Gregorio

Israel may be losing one of its last major allies in Europe. As more details emerge from the testimonies of Sumud Flotilla activists, the divide between Rome and Jerusalem appears headed toward a complete rupture.

And "saying it" is the most important thing for these people, whether it's "breach of international law" or "genocide" or "apartheid" or "dogs trained to rape" or "colonisers." Saying it and repeating it endlessly. And once enough of them are doing it then it just begins to seem like common sense and anyone who objects, even slightly, is a "denier." Because "everybody knows."

Zohran Mamdani just became the first NYC mayor in 61 years to skip the Israel Day Parade. Every mayor since 1964 showed up. Mamdani won’t stand with Jewish New Yorkers.

Good. (And it’s antisemitic, btw, to conflate Jewish New Yorkers with Israel.)

what’s the greatest opening line to a song?

what’s the greatest opening line to a song?

This Month in 1882, Russia Turned its Jewish Population into Official Targets. After the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander II by non-Jewish socialist revolutionaries, antisemites falsely blamed the Jews. A wave of pogroms erupted across the Pale of Settlement — the vast western region of the Russian Empire where Jews were legally confined and restricted from living in most rural areas. In May 1882, Tsar Alexander III signed the infamous May Laws (Temporary Regulations). These decrees further brutalized Jewish life by: - Forbidding Jews from settling in rural areas or villages - Banning Jews from buying or leasing land outside towns - Prohibiting Jewish businesses from operating on Sundays and Christian holidays The combined effect of the pogroms and May Laws triggered one of the largest Jewish exoduses in history. Between 1881 and 1914, approximately 2 million Jews fled the Russian Empire, the vast majority heading to the United States. But persecution also planted the seeds of Jewish self-reliance. Jews had maintained a continuous presence in the Land of Israel in every century since the Roman destruction of Judea in 135 CE. Despite repeated expulsions and exiles, small communities always remained, and Jews who were forced to flee consistently returned when possible. In 1882, a group of young Ukrainian Jewish students formed BILU (“Beit Yaakov Lechu Venelkha” — “House of Jacob, come let us go”). Drawing on the biblical call and the motto “If I do not help myself, who will help me?”, they became the first organized Zionist movement of the modern era. They rejected passive waiting for Russian goodwill and pioneered the return to the ancestral homeland — determined to live as free Jews in charge of their own destiny. The May Laws didn’t just accelerate emigration. They accelerated the awakening that would eventually lead to Jewish sovereignty in our ancient home.