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Thursday, March 07, 2024

03/07 Links Pt1: Melanie Phillips: The scapegoating of Israel; Why left must lie about Hamas, rape; How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The scapegoating of Israel
So Cameron’s suggestion that Israel is not fulfilling its legal responsibility to provide aid for civilians is utterly false. Israel is indeed doing so. The problems start once the aid arrives.

Israel says there is no limit to the number of aid trucks being allowed into Gaza. There are instead hold-ups at the crossing points because the U.N. is struggling to distribute the aid. And that’s because it uses the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA—which is controlled by Hamas.

The result is that Hamas hijacks the trucks and steals the food and other supplies, either for itself or to sell to the population on the black market.

On social media, there are videos of aid trucks being commandeered by armed men. There are also videos of Egyptian drivers warning others not to drive aid trucks into Gaza because they are being attacked with rocks hurled through their windscreens, leaving some badly injured and even killed.

Even U.S. officials are admitting that Hamas is stealing the aid that the Biden administration is accusing Israel of failing to provide.

One senior official told journalists that the problem was with distribution once the 250 to 300 truckloads of assistance got into Gaza. He said: “This is a product of, if you will, commercialization of the assistance; criminal gangs are taking it, looting it, reselling it. They’ve monetized humanitarian assistance. … The food is there; it’s coming in.”

Other officials have confirmed that Hamas is involved in aid distribution.

David Satterfield, the senior U.S. diplomat involved in humanitarian assistance for Gaza, acknowledged that police escorts for aid deliveries include Hamas members, and that Hamas has been using other aid delivery channels to “shape where and to whom assistance goes.”

In the remorseless attempt to demonize Israel, humanitarian aid has become the blood libel of the day. When dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed last month as thousands stampeded aid trucks entering Gaza City, the incident was falsely blamed on Israeli fire—even though the IDF shot at no one other than a few Gazans who threatened to attack them.

Social media is teeming with distressing images of Gazan babies who have allegedly been starved to death by Israel. Even if all these images are genuine, it isn’t Israel but Hamas that’s responsible by stealing the food intended for civilians.

Israel is being scapegoated for the war crimes of Hamas. Scapegoating the Jews is the consistent and defining motif of antisemitism through the ages.

It is also precisely what Cameron and Blinken are doing. As a result, they are giving substance to the “genocide in Gaza” blood libel and stoking yet further attacks on Jews.

Israel’s media spokesman Eylon Levy said this week: “We will accept being scapegoated no longer.” Israel isn’t on its knees. The Jews of Britain and America should get up from theirs and publicly tell Cameron and Blinken the same thing.
How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers
Taken together, what does this all imply? While the evidence is not dispositive, it is highly suggestive that a process unconnected or loosely connected to reality was used to report the numbers. Most likely, the Hamas ministry settled on a daily total arbitrarily. We know this because the daily totals increase too consistently to be real. Then they assigned about 70% of the total to be women and children, splitting that amount randomly from day to day. Then they in-filled the number of men as set by the predetermined total. This explains all the data observed.

There are other obvious red flags. The Gaza Health Ministry has consistently claimed that about 70% of the casualties are women or children. This total is far higher than the numbers reported in earlier conflicts with Israel. Another red flag, raised by Salo Aizenberg and written about extensively, is that if 70% of the casualties are women and children and 25% of the population is adult male, then either Israel is not successfully eliminating Hamas fighters or adult male casualty counts are extremely low. This by itself strongly suggests that the numbers are at a minimum grossly inaccurate and quite probably outright faked. Finally, on Feb. 15, Hamas admitted to losing 6,000 of its fighters, which represents more than 20% of the total number of casualties reported.

Taken together, Hamas is reporting not only that 70% of casualties are women and children but also that 20% are fighters. This is not possible unless Israel is somehow not killing noncombatant men, or else Hamas is claiming that almost all the men in Gaza are Hamas fighters.

Are there better numbers? Some objective commentators have acknowledged Hamas’ numbers in previous battles with Israel to be roughly accurate. Nevertheless, this war is wholly unlike its predecessors in scale or scope; international observers who were able to monitor previous wars are now completely absent, so the past can’t be assumed to be a reliable guide. The fog of war is especially thick in Gaza, making it impossible to quickly determine civilian death totals with any accuracy. Not only do official Palestinian death counts fail to differentiate soldiers from children, but Hamas also blames all deaths on Israel even if caused by Hamas’ own misfired rockets, accidental explosions, deliberate killings, or internal battles. One group of researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health compared Hamas reports to data on UNRWA workers. They argued that because the death rates were approximately similar, Hamas’ numbers must not be inflated. But their argument relied on a crucial and unverified assumption: that UNRWA workers are not disproportionately more likely to be killed than the general population. That premise exploded when it was uncovered that a sizable fraction of UNRWA workers are affiliated with Hamas. Some were even exposed as having participated in the Oct. 7 massacre itself.

The truth can’t yet be known and probably never will be. The total civilian casualty count is likely to be extremely overstated. Israel estimates that at least 12,000 fighters have been killed. If that number proves to be even reasonably accurate, then the ratio of noncombatant casualties to combatants is remarkably low: at most 1.4 to 1 and perhaps as low as 1 to 1. By historical standards of urban warfare, where combatants are embedded above and below into civilian population centers, this is a remarkable and successful effort to prevent unnecessary loss of life while fighting an implacable enemy that protects itself with civilians.
Jonathan Tobin: Why left must lie about Hamas, rape
Activists pretending to be journalists
That says a lot about the contemporary culture of American journalism. It was already clear that many of those who work at the most prestigious publications and for broadcast outlets, especially those who have begun work in the last decade and those who specialize in non-traditional journalism like digital media or videos, are committed to a view of their profession as a way to advance their partisan views rather than a search for objective truth. Their attitudes towards the war against Hamas speak primarily to the way that the spread of critical race theory and intersectionality, as well as related ideas about white privilege, have similarly tainted their understanding of the Middle East.

This is, after all, largely the same group that regards the #MeToo movement as a pivotal moment in American society and culture. It enthusiastically promoted the idea that “believe all women” was the only way to approach even those controversies involving sexual harassment about which reasonable doubts had been raised.

But just as there were double standards when it came to accusations of sexual misconduct in the United States related to partisan affiliation—accusations against Republicans like Justice Brett Kavanaugh were accepted at face value while the woman who alleged that President Joe Biden had assaulted her with just as little proof was depicted as crazy and unreliable—it is equally clear that responses to the use of rape as a weapon of war are similarly determined by how you feel about Israel. This is not so much a measure of the hypocrisy of Israel-haters as it is a function of ideology. If, like so many Americans on the left—particularly those young people who have been indoctrinated in woke mythology—you are always ready to believe that Israel is in the wrong and the Palestinians are victims no matter what they do, then you are merely doing what the teachings of intersectionality dictate. When faced with accusations against people regarded as oppressors, the woke believe all women. When it is their allegedly powerless victims who are committing the crimes, they demand evidence and dismiss the facts even when they are presented with them.

The controversies over Hamas rapes on Oct. 7, coupled with the wars being waged inside publications like the Times about them, are an indication of just how much the toxic influence of critical studies has warped both journalism and public discourse. It has exposed the dishonesty of feminist groups and international bodies that have stayed silent when they should have spoken up.

Above all else, it conclusively demonstrates the connection between the new leftist ideological orthodoxies that dominate academia and popular culture—and the crudest sort of Jew-hatred. The mobs on the streets chanting for Israel’s destruction and terrorism against Jews are no different than the mobs in liberal newsrooms; they are equally disinterested in the truth. What they care about is aiding the war on Israel and the Jews, and if that means engaging in what can only be described as the 21st-century version of Holocaust denial, then that is what they will do. But as we know from past discussions about Holocaust denial, no one should be under any illusions about the questions raised about the veracity of reports about the slaughter and mistreatment of Jews. Such talk is always a reliable indicator of antisemitism.


Gallant: Hamas cannot continue to exist as terror army or regime
Hamas cannot be allowed to continue to exist as a political regime or terrorist-military entity, and Israel will pursue them “everywhere, across all of Judea and Samaria, in the Middle East—everywhere,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s terrorists walking with uniforms and weapons, or those who wear suits and pretend to be politicians—all of them,” he emphasized in an apparent reference to both Hamas’s terror operatives in the Gaza Strip and overseas leaders.

“This murderous entity called Hamas will be pursued by the State of Israel—its warriors, everywhere, in every way. We are at the end of a period and at the beginning of a period; the trajectory that we set in these days will be the one that leads us years forward and the way we live in the Middle East,” he said.

Speaking at the Bnei David pre-military academy in the community of Eli, in the Binyamin Regional Council of Judea and Samaria, Gallant spoke with the academy’s rabbis and heard about graduates killed in action in Gaza in the war against Hamas.

“I meet the academy’s students time and again in Gaza, in the north, and in Judea and Samaria, and also in other places in Israel’s most secret operations. I think there’s a special spirit here. But this spirit also involves a heavy price, which on one hand evokes pride, and on the other hand has an aspect of pain and suffering that are extraordinary for the families and also for the students, and certainly, for the rabbis, it’s not a trivial matter,” said Gallant.
America Must Give Israel More Time to Defeat Hamas
Fighting terrorists who wear no uniform in urban terrain is complicated, as one of us learned during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, battlefields that, however terrible, were simpler than Gaza.

Israeli troops need to move carefully through an obstructed maze of streets and alleys, navigating booby traps, snipers, and ambushes sprung from tunnels below their feet. They need to move more slowly still to minimize harm to civilians.

Israel is willing to accept these delays, for the safety of both its troops and Palestinian civilians. Yet, ironically, the longer Israel's operations take, the more international pressure grows to cut them short. Such demands would leave both Israelis and Palestinians in greater danger.

Hamas' strategy is to purposely put civilians at increased risk, then exploit graphic images of injured civilians to delegitimize IDF operations and pressure Israel to end operations prematurely.

Agreeing to a ceasefire that keeps Hamas intact and in power would pose an unacceptable risk to Israeli and Palestinian civilians. A ceasefire with Hamas, struck after the 2021 war and repeatedly violated by Hamas, was already in place on Oct. 7. It did nothing to stop Hamas from launching its heinous attack, and there is no reason to think Hamas would not similarly violate any ceasefire reached now.

The U.S. should provide Israel with the political support it needs to take the necessary time to conduct a careful and thorough ground operation that defeats Hamas. U.S. leaders need to constantly repeat that Israel has a right to defend itself, and that the blame for all the war's casualties lies squarely with Hamas, which broke the pre-10/7 ceasefire.
Unilateral U.S. Recognition of Palestinian Statehood Is a Political Nonstarter and an Unwise Policy Step
Arab leaders seem adamant that the U.S. recognize Palestinian statehood unilaterally at the outset of any peace push, without waiting for Israeli concurrence. Saudi policymakers seem to fear that Arab public opinion will not brook a normalization agreement without major concessions on Palestinian statehood.

They also seem to believe that neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor any of his likely successors would agree to such concessions in the near future, since Israeli public opinion would presumably regard them as a reward for the atrocities of Oct. 7.

Unilateral recognition is both a political nonstarter in the U.S. and an unwise policy step. Declaring a Palestinian state without agreements on its borders, capital, or security relations with Israel could worsen the already dire situation between the two parties and set the stage for deeper conflict. In Israel's view, the outcome of its decisions to withdraw from south Lebanon in 2000 and Gaza in 2005 demonstrate the futility of simply declaring a problem solved without negotiating arrangements to keep the peace.

Although the Gaza crisis has complicated the situation, Arab normalization with Israel can still help promote peace. Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires a narrative of coexistence to counter Hamas' narrative of grievance and revenge.

For two decades now, the U.S. has embarked on a string of impatient Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts that have collectively set the process back. What is needed today is patience.
UN Watch: Legal Actions Worldwide Against UNRWA For Complicity With Terrorism
In the wake of mounting evidence concerning the deep ties between UNRWA and the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, victims are demanding justice and accountability from UNRWA. Below is a list of legal proceedings that have been commenced in different jurisdictions around the world since October 7th either against UNRWA or concerning government funding to UNRWA.

United States
Halley v. Blinken, Case No. 24-CV-571 (D.D.C.) – Lawsuit brought by over 8,000 Israeli and American citizens against U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Department of State seeking a permanent injunction against any further funding to UNRWA, or in the alternative a temporary injunction until UNRWA produces irrefutable evidence that none of its funding is being diverted to Hamas or other terrorist activities. Filed by Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center. Reported by Jerusalem Post.

France
France-Israel Association – Alliance Gรฉnรฉral Koenig complaint to Paris Judicial Tribunal (Crimes Against Humanity Division) – Seeking the appointment of an investigating judge to investigate UNRWA for crimes against humanity and complicity with Hamas atrocities. Filed by David-Olivier Kaminski. Reported by France TV Info, L’Orient Le Jour, 20 Minutes.

More information at The Case Against UNRWA


U.S. Has Approved Multiple Military Sales to Israel since Gaza War Began
The U.S. has quietly approved and delivered more than 100 separate military sales to Israel since the Gaza war began on Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing.

Two of the sales had been made public: $106 million worth of tank ammunition and $147.5 million of components needed to make 155 mm shells. The Biden administration bypassed Congress to approve the sales by invoking an emergency authority. The other transactions were processed without any public debate because each fell under a specific dollar amount that requires the executive branch to notify Congress.

A senior State Department official said, "These are items that are typical for any modern military, including one that is as sophisticated as Israel's."
Washington Post: Biden May Limit Arms to Israel If It Attacks Hamas in Rafah
The Washington Post published a report Wednesday that the Biden Administration may limit arms transfers to Israel if it attacks the remaining four Hamas battalions in Rafah, a city on the Egyptian border in the southern Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel must enter Rafah to destroy Hamas and win the war. His war cabinet is considering a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians north of the city before a military operation.

David Ignatius, a columnist known for his sources in government, published the story, likely leaked from the White House:
The Biden administration, worried about a new humanitarian catastrophe, appears to be considering ways to prevent Israel from using U.S. weapons if it attacks the densely populated area around the city of Rafah.

President Biden and senior advisers haven’t made any decision about imposing “conditionality” on U.S. weapons. But the very fact that officials seem to be debating this extreme step shows the administration’s growing concern about the crisis in Gaza — and its sharp disagreement with Israeli leaders over a Rafah assault.

Behind the growing tension with Netanyahu is Biden’s feeling that Israel hasn’t been listening to U.S. warnings and advice, and that the U.S.-Israeli relationship has been a one-way street. The administration feels it supports Israeli interests, at considerable political cost at home and abroad, while Netanyahu isn’t responsive to American requests. Israel argues that any space between U.S. and Israeli policy only benefits Hamas. But Israel doesn’t make compromises to narrow that gap.

There seems to be no concern inside the Administration — at least, not in Ignatius’s reporting — that allowing Hamas to survive in Rafah would doom the entire Israeli war effort to failure, since it would let Hamas survive and regroup.

Nor does there seem to be any thought that the best humanitarian outcome would be to let Israel end the war soon, rather than dragging out the conflict through pauses, and delays in action against the terrorist group that started it.


Biden administration shifts tone, calls Israeli ministers ‘obstacle’ to Gaza aid
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller accused Israeli ministers of being an “obstacle” to Gaza aid on Tuesday, as Washington continues to press Israel to do more to help Palestinian civilians.

Miller was asked at the State Department’s daily press briefing what White House adviser John Kirby meant on Monday when he said that some “inorganic obstacles” to aid delivery had been put in place by the Israeli cabinet.

“You have seen ministers in the Israeli government block the release of flour from the port at Ashdod,” Miller said. “You have seen ministers of the Israeli government supporting protests that blocked aid from going into Kerem Shalom. All of those things are obstacles coming from ministers inside the Israeli government that we have called out, that we have said should end.”

Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, told JNS that the Biden administration has clearly changed its tone, reflecting White House frustration about the aid situation in Gaza. That’s been particularly the case in the wake of last week’s riot, during which dozens of Palestinians were killed while aid was being delivered.

“I think the convoy last week—even accounting for the facts coming out that there were two different incidents—really encapsulated the frustration by the White House and much of Congress, especially Democrats. Even a small number of Gazans seeking food being killed by the IDF, and even if they rushed the area, should not have happened,” Panikoff said.

“The idea that five months into the conflict, there’s still not sufficient planning for food delivery was rather shocking to U.S. officials,” Panikoff added.

Miller did not name the ministers that Washington held responsible.
Biden to announce U.S. military mission to create new Gaza port
As the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, President Joe Biden will announce in tonight’s State of the Union address that he will direct the U.S. military to lead an “emergency mission” establishing a port in Gaza on the Mediterranean coast to help aid reach Gaza, according to two senior Biden administration officials.

The announcement comes as senior White House officials have for weeks been pressuring Israel to allow additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza, and as Biden has grown increasingly frustrated with Israeli leaders. The U.S. officials suggested that mounting concern about the situation in Gaza will be a major focus of the Middle East section of Biden’s address to Congress.

“We know that the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough,” one senior official said Thursday. “The President will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more, and that the United States is doing more, and we are seeking to use every channel possible to get additional assistance into Gaza.”

The president also plans to talk about “the horrific attacks of October 7, and Israel’s right to go after Hamas and those responsible,” the official said — as well as “Israel’s added burden, just given that Hamas hides and operates amongst the civilian population, Israel’s fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza and also to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

The U.S. will coordinate with the Israelis on the security requirements “on land” of the port, the U.S. official said, suggesting that Israel has agreed to the creation of the port.

“We worked very closely with the Israelis in developing this initiative, and they have worked very closely with the Cypriots now for months,” said the official. “We will work closely and sort out the details with them in terms of some of the security questions.”


Former Shin Bet chief: Government repeatedly rejected plans to kill Hamas’s Sinwar
Former Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman on Thursday said the intelligence organization had pushed for a surprise attack on Hamas’s top echelon for years before the devastating October 7 terror onslaught, but Israel’s political leadership repeatedly shot the idea down.

The reason Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is still alive, according to Argaman, is because “Israel does not want to engage in military adventurism.”

Argaman, who led the security agency from May 2016 until October 2021, discussed Hamas’s elusive leaders and Israeli attempts to eliminate them at the Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv.

“If we had launched a surprise attack on Hamas, we would be in a completely different situation,” he said of the ongoing war against the terror organization, which began when thousands of terrorists massacred some 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 and seized 253 hostages.

Argaman was not the first or the last Shin Bet chief to try and persuade the government to authorize a surprise assault on Hamas’s leadership, he said, as both his predecessor and successor had pushed the government on the matter as well.

“Yoram Cohen, the head of the Shin Bet [before Argaman], brought it up with me, and I, as the head of the Shin Bet, brought it up more than one time, and Ronen Bar also continued along this line after me,” he said.

Israel has attempted to assassinate top Hamas officials in the past, including at least seven failed attempts on Hamas military wing leader Muhammed Deif.
Hamas chiefs Sinwar and Haniyeh at odds over Gaza ceasefire deal
Hamas chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is in disagreement with Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas’s political bureau, on the demands the terror group should make in the ceasefire negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

According to the report, based on officials in the know, the two leaders hold conflicting opinions.

Sinwar is taking a hawkish stance, wishing to extort more concessions from Israel, while Haniyeh, who is leading the Cairo negotiations, is willing to concede to a pause of a month and a half in the war, during which a possibility of a durable ceasefire could be examined along with the IDF’s withdrawal from the Strip.

Hamas's demands for a ceasefire
Earlier on Thursday, Hamas announced in a press statement on its Telegram channel that its delegation was leaving the Cairo talks “for consultation with the leadership of the movement.”

Hamas’s exigencies for a ceasefire include installing a ceasefire before releasing any hostages, Israel’s withdrawal from the Strip, and allowing all Gazans to return to their homes. In addition, the terror group has stated it cannot ascertain which of the hostages are dead or alive.


British PM, Gantz hold unscheduled London meeting
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined a meeting between his National Security Adviser Tim Barrow and Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz on Wednesday at 10 Downing Street.

Sunak’s participation provided an additional air of legitimacy to a round of high-level meetings that Gantz has taken in the United States and the United Kingdom this week against the wishes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered Israel’s American and British embassies not to assist with the visits.

Netanyahu argued that Gantz, who is chairman of the opposition National Unity Party, didn’t follow protocol, which requires ministers to clear travel plans in advance with the prime minister.

Sunak didn’t release a statement regarding the conversation, but Gantz’s office said that in his meetings with Sunak, and earlier with U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron, he emphasized the importance of international pressure on Hamas to bring about the release of the hostages.

He also stressed Israel’s obligation to complete “its just and necessary mission of removing the threat of Hamas” and ending the terror group’s rule in the Gaza Strip, according to his office.

Gantz was subjected to an apparent dressing down in his meeting with Cameron, with the British foreign minister describing the conversation to the press as “tough but necessary.”


Ex-CIA chief: To defeat Hamas, Israel must get Gaza running again
Ex-CIA chief David Petraeus on Thursday said that for Israel to beat Hamas, it must not only take apart its remaining battalions in Rafah but also must get Gaza running again for Palestinian civilians.

Speaking at the INSS Conference in Tel Aviv, Petraeus said, "Only by getting Gaza running again for Palestinian civilians, whether in stable food distribution, with hospitals properly running, and eventually with a general return of civil society, will Israel truly be able to end Hamas’s source of support."

The former CIA chief stated Israel cannot “stop until Hamas has been destroyed and cannot be reconstituted.”

In addition, he said Israel must get Gazans back to their homes, demonstrate to people that aid is being given in a stable way, “that hospitals are functioning, that construction will return,” and that society goes back to functioning…Then you need to implement a plan that keeps them from being able to reconstitute.”

Encouraging a two-state solution
Despite his support for completely destroying Hamas, he said that Israel must eventually come to terms with a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Petraeus said that though the two-state solution has major issues, it is still the only stable way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict eventually.

Further, he said that Saudi normalization will not occur until Israel comes to terms with this.


Israel Has the World's Most Effective Weapon
Israel's defense and intelligence services are renowned for nurturing young technical talent. But their real advantage in the Gaza war is built on senior technical expertise found in the reserve units that have been called up for duty.

The mix of young, raw talent combined with the wisdom and experience of an older reserve generation is an innovative model the U.S. can and should embrace.

Among the 360,000 reservists called up since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 are some of Israel's most seasoned software engineers, data scientists and data analysts.

These senior reservists are spearheading explosive change in the Israeli military's technical and analytical capabilities.

When Hamas' financial transactions had to be analyzed, a volunteer who works in the financial industry quickly connected the necessary dots.

A senior data scientist was able to immediately handle complex data sets from media and tech sources.

Skilled academics used cutting-edge AI algorithms to sift through the enormous amount of GoPro, phone and multimedia content posted by the terrorists, enabling Israel to track them and their hostages.


IDF soldier killed, 12 wounded in Khan Yunis ambush
An IDF soldier was killed and 13 others were wounded in two battles in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the army said.

The death of Oketz canine unit member Staff Sgt. David Sasson, 21, from Ganot Hadar, near Netanya, brings the number of slain soldiers since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27 to 247, and the total number of soldiers killed in action on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7 to 587.

Twelve other fighters were wounded in the incidents on Wednesday, including two seriously, which according to an initial IDF probe, involved an ambush by several Hamas terrorists during a raid on a multi-story building in the Qatari-funded Hamad City residential complex in Khan Yunis.

The soldiers from the Oketz unit and the Commando Brigade were hit by gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades and an additional explosive device. Several of the Hamas terrorists were killed by the troops and in airstrikes in the area.

Another soldier was seriously wounded in another battle in the southern Gaza Strip.


Bedouin policeman who saved partygoers from Hamas to run Jerusalem Marathon
He was not supposed to be there.

But when a colleague offered Israel Police Sgt. First Class Remo Salman El-Hozayel 1,000 shekels ($275) to replace her at the desert music festival for a simple 12-hour shift on Oct. 7 he agreed, even though his wife did not really like the idea.

The police investigator, who is a member of the Bedouin community in southern Israel, later realized that his Jewish colleague did not want to take the shift because it was a holiday (Simchat Torah)/Shabbat weekend.

“It was all the hand of God,” El-Hozayel recounted Thursday in an interview with JNS. Sgt. First Class Remo Salman El-Hozayel, the car he used to save partygoers, and the car’s owner Nir Hadad, who escaped on foot. Credit: Israel Police.

A premonition
He got up at 4 in the morning, and when he took his gun, he had a “strange feeling,” and grabbed three cartridges instead of the normal two. Later he was sorry he did not take more.

The road was all deserted as he made the 45-minute drive from his hometown of Rahat to the Supernova dance party near Kibbutz Re’im. He arrived at 6:22 a.m., eight minutes before his shift was set to begin.

El-Hozayel barely had time to say good morning to his colleagues from the night shift and hadn’t signed in yet at the police command center when the sirens began to sound, with salvo upon salvo of rockets coming from Gaza.

“Like everybody else, I took out my phone and started videoing, thinking it was just a rocket attack,” he said.

He entered the site of the music festival to notify revelers that the party was over. “We still didn’t understand what was about to happen,” he said. Minutes later, the thousands of partygoers came under heavy gunfire, but even then, he thought that the nearby IDF base would be able to handle things.

At 6:56 a.m., he made a video for safekeeping. “If we die, at least there will be documentation,” the 37-year-old father of three said in Arabic.

El-Hozayel joined the police force four and a half years ago after working in IT for a private company. “I saw the rising crime in the area,” he said. “I said to myself I am not going to be Superman but I will do something in the little place that God has allotted me.”


FDD: Hezbollah Barrage of Rockets Targets Northern Israeli City
Expert Analysis
“Hezbollah increased its attacks in the first week of March, targeting Israeli agricultural workers and the northern city of Kiryat Shmona. The attack on March 5 involving 30 rockets illustrates that Hezbollah is seeking to prevent Israeli residents from returning to northern Israel. In addition, Hezbollah increased its attacks when U.S. special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon and Israel, indicating it believes it has impunity to attack Israel. Hezbollah must be deterred from further attacks and its terrorists be removed from the border area where they threaten Israel.” — Seth J. Frantzman, FDD Adjunct Fellow

“Hezbollah is demonstrating that despite international efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border, it is willing to risk an all-out war with Israel. However, this approach is risky and flawed. Israel’s determination to eliminate Hezbollah from the border is stronger than ever, and the Lebanon-based group should not underestimate the potential for military action. It is in the best interest of Lebanon and Hezbollah to prioritize diplomacy to prevent a worsening crisis.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal

Hezbollah Increases Attacks
Hezbollah has increased its deadly attacks on Israel in the last week. On March 4, rocket fire killed an agricultural worker in northern Israel and injured several others. On March 5, Hezbollah attacks damaged a utility pole and caused a power outage in northern Israel. Israel evacuated border communities in October due to Hezbollah attacks that began on October 8 in support of the Hamas attack the day before. The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel in five months of conflict.

The escalation in early March came as Hochstein visited the region and said diplomacy is the “only way” forward. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on March 5 that the continued Hezbollah attacks are bringing Israel to a “critical point” regarding a potential wider conflict with Hezbollah.


Gazan civilians unable to evacuate to Egypt, but families of Hamas officials can
Crossing the border into Egypt is a "desire shared by many Gazan families, but for most of them it is an unattainable fantasy," Israel's Channel 12 reported Tuesday.

But some who have managed to get to the other side have been Hamas terrorists and their families.

Escapees include nephews and nieces of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. The children of Sinwar's sister were smuggled through the Rafah crossing recently.

The two children of Hamas police spokesman Ayman al-Batanji also managed to escape.

The four children of Sameh Elsraj, a member of Hamas' political bureau, also managed to escape through the Rafah crossing.

Every few days, more names appear of family members of Hamas leaders who managed to escape from Gaza.


Hamas rejects UN report on Oct. 7 sexual violence
Hamas issued a statement on Tuesday rejecting a United Nations report released the previous day on the Gaza-based terrorist group’s sexual violence during the Oct. 7 massacre and the sexual abuse of hostages.

“We in Hamas strongly reject and condemn the report published by U.N. representative Premila Patten, which accuses the Palestinian resistance fighters of committing acts of rape and sexual violence on October 7,” the terrorist organization wrote.

The terror group called the report’s claims “baseless false accusations” which amounts to the “demonization of Hamas.”

“Patten’s claims clearly contradict what emerged from the testimonies of Israeli women about the good treatment they received from the resistance fighters, as well as the testimonies of Israeli hostages who were released—about the good treatment they received during their captivity in Gaza,” the statement reads.

According to the 24-page U.N. report, there is “clear and convincing” evidence that terrorists committed sexual violence, including rape, against hostages in Gaza, and “reasonable grounds” to conclude that terrorists raped and gang-raped Israeli women in multiple locations on Oct. 7.

“With respect to hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence including rape and sexualized torture and sexualized cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” the report states, adding, “and it also has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.”


Shattered hearts of mums pleading to see their children again: Israeli mothers of five youngest female hostages still held by Hamas issue appeal from daughters' bedrooms as they pin hopes on deal for their release
The mothers of the youngest female hostages today make an impassioned plea from their daughters' bedrooms for negotiators to finally get the deal done to 'bring back our girls'.

Teenagers Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa, Karina Ariev, Liri Albag, and Agam Berger have now been held captive in Gaza for over 150 days and time is running out to save them.

Diplomats this week are crashing out a ceasefire agreement to try to free them along with dozens of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners before Ramadan on Sunday.

Negotiations hang in the balance with talks in Cairo ending today with Hamas rejecting the Israeli proposal and sending back their own revised demands.

As the deal is set to run down to the wire, the 19-year-olds’ mothers each sat down on their daughter's empty beds and let out a maternal scream to negotiators.

'I ask everyone that deals with the negotiation - from the Israeli side, from Egypt, Qatar, Hamas - just do the deal and bring my daughter back home,' Daniela's mother, Orly, 38 told the Daily Mail. 'I beg you, please, do it.'

Karina's mother, Ira, 44, cried: 'Please don't forget my little daughter - do everything that you can to bring her to us.'

Naama's mother, Ayelet Levy-Shachar, 50, said: 'I urge everyone, anyone, who can have an influence - in Israel, the mediators, the United States, Qatar, Egypt - I just want everyone to do whatever they can to make this happen and to bring my girl back home.'

Agam's mother, Meirav, 48, implored politicians: 'Help me bring my baby home,' while Liri's mother, Shira, 51, demanded: 'Now, before Ramadan, we believe that something should happen - must happen.'


The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Biden, Israel, and the SOTU
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Ruthie Blum joins the podcast from Israel to discuss the Biden administration’s rough treatment of Benny Gantz, ceasefire negotiations, Bibi’s political future, Israeli public opinion, and what’s holding up the Rafah offensive. Also, what is Joe Biden going to say about Israel in tonight’s State of the Union address? Give a listen.
Caroline Glick: Rep. Good: Congress Fighting Back Against Biden's Anti-Israel Policy
Caroline Glick speaks with Rep. Bob Good (VA-05) about his efforts to fight against the Biden administration's call for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel. Rep. Good chairs the House Freedom Caucus and wrote a resolution backed by close to 40 Representatives that rebukes President Biden for his push for a Palestinian State amongst other things. The resolution also demands a halt of aid to the Gaza Strip until more oversight is provided.

They also discuss what can be done on a Congressional and political level to ensure that the US remains supportive of Israel in its fight against Hamas.




Bombshell Report Shows IDF Intelligence Had Warning of October 7th
A bombshell report has just emerged saying that the head of the investigations department in the IDF Intelligence Corps wrote a serious warning about a possible attack from Hamas that was supposed to be sent to the Prime Minister and the Political Security Cabinet just before the attack on October 7th happened.

The IDF just destroyed a massive $145 million, 3,000-apartment development in Gaza capturing dozens of terrorists in the process.

And in response to a massive rocket barrage from Hezbollah on Tuesday, the IDF struck multiple terror targets in southern Lebanon.


‘Has the West gone nuts?’: Israeli news anchor criticises ceasefire calls
Israeli News Anchor Lital Shemesh has questioned whether the “West has gone nuts” amid growing calls for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“We haven’t got any sign of whom from the hostages are still alive,” Ms Shemesh told Sky News host Chris Kenny.

“We haven’t been able to transfer any medicine, any medical aid to our hostages.

“And yet the US is pressuring Israel to enter aid, to enter hundreds of trucks a day with aid, with fuel, into the Gaza Strip.

“We know Hamas is taking over most of that aid … so I’m asking has the West gone nuts? This is not the way to negotiate.”


‘Bizarre’: West blaming Israel more than Hamas for the war and suffering in Gaza
Sky News host Andrew Bolt has slammed Vice President Kamala Harris over her Gaza ceasefire speech.

“It's bizarre how the West is blaming Israel more than Hamas for the war and suffering in Gaza, caused by the Hamas slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, and its promise to do it again and again,” Mr Bolt said.

Mr Bolt went on to criticise the Vice President’s comments that she made earlier this week on the war in Gaza.

“American Vice President Kamala Harris this week made clear she thought Israel was starving the people of Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas,” he said.

Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane joined Sky News host Andrew Bolt to discuss the conflict in Gaza.


Australia ‘on the same trajectory’ as US on identity politics: Konstantin Kisin
Author Konstantin Kisin says while Australia is “not anywhere near as far down the slippery slope” on identity politics, it is “on the same trajectory” as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

“I think it’s a kind of good news, bad news scenario,” he told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

“I think the good news is you’re not anywhere near as far down the slippery slope as many other countries in the Anglosphere – including my own, the UK, America, Canada, etc.

“But I also think the bad news is, you are on the same trajectory, so there’s really no room for complacency.”

Mr Kisin joined Ms Credlin to discuss the West, identity politics, woke culture, Islamism and issues surrounding the transgender movement.


UK Labour ‘far more interested’ in Gaza than Britain
GB News host Darren Grimes says UK Labour Party politicians seem to be “far more interested” in talking about Gaza than they do Britain.

Mr Grimes told Sky News host Rita Panahi that Rishi Sunak had an “ideal opportunity” at the recent budget to present an “alternative vision”.

“He just simply hasn’t done that.

“This will not save the Tories.

“We are at snail's pace growth.”


Calls on the government to do more to put an end to anti-Semitism
Anti-Defamation Commission Advocacy Chair Dvir Abramovich has called on the government to do more to put an end to anti-Semitism here in Australia.

“I think we're getting a lot of empty rhetoric, I think we're getting words but we're not getting action.

“Anti-Semitism is not just a problem for the Jewish community – this hatred, this radicalism, this violence, it may begin with the Jews but it won’t end with the Jews, this is a whole of society challenge.

“We've seen what those anti-Israeli extremists have done – they’ve turned our lives upside down.

“We don’t need to wait for the kind of violence that we saw in Israel to erupt on our streets to take these threats seriously.

“I have never been more worried about the state of the Jewish community, but also the level of radicalism that we see spreading like wildfire throughout our nation.”




Amanpour criticized for saying intifadas head a terrorist to Israelis, ‘Mandela’ to Palestinians
Christiane Amanpour, CNN chief international anchor, is being denounced and mocked widely for a recent social media post about Marwan Barghouti.

“To many Israelis, he’s a terrorist. To many Palestinians, he’s their Mandela,” she wrote of the convicted murderer, widely believed to have directed the first and second intifadas, which killed and wounded thousands of Israeli civilians.

Amanpour has previously apologized for comments about Jews and Israel. She said live on air that she “misspoke” 12 days after she said that Rabbi Leo Dee’s unarmed wife and two daughters were killed in a “shootout.”

“To many Jews, he’s a genocidal maniac. To many others, he’s a bohemian artist with a chic mustache, a love of animals, and a penchant for energetic speeches. Adolf Hitler’s story,” wrote David May, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights attorney and CEO of the International Legal Forum, wrote that Amanpour would never run such a segment about Osama bin Laden or Hitler. “But when it comes to Jewish lives, of course the standard is different,” he wrote.

Erielle Azerrad, a prominent attorney and writer, called Amanpour “a disgrace. Vile.”

“Barghouti led the second intifada, where Israeli civilians, including pregnant women and children, were blown up, stabbed and murdered,” Azerrad wrote.


Sen. Tom Cotton Unveils Bill to Curb Pro-Hamas Riots in the U.S.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) unveiled a bill on Wednesday to curb pro-Hamas riots in the United States fueled by leftist groups, Breitbart News exclusively learned.

The bill, dubbed the Stop Pro-Terrorist Riots Now Act, would increase the maximum punishment for participating in a riot from five years to ten years and create a mandatory one-year minimum penalty for anyone who engages in or supports an act of violence as part of a riot.

“Radical, pro-Hamas mobs committing crimes and perpetrating violence should face the full extent of the law. No one has the right to commit violence in support of terrorism. This bill is necessary to ensure that we reject anti-Semitism and hold these pro-Hamas criminals accountable,” Cotton told Breitbart News.

Protests in support of Hamas have broken out across the U.S. in the aftermath of the terrorist organization’s attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed more than 1,200 people — many of them women, children, and elderly. More than 200 were kidnapped, and about a hundred remain hostage.

Leftist groups, such as The People’s Forum, have organized and encouraged the riots, which often feature anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence. For example, last week, about 200 pro-Hamas rioters broke down the door of a campus theater at the University of California Berkeley, prompting an evacuation of Jewish students gathered to hear an attorney and former Israeli Defense Forces soldier speak.

According to the university’s student newspaper, protesters chanted, “Long live the intifada,” and ‘Killers on campus,” the Associated Press reported. A university spokesman said there have been four formal reports made to the campus police, including an allegation of battery along with antisemitic slurs that is being investigated as a hate crime. Another victim was allegedly kicked and spit at. There was also an alleged battery and injured while attempting to keep the door closed.
Pro-Palestinian protests mean parts of London ‘no-go’ areas for Jews, says Braverman
Pro-Palestinian protests have turned parts of London into “no-go” areas for Jewish people, Suella Braverman claimed as she urged Rishi Sunak to introduce emergency laws to tackle extremism.

Mrs Braverman said Mr Sunak needed to replace his words with action by giving powers to ministers so they could prevent protests from going ahead. She was responding to a speech by the Prime Minister last week in which he said there had been a “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality” in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Mr Sunak urged protesters to not let extremists “hijack” demonstrations, calling for people to “protest decently” and “with empathy for your fellow citizens”. Mrs Braverman said that the remarks were “welcome” but told GB News that “I think the time for words has come to an end and we do need to see action”.

She said: “The next day we saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets, chanting hateful slogans and behaving in a totally unacceptable way in many instances, overwhelming the police, notably, where police resource has been disproportionate to actually what’s happening.

“So we need to see a step change in the police response. They need to be enforcing the law. They need to be arresting people who are using threatening or abusive language.


Terrified Jewish students flee campus after abuse from 100-strong mob
Terrified Jewish students are fleeing Exeter University campus after being surrounded and abused by a mob of 100 students while manning an Israel stall.

The Jewish students said they were were left feeling “broken” by the experience, during which one members of the crowd shouted that they had “killed” her brother.

Third-year International Relations student, Rojin-Sena Cantay, who helped put the information stall together in the university forum on Wednesday, said: “It was our first stall since October 7, we wanted to put the other side to students who have been protesting for Palestine every week.

“Instead, we were harassed and abused.

“Fruit squash was aimed at the Israeli flag on the stall, and it went all over my coat. It was red Robinson’s squash, I think they wanted to make it look like the flag had blood on it, but it didn’t work, it went all over us instead.”

Shortly after the stall went up between 2 and 3.30 pm a crowd started gathering to harass the Jewish students.

“Pictures were being taken that would have been sent all over student WhatsApp groups,” Cantay alleged, and more and more anti-Israel students arrived to surround the stall.

The group felt trapped, “we didn’t know if we could leave, we were surrounded”.

On the table were several fliers that provided information on the conflict, but Cantay said that students “ripped them up and threw them in our face.”

Cantay went on, “They referred to us as ‘you’ while referring to the actions of Israel, blaming us for the actions of a state thousands of miles away.
‘Death to the Jews:’ Protester gives Nazi salute at Montreal ex-IDF talk
Pro-Palestinian protesters performed Nazi salutes and called for the death of Jews in new footage of a Monday demonstration of an IDF reservist speaking event at the Jewish Community Foundation and Montreal Holocaust Museum.

A masked man raised his hand in the air in the style of a Roman salute, according to a video shared on Tuesday by speaking tour organisers DiploAct.

DiploAct called the man an antisemite and said, “We cannot accept this.”

On the palm of the saluting man’s hand was a band with a red triangle. The red triangle is used in Hamas propaganda to denote the targeting of Israeli personnel or vehicles, and has been adopted by some activists and used as a symbol of support or wish of violence against opponents.

"Death to Israel, Death to Jews,” was also shouted in Arabic by a protester, according to a video posted by The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs on Tuesday.

CIJA: There is nothing peaceful about this
“More disturbing hate and antisemitism from yesterday's anti-Israel protest at a Jewish community centre in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in Montreal,” said CIJA. “There is nothing peaceful about this. Once again we ask, what more needs to happen for our leaders to grasp the gravity of the situation?”

In another video shared by DiploAct, protesters can be heard castigating attendees for chanting, "There is only one solution, Intifada revolution."

"Resistance is justified when people are occupied," protesters said in a video posted on Palestinian Youth Movement Montreal's Instagram account.

CIJA and Federation Combined Jewish Appeal said in a joint statement on Tuesday that the Montreal Police failed to maintain a buffer zone around the area, despite being warned about event logistics and possible extremity of the protest. As a result, the Jewish groups said that some community members could not leave the building for hours, and others were prevented from attending.


Police stand by idly as pro-Hamas protesters call for genocide outside synagogue
Rebel News journalist David Menzies reports from an anti-Israel protest outside of a synagogue in Thornhill, Ontario.

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‘No Zionists allowed’ at new SLC bar, says owner Michael Valentine, former mayoral candidate
Four days after the new Weathered Waves bar received its license to serve its hard ciders in its space at The Gateway mall in Salt Lake City, a post on its Instagram account announced, “NO ZIONISTS ALLOWED.”

The Monday post said: “We are a business, but we are also human. We don’t make and sell cider for robots. … We are horrified by the ongoing genocide in Gaza and are even more horrified to see so many Americans ignore and rationalize ethnic cleansing. That is why we are pleased to announce we are banning all Zionists forever from our establishments.”

Weathered Waves, 158 S. Rio Grande St., is part of the Six Sailor Cider group, and specializes in locally brewed hard ciders. Six Sailor Cider is owned by Michael Valentine, an advocate and small-business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Salt Lake City mayor last year as a first-time candidate.

On Wednesday, the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services notified the state Attorney General’s office about the post, “so they may conduct an investigation on whether the business is violating discrimination laws,” said agency spokesperson Michelle Schmitt.

The agency has received “several comments from members of the public” about the postings on Weathered Waves’ Instagram account, Schmitt said, and “we take these concerns seriously.”

It also “is reviewing its statutory obligations and legal options for responding to discrimination at DABS licensed establishments. … Safety is always the department’s top priority for everyone who interacts with licensed establishments, including patrons, employees, and owners,” Schmitt said.

The department’s commission awarded Weathered Waves its bar license on Feb. 29 and it opened March 1. In an interview Wednesday, Valentine said he wrote the Monday post and doesn’t see it as antisemitic.


Kassy Dillon: City Official To Keep Job After Harassing Jewish Family, Given ‘Cultural Sensitivity Training’
A New Haven, Connecticut city official was disciplined with “cultural sensitivity training” after chanting ethnic cleansing slogans with a megaphone, and encouraging others to do the same, outside a local Jewish family’s home.

Thabisa Rich, New Haven’s Community Outreach Coordinator for the Department of Arts, Cultural, and Tourism, caused a scene outside the home of a local rabbi last month because of a pro-Israel yard sign. according to a video obtained by The Daily Wire. Her social media also had several anti-Semitic posts since Israel was attacked on October 7 by terrorists, including stating she does not “condemn Hamas” for its murder of more than 1,000 Israelis, and others that invoked tropes about Jewish money and power.

The city says, however, that while Rich did violate the city’s code of conduct, she will keep her job.

“A formal letter of reprimand was provided to Thabisa Rich … for violations of the City’s Code of Conduct regarding her actions on February 11th and several statements posted on social media,” the office of New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said in a statement, according to the Hartford Courant. “The letter of reprimand was also accompanied by a coaching statement and corrective action requirements, including the need to attend cultural sensitivity training.”

The city added that she may face more disciplinary action including termination if she fails to follow the code of conduct in the future.

In a “Counseling Discussion Plan” accompanying the letter of reprimand, the City alleges Rich’s actions have “impaired her ability to perform” in her job and that she has “done significant damage to her professional reputation and ability to work with a wide spectrum of individuals and groups in the city.”


The disturbing inside story of why a ranting mob besieged a Bradford kebab shop for the 'crime' of selling Coca-Cola
The shop was targeted by a group of up to 50 pro-Palestine protesters who claim owner Salahudin Yusuf is turning a blind eye to the ‘illegal occupation of Palestine’ because Coca-Cola has a ­distribution centre on the Israeli-controlled West Bank and he should not therefore be selling the drink.

‘Your profits are covered in ­Palestinian blood,’ they screamed again and again outside the takeaway, at a pitch that would have drowned out a jumbo jet taking off.

An accompanying video on TikTok is entitled: ‘Salah’s in Leeds Road sells Zionist products: Baby Killers.’

Staff eventually came out to ­confront the baying crowd and a mass brawl ensued.

Peaceful protest or mob rule?

Even fellow Muslims, many of whom have made their feelings known online, were in little doubt. ‘Shame on those Muslims who have done this,’ one wrote. ‘This is not what Islam teaches.’

Another declared: ‘You are an embarrassment to the Muslim Ummah [community] and the whole Palestinian cause, trying to gain clout off people dying.’

The intimidation is working, ­however. There is no sign of any Coca-Cola in Salah’s today, but ­hundreds of Coca-Cola cans are stacked in unopened multipacks in a lock-up at the back.

Mr Yusuf, who sustained a bruised lip in the melee, has a second ­takeaway a few miles away in Great Horton Road and, despite a Free ­Palestine Poster being prominently displayed there, about a month ago the business was spray-painted with the Israeli flag bearing the Star of David.

Understandably, Mr Yusuf is now keeping a low profile. ‘He does not want any trouble,’ said his brother, who was at the Leeds Road premises. ‘It’s not just us,’ he added. ‘All of Bradford is selling Coca-Cola.’

The fact Mr Yusuf feels he has to keep his head down, aside from ­having his livelihood compromised, for simply selling the world’s most popular fizzy drink is difficult to comprehend.

But then many recent events seem unbelievable — from pro-Palestinian extremists targeting MPs at home, projecting what many believe is a genocidal, anti-Semitic slogan — ‘From the river to the sea’ — on to Big Ben, turning Tower Bridge into a no-go area during rush-hour and placing ­‘unsustainable’ pressure on the police’s ability to respond to neighbourhood crime by marching through central London.




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