Sunday, October 06, 2024

10/06 Links: Inside Israel’s penetration of Hezbollah; The choice: civilisation or barbarism; Border Police officer killed, 10 wounded in terror attack

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: The choice: civilisation or barbarism
In other words, there’s simply nothing Israel can do to defend itself adequately that will gain the approval of the so-called civilised world. Simply, the west doesn’t want Israel to win. It wants to leave the Jewish state indefinitely twisting in the murderous wind.

For decades, the west said nothing while Hezbollah assembled its 150,000 rockets pointing at Israel from civilian areas of southern Lebanon, in flagrant disregard of UN resolution 1701.

It said nothing for the past 12 months as Hezbollah bombarded northern Israel with missiles every single day.

It said nothing for more than 20 years while Hamas fired hundreds of rockets from Gaza to kill Israeli civilians, forcing them to all but live in bomb shelters and their children to suffer enduring trauma.

But when Israel finally defends itself, the west suddenly finds its voice and tells it that it mustn’t do so.

Why is this? Several reasons. There’s the way left-wingers and Islamists unite in an attempt to wipe Israel off the map. There’s the endemic Jew-hatred, whose latest mutation is the wish to eradicate the collective Jew in Israel.

There’s the liberal article of faith that all conflicts can be ended through negotiation and compromise, so the notion that sometimes war may be unavoidable to defeat fanatics with non-negotiable agendas is simply never acceptable.

And there’s the destruction of the west’s moral compass under the impact of ideologies aimed at destroying its identity, values and culture.

Now we understand how the Holocaust could have happened. It’s not just that there are people who want to exterminate the Jews. They can only do so with the active connivance or indifference of the rest of the world.

October 7 presented the west with a clear choice: civilisation or barbarism. It has not chosen to defend civilisation. But as the west disintegrates under the weight of moral bankruptcy and collapse of self-belief, iron has entered the Israeli soul.

Israel made a different choice. It said never again would it allow its people to be invaded, slaughtered, raped, beheaded and burned alive. This would be the last war in which it would have to fight for its existence.

The Israelis are deeply traumatised. Their grief and anxiety are off the scale. At the same time, their spirit is unbroken. Yes, many deeply dislike Benjamin Netanyahu and there are large demonstrations aiming to get him out of office. But Israelis are remarkably united in their determination to inflict total defeat upon the enemies who want them gone.

Yet there’s more. The astonishing, heroic commitment of the young conscripts at the front derives from their belief that they aren’t just fighting for their nation and for those who were slaughtered or kidnapped on October 7, but also for all those Jews who came before them and kept the Jewish people alive despite the centuries of such slaughter.

Israel will win this terrible war — whatever the cost — because it knows what it is, loves its Jewish identity and is proud of it. As a result, it is determined to live. The opposite is true of the west that has abandoned it.
Brendan O'Neill: Jewish Lives Matter
This is an extract from Brendan O’Neill’s new book, After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel and the Crisis of Civilisation

The Battle of Cable Street is inconceivable in modern Britain. The ideas, the bravery, the plain decency required for such a street fight with fascism no longer exist. The atomising creed of identitarianism, the relentless rise of privilege policing, the cult of competitive grievance, the wariness of Zionism that so often crosses over into wariness of Jews – all of this has ensured that those 20th-century gatherings across religious lines, colour lines and identity lines to fight for a greater, human cause are unrepeatable in the modern era. These poisonous political strains have made the Battle of Cable Street feel like a distant, almost ancient event. One we can admire but not really imagine. One that the cultural establishment romanticises while being blissfully unaware that were something similar to happen today, they wouldn’t be on the side they think they would be on.

We don’t even need to use our imaginations. Since 7 October we have seen with our own eyes what would happen if there were a sequel to Cable Street. We have seen liberals and leftists march shoulder to shoulder with radical Islamists calling for further pogroms against Jews. We have seen self-styled progressives mingle with Islamists chanting about Muhammad’s violent vengeance against the Jews. We have seen bourgeois radicals chant ‘Zionist scum’ at a man in a kippah. We have seen left commentators make excuses for the bloodiest pogrom against the Jews since the Holocaust. And we have seen them say nothing when a man was given a paltry suspended sentence for threatening Jews with a knife in Golders Green in London. And when three men in the north of England were arrested on suspicion of plotting a gun attack on Jews. And when synagogues were attacked. And when Jewish schoolkids took off their blazers to dodge the attention of racists. And when anti-Semitic hate crimes in London rose by 1,350 per cent.

Is silence still violence, as they told us during the BLM protests of 2020? If so, their ‘violence’ against Jews has been deafening.

The truth is that there have been mini Cable Streets in Britain and elsewhere almost every week since 7 October. Outbreaks of anti-Semitism, the mobbing of ‘Zionist scum’, the chanting for pogroms, the racist harassment of Jews on campus. And the left that loves what happened on Cable Street 88 years ago has either turned a blind eye or taken the side of the persecutors. This is the inhumanity of identity politics. This is where that post-class, hyper- racial, privilege-obsessed ideology of the cultural establishment ends up: with a low-level war on Jews, in broad daylight.

I cycled down Cable Street shortly after Hamas’s pogrom. From virtually every lamppost there fluttered a Palestine flag. It’s a mostly Muslim area now, the Jews having left long ago, so perhaps that is understandable. And yet I couldn’t help but think how sad it is, how tragic even, that on this street where the Jews and their friends held back the tide of British fascism, there now flew the flag of the side that had just carried out a pogrom against the Jews, and not the flag of the side that suffered it.

A fightback is needed against the indifference of our elites to the difficulties facing Jewish people, and against their excuse-making for pogroms, and against their infliction on our societies of a politics of jealousy and division that they falsely call ‘progressive’. And, most importantly, against the people on our streets agitating against ‘Zionists’, which means Jews. If you see them, tell them: You shall not pass.
Phyllis Chesler: Moral Clarity as we approach October 7
We stand with the people of Israel in their existential fight for their national security against the violence of radical Islamism on multiple fronts, domestically, on their borders and across the Middle East region.

The battles Israel faces against Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian regime are just wars against the inhumanity of Islamism, militancy, and antisemitism. The barbaric terror attacks of October 7, 2023, which resulted in the slaughter of over 1,400 Israeli civilians, must never be forgotten. Israel’s efforts to dismantle and destroy Hamas are not just Israel’s fight—they are our fight as well.

We commend Israel’s courage and steadfastness in defending its state against Islamist tyranny, especially in the face of global indifference. The resilience of the Israeli people in standing firm against Hamas, Hezbollah, and jihadists is remarkable. We pray for Israel’s victory against the barrage of missiles from Iran and for an end to the belligerence of Islamist terrorists. Their belief in apocalyptic violence cannot be ignored or minimized.

As a coalition of Muslim and non-Muslim leaders, we stand with Israel’s moral clarity and support the decimation of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthi rebels, and other Islamist terror surrogates of Iran. This is the most effective strategy for ensuring Israel’s security, as well as the security of the region and the world.

The CLARITy Coalition calls on others to stand with Israel in defense of democratic values and national security. We are a global coalition founded by Muslims, ex-Muslims, academics, scholars, authors, and activists who stand for peace, democracy, liberty, and secular governance and who are deeply concerned by the continuing threat posed to these values by the actions and demands of Islamists in various places around the world.

Do I think this blessed, interfaith community constitutes an active Resistance movement capable of bringing Iran down militarily? Obviously not. But they are the bearers of the ideas that will inspire others to try and do so.

Most of all, given the utter, almost surreal viciousness of the pro-Hamas groups who are planning to "flood" American cities, including my own on October 7th--in order to celebrate the barbaric pogrom that took place a year ago in Israel--and in their minds, to continue to instigate terror and foment civil chaos--the Clarity Coalition statement is especially principled and consitutes a brave and necessary next step.


Mossad’s pager operation: Inside Israel’s penetration of Hezbollah
In the initial sales pitch to Hezbollah two years ago, the new line of Apollo pagers seemed precisely suited to the needs of a militia group with a sprawling network of fighters and a hard-earned reputation for paranoia.

The AR924 pager was slightly bulky but rugged, built to survive battlefield conditions. It boasted a waterproof Taiwanese design and an oversized battery that could operate for months without charging. Best of all, there was no risk that the pagers could ever be tracked by Israel’s intelligence services. Hezbollah’s leaders were so impressed they bought 5,000 of them and began handing them out to mid-level fighters and support personnel in February.

None of the users suspected they were wearing an ingeniously crafted Israeli bomb. And even after thousands of the devices exploded in Lebanon and Syria, few appreciated the pagers’ most sinister feature: a two-step de-encryption procedure that ensured most users would be holding the pager with both hands when it detonated.

As many as 3,000 Hezbollah officers and members — most of them rear-echelon figures — were killed or maimed, along with an unknown number of civilians, according to Israeli, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials, when Israel’s Mossad intelligence service triggered the devices remotely on Sept. 17.

As an act of spy craft, it is without parallel, one of the most successful and inventive penetrations of an enemy by an intelligence service in recent history. But key details of the operation — including how it was planned and carried out, and the controversy it engendered within Israel’s security establishment and among allies — are only now coming to light.

This account, including numerous new details about the operation, was pieced together from interviews with Israeli, Arab and U.S. security officials, politicians and diplomats briefed on the events, as well as Lebanese officials and people close to Hezbollah. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence. They describe a years-long plan that originated at Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv and ultimately involved a cast of operatives and unwitting accomplices in multiple countries. The Washington Post account reveals how the attack not only devastated Hezbollah’s leadership ranks but also emboldened Israel to target and kill Hezbollah’s top leader, Hasan Nasrallah, raising the risk of a wider Middle East war.
Eyewitness to Catastrophe
REVIEW: ‘The Gates of Gaza: A Story of Betrayal, Survival, and Hope in Israel’s Borderlands’ by Amir Tibon

One year into the war thrust upon Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 slaughter, several books are now hitting the market. None have been more anticipated than the one by Haaretz journalist Amir Tibon.

Tibon, a talented journalist who spent several years in Washington writing for Israel’s newspaper of record, experienced 10/7 in ways few others did. He was pinned down with his wife and two daughters in the safe room of his home in Nahal Oz, a kibbutz adjacent to the Gaza Strip. Hamas fighters prowled the area for victims that day, killing 1,200 and kidnapping 245.

Thankfully, Tibon’s story has a happy ending: He and his family were saved by the author’s father, Noam Tibon, a retired general in the Israel Defense Forces, along with a handful of brave active-duty soldiers who valiantly confronted the well-armed terrorists who swarmed southern Israel on that fateful day.

Tibon’s gripping account of 10/7 draws upon his memory, as well as accounts from his neighbors and friends from Nahal Oz. They all endured a hell they will not soon forget. Sadly, some are still living that hell as they mourn murdered family and friends or anxiously wait to learn the fate of loved ones still held by Hamas in Gaza. Tibon’s telling of their stories is both chilling and authoritative.

The Gates of Gaza, however, is about more than the Hamas assault. The author expertly weaves in the history of the kibbutz, the history of Hamas violence, and even the current politics of Israel.

As it happened, Nahal Oz was set to celebrate its 70th anniversary on the night of Oct. 7. First established in 1953, Nahal Oz was built by fervent Zionists who endured back-breaking agricultural work to build a community on Israel’s borderlands. Their success was a strategic imperative. It signaled to the Arab world that Israel would not cower, even amid attacks from fedayeen (irregular fighters) from Gaza. Indeed, the military order to create the kibbutz was issued by none other than Moshe Dayan, whose iconic eyepatch and mischievous smile only amplified the country’s fascination with his cunning on the battlefield.

Over time, the community flourished. But with the Hamas terrorist group entrenched across the border, it was a rollercoaster. A watershed was the spring of 2001. As Tibon notes, that was when "Hamas had found a way to overcome the obstacle of the border fence." Subsequent waves of crude but dangerous projectiles necessitated the building of "safe rooms" in homes throughout Nahal Oz. (Tibon’s safe room, made of thick concrete, a strong a door, and a steel plate to cover the window, was what enabled Tibon and his family to survive on Oct. 7.)
Gil Troy: Zionism After October 7
To those who believe that “nationalism” is a dirty word, or that it belongs only to the Right, great liberal nationalists like Isaiah Berlin, Ruth Gavison, and Yuli Tamir push back. Their Zionisms express what Golda Meir in her 1958 UN speech celebrating Israel’s 10th anniversary called “a nationalism which is constructive and wholesome” — or what President Isaac Herzog in 2022 called “Responsibility Zionism.”

And for those who need shoring up as anti-Zionists try to perpetuate their “historicide” seeking to kill our story, deny our rights, and negate our ties to the land, almost every text resists. Rav Abraham Isaac Kook emphasizes Jews’ “organic” ties to Israel. The legendary leftist writer A.B. Yehoshua beautifully defined a Zionist in 2017 as someone who understands “that the State of Israel doesn’t belong solely to its citizens, but to the entire Jewish people.” The Canadian human rights activist Irwin Cotler affirms that the Jews are the Middle East’s original aboriginal people, “a prototypical First nation or indigenous people,” practicing Judaism, which is “a prototypical indigenous religion, the first of the Abrahamic religions.” And the religious peace activist Leah Shakdiel loves “annoying” her “secular Israeli friends” by telling them “that if they do not see themselves as Jews,” only then do they become “imperialists, colonialists, who have no business being here.” We, they, are in Israel, because of the Jewish ties to this particular Jewish homeland.

The Tunisian-born anti-colonialist writer Albert Memmi helped build the ideological structure now weaponized against the Jewish state. But Memmi knew the truth. What we now call “Mizrachi Jews” were doubly oppressed — by European colonialists and their neighboring Arab tormentors. Zionists, therefore, were Jews and non-Jews, “who having found that the Jewish situation is a situation of oppression” in prestate times under the Ottomans then the British, recognize “the reconstruction of a Jewish state as legitimate,” so Jews can be free and liberated too.

Still, Professor Ruth Wisse warned in 2007 in “Jews and Power” that the real “Jewish problem” is “the problem of nations that blamed their dysfunction on the Jews.” In a world that was ugly then, and is uglier now, the Jews’ traditional mission of tikun olam, fixing the world, expanded: “The word goes forth from Zion in ways that earlier Zionists never intended: In defending themselves, Jews have been turned into the fighting front line of the democratic world.” Americans who can’t recognize Oct. 7 as an assault on Western civilization don’t understand their need for Israel to win this battle clearly, unconditionally.

Of course, it’s always useful to touch base with Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence, its military’s extraordinary “Code of Ethics,” and the Prayer for the State of Israel. That prayer was written in the kind of unity we need: By the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ben Zion Meir Chai Uziel, with a key line added by the Nobel prize-winning novelist S.Y. Agnon, then published in the secular newspaper Ha’aretz.

Finally, it is remarkable how these texts spawned the poignant, patriotic, courageous final goodbyes to their parents penned by modern heroes like Ben Zussman and Shachar Fridman, soldiers fallen since Oct. 7. Their letters, written before going off to fight in Gaza, will enhance the next edition, along with “In Our Name: A Message from Jewish Students at Columbia University.”

One text after another, one larger-than-life superstar after another, one inspiring, reassuring idea after another, from three main Zionist eras, the Pioneers, the Builders, the Torchbearers, and all six main streams of Zionist thought, have kept me going during these trying days. For this reason, I stand by what I wrote over 20 years ago, and updated for the new book “To Resist the Academic Intifada,” that proud cry: “I am a Zionist!”

And that’s why this Rosh Hashanah I invite you, my students, and you, their parents, siblings, and friends, to give yourselves the Mirror Test. Look in the mirror. Make sure you like what you see, you respect what you stand for, and like so many Israelis, you are ready to die for it. We learned this year, yet again, that such vision, commitment and love of life provide the only fulfilling way to live, realizing the true Zionist and American dream.
Gil Troy may be the smartest defender of Israel
Prof. Gil Troy may just be the smartest defender of Israel on the planet. As we mark the anniversary of October 7, I recommend that you read one of Troy’s new publications to equip you with the intellectual arsenal necessary to advocate for Israel during these challenging times of rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

Troy is a senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), distinguished scholar in North American history at McGill University, eloquent public speaker, prolific author, and popular newspaper columnist.

“Every day, I try to figure out how to best explain what Israel is doing; to help others, especially our struggling students [in the Diaspora], appreciate the significance of this moment while inspiring them to find the moral courage to take a stand for us and for truth; and put it all in a Zionist and liberal-democratic framework,” Troy tells The Jerusalem Report.

His latest effort is a 64-page guidebook he produced with JPPI titled “The Essential Guide to October 7th and Its Aftermath: Facts, Figures, History.” Thousands of copies have been printed by North American Jewish federations and synagogues, while the Jewish Community Centers Association emailed it to its more than 100,000 members ahead of the High Holy Days. Here is an excerpt and here is a PDF of the entire guidebook from JPPI.

“I view the project as a joint publishing venture with the Jewish world,” Troy says. “I wanted a short, punchy guide with facts, figures, timelines, charts that someone will easily read in one sitting and that tells a story or series of stories without being one of those propagandistic hasbara Q&A guides.”
US to give Israel 'compensation' if it hits acceptable targets in Iran
The US has reportedly offered Israel a "compensation package" if it refrains from attacking certain targets in Iran, according to a report in Kan11 on Sunday.

Amichai Stein told them that he had received reports from US officials that the US had offered Israel a "compensation package" if it refrained from hitting specific targets in Iran.

This package was offered during negotiations between officials of the two countries on the type of response to the attack from Iran.

The package would include a total guarantee of comprehensive diplomatic protection as well as a weapons package and was offered directly in return for holding off on striking certain targets in Iran.

Quid pro Quo
Stein summed it up, saying, "An American official said, 'If you don't hit targets A, B, C, we will provide you with diplomatic protection and an arms package.'"

"Israeli officials responded saying, 'We consider the United States and listen to them. But we will do anything and everything we can to protect the citizens and the security of the State of Israel.'"

The IDF has been in ongoing discussions with the United States over its response. Currently, US CENTCOM Chief General Michael Kurilla is in Israel as part of the discussion.

Israel has vowed a response to the attack, which saw over 180 missiles fired at Israel, killing a single Palestinian in the West Bank.


Iran’s attack did not harm IAF’s capabilities, Gallant says
Last week’s Iranian missile attack “did not touch the Air Force’s capabilities,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday, as Jerusalem prepares for a significant response.

“The IAF’s operations—both defensive and offensive—ensures the security of the citizens of Israel. The Iranians have not even ‘touched’ the IAF’s capabilities—not a single squadron has been damaged, not a single aircraft has been damaged, there is not a single runway that is out of order and there is no disruption in our operations,” Gallant said during a visit to Nevatim Air Force Base near Beersheva, according to his office.

“Whoever thinks that by attempting to harm Israel they will deter us from taking action, should take a look at [our operational achievements] in Gaza and in Beirut,” the minister continued.

“We are powerful in both defense and offense, and this will be reflected in the manner of our choosing, at the time and place of our choosing. You know what to do, we know what to do and at the end of this, we will ensure that we win this war, bring home the hostages, and ensure the return of [the residents of] Israel’s northern communities to their homes, while Israel deters its enemies,” Gallant said.

Brig. Gen. Yotam Sigler, commander of Nevatim Airbase, briefed Gallant on operations. The minister also spoke with pilots and air and ground crews, thanking them for their service over the past year.

On Oct. 1, the Islamic Republic fired some 200 ballistic missiles in revenge for the targeted killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other Tehran-aligned terrorist leaders.

Jerusalem is reportedly planning a significant attack on the Iranian regime, which could include targeting nuclear sites and oil fields, although U.S. President Joe Biden has expressed opposition to both of these options.

Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday that Tehran’s Civil Aviation Organization decided to suspend all flights in and out of the country between 9 p.m. and 6 p.m. due to “operational restrictions.”

A senior U.S. State Department official told CNN that Israel had not provided any guarantees that a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, in response to the Iranian missile attacks on Israel, was off the table.

“We hope and expect to see some wisdom as well as strength,” said the official regarding the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, adding, “but as you know, no guarantees.”


Why has Syria stayed out of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict?
At a time of escalating conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, analysts say the Syrian government has been noticeably quiet to avoid getting drawn into the conflict.

The Syrian regime is one of Iran's closest allies and also has strong ties with Tehran's proxies in the region, including the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

Despite periodic strikes launched by Israel against targets inside Syria — including two this week alone on Damascus — the Syrian government has only condemned the strikes and taken no action.

Seth Frantzman, an adjunct fellow at The Foundation of Defense of Democracies, said the Syrian government's reticence to join Iran's threats against Israel "likely stems from the regime's sense that it has nothing to gain by escalation and much to lose."

He told VOA that with Syria's long-running civil war remaining unsettled, Damascus is still trying to find a way to return its forces to Turkish-occupied areas in northern Syria and to get the U.S. to leave eastern Syria and stop backing the rebel Syrian Democratic Forces.

"Therefore, the regime has enough problems on its hands," he said.

Experts say the Golan Heights is one region that could be the target of Iranian-backed groups that have presence in Syria. In late July, a village in the Israeli-controlled part of the Golan was targeted by a rocket attack, killing at least 12 people, mostly children. Israel and the United States blamed Hezbollah for the attack.

In August, Hezbollah launched more rocket attacks on the Golan – but the attacks were carried out from Lebanese territories under the Hezbollah control.

Frantzman said Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias may want to threaten Israel from the Syrian part of the Golan, but the Assad government "would likely pretend it has plausible deniability in such an escalation," adding "the regime knows Israel will hold it responsible for any direct support for attacks, or even semblance of backing attacks."

For decades, Syria has shown it prefers the status quo with Israel, he said.

"It has been risk-averse and although it poses as a part of the 'resistance' against Israel, it has accepted it cannot defeat Israel since the 1970s," Frantzman said.

Ahmed Rahal, a former Syrian military general who defected from the army in 2012, said this policy of non-involvement by the Syrian government has remained in place since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023.

"Bashar al-Assad knows any activation of the Golan front could spell the end of his regime," he told VOA. "But the Assad regime doesn't have the ability to control Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed militias in Syria, so it has chosen to stay away."
Iranian general who vowed to ‘see dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East’ possibly killed in Israeli airstrike
An Iranian general who promised to “see the dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East” is missing after an Israeli attack in Lebanon that may have also killed the presumed new Hezbollah chief.

The whereabouts of Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, remains a mystery after Friday’s airstrike in Beirut, the New York Times reported. Some Arab and Israeli outlets say he is dead, while others report him as wounded.

Lebanese security forces also have lost contact with Hashem Safieddine, a top local Hezbollah official and the presumed successor to the terror group’s recently slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Smoke blanketing the city of Beirut after Israeli air strikes, with buildings partially obscured and damage evident 3 Friday’s attack in Beirut targeted Hezbollah terrorists, including Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to the group’s dead chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Getty Images

Qaani was last seen in Beirut, where he was sent to help the terror group recover and re-group after a series of attacks by Israel, according to unnamed members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to the Times.

He has not been seen publicly since Friday’s attack, and he was notably absent from a memorial service for Nasrallah, Iranian media said. By Saturday, some Israeli and Arab outlets were reporting that he had been wounded or killed, but top Iranian brass have remained tight-lipped on the matter.

An Iranian soldier told the Times that confusion about Qaani’s fate is causing panic among the troops.
Foiled attack on Chabad Athens offers glimpse into Iran’s anti-Jewish terror plots
As the Iran-Israel conflict intensifies, Tehran is roiling the West with a wave of attempted hits and kidnappings against targets in Europe and the United States.

Washington and its allies have reported a sharp rise in such plots linked to the Islamic Republic in recent years. Since 2020, there have been at least 33 assassination or abduction attempts in the West in which local or Israeli authorities allege an Iran link, Reuters found in an examination of court documents and public statements by government officials.

Among recent alleged targets: a building that houses a Jewish center and kosher restaurant in downtown Athens.

From his perch in Iran, a Pakistani named Sayed Fakhar Abbas recruited an old acquaintance living in Greece and directed him to attack the site, investigators allege in documents submitted to judicial authorities in the case and viewed by Reuters. Abbas told his contact that he was working for a group that would pay some 15,000 euros per kill.

In a January 2023 WhatsApp exchange detailed in the documents, the two men discussed whether to use explosives or arson in the attack. Abbas stressed the need to provide proof of casualties after the strike.

“There are secret agencies” involved, he said, without naming names. “Do the job in a way that does not leave any room for complaints by them.”

The previously unreported documents include hundreds of pages of evidence gathered during Greece’s pre-trial probe, including witness testimony, police statements and details of WhatsApp messages. They purport to show how Abbas groomed his contact, a slim-built fellow Pakistani named Syed Irtaza Haider, as the two drifted between prosaic talk of life back home and plotting attacks.

Greek authorities arrested Haider and another Pakistani last year, saying police helped dismantle a terrorist network directed from abroad that intended to inflict “human loss.” The two men face terrorism-related charges. They deny wrongdoing.
Senior Qatari diplomat to 'Post': We never communicated with Sinwar
A senior Qatari diplomat has denied claims of direct communication with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and stated that Qatar's mediation team has not met with the families of hostages held by Hamas.

Speaking exclusively to The Jerusalem Post, the diplomat clarified that all mediation efforts are conducted exclusively through representatives from Hamas's political office in Doha.

"Khalil Al-Hayah has been leading negotiations on behalf of Hamas since day one," the diplomat stated, emphasizing that Sinwar has never been involved in direct talks.

Khalil al-Hayah is a senior Hamas political figure. He has been heavily involved in the terrorist organization's diplomatic efforts, often representing it in ceasefire talks and other negotiations. According to the Qatari diplomat, Al-Hayah has led the discussions with external mediators throughout the current hostage crisis.

Haniyeh's role
"Haniyeh was involved in previous negotiations, but it was always Al-Hayah who managed the technical side of things," the diplomat said regarding Hamas's former political bureau chief.

Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, had a significant influence on the group before his assasination during a visit to Tehran in July 2024. Although Haniyeh once held a prominent position, his role in negotiations that occurred before his death had been largely limited.

The Qatari diplomat stressed that no member of Qatar's mediation team had made such a statement to the hostages' families. "None of the Qatari mediation team members have had a meeting with the hostages' family members, neither this week nor last week," the official said, addressing the N12 report that suggested Sinwar had ceased communications and was hiding among hostages.

"What was mentioned in the article is simply not true."
Bills to block UNWRA activity in Israel advance in Knesset
The Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved on Sunday two bills aimed at ending the activity and privileges in Israel of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Both bills are an amalgamation of a larger number of bills proposed by MKs from both the coalition and the opposition.

The first, which combines proposals by MKs Boaz Bismuth (Likud) and Sharren Haskel (United Right), states that the UNWRA will no longer “operate any institution, provide any service, or conduct any activity, whether directly or indirectly,” in Israel.

The second bill, which combines proposals by MKs Ron Katz (Yesh Atid), Dan Illouz (Likud), and Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu), states that the treaty between Israel and the UNWRA, signed following the Six Day War in 1967, will expire on October 7, 2024, or as soon as the bill passes its final voting in the Knesset plenum; that no Israeli government agencies or representatives may contact the UNWRA or a representative of it; and that the UNWRA workers will not enjoy immunity or special rights that other UN workers enjoy in Israel, such as immunity from indictment and some tax cuts. It further stipulates that Israel’s National Security Council must report to the committee every two months regarding the bill’s implementation.

The bills were proposed in response to reports that the UNWRA workers had participated in the October 7 massacre and held Israeli hostages captive afterward; that some of its facilities in the Gaza Strip, including schools and medical centers, doubled as ammunition and arms caches; and that its education system included incitement to violence against Israel.


In Michigan, Harris meets Arab American leaders angry over Gaza, Lebanon conflicts
US Vice President Kamala Harris met with Arab American and Muslim leaders in Flint, Michigan, on Friday, as her presidential campaign seeks to win back voters angry at US support for Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The meeting is one of several attempts in recent days to mend fences with Muslim and Arab voters, who resoundingly backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 but could withhold their votes from Harris in numbers that would cost her the key state of Michigan.

During the half-hour meeting, Harris expressed her concern on the scale of suffering in Gaza, civilian casualties and displacement in Lebanon and discussed efforts to end the war, according to a campaign official. She also discussed efforts to prevent a regional war, the official added.

Israel launched the war against Hamas in Gaza after the October 7 massacre which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Harris has repeatedly said she supports a ceasefire in Gaza that will see the hostages released and ensure Israel’s security.

Israel stepped up its strikes on Hezbollah leaders in recent weeks and launched a limited ground operation in a bid to end the rocket fire on northern Israel that started on October 8th and allow tens of thousands of evacuated citizens to return to their homes in northern Israel.

Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action which recently endorsed her, said participants shared their deep disappointment with the US handling of the crisis and called on her to do everything in her power to end the war and reset US policy in the region.

“Emgage Action asked Vice President Harris to impress upon President Biden the urgency of bringing an immediate end to the violence” in Gaza and Lebanon, Alzayat said. “She agrees that this war needs to end.”

Ed Gabriel, president of the American Task Force on Lebanon, said the meeting included a good “give and take” on the issues, including “the need for a ceasefire, and the support needed from the United States and its allies to address the humanitarian crisis, the presidential leadership void in Lebanon, and the important role of the Lebanese Armed Forces.”

“We heard a lot of compassion on her side. We’ll see what happens,” he said. “This was a valuable two-sided exchange, and we made important progress in our relationship. We’re going to continue to meet.”




Harris Wishes 'Happy Birthday' to Anti-Semite Al Sharpton Who Said 'Diamond Merchant' Jews Have the 'Blood of Innocent Babies' on Their Hands
Vice President Kamala Harris praised Rev. Al Sharpton—an anti-Semite who has said that "diamond merchant" Jews have the "blood of innocent babies" on their hands—in a birthday shoutout Thursday morning.

"Happy 70th Birthday, Rev! … I celebrate the day you were born," Harris said in a video aired on MSNBC. "You are a voice of truth, a voice of conscience, a voice of practicality around what we must address and what we can do, and I thank you so much for your friendship."

Sharpton, a prominent Democratic ally, provoked the 1991 Crown Heights riots—one of the worst eruptions of anti-Semitic violence in American history that inspired chants such as "Let's get the Jew!" and "Hitler didn't finish the job!"

Violence broke out in Crown Heights after a Jewish driver accidentally killed a black child. Sharpton called for escalations.

"The world will tell us he was killed by accident," Sharpton said at the time. "It’s an accident to allow an apartheid ambulance service in the middle of Crown Heights. … Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights." Sharpton said Jews have the "blood of innocent babies" on their hands.

Sharpton also defended an anti-Semitic college professor who blamed "rich Jews" for the slave trade.

Over the years, Sharpton’s image has recovered in the eyes of the Democratic elite, earning him a speaking slot at this year’s Democratic National Convention in August.

"We are going to join with whites, and browns, and Asians, and we're gonna do a job on those that have done a job on us," he said during his speech. He concluded the primetime address shouting, "Joy! Joy! Joy! Joy!"—a reference to Harris's central campaign message.

Harris, in April, celebrated Sharpton as a "voice of truth."

"No matter where you are, you are always a voice of truth speaking about the importance of justice for all people. You are part of the conscience of our country," Harris said. Sharpton was one of the first people Harris called the day President Joe Biden withdrew his reelection campaign.


Terrorist-linked NGOs scored checks from Democratic megadonor Soros: Grant records
Democratic megadonor George Soros donated hundreds of thousands of dollars recently to foreign groups with ties to Palestinian terrorists, according to a Washington Examiner review of grant records.

Foundation to Promote Open Society and Open Society Action Fund, a pair of Soros-backed nonprofit groups, granted $420,000 combined in 2023 to the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the European arm of Al Haq, both of which are linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist faction. The Soros-funded entities also cut two checks totaling $500,000 to 7amleh, the staff of which has expressed support for the PFLP and appeared to praise the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel last year, newly released financial disclosures show.

News of the funding comes as Soros faces scrutiny from Republicans for supporting entities behind anti-Israel protests in the United States after Oct. 7. The billionaire gives generously to Democrats and left-leaning nonprofit groups focused on a wide variety of issues, such as green energy, criminal justice, and immigration. Alex Soros, the 38-year-old son of George Soros, was elected as president of the board of the Open Society Foundations in December 2022 — assuming control of an influential and deep-pocketed philanthropy network.

The Open Society Foundations, the umbrella group for the Soros-funded entities, did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment.

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, one of the groups Soros funded, has a track record of hosting events with Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine officials, the Washington Examiner reported. The center also recently disclosed board members who have been identified as closely affiliated with Hamas and the PFLP.

The PFLP is responsible for plane hijackings and other attacks on Israel and was designated as a terrorist organization by the State Department in 1997.

Jonathan Kaplan, a spokesman for the Open Society Foundations, previously told the Washington Examiner that the network does “not support Hamas” and “abhor[s] terrorism in all its forms.”

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights has long been led by Palestinian politician Kamal El-Sharafi, according to nonprofit documents. El Sharafi posts images on social media of himself at funerals for PFLP leaders and meeting with PFLP officials, according to a Washington Examiner review of his social media history.

“In addition to the direct connections between Al Mezan and its employees with terrorist organizations, several of them have posted material on their social media accounts glorifying terror attacks and groups and utilizing antisemitic rhetoric and imagery,” NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog group, said in a 2020 report on the center.
'It Must End Now': Tim Walz Rallies Behind Gaza With Group That Blamed 'Apartheid' Israel for Hamas Attack
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz rallied behind Gaza at a campaign event Thursday with a Muslim advocacy group that backs the anti-Israel boycott movement and blamed the Jewish state for provoking Hamas’s terrorist attack last year.

"As-Salam Alaikum," Walz said at the start of a virtual event with Emgage Action. Walz, speaking just days before the one year anniversary of Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel, focused largely on the "suffering in Gaza" from the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. "I know the pain of this community is deep. Our hearts are broken," said Walz. "This war must end, and it must end now."

The Minnesota governor made just one mention of Israel during his remarks, telling attendees that Vice President Kamala Harris has worked "every day" to ensure that "Israel is secure" and that "the hostages are home." He said Harris hopes "the suffering in Gaza ends now, and the Palestinian people realize the right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination."

It’s the latest example of the campaign courting anti-Israel groups to shore up support among Arab and Muslim voters, many of whom have criticized the administration’s handling of the war. Democrats are concerned that growing resentment will hurt Harris in battleground states like Michigan, which has the largest proportion of Muslim and Arab voters in the country.

Emgage Action, which endorsed Harris last month, has promoted the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, and called Israel an "apartheid" state that engages in "genocide." After Oct. 7, Emgage condemned "all attacks on civilians" but asserted that "Israel’s brutal siege" of Gaza was the "root" cause of the violence. Emgage boycotted a White House Ramadan dinner earlier this year over its "discontent" with the administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.


Jewish leaders in Virginia oppose Kaine’s call to stop weapon transfers to Israel
Concern expressed by Tim Kaine (D-Va.) that certain U.S.-supplied arms sent to Israel could kill Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and Judea and Samaria, prompted pushback from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

Kaine released a statement last week about his intent to stop five out of 100 weapon transfers to Israel.

“Since February, I have called on the Biden administration to support Israel through the provision of defensive weapons, such as those used to defeat the Iranian drone and missile attacks in April,” Kaine explained. “But I have also urged a pause in the transfer of any offensive weapons because of the serious harm they will likely cause to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and in the West Bank.”

Kaine said he believed that “the U.S. transferring more offensive weapons into the region right now will be an accelerant to ongoing hostilities, jeopardizing the prospects for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza.” He said he would “vote to oppose transfers of weapons that are primarily offensive in nature.”

On Monday, Ron Halber, CEO of the JCRC, and Vicki Fishman, the group’s director of Virginia government and community relations, released a statement responding to Kaine’s plan. As governor and senator, he has been “an ally of Israel and the Jewish community in Virginia,” the JCRC officials wrote. “We are therefore disappointed that he would imperil Israel’s security by limiting its military capabilities when it faces unprovoked attacks on multiple fronts.”

Halber and Fishman called for Kaine to “rescind his support for misguided resolutions that would weaken Israel and strengthen its terrorist enemies, who also are America’s enemies.” They warned that should the senator’s plan move forward “Israel’s enemies would be further emboldened to strike Israel with impunity.”


Canada overrun by terrorist sympathizers since October 7
The atrocity of October 7 was an evil attack on Israel, but it may well have a much more widespread, insidious and malign influence on Canada and the West.

In a bizarre twist, the horrific barbarism of that day against the Jewish state has unleashed a wave of antisemitism and, indeed, a support for terrorism, that could affect us for generations.

Perhaps that hatred was in Canada all along, a corrosive undercurrent of antisemitism running deep and wide and dangerous. Now it is on display in the streets, in schools and on university campuses. Left-wingers, trade union leaders, academics, teachers and even politicians have been tainted with it.

But the strain of this hatred is deeper than we know, wider than we thought and more dangerous than we can possibly imagine.

Within hours of the attack that killed 1,200 people, forces were at work to create a narrative that wasn’t about the mass rape, torture, murder, hostage-taking and savagery inflicted on the Israelis.

It was about the so-called “resistance” of the Palestinians and breaking out of an alleged apartheid state. It was about demonizing Israel and making heroes of blood-thirsty butchers.

It was a narrative founded on lies, denialism and spin doctoring. It was a tale told to influence the young, the impressionable and the naive.

Sarah Jama, an NDP member in the Ontario legislature, was kicked out of caucus and censured by her party only days after October 7 when she issued a statement saying Israel was guilty of apartheid, was an occupier of “Palestine” and was engaging in “settler colonialism.”

A video later emerged where Jama denied that any woman was raped during the October 7 attacks.

Fred Hahn, the Ontario president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), praised the “resistance” in a tweet. It is no surprise, therefore, to see CUPE Ontario marking October 7 this year with a rally Saturday in support of “Palestine” and to protest the “humanitarian atrocities happening in Gaza & Lebanon.”
Border Police officer killed, 10 wounded in Beersheva terror attack
An Israel Border Police officer was killed and 10 people were wounded on Sunday afternoon in a combined shooting and stabbing near the central bus station in Beersheva, according to police and medics.

“A report was received at Magen David Adom’s 101 emergency call center in the Negev region of casualties near the central bus station in Beersheva,” said MDA in a statement.

MDA medics evacuated 10 victims to the city’s Soroka Medical Center, including one with moderate to serious wounds, four who sustained moderate wounds and five who were lightly wounded.

Border Police Sgt. Shira Chaya Suslik, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Israel Police announced on Sunday night.

The terrorist rampage took place in three locations: the central bus station, outside a nearby fast-food restaurant and on Shmaryahu Levin Street, where the terrorist was shot and killed.

The Israel Police announced that “the terrorist has been neutralized and many police forces of the southern district are on the scene.” Security forces were searching for possible accomplices to the attack, it said.

The slain terrorist was identified as Ahmad al-Uqbi, 29, from an Israeli Bedouin community near the town of Lakiya. Al-Uqbi had a criminal record, and was reportedly related to Muhanad Alukabi, who carried out a deadly shooting at the same Beersheva bus station on Oct. 18, 2015.


Victor Shimshon Green, 33, named as seventh victim of Jaffa terror shooting
The seventh victim of last week’s terror attack in Jaffa was named Sunday as Victor Shimshon Green.

Green, 33, was living in a homeless shelter in the city where two Palestinian terrorists carried out the attack last Tuesday.

Aside from those slain, 16 were wounded in the attack on the Tel Aviv light rail and a nearby road in Jaffa, in one of the deadliest terror attacks in recent memory.

The six other victims were named as Revital Bronstein, 24, from Bat Yam; Ilia Nozadze, 42, a Georgian citizen; Shahar Goldman, 30, from Lod; Inbar Segev Vigder, 33; Nadia Sokolenco, 40; and Jonas Chrosis, 26, a Greek citizen.

The two terrorists, one armed with a rifle and the other with a knife, attacked civilians on the Tel Aviv light rail before getting off and continuing on foot and shooting and stabbing people on Jerusalem Street in the city.

A municipal security officer and armed civilians shot the two terrorists, police said.

Hamas took responsibility for the attack, saying its perpetrators, Mohammad Mesek and Ahmad Himouni, were members of the terror group.

Mesek, 19, was killed at the scene, and Himouni, 25, was seriously injured. Both men are Palestinians from the West Bank city of Hebron who were in Israel without a permit.


JPost Editorial: Capt. Eitan Oster's heroism will inspire future generations
Capt. Eitan Itzhak Oster, 22, a squad commander in the Egoz commando unit from Modi’in, was the first Israeli soldier killed in combat against Hezbollah since the IDF began a ground operation in southern Lebanon last week.

Oster, who was buried at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on Wednesday, is survived by his parents and six siblings. Before entering Lebanon, he sent his family a video message in Hebrew that they released for publication.

“There is no one prouder than I to lead fighters in the hope of completing our mission,” Oster states in the video. “We are in the midst of a difficult war in which our young generation is standing with supreme bravery, knowing clearly what they are fighting for – a war that, despite the high costs, we have the duty to end with a decisive outcome – for the sake of future generations.”

Oster reassures his family that he and his troops are ready for the war against Hezbollah.“To my dear family. GK Chesterton once said that ‘The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.’”

Reflecting on a recent visit to Israel’s northern border communities, which have been turned into “ghost towns” over the past year due to ongoing Hezbollah rocket fire, he says: “The North is burned and abandoned. This was one of the hardest things for me to see. We prepared a lot, and these are the values I was taught at home. The time has come, and our mission is to enable the residents of the North to return to their homes.”

Calling his military mission a “historic opportunity” that he is proud to carry out so that his young nieces and nephews aren’t forced to deal with this burden when they grow up, Oster says: “I embrace and recognize the weight of the responsibility on my shoulders and the responsibility I have for all of the soldiers under my command.“


IDF soldier dies of wounds sustained in north Gaza
An Israel Defense Forces combat soldier wounded during counter-terror operations in northern Gaza some four months ago has died of his wounds, the military announced on Sunday afternoon.

Sgt. First Class (res.) Nir Haddad, 28, from Petach Tikvah in central Israel, served in the 8th Armored Brigade when he was wounded on June 15.

The death toll among Israeli troops since the start of the Gaza ground incursion on Oct. 27 now stands at 347, and at 727 on all fronts since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror massacre, according to official military data.

Also on Sunday, three IDF troops, including an officer of the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, were seriously wounded during fighting in the northern Strip, the military said.


IDF releases unseen footage of October 7 battles, honoring fallen heroes
The IDF Spokesperson released previously unseen footage on Sunday to mark the anniversary of October 7.

The recordings show fierce battles fought by IDF soldiers deployed that morning to confront Hamas terrorists. The soldiers fought heroically alongside local defense forces to repel the attack and protect both the residents of the Gaza border communities and the nation.

In one clip, a civilian is seen bandaging an injured soldier, while another shows an IDF fighter identifying and shooting at a drone. Additional footage captures Border Police forces arriving to reinforce units already on the ground.

On October 7, the IDF's multi-dimensional unit (Unit 888) fought across Gaza border communities, including Erez, Urim, Re’im, Be’eri, Alumim, and Nahal Oz. In a heroic battle at Kibbutz Re’im, where dozens of terrorists were killed, Unit Commander Col. Roy Yosef Levy and the unit’s training company commander, Capt. Yotam Ben Bast tragically lost their lives.

Division 162 also engaged in battles across the southern region, including in Sderot. One of the toughest clashes in Sderot occurred at the police station, where reservists from the 188th Brigade, an engineering unit from the Southern Command, and officers from the 401st Brigade, commanded by Col. Beni Aharon, fought alongside other security forces. Together, they mounted a determined effort against terrorists who had entrenched themselves inside the station.

In a dramatic scene captured by a member of a tank crew, an IDF bulldozer is seen breaking through the police station walls as part of a "pressure cooker" operation to force the terrorists hiding inside to surrender.


Herzog to tour Gaza border towns to mark Oct. 7 anniversary
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will start a three-day tour of Gaza border communities on Monday to mark the first anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, his office said.

The president will begin his tour at the site of the Supernova music festival at 6:29 a.m., the exact moment that the attack which claimed some 1,200 lives began.

He will then visit Neve Eshkol, Kibbutz Magen, Kibbutz Nirim, Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, Kibbutz Nir Oz, Kibbutz Kissufim, the IDF’s Re’im Base, Kibbutz Re’im and Kibbutz Be’eri, before closing the day at the site of the demolished Sderot police station where fierce battles with terrorists took place. A ceremony will take place there honoring the fallen in the ongoing war.

On Tuesday, Herzog will visit Kibbutz Alumim, Kibbutz Nahal Oz, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Mefalsim, Moshav Yakhini, Sderot, Kibbutz Nir Am, Kibbutz Erez, Moshav Netiv Ha’asara, and the Zikim Beach.

Wednesday will see the president visit Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, Moshav Pri Gan, Kibbutz Holit, Kibbutz Sufa, Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, Moshav Ein HaBesor, Moshav Mivtahim, Moshav Yesha, the IDF’s Urim Base and Ofakim.

“As a person, as an Israeli, as a Jew, and as the president of Israel, I will visit the sites and the representatives of the communities whose worlds were destroyed that day, and I promise: We will rebuild and rebuild everything anew, building that cannot be complete without the hostages returning home,” Herzog said.
Here's how you can commemorate October 7 online
The October 7 attacks by Hamas traumatized all those who consider themselves part of the Israeli nation. The attacks left over 1,200 people dead and more than 300 abducted to Gaza, sparking a war in the process.

In Israel, quite a few memorials are set to take place this week across the country, on the first anniversary of the horrific event.

Some of these memorials will be broadcast online for those who cannot attend in person, or are based abroad. There are also special digital commemoration projects, initiated with the idea of letting people pay their respects to those who perished.

ISRAEL21c has compiled a list of online memorials dedicated to the victims of the October 7 attacks.

ANU Museum – Museum of the Jewish People
The ANU Museum in Tel Aviv is commemorating last year’s attacks with a special “October Seventh” exhibition featuring works by 25 Israeli artists, some of whom were murdered on October 7 or lost loved ones and homes in the attacks.

The goal of the exhibition is to shed light on Israeli society in the wake of October 7. The exhibition has been open since February 2024. However, next week visitors will be able to take a virtual tour of the exhibition free of charge.




Pogrom(s) – A Documentary Feature Film by Pierre Rehov
Since the tragedy of October 7, 2023, many films, books and other forms of artistic expression have sought to depict the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists and other Palestinian organizations on that day.

According to numerous reviews, among the documentaries that have covered the event, Pierre Rehov's documentary, Pogrom(s), stands out for its factual and historical approach to the tragedy.

Having made documentaries on Middle Eastern conflicts for over 20 years, and specializing in terrorism, Pierre Rehov has chosen to reconstruct the massacre through the eyes of the first responders, and to call on political analysts and historians to re-establish the true context of this attempted genocide.

The film is made up of images that are sometimes difficult to watch, but always announced with modesty, without unnecessarily playing on the audience's emotions. It invites us to reflect on all the other pogroms committed in the name of political Islam, which the world has forgotten. It also takes us back to the birth of the Palestinian cause during the Nazi period, and its promotion in the 1960s by Soviet Russia and the KGB.

This film is indispensable for understanding how, on October 7, 2023, 1,200 innocent people were massacred by Hamas, 7,000 were wounded, several hundred kidnapped and more than 100 are still held hostage in Gaza's tunnels. But, more than that, it allows us to assess the mechanisms that led a large part of the Western world to support, the very next day, not the victims of Hamas, but the torturers who have unlimited means at their disposal to finance their propaganda.




Unpacked: How Did October 7 Change Israel?
On October 7, 2023, Israel faced an unprecedented attack as thousands of Palestinians broke through the border from Gaza, bringing with them unimaginable atrocities and destruction. One year later, the nation remains in a state of tension, caught between grief, recovery, and survival. Communities have been hollowed out, yet the spirit of resilience endures.

Through art, activism, and collective memory, Israelis have found countless ways to honor their fallen and process their pain. And as the rockets continue, so does the resolve of a nation, still grappling with the deep wounds of that Black Shabbat.

00:00 Intro
00:54 The 5 stages of grief
02:25 The nightmare of Oct 7
05:06 Israeli unity after Oct 7
06:15 Channeling anger through activism
09:55 God, what ifs, and taking action
15:02 Commitment to life and community support
18:42 Acceptance, not yet




The Middle East Report Deploying the law to defend Israel in the UK
Simon Barrett interviews Jonathan Turner Chief Executive of UK Lawyers for Israel on how the law can be applied to defend Israel in the UK.

Since the horrors of October 7th the attacks against Israel and the Jewish community have been unprecedented. The enemies of Israel are trying hard to cancel and demonise both the state of Israel and the Jewish community worldwide. Lawfare has been deployed as a strategic weapon to weaken Israel’s ability to defend herself against Islamic terror attacks and erode her moral standing in the world.

This is clearly evident in the new Labour government’s decision to ban arms export licences to Israel. Also as the Jewish state is fighting a war for its survival and The British government has made the sickening decision to drop their opposition to the International Criminal Court from prosecuting the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister for alleged war crimes.


Ryan McBeth: Corrections - How Israel could attack Iran (Corrected)
I was wrong about a few things regarding my video: How Israel Could Strike Iran

1. I misidentified a KC-10 as a KC-135.
2. I also confused the F-22's capability of carrying Sidewinder missiles internally with the capabilities of the F-35.
3. The Israeli Air Force may have the ability to do probe-and-drogue refueling for their F-15Is or (maybe) their F-35Is. Which would unlock the tech tree for using the KC-130H and perhaps buddy stores. Giving Israel 14 total tankers instead of just 7 modified Boeing 707s.
4. Israel may not be able to attack out of Azerbaijan because it would take too long to move the equipment and Iran might counterattack Azerbaijan.
5. Israel may not be able to use submarine launched ballistic missiles or cruise missiles because the warheads may not be powerful enough.




‘Major problem’: Academic under fire over tweets about Israel
Macquarie University academic Doctor Randa Abdel-Fattah has come under fire for a tweet she made in response to NSW Police saying they would not tolerate Hezbollah flags or portraits of Hassan Nasrallah at pro-Palestine protests.

In response to what the police said, the academic tweeted ‘Brought to you in the colours of Israel’s flag’.

“I just hope this academic doesn’t walk outside on a clear day and look up at a blue sky and become triggered,” Sky News host James Macpherson said.

“When you’re claiming that the colours of the NSW Police Force were designed to have a go at Muslims – then seriously we’ve got a major problem.”




Man charged over ‘Hamas is coming’ graffiti during July anti-Netanyahu protests in DC
A Virginia man was arrested Friday on a charge that he spray-painted graffiti on a monument in the nation’s capital during protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress in July.

Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi, 26, of Richmond, Virginia, was charged in a complaint with one count of destruction of federal property. He was among thousands of protesters who gathered in Washington, DC, on July 24 to condemn Netanyahu’s visit.

Some demonstrators who gathered outside Union Station that day removed American flags and hoisted Palestinian ones in their place. Others burned flags and sprayed graffiti on structures in Columbus Circle, in front of Union Station.

Videos posted on social media showed Mahdawi climbing the statue of Christopher Columbus in the middle of Columbus Circle and using red spray paint to write “HAMAS IS COMIN” on the monument, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. He also spray-painted an inverted red triangle above the slogan, the affidavit says, a symbol of support for Hamas attacks.

The FBI later received a tip from a witness who knew Mahdawi from a Richmond gym and recognized his image in a police bulletin.

A group of protesters had a permit to demonstrate in front of Union Station, but the US Park Police said it revoked the permit after it couldn’t reach protest organizers that afternoon. The National Park Service estimated that it cost more than $11,000 to clean up and fix damage at the site.

“Politically motivated destruction or defacing of federal property is not protected speech, it is a crime,” Matthew Graves, US Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in a statement.

Mahdawi was expected to make his initial court appearance in Virginia on Friday.


'I love Hezbollah': Outrage as thousands of Palestinian solidarity demonstrators mass in London with some proudly wielding anti-Semitic placards - as Met Police arrest 17
Outrage has been sparked after thousands of pro-Palestinian protestors descended on central London, with some wielding anti-Semitic placards saying 'I love Hezbollah'.

The Metropolitan Police said they have arrested 17 people after a 'significant' operation was in place across the capital - with multiple arrests happening just minutes after the march officially set off.

The protest, which was organised by the Palestinian Solidarity Group and others to mark the year anniversary of the 7th October terrorist attack on Israel, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

Droves of protesters waved their flags and banners, with one marcher taking a swipe at the Prime Minister with a sign that read: 'Starmer is a silly sausage' - referencing an awkward mishap during his speech about Gaza hostages.

Other Inflammatory signs included messages that read: 'Hezbollah are not terrorists' and 'I love Hezbollah', as one attendee was also seen wearing a t-shirt comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.


Dramatic scenes at pro-Palestine rally as protestor is arrested and cops crack down on Hezbollah flags - as activists dodge rule with sneaky tactic
Protestor arrested after allegedly holding a sign with a Nazi Swastika on the Israel flag
A man has been arrested for allegedly holding a sign with the Nazi Swastika replacing the Star of David on Israel's flag.

He is understood to be the first person to be arrested in Sydney while police scour through the crowds and speak to those holding signs and placcards which could be deemed illegal.

The man is expected to be charged later today.

Police checking green-and-gold flags for ties to Hezbollah
NSW Police are stopping protestors to ensure they are not waving Hezbollah flags.

The flag is known for its green and gold colours with a hand holding a rifle and the Arabic phrase 'Party of Allah' written across it.

One man was stopped by police holding a similarly coloured flag - however a silhouette of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly was printed in the centre.

'Our boys in green and gold will win,' was written underneath.

Dozens of other protestors were seen carrying the same coloured flags with different emblems - such as a tree - printed on it.

Police warned attendees before the protest that flying the Hezbollah flag is a criminal offence.

Tensions flare after Jewish man confronts Pro-Palestine protesters in Melbourne
The man was moved on from the pro-Palestinian protest by police officers who said he was 'purposely agitating' demonstrators.

He said he had just come from a memorial event in Southbank when he yelled 'shame' at the crowd.

'I’m a Jewish-Australian, we came to our own peaceful demonstration to ask for hostages to be released and for peace in the world,' he told the ABC.

'I said a few words, I probably shouldn’t have said anything, I got upset.'

He added that he would like to be 'proud to be able to walk in Melbourne without feeling scared'.

'The police told me to move on in case I was injured or hit, I understand their concern but should I feel sad to walk around my own country, my own city?'


Jewish students say anti-Israel Oct. 7 events at Montreal campuses set to celebrate Hamas
Independent student groups formerly affiliated with Montreal’s McGill and Concordia universities have sparked outrage with a planned coordinated campus “flood” to mark the first anniversary of the October 7 terror onslaught in southern Israel, which Hamas dubbed the “Al-Aqsa Flood.”

The event, promoted as a commemoration of “the historic breach of the colonial border wall and a year of Palestinian resistance,” encourages students to walk out of class and “flood” the campus in protest of what organizers call “a year of genocide.” Promotional materials feature an image of Gazans celebrating atop a stolen Israeli military vehicle on October 7 — a visual that many interpret as glorifying acts of terror.

For many Jewish students, this protest represents more than just a symbolic walkout; it is the culmination of a year of hostility and fear.

“It’s another way of dehumanizing us and celebrating our death,” said Ora Bar, a recent Concordia graduate who has been active in pro-Israel advocacy. “If they let it happen, glorifying the killers, this shows the direction where Canada is going.”

The upcoming protest is part of a broader pattern of pro-Hamas activism that has left many Jewish students saying they’ve faced a climate of antisemitism and intimidation over the past year.

Bar described the constant tension on campus since the events of October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, brutally murdering 1,200 men, women and children, and kidnapping 251 to the Gaza Strip.

“We’ve seen a year of open celebration of violence,” she said, recalling demonstrations in Montreal whose organizers distributed candy and glorified attacks on Israelis shortly after the massacre. “What’s happening now with this protest is just a continuation of the same dehumanizing behavior that’s been allowed to fester.”

For many Jewish students, the lack of response from university leaders to earlier incidents, including campaigns by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement — which has faced accusations of antisemitism — and the dissemination of lists of Jewish-owned businesses to boycott, has only deepened their sense of vulnerability and fear on campus.


'The New York Times' trying to eulogize Hassan Nasrallah is abhorrent
The Israel Air Force carried out massive strikes targeting Hezbollah’s main headquarters: a bunker underneath a residential building in the Dahiyeh suburb, on the southern outskirts of Beirut. The strikes killed Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and several other high-ranking leaders of the Hezbollah terror group and political party in Lebanon. Most of the Western world, and many in the Middle East commended or celebrated the strike, but not The New York Times.

Nasrallah had developed a decades-long reputation for ruthlessness, especially for his role in Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad’s brutal repression and quelling of pro-democratic insurgents. The Hezbollah leader was known for his bloodthirsty terror tactics targeting American and French troops as well as Jewish Israelis and Jews overseas, marking him a wanted man by several world governments. In the last 20 years, he armed Hezbollah to the teeth, enthusiastically using civilian homes, schools, and mosques to store his rockets and missiles.

After his death, videos surfaced online of Arab, Jewish, Druze, and Christian Middle Easterners celebrating his demise.

However, instead of commending Israel’s strike targeting a brutal terrorist who has been wanted for decades, American publications such as The New York Times frowned upon the strike, labeling it an “escalation,” and even going as far as to eulogize Nasrallah in a bizarre obituary painting him as a revolutionary religious leader.

In its unnerving eulogy of the terror chief, The New York Times called Nasrallah a “powerful orator, beloved by Shi’ite Muslims” and wrote that he had helped “provide social services for Lebanon.” According to the Times, Nasrallah wanted “one Palestine, with equality for Muslims, Jews, and Christians.”

This could not be farther from the truth.


Attempts to Erase Nasrallah’s Antisemitism
You might not be surprised to learn that the terrorist who blew up a Jewish community center didn’t like Jews.

Then again, you might not have learned it at all, since so many of Hassan Nasrallah’s obituaries avoided mentioning both the bombing and the bigotry.

Nasrallah was the head of Hezbollah when the group detonated an explosives-laden van at the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people. He later called Jews the most cowardly and lowly people in the world, and said that the Jewish ingathering in Israel will save his followers the effort of hunting them down in the diaspora.

Or did he? Anti-Israel terror groups reliably have their apologists, and so doubts have been raised about whether Nasrallah really made the two statements that follow:

- “If we search the entire globe for a more cowardly, lowly, weak and frail individual in his spirit, mind, ideology, and religion, we will never find anyone like the Jew—and I am not saying the Israeli: we have to know the enemy we are fighting.”
- “Among the signs … and signals which guide us, in the Islamic prophecies and not only in the Jewish prophecies, is that this State [of Israel] will be established, and that the Jews will gather from all parts of the world into occupied Palestine, not in order to bring about the anti-Christ and the end of the world, but rather that Allah the Glorified and Most High wants to save you from having to go to the ends of the world, for they have gathered in one place–they have gathered in one place–and there the final and decisive battle will take place.”


Propaganda, hate speech and disinformation_ the BBC’s idea of ‘a range of perspectives’
As we see, the days following the publication of Deborah Turness’ statement saw the BBC facilitating the mainstreaming of propaganda, disinformation and hate speech from the Iranian regime itself, from its apologists and from one of its terrorist proxies. While Turness, Bowen and others may choose to excuse that as provision of “a range of perspectives” and “a full picture”, many have already taken issue with those editorial decisions.

Contrary to Turness’ gaslighting claim, those criticising BBC coverage of the war do not do so “because it does not solely reflect their view of the conflict” or because of “echo chambers”. They do so because BBC coverage to date has repeatedly fallen short of the standards of accuracy and impartiality to which the corporation is obliged to adhere. The presentation of “a range of perspectives – including those you may not agree with” is one thing. Providing worldwide platforms for the inadequately – if at all – challenged propaganda of a terrorist organisation and a terror enabling theocratic regime is entirely different.

However, as Turness’ latest statement clarifies in no uncertain terms, introspection and accountability to its funding public are clearly not at the top of the BBC’s list of priorities.
BBC News downplays Hamas-UNRWA symbiosis yet again
In other words, the fact that the head of the Hamas terrorist organisation’s Lebanon branch was also a UN employee received just 53 words of BBC News website coverage and the reports failed to clarify that he was actually the head of the UNRWA teachers’ union in Lebanon.

Notably, the BBC avoided the highly relevant question of whether or not Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin’s suspension was still in force. As reported by UN Watch in June 2024:

“Despite UNRWA knowing for more than a decade that the head of its teachers union in Lebanon, Fathi al-Sharif (a.k.a. Fateh “Abo Amin” al-Sharif), overseeing 39,000 students in 65 schools, is part of Hamas and an overt promoter of terrorism, the agency is refusing to fire him. […]

While UNRWA did suspend al-Sharif in February 2024, al-Sharif’s current status is unclear. The reports discussed below indicate that UNRWA suspended al-Sharif and asked for his resignation, but that he refused. According to the Palestinian Refugees Portal website, Lazzarini agreed to cancel the suspension in exchange for ending the UNRWA strike that was paralyzing UNRWA’s operations in Lebanon.”

Given its longstanding record of generously platforming UNRWA – particularly throughout the past year – and its amplification of that agency’s talking points on the issue of the involvement of some of its employees in terrorism, one might have expected the BBC to show considerably more interest in investigating what it tepidly describes as Sharif’s “political activities”.

As we see however, journalistic curiosity did not prevail and so once again BBC audiences – including members of the public who fund their governments’ donations to UNRWA – were sold short on the issue of UNRWA and terrorism.


IDF confirms killing de facto Hamas PM in Gaza strike
An Israeli Air Force strike three months ago killed Hamas’s de facto prime minister in the Gaza Strip, the military confirmed on Thursday.

Rawhi Mushtaha was targeted in Gaza along with senior terrorists Sameh al-Siraj and Sami Odeh, who both held security portfolios in Hamas’s “political” bureau, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Air Force fighter jets struck the terrorists while they were hiding in a tunnel in northern Gaza that “served as a Hamas command and control center and enabled senior operatives to remain inside for extended periods of time,” added the military.

The IDF described Mushtaha as Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s “right-hand man and one of his closest associates.” He is believed to have been one of a handful of key architects of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in southern Israel.

Mushtaha shared a prison cell with Sinwar before both were released, along with 1,025 additional Palestinian terrorists, as part of the 2011 deal to free IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

The IDF “will continue to pursue all the terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 [attacks] and will act to harm anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel,” the military said.


Germany experiencing ‘tsunami of antisemitism’
Germany has experienced a “tsunami of anti-Semitism” since Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, while the anniversary of the atrocities in southern Israel could be a “trigger event” for civil unrest, two German officials said on Friday in separate statements.

Felix Klein, the first holder of the office of Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, voiced stark warnings over the increase in anti-Semitism worldwide.

Speaking to AFP, he said that both in Germany and elsewhere the Hamas attack had led to “further breaches in the existing defenses in our society.”

He cited crime statistics in 2023, pointing to about 5,000 anti-Semitic incidents in Germany of which “half were committed after Oct. 7.”

Klein noted that the rise in anti-Semitism consisted of “classic German” right-wing elements, along with left-wing and Islamist elements who form alliances around this issue.

Meanwhile, head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) Thomas Haldenwang warned that the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack could serve as “great potential for emotionalization, polarization and radicalization,” AFP reported.

“The potential danger of possible terrorist attacks against Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions, as well as against ‘the West’ as a whole, has increased significantly in the past six months,” he went on to say.

“Islamists have understood how to use the current Middle East crisis to revitalize their propaganda and mobilize their followers,” he noted, pointing to the lethal stabbing in the city of Solingen last month.

The Islamic State group is “using its propaganda to use the situation in Gaza to create emotions and encourage young Muslims in the West in particular to carry out terrorist attacks,” Haldenwang added.

A number of large pro-Palestinian demonstrations are scheduled to take place on Monday across Germany, the report added.

Berlin’s police spokesperson warned that “we are looking at the coming days with great concern” after witnessing “hatred, anti-Semitism and violent excesses” by some pro-Palestinian activists.

On average, about 33 anti-Semitic incidents occurred per day in Germany from Oct. 7 until the end of the year, compared to a little more than seven daily from Jan. 1 to Oct. 7, 2023, according to the new data, released on Tuesday by the Bundesverband RIAS, which is funded by the German state.


Depicting interwar Germany’s rising Nazi party, new kids novel teaches history, morality
In a career spanning decades, Michael P. Spradlin has penned more than a dozen popular books for children of all ages — from wartime novels to tales of medieval knights, a series starring a teenage girl-spy, and an array of picture books.

With “Rise of the Spider,” out last month, The New York Times bestselling author returns to World War II in an action-packed novel that introduces readers to the rise of Nazism in the years before the war.

Spradlin’s latest novel — recommended for ages 8-12 — is a gripping read that brings history alive and will capture the interest of even kids who shy away from history.

“Rise of the Spider” is the first in a planned six-book series, titled “The Web of the Spider.” “Threat of the Spider,” the second, is expected in August of 2025.

The work of historical fiction is set in the years between the two world wars, in Heroldsberg, Germany — a quaint Bavarian town just a few miles from Nuremberg where the ruling Nazi party announced its 1935 laws targeting Jews and other minorities.

In the first scene, readers meet Rolf and his best friend Ansel, a pair of 12-year-old pals who spend their after-school hours and summer days kicking around a soccer ball on a cobblestone street near the market in the lively center of town.

Rolf and Ansel are convincingly portrayed pre-teens who dream of becoming players for Germany’s winning national soccer team.

The book opens in the spring of 1929, and readers learn that it’s been more than a decade since Germany surrendered to the Allies, ending the destructive and deadly Great War that took the lives of 20 million soldiers and civilians.

The friends have heard that Adolph Hitler and his Nationalist Socialist Party are out to topple their country’s political leaders at a time when Germany is suffering massive unemployment and food rations. Many Germans blame the harsh conditions on the high war reparations the Allies have imposed on them.

Enter Hans and Nils, two older boys who are determined to attract Rolf, Ansel and others to the Nazi party’s youth movement.

From the start, Rolf and Ansel show no interest in joining them.

Ansel likes to challenge Hans about the Nazis; Rolf is more cautious, sensing danger.

But tension builds as Rolf’s older brother, Romer, is attracted to their sinister message that scapegoats Jews and other minorities.

A menacing scene at the market takes a surprising turn when Mrs. Hufnagle, an elderly Jewish baker who has a popular market stall, springs into action when Hans threatens to harm Ansel.




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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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