Saturday, February 08, 2025

02/08 Links: We swore ‘never again,’ yet Israeli hostages return skeletal and tortured; The Historical Case for Trump’s Riviera; USAID Sent Over $18 Billion to Islamic Terror States

From Ian:

We swore ‘never again,’ yet Israeli hostages return skeletal and tortured
Hamas’s brutal spectacle
Hamas paraded our hostages before their release, forcing them to stand on a stage in front of a crowd of jubilant Gazans. The cruelty was calculated. Hamas terrorists made sure the world saw Israeli suffering as a spectacle before begrudgingly handing them over to the Red Cross.

And speaking of the Red Cross, they are allowed to visit Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, while not one Israeli hostage met with them throughout their entire time in captivity. And yet, some in the international community still buy into Hamas’s narrative of victimhood, of “humanitarian suffering” in Gaza, as if those holding hostages in cages and underground tunnels can ever be cast as the oppressed.

Where are the human rights organizations? Where are the protests by the same voices that, at one time or another, joined in rapid succession to loudly condemn Israel? They are mute, unconcerned with Israeli victims unless the tragedy can somehow be contorted to become part of a Jewish state condemnation.

The return of Or, Eli, and Ohad should ring as a kind of wake-up call. There are still 76 hostages left in Gaza, some of them dead, all of them subjected to inhumane conditions. The haunting images of these released captives make one thing clear: Every moment they remain in Hamas’s grip is another moment of irreversible physical and psychological damage.

And yet, as Israeli families weep for their loved ones, as a nation wrestles with the horror of these images, politicians continue to play their games.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid seized the moment to accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to act sooner. Simultaneously, Netanyahu vowed retaliation, his government issuing vague promises of “appropriate action.” But where is the concrete plan? Where is the strategy to bring them all home, alive, before they are too far gone?

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar put it bluntly: “The pictures don’t lie: The Hamas terrorists and the Gaza residents look great. The Israeli hostages look like Holocaust survivors.”

Indeed, the contrast could not be starker. The hostages’ skeletal frames stand as a living indictment of Hamas’s barbarism, an undeniable crime against humanity. The fact that some still equivocate, still seek to “both sides” this horror, is a stain on the conscience of the world.

We must be clear: Hamas does not take hostages. It takes human lives and reduces them to bargaining chips. Never Again is now. And if Israel does not act decisively, if the international community does not finally recognize this evil for what it is, we risk failing those still trapped in the depths of Gaza.

They must be freed before it’s too late.
Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami freed from Gaza after 491 days
Three Israelis were freed on Saturday after 491 days in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of hostages redeemed in the ongoing first phase of the ceasefire agreement to 21.

Or Levy, 34, Eli Sharabi, 52, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, were handed over by the Red Cross officials to Israel Defense Forces troops at around 11:15 a.m. local time and driven back to Israeli territory some 30 minutes later.

The IDF brought the freed hostages to a facility near the border for a preliminary physical and psychological examination, and to meet with their families.

Before their release, Hamas paraded the hostages on a stage in front of a raucous crowd of Palestinians in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah. The three men appeared frail and emaciated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office released a statement welcoming home the captives. “The government of Israel embraces the three returnees,” it read, adding, “The shocking images that we have seen today will not go unaddressed.

“The government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany them and their families. The government of Israel is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing,” it continued.

The PMO statement concluded with a quote from Psalms (31:15): “Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, from those who pursue me.”

“This is what a crime against humanity looks like!” Israeli President Isaac Herzog wrote in a post on X.

“The whole world must look directly at Ohad, Or, and Eli—returning after 491 days of hell, starved, emaciated and pained—being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle by vile murderers. We take solace in the fact that they are being returned alive to the arms of their loved ones,” Herzog wrote.

“Completing the hostage deal is a humanitarian, moral, and Jewish duty. It is essential to bring back all our sisters and brothers from the hell of captivity in Gaza—every last one of them!” he added.

After the handover was broadcast live across the globe, the Israeli Health Ministry called on the public to limit its consumption of such images.

“A psychological war is being waged that can cause harm to us,” said Dr. Gilad Bodenheimer, chief of the ministry’s mental health division. “We urge the public to minimize exposure to distressing images and videos and to be mindful of what they, their children and their loved ones are seeing.”

Added the Hostage and Missing Families Forum: “The disturbing images from the release of Ohad, Eli and Or serve as yet another stark and painful evidence that leaves no room for doubt—there is no time to waste for the hostages!”




Bibi: 'Appropriate action' to be taken after hostages freed in starved condition
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered “appropriate action” to be taken after three hostages released on Saturday morning were freed severely malnourished.

He was visiting US officials in Washington at the time of the three hostages’ release.

Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami have lost about 30% of their overall weight, according to a preliminary medical examination that was reported to Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center and Sheba Medical Center, which are set to treat them.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum compared the images from Saturday’s release to those from Nazi death camps, stating, “The horrifying images of Ohad, Eli, and Or reveal the devastating toll of 491 days in Hamas captivity. These are men who have endured hell itself. This is a crime against humanity.

“These disturbing images show the entire world the desperate reality facing every hostage still held in Gaza. These images evoke the horrifying pictures from the liberation of the camps in 1945, the darkest chapter of our history.”

The forum said, “A second stage of the hostage deal must be implemented immediately.”


Ministers call to destroy Hamas after hostages return looking like ‘Holocaust survivors’
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also denounced the international community for having accused Israel of starving Gaza’s population during the war, with the minister saying Hamas fighters and Palestinians civilians “look excellent” while the Israeli hostages emerged gaunt and frail.

“For over a year, the international community danced to the false tunes of the so-called starvation in Gaza propaganda, but the pictures don’t lie,” said Sa’ar.

“The Hamas terrorists and the Gaza residents look excellent. The Israeli hostages look like Holocaust survivors, and they are the only ones in the pictures who look like they have clearly suffered from malnutrition,” the foreign minister said, accusing Hamas of “committing crimes against humanity” in its treatment of the hostages.

“The Hamas-Nazi evil must be eradicated,” Sa’ar added.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich expressed similar sentiments, commenting that “The sheer evil that the Nazis are committing in Gaza — we will never forget.” Smotrich, who voted against the hostage release and ceasefire deal but remains in the government, said, “such evil must be eradicated from the face of the earth.”

Despite calling Hamas “Nazis,” Smotrich later put out another statement accusing those making Holocaust analogies of minimizing the Nazi genocide of Jews during World War II. Friends and relatives of Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi watch the live broadcast of their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza, at Kibbutz Be’eri on Feb. 8, 2025 (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Fellow ultranationalist party leader Itamar Ben Gvir, who recently resigned as national security minister in protest of the agreement, said, “This is a holocaust.” He also called to “encourage voluntary immigration now,” referring to his long-championed policy of having Palestinians leave Gaza, saying, “We have no time!”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid described the emergence of the three hostages as “difficult scenes,” which he said “underline the urgent need” for the return of the rest of the captives.

“There is no time, time has run out, we have to bring everyone back home,” said Lapid, and then he denounced Netanyahu in a second message following the prime minister’s message regarding the hostages’ physical state.

“Netanyahu, you only found out now that the condition of the hostages was bad? You didn’t know before? Because it was written in the intelligence documents put on your table in recent months. You saw the reports exactly like I did,” Lapid said, while dismissing the prime minister’s earlier statement that he would “take action.”

Head of the National Unity party, Benny Gantz, said the state in which the three hostages were released was “painful proof” that time was running out for the remaining captives. He also compared their condition to that of Holocaust survivors.

“Since the first hostage deal, we have lost dozens of hostages who were alive. We must not lose even one more hostage,” said Gantz, whose mother survived imprisonment at the Nazi camp of Bergen-Belsen during World War II.

“The pictures are harsh, but we are not in the Holocaust era — we have a powerful state and a strong people, we will know how to deal with the difficult prices, maintain Israel’s security, and settle accounts with Hamas.”

He called on Netanyahu “not to waste another minute” and to personally advance the second stage of the hostage-prisoner release deal with Hamas to bring about the release of every last hostage. Netanyahu has not sent negotiators for talks on the second stage, which were supposed to begin on February 3. On Saturday, Netanyahu dispatched a team without authorizing it to discuss the second phase.
Israel’s UN envoy calls on Guterres to ‘condemn Hamas’s cruel and inhuman treatment of hostages’
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon demands that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “unequivocally condemn Hamas’s cruel and inhuman treatment of the hostages,” after three Israeli men were released from Gaza this morning in emaciated condition after 491 days in captivity.

He calls on the UN chief to demand the “unconditional release from the hell in Gaza” of the remaining 73 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

“It is not the people of Gaza or Hamas operatives who are suffering from malnutrition—our hostages are,” Danon writes in a letter to Guterres.


Eli Sharabi learned of wife, daughters' October 7 murders upon release
Eli Sharabi, who was released on Saturday morning after 491 days in Hamas captivity, was reportedly unaware that his wife and two daughters were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7 upon his release from Gaza.

Furthermore, Hamas informed Sharabi of the death of his brother, Yossi, as he was being paraded on stage in Deir el-Baleh in central Gaza. His brother’s body is still being held in Gaza.

A report from Channel 12’s Almog Boker indicated that Sharabi told IDF soldiers he was looking forward to meeting his wife, Leanne, and daughters Noya, 16, and Yahel, 13, unaware that they had been tragically murdered in their home in Be’eri in the October 7 massacre, as Hamas terrorists dragged him to the Gaza Strip.

“Eli is returning from an impossible reality in captivity to a very difficult reality in Israel,” Kibbutz Be’eri said in a statement.

“A reality in which those dearest to him are no longer alive. On October 7, Eli lost his daughters, Noya and Yahel, and his wife, Leanne, who were murdered in their house in Be’eri in the terrible massacre. His brother, the late Yossi Sharabi, was murdered in captivity, and his body is still being held in Gaza. We will embrace him and give him the best possible support.”


Former Hamas hostage Or Levy reunites with 3-year-old son Almog after 491 days in captivity in Gaza
Former Hamas hostage Or Levy reunites with his three-year-old son Almog after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv.

Almog’s mother Eynav — Levy’s wife — was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, at the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im.

Levy was released this morning along with fellow hostages Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami, amid an ongoing truce deal with Hamas.


Freed hostage Keith Siegel’s sister: We kept his captivity from our mother until she passed in December
The sister of Keith Siegel, who was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza last week after 484 days in captivity, says she kept her brother’s captivity a secret from their mother, who died in December at age 97.

“During this whole period, my job was to make sure she didn’t know he was in captivity. I did everything I could so that she wouldn’t know. I thought about it every morning, all day, and when I went to bed. She mustn’t know,” Lucy Siegel says in an interview with i24 news.

“Keith will always be the baby of the family, he was given special treatment because he is the youngest of four siblings,” she says.

Keith and his wife Aviva were kidnapped from their home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked their community of 1,000 people, killing 62 and kidnapping 19 to Gaza. Aviva was released in a week-long ceasefire in November 2023.


Thai hostages return home after over a year in Hamas captivity
Saturday morning, the care team at Shamir Medical Center said goodbye to the five Thai hostages released last week in a ceremony in which the returnees were presented with souvenirs from their stay.

The returnees wrote their feelings on a board and said goodbye in a ceremony where boards in Thai were raised saying "Have a good trip," "A successful journey," and "Goodbye" with the flags of Thailand and Israel.

The five left with their recently arrived families, along with a Thai psychologist who also arrived in Israel, on their way to Ben Gurion Airport, from where they took off for Bangkok.

During their stay, there were visits from the Thai Embassy, ​​the Thai Foreign Minister, and a zoom call with the Thai Prime Minister.

Another moving visit was from the student council of Alon High School in Ramat Hasharon, who arrived with trolley suitcases containing gifts for the returnees to convey to them a message that they are embraced and loved like all the Israeli hostages.

With the help of the Parent Leadership Organization, a Paybox group was opened for donations, and within hours, thousands of shekels were collected. Thus, each received a trolley, a backpack, a pouch, a dry-fit shirt, an insulated bottle, branded hats, socks, a hamsa, a key chain, and dates.


Mother of British teen killed in Tel Aviv bombing reluctantly accepts killer’s release to save hostages
Yoni Jesner with his mother Marsha Gladstone, Credit Yoni Jesner Foundation.

The mother of Yoni Jesner, the Scottish teenager killed in a 2002 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, says she feels a “surreal sense of disbelief” at the release of the terrorist who masterminded the attack.

Ashraf Zughayer, who arranged the bombing that killed six people, including 19-year-old Jesner, was released from prison on 25 January after serving just 22 years of six life sentences.

Zughayer drove suicide bomber Muhammad al-Ghoul from East Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, dropping him at the Allenby Street bus stop moments before the attack that killed Jesner.

His release came as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. He was given a hero’s welcome in East Jerusalem, paraded through the streets on the back of a car and draped in Hamas flags as crowds cheered.

Yoni’s mother, Marsha Gladstone, has shared her family’s anguish about the decision, telling Jewish News: “We feel a surreal sense of disbelief that this is even possible, that this person can be out and about, enjoying the freedom he stole from our beloved son. That 22 years later he is a free man. It’s shocking and sickening.”

But reflecting on the broader implications of the hostage-prisoner exchange, Gladstone, who was not notified by the Israeli government about Zughayer’s release, added: “I understand there is a greater duty at play here. That we need the hostages home and the price to pay is an awful one. If the loss of Yoni can somehow contribute to something good, even all these years later, to bringing home the hostages to their families, then that is at least a small comfort to me in this crazy world.”

In a moving column for The Free Press, headlined ‘The Terrorist who murdered my cousin now walks free’, Yoni’s cousin, Rabbi Gideon Black, who narrowly survived the bus bombing, expressed his anguish at seeing

Zughayer walk free. Black wrote: “More than two decades later, emotional scarring from that bombing – which I survived by the slightest margin – is still etched into my soul. So are the physical scars on my torso… Time, it turns out, does not heal all wounds… The freeing of the man responsible for that attack cuts at the scar tissue and forces me and every other Israeli into an impossible corner.”

Reflecting on the 2002 attack, Rabbi Black recalls: “The moments after the explosion are still vivid in my mind –the shattered glass, the heap of skinless bodies at the front of the bus, the few silent seconds as an aura of death hung in the air before it gave way to piercing sirens and screams. Most of all I remember Yoni, in life so strong and brave, on the floor next to me with a mortal head wound. The first paramedic to treat us on the sidewalk cried out to Yoni, “Al tamut, al tamut!” (‘Don’t die, don’t die!’)”


CNN compares plight of emaciated hostages to Palestinian prisoners'
CNN has come under heavy criticism for its reporting on the condition of three Israeli hostages released on Saturday, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy, comparing their condition to that of Palestinian security prisoners released by Israel.

Much of Israel and its global allies expressed shock at the sight of the three hostages, now classified by Israel as being in serious condition, and the significant weight loss they experienced after 15 months in captivity.

The men, civilians taken from their homes and a music festival in southern Israel on October 7, were released on Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal with the Hamas terror organization - an organization described by CNN as “militants.” CNN's focus

Describing the three men as “thin and pale,” the CNN article offered a detailed description of released Palestinian security prisoners, many of whom were held after murdering Israeli civilians in terror attacks, as “emaciated and in poor health,” “weak and thin” with “signs of physical abuse and starvation.”

Ori’s wife was murdered on October 7 by the invading Hamas terrorists, although the CNN article omits the perpetrator of the murder. His three-year-old son was left parentless as Hamas continued to hold his father for over a year.

The article, mentioning that Eli’s wife, daughter, and brother were killed, also omits mention of Hamas as the culpable party. Eli returned to Israel to the news, having been kept in the dark by his captors.

The article, neglecting to mention the abuses suffered by the three hostages, included that the released prisoners accused Israel of “abuse and torture.”

International Human Rights Lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky condemned the article, writing on X/Twitter, “If you’re wondering why there is such little trust in mainstream media, look no further than this inexcusable headline by @CNN.

“There is absolutely no equivalence here, none whatsoever.


Andrew Roberts: The Historical Case for Trump’s Riviera
The witness of history is therefore fairly uniform: If a government undertakes a vicious and unprovoked attack on a neighboring country, and subsequently loses on the battlefield, it cannot then expect to continue to exercise sovereignty and avoid population transfers. In a similar vein, Arab governments cannot in the same breath argue that Gaza is "a concentration camp," but also that its citizens should not be allowed to leave such a beloved homeland. They can choose one propaganda line or the other, but not simultaneously both.

Mass population transfers have been common after wars. The classic example are those of the late 1940s, when there were no fewer than 20 different groups—including the Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus of the Punjab, the Crimean Tartars, the Japanese and Korean Kuril and Sakhalin Islanders, the Soviet Chechen, Ingush, and Balkars, even the Italians of Istria—who were moved to different regions. At the time of the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, over 800,000 Jews from Arab lands were forced out of lands that they had lived in for centuries.

All of those peoples mentioned chose to try to make the best of their new environs except one, and most eventually succeeded. The sole exception has been the Palestinians, because Hamas and its predecessors have always unquestioningly chosen the destruction of Israel and the opportunity to massacre Jews over the best interests of their own people.

If each of the 22 Arab states undertook to receive 100,000 Gazans, the Strip could be the home to the remaining 100,000, living and working on Trump’s "Riviera." The reason that can never in fact happen is the Arab states’ and the United Nations’ wholly cynical and self-interested policy since 1948 to use Palestinian refugees as a continual destabilizing force against Israel (as well as a well-grounded fear and hatred of easily the most violent population in Arabia).

As the international community yelps with indignation at Donald Trump’s remarks and their implications regarding Gazans’ sovereignty and Hamas’s right to govern there, history is on the president’s side.
Daniel Greenfield: USAID Sent Over $18 Billion to Islamic Terror States
“It is really, really a sad day in America,” Rep. Ilhan Omar declared at a rally by Democrats outside USAID headquarters protesting President Trump’s reconstruction of the aid agency.

It wasn’t a sad day for America, but it was so for Somalia.

Over the last two years, USAID had funneled $2.3 billion in “humanitarian assistance” to Omar’s native Somalia. Last year it reported a request for $1.6 billion in aid and even with the Biden administration on the way out the door, it sent an additional $29 million in December 2024.

USAID support for Somalia had doubled under the Biden administration and with $3.3 billion from USAID allocated in the last 5 years, the end of the USAID gravy train for the Islamic terrorist state of Somalia must have been a painful blow for Omar, who is very close to the Somali regime. Former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khaire had reportedly celebrated that “the interest of Ilhan are not Ilhan’s, it’s not the interest of Minnesota, nor is it the interest of the American people, the interest of Ilhan is that of the Somalian people and Somalia.”

It’s unknown if any of Omar’s Majerteen clan members benefited from the billions in American money, but considering the prominence of the clan in Somali politics, it’s likely to be the case.

Somalia, along with other Islamic terrorist entities, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza, were among the top beneficiaries of USAID cash.

USAID boasted of having sent $2.1 billion to Gaza and the West Bank since the Hamas attacks of Oct 7. In 2024 alone, $917 million was programmed for the terrorist areas occupying Israel.

USAID provided over $3.7 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over with $832 million in the previous fiscal year alone. The money was so unaccountable that USAID refused to cooperate with the U.S. Government’s Afghan War watchdog tracking money going to terrorists.

Even while the United States of America was at war with the Houthis, the Iran-backed Islamic terrorist group firing on US Navy vessels, USAID continued to direct billions of dollars to Yemen.

In 2024, USAID announced a $2.7 billion aid request for Yemen and allocated $753 million. In the last 5 years, USAID provided an estimated $3.4 billion in aid to an enemy terror state.
USAID Gifted a Cement Factory to Hamas—How $310 Million in U.S. Taxpayer Money Helped Create Gaza Terror Tunnels
Most people are unaware that USAID, the U.S. government agency tasked with foreign aid and development, gifted in 2016, $310 million of taxpayer money to start a Palestinian cement factory project. The project was a private venture, by a company called Sanad Construction Resources Company (SANAD), the establishment of multiple cement mills and factories which ultimately helped create Hamas' terror infrastructure in Gaza.

Sanad Construction: A Publicly Traded Company with a History of USAID and UNRWA Funding
Sanad Construction Resources Company (SANAD) is a Palestinian publicly traded company, in PEX (Palestine Stock Exchange), it has profited handsomely from the purchase of cement as foreign aid, particularly from USAID, UNRWA and the UN. Much of its revenue came from cement and construction contracts funded by these organizations. Cement—critical for building tunnels and military infrastructure—was always a priority for Hamas and USAID ensuring it had a cement factory nearby, ensured it had an endless supply. The likelihood that Sanad’s cement ended up in the hands of Hamas is almost certain.

In 2016, during a press conference, where the project was announced, Loai Quwas, the executive head of Sanad said, “…establishing the factory is a dream of Sanad company and the Palestinian investment fund, adding that it has been started since 2013”

Sanad Construction Resources Company (SANAD) was established in January 2016, the same year it received $310 million in funding from USAID for a Palestinian cement factory project. About a year later, in February 2017, the company began publicly trading on the Palestine Exchange (PEX). The timing of these events should raise questions about the relationship between the funding and the company's rapid growth. The company is considered the largest distributor of cement in Palestine, as it meets approximately 65% of the needs of the Palestinian market.

Immediate Investigation and Accountability
USAID’s involvement in this project sparks a chilling question: How could U.S. tax dollars be blindly funneled into a private venture, with zero oversight or accountability, empowering a terrorist organization? Worse yet, after funding Sanad to build the cement factory, USAID would later purchase cement back from that very same company. This circular flow of money seems less like an aid initiative and more like a dangerous money-laundering scheme, giving Hamas a steady stream of resources while making some very wealthy in the process.


Anti-Israel Groups Recruiting Celebrities To Sign 'Unbranded' $200K NYT Ad Opposing Trump's Gaza Plan
Anti-Israel groups are privately organizing a full-page ad in the New York Times intended to showcase the Jewish community's alleged opposition to President Donald Trump's plan for an American takeover of Gaza, describing it as "ethnic cleansing," the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

But the "unbranded" ad will include no mention of "organizational affiliations," including the participation of groups with close ties to Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), according to a Google form being used to collect the signatures from rabbis and other Jewish celebrities.

The groups In Our Name Coalition, Artists4Ceasefire, and Rabbis for Ceasefire—a spinoff of JVP founded by former JVP executive Alissa Wise—have privately sought out signatures from "Jewish celebrities" and other "notable Jews" for the ad, the form shows. But they are avoiding any fingerprints, with one organizer, Becky Silverstein of left-wing nonprofit T'ruah, arguing that mentioning the groups involved would undermine the ad's impact.

"The ad is being organized by a group of individuals from the In Our Name Campaign, Rabbis for Ceasefire, Artists for Ceasefire, and others," Silverstein wrote in a message soliciting signatures, obtained by the Free Beacon. "We are doing it unbranded to make it possible to say the thing that we believe is essential and urgent to say in this moment, with as many leaders as possible."

"I'm not sure yet where the funds will come from," continued Silverstein, a self-described "Queer and trans" rabbi in the Boston area. "The cost of a full page NYT ad is approximately 200k. The hope is that individuals who believe in the power of narrative shift will support this statement, as it represents a clear challenge to the presidential administration and a more [sic] statement on behalf of Jewish clergy and Jewish leaders."

Artists4Ceasefire, a group that was also founded in the wake of October 7 to oppose Israel's military response to Hamas terrorism, organized celebrities to wear pins denouncing Israel during the Oscars last year. Israelis told the Free Beacon that the pins, which featured an image of bloody hands, appeared to invoke a famous photo from the Second Intifada, which showed a Palestinian terrorist holding up his red-stained hands after lynching an Israeli.

The news comes as anti-Israel activists grapple with how to respond to Trump's groundbreaking plan for the United States to take over and rebuild Gaza as the "Riviera of the Middle East."

The organizers' decision to stay anonymous suggests that signatories could be reluctant to publicly associate with anti-Israel groups, many of which have been linked to anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist protests on college campuses. Jewish Voice for Peace, for example, was suspended from schools like Columbia University due to its pro-Hamas activism.

The Google document used to collect signatures does not mention the names of the organizing groups. "This will be just a group of individuals/ unbranded/ no organizational affiliations," the document states.
UKLFI: Natasha Hausdorff discusses Trump's ICC sanctions on the BBC Christian Fraser interviews Natasha Hausdorff on BBC News, The Context about the ICC's targeting of Israelis.



PSC’s immediate reaction to mass murder? Rally
I don’t believe there is a single Jewish person reading this article who does not remember exactly how they felt on 7 October 2023, as news began to filter through from southern Israel.

The horror. The numb despair. The anguish, as images and footage began to emerge. It was both Shabbat and Yom Tov, but I know there were many people who keep Shabbat who broke it that day, as news of the massacres perpetrated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad came to light.

It turns out, however, that there were others whose reaction appears to have been rather different. In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Metropolitan Police have now revealed the following: “The MPS were contacted on Saturday 7 October at approximately 1250hrs via telephone call and informed of the intention to protest… The MPS were advised of the march by an organiser on behalf of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign group.”

It would be wrong to use the phrase “the bodies weren’t even cold yet”. It would be wrong because the Hamas incursion of southern Israel was very much ongoing at this time. More people would subsequently die.

There is something diabolical about hearing that Palestinian terrorist groups are in the process of carrying out mass murder and your first reaction – even as the massacre is unfolding – is to begin planning a mass pro-Palestinian demonstration on the streets of London.

But in reality, we should not be surprised. Apparently the PSC felt that having to wait a week for a mass demonstration – which began outside the BBC, by the way, for all its more recent whining about being unable to march there – was too long. Because approximately an hour after its phone call to the police on 7 October, the PSC’s social media announced an “Emergency Demo: Stand with Palestine”, to be held two days later outside the Israeli embassy. “Join us on Monday when we take to the streets to demand Israel end its violent imposition of occupation, apartheid and colonisation over the Palestinian people”, the tweet said – even as Hamas was continuing to carry out the biggest mass-slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

The thought process that could lead to that behaviour becomes clear when you read the statement the PSC issued on 9 October. It was an absolute classic of the genre – appearing to condemn an act while constructing sentences which could, at least to the mind of their supporters, explain it.

“International law must be the framework within which we judge acts of violence and their legitimacy”, it said. “International law makes it clear that the deliberate killing of civilians, hostage-taking and collective punishment are war crimes. International law also enshrines the right of a people to resist oppression and military occupation”.


IDF targets Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon
The Israeli Air Force on Saturday attacked Hezbollah forces in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said.

“An IAF aircraft conducted an intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah operatives in the area of the Beqaa in Lebanon,” the statement read.

“The strike was conducted after the terrorists were operating in a strategic weapons manufacturing and storage site belonging to the terrorist organization,” the military continued.

“The activity at the site is a broad violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it stressed, referring to the ceasefire terms with Hezbollah signed on Nov. 26.

“The IDF continues to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel and will prevent any attempt by the Hezbollah terrorist organization to rebuild its forces, in accordance with the ceasefire understandings,” the statement concluded.

This was the second consecutive day in which the IAF carried out attacks in the Land of the Cedars.

The Air Force conducted precision strikes overnight Friday inside Lebanon, targeting two sites containing Hezbollah weapons. The military did not specify the location of the sites.

On Monday, Israeli forces dismantled Hezbollah infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, as part of the Israel Defense Forces’ ongoing defensive operations there, the military said.
Israel strikes Hamas arms warehouse in Syria
The Israeli Air Force on Saturday attacked a facility in southern Syria belonging to the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization, the IDF said.

“A short while ago, Israeli Air Force fighter jets, guided by the Intelligence Directorate and Northern Command, struck a Hamas weapons storage facility in the Deir Ali area of southern Syria. The weapons were intended for perpetrating terror attacks against IDF forces,” the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said.

“The Palestinian terror organizations, led by Hamas, operate by exploiting Syrian territory to establish terrorist activities under Iranian direction,” the military added.

It went on to say that Israel will continue to strike Hamas “wherever it attempts to establish itself” and will act against terrorist efforts “to expand and strengthen [their forces].”

Last week, Israeli soldiers stationed in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights were fired upon.

“The troops operating at the scene responded by firing shots toward the area from which the shots were identified,” the IDF said in a statement, without giving further details.

No injuries were reported in the incident, and the soldiers continued with their military activity, the statement read.


Starmer sacks his Health Minister after antisemitic WhatsApp posts revealed
Keir Starmer has sacked his health minister Andrew Gwynne and suspended him from the Labour Party after he was revealed to have made antisemitic comments in a WhatsApp group.

The MP for Gorton and Denton was revealed to have posted remarks about Labour Party member Marshall Rosenberg saying he “sounds too Jewish” and “too militaristic” from their name.

The MP also asked: “Is he in Mossad?”

Discussing a Labour meeting in Reddish, a member of the Whatsapp group had asked if Marshall Rosenberg would be there.

This appeared to be a reference to a late American psychologist whose conflict management techniques might have been useful in heated Labour debates.

Gwynne responded: ‘No. He sounds too militaristic and too Jewish. Is he in Mossad?’

In 2018, Gwynne had made headlines when it was revealed he was in a Facebook group called Labour Supporters in which antisemitic messages were shared.

At the time he responded: “I was added to this Facebook group without my knowledge or permission. I DO NOT support the posts and I ABHOR anti-Semitism. It has absolutely NO place in the Labour Party or in society. End of.”

After learning of the latest revelations the Jewish Labour Movement said on Saturday night:”JLM is appalled by the vile antisemitic, racist and discriminatory comments made by Andrew Gwynne MP.

“The Prime Minister is right to have taken swift and tough action in sacking him and suspending his Labour membership. There must be no room for hatred like this in our party.”
NYPD searches for suspects after antisemitic assault on 'F' train
The New York Police Department are searching for a suspect believed to have assaulted a Jewish man and made antisemitic comments on the 'F' train in January.

The suspect is believed to have attacked the Jewish man as the train approached the Parsons Blvd subway station.

The suspect allegedly approached the victim and said, “F*** you, Jew, and f*** Israel. I know what you Jews are doing. You kill Palestine. You ran down Palestine,” the New York Post reported.

After the antisemitic comments, the suspect was said to have slapped and punched the victim.

During the alleged assault, the man was reported to have stolen the victim's mezuzah necklace.


Israeli startup grows world’s first real dairy protein in potatoes—no cows needed
Once harvested, the potatoes will be processed to extract casein protein powder, a key component in dairy production. Casein, which makes up 80% of milk proteins, is essential for cheese-making and provides melting, stretching and foaming properties in dairy products.

Founded just a year ago, Finally Foods specializes in molecular agriculture, using potatoes as natural bio-reactors to produce casein protein. Bio-reactors serve as a medium for biochemical reactions, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional livestock-based dairy production, which contributes to high greenhouse gas emissions and requires extensive land and water resources. The company sees plant-based dairy proteins as a solution to global climate and food security challenges.

The innovative technology was developed with AI-driven genetic engineering from Israeli biotech firm Evogene. By analyzing vast genetic databases, researchers identified animal-derived DNA sequences that could be incorporated into plants, enabling potatoes to function as biological factories for protein production. The AI continuously optimizes both the growth process and protein yield.

Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv Potatoes were chosen as the host crop due to their high yield, ease of protein extraction and global availability. Unlike fermentation-based dairy alternatives, which rely on yeasts, bacteria and fungi but struggle to replicate real casein, this method offers a cost-effective and scalable approach to producing identical dairy proteins.

Dafna Gabay, CEO of Finally Foods, said the company chose to conduct its first field trial in Israel’s Gaza border region not only due to the favorable growing conditions but also as part of its commitment to strengthening and developing the area.

"Together with our partners, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable future in dairy protein production," Gabay said.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates