Saturday, July 12, 2025

07/12 Links: The Gaza food aid 'massacre': Yet another modern blood libel; Hamas rejects latest cease-fire proposal; Zohran Mamdani’s father a member of group endorsing suicide bombers

From Ian:

‘Dismantle Zionism’: These people aren’t fooling around
No ambiguity there: individuals as well as institutions will be targeted for the “crime,” in their eyes, of Zionism.

If you want to work for Ansari and Magennis, then you will need to be as hate-filled as they are. The first question on the application for the role of “Events, Training and Comms” at their new organization reads as follows: “How will you use the time and space created by this position to deal maximum damage to Zionism?”

What’s striking about these two is that despite their declared focus on the legal process to achieve their ends, their language indicates a proclivity for violence that goes beyond their legal pleas for Hamas and unconditional support for Palestine Action, a fiercely antisemitic grouping that the British government designated as a terrorist organization earlier this month.

Addressing a far-left group last week, Magennis said that the task of the audience when it came to Zionism was to “kick it to death.” On social media, one pictures him frothing as he stabs his keyboard: “Zionism is crumbling. The reckoning is here … Tear down the world that did this to Palestinians. Escalate! Escalate now!” (Amusingly, Magennis—yet another Irishman in thrall to Palestinian eliminationism—suddenly became very sensitive about anti-Irish tropes when a respondent made a joke about him going to bed clutching a bottle of whiskey.) Ansari, meanwhile, continues in a similar vein, hailing the “unique opportunity to do real damage to Zionism” he believes his organization embodies.

“Real damage” means advocating for and implementing the measures I described above, whose impact will be felt primarily by British Jews, not the Israeli government. This is not an accident; in the multifront war launched by Hamas nearly two years ago, the role of its international solidarity movement is to make life as unpleasant as possible for the vast majority of Jews who identify as Zionists. In that regard, the handful of Jewish anti-Zionists in their ranks provides some convenient cover, much as the Jewish section of the Soviet Communist Party did when the Bolsheviks banned Zionist organizations and cracked down on Hebrew and Jewish education.

With the exceptions of the present U.S. administration and the current German government, no other Western government has understood, let alone acted upon, the grave threat these groups and individuals represent. As a first priority, the welcome U.S. sanctions on Albanese—rooted in the same executive order applied to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for its pursuit of American citizens and allies of the United States like Israel—should now be expanded to all groups dedicated to waging lawfare against Israel and Jewish communities outside Israel. We don’t want you here, and you should entertain no illusions: We will defeat you.
Enough is enough: Israel must take Joseph's Tomb back from the Palestinians
Nearly 25 years after the IDF ignominiously pulled out of Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, Israel may at last be on the verge of correcting that grievous affront to Jewish history and destiny.

According to a report last week in Yediot Aharonot, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, chaired by Religious Zionist Party MK Zvi Sukkot, convened a special session to discuss for the first time the restoration of Israeli sovereignty to the holy site.

IDF officials who participated in the meeting promised to prepare a feasibility study within six weeks, which could pave the way for the renewal of a permanent Jewish presence at the site.

The tomb is the burial place of one of our greatest biblical forebears, and it is one of Israel’s premier sites of religious, historical, and archaeological significance.

Zvi Ilan, one of Israel’s foremost archaeologists, described Joseph’s Tomb as “one of the tombs whose location is known with the utmost degree of certainty and is based on continuous documentation since biblical times” (Tombs of the Righteous in the Land of Israel, p. 365).

According to the Bible, “The bones of Joseph which the Children of Israel brought up from Egypt were buried in Shechem [Nablus] in the portion of the field that had been purchased by Jacob” (Joshua 24:32). The site is also mentioned in the Midrash.

Ancient Christian scholars, Arab geographers, medieval Jewish pilgrims, Samaritan historians, and even 19th-century British cartographers all concur regarding Joseph’s Tomb and its location.

But despite its centrality to our heritage, Joseph’s Tomb was left to the mercy of Palestinian vandals, terrorists, and hoodlums in 2000, who have repeatedly desecrated it ever since.

Who can forget the scenes that were aired worldwide in October 2000 when Palestinians armed with sledgehammers put on display their idea of religious tolerance as they hacked, chopped, and smashed one of the most hallowed sites belonging to the Jewish people?

As a result, the pristine sounds of Jewish prayer that had once filled the skies over Joseph’s Tomb were replaced by plumes of smoke as the invading Arab throng pillaged the compound, setting alight holy books and other sacred religious objects.
Hamas rejects latest cease-fire proposal in Qatar, insists on IDF withdrawal from the Gaza Strip
Hamas rejected the latest 60-day cease-fire proposal with Israel Saturday, stalling talks in Qatar while the terror group continues to push to maintain a larger swath of the Gaza Strip.

Negotiations in Doha this week have centered on a US-backed Qatari proposal that would bring a temporary halt to the nearly three years of bloodshed and a release of some of the remaining hostages. But the hangup has been the terror group’s demands over the extent of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from the enclave, sources said.

Israel has already accepted the proposal, according to the Times of Israel.

“Hamas rejected the Qatari proposal, is creating obstacles, refuses to compromise and accompanies the talks with psychological warfare aimed at sabotaging the negotiations,” a senior official in Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office told reporters, according to the Jerusalem Post.

“Hamas remains steadfast in its refusal, holding positions that do not allow the mediators to advance an agreement.”

The stalled two-month truce calls for both sides to stop firing at each other to allow for roughly half the hostages to be released, and humanitarian aid to be brought in — while Israeli forces withdraw to a buffer zone in Gaza and negotiations for a permanent cease-fire take place.

Earlier Saturday, a senior Palestinian official told the BBC the cease-fire negotiations were on the verge of collapse.

In the latest offer, first presented Wednesday, Tel Aviv agreed to ease some of Hamas’ demands regarding the redeployment of its troops, following pressure from Washington.

But maps detailing the partial withdrawal of IDF troops from occupying Gaza was not enough to satisfy the terror group, sources said, adding, however, that the indirect talks are still expected to continue through the weekend.


Socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s dad sits on council of anti-Israel group, sympathetic of suicide bombers
The father of socialist NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani sits on an advisory council of an Israel-hating organization that routinely accuses the Jewish state of committing “genocide” – and has expressed sympathy for suicide bombers.

Mahmood Mamdani, 79, is listed as one of 29 members of the London-based Gaza Tribunal’s advisory policy council.

The group, founded last year, says its primary goal is “to awaken civil society to its responsibility and opportunity to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

It also supports many of the same anti-Israel causes being pushed by the Queens assemblyman and mayoral frontrunner, including the BDS movement, which urges “boycott, divestment and sanctions” against Israel to push Palestinian causes.

The news that the elder Mamdani, a chaired professor of African history and colonialism at Columbia University, is part of the Gaza Tribunal was first reported Saturday by Fox News.

He has also come under fire on social media this week over a resurfaced book excerpt, in which he expressed sympathy for the way suicide bombers are viewed.

“Suicide bombing needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism,” the elder Mamdani wrote in his 2004 book “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror.”

“We need to recognize the suicide bomber, first and foremost, as a category of soldier,” he also wrote.
‘Jews for Zohran’ Mamdani group tied to niece of lefty China-based billionaire
The niece of the China-based billionaire purportedly backing left-wing protest groups in the US spearheaded the “Jews for Zohran’” Mamdani campaign — a bid to give the Israel-bashing candidate cover from antisemitism accusations and win over Jewish voters, The Post found.

Marxist tycoon Neville “Roy” Singham‘s niece Alicia Singham Goodwin serves as political director of lefty nonprofit Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, which in January launched Jews for Zohran.

“We, like, had our own voter file . . . and for phone banks that were only Jewish voters, and had, like, Jews talking to Jews,” Singham Goodwin, 33, said in a July 1 interview on WBAI. “We developed early on these talking points about antisemitism and a way for volunteers to engage.”

Jews for Zohran is now working with city Comptroller Brad Lander and Rep. Jerry Nadler to persuade more Jewish pols — such as Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Dan Goldman — to back Mamdani for mayor.

Former Queens Democratic City Councilman Rory Lancman called the effort “frightening” given Mamdani’s defense of the “globalize the Intifada” slogan.

“The demonization of Israel leads to the demonization of Jews who support Israel, which is overwhelmingly the majority of Jews in the U.S.,” Lancman told The Post. “Receiving the endorsement of Jewish elected officials represents a normalization of the demonization of Israel and the demonization of Jews that naturally flows from that.”

Singham Goodwin’s mom is Roy Singham’s sister, Shanti Singham, who has her own Chinese ties: a department chair at state-controlled East China Normal University in Shanghai, she’s promoted the country’s Confucius Institutes in Africa.

Singham Goodwin’s father, Daniel Goodwin, was longtime counsel and an executive at Roy Singham’s software firm Thoughtworks.


All Palestinians in Gaza Are Eligible for Asylum in France, Court Rules
All Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip will be eligible for the first time to apply for asylum in France, a court ruled on Friday.

Deciding on a case brought by a Palestinian mother seeking asylum in the wake of the Islamist Hamas October 7th terror attacks on Israel, France’s National Court of Asylum (CNDA) ruled in her favour given the “war methods” of the Israeli Defence Forces in Gaza, which the court found were “serious enough to be regarded as methods of persecution.”

The decision overturned a previous rejection from the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Effrusion (OFPRA) in November, which noted that the Palestinian woman was not specifically being “persecuted” and therefore could only be eligible for “subsidiary protection”, a lesser form of asylum which only allows for a four-year temporary residence permit rather than the ten years of protection guaranteed to refugees.

The case paved the way for the CNDA to declare that all Palestinians living in Gaza should be entitled to asylum protection in France, Le Figaro reports. The court based its decision on the Geneva Convention, which says that people who face “persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion,” should be considered refugees.

The court specifically cited the supposed persecution based on “nationality” faced by Palestinians in Gaza, despite France, like most other nations, not recognising Palestine as a state.

Nevertheless, the judges said that they possessed the “characteristics” of a nationality, which according to the Convention include belonging to a “group determined by its cultural, ethnic or linguistic identity, common geographical or political origins or its relationship with the population of another state.”

While the ruling is novel in declaring such “persecution” of Palestinians, legal experts noted that it would likely only impact around 20 per cent of the population of Gaza, given that 80 per cent were already classified as being refugees by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and were therefore already eligible for protection in France.
UK Islamic summer camp ‘risks radicalising children’
A summer camp sponsored by an Islamic charity accused of backing Iran could expose children to extremist views, it has been claimed.

The camp, run by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission (AIM) charity, is aimed at children aged nine to 14, with activities including climbing and ­abseiling along with “lectures and discussions”.

AIM describes Camp Wilayah, which is set to take place in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, next month, as an “amazing place to enjoy the outdoors, make new friends, learn and build on Islamic values”.

It promotes the four-day camp as “a unique opportunity to explore your true potential amidst the serenity of nature and an Islamic ambience!”

Girls who attend are required to wear the hijab and are segregated from the boys, other than for daily prayers, talks and a team photo.

In an indication of the kinds of activities children at Camp Wilayah are likely to take part in, one AIM video posted on Instagram shows a group of young boys and girls drawing and colouring in Palestinian flags and watermelon symbols.

The children, described as Mahdi’s Little Believers, can also be seen making kites – in an apparent reference to the paragliders used by Hamas on October 7 to attack southern Israel.

Legal lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) criticised the activities shown as “symbolically connecting very young children with nationalist resistance. This exploitation of cultural education is a way of embedding ideological allegiance at a formative age”.

In social media posts AIM, based in Cricklewood, north-west London, repeatedly praises the leader of Iran’s theocratic regime, Ayatollah Khamenei, declaring that his books are “an excellent source of knowledge and a great read”, and refuses to condemn Hamas.

It also posted material shortly after the October 7 attacks stating that “the Zionists brought this disaster upon themselves”.
UKLFI: Calls for Extremist childrens’ summer camp to be cancelled
UK Lawyers for Israel has called for urgent action to prevent radicalisation at a children’s summer camp run by Iran-linked extremist group.

Urgent safeguarding concerns have been raised regarding a children’s summer camp run by an extremist group which glorifies martyrdom and spreads extremist content online.

“Camp Wilayah”, a summer camp for children aged 8 to 13, is scheduled to take place in Kings Langley, just outside London in August. It is organised by the Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission (AIM), a UK-based group aligned with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. AIM disseminates revolutionary Islamist ideology, glorifies martyrdom, and spreads antisemitic, conspiratorial, and extremist content online, including support for Hamas and Holocaust inversion.

UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to the Head of Safeguarding and Prevent at both Brent Council, where AIM is based, and Hertfordshire Council, where the camp will take place, raising urgent safeguarding and counter-extremism concerns about Camp Wilayah.

UKLFI has also called on the Council to prevent the camp from proceeding and to take immediate action under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and the Children Act 1989, warning that AIM poses a serious risk of radicalising children and breaching terrorism and public order laws.

While marketed as a space to deepen Islamic values in an “Islamic atmosphere”, the camp is being hosted by a group that openly promotes the revolutionary Islamist ideology of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Reports describe AIM as the British chapter of the AhlulBayt World Assembly, an Iranian-backed NGO operating globally to disseminate Ayatollah Khomeini’s vision of Islamic revolution. AIM’s publications include multiple texts authored by Khamenei, literature on martyrdom, and materials aimed at promoting strict adherence to Shia Islam.

AIM has reportedly hosted conferences in the UK aimed at advancing the geopolitical agenda of the Iranian regime, often in coordination with Islamist groups. In May 2025, concerns over AIM’s activities were raised in Parliament, and media investigations have linked individuals involved in previous AIM camps to expressions of support for proscribed terrorist organisations.
Trump not opposed to another Israeli attack on Islamic Republic if nuclear program continues
US President Donald Trump did not oppose IDF strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran should the latter resume moving toward a nuclear weapon, senior US and Israeli officials told The Wall Street Journal in a report late Friday night.

The president had discussed this possibility with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in private, according to the report.

However, the report also stated that Trump would prefer a diplomatic solution rather than more airstrikes.

Netanyahu concluded his trip to the US on Thursday night to return to Israel.

During his conversation with Trump, the US leader said he hoped there would be no more US bombing of Iran, the report said.

Israel doesn't need US approval for strikes, official says
The WSJ report also quoted an Israeli official saying Israel does not necessarily need approval from the United States to return to strikes on the Islamic Republic, adding that the White House would not respond to questions on Trump's talks with Netanyahu.

The Israeli official also told the WSJ that, unlike Iranian nuclear facilities Fordow and Natanz, Isfahan saw its stockpile of near-bomb-grade enriched uranium surviving the attack, Israeli officials estimated, and that Tehran could recover material from the site, unlike the other two facilities. However, the official also said that any attempt to retrieve uranium from Isfahan would be quickly detected by Israel, and that the continued targeting of nuclear scientists.


Iranian advisor posts video depicting nuclear strike on Israel
Mehdi Mohammadi, a strategic advisor to the Speaker of Iran's Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf posted an image to his Instagram story on Saturday, depicting two mushroom clouds and nuclear fallout across Israel, in a post seen by The Jerusalem Post.

Mushroom clouds are widely recognized as symbolizing blasts from a nuclear bomb.

Notably, the fallout from the explosions in the image shared by Mohammadi also covered the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Iran's president said on Thursday the UN nuclear watchdog should drop its "double standards" if Tehran is to resume cooperation with it over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, Iranian state media reported.

President Masoud Pezeshkian last week signed a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, prompting the IAEA to withdraw its remaining inspectors from Iran.

Relations between Iran and the IAEA have worsened since the United States and Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June, saying they wanted to prevent Tehran developing an atomic weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and denies seeking atomic weapons.


Putin said to tell Trump, Iran that he backs deal barring Tehran from enriching uranium
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly told US President Donald Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium.

The communications between Putin and both Iranian and American leaders about enrichment was reported Saturday by US news site Axios, citing sources familiar with the discussions.

According to the report, the Russian leader pushed Iran to agree to “zero enrichment,” with one European official telling the outlet that Putin “encouraged the Iranians to work toward that to make negotiations with the Americans more favorable.”

However, the official added, “The Iranians said they won’t consider it.”

The issue of enrichment has been one of the main obstacles to a nuclear deal, and the Islamic Republic has insisted on being able to enrich uranium on its soil, while both the US and Israel have demanded that Tehran completely give up this capability.

After the Axios report, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told diplomats in Tehran that any new nuclear deal must respect what he claimed was its right under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at the BRICS summit second plenary session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6, 2025. (Pablo Porciuncula/AFP)

“I would like to emphasize that in any negotiated solution, the rights of the Iranian people on the nuclear issue, including the right to enrichment, must be respected,” Araghchi said. “We will not have any agreement in which enrichment is not included.”


Syria’s president visits Azerbaijan, marking shift in bilateral ties
Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa met Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on Saturday. This is an important meeting, as Sharaa visited Azerbaijan in order to show how important this country is to Damascus.

Syria’s new government has moved quickly to increase ties with Azerbaijan. Baku has also been supportive of the new Syrian government.

Syrian state media noted that “President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and his accompanying delegation met President of Azerbaijan’s Republic Ilham Aliyev at Zogulba Palace in Baku.” Azertac, the Azerbaijan state news agency, provided more details of the meeting.

It said that Aliyev had welcomed the Syrian leader. “President Ilham Aliyev expressed hope that Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s visit to Azerbaijan would significantly contribute to the development of bilateral relations,” Azertac noted.

Baku noted that the previous Syrian regime had unfriendly policies toward Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s leader “emphasized that the establishment of the new government in Syria has opened significant prospects for the advancement of ties,” Azertac noted. “Recalling the visit of an Azerbaijani delegation, including the Deputy Prime Minister and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Syria, President Ilham Aliyev highlighted that discussions during the visit focused on projects to enhance cooperation in various fields.”

Aliyev also met Sharaa during the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey. Ankara is a close ally of Baku and of Damascus. Syria’s new government wants to cooperate with Baku in many fields, including economic issues and humanitarian and political issues.

The countries are also focused on energy. Baku can help to supply Syria with some of its energy needs, such as through the export of gas to Syria. The leaders said a project would be implemented, according to the Azertac website. “Ahmad Al-Sharaa emphasized the significance of Azerbaijan’s contribution to addressing Syria’s energy issues, noting its importance for the country’s development.”

Syrian students are also receiving scholarships to study in Baku. “Considering Azerbaijan’s experience in reconstruction and restoration in its liberated territories, they noted that Azerbaijan could contribute to Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction process,” the Azeri media noted.


Family of American-Palestinian man allegedly beaten to death by settlers urges US probe
The family of a US-Palestinian man allegedly killed in an Israeli settler attack in the West Bank has demanded that the US State Department launch a probe into his death. Police meanwhile announced Saturday that six people were arrested in connection to the incident, including two settlers and an IDF reservist.

Saif al-Din Kamil Abdul Karim Musalat was beaten to death on Friday in Sinjil, a village north of Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority health ministry said. His name was also reported as Sayafollah Musallet.

Musalat, born and based in Florida, traveled to the West Bank last month to spend time with relatives, his family said in a statement issued by lawyer Diana Halum following the deadly attack.

The PA health ministry said a second man, Mohammed Rizq Hussein al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot during the attack and “left to bleed for hours.”

The Israel Defense Forces said violence flared after Palestinians threw rocks at a group of Israelis, lightly injuring two civilians.

The ensuing “violent confrontation… included vandalism of Palestinian property, arson, physical clashes and rock hurling,” the IDF said.

Upon receiving reports of violence, the IDF said, troops and police officers were dispatched to the scene to “disperse the clash,” during which forces used riot dispersal means.

Musalat’s family said they were “devastated” at his death, describing the 20-year-old as a “kind, hard-working and deeply respected” man who was deeply connected to his Palestinian heritage.


The Gaza conundrum
The issue of the Israeli hostages in Gaza is heart-wrenching, and it continues to prevent the Israel Defense Forces, as well as the country’s political echelon, from making a decisive move against the Islamist terrorist group Hamas.

It is abundantly clear that Hamas refuses to disarm and even clearer that Hamas intends to keep some of the hostages as a survival guarantee. This makes an intensive, all-out attack on Hamas and the forcible removal of its presence from the Gaza Strip nearly impossible. The reason is clear: Such an operation might endanger the living hostages.

The IDF’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, conducted a field visit and operational assessment last week in Khan Yunis in the southern part of the Strip, the heart of the ongoing “Operation Gideon’s Chariots.” He reaffirmed that Gaza remains the IDF’s primary focus at this stage of the conflict. He then said: “We are fully committed to achieving our strategic objectives: The return of the hostages, the dismantling of Hamas and the restoration of security for Israeli communities. We will not compromise on these goals.”

The problem is that the IDF cannot simultaneously accomplish both strategic objectives, and the coalition government must decide which one of the objectives takes priority. Given the condition of the hostages, starved, ill-treated and medically deteriorated, it would seem that the case is clear for saving them first.

Alexander (“Sasha”) Trufanov, 29, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz and held captive by Hamas for 498 days. The only son of a family that immigrated to Israel from Russia, his father was murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and his mother, grandmother and girlfriend, Sapir Cohen, were also abducted to Gaza, but released after 54 days in one of the early exchange deals. In a recent interview, he said that only after all hostages are returned will Israel be able to employ the full force necessary to deal with the threats it faces. (In a bit of good news, Sasha and Sapir became engaged this week.)

A deal with Hamas has wrecked the nerves of the families involved. Out of frustration, they blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government. This is unfair. Hamas—not the Israeli government—has rejected every deal presented by mediators and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East.

Hamas’s demands are unacceptable, even to the Americans. Hamas wants an end to the war in Gaza as a condition for a deal, along with the withdrawal of IDF troops from the entire Strip. They also want to keep their arms, and they demand that massive humanitarian aid entering Gaza be controlled by them. Hamas will then, as they have done before, sell the goods at extortionist rates and thus finance their operational needs. In addition, the food is also being used as a recruitment tool.

The Trump administration’s current proposal is for a ceasefire that would pause the war, free Israeli hostages and send much-needed aid into Gaza. It also aims to open broader talks about ending the conflict. Under the U.S. proposal, Hamas would have to be expelled from the coastal enclave. Hamas does not want to release all 50 hostages: the 20 assumed living and 30 dead, already murdered by terrorists.
As thousands stay away, Ethiopian Israelis pay a heavy price in Gaza war
They are three stories of courage, belonging, and self-sacrifice. And they are also part of a painful statistic: Forty of the fallen soldiers since October 7 are of Ethiopian descent and are members of a community that, while making up just 1.7% of Israel’s population, accounts for 4.5% of military deaths in this war.

“It is no coincidence,” explained MK Pnina Tamano-Shata, chair of the Blue and White faction and herself a proud member of the Ethiopian Israeli community.

“In Ethiopian Jewry, there is nothing more sacred than defending the Land of Israel and the people of Israel. From a young age, we are taught courage, mutual responsibility, and giving. That’s why so many – both men and women – choose to serve in the IDF’s most elite combat units.”

This ethos isn’t abstract. It was on display this past Independence Day when 10 soldiers of Ethiopian origin were honored as outstanding soldiers by the IDF chief of staff and the president of Israel. For such a small community, the representation was exceptional.

Then there is the story of Lt. Avichail Reuven, who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu honored in Washington before a joint session of Congress. On the morning of October 7, Reuven awoke to sirens at his home in Kiryat Malachi. He was still on an officer training course and hadn’t yet been called up – but there was no hesitation. He put on his uniform and grabbed his rifle – but had no car. So he ran 12 kilometers to the Gaza border.

“These are the soldiers of Israel – unbowed, undaunted, unafraid,” Netanyahu said, at the time.

And yet, we must ask: If this is what one small, often marginalized community can contribute, then what excuse can others possibly have?

Israelis of Ethiopian origin enlist in higher numbers than the national average – almost 90% of young men, 50% of whom serve in combat roles. Among women, the enlistment rate is about 70%, significantly higher than the national average of 58% among women.

And then, there is another community – one far larger – whose youth are mostly absent from the frontlines. I am of course referring to the haredim.


The Gaza food aid 'massacre': Yet another modern blood libel
The logical impossibility
Consider the logical contradiction at the heart of these accusations. How can Israel simultaneously be starving Gazans while operating food distribution centers that allegedly serve as “death traps”? It is intellectually dishonest to maintain two mutually exclusive narratives: One, the Jewish state is withholding food from the Palestinians; and two, it has set up food distribution centers. The truth must lie elsewhere.

Let’s examine historical precedent. Did the US and the other allies supply foodstuffs to Germany, Italy, and Japan in World War II? Of course not. How about Ukraine and Russia at present? The idea is absurd. What about the North and the South in the US Civil War? Never happened. In fact, it is nearly impossible to identify any other example of any nation providing food to its enemy during active war. Yet Israel and Hamas have been at war ever since that day of infamy, October 7, 2023. Why should it be demanded of Israel, and only Israel, to break this universal precedent?

The Hamas factor
Now let’s address the elephant in the room: Hamas have perfected the art of hiding behind civilian populations. They place weapons in hospitals; rocket launchers in schools. Their leaders meet in residential areas. They scatter booby traps throughout civilian neighborhoods. They orchestrate attacks using stones as cover for Molotov cocktails. They have pioneered suicide bombing as a tactical weapon.

Let’s engage in a thought experiment. Stipulate, arguendo only, that all of these charges leveled against the Israel military are correct. Picture this scene: hundreds of Palestinians thronging around an Israeli food distribution center. Is it even remotely plausible that there were no Hamas fighters embedded among them, ready to pounce on Israeli soldiers? If so, then those deaths could reasonably be characterized as self-defense on the part of the IDF.

The numbers don’t lie
The numbers tell a sobering story. How many Israeli soldiers have been killed in the current Gaza war? The number is 420. This figure should give pause. Comparing the Israeli military with Hamas is to contrast a sledgehammer with a gnat. The former is considered by experts as the fourth-most powerful army on the entire planet; Hamas is a relatively small militant organization. The high casualty rate reveals something crucial: The IDF is careful to minimize civilian casualties. They first drop leaflets in Gaza warning of impending operations. This practice is virtually unprecedented in modern warfare.

The statistics are revealing. Regarding the average military, for every enemy soldier killed, no fewer than nine non-combatants perish. The Israeli ratio? Close to one to one. If Israel had wanted to flatten Gaza without the loss of a single soldier, it could easily have done just that.

The tragic reality is that in Gaza, the distinction between civilian and combatant has been deliberately blurred by Hamas. When armed militants hide among food lines, when “civilians” launch attacks during humanitarian operations, the IDF faces an impossible choice: absorb casualties or defend themselves.

This brings us to the fundamental question: Is self-defense no longer a mitigating factor in world opinion? Sadly, it would seem not to be the case. At least not when Israel is concerned.

The impossible standard
The international community faces its own moral contradiction. It demands that Israel feed its enemies (something no other nation in history has been expected to do) while simultaneously condemning it for defending the very soldiers providing that aid. This double standard reveals more about global prejudices than it does about the complex realities in Gaza.

Until the world acknowledges that Hamas’s strategy of embedding fighters within civilian populations makes such tragedies inevitable, these heartbreaking incidents will continue. The real question isn’t whether Israel should provide humanitarian aid during wartime – it’s whether the international community will ever hold Hamas accountable for weaponizing that aid.■


COGAT says no ban, restrictions against baby food, formula from entering Gaza
There are no bans or restrictions on baby formula or baby food to enter into the Gaza Strip, the Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a Saturday post on X/Twitter regarding previous reports of a ban against baby food going into Gaza.

Over 1,400 tons of baby food and formula has been brought into Gaza even specific types of formula, COGAT confirmed.

"Let's make it clear: contrary to claims, there is NO BAN or any kind of restriction on baby formula or baby food," COGAT wrote. "We will continue facilitating baby formula and food based on requests from the international community.

"Aid for the civilian population - not Hamas," the post concluded.

'Great example of how misinformation shifts public opinion'
This past Sunday, COGAT re-posted a tweet from IDF International Spokesperson Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani where he re-posted a headline from French outlet Le Monde claiming that Israel is limiting the entry of baby formula in Gaza, as well as COGAT's official response to the accusation.

"This is a great example of how misinformation shifts public opinion," Shoshani wrote.

"Contrary to the claims made, the State of Israel does not prevent or restrict the entry of baby food, including infant formula and milk substitutes, as part of the humanitarian aid delivered to the Gaza Strip," COGAT said in an official response.

"It is important to emphasize that despite recent allegations, over 1,400 tons of baby food have been transferred through the crossings in recent weeks, in accordance with requests from international aid organizations and following thorough security inspection," they added.


Winston Marshall: 'I went to Gaza and this is what I saw' Middle East Expert On Unseen Horrors Of Gaza | Andrew Fox
Middle East specialist Andrew Fox joins The Winston Marshall Show for a haunting, firsthand account of the horrors unfolding in Gaza—and the global narratives that refuse to face the truth.

Fox describes scenes of unspeakable brutality—massacres, ch*ld soldiers, and war crimes ignored by much of the international press. He explains how Hamas manipulates both civilians and the global media to fuel its propaganda war, while using human shields to mask its operations.

They discuss the international community’s moral double standards, the weaponisation of victimhood, and the psychological toll on those who witness the atrocities firsthand.

All this—media distortion, humanitarian tragedy, Hamas war tactics, and the unseen horrors the world still refuses to look at…

Chapters
01:25 Andrew’s Background and Experience
05:19 The Destruction in Gaza and Hamas' Tunnels
09:46 Media Coverage and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
20:33 The Ceasefire Deal and Hamas' Future
30:15 The Broader Middle East Conflict
38:28 The Abraham Accords and Palestinian Statehood
51:09 Media Bias and the Role of Journalists in Conflict Zones
1:03:00 Final Thoughts


"Proof is in the Pudding" - AJA Comments on Antisemitism Report - Danica De Giorgio, Sky News
AJA CEO Robert Gregory was interviewed by Danica De Giorgio on Sky News about the recent release of a report and recommendations about antisemitism in Australia.

Robert said that the proof will be in the pudding, and AJA has serious doubts that the Albanese government will do the right thing.




Khalil Defends ‘Intifada’ Chants: First, Second Intifadas Were ‘Civil Resistance’ Against ‘Apartheid’ and ‘Occupation’
During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” Mahmoud Khalil defended “from the river to the sea” chants and “globalize the intifada” chants because the First Intifada and the Second Intifada were “largely a mass civil resistance against Israel[i] apartheid and Israeli occupation,” and “intifada is simply a word for uprising.”

Khalil said people chant “from the river to the sea” “because language matters, history matters. And from the river to the sea is a call for justice, for freedom for all people between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, the pro-Israel camp in this country and around the world, they would rather deliberately misrepresent this slogan. Because, for them, to cancel speech is easier than actually engaging and reflecting on this speech.”

He continued, “And I even would go, like, further with the globalize the intifada that, now, the whole country is mad about. Globalize the intifada, we have to take it within [its] context, because globalize the intifada is a call to globalize solidarity in the world. The intifada is simply a word for uprising. And I don’t want to give a history lesson now about like what intifada, like, First Intifada and Second Intifada were, but were largely a mass civil resistance against Israel[i] apartheid and Israeli occupation, whether in the ’90s or early 2000. So, this, again, goes with the fact that what we should be worried about is the bombs that are killing people, rather than the chants that are making some people uncomfortable.”
CNN’s Amanpour: ‘People Just Seem to Think’ ‘From the River to the Sea’ Means Killing People
During an interview with Mahmoud Khalil that was aired on Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” host and PBS host Christiane Amanpour said that chanting “from the river to the sea” “seems to just drive people mad,” and “People just seem to think that that is a connotation for destroying a people, for all the issues of antisemitism that those concerned have raised.”

Amanpour said, “When you came out — and I’m asking you this because people will ask you — you did actually walk around with a bunch of people, protesters, who were chanting from the river to the sea, that whole thing that seems to just drive people mad, even though the Israeli government says it as well. People just seem to think that that is a connotation for destroying a people, for all the issues of antisemitism that those concerned have raised.”

She then asked Khalil, “Why do you keep using it? What’s the point and the value of that slogan anymore, since both sides use it?”


Tucker Carlson claims ‘everyone in Washington' believes that Epstein was a Mossad operative
Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson insinuated that Jeffrey Epstein was working for Israeli intelligence services in a Friday address at a Turning Point USA event.

“It’s extremely obvious to anyone who watches that this guy had direct connections to a foreign government. No one’s allowed to say that that foreign government is Israel, because we have been somehow cowed into thinking that’s naughty,” he said at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida.

He then went on to assert his claim, adding that: “There’s nothing antisemitic about saying that. There’s nothing even anti-Israel about saying that.”

In the speech, Carlson questioned whether or not Epstein was blackmailing people on behalf of the Mossad. He also questioned where Epstein’s wealth and career came from.

“The real question is not ‘Was Jeffrey Epstein a weirdo who was abusing girls?’ The real question is why was he doing this, on whose behalf, and where did the money come from,” Carlson said.

“I think the real answer is Jeffrey Epstein was working on behalf of intel services, probably not American. We have every right to ask on whose behalf he was working.”

In the speech, he compared his assertion of Epstein’s ties to Israel to his belief that the CIA killed former president John F. Kennedy, adding that this didn’t make him “anti-American.”

“Criticizing the behavior of a government agency doesn’t make you a hater; it makes you a free person. You have a right to demand that foreign governments not be allowed to act against your interests.”


Dozens arrested in UK for supporting banned Palestine Action group
Police on Saturday arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian activists throughout the United Kingdom, after protesters rallied across the country in violation of the country’s Terrorism Act (2000).

Defend Our Juries, an NGO supportive of anti-Israel initiatives, said that more than 40 individuals were arrested in London.

“The Metropolitan Police were out in force again today, arresting more than 40 people in Parliament Square for holding signs opposed to genocide and supporting Palestine Action,” a Defend Our Juries spokesman told AFP.

He called the government’s ban of Palestine Action as a proscribed terrorist organization, instituted on July 5, “Orwellian,” AFP added.

The Metropolitan Police tweeted, “Officers have made 41 arrests for showing support for a proscribed organisation. One person has been arrested for common assault. The area was cleared within the last hour.”


Revisionist plaque sparks outrage on site where Poles butchered Jews
At the site of a 1941 massacre in Poland—where local residents murdered their Jewish neighbors—unidentified individuals on Monday installed a large monument with plaques that falsely blame the atrocity on the Nazis and accuse Jewish Communists of murdering Poles.

Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi in Poland, called the incident at Jedwabne near Bialystok a “disgrace,” the Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported on Thursday.

Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, or IPN, has said that at least 340 Jews were butchered by their neighbors in the massacre at Jedwabne on July 10, 1941, amid a power vacuum following Germany’s invasion of Poland.

Revisionist historians and nationalistic activists have insisted that Poles were solely victims of Nazi savagery who did not perpetrate atrocities against Jews during World War II and the Holocaust. Before September 1939, three million Jews lived in Poland, almost all of them murdered—about 90%—during the war that lasted until 1945.

In 2018, the Polish legislature passed laws that make it illegal to blame Poles for Nazi crimes, a move that caused political friction between Warsaw and Jerusalem.

The Nazis also murdered millions of non-Jewish Poles in Poland. And many Poles hid, rescued and saved Jews during the Holocaust, in addition to those who betrayed them to the Nazis.

The text in English and Polish on the plaques, which were apparently placed illegally about 30 yards from the official Jedwabne memorial, offers a revisionist account of what happened there.

One of the plaques reads: “After the Soviets took over eastern Poland, Jews assumed administrative roles and, knowing the local realities, denounced Polish patriots who were then deported and murdered by the Soviets. Only the German attack on the Soviet Union halted these repressions,” but “then the Germans began killing Jews just as they had previously killed Poles by the millions.”

According to the ahistorical account, the Germans “devised a plan to cleanse the rear areas of the front from Soviet officials, many of whom were of Jewish origin. According to some historians and eyewitnesses, [there are] accounts of Polish responsibility for the murder of Jews in Jedwabne,” but “in reality, the crime was committed by a German pacification unit under the command of Hermann Schaper,” reads another plaque.
France sets annual Dreyfus commemoration day
France will hold an annual day honoring Alfred Dreyfus, the French-Jewish military officer who was falsely accused of treason in 1895, President Emmanuel Macron declared on Saturday.

The Dreyfus affair is widely seen as a symbol of antisemitism in Europe and a major catalyst for modern Zionism.

“From now on, there will be a commemoration ceremony every July 12 for Dreyfus, for the victory of justice and the truth against hatred and antisemitism,” Macron said in a statement published by his office.

The statement went on to say that the national day will be first marked in 2026, on the 120th anniversary of France’s highest appeals court recognizing Dreyfus’s innocence.

Coincidentally, perhaps, Dreyfus died exactly 29 years later, aged 75, on July 12, 1935.

The Dreyfus affair exposed deep-seated antisemitism in French society and caused a public storm that led to a long legal battle to exonerate his name.

Born in 1859, the captain of artillery was convicted in a secret court martial for allegedly selling French military secrets to the Germans, with a handwritten message falsely attributed to him. He was publicly stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island in French Guiana in South America.

In the public ceremony stripping him of his ranks and breaking his sword, historians recorded Dreyfus as declaring, “I swear that I am innocent. I remain worthy of serving in the Army. Long live France! Long live the Army!”

A year later, reports of the bias in his trial were leaked to the press, and a heated debate about the affair ensued. Moreover, suspicions surfaced about the real traitor, Maj. Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy, who had since fled to England.

Lt. Col. Georges Picquart, head of the intelligence services, , reinvestigated the case in secret and found that the handwriting on the incriminating message belonged to Esterhazy.
Britain’s oldest Second World War veteran, who helped liberate Belsen, dies aged 110
Britain’s oldest Second World War veteran, Donald Rose, has died aged 110.

The D-Day veteran, who was born on Christmas Eve 1914, is believed to have been Britain’s oldest man.

Erewash Borough Council in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, confirmed Mr Rose’s death on Friday, and council leader James Dawson paid tribute to him as a “war hero” Desert Rat.

Mr Dawson said: “Our condolences go out to Donald’s family and all who knew him.

“Erewash was privileged to count him as a resident.”

In May, Mr Rose joined 45 other veterans as guests of honour at a tea party celebration hosted by the Royal British Legion at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, to mark 80 years since VE Day.

Mr Rose, who was attached to the division which liberated Belsen concentration camp, said at the event that he did not celebrate the momentous day 80 years ago.

He said: “When I heard that the armistice had been signed 80 years ago, I was in Germany at Belsen and, like most active soldiers, I didn’t get to celebrate at that time.

“We just did what we thought was right and it was a relief when it was over.

“I never would have believed I would be remembering this day at 110 years old.

“It’s meaningful to come here today with the Royal British Legion, to remember the people who didn’t come back.”




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

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