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Friday, June 07, 2024

06/07 Links Pt1: Palestine Is a State of Mind; The Biggest Media Scandal of the Era Has Arrived; Thomas Hand: 'Ashamed to call myself Irish'

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Palestine Is a State of Mind
One of the great drawbacks of the pro-Palestinian support structure in the West is that it has almost nothing to do with Palestinians. It is, instead, entirely constructed around hating Israel. The attention the Palestinians receive from their Western activists is precisely correlated with the level of blame that can be pinned upon the Jewish state.

Even the “resistance by any means” mantra furthers this dynamic. What can be done for the Palestinians and their society? Only the destruction of Israel. Until that happens, the “pro-Palestinians” are conveniently absolved of improving anyone’s life. That’s the beauty of making it all about “the occupation.” Root causes require pulling up the roots.

But now we have an example of how this applies not just to anti-Zionist activists but to national governments. It is a museum-worthy display of the West’s Israel-obsessed worldview.

You may remember in late May, when the governments of Spain, Ireland, and Norway jointly announced that they were recognizing “Palestine.” The Europeans have been under increasing pressure to DO SOMETHING about Israel’s continued pursuit of Hamas leaders and the Israeli hostages they hold. By that they mean: find a way to hurt the Israelis.

But the tangible ways to do so would be insane. Should they switch from the American side to the Iranian side in this conflict? Government leaders wanted to show their citizens that they were being heard, but you can’t just go around breaking apart the Western alliance over anti-Zionist hysteria. (I mean, you can, but it’s a line even Europeans prefer not to cross.) So they “recognized a Palestinian state.”

The only real effect a move like this might have was to shatter any remaining hope for many of the hostages by encouraging Hamas to see Israel as increasingly isolated and likely to be blamed for the failure of any deal. And that’s exactly what happened.
The Root Cause of October 7: Iran's Regime
The October 7 attack was timed to shift the focus from fundamental challenges to the survival of the decayed, inept Islamist theocracy. Iranians’ unprecedented nationwide mobilization for peaceful overthrow – the Woman, Life, Freedom movement – was being brutally suppressed at home as Hamas butchered in Israel. Had the community of democratic nations seized the opportunity and found the will to support the mass uprising in Iran (rather than give mere lip service to the violation of Iranians’ human rights), the seat of Islamist revolutionary terror could have been sacked and a difficult but viable transition to a responsible, reasonable Iran at peace with Israel and the world could well have been fostered. Instead, with the October 7 attack Khamenei and his IRGC henchmen sealed the indifference of Western politicians toward Iranian liberal aspirations and enabled the regime to tighten its grip on the thousands of young protestors it was torturing and raping inside its prisons.

The expansion of the Abraham Accords was also in the sights of the ayatollahs. It was imperative that a new bilateral peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel be thwarted. The shock and awe of October 7 was so severe, and the Israeli response to it so massive, that it forced the Saudis to cancel overtures to the Israeli government. October 7 took the Middle East backward to a time when world media attention on the region was dull and flat, concerned only with the seemingly implacable “Arab-Israeli conflict” rather than hopeful transformation by Iranians and Saudis pressing for an entirely new future.

The Iran regime’s role in the October 7 attack is fundamental and a manifestation of its daily “Death to Israel” chants and call to wipe Israel off the map. The Biden administration, however, has chosen to minimize the fact that Hamas has been developed and directed by Tehran, deflecting scrutiny from the world’s top state sponsor of terror. This appeasement mindset helped Tehran to believe it could get away with a massive terror attack on Israel in the first place. The Biden foreign policy is predicated on a worldview that seeks to end American presence in the Middle East region, has little interest in aiding democracy movements to topple authoritarians, rejects as the Obama administration did the post-9/11 vision to link democratization with security and sustainable peace in the region, sees appeasement of the ayatollahs as means to minimize instability and its own involvement in the region, and so has lifted the Maximum Pressure placed on the regime by the Trump administration. But feeding the crocodile has resulted in only a bigger appetite, as the delisting of the Houthis, a first move by the Biden administration to show its willingness to please Tehran, quickly proved. On the nuclear file, too, Iran’s regime has taken advantage of Washington’s overtures and willingness to turn a blind eye on sanctions to up its enrichment.

The October 7 attack on Israel is part and parcel of the Islamic Republic’s larger, multifaceted war on the West and liberalism. It has resulted in suffering and insecurity for the Israeli people, rising antisemitism across the globe, and moral confusion within democracies. Terror that should have been met with global condemnation and solidarity with the Israeli people instead resulted in the proliferation of the hate projected by Iran’s regime. Any policy truly designed to prevent Islamist terror and cultivate peace for the region must begin with a strategy to bring down that regime, but as evidenced by messages of condolences on the passing of the mass executioner Raisi, Western governments remain determined to appease it.


Seth Mandel: The Biggest Media Scandal of the Era Has Arrived
Now it can be told! Hamas lied that people died.

The Associated Press has an analysis up today that reveals—I hope you’re sitting down for this—that the Hamas/UN casualty numbers, especially the age and gender breakdown of those numbers, are way off. And—again, steady yourself—those numbers have been obviously wrong for “months” and nobody seems to have adjusted their reporting accordingly.

My word. Here’s how the AP sums up its groundbreaking accomplishment otherwise known as opening your eyes:
The Health Ministry announces a new death toll for the war nearly every day. It also has periodically released the underlying data behind this figure, including detailed lists of the dead.

The AP’s analysis looked at these lists, which were shared on social media in late October, early January, late March, and the end of April. Each list includes the names of people whose deaths were attributable to the war, along with other identifying details.

The daily death tolls, however, are provided without supporting data. In February, ministry officials said 75% of the dead were women and children — a level that was never confirmed in the detailed reports. And as recently as March, the ministry’s daily reports claimed that 72% of the dead were women and children, even as underlying data clearly showed the percentage was well below that.

It’s the “clearly” that gets me. According to AP, the share of women and children is down to 38 percent as of April, and still declining. But keep in mind that “children” to the AP means those who are 17 years old and younger. Hamas, meanwhile, tends to count as children those who are under 20. So by the AP’s own count, the true number of children killed in the war is almost surely even lower. Additionally, Hamas doesn’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, which means a fair number of “upper teenagers” being counted as children here are actually combatants.

None of these totals, by the way, accounts for those killed by Hamas. So even though we get regular stories of Hamas murdering rival families and misfiring rockets and booby-trapping homes, those stories aren’t reflected in the count.

The point is: All of those numbers are significantly lower than have been reported. Western newspapers and news agencies have been mistaken by orders of magnitude. COMMENTARY readers already knew this, because we have been methodically challenging the Hamas Health Ministry’s propaganda from the beginning, as have others outside the stable of mainstream newspapers. (The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ David Adesnik earns particular distinction on this front.)
AP: Women and children of Gaza are killed less frequently as war’s toll rises, AP data analysis finds

Jonathan Tobin: The real source of Hamas war disinformation
Indeed, within 24 hours of Times readers being fed a lurid story about Israelis creating fake social-media accounts, the newspaper was promoting the latest edition in a series of Hamas propaganda stories involving Israel bombing a U.N. school complex. As with a host of other stories about supposed Israeli atrocities in which Hamas accounts are taken at face value before being ultimately debunked, the media again accepted and published the Palestinian talking points about who was targeted by the Israeli airstrike and the nature of the casualties without verifying the facts. Here again, it was only after publishing stories about grief-stricken, innocent Palestinian civilians that most of the media then covered Israel’s assertion that the U.N. facility was being used by Hamas fighters as a place to hide and plan future attacks.

The Israel Defense Forces has tried to get ahead of such misinformation being spread by the media and to publish the facts about its efforts in real-time. But the demonstrated anti-Israel bias of outlets like the Times has translated into a willingness to take the mouthpieces of a genocidal terrorist group at their word while regarding anything that comes from a democratically-elected government and an armed forces that acts with a higher degree of ethics and transparency than other nations with skepticism. That means the Israelis are often forced to respond and explain why the initial stories were wrong after the distortions have already been widely spread in a way that makes it difficult if not impossible to counter.

The information war matters
The kerfuffle about fake media accounts matters because the information war about Gaza is a crucial element in the battle for American opinion. It is precisely the sort of lies about Israel wantonly attacking schools and hospitals or the vastly inflated Palestinian casualty statistics that are not only inaccurate but ignore the fact that it is likely that as many as half of those killed were terrorists, not noncombatants. Indeed, this same week, the Associated Press published a report that admitted that the exaggerated numbers of Palestinian women and children that it has been reporting as having been killed by Israel have been wrong all along. And it is this media campaign built on falsehoods that creates the pressure on Israel to end the war before Hamas is completely defeated or even before all of the remaining hostages are released, a point often left out of the conversation.

The pro-Hamas mobs on American college campuses and in the streets of our cities chanting their support for Israel’s destruction and spewing lies about “genocide” are being fueled not just by the toxic myths of critical race theory and intersectionality that are forced down the throats of students by leftist professors. The distortions of the mainstream media—aided by the lies promoted on social media by far-left antisemitic groups like Students for Justice for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace—have created a political environment in which President Joe Biden has adopted policies that will essentially ensure that Hamas wins the war it began on Oct. 7.

Those who rightly seek to counter these lies need to understand that they will be under far more scrutiny than those who promote the fake narratives that rationalize and justify Hamas atrocities, and that seek to delegitimize everything Israel does and act accordingly. Still, the effort to divert the world from the massive propaganda campaign that has been undertaken to falsely claim that Israel is guilty of “genocide” or “apartheid” does not alter the truth about who is really spreading disinformation about Gaza.


Caroline Glick: BOILING POINT: Israel/Hezbollah and the Obstacles to Victory
Israel is on fire as Hezbollah relentlessly terrorizes the North. Has a second front opened up in Israel's war against its enemies? What are the obstacles to victory?


“Hamas Thinks They’re Winning!” Mordechai Kedar Goes Off on Israel Hamas War & Jihad
Yishai Fleisher interviews Dr. Mordechai Kedar on the Israel Hamas War and where we are now.


Netanyahu to address US Congress to 'present the truth' on July 24
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will "present the truth" about the war against Hamas in Gaza when he addresses the US Congress on July 24 during a visit to Washington, Republican leaders said on Thursday.

Netanyahu will speak to a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

"I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world," Netanyahu said in the statement.

Netanyahu's visit comes amid tensions between him and US President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel's campaign in Gaza but has recently been more critical of its tactics and withheld shipment of some bombs.

It was not immediately clear if Netanyahu would meet with Biden during his US visit.
The pros and cons of another Netanyahu speech to Congress
NEVERTHELESS, THE central issue remains: is delivering this address at this particular time a wise decision?Not everyone believes that it is. Among the arguments against this fourth appearance before the US Congress is that no matter what the prime minister says, his speech will be overshadowed by representatives and senators who will loudly and demonstratively boycott it.

The US airwaves are already full of progressive Democrats bewailing that the invitation was issued, with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders leading the charge.

“I think I speak not just for myself but for a number of other senators who think that that decision is a very, very bad one. You do not honor a foreign leader by addressing a joint session of Congress who is currently engaged in creating the worst humanitarian disaster in the modern history of this country,” he said in an MSNBC interview on Tuesday, with the claim that this is the worst humanitarian disaster in modern history standing out for its outlandishness.

He also said, without any basis in fact, that what Netanyahu is “doing now is going to war against the entire Palestinian people.... The architect of that policy is not somebody you honor by bringing to the United States Congress.”

And Sanders has fellow travelers. Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, a “Squad member” fighting for her political life in a primary battle against Wesley Bell, was quoted as saying, “We should not platform more war criminals, period. He should not come to this house.”

If 58 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s speech in 2015, the same amount or even more are expected to demonstratively do the same this time as well, creating the damaging perception that American support for Israel is waning – a perception harmful to Israel’s strategic interests.

Another argument against Netanyahu going at this time is that the visit will highlight partisan divisions over Israel, since nearly all of the opposition to Netanyahu will come from Democrats, something that Republicans will then use to cast the opposing party as an anti-Israel party.

Some argue that the invitation to Netanyahu, which originated in the mind of Johnson, was intended to highlight the contrasts between the parties on Israel just a few months before the November election, and that this speech will further cement Israel as a partisan issue, something inimical to the country’s long-term interests.

But then there is the other side of the coin: those who say that while anti-Netanyahu voices will be feted in the media, those same media will not be able to avoid covering what will surely be a warm welcome by the vast majority of those attending the speech.

In 2015, in a speech negatively hyped for weeks beforehand, Netanyahu was interrupted by applause 36 times during the 45-minute address, including 23 standing ovations. A similar reception can be expected this time as well.

That reception, too, will be broadcast and more than counter Bush’s or Sanders’s negative comments. Furthermore, the very invitation serves as a stinging rebuke to International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu as a war criminal. “Arrest warrant?” some will wonder. “The man is being honored by the US Congress.”

Some argue that Netanyahu needs to come to Washington with a concrete plan, some kind of initiative or dramatic announcement to present to the US legislators rather than just giving a strong speech explaining Israel’s position – something he could do in an NBC or Fox News studio.

However, Netanyahu has shown over his long career that he deeply believes in the power and efficacy of a well-crafted speech, and how the right words, at the right time, delivered in the right way, can impact history.

His critics fault him for this, saying he is a man of too many speeches and not enough action.

But one thing is certain: Netanyahu won’t let the opportunity to once again address the US Congress slip by, even if – along with the upside of doing so at this time – there are some significant drawbacks as well.
Democrats speak out against left-wing efforts to interrupt Netanyahu’s congressional speech
Democrats, including both prominent critics and strong supporters of Israel, pushed back on Wednesday against the prospect of their colleagues protesting during or attempting to disrupt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s as-yet-unscheduled address to a joint meeting of Congress.

The speech is expected to attract a widespread progressive boycott, as Netanyahu’s last speech to Congress, in 2015, did, when support for Israel was widespread on the Democratic side.

But some lawmakers have begun floating the idea of attending the speech and attempting to protest or otherwise disrupt it, an escalation that would echo incidents seen at President Joe Biden’s last several State of the Union addresses.

Axios quoted an unnamed senior House Democrat on Tuesday as saying that “a number [of Democrats] are going and disrupting” the remarks. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) ran a social media poll last week floating the possibility of an “inside protest” during the speech, subsequently proposing a number of different methods of attending while showing opposition.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), who has been vocally critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, said, “I don’t think [disrupting Netanyahu’s speech] makes any sense.”

He alluded to the case of two members of the Tennessee House who organized a gun violence protest on the Statehouse floor, and were ultimately expelled by Republicans.

“I don’t know that that’s the best place to call for a protest in the United States of America,” Raskin said. He said he hasn’t made up his mind on attending yet, citing the lack of a confirmed date.
Biden administration pushing Middle East allies to make threats to Hamas in push for a Gaza ceasefire deal
The Biden administration has spent the last week pushing allies in the Middle East to make specific threats to Hamas, as part of an urgent campaign to push the group toward accepting the latest Israeli ceasefire and hostage proposal that would pause the fighting in Gaza.

US officials have publicly called on the group to accept previous ceasefire proposals on the table as Israel and Hamas have engaged in months of back-and-forth negotiations, but there has never been an all-out pressure campaign marked by specific asks to individual countries as part of the Biden administration’s push.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held almost a dozen calls with key players in the region since Friday and other top State Department officials have been intimately involved in the all-hands on deck effort.

White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk traveled to Egypt this week and CIA Director Bill Burns went to Qatar in the hopes of adding traction to the negotiations, but US officials have remained largely mum on the trips so far, citing the sensitivity of the ongoing diplomatic work.

An initial response from Hamas on Wednesday to the most recent Israeli proposal, as publicly described by President Joe Biden last week, appeared to signal that the gaps may still be significant. While it welcomed what Biden laid out, upon seeing the proposal brought by mediators, Hamas said that it “turned out to be devoid of the positive foundations contained in Biden’s statements.”

“It does not guarantee a permanent ceasefire, but rather a temporary one” and allows for Israeli forces to remain in Gaza territory, the group said in a statement obtained by CNN.

Still, the Biden administration believes there is an opportunity to close the deal, one US official said. A different source told CNN Thursday that Egypt has received encouraging signs from Hamas on the latest proposal, though they declined to detail exactly what those positive indications were.

Hamas is expected to respond to Israel’s proposal in the coming days, sources said.
Qatar to Hamas: Accept deal or face expulsion from Doha
Qatar has given Hamas an ultimatum to accept the ceasefire deal proposed by the US and Israel or face expulsion from Doha, according to a report by CNN.

As part of the US's diplomatic campaign to achieve a ceasefire, it has been putting intense pressure on members of the Israeli government to accept the deal.

CNN revealed that it has been putting a similar amount of pressure on Qatar to achieve results from the negotiations.

The US has for months been pressuring Qatar to announce that it will expel Hamas if they don't accept the ceasefire deal.

According to CNN, this threat has been issued, with Qatar making clear to Hamas that failure to achieve a ceasefire would lead to their expulsion from Qatar.

Hamas have been cagey with their response, having only said that they have neither accepted nor rejected the proposal as of Thursday night.

Hamas's demand for a total withdrawal of Israeli troops from all of Gaza before accepting the current ceasefire deal has been causing delays in the deal.


After 8 Months of Americans Held Hostage, State Dept Pleads With Hamas
In 1904, a Greek American named Ion Hanford Perdicaris is captured by a Muslim warlord named Ahmed Raisuni, President Theodore Roosevelt sends warships to North Africa with the warning, “Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead.”

120 years later, after 8 months of Americans being held hostage by Hamas, State Dept spokesman Matthew Miller uploaded a video of himself pleading with Islamic terrorists to accept a deal that leaves them in power.

Miller, the representative of a world power, pleads with Hamas to accept the deal that gives the terror group almost everything it previously demanded.

What a contrast with Secretary of State John Hay declaring, “This government wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuni dead.”

Roosevelt and Hay were making a larger point, beyond whether Perdicaris even merited American protection, which was that America was a great power and was not to be trifled with.

Consider this video of Miller and decide whether that’s the message being sent today.
Report: CIA assesses Netanyahu likely believes he can avoid making post-war Gaza plan
The CIA assesses that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu probably believes he can successfully avoid making a clear post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the US spy agency seen by CNN.

The June 3 report notes that Netanyahu believes he can withstand pressure from the Biden administration on the need to formulate and announce a plan for the governance of Gaza after the war against Hamas concludes.

Netanyahu “probably believes he can maintain support from his security chiefs and prevent defections” from the right flank of his hardline coalition by discussing future plans for Gaza in “vague terms,” the report reads.

The CIA report, circulated to US officials, warns Netanyahu will likely only engage on the issue of post-war Gaza after the achievement of “what he sees as key security benchmarks, which may take months.”

The assessment notes that the benchmarks include completing the vague concept of “major military operations” as well as killing Hamas’s military wing commander Mohammed Deif.

CNN says of the report: “It comes amid a clear shift in how the Biden administration views Israel: less as a trusted partner and more as an unpredictable foreign government to be analyzed and understood.”
Benny Gantz set to withdraw from Israel’s war cabinet after Shabbat
Benny Gantz has said he will make a speech tomorrow evening at which he is expected to withdraw from Israel’s national unity government.

Last month, the war cabinet member said he would resign unless Benjamin Netanyahu were to adopt his post-war plan by June 8.

His six “strategic goals” included the release of all hostages, the return of displaced Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza, and the end of Hamas rule over the Palestinian enclave.

"If you put the national over personal, you will find in us partners in the struggle," Gantz said.

"But if you choose the path of fanatics and lead the entire nation to the abyss, we will be forced to quit the government."

In a televised address, he added: "You must choose between Zionism and cynicism, between unity and factions, between responsibility and lawlessness, between victory and disaster."

At the time, Netanyahu said the comments were simply "washed-up words".

Were he to agree to the demands, he said, it would mean, "the end of the war and a defeat for Israel, the abandoning of most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and the establishment of a Palestinian state".

Gantz’s National Unity Party later submitted a bill to dissolve the Knesset in an attempt to bring down Netanyahu’s government.


Richard Goldberg: As Hezbollah escalates attacks at Iran’s behest, Israel must stop an ‘unsustainable’ assault
As Israel’s campaign in Gaza proceeded, Hezbollah incrementally escalated its scale and scope of attacks to lure Israel into two simultaneous full-scale wars — a scenario that would drain Israeli munitions stockpiles, stress Israel’s economy and bring unprecedented destruction to large population centers.

Israel opted for a tit-for-tat defensive strategy, responding to every Hezbollah attack with an airstrike against a Hezbollah commander or base, alongside bombastic rhetoric threatening to turn Lebanon into rubble if the group escalated further.

Hezbollah, however, has not been deterred.

With Biden continuing to provide Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief, and Hezbollah watching the United States withhold weapons from Israel to bring major military operations to a halt, Tehran now smells Jewish blood in the water.

Biden last week suggested that if Israel prematurely ended its military campaign against Hamas, leaving one Iranian proxy intact, the White House would broker a cease-fire with Hezbollah, leaving a larger and more lethal Iranian proxy intact.

Iran is predictably responding with escalation to pressure Israel to surrender.

With Tehran also approaching the nuclear threshold and arming the Houthis in Yemen with missiles of their own, it’s no wonder a former Israeli defense minister warned this week of an Iran-sponsored “Holocaust” within two years.

Israel’s options are unenviable.

The status quo is unsustainable as it surrenders northern Israel to Iran and invites slow but steady escalation on all fronts.

Evacuated communities will not return to their homes without security guarantees — and such guarantees will not come from a phony cease-fire deal that helps Hezbollah get even stronger.

A ground invasion pushing to the Litani River without American resupply brings unknown risks, while an air campaign without a ground invasion may not prove entirely effective.

Israel will need to think outside the box to design a counterattack that escalates toward total war and quickly deescalates once limited objectives are achieved.

These objectives will likely include establishing a buffer zone on the Lebanese side of the border to enable Israeli communities to return home, while bringing a pause in missile and drone attacks — something a larger-scale war would still need to address down the road.

Americans would never surrender to a Hezbollah-like terror threat on our own border.

Biden should not demand that of Israel, either.
Hezbollah, Iran have turned the Galilee into a weapons-testing ground
Yesterday’s newsletter noted that eleven people were injured in the Hizballah drone attack on the Druze village of Hurfeish in northern Israel. Subsequently, one of them—Sergeant Refael Kauders—died from his wounds. Yoav Zitun describes the sophisticated way in which the Lebanon-based terrorist group used its drones to evade Israeli defenses, demonstrating

to what extent Hizballah and Iran have in the last eight months turned the Galilee not only into a land abandoned by its residents, but also into a research and development laboratory for weapons, to create accurate and deadly weapons in preparation for an extensive confrontation with Israel.

So far, nearly 1,000 rockets and drones have been launched from Lebanon, before a “real war” has even broken out in the north. Most of the launches are in daylight, because that way it is easier to aim and hit. The research and development of the Hizballah-Iran axis also surprises the Israeli side, so much so that the accurate and long-range anti-tank missiles have already [appeared in] a third-generation version in the last month.

The response of the IDF is not only defensive in the face of these threats but also offensive in the form of hundreds of bombings of weapons centers, [some] deep inside Lebanon, but Hizballah has used since the outbreak of the war quantities of weapons that could testify to a huge arsenal, possibly beyond what Israeli intelligence knows.

As the Israeli news website Walla reports, IDF officers believe they have “caused massive damage to Hizballah” with these airstrikes, yet the terrorist group still retains the ability to launch more significant and coordinated attacks. More worrisome still is their assessment that Hizballah’s supply of the most advanced missiles remains intact.
UN to blacklist Israel in Children and Armed Conflict report
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to include Israel, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in its blacklist of countries and non-state actors that commit grave violations against children in situations of armed conflict, due to the Gaza war.

"Today the UN added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world; no delusional UN decision will change that,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

He spoke up immediately after Guterres’s office informed Israel’s Ambassador Gilad Erdan that the Israeli security forces were on the list, usually reserved for global bad actors, that is published as an annex to the annual report.

The document which covers events in the year 2023, will only be made public on June 18 and publicly discussed by the Security Council on June 26.

Last year’s report listed entities such as the Taliban in Afghanistan and ISIS in Iraq as well as the Russian army for its actions in Ukraine.

It’s the first time that Israel’s security forces have been listed in the annex. Israel is the first democracy to be part of that annex.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad also to be added to UN ‘list of shame’ for children’s rights violations during war
Palestinian Islamic Jihad will be added to the United Nations’ so-called “list of shame,” which is attached to an annual report submitted by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s office that documents rights violations against children in armed conflict, a diplomatic source tells Reuters.

PIJ will be added to the list alongside Israel and Hamas.

This is the first time that Israel, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been included on this list, joining the ranks of Russia, the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar, Somalia, Yemen and Syria.

The allegations against Israel mean that it is believed to be the first democratic country included on the list. The decision provoked outrage from Jerusalem.


George Clooney called White House to complain about Biden’s criticism of ICC and defend wife’s work: report
Actor George Clooney reportedly called one of President’s Biden’s top aides last month to complain about the president’s critique of the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeking an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a case his wife, lawyer Amal Clooney, worked on.

As first reported by The Washington Post, the Academy Award-winning actor called Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, to push back on Biden’s dismissal of arrest warrants sought by the ICC targeting Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Clooney was particularly irked the Biden administration was initially open to slapping the ICC with sanctions, given his wife could be potentially subjected to penalties, according to the report.

The report comes more than a week before Clooney, a major supporter of Biden, is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for Biden’s re-election campaign June 15 in Los Angeles.


Stephen Pollard: Labour’s plan to recognise Palestine is gesture politics of the worst kind
When 1200 Israelis were butchered by Hamas on October 7, the civilised world united in revulsion – and backed Israel’s right to take action to prevent a repeat. It was important – and a hopeful sign for the future – that that included the Leader of the Labour Party, not least because his predecessor had described the terrorist organisation responsible for the massacre as “friends”.

To his credit, Sir Keir Starmer’s firm stance lasted some months.

But yesterday evening the Labour manifesto leaked, and it will contain, according to the Guardian, “a pledge to recognise Palestine before the end of any peace process, and to make sure such a move does not get vetoed by a neighbouring country.” You might wonder why a promise to recognise a Palestinian state should be seen as undermining, or even contradicting, revulsion over October 7 and Israel’s right to take action to prevent a repeat. After all, if we are in favour of a two-state solution, what’s not to like?

The fundamental issue is timing. Backing recognition before any peace agreement is reached is simply gesture politics – of the worst sort, because it works against the very end it claims to seek. In this case, gesture is exactly the right word because Labour’s manifesto commitment is about UK domestic politics and the party’s determination to appease those in its ranks and otherwise likely Labour voters, who walk around in keffiyehs, think “Palestine” is the cause of the day and accuse Sir Keir of being in the pocket of the Zionists.

There are now 144 countries which have recognised a Palestinian state, after Spain, Norway and Ireland did so last month. So: can you see it? Can you tell me where it is? If you can, you know something no one else on the planet knows, because it doesn’t yet exist. Simply asserting that something has happened doesn’t make it happen.

Which brings us to the second fundamental problem with the timing of recognition: without an agreement, it rewards terror. To see October 7 as necessitating a move towards recognition of a Palestinian state before the terrorists have been defeated is not simply to reward terror, it is worse - it is to hand the terrorists exactly the argument they deploy, to show Palestinians not only that terrorism works but also that, far from it needing to be eliminated to lay the foundation for an agreement for a two state solution, it is the modus vivendi for a Palestinian state’s existence. In that context, it actually makes a negotiated agreement less likely.


Seth Frantzman: 'Post' visits the IDF brigade defending Israel's North, eastern Galilee
ON JUNE 1, I drove around Kiryat Shmona. I was here during the early days of the war before it was evacuated. Even then it was quiet, like a ghost town, and now it has become even more of a ghost town. There are damaged buildings from Hezbollah attacks, pockmarked by shrapnel. Local authorities board the windows and do what they can to not leave the buildings open to the elements. Repairs can’t take place until the war ends. This place is eerily quiet. Sometimes there are sirens or the sound of artillery and warplanes, but otherwise it feels like one of those movies with an apocalypse or zombie attack. All the people have gone away.

The IDF is in a defensive posture in the North. Forces are constantly training for what may come next. For instance, the IDF’s 36th Division was sent to the North in January, with its Golani infantry and 188th Armored Brigade. The 146th Division is also in the North and completed a drill in May to prepare for possible escalation. The goal is to be ready. However, for the soldiers and officers of the 769th, one gets the feeling eight months of being on the defense was not what they were trained for. Israel was preparing for a war of rapid maneuver and “Momentum” before October 7. Israel saw Hezbollah as the main threat and enemy. Now, dragged into a long war in Gaza, the North is on the defense.

Nevertheless, the IDF is proud of its accomplishments. Around 300 of the Hezbollah enemy terrorists have been eliminated. The IDF does micro-tactical operations on Israel’s side of the border, Goldstein says. In addition, the soldiers have learned a lot about how to protect themselves along the border. This means bringing in protected shelters and placing them in the right place. The IDF has also sent engineers with earth-moving equipment to build roads and construct paths in the North.

For the soldiers on the front line and also bivouacked in the North, it’s a learning curve. They learn the sound of the Iranian drones that come in slow and low to attack their positions. Iran has used drones to target Israeli bases and claimed this week to strike an Iron Dome site near Ramot Naftali. They also attacked near Beit Hillel in the Hula Valley. Soldiers have to be ready to get in their shelters or get down on the ground and recognize the Hezbollah threat is complex and growing.

To keep the soldiers from becoming complacent, there is a focus on discipline. I saw this myself at Goma junction during the early evening of June 1 when, as dusk settled, a number of soldiers heard sirens in the distance and made sure to all get into protected areas near a gas station. No one runs out to film the interceptions. Everyone has learned to take this threat seriously. It can’t save everyone though. On June 5, an attack by multiple Hezbollah drones killed a soldier and wounded others near Hurfeish.

Goldstein says the IDF is on the front line in the Galilee and the enemy has pulled back or is no longer clearly visible, illustrating the success the IDF has had on this front. The IDF is also keenly aware of the enemy’s emerging capabilities.

“We want to be ready for a worst-case scenario and the troops we have here are some of the best in the military,” Goldstein says.

We drive to a lookout area where one can see the Hula Valley and Kiryat Shmona. He surveys the area and says he is confident the civilians here will return with their families.

Israel is considering diplomatic and military operations to the Hezbollah escalation. The local security teams here (kitot konenut) are well equipped now and they have been putting in concrete blocks with gates to be able to secure roads in case of an emergency. The brigade is constantly in contact with them and the locals train for various scenarios.

“The last month has been one of the most intense but also on their side. We eliminated some of their top officers and we know when that happens there will be a retaliation,” says Goldstein.

Attack and respond: The pattern on the northern front
There is a kind of equation here. The enemy attacks and Israel responds. Israel has many ways to respond, including artillery batteries placed in the North, ready to strike back. But Israel is also cautious and thoughtful in its responses. It doesn’t use a lot of projectiles.

For the reservists here that can be frustrating. They know that back home in places like Tel Aviv, people are enjoying a beer and sitting on the beach, while they go back and forth to the border and wait for what comes next. The week of June 1 was one of the weeks where one waits a lot, because Hezbollah is increasing its attacks across the North, spreading fires and destruction, and Israel must make a decision one day on what to do.
IDF takes complete control over Philadelphi Corridor
The IDF has completed control of the Philadelphi Corridor in southern Gaza, a correspondent for the Qatari Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed reported on Friday afternoon.

The Israeli military now reportedly has total control over the Corridor from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed report comes as the IDF has expanded it's activates in the southern portion of the Gaza Strip, including in the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

IDF destroyed a massive tunnel near the Corridor
On Wednesday, the military reported that it had located and destroyed a roughly two kilometer-long tunnel in the southern portion of the Strip that had reached as far as the Philadelphi Corridor.

Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, citing a image taken by an Egyptian soldier, reported that Israeli Merkava tanks had arrived at the coast of the Mediterranean and were being stationed in the area.

The IDF stated late last month that since the start of operations in the Rafah area, the 401st Brigade's combat team, under the direction of the 162nd Division, has been spearheading the military's activities along the Philadelphi Corridor.

Since then, the military has reported locating terrorist weaponry, including a launch pit, in the area.
IDF: Senior member of Hamas’s general security forces in Rafah killed in airstrike
A senior member of Hamas’s general security forces in southern Gaza’s Rafah was killed in an airstrike yesterday, the military announces.

Salame Muhammad Abu Ajaj, according to the IDF, was one of the commanders of the general security forces in Rafah. He was killed in a fighter jet strike, it says.

The IDF says the general security forces is a Hamas body that supports the military wing of the terror group, and is tasked with several roles to “ensure the survival of the group, [continue] routine Hamas military activity and disrupt the IDF’s freedom of action in the Strip.”

Alongside Abu Ajaj, the mayor of Nuseirat, Eyad al-Maghari, was also killed in the strike.

The IDF says al-Maghari was a terrorist with “an extensive history in Hamas.”
Seth Frantzman: UN fails to protect civilians from Hamas in Gaza
For instance, almost a thousand Hamas terrorists went into Shifa hospital in late February and early March, before an IDF raid found them there.

A thousand men don’t go into a hospital and take over parts of it without any staff noticing. However, in Gaza there has been a systematic decision by NGOs and UN members working there to never mention Hamas and not monitor facilities for the presence of Hamas.

In fact, most of these groups appear to have banned their members from even using the word “Hamas.” Therefore they speak of “armed groups.” This stands to reason that when hundreds of men come into a building and take over part of it, that if the men don’t wear uniform or carry weapons, then they are not called an “armed group.”

It's important to understand the code of silence here. This is not just due to people not noticing. A recent interview with a Kurdish doctor who volunteered in north Gaza revealed that Hamas had taken over the third floor of a hospital as a “VIP” area for its own members and connected people. Patients who were not affiliated with Hamas or were seen as affiliated with other groups were denied treatment. When international NGOs worked at the same hospital, they had a duty to report the fact that patients were denied service for political reasons. However, only this one Kurdish doctor dared mention this.

What we see in Gaza is a lot of evidence of how Hamas uses these civilian facilities systematically and also a systematic attempt to cover for Hamas. This has the result of forcing civilians to be in areas with Hamas presence.

For instance, in a shelter or school, the civilians should be told that Hamas is illegally using the building. If a person is a school administrator and dozens of adult men unaffiliated with the school enter the building and take over classrooms, this should be reported and there should be a duty to warn the civilians of the presence of these men.

The problem in Gaza is that Hamas not only systematically uses hospitals and school, but that there is a second systematic attempt not to mention Hamas or monitor the presence of unaffiliated men in these facilities.

The UN, as one of the most powerful organizations in Gaza, appears to have failed to protect civilians from the presence of Hamas.

The claims that the presence of the “armed group” cannot be “verified” is problematic. There must be ways to put in place a mandate that the UN or other groups actively monitor their facilities and verify that unaffiliated men are not entering them.

If the presence of unaffiliated men are detected, or floors of the facility are taken over and diverted for use by groups of men, it should be reported and the civilians who are sheltering should be warned.


IDF eliminates terrorists as they planned terror attacks within UNRWA school
The IDF revealed on Friday that the Israeli air force struck and eliminated Hamas terrorists sheltering inside an UNRWA school as they planned attacks on Israel.

The terrorists had been utilizing the school grounds of the 'Asmaa' UNRWA school in Shati as a Hamas Operations Cell and meeting point for Hamas terrorists, the military reported. Using civilian infrastructure

The terrorists eliminated had reportedly been planning an imminent attack on Israel while using the school as a civilian shield for their terrorist activities.

The IDF stated that it had taken numerous steps to mitigate harm to civilians.

IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner confirmed on X "This is the 6th time we’ve identified abuse of UNRWA premises by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the last month. We took the necessary measures to distinguish between the terrorists and civilians near by."


IDF names another eight terrorists killed in Nusierat UN school strike
The IDF revealed on Friday evening the identities of a further eight terrorists killed by an Israeli airstrike while they were operating from within an UNRWA school in Nusierat on Thursday.

The terrorists had been from both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The identities of the further eight terrorists killed were confirmed by the IDF Intelligence Directorate and the Shin Bet (Israel Intelligence Agency), the military noted. Who were the terrorists killed?

One of the eliminated terrorists was confirmed to have taken part in Hamas's October 7 attacks, where over 1200 people were killed and another 250 kidnapped.

A total of 17 of the terrorists eliminated in the strike have now been identified. The IDF released the identities of 9 other terrorists eliminated.

Hamas claimed that 45 people were killed in the strike.

IDF spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari had said the strike was conducted after concrete intelligence showed that terrorists hiding in the school were planning an imminent attack. "We stopped a ticking time-bomb," he explained.

"Our intelligence indicated that the terrorists were operating from inside these three classrooms," he had said. "We delayed our strike twice because we identified civilians in the area. We had aerial surveillance that had been monitoring the Hamas compound for a few days.

"We conducted the strike once our intelligence and surveillance indicated that there were no women or children inside the Hamas compound, inside those classrooms," Hagari added. "Despite the complex operational conditions, our Air Force used precise munitions to target the three specific classrooms that the terrorists were hiding inside."


The Israel Guys: Investigating Israel's Alleged WHITE PHOSPHORUS Attacks
Well it seems that everyone and their brother are involved in the lie claiming that Israel is indeed using white phosphorus bombs against Arab civilians. The claims are going viral along with videos showing hits on supposed civilian areas! Is Israel really targeting civilians? And are they using white phosphorus illegally? And not in accordance with international law?




Thwarted terror plot puts Hamas’s Turkey HQ in the spotlight
June 3 provided a reminder of the active and dangerous threat posed by Hamas’s increasingly entrenched headquarters in Turkey. On that day, the Israel Security Agency disclosed that it had thwarted a terrorist attack orchestrated by Hamas from its base on Turkish soil.

“In the harsh anti-Israel atmosphere in Turkey following [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan’s severe economic measures against Israel, it is no surprise that Hamas has resumed its operational activities from Turkish soil, if it ever stopped at all,” said Ely Karmon, a senior research scholar at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University in Herzliya.

“The infrastructure is at least partially in place, and recently some Hamas leaders have returned to visit Turkey and met with Erdoğan,” he added.

A new flotilla to Gaza was planned with the assistance of local Turkish elements, some known from the past, but did not proceed, possibly due to heavy diplomatic pressure on Turkey, including from the United States, he said.

Karmon also pointed out that Turkey recently announced, on at least two occasions, that it had arrested what it claimed were Mossad networks targeting Palestinians in Turkey.

All of this however does not mean that the Turkish government is aware of every planned Hamas attack, he noted.

“The fact that the Foreign Minister is [Hakan] Fidan, a loyalist of the president and former head of Turkish intelligence could also help in this matter,” he said. “The Turkish Foreign Ministry was, in the past, generally more sensitive and cautious regarding actions against Israel,” he added.
US military says pier in Gaza reconnected after repairs and aid will flow soon
The US military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach in the Strip after it broke apart in storms and rough seas, and food and other supplies will begin to flow soon, US Central Command announced Friday.

The section that connects to the beach in Gaza, the causeway, was rebuilt nearly two weeks after heavy storms damaged it and abruptly halted what had already been a troubled delivery route.

“Earlier this morning in Gaza, US forces successfully attached the temporary pier to the Gaza beach,” Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, told reporters by phone Friday. “We expect to resume delivery of humanitarian assistance from the sea in the coming days.”

Cooper said operations at the reconnected pier will be ramped up soon with a goal to get 1 million pounds (450,000 kilograms) of food and other supplies moving through the pier into Gaza every two days.

A large section of the causeway broke apart May 25 as heavy winds and high seas hit the area, and four Army vessels operating there went aground, injuring three service members, including one who remains in critical condition. The damage was the latest stumbling block in what has been a persistent struggle to get food to Palestinians during the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war.

Bad weather had earlier slowed the delivery of sections of the pier and US military personnel from Virginia to the region. And early efforts to get aid from the pier into Gaza were disrupted as residents stormed and looted the trucks that aid agencies were using to transport the food to the warehouses for distribution.


Houthis reportedly kidnap at least nine UN staff
Houthi terrorists are reportedly holding at least nine Yemen-based employees of the United Nations “under unclear circumstances,” the Associated Press reported on Friday, citing local authorities.

The Houthis “face increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a U.S.-led coalition,” per the AP. “Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken.”

Houthi terrorists have targeted ships in the Red Sea, claiming that they are responding to Israel’s war against the Hamas terror organization.

Per the AP, “regional officials” say that “staff from the U.N. human-rights agency, its development program, the World Food Program and one working for the office of its special envoy” are being held. “The wife of one of those held is also detained.”

The Mayyun Organization for Human Rights based in Aden, Yemen, condemned “in the strongest terms this dangerous escalation, which constitutes a violation of the privileges and immunities of United Nations employees granted to them under international law.”

The Aden-based group, which said that 18 people had been detained, added that “we consider it to be oppressive, totalitarian, blackmailing practices to obtain political and economic gains.”


Why are the Bibas family not the focus of everyone with a conscience?
I don’t know a Jewish woman who hasn’t spent a day since October 7 without thinking about the Bibas family.

While the hostages have largely been forgotten by the outside world, in the Jewish community their stories permeate everything.

The image of Shiri Bibas clutching her two young children, Ariel and Kfir, and the look of terror on her face as terrorists bundled them away in scenes of chaos on October 7 has never left me.

That, along with the sadistic propaganda video released by Hamas of them telling her husband, Yarden, also still a hostage, that they are all dead.

In many ways for me, and I am sure for other Jewish women, the image of Shiri and her babies defined October 7. It defined the evil, frenzied way in which terrorists set their sights on the most vulnerable and innocent people. It symbolised the lack of mercy and the targeted commitment to terror they set out with.

Maybe I have thought so much about Shiri because I find her so easy to relate to, as a Jewish mother of similar age children. Naively, perhaps, I had never given much thought to the kind of harm others might want to cause me or my children because of our ethnicity or faith. But Shiri and her children woke me up to that potential in a way I wish had never happened.
'Ashamed to call myself Irish': Thomas Hand on Ireland's recognition of Palestine
Living in temporary accommodation in the desert above the Dead Sea, nine-year-old Emily Hand and her father, Thomas, slowly recover from an ordeal that has upended their lives as the Gaza war rages.

Emily, a dual Irish-Israeli citizen, was kidnapped by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year during a rampage of killing and destruction on her Kibbutz Be'eri. She spent 50 harrowing days in captivity in Gaza until her release in November.

Since her reunification with her father, Dublin-born Thomas Hand, they have been moving from one place of temporary accommodation to another, carrying only a few belongings and the family dog.

Hand said his native Ireland had been instrumental in the release of his daughter. But he voiced strong criticism of the Irish government's recognition of a Palestinian state.

He feels the step rewards Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that kidnapped his daughter after the attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken to Gaza as hostages.

"I'm ashamed to call myself Irish"
"All my life I was proud to be Irish and I told people around me that. I'm not so proud anymore. I'm ashamed and embarrassed to call myself Irish," said Hand.

"The Irish authorities were part of Emily's release process. They know everything, everything that Hamas did. They saw the footage from the terrorists' GoPro cameras. So here, this is their reward, recognition of the country. Nice of them," Hand added sarcastically.


Call Me Back PodCast: The Great Powers and the War in Gaza – with Walter Russell Mead
Hosted by Dan Senor
Over the past 8 months, we’ve focused most of our attention on Israel’s perspective and the American perspective since October 7th. But what we wanted to do today is gradually zoom out from Israel and Gaza, to the perspective of other regional players in the Middle East, and finally examine this war from the perspective of the global powers, especially China and Russia. Has the Israel-Hamas war advanced their interests or reversed them?

Our guest today is Walter Russell Mead. He is at the Hudson Institute, he is the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal. He was previously the Henry Kissinger fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.


JPost Editorial: Why the son of the Hamas co-founder stands firmly with Israel
The recent statements by Mosab Hassan Yousef at The Jerusalem Post Annual Conference earlier this week have reverberated far beyond the conference hall.

The son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, his bold assertions about the existential threats facing Israel from both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) challenge common perceptions and demand a deeper examination of the realities on the ground.

Yousef, known as “the Green Prince,” was once deeply embedded in the very organization that seeks Israel’s destruction, but now stands as a vocal critic of the Palestinian leadership and its objectives. His journey from a key figure within Hamas to an advocate for Israel’s security underscores a narrative that is both complex and revealing. The perspective of the Palestinian leadership wipes out Israel

His assertion that “Palestine depends on the destruction of Israel” is a stark reminder of the zero-sum perspective held by many within the Palestinian leadership.

This viewpoint suggests that any conception of a Palestinian state inherently negates the existence of Israel. Such a stance complicates peace efforts and fuels the ongoing conflict.

It is essential to confront this ideology head-on, acknowledging that the rhetoric of destruction from groups like Hamas is not merely political posturing but a core tenet of their existence.

Yousef’s criticism of the Palestinian Authority as an even more significant threat than Hamas is particularly noteworthy.


Briahna Joy Gray fired from The Hill days after rolling her eyes at sister of Oct. 7 hostage during interview
A political commentator was sacked from The Hill — days after rolling her eyes while interviewing the sister of an Israeli abducted on Oct. 7 victim.

“It finally happened. The Hill has fired me,” Briahna Joy Gray wrote on X Thursday. “There should be no doubt that @RisingTheHill has a clear pattern of suppressing speech — particularly when it’s critical of the state of Israel.”

An outlet spokesperson also confirmed to The Post she was no longer employed at The Hill.

In a follow-up tweet, Gray said her firing was “clearly part of a coordinated effort.”

Gray said she had no additional comment when reached by The Post Thursday evening.

Gray, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ former press secretary during the 2020 election, was slammed for her treatment of Yarden Gonen, the sister of Romi Gonen, who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, during an interview on Tuesday.

When Yarden Gonen told Gray that she hopes she believes female victims who say they were sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists, Gray rolled her eyes and abruptly ended the interview, video shows.

“I really hope that you, specifically, will believe women when they say that they got hurt,” Gonen said.

Gray lets out a sigh, appears to roll her eyes and says, “All right thanks for joining. Stick around,” as Gonen is still trying to get a word in.


Would-Be Misinformation Czar Jankowicz Accuses Free Beacon of Peddling Anti-Semitic Tropes
The Washington Free Beacon echoed "deeply antisemitic tropes" when it reported on liberal megadonor George Soros's ties to a left-wing group that raised funds to bail out anti-Israel protesters, according to a report from a nonprofit led by Nina Jankowicz, the Biden administration's would-be disinformation czar.

The American Sunlight Project, Jankowicz's newly formed nonprofit, released that report, "From Anonymous Internet Forums to Members of Congress: How False Online Claims About Campus Protesters Became the Centerpiece of a Political Fundraising Campaign," on Thursday afternoon.

The eight-page document argues, without evidence, that news reports linking Soros's political spending to anti-Israel protests, including the Free Beacon's, originated in online chat rooms linked to foreign actors and that they aim to seed anti-Semitic narratives.

The report does not, however, mention several mainstream media reports—including from Politico's Shia Kapos and the Wall Street Journal's Ira Stoll—linking Soros and other Democratic megadonors to anti-Israel protests.

"Two of the organizers supporting the protests at Columbia University and on other campuses are Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow," reads the May 5 Politico piece, headlined "Pro-Palestinian protesters are backed by a surprising source: Biden's biggest donors."

"Both are supported by the Tides Foundation, which is seeded by Democratic megadonor George Soros and was previously supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation," the piece continues. "It in turn supports numerous small nonprofits that work for social change."

"You were the first to publish, followed by the WSJ, and then the New York Post," Sunlight Project spokesman Carlos Alvarez-Aranyos told the Free Beacon. "That's why you're mentioned. You brought it from the anonymous web ecosystem to the mainstream." (The report does not mention the Journal.)

The Sunlight Project report cites the Free Beacon's April 15 piece about the Tides Center, a left-wing network that counts Soros as a major donor—not the Tides Foundation, as the report states.


Anti-Israel vandals force Kentish Town flower stall to close
Anti-Israel protesters in north London have wreaked havoc on a flower stall, damaging equipment and forcing the shop to close.

Florist Natasha Boon faces costly repairs and lost income after her shop was forced to shut down amidst the chaos.

Demonstrators from “Gaza Week Camden” allegedly destroyed flower boxes, damaged the stall’s equipment, stole its electrical supply, and on Thursday forced the shop to shut entirely.

Boon, 32, said she has lost at least £500 in income and will have to spend a significant sum repairing the damage done to her stall’s awning.

Boon has been selling flowers in Kentish Town in north London for ten years, and this week was left “deeply upset” by a large anti-Israel demonstration on the high street which damaged her shop, Natasha’s Flowers.

“They vandalised my boxes with their posters, they have put their stickers all over my stuff, they have broken my canopy, they were on top of the boxes last night jumping up and down, and they have also now used my electricity.”

On Thursday afternoon, it is understood that the protesters connected to Boon’s electric supply to power their loudspeakers for chants and speeches. Addressing the protesters via her Instagram, Boon said: “You are vandalising my property. This is not OK and you are causing harm to your community.”

“Today we lost two major funeral orders. It was really quite sad because people rely on calling us to make orders and the lady could not hear me on the phone [...] because of the amount of background noise. In the end, she left the order because it became too stressful for her, which I completely understood.”

The problems began on Wednesday when a planned demonstration surrounded Boon’s stall. The florist asked protesters to move away but was told by the group that the council had approved the protest and they refused to move.

“Then it escalated within minutes and there were hundreds if not thousands of people all surrounding my stall, shouting,” Boon said.




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