Jewish

March 25 (UPI) — British counter-terrorism police made two arrests early Wednesday in connection with an arson attack that destroyed four Jewish volunteer ambulances parked outside a synagogue in London.

The men, aged 47 and 45, were arrested in dawn raids at addresses in northwest London and central London on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and taken to a London police station, where they are being held in custody, the Metropolitan Police said in a news release.

The Met said it was continuing to work to identify another suspect, one of three captured on CCTV pouring accelerant onto the ambulances in the Golders Green area of north London before igniting it in the early hours of Monday.

The fires caused oxygen cylinders inside the vehicles to explode, shattering windows in nearby residential properties and forcing the evacuation of at least 34 people, but no one was injured.

Calling it an “appalling attack,” Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said officers had been working the case around the clock.

“This appears to be an important breakthrough in the investigation, but we’re also mindful that CCTV footage of the incident suggests there were at least three people involved. We fully recognise the local community will still be concerned and our investigation very much remains active and we will continue to work to identify and seek to arrest all of those who may have been involved,” Flanagan said.

More than 260 additional police officers, backed by firearms teams, have been deployed on the streets of Golders Greens and other areas of London with sizable Jewish populations to provide protection and reassurance to those communities.

Police do not routinely carry guns in the United Kingdom.

“We know that community concerns remain heightened and I want to reassure the community that an enhanced, bespoke policing plan and activity, which is particularly focused around vulnerable areas right across London, will continue over coming days and weeks,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams.

“This includes specialist officers and capability being deployed alongside local officers to help protect certain locations and will also involve highly visible armed police patrols to serve as a deterrent to anyone seeking to cause our communities harm. I must stress that these are precautionary and not in response to any specific threat, and we continue to work alongside our colleagues in Counter Terrorism policing to support their investigation,” added Williams who is responsible for policing north west London.

The incident is being treated as an anti-Semitic hate crime, not terrorism, but the Met is investigating a claim made online by an Iranian-linked Islamist group that it carried out the attack.

Speaking during a visit to Washington on Monday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley warned of what he said was the “rapid growth” of threats from the Iranian regime but said it was “too early” to place the blame on Tehran.

Sir Mark said police were pursuing several leads, including “an online claim of responsibility by an Islamist group who have claimed other attacks across Europe and have potential Iranian state links.”

The ambulances belonged to Hatzola Trust, a non-profit volunteer-run Jewish community group providing first responder medical care and hospital transportation free of charge to residents of north London of all religions.

Hatzola works alongside about 2,000 ambulances and support vehicles operated by the London Ambulance Service which is part of the free National Health Service.

Run by volunteers, it has served the north London community of Golders Green, which has a large Jewish population, since 1979. There are dozens of synagogues throughout the area and according to the London Data Store, 49% of residents in the Golders Green ward identify as Jewish.

March 20 (UPI) — The U.S. Justice Department sued Harvard University on Friday, accusing the Ivy League school of failing to protect Jewish students in the wake of the war in Israel and Gaza.

Filed in Boston, the lawsuit said Harvard allowed a “hostile education environment” for Jewish students who were physically assaulted and harassed. Protests sparked at Harvard and other U.S. college campuses after the start of the Oct. 7, 2023, war.

“The United States cannot and will not tolerate these failures and brings this action to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI, and to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies to a discriminatory institution,” the lawsuit read, referencing a federal law banning discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal funds.

Harvard denied the allegations laid out in the lawsuit, saying it has taken steps to embrace and respect Jewish and Israeli students on campus.

“Harvard has taken substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of anti-Semitism and actively enforces anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus,” a statement from the school said.

“We also have enhanced training and education on anti-Semitism for students, faculty and staff, and launched programs to promote civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom.

“Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference.”

The administration has actively targeted Harvard since President Donald Trump took office in 2025. Trump’s official grievance against the university is that he claims the school failed to protect Jewish students during protests against Israel during the war that began in 2023.

In February, the Justice Department sued Harvard for failing to hand over admissions documents for an investigation about whether the admission process discriminates against white people. Earlier in February, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon would end its academic partnership with Harvard over what he called a “woke” institution that is not welcoming to the U.S. military.

On Feb. 3, Trump said he was now seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard but didn’t explain why.

“We are now seeking One Billion Dollars in damages, and want nothing further to do, into the future, with Harvard University,” Trump said on Truth Social.

On Dec. 19, the administration filed an appeal against a judge who blocked his order to cut funding by $2 billion.

March 14 (UPI) — An explosion early Saturday at a Jewish school in Amsterdam was a “targeted attack” fueled by anti-Semitism, the city’s mayor said.

It was the second attack on Jewish institutions in the Netherlands in as many days.

A statement from Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said a suspect detonated an explosive device along the outer wall of a school in the neighborhood of Buitenveldert. She said there was limited damage to the facility and no injuries reported.

“This is a cowardly act of aggression towards the Jewish community,” she said. “I understand the fear and anger of Jewish Amsterdammers. They are increasingly confronted with anti-Semitism, and that is unacceptable.

“A school must be a place where children can receive lessons safely. Amsterdam must be a place where Jews can live safely.”

Halsema said police were investigating the explosion using camera images of the suspect who detonated the device.

The attack in Amsterdam came one day after an explosion and fire at a synagogue early Friday in Rotterdam. Police said the fire went out on its own and no one was injured.

A statement from the police department said officers later arrested four teenage men outside another synagogue in the city believing them t be involved in the earlier attack. The driver of the vehicle allegedly had been driving erratically and matched the description of one of the perpetrators at the first synagogue.

The arrested suspects were from Tilburg and aged between 17 and 19.