Monday, March 04, 2024

03/04 Links Pt2: How Much Is a Dead Jew Worth?; UN finds evidence of rape on Oct. 7; Over 450 UNRWA Teachers Participated in Oct. 7 Massacre

From Ian:

How Much Is a Dead Jew Worth?
Lital Shemesh, a host on Israel's Channel 14, has written a new book, How Much Is a Dead Jew Worth? (Hebrew), a detailed look at the Palestinian Authority's "Pay to Slay" policy. The author explained in an interview that throwing a firebomb at a vehicle is worth NIS 4,000 a month to Palestinian terrorists. Stabbing and critically wounding a Jewish youth - NIS 6,000. A key factor in compensation is the amount of time the prisoner serves in jail.

Already by the fifth year, the prisoner earns more than the average Palestinian, and much more than the minimum wage. Abdallah Bargouti, a commander of the Hamas military wing in the West Bank, was sentenced in 2004 to 67 life sentences. Over 20 years he has received more than a million shekels.

The Palestinian Authority also pays compensation to Gaza residents and Israeli Arabs that have attacked Israelis. It even gives a bonus to terrorists who are from eastern Jerusalem or Israeli citizens. And when the terrorist is released from jail, his years of incarceration are counted as part of his seniority for jobs in the PA civil service. In the hostage release in November, one young Palestinian who was due to be released asked not to be freed because he would lose out on a PA bonus.

Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, described cases where the defense attorneys requested a heavier sentence for their Palestinian clients in order to qualify for bonuses from the PA. A week after the Oct. 7 massacre, the PA announced that it would give grants to all the families of terrorists who participated.

In the month after Oct. 7, the PA distributed close to $3 million to families of the 1,500 Hamas murderers who participated in the attack. Every family of a terrorist who was killed in the invasion of Israel received a grant of NIS 7,400 in honor of his participation in the murders and atrocities - a gift from the Palestinian Authority. Seven percent of the PA budget today goes to families of terrorists. This is money that incentivizes the murder of Jews.

The PA has created a well-oiled murder machine which educates and incentivizes people to go out and kill Jews. Today, the best-paid profession in the Palestinian Authority is to be a murderer. When will the West take a stand and tell the Palestinians: "If you want our money, stop incentivizing terror."
Daniel Gordis: Is this 1948 all over again? Comparisons are often made, which is why some say this should be called "The Second War of Independence"
Last Sunday, on Feb 25th, we posted a column about those in Israel who are urging that Israel “help” Gazans leave Gaza. Depending on what they mean by “help,” that suggestion could range from kind to very not PC. We wrote then, “Some readers will find this shocking. We’ll soon review a well-known conversation that the Israeli press had many, many years ago with one of Israel’s leading historians, Benny Morris, on the question of what was the agenda in 1948, whether ‘transfer’ was the goal and what he thought of that. His responses will likely surprise you.”

Today, we’re following up on that. As he is one of Israel’s leading historians, Benny Morris’ work on 1948 (in books such as Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001 and 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War) has been widely quoted and discussed. Almost as well known in some circles is an interview with Ari Shavit, then a young journalist, from about twenty years ago, almost to the day.

What Professor Morris says about 1948 is illuminating for today, as well.

As we’ve noted several times, some people in Israel have suggested that this war, which still does not have a name, be called The Second War of Independence. Because the victory will likely not be decisive, just as was the case iin 1948. Because it’s existential, and long, just as in 1948. And because much of the country will have to be built (or in this case, rebuilt), just as in 1948.

There’s yet another similarity—the issue of what to do with large numbers of Palestinians. The video above, in which veterans of 1948 speak to today’s soldiers, doesn’t have the expressly in mind, but for many Israelis, one can’t raise the issue of 1948 and war without also wondering about the parallels with the Palestinians. Hence the long interview with Ari Shavit and Professor Benny Morris, of which we present a small portion below.
Their dovish hopes clipped, some Gaza border residents make peace with becoming hawks
The fact that the Hamas terrorists who invaded her kibbutz on October 7 wanted to murder everyone there came as no surprise to Irit Lahav, a peace activist from Nir Oz, where one in four residents were killed or kidnapped.

Even before the massacre, Lahav had entertained no illusions about Hamas. Like many other kibbutzniks and moshav residents with dovish attitudes near the border with Gaza, she had seen how the group deliberately targeted civilians, including by firing rockets into residential areas at specific times to increase loss of life.

Yet she had always believed that Hamas’s actions were distinct from and unrepresentative of the wishes of the silent majority of Palestinian civil society — ordinary and decent people whom she imagined were concerned primarily with providing for their children and improving their own lives under difficult circumstances.

That belief was shattered on October 7, by what she says were “hundreds of civilians, including women and children, who followed” behind the terrorists, invading Israeli communities to celebrate and join in the pillaging, vandalization and destruction of Israeli communities.

“This wasn’t something I had factored in,” said Lahav.

In the wake of October 7, Lahav and other Israelis who had supported and campaigned for territorial compromises with the Palestinians as a pathway to peace now say they are being forced to reconsider their views.

“I used to think Palestinians were good people, like you and me. That Hamas were thugs who got in the way of the population’s desire for a good life: a pretty home, a good car, a good job, a nice yard; good schools for the children.” Lahav said from the temporary home she shares with her daughter Lotus, a new three-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of a residential project in Kiryat Gat where many Nir Oz survivors have relocated to.

“After October 7, I realized I was wrong. Just as the Israeli government represents Israelis, Hamas represents the people of Gaza.”

Lahav, a travel agent who used to belong to a group of volunteers who would drive Palestinians in need of medical treatment from Gaza to hospitals in Israel, now believes that “all of the people of Gaza, all of them, hate us to a degree where they would murder babies and pillage our property with zero compunction.”

The Road to Recovery, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that helps Palestinians reach medical treatment in Israel, remains operational, although its volunteers have brought patients only from the West Bank since October 7 because Israel is not issuing entry permits from Gaza. “It’s not simple, but I want to keep feeling human,” Yael Noi, the nonprofit’s director, told (Hebrew) Channel 12 in December.


UN finds evidence of rape on Oct. 7 and after; Israel: They tried to downplay issue
The United Nation’s envoy on sex crimes during conflict presented a report Monday at the UN indicating that rape and gang rape likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas onslaught against southern Israel, that “clear and convincing” evidence shows that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza, and that those currently held captive are still facing such abuse.

The 24-page report, based on more than two weeks of meetings on the ground, states that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Hamas committed rape and sexual abuse during its murderous rampage on October 7, and that there is an even higher standard of evidence to indicate that hostages kidnapped by Hamas that day were subject to rape in captivity.

Israel in response accused the UN of playing down the report and dragging its feet on looking into the allegations, while trying to silence the accusations — something the UN secretary general swiftly denied.

Presenting the report at a press conference at UN Headquarters in New York, Pramila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict, said that there was “clear and convincing information that sexual violence including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” was committed against hostages being held in captivity in the Strip by Hamas.

In addition, she said, there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that such violence is still ongoing against those hostages still in captivity in Gaza.

“The mission was a difficult one in terms of what we heard and the details,” said Patten at the press conference. “We saw a catalog of the most extreme and inhumane forms of torture and other horrors,” she said, noting that her mission “was neither intended nor mandated to be investigative in nature.”

The team said a “fully-fledged investigation” would be required to establish the overall magnitude, scope and specific attribution for the sexual violence.

Patten said that she visited Israel and the West Bank for 2.5 weeks, meeting with representatives of 33 Israeli institutions as well as 34 individuals, including survivors and witnesses, released hostages, first responders and others. She noted that she did not meet with any survivor of sexual violence, saying that she was told the small number of living survivors are undergoing “specialized trauma treatment” and are unable to discuss their experiences.

Her team also viewed 5,000 photographic images and “some 50 hours of footage” of the attacks. Due to the ongoing conflict, she said, she did not request to also visit Gaza.
Report: Over 450 UNRWA Teachers Participated in Oct. 7 Massacre
I’m inside, I’m inside with the Jews,” and “We have female hostages, I captured one” — just a few words, but with the impact of thousands of tons of explosives.

Israeli intelligence revealed Monday night (March 4) that more than 450 terrorists belonging to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, were — and in some cases still are — also employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) tasked with providing humanitarian aid and educational services to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza populations.

Descriptions of UNWRA workers who took part in the October 7 massacre.

The IDF has revealed two recordings incriminating two UNRWA teachers who took part in the October 7 massacre.

The first recording is of a terrorist working as an Arabic teacher at an UNRWA school in ‘Deir al-Balah’ describing his entry into Israeli territory and stating that he is holding female Israeli hostages.

“We have female captives (sabaya). I caught one,” an UNRWA “teacher” says. “We entered. I saw… They shot them in the eyes. I saw two, me and another guy from our group… Wow, what they did. Listen, they did actions for liberation Inshallah (Allah willing).”


PMW: PA chooses to fund terrorists but not heart disease patients
A Palestinian hospital in Bethlehem has announced that it is reducing the number of beds in the hospital by 20% and not accepting any patients to its cardiology department who are referred by the PA Ministry of Health because the PA owes the hospital 65 million shekels (apx $18.2 million).

This comes just three weeks after Palestinian Media Watch reported that the PA was so anxious to pay the terrorists who had been arrested since October 7 that it decided to bypass its own regulations to make it easier for the terrorists to receive a PA salary.

Prior to October 7, the PA was spending between 50 and 55 million shekels a month to pay salaries to imprisoned terrorists, and with thousands of new imprisoned terrorists eligible for salaries the PA terror payments should reach 65 million shekels per month.

If the PA would decide to cancel its terror rewards for just one month it could give the 65 million shekels to the hospital and have the PA’s money help sick patients instead of rewarding terrorists. However, based on past PA behavior, the PA will never stop paying salaries to terrorists but instead will tug on the heartstrings of international donors and beg for money. And based on past donor behavior, they will not tell the PA: ‘Use your own money instead of giving it away to terrorists,’ but will take their taxpayer’s money to cover the PA’s debt so the PA can continue paying salaries to terrorists.
Palestinian Authority, Key to Biden’s Mideast Peace Plan, Commits To Pay $97M a Year to Hamas
As President Joe Biden pushes to empower the Palestinian Authority in the name of Middle East peace, the PA has committed tens of millions of dollars for terrorists who were killed or captured while carrying out Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel and the resulting war.

Since Oct. 7, the PA has doubled down on its longstanding "pay for slay" policy, which gives salaries and benefits to Palestinians imprisoned for involvement in violence against Israel and to the families of those killed in "the revolution" against the Jewish state. The policy does not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. But based on Israel Defense Forces estimates of enemy casualties and prisoners, the PA has put itself on the hook for more than $97 million in such payments for more than 13,000 Hamas terrorists in the year following Oct. 7.

The PA has moved to ramp up its spending on terrorism even as the West Bank, where the PA governs, spirals into a historic economic crisis. It's a stark display of the authority’s priorities that clashes with the Biden administration's vague plans for a "revamped" PA to govern Gaza—and eventually a Palestinian state that will supposedly lead regional normalization with Israel.

The Israeli government has opposed Biden's post-war plans, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the PA is little different than Hamas, the rival Palestinian faction that rules Gaza. Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a former director general of Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs under Netanyahu, told the Washington Free Beacon that a PA-run Gaza would quickly pose a renewed Oct. 7-like threat.

"There's no reason to believe anything else would happen if the Palestinian Authority took control of Gaza," said Kuperwasser, a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a think tank. "The Palestinian Authority is responsible for creating an incentive system and a mindset that made Oct. 7 possible in the first place, and they are too weak and unpopular to stop it from happening again."
The dark secret of Jew-hatred: Pleasure
Why do Jew haters hate Jews?

On the surface, it makes little sense. Why would anyone hate a group that has given so much to the world in so many fields?

Thousands of books and essays have been written on the subject. There are myriad explanations, but the general consensus is that Jews have served throughout history both as humanity’s conscience and its convenient scapegoats. Whatever one hates at any point in time, just blame the Jews.

“People hate Jews because they are communists, capitalists, foreigners, residents, immigrants, elitists, have strange ways, are unassimilated, too assimilated, bankroll the left (like George Soros) or bankroll the right (like Sheldon Adelson). People hate Jews because they are weak and stateless, or because they are Zionists and defend Israel,” Rabbi David Wolpe wrote recently in The Harvard Crimson.

One can always find a good reason, in other words, to hate, resent or envy Jews. These reasons are usually framed intellectually. We want to understand how the minds of haters work, even when they appear irrational. Understanding helps us cope.

Something has changed, however, since Oct. 7. The primal seems to have overtaken the cognitive. We’ve rarely seen such hysterics. Whether on campuses or city streets, the haters have gone bonkers with a fanatical exuberance. The fury has reached such a frenzy that I’ve been wondering if there’s a deeper motivation at work, something as simple as … pleasure.

Some smart thinkers believe so.

“There are (at least) three principal sources of pleasure which anti-Semitism provides,” British philosopher Eve Garrard argued a few years ago in the online journal Fathom. “First, the pleasure of hatred; second, the pleasure of tradition, and third, the pleasure of displaying moral purity. Each of these is an independent source of satisfaction, but the three interact in various ways, which often strengthens their effects.”
A Bizarre Attempt to Explain Anti-Israel Animus by Way of Anti-Christian Propaganda
The effort to promote anti-Israel sentiment in all forms has gotten to the point where activists are now regurgitating anti-Christian propaganda from the third and fourth centuries.

It’s every bit as ridiculous as it sounds.

On February 25, a mentally disturbed man self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. His dying words were “Free Palestine.”

Following the man’s death, certain pro-Palestinian activists, along with some in the press, have sought to characterize his suicide as righteous and praiseworthy. This effort has included the suggestion that, on top of being supremely noble, self-immolation is also a conventional form of political protest, a time-honored tradition among political dissidents for 2,000 years.

Time magazine even published an article on February 26 that claimed, “Self-immolation was also seen as a sacrificial act committed by Christian devotees who chose to be burned alive when they were being persecuted for their religion by Roman emperor Diocletian around 300 A.D.”

The article was greeted with criticism and incredulous laughter as Time staffers appeared to struggle to understand the difference between martyrdom imposed by the state versus self-immolation. One would think that the “self” in “self-immolate” would be a (shall we say) dead giveaway, but one would be wrong.

Amazingly, the story takes an even weirder turn.

Apparently embarrassed by the online criticism, Time then updated its story to include a hyperlink to a 2012 New Yorker article, which reads: “From the historian Eusebios, we know with greater certainty of a more interesting instance of auto-cremation in antiquity: around 300 A.D., Christians persecuted by Diocletian set fire to his palace in Nicodemia [sic] and then threw themselves onto it—presumably, to express their objections to Roman policy and not to the emperor’s architectural taste.”

The chief problem here is that Eusebius recorded no such thing about this event in Nicomedia (not “Nicodemia”).
Washington State Passes Bill to Teach About ‘Palestinian Holocaust’
The radical, anti-Israel Democrats are now in control of their party in Washington State. They forced the old-style centrist Democrats to accept the “Hamas amendment” to the Holocaust Education bill, and then presented it to the House as the final, non-negotiable, version. It was a take-it-or-leave-it challenge to the Republicans. If the Republicans refused to approve it, because of the “Hamas amendment,” they might be perceived as being against “Holocaust education.” If they accepted it, they would be acquiescing to a sinister bill that, as amended, intends to deny the uniqueness of the Holocaust against the Jews, and to promote “education” about a so-called “Holocaust of the Palestinians” by the Jews, in their role as the new Nazis.

Enough Republicans decided it was better to pass the Holocaust Education bill, despite the “Hamas amendment,” likely hoping that once it became law, individual instructors would have the good sense and decency to concentrate on the Holocaust of the Jews, and to avoid falling into the trap of teaching about a non-existent “Holocaust of the Palestinians.”

What’s next? A Palestinian Yad Vashem, to display the cruelty and brutality of the Israelis, and the millions upon millions of their Palestinian victims? It could be made part of the Museum of the Palestinian People, in Washington, D.C., where government officials, ambassadors, and members of the media will have convenient access. Will American schoolchildren on their visits to the nation’s capital now see not just the White House, the National Gallery, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, but soon as well, if CAIR has its way, this new wing of the Museum of the Palestinian People, showing the Palestinian victims of the storm-trooping and genocidal Jews? Anything is possible. Nothing is too preposterous.
The rampant Israelophobia of Germany’s elites
The Berlin International Film Festival, known colloquially as the ‘Berlinale’, turned into a carnival of Israel-bashing last month.

The closing gala was a particular low point. Numerous artists took to the stage with ‘Ceasefire now!’ written on scraps of paper attached to their evening wear. US filmmaker Ben Russell received an award sporting a keffiyeh. He then used his acceptance speech to accuse Israel of committing ‘genocide’. Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham and Palestinian activist Basel Adra, who together co-directed the winner of the best documentary award, made their speeches all about Israel, too. Abraham called for an end to ‘apartheid’ in Israel, while Adra said he found it hard to accept the award while tens of thousands were being ‘massacred’ by Israel.

More worrying was the audience reaction. Every anti-Israel gesture was cheered to the rafters, including by the politicians in attendance. The federal culture minister, Claudia Roth (Green Party), and the Berlin mayor, Kai Wegner (Christian Democratic Union), were pictured eagerly clapping along to every attack on the Jewish State.

This display of Israel-bashing has since been heavily criticised in the media. After all, this wasn’t supposed to be a political rally, it was a high-profile film festival funded by the taxpayer. Many have asked how the organisers allowed this to happen. The scandal is all too reminiscent of the furore that surrounded the similarly state-funded Documenta Fifteen exhibition in 2022. Numerous artworks selected for the show contained vicious anti-Semitic tropes. The organisers claimed they didn’t even notice the anti-Semitism of the artworks until a public backlash ensued.
Is the media about to ignite World War III?
Last year at this time, with Ramadan approaching, the Israel Police did everything possible to keep the peace in Jerusalem.

They knew it was an especially sensitive time because Ramadan, Passover, and Easter coincided and were all attracting worshipers to the Holy City. Every day, the police released figures to the international media about the worshipers who prayed in the city without incident.

But “No violence in Jerusalem” is no headline.

The international media only paid attention to what was happening in Jerusalem on April 5, when hundreds of armed rioters barricaded themselves in the Aqsa Mosque compound at night, intending to harm worshipers the following day.

The police entered the mosque to disarm the rioters and prevent the worshipers from being harmed. But when they themselves were attacked by the rioters, who had stockpiled weapons in the mosque, the police had to defend themselves.

Out came the phone cameras. The videos went viral, and incorrect reports were headlined “Israeli police storm mosque, attack worshipers during holy month.”

Those videos and dangerously incorrect headlines were used as excuses to fire rockets from Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria; the drive-by shootings of Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee in the Jordan Valley on their way to a Tiberias vacation; and the murder of an Italian tourist in Tel Aviv who was killed for the crime of “looking Jewish.”


"They DON'T Want To Integrate!" - Douglas Murray On 'Multiculturalism' In Britain "Not Working"
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used a Friday evening address to warn that democracy is being targeted by extremists.

Mr Sunak said there are “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”.

Speaking at a lectern outside the doors of No 10 Downing Street, Mr Sunak warned about the current situation in Britain, in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel.

And he said the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election was “beyond alarming”.

“In recent weeks and months, we have seen a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality,” he said in a hastily arranged address to the nation.

“What started as protests on our streets have descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence.

“Jewish children, fearful to wear their school uniform lest it reveals their identity. Muslim women abused in the street for the actions of a terrorist group they have no connection with.


The Quad: The "Wrong" Opinion: Free Speech & Antisemitism after Oct. 7th & the Hamas/Israel War
This week, the Quad interviews former Mumford & Sons bandmate and podcast host Winston Marshall. Marshall quit the band after facing fierce backlash for his opinions on Black Lives Matter and COVID. Now the host of his own podcast, he launched his new show with several in-depth interviews in Israel and talks to the Quad about self-censorship, real censorship and what the world deems is the "right" and "wrong" opinion.

The Quad also examines the quashing of pro-Israel free speech in protests all over the world especially on campuses. They also clarify and delve into protests happening in Israel and what they are really about.

And, of course, Scumbags and Heroes of the Week!


Top Israeli Mental Health Doctor Axed From Conference in Australia After Threats From Pro-Hamas Activists
A world-renowned Israeli expert on trauma who developed Israel’s national model for addressing mental health emergencies has been axed from a medical conference in Australia after organizers were inundated with threats from pro-Hamas agitators.

Dr. Moshe Farchi — founder and head of Stress, Trauma and Resilience Studies in the department of Social Work at Tel-Hai College, a branch of Tel Aviv University — had been due to speak at the Frontline Mental Health Conference in the Gold Coast which opened on Monday. According to the Australian Jewish Association (AJA), which has been publicizing Farchi’s treatment at the hands of conference organizers, the speaking invitation was extended six months ago. Farchi had already made the trip to Australia when he was informed that his appearance had been canceled along with his hotel accommodation.

“The actions of the organisers are a stain on Australia’s reputation and reminiscent of Nazi boycotts of Jewish academics,” Robert Gregory, AJA’s chief executive, said in a statement. “Dr Farchi said that he has never experienced such antisemitism in his long career in academia. If there is a threat to Jews attending the conference, the organizers should have hired security, not expelled the Jew.”

In an email to Farchi, the Australia and New Zealand Mental Health Association, which is hosting the conference, said that the “influx of communications and protest-related information we’ve received in the past 24 hours has necessitated that we prioritize our duty of care above all else.”

The association told Farchi that it was “unable to accommodate your attendance and have consequently cancelled your registration for the Frontline Mental Health Conference.” The group assured Farchi that his travel expenses would be covered nonetheless.
Israeli doctor ‘did not expect’ Australia to be the kind of country to boycott him
Israeli Doctor Moshe Farchi says he “definitely” did not expect Australia to be a country to stop him speaking at a conference over concerns raised by pro-Palestine activists.

Mr Farchi who is highly qualified in acute trauma, emergency mental health intervention, and psychological inoculations had his slot at the Frontline Mental Health Conference cancelled last minute after a number of activists bombarded the organisers with calls to boycott his presentation.

“I wasn’t expecting this kind of welcoming to me,” Mr Farchi told Sky News Australia host Sharri Markson.

“I was really surprised.

“I have so many good friends in Australia, so many people from my profession who I know quite well, I wasn’t expecting this kind of welcoming to me.”

Conference organisers told Sky News Australia they had received a high volume of online abuse and telephone calls from protestors and activists regarding Mr Farchi’s attendance, and chose to follow expert security advice to cancel his slot as there was insufficient time to conduct a thorough risk assessment to ensure the safety of conference attendees.


Bolt urges govt to 'say no to Leila Khaled’ speaking at climate conference
Sky News host Andrew Bolt has urged the government to "say no to Leila Khaled”, who helped to hijack two airplanes in 1969 and 1970 and is set to speak at a climate conference in Australia.

“Now the socialists who've invited Khaled to Australia say, oh please, that was a long time ago, she's now a politician … and besides, you can't make a revolution without violence that you and I might think, ‘oh, a bit wrong’," Mr Bolt said.

"Why has the Albanese government still not said no to this madness? Say no to Leila Khaled.

“This guy is fooling us, or fooling himself.

“The only reason Khaled is coming – or at least speaking by video link, depends whether she gets a visa – coming to a conference on climate, is precisely because she was a terrorist. That's her shtick. The Green Left promotes her as exactly that – a freedom fighter – emphasis on the word 'fighter'."




Israeli comedians speak out after being ‘cancelled’ by Palace Cinemas
Israeli comedians Yohay Sponder and Shahar Hason have spoken out after Palace Cinemas cancelled their stand-up show, 'Funny Monday', due to concerns over security and the pair's online content.

The Israeli comedians, however, feel like the cancellation of their show had to do with the fact that they are Jewish.

Mr Sponder and Mr Hanson had received an email from Chauvel Cinema in Sydney and Astor Theatres in Melbourne earlier this year telling them that they were reviewing the booking due to security concerns.

However, the organisers said there had been no complaints from protestors.

Palace Cinemas also raised concerns over some of the content the comedian pair had posted on their social media.

“If you are telling me that you are cancelling our show, or you feel uncomfortable with my flag, with my identity, if I’m Jewish and you're telling me this, yes I feel anti-Semitism. That’s what I feel, you can’t argue with my feelings,” Mr Sponder said.

Mr Sponder and Mr Hanson have since found a new venue for their stand-up show.

The pair are performing at the Randwick Ritz on Monday before heading to Byron Bay to perform on Wednesday.


I tried to return a damaged book to Amazon. Instead, I got lambasted for living in Israel
The book arrived at my apartment in Tel Aviv with a mysterious blotchy red mark spread across several dozen pages. A bunch of its 416 pages were folded, presumably by a prior reader. Amazon had promised a new copy of the novel Dear Mr. M, by the edgy Dutch master Herman Koch, which this was manifestly not.

I called Amazon’s customer service hotline, and after the requisite rigmarole, a very nice lady materialized and listened to my explanation of the situation. She hardly quibbled, assured me that she believed me when I said I had nothing to do with damaging the book, and offered to replace it at no cost. Huzzah! That was much further than you can get on Amazon’s website, which insists on a complicated and pointless physical return of the unsellable item.

Then I gave her my address: street, city, country.

I heard the very nice lady stop typing, and the line was filled with awkward silence.

“Hello?” I asked.

“I see this address is not on the map,” she said. “I only see Palestine.”

And then the line went dead.

I stared at the phone in disbelief, which is not my normal mode. Had I detected a hint of anger? Or was that slight quiver in her voice the sound of a person about to take a risky but heartfelt action?
UVa, federal authorities open investigations after Jewish students claim they've been harassed, threatened and abused
Matan Goldstein had only just arrived at the University of Virginia when he says he was first attacked for his faith and his nationality.

Meeting other first-year students in his dormitory, Goldstein introduced himself as an Israeli and a Jew. After making this introduction, another student, who identified himself as Egyptian, approached Goldstein, told him he “hated” him and called him a “bloodthirsty human being.”

That was Week 1, a little more than a month before war would break out in Israel.

On Oct. 7 of last year, Palestinian terror group Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel, killing roughly 1,200 civilians and taking more than 200 hostages. Israel has responded with a full-on siege of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. More than 30,000 people have died, an overwhelming majority of those Palestinians.

The war, and the atrocities committed against civilians, have sent shockwaves across the globe. And American colleges, as they are wont to do, have become hotbeds of debate, protest and even violence. University officials, themselves, have landed in hot water for their responses not only to the violence overseas but unrest on their own campuses.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, a former UVa provost, both stepped down after facing criticism for their defense of free speech, which many U.S. lawmakers and university donors saw as a failure to condemn a sudden rise in antisemitic acts.

And antisemitism is on the rise, according to human rights watchdog organizations.

Between Oct. 7 and Dec. 7, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 337% year-over-year increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S.

The Grounds at UVa are no exception.

UVa authorities have received dozens of reports from Jewish students claiming they’ve been harassed, threatened, intimidated and even physically assaulted.

While UVa says it received a total of 19 "reports related to potential antisemitism" from students, faculty and staff between the start of the 2023 fall semester and Jan. 1 of this year, not a single of one those reports has been officially lodged as a formal complaint.
Virginia AG urges UVA board to reject student BDS vote
Virginia’s attorney general urged the University of Virginia board of visitors on Friday to “explicitly reject and definitively repudiate the misguided attempt by the UVA student body to undermine the legitimacy of Israel,” according to a copy of a letter shared exclusively with Jewish Insider.

Jason Miyares’ letter was in response to the passage this week of a non-binding BDS referendum at UVA. On Wednesday, students voted overwhelmingly to call on the school to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

“I write to you today with grave concern about the recent student-led referendum at the University of Virginia,” Miyares, a Republican, wrote. “The UVA referendum in question urges the University of Virginia and the University of Virginia Investment Management Company to participate in the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. It is well-documented that the leaders and founders of the international BDS campaign believe in the destruction of Israel… In addition, BDS fundamentally opposes the right of the Jewish people to national self-determination in any inch of Israel, rejecting a two-state solution, while using antisemitic language and tropes.”

“Time and time again, the BDS movement disguises its malicious intentions under the banner of ‘human rights,’ yet inexplicably ignores the human rights abuses elsewhere around the world,” Miyares continued. “I await the same organizers at UVA who pushed the BDS referendum to place as much effort to condemn the rape, sexual assault of innocent Jewish women, and the murder of the innocent.”
Tufts University Student Government Passes BDS Motions
Tufts University in Massachusetts on Monday expressed disappointment that its student government — Tufts Community Union Senate — passed three resolutions falsely accusing Israel of apartheid and genocide, as well as demanding that the university stop selling Sabra food products, a priority of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.

“We’re disappointed that a majority voted to pass three of the resolutions,” Tufts University spokesman Patrick Collins said in a statement to the campus newspaper, The Tufts Daily. “To be clear, as we have done in the past, we reject the boycott, divest, and sanction movement; we wholeheartedly support academic freedom and all our academic exchange and affiliated study abroad programs; and we will continue to work with all companies that we engage with and do business with now.”

The resolutions — written by a group which calls itself “Coalition for Palestinian Liberation” — divided the campus body, The Daily reported, noting that over 300 students packed the Joyce Cummings Center, where the senate convened, to spectate or deliver presentations on why senators should vote one way or the other.

Jewish students reported being verbally abused for sharing their opinions. After several said that anti-Jewish sentiment on campus is redolent of Nazi Germany in the 1930s and that they had personally lost family during Hamas Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, an anti-Zionist student told them, “Stop using generational trauma to justify another genocide.” Other Jewish students were heckled while speaking and another was allegedly spit on, prompting all of them to exit the Cummings Center early, according to campus media.

As they did so, according to a report later posted by Jewish on Campus (JOC), anti-Zionist students assailed them with antisemitic comments, vulgar expletives, and, JOC added, hand gestures. The Daily reported that Tufts spokesman Patrick Collins addressed the anti-Zionist students’ antisemitism, but also denounced “Islamophobic words” which were not witnessed by the paper’s reporters nor detailed in their article.

“This is entirely unacceptable and should be met with condemnation from the entire community, regardless of individual perspectives on the resolutions,” Collins said. “We will be investigating these accusations thoroughly and will hold accountable any student found to engage in these behaviors.”


Vicious Anti-Israel Display and Magazine Allowed at North Carolina Public School
Carrboro High School in North Carolina recently allowed their library to feature an anti-Israel display, which included large messages proclaiming, “RESISTANCE IS JUSTIFIED WHEN PEOPLE ARE OCCUPIED” and “FREE PALESTINE.” To many Jews, seeing the phrase “resistance is justified” is deeply troubling because it condones and justifies Hamas’ use of rape and sexual violence, torture, murder, and hostage-taking.

Included in this public school display was a call for students to “Learn about the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement” (BDS) against Israel, and a list of companies to boycott that included Starbucks, Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Hewlett Packard, and Burger King, the latter referred to as “APARTHEID KING.” Part of the display was presented in both English and Spanish.

A student group that prepared the display indicated on social media that it was active on Dec. 15. Multiple sources told me that the display was taken down after students, families, and community members protested.

I have met with more than a dozen local parents and current Carrboro high school students, who told me that two student clubs, the Student Socialist Alliance and the Zine club, were responsible. The prominent placement of the anti-Israel display in the school’s library likely left some students, staff, and community members believing that these views may have been endorsed by the school and district.


CBC Ombud Acknowledges HRC Subscriber’s Complaint About Gaza Hospital Explosion Coverage, Saying Headline “Did Not Live Up To The High Standards” Expected

Success! HRC Prompts CBC To Retract Unsubstantiated Claim That “Israeli Attacks Have Left 17,000 Orphans in Gaza”

Financial Times erases Hamas's extremism
A Financial Times article (Rival Palestinian factions hold talks in Moscow, Feb. 29) written by Mehul Srivastava, Polina Ivanova and Andrew England about talks in Moscow between rival Palestinian factions is a good illustration of the media’s tendency to whitewash the extremist ideology of the terror group which carried out the mass murder, rape, torture and mutilation of Israelis on Oct. 7.

The article explained that the talks, which followed the resignation of the Fatah-led West Bank government, were “aimed at ending decades of rivalry to present a united front in pushing for an end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza and its occupation of the West Bank”. The negotiations, the FT continued, were designed to create a mechanism for delivering aid, and “pave the way for the set-up of a new technocratic administration”. The US and Arab states have pushed such a “technocratic” government, the FT explains, partly as “a step in efforts to make gradual progress towards talks on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.

This of course would have been where FT journalists could have explained the immense difficulty of such an outcome given Hamas’s rejection of two states – or any outcome which allows for the continued existence of the Jewish state. But, they declined to edify readers regarding this important point.

The article then notes the unlikelihood of such a two-state outcome “until Hamas and Fatah work out their long-running differences”, but fails to note what those differences are.

Further into the article, the writers aver that “For Israel, the infighting between Fatah and Hamas has been a boon as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu capitalised on the divisions and rebuffed any moves towards a Palestinian state.”. This observation is debatable, but represents another opportunity where the outlet could have explained that such “divisions” relate to the fact that, unlike Fatah, who at least publicly supports a two-state solution, Hamas is adamant that they will never agree to any outcome other than Israel’s annihilation.
Hill Times Columnist Accuses Israel Of Intentionally Targeting Journalists In Gaza

BBC report whitewashes sadistic Hamas video

Channel 4 News accepts Hamas claims at face value

CBS’ Imtiaz Tyab Reports As Fact Disputed Hamas Claims on Aid Distribution Deaths

Hill Times Publishes Anti-Israel Organization’s Letter Whitewashing Hamas

Once again, a ‘Palestinian babies’ story merits a Washington Post apology

Reuters Uses Gaza Journalist Who Praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 Massacre

The BBC’s own record debunks Jeremy Bowen’s ‘free access’ claims

Norway's deplorable choice for Nobel Prize candidate
While numerous countries condemn the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the Middle East, Norwegian MP Asmund Aukrust, vice chairman of Norway’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, has submitted it as a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Yes, that’s right.

Ostensibly a humanitarian aid organization, UNRWA has de facto ties to Palestinian terrorism, with several of its employees actively involved in assisting Hamas during the massacre and kidnapping of Israelis on October 7.

As the number of nations declaring Hamas a terrorist organization mounts, UNRWA heads sit quietly by in anticipation of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as if they were not party to aiding a terror group.

Hamas computers and state-of-the-art communication and intelligence systems have been uncovered beneath UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. UNRWA members have been unmasked as terrorists who, for years, have smuggled weapons hidden inside UNRWA bags into Israel. Kalashnikov rifles, RPG warheads, weapons magazines, IEDs, and hand grenades are among the weapons found in – and confiscated from – Gaza’s UNRWA warehouses.

This is the same UNRWA that has been put forward as a Nobel Peace Prize candidate for its “70 years of service for Palestine refugees.”

The heights of shame and insolence have been reached.


Belgian police arrest adult, 3 minors over jihadist plot messages
Belgian police on Sunday arrested an adult and three minors over messages they exchanged allegedly plotting a jihadist attack, local media reported.

The four were arrested as police conducted searches at addresses in the cities of Brussels, Ninove, Charleroi, and Liege, outlets RTBF and HLN reported. No weapons or explosives were found.

Multiple attempts by AFP to contact the federal prosecutor’s office handling the case for confirmation were not immediately answered.

Belgian authorities remain highly vigilant since the 2016 jihadist attacks by suicide bombers that killed 32 people in blasts at Brussels airport and the city’s metro system.

And in October last year, a Tunisian man shot dead two Swedish football fans in Brussels before being fatally shot by police.

According to broadcaster RTBF, Sunday’s arrests stemmed from a police operation looking into people deemed potentially violent and with links to Islamic extremism.

“The investigation showed that these people were planning to commit a terrorist attack,” Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office, told the HLN news website.

“The plans were not yet very concrete, but still serious enough to arrest and interrogate them,” he said.


MEMRI: Member Of Fiqh Councils In Europe And North America: The Islamic Nation Must Wage Jihad To Help The Palestinians; Sykes-Picot Borders Have No Legal Status In Religious Laws Of Jihad
Against the backdrop of the war in Gaza, Jasser Auda, a founder and board member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), funded by Qatar and Turkey, and a member of the Fiqh Council of North America and the European Council for Fatwa and Research,[1] published an article calling for Muslims to wage jihad in order to aid the Palestinians in their war against Israel. In the article, titled "The Sykes-Picot Borders Have No Legal Status In Religious Laws of Jihad," Auda stresses that the religious duty of jihad, which is explicitly set out in the Quran, is a collective duty. This means that, if it is adequately performed by a sufficient number of Muslims, other Muslims are exempt from taking part in it. However, if it is not adequately performed, it becomes a religious duty incumbent upon every individual Muslim, especially upon those who are geographically close to the arena of fighting and who are mentally and financially able to engage in it.

Auda goes on to say that, given the current events in Gaza, the Muslim nation is not fulfilling its duty of jihad in Palestine, which means that all Muslims must take part in it – and if they do not, they are all sinners.

Stressing that the duty of waging jihad rests first and foremost with the Muslim rulers, who have necessary military and economic means at their disposal, Auda adds that international borders do not nullify the duty of waging jihad. Notions like "borders between nation states" and "state sovereignty," he explains, are part of the modern political lexicon and have no legal status when comes to the shari'a laws of jihad.

Auda criticizes countries that "purport to be Islamic" but support Israel out of their own narrow interests.

It should be noted that, in another article posted on the IUMS website several months ago, Auda wrote that the current war in Gaza is "part of a war against Islam as a religion and a civilization" which "the forces of modern global arrogance [are waging] in the heart of the Islamic nation, in Palestine." He added that, for these forces, "the Zionist entity is just a tool to actualize the imperialist interest of the white man's expansion and control."[2]
Arab MKs meet Jordan’s king amid concerns of Ramadan unrest at Temple Mount

Abbas’ advisor: “There never existed a Jewish nation nor a nation of Israel”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “It is not possible, if we are objective, to call the human Israeli component a ‘nation’. There never existed a Jewish nation nor a nation of Israel. They [Europeans] invented this issue in order to gather the Jews for colonialist goals that we all know.”

[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Feb. 28, 2024]


PLO still seeks Israel's destruction after 76 years of “occupation”
Head of PLO Department of Human Rights, Qassem Awad: “Under the leadership of the PLO, we stand firmly on the Palestinian principles, which our people have never given up on during more than 76 years of occupation (i.e., since Israel’s founding), that is the length of time of the ongoing crime against the Palestinian people.”

[Official PA TV, March 3, 2024]


Abbas’ advisor: America will receive painful punishment by Palestinians or directly from Allah
Abbas’ advisor and Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash: The Pharaoh of this period, America thinks it can do anything without any draw back, and without any consequences... America used its veto for the third time, to prevent the cessation of the war against our people in the Gaza Strip... Just as He [Allah] punished the oppressors in the past, so He will punish the oppressors of this period. He will punish the Pharaohs of this age [America], the criminals of this age, sooner or later, by our hands or by His punishment. By our hands, or in pain from Him. The oppressor will not last.”

Official PA TV Live, Feb. 23, 2024




Hamas Snipers Using U.S.-made Sights Sold Openly to Iran

IAEA chief: We have lost track of Iran nuke progress
IAEA Chief Rafael Grossi on Monday told the IAEA Board of Governors, concerning Iran’s nuclear advancement, that “the agency has lost continuity of knowledge about the production and inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate.”

“It is three years since Iran stopped provisionally applying its additional protocol and therefore it is also three years since the agency was able to conduct complementary access in Iran,” Grossi said, describing large gaps in nuclear inspections.

Next, he referred to a recent Iranian nuclear official who said that all aspects of the nuclear weapons cycle are complete and that the only obstacle to Tehran producing a nuclear weapon is the political decision to do so.

Grossi said, “Public statements made in Iran regarding its technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons only increase my concerns about the correctness and completeness of Iran’s safeguard declarations.”

In addition, he warned, “You will note that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium continues to increase, even though the level of uranium enriched up to 60% has fallen slightly.”
Senate Republicans push for Iran censure at IAEA
A group of 10 Senate Republicans on Friday called on the administration to seek to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors meeting, which begins on Monday.

“The United States must demonstrate leadership at the IAEA and encourage the international community to uphold its non-proliferation standards. The stakes could not be higher,” the senators wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Tony Blinken, citing both Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities and its expanded terrorist proxy activity in the months since Oct. 7.

“As the March meeting approaches, the United States must move beyond rhetoric and take action to penalize the Iranian regime for its repeated violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its obligations under the IAEA Safeguards Agreement,” they continued.

The call also comes days after an IAEA report found that Iran had reduced its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, while increasing its stocks of uranium enriched to lower purity. Experts say that Iran can still quickly produce weapons with its current stockpile, and some speculate that the reduction in stockpiles was geared toward avoiding a censure.

“The slight downturn in Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium is but another political ploy by Tehran following a year of throttling enrichment rates, to avoid censure at the IAEA and scrutiny over outstanding transparency issues,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Jewish Insider. “Make no mistake, despite the dilution of some of Iran’s 60% stockpile, the regime’s overall stockpiles of enriched uranium continues to grow, meaning the move will matter very little when calculating breakout potential.”


Swiss president says ‘antisemitism has no place’ in country after Jewish man stabbed
The Swiss president insisted Monday that “antisemitism has no place in Switzerland,” after the brutal stabbing over the weekend of an Orthodox Jewish man, allegedly by a teenager pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group.

“The knife attack in Zurich shocked me,” President Viola Amherd wrote on X, adding that her thoughts were with the victim and all Jewish citizens in the country.

Her comment came after the 50-year-old Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed in Switzerland’s largest city late Saturday, with police initially saying he had been “critically injured.”

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities however told the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS news agency Monday that the man’s life was no longer in danger.

A police statement on Sunday said the motives for the attack remained unclear but that investigators were looking into the possibility that it was an “antisemitic crime.”
Calls mount to investigate antisemitism in killing of San Diego Jewish dentist Benjamin Harouni
The brother of a San Diego-area Jewish dentist killed at his office on Thursday says Benjamin Harouni was “murdered in cold blood” in an act of hate and pledged to set up a nonprofit to combat hatred in his memory.

Local police have not declared the incident a hate crime, saying that the motive for the shooting remains under investigation and noting that the alleged murderer appears to have been “a disgruntled former customer” of Harouni’s dental practice.

But Jake Harouni’s Instagram post is emblematic of a coalescing discourse surrounding his brother’s death: Jews and pro-Israel activists say the killing, allegedly at the hands of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdulkareem, was likely an act of antisemitism amid the heated atmosphere surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.

“Those saying this was not a hate crime need to rethink what they define as hate,” Jake Harouni wrote in his post. He added, “As a Persian-Jewish American, I have always felt so scared and vulnerable during these times of hatred. Now that it is at my front door, it feels much more real and urgent.”

Multiple Jewish advocacy groups are demanding that local police investigate whether antisemitism played a role in Dr. Benjamin Harouni’s killing, and his childhood rabbi said at his funeral Sunday morning that he was “struck down in a senseless act of violence, in all likelihood because he was a Jew.”

At a vigil Sunday night, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells acknowledged fears that law enforcement could obscure antisemitic motivations for the murder but promised to uncover the facts.

“People have told me that they’re concerned that the city or the FBI or whoever’s in charge may try to sweep this under the rug and treat this as though it were a simple crime,” Wells said.

He pledged, “We will get to the truth of what happened.”
California dentist gunned down in pre-planned attack by ‘disgruntled’ ex-patient who sparked 5-hour manhunt: cops
The shooting appeared to have been planned out weeks in advance, according to cops.

Records show Abdulkareem legally purchased the handgun just two weeks earlier and rented the U-Haul one hour before allegedly gunning down his ex-dentist.

“While the exact motive behind the shooting remains under investigation, it is believed that Abdulkareem was a disgruntled former customer,” the El Cajon Police Department said in a statement.

Harouni worked as one of four doctors at Smile Plus Dentistry & Orthodontics, a practice owned by his father.

The Anti-Defamation League in San Diego said Friday that the victim of the shooting was a member of the Jewish community, but said police have found no indication it was caused by antisemitism.

Smile Plus Dentistry lists Harouni as one of three doctors who work for his father Jack, who owns the El Cajon-based office.

Harouni had celebrated his birthday just nine days before his slaying, according to a social media post. Abdulkareem was booked into a San Diego jail on felony charges, including one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

He is being held without bail.
Russia spreads claims Yad Vashem hides Ukraine Nazi
Yad Vashem on Monday dismissed claims spread by the Russian Foreign Ministry alleging that the Holocaust memorial museum was concealing materials about Ukrainian cooperation with Nazis during the Holocaust.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova shared claims by a YouTube channel in the Russian language on her own official Telegram channel that alleged that Yad Vashem had been hiding material on the Holocaust in Ukraine.

“This is how history is rewritten!” Zakharova said on Wednesday in response to Russian journalist Oleg Lurie, who had shared how video blogger Margarita Levin said that over two years “disappeared from the exhibition of the Holocaust museum, and most of the references and documents [regarding how] the Ukrainian nationalists-Bandera took a direct part in the mass murder of almost one and a half million Jews living on the territory of Ukraine” were removed.

Levin, who, according to her Facebook page, lives in Modi’in and runs a nail beautician school, posted the allegations against Yad Vashem on Tuesday on her small 1,000-subscriber YouTube channel. The channel posts content in Russian with English subtitles, mostly on the topic of the Russian-Ukraine war.

“Many people have the feeling that the Israelis support the current rewriting of history in Ukraine,” Levin wrote on Tuesday. “We, ordinary Israelis, see everything, remember everything, and know our history. And we do not agree with what is happening now!”

Yad Vashem called the blog “strange” and “fictitious,” and denied that there had been any concealment, removal, or alteration of its exhibits that obfuscates the collaboration of Ukrainians in the murder of Jews during the Holocaust.
v France Moves to Strip Citizenship From Pro-Russian Activist With Record of Antisemitic Barbs
The French authorities have launched proceedings to strip the citizenship of a prominent pan-Africanist writer and activist with a long record of viscerally antisemitic comments who is also closely aligned with the Russia’s ruling regime.

The activist, Kémi Séba — who was born in the city of Strasbourg to parents who immigrated from the west African state of Benin — revealed on social media last Thursday that he had received a letter from the French Ministry of Interior informing him that the procedure to remove his nationality had been initiated due to his “constant and current resolutely anti-French posture, likely to seriously harm French interests and likely to characterize manifest disloyalty towards the country of which you are a national.”

The 42-year-old Séba, whose real name is Stellio Gilles Robert Capo Chichi, has been closely associated in the past with Dieudonné, a French antisemitic agitator who bills himself as a comedian, and Alain Soral, a notorious far right Holocaust denier. In 2006, Séba first made himself known when he led a Black nationalist group known as Tribu Ka on an antisemitic demonstration in the historically Jewish Marais quarter of Paris. While the group subsequently disbanded, Séba continued with his activities, serving short prison sentences in 2009, 2011 and 2014 for violent behavior.

Séba has frequently invoked antisemitic tropes in his writings. In one article published in 2009, he accused international institutions including the World Bank, the World Health Organization and the International Monetary Fund of being “controlled by the Zionists who impose on Africa and its diaspora living conditions so execrable that the concentration camp of Auschwitz can seem like a paradise on earth.”
Israel's Founding Certainly Wasn't Imperialist
In December on Al Jazeera, University of Kent lecturer Dr. Shahd Hammouri said: "Israel is a colonizing power and the Palestinians the colonized indigenous population." That's the simplistic melodrama. Here's the complicated truth. Before 1914, Jewish corporations bought Palestinian land from Arab landlords to settle thousands of Zionist immigrants fleeing Russian pogroms. Whatever our evaluation, this was no "invasion."

In 1917 the British government made the Balfour Declaration, pledging to establish "a national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, without prejudice to "the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities." A major motive was sympathy for the Zionist story of an exiled people yearning to return home. At the same time, the British established two Arab states, Jordan and Iraq. The cartoonish "decolonization" narrative doesn't begin to do justice to the past.


L.A. Woman 2024: Noa Tishby Is the Leading Voice of Israel Activism
Hours before American media caught wind of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel, Noa Tishby delivered the grim reality on her Instagram feed, absorbing in real time the shock and terror of what amounted to the largest massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. “We broke the news about the rockets,” says Tishby, producer (HBO’s In Treatment) and author (New York Times bestseller Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth), who previously served as Israel’s inaugural Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization. “Then we broke the news about the fact that it’s a ground invasion; that cities and kibbutzim were under siege; about Nova,” she says of the music festival where hundreds were killed, raped, totured, kidnapped or all of the above.

Since that day, Tishby has further positioned herself as a powerhouse activist-cum-geopolitical expert. Amid a 388% rise in antisemitic hate crimes in the United States since the Hamas attacks (per the Anti-Defamation League), Tishby has worked tirelessly to debunk anti-Zionist myths permeating the Internet, college campuses and social media. She has appeared as a guest on NewsNation’s Cuomo, attended President Biden’s Hanukkah party at the White House, collaborated on content with celebrities such as Chelsea Handler, Michael Rapaport, Mayim Bialik and Debra Messing, and reported from the charred remains of the homes Hamas destroyed. Tishby’s follow-up book, Uncomfortable Conversations With a Jew, co-authored with Emmanuel Acho, will be published in April.

But as vocal as Tishby has been, her strongest adversary is silence in the face of the 136 hostages still held captive in Gaza. “If we equate this to Germany starting in 1931, it was also very unpopular to speak up, to speak truth to power,” says Tishby, a Tel Aviv native. She calls the few high-profile individuals who have spoken up “gutsy and commendable,” and wishes more people would “grow a pair.”


Rare coin from the Bar Kochba Revolt discovered in Judean Desert
The inscription “Year One of the Redemption of Israel” appears on a rare coin from the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt, bearing the name of “Eleazar the Priest” and dated to the first year of the revolt (132 CE), has been found in the course of the Judean Desert Cave Survey carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

The dig at the Mazuq Ha-he'teqim Nature Reserve, whose aim is to retrieve the ancient treasures before they are stolen by antiquity looters, is being carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and the Archaeological Office for the Military Administration of Judea and Samaria. Three additional Revolt coins bearing the name “Simeon” were also found with the rare coin.

Members of the public are invited to the excavation
Interested public members are invited to participate in the excavation season in the desert, which will begin on March 11 and last for ten days. The volunteers will stay in a camp set up in the desert by the IAA and will be able to hear and participate in other activities. Registration and details are on the Hebrew-language site of the IAA at https://www.iaa.org.il/.

There are a few theories about the identity of Eleazar the Priest, whose name appears on the coin. One is Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai, a Tannaic rabbi from the time of Rabbi Akiva, a pupil of Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakai. It seems that Rabbi Eleazar Hamod‘ai played a significant religious role at the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt, and he was living in the town of Beitar – the location of the revolt headquarters. The Talmud accounts that he died in Beitar, probably during the Revolt. (Jerusalem Talmud: Ta‘anit 4:5).

On the obverse face of the coin, a date palm is engraved with “Eleazar the Priest” inscribed in ancient Hebrew script. On the reverse, a bunch of grapes is surrounded by the text “Year One of the Redemption of Israel,” again in ancient Hebrew script.




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