Friday, November 15, 2024

11/15 Links Pt1: America’s Words and Amsterdam’s Example; Who Won the Jewish Vote?; Israel destroyed secret Iranian nuclear research facility

From Ian:

Meir Y. Soloveichik: America’s Words and Amsterdam’s Example
Kisin is exactly right, and another insightful outsider allows us to understand why philo-Semitism in America is so profound. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks recounted how, as a college student, he visited Washington for the first time and was struck by the fact that the memorials for great American figures featured not only images but words as well. The Jefferson Memorial, for example, features not only a statue of the author of the Declaration of Independence but also the words of the document that changed the world. David Chester French’s memorial for Lincoln houses not only the statue of an enthroned president but also the chiseled texts of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. In contrast, Sacks continued, the statue in Westminster of Churchill—for whom words were somewhat important—contains only a single word: “Churchill.”

The point, Sacks explained, is that America was inspired by the Hebraic conception of covenant, of a nation dedicated to an idea. Only with this in mind can the story of Jews in America—and the American affection for Israel—be understood.

It bears remembering that America was not the first nation to be inspired by the Jews. As I write these words, the Internet is filled with videos of an anti-Semitic pogrom in Amsterdam. The images ought to be haunting and horrific to anyone, but they are particularly so for those who understand what Amsterdam once meant to Jewish history.

It was in Amsterdam that the Jews of Europe—expelled from England and burned alive in the auto-da-fé of Spain and Portugal—first found a beacon of freedom in the 1600s. As the historian Steven Nadler notes, the fact that this occurred is not happenstance; it “goes right to the heart of Dutch identity in the seventeenth century, particularly as this evolved through the struggle for independence from Spain and the political, social, and artistic forces unleashed by that crusade.” The Dutch, Nadler reflects,

saw their own recent history—their campaign for political sovereignty, liberated from Spain, and for religious freedom from Catholic oppression—reflected in the biblical story of the Israelite struggle for emancipation from bondage in Egypt and the subsequent fight to claim the lands that God had promised them.… By 1648, with the Dutch victory over Spain finalized with the Peace of Westphalia, an equally apt, and equally overplayed, biblical image was available: David vanquishing Goliath. This brilliant vision went beyond the military struggle and colored the internal politics of the new nation. The Dutch found in Hebrew Scripture a rich source of models for both martial and civic virtues: courage, temperance, fortitude, wisdom, and justice. The republic was often likened to the Israelite commonwealth, and its rulers to the Hebrew judges and kings.

Before America, there was Amsterdam. But it was not in the Netherlands that Jews found full equality; that would come only in the country that would place human equality at the core of its creed and consider itself covenantal in seeking to further this vision. That is why Kisin is correct in understanding the philo-Semitism that is still to be found in the American electorate. It is rooted in the fact that, as Sacks put it, “Israel, ancient and modern, and the United States are the two supreme examples of societies constructed in conscious pursuit of an idea.”

What happened in Amsterdam is, of course, a warning for America, for it is, alas, not difficult to ima-gine a similar mob made manifest on an Ivy League college quad or on the streets of Los Angeles or New York. Nevertheless, at the end of an eventful first week in November, one truth is quite clear. The commonality between America and Israel—and the bond built upon it—endures. And surely, whatever one’s views on the many policy questions facing this country in this season of Thanksgiving, that is a reason for gratitude.
John Podhoretz: They’re Hunting Us Down
In fact, the rampage against Israelis in Amsterdam in November was literally dubbed a “Jew hunt” in the WhatsApp chat groups that organized it. True to classic anti-Semitic form, the beatings and menacings were instantly blamed on Jewish soccer hooligans in town to watch the Maccabi team play. That is the Big Lie of the year. It had begun to take shape the evening before and was organized through WhatsApp and Telegram—with Uber drivers and others sharing information about where Israelis were walking and where they were staying. People working in hotels sent word that the Jews had come back to their rooms.

Officials in Amsterdam have made it clear in no uncertain terms that whatever behavior Israelis might have engaged in, they did not precipitate, nor do they bear any responsibility for, the violence. The “it was Jewish soccer hooligans who did this to themselves” line is the deployment of a classic anti-Semitic trope, and the Jews who have engaged in it because they cannot bear to look at reality in the face better wise up. Because even an Episcopalian vegan loather of Israel who bears the once-Jewish name of Sulzberger might find himself being hunted.

In the same week that the Jew hunt was taking place in the land of the wooden shoe, a little boy was nearly snatched away from his father on a street in Brooklyn; a 13-year-old kid on a bicycle was slapped as he rode by; a Hasidic man was brutally beaten; another man was slashed in the face by a man shouting “f—k you guys.” Outside a kosher supermarket in Manhattan, a man was called a dirty Jew and spat upon. In Chicago, two Jews at DePaul University were beaten just weeks after an illegal immigrant from Mauritania shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he shot a visibly Orthodox man on his way to synagogue. There are daily incidents now in Toronto and Montreal in which individual Jews are being targeted.

It’s 13 months since the slaughter of 1,200 Jews, the wounding of thousands more, and the taking of hostages. Attacks on Jews are increasing in number and in brutality. The effort to “globalize the intifada” is no longer metaphorical. The design of the intifada in Israel two decades ago was to make everyone feel unsafe at every moment, to render daily life intolerable. Here in America, either law enforcement will rise to the occasion and raise the cost of Jew-hunting so high that those tempted to engage in it will stand down. Or Jews are going to take matters into their own hands.

And when we decide to do a thing, we do it.
Iran and Qatar Have Their Fingerprints All Over South Africa's Anti-Israel 'Genocide' Case, Report Finds
Iran, Qatar, Hamas, and other terrorist entities are quietly underwriting South Africa's effort to prosecute Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a new report obtained by the Washington Free Beacon alleges.

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), brought its case against Israel on Dec. 29, 2023, just three months after Hamas's terror spree left more than 1,200 dead and hundreds more kidnapped. The suit alleges that Israel is committing mass genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip but offers little evidence to support this claim. Nevertheless, more than a dozen countries have joined the suit over the last year, elevating international pressure on Israel as the Jewish state fights to survive.

The timing of the lawsuit is raising fresh questions about South Africa's motivation for bringing it, prompting an in-depth investigation by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), a nonprofit that studies global Jew-hatred. The report "connects South Africa's political and financial alignment with Iran and Qatar—both leading supporters of global terrorism—with its campaign to bring a legal case against Israel," ISGAP said in a draft press release.

The African National Congress, ISGAP found, was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy before it received a mysterious cash infusion in early 2024—just days after it launched the ICJ case against Israel. The source of this cash, the report states, is believed to be Iran and its regional allies, including Qatar, which are using South Africa to launder baseless claims against Israel and ratchet up diplomatic pressure amid a brutal yearlong war.

"Crucially, this money appeared in the ANC's coffers without explanation, mere days after the South African government brought its case against Israel at the ICJ," according to ISGAP's report. "Given the lack of merit in South Africa's case, and the unlikely possibility that it was brought unilaterally by an unpopular and near-bankrupt ANC, a crucial question arises. Who is actually funding South Africa's case at the ICJ?"

African National Congress leaders, including South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, have declined to disclose the source of this funding, which helped the party recover from nearly $30 million in debt.

Putting a case before the ICJ requires deep pockets. Estimates place the preliminary costs at around $10.5 million, with a trial running as high as $79 million. "Given the enormity of the cost, it is difficult to dismiss the argument that South Africa was the beneficiary of considerable external support," according to ISGAP's report.

In March, the Electoral Commission of South Africa opened an investigation into how the ANC settled its soaring debt.


Israel destroyed secret Iranian nuclear research facility in recent strikes, US official says
Israel’s retaliatory strike on Iran three weeks ago destroyed a secret nuclear weapons research facility, according to the US-based news site Axios, citing American and Israeli officials.

It had been thought that Iran’s nuclear sites had escaped attack following US diplomatic pressure on Israel to avoid the risk of triggering all-out war.

Axios quoted a US official saying, “They conducted scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon. It was a top secret thing.”

Most of the Iran government was unaware of what was going on there, the official said.

Among the targets Israel struck in response to an Iranian missile barrage before Rosh Hashanah was the military complex at Parchin, southeast of Tehran.

The Taleghan 2 facility at Parchin had previously been used to test explosives to set off a nuclear device, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, before Iran halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

Iran has denied interest in the production of nuclear weapons.

However, American and US intelligence were concerned to detect research activity at the location last year that could be used for nuclear weapons and the US privately warned Iran against continuing, Axios reported.

A US official told the website that last month’s strike against Taleghan 2 “was a not so subtle message that the Israelis have significant insight into the Iranian system even when it comes to things that were kept top secret and known to a very small group of people in the Iranian government”.
Elon Musk met Iranian UN envoy in bid to defuse tensions under Trump — report
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire closely allied with US President-elect Donald Trump, met Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to defuse tensions between Tehran and Washington, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The newspaper quoted anonymous Iranian sources as describing the meeting between the world’s richest person and Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani as “positive.”

The two met for more than an hour at a secret location on Monday, the newspaper said.

Neither the Trump transition team nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations immediately confirmed the encounter, with the Iranian mission saying it had no comment.

The meeting, if confirmed, could offer an early indication that Trump is serious about diplomacy with Iran and not choosing the more hawkish approach favored by many conservatives in his Republican Party as well as Israel.

It would also show again the extraordinary influence of Musk, the owner of Tesla and X who has been a near-constant presence at Trump’s side, reportedly joining him on telephone calls with world leaders.

Trump in his last term in office tore up a deal on Iran’s nuclear program negotiated under his predecessor Barack Obama, instead pursuing a policy of “maximum pressure” that included working to force other nations not to buy Iran’s oil.

But Trump has cast himself as a great dealmaker and during his latest campaign has voiced an openness to diplomacy, despite his avowed support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of whose Likud party allies said Wednesday that Israel is expecting the president-elect to take a hard line on Iran.


Who Won the Jewish Vote?
Interpreting the Jewish vote depends on what one means by “Jewish voter.” Fears of a Trump dictatorship, however imaginary or justified, belong to a broader and more notional category of voting priority than worries about whether the government will close the local yeshiva, or whether mobs of Hamas supporters will trash your child’s college campus, or perhaps the local kosher restaurant, with no real consequences. There are Jewish voters whose outlook is essentially national, and others who view the national interest through issues that are explicitly Jewish, or else related to their daily experience of the country as Jews.

The roughly 15-point gap in Jewish support for Trump reported by the Teach Coalition and JDCA-promoted surveys reflects a significant philosophical difference between the pollsters, who disagree about which kinds of voters are in fact representative of the American Jewish community. As Honan explained, “We asked people if they were Jewish or not and if not we said thanks very much, we’re going to move on.” In contrast, Gerstein’s team counted people who said they were Jewish but did not consider Judaism to be their religion. “There’s a difference between a poll of Jewish voters and those with a little crosstab who say their religion is Jewish,” Gerstein explained during the JDCA call. “Those polls exclude 25% of the Jewish population because of the way they do their screening.”

The decision to count Jews who do not identify their religion as Judaism had a profound effect on the findings of the J Street poll. As Soifer explained, GBAO weighted their results based on the 2020 Pew population survey, which found that 27% of the U.S. Jewish population were “Jews of no religion.” An answer from someone who doesn’t consider themselves religiously Jewish will therefore have a greater impact on the poll’s outcome than a response from an Orthodox voter, who comes from a community that accounts for 9% of the Pew-estimated U.S. Jewish population. Conversely, an Orthodox voter will have a relatively greater impact on the outcome of a poll where nonreligiously Jewish Jews are screened out.

The polls also hint at the diverging political consequences of this definitional split. In the GBAO-conducted polls, Haredim and people with no religious conception of their Judaism are assumed to share the politically meaningful demographic category of “Jewish voter.” In the Teach Coalition poll, Jewish voters are defined as people who reach a belief-based threshold of self-identity.

It is possible there is no discrepancy between the two polls, and that people who see Judaism as their religion are less likely to be unshakable Democrats than those who believe it’s possible to be a Jew without any belief in Judaism—in which case Jews might indeed have been the only major demographic group that didn’t lurch rightward in 2024. But in the anxious and violent year after the Oct. 7 attacks, enough Jews may have recalibrated their own notions of identity, and of what being Jewish required of them as democratic political actors, to turn much of South Brooklyn deep red, flip places like Aventura, and transform Jewish neighborhoods into some of the only real purple territory in urban America.


Senators introduce bill, which passed House 422-2, blocking Oct. 7 terrorists from entering US
Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) introduced a bill on Wednesday that aims to block terrorists who participated in Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023, attack from entering the United States.

The No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act, which Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) introduced last year and which passed the House 422-2—with Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) dissenting—bars migrants who “carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated in any way the attacks perpetrated by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, from being admitted to the United States.”

It also prohibits “any such individual from being eligible for any immigration benefits,” the senators stated.

“Since January 2021, the Biden-Harris administration has released nearly 100 dangerous individuals on the terrorist watchlist into the country, as well as illegal immigrants from U.S. adversaries like Iran,” Blackburn stated. “This common-sense, bipartisan bill would ensure that no migrant tied to Hamas and the horrific terrorist attack on Oct. 7 is allowed to enter our country or receive immigration benefits on the taxpayer dime.”

Rosen stated that “no one who participated in Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 terrorist attack should be allowed to enter the United States.”

“That’s why I’m helping introduce bipartisan legislation to prohibit Hamas terrorists from being eligible to receive immigration benefits,” she added. “I’ll always work across the aisle to keep our nation safe.”
Trump taps Doug Burgum, pro-Israel governor with settler ties, as interior secretary
US President-elect Donald Trump nominated North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as interior secretary in his incoming cabinet, marking another pro-Israel appointment by the former president.

Burgum visited Israel and West Bank settlements in September, calling the West Bank “the seventh front” of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and several Iranian proxies.

During his visit alongside Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz, he expressed solidarity with settler communities facing terror threats in the West Bank but did not explicitly support the controversial enterprise, unlike some of Trump’s other recent appointees.

“At a time when Iran is at war with Israel on seven fronts, in the wake of Hamas brutally executing six hostages, including one American citizen, and as Israelis continue to battle the daily attacks from Hezbollah on their northern border, now is the time to stand with Israel – in Israel,” Burgum said in a statement following his visit.

“We need to stop the current administration’s policy of appeasing Iran and pressuring Israel, and restore the policy of maximum pressure on Iran with maximum support for Israel. We’re thankful to the Republican Jewish Coalition for the opportunity to visit Israel on this solidarity mission.”

Burgum, 67, grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota, population 328. He earned a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and his master’s of business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.


Muslims who voted for Trump upset by his pro-Israel cabinet picks
US Muslim leaders who supported Republican Donald Trump to protest against the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza and attacks on Lebanon have been deeply disappointed by his cabinet picks, they tell Reuters.

“Trump won because of us and we’re not happy with his Secretary of State pick and others,” says Rabiul Chowdhury, a Philadelphia investor who chaired the Abandon Harris campaign in Pennsylvania and co-founded Muslims for Trump. Muslim support for Trump helped him win Michigan and may have factored into other swing state wins, strategists believe.

Trump picked Republican senator Marco Rubio, a staunch supporter of Israel for Secretary of State. Rubio said earlier this year he would not call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he believed Israel should destroy “every element” of Hamas. “These people are vicious animals,” he adds.

Trump also nominated Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor and staunch pro-Israel conservative who backs Israeli occupation of the West Bank and has called a two-state solution “unworkable,” as the next ambassador to Israel.

He has picked Republican Representative Elise Stefanik, who called the UN a “cesspool of antisemitism” for its condemnation of deaths in Gaza, to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations.

Rexhinaldo Nazarko, executive director of the American Muslim Engagement and Empowerment Network (AMEEN), says Muslim voters had hoped Trump would choose cabinet officials who work toward peace, and there was no sign of that.

“We are very disappointed,” he said. “It seems like this administration has been packed entirely with neoconservatives and extremely pro-Israel, pro-war people, which is a failure on the side of President Trump, to the pro-peace and anti-war movement.”
Trump’s health pick Robert F Kennedy once said Covid had been designed to spare Ashkenazi Jews
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the US health department, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is a vaccine-sceptic who once suggested that coronavirus had been engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews.

Kennedy, who will lead a department with a $1.8tn budget with wide-ranging influence over drug regulation and public health, also has a history of using the word “Holocaust” to refer to vaccine policies.

During a 2022 anti-vaccine rally, he suggested life for Americans living under Covid restrictions was worse than the experience of Anne Frank.

He told the rally: “Even in Hitler’s Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland, you could hide in the attic like Anne Frank did”. He later apologised for the remark.

Trump announced his pick for the cabinet position on Truth Social, his social network, on Thursday afternoon, saying he was “thrilled” to nominate Kennedy to lead the department.

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump wrote.

“Mr Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

Kennedy has steadfastly denied all charges of antisemitism, including in an appearance before Congress.
Biden-Harris Delegation Attends UN Climate Summit Alongside Taliban Terrorists, Who Hope To Receive Green Tech Funding From Western Nations
The Biden-Harris administration is participating in the ongoing United Nations COP29 climate conference alongside Taliban terrorists, who are attending the conference in Azerbaijan in hopes of receiving substantial green technology funding from wealthy Western nations.

Senior administration officials from over 20 federal agencies are traveling to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the two-week summit this week to "highlight U.S. leadership on tackling the climate crisis" and negotiate global climate commitments. White House climate adviser John Podesta, who recently replaced former Biden-Harris climate envoy John Kerry, is leading the delegation.

Conference attendees will work to facilitate agreements in which the West forks over billions of dollars in climate finance to poorer nations, U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday. If such agreements are secured, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, and other developing nations could benefit.

Kabul University professor Abid Arabzai told the Associated Press that COP29 was an opportunity for Afghanistan to secure substantial international assistance for climate projects. "Afghanistan can clarify its climate actions and commitments to the global community, enhancing its international reputation," he said.

The Biden-Harris administration's decision to participate in a conference that could benefit the Taliban highlights how the administration's "whole of government" climate agenda often trumps other policy considerations.

"We have had four years of John Kerry and John Podesta lecturing us about 'investing' in the climate, and the result has been astronomical debt, record-high energy prices, and unaffordable utility bills," Daniel Turner, who leads the energy advocacy group Power the Future, told the Washington Free Beacon.

"Yet here we are again, another U.N. Climate Conference, the same doomsday countdown clock, the same hand-wringing, all while globalists take private jets to a country with rampant human rights abuses," Turner continued. "How is it still a question in the minds of the elite that the Biden-Harris agenda was so overwhelmingly rejected by the electorate just days ago?"


Borrell proposes to suspend EU-Israel political talks
Josep Borrell, who is to leave his post as high representative for foreign affairs and security policy at the end of the month, has proposed to formally suspend the E.U.’s political dialogue with Israel over the country’s alleged violations of human rights and international law in the Gaza Strip.

According to Euronews, which quotes diplomatic sources, Borrell will make the proposal at a meeting of the 27 European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

The proposal was first raised during a meeting this week of the COREPER, or Committee of Permanent Representatives, composed of the 27 E.U. ambassadors in Brussels and preparing for the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

A decision on the suspension of the political dialogue with Israel in the framework of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement would require unanimity among the 27 member states, which means that the proposal is almost certain to fail.

Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands are reportedly among the countries opposing the idea.

Last May, Spain and Ireland, two of the most anti-Israel countries in Europe, sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, demanding an “urgent review” of the E.U.-Israel Association Agreement over “human rights” concerns.

Borrell, who will be succeeded in December by former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, tried to organize a meeting of the E.U.-Israel Association Council, “not to discuss business as usual” but rather human rights issues. He failed because of a lack of agreement among the parties on an agenda.
As most airlines avoid Israel, Emirati carriers keep up flights for diplomacy, profit
At Ben Gurion International Airport, more than a year of war has taken its toll. Global airlines have canceled flights, gates are empty and pictures of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip guide the relatively few arriving passengers to baggage claim.

But one check-in desk remains flush with travelers: the one serving flights to the United Arab Emirates, which have kept up a reliable bridge for Israelis to the outside world throughout the war.

The Emirati flights, in addition to bolstering the airlines’ bottom line, shine a light on the countries’ burgeoning ties, which have survived the wars raging across the Middle East and could be further strengthened as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to office.

“It’s a political and economic statement,” said Joshua Teitelbaum, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at Bar-Ilan University. “They are the main foreign airlines that continue to fly.”

Since the multifront war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel, which saw Palestinian terrorists kill some 1,200 people and kidnap 251, many international airlines have halted, restarted and halted again their flights into Israel’s main gateway to the rest of the world. The concern is real for the carriers, who remember the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine 10 years ago and Iran shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 after takeoff from Tehran in 2020.

But flydubai, the sister airline to the long-haul carrier Emirates, has kept up multiple flights daily and kept Israel connected to the wider world even as its other low-cost competitors have stopped flights. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has continued its flights as well.

While maintaining the flight schedule remains politically important for the UAE after its 2020 diplomatic recognition of Israel, it has also provided a further shot in the arm for revenues — particularly for flydubai.
French court orders release of Lebanese terrorist who killed Israeli, US diplomats
A French court on Friday ordered the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, jailed for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats, prosecutors said.

The court said Abdallah, first detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, would be released on December 6 provided he leaves France, French anti-terror prosecutors said in a statement to AFP, adding that they would appeal.

“In (a) decision dated today, the court granted Georges Ibrahim Abdallah conditional release from December 6, subject to the condition that he leaves French territory and not appear there again,” the prosecutors said.

But his release remains conditional on the outcome of the appeal by prosecutors, to be heard at a hearing on a date yet to be set.

Abdallah, a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of US military attaché Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.

Barsimantov’s killer, a woman wearing a white beret, fled into the Paris subway after shooting him in the head in front of his wife and children at their apartment building. The diplomat was the second secretary for political affairs at the embassy.

Abdallah shot Ray, an assistant military attaché, outside Ray’s apartment building the same year.

Washington, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.

This was Abdallah’s 11th bid for release.

Abdallah, now 73, had been eligible to apply for parole since 1999 but all previous applications had been turned down, except in 2013 when he was granted release on the condition he was expelled from France.
The international sport of kicking the Jew
Similar to the Hamas mega-atrocity last year, the perpetrators of the violence were proud of their actions and shared the footage on social media.

The writing was on the wall, or in a stadium stand. The night before the Dutch pogrom, a giant “Free Palestine” banner was displayed at Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League match against Atletico Madrid at the stadium in the French capital. The banner unfurled by fans of the Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) included a map of “Palestine,” in the form of a Palestinian keffiyeh, covering the entire State of Israel.

UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, did not pursue disciplinary measures against PSG, telling Reuters: “The banner that was unfurled cannot be in this case be considered provocative or insulting.” This is not the view of those of us who live “between the river and the sea,” our existence erased on the Palestinian flag, and still under daily rocket attack courtesy of Iranian sponsorship of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terrorist armies. Meanwhile, Qatar’s mindboggling wealth allows it to play a double game, buying friends and influence.

I’m writing this column before the scheduled November 14 match between France and Israel in Paris. Israeli authorities have issued travel warnings that it’s not safe for Israeli fans.

They don’t want to have to launch a second emergency rescue from violence in Europe within a week.

My friend and colleague Jonathan Spyer noted earlier this week that the popular pro-Iran “Sabereen News” Telegram Channel, had posted: “Next Thursday, the French national team will play against the rabble of the Zionist entity in Paris at the Stade de France. The occupying people and the Zionist audience who will attend the match want to enjoy themselves while children, women, and civilians under siege are being slaughtered in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

“Therefore, we extend our invitations to the zealous Muslim community and all the free people in Paris to present a show no less brilliant than what happened in Amsterdam, where many lakes and narrow alleys are spread throughout Paris.”

So much for claims the attacks were spontaneous. So much for blaming the violence on Israeli “provocations.” Warning of the situation is not an act of Islamophobia. The ordinary Muslim citizens of Europe are themselves the victims of the increasing jihadist radicalization of the youth.

The role of social media platforms, particularly Telegram, in facilitating the organization of attacks and violent rallies also needs to be addressed. International law must catch up with the dangers. Such posts aren’t free speech, they’re anti-democracy.

Threat of falling victim to gaslighting
I fear that not only will the attacks continue but that Israel will fall victim to gaslighting. Countries and venues will refuse to host Israeli sports teams, entertainers, and other cultural activities on the grounds that they can’t ensure the safety of the visiting Israelis.

But this is a lose-lose situation. If a country can’t protect Jews on its soil, it won’t be able to protect its own citizens. This is not a fight against hooliganism. It’s the battle against terrorism.

It is no good kicking the Jew-hatred down the road and trying to ignore it. Europe is not yet lost, but it needs to combat foul play.
Alan M. Dershowitz: The Intifada Was Globalized in Amsterdam
There is no moral or legal equivalence between non-violent mischief — such as tearing down flags and shouting racial insults — and committing life-threatening assaults upon people based on their religion and ethnicity. The anti-Israel rioters were hunting down Jews...

Muslim extremists have a long history of hurling spears in response to non-violent insults. Recall the numerous deadly attacks — shootings, stabbings, bombings and lethal fatwas—against those who allegedly insulted the prophet by picturing him or authoring books about him. There was also violence against those who burned Korans or otherwise demeaned Islam. Even cartoons provoked deadly responses.

The law in no Western nation grants the victims of non-violent insults the right to respond by violence. If a Jew were to physically assault the many Muslims who have repeatedly demeaned Judaism or its nation-state during recent protests, they would be appropriately punished, as some have been.

[W]e are likely to see more anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish pogroms in other parts of the world as antisemitism moves from the fringes to the mainstream.

Protestors – both pro- and anti-Israel – have the right to express their views verbally and even symbolically, but they have no right to attack individuals or groups based on religion, ethnicity or national origin. Those who engaged in physical assaults – and many were caught on video – must be prosecuted and, if convicted, imprisoned or deported. A clear line must be drawn between lawful, even if immoral, protests, and criminal violence.... It is a bright-line distinction that many in the media are deliberately trying to blur.

The U.S. has a stake in stopping this violence: the call to "globalize the intifada" is not limited to Europe. Those who advocate globalization are inciting violence against Americans of Jewish heritage. The incitement may be too general to be denied First Amendment protection against criminal punishment, but the single standard demands that universities apply the same standard to calls for intifada than they would to calls for lynching of blacks or assaulting of gays. The real difference is that no university student or faculty member would ever call for the latter, and if they did, they would be disciplined or expelled. Yet today it is entirely acceptable, indeed expected, that radical students will call for the lynching and assaulting of Jews and Israelis. That, after all, is what an intifada entails.
Dutch government could fall over handling of Amsterdam violence, media report
The Dutch cabinet met in emergency session on Friday amid reports the coalition could implode over the government's handling of violence linked to a Europa League soccer match involving an Israeli team, local media reported.

Nora Achahbar, junior finance minister in the coalition led by anti-Muslim populist Geert Wilders' PVV, had earlier resigned over remarks by ministers on Monday about clashes around the match between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv, several media reported, citing sources in the ongoing cabinet session.

A crisis in cabinet
Achahbar's resignation led to the crisis cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon in which other cabinet members of her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit, broadcasters NOS and RTL said, citing government sources.

Achahbar felt several cabinet members had crossed a line with hurtful and possibly racist comments about the attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam and riots in the days after the match, Dutch paper De Volkskrant reported.

Wilders has repeatedly said Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans, although police have given no details about the background of suspects.

Neither Wilders nor Achahbar, who was born in Morocco and served as public prosecutor before she joined the government in July, were available to comment as the cabinet meeting was ongoing on Friday afternoon.

Party leaders have been summoned to join the cabinet meeting on Friday evening, media said. Achahbar's office and government spokespeople could not be immediately reached by Reuters.

If the NSC party pulls out, the other three coalition members would either have to go ahead as a minority coalition or call early elections.

Achahbar's resignation follows a turbulent week in Amsterdam, where the local police department has said Maccabi fans last week attacked a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag before being chased and beaten by gangs on scooters.

Israeli and Dutch politicians have denounced those attacks as antisemitic and recalled persecution of Jews during World War Two. Pro-Palestinian activists said the Maccabi supporters had armed themselves with sticks and rocks earlier in the day and shouted provocative anti-Arab chants.
After minor scuffles in stands at Paris match, Israel holds France to 0-0 tie
Security personnel intervened after minor physical altercations broke out at the Israel-France Nations League soccer game at the Stade de France on Thursday night, with some French fans booing the Israeli national anthem before the start of the match.

After the scuffles broke out, security created a buffer zone separating two sections, one of which had a number of Israel supporters waving blue and white flags. The incident was over within minutes.

The game ended in a 0-0 draw — a highly impressive achievement for Israel, which earned its first point in the competition. The French, who secured a place in the quarterfinals with the tie, were the defeated finalists in the 2022 World Cup.

French authorities stepped up security in Paris ahead of the match, hoping to avoid a repeat of the violence a week earlier in Amsterdam, where assaults on Maccabi fans by local Arab and Muslim gangs sparked outrage and were widely condemned as antisemitic.

Police said they made 40 arrests at the game. “The match went very well from a security point of view,” Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told France 2 television, noting that “A fight broke out which was immediately contained by the stewards.”

A security source said one person was arrested immediately after the brief skirmish in the stands and another was detained after being identified from CCTV images.

Around 4,000 police and members of the security forces patrolled inside and outside the Stade de France and on public transport. A further 1,600 civilian security personnel were also on duty.

Some 100 Israel fans defied a warning from their government against traveling for sports events, sitting in a corner of the 80,000-capacity stadium which was barely a fifth full as many stayed away due to security fears.


American fighter pilots explain how they fought an overwhelming Iranian drone swarm in total darkness
When F-15 fighter pilot Maj. Benjamin “Irish” Coffey launched his jet one night last spring, he wasn’t expecting to run out of missiles fighting off a massive Iranian attack against Israel.

It was April 13, and Iran had fired over 300 drones, ballistic and cruise missiles, a far larger strike than the US military had anticipated. Instructed to use every weapon at their disposal to help defeat the attack, Coffey and his crew mate, weapons systems officer Capt. Lacie “Sonic” Hester, came up with a plan.

Speaking to CNN in their first interviews since that night, Hester and Coffey described flying as close as they could to an Iranian drone, well below the minimum safe altitude for the F-15 Strike Eagle, and using a gun — an extremely dangerous maneuver in total darkness, against a barely visible target. They missed.

“You feel the terrain rush, you feel yourself getting closer and closer to the ground,” Coffey told CNN. “The risk was just too high to try again.”

Ultimately, US forces in the air and at sea, including Hester and Coffey, intercepted 70 drones and three ballistic missiles that night. The attack was largely thwarted.

But F-15 fighter pilots, weapons officers, and ground crew who took part in the operation and spoke to CNN described feeling overwhelmed at times as they combated the Iranian onslaught, which was the US Air Force’s first real test against a prolonged and large-scale drone attack. The fighters spent hours in the air that night.

The situation back at an undisclosed US military base in the Middle East was similarly chaotic, as the base’s air defenses shot down Iranian missiles and drones overhead and troops were rushed to bunkers.

Air Force personnel, like the rest of the world, had been waiting and bracing for the expected Iranian strike, a retaliation for Israel’s attack on an Iranian consulate building in Syria that killed several members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“When we were getting our brief to go fly that night, we still had no idea,” Hester told CNN. “It could have just been a bust — just another sortie of flying in a circle, waiting for it to happen.”

Air defense systems at an undisclosed US military base in the Middle East intercept Iranian drones and missiles. Obtained by CNN

The fighter pilots had not had much time before then to practice, said F-15 pilot Lt. Col. Timothy “Diesel” Causey.

Attack drones “are a low cost, low risk for the enemy to employ. They can send out massive amounts of them and we have to engage them to protect civilians and to protect our allies,” Causey told CNN. “We hadn’t started practicing on a large scale yet.”
In Jabalia, ‘The land of explosive devices,’ Hamas is collapsing
The Israel Defense Forces continued its intensive operations in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, focusing on the Beit Lahia and Jabalia areas.

Units from the 162nd “Steel Formation” Division, including combat teams from the Kfir and Givati Infantry Brigades and the 401st “Iron Tracks” Armored Brigade, located “numerous weapons in the past 24 hours and eliminated dozens of terrorists from the ground and through air force strikes.”

Just in the past 24 hours, according to the military, the Kfir Brigade eliminated a terrorist cell that fired anti-tank missiles and assault rifles at Israeli forces.

A senior source from the 162nd Division, which is operationally responsible for Jabalia and northern Gaza at this time, stated on Wednesday that as of now, the military had killed some 1,200 terrorists, and destroyed 1,800 enemy facilities.

A few hundred terrorist operatives remain active in Jabalia camp, and a civilian population of some 64,000 Palestinians has complied with Israeli evacuation calls and left the area, heading, via IDF screening checkpoints, south to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.

Thousands of other Palestinian residents left before the IDF entered the area on Oct. 5, following Israeli calls to vacate. A few thousand people in total remain in Jabalia, according to IDF estimates.

More than a thousand terrorists from Jabalia have surrendered and are in Israeli custody, though the more senior terrorists, “including those who took part in the Oct. 7, [2023], mass murder attack, tend to fight to the death, knowing that they face life in prison in Israel due to the murders they committed,” the source said.


Aviva Klompas: UNRWA: Refugee Agency or Roadblock to Peace? – with Dr. Michael Oren
In this episode of Boundless Insights, Aviva Klompas and Dr. Michael Oren are talking about UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

Established in 1949, UNRWA has long been the subject of controversy. In October, Israel’s Knesset passed two laws restricting UNRWA’s operations. We’re talking about the implications of these laws for humanitarian aid and security in the region.

Key Topics Covered:
-UNRWA’s origins and how it differs from the UN’s other refugee agency, UNHCR.
-We break down the criticisms of UNRWA and how its policies impact the prospects for peace
-Possible paths forward, including reforming, limiting, or even disbanding UNRWA.
The Israel Guys: ISRAEL’S War With Hezbollah, When Will it be Over? (My predictions….)
With rockets continuing to rain into Israel’s north, and even the Ben Gurion Airport being shut down for a few hours this week due to incoming missiles, one might think that Israel is no closer to winning this war with Hezbollah than they were several months ago. However, there are several key factors that play into the situation, which, if we pay attention to, might give us an indicator of how close Israel is to victory.

Hint: my personal projection is that Israel is closer to victory than you might think. Let’s get into all the details and an update on the war in Israel on today’s episode.




Public urged to ‘drown the idiots out and reject weak leaders’ as tensions rise over Israel’s war
Sky News host Erin Molan has urged people to “drown out the idiots and reject weak leaders” at the ballot box amid rising tensions and protests globally over Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Drown out the idiots and reject weak leaders at the ballot box or we will soon reach a point of no return and if that comes then God help not only the Jews but the rest of us,” Ms Molan said.

“The start of this story isn’t new; we’ve seen it all before. Don’t let the ending be the same or potentially, if you can imagine, even worse.”


‘Unequivocally inconsistent’: Labor government slammed following Australia’s UN vote
Sky News host Erin Molan has slammed the federal government following Australia’s UN vote to recognise Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources.

“Our government ... has once again proven the only thing we can rely on them for is being completely, utterly and unequivocally inconsistent,” she said.

“The best and only thing this government should be supporting in the Middle East is the complete elimination of the terrorists, starting with Hamas, the real enemy of every single Palestinian.”


Criticism as Australia backs UN vote on ‘permanent sovereignty’ for Palestinians
Liberal MP Julian Leeser has criticised the Albanese government for supporting a United Nations vote on Palestinian sovereignty over their natural resources.

The Albanese government shifted Australia’s vote in the UN to recognise the “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” for the first time in more than a decade.

Since 2011, Australia has abstained from voting on the question of sovereignty over natural resources.

“What we’ve seen from the Labor Party even before the 7th of October has been backsliding repeatedly in relation to Israel, whether it’s increasing the funding to UNRWA and restoring the funding to UNRWA as they’ve done repeatedly,” Mr Leeser told Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus.

“Whether it was failing to recognise and maintain the position of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and several United Nations votes where Labor has stood not with our traditional ally, not with our most important ally, the United States on these matters, and not in accordance with our values, standing with a similar Western liberal democracy.

“Instead, they’ve tried to insert themselves to deal with issues that have always been regarded as final status issues in this country.

“I think we’re sending a terrible signal right around the world that our foreign policy is going to be dictated by the internal machinations and power struggles within the Labor Party, rather than what is in Australia’s long-term national interests.”




Prince William is booed as he leaves Ulster University campus to chants of 'Free Palestine' during Belfast visit
Prince William faced boos and jeers as he left Ulster University's Belfast City Campus Centre after a visit this afternoon.

The Prince of Wales, 42, smiled and waved as students ardently yelled in the background.

Video shared on X by Belfast Telegraph reporter Kurtis Reid showed the royal facing a 'less than warm reaction' as he made his way to a car.

Shouts also appeared to demand more action from the future King on 'Palestine and Gaza', with the social media clip finishing to chants of 'Free Palestine'.

In February, William called for an end to the fighting in Gaza in an unprecedented royal intervention, writing that the 'terrible human cost' of the conflict had seen 'too many killed'.

'I, like so many others, want to see an end to the fighting as soon as possible,' the Prince said.

He also highlighted the desperate need for more humanitarian support for the civilians of Gaza and called on Hamas to release its remaining Israeli hostages.

The heir's exit appeared to be a contrast from earlier scenes during his visit to the university, which saw William swarmed by adoring crowds.


‘Morons’: Multi-faith condemnation over Myer protest
Religious and cultural leaders have stood beside Victoria’s premier to condemn a planned pro-Palestine protest targeting Myer’s Christmas windows.

Premier Jacinta Allan labelled as “morons” a group of activists who have since walked back plans to interrupt the retailer’s famed Christmas window unveiling event in Melbourne on Sunday.

Multi-faith community leaders appeared with new Mayor Nicholas Reece and Ms Allan, who said there was is “no place” for anyone promoting division.

“That there was a group of people that chose to politicise … what is a beautiful annual tradition and event for children, we condemn it,” Ms Allan told reporters at Melbourne’s Town Hall on Friday afternoon.

“And in the face of the condemnation I have led over the course of today – we have seen those plans being cancelled.”

She said Victoria Police’s chief commissioner had assured her the force had enough resources and a “strong tactical plan” to deal with protests over the weekend, but ruled out a NSW-style permit.

“Do we really think the same sort of morons who want to disrupt a beautiful Christmas tradition for families are going to apply for a permit? They won’t,” the premier said.

She flagged proposed anti-vilification and social cohesion laws, due to be introduced to state parliament, and said they were designed to wind back division and equip police with additional powers.


‘Disgrace’: Myer forced to cancel Christmas window reveal after pro-Palestine threat
Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin says it is a “disgrace” to see Myer forced to cancel the unveiling of its Christmas window display because of pro-Palestine advocates.

Myer has been forced to cancel the annual unveiling of its Christmas window display in Melbourne’s Bourke Street mall.

A planned protest from pro-Palestine advocates has required the retail store to scrap the tradition for this year’s festivities.


Frustration as beloved Christmas tradition axed following concerns over pro-Palestine protests
Liberal MP Julian Leeser expresses frustration with pro-Palestinian protesters disrupting Myer's annual unveiling of its Christmas window display in Melbourne's Bourke Street mall.

It comes as the department store giant was forced to cancel an almost seven-decade-long tradition over protest fears.

Each year Myer reveals its iconic windows display in the Melbourne CBD to celebrate the festive season and countdown to December 25.

“I mean we want to get our cities back. Christmas is a time of joy for people. People love going down to see the Christmas displays that are on in supermarket windows,” Mr Leeser told Sky News Senior Reporter Caroline Marcus.

“I remember myself going with my mum, and my grandmother on the train, as many Australians did in Sydney to the equivalent window displays and you're excited every year to see this. Christmas should be a time of joy for Australians, not a time for protest.

“I think Australians are increasingly fed up with the way in which these pro-Palestine protesters conduct themselves.”




Christmas cancelled: Radio host's furious clash with pro-Palestine protest leader over outrageous Myer demo that saw iconic family tradition axed
A leading pro-Palestine activist has insisted that outrage over plans to disrupt an Aussie Christmas tradition has not hurt his cause.

President of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network Nasser Mashni refused to criticise the protest when interviewed by Jacqui Felgate on Friday.

The famous annual Myer Christmas window-reveal planned for Sunday at its CBD store in Bourke Street was cancelled over safety concerns, after pro-Palestine group Disrupt Wars plans to rally and 'Crash the Christmas windows' at the event.

The group then cancelled its own protest amid a public furore.

Nashni had no involvement in the planned protest, but is directly involved in weekly Sunday protests in Melbourne.

When he appeared on 3AW Drive, Felgate repeatedly asked him if he had supported the Myer protest before it was cancelled.

'I’m not going to condemn any sort of legal action that is trying to highlight what is happening to Palestinian people,' Mashni replied.

But Felgate persisted, wanting to know if the protest plans had reflected poorly on pro-Palestinian activism.




Christmas CANCELLED: Village abandons fair for first time in 25 years after 'over the top' health and safety terror fears
A village in Lincolnshire has been forced to cancel their Christmas fair, after being told to block roads due to the risk of a potential terrorist attack.

Woodhall Spa's Christmas fair attracts around 4,000 people per year, but organisers from The Rotary Club were forced into cancelling the event which was scheduled for December 6, due to the quantity of health and safety paperwork and measures imposed.

The organisers had been told to block off two roads to "prevent drive-through terrorism", find the funds to employ a traffic management company and "draft and issue written guidance to marshalls and stewards on procedures in the event of a terrorist attack."

The fair, which only lasts for four hours, typically has over 100 stalls and brings in local families for a single evening, but had to be cancelled due to it no longer being feasible.

The Rotary Club wrote online: "It is with great sadness that we have to inform you that the Woodhall Spa Christmas Fayre will not take place this year.

"Unfortunately, it seems that even these measures and the completion of a 67-page Health and Safety compliance document (for the 2023 event) are not enough and 2024 would see this documentation almost double in volume.

"It is abundantly clear that the powers that be do not want the Woodhall Spa Christmas Fayre to continue in its present form."




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