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Tuesday, March 05, 2024

03/05 Links Pt1: UN report accepts Hamas attack included rape and abuse of corpses; Israeli envoy: ‘UNRWA must be defunded, dismantled’

From Ian:

Ben-Dror Yemini: The Demand for a Ceasefire Is a Demand for the Annihilation of Israel
When the Americans and British bombed Tokyo, Dresden, Hamburg, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed. But it was not a crime. This was a necessity in order to defeat the Nazi axis of evil. When the U.S. bombed Fallujah, Mosul and Raqqa to defeat al-Qaeda or ISIS, thousands were killed. This was not a war crime. It was a necessity, even though there was no existential threat to the West.

When Hamas leaders repeatedly declare their intent to exterminate the Jews, and embark on a campaign to murder innocents, Israel is forced to defeat Hamas. As Razi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, declared: "October 7 was only the first time. There will be a second and third and fourth time." So it is not only Israel's right to defeat Hamas. It is Israel's duty.

A demand for a ceasefire is tantamount to supporting the resumption of Hamas' extermination efforts. Anyone who would have proposed a ceasefire with Germany without the complete surrender of the Nazis would have been considered insane.
WSJ Editorial: Playing Hamas' Game on Aid to Gaza
After the tragic stampede at a Gaza aid convoy on Thursday, President Biden decided to airdrop some aid to the strip and increase his pressure on Israel. The onus on Israel plays into Hamas' strategy: Place civilians in maximum danger and trust the international community to set up Israel to take the blame.

In war, civilians flee to safety. Only in Gaza has the world decided that all civilians must stay trapped in the war zone, in danger and harder to reach with aid. One would expect Egypt to face great pressure to save lives. The opposite occurred. Rather than demand that Egypt follow its obligation under international law to accept refugees from the fighting next door, the U.S., UN and aid organizations took up Egypt's position and admonished Israel not to "displace" civilians from Gaza.

Only when it can damage Israel does it become the liberal position to close the borders and keep refugees penned in a war zone. Instead of civilians fleeing the fighting, receiving aid in freer conditions and then returning after the war, they have been kept in Gaza to serve as "Israel's problem." Rather than get Gazans to safety, the world's humanitarian organs have demanded that Israel cease fire, leaving Hamas in power with hostages in tow. Gazans need aid, and they also need the world to stop playing Hamas' game.
Why aren’t the perpetrators of the Oct. 7 attack designated as terrorist organizations?
On Oct. 7, a horrific act of terrorism claimed the lives of 1,200 people in Southern Israel, with over 240 others taken hostage into the Gaza Strip. Among those killed were at least 32 Americans, with multiple others still held captive in Gaza.

While the primary terrorist organization leading the massacre was Hamas, six other Iranian-backed terror groups participated in the carnage as well. Despite the American blood on their hands, some of these groups are still not designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) by the U.S. State Department, which provides them with an unacceptable level of operational freedom.

This should be rectified forthwith. Not only would an FTO designation ensure that these groups, their members and their allies face the most crippling and wide-ranging sanctions possible, it would also serve as a powerful declaration that the United States stands firm in its resolve that those responsible for Oct. 7 will not escape justice.

Among the groups involved in this appalling act that are already classified as FTOs are Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades. That leaves three groups — the Popular Resistance Committees, the Palestinian Mujahideen Movement, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) — undesignated.

All three groups clearly meet the criteria for an FTO designation, namely Section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989.

In fact, some of these organizations have for years faced calls to be designated as FTOs, such as the Popular Resistance Committees, the third-largest terror group in Gaza. One of the group’s notable attacks came in 2003 when it detonated a 200-pound bomb beside a convoy in Gaza that killed three American security guards and injured a U.S. diplomat. On multiple occasions, spokesmen for the organization explicitly acknowledged that it receives financial and military support from Tehran and Hezbollah.
Israel Demands UN Security Council Declare Hamas a Terror Organization
Israel demanded Tuesday that the United Nations (UN) Security Council convene to recognize Hamas as a terror organization, in the wake of a UN report confirming Hamas committed rape against Israelis in the October 7 attack.

As Breitbart News reported Monday, the UN issued a report largely confirming Israel’s accusations, noting that Hamas terrorists had committed gang rapes on October 7, and was also committing sexual violence against Israeli hostages.

“Israel calls for the immediate convening of the UN Security Council with the aim of declaring Hamas a terrorist organization,” Avi Hyman, an Israeli government spokesperson, said. “Now, even the UN recognizes Hamas’s horrific sexual crimes.”

Though Hamas is clearly a terrorist organization, the UN has refused to recognize it as one. As the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) has noted:
The UN does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist group despite decades of suicide bombings, thousands of rockets launched indiscriminately at Israeli cities, and the barbaric actions of October 7. In addition, the UN body formerly known as the 1267 Committee, now known as the ISIL (Dae’sh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, does not view Hamas (or any other Iranian proxy) as a terrorist group.

The UN’s refusal to recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization is the result of the influence of Islamic nations, as well as Russia and China, which adopt a generally anti-Western stance.

In that regard, the UN report Monday was unusual.


Harris and Gantz are playing politics with Israel’s future
Biden saw the return of Netanyahu to power as an obstacle to his hopes for a revival of Obama’s policy of appeasement of Iran. He particularly lamented the fall of the weak government led by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennet, which had gone along with Washington’s giveaway of certain Israeli natural-gas fields to Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon, something that pleased Tehran while weakening the Jewish state. The Israeli left mimicked Biden’s hyperbolic rhetoric about his Republican foes as enemies of democracy by claiming that Netanyahu’s judicial reform proposals, which would have made Israel more democratic, were actually a move towards authoritarianism. And Biden was happy to play along by agreeing with them. Since Oct. 7, the open sniping against Netanyahu had to move into the background as the war against Hamas became the focus of the increasingly uneasy alliance between the two nations.

The only message that Hamas should be hearing from Washington is one in which its surrender is imperative. That’s the only way the humanitarian crisis among Palestinians can be solved, and it’s also the only position in which Israel’s security is assured. It’s unfortunate that the only Democrat to be saying that is Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who some left-wingers now regard with disdain after defending him against right-wing critics who thought that the legislator, who suffered a stroke during his campaign, wouldn’t be able to do his job.

While Israelis may be divided about Netanyahu, they are united about the need to continue this war and oust Hamas. That’s why Gantz is making a mistake in playing along with the administration’s anti-Netanyahu scheming.

Because of the policies he pursued as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and as Defense Minister, Gantz, like Netanyahu, bears a great deal of the responsibility for the Oct. 7 failures of Israel’s military and intelligence establishments. But his Boy Scout image and military bearing, along with the infatuations of a certain portion of the Israeli voting public for ex-generals, has allowed him to remain relatively popular. Still, he’s also no political genius, having repeatedly been outmaneuvered by both Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.

Allowing himself to be used as a prop by Israel’s leading critics in Washington is also undermining his own stands on the issues. The last thing he should want to have hung around his neck in the next election is the title of the chief favorite of Americans who want to keep Hamas alive and give the Palestinians a state from which they can make good on their promise to repeat the atrocities that took place in southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7.

The president should ignore Harris and remember that there are far more votes to be lost among pro-Israel voters than among those who sympathize with Hamas. Nevertheless, the war in Gaza is politically inconvenient for Democrats, who resent having to aid a government led by Netanyahu. But it’s altogether different for Israelis.


Seth Mandel: What We’ve Got Here Is Failure to Communicate
Then we had yesterday’s bizarre remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris in which she announced that U.S. policy on Israel and Gaza was one of everything on the menu. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire,” Harris said to loud cheers, as the crowd heard the words so many Democrats have longed to hear. But that wasn’t the end of the sentence. The ceasefire call was immediately followed by “for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.” Thus did she make it clear it was a ceasefire but not, you know, the ceasefire. It would be temporary, and also her remarks were not intended to introduce any new information but simply reiterate what was already on the table.

The speech had something for Israelis, too. “Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal,” she said, seemingly placing the ball in Hamas’s court and making it clear who would be held responsible for blowing up the deal were the deal to be blown up.

Finally, she summed it all up: “Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza.”

Let’s do everything that everybody wants, and then go for pizza.

Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its just war against the terrorists of Hamas has been, of late, mostly in deed rather than in word. That is the highly preferable choice, if Americans had to pick one. But supporting Israel in word isn’t anything to sneeze at, and it remains unclear what’s behind the inconsistency between message and policy.

America is capable of doing what it says it will do, and it ought to be capable of explaining itself when it does. That’s up to the president—and he’s clearly not going to get any help on that front from his veep.
Administration officials watered down Kamala Harris' Gaza speech before delivery
Before Vice President Kamala Harris delivered pointed remarks Sunday about the need for an immediate six-week cease-fire between Israel and Hamas as part of a deal to release hostages, officials at the National Security Council toned down parts of her speech, three current U.S. officials and a former U.S. official familiar with the speech told NBC News.

The original draft of Harris’ speech, when it was sent to the National Security Council for review, was harsher on Israel about the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the need for more aid than were the remarks she ultimately delivered, according to one of the current officials and the former official.

Two of the U.S. officials said the initial draft specifically called out Israel more directly about the need to immediately allow additional aid trucks in. One of them described Harris’ original language as strong but not controversial.

The move to soften Harris’ comments highlights how reluctant the White House still is to aggressively criticize Israel in public as President Joe Biden tries to maintain some influence over the Israeli government and secure a hostage deal.

The current officials said that the changes were tonal, rather than shifts in policy, and that Harris’ comments about a cease-fire — which were widely covered — reiterated Biden’s remarks two days earlier and the administration’s position on the war.

Asked about reports that the speech Sunday was watered down and made to be less aggressive, Kirsten Allen, Harris’ communications director, said, “That is inaccurate.”


Foreign secretary spells out his five-point plan towards peace and a Palestinian state
The foreign secretary has presented his five conditions for a sustainable ceasefire and a Palestinian state.

Speaking at Jewish Care’s annual Topland Group business lunch, David Cameron said that he would like to see “ a pause when you get the hostages out”, adding: “I think the real task is to turn that pause into a sustainable ceasefire without a return to fighting.”

This would only be possible if five conditions were fulfilled, he said. Aside from the release of all the hostages, Cameron called for “the dismantling of the terror machine in Gaza [and] the removal of the Hamas leadership, including those responsible for October 7 – either surrendering or leaving – going to another country.”

The former prime minister said a new Palestinian government would need to be put in place, appointed by the Palestinian authority. “With technocrats, you can start delivering things for people on the ground for the people in Gaza and the West Bank.”

Lord Cameron added that “more controversially, particularly here, is a horizon towards a future for the Palestinians, not involving Hamas that would involve, over time, a Palestinian state.”

In an interview with JC journalist Daniel Finkelstein, he told the 1,000 business leaders: "If you could bring forward those five things and have massive momentum behind putting them in place, there is some chance you might be able to go from pause to ceasefire without a return to fighting.

"Effectively, you would be getting the remnants of Hamas leadership out through a peaceful process rather than a fighting process.”
Daniel Pipes: Netanyahu's Bold, Realistic Plan for "the Day After Hamas"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month presented Israel's security cabinet with a plan for "the Day After Hamas." Israel plans to work primarily with Gazans to rebuild their territory. "Civil affairs and responsibility for public order will be based on local actors with 'management experience,'" and "not identified with countries or organizations supporting terrorism" or receiving payments from them.

In a step toward this program of self-rule, the Israeli military has begun to seek out community leaders whose duties will include distributing humanitarian aid. The concept is brave, bold and contested. Many Israelis and Palestinians alike insist that Jerusalem won't find local actors to work with.

Yet the Israeli plan is correct. It envisages a decent Gaza run by decent Gazans. It recognizes that Gazans have endured 17 years of exploitation by their rulers as cannon fodder for public-relations purposes. Hamas sacrifices civilians for political support. The more misery Gazans endure, the more convincingly Hamas can accuse Israel of aggression and the wider and more vehement its global backing becomes.

Many Gazans want to be liberated from Hamas. However hostile to the Jewish state, they desperately want to move on from their present squalor, even if that means working with Jerusalem. Israel, therefore, can reasonably expect to find many cooperative Gazans ready to establish a new governing authority capable of taking on a range of tasks, from policing, utilities, municipal services and administration to communications, teaching and urban planning.
The Improbable U.S. Plan for a Revitalized Palestinian Security Force
Despite two decades of reforms, the Palestinian Authority security forces remain chronically underfunded and widely unpopular, ill-equipped to take on the massive responsibilities that their U.S. backers are envisioning. Washington sees the 35,500-strong Palestinian security forces as central to its plans to help stabilize postwar Gaza. But the Palestinian Authority and its security forces are already struggling to maintain order in the West Bank. They are not welcome in some Palestinian towns and cities, where militant groups have become the de facto authorities.

Western officials said major efforts would be required to expand and train security forces at the scale needed for Gaza - and to get political buy-in from the Israeli government, which openly opposes the plan. A Western diplomat said, "The PA is not ready to go to Gaza and won't be anytime soon. I don't see them having the numbers to be able to do it, or the will, or the knowledge of Gaza."

Many Palestinians came to view the force as a private militia that answered to their increasingly authoritarian leaders in Ramallah. From the start, those leaders and their U.S. supporters cared about "the functionality and effectiveness of the security forces in containing any confrontation or pushback" to Palestinian Authority rule, and not public legitimacy, said Alaa Tartir, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Hamas' Delusional War Propaganda
"Abu Obaida" is the military spokesman of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades. He regularly appears on TV screens throughout the Middle East, providing updates on Hamas' war effort since Oct. 7. He announces Hamas' purported tactical achievements and consequential losses for Israel while promising an imminent victory.

Abu Obaida has gained massive popularity and traction across the Arab and Muslim world. Arab social media depicts people, including children, glued to TV screens awaiting his speeches. Large banners featuring his picture appear in many Arab and Muslim states and cities. As a result, large segments of the Arab and Muslim population embraced Hamas' information war against Israel, celebrating the Oct. 7 assault as a major military breakthrough.

Abu Obaida's speeches predominantly frame the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis as a historical and perennial conflict between Islam and Judaism. His strongest arguments often refer to the purportedly imminent demise of the Jewish state, with the current operation beginning the decisive era of Israeli defeats, and he extensively quotes martial verses from the Quran.

Hamas depicts an effective and victorious battle against Israel, while most Arabic media and a majority of the Arab public appear to have subscribed to Hamas' war narrative against Israel. The conflict is incorrectly described as one between equal powers. Claims include Hamas having killed substantial numbers of Israeli forces, destroying hundreds of tanks and weapons, an Israeli economy suffering as a result of reservist mobilization, and a political divide tearing Israeli society apart.

Israel's massive military response and the ensuing large-scale destruction has not deterred a majority of Arabs from a sentimental appeal to illusory promises of victory. Yet this is hardly surprising and replicates similar delusional portrayals by the Arabic media in previous Arab-Israeli conflicts.
UN report accepts Hamas attack included rape and abuse of corpses
The UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict found evidence that Hamas’s October 7 terror attack on Israel involved rape and sexual violence including against dead women.

A report by the UN representative Pramila Patten, released on Monday, detailed two incidents from witnesses involving the rape of women's corpses.

Patten said there was “clear and convincing” information to show conflict-related sexual violence was carried out by Hamas terrorists including acts of rape and gang rape.

The report confirmed attacks had taken place at least three locations across southern Israel.

Patten said her team “found clear and convincing information” that some women and children were subjected to conflict-related sexual violence while held hostage.

She said the acts women and children were subjected to included rape and “sexualised torture” and there were “reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.”

The UN report was based on first-hand testimony gathered from released hostages and conducted as part of a trip to Israel and the West Bank from January 29 to February 14, carried out by a nine-member technical team.

Members of the investigating team held 33 meetings with Israeli institutions and conducted interviews with 34 people including survivors and witnesses of October 7.

Investigators spoke to released hostages, health providers and others as part of their mission.

Patten said: “There are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred during the 7 October attacks in multiple locations across Gaza periphery, including rape and gang rape, in at least three locations.”

She said her team of investigators found “that several fully naked or partially naked bodies from the waist down were recovered — mostly women — with hands tied and shot multiple times, often in the head.”

She said the pattern of undressing and restraining victims “may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence.”

Patten said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe the Nova music festival site was somewhere “that multiple incidents of sexual violence took place with victims being subjected to rape and/or gang rape and then killed or killed while being raped.”

She said: “There are further accounts of individuals who witnessed at least two incidents of rape of corpses of women.

Text: Report on Sexual Violence in the Oct. 7 Attacks (PDF)


Parents of Supernova festival victims sue AP and Reuters for NIS 25 million in damages
The parents of five victims of the Supernova Festival massacre on October 7 have filed a civil suit for damages against The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies due to what they allege was the involvement of photojournalists employed or utilized by those agencies in the Hamas atrocities of that day.

The parents of May Naim, Lotan Abir, Guy Gabriel, Shalev Madmoni and Shani Louk filed the lawsuit in the Jerusalem District Court, seeking some NIS 25 million ($6.5 million) in damages for their pain and suffering and other losses resulting from the murder of their children.

Over 360 men and women partying at the Supernova Festival rave close to Kibbutz Re’im near the Gaza border were murdered by Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on October 7, and dozens of hostages were seized and taken to Gaza.

In all, the terror group killed some 1,200 people, overwhelmingly civilians, and abducted 253 that day in the worst terror attack ever to be conducted against Israel.

The lawsuit filed by the victims’ parents last week alleges that five photojournalists, Hassan Abdel Fattah Eslaiah, Hatem Ali, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Ashraf Amra, and Ali Mahmoud, who filed photographs in real time of the atrocities being perpetrated by Hamas terrorists, were in fact a component of the attacks themselves, and were not conducting legitimate journalistic work.

The journalists were either aware ahead of time that a mass invasion and terror attack was about to be staged by Hamas or, being present from the very outset of the attacks, were culpable for doing nothing to stop the assault, including failing to warn the Israeli authorities, the suit asserts.
'We just want our innocent people back': Sister of Hamas hostage pleads for her release
Yarden Gonen, the sister of Hamas hostage Romi Gonen, said she wants people to know that her sister is more than just another poster – she’s a human being.

Gonen’s family took part in a four-day march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to call for the release of Romi and the estimated 134 remaining hostages.

"We've marched for four days from the place that [it] all started for me and my family and for, unfortunately, a lot of others, from the Nova parking lot near Reim, Kibbutz Reim," Gonen said Sunday on "Fox News Live." "And along the way, we could see the whole country started to gather, surrounding us, join[ing] the ride, the march, even sleeping with us in tents at night."

She estimated there were about 20,000 people who marched with them to Jerusalem.

"It was very significant, the feeling of unity for life. You know, to celebrate the living and to try to defeat the evil," Gonen added. "Our fight is against terror and not against anything else. There [are] innocent people from all sides and we just want our innocent people back. I really miss my little sister."

Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people during their Oct. 7 terror attack, most of whom were civilians, and kidnapped roughly 240 people, bringing them to the Gaza Strip.

The Biden administration said it worked in "close coordination" with Qatar, Egypt and Israel in late November to secure the release of 105 hostages held by Hamas during a temporary cease-fire. The majority of the hostages released were women, children and foreign nationals.

Gonen said she hasn’t received any new information about her sister in the past 94 days. She said Hamas is playing with the families of hostages like they’re "pawns in a chess game."


17 relatives of American hostages in Gaza to attend Biden’s State of the Union speech
When US President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union speech on Thursday, the audience will include 17 relatives of Americans held captive or murdered by Hamas terrorists in Israel.

A list published Monday by the Families of the American Hostages in Gaza coalition named relatives of six hostages still held captive, two released captives and two hostages who were killed.

The family members will be guests on Thursday evening of a bipartisan slate of members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate. Among the hosts are the speaker, Louisiana Republican Representative Mike Johnson, and the minority leader, New York Democratic Representative Hakeem Jeffries.

Hamas, which launched the war on October 7 when it raided Israel, brutally killing more than 1,200 people and abducting more than 250, is believed to still be holding more than 130 hostages, among them six to eight Americans. Dozens of them are thought to be dead.

The six hostages believed to still be alive and in captivity who will be represented are Edan Alexander, Itai Chen, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra, Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Keith Siegel. The two released hostages who will be represented are Liat Beinin Atzili and Avigail Idan, who turned 4 in captivity before being released during a truce in November. The two murdered hostages who will be represented are Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai.

The group said it urged Congress members in a letter to “show solidarity and a firm commitment to securing the swift and total release of the hostages by wearing yellow ribbons and dog tags” during the State of the Union. Yellow ribbons and dog tags that have become a symbol of solidarity with the hostages were included in the letters.


Israeli envoy: ‘UNRWA must be defunded, dismantled’
The head of UNRWA, the scandal-plagued, Palestinian-only refugee aid agency, told the U.N. General Assembly that his agency is “at a breaking point” after the United States and others suspended funding, pending an investigation of UNRWA staff’s ties to Hamas. The Israeli envoy to the global body told UNRWA good riddance.

“After all that has been exposed about UNRWA, it’s very clear,” Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told the General Assembly on Monday. “UNRWA will never again operate in Gaza as it has prior to Oct. 7. Its role in Gaza is finished and it must be replaced immediately. UNRWA must be defunded and dismantled.”

Phillipe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of UNRWA, said at the urgent General Assembly session that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “openly” stated “that UNRWA will not be a part of post-war Gaza.”

“Part of this campaign involves inundating donors with misinformation designed to foster distrust and tarnish the reputation of the agency,” Lazzarini said. He added that his agency faces a “deliberate and concerted campaign” to undermine its operations.

‘Protecting’ UNRWA
Lazzarini insisted that his agency cannot survive without a cash injection, after major donor countries suspended aid in the wake of Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA employees participated directly in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel.

Israel has further alleged that there are more extensive ties between UNRWA’s Gaza staff members, 13,000 of whom are from the Strip itself, and terror groups in the enclave.

The Jewish state released video footage of an UNRWA worker helping kidnap the body of an Israeli on Oct. 7 and audio of two phone calls that UNRWA teachers made that detail and celebrate their participation in the killing and hostage-taking spree.

Lazzarini told the General Assembly that Israel has not turned direct evidence over to him. He said he fired the 12 accused staffers “to protect” UNRWA.


IDF: More than 450 Hamas and Islamic Jihad Terrorists in Gaza Are Employed by UNRWA
The IDF releases audio recordings that it says incriminate two UNRWA employees who allegedly participated in the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught.

“I’m inside, I’m inside with the Jews,” Mamdouh al-Qali, an Islamic Jihad terrorist whom the IDF says was employed as a teacher in a UNRWA school, is heard saying in the recordings.

“We have female hostages. I captured one,” says Yousef al-Hawajara, a Hamas terrorist who worked as a teacher at a UNRWA school in Deir al-Balah, in the recordings released by the IDF.

Last month, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant named 12 more UNRWA staffers who participated in the massacre on October 7.

The IDF says its intelligence shows that some 450 terror operatives in Gaza, mostly Hamas members, are also employed by UNRWA.

Jerusalem has long argued that UNRWA should be disbanded, and the recent allegations have led several donor countries to announce funding freezes, leading to concerns that the agency, which says it is the main conduit for aid for millions in the Strip during the Israel-Hamas war, could stop operating in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East within weeks.


UN Watch: UN rights chief tilts towards Hamas
In his latest report to the Human Rights Council, presented on February 29th, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk promotes a narrative that sanitizes the terrorist group’s barbaric atrocities and refuses to acknowledge its genocidal goal of destroying the State of Israel along with its Jewish inhabitants. Like other UNHRC reports, this report disproportionately attacks Israel with 80% focused on criticizing Israel and only 20% on the Palestinians, including 4% criticizing internal violations by Palestinian actors against Palestinians.

The High Commissioner begins by putting the Hamas October 7th assault in context of “over 56 years” of Israeli occupation (Para 2), effectively justifying it. His report considers Gaza to be occupied never mind that Israel completely withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and clearly had no control over the territory since then.

The report then continues to passively describe the initial Hamas attack and invasion as if it equally shocked and victimized Israelis and Palestinians—“On 7 October, Israelis and Palestinians awoke to the heaviest barrage of explosive projectiles from Gaza in years” (Para 11)—when in fact many Palestinians on the Gaza side joined in the attack, while countless others cheered and celebrated it. These facts are conveniently omitted from Turk’s report.

The High Commissioner never uses the word “terrorist” to describe Hamas and its militants, including those who participated in the group’s October 7th massacre of Israeli families and young people. Instead, it legitimizes them as “armed groups” and “fighters.” Also never mentioned are Israel’s security needs and right to self-defense.

Indeed, the High Commissioner presents Israel and Hamas as two morally equal players, ignoring that Israel is a sovereign state which endeavors to comply with international law and to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas is a terrorist organization that intentionally and strategically flouts international law with the aim of inflating Palestinian civilian casualties. Other than two lines—one referencing an Israeli “claim” that is then turned against Israel and another in the report’s final conclusions—nowhere does the High Commissioner acknowledge or discuss Hamas’s widespread embedding of its military operations within Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, which has been extensively documented and reported.

Furthermore, the High Commissioner repeats highly disputed claims which excuse Hamas and portray Israel in a bad light without acknowledging that these claims are subject to controversy or presenting the other side of the story. For example, citing to a Haaretz article vehemently denied by Israel and debunked in a France-24 news report, the High Commissioner suggests that some of the Israeli civilian deaths on October 7th were caused by fire from an IDF helicopter (Para 12). Similarly, the report refers to “journalists killed in record numbers during hostilities in Gaza” (Para 67), without mentioning reports that many of these so-called journalists in fact double as Hamas agents.


Israel slams EU’s decision to release €50 million to UNRWA
Israel on Tuesday slammed the European Union’s decision last week to partially restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency before an investigation concludes into the U.N. agency’s links to Hamas and the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lior Haiat wrote on X that the European Commission’s move on Friday to pay 50 million euros ($54.3 million) to UNRWA prior to the probe’s completion “legitimizes the involvement of UNRWA employees in terrorist activities and cooperation with Hamas.”

The United Nations announced in February that an independent review group would assess whether UNRWA “is doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made.”

This is in addition to an investigation being conducted by U.N.’s Office for Internal Oversight Services.

The two investigations were initiated after Jerusalem revealed that 12 UNRWA employees “actively participated” in the Hamas-led slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel on Oct. 7. Many more were wounded in the attack, and 253 people kidnapped to Gaza, where 134 hostages remain.


IDF arrests dozens of terrorists during Hamad City operation
The Israel Defense Forces pressed forward with the “Crown of the West” operation in Khan Yunis over the past day, targeting the Qatari-funded Hamad City residential complex in the northwestern part of the city.

Dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were arrested, some of them while attempting to evacuate together with civilians, according to the IDF. Israeli forces raided terrorist infrastructure inside the compound and confiscated weapons.

The Hamad City operation began with a massive wave of strikes overnight Saturday, with the Israeli Air Force and IDF artillery forces hitting 50 targets within six minutes.

Following the strikes, the IDF established a humanitarian corridor, allowing residents to leave the combat zone. Around 8,500 residents of the housing development were evacuated on Sunday. Israeli forces captured 85 terror suspects attempting to hide among the civilian population, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who participated in the Oct. 7 massacre.

Soldiers distributed food to the evacuating residents for the upcoming Muslim holiday of Ramadan, including blessings from the IDF.

Also after the airstrikes, 98th Division troops raided the complex to target terror forces entrenched there, while troops from the Givati ​​Brigade and the 7th Armored Brigade surrounded the neighborhood.


IDF destroys largest terror tunnel yet found in northern Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces recently destroyed the largest tunnel discovered in northern Gaza since the start of the war against the Hamas terrorist group nearly five months ago, the army said on Tuesday.

Stretching some 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), the tunnel approached the Erez crossing to Beit Hanun in Gaza, while never crossing into Israeli territory, with the nearest shaft located 400 meters (about 440 yards) from Erez. The Erez crossing is the sole pedestrian crossing between Gaza and Israel and before the Oct. 7 massacre was used to transfer Gaza patients to Israeli hospitals and by Palestinians with Israeli work permits.

First discovered on Dec. 16, the IDF has been studying and dismantling the tunnel, which had several branches and a maximum depth of 50 meters (165 feet).

The tunnel was big enough to allow for vehicular movements. The route included infrastructure for sewage, electricity and communication and secured top doors designed to prevent the IDF from entering.

Many Hamas weapons were found within the tunnel system.

The tunnel was destroyed in a joint operation involving the engineering unit of the IDF’s Gaza Division, the Engineering Corps’ Yahalom special operations unit, the IDF Southern Command and the Defense Ministry’s engineering and construction division.


Israel decides against Ramadan restrictions on Palestinians - Netanyahu
There will be no initial changes regarding entry to the Temple Mount during Ramadan, according to the decision of a security establishment meeting led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

Prayer goers will be allowed to enter the site of the Temple Mount in numbers "similar to previous years" during the first week of Ramadan, which begins on Sunday, and Israel will assess weekly "aspects of security and safety and make decisions accordingly." The decision meant in effect that there will be no new restrictions placed on prayer goers even though Israel is currently at war, and indicated an attempt to avoid a potential increase of violence.

Every week after that, there will be an official situational assessment, and decisions to change the limitations will be made accordingly.

According to Israeli media reports, this model was recommended by the IDF and the Shin Bet.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of the meeting that Israel will do "everything" to ensure freedom of worship during Ramadan while also "maintaining security and safety needs."

"Israel's policy has always been and always will be to maintain the freedom of worship for all religions. Of course, we have done this during the Ramadan holiday in the past, and we will do it again now," he said.
Israeli soldier seriously wounded in Samaria stabbing
An Israeli soldier, 21, was seriously wounded in a terrorist stabbing at the Yitzhar Junction near Nablus in Samaria on Tuesday.

The terrorist was killed, the Israel Defense Forces said. IDF soldiers were searching the area for additional suspects.

The Hatzalah Judea and Samaria rescue group said the victim, 19, was conscious but sustained wounds to his upper body. He was evacuated to Rabin Medical Center’s Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah.

Judea and Samaria saw a dramatic rise in terrorist attacks in 2023 compared to the previous year, with shootings reaching their highest level since the Second Intifada from 2000-05, IDF data shows.
Israel must preempt Hezbollah
The more complex and grave question, however, concerns the north. Diplomacy appears to stand little chance of removing Hezbollah from the Israel-Lebanon border. The movement’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said himself in a recent speech that moving the Litani River to the border would be easier than moving Hezbollah north of the Litani.

Once diplomatic efforts fail, as they surely will, then Israel will face the choice of acquiescing to the steady erosion of the possibility of normal life for the citizens of its northern communities, or acting decisively to reverse this trend.

The former will mean that Iran’s slow and patient project for shrinking Israel, rendering it unviable and then finishing it will have passed another milestone.

The latter will mean large-scale preemptive military action against Iran’s proxy, to drive it north of the Litani and severely degrade its capabilities throughout Lebanon.

This is not a matter to be taken lightly. Hezbollah has been around for nearly half a century, is the dominant political and military force in Lebanon and has an extensive array of accurate and guided munitions capable of targeting anywhere in Israel. But Oct. 7 demonstrated that the Israeli choice of seeking to ignore or fence off Iran’s client insurgent forces was and is not a feasible strategy.

Israel must therefore either seize the opportunity to severely weaken and remove this force and its Hamas allies from their current position, or acquiesce to Tehran’s continuing to hold the strategic initiative. To do the latter means to accept an ongoing attempt at slow strangulation, the true meaning of “killing with cotton.” This is inconceivable. A large-scale Israeli military campaign to destroy or severely degrade Lebanese Hezbollah must therefore be launched.
Seth Frantzman: Hezbollah is getting stronger and its threat is growing: What can Israel do?
An attack on March 4 killed one person and injured nine in northern Israel. The victim was Pat Nibin Maxwell, a thirty-one-year-old from India. He was working in Israel. His wife is seven months pregnant, India Today reported. “The incident happened near Israel's northern border community of Margaliot, targeting agricultural workers, the Israeli Embassy later confirmed,” the report said.

The attack on March 4 harmed numerous workers. It’s not known if they were the target, but Hezbollah has shown that it is cold and calculating in its attacks. Even though it has launched thousands of unguided rockets, it has also used anti-tank guided missiles to target many specific locations on the border. It has damaged 500 buildings in this war since it began the attacks on October 8, supporting the Hamas massacre the day before.

Hezbollah is only showing a small piece of its power. In this, it is showing the threat that could emerge in a larger war. This is a threat that has been enabled by the international community over the last two decades. Israel left Lebanon in 2000, and as a reward, in a sense, Hezbollah became exponentially more powerful. This is similar to what happened in Gaza after Israel left.

In both instances terror groups were moved closer to Israel’s border and with the backing of Iran and connivance of other countries, the groups became massively powerful. In essence, Hamas today is like Hezbollah was a decade ago. Hezbollah is considered the stronger of the two groups. However, Hamas showed on October 7 that it poses an existential threat. We now know the number of Hamas tunnels was underestimated. In addition, we know Hamas likely pushed messages via third countries that were designed to lure Israel into a false sense that Hamas was “deterred.”
Gallant: Hezbollah pushing Israel towards decision on IDF op
Hezbollah’s attacks on Israeli territory are pushing Jerusalem towards a “critical point” in its decision-making process regarding a possible operation against the terrorist group in Southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told senior White House envoy Amos Hochstein during a meeting in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

Gallant and Hochstein “discussed the ongoing threat posed by Hezbollah and the need to change the security situation in the arena in order to safely return Israel’s displaced communities to their homes in the north,” according to a readout from the Defense Ministry.

While Gallant expressed his appreciation and commitment to U.S. efforts to broker a diplomatic resolution to the conflict and avoid regional war, he emphasized that the Iran-backed terrorist group continues to drag the parties towards “a dangerous escalation.”

Shortly after the meeting, air-raid sirens sounded in several communities near the Lebanese border, with reports of rockets hitting buildings in the largely evacuated Upper Galilee city of Kiryat Shmona.

Hezbollah attacks have killed six civilians and 10 Israel Defense Forces soldiers since the Shi’ite militia joined the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8. Some 80,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in communities near the Lebanese border as a result of the attacks.

On Monday, one person was killed and nine were wounded, two seriously, when an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon struck an orchard in Margaliot, a moshav in the Eastern Galilee.

The slain man has been identified as Nibin Maxwell, a 31-year-old foreign worker from Kerala, India, according to The Hindu.

The attack took place hours before Hochstein touched down in Beirut on the first stop of his regional tour. In the Lebanese capital, he met with Parliament Speaker and Hezbollah ally Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun.
Visiting Lebanon, US envoy says diplomacy ‘only way’ to end Israel-Hezbollah clashes
A US envoy said Monday that a diplomatic solution is key to ending nearly five months of intensifying hostilities between the Hezbollah terror group and Israel, after the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war.

“A diplomatic solution is the only way to end the current hostilities” and achieve “a lasting fair security arrangement between Lebanon and Israel,” Washington’s envoy Amos Hochstein told reporters in Beirut, adding that “a temporary ceasefire is not enough.”

“A limited war is not containable,” he said, after meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally.

Security along the Blue Line, demarcated by the United Nations in 2000 after Israeli troops pulled out of southern Lebanon, “has to change in order to guarantee everyone’s security,” he added.

Hochstein was set to hold talks with other senior officials, including Prime Minister Najib Mikati, in a push to halt violence along the border with Israel.

His visit came the same day that a missile from Lebanon killed a foreign worker in Israel near the border and wounded at least seven others, the latest casualties in months of escalating clashes.


IDF intercepts drone from Syria over Golan Heights
An IDF fighter jet intercepted an aerial target that apparently crossed from Syria into Israel’s Golan region on Tuesday morning, Hebrew media reported.

That incident followed a similar one on Monday night, when the IDF Aerial Defense Array intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that crossed into Israeli airspace from Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.

Approximately 10 cross-border rocket launches from Lebanon were also identified on Monday night. A number of the rockets were intercepted, but one hit a utility pole, knocking out power to several towns in Israel’s north.

IAF jets struck a number of Hezbollah military compounds in southern Lebanon in response, the IDF said.


The Commentary Magazine Podcast: SCOTUS, Trump, and the War on the Jews
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Adam White joins us to discuss the Supreme Court’s seemingly authoritative (9-0!) and confusing (5-4) ruling that willl prevent any efforts to keep Donald Trump off the ballot this year. What’s with the confusion? And we delineate the 20 year campus war on Jews and how the chickens are now coming home to roost as these college administrators face the wrath of the victims.
The Israel Guys: The Hypocrisy is Worse Than We Thought
After yet another terrorist attack at the Hummus Eliyahu restaurant in Samaria last week which left two Israeli Jews dead, residents have had enough. While the Biden administration doubles down on what they call “settler violence”, the actual citizens of Israel who happen to live in a region called Judea and Samaria are suffering terrorist attack after terrorist attack.

The world has ignored the real issues happening in a region that they called the Occupied West Bank. Decades of apathy and one-sided propaganda have caused thousands of Israeli Jews to suffer unimaginable pain. Instead of violent settlers, innocent Israeli Jews are facing barbaric terrorists in their biblical homeland.




"TIME OUT!" Alan Dershowitz And Mustafa Barghouti Debate Aaron Bushnell and Israel-Hamas
Piers Morgan Uncensored speaks to Dr Cornel West, who discusses whether US airman Aaron Bushnell's self-immolation outside the Israeli embassy in Washington was an act of martyrdom before Piers Morgan is joined by author of 'War Against The Jews' Alan Dershowitz and Palestinian activist and politician Mustafa Barghouti for an explosive debate on Gaza.

00:00 - Introduction
00:20 - Dr Cornel West on Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation
06:00 - Is this a genocide?
08:30 - Hamas
09:30 - How should Israel have responded to Oct 7th?
12:50 - Is Aaron Bushnell a martyr?
13:20 - Alan Dershowitz and Mustafa Barghouti debate begins
13:30 - Dershowitz and Barghouti debate Gaza war
22:15 - Kamala Harris' call for a ceasefire
23:55 - Allegations of Hamas using human shields and building tunnels
27:50 - Should there be a ceasefire?
30:40 - Are Hamas terrorists and should they stay in power?




Fury as Palestinian woman, 79, who hijacked two planes and called Hamas terrorists 'freedom fighters' is billed as guest speaker at British fundraising event
A Palestinian woman who hijacked two planes and described the Hamas terrorists who slaughtered 1,200 people in Israel on October 7 as 'freedom fighters' has been billed as a guest speaker at a British fundraising event.

Leila Khaled, 79, is set to appear via videolink at a £25 charity dinner hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which is the same group who projected 'from the river to the sea' onto Big Ben last month.

Khaled, described by event organisers as a 'veteran Palestinian freedom fighter', will be speaking at the fundraiser held by the PSC's West Midlands branch in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.

Her appearance has sparked fury and concern among Jewish campaign groups who described the move as 'extremely disturbing'.

In an interview last month, she claimed that Hamas terrorists did not target civilians in the horrific October 7 attacks.

She told activist blog Green Left: 'The freedom fighters did not attack ordinary people [on October 7], they attacked the military settlements. But when the borders were open, some other people took civilians.


Palestinian Canadians to sue Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, alleging Canada's military exports to Israel are illegal
A group of Canadian human rights lawyers and Palestinian Canadians who have lost family and friends in Gaza has sued Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to block exports of military goods and technology to Israel, arguing the Trudeau government is in breach of Canada’s domestic and international legal obligations.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the Federal Court of Canada by Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLIHR), joined by a Palestinian non-governmental organization called the Al-Haq-Law in the Service of Man, and a number of Palestinians living in Canada, including one who is seeking asylum status here.
International court referral has 'no credibility': PM
The prime minister has dismissed a referral to the International Criminal Court that accused members of federal parliament of supporting alleged war crimes in the Middle East.

Anthony Albanese said the referral to the court, made by Sydney-based law firm Birchgrove Legal, did not have any credibility.

The referral said the government, including prime minister, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Defence Minister Richard Marles and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton provided "explicit political, rhetorical, moral, military and material support" for alleged war crimes carried out by Israel.

Speaking to reporters in Melbourne at the ASEAN-Australia summit, Mr Albanese said there was no basis to the referral.

"I don't wish to comment particularly on something that clearly has no credibility going forward," he said.

"I don't think that peaceful resolution is advanced by misinformation, and there has been substantial amounts of misinformation about what is occurring."
Ring of steel is thrown around Oscars after pro-Palestinian protesters target award shows
A ring of steel has been thrown around the venue for the 95th Oscars which take place on Sunday, after pro-Palestine demonstrators targeted other red carpet events.

The area around the Dolby Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles has been blocked off with chainlink fencing as part of early preparations which will eventually involve thousands of law enforcement and security personnel.

Police and organizers will want to avoid a repeat of the Grammy Awards – when arrivals at LA’s Crypto.com Arena were brought to a halt by pro-Palestinian supporters blocking traffic – by using a security fence as in previous years.

The Oscars’ security measures will use long-standing protocols designed to prevent protesters attempting to interrupt the Sunday night show. Industry sources said they were using the same strict security as in previous years.

The Grammy protestors gleefully shared footage online with the hashtag #ShutItDown4Palestine. At the event itself, Annie Lennox called for a ceasefire during her tribute to Sinéad O’Connor.

The Post is told the Academy’s goal on Sunday is to support and celebrate artists and avoid politics and the political landscape.

An interruption would give protesters a platform among as many as 20 million Americans watching live, millions more around the world and a much larger social media audience.


AOC snaps at NYC protesters at movie theater demanding she call Israel's military campaign in Gaza genocide Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lashed out at protesters at a Brooklyn movie theater who demanded the lefty lawmaker call Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” which she claimed she’d already done, video of the confrontation shows.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was with her fiancé, Riley Roberts, when she lost her cool and dropped an f-bomb as a couple of protesters badgered her at Alamo Drafthouse Cinema around 5 p.m. Monday.

The protesters complained that Ocasio-Cortez, 34, hasn’t publicly called Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian territory a “genocide” as they accosted her inside the downtown Brooklyn theater, according to the footage.

“I need you to understand that this is not OK,” she told one male protester who held an iPhone near her face.

“It’s not OK that there’s a genocide happening and you’re not actively against it,” the protester shot back.

“You’re lying,” Ocasio-Cortez countered as she walked down an escalator with her beau.

The protesters continued to trail behind the Democrat, who was visibly aggravated as she made her way toward the exit. Between sets of escalators, Ocasio-Cortez got in the face of the protesters to again defend herself before walking away.

The video then cuts to everyone going outside, with Roberts turning around to confront the rabble-rousers.

“Stop,” he said as Ocasio-Cortez walked ahead of him. “OK, stop.”

The lawmaker then went on a tirade when she was asked if she was afraid the video clip would go viral.

“You’re gonna cut it … and you’re gonna clip this so that it’s completely out of context,” Ocasio-Cortez fumed.

The congresswoman has not publicly called Israel’s retaliatory bombardment in Gaza a genocide, but on Monday she suggested otherwise.

“I already said that it was and y’all are just gonna pretend that it wasn’t over and over again. It’s f–ked up, man,” she railed. “And you’re not helping these people, and you’re not helping them, you’re not helping them.”



Nikki Haley faces NINE separate outbursts at her last rally before Super Tuesday as pro-Palestine protesters descend on her Texas events to demand 'ceasefire now'
Nikki Haley was interrupted nine times at her final campaign stop before Super Tuesday when several pro-Palestine protesters descended on her Fort Worth, Texas rally.

The 2024 hopeful made her last stand before the fateful day that will allocate 865 delegates in the Republican presidential primary and essentially decide if she remains a viable candidate for the nomination.

But her final rally before Super Tuesday was infiltrated by several small groups of protesters who periodically interrupted her stump speech to a room full of hundreds of Texan supporters at Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall in Fort Worth on Monday evening.

Groups of between one and three pro-Palestine protesters shouted chants like, 'Free Palestine' or 'ceasefire now,' before law enforcement escorted them from the live music venue.

'If there's any more of you it would be a lot better if you just did it together,' Haley said after the seventh outburst of the evening.


Peaceful Jewish rally met with ‘cruel chants’ by pro-Palestinians in Adelaide
Menzies Research Centre's Director Freya Leach says a peaceful Jewish rally in Adelaide was met with “horrible” and “cruel” chants by pro-Palestine protestors.

Ms Leach noted it wasn’t a pro-Israel protest but a demonstration to combat anti-Semitism.

“This protest was about combatting anti-Semitism in Australia,” she told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“So why are you out here protesting against tolerance, against cohesion, against peace and respect?

“That’s what I don’t understand.”


Pro-Palestinian groups decry real estate events at synagogues over allegations occupied land being sold
Natalia Birnbaum, a Realtor who helped organize Sunday's event, told CBC Toronto it's "absolutely, 100 per cent false" that property located on "disputed" land was promoted during the event.

"There was no sales for anything in the West Bank, anything on disputed territory," she said, noting the projects on offer were being built on "existing" and "established" areas.

"I don't know ... where or how they're getting this," Birnbaum said.

Home In Israel, an Israeli real estate company that's associated with U.S.-based real esate franchise Keller Williams, said despite the protests, the event was a "great success" and thanked people who showed support, according to a post that was translated from Hebrew on their Facebook page.

The translated post said it's a "privilege" to help Toronto residents buy property in Israel "for investment and/or for their upcoming immigration to Israel."


‘Aggressive mob’ of pro-Palestine demonstrators block Montreal Jews from event at Holocaust Museum
A group of “aggressive and physically intimidating” pro-Palestine demonstrators blocked the entrance to the Federation CJA building and Holocaust Museum in Montreal on Monday night to prevent Jewish community members from attending a scheduled event.

According to a statement released by Federation CJA, Montreal’s central Jewish community organisation, the mob surrounded the building in Cotes-des-Neiges where an event titled “Israeli Perspective: Coming to Life” was to take place at 6pm.

The statement, released across Federation CJA’s social media accounts as the demonstration occurred, said that protesters were “attempting to block access to the building and are harassing those trying to enter.”

Featuring Israeli guest speakers Nir Yosef, Ori Itzhaki and Aby Volcovich, the event was part of a Canadian speaking tour designed to “fight against the delegitimisation of Israel” according to a promotional poster shared on social media.

In its statement, Federation CJA said the demonstration was “not about political views or a foreign conflict; it’s an intentional intimidation of Jewish Montrealers. The protests we’ve decried for weeks have escalated into a hate mob targeting Jewish institutions.

“The SVPM (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal) are on-site. Arrests must be made. This cannot be tolerated on the streets of Montreal. Calling for intifada, terrorism against civilians, is not a peaceful protest. The time for condemnation is over. Jews must be able to gather without the need for protection. We will never go anywhere again. Now we ask our leaders: what more needs to happen for you to grasp the gravity of the situation?”

According to CTV News Montreal, a small group of people representing the Jewish community formed a counter protest while police monitored the event. It is unclear whether arrests were made.




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