Spanish chess tournament bans Israeli flags, global body overrules

YOAV ETIEL

Chess players from Russia and Israel play at the 31st Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, August 21, 2025. / (photo credit: REUTERS/Raghed Waked)

Israeli chess players were informed on Friday that they would not be allowed to compete under the Israeli flag at a tournament scheduled to take place in Spain’s Basque region, and they would have to play under the neutral flag of FIDE, the World Chess Federation.According to the organizers, participants who refused would be disqualified and expelled from the tournament, which is scheduled to take place between September 12th and 18th.

The Israeli participants include Erez Kupervaser, who lost his sister, Shani, on October 7, when she was murdered by Hamas terrorists while attending the Nova music festival.

“I think about how my sister was murdered just for being Israeli. And how the world treats us now, after so much suffering. I immediately thought of Shani. It was harsh, a painful feeling. I was deeply saddened and angry at the organizers,” Kupervaser said after learning about the new rule.

>Eventually, after pressure from the Israeli Chess Federation and extensive talks held by its CEO, Gil Boruchovsky, and chairman Zvika Barkai, as well as senior FIDE officials, the global body required the organizers to allow the Israeli flag to be displayed next to Israeli players competing in Spain.

Chess board (credit: ISRAELI CHESS ASSOCIATION)

FIDE steps up for Israel and against discrimination

“FIDE had no prior knowledge of this decision, did not make any ruling on this, nor was it consulted by the organizers,” read an official statement by the organization.

Macron’s Meeting with American Jewry ‘Won’t Happen’ Amid Palestinian Recognition Drive, Surge in Antisemitism

i24 News and Algemeiner Staff

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference in Paris, France, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to set up a meeting with American Jewish leaders later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

i24NEWS has learned that the meeting won’t happen, firstly because Macron was only available for the meeting ahead of the UN General Assembly during Rosh Hashanah, and yet, a person invited to meet with Macron and who has knowledge of the discussions told i24NEWS the sit-down simply wasn’t going to happen, anyway.

“I think the organizations, for the most part, would not have participated,” the person said, adding that AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee would have likely received invitations, among other entities.

“The guy has a 15% popularity rating in France. It’s not our job to help him out,” the person said.

Asked by i24NEWS whether Macron’s push for greater Palestinian state recognition or his lack of action in tackling antisemitism at home led to the stance of organized American Jewry, the person said it’s more of “the climate” which allows one to say ‘Look, the American Jews met with me,’ regardless of the content.”

The person said they are sure, if a meeting would have happened, that everybody in the room would have taken a hard line with Macron, including his “statements on Israel, the failure to respond to antisemitism” and France’s announcement this summer that it will recognize a Palestinian state later this month, and is leading an effort to get more countries to do the same.

But, the person told i24NEWS they are convinced that, in the end, while no final decision actually had to be taken, there was enough pressure that a consensus would have been reached to decline the meeting.

Of the timing of Rosh Hashanah allowing for leadership to not be forced to officially say no to Macron, the person said “G-d saves us every time.”

Another source familiar with the matter noted that it cannot be ruled out that Macron may eventually succeed in arranging a meeting with certain representatives, as the organizations are not a single unified body. However, he is unlikely to be welcomed by the overwhelming majority of groups representing American Jewry.

i24NEWS has also learned that French President Emmanuel Macron explored the possibility of visiting Israel ahead of the convention, but was advised by the Prime Minister’s Office that the timing was inappropriate. The message came as Macron continues to push for recognition of a Palestinian state, a move Israel strongly opposes. Sources further told i24NEWS that Israel is weighing additional retaliatory measures against Macron, including the potential closure of the French consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily serves Palestinians in the West Bank.

Szef Organizacji Wyzwolenia Palestyny ​​(OWP), Jaser Arafat, przybył dziś rano do siedziby ONZ. Będzie pierwszym mówcą w debacie otwierającej Zgromadzenie Ogólne ONZ w sprawie Palestyny. Zgromadzenie Ogólne przegłosowało 14 października zaproszenie OWP do udziału w obradach na ten temat. Jaser Arafat rozmawia z Sekretarzem Generalnym ONZ Kurtem Waldheimem tuż przed otwarciem debaty w Zgromadzeniu Ogólnym.

Pokolenie Homo sovieticus

Andrzej Koraszewski

French Lawmaker Under Fire for Pro-Hamas Comments, Questioning Antisemitic Attack Figures

Ailin Vilches Arguello

A conference by La France Insoumise MEP and pro-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan was held on Dec. 13, 2024, on the Saint Martin d Heres campus, in the Grenoble suburbs, France. Photo: Benoit Pavan / Hans Lucas via Reuters Connect

European Union lawmaker Rima Hassan is drawing criticism after spreading pro-Hamas rhetoric and questioning the reported surge of antisemitic attacks targeting France’s Jewish community, renewing concerns over her promotion of hateful ideology.

In a Tuesday interview with French outlet Thinkerview, Hassan defended the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and asserted the Palestinian terrorist group is justified in denying the Jewish state’s right to exist.

“Historically, Hamas has maintained that Israel has no right to exist, arguing that it has taken our lands and settled on them. In this regard, they are correct,” said Hassan, a 33-year-old lawyer and activist who last year became the first French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament, the EU’s law-making body.

“Oct. 7 is something that must be punished, yes, but it should be put into context before being condemned,” she continued.

This is not Hassan’s first instance of seemingly endorsing Hamas’s violence against Israelis.

The politician, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, has repeatedly faced controversies and investigations for promoting hateful speech.

“We have over 100 years of colonization, we are being massacred, we have over a million martyrs, and these French people don’t seem to understand that we want our independence,” Hassan said during the interview.

Earlier this year, the French diplomat was expelled from Israel after being arrested while attempting to reach Gaza aboard the vessel Madleen to “break the Israeli blockade.”

She has also been subject to an investigation in Paris for “apology of terrorism” following an interview given after the Oct. 7 atrocities, in which she justified Hamas’s actions.

During her interview, Hassan also questioned the rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes and targeted attacks against France’s Jewish community since the Hamas onslaught in Israel.

She expressed distrust in the figures reported by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) – the main representative body of French Jews – on antisemitism.

“Yes, there have been more antisemitic acts, but honestly, I do not trust the CRIF’s figures at all,” the French lawmaker said.

According to the French Interior Ministry, 646 antisemitic incidents were recorded from January to June this year — a drop from the previous year’s first-half record high but a 112.5 percent increase compared with the same period in 2023, when 304 incidents were reported.

Yonathan Arfi, president of CRIF, strongly condemned Hassan’s remarks, denouncing them as a dangerous distortion of reality and an attack on France’s Jewish community.

“Downplaying, minimizing, and even hiding antisemitism is a core part of the strategy of LFI, and specifically of Rima Hassan,” Arfi said, referring to the left-wing French political party La France Insoumise. The party, of which Hassan is a member, has been widely accused of animus toward not only Israel but also the French Jewish community.

“She ignores that these figures come from the Ministry of the Interior, effectively pretending to forget that they are official French statistics,” Arfi continued.

Just last week, a 34-year-old Algerian man was sentenced to 40 months in prison for threatening passengers with a knife and making antisemitic death threats after boarding a train at Cannes station days earlier.

“Today, I want to kill Jews. I am Algerian, and I want to support the Palestinians,” the assailant said, according to French media.

In another incident earlier this year, a Jewish man wearing a kippah was brutally attacked and called a “dirty Jew” in Anduze, a small town in southern France.

In March, Arie Engelberg, the rabbi of Orléans, was violently attacked while walking home with his nine-year-old son from the synagogue in the city, located south of Paris.

According to Engelberg, the attacker asked if he was Jewish, and when the rabbi replied yes, the assailant began hurling antisemitic insults, including “all Jews are sons of —,” and attempted to film him. The attacker then allegedly started punching Engelberg and bit him until several people stepped in to help.

Antisemitism in France continued to surge to alarming levels across the country last year, with 1,570 incidents recorded. The total number of antisemitic outrages in 2024 was a slight dip from 2023’s record total of 1,676, but it marked a striking increase from the 436 tallied in 2022. The figures, presented by CRIF in its annual report, were compiled by the Jewish Community Protection Service using data jointly recorded with the Ministry of the Interior.

The report found that 65.2 percent of antisemitic acts last year targeted individuals, with more than 10 percent of these offenses involving physical violence.

One such incident occurred in June, when a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped by three Muslim boys in a Paris suburb. The child told investigators that the assailants called her a “dirty Jew” and hurled other antisemitic comments at her during the attack.

In another egregious attack, an elderly Jewish woman was attacked in a Paris suburb by two assailants who punched her in the face, pushed her to the ground, and kicked her while hurling antisemitic slurs, including “dirty Jew, this is what you deserve.”

Northwestern’s president resigns amid fallout of anti-Israel protests

Mike Wagenheim

Michael Schill, president of Northwestern University, testifies during a hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce, May 23, 2024. Credit: House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Beset by federal funding cuts tied to his handling of campus antisemitism, Michael Schill, president of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., announced his resignation on Thursday.

Schill served as president for three years and will remain in the role until an interim replacement is named. He has stated that he will continue to challenge the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which froze some $790 million in funds in April, citing civil-rights violations and campus antisemitism. 

The freeze has led to significant layoffs and a halt to new hiring.

“President Schill will leave behind a legacy of not only failing to deter antisemitism on campus but worsening it,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, wrote in a statement. “These students not only deserve better, but the law requires it.”

In May, the administration opened an investigation into the academic institution for discriminating against Jewish students.

“As I reflect on the progress we have made and what lies ahead, I believe now is the right time for new leadership to guide Northwestern into its next chapter,” Schill said in a statement. “Therefore, I have decided, in consultation with the leadership of the Board of Trustees, that I will step down as president.”

Schill, who is Jewish, came under heavy criticism for negotiating with anti-Israel demonstrators to end their disruptive encampment in 2024. He noted that he didn’t cave to demands that the school divest from Israel and end an academic program that focused on Israeli innovation.

Still, Northwestern did agree to answer questions about its investments, re-establish its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility, and include Gazan students and faculty in its existing Scholars at Risk admissions and hiring program, among other concessions to protesters.

Schill insisted that the outcome was better for the university than police involvement to break up the encampment.

“Mr. Schill, you cut a disgraceful deal with the encampment that prompted seven Jewish members of your own antisemitism advisory committee to resign in protest,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said at a congressional hearing last year on campus antisemitism, when he testified.

In May 2024, Jewish students at Northwestern filed lawsuits against the school, alleging civil-rights violations by permitting a hostile environment toward them.