Monday, June 09, 2025

06/09 Links Pt1: Good riddance to Greta’s Gaza ship of fools; Unfathomable Media Fraud; London-based ‘Hamas operative’ behind Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: Unfathomable Media Fraud
Please read the following headline and subhed on a New York Times report today:
“The Tunnel That Leads Underneath a Hospital in Southern Gaza

To Israelis, the location of an underground passageway highlights Hamas’s abuse of civilians. To Palestinians, Israel’s decision to target it highlights Israel’s own disregard for civilian life.”

Just so we’re all clear on what happened: The leader of Hamas was using a bunker directly underneath the emergency department of a hospital. Israel took out that leader with a strike that avoided the hospital itself, after giving advance warning of its intentions. Then Israel cleared the area around it and retrieved the body.

According to the Times, the preceding scenario is open to interpretation.

But to really understand what’s happening here, one has to rewind slightly to the moment of the strike and its aftermath. Last month, Israel struck the tunnel under the European Hospital in an attempt to eliminate Muhammad Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and successor to his brother, Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks. News agencies insisted Israel was lying about the presence of Hamas leadership or an underground bunker, relying on fake “experts” whose expertise I debunked here.

Then it turned out that, as usual, Israel was telling the truth. Then journalists complained that Israel was keeping journalists out of the war zone, a kind of veiled justification for why they keep making up stories. Israel responded by giving journalists a tour of the underground bunker itself. Journalists responded by saying, essentially, ah well, nevertheless!

So here’s a question worth repeating: Will these news agencies still continue to platform the fake “experts” who keep making fools of them? Will they still use the same reporters and anchors that keep getting these stories wrong while behaving unprofessionally on-air?
Brendan O'Neill: Good riddance to Greta’s Gaza ship of fools
It’s brilliant to see the fizzling out of this summer jaunt to the Med masquerading as a moral crusade. For nothing has ever captured the lazy theatrics and fake virtue of modern activism as much as Greta’s dumb boat did. This so-called freedom flotilla would have done precisely nothing to assist the suffering people of Gaza. That was never really its aim. The ship of fools was always more interested in raising awareness about itself and its moral brilliance than about the needs of Gaza’s civilians.

Indeed, as Greta and Co crossed the choppy Med with their ‘tiny amount of aid’, Evil Israel handed out millions of meals in Gaza. In the first 15 days of its operations, the US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has given more than 10million meals to the needy. You couldn’t write satire like this: 12 woke fainthearts on a boat wail ‘Feed Gaza!’ as Israel does exactly that. As Greta and her smug chums bloviated on their boat to any media channel that would listen, Israel did the hard graft of feeding a war-whacked populace. As they took selfies of themselves sobbing into their keffiyehs about hungry Gazans, Israel was giving those Gazans food. They did moral pantomime, for likes on Instagram; Israel did aid, with no thanks at all.

Tell me that doesn’t sum up 21st-century activism. Tell me it doesn’t shine a brilliant light on the self-serving shitshow that is modern ‘leftism’, where the aim is always to accrue greater virtue for oneself rather than to improve the lot of others. As Greta was snapped dangling her legs off the hull of her boat in the glorious sun, young IDF troops were risking their lives guiding food trucks through a warzone. And you want us to cheer her? Forget about it. To some of us, it feels like the people on that boat were primarily interested in rebuilding their moral brand on the rubble of a bloody war. That’s not admirable, it’s sick.

Yet even as we cheer the interception of this ship of pricks, we need to get real about what it tells us about our times. This flurry of keffiyehs in the sea, and the cheering of it by the media elites, confirms that your virtue is now measured by how much you hate Israel. The old omnicauses of climate change and gender bollocks have withered away, to be replaced by the new omnicause of raging against the Jewish State. Hence, Greta has swapped her childish baloney about billions perishing at the altar of modernity in favour of lamenting Israel’s ‘genocide’ and the threat it supposedly poses to us all. You don’t need a PhD on 20th-century Europe to recognise how dangerous it is for the self-righteous of the West to define themselves in direct and furious opposition to the world’s only Jewish nation.
Seth Mandel: Free Palestine from ‘Free Palestine’
The great left-wing monocause of anti-Zionism is the chief organizing principle of progressive protest and it is currently the closest thing the movement has to a genuine litmus test. But for a time this could be expressed by simply banning Jewish symbols from progressive gatherings. Now, the iconography is an affirmatively Palestinian one.

The way this happens is a two-step process. Step one: The angsty activist left grabs on to someone else’s readymade cause and rides along, adopting an approach of basic mimicry. Step two: Youngish, progressive American activists soon outnumber actual Palestinians in the movement, and the “for Gaza” world is absorbed by the progressive Blob. Like the merger of a brand with a sales infrastructure, the issue is now owned by the conglomerate.

Is this a happy marriage? I doubt it, because everything done by Western activists makes life actively worse for Palestinians in the long run. But now the keffiyeh and the Palestinian flag are contributions to the intellectual property of the Blob.

Sales are excellent, but actual Palestinians don’t see a dime from the keffiyeh bubble, and when it bursts, they’ll be blamed. That’s how the Blob works. Don’t take it personally; it’s just business.

And until the bubble bursts, that stuff will be everywhere. (Intersectionalism, baby!) Every other progressive activist is treating the keffiyeh craze like spring break in the ’90s, coming home wearing a Señor Frog’s t-shirt. The marketing possibilities are endless: I Accused Israel of Genocide at the Hague and All I Got Was This Stupid Shirt.

Pretty soon, everywhere someone is denouncing the United States or assaulting a police officer or torching cars or vandalizing houses of worship, the Palestinian flag and keffiyeh will be there. Not because Palestinians want it that way, but because the Blob’s merchandizing department does. Meanwhile, any capital spent on the Palestinians will be spent defending and buttressing Hamas, the fascist death grip currently squeezing the life out of everything it finds in Gaza. But cool shirt, bro.
Andrew Fox: Moby Dickhead
This is not activism; it is narcissism masquerading as the rhetoric of moral urgency. It is the political equivalent of a wealthy teenager running away from home to make a statement, only to call the press for coverage and an Uber for the return journey.

Just like that, the climate crusader became a freedom flotilla freedom fighter, in a saga that feels less like history and more like an overwrought TikTok skit: “White Girl Finds Herself on the High Seas.”

Let us dispel the fantasy that Greta is some generational prophet. She is a product of PR handlers, of post-ideological Instagram politics, of a generation that confuses virality with virtue. Her interventions have consistently carried the theatrical air of a school play written in crayon and directed by individuals with saviour complexes. This latest escapade merely confirms what many suspected: Greta has outgrown climate change. The original cause, having reached its peak in moral clarity, no longer satisfies the appetite for drama. Now, like any brand in decline, she pivots. Gaza is the new climate; victimhood is the new activism.

If you want to play with fire, expect to get burned. Reports suggest that Greta, along with other detainees, will be shown footage from the 7 October atrocities, the defining trauma for Israelis still reeling from the bloodshed.

Good.

She should watch it: every gory frame; every slaughtered festival-goer; every burned corpse; every grandmother dragged from her home. She should watch it all and sit in silence for a change, instead of trying to turn every global tragedy into another Greta-centric chapter of her self-authored mythology.

This is not about denying the suffering of civilians in Gaza or about opposing protest. It is about proportion, decency, and reality. Greta’s self-aggrandising stunt insults the real victims on all sides. It reduces the complexity of a brutal, decades-long conflict to a teenage morality play with herself at the centre.

Greta was not kidnapped. She was interrupted.

For the rest of us still trying to live in the real world, to make sense of its horrors without resorting to cosplay and Instagram reels, that is at least some small mercy.


Israeli Navy intercepts boat carrying Greta Thunberg to Gaza
Israeli naval forces on Monday intercepted the vessel carrying Swedish national Greta Thunberg and other activists to the Gaza Strip.

Calling it the “selfie yacht” of “celebrities,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the 12 passengers had been given sandwiches and water and were being safely transported to the shores of the Jewish state. “The show is over” and the activists will be sent back to their home countries, the ministry said.

While the ministry posted a picture of Thunberg being offered a sandwich, stating she was “on her way to Israel, safe and in good spirits,” the keffiyeh-clad climate activist claimed in a video message that they were “kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel.”

Terrorists in Gaza currently hold 55 hostages—both alive and deceased—54 of the 251 kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and the remains of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in action in the Strip in 2014.

Half of the passengers are French. On Monday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed that Paris had warned citizens of the risks involved in joining the protest flotilla and said that the consulate had requested Israel grant consular protection to the detainees.

Meanwhile, Madrid summoned the Israeli chargé d’affaires to protest the seizure. One Spanish national was listed as a passenger.

The other nationalities represented were one each from Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the interception “a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism.” Iran also condemned the intervention as “a form of piracy,” since it happened in international waters.

Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to show the activist group a 43-minute video of atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 massacre, which sparked the war in Gaza.


Thunberg’s Gaza-bound boat towed to Ashdod port; activists refuse to watch Oct. 7 footage
The activist boat that tried to break Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and was intercepted by the Israeli Navy early on Monday morning reached the Ashdod Port Monday evening.

The Foreign Ministry published photos of Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila as they disembarked from the Madleen boat.

The detained activists, including Thunberg, would be handed over to police to be deported, and the small amount of aid they brought will be sent into Gaza, Israeli officials have said.

“The ‘Selfie Yacht’ docked at Ashdod Port a short while ago. The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said earlier that he instructed the military to screen a video showing atrocities committed by the Hamas terror group on October 7, 2023, to the detained activists once they had safely arrived at the port. But, he said later, they refused to watch the footage.

The harrowing 43-minute video produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s office shows uncensored, difficult-to-watch footage of people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the Hamas-led onslaught, much of it taken from terrorists’ bodycams.

“Greta [Thunberg] and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival for a screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre, and when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching,” Katz later said in a statement.

“The antisemitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children,” he added.


Jake Wallis Simons: Greta Thunberg's moral resort area
In truth, the “Israeli occupational forces,” as Greta so charmingly calls them in her selfie, saved the woman’s life. I am reminded of the case of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian journalist and activist who worked with the “International Solidarity Movement” and travelled to Gaza in 2008, during a previous war with Israel. He was abducted by Salafists and strangled to death with a plastic cord.

All of this just highlights the most essential understanding of this war: most people in the West don’t see it. Not really. They only sees a reflection of themselves, like a vain young woman strolling past a shop window and pouting at her own image without noticing what is inside. Would the jihadis kill me for my crop-top? Of course not! I’m totally pro-Intifada.

Nothing says this more than Greta Thunberg. Stitching her identity together out of selfies, keffiyehs and a needy attempt to insert herself into the middle of somebody else’s tragedy, she is not shrieking about the Israel or Gaza of real-life. She is shrieking about herself.

I am reminded of Saul Bellow’s book about the Yom Kippur War. “Where Israel is concerned, the world swells with moral consciousness,” he writes. “Moral judgment, a wraith in Europe, becomes a full-blooded giant when Israel and the Palestinians are mentioned. Is this because Israel has assumed the responsibilities of a liberal democracy? Is it for other reasons? What Switzerland is to winter holidays and the Dalmatian coast to summer tourists, Israel and the Palestinians are to the West’s need for justice a sort of moral resort area.”

So little has changed in the past five decades. The decline has only been accelerated by social media and the slow collapse of our culture. Bellow had only one word of hope: “The great enemy of progressive ideals is not the Establishment but the limitless dullness of those who take them up.” It can’t be possible for the narcissism, superficiality and hypocrisy of the modern West to so quickly overturn centuries of civilisational development. Can it?

In the meantime, we have almost entirely forgotten the tragic necessity of violence in self-defence. We have almost entirely forgotten the hell of armed conflict, in which chaos reigns, civilians lose their lives and deprivation and trauma abounds. We have almost entirely forgotten our own values and what it means to defend them. We have almost entirely forgotten ourselves.


London-based ‘Hamas operative’ behind Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla
A man accused of being “a Hamas operative” based in London is a key figure behind Greta Thunberg’s Gaza-bound aid boat, it emerged on Monday.

Zaher Birawi, who was described in Parliament as a person with links to Hamas, called himself a “founding member” of the Freedom Flotilla International Coalition, which arranged the voyage by the aid boat Madleen.

Israeli forces boarded and seized the boat on Sunday, detaining the 12 pro-Palestinian activists it was carrying, including Ms Thunberg, as it attempted to bring a “symbolic” amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade.

Mr Birawi, a Palestinian-British journalist at an Arabic-language satellite TV channel in London, was at the launch of the Madleen a week ago, livestreaming it from its dock in Sicily. Ms Thunberg gave a speech before the boat set sail for Gaza.

In 2013, Mr Birawi was named by Israel as a Hamas operative in Europe, and is the head of the Europal Forum, which Israel designated as a terrorist organisation in 2021.

The Europal Forum has strongly denied any terror links, and in 2021 Mr Birwani received compensation after taking legal action against a financial database he said had wrongly placed him on a terrorism watch list.

He denied ever being involved in any illegal acts within the scope of terrorism crimes.

Speaking in the Commons in October 2023, Christian Wakeford, the Labour MP for Bury South, used parliamentary privilege to name 63-year-old Mr Birawi as a Hamas operative living in Barnet, north London.

“He is listed as a trustee of a UK-registered charity, Education Aid for Palestinians, and publicly available video shows him hosting a 2019 event in London titled Understanding Hamas,” Mr Wakeford told MPs.

“Two weeks ago, Hamas launched the deadliest terror attack [the Oct 7 attack on Israel] the world has seen since 9/11. It is therefore a serious national security risk for Hamas operatives to be living here in London, especially where at least one appears to have done so through the use of fake documents in obtaining British citizenship.”


All Aboard the “Selfie Yacht”: How the Media Fueled a PR Stunt Masquerading as Activism
On June 1, Swedish climate change activist turned anti-Israel agitator Greta Thunberg and eleven fellow travelers attempted to sail their way to the Gaza Strip. Packed with less than a single truck’s worth of aid, this tiny boat should not have garnered the international media’s attention. But over the course of the crew’s nine-day vacation, Greta and her friends made headlines everywhere.

The media were happy to give a platform to this performance. The Irish Times was quick to increase the scale of the vessel, referring to it as a “charity boat” as if a handful of activists with a token supply of aid were spearheading a major humanitarian operation.

Most notably, CNN gave Greta and German activist Yasemin Acar airtime, effectively legitimizing the stunt with a mainstream spotlight. Not once in the two-minute interview are the two activists questioned about the practicality of their stunt or how they would distribute the meager amount of aid they brought with them. Most glaringly, the two were not questioned about how exactly they would navigate Gaza, an active war zone in which the Israeli army is fighting a terrorist organization that has embedded itself within the civilian infrastructure.

The activists’ lack of coordination with recognized humanitarian organizations underscores how little faith they had in actually reaching Gaza to safely distribute aid, further proving the flotilla was never about aid, but about publicity.

As the yacht began to sail its way closer to Israel, the IDF successfully and safely intervened, taking control of the ship in order to bring the crew to Israel.

As the takeover was occurring, Greta posted a pre-recorded video, claiming the crew was being “kidnapped” by the IDF. Of course, Greta and her activist friends did not once think about the lack of aid or the dire situation of the 55 Israeli hostages who are still being held in Gaza. Unsurprisingly, Sky News quickly gave yet another platform to Greta’s performative skit.


Pro-Palestine activists rally outside Albanese’s office after Greta Thunberg detained by Israel
Student protesters have gathered outside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Sydney office to protest the detention of activists by Israeli forces.

The “Freedom Flotilla Coalition” was seized by Israel on Monday after a crew of 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg, tried to break a naval blockade.

In response, protest group Students for Palestine (SfP) organised demonstrations around the country against the Israeli military’s interception of the boat.

“After months of deliberately starving those in Gaza, Israel has illegally taken 12 anti-war activists hostage, including Greta Thunberg,” said SfP co-convenor Bella Beiraghi.

“This kidnapping is an attempt to cover up Israel’s crimes against humanity. It shows Israel’s willingness to violently suppress all those who oppose their genocide.”

Ms Thunberg and her anti-war activists were taken to a nearby port “unharmed” after attempting to break the Israeli naval blockade which has been enforced since 2007.


The Israeli Reservists Who Just Won’t Quit
So far, predictions of a radical drop in reservist turnout rates have not materialized and there are few signs the system is on the verge of collapse, despite the febrile predictions often trumpeted in the media. Even so, there are reasons for concern as the burdens borne by reservists are indeed great, their cumulative effect increases over time, and there is always a danger that a critical mass of the soldiers who have been ”under the stretcher” will decide it is time to step away and reclaim their civilian lives.

Such an outcome would be a disaster, and it is crucial to do whatever possible to prevent it. This is not the place for a comprehensive program of action, but I would like to offer three suggestions that would go a long way to sustain the reservists.

First, and most important, we should express to the reservists our gratitude and that of the nation for all they have done and are continuing to do—clearly and frequently, publicly and privately. We can take as a model Winston Churchill’s August 1940 address to the House of Commons, at a time when the German air force was engaged in a brutal campaign of bombing runs aimed at pulverizing the British people into submission. England, almost alone in resisting the Nazis, had sent its pilots to defend their island home by engaging the attackers in the skies. While the outcome of this epic clash was still uncertain, Churchill declared:
The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world . . . goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

With appropriate adaptations, these words apply to Israel’s combat reservists, to whom so many of us indeed owe so much. While they are thankfully not “so few”—indeed, their numbers, close to 100,000, are a big part of what has enabled them to play a decisive role in the multi-front conflict—they constitute only 1 percent of Israel’s population and therefore are a tiny minority that is carrying an outsized part of the responsibility for our national security. All Israelis, and everyone around the world who supports the Jewish state, owe them very, very much.

In speaking with reservists, I have been struck by their sense that while they remain immersed in the war, having put their lives on hold, most Israelis and their supporters abroad seem to have moved on. The reservists recall sadly that their countrymen were tremendously supportive in the early days of the war, but often seem to take them for granted now. In some instances, they told me, those not serving in the reserves even suggested to them that they are being foolish and should get back to their studies, work, and families. The combat reservists deserve better, and anyone in a position to express gratitude should do so with the humility their commitment ought to engender. All Israel ought to feel pride in belonging to a nation that has produced such fine citizens.

While the clear and consistent expression of genuine gratitude is the single most important step, it is also crucial to avoid the single action most likely to lead to a dangerous drop in the number of combat reservists reporting for duty: accepting demands from haredi parties that the Knesset enshrine in law the current practice exempting the vast bulk of their community from taking a turn under the stretcher, while their fellow Jewish (and Druze) citizens are asked to add ever more weight and carry it for ever-greater distances. The war, with its unprecedented demands for combat soldiers, has created a broad consensus in Israeli society that Haredim can no longer push off doing their fair share in defending the country. While the decision to pass a law legitimizing draft-dodging is largely in the hands of politicians, engaged Israeli citizens and supporters of the Jewish state abroad have the ability to make a crucial difference on this vital issue if they weigh in against such a prospect with full force.

There are also tangible steps that civilians can take to assist reservists individually and in groups, and doing what one can in this area is my third suggestion. I have seen the value of this during the past year-and-a-half by being engaged, together with remarkable colleagues in Israel and abroad, in supplying essential, lifesaving equipment to IDF units, especially those of reservists—as it is widely understood that the gear the army gives them is well below the standards of what goes to their peers in the regular army. Helping with these efforts is not only an important gesture of gratitude, and one that can lift morale. It also maximizes the soldiers’ chances of surviving the war sound in body and spirit.

Similarly, it is of paramount importance to provide all possible assistance to the spouses of reservists who are at the front. The unsung heroes of this war, these wives (and more than a few husbands) bear an enormous burden. Those people who live nearby can help with childcare and meals, and those further away can still provide much-needed social and emotional support. Above all, it’s imperative to acknowledge the sacrifice of these women, which keeps Israel safe, and to express to them the gratitude they so richly deserve.

The reservists who stepped forward in Israel’s darkest hour are continuing to go above and beyond, despite all the good reasons they have not to do so. In addition to highlighting their sacrifice and contribution, defending them against claims they are on the verge of collapse, and appreciating the motivations that have led them to act so nobly, we must act decisively to express our profound gratitude to them and their families, and to take the concrete steps that can enable them to continue defending our nation wholeheartedly.
IDF probe of incident in which four soldiers killed reveals military remains uncertain of cause
The IDF on Monday night released its initial probe into the deaths of four soldiers in Khan Yunis on Friday when an improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated, causing the building they were in to collapse on them.

Several other soldiers were also wounded in the incident, one of the worst in several months, though there were worse incidents earlier in the war.

According to the initial probe, the IDF assessed three nearby buildings for potential use in promoting their attack in the area.

Two of the buildings were viewed as too suspicious and less useful, such that the air force destroyed them.

The IDF said there was something suspicious about the third building, but it was less suspect than the others and its position was viewed as more important for managing the continued attack.

Footage saw no traces of a potential IED
Prior to the soldiers entering the building, a drone was sent ahead and scanned multiple floors.

The commander of the forces on the ground viewed the footage and saw no traces of a potential IED.

Next, the soldiers also opened fire on the various floors.

Finally, they entered the first floor and found it not dangerous.

However, when they proceeded to the second floor, they found suspicious signs.

The commander of the group called the group back to the stairwell, pending a further check of the second floor.

While they were waiting for further checks to be carried out, the IED was set off, killing the four soldiers in the stairwell and wounding others.


CBS Tries to Embarrass the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and Fails
The decline of CBS News reporting is disturbing. Stories of alleged IDF massacres and abuse of Palestinians on their way to pick up aid from Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution centers have filled their reports. From omission of facts to imbalanced reporting on Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, it’s all irresponsible. Debunked Aid Scandals in Gaza

Over the last couple of weeks, there has been chaos and confusion surrounding aid distribution and multiple alleged deadly events in Gaza. While any smart media tried to wrap their heads around the facts first, many outlets were quick to believe Hamas while dismissing Israeli and GHF ones from the very first day – that dozens were “massacred” by the IDF on their way to gather aid. One of those outlets is CBS.

Indeed, the IDF has publicly stated that warning shots were fired over the course of the last week, but said that it was not responsible for any mass casualty event that was alleged to have taken place.

The GHF also reported on numerous occasions that aid has been distributed “without incident,” but due to “overcrowding,” it would be trying to figure out a safer way to operate.

Most recently, the private aid organization also paused operations to collect itself after receiving threats from Hamas against its staff. However, operations restarted a day later with a pilot program, which saw truckloads of aid delivered directly to Gaza community leaders. CBS Doubles Down

But CBS has doubled down on its reports, and Hamas barely exists if at all in its narrative – even after the GHF and IDF have both come out with statements debunking claims of murderous chaos under their watch.

These are just some of the problematic reports HonestReporting has seen.

One by Elizabeth Palmer, distributed on all CBS channels, covered an Israeli strike and the “Israeli blockade” on aid, which doesn’t currently exist.

The GHF “was set up to cut international organizations like the World Food Programme (WFP) out of the loop, but it’s been deadly from the start,” Palmer says, ignoring the presence of Hamas and other armed groups that have been stealing aid for years.

She reports Israeli forces shooting at Palestinians near GHF aid hubs, while a clip of a blurred body being covered by an UNRWA bag is shown.

Indeed, there was a deadly incident at a UN WFP warehouse. Hamas itself bragged about killing Palestinians trying to “steal aid” from the warehouse on their own Telegram channel.


NYT: Hamas Tunnel Under Gazan Hospital 'One of the War's Biggest Rorschach Tests'
The New York Times confirmed Sunday that Hamas operated a tunnel beneath the European Gaza Hospital weeks after casting doubt on its existence. Instead of condemning Hamas for using a hospital as a terror base, however, the paper framed the tunnel as a matter of clashing narratives.

"What we saw in that dark and narrow tunnel is one of the war's biggest Rorschach tests," Times reporter Patrick Kingsley wrote in a Sunday article after touring the site, calling it "the embodiment of a broader narrative battle between Israelis and Palestinians over how the conflict should be portrayed."

"To Israelis, the location of an underground passageway highlights Hamas's abuse of civilians," the article's subheading reads. "To Palestinians, Israel's decision to target it highlights Israel's own disregard for civilian life."

The Times last month cast doubt on the tunnel's existence, quoting the hospital's director as saying such a tunnel was unlikely. Two weeks later, Muhammad Sinwar—the de facto leader of Hamas and younger brother of slain October 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar—was killed inside the tunnel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

While the left-leaning paper confirmed the tunnel's existence on Sunday, it cited a hospital spokesman lamenting that "Israel should have found other ways to eliminate any wanted commander."


Ask Haviv Anything: Episode 17: The Gaza war began 25 years ago, a conversation with Matti Friedman
Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon after an 18-year guerrilla war that presaged everything we now think of as 21st-century warfare.

I spoke to Matti Friedman, veteran of Lebanon and bestselling author of a memoir from that long war, Pumpkinflowers, about the history, the lessons drawn from it and how we're seeing the continuing effects of that conflict in Gaza today. This episode is sponsored by Julie and Frank Cohen, who believe that this podcast is a way to teach our story, because understanding our past and present is key to building a better future.

And as has become a podcast tradition, it is dedicated to Carmel Gat, an occupational therapist who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Beeri while visiting family. During the first weeks of captivity, she was held with orphaned children who had also been kidnapped. The children reported that she cared for them and taught them yoga. Carmel was murdered by her Hamas captors in August 2024 along with five other hostages.


StandWithUs: Special Briefing with Lt.Col.(Res) Eyal Dror, Einat Wilf
Get the latest news, insight, and analysis direct from Israel. Join StandWithUs TV for Special Briefing featuring a war update from Lt. Col. (res.) Eyal Dror and expert analysis from author and thought leader Einat Wilf.




‘Difficult to stomach’: Greta Thunberg’s absurd ‘kidnap’ claim spectacle lashed
Sky News host Sharri Markson discusses the “absurdity” of Greta Thunberg’s Israel kidnapping claim “spectacle”.

“The absurdity of the world in which we live, from Greta Thunberg to a prominent American Jew being denied entry to Australia, Greta is a morally repugnant and confused woman,” Ms Markson said.

“She swapped her cause de jour from climate activism to hatred of the Jewish state of Israel … she tried to go and save Gaza, not from the terrorists, mind you, as Israel is trying to do, but from Israel and when she was stopped and given a sandwich, she released a video claiming she had been kidnapped.”


Arsen Ostrovsky: A dangerous assault on freedom of expression
Last year, the Albanese government also denied entry to former Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, for similar reasons.

Yet the government had no qualms allowing entry to Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur who has repeatedly engaged in antisemitic tropes, Holocaust distortion, and justification of violence against Israelis—someone far more likely to “incite discord” and “vilify a segment of the Australian community.” In fact, this is exactly what she did, from the podium of the National Press Club in Canberra.

So Francesca Albanese, who has been condemned for her virulent antisemitism by the governments of the United States, Germany, France and other Western nations, is deemed a suitable voice for Australian audiences, while Fuld, who has been an outspoken advocate of Israel in the wake of the October 7 massacre, the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, is cast as a threat. This appears to reveal not only a profound moral inversion, but also dangerous double standards.

Further, based on the Minister’s reasoning for the cancellation of Fuld’s visa, it is difficult to conceive how any of his statements or on-line posts might contravene either State or Federal criminal law, or could otherwise not be lawfully said by any Australian citizen.

Thus, many in the Australian Jewish community and beyond will view this as a purely political decision, acquiescing to an orchestrated campaign by radical anti-Israel groups to cancel Fuld, in the wake of an unabated and unprecedented explosion of antisemitism in Australia. It also risks sending an alarming message to Jewish Australians: that their grief, their trauma, and their right to speak freely can be brushed aside for the sake of political expediency.

Equally alarmingly, it also raises the question, are mere differences in political opinion now acceptable grounds for restricting entry of foreign nationals into Australia? If so, what kind of message does this send to those wishing to travel to Australia, whether on holiday, for business purposes or to visit family. Will they second-guess their decision? Will other countries institute counter-bans on Australians?

It should be noteworthy, that Fuld is also an American national. What if President Trump now decides in response that Australians will be subject to arbitrary visa restrictions to the United States, if they are deemed to have made statements critical of the US government policies?

Thus, this isn’t just about Hillel Fuld. It’s about whether Australia will remain a nation that defends free speech, open debate and moral courage – or one where mob intimidation sets policy. If a pro-Israel speaker can be barred today because his words are claimed to make some uncomfortable, who will be silenced tomorrow? A Holocaust survivor? A parent of a hostage? A doctor treating terror victims, seeking to share their experience and know-how with Australian counterparts?

The Albanese government—and Minister Burke in particular—should urgently reverse this unacceptable decision. Hillel Fuld poses no threat to Australia, it’s safety or good order. Claiming he does, betrays not only the Jewish community, but Australia’s own liberal democratic moral compass and commitment to free speech.


Israeli MP chimes in on Australian government’s ban of Hillel Fuld
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel has reacted to the news of Israeli-American speaker Hillel Fuld being barred from Australia by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke.


Israeli-American speaker’s visa revoked by Albanese government
Magen David Adom Australia Chairperson Glynis Lipson says she is “very disappointed” the Australian government revoked an Israeli-American speaker’s visa.

The Coalition has demanded Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke provide a "detailed statement of reasons" as to why Israeli speaker and technology expert Hillel Fuld, born in New York, US, had his visa revoked.

In a decision statement, Mr Burke cited “Islamophobia rhetoric” which risked inciting discord against Australia’s Muslim population.


‘Plainly preposterous’: Alex Ryvchin slams Albanese government's ban of Hillel Fuld
Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-CEO Alex Ryvchin has called for the Australian government’s ban of Israeli-American speaker Hillel Fuld from the country to be “overturned”.

US ambassador to Israel has stepped in after the Albanese government quietly cancelled the travel visa of Hillel Fuld who was due to visit in the coming weeks.

“It’s a plainly proposterous decision; Hillel Fuld is a tech entrepreneur, he is an expert in his field, he is an uncontroversial figure,” Mr Rvychin told Sky News host Peta Credlin.

“To think that he was someone that could be deemed of such ill character, that he should be excluded and banned from entering this country, is absurd.”


‘National shame’: Albanese government slammed over Hillel Fuld visa cancellation
Sky News host Chris Kenny slams the Albanese government’s “shameful” handling of antisemitism in Australia after refusing a visa to Israeli-American tech expert Hillel Fuld.

“The Albanese Labor government’s shameful and reckless handling of antisemitism here in Australia and its related weakness in supporting liberty and security for Israel has sunk to a new low,” Mr Kenny said.

Mr Kenny hit out against Labor for refusing a visa to Israeli-American tech expert Hillel Fuld.




The Quad: Greta Thunberg gets the SURPRISE of her life from the IDF
We’re dismantling Greta Thunberg’s ‘selfie yacht’ and exposing it as a farcical PR stunt aimed not at helping Gazans, but at growing Instagram followers.

Israeli innovation envoy Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is joined by a powerhouse panel this episode: journalist and human rights activist Emily Schrader, founder of Chochmat Nashim Shoshanna Keats-Jaskoll, and for the first time, UK-born founder of the Israel Advocacy Movement Joseph Cohen. Together, they dismantle Greta Thunberg’s global spectacle and so much more!

The show opens with the absurdity of Greta and her crew being warmly received by the IDF—fed pastrami sandwiches and safely escorted to port—while international media falsely labeled them “kidnapped.” The panel compares this moral narcissism to the deadly silence on real global atrocities—from genocide in Sudan to Boko Haram’s victims—and notes the staggering contrast in how Israel versus Egypt handles border violations.

Joseph Cohen then shares a chilling firsthand account of online antisemitic threats and explains how legal pressure, including counter-terror investigations, can help turn the tide against Jew-hatred. The group also tackles media disinformation: from Hamas operatives disguised as journalists to the Western press’s blind trust in Hamas over the IDF.

Plus: The team dishes out “Scumbag of the Week” awards (including to Piers Morgan and Greta Thunberg), praises legal warrior Natasha Hausdorff, and hails the IDF for flawlessly neutralizing the flotilla with calm professionalism and zero drama.




Zohran Mamdani says he will not travel to Israel but planned ‘Palestine’ trip in 2020
In his campaign for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani, a far-left Queens state assemblyman polling in second place behind former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has indicated he would not visit Israel if he is elected, saying he does not believe that such a trip is necessary “to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers.”

“I believe that to stand up for Jewish New Yorkers means that you actually meet Jewish New Yorkers wherever they may be, be it at their synagogues and temples or their homes or on the subway platform or at a park, wherever it may be,” Mamdani, a fierce critic of Israel, reiterated in comments at a mayoral forum hosted by several progressive Jewish groups on Sunday night.

By contrast, in a 2020 Zoom discussion with the Adalah Justice Project, a pro-Palestinian advocacy group, Mamdani said he was planning to organize a trip to the Palestinian territories, suggesting that he would make an exception for an issue he has upheld as one of his top causes during his tenure in Albany.

“Once COVID is over, I am planning on finding a way to coordinate a trip with other legislators to Palestine,” Mamdani said at the time. “We’ll figure that one out. I’ll probably get to the border and get turned away, but at the very least I’m going to organize it and go myself.”

It is unclear if Mamdani organized such a trip. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The comments, however, broadly underscore how Mamdani’s past remarks on the Israel-Palestinian conflict have become a source of growing tension as he confronts basic questions on the issue during his mayoral campaign.

Several of Mamdani’s Democratic opponents in the June 24 primary have said they would visit Israel if elected — in keeping with a long-standing tradition for New York City mayors who represent the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. Cuomo, who is leading the primary, has vowed it would be his first trip abroad, as have other candidates.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

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