A report from Columbia University’s task force on antisemitism released on Friday revealed disturbing details about the violent harassment faced by Jewish students on the campus of the once prestigious university following the October 7 assault on Israel. The 91-page report, based on testimony from over 500 students, revealed the extent of the antisemitic incidents, including physical altercations and verbal abuse, faced by Jewish students, especially those who are visibly observant.  The hostility and violence began immediately after the October 7 assault on Israel, well before the Israeli ground war in Gaza was launched. Students testified about having their necklaces ripped off their necks and being pinned against walls.

Tens of thousands of Israelis surged into the streets Sunday night after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza, chanting “Now! Now!” as they demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cave to Hamas demands to bring the remaining captives home. The mass outpouring appeared to be the largest such demonstration in 11 months of war and protesters said it felt like a possible turning point, although the country is deeply divided. Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, further pressured the government by calling a general strike for Monday, the first since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war.

A man was charged with felony aggravated assault after an alleged glass bottle attack on two Jewish students on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, a city newspaper reported Saturday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 52-year-old suspect was also charged with simple assault, reckless endangering, resisting arrest and harassment. The Post-Gazette, citing a criminal complaint, said the man was seen on surveillance video sitting at a table across the street from the students as they walked near Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning on Friday evening. Police say he ran across the street and hit them from behind with the bottle. The students, who were wearing yarmulkas, were treated at the scene, the university said.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced the release of a new “Hanukkah Forever” stamp to honor what is otherwise known as Chanukah, which this year begins on December 25 and ends on January 2. Designed by Antonio Alcalá, the stamp features an ocean-blue background, a white menorah, and nine floating yellow flames. The design incorporates irregular lines to evoke a sense of human presence. A first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the stamp is scheduled for September 19 at the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. The event will be led by Michael Gordon, USPS government liaison director, and will include music and various activities. The ceremony is free and open to the public, with attendees encouraged to register online in advance.

Following the discovery of six hostage bodies in Gaza by the IDF, including that of American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and called for an end to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Guterres posted the following on his X account: “I will never forget my meeting last October with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other hostage families. Today’s tragic news is a devastating reminder of the need for the unconditional release of all hostages and an end to the nightmare of war in Gaza,” Guterres stated”. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, a member of Israel’s political-security cabinet, visited the site of the terror attack on Sunday morning near Chevron in which three police officers were murdered by terrorists, including one whose daughter was murdered battling Hamas terrorists in Sderot on October 7. Smotrich said at the site of the attack: “Here, where three police officers were murdered in cold blood, I appeal to the Prime Minister, members of the government and security officials: We’re a step away from an October 7th in Yehudah and Shomron, chalilah. We have an opportunity to do this time what we didn’t do in Gaza on the night between October 6th and 7th.

The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has issued a call to its supporters to carry out terror attacks in the United States and Europe, according to a post in its official weekly newsletter, al-Naba. The same post also claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Russian prison facility on August 23, which left four prison guards dead. The attack, carried out by knife-wielding prisoners at the IK-19 Surovikino facility in the Volgograd region, was eventually thwarted by authorities who killed the attackers. Reports previously tied the attackers to ISIS. The details of ISIS’s call for attacks on Western targets remain unclear, but it follows a similar appeal made by the group’s spokesman in March.

Sadly, some of the family members of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered yesterday from Gaza heard rumors of the news that their loved ones were found dead on social media. Elchanan Danino, the father of slain hostage Ori Danino, H”yd, told Army Radio that he was officially informed of the news of his son’s murder by an IDF representative on Sunday at 4 a.m. but he was exposed to rumors of the news hours beforehand – beginning on Motzei Shabbos at 8 p.m. “I want to utilize this platform to say – keyboard warriors, please stop!” the bereaved father said. “You murdered us beginning at 8 p.m.” “I beg and plead – for the sake of the other families, so they shouldn’t endure what we endured tonight.

A nationwide general strike, announced by Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David, will begin tomorrow morning, with Ben Gurion International Airport set to be closed, a spokesman for the labor federation confirmed on Sunday. The strike will commence at 6 a.m., with the airport closure scheduled for 8 a.m., when all takeoffs and landings will be halted. The duration of the airport’s closure remains uncertain, with the spokesman stating that it is “unclear” how long Israel’s only international hub will be shuttered. A full list of workplaces set to participate in the strike will be announced later, the spokesman added.

A bomb threat on Friday evening led to the evacuation of a shul in Miami Beach, Florida, and prompted a swift response from local police. At approximately 7:40 p.m., officers responded to Beit Chabad South Beach and the Lubavitch Educational Center on Alton Road and 12th Street after a shul member flagged down an officer due to a suspicious envelope left in front of the building. The envelope contained handwritten lettering indicating a bomb threat and the words “safe house” on the other side. As a precaution, the shul was evacuated, and officers established a perimeter, shutting down Alton Road between 11th and 13th streets and diverting cars. Bomb squad officers and K-9s were deployed to conduct a thorough sweep of the shul and learning center.