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Thursday, January 11, 2024

01/11 Links Pt1: Genocide case: Should Israel participate in ‘kangaroo court’?; The Al Jazeera ‘Journalist’ Israel Killed Was an Islamic Jihad Terrorist

From Ian:

Former supreme court judge says Hague case is an ‘insult to meaning of genocide’
A former supreme court judge and experts on the laws of war have lined up to voice their outrage over the attempt by South Africa – which has a history of support for Hamas – to prosecute Israel for genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

As proceedings got under way this week in the Hague this week, Rosalie Silberman Abella, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School and former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, wrote that the ICJ move was an “insult to what genocide means”.

“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,” she wrote.

“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 October 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,” Abella added.

Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights attorney and CEO of the International Legal Forum, a coalition of pro-Israel lawyers, called the move a “subversion of international law” that could incite further violence against Jews around the world.

Ostrovsky, who flew to the Hague this week to attend the hearings, said: “Israel, and supporters of the Jewish state, are fighting this war on multiple fronts, not only against Hamas in Gaza, but a war of narratives as well, where a toxic combination of misinformation and subversion of international law, is being used to attack and vilify Israel.

“This pervasive discourse also has very real effect in shaping discussions, leading to policy actions, as well as even inciting alarming surge in antisemitism and Jew hatred we have seen in the UK and across the world, since October 7.”
Genocide case: Should Israel participate in ‘kangaroo court’?
Acknowledging that the danger of participation is that it grants legitimacy, he said that it’s not always the case. For Bell, the issue is not whether to go to the court so much as the clarity of purpose in doing so.

“Our mission here is PR, it’s not law,” he said, adding that a report that Israel’s Foreign Ministry sent a message to Israeli missions worldwide asking them to convince their countries to publicly denounce the ICJ case suggests Israel is working along the right lines.

Bell’s argument is that participating gives Israel a platform, “a reasonable opportunity” to refute South Africa’s arguments not in the court at The Hague, but in the court of world opinion.

Bell isn’t very optimistic about the outcome of the case. “The judgment that’s going to come from the court is politics, not law, and it’s politics from a body that is already biased against the Jewish state. It, therefore, seems to me quite likely to accept the morally obscene arguments of South Africa,” he said.

Ziv Bohrer, senior lecturer for international law at the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law and a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said that “from a moral perspective, [the accusation] is detestable. It falsely accuses the Jewish people of genocide.”

Nevertheless, the case has serious implications and Israel must be there in court to defend itself, he said. For one thing, the court will issue a ruling, and not an advisory opinion as it did in the security barrier case. The ruling will be binding.

There are three main ways a country can find itself bound by a ruling of the ICJ. One is when disputes regarding a specific convention are referred to the court.

“The Genocide Convention states that any disputes between signatory countries regarding the fulfillment of the treaty can be adjudicated in the ICJ, meaning any member state can sue any other member state claiming that it has violated its commitment according to that convention. That is the situation now,” Bohrer said.

While the ICJ has no enforcement mechanisms and its rulings have been ignored in the past, including by the United States, in Israel’s situation there’s the matter of the ongoing lawfare against it.

“The ICJ ruling in and of itself can be potentially very harmful, but when you look at it in the context of other things that are advancing as well, the risk is greater,” Bohrer said.

He listed the war crimes investigation at the International Criminal Court (not to be confused with the ICJ), and an earlier ICJ case looking into the “legal consequences” of Israel’s supposed “ongoing violation” of “the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

“All those things together are maneuvers that jointly have the potential to eventually mark Israel as a pariah state,” Bohrer said.
Deborah Lipstadt and Michèle Taylor: Israeli women and girls have suffered horrific sexual violence from Hamas. Where is the outrage?
We feel compelled to ask: why is this situation any different to when other women have faced similar violence? What accounts for the clear reticence to speak out? The only difference is the perception that these were Jewish – and were perceived by some as somehow deserving – victims. (The victims included non-Jewish women, but the vast majority were Jews.)

The silence that followed was more than just concerning; it suggests a deeper issue of antisemitism that must be acknowledged and addressed. This apparent reluctance to believe the accounts of Jewish women, a stark deviation from the global commitment to believing survivors and condemning such acts, mimics patterns of Holocaust denial, perpetuating a cycle of antisemitism by furthering the stereotype of Jews as untrustworthy. Such denial of Jewish women’s experiences is a significant anomaly and needs to be called out for what it is: a stark manifestation of deep-seated antisemitism.

The use of sexual violence as a tool of war is undeniably on the rise. Ignoring or delaying a response to credible reports of such horrific acts inadvertently validates the acts. It not only denies justice to the victims, but also emboldens the perpetrators.

This fight transcends borders and cultural divides. In recognising the horrific experiences of Israeli women, we also need to manifestly acknowledge that Palestinian women and girls are victims and survivors of gender-based violence. Rape and mutilation of women are never acceptable. There is no “but” when it concerns gender-based violence. The use of sexual violence in conflict to coerce, terrorise, sow fear, or for any other reason is no exception. This is something on which we must all agree – regardless of our position on the broader conflict.

Three months on, as we reflect on these events and the responses to them, it’s time to confront the uncomfortable reality: the silence around the reports of sexual violence on 7 October and the discrediting of accounts are not just a failure of justice, they are indicative of deeper biases that we must collectively address. Let this serve as a clarion call for change, a moment to reaffirm our commitment to all survivors and victims of gender-based violence and to challenge the underlying and often unconscious prejudices that hinder our pursuit of justice and equality. In the fight for human rights and against gender-based violence and antisemitism, believing women’s voices is not just a matter of justice – it’s a matter of urgent necessity.


Seth Mandel: Better Not Be ‘Just Israeli,’ Or Else
News out of the Middle East has a habit of being inspiring and depressing at the same time. That was the one-two punch today when I read about the ongoing, secretive campaign in Germany and Hungary to issue passports to the Hamas-held Israeli hostages who are eligible for citizenship in those countries.

The Jerusalem Post reports: “Some of the hostages who received German and Hungarian passports were freed in exchange for Israel’s release of convicted Palestinian terrorists and criminals. Other Jewish Israeli hostages who have received Hungarian and German citizenship and are still being held hostage, the Post was told in an exclusive interview. The Israelis who received passports have family members who were born in the Central European countries.”

It is genuinely moving to think that there are those who emerged from their Gaza prison hell to learn that they’d been saved because Germany issued them a passport. History has a funny way of subverting expectations sometimes.

But it’s also a depressing reminder that the governments of the world treat the Jewish state a lot like the way societies treat the individual Jew. And that the world does everything it can to portray the Jews as holders of dual identities—only to use it against us by acting as though we brought it on ourselves.

Jewish prisoners apparently need a reason they should be left alive. Simply being “human” doesn’t cut it. It’s reminiscent of the Albert Einstein line that if his scientific theories were vindicated then Germany would say he’s a German and France would say he’s a citizen of the world, while any failure would result in France claiming he’s a German and Germany saying he’s a Jew.
Germany, Hungary issue passports to Israeli hostages in Gaza
The governments of Germany and Hungary have approved citizenship and issued passports to Jewish Israeli hostages in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Some of the hostages who received German and Hungarian passports were freed in exchange for Israel’s release of convicted Palestinian terrorists and criminals. Other Jewish Israeli hostages who have received Hungarian and German citizenship and are still being held hostage, the Post was told in an exclusive interview.

The Israelis who received passports have family members who were born in the Central European countries.

Dual citizenship could play a role in the complex negotiations to rescue the hostages because of the intervention of foreign states seeking to protect their citizens. It is unclear when the hostages were provided with the German and Hungarian passports. According to the authorities, there are 136 Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Foreign countries that issue passports to hostages in Gaza could provide a layer of protection to the victims. For example, Sweden in 2018 awarded citizenship to Iranian hostage Ahmadreza Djalali, a medical doctor and lecturer at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
NGO Gaza lawsuits exploit Western courts and help Hamas

Femicide and the effects of the Israel-Hamas war
IN AN OP-ED for The Jerusalem Post published on October 17, I was among the first in Israel to realize that the war with Hamas was different from all other previous wars that Israel had known due to the salience and torture of women. In the Yom Kippur War 50 years ago, to which this war has been compared, women largely served on the home front; 2,600 soldiers died and hundreds became war widows. In this war, which began on October 7, women were at the center of the action.

It has been reported in the media that Hamas terrorists, who infiltrated the Israeli settlements near the Gaza Strip, had received orders from their superiors to kill women and permission to rape them. Many women were sexually assaulted, and in some cases, their intimate parts were dismembered.

Women suffered other atrocities too, including mothers being forced to see their children beheaded before they themselves were killed. Evidence of these crimes was gathered from a variety of sources, including videos and photographs, eyewitnesses, forensic evidence, reports from first responders, and testimonies from captured Hamas terrorists (but beyond the scope of the IOF).

It is encouraging to know that while feminist organizations have been slow to condemn the Hamas massacre on October 7, I was honored to be approached by the feminist platform The Subject To Power for a podcast interview, in which I aired condemnation of the Hamas massacre of Israeli women and talked about femicide in Israel. Others interviewed in this series include Dr. Valerie Hudson about the connection between the status of women and national security; US political and gender analyst Cynthia Enloe about militarization of women’s lives; Swedish culture critic Kajsa Ekis Ekmanon about the parallels between prostitution and surrogacy; New Zealand author Renee Gerlichon on male identification and patriarchal conditioning; Australian journalist Grant Wyeth about parallels between domestic abuse and state abuse; legal scholar Deborah Tuerkheimer about why the justice system protects abusers; Heide Goettner-Abendroth on matriarchal studies; and developmental psychologist Carol Gilligan about the moral development of girls.
Eve Barlow: A plague in The Hague
There are still over 130 hostages in Gaza. Each one a war crime. Hamas doesn’t care if they live. They don’t care about their own civilians. They have sworn to commit repeated genocides upon Jews and the state of Israel. And here we are. The International Court of Justice puts Israel on trial. It’s DARVO at its absolute finest. Deny Attack Reverse Victim and Offender.

So Israel must sit in the dock as the accused. South Africa are hardly global human rights paragons. Don’t get me started on Iran, or their enablers Turkey. I’m sure that UNWRA, the ICRC, Amnesty International, HRW and other organizations will be providing the “evidence”. It has just been uncovered, by the way, that 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza celebrated the Hamas massacre of October 7, and praised the murderers and rapists as “heroes”. These are corrupt organizations, to put it lightly. The international community endlessly demands that Israel ceases fire, and yet for more than two decades, they said not a single word any time that Israel was attacked by its neighbors.

Does Israel even stand a chance? Probably not. How can it? The United Nations may as well be renamed the United Nations Against Israel. What occurs this week is a preliminary hearing in which South Africa only needs to prove that there is a "plausibility" to the allegations of genocide.

International attorney Ari Ingel explains:
“South Africa is also requesting for the court to order provisional measures against Israel based on its charges and asking for the court to order Israel to stop its war immediately and to allow aid to be allowed to flow into Gaza without any restrictions. Even if Israel were to comply with the injunction, Hamas, which doesn't bind itself to the laws of war since it is a non-state actor and not a signatory to the ICJ, would not be compelled to stop its actual genocidal war against Israel and the Jewish people. Given the makeup of the court, they are likely to reach this threshold, if nothing else, to embarrass Israel and to allow the anti-Israel movement to claim Israel is indeed possibly committing genocide, even though the charge is ridiculous. The current court includes judges from America, Belgium, India, Germany, Japan, Australia, and France, all of whom may vote against this motion, but don't hold your breath on France, Australia, India, and Belgium right now. The rest of the court includes many countries that don't have independent courts. Their votes will just be political in nature, including Somalia, Slovakia, Morocco, Brazil, Uganda, Jamaica, Russia, and Lebanon. Israel and South Africa have also been allowed to sit on the court, bringing the number of justices to 18. Based on what I outlined above, getting ten judges to rule against Israel is pretty easy…

Whether or not the preliminary ruling changes the fighting on the ground doesn't matter since this is not the goal of the charge, but instead just to create another data point that anti-Israel groups can point to in order to demonize Israel and back up their charge that Israel is committing apartheid, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. Remember, South Africa, along with anti-Israel NGOs and Iran, launched the BDS movement against Israel in 2001, charging it with committing genocide, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing in Durban that year. Propaganda is a discursive process, and the goal is just to keep Israel on trial, forced to defend itself from the most horrific charges that can be leveled at any country. The outcome doesn't matter; keeping Israel on the docket in the defendant's chair, defending charge after charge, no matter how outrageous, is all that matters. The final ruling will likely take years, and while the court's decisions are typically binding, it has few means of enforcing them.”

South Africa's application is 84 pages in length and doesn’t once mention the crimes of Hamas. Not the murders of October 7, nor the rapes and the torturing. Nor the misuse of civilian buildings such as UNRWA schools, hospitals and mosques as military bunkers. Nothing. Why would it, eh? Who needs the facts? Propaganda and lies will do.


Douglas Murray: South Africa ‘bashing’ Israel to excuse its ‘own failings’
Author Douglas Murray claims South Africa is “bashing” Israel with its genocide case to excuse the country’s “own failings”.

South Africa asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December for an urgent order declaring Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

The treaty defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group".

The two countries exchanged allegations on the eve of hearings at the ICJ in The Hague.

“The South African government is so poor at running its own country, there were blackouts every day … in major cities like Johannesburg,” Mr Murray said.




Israel put on trial for genocide by world court today in absurd (and dangerous) show trial
In a fiery discussion, Tom Gross and Jacques Neriah condemn today’s start of a “genocide” trial against Israel at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, the UN’s highest court.

Tom Gross is an international affairs expert.

Jacques Neriah is the former deputy head of Israeli military intelligence. Before that, he served as Policy Adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and was also part of the Israeli Camp David team which negotiated the Peace accords with Egypt and accompanied Menachem Begin to Egypt as his personal Arabic translator with Anwar Sadat. Dr. Neriah was born and brought up in Lebanon.

The anchor is Albert Lewitinn, for I24 news, January 11, 2024.


South Africa Misquotes Bible, Netanyahu in Accusing Israel of ‘Genocide’ at The Hague
South African lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi misquoted the Bible on Thursday in accusing Israel of “genocide” against Palestinians at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague, as it tried to turn the victim of Hamas’s terror attack into the aggressor.

Ngcukaitobi cited statements by various Israeli officials responding to the October 7 attack as if they demonstrated genocidal intent. Among the statements was a quote of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referring to the story of “Amalek” in the Bible.

As Breitbart News pointed out at the time, Netanyahu was referring to Deuteronomy 25:17, “You shall remember what Amalek did to you.” Critics of Israel on social media misquoted him as referring to a different passage, in Samuel, which he did not cite.

Ngcukaitobi played a video of Netanyahu’s statement and gave the incorrect citation to Samuel instead of to Deuteronomy:


B'nai B'rith files argument asking ICJ to consider Hamas guilty of genocide ahead of trial

Fetterman Delivers Fiery Speech Defending Israel: ‘Stop Talking About Proportion’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., delivered a fiery speech on Wednesday defending Israel from the genocide accusations made against the country at the International Court of Justice.

"It's a group of cowards," he said about Hamas. "They hide in tunnels, they hide behind civilians, they attack, kill and mutilate children, women. Stop talking about proportion on that."

Fetterman also said Hamas "would have taken more lives if they could" on Oct. 7.

The Democratic senator has been steadfast in his support for Israel despite splinters within his party on the Israel-Hamas war, mentioning in late December he "would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions."


Liberal MPs split over Israel genocide court case while government stays silent
Liberal members of Parliament are divided about the position Canada should take on South Africa’s push to have Israel prosecuted for genocide for its war in Gaza, as the Trudeau government stays mum.

The International Court of Justice will start hearing a case Thursday in which South Africa argues that Israel’s widespread bombardment of Gaza and siege on the Palestinians living there “are genocidal in character.”

South Africa argued in its filing that Israel has expressed a “clear intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group” and says statements by Israeli officials are evidence of a genocidal intent. The application asks the top United Nations court to order Israel to halt its attacks.

Israel has responded “with disgust” to the allegations, saying they are groundless.

The Canadian government has not expressed a position on the case and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly’s office did not have an immediate response Wednesday when asked whether Canada will take a stance.

Canada has generally avoided bringing Israel to international tribunals, arguing those would undermine attempts to get Israelis and Palestinians to directly negotiate a lasting peace.

Ottawa raised that argument last July when it asked the ICJ to not proceed with providing an advisory opinion on the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories, despite the UN General Assembly passing a motion calling for the legal opinion.

The U.S. has dismissed South Africa’s case as a “meritless” distraction, but France has said it will back whatever decision the court takes.
Liberal MP calls on Trudeau to back prosecution of Israel for ‘genocide’
A Liberal MP is calling on her colleagues in the Trudeau government to officially support the prosecution of Israel for genocide by backing a controversial action brought by South Africa at the top United Nations court.

“I call on Canada to support South Africa’s application to the International Court of Justice regarding the current conflict between Israel and Hamas and the impact this conflict is having on the people of Palestine,” Toronto-area MP Salma Zahid wrote in a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

The International Court of Justice will start hearing a case Thursday in which South Africa argues that Israel’s widespread bombardment of Gaza and siege on the Palestinians living there “are genocidal in character.”

South Africa says Israel has expressed a “clear intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group” and says statements by Israeli officials are evidence of a genocidal intent.

Israel responded “with disgust” to the allegations, saying they are groundless.

Liberal MPs Marco Mendicino and Anthony Housefather have both said the court application is “baseless and unconscionable” because Israel is trying to prevent Hamas fighters from repeating its gruesome Oct. 7 terror attack, in which it murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds more hostage.
‘Really distressing’: The word genocide ‘cheapened’ by accusing Israel of war crimes
Sky News contributor Kel Richards says it is “really distressing” how the word ‘genocide’ has been “cheapened” by accusations Israel has committed war crimes in its war on Hamas.

The International Court of Justice is set to begin hearings later this week after South Africa filed a case against Israel.

They have accused Israel of war crimes by violating the Genocide Convention in its war on Hamas.

Crossbench Senator David Pocock has urged the Labor Party to ‘publicly support’ the international probe.

“It really bothers me as a wordsmith the way the word genocide is being cheapened,” Mr Richards said.

“The word was coined in 1943 by a bloke named Raphael Lemkin, who was a Jewish lawyer in Poland … in order to describe … what was happening to the Jewish people.

“When you’re using genocide, you need to be able to point to the concentration camps and the gas ovens.

“When you apply it to something which is not genocide, it cheapens the word, and you can’t use it when it really happens.”




Hamas planned Oct. 7 from before 2014, with final decision made by 5 leaders – report
The October 7 onslaught began with 70 terrorists who carried out a surprise assault at several points along the border of the Gaza Strip, according to sources close to the leadership of Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades military wing.

The sources told the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper in a report published Wednesday that the terrorists involved in the devastating attack were selected from among hundreds of elite commandos from all over Gaza, and underwent training for a number of years, along with continuous testing to gauge their skills.

Some 1,200 people were slaughtered and around 240 others dragged to Gaza as hostages — mainly civilians — when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst into Israel on October 7, rampaging through communities and army bases in the south.

The London-based newspaper said that plans for the devastating assault on Israeli towns close to the Gaza border began years earlier — prior to Operation Protective Edge in 2014 — but major efforts to train and prepare were frozen with the outbreak of fighting and stayed on hold for a year at that point.

After another military conflict, Operation Guardian of the Walls, in May 2021, Hamas decided to implement the plan.

The Saudi-owned newspaper said that the terror group was so determined to keep details of the plan under wraps to prevent potential leaks to Israeli intelligence that even many of the battalion commanders weren’t told what was happening. The terrorists recruited for the operation were not told what they were training for, and were made to swear an oath of secrecy.

The report said that the final decision launching the assault was made by just five senior members of Hamas — Gaza military leader Yahya Sinwar, armed-wing commander Muhammad Deif, Muhammed Sinwar (brother of the Hamas leader), senior member of Hamas politburo and Sinwar confidant Rawhi Mushtaha, and Ayman Nofal, a member of the terror group’s General Military Council and the head of its military wing’s Central Gaza Brigade, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza in October. Yahya Sinwar (C), Hamas’s Gaza Strip chief, waves to supporters in Gaza City, on April 14, 2023. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)

Ayman Siam, the head of Hamas’s rocket firing array — also killed in an Israeli strike in October — was told to prepare to launch hundreds of rockets to coincide with the start of the assault.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that those responsible for the preparations told the lower-level commanders three days before the assault that the “equipment” had been put in place for the start of the attack, without telling them when it was to be launched. Meetings were then held with commanders of the regional brigades, and tasks were assigned without telling them when and where exactly the plan was to be implemented.

On October 6, the five top leaders decided that the onslaught was to take place the next day.
It is up to Gazans to stop the fighting
By now, the events of Oct. 7 are well known. On that fateful morning, the Jewish Sabbath, which also coincided with the Simchat Torah holiday, thousands of Hamas terrorists infiltrated southern Israel, where they carried out a campaign of mass raping, pillaging, torturing, murdering and kidnapping against innocent Israelis, all while filming and livestreaming their exploits for posterity.

But Hamas didn’t carry out these attacks alone. Palestinian civilians also infiltrated Israel and slaughtered Israelis, aiding and abetting the terrorist group’s agenda of mass murder.

In the immediate aftermath of what was the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, the mood was celebratory, even euphoric, in the Gaza Strip. Crowds gathered in Gaza to revel in the spilling of Jewish blood, distributing candies and firing guns into the air in celebration.

In one particularly disturbing video from Oct. 7, the partially naked body of 22-year-old Shani Louk, who was taken from a music festival in Israel during the attack, was paraded on the back of a pickup truck after being brought to Gaza by Hamas terrorists, where they were welcomed by huge crowds who spat on her likely dead body and chanted “Allahu akbar!”

These episodes are not isolated incidents; they are integral to understanding the level of Hamas’s integration in Gaza, and the support it enjoys. Hamas is more than a terrorist group. It is the governing authority of Gaza, having been elected in 2006 and taking full control of the Strip in a violent coup the following year.


The Israel-Hamas War Explained
Despite all the complexities in the ongoing operation and the different obstacles posed by Hamas, the IDF remains committed to returning all Israeli hostages and dismantling Hamas, while also mitigating harm to civilians, supporting international humanitarian efforts, and coordinating efforts to facilitate as much aid as possible to the people of Gaza.

This is a video documenting the humanitarian efforts taken by the IDF in the Gaza Strip.


Israel could 'lose' war if pressure from US continues fears: General Jack Keane
Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane fears mounting pressure from the US to end the Israel-Hamas war could result in Israel losing the war.

“They [Israel Defence Forces] have got to be free to conduct particularly their ground operations – to clear out the Hamas fighters, their infrastructure, their rockets and the missiles,” General Keane told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

“To clear out these tunnels, all of this will take time.

“I believe they run the very risk ... I’m dead serious about this, of not winning this war if they’re pulling back, and this pressure continues.”

US President Joe Biden has upped his criticism of Israel’s war tactics in recent weeks warning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu his government is losing international support.




The Al Jazeera ‘Journalist’ Israel Killed Was an Islamic Jihad Terrorist

Biden's Refusal to Designate Houthis As Terrorists Sparks Blowback From Military Leaders
The Biden administration’s refusal to redesignate Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist organization is causing tension with U.S. military leaders in the region as they struggle to counter a rise in attacks by the Iran-backed militant group.

Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, leader of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), which is tasked with responding to Houthi attacks on American assets in the Middle East, told lawmakers in a private meeting that it is harder to combat the Iran-backed terror group since the Biden administration stripped its designation as a foreign terrorist organization. That problem became clear during a congressional delegation trip to the region.

"I did ask specifically about the Houthi attacks and their designation," Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), who led the bipartisan congressional delegation to the region, told the Washington Free Beacon. "When I spoke to the NAVCENT commander he did indicate it would be helpful to have them listed on the foreign terrorist organization list. So I think that has been a little bit of contention."

The United States and its allies are struggling to beat back a wave of attacks by the Houthis that have threatened regional military personnel and commercial shipping vessels. The largest attack yet occurred on Wednesday, when American and British forces shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Iran-armed group. The Biden administration’s hesitance to redesignate the Houthis as a terror group indicates the United States is trying to avoid irritating Tehran as its terror proxies, including Hamas, wage war on Israel and foment chaos across the region, according to Ernst.

"That would be my readout of why the administration is tiptoeing around this," the senator said. "I think whether it’s the Houthis or the leadership in Iran, they see weakness emanating from America and they are taking full advantage of it."

Ernst and her delegation of seven other lawmakers met with leaders in Israel, Egypt, Bahrain, and Qatar. At every stop, Iran’s malign activities were raised as a chief concern.

"With all of the leaders we visited, they all have concerns about Iran," she said. "We were asked at every stop around the way about American leadership. They were very pointed about saying that we need American leadership."
Houthi rebels who attacked British ship trained at elite Iranian academy
Houthi rebels, who have fired missiles at a British Navy ship in the Red Sea, trained at an elite Iranian naval academy.

Some 200 mercenaries, who control swathes of Yemen, were sent to the leading naval institution in Iran to receive instruction from Revolutionary Guard officials, The Telegraph can reveal.

Details of the training, gathered by intelligence sources in Iran, demonstrate Tehran’s direct involvement in widening the conflict in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, Britain was considering retaliatory strikes on land targets in Yemen, The Telegraph understands.

UK and US naval forces shot down missiles and drones in the Red Sea on Tuesday night, believed to be fired by the Houthis in support of Hamas.

At least one missile directly targeted a Royal Navy battleship for the first time, prompting a threat of retaliation by Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary.

“Enough is enough,” he said. “This cannot continue and we won’t allow it to continue so watch this space.”

British and US sources said Western officials were drawing up options for a retaliatory attack, including hitting Houthi rebel positions in Yemen.


FDD: UN Experts to Investigate Allegations of Hamas Sexual Violence as Crimes Against Humanity
Expert Analysis
“It’s taken some UN officials more than three months to contemplate the mere possibility that crimes against humanity occurred on October 7. Meanwhile, many of their colleagues justify Hamas’s actions. Documenting what took place is important for history. Yet with a UN that fails to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization, enables its war crimes every day, and tries to turn Jewish victims into villains, it remains unclear what the United Nations will do with this documentation once completed.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“UN officials need to work more quickly and thoroughly to document reports of sexual violence by Hamas against Israeli women. These war-time atrocities are particularly horrific and destabilizing to the victims, their families, and communities. Any delayed action on the part of the UN will only undermine its role in protecting vulnerable citizens and holding accountable those who commit gender-based atrocities.” — Elaine Dezenski, Senior Director and Head of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power

“With the exposé of UN Women’s deputy chief’s anti-Israel conduct and the systemic bias against Israel in the UN system writ large, the jury is out on how this investigation will unfold. If it’s a truthful investigation, it will underscore that rape and sexual violence were integral parts of Hamas’s terror attack about which the terrorists boasted. If it’s honest, it should be a call to action for policymakers throughout the United States and around the globe and serve to delegitimize all those who give any legitimacy to Hamas, its enablers, or those protesting in support of Hamas’s goals.” — Toby Dershowitz, Managing Director of FDD Action

Statement Recalls Atrocities
Edwards and Tidball-Binz reported that some bodies of Israeli women showed signs of mutilation, decapitation, or both. Others were burned alive in their homes or bomb shelters, and many showed signs of injuries consistent with beatings at or near the time of death. The rapporteurs also listed allegations from witnesses of sexual torture, including “rapes, gang rapes, sexual assaults, mutilations, or gunshots to genital areas. Female bodies were found with their clothing pulled up to their waists, with underpants removed or torn or stained with blood.”

A December report by The New York Times, which interviewed 150 witnesses and first responders and reviewed video footage and photographic evidence, validates the rapporteurs’ claims of widespread sexual violence. Hamas denies that its members committed sexual crimes, but captured terrorists have admitted to rape in interrogations with Israeli authorities.

UN Slow to Respond
The United States and Israel have criticized the UN, including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Women — an agency tasked with promoting women’s rights — for taking too long to call out Hamas’s sexual violence. Guterres first acknowledged reports of sexual violence on November 29, seven weeks after Hamas massacred more than 1,200 victims in Israel. UN Women waited until December 1 to call out Hamas’s “gender-based atrocities and sexual violence.”


American hostages held by Hamas in hell as Biden and Blinken play politics
What’s deadlier than Hamas terrorism? President Biden’s political pandering, which may doom the American hostages to be left to rot in underground tunnels. The hostages Hamas terrorists seized Oct. 7 still in captivity struggled through their 95th day Tuesday — as Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet. The hostages’ whereabouts and their condition are unknown. It’s estimated 25 have died and 107 survive, including eight Americans. Time is not on the side of the survivors. Neither is politics. Some are frail, elderly men in need of daily medications. A nurse who was among the abducted Oct. 7 but released in a November hostage exchange predicts dire shortages now. These captives, being held in underground tunnels, “had chronic illnesses,” she said. “There weren’t enough pills. There wasn’t enough food.” The parents of four teenage girls, all snatched from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, worry about what is being done to their daughters. “Imagine if it was your daughter, your little girl in their hands,” one mother said this week. “We understood exactly what they did on Oct. 7,” she added. So “what have they been doing for 90 days?” Aviva Siegel, another hostage freed in November, told the Knesset, Israel’s legislative body, Tuesday that she saw young female captives being touched against their will and tortured. Blinken provided little comfort to the hostage families.


Justin Trudeau responds to calls for probe into allegations of sexual assault by Hamas
Calls by women from across the political spectrum for Canada to play a role in investigating Hamas’s use of sexual violence in its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel are finally being answered.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered two key cabinet ministers to look into exactly how Canada could support a request from former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne, former deputy Conservative leader Lisa Raitt and others to commit $1 million to support victims and survivors, and send the RCMP to Israel to aid in investigations.

But sources privy to Ottawa's deliberations say their first option — a repeat of the mechanism used to support a probe of Russia's use of sexual violence in Ukraine — faltered as that funding was delivered through the International Criminal Court, and Israel does not recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Now, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc are exploring alternatives.

"Our hearts are with the victims and their families impacted by sexual violence," Trudeau wrote in a letter obtained by the Star that was sent to Wynne, Raitt, former Ontario NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo and others.

"Our government will always stand against sexual and gender-based violence and advocate for justice for all victims."

Ottawa's move comes as the United Nations is now sending an envoy to Israel to investigate reports of Hamas's sex crimes, according to statements from Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry reported in The New York Times on Wednesday.
Dutch companies refuse to publish billboards of Israeli hostages
Companies in the Netherlands refused to publish billboards with pictures of Israeli hostages held by Hamas ahead of Israel's genocide trial at the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

The National Public Diplomacy Directorate, through the Government Advertising Agency, prepared a billboard campaign throughout the Netherlands to raise awareness for the release of Hamas hostages ahead of the trial at The Hague.

The campaign was expected to be launched as part of a multifaceted public relations and diplomacy program surrounding the hearing in the International Court of Justice in The Hague in which South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.

The billboards that were designed for the campaign present different pictures of abductees, mentioning their names and the fact that they are in captivity in Gaza, under the caption “He/She can’t testify today.”

The main message conveyed in these billboards is the fact that 136 kidnapped Israelis are being held captive by Hamas and are unable to testify at The Hague trial.

These are victims and witnesses to the acts of terrorism and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, as well as to the war crimes Hamas commits every additional day the hostages are held in Gaza.


Caroline Glick: David Wurmser: US Treating Israel Like It Is Not A Sovereign Country
Has there been a paradigm shift in US policy towards Israel since the beginning of the war with Hamas? What is US policy towards Hezbollah in the North? Is the Biden administration out of touch with the reality in the Middle East?

Caroline Glick talks with the Center for Security Policy's David Wurmser to discuss all of this and more!


No enforcement: Anti-Israel protest allowed inside UN Security Council
A group of 36 left-wing rabbis and rabbinical students from anti-Israel organizations staged a protest inside the United Nations yesterday (Tuesday) against the US government's use of its veto against Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Rabbis 4 Ceasefire, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace, and IfNotNow organizations organized the protest.

Protestors entered the Security Council as part of a guided tour, the Huffington Post reported. They held up signs and banners demanding a ceasefire in violation of UN regulations. They sang the Hebrew song 'Lo Yissa Goy el Goy Herev' (national shall not lift up sword against nation), a quote from the Jewish Prophet Isiah about the peace humanity will know in messianic times.

While members of the public are permitted to enter the Security Council chamber as part of a tour, they are not permitted to hold a demonstration there or even make statements. Ordinarily, such conduct would result in violators being immediately ejected by security. This time, the protesters were permitted to stage their protest without interruption from security.

Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, praised thee protestors despite their violations of the UN's rules.


HuffPost Reporter, UN Staff Appear to Collaborate in Anti-Israel Protest at Security Council
An unlawful protest Tuesday at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by a radical left-wing group against Israel and in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza appeared to have the assistance of a HuffPost reporter, as well as members of the UN staff.

A group claiming to be “rabbis” staged the protest by signing up for a tour, then unfurling banners and chanting once they reached the UNSC gallery. They were allowed to complete their demonstration by UN staff, who ushered others out of the room.

In his coverage of the “surprise” protest, HuffPost reporter Matt Shuham, who described himself as “embedded with the group,” somehow managed to take the same tour the protesters did, and to find a good angle for filming. He called himself an “observer.”

According to former diplomat and long-term UN critic Anne Bayefsky of Human Rights Voices, UN staff also cooperated with the protest, including members of the office of Secretary-General António Guterres, whose spokesperson minimized the disruption.
The Israel Guys: US Military Stops Yemen Missile Attack. . .Tensions Are Escalating
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group fired a barrage of 21 missiles and drones towards the Red Sea, putting dozens of international merchant vessels in danger. Thankfully, the US and Britain reacted quickly, shooting down all of the missiles. I don’t think the Houthis realize that they are messing with fire.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a Middle East tour to “reduce regional tensions” and Egyptian smugglers are taking advantage of the situation in Gaza to charge exorbitant prices to permit Palestinians to escape from Gaza.


Douglas Murray: 'Calling Me And Joe Rogan Far-Right Is Preposterous'
A counter-terrorism course at King's College London, intended for civil servants and professionals involved in counter-terrorism efforts, has been discovered to have focused on post-modern identity politics, rather than practical strategies for combating terrorism.

This included discussions about labelling terrorists as freedom fighters and questioning whether individuals like Hamas should be considered as such.

One of the most alarming aspects of the course was the discussion surrounding deplatforming individuals like Douglas Murray and Joe Rogan. The lecturer in question, suggested that society needs to find alternative ways to suppress these individuals and their views. Murray called for an urgent review of the course and for the lecturer to be suspended.

Douglas Murray tells Julia Hartley Brewer that calling him and Joe Rogan 'far-right' is 'preposterous'.




Protesters paid to take part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Ian Ward, a municipal councillor for Colwood on Vancouver Island — along with local activist Charles Bodi — discovered the pay-a-protestor payment scheme. And he’s seen the effectiveness of the paid-protests up close. Says he: “They are highly organized. I’ve watched them. A van pulls up, and they’ve got flags, signs, and they’ve got organizers from the Plenty Collective wearing orange vests controlling the crowds.”

“And they have control because they are holding the cash for the protestors.”

Much of the money is being generated locally, says Ward, who was the first to break the news that Victoria City Councillor Susan Kim — along with Ontario MPP Sarah Jama — had signed on to a pro-Hamas letter that denied Israeli women and girls were sexually assaulted on Oct. 7. But some of the money, he says, seems to be coming from elsewhere: “We don’t see them being this organized, and this well-funded, without offshore money.”

It’s not just happening in Victoria, B.C. In the U.S., there is now confirmation that anti-Israel — and often anti-Semitic and violent — protestors are getting paid to protest.

A multi-millionaire tech mogul, Neville Roy Singham, has — along with his wife Jodie Evans — been bankrolling pro-Palestinian protests since last year. Their “People’s Forum” has organized multiple anti-Israel protests since Oct. 7 — including a number of efforts designed to “shut down” public and private sector offices. On Nov. 24, they posted on X: “Are you ready to disrupt business as usual? No celebrating in peace while genocide takes place!”

Some of the anti-Israel funding has seemingly been right out in the open. On Craigslist, a now-deleted November ad read: “We are looking for 5-7 actors or activists to hold panels and distribute flyers in front of a venue as a peaceful, legal protest. Needed for November 24th, evening, 2-3 hours, paying $30/hour.”

Nov. 24 was the same day, of course, as the pro-Palestine “shut down” protests, where 34 were arrested trying to disrupt the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and Black Friday sales.

“They’re paying for protestors to try and lend credibility to their movement,” says Ward. “Oct. 7 was just stage one. These carefully-crafted and controlled protests are a public relations campaign, and I think are the real objective.

“They are really an attack on Western democracy and Western values. Our way of life is literally being challenged here. And we are in danger.”


Jewish groups call on Ontario government to halt overpass demonstrations

Anti-Israel Ivy League elitists who tried to paralyze NYC revealed as they vow ‘we’ll do it again’
Ivy League graduates, an artist with millionaire parents and a woman honored by the Obama White House were among the hundreds of anti-Israel radicals who brought chaos to Manhattan commuters this week.

They also included a Fulbright scholar, multiple NYU graduate students, a filmmaker for HBO and Netflix — and out-of-town protesters who gave cops home addresses as far away as Georgia and Florida.

And after being arrested and released, the protesters were defiant on social media, with one gleefully tweeting photos highlighting her involvement and another boasting: “We’ll do it again.”

The protests Monday were carefully coordinated by at least six anti-Israel groups to cause maximum disruption, with blockades of traffic out of Manhattan on the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges and at the New Jersey-bound lanes of the Holland Tunnel.

NYPD and Port Authority Police Department cops made more than 300 arrests and issued desk appearance tickets for disorderly conduct charges — meaning they were released without bail and are due back in court later this year.
Two anti-Israel activists who glued themselves to Sixth Avenue on Thanksgiving dodge criminal charges - as new figures show anti-Semitic attacks soared by 360% after Hamas' October 7 attack



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