We sing for those. Our people. Our kind of people. Music people, playful, experimental people. Our kind of people. We sing for them.”

U2 has performed in Israel only once before, in 1997 at Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv. They were scheduled to perform in the Jewish state in 2011 but eventually canceled the show following pressure from the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Bono visited Israel in 2012 and U2 dedicated a song to the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres during a 2015 concert in Canada.

The post Bono Calls for Hamas to Free Hostages, Israel to be ‘Released’ From Netanyahu During Award Acceptance Speech first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Madeline Brewer, from the fifth and final season of the hit Netflix series “You,” is among a handful of figures from the entertainment industry who have shared messages on social media denouncing the deadly shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers on Wednesday night in Washington, DC.

On Thursday, the 33-year-old actress – who plays Penn Badgley’s love interest Bronte in season five of “You” that dropped last month – reposted messages on her Instagram Story originally shared on social media by Bess Bell Kalb, a New York Times bestselling author and Emmy-nominated television comedy writer.

“Leaving explicitly Jewish spaces should not come with a lump of moral terror,” read one message posted by Kalb and reshared by Brewer, which refers to the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, where Wednesday night’s shooting took place. Kalb’s message also stated that “hunting and slaughtering Jews in the diaspora … is a step in the direction of mutual assured destruction. When either movement denies the geopolitical reality that the fates of Israelis and Palestinians are tied, there is no hope for mutual survival.”

Kalb further wrote in the message, shared by Brewer, that as a Jewish synagogue member and mother, whose toddler goes to a Jewish space every day for school, “I am begging you to check within your belief system for seeds of violence, and to commit to tending seeds of vital peace.”

In the caption of her post, Kalb called for “Tikkun Olam” (“repair of the world”), which is a Jewish concept that ultimately calls for social activism to build a better world. Kalb also shared a plea, saying, “May Jewish voices not be the only ones crying out for Jewish safety.”

Brewer, who also stars in the final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” currently airing on Hulu, is not Jewish. Others who shared messages on their Instagram Stories condemning Wednesday’s shooting include Amy Schumer, Debra Messing, and Emmanuelle Chriqui, the latter of whom said she is “utterly heartbroken” by the “senseless murder.”

Chriqui shared a message by US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) about the shooting and added: “This madness must stop! How does murdering 2 Jewish people in America free Palestine?? Make it make sense.”

“Please don’t be numb to these senseless murders,” she wrote in a separate Instagram Story, before sharing several posts by Israeli activist Hen Mazzig about the two victims.

Elias Rodriguez, 30, from Chicago has been charged with first-degree murder for the deadly shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, who were gunned down outside an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night. Lischinsky, an Israeli, planned to propose to Milgrim – his American Jewish girlfriend and colleague from Overland Park, Kansas – next week during their trip to Israel for the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

At the event for Jewish young professionals and diplomats, attendees listened to members of the Multifaith Alliance and IsraAID talk about humanitarian diplomacy and how to work together with a coalition of organizations to response to humanitarian crises throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, according to AJC.

Rodriguez was also charged with murder of foreign officials and related firearm charges. The shooting is being investigated as a hate crime and “this is a death penalty-eligible case,” US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Thursday.

“Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim were murdered last night because of Antisemitism and lies. Please speak up!” Emmy-winning actress Patricia Heaton wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. In a video on her Instagram page, she blasted “false narratives” and “lies” being spread about Israel in the US and around the world that incite violence against Israelis and Jews.

“If you are a decent human being, if you have any moral compass at all, if you have any knowledge of history, you will stand up and say something … the false narratives about Israel and the Jewish have got to stop being promoted,” said the former star of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle.”

“Pray for this couple and their family and do something. Speak up,” she concluded.

Heaton, who is Christian, is the founder of the October 7th Coalition (O7C), which is a network of Christians who stand up against antisemitism in the US and support Israel’s right to exist.

Rodriguez killed the two victims when he opened fire on a group of four people exiting the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night following the AJC’s annual Young Diplomats Reception, police said. The lone gunman shouted “Free Palestine” before he was arrested at the scene soon after the shooting. Rodriguez initially opened fire on the victims, reloaded his weapon, and shot again “several more times” at closer range, according to an FBI affidavit made public. The affidavit also noted that when one victim tried to crawl away, Rodriguez shot them again.

At a court hearing on Thursday, a judge ordered Rodriguez to remain in detention. His next hearing is scheduled for June 18.

Lischinsky was a staff member of the political department at the Embassy of Israel in Washington with a focus on Middle East issues. Milgrim worked with AJC as a lay leader of AJC ACCESS, the group’s Young Professional Division, and was a member of the AJC-Mimouna Michael Sachs Fellowship for Emerging Leaders community, according to the Jewish organization. She began working at the Israeli embassy in Washington soon after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.

The post Celebrities Condemn Murder of Israeli Embassy Staffers in Washington first appeared on Algemeiner.com.