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Tuesday, October 15, 2024

10/15 Links Pt1: An Astonishing Threat From the Biden Administration; The UN’s History of Aiding Hezbollah; Hamas HQ in Turkey directed failed Tel Aviv suicide bombing

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: The UN’s History of Aiding Hezbollah
In the summer of 2000, Israeli forces pulled out of South Lebanon, where they had maintained a security buffer between Hezbollah and the Israeli civilians in northern Israel. A few months later, Israel was rewarded for this gesture when Hezbollah ambushed three soldiers on the Israeli side of the border and took them captive.

The Iran-backed terrorists disguised themselves as employees of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and attached UN markings to the trucks used in the attack. The next day, UN workers tried to tow away the trucks but were stopped by Hezbollah operatives. The UN workers turned the vehicles over to Hezbollah.

But there was a twist. The UN had videotaped the scene, which was filled with evidence of the previous day’s kidnapping.

What the UN did with that tape is crucial to understanding the UN’s role in Lebanon and in shaping the conflict up to the present. With that tape, the UN did… nothing.

The news this weekend was saturated with coverage of UNIFIL blaming Israel for putting its cardboard peacekeepers in danger while the IDF responds to Hezbollah’s continued attacks. Israel, in turn, exposed the fact that the UN has allowed Hezbollah to construct tunnels and weapons depots under its nose, protecting the terrorists from IDF counterstrikes.

But all of this begins back in 2000, with that videotape.

Israel’s Labor government pleaded with the UN to turn over the recording, which could help Israel in its search for the captives. Time was, as always, of the essence: Every minute that went by put the kidnapped Israelis’ lives in more danger.

Instead of turning over the tape, the UN lied repeatedly by claiming there was no tape. Eventually, scenes from the tape leaked, revealing what everyone knew the entire time: Of course the tape existed. At that point, the UN publicly admitted they’d had the tape all along.

By then, the soldiers were dead. In 2004, Israel would trade hundreds of terrorists in Israeli jails in return for the bodies of the three soldiers.

There was some irony here: The Hezbollah terrorists dressed as UNIFIL and then UNIFIL aided and abetted their getaway and helped ensure the murder of the soldiers. What had started with terrorists impersonating UN members ended with the UN impersonating Hezbollah. The two were on the same team, cooperating in acts of profound evil. It was manifestly unclear where the UN ended and Hezbollah began.

Sound familiar? It should: It’s also the story of UNRWA, the Gaza-based UN agency that has become an adjunct of Hamas. Its members participated in the Oct. 7 attacks last year and even helped hold Israeli hostages. The head of the UNRWA teachers union turned out to be a high-level Hamasnik with ties to Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of Oct. 7. We even have video of an UNRWA worker dragging away the body of a murdered Israeli alongside a Hamas terrorist. Where does one end and the other begin?
Israel is here to stay. We will not let Hezbollah destroy us.
Five times over the past two weeks, rocket attacks from distant lands have sent me running for the bomb shelter in my home in central Israel. When Israel came under attack from about 200 Iranian missiles last week, I huddled together with my wife and children and we sang songs while air raid sirens blared outside our shelter and the room shook from the booms of Israel's missile interceptor defense system.

Just days before that, we had rocket attacks on two successive days by Houthi militants in Yemen - the second while my three older children were with friends at a local park on a Saturday afternoon. With nowhere to shelter, they ran to a nearby wall and covered their heads with their hands.

Meanwhile, residents of northern Israel have been under incessant attack from Hizbullah since Oct. 8, 2023, displacing more than 60,000 Israelis. Many of their hometowns lie in ruins as a result of attacks by Hizbullah rockets, drones and anti-tank weapons. Nearly 50 Israelis have been killed there.

The root of the conflict in the Middle East is painfully simple: Israel's foes refuse to accept it. It has been that way since Israel's establishment in 1948. Israel's enduring enemies want to reverse the outcome of Israel's 1948 War of Independence and wipe Israel off the map. What choice does Israel have other than to fight?

Israel does not covet territory in Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq or Syria. Israel wants to live in peace with these countries. But they refuse to give up on their dreams of annihilating the Jewish state. So Israel must respond to their attacks, ensuring they never become capable of destroying it. That's what Israel's response to Oct. 7 is all about.

The rest of the world should applaud Israel and offer it greater operational and intelligence support because these rogues threaten us all. In Israel, we understand that peace will come only when the country's enemies accept that Israel is here to stay. Until then, Israel must be strong - and continue to degrade those sworn to its destruction.
Israel’s red-blue line: Why is the Litani River so crucial in the war against Hezbollah?
With the end of the Second Lebanon war in 2006, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 required Hizballah to disarm completely—as did two previous Security Council resolutions—and more specifically required the terrorist group to remove itself south of the Litani River. (Why the first requirement doesn’t render the second unnecessary continues to befuddle me.) Pushing Hizballah north of the Litani is often cited as a possible Israeli goal in the current war. Lahav Harkov explains this waterway’s significance:

The Litani River is Lebanon’s longest river and a major water source for the country. It mostly runs north to south, but part of the river runs from east to west towards the Mediterranean Sea, in parallel to the border between Israel’s Upper Galilee region and southern Lebanon. The section parallel to the Israel-Lebanon border, also known as the Blue Line, is about seventeen miles north of Israel.

The population south of the Litani is 75-percent Shiite Muslim, making it a Hizballah stronghold, while the other 25 percent are Sunni Muslim, Druze, and Christian. [Since 2006], Hizballah stockpiled weapons and missiles throughout the area between the Litani and Israel, dug tunnels, and crossed into Israel with no significant pushback from the UN International Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Hizballah uses the Litani River as a line of demarcation for its “first line of defense” against Israel. . . . Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser [said that] since UNIFIL has proven unable to enforce such resolutions, Israel will have to have a system for monitoring river crossings. “The Litani can only be crossed in a few places, so it can be supervised,” he said. “If we don’t want IDF soldiers there, then we have to monitor from afar. . . . It won’t be simple, but the supervision has to be Israeli because no one else will do it.”


US officials ask Israel to make 15 policy changes in Gaza or risk arms embargo
If the Jewish state doesn’t take a series of measures to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip within the next 30 days, it could risk “implications” for U.S. policy, potentially including an arms embargo, according to a letter from the U.S. defense and state secretaries leaked to Axios.

The letter, which Axios published on Tuesday, purports to come from Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary. It is addressed to Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defense minister, and Ron Dermer, the Israeli strategic affairs minister.

“Starting now and within 30 days,” Jerusalem should implement 15 policy changes to avoid a possible arms embargo, the letter states. “Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law.”

Under NSM-18, issued on Feb. 23, 2023, one of the U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives is to “prevent arms transfers that risk facilitating or otherwise contributing to violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.”

NSM-20, a national security memorandum that U.S. President Joe Biden issued on Feb. 8 about “safeguards and accountability with respect to transferred defense articles and defense services,” requires the secretary of state “to obtain certain credible and reliable written assurances from foreign governments receiving defense articles.”

It also directs the defense and state secretaries to “provide periodic congressional reports to enable meaningful oversight” and ensure that all defensive weapon transfers ” are conducted in a manner consistent with all applicable international and domestic law and policy, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”


Seth Mandel: An Astonishing Threat From the Biden Administration
One could list all the things wrong with the Biden administration’s letter threatening to withhold military aid from Israel, but such a boring, bureaucratized format would risk diminishing the magnitude of the mistake President Biden and Vice President Harris are making. And this is no time for understatement.

Instead, there are two elements of the letter that are particularly egregious and worth focusing on.

The first is the following section:
“We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government—including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments—together with increased lawlessness and looting—are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza.”

What are those new vetting and liability requirements that the U.S. government, through Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is objecting to? From the Times of Israel’s description: “Under the rule, individuals from relief organizations sending aid must complete a form providing passport details, and accept liability for any false information on a shipment, sources said. Relief agencies fear signing the form could expose staff to legal problems if aid fell into the hands of Hamas or other enemies of Israel.”

So Israel isn’t blocking aid. It’s making sure that the people trucking in goods to a warzone are who they say they are and are carrying permitted items. No one’s going to get sued over delivering pastrami when they wrote “corned beef” on their customs slip. The rule is obviously to prevent anything dangerous from being snuck in with aid convoys and the falsifying of records that would either A) enable Hamas to benefit from extra food that isn’t listed, or B) allow agencies to lie about how much food Israel is letting into the Gaza Strip.

These customs rules are as basic as they get. The UN specifically is holding back sending its trucks under these rules, presumably because it’s violating those rules. Further, the only people who would object to deliverers providing personal identification are those who intend for Hamas thugs to join the convoy along the way.

Imagine complaining about having to show ID at a border crossing into a warzone. Now imagine the U.S. threatening to withhold weapons from an ally because that ally is requiring warzone delivery workers to provide ID. That is currently the reality.

This is a diplomatic gun to Israel’s head: Let in aid trucks without knowing exactly who and what is on them—aid trucks organized by an agency that notoriously employs Hamas terrorists—or fend off Iran’s multi-front attack with one hand tied behind your back.

The other particularly egregious aspect of the letter is the timing.
Biden-Harris Admin Puts Israel on Double Secret Probation—Until Just After the Election
The Biden-Harris administration confirmed on Tuesday that it threatened to cut off aid to Israel’s military, including arms shipments, if the Jewish state does not boost the delivery of humanitarian aid into the battle-torn Gaza Strip. The threats came in a Sunday letter that gives Israel one month to do so, meaning any action would not come until after the presidential election.

The missive, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent to Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, leaked early Tuesday and made the rounds on social media before the State Department confirmed its accuracy and chastised Israel for allegedly withholding humanitarian aid from Gaza.

"This was a letter we considered a private diplomatic communication, and we did not intend to make it public from our side, but now that it is public, I’m happy to confirm it," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. "We hope that Israel makes the changes that the secretary outlined."

The revelation marks another public rift between the United States and its crucial ally amid a brutal yearlong war and a contested election season that has seen Democratic voters galvanize behind efforts to cut off Israel’s access to U.S. arms. The threats are unlikely to satisfy those voters, who have long pushed the Biden-Harris administration to impose an immediate arms embargo on the Jewish state. They are also certain to anger pro-Israel Americans.

When asked if the letter was part of a ploy by the Biden-Harris administration to publicly embarrass Israel and shore up support with the Democratic Party’s anti-Israel flank, Miller said the upcoming presidential election "was not a factor at all."

"What we have seen over the past few months is that the level of humanitarian assistance has not been sustained," Miller said. "In fact, it has fallen by over 50 percent from where it was at its peak. The secretary, along with Secretary Austin, thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again."


State Department Stands By Adviser Who Spoke at Pro-Hezbollah Rally Where Jews Were Told To 'Go Back to Poland'
The State Department is standing by an adviser to the federal agency who spoke at an anti-Israel rally that saw chants of "Death to Israel," praise for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and calls for Jews to be returned "back to Poland."

Dearborn, Mich., mayor Abdullah Hammoud (D.), a member of the State Department’s Assembly of Local Leaders, spoke on Sept. 25 at a "Stand with Lebanon" rally in Dearborn to decry U.S. support for Israel against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Hammoud, who has emerged as a leading critic of Israel following October 7, touted his support for the anti-Israel divestment movement, and said, "We cannot condone any president that uplifts any administration that bombs every school decimating children to smithereens."

Elected Dearborn mayor in 2021, Hammoud was introduced as the "greatest mayor in the United States" by Arab-American activist Osama Siblani. Siblani, whom the Harris campaign has met with to gain the support of Michigan’s Muslim voters, hailed Hezbollah’s Nasrallah during his speech as a "hero" and said of Israelis: "We will take you back to Poland."

Chants of "death to Israel" broke out during Siblani’s remarks, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. Siblani responded, "Believe me, they will take care of the job," an apparent reference to Hezbollah’s planned attack on Israel. Two days after the rally, Israeli forces assassinated Nasrallah in Beirut. Hammoud embraced Siblani as he took the stage, but did not address Siblani’s praise for Nasrallah or the "death to Israel" chants.

That could be of concern because of Hammoud’s involvement in a State Department panel that provides a venue for local officials "to share their views or concerns with foreign policy topics directly with the Department." The agency does not appear to be taking any disciplinary action towards Hammoud.

"Mayor Hammoud is a member of the State Department’s Assembly of Local Leaders (ALL), as are 20 other local and state officials from around the country," a State Department spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. "The Department of State has been consistently clear about the United States’ unwavering support to Israel’s security and our rejection of anti-Semitic rhetoric wherever it occurs. We defer to Mayor Hammoud and the City of Dearborn to speak to specifics around the event in question."


The Iranian-Iraqi Double Threat to the Middle East
The 2003 Iraqi war resulted in a strategic shift in the relationship between Baghdad and Tehran by turning Iraq into a vassal state of Iran. Iran’s long-term strategy has been to export its Islamic revolution to transform enemies across the Middle East. The post-war security vacuum in Iraq facilitated this tactic, essentially a creeping invasion of Iraq in a gradual, sophisticated manner. Iran’s strategy goes beyond simply sponsoring militias; rather, it also encompasses religious, economic, ideological, and political dimensions.

Religiously, Iran has imposed its own brand of Shi`ism on Iraqi Shi`a. While friendly to Baghdad, Tehran also sparked socio-economic problems by sporadically cutting gas and water supplies to its neighbor. Politically, Iran extended its grip on the Iraqi government to such an extent that it became the hidden decision maker behind Iraq’s internal and external policies. In this sense, Iraq is a case study to gauge Iran’s expansionist policies elsewhere.

Certainly, Iran’s most effective tool to infiltrate Iraq has been militias, like the Badr Corps it began to establish 1980s and which mushroomed after 2003. By 2016, there were over a 100 militias, all of which pay allegiance to Iran and act outside the Iraqi government’s control. As the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority established a new Iraqi army, these militias became competitors. An Iraqi journalist explained, “These armed factions are, in fact, the ones who lead Iraq nowadays. They are the decision makers and those who lead Iraq’s politics and control it militarily and economically. That is why one can call them Iraq’s de facto government.”

Iran also expanded its control by establishing 151 military bases along the common border with Iraq.

Iran has used its proxies to destabilize the Iraqi government at pivotal points, as the tip of the spear in efforts to drive out U.S.-led coalition forces, and as nodes in a broader effort to support other foreign ventures in Syria and, more recently, Yemen. Iraqi proxy attacks on Israel are the latest revelation of this strategy. Thus, “the Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” an umbrella organization created after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, claimed 170 attacks on Israeli targets.
Caroline Glick joins Newsmax on October 15, 2024, to discuss the US shielding Iran from Israel.
Caroline Glick, former Netanyahu senior foreign policy advisor and host of the Caroline Glick Show on JNS, told the hosts of National Report, Newsmax on Tuesday that the Biden administration is "working overtime to put Israel in a box" while shielding Iran's nuclear and oil platforms from Israel's retaliatory efforts.




India Subtly Backs Israel by Refusing to Sign Letter of Support to U.N. Chief
The government of India was one of a small number of “global south” nations absent on a list of signatories to a letter released this week condemning Israel for declaring the head of the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, persona non grata.

The Indian newspaper The Hindu reported on Sunday that the letter, circulated by Chile, boasted 104 signatory countries at the time of its publication, asking Israel to reconsider banning Guterres from the country out of respect for the U.N. as an institution. The ban, the letter read, “undermine[s] the United Nations’ ability to carry out its mandate, which includes mediating conflicts and providing humanitarian support.”

“As member states of the United Nations, we call for respect for the UN’s leadership and its mission,” the letter continued. “We reaffirm our full support and confidence in the Secretary General and his work.”

The Hindu observed that some of India’s closest allies, including BRICS partners China and Russia, signed the letter, as well as European states including France and Switzerland. On the list of those abstaining from participating in the letter were America, Israel’s top ally, as well as Japan and South Korea.

The Israeli government announced in early October that it would ban Guterres from the country in response to his lack of condemnation of Iran for a massive missile barrage against Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry noted that Guterres did not directly identify Iran as the aggressor.

“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as nearly all the countries of the world have done, does not deserve to set foot on Israeli soil,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said at the time.


Why I Stand with Israel Now More than Ever
Even among mainstream voices in Germany, the once-clear commitment to Israel's security, grounded in our historic responsibility for the Holocaust, has weakened. I stand with Israel because the German debate currently lacks a noticeable pro-Israel voice and is quite one-sided. The original cause of this war is barely discussed anymore: the massacre of Oct. 7, 2023, which claimed over 1,200 lives, the largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust.

Hardly anyone speaks anymore about the fate of the 101 Israeli hostages still in Hamas captivity. I've been shaken by the fact that people I once respected have expressed solidarity with terror and reinterpreted it as legitimate Palestinian self-determination.

What I miss in Germany is empathy for the citizens of a country surrounded by enemies who want to wipe it off the map. Israel is attacked almost daily by its neighbors. Only Israel's highly effective air defense has prevented thousands more civilian casualties. Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has also seen over 100,000 internally displaced people. No country can indefinitely tolerate a situation where part of its territory becomes uninhabitable because it is under constant attack.

I stand not for a "Yes, but" but for a "Yes, because." I stand in solidarity with Israel because, after the horrors of the Holocaust, we Germans have a historic responsibility for Israel's security. As a leftist, I feel obligated to speak out against rampant antisemitism and hatred of Israel.


Kamala Harris Repeats Claim Israel Blocking Aid From Entering Northern Gaza Contradicted by UN, Israeli Data
US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday repeated a claim that the Israeli government has hindered food from entering northern Gaza since the beginning of October, contradicting data compiled by both the Jewish state and humanitarian aid organizations affiliated with the United Nations.

“The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected,” Harris posted on X/Twitter.

The Democratic presidential nominee was referring to a recent report produced by the UN World Food Program (WFP) claiming that, due to Israeli military actions, nearly all food distribution points in northern Gaza have been shut down since Oct. 1. The report said that communities in northern Gaza were left with dwindling supplies and on the brink of total starvation.

“WFP distributed its last remaining food stocks in the north to partners and kitchens sheltering newly displaced families, but these are barely enough to last two weeks,” the report read.

Subsequent media reports said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was considering establishing a “closed military zone” in northern Gaza to combat Hamas terrorists. The reported plan would mandate the cessation of aid transfers into the enclosed area in an attempt to starve out Hamas fighters, who according to US and Israeli authorities often steal aid meant for civilians. Israel had ordered the evacuation of civilians from northern Gaza, but many people had not left the designated military zone and would be impacted by the withholding of supplies.

According to Axios, however, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant told US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in a phone call on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was not carrying out the plan to seal off aid to northern Gaza.

Data provided by the UN and the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli government agency coordinating civilian issues in the Palestinian territories, directly challenge the claim that Israel has blocked aid from entering northern Gaza.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that 54 aid trucks entered northern Gaza just from Oct. 8-10 via Gate 96, a recently created route for humanitarian aid to enter the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. Food made up a majority of the supplies. From Oct. 1-Oct. 10, 25 truckloads of aid were received in Gaza through the Erez West crossing into northern Gaza, and most of the trucks contained food.

According to data compiled by COGAT, 31 aid trucks entered northern Gaza through the Erez West crossing from Oct. 1-Oct. 12.


Kamala Harris Surrogate Richard Haass Takes Shots at Israel from Synagogue Stage on Yom Kippur
Richard Haass, one of the top foreign policy pundits backing Kamala Harris, slammed Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, arguing that the Jewish state "should have gone about this operation in a far more discriminating way" and that the Israeli government "has not made it a priority" to secure the release of the remaining hostages.

His remarks came from the bimah, or the altar, of the conservative Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, which Jews consider the holiest day of the year.

Haass spoke in conversation with the synagogue's rabbi, Elliot Cosgrove, who pushed back on his remarks at times but mostly allowed the former Council on Foreign Relations president to speak unchallenged.

Haass has spoken publicly of his support for Harris, arguing that any criticism that she lacks foreign policy experience is "just plain wrong," and reportedly given her advice on Israeli policy since the attacks last October. His remarks come as Harris has sharpened her criticism of the Jewish state, saying this week that Israel must "urgently do more" to deliver aid to Gaza.

Speaking at the synagogue, Haass said, "Israel had the right and the necessity of responding, but the way, the manner in which it chose to respond, was counterproductive."

"Israel could and should have gone about this operation in a more discriminating way," he said.

Haass criticized Israel for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinians, saying the Israeli government "has not made it a priority" to return the hostages.

"Israel has won on the battlefield in Gaza, but has lost politically," said Haass. "It's lost in the court of international public opinion, but also it's losing in the Palestinian and Arab world."

He said Israel must do more to "open up a diplomatic process," saying the "parallel is what the British did in Northern Ireland" during "the Troubles."
John Legend Urges Kamala Harris to Condition Aid to Israel, Use It as ‘Leverage’ Amid War in Gaza
American singer-songwriter John Legend wants US Vice President Kamala Harris to make America’s aid to Israel conditional and use it as “leverage” as Israel continues its military operations in Gaza targeting Hamas terrorists in the Palestinian enclave, he said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Speaking with Mehdi Hasan for the podcast series “Mehdi Unfiltered,” the “All of Me” singer criticized Harris and the Democratic party’s unconditional support for Israel’s ongoing military actions during the war in Gaza. Hasan asked the Grammy-winning singer if he thinks Harris needs to do something different from the Biden administration, “policy-wise,” in terms of America’s relationship with Israel as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in Gaza.

“It really revolves around the idea of accountability and using our aid to Israel as leverage,” Legend replied. “I don’t think we should we writing blank checks to any country that we’re allied with and that any kind of assistance we provide, any kind of weapons we send, should come with conditions. I think that’s a very sensible way to conduct foreign policy. We do it just about everywhere else. So let’s do it there, too.”
Anne Bayefsky: A shocking new UN report gaslights for Hamas
On October 10, 2024 the United Nations released what can only be described as a blood-curdling report radiating antisemitism around the globe.

The report is the product of a UN “Commission of Inquiry” created by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 and headed by Navi Pillay, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Notwithstanding UN rules about “impartiality” and “objectivity,” the report is a testament to unbridled hate speech against the Jewish state from the United Nations – masquerading as “law” and “human rights.”

This is the second “inquiry” report “regarding attacks that occurred on 7 October 2023 and thereafter.” The agenda is plain from the first such manifesto. Released after months of so-called investigation, the June 2024 report extended the terrible trauma suffered by Jewish women and girls and their families. “Concerning rape,” the inquisitors said, “the Commission…has not been able to independently verify such allegations” and “the Commission was also unable to verify reports of sexualized torture and genital mutilation.”

The UN “experts” couldn’t verify the atrocities that Palestinian terrorists themselves had no shame in video-taping and sharing online with the world.

The newest report takes the UN inquiry’s strategy of systematic deceit even farther.

Pillay is also a judge on the UN’s International Court of Justice. A second inquiry member, Chris Sidoti, is a lawyer. After his appointment, the third member Miloon Kothari, told an interviewer that the Jewish lobby controls social media. All of them take great pains to tout their work as a model of legal integrity. In one paragraph, the report tosses out words like “standard of proof,” “forensic examination,” “rules of admissibility,” “cross-referencing,” “media authentication,” “chronolocation analysis,” and “metadata extraction.”

Under the cover of legalistic word vomit, the UN has produced a massive legal fraud.
The UN Hamas proxy law team commemorates the Holocaust in good faith
Antisemitism, explained Sartre in his 1944 classic, “Anti-Semite and Jew” is not a bad opinion of Jews. It is a warped personality. The anti-Semite sees nothing amiss in combining hatred for the living Jew with reverence for the dead.

Today we would have to qualify the rule. Jews have become Israelis. When killed by Palestinian Arabs, reverence for the dead evaporates like mist when the sun comes up. A blatant smugness takes over that ‘Israelis got their just desserts.’ Isn’t this what the media catchphrases, ‘escalation’ and ‘cycle of violence’ mean? The Jews got what was coming to them.

Therein lies a tutorial, a hard one to stomach. Fighting antisemitism by ploughing cash into Holocaust centres and education invites Pillay types – antisemites with clout in law and politics – to shed a tear, observe a minute of silence and murmur into a hot mike, ‘God bless the Six Million.’ Tackling a pathology with bricks and mortar and course modules creates jobs. It build empires. And Nazism sprouts like a plant fed on nutrients.

Letting the Holocaust be forgotten is not just hard, it is costly. Professor Norman Finklestein may leave a vile taste, but his “Holocaust industry” contains more than grains of horrible truth. This after all is a global brand. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre rakes in and disburses millions in order that the world will never forget the Holocaust. There is something amiss when survivors live out their few remaining years in old age homes.

Back in Emperor Hadrian’s day, there weren’t Zionists. But the Jews proved a handful for Rome. It was difficult for them to please Hadrian. Once a member of the tribe passed the Imperial train and saluted the Emperor, who grew beside himself with rage.

“You a Jew dare to greet the Emperor. You shall pay with your life.” Later another Jew passed by. Warned by example, he did not acknowledge Hadrian. “You a Jew pass the Emperor without a greeting,” swore the tyrant. “You forfeit your life.” Turning to his bewildered courtiers he said, “I hate them. Whatever they do I find intolerable.”
Bonnie Glick: The UN Gravy Train Rolls on and on While America Pays
Why on earth would UNIFIL refuse to evacuate? Perhaps their reasoning is akin to UNRWA’s reflexive blame-casting onto the IDF. They are complicit in Hezbollah’s activities much as UNRWA is complicit in Hamas’s. Indeed, Hezbollah tunnels have been located in very close proximity to UNIFIL headquarters and other UN buildings in Lebanon. There is no way that UNIFIL officials did not know the tunnels were right next door and that they were chock full of weapons. Acknowledging Hezbollah’s actions and actually honoring their mandate to disarm Hezbollah might end their high-pay/low-pressure jobs for life, so UNIFIL members naturally stood by their partners in duplicity, the Lebanese Armed Forces, and complained about IDF incursions.

Five billion dollars later, what has America’s investment in UNIFIL and the LAF gotten us? A terror force that is armed to the teeth by Iran. An underground operation reinforced naturally by borders and woodlands. A weapons cache that, despite enormous IDF successes at weapons destruction, still includes: over 50,000 mortars capable of short range attacks that can be produced locally in Lebanon with some outside components from Iran, 25,000 rockets capable of 30-80 km range targeting with some manufactured in Lebanon by Hezbollah, and approximately 2,000 rockets capable of hitting targets 80-100 km away, which can be manufactured in Lebanon. Also in Hezbollah’s arsenal are unknown quantities of drones, long-range missiles, anti-tank missiles, and precision-guided missiles.

On top of Hezbollah’s shameless manipulation of civilian populations, Hezbollah functions as a state within a state. It not only has tacit control over UNIFIL such that it keeps the UN agency from doing anything in Lebanon, but it has very real control over the levers of the Lebanese government, including the LAF. Masquerading as a political party as well as a terrorist army, Hezbollah has snookered the Lebanese government into handing over the reins of control because of one underlying emotion: fear. Hezbollah assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2004 and every prime minister since then has spent the bulk of his term looking over his shoulder for potential assassins. This hasn’t exactly led to the formation of stable governments. Without a stable government and Hezbollah effectively running the show, UNIFIL has seen no reason to act on its mandate to disarm the strongmen. Instead, like Lebanon's leaders, UNIFIL goes with the flow, eases into and out of Lebanese high society, and leaves Israel’s northern border vulnerable to terror attacks.

Given the UN’s antagonistic track record vis-a-vis Israel, is it any surprise that Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his minions have never called out UNIFIL’s failures? The reckoning that is now befalling Hezbollah and Lebanon has been decades in coming.


UNRWA Deserves No Immunity in U.S. Courts
Fifteen years ago, outgoing UNRWA General Counsel James Lindsay published a report documenting UNRWA’s close ties with Hamas. After Hamas staged its 2006 coup in Gaza, killing and maiming Fatah opponents to consolidate power, he reported, “UNRWA continued its campaign to convince the West, particularly Europe, to ‘encourage’ and ‘engage with’ Hamas.” In 2007, UNRWA accused the United States and European Union of being undemocratic for refusing to fund the Palestinian leadership despite the presence of Hamas, a designated terror group whose covenant calls for genocide against Jews.

He reported UNRWA neither had a policy to prohibit and discourage hiring Hamas members, nor did it check the backgrounds of Palestinian applicants. In 2004, UNRWA Commissioner-General Peter Hansen said that UNRWA “demand[s] of our staff, whatever their political persuasion is, that they behave in accordance with U.N. standards and norms for neutrality,” while acknowledging, “Hamas members [are] on the UNRWA payroll, and I don’t see that as a crime.”

The United States need not defer to the United Nations. The U.S. government has a compelling interest to suppress terrorism. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, it is illegal for Americans to “knowingly provide material support” to a foreign terrorist organization.

In 2010, the Supreme Court held in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project that a “foreign terrorist organization introduced to the structures of the international legal system might use the information to threaten, manipulate, and disrupt. This possibility is real, not remote.” It is also illegal to give foreign terrorist organizations training in international law or provide funding for any “legitimate purpose” of the group for fear that they would use the system to further terrorism.

Accordingly, the United States could argue it is a violation of U.S. law to fund UNRWA if it knowingly includes Hamas members in its ranks, regardless of any legitimate function they perform for UNRWA.

The August 2024 U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services findings are the tip of the iceberg; there appears now to be evidence suggesting complicity by several hundred other employees.

Reflecting on the Privileges and Immunities Convention, not waiving immunity in this case would “impede the course of justice,” for both the victims and people of all nations who rely on the integrity of the U.N. to bring stability to the world.


Hamas HQ in Turkey directed failed Tel Aviv suicide bombing
The failed suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in August was carried out under the direction of Hamas headquarters in Turkey, according to the findings of a joint Israel Police and Israel Security Agency investigation published on Tuesday.

Indictments against eight terrorists arrested during the investigation were set to be filed later in the day.

According to authorities, the eight maintained contact with Abada Bilal, a senior Hamas official in Turkey who directed the execution of the attack.

The investigation also found that one of the terrorists traveled several times to Turkey, where Hamas provided him with funding for explosives and training on assembling bombs.

On Aug. 18, a powerful explosion rocked Tel Aviv’s Lehi Street. One passerby was moderately wounded by shrapnel, and damage was caused to buildings and property.

The “military wings” of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups claimed responsibility for the attack, with the former vowing to carry out suicide attacks “as long as Israel continues its massacre and policy of assassinations in Gaza.”

The investigation found that the bomber, Jaafar Muna, who was killed in the blast, was a Hamas operative from Nablus.

Authorities said on Tuesday that an additional indictment was filed against a resident of Beit Hanina in eastern Jerusalem, who transported Muna from the Israeli capital to Tel Aviv.


1 dead, 4 wounded in terrorist attack in central Israel
A 33-year-old policeman was killed and four other people were wounded in a terrorist attack in central Israel on Tuesday.

The shooter, a Palestinian from the northern Gaza Strip who lived in Judea and Samaria in recent years, was reportedly neutralized at the scene by an armed citizen, who, according to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr, had received his gun license three months ago.

According to initial reports, the shootings occurred in two locations on Highway 4 near Yavne, between Ashdod and Tel Aviv.

Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah emergency rescue volunteers were on the scene of the attack providing initial treatment to the wounded.

The 33-year-old officer was critically wounded at the Yavne interchange, according to MDA. He was transported to Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, where he was later declared dead.

The victim was identified by the Israel Police as First Sgt. Adir Kadosh from Tel Aviv. He was killed a month before he was set to get married.

“Adir joined the police in 2013 following his military service in the Border Police,” the police said in a statement.


Hezbollahland: Iran’s Hellish Stronghold in Lebanon
The Hezbollah stronghold of Dahiyeh is Lebanon’s shadow capital and the nerve center of Iran’s Arab empire. But it has an inner weakness.

Over the past year, the Center for Peace Communications, a New York nonprofit, interviewed Shi’ite opponents of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Sunni victims of Hezbollah in Syria, each of whom in their own way has fought back against the group’s depredations. At great personal risk, they let us record and film them bearing witness to the reality Hezbollah hides. To obscure the identity of these brave people, we have illustrated their stories with striking animation. The voices you hear, however, are theirs.

The result is Hezbollah’s Hostages, a Center for Peace Communications production which The Free Press presents exclusively to English-language audiences on successive Mondays.




Netta Barak-Corren Answers 18 Questions on Anti-Israel Bias, Israel’s Crises, and Gaza’s “Day After”
Israel is facing several existential crises—at least three, by Netta Barak-Corren's account.

The legal scholar and law professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is intimately concerned with Israel's future and current threats. During the judicial reform, Netta authored a 45-page document (later translated into English) breaking down the problems and proper courses of action as she saw them, and most recently, she co-wrote a 28-page recommendation for the Israeli government's plan for Gaza after the war.

An award-winning researcher and visiting teacher and fellow at elite universities, Netta is also a cognitive scientist and seeks empirical and pragmatic resolutions in law.

Now, she joins us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including anti-Israel bias among international law experts, Israel's existential crises, and Gaza's "day after the war."

This interview was held on Sept. 29.

0:11 1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
8:00 2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
16:36 3. How do you think Hamas views the outcome and aftermath of October 7—was it a success, in their eyes?
20:24 4. What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
22:30 5. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
32:36 6. What role should the Israeli government have in religious matters?
33:54 7. Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
40:17 8. Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
42:53 9. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
45:18 10. Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
55:38 11. If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
57:31 12. Can questioning the actions of Israel’s government and army — even in the context of this war — be a valid form of love and patriotism?
58:27 13. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
1:00:38 14. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
1:03:50 15. What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the war?
1:07:44 16. Do you think Israel is properly handling the Iranian threat?
1:08:30 17. Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
1:10:37 18. Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?


Israel Undiplomatic w/ Mark Regev & Ruthie Blum: Was the UN Just Caught Red-Handed in Lebanon?!
Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces made a shocking discovery in Southern Lebanon suggesting that the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) was aware—and maybe even complicit—in war crimes against Israeli civilians.

How should the Jewish state respond and what does this mean for the future of the region? Join JNS senior contributing editor Ruthie Blum and Mark Regev, former Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom—both former advisers at the Prime Minister's Office—for this explosive conversation!

All this and more on “Israel Undiplomatic!”


The Israel Guys: Breaking: Did Israel Just Attack UN Troops In Lebanon?
Across the media, headlines are rampant about Israel supposedly attacking UN troops in Lebanon. What actually happened? Why are there even UN troops in Lebanon and what are they doing there? Stay tuned for a brief history of UNIFIL and the current situation with Israel and Hezbollah. Also there was a tragic shooting attack in Southern Israel this morning. Ben Hilton breaks it down for you.


The Quad Interviews: Why the UK Will Regret Losing Its Backbone Join "The Quad" host Fleur Hassan-Nahoum for this exclusive interview with Jonathan Sacerdoti, a journalist and TV producer based in the United Kingdom.

Sacerdoti has spent the past year—since Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks—fighting antisemitism and the biased coverage of Israel that’s pervaded the British media. He has some choice words and insights for the “intellectual pygmies” in the British government that you don’t want to miss!

Who’s Behind The Radical Pro-Hamas Groups Terrorizing College Campuses And Streets?
On this episode of “The Federalist Radio Hour,” Ryan Mauro, Investigative Researcher for Capital Research Center, joins Federalist Elections Correspondent Matt Kittle to discuss his new report “Marching Toward Violence: The Domestic Anti-Israeli Protest Movement.” One year after the October 7 massacre in which radical Islamist terrorists murdered hundreds of innocent people while kidnapping and terrorizing dozens more, Americans are still seeing terrorist sympathizers infiltrate college campuses and protest in support of terrorist organizations.

But who’s behind these groups? And more importantly, is our government investigating the radical terrorist movement growing on our soil?


US, Canada designate Samidoun ‘charity’ as terrorist front group
The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it has designated the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a “sham charity” front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group.

The action was coordinated with Canada, which will list Samidoun as a terrorist entity under its criminal code.

“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” said Bradley Smith, acting under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence

The Treasury Department accuses Samidoun, ostensibly a support group for Palestinian prisoners and their families, of being a front for the PFLP, which Washington has listed as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. The PFLP emerged in the 1960s with a spree of aircraft hijackings and orchestrated the 1972 Lod Airport massacre, in which 26 innocent people were killed, including 17 Americans. PFLP units also took part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 assault in southern Israel, leaving 1,200 dead and 251 people taken hostage into the Gaza Strip.

In addition to its alleged financial support for the PFLP, Samidoun, which was founded in Vancouver, has been one of the leading groups behind anti-Israel protests in the United States and Canada.

Israel listed Samidoun as a terrorist organization and PFLP front in 2021, and Germany banned the group in 2023 shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks.

Tuesday’s sanctions announcement lists Samidoun founder Khaled Barakat, a Canadian citizen, as part of the PFLP’s overseas leadership.
NGO Monitor: PFLP and Samidoun on American College Campuses
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)1 – which participated in the October 7th atrocities and is designated as a terrorist group by the US, Canada, the EU, and Israel – has had a strong presence at encampments, demonstrations, and riots on American college campuses. Students have been documented while carrying PFLP posters, flying the PFLP flag, hosting PFLP-linked speakers, and reading PFLP publications.

On April 23, 2024, the PFLP posted a statement in support of American students: “We in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, along with all our people, the honorable of our nation and the world, confirm our steadfast support for the struggle of the students youth movements, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) at universities such as Columbia, Rutgers, Yale, Stanford, among others. We call for enhancing the unity of students and their struggle to divest American universities from the zionist entity and cut all forms of relations with it.”

In addition, Samidoun, an NGO designated by Israel as a terrorist group and a “subsidiary” of the PFLP, is part of the NGO network responsible for antisemitic and pro-terror incitement on campuses. Samidoun’s logo can be seen on posters promoting the PFLP, and its officials have preached “resistance” (code for terrorism) at campus events. Samidoun – for which the Alliance for Global Justice, a charity registered with the IRS, collects tax deductible donations in the US – does not publish financial information, reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability.


The US Sanctioned an Anti-Israel Group for Backing Terrorists. Months Ago, Its Leaders Were Hobnobbing With Columbia University Students.
The U.S. Department of Treasury, in a joint action with the Canadian government, sanctioned the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and one of its leaders for providing material support to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist organization that participated in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack. The move likely spells trouble for Samidoun's U.S. collaborators, which include student activists and a major left-wing activist network, experts told the Washington Free Beacon.

The sanctions, unveiled on Tuesday, describe Samidoun as "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization." They mark the most severe action to date against the group, cutting off its ability to fundraise across North America.

All U.S. citizens are now barred from doing business with Samidoun, and the group must forfeit any properties held in the country. That could prove costly for the U.S. activist groups that have embraced it.

Samidoun, for example, has maintained a strong relationship with anti-Israel student groups, most notably Columbia University Apartheid Divest, which invited Samidoun to teach a March lecture on "Palestinian resistance" and the "fight for liberation." During the event, Samidoun leaders Charlotte Kates and her husband, Khaled Barakat, explicitly endorsed terrorism against Jews. The United States also slapped sanctions on Barakat for engaging in "fundraising and recruitment" efforts for the PFLP's "terrorist activity against Israel."

Samidoun, as a legal subsidiary of the left-wing nonprofit Alliance for Global Justice, is also part of an American dark money network funded by progressive billionaires, the Free Beacon reported last year. Liberal dark money behemoths such as the New Venture Fund, the Tides Center, and the Tides Foundation gave the alliance more than $9 million in 2021.

The new sanctions leveled against Samidoun should put those groups on notice, said Anne Herzberg, a human rights lawyer and NGO Monitor legal adviser.

"Despite the well-known PFLP connections and its activities, Samidoun was embraced by universities, faculty, student groups, and activist organizations," Herzberg told the Free Beacon. "As such, it is possible these groups and individuals may also bear liability for material support for terrorism."

"They are certainly on notice going forward that any cooperation with Samidoun or its leader Khaled Barakat could lead to serious sanctions and criminal penalties."


Roger Waters Calls Israel ‘Extremely Evil,’ Pushes Antisemitic Tropes While Denying He’s Antisemitic
Former Pink Floyd lead singer Roger Waters made a slew of anti-Israel remarks, promoted antisemitic tropes about Jewish power, and made inappropriate Holocaust comparisons in a new interview with Turkey’s TRT World published on Wednesday.

Waters’ interview with TRT World presenter Paul Salvatori focused on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip and was conducted ahead of the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that started the conflict. Salvatori began by asking the British musician to reflect on how he has changed in the last year, since the launch of the Israel-Hamas war.

“I wake up desperately disturbed every morning,” Rogers replied, before talking about wanting to fight against the “evil” in the world including Israel, of which he has been a longtime critic.

“Supremacy of all kinds is the key to understanding why people behave in these extremely evil ways, like the Israelis have done for the last 75 years and are continuing to do so with the support of the American empire including my country, the United Kingdom, which is part of the American empire,” he said. “And it’s deeply, deeply depressing to me.”

Waters said Israel “pretends” to believe in human rights and freedom of speech, just like the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland “and all the rest of them.” He added that US and UK leaders — such as US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former US President Donald Trump, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and current British Prime Minister Keir Stamer — “represent pure evil.”

The ex-Pink Floyd vocalist additionally expressed support for anti-Israel protesters on college and university campuses, specifically the “brave students” at Columbia University, who are protesting against Israel’s “genocide.” He compared efforts to stop these anti-Israel campus protests to the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police during World War II, and promoted antisemitic tropes about an “Israeli lobby.”

“What is incredible is how lots of our brothers and sisters in the student movement all over the world, but particularly where I live in the United States, the students at Columbia University in New York for instance, decided to protest the genocide,” Waters said. “They’re saying there’s a genocide going on … so we’re going to occupy lawns and maybe even a hall somewhere in Columbia. They [the Israeli lobby] sent the Gestapo in to beat them up … the a–holes at the top of Columbia University who are trying to bolster the Gestapo to come in and beat anybody up who wants to stand up for the love of our brothers and sisters and for truth.”


Kassy Akiva: Harvard Gave Students 10 Minutes To Protest Anti-Hamas Speaker
Harvard University students hosting anti-Hamas speaker Mosab Hassan Yousef for a lecture last week were required to read a university-issued statement, informing the audience that protesters would be allowed up to 10 minutes to disrupt the event before being removed.

“Speech is privileged in the University community,” the Harvard student hosting the event read. There are obligations of civility and respect for others that underlie rational discourse. “If any disruption occurs that prohibits speech the disrupters will be allowed for up to 10 minutes.”

Yousef, known as the “Green Prince,” is a former Palestinian militant who defected to Israel in 1997. He worked with the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet, helping to prevent terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings. His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, is a co-founder of Hamas.

At the 5-minute mark protesters will be issued a warning and asked to stop, and after five more minutes they will be removed if their disruptive behavior “prevents the audience from adequately hearing or seeing the speakers,” the statement said.

The policy comes as Harvard grapples with how to deal with the anti-Israel protesters on its campus who have created encampments, harassed Jewish students, and disrupted graduation ceremonies. Yousef’s event was hosted by The Harvard Salient, Harvard’s only conservative student publication, which has been gaining momentum since its 2021 relaunch.

A Harvard student who helps run student organizations but wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from classmates told The Daily Wire that “the school has allowed for the heckler’s veto for a while, but the reading of the statement is new.”


Amazon is hit by spiraling boycott after clip of executive wearing controversial necklace
An Amazon executive has appeared in a company video wearing a pendant shaped like a map of Israel emblazoned with the Palestinian flag, prompting some to call for a boycott of the tech behemoth.

Ruba Borno, vice president of Global Specialists and Partner Organizations for Amazon Web Services, was spotted donning the necklace in a video promoting a company conference in Las Vegas.

The map that was around Borno’s neck was Israel including West Bank and Gaza Strip — territories that the Palestinians have demanded as the basis for an independent state.

The symbolism has infuriated many, particularly as Amazon remained silent over the abduction of one of its own employees on October 7, Sasha Troufanov, who is still a Hamas hostage.

Troufanov, 28, an Israeli hardware engineer at an Amazon-owned subsidiary in Tel Aviv, was taken hostage along with three members of his family from Kibbutz Nir Oz, while his father was murdered in the massacre.

Borno, who has Palestinian heritage, fled Kuwait with her parents during the first Gulf War in 1990. The family came to the United States, where Borno received advanced degrees in electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Michigan.

Amazon has since removed the video, with a company spokesperson telling DailyMail.com: 'The video shot was not meant to be a political statement, but we've taken down the video and will repost a new one in the coming days.'

Amazon added that its leadership 'remains in regular contact with our teams based in the region to offer our support.'

Since this controversy blew up, Borno appears to have deleted her X account.

She has worked at Amazon Web Services since November 2021, with previous stints at Experian, Cisco and the Boston Consulting Group.


Serious concerns after police say it is an ‘opinion’ to call Hezbollah terrorists
Metropolitan Police officers on patrol at a “Lebanon vigil” in London have been caught on camera saying that it is merely an “opinion” the Hezbollah is a terrorist group.

Footage from the event held in Trafalgar Square on 28 September sparked serious concerns regarding two officers’ understanding of the Lebanese paramilitary army, which is designated a terrorist organisation under British law.

An attempt to relay that information to two police officers at the vigil was caught on video, and the exchange was posted on Twitter /X by Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).

The officers can be heard dismissing the comment, stating, “Your opinion is your opinion” and that as police they are not allowed “to take opinions”.

A spokesperson from the police force said in a statement: “The proscribed status of Hezbollah, Hamas and other groups is included in the briefings given to officers deployed to police related events, but we recognise that this video shows we need to do more to make sure the details of those briefings are fully understood.

"Attendance was limited and officers were in the area throughout in order to identify any offences, including support for proscribed organisations,” they added.

“Hezbollah (Party of God)” has been on the UK government’s list of proscribed terrorist groups or organisations since March 2019.

The government has described the group as “committed to armed resistance to the state of Israel and aims to seize all Palestinian territories and Jerusalem from Israel. It supports terrorism in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This newly surfaced footage is jaw-dropping.

“It is hard to watch the lack of training of Met officers on display here without despairing. For Britain's Jews, acutely aware of Hezbollah’s antisemitic genocidal intentions and record, it is terrifying. How are our officers supposed to protect us when they don't even understand the law?”






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