Wednesday, January 31, 2024

01/31 Links Pt1: Never mind UNRWA — end US funding for the pro-terror UN itself; With the US public still standing behind Israel, protestors focus on Democrats

From Ian:

Bret Stephens NYTs: Abolish the UN's Palestinian Refugee Agency
UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7 and Israeli intelligence estimates that 1,200 of UNRWA's 12,000 employees in Gaza have links to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

But the fundamental problem isn't that UNRWA is infested with terrorists and their sympathizers. It's that UNRWA may be the only agency in the UN system whose central purpose is to perpetuate grievance and conflict. It should be abolished.

The UN has two agencies dedicated to the plight of refugees. One, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, is responsible for nearly all the world's 30 million refugees, with a mandate to help them resettle in third countries if they can't go home. The other is UNRWA. No other group except for Palestinians gets its own permanent agency.

Why? In part, because neighboring Arab countries refused to fully absorb Palestinian refugees. The changing borders and independence movements of the postwar era produced millions of refugees, including 800,000 Jews who were kicked out of Arab countries that had been their homes for centuries. Nearly all of the world's refugees found new lives in new countries - except for Palestinians.

The Palestinians have been kept as perpetual refugees as a means of both delegitimizing Israel and preserving the irredentist fantasy that someday their descendants will "return" through the elimination of the Jewish state. UNRWA's very existence keeps this hope alive.

Palestinians should be citizens of the countries in which they live - just as some two million Arabs are in Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can't be solved so long as millions of Palestinians have been turned into the world's only permanent refugees. By doing that, UNRWA makes itself an obstacle to peace.
National Review Editorial: End UNRWA
UNRWA tried to cover its tracks. In December, it demanded that an Israeli reporter delete a social-media post in which he reported that one of the Hamas hostages had been held by a UNRWA teacher. In October, UNRWA made a post alleging that Hamas had stolen supplies, then deleted it and gave an explanation so incomprehensible that there can be no doubt that it was covering for the terrorist group.

All the while, U.N. leaders have dismissed the critical work of watchdogs such as UN Watch, which has brought evidence of UNRWA’s links to terrorism to light countless times.

In the short term, Congress needs to pass a blanket prohibition on the use of U.S. funds for any of UNRWA’s operations. It must do this to preempt any future decision to lift the temporary suspension of funding and to set the stage for UNRWA’s eventual elimination.

UNRWA’s supporters say that cutting the agency out of the picture would leave a gap in humanitarian aid for Gaza. They ignore that much of the assistance entering Gaza is likely snatched by Hamas anyway. Most important, to continue funding UNRWA would maintain America’s de facto culpability in financing terrorism. Other U.N. agencies with a better track record, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the U.S.-dominated World Food Program, should step in, and America should help them build the capability to do so.

But that’s just a start. America needs to fight hard to repeal UNRWA’s U.N. General Assembly–granted mandate. Given the rank antisemitism that goes unquestioned at the international body, that’s no small task, but Washington also has not tried particularly hard to get this done.

Other U.N. agencies need to be on the chopping block as well. UNRWA might be the worst, but that doesn’t say much.

John Bolton once said that if the highest ten floors of the U.N. headquarters were to disappear it “wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” But depending on where UNRWA’s offices are, it might lessen international support for Hamas terrorism.
NYPost Editorial: Never mind UNRWA — end US funding for the pro-terror United Nations itself
It’s time — beyond time — to rethink US funding for the United Nations.

After all, America has laws against financing terrorist groups, and the United Nations does just that:
It employs actual Hamas terrorists and promoters of terror.
Its secretary-general supports Hamas, demanding an end to attacks on the terror group, whose Oct. 7 massacre he tried to justify.
Its “court of justice” claims Israel is a possible perpetrator of genocide.
It’s aided and abetted mass murderers, demonized an innocent democracy (Israel) and perpetuated Mideast venom.

And, no, it’s not just the 13 UN Relief and Works “staffers” who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre, including at least nine actual Hamas terrorists.

As UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer notes, UNRWA’s ostensible mission — to provide social services for “refugees” of the Arabs’ 1948 war against Israel — is a “front.”

After all, most actual refugees are handled by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNRWA’s main purpose is to perpetuate the notion that the descendants of Palestinians who left Israel 75 years ago are themselves refugees today, and that through violence and “martyrdom,” they’ll one day return and make the land Jew-free.

Its staff teach children to strive for this and never give up.

They spread lies about Israel, redirect international aid and resources to Hamas and welcome terrorists to use their schools and homes as bases, including storing weapons and holding hostages.

The United Nations can plead ignorance; Secretary-General António Guterres claims he was “horrified” — “horrified” — to learn about the 13 UNRWA workers.

In fact, over a thousand of these UN employees have documented terror ties.

Groups like UN Watch (and The Post) have long sounded the alarm about UNRWA.


John Spencer: Israel Implemented More Measures to Prevent Civilian Casualties Than Any Other Nation in History
The reality is that when it comes to avoiding civilian harm, there is no modern comparison to Israel's war against Hamas. Israel is not fighting a battle like Fallujah, Mosul, or Raqqa; it is fighting a war involving synchronous major urban battles. No military in modern history has faced over 30,000 urban defenders in more than seven cities using human shields and hiding in hundreds of miles of underground networks purposely built under civilian sites, while holding hundreds of hostages.

Despite the unique challenges Israel faces in its war against Hamas, it has implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any other military in history.

Some have argued that Israel should have waited longer to start its war, should have used different munitions and tactics, or should not have conducted the war at all. These calls are understandable, but they fail to acknowledge the context of Israel's war against Hamas, from the hundreds of Israeli hostages to the daily rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza to the tunnels, and the real existential threat of Hamas poses Israel and its citizens, who live within walking distance of the warzone.

To be clear, I am outraged by the civilian casualties in Gaza. But it's crucial to direct that outrage at the right target. And that target is Hamas.

It is outrageous that Hamas spent decades and billions of dollars building tunnels under civilian homes and protected areas for the sole purpose of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. It is outrageous that Hamas does not allow civilians in their tunnels, that Hamas says and takes actions to create as many civilian deaths as possible—both its own and Israeli. The atrocities committed on Oct. 7 are outrageous. That Hamas fights in civilian clothes, intermixed within civilians, and launches rockets at Israeli civilians from Palestinian civilian areas is outrageous.

The sole reason for civilian deaths in Gaza is Hamas. For Israel's part, it's taken more care to prevent them than any other army in human history.


The US pulled resources out of the Middle East. Now it is rethinking that decision.
In the hours following Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel, American officials rushed to determine if terrorist groups planned to attack troops and diplomats abroad. They immediately struggled.

The U.S. had spent years pulling back intelligence and military resources from the Middle East and shifting focus elsewhere, believing Russia and China posed greater threats. That shift was now being felt more acutely than ever.

Analysts whose work had been focused on other regions were forced to quickly switch to Hamas and the Middle East. As they did, they strained to sift through and make sense of hundreds of reports of potential threats posed by a wide variety of groups, including those backed by Iran.

That effort, and the uncertainty that followed, has forced a reckoning in the highest ranks of the Biden administration’s national security establishment about its Middle East strategy.

Now, amid intense bombardment from Iran-backed groups, more than a dozen current and former U.S. officials, lawmakers and congressional aides say Washington’s deprioritization of the Middle East, and specifically its approach on Iran, has left the U.S. vulnerable. Many were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.

“Biden has spent much of the last three years … ignoring the Middle East completely,” said one former senior official who worked on Middle East matters during the Trump administration. “I’ve spent a long time in the Middle East, and part of me wants to forget it, too. That’s not the way it is. They ignored it. And now they are paying the price.”

Iranian-backed groups have launched hundreds of missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the Hamas attack. Three U.S. troops were killed in Jordan over the weekend in a drone attack. Houthi rebels in Yemen have attacked American freighters. And officials have calculated that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed group in Lebanon, is planning attacks on Americans.

Asked for comment, a senior Biden official rejected the idea that the administration’s policy on the Middle East has limited its ability to protect Americans at home or abroad. The Biden administration has maintained counterterrorism forces in the region and launched successful operations to take out key terrorist leaders, the official said.

Another official said it was the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of an elite group inside Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corp, that upped the threats against U.S. interests overseas. And the intelligence failure around Oct. 7 was on Israel’s part.

“We were always going to learn most of what we learn about Hamas from sharing that comes from Israel,” one official said. “We were not poised to collect or look at the kinds of intelligence that would give you a warning about something in Gaza.”


Lahav Harkov: Qatar’s two-faced approach to hostage diplomacy divides Israeli officials, American Jewish leaders
Allaham agreed with Netanyahu that the U.S. government has to call Qatar out: “At the end of the day, the only thing they fear is the White House.”

Carmon said that hostages’ families should not believe that there is no alternative to Qatar. He said that the other conduits to Hamas for both humanitarian aid and hostage talks could be Egypt and Jordan.

“The difference between Egypt and Qatar, which is very meaningful, is that Egypt hates the Muslim Brotherhood and put Al Jazeera reporters in prison,” he said.

The MEMRI founder argued that Jewish organizations and the hostages’ families are not pressuring Qatar, because they take their cues from the Israeli government.

“The key to saving the hostages is pressuring Qatar in a massive way,” Carmon said, referring to political pressure, as well as economic pressure and cyberattacks. Specifically, Carmon said the U.S. should threaten to relocate CENTCOM, and that “even discussing it will scare the Qataris shitless.” He also suggested that private actors can undertake cyberattacks on Qatar – “like those who took revenge after World War II” – if the government doesn’t do it.

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff told JI that American Jewish organizations are following the lead of the U.S. government.

“I think there’s a recognition that the American government’s opinion of Qatar is very important, and our ability to influence the American government, therefore, can have an impact on how Qatar acts,” Daroff said.

One executive at a Jewish advocacy organization said Jewish leaders “mostly want to squeeze Qatar to do the right thing.” But, the executive noted, “I think there is also a recognition that our piece of this is very small, and so the chance of success of us actually changing Qatari behavior is small, while the chances of us f**king up are potentially big in a way that would not be positive as it relates to the hostages, as it relates to bilateral relations, to trilateral relations.”

The situation with Qatar, the executive continued, is “complicated because they’re serving a useful purpose, which is being an escape valve and a conduit, but the fact that the right hand is stirring things up such that the left hand has business is outrageous.”

Another senior official at a major American Jewish organization acknowledged that “Qatar did not create, but it has fed and protected the monster of Islamist extremism for years,” but at the same time, Qatar “has the unique ability to negotiate with that monster” and must be dealt with.

The organizations are currently hesitant to call out Qatar because the Qataris “are the only ones who have the unique ability they created for themselves…to have high-level contact and any serious sway with a terrorist organization that is holding 136 hostages.”

“It would be foolish to minimize the benefits of this symbiotic relationship in this moment of crisis with the lives of the hostages hanging in the balance,” the official said.

If Qatar is the tool that can bring about the release of the hostages, he added, then that is the tool that should be used.

“Exposing the tool’s ugly history and other aspects of that tool’s behavior and focusing public attention on that at this moment would be counterproductive,” he said.

Asked if he thinks the Qataris are acting in good faith, the official said, “The U.S. and Israel are counting on them to be serious in trying to get the hostages out.”
Channel 12 Poll: Majority Against Hostage Deal, Resettling Gaza, and An October 7 Inquiry Before the War Ends
A Channel 12 poll conducted with pollster Mano Geva revealed clear majorities of Israelis opposed to humanitarian aid to Gaza without freeing hostages, the proposed deal releasing thousands of terrorists for the remaining hostages, and an Israeli resettlement of the Gaza Strip, per reporting by Channel 12 reporter Amit Segal.

Per the poll, large majorities of those who define themselves as rightwing (89%) and smaller majorities of those who define themselves as center-left (51%) think that humanitarian aid needs to be ended until the hostages are released.

A clear political divide can be seen with regard to the current proposed hostage deal, per which thousands of terrorists would be freed and the war paused for a month and a half in exchange for some of the hostages: 62% of those who define themselves as center-left support the idea while only 15% of those who define themselves as rightwing do. 72% of rightwingers and 22% of center-left voters oppose it.

The same divide is visible when it comes to Israelis resettling the Gaza Strip: 61% of rightwingers support it and just 8% of center-left voters do, while 29% of rightwingers and 82% of center-left voters oppose it.

Finally, on the question of whether and when the government should establish a state commission of inquiry into the events surrounding October 7, over ninety percent of rightwingers and center-left voters think it should, but they are divided on when: 53% of center-left voters want one now compared to 43% who want one after the war, while 77% of rightwingers want one after the war and just 17% want one now.
U.S.: The International Community Should Call on Hamas to Lay Down Its Arms and Release Every Single Hostage
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday: "If Hamas actually cared about the needs of the Palestinians in Gaza, they would end this conflict today. This is a conflict Hamas set in motion on October 7, when they carried out the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust. And so, the entire international community should call on Hamas to lay down its arms, to stop using civilians as human shields, and to release every single hostage."
Gaza hostage deal still at starting phase, more talks needed - Qatari PM
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani attempted to douse optimism about an imminent deal for the release of the 136 hostages, even as he expressed optimism that a deal was in the works, of which the first phase would see the release of women and elderly male captives.

“I think we have reached an agreement with the Israelis in order to have it as a starting point, but it needs a lot of resolution and negotiating the details also with Hamas to get into an agreement,” Thani told Fox News in an interview he granted them on Tuesday while visiting Washington.

“We always want to be optimistic, but we shouldn’t also over-promise. The process is still at the beginning, so it will need some time to evolve,” Thani explained.

He traveled to the US after participating in a meeting of Israeli, American, and Egyptian intelligence chiefs in Paris. While in Washington, he met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

Sullivan and Thani discussed “the ongoing crisis in Gaza and their efforts to secure the immediate release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas,” the White House said after the meeting.

Sullivan stressed to thank “that all possible efforts” must “be brought to bear on Hamas to secure the release of hostages without delay,” the White House stated.
Inside the Disastrous Hostage Deal Being Formed with Hamas
What is being discussed in a potential hostage deal with Hamas? Is any deal with the terrorist organization good for Israel? Has the West once again misunderstood what is going on?

JCPA President Dan DIker and Arab Israeli Journalist Khaled Abu Toameh discuss what this will mean to the Arab world and the enemies of the West.




Explosive device found near Israeli embassy in Sweden, detonated by police
An object believed to be an explosive device was found outside the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on Wednesday and destroyed by the national bomb squad, Swedish police said.

Embassy staff had notified police of the object, triggering a large response from law enforcement, police said.

The device was later detonated in a controlled manner, a police spokesperson told the broadcaster TV4.

Police declined to give any detail on the nature of the object, or of how it had got into the embassy grounds.

Large area near Israeli embassy evacuated

The embassy building was cordoned off at a distance of about 100 meters (yards).

The embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz commented on the attempted attack, congratulating the embassy staff in Sweden and the Swedish police "for their vigilance and quick handling of the attempt to attack the embassy."

"Our excellent diplomats around the world are subject to danger and threats from the supporters of Islamic terrorism," he added. "I said this to all my colleagues - Islamic terrorism must be eradicated everywhere, in Gaza and in Europe. Protect your countries."
NGO Monitor: PFLP Involvement in the October 7 Atrocities
PFLP Statements Taking Credit for Atrocities
On October 7, 2023, the PFLP posted several pictures on its official telegram channel, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades. They show PFLP terrorists attacking near Gaza. It also issued the following statement, “Cells of the martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades stormed several [military] points in the Gaza envelope and have inflicted verified losses in the Zionist ranks. The cells have returned safely to their bases, and other cells are operating in the field now to inflict more losses in the ranks of the occupation army troops and the herds of their settlers.”

PFLP published photos of its terrorists infiltrating IDF outposts near the Gaza border.
On October 7, 2023, PFLP’s “military wing”, Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, issued a statement: “‘The Al-Aqsa flood’ campaign is a campaign of the Palestinian people in all its resistance forces. In light of the heroic sights made possible by the heroes of the resistance inside the occupied lands…we in the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades emphasize the following:…We announce a state of maximum mobilization within the ranks of our fighters, and we work on the field on the ground (sic) in several axes side by side the comrades of blood and arms. We stand with our brothers in the [Izz ad-Din] Al-Qassam Brigades and with all the resistance forces, and fight alongside them this campaign which will be noted in history. We call upon all resistance forces inside and outside of Palestine to take their positions in the trenches of confrontation which stretch now throughout all the area. Glory to the martyrs and victory to the resistance…”

On October 7, 2023, the PFLP posted the following statement: “On this day, the nature of the conflict and the dignity of the Arab nation are regained….PFLP calls the sons of our heroic people across Palestine to actively participate in the ‘Al-Aqsa flood’ campaign, each from his location and with whatever means he possesses, in order to bring an onslaught on the enemy’s army and its settlers…and to hail attacks on them in every inch of the land of Palestine. The Front emphasized its call to all who carries arms, and especially the sons of the [PA] security forces to join in the campaign of the Palestinian people against its enemy and to position themselves in the natural place of every free Palestinian that fights to end the occupation…”


Israel: Shelve UNRWA
After recent revelations of UNRWA’s support for terrorism and participation by some of its members in the Oct. 7 attack on the northwestern Negev, Israel has demanded the U.N. agency be stripped of its authority in the Gaza Strip.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, the Prime Minister’s Office detailed how UNRWA aids Hamas. The PMO demanded that UNRWA be defunded, its leadership resign or be dismissed, and that it no longer play an educational role in the Gaza Strip.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken forcefully of the need for deradicalization in Gaza. He has therefore stated clearly the need to ensure that Gaza children not be educated to be terrorists,” PMO spokesman Eylon Levy said, noting that UNRWA indoctrinates children against Israel and Jews.

“UNRWA is part of the problem, not part of the solution. It is a Hamas front and it’s time to put it behind us,” Levy said.

“Foreign Minister Israel Katz has called for UNRWA to be replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development,” he added. “It happens in every other conflict in the world where people are helped by genuine U.N. agencies and not by tailor-made refugee agencies.”

Levy referred to the fact that UNRWA exists to assist only Palestinian refugees while all of the world’s other refugees are assisted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Existing U.N. aid agencies can take over from UNRWA to deliver assistance to Palestinians, he said.
US taxpayer-funded UN agency's long history of enabling Hamas exposed
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told Fox News Digital by email, "As for donors, 15 donors announced funding suspension to UNRWA since 26 January (as of 29 Jan), namely: Australia, Austria, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Romania Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, U.K. and the USA."

When asked if the secretary-general will urge UNRWA’s Commissioner Philippe Lazzarini to resign, Dujarric said, "Regarding Mr. Lazzarini, he continues to work with the full confidence of the secretary-general as he deals simultaneously with the allegations against UNRWA staff, on which he took swift and proactive action and continue[s] to lead the humanitarian response to what is unfolding in Gaza."

When pressed if UNRWA is no longer tenable as an organization and beyond reform, Dujarric referred Fox News Digital to his Monday press briefing.

"The contracts of the staff members directly involved have been terminated," he said. "An investigation by the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was immediately activated.

"The secretary-general is personally horrified by the accusations against employees of UNRWA, but his message to donors, especially those who have suspended their contributions, is to at least guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations, as we have tens of thousands of dedicated staff working throughout the region."

During a briefing Tuesday, Dujarric claimed "UNRWA does not work with Hamas. We have operational contacts with de facto authorities like we do in every other place in the world where they are de facto authorities."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described evidence that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the Oct. 7 massacre "highly credible."

Despite calls for a wholesale revision of UNRWA, Blinken noted that UNRWA plays an "indispensable" role in furnishing aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip and that "no one else can play the role that UNRWA has been playing, certainly not in the near term."

"This is the time to put stringent controls over UNRWA in the areas of education and [the] inspection of weapons," UNRWA critic David Bedein, director of the Center for Near East Policy Research and an expert on UNRWA's curriculum.

Bedein told Fox News Digital that the Palestinian Fatah party and the terrorist organizations Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas "are controlling the workers’ unions" for UNRWA teachers.

"You can stop that," Bedein said.

Fox News Digital reported in 2012 that Palestinians voted UNRWA elected candidates linked to Hamas to 25 out of 27 seats on a union board that represents 10,000 UNRWA workers.

Bedein said there must be a plan to overhaul UNRWA. First, "Cancellation of the new UNRWA curriculum, based on Jihad, martyrdom and ‘right of return by force of arms,’ which have no place in U.N. education, whose theme is ‘Peace Begins Here."

He insisted "UNRWA dismiss employees affiliated with Hamas, Islamic Jihad or Fatah in accordance with laws of donor nations that forbid aid to any agency that employs members of a terrorist organization."

Bedein notes that the "current UNRWA policy is that any Arab refugee resettlement would interfere with the ‘right of return’ to pre-1948 Arab localities."

The refugee classification by UNRWA impedes the Israel-Palestinian peace process because it provides endless refugee status to generations of Palestinians who were not born in Israel.

According to Israel, the Palestinian demand to return all refugees is an impossible proposal because it would create a non-Jewish state.

Bedein argued that it was time to implement standards "to advance resettlement of fourth- and fifth-generation refugees from the 1948 war who have spent seven decades relegated to refugee status," while calling for an audit of all donor funds from the 68 nations who support the agency.

The FDD's Richard Goldberg concluded his congressional testimony by telling the committee that, "October 7th is the logical conclusion of UNRWA. It is of course what they have been training generations to do with the resources we've provided going to these terrorist organizations to carry out that mission."

UNRWA did not respond to multiple Fox News Digital questions.
Gottheimer: Going to see bipartisan group say ‘time for UNRWA to disappear’
The ranking member on Mast’s subcommittee, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), pushed back repeatedly on the notion of defunding UNRWA permanently. Other Democrats were not so charitable.

“There’s overwhelming evidence that UNRWA was clearly flawed to the core,” Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) told JNS. “That isn’t just a couple bad apples. It is a systemic issue.”

The New Jersey Democrat is leading a letter that calls for the U.N. and UNRWA heads to resign. Hamas’s terror attack on Oct. 7 changed everything for moderate pro-Israel democrats like him, he told JNS.

“You’re going to see a bipartisan group of people say that it’s important to make sure that there’s humanitarian aid, and that people get an education. But there are other agencies to handle that and that it’s time for UNRWA to disappear,” Gottheimer predicted.

To those who say UNRWA is flawed but, essentially, too big to fail, Gottheimer says it’s time to pull the U.N. agency’s funding, as Washington and others have done.

“If you pull the funding, it’ll fall under its own weight, and it won’t matter what the secretary-general of the U.N. says because he’s obviously biased on the issue,” Gottheimer told JNS.

Whatever replaces UNRWA, there must not be special privileges for Palestinians, as they have received under UNRWA’s mandate, Mast told JNS. UNRWA is the only U.N. agency to see descendants of refugees as refugees in perpetuity. UNRWA is also unique in the U.N. suite of agencies for its 40% of local employees, rather than staff drawn more from U.N. professional staff. That risks UNRWA becoming a kind of jobs bank in Gaza, which could explain the ties of many of its staff with local terror groups.

“The end result should be that you’re not employing the same percentage of local individuals when you’re dealing with Palestinians, recognizing that that’s likely resulted in 10% to 15% of the workforce being associated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Lion’s Den—take your pick of terrorist organizations,” Mast told JNS.

“Everybody else across the globe does not have this separate standard definition of refugees for Palestinians,” Mast added. “That needs to change, no matter what.”
UNRWA must make ‘fundamental changes’ before funding can resume, US says
The US envoy to the United Nations said on Tuesday that Washington needs to see “fundamental changes” before its suspended funding to UNRWA can resume following Israeli allegations that some agency staff were involved in the October 7 attack by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the UN, welcomed the organization’s decision to conduct an investigation and review of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

“We need to look at the organization, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, such as these 12 individuals, are held accountable immediately so that UNRWA can continue the essential work that it’s doing,” she said.

US State Department spokesman Matt Miller said Tuesday that roughly $300,000 earmarked for UNRWA has been withheld following the Biden administration’s decision to suspend funding.

However, the US was on pace to donate about 1,000 times that amount by the end of the fiscal year in September.

Roughly $121 million in US funding was already transferred to UNRWA since October 1.
‘UNRWA’s transition from inciting to taking part in terror was not surprising’
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has come under fire following revelations of the involvement of at least 12 employees in the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught on the northwestern Negev.

“Sadly, this is not surprising,” said Anne Herzberg, legal adviser at the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor organization, who has consistently raised the alarm about the body. “We’ve known for years that UNRWA allows Hamas to use its facilities to store weapons. Rocket attacks are launched from UNRWA facilities and UNRWA’s textbooks feature vicious antisemitic content and incitement to violence,” Herzberg told JNS.

As such, she said, UNRWA’s transition from inciting terrorism to actively participating in kidnappings and massacres, while shocking, was to be expected.

Already soon after 2007, when Hamas seized control of the enclave from the Palestinian Authority, allegations of terrorists hijacking UNRWA ambulances and of weaponry being stored in UNRWA schools emerged along with imagery of UNRWA aid being sold in supermarkets.

In addition, Palestinian terrorist organizations including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have their own factions within the UNRWA employees’ labor union.

“Affiliated terrorist members operate within the framework of UNRWA,” Herzberg said. “This is justified by the fact that the U.N. does not consider Palestinian terror groups to be terrorist organizations. None of those groups appear on the U.N. terror list, not even Hamas,” she added.

The UNRWA perks for agency employees—including free education, health care, dental care, food distribution and welfare services—led many Hamas terrorists to register themselves as agency employees.

This may partly explain why the number of UNRWA employees has skyrocketed—currently, some 30,000 staff care for 5.9 million “reported refugees.” In comparison, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the U.N. refugee agency for the rest of the world, cares for 108 million refugees and displaced persons and suffices with 20,000 employees.
We oppose axing UNRWA mid-war, senior Israeli official says amid global funding halt
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government does not support the immediate discontinuation of UNRWA, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday as a host of Western countries moved to suspend funding for the UN relief agency for Palestinians amid allegations that roughly a dozen of its employees took part in Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught and hundreds more are either operatives or have close ties with members.

“If UNRWA ceases operating on the ground, this could cause a humanitarian catastrophe that would force Israel to halt its fighting against Hamas,” the senior Israeli official said, briefing The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity. “This would not be in Israel’s interest and it would not be in the interest of Israel’s allies either.”

This is the first time a message defending UNRWA’s continued operation has been voiced by an Israeli official since the UN agency announced Friday that it had terminated the contracts of several employees after receiving evidence from Israel that they participated in the October 7 attacks during which some 1,200 — mostly civilians — were massacred and 253 were taken hostage into Gaza.

UNRWA said it was launching an independent investigation into the matter. But this did not stop the United States — the agency’s leading donor — from announcing that it was suspending all additional funding to the organization pending the investigation. Over a dozen countries around the globe followed suit including Germany, Italy, France, the UK, Australia, Japan, and Canada, leading UNRWA to announce Monday that the organization was at risk of having to cease operations in Gaza by the end of February if funding doesn’t resume.

The senior Israeli official clarified that Jerusalem supports the decision made by countries to suspend their funding and stressed that every UNRWA staffer “involved in terror activity must be held accountable.”

A second Israeli official separately confirmed a Wall Street Journal report revealing that in addition to the 12 UNRWA staffers who allegedly took part in the October 7 terror onslaught, roughly 1,200 employees — 10% of the Gaza staff — are either tied to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Israeli intelligence.
U.S. Calls for "Fundamental Changes" before UNRWA Funding Resumes -
The U.S. needs to see "fundamental changes" at UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, before it resumes funding the agency, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday. After Israel said several UNRWA staffers took part in abductions and killings during the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, top donors including the U.S. and Germany suspended funding pending an investigation.

"We need to look at the organization, how it operates in Gaza, how they manage their staff and to ensure that people who commit criminal acts, such as these 12 individuals, are held accountable immediately," she said. The U.S. has given nearly $1 billion to UNRWA in the past three years, including $296 million in 2023.
EU Demands Urgent Audit of UN Palestinian Refugee Agency
The EU on Monday demanded an "urgent" audit of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and said it is reviewing funding, following Israeli allegations that some staff participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. The audit must be led by European Commission-appointed experts and conducted alongside a UN investigation into the claims, said commission spokesman Eric Mamer. The EU is one of UNRWA's top donors.


UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures



FLASHBACK: The Media Relied on UN Agency Allegedly Filled With Hamas Terrorists
Mainstream news outlets rely on the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency's officials in Gaza for critical coverage of Israel's war against Hamas. But that may be complicated by allegations that the agency is staffed by Gazan terrorists and their family members.

It wouldn't be the first time the media have treated thinly-veiled Hamas proxies as reliable sources.

The United States and other countries suspended funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) this week after Israel provided intelligence indicating that about 10 percent of the Gaza staff, including about a quarter of the men, belong to Palestinian terror groups and nearly half have close relatives who do. At least 13 UNRWA workers participated in Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel, which started the war, according to the Israeli government.

The United Nations said an investigation of UNRWA was underway, but officials decried the defunding of the agency, which they suggested was too important to fail. It is "immensely irresponsible to sanction an agency and an entire community it serves because of allegations of criminal acts against some individuals," UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Saturday.

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy countered on Tuesday that UNRWA could be replaced by any of "the same aid agencies that distribute aid in every other conflict on planet earth."

"UNRWA is a front for Hamas," Levy said, laying out growing evidence that the agency hires terrorists "on a massive scale," lets Hamas use its infrastructure for "military activity," and relies on the Islamist Palestinian terror government for aid distribution in Gaza.


Canada must review NGO support in light of UNRWA accusations
We need to know because an expert is urging caution. The expert is Anne Herzberg, a human rights lawyer and the legal adviser to NGO Monitor — a Jerusalem-based group that tracks NGOs operating in the Middle East. And what she and her 22-year-old organization have found is deeply disturbing.

Said Herzberg in an interview from her Jerusalem office: “UNWRA employees taking part in the Oct. 7 massacres is certainly shocking. But its certainly not an aberration. There are other cases of terrorist entities that have embedded people into humanitarian aid organizations and NGOs. It’s not unique.

“One of the problems we’ve found is that there is not proper vetting going on. So you have governments, including the Canadian government, pouring millions of dollars into the NGOs without really checking to see the extent to which they are hiring members of Hamas or other terrorist groups.”

Herzberg, who obtained her law degree at Columbia University, cited examples and named names. The Gaza-based head of World Vision, Herzberg said, diverted $40 million to Hamas and was later convicted in an Israeli court and sentenced to 12 years in prison for supporting terrorism. And World Vision receives substantial support from Canada — just last year, $41 million from Global Affairs.

“There has been a very long and sad history of exploitation of humanitarian organizations to commit terrorism, unfortunately,” she said. “We’ve been seeing evidence of this abuse going back to the early 2000s. In Gaza, the problem became most acute when Hamas took over the Strip in 2007. What’s been surprising to us is the degree to which the human rights industry and the United Nations have tried to cover it up. They knew.”

Canada knows, too. Or it should, she said.

Citing recent stories in the Sun documenting how anti-Israel protesters are being paid, Herzberg said Canada needs to take corrective action now. “The first thing Canada needs to do is look at the protests and try and find out who is paying. I think that’s critical. Canada especially needs to take a close look at the organizations it is funding.”

But that’s not all, she said.

“Canada claims to support a two-state solution and claims to be against anti-Semitism. Yet a lot of the money they’re giving out is going to NGOs who do not support a two-state solution and who do not oppose (anti-Semitism). They actually actively promote anti-Semitism. Same goes for the United Nations organizations that Canada is supporting. Canada needs to have a full and comprehensive review of all this development aid.”

Will we? So far, it hasn’t happened. And when you poke through the entrails of the Trudeau regime’s own language — “temporarily pausing,” above — they don’t seem very committed to fixing a big, big problem.

Until they do, until our money starts going to the organizations that truly oppose terror and hate, more Oct. 7 massacres aren’t just possible.

They’re likely.
Cabinet minister refuses to answer reporters' questions on timing of UNRWA funding pause
Toronto MP Kevin Vuong, who sits as an independent, called on Hussen to come clean on the timelines of the funding suspension.

“What funding does it impact on and when? It is clear to the rest of the funding nations that all is not well at UNRWA and they want answers, so do Canadian taxpayers,” he said.

“The Government of Canada is playing a little too fast and loose with this very serious matter.”

Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said the government’s refusal to be forthcoming is a source of frustration.

“It’s a big mess,” he said.

“We’re going to press the government for some really granular responses in terms of the management of the funds, the scope of the funds, the targets of the funds, and the purposes.”

Fogel said transparency in government humanitarian outreach shouldn’t be a controversial issue, particularly concerning aid that’s clearly needed.

“Canada should be providing humanitarian support,” he said.

“Palestinians are suffering — we may differ about what the source of that suffering is, but for somebody who needs medicine and is not getting it … it doesn’t matter to them who’s responsible, they’re still not getting it.”
The Israel Guys: UN Employees EXPOSED For Participating in October 7th Massacre
Would you believe me if I told you that an organization within the United Nations is actively involved in supporting, funding, and inciting terrorist activities? What if I told you that this has been going on for years, and has been publicly exposed numerous times, but the world has always chosen to turn a blind eye?

It gets even worse. A new report has surfaced exposing the fact that 12 UN employees actually participated in the massacre in Israel on October 7th. That’s right: a UN teacher in Gaza by day, and an animalistic, Jew-killing terrorist by night. .

The time has come to permanently shutter this awful organization, and it looks like we might actually be well on our way. All of the details, and more, coming up on today’s show.


Pro-Israel Activists Petition IRS To Pull UNRWA's Tax-Exempt Status
The IRS is facing calls from lawyers and human rights activists to revoke the tax-exempt status for the United Nations' Palestinian aid organization amid new evidence that at least a dozen of the organization's employees participated in Hamas's slaughter last year of more than 1,200 Israelis.

A group of attorneys and pro-Israel human rights activists on Tuesday urged the IRS to launch an investigation into the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), an internationally funded humanitarian organization that has long faced scrutiny for promoting anti-Semitic hatred and for its ties to Hamas.

"We hereby demand that the exempt tax status of UNRWA USA be immediately suspended, pending an investigation, and then revoked," the lawyers and activists wrote in a letter sent to IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel, obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. "Providing support for an organization that incites and commits murderous violence while harboring members of U.S. designated terrorist groups that specialize in killing Jews and that call for Jewish genocide is obviously against both the law and public policy."

The U.S. government and several European governments suspended aid to UNRWA late last week after information emerged that at least a dozen of the agency's employees participated in Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist strike on Israel. The Israeli government alleged in an intelligence dossier provided to UNRWA donors that at least 190 UNRWA employees double as Hamas militants or members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terror group. Around 1,200 employees in Gaza are believed to have links to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.


GOP Lawmaker Accuses Biden of Pushing Out ‘Tens-of-Millions’ in Taxpayer Funding for UNRWA Just Prior to Aid Suspension
The Biden administration may have funneled "tens-of-millions" in American taxpayer dollars to the United Nations’ Palestinian aid group before announcing a pause in U.S. contributions as a result of the organization’s role in Hamas’s October 7 terror spree in Israel, according to a GOP lawmaker.

The Biden administration announced on Jan. 26 that it is pausing all future U.S. funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following revelations that at least 12 of its employees participated in Hamas’s slaughter of more than 1,200 Jews. But the funding pause may have only been put into effect after millions in taxpayer funds were pushed out the door, according to Rep. Brian Mast (R., Fla.).

"It does appear as though they may have waited to make this announcement until after they allowed for a disbursement of tens of millions of dollars to go out to UNRWA on or before Jan. 24, and if that’s the case it should be considered outrageous," Mast, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Tuesday afternoon during a hearing on the U.N. organization’s close relationship with Hamas.

In addition to participating in the October 7 massacre, UNRWA employees are believed to have helped Hamas hide Israeli captives, and more than 1,000 members of the aid organization are alleged to have ties to the Iran-backed terror group, according to Israeli government intelligence that the United States has deemed credible.

"Intelligence reports indicate that as many [as] 10 percent of UNRWA workers have direct links to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihadists," Mast said during the hearing, which drew protests from pro-Palestinian agitators calling for a ceasefire.


'Eretz Nehederet' uses TikTok to mock UNRWA-Hamas scandal
Eretz Nehederet, a popular satirical comedy program on Israeli primetime television, took the opportunity to run with a popular TikTok trend and poked fun at the ongoing UNRWA scandal in a new video released on the platform on Tuesday.

UNRWA, a UN agency focused on assisting Palestinian refugees, has recently come under international fire after several reports alleged that UNRWA staffers had participated in the Hamas October 7 massacres.

In a new TikTok trend that has users identify with a group or personal trait before relating to stereotypes related to each trait, the performers at Eretz Nehederet pulled the same for what you’d expect to find in a UNRWA school or staff member’s home.

“I’m a UNRWA teacher; of course, I make sure my classroom has all the necessary supplies!” The actor then pulls out dry-erase markers, an eraser, and an AR-15.

“I’m an UNRWA staffer, of course I make sure all humanitarian aid goes to who really needs it,” another actor said, as an actor depicting a Hamas terrorist takes supplies right from him.

Poking at UNRWA when relevant
Another scene depicts a teacher talking about subjects they teach while pulling out three different copies of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Other scenes poked at UNRWA workers' participation on October 7 - joking that they can be seen in videos from Gaza that went viral. “Do you see that person running? That’s me.”


Military admin then int’l coalition floated as ‘day after Hamas’ plan
Numerous ideas for the “day after” the war against Hamas have been floated by people both in and outside Israel’s government, but Maariv claims that a plan which has the prime minister’s approval involves a temporary military administration to be eventually replaced by a multinational coalition.

According to Maariv columnist Ben Caspit, the staged plan would start with a full Israeli military government in the Gaza Strip, which would manage both security and civilian affairs and take care of the transfer of humanitarian aid to the Arab population.

The military administration would then be phased out in favor of an international coalition of Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The coalition would be part of a regional normalization agreement.

“It will stand behind the establishment of a new body that will be called the ‘New Palestinian Authority,'” Caspit reported.

Palestinian officials not associated with Hamas and not directly identified with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be employed in administrative duties.

Israel would reserve the right to act militarily in Gaza, just as it does in Judea and Samaria, to prevent terrorism.
Amid ceasefire chatter, IDF kills dozens of terrorists across Gaza
Israeli soldiers killed more than 15 Hamas terrorists and arrested 10 Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in northern Gaza, the IDF said on Wednesday morning.

The Islamic Jihad terrorists were detained during a “significant targeted raid” on terrorist infrastructure embedded at a school that the operatives were using as a hideout.

Soldiers also found five rockets ready for launch in the area. The rockets and their launchers were destroyed.

In the central Gaza Strip, soldiers killed 10 armed Palestinian terrorists in less than an hour, then killed several others spotted in the area.

In the Fati Shati area of northern Gaza and in Khan Yunis in the south, Israeli aircraft struck terrorist squads seen operating close to Israeli ground forces. Afterward, in Fati Shati, soldiers who searched nearby buildings found many weapons, military equipment and documents belonging to Hamas.

Also, in Khan Yunis, soldiers attacked a military structure Hamas used to ambush Israeli forces.


Four IDF soldiers, including major, killed in battles across Gaza Strip
The IDF released the names of four IDF soldiers killed in action in Gaza on Tuesday morning.

Major (Maj.) (res.) Netzer Simchi, 30 years old, from Masad, a combat officer in the 87th Battalion, the 14th Strike Brigade, was killed in battle in the north of the Gaza Strip on Monday.

Captain (Capt.) (res.) Gavriel Shani, 28 years old, from Ma'ali, a team commander in the 6646 patrol battalion, Shu'ali Marom formation (646), was killed in battle in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.

Sergeant-Major (Sgt.-Maj.) Yuval Nir, 43 years old, from Kfar Etzion, a fighter in the 6646th Patrol Battalion, Shu'ali Marom formation (646), was killed in battle in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The IDF then announced the name of a fourth soldier who fell in battle in northern Gaza on Wednesday.

The soldier in question was IDF Maj. (res.) Yitzhar Hofman, 36, from Eshhar, a village in northern Israel. He was a platoon commander in the IDF's Sheldag unit.

The IDF added that in the battle in which Shani and Nir fell, two reserve soldiers from the 6646 patrol battalion, Shu'ali Marom formation (646), were seriously injured. Additionally, a fighter from the Paratroopers reconnaissance unit was seriously injured in a battle in the center of the Gaza Strip. In the north of the Strip, a fighter and a sergeant from the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade were also seriously injured. The IDF updated that the soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment in a hospital, and their families were informed.


IDF strikes Syrian army posts after rocket fire
Israeli Air Force fighter jets attacked Syrian army positions near the city of Daara overnight Tuesday in response to rocket fire.

The Golan Regional Council said earlier that three projectiles had hit open areas, causing no injuries or damage.

Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, terrorists in southern Syria have intermittently fired rockets at the Jewish state, including earlier this month when five projectiles were launched.

In retaliation for those attacks, the IDF targeted “military infrastructure of the Syrian army.”
Hezbollah anti-tank missile hits home in northern Israel
A house in the northern Galilee town of Metula took a direct hit from an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon on Wednesday afternoon amid exchanges of fire between Hezbollah terrorists and the Israel Defense Forces.

The house caught fire but there were no reports of injuries in the town, which has been largely evacuated due to incessant cross-border attacks by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah also fired projectiles at Kibbutz Yiftah, which like Metula is located along the Lebanon border in the Eastern Galilee, as well as at Moshav Ya’ara and Kibbutz Hanita, both also close to the border but in the Western Galilee.

In a statement cited by Beirut-based, Hezbollah-aligned Al Mayadeen television, the terrorist organization announced it had targeted IDF soldiers serving on the border near the Southern Lebanon town of Meiss el-Jabal with rocket fire. In addition, the terror group said it fired missiles towards Kibbutz Manara in the Eastern Galilee.

Israeli forces responded by shelling the source of the fire, the military said.

Israeli Air Force jets on Wednesday also attacked a Hezbollah terror compound in Rachaf in Southern Lebanon. And IDF artillery attacked Hezbollah targets in the areas of Aalma El Chaeb and Aitaroun.


Hamas booby-trapped dead bodies with explosives say Israeli first responders
New shocking testimony from family members and Israeli first responders has brought to light new horrific details of Hamas brutality at a parliamentary event today.

Speaking at a talk in Westminster organised by the All Party UK-Israel Parliamentary Group, Shari Mendes, who was part of a forensics team that examined the bodies of women killed on October 7, described how her team had to flee a morgue as “bodies were coming in booby-trapped."

Mendes went on, “We didn’t want to leave them [the dead women] but we were told ‘it’s dangerous, you have to get out’... The whole staff had to leave [the morgue] until it was safe to go back in.”

Zaka volunteer, Simcha Greiniman, recounted how he found one woman: “Leaning on her bed. She was naked from the waist down. Her hands were tied to the front, she was shot in the head from behind. When we moved her to lay her down on the floor, she had a live grenade in her hand.”

He also described another woman, saying: “She was naked, it was hard to identify her, her face was brutally abused. Her body was abused. She had nails and different objects in her personal female areas. In that same house, there was another body [and] we could not identify if it was a man or a woman because the body was cut to pieces.”

Mendes described in detail the bodies she dealt with in the weeks after the massacre.

She said: “Women had grimaces, their mouths were contorted, their eyes were open, their hands were clenched. It was clear these women died in agony.

"There were times that they were shot in the head and there was no blood that came out, so they were probably shot after they were dead. It seemed like there was an intentional obliteration of these women’s faces; to erase their faces so their parents or loved ones could not see these people.”

When her unit unzipped the body bags, Mendes recalled, “we never knew what we would see.”

“We saw several severed heads. One still had a large kitchen knife stuck in the neck.”

“On several occasions, we received very burnt pieces of human remains; they did not look human, they had no shape, no arms, no legs... We sometimes had nothing but ashes; we sifted through them and respectfully buried them.”
'Hamas tore off my clothes, threatened to shoot': Gaza hostage tells her story
Released Gaza hostages, siblings Itai and Mia Regev spoke with a delegation of UN ambassadors on Wednesday, which was led by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan.

The Regev siblings told the ambassadors their personal story starting from the moment of the abduction to Gaza and the 50+ days they stayed in Gaza. The two were accompanied by their father, Ilan.

Mia Regev went into detail regarding the cruelty the Hamas terrorists were towards her. They abused her by hitting her injured leg, laughed, and mocked her, she said.

"They tore off my clothes. They took my identity and my name from me. The terrorist who was watching over me told me every day that if the army came to save me, then he would shoot me immediately and not die alone," she said. "It is your responsibility to bring all the hostages home now. Their time is running out."

Gilad Erdan's statements
Ambassador Erdan told the Regev siblings: "You are true heroes, your courage and your strength move us all. I salute you."

During the conversation with other ambassadors, Erdan said, "Calling for a ceasefire means keeping Hamas in power, and as they already said - they will carry out this massacre again and again as soon as they can. Their goal is to use terror against us and make us leave the country out of fear.

"A ceasefire is unacceptable, and this week, during your visit to the Gaza border and the northern border where the UN plays a significant role," he continued. "I hope you will understand why we cannot continue to live with these threats and why we are so determined to destroy them."
Mother of Hamas Captive: I Believe My Son Is Coming Home
Sid Rosenberg of SId & Friends interviews Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh who was taken captive on October 7th by Hamas. Rachel talks about her fight every day to bring him home, how responsive the US and Israeli governments have been and how she finds the strength to go on.




The Commentary Magazine Podcast: They’re Still Coming After Us
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Today’s podcast discusses the beating of a Chabad rabbi by a ride-share driver in DC and what it suggests about the spate of violent acts against Jews after 10/7, how this might tie into the border issue, and Congressional races in which this kind of thing will play a role. Give a listen.




The Quad: Justine Brooke Murray: The Jewish Pageant Queen Fighting Hamas Supporters
Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan-Nahoum and Ashira Solomon interview Jewish Pageant Queen Justine Brooke Murray about going viral after confronting pro-Hamas demonstrators in New York. Self-described as "Anti-PC Pageant Queen", she explains how she won the title of Miss Central New Jersey on Oct. 7th only to almost be stripped of it after being labeled a racist and Zionist.


Political left has exposed their ‘truly compromised’ morality on Middle East conflict
Sky News host Chris Kenny says the political left has exposed their “truly compromised” morality when it comes to the conflict in the Middle East.

Mr Kenny pointed to some examples of “astonishing interventions” by politicians on the issue.

This comes after Australia paused funding for a key United Nations agency in Gaza following allegations emerged staff members were involved in the October 7 attacks.

On Friday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said several employees were allegedly involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel.

“If you think Australian taxpayers should continue to fund a group that’s been involved in killing innocent people,” Mr Kenny said.

“Then you are ignoring the collective horrors inflicted on innocent Israelis, and you have lost your moral compass.”

Warning: this video contains distressing content.


Harris Sultan: UNRWA ACCUSED OF EMPLOYING HAMAS - PALESTINIANS TURN AGAINST HAMAS
In this insightful video, Harris Sultan delves deep into the Israel-Palestine conflict, offering a unique perspective on the motivations and repercussions of recent events. Sultan critically examines the aftermath of Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7th, questioning the underlying motives and exposing a complex web of ideological, political, and social factors.

Sultan argues that the issue transcends mere territorial disputes, suggesting a deeper connection to antisemitism and a desire to capture Jerusalem. He challenges the narrative of many pro-Palestine protests, contrasting their reaction to the conflict in Gaza with the relative silence on similar tragedies in Yemen and Syria.

With compelling evidence and engaging narration, Sultan invites viewers, particularly Muslims and those influenced by leftist ideologies, to reconsider their stance and understand the multifaceted nature of the conflict. He uses powerful footage and personal testimonies to highlight the plight of Palestinians living in Gaza, critically analyzing the role of Hamas and the international response.

This video promises to shed light on the lesser-known aspects of the conflict, urging viewers to look beyond mainstream narratives. Sultan's analysis is not just an exposition of facts but a call for a more nuanced understanding of a deeply complex issue.




With the US public still standing behind Israel, protestors focus on Democrats
With polls showing anti-Israel protesters have failed to persuade the American public, they are now switching tactics to focus their fire on one target they think they can influence: the Democrat Party.

Despite their best efforts, the vast majority of Americans do not think any less of Israel. In January, 80 per cent of respondents to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll supported Israel, down just 1 per cent from the previous month.

The respected survey also found that 67 per cent back Israel’s war aims and say there should only be a ceasefire if all the hostages are released and Hamas is removed from power.

Where once protesters brought parts of cities like New York to a standstill, they now struggle to muster enough to shut off a sidewalk. Perhaps it’s the cold weather or perhaps a dawning realisation of a pointless cause. In London, January saw protests of 200,000.

Instead they are focusing on viral gotcha moments, ambushing senior Democrats in a bid to grab headlines in the way their street-shutting protests used to and to turn the party against its leaders.

Biden was targeted twice last week with protesters disrupting speeches. “This is going to go on for a while,” the president predicted. “They have got this planned.”

Senior Democrat Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was ambushed on Monday at her home by protesters chanting “genocide” as she climbed into a blacked-out SUV. Sadly for them and their viral clip, Pelosi turned the tables, angrily responding, “Go back to China where your headquarters is.”

Senator Chuck Schumer has his own very small but very dedicated band almost permanently camped outside his New York apartment. They chant, among other things, “We don’t want no Jew state.”
Israel's Silicon Valley front
More and more municipalities in the San Francisco Bay Area are adopting anti-Israel resolutions, and the trend is even penetrating the public school system.

Natasha Kehimkar had never seen graffiti before on the streets of Foster City, a sleepy suburb of San Francisco, where she has lived for a decade. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the town is famous for its extremely low crime rate and for the giant corporations headquartered there, like Visa and Gilead Sciences. Until now, the major decisions facing the municipality were very local issues, such as developing the marina, or sustainable housing.

But the peaceful reality of this well-kempt suburb was suddenly upended in mid-December, when hundreds of young people wearing keffiyehs burst into city hall, shouting at council members chants which ranged from anti-Israel to antisemitic. That was when graffiti began to appear throughout the city. Near one of the town’s main streets: "Zionism Is Terrorism"; on a bridge: "Gaza Will Be Freed".

Kehimkar, a board member of advocacy organization the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), happened to hear about a resolution on the agenda at the Foster City city hall just as she was about to give a lecture on antisemitism at one of the Jewish schools in the area. One of the guests seated next to her was a city council member who told her about a proposal set to be discussed in a few days, according to which Foster City would officially approve a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The significance of the decision: the small town of 30,000 residents would officially call on both sides to lay down their arms.

"We wouldn't have known about the resolution that was supposed to come up for discussion, had it not been for a chance meeting at the Jewish school," Kehimkar told "Globes". "At first I didn't know what to do. I felt dizzy. The next morning, I decided to contact friends in the Jewish community. In the end, we arrived there with an impressive number of over 150 people and we prepared in advance. We did not come with extreme messages; we focused on unity of the city, on the need not to divide the residents, and that the council members needed to do what they were elected to do, and that is to take care of their constituents. And then, we saw the other side - some call them pro-Palestinian, I call them anti-Israeli. To our surprise, there were only a few of them, because their umbrella organization had not publicized the meeting on their website. Very quickly, we saw them pull out their phones and call for reinforcements."
'Not an Innocent Bystander': Pro-Palestinian Group Defends Protest Against Cancer Hospital
A pro-Palestinian group on Monday defended its choice to protest outside of a New York City cancer hospital earlier this month, calling the facility "not an innocent bystander to genocide."

"On Jan. 15, 2024, MLK Day, thousands of protesters and 140+ endorsing organizations braced the cold and marched from Union Square to the United Nations, Gracie Mansion, and beyond, stopping by many major hospitals along the way," Within Our Lifetime posted on Instagram. The activist group during the protest marched outside the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), chanting at the hospital, "You support genocide too."

"In response, right-wing and Zionist media worked overtime to spread lies and misinformation about the protest and the stop at Sloan Kettering," the group continued in the post. "But what's the real story?"

The group went on in the post to detail the "complicity of MSK ... in Israel's genocide."

One example was "complicity in the Nakba," the group said. It named renowned MSK researcher Mathilde Krim, who in her 20s was part of Irgun, a paramilitary organization that smuggled weapons to Jewish resistance fighters combating British rule in Mandatory Palestine before Israel's founding. The hospital profiled her for Women's History Month, detailing her research on AIDS in the 1980s, but "none of this history is acknowledged," the group said.

Other examples the group cited included MSK's acceptance of a $400 million donation from "billionaire Zionists Ken Griffin and David Geffen," even though the former "profits off of the genocide of Palestinians and blacklists pro-Palestinian student activists" and the latter "has donated millions to Israeli cultural institutions." The group also highlighted what it said were MSK faculty "justifying genocide and Israel's targeting of hospitals," displaying social media posts of purported researchers supporting the war in Gaza or saying that Hamas conducts military operations from hospitals.

Finally, the group reported claims of an "unsafe and hostile anti-Palestinian work environment," featuring testimonies from anonymous MSK employees who slammed "the blatantly Zionist faculty and leadership."

MSK did not respond to a request for comment.


At Hague protest, climate activist Greta Thunberg accuses Israel of genocide
As the International Court of Justice in The Hague prepared to announce its verdict on South Africa’s charge of Israel committing genocide on Jan. 26, Greta Thunberg posted a photo of herself with a keffiyeh wrapped around her neck and holding a sign stating “Palestine will be free.”

The 21-year-old, left-wing Swedish activist, who rose to fame calling attention to climate change, wrote on social media that “we cannot remain silent during a genocide.”

“Israel—as well as those who support Israel’s brutal attacks and occupation—must be held accountable for their actions,” she wrote.

“I seem to have missed your protests calling for the release of hostages,” wrote Yaari Cohen, who works at Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Former Knesset member Einat Wilf wrote: “Another perfect example of my claim that anti-Zionism is the mark of failed entities using the world’s most reliable scapegoat to divert attention. It seems Greta reached a dead end with her efforts to mobilize the world on climate change, so she chose the path of least resistance.”

Thunberg recently said at a protest in Leipzig, Germany, that “to stand with Palestine is to be human.”


Hate crime hoax: Arsonists arrested in Burgertory blaze owner FALSELY blamed on Jews
In a significant development, Moorabbin criminal investigation unit detectives apprehended a 27-year-old man and later detained a 25-year-old man. The latter was subsequently hospitalised under police guard for unrelated injuries.

At the time, Palestinian-Australian owner Hash Tayeh falsely labelled the fire at Burgertory in Caulfield, which resulted in extensive damages amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, as a 'hate crime' linked to his high-profile activism against Israel.

Tayeh's claims incited an angry mob to travel to and protest in the heart of the Melbourne Jewish community, where the group violently attacked locals.

Police were forced to deploy pepper spray and evacuated a synagogue after 100 protesters gathered in a park across the road during Shabbat prayers on the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

A Go Fund Me campaign raised almost $65,000 to 'Rebuild Burgetory' falsely claiming that 'Hash Tayeh an Australian-Palestinian has been subjected to a hate crime'.

Just days before the blaze, Tayeh was recorded on a podcast talking about arson incidents from within his Arab community but later shifted blame to suit his 'anti-Zionist' activism.


Far-Left Former RMT Union Boss Fired From Teaching Job
Readers may remember the former RMT union boss, Steve Hedley, a gun-wielding Corbynista who said “Tories should be shot“, known for his anti-Israeli rants on social media as well as his sympathies towards to the Russian regime and Assad’s Syria. Hedley thought that his political wisdom should be passed on to the next generation, being a cover teacher at a sixth form college in Havering teaching politics. He didn’t last long…

After a mere three weeks as a teacher, Hedley was sacked yesterday for wearing a Palestine badge and refusing to take it off. Along with some vehemently anti-Israeli posts on social media, it looks like Hedley’s loony leftie politics has run him into trouble again. To think he was teaching teenagers…
The NRL takes action over Sonny Bill Williams' controversial comments on the war in Gaza after he was accused of inciting hatred
The NRL has condemned Sonny Bill Williams' comments on the war in Gaza in a letter to a leading Jewish organisation after the former Roosters and Bulldogs star was accused of inciting hatred.

The allegation was levelled at Williams when he described supporters of Israel as 'Zionist cowards' in a social media post last November, and was also slammed for claiming Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7 attack were treated well.

That led to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry telling the NRL that many members of Australia's Jewish community were offended by his statements, and asking that Williams be counselled by the league.

Now NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has slammed Williams' stance in his reply to the organisation.

'The NRL condemns any comments that have the effect of denying or downplaying the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023, including the targeting and murder of civilians, including women and children, the taking of hostages and indiscriminate fire,' Abdo wrote, according to News Corp.

'The NRL does not endorse or support the comments and or views articulated by Mr Williams in his comments recently posted on Instagram and X.

'Given that Mr Williams is not bound by the NRL Rules, the NRL has no jurisdiction or mechanism to sanction or counsel Mr Williams in relation to the comments he has made on social media platforms.'

Abdo went on to write that the NRL doesn't think it's appropriate to comment about the conflict in Gaza.

Williams, a devout Muslim, accused the media of trying to make the 'genocide' of Palestinians seem 'warranted' in the post featuring his 'cowards' comment.




Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424. 

Read all about it here!
 

 



AddToAny

EoZ Book:"Protocols: Exposing Modern Antisemitism"

 Buy EoZ's book, PROTOCOLS: EXPOSING MODERN ANTISEMITISM


Stellar reviews from:
Algemeiner
Jewish Press
Times of Israel/Jewish Link


Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 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.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

subscribe via email

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates