Germany's Far Right Just Made History

Germany's far right won a state election for the first time since World War II. Alternative for Germany took 44.4% of Sunday's vote in Saxony-Anhalt, its best result ever. German intelligence calls the local AfD branch "right-wing extremist." Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch's response: "Even the Nazi Party started small." ¹²

Macklemore used Ed Sheeran's own stage to call for "Free Palestine." Opening for Sheeran's MetLife Stadium shows this weekend, he told the crowd that criticizing Israel "in no way" meant criticizing Jews. The Israeli-American Council is petitioning Sheeran to drop him from his nine remaining dates. ³

Netanyahu ordered roughly 100 West Bank outposts torn down. The order follows a High Court ruling calling the government's inaction on settler violence "completely unacceptable," weeks after settlers from one outpost trapped Palestinian families in their homes in Qusra. Israel has ordered similar teardowns before; the outposts tend to come back. ⁴ The backstory →

Susan Sarandon was at the Venice Film Festival this weekend promoting her new film when she explained why the fallout from 2023 still hasn't lifted. Back then she told a pro-Palestinian rally that Jewish Americans were "getting a taste of what it is like to be Muslim in this country," lost her talent agency over it, and apologized, calling the line a "terrible mistake" that implied Jews had been "strangers to persecution." Three years later, her read on why she still isn't getting cast: "There are still very strongly held positions within my industry that are held by Zionists, and who have not relaxed their feelings towards me." An actress apologized for minimizing Jewish history, then blamed Jews for not forgetting it fast enough. ⁵

Today is 25 Elul, 5786, four days before Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins at sundown Friday. The new year opens the Ten Days of Repentance, the stretch between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur when Jewish tradition says the books are still open for editing. ⁶⁷