Thursday, January 25, 2024

01/25 Links Pt2: An ‘Eichmann Trial’ for Hamas’s Crimes; Niall Ferguson: “The Treason of the Intellectuals,”; Tu b’Shvat Is a Testament to Jews’ Connection to Their Land

From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: An ‘Eichmann Trial’ for Hamas’s Crimes
Putting Sinwar on trial for his war crimes would absolutely garner the attention that Eichmann’s trial received; we are after all in the era of social media and livestreaming. But that’s not necessarily a good thing. The Nazis had plenty of sympathizers, but their ideology was not dominant (though it was present) throughout American educational institutions from Harvard down to various public grade schools. The ideology that justifies Hamas’s Oct. 7 campaign of mass murder, sexual torture, and child kidnapping is dominant on campuses and has had no trouble worming its way into the curricula fabric at every level of education. Whether you call it “decolonization” or find some German compound word for it, the race-obsessed conspiracy-addled theory justifying the extrajudicial murder of Jews is all the rage, and Sinwar would be preaching to an aggravatingly large choir.

It would certainly be revealing to watch Intersectionality Eichmann be elevated to godlike status in the enlightened West. But it would also be unbearably dark, a point of no return if ever there was one.

It would, however, solve the representation problem. Eichmann found a German lawyer to defend him and Israel picked up the tab. Sinwar would have a line of high-profile American and British attorneys begging to take up his case pro bono.

Nevertheless, a legal process to establish facts for posterity would be of great benefit to society, even without an Eichmann figure at its center. The most intriguing angle is one Haaretz reported on a few weeks after the attacks, when Israeli domestic security and law-enforcement teams were put on the case: “A number of Israeli firms with expertise in digital intelligence were enlisted to build what is called ‘the library’ — a database of all the Hamas terrorists who entered into Israel and documentation of their actions, almost minute by minute.”

That “library” is being built on the foundations of Hamas’s own despicable pride: many terrorists wore body cameras to document their own descent into psychotic barbarity.

The massive amounts of evidence being gathered by investigative authorities and emergency responders and other officials is clearly intended to be used in a court of some kind, but Israel will not be taking its case to international or UN courts, whose legitimacy cannot be salvaged. Eichmann was tried in Israeli courts, and Hamas terrorists can be tried in those courts or in military tribunals, though the latter would somewhat defeat the purpose of the trials, which would be to place in the public domain an unimpeachable record of events. The Oct. 7 version of Holocaust deniers have come out of the woodwork already, existing as they do in a postmodern world of “living your truth.” The library of evidence that Israel is currently building is the proper antidote to the lobotomizing poison of such a world.
Brendan O'Neill: Why Are People More Agitated by the Gaza War than by Any Other?
This week, Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf said there is a dearth of political concern for the poor people of Gaza. I'm sorry, what? There have been more public displays of sorrow for the people of Gaza than for any other people caught up in a war as far back as I can remember. Solidarity with Gazans is virtually mandatory at dinner parties across the land.

We've seen think piece after think piece about the pain of the Palestinians. Bourgeois youths have hit the streets every weekend to register their compassion for Gazans and their hatred for Israel. MPs have made tub-thumping speeches on the need for a ceasefire. Palestinian flags fly from lampposts. The keffiyeh has become the fashion item du jour for the ostentatiously virtuous.

The real question is not why people are silent on Gaza (they're not), but why they seem so much more agitated by this war than by any other of recent times. There's been a tsunami of media coverage on Gaza. Far more than there was for the Saudi-Yemen war, every African war of recent years, or the horrific return of Azerbaijan-Armenia hostilities last year. Our activist class have obsessively devoted themselves to the cause of Gaza, to the exclusion of every other issue on earth.

Where were these people when tens of thousands of Muslims, including Palestinians, were slaughtered in the war in Syria? Or when the mullahs of Iran massacred hundreds of their own citizens for the sin of standing up for women's rights? Do the lives of young women in Iran who want to show their hair in public have a "different value" to the lives of people in Gaza? The lives of Syrian dissidents?

Why did they not make as much noise over those violent assaults on Muslim life as they have done over Israel's war against Hamas? Because it is only when the Jewish state is involved in the loss of Muslim life that people take to the streets in vast numbers.
Tu b’Shvat Is a Testament to Jews’ Connection to Their Land
Today is the holiday of Tu b’Shvat, the “new year of the trees.” In the diaspora, this day over the centuries came to embody the Jewish longing for the Land of Israel. With the return from exile, it has taken on a new meaning as a day to be celebrated by planting trees. Alon Tal considers its significance:

There is no more concrete manifestation of the Zionist impulse as the national movement of an indigenous people, than Israel’s forests. Seventy years ago—when the country was an impoverished, developing nation, the founders set about returning the woodlands to a decimated land—a land where 97 percent of the original vegetation had been extirpated.

That is not Zionist propaganda. Empirical evidence from aerial reconnaissance photography of the British army in World War I confirms the absolute bareness of Palestine following 2,000 years of Jewish exile. Since then, almost two million dunams of woodlands have been planted. There is something deeply meaningful about this profound act of national, ecological revival during these troubled times.

Over the years, I was always annoyed that Palestinian leadership never respected the authenticity of my Israeli identity and Jews’ historic connection to their homeland. But invariably, I let it go. Many Jews working on coexistence even avoided openly defining themselves as “Zionists,” lest they create unnecessary antagonism. The main thing was to get on with the “peacemaking.” In retrospect, this was a mistake.

To-thousand years ago, the Mishnah codified the four new years that are built into our national calendar. . . . The fact that Israel has revived this arboreal birthday and turned tree-planting and tree-preservation into a national holiday is a sign of just how much our heritage informs our present-day lives.


Holocaust Rememberance Day: Parallels between Hamas and the Nazis
On January 27, the world solemnly marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a United Nations initiative to commemorate one of history’s darkest chapters. Yet, the day’s significance extends far beyond mere commemoration. It’s a stark reminder, especially as the Jewish state, born from the ashes of the Holocaust, grapples with accusations mirroring the very horrors Jews once faced.

The Holocaust, a term that emerged from the depths of human cruelty, encapsulates the Nazis’ methodical and monstrous extermination of millions. Today, we confront a chilling irony: on this day dedicated to remembering the past’s atrocities, Israel faces threats reminiscent of that tragic era. Absent are the gas chambers, but present are tunnels, missiles, and a barrage of propaganda.

This irony intensifies as Israel’s self-defense – a response to the worst slaughter since the Holocaust – is contorted into allegations of genocide. It’s a bitter twist that the very institution commemorating this day accuses Israel of the crimes it solemnly remembers.

What, then, is the purpose of remembrance if not to learn and prevent history’s darkest moments from repeating?The Holocaust taught us about the persistence and lethal nature of antisemitism. Dara Horn, in her book People Love Dead Jews: Notes from a Haunted Present, poignantly underscores how Jewish suffering is often minimized and universalized, losing its unique historical context. The Anne Frank House controversy, where a Jewish employee was initially barred from wearing a yarmulke, exemplifies this troubling trend.

The persistence of antisemitism is both adaptable and deeply ingrained in paranoia, often cloaked in terms of “neutrality” or “context-dependent” rhetoric. It ranges from bizarre conspiracy theories to more insidious and dangerous beliefs.
Germany is a genuine ally and we can’t take it for granted - opinion
Yet, we must not take this German support for granted, considering it a “debt” that will never be paid off. The continued wallowing in the Gaza quagmire, the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the reportedly high percentage of civilians among the victims, the refusal to officially discuss the future of Gaza and a comprehensive political solution, and the deterioration of the situation in the West Bank make it increasingly difficult to support Israel under the Netanyahu government. The German government faces internal and external constraints that do not make supporting Israel an easy task.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which has resulted in the cessation of activity of Nord Stream, the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, has foisted renewed energy deprivation upon Germany and thus increased its reliance on the Gulf countries, including Qatar. Germany has a large Muslim minority and at the same time is witnessing the rise of the extreme Right led by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party which is gaining momentum, recently crossing the 20% mark in the polls.

We must not forget that Germany is also the largest and most important country in the European Union. If Israel continues to ignore the calls to promote a deal that would include the return of the abductees alongside a ceasefire and continues to avoid dealing with the future of the Gaza Strip, Germany will find it increasingly difficult to stand up to most of the EU members.

Friendship is not one-sided. Germany stood by Israel’s side and continues to do so, but Israel must help Germany in this endeavor. The Germans learned from their experience both sides of the lesson of the Holocaust – the importance of a strong State of Israel that can defend itself, but also the importance of minority rights and the danger of nationalist extremism.

If Israeli policy continues to be one of expecting support without criticism, eventually the German government will also find it difficult to continue providing it. Internal polarization and energy and political needs may create a reality in which the German government will have to take a step back. Neither the Germans nor the Israelis want this to happen, but in order to prevent it, we must learn not only to preach but also to listen.
Oct. 7 Was Worse Than a Terror Attack. It Was a Pogrom.
Eyal Barad, 40, was in the safe room of his home in Nir Oz for more than 12 hours on Oct. 7 while Palestinians went on a rampage of his kibbutz, kidnapping or murdering more than a quarter of its residents. On his phone he watched the live feed of a camera he had recently installed outside his home. Images from the feed, which I obtained, show Palestinian women and children taking part in the horror of that day.

Survivors' accounts, video evidence, and the interrogation recordings of apprehended Palestinians paint a damning picture of the complicity of Gazan civilians both in the Oct. 7 attack and its aftermath. It challenges the inclination to draw distinctions between ordinary Palestinian civilians of Gaza and their terror leaders. For many, Oct. 7 reeked of something that Jews have been familiar with for centuries - where a society at large participates in the ritual slaughter of Jews.

Around 700 Palestinians stormed Nir Oz - less than a five-minute drive from Gaza - CCTV footage shows. Eran Smilansky, a member of the kibbutz's security squad, estimated that the overwhelming majority of those, around 550, were civilians. Some carried out wholesale acts of terror themselves, including rape and abduction, while others abetted the terrorists. Others looted Israeli homes and farms, including stealing hundreds of thousands of shekels in agricultural equipment.

Similar scenes played out in several of the more than 20 brutalized Israeli communities. In one video, an elderly Palestinian man with walking sticks is seen hobbling at an impressive clip along with the rest of the mob through the breached gate of Kibbutz Be'eri.

Batya Holin is a photographer and peace activist from Kfar Aza, which was one of the heaviest-hit communities. Holin had developed a friendship with a Gazan photographer, Mahmoud, with whom she arranged a joint exhibit last year of photos of her kibbutz and his village in Gaza. On the morning of Oct. 7, Mahmoud called and interrogated Holin, asking her how many soldiers were in her vicinity. That was when Holin realized that Mahmoud had given the photos of her village to Hamas. "Whoever says there are people there who are uninvolved, here is the proof," she told Israel's Channel 13. "They are all involved. They are all Hamas."

Nir Oz was home to scores of peace activists. Many now believe that while there are Gazans who want to live in peace, they do not represent the majority; or, as one survivor told AFP, "there are more who don't want us alive." Irit Lahav from Nir Oz, who shuttled Palestinian cancer patients several hours from the border with Gaza to their treatments in central Israel, told me, "How can we ever get over this sense of betrayal? The Palestinian public simply hates us."

Nir Shani, from Be'eri, speaking of the involvement of Gazan civilians, said, "I don't differentiate between them and Hamas. Let me know of one Palestinian in Gaza who tried to save a Jew and maybe I'll change my mind."
Why we must all watch Hamas's raw video footage from October 7
On a cool January morning in Texas, it was sunny outside, but darkness was present inside the Museum of Biblical Art.

With Dallas Police Department officers in the parking lot, about 100 attendees, myself included, viewed a 46-minute film produced by the IDF that compiled raw video footage from the horrific terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7.

Hosted by the Israeli Consulate, no phones or recording devices were allowed inside the showing. Attendees were allowed to take notes, so the quotes and descriptions included in this article are from my written notes.

Before sharing with you some of the barbaric and inhumane images included in the film, let me explain that I did not really want to see this movie, but I felt that I needed to see it.

Why the footage must be watched
As a follower of Jesus, a pastor, a radio host, a Christian Zionist, and one who just returned a few weeks ago from my latest visit to Israel, I was able to predict the contents of the film because I had read so many news accounts of the tragedies which occurred on October 7. However, as you can understand, reading media reports and even eyewitness accounts does not carry the heavy impact of actually seeing the gruesome images.

Why did I need to see these horrific images? For the same reasons that Israel’s Consul-General Livia Link-Raviv stated that the IDF needed to share them. She explained the reasons for showing the footage, which almost exactly match the reasons that I keep telling these stories in our church and on my radio show, include the denials and minimizations that began in the media immediately after October 7.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the opponents of Israel and the Jewish people chose to spread the lies that “those attacks did not really happen” or “it was not that bad,” or “not that many people got hurt.”


Jonathan Tobin: How ‘anti-racism’ made antisemitism fashionable
While Brown has been supplanted in the BLM martyrology by Floyd, the Ferguson protests were influential in fueling a particularly noxious variant of anti-Israel smear. It was in the aftermath of that controversy that groups like Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow began to argue that American first responders who received training in Israel (as at least one member of the Ferguson police had done) were being taught how to kill blacks on the streets of American cities. This was nothing less than an antisemitic blood libel that wasn’t just circulated in the black community. It was specifically embraced by JVP and IfNotNow as a “deadly exchange” that traced the sources of black problems to a Jewish source.

That JVP and IfNotNow would seek to demonize Israel in this fashion is hardly surprising since they are avowedly anti-Zionist, call for the destruction of the Jewish state and oppose all measures taken in its defense against Palestinian terrorism. Thus, for Borgwardt, the chants in favor of Israel’s demise and terrorism against Jews are about “freedom and equality.” She and her friends have swallowed the claim that Jews are interlopers in the Middle East who must be “decolonized” by Palestinians rather than the actual indigenous people of the land of Israel. They ignore the fact that Jews and Arabs are the same race and that the majority of Israeli Jews are—by the definitions of the American left—people of color since they trace their origins to the Mideast or North Africa.

The roots of many of the smears against Israel are to be found in the Marxist antisemitic propaganda that the Soviet Union flooded the West with during the Cold War and that found a willing audience among various extremists and hate groups. But the same lies have gained a far wider audience in recent years once they became part of the platform of the BLM movement and were validated by the newly fashionable woke ideology sweeping through academia and the rest of American society. For them, Jews and Israel were “white” oppressors who must be defeated along with American white racists. It is this same propaganda that has been driving the current antisemitic agitation since Oct. 7. And because it has been linked to the intersectional mindset of BLM that falsely views the Palestinian war to destroy the one Jewish state on the planet with the struggle for American civil rights, it has become not just acceptable but part of the orthodoxy about race that prevails in academia, the media and other sectors of American society.

Also featured in the Times Magazine article is Nicole Carty, one of Borgwardt’s black allies, a BLM activist who helped train IfNotNow members in radical tactics. Despite her ties to Jews who share her visceral hate for Israel, she bristles with contempt for Judaism, even complaining about the fact that Passover seders are about the Exodus of Jewish slaves from Egypt and not equally interested in the black experience. Just as repellent is the way she views the efforts of some Jews on the left to mourn the Oct. 7 victims equally with Palestinians who have been killed as wrongheaded and evidence of Jewish “trauma myopia.” For her, Jewish victims had it coming, so they deserve no mourning.

But it is the comments of Rabbi Susan Talve, the spiritual leader of the Reform synagogue where Borgwardt’s family belonged when she was a teenager, that illustrate the tragedy of liberal American Jewish institutions. Talve, a devout political liberal who marched in the Ferguson protests, was dismayed by the BLM rhetoric about Israel. She foolishly thinks that the Jewish community lost people like Borgwardt by not giving them a more even-handed education about the Middle East, although it’s clear that the IfNotNow leader seems to know little, if anything, of the arguments for the justice of the Zionist cause or even basic facts about the conflict. It is precisely Jews like Talve that Borgwardt regards with special animosity because they want to support African-Americans as well as Israel’s right to exist.

It is telling that Borgwardt claims that when she sees “Fiddler on the Roof,” all she can do is weep about the nakba—the Palestinian term for the birth of Israel that means “disaster” or “catastrophe.” For such people, Jewish experiences are not simply unimportant but deserve to be erased altogether, including the lives of the 7 million Jews of Israel threatened by her Palestinian allies.

Her journey from a typical liberal Jewish background to activism for Israel’s destruction makes for a disturbing tale. It matters because it demonstrates that woke progressives aren’t so much interested in saving Palestinian lives as they want to erase Jewish life. For them, the only acceptable expression of Jewish identity is in support of other peoples—never their own interests or rights—even when it is a matter of life or death. They seem to be saying that Jews are the one people on the planet for whom self-determination must be forbidden. The ideas that helped transform Eva Borgwardt into a willing accomplice to Hamas’s genocidal campaign have not just turned some Jews against their own but have made antisemitism fashionable on campus and in the pages of The New York Times Sunday Magazine.
‘Antisemitism Is Again Becoming a Terrible Scourge.’
This Saturday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the date Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated after WWII. And it comes at a time when we are seeing a new kind of Holocaust denial: 32 percent of my peers deny that Hamas’s attack against Israel on October 7 even happened.

This despite the fact the terrorist group filmed its own murder spree. Journalists worldwide have watched and reported on a 45-minute film of Hamas’s invasion that shows burned babies, bloodied corpses, and indiscriminate death.

I recently spoke to Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, as he made a trip to the U.S. in the wake of Hamas’s rampage. I started our conversation by asking him about what the past can teach us about the present.

What parallels are you seeing between the Holocaust and today?

We are already seeing people denying the atrocities of October 7. . . although they are quite well documented by the perpetrators themselves.

Antisemitism is again becoming a terrible scourge. So I came here to speak with college administrators, especially with Ivy League college presidents and provosts, to alert them. And also to meet with students, to encourage them. Antisemitism is a phenomenon that, if it is not confronted when it starts, can develop into a monstrosity. Empirically, it is the most lethal, the most deadly, form of racism humanity ever knew.

It’s time to ring the bells. It is time to say, especially to academics, that institutions have crossed the line, that it is becoming very dangerous. If antisemitism is not reined in, not defeated on campus, it will be bad for the Jews, but it will be disastrous for the university. It will ruin academia in this country. It will become, instead of a source of pride, a source of shame.
Joe Lieberman: Shocking antisemitism isn't just another headline. It's personal for this first Jewish-American VP nominee
In my public and personal life, I have faced no antisemitism. That is why the recent outbursts of hatred of Jews have shocked me and made me wonder whether the dreams of freedom that drew my grandparents to America will be real for my descendants here.

My political career offers the most objective evidence of the absence of antisemitism in my life. During the 40 years the people of Connecticut elected me to state and federal offices, our state’s Jewish population was never much more than 2 percent. In other words, the great majority of votes I received in all those elections came from people who were not Jewish. There was never even a hint of antisemitism being used against me in any of my campaigns.

In 2000, I was honored to be selected by Al Gore to be his running mate, the first Jewish-American to run on a major party national ticket. Again, I faced no antisemitism. The ticket on which there was a Jewish candidate for the first time in American history received 545,000 more votes than the other ticket. That was a great affirmation of the fairness of America’s voters and a tribute to Al Gore who had the confidence in the American people to break a barrier and ask me to run with him.

In the years after the 2000 election, people would ask if I was surprised that I faced no antisemitism in that national campaign. I answered that I was grateful but not surprised because that was my experience in Connecticut. However, I would always add that history taught me that there were definitely antisemites in America, but there was such a strong national ethic rejecting such bigotry that the antisemites and other haters felt pressured to stay silent.

The rise in antisemitism in America in recent years means that something serious has changed. Since the war in Gaza began, public expressions of hatred of Jews has reached a fevered pitch.

On college campuses, Jewish students have been chased into hiding or intimidated into silence. A Jewish man at a pro-Israel rally in Los Angeles is struck on the head and dies. Vile antisemitic invectives have been shouted at public events, scrawled on walls, and written on posters carried in demonstrations. And three presidents of leading American universities could not bring themselves to tell a congressional committee that calls for genocide against Jews are at least as deserving of condemnation and discipline as bullying and harassment on their campuses.
The ICJ could go either way on genocide
What kind of people are we that we have to justify ourselves before them? And who are they to demand it of us? What is the point of this whole comedy of putting an entire people on trial when the verdict is known in advance? How does it benefit us to participate voluntarily in this comedy, to brighten up these villainous and humiliating proceedings with our speeches for the defence? Our defence is useless and hopeless, our enemies will not believe it.”

No, this is not a voice mad at Israel for defending the claim of ‘Genocide’ at the ICJ on January 11, 2024. It is the voice of the early Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky appealing to hapless Russian Jewry in 1911.

The new aspect which makes the Jews on trial a travesty is that the accuser can’t possibly be in dispute with Israel. A poor powerless country separated from Gaza by the continent of Africa is by definition a non-player. To paint the absurdity in purple, Israel is accused of genocide by a failed state with close ties to real live perpetrators of genocide. Down and out South Africa ticks every box to get ‘failed state status’: “A government too weak or ineffective to provide public services; has widespread corruption and criminality, refugees and sharp economic decline. /characteristics-of-a-failing-state-politics-essay.php

If we are defined by the company we keep, South Africa’s government (to all intents and purposes a criminal syndicate) can be defined as a fourth proxy of Iran. While Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis do the military bidding of the mullahs, it complements the terror tripod with “Lawfare” (war through international law). South Africa’s ruling party which Mandela once headed has embarked on a gambit at the ICJ to give Hamas respite from war, enabling it to rebuild and perpetrate another Oct 7 pogrom – as it has publicly sworn to do. The pieces fit like a kiddies’ puzzle.

The week before South Africa despatched a crack team to The Hague to argue a case of genocide committed by Jews, it hosted a Sudanese warlord connected to pukka genocide in Darfur. To add the Hollywood touch, the mass murderer known as Hemedti then visited the genocide museum in Rwanda.

Weakening the taboo and body of law meant to deter genocide is all in a day’s work for the country’s ruling cabal. According mass murderers diplomatic honours is what South Africa does when it is not taking Israel to court. A senior Hamas official, Bassem Naim, got the treatment and, after the formalities joined a different sort of Mandela – a raving antisemitic grandson – to lay a wreath at a statue of the icon who, if he stood for nothing else, stood for peace and reconciliation.

Hamas laying flowers at Mandela’s feet: as absurdities go they do not get more bizarre than that.


Israel tells ICJ to throw out genocide charge, Hamas 'to abide' by ruling
Israel voiced confidence on Thursday that the International Court of Justice would throw out South African allegations that the Gaza war amounts to genocide against Palestinians, which an Israeli government spokesperson described as without basis.

"We expect the ICJ to throw out these spurious and specious charges," the spokesperson, Eylon Levy, said in a briefing.

The briefing was held ahead of the court's scheduled convening on Friday to announce whether it will grant emergency measures against Israel. Hamas says it will abide by any ICJ ceasefire order if Israel reciprocates

Hamas said on Thursday that if the International Court of Justice issues a ruling calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement will abide by it as long as Israel reciprocates.

Hamas will release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said at a news conference in Beirut.
NYTs: Israel Rebuts Genocide Charge by Declassifying Cabinet Decisions Aimed at Diminishing Palestinian Civilian Deaths
Israel has declassified more than 30 secret orders made by government and military leaders, which it says rebut the charge that it committed genocide in Gaza, and instead show Israeli efforts to diminish deaths among Palestinian civilians.

The Genocide Convention of 1948, which South Africa accused Israel of violating at the International Court of Justice, does not define genocide solely as killing members of a particular ethnic or national group. Crucially, it says the killings must be committed "with intent to destroy" that group.

Among the declassified Israeli documents are summaries of cabinet discussions in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered supplies of aid, fuel and water to be sent to Gaza. He also instructed the government to examine how external actors might set up field hospitals to treat Gazans. "The prime minister stressed time and again the need to increase significantly the humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip," reads one declassified document from a cabinet meeting on Nov. 14.
Law, Politics, and Antisemitism
On Dec. 29th, South Africa filed a complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), arguing that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. While the suit will likely take years to reach a conclusion, the ICJ heard arguments by both sides on Jan. 11th and 12th as part of South Africa’s request for “provisional measures” – an interim order meant primarily to bring about an immediate ceasefire by Israel.

The ICJ’s authority extends over states and not individuals (as opposed to the International Criminal Court, the ICC) and, like many other international tribunals, its decision is not legally binding. However, the court’s decision might have economic and diplomatic implications – both in general and specifically on Israel’s ability to continue fighting the war in Gaza. The legal process is based on the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The convention, signed in 1948 and in effect since 1951, was the first U.N. human rights treaty and a direct lesson from the Holocaust. Israel was one of the first countries to ratify the convention without reservation and to incorporate its provisions in its domestic legislation. For that reason, and as opposed to other international tribunals (like the ICC), Israel was required to appear in front of the court and defend itself from the allegations raised against it.

To understand what is misguided about the ICJ proceedings, three points require deeper explanation: the strength of Israel’s legal case, its political background and implications within Israel, and the disturbing role of revived antisemitism in the current process.

To understand what is misguided about the ICJ proceedings, three points require deeper explanation: the strength of Israel’s legal case, its political background and implications within Israel, and the disturbing role of revived antisemitism in the current process.
Israel erred in submitting to ICJ jurisdiction, says Alan Dershowitz
Senior Jewish American jurist Prof. Alan Dershowitz, whose name came up as a potential candidate for representing Israel as a judge in the International Court of Justice at The Hague regarding South Africa's petition accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza, is not moved by the prosecution's arguments and made it clear that Israel should not act on any decision made in the tribunal.

"Israel should ignore whatever is said by the International Court of Justice," Dershowitz said Wednesday in an interview with Ynet. "It is not a real court. It's a court whose judges are picked by their countries, it reflects foreign policy, not rule of law, not judiciary. I think that Israel made a mistake in submitting to the jurisdiction of the court, and it would make a mistake in complying with any ruling of the court. This is one of the most absurd abuses of the judicial process in modern history.

"Israel did not commit genocide, the number of civilians who were killed is proportional to the number of combatants, it is lower than any war in modern history. Israel is trying its best to preserve civilian life, whereas Hamas is doing its best to take civilian lives.

"I personally would ignore any decision that comes down. I'll probably just read it out of curiosity, but it will have no impact on my thinking; it's utterly irrelevant." What do you think of the Israeli defense team?

"I think the Israeli lawyers have done a good job within the constraints of the International Court of Justice, but it's like arguing in front of a wall - their arguments will have no impact on the decision whatsoever. This is politics, it has nothing to do with the law. And I think that by arguing the law they legitimate an illegitimate court."

I read that you said that Israel has a good chance of winning the case. After hearing both sides, do you think we have a good chance of winning or has the decision already been made?

"I don't think the arguments will have much of an impact, many of the judges are told how to vote by their government, and when the government tells you how to vote, you don't have to listen, you pretend to listen to the arguments, but I don't think the arguments will have much of an impact, maybe they will have an impact on one or two countries and that can have an impact on the result. But no one should take the results of this court seriously. It is not a real court."

Dershowitz also praised Israel's decision to send former Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak as a judge on its behalf despite his expressed opposition to the government's judicial reform legislation, which was buried with the start of the war.
Destroying Hamas Is Not Genocide; It Is Self-Preservation
Why isn’t Hamas being charged with genocide? Which of these five acts has Hamas not committed, and is not now committing? Hamas kills Israeli civilians, they mentally and physically torture women and children, they viciously murder women, children and the elderly, and Hamas’ brutal rape and torture of Israeli women is a way of preventing these women from having children. Their kidnapping of Israeli children is a forcible transfer. Hamas advocates for the genocide of Israelis between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It is their raison d’être (See the Hamas Charter).

Every time that Hamas or Hezbollah launches barrages of missiles at Israel, they are in violation of the law of genocide that Israel is accused of violating. When more than 200,000 Israelis are forced to evacuate their villages to escape Hezbollah missiles, it is Hezbollah that is violating the United Nations law on genocide. The objective of the blame, shame, defame movement is to delegitimize Israel and starve it of the resources it needs to resist annihilation.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) voted “present” not “nay” to fund Israel’s Iron Dome defense system when the “Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022” was introduced to Congress, but she let everyone know that she should have voted no. If every one of the Hamas and Hezbollah and Houthi missiles hit Israel — instead of being knocked out of the sky by Iron Dome — would Hamas then be brought before the International Court of Justice?

Would those who hate Israel accuse Hamas of committing genocide? I doubt it.

Israel’s resistance saves lives. When the IDF destroys Hamas and Hezbollah missile launchers, it saves lives. Hezbollah’s and Hamas’ missiles deliver death and destruction to the Muslims, Christians, Jews and Druze of Israel — and even to Palestinians when the rockets misfire. The weapons of Hamas and Hezbollah kill and wound and destroy a racially and religiously diverse population. But Israel is slandered as a racist and apartheid country.

Robert Frost in his poem “Mending Wall” asks the question, “Why do Fences Make Good Neighbors.” To answer this question, Frost advises us to reflect on “what is being walled in and what is being walled out.” The context of Frost’s poem is two orchards in the pristine New England countryside, not Gaza or the West Bank. October 7 has made it crystal clear what and who is being walled in and out.

Israel’s war on Hamas is not genocide it is terrorcide. Israel should not have to apologize for wanting to live apart from terrorists. Creating a space so that you can live apart from terror is not apartheid it is self-preservation.
South Africa’s Biblical Misquote at The Hague Has Nazi Roots
From the documents presented to the Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in the trials of Streicher and Dietrich it is evident that the public incitement to the mass murder of the Jews took the form in great part of claims that the Jews were the ones intent on exterminating the German people, that they were inherently criminal, and so were only getting what they deserved. Both Der Stürmer‘s initial claim in 1933 that the Jews had an inherent “Mordlust” and the propaganda campaign nine-years-later that they had an innate “Vernichtungswillens” were supported by the Old Testament fate of the Amalek and particularly the Book of Samuel, Chapter 15, Verse 3.

It was such propaganda that the drafters of the 1948 Convention would have had in mind when they sought to proscribe ‘incitement to genocide’. Bearing this specific historical context in mind the case against Israel at The Hague can be seen in a very different light; as an attempt by the SA government – likely acting as a catspaw for others – to manipulate and subvert the original objectives of the convention, rather than to realise them.

Most damningly the SA government’s submission conjured up the same verse of the bible, and the same story of the Amalek, to prove Israel’s ‘genocidal intent’, as the Nazis had once used to prove the annihilatory intentions of the Jews, and thereby justify their “complete extermination”. Equally disturbingly, instead of being widely condemned for this, this heinous old Nazi libel was then mindlessly repeated across large swathes of the Western media.

The absence of any effective moral or intellectual immune reaction to the spread of this monstrous calumny reflects perhaps an inadequate understanding of anti-Semitic racialism. It is likely a product too of the assumption today among many progressive activists, journalists and lawyers that it is inherently virtuous to loosely apply concepts of ‘crimes against humanity’ and now ‘genocidal intent’ to Israel in a self-righteous effort to combat the wrongs and very real suffering of the Palestinians – even if definitions have to be stretched a long way, the facts twisted, and all context discarded, to make them fit.

What has been forgotten is that crimes against humanity and genocide are capital crimes, for which there is no expiation, and the peoples responsible lose all inherent rights – to their positions, property, safety, or life – once declared guilty of them. Such “shared guilt” can endure across the generations and can be used as justification for persecution, dispossession, and calls for racial murder, decades after the fact. In other words, allegations of atrocities and a will-to-exterminate, to use the old terms, are not inherently harmless. They are a double-edged sword which can be, and were, used for indescribably evil purposes.


PreOccupiedTerritory: UN Review Of Israeli Textbooks: Dehumanization Of Palestinians, Glorification Of Violence Horrifyingly Absent (satire)
An international inquiry into the content and tone of books assigned to students in the Jewish state has produced what researchers are calling a disturbing findings: incitement to attack Arabs, calling Arabs subhuman, and myriad other examples to parallel the hateful content toward Jews in Palestinian books – all remain negligible or nonexistent in Israeli curricula, calling into question the Israeli Ministry of Education’s seriousness in educating coming generations.

A United-Nations-led team reviewed more than a hundred textbooks in current use in Israeli elementary and secondary public schools, an effort prompted by the recurring – and embarrassing to the UN – phenomenon of antisemitic, violence-glorifying content in Palestinian textbooks, both those of the Palestine Ministry of Education and those approved for use in UN-run schools. The reviewers had assumed they would find similar-magnitude, though perhaps more subtle, racism and incitement in Israeli textbooks, only to find that ministry-approved books fall far, far short of the standard that the Palestinian texts had set.

“We question Israel’s commitment to properly educating its students,” remarked Pierre Krähenbühl, formerly the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which runs many of the Palestinian schools, and the head of the investigative commission. “As anyone with any amount of experience in the field, in this part of the world, can tell you, the only approved texts should at the very least dehumanize, if not outright call for the persecution and murder of, any population that one’s national leadership has declared an enemy. I regret to say that our inquiry found Israel produces lackluster results in that department. One might even accuse it of educating toward tolerance, which has no place in the Middle East, and can unfortunately serve as support for those who see Israel as a foreign entity on Arab soil. That sentiment is more in keeping with UNRWA textbooks, for example.”


ITV News’ Video Of ‘Possible Israeli War Crime’ Raises Disturbing Questions
When ITV News speculated this week about whether Israel had committed “a possible war crime” during a tragic incident in which a man was shot in Gaza, it had a duty to present the accusation with ironclad evidence.

However, the video it aired — allegedly showing the lethal targeting of a Palestinian civilian walking among a group of people waving a white flag — raises serious questions that the UK news outlet should have asked in advance.

And after the Israeli army denied the report and criticized ITV News for broadcasting what it dismissed as an “extension of Hamas’s propaganda effort,” serious alarm bells should have been ringing over at ITV News about the circumstances surrounding the incident the footage purportedly showed.

Sketchy Editing
According to ITV News, the video was filmed by Mohammed Abu Safia, a Gazan cameraman who works for the network.

The footage was presented without any disclosure telling viewers that it had been edited.

Furthermore, at least one of the video cuts seems to occur at the critical moment when gunshots are heard and people can be seen running away. The editing cut is barely perceptible, and the next frame shows a body on the ground.

The video goes on to show people carrying the body and mourning in what seems to be an active combat zone.

Several key questions arise:
Why was there a cut between the frame showing people running from gunshots and the frame showing a body on the ground?
Can ITV News confirm what happened and how much time elapsed between the two frames?
Did ITV News probe the likelihood of Hamas terrorists in the vicinity who may have been shooting?
Did ITV News rely solely on the eyewitness testimony of the cameraman, and if so, was it him or the network that edited the footage?
The video shows one more person wearing a press vest, who was filming the scene on his phone. Why were journalists in this area to begin with and what were they filming?
A Tale of Two Narratives: English-Language & Arabic-Language Reports Differ on Palestinian-American Teen’s Death
On Friday January 19, 2024, a Palestinian-American teenager, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, was killed in the West Bank, allegedly following an altercation with armed Israelis.

The Israeli inquiry into this matter is still ongoing.

However, an investigation by the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) has found that the narrative surrounding the circumstances of Abdel Jabbar’s death in the English-speaking media is very different from that being put forward in several Arabic-language reports.

In various English-language reports by such media outlets as The Washington Post, The New York Times, the BBC, Reuters, the Associated Press, and others, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar is portrayed as a quintessential American teen who moved to the West Bank in order to improve his Arabic and to gain a deeper connection to the area where his Palestinian family is from.

By all accounts, from the media reports, Abdel Jabbar was fun-loving and outdoorsy, loved basketball and cars, and was planning on going to college to study engineering (or business administration, depending on the report).

While the circumstances surrounding his death are unclear, most reports have Tawfic Abdel Jabbar being shot to death by an Israeli settler and IDF soldier while out with friends (depending on the report, he was either having a picnic, attending a barbeque or simply driving around).

Although some reports do carry the Israeli claim that the shooting occurred within the context of a reported rock-throwing incident by Palestinians against Israeli vehicles travelling on the main highway that bisects the West Bank, most of these reports only include this information as tangential or include Abdel Jabbar’s father’s rebuff that his son was not throwing rocks and even if he was, “So what? If they were throwing rocks 150 meters to the street, what is it going to do to a tank? Or to a jeep? Or to a car full of soldiers? You’re gonna shoot the car 10 times because a guy threw a rock?”
Beyond the Pages...Arsen Ostrovsky: Witness to Injustice

Hasbara activist Yoseph Haddad's new ambassadorial position
One of the rare positives amidst the brutal war with Hamas is social media activist Yoseph Haddad. He's arguably the most effective communicator Israel has online, nationally, and globally. Alongside many others, he tirelessly has been working to uphold the excellent reputation of the State of Israel.

Haddad, a prominent figure in Israeli advocacy since the Hamas massacre, continued his efforts without taking a break. He's poised to become an ambassador and the face of the significant Make-a-Wish Israel Foundation, an organization dedicated to granting wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses. The foundation's ambassadorial team also includes celebrities such as singer Noa Kirel and stand-up comedian Shahar Hasson, who have joined the ranks of those who make dreams come true.

Haddad is the CEO of the "Together - Vouch for each other" association. His commitment during the war earned him the distinction of a Home Front Hero. He was also honored with the "Light of Israel" award in 2021 by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and received the Begin Prize in 2022.
Chef who celebrates Israeli multiculturalism is now attacked for defending 'White Israel'
First-generation Israeli-American Avi Shemtov, a multi-ethnic chef, has confronted racism, antisemitism and shocking charges of White supremacy ever since speaking out against the Hamas terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, he told Fox News Digital.

"Cry harder, Nazi," read one attack on social media against the owner of restaurant Simcha in Sharon, Massachusetts, he relayed.

"People have basically called me a White supremacist," Shemtov said in an interview — despite the fact that his late father’s family is from Asia.

Yona Shemtov was a chef, Sephardic Jew and first member of his Turkish family born in Israel. His uncle was murdered during a period of antisemitic violence in Turkey. The family fled for the new Jewish state in 1949 as it welcomed people of all races and ethnicities from around the world.

Yona Shemtov then moved to the United States in 1972.

Avi Shemtov opened Simcha in 2019 to celebrate his multicultural heritage and the global influences of modern Israeli cuisine he learned from his father.

Simcha serves Moroccan carrots, Yemenite fried chicken and woodfire-roasted okra — common in East Africa. Its signature dish is shakshuka, a savory tomato stew with influences from Turkey and North Africa.
Senate, House Democrats push Palestinian statehood
Democrats in both chambers of the U.S. Congress have expressed support for a Palestinian state in recent days, despite Israeli opposition to the move as a threat to its security.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) led 48 Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday in announcing plans to introduce a two-page amendment to the national security supplemental package affirming that U.S. policy is to support a two-state solution.

Two Democrats in the 100-member chamber did not sign on to the measure—Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.).

A spokesperson for Fetterman told Axios that while the former progressive and current pro-Israel moderate supports a two-state solution, he “also strongly believes that this resolution should include language stipulating the destruction of Hamas as a precondition to peace.”

On the other side of the Capitol, 44 House Democrats signed a letter sent to President Joe Biden on Tuesday calling for a “two-state solution as the only viable path for a sustainable peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

The letter, led by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.), also criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent remarks rejecting Palestinian statehood.


EoZ Jan 21st: "Progressive" NH politician mocks victims of October 7
Former Executive Councilor Andru Volinsky (D) and a grassroots group of progressives launched their “Vote Ceasefire” plan on Wednesday, urging their fellow Democrats to write “Ceasefire” on their ballots in the First in the Nation presidential primary.


AIPAC endorses Latimer in bid to unseat Bowman

Tom Tugendhat MP: We will do whatever it takes to keep you all safe
This week we mark Holocaust Memorial Day. As a day of remembrance, this is an opportunity to pause and reflect on the suffering of millions in the past. But it also has a warning for our present and lessons for the future.

That’s because this year we will be coming together against the backdrop of an unacceptable rise in antisemitism in our country. Since the October 7 attacks, a torrent of anti-Jewish hatred and abuse has been unleashed across the world, including — sadly — in the UK.

We have all seen appalling examples of antisemitism. Brazen displays of jubilation at Hamas’s monstrous attacks. Hostage posters cruelly torn down. I want to be very clear: this is not acceptable. This government will never tolerate antisemitism. We will always take every possible measure to keep all the communities of this country safe.

That’s why last week we took the decision to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organisation. Our ban has now come into force, and an organisation that sought to radicalise and spread poison across our country is no longer allowed to operate here in the United Kingdom.

I know that the activities of this group have long been a cause for concern for British Jews. As David Rose reveals in this week’s JC, Hizb ut-Tahrir has been the source of outspoken support for the so-called resistance to Israel — that is to say, Hamas terrorists.

The action we have taken will degrade Hizb ut-Tahrir’s operations in the UK. Proscription is a powerful tool. It means anyone who belongs to or invites or expresses support for the organisation in question is committing a crime. The penalties for conviction of proscription offences can be a maximum of 14 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

This is also about sending a message, both here in the UK and across the world, that we will fight terrorism today, tomorrow and always.
The children’s kickboxing instructor who promoted Hizb ut-Tahrir

Influential Brazilian politician interested in boycotting ‘certain Jewish companies'
Jewish groups in Brazil are expressing grave concern after a leading politician in the left-wing party of the country’s president called for a national boycott of Israel and expressed interest in the boycott of “Jewish companies.”

José Genoino, a two-decade congressman from São Paulo who spent three years at the helm of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Workers Party before being ousted in a corruption scandal, made the comments during an appearance on a left-wing TV show last week where he was discussing Lula’s support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Support for the boycott of Israel
Genoino criticized a petition by Brazilian business leaders against Brazil’s support for the ICJ investigation, then seemed to propose a boycott of them.

“I find this idea of ​​rejection interesting, this idea of ​​boycotting for political reasons that harm economic interests. It’s an interesting approach,” Genoino said. “There’s even this boycott in relation to certain Jewish companies.”
‘October 7’ restaurant opens in Jordan, appearing to fete Hamas’s massacre
A new restaurant in Jordan is named “October 7,” apparently celebrating Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 people in a brutal rampage through southern Israel on that day.

The shawarma joint has been opened in the Southern Mazar district, south of the city of Kerak near the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, according to a video posted on social media.

The clip was published approvingly Wednesday evening on X by Dima Tahboub, a former member of parliament, writer, political analyst and a member of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, a conservative Islamist organization.

Tahboub has previously courted controversy for praising a Jordanian soldier who carried out the 1997 Island of Peace massacre in which seven Israeli schoolgirls were murdered and six others injured.

In the two-minute video, an unidentified man films the customer-packed restaurant from outside, as well as its surroundings, and then goes into the eatery, where customers and employees with “October 7” robes greet him while he congratulates the staff on the new name.


Why Iran Doesn’t Want U.S. Forces Out of Iraq

Poll: 69 Percent of Israeli Jews Favor Full Israeli Security Control in Gaza
According to the Tel Aviv University Peace Index survey, conducted on Jan. 8-15, 2024, from a security standpoint, 69% of Israeli Jews favor full Israeli control in Gaza after the end of the war, 25% favor control by international and regional forces, and 2% favor Palestinian Authority control.

51% of Israeli Jews said the IDF used appropriate force in the Gaza war, 43% said the army used too little force, and 3% said it used too much force.

66% of Israeli Jews oppose and 27% support the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.
Bassam Tawil: "Like...wtf": Israel's Arab Citizens Feel Lucky
Hamas' Oct. 7 atrocities did not distinguish between Jew and Arab. At least 20 Arab Israeli citizens were murdered by Hamas terrorists on that day or by Hamas rocket attacks in the ensuing days. Moreover, several Bedouin men and women were abducted by Hamas. It is no wonder, then, that an overwhelming majority of the Israeli-Arab public opposed the Hamas attack.

A study conducted by Nimrod Nir of the Adam Institute and Dr. Mohammed Khalaily among the Arab public showed that most Arabs support Israel's right to defend itself and even expressed a willingness to volunteer to help civilians who were harmed during the Hamas attack. The study showed that almost 80% of Israeli Arabs opposed the Hamas attack and 85% opposed the kidnapping of civilians.

IDF Sgt. 1st Class (res.) Ahmed Abu Latif, 26, a Muslim citizen of Israel, was killed on Jan. 22 during the fighting in Gaza. Abu Latif represented a shining example of coexistence and unwavering love for Israel.

Israeli Arab blogger Nuseir Yassin, popularly known as "Nas Daily," posted two days after the Oct. 7 massacre: "I realized that if Israel were to be 'invaded' like that again, we would not be safe. To a terrorist invading Israel, all citizens are targets....And I do not want to live under a Palestinian government. Which means I only have one home, even if I'm not Jewish: Israel."

The Palestinians living under the corrupt Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza can only envy Israeli-Arab citizens for living in Israel, where they enjoy democracy, freedom of expression, access to superb healthcare, educational institutions and careers, as well as a thriving economy.
Israeli forces nab 16 terrorists in Judea and Samaria

Israel Says Hamas Gets Online Donations Via Groups Posing as Gaza Charities

“The Treason of the Intellectuals,” with Niall Ferguson | Uncommon Knowledge
Niall Ferguson is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University. In this interview, Ferguson discusses his stunning essay “The Treason of the Intellectuals,” published in December 2023 in the Free Press. The essay delves deeply into the changes Ferguson has observed in his 30-year career as an academic, especially over the past 10 years. He describes in the opening of his essay: “I have . . . witnessed the willingness of trustees, donors, and alumni to tolerate the politicization of American universities by an illiberal coalition of ‘woke’ progressives, adherents of ‘critical race theory,’ and apologists for Islamist extremism.”

Ferguson also discusses the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay and what it means for all institutions of higher learning, as well as putting forth some solutions for addressing these issues.


We're all 'genocide supporters' now
Several Ted Talk fellows, including Filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, resigned from the public speaking organisation to protest the inclusion of Harvard Alumni Bill Ackman and journalist Bari Weiss in an upcoming event, because, they claim, they both “defend Israel’s genocide in Gaza”.

In 2012, I was selected as a TED Senior Fellow. Today, along with Lucianne Walkowicz @RocketToLulu, I quit all association with TED over their decision to invite genocide apologists Bill Ackman and Bari Weiss to speak. You can read the full letter here: https://t.co/hvoZqup8id

— Saeed Taji Farouky (@saeedtaji) January 24, 2024

Naturally, the Guardian’s Chris McGreal sprang into action to write a piece sympathetic to Farouky, in a Jan. 24 article titled “Ted fellows resign from organisation after Bill Ackman named as speaker”.

The piece begins thusly:
The Ted organisation has been hit with resignations and criticisms after naming the controversial activist billionaire Bill Ackman, who was instrumental in forcing out Harvard’s president over antisemitism allegations, among its main speakers at this year’s conference.

Four Ted fellows, led by the astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz and the filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky, resigned from the group on Wednesday, accusing it of taking an anti-Palestinian stand and aligning itself “with enablers and supporters of genocide” in Gaza.

“2024 main stage speaker Bill Ackman has defended Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and has cynically weaponised antisemitism in his programme to purge American universities of Pro-Palestinian freedom of speech,” the pair wrote to Chris Anderson, who leads Ted, and Lily James Olds, director of the fellows programme.

Later, in his own voice, McGreal adds:
Ackman has taken stridently pro-Israel positions, including justifying the scale of the attacks on Gaza in which more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and the forced removal [sic] of about 2 million Palestinians from their homes.

First, as we noted on these pages last week in response to an op-ed in the Guardian on the row at Harvard, the university’s president, Claudine Gay, didn’t resign over antisemitism allegations, but over dozens of reported examples of plagiarism throughout her academic career. Further, the role of Ackerman, an alumni and donor who’s Jewish, according to detailed reports in both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal, was minimal.
NYU Professor Tells Students of Hamas Atrocities: ‘We Know It’s Not True’
An adjunct NYU professor denied reports that the terrorist group Hamas beheaded babies and raped women in Israel on October 7, telling a group of students last month: “We know it’s not true.”

“We live in a Zionist city,” Amin Husain added at the December 5 “teach-in” organized by Students for Justice in Palestine at The New School, according to a video obtained by The Free Press. “No, let’s be real about this, let’s be fucking real.”

He went on to joke about his reputation for being antisemitic, citing a petition launched by an NYU alumnus on October 17, 2023, calling for his dismissal: “I have a petition going around, right, because I’m antisemitic. I won the honors of antisemitic multiple times.”

In the video, taken from the livestream of the event, Husain sits behind a table, wearing a keffiyeh and woolly hat while speaking to a classroom of students who remain quietly attentive as he comments on what he calls the “Palestinian liberation struggle.” A former finance lawyer, Husain jokes that his profile on the site Canary Mission, which documents people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews, “is one of the best biographies I have.”

Husain’s Canary Mission bio states that he has “organized multiple violent New York City disruptions, promoted hatred of America and the police and incited hatred against pro-Israel supporters with Within Our Lifetime (WOL), an anti-Israel activist group in New York.”

It continues: “Husain has claimed to have participated in the first intifada and personally visited a leader of the terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). He has also expressed support for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group and glorified its leaders, promoted other terrorists and spread hatred of Israel.”

“Everything they cite. . . is true,” Husain, 48, says at The New School event, prompting laughter from the crowd. He goes on to offer praise for “Islamic resistance movements,” including the Palestinian political group Fatah, which once counted him as a member.

“These groups are fighting for the liberation of their people and their land. That’s a right. You do it,” Husain says.


405 University of California Faculty to Regents: Stop Professors from Using University to Promote Hatred of Israel

Fire Cornell President And Get Rid Of DEI, Says Major Donor And Trustee Emeritus

Cornell University Instructor Cancels Class for 'Global Strike for Palestine'

Alan Joyce resigns as chairman of Sydney Theatre Company amid fallout from pro-Palestine protest during play
He had been in the role just eight months before several actors staged a pro-Palestine protest during a curtain call for a play called ‘The Seagull’.

Three members of the cast wore Palestinian keffiyehs, a patterned scarf that is typically worn around the neck or head.

According to a statement from the STC, the company and other cast and crew were “not aware” of the protest in advance.

“We understand the actions at the curtain call and our immediate response has hurt many in our community. For this, we are deeply sorry,” the STC said.

“We support individual freedom of expression but believe that the right to free speech does not supersede our responsibility to create safe workplaces and theatres.”

The on-stage protest sparked a movement calling on actors and musicians to wear keffiyehs during the performances and concerts.

However, the incident drew intense criticism from many theatre-goers and patrons, with Carla Zampatti CEO Alex Schuman stepping down from the company’s board.

According to The Australian, the company has lost an estimated $1.5 million as a result of cancelled tickets and withdrawn financial support.

In his letter to the board, Mr Joyce said it was “clear” the company’s operating deficit had becoming “dramatically worse” and urged management to act.

“It is clear that the company’s significant operating deficit has become dramatically worse as a result of recent events which has caused a large drop in revenue,” he wrote.

“I urge the management and board to make the tough and immediate decisions required to ensure the company’s ongoing survival. They won’t be easy, and they won’t be popular.”


BBC’s two-state solution framing back on display
Remarkably, such statements have not been the topic of four BBC reports in four days.

BBC framing of the topic of the two-state solution has long been problematic. In December 2016 the BBC began telling its audiences that the two-state solution is “the declared goal” of the Palestinian leadership, ignoring the fact that it has rejected such offers in the past, that Hamas has no such goal and that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority have repeatedly refused to recognise Israel as the Jewish state. It rejected complaints concerning that portrayal, claiming that “[i]t could be argued, for instance, that Hamas do not qualify as leaders on the same footing as the internationally recognised PA – it depends on how “leaders” is defined”.

Concurrently, BBC audiences have seen no serious reporting on the topic of support for the October 7th massacres from representatives of “the internationally recognised PA”. As recently observed by Dr. Michael Milstein:
“…not one of the Palestinian leaders or public figures, had condemned the massacre. Most have stuck to a fixed set of reactions: denial of atrocities while at the same time glorifying them, indifference towards Israeli suffering, and above all establishing themselves in the classic role of the victims who attempt to explain the “context” for the war crimes committed.”

As we see in the above reports, years of avoidance of the topic of Palestinian opposition to the two-state solution enable BBC correspondents such as Mark Lowen to portray Israel as the sole impediment to “revival of the long-dormant “two-state solution”” and “lasting peace”. While that may be a popular narrative in some circles, its amplification certainly does not contribute to understanding of the issue or enhance the ability of BBC audiences to put statements made by their own government officials into an appropriate and informed perspective.


MEMRI: Fatah Official To Al-Jazeera Website: Fatah Members Are Fighting In Gaza; 'As Long As Muhammad Deif Is Still Standing – We Are All In Good Shape'

PMW: PA: Terrorist murderers are “Martyrs” fulfilling Islam While international defenders of the Palestinian Authority claim that the PA is against terror, the PA continues to tell Palestinians that it not only supports and rewards terror, but Palestinians who are killed while attacking or murdering Israelis, are Allah’s chosen - the Shahids, i.e., Martyrs for Allah. The PA presents Shahids -Martyrs as second to none in importance. For example:

Shari'ah Judge Nasser Al-Qirem: “When a person is killed as a Martyr in confrontations it is not by chance, no. It is not a random matter and not by chance, rather it is a matter that was arranged by Allah: He will “take to Himself from among you Martyrs” [Quran 3:152]… The Martyr does not want this world… In the eyes of this Martyr, the value of this world is small, and everything is insignificant in his eyes, he only wants Allah and His Messenger [Muhammad]. He chose Martyrdom, and Almighty Allah chose him.”

[PA TV, Sept. 23, 2022]



MEMRI: Anti-Militia Media Outlet Claims Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades Building Own 'Drugs Empire' To Fund Operations, Increase Influence; Set To Join IRGC-Lebanese Hizbullah Monopoly Of Region's Drug Trade

US secretly warned Iran before deadly ISIS suicide bombings

Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer, BBC Four review: Stylish direction reveals that Boris Green was a great man
Revenge: Our Dad the Nazi Killer is certainly a title that grabs the attention. It is also one that my children could never write about me. Theirs would be more along the lines of, Revenge: Our Dad Wrote a Scathing Letter to the Council. But for three brothers in Melbourne, it’s their family folklore. Their late father Boris Green was allegedly involved in the assassination of an unidentified former Nazi after the war.

When it came to killing Nazis, Boris certainly had form. Born in Belarus, he and his younger brother were the only survivors of a large family murdered in the Shoah. Boris survived by becoming a partisan in the forest where he founded the only Jewish combat unit. It was called Nekoma, Yiddish for revenge.

As he speaks about those terrible times, it can sometimes be difficult to tally them with the footage of weddings, bar mitzvahs and other family simchahs that punctuate the programme, and the sweet elderly man in front of us. Having moved to Australia in 1949, where he married, raised his three children, and set up a jewellery and watchmaker business, he presents as someone who has moved on. But, we learn, his past was literally there, living right next to him.

Australia became home to the largest percentage of Holocaust survivors per capita outside of Israel, but it was also the destination for tens of hundreds of of Nazi war criminals. Worse still, documents reveal that the Australian government knew this, even protecting them as a spurious buffer against the supposed threat of communism.

We learn this thanks to the investigative work of a private detective called John Garvey, who Boris’s youngest son hired to establish if there’s any truth to Boris’s vigilante past. It’s also the point where the documentary suffers most. Mr Garvey is evidently hard working and very good at his job, but he lacks charisma. Put another way, he isn’t the best person to whom a goodly chunk of the hour-and-a-half runtime should have been handed. This is the weakest part of the programme.
Accused killer of Samantha Woll charged with first-degree murder
Michael Jackson-Bolanos, 28, faces multiple charges for allegedly stabbing to death Detroit Jewish leader Samantha Woll on Oct. 21.

In a hearing on Tuesday, Judge Kenneth King set an arraignment date for Jan. 30 and added an additional charge of first-degree premeditated murder. Prosecutors had already charged Jackson-Bolanos with murder, home invasion and lying to police.

Woll had served as president of the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue and worked on multiple political campaigns.

Police continue to maintain that no evidence indicates antisemitism or that the Oct. 7 terror attacks fueled the killing, and that the apparent motive was robbery. Evidence that was presented on Tuesday showed surveillance footage, data from Jackson-Bolanos’s cell phone, and blood—DNA matched to Woll—on his jacket.
Museum returns stolen painting, ‘The Studio of Thomas Couture,’ to heirs

Antisemitic acts quadrupled in France last year — Jewish council

Robert Kraft’s nonprofit to air ‘Stand up to Jewish hate’ ad during Super Bowl
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s nonprofit will run a Super Bowl ad as part of its “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” campaign, according to a report.

The 30-second ad produced by Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism comes amid a dramatic spike in antisemitic incidents following the Oct. 7 assault against Israel by Hamas terrorists.

College campuses have been roiled by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrations since nearly 1,200 Israeli soldiers and civilians were slaughtered in a cross-border terrorist attack by Hamas gunmen who invaded the country’s territory from the Gaza Strip.

“With the horrific rise in Jewish hate and all hate across our nation, we must stand up and take urgent action now,” Kraft said in a statement on Wednesday.

“For the first time, FCAS will air an emotive ad during the Super Bowl, football’s ultimate championship game which brings people of all backgrounds together, to showcase examples of how people can #StandUptoJewishHate and inspire more people to join the fight against all hate.”

The “Stand Up to Jewish Hate” ad campaign was launched during the NFL season last year in response to several antisemitic incidents, including highly inflammatory comments by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Kraft, 82, has also committed $25 million to raise awareness of antisemitism, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Critic’s account of classical music after the Holocaust named Jewish book of the year
Music critic Jeremy Eichler’s study of how classical composers made music after the Holocaust was named the book of the year by the Jewish Book Council, which will present the National Jewish Book Awards Wednesday at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. “Time’s Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance” was named the Everett Family Foundation Book of the Year and won both the Gerrard and Ella Berman Memorial History Award and the Holocaust Award in Memory of Ernest W. Michel. The book explores how four towering composers who lived through World War II transformed their experiences into what Eichler calls “intensely charged memorials in sound.” James McBride won two National Jewish Book Awards for fiction for his novel “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store,” a sprawling whodunit centering on a small Pennsylvania town whose Jewish and African-American residents find common cause in the 1920s and 1930s. McBride won the JJ Greenberg Memorial Award for Fiction and The Miller Family Book Club Award in Memory of Helen Dunn Weinstein and June Keit Miller. The son of a Jewish mother and African-American father, McBride has said the book is based in part on his Jewish grandmother, who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in a small Virginia town and worked in her family’s store.
The Israel Guys: These American COWBOYS Made A HUGE Impact in Israel During THIS WAR
The “viral” cowboys from Montana and Arkansas that have been with us here at HaYovel for the past almost three months are leaving. Whether they knew it or not when they first arrived in Israel, they have made a huge impact on the land and people of Israel in many ways. Join Joshua and the cowboys as they discuss everything they have been able to accomplish during their time here including their latest project, building an absolutely stunning horse therapy farm.


IDF Develops New Solutions to Charge Devices and Drones in the Field
As the IDF began ground operations in Gaza, it realized an urgent need to be able to charge communications devices and drones.

Drones could not be charged from tanks or vehicles due to voltage differences.

"We were required to provide solutions that did not exist until the current war broke out," said Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Molokandov of the Technological and Logistics Directorate.

Molokandov's team created an energy pack within a week that allows the charger for the drone to be used from a tank. It also halved the charging time needed.

"We created a product that didn't exist that combines a protective mechanism against electrocution and charging capacity for multiple battery charging."

Since the energy pack was relatively large and heavy, within two more weeks they produced special 3D-printed cables and developed a card to provide an effective electrical solution that was lighter and more compact.
21 iconic Israeli movies that you must watch
A melting pot of many different peoples, Israeli culture can be hard to grasp fully through anything but movies.

From classic films that paint a picture of what life was like for Jewish immigrants in the 1950s and ’60s, to portraits of communities often left out of the mainstream, movies let you immerse yourself in Israeli life, if only for a short while.

This list has it all: film series immortalized in Israeli pop culture; cult comedies; wartime movies; films about religious Jews, Soviet immigrants, and Bedouin tribes; and Israeli films that have received international acclaim.

Watch and enjoy as you learn a little bit more about the complicated society that is Israel. We’ve included websites where you can find the movie with English subtitles.


U.S.-Israeli basketball player Jared Armstrong uses sports to educate against hate

Sunak in ‘intimate’ meeting with Lily Ebert, 100, for Holocaust Memorial Day
Rishi Sunak led this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day events on Wednesday with a moving meeting with centenarian Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert and her great-grandson Dov Forman at Downing Street, lasting about half an hour.

“It was incredibly moving and very special,” Forman told the JC. “The prime minister showed he really cared about her testimony. He looked really touched, especially when she pulled up her sleeve and showed him her number, A-10572, a permanent reminder of the Nazis crimes againt humanity. It was so special to have such intimate time with him in Number 10.”

Forman used the opportunity to raise concerns about the weekly anti-Israel marches, the fate of the hostages and the rise in antisemitism. “The prime minister really understood how terrible it has been since October 7 for Jews around the world,” he said.

Events this year were given the theme of the “Fragility of Freedom” and dedicated to Holocaust survivor and former Olympian, Sir Ben Helfgott MBE, who died in June. Both elements were key parts of this year’s main commemoration event at the Guildhall in central London on Wednesday.​

Addressing the audience of several hundred people, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove said: “Today is a powerful reminder of the fragility of freedom and also of human progress, and the need for vigilance to preserve the values we cherish.




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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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