Issue #4 July 1st, 2025

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Thanks America for standing with Israel

By Linda Chase

As America gets ready to celebrate its 249th year of independence on July 4th, the most powerful nation in the world once again proved on June 21st that freedom can only be achieved by attacking our enemies while strengthening our bond with our ally, Israel.

In 1984, the U.S. State Department declared Iran a sponsor of terrorism. This designation continues to the present day.

In the aftermath of airstrikes initiated by the U.S. military against three Iranian nuclear facilities (Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz) in efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons to be used against Israel, the action sends a clear message that the United States of America stands with Israel. President Trump is the first U.S. president to attack Iran's nuclear program and the first to join Israel in an attack on an adversary enemy. Trump has increasingly pledged support for Israel and has reinforced the notion that a change of regime in Iran is a necessity.

This is not a political act or a strategic attempt to prove to the world that the U.S. military is the most powerful in the world. The U.S. attack against Iran was undertaken to clearly state that evil and murderous attacks against our friend, Israel, will NOT be allowed to prevail and prosper. The necessary act carried out against Iran will likely save millions of lives.

Iran’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, warned in a social media post that the U.S. attacks "will have everlasting consequences" and that Tehran "reserves all options" to retaliate. In fact, Iran's armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi, explicitly stated that by supporting Israel, the U.S. has made itself "a target."

In retaliation for the U.S. hit on its nuclear sites, Iran followed through on its threats and launched a barrage of missiles at Al Udeid, a U.S. military base in Qatar on June 23rd. 

U.S.-Iran relations have been strained since the 1979 Iranian Revolution with ongoing tensions related to nuclear programs and regional influence. Those tensions have now escalated and more U.S. sites could possibly be potential Iranian targets.  

As Jewish Americans, WE can find comfort in knowing that the U.S. will continue to support and protect our Jewish homeland and that we are not alone in our fight against our enemies regardless of Iran's threats. The U.S. has significant military capabilities and a multi-faceted approach to addressing Iran's threats, including deterrence, sanctions and diplomatic efforts. 

America has Israel's back and WE are forever grateful.

God bless America and "Am Yisrael Chai",

Linda Chase

Table of Contents

1. Did you know by Linda Chase
2. Sweden Exposes Iran's Europe-Wide Israeli Assassination Network by Jonathan Duschnitzky/JNS
3. ‘Hypocrisy, double-standards’ in effort to axe Wikipedia page on Iranian policy to destroy Israel by Aaron Bandler
4. Jews, Money and James Carville by Dr Rafael Medoff
5. A Single Night in Jerusalem Made Me Rethink Everything I Knew About Israel by Moshe Phillips
6. Puya Urban Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Dania is ORB kosher certified by Linda Chase
7. BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL CARRIES OUT HISTORIC SEA EVACUATION OF 1,500 PARTICIPANTS TO CYPRUS
8. CAIR reportedly donated $100,000 to support Mamdani campaign for NYC mayor by JNS Staff
9. Amsterdam Apology—Hollow Rhetoric? by Dr Rafael Medoff
10. Safe Schools For Alex Launches First-Ever Nationwide School Safety Dashboard to Empower Parents and Prevent Future Tragedies

DID YOU KNOW?

By Linda Chase



Years before contemporary toy manufacturer giants Mattel and Hasbro existed, pioneer toymaker Louis Marx founded Louis Marx and Company.

Louis was a visionary. The son of Austrian Jews from Brooklyn. Louis started his career working for toy importer F.J. Strauss Company. In 1919, Louis, who had visions of mass marketing and mass production, decided to venture out on his own. At only 23 years old, Louis, joined by his brother, David, founded Louis Marx and Company. 

The entrepreneur brothers built their corporation on the concept of quality and value. Their motto was "Give the customer more toy for less money." These words of wisdom would help establish Louis Marx and Company as the world's largest toy manufacturer by the mid-20th century. 

Louis, who became a millionaire at only 26, was nicknamed the "Toycoon" and the "Toy King of America."

Remarkably, at a time in history that Jews were being murdered and persecuted, Louis proved that Jewish businessmen can overcome these obstacles and succeed. In 1938, his ever-growing company employed 4,000 workers in American factories and 500 more in England.

Following VE day in 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Louis to join him as Industrial Advisor in Germany. Quite an achievement for a Jewish businessman considering the Holocaust had just ended.

Following his association with Eisenhower, Louis gained even greater acknowledgment internationally. This would lead to Louis initiating operations in Japan.      

By the 1970s, the innovations created by Louis and his toy company had become household names.

In 1972, after operating Louis Marx and Company for more than half of a century, Louis sold his empire to Quaker Oats for more than $50 million.

Today's popular toys that include cars, model trains, doll houses and Yo-Yo's, just to name a few, were all industry standards that were all made possible by the innovative, creative mind of Louis Marx.

Sweden exposes Iran’s Europe-wide Israeli assassination network

By Jonathan Duschnitzky / JNS

A groundbreaking European investigation has uncovered how the Iranian regime offered a compelling proposition to Rawa Majid, leader of Sweden’s Foxtrot crime organization. The deal included protection, refuge and unrestricted movement in Tehran without risk of extradition. The exchange required Majid to deploy his criminal network against Israeli targets, executing kidnappings and murders of Israelis across Europe.

Majid, known as the “Kurdish Fox,” is a 38-year-old Iranian-born Kurdish-Swedish criminal.

Swedish public television SVT‘s investigation documents show the terror campaign began materializing in early January 2024.

The placement of a grenade near Israel’s Stockholm embassy intelligence sources characterized this as Majid’s “admission ticket” to Iran, noting that the device was never meant to detonate, but rather to demonstrate serious intent to secure regime sponsorship.

May brought gunfire targeting the same embassy, within two weeks, an explosive device struck the Israeli representation in Brussels, bearing DNA evidence from a 23-year-old gang member.

Parallel developments revealed schemes to plant explosives at Elbit Systems facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden. October brought an additional Stockholm embassy shooting, grenade attacks on the Copenhagen embassy, and renewed targeting of Elbit Systems offices.

Investigation findings indicate a comprehensive “target catalogue” that Iran provided to Foxtrot encompassing Israeli embassy attacks, defense contractor strikes, Israeli citizen kidnappings and assassinations, and assaults on Jewish community facilities and synagogues throughout Europe.

The report details how the organization’s sources received directives to expand operations into Germany, Belgium and Britain, including the murder of exiled journalists working for London-based Iran International television.

“They deploy us as pawns in their strategic game,” one operative explained. “Their operations can surface anywhere across the continent—provided Israel remains the target.”

A rival organization leader disclosed his unsuccessful attempt to secure Iranian protection, after he refused to execute operations on their behalf.

Attack executors frequently included minors. A 16-year-old gang associate faced arrest for a suspected embassy shooting, using identical weaponry employed in a network murder within Sweden.

A 15-year-old operative, who recruited a 13-year-old for shooting assignments, was deployed for the Elbit Systems facility attacks.

Sources detail how Iranian financing functioned as an advancement mechanism, elevating young people within criminal hierarchies—supported by structured networks of drivers, safe house operators and weapons distributors extending operations across Europe from Stockholm to dormant terrorist units in additional nations.

Command transmission occurred without identification, without contact personnel—exclusively target designation, payment and execution. “Zero contact, zero addresses, zero traces,” one operative confirmed.

This framework established an Iranian murder apparatus on European territory, leveraging local criminal elements while distancing Tehran’s direct involvement from operational zones.



Foxtrot’s Majid maintains a residence in Iran. Police and intelligence sources consulted for the investigation confirm he remains free and receives regime protection, notwithstanding Swedish extradition demands for murder charges and terrorist cell operations.

Majid sustains his leadership role within the network, conducting most communications remotely.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

‘Hypocrisy, double-standards’ in effort to axe Wikipedia page on Iranian policy to destroy Israel

By Aaron Bandler / JNS

Iranian regime leaders have long said “death to Israel” publicly, and Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, told the United Nations Security Council this week that the Islamic Republic’s avowed goal is to “annihilate the State of Israel.” Iranian terror proxies, including Hamas, call for Israel’s destruction in their charters.

But that isn’t enough for some editors at Wikipedia who are attempting to delete an article titled “Destruction of Israel in Iranian policy.”

The article, was created on June 4 and has garnered about 42,000 views in the past 30 days, states that Iran’s “foreign policy doctrine includes calling for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state” and that “the rejection of Israel’s legitimacy has remained consistent across both hardline and moderate Iranian leaderships.”

Max Abrahms, an associate professor of political science at Northeastern University who studies terrorism and the Middle East, told JNS that “Wikipedia is waging a disinformation campaign against Israel.” 

If the page is deleted, or if it is merged into a larger article, “Israel will be less popular, the Islamic Republic will be more popular and readers will be stupider,” he said.

A Jewish Wikipedia editor, who has worked on many Israel-related pages on the site, told JNS that it is “interesting” that some editors are trying to delete the article, given that the subject is in the news. 

That’s something that editors are supposed to avoid, the source told JNS. “We’re supposed to be somewhat insulated from the news,” added the editor, who declined to be named.

Wikipedia operates by a process it refers to as “consensus,” whereby disputed changes to pages are hashed out in what is supposed to be a civil fashion on the page’s “talk” section. Editors weigh in for or against the change and lay out their arguments, and then a “closer,” who was uninvolved in the topic, is called in to make a determination.

The online encyclopedia says that a “poll,” which it says is not a “vote,” is to be used as one of several factors in the closer’s decision, and that “polling is not a substitute for discussion.” It adds that “the strength of argument is also very important.”

The editor of the blog Wikipedia Flood, which documents “Wikipedia’s anti-Israel bias,” told JNS that 80% of the time when Wikipedia editors are evaluating changes to pages, like the one about Iran, it’s “a numbers game” that is subject to “the whims” of whoever “decides to close the discussion.”

“The whole thing is totally arbitrary,” the editor, who declined to be named, told JNS.

Some Wikipedia editors suggested that the page be rolled into a larger page, in a process known as a “merge.” The Jewish Wikipedia editor told JNS that such a move could be “a back-door way of deleting it, because then it can become lost in the noise of that other article.” The editors, who argue that the page ought to be deleted or merged, say that it represents what Wikipedia calls a “content fork,” or a “point of view fork,” which the encyclopedia defines as something “that has the same scope as another piece of content that predated it, essentially covering the same topic.”

The Jewish editor told JNS that Wikipedia isn’t supposed to have the same material in separate articles. “You’re supposed to just incorporate the two views in the main article,” the source said. “If you’re going deep on a specific subtopic, that’s not necessarily a ‘fork’.”

The argument that the page on Iranian policy to destroy Israel is a “fork” is being deployed “somewhat selectively,” because there are “so many articles that go deep on one specific topic” that aren’t viewed as a fork, the Jewish editor told JNS.

In the page in question, a “ton of sources” that go “back many, many years discuss the phenomenon within the article,” the Jewish editor said. “It shouldn’t be that hard to defend its existence as an independent article.”

The editor of Wikipedia Flood told JNS that the effort to axe the page “is emblematic of the hypocrisy and double-standards that you see on these talk pages. “When pro-Israel pages like this are created, they are attacked and frequently deleted,” the source said. “If they’re anti-Israel, they are not in danger.” The Jewish editor thinks the discussion is “pretty split” and the article ought to survive the deletion attempt. But the editor is concerned that the “closer” will rule that the arguments aren’t strong enough to keep it as a stand-alone page and that it will merge.

“It seems to be happening with some similar articles lately,” the Jewish editor told JNS.

If the article “gets folded in and framed in a way where they’re trying to minimize it and soft pedal it, then they’re trying to minimize the larger threat,” Asaf Romirowsky, a Middle East historian and executive director of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, told JNS.



“The naysayers and those who are trying to argue that American isolationism needs to be the foreign policy and that every American foreign policy is derivative of Israel, that will do damage to Israel as far as the public policy war,” Romirowsky said.

Jews, Money & James Carville

By Rafael Medoff

    Democratic strategist James Carville would not appreciate being compared to Republican president Richard Nixon. But apparently Carville and Nixon have at least one thing in common: antisemitic views concerning Jews and money.

    In a June 4 podcast, Carville railed against “really wealthy Jewish fundraisers” who have told him they will no longer make donations to Columbia University, because of the rising antisemitism there. But according to Carville, the real reason for the Jewish donors’ position is quite different. He said he has admonished them, “No, you just want your [expletive] tax cut now’.” 

    Apparently Carville believes those Jewish donors support the Trump administration’s actions against Columbia because the president is proposing tax cuts from which they would benefit. Carville did not present any evidence to support his claim.

    Fifty-four years ago, President Nixon expressed somewhat similar sentiments about Jews and money. In tape-recorded White House conversations in 1971, Nixon instructed his senior aides to have the Internal Revenue Service investigate "big Jewish contributors" to the Democratic Party. 

    The “rich Jews” were “stealing in every direction,” Nixon asserted, evidently assuming that since those Democratic donors were Jews, they must be cheating on their taxes or engaging in some other financial misbehavior.

    Ugly claims about Jews and money became widespread in the Middle Ages. Employment restrictions that were imposed on Jews in Europe forced some of them to become money lenders; antisemitic borrowers who failed to repay their loans then found Jews to be convenient scapegoats. Shakespeare solidified the stereotype with his notorious depiction of the Jewish money lender Shylock, who demanded a “pound of flesh” from a client who defaulted on a loan.

    Bigotry has never been limited by borders. Antisemitic slurs about Shylocks and Jewish financial practices long ago spread far beyond Europe and the United States. In recent decades, they have been featured prominently in the propaganda arsenal of the Palestinian Authority.

    Raymonda Tawil,  Yasir Arafat’s longtime adviser (and mother-in-law) once claimed that Israel’s tax policies in Arab-populated regions reflect “the Jewish money-lender’s mentality.” 

    On official PA Television in 2014, self-described journalist Akram Attalah claimed that Israel was using its search for three kidnapped teenagers as an excuse to harm Arabs. “Israel is a state that seizes opportunities in the style of Shylock, and it knows how to seize opportunities,” Atallah said. 

    Mahmoud al-Assadi, who is currently the PA’s consul general in Saudi Arabia, likewise has invoked the Bard to attack the Jews. In an op-ed circulated by Fatah, the PA’s ruling faction, in 2018, al-Assadi wrote: “The greatest playwright, William Shakespeare, correctly described the deceitful, greedy, trickster, extortionist, and lowly character of the Jews in the story The Merchant of Venice in the 16th century.”

    Yahya Rabbah, a regular columnist for the official PA daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, has suggested a more convoluted connection between Shylock and Israel. After comparing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreements with his political allies to the bargaining tactics of Shylock, Rabbah wrote that “there is one essential difference [between Netanyahu and Shylock], which is that the modern Shylock doesn't lend to anyone, but rather owes everyone—without exception—his ability to survive.”

    In the PA’s eyes, however, it is not Netanyahu alone who resembles Shylock, but all Jews, as PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas made clear in an infamous speech two years ago.

    Addressing the 11th session of Fatah's Revolutionary Council, on August 24, 2023, Abbas offered this antisemitic history lesson: “They say that Hitler killed the Jews for being Jews and that Europe hated the Jews because they were Jews. Not true. [Europeans were hostile to  Jews] because of their role in society, which had to do with usury, money, and so on and so forth.”

(Translations courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch and MEMRI.)

    While separated by continents, decades and political philosophies, Abbas, Carville, and Nixon nevertheless are linked by common gutter sentiments about Jews and by the failure of their political allies to take them to task for their bigotry.

(Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and the Holocaust. His book The Road to October 7: Hamas, the Holocaust, and the Eternal War Against the Jews will be published on October 1, 2025, by The Jewish Publication Society / University of Nebraska Press.)

A Single Night in Jerusalem Made Me Rethink Everything I Knew About Israel

By Moshe Phillips

It was never my plan to be in Israel when they attacked Iran.

About a year ago, my wife and I learned that a close relative of ours had decided to volunteer for the Israel Defense Forces as a lone soldier. This was a longtime goal. He’s 19. We knew that we had to be there when he received his rifle and Tanach (Bible) at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, during what is often translated as a swearing-in ceremony. For nearly two millennia, Jews were unable to defend the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. Now, we live in a time when that is possible. 

We stood at the wall on the night of June 11, not knowing that less than 30 hours later, Israeli forces would stun the world with their successes within Iran.

The leadership of each brigade decides when their soldiers will receive their Bible and weapon. It can happen anywhere from several weeks into their training to many weeks after that and there’s an additional six months of training after the “swearing-in” ceremony.

Young men and women are forged into cohesive, effective fighting units, bonded through shared experiences of training and ceremonies that blend spirituality and patriotism. These units will serve together long after training ends.

At this particular ceremony, we witnessed hundreds of young men swearing, or affirming that they would sacrifice their lives to defend Israel. They came from religious homes (including Haredi) and secular. Born in Israel and abroad, and represented a full spectrum of racial backgrounds; white, black and brown. The unity on display was powerful, offering clear evidence against the idea that Israeli society is fractured to the point of civil war.

The Western Wall Plaza was packed. Thousands of emotional and proud family members surrounded us. The remarks from the various officers who addressed the soldiers and their families were inspiring. The officers began by remembering their fallen heroes. The speakers who followed quoted Torah, acknowledged the hostages in Gaza, and reflected on Zionist history and the biblical prophets, weaving an authentic and moving tapestry of the Jewish People. Chazak v’amatz is a Hebrew phrase meaning “Be strong and courageous,” from Devarim (Deuteronomy). These ancient words that Moses directed to Joshua were quoted to the soldiers.

The young fighters, filled with pride and excitement, hoisted their comrades on their shoulders, dancing and chanting slogans. Families and fellow recruits cheered as the new soldiers received their Bibles and their rifles. It was a moment of pure connection.

The evening ended with everyone—soldiers, commanders, families and onlookers—united in song. We sang “Hatikvah,” and later, “Ani Ma’amin” (“I Believe”). The words of the Rambam (Maimonides), written in the 1100s, resonated deeply: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach (Messiah), and although he may tarry,

nevertheless, I wait every day for him to come.”

Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.

Moshe Phillips

National Chairman

Americans For A Safe Israel

Chipotle Chicken Sizzling Fajita

Photo Credit: Linda Chase

Carne Asada Sizzling Fajita

Photo Credit: Linda Chase

Puya Urban Cantina, a Mexican restaurant in Dania is ORB kosher certified.

By Linda Chase

As I entered Puya Urban Cantina, I was greeted by the manager, Yuval, who said the restaurant opened two months ago.

Traditional Mexican cuisine is served in the spacious dining room which is fiesta-like. The causal atmosphere is great for families, large groups and just the two of you for a fun evening out.  

There are multiple TV screens and a lively sports bar. Puya Urban Cantina is named for puya chile, a Mexican pepper similar to the popular guajillo. It's a fruity flavor and aroma which is the perfect blend of spicy and sweet. The portions are quite ample. Check out: Margarita Monday and Taco Tuesday.

Menu Selections include:

STARTERS

• LA BANDERA (guacamole, salsa ranchera, pico de gallo, corn tortilla chips) $19 

• LET'S GUAC ABOUT IT (House guacamole, corn tortilla chips) $14

• SALSA & TOTOPOS (Fire-roasted salsa, pico de gallo, corn tortilla chips) $9

• CHARRED ELOTE DIP (Charred corn, onions, black beans, jalapenos, pickled banana peppers, tomatoes, corn tortilla chips) $16

• CHILE CON CARNE (Spiced Mexican ground beef, red beans, Mexican crema, pico de gallo, avocado, corn tortilla chips) $19

• ELOTES MEXICANOS/MEXICAN STREET CORN (Mexican street corn sauce, Mexican crema, Tajin, cilantro) $14

• DIRTY NACHOS (Mexican spiced ground beef, beef birria, refried beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, guacamole, banana peppers, jalapeños, pickled red onions, chipotle aioli, vegan lime sour cream, cilantro) $24

• CHICKEN POPPERS (Crispy marinated chicken poppers, ranch sauce S.O.S- Choice of Puya Hot Sauce, Chipotle BBQ, Buffalo) $16

• PUYA CHICKEN WINGS (Tossed or S.O.S - Choice of : Puya Hot Sauce, Chipotle BBQ, Buffalo) $16

THE GREEN SCENE

• PUYA SALAD (Chopped romaine, cherry tomatoes, black beans, red onions, roasted corn, avocados, pico de gallo, spiced pepitas, cilantro lime dressing) $19

• CAESAR SALAD (Chopped romaine, parmesan, garlic croutons, house caesar dressing) $19

TACOS

All tacos are served with your choice of corn or flour tortilla, with a side of rice and beans.

SPECIAL: TACO TUESDAY: 3 tacos for the price of 2

• CARNE ASADA (Marinated steak, refried beans, avocado salsa, salsa verde, cilantro) $19

• BEEF BIRRIA (Braised beef, onions, cilantro, pickled red onions, birria consomme) $19

• LAMB BARBACOA (Roasted lamb, avocado salsa, salsa ranchera, onion, cilantro) $22

• POLLA AL PASTOR (Marinated chicken thighs, avocado salsa, grilled pineapple relish, micro cilantro) $18

• BAJA FISH TACOS (Dos-Xx beer batter, mexican slaw, baja tartare sauce, chipotle aioli, cilantro) $22

SIZZLING FAJITAS 

Served with Mexican rice & beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa verde, charred onions, flour tortillas

• CARNE ASADA $39

• CHIPOTLE CHICKEN $34

• DUO CHOICE (Carne Asada, Chipotle chicken, Chicken thighs) $49

CHARCOAL FORGED

Served with a choice of one side

• 12 OZ FLAT IRON STEAK (Marinated flat iron, charred jalapenos, pico de gallo, roasted salsa verde) $49

• 14 OZ BONELESS RIBEYE (House spiced ribeye, charred jalapenos, pico de gallo, roasted salsa verde) $59

• MEZCAL CHIPOTLE CHICKEN BREAST (2 Grilled chicken breasts, charred salsa ranchera, scallions) $39

• PUYA SPICED CHICKEN THIGHS (2 Grilled Mexican spiced chicken thighs, guacamole, pico de gallo, Salsa Verde) $39

• PUYA ASADO PLATTER FOR 2 (Carne asada, chorizo, beef skewers, beef birra, adobo chicken breast, guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa verde, flour tortillas) $89

• Ask your server about gluten-free options

• Full selection of cocktails, beer, wine, water and soft beverages are available.

MARGARITA MONDAYS: Buy one margarita and get one free

Puya Urban Cantina is located at 2726 Griffin Road, Fort Lauderdale.

• Hours: Sunday-–Thursday 5 p.m.–11 p.m., closed Friday, Saturday 9:45 p.m.–12 a.m.

For more information call (954) 380-7892 or visit https://puyacantina.com/

Ashdod Port

Photo Credit: Erez Uzir, courtesy of Birthright Israel

In a remarkable and unprecedented emergency operation, Birthright Israel successfully evacuated approximately 1,500 program participants aboard the Crown Iris, a luxury Israeli cruise ship operated by Mano Maritime, sailing from Ashdod Port to Larnaca, Cyprus. The 13-hour voyage (more or less) is conducted under the close protection of the Israeli Navy, which escorted the vessel across the Mediterranean to ensure the participants’ safety amid ongoing regional tensions.

The cruise ship was secured by Birthright Israel as part of a swift and strategic effort to begin repatriating nearly 2,800 international participants—the majority of whom are young adults from the United States who have been stranded in Israel due to the escalating conflict with Iran.

Priority on this voyage was given to participants nearing the end of their 10-day educational experience, ensuring their safe and timely return to their home countries. Upon arrival in Cyprus, the participants will be flown to their hometowns. All transportation costs, including sea and air travel, are being fully covered by Birthright Israel.

Gidi Mark, CEO of Birthright Israel, personally led the operation on the ground in Cyprus, coordinating logistics and receiving the participants as they arrived safely at Larnaca Port.

“We witnessed the true spirit of Birthright Israel, not only as an educational journey, but as a global family committed to the safety and well-being of every participant,” said Gidi Mark. “This was a complex and emotional operation, carried out under immense pressure, and we are proud to have brought 1,500 young adults safely to Cyprus. Our team continues to work around the clock to secure solutions for the remaining participants still in Israel.”

From Cyprus, four wide-body planes chartered by the State of Florida—led by Governor DeSantis—flew all U.S. participants to Tampa, Florida. From there, they will be able to continue on to their respective hometowns.

Participants from all other countries will have separate travel arrangements coordinated by Birthright Israel. Further details regarding upcoming evacuation efforts, whether by air or sea, for the remaining Birthright Israel participants will be shared as soon as they are confirmed.

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State assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (D-N.Y.) speaking at a DSA 101 meeting at the Church of the Village in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Nov. 11, 2024. 

Photo Credit: Bingjiefu He via Wikimedia Commons.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ super PAC, Unity and Justice Fund, “quietly” funded anti-Israel New York state representative Zohran Mamdani in his effort to become New York City mayor to the tune of $100,000, The Washington Free Beacon reported, citing campaign records.



The $25,000 contribution on May 30 and the $75,000 gift on June 16 went to New Yorkers for Lower Costs, the largest PAC supporting Mamdani, per the Free Beacon.

“The backing of the Unity and Justice Fund and other anti-Israel organizations suggests New Yorkers for Lower Costs true interest in Mamdani lies in his anti-Israel views,” according to the publication. “Mamdani has refused to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and earlier this week defended the phrase ‘globalize the Intifada,’ a rallying cry for violence against Jews worldwide.”

CAIR was among several groups that blamed Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023, for being attacked by Hamas.

State assemblyman Zohran Mamdani (D-N.Y.) speaking at a DSA 101 meeting at the Church of the Village in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on Nov. 11, 2024. 

Amsterdam Apology—Hollow Rhetoric?

By Rafael Medoff

    Eighty years after the end of the Holocaust, the mayor of Amsterdam has apologized for the crucial role the city’s administration played in the mass deportation of Dutch Jews to Auschwitz. Do such apologies serve any purpose? And has the current mayor genuinely learned the lessons of the Nazi genocide?

    In July 1942, the German occupation authorities began the mass deportation of Amsterdam’s Jews to the death camps. The municipal administration, including the police and railway workers, actively collaborated. 

    City officials also participated in the later hunts for Jews who were hiding in attics and elsewhere, including Anne Frank and her family. Altogether, at least 80% of Holland’s 135,000 Jews were murdered, which was the highest rate for any German-occupied country in Western Europe.

    In a recent speech marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Mayor Femke Halsema acknowledged that her predecessors “horribly abandoned [the city’s] Jewish residents.” She said “Amsterdam’s government was, when it mattered, not heroic, not determined and not merciful.”

    Mayor Halsema noted, “Administrators and officials were not only cold and formalistic, but even willing to cooperate with the occupier. That was an indispensable step in the isolation, humiliation, deportation, dehumanization and murdering of 60,000 Amsterdam Jews.”

    Five years ago, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte also apologized for his country’s abandonment of the Jews. “With the last remaining survivors among us, I apologize on behalf of the government for the actions of the government at the time,” Rutte said.

    Public apologies of this sort have a certain symbolic value, since they represent a belated but necessary acknowledgment of historical truth. Moreover, apologies can help set a society’s moral parameters and thus influence future behavior in times of crisis.

 Whether or not the current mayor has truly learned from the mistakes of the past is another question. In her speech last month, Mayor Halsema said, “Antisemitism wasn’t brought to the Netherlands by the German occupier, and it didn’t disappear after the liberation. There has always been hatred against Jews—also in this town—and there still is.”

    All true, but how did Mayor Halsema herself respond when antisemitic mob violence erupted in her city? On November 7, 2024, more than one hundred masked Muslim extremists carried out coordinated attacks on Israeli Jews who had attended an Amsterdam soccer match. According to the Amsterdam police, the violence was coordinated through social media posts in which mob leaders directed their followers to “hunt Jews.”

    The Israeli victims were “ambushed by gangs of masked assailants who shouted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans while they hunted, beat and harassed them," the Times of Israel reported. Ten Israelis were injured, and hundreds more hid in nearby buildings for hours to escape the mobs.

    At a news conference the next day, Mayor Halsema called the attack “a pogrom,” noting the careful planning and the widespread extent of the violence. Other Dutch political figures likewise called it a pogrom. Ten days later, however, the mayor said she regretted using the word “pogrom,” because several Israeli soccer fans reportedly insulted some Arab fans; therefore, Halsema said, “both sides” shared the blame. 

    Pressure from Halsema’s colleagues in the far-left Groenlinks (Green) Party may have influenced her retraction. Note that some Groenlinks parliamentarians publicly declared that “the fascism of the Israeli state” was to blame for the October 7 Hamas massacres.

    In December 2024, five of the Amsterdam pogromists were convicted of incitement and assault. Yet the maximum sentence handed down was just six months in prison, which was given to a convict who was identified by the media only as “Sefa O.” He played a “leading role” in the pogrom, and videotape was shown in court in which he could be seen chasing Jews, punching them, knocking them down, and kicking them in the head. Another thug, identified as “Umutcan A.,” was sentenced to just one month in jail for beating up Jews.

    In March 2025, three more of the attackers were convicted, and likewise given slaps on the wrist. “Mounir M.” was sentenced to six weeks in jail for coordinating the assaults on WhatsApp. The longest sentence was just three months in prison, given to “Cenk D.,” who directed attackers via WhatsApp, wrote “A good Jew is a dead Jew” in the group chat, and distributed a photo of Anne Frank that the judges said trivialized the Holocaust.

    The Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad, a leading Dutch Jewish newspaper, criticized the sentences as much too lenient. Former parliamentary candidate Femke Sirag characterized them as “joke punishments for serious, subversive antisemitic violence.”

    There are three concrete steps that Mayor Halsema should take now. First, she should acknowledge that the violence did resemble a pogrom and--based on the attackers’ own words--was obviously motivated by antisemitism. Second, she should call for the release of the attackers’ names; there is no reason violent antisemites should enjoy the shield of anonymity. And third, she should take a portion of the $28-million that she has allotted for “promoting Jewish life” in Amsterdam and use it to pay restitution to the pogrom victims.

    These three steps will not erase the black cloud of shame that hangs over Amsterdam’s political and legal authorities for their mishandling of the November 2024 attacks. But such actions would at least demonstrate that the mayor’s Holocaust apology was not just hollow rhetoric. 

(Dr. Medoff is founding director of The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and author of more than 20 books about Jewish history and the Holocaust. His book The Road to October 7: Hamas, the Holocaust, and the Eternal War Against the Jews will be published on October 1, 2025, by The Jewish Publication Society / University of Nebraska Press.)

Dear Friends,

I am currently on my third tour at the Gaza border.

Our soldiers are risking everything to defend our people, our land, and our future. Here at Ma’agalim, we are doing everything in our power to stand with them, not only today, but for the long term.

Today, over 7,000 young men and women across 50 cities are enrolled in our two-year mentorship program. These are not just students. They are the future officers, innovators, and protectors of the State of Israel.

Due to war-related budget cuts, if we didn't raise $2 million by January, we risk shutting down our mentorship programs for the youth who will become the elite soldiers and moral leaders Israel needs and depends on.

Please  join us to this holy mission to save the future of Jews worldwide! Israel is on the front line.  

With urgency and gratitude,

Assaf Weiss

Founder & CEO of Ma’agalim

https://www.charidy.com/web

Safe Schools For Alex Launches First-Ever Nationwide School Safety Dashboard to Empower Parents and Prevent Future Tragedies

Staff Report



School safety advocate Max Schachter, founder of Safe Schools for Alex, officially launches their nationwide School Safety Dashboard (SSD). SSD is the first national online tool offering parents, schools, and policymakers transparent, user-friendly school safety data for every public school and district in America, where data is available.

Schachter founded Safe Schools for Alex, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, after his 14-year-old son Alex was murdered in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Since that day, Schachter has dedicated his life to making schools safer, and this groundbreaking tool marks a major milestone in his mission.

“For years, parents have been kept in the dark about what happens at their child’s school. That changes today,” said Schachter. “The SSD brings transparency to every community in America. If you care about what’s happening in your child’s school—this is where you start.”

The SSD is the only resource of its kind—offering detailed data on incidents of violence, drugs, weapons, bullying, and school discipline including suspensions and expulsions. For the first time, parents are able to compare schools and districts against each other. The dashboard, which was developed with assistance from the University of Florida and Cleartelligence used funding from the Bureau of Justice Assistance for its Florida flagship dashboard.

“Transparency is the foundation of trust. If schools aren’t accurately reporting what’s happening, they’re not truly prioritizing the safety and security of its students and staff,” said Schachter. “This dashboard gives every family the power to ask questions, demand action, and make informed decisions.” It equips parents, educators, lawmakers, and law enforcement with data-driven insights to advocate for meaningful change.

* In the event there's an error or something was misquoted, it will be corrected in the next issue

* "No part of this Newsletter may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from Linda Chase."