Thursday, March 21, 2024

03/21 Links Pt1: Biden Offers Israel a ‘Deal’ That Sounds Like a Threat; The Palestine Propaganda Complex; 71% Palestinians Support Oct. 7 Attack on Israel

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Biden Offers Israel a ‘Deal’ That Sounds Like a Threat
The first question that comes to mind when reading this is: Why hasn’t the U.S. effort to force Egypt to close the tunnels been ongoing since the moment American officials found out about them? The specificity of U.S. knowledge suggests that this revelation occurred to them prior to Oct. 7. What were they waiting for?

Even if they didn’t know until recently, of course, it makes absolutely no sense that this hasn’t been made a priority. What kind of maniac uses this as a bargaining chip?

We will stop Egypt from flooding Gaza with arms and ammunition if you promise to go easy on Hamas is the kind of thing a mafia goon would say if you put him in the foreign service. What the Under Secretary of State for Gabagool is saying here is that if Israel helps the president calm the muppet babies in his party by summer, the Israelis get to choose the cause of the next war: Do they want it to be because Western leaders saved Hamas from oblivion, or would they rather the next war come because Egypt kept up its supply of cannonballs to the Jolly Roger?

Here’s what an Israeli counteroffer might look like: The IDF goes into Rafah, roots out Hamas, and seals the smuggling tunnels. Western governments’ role in this is limited to saying “thank you.”

Egypt, by the way, has a steady earmark of about $1.3 billion in U.S. aid per year. All the complaints about how the U.S. can just order Israel around because of military aid never seem to be applied to Egypt in the same way.

The U.S. is sending Americans to build a pier off Gaza because Egypt won’t open the Rafah crossing, so this isn’t just about Israel. Normally, you would say that this isn’t Egypt’s war or responsibility. But if everyone is conceding the fact that Egypt armed Hamas to the teeth, then that doesn’t hold water.

The smuggling tunnels should be closed and Hamas should be defeated. Israelis aren’t terribly interested in continuing to pick their own poison and being condescended to while they do so.
Einat Wilf: The Palestine Propaganda Complex
In 2013, Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer observing discourse on the internet, coined the adage that became known as Brandolini’s Law, also known as the “bullshit asymmetry principle.” “The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit,” he posited, “is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.”

Palestine is only one example. Adi and I had to spend years of research and write an entire book to refute the three-word, poster-sized slogan “Palestine for Palestinians.” To do this, we had to dissect the manner in which the words “refugee” and “return” have been completely abused in the context of the Arab refugees from the War of 1948 (known since the 1960s as “Palestinians”). The words were inverted to keep the war alive, deprive the Jewish state of legitimacy, and maintain a constant question mark over the Jewish state’s very existence. The process of twisting these words has been so effective that, even though almost none of the millions who are still called “Palestinian refugees” are, in fact, refugees by normal international standards, they continue to enjoy the name, status, financial support, and international sympathy of people who have just escaped war and need protection.

Much the same could be written about the manner in which the term “anti-colonial” was inverted to turn the movement for self-determination of the Jewish people in their homeland — a movement that had to resist and outlive at least four empires in order to achieve its goals for Jewish independence — into the epitome of Western colonialism. Or the way in which terms such as “occupation,” “apartheid,” and “genocide,” which were clearly understood in a certain way for decades, were made to fit the purpose of painting the Jewish state as uniquely evil. Or how “antisemitism” was decontextualized and used to pretend that it was an ideology against “Semites,” then to argue that Arabs are Semites, and that, by definition, they could never be antisemitic.

Or I could simply expose the mechanism by which each of these words has been conscripted to serve in a much larger process, the purpose of which is to create a global mindset, a “general agreement” that the Jewish state, and only the Jewish state, is made to carry the imprint of all of the world’s evils.

This is what I call the “placard strategy.” It is ingenious in that it employs a simple and constantly repeated equation, worthy of a kindergarten. On one side is the word “Israel” or “Zionism,” or even merely an image of the Star of David. On the other side, after an = sign, there is a litany of words that have become signifiers of evil. Thus:
Zionism = Racism
Zionism = Apartheid
Zionism = Genocide

These are endlessly recycled on placards, in media and on social media and, most consequentially, in academia and at the United Nations.

Academia is key to conferring a sense of authority on the process of equating Zionism with all of the world’s evils. As the Wilson Center scholar Izabella Tabarovsky has shown, this process works through the writing of papers that are then cross-referenced to create a tightly woven structure that becomes nearly impenetrable. (This is why what happens at Harvard actually matters.) Laundering the placard strategy through the United Nations, as with the 1975 “Zionism = Racism” resolution of the General Assembly, also lends authority to these equations; but most valuably, it creates the arena in which the message that the collective Jew equals evil enjoys a “general agreement.” South Africa’s bringing the charges of genocide against Israel at the International Court of Justice is of a piece with this playbook.

The placard strategy—with its nursery-rhyme repetition of a simple message in numerous forums, combined with academic authority and the imprimatur of U.N. bodies—leads to only one logical outcome. It is the one seen in recent demonstrations, in which a Star of David is placed in a trash bin labeled “Keep the World Clean.” If Israel, Zionism, and the Star of David are evil, then evil must be eradicated. Moreover, it must be put in the trash and eradicated because on the other side of this process awaits a world of justice, rights, equality, and freedom.

It is no coincidence that while all the evil words are made to be associated with the collective Jew, all the good words are made to be associated with those fighting the collective Jew. And more than any other placard, “Keep the World Clean” from the Star of David is the one that should lead Jews to see the ultimate purpose of the entire project: a world without the collective Jew. Indeed, the idea that the collective Jew is what stands between this world and utopia is an ancient one with deadly consequences.
Joe Lieberman: Crossing a Red Line Over Israel
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer last Thursday crossed a political red line that had never before been breached by a leader of his stature and never should be again. In a speech to the Senate, he told the people of Israel - one of our closest allies, a true democracy that is at war with an enemy that hates America as well as the Jews - that they should vote their prime minister out of office.

In Israel, Netanyahu's policy of fighting in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed has the support of an overwhelming majority. Israelis don't want the atrocities of Oct. 7 ever to be repeated. While Schumer's statement undoubtedly pleased American critics of Israel, for the Israelis it was meaningless, gratuitous and offensive.

Schumer ended his argument by lecturing our Israeli friends that if Netanyahu and his coalition remain in power, "then the U.S. will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israel's policy by using our leverage to change the present course." This is a shocking statement that treats Israel differently from other American allies by threatening to intervene in their domestic democratic politics and making American support for Israel conditional.

Schumer's statement will have every other democratic ally of the U.S. worrying that America may try to bully our way into its domestic politics. That will diminish our allies' loyalty to us. Without dependable allies, we will have a much harder time protecting America's security, prosperity and freedom.

Schumer has a record of supporting Israel. That makes his equivocation a particularly troubling and disappointing sign that his party is catering to members and voters who are hostile to the Jewish state.

I enjoyed working with Schumer during our years in the Senate together. He is an excellent legislative leader and became a personal friend. But in this case, I believe he has made a grievous mistake. I hope he can find a way to say so and then lead his fellow Democrats to support Israel - and the shared values and interests of our two great democracies.


MEMRI: A Small Step For President Biden In Gaza, A Big Step Towards Total War
I rushed to hope that the U.S. would turn the Gaza port initiative into the first step in the move toward its comprehensive peace vision, in cooperation with the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

This was all based on the hope that Qatar, which is Hamas, would be ousted from any role in it, since it is a sponsor of Islamist terrorism worldwide. My hope was indeed consistent with the first reports about the port initiative. I termed it a "port of hope" and considered it a miracle that the Biden administration would take an actual step to implement its peace vision.

I proved to be damned wrong.

This administration betrayed its allies – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Jordan – by handing the port over to Qatar, namely to Hamas.

By doing so, the U.S. has flipped sides, from Israel to Qatar. In fact, it has been like this for years, thanks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's collaboration with Qatar and Hamas, facilitating the flow of billions of dollars to Hamas-ruled Gaza, which Hamas used to build its military empire and caused the October 7 attack. By giving the port to Hamas, this administration has embraced its own enemy, Qatar, in place of its true allies, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan. (I listed all the Qatari terrorist-sponsoring anti-U.S. activity, and Qatar's connections with Iran, in my latest piece.)

The UAE and Saudi Arabia now realize that any engagement with this administration is hopeless. They will try to wait out President Biden, while moving further toward the other bloc, the bloc of multipolarity: Russia, China, and Iran.[1]

Why did this happen, and what will be the repercussions?

First of all, it should be stressed that this was an American surrender that shows America's weakness to the world. What all anti-U.S. elements will take away from this tragic episode is not that America stands by its human values to support and care for the population of Gaza, but rather that America is weak and that this is why it is granting the port to Qatar and Hamas.

Why is it doing this? First, Israel failed to finish the job within a month or maximum two, which is the time span that the U.S. and the West can tolerate. Hamas, as always, used the Palestinians in Gaza as human shields, thus turning them, through inhumane cruelty, into unarmed and unwitting fighters on its side.

As a result, the West has attacked only Israel, forgetting even about October 7 and the hostages. All that mattered was the tragic human casualties among the Gazan civilian population. Theoretically, the West could adhere to its human values and to international laws of war and say that Hamas's savagery turns civilians into human shields and that therefore we continue to stand by Israel. But such a scenario is a hopeless dream.


UN Security Council could put competing ceasefire resolutions to vote soon
A U.S.-drafted resolution at the U.N. Security Council that calls for a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terror organization has undergone a fifth revision, perhaps ahead of a vote in the days ahead.

The draft initially called for a six-week ceasefire and criticized a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah heavily. The resolution text now appears to have been watered down in Israel’s favor rather than leveraged under pressure from other council members.

The U.S. draft now “determines the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire” to protect civilians and ramp up humanitarian aid, “and toward that end, unequivocally supports ongoing international diplomatic efforts to secure such a ceasefire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages.”

“We actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that,” Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, told Christiane Baissary, of the Saudi state-run Al Hadath in Jeddah on Wednesday.

“I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal,” he said.

Washington has used its power as a permanent member of the Security Council to veto three previous resolutions. It said the three would hamper ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas through intermediaries by imposing an immediate ceasefire.
Zionist Rabbinic Coalition: No ceasefire until Hamas is defeated, hostages released
The Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, an organization comprised of hundreds of rabbis across the Jewish spectrum, released a statement standing with the war aims of Israel and its citizens.

“We support the consensus of the Israeli public and the decision of their democratically elected government to pursue its military operation in Gaza until all the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated,” the group stated on Tuesday.

The coalition condemned “calls for a ceasefire” until “all of the remaining hostages have been released and Hamas is no longer able to pose a threat to Israel. We also reject calls to place conditions on U.S. aid to Israel.”

The statement cited the Hamas terrorist organization’s continued imprisonment and abuse of hostages, and that the terror group’s “actions and statements show why Israel must not stop its military operations until Hamas is defeated.”

The rabbis wrote that its goal, “as explicitly stated in its charter,” is “the destruction and elimination of Israel and of Jews around the world.” The statement further places the blame for all civilian casualties, including Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, on Hamas.

“Now is the time for the United States to display the courageous leadership required to defeat Iran’s proxy Hamas,” said the coalition.
The IDF's tactical wins in Gaza could become strategic losses - this is why
Since mid-January, the rocket fire has been a trickle, with long stretches of days of no rockets at all. But the rockets have resumed somewhat in recent days.

Around half of the southern border residents followed the IDF and government encouragement to return to their homes. But to what? Ongoing occasional rocket fire, even after an invasion supposed to grant them some quiet?Do people think that the rest will return to the South when they hear fear and frustrations from their neighbors who preceded them?

The IDF was forced this week to conduct a second operation in Shifa, killing 90 Hamas terrorists and arresting 160 suspects who have been sent for further interrogation.

Although the IDF seems to say that each time Hamas manages to fire rockets, the terrorist cell in question has been eliminated, and each time Hamas reconstitutes itself, like at Shifa, the IDF comes back in to crush it, can we call this strategic progress?

If the latest rocket fire and Shifa are Hamas’s true last attempts to regain its standing, and sometime soon its threat will start to collapse, then a true strategic shift is starting.

But if the IDF cannot stop the rocket fire permanently, and if Hamas returns to Shifa a third time, even if it is several months from now, or manages to fire again and rebuild its forces to reach 100 to 200 fighters, then the message will be that “operational control” does not stop rocket fire nor stop Hamas from remaining the dominant power in Gaza.

The IDF would remain more powerful than Hamas in any direct straight fight, but how long will it be before the world, and Israeli society, tire of a new “forever war” with such costly casualties?

If we follow statements by the government and top IDF brass, the “main war” was to end in mid-January, and the low-intensity insurgency was supposed to be done sometime between mid-April and mid-September.
The Commentary Magazine Podcast: The Stakes in Gaza
Today’s podcast takes up a conversation between Israeli official Ron Dermer and our friend Dan Senor in which Dermer says a failure to secure victory in Gaza means Israel “has no future.” Might this be true also of Jewry itself—especially due to the Jews who are now blaming Israel for their feeling of a lack of safety in the West?


Call Me Back PodCast: War Cabinet Member, Ron Dermer
Hosted by Dan Senor
In the days ahead, Minister Dermer will be flying to Washington with a small delegation to meet with the Biden administration about the IDF’s options for Rafah, which we discuss. We also discuss where the overall military operation in Gaza stands now, the hostage negotiations, whether the Israeli Government should be expected to have a day-after plan rolled out now, what role the Arab world can or should play in that day-after planning, and the Government of Canada’s decision to ban future arms sales to Israel.
Global Sanctions Dashboard: How Hamas raises, uses, and moves money
Terrorism, and specifically the financing of terrorism, has come back to the top of the national security agenda following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the spillover effects of Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza.

This past October, the US Treasury sanctioned a network of financial facilitators managing a complex global investment portfolio for Hamas, with assets estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. These designations and subsequent actions likely disrupted Hamas’ finances and investments, but more importantly shed light on a persistent challenge: A heavily sanctioned entity, designated as a terrorist organization across multiple jurisdictions, was able to take advantage of the international financial system to raise, use, and move significant amounts of funds for its terrorist operations.

In this edition of the Global Sanctions Dashboard, we explore Hamas as a case study to illustrate how designated terrorist groups abuse the global financial system. We will walk you through:
How Hamas raises, uses, and moves money;
How sanctions are used to counter Hamas and combat the financing of terrorism; and
Where governments align and diverge in their approaches to combat this activity.

How Hamas raises and moves money despite sanctions
Hamas has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States since 1997 and the group is now sanctioned by the European Union (EU) and Group of Seven (G7) allies to varying degrees. Governments have further sanctioned hundreds of individuals and entities associated with Hamas, and thousands more with ties to Iran, Hamas’ primary benefactor. Nevertheless, the group has been able to access the global financial system to amass a diverse stream of income from multiple sources.

In addition to extorting money from the civilian population of Gaza and receiving varying amounts of annual financial support from Iran, estimated to be as much as $100 million, Hamas has created a global investment portfolio valued between $500 million and $1 billion. This portfolio is invested in companies in countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and Qatar. Hamas has also effectively exploited the charitable sector and solicited donations from witting and unwitting donors using crowdfunding websites. The US Treasury recently noted that while Hamas and other terrorist groups prefer fiat currencies, there is a risk that they will turn to virtual assets as they lose access to traditional financial services.

Terrorist groups, such as Hamas, and other illicit actors use increasingly sophisticated money laundering techniques including smuggling cash and using shell companies to avoid detection and hide their involvement in financial transactions.

Who has sanctioned Hamas
Terrorist designation gaps across jurisdictions create vulnerabilities for the global financial system and may be one explanation as to how Hamas and its financial facilitators were able to operate within the system and with impunity.

Hamas is not designated as a terrorist group by the United Nations (UN). . . UN member states follow and implement UN designations of terrorist groups, including entities like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or ISIL), among several others. However, the UN has not designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. Most countries do not have an autonomous terrorism sanction regime and rely on the UN terrorist designations to inform and justify their counterterrorism efforts.

. . .or sanctioned by Western partners in the Arab world. Treasury’s October tranche of designations included individuals and entities in Turkey, Sudan, Qatar, and UAE—jurisdictions that have not sanctioned Hamas and thus do not have legal restrictions that would prevent Hamas and its facilitators from accessing their financial systems.

There are gaps in sanctions designations among Western jurisdictions. Over the past thirty years, Hamas, in part or in its entirety, has been designated as a terrorist group by various countries in response to its terrorist activity and efforts to destabilize peace operations in the Middle East. Several governments originally only designated Hamas’ “military wing,” the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and later began designating the entirety of the organization as a terrorist group.

The lack of a common narrative of what constitutes terrorism and the lack of a coordinated and unified multilateral effort on terrorist designations provide Hamas and other terrorist groups more freedom to operate and abuse sanction loopholes between jurisdictions.


Chuck Schumer’s cowardly courage
As the holiday of Purim is soon to be celebrated by Jews around the world, Schumer, who is the highest ranking Jewish elected official in our country’s history, must be reminded of the courage of Queen Esther, two millennia ago who was not fearful to intervene on behalf of the Jews. She did not escape her responsibilities as a Jew. Her intervention saved her people from destruction. Assuming risk for her statements and actions, she did not cave in.

Schumer did.

How dare he preach to Israel as my grandchildren join hundreds of thousands of Israelis putting their lives on the line, fighting a just war for its very existence while doing all it can to protect innocent Palestinians.

How dare he unforgivably equate, as he did in the latter part of his Senate speech, Hamas and Netanyahu as equal obstacles to peace.

How dare he use, indeed, abuse his Jewishness as a selling point to berate Israel, undermining its right to choose its government without intervention — intervention Americans bitterly condemn in our own elections.

For Israelis, this is a time not only of studying history, but of living history. Whatever happens today will be recorded for posterity. For now, Schumer is politically protected. His speech falls in line with many of the sentiments of the Democratic Party.

But the annals of Jewish history may not be so kind. Years from now, his speech, I believe, will be seen as a betrayal, precisely when Israel needed help the most.
As Conference of Presidents head defends criticism of Schumer, left-wing groups revolt
The head of the largest umbrella group of U.S. Jewish organizations may have a bit of a mutiny on his hands.

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is standing by a March 19 statement that he and Harriet Schleifer, the umbrella group’s chair, released after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) met virtually with the group’s membership.

The senator addressed his controversial March 14 speech on the Senate floor during which he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu an “obstacle” to peace and said Israel should hold elections. In their letter, Daroff and Schleifer expressed “deep reservations” and said that the group’s 50 member organizations were “remain distressed” by Schumer’s remarks.

“Around every Shabbat table around the world, discussions about political leadership occur and that’s fine and great,” Daroff told reporters on Wednesday.

“The Senate majority leader, to speak out at this time, literally when Israel is fighting an existential war on the embers of the 1,200 innocents who were massacred on Oct. 7— it’s not the time for public criticisms that really only served to empower the detractors of Israel,” Daroff added.
Just a Third of Senate Dems Say They Back Schumer's Call for New Israeli Elections
Nearly a week after Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called on Israelis to depose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just a third of Schumer's caucus has lined up behind him. The latest dissenter is Sen. Tim Kaine (D., Va.), who is running for his third term in November and told the Washington Free Beacon that "the Israeli people" should make their own decisions about who leads them.

In all, just 17 of the 50 members of the Senate Democratic caucus—not including Schumer—have praised the majority leader's speech, during which Schumer said Netanyahu "has lost his way" and called for a "new election" in Israel. Schumer's supporters consist mostly of progressive lawmakers.

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren (D.), for example, said Netanyahu "has created a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that is bleeding support for Israel all around the world," while Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said Schumer "has every right" to attempt to influence Israel's elections given that the United States gives $3.5 billion a year to Israel.

But not all Democratic senators praising Schumer's speech come from the party's left flank. Virginia's Mark Warner, who has touted his reputation as the "moderates' dealmaker-in-chief," defended Schumer's call to oust Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister "was never shy about interfering in American politics."

Warner's colleague, Virginia junior senator Tim Kaine (D.), who is up for reelection in November, is distancing himself from Schumer's remarks, however. Kaine, through a spokeswoman, told the Free Beacon that he "has repeatedly said that decisions regarding Israel's leadership should be made by the Israeli people."
19 Senate Democrats call on Biden to make major step toward Palestinian state
The letter called for Biden to take effective action against West Bank settler violence, end home demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their property, stop settlement planning and construction in the West Bank, release customs revenues to the PA and reactive permits for Palestinian workers from the West Bank to enter Israel.

The senators said they recognize none of these efforts are possible until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, all hostages are released, and "unfettered" humanitarian aid is allowed into the enclave.

"Road to peace depends entirely on two-state solution"
"The road to enduring peace in the region depends entirely on the two-state solution—the establishment of a Palestinian state, existing in concert with a regionally-integrated Israel. Despite decades of US support for this policy, there has been limited success in bringing it to fruition," the letter said. "In order to prevent future deaths and insecurity for both Palestinians and Israelis, the US must continue to take decisive action to bring about a two-state solution once and for all."

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) lead the letter with signatures from Sens.Tammy Baldwin (D-WI.), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chris Coons (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Martin Heinrich (D-NM.), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).


JPost Editorial: Canada should be ashamed of its 'arms embargo' on Israel
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced Tuesday that Ottawa will halt arms sales to Israel. It surely came as a sorely needed piece of good news to Hamas leaders, who can look at this decision as evidence that if they hold out just a little bit longer, then the world will condemn Israel and seek to tie the Jewish state's hands behind its back.

Canada's decision also must bring joy to terrorist organizations worldwide searching for a winning strategy. If they see that through the cruel use of Palestinian human shields, Hamas can survive and murder more Jews and Israeli innocents, then they could be saying to themselves, "This is a great game plan, and if it works for Hamas, it can work for us."

The military equipment that Canada sells Israel - $21 million in 2022 - is not going to determine the course of this war. The Canadian government has confused the aggressor with the victim and lost sight of who is responsible for the horrible and undeniable suffering taking place inside Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz said: "It is unfortunate that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israel's right to self-defense against the Hamas murderers who have committed terrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israeli citizens, including the elderly, women, and children." History "will judge the Canadian government's current move harshly." He is correct.
Canada's 'arms embargo' on Israel: Foreign policy theater for domestic audiences
Even though whether this policy introduces anything new into Canadian foreign affairs is questionable, the NDP seems to think they have achieved a great victory, with the arms embargo as the crown jewel of the motion.

"Thanks to our NDP motion, Canada is the first G7 country to stop sending weapons to [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s extremist government," said NDP Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson, who led her party's push for the motion in the Monday debate.

"The vote is in and we have forced the Liberals to..Stop selling arms to the Israeli government," said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

When the motion was introduced, the focus was not on arms trade but on a much more dramatic call to recognize a Palestinian state.

The Liberal Party has had a minority government since the 2021 federal election and has relied on an NDP confidence-and-supply agreement to continue governing. It is in their interest to keep them happy and at least give them the appearance of being impactful to their progressive base.

Canada has also been wracked with large anti-Israel protests since the October 7 Massacre, with escalating protests targeting Jewish institutions and holy places. Yet Canada also had a strong and activist Jewish community, with prominent Jewish politicians represented in the Liberal, Conservative, and NDP caucuses. Israel is also an ally and a viable economic and diplomatic partner on the world stage.

Throughout the debate, Joly demonstrated how the Liberal Party's game plan was to try to satisfy both sides. She equated the rise of antisemitism and Islamaphobia in Canada in the wake of the conflict. Yet, recent Toronto hate crime statistics show a minimal increase in anti-Muslim crime, especially when compared to antisemitic crime. Joly assured one side that Canada would restore UNRWA funding while promising it would occur alongside an investigation into the agency and putting stronger wording into the motion.

"We face pressure to pick sides, forced to believe that if we speak up for one, of course, surely we're against the other," Joly said during her speech, in a sentence summing up the evasiveness and unclear position that the government has taken.

Even if the ban policy comes into effect on the harshest terms, in 2021, Canada's military product exports to Israel were worth around $21 million Canadian. Israel's defense budget is in the billions.

Canada's 'arms embargo' is probably foreign policy theater for domestic audiences, but the show can only go on until the audience either realizes it's a farce and gets up and leaves or gets upset at the slights and throws tomatoes.


'Hostage-taking could become Palestinian national sport', former Mossad agent warns
Rami Igra, the former head of Mossad's Prisoners and MIA Division, was interviewed on Wednesday morning by Udi Segal and Anat Davidov on Radio 103FM.

In the interview, he discussed the hostage deal materializing between Israel and Hamas. He expressed his opinion as to why this deal is bad for Israel.

"The State of Israel must change the paradigm of hostage-taking. Anyone who has blood on their hands and is released in the framework of a hostage deal must meet their death shortly after their release," Igra stated.

"On the day of his [the prisoner's] release, he will decide what is better - three meals a day or to die in another two weeks. Around a year ago, Palestinian detainees in Israeli hospitals were set to be released to Gaza. No one wanted to go because it was better to die here than there."

"You must remember, this release is not just about people - this release is political," he said and explained: "What we did in the Shalit deal is that we colossally strengthened Hamas among the Palestinian population, both in the West Bank and Gaza. What will happen in the next deal is that if, among other things, we bring our loved ones home, it will result in Hamas becoming very, very strong, and this has implications and a price paid in blood, as was the case with the Shalit deal."

Igra added that "a survey recently conducted on social media in Gaza shows that Hamas is getting stronger. Hamas is looking at its basic goal, which is to survive and return to its condition on October 6th, so it can become stronger, rebuild itself, and fulfill its goal of the destruction of Israel."


New Poll: 71 Percent of Palestinians Support Oct. 7 Attack on Israel
71% of Palestinians say Hamas' decision to launch the Oct. 7 offensive was correct, according to a poll conducted on March 5-10, 2024, by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and Gaza.

64% blame Israel for the suffering of Gazans in the current war, while 7% blame Hamas.

94% think Israel has committed war crimes during the current war, while 5% think Hamas also committed such crimes.

80% say they did not see videos, shown by international news outlets, of acts committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians, such as the killing of women and children in their homes. 93% said Hamas did not commit these atrocities.

Overall, 64% believe Hamas will win the war. In Gaza, 56% believe this, up from 50% in December. In the West Bank, 69% believe this, down from 83% in December.

On the day after the war, 59% say Hamas will be in control of Gaza.

49% believe Hamas is the most deserving to lead the Palestinian people today, while 17% believe that Fatah under the leadership of Abbas is more deserving; 29% believe both are unworthy.

46% believe that armed struggle is the best means of achieving Palestinian goals (51% in the West Bank and 39% in Gaza).

59% oppose a return to Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.
More than 90% of Palestinians say no atrocities perpetrated on Oct. 7
Ninety-three percent of Palestinians believe that Hamas did not commit atrocities during its mass invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, and 72% support the attack, according to recent polling conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).

The survey of 1,580 Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria was conducted between March 5 and 10 via in-person interviews. The margin of error was 3%.

Notably, among Palestinians who watched videos of the atrocities filmed by the perpetrators themselves, 81% still did not believe atrocities were committed.

Only one in five Palestinians have seen such videos, according to the survey.


Pew: Half of US Muslims say ‘valid’ Hamas reasons to fight Israel, 21% say Oct. 7 attack ‘acceptable’
Regardless of how they feel about Oct. 7, almost half of U.S. Muslim adults (49%) say that Hamas had “valid” reasons to fight Israel, and 21% of that demographic said that Hamas’s terror attack on Oct. 7 was either “completely acceptable” (10%) or “somewhat acceptable” (11%).

That’s according to new data from the Pew Research Center, based on a survey of 12,693 American adults between Feb. 13 and Feb. 25.

“Unlike most nationally representative polling in the United States since the war began, our survey includes enough Jewish and Muslim respondents to allow their views to be analyzed separately,” Pew stated in a release. (The survey, which is oversampled for Jews and Muslims, has a margin of error of 1.5 percentage points in either direction.)

While more than one in five American Muslim adults said that it was at least “somewhat acceptable” that Hamas—which the United States has designated a terrorist organization for 27 years—attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, just about 5% of U.S. adults overall thought that. Three percent of U.S. Jewish adults said that Hamas’s attack was acceptable.

Nearly three in four (73%) American adults said that the way Hamas carried out its Oct. 7 attack was unacceptable, with 66% saying Hamas’s reasons were “completely unacceptable.”

An overwhelming majority (89%) of American Jews said that Israel was justified in going to war against Hamas, compared to 18% of U.S. Muslims. While 49% of Muslim Americans said that Hamas has valid reasons to attack Israel, just 16% of American Jews said that.

Well over half (62%) of American Jews and 5% of Muslim Americans said Israel’s war in Gaza is acceptable, while 68% of American Muslims said it was unacceptable.


Blood on her hands
By reinstating UNRWA funding, Australia is not only acting contrary to our closest allies but is now actively undermining Israel’s strategy. On 15 February the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, began the legislative process to ban UNRWA from operating within Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also announced UNRWA will have no role in post-war Gaza.

Wong has previously been praised by Hamas for changing Australia’s diplomatic terminology in referring to Gaza, Judea-Samaria (West Bank) and the eastern side of Jerusalem from ‘disputed territories’ to the pejorative ‘occupied territories’. Perhaps supporting Hamas by restoring UNRWA funding will earn further praise.

The three top leaders of Hamas have a staggering fortune of $11 billion, according to a 7 November report by the New York Post. Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzuk and Khaleed Mashal enjoy luxury in Qatar and the international community is not asking how they accumulated such wealth or pressuring them to assist in Gaza. It seems perverse that Australian taxpayers are called upon to provide aid while Hamas leaders fleece the aid and become billionaires.

Our Australian Labor government is knowingly funding an organisation which for decades has been teaching hatred, antisemitism and glorifying jihadist terrorism. The overwhelming evidence is that UNRWA has been supporting and assisting a proscribed terrorist organisation. We have been indirectly funding murderers, kidnappers and rapists.

It is not an exaggeration to say that funding UNRWA is a policy dripping with blood and Wong has her hands all over it.

While the average Aussie might not have much knowledge of Middle East politics, the vast majority would not support Australian foreign aid going anywhere near terrorism or enriching terror leaders.

So here’s an issue for the Coalition for the next federal election. Rebuke the reckless Labor policy of funding UNRWA and assure the Australian people that under a Coalition government there will a more responsible approach and Australia’s aid will not directly or indirectly fund terrorism.


IDF General Explains Rafah Attack Considerations
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Prof. Jacob Nagel, former acting National Security Council chief, told 103FM that, "Today, the army and the political echelon...are waiting, they are currently giving a chance to the last attempt to reach a hostage deal" before attacking Hamas in Rafah.

"There won't be a deal because Hamas doesn't currently feel enough pressure, especially [Hamas chief Yahya] Sinwar, and that's why it makes ridiculous demands."

"We will need to continue working underground and above the ground [in Gaza] for years, just like it was in Operation Defensive Shield in Jenin [in 2002]."

"Until today, years later, there are still nests of terrorism in Jenin. So whoever thinks that there will be no terrorists after we destroy Hamas in Rafah is wrong."

"The fight against terrorism will take place for [years to come], but if the IDF controls security in Gaza, it will be able to enter and exit as it does in Judea and Samaria, which will be much better."
Israel's Gaza assassination campaign: US approved, sent intel to IDF
American officials have seemingly greenlighted and supported the Israeli assassination campaign in Gaza and abroad, according to a report on NBC on Thursday, citing unnamed American and Israeli officials.

The report cites claims from American Congressional figures that seizures of intelligence were behind the assassination of Hamas number 3, Marwan Issa, last week.

The unnamed officials, both former and current, claimed that the US had stepped up intelligence-gathering operations in Gaza.

Before October 7, America did not prioritize Hamas as an intelligence target; however, following October 7, America began providing signals intelligence by eavesdropping on electronic communications.
IDF: 600 terrorists detained, over 140 killed at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital
Israel Defense Forces troops operating against Hamas at the Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City continue to make significant gains, with the military reporting on Thursday that a total of 600 terrorists have been detained, in addition to at least 140 who were killed in exchanges of fire.

Since Monday, the IDF has been mounting a massive military operation in an attempt to root out a resurgent Hamas presence at the compound, which Israeli forces first entered in mid-November.

On Wednesday, the army reported that it had killed 90 terrorists and captured more than 300, including Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a senior Hamas operative responsible for planning the 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel that ignited that year’s Gaza war (“Operation Protective Edge”).

“The fighting in the hospital area continues, with many instances of contact with the enemy and exchanges of fire,” the IDF said on Thursday afternoon. “The forces continue to operate and search the area in order to locate weaponry and arrest terrorists in close encounters.”

During the battle, several Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives surrendered to the IDF, the statement revealed. Two senior officials of the Iran-backed terrorist group were transferred to Israel for questioning by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

In addition to Qawasmeh, the IDF captured two more senior terrorists responsible for Hamas’s operations in Judea and Samaria, the army said on Thursday, adding that they were also taken into Shin Bet custody.


IDF drone locates armed terrorist hiding in room
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday published footage of a drone identifying a terrorist hiding in a room, shortly before troops operating in the Hamad area of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, killed him.

Commando Brigade soldiers from the Egoz guerilla warfare unit raided 100 structures in the Qatari-funded luxury residential development as part of a weeks-long operation to clear it of Hamas terrorists, killing dozens of terrorists and confiscating several weapons.

Troops also captured dozens of terrorists who surrendered themselves and transferred them for questioning.

“During the operation, the soldiers encountered armed terrorists who barricaded themselves on various floors of the buildings in the area and eliminated them in close-quarters combat,” the IDF said.

The operation was based on IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) intelligence and was carried out in close cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, which struck terror targets to prepare the area for the entry of ground troops.


The Israel Guys: Are the People of Gaza ACTUALLY Starving?
Are the people of Gaza actually starving? I mean, it’s a legitimate question. If you ask nearly any world leader, international humanitarian organization, or simply watch the ads that Youtube is serving you, you’d think that millions of people are in danger of dying any day from starvation.

If we look behind the news, children crying in front of the camera, and ask some key questions however, we may find a very different story. Since the world wants us to stand with the poor, innocent civilians in Gaza, and hate Israel in the process, it’s important that we know what is actually going on. The real truth might surprise you.




What the Nova Festival Site Looks Like Today
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” shows how the site of the Nova Festival massacre on Oct. 7 has been turned into a heartbreaking memorial.




Thousands attend Western Wall prayer service for the hostages
Thousands of Jews converged on the Western Wall on Thursday for a prayer service in honor of the captives still being held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

The show of solidarity was broadcast live worldwide from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The proceedings included speeches from family members of the hostages, in addition to the recitation of Psalms and a special prayer for the return of the captives. It concluded with Jews from around the world reciting the Shema prayer at the holiest site where they can pray.

“‘Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad‘ [‘Hear O’ Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One’]”—these words are known to every Jew almost from birth. These are the words that accompany us all in moments of joy and often in times of hardship and distress,” according to a statement by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of the captives.

The event took place on the Fast of Esther, a dawn-to-nightfall fast held before the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates the events that occurred during the Jewish exile in Shushan, Persia. While the fast is generally celebrated on the day before Purim, when the holiday falls on a Sunday, the fast is moved from Shabbat to the preceding Thursday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog participated in the event, saying: “I will also join the entire Jewish people in the Fast of Esther and in reciting ‘Shema Yisrael’ for the return of all the hostages, for the recovery of the wounded and for the safety of our soldiers and heroes, and for unity between the people of Israel in Israel and throughout the whole world.”


Douglas Murray Sets the Record Straight on the Smear of Genocide in Gaza
On a recent visit to South Africa, Douglas Murray takes on the claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that South Africa was correct to bring a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice. The conversation also entails a discussion of democracy in South Africa and elsewhere, mass migration to the West, and more. His interlocutor is Jane Dutton of Eyewitness News.


Honestly with Bari Weiss: The Free Press in Israel Part 3: The Gathering Storm
Today, we close out the Israel series with a conversation with the journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, who is one of the most important and insightful writers of our time on Israel and the Middle East.

We talk about many things, including: the uncertain future for Israelis, for Palestinians, and for Jews around the world; the larger fight happening within Islam that this war represents; what progressives in the West don’t understand about that fight, or about the Middle East more generally; and why ordinary Americans need to understand that history has not ended—and that we’re still very much living inside it.
Ecstasy and Amnesia | Shany Mor on How the Arab World Deludes Itself Into Endless Cycles of Tragedy
In this episode, Eylon Levy is joined by Dr. Shany Mor to discuss a recurring pattern in Arab history, which sees the launching of a war against Israel accompanied by intense jubilation and excitement. The terrible defeat which then follows, time after time, prompts the immediate adoption of a victim narrative, and, most concerningly, a total re-writing of history: forgetting why there was a war in the first place, and clearing the slate for the next attack. Without lessons learned, can we ever break free of this vicious cycle of ecstasy and amnesia?


Reaction to Hamas massacre shows lessons of Holocaust not learned, Czech envoy says
The outburst of antisemitism across the West following the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 and the world’s inability to clearly differentiate between the attacker and the victim indicates that the lessons of the Holocaust have not been learned, the Czech ambassador to Israel said on Wednesday.

“I was very surprised how soon after October 7 this eruption of antisemitism came even before the Israeli military operation in Gaza began,” Ambassador Veronika Kuchynova Smigolova told JNS in an interview. “I had thought that classic antisemitism was much weaker than it is.”

The envoy from one of Israel’s staunchest allies in Europe said she remains dumbfounded by the world’s reaction to the invasion that triggered the five-month-old war against Hamas in Gaza, which quickly focused on the plight of Palestinians in the Strip.

“It looks like the lessons from the Holocaust were not learned properly,” Kuchynova Smigolova said. “This inability to differentiate between the attacker and the defender is absolutely stunning.”

The ambassador said that she was particularly shocked by how under-reported the sexual crimes of Hamas were, and the international community’s belated and minimalistic response to the attacks, including women’s groups and the United Nations.

“It looks like nobody wanted to see that,” she said.
Suspended spokesman Eylon Levy will continue fighting the media war
Suspended government spokesman Eylon Levy will continue fighting the media war, whether or not he is reinstated.

Levy made the statement on Wednesday night at the Begin Center where he and Gil Hoffman, the executive director of Honest Reporting and a media columnist for The Jerusalem Post shared some of their experiences in combating anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiments expressed in traditional and social media.

While Israel is much faster than in bygone days in responding to fake news, it still takes relatively a long time for it to respond, because facts need to be checked before an accurate response can be made.

But neither Levy nor Hoffman are prepared to throw in the towel in a battle in which Israel is seldom the victor. Each of them said that they would keep on fighting and not give in, and urged the audience not to cancel their subscriptions to The New York Times but to read the paper carefully and to write letters to the editor when they find incorrect information that is harmful to Israel and the Jewish people.

They also urged people to subscribe to additional social media platforms in the effort to get Israel’s message across to an ever growing public.

“We have to win,” insisted Hoffman. “Winning the media battle is the key to winning on the military battlefield.”Both speakers made it clear that world leaders have supported Israel’s right to defend itself and defeat terrorism in order to prevent terrorists from becoming emboldened in their own countries.
Diaspora Jews rally around Eylon Levy, demand his reinstatement
The group We Are Tov (the Hebrew word for good) launched a petition on Wednesday, calling for the reinstatement of the suspended Government Spokesperson Eylon Levy.

The petition, made on Change.org, has a goal of 10,000 signatories and has already accumulated over 8,000.

We Are Tov, addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, wrote, “We, the undersigned, urge the Prime Minister's Office to lift the suspension imposed on Eylon Levy, the Israeli Government's spokesman.

“Eylon's invaluable role, especially in a time when narratives are critically shaped by the media, cannot be overstated. He stands as a beacon of truth amidst a sea of misinformation. His efforts have significantly contributed to informing and educating the public in the United States, the United Kingdom, and other English-speaking countries about the complexities and realities on the ground.”

Addressing the cause of the suspension, a response to an X post made by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the group said that the punitive measures against Levy were “unjust and counterproductive.”

Emanuel Miller, a media analyst who worked closely with Levy, wrote on X that “I spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time with Eylon Levy preparing, researching, and fact-checking his videos and scripts for his daily briefings.

“One thing cannot be clear enough: The tweet he sent made a point made repeatedly in his official capacity as government spokesman, directly to the camera from the PMO studio itself. The scripts were vetted and approved by PMO officials and nobody EVER voiced concern over this point.

“Somebody with influence is choosing to make a mountain out of a molehill over this.”


Police, protesters clash in Knesset after Arab MK accuses Israel of 'massacre'
Hadash-Ta'al MK and faction leader Ayman Odeh was taken out of the Knesset plenum after he made remarks opposing IDF's war on Hamas in Gaza on Wednesday.

He began by quoting a statement made on Wednesday by former Health Minister and Israeli ambassador to France, Yael German, on the hunger in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

He then said, "I appeal to you to be a real opposition against this government and its crimes in Gaza," he told the Knesset plenum.

"What the army is a crime, it's killing, it's murder, it's a massacre," he shouted. His remarks were met with severe protests from other MKs, and he was removed from the Knesset plenum.

In response, Odeh's party Hadash wrote on X, Odeh "was taken off the Knesset podium by a Likud MK. Odeh was removed for demanding the rest of Israel's 'opposition' to do its job and criticize the massacre and starvation Israel is inflicting on Gaza. The Knesset is de facto preventing anti-war speech."


Child with blood disorder ‘scared to wear kippah’ after being ‘forced out of bed’ by pro-Palestine nurses
An NHS trust is investigating claims that nurses wearing pro-Palestine badges discriminated against a Jewish child by forcing him out of a hospital bed while he recieved a blood transfusion.

The nine-year-old boy, who suffers from a rare blood disorder, must recieve regular treatment.

During a recent blood transfusion session at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, his family claim, the child wore his kippah and tzitzit as usual.

He had a cannula placed in his arm to deliver blood, his uncle, Elliott Smus wrote on LinkedIn, and was placed in a hospital bed.

Nurses wearing pro-Palestine insignia then told him he could not sit there any longer, and forced him onto the floor, Smus claimed.

The next time the family took their child to hospital he did not wear any outward sign of his Jewish identity and he was treated well, the sales director wrote.

The “proudly Jewish” boy is now “scared” to wear his kippah to hospital, Smus added.

A spokesperson for Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are aware of images and very serious claims which are circulating on social media.

"We are rapidly investigating these to establish the situation and are discussing them with the family involved.

"Royal Manchester Children's Hospital is committed to providing high-quality care to all of our patients."

In a letter to the trust, Manchester Jewish leaders have expressed distress over the allegations.

“This is naturally hugely concerning that a Jewish family have been targeted due to the conflict in the Middle East. We are sure you will agree that it is imperative all patients are treated the same irrespective of their race or religion,” Marc Levy, the chief executive of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester wrote.

"This could have catastrophic repercussions for the Jewish community if they were to feel that they are not safe attending your hospital.”


Burning object thrown at Israeli embassy in Hague, one arrested
A burning object was thrown at the Israeli embassy in the Hague on Thursday morning, Dutch police said, adding that they have arrested a suspect.

Neither the police nor embassy officials gave any further description of the object. The police said in a post on social media platform X that no one was wounded during the incident, which is being investigated, without giving more details.

There has been a rapid rise in the number of hate crimes reported across Europe since the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza began last October. 'Dangerous consequences increasing hatred and incitement'

A statement posted on the official X account of the Israeli embassy in The Hague confirmed the incident and said it was unacceptable that such an attack could be carried out in the Netherlands.

"This proves the dangerous consequences of the worrying trend of increasing hatred and incitement," the post added.

The Netherlands had added extra security at the Israeli embassy in The Hague following threats.

In January, an object believed to be an explosive device was found outside the Israeli embassy in Sweden. The matter is being investigated as a suspected terrorist crime.
London is the most anti-Semitic city in the West thanks to a mix of far-left 'wokeism' and 'radical Islam' with the capital no longer safe for Jews, claims hardline Israeli minister
London has become the most anti-Semitic city in the West thanks to a mix of the 'radical Left and Islamic extremism', a top Israeli official has declared.

Israel's diaspora minister Amichai Chikli, a notoriously hardline member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, said earlier this week the capital was no longer a safe place for Jews because of the erosion of free speech in Britain.

'The anti-Semitism we see today in the West is the worst since the 1930s because of... the combination of the radical Left and the radical Islam groups that work together,' he told journalists at a Europe Israel Press Association conference in Jerusalem.

'This isn't just a problem for the Jews but for the British people, when even the statue of Churchill needs its own security. Today in the UK, Jews are hiding their yarmulkes and their (stars of David). They know that if they speak Hebrew on the subway they might get hit.'

Chikli, who has developed a reputation for taking harsh stances against any criticism of Israel, went on to warn British officials of the dangers of radicalisation and suggested that immigration must be monitored more closely to prevent extremists from entering the UK.

'If you think that anyone who is coming now from Algeria or Iraq or Syria can be part of Western liberal society just by crossing the border – you need to understand that it is not that simple...

'What is happening in the mosques? In the schools? In the UK you have a very large Muslim population – most of them have nothing to do with this but a few people are being radicalised and that is going to have serious consequences.'


NY reparations panel members should resign over ‘disturbing’ antisemitic and anti-police views: GOP pols
Two appointees to a new state committee considering paying reparations should resign for making “disturbing” antisemitic and anti-police remarks, New York Republicans said Wednesday.

GOP members of the state Senate called for Ron Daniels and Lurie Daniel Favors to step down from New York’s nine-member “commission to study reparations and racial justice,” which they were appointed to by state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx).

“The deeply offensive views of these members should completely disqualify them from serving in any government-appointed position, especially one supposedly intended to unify our state,” Minority Leader Robert Ortt and other Republicans in the state Senate said in a joint statement.

“The abhorrent bias of these commission members will no doubt cloud their decision-making and taint their recommendations.”

Daniels has claimed that white people are responsible for climate change and backed Hamas’ terrorist hostilities against Israel, while Favors pushed to defund the police, The Post recently reported.

“When announcing the members of the newly created reparations commission, Governor [Kathy] Hochul referred to the appointees as an ‘extraordinary group of highly-qualified individuals.’ The announcement failed to acknowledge the disturbing antisemitic and anti-police rhetoric espoused by commission members Ron Daniels and Lurie Danie Favors,” the GOP statement said.

“Regardless of any opinion on the necessity of this commission, there should be no doubt these members have no business continuing to serve,” the pols said. “We strongly urge Governor Hochul and the Senate and Assembly Majorities to demand their resignations immediately.”


Anti-Israel protesters attempt to shut down Liberal Party fundraising event
Rebel News journalist David Menzies reports from an anti-Israel protest outside of a Liberal Party fundraising event in downtown Toronto.


Humza Yousaf's family firm in Glasgow is accused of displaying antisemitic posters
A business owned by Humza Yousaf's family has been accused of displaying antisemitic posters.

The window display at Yousaf & Co accountancy firm's offices in Glasgow's Pollokshields, which was founded by the First Minister's father, features a poster showing a Palestinian flag covering a map of the Israeli state.

A spokesman for the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities said: 'It is, of course, entirely in order to express support and sympathy for all civilians caught up in the war.

'[But] posters, flags and social media posts which depict a single Palestinian state in all of the area 'from the river to the sea' are a call for the annihilation of Israel and of the Jewish people, since Israel does not exist outwith that area, and are therefore antisemitic.

'As such, they cause a great deal of distress to the vast majority of Jewish people in Scotland, most of whom have close relatives and friends living in Israel, and may be mourning those who were murdered, and desperate for the return of others kidnapped and taken to Gaza during the carnage of October 7.'
Revealed, Poster girl for SNP's new hate crime laws works for 'Islamist' group accused of… HATE SPEECH
A poster girl for the SNP’s new hate crime laws was last night revealed to be a senior member of an organisation with ‘Islamist orientation and beliefs’ that ‘engages in hate speech and anti-semitic conspiracy theories’.

A video uploaded to a Scottish Government website ahead of new anti-prejudice legislation coming into force next month shows a Muslim woman called Linsay Taylor discussing the impact of Islamophobic attacks.

Yet a probe by The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal the organisation Ms Taylor works for, Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend), may fall foul of the laws she has been enlisted to promote.

Last week, UK Community Secretary Michael Gove used parliamentary privilege to name Mend as one of five extremist groups that could be banned from receiving taxpayer cash or contact with Ministers and civil servants under a new crackdown.

According to think tank the Henry Jackson Society, Mend has been accused of promoting ‘anti-semitism and demonisation of Israel’ and ‘engaging in hate speech and anti-semitic conspiracy theories over social media’.

In 2016 Mend tweeted an article from the website Electronic Intifada called How the Israel Lobby Manufactured UK Labour Party’s Anti-Semitism Crisis.

A recent post engages with the idea that there is an Israeli ‘lobby’ influencing British and foreign government policy-making.

Meanwhile, Ms Taylor herself promoted a Voices For Palestine event on her LinkedIn page two months ago. One of the speakers listed claimed in the wake of the Hamas atrocities on October 7 that ‘Israel has enjoyed killing my people, displacing my family and wiping out generations of Palestinians, erasing villages, history, culture and tradition’.
Shocking moment Jewish men are confronted by angry woman while quietly enjoying their meal at a cafe in Sydney
Jewish cafe patrons sitting quietly chatting over their drinks have been subjected to a threatening tirade from a complete stranger, who accused them of being part of a 'genocidal race'.

The two men, readily identifiable as Jewish by their yarmulke skull caps, and a woman were sitting at the cafe in the eastern Sydney shopping hub of Bondi Junction on Wednesday afternoon when the furious woman approached their table.

She began berating them over the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

'What you people did...' she yelled in an incident filmed on Wednesday afternoon by journalist Alison Bevege and posted to her Substack Letters from Australia.

'You are going to be spread around again,' the woman said, in an apparent reference to the dispersal of Jews around the world following historical persecutions.

The group sitting at the table responded in reasoned tones but the woman shouted them down.

'Your people, your race are committing genocide,' she said.

'Bombing international health aid, for God's sake. Bombing hospitals in Palestine.

'Officially 25,000 people die, children, old women, old man.'




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