Sunday, March 10, 2024

From Ian:

The Left shows its chilling true face by refusing to accept Jews feel intimidated
If it wasn’t bad enough that some on the Left have questioned whether the rapes, murders, beheadings and child killings of October 7 actually happened, now Jewish people who have said that they feel too intimidated to go into central London at the weekend during the pro-Palestinian protests are being similarly gaslit.

This week, the counter-extremism tsar Robin Simcox raised his own concerns about the effect of the marches on Jewish people, saying the demonstrations had turned London “into a no-go zone for Jews every weekend”.

Blaming the UK for developing a “permissive environment for radicalisation” which has seen extremism become “normalised,” he wrote in The Telegraph: “[Extremist] groups have gone unchallenged for too long, and have used their time well. They are now embedded and influential among communities.”

Simcox should know: he’s the Home Office’s independent adviser on counter-extremism. But if you don’t believe him, you only have to look at the results of surveys conducted since October 7, which reveal that Jewish people feel far less safe than they used to. We’ve heard from Jews who no longer feel comfortable wearing a Star of David in public and others who actively avoid London when the marches are on.
Five ways Israelis have changed, after 5 months of war
Five months after the surprise Hamas assault on Israel on Oct. 7, and Israel's punishing military response in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian lives have been immeasurably changed.

The catastrophic conditions worsening daily in Gaza often overshadow the profound transformation Israelis have undergone.

The state of Israel's society is crucial to understanding where the conflict might lead. Here are five ways Israel has been transformed in the last five months of war.

1. Israelis' lives are on hold
Israelis remain in a state of suspended animation.

Following the Oct. 7 attack, 94,000 Israelis are still displaced, evacuated from their homes near the restive Gaza and Lebanon borders. Some 32,000 of them are still being put up in hotels across Israel, according to data from an internal Israeli government database provided to NPR.

It was only two weeks ago that Avidor Schwartzman, a survivor of the Oct. 7 attack, finally moved with his family from a room at the Shefayim Hotel, a resort north of Tel Aviv, to a new trailer park set up behind the hotel.

"It doesn't feel like home, but it feels a lot more like a home," he says.

Schwartzman's trailer is one of eight prefab homes lined up in two rows, built on sand, housing broken families from the same devastated kibbutz, Kfar Aza. They include a young woman whose father was killed on Oct. 7; a family with a hostage still held in Gaza; and Schwartzman, whose in-laws were killed.

"I wish I could just, you know, erase it from my mind," he says about the attack. "Not to wallow in everything, because there is so much sadness here, and so much grief."

New homes are being built for the displaced residents of Kfar Aza, at another kibbutz near their old home. But Schwartzman says some families refuse to leave this trailer park of sadness until Israel strikes a deal with Hamas to free its remaining captives, around 130 Israelis, many believed to be alive.

It is not just the evacuated, the survivors and the hostages whose lives are on hold.

"On Oct. 7, something cracked, or maybe broke, in the Israeli psyche," Schwartzman says. "Even those that weren't there, just saw it on TV, they are still there."

2. Israelis believe the world has turned its back on them
As global attention has turned to Israel's military campaign in Gaza, many Israelis are on a parallel warpath: to convince the world they are victims, not aggressors.

Israel's foreign minister accuses the United Nations of minimizing the accounts of sexual violence deployed during the Oct. 7 attacks, and has recalled Israel's U.N. ambassador in protest.

Young Israeli influencers are on the offensive on the social media battlefield. Shiraz Shukrun, 25, an Instagram promoter of shampoo, Vaseline and beer to more than half a million followers on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, volunteers with the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, posting videos about Oct. 7.

"I find that I'm way angrier than before. I feel like so many people are against us," she says, referring to #FreePalestine hashtags and social media posts justifying the Hamas attack. "Only Israelis know how other Israelis feel. No one will never know how we feel."
"Many Still Had Expressions of Pain on Their Faces"
Sheri Mendez is part of a volunteer unit within the Military Rabbinate. "In 2010, the IDF decided, as more women joined combat units, to establish a small female unit for the eventuality, God forbid, that a female soldier is killed," she said. "They accompany the identification process and burial preparations." She received an emergency call-up order on Oct. 7. Arriving at the Camp Shura base, she said, "The initial shock was from the quantity. Body bags lined both sides of the corridor, whole trucks arrived with more bodies. We couldn't believe the numbers. The second shock was from the level of brutality and horrors we saw." "We were with those young women in the room preparing them for burial. Our goal was to give them their last respects. We opened the body bags....It was a special room for women by women....Some of the bodies arrived in very poor condition, but we took our time to handle them in a way that honored them. We knew we were likely the last people to be with these women. It was deeply sad; they could have been our daughters, brutally murdered."

"Many still had expressions of pain on their faces. Their fists were clenched, their mouths sometimes open, and some were missing body parts. We saw women shot in the head, shot in the torso. It was horrifying to witness. You could tell these women did not die an easy death."

Five months later, the horrors do not fade for Mendez. However, what pains her most is the world's denial of the massacre and the atrocities of Oct. 7. "I am a daughter of Holocaust survivors, raised on the testimonies of what happened to most of our family....The world doubts something we all saw with our own eyes....These women can't speak; only those of us who saw it can speak for them....That's why I continue to talk about what happened there, in those days, for them."


International Law or Antisemitism?
In his study on this subject, David Elber demonstrates that the UN has no possession of territorial sovereignty and therefore cannot decree the allocation of a territory over which it has no sovereignty (on the basis of the universal principle of law nemo dat quod non habet -- no one can give what he does not possess), especially when this decision violates previous treaties endorsed by the UN itself. Resolution 181 only made suggestions to avoid the threat of war from the Arabs.

With the Venice Declaration, the European Economic Community demanded the creation of a Palestinian state on the territories liberated by Israel in 1967, which had been illegally occupied and rendered Judenrein [ethnically cleansed of Jews] by Arab countries since 1949. Since that time, the EEC/EU have never ceased to impose the concept of "Palestinian people" instead of Arab refugees, in order to justify its claim to a state that it has been striving to build for decades by monitoring, restricting and harassing Israelis in their own country, recognized by international treaties.

For the past 40 years, the EEC/EU, which wants to get rid of Israel at all costs, has invented a false people, the Palestinians, devoid of national particularisms and history, artificially constructed as a look-alike to Israel, even though they claim to follow the Koran, embody jihad against unbelief and adhere to Nazism.

UN Resolution 181, falsely called international law, authorizes the delegitimization of the Jewish presence in Jerusalem according to the 2,000-year-old anti-Semitic tradition, and the reduction of the Jewish state to an indefensible parcel that will soon be made to disappear. It has already created Palestinian ministries and ambassadors for a people that is not a people, but which it is determined to create in homage to the Hitler-Husseini alliance that symbolizes the jihad against Israel.

Over the last few decades, the EU's alliance with the Palestinian jihad -- a war to Islamize the planet... In its relentless fight against Israel, Europe has sacrificed its own territory and people to Palestinianism. Today, in a strange coincidence, we see the same alliances as in the 1940s: the majority of European countries, united under the government of the Third Reich, allied with Islam and at war with Russia and the Jewish people in a global anti-Semitic tsunami.
The Palestinian initiative to suspend Israel from the UN
In the aftermath of a military operation in Rafah, Israel assesses that the Palestinians will attempt an initiative that will signify freezing or suspending Israel's participation in the United Nations General Assembly discussions, as well as its ability to vote in the debates, according to an N12 report on Saturday.

It was also reported that a suspension of membership from the General Assembly is a complicated move that requires a vote by all members of the UN Security Council, along with a two-thirds majority of the assembly.

Sources at the Foreign Ministry estimate that this is the path the Palestinians will want to take, per the N12 report.

The fear comes amid leaks from political officials of the Arab League , and following remarks made by Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour last week, in which he stated, "Israel cannot continue to sit among us."

The Foreign Ministry’s legal advisers are working on a move that illustrates this to be fundamentally baseless, according to N12.

Damaging Israel's image
However, whether the move succeeds or not – this is very damaging for Israel’s image.

A similar step occurred solely once since the UN was first established, according to the report. In the 1970s, South Africa's participation in the General Assembly discussions was suspended due to the apartheid regime.


Mossad: Hamas ‘striving to ignite the region during Ramadan’
Hamas is trying to incite a regional escalation during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, according to a joint statement released by Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday.

Mossad head David Barnea met with CIA Director William Burns in Amman, Jordan, on Friday, according to the statement, which described the encounter as part of a “relentless” effort to secure the release of the 134 Israelis still being held captive by Hamas.

“It should be emphasized that the contacts and cooperation with the mediators are ongoing in an effort to narrow the gaps and advance agreements,” the statement concluded.


Daniel Greenfield: Biden Admin Officially Turns on Israel
And by officially, I mean publicly and formally.

The State of the Union, strangely enough, was the point at which the Biden administration decided to roll out its public anti-Israel campaign beginning with the staged ‘hot mic’ moment. There had been a drumbeat of leaks and anonymous statements in the weeks leading up to it, but now Biden has gone on record that…

1. He’s opposed to Israel’s government
2. He wants a ceasefire
3. He’s preparing to pull the resupply of weapons

Some of these revelations came in an MSNBC interview. It’s no coincidence that this was prepped for an interview with the most leftward cable channel and the one that is the most opposed to Israel.

Biden told MSNBC that he wants a “6-week ceasefire” and that Israel going into Rafah to finish off Hamas would be a “red line”. He criticized Netanyahu and claimed that he’s hurting Israel by continuing to fight Hamas.

Biden defended the pro-Hamas Arab Muslim campaigners in Dearborn claiming that, “What they said was that they’re very upset, and I don’t blame him for being upset… They want something done about it. They’re saying, ‘Joe, do something.’”

“That’s why I’m doing everything I can to try to stop it.”
Biden Admin, Like Obama Before It, Has Found An Enemy It’s Willing To Fight: Bibi Netanyahu
Note the red line will not stop the flow of defensive weapons, an implicit threat to cut off “offensive” weapons.
Why it matters: This was the first time since the Hamas attack on October 7 that Biden said he has a “red line” for the Israeli military operation in Gaza.

- Biden’s remarks in the interview are another sign that the President’s patience about the Netanyahu government is growing thin. - The president gave the “red line” remark in response to a question about a possible military operation in Rafah — something the administration has expressed serious concerns about.

Yes, but: Biden emphasized that he will not abandon Israel and will not stop the supply of weapons like Iron Dome in a way that Israel won’t be able to defend itself.
Both Biden and Harris have been upping the anti-Netanyahu rhetoric, with Biden stating that he warned Bibi that they would have a “come to Jesus” moment over Gaza. I don’t believe for a second that was a ‘hot mic’ accident, and even if it were, it’s still upping the rhetoric.

The administration is increasing the chance to portray Netanyahu as the problem, with Harris stating in an interview today that we need to “not to conflate” the people of Israel from the current government of Israel:


Biden administration 'consulted Israeli expert on how to topple Netanyahu' - as president accuses the prime minster of 'hurting Israel more than helping' and insists Rafah invasion is a 'red line'
An Israel expert claims the Biden administration asked them how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be toppled from power.

President Joe Biden has in recent weeks sharpened his rhetoric on the Israeli response to the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.

His administration has grown increasingly unhappy with the mounting civilian death toll, now at more than 30,000, in Gaza from bombings and ground operations.

Biden has repeatedly criticized Israel's heavy-handed approach, calling it 'over the top' and urging a ceasefire to help starving civilians.

Then after the State of the Union, he was caught on a hot mic telling Democratic colleagues he planned to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting with Netanyahu.

Biden has known Netanyahu for 50 years and is a staunch ally of Israel, but the insider implied he could be at least discussing to option of removing him.

'I have been asked by a serious administration figure what it is that will force the Netanyahu coalition to collapse,' the Israel expert told New York Magazine.

'They were interested in the mechanics, what can we demand which will collapse his coalition.'

Unlike the American political system, where the Republican and Democratic Parties dominate, Israel has numerous small parties that must team up to govern.

If enough of Netanyahu's coalition partners pulled out, his Lukid Party would not have enough support for him to remain prime minister.


After denying he said Netanyahu needs ‘come to Jesus’ meeting, Biden doubles down on MSNBC
After first denying that he had said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to have a “come to Jesus” moment, U.S. President Joe Biden admitted to making the remark post-State of the Union address during a March 9 interview on MSNBC’s “The Saturday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”

“What I meant was, it’s an expression used in the southern part of my state meaning a serious meeting,” Biden said. “I’ve known Bibi for 50 years. He knew what I meant by it.”

Capehart pressed. “What’s the ‘come to Jesus’ part? What tough love are you going to give to the prime minister?”

“What’s happening is he has a right to defend Israel, a right to continue to pursue Hamas, but he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken,” Biden said. “In my view, he’s hurting Israel more than helping Israel by making the rest of the world—it’s contrary to what Israel stands for.”

“I think it’s a big mistake,” the U.S. president added. “I want to see a ceasefire.”

Asked if there is a red line that Israel could cross, Biden replied “there is a red line, but I’m never going to leave Israel.”

“The defense of Israel is still critical,” Biden said. “There is no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”

“But there are red lines if he crosses them—you cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead,” Biden added, using the death count that the Hamas-controlled health authorities in Gaza have used.

Capehart asked Biden if he would go to Israel and address the Knesset. “Yes,” Biden said.

“Would that have to be at the invitation of the prime minister, or could that be at the invitation of the president?” Capehart asked.

“I’d rather not discuss it more,” Biden said.


US VP Kamala Harris: We must distinguish between Israelis and their government
US Vice President Kamala Harris stated that there must be a clear differentiation between the Israeli government and the Israeli people during an interview with CBS on Saturday.

In light of US President Joe Biden's State of the Union address and comments on Israel, Harris echoed the President's policy statements during the interview such as immigration and the border crisis, TikTok bans, and the US's policy on Israel's war with Hamas.

The Vice President began by stating that the administration has been "Very open about how we feel about it" when referring to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Her statements on a potential ceasefire reflect ones made by the Biden administration and urged to "Get the hostages out and humanitarian aid to go in."

Harris spoke about the horrors of October 7, lamenting on Hamas's massacre of southern Israel, including the "Young people attending a concert, women horribly, horribly abused and raped, rape being used as a tool of war."

Simultaneously, she called the images coming out of Gaza "horrific."


Three-quarters of Jewish Israelis support Rafah operation
Around three-quarters of Jewish Israelis and a majority of Israelis overall support expanding the military’s Gaza operations against Hamas into the southernmost city of Rafah, according to polling conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute.

Respondents were given the choice of either favoring the nixing of an incursion into Rafah—so as not to endanger relations with Egypt and ongoing hostage-release talks—or expanding operations into the city on the Egyptian border to pressure Hamas to agree to better terms for a deal.

Seventy-four percent of Jewish Israelis and 64.5% overall—including 88% of right-wing Jews and 63% of centrist Jews—said they were in favor of expanding operations into Rafah. In contrast, just 30% of left-wing Jews and 17% of Arab Israelis said they support going into Rafah, where Israel says the last remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated and defeating them is key to winning the war.

Notably, 44.5% of left-wing Jews, a plurality, but not a majority, are against a Rafah operation, while a majority, 64.5%, of Arabs are opposed.

The question was asked in the backdrop of intense international pressure, led by the United States, against an operation in Rafah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that demanding Israel to refrain from the military move is tantamount to requesting that it lose the war against Hamas, which committed the Oct. 7 massacre and has vowed to repeat the atrocities.

Israelis were also asked their views on changes to the military conscription law for haredi Jews currently exempt from service, and 70% of Israel’s Jewish population said they were in favor of changes that would end this exemption.

Predictably, 86% of secular Jews supported these changes, while just 19% of haredi Jews were in favor. However, 65% of national-religious Jews, 52% of traditional Jews and 77% of “traditional non-religious” Jews support the changes, highlighting the broad support for these changes across Israeli society.
Israel eliminates terrorist who killed IDF commander
Israeli forces have eliminated the terrorist who killed IDF commander Maj. (res.) Amishar Ben-David in southern Gaza on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Sunday.

Ben-David, 43, headed the Commando Brigade’s tactical headquarters. He was from Eli in the Binyamin region of Samaria and was a first cousin of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who eulogized the fallen soldier.

“Amishar, my beloved cousin—I will do everything and work to the best of my ability against whoever I need so that with God’s help, we will completely destroy our enemies and not stop for a moment. Your death and the death of all our heroic soldiers will not be in vain,” Smotrich said.

His death brought to 248 the number of fallen soldiers since the start of Gaza ground operations on Oct. 27. Since Hamas launched its invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 588 Israeli soldiers have fallen in total.

In central Gaza, Israeli forces killed 13 terrorists over the past day, and IDF fighter jets and artillery attacked the source of a launch from Gaza that was directed at Israeli troops.

IDF special forces continue to operate in Hamad City in northwestern Khan Yunis, as part of the “Crown of the West” operation to target terrorists entrenched there.

Elsewhere in Khan Yunis, 17 terrorists were killed in a series of strikes. IAF fighter jets also struck terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Jabalya and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza overnight.


IDF blows up Hezbollah HQ in Lebanon, prepares for war in Israel's North
The head of the IDF's Northern Command met with security coordinators to discuss security along the northern border on Friday, as the IDF conducted operational strikes on Hezbollah targets on Saturday.

The IDF announced on Saturday that it struck military infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon, including operational military headquarters.

Among the targets were buildings being used by Hezbollah terrorists in the Ayta ash Shab area, operational military headquarters in the Majdal Zoun and Kafra municipality, and additional infrastructure in Mhaibib.

Additionally, the IDF announced that launches were detected crossing into northern Israel earlier in the day and that the military has returned fire to their points of origin.

As exchanges of fire ensue and tensions rise with Hezbollah, Maj.-Gen. Ori Gordin met with security coordinators to discuss the security situation on Israel's northern border on Friday.

Gordin sat down with the security coordinators of the Mateh Asher and Ma’ale Yosef regional councils, continuing a series of meetings as part of a campaign to strengthen the relationship between the IDF’s Northern Command, the councils, and the residents of the North.

“We are constantly strengthening our readiness to launch an attack in Lebanon. Our commitment – my commitment – is to change the security situation to ensure residents return to their homes,” the commander told the security coordinators of the Western Galilee councils.
Hezbollah fires 35-rocket barrage at Upper Galilee
Hezbollah launched 35 rockets from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area of Israel’s Upper Galilee on Sunday morning, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Several of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defense array.

The Iranian terror proxy took responsibility for the attack, claiming it had launched “dozens” of rockets “in response to Israeli attacks on villages and civilian homes in the south of the country, the last of which killed a family in Harbat Salem.”

One person was lightly injured while running to a protected space and was evacuated by the Magen David Adom emergency medical services team to Ziv Medical Center in Safed for further treatment.

Following the barrage, there were reports from Lebanon of Israeli artillery strikes in the areas of al-Habariya and Kunin in Southern Lebanon.

Overnight Saturday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Ayta ash-Shab, an anti-tank missile launch post in the area of Maroun El-Ras and a military structure in which Hezbollah terrorists were identified in the area of Khirbet Selm, the IDF reported on Sunday morning.

Hezbollah has been launching near-daily attacks across the Israel-Lebanon border since Oct. 7, killing 17 people and causing extensive property damage. Some 62,000 Israelis have been evacuated from communities along the border.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told senior White House envoy Amos Hochstein during a meeting in Tel Aviv last week that Hezbollah’s ongoing aggression was pushing Israel to a “critical point” with regard to a large-scale Israeli military response.


Demonstrators showing solidarity with Gaza hostages barred from International Women’s Day rally in Oslo
The organizers of the International Women’s Day March in Oslo prevented marchers from expressing support for hostages held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza despite having been given their prior permission, Norwegian media reports.

Among the 6,000 marchers were demonstrators holding signs saying “Me too — unless you’re a Jew,” among other slogans highlighting victims of October 7 and hostages who have undergone sexual abuse at the hands of terrorists, the state-owned Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation says.

A group of demonstrators were prevented from boarding trains, the report says, and eventually, the event committee ruled that they could not participate in the march.

A video posted on social media by the Defend Israel Democracy group shows other marchers forming a human chain to prevent demonstrators carrying posters showing hostages from joining the main march.

Women who spoke to the broadcaster say that they received prior permission from the organizers to participate.


Israel is winning against Hamas — but the bad guys are succeeding in courts of public opinion
The calls this week for the arrest of Israeli President Isaac Herzog on charges of “genocide” suggest that the bad guys are beginning to win in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Not in Gaza, mind you, where Israeli forces continue to obliterate Hamas’ armed infrastructure in response to its massacre on Oct. 7.

But in legal chambers and courts of public opinion across the globe.

You see the bad guys everywhere — hiding, of course, in Gaza, burrowed in their terror tunnels surrounded by the Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages whose lives they regard with such indifference and disdain.

But the bad guys aren’t just limited to the Levant.

They’re right here in the US, sowing the sentiments that would not merely see Israeli officials unjustly detained in Europe — where denying Jews liberty is nothing new — but laying the groundwork for similar anti-Zionist efforts across the globe.

We may not be there yet, but we’re getting close.
Travelingisrael.com: Israelis must listen to the Palestinians!

The Israel Guys: Is North Korea Preparing to Commit Their Own October 7th?
North Korea just carried out a wild military exercise that seems a whole like a copycat operation of Hamas' Oct. 7th. The Houthi’s have been ramping up their attacks on the Red Sea and just killed their first victims. Also “Bombshell” report about Israel’s coming attack on Lebanon might turn out to be false.


'Free Our Hostages' sweater too 'political' for MLSE as Raptors fans ejected from arena
So, there I was at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night taking in a basketball game between the Toronto Raptors and the New Orleans Pelicans. The evening was notable for two reasons. First, the Craptors suffered their worst loss of the season, getting slaughtered 139-98. It was ugly. Speaking of ugliness, the other notable thing about Tuesday’s game was this: I think I witnessed the most disturbing and despicable event to occur in a sporting arena in Hogtown history.




Support for Hamas Must Be Utterly Eradicated in Britain
Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK. Yet many have no fear of expressing support for this murderous group as there have been few consequences for doing so.

Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, has said that if Hamas were to be left in control of even a part of Gaza, "there will never be a two-state solution because you cannot expect Israel to live next to a group of people that want to do Oct. 7 all over again." He was right. Hamas must be defeated, not just for safety of the Israeli people, but for a peaceful route map for the region.

We must remind ourselves how heinous the events of Oct. 7 were, and how the pain continues for the families of those still held hostage. The sexual violence that was used by Hamas on that day was also unprecedented. Rape is not resistance. It is a war crime. And yet so many women's groups usually so vocal about such things have been strangely silent about what happened. Why is that the case? Is it, as one of my colleagues in the House of Lords said, "It's MeToo, unless you're a Jew."

I, and many others, will continue to speak up for our friends and neighbors in the Jewish community. It's at times like this that you find out who your friends truly are.


Sydney Imam gives a shocking anti-Semitic sermon at Australian mosque
A Sydney imam has described Jews as a 'criminal, barbaric, tyrannical enemy' in an anti-Semitic sermon, claiming Jihad was the 'only solution' to restore Palestine.

Australian Imam Abdul Salam Zoud delivered the sermon to his congregation at Masjid As-Sunnah Mosque in Lakemba, southwest of Sydney, on February 9.

The sermon, which was streamed live on the Mosque's Facebook page, was unearthed and translated by the Middle East Media and Research Institute - an American group that monitors Muslim extremists.

Imam Zoud said the Jews had trespassed on land and oppressed the people of Palestine.

He praised Jihad and Hamas, claiming the Prophet Muhammad and the Righteous Caliphs did not conquer the world by peaceful means, negotiations or concessions.

'These people (Jews) only understand the language of force,' Imam Zoud said.

'Do not even dream that [Palestine] can be regained through negotiations. By Allah, Palestine will only be restored through Jihad.'

'Jihad for the sake of Allah is the only solution when it comes to the infidels.'

He said'all the billions that were spent to improve, beautify, and highlight the image of the Jews have all gone in vain'.

He added the goal of Jihad was not to kill people and take over their land but rather to remove obstacles preventing the spread of Islam.

The sermon has outraged MPs and Jewish leaders in Australia, with many claiming the hateful speech should not be tolerated.


Dutch King defies mosques to attend opening of new Holocaust museum alongside Israel’s president
The Dutch King has defied protests from mosques in the country to attend the opening of a new Holocaust museum in Amsterdam alongside Israel’s president.

The K7 alliance of over 200 Dutch mosques called for King Willem-Alexander not to participate in the reception given to Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Sunday. The organisation said Herzog’s presence at the opening was a “huge blow to anyone who cares about the fate of Palestinian people”, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

But the King said the inauguration of the National Holocaust Museum on Sunday was of too “great significance and national importance” for him to not attend, according to the country’s government information service.

The Rights Forum, a Netherlands-based political advocacy organisation focusing on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, said the museum should “not be opened in the presence of a president who promotes genocide”.

Austria’s president, Alexander van der Bellen, and a German state premier, Manuela Schwesig, were also due to attend.

King Willem-Alexander and Herzog visited a synagogue in the city ahead of the opening.

The museum, housed in a former teacher training college that had been used as a covert escape route to help 600 Jewish children escape the Nazis, will tell the stories of some of the 102,000 Jews who were deported from the Netherlands and murdered in Nazi death camps.


Politicians' families are being targeted in a 'dangerous' escalation of the threat to their safety amid war in Gaza
Activists are targeting the parents of MPs in a 'dangerous' escalation of the threat to their safety.

It comes as the security threat to Parliamentarians has reached new heights as a result of the war in Gaza.

One source familiar with Parliamentary security told the Mail on Sunday: 'Parents of MPs have been threatened – both Conservative and Labour.

'It's easier to get to the families than to the MP, that's the problem.'

The source said that in the cases where parents have been targeted the activists 'know where the families live – and the MPs might be representing somewhere else, so the families are more vulnerable with threats and intimidation.

'That's how easy it is – and that's the worry. People think they can do what they like.'

It is understood work is now under way to provide extra protection measures for the families of MPs, as well as the politicians themselves.

Last month the Government announced £31m of funding to protect Britain's democratic processes, which will include extra security for MPs facing threats.

It comes as Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns published an email threatening her and her six year-old son.

The message read: 'We know where you and your filthy little [son] are and we hope Hamas comes for you lot.'

Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland said the message was 'disgusting and shameful'.

An aide to another MP said of the threats currently being seen: 'It is the attitude of – let's go personal. It is an attempt to personally intimidate.


Europe funds Hamas university, bans Hungarian universities
“The European Commission has decided to suspend cooperation with Hungarian universities for the start of the 2024 school year,” writes the French philosopher and academic Xavier-Laurent Salvador in Le Figaro.

“In 2014, a Turkish intellectual supported his country's exit from the European Erasmus University exchange programme. He explained that Europe seeks to 'manufacture a generation of globalized and rootless pagans'. A decade later, the Commission seems to apply the same logic - since the beginning of the 2024 school year, students of Hungarian universities have been banned from the Erasmus programme."

The Islamic University of Gaza received 1,754,000 euros from the EU including Erasmus University funds until 2021, despite its known links to Hamas. “It would therefore seem that in the eyes of the Commission, Orban's presence is worse than that of Hamas,” writes Salvador.

MEP Jean-Paul Garraud thus turned to the European Prosecutor's Office to request the opening of an investigation regarding the "payments of European funds from which" the Hamas university benefited. Financing is estimated at 1.7 million euros (according to Financial Transparency System data published on the European Commission website).

According to the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, Maher Jawad Salah, one of the members of the Hamas political bureau, was even “a member of the supervisory board of the University of Gaza.” Like Moussa Abou Marzouk, another Hamas leader who contributed to the foundation of the Islamic University of Gaza.

How much of the money received by the Islamic University of Gaza from the EU was used to build the tunnels? 75 percent? 100 percent?
Berkeley professor: I will not leave my office until the university addresses antisemitism
Ron Hassner, a professor of international conflict and religion at the University of California, Berkeley, announced last week that he would not leave his office until the institution has seriously responded to a surge of antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, according to a letter that circulated online on Saturday.

“If my students feel that they cannot walk safely across campus without being bullied, then I will not cross campus either,” Hassner said. The scholar, who counts Israel among his areas of focus and recently authored a book on interrogational torture, will continue to teach his courses remotely from his office.

The requests he has submitted to the university are that the school re-open the campus’s front gate, which anti-Israel demonstrators have blocked access to, and that the school apologize to and re-invite Ran Bar-Yoshafat, the Israeli reservist speak on campus whose event had to be moved off university grounds amid fears of security concerns.

Hassner noted in the letter that the sit-in protest is “non-confrontational, non-violent, and legal,” contrasting it with other demonstrations. Though acknowledging that the act will initially be “easy to ignore,” the professor predicts that if the university fails to respond to his concerns adequately, “it will become an increasingly embarrassing public display” for the school.

Hassner said that the primary purpose of the sit-in, though, is to communicate solidarity with Jewish students amid the current campus environment. “My office will be open at all hours of the day and night, on weekdays and weekends, to all students who do not feel safe, or who have been subjected to antisemitic abuse, or who wish to chat,” he wrote.


Let's Be Honest: Candace Owens Is a Jew-Hating Bigot
You can often hear a person’s real opinions when they are very drunk. But it doesn’t have to be drunk on alcohol. The Bidens, Hillary Clinton, and other politicians who get drunk on power, have repeatedly let slip their honest feelings without remorse (remember “deplorables”?). Often, celebrities get so drunk on fame and their ego that they let out their deep beliefs in outrageous words and actions.

Enter Candace Owens. The more she has gotten entranced with her own fame, the more she has let the world see how much she truly hates Jews. This is a woman who is such an anti-Semite and so ignorant of history that in 2018 she publicly said that Hitler was “OK”. Her hatred is vitriolic, and her hubris has let her make comments that are especially outrageous in the aftermath of the tragedies of October 7. Her repeated comments show her hatred of Jews, her absolute ignorance of history or geo-politics, and betray the reality that she is an uneducated airhead who has successfully capitalized on her brand of a young black female conservative.

A mere month after the horrors of babies being beheaded, women being raped, and the slew of horrors from Hamas, Owens went on Tucker Carlson’s show to speak about how it really wasn’t that bad, and why should she even care. (After all, she seems to think that Hitler was “ok”, so what’s the problem?) She wanted to talk about the depravities of Hamas as an “academic discussion”, and refused to even condemn Hamas. She castigated Ben Shapiro for being passionately pro-Israel, and demonstrated a remarkable ignorance about everything Jewish, including: the Holocaust; the history of Israel; the history of the involvement of Jews in the early civil rights movement, and how Kanye West’s anti Semitic comments were clear expressions of Jew hatred.

But her appearance a few months ago is not the exception; it is part of a pattern of repeated Jew hatred that seems to be an essential part of Owens’ psyche.

Most recently, she has tried to justify her repeating anti-Semitic trope by attacking a Rabbi and his family. She has called any Jew who points out her anti-Semitism a “thug” and “part of a gang” that she compares to Crips and Bloods.

I am always recalcitrant to speak negatively about any conservative in the public arena, as we are all attacked too much by the left as it is. But it is worth taking an honest look at Ms. Owens to see if her previous words were just based on ignorance, or if in combination with her latest actions demonstrate a Jew hater and ignorant hypocrite.


Arabs from Galilee planned terror attacks for Hamas
Thirteen Arabs from northern Israel have been charged with planning terrorist attacks on behalf of Hamas, the Israel Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) cleared for publication on Sunday.

The suspects, most of them residents of Sakhnin in the Lower Galilee, purchased weapons from terrorists in Judea and Samaria. They were arrested over the past months, the security services said.

The 13 individuals were indicted at Haifa District Court on Sunday. The prosecution requested that the suspects remain in custody until the end of proceedings.

Cell leader Muhammad Khaled Halaila made contact with Hamas terrorist operatives in Strip, who provided him with instructions on how to manufacture explosives. Together with his deputy, Muhammad Yosef Halaila, he worked to recruit additional members to the cell.

According to the State Attorney’s Office, the latter traveled to the Samaria city of Jenin with the aim of getting acquainted with Hamas terrorists there and gaining “theoretical and practical knowledge regarding the assembly of explosive devices.”

The Sakhnin cell also discussed the possibility of its members enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces or the Israel Police to acquire combat skills and steal military-grade weapons, the State Attorney’s Office said.
Iran, proxies ‘trying to boost influence in Jordan’
The Iranian-led Shi’ite axis has been seeking to flood Judea and Samaria with weapons via neighboring Jordan, but the question of whether the Iranian axis could also try to insert its own terror squads into the area from the east has also recently made headlines in Israel.

On March 6, Ynet reported that one of the scenarios the defense establishment is preparing for is the infiltration of Iran-backed Shi’ite militia terror cells from Jordan.

Defense sources have recently confirmed to JNS that they have been dealing with a surge of weapons flooding Judea and Samaria, most of them smuggled from the Jordanian border.

Iran is investing money to get weapons into the hands of terrorists and tries to help direct and carry out attacks, according to one source.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Valley Regional Council announced on Saturday that, following the discovery of a breach in the border fence, subsequent scans by the Israel Defense Forces found six people who had crossed from Jordan overnight between Friday and Saturday.

Jonathan Spyer, director of research at the Middle East Forum, who has reported extensively in Syria and Iraq and embedded with Iraqi Shi’ite militias during the war against Islamic State, told JNS that from the point of view of physical ability, the scenario of Shi’ite militia infiltration from the east is realistic, but that the scope of such an infiltration would likely be limited.
Six infiltrators caught after entering Israel from Jordan
The Israel Defense Forces and local security units apprehended six infiltrators who crossed the border from Jordan on Friday night, the Jordan Valley Regional Council said on Saturday.

Security personnel responding to a breach at the border near the Yarmouk River, searched the area and located the individuals, who were apparently seeking employment.

Israel’s frontier with Jordan extends 192 miles, making it the Jewish state’s longest border. Israel signed a peace treaty with Amman in 1994, but the kingdom has a majority Palestinian population and its government has taken an increasingly hostile tone since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war.

There has been a dramatic increase in arm-smuggling from Jordan into Judea and Samaria, something the IDF has attributed to Iran. Over the past two years, security forces have seized more than 1,000 weapons at the Jordanian border.

There is mounting concern in the security establishment after the Hamas-led massacre of Oct. 7 that pro-Iranian elements could attempt to penetrate Israel’s eastern border to commit a similar mass attack. Israel is working to prevent such a scenario from occurring, including by reinforcing troops at the border.
Jordanian man arrested in Florida for antisemitic threats against Orthodox Jews
A man in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, is under investigation for what authorities are calling antisemitic attacks, as reported by Local 10 News.

Mohamed Al Saccal, 39, has been accused of using a sharp object, described by some victims as a dagger, to threaten Orthodox Jews in the community.

According to Sgt. Brain Schnell, this incident is part of a disturbing trend of harassment targeting members of the Jewish community over the past three days.

Al Saccal allegedly chased a couple on their way to a synagogue along Collins Avenue, yelling antisemitic sentiments and threatening their lives.

Attacker is facing punitive actions
According to the report, Al Saccal, a resident of Sunny Isles Beach born in Jordan, is currently in custody, facing charges of aggravated assault.

Authorities are considering upgrading these charges to hate crimes in light of the nature of his actions.

This incident comes amidst heightened tensions following the Israel-Hamas war that began approximately four months ago. Sgt. Schnell emphasized that hate crimes would not be tolerated, regardless of global or political contexts.
In possible sign of discord during unity talks, Hamas challenges Abbas’s rule
In a direct challenge to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s 19-year rule over Judea and Samaria, Gaza-based Hamas announced on Sunday that it would seek to include exiled Fatah rival Mohammed Dahlan in a unity government, Arab World Press reported.

Husam Badran, Hamas’s international spokesman and a member of its political bureau, told the London-based news outlet that the terror group seeks to maintain “a positive relationship with all Palestinian factions … including the movement led by Mohammed Dahlan.”

Badran stressed, “It is important that he [Dahlan] be represented in the consensus government [between Abbas’s Fatah Party and Hamas].”

Dahlan, once a high-ranking official within Fatah, served as the P.A.’s security chief in Gaza when Hamas violently seized control of the Strip in 2007. As Dahlan regained influence in Judea and Samaria, he had a falling out with Abbas, leading to his exile to the United Arab Emirates in 2011.

Badran said that Hamas “has no desire to continue to rule Gaza alone” and called for the formation of an interim government to unify the coastal enclave with Judea and Samaria, rebuild the Strip in the wake of the war and organize the first Palestinian elections since 2006.

Amid ongoing unity talks with Hamas, P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh submitted the collective resignation of his entire government last month. Abbas requested that Shtayyeh stay on as a caretaker premier until a permanent replacement is appointed.

Abbas is expected to nominate Mohammad Mustafa, a Fatah loyalist who currently heads the P.A.’s Palestine Investment Fund, but Hamas’s Sunday statement could throw a spanner in the works.


Seth Frantzman: As Houthi drone strikes persist, a new US defense group is created to address the threat
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched a large attack on ships in the Red Sea in March. The attacks began around four in the morning and continued for two hours, US Central Command said. The attack included the use of drones, or as the US described them, “large-scale uncrewed aerial vehicles.” These are “one-way attack” drones, which the US now calls OWAs. Iranian state media claimed the Houthis used 37 drones in the attack. Iran has exported the Shahed 36 and other types of drone technologies to the Houthis in Yemen over the last several years.

“CENTCOM and coalition forces identified the one-way attack (OWA) UAVs and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy, and coalition ships in the region. US Navy vessels and aircraft, along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft, shot down 15 OWA UAVs. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure,” US Central Command said.

The attacks by the Houthis have increased in the last weeks and become more deadly. For instance, in mid-March, the Houthis struck a ship called the Rubymar, and the ship sank after two weeks of taking on water. It had to be abandoned. Then, on Wednesday last week, the Houthis struck a ship called the True Confidence, killing three crew members. The attack on March 9 is now the latest escalation.

Continuing American strikes against the Houthis
On March 8, the US carried out a “self-defense strike against two Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists’ truck-mounted anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.” US Central Command said that “at approximately 3:55 p.m. (Sanaa time), Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden at M/V Propel Fortune, a Singapore-flagged, owned, and operated vessel. The missiles did not impact the vessel. There were no injuries or damages reported. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels.”

US Central Command is increasing its efforts against the Houthis, but the drone attack on March 9, the sinking of the Rubymar, and the attack on the True Confidence illustrate a pattern of behavior showing the Iranian-backed Houthis are not deterred and, in fact, feel emboldened.

While the Houthis are increasing attacks, there has been a lull over the last two weeks in attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria. This follows the January 27 attack that killed three US service members. The US retaliated in February with strikes on Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq. Now, it is believed that the Iranian proxies in Syria and Iraq may have dialed back their attacks, at least for now. They may be waiting for orders from Tehran for the next move.


Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt rolls out red carpet for Jews looking to leave New York City
Go west, young mensch.

Oklahoma is rolling out the welcome mat to the chosen people in the wake of antisemitism swamping the Big Apple.

“The Jewish community is welcome in Oklahoma,” declared Gov. Kevin Stitt in an interview this week with The Post.

His invitation comes two years after he landed himself in hot water with Jewish groups for saying after his successful reelection that he would claim “every square inch” of Oklahoma for Jesus.

But his tune has changed.

“When you think about the values of who we are as Oklahomans it matches with the Jewish community, family focused, very faith focused, entrepreneurial, hard working.”

The Sooner state is practically a promised land compared to the Big Apple said Stitt, 51.

“In New York some of the Jewish community are being persecuted and you’ve got the pro-Hamas and Palestinian protesters all over and we’re like, ‘man, that doesn’t happen in Oklahoma,’” Stitt said.

Most if not all New York institutions remain in the thrall of Diversity Equity and Inclusion — which critics say breeds racism and antisemitism — but Stitt proudly notes he’s done away with it in Oklahoma’s public colleges, ripping its Marxist roots.

It’s “teaching division . . . racism,” Stitt said.






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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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