Free Republic

A suspect has been arrested after a fire tore through Beth Israel, the only synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi, on Saturday, leaving the congregation forced to rebuild from the ashes — again.Investigators have not yet determined a motive for the fire, which remains under investigation, but it comes amid a wave of antisemitic attacks in recent years.

‘I truly believe humor is a tool. It’s a tool that helps people release emotional tension, a tool that helps people feel safe. Very often, when someone tells me a joke or makes me laugh, even about something very small, it feels like a gesture – like they’ve seen me and said, ‘I want to make you feel a little better,’” said Zohar Shahar, one of the co-directors of Bella, a very funny and audacious new Israeli comedy, with a touch of drama, that dares to find laughs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It opened in theaters around the country on...

Ideology has seized our universities, Cary Kogan says: ‘We can't have this kind of identity-based hate movement being taught in classrooms’ “Bondi was a warning shot,” cautions Cary Kogan, professor of psychology at the University of Ottawa. “If Western governments aren’t going to deal with the issue (of antisemitism), this is what we’re going to end up with. And I worry; the intelligence community has told us very clearly that there are bad actors here in Canada, and you know, the government needs to listen.” Offended, both as a Jew and an academic, by faculty union manoeuvres to constrain the...

A new billboard in Times Square is misguided in dangerous ways“Merry Christmas,” proclaims a billboard in Times Square: “Jesus is Palestinian.” Countless people will walk by the display or see it on social media, and many will believe it. So, let’s go through why that statement is such a mistake, once again. Jesus was a Jew. He was born to Jewish parents, was circumcised under Jewish law — traditionally, on Jan. 1, which is how that day became known as the Feast of the Circumcision — and lived as a Jew. He taught from the Hebrew Scriptures. He worshiped in...

A Pennsylvania principal whose antisemitic tirade about “Jew money” was inadvertently recorded has been fired. Lower Gwynedd Elementary School Principal Phillip Leddy was axed Tuesday by the Wissahickon School Board. Leddy, 45, was returning a call from a parent when he got the dad’s voicemail and left a message, but then apparently failed to end the call, Philadelphia’s ABC 7 reported.

A Jewish American firearms club, founded in the wake of the October 7 massacre and the rise in antisemitism, is growing in popularity, with over 30 chapters across the United States. It’s poised to go international. Created in Cleveland, Ohio, the Lox & Loaded gun club has more than 1,000 members and aspires to establish a chapter in every US state. A spokesperson said that the objective was reasonable, given the immense interest in the organization. The name of the club is a Jewish play on the term “locked and loaded,” in which a firearm is loaded with ammunition and...

Two men who swore allegiance to Islamic State have been found guilty of plotting to “kill as many Jewish people as they could”, in what detectives believe would have been the UK’s worst terror attack if it had not been thwarted. Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were found guilty at Preston crown court on Tuesday of preparing acts of terrorism between 13 December 2023 and 9 May 2024. Jurors were told they were Islamist extremists with a “visceral dislike” of Jewish people. They planned a marauding attack in Greater Manchester, at the heart of one of Europe’s largest...

An Israeli man was violently assaulted and lost an eye in a horrific attack overnight in Limassol, Cyprus. According to media reports, the victim was apparently overheard speaking Hebrew on his phone outside his hotel when a group of local youths allegedly recognized the language, hurled insults, before viciously attacking him. Cyprus police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Photo of victim

“Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar outlandishly accused Stephen Miller, an observant Jew, of espousing “white supremacist rhetoric” akin to the way the “Nazis described Jewish people in Germany.” “When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany,” Omar (D-Minn.) chided on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. Omar, a first-generation immigrant from Somalia, was reacting to an X post by Miller, widely seen as the architect of President Trump’s immigration agenda, in which he tore into mass migration. “You are not just importing individuals. You...

Australia is reacting to the Bondi Beach terror attack as predicted: they’re pushing more gun control again, and they’re refusing to blame radical Islam for the attack. The kicker is that’s exactly who’s to blame. Two men, father and son, Sajid Akram and Naveed Akram, opened fire on Jewish congregants who had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah on December 14. Fifteen people were killed, and at least 35 were wounded. Sajid was killed in the attack, while Naveed was wounded. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claims neo-Nazis are a greater threat—these people are just unserious. To boot, the police response was reportedly...

Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua has come under fire after devising a touchdown dance which includes an offensive Jewish stereotype during a live stream with two YouTubers. Nacua, who is in his third season with the Rams, appeared on a stream with popular content creators Adin Ross and N3on earlier this week ahead of their crucial Thursday night showdown with the Seattle Seahawks. As well as taking a swipe at NFL referees and Taylor Swift, the 24-year-old receiver sparked a more alarming type of controversy when he was captured working on an antisemitic touchdown dance with Ross, who is...

A Jewish New Yorker described Tuesday how he was stabbed just centimeters from his heart by a hateful sicko — who made a chilling promise before lunging at him on a Brooklyn street. “I’m going to kill a Jew today,” the knife-wielding goon seethed before launching the antisemitic attack, said victim Elias Rosner, 35, in an interview with The Post on Wednesday. Rosner, a member of the Lubavitch Hasidic community in Crown Heights, had just left the temple on Tuesday afternoon when he came across the still-at-large attacker spewing antisemitic slurs.

A 47-year-old MIT professor has died after being shot in his Brookline home Monday night, the DA said. Officers from the Massachusetts State Police and Brookline Police Department responded to reports of a man shot on Gibb Street. Nuno F.G. Loureiro was transported to a local hospital and succumbed to his injuries Tuesday morning. Police are actively investigating the death as a homicide, according to the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office, writing in a statement, “No further information is being released at this time.” The DA has not said they arrested anyone in connection with the homicide and or identified any...

A gunman fired 20 bullets into the home of a Jewish family in Redlands, California, on Saturday. The family’s home was clearly Jewish, as they had decorated the exterior for Hanukkah. According to door cam footage, the suspect shouted antisemitic slurs such as “F*** the Jews” as he fired at the home from his car. 'Another dangerous and despicable act of violence' The family shared a statement with Jewish outlet Community News: “My family just survived an antisemitic drive-by shooting in Redlands. My family and I decorated our house for the Jewish holiday Hanukkah; many of the decorations include light-up...

The daughter of one of the victims of Sunday's Bondi Beach terror attack told CBS News on Monday that her father was "shot dead for being Jewish," and she now believes Australia is not a safe home for Jewish people. Sheina Gutnick said that her father, Reuven Morrison, a 62-year-old Soviet-born member of the ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Australia, was killed while attempting to stop one of the two gunmen during Sunday's mass shooting, which Australian authorities have called an antisemitic terror attack. "From my sources and understanding, he had jumped up the second the shooting started. He managed to...

The first night of Hanukkah falls on Sunday, Dec. 14.The first night of Hanukkah falls on Sunday, Dec. 14. The history of Hanukkah Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is a Jewish holiday that lasts for eight nights, usually in November or December. This year, it begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14, 2025 and ends with nightfall on Monday, December 22, 2025. Here is what you need to know about Hanukkah. What is Hanukkah? Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev, a month in the Hebrew...

The Iranian foreign ministry on Sunday denounced a “violent attack” in Sydney that targeted a Jewish celebration and killed 11 people. “We condemn the violent attack in Sydney, Australia. Terror and killing of human beings, wherever committed, is rejected and condemned,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on X. Relations between Iran and Australia have significantly deteriorated this year.

A wicked judge recently proved that the next step from toxic empathy is pure evil as the third branch of government continues to sabotage the Trump Administration. The Detroit News reported on Friday that a violent illegal alien from Honduras who sexually assaulted a woman with cerebral palsy in a Michigan laundry room will be released from prison as early as July 2028, less than three tears from now thanks to a federal judge appointed by Barack Obama. The illegal, 30-year-old handyman Edys Renan Membreño Díaz was previously caught sneaking into the U.S. at least seven times since 2019. He...

Pro-Palestinian positions may have fueled Mamdani’s politics and established his early volunteer base, but they didn’t win him the election. The New Yorkers who voted for him “overwhelmingly” said cost of living is their top issue, reported CNN. For most New Yorkers who hit the polls, questions about Mamdani’s attitude toward Israel — and even concerns about antisemitism — paled in importance beside affordability. Yet one tone-deaf Jewish leader after another pleaded with voters to reject Mamdani because of his highly critical attitude toward Israel. That stance, they said, could lead to attacks on Jewish New Yorkers. Exactly why should...

The term Jew is used in at least two senses in Scripture: to refer to those who are ethnically Jews and to those who are religiously Jews. Jesus was a Jew in both senses. In fact, he completed the Jewish religion by serving as the Messiah (Christ) whom the prophets had long foretold. The completed form of the Jewish religion is known as Christianity, and its adherents are Christians or “followers of the Christ.” Unfortunately, many people who were ethnically Jewish did not recognize Jesus’ role as Messiah and so did not accept Christianity, the completed form of Judaism. Instead,...