Thursday, February 13, 2025

02/13 Links Pt2: Melanie Phillips: 'The Jews are central to Western civilisation'; How Australia became such a haven for antisemitism; Nurse who boasted about killing Jews led a 'martyr's prayer'

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Julio Frenk’s Family Fled the Nazis. He Doesn’t Fear Student Hamasniks.
Sures was targeted because he is Jewish and has been outspoken in defense of Jewish rights on campus and supported a UCLA resolution to institute political neutrality on university websites, a rule opposed by Hamas’s supporters on campus.

One of the strange aspects of the response to pro-Hamas mob harassment has been the tendency to excuse the actions of large groups when those same actions, if performed by a single person, would result in immediate legal intervention to protect the target. If a random person trapped Sures’s wife in her car, vandalized his house, and made unmistakable death threats against him in the process, this would be understood as the psychotic behavior of a dangerous and violent person. The fact that psychotic, violent behavior is practiced by large groups of people in support of a terrorist organization currently holding Americans hostage should be understood as an exponentially larger threat.

And it should also be understood as a monumental failing of any institution with which those lunatics are associated. Perhaps because of his family’s personal experience with SJP’s tactics as practiced nearly a century ago by the Nazis, Frenk took action immediately.

“I know that no one can promise a society free of violence,” Frenk said. “But as your chancellor, I can commit to you that whenever an act of violence is directed against any member of the university community, UCLA will not turn a blind eye. This is a responsibility I take most seriously.”

Unlike other university leaders, Frenk wasn’t fooled by protestations that physical violence is free speech. “At UCLA, there is always room for discourse and for passionate debate of different points of view,” he said.

In fact, there is no evidence that groups like SJP, which exist to shut down participation in public discourse, have any interest in speech and debate at all. Tentifada camps organized with the help of PFLP-affiliated officials and which instruct their participants not to respond to questions are manifestations of authoritarian tendencies that are employed in place of speech. This is not surprising: There is no serious or sane argument in favor of Hamas and Hezbollah, which these groups exist to support. Shutting down debate is the only plausible method of maintaining the illusion that they are involved in something useful or noble.

Violence and the threat of violence are the only recruiting tools these organizations have. Let’s not flatter them by pretending there is any coherent intellectual aspect to their activism whatsoever.
Prof. Phyllis Chesler: The New York Times is still at it
I have been documenting the anti-Israel biases in the New York Times for a long, long time. I am so glad that others have taken up this truly tedious task. But I cannot keep totally quiet.

For example, today, here is their lead headline on page A1, occupying the rightmost column.

"Israel Threatens to Renew Combat In Hostage Crisis: Vowing to End the Truce Unless the Release of Captives Resume."

Have the editors been living on a far distant planet? Do they not remember that it was Hamas who violated the cease-fire agreement many, many times and that it was Hamas that has just refused to send the next promised batch of hostages?

Are the remaining hostages even alive? Are they even worse off than the three men whom Hamas returned in exchange for more than eighty Arabs with blood on their hands? And is that the reason for the halt in freeing the next group. The three Israeli male hostages looked like concentration camp survivors. The Arab prisoners being returned to Gaza looked fleshy, healthy—as did the crowds who greeted their buses.

Where is the alleged genocide of Gazans? Where is the alleged starvation of Gazans?

Are the journalists at the NYT blind, dead, and dumb? What anti-reality playbook are they following? Have they utterly forgotten about all the Iran-backed Arab terrorist attacks against Israelis and about what really happened on 10/7?
How Australia became such a haven for antisemitism
Why It matters This isn’t just about the Jewish community. Jew hate is a symptom of a deeper problem—a threat to Australia’s democratic values, diversity, and social cohesion. A country that prides itself on tolerance cannot afford to let hatred fester unchecked. If Jew hate is allowed to grow, it risks eroding the very fabric of the nation. Australia is still a far safer place for Jews than many other locations, and yet – this relative safety cannot be taken for granted.

For Israel, this is also a critical moment. Jewish communities worldwide are under pressure, and allies like Australia must step up to show that they stand unequivocally against antisemitism. Failure to act decisively could send a dangerous message: that hatred can flourish unchallenged. Nathan JoelNathan JoelPhoto: Courtesy of Center for Jewish Impact Australia must rise to this challenge, addressing not only the immediate crisis but also the long-term cultural shifts needed to ensure that all minority groups feel safe and valued. Now is the time for action, not rhetoric. Australia must make it clear: Jew hate has no place in the lucky country.


'The Jews are central to Western civilisation' - Melanie Phillips
Melanie Phillips, British commentator, author and brave proponent for the truth, speaks at AJA event in Melbourne February 9th, 2025. In partnership with J-AIR 88FM.


IU Special: How Jews and Christians Can Save the West - with Author Melanie Phillips
Gadi spoke with British author Melanie Phillips about her new book The Builder's Stone: How Jews and Christians Built the West—and Why Only They Can Save It.


Most Palestinian Families Come from Immigrants from the Past Two Centuries
A Western dilemma
The Western world has historically provided extensive aid to the Palestinian people, unlike the almost total lack of aid from their so-called Arab and other Muslim brothers.

Western guilt over colonialism and perceived injustices against the non-Western world have fueled disproportionate support for the Palestinian cause. In contrast, Trump’s approach calls for Arab nations to take greater responsibility for their “brethren,” rather than relying on perpetual Western largess.

Conclusion
The historical connections between the people of Gaza, the West Bank and British Mandate Palestine are complex—shaped by centuries of migration, trade and political shifts. They are not one people, but a hodge-podge of peoples with no prior connection to pre-1948 Palestine, who settled there during the past two centuries.

As debates over resettlement and political solutions continue, the question remains: should regional Arab powers take a more active role in addressing the Palestinian issue, or will the status quo persist?

In this context, Trump’s plan to resettle the people of Gaza, and possibly later also Muslims in the West Bank in other parts of the Muslim world, fits in perfectly with the normal patterns of migration in the region.
Terror victims file NIS 1.255 billion claim against Palestinian Authority
Some 245 individuals who have been victims of terror attacks filed a claim against the Palestinian Authority amounting to NIS 1.255 billion, Walla reported on Thursday.

The lawsuit was filed under the new Israeli law for compensation for victims of terrorism. The law allows for a NIS 10 million compensation to each heir of murdered victims and NIS 5 million to those permanently disabled due to a terror attack.

Gohar Law Firm represents the 245 survivors of the Nova Festival massacre along with the Kedem Arbus Law Firm, who filed the lawsuit, who is representing other terror attack victims, including October 7 survivors.

Who are the plaintiffs?
The plaintiffs are families of those who were murdered during the October 7 massacres, including the Nova Festival massacre, and other victims of terror attacks from recent years.

The lawsuit, which is against the Palestinian Authority and the terror group Hamas, claims that "the Palestinian Authority initiated, supported, and encouraged the execution of murderous terrorist acts against the citizens of the State of Israel. The defendant even rewards terrorist acts by making payments to terrorist perpetrators and their families."

"The PA's reward policy is disgusting," the lawsuit claimed. "Paying the terrorists is not only a retroactive approval of terror attacks, but a direct incentive for future acts."
It’s 2025 — and Palestinian Authority Sermons Call for the Genocide of Jews
The year 2025 is here, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its preachers in the mosques have started off the year with more prayers to exterminate the Jews.

Official PA TV’s message of genocide is that the Jews should be killed to the last one:
Official PA TV sermon: “O Allah, count them one by one and kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.”

[Official PA TV, Jan. 10, 2025]

Official PA TV sermon: “O Allah, count them one by one and kill them one by one, and do not leave even one.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Jan. 10, 2025]

Another top PA religious official, a PA Shariah judge, also demonized Jews, teaching that they “defile and Judaize” the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza when they visit the Temple Mount:
PA Shari’ah Judge Nasser Al-Qirem: “We will not forget the commitment to the pure Martyrs, and the groans of the prisoners in the Nazi occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] prison cells.

Out of loyalty to these Martyrs and these prisoners, and out of loyalty to the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is being desecrated by the Zionist crime gangs throughout the day, under the protection of the occupation and its soldiers, in order to defile it and Judaize it … For all of this, we must return to our unity.”

[Official PA TV, Jan. 3, 2025]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented the PA’s antisemitic ideology for decades, exposing that Jews are seen as “Satan in human form,” “humanoids, apes and pigs,” and that Jews are “barbaric and bloodthirsty.”

This antisemitic ideology is promoted and endorsed by the top leadership of the PA and by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas himself, who has explained that “Even Hitler… fought the Jews because they worked based on usury and money, in other words, they caused ruin in his opinion, and therefore he hated them.” [emphasis added]

Official PA TV, Speech at 11th conference of the Fatah Revolutionary Council at the PA headquarters on Aug. 24, 2023

In another PA TV broadcast, a West Bank resident expressed his faith in Allah on the subject of genocide of the Jews:
West Bank resident Jaafar Al-Qadi: “Everyone has been harmed, and Allah willing things will turn out for our benefit. Allah willing the Jews will cease to exist. We know that the Master of the Universe promised us that the Jews will cease to exist.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA TV, Resolve and Confrontation, Dec. 7, 2024]
He Said He'd Take Jews 'Back to Poland.' Gretchen Whitmer Took Him on an Official State Trip to the Middle East.
One of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D.) guests on an official state trip to the Middle East this week is an anti-Israel activist who hailed the leader of Hezbollah as a "hero" and recently called for Jews to be sent "back to Poland."

Whitmer took 17 local officials, businessmen, community leaders, and the head of the Michigan National Guard on a trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to strengthen economic ties to the region. A press release and photos from the first day of the trip show that one of Whitmer’s hand-picked guests was Osama Siblani, the publisher of the Arab American News.

It’s a controversial choice for Whitmer, considered a top contender for the Democratic presidential primary in 2028. Siblani is a vocal critic of Israel and was a leader in the "uncommitted" movement that opposed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris over U.S. support for Israel in its war with the terrorist group Hamas. And Siblani has gone far beyond simple criticism of the Jewish state.

Siblani has for years defended and praised Hamas and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist groups. At a rally in Dearborn he organized on Sept. 25, Siblani hailed then-Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as a "hero."

"They want us to be afraid of praising our leaders and martyrs, but today we say to them that our martyrs are heroes and our leaders are great, especially the great Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah," Siblani said of the Hezbollah leader who was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike days later.

After chants of "death to Israel" broke out during Siblani’s speech, Siblani responded, "Believe me, they will take care of the job," an apparent reference to Hezbollah, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

And he issued a message to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Jews: "We will take you back to Poland."


Tampa Democrats reverse course, suspend antisemitic official after outcry from Jewish activists
After Tampa Bay Democrats voted last month against disciplining a party activist accused of antisemitism, the leadership of the local party reversed course and decided on Monday to suspend the member for two years, citing “repeated violations of our standards for respectful and inclusive discourse.”

The steering committee of the Hillsborough County Democratic Party, which encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in Florida, determined that precinct captain Russ Miller “had engaged in antisemitic hate speech targeting both the Hillsborough County Democratic Jewish Caucus and individual members.”

Jewish Democrats in the area have been raising concerns about Miller for months, after he publicly attacked members of the Jewish caucus and encouraged elected officials not to work with them. The matter reached Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who also called for his removal — but was rebuffed when the matter was first discussed.

The measure was put before a vote of the party’s executive committee in January and failed. Hillsborough’s party chair, Vanessa Lester, declined to weigh in at the time.

During Monday’s meeting, Lester also did not vote, saying she would only do so if needed to break a tie. But she said suspending Miller was the right decision.

“This behavior is not acceptable, and it caused a lot of harm to our organization,” Lester told Jewish Insider. “Antiemitism is not tolerated in our organization, and no ‘ism’ within our organization will be tolerated at all.” During the suspension, Miller will not be allowed to participate in Democratic Party clubs, committees or events.

Steve Shaiken, the chair of the Jewish Caucus, said the suspension is not enough to absolve his concerns.
Michigan Dems condemn state party chair contender for antisemitic views
Democratic lawmakers in Michigan largely condemned recent comments from a contender for the state’s Democratic Party chair suggesting his party is “not the Jewish party.”

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) was the only federal lawmaker to immediately issue a public condemnation regarding last week’s statement from Al Williams, a candidate to be Michigan Democrats’ next leader. Williams declared at an event co-hosted by the Arab American Democratic Caucus that “this is not the Jewish party. This is the Democratic Party,” when asked about his stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Detroit News reported. “There are more voices than just Zionists in this party. There are more voices than just Jewish Americans within this party,” Williams said.

Stevens said on X that the comments were “deeply offensive & should be disqualifying to lead our state’s party.”

“Jewish Americans are welcome in the Democratic Party. Full stop,” Stevens said. “Comments like these are antisemitic & based in harmful tropes that fail to recognize the broad spectrum of Jewish belief & political engagement.”

In statements to Jewish Insider on Wednesday, Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) also denounced Williams’ statement.

“These comments are offensive, misleading, and will only spur more dangerous antisemitic rhetoric,” Peters said. “We need a party leader who brings people together to fight for our common values, not someone who stokes hate and division.”


Australia at a Crossroads: Why Jews Are Discussing a Plan B
Australia is Still Home — But For How Long?
That is the question many in our community are asking. Some are actively exploring options—where they might move, what opportunities exist in Israel, the United States, or elsewhere. Others are simply bracing themselves, watching, waiting, hoping that Australia will wake up before it’s too late.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

But change requires action — not just from the Jewish community, but from all Australians. The government must stop treating antisemitism as an abstract issue and start enforcing real consequences for hate crimes. Universities that allow the open intimidation of Jewish students should face serious funding cuts. Corporate leaders who claim to stand for diversity must ensure that includes Jews. The media must stop excusing antisemitism under the guise of “criticism of Israel.”

Most importantly, everyday Australians need to stand up. Just as we would never accept racism against any other group, we must refuse to normalize the hatred of Jews. Silence is not an option.

The fact that we are discussing a “Plan B” is a national crisis. But it is not too late to change the conversation. The real question should not be where will Jews go if this continues — but, how do we ensure this stops?

If we fail to ask — and answer — that question now, we may find that the decision has already been made for us. And by then, it may be too late.
Dutton wants citizenship debate after anti-Israel video
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called for a “conversation” on citizenship rules after a video surfaced of nurses bragging they would kill Israeli patients.

A video of two nurses claiming they would kill Israeli patients shows the need for a “national conversation” on migration and citizenship, Peter Dutton says.

Police are examining whether to lay charges against the NSW nurses, one of whom has been identified as an Afghan refugee who recently acquired Australian citizenship.

The case highlighted the need for debate on the “inadequacies” of Australia’s migration system, Mr Dutton said, noting the government was heavily restricted in its ability to strip people of their citizenship.

“When we have somebody like this who gets through the net, obviously has breached his obligation about a loyalty to our country when he became an Australian citizen, and yet he has the ability to stay in our country, it should be of deep concern to every Australian,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio on Thursday.

“(It’s) about how we can say to these people, ‘if you don’t share our values, if you’re here and you’re enjoying the welfare system and you’re enjoying free health and free education, then at the same time you hate our country, well, I don’t think you’ve got a place here’.”
Jewish Board of Deputies president visits Bankstown Hospital
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies president, David Ossip, has visited Sydney’s Bankstown Hospital, from which two nurses participated in a social media video threatening an Israeli.

He was accompanied by NSW Health Minister Ryan Park and Secretary of the Health Department Susan Pearce.

David Ossip said: “The Jewish community cannot accept a health system that makes anyone in our community feel unsafe or concerned about the quality of care they will receive.

We welcome the commitment from the Government and the Health Department to review the treatment provided to Jewish and Israeli patients at Bankstown Hospital in recent times and to prevent the two nurses in question from ever working in the NSW health system again.

We have also discussed measures with the Government to make sure that all hospitals and other health facilities in NSW are physically and culturally safe places for Jewish staff and patients and to ensure that no other employee of NSW Health who harbours antisemitic views is able to harm Jewish or Israeli patients.


Top doctor issues a chilling warning to Australia after nurses bragged about killing and refusing to treat Jews
One of Australia's most trusted doctors has demanded a permanent ban for the NSW nurses who bragged about killing and refusing to treat Israeli patients.

Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, from Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's west, were filmed on a public video chat forum dressed in their NSW Health-branded scrubs hurling insults at Jews in a video shared by Israeli influencer Max Veifer,

'It's Palestine's country, not your country you piece of s***,' Abu Lebdeh said.

'One day, your time will come, and you will die the most horrible death.'

'You have no idea how many (Israelis) came to this hospital and I sent them to Jehannam (hell),' Nadir said, while making a throat-slitting gesture.

When asked what she would do if an Israeli patient presented in her ward, Abu Lebdeh responded: 'I won't treat them, I will kill them.'

Dr Nick Coatsworth, who is widely regarded as one of Australia's top doctors, condemned the nurses' views as 'catastrophic' for the country.

'To say the actions of two NSW Health workers are disturbing, frightening and lacking in humanity would be an understatement,' Dr Coatsworth said.
Nurse who boasted about killing Jews led a dramatic Islamic 'martyr's prayer' - as details of his 'boat people' journey to Australia as a child are revealed
Footage has emerged of one of the nurses stood down over a vile anti-Semitic rant leading a prayer about martyrdom.

Rashad Nadir, 27, was filmed at a Sydney mosque leading a Noha or Nawha.

The Islamic elegy commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali in the historic Battle of Karbala.

Nadir passionately sang the poem in front of dozens of fellow Muslims in a nearly seven-minute clip posted by his brother to YouTube in June 2020.

The video of Nadir was uploaded exactly two months before the refugee, originally from Afghanistan, was granted Australian citizenship.

The clip was deleted on Wednesday night, hours after disturbing footage emerged of Nadir and his Bankstown Hospital colleague Sarah Abu Lebdeh, spouting anti-Semitic hatred to Israeli influencer Max Veifer.

'It's Palestine's country, not your country you piece of s***,' Abu Lebdeh told Mr Veifer.

Both Nadir and Abu Lebdeh claimed they 'won't treat Israeli people'. Abu Lebdeh added 'I'll kill them', and Nadir was filmed making a slicing gesture over his throat.


Family of nurse at the centre of anti-Semitic video firestorm say they are 'ready' for reprisal attacks - as pair refuse to be interviewed by police
The family of a NSW nurse whose anti-Semitic rant sparked public outrage say they are preparing for possible attacks after being bombarded with threats.

Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh from Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's south-west, have gone into hiding after a vile video of them spewing threats to kill Israelis was posted to social media.

During the 90 second clip filmed by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, the pair, dressed in NSW Health scrubs, say they would refuse to treat Jewish patients and instead kill them.

Detectives have yet to see the full unedited version of the video, and the pair have so far refused to be voluntarily interviewed by police, who have viewed hospital CCTV footage of the incident.

While no charges have been laid and the pair have not been arrested, an angry mob has begun to form online.

The nurses and their families have been bombarded with threats too graphic to publish.

Abu Lebdeh's uncle told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday that his family had put emergency plans in place and were prepared for possible reprisal attacks.

'We are ready for them, we have seen what's been said, we are ready for it,' he said.

'They won't get what they want. We will call the police.'
Sydney nurses suspended from practising ‘anywhere in Australia’ after antisemitic video
Two Sydney nurses who threatened to kill Israeli patients in a viral social media video have been banned from pracitising anywhere in the country.

Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh were stood down from their jobs at Bankstown Hospital after a video emerged of the pair speaking about refusing to treat, and suggesting killing, Israeli patients.

Late Thursday, Federal Health Minister Mark Butler confirmed the Nursing and Midwifery Council of New South Wales had suspended the pair's nursing registrations, effective immediately.

The development means Mr Nadir and Ms Abu Lebdeh are unable to practise nursing not only in the state of NSW, but anywhere in Australia.

"As a result, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has automatically updated their record on the public register of practitioners and as a result this means the two nurses are unable to practise nursing anywhere in Australia, in any context," Mr Butler said in a statement.

"Australians have a right to feel safe wherever they go and nowhere should be safer than a hospital."

Mr Butler condemned the "sickening" remarks from the two nurses in the video, which was published to TikTok on Wednesday by a Jewish content creator.

"The idea that you would single out a particular group in our community and indicate you wouldn’t care for them, let alone actively threaten their lives, runs against every single principle in our health care system," he said.

"Their sickening comments – and the hatred that underpins them – have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia."


‘Part of the problem’: Nurses’ union under fire over ‘woke’ response to antisemitic video
A nursing union has come under fire after mentioning Islamophobia in its response to the antisemitic video featuring Sydney nurses boasting about how they would refuse to treat Israeli patients.

Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh were stood down from their jobs at Bankstown Hospital on Wednesday, and a police investigation was launched, after the chilling video emerged online.

Their comments included that they would refuse treatment to, or “kill”, Israeli patients and that Max Veifer, the content creator they were addressing, would also be killed.

In a statement, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) said it was “appalled” by the video and condemned “all forms of racism, bigotry and hatred”.

However, it went on to mention not only “acts of antisemitism”, but “Islamophobia” as examples of hatred, sparking outrage from a key Jewish organisation.

Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory took to X to slam the remarks, labelling the ANMF a “shameful disgrace” and arguing “organisations like this are part of the problem”.

“Since 7 October 2023 we have seen leftist nursing organisations do NOTHING about the anti-Israel activism and antisemitism in their midst,” the post read.

“Jewish hospital staff and patients have been harassed as a result of your complicity.”


Midwife ‘warned about NSW nurses’ a year before Antisemitic rant went viral
A Sydney midwife has claimed she nearly lost her job after raising concerns about antisemitism among nurses in New South Wales over a year before two were caught making hateful comments on a viral video.

Sharon Stoliar said that she warned hospital bosses about medical staff making inappropriate and racist remarks following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Stoliar apparently filed formal complaints about colleagues' behaviour, particularly in the wake of widespread protests held by health workers across Australia calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

During these protests nurses, midwives, and health workers were heard chanting the controversial phrase “From the river to the sea,” which many Jewish groups have labelled genocidal.

Stoliar, who is married to an Israeli Jew, said she was horrified by what she witnessed, especially as colleagues were wearing NSW Health uniforms while chanting the phrase.

“I raised the alarm not long after October 7 happened, when nurses and midwives were chanting ‘From the river to the sea’ while wearing NSW Health uniforms,” Stoliar claimed in a video posted to Instagram.

“I wrote an open letter to nurses and midwives, explaining that this chant is a call for the annihilation of Jews, and that they should not be shouting this genocidal chant, let alone while wearing NSW Health uniforms. I also had meetings with AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) to push for action.”

But instead of receiving support, Stoliar alleged that she became the target of retaliation, including having vexacious complaints lodged against her.


Family of viral antisemitic nurse who threatened to kill Israeli patients says she was ‘set up’
The brother of a Sydney nurse who has been stood down after she and a colleague were recorded making vile anti-Semitic remarks has said his sister was “set up”.

“She was baited,” said Mohamed Abu Lebdeh of his sister Sarah Abu Lebdeh who worked at Sydney’s Bankstown Hospital in Australia.

It comes as Israeli media outlets have reacted to the nurses’ shocking remarks and their subsequent apologies. One questioned if the pair were, in reality, “sorry, not sorry?”

Sarah and fellow nurse Ahmad “Rashad” Nadir were recorded by Israeli influencer Max Veifer.

He frequently uses Chatruletka and Omegle, online platforms that pairs users into random video chats, to expose instances of anti-Semitism and also to learn English, he has claimed.
Prominent Muslim leader makes bizarre comparison between antisemitic nurses and Sam Kerr
During a fiery interview with Sky News host Laura Jayes, Lebanese Muslim Association Secretary Gamel Kheir refused to condemn two NSW Health workers filmed threatening to kill Jewish hospital patients in a viral antisemitic video.

The video, which surfaced on social media platforms, showed nurses Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh making shocking remarks about refusing to treat Israelis and even threatening to kill them.

The nurses were quickly identified and stood down from their roles at Bankstown Hospital, while NSW Police and the Department of Health launched investigations.

While Mr Kheir condemned the actions of Mr Nadir and Ms Lebdeh, he stopped short of condemning the nurses themselves, making an abstract argument which invoked the name of embattled Matildas captain Sam Kerr

“Let me give you an example... Sam Kerr. Do we condone her statements? No, we condemn the statements that she admits she made. But did we condemn her? No,” he said.

Kerr was recently found not guilty of racial harassment after she called a UK policeman “f**king stupid and white” in a drunken altercation.
‘I stand with them’: Man in Bankstown’s shock defence of vile antisemitic death threats by NSW nurses
A man in Bankstown has sensationally backed vile and antisemitic death threats two nurses made against Israelis hours after an Islamic leader promised Australians that extremist views were not widespread in the community.

NSW Health nurses, Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, made headlines after remarking about refusing to treat Israeli patients and threatening to kill them.

One day after the video emerged, Lebanese Muslim Association Secretary Gamel Kheir made a spirited defence of the Islamic community and said it had “no tolerance for antisemitism”.

However, the attempts to distance the community from the vile antisemitic comments has failed after a resident defended the nurses' actions.

In a Sky News vox pop, one man unequivocally supported the nurses and argued they had every right to voice their opinions.

“They have a free right to say whatever they want, you know?” one man told Sky News reporter Crystal Wu.

“I stand with them. Yes. In any way possible.”

The individual attempted to justify the viral antisemitic video by pointing to “all the kids that Jews have killed” in Palestine.

“Look what they did in Lebanon as well,” another man said.


Are Australian universities stoking anti-Semitism? | Sunrise
Sunrise is joined by journalist Joe Hildebrand and Seven's National Business Editor, Amelia Brace to discuss accusations against educational environments of fueling anti-Semitism and the Government throwing a lifeline to Rex Airlines.




Australian artist dumped from Venice Biennale ‘extremely hurt’
The artistic team dumped as Australia’s representative at the Venice Biennale say they are hurt and disappointed by the decision to “censor” them.

In a shock announcement Thursday night, the board of Creative Australia withdrew its invitation to western Sydney multimedia artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino.

It followed questions raised in the Senate on Thursday by Liberal Senator Claire Chandler, who asked why the government was allowing Sabsabi to represent Australia, given his artwork had in the past featured the now deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as work that the Senator described as “promoting” Osama Bin Laden.

Sabsabi was the first Lebanese artist from western Sydney selected for the biennale. He migrated to Australia with his family from Lebanon during the civil war and has taken strong political positions on the Gaza conflict.


Linda McMahon Takes Aim at Campus Anti-Semitism, DEI During Smooth Confirmation Hearing
Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Education Department, sailed through her confirmation hearing Thursday, pledging to tackle anti-Semitism and end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

In her opening remarks, McMahon, the former World Wrestling Entertainment chief executive and Small Business Administration head during Trump’s first term, told the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions that if confirmed, "the department will not stand idly by while Jewish students are attacked and discriminated against."

"November proved that Americans overwhelmingly support the president’s vision, and I am ready to enact it," McMahon said. "Education is the issue that determines our national success and prepares American workers to win the future."

McMahon said universities that fail to protect Jewish Americans’ safety would face defunding. She also pledged to revoke foreign students’ visas if they praised Hamas and indicated she’d be open to forming an anti-Semitism commission "to evaluate the progress of universities on this issue."
New civil rights chief at Education Department has antisemitism experience from first Trump term
Kimberly Richey, a civil rights attorney and education administrator who has held senior leadership roles in statewide education in Virginia and Florida, will be the next assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, a department spokesperson announced on Wednesday. As the department’s civil rights chief, Richey will oversee investigations into alleged instances of antisemitism at U.S. schools and universities.

Richey, who received her law degree from the University of Oklahoma, worked at the U.S. Department of Education in the George W. Bush administration upon graduation, after being hired by then-civil rights chief Kenneth Marcus — who later held the same role in President Donald Trump’s first term — to serve as his special assistant.

“She brings exceptional depth and breadth to the position of assistant secretary for civil rights and is unusually experienced and strong,” Marcus, the founder and chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, told Jewish Insider on Thursday.

Richey previously served as the acting assistant secretary of civil rights for the final months of Trump’s first term, after Marcus departed the position. In that time, he said Richey worked to publish a frequently asked questions document about Trump’s 2019 executive order on antisemitism that Marcus had not been able to complete.

“Kim shepherded the document that I had left with the agency through to publication. That required strong leadership on her part. It required that she made it a priority even after I left,” said Marcus. “She could have done otherwise, but I think that this confirms that she shares my commitment to addressing campus antisemitism through law and public policy.”
House Committee advances university foreign donations disclosure bill
The House Education and Workforce Committee voted on party lines on Wednesday to advance legislation that would tighten requirements for colleges and universities to report and disclose foreign donations.

Such donations have become a concern for the Jewish community since Oct. 7, 2023, amid worries that funding from states hostile to Israel — including Iran and Qatar — is fueling antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses. The bill passed the House 246-170 last year, with 31 Democrats supporting it. The Senate did not take it up at the time.

The bill, the DETERRENT Act, is sponsored by Reps. Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) and Tim Walberg (R-MI). It requires schools to report any foreign donations above $50,000, down from $250,000 under current law, and requires them to disclose donations of any size from countries of concern, including Iran and Saudi Arabia.

It also requires schools to obtain a waiver to enter into contracts with countries of concern, mandates that schools disclose foreign contracts with and gifts to faculty and researchers and requires private colleges to file annual endowment investment reports.

It imposes new penalties for failing to properly disclose foreign donations, including substantial fines based on the amount of federal funding that schools receive.


I’m a Student at McGill University; This Is How Bad Things Are on My Campus
Palestinian flags wave wildly in the air. Students hiding their faces call for divestment from Israel, and accuse the Jewish State and the McGill administration of genocide.

Chalk graffiti boasts that “zionism=facism.” Somewhere on the bright green grass, a person has laid what looks like a bloodied sheet down, and placed disfigured dolls on top. It is August 29th, and this is the first walkout at McGill during the 2024 school year.

Despite the large number of students donning keffiyehs and enthusiastically joining in chants about “freeing Palestine from the River to the Sea,” many are unknowingly calling for the death of the Jews and the total destruction of Israel.

With so much anti-Israel disinformation out there, this doesn’t come as a surprise.

A good number of these “anti-Israel” followers have been attracted by infographics featuring watered-down information and gory photos, calls for intersectionality and the ability to save humanity, and the horrible number of civilian deaths in Gaza.

Their social media feeds are flooded with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish accounts. Blindly accepting surface-level information provided on social media and being swept up in the excitement of mob-like chants at protests has led them to a new kind of dangerous ignorance.

McGill’s Palestinian human rights club “informs” students in their classrooms that “McGill funds genocide instead of paying their teacher assistants” (McGill’s TAs are paid the lowest wage out of the top 10 Canadian schools and went on strike last spring); and students walk through the Rodik gates every night to see the sign stating “McGill University: leader in funding genocide.”


‘We’re never going back to normal’: Israeli professor turned activist Shai Davidai to speak in San Jose
He finds it ironic that, given his research into the psychology of judgment and decision-making, his teaching career has been “placed in purgatory,” as he put it.

“We’re never going back to normal,” he said regarding Columbia. “Now that we have unearthed how deep the problems go, the goal is to create a normal future. That has nothing to do with me. It’s a bigger issue with Columbia, the faculty, the administration and student organizations.”

He hasn’t been totally abandoned. In November, a few weeks after his suspension, more than 400 university professors, staff, students, alumni and parents signed a letter addressed to Columbia’s interim president, Katrina Armstrong, blasting the decision to suspend him.

Earlier this month, after President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism,” the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened antisemitism investigations into Columbia and other universities, including UC Berkeley.

But Davidai laments that few of his colleagues have stood by him as the only faculty member suspended amid the campus turmoil since Oct. 7.

“When there’s a rally, when I come to counterprotest, very few professors show up, in a university with 5,000 professors. I work with 30 [professors] in my department, and none have said anything. These are people training America’s future leaders, and they failed.”

Davidai said he has been forever changed by what has happened to him and by the explosion of Jew hatred. But he sees an even more insidious threat than the hatred alone.

“We focus so much on educating people on the problems of hatred,” he said, “but we really have to educate on the problem of indifference. I now see on an everyday level the dangers of hatred and the dangers of indifference. They work together.”


Anti-Zionist Faculty at UC Santa Cruz Defy the Law and Betray Jewish Students
Harvard University, responding to two anti-discrimination lawsuits threatening its Federal funding, recently agreed to acknowledge on its official website, “For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity. Conduct that would violate the Non-Discrimination Policy if targeting Jewish or Israeli people can also violate the policy if directed toward Zionists.”

The same day that Harvard’s agreement was announced, the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) — also party to a recent agreement following a Federal investigation into charges of faculty antisemitism – made a different kind of announcement, which thumbed its nose at the US government and doubled down on condoning faculty antisemitism.

Prominently displayed on UCSC’s campus-wide Events page was an announcement for an Education Department talk subtitled, “Centering an Anti-Zionist Commitment in (Early Childhood) Teacher Education,” clearly suggesting the speaker would be advocating for instilling in children as young as pre-school age a hatred of Israel and its supporters.

The only thing missing from the announcement were the words “Jews not welcome here” – though that message came through loud and clear.

Tellingly, this talk was also promoted on the website of UCSC’s Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) chapter, a group that shares the speaker’s “anti-Zionist commitment” and passion for expressing that commitment in educational spaces. It’s worth noting that more than 40% of the university’s Education Department’s core faculty have publicly allied themselves with this group, which was established a few weeks after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre, mutilation, rape, and kidnapping of more than 1,400 Israelis.

UCSC’s FJP is one of more than 160 chapters of the FJP National Network, a project of the US arm of the Hamas-linked Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Established as the academic brigade of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, FJP is tasked with promoting an academic boycott of Israel, or academic BDS, urging faculty to boycott their school’s Israel-related programming, agreements, or projects, with the ultimate goal of eliminating Zionism and Zionists from academia.
Boston University Rejects Proposal to Divest From Israel
Boston University has rejected the group Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) call for its endowment to be divested of holdings in companies which sell armaments to the Israeli military, becoming the latest higher education institution to refuse this key tenet of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.

“The endowment is no longer the vehicle for political debate; nevertheless, I will continue to seek ways that members of our community can engage with each other on political issues of our day including the conflict in the Middle East,” university president Melissa Gilliam said on Tuesday in a statement which reported the will of the board of trustees. “Our traditions of free speech and academic freedom are critical to who we are as an institution, and so is our tradition of finding common ground to engage difficult topics while respecting the dignity of every individual.”

Gilliam’s announcement comes amid SJP’s push to hold a student government administered referendum on divestment, a policy goal the group has pursued since Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Its hopes were dashed on Tuesday when what SJP described as “technical difficulties” caused the referendum to be postponed indefinitely. However, SJP hinted that the delay may have been caused by its failing to draw a “representative sample of BU’s undergraduate population” to the polls.

SJP’s relationship with the university is poor, according to The Daily Free Press, Boston University’s official campus newspaper. In November, the Student and Activities Office issued the group a “formal warning” following multiple violations of policies on peaceful assembly. SJP, the Free Press said, occupied an area of the Center for Computing and Data Sciences for two days and tacked anti-Zionist propaganda — which included accusations that Boston University profits from “death” — on school property inside the building despite being forewarned that doing so is verboten. Following the disciplinary action, SJP accused the university of being “discriminatory towards SJP and our events.”
Professor in university ‘wellbeing’ faculty ranted about ‘Zionist lobby’ and promoted ‘intifada’ talk
A professor from Open University’s “wellbeing” faculty posted about the “Zionist lobby” and “false allegations of antisemitism” in an online forum for academic staff, the JC can reveal.

Linguistics Professor Kristina Hultgren claimed that the “Zionist lobby” was attempting to silence criticism of Israel and that “Palestinians resist, as would anyone in their situation” in January this year.

Hultgren – a senior academic who receives state funding for her work via the Future Leaders Fellowship – shared a flyer online on behalf of the university’s Friends of Palestine society promoting an event titled Global Solidarity – A New Year of Resistance.

Hultgren described the session as an opportunity to “discuss what it means to resist in our individual and collective capacities.”

Tracie Farrell, a research fellow in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics faculty, also commented on the post, saying: “We're supporting students who have an understanding of injustice that relates to settler colonialism.”
Columbia leaders ‘doubling down’ on a Hamas-supporting lecturer caused me to quit: ex prof
Columbia “doubling down” on a Hamas-supporting professor shows its leadership do not want to stop “radicalizing kids,” according to one professor who quit in disgust.

Columbia Business School’s Avi Friedman resigned after the school announced Professor Joseph Massad will teach a course on Zionism, called “Palestinian and Israeli Politics and Societies,” this spring.

Massad previously called Hamas Oct. 7th terror attack on Israel “astounding” and “awesome,” leading to accusations of him condoning and supporting terrorism — but the university has stood by him since.

Massad has been a tenured professor at Columbia since 1999, but his latest appointment confirms moves the university’s efforts to combat antisemitism were merely performative in Friedman’s eyes.

“They appointed this committee on anti-Semitism, and I don’t know what they came up with.” Friedman told The Post in his first interview since leaving.

“I don’t think the change is coming from inside. The inside is completely hollowed out, and it’s full of people that do not want to change.”

“When they gave Massad the class to teach on Zionism… that was deliberate… There are smart people sitting in a room and saying actually this is fine.”

Friedman, an award winning professor, cites mismanagement of the pro-Palestine encampment in the quad and a general lack of civil dialogue as contributing factors to his departure from the Ivy League school.

But the new class for Massad, whose title is Professor of Modern Arab Politics and Intellectual History, was a step too far.


UCLA Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Chapters After Agitators Vandalize Jewish Chancellor’s Home
The University of California, Los Angeles, is temporarily suspending its Students for Justice in Palestine and Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine chapters after members harassed Hollywood talent agent and regent Jay Sures and his family while vandalizing his home.

Some 50 masked protesters pounded drums and blocked Sures’s street and driveway in the early morning of Feb. 5, with police responding at 6:15 a.m., according to the SJP groups’ social media posts and police reports. The protesters imprinted red handprints on the outside walls of Sures’s house and plastered fliers on his garage door, Deadline Hollywood reported.

While announcing the chapters’ suspension, UCLA chancellor Julio Frenk said the protesters even surrounded the vehicle of one family member. They also held a sign that read, "Jonathan Sures you will pay, until you see your final day."

Sures is one of the University of California's 18 regents who make up the system’s governing board and has spoken out in defense of Israel. He is also vice president of United Talent Agency of Beverly Hills, a powerful Hollywood broker.

"Rigorous, healthy dialogue is central to everything we do to advance knowledge. What there should never be room for is violence," Frenk wrote in a statement Wednesday. "No one should ever fear for their safety."

The university is "conducting an administrative review, and this suspension will remain in effect during the review," he added. "If these reports prove true as part of this review, disciplinary action may be taken."


How the CPJ Redefines International Law to Designate Terrorists as Journalists
In summing up the past year, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has asserted that 2024 was the deadliest year for journalists in the organization’s history, with Israel responsible for almost 70% of these killed media workers.

As this is an astonishing statistic, it begs the question: How does the CPJ determine who is added to their database of media deaths and who is not? And more broadly, who does the organization consider to be a journalist?

According to its criteria, the CPJ includes journalists in its database if it “has reasonable grounds to believe they may have been killed in relation to their work: either killed accidentally in a conflict zone or on a dangerous assignment, or killed deliberately because of their journalism.”

While one might think that the CPJ’s list is focused on those who have been killed for their reporting, drawing attention to the dangers of being a journalist in hostile societies, the list is actually expanded to include anyone professing to be a media worker who is killed in a warzone, even if they are not actively taking part in their journalistic duties at the time of their deaths.

This broad criteria allows the CPJ to include, and highlight, the case of the Abu Skheil (also spelled Abu Sakhil) siblings, even though they were killed while staying in a Gazan school-turned-shelter alongside their father, who was the head of Islamic Jihad operations in Gaza.

When it comes to defining which journalists are eligible to be included in its database of killed media workers, the CPJ writes that it does not include
journalists if there is evidence that they were inciting violence with imminent effect or directly participating as combatants in armed conflict at the time of their deaths. Under international humanitarian law, journalists affiliated with an armed non-state actor – even one classified as a terrorist group by some countries – are considered civilians, not combatants, unless they are directly participating in the hostilities.

These criteria allow the CPJ to include media workers affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad TV and radio stations on its list of killed journalists.

However, the CPJ has also included certain people on its list even though, under international law, they would not be considered civilians.
ABC News Presents Terror-Linked Family as Innocent Palestinians
ABC News wanted a good story on Israel’s anti-terror operation in Jenin this week.

But as usual, instead of doing some independent digging, foreign media rely on fixers to hook them up with the “best” interviewees — those who can speak about their suffering and displacement, while painting Israel as an aggressor.

And so the network’s Britt Clennett found herself talking to members of only one family in town — the Zubeidis. Did she know they were linked to various terrorists, including a very infamous one recently released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal? Did she try to get other voices or challenge the choice of sources? If she did, she didn’t disclose it.

The result was that ABC News’s consumers were served Palestinian propaganda under the guise of authentic reporting.

The most ridiculous part of the multimedia piece is when Clennett interviews Jamal Zubeidi as “a displaced Palestinian,” without telling her viewers he is a close relative of none other than arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi — a mass murderer who Israel recently released in return for Hamas hostages:

And despite the interviewee’s own admission of having ties to jailed relatives, ABC News just couldn’t — or wouldn’t — put two and two together.

So the network’s consumers are left with naive news-writing like this:
This war is disrupting almost every aspect of daily life, and there seems to be no end in sight. Jamal Al-Zubaidi has lost two sons in the fighting, another son is injured, and a fourth is in jail.

Did it not occur to anyone at ABC News that these might be terrorists? That the network is giving an exclusive platform to terror supporters masked as innocent victims? Especially when the truth is hiding in plain sight, readily available to any professional journalist who doesn’t want to sound like a pro-Palestinian outlet:

And here, with a complete lack of transparency, ABC News presents this terror-linked family as sheep that fell prey to violence:
Just days ago, the Al Zubeidi family, comprised of a grandfather, grandmother, and 10 grandchildren, was forced to flee their town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Jenin is known as a militant stronghold, a place that has witnessed little to no peace.

Here too, dramatic narration presents a false narrative while omitting key facts about who the Zubeidis are:


PRESS RELEASE: U.S. TAXPAYER-FUNDED ALHURRA UNDERGOES OVERHAUL AFTER PLATFORMING TERRORISTS
Alhurra, the U.S. government-funded Arabic-language network, is undergoing a major change in leadership and direction, according to a recent report at National Review.

Alhurra, which launched in 2004, is part of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN), which provides news and information to Arabic-speaking audiences in the Middle East and North Africa. Originally created as a counter to extremist media outlets and to accurately portray U.S. policy in the Middle East, Alhurra has faced scrutiny from media watchdog organizations like CAMERA regarding uncritical platforming of extremist, anti-American voices.

CAMERA identified at least 18 instances when either terrorists or terrorism supporters were presented as impartial experts or analysts on the network.

Jeffrey Gedmin, president and CEO of Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Wikipedia photo by Agent021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0)

Jeffrey Gedmin, the new president and CEO of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, told National Review that CAMERA’s “concerns are legitimate,” and noted that Alhurra should not provide a platform for terrorists or terrorist sympathizers.

“It’s awful,” Gedmin admitted. “There’s no two ways about it…. They shouldn’t be our guests. There are a thousand experts. I’m sorry, we are U.S. funded. We are not a propaganda outlet, but we have a value set, and we actually have a point of view.”

Gedmin said that after he was hired last summer to lead the network, he discovered a newsroom in a deep need of reform.

“Through the course of a half a dozen years, it turned out that they didn’t have an editor in chief, they didn’t have a standards editor, they didn’t have bureau chiefs, they didn’t have a director of the newsroom,” Gedmin told National Review. “I don’t think it was anybody’s conscious bad decision.”
DOZENS OF CORRECTIONS PUBLISHED AFTER AP ERASES CONVICTED PRISONER’S DEADLY CRIME
CAMERA’s Israel office yesterday prompted correction of an Associated Press article which had erased the deadly crime of released Palestinian prisoner Imad Abu Aliya, resulting in nearly 50 additional corrections in media outlets across North America and beyond. Dozens of secondary media outlets which use AP content published the wire service’s significant correction, clarifying that the terrorist was convicted for intentional manslaughter and incitement, not simply affiliation with Hamas.

In her Feb. 8 article, AP’s Isabel DeBre had erred (“Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?”):
“We’ve been waiting. And waiting is the most painful thing, it wears on the nerves,” said Samah Abu Aliya, whose 34-year-old son, Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving four and a half years for his affiliation with Hamas. “Thank God he’s been released. Now we wait for the other prisoners, we wait for the negotiations. That’s what we do in this country, wait.”

But Imad Abu Aliya did not serve four and a half years “for his affiliation with Hamas.” As detailed by Israel’s Ministry of Justice (Hebrew screenshot below), Abu Aliya was convicted and served four years and some 10 weeks (his arrest was Nov. 26, 2020) for intentional manslaughter and incitement.

AP editors agreed with CAMERA that a correction of the misinformation was in order, and commendably amended the passage to accurately report that “Imad Abu Aliya, was freed Saturday after serving four and a half years for a conviction of intentional manslaughter and anti-Israel incitement, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry, which identified him as a Hamas member.”
BBC NEWS COVERAGE OF TERRORISM IN ISRAEL – JANUARY 2025
The Israel Security Agency’s report on terror attacks during January 2025 shows that throughout the month a total of 533 incidents took place in Judea & Samaria, Jerusalem and within the ‘green line’. The agency recorded 60 attacks with petrol bombs, 34 attacks using pipe bombs, 402 incidents of rock throwing, three shooting attacks, 25 arson attacks, three stabbing attacks, two vehicular attacks and four attacks using IEDs.

148 attacks were thwarted throughout the month and 385 terror related arrests were made.

In addition, the report records 24 missiles launched into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip throughout January. The ISA report does not include casualties from attacks related to Operation Swords of Iron or Operation Northern Arrows.

Two civilians were murdered, three members of the security forces were killed and thirty-three people were injured in attacks in Judea & Samaria, Jerusalem and inside the ‘green line’ during January.

On January 6th two civilians and a police officer were murdered and six people were injured in a shooting attack near Funduq. The BBC News website reported that attack later the same day:

While the BBC’s report was updated two days later “to provide context on Israeli settlements in the West Bank”, it was not amended to clarify that Hamas had claimed responsibility for the attack on January 8th. That information was however included in a different report published on January 9th. As was reported on January 23rd, two of the perpetrators of that attack were eliminated later in the month.
MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin Erases Hamas, Lies That Israel Always Planned to Expel Gazans
On February 9, MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on relocating Palestinians as part of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip. What followed was a 13-minute demonstration of why both Mohyeldin and MSNBC should be the last sources anyone should turn to for incisive or even accurate analysis of Israel.

The tone was set not, however, by MSNBC but by a clip of CNN’s John King accusing Trump of seeking the “forcible resettlement” of Gazans and “ethnic cleansing,” despite both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu making it clear that any such proposal would involve voluntary relocation. Even worse, King resorted to a despicable Holocaust analogy to drive home his nonsensical point.

And the prime minister of Israel — the state created because Jews were forcibly relocated, forcibly resettled and then killed in Europe by Hitler — sitting there smiling.”

Let’s be clear: Any comparison between Gaza and the Holocaust isn’t just disgraceful—it’s a gross distortion of history. Weaponizing the genocide of European Jews to attack Israel’s prime minister isn’t journalism; it’s manipulation.

One can only conclude that King was, according to the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”


Outrage as Islamic preacher who claimed it is better to be a paedophile or murderer than miss prayers is invited to speak in Britain later this month
The decision to allow a controversial Islamic preacher who claimed it was better to be a paedophile or a murderer than miss prayers to host a series of talks in Britain has sparked a major backlash.

Mohamed Hoblos, a prominent preacher from Australia, has been banned from all of the Schengen zone nations, which does not include the UK, and was recently stopped by border forces from entering Germany and Holland.

Despite this, he is set to appear at events in cities across the country this month, including Birmingham, Manchester and London as well as one in Middlesbrough on Sunday February 23.

Amid a growing backlash, the Home Office has begun drawing up plans to block the cleric from entering the UK as he may pose a prospective threat to public safety following his incendiary language, The Telegraph reported.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called for the preacher to be 'issued a lifetime ban' from visiting the country, adding: 'People expressing these vile views should not be allowed into the UK.'


MEMRI: With New Jordan-Gaza Air Bridge, Qatar Provides Unconditional Aid To Hamas-Ruled Gaza Yet Again
Contrary to the hope expressed February 4, 2025 by President Trump that Qatar is "absolutely trying to help" and "doing everything they can" to obtain the Israeli hostages' release from Hamas, Qatar is providing unconditional aid, this time via an air bridge, to Hamas-ruled Gaza, yet again.

Qatar has not even made a minimal effort to appeal to Hamas to release the hostages, as did UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said today, "I appeal to Hamas to proceed with the planned liberation of hostages next Saturday."

Instead, Qatar is increasing the pressure on Israel. Moreover, Qatari Education Minister Lulua Al-Khater published a poem praising the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who masterminded and commanded the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The song states: "It was not fitting for someone like him to die except in this way, and what is fitting [for him] is martyrdom... You were not just an individual, but an [entire] nation... in the form of an individual with whom Allah is pleased... You lived like a sword, with neither wife nor home, you died a great hero, not on a sickbed. You never negotiated, submitted, or weakened, [nor] did you trade Paradise for earthly things. You killed so many of the enemy that none of them returned..."

The following are the details of Qatar's unconditional support for Hamas-ruled Gaza, via the new Jordan-Gaza air bridge:
Gulf Times Report: "Qatar Launches Air Bridge From Jordan To Gaza"
The Gulf Times reported on February 4, 2025 that Qatar had launched an air bridge from Jordan's King Abdullah II Air Base to Gaza. According to the report, the project was inaugurated by Qatari Minister for International Cooperation Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al-Misnad. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by Qatar's Ambassador to Jordan Sheikh Saud bin Nasser bin Jassim Aal Thani, Qatar Charity CEO Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, and representatives from the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS).

Minister Al-Misand said that since the beginning of the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Qatar had sent 65 trucks of relief to Gaza via the Jordanian border, and that in addition to this land bridge, two helicopters "carrying vital medical aid" had also been sent to northern Khan Younis in Gaza.


Turkey’s Erdogan Demands Israel Pay Reparations for Gaza, Says Palestinian State ‘Must Not Be Delayed’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday demanded Israel pay reparations “for the harm it inflicted through its aggressive actions in Gaza” and urged the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state.

During a press conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in West Java, as part of his Asian tour to Malaysia and Pakistan, Erdogan rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip to rebuild the war-torn enclave while relocating Palestinians elsewhere during reconstruction efforts.

Like many other Middle Eastern leaders who rejected Trump’s proposal, Erdogan also advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The creation of a sovereign, territorially united State of Palestine within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital cannot be delayed any further,” he said during the press conference, as aired by the Turkish TRT Haber TV channel.

“Any step, proposal, or project that undermines this matter is illegitimate in our view, and it means more conflicts, bloodshed, and instability,” he continued.

During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week, Trump called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas.

“Until there is peace in Gaza, until the Palestinians achieve peace, peace in the region is impossible,” the Turkish president said.


Syrian president says Trump’s Gaza plan is ‘serious crime,’ will ‘ultimately fail’
In the midst of setting up his country’s post-revolution government, the president of Syria condemned President Donald Trump’s plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza, which he sees as a “crime” doomed to fail.

President Ahmed al Sharaa, a former rebel warlord who just months ago was tearing through the country’s standing army with a ragtag terrorist coalition, made the assessment Monday on The Rest is Politics, a British political podcast.

“It would be neither wise nor morally or politically right for Trump to lead an effort to force Palestinians out of their land, in my view,” al Sharaa said.

The leader went on to call the proposal a “serious crime that will ultimately fail,” drawing an unclear connection to Trump’s deportation policies — “Why is he pushing Mexicans out of America now? He is doing the same thing.”
Lebanon tells Iranian flight it can’t land, after IDF’s Hezbollah smuggling claim
Lebanese aviation authorities refused to permit an Iranian passenger flight to land at Beirut’s international airport on Thursday, local news reported, following a statement by the Israeli military that Iran has been using such flights to smuggle cash to the Hezbollah terror group.

Dozens of Lebanese nationals were stranded at the international airport in Tehran after Lebanese aviation authorities informed the Iranian Mahar Air airline that its flight to Beirut would not be permitted to land, Lebanese news channel LBCI reported.

Footage circulating on social media purported to show a small band of pro-Hezbollah protesters blocking roads near the Beirut airport in protest of the authorities’ move.

In a post to X on Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesperson, Col. Avichay Adraee, said cash has been smuggled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to Hezbollah using civilian flights.

The money is being used by the Iran-backed terror group to rebuild itself, according to the IDF.


Europe must invoke 'snapback' sanctions on Iran, US lawmakers say, as Trump resumes 'maximum pressure'
Europe must reinstate harsh United Nations sanctions on Iran, U.S. lawmakers insisted in a new resolution that accused Tehran of repeated violations of the 2015 nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration.

The bipartisan legislation calls on the U.K., France and Germany to invoke "snapback" sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council immediately – and follow the U.S.’s lead under President Donald Trump’s "maximum pressure" executive order to isolate Iran over its nuclear activity.

"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their actions have led to the murder of American servicemembers," said Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., the number two Republican on Senate Foreign Relations Committee and lead sponsor of the bill, which has 11 cosponsors in the Senate.

"Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapon would threaten our security and the security of our allies. Snapback sanctions are key to ensuring that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is successful."

Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., issued companion legislation in the House.

Under the 2015 Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran evaded U.N., U.S. and E.U. sanctions in exchange for promises not to pursue a nuclear weapon. But Iran eventually cut off independent inspectors' access to its sites and resumed nuclear activities.

A "snapback" provision of the agreement said that any of the nations privy to the deal – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, U.S. or Germany – could demand the export controls, travel bans and asset freezes be reimposed.
AJC Report: For the First Time, Majority of American Jews Changing Behavior Due to Fear of Antisemitism
For the first time in the history of American Jewish Committee (AJC)’s State of Antisemitism in America Report, a majority (56%) of American Jews report changing their behavior out of fear of antisemitism. The 2024 report, released today, is the first analysis of American Jews and U.S. adults to look at the impact of antisemitism during the full year following October 7, 2023, and the Hamas-launched war against Israel.

The report is the largest annual poll of its kind and the first to analyze a half decade’s worth of this type of data from both American Jews and U.S. adults. AJC began polling American Jews in 2019 and both groups in 2020, allowing for a richer and unique understanding of how experiences with antisemitism in the United States have changed over time.

With roughly three-quarters (77%) of American Jews saying they feel less safe as a Jewish person in the U.S. because of the October 7 attacks, it is no surprise that nearly six in 10 (56%) American Jews report changing their behavior over the past 12 months out of concern for their safety. This is a sharp increase from previous years – jumping from 38% in 2022 to 46% in 2023 to 56% in 2024.

“Antisemitism has reached a tipping point in America, threatening the freedoms of American Jews and casting an ominous shadow across our society,” said AJC CEO Ted Deutch. “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment for leaders across the U.S. We must act now to protect Jews – and America – from rising antisemitism. That one-third of American Jews have been the target of antisemitism in the past year should raise red flags for every American and our leaders.”

American Jews see antisemitism as emerging from diverse sources. The 2024 survey asked American Jews to assess how much of an antisemitic threat certain groups or issues – the extreme political right, the extreme political left, extremism in the name of Islam, and Christian nationalism – pose in the United States today. Roughly one-third of American Jews say each of those four represents a very serious antisemitic threat: extremism in the name of Islam (33%), Christian nationalism (33%), the extreme political left (33%), and the extreme political right (33%). Roughly three-quarters or more say that each group or issue represents at least a slight antisemitic threat.
Gwyneth Paltrow makes a statement against Kanye West's anti-Semitic rant after Jerry Seinfeld's wife lashes out
Gwyneth Paltrow took to her Insta Stories amid Kanye West's anti-Semitic rant.

The Oscar-winning actress, whose father Bruce Paltrow was Jewish, made it clear where she stands without naming the troubled rapper.

'I stand against hatred of the Jewish people,' it was written in blue. The quote was from her friend Jessica Seinfeld, the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

Jessica had said earlier: 'I stand against hatred of Jewish people/ I truly wish this were not necessary. But hateful language against Jews is not going away, it is getting magnified. It is getting normalized. As I’ve said before, hateful words can turn to hateful violence. We need our friends to say this, on your platforms, in your communities, with your families.'

Paltrow is familiar with Kanye as the GOOP founder is friends with his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and has worn her SKIMS brand.


Auctioneer defends selling Nazi artefacts
A Scottish auction house that sold Nazi artefacts has announced it will no longer include Third Reich memorabilia in its collections.

McTear's auctioned swastika bunting, a military medal, an SS dagger and other fascist artefacts at sale in Glasgow.

The auctioneers initially defended the inclusion of the items, insisting they had been "handled with sensitivity".

However, McTear's later announced it would cease the sale of Nazi and SS memorabilia.

Listed as "Scotland's only auction dedicated to military history", the auction was introduced on the McTear's website as a "piper's delight" because it included historic bagpipes, as well as artefacts from "Anglo-English" history.

Of the 62 items on sale, 11 were listed as "Third Reich" artefacts.

The Nazi items fetched more than £1,600 in total.

They included a Luftwaffe dress dagger, which sold for £220, and an "SS-type" dress dagger, which did not sell.

An Iron Cross military medal, which came with a swastika pin badge, sold for £300, while Swastika bunting was bought for £50.


NJ man arrested for threatening flight crew, Jewish passengers
A New Jersey man was arrested after threatening airline personnel and other passengers, including specifically targeting Jewish ones on a flight to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

Luis A. Vaquero, 27, of Passaic County, N.J., was charged with one count of interference with flight crew members and attendants by assault or intimidation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey. He appeared before a Magistrate Judge in federal court before being released.

According to court filings, Vaquero made threats of physical violence toward a disabled minor and mocked a group of Jewish passengers shortly after taking off from Miami on Feb. 9. He also threatened a member of the flight crew who refused to serve him alcohol after the beverage service window closed, allegedly telling her: “You better watch out, s**t’s gonna happen to you.”

The flight crew alerted law enforcement upon landing. When Vaquero learned of this, he forced his way to the front of the plane, banged on the flight doors and demanded to see the pilot. He screamed until he was escorted off the plane by law enforcement, per court documents.

“Over the course of a three-hour flight, we allege Vaquero lost his temper and physically harassed not only the crew and captain but passengers, making threats of physical violence toward a disabled minor and mocking a group of Jewish passengers,” said Terence G. Reilly, acting special agent in charge.


14 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT SHIRA HAAS
The highly-anticipated “Captain America: New World Order” is set to be released February 14 in cinemas worldwide. The film stars Israeli actress Shira Haas as the latest in the long line of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The 29-year-old actor portrays the character of Sabra, the alter ego of Ruth Bat-Seraph, a trained Mossad agent in the original Marvel comics. The studio, however, caved in to anti-Israel protests sparked by the Gaza war, and turned the character into a former Black Widow, a Soviet-Russian spy program.

Regardless of the controversies behind the screen, Haas is definitely a rising star in the world of acting, gaining international fame for her roles in productions including the Israeli TV series Shtisel, in the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox, and 2023’s Netflix science fiction series, Bodies.

Here are 14 fascinating facts about this fast-rising star.

1. Haas is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe. During World War II, one of her grandfathers was interned at Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration camp. Haas has a very close relationship with her 86-year-old grandmother.

2. Haas’s professional career began at age 14, when she earned herself two theatrical roles at the Cameri, Tel Aviv’s prime theater. She appeared in Shakespeare’s Richard III as well as in Joshua Sonbol’s Ghetto, while still attending the Thelma Yellin Arts High School in Givatayim, east of Tel Aviv.
Azerbaijan chooses Mountain Jewish singer as Eurovision 2025 entry
A Mountain Jewish singer has been chosen to represent the Muslim country of Azerbaijan in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Asaf (Sefael) Mishiev will be performing as part of his Baku-based band, Mamagama, in which he is the front man and soloist.

Mishiev, 32, is reported to be well known in Azerbaijan’s Jewish community, which numbers around 30,000 people, according to Rabbi Zamir Isayev, the chairman of the Georgian-Jewish community of Azerbaijan, in an interview with Jewish News Syndicate in 2023.

In 2013, Mishiev won a Mountain Jewish music competition, and he also reportedly gave singing lessons to children and teenagers at the Jewish Community Club in Baku.

Speaking to Ynet on Wednesday, Mishiev said, “I know Hebrew and sing a little in Hebrew at home. I love Israeli musicians like the Mercedes Band, Asaf Avidan, and Yael Naim.”

“I went to a Jewish school in Baku and visited Israel twice – the first time as part of the Taglit program, and the second time for a music competition for Jews from around the world, where I represented Azerbaijan and won.”


Vance visits Dachau concentration camp, lays wreath saying: ‘We remember’
Vice President J.D. Vance toured the Dachau concentration camp memorial in Germany on Thursday afternoon.

Vance, accompanied by his wife, Usha, toured with a group that included Abba Naor, a 97-year-old Holocaust survivor, and Karl Freller, the director of the Bavaria Memorial Foundation.

“I’ve read a lot about the Holocaust in books, but being here and seeing it up close in person really drives home what unspeakable evil … was committed, and why we should be committed to ensuring that it never happens again,” Vance told the group in brief remarks.

“It’s a somber moment, it’s a sad moment, but it’s something that I’ll never forget, and I’m grateful to have been able to see it up close in person,” he said.

Naor showed Vance a card with prisoner information and said, “I’m still here.”

“Well, we’re very lucky you’re here,” Vance responded, and quipped, “You look better than I do, and I’m 40.”

Vance laid a wreath with a red, white and blue ribbon with the words “We remember” and “United States of America” in gold lettering at the site’s International Monument.


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