Jews of Pride members are seen marching in the Pride parade 2025, part of LGBTQ+ community’s Midsumma Festival. Photo: Alexander Bogatyrev / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

StandWithUs, a leading pro-Israel student activism organization, has announced an all-day event set for next month bringing together members of the LGBTQ+ community who support the Jewish state.

Registration has opened for “Pride for Israel,” which will take place in West Los Angeles on Nov. 9. One of the keynote speakers at what StandWithUs (SWU) describes as a “first-ever” gathering will be Emily Damari, an Israeli former who survived Hamas captivity losing two fingers and hiding her LGBTQ+ identity from her captors.

Other announced attendees include prominent Substack writer Eve Barlow, journalist Luai Ahmed, speaker Tanya Tsikanovsky, model Bellamy Bellucci, game developer Brianna Wu, activist Matthew Nouriel, comedian Robin Tyler, Rabbi Denise Eger, former Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin, and representatives of The Aguda from Israel.

Co-sponsors of the event include A Wider Bridge, the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles (JFED), the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Los Angeles, and the Israeli-American Council (IAC).

Tickets cost $249 and include three meals in the price. Participants will be able to choose from plenaries, panel discussions, and breakout sessions which will explore a variety of topics challenging the LGBTQ+ pro-Israel community.

“Growing up Jewish, you learn what antisemitism feels like. Growing up LGBTQ+, you learn what homophobia feels like. When those experiences overlap, the pain is magnified, but so too is the resilience,” Nouriel, who serves as director of community engagement at JIMENA (Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa), said in a statement.

Roz Rothstein, SWU’s CEO and co-founder, emphasized the group sought to build bridges between communities and develop partnerships with other groups.

“Ultimately, this is about more than a single event. It is about affirming Jewish identity, and values of solidarity and courage. We are hoping to build a future where having Jewish, pro-Israel, and LGBTQ+ identities can thrive together without compromise, where solidarity is rooted in truth rather than propaganda, and where no one has to stand alone,” Rothstein said. “This is why building supportive networks within all segments of our society is essential. We are indebted to our partners who recognize the urgency of this moment including A Wider Bridge, for playing a pivotal role in the planning.”

Arthur Slepian founded A Wider Bridge in 2010 with the goal of seeking “to build meaningful relationships with Israel and LGBTQ people in Israel.” The group states that it works “to advance LGBTQ rights in Israel, advocate for justice, counter LGBTQ phobia, and fight antisemitism and other forms of hatred.”

Daniel Hernandez, board chair for a Wider Bridge, said in a statement that Pride for Israel “is more than a conference — it is a declaration that love, unity, and truth are stronger than hate. As board chair of A Wider Bridge, I am inspired to see our community come together to celebrate courage and resilience, and to stand proudly with Israel and with one another. This moment reminds us that when we build bridges across identities and borders, we create a future where every person can live authentically and without fear.”

The conference’s organizers noted the influence of “Queers for Palestine” activist groups which have sometimes sought to demonize pro-Israel LGBTQ+ individuals. A report released in July from the Combat Antisemitism Movement identified multiple incidents of anti-Israel bigotry at the previous month’s Pride events.

A Wider Bridge also released a report over the summer titled “Unsafe Spaces: Addressing Antisemitism Against LGBTQ+ Jews and Ensuring Pride Safety.”

Eger, who serves as interim executive director of A Wider Bridge and former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, spoke to The Algemeiner then and said, “What we have found since Oct. 7 and what the report points to is that the explosion of antisemitism that the whole Jewish community has experienced has in some ways grown even more exponentially in the LGBTQ community.”

Over 200 Brown University students protesting for divestment from weapons manufacturers amid the Israel-Hamas war. Photo: Amy Russo / USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect

Brown University will next week launch a “campus climate survey” to meet the conditions of an agreement it reached with the Trump administration in July to restore federal funding and settle investigations of how it handled anti-Jewish discrimination.

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, Brown University agreed to pay $50 million and enact a series of reforms put forth by the Trump administration to settle claims involving alleged sex discrimination and antisemitism.

Among other items, the agreement obligated Brown to reduce anti-Jewish bias on campus by forging ties with local Jewish Day Schools, launching “renewed partnerships with Israeli academics and national Jewish organizations,” and boosting support for its Judaic Studies program. The forthcoming “climate survey” aims in part to collect raw data on the campus experiences of Jewish students and their perceptions of how the administration responds to their bias complaints.

As reported by The Brown Daily Herald on Monday, the survey “will ask whether students feel safe reporting acts of antisemitism on campus and whether they believe Brown has adequately responded to ‘reports of alleged antisemitism.’” The paper added that Christina Paxson, the university’s president, issued a statement regarding the matter.

“We are asking direct, necessary questions about the experiences of harassment and discrimination, including those related to antisemitism, Islamophobia, racism, and transphobia, among other critical issues,” Paxson said. “Your honest answers are the only way we can understand confront these problems head-on as a community.”

Paxson added, “We want your voices to be central to the university’s future plans. Completing the survey is an important way to demonstrate a commitment to continuing the work of building a better Brown. I urge you to complete the survey when you receive it. We look forward to hearing what you have to say and to sharing the results with the entire campus community in the spring.”

Other components of Brown’s deal with the federal government touch on gender ideology, requiring the university to provide women athletes locker rooms based on sex, not one’s self-chosen gender identity — a monumental concession by a university that is reputed as one of the most progressive in the country — and adopt the Trump administration’s definition of “male” and “female,” as articulated in a January 2025 executive order. Additionally, Brown has agreed not to “perform gender reassignment surgery or prescribe puberty blockers or hormones to any minor child for the purpose of aligning the child’s appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex.”

“The university’s foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values, and who we are as a community at Brown,” Paxson said at the time. “This is reflected in key provisions of the resolution agreement preserving our academic independence, as well as a commitment to pay $50 million in grants over 10 years to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island, which is aligned with our service and community engagement mission.”

Brown University’s record of combatting antisemitism is mixed. On the one hand, Paxson, backed by the Brown Corporation, has vocally opposed the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. However, in September, her subordinates reinstated Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a notorious anti-Zionist group widely recognized as a leading driver of campus antisemitism, following a suspension it served as punishment for misconduct at anti-Israel demonstrations last year.

National Students for Justice Palestine, as well as its affiliate campus chapters, have led punishing and unrelenting campaigns to intimidate university officials into boycotting Israel and banning expressions of Zionism from higher education. As The Algemeiner has previously reported, SJP also has trafficked in hate speech, destroyed property, and trumpeted its support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and overthrowing the government of the United States.

“Brown leaders have continued to work to ensure that all members of our campus community understand the expectations and community standards for demonstrations and protests on campus,” university spokesman Brian Clark told The Brown Daily Herald, which first reported the story, explaining the decision to reinstate SJP. “While Brown’s policies make clear that protest is an acceptable means of expression on campus, it cannot interfere with the normal functions of the university.”

Amid this climate, the vast majority of Jewish students around the world are resorting to hiding their Jewishness and support for Israel on university campuses to avoid becoming victims of antisemitism, according to a new survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS).

A striking 78 percent of Jewish students have opted to “conceal” their religious affiliation “at least once” over the past year, the study found, with Jewish women being more likely than men to do so. Meanwhile, 81 percent of those surveyed hid their support for Zionism, a movement which promotes Jewish self-determination and the existence of the State of Israel, at least once over the past year.

Among all students, Orthodox Jews reported the highest rates of “different treatment,” with 41 percent saying that their peers employ alternative social norms in dealing with them.

“This survey exposes a devastating reality: Jewish students across the globe are being forced to hide fundamental aspects of their identity just to feel safe on campus,” ADL senior vice president of international affairs Marina Rosenberg said in a statement. “When over three-quarters of Jewish students feel they must conceal their religious and Zionist identity for their own safety, the situation is nothing short of dire. As the academic year begins, the data provides essential insights to guide university leadership in addressing this campus crisis head on.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

Graham Platner, a Maine Democrat running for the US Senate, in October 2025. Photo: Screenshot

Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for US Senate in Maine, on Wednesday said that a skull and crossbones tattoo on his chest has been covered to no longer reflect an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol.

“Going to a tattoo removal place is going to take a while,” he told the Associated Press. “I wanted this thing off my body.”

Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and military veteran, said that while his campaign initially said he would remove the tattoo, he decided to cover it up with another tattoo due to the limited options where he lives in rural Maine.

The first-time political candidate has come under fire after downplaying revelations that he possessed a tattoo resembling a symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for large-scale atrocities against millions of Jews and other victims in Europe during World War II.

The controversy intensified on Monday, when Platner, who has been mounting a progressive campaign against Republican incumbent Susan Collins, appeared on the left-wing podcast “Pod Save America.” Host Tommy Vietor played a clip shared by Platner’s campaign from a decade ago of the now-candidate dancing shirtless, with the tattoo visible, at a bar while lip-syncing to a Miley Cyrus song at his brother’s wedding. Vietor noted that “political opponents” had been telling reporters that Platner had a tattoo “with Nazi affiliation.”

Platner attempted to downplay the revelation, explaining that he requested the tattoo 18 years ago during a night of drunken partying with a group of fellow Marines in Croatia. He claimed that he and his fellow Marines did not recognize the tattoo as having any connection to the Nazis.

“We chose a terrifying skull and crossbones off the wall because we were Marines and skulls and crossbones are a pretty standard military thing,” Platner said. “And then we all moved on with our lives.”

Platner added that he is not a “secret Nazi” and has a history of publicly advocating against antisemitism and racism. 

“I am not a secret Nazi,” Platner said. “Actually, if you read through my Reddit comments, I think you can pretty much figure out where I stand on Nazism and antisemitism and racism in general.”

He later said he was unaware of the tattoo’s associations with Nazi Germany until his Senate campaign.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called Platner’s tattoo choice “troubling” and suggested that the candidate “repudiate its hateful meaning.”

“This appears to be a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo, and if true, it is troubling that a candidate for high office would have one,” said Jessica Cohen, an ADL spokesperson. “We do understand that sometimes people get tattoos without understanding their hateful association. In those cases, the bearer should be asked whether they repudiate its hateful meaning.”

Platner launched his Senate campaign in August, framing his insurgent candidacy as an anti-establishment challenge to unseat Collins. The progressive firebrand has focused on the Israel-Hamas war during his campaign, accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and vowing not to take any money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the preeminent pro-Israel lobbying group in the US.

Platner has come under fire after recently surfaced Reddit comments showed the candidate making disparaging remarks about black people, asking why the racial group “don’t tip.”

“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?” he wrote on Reddit in 2013.

In 2021, Platner called himself a “communist” and repudiated white, rural voters as “racist” and “stupid.”

Despite Platner’s assertions that he did not know the Nazi affiliation of the tattoo, his former political director claimed that the candidate knew of its meaning. 

“Graham has an antisemitic tattoo on his chest. He’s not an idiot; he’s a military history buff. Maybe he didn’t know it when he got it, but he got it years ago and he should have covered it up because he damn well knows what it means,” Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, wrote in a social media statement.