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Ukrainian Jews gathering in historic Polish city champion solidarity with Israel
LUBLIN, Poland – With wars raging in Ukraine and Israel, many Ukrainian Jews feel doubly traumatized by the troubles roiling their native country and the Jewish homeland.
So when over 150 Ukrainian Jews gathered over a recent weekend in Poland for a three-day event hosted by Limmud FSU, the nonprofit organization founded by Israeli Chaim Chesler and American Sandra Cahn that seeks to foster Jewish identity and community among Jews from the former Soviet Union, the event served as an occasion for a welcome respite during difficult times.
Most of those who attended the Nov. 3-5 event traveled overland from Ukraine. The rest came from elsewhere in Poland as well as from the Netherlands, Germany and Israel.
The symbolism of hosting the Jewish event for Ukrainian Jews in Lublin, which for centuries before the Holocaust had been a thriving center of Jewish life and is located only 60 miles from the Ukraine border, was unmistakable.
“Since we couldn’t hold the conference in Ukraine we decided to do it in the very unique Jewish city of Lublin, with its huge yeshiva that was destroyed by the Nazis in 1939 and rebuilt only 10 years ago,” said Chesler. “We are here with our brothers and sisters from Ukraine, who are experiencing the same hardship that we now endure in Israel.”
For three days, the festival turned Lublin’s Hotel Victoria into a hub of Jewish learning, music, dance, games, food and joy.
“Two of the things I love most are history and Jewish culture,” said software developer Artem Linnyk, 30, a Ukrainian native who has lived in Poland for the last eight years. “Limmud is a great place to find both.”
Natalia Tolok, a tour guide and Hillel director in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, came to present a session on her favorite hobby: traditional Jewish dance.
“Limmud is not just a conference. This is a big family, a kind of separate Jewish world that embraces anyone related to Jewishness,” Tolok said. “We used to have huge Limmuds in Lviv and Odessa with hundreds of people. But right now not all who love Limmud can come, for various reasons. They are spread around the world, or in some cases they cannot leave Ukraine.”
Welcomed by Poland’s King Casimir in 1336, Jews comprised nearly half of Lublin’s population before World War II. Most were murdered during the Holocaust, and although only a few dozen Jews remain here today, reminders of the city’s glorious and painful Jewish past are everywhere.
Julietta Golovan displays her Ukraine shawl during a musical performance by Polish singer-songwriter Vladimir Svatyov, at the Limmud FSU event for Ukrainian Jews in Lublin, Poland, Nov. 3-5, 2023. (Larry Luxner)
A bronze plaque at the city’s main shopping center, Lublin Mall, commemorates the site of Lipowa 7, a forced labor camp where Nazi officers executed about 700 Jewish prisoners on Nov. 3, 1943. Limmud participants visited a restored yeshiva and synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery dating back to 1541, and the Nazi concentration camp site of Majdanek where over 80,000 Jews were killed.
“In these trying times for both the State of Israel and Ukrainian Jews, our event in Lublin stands as a testament to the resilience and unity we share,” said Matthew Bronfman, chairman of Limmud FSU. “As we convene in this historic city, we renew our steadfast support for one another, transcending the distances that separate us with a shared bond of solidarity.”
War has become a part of life for many of Ukraine’s Jews today. Photographer Boris Bukhman, a 62-year-old from Odessa, displayed 15 photos from an exhibit of his about the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We understand what’s going on in Israel just as Israelis understand pretty well what’s going on in Ukraine,” said Bukhman, who has documented battlefield amputations of soldiers. “I was asked not to bring my harshest photos of the war here, so people wouldn’t be traumatized all over again.”
Alexei Podorozhnyy, a Ukrainian currently living in Germany, has fled war twice: first eight years ago to Kyiv, and then to Frankfurt, where he has resided since the Russian invasion.
“I was so glad to see my friends from Ukraine at this event,” Podorozhnyy said in Lublin.
Since its creation in 2005 to strengthen Jewish connections and identity among Jews with roots in the former Soviet Union, Limmud FSU has held 85 festivals around the globe that have drawn more than 80,000 participants overall. Its work is supported by individuals and organizations around the world, including the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, Nativ-Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, World Zionist Organization, Jewish National Fund – KKL, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Wilf Family Foundation, Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund, Diane Wohl, Bill Hess and others.
The Israeli and Ukrainian national anthems were played during the closing event of the Limmud FSU event for Ukrainian Jews in Lublin, Poland, Nov. 5, 2023. (Boris Bukhman)
In her welcome message, Raheli Baratz-Rix, head of the World Zionist Organization’s Department for Combating Antisemitism and Enhancing Resilience, urged participants not to remain silent in the face of surging global antisemitism.
“Israel is under attack. It’s not just a phrase; it’s our reality right now,” Baratz-Rix said. “All around the world, we’ve seen a 500% increase in antisemitism since the war began — in Great Britain, Germany, France, the United States and Canada, as well as in the former Soviet Union. We need you by our side, more than ever, to fight together for the narrative. Israel is a strong country and will win, but no one can stay silent right now.”
Alex Mershon, director of Nativ’s Department of Culture and Education, said, “It is important to emphasize that the Limmud in Lublin is not just a prominent educational event but also a tangible demonstration of solidarity by Jewish communities in former Soviet Union countries with the State of Israel. At Nativ, we actively participate in this important project, particularly during these challenging times for the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora.”
Shlomo Voskoboynik, 56, is originally from Malin, a small town near Kyiv. He immigrated to Israel in 1994 and now works as an emissary in Estonia for Israel’s Education Ministry. At the Limmud in Lublin he led Kabbalat Shabbat prayers, explained the week’s Torah portion and led sessions on Jewish culture.
“This Limmud was less cerebral and more emotional,” Voskoboynik said. “We know that many presenters couldn’t come, but the feeling was very strong. There’s a war in Ukraine, there’s also a war in Israel now, and people want to feel united.”
This sentiment was especially evident at the closing ceremony, when the national anthems of Ukraine and Israel were played one after the other. Despite the challenges, participants said they were hopeful that the security situation in Ukraine is improving — especially in Kyiv, where life seems to be gradually returning to normal.
“Hopefully next year we can do this conference in Ukraine,” said Natasha Chechik, Limmud FSU’s Israeli executive director. “This is one of our main goals for 2024: bringing Limmud back to Ukraine.”
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The post Ukrainian Jews gathering in historic Polish city champion solidarity with Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UK to Ban Group Palestine Action Under Anti-Terrorism Laws
Police officers block a street as pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather in protest against Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s plans to proscribe the “Palestine Action” group in the coming weeks, in London, Britain, June 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Britain said on Monday it would use anti-terrorism laws to ban the organization Palestine Action, making it a criminal offence to belong to the group after its activists damaged two UK military planes in protest at London’s support for Israel.
The proscription would put the pro-Palestinian group on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda, or ISIS under British law, making it illegal for anyone to promote it or be a member. Those who breached the ban could face up to 14 years in jail.
Palestine Action has regularly targeted British sites connected to Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems as well as other companies in Britain linked to Israel since the start of the conflict in Gaza in 2023.
In its latest and most high-profile action, two of its members entered a Royal Air Force base in central England on Friday, spraying paint into the engines of the Voyager transport aircraft and further damaging them with crowbars.
“The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton … is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action,” Home Secretary [interior minister] Yvette Cooper said in a written statement to parliament.
“The UK’s defense enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.”
She said the group‘s actions had become more aggressive and caused millions of pounds of damage.
Under British law, the Home Secretary can proscribe a group if it is believed it commits, encourages, or “is otherwise concerned in terrorism.” The banning order will be laid before parliament on June 30 and will come into effect if approved.
Palestine Action, which says Britain is an “active participant” in the conflict in Gaza because of military support it provides to Israel, called the ban “an unhinged reaction” which it would challenge, and accused Cooper of making a series of “categorically false claims.”
“The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these war planes,” it said in a statement.
Earlier on Monday, the group was forced to change the location of a planned protest after police banned it from staging a demonstration outside parliament, otherwise a popular location for protests in support of a range of causes.
The post UK to Ban Group Palestine Action Under Anti-Terrorism Laws first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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MAGA Commentators Clash Over Trump’s Choice to Bomb Iran
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
US President Donald Trump’s decision to bomb three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities over the weekend has divided his longtime supporters, with some prominent voices in the so-called Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement opposing the strikes and others standing with the administration’s military action.
Mark Levin, the longtime conservative talk radio host and vocal pro-Israel voice, called out US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for her disagreement with the US strikes, known as Operation Midnight Hammer.
On Sunday, Greene wrote on X, “I don’t know anyone in America who has been the victim of a crime or killed by Iran, but I know many people who have been victims of crime committed by criminal illegal aliens or MURDERED by Cartel and Chinese fentanyl/drugs.” She warned that “Neocon warmongers beat their drums of war and act like Billy badasses going to war in countries most Americans have never seen and can’t find on a map, but never find the courage to go to war against the actual terrorists who actually do kill Americans, invade our land, and make BILLIONS doing it day after day, year after year.”
In response, Levin labeled Greene a “shameless nitwit” and asked, “How incredibly dumb is this Marjorie Taylor Green? She doesn’t know anyone in America who has been a victim of crime or killed by Iran? You mean the thousands of Americans, especially military personnel, killed and maimed by the Iranian terrorist regime?”
Levin aimed his ire at other leaders on both left and right who he christened “America’s Iranian nukes coalition.” He wrote that “if the radical Democrats and their Isolationist fake MAGA reprobates had their way, Iran would have nuclear weapons. This is the new gravely dangerous coalition of Marxists-Islamists-isolationists-grifters. They’re represented by the likes of Bernie Sanders- AOC-Schumer-Jeffries and Rand Paul-Massie-MTG- Qatarlson-Bannon. And they’re giving aid and comfort to a regime that has murdered directly and indirectly thousands of Americans. Never forget. They will forever be opposed and challenged by we, the people — America First loving patriots.”
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host-turned-podcaster, has faced recent accusations promoted by social media influencer Laura Loomer, alleging links to Qatar, claims which he denies, thus prompting Levin’s “Qatarlson” epithet. Carlson had clashed over Iran in a recent interview with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), reportedly watched by Trump.
Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart News CEO-turned-presidential adviser-turned America First podcaster, declared his disagreement with Trump’s invocation of America’s potential engagement toward regime change in a Truth Social post on Sunday.
“Is this because the ultimate goal is regime change?” Bannon asked. “And if that’s fine, Israelis, have at it. If you want regime change, go for it, baby. Just no participation by the United States government.”
The Daily Beast reported that according to anti-Trump biographer Michael Wolff, unnamed sources within the administration described how Trump had initially leaned toward the Carlson-Bannon isolationist position until shifting Friday under congressional Republicans’ influence toward seeing the value to his image of a successful strike. “The tenor of the phone calls was him saying, ‘I think I’m gonna look very good if I do this,’” Wolff said.
Further exposing the extent to which the Iran strikes have diverged from the last decade of the MAGA movement’s tilt toward isolationism, two of Trump’s former close allies who later parted ways with him and went on to criticize his actions have now voiced their support.
Former Vice President Mike Pence and former National Security Adviser John Bolton have both historically identified with former President Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” hawkish foreign policy philosophy. Each praised the bombings of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Pence said to Fox News on Sunday that even though “the president and I have had our differences,” he “couldn’t be more proud [sic] of President Trump’s decisive leadership in this moment or the extraordinary professionalism and courage of our armed forces that brought about this historic mission.”
On Sunday morning, the conservative magazine Washington Examiner published an article with the headline “Trump did the right thing in Iran” by Bolton, one of the conservative movement’s most steadfast and robust Iran hawks.
“It was long past time that Washington did more to aid Israel in defeating Iran and took direct action against Tehran’s nuclear proliferation efforts,” Bolton wrote. “There are undoubtedly additional measures now underway to protect American deployed forces and civilian personnel in the region against Iranian retaliation now that we have taken offensive military action. Similarly, we should continue bringing forward additional forces to bolster Israeli and Gulf Arab state defenses against Tehran military retaliation.”
Bolton warned that “peace and security in the Middle East are impossible while the ayatollahs rule in Tehran.” He urged that “overthrowing the current regime is a necessary, even if not a sufficient, condition to reach that goal. The sooner the better.”
Trump said after Saturday night’s strikes that the US was acting to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons but not seeking regime change. The next day, however, he seemed to entertain the idea. Writing on Truth Social, he posted: “It’s not politically correct to use the term, ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”
The post MAGA Commentators Clash Over Trump’s Choice to Bomb Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Spain Pushes EU to Suspend Israel Trade Pact Amid Gaza Conflict, Sparking Division Within Bloc
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, and Ireland’s Foreign Minister Micheal Martin hold a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, May 27, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Johanna Geron
Spain will formally petition the European Union to approve an “immediate suspension” of its association agreement with Israel — a pact governing the EU’s political and economic ties with Jerusalem — to protest what it calls human rights violations in Gaza.
On Monday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced that the country will also ask the EU to approve an arms embargo on Israel and impose sanctions on individuals accused of undermining the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“We have on the table a report by the High Representative, requested for many months by Spain, which clearly indicates what Spain already knew, that there is a flagrant violation of human rights at this time in Gaza by Israel and that, therefore, that association council between the European Union and Israel, which is precisely based on human rights, is being violated,” Albares said in a statement.
“The Palestinian Gazans need action and, therefore, the important thing today is not to denounce … we have done it for months,” the top Spanish diplomat continued. “It is not the denunciations that are going to stop this inhumane war in Gaza, it is the actions.”
“The time for words, for statements, is behind us,” Albares said, calling on the EU to show the “courage” to take concrete action.
Spain’s latest anti-Israel move follows a newly released EU-commissioned report accusing Israel of committing “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group.
According to the report, “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the 25-year-old EU-Israel Association Agreement.
While the document acknowledges the existence of violence by Hamas, it states that this issue lies outside its scope — failing to address the Palestinian terrorist group’s role in sparking the current war with its Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
Israeli officials have slammed the report as factually incorrect and morally flawed, noting Hamas embeds its military infrastructure within civilian targets and Israel’s army takes extensive precautions to try and avoid civilian casualties.
The eight-page document was set for discussion at Monday’s EU Foreign Affairs Council, followed by a personal briefing from EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas to the bloc’s leaders at the June summit later this week in Brussels.
“I will now address the results of the review with Israel,” Kallas said at a news conference following a meeting of European foreign ministers. “Our first goal is to change the situation on the ground and help humanitarian aid to get in.”
Kallas said she would return to the issue in July if there had been no improvement.
This latest anti-Israel push by several EU member states builds on Belgium’s recent decision to review Israel’s compliance with its trade agreement — a process initiated by the Netherlands and led by Kallas, after a majority of member states called for a formal probe.
Despite efforts by some European countries to undermine Israel’s defensive campaign against Hamas in Gaza, the Jewish state continues to have support within the EU.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has made clear that Rome opposes any suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
“Our position is different from that of Spain,” Tajani said in a statement, adding that maintaining open relations with Israel has helped facilitate the evacuation of civilians from Gaza.
Germany also does not support calls to suspend the pact governing Israel‘s relations with the EU.
“Our position is very clear — we do not support either a suspension or a partial suspension,” the official said at a German government briefing, according to Reuters.
For its part, Spain in recent years has been one of Jerusalem’s fiercest critics, a stance that has only intensified since Hamas’s onslaught on Israel.
Albares, with the backing of his government including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has actively pushed for anti-Israel measures on the international stage, all while portraying himself as a dedicated supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities, Spain halted arms shipments from its own defense companies to Israel and launched a diplomatic campaign to curb the country’s military response.
At the same time, several Spanish ministers in the country’s left-wing coalition government issued pro-Hamas statements and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with some falsely accusing Israel of “genocide.”
Last year, Spain officially recognized a Palestinian state, claiming the move was accelerated by the Israel-Hamas war and would help foster peace in the region. Israeli officials described the decision as a “reward for terrorism.”
The post Spain Pushes EU to Suspend Israel Trade Pact Amid Gaza Conflict, Sparking Division Within Bloc first appeared on Algemeiner.com.