Wednesday, February 19, 2025

02/19 Links Pt2: Israelis and Palestinians Chose Their Own Paths; BBC accused of using Hamas official’s son in documentary

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Israelis and Palestinians Chose Their Own Paths
The phrase “live your values” is a bit of a cliché, but the Jewish DPs did so—and how they did so is one of the lesser-appreciated stories of the struggle for statehood.

“The displaced Jews have an almost obsessive will to live normally again, to reclaim their full rights as free men,” wrote Leo Srole in COMMENTARY in 1947, after spending time at the Landsberg camp. “Their energies and talents have been dramatically exhibited in the vigorous communities they have created in the camps, despite scant material resources and highly abnormal environmental conditions. This achievement in reconstruction reduces to absurdity the efforts made to stigmatize the Jewish survivors. It deserves the world’s admiration. More important, it calls for the determination that such character and courage shall no longer be denied fulfillment.”

Srole takes pains to point out that, at least in Landsberg in the American zone, the camp is not a prison. There isn’t enough space or food, but the Jews are making the best of it rather than wallowing in their misfortune. At the entrance to the camp there are “statues of the Jew of the exile, bent by the Torah scrolls on his back, and of the halutz (pioneer), ramrod-straight, with a shovel at his shoulder.”

The streets are clean, the men and women stay busy and productive, the children are educated in makeshift schools. There were newspapers, theaters, religious institutions, sports clubs, boy scouts. “Even for a population predominantly young adult, the birth rate is extraordinarily high,” Srole writes. Life began anew.

But often overlooked among these makeshift institutions was the fact that the Jewish DPs governed themselves, complete with political parties and various administrative agencies. This was done with the approval, of course, of the Americans. President Eisenhower encouraged it and his military governors recognized it.

As historian Abram Sachar wrote in The Redemption of the Unwanted, when one general attended a camp Hanukkah party as if he were a visiting dignitary, the Armed Forces Network cheered that it “writes a new page in our history.” The general “has recognized the existence of a little democracy of 160,000 people liberated in the heart of Germany. The Central Committee of Liberated Jews is now a government without a flag.”

In 1945, David Ben-Gurion visited the camp and told cheering crowds that statehood in Palestine was not just inevitable but near. “If England attempts to keep the doors of Palestine shut, our youth will open them; and even if our hopes are stifled, we will meet the situation like a nation confident in its cause and in its strength.”

Self-determination was the natural state of the Jews; they built polities wherever they stood. They refused to see themselves as beaten-down victims even after the Holocaust. They built a democracy in postwar Germany before Germany did.

There is another, Sliding Doors-like timeline in which the Jews waited for others to determine their fate. If nothing else, the current conflict is a reminder of that.
Azerbaijan’s top adviser meets Netanyahu, sparking Abraham Accords talk
In a significant diplomatic development, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, held extensive talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, marking what officials describe as a potential "game-changing moment" in regional politics.

"Mr. Hajiyev conveyed the greetings of President Ilham Aliyev to Prime Minister Netanyahu," the Azerbaijani Embassy in Israel stated, adding that both sides discussed expanding bilateral cooperation and regional developments.

The high-level meeting, which comes just 48 hours after Netanyahu's strategic dialogue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signals growing momentum for Azerbaijan's potential inclusion in the Abraham Accords framework, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the discussions.

"Azerbaijan has been one of Israel's most reliable partners in the Muslim world for three decades," a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. "Their strategic importance to regional security architecture cannot be overstated."

Close relations with Azerbaijan positive development
The Atlantic Council, a prominent US think tank, recently emphasized that "Washington should learn from Israel’s diplomatic and security collaboration with Azerbaijan to bolster its own ties with Baku. Besides being a bulwark against Iran, close relations with Azerbaijan could help the United States gain a stronger foothold among Central Asian countries, with whom Azerbaijan has been developing stronger relations. This would be especially important for the United States, as Central Asia is rich in minerals and energy and is home to the Middle Corridor, a trade route from Asia to Europe that bypasses both Russia and Iran".

The same day, the Assistant to the Azerbaijani President arrived in Jerusalem, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies published a special Prospective Paper called ”How to Effectively Engage Azerbaijan in Trump’s Regional Plans and in Israel’s Interests: Practical Recommendations”.

It points out that Israel and pro-Israel forces in the US should actively advocate for Azerbaijan’s inclusion in American-Israeli regional development, investment, and technology partnerships. Israel is already advancing a trilateral partnership model for Morocco, involving American companies, and plans to extend this approach to Sunni Gulf monarchies and the US in defense, AI, and cybersecurity as part of the Abraham Accords expansion. Azerbaijan’s participation in such initiatives would strengthen the Muslim component of Israel’s regional partnerships. Moreover, this fully aligns with the Trump administration’s strategy of expanding multilateral cooperation among US allies to reduce Washington’s financial burden on regional development and defense projects.

The paper highlights a significant obstacle: Section 907, a legislative amendment that has restricted U.S. assistance to Azerbaijan since 1992. "For the U.S. and Israel to fully leverage Azerbaijan's advantages within the new 'Greater Middle East' architecture, these formal obstacles must be eliminated," the report states.
Daniel Greenfield: How USAID Shipped Bags of Hundred Dollar Bills to the Taliban
[T]he ultimate responsibility lay with USAID. The $40 million on the tarmac was part of a much larger scheme under which USAID and the State Department provided over $1.7 billion in funding to the UN, which then shipped $2.9 billion in cash to Afghanistan.

Under the guise of humanitarian needs, $1.7 billion was provided to the UN, which used some of the money to buy dollars to fly into Afghanistan, to trade for Afghan currency, which the U.S. had also arranged to have printed on behalf of the Taliban.

The cash is not provided to the Taliban or DAB by the UN, but by the groups funded by the UN.

During the intermediate step, DAB held "auctions" of the dollars which elements linked to the Taliban, including the Haqqani network allied with Al Qaeda, reportedly "win." The auctions prop up the Afghan currency and keep the Taliban in power.

Putting the money into UN pooled accounts allowed USAID to claim that they "do not provide assistance to or through the Taliban", they just put money into "pooled UN accounts..."

The State Department responded to these revelations by falsely claiming that there are no sanctions on Afghanistan, that banks refuse to carry out wire transfers because of "the lack of profitability" and that "to the best of our knowledge, no electronic financial delivery systems are currently scalable to meet the liquidity needs of the UN" requiring it to instead convert billions of dollars into paper notes and ship them by plane. None of this is true or even a plausible lie.

The Taliban money laundering scheme was not an exception. It was how USAID, the State Department and the UN have operated for too long, not only in Afghanistan, but in Syria, Yemen, Gaza and many other terrorist areas around the world, using plausible deniability and chains of organizations to avoid accountability and direct responsibility for aiding terrorists.

Americans have become the financiers of their worst enemies. It's time for that to stop.


BBC accused of using Hamas official’s son in documentary about ‘ordinary Palestinians’
The BBC has been accused of focusing a documentary about ordinary Palestinians on the son of a Hamas government minister without disclosing the connection.

The documentary, Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone, was broadcast on Monday evening as an account of the conflict through the eyes of three children whose lives have been devastated by Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.

The hour-long film was narrated by a 14-year-old English-speaking boy named Abdullah, who is listed in the film’s credits under his full name, Abdullah Al-Yazouri.

It has since been claimed that Abdullah’s father, Ayman Alyazouri, is a senior figure who currently holds the position of deputy minister of agriculture in the Hamas-run government.

Critics have said the BBC has allowed itself to be used as a propaganda platform for Hamas by giving airtime to the child of one of its senior figures.

The child’s alleged family background was not revealed to viewers and it is not clear if the film crew were aware of the Hamas links.

The campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism has lodged a formal complaint to the BBC about the broadcast, claiming that the team failed to properly vet the documentary’s subjects.

Alex Hearn, from Labour Against Antisemitism, said: “This documentary appears to have been a failure of due diligence by the BBC, with Hamas propaganda promoted as reliable fact at the taxpayers’ expense.

“There needs to be an urgent investigation into how this happened once again.

“Misinformation is the story of the Israel-Hamas conflict, and this is not an isolated case. There has been a failure of news platforms to adequately scrutinise sources and a willingness to regurgitate Hamas disinformation repeatedly.”

The BBC has defended the hour-long film, stating it had full editorial control over the content and that the children’s parents had no editorial input.

When asked by The Telegraph about Abdullah’s alleged links to Hamas, the corporation did not provide comment.

Questions about the film were first raised by David Collier, an investigative journalist.


Nukhba terrorists intended to reach Netivot, reached Nova festival by mistake - KAN
The Hamas Nukhba terrorists who raided the Nova Music Festival near Re'im on the morning of the October 7 massacre intended to reach Netivot but made a mistake in their navigation, according to Israel's public broadcaster KAN on Monday, releasing details of the IDF probe into the October 7 events.

They moved through the Be'eri forest, past the Kibbutz, and entered the festival from the south on Highway 232. They reached the site 10 minutes after eight in the morning but did not invade the festival until nine o'clock.

The investigation findings include details of where the terrorists entered Israel from and who they were.

According to the investigation, the 120 Nukhba terrorists who raided the Nova festival were from the Nuseirat Brigade and were under the command of the Nukhba force chief.

They were fully equipped with machine guns, anti-tank missiles, RPGs, and numerous anti-aircraft missiles.

Each individual terrorist was also fully armed with personal weapons such as Kalashnikovs and grenades, according to KAN.

The terrorists recorded everything by using head-mounted cameras, still cameras, dashcams, and their mobile phones.
JPost Editorial: Israel’s partial pullout from Lebanon is a warning to Hezbollah and Hamas
The IDF withdrew most of its troops from Lebanon on Tuesday, 4½ months after launching its ground invasion targeting Hezbollah on October 1. The exception: five strategic areas just inside Israel’s northern neighbor, where new outposts were built and troops will remain for the time being.

Exactly how long will depend on Lebanon, and the degree to which the Lebanese Army acts against Hezbollah and prevents it from again turning southern Lebanese villages into armed fortifications in civilian disguise, housing heavy weaponry and hosting terrorists primed and ready to attack the Jewish state.

The withdrawal is part of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on November 27. The five remaining outposts are to ensure that Hezbollah cannot entrench itself in the border area.

Lebanon, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Presidency, will consider any remaining IDF presence on its territory an “occupation” and reserve the right “to employ all means” to ensure Israel’s full withdrawal.

Well, here’s a creative way to ensure that withdrawal: uphold the terms of the ceasefire agreement.


The Spectator: Melanie Philips: how Jews and Christians built the West – and why only they can save it
Michael Gove sits down with author and columnist Melanie Phillips to discuss her new book, The Builder’s Stone: How Jews and Christians Built the West – and Why Only They Can Save It.

The book is a searing anatomy of the problems that we face geopolitically and within our own country. In it, she paints a bleak picture of the West, sat on the horns of a decision between 'civilisation and barbarism'. She tells Michael about how Christianity and Judaism form the foundations of Western culture and how – as a consequence – the growth of antisemitism is a result of the backlash against the West. She describes the historic animus towards the state of Israel and how it is a continuation of dated and wrong assumptions about the Western oppressor, disseminated by radical left-wing ideologues. But all is not lost – Melanie gives Michael her prescription for how to save our society and urges us to learn from Judaism if civilised culture is to win out.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Introduction
00:58 – How Jews and Christians built the West
05:17 – 'October 7th changed everything'
07:59 – Antisemitism and the historic animus towards Israel
14:18 – The radical left, victim culture and the assault on boarders
17:55 – Is it anti-West to be anti-Israel?
23:01 – The impact of the loss of religious faith
32:21 – Rory Stewart vs JD Vance and the 'hierarchy of attachment'
36:57 – Melanie's prescription for how to save the West


Andrew Gold: How Islamists INFILTRATED Europe - Mel Phillips
Mel Phillips is a writer and journalist who explains why the UN doesn’t work for us and is biased, as we teeter on the edge of destruction through anti-west, woke policies than replace us with Islamism. #islamism #antiwoke #massimmigration

Chapters:
0:00 Mel Phillips Highlights
1:15 The Death of the West
4:15 They Erased Objective Truth
6:15 Witchcraft Insanity
7:05 Is There Any Hope?
9:15 Left vs Right Means NOTHING
11:45 Judaism & Christianity
13:15 Human Rights Are…WRONG?
16:15 The United Nations is a Sick Joke
18:15 UN’s Weird Obsession with Israel
20:45 Mel’s Assad Anecdote
23:15 Double Standard on Israel
26:15 Box Tickers? It’s Worse Than That
29:15 Woke People Think THIS About The Right
32:35 What They Do To Kids
35:15 Children Lost Boundaries
38:15 What Kids Were Told About Jimmy Savile
41:15 Fatherless Families
44:15 How to Encourage Families
46:15 Axel Rudakabana & Why Keir Starmer Did THIS
49:15 Keir’s Authoritarianism & Cancel Culture
52:15 Tarred With Far-Right!
54:45 Prevent Counter-Extremism FAILED
56:15 Obstructed from Publishing About Terrorism
58:15 We’ve Been Infiltrated
1:01:15 White Progressives Hate Israel
1:03:45 ‘Islamophobia’
1:06:53 A Heretic Mel Phillips Admires


Who is Howard Lutnick, the ‘abandoned’ orphan with the fate of the global economy in his hands?
”Abandoned” orphan, 9/11 survivor, investment banking prodigy – Howard Lutnick has taken the challenges of his turbulent life in his stride.

Yet, the financial titan may now face his most unique test following his confirmation as the US’ new Secretary of Commerce under President Donald Trump.

The position is usually viewed largely as a background figure but Lutnick, who was born to a Jewish family in Jericho, New York, takes his seat at the cabinet table of one of the most fiscally activist administrations in decades.

As America’s top trade official, he will be responsible for implementing and managing the sweeping programme of tariffs the new president has pledged to use as leverage to bend the global economy to his will – policies which have the potential to reshape the liberal free trading order that has dominated geopolitics for decades.

It’s a role that will likely bring him criticism from US allies and enemies alike, but Lutnick’s fascinating background suggests he’s more than up to the turbulent task.

Born in 1961, he was a senor in high school when he lost his mother Jane to lymphoma.

His father passed away the next year, during Lutnick’s first week in college, while being treated for cancer when he was accidentally given an overdose of chemotherapy medication.

Lutnick told New York Magazine in 2001 that he and his siblings were largely “abandoned” by their remaining family, recalling: “The way I describe it, you’re either in or you’re out. What I learned in 1979, all my relatives – they stepped out. We learned to live without all of them. All of them. It was just the three of us. Gary and Edie and me.”

But he found a ray of hope when the president of Haverford College, where he was a student, called him following his father’s death to offer a full scholarship, which saw Lutnick graduate with a degree in economics in 1983.


Dublin’s Abbey Theatre refused request to facilitate play based on October 7th, says Irish producer
Dublin’s Abbey Theatre refused to facilitate a play based on word-for-word testimony of the events of October 7th because the production did not “fit the remit” of its “programming aims and ambitions,” an Irish-born producer has claimed.

Phelim McAleer, alongside his wife, Ann McElhinney, wrote the play ‘Oct. 7: In Their Own Words,’ attracting worldwide coverage, including in The Daily Mail, The New York Post, and Fox News.

However, the producers faced obstacles in Ireland when Mr McAleer wrote to the Abbey Theatre to book the premises for private rental. The Abbey, which makes itself available for private as well as corporate hire, says on its website that it “provides a unique setting for events in the heart of Dublin city,” and tells visitors that “we look forward to welcoming you and your guests to the Abbey.”

“All spaces are available for daytime hire. Evening hires are also available, depending on the production schedule,” according to Ireland’s national theatre.

Mr McAleer, an Irish documentary filmmaker, told Gript that he reached out to the venue on August 27th 2024 detailing his request. In the correspondence, he asked if it would be possible to hire the Abbey Theatre for a staged reading of the play, adding that it would be “a private event for the Jewish community in Ireland and those who wish to learn more about the day and its significance.”

Those emails have been seen by Gript.

Mr McAleer explained that the play is “100 per cent verbatim,” consisting completely of eyewitness accounts of people who survived October 7th in Israel. Attaching media coveeage of the play, he also told the Abbey that it had completed an off-Broadway run in New York. The request was made that the play be staged around October 7th for the first anniversary (however Mr McAleer noted that another show was running at that time, so suggested another Sunday, October 27th 2024).
Australia paying the price for importing a culture steeped in anti-Semitic hatred
The vile anti-Semitic outbursts of two nurses at Bankstown Hospital this week were evidence that Australia's bold multicultural experiment is failing.

For decades, we convinced ourselves that Australian multiculturalism was different from that of Germany, France or Sweden, where ethnic enclaves had been petri dishes of hostility.

We lived by the hope that migrants to Australia would leave their differences behind and become loyal citizens steeped in shared values.

Our naivety was exposed this week by the recording featuring Bankstown Hospital employees Ahmad 'Rashad' Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh promising to kill Israeli patients with Nadir boasting with a claim that that he had already done so on multiple occasions.

It wasn’t just the vile sentiments, it was that Nadir and Abu Lebdeh thought it was OK to say such things in the middle of a shift in a public hospital. ‘Who granted their citizenship?’: Worldwide horror over antisemitic nurse video

They were relaxed about speaking openly on killing Israelis in front of a video camera.

“The banality of evil” Hannah Arendt identified at the trial of Adolf Eichmann was staring us in the face: evil words expressed not by crazy, jackbooted Nazis but by registered nurses, not in Hitler's Germany or the Middle East, but in a public place in western Sydney.

The demoralising conclusion from this incident is that hatred of Israelis is unremarkable in Bankstown and in the suburbs where Nadir and Abu Lebdeh live.

Abu Lebdeh lives in Greenacre, formally known as East Bankstown, half an hour’s drive from the CBD.

The local MP is Tony Burke, the Labor Member for Watson, who secured 61 per cent of the primary vote in the Greenacre polling booth at the last election.

The 2021 Census data helps set the context.

A third of the population is Lebanese, mainly people who arrived from Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s during the Civil War or descended from them.

Some 45 per cent of Greenacre residents are Muslims.
Three steps Australia must take to stem tide of rampant anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism has no place in Australia.

Yet, many Jewish Australians now live in fear in the wake of synagogues being attacked, schools threatened and vile hatred spreading online.

This is not the Australia we know, nor the one we want.

Since October 7, 2023, we have seen a shocking surge in anti-Semitic attacks.

But our response - strong words, new laws and increased security - has come only after each new act of hate.

It has been reactive, not proactive. And it has failed to address the root causes of this rising scourge.

We cannot continue to respond to anti-Semitism only once harm is done.

We must move from reaction to action - pre-empting hate before it spreads and confronting it before it becomes normalised.

Australia has long prided itself on multicultural harmony.

But that pride may have made us complacent. We assumed the anti-Semitism seen in Europe could never take hold here. We were mistaken.

We need urgent, decisive, and preventive measures to combat anti-Semitism before it further infiltrates our society.

I want to focus on these critical steps to shift Australia from reacting to preventing:

We must investigate foreign influence and organised hate. There are concerns that some anti-Semitic incidents are driven by foreign forces seeking to sow division.

Police warn that some perpetrators may be hired operatives, with potential foreign funding behind them. This is more than hate - it is a hostile act.


The huge problem with our Islamic leaders and their beliefs about the two anti-Semitic nurses
We urgently need Islamic leaders in Australia to make it socially unacceptable for radicalism to foment within their communities.

State and federal law reforms can help, but are insufficient on their own. Cultural change making it not ok to preach (and practice) anti-Semitism must be the solution, but it won't happen without leadership.

While many Australian Islamic community leaders hold diverse views, unfortunately not enough of them are prepared to unreservedly call out extremists.

This week the Lebanese Muslim Association, Brotherhood Masjid and their affiliated mosques, predominantly in Western Sydney, released a 'United Muslim community statement' headlined: 'we condemn the hypocrisy over nurses controversy', in reference to the two NSW Health workers, Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who were stood down for suggesting they would kill Israelis who sought treatment at their hospital in Bankstown.

'The nurses' comments, while regrettable, were emotional and hyperbolic, not reflective of real intent', the letter claimed. It went on to state that 'the most revealing aspect of this controversy is not the video itself but the speed, intensity, and uniformity of response from certain political leaders and media outlets'.

That's the most revealing aspect of what happened?

The letter also denied anti-Semitism was at play: 'The framing of this incident as 'anti-Semitic' follows a well-documented pattern of gaslighting by powerful Zionist lobby groups', the letter argued. Finally, it urged 'the Australian public to see through this manufactured moral panic'.

If those who signed this letter honestly believe what is happening to the Australian Jewish community at the moment is nothing more than 'manufactured moral panic', what chance is there that they will use their leadership positions to quash radicalism in their own communities?

It is grossly irresposible statements like these that give political and religious justification to the very serious anti-Semitism crisis we are facing in Australia.

Few politicians have the courage to call it out publicly because they are worried about being accused of Islamophobia.

These Islamic 'leaders' didn't unite to condemn the actions of Hamas on October 7. In fact some high-profile religious leaders in Australia even welcomed the attack.

These same Islamic leaders didn't come together to condemn the October 9 Sydney Opera House 'F*** the Jews' rally.


ABC torched by Jewish leader for branding NSW nurses’ death threats to Israeli patients as ‘disparaging comments’
The ABC has been accused of downplaying antisemitism after an online story described the vile threats made by two NSW nurses to murder Israeli patients as “disparaging comments about Israel”.

Instead of accurately reporting that the nurses threatened to kill Israelis, and suggested that they had already done so, the ABC had attempted to water down those comments.

The article published on Tuesday included commentary from Muslim groups condemning the “selective outrage” over the viral video which showed the two Sydney nurses gloating and threatening to kill Israeli patients.

The remarks made by the two nurses were framed as “disparaging comments about Israel” who had claimed they had allowed Jewish patients to be “harmed while under their care”.

In reality, nurse Sarah Abu Lebdeh said she "won't treat" Israelis who were admitted into hospital and instead suggested she would "kill them".

The male nurse, Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir, then added: “You have no idea how many (Israelis) came to this hospital and I sent them to jahannam (hell).”


India Outraged by Presence of Dead Hamas Leader Icons at Cultural Festival
Indian social media seethed with outrage on Monday after photos of slain Hamas terrorist leaders were displayed during a cultural festival in the Palakkad district of Kerala.

The offensive images were paraded by a group of men riding elephants during an Uroos festival, an annual Muslim event in Kerala. The eleven-day festival commemorates the death of a legendary Indian Muslim leader named Beema Beevi, who was ostensibly related to Islam’s founder, Mohammed, and purported to perform miracles.

The festival concludes with a grand procession, making it a major tourist attraction. This year’s procession on Sunday drew a crowd of about 3,000 people, including a few prominent opposition politicians. One of the VIP guests was V.T. Balram, a leader of the opposition India Congress Party.

This year’s procession included an elephant carrying a group of youths waving posters of slain Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh, architects of the horrific October 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians. The banners included a slogan that implied Indian Muslims should embrace the terrorists as their own flesh and blood.

“Young children were seen holding the posters of Sinwar and Haniyeh, with the crowd cheering them on throughout the procession. The incident quickly became a topic of contention, with many questioning the organisers of the festival for allowing such displays,” India Today reported.

Members of the governing BJP party swiftly condemned the Hamas iconography at the Kerala festival, pointing out that Muslim groups have made pro-Palestinian political statements at several events held after Hamas launched the Gaza war.

In one of the more egregious examples, Kerala University attempted to rename its annual youth festival “Intifada” in 2024, a word that describes perpetual Palestinian warfare against Israel. Hamas figures have also been invited to participate as virtual guests at Indian Muslim events.
DMFI calls on Michigan Democratic Party chair candidate to withdraw over antisemitic comments
Democratic Majority for Israel is calling on Al Williams, a candidate for Michigan’s Democratic Party chair who has faced widespread criticism over recent antisemitic comments, to drop out of the race ahead of Saturday’s election.

Williams, a veteran Democratic organizer from Detroit, drew backlash for claiming at a candidate forum co-hosted by the Arab American Democratic Caucus earlier this month that his party is “not the Jewish party,” invoking an antisemitic trope about Jewish control of American politics.

Responding to a question about the Democratic Party’s positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Williams said that “they need to change,” adding: “This is not the Jewish party, this is the Democratic Party. There are more voices than just Zionists in this party. There are more voices than just Jewish Americans within this party. There are more voices than just those anti-Arab American voices within this party.”

In a statement shared with Jewish Insider on Wednesday, Mark Mellman, DMFI’s president and CEO, called the remarks “deeply offensive” and said they “should be disqualifying,” accusing Williams of trafficking in “antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish loyalty” and “falsely” portraying Jewish Americans as “anti-Arab American.”

“The path to electoral victory is through unity, not the division and exclusion Mr. Williams promotes,” Mellman said. “We urge Mr. Williams to immediately withdraw from the race for chair, apologize for his indefensible remarks, and seek out meaningful conversations with the Jewish community to understand why his comments are so wrong and so harmful.”
Columbia U president emphasizes commitment to fighting antisemitism in meeting with Kisch
Columbia University Interim President Prof. Katrina Armstrong reaffirmed her commitment to fighting antisemitism during a meeting with Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Monday.

The meeting was part of Kisch’s visit to the US, where he held discussions with senior government officials, academics, and industry leaders.

In their discussion, Armstrong emphasized the university's ongoing efforts to combat antisemitism, highlighting measures already taken to address the issue.

In addition to discussing antisemitism on campus, the two also explored ways to expand academic and research collaborations between Israel and the US, with a particular focus on scientific and technological innovation and strengthening ties between leading research institutions.

Fight against antisemitism is essential
Following the visit, Kisch acknowledged the importance of combatting Jewish hate on college campuses, “The fight against antisemitism on American academic campuses is essential, and I am pleased to see that Columbia University Interim President Prof. Armstrong is committed to this issue and is taking decisive action to eradicate this phenomenon.

This is an important step, and I hope other universities will follow her and take responsibility for ensuring a safe environment for Jewish and Israeli students and faculty.”

Armstrong added, "It was an honor to have the opportunity to meet with Minister of Education Kisch today to speak about our efforts on campus to address and eliminate antisemitism and all forms of discrimination and to discuss our collaborations on education and research."


NYT coverage of war creates 'imbalanced' sympathy for Palestinian side, study finds
The New York Times's coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has generated "sympathy for the Palestinian people" while at the same time "diminishing Hamas’s responsibility for their situation and the continuation of the war," according to a recently published study by Yale professor, Edieal Pinker.

With the aim of assessing imbalances in coverage that may influence readers' views, Pinker carried out a quantitative analysis of 1,561 New York Times articles published between October 7, 2023 and June 7, 2024, that referenced both “Israel” and “Gaza.”

Pinker's analysis indicated a "dominant narrative" that revolved around the number of Palestinians killed as a result of Israel’s military response to the October 7 Hamas attack rather than the losses on the Israeli side.

"Little mention is made of Israeli casualties post-October 7 or of Palestinian acts of violence post-October 7," the study added, noting as well that "very few articles mention any Israeli suffering that is not directly related to the events of October 7."

The study revealed that, in the articles studied, the word “Israel” was mentioned three times more frequently than “Hamas.”

Of the 1,561 articles in the sample, there were only 105 (7%) in which the number of times the word “Hamas” appeared was greater than or equal to the number of times the word “Israel” appeared.

In total, the word “Israel” appeared 27,205 times vs 8,499 for “Hamas” across all articles in the analysis.

Pinker's study dismisses the argument that the reason "Israel" appears more is because the Jewish State has "more independence than the Palestinians and thus will have more freedom of action."


‘Resistance’ to Israeli forces in post-war Gaza, Abbas adviser threatens
Mahmoud al-Habash, a senior adviser to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, threatened that Israeli soldiers, who remain in Gaza after the war against Hamas, will become a “legitimate target for various actions” by Gazans.

“There is no alternative to the Palestinian Authority in Gaza,” al-Habash told Omri Haim, Arab affairs correspondent at Channel 14 News, on Monday. “Neither Netanyahu nor the Netanyahu government are the owners of Gaza.”

“If Israel remains in the Gaza Strip, it will be considered an occupying power and dealt with as an occupying power, including through popular resistance,” al-Habash added.

The Palestinian Authority’s top Sharia judge and a former minister of awqaf (“endowment”) and religious affairs, al-Habash said in a September 2024 interview that he views terror attacks as “resistance,” claiming that such a response is “the right of every Palestinian to defend himself.”

The latest comments by Abbas’s confidant came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed rejection of any role for the Samaria-based Palestinian Authority in post-war Gaza governance.


Iraqi airlines adds Beirut flights as tickets sell out ahead of Nasrallah funeral
Flights from Baghdad to Beirut are nearly at capacity as airlines increase services ahead of Hezbollah’s terror leader Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral, officials said.

The Iran-backed terror group has called for a huge turnout when Nasrallah, killed in a September Israeli strike, is laid to rest in the Lebanese capital on Sunday.

“Iraqi Airways will increase its flights to Beirut from one flight a day to two, starting on February 20,” said transport ministry spokesperson Maytham al-Safi, citing heightened demand ahead of the funeral.

An Iraqi airline official told AFP that “all seats on Iraqi Airlines flights from Baghdad to Beirut are booked.”

A source from Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines (MEA) reported increased flights between Baghdad and Beirut from Friday to Tuesday.

The airlines’ websites show that Iraqi Airways flights are fully booked until Sunday, with MEA nearly sold out. A Middle East Airlines commercial aircraft prepares to take off on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport on November 1, 2024. (Anwar AMRO / AFP)

Iraqi lawmakers and officials are expected to attend Nasrallah’s funeral privately, an Iraqi official said. Representatives from pro-Iran Iraqi factions, Hezbollah’s longstanding allies in the Tehran-led “axis of resistance,” are also expected to participate.

Beirut airport will be closed for four hours during the funeral.


Iran renews missile threat against Israel
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) renewed its threats on Tuesday to launch a third direct missile assault against Israel.

“True Promise III will be carried out at the appropriate time,” Brig. Gen. Ali Fadavi, the IRGC’s second-in-command, threatened in remarks published by Tehran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.

Last year, the Islamic Republic conducted two major attacks against Israel, launching nearly 500 missiles and drones against the Jewish state.

The assaults, which were largely ineffective thanks to Israeli and allied defense measures that intercepted the vast majority of the projectiles, including guided ballistic missiles, were codenamed “True Promise I” (on the night of April 13-14) and “True Promise II” (on Oct. 1) by Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in November that Tehran reserves the right to respond to Israeli “aggressions,” emphasizing that action will be taken “at an appropriate time and in a way we think is right.”

Araghchi made it clear that Iran considers Jerusalem’s October response that reportedly took out most of Tehran’s air defenses as warranting a separate response.
Seth Frantzman: Iran hosts PIJ leader and Iraqi militia chief in show of regional alliance
What does the meeting mean for the PIJ, Tehran?
This public meeting illustrates how Tehran is seeking to highlight its close ties to the PIJ and how it may use them in the future. This is important because PIJ members have been seen at recent hostage handovers in Gaza.

The PIJ held some of the hostages in Gaza, and, in many cases, it appears that hostages held by the group were treated even more brutally than those held by Hamas. The PIJ suffered some losses in the Israel-Hamas War, but it is unclear if it suffered much damage over the 15-month war. It is now being positioned by Iran for increased activities.

“Praising the unity and integration among Palestinians, Araghchi reiterated Iran’s principled stance in supporting the Palestinian cause and the legitimate and legal resistance of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupiers,” Iran’s state media noted. “He also described the Israeli-American joint plot to displace the Palestinian people from their homeland as a conspiracy aimed at eradicating Palestine.

“Meanwhile, Ziyad al-Nakhalah expressed his gratitude for the support of the Resistance Axis in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen for the Palestinians,” the report said.

This makes clear how Iran has sought to unify all the fronts against Israel and how the PIJ was a key factor in this unification of these arenas. Raisi’s meeting in May 2023 with the PIJ in Damascus was one of the key parts of this attempt to coordinate strategy against Israel. October 7 was the result.


US hostage envoy: Iraqi PM should work to free Israeli-Russian captive ‘right now’
U.S. Envoy for Hostages Ambassador Adam Boehler urged Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to help bring about the release of Israeli-Russian captive Elizabeth Tsurkov in a post on X on Tuesday.

Sharing a video clip from the “Bring Elizabeth Home” campaign website, Boehler wrote that al-Sudani “has an opportunity RIGHT NOW to show the world why he should or should not be prime minister” of Iraq.

Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, has been held captive in Iraq by Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah (“The Battalions of the Party of God”) since March 2023. Washington has designated the militia (a separate and distinct organization from the Lebanese Hezbollah) as a terrorist group.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told an Israeli journalist last month that his government, which receives hundreds of millions in American economic and military assistance, was attempting to help free Tsurkov.

Earlier this year, Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth’s sister, told JNS that Trump’s return to the White House for his second term gave her family hope.

“We are very hopeful that the incoming [U.S.] administration will put an end to the lack of accountability and lawlessness that the Iraqi government is allowed to get away with,” she said.


Ignoring Kanye West’s antisemitism is dangerous – silence is complicity
It’s a question: Should we even address him, the provocateur, and now we can also add “the Nazi” – Kanye West?

This troublemaker, addicted to negative attention, launched another out-of-control antisemitic campaign this week, which might yet be sold as a Netflix series. Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

West declared that he’s a Nazi, loves Hitler, won’t work with Jews, and finally released a fashion line featuring a single item: a t-shirt with a swastika, NIS 73 for those interested, shipping worldwide, including to Israel.

The problem is that this self-proclaimed, proud Nazi is also an award-winning, gifted musician who has sold over 140 million copies of his records in the past two decades and became a billionaire. As such, he’s also an opinion leader and prominent influencer, with 32.7 million followers on X/Twitter – double the number of Jews worldwide.

It’s clear that West speaks from ignorance. It’s doubtful he knows what happened to people like him in Hitler’s Germany, or that the Nazis believed in the organized murder of vulnerable populations, and that the swastika represents the inferiority of his own race, just like that of the Jews.

Kanye's hate speech track record
Despite his stupidity and empty words, there’s a direct line of action and consequence between the freedom of incitement West enjoys and the prevailing mood on the street, social networks, sports fields, and campuses in which it was reported that 83% of Jewish students in the US have experienced antisemitism.

My answer to the question that opened this article is “Yes – we must.” We shouldn’t dismiss statements, no matter how delusional, without an appropriate response, as words have power. Jewish actor David Schwimmer, known to us as Ross Geller, thinks so too.

“His sick hate speech results in real-life violence against Jews,” Schwimmer wrote about West, “I don’t know what’s worse – the fact that he identifies as a Nazi or the fact that there is not sufficient outrage to remove and ban him from all social media at this point. Silence is complicity.”
Struck from behind in broad daylight: Manchester man recounts antisemitic attack - interview
Struck from behind and left bloodied and dazed in the middle of a busy Manchester retail district, a British Jewish man related to The Jerusalem Post how he is still recovering from his wounds and the lingering fear that he could be attacked again.

On February 3, the visibly Jewish man, who requested to remain anonymous, was hurrying along a main thoroughfare in the Exchange Square area to get to a business meeting after prayers at a local Chabad center.

At around 1:30 p.m., as he was checking his phone for emails from the National Football Museum, the victim heard someone running up behind him. For a split second, he thought that a thief might attempt to grab his phone; he gripped it tight. Yet this was no thief.

The Jewish man felt a hard blow along the side of his face – like a glass bottle. The force of the strike knocked him to the ground and his glasses’ frames were smashed. He felt that his eye had been wounded, but even without the injury, his vision was blurred without his spectacles.

At that moment he felt that the attacker was coming back to harm him again.

“I tried to just get away,” he recalled. The world spinning and blurry, the victim ran across the street to get away from his attacker.

At a bus stop, he touched his eye and drew back blood. The man called for help, explaining that he had been attacked. Witnesses at the bus stop pointed in the direction of the attacker, some calling to chase after him.

A large bearded man told the Jewish man to call the police and led the charge after the assailant. As they followed the suspect, the victim, through a haze, explained to the police that he was a visibly Jewish person who had been attacked without warning.
‘Hate crime’ investigation launched after Holocaust memorial damaged in Plymouth
Devon and Cornwall Police are investigating a potential hate crime after a Holocaust memorial in Plymouth was vandalised.

Overnight on January 29, an attempt was apparently made to remove a plaque located in the Peace Garden on Plymouth Hoe that was dedicated to “all victims of genocide”. The memorial stone to which the plaque is fixed was damaged, as was the stone plinth upon which it sits.

The force said that the attempted vandalism was carried out between 9pm on January 29 and 10am the next day, which fell in the same week as Holocaust Memorial Day.

A spokesperson for the force said: "Police are continuing to investigate a report of criminal damage to Plymouth’s Holocaust Memorial and are appealing for any witnesses to come forward.

"The incident is being treated as a hate crime.”

The officer leading the investigation, PC Stacey Vidler, added: “While a crime like this is rare, it has understandably caused great distress to members of the Jewish Community.”

The simple memorial was unveiled on 27 January 2018 to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. It consists of a raised plaque on the ground engraved with the words: “Plymouth Holocaust Memorial. For all victims of genocide.”

Officers are asking for anyone who may have seen or heard anything suspicious near the memorial around the time of the offence to contact them online or by telephone on 101, quoting crime reference 50250024550.


Vaucluse pensioner fronts court over alleged antisemitic stickers, assault
A Vaucluse pensioner accused of stickering anti-Israeli messages around Sydney’s eastern suburbs has allegedly been filmed using pliers to slash towards the face of a person who confronted him.

A court has also heard Irvin Mirzaiyan has previously been convicted of a near-identical crime and police fear he will “resume his antisemitic campaign”. Irvin Mirzaiyan is accused of stickering anti-Israeli messages around Sydney.

The 62-year-old’s court appearance came as police revealed they will likely charge two Sydney nurses with a Commonwealth offence over a video in which they allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients. Meanwhile, a man named in a search warrant after a caravan containing explosives and a list of Jewish targets was found in Dural has been charged over a separate antisemitic attack in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Police allege Mirzaiyan, who migrated from Iran in 1989, was confronted by a younger man on Old South Head Road in Vaucluse after he was spotted putting up “antisemitic stickers” on Tuesday morning.

Footage taken by the alleged victim was aired in Waverley Local Court on Wednesday which showed Mirzaiyan swing the tool at a person filming him before the recording stops. He allegedly cut the victim’s elbow.

The sticker was destroyed in the confrontation but allegedly included the words “Genocide” and “7/10/2023”, the date of Hamas’ attack on Israel, and watermelons, a symbol for Palestine.
CCTV released over antisemitic incident as 13th person charged under Strike Force Pearl is allegedly linked to Dural caravan
Scott Marshall has been charged with a number of offences relating to an antisemitic incident in Woollahra.

He was previously named on a search warrant relating to the explosives found in a Dural caravan.

Detectives are also calling for the public to help identify a man who they believe is connected to a January 30 graffiti incident at a school in Sydney's east.

NSW Police have charged a Sydney man with a series of offences related to an antisemitic incident in Woollahra in December.

Scott Marshall, 36, had been previously named on a search warrant, along with his partner Tammie Farrugia, after an explosives-filled caravan was discovered in Dural in Sydney's north-west.

On December 11, several buildings and vehicles were vandalised with antisemitic graffiti and a car was set alight.

Mr Marshall, who is behind bars on other charges, was arrested at Parklea Correctional Centre on Tuesday and charged with a number of offences in relation to the Woollahra incident, including participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.

He was refused bail and will appear at Downing Street Local Court on April 3.


‘Going great,’ 14-year-old Israeli living in Abu Dhabi says of new BBYO chapter
The annual BBYO convention, which took place in Denver from Feb. 13 to 17, drew about 3,500 teens from 50 countries and more than 1,000 adult guests and speakers. One of the teens, for the first time in the event’s history, came from the United Arab Emirates.

Adi Tenenbaum-Katan, 14, who founded a new BBYO chapter in her hometown, Abu Dhabi, told JNS that she was excited to introduce other young Jews in her community to the Jewish youth group.

“The Jewish community here is quite small. It’s not as big as in other countries, but we definitely have Jews who live here,” she said, of the Emirati capital. “There’s a Chabad, a synagogue and now a BBYO chapter.”

“Currently, we have around 12 to 14 active members,” she told JNS. “We’ve only had two meetings so far. Our first meeting was two months ago—just an icebreaker to get to know each other. But it’s going great, I would say.”

Tenenbaum-Katan, who was born in Israel, wanted to create a hub of Jewish life in the small Jewish community in Abu Dhabi, where she moved six months ago.

“Me and my mom contacted BBYO, and they helped us a lot,” she told JNS. “We had to find a Jewish and Israeli community, plan meetings and create a chapter plan. We also needed a board to help plan things out.”

The only Jewish student at her international high school, Tenenbaum-Katan told JNS that it was difficult at first to find fellow Israelis and Jews in the city. But she’s well on her way now. There is, however, Jew-hatred in the Arab country, she said.

“There’s a lot of antisemitism and a lot of anti-Israel sentiment in the UAE,” she told JNS. “It’s a little bit hard, but it’s teaching me how to handle difficulties.” She added that many people talk to her about Israel’s war against Hamas.


First Jewish delegation in 33 years visits Damascus
A delegation of Syrian-Jewish Americans toured Damascus on Tuesday, with approval from the transitional government that took power following the fall of the Assad regime in December.

The visit, organized by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a Washington-based advocacy group established in 2011 to support the then-Syrian opposition, included prominent figures such as Rabbi Yosef Hamra, a former leader of Syrian Jewry, and Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the director of Community Relations of Ann Arbor, Michigan’s Jewish Federation, alongside other Syrian Jews residing in the United States.

During their visit the group toured the Jewish cemetery in Damascus, paying respects at the tomb of Rabbi Chaim Vital, according to Haredi Israeli news portal JDN.

They also visited historic Jewish sites, including the largely destroyed Jobar Synagogue, as well as the Al-Franj and Al-Raki synagogues and the Maimonides Jewish School.

Hamra, who was forced to leave Syria in 1992, described his return to his homeland after 33 years as deeply emotional. He urged Jews in the West to visit Syria and see its changes for themselves, suggesting that some might even consider returning.


Unrepentant Nazi art thief who stole Jews’ art from ‘still warm walls’ focus of new film
Even a quarter-century later, European history scholar Jonathan Petropoulos still can’t believe the German Expressionist artwork he saw on the walls of the third-floor walk-up in Munich. Then there was the apartment’s occupant: a 6-foot-4, 300-pound, blue-eyed giant named Bruno Lohse, who had played a pivotal role in the Nazi looting of art — much of it Jewish-owned — during World War II.

Decades before, Lohse had been in Paris after the fall of France, working for the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, one of multiple Nazi agencies competing against each other to loot art collections on a massive scale in occupied Europe. Lohse also secretly helped boost the illegally obtained private art collection of Hitler’s number two Nazi — Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, who was vying with the Fuhrer over who could build up the biggest stash.

Lohse did not exactly suffer following the war. He sweet-talked his way past an investigation by the Monuments Men, then got acquitted by a French military tribunal. As for the looted art, some of it he reportedly used for his personal benefit.

In his late 80s, he grew ready to talk — at least to some extent. The ex-Nazi met with Petropoulos again and again, some 30 to 40 times in total, until his death in 2007.

Petropoulos, a Claremont McKenna University professor, wrote a 2021 book about Lohse, titled “Goering’s Man in Paris: The Story of a Nazi Art Plunderer and His World.” Now this story is chronicled in a two-part PBS documentary that premieres on February 19, “Plunderer: The Life and Times of a Nazi Art Thief.” Part two is scheduled for a week later, on February 26, with the overall documentary part of PBS’ “Secrets of the Dead” series.

“The Nazis were not only the most systematic mass murderers in history, they were its greatest thieves,” Petropoulos said.

The docuseries estimates that the Nazis made away with one-fifth of Europe’s artwork between 1934 and 1944. But that is only part of the story. As Petropoulos explained, after the war the German art world was rebounding and Lohse had a network of fellow ex-Nazi art dealers to sell to — all of which shut out the rightful heirs to the art.
Wollongong family reflects on Righteous Among Nations medal for saving Jews
When World War II broke out and the Netherlands was invaded by Germany in 1940, Mary Goodger's parents Marinus and Louisa Berghuis did something risky and courageous.

They hid a Jewish family of five in their modest two-bedroom apartment in The Hague.

What was originally supposed to be a few days turned into nearly three years.

"Mum and dad being Christian people wanted to do the best they could and dad built another wall in one of the bedrooms and they hid in that cavity," Ms Goodger told ABC Illawarra Mornings.

"The opening was in the hallway where they had a carpet hanging on the wall and a hat rack over the top.

"That's where they'd hide when anybody came over."

The Berghuis family lived in this apartment block on Anna Paulownastraat in The Hague. (Supplied: Mary Goodger)

That could mean friends dropping in, long dinners or birthday parties.

The Jewish family of two grandparents, two parents and one five-year-old child had to stay still and quiet.

"I can't imagine the stress and during this time, my dad was sent to Germany for 12 months to work so mum had to look after them all by herself."

Six flights of stairs to freedom
This year marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp.

Ms Goodger has marked the occasion by looking over family photos and the prized silver Righteous Among the Nations medal.




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

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