Pages

▼

Monday, June 09, 2025

06/09 Links Pt2: The world has fallen into the moral abyss over Gaza; Plot to poison Israelis at Boom Festival in Portugal; Report debunks ‘settler violence’ narrative

From Ian:

David Collier: The world has fallen into the moral abyss over Gaza
This article is not about the conflict – it is about the international community .

The war – whatever you think of it – is ongoing. Israel rightly or wrongly seeks to eliminate the Hamas threat from Gaza and successfully return every single hostage (whether alive or dead). That is a given. And it is true, everyone does have a right to oppose the Israeli action and call on them to stop.

But that is only part of the equation. This war has been going on now for over 19 months. The world’s human rights NGOs argue that many of the people trapped inside are ‘refugees’. Legacy media have been running (real or imagined) massacre stories non-stop for 18 months. Yet not one of them has run a campaign to get the refugees to safety.

This is nothing to do with the Gazans. The international Palestinian solidarity movement, the hard-left, and the Islamist extremists, all want Gazans to stay in place. Not one of them, actually thought about the people of Gaza, what they wanted, or what was safest for them. Instead they wanted the civilians to remain caught between Hamas and the IDF. Just as Hamas use these people as human shields and want a high casualty count – that same accusation can equally be placed on the shoulders of the entire industry of ‘human rights’.

Israel did not want this. Israel did not seek this conflict. Hamas did. And Israel would much rather be fighting Hamas with no civilians around. So ask yourself why on earth the self titled bastions of moral virtue in the international community have done everything they can to make sure that the civilians have stayed in an area of urban conflict – and then they all express absolute outrage and pointed a finger of blame at Israel when anything happens to them?

And I will leave you with this one simple thought.

If your reflex opposition to this idea of Gazans leaving Gaza is also to reject it because ‘it is what Israel would want’ – then the Palestinian cause has turned you into an absolute monster. It really is that simple.
Richard Kemp: Trump is running out of time to crush Iran’s nuclear ambitions
Iran’s nuclear programme threatens the world and especially the Middle East, with Sunni Arab countries viewed as sworn enemies in Tehran’s maniacal eyes. But Israel is most immediately in Khamenei’s cross-hairs with his repeated guarantees to annihilate it. It is the only country other than the US that is capable of damaging Iran’s nuclear project, but is now on the horns of a dilemma.

Israel can hardly attack while its number one ally is in negotiations on exactly this issue. And if Trump eventually agrees a deal which does not fully dismantle nuclear production facilities – which is a distinct possibility – it will be faced with a decision on whether to go ahead anyway against Trump’s likely desire.

Israel is also certain to face obstruction from European leaders who will cravenly do what they can to avoid conflict no matter the consequences. If Trump’s negotiations grind to a halt and snapback sanctions are imposed, they will no doubt demand that these are given a chance to work and meanwhile Israel should refrain from attacking.

Such vacillation can be more easily swept aside than hard objections from the US, from which Israel would anyway need support including with potentially large retaliation from Iran.

On that subject, Tehran’s ballistic missile stockpiles have been severely depleted by two major attacks against Israel last year, the IDF’s strikes against Iranian ballistic missile production facilities and by export of missiles to Russia to attack Ukraine. But Iran is not sitting on its hands over that challenge any more than it is over uranium enrichment.

Earlier this year it took delivery of shipments of ammonium perchlorate from China and has reportedly ordered thousands of tons more, expected to arrive in the coming months. This is an essential component for solid fuel ballistic missiles, including nuclear armed missiles. As well as direct use against Israel, Iran will also send missiles to Lebanon to rebuild Hizballah and to its other proxies in Iraq and Yemen to attack Israel and potentially US forces in the region.

All this means the time for effective military action is now. Iran will do everything it can to spin out talks with the US, doing its best to lead the negotiators along while manipulating Europeans to throw a lifeline.

As well as building up its offensive capabilities, it will be trying to replace its Russian-supplied air defences shattered by an IDF counterstrike last October. It will also be further hardening and dispersing its nuclear facilities.

Trump needs to understand that, even if a deal is agreed, it won’t be worth the paper its written on. Tehran has repeatedly breached the terms of Obama’s deal as well as its obligations under the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty. Whatever obfuscation it comes up with, Iran will not voluntarily surrender its nuclear weapons programme.

All these negotiations will therefore achieve is to obstruct and delay the inevitable. It is imperative that the US now gives a green light to Netanyahu to do what he has to do, and provide him with whatever support he needs.

The consequences of failure to act go beyond Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Trump’s moves will also be measured in Moscow and Beijing. Anything other than a hard line with Tehran will be taken as a sign of weakness. It will encourage Putin to continue to refuse to negotiate over Ukraine, believing the cost to be low.

And it will show Xi that even the most bullish and unpredictable president the White House has seen for many years may not stand in the way of his own imperial ambitions. Ultimately, deterrence comes down to demonstrable political will. If a (not yet) nuclear armed state can’t be prevented from endangering the world by the American superpower, then what hope is there for anyone deterring two nuclear states.
‘For Dummies’-style manual aims to equip college-bound Jews for campus life
Targeting college-bound Jewish students and their parents, two American immigrants to Israel penned a “For Dummies”-style primer on being a Jewish collegiate during times of surging antisemitism.

The authors of “10 Things Every Jew Should Know Before They Go to College” — Emily Schrader and Blake Flayton — were each at the center of antisemitism scandals on their respective college campuses. Although they now live in Israel, Schrader and Flayton remain closely connected to the scene on American campuses.

In an interview with The Times of Israel, Schrader said the antisemitism at her former campus — University of Southern California — spurred her to move to Israel in 2015.

Incidents ranged from antisemitic Tweets to chants of “Death to Israel” on the USC campus quad, said Schrader. The journalist quickly became an outspoken opponent of Students for Justice in Palestine, the anti-Israel network that has been banned on several campuses in recent months.

“The administration did nothing,” said Schrader. “I knew the trajectory was going the wrong way even at schools like USC.”

Although “10 Things” is most relevant for North American Jews, the book makes note of campus developments around the world. Anti-Israel university activities often migrate from Europe to North American campuses, said Schrader.

“It’s worse in Europe. What happens in the UK is sort of a precursor to what happens in North America,” said Schrader.

The book is divided into 10 chapters based on topics including the media, the West Bank and the United Nations. There is content regarding campus support networks — including Hillel and Chabad — as well as warnings about Israel’s campus opponents and their activities.


New report debunks ‘settler violence’ narrative
The “settler violence” campaign, which claims that violence against Arabs by Jewish “settlers” spiked post-Oct. 7, 2023, is based on fraudulent numbers, according to a report published on Sunday.

The campaign’s goal, according to the report, is to defame not merely the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria, but the Israeli army and by extension the entire State of Israel.

The 125-page report, “False Flags and Real Agendas,” produced by Israeli NGO Regavim, describes the “settler violence” smear as a “modern-day blood libel.”

The report dissects the narrative and the numbers behind the slander, which went into overdrive following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack. A flurry of news items appeared in the liberal mainstream press in the United States and elsewhere about escalating “settler violence” in Judea and Samaria.

These reports claimed that Jewish violence had increased in retaliation for the Hamas massacre. “The breadth and intensity of the violence has revived memories of the ‘nakba,’ or catastrophe, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes, never to return,” reported The Washington Post on Nov. 9, 2023.

In February 2024, the Biden administration, for the first time, sanctioned Israelis it claimed had engaged in violence against Arab civilians, citing “high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages and property destruction.” It would sanction more Israelis in subsequent months, along with certain pro-Israel NGOs. (Regavim was threatened with sanctions though none were applied.)

The Biden White House justified its interference in another country’s internal affairs by claiming that Israel’s government had not done enough to “hold accountable extremist settlers who commit acts of violence,” in the words of then-State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Research finds 90% of reports of ‘violence’ by Judea and Samaria Jews were fake
A new report published by Israel’s Regavim Movement NGO on Sunday has found that some 90% of incidents of “violence” attributed to Judea and Samaria Jews in recent years by the United Nations were fabricated.

Regavim’s 128-page research report in English, titled “False Flags and Real Agendas,” scrutinized a database maintained by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which claims to have documented thousands of alleged incidents of Israeli “settler violence” against Palestinian Arabs from January 2016 through April 2023.

An analysis of the 6,285 incidents documented by the U.N. showed that some 90% of the alleged acts in Judea and Samaria did not take place in the disputed territory but in eastern Jerusalem, or were entirely peaceful, such as visits by Israeli Jews to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, as well as legal activities such as civilian hikes or infrastructure work.

Filtered for verified incidents of physical violence by Israeli Jews against Palestinians, the list shrinks to just 833 cases over a period of seven and a half years, averaging fewer than 10 incidents per month, according to Regavim.

In addition, the Regavim report found that many of these confirmed cases were also misclassified or involved anti-Israel provocations orchestrated by Palestinian and foreign left-wing activist groups.

Examination of the reports also revealed that “in many of them, it is not settler violence of one kind or another, but rather the opposite: these are terror attacks by Arabs against settlers that ended with the injury or elimination of the attacker,” according to the research document.

Regavim said that the term “settler violence” has been used by global bodies, media outlets and left-wing activists to draw a false moral equivalence between Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria and Palestinian terrorism.

“For years, we have been told about a ‘serious phenomenon’ of settler violence, but we have never been shown the data that proves that it exists,” Meir Deutsch, Regavim’s director-general, said in a statement.

“After years in which there was no pushback whatsoever against this false narrative, Regavim is presenting the facts, and they must be seen, heard and internalized in Israel and around the world,” Deutsch stated.


Jewish woman reveals plot to poison Israelis at Boom Festival in Portugal - KAN
A WhatsApp group for left-wing activists in Portugal plotted to poison Israelis at the upcoming Boom Festival, Sarah (not her real name) told KAN News on Monday. The members also intended to defecate on the Israelis' tents and urinate in their food.

Sarah, who is Jewish, said she entered the group chat through her work as an artist, though she imagined they didn't know she was Jewish.

The unnamed Jewish woman said she entered the group chat through her work as an artist, though she imagined they didn't know she was Jewish.

"Their idea was to infiltrate the Boom Festival (set to take place in July), because a lot of Israelis go there after doing their service at the IDF. And they felt that it was unfair that [Israelis] should be allowed to be included.

"It started off as quite a mess, but then they started to organize themselves. What started off with just silly ideas then started to become plans. And as you can see, it's truly sinister."

KAN broadcast screenshots of three messages from the chat.

One of the texts read "they are all pretty much IOF veterans boys and girls. I was thinking of giving them a taste of their own medicine. Wake them up and let them know that they are getting a humanitarian warning to leave their tents, make sure they are at a safe(ish) distance away and then torch their tent. I'd let them know that I am the most moral arsonist in the world and then give them the strychnine drop to cheer them up."

Another says: "Oh c'mon, strychnine in their acid is not dismemberment of babies... they are all former or current IOF after all... what's a little strychnine to people who have torn babies to shreds while wearing their mother's stolen underwear."

A third says "The entire world needs to adopt this tactic [of boycotting] wherever Israelis are found."

Strychnine is a highly toxic, colorless alkaloid used as a pesticide, which leads to convulsions and then death through asphyxia if ingested.

Sarah told KAN that she was also on a group phone call where similar plans were expressed, although she said the plans on the phone call were "worse."

"Plans to defecate on Israelis tents, plans to urinate in their food, plans to set their tents on fire, plans to put bad substances inside other substances they may take. Plans to make them feel uncomfortable, plans to attack."


‘Disgusting’ Massive Attack display Sinwar footage during concert
The band Massive Attack has been criticised after including footage of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his family members as part of a video montage at their Manchester concert last weekend.

The band, who have been vocal critics of Israel for many years, included the video footage as part of a montage titled “Open the doors to the merchants of death” during their set at the Lido Festival, held at Manchester’s Co op Live Arena. The footage, released by the IDF last year, shows members of the Sinwar family, including the terrorist leader, attempting to hide in tunnels beneath Gaza on 10 October 2023. Three days earlier Hamas had launched an attack on Israel which had been masterminded by Sinwar himself, murdering 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.

Commenting on social media, Alex Gandler, deputy spokesperson for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, described the band’s use of the footage as “just disgusting. People have completely lost the plot. They are aligning themselves with the worst humans. Not even hiding their hatred anymore.”

Massive Attack have been vocal supporters of the censure and boycott of Israel. Prior to their concert at the Co op Live, they released a statement condemning the arena’s new sponsorship deal with Barclays, describing the latter as “a commercial endeavour synonymous with the large scale financing of new fossil fuel extraction, and billions of dollars of investments in arms companies that supply Israel in its genocidal onslaught of Gaza, and war crimes in the West Bank.” The band went on to say that “Co op live ownership have agreed to our insistence that all physical and digital Barclays livery and logos be completely removed from the arena itself and our show page on the arena website, and that no show tickets – for sale of complimentary – will go to Barclays.”

Recently, the band were at forefront of those defending Belfast rap trio Kneecap, after the group faced censure when video footage emerged of one of its members waving the Hezbollah flag on stage. Massive Attack released a statement saying that “Kneecap are not the story…as a band that has spoken publicly for more than 30 years about the illegal occupation, apartheid system and killing with impunity of thousands of Palestinians, we are hyper aware of both the human cost of abject silence and the commercial implications of publicly expressing solidarity with an oppressed people.” Hezbollah, which is also a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK, is notorious for having aided the Assad regime in the mass murder of civilians during the Syrian civil war.


Pro-Palestinian activists dress as Hamas, re-enact Oct 7 massacre in Brussels
Pro-Palestinian activists dressed as Hamas terrorists reenacted the October 7 Massacre in central Brussels during the third annual Samidoun-organized "Resistance Festival," which ran from June 6 to Sunday, June 8.

Videos from the event show masked men in keffiyehs and army fatigues pointing prop guns, while other actors play dead bodies heaped on the floor. When the men playing Hamas terrorists see that everyone is dead, they put their arms around one another and raise their hands in victory. Fake blood is also seen in the video.

The re-enactment, accompanied by music and a voice-over about “From the river to the sea,” was met with whoops, cheers, and applause from the audience.

One of the attendees posted on Instagram: “Resistance is justified when people are occupied. When there is a genocide, resistance is justified.”

Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, posted the video on X/Twitter, saying she “just couldn’t believe it’s real, but it is.”

“Here in Brussels. Reenactment of the 7/10 massacre. Blood and bodies on the floor and all.”

Belgian MP Sam van Rooy said on X that Samidoun had promised in advance not to make any explicit or implicit reference to Hamas or Hezbollah, “not to call for hatred or violence and to strictly respect social cohesion.”

He added that the mayor of the city, Jean Spinette (who condemned the footage and asked the police to investigate) had acted “too little, too late.”


Family of kidnapped IDF soldier releases new video of Oct. 7 lynching
The family of kidnapped Israel Defense Forces Sgt. 1st Class Matan Angrest on Monday released new video footage showing his abduction by Palestinian terrorists during the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre.

In the video recording, Angrest can be seen being forcibly taken from his tank in the Nahal Oz area and beaten by a Gaza mob while unconscious.

Alongside the video footage, the Angrest family also published an audio recording from inside the tank, capturing the moments before the crew’s face-to-face encounter with the Palestinian terrorist mob.

In the tank with Angrest were IDF Sgt. Itay Chen and Capt. Daniel Perez, who were killed and whose bodies are currently being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip; and Sgt. Tomer Leibovitz, who also fell in the line of duty.

In the chilling audio, Angrest can be heard shouting in panic after the vehicle is hit and his fellow soldiers are injured: “What is this? A terrorist! Stop, stop! Behind him! Perez! Is anyone hit? Perez?”

“For 611 days, I avoided watching the full video. Last night, I forced myself to see it for the first time. We have no choice. Matan’s life is in danger,” the captive IDF soldier’s mother, Anat, wrote in a statement.

“We were compelled to release another segment of the video to the public. We wish we didn’t have to,” continued the Israeli mother.

“Matan is in life-threatening danger, wounded and bleeding. We must not abandon him (again) and leave him behind. We’re sorry, our Matan. Don’t give up, because we are not giving up on you,” Anat Angrest said.


Miniseries on how Oct. 7 impacted Latinos premieres in Tel Aviv
Survivors of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion joined prominent members of the Israeli Latin American community, ambassadors, journalists and other guests in a packed theater at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art on May 28 to watch two episodes of a new four-part miniseries that showcases Latinos who were affected by the attack.

The series, titled “7/O: Testigos del Terror” (“10/7: Witnesses of Terror”), is in Spanish with subtitles in English. According to a press release, it “is the only docuseries chronicling the Hamas massacre and its aftermath from the perspective of Latin American immigrants in Israel.”

Just weeks after the attack, the release said, filmmakers from the Miami-based NGO, Fuente Latina, traveled to Israel, where they interviewed dozens of Latinos who survived the massacre. Fuente Latina was founded by Leah Soibel, a Jewish American Middle East expert whose parents emigrated from Argentina, in 2012 to provide news and commentary on the Middle East to Spanish-language news outlets.

“The unique angle of this film is not only that it looks at Oct. 7 through a Latino lens, but also that it delves into the very particular migratory experiences of Latinos in Israel,” said Soibel, who serves as executive director of Fuente Latina.

“It is very interesting to note that this immigrant community constitutes a significant part of the Israeli population and was a fundamental pillar in the establishment of the kibbutzim on the Gaza border that were the main target of the Hamas attack,” she added.

After the screening, sister and brother Clara and Fernando Marman, immigrants from Argentina, spoke to the audience about their harrowing ordeal in Hamas captivity.

Clara, together with her partner Luis Har, sister Gabriela, brother Fernando, niece Mia, and Mia’s puppy, Bella, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on Oct. 7. The women were released in the first ceasefire in November 2023. Luis and Fernando remained with their captors in Gaza.


Anti-Israel Pamphlets From Group Behind Columbia Encampments Line Barnard Library Shelves
Barnard College's library shelves are stocked with anti-Israel pamphlets, including some from Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), the anti-Semitic student group behind last spring's encampments. Others direct readers to content praising assassinated Hamas leaders like Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh and justifying the Oct. 7 attack, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

The pamphlets, known as "zines," are listed on Columbia University’s online catalog, meaning they were officially incorporated into Barnard’s Milstein Library and not slipped onto the shelves by students. A Free Beacon review found a dozen anti-Israel publications—some of which are available online to students of Barnard and Columbia, its sister school—in the catalog of roughly 4,000 zines. The zine collection is overseen by several Barnard students and director Jenna Freedman, who has long pushed anti-Israel sentiments and helped form a group called Librarians and Archivists for Palestine.

The zines, which have not been previously reported, are yet another example of pervasive anti-Semitism at Barnard and Columbia. CUAD led a March 5 raid on Milstein Library, where the zines are housed. During the storming, the mob injured two security officials and distributed Hamas propaganda justifying the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack.

Two of the anti-Israel pamphlets, both published by CUAD, were included in Milstein Library’s June 2024 exhibit of zines focused on recognizing "how we can be complicit in systems of oppression locally and abroad." One of those pushed the anti-Semitic boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement and called on "KKKOLUMBIA" to defund its Public Safety office. It also quotes Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) founder George Habash in calling Columbia a "bodyguard of U.S. imperialism," and includes a sprawling flowchart connecting university leadership to military contractors, tech giants, Israel, and the New York City Police Department.

Barnard still shelves two copies of that zine, photos obtained by the Free Beacon confirm. At least one of those sports a sticker with a barcode and text that reads "COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES."

The other was stylized as a tween scrapbook—complete with a Barbie Band-aid and a keffiyeh-clad teddy bear waving a Palestinian flag—condemning Barnard president Laura Ann Rosenbury. It accused her of "weaponizing Jewish pain to support genocide" and called for a boycott of her February 2024 inauguration. CUAD lists the zine’s title as Barnard Burn Book, but the library exhibit sanitized the name to simply For Laura. A copy still remains on Barnard’s shelf, a photo obtained by the Free Beacon confirms.
Don't rehire antisemitic, pro-Nasrallah doctor, over 1000 doctors urge Brown University
Some 1,170 doctors and medical professionals sent a letter to Brown University demanding that the school does not rehire a known antisemitic physician.

The letter, organized by the National Jewish Advocacy Center, urged Dr. Louis Rice, head of the Department of Medicine at Brown’s medical school, not to rehire known Hezbollah supporter Dr. Rasha Alawieh as an assistant professor.

According to the transcript of a Homeland Security interview unsealed on May 7, 2025, Alawieh expressed support for deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

At one point, immigration officials asked Alawieh why, if she knew that Nasrallah was the leader of a foreign terrorist organization, she “chose to ignore the terrible acts that he advocates for?” She responded, “Because it’s not related to politics. It’s related to faith and spirituality.”

Alawieh, a transplant nephrologist, traveled to her home country of Lebanon in February to “visit family” and attend Nasrallah’s funeral. She was detained by US customs officials upon returning and was deported. 'No place for Dr. Alawieh’s support of those who advocate Jew-hatred'
Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, said the Department of Homeland Security acted “appropriately” in deporting Rasha Alawieh.

“Particularly, as a non-citizen work visa holder, there is no place for Dr. Alawieh’s support of those who advocate Jew-hatred and jihad terror in the US, let alone in US medicine,” he added.

The letter asked that Alawieh not be allowed to resume working at Brown University Health, regardless of the outcome of her ongoing litigation.

“She is a threat to fellow faculty, as well as to patient safety and care for which Brown University is on notice, making her also a liability threat to the university itself,” the letter adds.

“Antisemitism is running rampant in the medical profession,” stated Peggy Shapiro, executive director of the Center for Combating Antisemitism.

“A recent study revealed that 40% of Jewish healthcare workers have experienced antisemitism in their professional or academic environment since the October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.”


CBS’ DENIAL DISTORTION, AL JAZEERA CREEP AND MILITARIZED AID MYOPIA
Last week we wrote about the particular strain of journalistic malady called “denial denial.” Today’s post is a study of a close cousin of denial denial: “denial distortion.”

Thus, CBS dutifully reported that the Israeli military issued a denial regarding Hamas-fueled reports that it had gunned down dozens of civilians at an aid distribution site in the southern Gaza Strip on June 1. But the problem is that the network fudged what it was exactly that the army denied.

Thus, CBS’ Imtiaz Tyab fabricated in the introduction of the June 1 “Sunday Weekend News” broadcast: “The Israeli military denies anyone was killed in the incident, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.” Further down in the broadcast, he offered up a slightly changed variation of the same theme: “Israel had denied any shooting took place today.”

In fact, the IDF never denied that anyone was killed in the incident. Nor did it deny that any shooting took place. Rather, the army denied that its troops fired on civilians in or near the aid distribution site. The IDF’s denial stated:
False reports have been spread In [sic] recent hours, including serious allegations against the IDF regarding fire toward Gazan residents in the area of the humanitarian aid distribution site in Gaza.

Findings from an initial inquiry indicate that the IDF did not fire at civilians while they were near or within the humanitarian aid distribution site and that reports to this effect are false.[Emphasis in original.]

The IDF is cooperating with the GHF and international aid organizations in order to enable the distribution of aid to Gazan residents—and not to Hamas.

The IDF calls on the media to be cautious with information published by the Hamas terrorist organization, as proven in many previous incidents.

The Israeli military also released drone footage which it said showed Hamas combatants firing on civilians at a different aid distribution site, raising the possibility that Hamas was responsible for the deadly shooting.

Aside from his imprecise strawman reporting of the IDF’s denial, Tyab’s factual liberties also include the number of reported casualties. Regarding the June 1 incident at the food distribution site in Rafah, the CBS journalist intoned: “At least 49 people were killed and over 200 wounded, most suffering from gunshot injuries, according to Gaza health officials.”

In fact, the “Gaza health officials,” also known as Hamas employees, did not cite 49 dead in that disputed incident. On June 1, at 1:53 PM (Israel time) Hamas’ Ministry of Health reported that hospitals across the coastal territories, meaning from various incidents in different locations, received 37 fatalities within the previous 24 hours. The Hamas-employed health officials reported 136 wounded within the same time period, which covered both the Rafah aid distribution site incident along with other deadly events.

So how did CBS’ Tyab reach these inflated casualty figures, which exceeded Hamas’ own notoriously questionable figures for both the dead and wounded? Tyab, who joined CBS after a stint at the Qatari-controlled Al Jazeera, apparently relied on the erroneous reporting of his previous employer without carrying out any independent checking of his own. In this June 1 report, Al Jazeera wrongly reported that the Gaza Ministry of Health reported 49 dead and more than 200 wounded in an Israeli airstrike [sic] on a Rafah aid distribution site.

While Tyab failed to make clear that the Gaza Health Ministry is run by Hamas, or that Hamas is a designated terror organization, his treatment of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation did not get the same pass. He referred to it as “a controversial U.S. and Israeli backed aid distribution center,” and added: “The United Nations and other aid agencies have refused to work with the group, saying it has, quote ‘militarized aid,’ which goes against all humanitarian principles.” Moreover, two days later, on July 3, he dedicated an entire broadcast to “Investigating Aid in Gaza.”


Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians Weigh In: The Real Reason Hamas Wants To 'Sacrifice' Them
Like most senior Hamas leaders, [Khalil] al-Hayya and his family members live outside the Gaza Strip, having fled the Gaza Strip before the October 7 attack on Israel. These Hamas leaders are leading safe, often resplendent lives in Qatar, Lebanon, Algeria, Turkey and other comfortable countries.

Hamas, [these Palestinians] say, has decided to sacrifice tens of thousands of Palestinians to please its patrons in Qatar and Iran.

"Khalil al-Hayya's statement of sacrificing Gaza isn't a slip of the tongue – it's the mask coming off. When he says Gaza 'offered itself as a sacrifice,' what he means is that the people of Gaza were handed over...to foreign capitals and thrones... Gaza wasn't 'offered'- it was 'traded.' Traded for relevance in Tehran, applause in Doha, and invitations to summits where men in suits congratulate themselves for their loyalty [to Iran and Qatar] while entire neighborhoods [in the Gaza Strip] are flattened. What al-Hayya revealed – with disturbing pride – is that Hamas has never seen Gaza as a society to build or protect, but as a tool to elevate themselves in the eyes of unelected monarchs and ideological overlords.... to secure long-term contracts of power and protection from the patrons they truly serve..... [f]or the Qatari ruling elite who fund the fire from a safe distance, then host the [Hamas] arsonists as statesmen. Hamas offers Gaza as a sacrifice ... because they know that a Gaza in ruins keeps them relevant, funded, and feared." — Hamza Howidy, a Gaza-born peace and human rights advocate, X, June 6, 2025.

"[O]ur lives have been stolen. People in Gaza... are furious. They're asking: how dare he (Khalil al-Hayya) speak in our name while he lives safely abroad with his family in Qatar? His words echo something even more horrifying once said by the late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh: 'We need the blood of children and women to awaken the spirit of revolution within us.' What kind of ideology is this? What twisted logic allows men living in comfort to turn the suffering of an entire people into a slogan? I can't describe how infuriated I feel right now. I want to smash my head against the wall." — "Alaa from Gaza," X, June 5, 2025 [Emphasis in the original].


Hamas firing squad publicly executes local resident in Gaza City square
IDF Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, published a disturbing video on Sunday from the Gaza Strip showing the public execution of a local resident by Hamas terrorists in Gaza City’s central square over the weekend.

Alian released the footage via the Arabic-language Facebook page of his unit, known as “Al-Munassiq,” delivering a harsh rebuke of Hamas and accusing the organization of resorting to fear to maintain its grip on power.

The highly unusual documentation shows a Gaza resident being executed by a firing squad of Hamas gunmen in a brutal public display that took place in Gaza City’s main square in recent days. The footage was distributed by Alian’s office through its Arabic social media channels.

In his message, Alian directly addressed Gaza residents. “People of Gaza—Hamas terrorists and criminals are killing you and care nothing for your lives. There is no difference between a dictator who kills quietly and a terrorist who slaughters openly—both are your enemies and enemies of life.”

Alian stated, “This horrifying footage before you is yet another desperate and failed attempt to instill fear among the public to preserve Hamas’ control, power, and governance.

“It reflects Hamas’ cynical exploitation and trampling of Gaza’s residents for the sake of sustaining the terrorist regime.”


Seth Frantzman: Hezbollah’s appeal for Lebanese protection signals strategic failure
Hezbollah has been reduced to asking the Republic of Lebanon to stop Israeli attacks on its sites. The group has continued to suffer losses in the seven months since a ceasefire in November.

Israel recently carried out a strike on Beirut, for instance, targeting a drone manufacturing factory.

Hassan Fadlallah, a member of the Lebanese Parliament, represents the Bint Jbeil district. He was quoted in Al Akhbar media in Lebanon as saying that “the state can mobilize its forces to stop Israeli attacks.”

Al Akhbar reported that Fadlallah is a member of the “resistance bloc” in the Lebanese Parliament, a euphemism for Hezbollah and its allies.

He “believes that the Israeli enemy is currently benefiting from the state’s inability to find the necessary formulas for protection, deterrence, and confrontation,” the report said.

Al Akhbar is generally regarded as a pro-Hezbollah media outlet.

The Lebanese politician was taking part in a ceremony for a Lebanese “martyr,” senior Hezbollah commander Abu Taleb, who was responsible for southern Lebanon and was killed last June.

Taleb was killed along with other senior members in a strike by Israel, Ynet reported at the time.


Nuclear watchdog head: Iranians say Israeli strike may push state to build nuke - exclusive
Iranians told IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi that if Israel strikes its nuclear facilities, this could push them over the edge and they will try to create nuclear weapons, Grossi said on Monday in an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post.

“A strike could potentially have an amalgamating effect, solidifying Iran’s determination – I will say it plainly – to pursue a nuclear weapon or withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Grossi said.

“I’m telling you this because they have told me so directly,” he added.

This is a typical Iranian refrain that could easily be dismissed as psychological warfare. However, hearing it directly from the world’s number one nuclear inspector, who has met with three Iranian presidents and many other top Iranian officials, is sobering.

Further, while several Israeli officials have assured the Post that Israel can strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, Grossi openly expressed doubt about this possibility.

Discussing what Israel might do if no new nuclear deal is reached in the foreseeable future, Grossi said, “What member states decide to do is their prerogative. I don’t advise the Israeli government. They will decide what’s best.”

“But one thing is certain,” he continued, “The program runs wide and deep. And when I say ‘deep,’ I mean it. Many of these facilities are extremely well-protected. Disrupting them would require overwhelming and devastating force.”

By “deep,” Grossi was referring to the claim made by many military experts that Israel, lacking the American 30,000-pound mega bunker buster MOAB (the Mother of All Bombs), does not have the capability of destroying Iran’s nuclear facility under the mountain at Fordow and the new one being built beneath a mountain at Natanz.


IAEA chief: Iran nuclear deal with tough monitoring will prevent Israeli attack
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Monday, said that he hopes that his efforts and the efforts of the US will lead to a new nuclear deal with tough monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program sufficient to mollify Israel from feeling the need to attack the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

Grossi was referring to escalating threats by Jerusalem since October 26, 2024, of a readiness to strike Tehran’s nuclear facilities.

On that date, Israel retaliated against a second mass direct strike by Iran against the Jewish state (which caused no casualties due to immense missile defense efforts by Israel, the US, and several allied countries) by destroying all of Iran’s advanced S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems, leaving the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites largely undefended compared to Israel’s F-35 air strike capabilities.

The IAEA chief’s comments at a press conference on Monday were an expression of his hope that if a new nuclear deal has even better monitoring provisions than the 2015 version, maybe Jerusalem will decide that it is unnecessary to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Earlier, Grossi spoke to the IAEA Board of Governors, telling them that he had concluded that Tehran had previously hidden illicit nuclear material in at least three locations: the Varamin, Marivan, and Turquzabad sites.
Iran carried out implosion tests for nuclear weapons development, IAEA reports
The recent special International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iranian nuclear violations added many points, one being that Iran carried out multiple implosion tests, a key military skill necessary for developing the atomic bomb.Implosion tests do not have civilian nuclear uses.

Notably, though much of the report refers to Iranian military activities from 20 years ago, Tehran’s careful record-keeping means that any progress that the Islamic Republic made back then could be used to help with a more sudden, rapid push for a breakthrough to a nuclear weapon in 2025.

The fact that it carried out various explosive tests also suggests that Iran is further along in other skills needed for developing a nuclear bomb, besides just enriching uranium, than many observers may have thought.

This and multiple other findings are analyzed in detail in a position paper introduced this weekend by the Institute for Science and International Security, spearheaded by lead author and president David Albright.


NYC mayor recognizes IHRA definition, calls on City Council to codify it
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City, signed an executive order at Tribeca Synagogue in Lower Manhattan on Sunday recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s working definition of Jew-hatred on behalf of the city.

“The City of New York recognizes, and city agencies shall consider as appropriate, the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, as adopted on May 26, 2016, as well as the 11 contemporary examples,” per the order.

“City agencies are encouraged to use these materials as appropriate to facilitate constructive discourse, further understanding and enable a more thoughtful response to harmful antisemitic behavior,” it adds.

The contemporary examples that are part of the working definition include “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor” and “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the State of Israel.”

Adams signed the order alongside Phil McGraw (“Dr. Phil”). The two had a conversation at the synagogue, which will air on June 17 on the “Dr. Phil Primetime” show.

“Antisemitism is a vile disease that’s been spreading across our nation and our city,” the mayor stated. “What’s worse, since Hamas’s terror attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, we have seen this hateful rhetoric become normalized on our campuses, in our communities and online as antisemitic propaganda far too often masquerades as ‘activism.’”

“When Jewish New Yorkers make up 11% of the population but more than half of all hate crimes, we know this moment demands bold, decisive action to crack down on anti-Jewish hatred,” the mayor stated.

He called the executive order a “landmark” move to “adopt an internationally recognized definition of antisemitism.”
Coordinated Antisemitic Attacks Rock 5 Towns—Community Urged to Stay Vigilant
In the wake of early reports suggesting a coordinated string of anti-Semitic incidents in the Five Towns community, local officials and law enforcement have clarified that while some incidents remain under investigation, they are not necessarily connected or all motivated by hate.

Assemblyman Ari Brown (R-Cedarhurst) released a statement this morning affirming that, per the Fourth Precinct Inspector, the fire at Avi’s Auto Repair Shop is not currently being classified as an anti-Semitic attack. Meanwhile, two other incidents—vandalism at ASAP Restoration and anti-Semitic graffiti found at the Israel Chesed Center—are being actively investigated. Further information is expected as the investigation progresses.

Assemblyman Brown reaffirmed his commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, highlighting his sponsorship of nine legislative bills in Albany aimed at protecting Jewish communities throughout Long Island and beyond. He urged community members to remain vigilant, check security cameras, and report anything suspicious to local authorities without hesitation.

Young Israel of Hewlett echoed this message, clarifying:
“Based on the best available information, the banner placed at the Chesed Center appears unrelated to the fire at 5 Towns Auto and the broken window at ASAP Restoration. Those two incidents are currently being investigated as criminal matters and *not* bias-related. We thank our Rabbi and security team for their immediate and thorough response.”


‘Disgusting, cowardly act’: Ottawa national Holocaust monument vandalized
Ottawa’s National Holocaust Monument was vandalized on Monday morning, and painted red with “feed me,” per images of the memorial that JNS viewed.

“Sadly these days, we continue to see this hate,” Adam Silver, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, told JNS. “It’s not unexpected, I guess, but it’s certainly still jarring to see.”

Silver told JNS that he refers to the monument being “desecrated” rather than “defaced.”

“It’s supposed to be a beacon of education and tolerance, and to honor the memories of all the victims,” he said. He told JNS that city crews were scrubbing the graffiti on Monday morning.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, told JNS that “since Oct. 7, Canada’s Jewish community has been under siege.”

“Too often, we’re told this isn’t about Jews. It’s about Israel. But this? This doesn’t feel like it’s about Israel,” CIJA said.

Silver told JNS that authorities told him that there are cameras around the monument and the surrounding area, which makes it easier to find vandals.

“City leadership are committed to identifying the perpetrators and holding them accountable as best they can,” he said. “We know that there are all kinds of attempts from haters to intimidate and create fear.”


Oakland coffee shop discriminated against Jewish customers, per federal suit
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Jerusalem Coffee House shop in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, alleging that the store denied service to Jewish customers last year in violation of federal civil rights law.

As Michael Radice passed the coffee shop in June 2024, a man sitting at a table in front of the shop asked him, “Are you a Jew?” Radice, who was wearing a hat emblazoned with “Am Yisrael chai,” Hebrew for “the nation of Israel lives,” answered in the affirmative, per the lawsuit.

The man then asked, “Are you a Zionist?” Radice said that he didn’t want to answer, prompting the man to accuse him of complicity with Israel’s actions in its ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including “killing children.” As Radice walked away, the man stood up and yelled, “Where are you going?”

Another man, identified in the lawsuit as Fathi Abdulrahim Harara, the owner of the shop, then approached the man, who shouted at Radice. The two spoke and proceeded to walk into the coffee house.

A couple of months later, Radice was on his way to a nearby fundraiser and went into the coffee shop to buy a cookie as “a sign of goodwill,” per the lawsuit. He saw Harara, the man who shouted at him, and another staff member working behind the counter.

The man who shouted at him said, “You’re the guy with the hat. You’re the Jew. You’re the Zionist. We don’t want you in our coffee shop. Get out,” per the lawsuit. Another employee also told Radice to leave while making a gesture toward the front door, per court documents.

As Radice left the coffee shop, Harara and the two employees allegedly shouted “Jew” and “Zionist” at him and followed him, prompting Radice to hide behind a car in the middle of the street.

Harara and the two coffee-shop employees allegedly “continued to yell insults and epithets” at Radice, even as he met up with a member of the board of a nonprofit that he directs and was holding a nearby meeting. As Radice told his colleague what had happened, Harara and the employees continued to insult him until the two entered the building.

Another man, Jonathan Hirsch, entered the coffee shop in October 2024, so he and his 5-year-old son could use the restroom. Hirsch ordered a coffee and sat at a table to play chess with his son.

At the time, Hirsch was wearing a hat with a Star of David on it—“a replica of a 1938 cap used by the Hebrew Orphans Asylum, a Jewish orphanage in New York City that sponsored baseball teams,” according to the lawsuit.


‘The Jews’ fight is my fight,’ Dr. Phil tells JNS
The television host Phil McGraw, known as Dr. Phil, has received death threats, been swatted repeatedly and faced an onslaught of hate mail for supporting Israel publicly since Oct. 7.

“You get to a point where you have to decide what really matters in life, and right and wrong is not a relative term,” he told JNS, shortly before taping an episode of his show about Jew-hatred with Eric Adams, the New York City mayor.

“What happened on Oct. 7 was wrong at every level,” McGraw told JNS. “It wasn’t an act of war. It was a war crime.”

The backlash has strengthened Dr. Phil’s resolve to stand up for the Jewish state. “The Jews’ fight is my fight,” he told JNS. “If somebody is picking on a Jew with antisemitism, and I’m standing there watching it and do nothing—that’s bystander liability in my opinion.”

“I’m as guilty as the person picking on him if I don’t step up and say something and do something,” McGraw told JNS.

The talk show host held a conversation, recorded live, with Adams on Sunday at the Tribeca Synagogue in Manhattan, where the mayor broke the news that he signed an executive order recognizing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of Jew-hatred and urging the City Council to codify it into law.

Dr. Phil told JNS prior to the taping that Hamas’s terrorism represents a broader assault not just on Israel but on core American values.

“Right now, the focus is on Israel and Jews, but if you study Hamas at all and some of the other terrorist organizations, they’re after the West,” he told JNS. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re Jewish, Christian, atheist or somewhere in between. This isn’t a Jewish issue. It is a human issue.”




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 

at