The Latest From @MacTaskForce
Nicole was an MTF Fellow this past year at Penn State University. She first went to Israel as a campus influencer on an MTF trip during the height of the war in Gaza. What she saw in Israel was eye-opening and she eventually became a stalwart pro-Israel ally.
This past winter she returned to Israel, helping to lead her campus’ MTF trip, and develop more influential allies for the Jewish community.
We want to extend a huge thank you to Nicole, and to all of our other incredible fellows and participants from campuses around the country. Together we will continue spreading the truth and building powerful coalitions.
Dr. Alice Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and a 2024 Tasmanian Australian of the Year nominee, says colleagues within the UN system worked to dilute and weaken a formal letter documenting allegations arising from the October 7 attacks.
According to Edwards, some of her colleagues who had considered signing the letter were pressured not to do so, while the final version was significantly watered down from her original draft.
She also warned of growing politicization inside the UN system, a trend that continues to raise serious questions about how atrocities are documented, addressed, and publicly recognized.
When the mass abductions, torture, and brutality of October 7 are softened or minimized for political reasons, it undermines the credibility of the very institutions tasked with defending human rights.
Truth should never be negotiated away to pacify extremists.
Qatar Foundation is establishing new study-abroad partnerships with three HBCUs: Hampton University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Prairie View A&M University.
Qatar has already contributed billions of dollars to major U.S. universities, including Cornell and Carnegie Mellon. Critics and watchdog groups have raised serious concerns about how Qatari-funded education programs may shape curricula, institutional partnerships, and narratives around the Middle East and Israel.
Universities should be asking basic questions before deepening partnerships with any foreign state-linked foundation:
Who funds the program?
What are the terms?
What oversight exists?
What academic content, access, or influence comes with it?
Foreign-funded educational partnerships should never become vehicles for political influence, ideological pressure, or the laundering of extremist narratives into American academic life.
Transparency should be the minimum standard.
On his first state visit to Israel, Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi expressed gratitude on behalf of “six million Somaliland Muslims” and thanked Israel for recognizing Somaliland as an independent state.
In December 2025 Israel became the first country to formally recognize Somaliland, and this visit marks another major step in the growing relationship between the two countries.
This moment is a reminder that partnership with Israel is not confined by religion, region, or outdated political assumptions.
Relationships grounded in mutual respect, recognition, and shared interests are possible — and always worth building.
19-year-old Cornell student Austin Franco reportedly rejected an interview with Jewish-owned real estate software company, VryFlD, writing on a job board site that he was “not interested in working for a Jew.”
The NY Post reports that Cornell has since opened an investigation into the incident.
When this kind of hatred is expressed so casually, it shows how normalized antisemitism has become in mainstream society.
Jewish students and professionals deserve to be able to study, work, and participate in public life without being subject to bigotry just because they’re Jewish.
German-Spanish investor Dr. Raphael Nagel has launched a limited-edition kosher “Black Forest” gin, and 60% of the profits are being directed to support Jewish life in Spain. He told the Jerusalem Post that the funds will help pay for lawyers to prosecute offenders who have committed anti-Jewish crimes, psychologists to support victims, and protection for Jewish communities under growing pressure, especially in Barcelona.
The gin, called Bereshit Serie, is being framed not just as a luxury collectible but as a concrete way to strengthen Jewish continuity and help communities fight back against rising hostility. In a time when Jewish life in Europe is increasingly under attack, efforts that combine creativity, philanthropy, and practical support deserve attention.
Stephen A. Smith shared a heartfelt message with Israelis during last night’s Knicks game. He loves Israel and has a deep appreciation for the people he’s met from there, and he hopes to visit one day.
At a time when so much of the conversation about Israel is dominated by hostility and demonization, public voices expressing warmth, friendship, and basic human solidarity matter. Israelis are still going through a great deal, and hearing that kind of support from abroad is not insignificant.
Support for Israel doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it starts with just recognizing the humanity of its people.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained that UNRWA will play no role in the new humanitarian aid effort in Gaza.
Instead, a broader coalition of groups on the ground will lead delivery efforts, including other UN bodies, such as the World Food Programme, along with NGOs and humanitarian organizations like Samaritan’s Purse. He drew a firm line around UNRWA, which he described as having become a “subsidiary of Hamas.”
It matters which groups are allowed to provide “humanitarian aid,” to Gazans so that the humanitarian aid actually reaches civilians. Millions of dollars in aid cannot continue flowing through institutions that have been compromised.
