Wednesday, January 10, 2024

01/10 Links Pt1: South Africa is inverting reality by accusing Israel of genocide; Victory is more important than US support; Intimidating tactics are backfiring on hardcore protesters

From Ian:

Irwin Cotler: South Africa is inverting reality by accusing Israel of genocide
In asserting standing before the ICJ, South Africa has emphasized “its own obligations as a State party to the Genocide Convention to act to prevent genocide.” But by launching a baseless proceeding against Israel for the crimes of genocide and incitement to genocide, it provides protective cover to Hamas and its related Iranian terrorist proxies, who themselves are the ones guilty of those crimes. South Africa thereby inverts reality and subverts the rules-based international order. This subversion is dangerous, and deeply concerning, following the pattern set by Vladimir Putin’s Russia — with President Putin using false accusations of genocide in his “Nazification” libel as the pretext for launching his criminal aggression against Ukraine.

Indeed, South Africa’s cynical weaponization of international law was further demonstrated when, on Jan. 4, less than a week after launching the ICJ proceedings against Israel, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed the leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to his home in Pretoria. The RSF, complicit in the Darfur genocide 20 years ago, is once again perpetrating mass crimes against humanity in Sudan, including the massacre of innocent civilians and the systematic use of sexual violence. Recently, over 100 legal experts warned that Sudan sits on the precipice of another genocide.

Genocide, the “crime of crimes,” constitutes the most abhorrent of human acts. The 153 state parties to the Genocide Convention have both a moral and a legal imperative to take action to combat genocide — and incitement to genocide — wherever they may occur. But, rather than upholding this legal obligation, South Africa’s application at the ICJ undermines it, inverting both fact and law, and threatening the international rules-based order by doing so. As was most recently demonstrated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this inversion is most dangerous, and it is crucial that the community of democracies, including Canada, is steadfast in opposing it.
Alan Baker: South Africa’s genocide charges against Israel: Cynical abuse of the ICJ
South Africa's genocidal claim echoes Palestinian charters
IRONY IS not lacking from the specific terms of the South African application to the International Court of Justice, alleging that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention. This is especially in light of the deliberately distorted and misleading interpretation given by South Africa to the terms of the Genocide Convention.

The criminal component of the Genocide Convention is based entirely on one very central tenet requiring a distinct intention to commit genocide. South Africa is alleging that Israel’s acts are “intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial, and ethnic group.”

If such a specific and distinct genocidal intention cannot be proved and does not exist, then the complaint by South Africa has no basis and the convention cannot be invoked.

A thorough perusal of the complaint reveals a curious tendency by South Africa to attribute to Israel a broad and clearly false 75-year genocidal intention to destroy the Palestinians. By so doing, South Africa basically is echoing the messages of the PLO and Hamas charters, and as such is utterly distorting the very nature of the present limited conflict against the terror activity of Hamas.

Clearly, rather than harboring a 75-year-old genocidal intention, Israel has, throughout its short history, consistently sought to achieve peaceful coexistence and bon voisinage with its neighbors, including the Palestinians.

This is borne out by the many agreements reached, including the 1978 Camp David Accords and the 1991-1993 Madrid process that led to the 1995 Oslo Accords.

One may ask why would Israel have committed itself to such a declared and agreed peace negotiation process with the Palestinians, witnessed and endorsed by the leaders of the international community and the United Nations itself, if it harbored any basic intention to commit genocide against the Palestinian people?

South Africa's cynical use of the term genocide
Through quoting in its complaint a lengthy collection of irresponsible statements by minor Israeli politicians, and even through quoting Israeli pop songs, South Africa is in fact cynically ignoring the very central issue of the conflict between Israel and Hamas: Israel’s inherent and legally justified prerogative and international right to defend itself and its population against terror through removing Hamas’s terror capabilities, weaponry, fortifications, and ammunition.

To claim that Israel’s actions to combat terror constitute the crime of genocide is clearly absurd to the point of being a frivolous accusation. No logical and serious analysis of the conflict between Israel and Hamas could indicate any genocidal intention on the part of Israel.

To burden the International Court of Justice with such a false and misleading allegation undermines the very integrity of the Genocide Convention and is both an insult to the Court, to the countries whose judges serve on the Court’s bench, as well as to the United Nations as a whole.
Paywalled: The genocide case against Israel is an abuse of the postwar legal order
The International Court of Justice is about to hear arguments in a case, brought by South Africa – the country that in 2015 refused to send former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir of Sudan to the International Criminal Court to stand trial for his contribution to war crimes in Darfur, and instead facilitated his return to Sudan where he continued his crimes – that alleges that Israel has not complied with the Genocide Convention and calls on the Court to order Israel to stop committing acts of “genocide” in Gaza.

To me, this case represents an outrageous and cynical abuse of the principles underlying the international legal order that was set up after the Second World War.

Hamas’s explicit and unapologetic goal is to eliminate Jews. The elimination of Jews is genocide. That is why Hamas murdered, raped, beheaded, kidnapped and tortured Jews on Oct. 7, 2023: to eliminate them, because they were Jews. It is a legal absurdity to suggest that a country that is defending itself from genocide is thereby guilty of genocide.

The end of the Second World War prevented Hitler from fully implementing his genocidal plan to eliminate Jews. And the world signed the Genocide Convention 75 years ago to make sure it never happened to anyone else. Now, we find ourselves in the perverse situation where a genocidal organization such as Hamas is able to escape legal scrutiny or sanction for committing genocidal acts, while the country that is the intended target of its genocidal intentions is being called upon by the International Court of Justice to defend itself from allegations of genocide.

This is an insult to what genocide means, an insult to the perception of the ability of international courts to retain their legitimacy and transcend global politics, and an insult to the memory of all of those on whose behalf the Genocide Convention was created.

Rosalie Silberman Abella is the Samuel and Judith Pisar Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 2004 until her mandatory retirement in 2021.


Do Jewish Lives Matter?
Silence Is Complicity
A few days before the end of 2023, Amnesty International published a list of “five demands for 2024”: a cease-fire in Gaza; ending violence against women in Iran; restoring women’s rights in Afghanistan; taking measures against climate change; and upholding the rights of all types of minorities. There was nary a word about the kidnapped individuals held in Gaza by Hamas terrorists or about the atrocities committed against Jewish women on October 7.

Unfortunately, this fits with a pattern: The United Nations, probably the most influential international organization on the planet, has repeatedly endorsed the Palestinians’ narrative.

“Before October 7, it was no secret that the United Nations was not exactly a friend of the State of Israel or the Jewish People,” says Arsen Ostrovsky. “Post October 7, it has become clear that they are, in fact, aiding and abetting Hamas in carrying out and covering up this massacre. The fact that UN bodies like UN Women have been virtually silent in the wake of the shocking violence against Israeli women, while UNRWA employees have literally been involved in helping Hamas hold Israelis captive, only underscores that they are beyond redemption and have a complete lack of credibility.”

Another organization that has been selective about the outrage it expresses is the Red Cross.

“The Red Cross abandoned the Jewish People during the Holocaust, and they are doing so again today,” Ostrovsky states. “It should not go unnoticed that the barbaric October 7 massacre was the single largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. Today, the perpetrators might be different, but Hamas is just like the Nazis, in both their agenda and brutality. Perhaps the only difference is that whereas the Nazis sought to cover up their heinous crimes, Hamas carried theirs out gleefully, using GoPro cameras and streaming their acts on the Internet in real time.”

The monstrosity of Hamas’s crimes is the context within which the Red Cross is currently operating, but Ostrovsky says the organization pays no acknowledgment to that whatsoever. “The Red Cross prides itself on being unwaveringly neutral, but when it comes to Israeli lives, they are simply unwaveringly absent, with their role having been relegated to no more than that of a glorified Uber driver. The fact that the Red Cross is dealing with a ruthless enemy that does not abide by any rules or norms of international law is not an excuse and does not absolve them of their mandate to provide ‘humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict.’ Nor is it enough to merely politely ‘call’ for their release. It is simply inexcusable that after three months, the Red Cross has not seen a single hostage, obtained any proof of life, or even delivered any medicine.”

American citizens can wield outsized influence in holding the Red Cross accountable for this behavior, Ostrovsky says. “It is imperative now that the US Congress, as the largest governmental donor to the Red Cross, ask where American taxpayers’ money is going, why the Red Cross has been unable to see even a single hostage, or, for that matter, why they have ignored the irrefutable evidence right under their noses that Hamas turned hospitals in Gaza into their personal terrorist headquarters.”

Finally, in the absence of representation in international organizations, Ostrovsky urges Jews to use the resources at their disposal to tell their side of the story to balance out these entities.

“Israel is fighting this war on multiple fronts, not only against Hamas in Gaza, but a war of narratives and in the online arena as well,” he says. “The digital discourse also has a very real effect in shaping discussions, leading to policy actions, as well as even inciting to violence and the alarming surge in anti-Semitism and Jew hatred we have seen since October 7. We need to be proactively engaged on social media to shape our narrative, but at the same time, we cannot discount the influence that international organizations have. We need to be vigilant in combating anti-Semitism, misinformation, and distortion of facts on all fronts.”

Ostrovksy is passionate about his mission, he says, because for him this issue is “personal” — and it should be for all Jews, because there is an important underlying ethical struggle.

“I am a father with two young daughters. We tell our children that monsters exist only in books, but no, they exist in real life. We saw them on October 7, and we are reminded that they are still there every single day our loved ones remain hostage in Gaza. We cannot afford to be silent or waver. We need to stand up, be heard, and fight for our country, our people, and the return of our hostages.

“Ultimately, this is a war not only between Israel and Hamas but between good and evil, those who believe in freedom and those who are barbarians, those who live by the norms of humanity and those who have no humanity.”


Former UK Attorney General: South Africa's Israel Genocide Claim Has No Legal Merit
Former Attorney General Sir Michael Ellis has told MPs he believes South Africa’s forthcoming case against Israel at the International Court of Justice “has no legal merit whatsoever” and claimed the country is itself “in danger of becoming a terrorist proxy”.

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, the Conservative MP added:”South Africa is geopolitically moving towards Iran and openly supports Hamas.

“Indeed, its Foreign Secretary said that Israel does not even have the right to defend itself.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top storiesFREE SIGN UP “It is in danger of becoming a terrorist proxy. As a former Attorney General, I can say that South Africa’s case at The Hague has no legal merit whatsoever. Israel’s actions are in lawful self-defence.

“The case is a dangerous political stunt that the United States has already criticised.”

Ellis, who is himself Jewish, urged Foreign Office Minister Andrew Mitchell to criticise South Africa’s action on behalf of the UK government.

He responded:”The South Africans are entitled under the rules to refer the matter to the International Court of Justice in the way that they have and, as I have repeatedly said, there will be different views across the House on whether it is helpful to do so at this stage.
South African Christian leaders oppose ICJ charge: Cannot keep silent
Christians throughout South Africa have risen against the government's decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on charges that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

"The African National Congress government and their allies' decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice has brought us to a place where, like the time of Queen Esther in the Bible, we cannot keep silent," said Tshego Motaung, head of the Healing of the Nations prayer for Israel movement in an article published on the South African Christian website Gateway News. "We cannot keep silent when a government that has failed on its domestic mandate wants to rise as a hero in the global political arena."

Her article, published on Tuesday, came on the heels of an open letter by dozens of faith-based organizations in opposition to the case.

"We, the South African Christian leaders, strongly oppose the decision by the South African government to launch the case against Israel and demand it be rescinded immediately," the letter read.

"We had hoped and prayed that our government would use its influence as a peacemaker to bring about a meaningful and lasting peace in the Middle East," the letter continued. "Regrettably, it has elected not to do so and instead has chosen sides. We, as Christians, deplore the loss of innocent lives, be it the Jews, Palestinians, Christians, or any other people, but are strongly opposed to the decision."

The organizations, which include the South African Christian Leaders Forum, Christian View Network, Bridges for Peace, International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, and about two dozen others, called the decision "fundamentally flawed" after Hamas entered Israel on October 7 and raped, mutilated burned and murdered innocent Israelis.

"This was a deliberate genocide attempt and is supported by Hamas' charter calling for the total destruction of Israel," the Christians wrote. "Israel does not seek to wipe Gaza or the Palestinians off the face of the map. It seeks to defend itself. This is a case of victim blaming by our government."


A Special Dictionary for Israel
The essence of law is its generality. We appeal to the “rule of law” when we want to judge particular cases according to general norms. This is a fundamental truth for any kind of law, from municipal bylaws to international humanitarian law. A law is a general rule, made in a general spirit with a general application, to borrow from Jean-Jacques Rousseau. A decree, on the other hand, deals only with the particular. Rousseau is adamant on this distinction. What procedurally might look like the enactment of a law isn’t actually creating anything legal if it concerns itself only with a particular case.

Generality can even help us determine what a rule is just by watching it applied. Consider the following thought experiment. A traffic cop stands by the side of a road with a radar gun. Five cars pass at five different speeds: 50 mph, 55 mph, 60 mph, 70 mph, and 80 mph. Two are pulled over and three pass by unhindered. Can we determine what the relevant rule is?

Well, if the cars doing 50, 55, and 60 pass, and the cars doing 70 and 80 are stopped, we could safely assume an enforced speed limit that is higher than 60 and lower than 70, maybe even exactly 65. If the cars pulled over were those doing 50 and 80, we might assume that there is a minimum speed somewhere around 55 and a maximum somewhere around 75, but this would be a bit more tenuous.

If we observed only the cars doing 55 and 70 being stopped, but not the one going 60, we might assume there was no rule at all, or at least no rule relating to speed. If, in this case, we noticed that the cars that were pulled over had black drivers and the other three white drivers, we could conclude that there was entirely different sort of rule governing the policeman’s behavior.

Trying to determine customary international law by the reactions to different states’ behaviors, especially in war, works the same way. It just so happens that one driver always seems to be violating the speed limit, which changes constantly, sometimes doesn’t exist, and is calculated according to made-up retroactive conditions.

When it comes to Israel, thunderous intonations about “international law” serve two rhetorical functions. The first is to deflect any suspicion of bias against Israel. The implied claim is that the emotional outbursts that accompany any Israeli action aren’t because of a special animus towards Israel—or heaven forbid possibly even latent anti-Semitism—but rather the neutral application of general principles of the international order in place since 1945 if not even before.

The second rhetorical function is almost never acknowledged, but its power is that everyone knows it’s there. Our most salient frame of reference for violators of international law, our dominant image of “war criminals” and “international tribunals,” is of course the Nazis. Attaching this terminology to any and every military action by Israel over the course of decades speaks to the fantasy of hauling the Jews before a kind of tribunal where their guilt can finally be established.


Caroline Glick: Victory is more important than US support
Blinken’s statements on the topic were nearly bereft of diplomatic niceties.

“As I told the prime minister, every [Arab] partner that I met on this trip said that they’re ready to support a lasting solution that ends the long-running cycle of violence and ensures Israel’s security. But they underscored that this can only come through a regional approach that includes a pathway to a Palestinian state,” he said.

“To make this possible, Israel must be a partner to Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people in living side by side in peace with Israel and as neighbors,” he continued, adding, “and Israel must…stop taking steps that undercut Palestinians’ ability to govern themselves effectively.”

Doubling down on his practice of slandering Israelis as the moral equivalents of terrorists, Blinken then libeled the half million Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria as well as IDF forces operating in these areas.

“Extremist settler violence carried out with impunity, settlement expansion, demolitions, evictions all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security,” he said.

Finally, echoing Tapper’s report, Blinken took a shot at Israel’s leadership, stating that, “If Israel wants its Arab neighbors to make the tough decisions necessary to help ensure its lasting security, Israeli leaders will have to make hard decisions themselves.”

Blinken made his remarks during the primetime news hour. Before he spoke, commentators from left to right insisted that Blinken is a friend and an ally in Israel’s war. After his diatribe, they sheepishly changed their tune.

Blinken, they admitted, presented demands that would foment Israel’s defeat. The only way for Israel to rout its enemies and enable its citizens to return to their homes in southern and northern Israel is to do precisely the opposite of what the United State demands. Israel must end the farce of “humanitarian assistance” to Gaza. It must stop providing electricity and fuel to Gaza. It must fully control the distribution of food and water to the population. It must block the return of the population to northern Gaza. And it must open the Egyptian border with Gaza to permit the Gazans to leave or permit them to exit through Israel.

As for Hezbollah, the government must stop participating in the destructive farce of U.S. diplomacy. Instead, Israel should strike missile stores and terrorist barracks and be prepared to carry out a ground operation in the immediate term.

Israel must defeat Hezbollah. It is the only way Israelis in northern communities will be able to live safely in their homes.

If the United States retaliates by placing a weapons embargo on Israel, then Israel must make do with what it has and what it can produce. Use of imprecise missiles will expand collateral damage, but it will also win the war faster at less risk to IDF soldiers.

Since entering office, the Biden administration has treated Israel with colonialist contempt. Rather than respect Israel as an independent ally, Biden and his aides have acted like imperial overlords barking orders at a backwater, troublesome province.

Despite the pressure, Netanyahu and his ministers must remember that Israel is not a vassal state. We are a successful regional power. It is Israeli power, not U.S. charity that has sustained us to date. And it is Israeli power, not U.S. largesse that will bring us victory in this war for our survival. If forced to choose between support from Washington and victory, the choice is an easy one.


In Ramallah meeting, Blinken calls for Palestinian state After weeks of fighting, IDF seizes control of key Hamas outpost
After two weeks of intense fighting, Israel Defense Forces troops on Wednesday gained control over the southern Gaza town of Khirbat Ikhza’a, a strategic focal point of Hamas terrorist activity near Khan Yunis, the military said.

Located less than a mile from the border with Israel, Khirbat Ikhza’a served as the staging area from which Hamas terrorists attacked the communities of Nir Oz, Nirim and Ein Hashlosha on Oct. 7.

Soldiers of the IDF’s 5th Brigade combat team destroyed hundreds of terrorist infrastructures and killed dozens of Hamas terrorists during Operation “Oz and Nir,” which was launched in late December. In addition, some 40 attack tunnels were discovered and destroyed, the IDF said.

Nir Oz, a once-thriving community of 400 people, was among the hardest hit on Oct. 7. One in every four residents was either killed or kidnapped.

‘Our determination is endless’

During a press conference in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz declared that Hamas has effectively lost control over “large parts of the Strip.”

“The achievements of the IDF continue to grow,” stated Gantz, who serves on Israel’s War Cabinet. “We are deep in the middle of dismantling the terror infrastructure.”

“We need to continue—if we stop now, Hamas will resume its control. … We have determination and patience. Our enemies need to know that our determination is endless,” added the former IDF chief of staff.


U.S., UK Shoot Down 21 Houthi Missiles and Drones over Red Sea
The U.S. Central Command said Wednesday the U.S. and British navies downed 18 bomb-carrying drones, two cruise missiles and an anti-ship missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthis, targeting shipping in the Red Sea on Tuesday.

Their attacks are increasingly imperiling one of the world's crucial trade routes linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe.

The threats were downed by F-18s from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as by the American destroyers USS Gravely, USS Laboon and USS Mason, and the UK's HMS Diamond.


FDD: China’s Largest Shipping Company Suspends Transports to Israel Due to Houthi Attacks

Blinken optimistic about hostage deal, amid reports of Qatari proposal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was optimistic about the possibility of a hostage deal amid reports that Qatar had placed a new proposal on the table that would include exiling Hamas leadership and an IDF withdrawal from the enclave.

“As you know, we succeeded before in the midst of this conflict and getting more than 100 hostages out,” Blinken said in an interview with NBC tapped on Tuesday.

“And it’s my belief that they [Hamas] can and will engage on this. And that’s something we’re intensely focused on with Qatar and with Egypt.”

He spoke after a stop in Qatar en route to Israel and before his expected arrival in Egypt later on Thursday.

The US has worked with Qatar and Egypt to mediate a deal for the release of the 136 captives seized during the Hamas-led attack on October 7 and held since then in Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East, in the Muqata'a, in

A limited hostage deal in November saw the release of 105 captives. Another five were freed independently and the bodies of eleven captives have been recovered. Six of those held are believed to be dual Israeli-American citizens but the US has said it is committed to securing the freedom of all the captives.

While in Israel on Tuesday, Blinken met with some of the families of the hostages and well as a number of captives who had been released in November, in exchange for a weeklong pause in the war.
Michael Rapaport Slams Hollywood For Not Speaking About Oct. 7 Hostages at Golden Globes: “Not One Person Said One Thing”
“All that billion-dollar Barbie feminism and all these young conscious actors and actresses and there’s [the] hostages that are the exact same age as them. And not one actor, not one director, not one producer, not one comedian. Nobody said anything before the Golden Globes, after the Golden Globes [or] during the Golden Globes,” he added.

He continued, “I’m not naming names because nobody said anything.”

Rapaport pointed to the hypocrisy of Hollywood’s silence, given that “actors, artists are known to speak out speak, speak out about everything. And not one person said a word.” The actor then apologized on behalf of actors to Israel, to the hostages and their families for the silence. He added, “We as actors — SAG, DGA, WGA — we should be ashamed of ourselves.”

The 2024 Golden Globes were notable for being largely apolitical, with no speeches on stage mentioning Israel, Palestine, or indeed Ukraine, a country that was frequently mentioned and shown support during awards shows throughout 2022 and 2023.

While nobody directly made mention of hostages during the Golden Globes ceremony, some actors did, however, show their support in other ways. On the red carpet, the likes of J. Smith-Cameron of Succession and John Ortiz of American Fiction were among the stars who wore a yellow ribbon to show support for the hostages, with the campaign organized by Bring Them Home, an Israeli hostage advocacy organization.


Douglas Murray: Two-state solution ‘incredibly unlikely’
Author Douglas Murray says the idea of a two-state solution happening is "incredibly unlikely" at the moment.

"There are very few people in Israel across the right or the left of politics who think that a two-state solution is remotely plausible at the moment," Mr Murray told Sky News host Caleb Bond.

"I don’t think it's remotely plausible at the moment.

"I don’t know if it ever will be.

"But it looks incredibly unlikely at the moment because … well, Gaza became a kind of state every jew was forcibly withdrawn from Gaza.

"The authorities in Gaza were given everything the structure that was there, including the economic structure."




The Israel Guys: Chilling Testimony From Israeli Hostage: “I Was KIDNAPPED By Civilians”
The world continues calling for a ceasefire, when they should be calling for a surrender. Not only surrender by Hamas, but unconditional surrender, and the release of all 132 hostages who are still in captivity.

More and more testimonies are coming out from those who survived October 7th, and those who were in captivity, but were released. One such testimony is both chilling and shocking. She was kidnapped by a 17 year old boy, taken to Gaza, and then sold to Hamas!


‘Inaction’ on protecting Jewish community a ‘shocking indictment’ on Albanese government
Shadow Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister James Paterson says the government’s “inaction” to protect Australia’s Jewish community is a “shocking indictment” on the Albanese government.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is calling for tougher hate speech laws to stop anti-Semitism, saying Jewish leaders shouldn’t have to foot the bill to take radical hate preachers to court.

“I just cannot understand why neither the federal government or the state government has tried to test the extensive anti-incitement laws that we already have on the books … to see where any of these hate preachers have violated the law,” Mr Paterson told Sky News host Caleb Bond.

“Now, if those cases were tried and if they failed, I think there is a good case to toughen up those incitement laws; I think there is a good case to make sure people like that can be prosecuted when they incite violence against others in the community.

“We have a crisis of anti-Semitism in this country – it is absolutely rife, it is off the charts, the Jewish community feels unsafe – we even have Jewish Australians saying that they think they might feel safer in Israel, which is under attack by terrorist organisations than they would in Sydney or Melbourne.

“That’s a shocking indictment on our country, but particularly on the Prime Minister and his government for their inaction to protect the Jewish community.”


ABC apologises for ‘rabid anti-Israeli’ TikTok video
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the ABC “admitted” it was wrong for a reporter’s “anti-Israeli” TikTok video.

“The ABC this week admitted it was wrong for an ABC reporter, who is Muslim to publish this ABC TikTok video,” Mr Bolt said.

“Promoting, in my opinion, a boycott of all Israeli products.

“Now a note, by the way, this ABC reporter, an Australian, actually identifies as Palestinian.

“Does … the ABC seem properly sorry that it published this rabid anti-Israeli incitement?”


Pro-Palestinian Bluey shirt an attempt to ‘weaponise' kids for 'political purposes’
Sky News host Liz Storer has slammed a pro-Palestinian Bluey shirt as a “blatant” attempt to weaponise children for “political purposes”.

The creators of the cartoon show Bluey had a t-shirt which displayed its characters with a pro-Palestine slogan removed from an online marketplace.

The 'Freedom Fighter Bluey' shirt, made by volunteer group Free Palestine Printing, shows Bluey and other characters wearing keffiyehs.

The BBC, which owns the global commercial rights to the show, said it is a counterfeit and unauthorised product.

Free Palestine Printing said all profits from its products go to supporting Palestine.

“This is such a warped cause. This was such a blatant grab to once again weaponise our children,” Ms Storer said.


Lidia Thorpe ‘leading the charge’ to include Palestine in Invasion Day rallies
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe is “leading the charge” on including the Palestine cause in this year’s Invasion Day rallies, according to Sky News host Caleb Bond.

Indigenous activists are planning on using Invasion Day protests to demand "freedom for Palestine" and call on the Albanese government to cut all ties with Israel.

"Palestinians know what the trauma of invasion, of dispossession, state violence and occupation is like – just as First Peoples in this country do," Lidia Thorpe told The Australian on Wednesday.

"We share a reality of ongoing genocide and are both yet to experience liberation and the acknowledgment of our sovereignty. Our struggle under settler-colonialism is one struggle.

“Together we're fighting for our humanity, for freedom, for land back and for lasting peace."




Intimidating tactics are backfiring on hardcore protesters
Lots of polls have now been done across North America and Europe. Overwhelmingly, the majority — the silent majority, for now — are appalled by the behaviour of the Hamas horde. These respondents want the police to crack down on them. And, across the board, they are becoming less enamoured with the Palestinian cause because of the law-breaking, not despite it.

A sampling:
— A Leger-Postmedia poll found that “a strong majority of Canadians said they believed non-permanent residents who express hate towards minorities or support for terrorist groups such as Hamas should be deported from Canada.” And 51% agreed with the statement that Canadian authorities “should do more to ensure newcomers accept Canadian values.” Up to and including deportation if they don’t.

— On the protests, the numbers are even more stark: “75% also backed the notion that non-citizens should face deportation if they publicly express hatred towards a minority group or support a terrorist organization.” Hamas among them.

— In Britain, a pro-Palestine/Hamas protest on Armistice Day — their Remembrance Day — outraged a majority of Britons. Not only did they oppose the protests, polling found, but a majority wanted the protests banned entirely. And a significant number, Sky News reported, believed the protests in the U.K. “have mostly been about expressing hatred of Israel and Jewish people.”

— Meanwhile, a British YouGov poll found that respondents feel — by a factor of two to one — that police there have been “too soft” on the protesters. At least “41% of respondents responded saying that the rules were ‘too relaxed, and should be tightened.’”

— In the United States, the anti-Palestine-protester view is much the same. As PBS reported: “Though larger than past Palestinian solidarity protests, they still do not necessarily reflect the views of most Americans on Israel. According to a PBS NewsHour/Marist poll conducted Nov. 6 to Nov. 9, most Americans, about six in 10, said they sympathize with Israel.” And: “The Palestinian solidarity protests have not been supported publicly by the vast majority of politicians.”

There’s more polls and surveys like those, but you get the point. The protests are turning off the majority of voters across Western democracy — including those who sympathize more with the Palestinian cause. Their tactics, in effect, are blowing up in their faces.

And, of course, the literal blowing up of things — as at a Jewish delicatessen in Toronto — sure isn’t helping their cause, either.
Prosecute the New York Bridge Blockers
From December 27 through January 1, demonstrators used their cars—bedecked with slogans like “Intifada” and “Long live the resistance!”—to obstruct roads to major airports in Los Angeles and New York City. On Monday, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Democratic Socialists of America, and other groups organized a “shut it down for Palestine” protest, which involved physically blocking four of the main thoroughfares leading in and out of Manhattan. Police eventually removed the activists and even made arrests. But Nicole Gelinas argues that much stronger measures, entirely within the bounds of current laws, should be taken:

[T]o avoid the excessive-force charges that dogged them in 2020, police now refuse to stop people from blocking roadways, entrance ramps, and major transit centers, instead arresting them only after they’ve blocked a target, have finished with their planned action, and surrender themselves. . . .

No one is saying that people obstructing roads and transit should stew in prison for years. But they should at least receive a small-scale criminal punishment for their small-scale, criminal transgression. Police detained (and immediately released) more than 300 people during Monday’s traffic sabotage; instead of dropping the charges, why not pursue them this time?

Even a violation such as disorderly conduct can carry a fifteen-day jail sentence. A higher-level misdemeanor charge such as “criminal nuisance,” or “knowingly or recklessly creat[ing] or maintain[ing] a condition which endangers the safety or health of a considerable number of persons,” carries a potential three-month sentence. Sentences tend to get people’s attention.

If the “shut it down” crowd keeps facing no consequences, they’ll keep on shutting it down—and untrammeled low-level lawbreaking will soon become a higher-level problem, as New Yorkers, better than most, should already know.

Besides restoring order and preventing further inconveniences to the lives of millions of New Yorkers, such steps would send a clear message that the government does not approve of such expressions of hatred toward the Jewish state.
Anti-Israel radicals who shut down NYC bridges linked to AOC, funded by Rockefellers: experts
The six groups know to have taken part in what they called “an autonomous collective” were Palestinian Youth Movement; Democratic Socialists of America, New York branch; Writers Against War On Gaza; Jewish Voice for Peace; Al-Awda; and Critical Resistance.

Between them they boast ties not just to AOC and Sarandon, but to “Angels in America” playwright Tony Kushner, elite colleges including Yale, Brown and UCLA — and have received funding from the Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, a Rockefeller family foundation and through Schwab Charitable, a fund set up with the help of the investment company Charles Schwab to allow people to make donations to other non-profits.

The groups jointly boasted that blocking traffic out of Manhattan across the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges and the Holland Tunnel would create similar conditions to life in the Gaza Strip.

NYPD and Port Authority cops arrested 334 protesters, almost all of whom had concealed their identities with masks and some of traditional Palestinian keffiyehs.

Some encased their hands in concrete-filled tires to make officers’ jobs even more difficult.

Sarandon — who was dropped by her Hollywood agency UTA for her inflammatory words about Jews just weeks ago — was among those who took part. She was joined by photographer and activist Nan Goldin, The Post is told.

In a statement, Sarandon, 77, said she was “taking part in escalating action to bring a stop to the ongoing genocide in Gaza which we know is being funded by our US tax dollars.”

The “Thelma & Louise” star added: “Seeing coordination at this scale, to disrupt business as usual, makes me believe that people have the power to take on the US war machine.When it comes to pressuring our representative we don’t have APAC’s blood money but we have people. Permanent Ceasefire Now.”


San Francisco Lawmakers Set to Vote on Proposal That Calls For Israel-Hamas Ceasefire
San Francisco lawmakers will vote Tuesday on a proposal urging an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, as Bay Area activists insist failing to pass such a resolution would be racist and "pro-genocide."

The resolution, which includes just one mention of the "brutal attack" by Hamas militants, cites the "armed violence" that has taken place since Oct. 7 and calls for "a sustained ceasefire in Gaza, humanitarian aid, release of hostages, and condemning antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic rhetoric and attacks." It cites the growing number of labor unions and other blue cities calling for a ceasefire as its justification.

San Francisco’s proposal is the latest high-profile attempt by a blue California city to wade into the conflict and comes after anti-Israel protesters have shut down the state Democratic convention, Sacramento’s annual Christmas-tree lighting, and the state assembly. San Francisco lawmakers on Monday spent nearly six hours adjudicating the resolution even as their city faces an $800 million deficit while dealing with crime, homelessness, and drug and economic crises.

On Monday, a vetting committee teed up the resolution for Tuesday’s vote by the full Board of Supervisors, rejecting an amendment by Supervisor Matt Dorsey to note that Hamas is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and to condemn the group’s sexual violence against women. He was met with jeers and shouts of opposition from a crowd of activists in the legislative chamber as he described Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel as "systematic and unprecedented in its cruelty," showing a "pattern of rape, mutilation and extreme brutality against women."

Progressive supervisor Dean Preston, who coauthored the resolution, appeared to side with the activists. He said that describing Hamas in this way would make his resolution "one-sided" and that Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on civilians should be highlighted only if Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu’s retaliatory strikes were also called out. Ultimately the committee opted to clear the resolution.

In the end, Dorsey was the only lawmaker to vote against the resolution in the vetting committee.


The sheer volume of laws now being broken by anti-Israel demonstrators
It is against the law to incite hate

Although it’s rarely enforced, Canada does restrict free speech in instances where it veers into “incitement of hate.”

The Criminal Code prescribes up to two years in jail for someone who “incites hatred against any identifiable group.” In addition, the Canadian Human Rights Code and its provincial equivalents prescribe civil penalties for speech deemed “discriminatory” or “hateful.”

From the beginning, Canadian anti-Israel rallies have frequently featured the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The slogan explicitly calls for the complete erasure of the State of Israel, which is why several European governments have identified it as hate speech.

Austria, for one, has recently tightened its hate speech laws to enable police to seize protest materials containing symbols with links to Hamas, Nazism or other extreme groups. A similar application in Canada, for instance, would ban the frequent use of protest signs equating Israel with Nazi Germany.

In Canada, the incident that’s probably come closest to yielding a hate speech charge was an Oct. 28 rally where Montreal Imam Adil Charkaoui led a public prayer calling for the death of “Zionist aggressors.” At the time, Quebec Premier François Legault publicly questioned the lack of any charges, saying “inciting violence is not allowed.”

In a video response to Legault, Charkaoui noted that he did not use the word “Jew,” and that since he was directing his calls to God, he couldn’t technically be accused of inciting violence.
Seattle Times Editorial: Leaders must step up to dissuade dangerous freeway protests
Residents have a right to protest. But that can’t devolve into regional extortion. Any reading of the reaction to Saturday’s freeway fiasco on websites and social media makes clear: The people are not with the protesters. This isn’t about changing hearts and minds. It’s about putting pressure on elected officials until they break.

Let’s look at how other cities handle such disturbances, which have become a daily occurrence in many places.

As The New York Times reported, pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Monday blocked entrances to bridges and tunnels to Manhattan. Shortly after they gathered, they were arrested by police, and traffic quickly resumed.

In Los Angeles, 42 people were arrested after a protest calling for a cease-fire in Gaza briefly shut down the 110 Freeway last month. The demonstration began just after 9 a.m. California Highway Patrol declared an unlawful assembly and all lanes reopened around 11:30 a.m.

Around here, the region must do more than create an effective law enforcement strategy. What’s needed is leadership.

To that point, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, could be eminently helpful.

Jayapal should make a statement directing those supporting a Gaza cease-fire to express themselves forcefully but lawfully. She obviously has clout with this crowd.

As chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Jayapal has long championed the Palestinian cause. She was one of only six lawmakers to vote “present” on a House Resolution supporting Israel in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack. All other members of the Washington congressional delegation voted to approve the resolution, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Saturday’s freeway demonstrations happened in the middle of Jayapal’s district.

In this time of escalating tensions, the region needs leaders who can bring calm and stability. The alternative is more disruptions, more headaches, and a local tragedy waiting to happen.




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