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Wednesday, October 25, 2023

10/25 Links Pt2: The "humanitarian" fallacy; UN chief doubles down on Hamas remarks; Qatar’s War for Young American Minds

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Was Hamas’ brutal raid on Israel the day liberals realised their delusions about Islamic extremism were dead?
And reality hit the people of Israel very hard indeed on October 7.

Many of the people massacred in their homes by Hamas were themselves “peaceniks”, people who worked towards greater harmony and cooperation with the people of Gaza.

The hundreds of young people gunned down at the music festival near the Israeli side of the Gaza border were attending a “peace rave”.

Did it matter to their killers, rapists and abductors that many of them would have been liberals? Not at all. All that the monsters of Hamas cared was that they were Jews and Infidels.

That, now, is for the people of Israel to address.

But what has been alarming for so many people here at home is the attitude that has been allowed to grow in our society. The sheer cruelty and callousness of so many people.

The cruelty of the BBC moving straight on from the actual massacre to parroting Hamas propaganda that an Israeli rocket hit a Gaza hospital.

According to US and UK intelligence, the hospital car park was in fact hit by a Palestinian rocket misfire.

But it is in the cruelty on the streets that so many liberal dreams are being shattered.

Smears and lies
It has been in watching the young Muslim women in London tear down posters put up to draw attention to the Israeli children who have been kidnapped.

Of people claiming they are “queer” aligning themselves with people who support the ethnic cleansing of Jews in their historic homeland.

In the smears and lies pumped out by MPs such as Jeremy Corbyn and his old ally Chris Williamson.

In the students at Cambridge University who have failed to condemn the Hamas massacre but instead called for a “mass uprising” to destroy the Jewish state.

I’m sure this has all come as a shock to a lot of old liberals. They dreamed impossible dreams. They did indeed turn out to be delusions.

At least there are a few more people who now see things as they are. Perhaps they can now join decent people of all political types in not just facing up to these horrors — but in defeating them.
Anne Bayefsky: Stand up to the terrorists at the United Nations
These remarks were delivered outside the United Nations building in New York City on Oct. 24, 2023.

Israel is fighting an existential war. People and nations of good will recognize that Israel’s fight is their fight. A fight of good against evil. Of light against darkness. Of decency against barbarity.

But across the street at the United Nations, the forces of evil, of darkness and of barbarism are in control. Across the street, the Palestinian Authority is the willing diplomatic representative of Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations. Across the street, Islamic nations have prevented the U.N. from even adopting a definition of terrorism, because they insist on an exemption clause for killing Israeli Jews.

Why does the U.N. matter in Israel’s hour of need? Because the institution and its major actors from the secretary-general on down are at this very moment attempting to tie Israel’s hands behind its back—to deny the Jewish state (a full and equal member of the U.N.) its right of self-defense under the U.N. Charter. What Hamas did to Jews in their homes, cars and beds, the U.N. is trying to do to Israel in the corridors of power and in the global media apparatus literally embedded in its halls

Make no mistake: This is a two-front war. On the battlefield and at the U.N. The U.N. is where terrorists come for excuses, justifications, whataboutism, inverting victim and perpetrator, and a green light for killing Israelis. This is where humanity’s moral compass is smashed and human rights become human wrongs.

It is an obscenity that the U.N. Security Council—created specifically to protect international peace and security—has never condemned Hamas. Never. That as recently as this morning, the Council remains unable and unwilling to affirm Israel’s right to defend itself against attempted genocide.

It is an obscenity that, instead of moral clarity in the face of mass murder, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres doesn’t know the difference between Palestinian terrorists who target civilians and an Israeli military that targets terrorists. This is not a cycle of violence, not what the secretary-general called—as early as Oct. 9!—a “vicious circle of bloodshed, hatred.” This is the familiar cycle of terrorists opposed to a Jewish state, steeped in antisemitism, finding the U.N. has their back.
Saudi crown prince indicates Israel normalization can resume after war – White House
US President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to eventually “build on” the US-brokered negotiations that had been underway to normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia before the outbreak of the Gaza war, the White House said after the two leaders spoke on Tuesday.

Biden and bin Salman “affirmed the importance of working toward a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians as soon as the crisis subsides, building on the work that was already underway between Saudi Arabia and the United States over recent months,” said a readout from the White House.

Biden administration officials have acknowledged that the normalization effort is no longer the most immediate priority for the US and Israel, as they work to respond to the October 7 Hamas onslaught. However, the White House insists that it is still committed to the goal and has suggested that one of the reasons for the Hamas massacre was to try and thwart the effort.

Biden, but more notably bin Salman as well, “welcomed ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and called for their immediate release,” according to the readout.

The two leaders also welcomed the recent delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza while recognizing the need for additional assistance.

Biden hailed “the Gulf Cooperation Council’s contribution of $100 million to support these humanitarian efforts, and discussed the disbursement of $100 million from the United States to support the response.”

“The two leaders agreed on pursuing broader diplomatic efforts to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding,” the White House said, adding that Biden had affirmed US support for the defense of its allies in the region from terror attacks.


Melanie Phillips: The "humanitarian" fallacy
The issue of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza has become yet another stick with which western “liberals” and their media mouthpieces are choosing — sickeningly — to beat up the target of genocidal attack, the State of Israel. The premise upon which their criticism is based is, as ever from these usual suspects, ignorant and shallow. By refusing to allow in humanitarian aid, they scold, Israel is in breach of international law. For a magisterial take-down of this charge, watch this interview with British international lawyer Natasha Hausdorff. With calm politeness, she schooled the BBC’s Katya Adler in what the law actually requires in these circumstances, how Israel is observing this law to the letter and the singular perversity of Adler’s BBC mindset. It was a master class in telling truth to moral idiocy. In the Wall Street Journal, law professor Eugene Kontorovich similarly pointed out that international law permits a siege as long as it isn’t intended to deny sustenance to the civilian population. As West Point law professor Sean Watts put it in 2022:
Siege — or encirclement as military doctrine refers to it — is an essential aspect of modern military operations… Only starvation directed specifically at civilians is prohibited. In a war, care should be taken to avoid civilian casualties as far as possible. But it has never been expected that the fate of civilians should be allowed to undermine and weaken those waging a just war and consequently enable a barbarous tyranny to survive. “Humanitarian aid” may in fact aid a tyrannical enemy. That’s exactly what happens in Gaza. The notion that, in such a place, the aid sent by a compassionate world relieves the suffering of the civilian population is naive to the point of imbecility. Gaza is ruled by Hamas. Hamas is not some benign civil authority. It is despotic, oppressive and corrupt. Nothing happens in Gaza that is not under its tyrannical thumb. That goes for aid supplies.
'Israel is fighting for civilisation' says Melanie Phillips
Israel was fighting for civilisation in a “seismic event” that would change both it and Jewish people in the diaspora, the journalist and author Melanie Phillips argued in London this week.

“Israel will survive this. It will have changed,” she said in a panel discussion at JW3 on Monday night that featured leading JC columnists and was chaired by the newspaper’s editor, Jake Wallis Simons.

But she added: “We cannot possibly say how it will have changed.”

What Israel had been experiencing since the “terrible day” of Hamas’ attack was an example “of a sickness in the world that has infected[…] the West”, she said.

“Israel is fighting for its survival. It is fighting for the life of its people. It is fighting for itself, but it is fighting an evil that has consumed much of the world.”

What people should realise was that Israel was “fighting for everybody [… ]We, the Jewish people, gave civilisation to the world and now civilisation is turning on itself and turning on the people who gave it civilisation,” she said.

Having flown in earlier in the week from Jerusalem, where she lives, on the way to fulfil speaking engagements in the USA, she spoke of the shock, trauma and grief among Israelis who had been going to “funeral after funeral after funeral”.

But she also highlighted the “indescribable” national spirit that had immediately brought Israel together and was buoying up its people.

“This is Jewish destiny unfolding. Whatever is going to happen, this is the latest seismic chapter in our extraordinary history. I feel my place is there,” she told a packed audience at the centre, in addition to hundreds following online.
The Jewish Chronicle: Being Jewish in Britain at a time of crisis JC Editor Jake Wallis Simons is joined by star panelists Tanya Gold, Jonathan Freedland, Melanie Phillips and Howard Jacobson about what it's like being Jewish during this time of crisis in Israel.

00:00 Introduction
01:26 Melanie Phillips
10:27 Howard Jacobson
15:56 Tanya Gold
24:14 The Guardian coverage of the war
31:36 Jonathan Freedland
41:04 What can British Jews do?


JNS: Melanie Phillips: The Murderous Consequences of Western Diplomacy | Top Story
Is Western 'peacemaking' in the Middle East perpetuating the Arab-Israeli conflict? Has the refusal by the West to see the evil of Hamas backfired?

This week, Jonathan is joined by author and journalist Melanie Phillips.

They discuss
- the eruption of antisemitism in Europe and the US
- how the West's misconceptions of the Middle East fuel the conflict
- what Israel needs to do in order to put an end to the endless circle of violence.


Spiked: The real jihad-chant scandal
Misgendering someone. Retweeting an anti-woke meme. Saying a cop resembles your lesbian grandmother. Brits have been arrested, some even prosecuted, for these supposed speech crimes and many more in recent years. And yet, last Saturday, pro-Hamas protesters were allowed to call for jihad on the streets of London. Here, Tom Slater exposes the grotesque double standards of the speech police, while arguing that we need more free speech, not less, to defeat the scourge of Islamist anti-Semitism.


Alan Baker: The False and Deceitful Charges Against Israel
The charges that Israel's military actions against terrorists in Gaza are inhumane and violate international humanitarian law have no basis. They emanate from observers who are totally ignorant of, and unfamiliar with, the international law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law, or who deliberately and knowingly choose to mislead and lie to the international community.

Since the military capability of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad is intended solely to destroy Israel, then Israel has the proportionate prerogative and strategic duty under the international law of armed conflict to destroy that military capability.

According to international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, "military targets" include "civilian objects that by their nature, purpose, location, or use make an effective contribution to military action and whose destruction offers a definite military advantage."

As is widely known, Hamas places its military infrastructure within the heart of the civilian population in Gaza, including in residential houses, schools, mosques, and businesses. Accordingly, these civilian sites lose their civilian protection and international law permits the direct targeting of such sites as legitimate military targets due to their military use.

According to law professor Alan Dershowitz, "Israel is entitled, by any fair reading of international law, to do to Gaza City what the U.S. did to Berlin and Tokyo in 1945. It has warned civilians to leave. The collateral deaths of Palestinian civilians, caused directly by the Hamas decision to use them as human shields, would be the moral, political, and legal responsibility of Hamas."

The taking by Hamas of multiple civilian hostages is an inexcusable and flagrant violation of international law as well as of humanitarian norms. The 1979 International Convention against the Taking of Hostages has criminalized the taking of hostages. Since Qatar is party to the convention, it is incumbent on the international community to ensure that Qatar extradites the terrorist leaders whom it now hosts.
JPost Editorial: Hamas manipulating world with foreign hostages
To many Jews and many Israelis, the notion that Israeli Jews would be treated differently than other hostages carries echoes of dark moments in Jewish history. During the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane to Entebbe, for example, the hijackers separated the Jewish and non-Jewish hostages, releasing the non-Jews while keeping the Jews in captivity until they were freed by Israeli forces.

It is imperative that all people and nations of conscience unite against this strategy.

Every hostage must be released, particularly children and the elderly, without delay. That must be a precondition for any further concessions or gestures on Israel’s part and on the part of its allies. There simply is no moral or legal justification to hold infants and grandparents hostage.

The world must vehemently condemn Hamas for its crimes against humanity and genocidal actions. This terrorist group has consistently employed antisemitic and Nazi-inspired rhetoric to underpin its policies. Regrettably, some nations, such as Qatar and Turkey, have hosted Hamas, with misguided hopes of moderation.

We are well aware of Hamas’s true nature, rooted in a history of bloody terror attacks and the prolonged holding of Israeli hostages such as Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, as well as of the remains of Israeli soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and St. Sgt. Oron Shaul. Hamas has consistently displayed wanton and callous disregard for human life and a knack for manipulating world opinion to garner support and maintain its grip on power.

We must actively and resolutely oppose Hamas’s manipulative tactics. This involves closely monitoring shifts in its rhetoric and efforts to alter its image through regional channels in Doha or Ankara. It is essential that Israel and its allies sustain pressure on Hamas in this complex conflict, which also revolves around narratives, media, and global attention. Prioritizing the confrontation of Hamas in the realm of public opinion and addressing its manipulation regarding the hostages is not just a choice, but a moral obligation.

We owe the hostages – of all backgrounds and nationalities – the universal human rights that all people deserve.


Denial of Hamas’s Crimes Reflects a Belief in Jewish Deceitfulness

Why is Israel being blamed for the Hamas massacre?

The ‘humanitarian situation in Gaza’ is code for killing Jews

UN chief doubles down on Hamas remarks, decries ‘misrepresentations’
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday rejected “misrepresentations” of his remarks a day earlier that Hamas’s October 7 massacre “didn’t happen in a vacuum,” decried by Israel as justifying terror.

“I am shocked by misrepresentations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council — as if I was justifying acts of terror by Hamas,” Guterres told reporters, without naming Israel.

Addressing a Security Council session on Tuesday, the UN chief, again without naming Israel, had denounced “the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza.”

In remarks that especially outraged Israel, he had said it was important to “recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum” as the Palestinians have been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”

Guterres said Wednesday it was “necessary to set the record straight, especially out of respect for the victims and their families.”

“I spoke of the grievances of the Palestinian people. And in doing so, I also clearly stated, and I quote: ‘But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.'”

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan rejected the explanation and reiterated his call for Guterres to resign.

“The secretary-general once again distorts and twists reality. He clearly said yesterday that the massacre and murder spree by Hamas ‘did not happen in a vacuum.’ Every person understands and understood very well that the meaning of his words is: That Israel is guilty for the actions of Hamas or, at the very least, a demonstration of understanding and justification by the secretary-general for the massacre,” Erdan said in a statement.

“A secretary-general who does not understand that the murder of innocents can have no justification and no ‘background’ cannot be secretary-general,” he added.
Israel to refuse visas for UN officials as 'blood libel' outrage grows



Hamas, its supporters and prevarications about international law
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the atrocities the terror group committed, U.S. President Joe Biden was unequivocal.

“Terrorism is never justified. Israel has a right to defend itself and its people, full stop,” he said.

Importantly, he asserted that “statements from members of Congress calling for a ceasefire in Israel instead of issuing their full support for the country following the surprise attack by Hamas, are wrong and disgraceful.”

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, when asked about statements by anti-Israel members of Congress who did not back the administration’s call for support for Israel, responded, “We believe they’re wrong. We believe they’re repugnant and we believe they’re disgraceful. … Our condemnation belongs squarely with terrorists who have brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped, hundreds, hundreds of Israelis.” She added, “There can be no equivocation about that. There are not two sides here.”

One of these repugnant figures was Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who tried to justify Hamas’s war crimes by characterizing them as resistance to a specious “occupation,” even though Gaza is not occupied by Israel in any way.

The foundational definition of the term “occupation” under international law is embodied in the Hague Convention. It provides that a territory is only considered occupied when it is placed under the authority of a hostile army. As a threshold matter, the military forces of the conquered territory must have surrendered, been defeated or withdrawn.

The definition also requires (1) a military presence in the occupied territory and (2) exercising governmental authority over the area conquered to the exclusion of the established civil government.


Alan Dershowitz: Blood Libel against Jews: Back with a Vengeance
The current reaction to the events in Gaza cannot be understood without taking into account the long history of blood libels and Jew-hatred. The current focus is on Gaza, but the goal of Hamas supporters is what Hamas itself proclaims in its charter: the obliteration of any nation state for the Jewish people in any part of Israel.

This conflict is not about occupation or settlements. The chants of anti-Israel protesters, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," means that the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea -- all of Israel -- must be free of Jews.

Antisemitism has always been based on lies. No amount of evidence, regardless of how strong, can persuade fervent Jew-haters to accept the truth.

In the weeks to come, Israeli strikes will accidentally kill civilians in Gaza, because Hamas deliberately uses Palestinian children, women, the elderly and disabled as human shields. Some are willing shields; others are pressured or forced to risk their lives to protect Hamas killers. The international law of "proportionality" allows Israel to destroy important military targets — such as Hamas leaders or rocket launchers — even though they know that a certain number of civilians may be killed or injured. The only requirement is that the military value of the target be proportional to the number of anticipated collateral deaths and injuries among civilians. The rule of "proportionality" does not mean that Israel is permitted to kill the same number of civilians as those killed by Hamas. The rule of proportionality also depends on how "civilian" these "civilians" actually are. Israel legally has more leeway in endangering the lives of civilians who volunteer to be shields, or who are in other ways complicit with Hamas, than they would be with regard to young children or others who are completely innocent.

Do not expect, however, the blood-libeling liars of Hamas or their cheerleaders to consider these and other legal and moral distinctions. For them, every death of a Palestinian is automatically the fault of Israel, even if they are killed by an errant terrorist rocket, or while being used by Hamas as a human shield. The truth does not matter to bigots.
Anti-Israel Progressives Are Handing Liberal Jews an Impossible Decision, Just Like in 1967
On X, formerly known as Twitter, prominent journalists and political activists casually accuse Israel of “genocide,” “war crimes” and “ethnic cleansing” — words that cease to have real meaning if they’re applied to every single action that Israel takes to defend its citizens, but not to Hamas and its Iranian patrons.

As in 1967, many liberal Jews feel the pain of erasure — of not being seen or heard. Non-Jews on the left strike them as blissfully unaware of, even disdainful of, the experience of American Jews viewing imagery of fellow Jews being hunted house-to-house, carted away on trucks, shot, sexually assaulted and murdered. For American Jews, whose synagogues have been under armed guard for several years, at least since the massacre at the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh — many of whom are the children and grandchildren of Holocaust victims — this act of erasure isn’t just a form of disappointment. It’s enraging.

Jen Bluestein, a veteran Democratic operative who served until recently as a top strategist at NARAL Pro-Choice America, gave voice to this sentiment last week when she tweeted: “On every single social media platform I’m on, I’m experiencing anti-semitism by totally well-intentioned people who probably share many of my values. It is exhausting to be Jewish right now. It’s also heartbreaking & infuriating what’s happening in Gaza. But if your feelings about Gaza lead you say things that your Jewish friends and colleagues hear as deeply anti-Semitic, you may want to listen and learn more than you talk.”

As in 1967, it’s improbable that Jews will swing to the Republican party, a political organization thoroughly in the thrall of white Christian nationalists whom many Jews view as a much more immediate threat to their communities. But the tragedy of Oct. 7, 2023, was something very different from the triumph of the Six-Day War.

While in the 1970s Jews maintained a reasonably steady, if sometimes tense, alliance with the left end of the Democratic party, it’s hard to imagine that the broad center of American Jewish politics will continue to make common cause with self-styled “progressives” after the dust settles. Jews will continue to be ardent supporters of Joe Biden’s and Hakeem Jeffries’ Democratic Party — a party whose leaders have stood firmly with Israel, even as they continue to advocate a two-state solution and a just outcome for Palestinians. But watch how they vote in primaries, where they send their political and philanthropic dollars, which causes they rally to and which they do not, which people they continue to work with — and which they do not. Unlike the 1970s, when the far left represented a fringe element in Democratic politics, today, “progressives” enjoy a significant presence at the local and national levels. They have alienated many American Jews, a core constituency in the liberal coalition. That tension will be difficult to contain.

American Jews will still struggle with Hillel’s age-old quandary: “If I am not for myself, who will be? … If I am only for myself, what am I?” But this time, they’ll face that question somewhat more alone, absent the company of many people who should have been allies, but weren’t.
StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein addresses the UN's moral dissonance at a press conference in New York
"[The horror of Hamas' atrocities] is clear to most people in the world, but not so much to certain people at the UN...They have demonstrated their antisemitism by whitewashing clear, heinous acts against Jewish civilians and refusing to call them what they are, to call Hamas what it is: Terrorists." Today (October 24), StandWithUs CEO and Co-Founder Roz Rothstein addressed the UN's moral dissonance at a press conference in New York and urged its representatives to recognize and support Israel's right to self-defense. We say, with a unified voice: Am Yisrael Chai. ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ฑ


NGO Montior: Demonization and Tokenism: Human Rights Watch’s Agenda following the Hamas Pogrom

Human Rights Watch ‘Demonizing’ Israel in Wake of Hamas Terror Onslaught: NGO Report
An aerial view shows the bodies of victims of an attack following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip lying on the ground in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in southern Israel, Oct. 10, 2023.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has been engaged in a campaign of “demonization and tokenism” against Israel in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state and massacre of civilians, according to a new analysis published on Wednesday.

NGO Monitor, an independent, Jerusalem-based research institute that tracks anti-Israel bias among nongovernmental organizations, tracked how HRW has overwhelmingly devoted its resources to condemning Israel in the wake of the largest single-day killing of Jews since the Holocaust.

“Since the brutal October 7 Hamas pogrom, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has hyperactively published statements and condemnations, primarily demonizing Israel,” the report says. “As of October 23, they had made 7 public statements, 2 ‘Q&As,’ a letter to the [International Criminal Court (ICC)] Prosecutor, more than 20 opinion essays and media appearances, and well over 100 tweets by officials who frequently deal with Israel.”

An analysis of this output, according to NGO Monitor, “demonstrates HRW’s long-standing hostility towards Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people; lack of credibility on all issues related to Israel and Jews; tokenism with respect to Israeli victims of brutality, including hostages, in a transparent attempt to deflect the evidence of antisemitism; and inflated claims to expertise and relevance in the realms of human rights and international law.”

Critics have long accused HRW of having an anti-Israel and even antisemitic bias. In 2021 the group published a report accusing Israel of being an “apartheid” state, a claim that HRW employees have frequently repeated in their writings on the war against Hamas.

“For decades the US has ignored apartheid by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, sending weapons, giving visa deals to Israeli tourists and brokering normalization with Arab dictators,” HRW program director Sarah Bashi posted on X/Twitter on Oct. 7 while the massacre was still ongoing. “If only this war would persuade the US to address the abuses that are feeding the violence.”

HRW’s first public statement issued on Oct. 9 likewise overwhelmingly focused on the alleged “crimes” of Israel while only briefly noting that Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, “apparently shot civilians en masse.”

“Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) have recently faced perhaps unprecedented repression,” the statement says. “During the first nine months of 2023, Israeli authorities killed more Palestinians in the West Bank in 2023 than in any year since the United Nations began systematically recording fatalities in 2005 … Israel’s unlawful closure of Gaza, including its generalized ban on the travel of Palestinian residents who live in this 40-by-11 kilometer (25-by-7 mile) strip of land, with few exceptions, recently entered its 17th year.”
PreOccupiedTerritory: NGOs To ‘Contextualize’ Nazi War Crimes Next (satire)

At Brandeis U, founded as a nonsectarian Jewish university, resolution to condemn Hamas fails student senate



The Ford Foundation Carries on the Legacy of Its Namesake

The Coming Reckoning
I now believe that in the years ahead we will see a reaction to the activist students who pissed off institutional donors, alienated older liberals, riled regents, and have thrown presidents’ careers into jeopardy. That reaction will not take the form of banner headlines. It will occur more quietly.

Here’s what I predict will happen.

1. The downsizing of the humanities will accelerate.
The humanities—now viewed as a primary contributor to campus radicalism—are an easy target. There’s also a sense that humanities students have been at the forefront of campus unionization efforts.

Although programs in Black Studies, Latino/a Studies and Women’s Studies will survive—because they have their own constituencies—other programs, like American Studies, will shrink drastically or their faculty will be folded into existing departments. Those “studies” programs that remain will gravitate away from the humanities and toward the social sciences.

The traditional humanities departments, too, will shrivel, as more and more high school students acquire early college/dual degree credits and as 4-year institutions (including my own) become more willing to accept credit for gen ed classes taken elsewhere. At UT, it’s already the case that over two-thirds of the undergraduates take freshman composition elsewhere, drastically reducing the number of doctoral students in English.

Already, humanities Ph.D. programs are contracting, partly due to the awful academic job market in the foreign languages, history, literature and philosophy.

2. Even more emphasis will be placed on STEM and business and economics.
These departments not only bring in grant dollars, but are regarded as safer and less contentious.

But is this true? Maybe not. We only need to look at the example of Sam Bankman-Fried, an MIT-grad, a 100 percent STEM major, and a self-described skeptic of book reading. As he put it:

“I don’t want to say no book is ever worth reading, but I actually do believe something pretty close to that. I think, if you wrote a book, you fucked up, and it should have been a six-paragraph blog post.”

But one glance at him should make campuses realize that they might be chasing the wrong demons. The damage that a really smart STEM or business major may cause—aided by artificial intelligence, crypto currency and an utter lack of ethics (under the guise of effective altruism) is utterly astonishing.

No philosophy or history major could ever have that level of impact or damage.

As I have written before, however, without integrating a real ethics education, the emphasis on STEM, business and economics might simply delay campus controversies or, going back to Maher, produce an even larger class of graduates who are amoral as there’s “there is a special magic that links Harvard types and being utterly face-punchable.”

3. Development of donor- or legislature-funded programs designed to bring more conservative faculty to campus.
Texas might offer an example. The state legislature funded what is now called the Civitas Institute to examine “the ideas and institutions that create flourishing societies” and “facilitate inquiry about individual rights and civic virtue, constitutionalism and the rule of law, and free enterprise and markets.”

Donors also provided substantial support to the Thomas Jefferson Center for Core Texts and Ideas to engage students “in a direct, respectful, but probing and critical study of major creative and theoretical works that have shaped human thought and history” and provide “a safe zone for the vigorous discussion of unsafe ideas.”
The DEI Complex Will Never Protect Jews



Eli Lake: Qatar’s War for Young American Minds

Pearl: Pro-Hamas Protests Show How Deep the Roots of Antisemitism Are Fury as Cambridge University's opera cancels Handel's Saul over 'striking parallels' with the ongoing Middle East crisis and 'unfortunate escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza'

Cambridge University debate descends into farce after motion calling for solidarity with Palestine was stopped amid concerns it risked 'inciting violence'

Why is Google protecting Harvard defenders of Hamas terrorism?



Brandeis University student senate votes not to denounce Hamas

Jewish community accuses Guardian of 'new lows' with 'crass' Israel-Holocaust article

How Penn's Anti-Semitism Controversy Could Make It Harder To Fire a Controversial Professor

Florida Atlantic University Gender Studies Professor Arrested at Pro-Hamas Protest

'This Is Not Leadership': Open Letter Skewers Harvard For Failing To Protect Jewish Students

Israel war: NYC school union head justifies Hamas attack in 'private' email to teachers



California public school denies imposing gag order on students told: ‘Israelis, Jews should be killed’



Daniel Greenfield: Southern Poverty Law Center Union Endorses Hamas

Hollywood Writers Union Condemns Hamas Attacks in Israel, Apologizes for ‘Tremendous Pain’ Caused by Weeks of Silence

Major New York Center Pauses Literary Series After Backlash for Pulling Event With Author Who Slammed Israel



PreOccupiedTerritory: Universities To Prevent Violence Vs. Jews On Campus By Banning Jews (satire)

2,000-plus reporters descend on Israel to cover war with Hamas

Fox News’ Trey Yingst on Trying to Get the Israel-Hamas Story Right: “There Is No Room for the Fog of War”

The Hamas-UN-LA Times Echo Chamber



CNN Distorts History To Absolve Hamas and Blame Israel For Oct. 7 Massacre

U.S. Details Intelligence It Says Clears Israel in Gaza Hospital Blast
U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday they have determined with "high confidence" that Israel was not responsible for the huge explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City that killed scores of people last week.

The intelligence community reached its conclusion after examining multiple videos and using geolocation techniques to trace the Oct. 17 blast to a rocket launched inside Gaza that suffered a mechanical failure midflight before crashing into the hospital, three officials said.

The damage from the strike was consistent with a rocket, and not an Israeli munition, such as a bomb or an artillery round, which would have caused significant structural damage to the hospital building and left a large crater. Videos and images show "only light structural damage."

Analysts were able to track the trajectory of the rocket based on videos shot from four locations.

Moreover, no Palestinians have come forward with any debris at the site that might tie the projectile to Israel.


CNN Deceptively Attributes Hamas Casualty Figures to “Aid Group”



Inside the Dumpster Fire That Is VICE News Reporting on Israel-Hamas War

Wall Street Journal Contributor Has History of Bias Against Israel



CBS and CNN Give Sympathetic Air Time to a Murderous Jew-Hating Gazan

The Guardian continues to kick Jews while they're down



Obama’s Mindset Still Drives U.S. Mideast Policy

Biden Israel Ambassador Nom Pledges U.S. Funding for Anti-Semitic U.N. Group Tied to Hamas

Biden's Deep State: Pentagon Employee Calls for Israeli Ceasefire on Social Media, Undercutting Admin's Support for Jewish State

Democrat Jared Moskowitz calls for 'everyone' to consider supporting censure of Rashida Tlaib

Too Many Democrats Stick With Rashida Tlaib



Biden Admin Official Responsible for Prosecuting Anti-Semitic Attacks Has Praised Anti-Semitic Activists

Democratic NY Lawmakers Arrested at Anti-Semitic Rally

Czech prime minister: I’ll express ‘strong support’ for Israel to EU

Hungarian foreign minister: Israel ‘can definitely count on us’

Germany seeks to bar antisemites from gaining citizenship amid spike in incidents

Hamas Pogrom in Israel Fuels Row Among German Politicians Over Islamist Ban, Antisemitism Prevention

Spanish Government Intensifies Diplomatic Campaign to Restrain Israeli Response to Hamas Atrocities

Palestinian arrested in Brussels for talk about planning a suicide bombing



MEMRI: Senior Saudi Journalist Tariq Al-Homayed In Message To Yahyah Sinwar: 'Would You Leave Gaza To Prevent Further Bloodshed[?]'

MEMRI: At Colorado Muslims Community Center In Aurora, Imam Teaches Children: The Jews 'Lie And Break Their Covenant' – 'Should You Trust These People Today?'; Allah Turned Jewish Fishermen Into Monkeys; They Killed Their Prophets, Tried To Kill Jesus, And 'Keep Tricking Us To Trust Them'; The Israelis Are 'Comparing Our [Palestinian] Brothers And Sisters [Who Are] Being Murdered To Nazis'; 'It's Not Hate Speech For You To Be Aware Of These Things'



Labour meltdown over backing for Israel: Keir Starmer will face anger of Muslim MPs at meeting today after mosque accused him of 'misrepresenting' visit and slew of councillors quit



Terrorists raised $130m in crypto since 2021; sought more via social media after attack

Concerns arise over crowdfunding website LaunchGood.com's alleged links to Hamas

Israel war: Civilian gun ownership could have stalled Hamas violence

Google Maps and Waze Suspend Live Traffic Updates in Israel and Gaza to Prevent Tracking Troop Movements
Google has stopped live traffic updates in Israel and Gaza at the request of the Israel Defense Forces, a change which impacts both Google Maps and Waze.

"As we have done previously in conflict situations and in response to the evolving situation in the region, we have temporarily disabled the ability to see live traffic conditions and busyness information out of consideration for the safety of local communities," a Google spokesperson said.

Those in the area will still be able to use Google Maps and Waze to help with navigation.
PMW: Palestinians have chosen to side with the axis of terror: Russia, China, Hamas

Abbas’ advisor repeats: Duty of Gazan civilians is to stay at home as human shields
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “From the first day of their (i.e., the Israelis’) aggression, they have said that the Palestinian people- that the residents of the Gaza Strip must go towards Egypt (i.e., leave the combat zone). That is the goal. They want a land without a people for a people without a land… We said: We will not go, and we will not leave our land. ‘And we completely refuse to leave our homes,’ said the Gaza residents. When they (i.e., Israel) dropped fliers on them calling on them to leave, they told them: ‘[Even] if you kill us, rip us to shreds, drown us in our blood, [even] if you kill me, rip me to shreds, drown me in my blood; you will not live on my land! You will not fly in my skies!’” [PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Oct. 18, 2023]




MEMRI: For Hamas Leadership, Beheading Is A Recommended Practice



WSJ: Iran trained hundreds of Hamas fighters for attack

Iranian Influence Cell ‘Operating at the Biden Administration’s Highest Levels,’ Legal Watchdog Says



Detroit police: ‘Several persons of interest’ in murder of synagogue president Sam Woll
The Detroit Police Department announced on Monday that it has identified “several persons of interest” in the murder of Samantha Woll, president of the egalitarian Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, over the weekend.

“The evening of Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, the victim, Samantha Woll, was at an event. She left that event and returned home at approximately 12:30 a.m. Saturday morning,” stated James E. White, chief of the Detroit police.

“She was discovered deceased outside her home at approximately 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning,” he added. “At this time, no evidence has surfaced suggesting that this crime was motivated by antisemitism.”

The Detroit police, which is working with the Michigan State Police and the FBI, added that it does not believe that there are risks to any groups or individuals.

Speaking at the funeral, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, on whose campaign Woll worked as political director, said that her deceased friend “may have been the nicest person that I have ever met or will ever meet in my lifetime.”

“Her killer will not rob us of the memory of her joy and warmth and kindness that she leaves behind in all of us and in all she’s done,” Nessel added.




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