Thursday, November 28, 2024

11/28 Links Pt2: Gad Saad: My Chat with Erin Molan; Former hostage Mia Schem engaged; Media Amplifies “Video” Used to Excuse Amsterdam Violence — Does it Exist?

From Ian:

Douglas Murray: Trump will bring ‘seismic change’ to the world
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will bring about a “seismic change” to a world in need of urgent reforms, the British conservative political thinker and journalist Douglas Murray said in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

“There is, and I say this carefully, there is a rather large, orange-colored hammer that has just landed, or is about to land, on this whole sea and I think this will change things seismically,” Murray said during an event at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center organized by the NGO Monitor research institute, speaking during a discussion on stopping groups that drive anti-Israel and antisemitic agendas.

“And I think that what America does in this moment will really matter because so much of this is so rotten,” he added.

Murray, who has emerged as a top supporter of Israel over the past year of war, said that Trump usually does what he says he will do, and that the declarations of members of his Cabinet speak for themselves.

He cited the proposed removal of U.S. federal funding from universities “which don’t teach their students anything other than how to become radical activists and waste their lives,” as well as cutting funding to the U.N.

“And we all know this, and you all know this, but something has to be done about it at a seismic level, at a level that will shake everything in this in this rotten tree.” British journalist Douglas Murray and NGO Monitor Vice President Olga Deutsch and President Gerald Steinberg discuss groups that drive anti-Israel and antisemitic agendas, during an event at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on Nov. 27, 2024. Photo by Yehoshua Halevi.

The event focused on the critical role played by international organizations over the last quarter-century in promoting anti-Israel activities that have now gone mainstream.

“Many of these NGOs which have nice sounding names have gone rotten,” Murray said. “They all have this sort of smoke screen facade of decency and morality and under that smoke screen, they could get away with doing absolutely evil things.”

He cited as case in point the U.N.’s Palestinian aid agency UNRWA, which has been repeatedly connected to terrorism during the war against Hamas in Gaza but continues to receive funding from much of the world, including the U.S.

“There is nothing that UNRWA can do that will not prevent Europeans and other Western governments from funding them,” Murray said. “There can be UNRWA employees carrying out massacre and you’ll say, well, who else is there to fund? Which you would say, ‘Lots of people. Non-massacre people.’”
The Canada we loved is disappearing with the normalization of Nazi and jihadist activity
Being Canadian used to be a profound source of pride for us in the Jewish community. Growing up in Toronto meant living in one of the most ethnically and racially integrated cities in the world, a true mosaic of diversity and coexistence, built on the backbone of countless immigrants.

Like many nations, Canada’s history is not without its dark periods. Our community has long been aware of its antisemitic past, particularly during the Holocaust when Canada shamefully accepted only a negligible number of Jewish refugees despite what was happening to Jews under the Nazis. The infamous phrase, “None is too many,” epitomized the government’s stance at the time, a chilling indictment of its moral failure.

Yet, despite this grim chapter, Canada emerged as a beacon of moral clarity on the global stage under prime minister Stephen Harper. His administration stood as one of Israel’s staunchest allies, unwavering in support of its right to self-defense, starting in 2006 in the Second Lebanon War all the way up until Operation Protective Edge in the 2014 Gaza War. Canada was the first country to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas’s election and consistently opposed biased, one-sided UN resolutions against Israel. These actions showcased Canada as a principled leader, unafraid to stand firm in its convictions despite global criticism.

But the Canada we once knew and loved now feels unrecognizably distant. Since well before October 7, 2023, Canadian Jews – and, indeed, many average Canadians – have been abandoned. Hateful antisemitic and anti-Canadian protests have erupted nationwide, where agitators openly glorify Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists while desecrating the Canadian flag. Calls to “globalize the intifada” and praise for the groups responsible for atrocities have become alarmingly common.

One particularly harrowing incident occurred outside the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT), one of the city’s largest synagogues. Pro-Hamas activists viciously protested and harassed members of the congregation during an event. In the last week of May 2024, a Jewish school for girls in Toronto was the subject of gunfire, a yeshiva (Jewish seminary) was similarly shot at in the middle of the night in Montreal, and a synagogue in Vancouver was set alight by protesters after a hate-filled rally.

On those same streets of Vancouver, Samidoun’s Charlotte Kates chillingly chanted “Long Live October 7” and lauded various terror groups as “resistance fighters” and “heroes.” Although the Canadian Parliament eventually sanctioned Samidoun as a sham charity linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization, this action came after years of harm inflicted on Canadian soil. Only after the group, so emboldened by government inaction, began to shout “Death to Canada” and burn both Israeli and Canadian flags during memorials marking the anniversary of October 7, did the Canadian government finally shut it down.
Media Amplifies “Video” Used to Excuse Amsterdam Violence — Does it Exist?
The New York Times Corrects
After CAMERA called on authors and editors to substantiate their claim, the New York Times (eventually) came clean with readers. It didn’t have the alleged video.

The paper published corrections, removed references to the video, and changed the report so that it attributed to “city officials” the allegation about the alleged chants. (The amended report doesn’t consider whether city officials, who don’t speak Hebrew, may have fallen victim to the same mistranslations that appeared to trip up Times reporters.)

Before the piece was corrected, though, the claim spread further — crafted on social media, blasted out by the New York Times, and repeated, for example, in a Globe and Mail opinion piece that links to the Times piece when condemning the purported chant. After a German journalist pointed to the New York Times and its questionable quote, his newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine, led readers to believe the quote appears on video.

And on, and on, and on it rippled. Wikipedia currently cites the New York Times and Frankfurter Allgemeine when claiming: “Israeli fans were captured on video chanting ‘Death to Arabs,’ ‘Let the IDF win’ and ‘Why is there no school in Gaza? There are no children left there.’”

The quote appeared elsewhere. Al Jazeera mentions it repeatedly. Various arms of Turkish state media describe the supposed video. The Guardian’s Jon Henley refers to “verified social media videos” of the quote, and his paper repeated the claim a day later. The Jewish Chronicle stated as fact that the words were chanted by fans headed to the soccer match. The Media Line reported that video from Amsterdam showed of chant.

After contact from CAMERA, the author of the Media Line piece made clear he couldn’t substantiate the claim, and the piece was changed to say that chants “reportedly” included the words in question. The Jewish Chronicle, too, acknowledged it had no video, and quietly changed its piece so that the charge was attributed to a “city official” and Frankfurter Allgemeine.

Frankfurter Allgemeine informed CAMERA that it didn’t, in fact, have video. (Editors defended their language with a technicality: While the allegation appeared in a paragraph that that opened by describing video of Israelis, which itself appeared in a section that opened by describing video of Israelis, the offending sentence didn’t restate the word “video.” The reporting, they insisted, was based on eyewitness claims — though the article didn’t attribute the claim, and instead reported it as fact.)

The Guardian reader’s editor said she would look into the issue. The Globe and Mail columnist did not reply to a call for substantiation.


Former Hamas hostage Mia Schem engaged to childhood friend
Mia Schem, who was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack last year and released after 50 days in captivity, became engaged on Thursday, announcing the news in an Instagram post.

The 22-year-old will marry 24-year-old Yinon Hasson. According to the news daily Israel Hayom, Hasson is Schem’s childhood friend. The two became a couple when she returned from captivity. He proposed on Thursday in Caesarea.

The news was celebrated in comments in Schem’s post. A pizza parlor offered free pizzas at her bachelorette party and singer Mendel Wonder said she would sing at her wedding.

Schem was kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

She was released 50 days later, as part of a week-long truce in November last year in which 105 women, children, and some non-Israeli hostages were set free.

Since her release, Schem has spoken openly about her ordeal in Hamas captivity, which included being abducted with an injured arm that was mended poorly and receiving no painkillers, as well as being sexually harassed by her captors.


Chabad honors Rabbi Kogan with $50 million Jewish women's college
Chabad has launched a $50 million campaign to establish a Jewish women’s college in memory of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, they announced in a recent statement.

Kogan, a Chabad emissary, was reported missing in the UAE last week. His body was recovered days later, and Emirati authorities arrested three Uzbek men suspected of his murder.

The $50 million plan, three years in the making, aims to honor Kogan’s legacy while addressing a surge in antisemitism, particularly on US university campuses, Chabad said.

The proposed college will provide an educational Jewish environment for young women in New York.

The campaign will fund a two-building campus and scholarships, assisting students from all financial backgrounds.

Combating antisemitism with education
The initiative is underscored by a reported 700% increase in antisemitic incidents on US university campuses since the October 7 massacre in Israel.

Central to this effort is Beth Rivkah Educational School, Chabad’s flagship institution for women’s education.

“This initiative addresses the safety concerns of thousands of students while tackling the critical shortage of Jewish educators and leaders,” explained Mrs. Chana Gorowitz, Dean of Beth Rivkah’s Division of Higher Learning and Leadership. “It will safeguard the vibrancy of Jewish life for generations to come.”

Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, Chairman of Agudas Chasidei Chabad and Associated Bais Rivka Schools, emphasized the initiative’s purpose, “This project honors Rabbi Kogen’s life by turning grief into a beacon of hope. It ensures that his values will continue to inspire Jewish communities worldwide.”
Chabad rabbi murdered in UAE – is anywhere safe? | Jewish World Weekly

Former Ambassador David Friedman discusses his new book One Jewish State with Dr. Mike Evans
Join Dr. Mike Evans and former Ambassador David Friedman as they delve into the urgent and compelling insights from Mr. Friedman’s new book, One Jewish State: The Last, Best Hope to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

In this interview, David discusses the profound clarity brought by the tragic events of October 7, 2023, and how it has shaped his bold vision for Israel’s future. Learn how returning to biblical values, embracing Israel’s sovereignty, and fostering peace and prosperity for all its inhabitants can pave the way forward.

Don’t miss this powerful conversation about history, faith, and the future of the Jewish State.

Get your copies of One Jewish State now wherever books are sold and join the movement.




American Jewry Can Be Saved by Israel w/ Elliott Abrams | Think Twice
There is a heated argument over how many Jews voted for President-elect Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election. But how many Jews were actually moved by the left’s antisemitism and Trump’s support for Israel?

Why do Jews vote the way they do and what does it say about American Jewish identity?

JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin is joined by veteran diplomat and chair of the Tikvah Fund Elliott Abrams to discuss all of this and what it means for the future of American Jewry.

Chapters
00:00 The Jewish vote and its implications
05:24 Understanding Jewish identity and affiliation
13:32 The impact of antisemitism on Jewish identity
23:10 Demographics vs. politics in Jewish support for Israel
26:29 Assimilation and its effects on Jewish identity
29:49 Creating immersive Jewish experiences
30:19 The evolving relationship between Israel and the Diaspora
35:21 Demographic challenges facing American Jewry
39:33 The impact of education on Jewish Identity
52:05 Navigating antisemitism in educational institutions


Gad Saad: My Chat with Erin Molan, Australia's Superstar Honey Badger (THE SAAD TRUTH_1776)

Ex NSW Labor MP Belinda Neal axed from amnesty international board after scrutiny over six-figure donation from pro-Palestine group to the organisation
Former NSW Labor MP Belinda Neal was removed from the board of Amnesty International Australia after questions were asked about a six-figure donation from a pro-Palestine group, Sky News can reveal.

Ms Neal has taken the human rights organisation to the NSW Supreme Court over her ousting at an extraordinary general meeting held on November 14.

Amnesty maintains she was voted out on the basis she had become a Labor councillor at Central Coast Council two months prior, a spokeswoman for the organisation saying its governing documents and policies “preclude people who hold political office from holding leadership positions”.

But other ousted Amnesty members believe Ms Neal's removal had more to do with scrutiny over what is understood to have been a $400,000 donation made by charity Muslim Aid Australia earlier this year.

Sky News is told the donation is considered a significant sum by Amnesty standards, particularly as the human rights organisation had been in a period of financial stress at the time.

It is understood the donation was not disclosed to the board and concerns were voiced about how the funds had been raised by the NGO and what conditions may have been tied to the donation.

Anti-Chinese government activist Drew Pavlou was expelled from Amnesty last year and lost his bid to be reinstated at the same meeting at which Ms Neal was removed.

“When it comes to Belinda asking questions about this $400,000 donation from an explicitly pro-Palestinian organisation and that money’s obviously going to Amnesty’s Palestine work, she’s obviously being purged for that criticism,” Mr Pavlou said.

“Obviously, Amnesty has a massive conflict of interest here, a massive bias.”

Amnesty has campaigned against Israel exhaustively in the past year, including calling for an Australian ban on arms exports to the Israel and endorsing weekly pro-Palestinian protests in Sydney and Melbourne, including those held on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.




Jewish students at Pitt’s School of Medicine face anti-Israel, antisemitic rhetoric
At a recent meeting of the University of Pittsburgh’s Equity, Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Committee, Dr. Barton Branstetter spoke about some of the antisemitic acts that have occurred in the university’s School of Medicine since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel.

“Social media that were critically important to the pre-clinical students were bombarded with frankly antisemitic posts, including images of a bloody Star of David and the caption ‘Bad Religion,’” he recounted to meeting attendees.

The remarks came during an EIDAC meeting discussing the possible creation of an ad-hoc committee to investigate antisemitism on campus. Branstetter, a professor of radiology, otolaryngology and biomedical informatics, is in favor of the committee, and said that Pitt’s antisemitism problem reaches beyond its undergraduate program.

“I wanted this group to know that this problem transcends schools,” he said.

Branstetter told the Chronicle that antisemitic incidents occurred student-to-student and haven’t involved the staff, professors or administrators.

The antisemitic social media posts, he explained, occurred in a group chat the pre-clinical medical students use during the two years they’re primarily in an academic setting. The chat is supposed to be used to help students prepare for class, exchange homework notes and references. It is not a part of the curriculum and is not sponsored or facilitated by the university.

As such, he explained, there is no university oversight, but it has become an essential tool medical students use to communicate important educational topics with one another.

That chat was compromised shortly after Oct. 7.

“Two students started posting inflammatory messages,” Branstetter said. “Then there was this dog pile effect where people who don’t know much about the situation just want to seem supportive of the people who claim to be hurt, and it escalated.”

The posts became increasingly antisemitic, he said, until there were some that “indicated violent intent against all Jews.”


HOW HAS BBC NEWS CHOSEN TO FRAME UNSC RESOLUTION 1701?
Regular consumers of BBC content are of course all too familiar with both its journalists’ overuse of the “Israel says” formula as a means of usually unnecessary qualification as well as the chronic failure to explain UN SC resolution 1701 and why it has not been properly implemented in all the years since it was passed.

Nevertheless, Bachega’s portrayal wrongly suggests that Israel is the only party claiming that 1701 has not been put into effect and he himself clearly has no interest in informing BBC audiences in his own words that the fact that the Hizballah terrorist organisation’s “fighters and weapons” have remained under the noses of the UN forces in southern Lebanon for over 18 years is part of the background to the current conflict.

However, if readers of this report perhaps thought that Bachega’s framing was merely the result of unfortunate phrasing, two later reports indicate otherwise.

“Israel cabinet to meet to discuss Lebanon ceasefire deal”, by Ido Vock, November 26th 2024:
“Lebanese authorities have said any ceasefire deal should be limited to the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The resolution includes the withdrawal of Hezbollah’s fighters and weapons in areas between the Blue Line – the unofficial frontier between Lebanon and Israel – and the Litani river, about 30km (18 miles) from the boundary with Israel.

Israel says that was never fully respected, while Lebanon says Israeli violations included military flights over Lebanese territory.”

“What we know about Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal”, November 26th 2024:
“Under resolution 1701, areas south of the Litani should be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese state and the UN peacekeeping force (Unifil).

But both sides claimed violations of the resolution.

Israel says Hezbollah was allowed to build extensive infrastructure in the area, while Lebanon says Israel’s violations included military flights over its territory.”

In other words, the BBC has decided to frame over 18 years of amply documented failure on the part of the Lebanese government, the international community and the United Nations to implement the UNSC resolution which ended the Second Lebanon War (and by that, to create the conditions leading to the third) as something that merely “Israel says” is the case.
CAMERAorg: The BBC's Israel Problem: A Former Insider Speaks Out

BBC Uses Syrian Regime Propaganda, and Calls It ‘News’
Given the BBC’s long documented habit of basing news reports on unverified claims made by a news agency controlled by the Assad regime in Syria, it was not surprising to find that some four hours after unclaimed airstrikes in Syria on November 21, the BBC News website was already promoting a headline stating “Israeli strikes on Syria’s Palmyra kills 36, state media say.”

The original version of that report quoted an announcement put out by the Sana news agency, and a claim from an unnamed “UK-based monitoring group” that, in a version published around an hour later and credited to David Gritten, turned out to be the one-man show called The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

In other words, a BBC report based entirely on unverified accounts from the Syrian regime-controlled news agency and a UK based project fails to clarify that among the “36 people” reportedly killed in a strike it attributes to Israel were operatives of an Iranian financed and operated Iraqi militia with bases in Syria and links to Hezbollah, which has threatened Israel since long before the current war.

BBC audiences would surely have found that context useful for full understanding of Gritten’s story about “Israeli air strikes.”


Doctors and teachers must remain politically impartial during Palestine ‘day of action’, government says
Schools and healthcare settings must remain politically neutral during the TUC’s planned “day of action” for Palestine on Thursday.

A government spokesperson told the JC that: “Schools and healthcare settings are places of protection. The law is clear that schools must remain politically impartial, and the General Medical Council has advised that doctors must not express their personal beliefs, whether political or otherwise, to patients in ways that could reasonably cause them distress.”

They continued: “All citizens are entitled to their political opinions and have the right to campaign on issues, but we expect any action to be conducted respectfully.”

Jewish communal groups had expressed concern over the TUC’s campaign, one of the suggestions of which was for workers to “wear something red, green, black or a Palestinian keffiyeh to visibly show solidarity. Photos from the day could be shared on social media, creating a visual display of support.”

The Board of Deputies said in a post on social media that the campaign “represents a continued failure of unions to support workers if they are Jewish”.

The Board added: “Whatever the stated intent, attempts to bring this issue into the workplace in such a fashion will undoubtedly add to the belligerent atmosphere which many Jewish staff have been facing across a variety of sectors and highlights an ongoing issue whereby certain unions have prioritised gesture politics over the welfare of Jewish workers in their sector, resulting in an exodus of Jews from such unions.”

The Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) said it had written to the Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson over concerns that plans for the day of action in schools would have a “damaging impact on community cohesion but may also be unlawful”.


Uruguay’s new president-elect is left wing, yet not anti-Israel
Like many of his fellow Latin American leaders, Uruguay’s new president-elect is left wing. But Yamandu Orsi, who narrowly won a runoff election on Sunday, stands out in at least one way: He has never attacked Israel.

Gustavo Petro in Colombia, Gabriel Boric in Chile, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil are all vehement critics of Israel; some have broken diplomatic ties with Israel over its war in Gaza. Jose “Pepe” Mujica, Uruguay’s former president and Orsi’s mentor, is also a harsh Israel critic.

Orsi, by contrast, expressed admiration for Israel’s multicultural society after visiting last year and reiterated those sentiments this month, shortly before the election, even suggesting that he could self-identify as a Zionist. He says he supports Israel’s right to exist while also backing calls for a Palestinian state.

“On the boulevard you see people of both faiths,” Orsi told an interviewer from the Jewish community in September 2023 in Tel Aviv. “That is what surprises me the most, honestly. There is a part of the reality here that is more about coexistence than the other. So it is possible.”

Orsi was on a trip organized by the Central Israelite Committee of Uruguay and the Latin American Jewish Congress, traveling with officials from those Jewish groups on an itinerary focused on science and innovation. Orsi, then mayor of Uruguay’s Canalones region, also visited major tourist attractions including Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial.

“I am a history teacher and I have taught classes on the Second World War and the impact of the Holocaust,” Orsi said in a second interview upon his return. “The guide showed us and gave us details of aspects that I frankly did not know and that, naturally, shocked me.”

Orsi faced criticism from pro-Palestinian leftists within his coalition, the Broad Front, for visiting Israel on a trip that came just weeks before Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023, launching the ongoing war in Gaza. The attack saw terrorists invade Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.


Hackney stands with Israel as motion to ‘de-twin’ from Haifa is defeated by Labour councillors
A motion to officially end the twinning of London Borough of Hackney and Israel’s third-largest city, Haifa, has been rejected after it was deemed not “necessary or helpful” by the borough’s mayor and council.

In a debate at Hackney Town Hall on Wednesday evening, Jewish Labour councillor Michael Desmond branded calls for de-twinning an “appalling, abusive tirade,” adding that the twinning was to “promote cultural values, religious freedom, tolerance and peaceful coexistence”.

Outside the Town Hall, pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted and held anti-Israel banners calling for divestment and accusing Hackney of “funding” genocide.

Inside, activist Norma Cohen, a longtime Hackney resident, said she was addressing the council on behalf of four thousand alleged signatories of a petition organised by Hackney Palestine Solidarity Campaign calling for an end to the twinning.

She erroneously claimed “20 per cent” of Haifa’s residents live as “second class citizens, facing systematic, racist discrimination due to their status as Palestinians in Israel.”

Cohen said that despite Hackney Council having no official foreign policy, twinning with Haifa “lends legitimacy to a state accused of war crimes and guilty of a concerted policy to destroy Gaza’s healthcare system, according to the UN”.

She said there was a “clear implication” that Hackney Council felt it has a “duty” to continue to twin with Gaza “for the sake of Hackney’s Jewish community”.

She added: “As a Jew, it is in the honourable Jewish tradition of struggle against segregation that I speak this evening.”

She claimed that “Hackney isn’t divided between Jews and non-Jews,” but is rather divided between all those who “stand against apartheid” and those who “betray this borough’s proud history of antiracist struggle by continuing with an insupportable relationship”.


Four indicted in flare attack on Netanyahu’s home
The State Attorney’s Office announced on Thursday that it will file an indictment against four suspects over the launching of maritime flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea on the night of Nov. 16.

“There is prima facie reason to file an indictment against them as well as request their arrest until the end of the legal proceedings,” said the State Attorney’s Office.

Three of the four suspects were named: Ofer Doron, Itai Yaffe and Amir Sade.

Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron, an anti-government activist suspended from the Israel Defense Forces in August 2023 for refusing reserve duty in response to the government’s judicial reform push, was reportedly the leader of the group and obtained the illumination flares.

Netanyahu and his family were not home at the time of the incident, which the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and police described as “serious” and a “dangerous escalation.”
Israeli Cabinet votes to prevent collapse of Palestinian economy
The Israeli Security Cabinet voted to extend a waiver allowing Israeli banks to do business with their Palestinian Authority counterparts through November 2025, Hebrew media reported on Thursday night.

Ahead of the vote, Israel’s National Security Council reportedly briefed ministers that a failure to renew the agreement could have “significant negative consequences for state security and foreign relations.”

Earlier on Thursday, the United Kingdom, Germany and France had appealed to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to extend the waiver ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline, claiming Ramallah has taken “significant steps” to combat terrorist financing in Judea and Samaria.

The E3 foreign ministers said they were “deeply concerned that Israel has yet to provide assurances it will extend the indemnifications for essential correspondent banking relationships between Israeli and Palestinian banks for a minimum period of at least 12 months.”

Smotrich extended the indemnity waiver—which shields Israeli banks with business ties to their P.A. counterparts from anti-terror laws—by only one month on Oct. 31.

The decision to extend the deal received backing from Israel’s Security Cabinet and came against the background of the U.S. presidential vote.

The E3 statement called on Smotrich to “immediately extend the indemnifications by at least one year, and for future extensions to be transparent, predictable and de-politicized.”
Palestinian given 18 months in prison for destroying West Bank antiquities site
In what appears to be a first, an Israeli military court has handed out a sentence to Jafar Muhammad Ali Ziad, a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, who earlier this year was accused of destroying antiquities in his town of Umm ar-Rehan.

In a “precedent-setting ruling,” Ziad was sentenced to 18 months in prison (plus 12 months suspended sentence, and fined 65,000 NIS ($18,000) for “destroying and vandalizing” an antiquities site, Israel Hayom reported Wednesday.

Umm ar-Rehan, in the northern West Bank, falls under Area C in the system set up during the Oslo Accords, where Israel has military and civilian control, while the Palestinian Authority provides medical and educational services.

The village area was inhabited in antiquity and contains remains from the Hellenistic, Roman and Persian periods. The area was abandoned during the 3rd century CE before being repopulated at a later date, according to archaeologists.

The report said Ziad was found guilty of carrying out “illegal work… using heavy tools and mechanical equipment” that destroyed “valuable historical remains from the Byzantine period” between September 2023 and March 2024, despite warnings to cease activity.

In March, dozens of Palestinians were reported arrested after turning an antiquities site in Umm ar-Rehan into a parking lot.

The sentence is “a new punishment benchmark and reflects the great severity we attribute to damage to our cultural and historical assets,” Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said in a statement that also asserted the Umm ar-Rehan site was connected to Second Temple-era Jewish communities.
Gaza resettlement the answer to Oct. 7 massacre, ICC case, Israeli minister says
Resettling the Israeli towns that were destroyed as part of the 2005 disengagement from Gaza is the answer to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and the ICC case against the Jewish state’s leaders, Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf said on Thursday.

Writing on X after a visit to the Gaza border with Zionist activist Daniella Weiss, Goldknopf—the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party—said that “Jewish settlement here is the answer to the terrible [Oct. 7] massacre and to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

The haredi leader noted that the ICC, “instead of caring for the 101 captives [still held by Hamas after 419 days], chose to issue arrest warrants against the prime minister and the [former] defense minister.”

In the post, Goldknopf shared a picture of himself and Weiss with a map of prospective Jewish communities to be established in the Gaza Strip.
MEMRI: Editor Of Palestinian Authority Daily: If It Weren't For Hamas Constantly Triggering Wars, Gaza Could Have Been The Palestinian Singapore
Mahmoud Abu Al-Hija, editor-in-chief of the Palestinian Authority mouthpiece Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, wrote on Nov. 19, 2024: "Before we ask what benefit we have derived from the [Al-Aqsa] Flood, [Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel], we must ask what benefit we derived from the [previous] wars Hamas waged against Israel since it carried out its coup against the legitimate Palestinian Authority [in 2007]."

""Before these wars, Gaza was on the path to a future of prosperity and cultural development....After the PA established a [sea] port and an airport in [Gaza], towers were built over the dunes and there was a sovereign [border] crossing through which Gazans could travel...with a Palestinian passport that allowed them entry to sister Arab countries and friendly foreign countries."

"But six wars undermined this promise, and the seventh war, 'the [Al-Aqsa] Flood,' destroyed it...and left horrific heaps of rubble that will take five years to clear away....Our wounded people, especially in Gaza, are the ones who now compare their situation before the seven wars to their condition after these wars, and especially after the last one, whose flames are still raging."

"From now on, there is no way to avoid these comparisons, and soon they will form the basis for a re-examination, a demand for accountability, and a full application of justice against those who enabled this catastrophe."


PreOccupiedTerritory: Gaza Genocide Bad, But Not So Bad That Egypt Should Let Anyone Escape It (satire)
International humanitarian organizations and numerous governments around the world, including those of countries bordering the affected area, long ago declared the Israel is in the midst of an attempt to exterminate the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while at the same time those organizations have declined to argue for neighboring countries to open their gates to allow Palestinians to flee the mass murder, and the one neighboring country has declined to allow more than a few isolated cases across the Gaza frontier, because, many experts surmise, perhaps the mass murder isn’t so mass-murdery yet or something.

The United Nations Human Rights Council, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières, various delegated to the United Nations Security Council, and hundreds of officials from dozens of governments – including those of Egypt, which abuts the Gaza Strip just over the border from this Mediterranean city – deemed Israel’s actions in Gaza “genocide” already last October, even before the Jewish State began operating in earnest against Hamas in the coastal territory to rescue hundreds of hostages and begin degrading the terrorist group’s fighting capacity after the latter invaded southern Israel, murdered 1300 people, injured thousands, and generally went on a torture, mutilation, rape, destruction, looting, and kidnapping spree.

However, at no time since those “genocide” pronouncements began – or rather, continued, given the prevalence of the accusation in anti-Israel rhetoric for decades already – has Egypt, a vocal critic of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, lifted a finger to allow any such genocide-threatened Palestinians to escape the ongoing genocide – which unofficial estimates in activists’ letters to medial journals have predicted could, under unspecified circumstances, reach as high as 186,000 by an unspecified date – into Rafah’s Egyptian portion. Experts believe this refusal reflects the difference between genocide, a calamity that requires moving Heaven and Earth to save the lives of the people under threat, and genocide, a calamity that does not require moving Heaven and Earth to save the people under threat, certainly not by opening the border to allow at least some of them to escape the calamity.
A Trump Win Has Iran Recalculating Its War with Israel
Recently, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen. Hossein Salami, warned the U.S. and Israel that Iran will arm itself with whatever it needs to achieve victory. Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, stated that Iran is capable of producing nuclear weapons.

When it turned out former President Trump had won the elections, Iran realized that it would have to reassess its strategy. In particular, when Trump's high-level appointments were announced, the regime recalculated its moves out of fear that any provocation could turn the incoming president into a more dangerous adversary and could give Israel the green light to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities.

The Iranians now understand that the order of the day is to establish a communication channel for a nuclear agreement with the Trump administration. This would allow them to buy time, preserve the nuclear threshold status they have reached - and above all, forestall an Israeli attack on their nuclear program.

Iranian analysts now feel that they misjudged Jerusalem's capabilities. This revised outlook on Israel reinforces Iran's belief that Israel will eventually attack Iran's nuclear facilities once the opportunity arises.

Iran's fear of an Israeli attack is driving the need to stall for time and recalibrate to avert an Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities. In Iran's view, the Trump administration may allow such an attack, especially considering the recent pro-Israel appointments and the backdrop of the ongoing war with Hamas, Hizbullah and other Iranian-supported terror proxies.

Tehran understands that, at this point, it is better to project a willingness for dialogue and work toward an agreement that will provide immunity from an Israeli strike while preserving its nuclear capabilities for a future date. Iran's ultimate goal of destroying Israel is seen as immutable, so a temporary delay is a necessity.

Israel must act in concert with the Trump administration to damage or destroy Iran's nuclear facilities and set back its arms race for years.
Seth Frantzman: Why is Iran’s FM talking about 'advanced centrifuges'?
The sums of its parts
“On the sidelines of the meeting of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Global Forum in the city of Cascais, Portugal, he [Araghchi] met with Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno and discussed the issues of interest to both sides, including bilateral relations and regional and international developments,” Iranian IRNA state media reported this week.

“In this meeting, [the] Iranian foreign minister reminded the Islamic Republic of Iran’s principled approach of expanding interaction and cooperation in order to promote peace and understanding between nations and cultures and noted the importance of the rule of law in international relations and adherence to international rules and standards.”

Other Iranian media focused on the statements about Iran activating “thousands” of centrifuges. The goal here is to increase pressure on Europe ahead of the return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House. Iran knows that pressure is coming from Washington. The train has left the station. Tehran hopes the nuclear brinkmanship can buy it some time.


Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran after 'collecting list of special forces soldiers'
Ex-soldier Daniel Khalife has been found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court earlier today.

He was found guilty of spying for Iran after he collected a list of special forces soldiers, the court heard.

Although his offence breached the Official Secrets Act and Terrorism Act, the jury acquitted Khalife of perpetrating a bomb hoax after 23 hours of deliberation.

The former soldier pleaded guilty during his trial to escaping from HMP Wandsworth in September 2023, which led to a nationwide manhunt for the now convicted spy.

Daniel Khalife’s actions risked military personnel’s lives and “prejudiced” Britain's national security, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The CPS' Bethan David said: “As a serving soldier of the British Army Daniel Khalife was employed and entrusted to uphold and protect the national security of this country. But, for purposes of his own, Daniel Khalife used his employment to undermine national security."

She said that he "surreptitiously sought out and obtained copies of secret and sensitive information" which he knew to be protected, passing the information onto those suspected of working for the Iranian state.

She added: "The sharing of the information could have exposed military personnel to serious harm, or a risk to life, and prejudiced the safety and security of the United Kingdom."


Founder of pro-Hamas group accused of inciting beheading of Samuel Paty
Abdelhakim Sefrioui, the founder of a pro-Hamas collective in France, has been accused of helping create a video that falsely depicted Samuel Paty, the French teacher beheaded in 2020, as an Islamophobe.

The video, which was part of a broader campaign of misinformation, is alleged to have stirred hatred towards Paty, contributing to the tragic events that followed.

The video accused Paty of being a “thug” after he showed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad during a class on free speech.

Sefrioui, who had previously been known to French security services for his Islamist activities and antisemitic rhetoric, is now on trial over his alleged involvement in spreading false information about the teacher. He is accused of helping prepare a video designed to incite hostility towards Paty.

During questioning, Sefrioui claimed that he never intended for the video to lead to violence, stating that he and Brahim Chnina, the father of the teen accused of the murder, were merely calling for disciplinary action against Paty, not his murder.

His defence lawyers calling the charge an “intellectual and judicial aberration,” arguing that there was no proof of direct contact between Sefrioui and the murderer, Abdoullakh Anzorov.

The chain of events leading to Paty’s murder began with a false accusation by a 13-year-old student, who was not present during the lesson but claimed that Paty had shown the cartoons in an Islamophobic context.

This lie, which the student later admitted to fabricating, led to a viral social media campaign launched by Chnina, which targeted Paty and is alleged to have spurred Anzorov to murder the teacher.

The girl, now 17, later admitted to her falsehood during court proceedings, apologising tearfully to Paty’s family and stating that she deeply regretted the harm she had caused. She was sentenced to 18 months’ probation for the false accusations.

Paty’s murder shocked France and raised serious concerns about the spread of Islamist radicalisation.
Teen arrested in murder of Israeli locksmith in Memphis who was lured out on a job
A teenage boy has been charged in the murder of an Israeli national who was gunned down and robbed while working as a locksmith in Tennessee.

An unidentified 17-year-old boy was charged with first-degree murder in perpetration of a robbery and especially aggravated robbery in the killing of Aviv Broek last Friday, Memphis police said.

Broek was killed after being lured to a job on Hernando Road in Memphis, police told The Post last week.

The 21-year-old arrived at the client’s address for work, but when he became unreachable for two hours, a friend went out to look for him and found him shot outside of his car, Israel National News reported.

The attacker stole Broek’s work equipment and left him to die at the scene, the outlet reported.

Authorities have not said whether the fatal attack is being considered a hate crime.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry stated it was aware of the murder and that the details of the case are still being examined.

Broek’s relatives are now working to return his body to Israel to be buried.

A GoFundMe set up to help Broek’s family fund his funeral said the 21-year-old had a “kind heart and a bright future.”
Thousands rally in Amsterdam against antisemitism amid rising
On Thursday evening, thousands of supporters are gathering at the Stopera in Amsterdam, waving Israeli and Dutch flags, to demonstrate solidarity with the Jewish community and speak out against the alarming surge in antisemitism in the Netherlands. The rally, organized by Christians for Israel and other pro-Israel organizations, has become a powerful show of unity and resistance against hatred.

Surge in antisemitism across the Netherlands
In recent months, the Netherlands has witnessed a sharp increase in antisemitic incidents, particularly following the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to the Center for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI), there have been numerous reports of attacks on Jewish individuals, graffiti defacing synagogues and Jewish institutions, and antisemitic chants at protests. Social media platforms have also seen a disturbing rise in hate speech targeting the Jewish community.

One of the most shocking recent events occurred during pro-Palestinian demonstrations, where chants of "Death to Jews" were heard in public squares—an act that drew widespread condemnation from Dutch officials and citizens. The situation has left many in the Jewish community feeling vulnerable, leading to heightened security measures at Jewish schools, synagogues, and cultural centers.

Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, has been outspoken about the growing threat: “For many Jews in the Netherlands, wearing a kippah in public or expressing their identity has become a risk. This should not be the reality in a country that prides itself on tolerance and freedom.”
'Hitler was right': New Zealand Jews experiencing unprecedented rate of antisemitism
New Zealand Jews are disproportionately targeted in terms of hate crimes compared to other ethnic groups, despite comprising only 0.2% of the population, the New Zealand Jewish Council (NZJC) revealed in a new report shared with The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

In Auckland, 13% of all reported hate crimes were against Jews, and in Tasman and Wellington, 10%. This means that a New Zealand Jew is 18 times more likely to be a victim of a hate crime than a Maori, five times more than an Asian Kiwi, and 160 times more likely than a European Kiwi. The number and severity of reported antisemitic incidents are the highest in the country’s history. Assaults and threats

The report found that the number of incidents is 11.6 times higher than the eight and a half years preceding October 7, 2023. From January 1, 2014, until July 1, 2022, there were a total of 166 recorded antisemitic incidents in New Zealand. In the year following October 7, 2023, there were 227 incidents. This equates to a new average baseline of 9.7 reported antisemitic incidents per month in New Zealand, or about one every three days.

Another shocking finding was that two out of five (40%) of reported antisemitic assaults occurred in schools.

NZJC also reported an unprecedented number of threats against Jews, including death threats and threatening messages left on personal phones, as well as 20 reports of willful damage against Jewish facilities. This includes two acts of arson and antisemitic vandalism/damage to private houses and one incident of lit Molotov cocktails being thrown at a Jewish business.

There have been five antisemitic assaults reported in the year since October 7, 2023, as opposed to two in the 8.5 years prior.
Teen thugs attack and board JFS school buses while shouting ‘f**k Israel’ at children
JFS pupils have spoken of their horror after their school bus was pelted with rocks and rubbish by teenagers from another school who shouted “f*ck Israel” at them.

Two of the buses used by the school were attacked by a group of around ten teenagers from another school as they made a stop in Edgware, north London.

Four teenagers also jumped onto one of the buses, swore at the JFS children and filmed them before getting out and throwing things at the bus.

“We heard what sounded like screaming from the bus behind us,” one 12-year-old boy, who only joined the school in September. "People in the back of the bus were screaming, “oh my God, they are throwing trash and rocks”.

“I was sitting at the front of the bus and everyone was completely terrified and hiding under our seats. It was really scary. They had big heavy rocks. There is a park nearby and they might have got the rocks from there.

“They were also swearing at us, saying, ‘F*ck Israel, nobody likes you. F*ck off you b*tches.’ They were filming us like they were enjoying it. There were lots of people in the street and no one tried to stop them. I hope that something like that won’t happen again because it made me scared.”


Josh Kushner defends tech CEO for visiting Israel: ‘Saddened by how much hatred people have for Jews’
Billionaire venture capitalist and Trump in-law Josh Kushner slapped down online criticism of a tech executive who visited Israel and posted an image of the Tel Aviv beachfront on social media.

Kushner, the brother of President-elect Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, took to the social media platform X on Wednesday to defend Patrick Collison, the co-founder and CEO of payment processing firm Stripe.

Collison, whose company is partially owned by Kushner’s venture capital firm Thrive Capital, caused a stir among pro-Palestinian supporters on X after he posted an image showing Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade in a photo that appears to have been taken early in the morning on Wednesday.

“Great to be back in Tel Aviv. I missed this run,” Collison wrote.

Collison’s seemingly innocuous post went viral, generating more than 14,000 likes as well as thousands of comments — many of them from pro-Palestinian sympathizers who noted the thousands who have died as a result of Israeli military actions launched in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 massacres.

Paul Biggar, a software engineer and pro-Palestinian activist, responded to Collison’s post by writing: “Ten people reached out to me about this tweet. Sad day.”

Kushner wrote: “agree. saddened by how much hatred people have for jews. happy thanksgiving.”

Biggar, who urged his followers on social media to boycott Stripe, replied to Kushner’s comment, writing: “Why do you think this is about Jewish people? This is about Israel and its occupation and genocide in Palestine.”
Israeli hiker, 12, finds 3,500-year-old Egyptian amulet
A young girl discovered a 3,500-year-old Egyptian amulet during a family trip near an archaeological site in Hod Hasharon, a city northeast of Tel Aviv.

Dafna Filshteiner, 12, was hiking below the ancient site of Tel Qana when she discovered a beetle-like stone.

“I was looking down at the ground to find porcupine needles and smooth pebbles,” she said, when she found the curious-looking stone. She showed to her mother, who said it was nothing.

“But then I saw a decoration and stubbornly insisted it was more than that, so we searched on the internet. There, we identified more photos of stones similar to what we had found. We realized that it was something special and immediately called the Antiquities Authority,” Filshteiner said.

Dafna and her family were awarded a certificate of excellence for good citizenship.

The find, examined by Yitzhak Paz, a Bronze Age expert at the Israel Antiquities Authority, dates from the New Kingdom period in Egypt, between the 16th and 11th centuries BCE.

Two scorpions appear on it, standing head to tail.

“The scorpion symbol represented the Egyptian goddess Serket, who was considered responsible, among other things, for protecting pregnant mothers,” Paz said.

Another decoration on the amulet is the nefer symbol, which in Egyptian means “good” or “chosen.” There is also another symbol that looks like a royal staff, Paz noted.
Sixty-eight years since Nasser’s expulsion of 25,000 Jews
On November 23, 1956, 68 years ago, the dictator Nasser decided to expel all Jews from Egypt.

His Ministry of Religious Affairs declared: “All Jews are Zionists and enemies of the State” and promised their imminent expulsion.

Some 25,000 Jews were then forced to leave the country and took refuge mostly in Israel, France as well as Brazil, Argentina and the United States.

My grandfather Jaime Escojido, my grandmother Soledad Zarmati, aged 66 and 61, respectively, both born in Egypt in Cairo, were among them.

They were robbed of all their property and expelled from their native country like the rest of my family. They settled not far from their son Shlomo, on Mount Carmel in Israel.

They never asked for anything from anyone.

Neither did my mother, a refugee in France, who became stateless, nor did I, born in France.

Between November 23, 1956 and June 1967, the 75,000 Jews of Egypt, some of whom had been Egyptian since the dawn of time, well before the Arab conquest, were driven out of their country with nothing.

Despite being a graduate of the film school IDHEC, my mother Gina Heilbronn, née Escojido, eked out a living over ten years at the Unified Jewish Appeal in France in the 1950s.

Together with her sister Graziella Sautet (wife of Claude Sautet, a friend in my mother’s class) she was in charge of resettling newly-arrived Egyptian Jewish refugees in 1956. Then in the late 1050s, she did the same for Jewish refugees from North Africa.

I am clearly not an Egyptian refugee, because as Jews, like most peoples with the notable exception of the Palestinians, we are not refugees, passing our status down from father to son over several generations.

I am French, born in France, having served my country as a paratrooper officer, and my cousins ​​are Israeli, American and Italian.

Above all else, we are not asking anything from Egypt or from the United Nations Refugee organization, UNHCR.


Italian senate marks exodus of Jewish refugees
The Italian senate in Rome held a commemoration of the exodus of 850,000 Jews from Arab countries on 25 November.

The moving force behind the event was David Gerbi, representing the World Union of Jews from Libya.The commemoration was sponsored by Senator Giulio Terzi. The event was attended by the Israeli ambassador, representatives of the Jewish community, human rights organisations and the media.

Senator Terzi slammed the international Criminal Court for abusing its competence, while Israel had a perfectly robust, independent court system for dealing with abuses. Yet international justice had ignored the Jewish refugees.

Israel Ambassador Jonathan Peled explained that the Palestinian refugees had their own relief agency, while the rest of the world’s refugees had UNHCR.

Ever Arbib, who fled Tripoli in 1967, shared a powerpoint showing photos of his family life in Libya.

David Gerbi, psychoanalyst and advocate for Jews from Arab countries, paid tribute to Italy for giving him citizenship. “No organisation has defended the rights of the forgotten refugees,” he said. ‘No one knows our story, our human rights abuses and trauma.” Gerbi showed a film to illustrate the plight of the Jewish refugees.




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

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