Friday, April 05, 2024

04/05 Links Pt1: Israel is being subjected to obscene double standards; Biden’s Slow Motion Betrayal of Israel; Outrage over aid-worker deaths is about saving Hamas, not civilians

From Ian:

Jake Wallis Simons: Israel is being subjected to obscene double standards
In 2021, during the catastrophic allied withdrawal from Afghanistan, an errant US drone strike slaughtered an aid worker and nine members of his family in Kabul, including seven children.

Footage of the attack was later obtained by the New York Times. According to the paper, the footage showed how ‘the military made a life-or-death decision based on imagery that was fuzzy, hard to interpret in real time and prone to confirmation bias’. There were other mitigating circumstances, readers were told. ‘The military had been working that day under extreme pressure to head off another attack on troops and civilians in the middle of the chaotic withdrawal.’

Contrast this with how America’s newspaper of record reported the tragic Israeli airstrikes that claimed the lives of seven aid workers in Gaza on Monday. This, it alleged, was ‘the predictable result of a shoot-first style of engagement Israeli troops have used in their military campaign since the Hamas attacks of 7 October’. The report made no such allowances for ‘extreme pressure’ or ‘fuzzy, hard-to-interpret’ imagery.

The Gray Lady even contrasted the two incidents in a way that painted the American atrocity favourably while casting Israeli intentions in doubt. The Kabul attack, it said, ‘came after a suicide bombing killed at least 182 people, including 13 American troops, during the frantic American withdrawal from the country. Under acute pressure to avert another attack, the US military believed it was tracking a terrorist who might imminently detonate another bomb. Instead, it killed an Afghan aid worker and nine members of his family.’

The Gaza strike, however, ‘adds fuel to accusations that Israel has bombed indiscriminately’, the New York Times said, pre-empting the results of the independent investigation with breathless speculation and a healthy dose of ‘confirmation bias’ of its own. The assumption could not be clearer: whereas the Americans were acting out of panic and confusion, the Israelis were either acting out of disregard for human life or straightforward bloodlust.

Civilian deaths, including those of aid workers, are a tragic reality of modern warfare. Sixty-two humanitarian workers lost their lives in combat zones last year. Although they were mostly killed at the hands of autocratic regimes and militias, during wartime they are also the casualties of democracies, including Britain.

During the Libyan civil war in 2011, when David Cameron had his hands on the joystick, 13 people were killed by a NATO airstrike, including an ambulance driver, three nurses and some friendly troops. (He did not, surprisingly, subject his own government to the type of rhetoric that he has recently been levelling at the Israelis over the mistaken Gaza strike.) That same week, NATO wiped out a family near Ajdabiya in the north of the country. This year, even the Danish military was forced to admit that its aerial assault had claimed the lives of 14 Libyan civilians.

The difference between attitudes towards most Western armed forces and the Israelis could not be sharper. According to the UN, the average combatant-to-civilian death ratio in war around the world is one to nine. When Britain, America and our allies battled Islamic State in Mosul in 2016-17, we achieved a much more respectable rate of about one to 2.5. In Gaza, Israel has done better still, reaching about one to 1.5, and possibly even less.

Yet, while there is a willingness to believe that the Americans, British, Danes and others carry out tragic errors while doing their best to avoid harm to innocents, there is an instant suspicion when Jewish hands are on the bomb toggles.
Biden Loses the Plot on Israel
For six months, huge swaths of the press have painted Israel in the worst possible light. Netanyahu could say the sky is blue and a thousand fact-checkers would scrub his claim for signs of misinformation. Pro-Hamas falsehoods, meanwhile, are recycled without second thought. The casualty numbers from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, the bogus tale of the Israeli rocket "fired" at al-Shifa hospital, the blood libel that Israelis separated Palestinian babies from their mothers, the lie that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East was free of Hamas infiltration—these stories were peddled in bad faith before Israel had a chance to rebut them.

Which is why a sense of moral clarity in this conflict is so important. Hamas is evil. Hamas could end the war it started by surrendering its cadres and releasing its prisoners. Hamas refuses. Hamas would rather sacrifice the civilian population of Gaza on the altar of its genocidal ambition and suicidal desires. Hamas brutalizes children, abuses captives, steals food, fires its rockets indiscriminately, wears no uniforms, and hides behind schools, hospitals, and mosques. Hamas does not just commit war crimes. It is a war crime.

A global movement sympathetic to Hamas is fighting an information war with the objective of isolating Israel diplomatically and undermining its right to exist. We have learned that the United States, our universities, and our social media platforms are fronts in this campaign. And we have learned that anti-Semitism has returned with shocking power to demonize, harass, intimidate, and assault Jews throughout the diaspora. What Jewish immigrants to America in the beginning of the 20th century called the "Golden Land" is no exception.

The political heroes of this moment are the men and women who have retained the ability to make clear distinctions between Israel and Hamas, between freedom, equality, and the rule of law and violence, terror, and fear. Few have put the matter as plainly as Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who recently has been making more sense than most of his colleagues. "Hamas is confident we’re going to capitulate—but it's never going to be me," he posted Wednesday on X. "Hamas only deserves elimination."

Alluding to the World Central Kitchen deaths, Fetterman continued, "This war is the sum total of daily, raw tragedies. The vast majority of the harshest criticism & all responsibility for this war belongs to Hamas. Stand with Israel."

Fetterman's message deserves a million retweets. And his story contains a lesson. Last December, Fetterman dropped his identification as a "Progressive" because he understood that the label has become entangled with the poisonous vines of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. And he, unlike Biden, refuses to play the anti-Israel lobby's game. He, unlike Biden, has drawn the correct lessons from the war in Gaza. John Fetterman knows that good friends come from unlikely places. That the truth is the most effective weapon in the war of ideas. And that the fate of our society, our nation, and our civilization depends on Israeli victory.
Jonathan Tobin: Outrage over aid-worker deaths is about saving Hamas, not civilians
His willingness to heed these calls to halt the Israeli effort to defeat Hamas goes beyond a desire for domestic peace in the White House. The entire left wing of the Democratic Party, including many so-called “progressives” in Congress, has been clamoring that he use the threat of aid cutoffs to end the war prior to the release of the more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas, including five Americans. Isolated in the White House, Biden and his advisers truly believe that the reason he’s currently trailing former President Donald Trump in his battle for re-election is because he’s considered insufficiently hostile to Israel by the intersectional activist wing of his party that is ever more hostile to Zionism and the Jewish state.

When measured against the yawns and shrugged shoulders from the White House under Obama and Biden when civilians died as a result of their orders, it’s easy to see that the outrage about the aid workers has little to do with humanitarian concerns. Instead, it is about hatred for Israel that has taken root in left-wingers who have come to believe that Israel must not be allowed to defeat Hamas and that any civilian casualties that occur as a result of the terrorists’ actions are too many.

If Biden really wants to end the fighting in Gaza, then he should be directing all of his anger and threats against Hamas and its backers, not the Israelis. If Hamas surrendered and released the hostages—ranging from a baby to an 86-year-old man—the war would be over immediately. Instead, by threatening to trash the alliance with Israel and the mandate that it must live with Hamas terrorism, including the threat of more Oct. 7 massacres in the future, he has only strengthened the resolve of the Islamist murderers to stand their ground, secure in the belief that the United States will save them from the justice they so richly deserve for their crimes.

As much as we may all mourn what happened to the aid workers, the willingness of Israel’s foes and false friends like Biden to use this incident to end the war against Hamas should not be considered a manifestation of humanitarian sentiment. If their tragic fate provides the leverage that Washington uses to end the war, then the blood of the Israelis—and those in other nations who will fall victim to a revitalized international terror movement funded by Iran—will be on the heads of those who cynically exploited their deaths.


John Spencer: Israel Defense Forces work to protect civilians — not kill them
In their criticism, Israel’s opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set.

In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the US military, I’ve never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy’s civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings.

In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history — above and beyond what international law requires and more than the United States did in its wars in Iraq and ­Afghanistan.

The international community, and increasingly the United States, barely acknowledges these measures while repeatedly excoriating the IDF for not doing enough to protect civilians — even as it confronts a ruthless terror organization holding its citizens hostage.

Instead, America and its allies should be studying how they can apply the IDF’s tactics for protecting civilians, though these militaries would almost certainly be extremely reluctant to employ these techniques because it would disadvantage them in any fight with an urban terrorist army like Hamas.

The predominant Western theory of executing wars, called maneuver warfare, seeks to shatter an enemy morally and physically with surprising, overwhelming force and speed, striking at the political and military centers of gravity so that the enemy is destroyed or surrenders quickly.

This was the case in the invasions of Panama in 1989, Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and the failed illegal attempt by Russia to take Ukraine in 2022.

In all these cases, no warning or time was given to evacuate cities.

In many ways, Israel has had to abandon this established playbook to prevent civilian harm.

The IDF has telegraphed almost every move ahead of time so civilians can relocate, nearly always ceding the element of surprise.

This has allowed Hamas to reposition its senior leaders (and the Israeli hostages) as needed through the dense urban terrain of Gaza and the miles of underground tunnels it’s built.

Hamas fighters, who unlike the IDF don’t wear uniforms, have also taken the opportunity to blend into civilian populations as they evacuate.

The net effect is that Hamas succeeds in its strategy of creating Palestinian suffering and images of destruction to build international pressure on Israel to stop its operations, therefore ensuring Hamas’ survival.
Arsen Ostrovsky and John Spencer: Ultimately, Hamas Owns Every Death in Gaza—Civilians Included
In the case of World Central Kitchen, Israel immediately acknowledged the grave error, with the IDF Chief of Staff General Herzi Halevi stating: "I want to be very clear—the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification—at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn't have happened."

Israel's President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, all likewise immediately apologized, took full responsibility for the mistake. An urgent review is already underway to understand what went wrong and that the appropriate lessons are to be learned. That is how a moral army in a democracy operates.

As White House spokesman John Kirby emphasized in a press conference this week, "They [the U.S. State Department] have not found any incidents where the Israelis have violated International humanitarian law."

There also needs to be recognition that there is a significant difference between errors committed in the course of battle, like Israel's strike on World Central Kitchen staff, and Hamas' intentional targeting of civilians, which is in fact a war crime and gross violation of international humanitarian law.

The fact is that for Israel, every innocent death is a tragedy, whereas for Hamas, it is their very strategy. And the West's failure to distinguish this only emboldens Hamas and perpetuates the violence.

This, of course, does not absolve Israel from its duty to abide by the rules of war and international humanitarian law. It has not only continued to do so, but in many documented respects it has exceeded those requirements.

Ultimate responsibility, both legal and moral, for every innocent life lost lies at the feet of the Hamas terrorists. If the international community truly seeks to avoid future tragedies and the loss of civilian life, it would be well advised to call on Hamas to immediately surrender and release all the hostages.


Richard Littlejohn: When U.S. troops kill aid workers, it's 'friendly fire'. When Israel does, it's a 'war crime'. The double standards are nauseating
Hamas has made no secret of the fact it wants to slaughter Jews and wipe Israel off the face of the Earth. Yet, absurdly, it's Israel being accused of genocide.

To those demanding that Israel stands down and lets Hamas continue to occupy its tunnels, I say this: Imagine that the Islamist terrorist who attacked Manchester Arena, killing 22 and injuring 1017 more, hadn't strapped on a suicide vest but instead had planted his bombs before making a swift getaway.

Then after he had escaped, he decamped to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where he was holed up in the basement with a few dozen other jihadists and a deadly arsenal. Should the anti-terror squad just shrug and leave them to it, so that some time later they were free to emerge under the cover of darkness and blow up Old Trafford or go on a gun rampage in the Arndale Centre?

Look, I don't want to sound flippant but Israel is fighting for its very existence against a fanatical Islamist death cult.

It can do without posturing, point-scoring Western politicians, lawyers and activists inserting themselves into the narrative. This isn't about them it's about the very survival of a people and a democratic nation.

Hamas are our enemies, too, the kissing cousins of the nutjobs who blew up Manchester Arena, the London Transport network and have committed countless other terrorist atrocities in Europe. Supporting Israel is not, as m'learned friends pretended this week, 'inciting genocide'. Quite the opposite, in fact.

War is hell and there will always be, to use that horrible euphemism, 'collateral damage'.

Terry Lloyd and the courageous aid workers killed in Gaza this week understood that.

They knew the risks but were prepared to put their lives on the line in pursuit of, in Terry's case the truth, and on the part of the aid workers, bringing food and comfort to those in danger.

Their untimely deaths are undoubtedly tragic, but the aid workers would still be alive had it not been for the slaughter of 1,200 innocents on October 7.

Israel is being blamed, but Hamas has their blood on its hands. Sadly, despite the best efforts of brave journalists like Terry Lloyd and others over the years, the truth remains the first casualty of war.
Daniel Greenfield: Biden’s Slow Motion Betrayal of Israel
A little over a month after the original Hamas attack, the Biden administration was pressuring Israel to use less armor, bomb less, and change its government. Then came the warnings to wrap up the war by the end of the year.

Once it was clear that Israel would not cooperate, the slow-motion betrayal sped up a little with diplomatic, economic and military pressure.

What happened in the last few days is not the betrayal, it’s an escalation of the betrayal driven in no small part by the pressure campaign from Hamas supporters in Michigan and the DSA leftist crowd which has gone all in on it.

Biden has moved slowly because he wants to appease leftists while not alienating Jewish donors. And the Left’s pressure campaign has been about making him choose. What appears to be a betrayal is really just a more public ‘choice’ lubricated by Schumer and a variety of DSA front groups pretending to be Jewish attacking Israel.

The Biden administration is borrowing Obama’s old technique of manufacturing a break with Israel to cover up for the betrayal of an ally to Islamic terrorists.

And that takes us to the question of whether there was ever any actual support. I believe that when John Kirby was crying, it was real. Some in the administration were genuinely horrified. But beyond whatever personal emotional reaction there was, Biden, Blinken and the larger foreign policy establishment however had calculated that the best way to restrain Israel was to give it a “bear hug” with conditional public and private support. The conditions from the start crippled Israel’s ability to properly fight the war.

The goal was always to pull Israel back. But that’s always been the purpose of our foreign aid. On the one hand, we want Israel to project America’s strength in the region so we don’t have to. On the other hand, we want it to be a vassal, we can pull back to tone things down. This same Kissinger dollar store Richelliue stuff shows up in every war.

So the betrayal was baked in from the start.

The question wasn’t whether Biden would betrayal Israel, but when.


Caroline Glick: War with Hezbollah and Iran May Have Just Begun
Israel eliminates a top Iranian general, Iran and its proxies step up attacks and America makes it clear it is not with us.


Statistics Professor: How Hamas lies about Gaza casualties
According to the latest reports, 30,000 Gazans have been killed in Israel's war with Gaza, a majority being women and children. But are the numbers coming from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry correct? Are there obvious indications that these numbers are false? Moreover, do the numbers even matter or is this an emotional appeal to those already convinced that Israel is committing genocide?

To discuss all this, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by Statistics Professor Abraham Wyner. They delve into why he thinks the numbers are obviously false and eaten up all to often by media eager to blame Israel.




Terror-supporting Qatar is no friend of the West
According to ISGAP, the findings specifically shed light on the significant influence of Qatari state proxies, such as Qatar Foundation and Qatar National Research Fund. These entities are used to mask direct Qatari government investment in U.S. universities, as part of Qatar’s soft-power strategy regarding the West.

ISGAP’s research shows that the Qatari Emir and the Qatari government are directly behind the industry funneling billions of dollars into leading American universities such as Texas A&M, Georgetown, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Virginia Commonwealth and others.

In light of the findings, ISGAP has issued letters to relevant authorities calling on Cornell to close its campus at Doha Education City and expose all contracts related to the university partnership with Qatar. Earlier this month the Board of Regents at Texas A&M decided to end the university’s 20-years partnership with Qatar and close the TAMUQ campus in Qatar.

Charles Asher Small, executive director of ISGAP, called upon American universities “to follow Texas A&M’s decision to pull out from Doha Education City. Qatar, a state that supports, funds and hosts terrorists should have no place in America’s higher education.”

ISGAP initiated the “Follow the Money” research project in 2012, focusing on the illicit funding of U.S. universities by foreign entities promoting anti-democratic, antisemitic ideologies, often linked to terrorism. This ongoing investigation unearthed substantial Middle Eastern funding, primarily from Qatar, to U.S. universities, previously unreported to the Department of Education (DoED) as required by law, revealing billions of dollars in unreported funds. This groundbreaking work led to a federal government investigation in 2019.

Despite its close ties to the United States and other Western nations, Qatar has cultivated an extensive network of Islamist partners, hosting, supporting and representing entities such as the Muslim Brotherhood, maintaining ties with Iran, hosting the Taliban, supporting Hamas and backing militias in Syria and Libya.

It is clear that Qatar is no friend of the West. By hosting Hamas’s leaders, allowing Al Jazeera to spread anti-Israel propaganda and funding U.S. universities in exchange for influence, Qatar has demonstrated clearly it is on the side of evil.

In Inbar’s view, Israel needs to “take the gloves off” and Qatar’s leadership should “pay for their behavior.”

At the same time, he added, “Israel should increase efforts to delegitimize Qatar’s behavior in the United States.”


IDF: Conclusion of the Investigation Into the Incident in Which 7 WCK Employees Were Killed During a Humanitarian Operation in Gaza
The investigation of the grave incident in which seven workers of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of IDF fire was carried out by the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism (FFAM), led by MG (res.) Yoav Har-Even, was presented yesterday (Thursday) to the IDF Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi.

After presenting the findings of the investigation to the Chief of the General Staff, MG (res.) Har-Even presented them to the WCK organization and reiterated the IDF’s deep sorrow about the incident. The findings were also presented in briefings to international ambassadors and journalists.

The event occurred on April 1, 2024, during an operation to transfer humanitarian aid from the WCK to the Gaza Strip. The investigation found that the forces identified a gunman on one of the aid trucks, following which they identified an additional gunman. After the vehicles left the warehouse where the aid had been unloaded, one of the commanders mistakenly assumed that the gunmen were located inside the accompanying vehicles and that these were Hamas terrorists. The forces did not identify the vehicles in question as being associated with WCK. Following a misidentification by the forces, the forces targeted the three WCK vehicles based on the misclassification of the event and misidentification of the vehicles as having Hamas operatives inside them, with the resulting strike leading to the deaths of seven innocent humanitarian aid workers. The strikes on the three vehicles were carried out in serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedures.

The investigation’s findings indicate that the incident should not have occurred. Those who approved the strike were convinced that they were targeting armed Hamas operatives and not WCK employees. The strike on the aid vehicles is a grave mistake stemming from a serious failure due to a mistaken identification, errors in decision-making, and an attack contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures.
IDF explains mistaken deaths of WCK aid workers, consequences in place

FDD: Two IDF Officers Dismissed Over Aid Convoy Tragedy
Latest Developments
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on April 5 the dismissal of two officers and the disciplining of others over an accidental air strike on a Gaza aid convoy.

Publishing the results of an investigation into the April 1 incident in which seven members of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed, the IDF said its forces had spotted a gunman aboard at least one of the aid trucks but assumed mistakenly that Hamas terrorists were in accompanying vehicles. The IDF also failed to identify the vehicles, three of which were attacked from the air, as associated with the WCK, the statement said, calling the strike in the central Gaza Strip “a serious violation of the commands and IDF Standard Operating Procedure.”

In response, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi issued an order to dismiss the fire-support commander for the brigade responsible for the incident, a major, as well as the brigade’s chief of staff, a reserves colonel. Formal reprimands will be filed against the brigade commander and the division commander above him as well as against the Southern Command chief, Maj.-Gen. Yaron Finkelstein, for his overall responsibility. “The IDF will learn the lessons of the incident and will incorporate them into the IDF’s ongoing operations,” the statement concluded.

Before publication, the findings were presented to the ambassadors of the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain, and Poland, which each lost citizens in the strike.

Expert Analysis
“As the Israelis have themselves acknowledged, this tragedy should never have happened. All civilian life is precious, but these humanitarians had additional reason to feel protected, as they were in Gaza at the invitation of Jerusalem, where the WCK has been discussed as a potential successor to UNRWA. So, the malign conspiracy theories being aired in the usual anti-Israel precincts — that this was somehow a deliberate bid to sabotage relief efforts for Palestinians — are preposterous on their face. And they should be put to rest by the speed with which the IDF, in the middle of a war, has investigated and dealt sternly with the officers involved.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“For all the anger and the sorrow in the West over these deaths, those governments might pause to reflect on their own recent military engagements and the friendly-fire incidents incurred there. Can anyone in Washington, Ottawa, London, Canberra, or Warsaw recall their own forces moving with such dispatch — in mere days — to prove accountability and transparency?” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst at FDD’s Long War Journal
IDF suspends officers responsible for strike on aid convoy
The army committed to “learn the lessons of the incident and will incorporate them into the IDF's ongoing operations.”

The IDF announcement concluded: “The incident should not have occurred.”

The WCK called the investigation an “important step” but demanded “the creation of an independent commission to investigate the killings of our WCK colleagues. The IDF cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.”

British foreign secretary Lord Cameron said in a statement on Twitter: “We are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel’s investigations into the killing of WCK aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step.

“These findings must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.”

The WCK attack has prompted international condemnation, with US President Joe Biden “outraged” and UK Prime Minister Rish Sunak “appalled” by the attack which killed one US citizen and three UK citizens, among others. Yesterday Joe Biden said that his country’s continued support of Israel was dependent on the country taking concrete steps to protect civilians in Gaza.


UNHRC calls for arms embargo against Israel, asks it to prevent genocide
The United Nations Human Rights Council voted 28-5 for an arms embargo against Israel as it called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and demanded that the Jewish state uphold its responsibility to prevent genocide, when it met Friday in Geneva.

Thirteen of the 47 UNHRC member states abstained from the text, which did not mention Hamas or condemn it for the invasion of Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 seized as hostages.

Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Malawi, and the United States all opposed the resolution.

Three European Union countries — Belgium, Finland, and Luxembourg — supported the text. Four EU countries — France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Romania — abstained. 'Accountability resolution'

Through what has been dubbed the “accountability resolution,” the UNRHC has since at least 2018, urged UN member states to refrain from transferring arms to Israel in cases where they suspected that it might be used in human rights violations.

In light of the Gaza war, the resolution used much harsher language against Israel, as it rewrote what Israel had already viewed as a problematic and biased text.

It calls on “all States to cease the sale, transfer, and diversion of arms, munitions, and other military equipment to Israel.”

The UNHRC further calls on UN member states to refrain from “the export, sale or transfer of surveillance goods and technologies and less-lethal weapons, including dual-use times, when they assess that the are reasonable grounds to suspect that such goods.. might be used to violate .. human rights.”


‘The murder of Jews does not matter,’ Israeli envoy says of UN Human Rights Council resolution
After the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on “Human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice,” Israel’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva denounced what she said was that body’s 105th anti-Israel resolution.

“This council spoke loud and clear: To the overwhelming majority of its members, Israelis do not matter. The murder of Jews does not matter. The hostages do not matter. The rape of Israeli women does not matter,” Meirav Eilon Shahar told reporters on Friday. “Where is the accountability for the Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism?”

“All that matters to this council and many of its members is condemning Israel, singling out the only Jewish state, and protecting Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and all those who seek to destroy our country,” the ambassador added. “This resolution is a stain on the Human Rights Council and on the United Nations as a whole.”

The Israeli envoy announced that she would skip the rest of the session.

“I can no longer sit in the room of this so-called Human Rights Council that can not even bring itself to mention Hamas or its brutal terrorist attacks on Oct. 7,” she said. “It cannot even condemn the brutal murder of over 1,200 of my people; the kidnapping of over 240 individuals, including infants; the rape, mutilations and sexual abuse of Israeli women, girls and men.”

“‘Me too unless you’re a Jew’ is the overwhelming message from the council today,” she said.

“This council has long abandoned reason. It has long abandoned the human rights of Israelis and Jews,” she added. “Today’s vote was one of the darkest days in the history of this council, and the history of the U.N.”


FDD: The Urgent Need for UN Reform
By Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Richard Goldberg
Few moments in its history have so completely exposed the decay of the United Nations into a labyrinth of anti-American bureaucracies as Hamas’s October 7 massacre. In Gaza, we see evidence of the UN Relief and Works Agency and World Health Organization complicit in Hamas war crimes, while others like the World Food Programme parrot Hamas propaganda. In New York and Geneva, from the Security Council and UN Women to the Human Rights Council and the WHO, groups refuse to condemn Hamas and its crimes against humanity — their condemnation is reserved solely for the victims of the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The UN secretary-general himself may go down as the greatest enabler of this blatant antisemitism.

Threats to U.S. interests coming from the UN system are not confined to antisemitism, Israel, or Hamas. Since establishing FDD’s International Organizations Program, FDD scholars have documented how China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and other U.S. adversaries exploit the UN system to undermine the United States. The January 2021 monograph From Trump to Biden outlined a strategy of using American leverage inside international organizations to counter U.S. adversaries.1 A June 2021 monograph, A Better Blueprint for International Organizations, explained how the United States could condition aid to win concrete reforms at a dozen UN agencies.2 Instead, the Biden administration is repeating the mistakes of the Obama administration — insisting that engagement and diplomatic niceties could advance reform without asserting U.S. pressure or utilizing our outsized leverage. This strategy has failed.

This need not be a partisan debate. Indeed, the cause of UN reform was historically bipartisan for most of the late 20th century. If ever there was a moment to find a way back to this bipartisanship and put UN reform back on the agenda, this is that moment. In this memo, Alan Goldsmith, a former employee and colleague on Capitol Hill who worked on UN reform as a professional staff member for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, presents a compelling case for a bipartisan UN reform campaign. He walks us through the history of such efforts, detailing case studies of reform attempts and outlining the tools Congress and the executive branch have at their disposal. Anyone remotely interested in driving a UN reform agenda will want to keep this memo handy.

Introduction
The United Nations (UN) is the world’s leading international organization, symbolizing multilateral cooperation and a vision to improve the world. However, the UN is also synonymous with inaction and ineffectiveness, mismanagement and malfeasance, bias and farce. It has become a tool to advance the interests and values of U.S. adversaries, like Russia and China, and to serve their interests — often to the detriment of America and the free world. And, as demonstrated in the wake of the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, the UN has become a tool used by purveyors of Jew-hatred.

Troubled by the UN’s flaws and its frequent alignment against the United States, critics advocate withdrawal from the UN in its entirety. This is understandable but counterproductive. The conduct of some UN agencies is indeed incompatible with U.S. participation. Others are amenable to American influence. Among the latter, the record shows that when Washington goes on offense, using all its diplomatic muscle and financial leverage, it can achieve positive outcomes. If America ignores these levers of influence, it cedes a crucial arena to its greatest adversaries.

This report thus recommends a two-track approach to the UN: participating fully in UN bodies responsive to reform but withdrawing from those that are hostile to necessary changes. America should seek to change the hostile bodies from the outside where possible and work to dismantle those bodies if they prove irredeemable.

This two-track approach reflects the lessons learned from the long history of both congressional and executive branch campaigns to reform the UN. From the early 1970s until the end of the 20th century, the United States conditioned its funding for, and membership in, UN bodies based upon their readiness to enact reforms. In the 21st century, however, Washington has increasingly embraced a policy of unconditional U.S. financial support for, and membership in, UN entities. This stems from a mistaken belief that demonstrations of loyalty to the UN can serve as leverage for reform.

Examining the history of these contrasting approaches reveals that the former approach usually achieves better outcomes than the latter. Conditionality must remain in place to ensure that the UN does not backtrack on its reform pledges. In addition, bipartisan support for conditionality serves as the bedrock of U.S. leverage so that the UN and its agencies do not simply drag their feet on reform while waiting for the election of a more accommodating president or Congress.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration is pursuing a policy of unconditional engagement, which predictably undermines both its own reform agenda and American interests. Examples of this flawed policy include the U.S. decision to remain part of the World Health Organization (WHO) and to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) without insisting upon major reforms.

Holding the UN accountable through words and deeds is the best way to force it to perform better or suffer reduced funding and relevance. If both parties come together behind this approach, it can gradually repair the institution to serve the interests of the free world while upholding its values.
Alice and Hamas in Wokeland
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland are accused of "white supremacy". The two children's classics are being treated ike Hitler's Mein Kampf never was.

York St John University, England, has added a moral censure to the two books and Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. “Colonialist narratives,” say the academics. The vocabulary and illustrations are “racist,” “upsetting and offensive.” Peter Pan is lethal with references to “savages”. In Verne, Phileas Fogg travels across continents divided by imperial powers. Another university censored Peter Pan for its "gender stereotypes."

In a long essay in Quillette magazine it is explained that the fans of Islamic fundamentalists in our universities are not a minority nor an accident, but the heart of a monstrous barbarism that we cultivate within us.

And while we Westerners were busy censoring children's books as "racist" and shutting universities for Islamic holidays like in Italy, Saudi Arabia assumed the presidency of the UN Commission on Women's Rights. The Saudis were elected unanimously.

Strange? Not after seeing Iran assume the presidency of the UN Disarmament Forum.

Schadenfreude!

But for the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, there is a "worldwide epidemic of Islamophobia" and the UN has thus adopted a resolution sponsored by Pakistan at the General Assembly on "measures to combat Islamophobia". Forget the massacres of Jews and Christians. A "special envoy to fight Islamophobia" is now arriving at the UN.

The same United Nations that asked that the word "mankind" must be replaced with "humanity". Man must disappear.

The same United Nations that asked to go beyond the "stereotypes of men and women" to "create a more egalitarian world".

That is the same United Nations for which Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh worked as a teacher at UNRWA.
UN Hybrid Side Event: Panel with Survivors of October 7 and Experts
This hybrid UN side event held during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council brought survivors of the October 7th attack as well as experts to speak about the UN's failures to adequately address the attack and its ongoing effects.

Timestamps:
0:00 - Hillel Neuer
8:18- Jenny Sividia
16:47 - Sapir Cohen (Video)
18:10 - Sharon Aloni-Cunio (Video)
24:46 - Anne Herzberg
30:55 - Mark Goldfeder (Video)
34:18 - Moshe Lavi (Video)
38:38 - Hila Rotem Shoshani (Video)
40:58 - Ayelet Samerano (Video)
48:19 - Andre Lajst


Ottawa is being sued for restoring UNRWA funding by survivors of terror victims
Canadian relatives of victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks are suing the Canadian government over its decision last month to resume funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), given the controversial agency’s “history and participation with Hamas,” listed as a terrorist group under Canadian criminal law.

The families, alongside the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), filed notice of the suit in Federal Court on Thursday. The suit is asking for an order to reverse the Liberal government’s decision to resume funding UNRWA.

The application argues that Hamas co-locates its terrorist infrastructure with UNRWA facilities and that UNRWA schools teach Palestinian children to hate and kill Jews. It also argues that UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, some of whom were Canadian. By funding UNRWA, the litigants argue, the government is funding terror while violating its own policies on ensuring foreign aid aligns with Canadian values.

“Though there is no dispute that humanitarian aid is needed and must urgently reach the civilian population in Gaza, the application lays out the arguments of why UNRWA cannot be the agency to fulfill this responsibility and should be disqualified from funding,” read a statement issued by CIJA.

“Under Canadian Law, funding can only be advanced to organizations that respect Canadian values and international human rights standards. Additionally, given UNRWA’s well-documented links to Hamas, a terrorist organization under Canadian law, by resuming Canadian funding to UNRWA, the government is in violation of its own anti-terrorism legislation.”


Terror attack at Megiddo intersection foiled, suspect arrested
A youth armed with a hammer tried to attack policemen at the gas station at Megiddo Junction on Friday afternoon, according to a police statement.

Shortly before the arrest, a police patrol noticed a 17-year-old walking suspiciously near the gas station at Meggido Junction.

The suspect is a resident of Musmus village, about eight kilometers south of Megiddo.

Police approached the suspect and noticed he had pulled out a hammer and begun swinging it towards the officers while running towards them.

Suspect arrested, no police casualties
Police officers from Umm el-Fahm immediately made contact and fired at the suspect.

The suspect suffered minor wounds and was arrested. No police were wounded during the arrest.

Danny Levy, Superintendent of the Coastal Police, praised the officers, saying, "The pursuit of contact, vigilance, and alertness led to the end of the event without any casualties. There is no doubt that with your quick and professional activity, you saved lives."


The Rape Deniers
Before looking at specific examples of disinformation by the “critics,” as the Times and NPR calls them, we should address a few broader points.

Despite evidence of rape, those defending Hamas from charges of sexual violence point to a lack of forensic evidence — the kind that might be revealed at the denouement of a television crime show. Indeed, Israel’s frontier with Gaza on and after Oct 7 was less untouched crime scene and more battlefield and disaster zone.

But this is neither exonerating nor unusual. “There is very much what’s known as the CSI effect, where there is a perception that without forensic evidence or DNA, then you don’t have a case,” an expert on sexual violence in conflict zones told NPR. “And that’s just patently not true.”

In this case, the full CSI treatment was impracticable. “As is common in war, collection of physical evidence was hindered by ongoing combat and a large, chaotic crime scene,” NPR reported.

With limited resources and such a large-scale attack, compromises were necessary, journalist Carrie Keller-Lynn explained. “Instead of going through CSI, which would make it possible to produce evidence of crimes, the bodies are being processed through the disaster victim identification (DVI) track, as is common for mass casualty events,” she reported. Or as the UN mission put it, there was a “prioritization of rescue operations and the recovery, identification, and burial of the deceased in accordance with religious practices, over the collection of forensic evidence.” (The mission noted additional factors, too, that hindered the collection of forensic examination. See paragraph 46 of its report.)

The deniers had also pointed to lack of testimony by victims — a puzzling defense in the context of this story, where survivors describe women raped then murdered; where recovery workers noted naked and bound corpses; and where released hostages say those still in captivity had said they were sexually assaulted. Which category of those victims, exactly, would the deniers expect to have heard from? (When a hostage did eventually speak out about being sexually assaulted, the self-appointed investigators were not particularly interested, or worse, dismissed her account.)

None of this means every testimony is beyond reproach. Just as the record of 9/11 was contaminated by multiple false accounts and fake survivors, likewise after 10/7 false accounts were reported by pretenders, and some unfounded atrocity charges were shared, believed, and repeated. The “critics” did not miss the opportunity to capitalize on these inaccurate accounts in order to push the idea, through innuendo or explicit denial, that every witness of rape and every first responder account of sexually abused bodies are fake.

The Critics
NPR’s story about “critics” of a New York Times piece on sexual violence repeatedly cites The Intercept.

And across The Intercept’s incessant efforts to discredit those shining a light on Palestinian sexual violence, its reporters cite Mondoweiss, Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada, and Max Blumenthal of Grayzone.

It is an echo chamber of Hamas apologia — invariably, one story links to identical accusations by the others, which link back to similar pieces by the rest. The common theme, other then denial, is the extremism of its participants.

Consider, most relevantly, their response to the Oct 7 massacre:

A writer for the Intercept, at least, grants that the attack was “horrifying” — though this was in a post whose argument was that we shouldn’t view it as horrifying.

Others are less subtle. Denier Ali Abunimah, for example, was self-evidently delighted by the slaughter of civilians in Israel. He not only defended the attack, calling it “just”; not only insisted we shouldn’t feel bad about it (this just minutes after he posted video of elderly female hostage paraded and taunted on video); but also viciously attacked those — including critics of Israel — who would dare share any sympathy for the victims of the mass slaughter of Jews.

Mondoweiss summarized the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust with an announcement that “Gazans have broken out of their open air prison imposed by Israel and launched an elaborate surprise attack on their occupier,” while pooh-poohing the idea that Hamas had started a war. As the extent of the atrocities became apparent, Mondoweiss’s defenses of the assault grew more emphatic. On Oct. 8, its culture editor Muhammed El-Kurd insisted the attack was a cause for “celebration.” On Oct. 9, it published a piece insisting we “must shout our support for the resistance from our rooftops.”

Max Blumenthal minimized Hamas’s slaughter as ”guerrilla bands bursting out of a besieged ghetto with homemade weapons.” In response to a Twitter post noting that at its attack on a music festival Hamas “began shooting those in attendance,” Blumenthal mocked the victims and justified their slaughter.

The motivation for their leap to action at the first accusation of rape, then, is as simple as it seems: It is born of sympathy for Hamas.


IDF finds female Nir Oz resident likely killed by helicopter fire on October 7
The IDF reported on Friday that the death of Efrat Katz on October 7 was likely from an airstrike by an Israeli Air Force combat helicopter on the vehicle she was being held captive in during Hamas's assault on Nir Oz.

The investigation found that the existing surveillance systems used by the IDF were unable to detect that Katz and other hostages were in the vehicle with the Hamas terrorists.

An IDF-designated team investigated the incident and concluded the circumstances surrounding Katz's death based on videos taken of the strike from the combat helicopter and the UAV, security cameras of the Kibbutz and the testimonies of the aerial crews that operated in the area, as well as the family members of Katz.

Katz's family were informed on Friday of the findings of the investigation.


The Commentary Magazine Podcast: Biden Makes Israel the Bad Guy
Hosted by Abe Greenwald, Christine Rosen, John Podhoretz & Matthew Continetti
Today’s podcast reels in horror from the administration response to the tragic errors that led to the Israeli attack on a food convoy and how it represents what may be the final turn of the Bidenites against the war effort to extirpate Hamas. Give a listen.


Call Me Back PodCast: Is Israel Losing America’s Jews? With Yossi Klein Halevi and Rabbi David Ingber
Hosted by Dan Senor Over the past several weeks, especially the Biden administration’s statements Thursday, Israel has been subjected to a fresh round of harsh criticisms. We’ll be turning to the elevating U.S.-Israel tensions in our Monday episode with Nadav Eyal.

But today we have a conversation about the criticisms we have been hearing in intra-Jewish community debates here in the U.S. and other Diaspora communities. While there is a growing number of American Jewish leaders calling on Israel to change course and pursue a permanent ceasefire — or at least wage a more “humane” war — these voices are still a small minority (albeit a very loud minority). These voices get outsized attention, but they should not be ignored. They are people that many of us know. Some have large platforms. Many non-Jews hear them on those platforms and cite these Jewish figures as sources.

What does all this tell us about trends in American Jewish life long before October 7? What is the impact now on Israel? These are some of the questions we try to unpack with:
-Yossi Klein Halevi, who is a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. Yossi has written a number of books, including his latest, “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor,” which was a New York Times bestseller. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Times of Israel. He is co-host of “For Heaven’s Sake” podcast.

-Rabbi David A. Ingber is the new Senior Director for Jewish Life and Senior Director of the Bronfman Center at 92NY. He serves as the founding rabbi of Romemu, the largest Renewal synagogue in the United States.

Items discussed in this episode:
-Rabbi David Ingber’s Shabbat sermon on Israel (03/22/24):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px5i9mIxd5E&t=3942s
-Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s letter to her congregants on her position on the war in response to the “Times of Israel” article
-Yossi Klein Halevi’s books
In Israel, freshman GOP lawmakers focus on supporting Jewish state after WCK incident
Freshman Republican lawmakers visiting Israel this week focused on supporting the Jewish state when asked about the IDF strike in Gaza that hit a World Central Kitchen convoy and killed seven of its aid workers this week.

Three members of a delegation in Israel with the AIPAC-affiliated American Israel Education Foundation, Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), Rep. Thomas Kean, Jr. (R-NJ), and Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ), spoke with Jewish Insider on Thursday, ahead of their meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.

Asked about the WCK incident, Kean said that “the IDF has been clear it was unintentional and they apologized for that mistake very quickly and very clearly.”

“Now is a time to focus on what Israel and the IDF is doing, which is rooting out the evil that is the Hamas terrorist organization,” Kean added. “We need to make sure that Israel has the time, weaponry and resources necessary to conduct the operations to destroy Hamas.”

When asked about the deaths of the aid workers, Kiggans, a former helicopter pilot in the U.S. Navy, said that “war is ugly.”

“We should work at all costs to avoid war, and we do that by being strong. The Biden administration needs to look at its foreign policy decisions that made the world less safe. The world is not where we want it to be and civilians were unfortunately killed. We need to work to prevent war and preserve peace,” she said.

Kiggans, who was visiting Israel for the first time, emphasized “peace through strength,” saying that “Israel needs strong friends to support its ability to defend itself and respond to the events of Oct. 7.”

She also took issue with “the president unilaterally deciding to send our own military members [to Gaza] to build a pier paid for by our taxpayers without including people in Congress. We represent those taxpayers.”

“Now there are American boots on the ground in Gaza to complete the building of that pier,” she added. “Those types of decisions need to be made in the halls of Congress, not by unilateral action.”


Sanders: Hamas Using Civilians as Shields ‘Is, Perhaps, a Part of the Problem,’ ‘Not the Real Problem’
Host Jake Tapper asked, “What do you say to people who say, this is not fair, it’s a double standard, Hamas started this on October 7, Hamas wants to destroy Israel, Hamas wants to kill Jews, Hamas hides behind their own people, Hamas doesn’t care how many Palestinian civilians die — all of which, in my opinion, is true — what’s your response when people say that that –?”

Sanders cut in to answer, “I would agree with you. Hamas is a terrible, terrible terrorist organization that started this war. And what I have said from the beginning, Jake, Israel has a right to defend itself and go to war against Hamas. That’s what I believe. I think most people believe. But you do not have a right to damage or destroy 70% of the housing units in Gaza. You don’t have a right to displace 80% of the population, throw them out of their homes, put them into this area, put them into that area, deny them food, water, medical supplies, and fuel. That, you don’t have a right to do. So, the answer is, of course, Hamas began this war, they are a terrorist organization, but the United States is not funding Hamas. We are funding Israel. And what has got to be made clear to Israel, you can go to war against Hamas, but you cannot continue these horrific actions which are causing, literally, the worst humanitarian disaster we have seen in a very long time.”

Tapper then asked, “What do you say to people who say the reason that so many innocent people are dying in Gaza is because Hamas embeds with the Palestinian people, they build tunnels under their homes, they hide under people, they want the civilian death toll, they consider them martyrs, and it makes Israel look bad?”

Sanders responded, “I think that is, perhaps, a part of the problem, but it’s not the real problem. The real problem right now is, we are looking, as I mentioned a moment ago, [at] massive starvation. That is not caused by Hamas. That is simply caused by Israel not allowing the hundreds and hundreds of trucks that are lined up at the border to get in and go to the areas that it is needed. That is Israel’s responsibility, not Hamas’.”


The Israel Guys: Did An Israeli AIRSTRIKE Really Just Kill 7 Aid Workers In Gaza? | Here's What Actually Happened
Something wild happened in Gaza this week. 7 aid workers from the World Central Kitchen were killed by what looks like an accidental Israeli airstrike. Of course, the world immediately rushed to condemn Israel, calling for accountability like never before.

Meanwhile, terror attacks continue to happen in Israel almost on a regular basis and the world for the most part remains silent.




Outrage as book celebrating October 7 by terror chief Sinwar appears on Amazon
Amazon has been accused of allowing itself to be used as a platform for Hamas propaganda and fundraising over the sale of a book by terrorist mastermind Yahya Sinwar in which he trumpets his role in the October 7 massacres.

Listed on Amazon since December 2023, Sinwar’s quasi-novel, The Thorn and the Carnation, is also available from the largest book retailer in the US, Barnes and Noble.

The book boasts that Sinwar was behind the October 7 Hamas atrocities, calling him the "orchestrator of Flood of Al-Aqsa".

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has called on Amazon to remove the listing, citing concerns it has been used to “propagandise on behalf of a proscribed terrorist organisation [Hamas] and also to raise money for it”.

Apparently written by Sinwar while he served time in an Israeli jail for murdering several Palestinians and Israelis, the book’s blurb says it "chronicles the relentless pursuit of liberation”.

The thinly veiled fictionalisation of Sinwar’s life is available in hardcover for £23.77 and in paperback for £19.81.

One reviewer on Amazon gushed over “the beauty of warmth" of the book while another called for a “bigger book” about the Hamas leader.

However, one reviewer said: “This book is incitement to violence and antisemitism. It is written by the leader of Hamas and should not be sold by Amazon.”


McDonald’s buys back all Israeli restaurants after they gave free food to IDF soldiers
McDonald’s will buy back all 225 of its restaurants in Israel, the Israeli franchisee owner announced on Thursday.

The fast-food franchisee was criticised after it provided thousands of free meals to IDF soldiers in the days after October 7, leading to consumer boycotts of McDonald’s by pro-Palestinians in the Middle East and other regions. The boycotts caused a “meaningful business impact” in the ensuing months, according to a statement by McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski in January.

Omri Padan, CEO and owner of franchisee Alonyal Limited, announced on Thursday that he had signed an agreement to sell the Israeli outposts back to McDonald’s Corporation.

“For more than 30 years, Alonyal Limited has been proud to bring the Golden Arches to Israel and serve our communities,” Padan said in a statement published by McDonald’s. “We’ve grown the brand to be the leading and most successful restaurant chain in Israel and are grateful to our management, employees, suppliers, and customers who made this possible. We are encouraged by what the future holds.”

Jo Sempels, President of International Developmental Licensed Markets at McDonald’s Corporation, added: “We thank Alonyal Limited for building the McDonald’s business and brand in Israel over the past 30 years. McDonald’s remains committed to the Israeli market and to ensuring a positive employee and customer experience in the market going forward.”

The conditions of the transaction, due to be completed in the coming months, are unclear at this time, though the statement by McDonald’s stipulated that the US chain “will own Alonyal Limited’s restaurants and operations, and employees will be retained on equivalent terms.”


‘Zionist dogs’ placards and support for the ‘resistance’: welcome to London’s Al Quds Day rally
Support for “resistance by any means necessary”, “River to the Sea” chants and placards about “Zionist dogs” all featured in the Iran regime-inspired Al Quds Day rally in London on Friday.

The anti-Israel march, which the Met estimates attracted 1,000 people, began outside the Home Office and travelled past Parliament amid a heavy police presence. It culminated outside Downing Street where speeches were given from activists including David Miller, Revered Stephen Sizer, Rabbi Beck of Neturei Karta and Latifa Abouchakra.

Ten protesters were arrested on suspected offences including inciting racial hatred and assault.

Abouchakra, whose October 7 video of herself praising the Hamas attack on Israel as a “moment of pride” went viral at the time, said on stage: “Liberation is happening before our eyes. We are seeing Palestine being liberated because of the resistance. Big up the resistance.”

She added that America’s “duality of its position” is evidence that the “largest American project in west Asia is failing in its functional role of protecting Western interests. It has in fact turned into a liability. They will drop it soon.” Chants during the march included “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, “Israel is a terrorist state”, and “Rishi Sunak is a waste man”.

Numerous placards called for resistance “by any means necessary” and “From the river to the sea. Single democratic state: Palestine the only solution”.

One cardboard sign read, “October 7? What about 1946, 1947, 1967, 2005”. Another read “Muslims of the world. Your leaders (the dogs of the Zionists) allowed their masters to starve and slaughter your Palestinian brothers. Defend your brothers.”

At least two images were carried of Aaron Bushnell, the 25-year-old American serviceman who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washing DC in February in protest over what he claimed was the United States’ “complicity in genocide.”

Addressing the crowd in a speech, David Miller said he wanted to talk to the crowd “about the need to end Zionism.”

He said: “We cannot speak out for Palestine efficiently and effectively until we remove this terrible entity [Zionism] from this country.”

He said there are “2,000 Zionist organisations” in this country and “every [single] one needs to be ended.”


David Menzies appears in court after asking anti-Israel protesters 'insensitive' questions
Rebel News journalist David Menzies made his first appearance in court Wednesday for an "obstruct police" charge. He was arrested after attempting to ask anti-Israel protesters questions during a demonstration in Toronto.


Furious man drives his SUV at anti-Israel protesters blocking road outside California Lockheed Martin offices before screaming 'Somebody's gonna die'
A furious man drove his SUV toward a crowd of anti-Israel protestors as they blocked a road outside of a Lockheed Martin office building.

Demonstrators from the Bay Area Palestine Solidarity coalition arrived outside of the aerospace facility in Sunnyvale, California, around 6am Thursday.

They protested against the US sending weapons to Israel as the violent war between Israel and Palestine rages on.

As they blocked the road to the facility, an unidentified white man sped his car toward the crowd, nearly hitting them, before he stepped out and yelled at them while brandishing a knife.

'Get out of the way or somebody's gonna die,' the enraged man said as he wiped out a knife and pointed it at the crowd of people.

Video of the incident starts as the man drives his white SUV toward the protestors as they scream, begging him to stop.

He then stops his vehicle as a male protestor comes up to his driver's side window and says: 'Do you wanna go to prison?'

He asks the question again before the angry man, dressed in blue jeans, a dark zip up hoodie, baseball hat and glasses steps out of his car.

As he pulls a knife from his pocket, another protestor steps in front of him as the man says: 'Get out of the way or somebody's gonna die. I'm telling you right now!'

As the demonstrators scream in terror, the man says: 'Somebody's gonna die! Get out of my way!'

A protestor with a neon yellow vest then steps toward his open car door and reaches in his car as the man slaps him away.

'You're on video, put the weapon down,' a protestor tells him.

'If you wanna go to prison, think about--,' another says to him just before the driver interrupts them.

'If you wanna go to prison, you f******, get out of the way! I gotta get to my job,' the angry driver says.

'Think about your future,' someone says to him.

'I gotta get to my job. Get out of the f****** road,' he yells before getting back in the driver's seat.




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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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