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Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition
Dina Goldstein received conflicting accounts of the last-minute decision by the gallery.
The post Vancouver artist who subverts Barbie and Ken claims antisemitism is behind her removal from a group exhibition appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Jewish Simpsons Mural Defaced by Antisemitic, Pro-Palestinian Vandals at Shoah Memorial in Milan
The mural “The Jewish Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz” before and after it was vandalized. Photo: Provided
A mural on the external wall of the Shoah Memorial in Milan, Italy, that depicts the Simpsons family as Jews being deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp was recently defaced by pro-Palestinian vandals.
The pop art mural “The Jewish Simpsons Deported to Auschwitz” was created by contemporary Italian pop artist and activist AleXsandro Palombo and debuted on Jan. 27, 2023, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. It features Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson as Jews wearing outfits that feature a yellow Star of David badge with the word “Jude” in the center. Nazis forced Jews to wear a similar badge on their clothing during the Holocaust. Palombo’s team said the artist used contemporary figures such as the Simpsons to educate the public, especially younger generations, about the importance of remembrance and the duty to never forget the horrors of the Holocaust.
Pro-Palestinian vandals almost completely ripped off the images of Marge, Lisa and Maggie Simpson from the mural and replaced them with a message written in red paint that said “Free Pal,” which is short for “Free Palestine.” The Star of David badge on Homer’s overcoat was also torn off and the Star of David badge worn by Bart was covered in red paint.
“Little remains of the iconic work: only a grave antisemitic defacement, which has transformed a tribute to memory into an expression of hatred,” Palombo’s media relations team said on Sunday in response to the vandalism. “Today, [the] work has been brutally erased and turned into a disturbing political manifesto, steeped in antisemitism. This act is yet another stark reminder that antisemitic hatred is on the rise, even in places devoted to memory and reflection … At a time when antisemitism is surging globally, acts like this take on even greater gravity. This is not merely vandalism, but a deliberate attack on memory, culture, and the core values of human rights.”
Palombo has dedicated several murals over the years to Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism. They include depictions of Holocaust teenage diarist and victim Anne Frank wearing a concentration camp uniform and holding an Israeli flag while standing beside a Palestinian girl who burns the Hamas flag. Palombo also created a mural that depicted a boy from the Warsaw Ghetto reimagined as a hostage of Hamas terrorists.
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel, Palombo unveiled a mural in Milan dedicated to Vlada Patapov, a young survivor of the Hamas attack at the Nova music festival. Shortly after its unveiling, the artwork was vandalized and Patapov’s head was erased.
A number of Palombo’s murals that feature Italian Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre, Sami Modiano and Edith Bruck have been repeatedly vandalized. In January, the Museum of the Shoah in Rome acquired several of Palombo’s murals that were vandalized and then restored. The artworks are part of the museum’s permanent collection and displayed in Rome’s ancient Jewish Ghetto, facing the Portico of Octavia.
The post Jewish Simpsons Mural Defaced by Antisemitic, Pro-Palestinian Vandals at Shoah Memorial in Milan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Left Off the Itinerary, Reinforced for Battle: How Trump’s Gulf Gambit Secretly Fortified Israel
US President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as he departs Al Udeid Air Base, en-route to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in Doha, Qatar, May 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
President Donald Trump’s four-day Middle East tour, which included stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates — but conspicuously omitted Israel — was widely interpreted as sidelining America’s closest regional ally.
Yet, beneath the surface of diplomatic optics, there was a deliberate strategy aimed at strengthening a broader anti-Iran coalition and ultimately reinforcing the enduring US–Israel partnership. By cultivating economic and security ties with Gulf monarchies while cautioning against over-reliance on these often-volatile regimes — and by engaging Syria’s new Islamist-led government with a wary eye toward its unpredictability — Washington recalibrated its regional engagement in a way that safeguards both American and Israeli interests.
The tour’s centerpiece was a suite of investment and defense agreements reportedly amounting to over $700 billion, a figure that, while inflated by non-binding memoranda, underscores the administration’s transactional approach to diplomacy. By emphasizing concrete deals in aviation, artificial intelligence, and energy, the United States sought to bind Gulf states more closely to its strategic orbit, creating an environment in which Israel’s security is bolstered by a network of moderate Arab partners sharing a common concern over Iranian hegemony.
Yet the Gulf is far from monolithic or immutable. The ruling houses in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi preside over monarchies riddled with human rights abuses and opaque power struggles, where secretive succession protocols threaten sudden policy reversals.
Saudi Arabia’s al-Saud clan, despite cosmetic “Vision 2030” reforms, continues to enforce the restrictive kafala labor system and quash dissent, leaving its internal transition vulnerable to elite infighting. In Abu Dhabi, appointing the president’s son as crown prince does little more than entrench a repressive regime and underscores how swiftly top-level changes can unsettle long-term commitments. Even Qatar — though it hosts the region’s largest US base — juggles covert support for Islamist factions and fluctuating ties with Iran and Turkey, demonstrating how easily Doha’s allegiance could shift and undermine Washington’s strategic plans.
Moreover, the tour’s engagement with Syria — marked by Trump’s meeting with interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the announcement of lifted US sanctions — raises additional concerns. Syria’s new government, born of war and shaped by Islamist factions, remains fragile; sporadic violence and extremist cells continue to threaten stability, illustrating how quickly alliances can unravel in Damascus.
Although lifting sanctions on Syria may disrupt Iran’s so-called “axis of resistance” by drawing Damascus away from Tehran, the long-term reliability of al-Sharaa’s regime is far from assured, and a swift reversal could leave Israel and the United States exposed to renewed chaos.
Against this backdrop of cautious engagement, Israel’s strategic autonomy emerges as a critical asset. Israel possesses one of the world’s most advanced defense and intelligence capabilities, enabling it to manage localized threats even as Washington brokers broader coalitions. Congressional appropriations continue to help aid an Israeli qualitative military edge with funding for Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow systems, underscoring that US commitment to Israel’s defense remains unwavering. These guarantees ensure that — even if Gulf partners falter — Israel’s security is anchored by direct American support.
Importantly, building ties with Gulf states need not come at the expense of Israel’s primacy in US policy. Rather, it can broaden the coalition confronting Iran’s regional ambitions and diminish extremist recruitment by promoting economic development and stability. Gulf investment projects in tourism, technology, and infrastructure can undercut the socioeconomic conditions that feed radical ideologies, indirectly reducing threats to Israel and US interests alike. Yet policymakers must safeguard against potential asset forfeiture by encouraging transparent governance reforms in Gulf monarchies — such as codified succession rules and enhanced civil institutions — that mitigate the risk of abrupt policy reversals.
Syria exemplifies the perils of overoptimism in diplomatic outreach. While normalizing ties with Damascus could theoretically fragment Iran’s proxy network, the historical pattern in Syria is one of rapid shifts—from Assad’s authoritarianism to rebel fragmentation, to Iranian and Russian entrenchment, and now to an Islamist-led interim administration. Each transition has altered the balance of power, and any assurance today is contingent upon al-Sharaa’s ability to maintain unity among disparate factions. A resurgence of extremist violence or a capitulation to hardline elements would not only nullify recent US gains, but also pose fresh dangers to the region and Israel’s northern frontier.
Recognizing the inherent fragility of Gulf and Syrian regimes, American decision-makers must tread carefully — engaging pragmatically with regional partners, yet never losing sight of the fact that Israel remains the most reliable guarantor of stability in a tumultuous region. By maintaining this dual approach, the United States can fortify an expanded security architecture that delivers enduring peace and protects its most vital ally.
Amine Ayoub, a fellow at the Middle East Forum, is a policy analyst and writer based in Morocco. Follow him on X: @amineayoubx
The post Left Off the Itinerary, Reinforced for Battle: How Trump’s Gulf Gambit Secretly Fortified Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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NBC News Is Quietly Rewriting Its Own Reporting on the Gaza War to Vilify Israel
Partygoers at the Supernova Psy-Trance Festival running to safety during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, as seen in the documentary “Supernova: The Music Festival Massacre.” Photo: Screenshot
The most recent example came buried in a news report that casually claimed Israel had unilaterally broken a ceasefire with Hamas — a striking departure from what the same outlet had previously reported.
This is part of NBC’s increasingly disturbing trend: a pattern in which its journalists appear to be reshaping the facts in Gaza — not because new evidence has emerged, but because the old facts no longer serve the narrative.
And these aren’t obscure details NBC somehow missed. These are facts the news outlet had already acknowledged. Now, they’re being walked back — replaced with a storyline that casts Israel as the aggressor and Hamas as the victim, resulting in some of the most distorted coverage of the conflict in recent months.
The “Shattered” Truce That Had Merely Run Its Course
Among the issues NBC has fumbled most egregiously is the temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, struck in January 2025 and that expired in March — after Hamas refused to move forward with the next stage of the deal, which would have required it to release the remaining Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7.
At the time, NBC got it right. On March 1, its headline declared the “Gaza ceasefire [was] in doubt,” citing the expiration of the deal and the lack of ongoing negotiations. The subheading noted that Israel wanted to extend the truce — though, tellingly, NBC left out that Hamas’ refusal stemmed from the hostage issue.
But within weeks, that reporting had been scrubbed from memory.
By April 17, NBC was writing that Israeli forces had “shattered the fragile truce” the previous month –implying that the breakdown of the agreement was an Israeli initiative, not a consequence of Hamas stonewalling the next phase.
Actually, no @NBCNews. Israeli forces didn’t “shatter the fragile truce” — the ceasefire deal expired and Hamas refused to agree to an extension.
And Hamas still refuses to end the war the only way it can: by disarming and releasing the hostages.
But sure, blame Israel. pic.twitter.com/fjMjtZLsEd
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 17, 2025
HonestReporting flagged the shift in real time on social media. NBC responded — sort of — by quietly amending later stories to acknowledge that the deal had expired. But even in those updates, the narrative remained skewed, still placing blame for the truce’s collapse squarely on Israel.
Other NBC articles have since repeated similar wording — smuggling revisionism into coverage while pretending to offer clarity.
And that simply isn’t good enough. If a news outlet can’t keep its own reporting straight — or worse, is willing to rewrite it to match a shifting narrative — why should anyone trust it?
Recasting Roles: From Extremists to “Artists with a Message”
NBC’s editorial distortions aren’t limited to military timelines. Over the past several months, HonestReporting has repeatedly called out the network for its bizarrely sanitized treatment of terrorism and terror apologists.
A recent example: NBC reported that Irish band Kneecap had been dropped by their US agent over their “pro-Palestinian stance.” In reality, the band was dropped for openly supporting Hamas and Hezbollah — proscribed terrorist organizations under US law.
NBC’s piece framed the backlash as mere “criticism” of the band’s “anti-Israel messaging” during their Coachella set, and prominently featured Kneecap’s claim that it was all part of a “coordinated smear campaign.”
What NBC didn’t emphasize? That the band is under investigation in the UK for encouraging fans to murder Conservative MPs and has repeatedly promoted pro-terror messages on stage. Even their name is a not-so-subtle reference to IRA-style violence associated with the Irish terrorist organization.
In short: NBC tried to rehabilitate a group glorifying terrorism, casting them as misunderstood political artists instead of what they actually are — extremists with a mic. It’s not the first time either. NBC previously had to issue a correction after describing convicted Palestinian terrorists as “hostages” during an earlier phase of the ceasefire.
Rewriting a Massacre into an “Escalation”
Perhaps most disturbing is NBC’s recent tendency to revise the single event that launched the current war: the October 7 massacre.
That day, Hamas launched an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel during an active ceasefire — murdering, raping, and kidnapping civilians in their homes, at a music festival, and on the streets. It was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Most media outlets still refer to October 7 as a turning point, or at the very least, acknowledge it as the opening act of the war.
But NBC has opted for something else entirely: describing the massacre as a “major escalation in a decades-long conflict.”
Seriously, @NBCNews? Calling Hamas’s October 7 massacre a “major escalation”?
Reminder: Israel and Hamas were NOT at war in 2023. Hamas didn’t “escalate”—they launched a brutal war, and now refuse to end it by releasing the hostages they kidnapped. pic.twitter.com/ZCvhvRKnsT
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 7, 2025
That’s not just inaccurate. It’s obscene.
There was no “escalation.” Hamas didn’t escalate a war. They started one. They did not respond to Israeli aggression — they initiated it by butchering civilians in their beds and live-streaming the carnage.
When a major news outlet rewrites its own reporting, downplays terrorism, and rebrands mass murder as a mere escalation, something has gone deeply wrong.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post NBC News Is Quietly Rewriting Its Own Reporting on the Gaza War to Vilify Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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