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Sunday, February 11, 2024

02/11 Links: UNRWA, the Greatest Welfare Scam Ever; US obsession with two-state solution is ‘delusional’; There’s no bigger hypocrite than a Left-wing ‘anti-racist’

From Ian:

UNRWA, the Greatest Welfare Scam Ever
Fatah, following its terrorism debut in 1965, grew in strength as would the other Muslim terror fraternities. Still, not since the founding of the UN in 1945 had there been one resolution, amid hundreds on the interminable violence, referring to a “Palestinian people” as a party to what otherwise was known as the Arab-Israeli conflict. Not until GA Resolution 2628 of December 8, 1970 did the General Assembly produce its first document referring to a “Palestinian people.”

And the rest is history. In the decade of the 70s, PLO Arabs so “mugged” Europe with their terror attacks, in 1980 the European Community (precursor to the EU) submitted to their demand for recognition as not criminal terrorists but political activists in a legitimate war of national liberation. It was called the “Venice Declaration.”

And as for UNRWA, many of its sixty-seven donor nations support it in fear of these “Palestinians” if they do not. For others, it has never been anything but a false front for peoples with histories of atrocious hostility and persecution of Jews who have supported the gangs in Gaza, Judea and Samaria with billions of dollars. Post-Holocaust, with antisemitism out of fashion, “Palestinian nationalism” became the new, “legitimate” way of reviling Jews and accusing them of crimes against humanity. UNRWA has been the conduit for maintaining more than a million people on its welfare rolls. And why? To give the Jews no peace. For such nations, UNRWA is ostensibly about charity for the “Palestinian refugees” that cloaks a timeless hatred of Jews.

There is nothing “Palestinian” about these people, and they certainly are not refugees. Their great-grandparents were, but unlike other war refugees in history, they were never helped to restart their lives in a new country of asylum. The PLO terrorists got the UN to recognize that the status of “Palestinian refugee” passes to their children and grandchildren, etc. until they can all “return home.” It is the only war-refugee population in history that has not dissolved over time via resettlement and the inexorable reality of actuarial tables but ballooned exponentially. The original 200,000 refugee migrant workers suddenly in Gaza in 1949 produced between one and two million of the Arabs in the Strip today, all of them recognized by the world as “Palestinian refugees” when they never in their lives sought refuge anywhere.

In the last week in January, UNRWA made headlines when the IDF revealed evidence of some dozen employees participating in the satanic Jew-killing, Jew-raping, Jew-mutilating, and Jew-kidnapping, sadistic murder orgy of October 7. At first, UNRWA protested they were a few bad apples and unrepresentative of the organization. But IDF soldiers in Gaza have been astonished to find Hamas propaganda, weapons and ammunition in home after home. Thousands worked for UNRWA/Hamas. These IDF veterans of Gaza have come to believe that everyone in Gaza is Hamas.

And that is why all the recipients of UNRWA handouts in Gaza, that is, 70% of the population, must be relocated away from Israel, which should be no problem since there are 56 officially Muslim states, 21 of them officially Arab as well, so surely Believers in the One True Faith will want to care for their co-religionists by taking them in and helping restart their lives.
Right beneath UNRWA's headquarters: Israel Hayom gets inside look into Hamas' servers
With impressive cooperation between the 401st Brigade, the IDF Military Intelligence Direcotrate, the Engineering Corps, the Shin Bet security agency, and the 162nd Division – the careful clearing of the tunnel began. For several days our forces advanced meter by meter. They discovered a maze whose deciphering required great ingenuity. They also discovered the luxury conditions that the terrorists had prepared for themselves underground – from a first aid kit for emergencies to motorized scooters that would save them from having to walk bent over for 300 meters there and back, to state-of-the-art Electra air conditioners.

These were intended not only for the people – even in winter it's hot underground – but mainly for Hamas' technological brain, meaning for the server room located, as mentioned, beneath UNRWA's main compound in Gaza.

We were not allowed to see the full room, but even from the little we saw, it's clear this computer system would not embarrass an advanced high-tech company. Columns and columns of servers are cooled by new white air conditioners. Next to it, is a power facility, connected above ground.

"We are at the heart of the secret, in the server farm," Col. Nissim Hazan, who was brought in to command the operation to expose the tunnel, says. "This is the farm from which Hamas created its intelligence superiority. There are ten server cabinets here, full of much-coveted information. You could only get to this place with maneuvering soldiers. You can't do this by remote control or with an aerial bomb. Above us is UNRWA's huge building, which Hamas intentionally located here so we couldn't strike it. This is Hamas' intelligence treasure."

The information in the servers behind it will soon be sucked out. In the meantime, one can only guess that they were used to plan the murderous attack, to collect and concentrate intelligence information ahead of the raid, to remotely control the firing of missiles at Israel over the years, and perhaps also to prepare and build the tunnel array itself. What's certain is the connection to UNRWA is there for everyone to see in broad daylight.

After we again sank into the mud, crawled through the tunnel, walked hunched over for hundreds of meters, and came out into Gaza's trembling skies, the IDF APCs brought us to UNRWA's headquarters. There, among offices, schools, kindergartens, and SpongeBob drawings, the commander of 401st Brigade, Col. Benny Aharon, shows us the agency's own server room.

"We're in UNRWA's server room. Coincidentally – I say this cynically – it's located right above the server room you found underground," he says. "Notice that all the cables are ripped and disconnected, they left almost nothing, only what they managed to cut off. We're lucky a few cables remained that they didn't manage to cut off some of the cables that going down below. They took out all the DVRs and computers from here. Only someone who has something to hide does something like this. What kind of international humanitarian organization that only has good intentions behaves this way?"

Evening is falling and a cool breeze comes from the sea. The APCs head back to the beachfront handoff point. The brand new Netz unit – black coffee is their courtesy – again takes us in the armored vehicles, this time out towards Be'eri. We speedily cross areas our forces destroyed, and on that same route, the Hamas killers raced toward our communities that fateful morning.

The whole way, I couldn't stop thinking, why did they do this? The Hamasniks knew that one day the IDF would arrive. Hence the tangled tunnels, hence the fortified steel doors, hence a whole array of obstacles meant to delay the invasion that would sooner or later come. But if so, if you knew that in the end, Israel would defeat you anyway, why did you do this? What's the logic and benefit of committing crimes against humanity that end in your own destruction?


US obsession with two-state solution is ‘delusional’
The Biden administration’s dogged focus on creating a Palestinian state is “obtuse” and “delusional,” according to experts who spoke with JNS.

Their comments came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call last week for a “concrete, time-bound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state” during his visit to the Middle East.

Jason Greenblatt, former White House Envoy to the Middle East and author of the widely acclaimed book “In the Path of Abraham” about the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the Abraham Accords, said that for Blinken to be so obsessed with the two-state solution is “very dangerous.”

“It’s completely tone-deaf to talk about things like this at the moment after Oct. 7,” he said. “It’s not only a waste of time, it makes absolutely no sense.”

It’s “shocking that a U.S. administration under ordinary circumstances, let alone after Oct. 7, would push for that,” he added.

Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also called out the international community’s obsession with the two-state solution, saying that the United States, United Kingdom and other Europeans “have failed to read the room in the aftermath of Oct. 7.”

This is “not the time to ask Israelis to make painful sacrifices,” he told JNS.

“It just is not where the Israeli population is right now and it really strikes me as obtuse that the Europeans, United States and United Kingdom are pushing this line,” he said.


Disagreements over war driving Biden towards ‘breach’ with Israel
Netanyahu told Fox News Sunday that while he has been speaking “regularly” with the president, the two leaders have not talked since Biden’s latest remarks accusing Israel of using disproportionate force.

“I don’t know what he [Biden] meant by that, but I can tell you where we are: Look, we were attacked in the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust,” said Netanyahu.

“That Oct. 7 massacre was equivalent to 20 9/11s in one day, and the equivalent of 50,000 Americans slaughtered, burned, maimed, raped, beheaded, and 10,000 Americans taken hostage, including mothers and children, so what would America’s response be?” he charged.

“I’d say that it would be at least as strong as Israel’s, and many Americans tell me: ‘We would’ve flattened them, we would’ve turned them into dust,'” Netanyahu added, noting that the IDF is taking extraordinary measures to prevent harm to civilians, “as no other army has on earth.”

During a visit to Jerusalem last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed it was “essential” to go ahead with ceasefire talks. “We continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it,” he said.

Israel has rejected proposals for a permanent ceasefire and has said it will continue in its goal to eradicate Hamas, return the remaining 136 hostages and ensure that Gaza can never again pose a threat.

Blinken spoke shortly after Netanyahu said in an address to the nation that his government would not agree to the “delusional demands” Hamas is making as part of ceasefire negotiations.

During a security briefing at a military base in southern Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated that Jerusalem would not stop its campaign against Hamas until the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip is completed.

“This requires our security control and our comprehensive security responsibility over all territory west of the Jordan River, including the Gaza Strip. There is no alternative to this in the foreseeable future,” he told attendees, including Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

“We are also saying this to the international community and to the president of the U.S. and to all leaders,” the premier added.

The Biden administration is reportedly exploring the possibility of leveraging arms shipments to Israel to place pressure on Netanyahu to scale back the war and let more humanitarian aid into Gaza, according to an NBC News report published late last month.

At the direction of the White House, the U.S. Department of Defense has been examining what weapons Jerusalem has requested that could be used as leverage, current and former officials told the outlet.

Among the weaponry under discussion are 155-mm artillery rounds and Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) bomb guidance kits, which enable the IDF to accurately target terrorist operatives and avoid unnecessary civilian casualties in Gaza, NBC added.

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the U.S. National Security Council, appeared to deny the report, telling reporters, “There has not been a change in our policy.”


UNRWA investigation: History shows United Nations incapable of investigating itself, experts say
The United Nations' plan to investigate 12 United Nations Relief and Works Agency workers for participating in the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people in October, including the murders of over 30 Americans, got off to a rocky start because its inquiries are allegedly infected with severe incompetence, anti-Israel bias and corruption.

Last month, the UNRWA for Palestine Refugees in the Near East confirmed the content of an Israeli dossier that stated 12 of its workers participated in the Hamas terror invasion.

"On the investigation into the alleged involvement of 12 UNRWA employees in the (Oct. 7 terror attacks) in Israel, as soon as UNRWA was told of this information by the Israel Foreign Ministry, the leadership of the agency took the swift action of terminating those involved," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. secretary-general, told Fox News Digital.

Yet there are big question marks over the U.N.’s ability to investigate itself. The problem conjures the famous Latin phrase, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? It is generally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?"

"The investigation will be done by the U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (akin to an inspector general in a U.S. government department)," Dujarric told Fox News Digital. "Should criminal behavior be found, it could be referred to the appropriate national law enforcement entity.

"As far as the independent review is concerned, as you will see from the announcement we made earlier today, it is exactly that — independent. It is not staffed by the U.N. employees. It will be led by a former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, who will work alongside three independent Nordic research institutes. The final report will be made public once handed over to the secretary-general."

Peter Gallo, an international lawyer and former Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) investigator at the U.N., told Fox News Digital his former employer "is as independent as my left kidney."

Gallo, who has submitted testimony to the U.S. Congress about alleged U.N. corruption, criminality and mismanagement, described a case of the UN’s OIOS allegedly sweeping a massive medical fraud case under the rug in connection with Hamas’ ally, Hezbollah.


IDF ‘deepens damage’ to Hamas’s West Khan Yunis Battalion
After weeks of fierce battles, Israeli forces have gained the upper hand over Hamas’s West Khan Yunis Battalion in southern Gaza, the IDF reported on Sunday morning.

The Givati Infantry Brigade combat team “deepened the damage” to the enemy battalion and “strengthened its operational grip on the area,” killing around 100 terrorists in combined aerial and ground attacks involving firing tank shells, sniper ambushes and airstrikes “in dense spaces full of enemies.”

In making the case for moving troops from Khan Yunis to nearby Rafah, the last Hamas stronghold in the Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that 18 out of 24 Hamas battalions had been neutralized.

However, during a visit to Khan Yunis on Saturday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi cautioned that “we are far from finishing” the fighting in the city while summarizing the operation so far as “a great success.”

He was joined by Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) head Ronen Bar, who added that it will be “impossible for [Hamas] to recover from” the IDF’s dismantlement of the terrorist group’s intelligence and command capabilities.

Ground forces have killed more than 1,200 terrorists and airstrikes have killed another 1,200 to 1,300 terrorists in Khan Yunis, they said. Halevi added that he wants “more dead [terrorist] commanders and senior officers” in upcoming operations.

In the center of the Strip, combat team fighters from the Nahal Infantry Brigade killed terrorists and directed airstrikes on several Hamas targets.

Israeli naval forces fired on Hamas targets in support of the combat teams.


IDF troops put in danger to retrieve millions for PA in Gaza
Israel Defense Forces troops operating in Gaza were put in danger last week to retrieve millions intended for the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

Soldiers faced mortal danger, including from Hamas snipers, during the attack that focused on the Bank of Palestine branch in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, Maariv reported on Sunday, citing military sources who asked to remain anonymous.

Some 200 million shekels ($55 million) were seized and loaded into armored vans as part of the operation, which sources said Jerusalem intends to transfer to the Palestinian Authority.

“The Israeli government is risking the lives of IDF soldiers to extract funds from Gaza and transfer them to the Palestinian Authority,” Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Liberman charged on Sunday.

“Instead of thinking about how to transfer the money to Ramallah, a simple decision should be made today—to take the money and use it for the benefit of evacuees in the south and north [of Israel],” tweeted Liberman.

According to an IDF statement cited by Maariv, the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the army to enter the bank last week in order “to prevent the Hamas terror organization from seizing funds and using them for terrorist purposes.

“The [military] activity was carried out in accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and how the money will be held and the destination to which it will be transferred is subject to this directive,” the army added.


IDF reveals: Al-Jazeera journalist by day, Hamas commander by night
Al-Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah had a side job as a commander in Hamas's anti-tank missile units until 2022, evidence retrieved by the IDF revealed, the IDF's spokesperson for Arabic media, Avichay Adraee, announced on Sunday.

"In the morning, a journalist on Al Jazeera, and in the evening, a terrorist in Hamas!" wrote Adraee on X.

"During operations by our forces several weeks ago inside one of the Hamas camps in the northern Gaza Strip, a laptop belonging to someone named Muhammed Samir Muhammed Wishah, born in 1986 from Bureij, was seized where it is clear from the documents that Muhammed Wishah is a prominent commander in the anti-tank missile units in the military wing of Hamas."

At the end of 2022, Wishah transferred to work in the field of research and development in Hamas' aerial units, according to Adraee.

Photos show Wishah engaged in terrorist activities
Adraee's attached photos showed Wishah engaged in operations within Hamas, including photos showing Wishah training Hamas members and firing anti-tank missiles.

"Who knows how many details we will reveal about the presence of other terrorists in journalistic uniforms in the near future?" added the IDF spokesperson.

Last month, IDF Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari presented evidence that two journalists killed by the IDF in Gaza were actually members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.


Jordan's King Abdullah participates in Gaza aid airdrop
Jordan's King Abdullah participated in an airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, state-owned Al Mamlaka broadcaster said on Sunday.

A video showed the monarch in military gear on board a plane in the latest mission by the Jordanian Air Force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in the war-torn enclave. According to official media, the latest airdrop was on Feb. 6.

The kingdom, which has been among Arab neighbors pushing Israel to allow more aid into Gaza, is the only country that airdrops aid to the enclave, channeling it through these two medical facilities.

It has conducted 11 airdrops, with at least two conducted with the French and Dutch airforces, to deliver medical aid.


Egypt to Hamas: Two weeks for hostage deal or IDF will take Rafah
Egypt has warned Hamas that it must agree to a hostages-for-ceasefire deal with Jerusalem within two weeks to avert an Israel Defense Forces operation in the terror group’s last stronghold in the Gaza Strip, the southernmost city of Rafah, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

This week, Israel will reportedly dispatch to Cairo negotiators to discuss a new hostage deal with U.S., Egyptian and Qatari officials.

Mossad chief David Barnea, Israel Security Agency head Ronen Bar and Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, who is overseeing the IDF’s efforts to find the hostages, will meet with CIA Director Bill Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel, the head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate.

On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said intelligence recovered by the IDF in Gaza is making a “realistic” deal possible.

“We penetrated into the heart of Hamas’s most sensitive places and are using their intelligence against them,” said Gallant. “The more we deepen this operation, the closer we are to a realistic deal in order to return the captives.”

Hamas launched its war against the Jewish state on Oct. 7 with a large-scale invasion of the northwestern Negev, murdering 1,200, wounding thousands and kidnapping 253 people, with 136 hostages remaining in Gaza (at least 32 are confirmed dead and another 20 may have been killed).

Israeli forces began their ground offensive in Gaza on Oct. 27, determined to topple the terrorist group that has ruled the coastal enclave since 2007.

Destroying Hamas in Rafah is essential to achieve the objectives of Israel’s defensive operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated during an interview with ABC News airing on Sunday, amid intense international pressure against the pending offensive.

“Victory is within reach. We’re going to do it. We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah, which is the last bastion, but we’re going to do it,” stated the premier.


‘It’s day 127. All we ask is to bring them back’
“We wanted to be here with the families of other hostages and share the pain of being separated from our loved ones held in Gaza,” said Abu Salem, a resident of Rahat in southern Israel.

“Four members of our Bedouin community are still held by Hamas in Gaza. Our hearts are with them and we are waiting for their return. Their situation is precarious. At war, it is impossible to know who will live and who will die,” he added.

On Oct. 7, 25 residents of Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in Israel’s Negev desert, headed to Gaza border communities Kibbutz Holit and Kibbutz Sufa to work and did not return.

They were among the 1,200 people killed by Hamas during its invasion of Israel that morning. Thousands more were wounded, and more than 240 were taken back to Gaza as hostages, including six Bedouin.

Two of them, Bilal Ziyadne,18, and Aisha Ziyadne,17, abducted from Holit, were among the 105 hostages returned as part of a November ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. A poster of Yosef Alzayadni, 53, a Bedouin who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, Feb. 10, 2024. Photo: Amelie Botbol

Every Saturday, Abu Salem travels 55 miles from Rahat to Tel Aviv to attend the Hostage and Missing Families Forum’s weekly rally and demand the release of 136 hostages still being held in Gaza.

“We are in constant contact with the government and have met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” he told JNS. “We must bring them back at any price. They are held in horrible conditions. They have nothing to eat, drink, some are sick,” he continued.

While freed captives have revealed that Arab hostages were treated more fairly, given substantial meals, mattresses to sleep on and a Koran to read, Abu Salem remains pessimistic.

“If we don’t come to an agreement with Hamas, the hostages will die. If we attempt to rescue them in a military operation, Hamas will kill them, they have said so,” he added.
Israeli star Rona-Lee Shimon of Netflix hit Fauda wipes away tears while watching video of Hamas terrorists kidnapping innocent civilians on October 7 amid desperate calls to bring hostages home
Rona-Lee Shimon, star of the global Netflix hit Fauda, is sitting in an office in downtown Tel Aviv listening to a teenager recounting her brother's kidnapping by Hamas on October 7.

The actress is shown a clip of Evyatar David being dragged along a dusty street by a terrorist jubilantly holding aloft an AK-47. In another sequence, 23-year-old Evyatar lies in the back of a truck, his hands cuffed behind him. He is punched and slapped.

What torments his 18-year-old sister Yeela most, though, is the abject terror registering across his face. She says that her mother cannot bring herself to watch the film.

'Of course, I understand,' says Rona-Lee, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye and hugging Yeela.

Afterwards she says: 'I feel like we need to listen to this every single day. We need to keep remembering, we need to not let this go. We should try to avoid numbing ourselves from the trauma.'

In the critically-adored Fauda – the word means chaos in Arabic – Rona-Lee, 41, plays Nurit, the only woman in a team of undercover operatives hunting Palestinian terrorists across the West Bank. Anyone who has seen it would expect the redoubtable Nurit, upon hearing Yeela's story, to slip into her disguise, grab her Glock 17 pistol and rescue Evyatar herself.

But as Rona-Lee reminds us: 'Fauda is not real – and we're living the most horrific reality that the human mind could ever imagine.'

In real life she is a different kind of brave: she is prepared to use her fame and eloquence to stand up for Israel, whatever the cost to herself – and is scathing of those in the West who choose not to do so, who conveniently sidestep the rape and torture and murder and kidnappings on October 7.

To her it is unthinkable that some politicians and public figures - including some in Britain - cannot bring themselves to condemn what happened that day.

Because it is Israel? 'I feel like there's a little girl inside me that wants to stay innocent and say, 'There's no way that it's because it's Israel'. But it is.'


Caroline Glick joins "On The Hill with Tom Fitzgerald" on FOX 5 DC

PragerU: Arab Palestinian Warns the World about Hamas
Dor Shachar grew up in Gaza, suffered a horrific childhood, and had personal experiences in a Palestinian jail before moving to Israel and converting to Judaism. He sits with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit to share his powerful testimony, which gives just a glimpse into the reality of what life is like for people in Gaza.


Fetterman on Biden’s Israel Criticism: Hamas Is ‘Responsible for All’ Civilian Casualties, Israel Wants to ‘Minimize’ Them
Host Abby Phillip asked, “So, you have, over the last several months now, been such a staunch supporter of Israel. You’ve backed how the State of Israel and the IDF [have] conducted this war inside of Gaza. President Biden also said last night during that press conference that the IDF operation in Gaza has been ‘over the top.’ Those are his words. Is the President wrong?”

Fetterman responded, “No, I’m not saying it’s wrong. I’m saying that’s his opinion. I’m not necessarily going to agree with that. I do understand that Israeli intelligence believes that Sinwar is actually hiding there, because that’s what these cowards do. They hide behind civilians and children and women like that, as well, too. So, I believe that it’s very critical that they destroy and eliminate Hamas for there to be real, true peace there in Gaza.”

Phillip then asked, “Do you have any concerns about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans, it seems, to move more than 1.3 million people out of the Rafah area. That’s in southern Gaza. That’s basically where Israel told Gazan civilians to go. Are you concerned about what an operation there would mean for the civilian population that’s already displaced?”

Fetterman answered, “Of course I’m concerned. The death of any one innocent Palestinian is a tragedy, and that’s been. But we also must remember that all of the blood [on] the hands are all on Hamas’ hands as well, too. They’re responsible for all of that. And I don’t know why there [are] not more people talking [about why Hamas must surrender]. Why don’t they bring back the last hostages as well, too?”

Phillip then cut in to ask, “But is it something that you would support? Do you think that this is wise on the part of Israel to do what they, it sounds like, are planning to do?”

Fetterman answered, “Well, if they believe that Sinwar is hiding there, then I — it seems that could be reasonable…to eliminate the leadership, because he’s effectively the [bin Laden] of…October 7…I know that they really and I believe they want to minimize any [kind] of death of civilians as well, too. But right now I’d say, if they just surrendered — if Hamas just surrendered, all of this would be over.”


Dr. Gilad Noam Deputy Attorney General (International Law): The clickbaiting of international legal institutions:
When seeking an advisory opinion, one would expect open-ended, neutral questions, which the court can address through careful consideration of the facts and the law and provide an expert legal view with impartiality. By contrast, the questions in this case are riddled with inaccuracies and one-sided language. Here's the first question:

"What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, from its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures?"

Note how the question is phrased: it presupposes an "ongoing violation" by Israel and implicitly blames Israel for the current situation, conspicuously avoiding mention of any violations, by the Palestinian leadership, of international law and the Oslo Accords, and of the multiple terror attacks against Israeli citizens over decades.

In an earlier post, I wrote that international law can play a meaningful role in times of conflict. The same is true of international legal institutions. But like the law itself, institutions can be misused and exploited for political ends. To be sure, politics are part of the dynamic of the international system. However, in this case, the ICJ is being asked to address, ostensibly through "legal" means, a conflict that ought to be resolved through political negotiations. In this request for an Advisory Opinion, a line has been crossed, to the point where the ICJ is seized not with a legal question but with a clickbait.

I hope to elaborate on some of the substantive issues in the next few weeks.


35% of younger Americans believe Hamas’s false claims
After more than 100 days of fighting since the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas issued an official document, in Arabic and English, to appeal to international public opinion and try to correct its negative image.

A survey conducted by Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs found that up to 35% of Americans under the age of 45 support the false claims Hamas made in the document. According to the findings, this support is also evident among those who define themselves as supporters of Israel’s war in Gaza (about 20%).

The survey, conducted among 530 American citizens aged 18-65, was based on quotes from the Hamas document to test the level of support among the U.S. public for the organization’s claims.

While previous polls in the U.S. showed support for Israel, the new findings indicate that a significant part of the population accepts pro-Palestinian claims that deny or minimize Hamas’s deliberate harm to civilians, rape of women and kidnapping of Israeli hostages.

“In the current survey, we told the respondents that the allegations were directly attributed to Hamas, and they even received a link to the terrorist organization’s full document in English,” explains Mansdorf, a political psychologist.

“The purpose of the study was to check whether the knowledge that the allegations were directly attributed to Hamas, which is officially considered as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. and the European Union, will influence and possibly change the opinions of citizens who tend to believe pro-Palestinian claims,” he adds.

The findings reveal broad support among the American public for the false claims of Hamas, although there is a gap in the level of identification with them according to the respondents’ age:

For the participants under the age of 45, support for the false claims ranges from 27% to 35%, while among the respondents over the age of 45, support ranges from 15% to 25%.

Furthermore, among the younger Americans, 25% agreed with the Hamas statement that the Israeli citizens kidnapped in Gaza are treated “in a positive and kind manner,” compared to only 16% of the older participants.
UN envoy slams Macron for calling Oct. 7 massacre ‘antisemitic’
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the “occupied Palestinian territories,” justified the slaughter of Jews on Oct. 7 in a Saturday tweet by blaming it on Israeli “oppression.”

Responding to French President Emmanuel Macron’s comment at an elaborate ceremony on Wednesday honoring the 42 French-Israelis murdered on Oct. 7, where he referred to the Hamas invasion as “the greatest antisemitic massacre of our century,” Albanese tweeted:

“The ‘greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century’? No, Mr. @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 10/7 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims.”
Hamas October 7 massacre a 'reaction to Israeli oppression' - UN official
UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese expressed outrage on Saturday after French President Emmanuel Macron referred to the October 7 massacre as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century,” insisting that the massacre of 1,200 Israelis was simply a “response to Israel’s oppression.”

“The ‘greatest antisemitic massacre of our century’? No, Mr. @EmmanuelMacron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims,” wrote Albanese on X.

The French Foreign Ministry condemned Albanese’s comments, replying on X that “the October 7 massacre is the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century. Disputing it is an error. Seeming to justify it by including the name of the United Nations is a disgrace.

“These comments are all the more scandalous since the fight against antisemitism and all forms of racism are at the heart of the founding of the UN,” added the French Foreign Ministry.

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy welcomed France’s response to the UN official’s comments, writing, “Bravo, France, for calling out this awful UN official for denying the intensely antisemitic motivations of the Hamas October 7 massacre and seemingly justifying it as a ‘response to Israeli oppression.’”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz called the comment “deeply troubling,” and called on UN Secretary-General António Guterres to fire Albanese immediately.

“The time of Jewish silence in the face of such misrepresentations has passed. We must stand strong and vocal against such narratives,” Katz wrote.


Outrage after Labour candidate claims Israel deliberately allowed 1,400 of its citizens to be massacred on October 7 in order to give it the 'green light' to invade Gaza
Israel deliberately allowed 1,400 of its citizens to be massacred on October 7 in order to give it the 'green light' to invade Gaza, a Labour by-election candidate has claimed.

Azhar Ali, who is defending a Labour majority of more than 9,000 in Rochdale on February 29, also claimed that Sir Keir Starmer had 'lost the confidence' of his MPs over his stance on the conflict.

The bombshell remarks – contained in a secret recording obtained by The Mail on Sunday – will intensify the row within the Labour Party over Sir Keir's refusal to condemn Israel's right to besiege Gaza in the wake of the attacks.

Mr Ali's comments were condemned by the Jewish community and MPs.

Raphi Bloom, co-chairman of the North West Friends Of Israel, said: 'To accuse the Israeli government of wilfully allowing Jews to be slaughtered is a disgraceful and shocking thing to say.'


Labour Rochdale candidate apologises for blaming Israel for October 7

Why has Labour’s Rochdale candidate fundraised for a mosque that hosted extremists?

Revealed: Plot to oust MPs who did not call for Gaza ceasefire as millions of Muslims are urged to 'punish' candidates for failing to back truce in campaign launched by former terror group leader
Millions of Muslims are being urged to vote out MPs who did not call for a Gaza ceasefire in a campaign launched by the former leader of a banned terror group, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Muslim Vote is plotting to unseat at least 55 Labour and Tory MPs who voted against or abstained on the Gaza ceasefire vote in Parliament last December.

The campaign is led by pro-Palestinian activist Muhammad Jalal, who styles himself as a 'writer, political scientist and educator'. His real name is Jalaluddin Patel and he was the UK leader of the now-banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir between 2000 and 2007.

In 2019, analysis by the Muslim Council of Britain revealed that 31 marginal seats could be decided by Muslim votes, which would be enough to swing a close election.

The Muslim Vote campaign was set up by Mr Patel, 46, who tweeted: 'In the 2024 Election, we will focus on those MPs in 55 Muslim-populated constituencies that voted against the Gaza ceasefire. We have to show that the Muslim vote should never be ignored again.'

The group plans to organise social media campaigns in target areas to 'reward' pro-Palestine MPs and 'punish' those who failed to vote for a ceasefire. Salman Butt, who is part of Muslim Vote, said in a YouTube video: 'This Election is about punishing those who didn't vote or even call for a ceasefire, and rewarding those who did and took a principled stance.'

But last night Mr Patel claimed he only helped the group with data collection and denied being its leader. He also said he was no longer a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT).

The Gaza conflict has created the biggest crisis in Sir Keir's leadership. He was widely condemned by Muslim leaders after a radio interview in which he appeared to say Israel had the right to withhold water and power in Gaza.

Tensions boiled over when 56 Labour MPs defied Sir Keir and voted for a ceasefire in Parliament. The vote also led to the resignation of eight of his frontbenchers. Some Conservatives welcome the division within the Labour Party, seeing it as a chance to split the opposition vote. And former Labour MP George Galloway is hoping to attract disaffected Muslim voters by standing in the Rochdale by-election later this month.

Last night Mr Patel said: 'I am neither affiliated with the Muslim Vote campaign nor an organiser.'

But he added: 'I certainly value their efforts to hold advocates of genocide to account, and encourage Muslims to constructively engage politically.'


There’s no bigger hypocrite than a Left-wing ‘anti-racist’
If there’s one thing Jenny Leong can’t stand, it’s racism. The Australian Greens MP proudly describes herself as “a committed anti-racism advocate”. On her Twitter/X page, she says: “If you’re sick of us talking about racism, imagine how sick we are of being subjected to it.” And in her profile, she offers a helpful word of advice to other users. “Remember, don’t be a racist.”

Message received. I have just one question. How exactly did this noble anti-racist end up declaring at an event held by the Palestine Justice Movement that the “tentacles” of “the Jewish lobby” reach “into the areas that try and influence power”?

I don’t know about you, but it strikes me as a surprising thing for someone who’s against racism to say. After all, the idea that a sinister “Jewish lobby” seeks to “influence power” using its octopus-like “tentacles” appeared in the propaganda of the Nazis, a group not known for its staunch anti-racism.

When video footage of her comments spread online a few days ago, eight weeks after the event, she apologised for having “framed an argument in an inappropriate way that has caused offence [and] had antisemitic implications”. In future, she promised, she would “do better”.

I’m sure she will. It is curious, though, how many Left-wing “anti-racists” appear to have a slight blind spot when it comes to one particular minority.

Still, it’s rare for them to use the term “Jewish lobby”. They usually remember to use that handy euphemism “Zionist” instead. No doubt they’ll take extra care from now on.


WheresTheJews
Where's the Jews features never before seen footage from 9 October. Much of it shot in 4K resolution.​

Some of the team behind the documentary have chosen to remain unnamed at this stage due to the recent 'doxxing' and attacks on Australian creatives by radical groups in a cruel and potentially illegal campaign which threatens artists' livelihoods. We respect their wishes.​

Subject to funding, the final documentary will be released online and potentially on major networks.​

More information will be posted as the project evolves.

Please subscribe for further updates as the project evolves.


Hundreds protest against Israel, war in Gaza inside New York’s Museum of Modern Art
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration inside New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on Saturday afternoon, forcing the museum to close its doors several hours early, at around 4 p.m., arts and culture website Hyperallergic reports.

Close to 800 protesters filled the museum’s atrium in protest of alleged investments into Israel’s military weapons by the museum’s trustees.

The protesters distributed more than 1,000 imitation MoMA pamphlets criticizing trustees Leon Black, Larry Fink, Paula Crown, Marie-Josée Kravis and Ronald S. Lauder, the report states, and hung a banner over the lobby that read “MoMA Trustees Fund Genocide, Apartheid, and Settler Colonialism.”

In videos posted to social media, hundreds of people chant “Free Free Palestine” as they stand under various signs and banners reading “Ceasefire now,” “Long live Gaza” and “From the river to the sea,” which is a shortened version of the popular anti-Israel chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

After around 15 minutes, the museum’s security guards began turning people away at the doors and allowed people inside the building to exit, the report says.


Israeli teacher helped Hamas aim rockets at sensitive site, arrested
A teacher from northern Israel was arrested after providing Hamas with the location of a defense industry plant in the north to help Hamas fire rockets toward the plant, the Shin Bet and police said on Sunday.

The suspect was identified as Rami Habibullah, a resident of Ein Mahil, a town near Nazareth. The Shin Bet and police found that, in light of the conflict in Gaza, Habibullah decided to contact Hamas operatives abroad and offer to help promote terrorist activities in Israel.

Habibullah provided a Hamas operative with a photo of a defense industry plant near his home and the exact location of the plant, intending to have Hamas fire rockets toward the site. He also collected funds for the terrorist group and provided information on several sensitive locations.

The northern resident also worked to recruit other Israeli Arabs to help in promoting terrorist activity within Israel, including Khaled Saleh, a 35-year-old resident of Ein Mahil. Saleh was also arrested and during questioning it emerged that Saleh had agreed to carry out terrorist activities together with Habibullah and had even offered to provide weapons for such operations.
Palestinian released in ceasefire deal caught trying to infiltrate into Israel
A Palestinian woman who was released from jail as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal in November was caught by Border Police attempting to sneak into Israel while using another person's Israeli ID card on Friday, Israel Police announced on Sunday.

The woman was stopped while driving through the Az-Za'ayyem crossing near Jerusalem when police noticed that she was trying to identify herself using an ID card that did not belong to her.

The police questioned the woman and discovered that she was a female suspect affiliated with Hamas who had been arrested in October for participating in riots and throwing stones at Israeli forces. During the riots, she was shot in the leg.

Released suspect published content supporting October 7 massacre
The suspect published content encouraging and supporting the October 7 massacre and was released from jail as part of the fifth round of prisoner releases during the ceasefire and hostage release deal reached in November.
Investors not affected by Moody's: Only small decreases in the stock market
Israeli investors are not excited about Moody's credit rating downgrade of Israel, and the Israeli stock market responded on Sunday morning with relatively moderate declines, with a decrease of around 0.4% in the TA-35 index and around 0.5% in the TA-125 index.

Local players in the financial sector expect the stock market to continue to move in a positive trend.

Israel, who examined the rating agency's report on the credit rating downgrade from Aaa to A2 for Israel, could not remain indifferent to the arguments presented, some of which contradict each other.

The essence of the report is an expression of an absolute lack of trust in Israeli political players, alongside complete confidence in the Israeli financial and monetary systems, which only strengthens the Israeli economy in the face of the decision to downgrade the rating.

What is the reason for the rating downgrade?
The report, which concludes the review that the rating agency began already on October 19th, emphasizes that the main reason for the rating downgrade is Moody's estimation that the war Israel is conducting against Hamas in Gaza will have broader implications upon its conclusion.

This conclusion is possible even without extensive financial knowledge, as it continues with Moody's rating that the Israeli business environment has been affected and deteriorating due to the war.

However, the agency did not indicate the deterioration, how the war affected the business sector in Israel, in which areas, and the extent of the impact.


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Anti-Israel former Dutch PM and his wife opt for euthanasia
Van Agt made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a major area of interest later in his life and was condemned on several occasions by Jewish and other organizations as an antisemite. Van Agt defended Hamas as well as individual terrorists several times.

In 2008, the former prime minister spoke at a rally featuring a televised address by a Hamas official. As a justice minister in the 1970s, Van Agt cited his "Aryan" roots in explaining his plan to pardon four Nazi war criminals due to health reasons.

In 2022, the former prime minister said that settlers in the West Bank had poisoned a three-year-old Palestinian girl, a charge that B'Tselem, the leading Israeli organization devoted to documenting alleged human rights violations, said it was not aware of. CIDI, the Netherlands' main antisemitism watchdog, called the accusation a blood libel. The Central Jewish Board of the Netherlands declared Van Agt an antisemite in 2017.

The Rights Forum, which Van Agt founded in 2009, lobbies Dutch politicians and representatives to challenge Israeli policy in the UN and International Criminal Court, alleging “violations of international law and human rights in Israel and Palestine,” and naming international law and human rights as its “explicit and consistent reference framework” as an organization. The group accuses Israel of “violat[ing] the fundamental rights of millions of Palestinians in often extremely violent ways, generation after generation.”

The organization has come under criticism from pro-Israel groups such as NGO Monitor, in particular for a pattern of rejecting allegations or definitions of antisemitism that the group deems politicized: in 2023, the group accused the Dutch ambassador to Israel of “going too far” when he called a shooting attack, in which a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem killed seven people and wounded two more, antisemitic.


Robert Kraft to air powerful Superbowl ad urging Americans to stand up to antisemitism
The man who helped Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. write the “I Have a Dream” speech will appear in a million-dollar Super Bowl commercial from Robert Kraft’s foundation to combat antisemitism.

The organisation, founded by the New England Patriots owner, purchased a 30-second advertisement for the Super Bowl that will include lawyer and speechwriter Clarence B. Jones, who once counselled King.

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

“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.”

Kraft founded the group after winning the 2019 Genesis prize, and has regularly run public awareness campaigns in the US to highlight


Israeli ads raise awareness of captives ahead of Super Bowl
Israel kicked off an advertising campaign in the United States on Super Bowl weekend to bring attention to the plight of the 136 hostages still in the hands of the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

Ahead of Sunday’s big game in Las Vegas between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers, millions of Americans are being exposed to the campaign launched by Israel’s national information system in coordination with the Government Advertising Agency.

The ads are being seen on smart TVs and outdoor signage in large cities, and being heard on a radio broadcast. They are running on the Paramount+ streaming platform, which is airing the live CBS broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII.

In addition, a video will be uploaded highlighting the need for the captives to be released, targeting content and current affairs websites. The video will also be displayed on billboards in Washington and New York and broadcast on sports and current affairs-focused digital radio.

“All the contents of the campaign, according to estimates, will eventually reach tens of millions of exposures throughout the United States, when already in its first days it reached almost 10 million exposures,” the Israeli government said.




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