Sunday, November 12, 2023

11/12 Links: Hamas is seen as representative of the Palestinians; Netanyahu: ‘Could be’ deal to free hostages; The Scandal of Robert Malley

From Ian:

Israeli society has shown enormous resilience in response to Hamas massacre
Increasing circles of grief
The amount of grief and trauma caused by the loss of life, the horror of kidnapped loved ones and those who still don’t know the fate of family members is on a scale never seen before. Even the Yom Kippur War did not have such an immediate and dramatic impact as we have seen in the first few days of the conflict.

The devastation has left entire communities in the shock of collective trauma requiring some form of national recovery and rehabilitation which will include physical, emotional, and communal needs. It goes without saying, that there is also a massive breach of trust within the country and the powers that be, militarily and politically. This too will be a huge concern as time unfolds. This community will form an important driver of social change. Morally it will be hard to ignore their voice.

The aftermath of 1973
Many have already compared the events of October 2023 to those of October 1973. Most obviously this is due to the surprise attack and to the intelligence and military failure. One can assume that there will be other similarities. As in 1973, there is an understanding that people’s basic assumptions about Israeli life will change. This will not be limited to military or security aspects, nor even the political map (although of course it will include both).

Post-1973 there were enormous social changes. In 1974, Gush Emunim was founded and became the dominant force in building new settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. In 1976, a new political party emerged that altered the face of Israeli politics forever. Middle-class voters, sick of the Labor Party, both due to corruption and also the handling of the Yom Kippur War, founded Dash (Democratic Movement for Change), which helped reshape the politics in Israel.

The movement of Israelis becoming more religious also gained momentum the following year with many disillusioned secular Israelis finding their way into the Haredi community while a steady stream of Israelis left the country. All of these changes, and more, had a deep and lasting effect on Israeli society.

We know that we don’t know
We can be confident that Israeli society will be dramatically different after October 7. What we cannot know is what change is going to look like. The generation that is heroically defending the country, and the generation that is recreating civic society, will likely lead to new movements and ideas as the country faces economic, physical, emotional, and spiritual renewal. The hundreds, if not thousands of bereaved families and uprooted communities, along with the families of the hostages, will likely be a powerful social force for change, and not necessarily along the traditional political or religious lines.

Israeli society has shown enormous resilience in response to the terrible events of Simchat Torah, and we cannot know where that will lead us. If this tragedy generates a new confidence and optimism with a shift from the cynical politics of our era, then the future of Israeli society may be brighter than it currently feels. If Generation V becomes Israel’s Greatest Generation then we have much to look forward to.
Hamas is seen as representative of the Palestinians
Tragically, Abbas and the Fatah party put themselves firmly behind Hamas and its atrocities, celebrating the massacres and even laughing at the victims. One video posted by Fatah on Telegram mocked the Israeli victims by portraying them in an illustration as a dead rat, lying on its back on an Israeli flag and with its feet in the air, about to be trampled by a boot the colors of the Palestinian flag. [Fatah’s Bethlehem Telegram, Oct. 8, 2023]

Even when pressed by the international community and in particular by the United States to condemn the atrocities, Abbas refused. He finally issued a mild statement – not condemning Hamas, but merely saying that “Hamas’s policy and actions do not represent the Palestinian people.” But after giving it a second thought, even that mild statement was too much for Abbas. A few hours later, his statement was removed and replaced by a general statement that “the PLO is… the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.” Abbas has a decision to make

Abbas had to decide whether to be true to the PA ideology of supporting and rewarding the murder of Israelis or to give in to international pressure and condemn the worst atrocities against the Jews since the Holocaust. In past situations like this, Abbas at times had given in to international pressure to ensure that international funding would continue. This time, Abbas wavered but, in the end, remained true to PA principles: A Palestinian can never be defined as a terrorist and can never be condemned for killing an Israeli.

WITH SUPPORT for Hamas crossing the political divisions, it is no wonder that one week into the fighting, Palestinians marched through the streets of Hebron, Nablus, and even in the PA seat of government, Ramallah, chanting: “The people want the [Hamas’] Al-Qassam Brigades!” As the fighting increases, public support for Hamas increases. This past week, videos of large marches all across the West Bank supporting Hamas were being posted on social media. In one, hundreds of young schoolgirls marched and chanted, “We are the daughters of [Hamas leader] Muhammad Deif… Allahu Akbar, blow up the Zionist’s head… strike Tel Aviv… strike Ashkelon… Jihad is our path… the Quran is our savior… Death for Allah is our sublime wish…” [Quds New Network (Hamas), Twitter, Oct. 29, 2023]

By refusing to offer Palestinians an alternative to even unspeakable atrocities and by supporting the “heroic” slaughter, Fatah and Abbas have sent a clear message to Palestinians: Hamas is doing the right job and clearly doing it better than PA/Fatah.

Ironically, Abbas’s public response to the atrocities, including his repetition of the slogan that “the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” has turned that slogan into an irrelevant anachronism. The PA and Fatah, with their own actions, have handed the loyalty of the West Bank on a silver platter to Hamas, which must now be recognized as the uncontested representative – not only of the Palestinian people, but also of Fatah and Abbas himself.
Eli Lake: The Scandal of Robert Malley
After Biden won the 2020 election, Malley was perfectly positioned to guide U.S. policy toward Iran. He was close friends with Antony Blinken, who would become Biden’s secretary of state. Malley and Blinken attended the same high school in Paris and worked on the yearbook together. In Washington, they played on a recreational soccer team. To some, this might suggest that the current investigation into Malley is so serious that even his old and powerful friend could not save him from it.

That said, it’s too early to know the nature of the probe into Malley’s mishandling of state secrets. There has always been a tension between the State Department and the FBI when it comes to rogue regimes. The job of a diplomat is to engage with foreign officials. One hazard of this work is that sometimes a piece of classified information may slip into a conversation. For example, Henry Kissinger, in a meeting with his Soviet counterpart, famously shared the fact that America was reading Egyptian cable traffic. Or consider the case of Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. His clearance was suspended in 2000 after it was learned he had been sending classified emails from the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. No evidence ever emerged that Indyk or Kissinger was a spy.

A better way to understand the scandal around Malley is to look at the people he himself hired and mentored in recent years. These include Ali Vaez, who is currently an analyst at the International Crisis Group. The emails disclosed in the Iran International and Semafor investigations show Vaez seeking approval from his contact at Iran’s foreign ministry for op-eds he would later publish in Western outlets. In an October 2, 2014, missive to Iran’s foreign minister, Vaez wrote, “As an Iranian, based on my national and patriotic duty, I have not hesitated to help you in any way.”

Malley tried to bring Vaez into the Biden administration, but Vaez could not get a security clearance. Malley did hire Ariane Tabatabai as an adviser. According to Semafor and Iran International, Tabatabai actually asked for guidance from her Iranian foreign-ministry contact on whether she should visit Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Tabatabai is now chief of staff to Christopher Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. Last month, Maier testified before the Senate that the Pentagon is investigating “whether all law and policy was properly followed in granting my chief of staff top-secret special compartmented information.” In October, the Pentagon announced that Tabatabai would keep her security clearance after the investigation.

Says Gerecht, “If you’ve known Malley’s position on Iran, it makes perfect sense he would hire these people. The fact that these individuals were apparently acting somewhat obsequiously toward Iranian officials is a separate issue.”

This cuts to the heart of the Rob Malley scandal. He is not an interloper and neither are his protégés. They are instead implementers of a worldview that pretends fanatics and terrorists can be tamed through negotiations and that acts of savagery can be explained away by root causes. And we have just seen and are now living through the response to the greatest challenge in our time to the idea that such people can somehow be treated as anything but the monsters they are.

In his 2008 lecture, Rob Malley acknowledged the tragedy and failure of the secular radicalism his father embraced. “And how ingloriously it all ended,” he wrote. “No last brave stand for fight to the finish. Instead a muted, slow, nondescript decline. As early as the 1980s, the illusions had all but expired.”

But Malley never learned the lessons of his father’s expired illusions—the bizarre fantasy that revolutionary violence would liberate the Third World. He has instead himself succumbed to the dangerous fantasy that engaging violent revolutionaries will persuade them to renounce their illusions. His security clearance may yet be restored and his name cleared, but Robert Malley should not be allowed inside the corridors of power ever again.


Barbara K. Olson Memorial Lecture
Featuring:
- Ms. Bari Weiss, Founder & Editor, The Free Press
- Introduction: Mr. Theodore W. Ullyot, Co-Chairman, Board of Visitors, The Federalist Society


Netanyahu: Wherever There Is No Israeli Security Control, Terrorism Will Establish Itself
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening:
"We will not stop until the mission is complete. The war against Hamas-ISIS is advancing at full force and it has one goal - victory. There is no substitute for victory. We will eliminate Hamas and bring back our hostages."

"IDF forces have completed the encirclement of Gaza City. They are operating in the heart of the city and are on the outskirts of Shifa Hospital. They have eliminated thousands of terrorists including senior commanders and arch-murderers who were among those involved in the terrible massacre on the cursed Saturday of October 7."

"We are also prepared on the northern front. We are operating there with heavy fire - from the air and on the ground....We are also fighting on additional fronts. Every day, we are taking action against terrorism, its emissaries and militants, in Judea and Samaria, Lebanon, Syria, the Red Sea and anywhere necessary."

"About the hostages, my directive and that of the Cabinet is clear: There will be no ceasefire without the return of our hostages."

"To the leaders of the Arab states...you must come out against Hamas. In the 16 years of its tyranny, Hamas has brought disaster on Gaza. It has brought only two things to the residents of Gaza: blood and poverty. Hamas is an integral part of the axis of terrorism led by Iran, and this axis of terrorism and evil endangers the entire Middle East, and the entire Arab world as well."

"As to the talk about the day after, this will only come after Hamas has been eliminated, and Gaza is demilitarized and no longer able to threaten the State of Israel. In order to ensure that there is no such threat, the IDF will continue to have security control over the Gaza Strip for as long as necessary to prevent terrorism from it."

"The massacre on October 7 proved once and for all wherever there is no Israeli security control, terrorism will return and establish itself; therefore, I will not agree to concede security control under any circumstances."

Netanyahu also ruled out the possibility of the Palestinian Authority controlling Gaza, saying, "There will not be a civil authority there that educates their children to hate Israel, to kill Israelis, or to eliminate Israel. There cannot be an authority there that pays the families of murderers. There cannot be an authority who didn't condemn the massacre."
Netanyahu: ‘Could be’ deal to free hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there could be a hostage deal with Hamas, speaking in an interview with NBC News‘ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

“I think the less I say about it, the more I’ll increase the chances that it materializes,” the prime minister said, declining to give details.

Hamas took some 240 persons hostage during its Oct. 7 attack on Israeli communities in the northwestern Negev, in which terrorist operatives also killed more than 1,200 persons, most civilians.

Netanyahu argued that Israel’s ground operation into the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has turned into a terror base since it seized power there in 2007, brings the possibility of freeing the hostages closer and not the reverse, as some have suggested.

“We heard that there was an impending deal of this kind or of that kind and then we learned that it was all hokum. But the minute we started the ground operation that began to change,” he said.

So far the IDF has succeeded in freeing one hostage, Pvt. Ori Megidish, 19, on Oct. 30, three weeks after Hamas kidnapped her from the army’s Nahal Oz Base.

Hamas released a mother and daughter with dual Israel and American citizenship on Oct. 20 and two elderly women on Oct. 23.

Asked if he knew where the hostages were being held, Netanyahu said: “We know a great deal, but I won’t go beyond that.”

A Biden administration official confirmed to NBC News on Sunday that a deal for releasing the hostages was in the works.

The deal would involve the release of about 80 women and children in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and teenagers held by Israel, said the official, who spoke anonymously.

The Palestinians who might be released are security prisoners held by Israel for involvement in terrorism.

Netanyahu also reiterated to NBC comments he made on Saturday night that Israel must maintain security control over the Gaza Strip.


Saudis help block anti-Israel measures at Arab summit
Saudi Arabia on Saturday helped to block a bid by Arab and Muslim countries to militarily and economically isolate Israel, according to Israeli media reports.

Most of the states present at an Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency summit in Riyadh focusing on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza sought to impose five measures against the Jewish state, Channel 12 reported.

The demands were to prevent the transfer of U.S. military equipment to Israel from American bases in the Middle East region; suspend all diplomatic and economic contacts with Israel; cut back oil sales to the United States over Washington’s support for Israel; stop Israeli air traffic over the skies of the Gulf and send a joint delegation to the United States, Europe and Russia to push for a ceasefire.

The resolution to adopt these measures was blocked by Israel’s Abraham accords partner states the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. They were joined by Egypt and Jordan, two countries with long-standing peace agreements with Israel. Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Djibouti also opposed the measures.

Israeli-Saudi ties were thawing before Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Gaza-area communities, killing 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 200 people to Gaza as hostages. The war has apparently slowed, but not derailed, efforts to normalize relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

Israel and the northwest African country of Mauritania had diplomatic relations from 1999-2009 but they were frozen during the Gaza war of 2009. Djibouti, located on the African Horn, never had diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.

An Iranian demand that the Israel Defense Forces be designated as a terror organization was also rejected.
Arab, Muslim leaders slam Israel, disagree on response
Col. Brig. (Ret.) Hanan Gefen and Senior Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Jonathan Schanzer break down the war in Gaza in the eyes of the Arab world.




Israel, Finland sign $335m deal for David’s Sling defense system

Col. Richard Kemp: Israel Isn't Struggling in Gaza. It's Winning a Rapid Victory
The Israel Defense Forces have been attacking Hamas in Gaza from land, sea and air for two weeks now, following a three-week air campaign.

Before ground operations began, U.S. military advisers urged the Israelis not to launch a large-scale campaign, which they believed would result in an IDF bloodbath, and recommended a combination of air strikes and special forces raids.

The IDF rejected that advice and moved into Gaza with a large combined arms force. And it has confounded its critics.

The IDF has exceeded even its own commanders' expectations with the speed and extent of Hamas' destruction.

It is assaulting terrorist strongholds and killing large numbers of fighters including key commanders, while its forces have sustained fewer casualties than anticipated. This is highly impressive.
IDF's methodical approach to Gaza ground offensive
A hint of frustration and perhaps even disappointment colored President Joe Biden's words on Thursday, as he expressed his anticipation for a speedier Israeli Defense Forces response in the Gaza conflict to an American reporter. Even within Israel, some eyebrows are being raised at the seemingly leisurely pace of the forces in the northern Gaza Strip and around Gaza City.

But the truth of the matter is that the IDF is intentionally moving at this measured pace. This is a fresh combat strategy developed in recent years by Chiefs of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and, to a larger extent, Aviv Kochavi. It's not just a strategy - the IDF has also equipped itself to "fight slow", with the main aim of keeping casualties to a minimum, both among its own ranks and the non-combatants on the opposing side.

There are four key elements that catalyzed the creation and execution of this strategy. The first relates to Israel's heightened sensitivity towards the loss of its soldiers. This likely springs from the deep-seated national trauma of the Holocaust and the Jewish-Israeli culture that reveres human life, particularly those lost in battle, seen as making the ultimate sacrifice for the well-being of others. The outcome can seem somewhat paradoxical at times: the loss of a soldier in combat is perceived as a more horrific event than the death of a civilian in an attack. This perception has guided the IDF in their development of this measured approach to combat in recent years.

The second driving force behind this approach is the imperative to avert harm to civilians on the opposing side. This stems less from lofty moral principles and more from the necessity of preserving legitimacy. All of Israel's adversaries, from Hezbollah to Hamas, have recognized that the global community holds the Jewish state to a different standard, expecting a higher level of combat morality than what the Americans, for instance, exhibited in Vietnam, Afghanistan, or Iraq.

The world echoes the sentiment that a people who have historically borne the brunt of persecution, pogroms, and genocide should be held to a different benchmark. The quest for moral legitimacy and a commitment to uphold international warfare laws also played a part in shaping the IDF's current modus operandi in Gaza.

The third ingredient in the creation of this combat style is the advent of technology, which enables a soldier on the ground to receive high-quality intelligence and particularly precise strike assistance from a multitude of different sources. This technology reduces the need for direct, face-to-face - or barrel-to-barrel - confrontation with the enemy.

The fourth element is the combat style adopted by the terrorist armies surrounding us, often referred to as "the phantom enemy". Neither Hezbollah nor Hamas engage in open combat with the IDF, instead, they hide until forces approach. They then emerge from clandestine underground or surface locations, fire their weapons, detonate a bomb or launch an anti-tank missile, and vanish. This necessitates locating the enemy in the fleeting moments of their appearance and being able to fire back quickly enough to neutralize them. This calls for a more measured, deliberate pace of combat.
IDF Uses New Intel Tactics to Kill 7 Gaza Terrorists in 10 Minutes
IDF soldiers of the Golani Brigade eliminated seven terrorists within ten minutes this weekend thanks to having access to quick and efficient intelligence in the field.

That is taking place because dozens of ADANIM (Deployable-level Intel) are operational for the first time and are providing intelligence to forces operating in Gaza.

The Center for Defense and Operational Maneuvers is an integrative organization in the Intelligence Directorate tasked with producing, researching and making tactical intelligence accessible to the operational front in order to improve the operational effectiveness of the forces in the field in both defense and offense and lead to quick coordination of firepower combining accurate intelligence and effective firepower.

“In routine times, the center focuses on force-building for emergencies — but now for the first time, it is supporting IDF operational activity,” the IDF said.

Each division and operating brigade has a back office named ADAN (Deployable-level intel), to integrate and use the variety of sources of gathering and analysis in the Intelligence Directorate and the intelligence community, making the intel accessible to forces in the field.

The operational demand comes from the division and the brigade to ADAN, where a complete response is given.

In one office, signal monitors, network intelligence officers, analysts, and researchers sit together with the goal of protecting our forces and eliminating Hamas terrorists.

Another example of quick coordination that took place in the Defense and Operations Center is the elimination of the commander of the Naser Radwan Company, the terrorist Ahmed Siam.


Israeli-American soldier killed in Gaza buried at Mt. Herzl

Hezbollah anti-tank missiles from Lebanon wound six Israelis

Hamas fires on IDF soldiers evacuating civilians in Gaza

Hamas blocks IDF fuel delivery to Gaza's Shifa Hospital

‘Mein Kampf’ found in kids’s room used as Hamas terror base

The video of barbarity and carnage that will haunt me forever: MAUREEN CALLAHAN's searing account of the 10/7 Hamas terror footage - and her demand: why WON’T the president tell us if he’s seen it or not?

King Charles to hold behind the scenes talks later this month with Arab leaders to discuss a plan for peace in Gaza Macron tells Herzog he supports Israel’s war against Hamas

Israel mustn’t stop war on terrorists who cut off heads - British DM

Jew hatred around the world ‘bear all the hallmarks of Hitler and the Nazis’: Rowan Dean
Sky News host Rowan Dean says the bloodthirsty massacres and the resulting outbreak of Jew hatred around the world “bear all the hallmarks of Hitler and the Nazis”.

Mr Dean said we’ve seen a “terrifying increase” in physical attacks on Jewish people in Australia and overseas.

“History suggests that the comparisons between the modern antisemitism fuelled by pro-Palestinian sentiments and Hitler’s antisemitism, are no coincidence.

“We either learn from history – those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

“So please let us learn.”




‘No armistice’ between Israel and Hamas until hostages are released
Military lawyer Dr Glenn Kolomeitz says there will be ‘no armistice’ between Israel and Hamas until all of the Israeli hostages are released.

“This brings us to another parallel issue, Remembrance Day was previously called Armistice Day, and I have to say I suspect there will be no armistice between Israel and Hamas until the hostages, the Israeli hostages are released, Mr Kolomeitz told Sky News Australia.

“Until the threat posed to Israeli and Palestinian people alike, by Hamas is removed.”

“I know for a fact that Australians whose relatives are serving with the IDF would have that front and centre in their minds whilst reflecting on their family members fighting for Israel in that horrendous conflict.”

An estimated 200 people, including 30 teenagers and young children and 20 people over the age of 60, are being held hostage in Gaza according to Hamas themselves.

Remembrance Day is marked on November 11th at 11.00 am each year to commemorate members of the armed forces who have died in wars, and conflicts.


‘Shame on her’: Penny Wong blasted for Gaza ceasefire comments in ABC interview
Sky News host Rowan Dean has slammed Penny Wong as an “utter disgrace” after she revealed Australia is pushing for Israel’s ceasefire on Gaza.

The Foreign Minister accused Israel of “attacking hospitals” during an ABC Insiders interview on Sunday.

“The ceasefire ended on October 6,” Mr Dean said.

“That’s when the ceasefire ended –when Hamas butchered, raped and murdered.

“Shame on her.”


Australian Jews Condemn FM Wong’s Bothsidesism on Israel’s Self-Defense

Richard Marles: ‘Antisemitism doesn't have a place in our country'
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has slammed the violent pro-Palestine demonstration in Caulfield as “unacceptable”.

The scenes which unfolded at the Melbourne rally on Friday night triggered an evacuation of a nearby synagogue during a Shabbat service.

“I think it’s fair to say that right now Jewish Australians have never felt less safe and that is a real problem,” Mr Marles told Sky News Australia.

“Antisemitism doesn’t have a place in our country and it’s very important that we are able, no matter what is happening elsewhere in the world, to maintain social cohesion here in Australia.

“There shouldn’t be demonstrations which are aimed at other members of the community, and Jewish Australians as all Australians have a right to feel safe in their country.”


'It's so disgusting': 'Ethnoreligious violence' playing out on Australia's streets
Sky News host Chris Kenny says the pro-Palestine rallies is the “worst thing” to unfold in Australia.

On Friday night in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield, a violent clash between Palestinian and Israeli supporters erupted.

A war memorial was also defaced with graffiti, and on Saturday, demonstrators took to the water on jet skis with the intention of barring the entry of an Israeli ship at Port Botany.

“I just think it is so disgusting, it’s so sad, it runs against everything that we think this country stands for,” Mr Kenny told Sky News Australia.

“This is ethnoreligious violence playing out on our streets.”


ABC's coverage on Israel-Hamas war has 'left a lot to be desired'
Liberal Senator Claire Chandler says some of ABC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war since October 7 has “left a lot to be desired”.

“I don’t think that’s a groundbreaking statement by any means,” she told Sky News Australia.

Mr Chandler’s remarks come as United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese is set to appear on ABC’s Q&A show tomorrow, on Monday.

“In terms of Ms Albanese, I certainly hope that if she’s going to go on Q&A tomorrow night, then she will also be making it abundantly clear that Israel has a right to defend itself,” Ms Chandler said.

“Israel has a right to push back against the dreadful, dreadful terrorist attacks that we have seen against them by Hamas.”




Jacinta Allan slammed for ‘pathetic response’ to violent pro-Palestine protest
Sky News host Rita Panahi has slammed the “pathetic” response of Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan to the violent pro-Palestine protest in Melbourne on Friday night.

The scenes which erupted at the Caulfield rally triggered an evacuation of a nearby synagogue during a Shabbat service.

“Premier Jacinta Allan –pathetic response,” Ms Panahi said.

Ms Panahi said the Victorian Premier provided “no moral clarity whatsoever” in her tweet after the incident.

“She makes references to ‘there is never any place for anti-Semitism or Islamophobia in Victoria’ – that’s how she ends the statement.”




US Officials: Hamas pushes misinformation to play the victim
"We are witnessing in real time Hamas carrying out their covenant from 1988, which states, 'Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it just as it obliterated others before it,'" Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said at a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing about U.S. support for Israel.

Assistant Secretary of State Barbara A. Leaf and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Dana Stroul provided expert testimony to the committee.

The 1988 covenant is a 9,059-word terrorist manifesto. "There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through jihad," it says.

It is an inclusive movement, as seen in Article 12 of the covenant: "A woman can go out to fight the enemy without her husband's permission, and so does the slave: without his master's permission."

Slaves are mentioned two further times in the document.

Thirty minutes into the hearing, after the experts and politicians testified that Hamas was using civilians as human shields, had cut a baby out of a mother's abdomen, beheaded other babies, cooked a live baby in an oven in front of its parents, and wiped out an entire nursery full of young children, a protester interrupted the meeting with unbridled sympathy for Gaza.

Other protesters showed support by sitting behind the witnesses with painted red palms extended towards the committee members to signify that the blood of Palestinians was on their hands. The dead Israeli children did not seem to bother the pro-Palestinian protesters.

This type of behavior and the way certain segments of the U.S. population are siding with a designated terrorist group were discussed at length. Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida), a former U.S. Army staff sergeant who served in Afghanistan and also did a volunteer stint with the Israel Defense Forces, did not mince words.

"Hamas lies. Hamas and the Palestinians lie"
Misinformation is spreading so fast partly because the media and UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, "parrot" Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry statistics, Mast said, which ultimately leads to misinformation responsible for anti-Semitic attacks across the United States.

When Mast asked Leaf why combatants are not included in the Gaza Health Ministry's body count, she told him it was because the ministry includes dead Hamas terrorists in its civilian casualty reports.

"They expect the world to believe that all these people and these groups … that none of them are combatants. And that is what they want the world to believe and that is what the United Nations goes out and parrots and that is what the media goes out and parrots," Mast said.

The experts agreed that the number of Palestinians killed is unknown.

"Hamas lies. Hamas and the Palestinians lie … then they pretend everyone is a victim," Mast said. "Are all combatants Hamas?" he asked Stroul, who responded, "No."


Anatomy of a Paris Demo
A poll for the daily Le Figaro shows that 37 percent of the French still have sympathy for Israel, while Palestine gets 20 percent and Hamas 5 percent.

"Hamas doesn't represent Palestinians," said Laurent, a restaurant worker, echoing a comment by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. "Palestinians don't behave like that."

"Hamas has betrayed the Palestinian people," says philosopher Michel Onfray.

However, the march was also bad news for Israel. This crowd included ordinary French citizens who could not be written off as anti-Semite weirdos.

No doubt anti-Semitic sentiments have deep roots in France, as in most Western countries. However, Israeli leaders need to ask how Israel, a victim on October 7, was cast as an oppressor two days later.

Those I talked to in the demo seemed as if they had forgotten October 7, reminding me of Isaac Bashevis Singer's phrase "What a miser is a human memory!" For decades, with the exception of The Netherlands, France was the most pro-Israel nation in Europe and its chief source of weapons. It helped Israel build its nuclear capabilities. Whenever Israel was attacked, French intellectuals and celebrities mobilized to show support through public meetings and full-page ads in newspapers.

This time, however, the only expression of solidarity came from a few, mostly of Jewish background. There was a time when Israel was the darling of the left. Now, however, only Fabien Roussel, leader of the Communist Party, condemns the October 7 massacre. In the Saturday demo, there was no mention of the nearly 250 Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The so-called elites have adopted a one-way indignation posture against Israel.

Yet, casual talk at the bronze counter shows that Hamas has done much damage to the "Palestinian cause" while Benjamin Netanyahu's belligerent rhetoric has diverted attention from the price Israel paid on October 7. However, in France at least, as far as we could make out, the battle for public opinion is far from settled.
Andrew Neil: Yes, the march stuck in the craw but our glorious dead fought for this freedom

Guardian erases antisemitism and extremism from London hate march

Michael Gove is mobbed by pro-Palestine supporters chanting 'shame on you' as he walks through London Victoria station

Police launch probe as Jewish families leaving north London synagogue are 'targeted' by pro-Palestinian activists spraying green smoke and shouting from cars after Armistice Day march

Pro-Palestine protestors descend on Biden's Delaware mansion to demand ceasefire in Gaza - as president declares war and death are 'part of our American story' at Veterans Day service

Woman Arrested For Hate Crime In California Has Persian Posts On Instagram

2 LA charter school teachers removed for teaching 1st graders about ‘genocide in Palestine’ in class at synagogue

Claiming to be 'just' anti-Israel, protesters do have a strange habit of targeting Jews
On a recent Rebel News daily livestream, Ezra Levant discussed increasing harassment and violence directed towards the Jewish community in Canada, specifically in Toronto. Alberta is working to develop Holocaust education, but could any amount rectify the amount of anti-Jewish hatred that is on display in major cities across the world?


Ben Shapiro: Debunks Pro-Hamas TikToks Pt. 2



Jewish mom 'disturbed' by book defaced with pro-Palestinian stickers

Jewish students at MIT blocked from attending classes by 'hostile' anti-Israel protesters

Daniel Greenfield: Why You Should Ask Your Local Jewish Paper to Drop the JTA
Andrew Lapin and the JTA didn’t even do ‘both sides’. The JTA ran a story which only quoted one side. The pro-Hamas side. The one that was assaulting Jews outside a Holocaust museum.

I don’t know what the final straw is for some people, but this should be it.

Contact your local Jewish paper. Tell them about this. Ask them to stop publishing the JTA.

The JTA is worse than the New York Times because it’s right there in your local paper. People have learned to trust it. And it needs to go. For local Jewish papers, the JTA is convenient. So was the New York Times crossword puzzle.

No paper can truly be pro-Israel if it’s got JTA content in it.

The JTA covered pro-Hamas assaults outside a Holocaust museum from the pro-Hamas perspective. This should be a red line for any decent person.

Ask your local Jewish paper to drop the JTA. It’s the right thing to do.


Crossing the lines of integrity with a Hamas-praising photojournalist

Israel, Iran and the Biden Administration: If America Does Not Win, Its Enemies Do
Above all, to speed up the release of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, there must be as few "pauses" as possible, and no let-up by Israel in military pressure.

While the Israelis were urging the residents of northern Gaza to move south to avoid being caught in the cross-fire, Hamas leaders were ordering Gazans not to move to safety, and shooting at them as they tried to flee -- presumably so that Hamas could have more dead bodies to show the television crews how evil the Israelis supposedly are.

Unfortunately, Biden announced that the US will send $100 million in additional "humanitarian aid" to Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, thereby freeing up funds to be used for further terrorist attacks. "Humanitarian aid" sounds virtuous, but actually violates UN Security Council Resolution 1373, which prohibits resupplying terrorists.

Israel, regrettably, evidently under US pressure, has just agreed to four-hour "humanitarian pauses." To Hamas, any pause is a gift. It can restock, move its terrorists around, and keep re-hiding the hostages. What chance is there that a terrorist group that shoots its own citizens to keep them from fleeing to safety will hand out food, water and medicine to anyone but its own members?

In fairness, Biden immediately sent Israel munitions and deployed US Navy vessels to the eastern Mediterranean, including a nuclear submarine...

Biden has not failed to repeat his support for a"two-state solution", even though it is now clearer than ever that the creation of a genocidal Palestinian state on what is left of Israel's small borders must be unthinkable... In such a volatile region, what if Iran or Hamas or ISIS were to take over the new Palestinian state?
It Is Time Biden Publicly Acknowledged This Is Iran's Mullahs' War Against Israel and the United States
Sadly, the Biden administration has yet to come out and publicly acknowledge Iran's role in Hamas's October 7 invasion of Israel, in which the terrorist group murdered over 1,200 Israelis and at least 31 Americans, and wounded over 4,500 Israelis. Hamas also abducted more than 240 people and took them back to Gaza, where they are being held as hostages.

Iran provides roughly $100 million a year to Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and $700 million a year to Hezbollah.

Iran and its proxies have clearly been waging a war against Israel, Jews and the United States. It is incumbent upon the Biden administration at least to publicly acknowledge this fact. Or is the US still hoping for some disastrous "nuclear deal" in which the Iranian regime would promise not to use its imminent nuclear weapons -- "on my watch" -- during just the Democrats' time in office?


Buenos Aires hotels refuse Roger Waters over anti-Israel remarks

American volunteers flock to help in Israel after Hamas massacre

Thousands attend pro-Israel prayer vigil in Sydney
Thousands are attending a pro-Israel prayer vigil in Sydney which is focusing on the hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 still inside Gaza.

Speakers are saying there will be no ceasefire until all hostages are released and are also talking about a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism in Australia.

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies said more than 5,000 officially registered for the event.

“There is a very simple way to resolve this conflict – by asking Hamas to lay down their arms and leave peacefully,” one attendee told Sky News Australia.

A pro-Palestine rally is also taking place today in Sydney’s CBD where thousands are expected to attend.

This comes after a pro-Palestine motorcade travelled from Western Sydney to Coogee yesterday which Jewish leaders are calling an act of pure provocation with the intent to terrorise the Jewish community.






Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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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