Maccabee Task Force @MacTaskForce

A new survey from the Department of Canadian Heritage found that more than 95% of Jewish university students were exposed to antisemitism on campus. As highlighted by CTV Ottawa, Jewish students are increasingly demanding accountability, including through lawsuits against universities, such as Concordia, over alleged failures to protect them from antisemitic discrimination and harassment. Jewish students aren’t asking for special treatment. They’re demanding to be protected and receive education without hate, the same right students from every other minority group are afforded.

Today marks 25 years since the Sbarro restaurant bombing in Jerusalem, one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the Second Intifada. On August 9, 2001, a Hamas suicide bomber detonated explosives inside the crowded restaurant during lunchtime, ultimately killing 16 people and injuring 130 others. Among the murdered were seven children and a pregnant woman. They were families eating lunch. Parents with children. Ordinary people whose lives were stolen because they were civilians in Jerusalem during a deadly wave of terrorism targeting Israelis and Jews. Twenty-five years later, we remember every victim and stand with the families who have carried this loss ever since. May their memories always be a blessing. 🕯️

IDF troops have uncovered and dismantled another underground terrorist tunnel in Gaza, this time locating a route containing piles of rockets hidden by terrorist organizations. The discovery underscores how Hamas and other terrorist groups continue to embed weapons beneath civilian areas, using an extensive underground network to store weapons, move fighters, and plan attacks against Israeli communities. Every tunnel destroyed and every stash of weapons seized is one less tool available to terrorist organizations seeking to target civilians. Dismantling this infrastructure remains essential to preventing future attacks and weakening the operational capabilities of Gaza’s terrorist groups.

For Carleton University graduate Alexa Barrett-Taller, the rise in campus antisemitism became deeply personal. After her professor blamed the Jewish people for the Hamas-led October 7 terrorist attack, Alexa tried to address the matter privately after class. Rather than addressing her concerns, the professor later invited an accused terrorist to speak to her class. Alexa’s experience reflects the reality many Jewish students have endured since October 7th including hostility, intimidation, and the feeling that reporting antisemitism often brings isolation instead of accountability. Universities shouldn’t tolerate these incidents by their professors because eventually, they become acceptable under a campus climate of hatred and discrimination. 🎥: CIJA

Mahmoud Fatair, a senior commander in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has been eliminated by the IDF. According to Israeli authorities, Fatair participated in the October 7 massacre, helped kidnap Israeli hostages into Gaza, and played a role in the captivity of Rom Braslavski. The victims of October 7 deserve justice, those responsible for one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Israel’s history must be held accountable.

Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David have revealed the horrifying reality behind one of Hamas’ most notorious propaganda videos. The two Hamas captivity survivors and childhood friends described living together in a Hamas tunnel, so weakened by starvation that they could barely speak to one another. Then one day Hamas terrorists arrived with cameras. To manufacture a propaganda video, the terrorists hid Guy Gilboa-Dalal behind a black blanket while Evyatar David was forced to dig what he believed was to be his own grave. Then they paraded him blindfolded through Hamas commanders’ quarters, where they deliberately exposed him to the smell of cakes and tea before leading him to the filming location. This was purposeful psychological torture, staged for cameras by a terrorist organization. Hamas held hostages prisoner, but it also exploited their suffering to produce propaganda while deliberately inflicting humiliation, starvation, and terror.

A Simon & Schuster imprint is republishing two novels by Susan Abulhawa this September. It is hard to believe that major cultural institutions would tolerate this kind of hateful rhetoric if it were directed at any other minority community. Holocaust inversion and dehumanizing language about Jews and Israelis should not be ignored simply because they come lightly wrapped in anti-Israel activism. There must be one standard for hate.

Young people in Israel continue to rise above all of the hatred and disinformation being spread about their country. At a peace cooking camp organized by the Green Network, Jewish and Arab teens came together to cook, learn, laugh, and build friendships sharing the message “We are one nation.” Israel is home to diverse communities that work, study, and grow alongside one another every day. The future belongs to those willing to sit at the same table, see one another’s humanity, and choose cooperation over division. These young people are leading by example. 🎥: Jerusalem Post

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili stepped forward to help the University of Pittsburgh confront antisemitism. The response she says she received should concern everyone. Murtazashvili is a professor, director of Pitt’s Center for Governance and Markets, and vice chair of the university’s Working Group on Antisemitism. After being named to the group’s leadership, she said her home was targeted and that she was subjected to extensive online hatred and harassment. No faculty member should have to endure that for serving their university and working to protect Jewish students, faculty, and staff from antisemitism. When people trying to address hatred become targets themselves, it underscores how serious the problem has become. Universities cannot build safe, open, and intellectually serious communities if antisemitism is allowed to intimidate not only Jewish students, but also those willing to stand with them.

Israeli judoka Sagi Muki welcomed Saeid Mollaei, the Iranian-born Olympic silver medalist and former world champion who competes for Azerbaijan, to Tel Aviv. Muki shared that he hopes one day to visit Mollaei in a free Iran, when Tehran is once again a place where Israelis can travel safely. Their friendship has become a powerful symbol of what sport can achieve. Despite immense political pressure, Mollaei chose integrity over intimidation, and Muki welcomed him with open arms. Their message is that people are not each other’s enemies because of the actions of governments. Hopefully one day Israelis and Iranians will be able to visit one another freely as friends and allies.

The youth of the Maronite Apostolic Society of Haifa came together to create a video honoring football superstar Erling Haaland, hoping he would see it and leave one of his famous comments. A simple reply from Erling would mean the world to this Christian community living in Israel. It would shine a spotlight on a group that rarely receives international attention and remind millions that Israel is home to diverse communities living, worshipping, and celebrating together. Let’s make it happen. 🫶❤️🇳🇴 @Erling your comment could make these young people’s day. Drop by and show them some love!

Columbia University’s student workers’ union has quietly dropped its demand that the university divests from Israel. The reversal comes as Columbia prepares to open its new Global Center in Tel Aviv, signaling that academic engagement with Israel is moving forward despite years of intense pressure from “pro-Palestine” activists. Union president Grant Miner acknowledged the change, saying negotiations required them to “face the realities” of the bargaining process. For years Israel divestment resolutions have played the college campus. Universities should remain places of education, research, and dialogue, not institutions unfairly targeting the world’s only Jewish state.

Tali Smus never expected to become a national advocate for Jewish students, but after facing persistent antisemitism on campus, staying silent was no longer an option. Speaking with GB News, the President of Students Supporting Israel at King’s College London described how the hostility she experienced on campus ultimately inspired her to speak out not just for herself, but for Jewish students across the UK. No student should have to become an activist simply to defend their right to study in safety. Universities must ensure that Jewish students can participate in campus life without fear, intimidation, or discrimination. Until that happens, voices like Tali’s remain essential. 🎥: the.britishzioness

_Warning: distressing content involving suicide_ For many families and survivors, October 7 never truly ended. Thirty-year-old Bar Asraf was found dead at the grave of his girlfriend, Liron Barda, nearly three years after she was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Nova Music Festival. Liron was working as a bartender when the massacre began. As others fled, she stayed behind to help the wounded. Bar lived for years with the devastating aftermath of that day and the loss of the woman he loved. October 7 was not only a single day of violence. It left countless survivors, families, and loved ones carrying invisible wounds long after the world’s attention moved on. The human cost of terrorism cannot be measured only by those murdered that day, but also by the lives permanently shattered in its aftermath. May the memories of Bar, Liron, and every victim of October 7 be a blessing. If you or someone you know is struggling, please seek help: In the U.S., call or text 988 or use the 988 Lifeline chat at 988lifeline.org/chat In Israel, call 1201, visit eran.org.il for online chat, or contact ERAN on WhatsApp at 052-8451201

Boy George chose principle over convenience. After his label manager reportedly refused to release his new song in solidarity with survivors of the Nova Music Festival massacre, Boy George parted ways with Tony Pontius, who he says has “has run my record label BGP for a number of years.” The song, “We Will Dance Again” (עוד נרקוד), honors the victims and survivors of the October 7 massacre. Its Hebrew title is the a powerful symbol of resilience long-embraced by both Nova survivors and Hamas captivity survivors. At a time when many in the music industry have remained silent, Boy George made a different choice. Thank you for your moral clarity. If you appreciate artists who stand with victims of terrorism, show Boy George your support on X, YouTube, and every platform where his voice can be heard.

A group of Israeli tourists in Crete say they were attacked after singing in Hebrew outside their hotel. According to the report given to Israel’s National Center for Combating Antisemitism and Channels 12 and 13, a mob shouting “F* Israel”** and “Free Palestine” chased them into the hotel, searched room-to-room for Israelis, threw bottles, and shot one Israeli in the head with an air rifle. Several of the Israeli tourists barricaded themselves in their rooms as they feared for their lives. This what results when hatred becomes institutionalized. As Jewish and Israeli lives are devalued, violent acts committed against them become socially acceptable, and even encouraged. Greek authorities must do more to root out antisemitism and protect Israelis visiting their territory.

When an 11-day-old baby in Rwanda needed life-saving heart surgery, Dr. Sagi Assa of Israel’s Wolfson Medical Center got on a plane, performed the procedure, and returned to Israel the very same day. Working alongside Dr. Gerard Misago, a Rwandan pediatric cardiologist whom he had trained in Israel, Dr. Assa successfully treated baby Angel, who was born with a critical heart defect. Israeli humanitarianism looks like sharing expertise, training the next generation of doctors, and going wherever necessary to save a life.

Scooter Braun challenged the way the word “Zionist” is increasingly used in public discourse, arguing that it has become a stand-in for attacking Jews. He said he didn’t believe he needed to identify himself as a “Zionist” because the existence of a Jewish homeland is already a reality, not a hypothetical political aspiration. He argued that many people now use the term “Zionist” as a way to say hateful things about Jews without saying “Jew.” His message was that if someone wants to criticize him because he’s Jewish, they should say it openly instead of hiding behind coded language. These remarks reflect how “political language can blur into prejudice, and why it’s important to distinguish criticism of policies from rhetoric that targets Jews as a people.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz noted that Germany bears a special historical responsibility toward Israel and said that, for this reason, his government will not support broad sanctions against Israel for the foreseeable future. At a time when some governments are calling for sweeping punitive measures, Germany’s position underscores that supporting Israel’s security while engaging on areas of disagreement are not mutually exclusive. Germany’s commitment reflects the unique historical relationship between the two nations and the belief that dialogue, not blanket sanctions, is the more constructive path forward.

When asked in May why he supports Israel, Boy George rejected the premise that he owed anyone an explanation for his friendships or beliefs. “I’ve had Jewish friends since I was a teenager,” he said, adding that he shouldn’t have to defend those relationships. Now, the British artist has released “We Will Dance Again,” a song dedicated to the survivors of the Nova Music Festival massacre on October 7. In an era when many public figures stay silent out of fear of backlash, choosing empathy over intimidation takes courage. Supporting victims of terrorism and standing with Jewish friends should never be treated as something that requires justification.