Thursday, June 20, 2024

06/20 Links Pt2: Ben Stiller on the Israel-Hamas War and the Need for Peace; The AOC AIPAC Freakout; The Evisceration of Mehdi Hasan

From Ian:

Ben Stiller: Why I Can’t Stay Silent About the Suffering in Israel and Gaza
Like so many Jews I grieve for those who suffered in the barbaric Hamas attack on October 7 and for those who have suffered as a result of those atrocities. My heart aches for the families who lost loved ones to this heinous act of terrorism and for those anxiously waiting these long months for the return of the hostages still in captivity. It’s a nightmare. I also grieve for the innocent people in Gaza who have lost their lives in this conflict and those suffering through that awful reality now.

I detest war, but what Hamas did was unconscionable and reprehensible. The hostages have to be freed. Terrorism must be named and fought by all people of conscience on the planet. There is no excuse for it under any circumstances.

I stand with the Israeli people and their right to live in peace and safety. At the same time, I don’t agree with all of the Israeli government’s choices on how they are conducting the war. I want the violence to end, and the innocent Palestinian people affected by the humanitarian crisis that has resulted to receive the lifesaving aid they need. And I know that many in Israel share this sentiment.

I believe, as many people in Israel and around the world do, in the need for a two-state solution, one that ensures that the Israeli people can live in peace and safety alongside a homeland for the Palestinian people that provides them the same benefits.

I also see a troubling conflation in criticism of the actions of the Israeli government with denunciations of all Israelis and Jewish people. And as a result, we are seeing an undeniable rise in global antisemitism. I am seeing it myself, on the streets of the city I grew up in. It isn’t right and must be denounced.

Antisemitism must be condemned whenever it happens and wherever it exists. As should Islamophobia and bigotry of all kinds. There is a frightening amnesia for history in the air. We must remind ourselves that we can only manifest a more hopeful, just, and peaceful future by learning from the past.

Obviously I am no politician or diplomat. I have no solutions for these world conflicts and claim to offer none. I think I, like so many people, am struggling with how to process this all. But as an advocate for displaced people, I do believe this war must end. As I write this, there are about 120 million people all over the world who have been displaced by conflicts. In the Middle East, in Ukraine, Sudan, and many other countries. They all deserve to live in safety and peace. The human suffering must end. We must demand this of our leaders. Peace is the only path.
Europe: Nazis' 'Do Not Buy from Jews' 2.0
Since October 7, when Iranian proxies Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad committed unspeakable atrocities against men, women, children and babies in Israel, large parts of the international community have been in a frenzy over the Jews' puzzling inclination to defend themselves.

This is the same French government [which banned Israel from participating in Eurosatory 2024 defense industry trade fair] so obsessed with appearing inclusive and non-discriminatory that it recently supported a bill that outlaws discrimination based on hair texture, length, color or style.

Meanwhile, the French government did not think it necessary to ban the participation of China, presently indulging in two genocides – against Tibetans and against Uyghurs – from participating in Eurosatory. China's representation at the trade fair counts around 61 defense companies.

The French government also did not ban... Turkey, which has been taken to the International Criminal Court for committing crimes against humanity against hundreds of thousands of opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruthless regime...

When there are no Jews to blame, evidently, crimes against humanity, genocide and human rights abuses are perfectly acceptable.

Since October 7, more than 19,000 rockets have been launched into Israel, a country smaller than New Jersey, primarily by the terrorist groups ruling Gaza, as well as from another of Iran's terrorist proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon

Never mind that John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, determined that Israel has consistently implemented more measures to prevent civilian casualties than any military in the history of warfare.

"The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace," said Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. The remark, oddly, did not appear to be addressed the entities that started the war: Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Qatar.

Iran, the Middle East's warmonger par excellence, and -- along with major funding from Qatar, which seems never to have met an Islamic terrorist group it did not finance or promote -- was the originator of the current war in Gaza.


Melanie Phillips: Is anti-Zionism antisemitism?
The final canard from Hasan was that, since the whole world hates Israel, the whole world can’t be wrong. But the whole world does not hate Israel. Most ordinary people have no view one way or the other.

It’s the western liberal elites that hate Israel. It’s the anti-western armies of liberal universalists and trans-national institutions and human rights lawyers, the corrupted and amoral world of the UN and its satellites the UN Human Rights Council and the International Court of Justice and UNICEF and UNESCO, and the NGOs and the international humanitarian establishment — the entire bubble of self-righteous Kumbaya fantasists and lawfare-waging “human rights” oligarchs and anti-western “anti-colonialists” and the Israel-bashing global south with their hangers-on and “feminists” who deny the rape and mutilation of Israeli women and “humanitarians” who have no human sympathy for Jewish victims, only for their Palestinian attackers — it’s these people who all want Israel gone.

“Who boos Oxfam?” cried Mehdi Hasan — after the Toronto audience did just that — as if that clinched the argument that Israel’s supporters were beyond the pale. Really? Really? Would that be the Oxfam that allegedly covered up claims that senior staff in Haiti, working after the 2010 earthquake, engaged with prostitutes some of whom were under-age? Would that be the Oxfam whose staff claimed that “colleagues in positions of power” in its Congo office threatened to poison them if they reported their complaints?

Would that be the Oxfam whose funding the UK government stopped in 2021 over further claims of sexual exploitation of the charity’s vulnerable clients? Would that be the Oxfam that systematically excuses, sanitises or ignores Palestinian terrorism and instead lays all blame for Palestinian suffering at the door of its Israeli victims? Would that be the Oxfam that has called on the UK government to stop sending arms to Israel so that it can no longer defend itself against the further genocide of the Jews that’s openly threatened by its enemies?

Can the whole world really be wrong about Israel? sneered Mehdi Hasan. With that question, he undermined his whole position in this debate. For antisemites have always asked exactly the same question about the Jews. “Since the whole world hates them”, cry the antisemites, “doesn’t that prove they must be guilty of what they’re accused of doing”?

No. What it actually proves is that antisemitism is a unique global derangement. And the current auto-da-fé targeted at Israel, Zionism and the Jewish people — which Mehdi Hasan and Gideon Levy tried further to weaponise in Toronto — is, as they unwittingly demonstrated, precisely the same thing.
The Evisceration of Mehdi Hasan
Few tears were shed at HonestReporting in November 2023 when MSNBC announced the cancelation of long-time detractor of Israel, Mehdi Hasan’s regular show. Rather than accept his effective demotion, Hasan eventually chose to quit the network and launch his own independent media company, Zeteo.

Unfortunately, while MSNBC did very little to restrain his brand of anti-Israel agitprop, Hasan now has even more freedom to pursue his obsessive attacks on Israel through his own outlet and on social media.

So it was gratifying to see Hasan’s holier-than-thou persona brought down a peg or two when he came up against UK lawyer Natasha Hausdorff and author and political commentator Douglas Murray in a must-see Munk Debate on anti-Zionism.

Speaking in favor of the motion that anti-Zionism is antisemitism, Hausdorff and Murray beat Hasan and hateful Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy by 66% to 34%. Not only that, between the beginning of the debate and the end, support for Mehdi’s position actually dropped by 5%.

But more importantly, it was demonstrated that Hasan, the author of the book “Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking,” actively employs lies and distortions in his efforts to win every argument.
‘The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza is all down to Hamas. All of it’: Douglas Murray on Israel and Palestine, Canada, and the European Right
The Hub’s managing editor Harrison Lowman got the chance to speak to debater Douglas Murray, who has been visiting Israel regularly over the past year. They discussed the conflict in the Middle East, Canada’s reputation on the world stage, U.K. and European elections, and the future of the West. On Israel

HARRISON LOWMAN: Douglas why do you think it’s important, if not essential, for non-Jews, like yourself to defend Israel and the Jewish people?

DOUGLAS MURRAY: I think there are lots of reasons. The first is that I believe in following the facts and the truth. And I think this has been subjected to a huge defamation and lies and libels. The second is, in some way, the moral one. Which is not just the debt that the world owes the Jews from the 20th century, but the debt that the Western world owes Jews as one of the great wellsprings of our civilization and one of the great gifts to our civilization.

On the less moral level, on a strategic level, I think that people should support Israel’s right to defend itself. Because the war that Israel is currently fighting is a war that we may all well be involved in at some point closer to home. To deny Israel the right to defend itself will end up being us denying the right of ourselves to defend ourselves someday. This is something I do not want to see happen. But you know, in Canada, war seems an awfully long way away. You’ve got a pretty good neighbour.

HARRISON LOWMAN: You’ve been in the Middle East over the course of the last few months. What does a Canadian in an armchair here commenting on the conflict, potentially criticizing Israel, not comprehend about what it’s like to be in that “neighbourhood” in the Middle East?

DOUGLAS MURRAY: Imagine living in a glass cocoon, a protective device. You’re just fine. And then one day, the glass shatters. And that’s what Israel is living in. It’s living in the period after the glass shattered. And that is when the worst human evil comes right at you and things you thought could never be done are done right in front of you. To have an army of the barbarous, torturous rapist sadists in front of you is quite something. And that’s what Hamas has produced. And on the seventh of October, it rampaged and did things that your readers can’t imagine.

HARRISON LOWMAN: Yes. You described some of those horrors during the debate. I want to bring up a couple points your opposing debaters brought up to give our readers a sense of the debate and your responses.

So, one of the points that was raised was that you and Natasha Hausdorff spoke at great length about the suffering of Israeli citizens and Jews in the West, but they alleged you overlooked the immense suffering of Palestinians, many of whom are innocent and are dying in Gaza from Israeli bombs. That you treated them as “invisible.” What’s your response to all this?

DOUGLAS MURRAY: It’s not true. And we repeatedly said as much. Gideon Levy criticized me for not talking about the Palestinians in my opening speech, it’s because I didn’t have time. But we spoke about the Palestinians later, including the citizens of Gaza, who present a serious potential insuperable issue for Israel and the region.

I wanted to focus on the initial kind, the initial act of war, which was Hamas invading Israel. Wars have consequences. You don’t start a war and then when you lose it, grouse about the fact you’re losing it.

There’s no reason why you can’t be pro-Israel and also hope that someday the Palestinians might have a peaceable state that they wish to run peacefully alongside their Israeli neighbors. But, that’s not in the offing at the moment. And the other side advocated things that are impossible. If you abolish the Jewish state, what is this one state that will exist? It’s a dream of antisemites.
Douglas Murray scores ‘emphatic victory’ in Munk debate
Sky News host Rita Panahi says Author Douglas Murray had an “emphatic victory” in a recent debate in which he argued that anti-Zionism is antisemitism.

Mr Murray claimed victory with 66 per cent of the audience vote in the Munk Debate against political commentator Mehdi Hasan and journalist Gideon Levy.

“I think we can see why you won the debate,” Ms Panahi said.

Ms Panahi sat down with Douglas Murray to discuss the Munk Debate and the rise of antisemitism in the West.




Message Not Sent
Born in London to Israeli parents, Eylon Levy was just 21 years old when he got his first taste of media exposure. He was a student in philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford and joined its famous debate team, the Oxford Union. When the opportunity arose to confront the notorious anti-Semitic MP George Galloway, Levy leapt at it.

The debate topic was “Israeli occupation of the West Bank.” After Galloway’s ten-minute opening statement calling for the West Bank to be made Judenrein, Levy took the podium to defend Israel’s stance. For reasons he still doesn’t fully understand, Levy repeatedly referred to Israelis as “we” instead of “them.” This did not go unnoticed by Galloway, who’s a skilled debater.

“You said ‘we,’ ” Galloway noted. “Are you Israeli?” After Levy affirmed that he was, Galloway stood up and declared, “I don’t recognize Israel and I don’t debate Israelis!” With that, he stormed out of the room, triggering headlines for young Levy.

The subconscious identification with his Israeli heritage was an outgrowth of Levy’s traditional upbringing; he would probably fit into the mold of masorati in an Israeli context.

“I went to a Jewish primary school, Naima, the Sephardi primary school in London,” says Levy, now 33. “That gave me my formative grounding in Jewish education. After that, I was at a school that wasn’t officially Jewish but had so many Jewish kids that it closed every year on Yom Kippur because there weren’t enough students to keep the school running.”

Levy describes the religious identity of his home as “somewhere on the secular to traditional spectrum,” though he emphasizes that he grew up “with a very strong Jewish and Israeli consciousness.” His parents, who were both born in Israel, made sure of that.

“It’s impossible to escape when you have a Hebrew name,” he says. “There’s no hiding it, my name isn’t Andrew. So although I grew up feeling very British, I was also essentially a second-generation immigrant. We spoke Hebrew at home, and we all have Hebrew names. Like many Jews, it was a question of growing up with a hybrid identity.”

A turning point for Levy came in 2014, when he traveled to Poland to participate in the March of the Living. “I remember being in Auschwitz after a very difficult week, learning about the Shoah with a survivor on the bus, standing in the ceremony, meters away from the rubble of the gas chambers and crematorium, wrapped in an Israeli flag, trying to sing ‘Hatikvah’ and choking on my own tears, and realizing that the decision had been made for me.”

At 23, during the 2014 Gaza war, Levy enlisted in the IDF and served on the staff of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT). “We were basically the point of intersection between the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli authorities, and international organizations,” he explains.

Growing up, Levy never thought he would work in media, and he now says his career came about “almost by chance.” After two years in the army, he decided to stay in Israel, uncertain about his next steps, when he heard that the new Israeli Broadcast Authority was looking to expand its staff. They needed a new anchor for their daily English-language show.

“I went, did a screen test, and they took me,” he says.

Levy’s early days on camera tease the formidable media operator he was to become. In a 2016 interview that garnered attention, an almost boyish Levy cornered the then-EU ambassador to Israel, Danish diplomat Lars Faaborg-Andersen, demanding he condemn the European Parliament’s ovation for Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. Levy’s ability to articulate and defend his ideas without flinching was evident even then, when he was a novice facing a seasoned diplomat.
Lahav Harkov: How to Improve Israel’s Public Diplomacy
Recommendations
Israel needs a formal, professional, civilian body responsible for public diplomacy, with a budget and full-time paid personnel enabling it to operate more fully at all times, not only in wartime. Having consistent names and faces that journalists and the public know will allow for more effective communication when a crisis breaks out. That full-time public diplomacy team would prepare a crisis communications plan, to be put in place during wartime.

That plan could include “enlisting” additional spokespeople temporarily, but capable people able to represent the government on camera in key languages – not only English – should be employed full-time. Foreign Ministry employees, many of whom have useful experience in this area, can be loaned out to the Public Diplomacy Directorate for this purpose, in a similar way to how some are loaned out as diplomatic advisers to government ministries and the Knesset speaker.

Visual communications are often as important as what is said by the spokespeople. Therefore, while their abilities are the highest priority, the team of spokespeople should have an appropriate gender balance and reflect Israel’s diverse society.

Permanent spokespeople are not the only employees that a more robust public diplomacy system needs. The IDF Spokesman’s Unit should have an intelligence officer permanently on its staff to examine open-source intelligence for Israel’s advantage, as well as to rapidly respond to accusations of wrongdoing. Public relations experts who would not necessarily be on camera are important as well, to field reporters’ questions and work with non-broadcast media. Graphic and video artists are needed, as well as fact-checkers and researchers to support those who are speaking to the press and the public.

A larger staff for the PMO Public Diplomacy Directorate would also allow for the cultivation of relationships with journalists, facilitating deeper and more frequent background briefings and the pitching of stories that show Israel in a more favorable light.

More foreign media should be allowed to embed with IDF troops in Gaza. When foreign media are allowed to directly accompany the IDF, this often leads to more accurate and nuanced portrayals of IDF operations.

The Public Diplomacy Directorate is meant to coordinate between different bodies communicating the government’s messages at home and abroad – it must make a greater effort in that respect, especially by integrating the IDF into the broader structure, without putting obstacles in front of its efforts that are working well. Cooperation between the Public Diplomacy Directorate, the Foreign Ministry and the Diaspora Affairs Ministry should be deepened as well, to ensure that a consistent message is being sent and that all of Israel’s public diplomacy assets worldwide are being used effectively.
Esteemed columnist tackles the big issues
New York Times columnist Bret Stephens had harsh words for Australia’s government when asked on Monday night about its mixed messaging on the Israel-Hamas war.

“As an American, we are aware of when Australia is meaningfully contributing to serious solutions to great international problems,” he said at an Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council event at Sydney’s Central Synagogue.

“We’re also aware of when it’s idiotic posturing … and I would just say to this government that they are underlining, at least on this issue, their own irrelevance with this kind of gesture politics that they’re engaging in.”

The former Wall Street Journal columnist and Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief was equally scathing of calls for a ceasefire in the war.

“The only way in which this war should end is with the complete destruction of Hamas as a capable military or viable political force,” he said. “You can defeat or not defeat the ideology – what you have to defeat is the idea among Palestinians that launching another October 7, or pursuing the strategy of Hamas, is a viable strategy for them and only unequivocal military defeat is going to achieve that.

“All of these efforts at a ceasefire are not only misguided, but they simply create the conditions in which there will be future October 7s.”

He said ceasefire talk also undermines the future of the Abraham Accords. “Among the many reasons Israel has to defeat Hamas is to demonstrate to moderate Arab states that Israel is someone they want in their corner,” he said.
Hillel Neuer Addresses Dutch Parliament on UNRWA
Testimony by UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer before Dutch Parliament, delivered June 20, 2024: The Role of UNRWA in Gaza




Western Hamasniks must come to terms with Israel’s existence
Paranoia about Jewish self-determination returning emerged in medieval England with the blood libel. The monk Thomas of Monmouth created the template, fantasising that Jewish scriptures demanded the blood of children as a precondition for the return of Jews to their homeland and self-determination.

His conspiracy fiction about Jews undermining Christian supremacy turned people into homicidal maniacs all over Europe. And now in 2024 people across the Western world are again calling Jews “child killers”, empowered by a group who believe that the existence of a Jewish state undermines their Islamist vision. They disavow the previous incarnations of blood libel, but argue that it is legitimate this time because it is right and true.

Historically when diaspora Jews finally did get rights, there were conditions. Demands that they give up the part of their identity that defines Jewishness as a nation started with the birth of secularism in 1789.

The Deputy of the French Revolution, Clermont-Tonnerre, announced that Jews would be accepted if they conformed to the Christian ideal of having a solely religious identity, so France would “refuse everything to Jews as a nation”.

Clermont-Tonnerre’s diktat is being vigorously enforced today.

October 7 gave us a glimpse into a pre-Israel world – and the most likely scenario in the event of a post-Israel world. Before Israel existed, the majority of its Jewish citizens lived a precarious existence in the Middle East with inferior rights. Palestinians certainly aren’t going anywhere, but neither are Israelis because, unlike colonial communities, they are home and living in their motherland.

The West needs to come to terms with this reality. Until that happens, support for Hamas’ perpetual war of elimination will only get more Palestinians and Jews killed. Playing this zero-sum game is to play a dangerous game of denial.
Israel’s Moment of Peril—and Promise
REVIEW: ‘Hope and Despair: Israel’s Future in the New Middle East’ by Michael Horowitz
Hope and Despair does an excellent job of highlighting recent changes in both Israel and the Middle East. Horowitz deserves credit for detailing both Israeli and Palestinian political developments. He shows the former to be more complicated than many mainstream media narratives would have you believe. For example, his look at the various religious political parties in Israel, and their frequent role as kingmakers and moderators, is valuable. Ditto for his examination of Palestinian politics.

Horowitz correctly depicts Mahmoud Abbas, the octogenarian autocrat who heads the Palestinian Authority, as both corrupt and embattled. Abbas is currently in the 19th year of a single four-year term. He is deeply unpopular and has no clear successor in place. When he exits, chaos is sure to follow. This scenario is seldom discussed by leading news outlets. Horowitz performs a service by offering a detailed discussion of who might succeed him. The PA, he observes, is brittle, its institutions corroded by one-man rule. Indeed, the Palestinian Authority could very well go when Abbas does—a situation that would present both Israel and the United States with serious problems, and Iran and its proxies with opportunities.

Yet Hope and Despair does omit important context and details. The book argues that Israel is too disinterested in peace talks with Palestinians. Many Israeli leaders, Horowitz asserts, prefer the status quo instead of working toward a "two-state solution."

But the author fails to detail the numerous occasions in which Palestinian leaders have rejected statehood if it meant living in peace next to a Jewish state. To wit, Palestinian leaders refused U.S. and Israeli proposals for statehood in 2000 at Camp David, 2001 at Taba, and 2008 after the Annapolis Conference, among other recent instances. If Israelis and many Arab leaders feel that the conflict is "unsolvable" as Horowitz says, this history helps explain why.

Horowitz’s assertion, moreover, that "Abbas has never supported calls for violence" against Israelis is false. Under Abbas, the PA has praised numerous terrorist attacks, including the October 7 massacre. The authority continues to pay tax-deductible salaries to those who murder and maim Jews, and its media and educational arms continue to encourage anti-Jewish violence. Abbas himself has incited violence, perhaps most notably in a 2015 speech during the so-called Stabbing Intifada, in which he said, "we welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem." To make peace, one must first have a peace partner.

Horowitz also overlooks the role the Biden administration’s feting of Iran played in increasing regional tensions. He notes that progress on the Abraham Accords has slowed since 2021, but doesn’t connect this, or the dramatic reduction in American deterrence in the region, to the Biden administration’s decision to return to Obama-era policies centered around appeasing Tehran.

Despite these omissions, Hope and Despair is a serious and informative book, written dispassionately and anchored in serious analysis. "The region is changing in a way that Israel cannot control," Horowitz warns. In the Middle East, it might be said, the more things change the more they stay the same.
Eric Cohen: Is there a future for Jews in America? | Think Twice w/ Jonathan Tobin
"The key thing to understand is that this attack on Jews is also an attack and an assault on America and on the West."

Anyone honestly looking at the rise of antisemitism on campus and in major cities in the US is worried about the future of American Jewry. Are we witnessing the end of the golden era of Jews in America? Is there a path forward where Jews can once again feel safe?

To discuss this, JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by TIkvah Fund Executive Director Eric Cohen who posits for American Jewry to thrive there needs to be a "second exodus" from so-called higher institutions and a paradigm shift in who we consider our allies.

For anyone concerned about the future of American Jewry, this is a conversation you don't want to miss!


No, Humza Yousaf, Britain is not ‘Islamophobic’
These comments may be both unpleasant and untrue, but Yousaf is fooling himself if he really believes the UK is blighted by racial unfairness and anti-Muslim prejudice. Yes, anti-Muslim bigotry certainly exists in the UK, but it is a gross over-exaggeration to suggest that a couple of off-colour comments by politicians equate to institutional discrimination. Life is by no means bad for British Muslims. And despite what Yousaf might think, Britain actually comes out significantly better on this score when compared with the rest of Europe.

Unlike on the continent, the UK is far more tolerant when it comes to religious freedom. In France, a rigid model of secular republicanism means that ‘conspicuous’ religious symbols – including hijabs and abayas – are banned in public schools. Infamously, ‘burkinis’ are banned at beaches. Similar, albeit less severe, restrictions also exist in Germany. Such bans were introduced by mainstream parties – not by the right-wing populists Yousaf is warning about. Besides, the aim of these rules is to promote secularism, not to codify bigotry against Muslims.

The reality is that Britain is an objectively good place to live as a Muslim. It comfortably outperforms major EU member states when it comes to anti-discrimination protections on the grounds of race, ethnicity and religion. This is a country whose current monarch has openly praised Islamic contributions to history and whose government has committed over £117million to protecting mosques, Islamic faith schools and other Muslim sites. Far from being hostile to its Muslim populations, as Yousaf seems to imagine, the UK has largely welcomed them with open arms.

Just ask British Muslims themselves. A recent report by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life found that over four in five British Muslims believed that, when compared with other European countries, the UK is a better place for Muslims to practise their faith while being involved in wider public life. On the whole, British Muslims have an overwhelmingly positive view of the country they call home, seeing it as a place of opportunity and improvement.

For all its flaws, Britain is easily one of the best places in the world to live as a Muslim. It is a shame that so many of our most prominent Muslim political figures would rather be part of the ‘Islamophobia’ grievance industry than tell this simple truth.


Rachel Maddow denies antisemitism on Left as dangerous as White nationalism on Right: 'No parallel'
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow claimed there was "no parallel" between antisemitism on the far-Left and White nationalism seen on the far-Right, during an appearance on the "Behind the Table" podcast.

Maddow appeared on the behind-the-scenes podcast for "The View" after being a guest on the political daytime talk show on Tuesday. While there, co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin referenced Maddow's book about fascism in the 1930s to ask about modern-day antisemitism on the Right and Left.

"We remember Charlottesville, but I have to be honest. I'm also deeply afraid of some of the Left-wing antisemitism I've seen," Farah Griffin stated. She asked Maddow if she was also concerned about antisemitic protests on the Left.

"There could be antisemitism emerging from both sides," Farah Griffin stated. "Are you fearful of that? And how do we address it as a society knowing that we're just 80 years out from the Holocaust?"

Rachel Maddow denies antisemitism on left 'parallel' to right-wing antisemitism
Rachel Maddow denied antisemitic protests around the US were an equal threat to democracy as antisemitism on the Right. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images/FOX)

Maddow said that she didn't believe there was a parallel between antisemitism on the Right and the Left.

"It's one of those situations where there isn't a mirror image," she replied.

The MSNBC host argued that a "neo-Nazi, super-racist, White supremacist movement" on the Right was not a new threat. She claimed that the real danger was having a U.S. president support it, implying former President Trump had done so.

"The danger," she said, was having people in positions of power, like in the White House, "inviting that in" and "giving their stamp of approval." statue defaced

Anti-Israel protesters deface a statue in Washington D.C., on June 8, 2024. (FNTV)

"That sort of accelerant is super dangerous. I think there's just no parallel to that on the Left. I don't think you see President Biden [endorsing that]," she continued.
What Does the Student Intifada Want?
They do not care about our universities, either. They are simply using them as pawns in their revolutionary struggle. As Daas said, “We are in the belly of the beast . . . we are located in the primary supporter and sustainer of Israel’s power, and our universities are expressions of that.” Whereas before students would work within the institution, now “the role of the student movement has shifted, and now we are working to transform our institutions . . . the target is the institution.” While students are entitled to share their views on campus, academic leaders need to recognize and reject these efforts to infiltrate their schools.

Administrators should also note the connection between off-campus activists and student demonstrations. We already know, for example, that outside agitators were sharing recruiting documents and giving students pro bono legal assistance. The conference’s attendees confirmed the extent of the collaboration. As the Writers Against the War on Gaza representative at the conference noted, “we were at the encampments, and . . . we were kind of lending our support through media trainings initially, but . . . ended up becoming somewhat of organizers.” Daas, who complained that claims of outside coordination were false, later insisted that anti-Israel groups “must continue to build power on campus, we must continue to agitate students, to mobilize them, and organize them, and . . . we must do this in tandem with the community.”

The looming question for higher education leaders is whether protests will return in the fall. Universities need to be ready if they do. These demonstrations are supported by off-campus activists, who want to exploit and further corrupt our educational institutions. The people involved view American universities as part of both a long-term war to eradicate Israel and undermine the United States. The vanguard of these movements is driven by a quasi-spiritual desire for revolution. They will not be satisfied by civil discourse and the free exchange of ideas.

University administrators can and should use the ordinary means at their disposal—reasonable time, manner, and place restrictions—to quash the more aggressive demonstrations. They can enforce their existing policies against harassment, discrimination, and creating a hostile environment to the same effect. If they haven’t already, they should adopt official policies of institutional neutrality, ruling out the political statements, divestments, and academic boycotts that protesters are demanding.

Administrators and faculty could also offer educational opportunities, including ones that will appeal to their students’ moral instincts but give them a chance to think through the complexity, history, and politics of the Israel-Palestine conflict. They have compassion for the suffering in Gaza: But do they understand what happened on October 7? They want to divest from material support for war: Do they want to sleep in tents and eat food supplied by supporters of Hamas? Have they studied what terms such as “settler colonialism,” “genocide,” and “apartheid” really mean? Those who already think like the speakers at the Detroit conference might be too far gone to be reached, but many students participating in the protests might reconsider when presented with history and facts.

In the long term, colleges and universities must reform their admissions and hiring processes. Institutions should reevaluate what they look for in the people who join their campus communities. Free speech must be protected, but prospective students need to respect the academic purposes of these schools. They should be selected primarily for their academic promise, not their activist commitments.

The ultimate question is this: Will academic leaders recognize the danger they have brought to their campuses, or will they hand the activists a pack of matches?
Head of Anti-Semitic Group Calls To Expel Zionists from New York City
The leader of an anti-Israel activist group on Wednesday called to expel supporters of the Jewish state from the city, while criticizing the New York Police Department’s efforts to track down a man who threatened and tried to identify "Zionists" on a subway car.

"We don’t want zionists in Palestine, NYC, our schools, on the train, ANYWHERE," Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within Our Lifetime, wrote on X. "This is free speech, it is saying we don’t want racists here."

Kiswani's comments come just over a week after viral video of an anti-Semitic incident on a subway car in the city sparked national controversy and an NYPD investigation. On the same day Within Our Lifetime staged a protest against an exhibit commemorating victims of the Oct. 7 massacre, pro-Palestinian protesters filled a subway car, and one called for "Zionists" to identify themselves.

"Raise your hands if you're a Zionist," one of the protesters yelled, with his fellow demonstrators then repeating the chant. "Repeat after me, this is your chance to get out!"

The NYPD asked for the public's help in identifying the protester who led the chant, and police are reportedly looking to press hate crime charges in the incident. Kiswani, however, in her Wednesday post dismissed the investigation as a waste of time.

"The NYPD is preoccupied with this phrase over zionists beating ppl in the streets & threatening to rape protesters & their families??" Kiswani wrote.

Kiswani and her organization have a history of anti-Semitic rhetoric and voicing support for Hamas. Within Our Lifetime is banned from Instagram for violating hate speech guidelines, and Kiswani has praised Hamas on social media, saying she was disappointed that only 50 percent of young adults support the terror group.


As Anti-Semitism Surges, Some Colleges Face Exodus of Jewish Students From Campus
After months of surging anti-Semitism at elite universities, some of these schools are facing a disturbing trend for next fall: an exodus of Jewish students from campus.

Jewish undergrads are reportedly leaving schools with significant anti-Semitism problems, such as Columbia University and Northwestern University, while the percentage of Jews at many Ivy League schools is dropping.

In contrast, Yeshiva University, the private Orthodox Jewish school in New York, has seen a 53 percent increase in transfers this spring, after extending its transfer deadline for Jewish refugees from less hospitable schools.

At Northwestern University, where the school president Michael Schill has been criticized for failing to adequately address anti-Semitic attacks, one rising sophomore told the Washington Free Beacon that he recently transferred to another university for the fall semester.

"No student should have to go through what Jewish students went through this year, and to not have the university's backing," said the student, who asked for his name to be withheld.

His decision came after Northwestern administrators agreed to grant numerous concessions to anti-Israel campus demonstrators who harassed Jewish students and illegally set up encampments on university grounds.

Administrators "rewarded instead of punishing people who have been openly anti-Semitic and intimidat[ed] Jewish students," he said.

The student said he witnessed a demonstrator yell at one Jewish student, "You're a Jew, go back to Poland." He said one of his friends stopped wearing a yarmulke on campus due to the harassment.

"Prior to October 7th, I felt safe basically everywhere on campus," he said. "[After] … I did not feel safe walking around at night alone, going to the cafeteria or the gym."
Boston liberal arts college blames low enrollment, possible staff cuts on anti-Israel protests
A Boston liberal arts college admitted that the recent anti-Israel protests on campus have contributed to low enrollment for the upcoming academic year, which will necessitate possible staffing cuts.

In an internal message this week, Emerson College president Jay Bernhardt pointed to "multiple factors" prompting a "significant" shortage in the incoming freshman class, including the protests and the press generated by them.

"We want to share with our community that the size of our incoming first-year class for Fall 2024 is significantly below what we had hoped," Bernhardt’s statement declared this week.

"We attribute this reduction to multiple factors, including national enrollment trends away from smaller private institutions, an enrollment deposit delay in response to the new FAFSA rollout, student protests targeting our yield events and campus tours, and negative press and social media generated from the demonstrations and arrests."

Bernhardt disclosed that the school would be looking to implement layoffs and budget cuts to account for the lost revenue. Tuition for the 2024-25 school year is listed at $55,200, and room and board costs are more than $20,000.

"We will limit our staff and faculty searches next year and carefully review existing programs and offerings for future savings," the college said. "Finally, we will need to eliminate some staff positions, both vacant and filled, and potentially reduce some faculty positions."

Emerson College saw a wave of anti-Israel protests on campus this spring that resulted in clashes with Boston police and arrests.
Santa Monica College Professors Accused of Creating Antisemitic Assignments
Santa Monica College has received a legal complaint letter from nonpartisan education organization StandWithUS regarding two class assignments that they call bigoted, harassing, and ultimately illegal. StandWithUs supports Israel and fights antisemitism.

The assignments involved are:
(1) Professor Elias Serna's Ethnic Studies 1: Introduction to Ethnic Studies in which he asked, "What are your thoughts on the ongoing destruction and genocide by Israel in Palestine? What forms of protest have you witnessed or observed? What effect does protest have on the political situation in Gaza? What effect is it having on this generation?"
(2) Professor Ali Ahmadpour's Art History 11 asked students to consider what installation they would create as art director in an SMC encampment "to educate the community about the ongoing conflict in Gaza on the occupied Palestinian lands."

According to StandWithUs, the students who were given the assignments are so afraid of retaliation from SMC administration, faculty and other students that they have asked to remain anonymous. Students at SMC must maintain a high grade point average if they hope to transfer to a University of California campus to finish their bachelor's degrees.

Similar complaints were made against SMC in March, prompting SMC Superintendent/President Kathryn Jeffery to issue a statement supporting the academic freedom of professors to "determine the approach to a subject...without having their decisions subject to the veto of a department chair, dean, or other administrative officer." At the same time, she claimed to guarantee the students' right to be "shielded from prejudiced or capricious evaluation of their academic performance by instructors..."

The Director of the StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department, Yael Lerman, however, points out two problems with Jeffery's position: one practical and the other legal.
Wanted: Adult Supervision at Columbia
Are there no adults in the Columbia administration? That's a rhetorical question that answered itself last week when the dean of Columbia College, Josef Sorett, put out a statement on Friday addressing a series of disparaging text messages he and several other top university administrators exchanged during a panel last month about Jewish life on campus 🤢🤮.

Sorett's statement—the university's only one on the matter to date—went to the university's Board of Visitors, a group of more than two dozen influential Columbia graduates that advises the dean, and he was doing damage control in the wake of a Washington Free Beacon report that revealed the content of those text messages.

One has to imagine that several of Sorett's colleagues reviewed the statement before it went out. And yet there he was, saying with a straight face that "our team prioritized attending this panel as part of our ongoing effort to listen to the range of experiences of our Jewish community." An adult would have pointed out that the deans were not doing much listening, they were texting like high schoolers behind the panelists' backs.

He went on. The text messages—captured in crystal-clear photographs—do not, he said, represent "the views of any individual or the team." An adult would have advised him not to insult the intelligence of his audience. "I have already spoken to each person involved," Sorett added, omitting any mention of his personal participation in the text exchanges. "We are looking carefully at this incident." An adult might have told him to take some personal responsibility.

Worst of all, though, Sorett accused the individual who took the photographs in question—and who bore witness to four university deans trading anti-Semitic barbs as Jews discussed their experiences on campus—of an "invasion of privacy." An adult would have told him not to blame the victim and to take his lumps.
Three Columbia Deans Placed on Leave Pending Investigation
Three of the Columbia University deans caught exchanging dismissive text messages during a May 31 panel on anti-Semitism have been placed on leave as the university investigates the incident, a spokesman for the school said Thursday.

"The Dean of Columbia College informed his team today that three administrators have been placed on leave pending a university investigation of the incident that occurred at the College alumni reunion several weeks ago," the spokesman said.

That dean, Josef Sorett, who also took part in the text exchanges, "reiterated his commitment to learning from this situation and other incidents over the last year to build a community of respect and healthy dialogue."

The three deans placed on leave, Susan Chang-Kim, Matthew Patashnick, and Cristen Kromm, were captured—along with Sorett—exchanging derisive and anti-Semitic text messages. The texts included Kromm's use of vomit emojis to refer to a Columbia University rabbi's op-ed sounding the alarm about the eruption of anti-Semitism on campus and Patashnick's accusation that one of the panelists, Columbia Hillel director Brian Cohen, was taking "full advantage of this moment" for its "fundraising potential."

A Columbia spokesman said the school had no comment regarding why Sorett, who took part in the text exchanges, was not placed on leave or on the propriety of Sorett making the announcement that his colleagues are under investigation. Likewise, the spokesman declined to say who would conduct the investigation, to whom the results would be reported, and whether the results would be made public.

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce earlier this week requested that Columbia turn over the administrators' texts to the committee by June 26.
Manhattan DA Drops Charges Against 30 Columbia Protesters Arrested Over Campus Building Occupation
The Manhattan district attorney's office, led by anti-Trump prosecutor Alvin Bragg, dismissed trespassing charges against 30 Columbia University protesters who were arrested for occupying a campus building.

The Washington Free Beacon attended the Thursday afternoon proceedings at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. A trove of students and their supporters, many of whom used face masks and keffiyehs to cover their faces, streamed into the building just before 3 p.m., the Free Beacon observed.

Inside the courtroom—where audio and video recording is not allowed—a prosecutor in Bragg's office argued that the defendants should not face criminal penalties, citing their lack of criminal histories and arguing that the protesters will face internal discipline at Columbia.

The prosecutor also argued that Bragg's office lacked evidence to land convictions in the cases, given those who occupied Hamilton Hall wore masks and covered up surveillance cameras. New York City police arrested the occupiers while they were inside Hamilton Hall.

The Free Beacon spotted several Columbia faculty members in the crowd, and the public defender for the protesters made reference to "Hind's Hall," the name student protesters used to refer to Hamilton Hall. Ahead of the proceedings, a Columbia faculty group urged its Instagram followers to "come on through" to a "Pack the Courts for the Hind's Hall 46" demonstration.

In total, Bragg's office dismissed charges against 30 individuals arrested for occupying the building. As a result, the large majority of those who occupied Hamilton Hall will not face criminal penalties—46 people were arrested and charged in connection with the occupation.
Extremism wake-up call
Jewish communal leaders are uniting around efforts by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) to obtain a federal ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir, after revelations the extremist organisation was involved in last November’s violence outside a Melbourne synagogue, the University of Sydney encampment and in wider pro-Palestinian unrest.

The ZFA will write to the government after a Nine newspapers probe detailed the outfit’s infiltration of pro-Gaza demonstrations and its role in the now disbanded USYD encampment.

University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott emailed staff on Monday “concerning allegations regarding external influences on the protest encampment … we are seeking advice from authorities”.

Nine’s investigation found Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia has attached itself to pro-Palestinian organisations to pursue the violent replacement of Israel with an Islamic caliphate.

The group was active in street violence near a Caulfield synagogue on November 10, forcing it to be evacuated.

ZFA president Jeremy Leibler said the Nine investigation “must be a wake-up call”.

“Hizb ut-Tahrir is promoting terrorism, hatred and violence. We will be writing to the Australian government, urging it to initiate the legal process for Hizb ut-Tahrir to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation,” he said.

Describing Hizb ut-Tahrir’s rhetoric as “antisemitic, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic and anti-Western”, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim urged federal legislation to widen the powers of the Home Affairs Minister.

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive director Colin Rubenstein said his organisation “has long warned of the danger” from Hizb ut-Tahrir.

“At the very least, it should be subject to much greater legal scrutiny.”

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told The AJN, the government “condemns the hateful comments by members of Hizb ut-Tahrir. We take advice from our security and intelligence agencies about whether to list organisations, and we don’t speculate publicly about that process.”
Refusal to vacate at USYD
A group of protesters were still refusing to vacate the University of Sydney’s (USYD’s) ostensibly pro-Palestinian encampment at the time The AJN went to press, after the university finally gave them their marching orders last Friday.

“The matter isn’t resolved and we’re still in continuous contact with them [USYD],” NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip told The AJN on Wednesday.

Vice-chancellor Mark Scott said in an email to staff on Monday that following the rejection of USYD’s offer to review its ties with other universities in exchange for the encampment being voluntarily dismantled, “We informed the encampment representatives that we require them to vacate the front lawns, so we can prepare for Semester 2 Welcome Fest.

“We’ve repeatedly stated that we support the right to peaceful protest, provided it doesn’t cause significant disruption to core university operations,” Scott continued.

“We consider preparations for Welcome Fest to be core university operations – and any activity that impedes this constitutes a significant and unacceptable disruption.”

The order to dismantle the encampment came just days before an explosive 60 Minutes report revealed representatives of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir had visited the installation and held events there.

But while Students For Palestine and other secular so-called progressive groups have packed up, the Sydney University Muslim Students’ Association (SUMSA), Stand4Palestine – the group linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir – and other Islamic groups have vowed to stay.

“The Muslims at USYD have a resolve based on more than the human rights that the UN peddle,” Stand4Palestine wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “Muslims will continue this camp, we are immensely proud of them.”

Meanwhile, The Age revealed on Tuesday that a mob broke into the University of Melbourne’s Baillieu Library earlier this month where they damaged equipment and spray-painted homages to West Bank Palestinian terror group “Lions Den” on the walls and floors.
3 in 10 campus 'pro-Palestine' protesters had job offer rescinded in past six months: Survey
A recent survey found that 3 in 10 college students or recent graduates had job offers rescinded as a result of their “pro-Palestine” activism.

Intelligent surveyed 672 students or recent college graduates who have engaged in anti-Israel activism and found that 29% of them had a job offer rescinded in the past six months and 55% believe there was bias against them in the hiring process because of their activism.

7 in 10 pro-Palestine activists said they were asked about their protest history during the interview process, according to the survey results.

Intelligent Chief Education and Career Development Advisor Huy Nguyen said that the results are consistent with other studies.

“It’s consistent with another study that we performed where employers expressed concerns that hiring protestors and strongly vocal activists might cause distractions and disruptions in the workplace and negatively impact their workplace,” Nguyen said.

21% of those surveyed also reported negative feedback from potential employers about their activism and 14% either had job offers withdrawn or not extended.


After Nova exhibit article, The New Republic faces questions over impartiality of its new reporter
There’s very little that unites Squad lawmakers Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) with conservative House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). But all three, along with a wide swath of political leaders including the White House, found themselves briefly aligned last week when they condemned protesters who celebrated Hamas and Hezbollah outside the Nova music festival exhibit in Manhattan — and described the demonstration as antisemitic.

Days later, The New Republic published an article arguing that it was “disinformation” to say that the protests outside the Nova exhibit and other recent anti-Zionist actions in New York were antisemitic. Referring to a tweet from President Joe Biden that condemned “horrific acts of antisemitism,” the magazine’s newly hired associate writer for breaking news, Talia Jane, who uses they/them pronouns, said Biden was wrong: “None of the instances Biden cited were antisemitic.”

The analysis has drawn criticism, including from some former New Republic staffers, for Jane’s approach to claims of antisemitism and their willingness to dismiss incidents that many Jews deemed antisemitic. But more than that, Jane’s public social media postings about antisemitism, the war in Gaza and Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel raise questions about their impartiality in covering those topics.

“I’m always hesitant to label people racist, antisemite, unless there’s just absolutely undeniable evidence. I think [Jane is] just making terrible arguments that come from a place of factional purity in defense of people who are antisemitic,” said Jonathan Chait, a political columnist at New York magazine and a former senior editor at The New Republic.

An avid poster on social media, Jane has defended people accused of antisemitism and justified the targeting of Jews when they show up to anti-Israel protests. Responding to a video of a group of visibly Orthodox Jews called “Zionists” and denied service at a drink cart in Brooklyn, Jane said in June that this would have been “clear as day antisemitism” if it were “said to someone genuinely just walking down the street.” But, they continued, “it was at a pro-Palestine protest these guys showed up to, who per their own videos had been hanging around annoying people who asked them to leave them alone.”
NY Times Routinely Erases Extremism from “Pro-Palestinian Protests”
The extremism is a pattern. So is the New York Times’ commitment to concealing it.

This week in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., anti-Israel activists wished for Hitler’s return; chanted for the murder of “Zionists”; assaulted, threatened to kill, and slurred a rabbi; threatened a Jewish family by painting a symbol of Hamas violence on their home; held banners supporting the terror group behind the Oct. 7 massacre; donned the headbands of the terrorists; waved their flags; glorified their “resistance” broadly; justified the murders at the music festival specifically; smashed and bloodied the face of a security guard; and downplayed the Holocaust.

The New York Times covered each of the “protests” where the ugly episodes occurred. But it hid each one of incidents, as well as other examples of the demonstrators’ extremism.

At a June 8 demonstration in Washington, D.C., a group of demonstrators, faces covered with keffiyehs, held a large banner aligning themselves with “al Qassam,” a reference to Hamas’s gunmen who led the Oct. 7 attack. They called for murder: “Hezbollah make us proud, kill another Zionist now!”

A man holding a “Stand with Hamas” sign defended the October 7 slaughter as “brilliant” while decrying what “the Jews—yeah, the Jews” are doing to the Palestinians. Another sign justified “resistance.”

The Times, whose article on the demonstration cast them as little more than a “call for an immediate cease-fire,” said nothing about the celebration of terrorist groups, the explicit calls for “killing,” or the defense of Oct. 7.

Statues in D.C.’s Lafayette Square were vandalized with pro-violence and eliminationist graffiti. “Glory 2 the resistance.” “Long live Hamas.” “Intifada.” “From the river to the sea.” “Death to Amerikkka.” And plenty of upside-down red triangles, the symbol used in Hamas propaganda videos to mark targets for violent attack.

The New York Times referred only to “handwritten scribbles” that read “free Palestine.”

Men wearing the headbands of Hamas and PFLP, designated terrorist groups known for their suicide bombing attacks on Jewish civilians, shouted, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution!”

The newspaper disingenuously steered readers to believe the calls were more or less innocuous:
Women’s Journalism Group Rescinds ‘Courage’ Award to Hamas Supporter
A group of prominent female broadcast journalists rescinded its "courage in journalism" award on Wednesday to Gaza-based freelance writer Maha Hussaini, following the Washington Free Beacon’s reporting on Hussaini’s support for Hamas and anti-Semitic statements.

The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) said it decided to revoke the award after learning about "comments made by Maha Hussaini in past years that contradict the values of our organization."

"Both the Courage Awards and the IWMF’s mission are based on integrity and opposition to intolerance. We do not, and will not, condone or support views or statements that do not adhere to those principles," said the organization in a statement.

The news comes after the Free Beacon reported that Hussaini, an opinion writer for the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, has approvingly posted anti-Semitic cartoons that were drawn by the first- and second-place winners of Iran's 2006 International Holocaust Cartoon Contest.

She has also openly supported terrorism, writing "glory to the martyrs" after Palestinian terrorists launched a deadly attack at the Temple Mount in 2017, killing two Israeli officers. When the Israel Defense Forces demolished Hamas's intelligence headquarters inside the al-Jalaa building in 2021, Hussaini wrote that Gazans would "build ten [towers] so that our resistance can bomb the occupation again."

Hussaini stood by her comments in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, after her award was revoked, saying she has "no regrets about any posts or reasons that led to the rescinding of this award."

She slammed the IWMF, writing that the group "succumbed to pressure and chose to act contrary to courage."

Hussaini also claimed that her case is part of a larger trend of the "Zionist lobby" targeting Palestinian journalists who speak out against Israel.


Columnist In University Of Toronto Student Newspaper Denies Israel’s Right To Exist And Waxes Poetic On Tiny Hate Mob On Campus
In a barely comprehensible ode to the anti-Israel hate mob at the University of Toronto published June 14 in The Varsity, a student newspaper at the university, student Aida Qazi waxed poetic about the miniscule protest at the school.

Qazi’s column entitled: “Threads of resistance: Weaving culture and activism at U of T’s People’s Circle of Palestine,” lectured readers that “it’s important to understand why culture and art are critical to protests, to the encampment, and to raising awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Palestine.” (sic)

However, Qazi’s column was less about Palestinian “culture and art,” and more about overt-Israel bashing.

Using the tiny occupation at the University of Toronto as her inspiration, where perhaps 40 individuals, most of whom are not students – out of nearly 100,000 students at the university – have created a festering open sore of violence and harassment, physically preventing those they deem undesirable from entering, Qazi seeks to convince readers that the popular anti-Israel chant of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” is far less nefarious than one might expect.

“The part of the slogan, “Palestine will be free,” expresses the desire for equality and liberation from Israel’s occupation since 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” Qazi wrote.

Even an elementary understanding of geography would show Qazi is engaging in shameless misrepresentation of the facts. Even if one wanted a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank (which Israel has indeed offered to the Palestinians, and which they were offered in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan, which they rejected), “from the river to the sea” is explicitly referencing the entirety of Israel, which lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Despite Qazi’s attempted gaslighting of readers into believing that anti-Israel hate chants are really peaceful in nature, she soon dropped the mask entirely, making reference to what she calls “76 years of Israeli occupation.”

Seventy six years ago refers to 1948, when Israel gained its independence, meaning that to Qazi, it is not “the West Bank and Gaza Strip” which are occupied, but clearly every square inch of Israel.
Ottawa Citizen Columnist Tacitly Compares Israelis To Nazis, Accuses Israel Of Endless Crimes & Censors Out Any Mention Of Hamas
In her June 13 opinion column in The Ottawa Citizen entitled: “This month, Eid mixes joy with our pain over Gaza”, columnist Aisha Sherazi threw out a litany of baseless accusations against Israel, all in an effort to pin the blame for the suffering of Gazans on Jerusalem and to effectively exonerate Hamas of any and all responsibility.

Her overarching point was to reconcile the celebration of the Islamic Eid festival while Muslims are suffering in Gaza. She did so in her final paragraph by saying that “we will celebrate the resilience of the human spirit, the idea that joy can be found in the darkest of places…”

However, along the way, Sherazi made several disturbing statements. She outlined the suffering in Gaza by saying, “Although external reporters have not been allowed into Gaza to cover the stories from within the walls, there are glimpses of the violence taking place. Foreign medical personnel and aid workers tell chilling tales…”

Her language choice is telling. The Israelis are not committing acts of “violence;” they are engaged in a fight for their survival. Hamas, whom Sherazi managed to delete from her narrative, invaded Israel on October 7, breaking the existing ceasefire to rape, dismember, burn, and murder over 1,200 innocents, taking 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in captivity – dead or alive. Hamas intends to repeat this massacre, and their charter’s transparent aim is to annihilate Israel and to install an Islamic, ISIS-style caliphate in its place. Israel has been left with no choice but to fight back.

Additionally, Hamas’s core strategy is to hide behind their civilians, firing at Israel from hospital wards, hiding in schools, UN buildings, and more, including recently firing rockets at Israel from the humanitarian zone in Rafah. They did not build a single bomb shelter for their civilians in the Gaza Strip. On the contrary, they believe that the increased civilian death toll is to their benefit, as Yahye Sinwar, Hamas’ leader, is recently revealed to have said.

Sherazi conveniently omitted any of this information. She preferred to bypass Hamas and portray Israel as a willingly violent and all-powerful army. In this way, she laid the entire blame for Gazan’s suffering at Israel’s door. This inverted victim-perpetrator narrative is a common pro-Palestinian lie. Hamas is responsible for all the suffering on both sides.
Xtra Magazine, Publication For LGBTQ+ Community, Produces Shameless Anti-Propaganda Accusing Israel Of Pinkwashing
On June 10, Xtra a so-called “non-profit online magazine and community platform covering LGBTQ+ culture, politics, relationships and health,” published a video article entitled: “Activists call on Prides to divest from Israel”.

Xtra’s pro-Palestinian video article recycles oft-repeated libelous accusations against Israel, which are unfortunately two a-penny. However, this LGBTQ+ publication levelled another accusation: pinkwashing.

Mel Woods, a senior editor at Xtra, wrote that “as Pride Month kicks off, there is a growing movement of activists working to call out queer organizations for pinkwashing and asking them not to take money from companies who have financial ties to Israel’s current military operation in Gaza.”

Pinkwashing is the accusation that Israel – or others on its behalf – use Israel’s positive treatment of the LGBTQ+ community to white – or rather pink-wash its treatment of the Palestinians.

It is a ludicrous new level of contortion of the facts to fit the desired anti-Israel narrative, as if Israel granted gay rights only to distract attention from the Palestinian issue. And what pinkwashing accusations do is delegitimize LGBTQ+ support of their only home in the Middle East, which is unfortunate, because they have nowhere else to go.

Woods continued by saying that Pride organizations have been called on to “divest from sponsors and affiliations with companies that, in the words of one group, ‘enable the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine.’”

Ethnic cleansing refers to the effort to forcibly do away with an undesirable population. The fact that one-fifth of Israelis are Arabs with full and equal rights ought to stop this accusation right there.


Warren escalates opposition to Netanyahu with plan to boycott his speech to Congress
After months of questioning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) announced she will not be attending his speech to Congress next month.

On Wednesday, Warren explained her opposition to the Israeli leader in comments to the Hill.

“Benjamin Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster,” the Massachusetts senator said. “We need a ceasefire, massive humanitarian relief, the return of the hostages, and we’ve gotta have a breakthrough on getting the parties to the negotiating table. Giving more arms to Israel is not pushing in the right direction.”

Warren’s decision comes after a series of remarks she has made criticizing Israel’s offensive against Hamas. In April, she told an audience at the Boston Islamic Center she believes there is “ample evidence” that Israel is committing “genocide” in Gaza.

Her criticisms of Netanyahu have mirrored those of other Democrats, including progressive leaders such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and even Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), although the senator has taken a more reserved approach in recent months.

Netanyahu has come under fire after a report emerged that for more than a year leading up to the deadly Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli government ignored warnings Hamas was planning an elaborate assault on Jewish civilians. The “Jericho Wall” report allegedly outlined in detail the blueprint for the attack. In a social media post on Sunday, Netanyahu’s son defended the prime minister, saying his father was “not updated on the material discovered in the Jericho Wall report.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has also announced he would boycott the speech, summarized the basis for progressives’ opposition to Netanyahu in a recent post to X. The Vermont senator said Netanyahu’s “right-wing, extremist government has killed 37,000 Palestinians.” The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry tracks the deaths and does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

His concerns have been echoed by a number of top Democrats, including Schumer. While Schumer joined top congressional leaders in issuing the invitation to the Israeli leader to address Congress, the Senate leader criticized Netanyahu in March for being “too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows.”
Dem Sen. Patty Murray Seeks Millions for Anti-Semitic Mosque Whose Leader Called Jews 'Despicable Apes'
Democrats’ top Senate appropriator is seeking millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for an Islamic organization in Washington state that has preached anti-Semitism, cheered Hamas’s "victory" over Israel, and hosted Palestinian activists who urge resistance against Israel "by any means necessary."

Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), the chairwoman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, requested $2.5 million for the Muslim Association of Puget Sound last month for the construction of a clinic, a massive windfall for an organization that received $6.2 million in revenue in 2022. That’s on top of an $850,000 earmark that Murray landed for the organization earlier this year to provide tech training for "underrepresented communities."

It’s the latest Democratic request for taxpayer funds to Islamic groups hostile to Jews and Israel. The Biden administration has awarded millions of dollars in Department of Homeland Security grants to mosques whose leaders have called Jews "an arrogant breed of people" and called on Allah to "eradicate [Zionists] from existence," the Washington Free Beacon reported.

The Muslim Association of Puget Sound, the largest Islamic group in Washington, has provided a platform for similar rhetoric. Mohammad Joban, the mosque’s head imam, apologized in 2019 for preaching that Allah transformed Jews into "despicable apes" for disobeying him.

Joban and other speakers hosted by the Muslim association have praised Hamas and other "liberation" groups’ attacks on Israel.

Weeks after Hamas’s October 7 invasion, Joban appeared to celebrate that Israeli forces had failed to "destroy the resistance" in Gaza. What’s more, Joban said in the Nov. 17 sermon, was that "many of the aggressor soldiers … have died."

The cleric, who referred to Israel as "the killers of the babies," declared the residents of Gaza the "winners" of the Israel-Hamas war. As evidence of Israel’s defeat, Joban said, "there’s no school, no university, no services" in some parts of Israel.

During a sermon on Nov. 3, Sheikh Hasib Noor called on Allah to "accept our martyrs" in Gaza and "destroy their enemy and your enemy," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. Noor prayed to "destroy the occupying Zionists" and "cleanse the Al-Aqsa Mosque of their filth."

Then there is an event with Palestine Chronicle publisher Ramzy Baroud, whose outlet published the writings of Abdullah Aljamal, a Hamas affiliate who held three Israelis hostage in the wake of the October 7 attack.


Seth Mandel: The AOC AIPAC Freakout
AOC and her fellow travelers aren’t afraid; they’re entitled. They are throwing a fit because Jews are displaying the audacity to vote against, and make contributions to stymie, people who hate them. The Squad simply wants American Jews to pipe down and know their place.

This isn’t surprising. Since Zionism is essentially the expression of equal rights for Jews, anti-Zionists don’t believe the Jewish people have the same privileges to participate in the democratic process as others. Just yesterday I noted that Bowman referred to AIPAC as “the Zionist regime,” the words of someone expressing not fear but outgroup identification—there they are, he is saying, the others.

In response to AOC’s preposterously bratty shot at AIPAC, the organization responded, correctly, that polling definitively shows American voters to be pro-Israel and therefore members of Congress are responding to their constituents, not fear of Jewish money.

To that, Ocasio-Cortez shot back: “If AIPAC positions were so popular, they’d be free. Instead, they’re bought.” Ocasio-Cortez posted that last night, but I am writing this now because I have only just stopped laughing at her attempt at wit. Not with. At.

In fact, AIPAC’s positions are unquestionably popular on the whole—even AOC is capable of seeing that. But the overall point that campaign donations represent only unpopular opinions is ironic given that, as others pointed out to her, AOC is no fundraising lightweight. If her position is that she is bought and paid for, and therefore she assumes that to be true of others—well, that is quite the projection, but please leave the American Jewish community out of it.

At this point, Ocasio-Cortez essentially exists to live-tweet a 2024 adaptation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It’s Henry Ford-ism for the TikTok generation. Her comments earned her unqualified praise from white nationalists such as Nick Fuentes, because anti-Semitism is less an ideology than it is a mind-virus. The similarities between Ocasio-Cortez and Fuentes are far more pronounced than are their differences. The political coalition the two share is not terribly popular on a national level. But its amplification by likeminded media and loudmouthed activists is degrading to American politics and society.


Bowman and Latimer fight over Israel, AIPAC in final debate for NY-16
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Westchester County Executive George Latimer traded blows over Israel and AIPAC in their final debate for the Democratic nomination to represent New York’s 16th Congressional District on Tuesday.

The race for the Democratic congressional nomination in N.Y.-16, which includes Westchester County and parts of the Bronx, has been one of the most vicious of the 2024 cycle. It is also the epicenter of a battle between pro- and anti-Israel groups for control of the seat that was once held by staunch Israel advocate Eliot Engel until Bowman unseated the 16-term incumbent in a 2020 primary upset.

Bowman, a member of the so-called “Squad” of left-wing progressives and one of the most strident critics of Israel in the U.S. House of Representatives, leveled accusations of racism against Latimer, who accused Bowman of being a liar.

Some “14% of the children in Westchester County are black. They make up 62% of the children in child prisons, and he’s looking to build another child prison,” Bowman said just minutes into the hour-long debate. “He has stated I take money from Hamas. His campaigns have sent mailers darkening my skin.”

Latimer denied that he had sent fliers darkening Bowman’s skin and defended the charges he has made about Bowman’s fundraising.

“It’s been shown at his fundraisers in both Northern Virginia and in Los Angeles that some of the people that were there to give money said positive things about Hamas,” Latimer said.
Jamaal Bowman Says Sorry for Calling Hamas’s Rapes ‘Propaganda’
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) apologized this week months after dismissing reports that Hamas raped Israeli civilians on Oct. 7 as "propaganda" and "lies."

"I apologize for my comments," Bowman said during a radio show appearance, "and now we’re continuing to do the work to fight sexual violence and domestic violence in all its forms."

A month after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli civilians that left 1,200 people dead, Bowman said, "There’s still no evidence of beheaded babies or raped women. But they still keep using that lie [for] propaganda," Politico reported.

After initially refusing to address the remarks, Bowman did walk back the propaganda accusations but refused to apologize. "The UN confirmed that Hamas committed rape and sexual violence, a reprehensible fact that I condemn entirely," Bowman said in March. "I also voted yes on Resolution 966, which officially condemns the rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas."

Bowman is fighting for his seat as he faces a formidable challenge in the Democratic primary from Westchester County executive George Latimer. A past ally of Bowman, former representative Mondaire Jones (D., N.Y.), endorsed the pro-Israel Latimer, saying he was "horrified" by Bowman's comments on the Israel-Hamas war.

Bowman has been fiercely critical of Israel since Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre. The Democrat voted "no" on a resolution to "condemn the support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations at institutions of higher education" because he claimed the Oct. 7 attacks were Israel’s fault.


Indictment filed for murder of 14-year-old Israeli shepherd
The Palestinian terrorist who murdered a 14-year-old Israeli shepherd in Samaria in April had intended to kill more Jews, according to an indictment made public on Thursday afternoon.

Ahmed Duabsha was arrested on April 22, 10 days after he murdered Jerusalemite Binyamin Achimeir, who went missing while herding sheep at Gal Farm, located 17 miles northeast of Ramallah.

During initial questioning by Israeli security forces, Duabsha tied himself to the attack, the Israel Security Agency said in April.

Israel’s Ynet outlet, citing from a redacted indictment on Thursday, said that the Duma resident and his friends became interested in jihad and Islamic State approximately a year before he carried out the murder.

The charges noted that Duabsha had come to the conclusion that all non-Muslims are infidels—especially the Jews—and need to die.

“The suspect decided that he would go on a killing spree the next morning at first light,” read the indictment, filed at Ofer Military Court. “He took a knife of around 20 centimeters [8 inches] long, picked out clothes and laid down in his room. The next day, he put on his clothes, prayed, took the knife in his sheath and put a black scarf on his head.”
Palestinians kill elderly Israeli driver in Samaria
Security forces are investigating a reported attack in which a man was mortally wounded near the Palestinian city of Qalqilya in Samaria, the Israel Police said on Thursday.

According to the police, first responders “received a report of a man in his 70s who arrived at the Eliyahu Crossing in Samaria unconscious and is being treated by Magen David Adom personnel.”

According to an initial probe, the victim was robbed of his car in the area of Qalqilya, the statement said, adding that police and Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrived on the scene and were investigating.

Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster cited medical authorities as saying that a passerby found the injured man lying by the side of the road and took him to an IDF checkpoint. On their way to the crossing, the victim collapsed and lost consciousness.

“After resuscitation efforts, the pulse of the injured man—a 70-year-old resident of Kiryat Ono—returned,” Magen David Adom said. “In the coming minutes, he will be evacuated to the hospital.”

He died in the evening, at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.
Death toll at hajj pilgrimage exceeds 1,000 following extreme heat
The death toll from this year’s hajj exceeds 1,000, an AFP tally showed on Thursday, with unregistered pilgrims making up more than half of those who perished amid intense heat.

The new deaths reported Thursday included 58 from Egypt, according to an Arab diplomat who provided a breakdown showing that of 658 total dead from that country, 630 were unregistered.

Temperatures on Tuesday reached 47 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) in Mecca and the sacred sites in and around the city, according to the Saudi National Center for Meteorology. Some people fainted while trying to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil.

“It was so harsh and the people cannot bear that type of heat,” said Wilayet Mustafa, a Pakistani pilgrim.

A witness said bodies lay on the side of the road near Mina, just outside Mecca, covered with the white Ihram cloth — a simple garb worn by pilgrims — until medical vehicles arrived.
MEMRI: Editor Of Saudi Daily: The Resistance Is The One Holding The Cards In The Gaza War; It Must Remain Steadfast Until Victory Is Achieved; U.S. Should Arrest Netanyahu When He Comes To Visit
In a June 9, 2024 article, Khalid bin Hamad Al-Malik, editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, wrote that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address the U.S. Congress on June 24, 2024, is a murderer, terrorist and war criminal and that the U.S. should arrest him when he arrives instead of honoring and supporting him. Al-Malik also urged Hamas to remain rigid in the negotiations with Israel until it achieves victory, because "the resistance" is the one holding the cards, not the U.S. and not Israel, which is failing to achieve its goals in the war. Victory over Israel, he explained, means making a deal which will guarantee the release of Palestinian prisoners in return for the Israeli hostages, a permanent end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza and the commencement of dialogue to implement the two-state solution.

The following are translated excerpts from his article:[1]

"June 24, [2024] has been firmly set as the date on which Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will address the U.S. Congress. The invitation came in response to the decision of the International Court [of Justice] to issue an arrest warrant [for Netanyahu] as a war criminal who enabled a genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip…

"Logically speaking, the U.S. should capture Netanyahu and turn him in to face justice instead of welcoming him as a victor and shielding him from the punishment he deserves. But this is the U.S., which is far removed from [any inclination] to enforce the law on its criminal allies, especially Israel…

"In his speech Netanyahu will tell his usual lies and receive from America nothing but support for his crimes. He will present his war as self-defense against criminals and terrorists, when it is he who is the murderer, criminal, terrorist, occupier and aggressor and the one denying [people] water, medicines and food and victimizing civilians from all sectors, [including] women, children and elderly people… His speech, full of deceptions and lies, will elicit applause from the audience [expressing] their support and sympathy and their approval and backing for his continued policy of aggression. He will thus return to Israel armed with American support – which will cast the U.S. in a dubious light in terms of its position on the chronic Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"However, the one holding the cards in this war is neither the U.S. nor Israel but rather the resistance. [Therefore, the resistance] should not fall into the American-Israeli trap at this sensitive stage of the war without achieving victory over Israel. The victory in question must produce [the following]: the release of the Israeli hostages in return for [Palestinian] prisoners, a permanent end to the war, an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the commencement of dialogue to implement the two-state solution. Anything less means that Isael will achieve its goals.
Swedish court clears former Syrian general accused of war crimes
A Stockholm court on Thursday acquitted a former Syrian general of war crimes charges, saying prosecutors did not prove his alleged involvement in the attacks carried out during the country’s civil war.

Former brigadier general Mohammed Hamo, 65, who lives in Sweden and was one of the highest-ranking Syrian military officials to have been tried in Europe, stood accused of “aiding and abetting” war crimes in the first half of 2012.

In a statement announcing its verdict, the Stockholm district court said that while the Syrian military had used “indiscriminate attacks” at that time, the prosecution did not prove that Hamo’s division was involved in those attacks, or that he had a role in providing arms for the assaults.

In his role as brigadier general and head of the 11th division’s armament unit, the prosecution had argued that Hamo allegedly helped coordinate the supply of arms and ammunition to units involved in such attacks near the towns of Homs and Hama.

“The main issues in the case are whether the 11th Division of the Syrian Army participated in indiscriminate attacks in certain areas and whether the defendant participated in arming the division in those attacks,” judge Katarina Fabian wrote.

“According to the District Court, there is no evidence to clarify these issues. The evidence presented by the prosecution has therefore not been deemed sufficient to convict the defendant of a criminal offense,” Fabian said.
New Israeli paradigm needed to prevent a nuclear Iran
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei continues his ultimate strategy to achieve an atomic weapon of mass destruction. Israel should make a substantial switch in its working priorities to prevent Iran from reaching its goal. For more than two decades, Israel has concentrated on Iran's enrichment of uranium.

The International Atomic Energy Agency recently confirmed that Iran has a huge stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% - which is 98% of the way to weapons-grade material. Thus, Iran's decision not to enrich uranium now to 90% is meaningless. Tehran now has enough enriched uranium to create weapons-grade material for seven nuclear weapons within a month, according to experts' analyses.

Israel must adopt a totally new approach, concentrating mainly on Iran's weaponization actions, and weakening the regime, hoping it will lead to its replacement. Nuclear scientists in Teheran have revived the weaponization program, focusing on special materials, simulation, fast detonators, computerized models, and many other related areas. American and Israeli intelligence should focus on the Iranian weaponization development threat and build all necessary capabilities to strike the program's components.

The biggest danger threatening Israel's existence remains Iran's nuclear program. It would be better to confront this threat with Washington, but Israel also must be fully prepared to do it alone.
Iran's Recent Increase in Enrichment Capacity at Fordow Could Make Weapon-Grade Uranium for 9 Nukes in 2 Months
Once Iran completes its new plans, Fordow could produce enough weapon-grade uranium for three nuclear weapons within 10 days.

By the end of the first month, it could produce enough for five nuclear weapons.

By the end of the second month, it could produce enough for nine nuclear weapons.

Iran has reached a point where it can not only produce nuclear weapons on-demand but produce large quantities of weapon-grade uranium quickly in a very hard-to-destroy enrichment plant.
Australian Senators Call on Government to Follow Canada's Lead in Designating IRGC
Australian Senators have welcomed Canada's designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Wednesday and criticized the Australian government's refusal to do the same.

"The Canadian Government's action stands in stark contrast to the weakness of the Albanese Government which has failed to take any action in listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in Australia," a joint statement published by lawmakers Claire Chandler, Simon Birmingham and James Paterson read.

The group are among many in Australia campaigning to designate the group while governments around the world have tried to simply sanction the IRGC in a bid to appease Iran amid its ongoing nuclear program. The US designated the IRGC in 2019.

Australian-Iranian rights group Ausiran sent a letter to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong urging the government to acknowledge the IRGC's role in "sponsoring and engaging in terrorist activities", emphasizing their threat to global security and the safety of Australian citizens.

"Ausiran calls upon the Government to prioritize the safety and security of Australian citizens and to promote global peace by joining our allies in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization," the letter said.
MEMRI: IRGC Gen. Yahya Rahim-Safavi, Senior Advisor to Khamenei: If America Attacks Iran, We Will Hunt Them Down All The Way Across The Ocean; We Must Deepen Our Strategic Defense To 5,000 KM; Thanks To The Inception Of Hizbullah's Resistance Front In Lebanon, We Are Present In The Mediterranean Sea, The Red Sea, And The Bab-el-Mandab Strait
IRGC General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, delivered an address at a June 12, 2024 conference held by the National Movement for Commemorating the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988). Boasting of Iran's military power and its ability to have launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel on April 14, 2024, he said that this successful attack had forced the U.S. to send reinforcements to the region and that it proved the precision and power of Iran. Safavi warned: "If any power – like the United States – attacks us, we will hunt them down all the way across the ocean."

Safavi also reiterated his call of three months ago to increase Iran's "defensive" range to 5,000 kilometers – in other words, to increase the range of Iran's missiles, making the country capable of striking countries as far away as France. For more details, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 1754, Gen. Yahyah Safavi, Senior Advisor To Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei: 'We Must Increase Our Strategic Depth To 5,000 Kilometers'; 'The IRGC Navy And Air Force Must Focus On The Red Sea And Mediterranean Sea – Because Future Wars Will Be At Sea And In The Air', March 15, 2024.

He also boasted about Iran's success in reaching the Mediterranean Sea by means of its proxy in Lebanon, Hizbullah. Like in the days of the Persian Empire, he said, Iran is today present in the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Bab-el-Mandab Strait.
Iran’s acting FM to arrive in Qatar to bolster regime's influence
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani went to Qatar to meet with Qatar’s prime minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, a significant move for Iran’s regional influence.

Doha is a friend of Tehran, which in turn goes to Qatar to meet with Hamas leaders residing there. Hamas and Iran are continuing to exploit the October 7 attack to gain more influence in the region and seek to isolate Israel, as Qatar is a major non-NATO ally of the US. Iran seeks to build up its alliance system

Kani is working at a fast pace in the region to shore up Iran’s alliance system. He has been holding numerous meetings and seeking to pick up where his predecessor left off after his predecessor, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, died in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran last month.

Iran and Qatar have excellent relations, the diplomats said, according to Iran’s IRNA government media. “Kani said that all potential should be used to halt the Israeli genocide in Gaza and support the oppressed Palestinians. He went on to say that the Islamic Republic will undoubtedly follow its policy on strengthening ties with neighbors in line with the priority set by late president Ebrahim Raisi,” the report reads.

The Qataris said they hoped that Tehran and Doha could boost cooperation: “The Qatari minister also touched on Gaza and said the situation there remained critical, then he called for continuation of consultations between Doha and Tehran to help ensure regional stability and security,” IRNA reported.
How Vichy plundered Jewish property in Algeria
A new book in French explores the neglected subject of how Jews, who held French citizenship, were dispossessed of their assets and property in wartime Algeria. No economic activity was spared under this perfectly legal policy of plunder, historian and researcher Jean Laloum explains in ‘Dépouiller en toute légalité’. He is seeking personal testimonies for future research. (With thanks: Veronique)

The largely discriminatory ‘Statuts de juifs’ were applied in 1940 and 1941. (French) Jewish children and teachers were banned from public schools; Jews were banned from the professions. The persecution included”Aryanization” (Arisierung) : economic dispossession. Some 500 administrators were appointed as ‘temporary’ trustees of companies put up for sale. These were mainly Europeans – there were three Muslim administrators.

Jean Laloum documented more than 6,000 applicants in less than a year – from December 1941 to the Allied landing in Algiers in November 1942. The proceeds from the sales were deposited with the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations. The paltry compensation granted to the dispossessed owners was left to the discretion of the managing commissioners. At the different stages of this process of dispossession, “auxiliaries” appeared on the scene: auditors, auctioneers, police commissioners, real estate agents, locksmiths, specialist architects, etc.

“I am an antisemite of state, not of passion, ” declared Xavier Vallat, then General Commissioner for the Jewish Question to the great rabbi Maurice Eisenbeth on August 17, 1941, during his trip to the French protectorates and ‘départements’ of North Africa.

“Algerian antisemitism” was called “anti-Judaism” in Algeria.“Long unknown or simply ignored, economic Aryanization, in other words the desire to eliminate all Jewish influence from the economy, nevertheless constituted one of the important drivers of the antisemitic policy of the Vichy regime. Drawing on numerous hitherto unpublished sources, Dépouiller en toute légalité (‘Legally-sanctioned Dispossession ‘) describes in remarkable detail the process of Aryanization of Jewish property in colonial Algeria between 1941 and 1942. (In his thesis Jews in the Paris region from the 1920s to the 1950s, Jean Laloum had examined municipal monographs in eastern Paris to show how small traders, fairgrounds and second-hand dealers had been marginalised).

In Algeria, the Jews targeted by this policy of dispossession were influential in the grain (12%) and milling (27%) trades, and the manufacture of pasta (17%). The Douïeb family, of Tunisian origin, held ‘a significant real estate and land portfolio’ which whetted the appetites of Christian and Muslim bidders.

Cinema chains, restaurants, casinos, businesses of all kinds (garages, hosiery)… No economic activity was spared the policy of plunder. (…)
Hundreds protest across France after horrific rape of 12-year-old Jewish girl
Hundreds of people gathered in Paris on Wednesday to demonstrate against Jew-hatred in the wake of the antisemitic rape of a 12-year-old girl that shocked the country over the weekend, local media reported.

The rally in the French capital was organized by Collectif Nous Vivrons ("We Will Live Collective"), which was founded following Hamas's October 7 massacre in Israel and the ensuing wave of antisemitism in Europe.

"This antisemitic rape is a continuation of a climate hostile to Jews, fuelled in particular by irresponsible political declarations," the NGO said ahead of the protest at city hall, which was called at short notice.

Participants included representatives from Jewish organisations in Paris and nationwide, as well as current and former government officials, most notably Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti.

"The government is on your side," stated Dupond-Moretti in his speech, declaring: "To attack a Jew is to attack the Republic and France."

Attendees also held signs reading, "Raped at 12 because she was Jewish" and "Antisemitism is not residual," according to French media reports.

A protest in Lyon, France's third-largest city, drew approximately a hundred people. Activists held signs reading, "Jew raped, Republic in danger," as well as banners that blamed the far-left La France Insoumise Party for the rise in Jew-hatred, and sang the country's national anthem.

Saturday's rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a Paris suburb has drawn condemnation from across France's political spectrum amid a heated campaign ahead of snap parliamentary elections later this month.

Three minors were arrested for their part in the attack, during which they allegedly forced the girl to perform vaginal, anal and oral sex, called her a "dirty Jew" and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Family of autistic teen who suffered swastika carving settles with Nevada school district
The Clark County School District in Nevada will compensate a family whose non-verbal, autistic student returned home after classes with a swastika carved into his back on March 9, 2023.

The Lawfare Project announced on Thursday that the group and its partners had reached a settlement on behalf of the unnamed Jewish boy, which includes monetary compensation and educational services outside of the school.

“I’m especially grateful to Hillary Freeman and Lori Rogich, who worked tirelessly to help achieve this positive outcome, director of litigation at the Lawfare Project, told JNS. “The Lawfare Project will continue to monitor CCSD and encourage any family experiencing antisemitism at their school to reach out to us.”

A spokesman for the Lawfare Project told JNS that law-enforcement officials have not yet identified the individual(s) who carved the swastika on the boy’s back.

Brooke Goldstein, founder and executive director of the Lawfare Project, said, “This abhorrent and disgusting attack on our client should have never happened and moving forward, we hope that the Clark County School District will ensure the safety of all their Jewish students.”

Reich said the settlement brings “some measure of justice to the student and his family.”
Thugs scrawl ‘Jews are criminals’ on Holocaust memorial stones in Germany
Several German memorial stones for Jews who were killed in the Holocaust have been vandalised with antisemitic messages.

Stolpersteine, or stumbling stones, are small plaques set into the ground outside a Shoah victim’s last-known freely chosen residence.

Tens of thousands have been created in Europe over the past three decades to commemorate Nazi brutality on an individual level.

In the central German city of Weimar, at least seven have now been vandalised in what appears to be a campaign of harrasment.

The phrase “Jews are criminals” has been graffitied on several, the Thuringer Allgemeine reported this week.

The same words are also said to have been scrawled on posters advertising the Achava Festival, a Jewish cultural event in the city.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of Britain’s Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “This is disgusting. Stolpersteine are ‘stumbling stones’ and are placed all over Europe as memorials to the various Jewish families or individuals who lived in these homes and were murdered during the Holocaust.

"This deliberate hateful act is yet another example of the antisemitism sweeping across the world.

"It reminds us that despite the phrase Never Again being coined after the horrors of Holocaust, antisemitism is alive and well.”

The latest vandalism of the Shoah memorial stones is just the latest in a wave of attacks.


‘Guns and Moses’: The Heroic Hasid
A rugged, unshaven cowboy with a dusty hat.

A suave British gentleman in a perfectly fitted suit.

A Chabad rabbi driving a minivan with a “Thank You Hashem” bumper sticker?

In the new movie “Guns & Moses,” by filmmakers and husband and wife team Salvador and Nina Litvak, the main character isn’t the usual hero archetype. Instead, this brave rabbi wears a black hat and tzitzit, serves up dvar Torahs and wraps tefillin on Jewish men whenever he gets a chance. It’s a first for Hollywood, which historically has shown Jewish men as being nebbishy, neurotic and weak and, at times, demonized Jewish people in TV and film.

“As Jews, we resent these stereotypes,” Nina said. “In real life, we don’t resemble that. It’s overdone. It’s not really what being Jewish is all about.”

The Litvaks are both baal teshuvas – Jews who were not previously religious but became observant in adulthood – who have always used their filmmaking skills to depict authentic Judaism on screen. From their hilarious 2005 film, “When Do We Eat?,” which is about a Pesach seder gone terribly awry, to their popular online group Accidental Talmudist, where they create content on Jewish topics and boast more than 1 million followers, Salvador and Nina don’t shy away from their Jewish roots. They fully embrace them. Neal McDonough, Sal Litvak, Dermot Mulroney, Nina Litvak and Mark Feuerstein

Now, with “Guns & Moses,” which premiered at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, the two are breaking new barriers and depicting the film’s protagonist, Rabbi Mo Zaltzman, played by Mark Feuerstein, as a hero unlike any other that’s been seen on screen.

“Here’s a movie about a mensch who is warm and approachable, but who has to step way out of his comfort zone to defend his community,” Salvador said. “It’s an action-thriller, and Rabbi Mo becomes an unlikely gunslinger.”

The Litvaks came up with the idea for “Guns & Moses” in the wake of the Chabad of Poway shooting in 2019, where a shooter entered the Chabad building on April 27, killed Lori Gilbert Kaye and injured Rabbi Mendel Goldstein and two other congregants.

“We sadly knew that attacks on Jews would always be relevant,” Salvador said. “We never imagined that there would be an Oct. 7, which happened during postproduction on our movie. The world in which we conceived and shot the movie is a different world in which it will be distributed.”



Meet the heroes standing up for Israel in an Irish sea of hostility
On a torrentially rainy day in late May, nearly 1,000 people gathered outside St Stephen’s Green in Dublin to wave a flag that has become implicitly prohibited in the land of 1,000 welcomes.

The demonstrators, made up of Irish and non-Irish, Jews and non-Jews, were not deterred by Ireland’s recent declaration that it would recognise a Palestinian state, nor by the baying counter-protesters – carrying a sign reading “Zionists out of Ireland” – who awaited them outside Leinster House.

Ireland has historically favoured Palestine in its conflicts with Israel. It was the first EU nation to endorse the establishment of a Palestinian state in 1980, and has leaned further in that direction since October 7.

From Ireland’s support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice to its official recognition of Palestinian statehood last month, the country appears to be unanimously anti-Israel – politicians, grassroots groups and national media outlets alike. And with a recent poll finding that a whopping 71 per cent of Irish people believe that Israel is imposing a system of apartheid on Palestinians, you would be excused for overlooking the minority of Irish voices daring to advocate for the Jewish state.

“I know it doesn’t look like it when you read the media and look at our government and their actions, but there is a groundswell – a quiet groundswell, I would say – of supporters of Israel in Ireland,” said Jackie Goodall, founder of the Ireland Israel Alliance group, which organised the first pro-Israel march in Dublin after October 7.

Goodall, who is a Christian, said she was among a growing number of people in Ireland “who are very supportive of Israel and realise that it’s the canary in the coal mine as far as Western civilisation is concerned”.

On the day of the rally, Ireland Israel Alliance was joined by the Irish branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Irish Christian Friends of Israel, All Nations Church and a Romanian congregation called Betania Church. Among the speakers to stand before an Israeli flag outside parliament on that rainy afternoon was Alan Shatter, former government minister for justice, minister for defence and member of parliament for more than 30 years.

Shatter, who is among Ireland’s roughly 2,700 Jewish residents, has been trying to present a more balanced perspective on the Israel-Palestine conflict for decades, an effort which he sees as simply a matter of “stating the facts of the conflict as they are”.

“There’s a lot of good people in Ireland who are seeing tragedy in Gaza and think that Israel is just arbitrarily killing people for no good reason, and they are not being told the full truth of what is actually happening.”
The Power of Satire | Daniel-Ryan Spaulding's FABULOUS videos don't just mock, they de-indoctrinate
Comedian Daniel-Ryan Spaulding was living in the heart of Berlin's libertine arts and culture crowd, when a chance encounter with some Israelis, and ensuing visits to the country transformed everything he had come to believe about Israel.

He was back in NYC on Oct 7, and as the details of the Hamas's horrific invasion unfolded, he realized he had found a new calling. As a self described Power Gay, Daniel took on the mission of communicating the truth about Israel and the erupting war of civilizations to the queer world and beyond.

Drawing on his personal experiences, his education, a healthy dose common sense, and the rarest of human traits - bravery - Daniel began posting selfie videos that exposed the hypocrisy and ignorance he witnessed all around him.

The videos became a international viral sensation, and his excoriating, withering put downs of those celebrating Hamas atrocities forced liberals around the world to realize: if you support liberation and equality against violence and oppression, Israel’s fight is your fight.




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