Wednesday, September 25, 2024

09/25 Links Pt2: A modern pogrom through history’s lens; BBC criticised for refusing to call Hezbollah terrorists; Irish president pushes anti-Israel conspiracy theory

From Ian:

Phyllis Chesler: A modern pogrom through history’s lens
Can anyone really evaluate Oct. 7—the genocidal pogrom that took place barely a year ago and is not yet over?

After all, scholars are still analyzing pogroms that took place thousands of years ago all over the pagan, Christian and Muslim worlds. Only recently has the scholar Irina Astashkevich documented, in her 2018 work Gendered Violence: Jewish Women in Pogroms: 1917-1921, the terrifying but typical details of the rape and femicide of Jewish women during pogroms that took place more than a century ago.

More than 1,000 pogroms took place in 500 locales. Lives, as well as minds, were lost. Entire communities were erased. In the aftermath, some women attempted suicide, others succeeded, some women stopped menstruating and others had to be psychiatrically hospitalized, most were afraid to go outside forever afterward.

In Astashkevich’s words: “The carnival of violence, complete with scenes of torture, rape and murder, played out on the second day of the pogrom as ‘celebratory street theater.’ Pogrom perpetrators purposefully drove Jews into the streets and hunted down their victims … acts of torture took place in front of an audience of pogrom perpetrators, the local population and frightened Jews. The ritualized violence reiterated the previous pogroms, but often in a more grotesque and horrifying form … . Pogromschiki bayoneted their victims, careful not to kill them, but to leave the wounded to suffer and bleed to death in agony that sometimes lasted for several days … . Pogromschiki made sure that all the apothecaries were wrecked, and there was no medical assistance.”

Even now, decades later, original and important analyses are still emerging about the Holocaust.

Just this year, my friend and colleague, Shulamit Reinharz, published an extraordinary book, Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir, which breaks new ground about how some Jews may have survived the Nazis by hiding and by being hidden. Reinharz’s work, which relied upon her father’s “hidden” memoirs letters and conversations, required her considerable academic skills and access to a vast and still-growing literature on the Holocaust and the perspective that more than 80 years in the future can provide.

I immediately knew that Oct. 7 was a pogrom, yet my understanding of what was unique about this particular Iranian-funded crime against the Jewish people and humanity overall has evolved in the months since the initial attack. As we approach the first anniversary of that horrific event, a number of items stand out.

First: Hamas terrorists recorded live video footage of their atrocities and released it on social media. They even sent it to the families of those who were tortured, raped, murdered or kidnapped.

Second: The attacks unleashed an ugly and increasingly ominous global firestorm that has cheered on Hamas’s sadism as “resistance” and condemned all Israeli civilians—be they Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Druze or Buddhist. It has also led to a seemingly unstoppable, propaganda-driven, worldwide siege against the Jews.

Third: The alleged “progressives” in the West, including the feminists who have, at the very least, paid lip service in vocalizing their opposition to the torture, gang rapes and murders of women, children and dissidents in countries like Afghanistan, Algeria, Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sudan, have remained silent. They refuse to condemn Hamas’s brutality against women on Oct. 7 despite myriad video evidence of the atrocities.

Fourth: Many governments and international organizations keep demanding more and more proof of Hamas’s actions and continue to deny the Oct. 7 atrocities. Yet these same actors have not denied any other 21st-century genocides.

Fifth: More people now know that the raging, masked, keffiyeh-wearing demonstrators who have been flooding American and European cities and campuses since Oct. 7 have been bought and paid for by Russia, Iran, Arab oil money, and woke American philanthropists and foundations. It is also now clear that these same groups have been preparing for this moment for 60 years.

Sixth: As some have suggested, Hamas’s behavior on Oct. 7 seems to have been influenced by the most sadistic pornography, as well as by mood-altering drugs. This sadism rivals and may even exceed the horror of other pogroms or war zones.
Bernard-Henri Lévy: Oppressed lovers of freedom everywhere are secretly rooting for Israel to win
The circle is nearly complete.

It is almost the same picture, but worse, that we watched take shape at the time of the war against the Kurds and again with the war against Ukraine—which, incidentally, continued unabated in a world where everything was suddenly splitting in two: the media’s focus, the attention of foreign ministries, and even military aid, which some political leaders, expecting Trump to return to power and taking advantage of the general confusion, would like to let fall by the wayside.

Could it be said that this upheaval is not really an upheaval this time around since it is just the same old song?

Is it the fortress Europe (and America) emitting its endless but familiar supply of collaborators and appeasers?

Yes and no.

It is as if tectonic plates had been rubbing together, sliding, overlapping, and separating before suddenly interlocking in a new pattern.

And for today’s observers, the current scene is a panorama where everything seems perfectly in place.

Hamas is no longer Hamas but, instead, the sword and toy of a counter-empire wherein the protagonists of the preceding wars have come together permanently.

And Israel, reciprocally, is a little more than just Israel.

It carries the message, even if unknowingly, of the Uyghurs of China, the intrepid bloggers of the Arab autocracies, the proponents of the Armenian cause in Istanbul who detest Erdogan and his fables of the Grand Turk, the strong souls of Kurdistan, the Iranian insurgents who continue to cry “Woman, Life, Freedom,” the opponents whom Putin deports, sends into internal exile, and assassinates—and also, perhaps in spite of themselves, the Palestinians in silent revolt against the Hamas dictatorship.

This has nothing to do with a war between West and East.

Nor with the “war of civilizations” that some, already lining up their legions, are hoping for.

Or maybe it does.

But in that case, one of the civilizations is the fine Internationale of the friends of liberty, law, and the spirit of resistance, drawing its members from within the new and ancient empires alike.

And the other is the civilization of tyrants and demagogues whose followers are recruited in the West no less than in the East or South.

The Maharal of Prague wrote in Netzach Yisrael that, in contrast to kingdoms and empires, which are extensive, Israel is a point, a single point, but what a point!

The central and hidden point, secret and essential, upon which rests, in the terrible dramaturgy of history, a piece of human survival.

So there we have it. Israel is not a pawn, but a point.

It is the hearth that radiates a light and a language without which a part of humanity would be lost.

Israel exists in a kind of solitude, no doubt.

A terrible solitude.

But to paraphrase Albert Camus, there are women and men, many women and many men, who would be very alone indeed without this solitary presence and who pray each morning and each evening, more or less secretly and silently, summoning whatever boldness their status as hostages of the five kings allows, for Israel to win its war against the empire of Hamas.

Excerpted from Israel Alone by Bernard-Henri Levy – Out in the UK October 24th
BBC criticised for refusing to call Hezbollah terrorists
The BBC has been criticised for refusing to call Hezbollah terrorists in its coverage of conflict in the Middle East.

In BBC reports on Israeli operations against Hezbollah, the group has been described as a “militia” or an organisation “considered” to be terrorist.

The reporting has followed BBC guidelines, which stipulate that groups such as Hezbollah should be referred to as “militants” rather than terrorists.

They say journalists should “not use the term ‘terrorist’ without attribution”. The BBC will instead use terms that are less “emotive”, such as “gunmen” and “militants”.

The guidelines provoked anger in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel, when the BBC was criticised for not directly calling Hamas terrorists. tmg.video.placeholder.alt 5aLg7RnNLb0

The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has voiced concern about what it described as the corporation’s “resistance” to the term.

A spokesman said: “In the wake of the barbaric Oct 7 attacks, when Hamas murdered over 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostage, the BBC showed an unbelievable level of resistance to calling Hamas what it is – a terrorist organisation.

“Similarly, Hezbollah is a proscribed anti-Semitic genocidal terror group, and it began attacking Israel from across the border in Lebanon on Oct 8 with no respite.

“Again, the BBC is stubbornly failing to describe Hezbollah in legally accurate terms. Using any other descriptor risks legitimising or downplaying the actions and rhetoric of this and other terror groups. British Jews should be able to expect better from our national broadcaster.”


Why is Ireland’s president pushing an anti-Israel conspiracy theory?
It was an extraordinary allegation and, by all accounts, the only people more surprised than the journalists in the room were the Irish civil servants, who were hearing this claim for the first time.

When asked how the Israeli embassy might have come into possession of the letter, Higgins said he didn’t know because ‘she is not in residence’, referring to Israeli ambassador Dana Erlich. Of course, the reason ‘she’ is not in residence is because she was recalled to Jerusalem in May following the ridiculous Irish decision to unconditionally recognise a Palestinian state.

Higgins’s trip down the conspiratorial rabbit hole had all the tropes we have come to expect – the tentacles of the all-powerful cabal of Jews apparently reach so far as to have access to the protected diplomatic documents of a sovereign nation.

There was just one problem with this theory. And it became very clear, very quickly and, for Higgins, in a rather humiliating manner. The source of the incriminating leak of the letter was actually… the Iranian government itself, which reposted it on its official social-media account. It deleted it soon afterwards, but not before it was picked up by the Jewish Chronicle in London.

Rather than simply apologising and moving on, Higgins and the Irish government seem determined to stick to their guns. His supporters in the media, which is most of the Irish media, have been quick to point out that the term he employed was ‘circulated’ rather than ‘leaked’ – even though the question he was asked used the word ‘leaked’.

The response from Erlich, the Israeli ambassador, seemed more resigned than furious, stating that Higgins’s accusations were baseless and potentially slanderous. She also added:

There is no understanding or empathy for the daily attacks and threat Israelis are under, the thousands of missiles that are fired indiscriminately towards civilians, the trauma that we are all experiencing, and the concerns for our future. Sadly, these issues receive little attention in Irish media and political circles and have evoked almost no vocal criticism or condemnation in Ireland.

As if to prove her point, when questioned about Higgins’s bizarre claims about the letter, taoiseach Simon Harris said:

My concern is not with an exchange of letters but is on… the horrific, bloody humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Middle East. I have no interest in getting into any tit for tat or back and forth with the Israeli embassy or government that is continuing to allow this to continue. Children are dying on a daily basis [and] many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, are denied humanitarian aid.

Higgins’s bizarre outburst has raised many questions about his suitability for office. He is now 83 and recovering from a stroke. The general consensus within Irish political and civil-service circles is that next year’s presidential election can’t come soon enough.

In the meantime, the Israeli embassy is holding a memorial service next month to mark the first anniversary of the pogrom of 7 October. It will be interesting to see if the Irish government sends an official representative.


Netanyahu to address UNGA in New York
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to depart for the United States on Thursday, a day later than initially planned, to address the 79th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Friday.

The prime minister is to fly back to Israel on Saturday night, according to a statement from his office.

On Wednesday, Netanyahu will hold a series of security consultations amid the escalating war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

U.S. President Joe Biden delivered his final address to the General Assembly on Tuesday, devoting about three minutes of his nearly 25-minute speech to the Middle East, Israel and Gaza.

Speaking just days before the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, he called on world leaders not to “flinch from the horrors” of that day.

“Any country would have the right and responsibility to ensure that such an attack could never happen again,” said Biden.

He called on Israel and Hamas to accept the ceasefire-for-hostages that he first outlined in May and that has stalled ever since.


Israel’s National Security Council Issues Travel Warning Ahead of Jewish High Holidays Amid Terror Threats
Israel’s National Security Council on Wednesday issued a travel warning to Israelis and Jews planning to travel for the Jewish Holiday Holidays next week, urging them to be vigilant amid a historic surge in antisemitism and mounting threats from terrorist groups.

“Ahead of the High Holidays, during which hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to travel abroad, we would like to increase public awareness to the various terrorist threats abroad and suggest that those traveling follow the recommendations published on the website of the National Security Council (NSC),” the government body said in a message posted to its website.

The NSC emphasized the “dangers” of sharing or posting on social media any information that could identify one as being a member of or active in Israel’s security forces.

“Sharing any such information increases the risk that the person who shared it or is depicted in it will be marked as a target for attack,” the statement said. “Therefore, we recommend to avoid posting any content in any format that indicates or refers to service in the security forces, military operations, or any similar content.”

The NSC also underscored the “possible danger of being lured and kidnapped,” urging caution when being engaged by a stranger, whether in person or online.

The posting also recommended that, due to “the real life-threatening danger facing Israelis in these places,” the Israeli public refrain from traveling to Iraq (including Iraqi Kurdistan), Yemen, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Algeria, Jordan, Egypt (including the Sinai Peninsula), and Turkey.

Next week, Jews around the world will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and then the following week will observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism known as the Day of Atonement. Together, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are known as the Jewish High Holidays.

Both holidays fall near the one-year anniversary of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. During the onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and kidnapped over 250 hostages while perpetrating rampant sexual violence against the Israeli people. The brutal invasion was the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
After year of criticism, the BBC honours Nova festival victims in heartbreaking documentary
It is the last photo of a hero. As everyone else in the shelter ducked ahead of an attack by terrorists on October 7, off-duty British-Israeli soldier Aner Shapiro stood by the entrance armed only with a broken beer bottle. The photo was grabbed by accident by another person in the shelter as they desperately tried to call emergency services for help.

When the terrorists threw a grenade in, Aner threw it out. They threw another in, again he threw it out. Seven times, over 44 minutes, Aner single-handedly fought off armed terrorists. He was killed on their eighth attempt. Four people from the shelter were kidnapped – including Aner’s best friend Hersh Goldberg-Polin who was murdered in Gaza a few weeks ago – and only seven of 29 made it home.

Aner’s heroism is just one of the incredible stories of bravery and tragedy depicted in a new BBC documentary Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again which will air on Thursday night on BBC2 and on BBC iPlayer.

Over 90 minutes, using footage mainly taken either by people at the Nova festival or found on Hamas Go Pros, the audience gets a horrifying insight into what it was like for the young partygoers who went from the euphoria of dance to the horror of running for their lives.

The film had its official launch on Tuesday night at JW3 and for a brief time, there was a ceasefire between the warring British Jewish community and the BBC. The Jewish community venue in North London was chosen for security with four guards outside the heavy gates and guests asked to bring identification.

That this wasn’t just any launch could be seen in the calibre of guests including Howard Jacobson and Jason Isaacs and Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer. The film has been partly financed by the BBC’s documentary Storyville strand and produced by a host of British Jewish creators including Storyville’s Lucy Kon, and independent producers Leo Pearlman and Sheldon Lazarus.

Ms Moore, who was introduced to hostage families at a reception before the event, announced the film by saying: “I know it’s been an incredibly tough year, an incredibly difficult year for so many of you in this room. And, of course, the anniversary of the seventh of October is coming up and I know what an impact this year has had on so many people. I hope this film is a demonstration of the BBC commitment to telling stories fearlessly and fairly in pursuit of the truth.” Her appearance at the event was a sign that Jewish complaints have been heard.

There was silence as the touching film finished – punctuated only by the sound of tears – before a huge standing ovation for some of the contributors who flew to London.
BBC told director of Nova massacre film to not describe Hamas as terrorists
Yariv Mozer, the director of We Will Dance Again, a documentary film about the Nova festival, said that he had to agree with the BBC to not describe Hamas as a terrorist organization if he wanted it to air, according to an interview he gave to The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday.

The film, which is set to broadcast on the BBC today, contains unseen footage of the Hamas massacre at the festival on October 7. It was commissioned by BBC Storyville.

Mozer told The Hollywood Reporter that this was a concession he had to make if he wanted the film to be seen by the British public.

“It was a price I was willing to pay so that the British public will be able to see these atrocities and decide if this is a terrorist organization or not,” Mozer said.

This comes amid claims of anti-Israel bias in the BBC since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, including a scandal caused last week by British Trevor Asserson's report that the BBC breached its own editorial guidelines for news coverage more than 1,500 times since the beginning of the war.

Mozer added that he had offered the documentary to multiple streaming platforms in the US. However, they were reportedly unwilling to pick it up due to concerns about the political situation.

“The film isn’t political,” Mozer stated. “It’s told from the eyes of the survivors and from the eyes of Hamas. There is one truth about what happened.”

The documentary will still be shown in Australia, Spain, and on Paramount+ in the United States.
As the Families of Murdered Hostages, Our Message to People in Power Is Simple: Act
By Elchanan and Einav Danino, Eshel Gat, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, Gregory and Oxana Lobanov, Michal Lobanov, Naor and Shirit Yerushalmi, and Yigal and Nira Sarusi

Elchanan and Einav Danino, parents of Ori of blessed memory; Eshel Gat, father of Carmel of blessed memory; Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh of blessed memory; Gregory and Oxana Lobanov and Michal Lobanov, parents and wife of Alexander of blessed memory; Naor and Shirit Yerushalmi, parents of Eden of blessed memory; Yigal and Nira Sarusi, parents of Almog of blessed memory

On the clear, blue-skied Saturday morning of Oct. 7, 2023, our loved ones and 245 others were brutally stolen from us by Hamas terrorists. Carmel was visiting her parents at Kibbutz Be’eri. Almog, Alexander, Eden, Hersh, and Ori had been celebrating peace and freedom at the Nova Music Festival. These six beautiful people were abducted into Gaza, several of them with critical injuries. They languished in miserable conditions for 328 days, then, on Aug. 29, were shot in the head, hands, shoulders, and elsewhere in their battered and starving bodies.

Israeli forces found their emaciated corpses two days later in a tunnel 65 feet under a Gazan child’s bedroom. The tunnel was just over two feet wide and 5 ft. 6 in. high. It had minimal oxygen, no light, and no plumbing. Their Hamas captors executed our loved ones at point blank range, exited the tunnel, and shut a bolted door.

In captivity, Alexander, nearly six feet tall, dropped from 190 pounds to 132 pounds. Hersh, a couple inches taller, weighed just 116 pounds. Eden, 5-ft.-5, was found at 79 pounds.

It was Hamas that took our loved ones, tortured them, and pulled the triggers that murdered them. But many others failed to save them. Israeli governmental decision-makers had opportunities to reach negotiated settlements to release our loved ones and, for calculations they deemed strategic, they chose not to. These choices will be the eternal legacy of these men. But there are so many other people who could have done so much more to save them—and still others who will join them as accomplices in avoidable deaths if they stand by and allow malevolent entities to triumph over the passive words of people with power.

This is our clarion call now: There are still 101 hostages in horrific conditions in Gaza, and the time to save them is running out. Sympathetic words alone will not spare them the same fate as Almog, Alexander, Carmel, Eden, Hersh, and Ori. Now is the time for decisive, deliberate, meaningful action.

For 328 days, many of us traveled the world and met politicians, diplomats, business titans, celebrities—people with power. They made promises, nodded, held our hands, cried with us, hugged us tightly…and then failed to deliver results. Many of us circled the globe and sat with religious leaders, ambassadors in the halls of the United Nations, former Presidents and First Ladies. So many people with power in the biggest companies in the world said they would be with us until our loved ones came home alive. We held meetings, openly and discreetly, in places like Davos, Washington, Moscow, London, Sofia, Budapest, and Geneva.

Celebrities met us in secluded rooms but asked that we never acknowledge publicly that they did so; they feared losing followers. Leaders of humanitarian aid organizations, including the International Red Cross and the World Health Organization, claimed they would like to intervene but could not figure out how. Two Muslim clerics confidentially assured us, wrongly, that our loved ones would be okay because harming hostages violated Islam; but they and too many other religious leaders were publicly silent. More than one of these many people with power assured us that the hostages would survive, that their return was only a matter of time. Some said our loved ones were suffering but surely not dying.

Two hundred fifty one hostages from 39 nationalities were stolen from their lives and from the world on Oct. 7. Why did the Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Foreign Ministers of those nations never stand, arm in arm, on a global stage and demand their release? Why are the names of the 101 hostages who remain in captivity not on the nightly news in countries around the world? Where is the global outcry calling for their release? Where is the condemnation from the religious and spiritual leaders of the five faiths of the hostages still being held? Where is the economic and diplomatic pressure on Hamas and its sponsors? Why are NATO member countries and U.S. non-NATO allies continuing to operate with favored status while failing to save lives, including those of U.S. citizens? Why has the United States, the world’s strongest superpower—with leverage on all the regional players in this conflict—failed to deploy that power sufficiently and creatively to produce a hostage release and a resolution to this war?

Nefarious actors the world over are watching, learning, and planning. The implications for global security are much wider than Israel and Gaza. Humanity’s future is at stake. It’s time to use the power you have and do better.


Op Nation
Enter Omeed Malik. Now Tucker Carlson’s main financial backer, Malik was a New York-based investment banker and money manager who was described by the Daily Caller—the conservative website in which he abruptly decided to invest a large chunk of money in 2020—as a “lifelong Democrat” and a donor to left-wing political candidates and causes. While it is possible to imagine that at the height of anti-Trump feeling in 2020 Malik decided to abandon his lifelong political allegiance to the Democratic Party and become a Republican instead, that would make him a rather unusual—even unique—figure, especially among wealthy Muslim Democrats living in New York City. But again, anything is possible.

Malik’s day job is running Farvahar Partners, a boutique investment bank he founded. While boutique Wall Street investment banks have no obligation to be transparent about their investors—and are often valued for doing the opposite—a possible clue as to the source of at least some of the money Malik manages, might be found in the name he chose for his enterprise. The farvahar is a symbol of the soul and of the idea of life after death that is common among peoples of Persian ancestry. Post-1979, it became a favorite national symbol among the Iranian diaspora.

Or perhaps the coincidence of that symbolism has nothing to do with this story at all. Perhaps Malik and Carlson simply met one night at a bar by chance and found they agreed about more than they disagreed on, including the idea that Zionists are bad, America’s involvement in World War II was bad, Adolf Hitler is misunderstood, and Winston Churchill is a villain, and the lifelong Democrat Malik then handed over a large chunk of his own personal savings on the spot so that Tucker Carlson could found a new right-wing media empire centered around himself. I.e., both men are morons.

I doubt that, though. A more likely possibility, at least to my eyes, is that Omeed Malik is backing Tucker Carlson at the behest of whatever power it is that does stuff like gather the signatures of 51 high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials on a letter declaring that Hunter Biden’s laptop is a Russian op on the eve of an election. At the very least, the collision of American domestic politics, the US intelligence community and the Pynchonesque aesthetic is too enticing to ignore completely, especially when one tosses in the pervasive social media and spatial presence of however many thousands of FBI agents and subcontractors performing the outward behaviors of “being neo-Nazis.”

That’s not a conspiracy theory, by the way: “Protecting the United States from terrorist attacks” is the FBI’s No. 1 priority, with domestic terrorism being on par with foreign-inspired terrorism—and “white supremacists” being among the bureau’s chief domestic terror targets. As the FBI explains on its public website: “The approach taken by the FBI in counterterrorism investigations is based on the need both to prevent incidents where possible and to react effectively after incidents occur. Our investigations focus on the unlawful activity of the group, not the ideological orientation of its members. When conducting investigations, the FBI collects information that not only serves as the basis for prosecution but also builds an intelligence base to help prevent terrorist acts.”

Anyone familiar with COINTELPRO and other FBI radical infiltration programs in the 1960s knows exactly how this stuff works. Suffice it to say that a good friend in the U.S. intelligence community once estimated to me that by the time the Berlin Wall came down, a majority of the members of the CPUSA and its various front organizations were FBI agents. It is reasonable to surmise that much the same type of thing is happening now, with a key difference being that it is much easier to pose as a neo-Nazi or an antisemite on social media than it is to attend in-person meetings in someone’s basement. It is all but certain, then, that the U.S. government is spending an enormous amount of money, time, and effort pumping out antisemitic and neo-Nazi propaganda into the social media space, in the hope of identifying actual antisemites and neo-Nazis.

Future historians will tell us whether the cure is actually worse than the disease, if there remain such things as “historians.” But either way, the justification for the current wave of domestic antisemitic propaganda echoing the propaganda lines of foreign enemies of America and being paid for in part by the FBI will be simple: Namely, that the U.S. intelligence community has been tasked with protecting the domestic information space, and that the free play of 350 million individual human atoms is simply too dangerous to be allowed to continue unsupervised. In addition to amplifying antisemites, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists, it is also reasonable to assume that “protecting the domestic information space” also means creating or shaping buckets like the QAnon conspiracy, the massive multiplayer role-playing game that more or less miraculously disappeared after Joe Biden was inaugurated. Whoever is in charge of this work would also be remiss in their duties if they did not consider the explosive potential inherent in Donald Trump losing another election, and take measures to ensure that the reactions of his supporters are safely contained. At the very least, it seems like the natural background for the plot of a Robert Stone novel.

Do you follow me so far? If so, here’s another clue worth clocking. Sept. 4 was the kickoff date for Carlson’s first ever 16-city live tour, which was set to feature all of Donald Trump’s surrogates for onstage appearances, including JD Vance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan. According to a source, Tucker had taped a conversation with Vance in August. But the interview he chose to open the curtains on his tour—which he dropped on Sept. 2, two days before the tour began—was with Darryl Cooper. This choice in turn forced Trump and his surrogates into a bind: Either authenticate Cooper’s antisemitic message by keeping silent while sitting chummily onstage with its messenger, or to draw even more attention by refusing to get on stage with him.

They chose to keep silent, and to go through with their appearances. A few days after the Cooper interview ran, Trump, who had Tucker sitting in the box with him at the opening of the Republican National Convention so that tens of millions of viewers would see it, released a video proclaiming himself to be the most pro-Israel president in history. RFK Jr. tweeted a photograph of his father with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Vance tweeted about meeting an Auschwitz survivor. I suppose these men did what they imagined they could to signal rejection of Carlson’s poison. But their responses came off like hostage notes.

So why is Carlson using his platform and his following to hold Trump and the Republican Party hostage to antisemitism? There are three plausible explanations, beginning with the idea that Carlson himself is an antisemite. Even if that’s true, it’s too boring to be the whole story. The second is that Carlson wants to be president of the United States, and believes that Trump will lose—and he sees antisemitism as a useful wedge with which to break off a large chunk of the despondent MAGA base for himself while denying that fraction to potential rivals. The third explanation is that he’s a Fed. In all three cases, his aim would be for Donald Trump to lose in November.

Do I know any of this for sure? Nah. I’m just asking the hard questions everyone else is too scared to ask. P. Diddy is guilty as fuck, though.
House Ways and Means Committee chair calls on IRS to revoke pro-Palestinian groups’ tax-exempt status
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) called on the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of several U.S.-based charitable organizations linked to anti-Israel protests, accusing the groups of being tied to foreign terrorist organizations and other illegal activity.

The requests target Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation, American Muslims for Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Alliance for Justice, Islamic Relief USA, Jewish Voice for Peace, The People’s Forum, the Tides Foundation, the Adalah Justice Project, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, United Hands Relief Inc., WESPAC, Within Our Lifetime, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Smith’s inquiries to the IRS lay out derogatory information about each of the listed groups, pointing to public news reports about ongoing litigation against the groups, their involvement with unlawful or otherwise disruptive protests and other activities and alleged links to terrorist groups.

“The evidence uncovered by the Ways and Means Committee strongly suggests that several American tax-exempt organizations are operating outside of their tax-exempt purpose, fueling antisemitic activities, breaking multiple laws and fueling hate and chaos in America,” Smith said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration must waste no time in revoking these organizations’ tax-exempt status or risk sending the message that this type of behavior is permissible under our tax code.”

He alleged that American taxpayers are effectively subsidizing these groups’ activities “and potentially terrorist organizations overseas” due to their tax-exempt statuses.

Smith continued, “The Ways and Means Committee will continue putting pressure on the Biden-Harris Administration until it stands up to the pro-Hamas wing of the Democrat Party and puts a stop to this antisemitic and anti-American behavior once and for all.”
US Muslim advocacy group endorses Harris, warning Trump greater threat
US Muslim advocacy group Emgage Action on Wednesday endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, saying former president Donald Trump posed a greater danger to the community with his promise to reinstate a travel ban affecting majority-Muslim countries.

The group, which endorsed US President Joe Biden in 2020 after first backing Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, says it mobilized 1 million Muslim voters in that election.

Harris already won the endorsement of smaller Muslim groups, including the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund and the American Muslim Democratic Caucus ahead of the November 5 election.

Trump’s campaign had no immediate comment.

He says he will reinstate the so-called travel ban that restricts entry into the United States of people from a list of largely Muslim-dominant countries. Biden rolled back the ban shortly after taking office in 2021.

The Biden administration, where Harris serves as vice president, has faced calls from both fellow Democrats and international allies throughout Israel’s campaign in Gaza to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to ease the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave.
'I Will Not Be Silent': Kamala Floods Dearborn With Facebook Ads
Vice President Kamala Harris is swarming Dearborn, Mich., a hotbed of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment, with Facebook ads in the final stretch of her campaign, Facebook ad archives show.

According to a Washington Free Beacon analysis, Harris's campaign has aired 901 digital advertisements since Aug. 23 in zip codes for Dearborn, making the majority-Arab town one of the most heavily targeted ad markets for the Harris campaign on Facebook. While Facebook doesn't reveal which ads were aired in particular zip codes, it does indicate that ads aired exclusively in Michigan are broadcasting the message that Harris is sympathetic to Palestinians in Gaza.

"I will not be silent about the scale of human suffering in Gaza, including the death of far too many innocent civilians," the ads, which started running on Sept. 13, depict her as saying. That quote was actually stitched together from two different lines of a speech Harris gave in July.

"Our common humanity compels us to act," she goes on to say, a line from a different speech.

Meanwhile, the Harris campaign appears not to have aired any Facebook advertisements—in Michigan or elsewhere—defending Israel in its war against Hamas and Hezbollah.

It's the latest example of Harris pushing pro-Palestinian views regarding the Israel-Hamas war as she courts voters in battleground Michigan, which has the highest percentage of Muslim and Arab voters in the country. Last month, Harris campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez went to Dearborn to meet community leader Osama Siblani, an Arab-American community leader who has called Hamas and Hezbollah "freedom fighters." Jewish groups condemned the Biden-Harris White House earlier this year for meeting with Siblani, given his history of anti-Israel and pro-terrorist remarks.

Harris's Arab-American outreach director, Brenda Abdelall, once accused "Zionists" of controlling American politics, the Free Beacon reported. And last month, the campaign tapped Nasrina Bargzie to lead outreach to Muslim voters. Bargzie has worked closely through the years with Students for Justice in Palestine, the group behind many of the anti-Israel and pro-Hamas campus protests across the country.


J Street’s “Champions” are Weakening Israel’s Security
Bernie Sanders is the ringleader, and Senators including Chris Van Hollen, Jeff Merkley, and Peter Welch are rumored to join in soon. That is a grossly misguided action that will lead to an existential danger to our strongest ally.

Notably, all of the senators working to stop Israel from receiving the weapons it needs to protect its citizens are endorsed by J Street.

Inexplicably, J Street – the group that touts itself as “pro-Israel” – is raising money for the very senators working to isolate Israel and undermine its ability to defend itself from Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, Iran’s nefarious proxies. That is most certainly not mainstream and it is not pro-Israel.

The mainstream and majority of the Democratic party – and the Republican party for that matter – are standing with Israel.

Israel is being attacked on seven fronts at once and is targeted daily in the battlefield of social media. The weapons promised to Israel by President Biden are vital for Israel safety and security. Their Congressional approval sends a clear message to Israel’s many enemies that America has its back.

A vote to block weapons to Israel also sends a message to Israel’s enemies. A dangerous one that we cannot tolerate. Through its continued support and endorsement, J Street is enabling senators who are undermining Israel’s security.

J Street recently claimed it was the “mainstream voice of Jewish and pro-Israel Americans.” It’s embrace of anti-Israel leaders who are working to weaken the U.S.-Israel relationship says otherwise.

Our community must be clear-eyed about what J Street is and reject its attempt to blur the lines between the vastly pro-Israel mainstream and the anti-Israel fringe it embraces. And most importantly, we must come together to ensure Congress rejects this dangerous effort by J Street’s champions to block arms sales to Israel. Together, we can vocalize and mobilize support and protect the state of Israel by enabling defensive and offensive measures to our most valued ally and the only democracy in the Middle East.


Colin Allred Recruits Campaign Co-Chair Who Accused Jewish State of Dealing 'In the Apartheid Business'
Rep. Colin Allred (D., Texas), who is looking to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz (R.), recruited an Austin city councilman who sided with anti-Israel students and accused the Jewish state of apartheid to lead an initiative targeting Asian and Pacific Islander voters.

Councilman Zo Qadri announced last week that he would co-chair the newly launched AAPI Texans for Colin Allred coalition. According to the Substack "Austin Texas Times," Qadri deleted anti-Israel posts from 2021 after they resurfaced in the days following Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. In the spring, he criticized police for breaking up illegal encampments protesting the Jewish state at the University of Texas at Austin.

"The state of Israel has no right to talk about human rights or human issues. Not as they slaughter folks. Not as long as they deal in the apartheid business," Qadri wrote in May 2021, as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad—both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations—launched rockets into Israel.

A day later, he criticized Israel supporters.

"Anyone who has a 'Proud supporter of Israel' in their bio or a I support the [Israel Defense Forces] or Israel banner on their pic really needs to reevaluate a lot of things," Qadri wrote.

Two days after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack last year, Qadri apologized to a constituent for his comments but said they were taken out of context.

"I regret that I didn't articulate my initial remarks with the thoughtfulness and compassion that this situation demands," Qadri wrote in an email. "The past few days have given me a lesson on the perils of social media and how impulsive statements can hurt feelings."

"I'm also reminded that posts can frequently be taken out of context and stripped of their original intent," he added.

Allred, meanwhile, already holds ties to anti-Israel groups and sentiments. His Senate campaign has raked in more than $260,000 through J Street, which frequently criticizes Israel for defending itself against Palestinian terrorism. The group has also set up a dedicated donation page for Allred and has attacked Cruz's pro-Israel policies.
Tlaib Belongs to Democratic Socialists of America – Which Endorses Murder of Jews
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) was already pretty explicit in its support for killing Jews after Oct 7. A DSA founder, Maurice Isserman, resigned after that “to protest the DSA leadership’s politically and morally bankrupt response to the horrific Hamas October 7 anti-Jewish pogrom.”

And it got worse from there.

The DSA pushed out Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for being insufficiently anti-Israel and Rep. Jamal Bowman had to beg to be let back in. Both AOC and Bowman are militantly anti-Israel so this was up there with the KKK or the Nation of Islam kicking out members for not being racist enough.

Over the summer, DSA Palestine argued that, “One could (and should) very well argue that in a settler colonial context there are no such things as ‘civilians’, but disregarding that even, it’s total folly to honestly compare settlers perpetrating pogroms to resistance groups deploying violence to liberate themselves.”

Translated from academese gibberish that meant that Jews were not legitimately civilians and that Hamas was fundamentally more justified in killing Jewish civilians than Jews were in defending themselves.

The DSA’s Marxist (literally) Red Star Caucus was even more blunt with a post headlined, “We Do Not Condemn Hamas, and Neither Should You.” The post argued that, “Hamas is at the center of the popular front for resistance, all major parties in the resistance are aligned with it, and all of our enemies (the US and Israel) are against it. There is no way to oppose Hamas—or any other element of the popular front—without standing in stark opposition to the entire resistance movement.”

Now the DSA’s National site decided to dip a toe in the terrorist pool, going beyond the usual selective bias, critiques of Israel, and hysterical attacks, while pretending that the Arab Muslim settlers who call themselves ‘Palestinians’ are just a mass of unarmed civilians.

Titled, ‘Why Palestinians Engage in Armed Struggle’, when you get past the lies and distorted history, eventually gets to the point.

“The military capacity of Gaza’s guerilla factions has demonstrated itself to be a singularly powerful force at reuniting Palestinians around the possibilities of a military path to liberation. Despite the ongoing genocide, support for armed resistance as a tactic has remained high since October 7th.”
Why Rashida Tlaib Couldn’t Take This Joke
Rashida Tlaib, meet Samuel Pennypacker.

The Michigan congresswoman is furious about an editorial cartoon poking fun at her record on Arab terrorism. She says it’s “racist.” Pennypacker, the governor of Pennsylvania in the early 1900s, had a solution to the problem of nettlesome cartoons: Ban ‘em!

Irritated by a series of caricatures in the Philadelphia North American in 1912 that portrayed him as a parrot, Governor Pennypacker promoted legislation in 1903 that outlawed the depiction of a person as “a beast, bird, fish, insect, or other inhuman animal.”

Cartoonists responded by depicting the governor in non-animal forms, including trees, turnips, and beer steins. The law was repealed four years later by Pennypacker’s successor.

The episode illustrated the power of a cartoon and helps explain why politicians sometimes respond so hysterically to them. An editorial cartoon in the New York World is believed to have played a decisive role in the 1884 presidential election. Thomas Nast’s biting cartoons in Harper’s Weekly helped bring down “Boss” Tweed, the corrupt 19th-century New York City politician. (Dispatching his goons to lean on Nast, Tweed reportedly told them, “My constituents can’t read. But they can’t help seeing them damned pictures!”) During World War One, the U.S. government regarded cartoonists as so influential that it created a Bureau of Cartoons to mobilize them in support of the war effort.

Terrorists and dictators take cartoons seriously, too. An editorial cartoon in the Baltimore Sun in 1931, challenging the lynching of a local African-American man, triggered riots by racist mobs outside the Sun’s offices. Islamist terrorists angry over a cartoon massacred twelve staffers at the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015.


Johannesburg proposes to rename iconic street after Leila Khaled
Johannesburg, South Africa has proposed the renaming of one of its iconic streets, Sandton Drive, to Leila Khaled Drive.

The proposal, submitted last week, has generated widespread discussion, with both support and opposition from various sectors of the community.

As a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Leila Khaled gained notoriety for the 1969 hijacking of TWA flight 840 and the 1970 attempt to hijack El Al flight 219. She was arrested but later released during a hostage exchange.

The U.S. Consulate is situated on Sandton Drive. The United States considers the PFLP to be a terrorist organization.

Members of the African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg believe that the renaming aligns with South Africa’s historical support for anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles across the world. The ANC has aligned itself firmly with the Palestinian cause.

Political parties such as the Democratic Alliance and ActionSA argue that Khaled’s historic involvement in terrorism makes her an inappropriate figure to honor.

They contend that renaming streets should be reserved for individuals who have made significant contributions to South Africa’s own history and development, rather than those with no direct connection to the country.

The South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) released a statement strongly opposing the proposal, claiming that it “blatantly disregards Johannesburg’s 2017 policy on naming streets and public places, which emphasizes names with local significance, fostering unity, and building a cohesive community.

“Renaming Sandton Drive after a failed terrorist with ties to a globally recognized terrorist organization not only sows division among residents but also contradicts the city’s renaming policy.”


Yisrael Medad: Addressing anti-Israel sentiment through educational reform
For example, at the University of Maryland, the basic course “Selected Topics in Israel Studies” is a study of Zionism and contemporary Israel “from the 1880s to the present.” At Berkeley, the course “History of Modern Israel: From the Emergence of Zionism to Our Time” explores “Zionism and Israel from its roots in the nineteenth century.” Over at Manchester University, the introductory course is “The History and Sociopolitics of Palestine/Israel (1882-1967).” The lecturers are almost all Jews in many scores of similar courses; many are Israelis who have abandoned their country.

This framework undermines the facts of Zionism, the chronicles of the Jewish people, and the history of the Land of Israel. Worse, it plays right into the anti-Zionist narrative, adopting the pro-Palestine voices that Zionism is but a modern phenomenon, a response to antisemitism, which was European and not Middle Eastern and, therefore, is foreign and inauthentic. Palestine 101 will win out every semester.

One response to this unfortunate reality is to create, at the first stage, a college-level course curriculum – the real thing. A description and introduction, motivating questions and topics, outline, assignments, readings, schedule and technical requirements.

The emphases should be, among others, the concept of the “Return to Zion” in Jewish sources and history; the centrality of the Land in Biblical, Talmudic and later Rabbinical writings, with references to religious, cultural and literary frames; the phenomenon of “false messiahs”; the continuum of the Jewish presence in the Land of Israel from 135-1880; as well as the charity emissaries who collected monies for the upkeep of the Jewish communities in Eretz Yisrael from Babylon to the Antilles to North America.

We cannot allow the continuation of what George Orwell described in the fifth chapter of his novel 1984: that our records be falsified, our books rewritten, dates altered: a literal “stopping of history” and the abolishing of the past. We cannot allow ourselves to be made victims of the purposeful eradication of our own footprint.

There are many Jewish foundations that could become involved. The Jewish Agency’s educational units should be a part. Yad Ben-Tzvi and the Zalman Shazar Center have readily available material. There will be a need for translations from Hebrew. There are new developments as well underway such as the George Blumenthal-sponsored website, Israel Archaeological Project documenting 3,500 years of Israelite presence in the Promised Land. As this is an intellectual effort, it really should not be that difficult.

What could be a problem is the lack of determination or elements of an inferiority complex as well as a lack of assertiveness. We need to proudly get out the truth about Jews, their national identity, and their relation with their homeland over the last 1800 years, and more.
In 1st, Israel banned from youth computer olympiad; Jerusalem: Students won’t compete as neutrals
Israel won’t be allowed to participate as a competing nation in the 2025 International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), a prestigious international competition for high school students, in the first such decision by a global tournament organizer.

The IOI General Assembly voted by a two-thirds majority to “sanction Israel for its role” in the ongoing “humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the ongoing conflict,” according to a Tuesday announcement by the IOI.

“Beginning in 2025, Israel will not be recognized as a participating delegation at IOI, but four contestants from Israel may still participate under the IOI flag,” the statement said.

In the 2024 competition, held in Alexandria, Egypt, four Israeli students participated remotely due to security concerns and won three gold medals and a bronze. The Israeli team placed second overall out of 94 participating countries and more than 350 student competitors.

Today, the Education Ministry says that Israeli students competing in the olympiad under the IOI flag is “not going to happen.”

“The Israeli team will carry the Israeli flag proudly on the way to many more victories and international achievements… The ministry is examining, in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry, decisive measures on the issue,” the statement says.
Brandeis President Ronald Liebowitz resigns after faculty no-confidence vote
Brandeis University President Ronald Liebowitz, who garnered headlines last year for taking a strong stance against antisemitism after Oct. 7, resigned on Wednesday morning following a vote of “no confidence” passed by the Brandeis faculty, according to a letter he sent to the university community.

The Tuesday faculty vote, which passed by just 10 votes, 159-149, described “a consistent pattern of damaging errors of judgment and poor leadership.”

Liebowitz’s decision to step down comes after a chaotic year for the university, marked by some controversy over his handling of anti-Israel protests, as well as more mundane matters of university management that frustrated many in the Brandeis community. The no-confidence resolution described both, according to a draft copy published in the Brandeis student newspaper earlier this month: “The results this year include badly handled budget shortfalls, failures of fundraising, excessive responses to student protests, indifference to faculty motions, and the recent damaging staff layoffs.”

Liebowitz banned the campus group Students for Justice in Palestine last November, making Brandeis the first private university to do so after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. He stood by that decision in an interview with Jewish Insider in February, despite receiving pushback from some on campus.

“One thing I’m also opinionated about is selective free speech and a university cannot take selective stances on when it’s OK to do what some might describe as hate speech — I call it gratuitous speech,” Liebowitz said at the time. “The SJP situation to me was one of those examples where they were simply being a mouthpiece [for Hamas], which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S.”

In his conversation with JI, Liebowitz also leaned into Brandeis’ history as a preeminent institution catering to Jewish students. “What drew me to Brandeis,” he said, was that the school is “both a Jewish institution and very much committed to the secular nature of its founding.”
Hochul directs CUNY to use IHRA antisemitism definition to assess bias claims
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, has called for the City University of New York (CUNY) to implement the recommendations of Judge Jonathan Lippman after more than 10 months of investigation into the school’s antisemitism and anti-discrimination policies.

“CUNY’s current policies and procedures for preventing and addressing antisemitism and discrimination need to be significantly overhauled and updated,” Lippman wrote in a report offering a range of remedies.

“Hate on campus has surged nationwide over the past year, and we needed a candid review of how best to protect our students,” Hochul said in a statement on Tuesday. “After reviewing Judge Lippman’s report, I have directed CUNY to implement his 13 recommendations, which I believe will make a significant impact in preventing and addressing future incidents.”

One of these proposals calls for CUNY to “use the principles of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a guide to help determine what may constitute antisemitism, in line with Gov. Hochul’s 2022 proclamation identifying the IHRA definition as a valuable tool.”

After describing a hate crime on campus, Lippman wrote that “of particular note, the protesters appear to have couched some of their deplorable attacks in antizionist rhetoric, which only confirms a point I make in my report—that antizionism can constitute antisemitism.”

Other proscribed actions in the report include centralizing resources to counter discrimination; overhauling reporting procedures; aiding victims in navigating investigative processes; coordinating with law enforcement to establish safety protocols; and training staff.
Bill would bar colleges from accepting money, gifts from terror-supporting countries
Colleges and universities would be barred from accepting financial support or gifts from foreign nations that support terrorism under bipartisan legislation introduced by two New York House members, who said taking such funds is “an act of national self-sabotage.”

The ban proposed by Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) and Andrew Garbarino (R-LI) would cover China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and other countries that support terrorism.

A college must first report an offer of funding from a country to the US Secretary of State for approval in order to maintain or receive government funding under the “No Foreign Gifts Act.”

“The No Foreign Gifts Act represents a crucial step toward safeguarding the integrity of our nation’s higher education system from malicious foreign influence, which has become increasingly pronounced in the aftermath of Oct. 7,” Torres said, referring to terror group Hamas’ invasion of Israel last year and the ongoing war in Gaza.

“By prohibiting gifts from countries that have supported foreign terrorist organizations, like China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, this legislation would ensure that institutions of higher learning remain free from malign financial manipulation that is corrupting the minds of America’s next generation and causing social disorder.”

Torres said allowing colleges to accept funding from America’s enemies is “an act of national self-sabotage.”

In January, he expressed outrage when a map of the Middle East posted in a Brooklyn classroom omitted Israel and called the Jewish State “Palestine.”

The Israel-less map was provided to PS 261 as part of a program funded by the Qatar Foundation International (QFI), the American wing of the Qatar Foundation, a non-profit owned by the ruling family of the wealthy Arab state.
Senate bill boosts federal penalties against schools for multiple Title VI violations
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) have introduced legislation requiring universities to more assertively counter bigotry or face stiff financial punishments for their failures.

Rubio announced the Preventing Antisemitic Harassment on Campus Act on Tuesday, calling the bill “a critical step toward ensuring that our educational institutions carry out their responsibility to protect Jewish students from hate and discrimination.”

The potential law would extend Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion, making an exception for religious organizations’ programs. It would require enforcing Title VI for antisemitic complaints to the full extent of other forms of bigotry and mandate that the Secretary of Education monitor lawsuits filed against colleges, which could include Title VI infractions.

Further provisions of the legislation set penalties for schools found with multiple Title VI violations involving antisemitism. Two infractions within a five-year period could result in a fine of 10% of a school’s federal funding. Three in five years would require a fine of “not less than 33% of the federal financial assistance received.”

Scott said that “any college or university in this nation that’s enabling antisemitism on campus and leaving students terrified for their safety must be held accountable.”


‘I already felt unwelcome’: Jewish students decline admission offers to Columbia over antisemitism concerns
Some Jewish students who applied to Columbia and Barnard wrote emails to the University turning down their spots after following the news of the last academic year, speaking to friends at Columbia, and discussing with their families.

Spectator spoke to six Jewish students who were accepted to Columbia or Barnard and declined their admissions offers, citing incidents of antisemitism and on-campus protests over the war in Gaza. Each of them said that they felt that Columbia would be unwelcoming for Jewish students.

Sarit Greenwood decided to apply to Barnard after visiting the college for a weekend during her senior year of high school. The idea of a “small women’s college” with access to Columbia’s research opportunities appealed to her, Greenwood said, and she felt that her passion for feminism and social justice aligned with the Barnard student body.

After receiving her acceptance letter, Greenwood plastered her water bottle and computer with Barnard stickers. She then moved to Israel to begin her gap year, where she hoped to learn about Jewish texts and traditions. Greenwood was in Jerusalem on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel.

During her gap year, two of Greenwood’s Jewish friends at Barnard told her not to come, she said. One of them said she had her Star of David necklace pulled off during a walk to class, and the other, who is Israeli, said her mental health had declined during the academic year. Greenwood decided to withdraw her acceptance in March.

When Greenwood saw students organize the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” in April, she said she felt validated in her decision.

“To me, the encampment was a sign of like, ‘We’re not willing to talk. We’re just going to kind of sit here until the administration gives into our demands, or until we have to be taken away by the police,’” Greenwood said. “That was upsetting to me because that’s an indication of a community that’s not willing to face these issues in a respectful dialogue.”


Tensions ignite at UCSF after doctor is accused of targeting Israeli student on social media
A UCSF doctor who singled out an Israeli student in a social media post — suggesting that he could be guilty of genocide and asking colleagues what to do about it — ignited new tensions at the San Francisco medical school on Monday.

The post on the now-deleted account prompted an alarmed response from State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and a vow of zero tolerance from UCSF’s Chancellor Sam Hawgood, who said he took “immediate action to address this situation.”

The conflict comes weeks after House Republicans announced that they were investigating allegations of “pervasive acts of antisemitic harassment and intimidation” that could cost UCSF its right to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, according to the three members of Congress who sent the school a written warning on July 31.

The new debacle erupted Sunday when Dr. Rupa Marya, an internal medicine professor at UCSF, said in a post that “med students at UCSF are concerned that a first-year student from Israel is in their class.”

Marya wrote that the students had asked their Israeli classmate “if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) before matriculating into medical school in CA.”

Marya then asked, “How do we address this in our professional ranks?”

The post lit a fire online, with more than 214,000 views, nearly 1,000 shares and hundreds of comments. While some of the responses praised Marya, many more condemned the doctor as hateful and abusive. Many commenters called on UCSF to fire her.

“This professor is creating a toxic, hostile environment at UCSF,” posted Wiener, the state senator who also is co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.

Wiener reminded readers that this wasn’t the first time Marya has been accused of posting antisemitic content and said the professor has pushed the idea that Jewish doctors harm patients.

Now, the senator said, she was “targeting a first-year med student for harassment b/c he’s Israeli.”


Lawmakers blast Meta Oversight Board’s ruling on ‘From the river to the sea’ slogan
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers blasted Meta’s Oversight Board for ruling that the phrase “From the river to the sea” does not violate the social media company’s rules against hate speech, violence and incitement.

The lawmakers noted in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that Congress voted in a bipartisan fashion to condemn the phrase — which they said is “clearly a call for the destruction of the State of Israel and serves as an antisemitic charge” — and urged the social media company to reject the Oversight Board’s decision.

“We urge Meta and the Oversight Board to reassess this decision and take swift action to ensure this phrase is not used on its platform to further antisemitic hate online,” lawmakers said. “We also call on Meta to provide further information on the steps it is taking proactively to ensure all users feel safe from hate and harassment while utilizing Meta’s products”

The lawmakers highlighted that the slogan has long been used as a rallying cry by a range of terrorist groups and leaders “to reference their goal of wiping out the State of Israel and destroying the Jewish people,” and has been used since Oct. 7 to “intimidate Jewish student and praise Hamas’ actions.”

They highlighted that Jews are facing increased harassment online and that many Jews are hiding their faith online out of fear of such harassment. The lawmakers added that “online hate begets real life violence,” adding that “increasingly early age that individuals are being radicalized on social media, before they have the knowledge or context to form informed opinions about complex subjects.”

The letter’s signatories include Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Don Davis (D-NC), Dina Titus (D-NV), Don Bacon (R-NE), Tom Kean (R-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Jim Costa (D-CA).
Guardian mourns Hezbollah's misfortune
A Sept. 18th Guardian editorial on the targeted Hezbollah pager and walkie talkie explosions is seething with contempt for Israel, whose spy agency was behind what US intelligence agents have called the most effective and audacious counter-terror operation in recent history. “This is the most impressive kinetic operation I can recall in my career,” said Marc Polymeropoulos, a retired CIA officer who served in Middle East counterterrorism roles. “The scope“, he added “was staggering.”

Of the several thousand reported Hezbollah operatives injured, only a handful of civilians were reportedly harmed. That is, wrote John Spencer, Arsen Ostrovsky and Mark Goldfeder “an extraordinary feat in modern warfare and the textbook definition of a precision and proportionate attack.”.

The pager and walkie talkie attacks were a response to Hezbollah firing more than 8,500 rockets at Israel, murdering 47 people, mostly civilians – including 12 children killed while playing football in the July Majdal Shams massacre. In the meantime, roughly 80,000 Israelis have been displaced from their homes in the north of the country as a result of these attacks – barrages of rockets fired into sovereign Israeli territory, despite Hezbollah having no territorial dispute with Jerusalem.

Finally, let’s remember that, according to multiple UN resolutions, Hezbollah’s presence in southern Lebanon is illegal, as their forces aren’t supposed to be sourth of the Litani River – about 30 km from Israel’s border.

So, how did the Guardian frame Israel’s counter-terror triumph against an Iranian proxy militia into a ‘war crime’? They effectively sided with the illegal, Iranian proxy militia, in an editorial titled “The Guardian view on Israel’s booby-trap war: illegal and unacceptable“: a global treaty came into force which “prohibited in all circumstances to use booby-traps or other devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects that are specifically designed and constructed to contain explosive material”. Has anyone told Israel and its jubilant supporters that, as Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group points out, it is a signatory to the protocol?

Has anyone told the purveyors of anti-Zionist vitriol at the Guardian about the caveat to that treaty, that, pursuant to Article 52 of the Additional Protocols to the Geneva Convention I, such acts are indeed permissible in circumstances where the objects in question are no longer used for civilian purposes.

So, given that the hand-held devices were distributed specifically to operatives of Hezbollah – which, let’s remember, is proscribed in its entirety by the UK – and were being used for communication, planning and conducting terror operations, they ceased to be considered “civilian objects” and became legitimate military targets.

The Guardian then lies again, complaining that “the pager bombs were clearly intended to target individual civilians – diplomats and politicians – who were not directly participating in hostilities“, when, in fact, as we noted, the terror group is proscribed in its entirety, meaning, according to the UK, there’s no distinction between the group’s military and political wings.


Why Isn’t NPR Telling Its Audience Exactly Who Hezbollah Is?
Approximately 80,000 residents in northern Israel have been displaced from their homes for the past 11 months, due to rocket fire by Hezbollah.

In an August 25 attack, Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones in a single day. And on July 27, an Iranian-made rocket launched by Hezbollah — an internationally-designated terrorist organization — killed 12 Israeli Druze teenagers.

But somehow none of these details made it into NPR’s September 17 article about the attack on Hezbollah last week, during which members of the group found their pagers and other devices exploding. (“Hezbollah accuses Israel as thousands hurt in unusual pager blasts.”)

Instead, NPR reporters Jane Arraf and Vincent Ni told readers that Israel’s “attack raises fears of an escalation,” and that, “Hezbollah militants have been engaged in 11 months of cross-border fighting with Israel,” whitewashing Hezbollah’s aggression.

The reporters also described Hezbollah as a “Lebanese armed group,” without noting that it is designated as a terrorist organization by the US government, and many other countries.

The article says, “the attack … comes following warnings from Israeli officials of possible military action against the Lebanese group.” But NPR’s readers are given no clue why Israel might issue such warnings.

A follow-up article on September 18 also failed to mention the 12 Druze children slain, or to relay that the US has designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, though it did accurately portray Hezbollah, and not Israel, as the aggressor in this conflict. (“Israel rigged pagers and radios to explode across Lebanon.”) It accompanied an audio piece that began with a sympathetic portrayal of the funeral of “a dozen people” that had been killed in the pager attack — without specifying if those “people” were Hezbollah members.
Multiple BBC reports promote anonymous unsubstantiated claims
The Axios report quotes “three U.S. officials” and a “former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation”. It also refers to the Al Monitor report (produced by two journalists in the US) which is based entirely on claims supposedly made by “High-level regional intelligence sources”.

In other words, BBC editors considered it appropriate to recycle and uncritically amplify second hand claims made by anonymous sources in at least five BBC News website reports and two entries on a rolling live page.

The BBC has a guidance document relating to anonymity but that is based on the presumption that the BBC itself knows the identity of its source. BBC editorial guidelines on accuracy in relation to “unnamed sources” likewise apply to BBC produced content but the same guidelines do include a section relating to “material from third parties”.
“3.3.13 Material supplied by third parties, including news providers, needs to be treated with appropriate caution, taking account of the reputation of the source.

We should normally only rely on an agency report if it can be substantiated by a BBC correspondent or if it is attributed to a reputable news agency.

We should only use other material supplied by third parties if it is credible and reliable.”

Clearly the none of the numerous BBC journalists who recycled and amplified the doubtful and unconfirmed second-hand claims from anonymous sources had bothered to first substantiate them.

Perhaps the operative word in this story is “credible”: far too many BBC journalists have demonstrated throughout the past year in particular that, regardless of the source, they consider any and every unsubstantiated claim concerning Israel’s actions to be credible and worthy of amplification, despite their supposed commitment to producing accurate and impartial “news you can trust”.
The BBC’s Al Jazeera problem on view again
Like far too many BBC journalists before them, it is clear that Howard and Moench had no intention of providing readers with the relevant background which would enable understanding of this latest story about Al Jazeera. Instead, their report focuses on promoting talking points such as “unfounded allegations”, “press freedom”, “targeting journalists” and “democratic values”.

BBC coverage of the UK media regulator’s 2022 decision to ban the Russian state media channel RT (which had already been banned by the EU) from broadcasting in the UK included analysis from the corporation’s then media editor, Amol Rajan:
“Should liberal democracies ban state propaganda? Such moves may be ineffective: RT is still available online. They may be counter-productive: Ofcom accepts retaliation against the BBC is possible. And if the West is fighting a war for liberal democracy, free speech – while not unconditional – cannot be jettisoned lightly.

Against all that must be weighed the harm of allowing lies to proliferate, and the importance of signalling control over our own public domain.”

Perhaps Mr Rajan could explain to the BBC’s funding public, its journalists and the British Consulate in Jerusalem – why “allowing lies to proliferate” (not to mention the airing an instructional video on how to damage a tank with a proximity charge) causes “harm” when coming from Russian state-backed media but apparently not when the source is the Qatari government financed outlet Al Jazeera.
HonestReporting: Ramallah, Al Jazeera, and Journalists in Gaza | HonestReporting's Gil Hoffman on i24NEWS
After the IDF raid on Al Jazeera's Ramallah office, Executive Director, Gil Hoffman speaks to ‪@i24NEWS_EN‬ to discuss this and more.




CBC Ombudsman Acknowledges Broadcaster Falling Short On Demonstrating Its Providing Balanced Reporting On Israel
CBC’s 1-Sided Anti-Israel Bias
However, since the October 7 massacres by Hamas in southern Israel, CBC has fallen far short in this regard, repeatedly and sometimes even egregiously failing to adhere to the principle of balance, and offering a variety of views. In countless cases, only vehement critics of Israel were given a platform to speak, often with no challenge or pushback whatsoever, and any opposing viewpoint is all but entirely erased.

Recent examples include an interview on CBC’s The Weekend Morning Show, when host Nadia Kidwai spent 17 minutes with an anti-Israel activist, who repeatedly demonized Israel to no challenge, and with no attempt at balance, and a recent episode on the Daybreak South radio program which featured an 11-minute segment with a guest who spread false quotes to defame Israel, and where no opposing voices were featured and no challenge was offered.

As a result, Nagler’s comments are both welcome and long overdue, recognizing that simply codifying balance in their official standards does not necessarily make CBC coverage inherently balanced.

Nagler explained his position further, saying that “when a big and highly controversial story is unfolding, the audience brings its own sensibilities to the equation. That means editors and producers should be looking for reasons to remind their audience that their coverage is balanced,” he wrote.

Nagler added that “if you have two separate interviews with people espousing diametrically opposed views, then refer back to them. If you know you’re going to interview ‘the other side’ the next hour or the next day – or even if you’re just trying to find someone to do that interview – tell your audience. Listeners will appreciate being treated like grownups if you bring them into the loop and let them know why they’re hearing just one point of view right now.”

Ombudsman’s Review An Indictment Of The CBC’s Anti-Israel Bias

Nagler’s words are an important acknowledgement, and perhaps even indictment, of CBC’s failure to properly adhere to and demonstrate the principle of balance in its reporting, particularly as it relates to the Hamas-Israel war. But an ombudsman report simply is not enough. Ultimately, more balance means just that: more CBC hosts holding their anti-Israel guests to account, more diversity of voices, including those who are not demonizers of Israel, and a varied choice of coverage that is not exclusively antagonistic towards the Jewish State.
CBC Reporter Crystal Goomansingh Features Lengthy Accusation Of “Indiscriminate” Strikes, While Completely Erasing Any Mention Of Hezbollah’s Rocket Attacks On Israel
When she was a reporter for Global News, Crystal Goomansingh repeatedly produced television broadcasts which repeatedly highlighted debunked allegations against Israel, all while overwhelmingly downplaying criticism of those claims.

During the summer, Goomansingh announced her departure from Global News, and is now working at Canada’s publicly-funded broadcaster, the CBC.

In a September 18 radio report on the exploding electronic devices belonging to Hezbollah terrorists, Goomansingh brushed aside the highly targeted nature of the strike, and instead focused on nonsensical accusations by critics.

Hearing a claim from Ben Rhodes, a former deputy national security advisor of the United States in the Obama administration, that “this is a pretty, you know, indiscriminate use of violence” is how the broadcast began, offering no opposing expert who pointed out that, in fact, specifically targeting Hezbollah electronic devices is not only decidedly not indiscriminate, but is the literal opposite, deliberately going after terrorists, and not anyone else.

Rather than quoting actual bona fide experts in urban warfare who have remarked upon the extraordinarily “targeted” and “precise” strike on Hezbollah, Goomansingh provided absolutely no balance for listeners whatsoever, choosing to platform a baseless and asinine comment instead.

The two-minute report with Rhodes complaining about the lack of “consequences” for Israel following the strike, and Goomansingh, paraphrasing him, because US President Joe Biden has allegedly “been reluctant to use any leverage” against Israel.

Most Precise Counter-Terrorism Strike In History Is Not Indiscriminate

These comments are truly extraordinary. In the aftermath of what is among the most targeted counter-terrorism strikes seen in recent memory or likely, in modern history, overwhelmingly hitting legitimate Hezbollah targets, CBC listeners were told literally none of that, but instead heard from a commentator ludicrously accusing Israel of indiscriminate warfare.

Not only was not a word uttered by Goomansingh about the highly targeted nature of the counter-terrorism strike, but nothing was said about Hezbollah’s nearly year-long unprovoked and truly indiscriminate rocket attacks against northern Israel, which have forced some 70,000 Israelis to flee from their homes, and which has killed and maimed dozens of Israelis, including 12 Druze children who were murdered while playing soccer.

Instead, the report ended with Goomansingh telling listeners that there are “fears the violence will escalate.” Indefensibly, with no mention whatsoever of the thousands of Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages, necessitating the counter-terrorism strike against Hezbollah terrorists, the overwhelming impression that the public was left with was a seemingly random, unprovoked attack by Israel on otherwise seemingly innocent people in Lebanon.
CBC Reporter Sara Jabakhanji, Who Signed Infamous 2021 Anti-Israel Open Letter, Whitewashes Hamas Presence In Gaza
In 2021, Sara Jabakhanji was among the signatories of an open letter, “An open letter to Canadian newsrooms on covering Israel-Palestine,” which called for more pro-Palestinian content to be disseminated in the Canadian news media.

By any reasonable standard, by signing that letter, Jabakhanji had publicly identified herself as someone whose reporting on Israel could not be trusted as being fair or balanced, and indeed, shortly after the letter was published, CBC stated that those reporters who signed their names would not be able to report on Israel for the foreseeable future.

That policy was short-lived, and soon enough, Jabakhanji was back at it, reporting on Israel for Canada’s publicly-funded broadcaster.

And now, Jabakhanji is back with her second report on Israel in as many days entitled: “This 11-year-old does gymnastics atop the rubble of Gaza as the war rages on.” published September 19.

Jabakhanji Engaged In Anti-Israel Activism
Even a reader unaware of Jabakhanji’s checkered history would immediately recognize the inherent anti-Israel bias in her article.

The report, profiling an 11-year-old Gazan boy and parkour enthusiast whose hobby has been upended as a result of the Hamas-Israel war.

While human interest stories are a reasonable element of journalism, Jabakhanji’s article is patently ridiculous.

Coming only one day after a virtually identical article profiling a Gazan man who received a prosthetic leg as a result of the war, Jabakhanji provided coverage to the emotional story of one Gazan child, all while casually brushing past both the causes of the current war, and the reasons for its tragic continuation.

The reason for the war’s genesis is hardly complex: it is due to Hamas’ genocidal October 7 massacres in southern Israel, and the war has continued since because Hamas continues to hold more than 100 Israeli hostages.


Israel said to return 88 bodies to Gaza, Hamas health officials refuse to bury them
Israel on Wednesday reportedly returned the bodies of 88 Palestinians killed in its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry refused to bury unless Israel discloses details about who they are and where they were killed.

The bodies were brought into Gaza in a container loaded on a truck through an Israeli-controlled crossing, but, according to Palestinian officials, there was no information provided about the names or ages of the victims or the locations where they died.

Health officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis refused to receive them and bury them, urging the International Committee of the Red Cross to seek details from Israel.

“The health ministry halted the procedures to receive the container (carrying the bodies) until the completion of the full data and information about those bodies so their relatives can identify them,” the Gazan ministry said in a statement.

The head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said health ministry officials told the driver of the truck to bring the bodies back to the Israeli crossing from which he had arrived. The truck then left the hospital.

“They must act according to the international humanitarian law and in a way that preserves the dignity of the martyrs and their families,” Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters.

The Red Cross said it wasn’t involved in the transfer process.

“We reiterate that all families have the right to receive news about their loved ones and bury them respectfully and in line with their traditions,” said a statement issued by the ICRC.

Under international humanitarian law, the bodies of those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity. The law requires that they be searched for, collected, and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.
PMW: Hamas merchants of war steal and sell humanitarian aid, PA TV reporter in Gaza, PA editorial criticism PATV
While Israel continues to let humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, members of the terror organization Hamas continue to steal it in order to both resupply for their terror war, and also to sell the free aid at exorbitant prices to civilians in need and exploit them.

Official PA TV's journalist in the Strip reported that the aid convoys are being "robbed" by "the merchants of war," who then "sell it in the market at very high prices": Official PA TV reporter in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza: "Many aid convoys are suffering from acts of piracy. There are robbers armed with firearms who steal the aid before it reaches the needy, and they take control of it… The merchants of war (i.e., Hamas) are taking the aid and selling it in the market at very high prices, even though it is written on them that they are aid supplies not designated for sale."

[Official PA TV, Sept. 18, 2024]

In July, the Palestinian Authority celebrated its unity deal with Hamas – a dream come true for the PA. But at the same time, the PA is frustrated with its "partner." Throughout Hamas' war against Israel, the PA has on the one hand wooed Hamas for partnership and applauded the terror organization for its massacre and murder of over 1,100 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. But the PA has also criticized it for looking out for its own and Iran's interests, thereby ignoring the welfare of Gazan civilians, as Palestinian Media Watch has documented.

And despite the unity deal, the PA's frustration has continued. When Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed and Hamas appointed Yahya Al-Sinwar as its new Political Bureau chairman, an editorial in the official PA daily strongly criticized Al-Sinwar and Hamas for only having their own interests at heart and not "the Gaza Strip with its residents, homes, structures, streets, schools, and hospitals":
PMW: Tel Aviv suicide bomber’s farewell: “My bones will become shrapnel and blow up the thieving Zionist Jews”
Before setting out to blow himself up in Tel Aviv last month, in an attack in which fortunately only one Israeli was wounded, Hamas suicide bomber Jaafar Muna recorded a farewell video. Standing in front of a Hamas flag and a Palestinian flag, terrorist Muna addressed Israelis directly, promising them "a cruel death" and to "drink the Zionists' blood."

Terrorist Muna also spoke about the honor of having been "chosen by Allah" for the suicide mission, and described "how beautiful it will be when my bones become shrapnel that will blow up the thieving Zionist Jews." Muna saw his terror attack as a "defense of the oppressed Muslims" in the Gaza Strip, for whom he was prepared to "let his blood flow in the path of Allah."

Muna further urged Palestinians "in the West Bank of [Hamas bomb maker Yahya] Ayyash" to "rise up and raid your enemies," and "follow the path of the Jihad fighters" – which is a "duty" for Allah:
Hamas suicide bomber Jaafar Muna: "Praise Allah Who supports the believers and humiliates the Zionist Jews… I am Jihad fighter, Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades member, living Martyr, Allah willing, Jaafar Saad Sa'id Muna. I bless Allah Who honored me and chose me at this occasion to be the striking hand of the Jihad fighters, and that I will defend the oppressed Muslims in the Gaza Strip with my blood and organs… How beautiful it will be when my bones become shrapnel that will blow up the thieving Zionist Jews. And how beautiful it will be when my blood flows on the path of Allah for the Gaza Strip… To my brothers… the Jihad fighters in the West Bank of [Yahya] Ayyash (i.e., Hamas bomb maker): Get up, rise up, and follow the path of the Jihad fighters… Rise up and raid your enemies… To the occupying Zionists: …You have lit a fire that will not go out until we push you from our land… We are preparing a cruel death for you. The fire that you lit will burn you… Today I will kill you, Allah willing, when I carry my soul in my palm,after dozens of Jihad fighters and Martyrdom-seekers who trained themselves, prepared their explosives, and prepared their rifles while desiring to meet their Lord after carrying out the duty of Jihad for Him… By Allah we will drink the Zionists' blood in revenge for the blood of our Martyr [Ismail Haniyeh] that you drank…This is Jihad, victory or Martyrdom – the Martyr Izz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades."

Posted text: "#Watch: The last will of [Izz A-Din] Al-Qassam [Brigades] member Martyrdom-seeker Jaafar Saad Muna (i.e., suicide bomber, wounded 1), who ascended to Heaven while carrying out a Martyrdom-seeking operation in ‘Tel Aviv' on Aug. 18, 2024

#Al-Aqsa_Flood"

[Hamas, Telegram channel, Sept. 19, 2024]


Las Vegas Festival Drops Macklemore, Seattle Sports Teams Evaluate Ties to Rapper After He Says ‘F–k America’
Organizers of an inaugural music, art, and culinary festival that will take place in downtown Las Vegas in November said on Tuesday that Grammy-winning rapper Macklemore will no longer be one of the event’s headliners “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

Organizers of the Neon City Festival made the announcement in an Instagram post after Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, shouted “F—k America!” during his performance at the Palestine Will Love Forever Festival in Seattle on Sunday. His comment garnered massive applause from the audience, and the Seattle-based rapper also told the crowd gathered in Seward Park Amphitheater that Israel has been committing “a genocide since 1948,” a reference to the year the state of Israel was established.

All proceeds from the pro-Palestinian event will be given to various groups, including the controversial United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which faced allegations that several of its employees participated in the Oct. 7 deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel.

The Neon City Festival will run free for all ages from Nov. 22-24. Macklemore was one of the festival’s headlining acts when they were first announced by organizers on Friday. They include the rock band Neon Trees, Australian DJ Alison Wonderland, DJ Seven Lions, and country artist Russell Dickerson. The festival’s full lineup will be announced this week.

Organizers of the festival made the announcement about the cancellation of Macklemore’s performance a day after two Seattle-based sports teams issued a joint statement distancing themselves from the rapper. Macklemore is a part owner of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC. Both teams released a joint statement on Monday about Macklemore’s comments over the weekend.

“We believe that sports bring people together and unite us. We are aware of Macklemore’s increasingly divisive comments, and they do not reflect the values of our respective ownership groups, leagues, or organizations. We are currently evaluating our collective options on this matter,” the teams said.
Texas ‘Goyim Defense League’ member charged with threatening to lynch Nashville district attorney
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee charged David Aaron Bloyed, of Frost, Texas, on Friday with threatening to lynch Glenn Funk, the district attorney in Nashville, Tenn.

The 59-year-old, who is a member of the antisemitic Goyim Defense League, faces up to five years in prison, per the Justice Department.

Members of the GDL protested in downtown Nashville on July 14, as part of a “name the nose” tour, per the complaint. It adds that a member of the antisemitic group was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after hitting an employee at a bar with a metal flagpole bearing a swastika flag.

Bloyed posted nearly the same threats against the Nashville prosecutor as were expressed in posts from social-media handles known to be tied to the Goyim Defense League, according to the 12-page complaint. The posts also included references to killing Nashville Jews.

When the FBI subpoenaed information from Bloyed’s social media account, it learned that his account identified “the Jews” as among his enemies. “It’s the Jews,” he repeated a second time in his list of enemies, per the complaint.

“In a functioning democracy, we simply cannot tolerate threats of violence against elected officials,” stated Henry Leventis, U.S. attorney for the middle district of Tennessee.


House passes bipartisan bill to review Weitzman joining Smithsonian
In a voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives approved H.R. 7764, legislation that creates a private committee to advise Congress on potentially transferring the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution.

Following the law’s passage on Monday, Phil Darivoff, trustee and chair emeritus of the Weitzman, praised the bipartisan support with nearly 100 co-sponsors, saying it demonstrated “to all Americans the significant role that Jewish Americans have played in our nation and how critical it is to teach these stories to counter antisemitism, bigotry and hate.”

Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) and Max Miller (R-Ohio) had introduced the bill.

“Educating all Americans, from all over the country, about these amazing Jewish impacts on our nation’s history, not only raises awareness but helps dispel harmful prejudices about our community,” Wasserman Schultz said. “This powerful institutional integration signals a strong commitment to address the dramatic rise in antisemitism.”

Turner said that “by bringing this museum and its collections into the Smithsonian, Congress will ensure that the story of Jewish Americans is shared with the widest possible audience.”
Mayim Bialik's passionate defense of Israelis
American actress and author Mayim Bialik, renowned for her role as Amy in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" has posted a solidarity post with Israeli citizens on her Instagram account following Hezbollah's heavy rocket barrages on Israel recently, resulting in a direct hit in the city of Kiryat Bialik, among others.

"You may have seen that Iran-backed Hezbollah hit Kiryat Bialik this weekend," she wrote. "Thousands of rockets have been fired upon Israel by Hezbollah over the last year, and the situation in the north is intensifying in terrifying ways," she continued.

The similarity between the city's name and the actress's last name is not a coincidence, as she mentions in her post: "Kiryat Bialik is named after my great-great-grandfather's first cousin, Chaim Nachman Bialik, the poet laureate of Israel. He was a Zionist visionary, a gifted poet, and a lover of Israel."

She concluded her post, which has so far received almost 34K likes, by expressing her support, saying "My heart is with all the innocent citizens of Kiryat Bialik."

Bialik, very open about her Jewish origin and connection to Israel, has been outspoken on social media ever since the deadly Hamas attack on Oct. 7. In addition to constantly advocating for the release of the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, she partnered with other Israel advocates like Noa Tishby to raise awareness and provide information about Oct. 7 testimonials, the Israel-Hamas war, and rising antisemitism. This comes at a time when many in the industry are silent or express anti-Israel messages.


Patricia Heaton urges non-Jews to support Israel by putting up mezuzahs
Patricia Heaton, a non-Jewish actress perhaps best known for her role in “Everybody Loves Raymond,” has emerged as a prominent pro-Israel voice since the Hamas terrorists attacks on Oct. 7.

But a suggestion on social media on Monday—for non-Jews to show solidarity with Jews and Israel by hanging mezuzahs on their doorposts—is drawing both smiles and frowns, and certainly, curiosity.

“As we head toward the one-year anniversary of Oct. 7, I ask that you please join me in the ‘Myzuzah Yourzuzah’ campaign to show solidarity with your Jewish friends and neighbors, fight antisemitism and bless your household,” she posted.

A resident of Nashville and the founder of the October 7th Coalition, Heaton recommended that followers purchase a mezuzah and post a video of themselves putting it up. “I’ll be liking and sharing videos throughout the campaign,” she wrote. “Let’s show our Jewish friends we stand with them!”

Actress Kathie Lee Gifford (née Epstein) was among those who did so, even though she has had one on her Tennessee home for a long time.

An official Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry account responded to Heaton’s post: “We are lucky to have you” and “We love this so much.”

“As antisemitism reaches unprecedented levels, thank you, Patricia Heaton, for standing in solidarity with the Jewish people,” it said.

“You are the definition of a righteous gentile,” wrote John Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine. “Thank you, Patricia Heaton.”

Michael Dickson, the executive director of StandWithUs, wrote that “this is some serious love, allyship and solidarity,” and “may the mezuzah protect your home and your loved ones.”




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