Sunday, September 29, 2024

09/29 Links: Israel Rises; Oct. 7 Taught Israel that Only Victory Brings Security; Dara Horn: Harvard's Antisemitism Begins in the Classroom

From Ian:

Oct. 7 Taught Israel that Only Victory Brings Security
In recent years, Israel tried nearly everything to avoid a large-scale confrontation with its enemies. Billions of shekels were funneled into Gaza in a bid to pacify the terrorist group; thousands of Gazans were allowed to work inside Israel; and trade restrictions were eased. Military operations were narrow and carefully restrained to avoid a wider escalation.

Yet, as the events of Oct. 7 showed, when a terrorist organization is driven by a deep-seated desire for your annihilation, no amount of money, economic opportunities, or limited military action will suffice. Hamas's mission was the destruction of Israel. Nothing else mattered to its leaders. This reality must guide Israel's response to calls for it to pause its strikes against Hizbullah.

Stopping the fight now would only ensure another war within a few years. We know this because every war with Iran's proxies over the last 25 years has always just been the precursor for the next. We reach a ceasefire, pass UN resolutions, and convince ourselves that this time it will work. But it never does.

Hizbullah must be weakened to the point that it can no longer pose a serious threat to Israel - neither with rockets nor with cross-border raids. Victory is the only path to long-term security.
Telegraph Editorial: The IDF Is the Most Formidable Fighting Force on Earth
First Hamas, now Hizbullah: in a matter of months, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has decapitated the two most powerful terrorist organizations in the world. Rather than rejoice, however, the West has offered at best lukewarm support, at worst ostracism and obstruction.

Once again, Israel has transformed defeat into victory. Iran, which is responsible for unleashing the present conflict, has suffered a strategic defeat. And Israel-haters everywhere have been reminded that those who attack the Jewish people will not escape unscathed.

Israel has ignored the hostile global consensus and carried on exercising its right to self-defense. It has routed two terror organizations which between them had more men under arms and bigger arsenals than many sovereign states.

Whether judged by military prowess or humanitarian scruples, the IDF is the most formidable fighting force on earth. Rather than preaching to the Israelis, we in the West should admire their daring, emulate their creativity, and learn from their example. Like any nation state, Israel is not perfect, but it has survived and flourished in a dangerous region by its own efforts.
WSJ Editorial: Israel Sends Nasrallah to His Just Reward
The press is predictably describing Israel's strike against Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah as "escalatory." It isn't.

The escalation started against Israel last Oct. 7 with Hamas's massacre, followed a day later by rockets fired by Hizbullah that haven't stopped.

The strike against Nasrallah was a justified defense against the leader of an Iran-backed terrorist proxy waging war against Israel.

By degrading Iran's front-line proxy in Lebanon, Israel has substantially weakened its enemies.

Israel's experience in the last year is a lesson to the West about the cost of failed deterrence and what is required to restore it.


John Podhoretz: Israel Rises
Just one month ago, Israel had plunged into a despair deeper than it had experienced at any time after October 7 when the nation learned that six hostages, including the Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, had been murdered just minutes before they might have been rescued. Throughout Israel and the Jewish world, even some hawks found themselves all but ready to give up the fight because the continued plight of the hostages had just become too great to bear. A ceasefire was needed. Bring them home now.

The problem wasn’t an Israeli unwillingness to achieve a ceasefire. The Netanyahu government and its negotiators accepted general ceasefire terms at multiple moments over the summer. Rather it was Hamas that would not proffer any kind of hostage return that even the United States, which wanted the ceasefire desperately, could view as minimally acceptable. But Israelis and Jews around the world had, without even knowing it really, been surviving on a kind of desperate optimism that things were really going to work out in a movie-ending sort of way. The loss of that optimism was soul-crushing and once again threatened to turn Israel inside out against itself even as the war was not won.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah was firing rockets, killing Druze children, and keeping the North depopulated. Israeli military leaders and Israelis have long known they would not be spared from directly engaging in this war on the northern border. But a country in mourning and a Jewish people worldwide overwhelmed by a degree of open hostility toward us most of us had never known could hardly bear the thought of that second front. Not to mention Yemen. Not to mention Iran.

Which is why September 2024 may go down in the annals of Jewish history as the time our people looked despair in the face and refused to submit to it. Israel said, through the proper democratic vehicle of the Jewish state’s duly elected government, that it would no longer hold itself back in hopes of a deal that would not emerge or tie an arm behind its back to manage a relationship with the United States when the U.S.’s position in all these matters had become all but inexplicable in its inconstancy.

The Netanyahu government acted, and with a kind of determination and confidence that has breathed new strength and a new sense of resolve into the Jewish people. Whatever the divisions and concerns and cautions inside the corridors of power about the astonishing onslaught of Israel against the Iran Axis of Evil, the fact is Israel stared into the abyss and said, “Not today. Not this week. Not this month. Not ever.”
Seth Mandel: What Israelis Deserve
Dear nations of the world complaining about Israeli self-defense actions: None of this is for you.

Israel’s security is first and foremost about Israel’s security. Yet the people who live there so often go ignored. Thankfully, Israel is a key part of the alliance of democracies and so what benefits Israel usually benefits the chirping ingrates in Western capitals too, whether they like it or not. It’s a good system.

What’s not good is that the discussion about Israel in the global press and diplomatic discourse very rarely includes the concerns of actual Israelis.

The main reason for this is that much of the world simply doesn’t care what happens to Israelis. Another reason is that the West tends to resent Israeli democracy—which means they resent the opinions of the Israeli people. Benjamin Netanyahu is the only Israeli they talk about, because they want him to just do what they want him to do already, as if he were a dictator. They did this even when Bibi was leading a unity government with rivals to his political left—who happened to be more hawkish on aspects of the war than Netanyahu, by the way.

Israel will never be governed by a single party, let alone a single person. If you want to influence Israeli politics, you will have to acknowledge the existence of the actual people who live there.

Go ahead, take a look at them. What do you notice? Here’s what I notice: They’re walking with their shoulders back and their heads up looking straight ahead again.

The Israeli people have had a difficult year. They—the people, the human beings whose fate goes unmentioned by the world—were the victims of unspeakable crimes in an attempt to wipe them out. They did not want this war, they did not start this war, but they will not lay down and die.

Their recent accomplishments—taking out the head of Hezbollah and the rest of its top leadership, doing the same to Hamas, avenging the buckets of American and Israeli blood in which those terrorists were soaked—have brought back some of their swagger. That’s a healthy thing. Because when Israelis are viewed as weak, their enemies attempt to carry out massacres like October 7, and a large chunk of the public around the world cheers on the barbarians because the babies they are killing and kidnapping are Jewish babies.
The Party's Over for Hizbullah
For almost a year, we tolerated the attacks from Hizbullah without provocation from our side. It has fired on us incessantly, causing casualties and widespread destruction. Tens of thousands of residents from quiet communities in the north have left their homes, and for a year now they have been refugees in their own country. No more. Our patience has run out.

I'm asked about the loss of innocent civilian lives. In response, I present the dilemma: a criminal is aiming a weapon at your daughter and he is hiding behind an innocent person. What do you do? Will you let your daughter die just to avoid harming an innocent bystander? For me, the answer is clear. Your family's lives come first.

Israel did something no army has done before: it warned the Lebanese to distance themselves from the homes where Hizbullah's missiles and ammunition were stored so that they wouldn't be harmed when the IDF destroyed the weapons meant to harm our children. If any Lebanese are hurt, then it is Hizbullah's fault.

I asked, what do you think will happen if Israel lays down its weapons and stops fighting? Will the Arabs be impressed by the gesture and lay down their arms too? We know exactly what will happen. Only when the Arabs lay down their weapons will there be peace; when Israel lays down its weapons, it will cease to exist.

Europe is tired of wars. But we're all in the same boat. Those who attack us hope to bring down the entire West. Those who understand this, support Israel because they are patriots of their own people.

Even today, it seems we must be a light unto the nations, showing how to fight absolute evil and not surrender to it. Perhaps our role is to awaken the West to the fact that this era of freedom in human history may come to an end if we are not willing to fight for it and pay the cost - as heavy as it may be.
Ben-Dror Yemini: Don't Interfere with Israel While It's Working
The U.S. does not wish for an escalation - but we live in the Middle East.

After nearly a year of restraint, Israel did the right thing because it cannot afford to suffer from the blindness that the Free World suffers from.

No major Western media outlet mentioned the fact that the Shiite terror organizations, like the Sunni, have declared their desire to take over the world.

In June, the head of Hizbullah's foreign relations said that "Israel is only a means to an end. The real goal is the war with America."

They mean every word. Hizbullah has been carrying out deadly terrorist attacks for over four decades.

Whoever wants peace must keep striking at Hizbullah, while threatening Iran's vulnerable oil export terminal at Khark Island.
What America Can Learn from Israel but Won’t
The Democratic Party, and its current presidential nominee, make a habit of walking out on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu—in the case of that nominee, for a sorority reunion, of all things.

They extended that habit on Sep 27 when Netanyahu addressed the United Nations, our representative to that supposedly august organization not even attending his speech.

Ironically, it was a brilliant and hard hitting talk, as was the address by the extraordinary Javier Milei, President of Argentina, one of the few allies of Israel in their fight against Islamofascism and the man I would nominate as the intellectual leader of the free world today. (Watch his speech, if you haven’t.)

Also ironically, during Netanyahu’s speech, actions were moving apace that he was well aware of but were unbeknownst to our reactionary government (I abjure the terms “liberal” and “progressive” as tired propaganda), to decimate the leadership of Hezbollah.

According to the Jerusalem Post, quoting Brig.-Gen Amichai Levine, “The operation was long-planned and reflects extraordinary collaboration with military intelligence and the Air Force.”

It certainly seemed long-planned, as did the pagers sabotage of a couple of weeks before.

Neither would have been allowed to happen if they had been run by that same reactionary, appeasing US government. (As I write this, a “statement” on behalf of Kamala Harris has been released on the assassination saying essentially the same as Biden.)

It all reminds me, as it has some other writers, of the Godfather movies with Netanyahu, in the role of Micheal Corleone, making his speech knowing that on the other side of the world the necessary work of justice is being done. (Yes, I know it’s a strained comparison, but the feeling is oddly similar.)

Netanyahu himself has been a beleaguered figure since Oct 7, blamed, fairly to a great degree, for the oversights that caused that disaster. I gather from Israeli reports that that nation’s longest-running prime minister is now in the process of redeeming himself, his popularity again on the upswing. Perhaps he can use his newfound power to fight for all of us and carry forth, even if our own country doesn’t, on the final words of his UN speech: “Enough is enough.”
UPDATE
SecDef Austin apparently got his nose out of joint because his opposite, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, didn’t give him fair warning (translation: time to talk him out of it) of the Nasrallah assassination. Makes one wonder again about the Obama-Biden-Harris crew and which side they are really on. This time, however, there’s too much popular excitement about Israel acting on behalf of the West, so, almost comically, our government rushed to the fore within hours with this report to shore up their anti-terror bona fides.
Lebanon: A country held hostage, in desperate need of liberation
As long as Hezbollah retains its weapons, it will continue to strangle Lebanon’s political life, hindering any possibility for genuine governance.

Without its weapons, Hezbollah’s political power would wane, creating space for democratic governance. Lebanon must break free from the shackles of its confessional system. A new political framework anchored in a new constitution, one grounded in civic values rather than religious identity, is essential.

The Lebanese diaspora holds immense potential to drive this transformation. Their economic and political influence, coupled with their ability to mobilize international support, could be the catalyst for change.

Figures like Baha Hariri, son of the assassinated Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, offer hope for political renewal. His deep connections in the West and vision for a united, prosperous Lebanon represent a chance to break free from the past. As JST editor-at-large Jacob Heilbrunn notes, “Rafic Hariri’s inspiring example remains the only sustainable path forward not only for Lebanon, but also for the wider Middle East.”

The solution requires both internal reforms and concerted international pressure. The United States and Europe must leverage their economic, political and diplomatic influence to dismantle Hezbollah’s military capabilities. This is not solely Lebanon’s problem; it represents a regional and global crisis. The Lebanese people, battered by decades of war, economic collapse and political paralysis, deserve a chance to rebuild their nation. They long for a Lebanon that stands once again as a beacon of tolerance, culture and peace. To achieve this, Hezbollah’s grip must be broken alongside the outdated confessional system that has crippled the country.

Dismantling Hezbollah’s arms is a critical step towards restoring Lebanon’s greatness and paving the way for a true democracy—one where citizens are united rather than divided by sectarian lines. Hezbollah’s defeat is not merely Lebanon’s victory; it is a triumph for the entire Middle East. It presents an opportunity for Lebanon to reclaim its rightful place as a symbol of culture, freedom, and peace.
Israel’s campaign to kill Nasrallah, Hezbollah and Hamas
Israel’s chief goal in Gaza is to crush Hamas, prevent it from rearming and allow other groups to take control of the rebuilding process there. If Hamas can reform or kill leaders from other groups, there is no chance to rebuild Gaza in ways that do not threaten the Jewish state. It is far from clear, however, how Israel (or the international community) can do that. The basic problem is that nobody wants to take responsibility for governing a Palestinian population, hell-bent on violent resistance and killing Jews.

To ensure Hamas cannot rearm and Iran cannot resupply weapons and technical assistance, Israel is determined to keep control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a thin barrier region between Gaza and Egypt.

There is a vile irony to that geographic term, since it means “Brotherly Love.” In this case, though, the love is between the Muslim Brotherhood, the major organization in Egypt and its offshoot in Gaza, Hamas.

What those loving brothers have done is dig dozens and dozens of smuggling tunnels from Egypt into Gaza to supply weapons, money and technical help to Hamas fighters. All of them run under the Philadelphi Corridor. The only way to block that terrorist aid, much of it from Iran, is for Israel to control the surface under which the tunnels run and slowly wipe them out. Egypt could have blocked their use and did so for a year or so after the el-Sisi regime replaced the Muslim Brotherhood (which had overthrown Mubarak), but then the Egyptians gave up. Their surrender left the job to Israel.

Hamas has said it would agree to a peace deal only if Israel relinquishes the Philadelphi Corridor and Sinwar is allowed to live (and thus continue his leadership). Neither is acceptable to any Israeli government.

Israel’s problem in Gaza now is easy to explain but nearly impossible to solve: can anyone govern the territory in ways that will limit its threat to Israel? That’s Israel’s only goal in Gaza, but it is non-negotiable.

What about Hezbollah and Lebanon? Israel’s non-negotiable goal there is to restore peace and security for its citizens in northern Israel, who have been subjected to a year of constant missile attacks. Some 60-70,000 Israelis have fled to safety, meaning the country has effectively lost sovereign control of its northern region. The immediate aim of the Netanyahu government is to make it safe for those citizens — Jewish, Arab and Druze — to return to their homes. That’s the whole point of the now-escalating attack on Hezbollah.

Why not strike an agreement, supervised by international monitors, for Hezbollah to leave its stronghold near the Israeli border and promise not to fire more missiles into Israel? Because, unfortunately, Hezbollah already made that agreement after the 2006 war. All its rockets in southern Lebanon are a direct violation of the agreement.

The United Nations did nothing to prevent it. Its observers were supposed to make sure Hezbollah did not reestablish its forces south of Lebanon’s Litani River or load up on Iranian arms. Instead, those observers and their political bosses stood by passively as Israel’s enemies blatantly violated their commitments, imported thousands of missiles and built a massive tunnel network to protect them. It is those missiles that have been fired into Israel relentlessly over the past year.

There is no way Israel will ask the UN to repeat its failures.

Israel has no way to govern southern Lebanon. It can only hope its military might can weaken Hezbollah and deter more attacks and that the region can be controlled by a new Lebanese government without Hezbollah’s influence.

The dark shadow of Iran looms over all these calculations. They have to decide whether to take major steps to support their Lebanese proxy. They have been slow to act so far. And Israel has to decide what to do about Iran’s nuclear program, which would exterminate the Jewish state.

How far the war spreads will depend on the answers from Jerusalem and Tehran.
Caroline Glick: BREAKING: Arch-Terrorist, Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah Eliminated
Top Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah is assassinated; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks the United Nations to choose between blessing and curse in the fight against Iran, and Caroline explains why Israel is winning the war.


Call Me Back: NASRALLAH DEAD, HEZBOLLAH CRIPPLED - with Nadav Eyal
To help us better understand the dramatic developments in Lebanon, Nadav Eyal joined us for an emergency episode of the podcast.

NADAV EYAL is a columnist for Yediiot. He is one of Israel’s leading journalists. Eyal has been covering Middle-Eastern and international politics for the last two decades for Israeli radio, print and television news.
Netanyahu after Nasrallah killing: ‘We are winning’
“‘If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first,'” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday night in reference to the targeted killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, invoking the Talmudic adage.

“Yesterday, the State of Israel eliminated the arch-murderer Hassan Nasrallah. We have settled accounts with someone who was responsible for the murders of countless Israelis and many nationals of other countries, including hundreds of Americans and dozens of French,” said the premier.

Nasrallah was killed on Friday evening in an Israel Defense Forces strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.

“Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist,” said Netanyahu. “He was the axis of the axes, the main engine of Iran’s axis of evil. He and his people were the architects of the plan to destroy Israel,” he added.

The terror leader’s elimination was “a necessary condition in achieving the objectives we have set: Returning the residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years,” said Netanyahu. “As long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from Hezbollah. Therefore, I gave the directive—and Nasrallah is no longer with us,” he continued.

The prime minister then pivoted to Yahya Sinwar, suggesting that the more the Hamas leader “sees that Nasrallah will not be coming to his rescue, the greater are the chances for returning our hostages.”

Netanyahu stressed that despite Israel’s “great achievements … the work has still not been completed. In the coming days, we will face significant challenges, and we will face them together.”

Nasrallah, he said, often referred to Israel as being as weak as “spider webs.”

“But instead of spider webs, he found the tendons of steel of a united and mighty nation that is determined to ensure its existence and its future. Not only has Hezbollah discovered this. The entire Middle East has discovered this,” he said.


Sa’ar to re-enter Israel’s Netanyahu-led government
New Hope Party leader Gideon Sa’ar will re-enter the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the two announced in a joint press statement on Sunday night.

“When war broke out, I immediately set about establishing a broad and stable government. I greatly appreciated it when Benny Gantz and Gideon Sa’ar joined the government and I regretted it when they left,” Netanyahu said of the wartime coalition formed on Oct. 11, 2023, in the aftermath of Hamas’s massacre in southern Israel.

“For this reason, I appreciate it that Gideon Sa’ar acceded to my request and agreed to return to the government today,” the premier added. “This move contributes to unity among us, and unity against our enemies.”

Sa’ar, who will join as a member of the Security Cabinet, noted his up-and-down ties with the premier, marked by periods in which the two maintained “a close and very good working relationship,” but also years of “political and personal rift.”

“Believe me, beloved citizens of Israel, since the morning of Saturday, October 7, this is meaningless to me,” said Sa’ar in reference to the Hamas invasion.

“In light of the current situation, and after consideration, I concluded that there is no point in me continuing to sit in the opposition, where the positions of most of its members on the subject of the war are different and even far removed from mine,” said Sa’ar.

Sa’ar’s entry into the coalition as minister-without-portfolio was unanimously approved by government ministers, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said following the official announcement.


Jared Kushner calls Nasrallah death ‘the most important day in the Middle East’ since the Abraham Accords
Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump, cheered Israel’s killing of Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah leaders — and argued Israel must be allowed to finish defeating the Iranian proxy.

Kushner, who called Nasrallah’s death “the most important day in the Middle East since the Abraham Accords breakthrough,” criticized calls from the Biden administration — which supported Israel’s right to defend itself from Hezbollah in a statement — for emphasizing a cease-fire and calls for deescalation.

“Anyone who has been calling for a ceasefire in the north is wrong. There is no going back for Israel. They cannot afford now to not finish the job and completely dismantle the arsenal that has been aimed at them. They will never get another chance,” Kushner said in a rare statement on X.

“The right move now for America would be to tell Israel to finish the job. It’s long overdue. And it’s not only Israel’s fight.”

Kushner added that Iran was immeasurably weakened by the takeout of Hezbollah leadership and no longer has an intact proxy that poses a serious threat to Israel.

“Iran is now fully exposed. The reason why their nuclear facilities have not been destroyed, despite weak air defense systems, is because Hezbollah has been a loaded gun pointed at Israel. Iran spent the last forty years building this capability as its deterrent,” Kushner wrote.

“President Trump would often say, ‘Iran has never won a war but never lost a negotiation.’ The Islamic Republic’s regime is much tougher when risking Hamas, Hezbollah, Syrian and Houthi lives than when risking their own. Their foolish efforts to assassinate President Trump and hack his campaign reek of desperation and are hardening a large coalition against them.”

He added: “With Hezbollah and Iran reeling, failing to take full advantage of this opportunity to neutralize the threat is irresponsible.”


Syrians take to the streets to celebrate Hassan Nasrallah’s death
Syrians danced in the streets of the north-western city of Idlib on Saturday to celebrate the death of Hassan Nasrallah.

As news of Israel’s strike on the headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut spread through the rebel-held city, people cheered and clapped while passing drivers honked their horns.

Guns were shot in the air as fireworks exploded in the sky in the north-western region that has been locked in conflict with president Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in 2011.

Here, Nasrallah is seen as a key ally of Assad, responsible for assisting his brutal crackdown on opponents and helping to turn the tide of the civil war in his favour.

While Hezbollah’s core motivation is to defeat Israel, Nasrallah sent thousands of soldiers to fight alongside Assad’s forces.

It was “the most beautiful day of my life,” said Ahmed al-Ali, 30, who hated Nasrallah and his foot soldiers for killing many of his friends.

Yasmine Muhammad, 30, said she felt an “overwhelming happiness that cannot be described” when she heard of Nasrallah’s death.

“I consider this revenge for the thousands of Syrians who were killed by Hezbollah, the main support of Bashar al-Assad,” she said. “Hezbollah committed the most heinous massacres against Syrians, and it also participated in the starvation and displacement of thousands of Syrians.”

Nasrallah was a “criminal… who caused pain to the Syrian people through killing, displacement, and bombing, and his standing with Bashar al-Assad,” said Ahmad Taama, 27. “He stole our dreams and ambitions. He killed many young Syrians in the prime of their lives.”

“Unfortunately, we lost everything because of Nasrallah and Assad – our home, our work, our store. Literally, everything, because of these criminals,” said Omar Ghazal, 24.

“Now I hope that the region will be more stable and better without this criminal.”


Machete-armed man with Palestinian flag wounds 31 in Germany with arson, ramming attacks
A 41-year-old Syrian national wounded 31 people, including two children who were left in critical condition, in arson attacks on Saturday in the German city of Essen, according to police and media reports from Sunday morning.

At around 5:10 p.m. on Saturday, the man set fire to a residential building on Altenessener Strasse, at the corner of Pielsticker Strasse, according to Bild. He later drove a few streets over, where he set fire to a second residence.

The fire service said that 31 people were wounded in the arson attacks, while Essen police placed the number at 30.

Tagesschau reported that people threw children from windows onto cushions on the street to escape the flames.

After setting off the fires, the man reportedly drove to Katernberger Strasse, where he rammed his car into a store before reversing and ramming into the building again.

The driver then continued to another shop on Katernberger Strasse, where he pulled out a machete and began threatening people. Nearby civilians, who threw objects in an attempt to distance the assailant, captured this component of the attack on video.

Sources told Bild that they arrested the man, who had burns on his hands, a few meters from the store. Tagesschau reported that he was known to the police before the incident.

“The crime police have taken over the investigation and are examining the connections between the incidents. The specific motives of the arrested man are also the subject of the investigation,” Essen police published in a statement.


‘Appalling’ display of support for Hezbollah
Dozens of protestors, including children, waved Hezbollah flags and carried framed photographs of the assassinated terror chief Hassan Nasrallah through the streets of Melbourne and Sydney on Sunday.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said Australian laws clearly define Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation and make it unlawful to support it.

“If our laws are to have meaning and effect they must be enforced,” said Ryvchin.

“It is appalling to see Australians publicly profess admiration for a terrorist leader who led the slaughter of civilians in Syria, including the brutalisation and starvation of Palestinians and heaped pain on his own people by waging wars on Israel despite the absence of any territorial disputes between Lebanon and Israel. This has to be investigated before evil words again become evil deeds.”

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi spoke at the protest in Sydney, with Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) President Jeremy Leibler saying it shows once again that the Greens are willing to stoop to any level to win votes, including endorsing a rally supporting Hezbollah, a listed terrorist organisation in Australia.

“We have had almost 12 months of these rallies in Australia, which have often descended into violence and antisemitism,” said Leibler.

“Unsurprisingly, the failure of any action being taken by police and government has resulted in protestors being given the green light to openly celebrate listed terrorist organisations, Hezbollah and Hamas.

“The Greens are the third largest political party in Australia, and it should send a shiver down the spine of every Australian that they are openly endorsing a rally openly supporting Hezbollah.”

A NSW Police spokesperson CCTV footage of the rally in Sydney is being reviewed, together with other information, to determine if charges will be laid.

“During the protest, police issued a number of warnings to protestors due to their conduct,” the spokesperson said.

According to reports in The Australian, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has warned he will consider cancelling the visas of anyone who incites “discord” in Australia and said, “any indication of support for a terrorist organisation is unequivocally condemned”.


Israeli fighter jets strike Houthi terror assets in Yemen
Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out dozens of airstrikes on Houthi terrorist targets in the area of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah on Sunday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement.

“In a large-scale operation, dozens of Air Force aircraft, including fighter jets, refueling and intelligence planes, under the direction of the Military Intelligence Directorate, attacked military targets of the Houthi terrorist regime in the areas of Ras Issa and Hodeidah in Yemen,” the IDF said.

“The targets included power plants and a seaport, which were used by the Houthis to transfer Iranian weapons to the region, in addition to military supplies and oil,” according to the military statement.

“The attack was carried out in response to the latest attacks carried out by the Houthi regime against the State of Israel,” it added. “the Houthis have been operating under the direction and funding of Iran, and in cooperation with Iraqi militias, in order to attack the State of Israel, undermine regional stability and disrupt global freedom of navigation.”

“‘I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till I destroyed them’ (Psalms, chapter 18, verse 38),” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement following the attack.

”I followed the attack against the Houthis from the control room of the Air Force. The message is clear—for us, no place is too far,” he added.

Unnamed senior officials in Jerusalem told Israel’s Channel 12 that the damage following the airstrikes was “enormous,” adding that it will take the Houthis “a long time” to recover from the unprecedented attack.

“The purpose of the attack is to exact a heavy price for the attacks by the Houthis. If they continue to attack Israel, the attacks will increase,” an Israeli official told the country’s Ynet outlet. “The message to Iran is that Israel can attack with tremendous power even at a distance of 2,000 kilometers [≈1,200 miles]. It can do it simultaneously in several arenas.

“Today, we attacked in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen,” the official said.

The leader of the Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, on Saturday night claimed that a surface-to-surface missile it had launched at central Israel hours earlier was timed to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to the Jewish state from the United States.

The IDF announced that the military’s aerial defense array had downed the Houthi terrorist missile “outside of the country’s borders.”


Gerald M. Steinberg: The Year after Oct. 7
The inhuman brutality of the Oct. 7 atrocities, the ongoing torture and murder of the hostages, and the exile of thousands of families from their homes will remain deeply embedded on the consciousness of the Jewish people. In addition, the grotesque displays of hypocrisy and immorality from the leaders of the world's democracies and the international community, at levels far beyond those imagined by the greatest cynics, will accompany these memories.

Once again, the Jewish people have discovered that we are alone and abandoned in a hostile and irrational world. Jews were among the founders, leaders and primary funders of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. They embraced the creation of the UN Human Rights Council, and later, the International Criminal Court, ostensibly based on the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. But these organizations and the principles they claim to advance have been systematically hijacked by Jew-haters.
Children were shot and burned alive on October 7, forensic evidence shows
Israel Police data released on Thursday revealed 27 children between the ages of 0-17 were shot and burned alive on Oct. 7, 2023.

The report described the recording of a girl at a kibbutz near the Gaza border who was on a call with the police emergency center while being held by a terrorist.

She begged the terrorist to let her go, saying she was just a child and had school the next day. The terrorist shot her to death. Her burnt remains were later located.

The evidence was gathered from CCTV cameras, testimonies from hostages and ZAKA volunteers, Hamas terrorists' body cameras, and social media posts.

"That children were burned, shot and murdered alongside their parents is a proven fact. Children witnessed their parents being murdered and we found a scene with a pile of bodies from the same family more than once," said Commander Dudi Katz, cyber unit chief of the Israel Police special investigations unit Lahav 433.

Katz described a photograph of a baby who was murdered alongside her father who tried to protect his family.

Another case was the tragic story of the Taasa family from Netiv HaAsara where the father, Gil, threw himself on a grenade that terrorists had tossed into their home to save his children.

In a video, "We identified a child around six or seven years old whose body was burnt, but his face remained intact. His glazed expression indicated that he had been burned alive," Katz recounted.
Movie Review - "Surviving October 7th: We Will Dance Again""Surviving October 7th: We
Will Dance Again" (BBC Two) is pieced together from footage recorded by Hamas killers and their prey.

"It's like seeing a horror movie with your own eyes," remembers one survivor. Except that they're the ones filming the horror.

"I'm filming so that I believe it myself," says one teenage boy.

The most chilling clip was caught by a student who hid in a bunker crammed with nearly naked corpses, all murdered by Kalashnikov.

The image is over in a blink, but that split-second collapses the distance between the Nova Festival and Auschwitz.

The subject of Yariv Mozer's blistering documentary is terror: raw, pure, uncut, as it happened and as it is traumatically relived by those who saw and felt it.


FDD: Israel's Strike on Hezbollah HQ | FDD SITREP with Jonathan Conricus, Jon Schanzer & David Daoud
FDD is tracking a potential major development in Israel’s multi-front war against Iran-backed terrorists with reports of a potential strike against Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah leaders.

Since October 8, 2023, Iran's most pampered and lethal proxy, Hezbollah, has launched, without prior provocation, thousands of rockets at Israel from Lebanon. For months, hundreds of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians alike have been displaced from their homes.

The U.S. has been holding Israel back from striking hard blows to Hezbollah, and Israel is now paying a steep price. With another war front opened in Israel's north, all eyes are turning to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran for what might come next.

So, what lies ahead? How long might it realistically take for Israel to neutralize — or dismantle — this longstanding terror threat? Will the United States pivot its approach and support Israel's efforts to enforce its sovereignty?


Mark Dubowitz on Israel's strategy to defeat Hezbollah — Fox News

Jonathan Conricus on Israel targeting Nasrallah in Beirut strike — CNN International

Jonathan Schanzer on the confirmed death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah -- Fox News

Uncertain Things PodCast: The Decapitation of Hezbollah and the Fall of Rome (w/ Eli Lake)
The indispensable Eli Lake — contributing editor at Commentary Magazine and staff writer and podcaster at The Free Press — returns to the pod to mark the destruction of mass murderer and DSA heartthrob Hasan Nasrallah along with the top brass of his terror gang in Beirut this weekend. This leads to a discussion about the nature of warfare and the importance of escalation, the inanity of American media, and also what the decline of norms in the Roman Republic portends for the future of the American experiment. Si vult pacem, face bellum?

On the agenda:
-Bad week for the axis of assholes
-The deescalation trap
-Eli and Mehdi Hasan
-Muh norms


FOREIGN PODICY | Two Fronts in The War Against the West
America and other free nations are threatened by enemies – an axis of tyrants, of aggressors, of authoritarians, of revanchists – all those terms are apt. But the response of Western leaders continues to be woefully inadequate.

The most imminently endangered democratic societies: Ukraine and Israel.

Host Cliff May discusses with Bernard Henri-Lévy and Oleksandra Matviichuk


Dr. Daniel Pipes on the growing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah
http://RebelNewsPlus.com | 'I would imagine there's a lot of disconcerting in the circles of Hezbollah and the Iranian Islamic Republic as to what to do next, go full force against Israel or not,' Dr. Pipes told Ezra.


Kemi Badenoch 'congratulates' Israel on strikes killing Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah saying Benjamin Netanyahu is showing 'moral clarity' and 'creating peace in the Middle East'
Kemi Badenoch today 'congratulated' Israel on strikes killing Hezbollah's leader saying Benjamin Netanyahu was showing 'moral clarity'.

The Tory leader hopeful said the attacks were 'extraordinary', insisting that wiping out the terrorist leader would help 'create peace' in the Middle East.

The comments came as the situation in the region remained on a knife-edge, with Houthi rebels claim they fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv airport as Mr Netanyahu was landing back in Israel.

Netanyahu was swift to shrug off the near-miss with an address to the nation shortly afterwards in which he justified Israel's actions and said they had 'settled the score' with the death of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, a man he described as 'the arch murderer'.

He also remained unrepentant after a series of IDF strikes on Friday and yesterday left Beirut a smouldering city and said Israel will 'continue to strike our enemies' while continuing to press for the release of the more than 100 hostages remaining in Gaza.

Warning there would be more to come, Netanyahu defiantly said: 'There is no place in Iran nor the Middle East where the long arm of Israel cannot reach.'

His comments came as air raid sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday afternoon, including in Tel Aviv, in the aftermath of the Houthi attempt.

Large explosions were heard after a missile was fired from Yemen and intercepted, the Israeli military said.

Asked on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips what she would be saying to Israel if she were Tory leader, Ms Badenoch said: 'I would be congratulating Prime Minister Netanyahu. I think what they did was extraordinary.

'Israel is showing that it has moral clarity in dealing with its enemies and the enemies of the West as well.

'Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and I think that being able to remove the leader of Hezbollah as they did will create more peace in the Middle East.'
Kemi Badenoch: 'Israel is showing moral clarity in dealing with its enemies'
The Tory leadership candidate discussed the situation in the Middle East after Israel killed the head of Hezbollah in her appearance on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

She said: "I think what they did was extraordinary. Israel is showing that it has moral clarity in dealing with its enemies, and the enemies of the West as well."


Andrew Fox | IDF & War Crimes | Israel-Hamas War | Conversation with Shana Meyerson
Ret. Major Andrew Fox ( ‪@mrandrewfox‬ ‪) has seen his fair share of war…and urban warfare.

There are so many voices chiming in on the ramifications of Israel’s war against Hamas and the Iranian Ring of Fire, but precious few who actually have the legitimacy of firsthand experience to back them up.

Andrew Fox has not only fought in urban battles, but has also been behind the frontlines in Gaza to see exactly how the Israel Defense Forces operation is being executed and assess the legal legitimacy of their strategies and tactics.

While the ICC, ICJ, and a slew of United Nations member states accuse Israel of committing systemic war crimes, Fox has come to an entirely different conclusion.

In this LIVE conversation, Shana Meyerson of YOGAthletica and Andrew Fox examine the legitimacy of war crime charges against Israel, as well as clarifying commonly misappropriated military concepts such as proportionality, collective punishment, and genocide.

If you are a yogi or yogini who is convinced that Israel is committing genocide and Netanyahu is a war criminal, you owe it to yourself to listen to this discussion about the facts on the ground in the Middle East and how unfair double standards undermine Israel’s legitimate war on terror.


Bill Maher slams rapper Macklemore's anti-American slur in concert
Bill Maher slammed rapper Macklemore's anti-American antics as he attacked young voters for a lack of patriotism.

The comedian, 68, issued a scathing rebuke of the attitude of America's youth on his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and singled out Macklemore for leading a 'f*** America' chant at a pro-Palestine festival this week.

Maher said: 'The protests that started off as justice for Palestine have morphed into a broader kind of "America is the problem, we f****ed up the whole world' thing."

'Last weekend... when the rapper Macklemore said f*** America, everybody loved it,' he went on, branding the rapper 'talent-free.'

Maher highlighted Macklemore's anti-American chant took place in a nation where he has the freedom to do so, and drew parallels between the rapper and ironic 'Queers for Palestine' protest groups.

Speaking of the 'f*** America' chant, Maher said: 'I'm sure it was a big hit with the queers for Gaza crowd, (who are) literally advocating for a government that would imprison you or kill you for being queer.

'From the safety and security of a country that doesn't do that.'

As the talk show host pulled up a picture of Macklemore, he added: 'Yes America, where a white guy from the suburbs could become a millionaire rapper.

'Because here every person regardless of race, class or gender, has the right to be talent-free.'
New Rule: Patriotic Privilege | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)



Dara Horn: Harvard's Antisemitism Begins in the Classroom
Last fall I served on Harvard's Antisemitism Advisory Group. It went so badly that I wound up as a witness in Congress's investigation of Harvard.

No one in the advisory group argued against free speech. Students can chant "globalize the intifada" all they want.

But why is Harvard full of screaming racists?

The Harvard course catalogue and events calendar frequently feature "Palestine" and "decolonization."

But students need to dig deep to find a course or lecture mentioning that Hamas and Hizbullah are proxies of Iran, or that Israel has been fighting a multifront war against Iran for decades.

Academia doesn't seem to attract many courageous people. The tenure process encourages conformity, and students also perform to conform.

When Harvard and its academic departments are invested in the bogus story in which the villains are Jews and the heroes are federally-designated terrorist organizations, there's no incentive for anyone to disagree.


Harbu Darbu by Stilla & Nes (English subtitles)



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This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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