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US Authorities Press Terrorism Charges Against Alleged Hezbollah Operative Involved in Deadly 1994 Bombing of Argentine Jewish Center
A display in Buenos Aires of pictures and names of victims of the 1994 AMIA bombing, in which 85 people died and hundreds more were wounded. Photo: Reuters/Marcos Brindicci.
The US authorities have pressed terrorism charges against a dual citizen of Colombia and Lebanon alleged to have played a central role in the July 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires orchestrated by the Iranian regime and its Lebanese Shi’a proxy, Hezbollah.
A statement from the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday announced that terrorism charges had been unsealed against Samuel Salman El Reda, 58, described as “a dual Colombian-Lebanese citizen and member of Hezbollah’s Islamic Jihad Organization (‘IJO’).”
“As alleged, for decades, Samuel Salman El Reda has led terrorist operations on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Organization of Hezbollah, including a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires that massacred 85 innocent victims,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in an accompanying statement. “The career prosecutors of this Office have not forgotten the pain and suffering that El Reda has allegedly caused, and we thank the dedication of our law enforcement partners for pursuing this important case.”
Edward Caban, the commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), alleged that “El Reda was an on-the-ground coordinator of the fatal attack against South America’s largest Jewish center nearly 30 years ago. In the decades after that attack, he allegedly continued to direct and support terrorism activities in the Western Hemisphere on behalf of Hezbollah and has been involved in plots all across the world. We want this alleged killer brought to justice.”
El Reda is understood to be based in Lebanon and remains at large. In the case of the attack on AMIA, the charges allege that he conducted “activities for Hezbollah in connection with the AMIA bombing included relaying information to IJO operatives that was used for planning and executing the attack.”
Toby Dershowitz — managing director of FDD Action, a project of the Washington, DC-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) — said that the charges against el Reda amounted to a “chilling reminder that Hezbollah’s terrorism plots — those that succeeded and many that were thankfully foiled — were focused not only in the Middle East but around the world including in Thailand, Peru, Argentina, Cyprus, and yes, even in the United States.”
She told The Algemeiner that El Reda’s role “in planning the deadly AMIA bombing may be his most well-known attack but it’s by no means his only one.” She added as well that the charges highlighted Iran’s role in bankrolling and assisting terrorism.
“The AMIA bombing was planned on Aug. 14, 1993, in Mashhad, Iran,” Dershowitz said. “Iran’s diplomats and diplomatic services in its embassy in Buenos Aires were used to plan and fund the attack. The world often tries to escape this fact but only by squeezing the paymaster’s sources of funding can one begin to lessen the threat.”
Prior to the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, the AMIA bombing constituted the worst single act of terrorism or violence against a Jewish target since the Holocaust. No one has ever been brought to trial for the atrocity, despite the fact that in 2007, “red notices” — effectively international arrest warrants — were issued for six Iranian officials wanted in connection with the bombing by Interpol, the international law enforcement agency.
The post US Authorities Press Terrorism Charges Against Alleged Hezbollah Operative Involved in Deadly 1994 Bombing of Argentine Jewish Center first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Loomering large: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on Jews and fake news
From the autumn into spring of 2016-17—a period in which the U.S. was adjusting to its 45th president—I ran the female-focused ‘Sisterhood’ section for The Forward, the venerable New York-based publication, which was figuring out how to reach a social-media-addict audience as its newspaper era wound down. And so, during that time—day after day and […]
The post Loomering large: Phoebe Maltz Bovy on Jews and fake news appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Ritchie Torres Calls for All Universities to Enshrine Protection of Zionist Students in Official Conduct Codes
US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) speaks during the House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, DC, Sept. 30, 2021. Photo: Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) released a video over the weekend, calling for all American universities to adopt the official International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
In the video, Torres praised New York University (NYU) over their decision to “modernize” their hate speech policies by adding protections for students that identify as Zionist. Torres argued that these changes are necessary “in response to the increasingly complex and ever-evolving reality of campus antisemitism.” He called on university administrators nationwide emulate NYU and bolster protections for Jewish students.
“NYU’s decision to adopt a fuller understanding of antisemitism sets an example that others in academia should follow for the safety of their Jewish students,” Torres said.
Torres continued, calling antisemitism “an ancient virus that mutates over time.” He urged universities to be “nimble” in responding to the new iterations of antisemitism arising on their campuses. He asserted that antisemitism can manifest itself in hatred of Jews both “as a religion” and “as a nation.”
“Anti-Zionism and antisemitism are indeed intersectional, and cannot be so easily compartmentalized in the real world as they can be in academic spaces,” Torres said.
Torres argued that modern antisemites replace use “Zionist” as a replacement word for “Jew.” He added that discrimination against “Zionists” is indeed antisemitism in both “intent and effect.”
“Rejecting moral clarity about right and wrong does not weaken the academic enterprise; it strengthens it,” Torres added.
Torres has repeatedly lambasted universities for fostering a hostile environment for Jewish students in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel. He has called anti-Israel campus activists and academics “pseudo-intellectuals” and condemned them for peddling antisemitism in the name of social justice.
Universities across the country have been roiled by antisemitism controversies in the months following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Columbia University student Khymani James, for example, publicly stated that Zionists “don’t deserve to live.” The Ivy League university has not confirmed if James has been permanently expelled from the campus. A mob of pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration in front of the City University of New York Hillel on Tuesday, shouting at Jewish students to get “out of the Middle East” and “go back to Brooklyn.”
Torres, a self-described progressive, has established himself as a stalwart ally of the Jewish state, especially in the months following the Hamas slaughter of roughly 1,200 people across southern Israel on Oct. 7. Torres has repeatedly defended Israel from unsubstantiated claims of committing “genocide” in Gaza. He has also consistently supported the continued shipment of American arms to help the Jewish state defend itself from Hamas terrorists. Torres has levied sharp criticism toward university administrators for allowing Jewish students to be threatened on campus without consequence.
The post Ritchie Torres Calls for All Universities to Enshrine Protection of Zionist Students in Official Conduct Codes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jewish Student Assaulted Near University of Michigan
Law enforcement clash with pro-Hamas demonstrators at the University of Michigan on Aug. 28, 2024. Photo: Brendan Gutenschwager/X
Law enforcement officials are investigating a “Nazi like” assault of a Jewish student allegedly carried out by six people near the University of Michigan late Saturday night.
According to the Ann Arbor Police Department, the beating occurred when the group accosted the 19 year old victim, whose name has not been released, and demanded to know whether he was Jewish. The young man said that he was, after which the suspects slammed him on the concrete, according to police. They then kicked and spit on him before leaving.
The Anti-Defamation League offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrests of the culprits.
“I have communicated with the University of Michigan police staff, and our goal is to discuss safety over the next few weeks,” Ann Arbor Police Department chief Andre C. Anderson said in a statement issued on Sunday. “There is absolutely no place for hate or ethnic intimidation in the City of Ann Arbor. Our department stands against antisemitism and all acts of bias-motivated crimes. We are committed to vigorously investigating this and other hate-motivated incidents and we will work with the county prosecutor’s office to aggressively prosecute those who are responsible.”
Ann Arbor Police have confirmed that the men inflicted “minor injuries” on the victim, who was not hospitalized. Its investigation of the incident is ongoing.
University of Michigan Hillel also commented on the assault, saying, “We are in regular communication with state and federal law enforcement.”
University of Michigan president Santa J. Ono addressed the assault on Monday morning.
“We strongly condemn and denounce this act of violence and all antisemitic acts,” he said in a statement. “Antisemitism is in direct conflict with the university’s deeply held values of safety, respect, and inclusion and has no place within our community. The University of Michigan is a place where all students — regardless of their race, sex, nationality, and religion — deserve to feel safe and protected as they pursue the important work of becoming citizens of the wider world.”
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor has long been a hub of anti-Zionist and antisemitic activity, leading to campus disruptions and diminishing quality of life for Jewish students. In Nov. 2022, an unidentified male snatched a female student by the arm while crossing paths with her on campus and made antisemitic statements. In July 2023, someone graffitied swastikas and homophobic slurs on two off-campus a fraternity houses.
Recently, dozens of candidates from the anti-Zionist Shut It Down (SID) party won election to the school’s Central Student Government by running on a platform which promised to sever the University of Michigan’s academic and financial ties to Israel. After assuming power, CSG president Alifa Chowdury (SID) defunded the school’s 1,700 student clubs by vetoing the summer term budget, which had been “unanimously” supported by the CSG Assembly, and vowed to block any spending bill that would fund them in the fall term. The measure was, in SID’s view, strategic. It argued during the campaign that crippling university operations would inexorably lead to a boycott of Israel.
“CSG merely serves as an extension of an institution that has perpetuated systems of oppression by maintaining the current status quo of neocolonial capitalism,” SID said in a manifesto issued in March. “Every dollar coming out of this university is blood money. Student government cannot operate as usual as we witness the systematic murder of Palestinians. Student life cannot continue as normal when our tuition and labor are being used to fund a genocide.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Jewish Student Assaulted Near University of Michigan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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