Saturday, March 22, 2025

03/22 Links: The cancer of October 7 denial is spreading; Columbia’s Egregious Public-Relations Campaign; Unpacking Witkoff’s Tucker interview: What is the US's stance on Gaza?

From Ian:

The cancer of October 7 denial is spreading. Its antidote is this forensic account of Hamas’s crimes
I would strongly urge anyone to read this report, especially as it lets the facts speak for themselves, though the horror is too great for me to dwell on it here. I draw only on a couple of examples whose poignancy strikes me.

One tells of Aviv Kutz, a graphic designer who, following incendiary kite and balloon attacks from Gaza in 2018, had launched an annual Kites for Hope event. He, his wife and three children were all murdered in their mamad (safe room), clasping one another’s hands. In his house was found the family’s “peace kite” he had planned to launch that very day.

Another was Netta Epstein, whose mother Avelet addressed us at the report’s unveiling. Netta and his fiancée Shavit were hiding in the bedroom, having learnt that his uncle and grandmother had been killed elsewhere on the kibbutz, the latter shot on her mobility scooter. The terrorists threw three grenades into the room, the second injuring the couple. As the third grenade rolled across the floor, Netta, militarily trained, threw himself on top of it, dying, but saving Shavit. She survived by lying still under his body for five hours as terrorists returned to loot the house and shoot from its windows.

The report carries scores of such stories of courage in response to barbarism.

Reading this uniquely powerful history prompts a question which, given its carefully defined task, the report does not ask. Why do many people want both that Jews be kidnapped, tortured and kidnapped, and to deny that such things happened?

I doubt Muslim Arabs are uniquely wicked people. History everywhere shows repeatedly that human beings, in certain moods, like to slaughter perceived enemies. It also shows that, at many periods, Christians have been equally ready to kill in the name of their beliefs.

Yet ideology is in there somewhere. All the victims were innocent, but the October 7 killings were not mindless. Two sets of ideas combine. The first, mainly a Muslim view, is that white Christians, chiefly the British – with their accomplices/controllers the Jews – conspired to break the Muslim ummah (global community) by inventing the Holocaust and giving the Jews the Holy Land, thus causing suffering unparallelled anywhere else ever.

The other, mainly a white Western view to be found in places like David Lammy’s Foreign Office, the BBC and our universities, is that first the British and then the Americans (also goaded on by “Zionists”) wished – and still wish – for racist imperialist reasons to crush the wretched of the earth. And for this, we must do eternal penance.

This strange coalition of ultra-strict, pseudo-religious non-European fanaticism and ultra-liberal European guilt has a division of labour. The fanatic, usually non-white, rushes in to kill. The guilty liberal, usually white, stands ready to excuse such actions. In a free society, this is a literally lethal combination.
Exposed: Terrorist who bombed Paris lives free in the suburbs, protected by Canada's liberal politicians and gifted a quiet life... until now
Jewish advocacy organizations are fuming that the man convicted for the deadly 1980 bombing outside a Paris synagogue continues to live a comfortable life in Canada's national capital.

Beirut-born Hassan Diab, 71, is seen walking and biking in the Ottawa suburbs in these exclusive DailyMail.com photos.

'That Hassan Diab remains free in Canada is unacceptable,' said Richard Marceau, Vice President, External Affairs and General Counsel at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), in a statement to DailyMail.com on Thursday.

The government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau refused to extradite Diab to France.

But Canadians are going to the polls later this spring and a change of government could spell trouble for Diab.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre posted on social media last November: 'Why hasn't he been extradited to France to face justice?'

And Diab is apparently aware his fate could change, telling a Canadaland podcast: 'I just have to be careful. It's like you are living in constant fear.

'It's not easy, it's like waiting for a ghost to appear from somewhere.'

Four people were killed on the evening of October 3, 1980, when an explosive device attached to a motorcycle detonated outside of the Rue Copernic synagogue.

Diab, who has consistently claimed he was taking university exams in Beirut at the time of the bombing, was arrested in Canada in 2008 but released on bail.

In 2014, he was extradited to France, where he spent three years in pretrial detention. Diab returned to Canada in 2018 when the charges against him were dropped.

The Paris Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal in January 2021 and ordered Diab to stand trial.

Diab refused to return to France and on April 21, 2023, he was convicted of terrorism charges in absentia and sentenced to life in prison.

An international arrest warrant was issued.

'He was afforded every protection under French and European law and was found guilty by an independent court of law,' said Marceau, describing the failure to return Diab to France as 'an abuse of process.'

He added: 'Justice must be upheld. At a time of rising anti-Semitism, allowing a convicted perpetrator of a deadly anti-Semitic attack to remain in Canada is indefensible.
Bethany Mandel: Hooray: Ben & Jerry’s owner Unilever is dropping the anti-Israel lunacy
Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food got me through untold breakups in college.

Drowning my sorrows in a pint was a great consolation prize for my heartbreak.

But in 2021, I soured on the brand when it announced plans to stop selling its ice cream in what it referred to as the “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

Its hostility to Israeli policy grew even more poisonous after Oct. 7.

The good news?

Recent pushback by critics — and consumers — prompted B&J’s parent company, Unilever, to respond, just as other companies have been shedding their DEI and woke images.

And that’s major grounds for hope.

In 2021, co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield defended the brand’s positions on Israel in The New York Times: “The company’s stated decision,” they said, “is a rejection of Israeli policy, which perpetuates an illegal occupation that is a barrier to peace and violates the basic human rights of the Palestinian people who live under the occupation.”

Yes, their views have always been naïve, lefty nonsense, and they’re well-known for making their political beliefs a part of their business.

In 1998, Ben & Jerry’s faced pushback when it announced it would no longer buy water from an Israeli company in the Golan Heights because of what it called an illegal occupation of the area.

In 2021, my local Kosher supermarket announced, in protest of its positions on Israel, that it would no longer carry the ice cream.

And B&J’s Kosher supervision agency debated pulling its Kosher certification.

But after Oct. 7, the board of Ben & Jerry’s actually argued that pro-Palestinian demonstrations across US college campuses play a vital role in upholding democracy.

The Vermont-based company, which sells its products at some universities, had also advocated for a lasting cease-fire in Gaza, never mind that the threat of future Oct. 7 attacks would remain.

But now Unilever, wary of its image and bottom line, has taken steps to mitigate the blowback for B&J’s appalling anti-Israel stands.

It’s now looking to sell off the ice-cream maker completely, and this month it said it would replace its CEO.


Seth Frantzman: US aircraft carriers may change Middle East balance of power
In mid-December, the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group entered the US Central Command area of responsibility, US Naval Forces Central Command said on December 14, 2024.

“The carrier strike group consists of the flagship Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75); Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1 with nine embarked aviation squadrons; staffs from Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8, CVW-1, and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 28; the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64); and two Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Stout (DDG 55) and USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109),” the US statement said in December.

While the Truman has extended its stay in the region, it’s possible it could leave when the Vinson or another carrier group arrives. This would give the US two carrier strike groups in the region, or at least two carriers with their attendant destroyers and other ships. The Vinson was laid down in the 1970s and launched in 1980. The Truman was launched in 1996. Both are Nimitz-class carriers that can carry around 90 aircraft.

Deploying two carriers to the region will be a message to Iran. US President Donald Trump sent a letter to Tehran recently that offered talks. However, if the Islamic Republic doesn’t come to the table, it’s possible that other means will be needed to prevent Iran from enriching uranium or weaponizing its uranium stockpile.

At the same time, Israel is involved in operations in Gaza and the US is bombing the Houthis in Yemen. Carriers are necessary to continue some of these operations.

Currently, Washington has a large number of other options in the region, with aircraft at bases in the Gulf, for instance. In the past, these have included F-22, F-15Es, F-16s, and A-10s. The US also has MH-60S Sea Hawks of the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 11. There is also currently the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser the USS Gettysburg in the region.

In addition, there are AH-64 Apache helicopters, which operate in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-ISIS mission. Recently, the US has also sent elements of a Bomber Task Force Mission with B-52Hs to the region, flown from RAF Fairford in the UK.

The overall point is that there is no shortage of American firepower in the region, and more may be arriving.
IDF will seize Gaza land permanently until Hamas releases hostages, Katz says

Trump and Bibi Issue an Ultimatum. Iran and Hamas Should Heed It.
After more than two weeks of fruitless negotiations for further hostage releases, Israel’s patience ran out. On Tuesday, the Israeli military bombarded Hamas leaders and positions in Gaza, and ground forces soon reentered the Hamas-ruled enclave.

Renewed fighting caused consternation for many. The remaining hostages’ friends and family fear for the safety of their loved ones. Israelis of all stripes want their countrymen free from the horrors described by some of the recently released captives. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political opponents accuse him of restarting the war to wriggle his way out of the most recent scandal to rock Israeli politics.

Focusing too narrowly on Gaza and Hamas, however, obscures the greater forces at play in the region. Jerusalem is acting like it is gearing up for the final confrontation with Iran, and it is taking Tehran’s pieces off the table in conjunction with the Trump administration.

Last week, a letter from President Trump reportedly reached Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. The message: Iran has two months to come to terms with Washington. As National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said this weekend, "Iran has been offered a way out of this." It can either hand over its missile, uranium enrichment, and weaponization programs "in a way that is verifiable, or they can face a whole series of other consequences."

So far, Iran is sticking with its usual tactic—defiance. After Trump announced the letter, Khamenei retorted, "They constantly say, ‘We won’t allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.’ If we had wanted to build nuclear weapons, the U.S. wouldn’t have been able to stop us." Starting in December, Iran massively sped up its uranium enrichment program, and according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, by February, it had a stockpile of nearly weapons-grade uranium that could yield six bombs.

Iran can now get weapons-grade uranium at any time, and it is researching how to speed up the rest of its nuclear program. Toward the end of last year, the intelligence community assessed that the Iranians are working on shortcuts to shrink the time for making a bomb from about a year to only a few months.

The mullahs have crept right up to the edge of nuclear capability before, and previously they have traded parts of their program for diplomatic concessions, such as Obama’s misbegotten 2015 deal. Tehran has retained its enrichment program and its cadres of nuclear scientists so it can create new pawns to sacrifice as needed while moving toward its greater goals.

But over the past year, it has lost a lot of other pieces. Hezbollah, which had functioned as Iran’s strategic reserve in the region, is a shell of itself after Israel annihilated its leadership last fall. Syria used to be one of the Lebanese terrorist group’s primary supply routes, but the new regime in Damascus is clashing with it. Hezbollah rocketed Israel the day after Hamas began the war, but it is issuing only condemnations, not even threats, as the fighting resumes.
Seth Frantzman: Unpacking Witkoff’s Tucker interview: What is the US's stance on Gaza?
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who played a key role in the ceasefire deal in January that enabled 33 hostages to be freed, spoke with the host of The Tucker Carlson Show recently. The interview raised eyebrows, especially given Witkoff’s comments about Qatar, the country that hosts Hamas and has played a role as mediator.

The interview with Carlson comes at a unique time. The talk show host has also recently interviewed Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, as well as guests who have been critical of Israel. On the other hand, Witkoff has been playing a key role in other Trump administration initiatives, such as outreach to Russia.

The interview comes a week after Reuters reported that “the Trump administration has withdrawn the nomination of Adam Boehler to serve as special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.” Boehler held direct talks with Hamas and did a round of interviews on Israeli media. He was critiqued for his comments that appeared to be soft on Hamas.

The interview also came out as CNN reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has “run the risk of being overshadowed” by Witkoff’s role. Both Rubio and Witkoff have pushed back on this report.

Nevertheless, the interview clearly comes at a unique time in American policy, as US President Donald Trump seeks a doctrine in world affairs. The administration launched airstrikes on the Houthis and reportedly sent a letter to Iran. Many things are up in the air.

Hamas did not accept a deal pushed by Witkoff that could have extended the ceasefire, the first phase of which ended on March 1. Israel began airstrikes on Hamas on March 18, and the war is now back on.

Many eyes are focused on the Middle East envoy, and his comments to Carlson were significant.

The future of the Middle East
Witkoff said that Qatar wants regional stability and a peace treaty with America. Doha is already a major non-NATO ally of the US, and he said it has moderated its positions. He also said that the head of US Central Command has described Qataris as “special.”

Hamas wants to rule Gaza, Witkoff noted, which he said is unacceptable to the US. “We can’t have a terrorist organization running Gaza.” He went on to say, “We trust the Qataris,” and said the Qataris have explained to Hamas “where they have to get to, to make a deal.”

Witkoff is passionate about the hostages and about condemning October 7. He said, having watched the Hamas attacks, that it’s hard to be dispassionate in the talks. “We can’t ignore the reality of October 7.”

He said that part of the deal-making involves figuring out what Hamas wants. The envoy said he doesn’t think Hamas is ideologically intractable and believes that a deal is possible. “I had to feel it for myself,” he said, explaining how a negotiator has to operate in the region.

Witkoff has spoken to the released hostages and deeply empathizes with them. He also discussed how Trump is “up close and personal” in caring for the hostages and is very involved.

The envoy wants to finish things with dialogue. Currently, there is a conflict in Gaza, and it remains to be seen if he can bridge the gaps. He says this is the same method for talks with Iran and Russia and also for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Witkoff discussed being critiqued for being too close to Qatar. He described the country as a mediator and said he must collaborate with Doha to be effective. The envoy also described how he wanted to be like Trump when he was a young lawyer. Now, he has a chance as the president’s envoy to make an impact on the world.

He talked about how he wanted to see Gaza and see things on the ground for himself and also discussed how Israel has enabled talks by eliminating Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and weakening the “Iranian crescent.”

Witkoff also discussed the recent Trump letter sent to Tehran and said the US can never allow the Islamic Republic to have a nuclear weapon and outsized influence in the Gulf.

The envoy mentioned how Hezbollah and Hamas are weakened, adding that the recent US campaign against the Houthis will clip that group’s wings.

Witkoff also mentioned the possibility of Lebanon normalizing ties with Israel.

The new Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa was also discussed. The special envoy mentioned the possibility of normalization between Syria and Saudi Arabia, leading to a “GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] that all works together.”

In Gaza, what matters is demilitarization, Witkoff said. He described Hamas as an “idea” and noted that removing its arms is important.

“How do you build a framework?” Carlson asked. “We will need stability in Gaza,” Witkoff replied.
Hamas can be politically active in Gaza after it disarms, Witkoff says
Hamas could still be involved in Gaza politically after it has been demilitarized, said Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Friday.

“They need to demilitarize, and then they might also be politically involved in Gaza,” he said while discussing Hamas’s rationale and goals for negotiations.

“We need to understand what Hamas wants and then think about what we can offer them to make them leave. That is what needs to happen here,” the envoy said. “At the start of the conflict, we heard that ‘Hamas is an ideology, and they are ready to die.’”

Witkoff challenged this idea, saying, “I don’t think they are as ideologically extreme as they’re often portrayed. They send young children who understand nothing to commit suicide with explosive belts. Once we understand that they want to live, we can talk to them more effectively.”

Reconstruction plan
He also discussed Gaza’s reconstruction and the breadth of the proposed solutions.

“When I first returned from a trip there – before Trump was inaugurated – we had permission from the Biden administration to collaborate with them. Trump asked, ‘When do you think Gaza can be reconstructed?’ My answer was 15 to 20 years. He asked why, and I explained the battlefield conditions: ‘Gaza is decimated – there are tunnels underneath, making it like Swiss cheese. Then the area got hit with bunker-buster bombs, so there’s no rock left to build on.’

“Yet, the world kept pushing a five-year reconstruction plan. Why? Because of the Biden administration’s May 27 protocol, which was based on false assumptions,” he said. “Level-setting the facts was critical. At first, people dismissed us, but then The Wall Street Journal wrote about it – 15 to 20 years. Trump’s approach was about understanding the reality before making decisions.”

However, Witkoff did reiterate the Trump administration’s policy on Hamas. “A terrorist organization cannot govern Gaza – that is unacceptable to Israel. What is possible, however, is for them to disarm. Then they can stay for a while and even be politically involved.”


IDF hits launch site in Gaza after rocket fire on Ashkelon
The Israel Defense Forces on Friday night struck the launcher in northern Gaza from which Palestinian terrorists fired two rockets at Ashkelon earlier in the day.

The Hamas deliberately placed the launcher near a humanitarian zone in the Al-Furqan neighborhood, according to the military.

Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of aerial surveillance, additional intelligence and precise munitions, said the IDF.

“This is further evidence of Hamas’s systematic exploitation of civilians and civilian structures for terrorist activities throughout the Gaza Strip,” added the army.

Air defenses intercepted the two projectiles that targeted the southern Israeli city.

Also on Friday, the IDF announced the targeted killing the previous day of Osama Tabash, chief of Hamas’s Military Intelligence in southern Gaza and head of terrorist group’s Surveillance and Targeting Unit.

Over the years, Tabash was involved in directing attacks, including a 2005 suicide bombing at the Gush Katif Junction in Gaza that killed Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) coordinator Oded Sharon.


IDF attacks two military bases in central Syria
The Israel Defense Forces attacked the Tadmur base at the Palmyra military airport and the nearby T-4 airbase in central Syria early on Saturday morbning.

The military targeted “strategic capabilities that remained” following the overthrow of longtime dictator Bashar Assad by Al-Qaeda-linked forces on Dec. 8, the IDF said.

T-4 is Syria’s largest airbase and has been linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. There have been several strikes on the base in recent years attributed to Israel.

“The IDF will continue to act in order to remove any threat posed to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the army said.

On Tuesday, the IDF attacked artillery positions in the Khan Arnabah area in southern Syria, close to the border with Israel. “The IDF will not allow a military threat to exist in southern Syria and will act against it,” said the army.

On Monday night, the IDF also targeted command centers containing weapons and military vehicles in southern Syria. The sites belonged to the “old Syrian regime” led by Assad and were being refurbished for use.

On March 13, the Israeli Air Force carried out a strike on the headquarters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in Damascus.

Three days earlier, Israeli fighter jets struck radars and other detection equipment in southern Syria. Additionally, the IAF targeted command positions and sites containing weapons belonging to the former Assad regime.


IDF downs three terror rockets fired from Lebanon
The Israeli Air Force intercepted three rockets that terrorists in Lebanon fired at the Galilee town of Metula on Saturday morning.

Three additional rockets fell short and did not cross into Israeli territory.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and no changes to IDF Home Front Command directives for civilians.

The IDF responded with artillery fire toward the site of the launches and later struck dozens of Hezbollah terror assets in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese terrorist group issued a statement denying its involvement in the rocket fire.

Following the attack, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir conducted a situational assessment.

It was the first rocket fire from Lebanon since a Nov. 27 ceasefire ended more than a year of war with Hezbollah, which opened a front against Israel in support of Hamas the day after the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

“The rocket fire launched this morning toward the Galilee constitutes a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and is a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel. The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

The mayor of Metula, David Azoulai, said that of the eight percent of the town’s residents who have returned since the November ceasefire, some left after this morning’s rocket attack.

Metula’s municipal council clarified that contrary to several reports, the residents who left had done so on their own accord, not due to government instructions.
IDF strikes dozens of Hezbollah launchers after rocket fire into northern Israel
The IDF struck dozens of Hezbollah rocket launchers and a command center from which unidentified terrorists were operating in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.

The strikes come in response to a rocket fire launched towards Metulla in what the IDF called "a blatant violation of the understanding between Israel and Lebanon, and a direct threat to the citizens of the State of Israel," noting "The State of Lebanon bears responsibility for upholding the agreement."

Earlier on Saturday, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would respond to three rockets that were fired from Lebanon. "We will not tolerate attacks on Galilee communities from Lebanon. Our commitment to their security stands firm—that is exactly what will be," Katz said.

"Metulla and Beirut will be treated the same. The Lebanese government is fully responsible for any fire originating from its territory. I have instructed the IDF to respond accordingly."

Sirens were activated in Metulla in Israel's North as a result of the launches.

Hours after the strikes, the IDF later said that "at this stage, it is not possible to verify the identity of the organization that fired [the rockets]," according to Ynet.


Houthis in Yemen fire missile at Israel for 4th time in a week
The Israeli Air Force on Friday afternoon intercepted a missile fired by Houthi terrorists in Yemen, before it entered Israeli airspace. It was the fourth such attack this week, the military noted.

The projectile triggered sirens across central Israel, including in Jerusalem and several communities in Judea and Samaria.

On Thursday evening, the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists launched a ballistic missile at Israel, triggering air-raid sirens in the capital and throughout Judea and Samaria. Hours earlier, the IAF intercepted another Houthi missile that triggered alerts in Tel Aviv, forcing millions of civilians into bomb shelters in the middle of the night.

The Houthis previously attacked the Jewish state on Tuesday evening, marking the first time that Israel’s air defenses were activated against a threat from Yemen since mid-January, when a ceasefire with Hamas went into effect.

Since Hamas initiated the war on Oct. 7, 2023, by killing some 1,200 people in southern Israel, Yemen’s Houthis have fired more than 350 drones and missiles at the Jewish state in support of the Palestinian terrorist organization, in addition to carrying out numerous attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the Houthis would be “completely annihilated” as American airstrikes pounded terrorist targets in Yemen.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported late Wednesday night that American forces “continue 24/7 operations against the Iran-backed Houthis.”

On March 12, the Houthis threatened to resume attacks on “any Israeli vessel” in the Red Sea area. On Tuesday, the Iran-backed terrorist organization upped its rhetoric following Israel’s renewed airstrikes on Hamas targets.

“We condemn the Zionist enemy’s resumption of aggression against the Gaza Strip,” stated the Houthis’ supreme political council. “The Palestinian people will not be left alone in this battle, and Yemen will continue its support and assistance, and escalate confrontation steps.”


Houthi missile disintegrates over Saudi Arabia en route to Israel
The IDF detected a missile launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen toward Israeli territory on Saturday.

However, it disintegrated while en route toward Israel and fell into Saudi Arabian territory. Houthis make fourth attempt in three days to launch attack on Israel

The latest launch from Yemen marked the Houthis' fourth attempt to launch an attack on Israel since early on Thursday morning, when a ballistic missile launch triggered sirens across central Israel and the capital of Jerusalem.

The Israeli military said the IAF had intercepted one rocket while two others impacted in open areas.

Later on Thursday, rocket sirens sounded in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, along with in the Shfela region, following a second Houthi missile launch in under 24 hours. This missile was again intercepted by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) prior to crossing into Israeli territory, the military said.

Recent Houthi attacks come following the Yemeni rebels' threat to resume attacks on Israel and shipping routes in the Red Sea, in response to Israel's resumed ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

It also comes amid continued strikes by the United States Central Command against Houthi targets in the capital Sa'ana, and across Yemen.


The People, United: Everyone Hates Chuck Schumer's New Book About Anti-Semitism, Even His Former Intern
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is not having a very good month. The Senate minority leader was supposed to be on tour promoting his new book, Anti-Semitism in America: A Warning, but the tour was postponed due to security concerns after Schumer's refusal to shut down the government infuriated his fellow Democrats, as well as the liberal activists who excel at showing up to events uninvited and making a scene. Hamas supporters were already outraged over Schumer's insufficient support for the genocidal terrorist group, so the book tour was likely doomed no matter what. But that's the least of Schumer's problems.

Lots of outrage is typically helpful when promoting a book, but only so long as other people actually want to read it. Unfortunately for Schumer, the book has no constituency. Everyone hates it, which is typically not very helpful when it comes to selling books.

Washington Post reporter Emily Tamkin, a former Schumer intern, was not a fan of Anti-Semitism in America. In a review for the struggling paper, Tamkin argued that Schumer's book failed to "live up to the moment" in part by failing to condemn Israel for committing "genocide" in Gaza and by neglecting to forcefully denounce Donald Trump and the Republican Party as the real anti-Semites. Reading it made her realize she "didn't want a warning about anti-Semitism" from Chuck Schumer. The New York Times has yet to publish a review.

A review in the Forward, a progressive Jewish publication, was similarly dismissive. Reporter Arno Rosenfeld wrote that Schumer "manages to say remarkably little" over the course of a section on left-wing anti-Semitism as it relates to Israel while relying on "hackneyed talking points and anecdotes presented without proper context." He faulted Schumer for criticizing the "pro-Palestinian" terrorist sympathizers disrupting college campuses, where anti-Semitism "was actually relatively rare." Take that, Chuck.

Another liberal journalist, writing for something called Literary Hub, denounced Schumer for spending too much time writing a book about anti-Semitism and "not enough time taking decisive action against increasing fascism in America." Rolling Stone mocked him for canceling his book tour "after caving to Trump." Meanwhile, amateur reviewers on the Barnes & Noble website were also disappointed.

"Schumer, a career politician who’s perfected the art of standing for nothing and falling for everything, delivers a limp, pandering mess that reads like a ChatGPT-generated term paper titled 'How to Avoid Taking a Stance on Anything, Ever,'" one anonymous reader observed. "The prose is as inspiring as a soggy napkin. Every chapter is a grocery list of empty platitudes, reheated centrist clichés, and vague, milquetoast anecdotes that even C-SPAN would reject for being too boring." Others complained that the book was "poorly written" by an author who was "allergic to consequences" and did "not have any understanding of the topic."

Anti-Semitism in America currently has a rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, where the list price has been slashed 30 percent since the book came out on March 18. "It conjures more than cowardice, it is the epitome of hypocrisy and betrayal," wrote unsatisfied reader T. Nguyen.
Filmmaker & Advocate: "Powerlessness Is Worse Than Having Power" | EP 33 Daniella Kahane
In this heartfelt episode, host Shai Davidai sits down with filmmaker, activist, and entrepreneur Daniella Kahane to explore her multifaceted identity, her journey as a Jewish leader, and her impactful work.
Oil's surprising role behind Oct. 7 and the Abraham Accords | Think Twice
Jonathan S. Tobin, Editor-in-Chief of JNS, sits down with Jennifer Sutton, Executive Director of the Council for a Secure America (CSA), to discuss the critical intersection of energy policy, U.S. energy independence and its impact on Israel and the broader Middle East. Topics covered in this episode:
✅ How U.S. energy independence affects global security
✅ The role of fossil fuels in Middle East stability
✅ The impact of environmental extremism on foreign policy
✅ Energy as a driver of U.S.-Israel relations & the Abraham Accords
✅ How the oil industry’s stance on Israel is shifting With the Middle East facing ongoing tensions and global energy markets in flux, this conversation sheds light on how energy security plays a pivotal role in diplomacy and strategic alliances.


‘Antisemitic’ activist pushing Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral bid to bring ‘anti-Israel’ agenda to City Hall: critics
Antisemitic activist Linda Sarsour is playing a huge role in trying to get socialist Zohran Mamdani elected NYC’s next mayor.

The Hamas-supporting, Palestinian-American firebrand is pushing Mamdani by spreading a message of anti-Israel hate and leaning on lefties to join the Democratic Party in time for the June 24 primary.

Sarsour – a longtime advocate of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign under fire for her extreme views on the Israel-Hamas War – has been campaigning for Mamdani for months, including routinely sending out social-media blasts asking her hundreds of thousands of followers to donate to his campaign.

Sarsour and Mamdani, both card-carrying members of the Democratic Socialists of America, were big supporters of the “Uncommitted National Movement” and “Leave it Blank NY” campaign during last year’s presidential race, which urged Democrats not to vote in the presidential primary to protest then-President Joe Biden’s refusal to condemn Israel defending itself in Gaza.

“As proud Democrats and elected officials and New Yorkers, we endorse the Leave it Blank campaign,” Mamdani, a Queens state assemblyman, said in a video posted with other lefty legislators on X in March 2024.

The same initiatives are also widely credited with ultimately spurring many Democrats not to vote in the general election – won by Republican Donald Trump — and switch to the more radical Working Families Party or other “third parties.”

Now Sarsour and Mamdani are begging the same far-left base to register as Dems and vote for the Ugandan-born Mamdani in the highly contested Democratic mayoral primary.

“I know some of us aren’t feeling any political parties right now but in New York State we have closed primaries and this unfortunately is how it works here! Only Democrats can participate in our primary!” Sarsour posted to her 302,000 Instagram followers on Jan. 25, urging them to register as Dems.

“Tell everyone! Let’s shock the whole system and send Zohran to City Hall!”

Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic consultant, said Sarsour and the rest of the “anti-Israel far left” see Mamdani as a “great opportunity” to seize control of America’s largest city.

“This is their moment to try and capture the city’s government and turn it into what they want, which is less about progressive politics and more about Jew-hating than anything else,” said Sheinkopf, who is Jewish.


Columbia’s Egregious Public-Relations Campaign
Nowhere does President Trump’s executive order on combating anti-Semitism require this response. In fact, the order explicitly states that Title VI enforcement “shall not diminish or infringe upon any right protected . . . under the First Amendment.”

At best, Columbia’s approach seems to be a clumsy extension of the same speech-policing policies universities have used in recent years to regulate discussions on race and gender. At worst, it is textbook malicious compliance: the government demanded action against anti-Semitism, so the university is making martyrs out of those exercising their right to free expression.

What makes this response particularly egregious is that a straightforward alternative is readily available. Columbia could address its discrimination problem by identifying and expelling the students who have illegally occupied campus buildings, defaced property, and even assaulted security officers. This approach requires no speech policing and would instead hold accountable those directly responsible for harassing and intimidating Jewish and Israeli students.

Unfortunately, Columbia has been slow to expel students who violated school rules and committed minor crimes in their anti-Israel activism, even as it has eagerly investigated op-ed writers—a glaring double standard.

Finally, leaders at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism reportedly warned noncitizen students to “avoid publishing work on Gaza, Ukraine and protests related to their former classmate’s arrest.” This falsely equates writing about a controversial topic with engaging in lawless acts to advance the interests of terrorist groups, as detained Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil allegedly did.

The goal is clearly to make the Trump administration look like it is targeting speech, not unlawful and disorderly actions. But the message to students should be far simpler: don’t openly espouse terrorism. That’s wise counsel for citizens and noncitizens alike.

The Trump administration has rightly responded to Columbia’s malicious compliance with clear guidance. It should continue demonstrating that its focus is not on punishing scientists, op-ed writers, or journalism students, but on getting the university to address its discrimination problem at the root, as it explained in a letter sent on Thursday. That means expelling students who took part in illegal encampments, occupations, and vandalism; terminating faculty who participated; rolling back programs that have fostered anti-Semitism; and reviewing admissions practices to understand how Columbia became a hub for bigotry, lawlessness, and terrorist sympathies.

Rather than swiftly addressing civil rights violations, Columbia has chosen to throw a tantrum. Its reaction only confirms that the university deserves every consequence coming its way.


University of Pennsylvania Lays Off Anti-Semitic Cartoonist After Trump Slashes Hundreds of Millions in Federal Funding
The University of Pennsylvania has laid off its communications lecturer—who published a slew of anti-Semitic cartoons—just a year after standing by him, citing the school’s "bedrock commitment to open expression." The dismissal coincided with the Trump administration’s decision to freeze $175 million in federal funding to the school.

The Annenberg School for Communication lecturer, Dwayne Booth, announced his unemployment in a Patreon post on Friday. Booth said "the reason for the termination was budgetary," but accused universities nationwide of being "way too complicit" with a "largely Republican-led effort" to target left-wing voices.

"I was informed that the reason for the termination was budgetary, which I think is the same reason they gave to Jesus just before they crucified him, and Malcolm X just before they shot him, and what they told Eugene Debs, Susan B. Anthony, and Lenny Bruce just before jailing them. I jest, of course," Booth wrote.

"The reality – and something that, unfortunately, is not unique to Penn – is that colleges and universities nationwide have been way too complicit with the largely Republican-led efforts to target students and faculty members engaged in any and all speech rendered in support of trans/black/immigrant, and women’s rights, free speech, the independent press, academic freedom, and medical research – speech that also voices bold criticism of right-wing nationalism, genocide, apartheid, fascism, and specifically the Israeli assault on Palestine."

"The cowardice and complete lack of courage demonstrated by the UPenn administration has ruined the lives of a great number of professors and students whom I know personally, as if the total capitulation to the demands of MAGA thugs and bullies will somehow eventually ameliorate the suffering and deter the collapse of higher education," he added.

The move comes roughly a year after the Washington Free Beacon unearthed anti-Semitic cartoons from Booth, who publishes the images under the pen name "Mr. Fish."

One cartoon depicts Zionists sipping Gazan blood from wine glasses, a version of the ancient blood libel employed in anti-Semitic propaganda. Another shows Jews in a Nazi concentration camp holding signs that read "Stop the Holocaust In Gaza" and "Gaza, The World's Biggest Concentration Camp." A third depicts a Nazi flag with a Star of David drawn in place of a swastika.


Long Island teen sues for ‘trauma’ after school paints over pro-Palestinian parking spot
Long Island high school administrators painted over a student’s pro-Palestinian parking spot — and she’s suing for the “emotional trauma” of having her point of view “erased,” she said in a lawsuit.

The senior at Half Hollow Hills High School West, identified in court papers by the pseudonym Jane Khan, painted her parking spot at the Dix Hills school in late summer, an annual tradition for many schools in the region.

Starting with a coat of white paint, the teen added a picture of a watermelon with a keffiyeh pattern, her name in Arabic and the phrase “Peace Be Upon You.”

“Ms. Khan’s artwork created no substantial disruption of any school activity or threatened harm to the rights of others,” according to her Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit against the Half Hollow Hills Central School District.

But a week after classes began, a commenter in a Facebook group called “Never Forget Jewish Lives Matter” posted a photo of the paint job and urged people to call the superintendent to get it removed, Khan claimed.

The next day, Half Hollow Hills West Principal Dr. Michael Catapano allegedly hauled her into his office and “interrogated” her about the spot.

Two days later the watermelon portion of the painted spot was white washed.

“Half Hollow had no history of open tension between its ample Muslim and Jewish populations – to the contrary, it enjoyed an enviable history of positive coexistence,” Khan said in the legal filing, which seeks unspecified damages for the “emotional trauma and suffering” she endured.


University of Cambridge granted High Court injunction against protesters
The University of Cambridge has been granted a High Court order blocking Israel-Palestine protests on parts of its campus until the end of July.

Last month, a judge dismissed a request by the university for a five-year injunction blocking direct action related to the conflict on several sites without the university’s consent.

The university returned to the High Court on Wednesday, asking a judge for a four-month injunction preventing protesters from disrupting multiple graduation events on two sites planned up to July 26, the final graduation ceremony of the academic year.

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) opposed the university’s bid, with its lawyers telling the court the injunction is a “disproportionate infringement” on the human rights of the protesters and would set a “dangerous precedent” for protesting on campuses.

In a ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Soole granted the injunction, stating there is an “imminent and real risk of a recurrence” of direct action on the campus and a “strong probability that this will otherwise occur” if the order is not issued.

He said: “I am satisfied that there is a compelling need for the granting of an injunction.” He added the “proposed terms are the minimum necessary in the circumstances”.

Lawyers for the university told the court in London that last year, pro-Palestine protesters staged demonstrations at Senate House Yard and Greenwich House, which “forced” a graduation ceremony to be moved.

Myriam Stacey KC, for the university, told the hearing there is a “real and imminent risk” of further action on campus, with protesters saying “we will be back” after leaving Senate House Yard at the end of November.


Poll: Half of Gaza residents are ready to leave if given the chance
A survey published in the British Telegraph reveals that 52% of Gaza residents would leave the Gaza Strip either temporarily or permanently if given the opportunity.

The Gallup survey, which polled 532 Gaza residents aged 18 and older between March 2-13, found a population divided about their future in Gaza. While 39% indicated they would remain in Gaza with no plans to leave, 38% said they would consider temporary relocation with the intention of returning later and 14% stated they would leave permanently if possible.

This polling comes in the wake of a proposal by President Donald Trump to relocate Gazans to various countries around the world. The survey was completed just before Israel resumed military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Demographic analysis reveals younger residents under the age of 34 and those living in the most heavily damaged areas of Gaza City and Khan Younis expressed the strongest interest in leaving.

Among potential destination countries, Germany—which currently hosts an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Palestinians—was preferred by 13% of respondents. Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates followed closely behind at 12, 10, and 10 percent respectively.

Israeli and Egyptian officials refute Lebanese media claims
In a separate development, both Israeli and Egyptian authorities have denied a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar claiming Egypt had agreed to accommodate half a million Palestinians from Gaza in northern Sinai.

Two diplomatic sources informed Israel Hayom that Israel has no knowledge of any Egyptian plans. A senior Israeli official added: “We are not aware of such intentions, but if the report proves accurate, we would welcome such a development.”

The Egyptian Information Authority issued a categorical denial, stating that “these false claims directly contradict Egypt’s firm and principled position rejecting any attempt to displace Palestinians, whether by force or voluntarily.”


Turkey detains 343 people over protests against Istanbul mayor’s detention, interior ministry says
Turkish authorities have detained 343 people during overnight protests in several cities against the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

Demonstrations took place in more than a dozen cities including Turkey's biggest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara, the ministry said in a statement.

It said the detentions were made to prevent “disrupting of public order” and warned that authorities would not tolerate “chaos and provocation.”

Tens of thousands of Turks have taken to the streets in mostly peaceful demonstrations since Wednesday, when Imamoglu was detained on charges such as graft and aiding a terrorist group. He is President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival who leads him in some opinion polls.


A Facebook history page noted a massacre of British Jews. Cue the laughing emojis
The Facebook page British History has a devoted but not particularly emotive following. Multiple times a day, it posts an image and factoid from, well, British history, to a handful of comments and thumbs-up emojis.

But when it showed followers an image of Clifford’s Tower in York, England, over the weekend and informed them about an antisemitic massacre of 150 Jews that took place there in 1190, the response was different.

More than 1,600 people applied Facebook’s “laughing” emoji, signaling that they were making light of one of the starkest instances of antisemitic violence in British history. The massacre took place when an estimated 150 Jews who had taken refuge inside the tower chose to take their own lives rather than be forcibly converted; a few who sought to escape were murdered.

Several commenters rejected the hateful responses. “Disgusting to see so many people laughing at this post. Totally think you’re in the wrong group,” one wrote.

The original poster, British History, replied to another comment decrying the antisemitic reactions saying that they had blocked many of the offenders.

But a handful of antisemitic comments remained. When one commenter noted that Jews were later expelled from England and not allowed to return until the 1650s, he got a reply of his own: “Should have kept the law !!” It got 265 approving responses, compared to 100 signaling anger.

The proliferation of mocking emojis and antisemitic comments reflects a familiar dynamic for anyone engaging with Jewish content online in recent years, particularly as multiple social media platforms, including Facebook, have recently relaxed their policies against hate speech. Earlier this year, Meta, which owns Facebook, rolled back restrictions on free speech and stopped automating the detection and removal of hate speech.


Pilot has Orthodox Jewish passenger arrested for hogging bathroom, comments on how 'Jews act'
A visibly Jewish man was forced out of an airplane bathroom in a state of undress and was then subject to a virulent antisemitic rant, the Independent reported Thursday.

Yisroel Liebb, 20, was traveling from Mexico to the US and was arrested by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents after he was forcibly removed from an airplane bathroom pantsless by the plane's pilot. The agents told Liebb that he had "no rights here."

In his complaint, Liebb said that he felt “sexually violated and embarrassed after having been publicly exposed in the nude."

Liebb, an Orthodox Jew dressed in religious attire, was on a United Airlines flight from Tulum, Mexico, to Houston, Texas, the first leg of his journey to New York. He went to use the facilities about 30 minutes into the journey. He remained in the bathroom for upwards of 30 minutes because he was constipated at the time, the complaint said.

Twenty minutes after Liebb went to use the restroom, a flight attendant woke up Jacob Sebbag, who was sitting next to him and asked him to check if Liebb was alright.

Liebb said he was “experiencing constipation” and that he would be out shortly.

After another ten minutes, the pilot asked Sebbag to accompany him to the restroom to try to get Liebb out. Once there, the pilot “began yelling loudly at Liebb, demanding he leave the bathroom immediately,” the complaint read. The pilot then asked Sebbag to force Liebb out of the bathroom.

Liebb then responded to the pilot from within the restroom, telling him he would be out shortly.

“The pilot became visibly enraged, broke the lock on the door, and forced the door to the bathroom open, pulling Liebb out of the bathroom with his pants still around his ankles,” the complaint read, adding that Liebb was exposed to Sebbag, several fight attendants and nearby plane passengers.

“Liebb quickly pulled his pants back to his waist after being allowed to set his feet,” the complaint continued.

Liebb injured his head and legs when they smacked into the restroom’s door frame.

“With Sebbag leading Liebb, the pilot proceeded to repeatedly push the [two] back to their seats while making threats of getting [them] arrested and making scathing remarks about their Judaism, and how ‘Jews act,’” the complaint stated.
Israeli researchers, companies secure over 1.1 billion euros in EU grants
Israeli researchers and companies have secured grants totaling more than 1.1 billion euros from the European Union’s Horizon Europe program, the Israeli Innovation Authority reported. The achievement was celebrated Wednesday at a ceremony held at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa.

The event, organized by ISERD-the Israeli Horizon Directorate at the Innovation Authority and the European Union Delegation to Israel, honored 605 academic researchers and representatives from over 400 Israeli companies that received grants between 2021 and 2024. European Union Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev attended the ceremony and presented awards to the recipients.

In his speech, Tzantchev highlighted the strategic importance of scientific and technological cooperation between Israel and the European Union.

“Israel is one of the leading countries in the list of recipients of European Research Council grants and the European Union’s Accelerator program, an achievement that testifies to the high level of Israeli research and innovation,” he said. “The scientific and technological cooperation between the European Union and Israel continues to be one of the strongest and most fruitful areas in our relations.”
Arielle Zuckerberg, partners launch $181,818,181 fund for ‘magically weird’ startups
A venture capital firm co-led by Arielle Zuckerberg has announced a new $181.8 million fund that will back “magically weird” tech startup founders and seek to support “life and creation.”
The number — it’s actually $181,818,181.80 — is no accident. Two of the three main venture capitalists behind the new fund at the firm, called Long Journey, are Jewish: Zuckerberg, the sister of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Lee Jacobs, Long Journey’s managing partner. The third is Cyan Banister.
Jacobs wrote that the new fund, announced Wednesday, is inspired in part by his reaction to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, sparking the ongoing war.
“What’s up with all the 18s? In Jewish numerology, 18 represents ‘chai’ or ‘life.’ Growing up, I was often given gifts in increments of 18; it was a blessing for life,” Jacobs wrote.
“The horrific attacks in Israel on October 7th awakened something dormant at my core—a deep inner knowing of my purpose and what I’m willing to fight for. This fund, with its repetition of 18s, embodies my commitment to supporting life and creation.”
Zuckerberg tweeted that the number is “a symbol of life, health, and prosperity.”


Gadi Mozes recounts 482 days of solitary captivity: ‘Everything was psychological abuse’
Gadi Mozes, who was freed by terrorists in Gaza in January as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal, said in an interview broadcast Thursday that in his 482 days of solitary captivity, “everything that happened to me was psychological abuse.”

“The depth of the fear, the depth of disconnection from the world, the depth of the unknown — it’s impossible to convey,” the Kibbutz Nir Oz farmer, 80, told Channel 12.

He added that his Palestinian Islamic Jihad captors “tried to depress me, tried to break me.”

“The entire time, I was on guard and focused only on how they won’t hurt me. How I survive,” said Mozes.

“I would calm myself down,” he said. “I would tell myself, ‘This will work itself out.’ But in retrospect… that was an illusion. I didn’t actually calm myself down.”

Mozes said he had wanted to be interviewed for a long time: “What’s urgent for me is my friends who are still there.” Gadi Mozes, 80, surrounded by gunmen during his release from captivity in Khan Younis, Gaza, January 30, 2025. (Via social media)

“I know very well that I’m the only elderly man who survived and came back alive,” said Mozes. “I know very well the suffering and the torture faced by all the people who were there and have returned, the people who died and the people who are still there.”

Referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he asked: “The prime minister, does he want to hear from us? Does he understand what we feel? Does he want to understand what a sense of betrayal we feel, that the state abandoned us?”

“I think this prime minister has marked us as people he doesn’t see,” he said.

Mozes also assailed Netanyahu for failing to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz, since it was ravaged in the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023. Of the kibbutz’s approximately 400 residents, 117 were either killed or kidnapped and 14 are still being held in Gaza, including nine whose deaths have been declared by Israeli authorities.




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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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