Wednesday, February 19, 2025



Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

I should be overjoyed that Donald Trump won the election. But the truth is, I’m angry. Even deep into February. Still angry.

I had thought, ‘Finally, finally, American Jews will wake up and stop voting Democrat, the party that hurts Israel.’  Instead, overwhelmingly, the Jewish vote once again went to the Democratic candidate, this time Kamala Harris. But really, it could have been any Democrat, an addlepated Biden or anyone at all.

It’s not like the Jewish vote made a difference to the outcome, a landslide for Trump by all accounts. But to me, the American Jewish vote felt like a betrayal of our people. Many Jewish lives had been lost as a result of the policies and dirty machinations of the Biden Harris administration. Had she won, Harris would have been far more hostile to Israel, and infinitely more dangerous to the Israeli people.

It was aggravating. Couldn’t they see it? The Biden Harris administration did not get our hostages home. They gave money to Hamas. They gave money to Iran. They slow-walked arms to Israel and even forced Israel to give aid to the people who murdered and raped them.

The Biden Harris administration did all manner of terrible things to Israel. As such, I expected my people to stand up for me. Heck. I expected them to stand up for themselves. Forget about the cost of bacon or tampons in boys’ bathrooms. What about their Jewish grandchildren’s ability to safely step onto a college campus?

Instead they posted memes about Kfir Bibas, but voted for Harris. Maybe they thought that sharing those memes meant they could vote however they liked and it wouldn't matter. Because posting memes of Kfir made them good Jews no matter what else they did. Except that Biden and Harris did exactly nothing for the Bibas family. They didn't fight for them. They didn't make the effort to ascertain their wellbeing. They didn't speak about the Bibas family often and at length or make them a household name. 


Doug displays a stunning breadth of knowledge on the Jewish holiday known as Hanukkah


We may not yet know when or how it happened, but Shiri, Ariel, and little Kfir, as of this writing, are believed to be coming home to Israel in body bags tomorrow. Could we reasonably expect that Biden and Harris could have done something different that would have changed the outcome? Like not send money to Iran and Hamas to begin with? Of course! But their constituents didn't think about or do anything about that. They didn't pressure the administration. Instead, they just shared lots and lots of memes of little red-headed Kfir, then went out and voted for Harris.

I think of all the anxious calls I received from Jewish family and friends in the wake of October 7, and how much effort I expended in order to update and reassure them. How could they have voted this way? Did they really care anything at all about my kids in uniform? 

It’s impossible. If they cared about me and my family or their people at all, it seemed to me they would have voted for Trump. But they cared more about voting for a Democrat than doing what their family and friends in Israel prayed they would do, speak up for Israel and for their people with their vote.

It must be said that not all American Jews voted Democrat. The orthodox didn’t. But they’re a tiny minority within a minority. By and large, the Jewish vote went to the party that shed Jewish blood

From The Jewish Vote in 2024 (emphasis added):

 . . . At bottom, the story of the Jewish vote is really a tale of two communities—the ultra-Orthodox, who vote like Evangelicals and are about 10 percent of the total Jewish population, and secular Jews, who constitute 85 percent of the total and who vote more solidly for Democrats than any demographic besides blacks, with whom they are now virtually tied. . .

. . . More than 85 percent of American Jews (who are neither ultra-Orthodox nor Modern Orthodox) are solidly in the liberal camp and show little sign of abandoning the Democratic Party. In fact, the National Election Pool’s exit poll promoted by CNN (the one that showed that 79 percent of Jews voted for Harris) probably underrepresents the percentage of secular Jews who voted for her, since that poll included votes in Florida, where a sizable number of Modern Orthodox Jews reside. A poll by the Jewish Electorate Institute showed that Reform-affiliated Jews voted for Harris at a rate of 84 percent, with Conservative-affiliated Jews only slightly behind, at 75 percent. The same poll found that 74 percent of Orthodox Jews (Haredi and Modern Orthodox) voted for Trump.

Even when you add the pro-Trump observant Jews into the mix, American Jews still voted for Harris in greater percentages than any other major religious group in America. Catholics voted 41 percent for Harris; Protestants gave her 37 percent; Mormons came in at 25 percent, and Muslims only at 20. The only “religious” group that surpassed Jews in their support for Harris were described in the Washington Post poll as “voters with no religion” who voted for Harris over Trump 72 to 25 percent—a ratio that actually puts them behind Reform and Conservative Jews in their ardor for Harris.

By and large, American Israelis voted much like the orthodox Jews of America. We voted for Trump, because Trump is good for Israel. It really is that simple. Why this simple fact didn’t matter to our American co-religionists—or at least didn’t take precedence over more domestic issues--was and remains unfathomable to me.

Because we had a frickin’ massacre here. I mean, wake the hell up! Is it only me who is walking around with steam coming out my ears over the Jewish vote?

Doug and Kamala doing Jewy-stuff in Jerusalem


“Hi - American Israeli here,” wrote Stuart Schnee. I wanted to speak to American Israelis about the US election, and the self-described book “shepherd” and book publicist was happy to oblige me.

I explained to Schnee that I was writing about our feelings as American Israelis—how we felt about relatives and friends who did not vote with Israel in mind in the recent presidential election.

“Ah. I am not the right guy,” wrote Schnee. “My family voted with Israel in mind.”

I blinked. What a lovely, unexpected answer. I felt happy for a brief moment. But I wanted to know how he felt.

“How did that make you feel?” I asked.

“I can say that I am proud and appreciate it,” wrote Schnee. “They are all loyal Americans, and at the same time Israel was part of the consideration for much of my family (and they didn't all vote the same!!)”

“Interesting,” I commented.

It was like a light had come on. I saw what he meant. In their own way, even if they didn’t agree with us, Stuart Schnee’s relatives had indeed voted with Israel in mind. They cared about Israel.

Okay, but what about in the run up to the election. Did he do anything in an attempt to give them an insider’s perspective? “Did you leave them alone, or try to persuade those who didn't see it your way? Or. . . I guess you don't get all hot-headed about this stuff?”

“I used to,” wrote Schnee, “but over the years I have seen that in the US one has very little influence.”

“Are you pleased with the way American Jewry votes?” I asked. “Do you think they are well informed?”

Schnee was matter of fact. “I fully understand why Jews still vote Dem even when it seems like it isn't such a great match any more. Even Jews I know who have started voting GOP - they don't always agree with every policy the GOP champions.”


She knows a thing or two about yarmulkes.

I posed the same question to Batya Spiegelman Medad, an expat American living in Shilo, a woman who has no problem stating her mind. “Do you have relatives who expressed concern for you after October 7, then proceeded to vote for a candidate you felt was bad for Israel?”

“Yes, for sure. The vast majority of my relatives vote religiously for Democrats, and a few have shown concern—in one case very strong, sincere concern and support—for Israel, but they don't recognize that the party they support endangers the survival of the State of Israel. I never initiate political discussions with them, nor with American friends. I write very clearly what I think on Facebook and my blog Shiloh Musings. I try not to argue with anyone or respond to the negative things they write, but I won't mute my opinions,” said Medad.

“Does it make you angry to know they voted for someone who you feel poses a danger to Israel? Or rather, how does it make you feel? I don't want to presume you're angry,” I said.

“Angry? I'm beyond anger; it saddens me,” said Medad. “I'm so different from my family. Actually, I'm the ‘rebel.’ I took the 1960s in a different direction, becoming a Torah observant Jew, demonstrating for Soviet Jewry as my version of civil rights and then making aliyah with my husband two months after our wedding.

“When one tried to discuss American elections, I said that for me the important issues for choosing which party to vote for in the presidency depends on two things only, defense/security and economics. They don't get it.”

“But you kept it to yourself. You said nothing to them. It's just politics, and politics shouldn't come between relatives?” I asked. “Or you just didn't see the point? Something else? Does it feel like you're carrying it around? Does it make you uncomfortable to correspond/speak with them?”

“There's no doubt that many of my family have seen/read my opinions,” said Medad, “but I'm not going to argue directly with them. Without facebook, I'd lose all contact with most of my family, and I don't want that. If anyone asks a question, I answer.

Medad continued, “The problem is that most Americans have chosen to listen/read only one type of news media. They don't think/compare to make their own decisions. They repeat the lies they've heard and aren't open to hearing something else.

“It must be so confusing for most American Jews to have heard what happened to innocent Israelis on Oct 7, 2024, and then be told that Israel is guilty,” added Medad. “But there are left-wing Israelis, even bereaved families from the southern kibbutzim, who can't accept that their political opinions about peace with their Arab neighbors is a dangerous lie. They're sticking together to make sure nobody shakes their ‘conceptzia.’”


Chanuka joy


I went next to Susan Tova Mann Hirsch, a retired teacher (44 years) of children with special needs and asked her to weigh in. “Did you have relatives who expressed concern for you in regard to Oct. 7, but then voted in a way you felt was contrary to Israel's interests? Do you feel American Jewry is well informed about Israel and geopolitics?”

“My one sister expressed a lot of concern about my living here in Israel after Oct. 7; however, she still voted for Harris,” said Hirsch. “I still have lots of friends and family in America and I feel they are poorly informed (and educated) about Israel and the geopolitical situation in our part of the world. Most see no problem with granting the so-called Palestinians with a state of their own. They really don’t understand what is going on here and the issues/problems faced by Israel.”

“How does that make you feel?” I asked.

“That if my family members really cared about my safety (and the safety of all Israelis),” continued Hirsch, “they would do more to support Israel. They really didn’t/don’t understand how much more dangerous it would have been for Israel if Harris and her crew would have been elected.”

“Well, but can you tell me what emotion it makes you feel, for example, understanding, betrayed, patient, despairing, resigned, angry, sad?” I pressed.

“A tad angry, but more resigned that they truly don’t understand and/comprehend what really is happening here.”

Bear hug from Bibi! 

Last but not least, I spoke with Israel Pickholtz, a genealogist friend. Knowing he shares my sentiments on the subject, I got right down to it. “How do you feel about the fact that even after Oct. 7, American Jewry still largely voted for Harris?” I asked

“There is definitely a disconnect between caring about Israel and actually voting that way,” said Pickholtz, a genealogist.

“What do you think causes that disconnect, and is there anything regular people can do to help them reconnect?” I asked.

“Let's give them the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “They must have great faith to believe that we will survive despite the US government.

He quoted Esther 4:14: "רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר" “Relief and salvation will come to the Jewish people from another place . . .”

I finished the verse in my head, “. . . and you and your father’s house will be lost.”

“We will survive,” said Pickholtz. “They?”

“Is there anything we can or should do to address this?” I asked.

“Keep reminding them that they are on the wrong side of Jewish history.”

Oh, I will. But I guess I’ll have to start reminding them in a quieter voice. The angry tone of my written social media screeds doesn't seem to be having the desired effect. If my words have had any impact at all it was to to alienate my faraway loved ones. They think I don’t understand them and what is important to them. They’re right. I don’t understand why their people don’t come before all other considerations. That is the wide chasm that divides us, a divide that may prove too wide to bridge.



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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 



  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon

Ahmet Davutoğlu is a former prime miniister and foreign minister of Turkey. Now is is the chairman of Turkey's opposition Future Party.

Last week, he responded to Donald Trump's plan for the US to take over Gaza by suggesting that ...Turkey should take over Gaza.

Speaking to a group of aligned politicians, Davutoğlu  stated, “Now, as a Turk, as a Turk who is a subject of the Ottoman Empire, I am saying to Trump; the last legitimate state of the people of Gaza was the Ottoman Empire. After that, the British mandate was established, it did not grant citizenship. Israel is already illegitimate and has never granted citizenship. As the Republic of Turkey, which is the legitimate continuity of the Ottoman Empire, the people of Gaza should hold a referendum as our natural compatriots and citizens. And they should be connected to the Republic of Turkey as an autonomous region until the State of Palestine is established.”

And by that he means it should be part of the neo-Ottoman Empire forever.






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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 

By Daled Amos
The Associated Press cheerfully reports that the Egyptian plan for Gaza is moving right along:
Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out in a counter to President Donald Trump's proposal to depopulate the territory so the U.S. can take it over.

Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said the proposal calls for establishing "secure areas," equipped with mobile houses and shelters, within Gaza, where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate infrastructure.

Ever since Trump first announced his idea of permanently removing all Palestinian Arabs from Gaza, the media has been attacking his plan as a major violation of international law. The New York Times pulled out all of the stops when it condemned Trump's idea:
The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international humanitarian law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.
Even so, the article admits that Trump's plan can be salvaged by allowing the Gazans to return at some point. That would allow for "the strongest legal defense of his plan: It is legal under the laws of war to temporarily evacuate civilians for their own safety."



Actually, the insistence on the automatic illegality of forced displacement is being overstated. Forced displacement is not by definition a violation of international law. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR):
Forced displacement is often, but not always, unlawful. While international law provides numerous safeguards against forced displacement, there may be circumstances in which it can serve a legitimate purpose. Even in such cases, however, it must meet certain minimum safeguards and take place in conditions of safety and dignity.
This is followed by a note indicating that not only can forced displacement be legal--preventing people from leaving their country can be just as much a violation of international law:

Limiting a person's freedom to leave their country also violates international law.

And the New York Times will be the first to admit that Gaza is not safe for its inhabitants:
Even with a cease-fire in place, Gaza remains extremely dangerous to civilians because of unexploded bombs, many of them hidden beneath rubble or underground, as well as catastrophic damage to civilian necessities like shelter, water, and power.


But wait. Do Palestinian Arabs really want to leave Gaza?

24% of the public say they want to emigrate due to political, security, and economic conditions. The percentage in the Gaza Strip stands at 32% and in the West Bank at 19%. Three months ago, 20% of West Bankers expressed a desire to emigrate and 30% of Gazans expressed the same desire.
This was in March 2023, before the Hamas massacre and the beginning of the war. The number of Gazans who want to emigrate has likely increased since then. Also, this number may undercount how many Gazans want to leave. After all, how many Palestinians would openly admit that they want to leave? 

More than that, Itamar Marcus of Palestinian Media Watch suggests other reasons why even more Gazans want to emigrate:
Facing years of life in tents and rubble, breathing dust and hearing endless construction noise, the number wanting to leave today, especially among the youth who desire to start a life and build a future, will be far above 50%.
The Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD), published a September 2024 survey that indeed showed that the number of Gazans who wanted to leave Gaza had gone up to just short of 50%.
 

Marcus points out that whatever that number is, once the opportunity to leave Gaza presents itself, even more Palestinian Arabs will want to emigrate:
Once people start leaving, those left behind will feel jealous of those already out of the Gaza hell. Once those who are resettled start sending messages about their new lives and pictures of their new homes, the floodgates will open.
Yet despite the desire of half of Gazans to leave, not only does Egypt, and the rest of the Arab world, insist on their staying, they claim--as do the international law experts quoted in the media--that they all have only the best interests of Gaza at heart while Trump is ignoring international law.

Natasha Hausdorff, a British barrister and expert in international law exposes this farce in a recent interview:
Trump has, perhaps uniquely exhibited a humanitarian concern for those Palestinians that have otherwise been trapped in Gaza as a result of the international community's decision to say, uniquely, Palestinians may not be permitted to leave a war zone and that has been a really extraordinary state of affairs over the last year and a half...A change by this American Administration does, I think project some form of hope to those Palestinians who have been so neglected and abused not just by the terrorist proxies of this Iranian regime but also seemingly by the complicity of the international community. [at 5:40 of the interview]

The Arab world has shown they will go to any length to keep Palestinian Arabs trapped in the Gazan war zone. The international community needs to take the initiative that Trump has started and find homes for the Palestinian Arabs of Gaza. And the media, which shows pictures of Gaza in ruins, needs to face up to the implications of those images for the future of Gazans.







Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 

  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon
In 2021, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of UNRWA, wrote an article in Al Jazeera where he insisted that UNRWA was not a political organization.

The charge most frequently levied against us is that UNRWA plays a political role. This could not be further from the truth. UNRWA is mandated to provide direct, vital humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. That is the agency’s priority and focus. It does not engage in politics. UNRWA, like all other United Nations agencies and international NGOs, is bound to the four humanitarian principles (humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence) that are enshrined in two UN General Assembly resolutions.

On Monday, faced with the prospect of losing its funding, Lazzarini said the exact opposite.

 UNRWA is a formidable asset for ensuring a viable political transition that can provide a definitive answer to the question of Palestine. 

Embedding the Agency in a political process will help to protect Palestine Refugees and maintain the long-established parameters for peace in the occupied Palestinian territory. 

 What happened to its mandate? Well, UNRWA feels it can change its mandate at will, without the UN General Assembly getting involved.

Up until now, UNRWA stubbornly insisted that it must provide a separate education, health, housing and other social service infrastructure even in areas where the Palestinians would receive those same benefits from the government - in the Palestinian territories (and in Jordan.)

Suddenly, UNRWA is very interested in transitioning its services to the Palestinian Authority and supposedly ending its service there. 

 Alternatively, we can allow UNRWA to progressively conclude its mandate within the framework of a political process like that championed by the Global Alliance. 

The Agency would gradually transition its public-like services to empowered and prepared Palestinian institutions. 

This is the future for which we are preparing. 

Today, you will hear from my colleagues how UNRWA’s critical services, personnel and assets can be handed over in the context of a political process

Developing the capacity of Palestinian personnel and institutions will be the cornerstone of our approach.  

I've noted that Lazzarini, had expanded UNRWA's mandate to exist until Palestinian institutions were "empowered." 

But the Palestinian Authority already runs schools, medical facilities and social service programs millions of its citizens. What more empowerment do they need? Why has UNRWA avoided transitioning its services to the PA for three decades, but now is pushing a plan to do exactly that? Why has UNRWA made a U-turn from doing everything it can to promote duplicative services  to a supposed plan to move its services to a government, where it should have been for so long?

Lazzarini is gaslighting the world. 

He was speaking at the Fourth Meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, an initiative started last September by Saudi Arabia and Norway, to pressure Israel to move to the 1949 armistice lines.

He's saying that UNRWA must transition its services - but it cannot do this until there is a fully recognized Palestinian state.
The success of our efforts depends entirely on the strength of the international community’s commitment to a political pathway

This commitment must be backed by funding to preserve the Agency’s operations until the transfer of its services to Palestinian institutions is complete. 
The world that is no longer so interested in funding an organization that has done everything possible to grow forever. Facing severe budget cuts, Lazzarini is now saying, look, we are only temporary - just fund us until we can successfully transition our services! 

But make sure you pressure Israel to give up the Jewish Quarter and the Kotel first, and to allow a "right of return" for millions of Arabs who never lived in Israel. Because the Palestinian leaders have made it very clear they won't accept anything less. 

Lazzarini knows Israel will never do that, so he is preparing to blame Israel for the lack of a "political pathway." 

Meanwhile, UNRWA keeps getting funded as some European countries skittish about funding UNRWA indefinitely is suddenly presented with a "transition plan" that by definition will never happen.

If Lazzarini were serious, this would have happened already. Or he could start it today, both in the West Bank and in Jordan. Saying that he must wait until some political process is complete - to UNRWA's satisfaction - it just a transparent ploy to keep UNRWA funded, forever. 

And, incidentally, to help destroy Israel. 

The Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution is not pressuring the Palestinian Authority to accept the Clinton parameters or any other peace proposal that would maintain Israel's security. The Palestinian Authority is part of this alliance, meaning that their maximal demands - including Jerusalem and "return" -  are part of the alliance's position.

UNRWA is saying that no two state solution is acceptable unless the PA supports it. The PA doesn't support any solution that doesn't lead to the end of the Jewish state.

And UNRWA wants to make sure it is funded until it sees that happen, which would fulfill its real internal mandate.







Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 

  • Wednesday, February 19, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon
Nael Barghouti, who has been in Israeli prisons for 44 years, is set to be released this weekend in a swap for Israeli prisoners.

Hamas' mouthpiece Felesteen says the 67-year old Barghouti is in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the "oldest prisoner in the world," which is obviously not true. But he is listed in Guinness, in a shameful entry, as the "longest serving political prisoner."

Political prisoner? He's a murderer!




Nael and his two brothers, Omar and Rehbe, murdered Israeli bus driver Mordechai Yekuel in January 1978. Yekuel was helping Arabs travel to their jobs in Israel. Nael and Fakhri were released in the Shalit deal in 2011 but Nael was re-arrested for returning to terrorism, a ruling that was upheld on appeal by Israel's high court (Omar died in an Israeli prison from COVID.) 

The Barghouti family is proud of its many members who have murdered Israelis. The Times of London once interviewed Fakhri who enthusiastically re-enacted the murder of Yekuel.





Calling Nael a "political prisoner" is a lie. He was tried and convicted for the most heinous crime. If he is considered a "political prisoner," then certainly so is Sirhan Sirhan, who assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and has been in prison for nearly 56 years. 

Acts of terrorism are specifically excluded from the definitions of political prisoner coined by the EU and by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Only Palestinians consider terrorist murderers to be political prisoners. 

I don't know how this fake record got past Guinness' fact checkers. Possibly some anti-Israel activists contacted Guinness, knowing that the organization wouldn't look too deeply into the issue beyond that Nael was a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail, and it enshrined the lie.  Or it is possible that an anti-Israel activist works at Guinness and considers murdering a bus driver to be merely a political act. 

Tell Guinness (@GWR on X, Facebook) to stop spreading anti-Israel propaganda. Their response should answer the question of how this entry was published. 





Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 


Tuesday, February 18, 2025

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The End of the ‘Deliberate Starvation’ Lie
Turns out you really can prove a negative, some of the time.

Israeli researchers have released a study of the food aid allowed into Gaza during the current war and—surprise!—there was no genocide, no starvation policy, no manmade famine. (At least none made by Israel.)

As Haaretz reports, possibly through gritted teeth:

“In the study, Israeli researchers and doctors examined the quantity and nutrient composition of the food that aid organizations brought into Gaza during the study period in order to examine whether they met the ‘Sphere’ international standards for nutrition for a population in a humanitarian crisis.

“Between January and July 2024, 478,229 tons of food entered the Gaza Strip in 28,734 shipments by land, sea, and air, the study found. The quantity of food provided an average of 3,004 calories per person per day, based on 98 grams of protein, 61 grams of fat, and 23 milligrams of iron.”

Israeli officials have been saying this throughout the war: They let in 3,000 calories per person per day, more than the estimated daily caloric intake recommended by the FDA. In fact, 3,000 calories is markedly more than required, according to the FDA, for everyone but active males.

And before anyone suggests that this seven-month average could be thanks to one or even two months of very high levels of food aid, worry not: Of the seven months studied, per-person calorie levels surpassed the recommended minimum in six of them. The outlier was a month in which major combat operations coincided with Israeli activists’ efforts to sabotage the aid caravans’ ability to travel through the crossings.

Crucially, the study points out: “While reliable data do not exist for critical dimensions of food access and consumption across Gaza, these estimates suggest that adequate amounts of nutritious food were being transported into the Gaza Strip during most of the first half of 2024.”

In other words, Israel did its part. And here’s where the actual war crime comes in: We know for a fact that Hamas hijacked aid convoys, hoarded food and resold some of it at marked-up prices while keeping the rest for themselves, and even shot Gazans who tried to accept food-aid deliveries.
Brendan O'Neill: The Australian nurses who wished death on Israelis
The threatening comments made by those Aussie nurses, and the justification of them by ‘Muslim leaders’, confirms how out of control the dehumanisation of Israel has become. What we have on our streets, on our campuses and in our press is not ‘criticism of Israel’ – it’s the feverish singling out of Israel as the most murderous and morally corrupt nation on Earth. It’s the damning of Israel as Nazi-esque. As a child-killing machine. As a people in the grip of ‘genocidal mania’. As a country so unholy, so poisonous, that every virtuous Westerner must forcefield his life from its wares and its ideas by signing up to BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions).

The message we receive over and over is that Israel is the demon of world affairs, a moral pox on the Earth. Even to read its writers or eat its fruits is to pollute one’s body with its toxins. Hence, the activist dream of erasing it: save humanity, destroy the Jewish State. It is inevitable that such singular vilification of a state will lead to suspicion and even contempt for that state’s inhabitants. When you make the Jewish nation into the epitome of human debasement, and make hatred for the Jewish nation into the central credo of polite society, you actively incite bigotry. You can’t spread the calumny that Israel is a barbarous aberration among the family of nations and then reach for the smelling salts when someone draws his fingers across his throat to show how much he hates that horrible country.

Anti-Israel activism belongs less to the realm of political critique than to the realm of pre-modern hysteria, with ‘the Jewish State’ now playing the role of ‘the Jews’ as the great, delirious menace to mankind. Those nurses are not outliers. They were giving voice to a mania that is mainstream. Wishing death on Israelis is the logical conclusion to wishing death on Israel. And yet when Jews push back against this frothing demonisation of their homeland, they’re accused of ‘weaponising anti-Semitism’, as that letter says. Jews were accused of ‘weaponising’ the Holocaust to further their global power. They were accused of ‘weaponising’ 7 October to justify conquering Gaza. Now they’re accused of ‘weaponising’ acts of anti-Jewish hatred to fortify their victim status. These accusations of ‘weaponisation’ depict the Jews as such a soulless, mercenary people that they’ll even sell their own suffering for political gain.

Australia having nurses who passionately hate Israelis is deeply worrying. Australia having ‘Muslim groups’ that are willing to defend those nurses is even more so. It exposes the depth of the moral rot under the ideology of multiculturalism. Israelophobia is an old hatred in new garb. It is the social malady that springs from our rejection of civilisational values. Tackling it is the great task of our time.
Is Al Jazeera Providing Material Support to Hamas?
On January 25, the world watched in revulsion as Hamas paraded four young Israeli female hostages through a Gaza square. They were surrounded by hordes of militants garbed in fatigues, donning black face-concealing masks, and green Hamas head gear proclaiming “Jihad for Liberation.” The militants clutched and clicked their AK-47 guns.

The grotesque display continued as the women were marched onto an outdoor stage, forced to wave to the unruly crowd. Hamas had kidnapped the women in their pajamas on the morning of October 7, 2023 and at gun point, violently dragged them to Gaza. On stage, the hostages, flanked by militants, held “certificates” and “gift bags” from their captors as part of an elaborate faux ceremony to depict them as women returning from a vacation-like trip, masking the brutality they endured for 477 days.

One would expect nothing less of Hamas, designated as a terrorist entity by the U.S. and a dozen other countries. But an expose’ on Israel’s i24 News alleged that it was actually an Al Jazeera employee who masterminded this theatre of horror for Hamas.

Senior Al Jazeera producer and investigative reporter Tamer Almisshal reportedly conceived and directed the vile “ceremony” for Hamas from his office in Qatar—planning every detail of the staging, including the backdrop displaying Hamas slogans glorifying the Oct 7 massacre. Almisshal may have played the same role for subsequent hostage release faux “ceremonies.”

If true, this report raises concerns that Al Jazeera and the Government of Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, have crossed the line from biased reporting to being a participant in the war against Israel, including by providing material support for Hamas, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. If true, this would be a serious violation of U.S. law.

Almisshal reportedly coordinated the ceremony productions with Ezzedine Al Haddad, a Hamas commander who oversees the Qassam Brigades in northern Gaza.

If the report is accurate, was this a rogue or one-off occurrence? Quite the contrary. Almisshal is also the producer and presenter of an Al Jazeera docuseries called “More Than Meets the Eye” (also known as “What is Hidden is Greater.”) In one recent episode, the show aired exclusive footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar planning operations in Gaza, as well as "testimonies" from Hamas terrorists who took part in the Oct 7 massacre. Almisshal ended the episode by praising Hamas’ “historic blow” against Israel.
From Ian:

Bernard-Henri Levy: The Hostage Releases Are Obscene
One watches captives on their way to freedom. But what one sees - comparable or not - are survivors of the Nazi death camps.

The same bodies, reduced to bags of bones. The same hollow eye sockets, with that vacant stare. The same despair, gaunt and dazed.

Only one feeling takes hold over these days - rage - at this 3-for-183 exchange. This arithmetic is obscene.

We must revolt against this endless torment.

Israel's allies, in Europe and in the U.S., have only one thing to negotiate with Hamas and its sponsors: the unconditional surrender of those responsible for these sadistic charades and the immediate release of all hostages.
The Devastating Health Impact of Gaza Captivity
Returned hostages are showing severe health impacts including dramatic weight loss of up to 25 kg. (55 pounds), significant muscle deterioration, and complex medical challenges that will require long-term rehabilitation, medical experts told the Knesset Health Committee on Monday.

Dr. Michal Mizrachi, director of medical treatment for returned hostages at Ichilov Hospital, said, "the patients still face significant nutritional deficiencies requiring rehabilitation and ongoing care."

"We've documented substantial functional impairment, including dramatic decreases in physical capabilities resulting from prolonged inactivity."

The Ministry of Health has established a specialized clinic for returned hostages in Kiryat Gat.

Hanna Katzir, 78, who endured seven weeks of Hamas captivity in Gaza before being released, died in December 2024 at age 78.

Her daughter said, "My mother entered captivity taking one blood pressure medication. After 49 days without it, she returned with severe cardiac issues, arrhythmias, and respiratory failure."

"The contaminated conditions in Gaza - polluted water, air, and deadly fungi - contributed to her decline."

"She lost basic functions - walking, standing, using the bathroom, breathing independently. She was sedated and ventilated for months before succumbing to these complications."
Released Gaza Hostages Face Long, Wrenching Recoveries
Interviews with three Israeli hostages who were released more than a year ago, as well as with family members of others and psychologists who are treating former captives, indicate that many released hostages struggle with physical and psychological aftereffects.

"I don't sleep much at night anymore," said Luis Har, 71, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak.

"Many times, a noise - a motorcycle or an ambulance - takes you right back. You have to tell your body that you are here, you aren't there."

Mia Schem, 22, said, "People think you are out, you are safe, and that it's over, but it's not. Every day is a battle to get up and fight."

She said she vividly recalls piles of dead bodies at the Nova music festival.

Schem was shot in the arm. Her elbow was destroyed. Four surgeries later, her right arm is a few inches shorter than her left.

Moran Stela Yanai, 41, said she can't tolerate being indoors or in a closed room for more than a few minutes.

Yanai lost much of her hearing in captivity and now wears hearing aids.

Both of her legs were broken during her kidnapping, and she has had multiple surgeries on them since her release.
Brett McGurk: Hamas Is Playing Games with Releasing Hostages
Last week, Hamas once again showed why reaching a ceasefire deal was so elusive for so long: the group threatened to stop releasing hostages and return to war with Israel. As someone who helped lead months of ceasefire talks for the Biden administration, this did not come as a surprise.

Throughout the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas consistently held back on a commitment to release hostages and aimed to ensure it remained in power after the war ends. President Joe Biden was right to stand firmly by Israel and demand the release of hostages by Hamas. And President Donald Trump is right to do the same.

Hamas is a terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades. Its Oct. 7 attack, however, was not just an act of terrorism but a full-blown military invasion. More than 3,000 Hamas fighters in military formations attacked on multiple fronts, with a mission to inflict mass casualties and to take hostages, including mothers and toddlers, back inside Gaza to deter an Israeli response. A U.S.-mediated deal to release hostages in exchange for a ceasefire broke down less than two months into the crisis when Hamas refused to free young women it had agreed to release. Hamas then rejected continuing talks unless Israel accepted a permanent truce up front, with a return to the Oct. 6 status quo.

While Hamas and its defenders claim it accepted another ceasefire framework in July 2024, that is not true. Hamas reinserted demands for a permanent truce. And never once agreed to a list of hostages that it would release if a ceasefire was agreed. Hamas refused to engage seriously on the essence of the deal: the hostages to be released during the ceasefire. Nor did Hamas seem to care about the civilians of Gaza, whose suffering would be greatly alleviated by a stop to the fighting.

Hamas had no serious intent to release hostages so long as Iran and Hizbullah backed its maximalist demands with ongoing attacks against Israel. Then Israel, with U.S. backing, turned north to Lebanon, where it decimated Hizbullah and, with U.S. mediation, forged a ceasefire that severed Hizbullah's support for Hamas in Gaza.

Iran on Oct. 26 fired nearly 200 ballistic missiles toward Israel - the largest ballistic missile attack in history. U.S. and Israeli forces defeated that attack, and Israel soon responded with an attack of its own, eliminating Iran's strategic air defenses and its capacity to produce new missiles.

The final stages of talks that began in December took place with the backdrop of a transformed Middle East. The talks ultimately succeeded because the military equation across the region changed, with Hamas isolated and no longer able to count on a multifront conflict. All this was achieved without the U.S. being drawn directly into an all-out Middle East war that so many analysts had predicted.
  • Tuesday, February 18, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon
L'Orient Today reports that the new government has released its ministerial statement, and it is notable for two reasons.
It is the first time since the Taif Agreement [which ended the 1975-90 Civil War] that a ministerial statement makes no mention of "the people's right to resist by all means the Israeli occupation."

Instead, the new ministerial team emphasized that "the state is fully responsible for the defense of its territory" and must "hold the monopoly on weapons." The text underscores "Lebanon's right to defend itself in case of aggression, in accordance with the U.N. Charter"

This is saying that Hezbollah can no longer claim to defend southern Lebanon and it has no right to have a separate army. 

For three decades, Hezbollah has claimed that it was necessary to build a separate army and pretended to be defending Lebanon. Now, everyone sees that Hezbollah invited attacks, with its various offensive actions, not defended against them.

It seems that Lebanon has now turned the page on the infamous triad of "army, people, resistance," long cherished by Hezbollah — with the party's approval and without being provoked.

[The statement]  first reaffirms Lebanon’s commitment to upholding international resolutions, including U.N. Resolution 1701 (2006) in full — which, among other provisions, calls for Hezbollah’s withdrawal north of the Litani River — as well as all other U.N. resolutions concerning Lebanon.

This is a barely veiled reference to Resolution 1559 of 2004, which specifically calls for the disarmament of both "Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."

The Cabinet also reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the cease-fire established on Nov. 27, 2024.

Today everyone is concerned over Israel's insistence on keeping control of several strategically important areas on the border. Yet Israel withdrew from Lebanon after routing Hezbollah, which is as good a proof as any that Israel has no territorial designs on occupying Lebanon. 

But it has every interest in defending its own communities from the high ground that Hezbollah could regain. 

All the other areas that the IDF withdrew from have reportedly been taken over by the Lebanese army. Hezbollah still have a presence in southern Lebanon but it appears that, at least for now, the Lebanese government and army are serious about keeping them from regaining power.

Which is about as clear a victory as is possible in today's world. 




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  • Tuesday, February 18, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon
The New York Post reports:

GOP Rep. Nancy Mace is blasting supermodel Bella Hadid as “disgusting” for sharing an old photo of herself promoting a map that portrays all of the land in Israel as Palestine.

The photo appears to have been taken during Hadid’s 2022 visit to the Qatar National Library, an event in which the 28-year-old nepo-baby cat-walker posed with the map, titled “Western Palestine.”

“Bella Hadid is a disgusting human being,” Mace, a staunch Israel supporter, (R-SC) sniped Sunday on X with a screenshot of the supermodel’s post.
Here's the photo:


Why does this map say "Western Palestine" and not, you know, "Palestine"?

Doesn't this map imply there is also an "Eastern Palestine?"

And if Western Palestine's eastern boundary goes to the Jordan River, doesn't that mean that Eastern Palestine is in...Jordan?

And doesn't that mean that Jordan is indeed "Palestine?"

The map shown comes from the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine. They also started a Survey of Eastern Palestine; it was abandoned but not before they issued a map of what they called a portion of Eastern Palestine, in the area around the north part of the Dead Sea in Transjordan.



Let's take a closer look at the northern border of the map Hadid is studying so carefully:


It goes well into Lebanon, past Tyre. 

Hadid is pretending to be standing in front of a map of historic Palestine - but every map of Palestine before 1920 or so included much of Jordan and much of Lebanon, as the PEF maps did.



Is Hadid claiming that Lebanon and Jordan are Palestine? I think that the Lebanese and Jordanians might not be happy with her if they knew that!

Palestinians love to say that they want to return to "historic Palestine." But unless your version of history starts with the San Remo Conference, historic Palestine has always been congruent with what Jews call Eretz Yisrael - the Land of Israel. Until 1948, the word Palestine was widely understood to be essentially the Latin language translation of the Holy Land - the land of the Twelve Tribes, as this 16th century German/Latin map shows. (This Arabic site admits that the few Ottoman maps that mention "Palestine" are copying the idea from European maps, meaning they also include the land of the 12 tribes.)


The reason Palestinian Arabs don't claim the entire area of what had been known as Palestine for centuries is because they don't want to create a state. They want to destroy one. Just as in 1964 they didn't claim any ownership over the West Bank and Gaza - since there were no Jews there - today they don't claim any ties to southern Lebanon and western Jordan. 

Hadid didn't mean to do this, but if you follow her map, you can see that the entire modern Palestinian national movement is a giant cover-up of the fact that the only lands Palestinians ever demanded were the lands that were controlled by Jews. 





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  • Tuesday, February 18, 2025
  • Elder of Ziyon
Last week I noted that Australian Muslim groups were silent as the larger Australian community expressed outrage at the video of Muslim healthcare workers claiming to kill Israelis and promising to kill more.

Now we know why. They were outraged at the reaction, not the video itself. The nurses who were laughing at the idea of killing patients were "clearly emotional." They may have technically breached some ethical standards, but look how "Zionist lobby groups" orchestrated a huge reaction!  That's the real crime here!

Here is the entire statement from a group of fifty (!) Australian Muslim organizations, so no one can accuse me of taking anything out of context. (Emphasis mine.)


On Wednesday, 12 February 2025, Israeli content creator Max Veifer posted an edited snippet of a video conversation with two nurses from Bankstown Hospital.

This incident has since sparked “outrage,” largely amplified by a coordinated media campaign and inflammatory commentary across shock-jock platforms. It has since emerged that Veifer is a recently serving member of the IOF and was thus involved in the genocide of the people of Gaza.

As representatives of the Muslim Community in Australia, we affirm that all forms of discrimination based on race and religion are unacceptable and that healthcare should be provided justly to all. However, this statement addresses the selective outrage and political motivations surrounding the recent controversy involving two nurses from Bankstown Hospital.

We emphasise the following key points.

1. Selective Outrage and Political Convenience
The most revealing aspect of the reaction to the nurses' video is not the video itself—but the speed, intensity, and uniformity of response from certain political leaders and media outlets.

The Prime Minister weighed in. The NSW Health Minister declared it the most “vile” thing he had ever seen. Journalists and commentators mobilised to express their collective “horror.” Yet these same voices have provided active diplomatic and journalistic cover for ongoing crimes by the Zionists—as blatantly demonstrated this week with The Daily Telegraph's shocking attempt to fabricate an "anti-Semitic incident" at a local café.

This is more than hypocrisy. It is calculated, politically motivated outrage. It is not a failure of consistency; it is the deliberate engineering of public morality.

Outrage is manufactured when it serves a political narrative, with silence strategically deployed when the truth might expose the complicity of those in power.

2. The Weaponisation of “Anti-Semitism”
The labeling of this video as "anti-Semitic" follows a well-documented pattern of gaslighting by Zionist lobby groups and their friends within government and media circles.

We are unequivocal: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. The frustration and anger directed at Israel is a direct response to its violent and inhumane policies—not an expression of hatred toward Jewish people.

Attempts to weaponise accusations of anti-Semitism to silence dissent are not only intellectually dishonest but also dangerous.

3. The Sanctity of Healthcare
We recognise the importance of professionalism and ethical responsibility within healthcare and that the nurses' actions breached the codes of conduct for health professionals. The statements made by the nurses regarding "killing Israelis" were clearly emotional and hyperbolic, as supported by subsequent investigations.

Healthcare professionals are bound by their duty to treat and care for all individuals. This principle is most powerfully exemplified by healthcare workers in Gaza who, even as their hospitals are bombed and their colleagues targeted and killed, continue to provide life-saving care to all who need it.

We urge the Australian public to see through this manufactured moral panic and recognise the deeply political nature of this response.

We call on our leaders and media institutions to apply their professed moral standards consistently—not only when it is politically convenient but when doing so requires confronting uncomfortable truths.
Selective outrage? As far as I can tell, not one of these organizations condemned Hamas' pogrom on October 7 but within days they called Israel's response "genocide." 


Weaponization of antisemitism? Perhaps the Muslim community is unaware of how the huge increase of attacks on Jews and attacks on Israel in Australia have been done by the same people, like this synagogue graffiti last month that says "Hitler on top," "Allah hu Akbar" and "Free Palestine" with a swastika. 


Sometimes the attackers enjoy making the connection themselves.


The sanctity of healthcare? You mean like the doctors and nurses who openly support a murderous terror group? Are they talking about the number of Jewish medical professionals worldwide who are reporting being intimidated on the job skyrocketing since October 7?  Perhaps the doctors who attempted to explode car bombs in the UK in 2007?

This press release is a rehash of a well-known method of terror apologists, an attempts to change the subject and claim that "The real problem is..." whatever they want to misdirect people to. 

They are saying that the problem isn't that everyone has to worry that their "pro-Palestine" Muslim healthcare workers might physically harm patients whose political views disagree with their own. They say the problem is publicizing that inconvenient fact.

It's an argument that only an antisemite could love.



Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

   
 

 

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