Saturday, September 06, 2025

09/06 Links: Israel releases 22 Minutes of Oct7 footage; The insanity of 7th October denial; First Image of Alon Ohel after 700 Days; The Gaza flotilla is a fraud

From Ian:

Eve Barlow: 22 Minutes
It has taken until 700 days for Israel to get permissions from families and friends to freely distribute 22 minutes of the 47 minutes of footage that was initially shown to journalists in private screenings following the October 7 massacre. I was one of those journalists. I endured the entire 47 minute screening. I averted my eyes a few times, and just listened to sounds. For the most part, I kept my eyes open, no matter how horrifying, because I needed to bear witness to the atrocities to know that I understand October 7 and that I know why the IDF is in Gaza. I needed to see it all to strengthen my resolve in the face of a two-year-long media onslaught that has since taken place to frame Israel as the aggressor “genocidal” force, when in fact it was Gaza who intended to commit a genocide on that black Shabbat, 700 days ago.

It must be noted that there is vastly more than 22 - or even 47 - minutes of bodycam and CCTV and cellphone footage. This is a snapshot of what Israel had to face on the day that would never end. On the day that still has yet to end. For us, it is still October 7, 700 days later. We are yet to wake up from the nightmare. If you’re still here reading, thank you. You are one person yet to cave to public pressure, yet to be so gaslit by the narrative that you no longer can see right from wrong and good from evil, yet to vote with your feet and leave the Jews in the darkness alone once more.

700 days. The last 700 days has shown us the truth of the world both outward and inward. A gargantuan test. We are still standing and we keep fighting for the truth and for the 48 hostages - dead and alive - who remain in captivity.

Our adversaries have stopped at nothing, aiding Hamas’s strategy to seduce the world and usher in a feverish call to banish the Jews from public life. The other week I was at coffee with a friend. He said that he heard a one word definition of antisemitism. Impossible, I thought. “Libel”, he said. Wow. That’s it. The world has bathed in it for almost two years following the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Bathed in it like it was a vintage bottle of Dom Perignon. Champagne socialists have turned the word Zionist into a slur and made Jew hatred the socially acceptable form of racism among every class. They have picked their own self-hating Jews to speak to their agenda, turning our own brothers and sisters against us. They have made Israel stand trial for defending her right to exist in the face of a regime that would wipe her off the map and replace her with yet another Arab colonized state: Palestine.
Andrew Fox: The insanity of 7th October denial
There is a direct line from this video of Hamas atrocities to the hysteria and denial of the pro-Palestine mob. Their need to scream at the top of their voice at the slightest supposed evidence of Israeli “genocide” is a pathetic compensation for the cognitive dissonance 7th October causes them, and their inability to process its sheer scale and horror.

Hamas has to bombard us with some real, some fake, some heavily manipulated snuff clips from Gaza until we go mad. If they didn’t, people would look 7th October and never forgive them. All those screeching hordes would be silenced if they had to watch that video and be honest about it. Hamas’s media campaign from Gaza gives them a get-out-of-jail-free card to carry on, untroubled by the mass rape and the slaughter of Israeli civilians.

The world has to drown out 7th October by heaping opprobrium on Israel as a behemoth of evil. If it didn’t, these people would have to face what happened on 7th October. Even worse, they would have to face their own complicity. Of course the UN is colluding and lying about Gaza, because through UNRWA and other agencies, it helped 7th October happen by at least turning a blind eye, at worst actively enabling it.

Owen Jones is the template; this phenomenon in microcosm. Something in him broke when he saw that video: not just his prejudice about Israel and Palestine but his own belief in humanity. He came out having looked at the Medusa and not having an answer. He has spent nearly two years deflecting 7th October with a mirror of confected outrage, because that video challenged every belief he held about “Palestine”. Accepting the truth would have turned his foolishly-held conviction to stone. Now he spends his days trolling from oCcUpPieD pALesTiNe.

Since witnessing the video, Owen has since invested everything in ignoring and disregarding the atrocity of 7th October, throwing himself into pretending that everything that has come since is far worse, so that he can hide from his own shock, fear and confusion. This is reflected in the madness of the pro-Palestinian mob: they cannot accept that Israelis were ever victims, and so they ignore and deny not only Hamas’s actions on 7th October, but also Hamas’s actions in sacrificing the people of Gaza.

Here is the video in the first reply. I challenge you to make it through more than five minutes.


Hostage Matan Angrest’s life is in ‘immediate danger,’ mother says
The mother of Israeli hostage Matan Angrest said on Friday that someone told her over the phone that her son’s life was in immediate danger.

Writing on X, Anat Angrest said that she has underwent 700 sleepless nights since her son was abducted into Gaza by terrorists during the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023.

She vowed to protest the next day outside of the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, accompanied by “tens of thousands” of Israelis. “It will be loud, just like it’s loud near Matan from the echoes of explosions,” she said.

It was initially unclear who spoke with the mother, but on Saturday, Ofir Angrest, the captive’s 17-year-old brother, told Israeli public radio Kan’s Reshet Bet station that “We received information from a senior intelligence official that the Israel Defense Forces will operate in the area where Matan may be held—and his safety cannot be guaranteed.”

Ofir continued, “This is the first time we’re getting such a report, the first time in two years. If people are saying they can’t guarantee that Matan’s life won’t be harmed as a result of the operation, then we have nothing left to lose.”
First image in 700 days: Family of hostage Alon Ohel issues still from Hamas video
The family of hostage Alon Ohel on Saturday permitted the publication of a photo from a propaganda video released by Hamas the previous day. The video, which also included hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, was the first time Ohel had been seen alive since he was taken hostage along with 250 others during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

The family asked Israeli media not to publish other footage of him from the video, or details on his appearance in it that they did not share themselves. In the video, Guy Gilboa-Dalal is partly seen above ground, inside a car. He refers to being held captive for 22 months, which could indicate that the footage was filmed recently.

Ohel, 24, a talented pianist, went to the Supernova desert rave with several friends, reaching the party at 5:30 a.m., an hour before the Hamas attack began. Ohel and his friends fled to a field shelter, which was later attacked by terrorists, with many of those inside murdered.

Ohel was taken captive along with Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Eliya Cohen and Or Levy. Goldberg-Polin was murdered in captivity, while the latter two have been released as part of hostage deals.

Ohel’s family received their first sign of life for him during a ceasefire in February, when released hostages reported having been held alongside him. At the time, his mother said she was told that he was being held starving in chains in a Hamas tunnel, and had multiple untreated injuries.

His family said, following the release of the latest video, that medical experts had told them he was blind in one eye.


Genocide is a word that has lost all meaning since Gaza war
SO, WHAT is to be done? First, we must reclaim reverence for language itself. Genocide should be spoken as one might toll a great bell, with awe and with evidence. To debase it is to rob future generations of the ability to recognize the crime when it truly appears.

Second, we must demand that NGOs, politicians, and commentators observe the discipline of law. The United Nations Convention is not optional; it is the standard. If intent cannot be proved, then genocide cannot be alleged.

Third, we must insist that our debates admit complexity. One may oppose Israeli policies fiercely, as many Israelis themselves do, without resorting to vocabulary that belongs to the gas chamber and the machete.

Finally, we must confront the paradox: to cheapen the word “genocide” to attack Israel is to harm Palestinians as well. For if everything is genocide, then nothing is. If Israel’s war is genocide, then Sudan’s famine, Myanmar’s atrocities against the Rohingya, China’s repression of the Uyghurs – all lose the sharp edge of distinction. The Palestinian tragedy deserves to be addressed on its own terms, not inflated into an ersatz Holocaust that convinces no one serious and inflames everyone reckless.

We live in a time when Parliament in the UK can debate Israel 10 times more than Sudan, where half a million children have starved to death. That imbalance already tells us something about our hunger for moral theater over moral proportion. The promiscuous misuse of the word “genocide” is another symptom of that disorder. It is not born of compassion but of obsession, not of justice but of rhetorical convenience.

Let us, therefore, draw a line. Let us treat the word “genocide” with the gravity it deserves, using it only where it belongs. Let us criticize Israel, by all means, but let us do so with the rigor that truth demands, not with the lazy cudgels of political theater.

For in the end, to debase the language of atrocity is to debase ourselves and to darken the very room in which we struggle to see the suffering of others clearly.
Hundreds of academics call on IAGS to retract declaration of genocide in Gaza
Nearly 200 genocide, Holocaust, and legal scholars are calling on the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) to retract its resolution finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In a letter finalized on Friday, the scholars charge the association with “critical errors” in its resolution, including failing to consider Hamas’ role in the deaths in Gaza and whether any explanation other than an intent to harm an entire group can explain the crisis there.

“It is critical that we not water down the legal elements of genocide for the purpose of advancing ideological positions and bias,” the letter says. “Holocaust and genocide scholars can have legitimate concerns about Israeli conduct in Gaza without working to disparage the very legal standards that exist to protect people from these crimes.”

The letter’s signatories include former US Department of Justice war crime prosecutor Eli M. Rosenbaum, former Hague legal fellow Isaac Amon, the Holocaust Museum of South Florida, and the pro-Israel attorney Alan Dershowitz, as well as several Holocaust educators and survivors’ children.

The letter represents an escalation of criticism of IAGS since its widely publicized resolution announced on Monday. In a volley of op-eds and elsewhere, critics lambasted the group’s membership and low voter turnout, suggesting a scholarly consensus that did not exist.

On Thursday, IAGS responded to the criticism, writing in a lengthy statement that its membership inbox had been spammed with messages employing fake names including “Adolf Hitler” and email addresses such as “f—kiags@retards.”

“The IAGS general email and members of the Executive Board have received a great deal of abusive hate mail and social media posts this week,” the statement read. “Such responses are clearly unacceptable and create an environment of harassment, bullying, and abuse.”
Child evacuated from Gaza with rare disease recovers from malnutrition in Italian hospital
Since arriving emaciated in Italy from Gaza, little Shamm Qudeih has celebrated her second birthday and gained weight on a new diet that includes a special porridge — progress welcomed by doctors treating her for what they say is severe malnutrition worsened by a genetic metabolic disease.

Just weeks ago, the toddler was all skin and bones as she clung to her mother in a hospital in southern Gaza, after months of being unable to get the food and treatment she needed because of an Israeli blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages. Then she was evacuated to Italy for medical treatment, along with six other Palestinian children.

A striking photo of Shamm wincing in her mother’s arms, with her hair matted and ribs protruding from her chest, was taken by Associated Press freelance journalist Mariam Dagga just days before the child left Gaza on Aug. 13. It was one of Dagga’s last images. She was among 22 people killed in an Aug. 25 Israeli strike on the same hospital in southern Gaza, which Israel has called a tragic mistake.

The world’s leading authority on hunger crises said last month that more than half a million people in Gaza, a quarter of the population, are experiencing catastrophic levels of hunger because of the blockade and ongoing military operations. Gaza City, in the north, is experiencing famine, it said. Israel rejected the report as one based on “Hamas lies.”


The ‘emirates’ plan: A political train wreck in the making
Without a shadow of doubt, the two-state solution is a truly atrocious idea. Decades of endeavor to implement it have wrought trauma and tragedy not only on Israel and Israelis, but, ironically, even more so on Palestinian Arabs, for whose benefit it was purportedly formulated.

It is not my intention here to enumerate all the deadly detriments of the two-state principle and the myriad misfortunes the ill-conceived attempts to implement it have precipitated over the last four decades. I—and others—have done this repeatedly elsewhere—despite the derision and disregard of devout disciples of the “politically correct”—sadly, only to have our warnings borne out time and time again.

Fortunately, as the grave defects of the two-state notion become increasingly apparent, the search for alternatives has understandably become a priority. Yet, despite the urgency, caution and prudence are still very much called for.

For as appalling as the two-state notion is, this in no way implies that any proposal that is not the two-state idea is necessarily better than it. Indeed, some can be just as bad, if not worse—particularly in anything but the immediate short run.

Typical of such a well-intentioned, but dangerously defective “alternative” is what has come to be known as “The emirates plan,” involving granting self-rule, of yet to be specified scope, to the dominant clan heads in 7-8 urban centers in Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. “the West Bank) and Gaza.

Indeed, having been skillfully promoted by its well-intentioned advocates, it was prominently featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article, which raised the possibility of its being initially implemented in the Hebron region. While for some, this approach might have some superficial appeal, closer scrutiny reveals numerous problems that must be satisfactorily addressed before it can be seriously—and responsibly—advanced as a practical policy alternative.

For example, what would be the length of the frontiers (the lines of contact) between sovereign Israel and the (semi-) autonomous enclaves (“emirates”)? Depending on their precise configuration, these wildly contorted frontiers could be anything up to 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) long, making them almost impossible to demarcate and secure.

However, if one cannot clearly demarcate and secure one’s sovereign territory, this will inevitably undermine the very essence of that sovereignty itself. Moreover, would the residents of the “emirates” be allowed to access Israel itself? Would they be permitted to visit Israeli beaches and shop in Israeli malls?
France’s dismal colonial history puts it in no position to lecture Israel over Gaza - opinion
A recent and somewhat undiplomatic incident occurred that set the proverbial cat among the pigeons in the stately halls of government in Paris. It came in the form of an open letter in The Wall Street Journal written by Charles Kushner, US ambassador to France, expressing sharp criticism of the manner in which President Emmanuel Macron has handled the burgeoning wave of antisemitism in the country.

Kushner, father of Donald Trump’s son-in-law, warned that antisemitic incidents in France had “exploded since Hamas’s barbaric assault on October 7, 2023” against the farms, villages and towns in southern Israel.

Significantly, he suggested that the criticism of Macron’s government against Israel and his move toward recognizing a Palestinian state amid its war on Gaza had emboldened antisemitic sentiments. The US envoy warned that today, “many French Jews fear that history will repeat itself in Europe,” and urged Macron to forge a “serious plan” to root out antisemitism.

The piece sparked considerable French ire and resulted in the ambassador being summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a dressing-down. However, not only did Kushner fail to comply, sending a lower-level official in his place, but he was given stout support from Washington, with the State Department spokesman doubling down on his criticisms: “We stand by his comments… Ambassador Kushner is our US government representative in France and is doing a great job advancing our national interests in that role.”

Not unexpectedly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly condemned the intended initiative, warning: “Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became… A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launchpad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.” In a letter to Macron, Netanyahu charged that his call for a Palestinian state “pours fuel on this antisemitism fire.”


Israeli firm Elbit shutters Bristol site in UK amid repeated harassment
Israeli weapons technology firm Elbit Systems has unexpectedly shut down its branch in Bristol, England, following repeated vandalism by the U.K.-designated terrorist group Palestine Action.

Elbit opened the manufacturing and development facility in July 2023. The company’s lease was not due to expire until 2029, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

Earlier this week, the Guardian paid a visit to the site in the Aztec West business park on the outskirts of the city where the M5 and M4 meet, reporting it was deserted.

Apart from a security guard stationed outside the premises, the Elbit Systems site was completely vacant, the report read.

Elbit Systems U.K. Limited is a subsidiary of Haifa-based Elbit Systems, the primary provider of the IDF’s land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Before Palestine Action was proscribed in the United Kingdom, the Bristol facility was targeted dozens of times by the anti-Israel organization. Its activities included “blockades using lock-ons [where protesters lock themselves to an inanimate object], occupying the roof, smashing windows and dousing the site in red paint,” the Guardian reported.

Another Elbit facility in Filton, Bristol, was also subject to Palestine Action harassment. Twenty-four individuals are awaiting trial on charges including criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary in relation to this second facility.

The Guardian went on to report that the company’s latest accounts show that it made an operating loss of £4.7 million ($6.35 million) in 2024, compared with a profit of £3.8 million ($5.13 million) in 2023.
Teen held in France suspected of plotting attacks, including on Israeli embassy
French authorities have detained a 17-year-old on suspicion of plotting attacks against embassies or official buildings, sources close to the investigation told AFP on Saturday.

The teen was formally put under investigation and locked up on Friday, they said, confirming information first given by Le Parisien daily.

He was arrested on Monday at his parents’ home, where he lived, in the western Sarthe region, and suffered light injuries as he tried to escape police.

One of the sources said a search of the home found a pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State terror group and a list of schools in Le Mans, Sarthe’s main city.

Alongside the list was written a quantity of liters, thought to possibly refer to ingredients for incendiary devices or chemical explosives.

The 17-year-old was also suspected of targeting the embassies of Israel, Britain, and the United States, as well as the French interior ministry and various media headquarters, all located in Paris, as well as the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

France’s national anti-terrorist prosecutors’ office refused to comment on the individual to AFP. The teenager’s lawyer also declined to respond.

One of the sources speaking to AFP said the teenager was understood to have confessed to plotting many of the alleged crimes. Advertisement
Ahed Tamimi let her mask slip when showing true intention of 'fighting Jews, not Zionism'
A New York human rights organization named T’ruah describes itself as “Bringing the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Canada, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.”

T’ruah’s advocacy for democracy and human rights frequently expresses itself in the form of opposing Jewish development in Judea and Samaria. Often, it crosses the line into support for violent Palestinian extremism against Jews.

T’ruah and other similar organizations run tours in Israel, including in Judea and Samaria and Palestinian-controlled villages. One never-missed stop is Nabi Saleh, a small Palestinian village near Ramallah.

This village, with a population of about 560-600 residents, is almost entirely populated by members of the Tamimi family. It has been a focal point for weekly protests against the Jewish growth and the nearby Jewish town, Halamish.

Bassem and Nariman Tamimi put on quite a show for naive and unknowing visitors. Claiming to follow the peaceful ways of civil disobedience like Martin Luther King Jr., they omit the suicide bombings, attacking soldiers, and boulder-throwing their family has committed over the years of their “activism.”

Ahlam Tamimi, a cousin of Bassem, was convicted for her role in the 2001 Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 15 people, including 7 children, and injured 130. Ahlam, a member of Hamas, admitted to scouting the location and driving the bomber to the site.
BBC uses journalist who called for ‘Jews to be burned like Hitler did’... again
A journalist who called for Jews to be burned “as Hitler did” has been used by the BBC as an expert commentator on the Gaza conflict.

Samer Elzaenen, who has appeared on the BBC’s Arabic channel more than a dozen times since the conflict erupted following the Oct 7 Hamas attacks, was quoted extensively as he accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon against Palestinians.

After being contacted by The Telegraph, the BBC admitted that Mr Elzaenen should not have been used as an expert contributor.

It comes after The Telegraph revealed in April that Mr Elzaenen, 33, had been used to help report on the situation in Gaza, despite previously having issued a stream of social media posts that singled out Jews for condemnation and even appeared to call for violence against them.

In a Facebook post in July 2022, he stated: “When things go awry for us, shoot the Jews, it fixes everything.”

Mr Elzaenen has also appeared to call for a repeat of the Holocaust, stating on Facebook in May 2011: “My message to the Zionist Jews: We are going to take our land back, we love death for Allah’s sake the same way you love life. We shall burn you as Hitler did, but this time we won’t have a single one of you left.”

In response to the revelations, the BBC said at the time that it was “not aware” of Mr Elzaenen’s social media activity prior to him appearing on air, adding: “We are absolutely clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism on our services.”

But it can now be revealed that Mr Elzaenen was used again by the BBC despite concerns about his comments having been raised. This time he was cited as an eyewitness by Suzanna Goussous, a BBC Arabic reporter, to describe the hunger in Gaza, under the headline “Starvation as a ‘weapon of war’: What does it mean and when was it used in history?”


MSNBC’s Mohyeldin: Trump Didn’t ‘Reciprocate’ ‘Good Faith’ from Hamas and Force Bibi to Talk War Israel ‘Launched’
On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin said that Hamas released an American hostage thinking that if they showed President Donald Trump “a good faith gesture,” then “the President will somehow reciprocate and maybe force Netanyahu to the negotiating table” in talks on the “war that Israel has launched on Gaza.” But “That never materialized.”

Mohyeldin said, “You remember there was this time when President Trump came into power and Hamas actually released the American hostage as a good faith gesture, when he was going into the region on his first foreign visit. And they were thinking like, maybe if we show him good faith, the President will somehow reciprocate and maybe force Netanyahu to the negotiating table. That never materialized.”

Earlier, he stated, “Keep in mind, this is the fifth war that Israel has launched on Gaza.”


IDF chief Zamir, new CENTCOM chief meet, discuss Iran, Hezbollah, Houthis
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir met with US Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper for the first time, CENTCOM announced on Saturday.

“The United States maintains an ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” said Adm. Cooper. “We are mutually dedicated to promoting regional security and stability.”

The visit focused on the operational cooperation between the IDF and the United States military, according to the Israeli military statement.

According to Arab reports, Cooper has been involved in talks between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah over a plan to disarm the terrorist group and transfer security control of all Lebanese territory to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel has stressed that such a move is a prerequisite for achieving a new security reality in the North.

At the same time, there have been growing reports in both Israel and the United States that another confrontation with Iran is a possibility that all sides must acknowledge.


Terrorist who boasted of murdering ten Israelis on Oct. 7 killed in IDF strike
Mahmoud Afana, a Gazan terrorist who boasted of murdering ten Israelis on October 7, was killed in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah on Thursday, Israeli media reported on Saturday, citing Palestinian reports.

In the chilling conversation, Afana, a member of Hamas's Nukhba forces, repeatedly bragged about the murders, with the clip revealed two and a half weeks after the massacre during a discussion at the UN Security Council, Ynet reported.

"I'm talking to you from a Jewish woman's phone. I killed her and her husband. I killed ten with my own hands," he told his father. The recording was released by then-Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen.

Terrorist called parents while still in kibbutz
Afana infiltrated Kibbutz Mefalsim and made the call to his parents while he was still in the kibbutz.

"Open your WhatsApp and look at all the killed [Israelis]. Look at how many I killed with my own hands, your son killed Jews!" he was heard in the recording.

The father was heard crying with joy as the terrorist expressed his intent to do a video call so his dad could see the extent of the massacre committed.


IDF strikes Hamas infrastructure and high rise tower in Gaza, urges civilians to evacuate to Rafah
The IDF struck a building with Hamas infrastructure and surveillance equipment, IDF spokesperson in Arabic Col. Avichay Adraee wrote on X/Twitter on Saturday.

Adraee ordered civilians to evacuate a section of Gaza City earlier on Saturday, advising them to move southwards towards humanitarian zones in Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi.

In his statement, Adraee detailed measures taken to reduce the possibility of civilian casualties, including the evacuation notices, use of precise striking techniques, and IDF-gathered intelligence.

One of the targets included a high-rise Gaza City tower that the military said was being used by Hamas.

Defense Minister Israel Katz shared a video on X/Twitter of what appeared to be the multi-story building collapsing after the strike, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air.

The IDF said Hamas used the building to gather intelligence and that explosive devices had been planted nearby. Hamas denied using the building for military purposes, and Palestinians said it had been used to shelter the displaced.

On Friday, the military bombed another high-rise tower that was reported to be used by Hamas.


Karol Markowicz Show: The Karol Markowicz Show: From Soviet Roots to American Policy: Eugene Kontorovich on Israel, Sovereignty, and Life Lessons
In this milestone 200th episode of The Karol Markowicz Show, Karol sits down with Eugene Kontorovich, professor at George Mason Law and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. Eugene shares his remarkable journey from Soviet immigrant to influential legal scholar, reflecting on his early start in journalism, his path to academia, and his work shaping U.S. policy on Israel and international institutions like the UN. The conversation dives into his optimism and concerns for the future of the Jewish people, the challenges of preserving sovereignty, and the importance of translating big ideas into actionable policies. Eugene also offers personal reflections, from career advice to the value of yoga and detachment in daily life.


'The Voice Of Hind Rajab' wins runner-up award at Venice Film Festival
"The Voice of Hind Rajab" by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania won the runner-up Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

The film, which premiered on Wednesday, focuses on telephone operators from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society who tried for hours to reassure the trapped Hind Rajab as she begged to be rescued from the car, where her aunt, uncle, and three cousins already lay dead.

Chants of 'free, free Palestine' at premiere
At the premiere, the film received a 24-minute standing ovation, with chants of "free, free Palestine," coming from the audience.

US independent director Jim Jarmusch's gentle comedy about families and ageing, "Father Mother Sister Brother", beat the film to win the prestigious Golden Lion award.

Venice has often been seen as the most glamorous and least political of the major film festivals, but in 2025 the movies that made the strongest impact focused on current events, with the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza casting a long shadow.

As he unveiled his own picture last weekend, Jarmusch acknowledged that he was concerned that one of his main distributors had taken money from a company with ties to the Israeli military.


The Gaza flotilla is a fraud
The latest Gaza “flotilla” that set sail from the Italian city of Genoa last Sunday is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions.

Far from a humanitarian mission, the 70-vessel spectacle is a costly act of political theater—designed to prop up Hamas, demonize Israel and manipulate European opinion in the run-up to the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood later in September.

Italian politicians even placed four of their representatives aboard, asking Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to shield them. Yet these same activists never bothered to demand the release of the Israeli hostages—reduced to skin and bones in Hamas captivity.

Their silence exposes the truth: the flotilla’s mission is not compassion, but provocation.

Organizers insist they are delivering “vital aid.” But the facts tell another story. On Sept. 4 alone, 221 trucks of food and supplies entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom and Zikim crossings, with 331 more waiting. In just four weeks, 50 million meals have been delivered. Photos from Gaza show functioning supermarkets—and even a “Café Nutella.”

Where is the hunger? In areas where Hamas hijacks aid, beats civilians who try to distribute it, and seizes supplies for its fighters. Hunger is created by Hamas—not by Israel. If the flotilla truly cared, its ships would dock at Ashdod, where Israel facilitates aid transfer under secure, internationally recognized procedures. Instead, the flotilla sails directly toward confrontation, aiming for headlines rather than relief.

The “gifts” carried on these boats could have been replaced a hundredfold had the organizers donated their funds to legitimate aid agencies. Instead, they chose confrontation at sea, timed to coincide with French President Emmanuel Macron’s push for Palestinian statehood at the U.N.
Gaza-bound Sumud flotilla nearing Tunisia, likely to arrive off Gaza's coast by September 17
Five days after leaving Barcelona, the Gaza-bound flotilla arrived within 45 miles of the coast of Tunisia on the afternoon of September 6. The flotilla had been anchored at Minorca, a large island off the coast of Spain on September 3. Over the last two days, it has made the crossing of the Mediterranean heading southeast from Spain toward North Africa. The Global Sumud Flotilla has said it wants to reach Gaza. They have called on the UN and governments to make sure they have a safe passage. The flotilla organizers believe they will reach Tunisia on September 7.

The organizers of the flotilla have said they have around twenty vessels in their armada and expect to be joined by more from Italy and Tunisia. It is not clear how many of the twenty made the crossing from Spain because a light storm forced the flotilla to put in at Minorca to take on some supplies and conduct checks of the vessels. The flotilla consists of a number of sailboats and several larger ships.

The flotilla made the crossing of around 250 miles of open water between September 4 and 6. They have been making an average speed of around 5 knots an hour. In some cases, they appear to have caught good wind during the crossing, which has boosted their speed to up to 10 knots. Because the flotilla consists of both sailing vessels as well as those using engines, they likely have to travel at the speed of the slowest sailboats.

Ships approaching Tunisian waters
Several of the ships in the flotilla have transponders that show their locations. The locations are not always reported in real-time. However, on September 6 at around sunset several of the ships were approaching Tunisian waters of the Galite volcanic islands which are north of Tunisia.

The flotilla is believed to be seeking to reach the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Gaza sometime around September 15 to 20. However, even when they reach Tunisia and take on supplies and meet other vessels that want to join, they will still have a voyage of 1,350 miles.

Even if they can keep up the five knot speed they have been doing, this will still take them ten days, putting their arrival around September 17. Wind conditions are expected to be favorable over the next week. However, light winds to the east of Tunisia will force the sailboats to rely on their diesel engines, unless the fleet cuts its speed to only a few knots an hour, essentially a walking pace. This would not be optimal for them because the large vessels will burn fuel waiting for the sailors.


London police arrest over 400 at latest rally by banned anti-Israel Palestine Action group
British police said Saturday they had arrested around 425 people at a demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organization.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near parliament in central London to protest against the ban, with many holding up signs that said: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

London’s Metropolitan Police said detainees were being held for a number of offenses, including assaulting police officers and supporting a proscribed organization.

“Officers … have been subjected to an exceptional level of abuse, including punches, kicks, spitting and objects being thrown, in addition to verbal abuse,” police said in a post on X.

Police had warned ahead of Saturday’s demonstration that anyone showing support for the group would be arrested.

Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Police have arrested hundreds of Palestine Action supporters in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including over 500 in one day last month, many of them over the age of 60.

Palestine Action’s ban, or proscription, puts the group alongside al-Qaeda and ISIS and makes it a crime to support or belong to the organization, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.


Palestinian flag brazenly hangs in NYC school hallway despite complaints from Jewish teachers
Jewish teachers are outraged over a full-sized Palestinian flag that’s been hanging in the hallway of a Brooklyn high school for months — as their complaints to education bosses fall on deaf ears.

The banner has been prominently displayed at Leaders High School in Gravesend, which shares space in the Lafayette Educational Complex, since at least April, said Moshe Spern, president of the 250-member United Jewish Teachers group.

It’s unclear who hung the flag — or why.

Spern believes the flag violates city regulations prohibiting political activities on Department of Education property. He emailed Principal Thomas Mullen on Tuesday, noting that “members of the Lafayette school community” have complained about the flag since the end of last academic year.

“I told [the people complaining] at the time maybe it was associated with a Heritage month and to give the benefit of the doubt,” Spern wrote in the email, which he shared with The Post.

“At this point, the fact that it still remains hanging seems more like a political statement.

“Jewish staff, parents and students are very concerned that this is still hanging,” he added. “My hope is that this flag is taken down, and neutrality in the conflict in the Middle East is the message at Leaders High School.”

He got no response, and fired off another message to Mullen on Friday, demanding the flag’s removal.

The flag is “clearly a political statement, and you’re making Jewish stakeholders really uncomfortable,” he wrote.


Traveling Israel: Gaza’s Chocolate Genocide – The Bitter Sweet Truth
When the media screams “genocide in Gaza,” they never show you the Nutella cafés, the malls, or the packed restaurants. Instead, they rely on lazy copy-paste headlines and questionable “experts” while ignoring real crises in Yemen or Sudan. In this video, I expose the hypocrisy of the UN, Amnesty, and the international press, and why their obsession with Israel has nothing to do with truth.


Jewish education: The first line of defense for Jews worldwide
Let me share something that happened during my most recent visit to the Knesset, where I testified at the Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee. As I sat next to Rachel Broyde, the director of development for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), we hugged. It wasn’t just a polite, professional embrace; it was that full-bodied, soul-connecting kind that happens when two people keep meeting to fight the same battle.

That moment crystallized everything I’ve been feeling during these committee hearings. In that room, surrounded by Jewish leaders from around the world, I felt something powerful taking shape: a genuine kinship, a family reunion of sorts.

This is the third time in six months that I’ve represented Aish at these critical hearings in Jerusalem. Each time, the statistics presented have been “jaw-dropping” as ADL’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt puts it. A 344% increase in antisemitic incidents in the US. A 600% spike in Argentina. A staggering 1,000% rise in France. Numbers that make your stomach turn.

Even more striking than these alarming figures – after we ensure the physical safety of our fellow Jews – was the general consensus that Jewish education must be our response.

As I testified two weeks ago, “We have a responsibility to educate every Jew and improve their sense of Jewish self-worth.” This isn’t just Aish’s position; it’s become our collective rallying cry. Before we can effectively fight antisemitism, we need proud, knowledgeable Jews who understand who they are and why their heritage matters.

Over the past two years, the life of Jewish students on college campuses has become unbearable. They are still hiding their identity. They’re tucking Star of David necklaces under their shirts, pretending they don’t speak or understand Hebrew, and walking with their heads down past protest encampments – friendless, alone, isolated.

In my testimony, I emphasized that “Jewish students need to be safe, and we need to support them in every way we can – first by education, then by unified support, and finally by sharing their stories.”

When I relayed the work of our recently released documentary film, Frontline Warriors, which follows three Jewish students who faced brutal antisemitism on US campuses, heads nodded around the table.

These three young people – Shabbos Kestenbaum, Eden Yadegar, and Eli Tsives – don’t hide their identity but have been the targets of brutal attacks. Many other students like them have been victims of attacks – physical, legal, or social. They are part of the 41% of American Jewish students who, according to the ADL, now conceal their identity on campus.

The beautiful revelation in these hearings has been watching this message resonate across organizational boundaries. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli echoed it perfectly: “Without Jewish identity, we cannot fight antisemitism.” The Foreign Ministry representatives, the Federations of North America, and the World Union of Jewish Students, all of us, came to the same essential understanding.




Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

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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