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Monday, July 15, 2024

07/15 Links Pt1: Trump picks J.D. Vance as running mate; The Palestinian theater of terror; Natasha Hausdorff: "There is No Genocide, No Apartheid, No Occupation"

From Ian:

The Palestinian theater of terror
After the October 7 massacre, the international community was shocked by the harsh atrocities committed by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Palestinian civilians who participated in the attack.

Hamas has been compared to ISIS and the Nazis, which has given Israel broad international support and credit for acting in Gaza to topple Hamas and bring the hostages back home.

Hamas and the PA’s smear campaign against Israel
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority realized that in order to win this war they would have to use the card that the Palestinians have been using for years – to smear Israel’s legitimacy in the world.

Nabil Abu Radina, spokesman for the office of Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Palestinian Authority has said that the “series of daily killing crimes” of the IDF in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank is a comprehensive “war of extermination against the Palestinian people”.

This is how the murderous organization tries to obscure the symbolic date of the horrible massacre it carried out against Israel – and makes the date symbolic for the Palestinians – as “the day Israel attacked the Palestinians."

Palestinian officials from the PLO and Hamas also use the terms “extermination” and “Holocaust” to strengthen the influence on public opinion that Israel is committing a “Holocaust” to the Palestinian people.

Hamas spreads disinformation on Palestinian female prisoners
Hamas continues to present false information that Israel keeps women, elderly people and children in extremely difficult conditions to further characterize Israel as “the aggressor."

In January 2024, Hamas started a social media campaign using female terrorists imprisoned in Israeli prisons for its counterpropaganda. It published various posts in which the “Palestinian women prisoners” are described as experiencing abuse in the prisons and that they are “in danger”. Moreover, Hamas detailed the “abuses” that Palestinian women suffer in Israeli prisons: “Severe beatings and torture, a shameful (physical) examination” and more.

Hamas uses external agencies to incite against Israel
Al Jazeera to further incite against Israel:
Hamas employs not only its own disinformation tactics but also leverages affiliated media channels and a network of compliant journalists for information and propaganda purposes.

During IDF operations in late January 2024 at a Hamas base in the northern Gaza Strip, the laptop of Muhammad Samir Muhammad Wishah, a reporter for Al Jazeera Mubasher and the Al Jazeera network in Gaza, was seized.

This discovery underscores the presence of terrorist operatives posing as journalists within Al Jazeera’s ranks, raising questions about the network’s credibility. Based in Qatar, Al Jazeera often serves as a mouthpiece for Hamas, frequently inciting against Israel.
'Not the MSF I knew': Doctors Without Borders accused of picking side in Israel-Hamas war
Former leaders and a major Canadian donor of Doctors Without Borders are distancing themselves from the venerable aid organization after its employees celebrated the October 7 atrocities, gave aid to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, ran a one-sided social media feed and internally circulated articles accusing Israel of creating Palestinian “death worlds.”

“To be frank, I was very, very, surprised because it’s not the MSF I knew,” Alain Destexhe, the secretary general of the organization, popularly known by its French acronym MSF, from 1991 to 1995, told National Post.

Destexhe said MSF’s messaging throughout the Israel-Hamas war is markedly different than past conflicts.

“We used to make statements, you know, in Bosnia and Rwanda, but not taking sides like this,” he said. “We always took into account the political context, but not to take sides from one group to another. In the Gaza War, I really got the feeling that MSF was totally biased.”

Despite MSF’s charter principles of “bearing witness” through neutrality and impartiality, the organization’s response following the Hamas invasion of Israel and the ensuing war is leading passionate supporters to question its role in the conflict.

The organization dismissed these criticisms.

“Our decision to speak out about these grave realities as an impartial and independent humanitarian organization has sometimes prompted questions from the public about our neutrality in the conflict itself,” Claudia Blume, a spokesperson for MSF Canada, told the Post by email. “We unequivocally disagree with the notion that MSF’s communications on Gaza have been ‘politicized’ or represent an ‘abandonment of our neutrality.’”

Destexhe wasn’t the only MSF loyalist to have an October 7 wake-up call. One major Canadian Jewish donor told the Post he urged his mother to support the group despite pushback from family members cautioning him against MSF’s reputation of being institutionally biased against Israel.

“I think most people know that they have a history of not being the friendliest towards Israel,” the philanthropist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the Post.

He said he reassured his mother, following conversations with MSF Canada’s leadership, that the organization was duty-bound to be apolitical and strictly adhere to its mission of providing aid and observation. However, the inconsistencies between their initial promise and their treatment of Israel reached a boiling point in November 2023 when the patron confronted MSF Canada’s executives.

“I will be honest,” the donor told then-executive director Joe Belliveau in an email shared with the Post, “the more I review MSF public communications (Instagram, specifically), the evidence is overwhelming that the MSF stance has a pronounced bias. There is still not one single mention of the 200+ civilian hostages; not one mention of Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket fire into civilian centers, both of which are war crimes and violations of the Geneva conventions,” he wrote in late November.
Bassam Tawil: Hamas's 'Popularity': Attempt To Deceive The American Public?
"If you notice, there is a growing dissatisfaction in the West Bank, from the Palestinians, about Hamas," Biden said during a press conference. "Hamas is not popular now."

It seems that Biden does not want the American people to be aware that most Palestinians in the West Bank are enthusiastic supporters of Hamas, as that would discourage them from endorsing his idea of creating a Palestinian state there.

The broad support Hamas enjoys among the Palestinians, including those who live in the West Bank, means that a Palestinian state would be ruled by the same terrorists who masterminded and carried out the October 7 atrocities against Israelis.

Biden appears to be convinced that hiding the fact that most Palestinian people support Hamas from the American people will make it easier for him to promote the insane idea of pressuring Israel to accept a state that is controlled by Hamas and other Iran proxies, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.

Hamas is not only deeply committed to refusing Israel's right to exist, it has also openly announced that it will use a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem as a springboard to eliminate Israel and murder as many Jews as possible.

Biden's claim that Hamas is "not popular" among the Palestinians in the West Bank actually contradicts analysis by US intelligence agencies showing that Hamas's popularity has significantly grown after the terrorist group's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023...

The latest poll, released on July 10, 2024, showed that since the October 7 attack, satisfaction among the Palestinians in the West Bank with the "performance" of Hamas murderers and rapists has risen to 82%.

When asked who the public would prefer to control the Gaza Strip after the current war, 71% of Palestinians in the West Bank chose Hamas, compared to 46% in the Gaza Strip.

The reason Hamas has such high popularity among Palestinians is because it seeks to destroy Israel though jihad (holy war).

With respect, President Biden, it was after its members murdered, sexually assaulted, tortured, and abducted hundreds of Israelis on October 7, that Hamas became even more popular among the Palestinians.

It is time for Biden and his administration to come clean with the American people about the Palestinians: the majority of them favor destroying Israel and murdering Jews.


Jonathan Tobin: The price of calling Trump a Nazi is made obvious
Contrary to Times opinion writer David Firestone, this isn’t merely “sharp language” or “normal political criticism.” Once you go down the rabbit hole of Hitler comparisons, discussions about the legitimacy of violence not only become more prevalent; they are rendered defensible, since they invoke counter-factual fantasies of how history could have been changed for the better had only someone been able to kill the Nazi leader prior to his launching of the Second World War and the Holocaust.

Nor did the assassination attempt entirely damp down this kind of toxic commentary. Beyond the gaslighting from liberals about everyone’s being guilty for making the crime possible, a willingness to view the event through the most cynical of lenses was also not confined to the political fever swamps. The day after the shooting, the leftist Jewish paper The Forward’ published an article devoted to explaining the attempt to murder the former president as a “Reichstag Fire” event in which the GOP, like the Nazis, was using a crime to justify its suppression of democracy.

That a supposedly responsible Jewish newspaer, edited by a former Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times, would bolster a conspiracy theory in this manner isn’t just outrageous. It’s a sign of how difficult it will be to dial down the rage on the left even after the shooting.

Still, we should hope that the reality of political violence will tamp down the impulse on the left to justify its own “insurrection” against the election results, whether by riots, such as those that occurred in the summer of 2020, or legal machinations, if Biden is defeated.

Trump’s escape from death, and triumphantly defiant attitude after it, may well solidify the trend that had him leading Biden even before last month’s debate, an advantage that only grew after the Democrats turned on each other, as many of them sought to replace the president on their ticket. If a Trump victory in November is now more likely, the events in Butler should stand as a warning that it’s time to stop treating contemporary America as a replay of Weimar Germany, as Jewish Democrats did in one 2020 anti-Trump ad.

Their warning that “Charlottesville —a reference to the 2017 neo-Nazi rally—was happening all over America under Trump was ironic, since on Biden’s watch, the surge of Jew-hatred has reached a point where one could say with justification that we’ve experienced thousands of Charlottesville-style moments of antisemitic violence and intimidation.

In the next four months, we will see whether it is indeed possible to pull back from the brink and return to a more normal political life in which disagreements or even controversial candidates are not treated as an excuse for a “Civil War,” as one dystopian Hollywood liberal film fantasy that came out earlier this year illustrated.

I remain convinced that most Americans don’t view the world from the same perspective of “Morning Joe” pundits or the op-ed page of The New York Times—or even the most rabid pro-Trump conservatives. The fact that Trump is leading a race that many Democrats have said all along he has no right to participate in may be a sign of pushback against the legitimization of that point of view and the accompanying lawfare campaign, as much as a judgment on the qualifications and positions of Trump or Biden. If Butler can put an end to the “anyone I don’t like is Hitler” style of political commentary, then at least some good can come out of a tragic moment in American history.
Caroline Glick: BLOOD on their hands: Trump's Assassination Attempt was NOT out of NOWHERE
The drumbeat of demonization that led to Trump’s near assassination did not begin yesterday.

The attempt on the former president’s life is the fruit of what billionaires and nefarious interests have been sowing for many years in both Israel and the USA. What’s worse, their collusion for chaos and delegitimization of popular sentiment has given the green light to political violence, all in the name of upholding “democracy.”

All this and more on Caroline Glick's In-Focus!

Chapters
00:00 Origins and Parallels of Political Violence
02:12 Left-Wing Funding and Organization
04:06 Lawfare and Media Collusion
07:20 Unequal Enforcement of the Law
09:13 The Need for Responsible Discourse and Unity


The mental gymnastics online neo-Nazis are doing to pin the attempted Trump assassination on the Jews
To a certain section of the internet invested in the business of hating Jews, every international incident is an opportunity to link them to wrongdoing.

And the attempted assassination of Donald Trump is no exception.

Before Trump’s ear saw a single stitch, before even the body of the suspected shooter was retrieved from the roof from which he shot, right-wing trolls and influencers, whose online personas are based entirely around antisemitism were quick to toss around conspiracies and draw flimsy connections.

Never mind that Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel while president, and Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, or that under his term in office more normalisation agreements were signed between Israel and its neighbouring Arab countries than at any time in history: For those determined to view Jews as the masterminds of society’s supposed decline, truths like these may well make your job harder – but not impossible.

The antisemites’ first port of unreason is to assume the Jews planned and orchestrated the assassination attempt through a proxy because Trump was “not pro-Israel enough”. According to them, Trump, aware that such an action would spark World War Three, refused to capitulate entirely to the supposed dreams of Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy the West Bank.

For this, according to X/Twitter user Sam Parker, a failed one-time Republican candidate for the Utah Senate with over 140,000 followers, the Jews’ crosshairs were placed on Trump.

The “world Judeo-zio mafia financial empire” would swoop in and buy assets from formerly powerful countries after a new world war, according to Parker.
'Jews try to assassinate Trump!' Antisemitic theories and calls for violence surge
The assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, PA, led to a surge in antisemitic conspiracy theories and calls for violent retaliation, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

On July 13, 2024, former President Donald Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, PA. The attack, which resulted in one death and three injuries, including Trump himself, ignited a flurry of antisemitic conspiracy theories and calls for violent retaliation online, according to the ADL blog.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, PA, was identified as the shooter. Federal law enforcement treated the incident as an assassination attempt, though Crooks' motives remained unclear, the ADL reported.

In the wake of the shooting, antisemitic conspiracy theories quickly surfaced. According to the ADL, Jon Minadeo, founder of the Goyim Defense League, hosted a session on X, formerly Twitter, titled “Jews try to assassinate Trump!” Similarly, conspiracy theorist Stew Peters baselessly suggested that Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, was involved in the attack.

Prominent figures in white supremacist circles also propagated these theories. Nick Fuentes, a well-known white supremacist, claimed that Israeli intelligence attacked to replace Trump with a candidate more favorable to Israeli interests, the ADL noted.

Social media users claim attack was fake
Theories also blamed "the left" and the so-called "Deep State" for the assassination attempt. Conspiracy theorists like Rick Wiles and Jack Posobiec suggested that President Biden and the Democrats orchestrated the attack.

Alex Jones, a far-right talk show host warned of further attempts by the Deep State to kill Trump, claiming the country was in the midst of a "Deep State hot coup," according to the ADL.

Additionally, some social media users alleged that the shooting was a false flag operation or staged event, intended to boost Trump’s presidential campaign. These claims fueled further calls for violence and civil war, with users on platforms like X and Telegram advocating for retaliatory actions against perceived political enemies, as reported by the ADL.

ADL’s Center on Extremism found that Crooks made a donation to a Democratic PAC in 2021 but registered as a Republican later that year. Authorities also discovered explosive devices in Crooks' car and home, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing investigation, the ADL reported.


Trump picks onetime critic J.D. Vance, now a fierce defender, as his running mate
Donald Trump selected J.D. Vance, a Republican US senator from Ohio, as his running mate on Monday, elevating a politician who once criticized the former president in acid terms but has since become one of his most stalwart defenders.

The news, carried on Trump's Truth Social media website, emerged at the start of the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to nominate the party's presidential ticket.

The selection of James David Vance, author of the bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," could increase the odds of Trump supporters turning out for the Nov. 5 election as the Ohio native is deeply popular with the Republican candidate's base.

A staunch conservative from a Republican state, Vance is unlikely to bring many new voters into Trump's corner, however, and may even alienate some moderates. Some Trump supporters had pushed him to select a woman or person of color as his No. 2 to expand a coalition that skews toward white men.

The former president, 78, survived an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on Saturday by a gunman whose motive remains unknown. Trump backers praise Vance

Several of Trump's highest-profile backers - including former senior adviser Steve Bannon and Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. - have praised Vance for pushing the Republican Party to embrace a more hands-off foreign policy approach and for supporting trade barriers.

Vance has also delighted Trump supporters with his confrontational social media presence, a relative rarity in the Senate, where many lawmakers still try to maintain a sense of decorum and civility.

At 39, Vance will represent a younger generation in an election that features Trump and President Joe Biden, 81, bringing a counterweight to the Democratic ticket that also includes Vice President Kamala Harris, 59.

In selecting Vance, Trump passed over other possible contenders such including U.S. Senators Marco Rubio and Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Vance's rapid ascent has been unusual for American politics. After a troubled and impoverished childhood in southern Ohio, he served in the Marine Corps, won a scholarship to Yale Law School and later worked as a venture capitalist in San Francisco.

He rose to prominence after 2016 when he wrote "Hillbilly Elegy," in which he explored the socioeconomic problems confronting his hometown and the cycle of poverty that had entrapped Americans in the Appalachian Mountains, where his mother and her family had their origins.

The book criticized what Vance saw as a self-destructive culture in rural America and sought to explain Trump's popularity among impoverished white Americans.
May: Vance puts pro-Israel spin on America First worldview in Quincy Institute speech
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) delivered an address at an event co-hosted by the isolationist Quincy Institute on Thursday defending U.S. support for Israel as a critical component of a foreign policy agenda otherwise at odds with his more-hawkish Senate GOP colleagues.

Vance, who is among the contenders to be former President Donald Trump’s running mate, spoke at a conference convened by the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank opposed to U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts. The conference, co-sponsored by The American Conservative, was promoted as an event highlighting “realism and restraint amid global conflict.”

Vance used his speech to differentiate his opposition to Ukraine aid from his steadfast commitment to Israel. “I’m supportive of Israel and their war against Hamas. I certainly admire the Ukrainians who are fighting against Russia, but I do not think that it is in America’s interest to continue to fund an effectively never-ending war in Ukraine,” Vance said. “It’s sort of weird that this town assumes that Israel and Ukraine are exactly the same. They’re not, of course, and I think it’s important to analyze them in separate buckets.”

While Vance has distinguished himself as a leading voice against U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, he has held firm in his support for Israel. He criticized President Joe Biden for delaying offensive weapons transfers and potential sales to Israel while trying to avert a full-scale Rafah invasion earlier this month, and dug in during Thursday’s address on why the America First platform he aligns himself with requires a strong relationship with Israel.

“If we’re going to support Israel, as I think that we should, we have to articulate a reason why it’s in our best interest,” Vance said.

“Israel is one of the most dynamic, certainly on a per capita basis, one of the most dynamic and technologically advanced countries in the world,” Vance went on, citing work done on Israel’s end to “actually give us missile-defense parity. That’s a very important national security objective of the United States of America, and that’s something we’re working with one of the most innovative economies in the world to accomplish.”

“We have to sort of ask ourselves, what do we want out of our Israeli allies? And more importantly, what do we want out of all of our allies writ large? Do we want clients who depend on us, who can’t do anything without us? Or do we want real allies who can actually advance their interests on their own with America playing a leadership role,” he continued.
As convention opens, Israel only foreign country in new GOP platform
The Republican Party convention kicks off this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event, which begins Monday, will run through the week, reaching its climax on Thursday when Donald Trump will be formally declared the party's nominee for the November presidential election. Prior to this, Trump is expected to reveal his vice-presidential pick on Monday. The chosen running mate will address the convention's general assembly on Wednesday.

Despite the recent assassination attempt, the convention is set to proceed according to its original schedule, as confirmed by the Trump campaign to American media outlets. A key moment of the convention will be the ratification of the party platform, which essentially lays out the Trump administration's agenda for the next four years, should he emerge victorious in the election.

Departing from previous years when the platform typically ran about 60 pages, this year's document is a concise 16 pages. At its core, the platform reflects Trump and his team's commitment to fortify America internally and externally, restore fiscal balance, curb illegal immigration, champion family values, and address other key issues.

The tenth chapter of the platform delineates Trump and his party's vision for foreign relations. Israel stands out as the only country explicitly mentioned as one the US will support, with the platform stating, "We will stand with Israel, and seek peace in the Middle East." In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom several months ago, Trump said he "was the best president in the history of Israel," and that he will continue to be if elected. It appears the Trump administration also aims to expand upon the Abraham Accords. "We will rebuild our Alliance Network in the Region to ensure a future of Peace, Stability, and Prosperity," the platform declares.

Notably, unlike other nations, Israel is not singled out as a country expected to fully fund its defense expenses. "Republicans will strengthen Alliances by ensuring that our Allies must meet their obligations to invest in our Common Defense and by restoring Peace to Europe," the platform states regarding NATO allies. This stance is not applied to Israel.


At Detroit campaign event, Biden says he gets ‘free Palestine’ heckler’s passion
At a campaign event on July 12 at Renaissance High School in Detroit, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to endorse a protester who accused Israel of killing babies and called for a “free Palestine.”

After an audience member yelled out “free, free Palestine! free, free Palestine!” and “hey, hey, what do you say? These babies are dying every day!” Biden said, to applause, “Folks, folks—look, give me—give me one second,” per the official White House transcript.

“Folks, look, I understand her passion. I understand her passion,” Biden said, of the protester. “That’s why I put together a detailed plan that the United Nations accepted, that the Israelis accepted, that the Palestinians have accepted to end this war. This war must end.”

The White House released the transcript, of the event which took place the day before an assassination attempt on former U.S. president Donald Trump, on Monday.

In his remarks, Biden said “I know him. Donald Trump is a loser,” to chants of “lock him up” from the audience, and that about Trump saying to inject bleach to fight COVID, “I think he missed; he hit his head.”

“Trump is even more dangerous now. No, I’m serious. He’s unhinged. He snapped,” Biden added at the Detroit event. “Look, he says, if he loses, there will be a ‘bloodbath’ when he loses.” (The following day, a man shot Trump in the ear at a campaign event, and the former president was seen with blood streaming down his face.)
Triggernometry: "There is No Genocide, No Apartheid, No Occupation" - Natasha Hausdorff
She holds law degrees from Oxford and Tel Aviv Universities and was a Fellow in the National Security Law Programme at Columbia Law School. Natasha previously worked for Skadden Arps, in London and Brussels and clerked for the President of the Israeli Supreme Court, Chief Justice Miriam Naor, in Jerusalem. She regularly briefs politicians and international organisations and has spoken at Parliaments across Europe and at the United Nations.


'Baseless': Urban warfare researcher John Spencer battles war crimes accusations against Israel
John Spencer, urban warfare researcher and retired US officer, explained on Sunday why accusations against Israel of crimes against humanity are baseless and how it endangers Western countries.

He posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is wrong in its interpretation of Israel's actions in the war.

He said that he welcomes the court's attempts to bring war criminals to justice, but that in this particular case, it is a wrong decision to accuse Israel in this light, and that, according to him, is a move that may perversely achieve the exact opposite goal.

Spencer said that setting such a high standard when it comes to avoiding harm to civilians may cause governments to feel limited in their response to terror attacks against them in the context of self-defense.

This could create a chilling effect for states that comply with international legal norms while giving a bonus to recalcitrant states, such as Russia, or non-state actors, such as Hamas, that ignore such norms, he said.

"The war in Gaza is different from almost any other war I have seen," he continued. "The terrain, the density of tunnels under population centers, the nature of the enemy, and the presence of hostages - all of these combine to make this war one that is particularly difficult to conduct without bloodshed.

"What I saw in Gaza convinced me that Israel took the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties, even when it was constantly criticized for its conduct in the war."

Spencer made these statements the day after an Israeli strike on Muhammad Deif, whose fate is unclear after the strike, and the successful elimination of Khan Yunis Brigade commander Rafa'a Salameh, who were both staying in a compound for displaced people with civilians also in the vicinity. After the strikes took place, accusations against Israel of deliberately harming civilians surfaced again.
StandWithUs: John Spencer on the October 7th War

Rubio, Graham call for US probe of pro-Hamas groups linked to China
Activist groups with ties to the Chinese Communist Party have disrupted U.S. Senate hearings and “have engaged in violent, antisemitic riots in many cities across the United States,” Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote last week to Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general.

A U.S. citizen living in Shanghai with ties to the CCP has funded many far-left and pro-Hamas organizations across America, according to reports in The New York Times and Washington Free Beacon. They apparently did not register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“As you are no doubt aware, the CCP is engaged in an all-out information war against the United States,” the senators wrote. “Beijing seeks to influence foreign audiences around two key precepts: ‘united front work’ and ‘external propaganda work.’”

The former “involves garnering support for the CCP and its objectives while neutralizing opposition, whereas external propaganda work is centered around controlling the information domain in foreign countries to align with Beijing’s preferences,” the senators wrote. “The United States can and should protect legitimate political discourse, but we must not tolerate attempts by our primary adversary to exploit our open system to promote its malign agenda.”
Elliott Abrams: That Old Time Religion: The G-7 Foreign Ministers' Statement on the West Bank
On Thursday, foreign ministers of the G-7—the U.S., Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy—along with the EU, made an official “statement on the situation in the West Bank,” an area where they are very concerned, it appears, that too many Jews are dwelling. In particular, the G-7 condemned Israel’s decision to grant municipal status to five ad-hoc villages built without proper permits. Elliott Abrams comments:


I can see “condemning” murder, terror, kidnapping, and “rejecting” that legalization. Indeed in the next sentence they “reject the decision by the government of Israel to declare over 1,270 hectares of land in the West Bank as ‘state lands.’” Building houses should not be treated with language usually reserved for murder.

The statement then added complaints about the Israeli settlement program more generally, and about Israel’s decision to withhold some tax revenues it collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Why does Israel ever withhold such funds? Sometimes it is in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack. Sometimes it’s domestic politics. But it’s worth remembering something else: the Taylor Force Act, which became law in 2018 and stated that the “Palestinian Authority’s practice of paying salaries to terrorists serving in Israeli prisons, as well as to the families of deceased terrorists, is an incentive to commit acts of terror.” Until those payments cease, most forms of aid from the U.S. government to the Palestinian Authority may not be made. The payments continue. It is not clear if the State Department is pressuring the Palestinian Authority to end them.

Such moral considerations are entirely absent from the G-7 statement. The statement may be correct when it says, “maintaining economic stability in the West Bank is critical for regional security.” But it should be obvious that ending the pay-for-slay program and rewards for terrorism is even more critical for regional security. It’s a pity the G-7 did not find time to mention that.

The statement, it’s worth noting, appeared on the U.S. State Department website.
No war is more just than Gaza campaign, Herzog tells UK foreign secretary
Hosting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Jerusalem on Monday, President Isaac Herzog insisted that Israel was fighting a “just” war that could have a stabilizing effect on the world.

There is “no more just war than the one Israel is fighting now,” Herzog told Lammy, in Israel on his first trip abroad as the UK’s top diplomat. He added that the country is fighting not only against Hamas, but also again Iran, “an empire of evil that wants to undermine the stability of the world and is rushing to the bomb [and] undermining international trade.”

“We are a nation seeking peace, and I believe that we must find peace with our neighbors,” Herzog said, according to his office.

Israel has been at war against Hamas in Gaza since October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists broke through the border and killed some 1,200 people while taking 251 hostages.

The president told Lammy that Israel is “working tirelessly” to bring the hostages home.

“I sincerely hope that there will be a hostage deal soon. It is a very important step,” said Herzog, “also on the merits and to get us out of the conflict.”

Senior Israeli officials were slated to be in Doha to speak with mediators about restarting indirect talks with Hamas. It remains unclear whether Saturday’s IDF strike on Hamas military leader Muhammad Deif would put those plans on hold.

Lammy, wearing the yellow ribbon that has become a symbol of the movement to bring the hostages home, said that he hopes that “we see a hostage deal emerge in the coming days, and I am using all diplomatic efforts — indeed, last week with the G7 nations, and particularly with Secretary of State Blinken pressing for that hostage deal.”
Lammy urges end to war on Hamas, decries ‘intolerable’ suffering in Gaza
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy during meetings with Israeli officials in Jerusalem on Sunday and Monday pressed the need for a hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist group to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza.

“I hope, too, that we see a ceasefire soon, and we bring an alleviation to the suffering and the intolerable loss of life that we’re now seeing also in Gaza. It’s in that spirit that I returned [to government] as foreign secretary,” said Lammy.

In public comments following a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, Lammy said the visit made him “conscious of the trauma of October 7, and very conscious of the pain and anguish that many hostage families are experiencing and the nation is experiencing.”

“I met with U.K. hostage families just last night, who shared with me their concerns and fears for their loved ones,” Lammy said, adding that he was employing “all diplomatic efforts” to get a deal done.

According to an Israeli readout, Herzog congratulated the British diplomat on his new job. “I think the fact that you won in such a landslide enables the United Kingdom to move forward in a very dramatic way, and be involved in new frontiers and new horizons,” the president said.

“I sincerely hope that there will be a hostage deal soon; it is a very important step, also on the merits, and to get us out of the conflict,” the Israeli head of state told Lammy. “I hope, and I know that your government is working extremely tirelessly to get our hostages back home. And I thank you very much for your efforts on this issue.”
Biden admin yet to fix error days after admitting it sanctioned wrong
Four days after the Biden administration admitted that it accused an uninvolved Israeli citizen of “undermining peace, security and stability” in Judea and Samaria and sanctioned the wrong man, it has yet to fix the mistake on websites of the U.S. Departments of State and the Treasury.

“We acknowledge that there was a data error in our recent listing. The Specially Designated Nationals list is being updated to list Shlomo Yehezkel Hai Sarid,” a State Department spokesperson told JNS on Friday. “We sincerely regret any inconvenience this error may have caused.”

That statement came after Israeli media reported on Thursday that U.S. sanctions against Tzav 9 founder Shlomo Sarid targeted a man with a similar name, and the full name and national identification number in the U.S. statements belonged to someone who was not affiliated with the anti-Hamas protest group.

The U.S. announcements included Aviad Shlomo Sarid’s home address and identification number, which is like a U.S. social security number but it is not something that Israelis generally keep secret.

“This is a resident of Samaria, an active reservist who is not active in the Tzav 9 organization,” Davidi Ben-Zion, deputy head of the Samaria Regional Council, told Hebrew media last week. “His only ‘sin’—in quotation marks—is that he bears the same name as a Tzav 9 operative.”

“This is a crazy thing. Forget about the fact that Biden’s sanctions are a threat to every Israeli citizen and reservist,” the local leader told Israeli media. “Now an ordinary citizen is paying the price because of U.S. harassment.”
EU sanctions eight Israelis, entities over Judea and Samaria ‘abuses’
The European Council, the top decision-making body in the E.U., on Monday announced it is designating five Israeli citizens and three Israeli entities under its human rights sanctions regime, accusing them of “systematic abuse” of Palestinian civilians in Judea and Samaria.

Announcing the move, Brussels accused those listed of “abuse of the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental integrity, the right to property, the right to private and family life, to freedom of religion or belief and the right to education.”

The sanctioned Israeli citizens are farmers Moshe Sharvit, Zvi Bar Yosef and Isaschar Manne, as well as right-wing activist Bentzi Gopstein and Baruch Marzel, leader of the Lehava anti-assimilation NGO, the E.U. said.

The three sanctioned entities are Sharvit’s Moshe’s Farm community in the Jordan Valley, Bar Yosef’s Zvi Farm community in the Binyamin region of Samaria and Tzav 9. The latter is a popular protest group that is opposed to aid supplies going to Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

The European Council accused Tzav 9 of “regularly blocking humanitarian aid trucks delivering food, water and fuel to Gaza. Tzav 9’s actions include violent protests, attacks against food trucks and the destruction of food.”

A spokesperson for Tzav 9 told JNS last month that the group had “been relating to the blockade peacefully, using our right to free speech to protest against the hijacking of humanitarian aid by Hamas.”

The E.U. claimed Sharvit and Bar Yosef had engaged in violence against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria. Marzel stood accused of “calling for an ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians,” while Gopstein was said to lead an “extremist” organization. The announcement did not specify why Manne was sanctioned, only noting that he founded an “unauthorized” ranch.
FDD: Erdogan: Turkey Opposes NATO Cooperation With Israel
Turkey vowed on July 12 to oppose NATO’s cooperation with Israel. During a press conference at the 75th NATO Summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “Until comprehensive, sustainable peace is established in Palestine, attempts at cooperation with Israel within NATO will not be approved by Turkey.” Foreign Minister Israel Katz rebuffed Erdogan’s statement on X: “First of all, Erdogan, you decide nothing. Furthermore, a country like Turkey, which supports the murderers and rapists of Hamas and the Iranian axis of evil, should not be a member of NATO.”

One day earlier, Erdogan called for sanctions on Israel over what he falsely claimed are war crimes and violations of international law. Erdogan also argued that Western nations that provide Israel with weaponry “do so at the expense of being complicit in these violations.” Turkey singled out the United States, claiming it “disregards these violations and provides Israel with the most support.”

Since 2011, Turkey has actively backed Hamas with materiel and political support. Since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, Erdogan has served as Hamas’s primary apologist and an outspoken critic of Israel. Erdogan has repeatedly met with Hamas leadership, most recently hosting Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in April. On May 2, Turkey suspended trade with Israel. On June 30, Turkey refused refueling services to an El Al flight after it made an emergency landing in Antalya.

Expert Analysis
“Walking away from the NATO Summit empty-handed and largely unnoticed, Erdogan is using the occasion to make provocative statements to reach the headlines of Turkish media outlets. Erdogan stands isolated among fellow NATO allies, pursuing a nefarious agenda to undermine Israel. While alliance members consider how to counter the threats posed by China and Russia, Erdogan is interested in cultivating ties with the West’s greatest rivals. Before the NATO Summit, he reiterated Turkey’s desire to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and he actively works to support Russia’s war against Ukraine. His Israel outburst at the summit is the icing on the cake, firmly demonstrating Ankara’s loathing for the Western alliance.” — Sinan Ciddi, FDD Non-Resident Senior Fellow

“Israel is a fellow democracy under nonstop attack by many of the same threats facing NATO today, while perfecting the tactics and technologies needed to defeat them. NATO cannot defeat Putin by attacking democracies that are fighting other members of the same China-led axis of chaos.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

NATO and Israel’s Partnership Remains Strong
NATO strongly condemned Hamas’s October 7 massacre, called for the immediate release of all hostages, and said “Israel does not stand alone.” Days after Hamas’s terror attack, numerous NATO allies agreed to contribute “practical support” to Israel. NATO has repeatedly affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself in line with international law and cautioned Iran, Hezbollah, and other terror groups against expanding the Gaza war into a larger regional conflict.

Israel is a partner state to NATO’s 32 member states, as well as one of seven members of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue designed to “contribute to security and stability in the wider Mediterranean region.” Over the past 30 years, Israel and NATO have expanded cooperation in areas including science and technology, counterterrorism, civil preparedness, and countering weapons of mass destruction. One month before Hamas’s massacre, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană met with Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in Israel and praised the “close, long-standing partnership” between Israel and NATO.
UNWRA: Aid Organization... for Hamas?
Executive Summary
General background
- UNRWA operates separately from the United Nations High Commissioner for
- Refugees (UNHCR). Thus, the Palestinians are the only group of refugees in the world that have their own dedicated agency to attend to their needs.
- UNRWA reports on its activity in two main areas –
- Educational, in which 60% of its budget is invested. It runs more than 700 schools in Palestinian refugee camps in various countries and in places such as East Jerusalem. The school books are approved by the Palestinian Authority and are under UN supervision.
- Humanitarian, in which it assists Palestinian refugees in 59 refugee camps throughout the Middle East, where about a third of all the refugees registered in the organization live.
- Funding: In 2022 the organization’s budget was nearly $1.055 billion USD, which were donated by 20 different countries. The countries that traditionally donate the largest sums of money are the USA ($344 million USD), Germany ($202 million USD), the European Union ($114 million USD) and Sweden ($61 million USD).

o According to data from UN Watch, 18 countries suspended their donations to UNRWA following the report on the involvement of some of the agency’s employees in the October 7 massacre. On the other hand, there are a number of countries that continue to provide donations.

o It appears that most of the donor countries have no oversight mechanism to monitor the purposes their aid money is used for.

Recommendations for the Israeli government
1. Adopt an approach that supports immediate, total disbanding of UNRWA and withdrawing recognition of it as an organization, in the Gaza Strip and in Judea and Samaria, including preventing its activity there.
2. Transfer responsibility for all schools, clinics and UNRWA institutions in the Gaza Strip to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
3.Replace the mechanism for distributing the humanitarian aid by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip with another mechanism to be administered by the IDF as part of its temporary military rule in the Gaza Strip.
4.Immediately close all UNRWA institutions in Israel, and transfer the responsibility for all its responsibilities to the government ministries.
5.Revoke all tax benefits for UNRWA and its activity in Israel.
6.Issue an official government report on the UNRWA involvement in terrorism –

Currently, there is no centralized place in Israel that collects and correlates all the official information on UNRWA’s practices. Bits of information are collected and kept in various locations and partial knowledge is published by the IDF. There is a need for an orderly government policy that can be presented to foreign governments and institutions for their review.


FDD Morning Brief | feat. Lt. Col (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus and Ohad Hemo (Jul. 15)
FDD Senior Fellow and former IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus delivers timely situational updates and analysis on the war in the Middle East, followed by a conversation with Ohad Hemo, Arab and Palestinian Affairs Corespondent for Israel's Channel 12 News.


Iran building jihadi proxy armies to stretch Israel’s air defense
Iranian-backed Shi’ite terrorist militias in Syria and Iraq are consistently using long-range unmanned aerial vehicles to target Israel’s Red Sea city of Eilat on a regular basis.

These UAVs, launched from bases in areas where Iran has entrenched itself, represent a persistent threat to Israeli security and will require more than defensive action to neutralize.

On Saturday, two UAVs approached the area north of Eilat from Syrian territory. The Israel Defense Forces intercepted the drones before they could inflict any damage, according to the military.

In retaliation, the IDF launched strikes overnight Sunday against a Syrian military command center and infrastructure sites, including targets used by the Syrian military’s Aerial Defense Unit.

It is possible that the sites hit by Israel in Syria were also used by Hezbollah, which has for years entrenched itself within Syrian military positions near Israel.

Israel’s policy of holding the Syrian regime accountable for all terrorist attacks emanating from its territory is logical but will not actually remove the threatening capabilities. Only Israeli strikes on the Shi’ite terrorist entities themselves in Syria and Iraq will do that.

Iran has been activating its militias in Syria and Iraq against Israel, as well as the Houthis in Yemen, since the start of the current war, as part of a multi-front assault.
How IDF commandos destroyed Hamas recruitment center, PIJ rocket factory
Since the IDF started withdrawing from parts of Gaza where it had taken apart Hamas’s battalions in the late winter and early spring, the Gaza terror group has been using innovative ways to rebuild its combat forces and to keep the broader population dependent on its rule.

In recent months, the IDF’s commando unit – composed of the Duvdevan, Egoz, and Maglan special units – has taken on many unique missions in Gaza, beyond the standard clearance of a certain sector of terrorist operations carried out by the regular IDF infantry.

The commando unit is run by Col. Omer Cohen, with whom The Jerusalem Post was embedded in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza in December.

During an operation in Tel el-Awa in northern Gaza near Shifa Hospital last Friday, the IDF said that Cohen’s commandos had uncovered a new Hamas headquarters within a UNRWA building.

What the IDF did not disclose until Monday, however, was that Hamas was using the UNRWA building as one of its critical centers for recruiting new fighters, drone-makers, and bomb builders.

After a firefight and the killing of a number of Hamas operatives inside, the IDF also took apart a series of stations at the UNRWA building, which included: Hamas controlling food aid right next to a station for signing up to its combat units, right next to a workshop for building drones, right next to a separate workshop for building improvised explosives.


US-sanctioned Syrian businessman dies in alleged Israeli strike
A businessman with close ties to the Syrian regime was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike targeting a vehicle on the Damascus-Beirut Highway on Monday afternoon, according to Syrian opposition sources.

“Two people were killed in an Israeli drone attack that targeted a car with Lebanese license plates near the Al-Masnaa’ Crossing on the Lebanese-Syrian border,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor aligned with the country’s opposition.

The group identified one of the men killed in the targeted attack as Muhammad al-Qatirji, a close associate of Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose trucking company plays a central role in the regime’s business dealings with the Islamic State terrorist group. The Syrian had been sanctioned by the United States and Britain, the report said.

The Qatirji Company has also shipped weapons from Iraq to Syria, according to the U.S. State Department. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said al-Qatirji “finances a local militia numbering in the thousands to protect his interests and serve the regime” and financed Syrian attempts to “liberate” the Golan Heights from Israeli control.

The second casualty in the attack was not immediately identified, though the U.K. war monitor initially reported that one of the two men was a member of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

Arabic-language news reports claimed al-Qatirji had been “in contact with pro-Iranian militias and Hezbollah.”
Lebanese man arrested in Germany for procuring drone parts for Hezbollah
A Lebanese man accused of being a member of the Hezbollah terror group and procuring drone components that were to be exported for use in attacks against Israel has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said Monday.

The suspect, identified only as Fadel Z. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Salzgitter in northern Germany on Sunday, federal prosecutors said in a statement. He is suspected of membership in a foreign terrorist organization.

He joined Hezbollah in Lebanon by the summer of 2016, prosecutors said.

This year, he allegedly started procuring components in Germany for the assembly of military drones, particularly engines, on the group’s orders. “They were supposed to be exported to Lebanon and used in terrorist attacks on Israel,” prosecutors said.

On Monday, Fadel Z. was brought before a judge, who ordered him kept in custody pending a possible indictment.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been trading near daily exchanges of fire since the Israel-Hamas war broke out nine months ago.

Since October 8, Hezbollah-led forces have attacked Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily basis, with the group saying it is doing so to support Gaza during the war there.

Israel has been at war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza since October 7, when thousands of terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

So far, the skirmishes with Hezbollah have resulted in 12 civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of 17 IDF soldiers and reservists. There have also been several attacks from Syria, without any injuries.

Hezbollah has named 366 members who have been killed by Israel during the ongoing skirmishes, mostly in Lebanon, but some also in Syria. In Lebanon, another 66 operatives from other terror groups, a Lebanese soldier, and dozens of civilians have been killed.

Hezbollah has said that it is willing to stop fighting if Israel reaches a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has demanded that Hezbollah retreat north of the Litani River, in accordance with a 2006 UN resolution to end the last major war between them. Israeli leaders have said that they want a diplomatic resolution, but are willing and able to fight a war if necessary.


LATEST Israeli News Recap: IDF Nears Hamas Defeat | JLMinute
Decades of trying and failing to create a Palestinian state have taught President Biden nothing. This week, he took the opportunity to push the idea again on Prime Minister Netanyahu as if October 7th never happened. The PM will soon visit the US to address Congress and promote his vision for a post-war Gaza. Whether or not he meets with former President Trump remains to be seen.

Also, targeting Mohammed Deif; bringing the end of Hamas; IDF strategy; the future of the Abraham Accords; Abbas and the PA edging in; and the attempted targeting of Trump.

Chapters
0:00 Targeting Mohammed Deif
4:00 IDF & Hamas strategy
5:30 Biden speaks more nonsense
16:10 PM Netanyahu heads to the US
20:00 Abraham Accords, what’s next?
24:30 Attacks continue
26:11 Abbas tries to edge in
32:12 Trump targeted


Call Me Back PodCast: The Death of Dief – A turning point? With Ronen Bergman
Hosted by Dan Senor
Who is Mohammed Deif?

Why does he matter (or why did he matter?).

Is he dead?

We have often said on this podcast that Hamas long ago transformed from a ragtag militia to the equivalent of a light infantry army of a sovereign state. The architect of that transformation was Mohammed Deif. If Hamas was a terror army, its commanding general or army chief of staff was Mohammed Deif. The second intifada? Deif was central to its planning and execution. Its tunnel system and rocket arsenal? All that, too, was Deif. And October 7th? Mohammed Deif.

Israel had been on the hunt for Deif long before October 7th. In fact, he had escaped at least seven asasination attempts going back to 2001.

Today he is most likely dead, based on an extraordinary intelligence and military operation that took place on Saturday morning.

To help us understand what Hamas is, today, without Mohammed Deif, and what it means for Israel’s war against Hamas – and for the hostage and ceasefire negotiations – we are joined by Ronen Bergman, who is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and Senior Correspondent for Military and Intelligence Affairs for Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli daily. Ronen recently won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on this war and the pre-war intelligence failures.

He has published numerous books —including “Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations,” and also “The Secret War with Iran.

Ronen is also member of the Israeli bar (he clerked in the Attorney General’s Office), and has a master’s degree in international relations and a Ph.D. in history Cambridge University.
StandWithUs: Special Briefing with Luai Ahmed



RNC to feature speakers, events with ties to Israel, Jewish world
This week’s Republican National Convention is set to feature a number of Jewish speakers and events, with the eyes of the world on Milwaukee following Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

While groups like AIPAC and the Anti-Defamation League are staying away—at least officially—from this year’s convention, the American Jewish Committee and Republican Jewish Coalition will both be present.

On Tuesday morning, the AJC will host an event called “Israel and the Path to Peace” on the sidelines of the convention. The panel discussion will include remarks from Eliav Benjamin, the Israeli Embassy to Washington’s deputy chief of mission.

The AJC will also host a diplomatic reception on Wednesday afternoon. The AJC is led by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch.

The Republican Jewish Coalition is sponsoring a “Salute to Pro-Israel Elected Officials” on Thursday afternoon hours, before Trump formerly accepts the party’s nomination. The RJC says that key Republican leaders are set to attend, though a speakers’ list is not available as of this publication.

The Trump 47 Committee’s Jewish Leadership Coalition’s kickoff brunch is slated for Wednesday morning, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. David Kustoff and former Rep. Lee Zeldin headlining. Both Kustoff and Zeldin are Jewish, and Kustoff is only one of two Jewish Republicans in the Capitol, together with Rep. Max Miller.

A number of Jewish and Israel-connected speakers dot the list of guests set to take the dais throughout the week.

RJC CEO Matt Brooks will address the convention on Tuesday. The RJC has had a hot-and-cold relationship with Trump, embracing his pro-Israel positions while criticizing Trump’s positioning with the far right and some of his more controversial criticisms of Jews and Israel.

Zeldin, who ran an unexpectedly close gubernatorial campaign in New York in 2022, setting the stage for a Republican surge in the state, will also address the convention.


Activists wave Hezbollah flag, call for intifada outside Queens synagogue
Anti-Israel protesters waved a Hezbollah flag and called for intifada and the destruction of the State of Israel outside a synagogue in Queens on Sunday, according to pro-Palestinian organizations, despite the fact that the Israeli real estate seminar they ostensibly rallied against was no longer being held at the site.

Activists led by Palestinian Assembly for Liberation New York and New Jersey (PAL-Awda) had descended on the Congregation Charm Circle in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood on Sunday evening to protest a real estate seminar, but according to social media statements by Jewish neighborhood watch group Queens Shmira and New York State Assembly member Sam Berger, the venue for the event had been changed. Shmira had promised in a Friday statement that the synagogue would remain open for worship.

“The event changed venues but the protesters didn’t care, harassing Jews for the crime of going to pray,” said Berger.

Despite Shmira calling on Jewish residents of the area not to counter-protest, the anti-Israel activists were met with demonstrators waving Israeli and American flags. In an Instagram story, PAL-Awda gloated that activists from the over 40 endorsing organizations outnumbered the counter-protesters “in their own neighborhood.” Activists chanted, “We don’t want no Zionists here” in the neighborhood with a large Jewish population.

Footage of the protests showed physical clashes between the Jewish community members and the anti-Israel activists. PAL-Awda alleged that some pro-Israel activists hurled stones, homophobic slurs, and called members of an ultra-orthodox anti-Zionist Jewish sect “Nazis.” Police separated the two groups with a buffer zone dozens of meters wide, having been in coordination with Shmira and Berger prior to the protest.

'From the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab,' call protesters

Anti-Israel activists waved Palestinian and Hezbollah flags, chanting slogans that included “long live the intifada,” and “there is only one solution, intifada revolution.”

“We don’t want two states, we want ‘48,” sang protesters, calling for a return to before the establishment of the state of Israel rather than a two-state peace solution. “From the water to the water, Palestine will be Arab.”

Berger on X described the protest as anti-American as well as anti-Israel, sharing a photograph of a sign reading “F**k Israel and US all the way until the end of time.” A New York City provocateur wore a bloody former president Donald Trump mask.


Two anti-Israel activists arrested for vandalizing London Cenotaph protesting arms sales to Israel
Two anti-Israel activists were arrested in London after vandalizing the area around the Cenotaph, the Metropolitan Police announced on Monday.

According to a fundraising page for activist group Youth Demand, two women placed a Palestinian flag on the war memorial for British and Commonwealth soldiers who died in the First and Second World Wars and other conflicts.

The activist spray painted the ground in front of the Cenotaph, writing, “180,000 killed,” incorrectly referencing casualty projections in a recent letter to the editor published in the medical journal The Lancet.

The two then sat on the memorial’s steps, holding signs reading “Stop arming Israel” and “never again for anyone.”The Met said that the women were quickly arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.

“Everyone has the right to peaceful protest but where that crosses the line into criminality we will take action,” the Met said on social media.

Youth Demand, which claims to have evolved from the youth wing of eco-activists Just Stop Oil and seeks a two-way arms embargo on Israel and cessation of oil and gas development, said on X that “everything that the cenotaph stands for is contrary to the Labour government allowing companies to profit from genocide.”




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