Wednesday, January 10, 2024

01/10 Links Pt2: What Would Ben-Gurion Do?; As Liberal Jews Feel abandoned by the Left; Blaming the Victim: NGOs, the Apartheid Libel, and the Hamas Massacre

From Ian:

What Would Ben-Gurion Do?
Normaliyut and the Return of Statesmanship
Perhaps the opposite of mamlakhtiyut is the English-derived word normaliyut, normalcy. Widely used in the country since the 1990s, it connotes a wish to lead normal lives after all the travails of the Jewish and Israeli past. This desire is natural. Yet, fed by economic and cultural success, over the last couple of decades it grew into something of a seductive fantasy—a belief that Israel had become a high-tech utopia living in the so-called “End of History,” or at least had become strong and powerful enough that it could afford to view life and politics through cultural or spiritual lenses rather than political ones. For despite the growth in prosperity, despite the Abraham Accords and other regional breakthroughs, the dangers were there all along. Now that they’ve been revealed, normaliyut will have to be put on hold yet again.

As the war continues, there are signs that some Israelis are replacing the desire for normalcy with a steely mamlakhti resolve. Asaf Zamir, the former consul-general in New York, recently summed up Israel’s grave challenge in language that could have been ripped from David Ben-Gurion:
If this war ends without it being completely safe to return to live on the border of Lebanon, and around Gaza, and if it’s impossible to return and hold festivals and events in the entire country without any fear, we lost. Not the war, the country. Want to know what the goals of the war are? These are the goals of the war. No less. Otherwise it’s over. Maybe slowly, but over.

Some prominent politicians have made substantive expressions of national solidarity. In the first days of the war, the former prime minister Naftali Bennett volunteered near the front, packing supplies. The fact that Benny Gantz, now a minister in the emergency war cabinet, named his party the Mamlakhti Camp likewise indicates that the concept retains at least rhetorical power, and perhaps even political force. In mid-December, Gantz announced that he is moving to the western Negev, clearly attempting to follow in Ben-Gurion’s footsteps. Ben-Gurion had moved to the arid region in the 1950s not only to exemplify the pioneering spirit but also because he knew that a civilian presence in the area was ultimately essential for Israel’s national defense: if Israel’s periphery wasn’t safe, its center ultimately wouldn’t be either. The stories of heroism and leadership from the front have been too numerous to count. And who can now say what future leaders are at this moment being formed on the battlefield in Gaza and in the command rooms in Tel Aviv?

Ben-Gurion demanded a great deal from Israelis. As he put it in his final public Bible lecture:
We are the smallest of nations and, thus, we must be an exceptional people. Only our superior quality has sustained us. We succeeded in the Six-Day War because we succeeded in building an exceptional army. And we need not fear evil if we also succeed in establishing an exceptional government. The Jewish people has the needed traits to be an exceptional people, but to achieve this, more than any other nation in the world, we need an exceptional government.

Yet perhaps Ben-Gurion expected too much from his countrymen. Designing America’s government, the American founders soberly understood that “wise men will not always be at the helm,” and thus instituted a system of checks and balances to compensate for the inevitable failings of human nature and to channel human energies in constructive directions. Israel is not blessed with such a system. After the war, Israelis may be forced to examine ways the design of its governing institutions has failed to account for these failings and how it can be strengthened, though the bitter experience of judicial reform may forestall that task. In any case, even if Israel boasted exemplary institutions, it could ill afford a sustained run of mediocre leadership. Ben-Gurion’s mamlakhtiyut ought to be one cornerstone of an Israel that emerges stronger from this great test. Following the example of its indispensable founding father, the Jewish state must learn again to bear the burdens and embrace the splendors of statesmanship.
The Dissonance of Being Israeli
On Tuesday morning the country woke up to the crushing news of more fallen soldiers in Gaza. Nine soldiers were killed in one horrible day. As if that were not enough, the British Daily Mail published "before and after" photos of four Israeli teenaged girls in Hamas captivity. Their bloody, beaten faces taken from a Hamas propaganda video filmed a few hours after they were kidnapped on Oct. 7. At the same time, more rockets were fired from Gaza toward Israel with the intent to murder and maim.

On Thursday, Israel will be dragged to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, accused of committing genocide, and not Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization that has the destruction of Israel as the cardinal tenet of its founding charter and which started the war by attacking us, killing 1,200 people and destroying entire communities.

Therein lies the dissonance between what Israelis are feeling and the perspective from the outside. Israelis, traumatized and embattled, feel that they are fighting a quintessential war of no choice, one of - if not the most - just and justifiable wars the country has ever fought. It's as if part of the world's moral compass has gone haywire, as if we live in parallel universes.

This dissonance would, indeed, be unbearable were it not for the sense of justice that most Israelis feel in their country waging this war and the way it is waging this war, regardless of what judges at the ICJ from those beacons-of-light countries such as Russia, China, Somalia, Lebanon, and South Africa may determine.
Adam Milstein: As Liberal Jews Feel abandoned by the Left
The Reality Check
In recent years, Critical Race Theory (CRT), Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement carved out large pieces within the left’s agenda. Many liberal Jews have supported these developments believing that they’re the next phase of a long tradition of liberal activism. They were mistaken, no allyship with CRT, DEI, and BLM will protect them. Jews who tirelessly fight for acceptance and admittance in the intersectionality coalition will remain disappointed. We are not welcome.

Enamored with the seemingly laudable goals of DEI: to promote the representation, participation, and fair treatment of historically marginalized groups, liberal Jews ignored DEI promoters, and CRT advocates, as they advanced a radical agenda to fundamentally undermine American values. For years they have been promoting equality of outcome over equality of opportunity, collective identity (race, gender, etc.) over individual character, censorship of opposing viewpoints over freedom of speech, and a “victimhood Olympics” culture that crudely bifurcates society into oppressors and oppressed.

Liberal Jews failed to recognize how CRT and DEI initiatives, and intersectional theory would be weaponized against them. And today, we see how Jewish students are maliciously portrayed as wanton oppressors and colonialist abettors. American universities who fully adopted these doctrines are now hotbeds of antisemitism due to embedded leftist orthodoxy.

The Next Steps
So, where do liberal Jews go from here?

The “October 8th Jew” as Bret Stephens coined it, recognizes their home as a centrist. The October 8th Jew knows that the extreme left, like the extreme right before it, is no political home. The October 8th Jew is united in the mission to fight enemies of America, who always come first for the Jews. “Never again” must be backed by action and Jewish unity.

First, no more blind voting for Democrats or Republican for the sake of historical precedent. All Jews, including liberal Jews, must adopt a litmus test for candidates and support only those determined to fight antisemitism and support the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Second, pull support from organizations and academic institutions that promote the erasure of Jewish suffering and tacitly endorse Jew-hatred.

And finally, unite and support American organizations that protect and promote equality and inclusion rather than division and an ideology that aims to destroy Jewish life and American values.






UN Watch: Group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers celebrates Hamas massacre and rape
A Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza is replete with posts celebrating the Hamas massacre of October 7th minutes after it began, praising the murderers and rapists as “heroes,” glorifying the “education” the terrorists received, gleefully sharing photos of dead or captured Israelis and urging the execution of hostages.

“This is the motherlode of UNRWA teachers’ incitement to Jihadi terrorism,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors the world body.

The Telegram chat group is meant to support UNRWA teachers, and contains dozens of files with UNRWA staff names, ID numbers, schedules and curriculum materials.

In addition, UNRWA teachers regularly share videos, photos and messages inciting to Jihadi terrorism, and openly celebrating the Hamas massacre and rape of civilians.

In a Twitter thread calling on the UN and member states to take action, Neuer documented examples of the thousands of hateful posts:
• UNRWA teacher Waseem Ula, who regularly posts information on salaries that he passes on from UNRWA Gaza head of human resources Sami Abu Kamil, calls to kill Israelis, and glorifies the Oct. 7th massacre. At one moment, Ula informs the group’s 3,000 UNRWA teachers that “salaries will be paid on Sunday.”Another moment, he shares a video glorifying Hamas attacks, and posts a photo of a suicide bomb vest wired with explosives, with the caption: “Wait, sons of Judaism.” Ula also glorified terrorist Akran Abu Hasanen — a perpetrator of the October 7th massacre — as a “Qassami martyr,” “friend” and “brother.” He prayed to Allah to “admit him to paradise without judgment.”
• UNRWA teacher Abdallah Mehjez does Hamas’ work by urging Gaza civilians not to heed warnings to move out of harm’s way, and instead to serve as human shields. Before UNRWA, this terrorist accomplice worked for the BBC.
• UNRWA teacher Shatha Husam Al Nawajha (UNRWA Contract #30030836) often shares information in the group on when and how to get paid UNRWA salaries. On October 7th, when her colleague exulted, “They breastfed Jihad with their mothers’ milk,” she added “May Allah grant them victory.”

In previous reports and recent testimony before the U.S. Congress and the German Bundestag, UN Watch has documented how UNRWA teachers systematically indoctrinate Palestinian children and promote terrorism and antisemitism.


Watchdog finds UNRWA workers praised Hamas massacres in internal Telegram channel
In November, UN Watch published a lengthy report on UNWRA teachers celebrating the Hamas massacres under the title “UNRWA: Hate Starts Here.”

Israel responded to the Hamas attack with a military campaign to destroy Hamas, remove it from power in Gaza, and free the hostages of whom over 130 remain in captivity.

Last month, Channel 12 reported that Israel is hoping to push UNRWA out of Gaza once the war is over.

According to the report, a high-level, classified Foreign Ministry document recommends three stages to the move. The first involves a comprehensive report on alleged UNRWA cooperation with Hamas, which rules Gaza, and the entanglement of the UN body, which provides welfare and humanitarian services for Palestinian refugees from the 1948 and 1967 wars and their descendants, with the terror group.

The next stage would see reduced UNRWA operations in the Palestinian enclave, amid a search for a different organization to provide education and welfare services. In the third stage, according to the report, all of UNRWA’s duties would be transferred to the body governing Gaza following the war.
UNRWA teachers telegram group celebrates the atrocities carried out by Hamas on October 7th
UNRWA teachers telegram group celebrates the atrocities carried out by Hamas on October 7th. Award-winning film and TV producer and founder of Films Without Borders Jill Samuels speaks on the atrocities carried out and the failure of the UN to stand with Israel.




NGO Monitor: Blaming the Victim: NGOs, the Apartheid Libel, and the Hamas Massacre
A number of NGOs claiming to promote human rights have justified and celebrated Hamas’ October 7 murders, rapes, kidnapping, and torture massacre as “resistance” against Israel. Other NGOs took an indirect approach to shift the focus away from Hamas and deflect from its atrocities, “contextualizing” the attacks as an inevitable response to the “root causes” of the conflict, namely Israeli “apartheid,” “oppression,” and “persecution.” While most of this demonization rhetoric appeared in the immediate aftermath of October 7, “apartheid” language has persisted and continued in NGO statements into November and December. In addition, the similarity of language employed by NGOs suggests a significant level of coordination in their talking points. Many of the NGOs involved are funded by the EU, European governments, and UN agencies.

This victim-blaming is an extension of the NGO network’s ongoing campaign to use any and all aspects of the conflict to promote the “apartheid” slander, and as a pretext to advance BDS measures to isolate Israel internationally. It also reflects a broader ideological denial of Palestinian agency and responsibility, and commitment to declare Israel guilty regardless of facts.

The “apartheid” libel is false and a deliberate distortion of the term – as extensively detailed by NGO Monitor. It has contributed significantly to global antisemitism and demonization of Israel.

Further analysis is required to determine the extent to which the October 7 terrorists viewed the apartheid campaign as lending legitimacy to their atrocities. According to the NGOs, Israel’s existence is inherently racist, it is the most racist state in the world, and the Palestinians are the most oppressed. In this case – the twisted logic would argue – “armed resistance” (a euphemism for butchering civilians) is at least understandable if not justified.

This report provides examples from 64 NGOs – including international and European-funded NGOs – that are participating in this campaign.
JCPA: Israel's Counter-Terror War and theRise of Genocidal Antisemitism in the West
Featuring Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein and Dr. Dan Diker
Dr. Fiamma Nirenstein, a Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, served as Vice President of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the Italian Chamber of Deputies.

Dr. Dan Diker, President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is the longtime Director of the Center's Counter-Political Warfare Project.


Scandalous Indoctrination: Inside a Kings College Counter-Terrorism Course for UK Civil Servants
Israel was referenced throughout the course. We were told some consider Hamas terrorists as freedom fighters whereas Israel was provided as a prime example when considering the question of whether a state can commit terrorism. In the introduction, one slide read ‘Condemning terrorism is to endorse the power of the strong over the weak’, a dangerous conclusion breeding anti-Israel positions. In this perspective, Israel is seen as a powerful aggressor and the Palestinians militarily disadvantaged in asymmetric warfare. Thus, the Palestinians are inherently oppressed an axiom that fuels the view that Israel is a terrorist state and Hamas’ atrocities are justifiably ‘contextualised’. To call Hamas terrorist – as the BBC is so pointedly resistant to doing – would be to ‘endorse the power of the strong over the weak’.

Another slide read, ‘Terrorism is not the problem, rather the systems they oppose are terrorist,’ reflecting post-modern identity politics wrapped up as counter terrorism education. Everything was viewed through the lens of power.

While the lecturer did not explicitly present the slides as reflecting his own beliefs, he said nothing to counter them.

I am grateful I attended the course before the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. I have no doubt the pogrom would have been contextually justified as ‘merely the oppressed countering the oppressor’; with Israel’s response described as morally equivalent (or worse) to the atrocities.

None of the Counter Terrorism lecturers (bar two) posted about the attacks on their otherwise informative social media platforms. Of these two, one Professor wrote a RUSI Think Tank commentary, saying Israeli ‘crisis meetings could be affected by a desire for revenge’ and why ‘restraint in Counterterrorism is so important’.

During the span of the course, there was no mention of immigration being relevant to terrorism in the UK, except as a view ‘given by the right wing’.

The course’s overriding emphasis was that Islamist extremism is exaggerated. Right-wing extremism was given more weight than is proportionate. This is in direct conflict with William Shawcross’ findings, in the latest government commissioned review of its anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent.

One lecturer derogatively described Shawcross as ‘the type of person who would say all current counter-terrorism professionals are woke…He is of that ilk.’ This of course discredited Shawcross to the course attendees.

The lecturer further argued that Douglas Murray and Joe Rogan are both examples of the far right. ‘To what extent should Joe Rogan and Douglas Murray be suppressed?’ he asked. ‘They have millions of followers. To de-platform them would cause issues.’

Concluding his talk, the lecturer told a room full of government professionals, ‘so, society needs to find other ways to suppress them.’
Ben-Dror Yemini: Journalists in the service of Hamas
When a journalist is hurt in Gaza, it garners much attention among the international community. One needs only to look back a few months to the IDF's accidental killing of Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin. She too was employed by Al-Jazeera. In a matter of hours, New York Times and BBC headlines read "Two more journalists killed."

“I am deeply, deeply sorry for the almost unimaginable loss suffered by your colleague, Wael Dahdouh. I am a parent myself, I can’t begin to imagine the horror that he has experienced, not once, but now twice,” Blinken said in Doha, adding that "too many" innocents have been killed, but how does he know? Is he relying on the word of Hamas when tabulating the dead? Will the Department of Justice inquire into this matter as well?

What really transpired? Why did IDF launch a strike that destroyed the vehicle and both people in it, with a third person wounded? Well, a few minutes earlier, IDF recognized a drone operating in the area, which was designated as hostile. Additionally, the device used to control the drone's movements was tracked back into the vehicle containing Hamza, and the one operating it was Mustafa Thuraya. Yes, he's a photographer, but also a Hamas lookout.

The Hamas propaganda outlet
It takes a certain suspension of belief to define Al-Jazeera as your run-of-the-mill media outlet. It's a propaganda tool utilized by the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Qatar. It does contain a certain semblance of free speech, as Israelis are in fact periodically included among those being interviewed. That said, it remains a Hamas mouthpiece, systematically hiding valuable facts from its audience. When a resident of Gaza was being interviewed, complaining Hamas terrorists were hiding in hospitals instead of fighting, his mic was promptly cut off. That's as clear a sign as anyone would possibly need to understand it's about propaganda, not facts.

Regardless of which army you're a part of, when dealing with Islamist terrorist organizations like the Taliban, ISIS or Hamas, there are clear rules of engagement when it comes to hurting the innocent. Marc Garlasco, an American military advisor and formerly at the Pentagon as a mid-level intelligence analyst, later becoming chief of high-value targeting, said "Our number was 30. So, for example, Saddam Hussein. If you're gonna kill up to 29 people in a strike against Saddam Hussein, that's not a problem. But once you hit that number 30, we actually had to go to either President Bush, or Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld."

Israel, in contrast, has a far lower ratio of non-combatant victims to answer for, so while it's nice the U.S. goes full-on preacher mode when talking to Israel about hurting innocents, it serves as no indication of their superiority on the issue. They say what they say because as a virtue of being a Superpower, they can. Whether Blinken asks for it or not, he must be presented with the unvarnished truth regarding those journalists who are, in fact, in the service of the murderous terrorist organization in Gaza. The very same one he himself agreed must be removed from the enclave.
IDF says intel shows two journalists slain in Gaza strike were terror group members
The Israel Defense on Wednesday two said two men identified as Al Jazeera journalists who were killed in a strike in southern Gaza’s Rafah earlier this week were members of terror organizations in the Strip.

In Sunday’s strike in Rafah, Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Wael Dahdouh, and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP who was also working for the Qatar-based TV outlet, were both killed. A third journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously wounded, Al Jazeera said.

The strike was carried out after the IDF said it spotted a terror operative piloting a drone in a way that endangered Israeli forces, and subsequently hit a car they were in.

After initially appearing to walk back the claim the pair were with a terror operative, the IDF said its intelligence confirmed both were members of Gaza-based terror groups and were “actively involved in attacks against IDF forces.”

It said Thuria was identified by a document found by troops in Gaza as a member of Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, serving as a deputy squad commander in one of the battalions.

Dahdouh, according to the IDF, was a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It said documents recovered by troops in Gaza reveal he served in Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit, and previously was a deputy commander in the Zeitoun Battalion’s rocket force.

The IDF attached a copy of the document showing Dahdouh was a member of Islamic Jihad’s electronic engineering unit.


Max Blumenthal, Hamas Apologist
On October 11, Max appeared on Tim Pool’s podcast. The Hamas atrocities had been committed only four days earlier, but already he was full-throated in his defense of Hamas and his disparagement of Israel. Among his assertions: Israel has a policy of targeting civilians; “Palestinian journalists are cool people that you would all like to hang out with”; Palestinians who became suicide bombers did so out of desperation; those who join Hamas do so because, their desire to overcome Israeli oppression, violence is their only option; Hamas took hostages on October 7 only because they want to be able to trade them for Palestinians who are being held hostage by Israel. When podcast regular Phil Labonte pointed out that taking hostages is an act of terrorism, Max countered: “I have watched Israel kidnap children.”

In fact, while patently eager to avoid using the word “terrorists” to describe Hamas, Max called Israelis terrorists (as Labonte pointed out) “several times.” Max also denied that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, denied that it uses non-military buildings for military purposes, denied that Hamas’s October 7 was “unprovoked,” and denied that Hamas would ever commit ISIS-like atrocities. “Hamas is mortally opposed to ISIS and Salafi elements,” Max insisted, but the Israelis “want us to see Hamas as ISIS” so that Israel can “portra[y] itself as a victim.” Far from expressing any empathy for the Israelis who were murdered by Hamas at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering in the desert, Max actually stated: “This is a bonanza for Israel, to be able to show these images of a music festival being attacked.”

Of course, Max doesn’t buy anything that the Israeli government says about Hamas atrocities. Or, for that matter, anything that might be said about those atrocities on a website like this. But what about the sacred New York Times? On December 28, the Times ran a long, detailed article, the product of its own investigation, about Hamas’s mistreatment of women on October 7, which, the paper reported, “were not isolated events but part of a broader pattern.” The article blasted Max’s rather benign characterization of Hamas into smithereens. A dead woman found in one kibbutz had had “dozens of nails driven into her thighs and groin.” One video showed “two dead Israeli soldiers…who appeared to have been shot directly in their vaginas.” One witness saw a Hamas member rape a Israeli woman while also “plung[ing] a knife into her back,” saw another woman being raped by one terrorist while “another pulled out a box cutter and sliced off her breast” (which he and a comrade proceeded to “play with” and “throw” until it fell “on the road”), and saw “terrorists carrying the severed heads of three more women.”

And so on. Meanwhile, IDF videos have shown that, Max’s passionate insistence to the contrary, Hamas tunnels led directly into hospitals, schools, mosques, homes, day-care centers, hotels, and – yes – UNRWA buildings. What, I wonder, does Max have to say about any of this? Because on the Tim Pool podcast, he had an answer for absolutely everything: when confronted with the explicit declaration of genocidal hatred toward Jews spelled out in Hamas’s charter, he said that the leaders of Hamas included that language in their charter “so they could negotiate with the outside world” (whatever that is supposed to mean); when confronted with the fact that 1.6 million Palestinian are citizens of Israel and that the country contains hundreds of mosques, he replied – vaguely – that, yes, this was true, but that there are “conflicts” between Israeli Jews and Palestinians.

He also blamed the October 7 attacks on the Abraham Accords – the point of which, he said, “was to go over the heads of the Palestinians, put that whole issue in the icebox forever, let them stay in their cages or wherever, give them a few crumbs, and then Israel will make peace with all the kingdoms.” But the Palestinians, he said proudly, “will not allow themselves to be ignored.” Ignored! As if Gaza hasn’t benefited from more sympathetic attention – and more aid – from the West than any other place on earth with a population of two million or so. It’s also worth noting that Max is one of those people who in one breath will describe pre-October 7 Gaza as a nightmarish “open prison” – and then, in the next breath, will lament that the IDF, after entering Gaza, set about destroying fairy-tale middle-class neighborhoods full of charming cafes and parks.

One thing is clear: the Blumenthals, father and son, are a couple of thoroughly loathsome men with very, very strong allegiances and equally strong enmities. Is anybody more fiercely loyal to the Clintons than Sid? Does anyone on Earth hate Israel more fervently than Max?


FDD: Blinken Ties Saudi-Israel Normalization to Palestinian Statehood
Expert Analysis
“There is a place in the normalization conversation for Saudi Arabia to use its political and economic influence to fundamentally reform the Palestinian Authority and deradicalize both Gaza and the West Bank. There’s no place for pretending the status quo can continue or that Israel should accept insecurity as a precondition for normalization.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Blinken picked up from where indirect Saudi-Israeli peace talks had stopped on 10/7. As they gear up for peace with Israel, Saudis want to keep the pathway for a Palestinian state open. Whether Palestinians will take this path or not will be on the Palestinians alone.” — Hussain Abdul-Hussain, FDD Research Fellow

“The Abraham Accords separated Palestinian terrorism and intransigence from broader Middle Eastern peace. Blinken’s comments are a step in the wrong direction, allowing the Palestinians a veto on regional integration.” — David May, FDD Research Manager and Senior Research Analyst

Saudi-Israel Normalization
The Biden administration was working to secure a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel before Hamas drew Israel into war. Yet Washington, Jerusalem, and Riyadh continue to signal that normalization remains on the table. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby expressed confidence on October 31 “that there’ll be a path to get back towards normalization and that there is still interest on the Saudi side in pursuing that.” On November 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Fox News anchor that Saudi-Israel normalization “will be reality.” Secretary Blinken reported on January 8 that Riyadh’s interest in normalization “is there, it’s real, and it could be transformative.”

Abraham Accords Post-October 7
In the wake of Hamas’s massacre, Israel’s Abraham Accords partners showed a greater readiness than others in the region to acknowledge Hamas’s brutality. On October 8, while other Arab governments refused to name the perpetrator of the October 7 atrocities, the UAE condemned the “attacks by Hamas against Israeli towns and villages near the Gaza Strip.”

Bahrain’s foreign ministry also explicitly condemned Hamas on October 9. On the same day, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed “expressed solidarity with the State of Israel” in a phone call with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid. On October 10, Emirati Trade Minister Thani Al Zeyoudi told reporters that the Hamas-Israel war would not impact economic relations between Israel and the UAE. “We don’t mix the economy and trade with politics,” he said.


Anti-Israel demonstrators scream at congressman, wife and children outside his home
Anti-Israel protesters screamed at Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-CA) and his wife outside their home in the California Bay Area as they escorted their young sons to their car, video shared by the demonstrators shows.

In video posted by protest organizers on Jan. 6, demonstrators — some of them with bullhorns and several of them filming on their phones — can be seen shouting at Mullin as he walked with his wife and small children from his home’s front door to a car parked on the street in the middle of the protest crowd.

“I hope, God forbid, nothing ever happens to your children one day, like Palestinian children in Gaza,” a protester told Mullin and his family.

“You serve the United States of America, not the united slaves of Israel,” another man shouted.

After Mullin told the group that he’d be happy to meet with them at his office, the demonstrators began shouting louder, standing near the open back door to Mullin’s car where his children were sitting. Multiple police officers can be seen keeping the protesters away from Mullin and his family.

“You’re lying, you say these little talking points all the time. You’re a liar and a coward. You’re showing that,” one person screamed. “We are going to follow you everywhere. Every restaurant, every game, every business matter.”

In a second clip, the demonstrators targeted their taunts toward Mullin’s wife.

“You are a woman and you are married to a congressperson with power. How do you sleep next to him every night when you have children in your home?” one person shouted, while others yelled “shame on you.”
Maryland Senate candidate Trone calls for cease-fire, criticizes Israeli military operation in remarks to anti-Zionist activist
Rep. David Trone (D-MD), a candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland who has been a staunchly pro-Israel member of Congress and was a major AIPAC donor, offered sharp criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and endorsed a cease-fire — along with calling for a return of hostages — under questioning from an IfNotNow member at a recent event.

In a video posted by the anti-Israel group IfNotNow, Trone, responding to a question at a meet-and-greet on Jan. 6, said that “what happened on Oct. 7 was absolutely horrendous and incomprehensible. But what’s happened since then is also horrendous and incomprehensible.”

Under follow-up questioning, Trone said, “We need a permanent cease-fire and the hostages released.” He repeatedly paired his calls for a cease-fire with the need to release the hostages.

The comments are particularly striking coming from Trone given that he’s been among Israel’s most consistent and vocal supporters in Congress, was a top donor to AIPAC in his private life — having given at least $100,000 to the pro-Israel group — and has been outspoken through his wine and spirits business against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

Trone also called Netanyahu “a large part of our problem.”

“Netanyahu has to go. He has to go,” Trone said. “He’s their Trump, really… I think we’ve got to think about where is the issue, and he is the issue because he’s the one driving this thing relentlessly.”


Chinese State Media Promote Pro-Hamas Propaganda
Chinese state-controlled media outlets have been promoting pro-Hamas propaganda since the Iran-backed terror group last year launched its war on Israel, hoping to erode Western support for the Jewish state and undermine U.S. interests, according to a Washington Free Beacon review of Chinese Communist Party publications.

In the past month, CCP-controlled outlets have accused Israel of targeting civilians, hindering the delivery of humanitarian aid, killing children, and being an occupying force in the region. The reports—promoted across X, formerly Twitter, and other English-language social media networks—echo Hamas propaganda about civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip and rely on figures produced by the terror group, which are inflated to create the impression that Israel is targeting innocents.

Chinese social media have erupted with anti-Semitic postings in recent months, rhetoric that could not be published on the Communist regime's tightly controlled internet without support from the government. Much of the anti-Israel fervor in CCP media outlets criticizes U.S. support for Israel, attempting to erode American influence in the region and delegitimize the Middle East's only democracy.

TikTok, the Chinese-owned video platform deemed a national security risk by U.S. intelligence agencies, in recent months has allowed a tidal wave of anti-Semitism to take over the platform, according to watchdog groups, further contributing to concerns that China's ruling regime is trying to mainstream Jew-hatred in the English-speaking world. This includes "explicit antisemitic content" on the popular app and support for Hamas's terror attack on Israel, according to recent reports and the Anti-Defamation League, which raised concerns that TikTok is failing to police rhetoric that violates its policies on incitement. With Chinese state-controlled outlets pushing a similar line, experts say the Communist government is directly involved in advancing an anti-Israel agenda.

"The scale of anti-Semitic content on Chinese social media suggests a CCP-backed effort," Michael Sobolik, a veteran China analyst and senior fellow of Indo-Pacific studies at the American Foreign Policy Council think tank. "It's notable that many of the anti-Semitic tropes the party is boosting—tropes about a supposed 'Jewish cabal' controlling democracies—focus on regime legitimacy."

These efforts, Sobolik said, speak to a "stunning insecurity in CCP elite psychology. Secure regimes don't need to stoke racist rhetoric to bolster their security. Yet that's what Beijing is doing: belittling democracy with dishonest narratives to boost its own system."


‘Surge in illegal Arab building along Green Line a security threat’
An alarming increase in illegal Arab construction along the Judea and Samaria security barrier has come to light thanks to research by Israeli NGO Regavim.

Analyzing photography obtained through aerial reconnaissance, Regavim discovered tens of thousands of illegal structures built along the barrier, which runs roughly along the Green Line, the 1949 armistice line that followed Israel’s War of Independence.

Much of the Arab construction is new, created within the last 10 months, reports the think tank, which focuses on land and sovereignty issues.

In the first stage of its research, Regavim studied three sample clusters, in the South Hebron Hills, Judea-Etzion, and Samaria, finding 7,675 illegal structures in those clusters alone.

It next looked at illegal construction along the entire security barrier, from the northern tip of the Jordan Valley to Ein Gedi in the south. It identified 16,866 illegal structures.

They were all within 1 kilometer of Israeli communities in the Central and Coastal Plain regions.

“Some of these structures are so close to the line that you can reach your arm out from them and touch homes in Jewish communities in Kokhav Ya’ir, Rosh HaAyin and Modi’in,” Naomi Kahn, director of the International Division at Regavim, told JNS.
Ignoring minister’s orders, IDF destroys Jewish homes in Gush Etzion
Israeli security forces early on Tuesday morning destroyed six Jewish homes in the eastern Gush Etzion region of Judea, in defiance of instructions by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

At least one of the destroyed houses belonged to an Israel Defense Forces reservist, according to local media reports. Police reportedly removed the reservist as he attempted to salvage personal belongings.

During the demolitions, a large area near the community of Pnei Kedem was declared a closed military zone, with local commuters allegedly being questioned by police for lengthy periods.

After approximately two hours, Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Simcha Rothman, a resident of Pnei Kedem, passed through the area and convinced officers to open the roads to traffic, according to the reports.

Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry and has authority over civilian issues in Judea and Samaria, said he was bypassed by IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, who took the issue directly to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as an “immediate” security matter.

Smotrich’s office noted that Fox “does not see it as urgent to demolish illegal Bedouin houses in the same area, nor to prevent Arab construction in eastern Gush Etzion, or indeed anywhere in Judea and Samaria.”


Why I Quit My Dream Job at MIT
For most academics, getting a job at MIT is a dream. Until October 7, it was for me. But in December, I resigned from my post because I could no longer deal with the pervasive antisemitism on MIT’s campus.

How I got there is a story that is unique to me, but it’s also a story about what’s happening across American academia today.

I was born in Mexico to a Jewish family. I immigrated to the States in the 1980s to obtain a master’s at Harvard, and then moved to Israel for my PhD in computer science from Hebrew University. In 1989, I started working as an assistant professor at MIT, and after a career in the financial industry, I returned in 2019 as a lecturer.

As a computer scientist, I normally don’t have time for politics. But when Hamas invaded Israel on Saturday, October 7, brutally murdering 1,200 Israelis, I emailed the head of my department and urged her to issue a statement of support for Israelis and Jews. I assumed the reason was obvious. The university had sent statements before on various issues—such as a message condemning the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and another standing in solidarity with the Asian community amid a wave of hate crimes in 2021.

On Monday, the head of my department and its office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sent out a message titled “A time for community support of each other.”

The message was riddled with equivocations, without mentioning the barbarity of Hamas’s attack, stating only that “we are deeply horrified by the violence against civilians and wish to express our deep concern for all those involved.” I was shocked that my institution—led by people who are meant to see the world rationally—could not simply condemn a brutal terrorist act.

That same day, the protests on campus started. Students chanted “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea” with fury and at times glee, like they were reciting catchy songs instead of slogans demanding the erasure of the Jewish people.

Even worse, faculty members started endorsing this behavior. One DEI officer at MIT liked an October 17 post on Twitter stating that “Israel doesn’t have a right to exist, it’s an illegitimate settler-colony like the US.” On October 18, a renowned faculty member in the neuroscience department accused Israel of committing “genocide” on Twitter. Then, the next day, she tweeted that her department was seeking a “diverse pool of candidates” for a tenure-track position in her department’s “inclusive community.” I remember thinking, with bitter irony, that Jewish academics need not apply.
House committee probing Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Penn tax-exempt status over Jew-hatred

Dept of Ed opens investigation into treatment of Jewish students at Brown University

CNN’s Investigations Biased Expert Analysis
Expert analysis, when used properly, can help audiences contextualize factual reporting. But when used improperly, it can mislead audiences by exaggerating or downplaying certain details to fit into a preconceived narrative. Repeatedly, CNN’s investigations have fallen into the latter category by portraying demonstrably biased “experts” as neutral sources.

In CNN’s 12/22 munitions investigation, authored by Tamara Qiblawi, Allegra Goodwin, Gianluca Mezzofiore, and Nima Elbagir, one of the main experts relied on for commentary is Marc Garlasco. CNN’s repeated use of Garlasco to support sensationalized allegations against Israel is perhaps one of the clearest examples of biased journalism at the network. Not only does he have a demonstrable record of anti-Israel bias, but he has also been repeatedly caught spreading lies about Israel on the very topic he is relied upon by CNN.

This CNN investigation alleged that Israel was using massive bombs in Gaza that had a lethal fragmentation radius of 365 meters. As explained previously, the authors omitted that those bombs were being detonated underground in such a way that substantially reduced the danger.

Garlasco is introduced to readers simply as “a former US defense intelligence analyst and former UN war crimes investigator” and “military adviser at PAX, a Dutch non-governmental organization that advocates for peace.”

This description suggests Garlasco is a neutral, independent source. On the contrary, Garlasco is perhaps most well-known for being the former Human Rights Watch staffer with a disturbing obsession with Nazi memorabilia. And saying PAX “advocates for peace” is perhaps the most uninformative and irrelevant description the authors could have chosen. Readers should know that the organization has a history of political advocacy against Israel, including calling for the boycott and sanctioning of Israel.

Surely if they were interested in impartial expert analysis the authors could have located military experts without such a partisan record.

But in addition to his clear bias, Garlasco also has a history of spreading falsehoods on the exact topic of CNN was reporting on. Over a week before CNN’s article, the Washington Post was forced to correct after CAMERA alerted the paper to Garlasco’s inaccurate data which was designed to depict Israel as engaged in an unprecedented bombing campaign. He had falsely claimed only 7,423 munitions were dropped on Afghanistan during an entire year. In fact, the U.S. dropped 17,500 munitions in Afghanistan in just the first 76 days of bombing.
Guardian's worst reporter again smears Israel with false accusation
The Guardian’s Chris McGreal is at it again, expressing his malign obsession with Israel by leveling false accusations against the state. His piece is replete with a headline accusing Israel of intentionally “murdering” journalists.

He begins by praising Wael Dahdouh, who he describes as the “face of Al Jazeera’s reporting throughout Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza”. He then notes that “last month, Dahdouh himself was wounded and his cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, killed in the Israeli bombing of a UN-run school used as a shelter.” What McGreal doesn’t tell readers is that, in 2021, Dahdouh’s work for Al-jazeera was awarded a certificate of appreciation from Hamas, on behalf of the Qatari regime mouthpiece, for “demonstrat[ing] its affiliation with the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people”

McGreal later writes:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calculates that Israel has killed more than 70 media workers in the latest war in Gaza, making it the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades. Others put the toll at more than 100.

The CPJ says that the scale and circumstances of the killings, including direct threats to reporters and their families by Israeli officials, is evidence that Palestinian reporters in Gaza are being targeted. Murdered, in other words.

First, those “others” McGreal refers to who place the toll at more than 100 is Hamas. Regarding the CPJ list of “70 media workers”, CAMERA documented in November that CPJ’s list at the time included some who “were actually the exact opposite of journalists – they were propagandists working on behalf of authoritarian regimes who sought to cover up the truth rather than expose it, while several were in fact direct employees of Hamas”.

Moreover, a new detailed report by researcher David Collier on the “70 media workers” killed in Gaza reveals that “half of the people that the CPJ list as journalists work for Hamas or Islamic Jihad channels”. His 150 page report also showed that 19 (27%) of the others on the CPJ list don’t seem to be ‘’journalists’ at all. “A freelance graphic designer”, Collier writes, “who works for a PR company, a builder, the unemployed, someone whose father runs a sports club, and administrative employees of media companies, are examples of people listed as journalists by the CPJ.”
More BBC amplification of Al Jazeera’s ‘targeting journalists’ falsehood
Clearly Shaimaa Khalil’s journalistic curiosity did not extend to trying to find out which of the five people described as journalists who were apparently travelling in that vehicle was the “terror operative who was operating a drone” at the time.

Failing to provide readers with any of the relevant background information concerning Al Jazeera, Khalil nevertheless provides uncritical amplification for its talking points:
“The Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of Palestinian journalists’ car”.

“The assassination of Mustafa and Hamza… whilst they were on their way to carry out their duty in the Gaza Strip, reaffirms the need to take immediate necessary legal measures against the occupation forces to ensure that there is no impunity,” it added.

It also alleged that the strike “confirms without a doubt the Israeli forces’ determination continue these brutal attacks against journalists and their families, aiming to discourage them from performing their mission, violating the principles of freedom of the press and undermines the right to life”.”

Khalil also tells her readers that “More than 75 journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza started” but makes no mention of the fact that the CPJ’s own data clarifies that a significant proportion of them were paid workers of the propaganda arms of Hamas and other terrorist organisations.

The blurred lines between journalism and terrorism in the Gaza Strip have long been on record. As ever, BBC journalists show no interest in denouncing the exploitation of their profession by cynical terrorist organisations or in drawing a line between legitimate media organisations and those promoting the interests of terror funding regimes. Instead, the BBC has once again shown that it prefers to jump on the Al Jazeera propaganda bandwagon in order to promote the lie that Israel targets journalists.
Rebel reporter Avi Yemini served with INSANE legal threat

PMW: PA’s “pay-for-slay” payments to rise by $1.3 million per month
The PA has announced that since Hamas launched its war on Oct. 7, an additional 3,550 terrorists have been recognized as prisoners of Israel, making a total of 8,800 prisoners. The overwhelming majority of those included in this number have been captured during Israel's activities against terror in the PA-controlled areas, while 661 are Hamas terrorists from Gaza:
“The prisoners’ affairs institutions:
"The total number of prisoners in the occupation’s (i.e., Israel’s) prisons at the end of December 2023 reached 8,800. Of them, more than 80 female prisoners are in Damon Prison alone… The number of those [prisoners] whom the occupation classifies as ‘illegal fighters’ (i.e., Hamas terrorists from Gaza) is 661.
This means that the number of all the prisoners increased by 3,550 prisoners since Oct. 7 (i.e., Hamas’ invasion). The number of administrative [detainees] increased by 1,971.”

[PA-funded Prisoners’ Club, Telegram channel, Jan. 3, 2024]

Before Oct. 7, the PA had been rewarding 5,250 prisoners and nearly 8,000 released terrorist prisoners with approximately $13.4 million (50 million shekels) in monthly salaries as rewards for terror. The nearly 67% rise in the number of prisoners will initially cost the PA an additional $1,331,000 per month (4,970,000 shekels), adding $16 million to last year's expenditure of $161 million (600,000,000 shekels) on terror salaries.

The additional $1,331,000 per month are only the initial costs. According to PA law, as PMW already exposed in 2011, each of the new terrorist prisoners will receive a starting salary of 1,400 shekels per month ($375 per month), which will rise the longer he or she is in prison, reaching a maximum of 12,000 shekels per month ($3,215 per month).

The logos of four prisoners' organizations appear with the announcement: The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, the PLO Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, ADDAMEER, and SILWANIC

23,210 additional “Martyrs”
In addition, the official PA daily announced this morning that there are 23,210 additional “Martyrs.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 10, 2024]

This follows the official announcement by the PLO “Families of the Martyrs and Wounded Institution” three days ago that it recognized an additional 22,000 “Martyrs” in Gaza – which makes their families eligible to receive monthly stipends as well. The PA through the PLO pays the families of so-called “Martyrs,” including all terrorists who were killed attacking Israelis, an immediate one-time 6,000-shekel grant and then 1,400 shekels per month for life. After previous Israeli wars against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, it took several years for the PA to process the thousands of “Martyrs,” but eventually their families received money from the PA.


"See Hamas Military Leader’s Luxurious Lifestyle in Gaza"

Egyptian smugglers reportedly charging Gazans up to $10,000 to leave Strip

PreOccupiedTerritory: Gaza Imam Vaguely Recalls Mosque Used For Something Other Than Hamas Tunnel Access, Arms Storage, Can’t Remember What (satire)
The spiritual leader of a congregation in this embattled coastal territory confided today that his mind still contains a wisp of recognition that once, an unclear time ago, his house of worship served as a center for something that was not a weapons depot, military position, logistical materiel hub, or entry point to underground passages, but the specifics remain fuzzy.

Imam Nimr Issa of the Al-Kalb Mosque in the center of Gaza City shared with others in the mosque that he recalls a time, and it feels like a lifetime ago but was probably just a matter of months or maybe a couple of years, when non-military activities took place in the building. So much has happened in the interim, however, that he has trouble determining whether those murky memories are in fact real.

“Was it prayer?” he wondered. “Is that what I’m thinking of? I have this amorphous recollection that a mosque has, historically, served some purpose other than a base for killing Jews. Not that I oppose killing Jews! Just that I have this flash of something in the distant past, a time when we did other things here. It might explain those books and mats all over the place. But I can’t be too sure.”

Imam Issa also mentioned a cloudy sense of having preached values of self-discipline, kindness, community, and humility, but that might as well have been someone else. “Perhaps it was a badly-remembered dream,” he allowed. “Certainly in reality, the only appropriate subjects for sermons are the wickedness of the Jews, the glory of dying for Palestine, the perfidy of the Jews, the money one gets to die for Palestine, the corruption of the Jews, the pleasure one gets in Heaven after dying for Palestine, and the cruelty of the Jews.”


Iraq Seeks Quick Exit of US Forces but No Deadline Set, PM Says

FDD: With Tehran closer to nukes, Congress must end Biden’s Iran appeasement before it’s too late
It should terrify every American that as the sands of nuclear time slip by, the Biden administration’s Iran policy remains as it was on Jan. 20, 2021.

Two weeks after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s startling report, there has been no American call for an emergency board meeting to censure Iran and refer its file to the UN Security Council.

Two months after the expiration of a UN missile embargo, with news that Russia may soon import Iranian ballistic missiles for use against Ukraine, there has been no American initiative to restore all international restrictions on Iran — a process that merely requires sending a letter to the Security Council.

Most concerning, Tehran today fears no threat of military force against its nuclear sites.

Washington appears helpless in the face of Iran-backed Houthis firing missiles at ships in the Red Sea, while the secretary of state tours the Middle East telling allies he’s doing everything possible to avoid a confrontation with Iran.

Instead, a State Department sanctions waiver remains in effect, issued after the Oct. 7 Iran-backed Hamas massacre, to give Iran access to $10 billion.

Further, China keeps importing Iranian oil with no attempt by the White House to enforce US sanctions.

Clearly, the ayatollah sees a green light both to expand his ring of fire around Israel and to move closer and closer to a nuclear-weapons capability.

Congress has a duty to intervene.

The House has already passed bills to shut down the $10 billion for Iran, crack down on Chinese imports of Iranian oil and impose sanctions on Iran’s leaders for their abuse of women.

Senate Republicans should mount a pressure campaign on Senate leader Chuck Schumer to vote on all three measures.

Members of both parties in both chambers should also push the White House to ensure America’s military option remains credible and at the ready.

Biden’s Iran strategy of appeasement has failed.

America must course-correct quickly to stop the emergence of a nuclear-armed Iran.


Antisemitic incidents in U.S. have tripled since Oct. 7, ADL study finds
Antisemitic incidents in the United States tripled in the three months since Oct. 7, compared to the same period a year ago, according to newly collected data from the Anti-Defamation League released exclusively to Jewish Insider.

The ADL’s preliminary data found that there were 3,283 antisemitic incidents between Oct. 7, 2023, and Jan. 7, 2024 — nearly as many recorded incidents as there were in the entire calendar year of 2022.

The 3,283 recorded examples of antisemitic activity include: 60 incidents of physical assault, 553 incidents of vandalism, 1,353 incidents of verbal or written harassment and 1,317 rallies that included antisemitic rhetoric, expressions of support for terrorism against Israel and/or anti-Zionism.

“It’s shocking that we’ve recorded more antisemitic acts in three months than we usually would in an entire year,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “The American Jewish community is facing a threat level that’s now unprecedented in modern history,” Greenblatt continued.

College campuses were hit with 505 incidents, according to the new data. Another 246 were reported in K-12 schools, while at least 628 incidents were reported against Jewish institutions such as synagogues and community centers.

One of the most alarming examples of online antisemitism occurred in October at Cornell University when a student posted online threats to kill members of the university’s Jewish community — and was later arrested.
California synagogue keeps preschool teacher on staff despite antisemitic social media posts
One major challenge for some Jewish institutions after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks is where to draw the line against employees sharing anti-Israel content on their social media — especially for organizations like Jewish community centers and preschools that often employ a diverse staff, where views on the Middle East have rarely been part of the vetting process.

The issue has recently roiled two Conservative synagogues that run preschools in Southern California, with the two school administrations reacting in very different ways. Most recently, at Congregation B’nai Israel in Orange County, a teacher in the preschool was found to have posted ample pro-Hamas and antisemitic content on her personal social media pages, and the synagogue’s leadership has opted to take no punitive action against the employee.

In response, some congregants have left the synagogue, according to one former member — and others are fuming over the synagogue’s decision to keep the teacher employed.

According to images viewed by Jewish Insider, a preschool teacher at CBI has been posting prolifically to her personal accounts since the Oct. 7 attacks. The posts include: false claims that “Isr*eli forces steal 145 dead bodies from Al-Shifa hospital” and that “Israel is skinning the bodies of killed Palestinians! What does it use their skin for?”

JI reviewed screenshots of eight anti-Israel posts shared by the teacher, which also include two posts implying that Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas were treated well.
Olympics Ambassador, Accused of Antisemitism, Could Lose 2024 Paris Role Over Israel-Hamas Post
The board of the Paris 2024 Olympics organizers will hold an urgent meeting on Wednesday to address a controversy linked to a social media post about the Gaza war made by Olympics ambassador Emilie Gomis, a former French national basketball player.

On Oct. 9, two days after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel, Gomis posted an Instagram story which showed maps of France being gradually covered by the flag of Israel, accompanied by a question that read “What would you do in this situation?”

Critics accused the former basketball player of antisemitism and supporting Hamas’ massacre of Israelis, which Gomis strongly denied.

The controversy surrounding Gomis, a retired Franco-Senegalese athlete who had played for France for over 10 years, winning a Euro title in 2009, is the latest thorny issue to face the Games, which is already beset by geopolitical strains from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

“I have scheduled an administrative board meeting for today to decide on this issue,” Paris 2024 head Tony Estanguet told France Inter radio.

“It’s an important subject, because all the representatives of Paris 2024 today have a responsibility to appease and welcome all nations, because we will host the world from July 26,” he added.

Gomis has since issued an apology.

“The accusations of antisemitism I am facing are in total contradiction with the values that were instilled in me and that sport taught me,” Gomis said in a later social media post, apologizing to “those who felt hurt.” Reuters could not immediately reach her for comment.

Her Instagram account currently has 17.7 thousand followers.
Substack removes Nazi newsletters for inciting violence
The popular newsletter host Substack said on Monday that it intends to remove several neo-Nazi publications from its service.

The tech newsletter Platformer, which itself is on Substack, said on Jan. 4 that it had reported six newsletters to Substack’s management that it believed had Nazi content. Substack’s co-founders responded in a written statement on Monday and said five of those accounts violated their content guidelines related to incitement of violence and would be removed. They also said none of the accounts had paid subscribers and that the accounts in question had very few readers.

Substack’s laissez-faire approach to content moderation and the publication of racist content on their platform has been under criticism since The Atlantic published an essay in November titled “Substack Has a Nazi Problem.”

“An informal search of the Substack website and of extremist Telegram channels that circulate Substack posts turns up scores of white-supremacist, neo-Confederate and explicitly Nazi newsletters on Substack,” The Atlantic reported.

At least one of the Substack newsletters mentioned in that article, Andkon’s Reich Press, which billed itself as a “a National Socialist newsletter” has been deleted. Others, however, remain active, including Turning Point Stocks, which describes itself as writing about “the stock market and the Jewish question,” as well as the newsletter of Richard Spencer, the alt-right organizer of the white supremacist “Unite the Right” march in the summer of 2017 in Charlottesville, Va.
Mother of Four Sentenced by French Court for Daubing Antisemitic Graffiti on Kosher Grocery
A 44-year-old mother of four children broke down in a French court on Tuesday after she was convicted of daubing antisemitic graffiti on a kosher grocery store in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

The unnamed woman was arrested on Nov. 21 after she painted antisemitic slogans on the store, among them the word “Jew” accompanied by a Star of David, along with “Gaza” and “Stop Genocide.” The court heard that the defendant had gone out to spray the graffiti on three separate nights during November before she was caught.

Apologizing to the store managers and tearfully denying that her actions were antisemitic, the defendant justified her behavior by claiming that she had felt an awakening within herself after viewing what she said were images of “disemboweled children” in Gaza.

“I wanted to wake up consciences while we are all witnessing a live massacre,” she told the court.

Unimpressed with this line of defense, the court passed a ten month suspended sentence on the woman as well as a total fine of 14,500 euros to cover both the material damage to the store and compensate the management for their distress.

A lawyer representing the store welcomed Tuesday’s verdict.

“My clients and I are extremely pleased and relieved by this decision, both criminally and civilly,” Avner Doukhan told the news outlet Le Parisien. “The judiciary has sent a strong signal to the perpetrators of antisemitic acts.”
Rapper Skepta apologises and removes artwork criticised for referencing the Holocaust
The Mercury Prize-winning grime artist Skepta has vowed to be “more mindful” and removed artwork for his upcoming single “Gas Me Up (Diligent)” after it was criticised for alluding to the Holocaust.

Featuring men with shaved heads in matching overcoats, and the slogan “Gas Me Up” tattooed on one of their heads, the artwork was criticised for referencing Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps. The term “gas me up” is slang for hyping someone up by complimenting them.

Skepta posted the image, created by artist Gabriel Moses, to his Instagram account on Monday and it was removed from his social media the same day.

The celebrated British-Nigerian MC, producer, and record-label owner apologised on X/ Twitter: “I’ve been waiting to drop Gas Me Up (Diligent) since teasing it April last year, worked hard getting the artwork right for my album rollout which is about my parents coming to the UK in the 80’s, Skinhead, Football culture and it has been taken offensively by many,” he said. “I can promise you that was definitely not our plan so I have removed it and I vow to be more mindful going forward.”
Chabad tunnels story sparks wave of online antisemitism
A media storm over the tunnel discovered under a Chabad House in New York has triggered a spike in antisemitic conspiracy theories.

The tunnel – discovered and filled in yesterday by the NYPD – stretched from the Chabad House to an unused mikvah. Quickly, though, social media users have been quick to discuss a supposed “Jewish tunnel network” in New York.

Far-right commentator Nick Fuentes called the tunnel “freaky stuff”. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anybody who’s doing anything good who is digging tunnels under the city… that’s usually the beginning of a very dark story,” he said on his livestream America First.

Jonathan Greeblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, told the JC: “It’s deeply troubling that anyone would use this incident, which the Chabad movement at large has strongly condemned, to draw inappropriate and false comparisons to Hamas tunnels in Gaza or propagate age-old antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as Jews are involved in human trafficking or organ harvesting”.

He continued: “At a time of rising antisemitism worldwide, it is more important now than ever that good people stand up against Jew-hatred and stop the spread of dangerous conspiracy theories that have resulted in people being killed. It’s our moral responsibility.”
In the spirit of the Abraham Accords: UAE to open AI research center in Israel
The Abu Dhabi-based Technology Innovation Institute, which focuses on AI development, will open a new center in Haifa, to be spearheaded by research lead Yoelle Maarek, a former Amazon executive.

In a post on the LinkedIn social network, Maarek expressed her excitement about working on "fascinating challenges in artificial intelligence while contributing to the vision of scientific cooperation outlined in the Abraham Accords".

She described it as "an incredibly thrilling and meaningful adventure." The new research institute is actively recruiting researchers and scientists specializing in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and information retrieval. These areas indicate the institute's focus on developing large language models (LLMs). Information retrieval is a crucial aspect of AI, particularly for commercial chatbot implementation.

The TII Institute, founded by the Abu Dhabi government in 2020, made headlines about six months ago with the release of Falcon, a powerful large language model. Regarded as one of the most advanced models in the open-source field, Falcon boasts impressive capabilities.

With its latest version comprising a staggering 180 billion parameters, it stands toe-to-toe with OpenAI's ChatGPT-4 model and doesn't lag behind Google's PaLM-2, despite being half its size. The institute proudly asserts that Falcon's performance is on par with these renowned models, marking a significant achievement in the field of language modeling.

Maarek's impressive resume includes serving as the Vice President of Research for Alexa Shopping, Amazon's innovative voice assistant shopping product, until September 2023. Before that, she held the positions of Vice President and Director of Research at Yahoo.


How an Israeli pollination company helped boost California’s pistachio crop
An Israeli company has helped some California farmers increase their annual pistachio crop by around 19% in 2023 by addressing some of the critical challenges they face due to climate change, scarcity of natural pollinators, and related problems.

Precision pollination company Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture provides a “Precision Pollination as a Service” or PPaS solution for young and mature pistachio orchards. Its 2Be mechanical pollinator disperses pure pollen on precision – meaning the right amount at the right time.

Between April 2022 and April 2023, Edete pollinated 500 acres of pistachios in Bakersfield, Calif., for one of the largest growers in the US. The pollination included three young plots of Golden Hills variety pistachios planted between 2016 and 2017. The company said the results were an average 19% increase in crop yield in two of three plots.

A noteworthy achievement, the company says
“This achievement is noteworthy, especially considering the high accumulation of chill hours in 2023, positioning it as a record-breaking year for US crop production, estimated at 1.5 billion pounds,” Edete said in a release.

The increase “underscores the effectiveness of precision pollination in overcoming natural pollination deficiencies,” said Edete CEO Eylam Ran. “This ensures optimal yields, even in record crop years and contributes to agricultural resilience and food security for consumers.”

According to the Honey Bee Research Centre, many factors influence the decline in bees and other pollinators. These include climate change and disease.
Boston writer Norm Finkelstein, whose YA books championed Jewish heroes, dies at 82
In the early 1980s, when Norman H. Finkelstein was the director of education at Camp Yavne in Northwood, New Hampshire, campers would greet his daily announcements by exuberantly chanting, “Norm, Norm!,” a reference to a popular character on the hit television series “Cheers.”

The warm reception at the Jewish summer camp reflected Finkelstein’s fun and lively personality, according to his oldest son, Jeffrey.

“He was an educator. But even in summer camp, when the kids are not there to learn, but to have fun, he made it fun,” Jeffrey, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

At the time, Finkelstein was a librarian in the Brookline Public Schools, a career that lasted 35 years. He and his wife, Rosalind, had joined the camp’s summer staff so they could afford to send their three kids to the camp. In addition, he was a teacher at Hebrew College’s Prozdor Hebrew high school for nearly 40 years.

But it was another role that brought him recognition in Boston and beyond: Finkelstein was an acclaimed author of nonfiction books and biographies for older children, including many on Jewish subjects. He was a rare, two-time winner of the coveted National Jewish Book Award, for “Heeding the Call: Jewish Voices in America’s Civil Rights Struggle” and “Forged in Freedom: Shaping the American Jewish Experience.”

He was also the recipient of the Golden Kite Honor Award for nonfiction for his 1997 YA biography of newsman Edward R. Murrow.

“His incredible books championed the vital contributions of Jewish Americans, immigrants and workers to US history and culture,” Della Farrell, associate editor of the publisher Holiday House, wrote in an email.

Finkelstein, 82, died on January 5 from what his family said was an unexpected illness. Holiday House is publishing one of two books that Finkelstein was looking forward to seeing in print at the time of his death: “Amazing Abe: How Abraham Cahan’s Newspaper Gave a Voice to Jewish Immigrants,” a biography of the legendary Yiddish Forward editor, illustrated by Vesper Stamper. The other is “Saying No to Hate: Overcoming Antisemitism in America,” which the Jewish Publication Society is publishing in May.




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