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US States Order Flags at Half-Staff to Mark Oct. 7 Anniversary

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul delivering remarks on major legislation requiring colleges and universities in the state to strengthen hate crime policies. Photo: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul

Multiple US states will lower their flags to half-mast during the day on Monday to mark the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack in southern Israel.

“The hearts of Iowans go out to the innocent Israeli families and American citizens killed by Hamas,” stated Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, who ordered flags lowered at the state Capitol building and on all public grounds and sites in the state. (She encouraged individuals, businesses, schools and others to do the same.)

“Iran and its terrorist proxies continue to attack, as Israeli forces fight to protect their people against the forces of evil,” Reynolds added. “Iowa stands, as it always has, with Israel.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, ordered flags at state buildings at half-mast and that more than 12 landmarks—including several bridges, Empire State Plaza, Niagara Falls, Moynihan Train Hall and 1 World Trade Center—be lit up in yellow “in solidarity with Israel and the hostages still in captivity.”

“One year after the horrific atrocities committed against the people of Israel, my heart goes out to the victims and their families,” Hochul stated. “New York stands with Israel—today and every day.”

“As the home of the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, we will do everything in our power to defend against the forces of hatred and stand firmly against those who perpetuate it,” Hochul added.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, ordered that the state flag be flown at half-mast throughout Arkansas on Monday.

“Israel is right, and the terrorists are wrong,” she stated. “Arkansas stands with Israel, prays for Israel and supports Israel as they fight to defeat the terrorists and bring the hostages home.”

“This week, Iran launched a missile attack against Israel, emphasizing that this conflict is far from over,” Huckabee Sanders added. “Alongside the ongoing attacks against Israel, there has been a shocking rise in antisemitism and pro-Hamas protests in the United States. These activists deny Israel’s fundamental right to defend itself in this war between good and evil.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, and Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, also ordered flags at half-staff on Oct. 7.

“One year after the tragedies of Oct. 7, 2023, we continue to mourn the devastating losses and urge all parties to reach an agreement that immediately returns every hostage and puts an end to the continued suffering of civilians in Israel, Gaza and throughout the region,” Murphy stated.

“Our hearts go out to the families that have been shattered by the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 and the humanitarian suffering that followed, and we continue to pray for a swift end to the war and restoration of peace across the region,” he added.

“In remembrance of the one-year anniversary of the horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, I invite all Montanans to join me in remembering the innocent victims who were brutally murdered or injured during acts of war committed by Hamas and for the seven Americans still held hostage,” Gianforte stated.

“The State of Montana continues to stand with Israel and the Jewish people as they continue to face unspeakable persecution, hatred and terrorism,” he added.

The post US States Order Flags at Half-Staff to Mark Oct. 7 Anniversary first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Treasure Trove salutes the Jewish-Canadian woman who made the first Remembrance Day poppies

The poppies that we wear at this time of year are our visual pledge to remember the brave Canadian soldiers who served and sacrificed to preserve and defend our democracy.  […]

The post Treasure Trove salutes the Jewish-Canadian woman who made the first Remembrance Day poppies appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Hasidic Man Attacked in Third Antisemitic Assault in Brooklyn in Eight Days

Illustrative: New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicles are seen in Brooklyn, New York, United States, on Oct. 13, 2024. Photo: Kyle Mazza via Reuters Connect

An antisemitic hate crime spree in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York struck its latest victim on Wednesday, wreaking an “excruciating” beating on a middle-aged Hasidic man.

According to Yaacov Behrman, a liaison for Chabad Headquarters — the main New York base of the Hasidic movement — the victim was accosted by two assailants, one masked, who “chased and beat him” after he refused to surrender his cell phone in compliance with what appears to have been an attempted robbery.

“The victim is in excruciating pain and is currently in the emergency room,” Behrman tweeted. “The police are investigating the incident.”

The perpetrators were two Black teenagers, according to COLlive.com, an Orthodox Jewish news outlet.

Tuesday’s attack was the third time in eight days that an Orthodox resident of Crown Heights was targeted for violence and humiliation. In each case, the assailant was allegedly a Black male, a pattern of conduct which continues to strain Black-Jewish relations across the Five Boroughs.

On Monday morning, an African American male smacked a 13-year-old Jewish boy who was commuting to school on his bike in the heavily Jewish Crown Heights neighborhood

Less than a week earlier, an assailant slashed a visibly Jewish man in the face as he was walking in Brooklyn.

Numerous antisemitic hate crimes have occurred in Crown Heights in recent years. In July 2023, for example, a 22-year-old Israeli Yeshiva student, who was identifiably Orthodox and visiting New York City for the summer holiday, was stabbed with a screwdriver by one of two men who attacked him after asking whether he was Jewish and had any money. The other punched him in the face. Earlier that year, 10- and 12-year-olds were attacked on Albany Avenue by four African American teens.

According to a report issued in August by New York state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, antisemitic incidents accounted for a striking 65 percent of all felony hate crimes in New York City last year. The report added that throughout the state, nearly 44 percent of all recorded hate crime incidents and 88 percent of religious-based hate crimes targeted Jewish victims.

Meanwhile, according to a recent Algemeiner review of New York City Police Department (NYPD) hate crimes data, 385 antisemitic hate crimes have struck the New York City Jewish community since last October, when the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas perpetrated its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, unleashing a wave of anti-Jewish hatred unlike any seen in the post-World War II era.

Beyond New York, anti-Jewish hate crimes in the US spiked to a record high last year, and American Jews were the most targeted of any religious group in the country, according to a report published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in September.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Hasidic Man Attacked in Third Antisemitic Assault in Brooklyn in Eight Days first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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‘Huge Victory’: Netanyahu Calls Trump to Congratulate Him on Election Win

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called US President-elect Donald Trump to congratulate him on his victory in the US presidential election earlier this week.

“Netanyahu spoke to President-elect Donald Trump and was among the first to call to congratulate him for his victory,” the Prime Minister’s office said on Wednesday. “The conversation was warm and cordial, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security and discussed the Iranian threat.”

During Trump’s first term, his administration had a “maximum pressure” policy with regard to Iran, aimed at making it more difficult for the country to make a nuclear weapon and fund its terror proxies — such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — across the Middle East.

However, some observers are concerned the incoming US administration will not be as strong on the Iranian threat as it was in its first term. Late last month, US Vice President-elect JD Vance said on a podcast that the US and Israel can at times have conflicting interests and warned that Washington should seek to avoid a war with Iran, the Jewish state’s chief adversary in the Middle East.

“Israel has the right to defend itself, but America’s interest is sometimes going to be distinct — like sometimes we’re going to have overlapping interests and sometimes we’re going to have distinct interests. And our interest, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran,” Vance said.

He then argued that a war with Iran “would be [a] huge distraction of resources; it would be massively expensive to our country.”

In addition to the phone call, Netanyahu’s office will also reportedly announce “the appointment of a new ambassador to Washington who will work with the new Trump administration” within the next 24 hours, according to Axios reporter Barack Ravid.

Netanyahu was the first world leader to congratulate Trump on his victory.

“Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!” he wrote on X/Twitter. “Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

He added, “This is a huge victory!”

During Trump’s first term, he and Netanyahu were close allies, working together to sign the Abraham Accords and move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. However, their relationship reportedly strained when Netanyahu congratulated then-US President-elect Joe Biden on his victory against Trump while Trump was still actively disputing the results of the election.

“The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with,” Trump reportedly said at the time. “Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.”

“I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty,” he added. “The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.”

Heading into Trump’s second term, there have not been indications that this tension still lingers.

The post ‘Huge Victory’: Netanyahu Calls Trump to Congratulate Him on Election Win first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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