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Baseball Hall of Fame Makes Antisemitic Joke Causing Outrage

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer Johnny Bench has responded after making an antisemitic comment during the Reds Hall of Fame press conference Saturday.

Bench has called his comment about Jewish people "insensitive." He made the comment as a joke responding to Pete Rose, who was talking about Gabe Paul, a former general manager of the Reds who was Jewish.

The Reds Hall of Fame was inducting Danny Graves, Bronson Arroyo and the late Paul, who was represented by his daughter Jennie Paul. The inductees were joined on stage by previous Reds Hall of Fame Classes. The two biggest stars on stage were Pete Rose and Bench.

The three new Hall of Fame inductees were given a chance to speak to make opening remarks.

“I don’t know if you know this, but dad (Gabe Paul) started this Hall of Fame. He didn’t start this Hall of Fame so he could be in it. He started this Hall of Fame for all of you,” Paul said, gesturing to the Hall of Famers on stage with her.

Gabe Paul was the general manager of the Reds from 1951-1960. Paul died in 1998.

“He (Gabe Paul) was a minority himself, I don’t know if many of you know that he was Jewish. He was a very big proponent for the underdog because he was an underdog himself. He went into the Latin leagues and the Negro leagues and he signed as many minority players as he could. Which strengthened the Reds. You have a team in Cincinnati today because of Gabe Paul, I’m so proud to be representing him so thank you so much,” Paul said.

About fifteen minutes into the press conference, Pete Rose was given the opportunity to speak about the late Gabe Paul.

“I was right out of high school in 1960. Gabe Paul signed me to a contract. For $400 bucks a month,” Rose said.

“That’s cheap!” Jennie Paul interrupted.

After a few laughs, Johnny Bench chimed in.

“He was Jewish!” Bench said across the stage.

Some in the room laughed, other kept to themselves.

After the comment, Bench said he apologized to Jennie Paul for taking away from her father's honor.

Watchdog Jewish organization StopAntisemitism remarked on the incident.

Here is Bench's full comment:

I recognize my comment was insensitive. I apologized to Jennie for taking away from her father the full attention he deserves. Gabe Paul earned his place in the Reds Hall of Fame, same as the others who stood on that stage, I am sorry that some of the focus is on my inappropriate remark instead of solely on Gabe’s achievement.

WCPO has reached out to the Reds for comment, but they have not responded.

Vandal Violates Torah Scrolls at New York Synagogue

A Graniteville synagogue suffered a break-in Wednesday night, and police are now on the lookout for a suspect.

The NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) released a photo of an individual sought for questioning in relation to the break-in that occurred Wednesday, July 12, at around 1 a.m. at the Congregation Ohel Abraham synagogue on Amador Street.

Cops described the man, who they say broke in through a side window, as being approximately 5-feet 8-inches to 6 feet tall with a thin build and a light complexion.

He was last seen wearing a short-sleeved, button-down shirt and dark-colored jeans. He fled the synagogue towards South Avenue, according to police.

Lynn Schoen, president of the congregation, and her husband, Michael, were on vacation Saturday, but were able to speak with the Advance/SILive.com about the incident the pair called “disheartening.”

They had not yet been to the synagogue to see what had or had not been taken, but said they had video of the man that showed he “violated” some of the congregation’s four torah scrolls.

The couple also shared video of the break-in showing the suspect crawling through a window on the side of the synagogue. Michael Schoen raised concerns that things could have been worse.

“Everybody’s horrified,” he said. “God forbid somebody’s in the building when this guy comes back...He knew he was attacking a synagogue.”

The break-in follows Mayor Eric Adams’ June announcement about a first-of-its-kind, 37-member Jewish Advisory Council that will discuss issues impacting the city’s Jewish population.

Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, president of the Staten Island Council of Jewish Organizations (COJO), sits on the council, and said the rising rate of hate crimes against Jewish people will be one of the council’s main focuses.

“The most important thing is to never allow an awareness of the situation to be forgotten,” Mirocznik said. “In order to combat crime, in particular hate crimes (and) anti-semitic hate crimes, we have to focus and make certain that there is priority by us and take every effort, whether it’s prevention or whether it’s prosecution.”

There were 78 arrests for antisemitic hate crimes in the five boroughs last year, with seven occurring on Staten Island. Four were in the 121st Precinct and three were in the 120th Precinct, according to NYPD data.

Robert Kennedy Jr. Caught on Film Claiming Jews, Chinese Made Immune to COVID

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli on East 63d Street.

“COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”

“We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” Kennedy hedged.

In between bites of linguini and clam sauce, Kennedy, 69, warned of more dire biological weapons in the pipeline with a “50% infection fatality rate” that would make COVID-19 “look like a walk in the park.”
“We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons,” he claimed. “They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race.”

There has been a growing consensus among US intelligence agencies that COVID-19 was man-made and escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China — but there is no evidence it was designed to spare certain religious groups or ethnicities, and Kennedy offered no studies to support his claims.

Kennedy’s remark echoes well-worn anti-Semitic literature blaming Jews for the emergence and spread of coronavirus which began circulating online shortly after the pandemic broke out, according to The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at the University of Tel Aviv’s 2021 Antisemitism Worldwide Report.

A 2020 Oxford University study found nearly 1 in 5 British peoplebelieved Jews created the coronavirus pandemic for financial gain.

“No no no no no,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi Professor of medicine and infectious disease at the University of California, San Francisco, and a longtime critic of pandemic-related school closures. “I don’t see any evidence that there was any design or bioterrorism that anyone tried to design something to knock off certain groups.”

The son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of former President Kennedy has in the past palled around with Nation of Islam leader and notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan.

He also met with NOI leadership in Los Angeles in 2020 and told them the COVID vaccine had been “genetically modified to attack black and Latino boys.”

Sweden Allows Public Burning of the Torah Outside Israeli Embassy

In a deeply controversial decision that has shocked religious communities, Swedish authorities have given permission for a public burning of sacred Jewish and Christian texts, scheduled to occur outside Israel's embassy in Stockholm this Saturday, July 15th. 

Upon hearing the news, the umbrella organization of Jewish communities in Sweden released a poignant statement on Friday expressing their profound consternation and sadness. "As a people of the book, the Torah is our most sacred treasure of moral codes and ethics that have changed the world we live in," the statement read.

Jewish Watchdog organization, StopAntisemitism shared the history of Sweden’s past dealings with Nazi Germany.

It further highlighted the painful echoes of Jewish history in Europe, where the burning of Jewish books has often heralded times of extreme persecution, such as pogroms, expulsions, inquisitions, and the Holocaust.

The Jewish Central Council joined in, voicing their strong condemnation of this misuse of freedom of expression, framing it as a tool to sow seeds of hatred within society. In a remarkable gesture of solidarity, the Council also declared its support for the Muslim community in Sweden, following previous instances of Quran burnings that had caused outrage and distress.

This shocking development follows reports earlier this month about three applications to burn religious scriptures - including the Quran, the Torah, and the New Testament - submitted to the Swedish police. These plans, two in Stockholm and one in Helsingborg, sparked serious concerns and drew widespread condemnation.

In one particularly concerning case, the organizer of a proposed Quran burning outside a mosque in Stockholm expressed the intention to carry out the act "as soon as possible". The recent burning of a Quran outside a Stockholm mosque had already sparked widespread anger and criticism, and has potentially detrimental political ramifications for Sweden's NATO accession process.

With the approval of these public burnings, Sweden finds itself at the intersection of freedom of speech and respect for religious beliefs. How the nation will navigate this delicate balance in the face of such a controversial decision remains to be seen. The call from religious communities for an end to these acts of desecration is clear, as they stress the need for unity, respect, and harmony in our diverse global society.

The European Jewish Congress (EJC)  said in a statement that they "strongly condemn the decision of Swedish authorities to allow the provocative burning of holy books and texts by extremists in the country."

EJC president Dr. Ariel Muzicant said that "provocative, racist, antisemitic and sickening acts such as these have no place in any civilised society. 

“Stamping on the deepest religious and cultural sensibilities of people is the clearest expression possible to send a message that minorities are unwelcome and unrespected,” Muzicant added. “These actions, based on contorted and specious free speech arguments, are a disgrace to Sweden and any democratic government worthy of the name should prevent it.”

“All religions and all peoples of good faith and basic decency should come together to condemn these horrific acts,” Muzicant concluded. “What starts with words and books, always ends with trampling upon the basic rights of people. So it was in the darkest days of Europe, so it is now. “  

Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, wrote to Prime Minister Olaf Kristerton of Sweden on Friday: "Desecration of Israel's sanctuaries is anti-Semitism, not freedom of expression."

In his letter, Yosef expressed his deep concern regarding the planned demonstration by Swedish citizens in front of the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, involving the burning of a Torah. He emphasized that the act of burning sacred texts was a grave offense and could not be justified under the guise of freedom of expression.

The Rabbi urged the Prime Minister to prevent such incidents, highlighting that the damage caused to Israel's sanctuaries was an expression of anti-Semitism rather than freedom. He expressed his belief that people worldwide understood the seriousness of these acts and condemned them.

President Herzog and Minister Chikli's had comments regarding the planned Torah burning.

“I unequivocally condemn the permission granted in Sweden to burn holy books. As the President of the State of Israel, I condemned the burning of the Quran, sacred to Muslims world over, and I am now heartbroken that the same fate awaits a Jewish Bible, the eternal book of the Jewish people," Herzog said. "Permitting the defacement of sacred texts is not an exercise in freedom of expression, it is blatant incitement and an act of pure hate. The whole world must join together in clearly condemning this repulsive act.”

Minister Chikli said something similar.

"Such explicit acts of bigotry and hatred against the Jewish People is as much revolting as it is reprehensible and has no place amongst the liberal democracies of the world," said Chikli. "My Ministry is continuing to work closely with the local Jewish community and is in dialogue with local Swedish authorities regarding this reprehensible act."

One of the figures involved is Rabbi Moshe David HaCohen, who serves as the rabbi of the Judiska Församlingen in Malmö as well as co-directs Amanah: The Muslim and Jewish Trust and Faith Project with Imam Salahuddin Barakat.

The project fosters bonding between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Malmö. He told The Jerusalem Post on Friday that "this isn't an anti-Jewish or antisemitic event, rather a long-lasting debate in Sweden about the extent of the Freedom of Expression."

Yaakov Hagoel, chairman of the World Zionist Organization said on Friday: "The permit to burn a Torah in front of the Israeli embassy is not freedom of expression but antisemitism.  80 years since the holocaust and the signs we wanted to forget remind us again to stand guard.  I strongly condemn the burning of the Koran and call on Sweden to cancel the anti-Semitic decision to burn a Bible book. Enough of the hate!"

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also responded to the intended burning of holy scriptures in Sweden.

"I strongly condemn the decision of the authorities in Sweden to allow the burning of a Torah book in front of the Israeli embassy," Netanyahu said. "The State of Israel takes this shameful decision that damages the Holy of Holies of the Jewish people very seriously.  The holy books of all religions must be respected."

Also chiming into the conversation was Yaakov Hagoel, the chairman of the World Zionist Organization.

"The permit to burn a Torah in front of the Israeli embassy is not freedom of expression but antisemitism.  80 years since the holocaust and the signs we wanted to forget remind us again to stand guard," said Hagoel. "I strongly condemn the burning of the Koran and call on Sweden to cancel the anti-Semitic decision to burn a Bible book. Enough of the hate!"

New Jersey Woman Hurls Antisemitic Insults During Council Meeting

Several Hoboken City Council members have blasted an antisemitic comment made by a member of the public at the regular council meeting Wednesday night.

At the meeting, the council was considering whether to vote on the mayor's appointments of two new municipal judges — Benjamin Choi as the city's next chief municipal judge, and Scott Pennington as the city's new municipal court judge, starting this September.

The two appointments would mark the first time in the city's history that an Asian American and African American individual held the positions.

Later in the meeting, a female resident of the city, Melissa Blanco, who is not an elected official, got up to complain. She said she didn't see why Fazio wouldn't be reappointed.

But then her comment took a turn.

"It’s about as diverse as all the people that have been plucked out of synagogues and all the synagogues that run the city of Hoboken," the resident said, although only one synagogue remains in Hoboken and only two of the city's elected officials, including nine council members, are Jewish.

Jewish watchdog organization StopAntisemitism was quick to denounce Blanco’s antisemitic rhetoric to their Twitter audience.

The remarks echoed antisemitic remarks made nationally that falsely put the blame on Jewish people for various ills. Such comments curry hate while ignoring the history of discrimination that kept Jewish immigrants to America from working in many industries.

5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, who is Jewish, blasted the remark during the meeting on Wednesday. The next day, Councilwoman Emily Jabbour and Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher (who is Jewish but was not at the meeting) sent comments decrying the remark, as did council candidate Marla Decker, who is running for Fisher's seat.

Cohen said Wednesday, “Sadly tonight antisemitic sentiments were expressed in the public room. There is no place in our community for antisemitism. It does not belong in Hoboken.”

The council's other Jewish member, Tiffanie Fisher, said, "I'm angered and saddened by the antisemitic remarks made by a Hoboken neighbor — even worse, by someone I know, which makes it feel even more personal. These comments in no way reflect what I know is best about Hoboken — a place where we deeply respect and embrace the diversity of all members of our community."

FBI Cracks Indiana Mall Shooter's Phone, Find Nazi Propaganda and Hitler Images

Nazi propaganda, a suicide note, a confession of wanting to kill himself due to depression, sexual isolation, mental instability and more. These were part of more than 3,000 images and 200 videos recovered from the Greenwood Park Mall shooter’s cell phone by the FBI.

The Greenwood Police Department and the City of Greenwood announced the cell phone findings on Thursday after the phone was sent to the FBI in the wake of the July 17 mall shooting that claimed three victims’ lives and the shooter.

Jonathan Douglas Sapirman, 20, of Greenwood was the lone shooter who opened fire in the food court of Greenwood Park Mall with a Sig Sauer M400 semi-automatic rifle at 6 p.m. on a Sunday.

Sapirman had a backpack full of ammunition and may have shot several more shoppers had he not been shot eight times by Elisjsha Dicken. Dicken had been visiting the mall with his girlfriend and opened fire on Sapirman from 30 yards away with his legally carried firearm.

The FBI reportedly successfully cracked Sapirman’s phone in May 2023 and uncovered 206 videos and 3,458 images. Also found on the phone were notes, call and text logs and internet searches.

Many of the photos found on Sapirman’s phone were images of Adolf Hitler and Nazi propaganda along with photos of firearms, authorities announced. There were also videos that showed mass killings that were described as “extremely graphic in nature.”

One video was even security footage from a mall shooting in Burlington Washington that occurred on Sep. 23, 2016.

Police said an image of a handwritten note, taken on April 9, 2020, was found on the phone as well. Authorities believe it to be a suicide note drafted by Sapirman.

In the note, Sapirman wrote that he was putting his “final thoughts on paper.”

“I’m a sociopath,” he wrote. “I want to hurt people.”

Authorities said Sapirman alluded to shooting himself with a shotgun and cited his reasons.

“This was the result of my issues: mental instability, depression, frustration, and sexual isolation,” he wrote.

Police said that due to the note being written two years prior to the Greenwood Park Mall shooting, investigators “believe that Sapirman’s homicidal and suicidal thoughts had been manifesting for years.”

A note written by Sapirman on June 18, 2022 — roughly a month before the mall shooting — appeared in the draft of a text that authorities said was meant to be sent to his brother.

In the note, Sapirman expressed frustration over his phone being turned off.

“I’m gonna shoot myself,” he wrote. He then went on to search “how to go through with committing suicide,” according to the phone findings.

Police said no mentions or plans were found on his phone alluding to his attack on the Greenwood Park Mall.

Mississippi Man Arrested for Targeting Pennsylvania Synagogues and Jewish Businesses

Donavon Parish, arrest photo 2022

A Mississippi man was arrested on felony charges accusing him of targeting Pennsylvanian synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses by calling them — some as many as 15 times — and making antisemitic threats.

Donavon Parish, 28, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was charged on June 27 with cyberstalking and communicating interstate threats in an indictment unsealed Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Parish could be sentenced to up to 50 years in prison and a $2.5 million fine if convicted. A defense attorney wasn't listed.

Parish used voice-over-internet-protocol technology to call three businesses and three synagogues in April and May 2022, according to the indictment. A federal grand jury determined that he intentionally selected those locations because of the perceived and actual religion of the people there, and made comments about killing Jews when they answered the phone.

Parish called one business 15 times, and one synagogue he called at least twice also housed a preschool and kindergarten, the indictment states.

Right-wing dating Podcast Promotes Holocaust Denial

Pictured: Fresh & Fit podcast hosts Walter Weekes and Myron Gaines

A misogynistic podcast that describes itself as “the #1 men’s podcast in the world” hosted white supremacist  Nick Fuentes for multiple hourslong streams during which he denied the Holocaust.

The Fresh & Fit podcast is a central platform of the “manosphere” and describes itself as covering “females, fitness, and finances.” The hosts, Why Women Deserve Less author Myron Gaines and dating and lifestyle coach Walter Weekes, regularly spew misogynistic and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and demean a panel of young women who appear on the show’s “After Hours” streams.

But during streams on July 7 and 10 (which went past midnight into July 11), the show pivoted to full-blown Holocaust denial and extreme antisemitism. These themes were acknowledged in the title of the streams, with one called “Nick Fuentes, Destiny, Sneako & JonZherka DEBATE The JQ🛎️!” and the other “Holocaust Debate Prompts Matrix To END Show?!”

The “JQ,” or the “Jewish Question,” is an antisemitic framework that posits the Jewish diaspora is a “problem that needed to be solved.” It provided a pretext for the Nazi government to undermine the freedoms of Jewish Germans, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

During one of the streams featuring Fuentes, Myron Gaines bragged, “We’re the biggest platform that’s talking about the JQ. No one else will do it.”

Fuentes’ appearance on Fresh & Fit underscores the links between the antisemitic far-right and the “manosphere,” a loose collection of misogynist influencers who capitalize on audiences interested in lifestyle topics like dating and identity in order to push extremist ideas.

On Twitter, a social media user posted a clip from the Fresh & Fit studio in which Fuentes and others are seen giving the Nazi Sieg Heil salute multiple times.

At one point during the July 11 “After Hours” stream, Fuentes plainly stated, “I don’t believe in the Holocaust.” He went on to deny that 6 million Jews were killed in a network of death camps.

During the same stream, Gaines and guest Sneako, a Fuentes ally and “manosphere” figure tied to Ye West, justified Nazi book burnings, saying that “when there’s photos of the Nazis burning books, it’s books on homosexuality and transgenderism.”

Sneako then railed against The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh for saying that transgender identity was invented by Nazi scientists, instead claiming that it was a Jewish conspiracy. He added, “Why would you lie about that? Who told you -- who gave Matt the call? Matt got the call.”

The streams also included plenty of extreme misogyny. In one instance, Fuentes saidwomen are made to be “baby machines” because “that’s what their brains are about."

More than 11 hours of content featuring Fuentes were streamed on Fresh & Fit’s Rumble account. A fraction of the July 7 stream was also on YouTube, accumulating nearly 200,000 views before YouTube took down the video. According to Fuentes, YouTube prevented the channel from live streaming with him.

During the portion of the stream that was on YouTube, Fuentes stated that he does not “like race mixing” and that “women shouldn't be getting educated, man. They shouldn’t be going to college.”

All together, the streams featuring Fuentes have garnered over 2.4 million views on Rumble. At one point during a stream, 100,000 viewers were tuning in live. The podcast has over 200,000 followers on Rumble and 1.45 million subscribers on YouTube.

Fuentes' appearances on Fresh & Fit is an illustrative example of how far-right extremism proliferates through the manosphere, going beyond bread-and-butter misogyny. The vitriol regularly spewed on the show toward women — simply for existing, pursuing relationships, and building careers — is easily turned toward other groups, especially with the assistance of young pugilistic white supremacist internet figures like Fuentes and his ally Sneako.

Fresh & Fit is simply the internet generation’s shock jock radio, and on a platform like Rumble where basically anything goes, its hosts are free to go further for views than their predecessors ever did.

Canadian Judge Rebukes Light Sentence for Neo Nazi

A jail sentence of just three months for a man convicted of promoting hatred against Jews could trivialize the crime, a Quebec court judge said Wednesday as he questioned the Crown’s sentencing recommendation.

Judge Manlio Del Negro said he worries the three-month sentence followed by probation recommended by both the prosecution and the defense doesn’t reflect the seriousness of the crime committed by Gabriel Sohier Chaput, who was once one of the main writers for a neo-Nazi website.

“With respect, the sentence that you’re suggesting trivializes the crime,” Del Negro told the two lawyers in a Montreal courtroom.

He repeatedly asked why prosecutor Patrick Lafrenière — who agreed that the crime was a serious one — had recommended a lower sentence than those imposed in similar cases.

The judge then cited several cases where sentences of six months or a year had been imposed.

Sohier Chaput was convicted of willful promotion of hatred in late January in connection with an article he wrote for the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer. While Sohier Chaput was only charged with promoting hatred in connection with a single article, he wrote more than 800 pieces for the site.

Defence lawyer Antonio Cabral said his client is a changed man who is no longer involved with online neo-Nazis and is working to improve himself.

But Del Negro questioned the claim, saying that a pre-sentencing report dated May 11 found Sohier Chaput’s views hadn’t changed.

Probation officer Gabrielle Boulanger-Dumont wrote in the report that in her interview with Sohier Chaput he maintained — as he had in court — that the articles used humour and exaggeration and that his readers wouldn’t find them to be a call for hate.

She said he claimed the writings were intended to make the prevailing discourse in society less polarized, a claim that she didn’t find credible, adding that he doesn’t seem to have understood the impact of his actions and is convinced that his speech was legitimate.

“The only regrets and empathetic thoughts he expressed are directed at his loved ones, who have experienced the direct consequences of his delinquent actions,” she wrote.

She found the lack of emotion in his explanations “all the more disturbing when he describes the pleasure he derived from writing ’things that can’t be said because of history.’”

In court, Sohier Chaput apologized to those who were offended by his writings. “I’m now someone different,” he told the court. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt people’s feelings.”

But Del Negro said he found the apology “opportunistic,” and questioned why Sohier Chaput didn’t express similar sentiments when he testified during his trial.

The judge said he’ll deliver his sentence on Sept. 22.

Outside the courtroom, Jewish groups praised the judge’s decision to consider a tougher sentence.

Eta Yudin, the Quebec vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who testified during the sentencing hearing about the effect of antisemitism on the Jewish community, said a strong sentence would send the message that antisemitism isn’t acceptable in Quebec and Canada.

“It was a crime, and it continues to be a crime, and it needs to be addressed,” she said. “The lesson has to be that it’s not something you can blow off and walk away from. It has to be that there are real consequences to fomenting hatred, to inciting hatred, to spreading hatred online.”

Swastika Discovered at Children's Playground in New Jersey

Authorities in a Somerset County town seeking help identifying those who scrawled antisemitic and racist graffiti on playground at a park.

The graffiti was found around midday Saturday at the park in the Warren Township municipal complex and reported to police, township administrator Mark Krane said Wednesday. It has since been removed.

“It is shocking that hateful images would be posted in such a public way, especially in an area that is utilized by our children,” township officials said in a statement. “A playground is meant to be a safe place for children to play without being confronted with hateful messages.”

Township officials had already planned to add surveillance cameras in the area prior to the vandalism, which included a swastika and a racial image. The cameras will be installed soon, Krane said.

“We do not tolerate antisemitism, racial, or any other hate crimes,” Mayor Gary DiNardo said. “This incident is unacceptable and we take it personally. The township committee will take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our residents, especially our children.”

UK Extremist Sentenced for Terror Plot with Antisemitic Motive

Luke Skelton, 20, took pictures of targets and wrote about starting a race war that would kill thousands of people, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He was found guilty of one count of preparing a terrorist act.

Prosecutors said he was dangerous, but his lawyers argued his autism made him vulnerable to radicalization and he did not actually intend an attack.

Skelton, from Washington, was arrested in October 2021, a month after taking pictures of Forth Banks police station in Newcastle.

He was found to have researched bomb-making and used the username Adolf Hitler in online communications in which he espoused extremist views and discussed starting a race war.

Prosecutor Nick de la Poer KC said the chance of Skelton succeeding in a bomb attack was "not very likely," but some notes he wrote implied he wanted to enact a "significant terrorist atrocity"”

One message talked about triggering a "racial war" for which he blamed the government, adding that the "number of dead" would be in the thousands.

The prosecutor also said these were not "impulsive" thoughts but a "preoccupation for a lengthy period of time"”

Skeleton targeted Forth Banks police station

In mitigation, Crispin Aylett KC said Skelton had autism which made him more prone to radicalization.

He said the planned attacks discussed in emails and social media chats were "nonsense" and "lunatic" suggestions which Skelton "lost interest" in and then "changed his mind" about actually going through with.

Mr. Aylett said Skelton did nothing more than take pictures, and even if he had built a device, it would have been so small that any risk of death to anyone "would be not very likely."

Skelton took pictures of the police station a month before he was arrested, and in that time, he did nothing more to prepare an attack, the court heard.

His Honour Judge Paul Watson KC, the recorder of Middlesbrough, said Skelton was a "committed and active right-wing extremist dedicated to white supremacy and provoking racial hatred" who had also openly expressed attacking multiple minority groups.

He said Skelton "made heroes of those who carried out atrocities in the names of fascism," and his fantasy was to "turn back the pages of the history books" when such xenophobic and hate-fuelled views were "tolerated and admired," adding he wanted a "full-on war.”

The judge said Skelton was "entitled" to his right-wing views thanks to the very society he wanted to attack, but he went "far beyond testing the boundaries of freedom of thought and expression," and they were "not empty fantasies," and he was "committed to using violence to propagate [his] beliefs.”

He said there were several attempts to deradicalize Skelton, but they failed, such was the-then teenager's "all-consuming obsession.”

The judge said Skelton wanted to risk multiple lives, but he lacked the "intellectual, financial or technical wherewithal" to build a bomb capable of causing "even modest injury.”

He said: "Despite your extremist ambitions, you would have never been capable of creating anything remotely viable."

The judge said Skelton was diagnosed with autism at the age of six and had a "borderline level of functioning" but high verbal skills, which made people think he had a higher intellect than he did.

He said Skelton was "isolated" as a child, and the right-wing extremism he became obsessed with as a teenager in 2019 may have given him a "sense of excitement and purpose which [he] readily latched on to.”

The judge also said the offenses were committed against the background of "loneliness" of the coronavirus pandemic.

Skelton was jailed for four years with a further year to be served on an extended license and made subject to a serious crime prevention order.

He was found guilty of the offenses in May after a jury the previous year failed to reach a verdict.

Mossad Thwarts Attack on Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan

An Afghan citizen was arrested by Azerbaijan security services on suspicion of planning an attack against the Israeli embassy in the country thanks to a tip from Israel's Mossad security service, according to reports on Tuesday.

Jewish watchdog organization, StopAntisemitism shared the image of the terrorist from Afghanistan to their audience of Twitter.

The intelligence agency monitored the movements of 33-year-old Pavzan Musa Khan, who entered Azerbaijan through Iran.

Israel confirmed that the suspect was arrested by the Azerbaijani authorities after being observed in the vicinity of Israel's embassy and is currently under investigation by local authorities. The security services of Azerbaijan and Israel are closely cooperating in this matter.

Investigations into the case have revealed that Khan meticulously observed the area where diplomatic missions are located, and he reportedly made contact with individuals who could potentially be involved in the planned attack. Furthermore, he sought assistance in procuring weapons and explosives for the intended act of terrorism.

The Afghan national was arrested at the scene, and authorities are currently undertaking complex and comprehensive operational and legal measures to identify and apprehend any additional individuals who may have been involved in the planning of the terrorist act.

The publication of his arrest, including the fact that he came from Iran, was intended to embarrass Tehran, which does not like the warm and tightening relations between Israel and Azerbaijan.

Antisemitic Goyim Defense League (GDL) Flyers Plague San Diego Neighborhoods

Neighbors in Del Cerro woke up Saturday morning to antisemitic fliers on their car windshields. It's not just happening here. It's happening all over San Diego.

Neighbors on Theta Place in Del Cerro said antisemitism was the wake-up call none of them were looking for. The Rose family’s car was one of dozens with a flyer on the windshield.

“My husband had put it on the table, and I just was like, ‘not what you want to see when you go get your Cheerios in the morning,’” neighbor Sheryl Rose said.

The flyer had an antisemitic message and it’s just one of many.

The advocacy organization fighting antisemitism - StopAntisemitism - has attributed the antisemitic flyers to the Goyim Defense League (GDL). The league travels the country distributing these hateful flyers targeted Jewish communities.

Neighbors sent NBC 7 more than 10 different flyers making their rounds around the county. They also alerted the police and the Jewish advocacy group StopAntisemitism.

“These repulsive leaflets that they distribute all over the country now target Jewish Americans and blame essentially society's woes on the Jews,” said executive director, Liora Rez. “Whether it's the word Ukraine, whether it's the abortion debate, whether it's gun control….”

“100% It's an intimidation tactic,” Rez said. “It's a concentrated target and harassment campaign against the Jewish people.”

Sheryl Rose said standing against antisemitism isn’t a Jewish problem. It’s everyone’s problem.

“I'm not Jewish, and I'm not particularly religious in any way, but I'm a human,” she said. “It's just disgusting.”

If someone comes across one of the fliers, executive director Liora Rez suggests you give them to police or another advocacy group along with any security footage so anyone involved can be held legally responsible.

Israeli Student Stabbed with Screwdriver on Shabbat in Brooklyn

The attack happened on Union Street toward Troy Avenue in Crown Heights

An Israeli student, a member of the Chabad community, was stabbed and lightly injured while walking on a street in the Crown Heights neighborhood of New York City early Saturday morning. The incident is reportedly being investigated by police as a suspected hate crime.

The attack happened at 2 a.m. on Saturday as the man was walking on Union Street toward Troy Avenue, the Crownheights.info website reported, citing a police report.

Two men approached the young man and asked him if he was Jewish; they then stabbed him in the arm with a screwdriver. The student was able to return home and from there called Hatzalah, the Jewish emergency service, which took him to the hospital where he was treated. He later returned home.

In a tweet, Yaacov Behrman, a public relations official for Chabad, said he had spoken with the student “Despite being visibly traumatized, the victim expressed gratitude for not having sustained more severe injuries,” Behrman reported. “This incident is deeply concerning, and we have full confidence in the NYPD’s ability to conduct a thorough investigation and apprehend the perpetrators.”

Anti-Jewish Goyim Defense League (GDL) Propaganda Litters Georgian Town

Residents in several areas of Floyd County and in the Old East Rome neighborhood reported that someone had thrown out flyers containing antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ and racist messaging late Friday and early Saturday.

Both Rome and Floyd County police say they’ve received reports of people finding plastic bags containing flyers with antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ messaging early Saturday.

Floyd County Assistant Police Chief Tom Ewing said whoever distributed the flyers seemed to hit large areas of the county indiscriminately. Residents along Chulio Road all the way into Shannon in north Floyd County reported finding the flyers in their yard, he said.

The advocacy organization fighting antisemitism - StopAntisemitism - has attributed the antisemitic flyers to the Goyim Defense League (GDL). The league travels the country distributing these hateful flyers targeted Jewish communities.

Rome Police Department Assistant Chief Debbie Burnett said the reports in the city primarily came from the Old East Rome neighborhood.

A person in Old East Rome captured video of people in a small white or silver sedan tossing out the flyers around 12:28 a.m. Police are investigating.

The bags containing the flyers also contained an organic substance, possibly deer pellets, likely to give them weight. Some residents expressed fear that the contents of the bag contained rat poison, but that could not be confirmed over the weekend.

The flyers contained language laced with conspiracy driven phrases like “diversity means fewer White people, inclusion means the exclusion of White people” as well false information about the life span of the LGBTQ population and attempts to link that community with increased risks of child molestation and sexually transmitted diseases.

Relying heavily on antisemitic tropes, the flyers appear to all come from one source, Goyim TV.

“We non-Jews have been targeted relentlessly for decades and centuries... This PSA is about a Jewish mafia that had hijacked our country,” one flyer reads.

Pennsylvania Mayoral Candidate Spews Anti-Jewish Conspiracies

During the public comment portion of Bethlehem City Council's meeting Wednesday night, resident Arthur Curatola took the podium to address statements that he was antisemitic.

Throughout his public comment, he discussed what he called "militant Jews" and the cultural makeup of the members of Murder Inc., a well-known crime syndicate from the early 20th century.

Curatola also announced his bid for city mayor in 2025.

This was not Curatola's first public comment. At a Bethlehem City Council meeting on Dec. 6, 2022, he said that "Christmas City" residents should be "honoring and respecting the teachings of Jesus Christ."

Among his December remarks about Jews, Chinese, and Native Americans, Curatola said, "Jesus Christ sold more books and movies than any Jewish leader or any leader in the world, ever." He encouraged Bethlehem residents to "honor the words and wisdom of this great man who is a great philosopher who we know as Jesus Christ, even though he was a Jew."

Mayor J. William Reynolds spoke Wednesday about the normalization of antisemitic comments in his report. "Part of the reason we've seen those types of ideas gain some public normalization is that many people have decided the best way to get past them is to ignore them," Reynolds said.

Council President Michael Colón echoed the mayor's sentiments.

"I've been on City Council for, this is now my eighth year, and I've sat through a lot of public comments… but using historical stereotypes and using inflammatory language," Colón said, "I don't know what the motivations are [but] if you're looking for sympathy or support, it's not coming from anyone sitting up here."

BBC Apologizes after Anchor Anjana Gadgil says Israel is Happy to Murder Children

The BBC issued an apology on Wednesday following a contentious interview in which a presenter made controversial remarks suggesting that "Israeli forces are happy to kill children”.

Anjana Gadgil, the news presenter, made these comments while discussing Israel's military operation in Jenin with former-Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, during a Tuesday evening broadcast.

After facing pressure from Jewish community groups, who accused the BBC of partiality and displaying anti-Israel bias, the corporation offered an apology.

During the interviews, Gadgil asked Bennet about the young casualties of the military operation, stating, "The Israeli military is calling this a 'military operation,' but we now know that young people are being killed, four of them under eighteen. Is that really what the military set out to do? To kill people between the ages of 16 and 18?"

“Quite to the contrary," Bennet replied. "Actually, all 11 people dead there are militants. The fact that there are young terrorists who decide to hold arms is their responsibility." The former Israeli prime minister went on to explain that, of many of the terror attacks over the past year, events that have collectively ended several dozens of Israeli civilian lives, the perpetrators have come from, and we trained in, Jenin. "Jenin has become an epicenter of terror," he says. "All the Palestinians that were killed were terrorists in this case."

Following the controversy, a BBC spokesperson addressed the issue to the Jewish Chronicle, stating: "BBC News has received comments and complaints concerning an interview with Naftali Bennett broadcast on the BBC News channel about recent events in the West Bank and Israel. While this was a legitimate subject to examine in the interview, we apologize that the language used in this line of questioning was not phrased well and was inappropriate."

Swastika Carved into a New York Ice Cream Parlor

At first, Howard Cadmus said, he wasn’t sure he wanted to publicly reveal that someone had carved a swastika inside Sweet Jenny’s in Williamsville.

But Cadmus said he and his wife, Tara, decided staying quiet about the symbol of hate felt like condoning the act of vandalism.

He said he has appreciated the outpouring of support in response to his Facebook post and news interviews since the weekend incident. Many commenters said they made donations to charitable organizations to offset the symbol made infamous by Nazi Germany.

While some suggested sanding down the emblem, Howard Cadmus, who is Jewish, used a blade to turn the swastika into a square containing the letters “L-O-V-E.”

“In a community where people are so caring it shows that, I think, love is stronger than the hate,” Cadmus said in an interview Wednesday.

Howard Cadmus said an employee made the initial discovery at 10 a.m. Monday, as the ice cream and chocolate shop in the historic Williamsville Water Mill complex was opening for the day. The Cadmuses co-own the store and related businesses along Ellicott Creek.

The swastika, about the size of a John F. Kennedy half-dollar coin, was carved into the wood above the doorway inside a first-floor restroom.

Howard Cadmus said the vandalism likely took place sometime Sunday.

Kassidy, the employee who first saw the symbol, is transgender and initially was distraught that it might have targeted her, Howard Cadmus said.

There was no message accompanying the symbol, but Cadmus said carving it seems like a more deliberate act than, for example, writing it in pen.

Cadmus and his wife are Jewish but it’s not clear whether the vandal knew this. Cadmus said he has ancestors, through his mother’s family, who survived the Holocaust.

“My initial feeling was just a profound sadness at the symbol,” said Cadmus, who called it “a profound representation of hatred and intolerance and antisemitism.”

When Howard and Tara Cadmus first encountered the swastika, they weren’t inclined to publicize what had happened.

“We were just going to let it go,” they wrote Tuesday afternoon in a Facebook post.

But, the Cadmuses said, they decided they needed to take a stand against bigotry.

That’s why they shared a photo of the vandalism along with a lengthy statement on Facebook, where Sweet Jenny’s has 30,000 followers.

“Remember that hate is an open attack on tolerance and acceptance and it must be countered with acts of goodness,” the couple wrote.

The post has received 460 likes and spawned 130 comments as of Wednesday afternoon. Seven hundred people liked a follow-up post that read, “Hate has no business here.”

Commenters vowed to visit the shop for the first time or promised to make donations to the Anti-Defamation League and similar organizations. One person told Cadmus it gave her the motivation to speak up about painful micro-aggressions directed toward her son.

Several people offered to help buff out the swastika, but Cadmus opted to use a box cutter to turn the symbol into a square divided into four sections, each containing one letter of the word “love.”

Williamsville Mayor Christine Hunt praised the Cadmus’ and the investment they have made in the village. She said she’s troubled by the discovery of the hateful vandalism.

“Unfortunately there are still those in our society that support and promote such behavior,” Hunt said in a text message Wednesday. “But in the end, and as Howard has chosen to approach it, goodness and love will prevail.”

Cadmus said he didn’t report the incident to Amherst police. He said he and his wife don’t believe criminal charges are an appropriate way to address what happened.

He said he would like to find out whether the vandal was aware what the swastika stands for. And, if he had the chance, Cadmus said he would tell the vandal, “I really hope you find a way to find love. Because life without love is meaningless.”

Cadmus said he also wonders whether the vandal acted in response to the diversity seen among Sweet Jenny’s customer base.

“Maybe someone came in on that Sunday and saw that we have people who are of the Muslim faith, and we have people who are Indian, and we have people who are Black, and we have people who are Jewish, sitting all day,” Cadmus said. “I mean, our whole, entire outside plaza is wonderful. It looks like America.”