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Tuesday, June 25, 2024

06/25 Links Pt2: Can Israel 'Win by Winning'?; The United Nations Is Against Peace; Trump shocked by Hamas crimes in documentary; Free Doug Emhoff

From Ian:

Daniel Greenfield: Can Israel 'Win by Winning'? A review of Daniel Pipes' 'Israel Victory'
A week before the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel, Daniel Pipes, a longtime respected foreign policy expert, a former board member of the United States Institute of Peace and the president of the Middle East Forum, had turned in his manuscript for his new book.

What emerged in the final months of 2023 was Israel Victory: How Zionists Win Acceptance and Palestinians Get Liberated. The foundational thesis of Pipes' work, that Israel had spent far too much conciliating the Islamic terrorist groups that dominate Gaza and the West Bank, offering them the promise of peace and prosperity, emerged from the rubble more relevant than ever.

"Israeli leaders seek to improve Palestinian economic welfare: I call this the policy of enrichment," Pipes writes in Israel Victory, criticizing Israel for not adopting "the universal tactic of depriving an economy of resources, but on the opposite one of helping Palestinians to develop economically."

The quintessential liberal fallacy also at the root of America's failures in the War on Terror held that wars were fought against regimes, not people. Even when Israel achieved its victories on the battlefield, it still believed that peace would come through mutual prosperity and befriending foes. This vision is alien to the region and rather than bringing peace has only perpetuated generations of war.

In the months before Oct 7, Arab Muslim workers from Gaza were allowed in increasing numbers to work in Israel. And in the months since Oct 7, Israel, under political pressure, has flooded Gaza with aid. The pre-10/7 appeasement failed to prevent the massacres, rapes and kidnappings and the post-10/7 benevolence only convinced Muslims in Gaza they would win.

Israel Victory contends that Israel can't win through conciliation, it can only win by winning and that furthermore, victory is ultimately the best possible outcome for both sides. Israel's reticence to achieve a conclusive and decisive victory, and then to act like winners infused generations of Arab Muslims living in the West Bank and Gaza with the conviction that they can destroy Israel if they transform their societies into killing machines and turn over political power to terrorists.

It is as if instead of defeating Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan, the Allies had left a core regime and population intact and free to plot war for another 50 years. That is what happened in Israel.

The dynamic in which we try to win over the Muslim world, only to have it reject us, to which we respond with even more concerted efforts to win it over has become all too familiar to most of us. And it's the dynamic that "Israel Victory" places at the heart of the conflict. The combination of relentless international pressure and the conviction that peace can only be achieved by winning hearts and minds, rather than by winning wars, has created a doom spiral of 'rejectionism' and 'conciliation'.

"Rejectionism, however, will not collapse on its own. It must be broken. Only one party, Israel, can achieve this. Doing so will require major changes, indeed, a paradigm shift," Pipes writes. "That means abandoning conciliation and returning to the eternal verities of war. I call this Israel Victory. More negatively but more accurately, it consists of Palestinian defeat."
Phyllis Chesler: The Only Chance for Peace in Israel
Dr. Daniel Pipes is an academically elegant as well as a bold and strategic thinker. He is the founder and President of the Middle East Forum and an historian. Pipes’s new book is titled “Israel Victory: How Zionists Win Acceptance and Palestinians Get Liberated.”

Pipes’s knowledge of Middle Eastern history and of the Israel-Palestine issue is impressive. Whether or not his carefully considered suggestions will be heeded remains to be seen. I certainly hope that leaders everywhere read this volume.

Pipes argues that Palestinian “rejectionism” can only be defeated if Israel is victorious, if Palestinians finally understand that their obsession to exterminate Israel can never be realized. They must first lose this self-destructive “hope” before they can begin to create a more stable and viable society. (READ MORE from Phyllis Chesler: Immigration of Cultures Hostile to the West Must End)

“The role of hope among Palestinians, actually inspires intransigence, extremism, and violence. Hope that the Jewish state can be destroyed keeps rejectionism alive, inspires continued murderous attacks, and motivates the international hate-campaign.”

He further notes that the massive aid donated to Hamas and to the “Palestinians fuels terror, not peace.”

Pipes is a common sense realist. He understands that “ending the conflict means that one side wins, the other loses.” Israel’s policy of “conciliation” towards Hamas and the Palestinian Authority has led to countless deaths and to the savaging of Israel’s reputation in the world. The deep funded and long-term campaign of “slander” against Israel has worked; but that is also due to Israel’s refusal to fight back or to even engage in the cognitive war. He writes:
This form of anti-Zionism (that Israel is the world’s most horrid and bellicose country) poses an existential threat to Israel no less than Iran’s nuclear weapons. Indeed, just as lawful Islamism poses greater danger than Muslim violence, so the Palestinian delegitimization threatens Israel more than their violence.

I agree. With sadness, based on my own experience, I can confirm that for more than 50 years, both American Jewish organizations and the Israeli government were indifferent to the importance of hasbara, “messaging,” setting the record straight, countering the Big Lies.
LA leading race to the bottom as America's Antisemitism Capital
Violence appears to be a feature, not a bug, of the anti-Israel movement in California. Recently, an anti-Israel group claimed responsibility for acts of arson committed on the University of California, Berkeley campus. In November, brawls broke out when anti-Israel activists attempted to disrupt a screening organized by Israeli actress Gal Gadot of the 43-minute video documenting the atrocities Hamas committed on October 7.

It is no coincidence that the one Jewish person who has been murdered so far in the eruption of antisemitism that followed the Hamas massacre of October 7, Paul Kessler, was murdered in Los Angeles.

The death of Paul Kessler did not serve as a wake-up call to the police or the politicians. Nor did any of the violence that followed. At some point, it was decided that it was ok for antisemites to target synagogues, something Mayor Bass and the LAPD would never tolerate if it was a mosque that was targeted instead.

Why shouldn’t antisemites engage in violence and target synagogues if the message coming from authorities is that violence is "protected speech"?

Amazingly, antisemitism appears to be even worse in Los Angeles than it is in New York, which has seen some of the worst antisemitic incidents and rallies in its history in recent weeks. There is also anti-Jewish violence in New York, as the assault on a Jewish woman’s family at a 5th grade graduation ceremony in Brooklyn proved, but a lower percentage of antisemitic rallies turn violent. So far.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvan Bragg’s decision not to prosecute dozens of rioters who violently took over Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall and who held a janitor hostage threatens to make New York just as bad as LA by proving that antisemitic violence goes unpunished.

The most shocking part of all of this isn’t the hate or the violence. It’s that there are those who are shocked that people who openly support Hamas, people who cheer the horrors of October 7, people who openly call for violence against Jews, might actually be violent themselves and put their rhetoric into action.

As long as antisemitism is consequence free, as long as violence is tolerated, hate and attacks on Jews will continue and will grow in intensity and severity. This tolerance for the intolerable has made Los Angeles the antisemitism capital of the United States, the place where Jews are most likely to be killed by Hamas supporters, the place where the supposedly ‘peaceful protests’ of the modern day Nazis are most likely to turn violent.

If LA loses its title as America’s antisemitism capital, it will probably not be because its leaders and police woke up and began treating antisemitism like the bigotry it is, but because people like Alvan Bragg made other cities safer to attack Jews than to be one.

In the race to the bottom, LA is in the lead.
Dozens protest Bragg’s decision to drop charges against Columbia protesters
Some 50 people delivered a simple plea on Monday to Manhattan’s top prosecutor, who opted not even to bargain for pleas from antisemitic protesters who occupied buildings at Columbia University.

“Bragg, Bragg, punish crime. Make sure criminals do their time,” chanted those who protested outside the office of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney. He appeared to be in the building during the protest, as his car awaited outside.

Shai Davidai, an assistant management professor at Columbia Business School who has been one of those leading criticism of his employer for tolerating Jew-hatred, told those assembled that he was appalled as a father, a Jewish man and a taxpayer.

“We pay for that guy to do his job, and he refuses to do it,” Davidai said at the rally, organized by the grassroots movement End Jew Hatred.

The Israeli native believed two reasons to be behind the fact that Bragg dropped charges against 31 of the 46 people who occupied Columbia’s Hamilton Hall illegally, and whom police subsequently arrested after breaking into the building dramatically.

“He gets to decide for himself: He’s either a coward or an antisemite,” Davidai said of Bragg.

Bragg’s office stated last week that there was insufficient evidence to charge the dozens of protesters in question even with criminal trespassing and that they had no criminal history. The district attorney’s office also noted that there was limited video evidence since the masked protesters covered up cameras.

‘A denial of our most basic rights’

The Manhattan district attorney had visited a Holocaust center just a week before deciding to drop the charges against most of the protesters and declined to prosecute the offenders on the same day that he signed a pledge to prosecute hate crimes fully amid rising antisemitism, according to Alan Mindel, chairman of the board at the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Long Island.

“The next day, to not prosecute trespass, claiming a lack of evidence when the individuals were literally arrested in the location of their trespass, is on its face, ridiculous,” Mindel told rallyers, who tended to sport American rather than Israeli flags.

“We all know this,” he said. “It’s a denial of our most basic rights, and these rights, they’re not just for us.”


Trump endorses Oct. 7 film: ‘Difficult, but I urge people to watch’
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump urged his social-media followers on Tuesday to watch the film “Screams Before Silence,” which documents the sexual crimes committed by the terrorist organization Hamas on Oct. 7.

“The documentary ‘Screams Before Silence’ is incredibly difficult to watch because, sadly, it graphicly portrays the death and destruction that Hamas has unleashed. I urge people to support the documentary and watch, if able,” Trump wrote on his social-media platform, Truth Social, and on X.

The former president has remained firm in his commitment to Israel even as criticism of its Gaza operation grew. In a March interview with Israel Hayom, Trump said he supports Israel’s defensive war against Hamas and that he would have responded to the Oct. 7 attack in a very similar way.

In his post, Trump also demanded that “all hostages taken October 7 from Israel, and being held in Gaza, be released immediately, including eight Americans, and citizens from over twenty other countries, so that the war can come to an end. Peace through strength!”

Despite the overwhelming evidence of sexual crimes committed by Hamas, Israel has faced an uphill battle convincing world bodies to take note.

Shelly Tal Meron, an Israeli lawmaker from the Yesh Atid Party, told JNS that “on Oct. 7, we had a lot of cases of sexual assault, mutilation, rape and different kinds of abuse. We also know that it’s happening right now in Gaza so to hear that people are even doubting it is outrageous.”

“There are a lot of bodies that had sharp objects in the women’s groins; they shot or cut off their intimate parts. We saw that this was a systematic way of Hamas terrorists harming these women,” Meron said.

Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, founding director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Law—and co-founder of the Dinah Project 7/10, which seeks justice for the victims of Hamas’s sexual crimes—told JNS that the victims’ testimonies she had heard, “from a legal point of view, led me to the conclusion that sexual violence on October 7 was used as a weapon of war.”

“We have the footage, the pictures taken at the scene, the testimonies of eyewitnesses and those of first responders who found all the bodies,” she added.

The documented incidents followed a pattern and were carried out in a similar fashion, she said. “This could not have happened unless there were directions, and unless it was a premeditated part of the plan of the attack of Oct. 7,” she said.
The United Nations Is Against Peace
The UN decision on May 10, 2024, to upgrade the status of the Palestinian state is not surprising. It is a direct continuation of previous UN decisions, most notably that of November 29, 2012, which granted the Palestinian Authority the status of non-member observer state.

Since the 1970s, there has been an almost automatic majority for anti-Israel resolutions in the UN. This majority includes Muslim countries and countries that define themselves as part of the “Global South,” such as African countries and some South American countries, all of which are known for their invariably critical approach towards Israel.

The UN’s recognition of the Palestinian Authority grants the Palestinians an independent state without a negotiated peace process or clearly defined and agreed upon borders between it and Israel. This is precisely the situation the PLO has been striving for since 1974. The establishment of a Palestinian state without peace with Israel is a sure recipe for instability and perpetual war in the Middle East, and those negative consequences are being deliberately fomented by the UN.

In June 1974, the Palestine Liberation Organization approved a ten-point plan known as the Phased Plan. The plan was presented at the time as a considerable moderation of the PLO, which at the time was considered Israel’s most bitter enemy. The 1970s were full of bloody terrorist incidents committed by Palestinian organizations, including airplane hijackings. The leading terrorist organizations at that time were the Fatah organization headed by Yasser Arafat, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) organization headed by George Habash, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) organization headed since its inception by Nayef Hawatmeh.

The reason why the PLO’s ten-point plan was considered a political advancement was that for the first time since the adoption of the revised Palestinian treaty of 1968, the activists of the Palestinian organizations seemed to have agreed to an incomplete “liberation” of Palestine. A careful reading of the plan, however, shows that its goal remained the destruction of the entire State of Israel – “from the river to the sea.”

The second section of the plan says: “The PLO will fight by all means, primarily the armed struggle, to liberate the Palestinian land and establish an independent national government over any part of the Palestinian territory that will be liberated.” This clause was allegedly fulfilled – not through armed struggle but mainly through diplomacy via the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.

Another section of the phased plan defines the establishment of self-government on part of the territory as only one step on the way to the total “liberation” of the entire land of Palestine. According to the phased plan, the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip was a temporary solution that was never meant to stop the war between the two national movements. The phased plan was designed to promote a continuation of the fight for the other “rights” the Palestinians demand, such as the complete “liberation” of, and purported right of return to, the entire land of Israel.
US envoy rips Israel’s West Bank policies during UN Security Council meeting
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield rips into Israel’s policies in the West Bank during the Security Council’s monthly session on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

“The world’s eyes are, rightfully, on Gaza. But we cannot ignore the situation in the West Bank,” she says, noting that more Palestinians were killed in the territory in 2023 than any other year since the UN began collecting data. The majority were killed in clashes with Israeli troops, though.

Thomas-Greenfield says the US is also concerned about the “significant uptick in deadly” settler violence against Palestinians and calls on Israeli authorities to crack down on the phenomenon.

Acknowledging that they have overwhelmingly failed to do so, the US envoy notes that Washington has taken actions into its own hands and issued sanctions against violent settlers, including the far-right Tzav 9 group that has been behind attacks on Gaza aid convoys in the West Bank

She extends her condemnation to cover Israel’s policies to expand settlements in the West Bank, which are “inconsistent with international law and only serves to weaken Israeli security.”

“Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution – the end state we all want to see, as we seek to bring the fighting in Gaza to a close,” Thomas-Greenfield says.

By contrast, the US ambassador hails the work of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces to maintain stability in the West Bank.

She slams Israel for withholding PA tax revenues for nearly three months, which has the authority on the brink of collapse.


John Bolton: What next for Israel and Gaza?
Each in their own way, these actors have lived with Hamas’s perverse authoritarian rule since 2006 and under its influence for years before that. Many younger Palestinians in Gaza and expatriate personnel have never really experienced a Gaza Strip without Hamas’s brooding omnipresence. So long as Hamas continues the conflict in its incredible tunnel network and so long as its top leaders remain at large inside and outside Gaza, Hamas is not defeated. Until the mindset of Hamas inevitability is broken, postwar planning is paralyzed by the fear it will reemerge from the ashes to exact retribution on anyone who deviates from its party line.

Of course, what constitutes “destroying” Hamas sufficiently to convince even the most skeptical that it will not rise from the dead is not easily definable. There are, however, certain critical elements to help shape a framework for decision-makers.

For example, not one cubic inch of the Hamas tunnel network, including the underground transport, communications, and storage facilities, should be left unfilled by cement, rocks, or dirt. Flooding is not enough. If terrorists want tunnels in Gaza, they should have to buy new shovels.

Further, Israel should have a metric for eliminating Hamas’s top leadership until their fates are determined. In overthrowing Saddam Hussein in Iraq, U.S. forces created a “deck of cards” of Saddam’s top cohorts, a model Jerusalem could follow.

Most importantly, before declaring the war over, there must be widespread agreement with the Arab states, including on financing, for comprehensive “de-Hamasification.” Like the de-Nazification of Germany after World War II, Palestinians in Gaza need to be reawakened to the real world. They have been living in a pretend world since being cruelly driven there in the 1950s and ’60s by radical regional leaders such as Egypt’s Gamal Nasser.

These authoritarians sought to drive Israel into the sea and saw the Palestinian refugees as a close-in force to be used as the sharp edge of their strategy. This strategy never made sense, especially after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which Israel crossed the Suez Canal and could have marched on Cairo had a ceasefire not been imposed.

The rise of Hamas filled the void left by the demise of radical Arab leaders, including Saddam. Decency for the Palestinian people requires that the Hamas mythology, inculcated through years of propaganda and ideological education in Gaza’s schools, be remedied. While de-Hamasification will largely occur after the war, everyone must know in advance that the process is inescapable and inevitable.

Ignoring de-Hamasification ignores the central problem of postwar Gaza planning, not just for those within the Strip but for West Bank Palestinians as well. Its very complexity is daunting, but it will not go away.

De-Hamasification answers the arguments of those who say that decimating Hamas militarily will not defeat its ideology and is, therefore, futile. They might have said the same thing about defeating Nazism in World War II. But a crushing military defeat combined with aggressive de-ideologization can do exactly what the Allies did 75 years ago.

We know the playbook. We simply need the courage to insist on it.
Hamas stands firm against global pressure to accept hostage deal
Hamas stood firm Tuesday against global pressure that it accept the proposed three-phase deal, stressing that any deal which did not guarantee a permanent ceasefire from the start “was not an agreement.”

The Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh released the statement after his sister was killed during an IDF airstrike in Gaza, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting her to pressure the group to take the deal.

“If [Israel] thinks targeting my family will change our position or that of the resistance, they are delusional,” he said.

He spoke out as Qatar and Egypt continued their efforts to close a deal; debate continued in Israel around the three-phase plan that US President Joe Biden first unveiled on May 31.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington that Hamas had sent a written response to the deal several weeks ago. That response “rejected the proposal that had been put forward by Israel, [which] President Biden had outlined,” he said.

Miller recalled that the United Nations Security Council approved the proposal.

The deal would have delayed the issue of a permanent ceasefire, a sticking point between Israel and Hamas, to the second phase. It offered a first phase, during which talks over a permanent ceasefire would continue, while some 33 of the hostages would be freed in exchange for an immediate lull to the war.
Doha not pressing Hamas to leave Qatar, official says
Qatar has not asked the Hamas leadership residing in its capital, Doha, to leave the country as a pressure tactic to force it to accept the three-phased hostage deal on the table, an official from that country told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

The official rejected media reports stating that there has been no request from Qatar “for Hamas to leave.” The National reported that in such a scenario, Hamas could relocate to Iraq, a step that would strengthen its ties to Iran. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had met and spoken with representatives of both the Iraqi and Iranian governments.

Qatar and Egypt have been the main mediators for a deal to secure the release of the hostages, leading to an agreement in November that freed 105 of the captives. It is now pushing for a deal to free the remaining 120.

Qatar's leverage in the conflict
Hamas’s presence in Qatar has given it leverage to play the mediator role, as well as strengthening the terrorist group’s relationship with Doha. If Hamas were to relocate from Qatar, that exit would undermine Doha’s ability to play that role, which could be damaging at a time when Qatar believes that a deal is possible.

Qatar has been pressuring Hamas to make a deal but has not threatened it with exile.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday in Washington, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller addressed the possibility of Hamas’s relocation to Iraq.

“We’ve made clear that no country should carry out business as usual with Hamas since the horrific actions of October 7,” Miller said. “We would hope no country would provide a safe haven for Hamas.”
IDF says slain Gazan named as Doctors Without Borders staffer was PIJ rocket maker
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative involved in developing the terror group’s missiles was killed in an airstrike earlier today, the military says.

Fadi Jihad Muhammad al-Wadiya was targeted in a drone strike in Gaza City, the IDF says.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, reported this morning that al-Wadiya was one of its staffers. The organization said in a post on X that al-Wadiya was killed along with 5 other people, among them three children, while riding his bicycle to the MSF clinic where he worked.

Al-Wadiya was involved in “the development and advancement of the organization’s missile array,” the military says.

The IDF says he was also a “source of knowledge” within the Islamic Jihad, in the fields of electronics and chemistry.

It publishes footage of the strike.


Seth Mandel: Free Doug Emhoff
Being Joe Biden’s complaint department on anti-Semitism is lousy work. The president isn’t doing anything to combat anti-Semitism and does some things that enable it. On the other side are the Democratic Party’s grassroots, who believe doing nothing about anti-Semitism is still doing too much. The message from his left flank is: If one is not participating in anti-Semitism, one is no true progressive.

It’s a thankless job, especially in an election year. CNN reports that Biden is getting some “warning signs” regarding his support among Jewish voters. “I’ve had a couple of people say point blank, ‘How could any Jew vote for a Democrat?’” Troy Zukowski, a local Michigan Jewish Democrats chair, told CNN. “I’m not so concerned about Jews who may vote for Trump. I’m more concerned about those who may vote for third party spoiler candidates or not vote at all.”

Michigan, you’ll note, is the state at the center of Biden’s obsessive focus on courting Arab-American voters. Initially, Arab leaders in Dearborn were so upset by Biden’s decision to support Israel over Hamas that they refused to even meet with his campaign manager. They relented when Biden sent higher-ranking White House officials to prostrate themselves before leaders who were demanding restrictions in aid to our ally at war and that the president impose a permanent ceasefire irrespective of the return of American hostages.

The strategy is one of equity: Biden seems to want to make sure Jewish Americans feel every bit as alienated from him as Arab Americans do. It’s America’s own two-state solution for Jews and Arabs: the state of anxiety for one, the state of indignance for the other.

The CNN article gives an excellent example of how the administration’s deployment of Emhoff is miles away from meeting the moment: “Two weeks ago, Emhoff led the latest Jewish-centered outreach at a reelection fundraiser, standing near the front of a new outpost of famed Lower East Side fish purveyors Russ & Daughters and worked through an answer to a question about what gives him hope.”

That appearance, we are told, comes the day after “protesters wrapped in keffiyehs unfurled a ‘Long Live Oct. 7th’ banner at the Lower Manhattan memorial to the people killed that day at the Nova Music Festival.”

You cannot possibly counter this murder cultism with more bagels and lox. Yet that’s all the Biden White House appears willing to let Emhoff do. They should relieve him of the burden of fronting this purposeless and token-filled Jewish outreach. It’s beginning to look more like a punishment than an honor, an insult to the very Jewish voters that Biden has insulted quite enough already.
Israel Is Not Very Good at Apartheid or Genocide
You can easily counter that lie by pointing out that Arabs in Israel have full rights to vote and be elected in the Knesset, that they work as lawyers and doctors and serve on the Supreme Court.

But those are just words.

You can really feel the dishonesty of the apartheid lie when you see Muslims in religious garb strolling leisurely through Jerusalem, including shopping at Tommy Hilfiger and Nike stores on Mamilla Mall. One thing you won’t see on the faces of these Israeli Arabs is any fear of being among Jews.

Arabs in Israel may still commemorate the birth of Israel as a Nakba (catastrophe), but that Nakba still allows them to live and walk freely through Israeli society. And it’s not only Arabs. Walking around Jerusalem helps you see the cultural multitudes that populate the Jewish state, with faces of every color and ethnicity.

These are days of high anxiety in Israel. The ongoing war in Gaza is only part of it; there’s also the threat of a much nastier war with Hezbollah. And then of course there’s the mother of all threats—a nuclear Iran sworn to Israel’s destruction.

These threats come from Arabs and Muslims who don’t live in Israel. I wonder if they realize that if they were Israeli citizens, they’d be free to be doctors and lawyers and walk around Mamilla Mall; and free to pray in any of the hundreds of mosques in Israel. In fact, as I walked towards the Kotel the other night, I was greeted by a loud call on public speakers– the muezzin call to Muslim prayer.

The apartheid lie is so absurd it became a running joke as I wandered through Jerusalem with a friend. At the King David Hotel, an Arab maître’d recognized me from many years ago. I wondered how long he had been working there. Twenty years? I asked. He made a gesture with his hand to keep going. He’s been working there for 47 years. Ask him about apartheid.

Perhaps the ugliest lie against Israel is the lie of genocide. Given the defensive war against Hamas that was forced on Israel after the massacre of Oct. 7, this lie has been recklessly bandied around everywhere by Zionophobic Jew haters.

Genocide, in case you were wondering, is defined as the deliberate killing of a large nation or ethnic group with the aim of completely destroying that group. Strolling through Jerusalem and seeing so many Arabs walk freely is a first sign of the lie. But let’s look at the actual numbers: Between 1950 and 2024, the population of Arab Palestinians, covering both Israel and the Palestinian territories, has grown from 944,807 to 5,494,964. That’s an increase of about 4.5 million people. In Gaza itself, the population has grown from 265,800 in 1960 to 2.1 million in 2023. Some genocide.

Israel may be good at a lot of things, including exhibiting and reaffirming its ancient connection to the land, but it’s not very good at apartheid or genocide. You just need to go for a walk.
DeSantis signs into law antisemitism, Jewish school security bills
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed two bills on Monday geared to protect Jewish residents in the state.

HB 187, Antisemitism, which will go into effect on July 1, codifies the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism and its contemporary examples of Jew-hatred into state law “to assist in the monitoring and reporting of antisemitic hate crimes and discrimination and to make residents aware of and to combat such incidents in this state.”

The bill passed the Florida House 115-0 on Feb. 29, after having passed the state Senate 40-0 the day beforehand.

DeSantis also signed HB 1109, Security for Jewish Day Schools and Preschools. That bill, which passed the state Senate 39-0 on March 5 and passed the state House 108-6 on Feb. 22, also goes into effect on July 1.

The law requires the state’s education department “to establish a program to provide funds to full-time Jewish day schools and preschools for specified security purposes” and with “professional security hardening, as needed, to better secure facilities of such schools and preschools and to protect their students.”

“It wouldn’t be a trip to Israel without one of my antisemitism bills becoming law,” wrote Randy Fine, a Republican state representative, who is there this week, visiting Jerusalem and southern Israel.

“I’m proud to have led the most aggressive pro-Israel, antisemitism-fighting agenda in America during my time in the House,” he added. “In the Senate, well, those who support Muslim terror probably ought to start looking for realtors.”

The Combat Antisemitism Movement applauded the passage of the antisemitism bill. “A total of 36 U.S. states have adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition,” the group stated.
Government Appoints New Chief of Canadian Human Rights Commission Who Linked To Articles Comparing Israelis to Nazis, Called for Israel Boycott, and Shared Platform With Banned Organization
The Globe and Mail features a bombshell story today on a recent government appointment of the chief of the Canadian Human Rights Commission that not only calls into question its vetting process, but the fairness of the body charged with addressing online hate in Bill C-63. Less than two weeks ago, Justice Minister Arif Virani announced that Birju Dattani had been appointed as Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission for five years. The position is particularly important at this moment given the proposed changes to the Canada Human Rights Act in the Online Harms bill that would expand the scope of Commission work on online hate, including the prospect of dealing with thousands of complaints. Yet what the release did not say is that Birju Dattani once went by the name Mujahid Dattani. Search under that name and it reveals a deeply troubling record of posts and appearances that call into question the ability for Jewish or Zionist Canadians to get a fair, impartial hearing at the Commission.

The Globe story covers the stunning history: a now deleted tweet that linked to an article comparing Israelis to Nazis, which is considered antisemitism under the IHRA definition adopted by the Canadian government. Further, there was a tweet to an article likening Palestinians to Jews incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto and a joint conference appearance with a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamist fundamentalist organization which is opposed to the existence of the state of Israel and banned in Britain. In addition, he was interviewed at a rally featuring chants that “Zionism is terrorism” as he personally called for a boycott of Israel.

The government has placed enormous emphasis on the Canada Human Rights Act and enforcement by the Commission as important measures to address online hate. That plan has attracted considerable criticism on free speech grounds, yet days before the Dattani appointment, Virani defended its inclusion in Bill C-63, telling the House of Commons that he was giving Canadians “a tool to get hate speech removed.” But that tool must go through the Canadian Human Rights Commission, now led by someone with a track record that cannot possibly be viewed as impartial when it comes to the biggest target for hate crime.
Parents of Paris antisemitic gang-rape victim speak out
The parents of the 12-year-old girl, identified only as “A,” who was gang raped in a Paris suburb on June 15 recently spoke with French daily Le Parisien “to bear witness to the ordeal experienced by their eldest daughter.”

The incident sent shock waves through France. Hundreds demonstrated in Paris on June 19 in solidarity with the victim. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against “the scourge of antisemitism” at a Cabinet meeting that day.

Three boys were involved. Two of them, both 13 years old, were indicted for gang rape, death threats, antisemitic violence, attempted extortion, invasion of privacy, violence and insults.

A third, age 12, was declared an involved witness in the rape and is on trial for the other crimes.

The shocking incident took place only steps away from their apartment, the parents told Le Parisien.

“Their sense of immunity is amazing. They really thought they would be safe from prosecution and perhaps believed that our daughter would be so afraid that she wouldn’t say anything,” her father said.

“They threatened her with a lighter and forced her to swallow a piece of paper,” he said. “After that she suffered sexual acts and threats while being photographed.”


Pro-Palestinian protesters are proving why Israel is needed
In Toronto on Saturday, demonstrators responded to the Houthis’ recent successes by chanting “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around,” dropping any pretense of being anti-war. But at least these protesters weren’t violent. This could not be said about the mob that surrounded a Los Angeles synagogue on Sunday and attacked a number of Jews, leaving a dozen injured. Although the police intervened, they were slow to do so, despite the fact that the protest was publicly advertised, and there were clues as to the intentions of its organizers.

In Russia in the 1880s, a series of violent attacks on Jews—followed by a feeble response by the police and sympathy for the pogromists, or simple indifference, from leftists—gave rise to the pre-Herzlian Zionist movement led by Leon Pinsker. Mijal Bitton observes something similar happening to young Jews today:
Multiple Jewish university students have told me they have endured a sort of social “canceling” for expressing empathy for Israelis. One was ousted from her sorority for being a Zionist, another was told that being a Zionist made others have to self-censor so they stopped including him in events.

But they are finding that in their loneliness, they are not alone. They are rediscovering that they belong to a rich history of Jews who experienced [persecution] but whose greatest strength was in each other. They are rediscovering the millennia-old Jewish rituals and community structures that nourish belonging. And they are rediscovering Zionism. This is not surprising. The Zionist dreamers of the 1800s and 1900s were motivated to build a Jewish state by the realization that their neighbors in an “enlightened” Europe were incubating a hatred so dangerous it could lead to their genocide. Young American Jews today are realizing that they, too, can be made to feel unwanted in their own homes.

I see this vision resonating with young Jews who never would have thought of themselves as Zionists before. . . . Indeed, too many protesters have only reinforced American Jews’ fear that anti-Semitism is spreading here.
Progressive group with terrorism ties illegally failed to report lobbying, experts say
A progressive group linked to terrorism may have unlawfully failed to disclose lobbying, tax experts warn.

Alliance for Global Justice, an Arizona-based nonprofit group facing an uncertain future after a Washington Examiner investigation into its Palestinian terrorism ties prompted payment processors and donors to jump ship, claimed in recent years on financial disclosures filed with the IRS that the charity did not engage in lobbying activities. But records show AFGJ has lobbied on the state and federal level — a fact that went undisclosed and, thus, could place the group’s tax-exempt status in jeopardy and open it up to hefty fines.

“The IRS should take this seriously because it’s a violation of their regulations … to not report this information,” said Alan P. Dye, a partner at the law firm Webster, Chamberlain & Bean. He also pointed to IRS rules holding that nonprofit organizations may be hit with a penalty of $105 per day if they submit incomplete tax returns.

The lack of lobbying transparency is the latest hiccup for AFGJ, which houses an Israeli-designated terrorist group called Samidoun that shares employees with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. Samidoun and a French organization called Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which is partnered with the PFLP and received fundraising help recently from AFGJ, are protesting in support of Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year. YouTube kicked Samidoun off its platform this week for violating a company policy related to violent criminal organizations.

AFGJ, which saw a windfall from major corporations and top philanthropies in 2020, fashions itself as an “anti-capitalist” social justice group. One project benefiting from AFGJ’s tax-exempt status is Colorado Freedom Fund, a left-wing criminal justice initiative scrutinized in a June Axios report over an apparent conflict of interest posed by Colorado Freedom Fund Director Elisabeth Epps double-dipping as a Democratic state lawmaker.

That’s because Epps leads the AFGJ-housed project at the same time Colorado Freedom Fund lobbies the state house — including on legislation that Epps sponsored. Colorado Freedom Fund, according to state records reviewed by the Washington Examiner, has lobbied in connection to bills from 2022 to 2024.

But AFGJ, which oversees Colorado Freedom Fund’s finances as its fiscal sponsor, has long checked “no” to a question on IRS tax forms asking if it lobbies.
‘Vehicle for Jew hatred’: Jewish doctor heckled at British Medical Association
Concerns have been raised about antisemitism at the British Medical Association’s annual conference, after a Jewish doctor was heckled just hours after religious leaders warned the meeting, which took place on June 24, could become a “vehicle for Jew hatred,” The Telegraph reported on Monday.

Dr. Joanna Sutton-Klein, a Jewish A&E consultant, was heckled by at least two doctors who shouted “shame” at her after she said she was Jewish.

The BMA denounced the incident, calling it “unacceptable” and gave Dr. Sutton-Klein 15 seconds of extra speaking time as a result of the interruption, according to the Telegraph. Motions against Israel

Union factions of the BMA have been calling for action against Israel, causing fear among the Jewish medical community, said The Telegraph.

According to the Telegraph, 30 motions (about 10% of total submissions) were related to the Israel-Palestine conflict and needed to be removed from proposed debates. Motions are policy proposals voted on by doctors at the conference, which become adopted if passed. For legal reasons, the motions were dismissed due to the risk of them being seen as “discriminatory, more specifically, antisemitic.”

There were 75 mentions of the words “Israel” or “Israeli” in motions put forward to be debated at the meeting, said The Telegraph.

Dr. Sutton-Klein reportedly opposed the decision to block debates on the conflict, saying arguments are essential. She cited the Jewish value of – Machloket l’Shem Shamayim – to argue that disagreements are valuable for the sake of a bigger cause.

The heckling incident came during her conference speech in which she disagreed with the dismissal of the motions: “one of the justifications for the silencing of these motions was that they might be perceived as antisemitic so I want to stand up here today as a practising Jew to say there is nothing Jewish about the attempt to remove motions that you disagree with."
Federal probes of campus antisemitism have flopped
No institution of higher education in America better exemplifies the way antisemitism has been mainstreamed than the City University of New York. The post-Oct. 7 mayhem and pro-Hamas tent encampments at more prestigious schools like Columbia, Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania have garnered more headlines in the mainstream press. But on its many campuses throughout the five boroughs, CUNY has become a compelling illustration of how toxic woke ideas like critical race theory and intersectionality have normalized prejudice against Jews.

A quick look through the lengthy list of JNS stories about what has been going on at CUNY in recent years reveals left-wing groups, students and faculty operating to create a hostile environment for Jews—incidents so brazen as to remove any doubt about what they were doing or their consequences. Equally obvious has been the utter indifference to, if not active complicity, on the part of CUNY’s administration, in this disgrace.

So, the announcement last week that the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) had handed down a ruling on the numerous complaints brought against the CUNY system for violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act during the academic year of 2019-20 (numerous acts of antisemitism since then were not covered) should have been a long-awaited moment of reckoning for the school. More than that, it should also have been a turning point in the struggle to raise awareness and bring accountability to schools that have been guilty of allowing antisemitism to flourish. After all the effort put into documenting the many instances of prejudicial conduct, the OCR could have sent a message to the nation that the federal government was finally taking the plague of campus antisemitism seriously.

Barely a slap on the wrist
But the agreement between the Department of Education and CUNY that was published last week did none of those things. While the government verified the claims of those Jewish individuals who had complained of discriminatory conduct, its response to the now-documented instances in which the school had allowed these violations to occur and took no steps to defend its Jewish students was minimal. In what can barely be described as even a slap on the wrist, CUNY was left off with warnings and orders to conduct more investigations and report further developments to Washington; provide more employee and campus security officer training; and issue a “climate survey” to students.

The administration of CUNY or any of the many other schools under investigation because of complaints brought against them for antisemitism could be forgiven for responding to this ruling with laughter.
Judge Tosses Challenge to Antisemitism Investigation of University of Pennsylvania
A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging a congressional investigation of antisemitism at the University of Pennsylvania, delivering a blow to an anti-Zionist faculty group which hoped to prevent important documents from being shared with lawmakers while the matter was litigated.

Since last year, the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) to determine whether it intentionally ignored dozens of antisemitic incidents perpetrated by students and faculty. As part of its inquiry, the committee, led by US Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), subpoenaed the university for a trove of documents, including reports and correspondence, which would provide a window into how administrators discussed antisemitism on campus.

Accusing Congress of engaging in a “new form of McCarthyism” — a historical reference to the excessive efforts of lawmakers to purge Communist Party members from important public institutions in the 1950s — and violating constitutional protections of speech and privacy, a group calling itself Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) asked the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to grant a preliminary and permanent injunction to end the university’s cooperation with the investigation.

“I conclude Plaintiffs lack standing to bring this challenge,” Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg said in a ruling issued on Monday. “They have not alleged what information Penn will disclose or how it will harm them … Plaintiffs have not alleged facts sufficient to give them a personal stake in the outcome of this litigation, and their complaint will be dismissed for lack of standing. Where a plaintiff lacks standing, a federal court has no authority to enter an injunction.”

According to court documents first shared by The Daily Pennsylvanian, the principal plaintiff of the suit, associate professor Huda Fakhreddine, engaged in actions that played an outsized role in prompting Congress to investigate Penn.

Last fall, Fakhreddine organized the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which invited to campus several anti-Zionists who have spread blood libels as well as conspiracies of Jewish control. He has also praised Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel as a “new way of life.”
'MckArthy [sic] Era': Columbia Middle Eastern Studies Chair Decries Free Beacon Report on Deans' Anti-Semitic Text Exchanges
Columbia College dean Josef Sorett, under fire for his role in a texting scandal that landed three of his fellow administrators on leave, has support from at least one prominent Columbia faculty member: Gil Hochberg, a Hebrew professor who chairs the school's Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies department.

In a Sunday post shared to her private Instagram account, Hochberg linked to the Washington Free Beacon's June 12 report exposing vitriolic text messages sent between Sorett and his colleagues amid a panel on campus anti-Semitism. Hochberg rallied behind Sorett, calling him a "dear friend" whose critics are part of a new "MckArthy [sic] Era."

"I hope no one is taking a photo of my screen as I post this. I mean, how can this be real?????" Hochberg wrote in the post, which was obtained by the Free Beacon. "Josef Sorett dear friend. We will not be quite [sic] about this!"

Hochberg's defense of Sorett came just days after Columbia placed three administrators on leave as the school investigates the texting scandal. Those administrators—Vice Dean Susan Chang-Kim, Associate Dean for Student and Family Support Matthew Patashnick, and Dean of Undergraduate Student Life Cristen Kromm—were captured along with Sorett exchanging dismissive text messages while listening to a panel on the eruption of anti-Semitism on Columbia's campus.

At one point, Kromm used vomit emojis—"🤢🤮"—to reference an op-ed from a Columbia rabbi. Chang-Kim, meanwhile, texted Sorett to say the panel was "difficult to listen to but I'm trying to keep an open mind to learn about this point of view," to which Sorett responded, "Yup." Sorett also sent a text mocking Columbia's top Hillel official.

In her post, Hochberg took no issue with those texts. She did, however, raise concerns about the way they came to light, expressing bewilderment that an audience member took photos of Chang-Kim's phone as the vice dean sent the texts. Hochberg also adopted Kromm's fondness for emojis, including one in her post—"🤯"—that showed an exploding head.

Hochberg, who declined to comment, conducts research on the "intersections among psychoanalysis, postcolonial theory, nationalism, gender and sexuality," according to her faculty bio. In addition to her role as chairwoman of Columbia's Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department, Hochberg serves on the executive committee of the school's Center of Palestine Studies.


Israel-Palestine debates at UCSF: An alarming leftist moral misread
Israel-Palestine debates at the University of California, San Francisco medical school and hospital involve a moral misread from the far Left that harms both Jewish patients and doctors.

One of the nation’s most prestigious hospitals, UCSF has somehow managed to anger both Jewish and pro-Palestinian doctors over its application of its “do no harm” policy. The former group interprets the protocol as a plea for doctors to leave their political opinions at the door, while the latter believes it has a moral obligation to express its anger at civilian deaths in Gaza.

The New York Times reports that hundreds of complaints have been filed to the administration by doctors and patients alike. Some have alleged antisemitism on campus, while others have claimed they were silenced when trying to promote pro-Palestinian perspectives.

This simultaneous outrage represents a dichotomy also found within President Joe Biden’s handling of the situation. As he infamously did for years as a senator, Biden has played it down the middle since Hamas’s terrorist attack against Israel on Oct. 7 in an attempt to appease both the Jewish and pro-Palestinian communities. This weak indecisiveness ironically has alienated both sides, leaving neither content with his decision-making process.

Paying the price for his ineffective leadership and that of UCSF are the patients at the university hospital subjected to chants of “intifada” while lying in their hospital beds. The Jewish doctors at the clinic are hurting as well. Many have reported rushing into side rooms to avoid walking past antisemitic coworkers in the hallway, while others have been forced to hide their Jewish identity.

Despite the hospital’s long-held reputation of prioritizing “diversity and inclusion,” that principle seems not to apply to the Jewish community present within the administration and faculty.
City of Sydney supports boycott of Israel, prompting backlash
The City of Sydney council will consider scrapping its contracts with companies linked to Israel, including a printing agreement with Hewlett Packard, after Lord Mayor Clover Moore supported a renewed push from the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

Moore and her independent team backed a Greens motion on Monday night calling for the state’s wealthiest council to audit divestments that had or could be made to ensure it did not invest in or profit from human rights violations, “including the illegal occupation of the settlements in Palestinian territories, and the supply of weapons”.

This should include both investments and supplier contracts, the motion stipulated, and explicitly sought to review financial arrangements with companies that might be involved in “human rights abuses in Palestine”.

It did not commit the council to any immediate boycott or divestment. Further action arising from that report – due within three months – would be at the discretion of councillors.

Moore – who will seek a sixth term in September – said the City of Sydney had consistently advocated for a lasting ceasefire, the safe return of hostages and negotiations aimed at a just and enduring peace.

“Leaders must strive to break the cycle of violence in this region and ensure that neither Israelis nor Palestinians live in fear and at risk of harm or death. Now more than ever, we must use our voices to call for peace,” she said.

“If the City’s voice in this campaign can put additional pressure towards a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis, then I think we should carefully review our investments and suppliers.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry accused the council of a “spectacularly inept” foray into foreign affairs.

“It has acknowledged the terrorist atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel last year but has decided to punish, not the perpetrators, but the victims for having the temerity to defend themselves,” said co-chief executive Peter Wertheim.

“A body that struggles to achieve competence in collecting the garbage and fixing potholes might be over-reaching itself just a tad in its pretensions to forge peace in the Middle East.”


Pro-Palestinians to vet uni’s Israel ties
An agreement between the University of Sydney (USYD) and the Sydney University Muslim Students Association (SUMSA) to fully disclose USYD’s academic ties with Israel has been condemned as “appeasement”.

The bizarre deal reportedly elevates SUMSA and the USYD encampment to decision-making roles in the university’s policies on security and defence-related relationships with other institutions.

SUMSA shared its compact with USYD on Instagram last week in a post that included Stand4PalestineAus, whose ties to Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir were exposed on Nine’s 60 Minutes.

And pressure is mounting on Education Minister Jason Clare to hold an inquiry into when USYD became aware of Hizb ut-Tahrir infiltration of its campus, amid reports vice-chancellor Mark Scott’s chief of staff was alerted on May 6.

Hizb ut-Tahrir expressed jubilation after the October 7 slaughter of Israelis and called for Muslim nations to destroy Israel. Its Australian arm organised a post-October 7 ‘day of pride’ in Lakemba in Sydney’s west.

But prompted by The AJN, Clare did not respond directly on the deal. More generally, he stated, “There is no place for the poison of antisemitism or any sort of racism in our universities or anywhere else.

“That’s why I have asked the Race Discrimination Commissioner to examine the prevalence and impact of racism, including antisemitism, at universities and make recommendations to the government about how we can ensure a safe environment for students.”

Human-rights lawyer Stewart Levitt, a senior partner in Sydney legal firm Levitt Robinson, which is launching a class action against USYD on behalf of Jewish students next month, said the deal “only causes us to redouble our efforts”.

Levitt said the government needs to demand full disclosure of funding ties at tertiary institutions, which “make themselves continually attractive to foreign investors”. US and British universities “have received very substantial funding from Saudi and Islamist organisations and there’s always strings attached”.


Jewish Groups Lambast Wikipedia for Its ‘Attack on ADL’s Credibility’ About Antisemitism, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
A total of 43 Jewish organizations signed a letter sent to the Wikimedia Foundation on Monday night that criticized Wikipedia’s conclusion last week that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is not a credible source for information about antisemitism and the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The Jewish groups — which include B’nai B’rith International, the American Jewish Committee, and American Jewish Congress — expressed concerns regarding Wikipedia’s “attack on ADL’s credibility” and accused the free online encyclopedia of “stripping the Jewish community of the right to defend itself from the hatred that targets our community.”

“We urge you to immediately launch an investigation into this decision and the motivations behind it, and to start the process for administrative reconsideration” stated the letter, which was spearheaded by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and sent to the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. “We hope that you will simultaneously speak out clearly and unequivocally in support of the Jewish community’s right to defend against antisemitism.”

Wikipedia’s editors, who are a group of volunteer moderators, voted last week in support of labeling the ADL as a “generally unreliable” source on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Other “generally unreliable” sources, according to Wikipedia’s editors, include Amazon reviews, Russian state media, the National Inquirer, and Newsmax.

The editors also overwhelmingly agreed that the ADL is unreliable on the topic of antisemitism, but a formal declaration on that matter has not been made as of yet. The Wikipedia editors said in an online forum that the ADL’s role as both a pro-Israel advocacy and research organization prevents it from being able to provide unbiased information about Israel or antisemitism.

In their letter to the Wikimedia Foundation, the Jewish organizations — including the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) and Hillel International — said antisemitism is not only “one of the oldest and most pernicious forms of hate,” but also “in many ways, one of the most often misunderstood.” They said they are worried that Wikipedia’s decision about the ADL “will enable others to undermine our community’s claims or charges of antisemitism and simultaneously use Wikipedia’s decision as cover to perpetuate antisemitism.”

“At a time when antisemitic attitudes are increasing, and antisemitic incidents are skyrocketing, this is simply unacceptable, and it puts our entire community at risk,” they added.
BBC News website promotes inaccurate claims about ICC warrants
He fails to point out to readers that the Palestinians concerned were terrorists – who deliberately do not wear military uniforms – or suspected terrorists and that the “public stripping” was a precaution to ensure that they were not concealing weapons or explosives on their person at the time of their arrest.

The full title of the body which produced this report is of course the UN Human Rights Council’s ‘Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel’. Murphy names just one of that body’s members:

“The panel, led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, said Israel’s use of heavy weapons in populated areas constituted a war crime as it was a direct attack on civilian populations which intended to cause “maximum damage, disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precautions”.”

The fact that the same commission has already produced highly problematic reports – such as those published in June 2022, October 2022 and June 2023 – is not mentioned by Murphy.

As noted here on previous occasions, the BBC has done remarkably little over the years to contribute to audience understanding of the UNHRC’s politically motivated bias against Israel. Despite having reported the establishment of that ‘Commission of Inquiry’ in May 2021, when evidence emerged concerning highly problematic statements made by its three members, the corporation was silent:

There is of course nothing remotely novel about Murphy’s uncritical amplification of claims made in this report from a UN body. For years the BBC has refrained from adopting a critical approach to the United Nations, choosing instead to quote and promote anything put out by that organisation’s various departments and agencies, no matter how ridiculous.

That serial avoidance of the topic of anti-Israel bias at the UN means that Murphy’s readers would once again be ill-placed to understand the part of his report which states that “Israel – which refused to co-operate with the investigation – was quick to reject the report, accusing it of “systematic anti-Israeli discrimination”.”
Times video promotes Hamas's unevidenced allegations
On June 22, The Times published an article about a recent IDF operation targeting Hamas leaders at military sites located in two Gaza City locations, (“Dozens dead’ after Israel airstrikes target Hamas leaders”), written by Anshel Pfeffer. The outlet also published a short YouTube video on June 23 about the same incident, titled “Israel’s twin attack kill at least 42 Palestinians in Gaza”.

The video has no narrator, consists almost entirely of scenes of rubble in the aftermath of the strike, as well as images of a few injured Palestinians, and includes a total of 25 words of text. Also, as you can see by this screen capture 17 seconds into the video, the footage was courtesy of the Turkish state media outlet, Anadolu Agency.

Whilst the piece by Pfeffer is generally fair, the YouTube video, available to the Times’ 614,000 subscribers, is indistinguishable from the context-free, Palestinian propaganda films that are ubiquitous on the platform.

For instance, Pfeffer’s news article informed readers that “Israel carried out a series of massive airstrikes in Gaza City on Saturday, aiming to kill a pair of senior Hamas commanders.“, and that “one of the targets that Israeli security officials believe they succeeded in killing was Ra’ad Saed, considered to be number four in the leadership hierarchy of Hamas“.

The video, on the other hand, doesn’t mention the Hamas and military targets, instead misleadingly informing viewers that the targets were a “house” and a “refugee camp”.

Further, Unlike the Times article, which attributes the casualty count from the incident to “Palestinian and hospital officials”, as did Reuters and other outlets, the Times video states, as fact, that “42 Palestinians were killed”, without noting the source for those figures.

It’s sad to again see the Times, which is currently investigating our complaint against a shameful piece they published casting doubt about Hamas’s weaponisation of rape on Oct. 7, again purveying Guardian-style anti-Israel propaganda and disinformation under the guise of journalism.


Biden Granted US Visa to Assad’s Cousin. Republicans Say That May Have Violated Sanctions.
Republican lawmakers are probing the Biden administration for granting a U.S. visa to the cousin of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, saying they seek to determine if the administration violated sanctions to allow Assad’s relative entry into America.

Mohammed Makhlouf, the son of Syrian businessman Rami Makhlouf, Assad’s maternal cousin, was allegedly spotted earlier this month on Instagram drinking at a bar in the Santa Monica area of California, according to two GOP lawmakers and Washington Free Beacon analysis on the photo. Reps. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) and Joe Wilson (R., S.C.) say the picture initiated an investigation into how and why a member of Assad’s family was permitted into the country at a time when the Syrian dictator and his family members are under heavy U.S. sanctions.

"This is outrageous. This man’s father was sanctioned since the Bush administration for being the most corrupt oligarch in Syria," Wilson, a member of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, told the Free Beacon. "The fact that his son can waltz into this country shows that both our immigration and sanctions laws are broken." Wilson is the architect of recently passed House legislation that extends sanctions on the Assad family to include direct relatives.

Mohammed Makhlouf’s brother, Ali, was spotted in Los Angeles in 2021 while driving a $300,000 Ferrari, the Free Beacon reported at the time. This also drew outrage on Capitol Hill and allegations the Biden administration was seeking to normalize relations with the Assad regime as it commits mass human rights abuses as part of a decade-long civil war. The latest example, spotted by the lawmakers late last month, is generating similar concerns about U.S. policy towards Syria under President Joe Biden.

"The Assad family in the U.S. is a direct security risk, proving the Biden administration is asleep at the wheel on American national security," Rep. Hern, chair of the Republican Study Committee, Congress’s largest GOP caucus, told the Free Beacon. "With our southern border wide open and millions of known gotaways, Joe Biden is allowing lawlessness to thrive."
In Bizarre Closing Campaign, Jamaal Bowman and the 'Squad' Battle for the South Bronx—Which Isn't In His District
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.), just days away from the primary election that could define his political career, addressed the crowd defiantly. Flanked by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) during a Saturday rally, Bowman warned his adversaries that they were about to experience the "power of the motherf—ing South Bronx."

There was just one problem: Bowman does not represent the South Bronx.

Bowman does represent a small (northern) section of the borough. But the size of that section pales in comparison to the rest of Bowman's district, which includes the southern half of Westchester County. Of the roughly 490,000 voters enrolled in Bowman's 16th Congressional District, roughly 450,000 are based in Westchester County, according to New York voter data released in November.

Despite the size disparity, Bowman has tailored his closing message almost entirely to left-wing residents in the Bronx—both within and outside of his district. By contrast, the two-term congressman has openly disparaged Westchester County residents—particularly the Jewish ones. During an interview with Politico released on Friday, Bowman accused Westchester County Jews of purposefully creating "segregated" communities.

"Westchester is segregated. There's certain places where the Jews live and concentrate," Bowman said. "I'm sure they made a decision to do that for their own reasons … we've been separated and segregated and miseducated for so long."

That remark—paired with Bowman's Bronx-centered closing rally—reflects the bizarre nature of the congressman's primary fight against George Latimer, which will come to a close on Tuesday. Latimer, who has represented Westchester County at the state and local levels since 2005 and remains popular in the area, leads Bowman by 17 points, according to a June poll from New York City television station PIX11.

Rather than work to win over the county's voters, however, Bowman has spent the closing weeks of his campaign leaning into the anti-Israel views that alienated many of them in the first place. Earlier this month, for example, he defended his decision to vote against a House resolution that condemned Hamas, saying he did so because the resolution called the terror group's Oct. 7 attack on Israel "unprovoked."

"One of the first lines was ‘condemn Hamas for this unprovoked attack.’ And I stopped reading at that point," Bowman said. "If we're calling this an unprovoked attack, that means we're going to ignore 18 human rights organizations calling Israel an apartheid state."


Anthony Albanese suffers major betrayal in the ranks as Labor figure turns against him risking her career - as Lidia Thorpe has a meltdown
Fatima Payman has voted against her own party to support the Greens motion calling on the government to recognise the state of Palestine - opening her up to potential expulsion from the ALP.

The extraordinary decision comes after the 28-year-old first-term Labor senator diverged from the party line last month to describe the ongoing crisis in Gaza as a 'genocide' and demand more from her colleagues and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Firebrand Greens senator Lidia Thorpe seized upon the high-stakes moment, which attracted a crowd of journalists, to lash out at politicians from both major parties for voting against the motion.

She said doing so made them 'complicit in genocide'.

Ms Payman chose to abstain from a series of initial votes on Tuesday afternoon, defiantly sitting in the back - behind the action but in full sight of journalists - while the debate raged on.

But when push came to shove and the final vote on the motion moved by Greens senator Nick McKim for 'the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine' went ahead, Ms Payman was approached by crossbencher David Pocock.

After a short discussion, the pair walked toward the Greens together.

There was a brief moment where it was unclear whether Ms Payman was leaving the chamber entirely or had decided to vote, but then she took a seat beside Mr Pocock and directly in front of Senator Thorpe.

Ms Payman faces expulsion from the party for choosing to cross the floor. The last time a Labor politician chose to do so from government was 1986 - before Ms Payman was even born.

Minutes earlier, it looked as though she had come to the chamber to be a silent bystander, sitting at the back behind Ms Thorpe as the outspoken senator shouted 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'.

'Complicit in genocide, all of you,' she shouted, pointing at the gathered Labor and Coalition senators opposing the Greens motion.

'Shame on you all. Have a good night's sleep.'

When Senate President Sue Lines attempted to intervene to call for order, Ms Thorpe carried on: 'You're complicit too, President.'


Israel’s High Court rules that strictly Orthodox must serve in army
Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled by 9-0 on Tuesday that the government must draft strictly Orthodox men into the military.

“The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that at this time there is no legal framework that makes it possible to distinguish between students of the yeshivahs and others with regard to mandatory military service”, said the two-page ruling by the nine-justice panel. As such, the state does not have the authority to prevent their enlistment, it continued.

Moreover, as there is no legal mechanism to support their exemption from service, “It is not possible to continue transferring support funds for yeshivahs and kollels for students who did not receive an exemption or whose military service was not postponed,” the ruling states.

The court called the current exemption scheme, whereby yeshivah students receive temporary deferrals until reaching the age of exemption from service, “unconstitutional.”

The document concludes by accusing the government of “seriously undermining the rule of law, and the principle according to which all individuals are equal before the law,” by continuing to delay the enlistment of strictly Orthodox men.

The petitioners had argued that the state must begin drafting yeshivah students because the law exempting them from mandatory service expired last year. The government representative requested that the court reject the petitions and instead allow the Knesset to continue the legislative process toward a solution, but the court refused.

Israel’s strictly Orthodox disapprove of army service, considering it a distraction from Torah study and a threat to their way of life. However, the Hamas attack on October 7 heightened the demands of the general public that the strictly Orthodox contribute their share to the defence of the nation.
Holy controversy: Court's ruling on Haredi draft could scramble politics
The Likud party responded to the decision: "It's puzzling that the Supreme Court, which for 76 years refrained from enforcing yeshiva student enlistment through a ruling, is doing so now, on the eve of completing the historic conscription law and when ultra-Orthodox enlistment was at an all-time high. The law was formulated by the defense establishment when Benny Gantz was defense minister and passed its first reading with the support of Naftali Bennett, Yair Lapid, and Avigdor Lieberman. Now suddenly Bennett, Lapid, Lieberman, and Gantz oppose the law because they're not interested in ultra-Orthodox enlistment but in toppling the government."

United Torah Judaism Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf said, "An expected and very sad and disappointing decision. The State of Israel was established to be a home for the Jewish people, whose Torah is the rock of its existence. The holy Torah will triumph."

Knesset member Moshe Gafni, from the same faction, attacked: "There has never been a Supreme Court ruling in favor of yeshiva students and the ultra-Orthodox public. There isn't a single judge there who understands the value of Torah study and its contribution to the Jewish people throughout the generations."

The State Part Chairman Benny Gantz, who left the government recently partly in response to this issue, said: "It's not too late to reach agreements that will serve the state and lead to Israeli service. Service is a security need and a moral duty, not instead of the world of Torah, but so we can continue to exist in a state for all of us – ultra-Orthodox, Arabs, secular, and all parts of society, together. It's time for an Israeli service outline with broad agreement."

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman, MK Avigdor Lieberman said, "There are judges in Jerusalem. After years of stalling and attempts to reach compromises and understandings, the Supreme Court has made a decision that does justice to the public bearing the burden. A significant step towards historic change."

Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri, said, "The Jewish people survived persecutions, pogroms, and wars only because of preserving its uniqueness - the Torah and commandments. This is our secret weapon against all enemies. We will continue to guard the society of Torah learners who maintain it out of hardship. They are the ones who preserve our special power and create miracles in the campaign. No arbitrary ruling will abolish the society of Torah learners in the land of Israel, which is the branch we all sit on."

Labor Party chairman, Major General (res.) Yair Golan, said, "The decision that was clear to every serving citizen in the State of Israel was also unanimously clear to all the judges. Where there is no government, there is justice."


Facing a pivotal choice: International students opt for IDF service over college post-October 7



PMW: PA: An Arab who supports Israel has a “mental disorder”; a Jew who hates Israel represents truth
According to the PA, when an Israeli Arab is an outspoken supporter of Israel, he has a “mental disorder.” When a Jew is an outspoken anti-Zionist, she represents a Jewish voice for “freedom and life.”

This was made apparent in two recent interviews broadcast on official PA TV.

Yoseph Haddad is a prominent Israeli Arab who vigorously advocates for Israel around the world. He is also the CEO of Together Vouch for Each Other, which works to bridge gaps between Arabs and Jews in Israel, and he passionately and consistently showcases coexistence in Israel. He served in the Israeli army and was severely injured in the Second Lebanon War against Hezbollah.

Unable to counter the content of Haddad’s message, which depicts the high quality of life and equality that Israeli Arabs experience in Israel, the PA chose to libel him, saying he “has mental disorders” and “an identity crisis.” The PA accuses Israel of convincing Haddad “that he has superior intelligence… so [Haddad supports] the side from which he receives the exaggerated and untrue recognition.”

Sherry Wolf, on the other hand, describes herself on X (Twitter) as a “revolutionary socialist queer Jewish anti-Zionist living in NY who posts about politics, protest, US imperial decline, sex and gender.” Despite the fact that Wolf’s book and Twitter posts, which vigorously advocate for LGBT equality, run diametrically in opposition to "the highest ideals and values of the Palestinian society,” Wolf’s plethora of tweets and activism as well as membership in the anti-Israel “Jewish Voice for Peace” were enough to earn her an interview on official PA TV. The host introduced her by saying that she represents the Jewish “voice calling for the freedom of Palestine… demanding to stop the war of annihilation against the Palestinian people.”

The following are texts showing how official PA TV libels a proud Israeli Arab and praises an Israel-hating Jew.


Brazil deports Hamas 'operative' and family
Brazil has deported a Palestinian man and his family after Brazilian federal police were alerted by the United States that a "Hamas operative" was traveling to the South American country, Brazilian authorities said on Monday.

Muslim Abuumar along with his pregnant wife, son and mother-in-law, were detained on Friday entering the country at Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport and put on a Qatar Airways flight back to Doha two days later, police sources told Reuters.

"The request came from the U.S. Department of State," a senior federal police officer said. "It was proven before a judge that (Abuumar) was deeply involved with Hamas," he said.

A federal judge in Sao Paulo stopped the deportation on Saturday to request information from the police, which when provided led her to approve deporting Abuumar and his family.

Judge Milenna da Cunha, in her decision seen by Reuters, said Brazilian federal police received an alert via the U.S. embassy that "a Hamas operative, Muslim Abuumar" would be arriving in Brazil from Kuala Lumpur.

According to an injunction filed by Abuumar's lawyer, Bruno Henrique de Moura, the Palestinian family was detained by police on entry at Guarulhos airport without a warrant. It said they were coming to visit his brother who lives in Brazil.

Brazilian police sources, however, said Abuumar was not coming for a visit but to stay in Brazil and become a spokesman for Hamas. Once source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the large amount of luggage he brought with his family showed he was planning to stay longer.

Abuumar, 37, is executive director of the Asia Middle East Center, and his wife is Malaysian and his children Malaysian-born, the injunction filed by his lawyer said.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Acceptance Of Irish Fleeing Potato Famine Denounced As ‘Abetting Ethnic Cleansing’ (satire)
Activists who insist that other countries refrain from taking Palestinians from Gaza who wish to flee the war-torn territory made a similar claim regarding the millions exiting the Emerald Isle in the mid-nineteenth century, arguing that allowing those famine refugees to reestablish themselves elsewhere will only facilitate illegal British imperial interests and the mass-removal of an indigenous population.

“Pro-Palestine” commentators and personalities decried the US’s acceptance of large numbers of Irish immigrants following the repeated failure of the island’s potato crop and the resulting famine, which lasted from about 1845-1852. The activists called that policy of the US and several other nations one of “facilitating ethnic cleansing,” as at least 2.1 million people left Ireland during that time. The criticism echoed the same people’s admonitions not to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza despite the ongoing war with Israel that has already claimed tens of thousands of lives, because if Palestinians leave, that only serves Israel’s alleged expansionist and colonialist ambitions.

“We cannot allow ourselves to be party, even indirectly, to such a crime,” contended Ali Abinumah, who runs a pro-Palestine newsletter. “I, for one, am pleased that Egypt has kept its border with Gaza. Except for the tunnels through which it allowed Hamas to smuggle weapons and supplies. That part was fine. Until Israel found the tunnels. Which isn’t fine. Remember, the siege of Gaza is Israel’s fault because no one can leave, and the poor Gazans are trapped there, but we don’t want them leaving Gaza because that would only serve Israel, which wants to colonize and reestablish settlements there.”

Israel uprooted thousands of its citizens from decades-old communities in Gaza in 2005, leaving not a single Israeli inhabitant there. No Israeli government since has even hinted at any serious ambition to reverse the move.
How to Stop the Houthi Attacks at Sea
For more than eight months, the Houthis - an Iranian-backed proxy group based in Yemen - have bedeviled the global shipping industry. These attacks have sunk at least two ships and killed several seafarers. They have also deliberately targeted warships from the U.S. and its allies in the Gulf region, nearly hitting several with either land-based ballistic missiles, airborne drones, or sea-skimming unmanned craft packed with explosives.

The majority of world shipping suppliers, including both container ships and bulk oil carriers, are routing traffic away from the Red Sea and Suez canal. This is adding expensive additional days at sea to most routes flowing between Asia, Europe and North America. Kinks are developing in the global supply chains.

Thus far, the Western response has been anemic, indecisive, and mostly defensive. I commanded NATO's counter-piracy mission for four years in the Red Sea and off the Horn of Africa as Supreme Allied Commander. Over time, we learned that playing defense was necessary but not sufficient. What we learned was that to defeat pirates operating from bases ashore you need to go ashore and neutralize the attacks before they successfully get out to sea.

Once the pirates or their weapons - missiles, drones, unmanned high-speed boats - are in the open seaway, the challenges multiply. When we began to strike the pirate bases ashore, capture or kill the pirates and destroy their equipment, the threat gradually reduced. While the Houthis are far better trained, equipped and organized thanks to their masters in Tehran, the same principle applies: Go ashore.

A campaign plan against the Houthis must include severing their supply chain back to Iran. Iran is providing not only intelligence but also hardware. This may require striking Iranian assets directly, to include their intelligence-gathering ships in the Red Sea and North Arabian Sea; offshore Iranian intelligence-gathering platforms outside the Arabian Gulf; and Iranian logistic vessels moving weapons and components to Yemen.

Some may find direct strikes against Iranian sovereign assets too provocative. I'd invite anyone to reflect on the direct attacks thus far - now numbering in the dozens - of ballistic missiles and drones shot down (fortunately) by U.S. warships. If one of those ballistic missiles were to get through and strike a U.S. destroyer with a tightly packed crew of 350 sailors, we would be very close to a war with Iran. Better to send a strong signal now than to have to react with overwhelming firepower against Tehran after U.S. casualties.

With the right campaign plan, we can inflict sufficient damage to the Houthis to cause them to cease and desist. We need the will to do so.
MEMRI: Lebanese Journalist Close To Hizbullah: In Case Of Total War, Hizbullah Is Prepared To Invade Galilee, Strike Civilian Facilities In Israel, Attack Targets Off Mediterranean Coast, Including In Southern Europe
In a June 24, 2024 article titled "What Has the Resistance Prepared for the Enemy Army, Its Settlements And Its Allies[?]," Ibrahim Al-Amin, editor-in-chief of the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, offered commentary on a June 19, 2024 speech by Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. Al-Amin wrote that any "high-quality" military action by Israel against Lebanon will be perceived by Hizbullah as a declaration of total war. In such a war, he said, Hizbullah may invade the Galilee and attack military and civilian facilities in Israel. Al-Amin added that Hizbullah may also attack "the defense systems deployed along the Mediterranean and near its ports, whether those off the coasts of Lebanon and Palestine or the ones off [the coast of] southern Europe" – apparently hinting at Cyprus, which Nasrallah threatened in his speech.[1]

The following are excerpts from Al-Amin's article:[2]
"'If war is forced on Lebanon, the resistance will fight without constrains, rules or limits'; 'We have a comprehensive and genuine bank of targets and we have the ability to reach those targets in a way that will rock the foundations of the entity [Israel]. It's not just a matter of quantity, and in any case they understand what I mean.' These expressions and this defiance were part of the latest speech by Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah. They are messages that the resistance wanted to convey to the world and to the enemy's public and leadership, as to what will happen in a total war...

"Eight months after the resistance launched a war of attrition against the occupation forces in order to support Gaza, the rules that underpin the confrontation are still in force. We should notice that the enemy is handling the Lebanese front with a great deal of caution, which may indicate that [its hands] are tied. But accuracy forces us to say that [the enemy] is sticking to the rules that have been imposed on it, and that, if it decides to deviate from them, it may enable the resistance to seek new rules…

"The confident assessment is that the enemy's military and security leadership has convinced the political leadership that there is a large bank of targets in Lebanon and that a surprise blitz attack… will be able to destroy Hizbullah's effective capabilities and force it to choose between an agreement on new terms and [the option of] facing a cruel and broader war.

"Without preamble and without unnecessary, [let me say that] the resistance, at the same time, decided to call the attention of the enemy, on all levels – military, security, political and popular – and the attention of [the enemy's] allies to the fact that it is taking this possibility [of a blitz attack] into account, and that it has decided to adopt a strategy that is different from all the previous ones. Based on what we have seen from the resistance and based on Nasrallah's remarks, we can make things clearer for everyone concerned by saying as follows:


US sanctions nearly 50 parts of ‘covert’ Iranian banking system worth billions of dollars
Washington sanctioned nearly 50 people and organizations that make up “multiple branches of a sprawling ‘shadow banking’ network” used by Iran’s defense ministry and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Iranian regime uses the network “to gain illicit access to the international financial system and process the equivalent of billions of dollars since 2020,” the U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

“The United States is taking action against a vast shadow banking system used by Iran’s military to launder billions of dollars of oil proceeds and other illicit revenue,” stated Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury.

According to the U.S. State Department, the “Iranian regime uses its profits to advance a wide range of destabilizing activities, including terrorism, lethal plotting and transnational repression; the development, procurement and proliferation of advanced weapons systems; extensive human rights abuses; and nuclear activities that lack any credible peaceful purpose.”

“In particular, this ‘shadow banking’ revenue supports the Iranian regime’s transfer of weapons and funds to its militant proxies and partners in the Middle East region, including Yemen’s Houthis, who continue a campaign of reckless attacks on global shipping, as well as the transfer of deadly weapons to Russia for use in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” Foggy Bottom added.

Those sanctioned are based in Iran, Turkey, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands.
To Stop the Houthis, Bring the Fight to Them—and to Iran
If Hizballah were to attack Cyprus, it would be part of a general effort to bring the war to the eastern Mediterranean, which would be coordinated with the maritime front already opened by its Houthi allies in the Red Sea. Yesterday the Houthis appear to have attacked a commercial vessel much further from the shore than they have previously managed to. The same group sank a ship and killed a British mariner last week. James Stavridis, a retired U.S. admiral and the former supreme commander of NATO, chides the West for its “anemic, indecisive, and mostly defensive” response. Drawing on his extensive experience fighting pirates, Stavridis suggests a firmer approach:
What we learned was that to defeat pirates operating from bases ashore you need to go ashore and neutralize the attacks before they successfully get out to sea. Once the pirates or their weapons—missiles, drones, unmanned high-speed boats—are in the open seaway, the challenges multiply. When we began to strike the pirate bases ashore, capture or kill the pirates, and destroy their equipment, the threat gradually reduced. While the Houthis are far better trained, equipped, and organized thanks to their masters in Tehran, the same principle applies.

Stavridis explains what applying this strategy to the Houthis would entail, and then adds that
a campaign plan against the Houthis must include severing their supply chain back to Iran. This is challenging but not impossible. Clearly, Iran is providing not only intelligence but also hardware, including components for drones, ballistic missiles, and unmanned speed craft. . . . This may require striking Iranian assets directly, to include their intelligence-gathering ships in the Red Sea and North Arabian Sea; offshore Iranian intelligence-gathering platforms outside the Arabian Gulf; [and] Iranian logistic vessels moving weapons and components to Yemen.

Some may find direct strikes against Iranian sovereign assets too provocative. I’d invite anyone looking at the situation to reflect on the direct attacks thus far—now numbering in the dozens—of ballistic missiles and drones shot down (fortunately) by U.S. warships. If one of those ballistic missiles were to get through and strike a U.S. destroyer with a tightly packed crew of 350 sailors, we would be very close to a war with Iran. Better to send a strong signal now than to have to react with overwhelming firepower against Tehran after U.S. casualties.
Jew-hatred reportedly rose 80% in Germany in 2023
The 4,782 documented instances of Jew-hatred in Germany in 2023—2,787 of which happened after Oct. 7—represent an 80% increase over 2022, according to a report from the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information Centers on Antisemitism.

On average, about 33 antisemitic incidents occurred per day in Germany from Oct. 7 until the end of the year, compared to a little more than seven daily from Jan. 1 to Oct. 7, 2023, according to the new data, released on Tuesday by the Bundesverband RIAS, which is funded by the German state.

Two-thirds of the instances that involved “extreme violence, assaults and threats” also took place after Oct. 7, per the study.

“The antisemitic massacres and terrorist attacks in Israel motivate people in Germany to engage in antisemitic behavior,” said Bianca Loy, research associate at the Bundesverband RIAS and co-author of the study. “Many well-known antisemitic stereotypes have been updated and applied to the Hamas massacres, and the war in Israel and Gaza.”

Owing to this, she added, “violence against Jews has been justified, trivialized or denied.”

Loy called the situation, in which many have to hide their Jewish identities, “alarming and unacceptable.”

“The unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents must be understood as a wake-up call,” stated Benjamin Steinitz, managing director of the Bundesverband RIAS. “The state has the responsibility to ensure that Jews can safely participate in civic life.”
Hasmonean pupils told ‘Get out of the city, Jew!’ and assaulted
Several Hasmonean High School for Boys pupils were attacked at Belsize Park underground in an incident the police are treating as a hate crime.

At around 4pm on Monday officers were called to the tube station over reports that Jewish children had been assaulted.

The Community Security Trust said that while no one was seriously injured, the incident was, “a threatening and distressing incident for those involved and a further example of the unacceptable levels of antisemitism in our country.”

Speaking to the Jewish News, a mother of one of the victims said: “They ran ahead of my son and kicked one of his friends to the ground. They were trying to push another kid onto the tracks. They got him as far the yellow line.

"I’m not sure how he managed to get away. My son ran a few steps up to try and get help. They ran after him, he was elbowed in the cheek and he hit his head against the wall.

"They dislodged a tooth and shouted ‘Get out of the city Jew!'”

The mother added: “The child who was being pushed was being taunted all the way from school and on the way to the tube.

"They followed him. My son is very shaken. He couldn’t sleep last night. He said ‘It’s not fair. Why do they do this to us’.

“I feel that encapsulates what antisemitism feels like. Why? What have we done?”

Reports circulating online that children had been pushed onto the train tracks were false, however, a Hasmonean staff member told the JC.

Claims on social media about the nature of the attack had been “greatly exaggerated,” they said, adding that the children are “absolutely fine now”.
Six Jewish minors attacked outside movie theater in Paris suburb
Six Jewish minors were assaulted on Saturday outside a movie theater in the Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret, French newspaper Le Figaro reported, amid rising concern about antisemitism in the country.

The three assailants hurled antisemitic abuse at the minors and slapped one of them several times, the newspaper said. The Jewish youths then fled toward Jerusalem Square in the French capital’s 17th arrondissement, where they filed a police complaint.

Police opened an investigation into the incident. There were no reports of arrests.

Geoffrey Boutlard, the mayor of the 17th arrondissement, denounced the assault.

“I condemn the physical attack of an antisemitic nature to which several minors fell victim yesterday evening when leaving So Ouest,” Boutlard wrote on X, referring to the shopping center housing the movie theater where the attack occurred, adding he spoke with police about the matter.

France has been grappling with a rise in antisemitism since the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught against Israel that has further intensified in recent months, as it heads toward a legislative election and braces for the possibility of terrorism in the Olympic Games, which are set to begin in Paris in July.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the “scourge of antisemitism” after authorities charged two 13-year-old boys with the alleged antisemitic rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie.
Manager of Paris hotel that threw out Israeli family apologizes, fires receptionist
"I told the CEO of the hotel that there was nothing he could do to make it up to me, it's antisemitism and I want you to promise me that something like this will not happen again, neither to Israelis nor to other people in the world," Mahmoud Omari, the Israeli who about a week ago was thrown out of the Novotel Porte de Versailles hotel in Paris with his family at 1:30 a.m., told Ynet. Omari added that the manager apologized to him for the incident and paid for his and his family's stay in the French capital.

On Monday, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that a couple who arrived with their three-year-old daughter at a hotel in Paris' 15th arrondissement encountered a receptionist who refused to confirm their reservation, and even threw them out into the street while telling them: "You will not get a room in this hotel." The family filed a complaint with the Paris police.

In a conversation with Ynet, Omari said that he spoke with a receptionist and tried to book a room at the hotel, but at some point she was replaced by another clerk of South African origin, and when he saw in their passports that it was an Israeli family, he refused to continue the booking process.

"He started shunning us and said there were no rooms. I immediately went into Booking.com and made a reservation that was confirmed, but he went to serve other customers and told other clerks not to serve us. I asked him, 'What is your name,' and he told me, 'My name is Jezreel, Jezreel.' It was then that I realized that we have a problem with him."

Omari said that the receptionist treated his family with contempt and racism, and even told them: "Israel, you think you are the kings of the world, you will not get a room in this hotel; Israelis will not sleep in this hotel."

When Omari tried to enlist the help of the hotel security guard, the guard sided with the receptionist. The couple was thrown out of the establishment with their young child and they returned to a hotel at the airport where they had stayed earlier. On Friday they lodged their complaint with the police.

The hotel is owned by the Accor chain, an international French hotel group. Omri said that the day after the incident the CEO of Accor called him and apologized. He also received an SMS message in which the hotel manager wrote to him that he "deeply apologize(s) for what happened to you and your sweet family. This unfortunate situation shouldn't have happened and be sure that all the necessary actions have been taken to prevent such a situation" from happening again. The manager also wrote that the receptionist will not work at the hotel again.
Exhibition in Tel Aviv shows Turkish artist's conversion to Judaism
Exhibition in Tel Aviv's Zoa gallery showcases Turkish artist Lea Gul's remarkable conversion to Judaism




John Fetterman Meets With Israeli President in First-Ever Visit to Jewish State
US Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday while on his first-ever trip to Israel.

Herzog thanked Fetterman for his steadfast support for the Jewish state in the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter across southern Israel and throughout the ensuing war in Gaza. The Israeli president praised Fetterman as a “beacon of moral clarity” for his unrelenting defense of Israel.

“Welcome to Israel my friend. I know that you come out of passion and love for this country,” Herzog said. “And I want to say thank you, on behalf of our nation and behalf of Israel. Those who stand with us showing moral clarity, we shall never forget them. And we want to thank you; you’re a true leader.”

Fetterman showed Herzog a bracelet gifted to him by family members of the victims of the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival massacre. The senator told Herzog that he will not remove the bracelet until all the remaining hostages are released from Hamas’ captivity in Gaza and reunited with their families.

“I was moved to see you wearing a bracelet from the Nova festival. We deeply appreciate your vocal support for the hostages brutally held by Hamas and your clear demand for their immediate release,” Herzog said.

“I’m honored by those words, but I don’t really believe I should be thanked for just doing my job,” Fetterman responded. “It’s been a very easy and clear choice throughout all of this, through everything your nation has been through after Oct. 7. I’ve always wanted to be a very consistent voice throughout all this.”

Though the Pennsylvania senator campaigned as a progressive, he has surprisingly emerged as a staunch ally of Israel in the months following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Fetterman has repeatedly condemned the anti-Israel voices within his own party in Congress.

The Democratic senator has even slammed US President Joe Biden for withholding weapons meant for Israel, arguing that there should be “no conditions” on arms transfers to the Jewish state.

“If there should be any kind of conditions, it should be on Hamas and its enablers and its benefactors,” Fetterman said on Fox News.




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