Friday, November 03, 2023

11/03 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: The war against the Jewish people and the west; Stop blaming the West for the Arab world’s racism; American Media Sides With the Monsters of 10-7

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The war against the Jewish people and the west
I gave some talks in America over the past weekend. What follows is a composite of what I said in them.

In Israel, the population is traumatised, shocked and grieving. During the Hamas pogrom on October 7, Israelis were slaughtered with a level of barbarism and depravity not seen since the Shoah.

In such a small country, there’s hardly a family that’s not personally touched by what’s unfolded. They have relatives who were murdered in the pogrom, or who were kidnapped and taken hostage. Their children and grandchildren have been called up to military service and are now in harm’s way on the front. Hundreds of these conscripts have already been killed. Israelis are going to funeral after funeral. The rocket barrages keep coming. The anxiety levels are off the scale.

The agenda of Hamas and its puppet-master Iran is very clear. Destroy Israel, genocide against the Jews, and then wipe out the Christian west and all unbelievers. We know this is their agenda because they say so. Repeatedly.

The greater shock, however, has been the reaction to this of an enormous number of people in the west.

Western depravity
There have been shocking scenes in British, American and Australian cities of massive and mostly Muslim mobs celebrating the mass murder of Jews and calling for more. Among the non-Jewish population, this genocidal hysteria is being viewed by millions more with indifference or even support, especially among the young.

Polling has shown that among 18-24 year-old Americans, nearly half — 48 per cent — say they side more with Hamas. More than half — 51 per cent — think the Hamas pogrom in which 1400 Israelis were slaughtered can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians.

In Britain and America, young people have been tearing down posters bearing pictures of some of the kidnapped Israeli children.

Thousands of demonstrators have been chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — the demand for the destruction of Israel. In London, mobs have been chanting “Khybar, Khybar, oh Jews, the army of Mohammed will return” — the reference to the seventh century slaughter of the Jews of Khybar by Islam’s founder Mohammed, which acts as a jubilant glorification and incitement of the slaughter of Jews today.

The western media have been pumping out Hamas propaganda. The BBC and other outlets headline civilian casualty figures put out by Hamas — regardless of the fact that these are always hugely exaggerated, and with no acknowledgment of the fact that terrorists are presumably included in these figures and may constitute the majority.

While berating Israel for causing a humanitarian “catastrophe,” they make no mention of the thefts of fuel and electricity to service the Hamas terrorist infrastructure in the miles of underground tunnels. They make no mention of the rocket attacks which continue without remission against Israeli civilians. Instead they demand of Israeli spokesmen: “Why are you killing babies in Gaza?”

Even though Hamas is committing war crimes by using Gazan civilians as human shields, western “progressives” are accusing Israel of war crimes. Even though Israel has been warning Gazan civilians to flee for their own safety as required by international law while Hamas is forcing them under gunfire to stay in place, Israel is being accused of breaking international law.
Melanie Phillips: The fracturing of the ‘progressive’ West
To the left, however, those Israeli victims have been to blame for the attacks they have suffered because they are “illegal settlers.” To quote Rabbi Brous, the left said that “these Israeli victims somehow deserved this terrible fate” because they were people of whom the left disapproved and were thus airbrushed out of the scope of human sympathy altogether.

Now these leftists are crying because suddenly, they feel the hot breath of the Jew-haters on their own necks. For such “progressives,” it’s all about them. It always was all about them.

These people have supported Muslims against all adverse comment, denouncing any critics instead as “Islamophobic.” As a result, the profound and lethal Jew-hatred that is rampant throughout the Muslim world is ignored or denied.

Britain’s Muslim community said it was “deeply upset” by Starmer’s Gaza ceasefire remark. Yet its leaders have failed to denounce Hamas or express horror at the pogrom or sympathy for the Israeli victims.

For Starmer, Muslim support is critical to his electoral prospects. There are 14 times as many Muslims in Britain as there are Jews. In the 2019 general election, nearly 80% of Muslims voted Labour.

Just 0.5% of the British public is Jewish, and only about one-fifth of them vote Labour. There are just five parliamentary constituencies where Jews make up more than 10% of the population. In contrast, there are 108 constituencies which are at least 10% Muslim. Labour won 83% of those seats at the last election.

Starmer’s support for Israel is now jeopardizing that support. A survey by the research group Muslim Census which received 30,000 responses found a 66% drop in Labour support among Muslims because they are furious at Starmer’s position.

Yet Starmer knows that if he is seen to be abandoning Israel to attackers bent upon a second Holocaust, then he will destroy Labour’s claim to be a moral project. And if it is not a moral project, it is nothing.

It’s not just the Jewish community that’s so horrified by the mass support for barbarism displayed by the Muslim-led demonstrations and the “progressive” world. Thousands of other decent people are shocked and aghast at this evidence of a cultural monster that’s arisen in their midst.

Hundreds of thousands of British demonstrators have been chanting for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews with the police seemingly unable or unwilling to enforce public order laws.

When Starmer left the London think tank where he had made his speech, the police were forced to usher him into his car as dozens of demonstrators ran at the vehicle and drummed on the window shouting “war criminal” and “shame.”

Britain has sleep-walked into this. The core reason is that it has lost sight of what the nation stands for, and is no longer prepared even to define its core precepts and traditions, let alone defend them.

Israel is now fighting for its life and the lives of its people. It is doing so with ferocity because it understands the priceless value of the nation and the people that it is so painfully defending.

This is the crucial weapon in its armory that Britain no longer possesses—and that too many Jews and other “progressives” in America also appear to be determined to throw away.
Stop blaming the West for the Arab world’s racism
Youssef’s historical sketch conforms to the prevailing narrative of our time. Namely, that the conflicts that have beset the Middle East since the end of the Second World War are the product of decisions made by white Europeans, and imposed on a world filled with passive, innocent ‘indigenous people’. This means that the rampant anti-Semitism in the Middle East is effectively cast as a Western, European creation.

As an Arab and a Muslim, I recognise this story only too well. It is one that I inherited and told myself for a very long time. That was until I could no longer ignore the dishonesty of this account of Arab and Muslim history.

After all, if this tale is close to the truth, why have pro-Hamas protesters around the world been shouting ‘Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud’ – a reference to the seventh-century murder and expulsion of Jewish tribes from the Khaybar oasis in the Arabian Peninsula – rather than something that relates to Deir Yassin? If a massacre and the formation of Israel in 1948 was the catalyst for Muslim anti-Semitism, why did Izz ad-Din al-Qassam – the cleric after whom Hamas names its rockets and murder-brigades – form the anti-Semitic Islamist group, the Black Hand, as early as the 1930s? And why was the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, (considered by both the British and Nazi Germany to be the leader of the Arab world at the time) so keen to bring the Nazi Holocaust to the Middle East?

If you had asked me those questions when I was younger, I would have reeled off a list of grievances about Jewish refugees from Europe infringing on native Arab populations in the 1920s and 1930s. But in recent years, I changed my mind. I looked around at my home city of London, which has been utterly transformed by immigrants like me, and saw the arrogance and hypocrisy of my position.

I was casting Jewish refugees from Europe as villains, while regarding myself as a worthy victim. I was justifying the actions of those who violently rejected Jewish migration into Mandate Palestine during the Holocaust, while considering myself unquestionably entitled to refuge in the West.

This same hypocrisy runs through the ‘pro-Palestine’ demonstrations that have erupted across Europe. These protests, shot through with pro-Hamas sentiments, have made Jewish communities fear for their safety in countries that promised they would never have to again.

The recent protests in the UK consist largely of recent migrants, the descendants of recent migrants and identitarian leftists, all of whom no doubt insist that there should be no restriction on migration from anywhere, for any reason, regardless of the impact on British society. And yet these are the same people who accept, without question, Youseff’s tale of how Jewish migration to the Middle East caused Arab and Muslim anti-Semitism. I wonder if the next time Youseff faces prejudice in his adopted country of the United States, will he be as understanding as he appears to be towards Arab and Muslim racism against Jews?

There is another glaring blindspot in Youseff’s story – namely, the near disappearance of Jewish life everywhere in the Middle East, except in Israel. Indeed, more than half the Jewish population of Israel has arrived there over the past 75 years from the rest of the Middle East. In my own country of birth, Libya, a Jewish presence dating back thousands of years has been utterly erased by anti-Semitism.

The Holocaust forced Europeans to face up to their dark history of anti-Semitism. But the Arab and Muslim world has never had to do the same, despite the uncomfortably close connection between Nazi Germany and the leaders of what later became modern Islamism.

The truth is that Arab and Muslim societies have their own anti-Semitism problem and it is one that they have nurtured and generated themselves. It is undeniable that the hatred of Jews by non-Jews in the Middle East, rooted in a theology and a history that deems Jews inferior to Arabs, long predates the establishment of the Jewish State. And that hatred has only become more intense the more that Jews have survived and thrived, despite their persecution.

Now more than ever, it is imperative that we do not fall for modern, Westernised justifications for the oldest hatred.


Instead of Impressing the Civilized World, Bibi Needs to Humiliate Hamas
Bibi’s prose is grand and eloquent because he is appealing to the civilized world. But that has zero impact on this brutal enemy. If anything, Hamas loves that grandiose war-against-the-world stuff. It gives them a sense of nobility.

To help his side win, Bibi must engage in psychological warfare.

He needs to be more brutal, more primal, more personal.

He needs to attack, expose, humiliate.

Something, perhaps, like this:

“I have a direct message for the cowards of Hamas: You have the blood of your people on your hands.

“You are so afraid to face Israeli soldiers man to man, you have to hide behind your people.

“You have to hide under hospitals, schools, mosques and apartment buildings.

“You have to hide behind your women and children, knowing that if they are killed during the fighting, you will win the world’s sympathy.

“Because that is your fondest wish: To butcher 1400 Israelis and still win the world’s sympathy.

“That’s why you stopped so many of your people from evacuating.

“That’s why from the very first day you launched your terror war against Israel, you have been a curse to your people.

“You pretend to have noble goals; but your goals are only to destroy the tribes you hate while abandoning your own tribe.

“You have diverted humanitarian aid and funds to build a war machine– while leaving your people in misery.

“And where are your fearless leaders, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal, while your people need them? They’re living it up in luxury hotels in the Gulf.

“Because you have abandoned your people, the blood of every Palestinian killed in every one of your attacks on Israel is forever on your hands.

“Now it’s time to let your people go free– while you fight like real men.

“Or are you afraid to fight like real men?”

This is not empty bluster. This is tactical humiliation.

The bottom line, Mr Netanyahu, is this: Israel is in ugly combat with barbarians who hide behind civilians. We don’t need to impress the world at this time with Churchillian speeches.

We need to attack and publicly humiliate cowards and strip them of all pretense of nobility.
Shakespeare, Gaza, and How the World is Not Safe for Jews
In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” Shylock discovers the sting of antisemitism only after his daughter has eloped with the Christian Lorenzo along with a fortune in ducats and jewels (including her mother’s turquoise ring, which she trades for a monkey). “The curse never fell upon our nation ‘til now,” Shylock moans to his friend, Tubal, “I never felt it ‘til now.”

It’s not that Shylock doesn’t know from antisemitism. Antonio, Shylock tells us at the play’s start, insults him “where merchants most do congregate,” spits on him, and kicks him as if he were a “stranger cur.” But the hostility doesn’t really bother or impede Shylock. He bears it “with a patient shrug.” Shylock clearly understands that antisemitism is out there. It’s occasionally directed at him, but antisemitism doesn’t stop Shylock from carrying on his life and his business. He’s able to separate himself from the hostility that surrounds him, and carry on.

That, I confess, is how I’ve felt about antisemitism. Obviously, there is plenty of Jew hatred in the world, and more than occasionally that hostility turns fatal. In between the neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, the shootings at the Pittsburgh synagogue and the Chabad Center in Poway, the bomb scares at synagogues, and the many smaller incidents recorded by the ADL, it’s hard not to feel beleaguered and under attack. Yet I did, because it’s easy to distance oneself from the losers carrying tiki torches shouting “Jews Will Not Replace Us,” the thugs who destroyed a menorah outside the Chabad House near San Diego State University, and the fake bomb threats sent to Jewish Community Centers. Perhaps I was living in a dream.

But what made me feel the true weight and deep presence of antisemitism was the world’s response to the October 17 explosion in the parking lot outside a hospital in Gaza City. Hamas immediately blamed Israel (even though they knew perfectly well that the rocket came from Islamic Jihad), and the rest of the world jumped to believe Hamas.

News sources ran with headlines screaming that Israel had deliberately bombed a hospital and over 500 people were dead. When the New York Times first reported the story, the headline was “Israel Strike Kills Hundreds, Palestinians Say.” A BBC reporter said that “it was hard to see what else this could be” but Israel bombing innocent civilians. Over and over again, “Headlines suggested Israel had bombed a Christian hospital in Gaza’ and ‘murdered hundreds of civilians.’”

As one might expect, so-called progressive politicians jumped on the bandwagon. Rep. Cori Bush, in a now-deleted tweet, announced that “500 doctors, patients, and civilians killed after a hospital in Gaza was bombed”; Rep. Rashida Tlaib tweeted that Israel, on a whim, destroyed the hospital: “Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that.” And Rep. Ilhan Omar, quoting an AP report, tweeted, “Bombing a hospital is among the gravest of war crimes. The IDF reportedly blowing up one of the few places the injured and wounded can seek medical treatment and shelter during a war is horrific.” Riots erupted across the Middle East. A mob shouting “Murderous Israel” attacked a synagogue in Spain. In Tunisia, another synagogue was attacked and set on fire “a few hours after the news of the explosion at Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, for which Hamas pointed the finger at an Israeli missile.”

Before this event, the world’s sympathy was focused on Israel. On October 7, Hamas forces invaded southern Israel and committed atrocity after atrocity. They murdered babies, burned families alive, and slaughtered innocent young people attending a rave. Hamas terrorists killed over 1400 people, and took over 200 hostages back to Gaza, all the while livestreaming their unspeakable deeds. Some blamed the invasion on Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies, others on Israel’s over-reliance on technology for security, and no doubt both are true. But whatever Israel’s faults (and let me be clear, they are legion), the world has not seen such barbarity as Hamas showed on that day for a very long time. So the world sympathized with Israel.
Avi Mayer: Editor's Notes: No longer part of us
While they may still technically be Jewish due to their parentage or conversion, while they may lead superficially Jewish lives, we can no longer consider them part of Klal Yisrael.

It may seem incongruous that war in Israel reminds me of Joan Rivers, but here we are.

The late Jewish comedic icon spent the better part of the summer before her passing in September 2014 speaking out in Israel’s defense during Operation Protective Edge, the seven-week military campaign that followed the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas.

“Don’t you dare put weapons stashes in private homes, and then we say ‘get out’ — of course we’re gonna do it,” she told a reporter for TMZ who approached her at an airport and asked about Israeli military action in Gaza.

“We are doing something very wrong in Israel and we are not doing public relations work,” she said on Israel’s now-defunct Channel 10. “They gave us the worst possible land and we have made it into Eden.”

“No matter what Israel does, and we are so right and so honorable, the world does not want to listen, and you want to shake people and say, ‘Have you lost your minds?’,” she said in that same interview.

At the time, I was struck by the realization that, in speaking about Israel, Rivers – who appears to have visited the Jewish state only once in her life – repeatedly used the words “us” and “we.”

“Joan Rivers understood something profound about Jewish identity and, consciously or not, she taught us all a valuable – and timely – lesson,” I wrote in a tribute marking her shloshim (the thirtieth day following her passing).

Drawing on various rabbinic texts, I explained that Judaism has long considered those who separate themselves from the broader Jewish community to be utterly despicable. According to the Talmud in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, they are condemned to Gehenna (hell), and “even when Gehenna will be destroyed, they will not be consumed.”

In his seminal work, the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides went on to describe what such a separation looks like: “One who separates himself from the community, even if he does not commit a transgression but only holds aloof from the congregation of Israel, does not fulfill religious precepts in common with his people, shows himself indifferent when they are in distress, and does not observe their fasts, but rather goes his own way as if he were one of the nations and did not belong to the Jewish people — such a person has no share in the world to come.”
JPost Editorial: Stop likening Hamas to Nazis
As heartfelt as Erdan’s speech was, the recurring theme likening Hamas to the Nazis does not sit well.

We agree with the position expressed by Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan head of the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, who said, “The yellow badge symbolizes the historical vulnerability of the Jewish people and their dependence on the mercy of others. Today, the scenario has changed. We have an independent nation and a formidable army. We determine our own fate. Instead of a yellow badge, we should be proudly displaying a blue-and-white flag.”

What occurred in the Holocaust was a genocide of monumental proportions, perpetrated by Nazi Germany against a defenseless people with very few means to fight back. Six million Jews were slaughtered.

What occurred on October 7 was a crime against humanity perpetrated by a diabolical terror organization against a sovereign people with the means to fight back.

As we mourn the loss of the young soldiers who have fallen this week carrying out their national mission, we must give thanks for our national sovereignty and for the capacity to defend ourselves. This is manifested by the IDF and other security services in their current efforts to deal Hamas a devastating blow in Gaza.

It doesn’t help to link Hamas with the Nazis or October 7 with the Holocaust. Doing so not only cheapens the memory of the six million who perished in the Shoah – it broadly paints the Jewish people today as being equally stateless and defenseless.

Thankfully, nothing could be further from the truth.
Daniel Greenfield: The Silence of the Holocaust Museums
The worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust has been greeted with silence by some of the nation’s Holocaust museums including those which issued statements about BLM, the death of George Floyd and every possible issue and cause except the mass murder of Jews.

The Holocaust Museum of Houston has issued statements on its site about George Floyd’s death, “family separation at the U.S. border”, Texas opting out of the refugee resettlement program and rising violence toward “the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community”, as well as some Jewish issues, but no mention of attacks and violence against Jews in Israel.

Three weeks after the Simchat Torah massacres in Israel, it has yet to issue a similar statement on its own site, only on social media. The Holocaust Museum of Houston’s statements appear under its “Resources to Support Racial Equity and Justice” which includes books to read.

None of these books, such as ‘Between The World And Me’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates, who had recently signed a statement defending Hamas, ‘How To Be An Antiracist’ by Ibram X. Kendi, ‘Have Black LIves Ever Mattered?’ by Mumia Abu-Jamal, a cop killer, or ‘The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther’, as well as a book by the founders of BLM, focus on antisemitism. The Holocaust Museum of Houston does however promote the fringe racialist conspiracy theory that the government killed Malcolm X. Many of the authors recommended by the Holocaust Museum of Houston are antisemitic or promote antisemitic figures and movements. There’s room at Houston’s Holocaust Museum for the veneration of the Black Panthers and Malcolm X, both militant haters of Jews, but not Jews.

This is in sharp contrast to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum which issued a statement condemning the massacre and stating that, “Hamas is a self-avowed Islamic terrorist organization that has the primary goal of annihilating the Jewish nation state of Israel and we strongly affirm Israel’s right to defend itself against this heinous threat.”

The Tucson Jewish Museum and Holocaust Center had in the past issued a statement that equated George Floyd’s death to the Holocaust and announced a ‘shiva’ mourning for Floyd. It also promoted BLM materials from the anti-Israel group, T’ruah.
Could Paris 2024 become a repeat of Munich 1972?
The Israeli delegation to the Paris summer Olympic Games in 2024 is scheduled to be the largest ever with the highest aspirations for achieving results. More than 200 delegation members including the Olympic soccer team. But, what on paper would appear to be a genuine sporting celebration has in recent days turned into a nightmare for those responsible for its security, raising serious questions as to how the Israeli team will participate in the games, and of course what will be the fate of those Israeli fans who have already purchased tickets.

Problem No. 1: The location
In France today there are six million Muslims. The largest Muslim center in France is located in Paris, and already over the last week we have witnessed just how the Muslims have taken to the streets to demonstrate against Israel, and the local police used all its available force to deal with them.

Having said that, the serious Muslim threat in France is a genuine source of concern for the heads of the Israeli security services, who are afraid of a similar horror scenario to that of Munich 1972. France is a pro-Muslim country, although public opinion in France is gradually shifting towards Israel; though the thought of the Israeli flag flying above the Champs-Élysées is still a somewhat problematic issue when we think about the fast-approaching July 2024 games. France is currently considered to be a less safe environment for Jews, not to mention Israelis. And that's before we have even dared to speak about the largest and most complex sporting event in the world.

Problem No. 4: Thomas Bach
Thomas Bach, a German national and the current president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), refuses to condemn Hamas. In contrast to his uncompromising war against the Russians and his support for the Ukrainians, Bach remains silent when it comes to Israel. It is important to understand that previously Bach was the head of the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce.

According to reports, when he was elected to his current position in 2013, it was the large Arab lobby on the IOC that helped him gain the much sought-after position: among others, the representatives of Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan were among those who voted for him, after he had been heavily engaged in commercial ties with those countries. Bach is trying hard to retain his position for another four years, but he knows that his opponents on the IOC are most likely to prevent this. At the age of 69, maintaining his ties with the Arab world, which was a key preoccupation for him until a decade ago, is of great importance.

Bach's deafening silence has led to more and more Olympic athletes uploading posts against Israel with acerbic vitriol (an Italian judoka even compared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Adolf Hitler), which are then not met with any appropriate response. It is quite scary to even think of what gestures the Arab athletes are planning for Hamas and the Palestinians at the upcoming Olympic Games, if Bach fails to state in advance that this is opposed to the Olympic spirit, precisely as he did during the war between Russia and Ukraine.
JPost Editorial: Amid Israel's war with Hamas, President Herzog sends message of hope
In his inspiring address to the nation on Wednesday night, President Isaac Herzog stressed “the strength and resilience, spirit and soul” of Israeli society, urging citizens to stand together and not give up hope as the country’s security forces battle the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza.

Herzog hit all the right notes in his speech.

“It’s been almost a month since our country underwent a serious change,” he began. “For almost a month, we have been in a war like no other. Almost a month has passed since that cursed day when the sun rose, the flowers blossomed, and butchers slaughtered, slaughtered, and slaughtered – women and men, elderly and infants, from kibbutzim and communities, cities and towns.”

In the past month, the president said, he and his wife Michal have met families and communities displaced from their homes, and visited the wounded in hospitals and the families of those missing or being held hostage. “Truly an Israeli mosaic like no other,” he noted. “The pain of the families of the hostages and the missing is simply unfathomable. My conversations with them are the most painful conversations I have held in all of my life.”

Calling for unity amid Israel's darkest hour
Repeating the message he conveys in these conversations, Herzog looked directly into the camera and said, “I say to you what I told the families: unequivocally, the hostages are in our thoughts, and their return is an integral part of the success of this campaign – of course, alongside victory in this decisive war against the enemy and restoring security to all Israeli citizens.”

Reassuring families of the hostages, he said, “I knowingly commit to you, that the best minds – thousands of Israelis, from the country’s leadership to every level of the security services – will work with professionalism and dedication, every minute of every day, to fulfill our moral duty as a country – to bring them back home.”

As an example of Israeli heroism and resourcefulness, Herzog pointed to the successful rescue of IDF Pvt. Ori Megidish from Gaza earlier this week, “in a bold, resourceful, and determined joint operation by our forces.”
Eugene Kontorovich: War Crimes in Gaza? How everyone is getting international law wrong
Is Israel violating international law in Gaza? Is Israel responsible for the Gazan people? Does Israel have an obligation to rescue the hostages?

On this week's Top Story, Jonathan Tobin is joined by Eugene Kontorovich, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Middle East and International Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University,

They discuss
- the accusations that Israel is committing war crimes in Israel
- the obligation of the Israeli government towards the Gazan people and the hostages
- the possibility of a two-state solution after the attacks on October 7th


StandWithIn: The myths and facts of the laws of armed conflict in Gaza
The myths and facts of the laws of armed conflict in Gaza, with Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum and International Legal Expert Natasha Hausdorff.


Alex Traiman & Joel Pollak Q & A on Israel/Hamas War & the Oct. 7 Attacks
JNS CEO Alex Traiman and Breitbart Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak answer questions about the Oct. 7th attacks, the mainstream media's response and what currently is happening on the ground in Gaza.


Israel Must Destroy The Evil
I always end my column with “Am Yisrael chai,” “the people of Israel live.” Do we want to survive (which we surely will B”H) because we made it through another slaughter, or do we want to fulfill the promise of the State of Israel and SURVIVE ON OUR OWN TERMS because this time we have modern warplanes, weaponry and advanced military technology? Are we nebbishly victims, or are we a nation of fearsome Jewish warriors?

This war will also have serious ramifications for the rest of the West. I watched the same vermin give out candy after 9/11 and watched them do it again after the Simchat Torah pogrom. The difference is that in 2001, it was limited to the “West Bank.” This time the celebrations were also in Gaza, Dearborn, Michigan; New York; Los Angeles (where I am); Chicago; Sydney; London, etc. Which means that during those 22 years, all we learned was to be cowed by empty terms like “Islamophobia” and “racism.” The poison spread because we were moral cowards.

None of this happened in a vacuum.

Watching what has been happening in Israel over the past year or so has been rough. Particularly the issue of reforming Israel’s judiciary, the media’s often misleading portrayal of that issue, and the protests that followed, all created division among our people which was unprecedented in the modern era, and very clearly dangerous.

One thing that is crucial to remember is that the world can be a very dark place. We know that too well from the Shoah.

Our security requires unity. Courage requires moral clarity.

Our morality requires something different than the liberal democratic ideas of the West. Torah morality, Jewish morality, demands ZERO compassion for those who do evil. Moral superiority does NOT mean fighting limited wars pretending that our enemies are like us. It doesn’t mean deluding ourselves into believing that they value life, value freedom, and value their people. They do not.

The Jewish army fights a Jewish war when it fights for Torah values, which yes, demand that every life is precious, but also that evil must be utterly destroyed. That is the task we are embarking on.

Those who attacked us didn’t just attack us, but it was an attack on G-d.

These people hate us because they hate the morality that G-d gave us, through the Torah. Their darkness is the complete absence of light. It allowed them to behave like inhuman savages. This is why the darkness must be destroyed, without hesitation, and with the knowledge that the battles to come aren’t complex, but are, literally, battles to defeat the evil that Jews know all too well.

Which also is why we know exactly how to defeat it.

Never be afraid. Never give in.

Am Yisrael chai!
Gershon Baskin: The Future of Hamas after October 7
I have negotiated with Hamas, on and off, since 2006. Most of the time I did this without official backing, while also always informing officials in Israel what I was doing. For years I believed that it was possible to negotiate a long-term ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

For the past eight years I have spent hundreds of hours in talks trying to bring home the bodies of Israeli soldiers killed in 2014 in Gaza - Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin - as well as the living Israeli civilians Avera Mengisto and Hisham A-Sayed. The bottom line is that the deal never happened because Hamas demanded that Israel release several hundred prisoners including Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.

There is no legitimacy whatsoever for what Hamas and others did inside Israel on Oct. 7. These were inhuman, inexcusable crimes that will never be forgotten or forgiven. Hamas has forfeited its right to exist as a government of any territory and especially the territory next to Israel. Hamas behaved like ISIS in their attack against Israel, and Hamas now fully deserves the determination of Israel to eliminate them as the political and military body that controls Gaza.

Israel cannot create deterrence against Hamas. Not only are Hamas fighters and leaders not afraid to die, they recruit Hamas fighters from early ages from bereaved families immediately after each round of conflict. They are then educated in the (distorted) Islamic values of dying for Palestine, for Allah, for Islam, for Al-Aqsa and to get revenge for the death of their family member. They truly believe that life only has true meaning if you become a martyr - the guarantee of eternal paradise.
Hamas didn't kill people on Oct. 7, they killed Jews - experts
The events of October 7 were alarming. Innocent infants were horrifyingly burned, mothers and grandmothers suffered dismemberment, and men were ruthlessly shot.

The Hamas massacre cannot be characterized as a legitimate act of war; it was unequivocally a war crime. And it raises a perplexing question: How could individuals, even when invoking the causes of freedom or faith, commit such heinous and savage acts?

According to counterterrorism and intelligence experts, these terrorists dehumanize Jews, enabling them to rationalize their actions.

“They did not see us as human, so it was okay for them to kill us,” said counterterrorism expert Lt.-Col. (res.) Dr. Anat Berko.

Berko dedicated years to researching the moral judgment of suicide bombers, serial killers, and petty criminals. She said she observed a stark duality in the case of terrorists. On one hand, they led seemingly ordinary lives, fulfilling roles as loving fathers and grandfathers with aspirations akin to those of regular individuals. On the other hand, they pursued death.

Berko drew parallels between Hamas terrorists and groups like the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazis. She described how members of these organizations could return to their families and embrace their wives and children. Yet, when it came to Jewish children, they tragically failed to recognize them as fellow human beings.

“It is easier to [murder] someone who is not a human being,” said Itai Yonat, owner and CEO of Intercept 9500, which provides high-end intelligence services to corporations and state organizations worldwide.

“When you perceive an eight-year-old not as an innocent child but as a potential soldier in an occupying force destined to harm your loved ones, the unthinkable becomes permissible. Not only can you take their life, but you believe that by doing so, you will be celebrated as a hero.”
Muhammad Zoabi: Hamas' Indiscriminate Massacre Took the Lives of 100 Israeli Arabs
The horror from the scenes and the horrifying stories from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack have not only shocked all Israelis, but also marked a drastic shift in Arab Israeli attitude toward the country. Historically during Israeli-Palestinian escalations, the Arab community within Israel tended to be more sympathetic to Palestinians. But Oct. 7 made us feel more Israeli than ever - when we saw not only the footage of our mass murder but the celebrations of it in Gaza that came through on social media. We saw clearly what would happen if the other side had the upper hand, and it triggered a deep sense of solidarity from the Arab community, bolstering a shared sense of being Israeli.

According to a large poll carried out after the Hamas attack, over 80% of Arab Israelis rejected Hamas' attack and almost 70% supported Israel's right to respond and defend its citizens. Only 5% voiced support for Hamas' actions. Many social initiatives popped up with opportunities for Arab Israelis to assist and volunteer.

Leaders from across the political spectrum in the Arab community condemned the attack and rejected Hamas' calls on Israel's Arab citizens to join the assault on Israel. Mansour Abbas, leader of the Raam Islamist Party, condemned Hamas' atrocities and said they are "contradictory to the teachings of Islam."

Hamas' indiscriminate massacre against Israeli civilians took the lives of at least 100 Israelis from the country's Arab community. One of those was Awad Darawshe, a paramedic from a Nazareth suburb who was stationed at the Nova music festival, murdered by Hamas while trying to save lives. Amer Abu Sabila was shot to death by Hamas terrorists while trying to save a local Sderot family.

A Negev Bedouin man was driving with his wife down the highway that Saturday morning when a group of terrorists blocked his way. The Bedouin begged the terrorists not to hurt him and his wife, to which one of the terrorists responded, "You [Arab Israelis] are more Jewish than Jews, you deserve to die." The terrorist then shot the man's wife, a hijabi Muslim woman, to death.
Israel's Quest to Identify Every Victim of Hamas Leaves Scientists Exhausted, Traumatized
Three weeks after the bloody massacre that killed 1,400 people in southern Israel, Israel's government forensic laboratory is still inundated with unidentified remains. The pressure to identify the victims has forced the institute onto an emergency footing like none it has seen before. Its staff examines whole cadavers and the tiniest body parts, takes fingerprints, does X-rays and CT scans, removes tissue samples for DNA extraction - all while suppressing the instinct to grieve.

As many as 80 Israelis are still missing and many are feared dead, but identifying the remaining victims from the often badly burned and decomposing remains is proving more of a challenge as days pass, officials said. The center has received around 1,500 sets of remains since Oct. 7 - just 500 fewer than it handles in an average year.

Of the bodies that still arrive, a growing number are Gazan militants killed in the fighting. Any females are assumed to be victims, since the attackers were all believed to be male. The head of one young girl's corpse examined at the lab was severed from her torso except for a thin flap of skin, according to a photo shown by Dr. Chen Kugel, the director. In other photos, the wrists of burned bodies were bound with cable, indicating they were executed.

"Sometimes you look at something and you think it belongs to one person and then you start separating it out and you realize that it is multiple people who were holding each other, close to each other, comforting each other through everything that was happening," said Michal Peer, 29, the institute's staff anthropologist and a Colorado native.
Israel cannot, must not, jeopardize future of our country due to blackmail
Sadly, this is déjà vu all over again. Our nation, already gripped by a horrific, bloody conflict thrust upon us, is now being divided by an excruciating dilemma: Do we wage all-out war against Hamas, or do we free the Israeli hostages they hold by releasing thousands of bloodthirsty terrorists?

We have been here before. In fact, there have been numerous occasions in the past when we “traded” our prisoners for theirs. After the Six Day War, for example, we sent 6,000 captured Egyptian soldiers back to Egypt, and received 11 of our own. After the Yom Kippur War, 8,400 Egyptians were returned, while 242 of our soldiers were repatriated. There were times when we chose the negotiation route, and times when we preferred the military option, such as our successful 1976 rescue operation in Entebbe, and our failed attempt to liberate Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.

But the watershed event that is most pertinent today was the lopsided exchange in 2011 of 1,027 Palestinian terrorists – including the most vile serial killers and mass murderers in captivity – for one Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit. It was precisely those freed criminals who, upon release, would immediately begin to plan the massive terror operation that we witnessed on October 7. Indeed, the two masterminds of the Simchat Torah massacre were Ali Qadi (since eliminated by our forces) and Yahya Sinwar (now being hunted), both of whom were freed by the Netanyahu government. They were enthusiastically joined by hundreds of their former cell mates.

I spent many hours arguing against the Schalit deal, both in person and in print (“Too High a Price,” The Jerusalem Post, July 13, 2006). As a bereaved father and emissary of the Almagor Victims of Terror organization, I met with numerous members of the Knesset, trying to convince them that this ill-conceived swap would have disastrous results. Many of the politicians, such as former justice minister Dan Meridor, agreed, saying he had tried in vain to pass a law calling for terrorists to be given the sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.

Other MKs boasted that “we will know how to deal with any freed killers who return to a life of terror.” That, of course, was an empty, idle threat; Palestinian terrorists take no vacations and know only one vocation: killing Jews at any and every opportunity.
Make Gaza Israel again Amb. Friedman: No to 2-states; Yes to Israeli Sovereignty in Judea, Samaria and Gaza
Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman gives the Biden Administration a C or C- grade on its handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict while giving America's military an A grade. Friedman discusses the impact the current conflict may have on the Abraham Accords. Friedman insists that the Palestinian Authority should not control Gaza after the fighting and that the conflict demonstrates the dangers of a two-state solution. Friedman says that a pathway is required to promote Israeli sovereignty over the entire territory.


The dangerous denial of anti-Semitism

How ‘hate speech’ laws appease anti-Semitism

A ‘safe space’ for Jew hate? | The spiked podcast
Joanna Williams, Luke Gittos and Fraser Myers discuss the explosion of anti-Semitism in universities, the Covid inquiry’s whitewashing of lockdown and the public revolt against woke capitalism.


Fetterman is putting his fellow Democrats to shame on Israel

Daniel Greenfield: CAIR Tells Biden to Fight ‘Islamophobia’ by Ending Israeli Campaign Against Hamas



How Rashida Tlaib became ‘the biggest Jew hater in Congress’

Rashida Tlaib accuses Biden of 'cheering on' Netanyahu's 'ethnic cleansing' in latest remarks

We were a Super Tuesday away from the 'Squad' standing with Hamas



Monique Ryan under fire for comments on Israel-Hamas war
Independent MP Monique Ryan is under fire from her own electorate after calling for a humanitarian pause in the war between Hamas and Israel.

“As a pediatrician, I find the human suffering in Gaza intolerable,” Ms Ryan said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“I join my medical colleagues from around the world in calling for a humanitarian pause so that aid can reach people in desperate need.”

The Australian reports Jewish leaders have attacked the Kooyong MP, accusing her of "unacceptable" bias.

Ms Ryan rejected the accusation, but Sky News host Rita Panahi noted there are many in the Jewish community in Kooyong who are “unhappy” with the first-term MP.

In a letter, the principal of Bialik College, Jeremy Stowe-Lindner, said Ms Ryan had repeatedly played down the suffering of Israel and of the Australian Jewish community.


Labour council leaders demand Keir Starmer QUITS over Gaza stance as poll finds nearly a fifth of local politicians have considered leaving the party - with desperate leader trying to move on by giving speech on domestic policy

Radical Muslim clerics deliver hate sermons in wake of October 7 attacks

Chile's president accuses Israel of war crimes moments after meeting Biden: Gabriel Boric uses White House doorstep to condemn the 'disproportionate' Gaza strikes in response to Hamas attack



Did Israel's Arrow missile interception transform the Middle East?

Amid Eruption of Global Anti-Semitism, Many Israelis Say They Feel Safer in Jewish State at War

Israel doesn’t want to be in Gaza. They left Gaza for peace 18 years ago

Gaza City—what you can’t see from above
However, beyond first glance one can see what truly lies beneath the hospitals, schools, homes and Mosques.

Here Hamas' operatives, terrorist tunnels, bunkers and additional terrorist infrastructure are located.


Rocket falls on Israeli kindergarten in Sderot, sirens sound in Tel Aviv

IDF says it hit Gaza ambulance carrying Hamas terrorists, several killed

Projectile hits French news agency’s Gaza bureau, causes damage; IDF says not involved

Nasrallah: Real option of Lebanese front expanding

MEMRI: Columns In Pakistani Dailies: 'A Review Of Israel's 75-Year Occupation Of Palestine Shows That Israel Does Not Need A 9/11-Style Excuse'; 'Allah Says: What Happened To You That You Do Not Fight To Kill In The Way Of Allah?'

MEMRI: Pakistani Clerics At Anti-Israel Rallies: 'Quran Mentions Jihad Hundreds Of Times'; 'All Mosques, Media Channels, Rulers And Influencer Institutions Should Have "Jihad, Jihad" On Their Tongues'; 'Israel Has Become An Ulcer... We Need To Unite To Terminate It'; Plan To Join 'Liberation Of Palestine'

MEMRI: Reports On Arab News Sites: Against Backdrop Of Escalation Against U.S. Bases In Eastern Syria, Dozens Of Families Have Left Their Homes After Iran-Backed Militias Deployed Missile Launchers Nearby

Nazanin Boniadi: Iran seeks to ‘wreak havoc’ in the Middle East
British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi has stressed the dangerous role Iran is playing in the Israel-Hamas conflict to “wreak havoc” in the Middle East.

Ms Boniadi sat down with Sky News Australia host Laura Jayes to discuss the dangerous regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its responsibility for the Israel-Hamas conflict.

She took aim at Iran for backing the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

“They are responsible for that terrorism as their proxies,” Ms Boniadi said.

She pointed out the instability in the Middle East works in Iran’s favour as it diverts attention away from their own abuses.

“As long as the Islamic Republic regime is in power, the Middle East will not be peaceful and there won’t be global stability.”


Top Biden Administration Officials Pressed by College Students on Rising Campus Antisemitism

Israeli University President to Global Colleagues: Why Can’t Jews Be Given Same Protection on Campus as Pronouns?

A Letter from Israeli University Presidents to Their International Colleagues

White-shoe law firms tell law schools they won’t hire antisemites amid Israel-Hamas war

Columbia Professor Behind Pro-Hamas Letter Served as 'Academic Mentor' At Palestinian University That Holds Hamas Rallies

Iowa Democratic Party demands resignation of student leaders after anti-Israel statements

What I learned from pro-Hamas protesters at the University of Buffalo

Tulane University Activist Group Says White Supremacy, Not Hamas, Is Biggest Threat to Jews

Pro-Hamas sentiment among the youth is the direct result of Marxist indoctrination

Jewish students ‘frightened’ as anti-Semitism rises on college campuses
Cornell University alumni Kayla Bakhshi discusses the rising anti-Semitism on college campuses as Jewish students continue to receive threatening messages.

The rampant hate speech comes after Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7.

Ms Bakshi said her university never felt like a “safe and comfortable” place, but the level of anti-Semitism the United States is currently experiencing is “worse than ever”.

“It is on the rise not only in Cornell but college campuses throughout America,” Ms Bakshi told Sky News host James Morrow.

She said she now feels “almost frightened” to even mention her religion.

“Now it’s getting to a point where I’m frightened to go to class.”


Oberlin faces federal probe over antisemitism

CUNY professor and ex-CNN contributor Marc Lamont Hill says Hamas a 'government organization,' not terrorists Bill Ackman demands suspension of Harvard Law Review editor who accosted Jewish student Harvard Alumni Launch ‘One Dollar Pledge’ To Protest University’s Response To Hamas Attack 'Rush Hour' Director Brett Ratner Vows Never Again to Donate to Alma Mater NYU over Campus Anti-Semitism

American Media Sides With the Monsters of 10-7

Pressure Ramps Up in Congress To Revoke Al Jazeera's Press Credentials

GUARDIAN CONTINUES VILIFYING THE VICTIMS

BBC RELIGION EDITOR WHITEWASHES ‘FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA’ CHANT

‘Unbelievable’: Hamas propaganda rife in left media’s ‘terrible’ coverage on conflict
Author and media critic Steve Krakauer says the “terrible” left's media coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict is “unbelievable”.

Mr Krakauer said readers and viewers don’t understand that the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict is “absolutely one-sided” and needs to be exposed.

“I think at this point we shouldn’t be surprised anymore about these sorts of things when we see it,” Mr Krakauer told Sky News host James Morrow.

“I think there’s two different categories of the terrible media coverage that I think is at minimum anti-Israel and at maximum more anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish.

"I think there are the subtle ones … the focus on the Palestinian death toll, really no mention of things like hostages, hundreds of hostages still under Hamas’ control or the atrocities of October 7th.

“It’s also the reliance on things like the Palestinian Health Ministry or the Gaza Health Ministry for treating that as if legitimate and not telling viewers and readers that it's actually Hamas run and very often over inflates and completely spins and propagandises the media and they just continue to go along with it.

"They’ve been proven wrong multiple, multiple times including the hospital bombing which became this huge story.”




Watch & Help Us Report: Montreal TikTok Influencer Glorifies Russian Airport Pogrom Against Jews

David Remnick, the Crisis in Israel and Shades of Gray

Israel urges its citizens around the world to conceal national and Jewish identity

Some Jews are taking down their mezuzahs due to antisemitism. Some non-Jews are putting them up.

Arab Society football team snubs match with Jewish Society team

Critics blast Netflix's adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All The Light We Cannot See as a 'terrible mess' and slam the 'almost uniformly bad' acting

Mark Cuban Sends Uplifting Message to Jewish College Students Facing Antisemitism on Campus

Study: Nearly 50% of Israeli citizens volunteered during first weeks of war



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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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