Holy Theft

Christian pilgrims praying along Jerusalem's Via Dolorosa are facing a new form of harassment:   getting spit on by ultra-Orthodox Jews   while Israeli police watch passively. Videos show men in black hats deliberately targeting clergy and tourists—a practice so common that local priests now call it   "the spitting epidemic."   The attacks stem from a radical interpretation of Jewish purity laws that views Christians as   "idolaters,"   but critics say Israel's government tolerates it as political payback to far-right coalition partners. While Netanyahu condemns antisemitism worldwide, his administration has   failed to prosecute a single spitter —even after Catholic leaders begged for protection. The message? In today's Jerusalem, even sacred spaces aren't safe from hate crimes with state approval. (Source:  AP News - Jewish Spitting on Christians in Jerusalem )

  When Netanyahu invoked the  Old Testament’s Amalek —a tribe God commanded Israel to  "totally destroy" —to describe Palestinians, he wasn’t just using poetic license. He was  green-lighting annihilation . Historians immediately recognized the dog whistle: Amalek appears in Israeli military training materials as code for  "existential threat,"  while far-right ministers openly call Gaza’s civilians  "human animals."  The subtext? What happened to Canaanites 3,000 years ago isn’t history—it’s a playbook. This  genocidal framing  isn’t new. In 2022, Netanyahu’s Likud party tweeted (then deleted) a video of him praising a rabbi who advocated nuking Gaza. Now, with 20,000+ dead in two months, the world is seeing what happens when ancient vengeance myths meet modern firepower. (Source:  Mother Jones - Netanyahu’s Amalek References )

In the West Bank's latest descent into lawlessness, Israeli settlers went on a violent rampage—but this time, even Israeli military vehicles weren't safe from their rage. Armed civilian militias torched Palestinian homes, shot at farmers, and then turned their guns on IDF troops who dared to intervene. The Israeli government's response? A collective shrug, despite soldiers reporting injuries from settler gunfire. This isn't random violence—it's systematic ethnic cleansing with a green light from Netanyahu's far-right cabinet. While the world watches Gaza, settlers are creating "facts on the ground" by making Palestinian life impossible. The IDF, caught between protecting civilians and obeying pro-settler politicians, increasingly looks like a spectator to its citizens' war crimes. (Source:  PBS NewsHour - Settler Attacks in West Bank )

An Israeli soldier’s   Instagram bragging session   backfired spectacularly when he posted footage of himself   ransacking a Gaza gift shop , smashing displays and stuffing stolen keffiyehs into his backpack like war trophies. The caption?   “Making memories!”   The internet erupted—Palestinians recognized the shop as a beloved   Old Gaza City landmark , while even some Israelis called it   “IDF thuggery on camera.” The IDF responded with their usual   “we’ll look into it”   (spoiler: they won’t). But the damage was done: another   unedited glimpse   of occupation’s reality—where Palestinian property is either rubble or loot. (Source:  Middle East Monitor - Outrage Over Soldier’s Vandalism )

March 16, 1190: Trapped inside York’s Clifford’s Tower by an antisemitic mob,   150 Jews   faced a horrific choice— be butchered by crusaders or burn themselves alive . They chose the fire. This wasn’t random violence; it was a   premeditated purge   fueled by blood libel lies and unpaid debts to local nobles. As flames consumed the tower, the attackers promptly marched to York Minster to   burn all Jewish loan records —erasing both lives and liabilities in one night. England’s first   mass lynching of Jews   set a dark precedent. Within a century, Edward I would expel all Jews from England. Today, the tower stands as a monument to medieval brutality—and a warning about where unchecked hate leads. (Source:  English Heritage - Massacre of the Jews )

1492: While Spain celebrated Columbus and burned Jewish books,   Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire   did something radical— he sent his navy to save them . As 200,000+ Sephardic Jews fled the Inquisition’s torture chambers, Ottoman admiral   Kemal Reis   evacuated thousands to safety in Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Izmir. The Sultan mocked Ferdinand and Isabella’s foolishness:   "You call Ferdinand wise, when he makes Spain poor to enrich my lands?" These refugees didn’t just survive—they thrived. Ottoman Jews revolutionized medicine, trade, and even   invented the first printing press in the Muslim world . Meanwhile, Spain’s economy collapsed without their expertise. Karma’s a historian. (Source:  History of Information )

While history books focus on European resistance to the Holocaust, a powerful new documentary reveals how Muslim communities across the Balkans and Middle East became unlikely safe havens for Jewish refugees. In Albania - the only European country with a Muslim majority - ordinary families sheltered Jews based on an ancient Islamic principle called   besa   (the sacred promise of protection). Their simple philosophy: "There is no such thing as a guest in our home - only family." The film documents how Albanian Muslims, from farmers to government officials, risked execution to hide Jewish families in basements, mountain villages, and even plain sight - sometimes disguising Jewish children as their own. By war's end, Albania had not only protected its native Jewish population but saved hundreds of refugees, leaving the country with more Jews than when the war began. (Source:  Daily Maverick - Muslims Sheltered Jews in Holocaust )

While the world remembers Oskar Schindler, few know the   Muslims who risked everything to save Jews   from Nazi genocide. In Albania—Europe’s only Muslim-majority country—families sheltered   2,000+ Jews , honoring   besa , an Islamic code of protection. In Bosnia,   Imam Mustafa Hardaga   hid Jewish families in his Sarajevo mosque until the SS arrested him. Even Iran’s diplomat in Paris,   Abdol Hossein Sardari , issued fake passports to thousands of Jews, exploiting Nazi racial myths to keep them safe. The   I Am Your Protector   campaign is finally spotlighting these untold stories—proving   courage has no religion   and humanity can triumph over hate. (Source:  Independent - Muslims Who Saved Jews )

Meet  Abdol Hossein Sardari —the James Bond of Holocaust rescuers. As Iran’s diplomat in Nazi-occupied Paris, this unsung hero exploited a loophole: the Third Reich bizarrely considered  Persian Jews "Aryans"  (thanks to Iran’s ancient ties to Germany). Sardari issued  thousands of fake passports  to desperate Jews, branding them as "Jugutis" (a made-up Muslim-Jewish sect). When the Gestapo got suspicious, he bluffed with bureaucratic jargon and  bribed officials with caviar . Result? He saved  2,000-3,000 lives  while Tehran’s government (officially neutral) turned a blind eye. Post-war, the ayatollahs erased his story—until now. (Source: The Jews of Iran 10 Amazing Facts )