Latest news with #IsraeliEmbassy
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Daily Mail
How an influencer mum's trip to Israel triggered a referral to anti-radicalisation police... and to officers knocking on her door
A mother was referred to anti-radicalisation group Prevent and investigated by the police over concerns she had been radicalised because she had visited Israel. Holly Passmore, 43, was stunned to find officers at her door two weeks after her visit to the country. The single mother-of-two, who is not Jewish, had been part of a delegation of social media influencers invited by the Israeli embassy for a trip that included visiting Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutzim where British hostage Emily Damari was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. The police demanded to know why she had visited Israel, whether she was planning to go back and whether she felt safe to go there. 'I asked them, 'What do you think happened? That the Jews kidnapped me?'' said Ms Passmore, who has had an interest in Jewish people after studying the Holocaust for her degree. 'I kept saying to them, 'I don't understand why you are here' and they said only that they were there to check on me.' She said when the officers first knocked on the door of her County Durham home and explained they were there to talk about safeguarding, she worried it was about her autistic son. 'But then they mentioned Israel and said, 'We aren't here about your son, but about you, we've had a complaint'. I was absolutely gobsmacked,' said Ms Passmore of the July 4 visit. 'Then they came out with all these questions, 'When did you go? Why did you go? Who did you go with? Why are you interested in this?' I said to them, 'Is this real?' She had a second visit ten days later after she complained about her doorstep interrogation to local Reform councillor and former television presenter Darren Grimes, who wrote to Durham Constabulary. This time Ms Passmore, who posts on X as @MummyisTired and has nearly 17,000 followers, faced a Prevent officer and a police superintendent. It was the first time she learned someone had reported her to Prevent. 'They kept saying to me that if the person has vulnerabilities, they have to be checked out, but I've looked into Prevent since and that doesn't explain the processes they've had to get through to being on my doorstep,' said Ms Passmore, who is on the autism spectrum and has ADHD. 'The Prevent wording is that it's for people who are vulnerable to exploitation but that is theoretically anybody. Who do they think is exploiting me into what?' Ms Passmore said that on the second visit she was told the investigation wasn't about her trip to Israel, even though that is what all of the questions on the earlier interrogation were about. Fiona Sharpe, a spokeswoman for Labour Against Antisemitism, said: 'The stated aim of Prevent is to safeguard against people, particularly vulnerable ones, from being radicalised. It is hard to understand what evidence was given to them to warrant visiting a woman just because she had visited Israel. Visiting Israel is certainly not a crime.' Dr Daniel Allington, an expert on anti-Semitism at King's College London, said attacking people who support Israel is a new tactic of extremists. He said: 'People of a certain political persuasion love to make the malicious insinuation that Britons travelling to Israel are somehow equivalent to Britons travelling to Isis. But Israel is an ally, a trading partner, a democracy – in every sense a friend of the UK.' A Durham Constabulary spokeswoman said: 'Each Prevent referral is reviewed to determine whether further action is required including, where appropriate, assessment to determine if there is an immediate security threat, or whether a vulnerable person is at genuine risk of radicalisation.'
Washington Post
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Netanyahu attends service in the US for slain Israeli Embassy staffers
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service Thursday for two slain Israeli Embassy staffers at the end of his trip to Washington, where he met with President Donald Trump about a ceasefire deal in Gaza and other issues. Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, two colleagues who had been on the verge of getting engaged , were fatally shot May 22.
Arab News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Filipinos push back against growing Israeli presence on popular tourist island
MANILA: Concerns over the presence of Israeli visitors are growing on a southern Philippine island, locals say, as they protest plans to establish an Israeli community center amid fears of displacement and reports of tourist misconduct. Siargao — a resort island off Surigao del Norte province in Mindanao — is the Philippines' premier surfing site and one of the country's top tourist destinations. It has lately become popular among Israelis, whose arrival over the past few months has resulted in numerous complaints. Siargao-based singer and community organizer Maria Lalaine Tokong went viral last week when she highlighted that many of the tourists were 'disregarding the culture, the customs,' of the place. 'We are feeling less at home in our home,' she wrote. 'I speak up because I refuse to let our identity, our peace, and our safety be erased.' Tokong's post has since resulted in tens of thousands of interactions, with Filipinos sharing similar concerns. It came against the backdrop of Israeli plans to open a Chabad house — a Jewish community center and place of worship — on the island. The plans have been opposed by the local community, which met Israeli embassy representatives in May. 'We don't want it,' Tokong told Arab News. 'When we talked about the cultural center with the Israeli embassy, we specifically told them, 'What's the purpose?' We already have an education system. We already have a church here.' With new officials taking office following recent elections, she is now preparing with other community members to take the case forward with the local administration. In April, Project Paradise, a Siargao-based non-governmental organization, held a town hall meeting with residents and local business owners to gather their complaints. 'We received reports primarily regarding disrespect for local customs and values — ranging from noise disturbances, reckless driving, disregard for modesty in dress in rural areas, to environmental irresponsibility such as leaving trash on beaches or protected areas,' Sofia Nicole de Asis, president of Project Paradise, told Arab News. While De Asis said that the incidents 'are not isolated to any one group, and our stance has always been that misconduct is a behavioral issue, not a nationality-based one,' members of the Facebook group Siargao Business Classified 2.0 have been reporting Israeli tourists calling local staff 'slaves,' illegally raising their flags on boats, trashing local homestays, violating the island's no-noise curfew past midnight, and verbally and physically assaulting locals. 'They have no right to put up a cultural center as they have no roots or connection to Filipinos' history. 'Free Palestine' today, so we won't be shouting 'Free Siargao' tomorrow,' one user wrote, as others complained over inaction from the island's administration. 'These people were welcomed into our country and treated with genuine hospitality, yet they choose to disregard our laws and disrespect our people and communities. The local government of Siargao should strictly enforce all local rules and regulations,' another user said. 'For the local government in Siargao, you better act. Remember you're still part of the Philippines, you might one day be surprised that Siargao is now 'the promised land,'' another commented. Officials in General Luna, one of the main towns on Siargao, did not respond to requests for comment from Arab News.
South China Morning Post
03-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Police deploy to Israeli embassy in Copenhagen to examine suspicious package
Danish police said on Thursday they have deployed officers to the Israeli embassy in the Nordic country's capital to examine a suspicious package. Advertisement Copenhagen police wrote on X that 'we are present at the Israeli embassy, where we are investigating a shipment received'. They added that 'we currently have no further information'. Danish public broadcaster DR showed photos of several police and emergency vehicles near the embassy, including what they reported was a hazmat emergency response team vehicle. Police wrote on X that they had blocked roads near the embassy. Advertisement Anders Frederiksen, duty chief at the Copenhagen Police, told Danish daily Ekstra Bladet that 'ordinary citizens in the area should not be worried'.
LBCI
03-07-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Danish police says investigating package delivered to Israeli embassy
Danish police said on Thursday they were present at the Israeli embassy, located just north of Copenhagen, and were inspecting a package the embassy had received. Reuters
