Sunday, April 28, 2024

04/28 Links: Natan Sharansky: The Fight for Freedom, from Exodus to Gaza; The Ignoramuses of Hamasville; Progressive Racism; The perils of a bad deal

From Ian:

Natan Sharansky: The Fight for Freedom, from Exodus to Gaza
On the first night of Passover, Jewish families around the world read the Haggadah, which tells the story of our people's Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of our history as a free people. The conclusion that emerges is that we will always have to fight for our freedom each day and in each generation.

When I attended my first seder in Moscow 50 years ago, everyone gathered was a product of the Soviet regime. We all began as assimilated Jews, disconnected from and ignorant of our heritage. Yet soon we began to study Hebrew and Jewish traditions in secret. Many of us had KGB "tails," agents assigned to monitor and report our activities to the authorities. We didn't know that the end of our story would be as spectacular as the Exodus itself and helped bring down the Iron Curtain, allowing millions of Jews to return home to Israel.

This year when we gathered to read about those who aspired to kill us, we thought about Hamas. We recalled the hostages, who have spent more than six months in captivity, enduring horrors that civilized minds refuse to imagine. We recalled American universities, where professors and students have celebrated the terrorists' Oct. 7 massacre.

Yet reviewing our millennia-long journey strengthened our determination and optimism. If we stand strong in defending our rights as free people in our land, our persecutors will be carried away by the floods of history, as Pharaoh's army and the Soviet empire were before it.
Seth Mandel: The Ignoramuses of Hamasville
My point here is not that these kids don’t know anything—although that’s true. My point is that teenagers following the crowd for a chance to touch the hem of an upperclassman’s garment ought not to make policy. The vapidity of this trend was well expressed by a young actress explaining why she’ll continue to advocate “for Palestine” despite people warning her that the you-know-whos in Hollywood won’t like it: “I went campaigning door-to-door for marriage equality in Ireland, I went on marches for abortion rights. I’ve always cared about causes and social justice… To me it always becomes about supporting all innocent people, which sounds oversimplified, but I think you’ve got to look at situations and just think, ‘Are we supporting innocent people no matter where they’re from, who they are?’ That’s my drive.”

Lincolnesque, truly. But she actually nails an important part of this: Hating-on-Israel is today’s campaigning-for-abortion-access-in-Ireland. Who knows what tomorrow’s cause will be for our heroes?

Do you know what tomorrow’s cause will be for Israelis? Same as it was today: defending their existence and trying to get their hostages back. And I’m pretty sure it’ll be the day after tomorrow’s cause too.

Similarly, for the protest leaders who shout about wanting to kill Zionists, their goals don’t change day to day. Nor do the goals of the Nazi-like murderers in whose honor these protests are organized. But the numbers of these protests, which are supposed to show some measure of righteousness, are ballooned by two categories: people who want to kill Jews and people who treat political causes like a car radio, flipping from station to station in search of the popular songs of the day. (I realize many of them may not know what a radio is.)

Israel doesn’t get to wake up with a hangover, sleep till two in the afternoon and find a different party the next night. This is real life. If Hamas isn’t defeated, Israelis will continue living next to the skeletal framework of an underground tunnel system that exists to hold future Israelis hostage. And above that tunnel system will be the people who intend to take those hostages.

We should stop excusing the people who plead ignorance as they follow murder-minded grad students. And under no circumstances should policy be made with them in mind, or because enough of them are standing elbow-to-elbow a hundred yards from their dorm. The people who live in the real world can’t afford it.
Progressive Racism
The vast majority of contemporary Westerners protesting against Israel today are selective racists. "Racist" in that skin color does count for them (big time!). "Selective" because they ignore the number of victims.

Sudan is undergoing a humanitarian crisis of monumental proportions, starting a year ago. Airstrikes have hit civilian centers on an ongoing basis. In many regions, hospitals and health services hardly function. Thousands of civilians have been killed, including massacres that are clear war crimes. The UN reports that 3,000,000 Sudanese children are malnourished. World Food Program trucks have been blocked, hijacked, attacked, and looted. Yet not a peep is heard from Westerners.

In Myanmar, an estimated 50,000 have been killed since the military coup in 2021, and over two million displaced. Most of this is due to the military junta's blanket use of air strikes and shelling of mostly civilian targets. Here, too, one would be hard pressed to find any protests.

Since 2000, the Ethiopian conflict has led to 350,000 civilian fatalities. According to the UN, close to 30,000,000 people now require emergency food aid. Have you seen any protests at Harvard or Columbia regarding such mind-boggling suffering?

When one realizes the disparity between the number of Gazan fatalities (a bit over 30,000 if the Hamas-based numbers can be believed - not to mention that at least 10,000 of these are terrorists) and the humongous numbers around the globe, it becomes clear that selective racism is certainly a factor in singling out Israel when the devastation and humanitarian crises are far worse elsewhere. Israelis are racist? The protesters should look in the mirror. Their avoidance of the greatest political-human tragedies in the world today constitutes the real racism.


Ruthie Blum: The perils of a bad deal
It’s not a coincidence that Hamas released three hostage videos—that of Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, and those of Omri Miran and Keith Siegal on Saturday—precisely when IDF troops are amassing in preparation for the Rafah ground invasion. Pressuring the government, which keeps softening its stance, to cave to an increasingly intransigent Hamas is not merely counter-productive, however. It’s far worse than that, as the Shalit deal proved.

Passages from what I wrote 15 years ago about the role of the press in an identical crusade are worth repeating here.

“[T]he Shalit frenzy that has characterized the local coverage of the captured soldier of late … reached fever pitch this week, during the lead-up to a potentially massive prisoner swap to bring the boy home to his mother and father. The position of the press—with few exceptions—has been that Gilad should be brought back, ‘at any cost.’

“According to this mantra, no soldier will be willing to go to battle from now on, knowing that if he gets captured, the government is liable to leave him in the hands of the enemy. … Coupled with constant coverage of the tent pitched by Aviva and Noam Shalit across from the prime minister’s residence, the media’s campaign has been so comprehensive that all other voices are virtually drowned out. And when some do manage to make a dent, they are not silenced, but rather amplified as right-wing fanatical or—worse—unfeeling.

“This puts any pundit or politician who disagrees on the defensive. Even those who try to point out that Hamas is also watching Israeli broadcasts, which only serve to strengthen its sense that it need not soften its bargaining position even one iota, have to preface their statements by assuring everybody that, of course, they, too, want to see Gilad home as soon as possible.

“Even those who attempt to suggest that releasing hundreds of the worst terrorists who are sure to strike again, both by slaughtering innocent Israelis and by kidnapping additional ones for future trades, are forced first to reiterate that they also would be acting as the Shalit family has been if it were their own child in captivity.

“The purpose of this kind of emotional blackmail and manipulation on the part of the media is to award them a monopoly on goodness. … [T]hey behave as though they have cornered the market on wanting to rescue Shalit—while the rest of us would prefer war and embrace heartlessness.

“This is as preposterous as it is dangerous—the former because everybody in this country wants both peace and Shalit’s safe return, and the latter because it leads to confusion about who the real culprit is. When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert receives more criticism from the Hebrew press about Shalit’s predicament than Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, it’s time for it to undergo some serious scrutiny and sorely needed soul-searching.”

This time around, I hope not to cower when confronted by an irate reader.
Seth Frantzman: Rafah and Riyadh: Defeating Hamas is essential for normalization
Saudi Arabia watching Israel-Hamas war closely
Saudi Arabia may not publicly want Israel in Rafah, but Riyadh has been watching the war closely since October 7. It has likely wondered why it took Israel seven months to defeat Hamas and why Hamas has apparently returned to most of Gaza. Saudi Arabia likely preferred Hamas to be defeated faster. It can’t understand why Israel is waging the war the way it is, letting Hamas move from place to place and survive. The potential operation in Rafah is only controversial now because it has taken six months. If Israel had moved into Rafah in October, right after October 7, there would have been no controversy.

The reality is that for Israel and Saudi Arabia to have ties that work in the long run, Hamas must be defeated, and Rafah must be taken to eradicate the Hamas tunnels there. In short, the only way to get to Riyadh for a peace deal is through Rafah, not without Rafah. This is because normalization is paved through stability in the region. Hamas is a destabilizing force backed by Iran and other countries that want to sow chaos, war, and extremism. So long as Hamas is left in control of Gaza, there will be endless wars, and it will be used by Iran and others every time they want to harm normalization.

Countries can’t sacrifice their citizens and abandon security just for peace deals. No other country would see that as a logical trade-off. For instance, the US would not accept a situation where narco-terrorist cartels, such as strengthened versions of the Zetas or Sinaloa cartels, control the border. In exchange, the US has to let them massacre US citizens in order to have better ties with Brazil. No one would propose such a nonsensical logic of allowing terror groups to control the border in exchange for better ties with regional powers. The same goes for Russia and Europe. European countries learned they couldn’t appease Russia in order to get better ties and meanwhile abandon Ukraine and let Russia destabilize the border between Europe and Russia.

Israel’s leaders historically learned never to sacrifice the security of the people of Israel in order to get deals. Every time they did make this mistake, it had disastrous consequences. Today, Israel is being lured into accepting Hamaas returning to Gaza and allowing Hezbollah, Iran, and others to attack Israel with impunity. The region is watching, and the region thinks Israel may not be up to the task of defeating terrorism and that Israel is weaker than it appeared. This is a dangerous time for Israel. If Israel caves and lets terrorists run Gaza again, it is only a matter of time before more massacres.

On the eve of Yom Hashoah, it is worth remembering the mission of the state. We are here to protect people, not allow more October 7, more massacres like in the Shoah. Countries in the region respect strength, and they want to see Israel emerge stronger after this war, not accept defeat at the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah. The road to Riyadh is through Rafah, not in spite of it. To bring peace to the region and end Iran’s destabilizing behavior, Hamas must be destroyed, not coddled.
'We need to flip the equation: Land for peace? Yes, but they should pay us with land for the peace we grant them'
Professor Moshe Sharon (86), one of the most senior Middle East scholars in Israel, is convinced that the majority of Israelis have no real idea as to the profound depth of the hatred of Jews and Israel that is ingrained in Islam. These are the roots that gave birth to the vicious, barbaric massacre carried out by Hamas on October 7. "For years now, we have been busy telling ourselves stories that we have wanted to believe," says Sharon. "Some of this stems from ignorance and a lack of familiarity with the most basic issues in Islam, and we really insist on not looking the reality of the situation squarely in the eye."

Prof. Sharon, a retired IDF colonel, is a globally renowned researcher of Shia Islam and the history of Islam in the Land of Israel and the middle ages. He was a special consultant on Arab affairs to the late Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, and also served as an advisor to former Minister of Defense, Moshe Arens and to Binyamin Ben Eliezer, during his stint as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and he worked with two Chiefs of the General Staff – Rafael Eitan (Raful) and Moshe Levi. He is currently proposing to the policymakers in Israel that they should erase two words from their lexicon – "Peace" and "Now" – if they seek to guarantee the security of the citizens of Israel and to create a tolerable state of affairs for them. The Moshe Sharon with whom I met has a unique, double perspective – both as a lifelong member of the academic world and a studious researcher, as the man who headed the Department of Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a student of the great Bernard Lewis, and as an individual whose academic works span a diverse spectrum of periods and streams in the history of Islam, but also as a man of action, who has been present at a number of decisive decision-making junctures throughout the 1970's and 1980's.

The interview we held with him, among others, gave rise to a surprising and perhaps less orthodox insight into the Iranian issue, as well as an unusual, and some might even say disturbing, look at the small minority of Israeli Arabs who choose to serve in the IDF. But before we delve into all that, the obvious starting point for the long conversation with him is the open wound left by the events of October 7.

Q: At this current time, there are many people asking themselves if the images of October 7 do indeed reflect the true face of Islam, and what is the basic attitude of Islam towards Judaism, Zionism and the State of Israel?

Sharon: "Let's begin with the fact that from the outset, Islam has abhorred the Jews. The Jews' decision to reject the teachings of Muhammad was sufficient to categorize them as the 'enemies of Islam', and this animosity of Islam towards the Jews is a continuing sentiment stretching across time from that period until the 'end of days'. That is the basis of it all. Our 'end of days' is 'The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the kid.' Islam's end of days is a process whose appearance will be triggered by a future occurrence. According to the hadith, the body of sayings or traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, the end of days will not arrive until the Muslims kill all the Jews, apart from those who choose to hide behind trees and stones. As such, the hadith continues by recommending that perhaps the Muslims should make the effort of looking behind the trees and the stones, as there might be Jews hiding there, so that they don't miss out on finding any of them.

"As the Jews are 'the People of the Book', then until the end of days, in other words until the bitter end that awaits them, the Jews may live under the rule of Islam provided that they pay the jizya, the poll tax imposed on non-Muslims in the Islamic world, and also provided that they are humiliated."
The media is propagating evil lies about the situation in the Mideast
We now have clear proof of the adage that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth can put its boots on.

It comes in the form of an Associated Press report that carried this headline: “Hamas official says group would lay down its arms if an independent Palestinian state is established.”

What a scoop!

It was so sensational that news outlets across America and the world ran with it, including CNN, ABC News and even the Times of Israel.

And why not, it was a breakthrough offer that could bring peace at last, right?

Wrong.

It was a public relations ploy disguised as an olive branch.

The way other organizations swallowed it hook, line and sinker illustrates how Hamas skillfully plays western news organizations and gullible journalists.

The incident also demonstrates how far the AP has fallen from its days as a boring but trustworthy news organization.

In a race to rack up clicks, it has featured the article on top of its online “world” section since Wednesday despite the fact that it’s a dead letter.

The story, based on an interview with a Hamas leader in Turkey by an AP freelancer, was misleading and woefully incomplete.

And it came loaded with the AP’s usual bias against Israel.

It called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “hard line” for rejecting a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Hamas was called a “militant group” and its terrorists described as members of its “military wing.”

To its credit, the Times of Israel saw through the ploy.

In addition to adding other details that undercut the way the AP portrayed the offering as a concession, it reported that the same Hamas official who spoke to the AP, Khalil al-Hayy, delivered a different message to a London-based Arabic paper.

There he said that, regardless of any deal with Israel, the Palestinians would retain their “historic right to all Palestinian lands.”

In other words, Hamas claims all the land “from the river to the sea” and remains deadly serious about wiping Israel off the map.


Envoy to UN to Israel Hayom: Leaving organization should be on the table if it does not reform
The United Nations has always been an extremely challenging arena for Israeli representatives. During the six months of the war, with pro-Hamas protesters flooding the streets outside and supporters of the terrorists aiding them inside the building, the difficulty was immense. Yet, it seems that the past ten days have been particularly intense.

They began last Thursday with an attempt to gain recognition for a Palestinian state at the Security Council. At the start of this week, as we celebrated the Passover Seder, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once again downplayed the horrific sexual crimes committed by Hamas on the day of the invasion and which it continues to commit against the abductees. On the same day, an "independent commission of inquiry" into UNRWA's involvement with Hamas essentially whitewashed the organization.

As if that weren't enough, the situation in the United States, particularly in New York City – the host city of the UN – is far from promising regarding Israel. On one hand, the administration and Congress approved a massive aid package and repeatedly vetoed measures in the Security Council. On the other hand, pro-Hamas vandalism on campuses is reaching new heights, and the same Democratic administration echoes the allegations of "starvation in Gaza" and considers imposing sanctions on IDF soldiers.

Amidst all this and more, between Security Council meetings and UN debates, with the holiday in the middle, I spoke with Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan. We spoke twice, with midnight at his end and early morning at ours. Erdan, a former Diplomatic-Security Cabinet member and now four years an ambassador in the toughest arena for Israeli representatives, is considered a serious public figure who goes into detail. At the beginning of his tenure, he simultaneously served as ambassador to the US and the UN, and since then, he has been Israel's most prominent figure in the American media. Today, by virtue of his role at the UN, he is in daily contact with the American UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, but much of what transpires between them and their delegations will be revealed only when the archives are opened.

These days, Erdan is writing a book about the lessons he learned from four tumultuous years of battles at an organization meant to bring peace to the world. His main conclusion is that after the war, Israel will need to redefine the rules of engagement with the UN, and do so using all the tools at its disposal, including potentially closing its offices and revoking permits for its personnel.

The diplomatic role has removed him from the political arena, where he has been active for decades. One can assume that if he does not return to the position of ambassador to Washington, he will resume his activities in the Likud, and there is every reason to believe that with the background and experience he has accumulated, he will eventually run for the leadership of the party and the premiership in the post-Netanyahu era. The rules, of course, currently prohibit him from discussing his future. What is certain, for now, is that there are far more pressing matters at hand.

Right at the start of his tenure in 2020, Erdan had to contend with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ("Call me Antonio," he told Erdan in their first conversation) evading any praise for the Abraham Accords. Instead of expressing joy at the outbreak of peace, the secretary-general voiced concern about the potential harm to the Palestinians as a result of the agreements. This was their first quarrel. There have been many more since then.

At the start of the Gaza war in 2023, against the backdrop of Guterres' support for Hamas and his disregard for the crimes it committed against humanity, Erdan called for his dismissal. Even though he is a combative ambassador, the situation at the UN has hardly improved from Israel's perspective.
The Israel Defense Forces Are the Most Moral Soldiers in the World
Slippage into coverage of Israel of slurs like "genocide" and "famine" in much of the mainstream broadcast media are not remotely accurate descriptions for what is going on in Gaza. Israel, unlike Hamas, does not conduct warfare with freewheeling sadism.

There is a tendency to always assume the worst of the IDF. A version of the ancient anti-Semitic trope of Jews drinking the blood of the innocents appears to have structured many people's views of Israel's war in Gaza and, indeed, long before. The urge to portray the IDF as an immoral army is almost a religion in itself. But it's wrong. In fact, the IDF has a strong claim to being the most moral army in the world.

The IDF's morality is seen in its actions. It is currently trying to dismantle probably the most extensive, cunning terrorist infrastructure ever known, one that is highly likely to have been built with the help of hundreds of millions of Western taxpayer money, UN and other "aid" funds. Israel uses a great deal of precision technology to limit the bloodshed. But it's difficult. Hamas' whole strategy revolves around using civilian shields. Yet, journalists and Twitter armies lap up the idea that Israel is going after "women and children."

Despite this near-impossible battlefield, the IDF seems to have managed to keep its ratio of civilians to combatants killed lower than almost any other army ever has. In this war, Israel has sacrificed some of its objectives in order to limit civilian deaths. The IDF operates in a manner light years away from that of all the terror groups and militias that hate Israel, currently being cheered on college campuses.
ICC can't act against Israel without US backing — Israeli official
The International Criminal Court could not act against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top IDF brass without overt or tactic support from the United States, an Israeli diplomatic source told The Jerusalem Post.

“Where is [US President Joe] Biden? Why is he quiet while Israel will potentially be thrown under the bus?” the source said.

The source spoke out as the Prime Minister's office is worried that the ICC will soon issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi.

In light of this growing concern, Netanyahu posted on X Friday that, "Under my leadership, Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense.”

“The threat to seize the soldiers and officials of the Middle East’s only democracy and the world’s only Jewish state is outrageous. We will not bow to it,” he stated.

“Israel will continue to wage to victory our just war against genocidal terrorists and we will never stop defending ourselves,” Netanyahu stressed.

“While the ICC will not affect Israel’s actions, it would set a dangerous precedent that threatens the soldiers and officials of all democracies fighting savage terrorism and wanton aggression,” Netanyahu explained.


Where is Biden? Time to defend Israel from the ICC before it's too late
The question on many minds today is simple yet profound: Where is President Joe Biden as Israel faces potential legal peril at the hands of the International Criminal Court (ICC)?

The ICC, established to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, operates under the Rome Statute. Notably, Israel and the US are not members of the ICC, each for distinct reasons. The US has long been wary of ceding its sovereignty to an international body with broad prosecutorial powers. At the same time, Israel has avoided joining due to ongoing conflicts in the West Bank and Gaza, where the ICC claims jurisdiction.

A recent article in The Jerusalem Post highlighted that the ICC might be poised to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi. This possibility has alarmed Israeli officials, prompting Netanyahu to declare that Israel would never accept any ICC attempt to undermine its inherent right to self-defense.

Despite these concerns, President Biden's administration has remained relatively quiet, leading to the question: why isn't Biden defending Israel against the ICC's potential overreach? While US House Speaker Mike Johnson has called on the ICC to "stand down on this immediately," Biden's reluctance to intervene has raised eyebrows.

The US has historically been a strong ally of Israel, sharing a common understanding of the threats posed by terrorist organizations like Hamas. However, Biden's administration has taken a more cautious approach to the ICC, rescinding former President Donald Trump's order to sanction the ICC if it indicted Israeli leaders. This shift in policy could be seen as contributing to the ICC's emboldened stance against Israel.

Moreover, a Wall Street Journal editorial urged the US and the UK to intervene, noting that ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's candidacy was championed by Britain and supported by the US. It suggested that Biden's administration risks setting a dangerous precedent for prosecuting democracies defending themselves against terrorism if it continues its current course.
Caroline Glick: BREAKING: ICC Threatening to Issue Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is threatening to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza. Is Biden enabling this move? What is the real goal of the ruling and what can Israel do to fight back?

"The ICC's arrest warrants will brand every Israeli citizen, soldier, and official as a war criminal."




In War-Battered Gaza, Residents Grow Angry with Hamas
More than six months into the war in Gaza, Palestinians are growing more critical of Hamas, which some blame for the conflict that has destroyed the territory - and their lives. In interviews with more than a dozen residents of Gaza, people said they resent Hamas for the attacks in Israel and - war-weary and desperate to fulfill their basic needs - just want to see peace as soon as possible.

Palestinians want leaders "who won't drag people into a war like this," said Salma El-Qadomi, 33. "Seventeen years of destruction and wars are enough." A mother of three, 29, who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation, said, "We can't live like this anymore....We want the war to stop, whatever it takes." Fedaa Zayed, 35, said, "In reality, we are in full retreat, the domestic front is destroyed."

In a poll conducted in March, a majority of Palestinians said Hamas' decision to carry out the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people was "correct." But researchers at the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research said "support for the offensive does not mean support for Hamas." Instead, the results show 3/4 of Palestinians believe the attack refocused global attention on the conflict. At the same time, there was an increase in the percentage of Palestinians in Gaza who think Hamas will win the war and stay in power.
Mortality in Gaza: lies and statistics
The UN, UNWRA, WHO, numerous NGOs, senior British and American politicians and all the British mainstream news networks, including their flagship programmes, have all been consistently misleading people about the number of deaths in Gaza. But in the last month a series of articles in various publications have started to question this consensus. It is not clear why it has taken so long for this fightback, but what is clear is that the tide is turning.

One of the first major articles questioning the anti-Israel consensus was by Abrahm Wyner, an American mathematical statistician, and Professor of Statistics and Data Science at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Published in the American magazine Tablet on 7 March, his piece was called, “How the Gaza Ministry of Health Fakes Casualty Numbers”.

As Professor Wyner points out, “The main source for the data [about civilian deaths in Gaza] has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which now claims more than 30,000 dead, the majority of which it says are children and women.” He begins by showing how influential the data from the Palestinian Health Authority has been. He quotes leading American politicians who have unquestioningly used these figures: “Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the number was ‘over 25,000’…” Wyner writes. “President Biden himself had earlier cited this figure, asserting that ‘too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children.’ The White House also explained that the President ‘was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties.’”

But, Wyner argues, “Here’s the problem with this data: The numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work. The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters.”

There are a number of things that are odd about the figures from the Palestinian Health Authority, he writes. First, the graph of total deaths has been increasing since October “with almost metronomical linearity.” There have been no irregularities or inconsistencies in the figures (see the graph below, taken from Wyner’s article):

Or, as Wyner puts it, “The graph reveals an extremely regular increase in casualties over the period. … This regularity is almost surely not real. One would expect quite a bit of variation day to day. In fact, the daily reported casualty count over this period averages 270, plus or minus about 15%. This is strikingly little variation. There should be days with twice the average or more and others with half or less.”

Secondly, Wyner writes, “we should see variation in the number of child casualties that tracks the variation in the number of women. This is because the daily variation in death counts is caused by the variation in the number of strikes on residential buildings and tunnels which should result in considerable variability in the totals but less variation in the percentage of deaths across groups. This is a basic statistical fact about chance variability.” “Consequently,” he continues, “on the days with many women casualties there should be large numbers of children casualties, and on the days when just a few women are reported to have been killed, just a few children should be reported.” In other words, “The daily number of children reported to have been killed is totally unrelated [my emphasis] to the number of women reported.”


Crush and eliminate Hamas: Navigating ties with Hezbollah, Iran, and Saudi Arabia
Despite these immediate military challenges, the Iranian challenge remains a central concern. Iran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities continues, but it looks like the Cabinet, underestimating the danger, prefers focusing instead on ending the first conflicts in Gaza and the North. Assuming Iran shares an interest in avoiding escalation.

The fourth challenge is mainly political, with President Biden's administration pushing for broader American-Saudi arrangement ahead of the November elections, either with or without Israel ( a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia).

Senior figures in Israel view normalization as critical despite the heavy concessions involved, including those related to Rafah, Saudi nuclear ambitions, and even the Palestinian issue, whose importance in Saudi Arabia has increased following the war.

Some Israeli leaders even persist with the mistaken belief that a defense pact with the US would be beneficial to Israel, despite the current conflict showing totally otherwise. The benefits of a defense pact can be obtained without the significant costs and limitations it might impose on Israel.

Israel must now focus on completing its mission in Gaza (Rafah, Philadelphi Corridor, and the return of hostages), pursue a temporary solution in the North to allow residents to return home safely, and ensure Iran doesn't use the conflict as a distraction to advance its nuclear program.

Normalization with Saudi Arabia is important and crucial but shouldn't come at the cost of significant concessions, particularly not those relating to Gaza, Saudi nuclear capabilities, or agreements or declarations toward a Palestinian state.
IDF soldier wounded by latest Hezbollah salvo
An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in a rocket barrage fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the Galilee on Saturday night.

The soldier was brought to Ziv Medical Center in Safed in good condition after being wounded by shrapnel. He was treated overnight and released on Sunday morning.

Twenty-six rockets were fired at the Meron/Bar Yochai area of the northeastern Galilee, with no damage or other injuries reported. Israel’s aerial defense array intercepted some projectiles and others struck open areas.

Sirens sounded in Moshav Safsufa (also known as Kfar Hoshen), the Merom HaGalil region, Or HaGanuz, Meron and Bar Yochai. Air-raid sirens also sounded in northern Israel on Sunday morning.

The Iranian terrorist proxy in Lebanon, which has carried out near-daily attacks against northern Israeli communities since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, said that the attack targeted Meron and nearby communities, and not the air traffic control base located there, which Hezbollah has previously targeted.

IAF fighter jets overnight struck Hezbollah terrorist targets in the area of Maroun El Ras in Southern Lebanon, according to the IDF, apparently in response to the attack. The strikes included several sites of terrorist infrastructure and a “military” compound, the military said, adding that Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure was hit in the Tayr Harfa area and a Hezbollah “military” structure was attacked in the Yarine area.
Unearthing the Story Behind the Gazan Mass Graves
As the story of the mass graves continues to develop, media organizations have covered this story with varying levels of nuance and accuracy.

Predictably, Al Jazeera’s coverage was most in line with Hamas’s propaganda, uncritically parroting statements by the Civil Defense in Gaza as well as international leaders responding to the reports released by Hamas.

Only one paragraph is granted to the IDF’s denial that it had dug mass graves, and at no point is it stated as fact that these mass graves had been dug prior to the Israeli operation at Nasser Hospital.

In their reports, both Reuters and CNN provided fairly nuanced coverage, giving ample space to the IDF’s statements refuting the allegations against it and admitting that some of the charges put forward by the Palestinians could not be substantiated.

However, in its coverage of the mass graves, the Associated Press provided a far less objective report, only including the IDF’s rebuttal seven paragraphs in, ignoring the fact that the reports on the mass graves were being released by a Hamas-affiliated body, and using the term “could not be independently verified” for Israel’s allegations but not those put forward by the Civil Defense or international bodies.

Thus, despite the unsubstantiated and biased information being released by the Civil Defense, AP treated it as fact while calling into question Israel’s response to these baseless allegations.

In its report on the mass graves, The Times presented the allegations of bodies with bound hands as established fact by quoting UN officials, despite the fact that these officials were basing themselves on Hamas reports and there was no physical evidence to corroborate these claims.


Anti-Israel protests greet Biden at annual White House correspondents' dinner
US President Joe Biden will give an election-year roast on Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner against the backdrop of protests against his support for Israel's war against Hamas.

Demonstrators holding banners chanted about journalist deaths in Gaza outside the Washington Hilton, the site of the annual gathering.

Hundreds of protesters encouraged journalists to boycott the event and shouted down administration officials as they entered. Biden's reaction to the protests

Biden avoided the large protests at the front of the hotel by arriving through a back entrance, where he was greeted by smaller groups of protesters calling for a ceasefire.

At the century-old event, often referred to as Washington's "nerd prom," hundreds of journalists, politicians and celebrities rub elbows in a massive hotel banquet hall. It often features friendly jabs from the president in a closing speech that takes aim at reporters and other guests in the audience. This year it will be hosted by Saturday Night Live's Colin Jost.

Grassroots movement CODEPINK marched to the venue from a nearby park, arguing that "the United States media perpetuates anti-Palestinian narratives and ignores Israeli war crimes," it wrote on its website.

A growing movement against the war in Gaza has dogged Biden this year, including at a $250-per-ticket March fundraiser at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which was disrupted by protesters.


Fund manager: Jim Biden was in business with Qatari officials
New details about Jim Biden’s foreign fundraising efforts are spilling out in a Kentucky bankruptcy court, where recent testimony indicates that President Joe Biden’s brother partnered with Qatari government officials in his quest to find money for U.S. health care ventures.

The sworn testimony by fund manager Michael Lewitt, a former business partner of Jim Biden’s, attests that two companies that facilitated the efforts were part-owned by “members of the Qatari government.”

One company named in the testimony partnered directly with Jim Biden in the multi-year fundraising efforts.

The second company provided financial backing for a series of loans that a hospital chain paid Jim Biden to arrange, according to documents and testimony Lewitt submitted in the course of the federal bankruptcy proceedings.

If substantiated, the alleged arrangements would constitute some of the closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government.

The alleged arrangements stem from an effort by Jim Biden to raise money from Qatari sources for ventures in the U.S. beginning in the months after his older brother left the vice presidency. At the time, the tiny, gas-rich nation faced a financial blockade from its neighbors and was spending lavishly to shore up its political standing in the West.
Marco Rubio: I came to Israel to draw attention to the situation in the north

Marco Rubio: Campus protests are awash with the 'ancient poison of antisemitism'



A message from Bill Maher to the anti-Israel activists



ADL to Ilhan Omar: Apologize for ‘blood libel’
The head of the Anti-Defamation League on Saturday called on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) to apologize after she accused some Jewish students of being “pro-genocide” in a statement on antisemitism.

“It is patently false and a blood libel to suggest that ANY Jewish students are ‘pro-genocide,'” ADL CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, charging Omar with putting students’ lives at risk.

“It is gaslighting to impute that Jewish people are somehow at fault for being harassed and menaced with signs and slogans literally calling for their own extermination,” wrote Greenblatt.

“It is abhorrent that a sitting member of Congress would slander an entire group of young people in such a cold, calculated manner,” he said.

In an interview with a local Fox News television station following a visit to the unauthorized anti-Israel protest encampment at Colombia University in Manhattan on Friday, Omar had said, “It is really unfortunate that people don’t care about the fact that all Jewish kids should be kept safe.”

“We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide,” she said.


Jewish US presidential candidate Jill Stein arrested at anti-Israel
US presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein was arrested Saturday at a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University (WashU) in St. Louis, Stein's X account said, sharing a video of her arrest.

Stein is shown at the protest being taken away by police. According to a report in The Telegraph, the demonstration was meant to protest the university's ties with Boeing, which has sold military equipment to Israel, and to call for the boycott of Israeli academia.

"We're going to stand here in line with the students who are standing up for democracy, standing up for human rights, standing up to end genocide," she said in a video shared prior to her arrest.

Also arrested were Stein's campaign manager, Jason Call, and deputy campaign manager, Kelly Merril-Cayer.

Stein's X account also claimed that she and others had attempted to de-escalate the situation with police before they began arresting protesters at the scene. Video footage showed what Stein's X account claims was police use of force against her and others.


Gideon Falter: Why I cancelled Saturday's march of defiances
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has received two assurances, one from the Metropolitan Police Service and the other from the organisers of the marches. The police say that these marches are policed in a way that is safe for Jews, while the organisers say that Jews would be warmly welcomed in their midst.

Given that these marches are always organised during Shabbat, there has been precious little proof of this, until the incident involving me on April 13.

As has become well-known, I was told by different police officers that since I was quite “openly Jewish” I must leave or face arrest. Marchers, meanwhile, saw that I was Jewish and shouted abuse at me.

When the police officers said that they were trying to protect me, they were probably being honest. And when they told me it was my Jewishness that was the problem, their honesty gave the lie to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s claims that Jews are safe in central London.

In other words, Jews are in danger and need protection around these marches, and the threat is so bad and the police protection is so inadequate that Jews passing by have to be told to leave.

That is reinforced by the fact that two weeks on, the Met is still not investigating any of the abuse captured on film. It is further reinforced by the shambolic handling of the entire matter, which has seen the Met apologise and then apologise again for its apologies.

There are those who say that the incident was my fault, that I provoked it. Their supposed proof is my choice of route, that I had security with me and that the incident was filmed.

As to my choice of route, my critics say the police sergeant who called me “openly Jewish” wanted simply to escort me on my way. In truth, he was proposing to escort me right through a large confrontation happening further up the road between marchers and counter-protesters, which was also not the direction I wanted to go in. Instead, a police inspector offered to escort me across the road in the direction I was going, and I instantly accepted.

Secondly, I receive no shortage of threats from the far-right, far-left and Islamist extremists that Campaign Against Antisemitism takes action against. It does not take a genius to work out why I have security with me when out in public.

Finally, as for the filming, I did not have a film crew with me. But I was right next to a march and people were filming the march, including a news crew. When the police pulled me aside, people – including some of those who were walking with me – started filming on their phones. I imagine that happens often when police talk to people.

None of this changes what happened.
Major UK anti-antisemitism march canceled over threats, policing concerns
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a charity in the United Kingdom, announced on Friday that they were forced to cancel their Saturday Walk Together march after threats caused concerns for participant safety.

The march would have seen large numbers of observant Jews walk for hours on Shabbat to demonstrate against antisemitism and the repeated scenes of pro-Hamas rhetoric during the weekly pro-Palestinian marches.

CAA director and CEO Gideon Falter made headlines last week, when a Metropolitan Police officer threatened to arrest him for being “openly Jewish” near a pro-Palestinian march. The policeman claimed that Falter’s presence may antagonize the protesters.

The charity has repeatedly claimed that London had become a no-go zone for British Jewry and the above incident instigated new accusations that the police employ double standards.

Now, adding to the accusation that the Met employ double standards against Jews, CAA claimed that the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign was granted access to an area to protest which police had denied Jewish demonstrators months ago.

The camapin claims that police told them there was no way that Hyde Park could be accessed during the peaceful March Against Antisemitism, but the PSC would be allowed to demonstrate there tomorrow.

“Yet again, it seems that there is a double standard. For the hours that this march drags on, central London will be snarled up yet again. Police have told us that they intend to handle the march no differently from the passive way that they have become accustomed to over the course of more than six months,” CAA said in a release. “…We have become all too used to seeing antisemitic chants and placards at these marches, glorification of terrorism, and even violence, including attacks on police which have hospitalised officers. Our volunteers and members of the public have exposed, week after week, how widely extremist views are held among participants on these marches.”
London Shoah memorial covered, guarded during anti-Israel protest
London police on Saturday hid a Holocaust memorial from view and stood guard to protect the monument in the city’s Hyde Park from anti-Israel vandals.

Built in 1983 as the U.K.’s first public memorial to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide, the two granite boulders featuring English and Hebrew inscriptions were covered with a blue tarp by Metropolitan Police officers. They then guarded the site as thousands of demonstrators descended on central London for a march in support of Hamas.

Noemi Ebenstein, an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor, told the Daily Mail that the decision to cover the memorial was a disgrace.

“It is shameful. Seeing this, it feels like they are winning,” Ebenstein said. “Those who are Jew-haters, those who are Holocaust deniers, they are winning because we are afraid of them. I just wish the Western world would stand up to these people, instead of running away, covering up monuments and being apologetic.”

The British tabloid ran the story on its front page, writing that “the police are so frightened by the anti-Semitic crowd, that they even hide the memory of the Holocaust. A shameful insult to the six million people.”

Stephen Pollard, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, demanded that the police take tougher action.

“What is the line that needs to be crossed for people to think it’s not OK for these hate marches to continue?” he asked. “It shows the depravity of so much of what’s happening in London at the moment that they think it’s important that they cover up a Holocaust memorial.”

British political and diplomatic leaders also weighed in on the incident, with the U.K.’s special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, Tory peer Rt. Hon. Lord Pickles, asking, “Have we become so cowed and fearful in this country that instead of expecting pro-Palestinian protesters to obey the law, we hide away the memorial to save it from vandalism?”

The Metropolitan Police called the Daily Mail headline “inaccurate.”

“The decision to cover the memorial was taken by park authorities, not the police,” the police statement read. “As the paper’s own article makes clear, it is a precaution Royal Parks have taken for a number of different events.”


Alan Dershowitz: US Campuses: Incubating Terrorism
Some of the signs say "pro-Palestine", "ceasefire now" and "end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza". But these benign statements hide a far more malignant agenda, the end of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, the end of America as the world's leading power and the end of democracy and the free market economy. Even if there were a unilateral ceasefire, accompanied by massive humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, many of these protests would continue, because Gaza is merely an excuse for a much wider agenda: to destroy Israel and destroy America.

One never sees a sign calling for a two-state solution or for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. These are not the goals. What is demanded is the end of any Jewish presence in the Middle East. "Death to America," similarly, means the end of America's influence and Western values.

Many of the signs call for "revolution." These are not directed against Israel, but rather against America, American Jews and all other Western democracies.

As in the 1960s, many of these students are being groomed to be the terrorists of the future -- in the manner of Kathy Boudin and Bernardine Dohrn back then – and, in the United States, a fifth column, the aim of which is taking down America.

That these useful idiots are young does not make them less dangerous. Young students were instrumental in bringing to power tyrants such as Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Pol Pot and Mao.

Where are the armed guards escorting Jewish students to class, as there were escorting the threatened Black youths to integrated school in the 1960s in the South?

Universities are failing not only their Jewish students but all their students by refusing to educate them about what behavior is acceptable and what is not.
Today's Antisemitic Protesters Are Violating Civil Rights Laws
After Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, antagonism toward Jewish students on college campuses escalated. It worsened further after Iran, Hamas' state sponsor, fired ballistic missiles at Israel on April 13.

After hundreds of demonstrators set up encampments at universities, the White House issued a statement on Sunday condemning the violence and intimidation as "blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous." It's also illegal. Unauthorized protests violate school policy, while trespassing, blocking traffic, engaging in disorderly conduct, causing a disturbance and refusing police orders to disperse are all crimes.

In 1957, white mobs in Little Rock, Ark., in defiance of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, were preventing black students from safely attending school. President Dwight Eisenhower decided to do something about it. "Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts," he said. Then Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division.

The particulars then and now may differ, but the same principle is at stake. The federal government was obligated to come to the aid of an ethnic minority group being threatened by mob violence. Jews in 2024 deserve no less protection than blacks in 1957.
Antisemitism at Columbia University Is a Disgrace
What is happening at Columbia University is a disgrace. That it is happening in New York, home to more Jews than any other city in the world, and at a supposed institution of higher learning, makes it incomprehensible.

I understand the right to free speech, but much of what is going on at Columbia isn't speech at all. Threats, terror tactics and menacing conduct don't warrant protection.

Many of the protesters aren't pro-Palestinian. They are pro-Hamas and brazenly support a terrorist organization.

The protesters are entitled to their opinions. They aren't entitled to threaten, harass and menace. That isn't protected speech; it's criminal conduct.

Jews are at risk on campus and are told not to come to class. Meantime, supporters of jihad take over university property. Seriously?

Regardless of one's views on Gaza, reasonable people need to open their eyes and understand this isn't about the Middle East; it is about America and our democracy.

It is time for education about the history of Jews, antisemitism, Israel and the origins of the Palestinian conflict.

It is time for New Yorkers to support our Jewish brothers and sisters and to demand that Columbia and others reject antisemitism and discrimination against Jews.
Columbia students once rallied against Nazis — now they cheer for them
Nearly a century ago, Columbia students staged mass protests against the university’s friendly relations with Nazi Germany.

Today, Columbia students are protesting in support of Hamas terrorists who mimic the Nazis.

How did this strange role reversal come about?

In December 1933, Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler invited the Nazi German ambassador to the United States, Hans Luther, to speak on campus.

Students staged a huge protest rally against Luther.

Some years ago, I interviewed one of those protesters.

Nancy Wechsler — later a distinguished Manhattan attorney — told me: “Hitler had been in power for almost a year already — enough was known about his totalitarian and anti-Semitic policies that his representative should not have been welcomed on campus.”

It was at the anti-Luther demonstration that Nancy met her future husband, James Wechsler, editor of the student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spector.

He would later serve as editor of the New York Post.

President Butler shrugged off the protests.

Ambassador Luther represented “the government of a friendly people” and therefore was “entitled to be received . . . with the greatest courtesy and respect,” he insisted.

Butler claimed the protests were themselves a form of “persecution.”

Columbia continued to pursue friendly relations with Nazi Germany, as Stephen Norwood recounted in his study, “The Third Reich in the Ivory Tower.”

The university participated in student exchanges with Nazi Germany — even after a Nazi official boasted his country’s students were being sent abroad to serve as “political soldiers of the Reich.”
Daniel Greenfield: The Hamas Nazi Ivy League
The Nazi cheers of Sieg Heil didn’t start out in Munich, but in Massachusetts.

The Nazi chant was borrowed from Harvard football cheers and imported to Germany by Ernst “Putzy” Hanfstaengl, a Harvard man in good standing who befriended Hitler and helped build a more respectable brand for the National Socialists.

“Putzy” was one of a number of Ivy League elites who were enchanted by the Third Reich.

Socialism forcefully implemented by great men, whether it was FDR, Mussolini, Stalin or Hitler, was the great obsession of America elites of the era who were convinced that it was the only answer to the chaos of capitalism and the hurly burly of democracy and technology.

Columbia University, whose Hamas occupation fills the front pages of every newspaper in the country while driving Jewish students off campus, has changed little in some ways. A hundred years ago, Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler was laboring to keep Jewish students out while celebrating Mussolini’s fascism. Butler’s admiration for fascism was common among university presidents, leaders of society and even in the FDR administration.

Not just remastered football cheers, but eugenics, another obsession of Ivy League elites, made its way over to Germany where it was implemented in a far deadlier fashion, not only against Jews, but against German disabled and others deemed to be “life unworthy of life” in keeping with the ideology whose adherents included Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger.

Peeling back the layers of the dominant ideologies that Ivy Leaguers hold today leads to National Socialist or Communist ideologies. The Ivy League elites who were environmentalists, socialists, globalists and population control advocates a century ago were strongly influenced by these totalitarian ideologies that called for tyranny and mass murder.

They weren’t liberals then and they’re not liberals now.
UN official: Hate speech on ‘both sides’ of US campus protests
A U.N. official said on Thursday that “the rise in hate speech on all sides” of the ongoing pro-Palestinian and pro-Hamas campus protests in the United States is “troubling.”

“One after the another, the Ivy League heads of colleges and universities, their heads are rolling, they’ve been chopped off,” said Irene Khan, who serves as the U.N. special rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion.

“Legitimate speech must be protected,” Khan told a U.N. news agency, “but, unfortunately, there is a hysteria that is taking hold in the United States.”

The presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania resigned under pressure following a Dec. 5 congressional hearing on campus antisemitism during which they, along with the president of MIT, were unable to say whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated their institutions’ code of conduct.

This, said Khan, “Clearly polarizes even further the political climate on this issue between ‘them’ and ‘us.’”

It was unclear from the comments who “them” and “us” referred to.

Pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests over the last several weeks have largely comprised unauthorized “encampments” that have taken over university grounds, restricting freedom of movement for those university communities and hampering the institutions’ ability to operate.

While there is ample evidence of blatant antisemitism being expressed at these protests, JNS could find no reported examples, of any Jewish or pro-Israel protesters expressing Islamophobic or genocidal calls either on or off campus.

A group of Christian nationalists at a counter-rally outside Columbia University on Thursday reportedly heckled those inside with chants of “Go back to Gaza.”

Khan claimed in her interview that in many of the protests, there is a “confusion” between what constitutes hate speech or incitement to violence and what is “basically a different view of the situation in Israel” and the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Dispatch: Jewish students confront extreme anti-Semitism at Columbia protest camp
The “harassing and intimidating comments and actions” by some protesters violate the school’s open expression guidelines as well as state and federal law, Mr Jameson said.

The vandalism of a statue with antisemitic graffiti was “especially reprehensible and will be investigated as a hate crime,” he added. Student organisers insist that anti-Semitic comments do not reflect the view of their “movement”, which they say is “decentralised” and peaceful. Their main demand is that their institutions divest from companies that support Israel, and increase financial transparency to make investments easier to scrutinise.

“You can’t blame it on the pro-Palestine protesters,” said Jonathan Ben-Menachen, a spokesman for the Columbia protesters.

“I want to stress very strongly, there are people from so many different identity groups that are a part of this movement.

“I can’t control random anti-Semites rolling up to the Columbia grounds.”

However, there is rising concern in the Jewish community that the protests have also shifted the tone of public discourse on Israel enough that non-students can now sow hatred with impunity.

Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, a global advocacy group, said the student protests had “acted as a vanguard” for anti-Semitism in wider society.

“When non-students are allowed to join and Jewish students are blocked from attending classes, these encampments have created spaces where antisemitism is not only tolerated but actively encouraged,” he said.

“This welcoming atmosphere for anti-Semitic individuals, regardless of their student status, undermines the safety of Jewish students on campus.”

Both the US and UK governments have expressed concern about a rise in anti-Semitic incidents from both students and those encouraged by them.


Tom Gross: Are Columbia students screaming “We’re all Hamas” even aware Hamas murdered two Columbia students?

Seth Frantzman: Iran, Middle East countries focus on US university protests
Moqtada al-Sadr, a leader of a political movement in Iraq, is no stranger to protests. He has led many of them in Iraq over the last two decades. Now he is focused on US campus politics.

According to several reports the Iraqi leader, who is both a populist political figure and a religious leader, has called for the US to “halt to the crackdown on voices advocating for peace and freedom.” He said “the voice of American universities demanding an end to Zionist terrorism is our voice."

Sadr is only one of many people in the Middle East now focused on the protests sweeping US campuses. The fact that the protests are focused on the war in Gaza has led to an additional level of interest in the region. This is important because it gives many people a way to project their views of the region onto discussions of US politics.

Basically what that means is that they see the protests in the US and wonder if this means that in the future that US will be more pro-Palestinian. The fact that many of the protests are occurring on the campuses of academic institutions that are generally connected with producing the next generation of US leaders, especially diplomats for instance, means that countries in the region may see in the protests a broader shift in US policy in the future.

Regional calculations and miscalculations
This is important because this can lead to calculations and miscalculations in the region. When Hamas launched October 7 it likely did so after having watched the world’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and also after consultations with countries that host and back Hamas.

Hamas understood that the region and the world was changing. A new world order was emerging and the “rules” that applies in the past no longer apply.

That is why Hamas was able to massacre 1,000 people, more Jews since any massacre since the Holocaust, and today Hamas is backed by Russia, China, Qatar, Turkey, Iran and other countries. Hamas is received as if it is a state in meetings with Turkey’s leadership. Turkey is a NATO ally.


Anti-Israel protesters at UCLA attack Native American woman opposing Hamas
Lani Dawn, a Jewish Native American woman, posted that she was attacked by anti-Israel protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on Thursday night after holding a sign reading, "Hamas supporters are not welcome on native land."

"Last night I was violently assaulted by @UCLA 'pro-Palestine' students," wrote Dawn on Instagram, posting a video showing the protesters attacking her and other pro-Israel protesters.

"I was quickly surrounded by a mob @UCLA students and EVEN @ucla faculty as a form of intimidation. Where I continued to maintain my peaceful presence & protest. The violence on American campuses is UNACCEPTABLE. The lack of police intervention is UNACCEPTABLE. NON-indigenous people TARGETING and ATTACKING an Indigenous woman while you claim to be supporting an 'indigenous liberation movement' is UNACCEPTABLE," wrote Dawn.

UCLA sits on land that once belonged to the Tongva tribe, according to UCLA's website. The Tongva tribe was almost entirely forcibly relocated by Spanish colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1846 to 1873, an estimated 80% of Native Americans in California were killed in acts of violence or due to extreme conditions. 'Don't get it twisted...You are on indigenous land!'

Dawn added that during the protest, she spoke with another Native American man, Sal Yazhi Lozano, who was demonstrating alongside pro-Palestinian protesters.

"Shortly after I was attacked, we noticed each other and reached across the human barrier of 'Free Palestine' protesters to introduce ourselves with respect and simply honor each other's presence, wrote Dawn. "Instantly, 'Free Palestine' protestors started telling us we were not allowed to speak to each other! They even told us we need to leave the premises if we weren't going to obey the rules."

"READ THAT AGAIN. Several non-indigenous 'Free Palestine' protestors told two NATIVE AMERICAN people that we were NOT ALLOWED on the premises of their ILLEGAL encampment if we aren't going to obey THEIR rules. And they call themselves an 'indigenous liberation movement'?" added Dawn.

Lozano spoke about the incident as well on Instagram, posting that "Two Indigenous people supporting two different cultures today set an example while everyone else dared to say we couldn't speak to each other nor shake hands because she was on the Jewish side and not on Palestinians side with us. That triggered us, and this indigenous woman spoke up and stood her ground on indigenous land. She was even beaten by Palestinian men."


Harvard Protesters Raise Palestinian Flags On University Building, In Spot Reserved For American Flag
Anti-Israel protesters at Harvard University raised Palestinian flags on campus Saturday in a spot typically reserved for the American flag.

Harvard protesters hoisted three Palestinian flags over the Harvard Yard encampment, where students have been sleeping in tents since Wednesday. The flags were raised on poles attached to University Hall–where Harvard usually flies the American flag or flags of the countries of visiting foreign dignitaries.

Approximately one hour after three keffiyeh-clad individuals raised the flags, the Ivy League university's staff removed them despite jeering from protesters who were chanting "Shame!" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." According to Harvard University spokesman Jonathan L. Swain, raising flags is "a violation of University policy and the individuals involved will be subjected to disciplinary action."

The American flag was not flying on Saturday because university procedures dictate that "the American flag is raised in front of University Hall each Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. and lowered at 4 p.m., for proper storage."

The move came just an hour after the school’s Dean of Students, Tom Dunne, sent out an email warning that those who continue to participate in the unauthorized encampment would face disciplinary action. However, Dunne gave no deadline for students to disperse.

"Let me be clear: Maintaining and participating in this extensive encampment of tents in Harvard Yard constitutes an ongoing violation of University rules by interfering with the normal activities and operations of our campus and disrupting the work of fellow students and other Harvard community members," said the email.

"Those participating in the ongoing encampment and associated activities will face disciplinary consequences as outlined in existing policies. Repeated or sustained violations will be subjected to increased sanctions."


CBC Radio Features Fawning Interview With Palestinian “Artist” Accused Of Glorifying Terrorism
In an April 19 broadcast of All in a Day, a CBC radio show based in Ottawa, host Alan Neal spoke with Rehab Nazzal, a Palestinian-Canadian photographer who has been accused of glorifying Palestinian terrorism with her work.

The 13 minute-long segment entitled: “Driving in Palestine: A decade-long trip across the occupied West Bank,” featured a discussion between Neal and Nazzal about the latter’s photography exhibit being held at SAW, an art gallery in Ottawa which receives municipal, provincial and federal funding.

During the interview, Neal sounded more like a wide-eyed fan, asking fawning questions of his guest, not once pushing back against her absurd allegations.

The conversation centred around one of Nazzal’s exhibits featuring photographs of Israeli checkpoints in Judea & Samaria (described as the “West Bank” by the media), with Nazzal referring to them as a “settler colonial project” that has little military aim, saying “it is not really surveillance,” but primarily about intimidation of Palestinians.

At no time did Neal ever challenge his guest about the security needs surrounding Israel’s checkpoints, namely to prevent violent Palestinian terrorists from entering Israel, despite Nazzal on two occasions referring to more security measures being implemented “since October,” with no mention of Hamas’ October 7 massacres which precipitated the need for additional safety measures.

During the segment, Nazzal falsely referred to “roads for Jewish-only colonists in the West Bank,” a demonstrable lie which ignores that Israeli roads are accessible to all Israelis, Jews and Arabs alike, regardless of religion.

Rather than providing any factual context for listeners about Israel’s security precautions in Judea & Samaria to prevent Palestinian terrorism, not once did Neal utter the words “terrorism,” “Hamas,” or any related term, instead giving undeserved credibility to his guest, including Neal referring to a “particularly horrific checkpoint.”

Nazzal is not a newcomer to disseminating anti-Israel propaganda.

In 2014, she became the source of controversy when an exhibit of hers was held at Ottawa’s city hall, which featured photographic portraits of so-called “assassinated Palestinian figures…lost artists, writers and leaders,” but which also included portraits of “members of armed Palestinian groups implicated in deadly atrocities against civilians,” according to a Macleans article at the time.

Among the portraits in Nazzal’s exhibit was Dalal Mughrabi, who participated in the 1978 Coastal Road massacre in Israel, where Palestinian terrorists murdered 38 Israeli civilians, including 10 children, making it the deadliest mass killing in Israel until October 7, 2023.
Globe & Mail Article Falsely Claims There’s A Shortage Of Food Entering Gaza
In his latest report from the Middle East published on April 21 in The Globe and Mail entitled: “In northern Gaza, Palestinians say hunger spares no one as cost of basics soars,” International Correspondent Nathan Vanderklippe, reported on the alleged “famine” in the northern Gaza Strip, while failing to acknowledge key and essential details of central importance to the story.

Vanderklippe depicted a catastrophic image of food shortages in Gaza, writing that “nine in 10 of the world’s hungriest people – those categorized as being in a catastrophic situation – are in Gaza.”

This statement is patently false. There are more food trucks entering Gaza on a daily basis today than were entering the territory before October 7, when Hamas launched its massacres against Israel, and news media outlets were not gullibly repeating claims of famine there.

As a result of the huge influx of aid entering Gaza, images from many parts of the area show markets full of fruits, vegetables and other items. In one remarkable video, a vendor attempted to sell a can of food for 1 shekel (40 cents CAD), with passersby clearly disinterested, belying depictions of a “famine.”

In another video, filmed April 16 in the southern Gaza region of Rafah, an angry vendor smacked a video camera away when it is shown documenting the overflowing stalls at an open-air market.

Despite depicting Gaza as representing the overwhelming majority of starving people in the world, a recent report by Clingendael, a Dutch think tank, pointed out that the Sub-Saharan country of Sudan was facing, “according to the most likely scenario,” a famine so widespread that “seven million people will face catastrophic levels of hunger by June 2024,” making it “the world’s largest hunger crisis in decades.”

For perspective, that subset of Sudan represents more than three times the entire population of the Gaza Strip, meaning that the reference of 90 percent of famine-facing people being in Gaza is simply fanciful and utterly without merit.

Additionally, studies purporting to project an impending famine in Gaza have simultaneously acknowledged that “there is no data available on nutrition” to come to a conclusion, yet have created their apocalyptic forecasting anyway.
Humber College Student Newspaper Columnist Claims Google’s Ties With Israel Raises “Ethical Questions” Based On Nonsensical Theories
On April 18, Anusha Siddiqui penned an opinion column for The Humber News, a student-produced newspaper at Humber College entitled: “Project Nimbus poses ethical questions,” ostensibly outlining the saga of the 28 Google employees who were fired in mid-April for cause, after staging a sit-in in the company’s offices, and, according to Google, “[taking] over office spaces, [defacing] our property, and physically [impeding] the work of other Googlers.”

Siddiqui argued that the project these employees were protesting – that is, “Project Nimbus” – raises “ethical questions.” She cited a 2021 anonymous letter published by The Guardian newspaper, in which supposed Google and Amazon employees expressed concern that their companies have offered artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based computing services to the Israeli government, and the Israeli military, for defence purposes. Siddiqui argued that this could “subject Palestinians to increased surveillance and illegal data collection” and that we must ask “where we draw a line between state security measures and the potential for human rights abuse.”

Of course, Siddiqui didn’t explain how she imagines this contract would actually lead to Palestinians being unduly targeted. Nor did she (or, ostensibly, these 28 Google employees, along with whomever penned the 2021 letter) seem to have any trouble with the fact that the contract signed by Israel is substantially similar to one signed by the US State Department, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and numerous state and local police departments. Do they all believe that the US government is incapable of using AI and cloud services for unethical or questionable purposes, or that they are incapable of privacy or other abuses? Or is their ire focused exclusively on Israel?

Google also does business with the Government of El Salvador, one of the world’s worst governmental human rights abusers. There’s no need to imagine what they might use AI surveillance software for. Since March 2022, 78,000 people have been detained by the government there, and at least 235 have died in state custody. One wonders why these human rights defenders are not staging sit-ins in response to that contract?

Siddiqui went on to say that the “threat of potential misuse of the technology to further Israel’s expansionist agenda into Palestine” must be considered. That might be true if such an ‘agenda’ were to exist. Assuming that Siddiqui must mean Gaza, since ‘Palestine’ isn’t a recognized territory, it is worth noting that Israel pulled every single one of its citizens out of Gaza in 2005, taking with them every Jewish man, woman and child, in an effort to instill a lasting peace. It’s difficult to imagine a less ‘expansionist’ maneuver than that.


Netflix Epic on Moses Platforms Biased Scholar Who Expressed Joy on Oct.7
A newly-released Netflix documentary series on the Biblical story of Moses has given a platform to an Egyptian scholar who referred to the Biblical Promised Land as “Palestine” and expressed happiness during Hamas’ October 7 massacre in southern Israel, HonestReporting revealed this week.

Testament: The Story of Moses is currently riding high in the Netflix Top 10 in numerous countries, including Israel and others in the Middle East.

But the exposure of one of its interviewees — Dr. Monica Hanna from Egypt’s College of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage — casts a shadow over an otherwise enjoyable and informative documentary drama released just in time for Passover.

In the show, which depicts the saga of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, Hanna shoehorns “Palestine” into the narrative, although it did not exist at the time.

Referring to the Pharaoh at the time, Hanna says that “when he comes to power, he leads several campaigns to the area of Syria Palestine. He conquers areas even as far as Beirut in Lebanon.”

In fact, the Biblical term for the Promised Land during this period was “Canaan,” as mentioned by the series’ narrator himself.

Palestine, or officially “Provincia Syria Palaestina,” was a name invented by the Romans in 135 CE as a replacement for “Judea,” in an effort to eliminate all expressions of Jewry in the region following the defeat of Bar Kohba in the Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.

The period of the Pharaoh in the Exodus story is believed to have been some 1,300 years before that. Put simply, the term “Palestine” did not exist at that time.

As David Levine writes: “The not-so-subtle use of the words ‘Syria’ and ‘Palestine’ is misleading and historically incorrect. She seems to be implying that ‘Palestine,’ and therefore, ‘Palestinians’ date back to at least this ancient period. As an Egyptologist and expert in cultural heritage, she should know better.”
Istanbul’s mayor, an Erdogan rival, says Hamas is a terror group, was ‘deeply saddened’ by Oct. 7
Istanbul’s Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calls Hamas a terror group and says Turkey is “deeply saddened” by the October 7 massacre, in an interview with CNN.

“Any organized structure that carries out terrorist acts and kills people en masse is considered a terrorist organization by us,” he says.

Imamoglu adds that similar crimes are happening to Palestinians and calls on Israel to end its war against Hamas.

Imamoglu’s victory in the March municipal election marked the worst defeat for Erdogan and his AK Party (AKP) in their more than two decades in power, and could signal a change in the country’s divided political landscape.

The Turkish government under Erdogan openly supports Hamas, denounces Israel for its offensive in the Gaza Strip and has called for an immediate ceasefire.

Last year, the Turkish leader likened the tactics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and called Israel a “terrorist state” because of its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.


The Company Making Millions by Taking Palestinians Out of Gaza
A private Egyptian company, alleged to have strong links in the past to the state, has made a lucrative business out of ushering several hundred Gazans across the border into Egypt each day.

Hala Consulting and Tourism charges adults upwards of $5,000 to flee, with those under 16 paying $2,500.

Analysis by the Sunday Times of the daily lists to enter Egypt suggests that the company may have made at least $88 million since the beginning of March from evacuating more than 20,000 people.

At the start of April, the number of names on these lists increased from 295 to 475 daily, boosting the average daily revenue from a minimum of $1.25 million to $2 million.


Iran Mullahs Speeding Up Nuclear Weapons Program: Anyone Interested?
By backing, arming and training Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, Iran launched a proxy war against Israel, leveraging the conflict in part to divert attention from its nuclear ambitions.

The calculated move not only serves Iran's immediate interests in destabilizing its adversaries – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and most of all the United States, which it would like to see out of the region, so Iran could presumably have the Middle East all to itself. The diversion of the Gaza war also aligns with its goal of eradicating Israel.

These barbaric perversions [by Hamas on October 7, 2023] underscore Iran's leaders' comfort, if not pleasure, in employing any means at hand to achieve their objectives. They most likely do not look at their devastation abroad as triggering instability, but, on the contrary, as a means to attaining its hegemony, after which there will be peace -- for themselves, at least.

From Iran's perspective, acquiring nuclear weapons is the easiest way to significantly complete its takeover of the region and "export the revolution": "We shall export the revolution to the whole world. Until they cry, 'there is no god but God [Allah]' resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle."

Unfortunately, the plan poses an existential threat not just to regional stability, but to global security. Iran has been moving into Latin America, possibly to target the "Great Satan," the United States.
Iran Has Built a Global Financial Network to Bypass Sanctions
Udi Levy, former head of the Mossad's financial division, spent decades researching the money flows that allow the survival of terrorist groups and regimes with animosity toward Israel - chiefly Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran. He said in an interview that Israel should harness the coalition that came together to repel the recent direct attack on Israel by Tehran in order to halt the global money flows that constitute the lifeline of the Islamic Republic and that allow it to bypass U.S. and international sanctions.

"These are exactly the players that we need if we want to achieve a strategic result against Iran - not just to punish it, but to change the situation in the Middle East by applying economic warfare." They should actively cooperate "to dismantle the network that Iran has built to finance terror around the Middle East....The Iranians built an unbelievable infrastructure to circumvent sanctions and be able to move money around the world to continue to finance all the terrorist infrastructure in all the Middle East - and their nuclear project."

Sanctions against Iran have largely been ineffective because they remained on the declarative level but were often not implemented, he said. "Wikiran has revealed the whole infrastructure - how [Iranians] are moving the money from the central bank to the money changers in Iran, and from there to cover companies in China, Hong Kong and elsewhere. They open bank accounts in China and then move the money from there, especially to the Emirates."

"We have the bank account numbers, the names of the companies, the names of the people, we have everything. And this is all happening with the full cooperation of the banking system in Western countries, even in the United States. Money has been transferred and used freely, without any disturbance."

"Now, we have the opportunity to do something together. Israel's partners need to freeze the assets, confiscate them, and close the companies....The Iranians have no alternative infrastructure. It would take them years to rebuild it. It would be a disaster for them."


Jerry Seinfeld: Running for shelter in Tel Aviv as Iron Dome took action
Jerry Seinfeld recalls his visit to Israel, discussing how he feels close to the struggle of being Jewish, and reflects on experiencing a missile attack in Tel Aviv.






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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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