Saturday, August 17, 2024

08/17 Links: Has Hamas lost the war?; The Anti-Israel Sanctions Machine; Why Are We Playing By Iran’s Rules?; Hamas plot to dig up WW1 war graves

From Ian:

Has Hamas lost the war?
It seems that Hamas’s old tricks are beginning to fail them. With the November election dominating the news agenda stateside, the Olympics sucking up airtime in Europe and the Gaza rallies being diverted towards the far-right in Britain, the story is getting less oxygen. The Gaza activists, whose marches were once a disturbing fixture of city life across the west, ignored the al-Taba’een attack. In fact, they have been a shadow of their former selves all summer. With the universities on holiday and their Gaza encampments either deserted or dismantled, the wind seems to be ebbing from the sails of terror.

For Hamas, this is more than simply a frustration. It represents the collapse of its main strategy for victory, by which confected international outrage is supposed to hamstring its superior democratic foe. This growing impotence comes as the group finds itself abandoned by its allies, exhausted in its fox-holes and suffering crippling military pain. For some months, it looked as if its propaganda efforts would succeed in forcing Israel not to invade Rafah in the south. To his credit, Netanyahu eventually shook off American concerns and the city fell quickly and with very few civilian casualties. As a result, the IDF now holds the Philadelphi corridor, an alley of land across the border between Egypt and Gaza.

This achievement alone is throttling Hamas. For more than a decade, arms, ammunition, cash and supplies have been smuggled through the Philadelphi corridor into Rafah from Egypt, both via subterranean tunnels and with the assistance of corrupt officials at the regular crossing. All of this has stopped. Deprived of the ability to resupply and reeling from the deaths of two of its three most important leaders, Hamas finds itself peering into the abyss. It is no coincidence that it seems to be taking more kindly to the prospect of negotiations with Israel.

For the jihadis of Gaza, the war is starting to look like a miscalculation. Israel is wounded but showing intimidating levels of resolve and military might, with much more held in reserve. For this Hamas brought itself to the brink of destruction? For this it brought such suffering upon the heads of its own people? In launching the October savagery, it aimed to drag Iran and Hezbollah into a regional conflict that would herald the fall of Jerusalem. But its allies held back from the fray and have shown no sign of changing their minds. An Iranian reprisal for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will come. But most analysts expect it to be calibrated to fall beneath the threshold for open war.

Small wonder. In April, after hundreds of Iranian projectiles had been fired into Israeli skies, the Jewish state showed its superiority by destroying a key strategic target with just two missiles. Last month, it clinically assassinated both Mohammad Deif in Gaza and Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as well as Hezbollah’s number two, Fuad Shukr, in southern Lebanon. These were men who had been hunted for decades and not just by the Israelis. Jerusalem has also let it be known that any attack by Iran and Hezbollah will meet with a response commensurate to its scale rather than its effectiveness. This time, the message is clear: launch another 300 missiles at us and – even if every last one is intercepted – you’ll get pain, not fear, in response.

Guerilla warfare in Gaza will likely drag on for a long time. But Hamas is losing badly. Whereas Israeli troops can be rotated out for rest and recuperation, no such luxury is afforded the terrorist butchers as they squat in their own filth underground. Major challenges lie ahead for Israel in the form of Hezbollah and Iran. But Netanyahu’s boot is on the windpipe of Hamas and the world is starting not to care.
Seth Mandel: Why Are We Playing By Iran’s Rules?
Our regional diplomacy is a charade. And it is one that legitimizes Iranian terror groups at the expense of both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Essentially, Mideast regional diplomacy is a relic from another era. There was a time when the Palestinians were represented by a faction in Lebanon. The PLO, led by Yasser Arafat, set up a state-within-a-state there in the 1970s after being expelled from Jordan. South Lebanon for a decade became the Palestinian base of operations against Israel. After the First Lebanon War in 1982, and the Reagan administration’s energetic diplomacy, the PLO was bounced from Lebanon, and it regrouped in Tunisia. That’s when Hezbollah moved in to fill the void. In 1983, it carried out the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241. That means for 40 years south Lebanon has been an Iranian-aligned colony and not a Palestinian one.

The Palestinians currently have two governments, and neither one is in exile in Tunis or Lebanon. Israel is at war with one of them—not coincidentally, the one that isn’t recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people. Gaza under Hamas is essentially a rogue statelet controlled by Iran in order to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Israel is not at war with “the Palestinians” and their recognized government in the West Bank, based in Ramallah. It is at war with Iran. Throughout this conflict, Israel has been subject to coordinated attacks from four places in the theater: Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran. Not a single one of those places, you’ll notice, is the West Bank. That is not to dismiss the Palestinian terrorism that has originated from the West Bank during this war or Iran’s attempts to gain footholds there. It is merely to point out that none of our attempts at resolving the regional conflict is geared toward anyone but Iran, and we should just say so.

Instead, we have constructed a bizarre Kabuki theater production in which resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is being billed as front-and-center, when in fact we are not currently talking to anyone who is interested in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There aren’t even any Palestinians at the ceasefire talks happening right now.

Fact is, the Iranians have systematically worked to erase the Palestinians from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to take their place. This is a war Iran has launched against the U.S. and Israel. Gaza is a front in that war.

We have let Tehran hijack the narrative and set the terms of the conflict. If we don’t reverse that, we’ll be further than ever from peace in the region.
Revealed: Hamas plot to dig up war graves of British veterans
Hamas plotted to dig up the remains of British and Commonwealth troops buried in Gaza and blackmail the Government over their return, according to documents uncovered in the war-torn enclave.

For more than a century The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), chaired by the UK Defence Secretary and supported by the Crown, has maintained a cemetery in central Gaza containing the remains of more than 3,000 Commonwealth troops from the First and Second World Wars.

Many of the soldiers buried there died fighting the Ottomans for control of the Strip in 1917, a bloody conflict that paved the way for the British administration of Palestine.

The plot to exhume the remains of the soldiers and hold them “prisoner” is detailed in a seven-page document, shared with The Telegraph by Israeli officials.

They say it was uncovered by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Jan 31 at a compound in Khan Younis linked to Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif.

The Israelis believe it was written on or around Oct 5 2022, by an unknown official, apparently in response to comments made by the then-prime minister Liz Truss on her desire to move the British Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Demands were to have included at least one of the following: a retraction of the Jerusalem statement, evacuation of the soldier’s remains to cemeteries outside Gaza or the retrospective payment of land “lease fees” for the cemeteries dating back to 1917.

“If the British government does not meet the aforementioned demands, the Gaza municipality will act to remove all the corpses from the cemeteries and collect them in a special location by judicial order, declaring that the corpses are considered captive until a solution or deal is found,” says the document.

“The British government will find itself in an embarrassing position in front of the British people, its political elite and its military if any country desecrates the corpses of its soldiers.”


Seth Mandel: Leaked Documents Vindicate Netanyahu on Ceasefire Deal
Benjamin Netanyahu has been so universally condemned for allegedly holding up hostage negotiations that I assumed there must have been something to the accusations. But alas, I have relearned an important lesson about assuming.

A trio of New York Times reporters have obtained documents relating to the Israel-Hamas “ceasefire” talks. These papers include the Israeli premier’s demands and counteroffers, with the intent to prove that, as the headline has it, “Israel Was Less Flexible in Recent Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, Documents Show.”

Yet the facts of the story show Bibi to be completely reasonable, even according to his own frustrated hostage negotiators who have been painting him as intransigent in the press for months. The Biden-Harris administration, hellbent on portraying Israel as the problem, looks silly here as well.

Here’s the build-up: “Mr. Netanyahu has, in fact, added new conditions to Israel’s demands, additions that his own negotiators fear have created extra obstacles to a deal. According to unpublished documents reviewed by The New York Times that detail Israel’s negotiating positions, Israel relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May.”

And here’s the try-not-to-laugh payoff, beginning a full 20 paragraphs into the story:
For months, Israel said it would agree to a cease-fire only if its soldiers could screen the returning Palestinians for weapons as they moved from southern to northern Gaza.

Then, in its May proposal, Israel softened that demand. While its position paper still stated that the returnees should not be “carrying arms while returning,” it removed the explicit requirement that Israeli forces screen them for weapons. That made the policy seem more symbolic than enforceable, prompting Hamas to agree to it.

Israel’s July letter revived the question of enforcement, stating that the screening of people returning to the north would need to be “implemented in an agreed upon manner.”

So Netanyahu’s “demand” was that returnees be checked for weapons by some mutually agreed-upon process, with Hamas’s full consent.

Frankly I am surprised Netanyahu is being that flexible about checking returnees. The only reason Hamas would oppose including an even symbolic method of ensuring that returnees cannot be armed is that members of Hamas will be “returning” to northern Gaza along with the residents. That’s it—that’s the only reason. Hamas doesn’t want arms it cannot control in the hands of Palestinians who do not answer to it. Bibi’s demand is that Hamas at least agree on paper to an actual ceasefire, knowing full well that in any deal there would be holes a Hamasnik can drive a jeep through.

Speaking of which. Another sticking point in the negotiations appears to be whether Israel will abdicate its stewardship of a tunnel system Hamasniks have been driving jeeps through. In May, the Times writes, Israel “had suggested” it would withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor. Yet now, Netanyahu wants to keep IDF troops in the vicinity of this piece of the Gaza-Egypt border. What gives?
Dem strategist James Carville says Republicans support Israel because ‘Jews are whiter than Palestinians’
Democratic strategist James Carville believes that racism is what’s really behind the Republican Party’s strong support for Israel over the Palestinians.

During the latest episode of the "Politics War Room" podcast, Carville and co-host Al Hunt discussed why there is a disparity in support for Israel between the Republican and Democratic Parties, stating that the Republicans are much more unified in their support for the country because its citizens are "whiter."

"And the reason I suspect that most of these people describe themselves as pro-Israel is because the Jews are whiter than the Palestinians," he told Hunt.

The topic came up during a question-and-answer segment where Hunt read a guest question asking how a party that has "openly embraced" the "alt-right" and "neo-Nazis" can present itself as the "most pro-Israel party."

Carville replied, stating that the racism of the party drives it to support Israel.

"It’s really about the misogyny and the racism that drives the thing, and we got to recognize that. It’s not about any policy prescription," he said, adding that the GOP supports the "whiter" Jews over Palestinians.

The strategist then discussed why pro-Palestinian protesters choose to focus on disrupting Democratic Party events, when the GOP is far more supportive of Israel.

Relaying the comments of a pro-Palestinian activist to explain this dynamic, he said, "So, the reason that they say we’re targeting Democrats is because, well, we think they would be more open-minded about this. But we’re not going to do anything to the Republicans because we’re not gonna have any influence."


Michael Doran: The Anti-Israel Sanctions Machine
It was undoubtedly with this goal in mind that Biden’s Israel sanctions machine proposed sanctioning Ben-Gvir. Biden personally nixed the idea, but someone in the administration made sure to leak to the press the fact that the proposal was under consideration. Even sanctions that do not receive approval can still generate press reports that further the goals of the campaign.

The administration’s cover story, that it is issuing sanctions in reaction to events on the West Bank, evaporates when one examines the specific content of the sanctions. Consider the case of Elor Azaria, whom Secretary of State Blinken sanctioned last month. An Israeli medic, Azaria shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, a Palestinian terrorist who was laying wounded on the ground. The administration homed in on Azaria’s story because it can be easily manipulated to support a headline, such as “The Radicalization of Israel’s Military.”

Under scrutiny, however, the propagandistic intentions of the administration become obvious. When I served on the National Security Council in the White House of President George W. Bush, I frequently helped with the sanctioning of specific individuals. This time-consuming process requires meeting strict evidentiary criteria. Treasury regulations require that misdeeds by potential subjects of sanctions must be recent, committed within the last five years.

It was eight years ago, however, that Azaria killed al-Sharif, when President Obama was still in office. Treasury regulations will not allow him to be fitted for economic sanctions. A different legal instrument would be required to make Azaria’s story newsworthy again. Biden’s team found it in a law that bars entry to the United States to foreign officials guilty of gross human rights violations. Azaria is not an official, nor is he the leader of a death squad. He’s a simple baker, who plays no role in politics, but the administration’s lawyers gave the green light, nonetheless.

Azaria served time in an Israeli prison for his crime. Azaria claimed that he used his gun because he feared that al-Sharif was wearing a suicide vest and had made a sudden movement. The Israeli military doubted this defense, tried him for manslaughter, and found him guilty. Stripped of rank, he also served half of an 18-month prison sentence and was released.

Regardless of whether Azaria acted appropriately, or whether he received a just punishment, two things are obviously true. First, his case has nothing to do with the very dubious allegation of a spike in settler violence. Second, he poses no danger to the peace and security of the Middle East—the ostensible reason for creating the interagency team targeting people and entities in Israel.

The rise of the Israel targeteers is not the only historic first of Biden’s presidency. On his watch, the International Court of Justice smeared Israel with the accusation of apartheid. An unprecedented number of American allies have moved to recognize the state of Palestine. Iran attacked Israel with the largest ballistic missile barrage ever launched by any country against another. And for the first time, Tehran mobilized all elements of its “Resistance Axis” in a coordinated campaign.

There is a clear connection between the elements on this list of firsts. Israel’s detractors and its mortal enemies feel they can act with impunity, because Biden has signaled clearly that the United States cares as much about weakening the Israeli right wing as it does with defeating Israel’s foes.
Norway's neutrality trap and how noble intentions undermine Mideast peace
Norway has cultivated a reputation for neutrality as a mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, being perceived as taking a balanced approach and promoting peace mediation efforts. However, this veneer of neutrality has now been shattered by the current Norwegian government’s policies that clearly undermine Israel’s security and sovereignty.

Israel has justifiably responded by revoking the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats, targeting the very avenues of Norway’s duplicity towards Israel.

Chief among the Norwegian government’s problematic policies toward Israel are Norway’s recognition of a Palestinian state without a comprehensive peace agreement, and its refusal to label Hamas as a terrorist organization although it is recognized as such by most Western nations. In addition, Norway’s support for the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) investigations into Israel for war crimes and crimes against humanity further complicates matters, as these actions disproportionately target Israel while ignoring the complexities of the conflict.

Although Norway is celebrated for its transparency and low levels of corruption – a model for other nations – this transparency also exposes the true priorities of its leaders, particularly in foreign policy. This has never been more evident than in the actions of Norway’s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, who seems surprised as Israel calls out Norway’s disingenuous and hostile diplomatic positions.

In contrast to the claims of “neutrality” and “balance,” Norway’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is riddled with contradictions. One of the most telling policy areas is Norwegian funding of NGOs and UN agencies in the region.

On the one hand, Norway claims that only a negotiated two-state solution can bring about lasting peace. On the other, it funds NGOs that vehemently oppose Israel’s existence and brand the establishment of Israel as a crime.

Many of these Norwegian-funded NGOs ignore the atrocities perpetrated against Israelis on October 7 and instead portray Hamas’s terrorism as resistance. By funding these organizations, Norway is not promoting peace but fueling discord.

Norway’s continued financial support for fringe Israeli NGOs complicates matters further. Despite their marginal role in Israeli society – preferring to lobby international bodies and foreign governments with false allegations of “war crimes” and “apartheid” – these organizations benefit from a circular funding system that ensures they remain well-financed and disproportionately vocal.

Norway then uses reports from these NGOs to inform its foreign policy, effectively circumventing regular diplomatic channels and further alienating Israel. The massive foreign-government funding of these NGOs has also greatly harmed their credibility within Israel, as they are increasingly seen not as impartial defenders of human rights but as instruments of foreign political manipulation.
Seth Mandel: Minouche Shafik and the Global Class of Permanent Technocrats
Minouche Shafik’s resignation as president of Columbia University should be a watermark event in how Americans understand their institutional leaders in this era—and why change is necessary. We live in the age of the interchangeable technocrat, the permanent managers who come and go through a revolving door filled with people who think like them, act like them, and fail like them.

But never do they stop walking through that door.

It’s worth taking a brief review of Shafik’s very short tenure at Columbia. She was hired in July 2023, 13 months ago. Her predecessor was Lee Bollinger, whose career is marked by his atrocious handling of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to campus in 2007 (and perhaps should have been a warning to his successor). The low-level anti-Semitism buzzing in the background burst into the fore after Hamas’s October 7 massacre and the campus’s pro-Hamas students and faculty and administrators came out of the closet. The campus ceased to function for many Jewish students, and Shafik came before a House committee in April. Her meek criticism of some of the rank anti-Semitism at the school infuriated colleagues and students, and the tentifada encampments dug in. After pro-Hamas protesters occupied a building and took a hostage, police were called in to restore order. No one is happy with Shafik’s handling of the situation.

Shafik’s pre-Columbia career gave a hint as to why she would so suddenly resign, effective immediately, as Columbia president two weeks before Labor Day.

Before Columbia, The Right Honorable Baroness Life Peer Shafik was president of the London School of Economics. Prior to that, she was deputy governor of the Bank of England, vice president of the World Bank, and managing director of the International Monetary Fund, among others.

Next up: Shafik will be working for the British Foreign Ministry leading a review of the government’s international development policies.

You don’t have to worry about Minouche Shafik; she always lands on someone’s feet. Her life peerage in the House of Lords is nothing compared to her life peerage in the House of Technocrats.

Truth is, Shafik’s stacked resume should have been a warning sign—not that she was overqualified for Columbia, but that she is part of a global class of bureaucrats who live and work on autopilot. She has reached that heralded point in her career at which her jobs are interchangeable. Once you are admitted to this class, there is little you can do to earn expulsion. (And if you are French, there is probably nothing you can do to earn expulsion.)

The problem arises when a job requires you to care.

I don’t mean to suggest that Shafik is heartless, for I doubt that is the case. When speaking before Congress of the anti-Semitic harassment of Jews on her campus, she often pursed her lips and furrowed her brow at appropriate moments, suggesting that, all else being equal, she would probably prefer all of this not to be happening.
Seth Mandel: A Cheat Sheet for the Da Vinci Code-ification of Mideast Reporting
The purpose of this initial 93 number is to fool news organizations into reporting a tally that will soon be revised downward. The initial reporting is the one that will make the rounds and draw outrage and inspire denunciations from foreign ministries around the world. After that, the numbers will often be adjusted so that in the future, when someone objects to relying on Hamas officials for their statistics, Hamas’s defenders will say “ah but you see, they correct their own numbers as soon as more information is available.” This will continue the pattern: After the next strike, Hamas will release fake numbers which will be published by news organizations with the justification that Hamas’s revised numbers are accurate, therefore their initial numbers must also be based on the best information they have at hand at that moment. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So what’s the updated number of casualties? Hamas says 40. After the strike, Israel released a detailed photo dossier of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists killed in the strike—19 of them. That leaves 21 possible civilians and proves that, yes, it was a command center after all and without any doubt a legitimate military target. (Israel also used smaller, more targeted bombs for the strike so it could hit the command center directly.)

Then Israel released another dossier with an additional 12 Hamas officials identified among the deceased. That brings our total number of terrorists killed in the strike to 31. (There is another report claiming that number can be raised all the way to 38, but it’s unclear at the time of writing if the level of detail available can definitively back up that number.)

There are, at most, nine possible civilians among the dead.

So let’s review. We went from 93 killed (“all” of them civilians, according to a source quoted by CNN) in a school and shelter to 31 Hamas officials killed in a targeted strike on a confirmed command center, with anywhere from two to nine possible civilians killed.

Those civilians should be mourned. Any innocent life lost is a tragedy. And now that we know it was a command center, we also know Hamas is to blame for their deaths.

Obviously, it would be much better if the media would report accurate information. But once you understand how these pieces of propaganda are put together, you can disassemble them yourself and construct the reality.
US NSC to 'Post': Claims of sharing intel of Mossad agents with Tehran 'categorically false'
The US National Security Council denied reports on Wednesday that a high-ranking American security delegation, mediated by Oman, secretly traveled to Tehran to share information in an effort to appease Iran.

The report first originated from a Fox News article, which has since been taken down, citing a report in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida, which allegedly spoke to an unnamed source in Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

“This is categorically false,” a US National Security Council spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post.

Fox News reported that the delegation allegedly sought to deliver messages to Tehran in order to de-escalate the tensions in the region between Iran and Israel.

According to the report, this delegation was sent to convey to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that the Biden-Harris administration was "kept in the dark" by Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the assassinations of Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah's Fuad Shukr. Israel took responsibility for the assassination of Shukr but has yet to comment on the death of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Meet Philip Gordon: Kamala’s Foreign Policy Guru
The White House and State Department have repeatedly refused to explain Malley’s absence or status. But Republicans investigating his case told me they uncovered evidence that the FBI is now probing whether Malley illegally downloaded classified documents onto his personal devices and may have shared them with individuals outside the U.S. government. Administration officials have privately told me they were stunned last summer when documents and information tied to Malley began appearing in Iranian state media, giving the impression that Iran had essentially penetrated the U.S. government’s communications systems. Malley has refused to comment publicly on his case beyond an initial statement saying he’d be vindicated and back in government.

Concern about Iran’s activities deepened further last fall when I published in the news site Semafor the first in a series of articles about Iranian influence operations in the West. The initial piece focused on The Iran Experts Initiative, or IEI, and detailed how Tabatabai and a group of other influential U.S.- and Europe-based Iran experts closely coordinated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry, starting in 2014, to produce opinion pieces and studies that advanced Tehran’s position on the nuclear deal and other national security issues, while never disclosing it. The story was based on a large cache of Iranian government emails that were obtained by the Persian-language television channel Iran International and shared with Semafor, where I previously worked.

Some members of the IEI publicly denied they were essentially acting under the control of Iranian diplomats, and described the program as informal. But in the emails I reviewed, Iranian officials describe closely monitoring the publications and media appearances of IEI members. And Tabatabai, in her own correspondence, can be seen seeking Tehran’s guidance on her travel plans and appearances before Congress. Other IEI members offer to ghostwrite opinion pieces for Iranian diplomats and pledge to help the Foreign Ministry advance its positions in the international nuclear talks.

Malley initially brought Tabatabai into the State Department in 2021 to join his nuclear negotiating team with Iran. Shortly before his suspension, she departed to the Pentagon to become chief of staff for Christopher Maier, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. It’s one of the most sensitive offices in the Department of Defense, requiring high-level security clearances.

Republican lawmakers have repeatedly questioned Tabatabai’s continued presence in the Pentagon. And Cotton and Stefanik are seeking to know if Gordon knew of her participation in the IEI when he jointly drafted with her three opinion pieces during the 2020 election cycle that sharply criticized the Trump administration’s position on Iran.

In January 2020, the two argued in The New York Times that the U.S.’s assassination of Iran’s most powerful military officer, Major General Qasem Soleimani, needlessly antagonized Tehran. The Pentagon had argued that Soleimani was behind a string of attacks on U.S. military forces in the Middle East going back more than a decade. “The costs of the United States’ targeted killing. . . are mounting beyond the already significant risks of Iranian retaliation and subsequent military confrontation,” Gordon and Tabatabai wrote on January 6, 2020, just three days after Soleimani’s death.

Three months later, in March 2020, Gordon and Tabatabai pressed in The Washington Post for the U.S. to ease some economic sanctions on Tehran in order to help Iran manage the Covid-19 pandemic that they argued risked spreading the virus across the Middle Eastern country’s borders. “In the face of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in Iran and desperate appeals for an urgent international response, the Trump administration has, unsurprisingly, responded by calling for more pressure and ever more sanctions, the latest of which were imposed on March 18,” the March 2020 article reads.

Gordon’s critics note that Iran’s pandemic troubles didn’t spread cross-border. And they also point out that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei actually declined U.S. offers of Covid-19 assistance, citing a conspiracy theory that Washington actually created the disease to harm its enemies.

Cotton and Stefanik, in their letter to Harris, ask if Gordon and Tabatabai purposefully spread Iranian disinformation to relieve U.S. pressure on Tehran’s theocratic rulers. “Did you request further investigation into Mr. Gordon when Ms. Tabatabai’s connections to the Iranian Foreign Ministry were revealed in September 2023? Did Mr. Gordon admit and report his ties to this individual?” they wrote.

Harris, to this date, hasn’t replied.
Kamala Harris Stonewalls Congressional Probe Into NatSec Adviser's Ties to Iran Influence Network
Vice President Kamala Harris is stonewalling a congressional inquiry into her national security adviser's ties to an Iranian government influence network, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) launched the inquiry last month into Harris adviser Phil Gordon's longstanding relationship with Pentagon official Ariane Tabatabai, who was outed last year as an alleged member of an Iranian-run influence network that reported back to Tehran's foreign ministry.

Cotton and Stefanik gave Harris an Aug. 9 deadline to provide detailed information about Gordon's relationship with Tabatabai and links to pro-Tehran advocacy groups, which the lawmakers said raise questions about his eligibility to hold a top-secret security clearance. Harris did not reply.

"You failed to respond by my deadline or to appropriately address this threat to national security emanating from your staff," Cotton wrote to the vice president's office on Thursday, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Free Beacon. "The presence of such an obvious security risk in your inner circle should have elicited your utmost attention. It raises the question of whether you've been aware of Mr. Gordon's possible links to the Iranian regime and simply find your policies aligned enough with Tehran's interests that ties to that regime don't concern you."

Gordon has emerged as one of Harris's closest foreign policy advisers and is expected to play a central national security role if she is elected president, including potentially as secretary of state. Harris has already onboarded several campaign advisers who support increased diplomacy with Iran, including Ilan Goldenberg, her former Middle East adviser and current campaign liaison to the Jewish community.

Harris has also expressed a willingness to publicly clash with Israel and pressure it to stop confronting Tehran's terror proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah. She called in March for an immediate Israeli ceasefire, rebuking the Jewish state for sparking a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.

"I understand that it may be difficult to discern Iranian agents from the left-wing ideologues on your staff," Cotton wrote. "But you have the responsibility to make these difficult distinctions and appropriately vet the people you elevate to positions of distinction and trust."

According to an initial July 31 investigatory letter from Cotton and Stefanik, Gordon published multiple articles with Tabatabai "blatantly promoting the Iranian regime's perspective and interests."
Seth Mandel: Harris’s Ominous Message to Jewish Voters
What is the purpose of a campaign “Jewish liaison”? Kamala Harris, who just hired a campaign Jewish liaison, doesn’t seem to know.

Ilan Goldenberg will serve in the position for Harris. Rather than liaising with the organized Jewish community, Goldenberg’s job, it seems, is to circumvent the practice of liaising with the Jewish community.

I’ll explain. The Jewish community in America is a wide and diverse cross-section of the tribe—“two Jews, three shuls” and all that. The closest thing we have to an umbrella representative is the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which was created for this purpose and for several others. The CEO of the Conference of Presidents is William Daroff, an experienced hand within the Jewish organizational world who also has experience on the Hill. For the needs of a political campaign, you don’t have to hire a Jewish liaison, because we in the Jewish world have already done that for you. Just call Daroff—or whoever is in that position.

A White House liaison, on the other hand, is arguably necessary and certainly helpful. After all, a president has just gone through a campaign filled with partisanship and identity politics, and it never hurts to signal that the president is the president of everyone.

A campaign liaison does not play that role. Especially in a campaign like Harris’s, where Zoom rallies are organized based on skin color and gender and other markers of one’s biological demographic. The purpose of a campaign Jewish liaison in this situation is to rally the organized Jews already on Harris’s side and prepare them to defend her from any and all criticism no matter how legitimate. She is hiring a Jewish shield, not a Jewish liaison.

She might want to get a shield for the shield. Goldenberg is a puzzling choice. He is ideologically to the left of the current Democratic administration—of which Harris is vice president—which is a strange signal to send. He is also, more importantly, a man of poor judgment. He has made a very public show of his opposition to just about every move intended to help Israel over the past decade or so.

Goldenberg was against moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem in recognition of its Jewish significance or of Israeli sovereignty; he wanted, instead, for it to eventually be moved only when the Palestinians had lifted their veto and decided they had what they wanted. Speaking of Israeli sovereignty, he doesn’t like that the U.S. recognizes the Golan Heights in northern Israel. It is mighty strange to have a “Jewish liaison” who opposes Jewish sovereignty every time he’s asked.


Harris campaign’s new adviser to Muslims draws
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign hired Nasrina Bargzie, a former adviser of Harris’s in the White House on “Muslim, Arab and Gaza-related issues as well as reproductive rights, voting and democracy,” to “lead outreach to Muslim and Arab voters,” NBC News reported.

“I am honored to continue my work for the vice president, advising on a range of critical issues in this election, from democracy and reproductive rights to Muslim and Arab outreach,” Bargzie stated, per NBC.

Bargzie co-wrote a 2015 article in the UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice, at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, in which she noted “a wave of civil rights complaints” related to Israel and the Palestinians.

“This article rejects the central premise of these complaints: that students suffer from a hostile educational environment in violation of their civil rights when a particular country or government with which they may identify is subjected to vigorous critique or academic scrutiny,” she and her co-author wrote.

The U.S. Department of Education’s “handling of these complaints contributed to a chilling effect on university campuses discouraging robust discussion about Israel, Palestine and U.S. policy,” they added.

Mort Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, told JNS that Bargzie sought “to shut down investigations of the groups that harass and attack Jewish students.”

Klein connected Bargzie’s tenure in Harris’s office and the Democratic presidential candidate “increasingly and unjustifiably attacking Israel, including falsely implying that Israel is deliberately targeting civilians.”

“We are deeply concerned about Nasrina Bargzie’s support of Students for Justice in Palestine—the group perpetrating numerous violent anti-Jewish actions on college campuses across the country,” Klein added, “and about Bargzie’s accusations that Jewish students and organizations are engaged in ‘organized legal bullying’ for taking legal action demanding that universities protect Jewish students.”


Meet the Harris Delegate Quietly Pushing a BDS Resolution That Would Cripple Pittsburgh's Jewish Orgs and Punish Local Hospitals
Morgan Overton is a Pennsylvania delegate for Kamala Harris at next week's Democratic National Convention, a member of Democratic governor Josh Shapiro's advisory council for women, and a Planned Parenthood Western Pennsylvania board member. She's also a quiet supporter of a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) ballot initiative that would cripple the city's Jewish organizations and punish its largest hospital system.

Overton, who said she is "so energized" to back Harris in Chicago, signed a petition that would trigger a BDS ballot measure come November, documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show. If passed, the measure would force the city of Pittsburgh—and all of its nonprofit entities—to cut ties with Israel or lose tax-exempt status and all public funding. Overton, who has been described as "besties" with Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, signed the petition on July 27, though she has not voiced public support for the measure.

Overton's decision to back the petition—she introduced herself as the vice chair of the Allegheny County Democratic Committee when signing it and told organizers to "keep up the good work," according to a witness—reflects the increasing overlap between the party's establishment and far-left flanks when it comes to the Jewish state and its war on Hamas. (@WCDemocrats/X)

The Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America is spearheading the ballot initiative, dubbed "No War Crimes on Our Dime," to make it such that Pittsburgh "is not supporting anyone who profits from war crimes in Palestine and Israel." The communist group expressed "unequivocal support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom" days after Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel last year.

The measure bars "the investment or allocation of public funds, including tax exemptions, to entities that conduct business operations with or in the state of Israel." Beyond local synagogues and Jewish groups, which would lose out on both their local tax-exempt status and funding used for security, the measure would have a significant impact on the city's hospital system.
Proposed Pittsburgh anti-Israel ballot measure condemned by Pennsylvania political leaders
Top Pennsylvania political leaders are condemning an effort to put forward a ballot measure in Pittsburgh that would require the city to cut ties with any entity that does business with Israel.

Critics say the broadly worded measure, which is being challenged by Pittsburgh city controller Rachael Heisler, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and several synagogues, would stop basic city functions and could prevent Jewish institutions from accessing critical city services. City officials say it could also violate state and federal law.

The group behind the referendum was funded by the Democratic Socialists of America. Local Jewish leaders say they’re confident that legal challenges will be successful and the measure won’t actually appear on the November ballot.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke out against the ballot measure.

“Governor Shapiro has long opposed plans to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel, and he remains opposed to these efforts. This referendum, if passed, would limit the Commonwealth’s ability to do business with the City of Pittsburgh under existing state law — an outcome the Governor does not support,” said Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder.

Both of Pennsylvania’s Democratic senators also condemned the referendum effort on Thursday.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) called it “rank antisemitism” and “an affront to the region’s Jewish community” in a post on X.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) also said he “strongly condemn[s]” the effort, “which targets Pittsburgh’s Jewish community and Jewish organizations. As antisemitic incidents are on the rise across the Nation, I will always stand with the Jewish community in Pittsburgh and across the Commonwealth.”

David McCormick, the Republican Senate candidate running against Casey, also blasted the proposal.

“I stand hand-in-hand with Pittsburgh’s Jewish Community in their battle against this abhorrent antisemitic referendum targeting those who do business with Israel,” McCormick said. “It is beyond comprehension that Pittsburgh, as the site of the worst antisemitic attack in US history, continues to be subject to an onslaught of hate.”
DC Rabbi's Claim That ‘Sacred Texts’ Require Jews To Vote for Harris Ignites Fury Among Congregants
An influential Washington, D.C., synagogue is facing backlash from furious congregants after its rabbi claimed Jews "need to elect Vice President Kamala Harris" in order to comply with "sacred texts."

Adas Israel, whose membership has included Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is one of the oldest and largest synagogues in Washington, D.C. But members have become increasingly frustrated with the leadership’s "insulting" left-wing advocacy that has left congregants "dreading the upcoming high holidays," the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The controversy came to a head at a Jewish Democratic Council of America event earlier this month, when Adas Israel Co-Senior Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt cited Jewish scripture as a basis for why Jews must vote for Harris.

"I could tell you that we need to elect Vice President Kamala Harris because as Jews our sacred texts tell us we need to build a world where we feed the hungry, where we care for the sick, where we love the stranger, where we guard and nurture this planet," said Holtzblatt on the JDCA Zoom call with Harris supporters. "Those are her values. That is what her policies seek to achieve."

Holtzblatt, who officiated Ginsburg’s funeral and has appeared on The Forward’s "Forward 50" list, is a vocal supporter of Harris and led a Passover seder at the vice president’s home last spring. She did not respond to a request for comment regarding which Jewish texts support her assertion that Jews "need to elect" Harris.

Holtzblatt’s comments drew criticism from some Adas Israel congregants, who said the synagogue’s political bias has become "insufferable."

"[T]o be lectured that as Jews we are compelled to vote a certain way is frankly insulting," wrote a longtime congregant in an email to Adas Israel’s rabbinical leaders. Two other Adas Israel congregants independently shared the exchange with the Free Beacon.

"[T]ying ‘our sacred texts’ to a political candidate in this way is, at best, simplistic. And easily rebutted with myriad other examples from scripture," wrote the members. "The reality is that Adas has become borderline insufferable for anyone who doesn't share what is assumed by leadership to be the universal point of view. It's politics all day everyday; politics always from the same direction—no balance."


Netanyahu reportedly refused British requests for meeting with visiting FM
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to meet yesterday with visiting UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, angered by the Labour government’s decision to retract the British objections to ICC warrants against the premier and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Channel 13 news reports.

Citing Israeli sources, the report says Britain made multiple requests for a sit-down between Netanyahu and Lammy, but was told the prime minister had a scheduling conflict.

The network notes Lammy’s trip was focused primarily on potential attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, with Israel hoping for British support to fend off any possible assault.


David Lammy’s new hire shows the Foreign Office’s true colours
Baroness Shafik’s name will now go down in infamy as that of a university leader whose ham-fisted attempt to quieten down anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian protests led to Columbia becoming an epicentre of a new brand of violent activism which had the world aghast. After a summer break that saw calls for her to be fired from across the American political divide, and three members of her staff forced out after it emerged they’d mocked Jewish students complaining of anti-Semitism as coming from “a place of privilege”, she has resigned three weeks before a new term starts.

Typically, in that way that establishment people only ever fall up, however much they fail, the former deputy governor of the Bank of England and director of the London School of Economics has been given a plum new job by David Lammy, leading a review in the Foreign Office on the UK’s approach to international development.

Announcing her resignation, the crossbench peer, ennobled by Boris Johnson after he failed to make her Bank of England boss, gave a typical example of what the youngsters would call a humble brag. “My whole professional life has been devoted to public service and my time at Columbia has been an important part of that commitment,” she said of a role that came with a £12 million mansion.

Failing to apologise for months of hatred on campus, which led to a university Rabbi telling Jewish students that “extreme anti-Semitism” made it too dangerous to attend, and which eventually led to all lessons going online and graduation ceremonies being cancelled, she actually patted herself on the back. “Even as tension, division and politicisation have disrupted our campus over the last year, our core mission and values endure,” she insisted.

The truth is that, for months, anti-Semitism went unpunished and therefore mushroomed. By the time she realised she had to take a stand with actions not just words – when fellow Ivy League presidents slowly lost their jobs after they failed to say that calling for the genocide of Jews was wrong – it was too late. Calling the police on protesters led only to more “occupations” which were copied all over the world, including in the UK.

You might think she will be right at home in Lammy’s Foreign Office, given that he made restoring funding to UNRWA, a UN agency that had housed Hamas terrorists, one of his first acts. Standing down a challenge to the International Criminal Court against its application to target Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes came next. Lammy’s feed on X is, meanwhile, filled with attacks on Israel.

Shafik appears to be another prominent public figure with a blind spot towards anti-Semitism – like so many associated with Labour, which only came out of special measures for acting unlawfully in its treatment of Jewish members 18 months ago. We are beginning to see a pattern and it is becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
Standpoint with Gabe Groisman: EP. 42 What's Going on at the UN? Amb. Gilad Erdan
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations joins Gabe in the DC studio to discuss the mess at the UN, the real story of what's going on in Israel, Israel's new allies in the region and what's in Erdan's cards for the future.




Revealed: UN disarmament official’s ‘secret links’ to Iran’s nuclear programme
A senior UN official specialising in disarmament appears to have a secret history of advising Iran’s terrorist militia and links to the country’s sanctioned nuclear weapons programme, the JC can reveal.

Abdolrasool Divsallar, now a prominent figure at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), strenuously denies having any connection to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or the dictatorship’s nuclear activities.

But a CV obtained by the JC suggests that Divsallar advised an IRGC general and held key positions at institutions involved in the nuclear programme that were subsequently sanctioned.

Divsallar also appeared to boast about his time working for senior IRGC figures – including expressing affection for an IRGC commander wanted by Interpol over a 1994 terror attack – in a 2015 interview with a regime media outlet unearthed by this newspaper.

In the interview with Borna News, Divsallar said he spent time advising his “friend” IRGC General Gholamreza Jalali, a period he calls “one of the best times of my career.. I learned a lot from the commander’s personality and management qualities”.

He also sang the praises of another former colleague, one of the most prominent commanders of the IRGC, Mohsen Rezaie, who is sought over the murder of 85 people in the 1994 bombing of the Jewish AMIA building in Buenos Aires.

Asked more about those roles, Divsallar – who today works within the UN’s Middle East Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone (MEWMDFZ) initiative, a disarmament project run by UNIDIR – said could not go into details “for security reasons”.

The JC has also discovered a 2007 book on “military science” authored by Divsallar and published by Iran’s Defence Industries Training and Research Institute (DITRI), a body later sanctioned by Canada that describes itself as “a think tank with the aim of supporting the armed forces in the field of soft sciences”.

The former head of DITRI, Mohammad Eslami, was sanctioned in 2008 – a year after Divsallar’s book was published – and remains on a UN blacklist for his alleged role in nuclear proliferation and atomic weapons development.

Divsallar told the Borna interviewer that worked as an adviser to DITRI between 2006 and 2007, when it was headed by Eslami.


Amb. Alan Baker: The "Al-Aqsa Flood" Slogan and the October 7 Massacre
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif festively heralded the opening of their brutal massacre as "the Al-Aqsa Flood," in which over a thousand Israeli citizens and foreign residents were cruelly and brutally murdered, raped, violated and kidnapped. The decision to integrally link this horrific massacre with Islam's third most holy site carried with it a clear intent and message - to present Hamas, before the Islamic world, as the sole and most worthy defender of Islam's holy sites, and in so doing to attract the support of all of Islam in the war against Israel and the Jews.

One may well wonder how millions of Muslims worldwide are able to resignedly tolerate and live with the regrettable association and identification of one of their holiest religious sites with one of civilization's most cruel massacres?

The juxtaposition of the religion of Islam with the October 7 massacre and its fruition in the form of one of the cruelest massacres since the Holocaust should be treated by the international community as an ominous precedent.
How Israeli spies infiltrated Gaza in disguise to help kill the mastermind of October 7
Undercover IDF soldiers disguised as beggars and vegetable sellers were key to Israel's daring plot to target Hamas commander Mohhammed Deif.

The missile attack which killed him last month came after a secret operation within Gaza by an undercover IDF team that pinpointed his location.

One Israeli agent posed as a market stallholder, selling vegetables outside the building Deif was believed to visit regularly.

The Israelis had been aware for months that Deif had become a regular visitor at the al-Mawasi tent complex on the Gazan coast.

Prior to his visits, Deif would enter an apartment building near the complex where he would meet fellow Hamas operatives to receive updates.

Then the IDF received reliable information from local collaborators and Israeli undercover units about the timing of Deif's possible next visit.

The Duvdevan undercover team, whose activities were featured in the TV series "Fauda," arrived and began trawling through the displaced populace.

Some posed as UNRWA workers coming to deliver aid, some as Muslim religious figures who had come to lift the spirits of the evacuees.

This enabled them to develop physical and verbal contact with the displaced Gazans so as to collect as much intelligence as possible.

On July 13, news spread among the Gazans that their hero Deif was coming to visit and the undercover team passed on this information.

Two fighter jets flew on alert for seven hours, waiting for Deif to enter the building.

Deif was finally seen entering the building, the signal was given, and the IDF ground forces quietly and calmly made their way out of the area.

The first plane hit the building and completely destroyed it. The second plane then laid a belt of fire with tiny bombs around the building to discourage Hamas operatives from attempting to rescue Deif from the flames.

The final stage involved firing a bunker-penetrating missile that could reach an underground floor beneath the building where Deif would try to flee.

According to intelligence acquired after the incident, he did just that.


Israeli soldier miraculously survives wounds in Gaza
'In Israel, we're a nation of heroes': Captain Israel Ben Shitrit, a reservist serving in Khan Yunis, was gravely wounded by terrorists launching an attack on his unit – but he miraculously survived




IDF says it has no info on deaths of mother and 4-day-old twins in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it had no information on reports from Gaza that a Palestinian man’s wife and newborn twins were killed by Israeli shelling on Tuesday.

In response to a query on the incident, the army said that “the details of the incident as published are currently not known to the IDF.”

“Unlike the Hamas terror organization, the IDF operates against military targets only and employs various measures to reduce harm to civilians,” it added.

Joumana Arafa, a pharmacist, had given birth by Cesarean section over the weekend and announced the twins’ arrival on Facebook.

On Tuesday, her husband Mohammad Abu Al-Qumsan went to register the births at a local government office.

While Abu Al-Qumsan was there, neighbors called to say the fifth-floor apartment where he was sheltering, near central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, had been bombed, and that his wife, mother-in-law and newborn son and daughter were taken to the city’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

“I went inside the hospital with the birth certificates in my hands… and they told me they are in the morgue,” said Abu Al-Qumsan.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said. “I am told it was a shell that hit the house.”

There was no outside confirmation that the home had been hit by Israel. Hamas has at times accused Israel of responsibility for blasts caused by terror operatives’ own munitions.


Argentinian police thwart alleged terror attacks on Jewish community in Mendoza
Argentina's Federal Police dismantled what it said was a terrorist cell planning attacks on the Jewish community in the city of Mendoza, the National Security Ministry said in a statement on Friday, describing the group as an "Islamist terrorist organization."

Argentina has Latin America's largest Jewish population. A 1994 attack on a Jewish community center killed 85 people in what remains the deadliest such incident in the South American nation's history. An attack against the Israeli embassy in 1992 killed 22 people.

Libertarian President Javier Milei, a staunch proponent of both the Jewish community and Israel, promised last month to beef up the national intelligence system to prevent future attacks.

"We are going to get rid of each and every one of these criminals who intend to sow fear in Argentinians and they will pay," Security Minister Patricia Bullrich posted on social media.

Incident followed other arrests
The incident follows arrests in Argentina in January of three people with Syrian and Lebanese citizenship suspected of plotting what the authorities called a terrorist attack. WZO chairman Yaakov Hagoel meets with President of Argentina Javier Milei. (credit: JERUSALEM POST STAFF)
Palestinian whose name appears on terror watchlist captured at southern border
A Palestinian migrant whose name appears on a terror watchlist for allegedly previously using “explosives/firearms” was caught at the southern border Monday, The Post can exclusively reveal.

Border Patrol agents caught Omar Shehada, 35, at the border in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, according to a leaked memo obtained by The Post.

The arrest of Shehada — who hails from the West Bank — comes just weeks after three other suspected Palestinian terrorists were caught at the California border.

One of those suspects allegedly had “salacious photos” on their phone — including a picture of a masked man holding an AK-47 rifle, sources told The Post.

It also comes almost a year after Border Patrol sent out a memo to its agents warning about Palestinian terrorists potentially coming across the border following the Oct. 7 terror attack.

“Individuals inspired by, or reacting to the current Israel-Hamas conflict may attempt travel to or from the area of hostilities in the Middle East via circuitous transit across the Southwest border,” the alert read.

It is not known which terror organization Shehada is allegedly affiliated with, but he’s listed on the terror watchlist for using “explosives/arms,” according to the Border Patrol memo.

His journey to the border started in Madrid last month, according to the memo. From there, he went to Bogota, Panama City and San Salvador.

Shehada remains in custody pending his removal from the US.


PragerU: Douglas Murray Gets It Right on Why Things Are Going Wrong in the West
Douglas Murray is an investigative journalist and the author of The Strange Death of Europe and The War on the West. Douglas and PragerU CEO Marissa Streit discuss the reasons behind the unrest in the UK, why he supports Israel, and if the U.S. is headed for the same fate as Europe.


From Vibes Campaigns to Campus Jew Hatred: An Interview with Franny Block



The Anti-Israel NGO Network Planning a "March on the Democratic National Convention" (
On August 19-22, the Democratic Party will host its convention in Chicago. "March on the DNC" - a loose network of nearly 100 NGOs - intends to protest in Chicago, demanding that Democrats adopt anti-Israel policies. Their central demand is "End U.S. Aid to Israel."

On July 22, the group announced: "On August 19th we will march on the DNC for Gaza regardless of who gets nominated for the presidency [and the] Democratic Party leadership switching out their presidential nominee."

On April 25, the group tweeted: "The Democratic Party is part of the system that upholds the Zionist occupation of Palestine and drives the imperialist system that oppresses all the people of the world."

March on the DNC coalition members include Samidoun, a subsidiary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), whose chapters were suspended in November 2023 at Brandeis, Columbia, and George Washington University.


Walz administration awarded $2 million to Muslim group fundraising for al Qaeda-linked charity
Under Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the state of Minnesota awarded over $2 million to an Islamic group that fundraises for a charity linked to an al Qaeda affiliate, according to funding records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.

The Islamic Association of North America, the recipient of the state grants from 2019 to 2024, is fundraising after Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year for Rahma Worldwide, a Michigan-based charity that says it is shipping humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to flyers. In a since-deleted Facebook post in October 2023, Rahma Worldwide President Shadi Zaza revealed his charity was collaborating on an aid initiative with the Islamic Heritage Revival Society of Kuwait, a terrorist group sanctioned by the U.S. government for funding al Qaeda.

News of the Walz administration’s grants to the IANA comes as the Democratic vice presidential candidate faces backlash after a series of Washington Examiner reports revealed his ties to Muslim cleric Asad Zaman. As Minnesota’s governor, Walz has repeatedly hosted Zaman, who shared a pro-Adolf Hitler movie on social media and defended the Oct. 7 attack. Moreover, according to unearthed footage, Walz referred to Zaman as a “master teacher” at a 2018 event held by the Zaman-led Muslim American Society of Minnesota, which partners with the IANA.

The presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to claim Walz has no personal relationship with Zaman. Harris and Walz officials did not respond to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner on Thursday.

“Embracing and funding an imam that sympathizes with neo-Nazis was apparently only the start,” said Sam Westrop, a terrorism analyst at the Middle East Forum think tank.


‘Sick and disgusting’: Tim Walz praises antisemitic cleric as a ‘master teacher’
Filmmaker Ami Horowitz calls out Tim Walz for having a “personal relationship” with a hateful Muslim cleric.

The Washington Examiner has reported that Tim Walz called a Hitler-promoting cleric a ‘master teacher’.

“Did he not have a personal relationship? I’m sorry, he hosted this guy five times, of course he did,” Mr Horowitz told Sky News host Rita Panahi.

“He called him a master teacher, he spent a lot of time with this guy.

“He knows exactly who this guy represents, its sick and it’s disgusting.

“This is just a preview of what we can expect from the Kamala campaign when it comes to Jews and when it comes to Israel.”


‘Major political crisis’: Gaza intake leading to controversy in parliament
Sky News host Peta Credlin says accepting potential Hamas “sympathisers” from Gaza is becoming a “major political crisis” for Labor.

“Accepting large numbers of possible Hamas sympathisers into Australia is becoming a major political crisis for the Albanese government,” Ms Credlin said.

“The first duty of government is the safety of its own people, yet how can Australia be safe if thousands of people come here who have been schooled from birth to think Jews deserve to die and the Western world is evil.”


Proper security checks for refugee Palestinians will protect Australia’s Muslim community
Sky News host Andrew Bolt says to protect Australia’s Muslim community from further scrutiny the Labor government must back proper security checks for Palestinian refugees.

“The issue is it only takes one or two who are radical to cause us massive harm and that will then put our Muslim community under even more scrutiny,” Mr Bolt said.

“If you want to help Muslims here, you must back proper security tests of refugees.”


‘Uncomfortable truth’: Jewish community ‘conned’ by Labor Party
Australian Jewish Association President David Adler says the Jewish community has to face an “uncomfortable truth” regarding the Labor government.

Debate has continued to ramp up this week, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton demanding an outright ban on granting visas to Palestinians from Gaza.

“We were conned prior to the last election – we were repeatedly assured by the Labor Party that there was bipartisan policy when it came to Israel and Jewish community matters,” Mr Adler said.

“As soon as the election was over, policy shifts started to occur and to our dismay, accelerated after the 7th of October.

“I actually put the case that Labor is serving the extremist Jihadist-type supporters more than the national interest of Australia.”


‘Arrogance and Hubris’: Labor thinks they know better about Gazan temporary visas
GXO Strategies Director Cameron Milner discusses how the Albanese government has reacted to calls for a pause on temporary visas from Gazans.

“It’s the arrogance and the hubris at the heart of the Albanese government,” Mr Milner told Sky News host Andrew Bolt.

“They think they know better than middle Australia.”




US universities are institutions 'mired in cowardice'
Newsweek Deputy Opinion Editor Batya Ungar-Sargon discusses US universities' position on pro-Palestinian protests amid the President of Columbia University quitting over Gaza protests.

"The role of president of an Ivy League university requires, in this moment in time, a certain level of backbone and courage to say no to the pro-Hamas protesters taking over the campuses," Ms Ungar-Sargon told Sky News host James Morrow.

"I honestly do not envy anybody who takes on that job because if they do it well, they will be subject to the scorn of their peers and social ostracisation.

"If they do it poorly, they will be the result of the hemorrhaging of donations into that university, it's a sort of lose-lose, and especially for our universities, which are institutions mired in cowardice."


Konstantin Kisin EXPOSES Pro-Palestine YouTuber in Heated Debate
Konstantin Kisin and Saifedean Ammous debate the Israel Palestine conflict in what quickly descends into a chaotic mishmash of Saifedean blaming Konstantin's views on his 'identity' without wanting to let up what exactly he means by this...




UK pianist is sacked for anti-semitic rant
The Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham has been sanctioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after making remarks from the stage that were offensive to Israelis and to Jews. Gillham, 37, had inserted a piece that was dedicated to ‘Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza’. He is associated with multiple online propagandists on the pro-Hamas side of the conflict..

The Melbourne Symphony has issued this letter to subscribers:

During Jayson Gillham’s performance yesterday (Sunday 11 August) Mr Gillham made a series of introductory remarks prior to giving the world premiere of the Conor D’Netto piece Witness, a late addition to the advertised programme.

Witness was accepted for performance at the request of Mr Gillham on the basis that it was a short meditative piece. Mr Gillham made his personal remarks without seeking the MSO’s approval or sanction. They were an intrusion of personal political views on what should have been a morning focused on a program of works for solo piano.

The MSO does not condone the use of our stage as a platform for expressing personal views. Mr Gillham will not be performing in the advertised concert with the MSO this Thursday night at Melbourne Town Hall. Customers will be advised of this change to Thursday’s program as soon as possible.

The MSO was at no point made aware of the content of the remarks Mr Gillham was intending to make. They were made completely without authority.
Jayson Gillham issues ‘clarity’ statement
The UK-Australian pianist who was cancelled by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra after making unacceptable remarks on the Gaza situation has issued this clarification through his PR agency:

For clariy (sic), we are releasing the comments made by Jayson Gillham during his performance on Sunday, 11 August at Melbourne Town Hall, presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra:

During the concert, Mr Gillham introduced each work, including the world premiere of “Witness” by composer Conor D’Netto. With Mr D’Netto’s express permission, Mr Gillham provided context for the piece, referencing the tragic deaths of journalists in Gaza—a topic of significant personal importance to him. A full transcript of his comments is below:

Over the last 10 months, Israel has killed more than one hundred Palestinian journalists. A number of these have been targeted assassinations of prominent journalists as they were travelling in marked press vehicles or wearing their press jackets. The killing of journalists is a war crime in international law, and it is done in an effort to prevent the documentation and broadcasting of war crimes to the world.

In addition to the role of journalists who bear witness, the word Witness in Arabic is Shaheed, which also means Martyr. Mr Gillham is not making any further statement at this time.

Slippedisc analysis:
The issue of journalists killed in Gaza is heatedly contested. The named Gaza fatalities were, on the whole, local residents, some of whom worked either directly for Hamas or with Hamas consent, according to independent sources. A minority, the Israelis say, took an active part in the massacres of October 7. There is no conclusive evidence on either side to support Gillham’s contentious statement, which demonstrated his personal bias in the conflict.

Gillham wrote, in a recent social media post: ‘If you are friends with friends of Israel, you need new friends.’

The vast majority of the world’s Jews are – by family or personal links – ‘friends with friends of Israel.’ Gillham’s position is definedly antisemitic.


Will the Gaza marches ever return?
This is no time to break open the champagne. With Israel standing on the brink of wider conflict with Hezbollah and Iran, we could find ourselves back in the heart of the maelstrom very soon. At the time of writing, however, there is a decent chance that such regional war may be averted. If that does turn out to be the case and there is a ceasefire in Gaza, it is not impossible to imagine the marches never recovering the disturbing scale that they enjoyed for so many months.

But there is a deeper reason why the bubbles won’t be coming out any time soon. The toxicity of these rallies is one important measurement of the strength of antisemitism in Britain, but it is far from the only one. The latest figures from the Community Security Trust (CST) show that after a spike in December and January, when antisemitic incidents spiralled to seven or even eight times their pre-October 7 levels, we have drifted into a disturbing new normal. Today, the floor is about two or three times higher than it used to be. It says something about the dark times in which we live that this feels like a win; but according to Dave Rich, head of policy at the CST, even these figures do not offer a complete picture of the threat.

“Our worry from the start was that because this conflict would be bigger and longer, it would have a much deeper and more enduring impact on community cohesion,” he told me.

“We hear constant accounts of Jewish people being squeezed out of social and professional networks or suffering silent discrimination. It’s going on in lots of places. The idea that Israel and Zionism is the modern Nazism, and they should be treated as such, has really embedded itself across the supposedly anti-racist left.”

His fear is that the corrosive effect of the recent carnival of antisemitism on society will not be easily reversed, even if hostilities in the Middle East die down.

“The conspiracy theory that Israel and Zionism were responsible for the riots in Britain was very widespread, even being repeated by semi-respectable people and outlets.” Rich said. “It may be that the visible signs of protest have lessened as fatigue sets in and people move on. But there is a longer-lasting impact. The more damaging attitudes are now more deeply embedded in society, rather than having receded.”


Seth Mandel: Can Banning Sidewalk Chalk End Anti-Semitism?
A classic Staples commercial from the ’90s shows a father joyfully shopping for back-to-school gear for his grade-school kids while we hear “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” playing in the background.

Shopping for college students heading back to campus is a bit different. Rather than notebooks and pens and Trapper Keepers, today’s college kid needs some quality riot gear and a good lawyer on retainer.

“We’re not going to just be copying encampment, encampment, encampment,” Barnard and Columbia “student organizer” Marie Grosso tells NPR about her plans for the renewed pro-Hamas rallies on campus. “We will be doing whatever actions we choose, escalations if that’s necessary. We will do what is necessary.”

Up in Cambridge, Massachusetts—home to Harvard, MIT, and others—students are keeping themselves sharp in the offseason by “joining weekly demonstrations run by BDS Boston.” If that particular group sounds familiar, it should: BDS Boston was a prominent promoter of something called the “mapping project,” a map of Jewish institutions and locales in the area that should be punished for Israel’s imagined sins. The project was a clear call to arms against Jews in Massachusetts. If your child is attending an elite New England college, there appears to be a good chance they are spending the summer with a progressive reincarnation of the Nazi Student League.

One student demonstrator, according to NPR, grabs a bullhorn and gives a shoutout to all those who “are playing a huge role in the intifada,” a reference to a violent global Jew-hunt. “Resistance is always justified when people are occupied — by any and all means necessary,” she shouts approvingly of the Hamas murder-and-sexual-torture campaign that started the current war.

So what are colleges doing to prepare for the fall semester of war and pizza? Columbia, regional capital of the tentifada, is restricting campus to students and their registered guests. According to NPR, the school is “considering” allowing university security officers to make arrests. Harvard is drafting rules that would forbid chalk writing on sidewalks—no justice, no hopscotch—and require pre-approval for signage around campus. “Nothing should be affixed to University property, including the exterior of buildings, doors, windows, fences, entry posts, gates, utility or flag poles, waste containers, existing signage, walls, floors, or tent structures, except in designated locations,” reads a draft document posted by the Harvard Crimson.

That last policy may sound absurdly difficult and time-consuming to enforce, but that’s the point. New rules are being put into effect when the existing rules weren’t enforced either. This is not a Harvard-specific problem, to be clear. If you want to stop students from breaking campus rules and city laws, you can.

Let’s go back to NPR’s student-activist, Marie Grosso. She was arrested at the Columbia University encampments—twice. What happened to her after that? “Like many students, her criminal charges have since been dropped. And her school suspension was downgraded to probation.” Ah. And the result: “Now she’s among scores of students around the nation using the summer to strategize and plan for what their activism might look like in the fall.”

Columbia’s behavior calls to mind the line from The Simpsons, “we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas!”
Columbia University president Shafik abruptly resigns in aftermath of campus chaos
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik announced her resignation on Wednesday, days before the start of the school year — and months after the end of a chaotic school year that saw her testify before Congress about antisemitism and navigate the unruly fallout of the first anti-Israel encampment in the nation.

Dr. Katrina Armstrong, CEO of Columbia’s Irving Medical Center, will serve as interim president, a university spokesperson confirmed to Jewish Insider. A source familiar said Armstrong has already been in touch with Hillel leadership at Columbia.

News of Shafik’s resignation was first reported by the Washington Free Beacon’s Eliana Johnson. Shafik is the fourth Ivy League president to step down in the last year amid rising anti-Israel activism on campuses, following the University of Pennsylvania’s Elizabeth Magill, Harvard’s Claudine Gay and Cornell University’s Martha Pollack.

“I have had the honor and privilege to lead this incredible institution, and I believe that — working together — we have made progress in a number of important areas,” Shafik, who only started in the role in July 2023, wrote in an email to the Columbia community.

“However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community. Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead,” she wrote.

Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, Columbia, like other American universities, saw an uptick in antisemitism and targeting of Zionist students. But in an April hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Shafik avoided the kind of viral moment that dogged her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But when she went back to Manhattan, she faced the first anti-Israel encampment at an American university. Her decision to call in the police to break up the demonstration set off a wave of anger among many students and faculty members on campus and sparked dozens of other solidarity encampments at other universities.


‘A Huge Conflict of Interest’: Two Professors on Columbia’s Top Disciplinary Body Participated in Encampment, Photos Suggest
Columbia University president Minouche Shafik’s abrupt resignation on Wednesday came in the wake of her months-long struggle to respond adequately to the protests, disorder, and anti-Semitic displays that engulfed the Ivy League campus in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Classes were moved online. The school’s main graduation ceremony was canceled. Alumni reunions were disrupted. And, as the university weighs revisions to its protest policies ahead of the fall semester, student activists are vowing to resume their activity.

The composition of Columbia’s top disciplinary committee suggests that the bedlam may outlast Shafik. According to images and metadata reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, two of the professors on that committee were involved in the unlawful encampment that upended campus life in April, raising questions about conflicts of interest and their incentives to lay down the law.

The professors, Joseph Slaughter and Susan Bernofsky, sit on the university senate’s rules committee, which helps set rules governing campus protests as well as the process for enforcing them. Both have publicly defended the students involved in the encampment and, in several previously unreported images, appear to be participating in it themselves.

Slaughter, a professor of English, was photographed conversing with protesters outside Butler Library, the site of the encampment, while holding one of the neon vests worn by protest marshals. Metadata from the photos, dated April 29, corroborate Slaughter's location.


Federal Judge Orders UCLA to Ensure Equal Campus Access to Jewish Students after Pro-Palestinian Protests
U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi on Tuesday admonished UCLA for its handling of pro-Palestinian encampments and ordered the university to ensure equal access to Jewish students, three of whom alleged in a lawsuit that the university helped to enforce a "Jew Exclusion Zone" on campus and hired security guards who allowed protesters to cross into the encampment, but not Jewish students.

"In the year 2024...Jewish students were excluded from portions of the UCLA campus because they refused to denounce their faith. This fact is so unimaginable and so abhorrent to our constitutional guarantee of religious freedom," Scarsi wrote.

"UCLA claims that it has no responsibility to protect the religious freedom of its Jewish students because the exclusion was engineered by third-party protesters. But under constitutional principles, UCLA may not allow services to some students when UCLA knows that other students are excluded on religious grounds, regardless of who engineered the exclusion."

The judge's order gives UCLA until Thursday to instruct UCLA police, security and student affairs that "they are not to aid or participate in any obstruction of access for Jewish students to ordinarily available programs, activities, and campus areas."


College Students Plan to Skip Class for Palestine
This fall, university classrooms could be surprisingly quiet. And not because students on campus aren’t protesting—in fact, quite the opposite.

To protest what they see as the “the Israeli-American genocide of Palestine,” the Young Democratic Socialists of America is planning a national student strike, encouraging college students to “disrupt campus life” by skipping class.

The plans for a “Student Strike for Palestine” are laid out in the YDSA’s recent resolution, which calls upon the organization’s more than 100 university chapters across the country—including at Columbia, UCLA, and NYU—to “organize democratically-run campaigns demanding their school’s divestment from Israel, a ceasefire in Gaza, and free speech on campus.”

The resolution is unclear about when the strike would happen or for how long. It states that the ultimate goal of the strike is to work toward “Palestinian liberation.”

The YDSA did not respond to a Free Press request for comment.

This skip-school strategy diverges from the “tentifada” of last spring—where hundreds of college students camped out on campuses nationwide, demanding their universities divest from Israel. YDSA organizer Erin Lawson, an NYU graduate, has stated that this fall’s plan should have more impact.

“Most encampments did not win,” Lawson wrote in a July 12 article for the YDSA’s publication The Activist, even though they were “the largest national student movement of our lifetimes.”

A strike, on the other hand, “shakes the very foundation of the university to its core,” she added.

“No one can ignore large swathes of empty classrooms,” she wrote. “No one can just turn around and plug their ears when the university can no longer call itself a university.”

The strike plan is “ambitious,” Lawson continued, “demanding a lot of hard work.” But “as students who live in the belly of the beast, we have the responsibility to demand that our institutions take our tuition money out of Israel.


Remember His Fantasies of ‘Murdering Zionists’? Now, Columbia Won’t Say Whether He’s Returning to Class as It Locks Down Campus Ahead of Fall Semester.
Khymani James made national headlines when video surfaced of him telling Columbia University officials that "Zionists don’t deserve to live." With that, James became the most infamous anti-Semitic student protester in the country.

Columbia said in April that it was banning James, who told his social media followers to be "grateful" that he was not "murdering Zionists," from its Morningside Heights campus. It announced an "interim suspension" and indicated disciplinary proceedings are underway.

"We initiated disciplinary proceedings which encompass this and additional potential violations of university policies," a Columbia spokesman said in April.

Now, as students prepare for the fall semester, the university won’t say whether James will be among them, telling the Washington Free Beacon in a policy that officials appear to abide by selectively that the school does not "comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns." A Columbia spokeswoman did not respond to a request for an explanation given that the school provided comment on James’s case just months ago.

But signs indicate that James, who served as a leader of the unlawful tent encampment that disrupted university life at the close of the last academic year, is poised to return to campus.

He is listed as a Columbia College student in the school’s online directory and retains an active university email. By contrast, the trio of deans who resigned last week after a Free Beacon report exposed their anti-Semitic text exchanges no longer appear there.


He Stormed a Campus Building at Columbia. He Also Has an Active New York Law License, and He's Poised To Keep It.
A professional left-wing activist and trust fund heir who joined Columbia University students in storming and occupying a university building last April also has an active law license in New York, records show. He's set to keep it, too, even if he's convicted on the charge he's facing, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

James Carlson, who also goes by Cody, burned an Israeli flag, violently stormed Columbia's Hamilton Hall, clashed with a facilities worker, and allegedly broke a police camera while detained. He was arrested on April 20 on a misdemeanor arson charge and again on April 30, the day that New York City police swept Columbia and cleared Hamilton Hall, for burglary, a felony in New York.

By the time Carlson and other Hamilton Hall arrestees attended their June court hearings, however, the Manhattan district attorney's office—led by Alvin Bragg—opted to pursue a reduced charge against Carlson: criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor. As a result, Carlson, a trust fund kid who specializes in animal rights law and lists his $2.3 million Brooklyn townhouse on his active New York attorney registration, faces little risk of losing his license.

Under New York law, a felony conviction is automatic grounds for disbarment. Because Bragg's office only pursued a misdemeanor charge against Carlson, the protester doesn't face that risk. A misdemeanor trespassing conviction could prompt a disciplinary hearing but would not automatically trigger one.

Carlson did not respond to a request for comment. The State of New York Grievance Committee, which handles attorney complaints, referred the Free Beacon to the Office of the Clerk of the Court, which said Carlson "is currently licensed and in good standing."

When Carlson appeared in court in June, he rejected a plea deal for the misdemeanor trespassing charge that would have resulted in community service and instead pleaded not guilty. He still faces that charge, though court records no longer list his misdemeanor arson charge, a Free Beacon review found, suggesting that Bragg's office dropped it.

Bragg's office also dropped trespassing charges against 30 other Columbia protesters arrested for storming Hamilton Hall, arguing that the defendants should not face criminal penalties due to a lack of evidence, a lack of criminal history, and impending internal discipline at Columbia.

A high-ranking police source described Carlson—the son of the late prominent advertising executives Richard Tarlow and Sandy Carlson Tarlow—as a "longtime anarchist," the New York Post reported in early May. In 2019, he bought a three-story townhouse in Brooklyn's Park Slope for $2.3 million thanks to his parents.

Carlson is not representing himself in his misdemeanor trespassing case, though his attorney shares many of his radical sensibilities.


NY Times reporter leaked Jewish WhatsApp group data that fell into hands of anti-Israel activists who harassed members: report
The New York Times said it took disciplinary action against a reporter who acknowledged leaking data about a WhatsApp group chat for Jewish business people that led to its members being doxxed and harassed by activists sympathetic to Palestinians.

Natasha Frost, a Times reporter who was based in Melbourne, Australia, earlier this year, downloaded and shared 900 pages of content from the private WhatsApp chat that was launched by Jewish professionals in response to the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas terrorists that claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 Israelis.

Frost acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that she shared the information with one individual before it fell into the hands of anti-Zionist activists.

Hundreds of the group chat participants were then shocked to discover that their personal information was circulating online — leading to online and in-person harassment that escalated to the point where some were forced to leave their homes.

A Times spokesperson told the Journal that the newspaper had “reviewed the matter and appropriate action” was taken when it became aware of Frost’s actions.

“It has been brought to our attention that a New York Times reporter inappropriately shared information with the subject of a story to assist the individual in a private matter, a clear violation of our ethics,” a spokeswoman for the newspaper said.

“This was done without the knowledge or approval of the Times.”

Frost told the Journal that she shared the information with one person who then disseminated the details without her permission.

“Its subsequent dissemination and misuse happened entirely without my knowledge or consent,” Frost said. “I was shocked by these events, which put me and many others at terrible risk.”

Frost added: “I deeply regret my decision and I have no plans to comment further.”
Gal Gadot faces antisemitic campaign after 'Snow White' trailer release
The release of the trailer for Disney's live-action remake of "Snow White" has sparked an antisemitic campaign on social media against Israeli actress Gal Gadot. Pro-Palestinian users have criticized Gadot's casting as the Evil Queen and called for a boycott of the film, citing her Israeli background and previous military service.

This past weekend, Disney unveiled the first trailer for its live-action adaptation of "Snow White" at the D23 fan convention in California. The film, slated for release in March 2025, features Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen alongside Rachel Zegler in the title role of Snow White.

The trailer's release prompted a wave of reactions online. While hundreds of thousands of Israeli and Jewish users lavished praise on Gadot, expressing immense pride, a significant number of responses criticized her casting. The most vehement opposition came from pro-Palestinian users, who not only objected to Gadot's role but also directed harsh personal attacks against her.

One comment read, "She may be more beautiful than Rachel Zegler, but at least Rachel isn't a Zionist." Others wrote, "The CGI for the dwarfs looks fine, but they need to reshoot the evil Zionist Gal Gadot." As discussions continued, references to Zionism and Gadot's military service became increasingly prevalent.

Numerous responses went beyond criticism to call for a boycott of the film. "Remember, this movie stars the proud Zionist and former IDF soldier Gal Gadot. Don't watch or support it," read dozens of such comments. Another user wrote, "Gal Gadot playing a villain in this movie is perfect casting."

The backlash continued with comments such as, "Gal Gadot in the new 'Snow White' coming in 2025? No thanks. The movie is ruined before I've even seen it." Other users asked, "Why are there Zionists everywhere?" and claimed, "Gal Gadot will treat Snow White the same way her Zionist counterparts treat Palestinians."
AP Adrift_ The Houthis’ Maritime ‘Retaliation’ & Hamas’ ‘Relative Moderate’
Like ships passing in the night, the Associated Press’ recent account of Houthi attacks on international commercial vessels skirts around the reality of the far-reaching, destructive and sometimes deadly nautical attacks.

Thus, in her Aug. 7 article, rookie AP reporter Fatma Khaled reports (“Egypt’s currency edges higher against the US dollar after price hikes“): “Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea in retaliation against Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.”

Yet, most of the commercial ships which the Houthis have targeted lack any connection to Israel. As AP itself has written on numerous occasions, including just two days earlier following an attack on a Liberian-flagged ship (“Missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels hits container ship in first attack in 2 weeks“):
The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign they say seeks to force an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war — including some bound for Iran.

Therefore, Khaled’s spin that the Houthi’s nautical attacks are “retaliation” for Israel’s war against Hamas is hardly above board.

AP’s journalism is also adrift in its Gaza coverage in recent days, unmoored from immutable facts. Thus, in his Aug. 7 article, “Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, as its new leader in show of defiance,” Bassem Mroue refers to the slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as a “relative moderate.”

This “relative moderate” is the same man whose record includes the following “relatively reasonable” sentiments, compiled by Palestinian Media Watch:
“We love death like our enemies love life!”
“We need the blood of the children, women, and elderly” to “ignite within us the spirit of revolution”
“Armed resistance is path, Palestine is from the sea to the river”
“Hamas won’t recognize Israel… armed struggle is a strategic choice”
“We will liberate West Bank and rest of Palestine just as we liberated Gaza – with Intifada”

Consistent standards likewise fail to provide a much needed anchor for AP’s untethered reporting. Thus, Mroue accepts Hamas’ highly questionable fatality figures at face value, without even supplying any attribution. “The death toll among Palestinians is now nearing 40,000,” he writes, despite AP’s own earlier analysis indicating serious credibility problems with casualty figures provided by the terror organization.


Disgraced anti-Israel performer Paul Currie banned ‘Zionists’ from his Edinburgh Fringe show
A comedian who was accused of hounding an Israeli couple out of a comedy show in London has banned “Zionists” from his Edinburgh Fringe show.

According to a post on his Instagram, “Zionists” were barred from Pual Currie’s comedy show, Teet.

Fresh from a heated performance at Soho Theatre in February, where the 52-year-old comedian and performance artist was accused of forcing an Israeli couple out of his comedy show, Currie performed in Edinburgh August 9 – 11.

On his Instagram, Currie “warned” his followers: “Do not come to my show if you are a Zionist or support the illegal apartheid State of Israel. Just don’t come. This show is not for you.”

Currie explained: “I am an artist against genocide... therefore my show Teet will upset those audience members who are pro genocide, and last night it did.

“Art is meant to divide & challenge & reflect the zeitgeist. I am performing at the ‘Fringe’ for a reason, it's in the name, it is on the periphery, it is not the mainstream. Ergo, it is not for everyone.

“There is an actual genocide happening right this second & for the last 10 months & 76 years. I am not NOT going to address this in my Edinburgh show. #FreePalestine.”

In a post about "clownarchy”, Currie said he had “discovered just a few hours ago” that the Edinburgh Fringe was sponsored by Baillie Gifford, who he accused of investing “in pro genocide Israeli arms manufacturers.”

“So as a boycott on the Edinburgh fringe I will NOT be selling tickets through the fringe society but only through the stand comedy club in solidarity with occupied Palestine.”

On another post on social media, the comedian equated Zionism with Nazis, posting a cartoon swastika being thrown in the bin with the caption “Zionism = Nazism... it’s disgusting and must be condemned and stopped.”
This was the ugliest Fringe moment I’ve ever witnessed
Sunday night’s performance by American stand-up Reginald D Hunter of his new Edinburgh Festival set ranks without doubt as the most unpleasant comedy gig I’ve ever attended. This came down to five minutes midway in when a theatre full of people erupted in vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter.

Hunter, 55, had made a crude point, rather than an especially sophisticated gag, where he said a Channel 5 documentary containing a scene about an abusive wife herself accusing her husband of abuse made him think, “My God, it’s like being married to Israel.” There was audience laughter in response, but not from the couple on the front row, who shouted “not funny”.

The pair, who said they were from Israel, then endured their fellow audience members shouting expletives (“f--- off” among them), and telling them to go – with slow-hand claps, boos and cries of “genocidal maniac”, “you’re not welcome” and “free Palestine” part of the toxic mix.

In the past I’ve had time for Hunter, a free-thinking outsider, who has lived in the UK since 1997. Amid a climate of censoriousness and offence-taking, his determination to tackle difficult subjects, without mincing his words, has usefully tested limits and galvanised debate. He’s no stranger to controversy: he was accused of anti-Semitism at the 2006 Fringe for Holocaust material and has attracted ire for alleged misogyny and his use of the ‘n word’, whether in show-titles, shows or a furore-attracting hosting of the Professional Footballers’ Association gala dinner in 2013.

But here he gave an object lesson in how not to pick on people in the front row. Instead of tolerating the couple’s joint heckle, he doubled down with a sinister air of beaming bellicosity: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f--- you been?” He continued: “You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish.”

“Look at you making everyone love Israel even more,” he jeered, after the woman remonstrated with the audience.

“That tells me that I still got voltage,” he purred, with satisfaction, after the pair left, slowly (it turned out that the man was disabled, not that this caused a flicker of restraint in the host, who openly laughed at them). He then related a remark that his female partner had made at the time of the Holocaust controversy about accessing the Jewish Chronicle’s website: “Typical f---ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” “It’s just a joke,” he added.




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