Arno Rosenfeld

What did she say?

As Iran’s Jews prepare for Purim, their government calls its story proof of a past genocide A besieged community navigates the holiday’s themes in real time — measuring loyalty to the regime against survival

Beyond the threat Iran poses to Israel and its own people, Jews in Iran have been living in an impossible situation where the only way to survive is to genuflect to the regime. We posted this at @forward.com yesterday, before the strike began and ahead of Purim, which begins Monday night.

My sense is they would like it to be some third thing but the substance is they’re praying for one side in the war and accepting the most generous possible justification for the war coming from the U.S./Israel

Reform movement comes out in favor of the war

A major shift, via Gallup. More from @joshuakeating.bsky.social www.vox.com/politics/480...

Important+interesting story on support for Hamas among Americans under 30. Support is probably an overstatement or not quite the right term, but certainly willingness to excuse/deflect.

Young Americans increasingly likely to view Hamas as 'resistance,' not terrorists Polling hints at growing sympathy — but also misses important complexities of views on the militant group that controls Gaza

The full article gets into a lot more about how this dynamic came to emerge and what it means 👇

forward.com/news/806926/...

Ahmed Foud Alkhatib, perhaps the most prominent Palestinian critic of Hamas in the U.S., said that even he has been attacked by pro-Israel activists when he strays from critiquing Hamas to talk about far-right Israeli actions.

And yet there's also a fear among Palestinian-Americans and other supporters that openly criticizing Hamas — or criticizing pro-Hamas sentiment — will play into the hands of those who seek to absolve Israel of any wrongdoing rather than leading to a more even-handed discussion of the facts.

In public opinion polls, Hamas generally receives less than majority support among Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank — even as many outside the region view it as the most legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

Still, the trend of growing support for Hamas has alarmed some Palestinian analysts like Sayegh who are glad to see uncritical support for Israel crumbling but worry that Hamas is reaping the benefits despite its strategic blunders and authoritarian tendencies.

Not everyone whitewashes Hamas's track record, but they point out that Israel has also committed atrocities — a realization that muddies the prevailing narrative of a battle between Israel as the good guys and Hamas as the bad guys: "Everyone has committed crimes," Ahmed Moor told me.

And among avowed Hamas sympathizers in the U.S., few defend the group's most egregious atrocities.

Rather, they present them as exaggerated or fabricated (including claims that Oct. 7 was a false flag attack) and highlighting often dubious claims about how well Israeli hostages were treated

Hamas has also sought to burnish its reputation among progressives in the U.S. by presenting themselves as pragmatists dealing with an intransigent — and increasingly radical — Israeli government

At the same time, regardless of what people think about Hamas itself intensified polarization means many people respond to polls by picking the answer that matches with their "side" of the conflict — and for young people, that means siding against Israel.

And the taboo against supporting Hamas is weaker among disillusioned young people who think "if we’ve been lied to about Israel’s true nature, maybe that means we’re also being lied to about Oct. 7 and groups like Hamas,” explained Tariq Kenney-Shawa of Palestinian-led think tank Al-Shabaka.

What's going on here?

Experts said the carnage in Gaza has buoyed support for armed Palestinian resistance, and Hamas is often the only game in town.

"Resistance has become basically equal to Hamas and Hamas equal to resistance,” Khalil Sayegh, a Palestinian writer and political analyst, told me.

And a breakdown of the @ajcglobal.bsky.social's State of Antisemitism polling shows a big jump in the share of Americans under 30 who believe Hamas is a "resistance group" rather than a "terrorist organization."

And yet, as time has passed, data suggests that young Americans have started warming up to Hamas.

The Harvard/Harris poll has tracked support for Israel over Hamas among 18-24 year olds since Oct. 7 and starting last spring the two sides reached rough parity.

In the aftermath of Oct. 7, many rush to paint the pro-Palestinian movement in the U.S. as supporters of Hamas terrorism — often relying on tenuous claims about slogans and political platforms that didn't hold up to scrutiny. 🧵

In my newsletter: A mayoral candidate in LA is trying to convince Jewish voters she’s not Zohran Mamdani

Plus: Trump convenes his Board of Peace • Jesse Jackson's Jewish ally • The Zionism controversy roiling the romance world • and Netflix’s 'Nobody Wants This' returns.

mailchi.mp/forward/1292...

Most American Jews aren’t ‘Zionist’ — so what are they? A survey found that even many Jews who don't identify as Zionists are still attached to Israel but also accuse it of apartheid and genocide.

If you dig into the data, reports @arnorosenfeld.bsky.social, you'll see "nearly half of the Jews who don’t identify as either Zionist or anti-Zionist," who make up 56% of the total, "think Israel committed genocide against the Palestinians" and is guilty of apartheid.
forward.com/news/antisem...

The longtime director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism — which tracks this kind of thing on social media — left last month to work for another watchdog group that has been deeply critical of the ADL’s political shift

Thanks for sharing!

Washington Post cuts a third of its staff in a blow to a legendary news brand The Washington Post has laid off one-third of its staff, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus and its books coverage

Yeah although they did run a wire story piece on the layoffs that I guess just wasn't captured by the AI search tool

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Hm...

9th grader

The Antisemitism Beat: This week we interviewed @arnorosenfeld.bsky.social, the @forward.com
antisemitism beat reporter, about covering antisemitism, how it has changed in recent years, and how archives and history might help us better understand what’s going on today.

Jackson Synagogue Burning Suspect Tells Judge, 'Jesus Christ Is Lord' A suspect in the arson fire at the Beth Israel Congregation in Jackson, Mississippi, allegedly admitted to targeting it because of its “Jewish ties.”

Stephen Pittman, a 19-year-old man accused of setting fire to Jackson’s only synagogue, Beth Israel, declared that “Jesus Christ is lord” after the judge asked him if he understood his rights in federal court today.

@nickjudin.bsky.social reports + AP:

Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods 404 Media has obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phones without a warrant and follow their owners home or t...

New: we've obtained material explaining how an ICE surveillance system, called Webloc, works. Draw shape on a map, see all phones available there, follow them home. All without warrant

“This is a very dangerous tool in the hands of an out-of-control agency.” www.404media.co/inside-ices-...