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Monday, January 22, 2024

01/22 Links Pt2: Why Do We Let Our Detractors Speak For Us?; At This Point, a 2 State Solution Is Asking Israel to Commit Suicide; Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro tour Auschwitz

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Why Do We Let Our Detractors Speak For Us?
Harvard alum Ira Stoll notes that Penslar last year signed a letter accusing Israel of apartheid and of seeking to “ethnically cleanse all territories under Israeli rule of their Palestinian population.” Just last month, he extolled the virtues of seeing Israel through the prism of “settler colonialism,” the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that denies Jewish indigeneity in the land of Israel and evinces a deep ignorance of basic world history. Along those lines, he also incorrectly believes “Zionism is a modern phenomenon.”

He summons concepts from some pretty dark shadows of anti-Jewish discourse, too. In a book published last year, he wrote, “Veins of hatred run through Jewish civilization.” That’s the sort of line you expect to see on the Twitter feeds of white nationalists and unrepentant Soviet-brained tankies. And, I guess, Harvard professors of Jewish history.

I’ve written in recent weeks about the AsAJews, a group of agitators from within the Jewish community who sell their birthright to anti-Zionist political activists. What Penslar’s case shows is that these agitators are not merely reactive; they are proactive. The anti-Zionist political activists they serve know very well to have their AsAJews in position long before they’re needed for any public debate. From his perch at Harvard, a professor like Penslar can manipulate the discipline of Jewish history even beyond the confines of the Ivy League, simply by telling the non-Jewish academic world what it wants to hear, such as that “veins of hatred run through Jewish civilization.”

We don’t like to admit it, but the purpose of having professors like Penslar at Harvard is to soften the ground for a whole mess of ideas that denigrate Jews and Israel and fuel an inevitable backlash against both—“decolonization” being a prime example. The uncomfortable truth is that Penslar wasn’t hired at Harvard so that he’d be in position to defend the school after an anti-Semitism scandal. He was there to help brew the conditions of the scandal in the first place.

American Jews will need to guard our history much more carefully in the coming years, and pay more attention to who claims to speak for us. Has any other religious community or national minority so often put its detractors in charge of telling its story?
How Racial Entitlement Leads to Anti-Semitism
With a generation that sees entitlement as virtue, the act of Jews pushing back—“actually, Hamas is not entitled to rape Israelis”—makes us easy targets of snowballing entitlement rage. This manifests in a blistering desire to tear down Jewish lives and communities, painting restraint itself as an insidious trick to usurp others’ lands and rights, to run institutions, and to mask mythical bloodlust. Doubling down on non-restraint, protesters shout, “By any means necessary!”

And truly, Jews would have to be annihilated to purge the supreme value of self-restraint that is the hallmark of Jewish survival: the endurance against all odds of a culture in which, say, self-restraint about mixing meat and milk is actually prized above existential faith. Pirkei Avot, or “Ethics of Our Fathers,” part of the larger Jewish oral tradition compiled in the Talmud, famously declares: “Who is strong? He who conquers his evil inclination…he who masters his passions is better than one who conquers a city.” And even the ubiquitous Jewish exhortation to be a mensch is a reminder that the ultimate way to be a “man,” to be a person, is just to behave considerately.

While these ideas are obviously not achieved by any single person all the time, the expectation of self-restraint that fundamentally defines the Jews has helped keep alive and thriving traditional definitions of what it means to be an accomplished adult. This is certainly not unique to Jews, as Max Weber and his theory of the Protestant ethic would remind us. But it has helped this tiny minority become disproportionately successful; dedicated to maintaining family and community through involvement and philanthropy; and willing to take the kind of constructive risks that yield large dividends.

The Jewish state itself reaps these benefits of traditional virtue. Israelis excel in business, in particular by embracing smart risks that rank it number three worldwide for start-ups. Israelis prioritize duty: Military service is obligatory, while Israeli families average three children and have only a 7 percent birthrate outside of wedlock (“keeping it in your pants” being among the most ancient obligations of male self-restraint). Perhaps the most extreme example: The Israel Defense Forces, at a clear cost to its own aims and soldiers’ lives, circulates maps to Gazans of where they will be fighting to prioritize the escape of enemy noncombatants.

There is no time to lose. America has gone critically off course. We need to restructure our educational, criminal-justice, and mental-health systems to center on advancing the ideals of self-restraint. If we don’t, not only will anti-Semitism flourish, but American adulthood as a whole will wither. Hillcrest High students indulging in a violent tantrum don’t need lectures on rejecting hate. They need to be told what BLM’s Hamas apologists were reminded of by former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire: “On my mama, we don’t respect none of y’all for that. Peace.”
Simon Deng: First They Came for My People, Then They Came for the Jews
A South Sudanese former slave recognized the Palestinian pogrom on Oct. 7

On Oct. 7, 2023, I watched the news and was sick. Seeing the video of the attack on the music festival in Israel, everything welled up inside me. From the experience of my people, from my own experience, I knew exactly what had just happened and how those terrified hostages were going to suffer. Israelis had been raped, tortured, mutilated, and burned alive just like my people had been for centuries. I will never forget the fires and the burned bodies: They looked exactly like what I saw the day my village was destroyed.

What Hamas did was precisely like what Arab Sudan’s genocidal government did to my people. Since they invaded Africa in the seventh century, Arab Muslims had always been doing jihad. We will never really know many Blacks have died between then and today. It is one of those numbers which, because it is unknown, proves how huge the suffering must be.

Both Israel and my country, South Sudan, were born through jihad, one which began in 1948, the other in 1955. In 1948, the Arabs declared a jihad against the new State of Israel and tried to finish what Hitler had started. In 1955, the Black Christian people of southern Sudan revolted against the north because the Muslim government refused to give them autonomy or freedom of religion. In response, the government declared a jihad—but not on paper, as it would later in 1989. The Arabs killed possibly up to 1.5 million Black people in the south. Nobody knows the number they enslaved, since nobody really counted.

The Israelis, like the Black Sudanese, won the war but lost the peace, and the jihad continued. People in the West only learned about jihad and slavery in Sudan in the 1990s, during the Second Sudanese Civil War, which began in 1983, but it was going on throughout the first one, which ended in 1972. I was kidnapped in the 1960s, so this terror has been happening for my entire lifetime. All we know is that about 200,000 Black Christians like me were enslaved in the Second Civil War, which only stopped in 2005, and about 2 million were killed. Sadly, there are still many Africans owned as slaves today. Now I saw what was done to me and my people being done to Israelis.

Israel secretly helped the southern Sudanese fight the north. We would never have fought the Arabs to the negotiating table without them. Today, South Sudan is independent partially because Israel chose to help us win over our Arab colonizers—because that is what they are. The Jewish people, just like us, are native to our lands, which the Arabs conquered.

Recently, I went to Israel to show my solidarity with my Jewish brothers and sisters, and with the (enslaved) hostages. I walked twice from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and back along the highway to show that we Africans love and care about Israel. I picked strawberries on a kibbutz and met with Jewish hero Natan Sharansky—a freedom fighter who went to prison, like Dr. King, for trying to free his people.

Living in New York, I see protests against Israel. These manifestations of sympathy for evil should disgust all decent people. They disgust me because Hamas is made up of the same people, acting on the same colonizing and imperial motivations, who enslaved me and murdered 4 million of my Black brothers and sisters. The Jewish people—who helped my people gain our freedom—were slaves in Egypt, just down the Nile from where I was a slave. Later, they were slaves in Auschwitz. Now they are slaves in Gaza. Our peoples have both survived slavery, and we will continue to survive it. We will triumph over the murderers who do their best to enslave and exterminate us.

True survivors are not victims. Both Africans and Israelis stand tall and will not rest until all of our people are free. And our Jewish brothers can count on us to be there for them.
Eugene Kontorovich: America Helps Make Gaza an Open-Air Prison
Gaza is unique among modern war zones. It hasn't produced waves of refugees leaving for neutral countries. This has been deliberate, the result of policies by Hamas and Egypt tacitly supported by the U.S.

Months after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, 3.5 million Ukrainians had applied for temporary residence in countries such as Poland and Germany. The Syrian civil war produced five million refugees. The U.S. invasion of Iraq produced two million international refugees. Fleeing a war zone and seeking asylum in a neutral country is a human right enshrined in the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention.

Yet three months after Oct. 7, fewer than 1,000 people - either foreign nationals or wounded - have been allowed by Egypt and Hamas to leave Gaza. The Biden administration's repeated professions of concern about an imaginary Israeli plan to force out Gazans has distracted from its unconscionable silence about the deadly reality that Gazans are trapped against their will in what has now become the world's largest open-air prison.

By not pressuring Egypt to open its border, according to its obligations under international refugee law, the U.S. is letting Gaza become a pressure cooker of civilian suffering. Washington has no problem with Cairo putting Gazans in harm's way, accepting a tightly sealed Egypt, while he lets millions pour across America's southern border. Why would the U.S. support locking Gazans in like North Korea does? Since 1948, Arab states and the UN have refused to treat Palestinians like ordinary refugees, keeping them in a unique intergenerational limbo to provide a reservoir of resentment against Israel.


Elon Musk, Ben Shapiro tour Auschwitz-Birkenau site while in Poland
Ahead of a conversation at a European Jewish Association event in Krakow, Poland, billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro took some time on Monday to tour the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, chairman of the association, and Gidon Lev, a Holocaust survivor, joined them at the private visit to the camp, where they laid wreaths, lit candles and observed a memorial service. Musk was photographed at the site with his son, X.

The annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on Jan. 27, the day that prisoners at Auschwitz were liberated.

During their talk at the association event, Musk said that people should be wary of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as well as any other name “that sounds like it could come out of a George Orwell book.” He also said that world opinion has to “get rid of the rule that if you’re weaker, you’re automatically good. That obviously makes no sense.”

In the past, many in the Jewish community and elsewhere have claimed that Musk allows antisemitism to spread on the social-media network X (formerly Twitter), which he purchased in April 2022 and now runs. Some have accused Musk of posting antisemitic material. He has clashed in the past with the Anti-Defamation League.


Anti-Israel Group Posts Then Deletes Holocaust Denial
An anti-Israel group on Monday created and then deleted a post on X saying that Auschwitz was "allegedly" the site of genocide.

The post, from a group called Stop Zionist Hate, came in response to a photo of conservative commentator Ben Shapiro and X owner Elon Musk visiting the former Nazi concentration camp in Poland, where the Nazis murdered nearly a million Jews.

"Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro are in Auschwitz, a town that allegedly witnessed genocide in the 20th century," the now-deleted post read. "@elonmusk, do you have any plans to visit Gaza to see the genocide happening right now?"

Stop Zionist Hate later replaced the post with another that had the same text but replaced "allegedly" with "reportedly." After it deleted that post as well, it said it intended to riff on media coverage of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

"Our point in using the word 'allegedly' was to show the double standards when it comes to discussing atrocities," the account said in a post. "We don't deny the atrocities of WW2. Zionists and the mainstream media use the word 'allegedly' when reporting on Palestinians being murdered, yet they don't get labeled as anti-Palestinian or atrocity-deniers."

The group bills itself as a counter to Stop Anti-Semitism, an organization that publicizes anti-Semitic incidents on social media. The month it was created, Stop Zionist Hate claimed it had, in five days, "gotten multiple Zionists fired and many more exposed."

Its account appears to be relatively new. It calls itself the "leading non-partisan American based organization fighting zionism and zionist hate" in its X bio, which indicates it joined the platform in November. The bio features a link to its website, which the webpage says is "coming soon." A late-December report from MSNBC said that white nationalists, rather than progressives, created the account to capitalize on anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian sentiment amid the war in Gaza.


Yisrael Medad: Peace Requires Reeducation
Imagine this being proposed after hostilities with Hamas in Gaza, and then extended to the areas of Judea and Samaria to include Fatah:
On September 15, 2045, which is exactly one month after the announcement of the defeat in the war, the Palestinian government through the minister of education issued the ‘Education Policy Guidelines for the Development of New Palestine,’ which contain 11 work guidelines:
1. Education aims to broaden insights and knowledge, improve the ability to think scientifically, foster a spirit of peace-loving, and improve people's morality.
2. Erasing all subjects related to the military; all teaching and research must be focused on peaceful purposes.
3. Revised the textbooks so that the contents are in accordance with the new education policy.
4. The Ministry of Education organized a re-education program for teachers, to understand the new education policy.
5. Giving special learning opportunities for students who had been deployed to the battlefield or to the factory, which forced them to drop out of school.
6. Scientific education aimed to train the ability to think scientifically and not just to pursue temporary interests.
7. To foster high morality and broad-minded people, it was necessary to increase education outside of school for adults and workers, through public facilities such as public libraries and museums, as well as utilizing media such as painting exhibitions, theater shows, publishing popular science books, etc.
8. Facilitating the formation of local youth groups, as a forum for communication and fostering social solidarity.
9. Sought interfaith cooperation to foster friendship and world peace.
10. Facilitating sports competition events to improve physical and spiritual health, as well as fostering the spirit of fair play and friendship among the nation's children and between the people of Palestine and other citizens.
11. Restructuring the ministry of education to form the directorate of sports and directorate of scientific education.

A great dream, yes. Wild? Improbable?

Well, that text actually exists. But it was dated in the year 1945. And instead of Palestine and Palestinian, it read Japan and Japanese.

Think about that.
South Africa’s case against Israel: Both weak and dangerous - opinion
THIS BEGS the question: What if Israel simply disregards such an ICJ order in favor of defending its very survival?

In this case, the court could recommend that the UN Security Council enforce crippling sanctions – not BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) style sanctions which are primarily PR stunts, but the kind of nation-eviscerating sanctions imposed in places like North Korea, Yugoslavia, and (ironically) apartheid-era South Africa.

Such measures could include cutting Israel off from energy markets, food supply, global trade, global financial systems, international travel, and more. Parallel procedures in other international bodies could produce international arrest warrants: not just for Israeli leadership but even for current and former IDF soldiers. (Norway, for example, has already begun steps in this direction.)

This apocalyptic-sounding consequence begs yet another question: Wouldn’t the United States veto any such resolution at the Security Council? The answer is not as certain as it seems. Based on Secretary Blinken’s statements, America would almost certainly veto a resolution that condemns Israel for genocide.

However, if Israel were to violate a direct court order for a ceasefire, coupled with domestic and international public pressure and an upcoming US election, the answer would become less clear. At the very least, ICJ enforcement measures constitute a risk that Israel must take seriously, even with likely US support.

These events are a carefully calculated attempt by Hamas, via its allies, to defeat Israel militarily by shutting down the IDF’s freedom of action. In doing so, Hamas and South Africa threaten the very institutions of international law.

Israel is subject to the ICJ because it signed the convention, which did nothing to protect Israel on October 7, whereas Hamas is able to act with impunity precisely because it has not signed the convention.

Long term, this perversion of international law incentivizes all nations to withdraw from global institutions for their own protection, thus threatening the continued existence of international law itself.

Without international law and institutions, it would be more difficult to act against dangers such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, Myanmar’s Rohingya genocide, and more.

In short: Israel is fighting for its survival on two fronts: one is military, the other is legal. An Israeli victory on both fronts is absolutely critical, not only for the safety of Israel, but also for the continued existence of international law and the long-term security of the entire free world.
MEMRI: With Its ICJ Genocide Lawsuit Against Israel, South Africa Is Serving Iran
Since its establishment in 1979, Iran's Islamic Revolution regime has placed the elimination of Israel – which it terms "the little satan" and a "cancerous growth" that must be removed – at the center of its ideology, articulating this objective both openly and emphatically. In order to achieve this goal the regime acts in several arenas and on various levels, including the media-propaganda level, the military and political-diplomatic levels, and even the legal level, using various players from among its array of proxies.

On the military level in the Middle East, Iran acts through its resistance axis, which comprises Hizbullah in Lebanon; the Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) organizations in the Palestinian territories; Shi'ite militias, such as the Popular Mobilization Units, in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthis in Yemen.[1]

Iran does not hide its desire to blacken Israel's image in the political arena and in public opinion. To this end it promotes in public discourse the claim that Israel is an alien corn that was planted in the region to oppress the Palestinians and that it is a violent, occupying colonial force that subjects the Palestinians to an apartheid regime. For example, on January 1, 2024, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told his British counterpart David Cameron in a phone conversation that "Iran regards Hamas as a resistance movement [fighting] occupation and apartheid, just like the movement that fought apartheid in South Africa for many years."[2]

Kamal Kharazi, the head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, told Al-Jazeera on July 19, 2022 that "Israel is an apartheid regime, just like the apartheid regime of South Africa, which was eventually compelled to change its structure. Israel too is an apartheid regime that commits all kinds of atrocities against the Palestinians, and, as long as this is the case, one of the main goals of the resistance forces [led by Iran] will be to act against Israel. If Israel's apartheid regime disperses and a democratic government arises there based on the votes of the indigenous people of the land[3] – that will be a different matter. In that case the Palestinian problem will be resolved. Iran's policy is based on the need to establish in that part of the world a democratic government that will respect the rights of the Palestinians, the Jews and the Christians. This is of course conditional upon the Palestinian refugees returning to their homes, [because] the government must be elected by the indigenous people of the land. As long as Israel objects to that development and maintains its apartheid regime, it is naturally the right of the Palestinians, and the inalienable right of the freedom-seekers and resistance forces, to continue their resistance against Israel."[4]

On the diplomatic-legal level, the South African government, which presents itself as the flagbearer of the fight against racism and apartheid, seems to be serving the Iranian regime[5] by instituting proceedings against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the grounds that it is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
David Singer: Burying South Africa at the ICJ
South Africa must substantiate that the “Palestinian people” constitutes a national, ethnical, racial or religious group under Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) - if its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is to get over its first hurdle. And that is before it presents its false claims about Israel that lack a word of condemnation for Hamas' proclaimed plans for genocide of the Jewish people.

South Africa must back up its following ridiculous allegations with supporting evidence about those who it claims to represent:

“This Application concerns acts threatened, adopted, condoned, taken and being taken by the Government and military of the State of Israel against the Palestinian people, a distinct national, racial and ethnical group, in the wake of the attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023...

... The acts and omissions by Israel complained of by South Africa are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group, that being the part of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip (‘Palestinians in Gaza’).

South Africa’s allegations are rebutted by the following:
- The 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine (Mandate) did not recognise the existence of a “Palestinian people” – referring to the Arabs then living in Palestine as comprising part of the “existing non-Jewish communities”. - United Nations Resolution 181(II) in 1947 partitioned Western Palestine into two states - one “Arab” (not “Palestinian”) and one “Jewish” - “Palestinians” were first defined in the 1964 Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO Charter) - which denied the existence of any distinct national group under articles 1,6,7 and 24:
The world’s view: Reactions to South Africa vs Israel
THE EURONEWS analysis maintains that no Western country has declared support for South Africa’s allegations against Israel and that the EU hasn’t yet commented. The majority of countries backing South Africa’s case, it says, are from the Arab world and Africa, while in the Eurozone only Turkey has publicly stated its support.

Neither China nor Russia have said much about the case. This is not, perhaps, surprising in view of the fact that both are themselves facing accusations of genocide. A case against Russia, arising from its activities in its war against Ukraine, is pending in the ICJ, and while China has not been formally charged, it has been accused of genocide against its Muslim Uyghur population.

Both nations are represented on the judges’ bench (China by Xue Hanqin, and Russia by the ICJ Vice-President Kirill Gevorgyan), and neither may feel comfortable about supporting the charge of genocide against Israel. If actions by Israel clearly falling short of the “intent” requirement of the Convention are sustained, their own countries’ interests could be at risk.

The Muslim countries that declared support for South Africa as soon as it filed its case at the ICJ were almost all represented by the 57-member strong Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The statement of the OIC condemned “mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israel Defense Forces [IDF]” and accused Israel of “indiscriminate targeting” of Gaza’s civilian population. Support also came from the Arab League and from Pakistan, Malaysia, and Namibia.

Brazil, represented among the ICJ judges by Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant, has indicated that its president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, backs South Africa’s case. The Brazilian foreign ministry said it hoped the case would get Israel to “immediately cease all acts and measures that could constitute genocide.”

Other countries, while strongly supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, can see that accusing Israel of intending to destroy the Palestinian people is a step too far. For example, Ireland’s premier, Leo Varadkar – far from Israel’s best friend – has said he hoped the court would order a ceasefire in Gaza, but that the genocide case was “far from clear cut.”

Innocent civilians suffering the effects of a conflict which is none of their making naturally arouses feelings of deep compassion.

No matter that the IDF operate under strictly enforced rules of engagement, restricting military action to the targeting of Hamas and its strongholds, collateral deaths and injuries are inevitable in a war situation – and even more so in the particular circumstances of the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has deliberately positioned itself in and among the population.

But calling for a ceasefire ignores two key consequences: Hamas has promised to repeat the massacre of October 7 “again and again,” and if undeterred, will keep its word; Hamas continues to hold 136 Israeli hostages, and Israel would be barred from trying to rescue them or effect their release. In short, Israel would be prohibited from fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law to protect and defend its citizens.

One can only hope that South Africa’s case will fail to stand up.
Ireland considering joining South Africa's ICJ lawsuit against Israel
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland announced on Monday that his country is considering joining South Africa's International Court of Justice (ICJ) lawsuit against Israel.

This announcement comes after Belgium confirmed its support for the lawsuit the day prior.

The ICJ hearing took place earlier in January, and the panel is currently discussing the verdict.


At This Point, a Two-State Solution Is Asking Israel to Commit Suicide
The atrocities committed on Oct. 7 will forever mark a massive turning point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For perhaps the first time, Israelis were left with no choice but to believe the Palestinian side, whose actions were nowhere near signaling for peace, nor any solution resulting in any type of coexistence.

Yet as the American administration repeatedly stresses the importance of a two-state solution which would entail the creation of a Palestinian state, it is completely oblivious to the new reality Israel has been facing. Asking Israel to support a two-state solution at this time is tantamount to asking Israel to commit suicide. Israel simply cannot allow the creation of an Iranian-backed Islamist state at its doorstep.

The Biden administration is thinking of giving postwar control of Gaza to the incompetent and corrupt Palestinian Authority, whose leaders - Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas - have turned down every single Israeli peace offer since 2000. Both Arafat and Abbas had several opportunities to establish a Palestinian state. However, they rejected these offers time and again, denying their people the opportunity to live in peace and security in their own state next to Israel.

When speaking in Arabic, the PA and Hamas leaders sound almost identical, especially when it comes to talking about Israel. As such, it's hard to see how the PA could be entrusted with managing a Palestinian state that exists peacefully alongside Israel.

Before Oct. 7, most Israelis believed in peace with the Palestinians. Today, many Israelis no longer believe that this is a realistic scenario in the foreseeable future. A barbaric massacre will do that to people. Hamas showed us who they are on Oct. 7, and we believe them.
I'm an Israeli Arab. I'm Embarrassed - and Hamas Is to Blame
I've spent the majority of my life in Israel's north, a beacon of coexistence where Jews and Arabs have lived side-by-side in harmony.

Yet today, for the first time in my life, I understand why Jews are afraid of us.

When I saw an elderly woman being abducted and taken into Gaza, I felt that it could have been my own mother. When I saw pictures of the Arabs and Bedouins who were killed, I saw myself.

On Oct. 7, Hamas set back any hope we had for peace, gearing us all up for another generation of violence.

But there is a silver lining. A recent survey by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) indicated that 70% of Arabs in Israel identify with the State of Israel, the highest percentage who feel part of the state since they began asking this question in 2003.
Psychological Warfare after the Guns Are Stilled: The Need for Cognitive Reframing the "Day After"
In the repeated battles between Israel and Palestinian and Islamic terror organizations, Israel finds itself time and again at a psychological disadvantage despite holding a clear military advantage. Much of this psychological disadvantage stems from the lack of any need for Israel's enemies to conform to accepted standards and "rules of war."

Whereas most civil societies would prefer negotiation over self-destruction, Palestinian terror organizations do not, when ideology becomes the motor for cognitive choice. When an ideology is religiously based, belief in those precepts presents a formidable obstacle to any reality-based argument to the contrary. Those who are ideologically addicted will see victory where others see defeat.

This religious-ideological mechanism driving Hamas is the primary reason why, for Israel, the insistence on removing any vestige of Hamas rule in Gaza is essential. While Western eyes and ears see and hear a defeated Gazan population, Hamas' perspective is still focused on the events of Oct. 7, which represents a victory of the Jihad-based resistance to infidels on Islamic land. For Israel, if the military defeat of Hamas is not followed by its psychological defeat, the remnants of the organization will undoubtedly regroup to fight another day.

The events of Oct 7 created a broad and encompassing common societal trauma for Israelis. The military and political response must promise an effective and lasting feeling of personal security, which is at the center of Israeli thinking. Any political solution for the "day after" will need to be based on the current broad consensus among Israelis of zero tolerance for terror or the threat of terror.

The trauma caused by the attack has reinforced thinking that demands personal security and prioritizes it above taking risks for peace with a partner in whom any trust has been marred. The Israeli public will not likely accept any post-war reality where threats to personal safety continue.
Why Most American Jews Oppose an Immediate End to the War in Gaza
At a time when American Jews have mostly rallied to Israel's side, Jewish parents and grandparents are wondering what can be said to kids and grandkids who challenge them about Israel. My advice is, first remind them that the Oct. 7 attacks were a methodically planned act of attempted slaughter; the terrorists came with computers filled with instructions, took pictures of their butchery, and in a ghoulish, sickening PR campaign, uploaded the pictures to the internet.

Second, stress that Israel's war is a war for survival. No society can survive with a terrorist threat like Hamas on its doorstep. Crossing the border fence and killing Jews is the plan. Therefore, Israel must put an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. Failure to do so will lead to the end of the Jewish state.

Third, because Gaza is one of the most fortified places on earth and Hamas has embedded itself in every crack and crevice of civilian life, there is no way to get at Hamas without a civilian death toll that is tragic. Still, Israelis know that morality begins with security, and the first responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens.

Fourth, who doesn't want the shooting to stop? Yet for Hamas, a ceasefire is an opportunity to prepare for the next attack. And when it does, Israelis will die and Gazans will die. Hamas is not fighting for a two-state solution. They are not freedom fighters but a death cult, committed to nihilistic jihad.
Growing Oct. 7 "Truther" Groups Deny Hamas Massacre
According to Uncensored Truths, a Telegram group with 3,000 subscribers active on foreign policy, Israel was behind the Oct. 7 massacre. The Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack is among the most well-documented in history. A crush of evidence from smartphone cameras and GoPros captured Hamas' deadly onslaught.

But a growing group denies the basic facts of the attacks, minimizing the violence or disputing its origins. Some argue the ambush was staged by the Israeli military to justify an invasion of Gaza. Others say the 240 hostages Hamas took into Gaza were actually kidnapped by Israel. Some contend the U.S. is behind the plot.

The phenomenon is worrisome to Jewish leaders and researchers who see ties to Holocaust denial, the attempt to undermine the genocide that killed 6 million Jews during World War II. "There's a built-in audience that wants to deny that Jews are the victims of atrocity and furthers the notion that Jews are secretly behind everything," said Joel Finkelstein, chief science officer at the Network Contagion Research Institute, a nonprofit tracking disinformation.
We must fight this creeping anti-Semitism
It is the openness of this anti-Jewish racism that feels new, and that tells us something significant and troubling. It is becoming increasingly permissible to express anti-Semitic sentiments in public spaces. It is becoming increasingly frequent for young Jewish students to feel unsafe on university campuses. It is becoming increasingly common for Jewish employees to feel ostracised in the workplace.

Doubtless, Jew-hatred existed in the UK before October 7 but it tended to be more the occupation of the far-Right, of anti-Semitic Islamists, of Left-wing academics and Corbyn outriders.

Now, it’s seeping into the soil of everyday life, what you hear on the train, what you pass by on the street, the conversation in the café. It is as dangerous – if not more dangerous – than those marches with their genocidal chants and calls for the destruction of Israel.

The question is what can be done about it. This should matter to all of us. What begins as hatred of Jews does not end there. The prejudice spreads, the discord grows, our social cohesion comes under ever more pressure. Liberal democracy begins to fray.

I believe very strongly that there is a silent majority in Britain – of all ethnicities and backgrounds – who do not subscribe to these anti-Jewish prejudices. They deplore the racism and hatred they have seen on the marches. They are horrified by the massacre in Israel in October and understand that the genocidal terrorists of Hamas must be defeated. They know that the Jews of Britain – small community that it is – are typically hard-working, committed citizens who contribute a great deal to public life.

So, I respectfully call today for the often quieter voices of tolerance, reason and respect to become louder.

If you see anti-Jewish prejudice being experienced by your colleagues at work, speak up. If you are a university lecturer who can see that Jewish students do not feel safe, do something about it. If you are a police officer, take Jew-hatred as seriously as any other form of racism. If you are a politician, make it clear where you stand on anti-Semitism.

And, whoever you are, if you have a friend or acquaintance who starts talking about “The Jews”, make sure they know that their prejudice will not be tolerated. It simply has no place in our country.
Phyllis Chesler: Letter to American "Rabbis for a Ceasefire"
About three dozen far left non-Orthodox rabbis and rabbinical students from far-Left US organizations protested at the United Nations recently, urging a ceasefire in Gaza and asking US President Joe Biden's administration to allow such resolutions to pass instead of vetoing them in the Security Council.

This letter is addressed to those who participated in that shameful protest:

Your recent demonstration at the UN Security Council has broken my heart. If I were blowing a shofar, something that I've never done, I would sound out a long Shevarim, which is the sound of a broken heart and also a cry for help.

I, and the movement in which I served, have pioneered many of the ideas that you have continued to evolve. Like you, I recognize the wisdom of Yohanan ben Zakkai who, after the destruction of the Second Temple, taught us that we must take moral responsibility for each other, speak out against injustice, especially within our own tribe. You call this "tikun olam," repairing the world, although the phrase may also have very different meanings.

Above all, we are meant to be kind to each other.

Sisters! Brothers! Perhaps you know more Torah and Talmud than I do. Some of you have or have had congregations and have held Jewish communities together. Some of you have, officiated at B'nai Mitzva, weddings, and funerals. Others have written articles, books, and certainly leyned from the Torah.

Therefore, why did you, so-called Rabbis for A Cease Fire, so inappropriately drape yourselves in tallesim as if a prayer shawl is a fashion statement, or a tried-and-true signal of a politically correct "performance?" Why blow a shofar at the UN? Is this another political prop to bolster your claimed rabbinical identities?

Whose attention or approval do you seek?
Law & Order takes on campus antisemitism — with a violent twist
A pro-Palestine professor accused of indoctrinating students to hate Israel. A university president facing plagiarism accusations and juggling how to handle free speech in the wake of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel. Graffiti, torn-down hostage posters, and a brawl between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine men.

No, this isn’t Harvard. All of these scenes appeared in the 42-minute season premiere of Law & Order, which aired on NBC Thursday.

The popular crime drama, which just kicked off its 23rd season, has long been known to spin headlines into story arcs. Thursday’s episode, titled “Freedom of Expression,” was particularly striking because the heated atmosphere it depicted still rages on university campuses across the United States.

“When did expressing your beliefs become so fraught?” one detective asked another as they were investigating a series of violent incidents stemming from the conflict overseas. “When it comes to Israel and Palestine,” his colleague responded, “forever.”

The episode took on a question that has perplexed university administrators — when does free speech cross a line into hate speech, particularly when it comes to antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — and imbued it with a Kafkaesque series of gruesome twists and turns.

The central drama is the murder of a president at a fictional New York City university. Although he is Jewish, the president took a stridently pro-free speech line in the wake of the Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel and declined to weigh in on the growing war in the Middle East.

But after his stabbing, it becomes clear that the situation on campus had grown complicated. A pro-Palestinian student group was shut down after students expressed support for Hamas, and the president took out a restraining order against a pro-Israel professor who claimed to have been fired for expressing anti-transgender beliefs. The detectives discuss the role of social media in amplifying emotions (“It is not a great time to have an opinion, is it?” one asks), and they quibble over adjectives, like whether to call an anti-Israel protest “hateful” or merely “offensive.”

By the end of the episode, two more people are dead. The episode’s writers also managed to fit in a discussion about the role donors should play at a university and several highly specific mentions of current events, like a reference to a controversial Palestinian cultural festival that took place at the University of Pennsylvania in September.
Democrats want mercy and statehood for Hamas terrorists
The Democratic Party still tries to posture itself as a reliable ally for Israel, but its leaders continue to assert that Israel must not just accept terrorists trying to kill its civilians every day but must reward them for it.

The unavoidable, undeniable reality in Gaza is that the territory is run by antisemitic, genocidal terrorists who slaughtered some 1,200 Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 and would happily do so again if given the opportunity. This is the position of Hamas and is supported by the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

And yet, the Biden administration wants Israel to back down completely. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who believes the world must roll over for terrorists at every opportunity, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is no military solution to Hamas, meaning there is no solution to Hamas because there is no reasoning or negotiating with genocidal terrorists.

Not only that, but Biden officials are telling Israel that whenever this military operation ends (which they want to pressure Israel into ending already), it must end with the establishment of a Palestinian state. Hamas slaughters 1,200 civilians and promises to continue to do it to the cheers of the Palestinians it rules over, and President Joe Biden and his team want to award them with their own state. Senate Democrats, including Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), are among those pressuring Israel to reward Hamas for its slaughter.
Pennsylvania Senate Candidate Attacks Dems’ Israel Policy, Calls Hamas ‘Evil that Must Be Eliminated’
In early January, US Senate GOP candidate Dave McCormick emphasized his unwavering support for America’s longtime ally, Israel, following his recent visit there and his meetings with survivors of the October 7 Hamas massacre. McCormick returned from Israel more determined than ever to show solidarity with the Jewish State, and during a call with reporters, he stressed the importance of addressing Hamas as a source of evil that must be eliminated.

McCormick, 59, a successful hedge fund CEO and Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs for President GW Bush, is no stranger to the Middle East. A West Point graduate, he was part of the first wave of US troops that were sent to Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. He served as executive officer of a combat engineering company of 130 soldiers tasked with clearing minefields and destroying enemy munitions.

McCormick was one of those brave individuals (yours truly not included) who watched the 47-minute IDF video from footage taken from Hamas body cams and surveillance cameras. He said about it: “Brutal killings of families. Fathers killed in front of their children. Women dragged and mutilated. Houses burned. Families destroyed,” and concluded, “The necessity of destroying Hamas is even more clear in my mind now.”

On his social network posts, McCormick combines his agenda for the State of Pennsylvania with his views on the Biden administration’s failure to support Israel in its war against evil. He recently shared this Peter Berkowitz commentary headlined, “Hamas, PA, and UNRWA Educate Gaza Schoolchildren for Jihad.”
Dem, GOP senators trade barbs on nominee tied to Hamas ‘mouthpiece’
Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary traded accusations of Islamophobia and “playing the race card” on Thursday over the nomination of a Muslim-American lawyer with ties to what one senator described as “a mouthpiece for Hamas.”

The furor erupted during a vote on the nomination of Adeel Mangi for the Third Circuit Court of Appeals when the chairman of the committee Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) entered into the record a letter from the Anti-Defamation League accusing committee members of “berating” Mangi with “with endless questions that appear to have been motivated by bias towards his religion.”

“I resent the insinuation that those of us who asked him questions are somehow anti-Muslim or prejudiced in some way,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). “I think it’s outrageous. I think it’s absolutely outrageous.”

Republicans on the committee had questioned Mangi at his Dec. 13 nomination over his past role as one of 17 members of the advisory board of Rutgers University’s Center for Race, Security and Rights. The center focuses on “the civil and human rights of America’s diverse Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities,” including the “criminalization of Muslim identity through United States and global national security laws and policies,” per its website.

Among the events that the center hosted while Mangi was on its advisory board, which Republicans cited, was a panel on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 that included a man who had pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to support Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
Jamaal Bowman Said He Was 'Starstruck' By Anti-Israel Author Who Praised Hamas. Now He Claims He Barely Knew the Guy.

Ralph Nader accuses Blinken of ‘antisemitism against Arab-Palestinians’
Lawyer and four-time failed U.S. presidential candidate Ralph Nader, 89, last week accused U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken of “antisemitism against Arab-Palestinians.”

Blinken is Jewish. The Winsted, Conn.-born Nader is the son of Lebanese immigrants.

“Another example of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s antisemitism against Arab-Palestinians,” Nader wrote to his 125,000 followers. “Earlier, he said the targeting of heat, water and electricity was a ‘brutalization of Ukraine’s people’ and ‘barbaric.’ He doesn’t use these words for the trapped and dying civilians in Gaza—children, women and men— being bombarded daily without food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel.”

Nader has previously referred to antisemitism against Muslims.

“Antisemitism against dying Arabs in Palestine, mostly women and children, is spreading among U.S. companies and corporate law firms,” Nader wrote last November. “They are throwing away job offers and resumes from young Americans who have spoken out against Israel’s genocidal war crimes and are supporting Palestinians’ rights to a state of their own. The lasting shame on these corporatists will not be forgotten.”

In May 2021, Nader wrote that U.S. President Joe Biden, then House speaker Nancy Pelosi and other “AIPAC Democrats” engage “in the other antisemitism—antisemitism against Arabs. After 73 years of looking the other way, it’s time for the first congressional hearings featuring Israeli and Palestinian peace advocates.”
Hamas-linked group partners with CPS to combat Islamophobia
An organization tied to the terrorist group Hamas works with Chicago Public Schools to combat alleged Islamophobia.

The Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), offers a program called, “The Chicago Public Schools Project.” According to CAIR Chicago’s website, the organization has offered the program since 2014 as part of an attempt to “promote inclusion and understanding about Islam and the Muslim community.” The program claims to battle Islamophobia through a variety of efforts, including: “cultural sensitivity training” and a “Muslim Background Seminar.”

CAIR has come under scrutiny over its alleged ties to and support of the terror organization Hamas. The White House in October condemned comments made by CAIR’s director, who said he “was happy to see” Palestinians break out of Gaza on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing more than 1,200 people.

In a 2009 court ruling, a federal judge concluded, “The government has produced ample evidence to establish the associations of CAIR, ISNA, NAIT, with NAIT, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and with Hamas.” CAIR also was identified as a co-conspirator helping the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) – a former Islamic charity labeled a terrorist group by the FBI in 2001 – shower Hamas with millions of dollars.
JPost Editorial: Netanyahu must come up with a clear strategy for Israel's future
We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to decide on a clear and solid agenda for the near and long-term future.As the conflict drags on with its heavy toll, the Israeli public’s patience is wearing down. The ongoing war has not only cost numerous lives, but also raised questions about the long-term strategy of the Netanyahu administration.

Citizens are increasingly demanding clarity on the government’s endgame. Is the aim to completely dismantle Hamas, leading to a prolonged military occupation, or is there a diplomatic solution on the horizon that might bring lasting peace? These questions are not just rhetorical but crucial for shaping the region’s future.

The lack of direct, frequent communication between key Israeli leaders during such a critical period is alarming. It suggests a fragmented approach at the top levels of those involved in the decision-making, which could have severe implications for both the conduct of the war and the post-war scenario.

Moreover, Netanyahu’s strong stance against a Palestinian state, reiterated in his recent statements, has significant implications for Israel’s long-term peace and security. While his commitment to ensuring Israel’s security is clear, the absence of a viable peace plan could lead to perpetual conflict. The Israeli public, having endured the horrors of war, deserves a road map towards sustainable peace.

Netanyahu must articulate a clear vision that goes beyond the immediate military objectives.

This vision should address the region’s political future, the humanitarian needs of all affected populations, and the role of international partners in securing long lasting peace.

Without this, the cycle of violence is likely to continue, with grave consequences for all parties involved.
No-confidence motion against Netanyahu fails in Knesset, with only 18 votes in favor

Sabra hummus’s US market share has dipped by half. Why large-scale BDS isn’t to blame
Sabra hummus sales in the US took a massive hit and the iconic brand will not recover its formerly dominant market share, Shai Babad, Strauss Group’s CEO, told analysts and reporters at the end of November.

Perhaps surprisingly, the intensifying anti-Israel BDS stickering campaign against Sabra products is not the main factor in the brand’s slippage.

Instead, multiple salmonella and listeria contamination recalls — alongside US superstores looking to diversify hummus offerings — are cited as responsible for the drastic dip in Sabra sales since 2021.

“We have been told by the big retailers such as Costco, Walmart, Target and others that they are not going to put all the eggs in one basket and we’re not going to be the only one providing them with hummus,” Babad told analysts.

It certainly doesn’t help that in the past three months, “BDS” activists against Israel have kicked a 14-year-old stickering campaign against Sabra hummus into higher gear. At hundreds of supermarkets and other stores in North America and Europe, stickers denouncing Israel have been placed on Sabra product containers.
Karol Markowicz: Leave the Pews
It seemed like a good idea.

College campuses across the country were erupting in Jew-hating outbursts, and parents were rightly worried about their Jewish college-aged kids caught up in the frenzy of hate. On Facebook, a group called Mothers Against College Antisemitism (M.A.C.A.) was founded and grew quickly to over 50,000 members. They shared information, emailed, called, and signed petitions. They stood united against the oldest hatred rearing its head again.

But just as fast, fissures formed. The cudgel of DEI – that is, “diversity, equity, and inclusion” policies that had been used against Jewish students – was the subject of feverish debate. Sure, the policies were bad for Jews, but weren’t we all good liberals after all? Shouldn’t that take precedence here? People earnestly wondered whether other minority groups would be mad at them if they fought to end DEI instead of simply fighting to get Jews included in the special identity groups recognized by the absurd system.

It wasn’t just DEI, either. When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a plan to fast-track Jewish students who were feeling unsafe in their own universities who wanted to transfer to Florida colleges where he pledged they would be protected, commenters in the group warned not to accept his kindness as he was on the wrong political side.

What became clear within that Facebook group and in so many other quarters since Oct. 7 is that much of secular Judaism, in both the Reform and Conservative branches, had become overtly political and not really religiously based at all. For many Jews, their religious identity had become so intertwined with leftist politics that they couldn’t force a separation even when they themselves were being targeted with their own bad ideas.

They pledged allyship to other groups in their tent, not to Judaism or Israel. This was evident in 2019 when daily attacks began on Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn. Activist synagogues in places like Park Slope, which would have been at the forefront of marches had any other group come under attack, spent years staying silent about it. The attackers, often caught on video, were frequently other minorities, not MAGA hat-wearing white people as they would have hoped, so it was awkward to raise a fuss. Progressive politics was the code they followed, and Judaism was an identity umbrella like all the others in their movement. “As a Jew …” they would begin their lectures. As a Jew, they were rarely interested in Judaism.
Schools postpone Holocaust education programmes due to ‘community tensions’ since October 7
The Anne Frank Trust has said three schools have postponed their education programmes since October 7 due to “local community tensions.”

It comes as other Holocaust educators have warned against “a tidal wave of hate” targeted at organisations and the Jewish community in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists.

Tim Robertson, Chief Executive, of The Anne Frank Trust, said since October 7 the education charity had worked in in 172 schools across England and Scotland, reaching over 15,000 young people but “three schools have postponed our programmes because of local community tensions.”

The charity which educates 9 to 15-year-olds about Anne Frank, the Holocaust, and antisemitism said despite three schools pulling out from programmes their overall numbers of participants were up on this period last year.

Robertson said: “Overall we’ve been heartened at how committed schools remain to engaging with our work. We work with a very diverse range of young people and on the whole we’ve been strongly impressed by the sensitivity and integrity they have shown in reflecting on Israel-Hamas and the surge in antisemitism here in Britain.”

He said the charity had not found it necessary to make any substantial changes to its curriculum as a result of October 7 “but we’ve provided extra training and support for our staff,” Robertson said.
Op-ed: MIT Hotbed of Hate
MIT has changed a lot since the days when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended and received degrees in Architecture, Business, and nearly a third in Political Science. He would have gotten that last degree had it not been for the fact that his brother, Yoni Netanyahu, was killed in the Entebbe raid in 1976. Prime Minister Netanyahu was called into action by Prime Minister Begin. Prime Minister Netanyahu was so brilliant that only a handful of individuals accomplished what he did at MIT in the four years he spent there. None had to take a hiatus for 40 days to fight in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 the way he did.

In speaking to an alumnus of MIT who walked the hallowed halls at MIT at the same time as Prime Minister Netanyahu, I learned that the MIT of today does not resemble the MIT of yesteryear. For starters, MIT in the 1970’s was purely a merit-based institution that took the best and the brightest. This is no longer the case. In the past 20 years MIT in some areas seems to be promoting a more socialist worldview rather than focusing on what it had always done best which was to teach the sciences, engineering, and related fields at the very highest level of scholarship and critical thinking.

My friend, the alumnus, tells me that in his class 33% were Jewish. About a third of those were observant. The Kosher Kitchen required two different seatings nightly for dinner. He knew every one of his 1063 classmates. He was the class secretary for 18 years.

In the past 10-20 years the number of Jews being accepted to MIT has dwindled to 6%-7%. Jews started to get harassed on campus even before the slaughter and atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. However, after October 7th the viciousness of the blatant anti-semitism reached a new level. Jewish students were now afraid to go to class and walk on campus for fear of physical harm and confrontations with pro-Hamas protesters. A number of groups were formed to counter the threatening atmosphere. One was the MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance which was formed according to its website, “in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023 and subsequent to the explosion of antisemitic rhetoric and acts of intimidation across MIT’s campus, the country, and the world. MIT’s administration has failed to acknowledge the magnitude of growing antisemitism evident across the MIT campus and failed to take effective measures to stem it.” The MIT Jewish Alumni Alliance has published three open letters to date. All have drawn significant media attention. The first was on December 4th, regarding growing antisemitism at MIT. The second was on December 11th, regarding the alarm over the Congressional testimony of MIT’s President Sally Kornbluth of Dec. 5th, when she said, “implied calls for genocide of Jews may not constitute bullying and harassment under MIT’s Code of Conduct depending on context.”
UPenn student who launched legal battle over 'egregious' anti-Semitism on campus claims college failed to warn Jewish center about BOMB THREAT - as backlash against top schools continues to grow

Larry Summers ‘lost confidence’ in Harvard as ‘place where Jews can flourish’ after task force pick

Concordia Student Newspaper The Link Features – And Endorses – Egregiously Anti-Israel Letter

BBC’s Williamson promotes a pernicious narrative
Williamson tells her readers that:
“The UN’s human rights body described the situation in the West Bank at the end of last year as “alarming and urgent”.

“Israeli forces have increasingly used military tactics and weapons in law enforcement operations,” a statement from its spokesperson said in November. “Law enforcement is governed by international human rights law, which prohibits the intentional use of lethal force except when strictly necessary to protect life.””

She does not however clarify that the January 7th incident that is the topic of her report took place in a location in Area A, which is under full Palestinian Authority civilian and security control and that Israeli operations in such locations are not “law enforcement” but counterterrorism.

Williamson’s overall aim in this report is to promote the narrative that Israel indiscriminately targets civilians. In order to do so, she quotes one-sided accounts from people described as witnesses and family members of the deceased without any transparency on the topic of how she made contact with them, downplays the fact that five of the casualties were buried in the flags of terrorist organisations and negates reports of attacks on Israeli troops evacuating injured soldiers.

Quoting the above-mentioned paramedic, she writes:
“At the end of the day, anyone Palestinian is a target – if you are an armed person, then you are targeted; and if you are a civilian, then you are also a target.”

Regardless of whether or not all or some of the Darwish brothers and members of their extended family were members of terrorist organisations, whether or not all or some of them were participating in the IED attacks or unfortunately happened to be in close proximity to the perpetrators at the time, Williamson’s promotion of the accusation that Israel deliberately targeted uninvolved civilians once again highlights her continuing failure to report accurately, impartially and fully on counter-terrorism operations.
BBC backgrounder on ‘a week of missile strikes’ erases attacks on Israel

Guardian editorial repeats lie that Israel targets Palestinian journalists

Disgraced cartoonist who sparked outrage for Netanyahu cartoon charges £75,000 for paintings

PA to accept funds from Israel, receive Gaza tranche after war

MEMRI: Hamas Delegation Visits Moscow In Second Meeting With Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Since October 7

Hamas leader says October 7 renewed dream of Palestinian state ‘from the river to the sea’

Abbas denies Israel's existence: Israel's statehood “is a big lie”
Official PA TV posted a video on its YouTube channel

Video: The video shows a speech by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas at the 8th National Forum for Digitization and Innovation.

Official PA TV, YouTube channel, Oct. 3, 2023

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: The independence of the State of Israel… When Israel says that it is celebrating its Independence Day – what regime did it receive independence from? Who is the one who occupied the State of Israel, such that it is celebrating the fact that it got rid of this occupation? This is a big lie, a big lie. Time passed, the Palestinian revolution arose... The Palestinian narrative is being spread now everywhere in the world. We want to make it clear and to use it to debunk the colonialist Western Zionist narrative, which has been disseminated amid lies, hypocrisy, and deception… and to say that this is the Palestinian people, the Nakba exists, and there is no [Israeli] independence.


Fatah official: “There is no solution other than the path of [Hamas’] Saleh Al-Arouri”
Quds News Network (Hamas), X (Twitter) account, Jan. 2, 2024

Fatah Revolutionary Council member Jamal Hweil: The battle has been led in the occupied West Bank by Martyr leader, Hamas Political Bureau Deputy Chairman, beloved friend, extraordinary heroic leader Saleh Al-Arouri... who addressed the young people of Palestine, the young people of the West Bank, and told them: “You must resist with stones, Molotov cocktails, handguns, improvised [weapons], M-16 [assault rifles], with all your power” ... There is no solution or path to freedom other than the path of Saleh Al-Arouri… My brothers, we are continuing, united, and resisting until victory. Indeed, this is Jihad – victory or Martyrdom.


After Israel-Hamas war, Egyptian Copts face ambiguous future

MEMRI: Pakistani Columnists On Israel-Hamas War: 'The Families Of The Martyrs Are Gradually Becoming Part Of Hamas'; 'The Possibility Of The War Against Israel Turning Into A Guerrilla War In The Future Cannot Be Ruled Out'

MEMRI: Following Bomb Attack, Islamic Clerics In Pakistan Force Biology Professor Sher Ali To Read Prepared Statement Renouncing Evolution: 'A Woman's Intellect Is Comparatively Less Than That Of A Man From The Perspective Of Allah's Shari'a'

Col Kemp: Iran is starting a war it knows could destroy it
The Iranian strikes in Iraq, Syria and even Pakistan are signs of weakness. In recent days the US has assassinated an Iranian proxy terrorist leader in Baghdad and the Israelis have killed Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon. Iranian state media said the recent strikes in Erbil, supposedly against Israeli ‘spy bases’, were in retaliation for such killings. Hitting targets in Iraq and Syria of course elicited no military response from Iran’s client governments there, but striking inside Pakistan was an altogether different prospect which was met by a retaliatory attack into Iranian territory.

Why on earth would Tehran provoke a conflict with a nuclear state with a massive, well-equipped army that could, if it wanted to, overrun the regime? In order to send messages of deterrence to the US and of strength to its proxies in the face of what looks like a dangerous turnaround in the ayatollahs’ fortunes.

For many years Iran has been building what has been called a ‘ring of fire’ around Israel, comprising proxies in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, with more distant flames in Iraq and Yemen. The purpose is to strangle the Jewish state, because the ayatollahs deplore its very existence and see it as an outpost of American power, opposition to which has been a cornerstone of the revolution since it began.

But following the 7 October attacks that all seems to be going wrong. Israel is steadily taking apart Iranian proxies Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, killing their fighters in large numbers and destroying painstakingly constructed terrorist infrastructure. In Lebanon, Hezbollah seems to be faced with the prospect either of a hugely destructive war or a humiliating withdrawal north of the Litani River. In Yemen, the Houthis’ attempted missile strikes on Israel have all been blunted and the US and UK have unexpectedly switched from defensive to offensive operations to thwart their attacks on Red Sea shipping.


Iran Satellite Launch Raises Concern Over Missile Program

Microsoft Reveals Iran Hacking Campaign Targeting Mideast Experts

New PBS documentary 'Nazi Town, USA' examines 1930s heyday of Hitler’s acolytes in the US
Picture a group of children having fun at summer camp, learning archery, swimming and playing tug of war, all while the Nazi flag flies next to the American flag. Or a packed crowd at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden, where men and women of all ages give the Hitler salute.

These are some of the real-life disturbing images depicted in “Nazi Town, USA,” a new documentary about the German American Bund — a pro-fascist, pro-Nazi organization that, at its peak, had some 100,000 members in the United States — that premieres on “American Experience” on PBS on Tuesday.

The German American Bund (bund is German for “organization”), founded by German immigrant Fritz Kuhn in Buffalo in 1936, was created to promote pro-Nazi ideology within the United States. Kuhn and his cronies relied upon patriotic imagery such as George Washington and the American flag to attract Americans of German descent as members — but as Kuhn himself said, the organization’s goals were to create a “socially just, white gentile-ruled United States” and a “gentile-controlled labor union free from Jewish Moscow-directed domination.”

Filmmaker Peter Yost, who wrote and directed “Nazi Town, USA,” told the New York Jewish Week that he first became interested in the history of Nazi organization while helping his friend Marshall Curry with his Academy Award-nominated short documentary “A Night at the Garden,” which used archival footage, some of which can also be seen in “Nazi Town, USA,” of the 1939 “Pro-American Rally” at Madison Square Garden held by the Bund.

“It’s amazing footage and it’s incredible that there are 20,000 of these Bund members inside Madison Square Garden,” Yost said. “It certainly begs the question, ‘If you can get 20,000 of them in this one spot, what the heck is going on in America at the time more broadly that enables that to happen?’”
US court releases man convicted in 2010 over synagogue, Jewish center bomb plot
A man convicted in 2010 of plotting to blow up New York City synagogues and a Jewish community center, and shoot down military planes, was ordered to be released from prison by a judge who said the defendant was part of a group manipulated by the FBI.

Four men, who became known as the “Newburgh Four,” were caught up in a scheme in 2009 to attack the synagogues and community center, and launch stinger missiles at military aircraft, driven by what the judge describes as overzealous FBI agents and an “unsavory” confidential informant.

US District Judge Colleen McMahon had already ordered the three other men in the group – Onta Williams, David Williams and Laguerra Payen – to be released last July.

The fourth man, James Cromitie, described as the ringleader by the government, was ordered released by the judge on Friday.

The judge called the case “notorious” and described the men as “hapless” petty criminals who were “easily manipulated” by the government in a sting operation.

Cromitie’s lawyer was quoted in the New York Times as saying the judge’s order was “at least some kind of vindication for what we believe was a tragic miscarriage of justice.”

The four men were convicted of terrorism charges in 2010 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Friday’s order by the judge asked for Cromitie’s sentence to be cut to time served plus 90 days. It did not reverse the conviction.
Oregon police seize 28 guns from trans woman who allegedly threatened Jews, others

Jerusalem library gets 45,000 Jewish manuscripts from Yemen
The National Library of Israel in Jerusalem has received the world’s most extensive collection of Yemenite Jewish manuscripts.

The 60,000 items in the collection include notable pieces such as Judeo-Yemenite renditions of works by Maimonides (1138–1204) and Rabbi Yihya Saleh (1713–1805), known by the acronym Maharitz, who was one of the greatest exponents of Jewish law in Yemen, as well as centuries-old marriage certificates.

The items were endowed to the museum last Thursday by the family of the late Yehuda Levi Nahum (1915-1998), a Yemenite Jew who immigrated to pre-state Israel in 1929 at the age of 14. Over six decades, Nahum assembled the world’s most extensive collection of Yemenite-Jewish manuscripts.

The collection consists of some 45,000 manuscripts and legible fragments, and some 15,000 fragments extracted from book covers or removed from depositories of ancient books. About 70% of the collection has been scanned and added to the library’s digital preservation project.

“This important collection is a transformative addition to the library’s documentation of Yemenite-Jewish heritage that will enrich scholarship in this field for years to come,” said Dr. Chaim Neria, curator of the Haim and Hanna Solomon Judaica Collection at the National Library of Israel. “The library is dedicated to expanding its collections and making these materials as widely available as possible.”
Israeli firm uses AI to help fully paralyzed woman speak again
Debbie Admoni, diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) at the age of 19, has defied the limitations of her illness by getting married, publishing a cookbook, and establishing a support association for teenagers. However, as her paralysis progressed, communication became increasingly challenging.

Utilizing eye muscle movement, Debbie managed to type her thoughts slowly with the aid of a computer, as her eyelids remained unaffected.

Drawing on the advanced AI technology developed by D-ID, a scan of Debbie's image was used to match and recreate her facial and lip movements, resulting in a virtual avatar capable of speaking. In the next stage, a voice similar to Debbie's original voice was selected, bringing her virtual image to life.

Using AI to fight ALS
With her new virtual spokesperson, Debbie has become an influential advocate in the fight against ALS, sharing firsthand accounts of her daily struggles with the disease. Through this innovative approach, viewers are able to deeply empathize with her experiences and forge a strong connection.

In Debbie's first video as a virtual speaker, she says that though she is unable to breathe on her own, move her limbs, speak, or eat, she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spread hope. This powerful video will serve as a vital tool for the Israeli ALS association in their upcoming fundraising campaign.

Shiran Mlamdovsky-Somech, the social entrepreneur and founder of D-ID, reflects on the significance of Debbie's story, saying, "Debbie's beauty and resilience resonated with me, as we are both the same age." Mlamdovsky-Somech's company developed the groundbreaking artificial intelligence tool that has brought Debbie's virtual presence to life.

During my meeting with Debbie, I was amazed by her indomitable spirit and vitality, despite her illness and the limitations it imposes. Her ability to inspire others is truly remarkable.
Rob Rinder: Now of all times, laughter is the medicine we really need
We appropriate the mockery others might throw at us, do it better than they ever could and in so doing neutralise it. This is the strength that comes through humour.

Sometimes, true, when things are going badly it doesn’t change the situation but – at the very least – it’s still good for our communal mental health. The late Rabbi Lionel Blue once said that when he had been a young rabbi he (wrongly) thought all problems were solvable: “They’re not. But you can tell a joke about them, which helps.” Because when we laugh, we’re drawn closer together.

It’s probably why in the darkest moments in our history (in the shtetl, in the ghetto and beyond) there was always humour. Yes, it was often of the starkest, most unsettling kind – but it was there. There’s something truly important in seeking the funny side while others try their hardest to destroy us. Who can forget the Jew in 1930s Germany who saw a member of his community reading Der Stürmer. “Why are you reading that rag?” he asked. “Well,” said the reader, “if I read the Jewish papers, I hear about the horrible things happening to us: arrests, brutality, murders. But when I read this, it turns out we control the world, the banks and we’re still on the rise!” It’s a joke told so often we can forget just how dark it is – bleak but in its own way necessary.

One of my heroines, Maya Angelou (not Jewish, though definitely at the top of my “honorary” category) said she never trusts people who don’t crack jokes because “if you’re serious, you understand that it’s important to laugh as much as possible”.

It’s a view I endorse with all my heart.

Just now, as the world seems to be falling apart, some people might feel it’s inappropriate to look for humour, especially as next week we head towards Holocaust Memorial Day.

They might feel it’s somehow frivolous or tasteless but I simply don’t agree. Because when times seem desperate, laughter becomes even more valuable. In fact, those are the moments we need it most.
Visiting Israel, US comics help locals cope with trauma of brutal Hamas massacre
Tami Varon needed a night out to laugh. With two of her sons just back from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip, she joined some 400 others at a comedy show of visiting US comics in Israel to try to forget about the war for a while.

For Varon and the show’s organizers, comedy can help to heal those who remain deeply traumatized by the October 7 attack when Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, and kidnapped over 250 others, triggering the war in Gaza. It was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

In the initial weeks of the war, movie theaters and other forms of entertainment, even shopping malls, were closed. Photos of hostages held in Gaza and signs saying “Bring Them Home Now” remain plastered across buildings and bus stops.

But steadily some form of normalcy has returned in Israel. The country’s leading TV satire show “Eretz Nehederet” resumed, treading cautiously at first before once again mercilessly attacking Israeli politicians. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and other actors visited Israel to show solidarity.

Now, comedy shows are sold out as rocket attacks from Gaza have started to subside.

“It’s OK to get your head in a different space and to laugh,” Varon, a therapist by profession, told Reuters at the stand-up show in the central city of Modiin, where the crowd laughed and cheered loudly.

“It’s healthy and you don’t need to feel guilty about it.”

This series of shows, called Comedy for Koby, has been running for more than 15 years, bringing top American comedians to six Israeli cities including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to raise money for a foundation that supports those who have lost loved ones “to terror or tragedy.”
Christians donate $500,000 to Israeli towns devastated by Hamas
Passages donated $500,000 to two southern Israel communities destroyed in the Hamas massacre on October 7.

The Christian organization that provides free, “Birthright-style” trips for Christian students delivered it to Netiv HaAsara and Kfar Aza this week during a solidarity mission to the South.

They also brought each community a plaque to express their love and solidarity during these difficult times.

According to Paul Weber, Passages’ chief advancement officer, the funds will be used to provide immediate psychological counseling for some of the younger members of the communities to help them try and deal with the horrors of that day. In addition, some of the funds will be earmarked for future memorial projects.

“These are two places where we have taken over 11,000 college students on Passages trips in the last eight years,” said Passages CEO Scott Phillips. “In these communities live our friends, people we know, people we work with, people our students and alumni have interacted with.”

The organization also paid for more than two dozen alums and other supporters to travel to Israel to make the donations. They arrived on Friday.




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