Shared grief, divided opinion on Israel among Jewish New Yorkers

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Members of the Orthodox Jewish community gather outside of a cultural center in a neighborhood in Brooklyn on October 12, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Updated 15 October 2023
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Shared grief, divided opinion on Israel among Jewish New Yorkers

  • New York’s Jewish population is the largest outside Israel — 1.6 million people with diverse political views regarding Israel and the Palestinian cause
  • For some, last week's Hamas attack bolstered their advocacy for Israel. Others want the US Congress to demand a cease-fire and cut off the billions in funding for Israel

NEW YORK: Jewish New Yorkers grieving after Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians are split over the country’s response, with some voices urging Israel to defend itself and others increasingly warning of Palestinian “genocide.”
New York’s Jewish population is the largest outside Israel — 1.6 million people whose diverse political views regarding the US ally and the Palestinian cause have come to the fore since Hamas’ bloody assault and taking of hostages, and the deadly Israeli bombing campaign that followed.
As Palestinians in northern Gaza attempt to flee an expected Israeli ground invasion, aid agencies are warning of a growing humanitarian crisis in the blockaded enclave that Israel has cut off from electricity, water and fuel supplies.
Friday evening hundreds of New Yorkers gathered in Brooklyn in solidarity against Israel’s offensive — which has killed more than 2,200 Palestinians — wielding a banner emblazoned with the message “Jews Say Stop Genocide Against Palestinians.”
Protesters called on the United States Congress to demand a cease-fire and cut off the billions in funding for Israel.
The rally was sponsored by the left-wing organization Jewish Voice for Peace, and saw demonstrators march to the home of top US Senator Chuck Schumer.
Schumer, who is Jewish, was preparing to lead a delegation of senators to Israel as a show of support.
“There is only one way to end violence and that is to address the root causes of everything happening: 75 years of Israeli military occupation and apartheid, and end US complicity in this systemic oppression,” said Jay Saper of JVP.

‘Existential threat’

Some Jewish New Yorkers, meanwhile, have said the horror of the Hamas attacks, which left more than 1,300 Israelis dead, has bolstered their advocacy for Israel.
Philip Wolf, 25, told AFP that he didn’t grow up religious, but “having had family wiped out in the Holocaust, I know the critical importance of the continued flourishing Jewish state.”
“After the events of the last week, that connection feels even stronger.”
Prominent Jewish organizations including the American Jewish Committee and United Jewish Appeal backed pro-Israel demonstrations this week that drew crowds in the thousands, as well as staunch support from most local authorities, including New York state’s Governor Kathy Hochul and the city’s mayor, Eric Adams.
Two days after the Hamas attack, Arthur Schneier, the longtime senior rabbi at Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue, called the assault “the most existential threat to Israel since its founding in 1948,” a message that echoed Israeli authorities.
“As the American Jewish community,” he said, “we have a special responsibility.”
New York Rabbi Melissa Buyer-Witman said, “I am confident the Americans will again unite and support Israel whether they are Jewish or not,” speaking to AFP during a prayer service for the dead.
“Continue to keep Israel in your faith, in your thoughts,” she said at the event held at Temple Emanu-El, the first reform Jewish congregation in New York.

‘Crime of apartheid’
Public opinion in the United States, and in particular American Jewish opinion, “has always had much more sympathy for Israel than the Palestinians,” said Alex Kane, a senior writer at the progressive magazine Jewish Currents.
But the past decade has seen an uptick in criticism of Israel, he said, including over the country’s treatment of Palestinians and its government’s sharp moves to the right.
In 2021 a poll of Jewish voters by the Jewish Electorate Institute made waves when a quarter of respondents deemed that “Israel is an apartheid state.”
“That’s a remarkable number — that’s a lot of American Jews,” said Kane. “It’s not the majority, but it is a minority that believes that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid” — a conclusion human rights organizations including Amnesty International have also stated.
Over the past week US leaders including President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have pledged unwavering support for Israel, publicly blessing the country’s reprisals that have included a relentless bombing campaign of Gaza and a call for 1.1 million people, approximately half of the enclave’s inhabitants, to immediately relocate south.
In accord with humanitarian responders and rights observers, organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace have denounced those actions — and the unequivocal backing from American leaders.
“We recognize that for many, the call to unconditionally support Israel, including sending increased military funding, is coming from a place of deep grief, fear and anxiety,” said Rabbi Alissa Wise, in a statement released by JVP.
“But we know that more weapons will only bring more harm to everyone.”
For Kane, it’s both possible and necessary to “say the attacks on Israeli civilians, and kidnapping of Israelis, is unconscionable — and collectively punishing Gaza is unconscionable.”
Through grief “we have to think critically,” he said, or risk fueling “hatred and very destructive, bloody actions that Israel is undertaking.”
“We have to be able to hold all these things at once.”


Renowned Kenyan human rights activist arrested

Updated 19 July 2025
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Renowned Kenyan human rights activist arrested

  • “The police have come to our home and are taking my husband, talking of terrorism and arson!” his wife said
  • Hussein Khalid, director of rights group Vocal Africa, confirmed the arrest on X

NAIROBI: Kenyan human rights campaigner Boniface Mwangi was arrested at his home in the east African country, the latest in a long series of arrests, his wife and an NGO said on Saturday.

The prominent activist and former photojournalist has been detained on many occasions, including in May when he was abducted in Tanzania and allegedly tortured by security forces over several days.

“The police have come to our home and are taking my husband, talking of terrorism and arson! They’ve taken his gadgets and said they are taking him to DCI HQ,” said his wife Njeri Mwangi on X, referring to the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.


The announcement of the arrest, with no clear accusations so far, quickly sparked a wave of condemnation on social media.

Hussein Khalid, director of rights group Vocal Africa, confirmed the arrest on X and said he was following the case “to understand the reasons” for the detention.

The hashtag #FreeBonifaceMwangi was circulating widely on social media.

On May 19, Mwangi was arrested along with award-winning Ugandan journalist and activist Agather Atuhaire in Tanzania’s economic capital, Dar es Salaam.

They were in the country to offer support to Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu, facing a potential death sentence in a treason trial, ahead of elections in October.

They were detained for several days and both accused police officers of acts of torture and sexual assault, and this week filed a case with the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).

Since the beginning of a large protest movement in Kenya in June 2024, President William Ruto has faced sharp criticism over a series of abductions and police violence.

Human rights organization allege that more than 100 people have been killed since the beginning of last year’s anti-government rallies, which were harshly suppressed.

Protests on July 7 were the deadliest in a year, with at least 38 deaths, including a 12-year-old girl.


UK govt facing legal action over refusal to evacuate sick children from Gaza

Updated 19 July 2025
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UK govt facing legal action over refusal to evacuate sick children from Gaza

  • Lawsuit against Foreign Office, Home Office revolves around three children requiring treatment 
  • UK govt says that it already contributes significant sums to aid children in Gaza

LONDON: The UK government is facing a legal challenge over its decision not to medically evacuate critically ill Palestinian children from Gaza, amid mounting pressure from campaigners and humanitarian groups, it was reported on Saturday.

According to a report by The Guardian, the legal action, which has been brought by law firm Leigh Day on behalf of three young children, will argue that British ministers have failed to account for the dire lack of medical options in Gaza, where thousands remain in urgent need of life-saving treatment.

The UK government has already supported healthcare for over half a million people in the Palestinian territories, including through field hospitals and medical supplies, and has facilitated access to the UK for some children through privately funded initiatives.

However, the claimants argue that current arrangements fall short of addressing the humanitarian emergency.

“The UK government has explained its failure to facilitate medical evacuations from Gaza on the basis that it supports treatment options in Gaza and the surrounding region and that there are visas available for privately funded medical treatment in the UK. However, these mechanisms are profoundly inadequate to meet the urgent needs of children in Gaza,” said Carolin Ott, the Leigh Day lawyer leading the legal action.

The case has been filed against both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, and revolves around three children, one aged two, and two siblings aged five, who require urgent medical attention unavailable in Gaza.

The two-year-old, referred to as Child Y, suffers from an arteriovenous malformation in his cheek, which causes daily bleeding and has left him in critical condition.

The other two children, both known as Child S, have the chronic kidney condition cystinosis nephropathy that has already led to kidney failure. One of the siblings can no longer walk, according to The Guardian report.

Campaigners say the UK’s current approach contrasts strongly with its actions in other conflicts, notably its evacuation of children during the Bosnian war and, more recently, from Ukraine.

The government, however, points to its ongoing humanitarian contributions, including a £7.5 million ($10 million) medical support package announced in May, as well as its support for Project Pure Hope, a UK-based initiative that successfully arranged for two children from Gaza to receive treatment in Britain earlier this year.

“We have helped several children with complex paediatric conditions access privately funded medical care in the UK, supporting an initiative by Project Pure Hope,” a government spokesperson said.

Legal documents submitted as part of the action reportedly indicate that Project Pure Hope requested the establishment of a UK-funded evacuation route from Gaza for medical cases, but that request was declined.

A spokesperson for the government added: “We have been clear the situation in Gaza is intolerable and that there must be an immediate ceasefire. We urge Israel to let vital humanitarian aid in and allow Gazans to receive urgent healthcare, including allowing the sick and wounded to temporarily leave the Gaza Strip to receive treatment.”

According to health officials in Gaza, more than 17,000 of the 58,000 Palestinians killed since Oct. 7, 2023, have been children.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 12,500 patients in Gaza require evacuation for treatment.

As of April 10, over 7,200 patients had been moved out of the territory to destinations including Egypt, the UAE, Qatar, the EU, and the US. Nearly 5,000 of those evacuated were children.

Dr. Hani Isleem, project coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has helped evacuate 22 patients, said that international reluctance to do more remained a serious obstacle.

“Some countries are reluctant to take in patients, fearing they might be perceived as facilitating ‘forced migration’ or as taking on the burden of the patients’ extended stay,” he said.

The UK government has until July 28 to respond to the legal pre-action letter, The Guardian’s report added.


Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week

Updated 19 July 2025
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Ukraine proposes fresh peace talks with Russia next week

  • Zelensky said: “The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up”
  • “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace — lasting peace”

KYIV: Kyiv has proposed to Moscow a new round of peace talks next week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday, after negotiations stalled in early June.

Two rounds of talks in Istanbul between Moscow and Kyiv have failed to result in any progress toward a ceasefire, instead yielding large-scale prisoner exchanges and deals to return the bodies of killed soldiers.

“Security Council Secretary Umerov also reported that he had proposed the next meeting with the Russian side for next week,” Zelensky said in his evening address. “The momentum of the negotiations must be stepped up,” he added.

Zelensky reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sitdown with Putin. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace — lasting peace,” he said.

At talks last month, Russia outlined a list of hard-line demands, including calls for Ukraine to cede more territory and to reject all forms of Western military support.

Kyiv dismissed them as unacceptable and at the time questioned the point of further negotiations if Moscow was not willing to make concessions.

The Kremlin said earlier this month it was ready to continue talks with Ukraine after US President Donald Trump gave Russia 50 days to strike a peace deal or face sanctions.

Trump also pledged to supply Kyiv with new military aid, sponsored by NATO allies, as its cities suffer ever-increasing Russian aerial attacks.

Russian strikes on Ukraine claimed another three lives Saturday.


Police arrest more than 50 Palestine Action demonstrators in London

Updated 19 July 2025
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Police arrest more than 50 Palestine Action demonstrators in London

  • Protests against ban on group held across the UK including in Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol
  • Hearing into legal challenge to the group’s terrorism designation to be held Monday

LONDON: More than 50 protesters have been arrested in central London supporting the banned group Palestine Action. 

Protests were held across the UK on Saturday, including in Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol after the group was outlawed as a terrorist organization.

The main demonstration was in Parliament Square in Westminster, where numerous people held up signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

Supporting a proscribed group in the UK is illegal. The protesters in London were detained under Section 13 of the UK’s Terrorism Act, which carries a possible jail term of six years.

On X the Metropolitan Police stated: “55 people were arrested in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action which is a proscribed group.”

Eight people were also arrested in Truro, Cornwall for a similar protest. Several others were detained in Manchester.

Defend Our Juries, the group behind the protests, said before the demonstrations that 120 people in the UK had been arrested for supporting Palestine Action so far.

The group was banned after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton on June 20, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.38 million) of damage to military aircraft.

Membership of direct support for Palestine Action now carries a prison term of up to 14 years. Displaying the group’s name on clothing could lead to a six-month jail sentence.

A hearing into a permission to bring a judicial review into the ban will be held at the High Court in London on Monday.


Tourist boat capsizes during a thunderstorm in Vietnam, leaving 34 dead, 8 people remain missing

Updated 19 July 2025
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Tourist boat capsizes during a thunderstorm in Vietnam, leaving 34 dead, 8 people remain missing

  • The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members
  • Rescue workers saved 11 people, and recovered the dead near the site of the capsizing

HA LONG BAY, Vietnam: A boat carrying tourists capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon during a sightseeing excursion, killing 34 people, state media reported. Eight others remain missing.

The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members — all of them Vietnamese — during the tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors, according to the reports.

Rescue workers saved 11 people, and recovered the dead near the site of the capsizing, VNExpress newspaper said. Twenty-three people remain missing. Authorities had earlier reported that 12 people had been rescued, but later revised the figure to 11.

The boat turned upside down because of strong winds, the newspaper said. A 14-year-old boy was among the survivors, and he was rescued four hours after being trapped in the overturned hull.

The newspaper said that most of the passengers were tourists, including about 20 children, from Hanoi, the country’s capital.

A tropical storm is also moving toward the area. A national weather forecast said that Storm Wipha is expected to hit Vietnam’s northern region, including Ha Long Bay’s coast next week.