Wednesday, July 17, 2024

07/17 Links Pt2: The world’s big October 7 lies; The epic failure of anti-Israel campus protests; Ra’am Party leader: IDF murdered 50,000 civilians in Gaza

From Ian:

The world’s big October 7 lies
Before the dismembered remains of raped Israeli women were recovered, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres declared that the Hamas barbarities “didn’t happen in a vacuum.” Guterres should have known that those words would open the floodgates of deflection and denial of Hamas’s responsibility for the suffering and death of those innocents; as well as legitimize Hamas’s right to attack Israelis.

Various U.N. officials questioned the veracity of the survivors of the rapes and massacres for months until one U.N. official traveled to Israel to hear directly from the victims. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s plea for help from 50 top women’s NGOs went unanswered.

Hamas’s repeated assertions that they will repeat Oct. 7 over and over again until the Jewish state is destroyed fell on deaf ears.

From the beginning, it was brutally clear that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) wouldn’t even give lip service when it came to the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. The ICRC has responsibilities under international law to seek visits with hostages and work for their release. Other than serving as an Uber service for the first Israel hostage exchange, the ICRC has maintained a stoic if immoral silence.

Virtually nothing was heard from UNICEF about the suffering of displaced Israeli children, but a drumbeat of concern over the suffering of Palestinians was broadcast day in and day out. So were untrue reports that Gazans were starving. There were further false reports that Israel was blocking critically needed food and fuel from reaching civilians in Gaza. In fact, it was Hamas that hijacked much of the aid and netted over $500 million reselling that aid to Gaza civilians.

Meanwhile, every allegation made by Hamas that Israel wantonly and indiscriminately attacked mosques, hospitals and UNRWA schools was carried without question by the media. Israel’s explanations that these sites had been coopted by terrorists barely made a dent in the tower of lies constructed so carefully by Hamas and its supporters.

This led both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to rush in to weaponize the judicial arena against Israel. Only allegations were needed by the likes of South Africa to open a case against the Jewish state at the ICJ and prosecutors like the ICC’s Karim Khan to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which European democracies have said they will honor if the prime minister dares to arrive in their capitals.

This is where we stand nine months after Oct. 7. No justice, no peace, no end to the violent Jew-hatred infecting Europe and North America on our streets and our elite campuses.
Seth Mandel: What the Republican Convention Gets Right About Anti-Semitism
And so what the Republican convention has deftly displayed thus far is a two-tiered system of justice. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was to last night’s speeches what the evil Persian minister Haman is to megillah readings on Purim: Everybody knows to boo and hiss when the name is read aloud. Aside from Bragg’s role in the dubious felony prosecution of Trump, he was jeered last night when the mother of a murder victim blamed him for his soft-on-crime policies. Jews on campus might say the same: Bragg dropped the charges against the New York students who seized campus property on behalf of a “global” intifada. Another speaker last night told of his sister, murdered by an illegal immigrant who’d been expelled three times already yet was able to return to the U.S., all despite a record of violence in his native El Salvador. (This last case does not involve Bragg, to be clear.)

Kestenbaum has been a fixture in the anti-Semitism debate over the past several months. In 2020, he voted for Bernie Sanders and remains a registered Democrat. Challenged by the Forward to say whether he now supports Trump, Kestenbaum responded: “I am supporting Donald Trump’s policies of insisting on consequences for foreign students who violate our laws and desecrate our freedoms. I support Donald Trump’s policies of instilling patriotism in the curriculums. I support Donald Trump’s policies of taxing university endowments. And again, I don’t see why that’s a partisan issue, and I’m incredibly disillusioned with my party for not adopting those pretty obvious positions.”

He’d speak where invited, he said—but as of now, only the Republican convention expressed interest in hearing what he has to say about anti-Semitism. In her speech last night, Nikki Haley mentioned that “the Jewish community is facing an obscene rise in anti-Semitism.” This was not during the Israel portion of her remarks. Rather, it was followed by: “Too many minorities are trapped in communities devastated by crime,” and was preceded by criticism of the institutions that “indoctrinate” young Americans “to think our country is racist and evil.”

The view of anti-Semitism at the RNC this week, then, has not treated it as a result of a foreign conflict, which can often leave the impression that the solution to it is “over there.” As mentioned above, the hostage whose family will be speaking tonight is American as well, one of several held by Hamas or Hamas-aligned Palestinian families in Gaza. The shocking neglect of these hostages by the administration has left the impression that somehow their Jewishness has made them less American. The belief that the Arab-Israeli conflict must be solved in order to fix anti-Semitism here at home leaves a similar taste in one’s mouth and treads perilously close to blaming Jews for their own suffering.

That this distinction is getting such a public airing at the Republican convention feels like a breakthrough for the Jewish community. Perhaps there exists the will to turn the corner on a difficult period for American Jewry.
Gadi Taub: The attempt on Trump’s life is a warning to Israel
After the attempt on Donald Trump’s life and the sudden “discovery” of the incitement that led to it, the Israeli cabinet got a grim reminder of just how much worse the incitement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is.

With the recent American experience in mind, the prime minister opened a cabinet meeting with a 1:40 clip of wild incitement. Protesters, politicians, studio guests on TV, a veteran chief of a security service and others, spewed deranged invectives from the screen as the ministers watched in silence.

The clip contained explicit calls for violence. “Shoot him in the forehead,” said one woman on TV. “We are waiting for you with a noose! That’s what you deserve!” shouted another woman into a microphone to an ecstatic crowd at a demonstration. Another opined that Netanyahu must meet an end like former Romanian dictator Nikolai Ceausescu and Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

Cancer, they said. Devil. “Worst enemy of the Jewish people in 2,000 years.” Traitor. Mass murderer. War criminal. “Bibi is Hamas.” Someone even used the term “tzorer,” usually reserved in modern Hebrew for Adolf Hitler.

Head of the opposition Yair Lapid dismissed the screening of the clip and told Netanyahu not to be a “crybaby.” The usual suspects in the press joined in and smirked at the publicity stunt.

The truth is that journalists are complicit in the incitement. They not only contribute their share of demonization; they also do not report about the growing chorus calling for political violence. This is exactly why Netanyahu used the cabinet meeting to showcase the collected video evidence.

How is it, then, that the same leftist elites who miss no opportunity to remind Israel that incitement against Yitzhak Rabin led to his assassination are now indifferent to incitement that is worse by several orders of magnitude? Do they not fear another political assassination?

The answer is that, in a strange way, by the upside-down emotional logic that the left has enshrined in our national mythology, the lesson of the Rabin assassination is actually a license to, not a prohibition against, incitement. That is if such incitement is directed at Netanyahu.


ICJ to issue opinion on Judea, Samaria ‘occupation’ on Friday
The International Court of Justice in The Hague is set to rule on Friday whether it regards Israel’s military and civilian presence in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria as an illegal “occupation” under international law, the United Nations’ judicial arm announced.

Justice Nawaf Salam, the former Lebanese diplomat who presides over the world court, will read out the nonbinding advisory opinion at 3 p.m. local time, the ICJ said earlier this week.

Hearings were held in February following a request by the U.N. General Assembly pursuant to a 2022 resolution calling for an inquiry into the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

Israel chose not to send a representative, saying the judicial body lacks jurisdiction and the proceedings were “part of the Palestinian attempt to dictate the results of the diplomatic settlement without negotiations.”

Senior government officials believe that the ICJ will conclude that Israel is violating international law in Judea and Samaria. Israel’s Foreign and Justice ministries fear the ICJ opinion could trigger another wave of sanctions against Israelis.

Jerusalem also fears that the tribunal will call on the International Criminal Court to initiate criminal proceedings against senior officials responsible for administering Judea and Samaria.

Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center warned on Wednesday that the court will likely decide that the numerous Israeli civilian communities in Judea and Samaria are “illegal and must be dismantled at once.”

The group noted that the publication of the legal opinion, which is set to come five days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the U.S. Congress, would “provide additional reinforcement and legitimacy for those who are seeking to harm and boycott Israel.
Christians highlight Israel’s biblical roots to Hague court
Nearly a thousand Christians from 45 nations have expressed their support for Israel’s biblical connection to the Holy Land in a decree presented to the International Court of Justice in The Hague ahead of a key ruling by the U.N. court this week.

The direct appeal by the Christian representatives, which was hand- delivered to the court registrar for each of the 15 justices earlier this month, was made ahead of Friday’s scheduled ruling on the legality of Israel’s control of east Jerusalem and the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.

The decree, which was signed in The Hague by a mix of Christian religious leaders, pastors and political representatives, including former U.S. congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Pastor Satish Kumar, the head of Calvary Temple church in Hyderabad, the largest in India, highlights Israel’s connection to the land under dispute.

“We, Christian representatives of our nations from all over the world, declare and testify that the Land of Israel includes East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria,” the July 4 decree reads. “These areas belong indisputably to Israel and are ultimately the inheritance of the Jewish people. Dividing the Land is in conflict with the Bible and the will of the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel.”

The case was taken up by the court after the U.N. General Assembly voted in December 2022 to ask the judges for a nonbinding advisory opinion on the dispute over what it termed “Occupied Palestinian Territory: East Jerusalem, West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”

At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the General Assembly over the resolution, which was approved over U.S. opposition and supported by less than half of the 193 member states. He accused the world body of “distorting historical facts” and declared that the Jewish people cannot be an occupier in its own land.


PMW: Know your facts: Defend Israel from the International Court of Justice
Fact 1: UN Resolutions 242 and 338 affirm Israel’s right under international law to administer all of what is today called Area C in Judea and Samaria, where Israelis live.
Fact 2: The Oslo Accords signed between Israel and PLO reaffirmed Israel’s right to administer all of Area C in Judea and Samaria.
Fact 3: UN 242 and the Oslo Accords do not require Israel to withdraw to new borders that do not guarantee Israel’s security.
Fact 4: In the hope for peace, Israel has already given up so much of its land to the Palestinian Authority that Israel no longer has secure borders, and thousands of Israelis have been murdered because of the insecure borders.
Fact 5: Having withdrawn to insecure borders, Israel has given away more land than required by UN 242 and the Oslo Accords, and has more than fulfilled all its withdrawal obligations under international law.
Conclusion 1: All Israeli towns and cities in Judea and Samaria are legal.
Conclusion 2: All further development by Israel of Area C, “new settlement construction” in the language of many of Israel’s detractors, is therefore 100% legal under international law.
Conclusion 3: If peace talks ever resume, not only isn’t Israel obliged to give away more of its land ever again, but Israel can demand that the PA withdraw from parts of Areas A and B, which Israel gave to the PA and which the PA turned into launching grounds for terror.


ICC warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant expected within 2 weeks
The International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, according to Israel’s Channel 14.

Israel had bargained that an unofficial agreement with Britain’s previous Conservative government would derail the ICC effort, the report said.

According to that agreement, Britain would file a challenge to the court over whether it had jurisdiction in the Gaza Strip. Britain reportedly filed an amicus brief to that effect with the court on June 10.

In exchange, Israel would give Britain access to the prison conditions of the Hamas terrorists who carried out the massacre of Oct. 7. The British government had hoped to conciliate pro-Palestinian elements within the United Kingdom; Britain has contended with mass anti-Israel rallies since Oct. 7.

According to a European source cited by Channel 14, the new Labour government would not pull the challenge, if only because all indications are that the court intends to ignore it, allowing Labour to avoid souring relations with Israel without angering its anti-Israel supporters at home.

However, contradictory reports say Labour is planning to drop the challenge altogether. Labour officials, according to a Guardian report, recently said that the party believes the ICC does have jurisdiction over Gaza.

In either case, Israeli legal officials agree that it’s “highly probable” the ICC will issue arrest warrants in the next two weeks, said Channel 14 reporter Tamir Morag.

“Therefore, we are about to see, after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, two arrest warrants against the prime minister of Israel and the defense minister of Israel,” he said.

On June 25, Netanyahu also said that he expected the ICC would approve its chief prosecutor’s request for arrest warrants, Ynet reported. Netanyahu suggested that the warrants could be issued before his address to the U.S. Congress on July 24.


U.S., 30 other nations unveil new ‘global guidelines’ to fight antisemitism
As diplomats, members of Congress and Jewish leaders gather in Buenos Aires this week to commemorate 30 years since a terror attack at an Argentinean Jewish center, the U.S. State Department published a major new document on Wednesday that is meant to inform how governments around the world can effectively respond to antisemitism.

Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, formally announced the “Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism” at a Wednesday event at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Buenos Aires alongside antisemitism envoys from several European and Latin American countries. The document was signed by 30 countries and the Council of Europe, the European Commission, the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“I want to underscore the special sense of urgency we all feel given the ongoing global surge in antisemitism,” Lipstadt said. “I believe we have channeled that sense of urgency in a productive, creative and collaborative fashion, and by introducing these Global Guidelines we are making a major stride forward in international policy to counter antisemitism.”

The Global Guidelines do not have the force of law, but they offer a clear statement of where the U.S. government and its partners stand in their fight against antisemitism. The guidelines indicate strong U.S. support for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of antisemitism, despite a global campaign against it from far-left activists in recent months who take issue with its assertion that some forms of anti-Zionism are antisemitic.

“In order to combat antisemitism, governments need tools to understand its various manifestations,” the guidelines state. The IHRA definition “is an important internationally recognized instrument used by over 40 U.N. member states since its adoption in 2016. In addition, hundreds of sub-national public authorities, universities, sports bodies, NGOs and corporations rely on it.”

With 12 bullet points, organized by straightforward and bold-faced commands, the guidelines are meant to offer a blueprint for how governments and civil society can take action against antisemitism.
Government commits to building Westminster Holocaust memorial
The new government’s commitment to a Holocaust Memorial Learning Centre at the heart of Westminster has been welcomed by Jewish groups.

The Holocaust Memorial Bill, announced as part incoming government’s new legislative programme, enables the government to deliver build the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens.

A government statement said: “This memorial will rightly sit at the heart of our democracy, next to Parliament, and will act as an inspiration to the whole country for generations to come.”

The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC)’s Director of Public Affairs Russell Langer told the JC, “We welcome the inclusion of the Holocaust Memorial Bill in today's King's Speech programme. The national memorial and learning centre at the heart of our democracy will be an important focal point for Holocaust education. We welcome the cross-party support for the bill as demonstrated by its continuation despite the change in government. We now hope the bill will complete its passage swiftly to enable the project to advance.”

Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “We are very grateful to the Government for re-introducing the Holocaust Memorial Bill. With the Holocaust fading further into history and survivors becoming fewer and frailer, the need for progress on building the memorial and learning centre next to Parliament has never been more urgent.

“With antisemitism surging in the UK and around the world, we must be more determined than ever to show exactly where this pernicious hate can and did lead.”

The Board of Deputies also welcomed the announcement and said in a statement, “Moving forward with the planned National Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre has been a longstanding policy ask of the Board of Deputies, repeated this year in our 2024 Jewish Manifesto.”
Knesset votes against the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan river
The Knesset passed a proposal saying that it was opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River late on Wednesday night. The vote passed with 68 in favor of the proposal and 9 against.

The move was put forward by the New Hope-United Right party MK Ze'ev Elkin and was supported by Yisrael Beytenu and The Land of Israel lobby, which has members from across the party spectrum, such as Likud, Shas, and National Unity Party.

The proposal would determine the Knesset's position on the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

It says that the establishment of a Palestinian state in "the heart of the Land of Israel" would pose an "existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens."

It also says that this would perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and would further destabilize the region.

The proposal also says that a Palestinian state would quickly be taken over by Hamas, which would then use Palestine to launch attacks on Israel.

It calls the establishment of a Palestinian state in the aftermath of October 7 "a reward for terrorism" and that such a reward would only encourage Hamas and other Jihadist groups, who would use it as a prelude to taking over the Middle East.

"We expect members of the Knesset to actively support the proposed resolution, which is intended to express the overwhelming opposition that exists in the people to the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger the security of Israel and its future and which is intended to be a step towards its destruction. A broad stance and a clear decision by the Knesset will prove to the international community that pressures to impose a Palestinian state on Israel will be futile," New Hope MK Gideon Sa'ar said.
State Department clarifies Biden comments on Israel-Saudi Arabia talks
U.S. efforts to broker a normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia remain linked to the conclusion of the war in Gaza, despite the omission of that link from President Joe Biden’s latest comments on the matter.

“This is a package deal … it all works together, or it doesn’t really work at all,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday. “No, we’re not pursuing two separate agreements.”

Miller offered that clarification after Biden stated that the Gulf Arab monarchy has offered to “fully recognize Israel” in exchange for security guarantees and the construction of a “civilian nuclear facility” in Saudi Arabia. Those negotiations were thrown awry on Oct. 7 by the Hamas terrorist attack.

“There are bilateral agreements that would take place between the United States and Saudi Arabia as part of an integration deal, a normalization deal, and then there are other things that have to happen between Saudi Arabia and, of course, Israel,” Miller said. “Saudi Arabia has always made clear that for that to move forward … they need to see calm in Gaza, and they need to see a path to two states. That has not changed.”

Biden put a spotlight on the U.S. aspects of the talks Friday while traveling in Michigan, where he is keen to shore up the support of Arab-American Democrats angered by his administration’s support for Israel over the last several months.

“I got a call from the Saudis: They want to fully recognize Israel in return, if the United States will give them a guarantee that [we] will provide weapons if they’re attacked by [the] other Arab nation, that one just around the corner,” Biden told Complex’s Speedy Morman, in an apparent reference to Iran — which is not an Arab nation but is Saudi Arabia’s primary regional rival.

Biden also said, as part of the arrangement, “we would put a civilian nuclear facility” in Saudi Arabia under U.S. military control “so they can move away from fossil fuels,” which is “a big game-changer in the whole region.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regards recognition of a Palestinian state as a “reward for terrorism,” and Israeli officials across the political spectrum have resisted the subject in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks.
Has the window shut for a Biden-broken Israeli-Saudi deal?

Iran showed its true colors in the AMIA bombing 30 years ago
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the devastating bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Spanish initials: AMIA), a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina: 30 years of pain, 30 years demanding justice and 30 years of impunity.

Eighty-five people were killed in the attack and 300 were wounded. It was (and is) the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of Argentina, targeting Latin America’s largest Jewish community (200,000 at the time of the attack). It was the largest-ever terrorist attack against a Jewish institution outside of Israel.

And it was orchestrated by Iran via its cat’s-paw Hezbollah.

In April 2024, Argentina’s second-highest court ruled that the “1994 attack in Buenos Aires was organized, planned, financed and executed under the direction of the authorities of the Islamic State of Iran, within the framework of Islamic Jihad.” The court also ruled that Iran had been responsible for the 1992 truck bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 people.

Iran, the court said, is a “terrorist state” that had committed a “crime against humanity.” Shortly afterward, Argentina announced that it was seeking the arrest of Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, a key mastermind of the attack. Argentina had requested that Interpol issue a red notice for Vahidi’s arrest, which was granted.

The AMIA bombing revealed the Iranian regime’s true face.

Iran, under this regime, is not a legitimate country. Inspired by the ruthless messianic vision of its founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, it is driven by virulent, unappeasable hatred for the United States, which it calls the “Great Satan,” and Israel, regularly vilified as the “Little Satan.”

Hatred of Israel and Jews writ large binds and fuels the regime. Its chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are not mere signaling; they are the vocalizations of deeply held convictions.
Visegrad24: Why Qatar Is Not WHAT It Seems...
Qatar has been describing itself as a "modern Arab country" and yet even as it positions itself as an ally of the West, behind the scenes all is not what it seems.


Marvel erases Israeli identity of superhero 'Sabra'



UK procures Smash C-UAS fire-control system
The United Kingdom is procuring the Smash counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) for the British Army, Janes learnt at the Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) Expo hosted by the British Army at Baker Barracks, Emsworth, southern UK, on 11 July. The 500 Smash fire-control systems ordered have been entering service with 16 Air Assault Brigade over the last two months, with one system equipping each platoon.

Smash is designed to ensure that each round finds its target by providing a standard assault rifle with precision targeting algorithms and advanced electro-optical processing, according to its manufacturer, Smart Shooter.

It can be integrated into any type of assault rifle, and its employment was demonstrated to Janes mounted on an L85A3 by a 16 Air Assault Brigade soldier. He said the system only releases the trigger of the weapon it is mounted on if an optimum shot is possible.

Incorporating a laser rangefinder, Smash enables the destruction of low-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at a range of 250 m in day mode and 100 m in night mode, according to Smart Shooter. It can also receive target information from an external sensor.


New Austrian anti-Israel vandal group damages factory
An Austrian Elbit Systems subsidiary’s factory was defaced on Monday in the debut action by a new chapter of a United Kingdom-based activist group responsible for vandalism attacks across Europe and North America.

Austrian Police confirmed that “several unknown individuals” had spray-painted a Vienna building and damaged a solar panel in the early hours of the morning.

The new Austrian branch of Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the attack against ESL Advanced Information Technology (ESLAIT). Palestine Action Austria posted a video to Instagram on Monday in which the vandals smashed the solar panels with a hammer, poured unidentified liquids into pipes, and disconnected wires and antennas.

As a subsidiary of an Israeli defense firm, the anti-Israel group said that ESLAIT was involved in a supposed “ongoing genocide.”

“It is up to all of us to hinder, if not end, state and corporate complicity,” said PAA. “Not tomorrow, but today and now. And it’s not enough to just shout or plead with them, you have to attack them where it hurts: money.”

In a separate post the same day, the group announced its creation, saying that its purpose was to promote civil disobedience and take “direct action” against companies and institutions associated with Israel.


Mohammad Sharab and offsider CHARGED over attack on Avi Yemini
Mohammad Sharab and his offsider Ibrahim Salama have been charged and summoned to appear before court on September 3, for their roles in the attack on Rebel News reporter Avi Yemini outside the Victorian Parliament on April 30.

In a startling confrontation, Yemini faced threats and aggression from anti-Israel protesters while attempting to interview demonstrators regarding a previous violent attack on a Sydney Swans supporter. The demonstrators met his efforts with immediate hostility.

Tensions escalated as Yemini tried to interview several protesters, including Mohammad Sharab, who was out on bail after being accused of involvement in a violent abduction and assault. Sharab and his group threatened Yemini, with one individual hurling a glass bottle that narrowly missed Yemini's security guard, Daniel.

Victorian MP David Southwick voiced alarm over the incident and security issues arising from ongoing anti-Israel protests outside parliament following the incident.

The incidents have contributed to a climate of fear for Jewish communities worldwide, with Melbourne no different, as many Jews are afraid for their safety in the city.


Pro-Palestine Youth Demand protesters try to sabotage King's Speech: Met Police arrest ten after foiling plot to disrupt State Opening of Parliament
Pro-Palestine Youth Demand protesters plotting to sabotage the King's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament today have been arrested by police.

The Metropolitan Police arrested 10 members of the action group who were found outside Westminster, with more arrests taking place at Victoria Embankment Gardens where dozens more have gathered.

The individuals who are calling for the UK to stop sending arms to Israel and for a halt on new oil and gas licences were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance after the group stated it was planning to disrupt the historic day.

It comes as King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at Parliament to meet the new Prime Minister as he unveils his plans for Britain.

The London police force added that another organised protest by anti-monarchy group Republic had been planned to take place alongside Parliament Street today, but demonstrators were banned from using whistles or sound amplifiers.

The group gathered at Victoria Embankment Gardens at 9.30am this morning with plans to march down for the ceremony in Parliament, but their plans were quickly halted by police officers.

On social media the Metropolitan Police said: 'Last week, Youth Demand said they planned to disrupt the event. An hour ago, officers arrested 10 of them in Westminster on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance.

'A further 20 to 25 have now gathered in Victoria Embankment Gardens and further arrests are being made.'


The epic failure of anti-Israel campus protests
Now that the campuses have settled down, it’s time to take stock of what has happened since the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7. Despite the hysteria, the campus protests were resounding failures in achieving their stated objectives. Besides roiling college quads, they revealed disturbing truths about higher education, bringing the virulent antisemitism of students and faculty to the forefront, and scaring Jewish students.

There is no debate that a tsunami of antisemitism engulfed universities after Oct. 7. But how widespread was the problem, and was there any pattern?

A Washington Monthly study found that of 1,421 public and private nonprofit colleges, 318 (22%) had protests and 123 (9%) encampments. While these figures might seem significant, they represent only one-third of all institutions. Even as strains have occurred in black-Jewish relations, it is notable that none of the 78 historically black colleges had encampments, and only nine had demonstrations. Protests were primarily concentrated in California and the U.S. Northeast, and were most prominent at elite universities.

The amount of publicity given to schools like Columbia, Penn, Harvard, Berkeley, UCLA, Cornell, Michigan and New York University gave the false impression that protesters’ views were the norm rather than representative of a small fraction of the faculty and student body. The bad news is that these schools produce judges, business leaders and political officials, and they are churning out graduates who are, at best, ignoramuses and, at worst, antisemites who we can only hope will get the success they deserve and end up selling pencils on street corners.

Did the protests accomplish any of their goals?

The extremists chanting “From the River to the Sea” must be disappointed that Israel has not disappeared and that their Hamas heroes are being crushed. Meanwhile, “moderates” advocating for a ceasefire proved equally impotent as Hamas terrorists rejected proposals requiring them to release their hostages. They remained in tunnels, unconcerned with civilian suffering, while their backers in Iran were content to fight to the last Palestinian.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement believed it had reached a critical mass. Votes were held at 24 schools, the most since 2014-15, and BDS measures were adopted at 18.

Do you know how many universities agreed to boycott Israel?

Zero.
GOP Lawmakers Slam Harvard Anti-Semitism Task Force for ‘Inadequate’ Recommendations
House Republicans in a letter Monday slammed Harvard University's anti-Semitism task force for the "inadequacy" of the recommendations it released last month, demanding the Ivy League university take concrete steps to address rising anti-Semitism on campus.

"We write to you with serious concerns regarding the inadequacy of your Presidential Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism’s Preliminary Recommendations that were released on June 6," 28 House Republicans, led by Reps. Tim Walberg (R., Mich.) and Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.), said in a letter to Harvard interim president Alan Garber.

Critics have long slammed as insufficient a series of initiatives that Harvard created in response to rising anti-Semitism on campus following the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Ex-Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned earlier this year in large part due to controversy over her response to anti-Semitic incidents on the Ivy League campus.

The Republican lawmakers denounced the latest recommendations as "weaker, less detailed, and less comprehensive" than those presented by a previous task force in December.

"Instead of offering a tangible plan to address anti-Semitism at Harvard," the lawmakers said, "the task force’s most specific and actionable recommendations are to organize public talks on respectful dialogue and religious relations, increase the availability of hot kosher meals, and to circulate guidance about accommodating Jewish religious observance and a calendar of Jewish holidays."

The university, the letter continued, "has a serious problem with anti-Semitism on its campus, including 'derision and exclusion' of Israeli students, discrimination and harassment of students by faculty and teaching fellows, and political litmus tests in extracurricular student life."
US teacher union criticized for BDS, ceasefire, campus protest resolutions
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is set to vote on seven proposed resolutions touching on divestment from Israel, an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire, and anti-Israel campus protests at its July 22-25 Houston national convention, drawing ire and criticism from US Jewish and pro-Israel groups.

The resolutions were condemned on Monday by the New York City Public School (NYCPS) Alliance, Educators Caucus for Israel, Partners for Equality and Educational Responsibility in K-12 (PeerK12), and StandWithUs as antisemitic.

AFT President Randi Weingarten said on social media on Tuesday that the union was a democracy in which many proposals were submitted, but until adopted should only be considered as proposals. Weingarten only issued support for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 88th AFT National Convention will discuss a resolution submitted by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers proposing that the second largest teacher’s union call on teachers’ pension funds to divest from companies that it claimed facilitated Israeli “human rights violations and violations of international law as part of prolonged military occupations, apartheid, and genocide.”

The proposal for the AFT International Relations Committee listed Boeing, General Dynamics, Caterpillar, Palantir Technologies, and Valero Energy as examples of companies that the Berkeley teachers believed should be boycotted.

The same Berkeley group submitted a resolution calling on the US government to immediately end all military aid to Israel as long as Israel blocked “substantive and meaningful aid to Gaza.”

The coalition of Jewish education groups condemned the two resolutions for labeling Israel’s war against Gazan terrorist organizations as “genocide,” saying the inflammatory language revived “ancient blood-libel accusations against Jews worldwide.”

Two other divestment resolutions called for the sale of AFT’s sole foreign state bond, an Israeli bond valued at $150,000. An AFT Oregon proposal resolved not to purchase further bonds from Israel, while the resolution submitted by American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Advocacy, University of Illinois Chicago Graduate Employees, and University of Vermont Medical Center Support Staff United would position AFT against the purchase of bonds from any foreign governments.
Pro-Palestinian student group claims Trump assassination attempt ‘staged,’ distraction from Gaza war
A California chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine claimed the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump was “staged” and called it a distraction from a recent “massacre” in the Gaza city of Khan Younis.

University of California San Diego’s chapter for Students for Justice in Palestine – which has amassed 17,000 followers – posted the message to their Instagram story shortly after the shooting.

“[T]here was a horrific massacre of close to 100 palestinians in khan younis today and people won’t be talking about it at all because we just have to accept that apparently people care more about trumps staged assassination attempt!!!!!! WAKE UPPPP,” the post reads.

The post came in the form of an Instagram story, a temporary message that automatically deletes one day after being uploaded.
ADL Report Finds Rise in Antisemitic Beliefs at University of California After Oct. 7 Hamas Attack
Antisemitic and anti-Zionist attitudes at the University of California, Irvine increased after Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, a new statistical study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has found.

The study — “Attitudes Toward Jews and Israel on California Campuses” — which began roughly four months before Oct. 7, aimed to measure anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist attitudes at four campuses within the University of California (UC) system to determine whether reports of surging antisemitism there are based in fact rather than perception.

The ADL surveyed hundreds of students — liberal and conservative, religious and secular, Jewish and non-Jewish — across the UC system, but because of an accident of timing, UC Irvine (UCI) emerged as a special case study, being the only school whose students submitted responses both before and after the Oct. 7 massacre. Their answers were revealing, according to the ADL, and demonstrated that what Jewish students and faculty have reported feeling is real.

Before Oct. 7, 25 percent of UCI students agreed that “Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States.” After Oct. 7, that figure jumped 18 points, to 43 percent, the study found.

Similar increases occurred across the board. For example, the percentage of students who agreed that “Jews have too much power in our country today” nearly doubled after the Hamas atrocities, increasing from 7.9 percent to 15.1 percent. Additionally, 23.6 percent of students agreed after the Oct. 7 tragedy that “it is appropriate for opponents of Israel’s policies to boycott Jewish American owned businesses in their communities.”
University pledges to shut down ‘out of control’ Gaza camp after arrests for assault and drug use
Seven members of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) anti-Israel camp were arrested last week on suspicion of possession of drugs, assault of an emergency worker and the obstruction of police.

The arrests appear to have spurred the university into action, with a Soas statement announcing last Friday that the process of dismantling the sprawling occupation in Bloomsbury, central London, would begin after the University of London sought a possession order from the courts.

Soas called the encampment “unmanageable” and said that a significant number of people had no affiliation with the university – including “homeless people and persons wanted by the police”.

The student suspects were released by the Metropolitan Police and await their date in court.

In a post on the “Soas liberated zone” Instagram page, students said that all “comrades” had been released and a photograph of the students was captioned: “Disclose, Divest, We Will Not Stop We Will Not Rest!”

The encampment at the London university sprang up at the beginning of May, along with parallel camps at University College London and Queen Mary University.

In a statement released by Soas, the university referred to the physical assault of a security guard, who was “attacked, punched and pulled to the ground” by people associated with the encampment.

Soas said activists had accused the university of “inviting the police onto our campus as a response to these issues”, but denied the claim.
Unsanitary conditions, rats, and overdoses: McGill pro-Hamas camp dismantled
Rebel News journalist Alexa Lavoie discusses McGill's anti-Israel encampment that was recently dismantled after causing months of disruptions.


Anti-Israel Groups Behind UNH Protests Allegedly Tied to Hamas
The NSJP takes credit for helping organize a protest at the UNH Durham campus this spring in which hundreds of anti-Israel protesters attempted to set up illegal encampments before being arrested. The protest also featured antisemitic messages like “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free,” and accusations that the Jewish state is guilty of genocide.

AMP’s leadership founded the NSJP in 2010, one of the main groups behind this spring’s college campus protests, including at UNH. The stated goal of the NSJP to advocate for the Palestinian people is a smokescreen, however, according to the lawsuit. Instead, it uses its hundreds of campus organizations to support terrorism against Jewish people.

“AMP’s message to college campuses through NSJP is unambiguous: violent attacks are a justified response to Zionism as an idea, to Israel as an entity, and to Zionists as people. The purpose of this messaging is not only to justify the terrorism of Hamas and its affiliates in Gaza within Western academia and society at large but also to establish an environment where violence against Jews and anyone else associated with Israel could be construed as acceptable, justified, or even heroic,” the lawsuit states.

According to the Anti Defamation League, NSPJ began using its campus chapters to call for more violence days after the Oct. 7 attack.

“[NSJP organized] a ‘Day of Resistance’ on Oct. 12, during which chapters on campuses across the country would convene rallies and other actions to applaud Palestinian ‘resistance’ to Israel,” according to the ADL.

The NSJP’s “resistance” takes the form of antisemitic violence and murder in the United States, the ADL reports.


The Bias of Meta’s Oversight Board
Whether the Board considered these potential conflicts of interest and took steps to mitigate them is unclear and left unexplained in its public documentation relating to the policy recommendation.

But perhaps the most alarming evidence of a problem among the board is that some members – who are making recommendations on how to handle content moderation relating to incitement, terrorism, and hate speech – have themselves glorified terrorism.

Nighat Dad, for example, has glorified both the notorious antisemite Refaat Alareer and the terrorist Hamza al-Dahdouh (see also here). Another board member, Khaled Mansour, has claimed that Hezbollah has fought Israel “heroically” (with a half-hearted hedge “and sometimes…terroristically”) and writes of Palestinian terrorism (“armed resistance,” as he calls it) as mere “details and tactics” that one should “not get bogged down in.”
Hamza remembering his mother on his Instagram who was killed by Israeli strike along with his other sibling, nephews and nieces in October. Today Hamza is martyred by an Israeli strike. How many more martyrs a world need to see to stop this massacre of Muslims in #Gaza?

— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) January 7, 2024

Helle Thorning-Schmidt, another board member, served as the CEO of Save the Children during a period in which the organization was caught collaborating with kindergartens that held graduation ceremonies that included “mock killing and kidnapping of Israelis by children dressed as combatants.” According to NGO Monitor, they were also collaborating during that period with at least one other organization connected to an internationally designated terrorist organization.

All of this is also on top of the noticeable biases, and lack of credibility, relating more specifically to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which – by the board’s own admission – played a central role in their deliberations over the “shaheed” case.

A screenshot of Meta Oversight Board Member Julie Owono responding “Love this!” to an article that claims Wikipedia, a notoriously biased and inaccurate source of information, is actually a reliable source of information on the war between Israel and Hamas.

Board members Endy Bayuni and Tawakkol Karman have openly lobbed the objectively absurd accusation of “genocide” against Israel. Karman further claims Israel is engaged in an “unjust aggressive war” on Gaza – notwithstanding it was Hamas who attacked Israel – and celebrates the idea of Israel being a “mere pariah state,” which she accuses of being composed of a “terrorist government” and “criminal army.” Julie Owono enthusiastically endorses the idea that Wikipedia – a notoriously biased resource which just banned the Jewish civil rights organization, the Anti-Defamation League, from being used as a source of information – is a reliable source of information about the war between Israel and Hamas. Board member Alan Rusbridger, a former editor at the notorious left-wing and anti-Israel outlet The Guardian, has justified Hamas’s brutal atrocities on October 7 by claiming it “most certainly did not happen in a vacuum.”

Similar biases can also be found among staff as well, with connections to anti-Israel organizations like those listed above, as well as Islamic Relief Worldwide, Middle East Eye, J Street, and the International Commission of Jurists.

Which brings us back to the questions of trust, standards, and transparency. If the Oversight Board wants the trust of the public, and social media companies, to handle difficult questions of content moderation, then it must give us reasons to trust its professionalism, expertise, and fairness. The Board has repeatedly criticized Meta for an alleged lack of transparency in its policies around terrorist organizations, and yet the Board itself falls well short of transparency in how it handles its own decision making and dialogue with stakeholders.

Whether the Board came to the right decision in the “shaheed” case is ultimately a matter of some reasonable debate. But the Board’s questionable handling of the public engagement process does not inspire confidence that the issues are being fairly or fully considered. With upcoming Board recommendations on moderating the phrase “from the river to the sea” and how to handle the use of the term “Zionists” when compared to criminality, it is clear that the Board seeks to have an enormous influence on online expression relating to Israel and antisemitism. As antisemitism and anti-Israel extremism surge, this should be concerning to all.

If the Board wishes to build the credibility it desires, it will need to reconsider its process. Trust is earned, not given. In this context, that trust will require a credible and transparent process.
Meta removes images of Hamas-held hostages, claims 'dangerous' content
Meta removed a post on Tuesday from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Instagram account featuring previously unseen images of five female hostages kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base on Oct. 7, citing "dangerous individuals and organizations" as the reason for the post's removal.

The images, published for the first time Tuesday, show the five hostages in the early days of their captivity. They appear injured and bruised, sitting on floor mattresses with a picture of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the background. The families authorized the release of these photos to raise awareness and to pressure for a hostage release deal.

In response to the removal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shared Meta's notice with a single-word comment: "Really?"

Meta's policy states: "In an effort to prevent and disrupt real-world harm, we do not allow organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence to have a presence on our platforms." However, Meta's VP of Communications, Maayan Sarig, later clarified the situation: "This case differs from our policy on removing hostage content produced by Hamas. The image of the captive female field observer soldiers doesn't violate our policy because it wasn't produced or published by Hamas. The IDF found it, and the hostages' families distributed it as proof of life and to raise awareness. We will restore the image to accounts where it was removed."
35 groups call on social media platforms to copy Meta ban on targeting Zionists
Following the announcement of Meta’s ban on content targeting Zionists as a guise for hateful attacks against Jews or Israelis, 35 Jewish and pro-Israel organizations issued a joint statement on Wednesday calling on other social media platforms to follow suit.

The July 9 decision by the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads was praised by the organizations from 16 different countries as a means of addressing an “antisemitism loophole” that would “help protect Jews as a minority community across its platforms.”

“We urge YouTube, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Telegram, Reddit, and other social media platforms to follow Meta’s lead by similarly identifying and fighting both classic and new forms of antisemitism,” said the joint statement by the Adopt International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Coalition. “Jewish users, like every other minority, deserve to be safe when using social media.” Use of the word Zionism as a target

The Meta Policy Forum had previously treated the use of the term “Zionist” as hate speech in narrow instances when it was clearly antisemitism or incitement against Jews or Israelis, but had resolved last week to remove content about Zionists using antisemitic stereotypes, threatening intimidation or violence against Jews or Israelis masquerading as attacking the political belief.

“Antisemites increasingly use the term ‘Zionists’ as a convenient stand-in for ‘Jews,’” the coalition said Wednesday. “They falsely claim that they are merely addressing a political issue.”

The groups noted that an overwhelming majority of world Jewry identified as Zionist, supporting Jewish self-determination in their historic homeland.

Meta had acknowledged that the word “Zionist” has many connotations and meanings to different people and contexts, emphasizing that the policy impacted the proxy uses of the word, and the term is not protected when referring to the political movement.

The policy forum had consulted with almost 145 politics, history, law, digital, civil and human rights experts from around the world on the decision. There were some aspects of the use of the term “Zionism” that Meta is still exploring.


Democratic Party Platform Tiptoes Between Israel, Palestinian Authority
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Wednesday voted to formally approve the official 2024 party platform to be presented at the Democratic National Convention next month.

The Democratic position vis a vis Israel and its neighbors continues the party’s attempts to impose a moral equivalence between Israel’s self-defense against the surrounding terrorists who hope to annihilate the Jewish State, and the actions of terrorist entities, be they wearing combat uniforms or suits.

In the document, the party affirmed continued support for Israel, albeit while recognizing “the ongoing suffering caused to the Palestinians as a result of the war in Gaza,” neglecting to add the war was started by Hamas and not by Israel.

The document expresses support for President Joe Biden’s efforts “to build sustainable peace in the Middle East, and to establish a strong coalition to deal with Iran.”

The platform supports “a two-state solution that guarantees Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, with recognized borders, and upholds the right of the Palestinians to live in freedom and security in their own country.”

The platform was approved despite efforts by the left-progressive wing of the party to block it.

“President Biden remains committed to a durable peace in the Middle East bolstered by regional integration and a negotiated two-state solution that ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own,” the committee reiterated in its release.

Once again, the Democratic party has chosen to ignore the existential threat to Israel and the reality that the Palestinian Authority continues to openly incite its population to murder their Israeli neighbors — even paying those who attempt to do so of in hopes to replacing the State of Israel with a “Palestinian state from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea.”
New York Times Profiles Angry Dearborn Voters. It Doesn’t Tell Readers They’re Also Hamas Supporters.

Trailing in Polls, Cori Bush Embraces Group That Blamed Israel for Oct. 7 Attack
Rep. Cori Bush (D., Mo.) is taking a page from colleague Jamaal Bowman's (D., N.Y.) playbook, embracing fringe allies on the Democratic Party's far-left wing as her electoral prospects dim.

Bush on Tuesday touted support for the anti-Israel group Progressive Jews of St. Louis (ProJoSTL) and shared a letter from the group, which promoted the "Squad" member and attacked her primary opponent, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell. Bush also posed for a photo with the group at her January campaign kickoff.

The Missouri congresswoman quoted the letter on X, writing, "The flames of war being fanned by this Israeli government only continue to wreak havoc and bring needless suffering; if we allow this election to be bought & Bush's opponent to take office, he will do nothing to stop the violence." She encouraged her followers to read the rest of the letter.

ProJoSTL's first post reacting to Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel called the assault "not unprovoked" and said Gaza residents would face "disproportionate destruction" compared with Israelis' suffering. It didn't mention Hamas.

"Progressive Jews of St. Louis (ProJoSTL) continues to stand in solidarity with Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation," ProJoSTL wrote in an Oct. 9 post. "We also understand the attacks on Israel are not unprovoked. For 16 years, Gaza has operated as an open-air prison under Israel's siege. For 75 years, Palestinians have endured the trauma of occupation and apartheid."

"Oppression is violent and breeds violent resistance," the group added. The post also criticized the United States for its alliance with Israel.

Local rabbis, meanwhile, threw their support behind Bell, accusing Bush of "fanning the flames of antisemitism" and exhibiting "little outrage against the horrendous attacks" on Oct. 7. Bowman faced similar accusations, relied on anti-Israel groups, and ultimately lost his primary election last month.
Cori Bush received multiple donations from NBA player Kyrie Irving
Rep. Cori Bush’s (D-MO) election campaign has received multiple large donations from Kyrie Irving, the NBA star who was condemned by Jewish groups over antisemitism, including his promotion of a film which spread Holocaust denial.

Those donations include a $6,600 donation — the maximum allowable under federal law — in November 2023, as well as a $5,511 donation in March 2023, a $2,211 donation in March 2023 and a $1,089 donation in November 2023.

The $2,211 donation and the $1,089 donation were refunded last year, while the $5,511 donation was refunded in April 2024, according to Bush’s latest campaign finance filing. Such refunds are required when donations exceed legal limits.

Based on Federal Election Commission records, Bush is the only candidate to whom Irving — who has no apparent ties to St. Louis — has donated.

Irving apologized for sharing the film but deleted the apology after being traded to the Dallas Mavericks, his current team, last year. The Mavericks are owned by Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont.


Ra’am Party leader: IDF murdered 50,000 civilians in Gaza
Coalition Knesset members assailed Israeli lawmaker Mansour Abbas (Ra’am Party) on Wednesday after he urged an end to the war against Hamas and claimed that the IDF murdered 50,000 civilians in Gaza.

“Of course I want to stop the war! Fifty thousand civilians were murdered in the Gaza Strip,” exclaimed Abbas, whose Islamist party was part of the coalition formed by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett in 2021. (The Hebrew word used by Abbas could also be translated as “citizens.”)

Likud lawmaker Tali Gottlieb responded to Abbas: “If you call my soldiers murderers, you won’t be here.” Following the incident, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana ordered Abbas to leave the podium.

Wednesday’s Knesset debate also saw Ayman Odeh, leader of the predominantly Arab Hadash-Ta’al Party, escorted out of the plenum hall after he called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist.
Bennett rebukes former partner Abbas after he claims ‘50,000 civilians murdered in Gaza’
The leader of the Arab Islamist Ra’am party, MK Mansour Abbas, courted controversy Wednesday when he claimed from the Knesset rostrum that “50,000 civilians have been murdered in Gaza.”

Another leading Arab MK was removed from the plenum during the session on the state of the war in Gaza for calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “terrorist.”

Abbas’s comments on the Gaza war’s death toll were particularly striking as he is seen as a moderate among Arab lawmakers, and he made history in 2021, when he brought his party into the coalition, the first Arab list to do so in decades.

Abbas made the comment while responding to coalition lawmakers who were heckling him during a speech.

Abbas strongly condemned Hamas’s October 7 attacks, and in November asked a party member to resign after she expressed doubts regarding Hamas atrocities. At the same time, he has for months urged a ceasefire between Israel and the terror group. Many in the Israeli government believe a permanent ceasefire is not possible before Hamas is destroyed, and that one should only be considered temporarily as part of a deal to release hostages.
Biden admin bans Elor Azaria from entering US, six years after he serves prison term
The Biden administration, which has promoted voting rights for U.S. felons, announced on Wednesday that it is sanctioning a dual French-Israeli citizen and his family six years after the man served a prison term in the Jewish state.

An Israeli court found Elor Azaria, a former Israeli soldier who is in his late 20s, guilty of shooting an already-incapacitated terrorist, Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who stabbed an Israeli soldier in Judea on March, 24 2016.

Azaria served nine months—from August 2017 to May 2018—of an 18-month sentence and was demoted from sergeant to private and discharged from military service.

Despite having served time for his actions, and despite the Biden administration taking a more progressive position domestically than Republicans on rights of felons, Azaria and his family cannot enter the United States indefinitely, the U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday.

Azaria and his immediate family will be barred from applying for a visa to the U.S. due to “involvement in a gross violation of human rights, namely an extrajudicial killing in the West Bank,” stated Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman.

The decision to ban the dual French-Israeli national, who hails from Ramla in central Israel, was taken due to a “broad trend of increased violence that we have sadly seen over the past months and the need for Israel to do more to hold people accountable,” Miller told reporters.

“We are also taking steps to impose visa restrictions on an additional group of individuals for having been involved in or meaningfully contributed to undermining the peace, security, or stability in the West Bank,” Miller added. (The Biden administration refers to Judea and Samaria as “the West Bank.”)
Gantz slams US for sanctioning Elor Azaria: ‘No justification to interfere in Israel’s internal legal processes’
Opposition MK Benny Gantz slams the US for imposing sanctions on former IDF Sgt. Elor Azaria who in 2016 shot dead an incapacitated Palestinian attacker in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Gantz says there is no need for the US to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and interfere in the Israeli judicial system.

“The State of Israel has an independent, robust judicial system that is both capable and willing to punish under Israeli law. There is no reason why the US State Department should impose sanctions against Israeli civilians,” Gantz writes in a post on X.

“Such is the case with Elor Azaria that was investigated, tried in court, convicted while serving in the IDF and ultimately held accountable, like in other cases,” Gantz says. “I want to convey to our American friends – there is no justification to interfere in Israel’s internal legal processes.”

Azaria, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison but only served nine months, will be “generally” barred from entry into the US along with his immediate family members, the State Department said in a statement.


Quarter of Jewish Israelis , 40% of Arab Israelis contemplate emigration amid political crisis
One in four Jewish Israelis and four in 10 Arab Israelis would have emigrated if given the opportunity, according to a new survey. These results underscore a growing discontent with the nation’s leadership and security situation.

A new report from the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), published on Wednesday, highlighted a significant trend of emigration sentiments among Israelis. According to the July 2024 Israeli Society Index, 25% of Jewish Israelis and 40% of Arab Israelis expressed a willingness to leave the country if they had a practical opportunity to do so. This finding came at a time when trust in both military and political leadership was notably low.

The report painted a picture of a nation grappling with internal strife and diminishing confidence in its institutions. Public trust in the senior command of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had dropped dramatically, with 55% of Jewish respondents expressing low or very low trust.

The decline was particularly stark among right-wing Israelis, 80% of whom distrusted the IDF’s top leadership. This erosion of confidence extended to the political realm, where only 27% of Israelis trusted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a mere 26% had confidence in the government.

Support for mandatory military conscription of ultra-Orthodox (haredi) youth remained a contentious issue. The Supreme Court’s ruling mandating haredi conscription into the IDF was supported by 63% of Jewish Israelis, with the highest support among secular and traditionalist Jews. However, this support plummeted to just 12% among the ultra-Orthodox, reflecting deep divisions within Israeli society.

The survey also shed light on shifting attitudes toward Israel’s future security policies. While a majority of Jewish Israelis once supported aggressive military actions, there was now a noticeable decline in support for an attack on Hezbollah, dropping from 62% in March to 56% in July. Concurrently, there was a slight increase in support for diplomatic solutions, particularly among Arab Israelis, 67% of whom favored a peaceful resolution.
Unpacked: What Is Life Like for Palestinians in Gaza? | Unpacked
Life for Palestinians in Gaza under Hamas has been extremely difficult. Palestinian civilians lack basic water, sanitation, and electricity infrastructures, as well as access to upward economic mobility and the rights to freedom of speech and self-expression. The constant suffering from rampant political and economic corruption has left civilians in Gaza with a sense of despair and a longing for a change in leadership.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:41 Brief history of the Gaza Strip
01:55 The First Intifada and economics
03:58 The Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada
05:08 The Disengagement and Palestinian elections in Gaza
06:23 The Hamas Charter and Hamas rule in Gaza
07:51 Egyptian and Israeli blockade
09:08 Hamas tunnels in Gaza
11:01 Water infrastructure in Gaza
13:00 Debt and economic corruption
14:27 Hamas leadership's extravagant lifestyle
15:25 Hamas executions of Palestinians
16:47 March, 2019 Gazan protests against Hamas, #WeWantToLive
18:28 Lack of basic human rights in Gaza
20:51 Palestinian perspectives of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War
22:12 The Christian minority in Gaza
23:13 Hamas prevents Gazans from fleeing
24:16 What do Palestinians want when the war ends?




MEMRI: In Urdu-Language Daily, Pakistani Columnist Blames West For Spreading Corruption, Promotes Antisemitism: 'Behind All Of This At Work Is The Hand Of The Jews'; 'The Vein Of India Lies In The Claws Of Jews'
In a recent column, Pakistani writer Muzaffar Rabbani accused the West of advancing a narrative through Muslim critics that while Islamic societies are full of corruption, the non-Muslims in the West are honest and free from all forms of corruption in their societies. His argument is that such a narrative is designed to weaken Islam and young Muslims' loyalty to their religion.

"This is a conspiracy at work to turn the new generation of Muslims away from Islam by making them think that Muslims are the worst people in the world," Muzaffar Rabbani, the columnist, wrote in his column titled "The Inhabitants of the West and Deception of Muslims." The column appeared in Roznama Jasarat, an Urdu daily published by Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.

Following are excerpts from the column:[1]
"Once Israel Infiltrated Bollywood In The 1970s And 80s, It Was No Longer Possible To Watch These Indian Films With Family Members At Home; Today, Israel Has Extended Its Influence Over India's Politics, Society, Economy, Culture, And Civilization"

"There are often [social media] posts saying that the English do not read the Quran, but see how they do not take bribes, nor engage in corruption, nor adulterate, nor deceive. Similarly, it is said about Japan, China, and other non-Muslim nations, that although they are not Muslims, they are very honest, whereas we Muslims are so evil.

"This is a conspiracy at work to turn the new generation of Muslims away from Islam by making them think that Muslims are the worst people in the world. If Islam is practiced, then, may Allah forbid, such a nation emerges. In response to this, a brief overview of the historical misdeeds of the English is presented here.

"It is the Westerners who have promoted people who take bribes here [in Pakistan], and not only bribery, but it is also the West that has spread all kinds of social, economic, and societal evils. Since the cursed footsteps of the English fell on this land, the promotion of moral, social, societal, economic, and every kind of evil began. Before the arrival of the English, there were thousands of madrassas in India where the teaching of ethics and civilization was given utmost priority.

"Before the arrival of the English, approximately seventy (70) percent of the population in India was literate. They were taught manners, etiquette, social graces, the decorum of gatherings, and the decorum of sitting and standing. A child was not only made a useful member of society but was also turned into a shining star within it. As soon as these pig-eating, filthy people – whose veins are filled with arrogance, pride, deceit, and every kind of evil – devastated the land of India and defiled it with their impure presence, a flood of vices overwhelmed India.

"Fast forward 200 years to the modern era, until the 1950s, there was a significant sense of modesty and decency in Hindu society. If anyone engaged in sexual misconduct, there would be an uproar, with people shouting 'sinner, sinner.' However, even when Bollywood film industry flourished, there were many refined films made that emphasized modesty and decency. Actors also dressed according to Eastern traditions and portrayed rich aspects of society. Films like 'Mother India' serve as a prime example showcasing Indian culture.

"However, once Israel infiltrated Bollywood in the 1970s and 80s, it was no longer possible to watch these Indian films with family members at home. Today, Israel has extended its influence over India's politics, society, economy, culture, and civilization; and India's essence is now caught in the claws of Jews, meaning 'the vein of India lies in the claws of Jews.' So, Hindu women are increasingly becoming naked, and now TikTok has completed the deficit. Earlier, a Hindu woman's blouse would not rise above her belly. Today, Hindu women are only wearing clothes for the sake of it. Hindu scholars also need to pay attention to this."
MEMRI: Arab League's Renewal Of Relations With Hizbullah Sparks Criticism In Lebanon And Arab World: Hizbullah Is Still Is A Terror Organization; It Does Not Deserve Free Gifts; The Arab League Is Motivated By Outside Interests
On June 27, 2024, Hossam Zaki, the assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, met with Muhammad Ra'ed, the head of Hizbullah's bloc in the Lebanese parliament. This meeting, the first between an Arab League representative and a representative of Hizbullah in about a decade, reflects a significant shift in the attitude of the Arab League, which in 2016 classified Hizbullah as a "terrorist organization" and called for it to "cease promoting extremism and sectarianism and refrain from meddling in the internal affairs of countries."[1] In statements to the media after the meeting, Zaki addressed the shift in the Arab League's position towards Hizbullah. He explained that the move was made at the 2023 Arab League summit in Jeddah, during which the League decided to remove the "terrorist" label from Hizbullah. Subsequently, he said, during this year's summit in Bahrain, the Arab League also removed the reference to Iran, Hizbullah's patron, from the name of one its committees: it changed the name of the "committee on Iran's interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries" to "committee on foreign interference in internal affairs of the Arab countries." Zaki added that Hizbullah is an "important party" in Lebanon and that it is only "natural" for the Arab League to hold ties with it.

Several assumptions were put forward in the Arab media to explain the shift in the Arab League's stance on Hizbullah. Some saw it as an Arab effort to prevent Israel from launching a war against Lebanon[2] or as another step towards normalization between Saudi Arabia and Hizbullah's patron, Iran.[3] It should be noted that, in the recent months, there have also been signs of a change in the UAE's attitude towards Hizbullah. In March of this year, Wafiq Safa, the head of Hizbullah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, visited the UAE, this being the first open and official visit by a Hizbullah representative in the Gulf in the recent years. Hizbullah claimed that the purpose of the visit was to arrange the release of Lebanese nationals detained in the UAE and that Safa met with "several officials concerned with this matter."[4] Other Arab sources claimed that the purpose of the visit was to discuss the tension with Israel.[5]

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida speculated that the Arab League's rapprochement with Hizbullah stems from the desire of its secretary-general, Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit, to secure a role for the Arabs in resolving the presidential crisis in Lebanon, and also from concern about a possible escalation vis-à-vis Israel, a situation that "calls for coordination or contact with Hizbullah."[6] Yet another assumption is that the rapprochement is an Egyptian initiative, promoted by Abu Al-Gheit, who is himself Egyptian, as part of this country's efforts to improve its relations with Iran so that the latter will direct its proxies, the Houthis in Yemen, to stop the attacks on Red Sea shipping, which are harming Egypt's economy.

Zaki's meeting with Ra'ed and his declaration that the Arab League no longer regards Hizbullah as a terror organization evoked intense criticism in the international community and in the Arab world, both in Lebanon and outside it. U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said: "Hizbullah remains a dangerous terrorist organization and a destabilizing force in the Middle East… There is no reason to take steps to remove such a designation, and we have continued to urge governments around the world to designate, ban, or restrict Hizballah…"[7] Hizbullah opponents in Lebanon and in some Arab countries, mainly in the Gulf, stressed that Hizbullah is no different from ISIS or Al-Qaeda: it is a terror organization and is responsible for the death of millions in the Arab world. They accused the Arab Leage and its leaders of being motivated by foreign agendas, and some called to dismiss secretary-general Abu Al-Gheit and his assistant Zaki and to move the Arab League headquarters from Cairo.

The opponents expressed concern that the move is part of a regional arrangement aimed at appeasing Iran in disregard of Lebanon's interests or the good of the people of the region. The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that Zaki's statements were met with "chagrin" in Saudi Arabia and other Arab capitals, and that Saudi Arabia had charged the Arab League to clarify the meaning of its move.[8]

In response to the criticism, Abu Al-Gheit and Zaki briefly addressed the reasons for the Arab League's move, saying that the League needs to maintain contacts with political elements in Lebanon and that this does not detract from the Arabs' reservations about Hizbullah. Abu Al-Gheit clarified that he had sent Zaki to Lebanon as his "personal envoy" in order to maintain contact with political elements in that country, further to "the decisions of the [Arab] League Council regarding solidarity with Lebanon and in accordance with the authority it had bestowed upon the secretary-general in this context."[9] Zaki told the Al-Houra channel: "After years of disconnect, the Arab League wanted to make contact with Hizbullah for various reasons, mainly because of the war and the presidential vacuum [in Lebanon]… As for the issue of classifying [Hizbullah] as a terror organization or nor classifying it as such, this issue was imposed on the media agenda and it was not a top priority. The hope was and still is to enable the election of a president in Lebanon."[10] Zaki added that his remarks about revoking the classification of Hizbullah as terrorist had been misconstrued, and that they do not invalidate "the many reservations and objections to the conduct, policy, actions and position of Hizbullah not only in Lebanon but also on the regional level."[11]

This report presents details about the meeting between Arab League assistant secretary-general Hossam Zaki and the head of Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Ra'ed, and reviews the criticism against the Arab League for the turnaround in its stance on Hizbullah.


Stabbed Iran International journalist flees to Israel over safety concerns
Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati has fled to Israel citing safety concerns after an assassination attempt in London in March.

In an interview with The Guardian, Zeraati revealed that his move from London to an undisclosed location in Israel was a “reluctant” but necessary decision.

“The place I live right now is a little safer,” he said in an interview published Tuesday.

“There have been communications between the UK police and the police here. They know about my situation and have taken extra measures to make sure I’m safe in Israel.”

Zeraati was attacked outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London, by three unidentified men who reportedly fled the country immediately after the attack.

Police believe the attackers were part of a criminal gang from Eastern Europe acting on behalf of the Iranian government.

Suspicion increased following a series of foiled plots aimed at kidnapping or killing employees of Iran International, a London-based network that Tehran has classified as a terrorist organization.

Zeraati, who was hospitalized with a leg injury, criticized the UK’s approach to the threat posed by Iran on British soil, saying it could not guarantee his safety.

He called for the British government to impose more stringent sanctions against Iran.
US renews sanctions waiver for Iraq to purchase Iranian electricity
The United States has granted Iraq another four-month sanctions waiver to purchase Iranian electricity, the proceeds from which Iran can access only for limited humanitarian trade, a State Department spokesperson told Al-Monitor.

The United States has issued regular waivers since 2018 so that Iraq can meet its short-term energy needs without running afoul of US sanctions. Washington maintains heavy sanctions on Tehran, and has encouraged Baghdad to reduce its dependence on Iranian natural gas and electricity.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed his country’s reliance on US waivers for Iranian energy imports in meetings with Treasury Department officials in Washington last week.

The 120-day waiver, which was renewed on July 11, comes as Iraqis suffer from power outages that are especially common in the sweltering summer months when temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) and the demand for air conditioning puts additional strain on the country’s dilapidated electricity grid. Last weekend, protests over the power shortages erupted in the central Iraqi cities of Diwaniyah and Najaf.

“Since 2018, the Department has permitted Iraq to purchase Iranian electricity while Iraq develops its domestic generation capacity, continuing a practice from prior administrations,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

“Under the terms of the Iraq electricity waiver, no Iranian funds have been released to Iran,” the spokesperson said. “The funds are held in restricted accounts and can only be used for humanitarian trade and other non-sanctionable transactions.”

Past exemptions have drawn sharp criticism from congressional Republicans who contend that the arrangement frees up domestic funds for Iran to spend on regional terrorism, its nuclear program and other malign activities.
Syrian sentenced to 2.5 years for Molotov cocktail on Israeli embassy in The Hague
A 25-year-old Syrian man has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the Israeli embassy in The Hague in March, Dutch News reported on Tuesday.

The attacker, who was arrested minutes after the incident thanks to security camera footage, admitted to throwing an olive oil bottle filled with petrol and a lit piece of cloth at the building. The assault resulted in a fire on part of the embassy's facade and surrounding shrubbery but caused minimal damage, according to Dutch News.

During the trial, the man stated that his intention was to draw attention to the situation in Gaza. The Syrian-born suspect said to the court that he had personally experienced "children dying of hunger. It was a message to Israel: war is wrong, please stop." However, the court ruled that "he should have done this in a different, peaceful manner."

The court deemed the 2.5-year jail term appropriate due to the planned nature of the attack. Evidence revealed that three weeks prior to the incident, the perpetrator had traveled to The Hague with a bottle of petrol, intending to target the embassy, but ultimately did not carry out the act.
Jewish Couple Spat on, Beaten at Anti-Israel Rally in Berlin; Police Investigating Attack
A Jewish couple, returning from an ice cream shop, was attacked by a mob of anti-Israel protesters in Berlin on Friday after they noticed a Star of David necklace, according to German media.

As a motorcade of demonstrators chanting anti-Israel slogans passed by on the Torstraße, a demonstrator filmed people on the sidewalk, including the couple identified as Adam, 27, and Hannah, 30, as they walked with their ice cream, the German tabloid newspaper Bild reported.

However, when Adam and Hannah indicated they did not want to be filmed and the former showed his middle finger in anger, the situation escalated. The couple found themselves confronted by “about 15 big guys there, all right in front of us,” Hannah said, according to Bild.

“One of them said, ‘I’ll show you my finger, it will go inside your girlfriend, and when I’m done with her, it will go inside you,'” Adam recounted one of the protesters saying.

Then the mob noticed that Hannah was wearing a Star of David around her neck. One of the man “spat in my face,” Hannah said, and “everyone shouted something in Arabic and spat at us. I instinctively threw my ice cream at him. Then they went after Adam.”

Adam was then reportedly pulled Adam to the ground by his hair, where his head hit the asphalt and he suffered a concussion.

Berlin police, who eventually rescued the couple, are investigating the incident, and two protesters have so far been arrested for assault.
Palestinian embroidery workshop cancelled after Holocaust denial claims
A Palestinian embroidery workshop at Jubilee Library has been cancelled by the council after claims its organiser shared Holocaust denial and other antisemitic claims on social media.

The flyer for the event, which had been due to be held fortnightly from today, featured a map of Israel with a Palestinian flag on it.

This week, a series of Facebook posts by workshop organiser Miranda Allan were unearthed, including a video by Hamas, and posts in which she said Zionists killed Christ, as well as the Jews in Germany and that the Holocaust is a lie.

Although the Holocaust post appears to have since been deleted, Brighton and Hove News verified the other posts on Ms Allan’s timeline. She did not respond to a request for comment.

Heidi Bachram, who has a family member who is a hostage in Gaza, found the posts and shared them on Twitter.

She said: “It’s a relief to hear that this workshop was cancelled. The council cannot lend legitimacy to hate.

“We’ve seen an explosion of antisemitism and extremism in Brighton lately, and our institutions must do more to carefully vet who they hire to and protect the Jewish community.”

A council spokesperson said: “Following a number of complaints we have decided to cancel the embroidery workshop due to take place at Jubilee Library.
Gas fitting firm called for an attack on ‘filthy Zionist dogs’
A gas fitting company in Leeds called for an attack on “filthy Zionists” and argued that occupied people have the right to resist “by any means necessary”, the JC can reveal.

It comes after Adam Loxley, a London plumber who refused to serve “Zionists”, was exposed by this newspaper last week, raising fears that tradesman may be discriminating against Jews.

Lindley Gas Services, which has published a series of incendiary remarks about Jews on its Facebook page, last month posted an image of a person throwing a Star of David into a bin alongside the words “keep the world clean”.

Earlier in the year, it posted a photo of the American industrialist and antisemite Henry Ford with a quote from a pamphlet published by the tycoon titled The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem.

First released in the 1920s, the text, which was later translated into German, went on to influence leading members of the Nazi party.

The quote shared by Lindley Gas Services read: “There is nothing that the International Jew fears so much as the truth, or any hint of the truth about himself or his plans.”

Earlier this month, the company posted an image of a man looking into a microscope at the Star of David with an embedded caption: “This is the worst cancer I’ve ever seen”. The person running the Lindley Gas Services account added: “Truest thing I seen [sic].”

According to a 2020 Facebook post uncovered by research group Gnasher Jew, the company is run by Nahim Majid, a gas engineer based in Leeds.
‘Antisemitic art at Royal Academy appears at odds with nonprofit status’
Three paintings on view at the Royal Academy of Arts are causing “significant concern” to Jews, the Board of Deputies of British Jews wrote to the London museum this week.

One portrait is titled “The mass slaughter of defenseless women and children is not how you de-radicalize Gaza.” The second picture includes a portrayal of a sign that states “Jews say stop genocide on Palestinians: Not in our name,” and the third, which includes a swastika, draws parallels between “the recent conflict in Gaza” and the Nazis, per the artist.

The nearly 265-year-old umbrella organization for British Jews questions “the judgment of allowing these pictures with their highly-politically charged and controversial messages into the RA’s summer exhibitions, particularly with no attempt to present any context or contextualizing works which might express a contrary view,” wrote Andrew Gilbert, vice president of the Board of Deputies.

“It risks giving the impression that the RA is taking a political stance on a very controversial issue, which would seem at odds with its objectives, not to mention its charitable status,” he added.


Google Acquisition Target Wiz Another Fruit of Israel’s Military Intelligence
An elite Israeli military intelligence unit may once again be about to prove its value to the nation’s tech economy as Google‘s parent eyes cybertech company Wiz for an eye-watering $23 billion.

Alphabet Inc , a person familiar has said, is in advanced talks to buy Wiz from founder Assaf Rappaport, a former officer from the famed 8200 military unit, which has built a track record in turning out tech entrepreneurs.

As the war in Gaza squeezes Israel’s economy, the deal underscores the resilience of the tech industry, which accounts for some 20 percent of the country’s output and around 15 percent of jobs. It also highlights the military‘s role in developing one of Israel’s most successful sectors.

Along with universities, Israel’s military intelligence and technology units, such as 8200, have provided the leaders for hundreds of tech start ups, helping to turn Israel into what is widely considered the No. 2 tech center globally after Silicon Valley.

Check Point Software Technologies, Nice, Palo Alto Networks, CyberArk, Wix and Waze — bought by Google for $1 billion — are a handful of companies whose founders have military roots.

Rappaport credits the Israeli military for his success, once calling the 8200 unit “the best school of entrepreneurship.”

He served there with his “army buddies” Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik, and Ami Luttwak, with whom he co-founded his previous cloud security company Adallom in 2012, which they sold to Microsoft three years later for $320 million.
Backed by Nvidia and Pfizer, Israeli AI medical startup raises $80m in fresh capital
CytoReason, an Israeli startup that uses artificial intelligence to develop computational disease models for drug discovery, said Wednesday it has secured $80 million in a private funding round backed by US chipmaker Nvidia and pharma giant Pfizer.

The funding round was also joined by US medical equipment maker Thermo Fisher and Jerusalem-based venture capital platform OurCrowd.

Founded in 2016, CytoReason develops computational technology that serves as a GPS-like mechanism that navigates the immune system. The machine-learning software collects and combines data from a variety of sources, including in-house data and published research on the immune system and other clinical studies, to discover insights into the biology of diseases.

The technology then builds a digital, computational simulator of the human body that can be used to predict responses to drugs, thus providing direction as to which ones can best benefit patients.

CytoReason says the use of its massive database and AI-led platform helps pharma and biotech companies shorten trial phases and cut development costs, as well as increase the likelihood of drug approval.

“The world understands that data alone is not enough, and that the future of data-driven insights is in data modeling,” said co-founder and CEO of CytoReason David Harel.
Nine Israeli startups secure $142 million in funding from EU Horizon program
Nine Israeli startups have been selected to receive €130 million ($142 million) in grants from the European Union’s Horizon accelerator program during a challenging period when many young founders and entrepreneurs are struggling to raise essential funds, as the ongoing war with the Hamas terror group has been raging for almost 10 months.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator granted a total of €411 million to as many as 68 companies chosen from 969 applicants from 17 different countries. Israel ranked third in the number of grant recipients, following Germany and France with 13 companies each.

“The high Israeli participation in the EIC Accelerator program highlights the competitive advantage of Israeli startups,” said Shlomi Kofman, International Deputy CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority. “The program allows them to receive funding and mentoring, thereby helping them accelerate their growth and realize their economic and social potential.

The EIC Accelerator program offers mixed funding that includes a grant of up to €2.5 million and equity investment of up to €15 million, as well as mentoring and business development coaching to help speed up the growth of startups and transform them into players in the global market.

Among the nine Israeli recipients selected by the EIC is Israel’s MediWound Ltd., a maker of a pineapple-based gel to treat burn victims, that will be granted €16.25 million in blended funding.

MediWound’s FDA-approved NexoBrid for the treatment of severe burns was used in Israeli hospitals to help victims of the October 7 onslaught get on a path of recovery after Hamas terrorists set their homes on fire. The product enables trained medical staff to perform enzymatic surgery rather than standard surgery to remove eschar, or dead tissue within a wound, including a severe burn.
Jerusalem film fest screening with Tarantino sells out in hours
This year’s Jerusalem Film Festival special guest, actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, will screen “The Hateful Eight” with director Quentin Tarantino, a familiar face at the annual summer event.

The July 18 afternoon screening, ahead of that evening’s opening event of the festival, was announced on Sunday — four days before the event — and sold out within hours, according to a festival representative.

There will be another screening of the film on July 21, at 7 p.m. in the Cinematheque.

Leigh was nominated for an Oscar for her 2015 “The Hateful Eight” role of “Crazy” Daisy Domergue, a fugitive and one of eight strangers seeking refuge from a blizzard in a stagecoach inn, after the US Civil War.

The American Western film was written and directed by Tarantino, and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern.

Leigh told The Guardian in 2016 that Tarantino is an exceptional director, who “looks at your whole body of work. He just sees you and what you’re capable of.” Actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, in an undated photo, will be the special guest at the Jerusalem Film Festival, July 18-27, 2024 (Courtesy)

The actress will be hosted and honored at the festival’s July 18 opening event, and four of her films will be screened during the ten-day festival.

Tarantino, who in 2018 married Israeli singer and model Daniella Pick, splits his time between Tel Aviv and Hollywood, and has spoken fondly of living in Israel. Pick is the daughter of the late Israeli songwriter and performer Svika Pick.
Youth choir made up of Palestinians and Israelis advances to second round of ‘America’s Got Talent’
A youth choir comprised of Israelis and Palestinians advanced past the audition round of America’s Got Talent after wowing the audience on Tuesday night’s episode of the NBC show.

Singing a moving rendition of Philip Philips’ song “Home”, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus earned four emphatic yeses from AGT judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel and received a standing ovation from the live audience.

One of the members described the Jerusalem Youth Chorus as a group of Palestinians and Israelis who "believe through music and through working together and talking to each other, we are taking a step forward into building that amazing future where there is justice and there is freedom and there is equality and there is inclusion.”

When asked by Klum what the groupould do with the prize money of one million dollars, another member of the choir said: “We will create more spaces just like these choruses so people can meet people who are different from them.”

Giving the singers two thumbs up, Cowell told the group after their performance: “You made something very complicated beautiful through friendship.”

Mandel told the group their performance gave him “goosebumps” and added: “This is a world anthem, and we all live in this world together. Thank you so much for appearing on this stage.”

Vergara called the performance “heartwarming” and “inspiring.”

With nods of approval from all the judges, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus will advance to the second round of the competition.

The group has previously featured on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, BBC Newsnight, and PBS. According to its website, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus has toured Japan, the UK, the US and Switzerland and performs regularly in Jerusalem.


Israeli boy finds 1,800-year-old ring on Mount Carmel
A 13-year-old Israeli out for a hike with his father—who had just returned from four months of military reserve duty—on Mount Carmel uncovered an 1,800-year-old ring engraved with a goddess of war from ancient Roman and Greek mythology, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday.

Yair Whiteson of Haifa stumbled upon the small green ring while walking near the ancient quarry site that lies below Khirbet Shalala, or the Mishmar HaCarmel Farm.

“I’m curious about fossils and rocks and love to collect them,” he recounted in a written statement. “[The ring] was corroded, and at first I thought it was just a rusty bolt. At home, I saw it had an image on it. At first glance, I thought it was a warrior.”

The family contacted an inspector at the IAA’s Theft Prevention Unit, who transferred the ring to the state-run archaeological body’s National Treasures Department for review.

It emerged that the teen’s identification of the figure as a warrior was very close: The experts said that the figure is, apparently, the Roman goddess Minerva, known as Athena in Greek mythology.

“On this beautiful ring, preserved in its entirety, is the image of a helmeted naked figure,” said Nir Distelfeld and Eitan Klein of the Theft Prevention Unit. “In one hand she holds a shield, and a spear in the other.”

Minerva was considered to be, among other things, the goddess of war and military strategy, and also of wisdom, according to the IAA.

The small ring likely belonged to a woman or girl during the Late Roman Period (2nd to 3rd century C.E.) who lived on a nearby Roman farm.




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