Saturday, August 02, 2025

08/02 Links: How will Israel find legal justice for the atrocities of October 7; Hamas forces hostage Evyatar David to dig own grave; Hamas vows not to lay down arms

From Ian:

Cochav Elkayam-Levy and Irwin Cotler: How will Israel find legal justice for the atrocities of October 7? - opinion
ISRAEL HAS never shied away from legal innovation. Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann’s trial in 1961 helped forge the modern architecture of human rights law and universal jurisdiction.

The crimes of October 7 demand a similarly groundbreaking legal response. Even before October 7, Hamas repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and the genocide of Israelis, conduct that may constitute incitement to genocide under Article III(c) of the Genocide Convention.

A hybrid tribunal model, comprised of Israeli and international judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys, would bring global standards and expertise to bear while remaining rooted in the communities most affected. Such a tribunal would not only try perpetrators but also elevate these atrocities from local tragedy to global reckoning.

In this context, one of the darkest chapters of October 7 was the systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of terror. Precedents from Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have shown that such acts must be prosecuted with diligence and victim-centered care.

The sexual violence we have documented for months now at the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes Against Women and Children underscores the necessity of international law in addressing such atrocities.

Over the past decades, the international legal framework has become essential for uncovering and prosecuting these crimes. Hamas’s use of sexual violence on October 7 must be understood within this context. A hybrid tribunal, equipped with trauma-informed procedures, as well as international best practices and liability models, can ensure that these crimes are understood and neither minimized nor forgotten.

October 7 also included the deliberate targeting of families. Our findings reveal distinct patterns: families murdered together and subjected to similar forms of torture; victims forced to witness atrocities committed against their loved ones; entire families abducted; violent and intentional separations of family members; and the use of digital and social media to broadcast abuses directly to the victims’ families and the general public, including through the victims’ own devices and social media accounts.

These were not isolated incidents. Hamas used tactics designed to weaponize the most fundamental human bonds. Above all, this conduct represents an emerging threat in the landscape of modern terrorism that demands urgent international recognition and accountability.

Recognizing and condemning this family-targeted terror, which we have named kinocide, could play one of the most critical roles in legal proceedings for justice, both for the victims and for the world, in the aftermath of the attack. These prosecutions could set a vital precedent that enables the international community to understand this form of cruelty.

SOME WILL say such a tribunal is politically unfeasible. Israel is deeply divided internally, with growing mistrust in institutions and no clear political horizon. Internationally, it faces increasing isolation as the war continues. In addition, questions will arise: What about the crimes allegedly committed by Israel?

However, prosecuting October 7 does not preclude other accountability efforts. Justice is not mutually exclusive, and deferring prosecution in the name of symmetry risks rewarding the gravest atrocities with silence.

A credible legal response to Israel’s conduct will depend on future developments, most critically, whether Israel’s leadership undertakes the necessary steps to investigate alleged violations, establish an independent and effective state commission of inquiry, and prosecute war crimes.

The immediate legal reality cannot be escaped: Israel currently holds hundreds of suspects in custody for the worst crimes committed on its soil in decades. To delay prosecution is to deny victims their rights and to abandon the rule of law when it is needed most. Justice does not always require consensus. In its earliest stages, it requires resolve and clear vision.

Democratic allies in the US, European Union, UK, Germany, Canada, France, and beyond – several of whom have already launched investigations to pursue the perpetrators of October 7 – can serve as crucial partners in establishing an international mechanism.

Such a court, designed in cooperation with trusted international legal experts, would bypass political gridlock and embody the very principles it seeks to uphold: impartiality, justice, and the dignity of victims whose suffering demands recognition and redress.

The Nuremberg Trials didn’t just prosecute criminals; they redefined how the world responded to atrocity. The same is possible now. A hybrid tribunal for October 7 can deliver more than justice. It can deliver history, memory, and perhaps, healing.
NYPost Editorial: Arab nations are getting wise to Hamas — even as others foolishly squeeze Israel
Most media ignored last week’s most important Middle East development: Arab nations for the first time publicly slammed Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and demanded the terrorists surrender power, disarm, and release their hostages.

OK, it’s a low bar. But it’s progress, and a lot more meaningful than British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s threat to recognize a Palestinian state or the other maneuvering over Gaza’s food crisis.

The landmark demands came in a seven-page declaration Tuesday by 17 countries, plus the European Union and the entire 22-member Arab League, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar.

They reflect a willingness — finally! — to publicly acknowledge that Hamas’ ouster is necessary to end the war in Gaza and thus ease the suffering of its civilians.

Hallelujah: We’ve stressed since Day 1 that the conflict can’t end with Hamas in power; the group, after all, openly vows to keep attacking the Jewish state until Israel is destroyed.

Perhaps the Gaza food shortages got the Arabs’ attention — even if most reports misled readers by tacitly (or even openly) blaming Jerusalem for them.

Bigger picture: Nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, egged on by President Donald Trump, are now eager to normalize relations with Israel, though they want the Gaza fighting to end first.

Sadly, other parts of Tuesday’s statement are as misguided as ever, calling for Hamas to “hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, with international engagement and support, in line with the objective of a sovereign and independent Palestinian State.”

With Gaza then seeing “the deployment of a temporary international stabilization mission upon invitation by the Palestinian Authority and under the aegis of the United Nations.”

The Palestinian Authority? The United Nations?

Neither is fit for real responsibilities: The PA is nothing but an autocratic kleptocracy that uses international-aid funds to enrich its leaders and to pay terrorists to kill Israelis; even clueless President Joe Biden insisted it would have to be “revitalized” before it could play any role in Gaza.

UN peacekeepers, meanwhile, have never managed to keep peace anywhere in the Middle East; instead, the world body’s presence — e.g., via groups like the UN Relief and Works Agency — has only fueled violence in the region.

Even more brainless is Starmer’s threat to recognize a Palestinian state, along with France and Canada’s plans to do so next month, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a cease-fire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution.”
Andrew Fox: Strategic and diplomatic shambles
Israel lost the narrative war not because it was wrong, but because it was outplayed. While Israeli spokespeople cited legal justifications and battlefield data, Hamas flooded global media with images, emotion, and deception. From the Al-Ahli hospital blast to footage of hostages in tunnels, Hamas weaponised perception, and the world bought it. Every misstep by Israel was magnified; every atrocity by Hamas was downplayed or forgotten. Strategic defeats in the court of public opinion overshadowed tactical victories on the ground.

Now, with global support for Israel waning significantly, Hamas has shifted its demands from resistance to statehood. They speak the language of diplomacy while holding hostages underground. Their atrocities are reframed as a cry for freedom. Even more disturbingly, many in the West are buying it.

The recognition of Palestinian statehood under current conditions would be the crowning achievement of Hamas’s propaganda campaign. It would reward mass murder with legitimacy and render the IDF’s sacrifices meaningless. Worse, it would solidify Hamas, not the Palestinian Authority or any moderate actor, as the de facto representative of the Palestinian people. Recognising a state now is not a rebuke of Hamas or a step to their removal; it is to grant Hamas its greatest victory.

This puts Israel in a vice. Capitulate, and it accepts the promise of a genocidal regime on its doorstep, one that openly declares its intent to continue fighting until Israel is destroyed. Resist, and it faces even more resounding international condemnation, lawsuits in The Hague, and the likelihood of severe sanctions. In such a scenario, even basic diplomatic recognition may be withdrawn. That level of isolation could threaten Israel’s very survival.

It did not have to be this way. Israel’s strategy has been abysmal. A ceasefire in November could have salvaged Israel’s international position, preserved goodwill for future hostilities if necessary, and potentially secured more hostages when Hamas was weakened and cornered. That window has closed, but the logic behind it remains valid. More war will not fix the damage already done. More war will not bring the hostages home.

Every bomb dropped now plays into Hamas’s hands. Every Israeli counterattack fuels the narrative of disproportionate aggression. Every day the war drags on, the world moves closer to legitimising Hamas as a political entity. Continued fighting may bring further tactical success, but at what cost? The loss of alliances, the abandonment of hostages, and the global transformation of Hamas from pariah to power broker.

Backing Israel into a diplomatic corner will not end the war. It will prolong it. Recognition of Palestinian statehood at this moment does not pressure Israel into peace: it pressures Israel into escalation. Israel, forced to choose between a potential forever war and resistance, will choose to fight. The result will not be peace, but more death.

Now is the time to return to strategy and to stabilise. Israel must consider another ceasefire; not as a surrender, but as a strategic pause to recalibrate, rescue hostages, and rebuild alliances. International actors must understand that recognising a Palestinian state today, with Hamas at the helm, is not diplomacy; it is appeasement that will bring further violence and death in Gaza, with the inevitable collateral damage that comes with it.

Israel is not wrong to want security. It is not wrong to try to destroy a group committed to its destruction, but it must also be wise. Wisdom means knowing when to stop digging. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat. It is time to cease fire, not because Hamas deserves mercy or because Western leaders demand it, but because Israel deserves a future.

However, here is the issue: Israel cannot take that option whilst meddling, performative governments dangle the sword of Damocles over their heads and all but guarantee that the violence must continue. Israel can never agree to the proposal put forward by Hamas. If the international community tries to force them to, Israel is left with no choice but to destroy the source of that proposal, and the violence will continue. The wretched idiocy of self-interested politicians knows no bounds.

From Jerusalem, to Paris, to London, to Ottawa, to Washington: what a shambles.


Hamas forces hostage Evyatar David to dig own grave, count days without food
Hamas published a video of hostage Evyatar David on Friday evening, which was later cleared for publication by the David Family.

In the video, David can be seen crossing off days on a makeshift calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.

Clips of a clearly emaciated David are interspliced with those of starving Palestinian children.

David is also shirtless, and all of his ribs can be seen. He appears to have been held alone for months.

His biceps look to be the same size as his forearms.

The propaganda video also includes clips of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir saying that no aid should enter Gaza.

It ends with a black screen that reads “They eat what we eat. They drink what we drink.”

This is the second hostage video that Gazan terror groups have released in 24 hours. Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video of hostage Rom Braslavski on Thursday.

His sister, Yaelah, responded to the video on Instagram.

"Anyone who saw the video now knows the severity and the physical condition Evyatar is in, which felt like a million punches to my heart," she wrote. “Please do not share images from the video until my family and I decide to release it.”

“After a night of crying over my brother, who has become a walking skeleton in Gaza’s cruel dungeon, I understood that the whole world needs to see this”, Yaela added, saying that “Hamas is not ISIS – it’s much worse than them”. She went on to explain that, “Hamas is starving the hostages and Gaza residents, preventing them from receiving humanitarian aid that Israel and the world are providing – all for media purposes and propaganda”.


Brother of Evyatar David appeals to Trump in English to apply 'maximum pressure' on Hamas
Ilay David appealed on Saturday for immediate international intervention to save his younger brother, Evyatar David, 23, and fellow Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, both held in Gaza since Hamas’s 7 October massacre.

“I am a brother and a son whose heart is being torn apart, watching helplessly as my younger brother Evyatar and his friend Guy slip away,” David told hundreds gathered at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square. “They are on the absolute brink of death.”

“In their current, unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live,” he warned. “Hamas is starving Evyatar deliberately, systematically, turning his agony into twisted propaganda.”

“This is not merely a breach of international law,” he added. “It is an act so vile it scars the very soul of humanity. To remain silent is to be complicit in their slow, agonizing death.”

David called on the Israeli government to bring every diplomatic and military tool to bear, urged humanitarian agencies to get food and medicine directly to the captives, and pressed former US president Donald Trump and other world leaders to apply “maximum pressure on Hamas by any means necessary.”

David’s appeal came a day after Hamas issued a harrowing video that shows Evyatar, gaunt and trembling, crossing off days without food on a makeshift calendar in a Gaza tunnel and digging what he says may be his own grave.

Evyatar's sister, Ye’ela, also spoke at the rally, noting how Hamas used the graphic images of her brother for psychological torture.


Zamir: IDF will soon know if hostage deal possible or Gaza war must intensify
The Israel Defense Forces will soon know whether a deal to recover the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza is possible or whether the military campaign will need to intensify, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Friday.

“I think that in the coming days we will know whether we can reach an agreement for the release of our hostages. If not, the combat will continue without rest,” he said during a situational assessment in Strip.

“We will adapt it to the changing reality according to our interests—the achievements you have made provide us with operational flexibility,” he told soldiers in the Strip.

Zamir also said that accusations of deliberate starvation in Gaza are a calculated and deceptive attempt to falsely portray the IDF as committing war crimes, stressing that responsibility for the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave lies with Hamas.

“As part of Operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots,’ you have achieved impressive and unprecedented accomplishments. Wherever you operated, you defeated the enemy and systematically struck terrorist infrastructure, both above and below ground,” continued Zamir.

“We will persist and adapt, prepare properly, and act to maximize our advantages, reduce operational vulnerabilities and wear, and place Hamas under increasing pressure,” he said.


A Two-State Solution Conference With No Solution in Sight
Representatives from dozens of countries descended on New York City this week for a conference about the two-state solution led by France and Saudi Arabia. "We must ensure that it does not become another exercise in well-meaning rhetoric," U.N. secretary-general António Guterres informed the gathered delegates.

"It" referred to the conference rather than to the two-state solution, but in either case, Guterres's aspirations will not bear out. Like many of the other attempts at a two-state solution, this conference brought together a bevy of international officials to browbeat Israel. But it will not produce much of value because it does not take seriously the aspirations of the people residing in the West Bank and Gaza. The only state they can get is one they don't want, so the bloodshed will continue.

Britain and France generated most of the headlines at this conference. Emmanuel Macron said just before it began that France will officially recognize "Palestine" in September. This week, Sir Keir Starmer threatened to follow Macron's lead unless Israel halts its anti-Hamas campaign in Gaza. Canada's Mark Carney followed suit on Wednesday, pending some actions by the Palestinians.

Donald Trump was not impressed. He pointed out "what [Macron] says doesn't matter" on the ground and rejected the campaign to pressure Israel, since "if you do that, you really are rewarding Hamas. And I'm not about to do that."

The president is right about the Europeans' strategic ineptitude. Hamas's deceased Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar told his lieutenants that he initiated the October 7 attack to stop the "Saudi-Zionist normalization agreement" that would "open the door for the majority of Arab and Islamic countries to follow the same path." He succeeded, and the conference granted Hamas a notable propaganda victory. In London, Ottawa, and Paris, terrorism works.

The well-meaning Europeans counter that their plan is the only way to, over the long term, stop terrorism against Israel. In their view, most of the Palestinians just want an internationally recognized state. The major obstacle is in Israel, where a combination of anti-Arab racism, stupidity, and paranoia—reinforced by a legitimate fear of terrorism—creates a political culture that cannot accept these legitimate claims.

Endless war is the easily foreseeable result. The only way they see to break the logjam is to pressure Israel into accepting Palestinian statehood, which will ultimately redound to its benefit by satisfying the Palestinians and ending the fighting.

They also feel somewhat responsible for the conflict and thus for ending it. They think Israel exists because of the 1947 U.N. General Assembly resolution to partition the British imperial Mandate for Palestine, and so the voting nations ought to unite and create "Palestine."

A quick comparison of the dueling national movements shows why this won't work. David Ben-Gurion and the Zionists were willing to accept nearly any agreement that offered them a state, because they prioritized having one. Even before the British left, they built the institutions needed to govern Israel and defend it from Arab attacks. The Jews made their state—they didn't demand someone else hand it to them.

Rather than build a state, the Palestinian Arabs based their national identity on resistance to Zionism. Accordingly, they have rejected every offer to settle their dispute with the Jews.


Hamas vows not to lay down arms after Witkoff reportedly says it’s ready to demilitarize
Hamas on Saturday said it would not disarm “as long as the occupation exists,” denying reported remarks to the contrary by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and blasting him for visiting an aid site run by the controversial, US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

In a statement, Hamas vowed to continue its violent struggle, saying its right to do so was guaranteed by international law until Palestinians’ “national rights” were realized, “foremost among them… the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty and Jerusalem as its capital.”

The terror group also assailed Witkoff’s visit to the GHF amid reports of soaring hunger in Gaza, and that hundreds of Palestinian aid seekers have been killed near the agency’s four distribution sites in the south and center of the enclave since they started operating in mid-May.

“The American administration is a full partner in the crime of starvation and genocide,” said Hamas. It added that Witkoff’s visit was “nothing more than a pre-arranged theatrical performance” to provide Israel with “political cover for managing starvation and continuing the systematic killing of children and unarmed civilians from our people.”

The terror group called on the US “to bear its historical responsibility by lifting the cover from the crime of the century in Gaza and moving toward a ceasefire agreement that leads to ending the aggression.”

Israel has vociferously denied the claim it is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, saying it takes steps to mitigate harm to civilians and accusing Hamas of using civilians and human shields. Jerusalem has also rejected as Hamas propaganda allegations that it is purposely starving the territory, and accuses the terror group of hijacking UN aid deliveries. US special envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (center) tour a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site on August 1, 2025. (Steve Witkoff/X)

GHF, which seeks to circumvent Hamas in the distribution of aid, launched its operations in May, sidelining the longstanding UN-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade it had imposed on Gaza.

Other humanitarian groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, saying its distribution plan puts aid-seekers in danger. Since the group began operating in Gaza, Hamas’s civil defense agency and foreign correspondents inside Gaza have reported frequent incidents in which Israeli troops have opened fire on crowds of desperate Palestinian civilians approaching GHF centers seeking food.

Israel has accused Hamas of attacking Gazan aid seekers and falsifying death tolls, but has also acknowledged that Palestinian civilians have been killed near GHF aid distribution sites. The IDF says troops have been issued new instructions following what it called “lessons learned.”


Hamas terrorists seen surrendering to IDF troops in Gaza
Hamas terrorists surrendered to Israeli soldiers during an IDF operation in the Beit Hanoun area of northeastern Gaza, the military said on Saturday.

Troops from the Givati Infantry Brigade’s Combat Team, operating under the 162nd Armored Division, identified several terrorists emerging from a tunnel shaft earlier in the day.

In footage released by the IDF, the terrorists were seen exiting an underground shaft wearing nothing but underwear. They placed their hands over their heads and turned themselves in to the troops.

The soldiers questioned them on the spot, learning that the terrorists had planned to flee after another terrorist who was with them in the tunnel died in a clash with IDF soldiers, the army said.

The prisoners disclosed information about a nearby weapons cache and led the troops to it, the military added.

“Numerous weapons were seized at the site, including vests, magazines, grenades and firearms. Inside the tunnel, equipment for prolonged stays was found—food, water and hygiene supplies,” the IDF said.

The Hamas gunmen were transferred for further interrogation by security forces, the weapons found were confiscated, and the tunnel is now being examined by combat engineering units operating in the area.


85,000 dead children: Yemen’s crisis far worse than Gaza — yet overlooked by the world
Yemen is enduring one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with an estimated 85,000 children under five having died from starvation and malnutrition since the civil war began in 2014. The crisis, far worse than the hunger situation in Gaza, remains largely overlooked by the international community. A Yemeni source opposed to the Iran-backed Houthi movement told AP, “While Gaza has two million people, the Houthis impose a siege on 20 million in Yemen. This hunger is not collateral damage — it’s a deliberate tool for control and extortion.”

Since the Houthis seized large swaths of territory from Yemen’s internationally recognized government in 2014, the country has been devastated by conflict involving a Saudi-led coalition. Although a ceasefire was brokered in April 2022, fighting resumed late last year after the Houthis joined hostilities against Israel, further worsening the humanitarian disaster.

Between 2014 and 2018, aid group Save the Children estimated that roughly 85,000 children died from severe malnutrition without treatment. “Since then, reliable data is scarce because the Houthis restrict aid operations,” the source said.

UNICEF’s August 2024 report warned of a “critical” rise in malnutrition in government-held areas, particularly along the western coast near Houthi-controlled zones. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), cases of severe malnutrition among children under five in these areas increased by 34% from 2023. Over 600,000 children are affected, including 120,000 with acute malnutrition. Some 223,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women were also severely malnourished last year.

Despite the widespread suffering in their territories, Houthi leaders rarely acknowledge the crisis. In recent speeches, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi condemned the international community’s response to hunger in Gaza but has remained silent on Yemen’s internal famine.

Aid groups accuse the Houthis of deliberately blocking humanitarian aid and diverting supplies for their own use. “The Houthis turn international aid into a source of funding for their war effort by stealing supplies and imposing taxes on imports,” the Yemeni source said. “This has left millions vulnerable to starvation and disease.”


More than a quarter of Australians feel public attitude toward Jews is negative
More than a quarter (28%) of Australians believe public attitude toward Jews was either very negative (8%) or slightly negative (20%), according to a new poll published by the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

Collecting data from 1000 respondents from June 27 until July 1, the poll published on Tuesday found that only 24% of Australians believe that the public attitude toward Jews is positive.

One in five respondents aged 18-34 also reported hearing about or witnessing antisemitism in their neighborhood, with one in four in the age category responding the same in New South Wales.

Despite identifying widespread antisemitism, the poll found that 43% of respondents said they would change their vote for councilors who tackle religiously motivated intolerance. Conversely, 42% said that tackling the intolerance wouldn’t impact their vote, and 5% said they were less likely to vote for a councilor who took action to reduce religiously motivated intolerance.

Summit to tackle growing antisemitism
Following the publication of the data, CAM announced it planned to hold an emergency summit from September 3-5 in the Gold Coast.

CAM anticipates hundreds of participants will attend the summit, including government officials and mayors, local leaders, city council members, religious and community leaders, diplomats, cultural influencers and online personalities, educators, artists, and business leaders.

“Australia used to be thought of as a safe haven for Jews, but that image has unfortunately been shattered over the last two years,” said CAM CEO Sacha Roytman Dratwa. “Many national and local authorities were left shocked and surprised by this wave of hate, and we are working with our partners in Australia to provide strategies and the necessary tools to fight hate and antisemitism.”

“I am confident that hundreds of mayors will heed our call and join us to unite in the fight against antisemitism, terrorism, and violence. We will ask them to commit to a unified and firm stance against hate, to take a tougher line on the intolerable incidents happening daily in Australia, and I believe they will all commit to a policy of ‘zero tolerance.’ We believe we can form a coalition against antisemitism and bring about a deep, meaningful, and strategic social change in Australia’s fight against Jew-hatred. Australia must return to being the paradise it once was, a place where Jews and all citizens can live freely, safely, and with pride.”
Tony Abbott says Australia is on a ‘slippery slope’ after court backs Palestine protest on Harbour Bridge
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a scathing attack on the New South Wales Supreme Court after it ruled in favour of a mass pro-Palestine march set to take place across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this Sunday.

Posting to X, formerly Twitter, Mr Abbott said: “It should not be for judges to decide when a political protest is justified. The decision to close the Sydney Harbour Bridge to facilitate this protest is a political decision and should be made by elected and accountable ministers - who as it happens, think the march should not go ahead,” he posted.

“We are on a slippery slope when unelected judges start making political judgments.”

The march, which organisers say could draw as many as 50,000 people, will now proceed with legal protections after a Supreme Court ruling found it met the threshold to be considered an “authorised” assembly under NSW law.

Justice Belinda Rigg handed down the decision on Friday, saying there was a clear public interest in allowing the protest to proceed.

“The march at this location is motivated by the belief that the horror and urgency of the situation in Gaza demands an urgent and extraordinary response from the people of the world.” She added: “The evidence indicates there is significant support for the march,” she said in her judgement.

Police had previously rejected the application for the march, citing a lack of preparation time and safety risks, including the possibility of a crowd crush and major traffic gridlock.

But the court found that public inconvenience alone wasn’t a valid reason to shut down the demonstration, with Rigg stating: “If matters such as this were to be determinative, no assembly involving inconvenience would be permitted.”

The court's ruling grants demonstrator's protection from being charged under the Summary Offences Act, including for obstructing traffic. However, police will still have powers to address any illegal behaviour on the day.

Protesters will be expected to comply with directions, and police can still act against antisocial conduct, violence, or the display of prohibited symbols.

Justice Rigg said the demonstration was likely to cause disruption but emphasised that peaceful protest in response to global humanitarian crises carries high democratic value.


Columbia’s Deal With Trump Pushes Notorious Anti-Israel Prof, Former PLO Spox To Scrap Middle East History Course
An anti-Israel Columbia University professor emeritus, Rashid Khalidi, canceled his Middle Eastern history course over the Ivy League school’s settlement with the Trump administration, claiming the deal makes it "impossible to teach."

In an open letter published Friday in the Guardian to acting president Claire Shipman, Khalidi wrote that he couldn’t teach the course "under the conditions Columbia has accepted by capitulating to the Trump administration." He pointed to the university’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism. It defines anti-Semitism as "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews" and lists examples such as inciting violence against Jews, denying or minimizing the Holocaust, and holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel's actions.

Khalidi argued that the definition made it "impossible with any honesty to teach about topics such as the history of the creation of Israel" and "the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza with the connivance and support of the US and much of western Europe."

Incorporating the IHRA’s definition was one of several components included in Columbia’s $221 million deal with the Trump administration. Other Ivy League schools are following suit. Brown University paid $50 million to resolve investigations into anti-Semitism and Harvard has indicated that it would pay up to $500 million to settle its dispute with the Trump administration.

Khalidi, a former Palestine Liberation Organization flack, scrutinized other parts of Columbia’s deal as well. He criticized the university for mandating anti-Semitism trainings from the Anti-Defamation League and Project Shema, a group "built by progressive Jews" and focused on "depolarizing difficult conversations around anti-Jewish harm," according to its website. He accused both of linking anti-Semitism to anti-Zionism.

Khalidi also said teaching assistants and students would feel constrained "by the constant fear that informers would snitch on them to the fearsome apparatus that Columbia has erected to punish speech critical of Israel."

Anti-Semitic activists have consistently run amok on Columbia’s campus since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attack. In May, more than 80 agitators were arrested after they stormed a Columbia library, renamed it after a terrorist, injured two security officials, damaged bookshelves, and distributed pamphlets praising Hamas.

Faculty members have likewise pushed anti-Semitic sentiments. Khalidi, a member of the anti-Israel Faculty for Justice in Palestine, himself blamed Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israeli "settler colonialism" and "apartheid."


Seth Frantzman: Trump's tariffs might up pressure on Iraq to release Elizabeth Tsurkov
Elizabeth Tsurkov has been held in Iraq for over 860 days. A Princeton researcher, she was kidnapped in Baghdad in late March 2023 by Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia. “My sister has now been held captive for over two years since her kidnapping. The fact that Elizabeth remains in the custody of an Iran-backed militia group in Iraq reflects poorly on Iraq’s sovereignty and calls into question [Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-] Sudani’s ability to control these armed factions within Iraq’s borders,” Emma Tsurkov told The Jerusalem Post on August 1.

Elizabeth Tsurkov holds Israeli and Russian citizenship and resided in New Jersey until her abduction in March 2023. Her sister Emma, who is based in California and has campaigned to free her, says that “Iraq has an opportunity right now to do the right thing and enhance the relationship with the Trump administration.”

Emma Tsurkov suggested that the 35% tariffs being placed on Iraq could be linked to Iraq’s refusal to free Elizabeth. Baghdad could improve its ties with Washington if it were to show it can rein in Iranian-backed militias and free the researcher.

Iraq’s foreign minister said that Iraq was trying to free Elizabeth Tsurkov in January 2025. He said at the time that the kidnapped researcher was alive; however, Sudani has not secured her release in six months. In March 2025, US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler traveled to Iraq to press Sudani for the release of Tsurkov. Iraq’s National Security Advisor claimed the country was continuing its efforts to free her. However, months have since ticked by, and there has been no breakthrough.

On July 29, the Associated Press noted that Sudani is seeking closer ties with the Trump administration. However, Iranian-backed militias have been launching drone attacks targeting energy facilities in the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq. “Just as the drone attacks have called into question Baghdad’s control over armed groups, so has the case of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who went missing in Iraq in 2023,” the AP noted. The US has condemned the drone attacks.
Knife-wielding Palestinian arrested at kibbutz gate
The security coordinator at Kibbutz Metzer, northwest of Samaria, shot a suspected terrorist who drew a knife at the community’s entrance gate on Saturday.

The suspect, 24, is a resident of Tulkarem, a Palestinian city abutting the Green Line Israel’s Hefer Valley region, police said.

Police officers from the Baqa al-Gharbiya station rushed to the scene and arrested him on the spot, on suspicion of carrying out a stabbing attack.

Police forces launched extensive searches in the area for possible additional suspects.

“Police forces continue to secure the scene and conduct searches along the roads surrounding the kibbutz,” the Israel Police said in a statement.

Last month, the Israel Defense Forces thwarted a Palestinian stabbing attack near the community of Shim’a, located south of Hebron in Judea.

A soldier stationed at the scene opened fire and killed the terrorist.


70-year-old Jewish man from New York said to be among four US citizens held by Iran
A 70-year-old Jewish New Yorker is reportedly among four US citizens who are being held in custody in Iran.

The four prisoners all traveled to Iran to visit family, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing rights groups. It added that families of three of the US citizens requested that their relatives remain anonymous over fears their prison conditions could be worsened.

The 70-year-old Jewish man and another American were arrested after Israel began its aerial campaign against Iran in June, the Human Rights Activists News Agency and Hengaw rights groups were quoted as saying.

The man, who owns a jewelry business, is being interrogated over a trip to Israel, the report said. It was unclear when the trip to Israel took place.

Earlier this week, the Kan public broadcaster reported that two American nationals were among at least 35 Jews who were detained in Iran following the war on suspicion of spying for Israel, five of whom were said to still be in prison.

The report said one of the American nationals, a Jew of Iranian ancestry from Los Angeles, was recently released on bail, while the other, an American who left Iran for New York 30 years ago, was still in prison. It could not immediately be confirmed if that was the same Jewish New Yorker that The Times reported on Saturday.

Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran’s nuclear program and missile production on June 13, saying the operation was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed goal to destroy the Jewish state. The war ended 12 days later with a US-brokered ceasefire.

The second American reported by The Times to have been arrested right after the Israeli strikes started was a woman from California. Her whereabouts are now reportedly unknown after she was evacuated from Evin prison, which was struck by Israel during the war.

Two senior Iranian officials speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed to the US daily that the New York man and the Californian woman were detained as part of a crackdown on alleged operatives for Israel and the United States.


Auschwitz museum defends barring IDF group from bringing Israeli flags into Birkenau
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum on Friday said that it had barred an Israeli military delegation from carrying Israeli flags onto the grounds a day earlier because site management was not informed in advance of the event and so had not been able to grant approval for the flags.

The museum said it deeply regretted the incident but defended the move, adding that its procedures were in place to prevent the Nazi death camp, where some 1.1 million people were murdered during the Holocaust, from being used for political purposes.

On Thursday, a delegation of 180 Israeli officers and security officials taking part in the “Witnesses in Uniform” Holocaust commemoration program was halted at the entrance to the Birkenau concentration camp when a local police officer refused to let them enter carrying flags, participants told the Ynet news site.

According to the report, Israeli officers and local agents were unable to reach an agreement with the police, and the soldiers had to enter without their flags.

Some soldiers at the event said the incident was tense and humiliating, and charged that the decision was driven by antisemitic beliefs.

“No ceremony has ever been stopped mid-way — never in Treblinka, Warsaw, or Majdanek,” one participant told Ynet. “This shows that we are still fighting against antisemitism in Europe, and there are still those who are trying to change the Zionist narrative and the sanctity of this place for us.”

According to the soldier, the delegation prepared as usual for the ceremony, marching from the outer entrance towards the camp gate with flags and military trumpets: “When we arrived at the gate, a Polish policeman stopped the first row and demanded that we not enter with flags. Despite arguments from the staff, he insisted. In the end, we were forced to dismantle the flags and leave them in the car.”

After the reports, the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum said it was “deeply concerned” about the incident but defended its decision, arguing that the event was not cleared with its administration in advance and that if such approval had been granted ahead of time, the group would have been allowed to enter with their flags.

“The Museum had not been informed in advance about the planned official ceremony involving a military formation marching with flags through the grounds of the former camp. Failure to follow the required procedures led to an unfortunate and entirely avoidable situation,” the museum said in a statement on X.

“These measures are in place to protect the dignity, solemnity, and neutrality of the space that is the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp. Approximately 1.1 million people were murdered here, primarily Jews, but also Poles, Roma and Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war, and others. The special safeguards exist due to numerous past attempts to misuse this historical site,” the museum said.

“Under no circumstances can the grounds of the former camp be a space for uncoordinated manifestations or ceremonies, even those carried out with good intentions,” the statement added.
Belgian politician apologizes after compromising photo shows him draped in Nazi flag
A Belgian politician apologized after an old picture emerged on Friday of him stripped to his underwear and draped in a Nazi flag, describing the incident as a hazing stunt gone wrong and a “crass mistake.”

The compromising image of Germain Dalne, a 26-year-old town councillor from Nivelles in southern Belgium, was made public by the newspaper L’Avenir after resurfacing on social media.

“Let’s be clear: it’s no small matter to find yourself with a Nazi flag on your back,” Dalne, who sits in opposition on the council for the center-right MR party, told AFP in a statement.

“This was a crass mistake, but one without any political or ideological connotation,” he said, adding: “I reiterate my sincerest apologies.”

According to Dalne, the picture, showing him from behind clad in a Swastika-emblazoned flag with blue boxer shorts poking out beneath, was taken during a scout camp several years ago.

In the course of a “far too drunken” evening, Dalne said he and others had swiped the flag from a stash in a nearby field that was destined for historical reenactments.
Penguin Random House editor shared post mocking murdered exec Wesley LePatner
A top editor at Penguin Random House allegedly mocked the murder of Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner in a bizarre Instagram post which blamed her for the housing crisis and ending with “rest in piss.”

Thomas Gebremedhin, vice president and executive editor at Doubleday Books, shared the vile Instagram story highlighting an X post about Monday’s mass shooting at 345 Park Ave., where LePatner, 46, was gunned down while trying to shield herself behind a marble pillar.

“Her sole job was making sure housing is expensive and that we all rent for the rest of our lives,” read the original post portraying LePatner — a Jewish mom of two — as the face of unaffordable housing.

“She made $9,000 a minute … Rest in piss.”

Social media users were quick to point out that LePatner did not earn “$9,000 a minute,” and condemned the post, which was first made in response to Blackstone’s official memorial tweet and flagged by Free Press reporter Maya Sulkin.

“It’s not just people in the dark corners of the internet justifying LePatner’s murder,” Sulkin wrote in a Friday X post. “It’s people like Thomas Gebremedhin.”

The tone-deaf repost stunned many in the publishing world, where Gebremedhin moves in elite literary circles. His Instagram, @tgebremedhin, is private but screenshots of the story began circling online this week, triggering widespread condemnation.

“Book publishing industry is full of scum. Probably more woke than the worst universities,” one user commented under Sulkin’s post.

Another wrote: “The Left be like: anyone with a lot of money deserves to be murdered, unless they’re Hamas terrorist billionaires.”
Dutch-Muslim nurse threatens to kill Israeli patients with injections, sparking investigation
Batisma Chayat Sa’id, a Muslim nurse in the Netherlands, has been accused of threatening to administer lethal injections to Israeli patients under her care. In a disturbing Instagram comment, she wrote: “You know what 'm doing with Zionists—giving an extra injection as a nurse specialist. Letting it to go heaven!"

The comments were exposed by Israeli social media activist Max Veifer, a 25-year-old English teacher from Ashdod. The exchange began when Lital van Steenbergen, an Israeli-Dutch woman living in the Netherlands, responded to a post by far-right politician Geert Wilders, who warned of the country’s supposed radical Islamization by 2050. Sa’id replied to Wilders, saying: “It’s not our dream—it will happen by 2027.” van Steenbergen countered in Dutch: “Your dream is our nightmare. But people wake up from nightmares. Our Netherlands, our Israel.”

Sa’id responded harshly: “Nothing belongs to you! My grandparents built the Netherlands. I was born and raised here, and I will do everything in my power to help this country get rid of the Zionist cancer.” She then added the threat about injections.

“When she said she was a specialist nurse, that hit a nerve,” van Steenbergen explained. “I also work in healthcare. I warned her that people in Australia who made similar statements had been exposed by Max Veifer.” She then tagged Veifer, who quickly took up the case.

When van Steenbergen threatened to report her, Sa’id replied: “Haha, try your best! I don’t have a boss—I’m the boss! All Zionists can die, inside healthcare and beyond, and I’m happy to help with that!”

Lital filed a complaint with the Dutch Nurses Association, while her husband Sebastian submitted a police report on July 18. “The association told me they couldn’t locate her in their registry,” she said. “She apparently works in home care for the elderly. We know she was born in the Netherlands to Moroccan immigrant parents. The police told my husband that her statements were unacceptable and said they would escalate the case due to the nature of her ‘plans.’”

Soon after, Sa’id claimed she had not authored the posts and that her identity had been stolen. She deleted all her social media accounts. “We don’t believe her,” said van Steenbergen. “The comments were unmistakably hers.”

Sa’id was arrested for questioning last Wednesday by police in Driebergen. She denied all charges and repeated to the Dutch daily De Telegraaf that someone had impersonated her online. “It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” she said. “I want to make it clear—I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”


Intl. Muay Thai federation bans Israeli flag, anthem, forbids fighters from representing country
The International Federation of Muay Thai Associations (IFMA) has banned the display of the Israeli flag and the playing of the Israeli national anthem at all of its events, as of 31 July.

Israeli fighters will also be unable to represent their country, and will have to perform under the category of Neutral Individual Athletes instead.

IFMA noted that it is not banning Israeli athletes, but that like Russian and Belarussian athletes, they cannot represent their nation.

Additionally, no official IFMA competitions will be hosted or supported by Israel until further notice.

Why did the IFMA bar Israeli entry?
According to the IFMA, the move was sparked by the death of a Palestinian boy named Ammar Hamayel, who was a member of the Palestinian national Muay Thai team. Hamayel was shot dead by an IDF soldier in Ramallah in June, aged 13, according to Palestinian media.

Following the news of his death, IMFA flew its flags at half-mast, and its social media profiles will go dark. On June 25, during the final of the Asian Championships, the competition paused to pay tribute to his memory.


Trump eyes bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian nations into Abraham Accords, sources say
President Donald Trump's administration is actively discussing with Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing that nation and some Central Asian allies into the Abraham Accords, hoping to deepen their existing ties with Israel, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter.

As part of the Abraham Accords, inked in 2020 and 2021 during Trump's first term in office, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.

Azerbaijan and every country in Central Asia, by contrast, already have longstanding relations with Israel, meaning that an expansion of the accords to include them would largely be symbolic, focusing on strengthening ties in areas like trade and military cooperation, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Such an expansion would reflect Trump's openness to pacts that are less ambitious than his administration's goal to convince regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to restore ties with Israel while war rages in Gaza.

The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without steps towards Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state. A soaring death toll in Gaza and starvation in the enclave due to the blockage of aid and military operations by Israel have buoyed Arab fury, complicating efforts to add more Muslim-majority countries to the Abraham Accords.

The war in Gaza, where over 60,000 people have died, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, has provoked global anger. Canada, France, and the United Kingdom have announced plans in recent days to recognize an independent Palestine.

Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan's conflict with its neighbor Armenia, since the Trump administration considers a peace deal between the two Caucasus nations as a precondition to join the Abraham Accords, three sources said.

While Trump officials have publicly floated several potential entrants into the accords, the talks centered on Azerbaijan are among the most structured and serious, the sources said. Two of the sources argued a deal could be reached within months or even weeks.
Jews put past trauma in its place and look forward, while Palestinians embrace victimhood
The Israeli attitude of taking their destiny into their own hands
The Israeli attitude towards the Holocaust was never, “Look what they did to us,” but rather, “Never again!” Israelis took their destiny into their own hands and built themselves a future. In a 1949 speech at the opening of the Weizmann Institute, president Chaim Weizmann said, “The Jewish people have suffered, but we do not build our future on sorrow. We build it on science, on labor, on the vision of a state that will be a light unto the nations.” Weizmann’s political opponent, prime minister Menachem Begin, himself a Holocaust survivor, expressed similar sentiments: “Our people have known too much pain, but we will not be defined by it. We will build a state of strength, of justice, and of hope for every Jew who dreams of a home.”

In contrast to the Israeli Zionist national movement that centered its narrative around looking forward and moving away from victimhood, the Palestinian national narrative is centered around victimhood.

In an address to the United Nations, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas focused his speech around the history of Palestinian trauma, “I ask you to consider the history of the question of Palestine and the relevant United Nations resolutions to realize the obvious truth: that a historic injustice has been inflicted upon a people and a homeland, a people that had lived peacefully in their land and made genuine intellectual, cultural, and humanitarian contributions to mankind. These people do not deserve to be deprived of their homeland, to die in exile or be swallowed by the sea, or to spend their lives fleeing from one refugee camp to another. Yet regrettably, their just cause remains at a standstill after the passage of all these years.”

Contrast Abbas’s words with the speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations that same year: “For a hundred generations, the Jewish people dreamed of returning to the Land of Israel. Even in our darkest hours, and we had so many, even in our darkest hours, we never gave up hope of rebuilding our eternal capital, Jerusalem. The establishment of Israel made realizing that dream possible.

“It has enabled us to live as a free people in our ancestral homeland. It’s enabled us to embrace Jews who’ve come from the four corners of the earth to find refuge from persecution. They came from war-torn Europe, from Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, from Ethiopia, and the Soviet Union, from a hundred other lands. And today, as a rising tide of antisemitism once again sweeps across Europe and elsewhere, many Jews come to Israel to join us in building the Jewish future.”

Palestinian advocacy centers itself on victimhood
An example of modern Palestinian advocacy centering itself on victimhood instead of progress is Palestinian activist Mohammed El-Kurd’s new book, Perfect Victims, about the Palestinian experience. The book discusses the Palestinian condition today and its need for Palestinians to prove their humanity in the face of a settler colonial state that continues to inflict devastating violence on Palestinians.

Palestinian society can never move forward if it insists on embracing victimhood instead of progress. Dr. Eran Lerman, a member of the faculty at the Shalem Academic Center and a former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the National Security Council in the Prime Minister’s Office, summarized the Palestinian addiction to victimhood and its dangers: “The false Palestinian narrative of one-sided victimhood is a major hindrance to all efforts in the direction of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Global actors need to help the Palestinians move beyond wallowing in self-pity and rituals of bashing Israel, and towards difficult compromises with Israel.”

With God’s help, the Jewish people, Zionism, and the State of Israel have experienced resounding success. The Palestinian people have faced the opposite and suffer from a lack of national independence. One of the essential factors that has led to Jewish success and Palestinian suffering is the Jewish insistence on putting past trauma in its place and looking forward, and the Palestinian embracing of victimhood and refusal to put its past in its place.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

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