Monday, April 14, 2025

04/14 Links: A Tale of Two Abrahams; Gov. Shapiro’s home was targeted in an arson attack; Murray, Rogan and the limits of ‘edgelordism’; ‘Dry Bones’ cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen dies at 87

From Ian:

A Tale of Two Abrahams
REVIEW: 'Abraham: The First Jew'
Julius retells the idol-smashing midrash and the canonical biblical Abrahamic narrative with bold creative license—Terah "was a manufacturer, a retailer, and a trader, the owner of shops in Ur and elsewhere, a person of substantial means and well-connected to the ruling circles in the city." He has a teenage Abraham arguing against the mighty pagan king Nimrod who sought to punish the boy for his stunt defending himself in language no teen would ever use—"Adolescence is an underrated period in a person's life!" the unbowed Abraham shouts. "You by contrast are nothing more than a geriatric dictator. Indeed, you are immobilized in that role, without creativity or prospects for growth or change." When three angels appear before Abraham in the guise of men in an episode described in Genesis's 18th chapter, Julius rewrites the opening scene meditatively: "He saw three men. They were not ordinary men. Perhaps they were not men at all. Perhaps there were not three but only one. Perhaps it was not one but the One."

Amid the action, Abraham the first argues with the second. "In your fidelity to faith, your meta-faithfulness, you imprison yourself in the logic of others—of the Other," the former flings at the latter. "You have no piety," Abraham the second replies. "You think humanity is nothing but an indifferent accident on the surface of being."

Unlike the two seemingly disparate accounts of the first human's origin, there is no indication in the biblical text that there are two sides to Abraham's persona. He receives revelation from God at the start of his journey to the Promised Land (the Bible offers no details about his youth) as well as decades later. He demonstrates commitment to the covenant with God despite challenges, from fleeing to Egypt during a famine to arguing for the sparing of Sodom to mourning the death of his beloved wife Sarah.

"Every Jewish life is two lives, the lives of the two Abrahams," Julius insists.

Julius's Abraham is, of course, a stand-in for the author's wrestling with his own spirituality. In analyzing the near-sacrifice of Isaac, known as the Akedah, or Binding of Isaac, he cites the author Wendy Zierler's complaint that "the Akedah seems to fail as a recipe for passing on religious convictions to living children who we love." "I respond, yes of course it does," says Julius. "That is its purpose, or at least part of its purpose. Its 'failure' is its triumph. It makes Judaism difficult." To Julius, the Akedah asks readers to wonder: "Is sacrifice truly the highest spiritual value? Can God truly be trusted? Should we truly elevate religion above ethics? These questions are Judaism's challenge to itself."

The coda of the book presents the reader with a brief summary of perspectives on Abraham by various faith communities and seminal modern thinkers, including pre-rabbinic Judaism, the Talmud, Christianity, Freud, Hegel, and Kafka.

A quip about the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides seems apt. He has been so used and misused by subsequent scholars in support of their personal beliefs that there is My-monides and Your-monides. Julius has offered us his Abraham. The reader may choose to sacrifice it on the altar.
Ukraine and Israel are fighting two fronts in the same war — the West must support both
Domestic politics play a role in this positioning. Canada’s large Ukrainian diaspora — one of the biggest in the world — ensures that support for Kyiv is a near-universal political consensus. By contrast, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is deeply polarizing, with large segments of the Liberal electorate critical of Israeli policy. To avoid alienating key voter blocs, Carney has opted for a middle ground that lacks strategic coherence or vision.

But if Israel faces another escalation from Iran or Hezbollah, or if Washington pressures allies to align more closely with its pro-Israel position, Canada may be forced to choose between diplomatic neutrality and its alliance with the U.S. A failure to support Israel could deepen divisions within the western alliance.

Ultimately, the U.S. and Canada’s opposing priorities are self-defeating. The same adversaries are behind both conflicts. Tehran supplies Moscow with drones and other advanced military equipment to sustain its war against Ukraine, while Russia has provided Iran with military aircraft, intelligence and assistance in bypassing sanctions.

In addition, both countries seek to undermine the West by draining its resources, eroding its unity and proving that democracies lack the will to fight. If the West cannot recognize this interconnected challenge, it will remain a step behind its adversaries.

This division also fuels cynicism among allies. In eastern Europe, there is growing frustration that the U.S. prioritizes Israel over Ukraine. In the Middle East, there is anger that western countries that rush to defend Ukraine show hesitation when Israel is attacked. These perceptions matter. They shape alliances and determine how willing nations will be to stand with the West in future crises.

Moreover, failing to support both Ukraine and Israel weakens deterrence elsewhere. Nowhere is this clearer than in Taiwan. China watches how the U.S. and its allies handle these conflicts. A western failure to sustain Ukraine would reinforce Beijing’s belief that the U.S. will not intervene forcefully if Taiwan is attacked. Taiwan is now more vulnerable than ever.

All told, the West does not have the luxury of picking its battles. The U.S. should not allow domestic politics to weaken Ukraine’s war effort, and Canada must overcome its reluctance to fully support Israel — its strongest and oldest regional ally.

Instead of reacting to crises as they arise, the West must proactively strengthen deterrence against authoritarian actors. This means permanent military aid for Ukraine and Israel, enhanced NATO co-ordination in eastern Europe and a clearer containment strategy for Iran.

If the West cannot muster the will to defend Ukraine and Israel simultaneously, it will lose more than two wars — it will lose its credibility, its deterrence and, ultimately, its global leadership.
‘Dry Bones’ cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen dies at 87
Israeli cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen, whose iconic daily cartoons were published by JNS for the last several years, died at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba on Monday after a lengthy illness, aged 87.

After making aliyah in 1971, the Brooklyn-born Kirschen began sketching his trademark “Dry Bones” cartoons in 1973. The cartoon was internationally syndicated and published in The Jerusalem Post for 50 years, after which Kirschen moved to JNS.

The name of Kirschen’s comic strip referred to the biblical vision of the “Valley of Dry Bones,” with its main character named Shuldig, which is Yiddish for guilty or blame.

“The cartoon started on January 1, 1973,” he once explained. “I named it Dry Bones, thinking that everyone would immediately connect the name with the ‘dry bones’ that will rise again, from the Book of Ezekiel. But the question that I get asked most often is ‘Where does the name ‘Dry Bones’ come from?’ So what I thought would be most obvious was not obvious at all.”

A member of the U.S. National Cartoonists Society and the Israeli Cartoonists Society, Kirschen won several awards and was considered a “national treasure of the Jewish people.” Among the prizes he received were the Israeli Museum of Caricature and Comics’ Golden Pencil Award and the 2014 Nefesh B’Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize for his contribution to Israeli culture and the arts.

He is survived by his artist wife, Sali Ariel, three daughters, three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.


Telling victims’ stories, artist turns Nova’s killing fields into a healing memorial
A remote parking lot near Kibbutz Re’im on the Gaza border in southern Israel would normally be an unlikely destination for some 7,000 Israeli and overseas visitors a day.

But as the scene of the most extensive slaughter carried out by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and one of the few sites related to that day that are open to the public, it has become a magnet for pilgrimage and the most visited location in Israel.

This is where thousands of people, mainly young adults, gathered for the Supernova music festival to welcome the dawn on that fateful Saturday morning.

What was meant to be a celebration quickly turned into a nightmare as Hamas terrorists invaded, under a rain of missiles, spraying revelers with gunfire and raping many before murdering them.

Photos and video show panicked crowds running for their lives, cars riddled with bullets, and a road strewn with dead bodies.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, 344 civilians who attended the Nova party and 34 security personnel were killed amid the attack, which, according to testimonies, included sexual crimes and other brutal acts. The terrorists abducted another 44 to the Gaza Strip, several of whom were killed in captivity. Others were killed after seeking shelter elsewhere.

Even before knowing the fate of their loved ones, shattered families began erecting makeshift memorials on the site soon after the massacre.

Now, thanks to the volunteer efforts of Tel Aviv-based artist Amir Chodorov and support from the bereaved families and the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund, the ad hoc memorial is being transformed into a moving and dignified tribute to the victims, so many of whom represented Israel’s best, Chodorov told The Times of Israel.


‘#Nova’ film, about Oct. 7 atrocities, arrives on Prime Video
“#NOVA,” the documentary from Yes Studios chronicling the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack and massacre at the Nova desert rave, is now available on Prime Video.

Yes Studios has said that the 52-minute documentary is the most viewed film in the company’s history.

“’#NOVA’ is one of our most talked-about and controversial films,” said Sharon Levi, managing director of Yes Studios, “and always attracted a huge amount of interest when we held exclusive screenings at selected international venues.”

Levi has said that having the documentary available on Prime Video allows it to meet the significant ongoing global demand that still exists.

“We may be 18 months on from this terrible day, but with 59 hostages still being held and the images from the October 7 attacks still etched on our collective memories, ‘#NOVA’ remains an important, unique, and must-see film,” she said. “Not only does it document the brutal start of the war, but it also captures different viewpoints without a conventional news agenda or, indeed, any narrative filters. Instead, the self-shot, real-time footage presents a truly authentic account of what happened at the festival and provides a lasting testimony to the events of that day.”

It took Israeli filmmaker Dan Pe’er less than two months to create the intensely raw and painful documentary about the October 7 onslaught.
Hamas releases propaganda clip of hostage Edan Alexander
Hamas published on Saturday night a propaganda video showing signs of life from Israeli-American hostage soldier Edan Alexander.

In the three-minute video, Alexander says he has been held captive for 551 days, suggesting it was filmed on Wednesday.

“Our Edan, a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel and enlisted in the Golani Brigade to defend the country and its citizens, is still being held captive by Hamas,” Alexander’s family said in a statement on Saturday.

“So, when you sit down to mark Passover, remember that this is not a holiday of freedom as long as Edan and the other 58 hostages are not home,” it added.

Alexander’s family did not authorize the broadcasting or distribution of the video.

Alexander was kidnapped in uniform from a post near Kibbutz Nirim during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist invasion.

Originally from Tenafly, N.J., he is the only one of the five remaining American hostages believed to still be alive.

Former captives told Alexander’s family that he had been held in a tunnel for more than 500 days, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on March 6. He appeared severely malnourished and had been tortured and kept in chains for a long time, they said.

In November, Hamas released a video of Alexander that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as “cruel psychological warfare.”


Trump warns Iran of 'harsh' response if nuclear talks stall
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated his firm stance that Iran must not acquire a nuclear weapon, repeating threats of military action and accusing Tehran of stalling negotiations on a new nuclear agreement.

Speaking at the White House following the conclusion of the first round of indirect talks held in Oman over the weekend, Trump expressed frustration over the pace of discussions. Trump warns Iran of 'harsh things' on Monday

“We had a meeting with them on Saturday. We have another meeting scheduled next Saturday. I said, ‘That’s a long time,’” Trump said. “I think they’re tapping us along because they were so used to dealing with stupid people in this country.”

Trump warned that negotiations must move quickly, claiming Iran was “fairly close” to obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“And if we have to do something very harsh, we’ll do it,” he said. When asked if that included striking Iranian nuclear facilities, the president replied, “Of course it does.”


UKLFI: Dr Efrat Sopher explains the importance of US Iran talks on LBC
Dr Efrat Sopher, UKLFI CT Trustee & Chair of Advisory Board of Ezri Center for Iran & Gulf States Research at Haifa University, discusses the US Iran talks with Henry Riley on LBC on 13 April 2025, explaining their importance and the seriousness of the Iranian nuclear threat




Pennsylvania charges man attempting attack on Jewish gov. with terrorism, arson, attempted murder
A 38-year-old man named Cody Balmer is in custody for the arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's residence in Harrisburg late on Saturday night, Pennsylvania state authorities said at a press conference on Sunday.

Balmer had homemade incendiary devices in his possession and made it inside the residence before leaving, according to the state police commissioner. He was apprehended on Sunday in the Harrisburg area.

His charges will include terrorism, attempted murder, and arson.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro on Sunday said the governor's residence was set on fire overnight by an arsonist, prompting his family's evacuation.

"Last night at about 2AM, my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg," Shapiro posted on social media, "Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished."

Shapiro, a Democrat in a competitive US electoral state, is considered a potential candidate for his party's presidential contest in 2028.

"While the fire was successfully extinguished, it caused a significant amount of damage to a portion of the residence," said the Pennsylvania State Police, the department investigating the alleged arson.

"While the investigation is ongoing, the State Police is prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson," the state police said. The investigators did not cite any potential motive.


Greek terrorist group dedicates bombings to Palestinian ‘resistance’
A far-left Greek terrorist organization paid tribute to the Palestinians’ “heroic resistance” as it claimed responsibility for two bombings in central Athens, the Associated Press agency reported on Sunday.

“We dedicate these two actions to the Palestinian people and their heroic resistance,” Revolutionary Class Struggle stated in a lengthy Greek-language manifesto posted to the Indymedia website, taking responsibility for a bomb that exploded near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s railway services operator, on Friday, as well as the planting of a another IED near the Labor Ministry on Feb. 3, 2024.

The statement accused Athens of playing an active role in what it denounced as “the American-Zionist genocidal war in Palestine.”

The two bombings did not lead to any injuries, causing only material damage. In both instances, the terrorists warned of the impending blasts by informing local media some 40 minutes before the attack.

Attacks on government institutions and banks have been recurrent in the Hellenic Republic for many years and are generally attributed to local extreme-left-wing and anarchist terrorist organizations.

Revolutionary Class Struggle’s manifesto slammed the government’s response to mass protests that erupted earlier this year over a railway disaster in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured.

“What the government and its bosses—both domestic and foreign— attempted to do since Jan. 26, 2025, and of course, long before that, was to impose a fascist-style regime on the country,” the terrorist group stated. “A regime that they had been carefully laying the foundations for over the years through specific actions: repressive and deadly management of the pandemic, wiretapping, employer and state terrorism, turning the country into a vast American military base [in] alliance with Israel.”

In November, the Israeli Foreign Ministry warned its citizens in Greece to briefly stay away from the embassy in Athens and avoid the public display of Israeli and Jewish symbols, among other security measures, ahead of extreme-left and pro-Palestinian protests that turned violent.

The rallies were called under the pretext of the commemoration of the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, which was a massive student demonstration against the Greek military junta of 1967-1974.
Prince Harry’s Archewell stops donating to charity over founder’s ‘anti-Israel’ remarks
Prince Harry’s charity has halted donations to a Muslim women’s group over comments made by its founder describing Israel as “an apartheid state”.

The Archewell Foundation, which was set up by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2020, is understood to have severed ties with the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition earlier this week.

The decision came after the non-profit organisation, whose motto is “show up, do good”, was made aware of a blog post by Janan Najeeb, the founder of the coalition, according to the US site NewsNation.

In an online post for the Wisconsin Muslim Journal in February last year, Ms Najeeb repeatedly used the “from the river to the sea” slogan and called for “an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel”.

The Archewell Foundation donated $27,960 (£21,373) to Ms Najeeb’s charity in 2023, according to tax returns for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s organisation.

The Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, a non-profit group established in 1994 “to empower Muslim women and girls through education, leadership, outreach, and wellness programs”, also received a donation from Archewell in 2024, according to its website.
School Of War Podcast: Ep 189: Andrew Roberts on October 7th and Antisemitism
Lord Andrew Roberts, the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution and chair of the 7 October Parliamentary Commission Report, joins the show to discuss October 7th revisionism, the potency of antisemitism, and the strange effort to reinterpret World War II.

Times
• 01:56 Introduction
• 02:35 Why?
• 03:48 No room for debate
• 05:34 Not “accidental”
• 16:13 Cooper’s conclusions
• 20:13 Peace with Hitler
• 22:53 Destroying the foundation
• 25:06 Free speech
• 27:39 Gaza endgame
Finding Solace and Strength in Israel
REVIEW: ‘On Democracy and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization’ by Douglas Murray
I got to know Douglas Murray in the worst week in modern Jewish memory. Hearing him speak was, without question, the best moment in that week, a bright beacon in dark days.

I had been scheduled to speak in October 2023 in a London synagogue, at an event about my recent book. Following the horror of the 7th, with more terrible revelations emerging every day, it was decided to transform the event into a reflection on what had occurred. Douglas was the first asked to speak. Over 10 minutes of astonishing eloquence—in a speech that has been viewed over a million times on YouTube—Douglas told the British Jews assembled in the sanctuary that they were not alone and that there were many around the world who stood with the Jewish people against the barbarians. I will never forget his final words:

I speak for myself when I quote, if I may, in closing, one of my favorite lines in Scripture from the book of Ruth. You all know it. "Whither thou goest, I will go. And where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people and thy God my God." And I tell you this with utter certainty. If they keep coming for the Jews, they keep coming for you: I’ll tell you this. They may come for the Zionists. Very well. I am a Zionist. They may keep coming for the Israelis. Very well. I’m an Israeli. They may come continuously for the Jews. Very well. I’m a Jew. Am Yisrael Chai.

Douglas, of course, is not a Jew; and if one wishes to understand why he so identifies with the Jewish people, they should read his new book, On Democracy and Death Cults: Israel and the Future of Civilization. In a certain sense, this work is similar to his previous publications, offering a striking reflection on the future of the West, and on the reluctance of so many to defend its values.

But this moving book is much more, because of its personal nature, giving us a window into the mind, and heart, of a Gentile who has stood with the Jews, and who has spent so much of the last year and a half in the Jewish state. We are with him as he meets bereaved families, when he witnesses the hell on earth that is the remnant of Jewish towns near Gaza; we are with him when he is experiencing an Israeli society at war, and when he is embedded with the Israeli soldiers waging war. We are with him as he sits in the holiday hut that embodies the Jewish festival of Sukkot, and learns from an army source that Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7 attacks, had been killed. And then, incredibly, we are with him soon after, as he visits the very site where Sinwar breathed his last, and sits in the seat where the monster had spent his final moments on earth, the blood of the villain still on the chair as Douglas reflects on what he sees, and on where he is.
Democracies & Death Cults: Douglas Murray on Grooming Gangs, Hamas & the Moral Collapse of the West
Author and commentator Douglas Murray joins Camilla Tominey to discuss his powerful new book “On Democracies and Death Cults”. In this wide-ranging and hard-hitting interview, Murray reflects on the October 7th Hamas attacks, the UK’s failure to confront Islamic extremism, and the shameful lack of action on grooming gangs.

He questions why Britain continues to tolerate open displays of support for terrorist groups, why inquiries have replaced prosecutions, and what the West’s reaction to Islamist violence says about the state of our civilisation.

Plus, Murray addresses the brutal prison attack by Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, and the wider questions of security, justice, and accountability.


TalkTV: "Many On The Side Of The DEATH Cult!" | Douglas Murray Hits Out At Society Over Israel-Hamas
Author Douglas Murray tells Julia Hartley-Brewer about his new book On Democracies and Death Cults: Israel, Hamas and the Future of the West.

"When atrocities of this scale happen, so many people in our society are not on the side of the victims but are on the side of the death cult."

Douglas Murray adds that he confronted Joe Rogan for allowing guests on his podcast that ‘alter the narrative of the Holocaust’.

He tells Julia:
“If you’re diminishing the crimes of Hitler and you’re attacking our wartime leader, Churchill, you are on the wrong side.”


Chris Williamson: Why Has The World Gone Insane? - Douglas Murray
Douglas Murray is a journalist, author and associate editor of The Spectator.

Some see The West in decline, others believe we're entering a bold, uncharted era of opportunity. So how do we preserve the foundations of the West while also protecting the cultural values that make it worth saving?

Expect to learn what Douglas thinks of Trumps first few months in office, Douglas’ advice for the democratic arty if they want to win in the upcoming elections, why the Trump-Zelensky meeting was disappointing, if the West is still trying to ‘erase itself’ according to Douglas or if we have moved past that, what the current state of the UK is like, lessons for the wider world from Ukraine and the middle east, why Douglas sued The Guardian and the fallout of that and much more…

00:00 Current State Of Trump's Effort In Office
09:30 Should The Democratic Party Have People The Public Want?
19:54 Will Life In The UK Get Better?
34:51 Is It Unhealthy To Keep Up With The News?
47:37 What Wartime Does To People
57:38 Behind The Title Of Douglas' Latest Book
1:04:56 The Global Rise In Conspiracy Theories
1:13:22 Who Is To Blame?
1:20:26 Lessons From Conflicts For The Wider World
1:31:59 How Douglas Has Avoided Becoming Pessimistic
1:50:25 Things People Misunderstand About Douglas
1:53:30 Douglas' Upcoming Work Projects




Brendan O'Neill: Murray, Rogan and the limits of ‘edgelordism’
This pod clash has shone a light on the limits of edgelordism. It seems even self-styled iconoclasts dutifully bend at the altar of anti-Israel sentiment. Even dudebros who doubt everything from the efficacy of vaccines to the idea that a fella can be a lesbian will happily bow to the establishment mantra that Israel is the wickedest nation. No number of red pills, it seems, can inoculate you against the potent allure of modish Israel-hate. Hence, you’ll see even unwoke comics coming off like some genderfluid intern at Human Rights Watch the minute the Jewish State is raised.

Israelophobia is the great unifying obsession of our times. It’s rife in both establishment circles and among the performative radicals of the revolting campus. It binds the crank right and the woke left. Fascist midget Nick Fuentes holds forth on the vileness of Israel every day. So does Owen Jones, the gurning darling of Britain’s bourgeois left. A new ‘insurgent’ right is coalescing around hostility towards the Jewish nation just as the left has done for years. The end result is that you can’t go online these days without seeing someone – whether it’s a phoney Marxoid in Arab headgear or one of those ‘Hitler had a point’ dudes – saying that Israel is the most murderous and nefarious of nations.

Well, maybe they’re all correct, some will say. They aren’t, though. Both Israel’s woke and unwoke haters trade in untruths. Both peddle hyperbole, both obfuscate. Both damn Israel for ‘massacring 50,000 Palestinians’ yet never see fit to mention how many of the dead are Hamas terrorists who dream of killing all Jews. Both slam Israel for bombing civilian infrastructure while gleefully overlooking that Hamas is inside that infrastructure, plotting Israel’s destruction. Both have become blind to other awful conflicts – like Sudan or Myanmar – as if the Jewish nation’s war on its invaders were so incalculably wicked that it makes every other instance of human suffering pale into insignificance. You don’t need a PhD in the hysterias of the pre-modern era to hear echoes – unwitting in many cases, not so much in others – of yesteryear’s suspicion of Jews. The 1400s called – they want their bigotry back.

Good on Murray for calling this out. Rogan is a clever bloke: he fizzes with an intellectual curiosity too often absent in our stifling times. If he could only aim his iconoclasm at that most foul icon of our times – hatred for Israel – then public debate might improve immeasurably. Do it, Joe.


IDF says Houthi missile intercepted; shrapnel falls in West Bank
Air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired at Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen early on Sunday evening, according to the military.

The Houthis claimed to have fired two missiles in the attack, one targeting the Sdot Micha Airbase — where according to foreign reports Israel holds nuclear-capable Jericho missiles — and the other aimed at Ben Gurion Airport.

The Israel Defense Forces reported that only one missile reached Israel, and was successfully intercepted by air defenses. The second likely fell short, similar to numerous other recent Houthi attacks.

There were no injuries or major damage in the missile attack, though shrapnel from the interception reportedly fell in the Hebron area in the West Bank.

Sirens sounded across central Israel, Jerusalem, and in some West Bank settlements.

The Houthis further claimed to have targeted a “vital Israeli enemy target” in the Ashkelon area with a drone, but there were no reports of aircraft reaching Israel from Yemen in the past day.


A Paratrooper And A Yogi: Why is Israel Bombing Gaza Hospitals???
Welcome to the A Paratrooper and a Yogi Walk Into a Bar... Podcast, where veteran paratrooper Andrew Fox and expert yogi Shana Meyerson discuss the most interesting events relating to Israel, war in the Middle East, and antisemitism in the past week. 🥂

JUMPING IN WITH ANDREW: Andrew explores the bombing of the al-Alhi Hospital in Gaza. Why would the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) target a hospital??? [p.s. there were zero injuries or casualties] 🪂

YOGI YADA-YADA WITH SHANA: Shana talks about Hamas's legal bid to be delisted as a terrorist organization in the UK. Why now??? And will they win the case??? 🤸

Andrew Fox is a research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society. He served for 16 years in the British Army, leaving the Parachute Regiment with the rank of Major. He completed 3 tours in Afghanistan including one attached to US Army Special Forces, as well as further tours of Bosnia, Northern Ireland and the Middle East. He was a senior lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, teaching in the War Studies and Behavioural Science departments. In the last year he has visited Gaza twice as well as Hezbollah tunnels in Lebanon. Andrew is a regular Middle East commentator on GB News, TalkTV and LBC radio, and has been published in The Spectator, The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, New York Post and The Tablet, amongst others.


IDF kills deputy head of Hamas sniper cell in Deir el-Balah
The IDF killed Ubayd Allah Na'im al-Hadhud Musa, who served as the deputy head of a Hamas sniper cell in the Deir el-Balah area, the military announced Sunday.

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

The military had confirmed earlier on Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas command and control center in the area in a joint operation with Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency).

"At the time of the strike, numerous Hamas terrorists were operating from within the compound, planning terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops. The targeted terrorists had further plans to carry out additional attacks," the IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement.
IDF says it hit a Hamas command center embedded in Gaza City hospital
The Israeli military carried out an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza City early Sunday, after telling staff and patients to evacuate ahead of the overnight attack, one of a series of strikes that Israel said was targeting Hamas operational centers.

According to the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency, the strike targeted a Hamas command center embedded within the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.

No casualties were reported in the hospital strike, with Israel issuing a warning to evacuate the facility before the attack.

Another Hamas command center was also struck in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah around noon Sunday, as numerous Hamas operatives were at the facility, the IDF and Shin Bet said.

Palestinian media reported that the strike hit Deir al-Balah’s municipality building and that three people were killed in the strike.

The IDF and Shin Bet said Hamas used both compounds — at the hospital and in Deir al-Balah — to plan and carry out attacks against troops and Israeli civilians.

In both strikes, the military said it took steps to mitigate civilian harm, including using “precision munitions” and aerial surveillance. At the hospital, the IDF also provided an early warning to civilians in the area.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, while brutally exploiting civilian buildings and the civilian population as human shields for terrorist operations,” the army said, calling on the terror group to cease using medical facilities as cover.


The Ayaan Hirsi Ali Podcast: Why Israel must serve as a model to the West | Richard Kemp | EP13
Ayaan is joined by Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer who spent three decades fighting terrorists and insurgents around the world, including as commander of British forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He has been present during each conflict between Israel and Hamas since 2008 and has been in Israel since the beginning of the current Gaza war. He talks about why Israel deserves the West’s support, the reason many Arab countries secretly support Israel, diplomatic failure in resolving the conflict in Gaza, and his worry that Britain is sleepwalking into a disaster scenario that makes it vulnerable to mass terror attacks.


Melanie Phillips: The Truth About Hamas' Sponsors
“They have been deceiving us for years.” Melanie Phillips reveals how Qatar and Egypt have supported Hamas — financially and politically — while posing as neutral players in the Israel–Palestine conflict.

Melanie Phillips is a British public commentator with a distinguished career in journalism. She began her professional journey writing for The Guardian and New Statesman and currently contributes to The Times, The Jerusalem Post, and The Jewish Chronicle, focusing on political and social issues. Phillips has also appeared as a panelist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze and BBC One’s Question Time. In recognition of her journalistic contributions, she was awarded the Orwell Prize for Journalism in 1996 while writing for The Observer. Her other published works include the memoir Guardian Angel: My Story, My Britain.




Erin Molan: 'I'm Threatened For Speaking The TRUTH': Muslim writer Dalia Ziada In An Eye-Opening Interview!
Erin Molan sits down with Muslim writer and human rights advocate Dalia Ziada for an eye-opening conversation about truth, courage, and the high cost of speaking out. From facing threats over her public stance to challenging authoritarian regimes and radical ideologies, Dalia shares her fearless perspective on the Middle East, the West’s blind spots, and the global war on free speech.

In this must-watch interview, Dalia exposes the dangerous consequences of telling the truth in a world that often doesn’t want to hear it. With powerful insight and unwavering honesty, she breaks down what’s really happening behind the headlines — and why the silence of many is enabling extremism.




European Union to boost PA funding with $1.8 billion over three years
The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview published Monday.

Dubravka Suica, the European commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption, bad governance, and incentivizing terrorism.

“We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won’t be strong enough and credible to be an interlocutor, not only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel,” Suica said.

Suica said 620 million euros would go to financial support and reform of the PA, 576 million euros to “resilience and recovery” of the West Bank and Gaza, and 400 million euros would come in loans from the European Investment Bank, subject to the approval of its governing body.

She said average EU support for the PA had amounted to about 400 million euros over the past 12 years.

“We are investing now in a credible manner in the Palestinian Authority,” Suica said.
PA President Abbas, French President Macron discuss Israel-Hamas ceasefire, reject Gaza plan
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, along with plans for Gaza, during a Monday phone call, Palestinian state-run WAFA News Agency reported Monday.

Abbas emphasized the "urgent need for a ceasefire and the swift delivery of humanitarian aid" into the Gaza Strip.

Abbas also stated his "firm rejection" of the plan to relocate Gazans from the Strip.

The two discussed the possibility of the Palestinian Authority assuming “full responsibility” in Gaza, including security duties, with the goal of “international legitimacy, one system, one law, and one legitimate source of arms.”

France’s recognition of a Palestinian state
Macron said on Wednesday France could recognize a Palestinian state in June, adding that in turn some countries in the Middle East could recognize the state of Israel.

"We need to move towards recognition (of a Palestinian state). And so over the next few months, we will. I'm not doing it to please anyone. I'll do it because at some point it will be right," he said during an interview on France 5 television.

"And because I also want to take part in a collective dynamic that should also enable those who defend Palestine to recognize Israel in their turn, something that many of them are not doing."
Yair Netanyahu to Macron: ‘Screw you’ over ‘Palestine’ recognition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair on Saturday told French President Emmanuel Macron to “screw you,” following the announcement Paris could recognize a Palestinian state later this year.

“Screw you! Yes to independence of New Caledonia! Yes to independence to French Polynesia! Yes to independence of Corsica! Yes to independence of the Basque Country! Yes to independence of French Guinea! Stop the neo imperialism of France in west Africa!” tweeted Yair Netanyahu.

Responding to his son’s remarks on Sunday night, Netanyahu said Yair was “entitled to his personal opinion, although the style of his response to President Macron’s tweet calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state is unacceptable to me.

“President Macron is gravely mistaken in continuing to promote the idea of a Palestinian state in the heart of our country, whose sole aspiration is the destruction of the State of Israel,” he stated.

Netanyahu noted that “to this day, not a single official of Hamas or the Palestinian Authority has condemned the atrocities of the most horrific massacre committed against Jews since the Holocaust, which reveals their true attitude toward the Jewish state.


Emily Thornberry: time is coming to recognise Palestinian state
Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Emily Thornberry has appeared to back calls for the UK to join with the French and other international “friends” in recognising the state of Palestine.

Asked for her view on when the UK should come out in support of recognition, the MP for Islington South said: “The time is coming. If we don’t act now, there will be no Palestine left to recognise. We need to do it with the French. There are a lot of other countries sitting back and waiting.”

The former shadow foreign secretary’s comments came after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, suggested his country plans to recognise Palestine at an international conference set for June.


London cop who worked in hate crimes unit sacked for antisemitic posts after Oct. 7
A London police officer has been sacked for posting “antisemitic and grossly offensive” messages on Instagram in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack, police announced Friday.

One of DC Ibrahim Khan’s posts contained an image of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler morphing into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the text “the irony of becoming what you once hated.”

In the summary of his hearing, police said the probe into Khan centered on messages the officer posted on an Instagram account to around 250 people between 17-23 October, 2023.

“Individually and collectively, these messages are antisemitic and grossly offensive, and in reposting them, DC Khan’s actions amount to gross misconduct,” police said.

Other images posted by Khan included a photo of a mass grave from 1945 next to what purported to be a mass grave in Gaza, while a third post contained the text “Gazans have none of this. It’s a concentration camp.” Multiple other images were cited in the police statement, including one in which Khan had added the text: “Every day they invent some new bullshit lie to try gain Western sympathy” and “fuck them.”

The officer in charge of the investigation said that the posts “all draw explicit comparisons between contemporary Israeli policy and the Nazis,” and were therefore in violation of the IHRA definition of antisemitism.


Green Day condemned for changing lyrics to reference Gaza at Coachella
Green Day has come under fire after using their headline Coachella performance to criticise Israel, changing the lyrics of one of their songs to reference children in Gaza.

During their Saturday night set at the California festival, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong altered the lyrics of the band’s 2004 track Jesus of Suburbia, replacing the original line “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimised” with “Running away from pain like the kids from Palestine / Tales from another broken home.” Coachella Festival. Photo Credit: Wikipedia

The move, which drew loud cheers from the crowd, prompted critics online, with Israeli writer and social media influencer Hen Mazzig accusing the band of using children for political point-scoring.

“I hate how celebrities pit our kids against each other. Both Israeli and Palestinian children deserve the world’s sympathy and care. Plus, advocating for Palestinian children to live in safety and for Israeli children to get their fathers back aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand-in-hand,” he wrote on X.

Green Day, formed in California in 1987, are known for their politically charged lyrics and performances. They previously altered their 2004 track Holiday during the 2016 US presidential election, calling then-candidate Donald Trump a “white supremacist”. In 2023, they changed a lyric in American Idiot to say, “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda”.


Secretary of State Marco Rubio: Why making America safer means revoking visas when threats arise
Visiting America is not an entitlement. It is a privilege extended to those who respect our laws and values. And, as Secretary of State, I will never forget that.

U.S. law lays out clear rules about who can and cannot come to the United States. The State Department’s consular officers are required to apply these rules to each of the millions of visa applicants around the world each year. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), aliens who endorse or espouse terrorist activity or persuade others to endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization – such as Hamas – are ineligible for U.S. visas.

What’s more, the INA gives us broad authority to revoke a visa. This authority is fundamental to safeguarding our national security, as well as protecting Americans and lawful visitors within our borders. The Trump administration’s commitment to security and the enforcement of our immigration laws is unprecedented and unwavering. We expect – and the law requires – all visa holders to demonstrate their eligibility every day their visa is valid. This includes respecting our laws, behaving appropriately according to their visa type, and continuing to meet these standards throughout their stay in our country.

U.S. visa holders should know in no uncertain terms that the U.S. government’s rigorous security vetting does not end once a visa is granted. Working together with DHS and other law-enforcement and security agencies, we continuously monitor and review these cases. This vigilance is essential because circumstances can and do change. For example, visas may be revoked if the visa holder has engaged in violent crime or drunk driving, supporting terrorism, overstaying the time permitted for their visit, performing illegal work -- or anything else that violates the terms on which we granted them this privilege or compromises the safety of our fellow Americans. When information about such activities comes to the department’s attention, our expert staff review it and assess whether revocation is appropriate.


Canada’s Tory leader vows to deport foreigners for antisemitic crimes
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, on the campaign trail, vowed Saturday to deport foreigners from Canada for criminal hatemongering, accusing pro-Palestinian protestors’ “hate marches” of contributing to a spike in antisemitism.

Poilievre was campaigning in an Ottawa electoral district contested by Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney, who this week drew the ire of his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu over remarks on the war in Gaza.

“We will bring in tougher laws to target vandalism, hate marches that break laws [and] violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion,” Poilievre told reporters.

“Anyone who is here on a visitor visa who carries out law-breaking will be deported from this country,” he added, words echoing messaging from the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Poilievre has in the past sought to distance himself from Trump, whose economic attacks and threats to annex the United States’ northern neighbor have outraged the Canadian electorate.

The Canadian conservative decried pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were contributing to a worsening situation with regard to hate crimes.

He condemned “the targeting of synagogues and Jewish schools with hate, vandalism, violence [and] firebombings.”
Mahmoud Khalil’s lawyers claim Nazis enjoy more rights than anti-Israel protesters — as they blast judge’s deportation decision
Lawyers for Columbia University agitator Mahmoud Khalil argued that Nazis can “express their beliefs” in the United States while their client faces deportation – and dramatically warned that “anyone could be next.”

Khalil’s attorney, Marc van der Hout, ripped the feds for a “lack of due process” following a ruling in Louisiana immigration court Friday that favored the government’s bid to boot the Syrian-born permanent resident out of the country over his anti-Israel activism on the embattled Ivy League campus.

“Our constitution allows people to speak their minds,” van der Hout said at a virtual press conference.

“Nazis in this country, the Supreme Court has held, are able to demonstrate, are able to express their beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil. The Ku Klux Klan is able to march and express its beliefs – but not Mahmoud Khalil.

“We are going to fight for his right to speak out about what’s happening in the Middle East and speak out against what the United States is doing.”
Daniel Greenfield: Mahmoud Khalil Blasts Judge Over Deportation
Mahmoud Khalil, the former Columbia U student, was a leading figure in the campus riot movement that celebrated the Hamas attacks of Oct 7, endorsed terrorism, called for ‘Death to America’ and was “fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.”

The foreign national was busted by ICE and prepped for deportation for his activities. Democrats and the media, from Sen. Schumer to the Jewish Democratic Council of America, rallied to Khalil’s defense.

They demanded ‘due process’. They just got it and neither they nor Khalil are very happy.

A judge in former Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil’s case ruled against him Friday, finding he is eligible for deportation while giving his legal team a little less than two weeks to respond.

Jamee Comans, an immigration judge in Louisiana, found the government’s case is “facially reasonable.” She gave his team until April 23 to file its response.

The government had “established by clear and convincing evidence that he is removable,” Comans said, The Associated Press reported.

“I would like to quote what you said last time that there’s nothing that’s more important to this court than due process rights and fundamental fairness,” Khalil said at the end of the hearing. “Clearly what we witnessed today, neither of these principles were present today or in this whole process.”

That and “the total eradication of Western civilization.”

Khalil’s OJ level team of lawyers is trying to take the case to a friendly federal judge in New Jersey, but the Supreme Court just ruled that habeas cases have to be heard in the ‘district of confinement’ which is not New Jersey.
Daniel Greenfield: Jewish Democratic Council of America Compares Trump to Pharaoh for Deporting Hamas Supporters
There are Jews. And there are “as a Jews”. These are leftists who only mention that they’re Jewish when attacking Jews on behalf of the Left.

A Jew says, “I’m Jewish because I feel connected to G-d, the Torah, and the Land of Israel”.

An ‘As a Jew’ says, “As a Jew, I condemn all of the above, and use my Jewish values to advocate for everyone trying to kill Jews.”

The old joke is that Jews celebrate Passover. ‘As a Jews’ mourn the death of the Egyptians.

Halie Soifer, the head of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, and a former foreign policy advisor to Kamala, just brought that joke to life.

Since it is Passover and the JDCA (they go by Jewish Dems on social media) must try to at least nod toward the epochal Jewish holiday which at least 13% of their members might even commemorate in some fashion, it headlined its last email as “Pharaoh in the White House”.

“Trump appears to be a modern-day Pharaoh, and we must liberate ourselves and our country from his tyranny,” Halie Soifer declared.

How is Trump like Pharaoh?

“We also remain committed to freeing Americans from the oppression emanating from this White House. Antisemitism is on the rise, and President Trump has fueled the fire at home and abroad. In addition, legal residents and others are being illegally detained and, in some cases, deported without due process. Much of this is happening in our name, ostensibly to “fight antisemitism,” while in reality, it’s an extension of the White House’s attacks on higher education, immigrants, and free speech.”

“Even if we disagree with the content of the speech, freedom should mean the same thing for all people, and due process must be granted. Enough is enough of Donald Trump using the Jewish community as an excuse to deprive people of their rights and deport people ‘for their beliefs.'”


US immigration enforcement reportedly arrests another Columbia University protest leader
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have reportedly arrested Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader.

Mahdawi was arrested after arriving at a citizenship center in Vermont, The Intercept reports.

ICE’s database appears to confirm Mahdawi’s detention.

The database says Mahdawi is in ICE custody, listing his birthplace as Jordan. Mahdawi was born in the West Bank, but the ICE database does not have a category for the Palestinian territories.

Several Columbia University anti-Israel activists have been targeted by the Trump administration, starting last month with protest leader Mahmoud Khalil.


Protesters rally in Times Square calling for release of anti-Israel Columbia grad student Mahmoud Khalil
Anti-Israel demonstrators marched in Times Square on Saturday night to protest the apprehension and imprisonment of Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil.

Animated Khalil advocates braved the rain in midtown, chanting and displaying signs that included “Free Mahmoud Khalil Now!,” “Hands Off Our Students,” and a variety of other slogans.

Controversial anti-Israel advocate Linda Sarsour spoke at the event and rallied the protestors around the former Columbia student.

On Friday, Louisiana immigration judge Jamee Comans ruled that the Trump administration can deport the Syrian-born Khalil over his involvement in the wild anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024.

Lawyers for Khalil ripped the decision, harping on the free speech considerations at play in the deportation case.

“Our constitution allows people to speak their minds,” Khalil lawyer Marc van der Hout said Friday after the decision.


Harvard Rejects Deal With Trump Admin, Putting Billions in Federal Funding at Risk
Harvard University told the Trump administration to pound sand—and take $9 billion in federal grant money along with it.

The school has advised its attorneys not to pursue a deal with the administration over a series of demands, several aimed at combating anti-Semitism on campus, according to an email sent Monday to faculty members from university president Alan Garber. The decision puts billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard at risk: The Trump administration announced late last month that it was examining nearly $9 billion in grants and contracts to the school.

"We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement," Garber wrote. "The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights."


At Harvard-Hosted 'Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon,' Law Students Target the Pages of Firms That Criticized School's Response to Anti-Semitism
Anti-Israel Harvard Law School students organized a workshop on the Ivy League campus earlier this month to edit the Wikipedia pages of more than a dozen prominent law firms, singling out some that threatened to stop recruiting at the school over its failure to rein in anti-Semitic activity.

Harvard’s National Lawyers Guild chapter, a left-wing legal advocacy group, hosted the "Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon" on April 2 at Harvard Law’s WCC student center, according to an announcement on Harvard Law’s website.

Third-year Harvard Law student Corinne Shanahan, an organizer with Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, organized the clinic for students to "gather data to edit the Wikipedia pages of Big Law firms to reflect cases they have recently argued."

Two days later, Harvard Law student Aashna Avachat edited the Wikipedia pages of 14 law firms, mostly to add details of their representation of clients that the activist students deemed to be unsavory, according to a Washington Free Beacon review of Wikipedia edit logs.

Avachat edited the pages for the firms Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett to soften the language about anti-Semitic activity on college campuses. Amid a wave of anti-Semitic protests following the Hamas attack on Israel, the two firms warned Harvard Law and others that they would cut back on recruiting on their campuses for failing to rein in anti-Semitic incidents.

The edit logs show Avachat changed the term "antisemitic incidents" to "pro-Palestine protests," and reworded references to "incidents targeting Jewish students" to incidents that the law firms "described … as antisemitic." Avachat herself was involved in one incident at Harvard in which her law school classmate, Ibrahim Bharmal, accosted and shoved a Jewish student during an anti-Israel "die-in." Avachat said she witnessed the incident and claimed Bharmal was protecting "peaceful protesters" against an "aggressive" Jewish student. Both Bharmal and another student activist, Elom Tettey-Tamaklo, were charged in connection with the "die-in," a case that Harvard delayed by refusing to cooperate with local prosecutors.
Granddaughter of Hillary Clinton’s ‘Hero and Mentor’ Slapped With Felony Charges After Ransacking Stanford President’s Office
The granddaughter of Hillary Clinton's mentor was officially charged with felony vandalism and trespassing after she "ransacked" the Stanford University president’s office as part of an anti-Israel demonstration last year.

Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen on Thursday announced the charges against Zoe Edelman, the granddaughter of Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, whom Hillary Clinton has called her "hero and mentor." Eleven other suspects were also charged in the case.

Edelman was arrested after the office takeover last June, but the case has been in limbo for months while prosecutors decided whether to bring forth charges. Felony vandalism and conspiracy to trespass both carry potential jail sentences in California.

In its announcement, the DA’s office said Edelman and her co-conspirators carried out a "calculated plan of destruction" at Stanford that resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to campus buildings.

"Dissent is American. Vandalism is criminal," said Rosen. "There is a bright line between making a point and committing a crime. These defendants crossed the line into criminality when they broke into those offices, barricaded themselves inside, and started a calculated plan of destruction."

Edelman, a senior at Stanford and member of the anti-Israel group "Liberate Stanford," has an elite left-wing pedigree. Photos show the Stanford student posing with Hillary Clinton at a gala in Washington, D.C., in 2022.

Edelman’s father, Josh, was the longtime K-12 deputy director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Her grandfather served in the Department of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton.

Edelman’s grandmother, Marian Wright Edelman, oversaw Hillary Clinton’s internship at the Children’s Defense Fund while Clinton was studying at Yale Law School.
Berklee College of Music Professor Attacked Jews as 'Vile Predators' and Blamed Them for Slavery
A top official at the Berklee College of Music has a years-long history of posting anti-Semitic and historically inaccurate claims about Jews, accusing them of oppressing black people and blaming them for slavery, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

In September 2024, the Massachusetts music school made a splashy announcement that Nicholas Payton would become chair of their brass department. In a gushing press release, Berklee, the largest independent contemporary music college in the world, called Payton a "child prodigy" and "a leading voice in American popular music."

"We are looking forward to Nicholas Payton's contribution to the Berklee community by engaging faculty, supporting students, and developing curriculum," Sean K. Skeete, dean of the Professional Performance Division at Berklee, said in the release. "I believe his experience as a world-class artist and educator will further advance Berklee's reputation as a leader in arts education."

Left unsaid were some of Payton's less glowing contributions to public discourse.

"All these so-called Jews mad, because how dare I make them face the facts of their sordid past and present," Payton said in a video posted to Instagram in July 2020. "So you want to help liberate black people you want to help free us, then free us from amongst yourselves ... expose how Jewish people have exploited us. Apologize for it and atone and do better."

Many of Payton's most incendiary comments came during the fervor of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

"Amazing how Jews always have a 'negligible' role in every historic horror that they’ve been irrefutably associated with it. What an amazing coincidence! ALL the other races contain plenty of monstrous psychopaths, but Jews, magically, are clean as a whistle! INCREDIBLE!" read another post Payton shared to his Instagram that same month.

"They still control a large portion of the media and entertainment industry. And I maintain their history in the music business has often been oppressive," he warned in a comment on the post.


International Union of Muslim Scholars platforms terrorism in religious guise
Are America and Europe waiting for another 9/11 before taking action against organizations openly calling for violence and terror in the name of religion? This question is prompted by the recent statement by the International Union of Muslim Scholars’ (IUMS) Jurisprudence and Fatwa Committee on March 28, 2025.

Posted on their official website and amplified by Union president Ali Al-Qaradaghi on his personal X/Twitter account, this statement, calling for “armed jihad” as a religious requirement, is a clear example of inflammatory rhetoric promoting terrorism under religious pretexts, seeking to recruit Muslims worldwide – including Western residents – into violent extremism.

This pronouncement continues the IUMS’s long history of similar rhetoric. Despite marketing itself as “moderate and middle-way,” the Union’s rhetoric and actions expose its true function as a media and religious arm of terrorist groups, especially the Muslim Brotherhood. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, who founded the organization in 2004, was a key Muslim Brotherhood figure.

Experts widely view the IUMS as a dangerous platform using religious cover to promote violent extremism. Their recent statement explicitly calls for armed jihad – a dangerous recurring theme directly encouraging terror.

The problem goes further. The statement also demands “financial jihad” to support the so-called “resistance,” effectively calling for worldwide financial backing of terror organizations.
Palestinians: Slaughtering Jews While Falsely Using Al-Aqsa Mosque as a Pretext
Peaceful and permitted outdoor tours to the grounds around the Al-Aqsa Mosque are regularly described by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas as violent incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It is time for the US and other Western countries to impose consequences on Palestinian leaders, especially Mahmoud Abbas and his senior representatives, for spreading falsehoods and libels against Israel and Jews. It is precisely this type of rhetoric that incentivizes Palestinians to carry out terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews. The message to Palestinian leaders should read: "Stop using the Al-Aqsa Mosque as an excuse to slaughter Jews. The mosque remains intact, and is not facing any threat, despite Palestinian libels and lies." Failure to comply would result in international donors imposing financial sanctions on the Palestinian leadership.

If anyone is desecrating the mosque, it is those who exploit it to encourage their people to carry out terrorist attacks.


Gaza Hospital Director Threatened for Urging Terrorists to Leave Medical Facility
The head of nursing at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital received a written threat from Palestinian Islamic Jihad after publicly urging its terrorists to vacate the medical facility, warning that their presence could prompt Israel to shut it down as part of broader efforts to dismantle terror infrastructure in the coastal enclave.

On Sunday, Ynet reported that top nurse Mohammad Sakr posted a public message on Facebook identifying himself and condemning Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists for turning the Khan Younis hospital into a base of terror operations.

He also said he personally pleaded with terrorists to leave the premises in a bid to safeguard the hospital and its patients.

Shortly after issuing his appeal, Sakr found a typed message waiting in his office — a blunt warning that read, “Dear one: You’ve crossed the line — be careful!! This is your first warning.” The message was signed by al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Sakr described the threat as “brutal,” adding, “I call on you in the name of God — not to forgive them.”


Most Lebanese soldiers deployed in south to dismantle Hezbollah are Shi’ite
The deployment of the Lebanese Army in Southern Lebanon is at the heart of politics and the center of the contacts held by the U.S. administration in the Land of the Cedars.

This issue is enmeshed with conflicting reports about the ongoing hesitation of the Lebanese government to first enforce the disarmament of the Hezbollah Shi’ite militia, while dismantling it under the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006).

Reports praise the merits of the Lebanese Army’s actions in taking over 196 Hezbollah strongholds out of 260 south of the Litani River while seizing an undisclosed number of weapons depots in Southern Lebanon belonging to the militia, and its ongoing activity in removing Hezbollah’s fortified positions in the south.

However, other reports still point to the fact that the Lebanese Army has deployed barely 6,000 soldiers in Southern Lebanon and is still missing at least another 4,000 to complete its deployment.

Moreover, reports have shown blatant cooperation between Shi’ite intelligence officers belonging to the Lebanese Army’s southern command and Hezbollah elements.

It is also worth mentioning that at least 50-60% of the deployed soldiers belong to the Shi’ite community and maintain family/tribal bonds with Shi’ite residents in the south who identify with Hezbollah.
Suicide bomber who killed five Israelis in Bulgaria buried in Hezbollah cemetery
The Lebanese-French suicide bomber who killed five Israelis and their local bus driver in Burgas, Bulgaria, on July 18, 2012, was buried on Friday in a cemetery designated for Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Abbas Ibrahim, a former head of the Lebanese General Security intelligence agency, told the Associated Press that he negotiated the return of the remains of Mohamad Hassan El Husseini.

On July 18, 2012, El Husseini, 23, struck a group of Israelis at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, killing six (and himself) and wounding 32 others. The bombing occurred shortly after the tourists had arrived on a charter flight from Tel Aviv and boarded a bus to their hotel.

Israeli and Bulgarian authorities pinned the attack on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group.

El Husseini, who was eventually identified through a DNA analysis, had entered Bulgaria days before the bombing using the alias Jacques Felipe Martin.




UK announces sanctions on crime gang targeting Israelis in Europe on behalf of Iran
The UK has announced sanctions against a Swedish based gang and its leader accused of carrying out attacks on Israelis and Jews across Europe on behalf of the government of Iran.

In a move confirmed by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the government has imposed sanctions against the notorious criminal Foxtrot Network and its leader Rawa Majid.

Lammy said the UK “will not tolerate these threats” and “will continue to hold the Iranian regime and criminals acting on its behalf to account.”

Since the start of 2022, the UK has responded to more than 20 Iran-backed plots, presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents, and the latest designations were made under the 2023 Iran Sanctions Regulations.
Rob Malley Cheers Trump Nuclear Talks With Iran
Robert Malley, the former Biden administration Iran envoy who was ousted for allegedly mishandling classified information, says he is optimistic about the Trump administration’s upcoming nuclear talks with Iran.

Malley—who took a teaching position at Yale University after being booted from the State Department in 2023 amid an FBI investigation into his misuse of classified materials—told the New York Times on Friday that President Donald Trump is more likely to succeed in his efforts to broker a fresh nuclear pact with Tehran than his predecessor, Joe Biden.

"Biden was lukewarm about a deal; Trump is eager," Malley said. "Biden fixates on domestic politics; Trump couldn't care less. Biden was calculating; Trump, impulsive."

"Trump is throwing caution, prudence and logic to the wind," he continued. "Which is why there is probably a greater chance of some kind of understanding now than there ever was under the prior administration."

The former Iran envoy’s comments come as the Trump administration gears up for the opening round of diplomatic talks with Iran’s hardline regime. The Saturday discussions are already shrouded in uncertainty, with the White House insisting that negotiations will take place directly with Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, says Oman will act as an intermediary between foreign minister Abbas Aragchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Malley himself led talks with Iran during the Biden administration, though they did not lead anywhere. The administration relaxed sanctions on Iran, granting it billions of dollars in proceeds, but could not land direct negotiations with the Iranians. Trump, for his part, implemented fresh sanctions on Iran's nuclear program ahead of this weekend's negotiations.

Malley was known for engaging in back-channel diplomacy, which reportedly included potentially unsanctioned talks with China.


Amsterdam mayor to apologise for city’s role in Holocaust and mistreatment of survivors
Amsterdam’s mayor will deliver a historic apology this month for the Dutch capital’s role in the Holocaust, and the city’s failure to support Jewish survivors returning from Nazi death camps.

Femke Halsema is expected to address the city’s complicity during a Yom HaShoah commemoration on 24 April. It will mark the first time the municipality formally recognises both its active participation in the persecution of Jews during the Second World War and its treatment of those who came back after the war to find their homes gone and their communities devastated.

New research by the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, due to be released in May, is expected to confirm that local authorities in Amsterdam cooperated with the Nazi regime. This includes the use of the city’s population register to locate Jewish residents, the involvement of Dutch police in deportations, and profits made by the municipal transport operator for ferrying Nazi personnel to assembly points.

Over 60,000 Jews were deported from Amsterdam and murdered. After the war, survivors often faced further hardship, including demands to pay back taxes for the years they had spent imprisoned in Nazi camps.

Ronny Naftaniel, a prominent figure in the Dutch Jewish community, welcomed the move. “Better late than never,” he told the Het Parool newspaper. “It would be good if the apology was not just about the war, but also the period immediately afterwards, given the cold reception that returned Jews received at the time.”
Jewish employees in NYC schools denied religious observance day to prep for Passover: ‘Erases core Jewish values’
New York City denied Jewish educators a religious observance day this week to prepare for Passover, The Post has learned.

The eight-day Jewish holiday began on Saturday April 12 this year, coinciding with the Jewish Sabbath, a day of rest.

Those traveling, preparing for the Seder feast or performing pre-Passover traditions like the ridding of leavened foods had to do so in the days before the holiday.

But school staffers hoping to take Friday off as a religious holiday were out of luck.

A memo sent to school leaders early in the week said those who wanted to take the day off Friday to prep for Passover would have to “consider/discuss an alternate schedule,” request a personal or vacation day or work from home.

“There may be employees who require additional time off on April 11 to prepare, or travel, for religious observance,” the notice, which was shared with The Post, stated.
Brooklyn woman arrested after allegedly leaving brick with swastika on Cybertruck in Jewish NYC nabe: NYPD
A Brooklyn woman was arrested on hate crime charges for allegedly leaving a brick scrawled with a swastika and the word “Nazi” on a parked Tesla in a Jewish enclave this week.

Natasha Cohen was accused of writing the hateful symbol in chalk on the brick, and leaving it on the bumper of a Cybertruck parked in front of a yeshiva on Ditmas Avenue near Ocean Parkway in Kensington just after 8 p.m. Monday, according to police and photos.

The car’s 38-year-old owner called 911 when he spotted the brick, as well as a full, black trash bag and other garbage that the suspect had dumped on the vehicle, police said.
FBI claims alleged neo-Nazi killed parents as part of Trump assassination attempt
Federal authorities, in unsealed court documents, revealed that 17-year-old Nikita Casap called for the assassination of US President Donald Trump and the overthrowing of the US government, CNN reported on Sunday.

A three-page document belonging to Casap and found by the FBI called for Trump’s assassination to create a political revolution in the US and “save the white race.”

“As to why, specifically Trump, I think it’s pretty obvious. By getting rid of the president and perhaps the vice president, that is guaranteed to bring in some chaos,” one excerpt from the document said, according to the affidavit.

The document also contained images of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler along with the text: “HAIL HITLER HAIL THE WHITE RACE HAIL VICTORY.”

Casap is alleged to have killed his parents in order to gain the "financial means and autonomy" to carry out his plan to assassinate the president, according to investigators.

Federal investigators are pursuing three charges, namely presidential assassination, conspiracy, and use of weapons of mass destruction, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent in support of an application for a search warrant, CNN added.

The Waukesha County Sheriff's Office obtained the search warrant and found material on Casap's phone linked with the neo-Nazi terrorist group known as the Order of Nine Angles, who are "a network of individuals holding neo-Nazi racially motivated extremist views,” the affidavit stated.


Against racism, for antisemitism: The message of a march in Paris
Thousands of people marched through Paris at the end of March in what was billed as a protest against racism. It was another display of the long-standing alliance between the far left and Islamist groups, exemplified by the numerous Palestinian flags dotted alongside the red banners deployed by the organizers.

The march illustrated how the term “racism” has been appropriated by parts of the left to describe measures aimed at combating the spread of Islamism. Many of the demonstrators lashed out at Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, for his allegedly racist statements about Algeria, a French colony until its independence in 1962, and his support for a ban on the wearing of the Islamic veil—a rule that is imposed on women alone—in French institutions of higher education.

Yet closer inspection of both issues reveals that Retailleau has not uttered racist comments on either. On Algeria, Retailleau’s complaint is that the authorities in Algiers have consistently refused to accept Algerian nationals slated for deportation by France, including one man who carried out a deadly terrorist attack in the city of Mulhouse in February, leading him to warn that a 1968 agreement facilitating Algerian immigration to France would be reviewed unless that position is reversed. On the veil, he has eschewed bigoted language about “Islam” and “foreigners,” arguing instead that the “veil is not merely a piece of fabric; it is a banner for Islamism and a symbol of the subjugation of women to men.”

Once upon a time, that was an assertion made by the left.

But perhaps the most egregious aspect of the demonstration was its contemptuous approach to the problem of antisemitism, which has risen precipitously in France, as elsewhere in Europe, in the 18 months that have elapsed since the Hamas mass atrocities in Israel. There were no banners, no chants, no signs condemning the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust and its consequent unleashing of antisemitic rhetoric and violence against Jewish communities across the globe.

Indeed, the entire event suggested that in order to combat racism, the French far left—a large bloc that won 182 parliamentary seats in last year’s legislative elections—has embraced Jew-hatred as a strategy. A poster publicizing the march urged attendees to “fight the extreme right, its ideas and its networks.” To accentuate its point, the poster was dominated by an image of Cyril Hanouna, a right-wing pundit of Tunisian Jewish origin.

Hanouna was displayed in extreme close-up with his eyes narrowed in hostility and a curving, beak-like nose protruding over a snarling mouth. You don’t have to be an antisemitism expert to trace the lineage of an image like this one. In the French context, it is painfully reminiscent of the crude propaganda aimed at Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, the French Jewish army officer falsely convicted of espionage in 1894 amid a wave of bestial antisemitic violence.
'Dirty Jew': French Jew beaten on street in latest antisemitic attack in Villeurbanne
A French Jew was assailed in an antisemitic street attack in Villeurbanne on Friday, according to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes district’s prefecture and local politicians. This is the third antisemitic attack in the Lyon area commune in just over a month.

A man wearing a Star of David pendant necklace was allegedly assaulted by two men on Friday, Le Progrès reported, with one person filming and another striking the victim on the head while calling him a “dirty Jew” and “dirty fascist.”

Condemning the attack
The prefecture assured on social media that France’s National Police were investigating the attack, and Prefect Fabienne Buccio said that she was determined to fight antisemitic incidents and would not let the perpetrators go unpunished.

Villeurbanne’s Mayor, Cédric Van Styvendael, decried the antisemitic assault in a Saturday Facebook post, promising to do everything to fight against “all forms of violence.”
A French taxi app for visiting Israelis is gaining popularity amid rising antisemitism
As a Jewish woman, Levana has always been anxious about using taxis in France, especially when alone. Those concerns were compounded after the outbreak of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

“Since October 7, things have become really complicated, the doubts and the fear are really much more intense,” said the 37-year-old French-Israeli.

But that was before. For some time now, Levana has found peace of mind in a new taxi application called Monite.

“Someone told me about this app, I tried it, and what a joy it is to feel safe. It’s priceless,” said Levana, who now uses it all the time in France.

Launched last September by three Franco-Israelis, the app, similar to Uber, offers rides with taxi drivers who have a command of Hebrew and are familiar with Jewish culture.

“Many [Israelis] told us that it had become complicated to travel abroad, that they were afraid to say that they came from Israel and felt a bit of insecurity,” said Ilan Amar, one of Monite’s co-founders.

The app also quickly became popular in the greater French Jewish community due to a rise in already rampant antisemitism.
Clash with anti-Israel marchers at Jewish-owned Strasbourg bakery draws outrage
A clash by anti-Israel residents and pedestrians outside a Jewish-owned Strasbourg bakery on Saturday drew outrage from French politicians, with some suggesting that the incident was indicative of a broader issue in French society.

The Dreher bakery itself wasn't attacked or targeted, according to officials, but video of an encounter between anti-Israel activists and other residents outside the shop circulated on social media showed a mass of Palestinian flag-waving protesters surrounding the site.

Police could be seen standing between the protesters and the shop. The original poster of the video also confirmed in a Sunday X post that the target was a pro-Israel opponent of the march, not the bakery.

A march had been planned on Saturday by Collectif Strasbourg Palestine, according to the group's Instagram account. The protest route detailed in a Thursday Rue89 Strasbourg report would have brought the march past the bakery.


Dave Portnoy waves Israel’s flag after Hitler-praising, Holocaust-denying UFC fighter gets choked out
Dave Portnoy enjoyed seeing Bryce Mitchell get choked out Saturday night at UFC 314 in Miami.

The Barstool Sports founder waved Israel’s flag as the 30-year-old American featherweight, who praised Adolf Hitler and denied that the Holocaust happened on his podcast in January, lost in the second round to Brazil’s Jean Silva.

“Always fun to see a Hitler lover get his ass whopped,” Portnoy, who greeted President Donald Trump at the event, wrote on X along with a video of him waving the flag on what was the first night of Passover.


He went viral for defacing ‘Kidnapped’ hostage posters. Now, he’s attending a rabbi’s Passover seder.
The friendship between Kurush Mistry and Sarah Reines is an unlikely one.

Mistry, 45, made headlines in November 2023 for covering up “kidnapped” hostage posters with anti-Israel ones. A viral video of the Upper West Side incident — which was published by a number of news outlets online — drew widespread ire and got him fired from his job as a Wall Street analyst.

Reines, meanwhile, is an associate rabbi at Temple Emanu-El on the Upper East Side, where advocacy for the Israeli hostages in Gaza has been part of the congregation’s mission since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The incident could have made the pair into adversaries. But something else happened: Mistry sought to make amends with the Jewish community, beginning a path of repentance, known as teshuvah in Hebrew, that ultimately brought him to Reines’ office. Over the past 14 months, the two have developed a “deep friendship,” in Mistry’s words, characterized by honest and civil discussions about a subject that often lends itself to heated arguments and the fracturing of relationships.

And now, on Saturday evening, Mistry will be attending Reines’ Passover seder at her Upper East Side home.

“The seder is all about sharing ideas, questioning perspectives, debating, and it’s very hard to do that today,” said Reines, 56. “And I feel like my relationship with Kurush is a really powerful example of how that is possible.”

Inviting Mistry to sit at her 18-person seder table was important to Reines, who “wanted him to know that I consider him an important part of my circle,” she said. The rabbi also pointed out that she likes having people from different religious and ethnic backgrounds at her seder, as it invites people to “come to repeated words and rituals with fresh eyes and ears.”




President Trump wishes Jews a ‘blessed Passover’
U.S. President Donald Trump published a video statement on Saturday evening wishing Jewish communities worldwide a “blessed Passover.”

“I want to wish the Jewish people in America and Israel, and all around the world, a very happy Passover,” the president said in a video address.

Trump noted that “Jewish families celebrate God’s liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, guiding them through the Prophet Moses on a 40-year journey to a very, very promised land.

“The story of Exodus, which is retold around the globe and all over the world, at every Passover seder is a reminder not only of the enduring strength of the Jewish people, but of the importance of putting our faith in Almighty God no matter what the circumstance,” the president said.

He concluded by wishing Jews worldwide “a blessed Passover, and may God continue to watch over the Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the United States of America.”




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

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Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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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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