Wednesday, March 27, 2024

03/27 Links Pt2: Why Israel’s Critics Keep Changing the Rules; Holocaust Re-Revisionism; We are still haunted by ISIS

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Why Israel’s Critics Keep Changing the Rules
Compared to Israel’s November operation at Shifa, this one has attracted far less press attention (aside from the usual perfunctory stenographic work mainstream newspapers in America do for Hamas). One reason for this is that in November, Israel had to spend time searching the hospital after securing it and committing to the slow process of finding and neutralizing the tunnels. This meant the world spent weeks criticizing Israel before informed criticism was even possible, and then moved the goalposts every time Israel revealed a Hamas war crime in the hospital complex. It was a round of Calvinball. By the time the scope of Hamas’s use of the complex was made clear, the press had moved on.

This time, the press had no excuses even before the operation. Everyone already knows how Hamas turned a large hospital into a war zone. As well, the presence of senior Hamas military commanders makes even the attempt to spin this is an Israeli overreaction look ridiculous. Hamas has been caught in the act, which should theoretically be a headline-dominating story for days. There should be a tidal wave of condemnations from foreign ministries around the world and apologies from medical NGOs and media organizations for having—wittingly or unwittingly—aided a terrorist army’s unprecedented assault on international law and coopting journalists and doctors into undermining the safety and credibility of their peers in other conflict zones.

Ah, but that wouldn’t be Calvinball. The rules adjust, and Israel must adjust with them—and as soon as it does, the rules will change again.

“Israel’s opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set,” writes John Spencer, perhaps the leading expert in the field at the moment.

But of course they are; if there is no potential for a Hamas victory, even a public-relations one, there is no story. Israel’s critics should be overjoyed at the blueprint Jerusalem is providing for new and creative ways to protect civilians in urban warfare. But to Israel’s critics, international law isn’t stagnant; those were the laws of war in the last round of Calvinball. And hey, why is Israel’s army always fighting the last war, anyway?
The Accused
Hannah Arendt once called the Dreyfus affair a “dress rehearsal for the Holocaust.” For more than a decade, the saga of a Jewish military officer wrongfully convicted of treason riled turn-of-the-century France and foreshadowed the European horrors to come. Yet there has been a curious tendency by some historians to remove both Dreyfus and his Jewishness from the center of the story. In his authoritative new book, Alfred Dreyfus: The Man at the Center of the Affair, the historian Maurice Samuels rectifies this error, while challenging long-standing myths.

As Paul Johnson pointed out in his magisterial History of the Jews, the Dreyfus affair brought a “decisive end to an epoch of illusion in which assimilated western Jews had optimistically assumed that the process of their acceptance in European society was well under way and would shortly be completed.” It upended Jewish life, leading Jews as far away as the United States to ponder whether they would ever be truly accepted in the lands in which they were a tiny minority. It gave a shot in the arm to political Zionism and eventually mobilized much of the French left against anti-Semitism. And it led to years of political upheaval, toppling French governments and revealing divisions that, as Samuels notes, are still evident today.

Born in the Alsatian town of Mulhouse in 1859, Dreyfus grew up in an upper-class Jewish family. Alfred’s father, Raphael, made his fortune in the mill industry and was able to provide a comfortable life.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 shattered the family’s serene existence. The forces of Prussian minister Otto Von Bismarck defeated Napoleon III and France. A new nation, Imperial Germany, was declared at Versailles. And the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were annexed by Germany. This amputation was a severe blow to the French psyche, which mourned the loss for the next half-century. It also made quite the impression on young Alfred, who watched enraged as Prussian troops entered Mulhouse. It spurred his desire for a career in the military.

At the time, it was not unusual for a French Jew of Dreyfus’s social and economic background to pursue such a calling. Indeed, as scholars such as Derek Penslar have highlighted, in the 19th century the armed forces of many European nations opened their ranks to Jewish officers. This was certainly true in France, which had played a historic role in emancipating Jews after the French Revolution. An ardent patriot, Dreyfus wanted to serve.

“The Dreyfus family,” Samuels notes, “had embraced French culture because it was socially advantageous, but they also felt a great loyalty to France for having been the first country to emancipate the Jews.”
Holocaust Re-Revisionism
What more can there possibly be to say about the Holocaust? Plenty, as Dan Stone demonstrates in The Holocaust: An Unfinished History, his sobering and meticulous exploration of aspects of the Shoah that have remained, until now, under-analyzed. And these aspects of the Holocaust are especially salient today, as the Nazis’ carefully orchestrated murderous program has been adopted and adapted by Hamas and other jihadist groups and abetted by their fellow travelers in the West.

“There are still major parts of the history of the Holocaust that have not been understood in the prevailing narrative,” writes Stone, a historian at the University of London and the director of the Holocaust Research Institute. These include a comprehensive genocidal ideology originating with and propagated by, but transcending, the Nazis themselves; the “ubiquity” of collaboration throughout Europe and North Africa; and the extraordinary nature of the trauma suffered by the survivors and the slaughtered alike.

The conspiracy that fed the genocidal instincts of the Nazis and their collaborators began and ended with Nazi race “science.” Stone writes, “To understand the drive for Lebensraum, the creation of a German empire in Europe in which the racial community could thrive, one has to grasp the overriding significance of race for the Nazis.” Invoking the historian Eric Voegelin, Stone contends that the fuzzy, mystical notion of race unified German philosophy, politics, and culture.

Specious as this racial theory was—even “pseudoscience” doesn’t do it justice—it galvanized both Nazi elites and everyday Germans young and old. “It is plain to all who are willing to see,” said Nazi culture minister Karl Weber in the mid-1930s, “that this philosophy involves a call to the younger generation to heroic living, for this reality of race is something which claims them, gives them a standard and orientates their whole life.” Jews became, simultaneously, subhumans who were unworthy of polluting the German gene pool and a collective global superpower that threatened German geopolitical interests.

This nascent worldview reached its first apotheosis on November 9, 1938, when the Kristallnacht pogrom erupted across greater Germany. Some 177 synagogues were burned down, 8,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed, 100 Jews were murdered, and 30,000 others were hauled off to proto-concentration camps in Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen. The attack, Stone reckons, evinced “an alarming degree of consensus and cooperation among local inhabitants” and signified a key turning point for what the Nazi race ideology endorsed—and what it could get away with.

The entire Nazi war machine, police and Wehrmacht included, began to dedicate itself to the mission of eradicating global Jewry. Stone’s research gives the lie to historical analyses that blamed only the SS and exonerated the regular German army. Field Marshal Walter von Reichenau, in his “Orders for Conduct in the East,” instructed the Wehrmacht in no uncertain terms to “liberate the German people once and for all from the Asiatic-Jewish danger.” That the SS’s focus on killing Jews was more single-minded than that of other military organs does little to excuse the latter.


Joe Lieberman, centrist senator and first Jew on major presidential ticket, dies at 82
Joseph Lieberman, a longtime senator from Connecticut who as Al Gore’s running mate in 2000 became the first Jewish member of a major presidential ticket, died Wednesday. He was 82.

A statement sent to former staffers and reportedly widely said Lieberman had suffered complications from a fall.

A moderate — some would say conservative — Democrat turned independent, Lieberman was known for his attempts to build bridges in an increasingly polarized Washington, sometimes losing old friends and allies along the way.

He also became one of the most visible role models for Jewish observance in high places, in contrast to the largely secular Jewish politicians who had preceded him on the public stage. In 2011, he wrote “The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath.” In it he wrote how on Friday nights he would walk the roughly four miles from the Capitol to his home in Georgetown after a late vote so as not to violate Shabbat — to the bemusement and admiration of Capitol police.

In announcing that he would not be running for reelection in 2012, Lieberman spoke in emotional terms about what it meant for the grandson of Jewish immigrants to be considered for a role just a heartbeat from the presidency.

“I can’t help but also think about my four grandparents and the journey they traveled more than a century ago,” he said. “Even they could not have dreamed that their grandson would end up a United States senator and, incidentally, a barrier-breaking candidate for vice president.” Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore, left, and his running mate, vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Lieberman, of Connecticut, wave to supporters at a campaign rally in Jackson, Tenn., Oct. 25, 2000. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

That legacy, the first Jewish candidate on a major ticket, would be the Lieberman legacy to outlast all others, Ira Forman, the former director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, declared at the time.

“It was an electric moment,” Forman recalled of Gore’s choice of Lieberman in 2000. “It galvanized the feeling that everything is open to you.”
Why Germany & France Condemned UN's Francesca Albanese for 'Disgraceful' Antisemitism
Never before in the history of the United Nations did France or Gemany condemn a rapporteur for antisemitism. Francesca Albanese is now the first. She says “the Jewish lobby” controls America, Israel commits genocide, and cries out “From the River to the Sea.” I took the floor:


Ex-Ambassador Ayalon analyzes the UNSC Gaza Vote that roils U.S.-Israel ties
Former U.S. Ambassador Danny Ayalon analyzes the UNSC Gaza ceasefire vote, which has stirred up considerable tension, leaving U.S.-Israel relations in turmoil


Protest breaks out in Beirut after UNRWA suspends Lebanese teacher
Dozens of people protested outside the Beirut office of the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) on Wednesday, after it put a staff member on administrative leave over possible violations of staff conduct regulations.

School teacher Fathi al-Sharif was put on leave for three months without pay, as the UN agency investigated alleged activities “that are in violation of the Agency’s regulatory framework governing staff conduct,” the agency told Reuters in a statement.

UNRWA said it could not discuss further details. It did not say whether the teacher was accused of membership in a terrorist group.

Sharif spoke at the protest on Wednesday, where a crowd had gathered to support him. Several people told Reuters that he had been accused of links to Hamas, the Palestinian terror group which led the murderous onslaught in southern Israel on October 7.

“The job can go, and we will stay!” he told those gathered.
A look into how UNRWA schools in Gaza foster terrorism
Marcus Sheff, the CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education tells i24NEWS how UNRWA schools in Gaza contribute to the cultivation of terrorism


Twilight of the Wonks
Impostor syndrome isn’t always a voice of unwarranted self-doubt that you should stifle. Sometimes, it is the voice of God telling you to stand down. If, for example, you are an academic with a track record of citation lapses, you might not be the right person to lead a famous university through a critical time. If you are a moral jellyfish whose life is founded on the “go along to get along” principle and who recognizes only the power of the almighty donor, you might not be the right person to serve on the board of an embattled college when the future of civilization is on the line. And if you are someone who believes that “misgenderment” is a serious offense that demands heavy punishment while calls for the murder of Jews fall into a gray zone, you will likely lead a happier and more useful life if you avoid the public sphere.

The spectacle of the presidents of three important American universities reduced to helpless gibbering in a 2023 congressional hearing may have passed from the news cycle, but it will resonate in American politics and culture for a long time. Admittedly, examination by a grandstanding member of Congress seeking to score political points at your expense is not the most favorable forum for self-expression. Even so, discussing the core mission of their institutions before a national audience is an event that ought to have brought out whatever mental clarity, moral earnestness, and rhetorical skills that three leaders of major American institutions had. My fear is it did exactly that.

The mix of ideas and perceptions swirling through the contemporary American academy is not, intellectually, an impressive product. A peculiar blend of optimistic enlightened positivism (History is with us!) and anti-capitalist, anti-rationalist rage (History is the story of racist, genocidal injustice!) has somehow brought “Death to the Gays” Islamism, “Death to the TERFS” radical identitarianism, and “Jews are Nazis” antisemitism into a partnership on the addled American campus. This set of perceptions—too incoherent to qualify as an ideology—can neither withstand rational scrutiny, provide the basis for serious intellectual endeavor, nor prepare the next generation of American leaders for the tasks ahead. It has, however, produced a toxic stew in which we have chosen to marinate the minds of our nation’s future leaders during their formative years.

American universities remain places where magnificent things are happening. Medical breakthroughs, foundational scientific discoveries, and tech innovations that roar out of the laboratories to transform the world continue to pour from the groves of academe, yet simultaneously many campuses seem overrun not only with the usual petty hatreds and dreary fads, but also at least in some quarters with a horrifying collapse in respect for the necessary foundations of American democracy and civic peace.
Our universities cannot forget their antisemitic pasts
Minnesota’s universities seem to have forgotten philosopher George Santayana’s maxim: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Twenty-two years ago, St. Cloud State University settled a federal class-action lawsuit (Zmora v. State of Minnesota) that brought national attention to the campus and stained its reputation with antisemitism. SCSU was required to create a new position and hire a professor to develop Jewish studies and a communal awareness program about antisemitism; I was that professor.

Six years later, the Jewish studies program produced the unique community and university collaboration of “To Be Certain of the Dawn,” a Holocaust memorial program of choral and symphonic music that had been commissioned by the Basilica of Saint Mary as a gift to the Jewish community in 2005.

It was performed on both campuses by the SCSU Music Department with Saint John’s University and College of Saint Benedict faculty and students and the St. Cloud Cantabile children’s choir. Then 260 faculty, students and staff from the three universities went to Europe in the summer of 2008 and performed the piece in the Nazi concentration camp Natzweiler-Struthof in France. The SCSU archives has a 17-minute documentary, “Holocaust and Transcendence,” which illuminates what a university can do to repudiate antisemitism.

And the course “Antisemitism in America” was developed and offered by a university challenged to prevent the past from being repeated. Students taking the course fulfilled a graduation requirement of Liberal Education-Goal 7-Human Diversity. The course explored history, sociology, literature, religious studies and contemporary events to illuminate the “oldest hatred” in Western culture.

Then one year ago, SCSU announced that, due to debt and low enrollment, several programs would be canceled and that some tenured faculty positions would be terminated. Among the programs eliminated was Jewish studies.

State legislators are having public meetings to develop the new State Holocaust Education program, but SCSU — which educates 45% of Minnesota’s teachers — has eliminated Jewish studies. When Minnesota mandates Holocaust education in its public schools, what university will teach “Antisemitism in America” to prepare the teachers?

The University of Minnesota faces an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education of antisemitism on the Twin Cities campus following demonstrations after the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, in Israel.

Currently, there are also public hearings about the revocation of the name of the school’s Nicholson Hall. A recent Op-Ed in The Minnesota Daily argues that the name of the building, which houses the university’s Center for Jewish Studies, should be changed as it is named after a man “who aligned himself with notorious antisemites.” It added: “Edward E. Nicholson is a reminder of the University’s darkest chapters.” Ironically, there is currently no course at the Twin Cities campus that teaches about the antisemitism for which Nicholson’s name might be removed.
Cary Nelson: ‘We can have a debate about whether Hamas did the right thing’: Judith Butler’s Moral Relativism
Butler sometimes approximates a moral judgment–’nothing should exonerate Hamas from responsibility for the hideous killings they have perpetrated’–but she immediately rejects any consequences: ‘At the same time, this group and its members do not deserve to be blacklisted or threatened.’ To be blacklisted might be to be denied any role in post-war governing or employment. Hardy an unreasonable fate for an exceptionally violent ‘political formation,’ especially one committed to the annihilation of an ethnic and religious minority. Not being threatened clearly includes by military assault, but it also suggests immunity from criminal prosecution for crimes committed on 7 October. What do Hamas militants and their leaders deserve, then? Counselling? An opportunity for self-reform? Forgiveness?

Her reading of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and her critique of Zionism in Parting Ways and elsewhere does evoke exoneration. In the LRB, she tries to deflect that conclusion, stating that ‘there are those who do use the history of Israeli violence in the region to exonerate Hamas, but they use a corrupt form of moral reasoning to accomplish that goal.’ On 3 March, however, she insisted that ‘This was an uprising that comes out, that comes from, a state of subjugation and against a violent state apparatus.’ That contradicts her claim that ‘we do not gain a moral or political justification for Hamas’s actions through reference to their history.’ At the very least she offers political and psychological warrant for the pogrom. Moreover, for her the ‘uprising’ entails no named actions.

Yet, unlike many antizionists, Butler does not want to deny Palestinian agency. What Hamas did is a response to ‘the pervasive and relentless violence of the Israeli state,’ but it is not simply ‘a continuation of Israeli violence.’ Hamas has its very own ‘terrifying and appalling answer’ to the question of how ‘to end settler-colonial rule’ in Palestine. For her, the pogrom was responsive, reactive, a political action no matter how appalling, which puts it outside the moral framework I believe it requires.

As with the work she has done for years, Butler’s solution to the challenge of Palestinian hatred of the Jews is humanist abstraction, a vague utopian gesture: ‘What if our morality and our politics did not end with the act of condemnation? What if we insisted on asking what form of life would release the region from violence such as this? What if, in addition to condemning wanton crimes, we wanted to create a future in which violence of this sort came to an end?’ Does she really suppose any number of people and NGOs have not been doing the work to promote a resolution of the conflict that would achieve political self-realisation for both peoples? In the past, she has been willing to allude to a one-state solution, though she never opts for practical steps instead of dreamy musing. The one-state advocates, however, are mostly keeping their heads down since 7 October. Those books and essays asserting that Hamas could evolve into a partner for peace now seem destined for permanent irrelevance. Butler instead dreams of Hamas evaporating, disappearing into the ether: ‘we might be part of the struggle for a free Palestine in which Hamas would be dissolved, or superseded by groups with non-violent aspirations for cohabitation.’ I simply ask, not knowing if exasperation should be tempered with humour: what, really, is gained by floating this sort of speculative nonsense?

Illouz’s Haaretz essay leads with its title–’The Global Left Needs to Renounce Judith Butler’–but of course the left will not do so. Indeed, the left’s hatred of Israel has made it unable to recognize that a civilizational conflict is at issue. The combination of ISIS and Hamas should serve as a contemporary wakeup call about the seriousness of the challenge we face. Critiques of Israel’s conduct of the war must not blur the distinction we need to make between world views we must support and those we must reject. The failure to do so, moreover, leads to political paralysis. There are no few on the radical left who are fond of combining visceral hatred of Israel and moral relativism with politically useless wishful thinking about possible futures for Palestine. It is now more clear than ever how dangerous this compensatory pair of impulses has proven to be. It gives licence to death and destruction and leaves us permanently in their grip. Now more than ever before visceral hatred of Israel has fused with visceral hatred of Jews. That is one legacy of the Hamas pogrom and its celebration in the academy of the West that will persevere into our future.
David Baddiel: Sorry, Charlotte Church. I’m a fan. But thing is, I’m also Jewish
It’s a very telling “Jews don’t count” moment. Because in that podcast, I am trying to represent all Jews, as best I can. As it happens, I am not very fussed about “From The River To The Sea”. I go to Chelsea every home game, and at some point, at every one of those games, I sing that “Super, Super Chelsea FC” are “The greatest football team, the world has ever seen.” I don’t literally believe that. It’s a statement of tribal identity. Similarly, I don’t believe that most people chanting or singing FTRTTS are calling for the destruction and eviction of Israeli Jews. However, some Jews do. And for the sake of those Jews listening, I was happy to poke a little fun (without condemning it) at this mainly white Christian chorus singing that chant.

But the idea that I may be representing a vulnerable minority, some of whom will be feeling frightened by the acceptance and promotion of that phrase by apparently caring progressives — that isn’t in the frame of Church’s blog, at all. I am simply no different from the other powerful white men trying to shut her down because they’re powerful white men. And as a powerful white man, I can’t possibly, that is, be coming from a position of vulnerability.

It’s important this, because it’s a nuance on the old antisemitic trope that Jews are powerful. It’s a step away from that — it says white men are the power, and Jewish men are basically no different from white men, so they are the power too. It is harder to counter, because many people do not see any difference between Jews and white people. So its worth remembering: in the West, the vast majority of Christian white people do not, in their bones, carry a history of racial trauma. Of discrimination, ghetto-ising, dehumanisation, exile and genocide. Because Jews do, it means that when a Jew pushes back on what feels to them an attack, they are rarely doing it from a position of power. The opposite in fact: from an intergenerational memory of disempowerment.

Anyway. Charlotte will probably hate me even more now. Which is a shame, as I remain a fan. In fact, I’d love to hear her choir’s version of Super Chelsea FC.
Ireland to intervene in South Africa genocide case against Israel
Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel.

Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that both Hamas' October 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."

"The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population," Martin said in a statement.

"The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough."

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.
Ra’am Party head pushing US to recognize Pal state
Mansour Abbas, chairman of Israel’s Ra’am Party, said in a recent interview that he has been advocating for the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state in meetings with U.S. government officials and others.

“Every week I have two or three meetings with international officials, delegations, ambassadors and the like. And I say to them in a clear manner…It’s on you to take an immediate decision to recognize a Palestinian state,” Abbas said in an undated Arabic-language interview, a clip of which was posted to X on March 26.

“It will give Palestinian hope and enable the Palestinian people to concentrate its energies in building an independent, sovereign Palestinian state,” he added.

Asked to whom he had delivered this message, Abbas answered, “The U.S. government, the European Union, the United Nations and the ambassadors of various countries.”

Sixty-three percent of Israeli Jews oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, according to a survey published late last month.

On Feb. 21, the Knesset plenum voted 99-11 to back a government decision to reject any unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, amid reports the Biden administration was considering such a move.
We are still haunted by ISIS
Now, however, ISIS-K has a new atrocity to its name, right in the heart of one of its main adversaries. That it managed to wreak such awful devastation, despite the surveillance capabilities of the Russian state, has started to stoke Western fears of ISIS-K’s ability to strike elsewhere in Europe.

ISIS-K has certainly been trying to operate further afield. Last July, security forces in Germany and the Netherlands carried out coordinated arrests targeting seven Tajik, Turkmen and Kyrgyz individuals involved in an ISIS-K network. They were accused of plotting attacks in Germany. There were several other arrests of suspected ISIS-K operatives elsewhere in Germany and Austria towards the end of last year. A senior Western intelligence official told the New York Times this weekend that there could be further dormant cells in Europe.

Western security forces are right to be concerned by the threat posed by ISIS. But while a focus on an imported threat from Pakistan and Afghanistan might make sense in Russia, it is misleading in the context of western Europe. ISIS threatens us principally as a home-grown problem, not as an import from far away. Those most eager to spill blood in European cities have tended to be Western-born, filled with a loathing for their own societies, not jihadists from eastern Afghanistan. It is a barbarism whose source lies as much in the West as in the East.

Still, whether it is home grown or imported, the Islamist threat is as lethal as ever, as the atrocity in Moscow all too brutally attests. We cannot afford to lose sight of this again.
US, UK designate five ‘key financial facilitators’ of Hamas
Washington and London announced sanctions on Wednesday against five “key financial facilitators involved in fundraising for Hamas.”

The sanctions—the fourth such round of designations since Oct. 7—target Gaza Now and its founder and director Mustafa Ayash and Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Limited and their director and sole officer Aozma Sultana.

“The United States continues to degrade terrorist financing networks, including by targeting actors fundraising for Hamas,” the U.S. State Department stated.

“Treasury remains committed to degrading Hamas’s ability to finance its terrorist activities, including through online fundraising campaigns that seek to funnel money directly to the group,” stated Brian Nelson, U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.

“The United States, in close coordination with our British partners, will continue to leverage our tools to disrupt Hamas’s ability to facilitate further attacks,” Nelson added.

After Oct. 7, Gaza Now “began a fundraising effort in support of Hamas,” according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Limited “have given thousands of dollars to Gaza Now and advertised Gaza Now as a partner during a joint fundraiser shortly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack,” the department added.

The UK Treasury referred to Gaza Now as “a news agency that promotes the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist groups.”


MEMRI: Popular Front For The Liberation Of Palestine (PFLP), With Other Terror Groups, Are Among Key Organizers Of Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations In Germany
Mass rallies have taken place in Germany, with thousands of people taking to the streets, in the aftermath of the Hamas attacks on October 7 and Israel's military response. The ongoing large-scale pro-Palestinian rallies were planned to call for an immediate ceasefire and in support of Hamas. Berlin has been one of the main sites of the protests in Europe on this issue. The ideologies represented among the protesters include Islamist, far-left, and Turkish extreme-right. As of November 2, 2023, the Samidoun – Palestine Prisoner Solidarity Network, which Germany explicitly banned in November 2023 and which is the foreign affairs' arm of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the U.S.,[1] EU,[2] and Canada[3] have designated as a terrorist organization, served as the primary organizer of the many rallies and vigils held throughout Germany in support of the Palestinian cause and is known for its antisemitism and for its advocacy for Israel's elimination. Germany's Interior Ministry says that there are around 450 members of Hamas in the country.[4]

The Broader German Left And The Palestinian Struggle
The Palestinian struggle is exploited by mainstream leftist circles to pursue various goals, including: a communist revolution to replace neoliberalism and capitalism; opposition to anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism, social justice and human rights, solidarity with the oppressed, opposition to Zionism, and criticism of U.S. policy in the Middle East. All these objectives, they believe, align with the Palestinian situation.

Many large rallies across Germany are organized by leftist organizations, many of which maintain close ties to Samidoun. Some of these organizations are: "Global South United," "Young Struggle," "Revolutionäre Linke," "Revolution Germany," and "Arbeiterinnen Macht," together with "Palästina Spricht," "Palästina Kampagne," "Jüdische Stimme," and "Jewish Bund." The presumption is that some of these groups convening mass protests on German streets are acting, in part, on behalf of Samidoun, whose banned activities may have been simply diverted to these other groups.

Major Leftist Organizations Facilitating Or Co-Ordinating Pro-Palestinian Protests
Left-wing engagement with pro-Palestinian solidarity marches demonstrates a convergence of political ideas, values, and assessments of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Highly vocal involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue has also become popular among many members of Gen Z. Leftist views on Israel and on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are generally heterogenous, ranging from nuanced support for a reasonable resolution, acknowledging the rights and aspirations of both Palestinian Arabs and Israelis, to vehemently rejecting Israel's policies and even its very existence. Today, the latter appears to be dominant as the extremist perspective has become prevalent in both civil and political life. Leftist organizations, in particular, add significantly to the typically high protest turnout as an effective popular mobilization vehicle, reaching a broad spectrum of interest groups: country/region-specific, feminist, student, and LGBTQ entities. Each community expands its own following, creating an expansive network that transcends narrow interests and regions.

Following are descriptions of groups that are the most prominent in organizing large-scale protests in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
German citizenship questions ask about Jews, Israel, Holocaust
To pass the test to become a citizen of Germany, applicants must answer 17 questions correctly out of 33, drawn from a potential pool of 300 questions amended to test knowledge about Jewish life and history.

Examples of the new questions include “What is a Jewish house of prayer called?” and “How is Holocaust denial punished in Germany?”

Correct answers: “Synagogue” and “With as much as three years behind bars.”

One question asks when the State of Israel was founded and another for “the reason for Germany’s special responsibility for Israel.”

Correct answers: “May 14, 1948” and “As a result of the German crime against humanity of the Holocaust comes our special responsibility for the protection of Jews and for the protection of the State of Israel. This responsibility is part of our identity today,” according to German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

Faeser said “anyone who doesn’t share our values can’t get a German passport. We have drawn a crystal-clear red line here.”

She added that “antisemitism, racism and other forms of contempt for humanity rule out naturalization.”
Revealed: how antisemitic bigotry surged through the NHS after the October 7 atrocities
When it was revealed last week that a nine-year-old Jewish boy had been forced to sit on the floor while receiving treatment for his blood disorder, the allegation of naked discrimination in the NHS sparked outrage.

Nurses at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, who were sporting pro-Palestine insignia, targeted the child, who has not been named, because he was wearing a kippah and tzitzit, his family claimed. His mother, already coping with the stress of her son’s serious illness, was left “distraught”, Manchester Jewish Representative Council chief executive Marc Levy told the JC.

“When you go into a hospital you expect to be treated the same as anyone else. It is completely inappropriate for political badges to be worn.

“They may give a patient anxiety around their care,” he said.

After launching an investigation, the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust now insists that it has reminded staff they must not wear partisan symbols at work. “We do not tolerate any discriminatory practice and react swiftly where there is evidence of such behaviour,” the body said in a statement.

“Our patients are our priority at all times, and we would like to reassure people of all faiths, and those of none, within our community.”

However, the JC can now reveal the extent of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel prejudice among NHS staff – bigotry given a terrifying boost by the atrocities of October 7.

British doctors working at trusts around the country have defended the Hamas terror attack, claimed Britain is an “Israeli colony” and denied the Shoah.

Figures obtained by the Jewish Medical Association reveal that while in 2021 four doctors were referred to the regulator, the General Medical Council, for antisemitism, and none were referred in 2022, in the four months following October 7, a staggering 66 medical professionals were flagged.


Poll showing continued support for Hamas in Gaza exposes Liberal, NDP naivete
Canadians, and the world, may have been horrified by what happened on Oct. 7, but Palestinians, not so much.

According to this latest poll, among Palestinians who had not watched the videos, 97 per cent believed Hamas did not commit atrocities on Oct. 7. Even among those who had watched the videos, 81 per cent said Hamas did not commit atrocities.

What are we to make of that? That four-out-of-five Palestinians who had watched the videos think the Hamas terrorists were justified? That they acted appropriately?

Despite this enormous backing for Hamas and its actions, Gazan support for a two-state solution has almost doubled in recent months. According to the poll, 62 per cent of people in Gaza support a two-state solution, which is up from 35 per cent three months ago and a similar number six months ago.

Unfortunately, most Palestinians believe that the answer to their problems lies in armed resistance rather than other means.

When asked about ways to “break the stalemate,” 55 per cent of Palestinians supported “confrontations and armed intifada” (down from 69 per cent in December), while 45 per cent chose “unarmed popular resistance” (up from 39 per cent).

When asked to choose a method to end Israeli occupation and establish an independent state, 39 per cent of Gazans selected “armed struggle” over “negotiations” (23 per cent).

Given that support for “armed struggle” was down from 56 per cent in December, it appears as though Gazans may be coming around to the notion that violence may not be the best way to achieve their ends. But neither will their continued support for Hamas.

It certainly does not help that some Canadian politicians, including Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, are blind to these political realities.

“Hamas must lay down its weapons and release all hostages immediately,” Joly said in the House of Commons last week. But why must it? If Hamas has the support of the people, why shouldn’t the armed struggle go on?

This poll, and others like it, exposes Gazans’ continued support for Hamas, but it also reveals the incredible naivete in some Canadian political circles. The Liberals and NDP might like to divorce Gazans from Hamas, but in truth, they are too wedded together.
US Intel Agency Wants To Ban Terms 'Radical Islamists' and 'Jihadist' Because They're Hurtful to Muslim Americans
The United States' top intelligence agency wants to ban its spies from using "biased language," including the terms "radical Islamists" and "jihadist," saying these words "are hurtful to Muslim-Americans and detrimentally impact our efforts as they bolster extremist rhetoric," according to a language guide published internally.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), which is responsible for handling the country's spy apparatus, seeks to ban a range of common terms because it says they offend Muslims and foment racism against employees. In addition to terms describing Islamic terrorists, ODNI instructs employees to avoid phrases such as "blacklisted," "cakewalk," "brown bag," "grandfathered," and "sanity check."

"Blacklisted," for instance, "implies black is bad and white is good," while "cakewalk" is said to refer "to a dance performed by slaves for slave owners on plantation grounds." "Brown bag," a term most often used to describe a paper bag that holds one's lunch, actually "refers to the 'brown bag' test practices in the 20th century within the African American community," according to ODNI, which outlined these terms in an internal magazine produced by the agency's Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility.

The document, which was first reported by the Daily Wire, is the latest example of how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives inside the American government are reshaping how employees speak to one another and perform their national security jobs. Critics describe these programs as part of a "woke" cultural shift promoted by far-left activists and their allies in the Biden administration. Republicans in Congress are looking to strip millions in federal funding for DEI programs across the military and other agencies, arguing they fundamentally harm the country’s national security operations across the globe.

ODNI did not respond to a request for comment.


Petition signed by 1,400 blasts anti-Israel content in teachers union webinar
A webinar run by the Massachusetts Teachers Association’s Anti-Racism Task Force to present the Palestinian perspective on the Israel-Hamas war has received considerable community criticism for alleged anti-Zionist and anti-Israel materials.

On Thursday, the webinar, which is not available for public viewing, featured political science professors; a participant in the anti-Israel activist group Jewish Voice for Peace; and the union’s former president, Merrie Najimy.

Brett Berkman, a school literacy coach in Framingham, Mass., and a member of the union, said as many as 1,400 people had signed a petition blasting the event.

The MTA “does not exist to comment on international conflicts. It also speaks volumes that the one time they do speak on an international conflict—when they have no shortage of other conflicts to weigh in on—is when it involves the world’s only Jewish state,” Berkman told JNS.

“The goal of the webinar was to explain the Palestinian perspective,” said one of the participating professors, Leila Farsakh, who teaches political science at UMass Boston. “The aim of this webinar was to explain the settler-colonial structure of Zionism, of Israel. But it was neither against Israelis or the Jewish people.”

Yael Magen watched the webinar and said it contained inaccurate historical events that were “very troubling.” There was a slide, she said, saying “Israel does not equal the Jewish people.” Another slide said, “Zionism is oppressive and is a propaganda machine.”

Berkman attended a recent protest against the teachers union and told JNS that “the MTA board made a statement in December that labeled the conflict as genocide and did not mention Hamas or the hostages.”

She called the webinar “the final straw.”
Kassy Dillon: Massachusetts Teachers Union Hosts Webinar By Professor Who Praised Hamas, Enraging Membership
The MTA president defended the webinar as an opportunity for dialogue and noted that it plans to host an upcoming event on anti-Semitism.

“I expect that there will be members in attendance who will agree wholeheartedly with what is presented; there will be members in attendance who could not disagree more,” Max Page said. “The particular viewpoints expressed in these individual workshops do not represent the official views of the MTA.”

Page added that he lost 18 family members during the Holocaust and that it has been difficult to be accused of anti-Semitism in recent months.

Arielle Kingsbury, who is an occupational therapist in a public school in the Greater Boston area and dues paying member of MTA, called the webinar “abhorrent.”

Kingsbury took issue with Schotten making the claim that Israel rules with “Jewish supremacy.”

“The webinar was biased and contradictory,” Kingsbury said. “They spoke about the history of the conflict but neglected to mention a lot of historical fact.”

MTA’s board of directors passed a resolution in December that accused Israel of committing genocide and the U.S. of being complicit, the Daily Wire previously reported.

“As an educators’ union, we must take a stand with our union siblings, and promote peace and justice in the region by calling for an end to our government’s complicity with Israel’s genocidal assault on the people of Gaza and intent to take over their territory,” the statement reads. “How many deaths, how many more children must die, before we take a stand? Silence is complicity,” it adds.

The ADL at the time, accused the resolution of camouflaging “an ill-founded attack on Israel.”

“At a minimum, the statement’s failure to explicitly and unconditionally condemn the Hamas attack call for the return of all remaining hostages or demand that any ceasefire include a commitment to remove Hamas — whose officials have reportedly vowed to repeat terrorist attacks like the one on October 7th until Israel is destroyed — as a controlling actor in Gaza is revealing,” ADL chapter’s director, Dr. Jonah C. Steinberg said.

More than 57,000 Massachusetts teachers, students, and parents signed a counter petition to the resolution which demanded a public apology, a statement noting that only 34 MTA members voted in favor, and a motion to rescind the proposal.

In the wake of the controversies, MTA’s board of directors was invited to a Lappin Foundation seminar this April about countering anti-Semitism in schools. Board member Joe Herosy rejected the invitation, claiming the foundation is part of the “Israel lobby.”

Herosy has been pushing anti-Israel rhetoric on his social media in recent months, including sharing a cartoon of Hamas terrorists bulldozing into Israel just a day after the attack.


No teacher should have to face extremism like this
One of the many things the pandemic taught us was this: teaching is hard. It’s hard to explain a grammatical rule or mathematical theorem to a child in clear terms; it’s impossibly hard to remain patient when that child does not understand, and you’re forced to explain it a second, third and fourth time.

Now imagine trying to do that with 30 of them. Imagine the long hours of marking at the end of the day, the fractious parents and the low pay.

This may all be part of a teacher’s lot. But what no teacher should ever have to endure – and far too many have – is fearing for their own safety at work.

Rising extremism means that our educators have increasingly been harassed, intimidated and threatened online and offline, with much of this taking place during school-gate protests – once, a rare sight; today, something we are used to seeing on the news. It beggars belief that until now, no discussion has taken place about the legality of these protests.

Now Dame Sara Khan, a government adviser, has called for the banning of protests within 150 metres of schools. This comes after a review examined demonstrations like the ones held outside Batley Grammar School in West Yorkshire in 2021, after a teacher there showed pupils a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed during a lesson.
Antisemitism at Stanford Is Out of Control
What would you do if your computer science teaching assistant lectured the class about why the President of the United States should be killed?

What if he applauded Hamas' 10/7 attacks as legitimate and opined, in class, that Hamas would be a better government for the United States than our current regime? Advertisement

Transfer out, I assume. But you might also wonder about whether that $60,000/yr tuition was a good investment, especially if you are a Jewish student.

Now, before I get into a rant about how awful Stanford is, let me also remind you that it is an outstanding educational institution that connects its students to a vibrant technology ecosystem with some of the smartest and most creative people in the world.

There, the commercial for Stanford is done. Now let me eviscerate it.

Theo Baker, a student journalist at Stanford has a blistering piece in The Atlantic covering the degeneration of Stanford into an antisemitic hellhole.

Had it been written before 10/7 I would have doubted every word, if for no other reason that academic institutions are wary of embarrassment, legal challenges, any accusation of an "ism." It's not that they are nearly as concerned about creating a "safe space" for students as they need everybody to think that they do. It's part of the brand.

But since the Hamas attacks on October 7th last year, colleges and universities have been competing with each other to be crowned the most comfortable home for hatred of Jews in the United States. Harvard, MIT, and Penn were vying for the title, but apparently Stanford has cornered the market.


Columbia Professor Targeted for Calling Out Antisemitism
An Israeli-born Columbia University professor said he has been targeted by the university and placed under investigation for calling out widespread antisemitism on the Manhattan campus.

Shai Davidai, an assistant professor in the business school, in a phone interview with The Jewish Link, acknowledged he has been outspoken, mostly on social media, about the university allowing antisemitic actions and rhetoric to go unchecked.

“Then a few weeks ago I received a letter that I was being placed under investigation,” he said. “Because it’s an internal investigation the university is the judge, jury and executioner.”

Davidai said he could not comment on the investigation, which is being carried out by the university Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. He added he received notification about a month ago and the university has 120 days to finalize the investigation.

Davidai said he assumes even if the university finds cause that he harassed students the whole matter will be “swept under the rug” and he would be given “a slap on the wrist.” However, he bristles at the idea that he is guilty of any sort of discrimination and is determined to fight any kind of censure.

“I am innocent and will not accept anything other than complete exoneration,” he noted, adding that based on the way the investigation has been handled and how the university has dealt with allegations of antisemitism, he has “zero trust” in its fairness. He is being represented by the Manhattan law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres. Universities do not comment publicly about ongoing investigations.
Cal police release photos of five suspects from Feb. 26 ‘riot’ at UC Berkeley
Campus police at UC Berkeley released photos Monday of five people suspected of committing “one or more criminal acts” at a violent protest where an Israeli reserve combat officer was scheduled to speak Feb. 26. Police are asking for public assistance to identify the individuals.

The photos, taken at night, show blurry images of five people, three of whom are wearing face masks. About 200 demonstrators showed up outside an on-campus theater where the “riot” ensued and eventually shut down the event, according to the University of California Police Department.

“Members of the crowd forced their way into the building, injured guests and police officers, and caused property damage,” the UCPD press release stated. “Two incidents were classified as hate crimes.”

A Feb. 26 police crime log of incidents recorded during the protest listed misdemeanors including trespassing, riot, battery on a peace officer/emergency personnel, battery on a person, and obstructing or resisting an officer or emergency med tech. It also cited two injuries and felony vandalism. However, campus police crime logs do not constitute official charges.

Video shared widely on social media showed demonstrators outside Zellerbach Playhouse pounding on the glass entrance until it broke. As protesters forced their way into the venue, Jewish students and the speaker were shuttled through a back exit and an underground hallway to evacuate the building safely.

Two Jewish students reported injuries. Senior Vida Keyvanfar said she was flung down while trying to barricade a door, spraining her thumb, and freshman Brooke Resnik said she was grabbed around her neck. A third student, junior Elijah Feldman, said he was called slurs and spat at.

The protest was organized by Bears for Palestine, the Cal affiliate of the anti-Zionist campus organization Students for Justice in Palestine. Chancellor Carol Christ told J. in a March 13 interview that Bears for Palestine is under investigation for possible sanction.

During the same interview, Christ said that any disciplinary investigation into student conduct — such as suspension or expulsion — would wait until the conclusion of the criminal probe. The identities of the five suspects are not known, including whether they are university students.
Jewish NYU student reinstated after being voted out of leadership position for condemning Hamas
A Jewish graduate student at New York University who was voted out of his school leadership position for condemning Hamas terrorism has been reinstated.

According to The College Fix, Justin Feldman was a member of good standing in the graduate Student Government Assembly when he submitted a resolution condemning the "Endorsement, Promotion, or Excusing of Civilian-Murder (Terrorism) in Academia" following the October 7 attacks.

His resolution was voted down on November 9, the same day it was submitted for ratification. The student assembly passed a separate resolution meant to protect pro-Palestinian demonstrations and speech on campus.

Several weeks later, Feldman was told a vote would be held to remove him from student government.

"I have zero regrets," Feldman told The College Fix. "I was well aware of the issue of systemic antisemitism on campus when I offered my resolution. I knew exactly what I was doing. I wasn’t expecting it. But I wasn’t exactly surprised to be removed, either."

Feldman said his resolution made specific references to acts of terrorism by Hamas and argued that the interests of Palestinians were ignored by Hamas, which was operating independently as a radical group.

It added the student government "stands in solidarity with innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians" and "reaffirms its commitment to the values of human rights, justice, and diplomacy and the right to criticize any government or entity."


Anti-Zionist Activity Among University of California Faculty Surged Tenfold After Oct. 7, New Report Says
Anti-Zionist faculty within the University of California (UC) system are doing more than ever before to make Zionism anathema on their campuses, according to a new study published by AMCHA Initiative, an antisemitism watchdog group.

The report — titled “Academic Agitators: The Role of Anti-Zionist Faculty Activism in Escalating Antisemitism at the University of California After October 7, 2023” — found that incidents of faculty engaging in anti-Zionist advocacy increased 1,100 percent between Oct. 7, 2023 and March 15, 2024. Professors, especially those involved in the anti-Zionist group Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP), have used their classrooms to indoctrinate students into becoming anti-Zionist and aided student groups in their efforts to alienate and defame Jewish students as “privileged” and “genocide deniers,” according to the study.

The report cites numerous examples of faculty-driven anti-Zionism, including a UC Santa Cruz professor writing “zionism [sic] is not welcome on our campus,” a UC Berkeley graduate student teacher awarding academic benefits for participating in anti-Zionist events, and the UC Merced Critical Race and Ethnic Studies Department posting a statement that described Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 massacre as “genocide” and denied that Hamas is a terrorist group.

“Campus administrators are scared to enforce university policies and state laws that clearly prohibit such faculty abuse. The Regents, who are trying to address one small piece of the problem with a new policy prohibiting political statements on departmental websites, are struggling to do even that,” AMCHA executive director and co-founder Tammi Rossman-Benjamin told The Algemeiner in a statement. “Unless and until the Regents can take back the reins and govern the university as is their mandate under the California constitution, including by ensuring university policy and state law are enforced, Jewish students will not be safe on UC campuses.”
Vanderbilt University Suspends Anti-Zionist Protesters After Building Takeover, Multiple Arrests Made
Vanderbilt University in Tennessee has suspended over a dozen students belonging to an anti-Zionist group that occupied an administrative building and refused to leave, according to the school’s official newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler.

On Tuesday, the group “Divest Coalition” amassed inside Kirkland Hall, where its members clamored for administrators to reverse its cancellation of a referendum that, if passed, would have allowed the Vanderbilt Student Government to boycott companies linked to Israel. According to The Hustler, administrators made the decision based on the measure’s potential to jeopardize the school’s eligibility for being awarded state contracts, which nonprofits and businesses participating in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel are, per state law, barred from receiving.

The day saw bitter exchanges of words between the students and campus officials. Video footage of their demonstration shows them verbally abusing a Black officer, whom they accused of betraying his racial identity. “Shame on you!” they shouted at him. Someone else said, “You are Black in America, and you’re not standing with the marginalized people of the world. What does that make you?” Another student told the officer that he should take their side because America is committing a genocide of Black Americans, insinuating that Israel is committing a genocide of Palestinians.


BBC backgrounder misleads on humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip
Given that the text prior to that graphic relates exclusively to “food shortages”, “hunger and famine” and “malnutrition” and with that reference to “much lower levels” of aid, readers would no doubt understand that the 500 lorries a day which entered the Gaza Strip before October 7th 2023 carried food. They would therefore be likely to understand that – given the graphic’s portrayal of an average of 164 lorries a day between March 8th and March 14th, there has been a 67.2% reduction in the amount of food aid entering the Gaza Strip.

That, however, is not the case.

As clarified by COGAT (and supported by UN data) on average, only 70 of the 500 trucks a day which entered the Gaza Strip before October 7th were carrying food:

In other words, the number of trucks transporting food has actually increased from an average of 70 a day to an average of 126 a day.

The BBC’s report continues:
“The World Food Programme says that addressing the simple food needs would require at least 300 trucks a day to enter Gaza and distribute food.

Agencies say distribution is hampered by the lack of infrastructure as the area endures intense bombardment, movement restrictions, interrupted communications and fuel shortages.

There have also been reports of crowds looting aid lorries.”

As we see, the BBC chose once again to conceal from its audiences the highly relevant issue of Hamas’ theft of humanitarian aid and the sale of stolen donated food on the black market by both Hamas and criminal gangs.

The significance of that chosen BBC framing is not only its failure to accurately inform audiences but also its propagation of a narrative that Hamas itself is trying to promote in order to advance its own interests.
Success! Globe And Mail Corrects Sheema Khan’s Falsely Claiming That “25,000 Palestinian Civilians” Have Been Killed
While we appreciate that the Globe recognized this serious error made by one of its frequent commentators, we also took issue with unfounded allegations that Sheema Khan repeated in her column.

In her op-ed, Sheema Khan said that: “A panel of UN experts also found credible allegations of rape, sexual assault and threats of rape of Palestinian women and girls while in Israeli detention in Gaza and the West Bank, along with the denial of menstruation pads, food and medicine. There have also been disturbing reports of extrajudicial killings of women and girls in Gaza, and the disappearance of women and children after contact with the Israeli army there.”

Untold by Khan, Israel strenuously rejects the United Nations “despicable and unfounded” allegations claiming the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) committed war crimes against Palestinian women and girls.

Israeli authorities haven’t received any complaints, but say they remain “ready to investigate any concrete claims of misconduct by its security forces when presented with credible allegations and evidence.”

While Israel adheres to international law and upholds human rights standards, the UN and other human rights organizations, moved at a glacial pace to denounce Hamas’ serial rape, mutilation and sexual violence against Israeli girls and women on October 7.

In recent days, Al Jazeera retracted its incendiary and baseless reporting claiming that Israeli soldiers raped women in a Gazan hospital. While claims of sexual violence against women, especially in times of war, must be treated with sensitivity and receive thorough investigations, we must ensure that such claims cannot be weaponized to demonize and delegitimize Israel.
Column Portrays Anti-Israel Activist As Victim Of Campaign To Silence Palestinians
Shree Paradkar’s nonstop anti-Israel diatribes at The Toronto Star continue unabated.

In her latest such commentary entitled: “This doctor was suspended after his tweets on the Israel-Hamas conflict drew controversy. Now he’s suing,” published March 23, (representing her 12th on the subject since October 7), Paradkar shared with readers the case of Ben Thomson, a nephrologist at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital.

On October 10, just three days after Hamas’ genocidal terrorist massacres throughout southern Israel, Thomson took to social media to deny that Hamas had committed sexual crimes against Israeli women, writing that “there have been no confirmed reports of rapes.”

Worse yet, Thomson reposted tweets which compared “Hamas resistance” to “Ukrainian resistance,” a grotesque equivalence between a genocidal Islamic terrorist group and armed forces engaging in combat against other armed forces.

Thomson also signed an open letter by the ‘Health workers Alliance for Palestine,’ a self-described “organization based in the settler colonial state of Canada” which soon after the war began, accused Israel of genocide and never mentioned, let alone condemned, Hamas or its massacres and kidnappings.

Thomson was soon suspended by his employer for his incendiary comments, and has now filed a lawsuit, seeking $1.5 million in damages from the hospital, claiming that he was defamed as a result.

Paradkar, ever-predictable in her commentary, characterized Thomson’s suspension as only the latest example of “growing instances of officialdom shutting down criticisms of Israel in public spheres.”


MEMRI: Dari-Language Islamic State Khurasan Province (ISKP) Poster: Shi'ites Of Iran Orchestrated October 7 Hamas Attack; 'The Purpose Of Starting The War Between Hamas And Jews Was Only To Massacre The Palestinian Sunnis And Nothing Else'

PMW: Grand Mufti of supposedly secular PA: Anyone who publicly breaks Ramadan fast should be placed on trial

PreOccupiedTerritory: Maybe We Should Shift From Decrying ‘Genocide’ Of Palestinians To Welcoming It (satire)
The time has come to state plainly: if the residents of the Gaza Strip indeed face genocide, as their self-appointed cheerleaders claim, I say get on with it.

Iran-backed propaganda continues to poison the world’s mind with the idiotic idea that Israel finally neutralizing Hamas as a threat to her and to the region means that Palestinians are being exterminated en masse. Thirty thousand dead in five months? With many of those the Hamas fighters themselves? But still, let us swallow that figure with all the necessary salt, and stipulate nevertheless that were a genocide happening in Gaza, I would favor it. The Palestinians have given the Arab world nothing but shame and a sinkhole of resources for almost a hundred years.

I take pride in shepherding my kingdom into the future, and jettisoning the ossified assumptions and modes of thinking that for too long kept our people mired in cultural, intellectual, and technological stagnation. Chief among those obsolete notions ranks the centrality of the so-called Palestinian “cause” among the issues plaguing the Arab world, and this kingdom in particular. What has support for Palestine gained us? What has that support engendered in Palestinians themselves?

The answer to the latter question gives up the game: they do not request, they demand. When they receive, they do not pay proper respect; they sneer and demand more. See how they treat our dignitaries at Al-Aqsa.

This applies not just to their Arab brethren. Look at the disdain with which they receive air-dropped food rations from the Americans. MREs, the 1300-calorie meals that sustain elite US forces in the field for weeks or months at a time, the Palestinians reject as “insulting.” One gets the sense they would find fault with five-star Michelin fare as well. Anything to remain a victim.

No longer.
US Yemen policy opens the way for humanitarian NGOs to fund terrorists
The Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen continues to threaten lives and global supply chains as it targets vessels along critical shipping lanes in the Red Sea. It killed three sailors in an attack earlier this month.

The U.S. has stepped up efforts to counter this threat, including carrying out airstrikes and sanctioning the group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.

At the same time, the U.S. government, which has provided more than $5.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to Yemen since 2015, continues to bankroll humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations agencies in Yemen that are largely exempt from the sanctions. This contradictory policy allows the terror group to divert aid and benefit from these funds, exacerbating an already major security crisis.

In 2021, the Trump administration designated the Houthis, officially known as Ansarallah, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, but the decision was rescinded shortly after Joe Biden took office. However, in January of this year, following increasing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, the State Department applied to Ansarallah the “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” label and imposed accompanying sanctions.

But in published guidelines for navigating these sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control includes major loopholes that undercut the sanctions’ purpose. The document states that NGOs are able to make payments to Houthi officials and institutions — as well as institutions controlled by Houthi officials — as long as these payments are for taxes, administrative fees, permits, public services or licenses. This is done ostensibly in the context of humanitarian assistance. With the Houthis controlling ports and other infrastructure and jurisdictions in Yemen, this means that NGOs can openly pass money to the terrorist group, as long as it is labeled as a tax or fee.

In addition, the document allows U.S.-funded NGOs to “coordinate with Ansarallah [the Houthis] regarding the transfer or distribution of humanitarian goods.” NGOs are also permitted to make payments to agencies and organizations led by Houthi officials; fund development projects that could be used by government institutions under direct Houthi control; and disburse “payments (e.g., cash incentives, per diems, and expenses) directly to healthcare workers, teachers, and other staff who may be associated with or formally employed by purported or actual administrative agencies or governing institutions controlled by Ansarallah.”


Court Sides with Berlin Arts Center Accused of Antisemitism
A German court has ruled in favor of a Berlin art organization’s injunction brought against the centrist national newspaper Tagesspiegel. Oyoun Cultural Center, a state-funded arts organization that platforms “migrant, decolonial, and queer-feminist perspectives,” had been accused by the paper of hosting antisemitic events and receiving preferential treatment from the Berlin Senate due to family ties.

On February 20, Tagesspiegel’s daily newsletter, “Checkpoint,” published an article titled, “Oyoun and Berlin’s administration: a terribly nice family.” Citing two of its prior reports both claiming that Oyoun had been the venue for “questionable events and antisemitic incidents,” the paper said that one of the cultural center’s employees had a close family member in the cultural administration. It linked this alleged connection to “the Senate’s conspicuously favorable treatment of the association for a long time.” Green Party member of parliament Susanna Kahlefeld was named as the source.

After the publication of the February 20 article by Tagesspiegel, Oyoun sent cease and desist orders to both the newspaper and Kahlefeld. After Tagesspiegel refused to sign, Oyoun filed an injunction against the statements made in article. In a statement, it also noted that the Berlin Senate had commissioned a report to investigate the accusations of antisemitism and was unable to establish that any antisemitic activity had taken place at the cultural center.

The Berlin court ruled on Monday, March 25, that the newspaper is no longer allowed to express three of the allegations it made in an article dated February 20. Specifically, it found that the allegation of Senate favoritism toward Oyoun based on family connections was baseless and the allegations regarding alleged antisemitic incidents were deemed unfounded.

“We are firmly convinced that unsubstantiated or even refuted allegations should not fall under journalistic freedom of expression and that impartial reporting is mandatory for reputable media,” Oyoun representatives said in a statement.
Neo-Nazi who inspired Edward Norton’s ‘American History X’ skinhead is now an observant Jew thanks to DNA discovery
The neo-Nazi who inspired Edward Norton’s skinhead character in “American History X” has revealed he is now an observant Jew after turning his life around — and discovering his heritage through DNA testing.

Frank Meeink, 48, became a leader of a violent ultra-right group in the early 1990s, torturing enemies who stood in the way of his attempt to foment a race war.

Intensely anti-semitic and flaunting a flaming swastika tattooed on his neck, he railed against what he called the “Zionist occupation government” and believed the Jews were “the root of all evil.”

Frank Meeink, who was once a virulent anti-semite tattooed with a flaming swastika and the word “skinhead,” is now an observant Jew, he told The Post. Margot Judge for NY Post

In 1998’s “American History X,” Norton’s Derek Vinyard character was based, in part, on Meeink’s road to redemption as he began to ditch his racist views after kindling friendships with black inmates in prison.

But now Meeink has revealed to The Post an astonishing twist: he is Jewish.

Long after quitting neo-Nazism and attempting to make amends for his past, he took a 23andMe test and discovered that he has Jewish ancestry — and has now embraced his heritage.

He was prompted to take the test by a chance remark from a friend that he “looked Jewish.”

“I just wanted to see if it was true, I wanted to see if it was real,” Meeink said.

“I found out by a beautiful gift from God that I was Jewish through DNA.”

The test showed his ancestry composition is 2.4% Ashkenazi Jewish. The small proportion belied its importance: his mother’s maternal great, great grandmother Elizabeth Zellman Rementer was Jewish — meaning that, according to the tradition of matrilineal descent, he is too.

Although not all Jewish scholars would accept that definition, many do — and Meeink has enthusiastically embraced Judaism.
NFL Player Sauce Gardner Addresses Backlash for Saying Jews ‘Run the World’
New York Jets cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner took to social media on Tuesday to clarify that he “loves all people” after making an antisemitic comment about Jews during a live stream over the weekend.

The 23-year-old NFL player made the remark while appearing on a live stream hosted by Adin Ross, who is Jewish. During their conversation on air, Ross talked about buying a Tesla Cybertruck from another Jew and Gardner replied, “I’mma be honest — ya’ll run the world.”

After receiving backlash on social media from listeners, Gardner, who is Christian, tried to defend himself in two separate posts on X/Twitter.

In one post on Tuesday, which has since been deleted, he reportedly explained that what he said “was meant to be a good thing.”

“I love all people; Including Jewish people,” Gardner wrote in the now-deleted tweet. “The majority of my agency/marketing team are Jewish and I talk to them almost every day. You probably just took what I said the wrong way but what I said was meant to be a good thing.”

He then tweeted on Tuesday night: “I love all people. While my intentions were positive, I just learned that people use those exact words I shared for hate towards Jewish people. That is not what I am about and I appreciate those who took the time to educate me on that fact.”

Ross also defended Gardner on X. He replied to the NFL player’s tweet on Tuesday night and told Gardner, “You did and said nothing wrong you said Jews run the world in a good way which is true, I said you were fine so ima defend you. Don’t give in, f–k these fake woke ppl [sic].”
National Guard unit deletes Instagram post of soldier with Nazi patch
A Totenkopf—the skull and crossbones symbol used by the Nazi SS-Totenkopfverbände division that administered concentration camps during World War II—has shown up on the back of a helmet worn by a National Guardsman in the U.S. South.

The 20th Special Forces Group, based in Birmingham, Ala., shared an image on March 24 featuring the antisemitic symbol on its Instagram page with the caption: “That weekend feeling. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Don’t stop training. Don’t get complacent.”

The image was soon deleted from the account, and the army has begun an investigation, said Maj. Russell Gordon, spokesperson for 1st Special Forces Command.

“The use of symbols and patches depicting historic images of hate is not tolerated and a clear violation of our values,” he added.

The SS-Totenkopfverbände, known as the Death’s Head Formations, has emerged as one of the most common and popular symbols utilized by neo-Nazis. The Anti-Defamation League noted that “it is this particular image of a skull and crossbones that is considered a hate symbol, not any image of a skull and crossbones.”
Baltimore Jews on their way to synagogue mugged by gang
A gang attempted to mug two Baltimore Jews on their way to synagogue to morning prayers on Tuesday, the Baltimore Shomrim said.

Three to four cars reportedly pulled up alongside one of the victims, and muggers emerged to chase him. A victim identified by the Jewish neighborhood watch organization as Eli Neuberger managed to warn his companion.

"I was able to call 911, but I wasn't able to speak," Neuberger told the Shomrim. "These fellows ran across the street, tried taking my phone, and they just hit me on the head.

No major injuries
Neuberger reportedly did not suffer any major injuries and was given shelter by a neighbor, where he was able to contact the police. The Baltimore Jewish Federation said that the incident did not appear to be an antisemitic crime but a robbery.

The victim was in good spirits on social media following the attack, joking about his 15 minutes of fame and that, "After such a harrowing incident this morning, I’m upset the perps didn’t even have the courtesy to offer me a 'free Palestine.'"

Since the October 7 massacre, the Anti-Defamation League has recorded a 315% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to the same time period the year earlier.

The spike in antisemitism has “absolutely” impacted Baltimore, Howard Libit, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, told the Baltimore Jewish Times.


‘How many miracles can we get?’: Holocaust saga comes to life in new Hulu miniseries
It was Passover 1938, and the Kurc family gathered around the Seder table in Radom, Poland, to celebrate.

By the next year, with the onset of World War II, the family found itself scattered far and wide, trying desperately to survive the Holocaust with almost no knowledge of the fate of their loved ones.

The Kurc family’s story is at the center of “We Were the Lucky Ones,” a new eight-part Hulu miniseries that covers close to a decade of their harrowing journeys. The series follows the family members everywhere from Siberia to Warsaw, Paris, Casablanca, Rio de Janeiro and even a brief stint in wartime Palestine.

Based on a book of the same name by author Georgia Hunter, the tale is a lightly fictionalized version of the true story of Hunter’s own family, which she discovered only as a teenager following her grandfather’s death, and researched diligently for nine years.

The first three episodes will premiere on Hulu on March 28, with the remaining five released weekly. It will be distributed internationally by Disney+ later this year.

Speaking to The Times of Israel via Zoom from Los Angeles, Hunter said that she hopes even those viewers familiar with the Holocaust are “maybe surprised by the breadth of the story, and then inspired by the moments in between the darkness, of hope and happiness, courage, perseverance — those are the things that kind of got me through my research.”

Headlined by Jewish stars Joey King (“The Kissing Booth”) as Halina Kurc and Logan Lerman (“Hunters”) as her brother, Addy Kurc, the show’s ensemble cast includes a number of prominent Israeli actors, including Lior Ashkenazi as family patriarch Sol, Amit Rahav (“Unorthodox”) and Hadas Yaron (“Shtisel”) as siblings Jakob and Mila Kurc, Moran Rosenblatt (“Fauda”) as daughter-in-law Herta, and Michael Aloni (“Shtisel”) as son-in-law Selim – reuniting in matrimony with his Shtisel wife Yaron.

Hunter told The Times of Israel that it was a very conscious decision to cast so many Jewish actors in the main roles.

“That was a choice we made early on in the casting,” she said. “This is a story about a Jewish family, and it was important to us to cast a Jewish cast, and I’m so glad we did… People came at it with many different experiences of what it meant to be Jewish, and they all brought a little piece of either their own family histories or their own traditions.”




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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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