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US Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, Omar Slapped With Lawsuit for ‘Inciting’ Columbia University Anti-Israel Encampment

US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Photo: Mike Jourdan/Flickr.

Three progressive US lawmakers are facing a class-action lawsuit for allegedly “inciting” anti-Israel protests at Columbia University.

The lawsuit, filed by five anonymous students, names Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ilhan Omar (MN), and Jamaal Bowman (NY) — all members of the so-called “Squad” of far-left members of the House of Representatives — as key instigators of the “extreme and outrageous” anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus. The lawsuit also implicates nearly a dozen pro-Palestinian groups.

“The Gaza Encampment was extreme and outrageous conduct. It was illegal. It violated university rules. Its occupants harassed, followed, physically blocked, intimidated, and bullied Jewish students,” the lawsuit says. 

Starting in mid-April, dozens of student organizers at Columbia University commandeered the South Lawn and erected an encampment in protest of Israel’s military campaign against the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The students vowed not to dismantle the encampment until the university agreed to boycott and divest from all Israel-related entities, including divesting from companies that do business with the Jewish state and cutting ties with Israeli universities.  

The demonstration, which included chants in support of Hamas and calls for Israel’s destruction, quickly grew in numbers amid allegations that Columbia wasn’t doing enough to punish rampant antisemitism on campus.

The lawsuit argues that the three lawmakers were among the “outside champions” who encouraged the protests. The three progressives issued statements defending the at-times violent protesters and criticizing law enforcement. 

“If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and [university] presidents,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X/Twitter on April 30.

Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, and Omar each visited the encampments at Columbia University in a show of support for the campus agitators. Omar suggested that Jewish students critical of the Columbia University anti-Israel protests were “pro-genocide,” sparking a firestorm of outrage. Bowman defended the anti-Israel protests as “peaceful” and said he was “outraged” at Columbia administrators for calling in police officers to protect the campus.

Two of the five claimants in the lawsuit are Jewish, according to the New York Post

An anonymous Columbia Jewish sophomore told the Post that he “did not feel safe” on campus. 

During the protests, I witnessed numerous offensive and antisemitic signs and messages, including antisemitic skunk posters with the Star of David,” the Columbia student recalled.

The Columbia protests drew widespread criticism for rhetoric that many observers considered antisemitic. Student activists openly waved flags representing the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups. A group of Columbia student protesters made headlines for chanting “burn Tel Aviv to the ground.” Several campus groups issued statements categorically banning “Zionist” students from membership. In May, police revealed that anti-Israel protesters who occupied an academic building at Columbia had signs that read “death to America,” death to Israel,” and “long live the intifada” — the last of which refers to a violent Palestinian uprising.

In response, several prominent Columbia Jewish alumni have vowed to no longer donate funds to the Ivy League university. The US Congress summoned Columbia President Minouche Shafik to testify on the alleged antisemitic campus climate at the university. The Committee on Education and the Workforce initiated an investigation into antisemitism at Columbia.

“In a civilized community, one does not call for the obliteration of a major metropolitan area, praise terrorists, or threaten death and destruction upon our classmates and their families, friends, and coreligionists,” the lawsuit reads.

The claimants allege that the campus agitators and their supporters “not only consciously disregarded the rights of others, but the impact on the rights of others was the point of the protest: the more disruption [they] could cause for the university and the [students], the more leverage they thought they would have for their agenda.”

Omar, Bowman, and Ocasio-Cortez have all routinely lambasted Israel and called for the US to lessen its support to the Jewish state.

The post US Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Bowman, Omar Slapped With Lawsuit for ‘Inciting’ Columbia University Anti-Israel Encampment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.

In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.

At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Nearly half  of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.

The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.

Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.

“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”

Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.

Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.

The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.

The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.

Incidents reported by the group include:

  • At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
  • A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
  • In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”

CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”

Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.

A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”

CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”

In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.

Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”

The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.

The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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