Saturday, October 18, 2025

10/18 Links: Hamas’s dangerous game; Hamas hands over two more hostages’ bodies to Israel; Jewish man arrested after his Star of David ‘antagonised’ protesters

From Ian:

Hamas’s dangerous game
It is now unmistakably clear that Hamas intends to cling to power in Gaza—at any cost. Its latest maneuvers are not signs of a group preparing to disarm or surrender but of a terrorist organization determined to preserve its rule through chaos, deceit and bloodshed.

Hamas is once again playing a cynical and dangerous game. On the one hand, it manipulates the fate of the murdered hostages, using their bodies as bargaining chips to extract political leverage. On the other hand, it stokes internal violence in Gaza, executing and torturing members of rival clans in a ruthless effort to reassert control.

The images of Gazans being beaten and shot in the streets recall the same barbarity Hamas displayed in 2006 when it hurled Fatah men off rooftops.

Reports suggest that Hamas now wants to involve its old allies—Turkey and Qatar—in what it claims is a “search” for the remains of hostages. These supposed humanitarian gestures are nothing more than tactics meant to buy time, embarrass Israel and undermine the emerging U.S.-led coalition spearheaded by President Donald Trump.

Iran, as always, is the puppeteer behind the curtain, using Hamas to destabilize any prospect of peace.

After being forced on Oct. 9 to accept a peace framework, Hamas briefly feigned cooperation by returning 20 hostages alive. Now, it is withholding the bodies of 18 murdered Israelis, testing Israel’s patience and exploiting its moral anguish.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to ensure that every hostage—living or dead—is returned, yet Hamas continues to stall, counting on international hesitation and division.

Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s expected arrival in the region marks a critical juncture. The Middle East stands at a crossroads: either Hamas relinquishes control and allows the reconstruction of Gaza to begin under international oversight or the entire peace process collapses.
Seth Frantzman: Gaza's ticking clock: Hamas illustrating it can reorganize itself despite war setbacks
Hamas is demonstrating its ability to organize itself again as it continues to reassert itself in Gaza.

This is significant because it was unclear at first if the terrorist organization would be able to quickly regain control of Gaza once the war had ended, or rather, if the enclave would descend into chaos instead.

What has been happening so far is evidence that Hamas is still well-organized.

This means that the clock is ticking in Gaza.

Each day that trickles by is one where Hamas has the ability to reconstitute itself, regaining its control. This terrorist organization uses various methods to do that, such as executions and other mafia-like coercion methods.

Every day brings more evidence of this through videos and accounts from Gaza. For instance, clips are showing Hamas murdering so-called dissidents and calling people in for interrogations.

There is little evidence that people are resisting Hamas’s rule. In fact, they seem resigned to it. They appear to accept that this is what their futures will hold. However, the Palestinians do not appear to be celebrating either. This is important because it illustrates that Hamas is neither able to galvanize major street demonstrations in its favor nor push people into defiance.
Julie Burchill: How do so many women end up as ‘Feminists for Islam’?
FiLiA – though it sounds like a knock-off sports shoe – is a gender-critical-feminist charity. Like any other lively organisation, it has had its fair share of skirmishes.

In 2015, Jane Fae (a man) pulled out of a conference due to divergent views on prostitution (the man was in favour – quelle surprise!). Julie Bindel and Caroline Criado-Perez also backed out as a result. Just last year, the woefully trans-captured Plaid Cymru banned the FiLiA stall from its spring conference in Caernarfon, after being informed that these feminists’ views were ‘potentially contrary to the party’s values’. (Amusingly, PC had to admit just a few months later that canceling FiLiA’s booking amounted to ‘an act of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010’.)

I had replied reluctantly in the negative to a few offers to wheel me out to the nearby Brighton Centre last weekend, where the most recent conference took place. But looking back, I see it was much for the best that I swerved it, as I’ve never got into a fight in my current disabled state and I’m not altogether sure that I’d give a good report of myself.

It started out predictably, with the usual gang of violent cross-dressing men vandalising the venue before the conference began. The BBC website stated: ‘Masked figures were seen in online videos smashing windows and spray-painting the building, ahead of a three-day event billed as one of the largest grassroots feminist gatherings in Europe. Activists from Bash Back, which describes itself as a ‘trans-led direct action group’, posted a statement saying it carried out the vandalism because the conference would be hosting ‘some of the most vicious transphobia in… politics’, and warned of ‘further action’ to come. FilLiA CEO Lisa-Marie Taylor bracingly boasted that ‘the activities of a small, violent minority will not diminish the spirit of sisterhood and solidarity which FiLiA embodies’.

Around 2,500 people came to hear from 250 speakers from around the world, according to organisers. One can easily fight back against an enemy who makes himself known – even when the men involved cover their faces and/or attack under cover of darkness, we know what they are, if not precisely who they are. But identifying and combatting the enemy within is the real struggle. Civil wars are said to be the most poisonous and the hardest to recover from, turning brother against brother – or in this case, sister against sister.

The first sign that something might have been amiss at FiLiA was a hijab’d woman selling similar head-coverings in the foyer. ‘What next, binders?’, Sonya Douglas asked on X. The number of keffiyehs and Palestinian flags on show could have persuaded a person that they had wandered into the Oxford Union debating chamber by mistake. Veteran feminist Bev Jackson posted that: ‘An organisation called Total Woman Victory had a stand at FiLiA disseminating a pamphlet with some of the most virulent anti-Jewish tropes I’ve ever seen.’

Jewish women have had to put up with enough monstrous bullying and belittling from the world generally over the past two years (BELIEVE ALL WOMEN – UNLESS THEY’RE JEWISH, as the saying has it). And now the poison of anti-Semitism seems to have trickled into the very heart of a conference where women of all races and belief systems should feel safe. But sadly, we’ve seen before that Islam and diversity, though often used in tandem by politicians and other clueless scolds, are often strangers to each other. Here at the FiLiA conference was evidence of a strange beast – here was Feminists for Islam.


Hamas says will hand over two hostages’ bodies to Israel
The “military” wing of Hamas said on Saturday it will return two bodies of hostages in Gaza to Israel at 10 p.m., Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported.

The terrorist group did not identify the bodies.

Earlier on Saturday, the family of Eliyahu “Churchill” Margalit, 75, said that the body Hamas handed over to Israel the previous night was identified as that of Margalit.

He was murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev.

Following his return, 18 bodies of hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, including the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, held in the Strip since 2014.

Nir Oz issued a statement saying that Margalit was married to Daphna, father to Noa, Dani and Nili, and grandfather to three.

The Prime Minister’s Office said that the government shared the deep sorrow of the Margalit family and “of all the families of the murdered hostages.”

On Friday, Channel 12 reported that Hamas claimed it had retrieved the all the bodies it could reach. An Israeli government source, however, was cited as saying that the terrorist organization could recover an additional “double-digit” number of hostages’ remains.
Hamas won’t commit to disarmament, terror group says
Hamas cannot commit to disarming itself and intends to remain the ruling party in Gaza during an interim period, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a senior Hamas official.

“I can’t answer with a yes or no [if Hamas is willing to disarm]. Frankly, it depends on the nature of the project. The disarmament project you’re talking about, what does it mean? To whom will the weapons be handed over?” Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal asked in an interview conducted in Doha.

The subjects to be discussed in the second stage of the ceasefire agreement, including disarmament, Nazzal continued, concern other armed Palestinian groups, which have yet to decide on the matter.

Moreover, Hamas is ready for a three- to five-year ceasefire for the purpose of reconstructing the Gaza Strip, the official added.

What happens afterward depends on Palestinians, given “horizons and hope” for statehood, Reuters cited him as saying. “The goal isn’t to prepare for a future war,” Nazzal said.

He defended Hamas’s public street executions last week that were filmed and published in the media, saying that “exceptional measures” are always taken during war.

Speaking about Hamas’s rapid campaign to reassert its control over the parts of the Strip it holds, the senior Hamas official said, “This is a transitional phase. Civilly, there will be a technocratic administration as I said. On the ground, Hamas will be present.”

A Gazan lawyer in hiding from the terrorists said that Hamas was on a spree to kill its critics in the Strip, Fox News reported.

“After the fire stopped, Hamas fighters came out of the tunnels and massacred families that opposed them,” said attorney Moumen al-Natour, a former Hamas political prisoner and president of Palestinian Youth for Development.

“They are sending a signal that they are back—by terrorizing people.”


Egypt said expected to lead UN-backed Gaza stabilization force; Azerbaijan to contribute
A multinational team meant to help secure the Gaza Strip following the end of Israel’s war with Hamas will likely be headed up by Egypt, according to a report Saturday, which came as the US continued its efforts to shore up support for the mission.

The International Stabilization Force (ISF) is part of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, and is intended to secure the Strip during a transitional postwar period, following Israel’s withdrawal and the disarmament of the Hamas terror group.

According to a report published by The Guardian on Saturday, the US and European powers are preparing a UN Security Council motion that would allow the stabilization force to act under a UN mandate without being considered a UN peacekeeping force — as Trump’s plan for the ISF does not envision it being a UN-led operation.

Citing unnamed diplomats, The Guardian reported that Egypt would likely lead the stabilization force, although Cairo has not issued any statements on the matter, having not yet publicly committed to contributing troops to the ISF.

Indonesia is the only country to date that has publicly offered to send troops for the effort, saying last month that it would send 20,000 soldiers to Gaza, while specifying that it would be under a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission.

But the US has also been in talks with other countries to try and shore up support, and three government officials familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel on Saturday that Azerbaijan had also agreed to contribute troops to the ISF.


Israel keeps Rafah Crossing closed amid hostage-bodies crisis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered that the Rafah Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt remain closed until further notice, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Saturday.

The crossing’s “reopening will be considered based on how Hamas fulfills its part in returning the bodies of the hostages and in implementing the agreed-upon framework,” the statement read.

The statement referred to Hamas’s violation of the ceasefire terms, which called for the immediate release of all hostages kept in Gaza, living and dead.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are slated to visit Israel on Monday, to continue to oversee the implementation of Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Kan News reported.

Washington has asked the Jewish state not to take drastic measures against Hamas for its breach of terms, as the United States was applying pressure on the mediators of the agreement to solve the crisis.

The report further said that the international force entrusted with overseeing security and the implementation of the ceasefire inside Gaza is expected to officially begin operations next weekend.


10th body, that of Eliyahu ‘Churchill’ Margalit, recovered from Gaza
Hamas in Gaza handed over the remains of Eliyahu Margalit, known by his nickname “Churchill,” to Israel overnight, as part of the ceasefire deal.

Margalit, 75, was murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Hamas-led invasion of the northwestern Negev. He had gone out at 7 a.m. to feed his horses at the kibbutz’ stable, after which blood stains were found, broadcaster Channel 12 reported.

His body, as well as the horses, was taken to the Gaza Strip.

His daughter Nili Margalit, 40, was abducted alive by Gazan “civilians,” and was released on Nov. 30, 2023, during the first hostage-terrorist swap agreement of the Swords of Iron war.

Eighteen bodies of hostages remain in the Gaza Strip, including the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, held in the Strip since 2014.

Margalit “was 75 at the time of his death and is survived by his wife, three children and grandchildren,” the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement.

The Margalit family said: “We announce with deep sorrow the return of our beloved, Eli (Churchill) Margalit, home—742 days after he was murdered and abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. We thank the people of Israel for their support throughout the long struggle to bring him back, and we promise that we will not stop and will not rest until the last of the hostages is brought back for burial in Israel.”


Hamas planning imminent attack on Gazans in violation of ceasefire, US warns
The US State Department said on Saturday it had informed the nations guaranteeing the Gaza ceasefire agreement of "credible reports" indicating "an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against the people of Gaza.

"This planned attack against Palestinian civilians would constitute a direct and grave violation of the ceasefire agreement," the department said in a statement.

"Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire," it added.

Meanwhile, Gazan media reports claim that an Israel Navy vessel fired shots at Khan Yunis beach in the southern Gaza Strip.

This comes as Hamas returns two additional hostage remains on Saturday, following pressure from Israel and ceasefire mediators to abide by the agreement led by US President Donald Trump. The group continues to delay the return of hostage remains to Israel, a condition of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas called on mediators on Friday to follow up on the implementation of the remaining provisions of the deal.

The Palestinian terror group said in a statement that there was a need to complete the formation of a community support committee, which should begin its work in administering the Gaza Strip.


11 Palestinians said killed by IDF after crossing ceasefire line in Gaza City
Eleven members of a Palestinian family were killed on Friday afternoon after Israeli troops fired on their vehicle as it entered eastern Gaza City, where the Israel Defense Forces is deployed, Hamas authorities said.

The IDF confirmed in response to a query that it targeted a vehicle that crossed the so-called Yellow Line — to which the military withdrew under the terms of the ceasefire — in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood.

The “suspicious vehicle” had been identified crossing the line and approaching Israeli forces in the area, the army said. According to the IDF, warning shots were first fired toward the car.

After it continued to approach troops, “in a way that threatened them,” the forces struck the vehicle “to remove the threat,” the military said.

Hamas, in a statement, said that the Abu Shaban family was attempting to check their home in eastern Zeitoun when an Israeli tank shelled their vehicle, “resulting in the killing of 11 family members, including 7 children and 3 women.”

“This constitutes a full-fledged crime that reveals the occupation’s premeditated intent to target defenseless civilians without any justification,” Hamas said.

The Hamas-run Gaza Civil Defense agency said on Saturday that the bodies of the 11 Palestinians had been recovered in cooperation with the United Nations.

The IDF has repeatedly warned Palestinians not to enter areas in Gaza currently under Israeli control or approach troops. Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday that he instructed the military to place physical markers along the Yellow Line so that the boundaries of IDF control are clearly visible.


As 2015 deal fizzles out, Iran says it’s no longer bound by ‘restrictions’ on nuclear program
Iran said Saturday that it was no longer bound by restrictions on its nuclear program as a landmark, much-maligned 10-year deal between it and world powers expired, though Tehran reiterated its “commitment to diplomacy.”

The 2015 deal — pushed by former US president Barak Obama and signed in Vienna by Iran, China, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — saw the lifting of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

But the pact had already been in tatters after Washington unilaterally withdrew during US President Donald Trump’s first term, with Iran later pulling back from its commitments.

The reimposition last month of UN sanctions at the urging of Britain, France and Germany — collectively known as the “E3” — rendered the accord effectively moot.

From now on, “all of the provisions (of the deal), including the restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program and the related mechanisms, are considered terminated,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on the day of the pact’s expiration.

“Iran firmly expresses its commitment to diplomacy,” it added.

Western powers have long accused Iran of secretly seeking nuclear weapons. Iran, whose leaders are sworn to destroy Israel, publicly denies seeking nuclear arms, but has amassed uranium enriched to a level with no civilian application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.

The deal’s “termination day” was set for October 18, 2025, exactly 10 years after it was enshrined in the UN’s Security Council Resolution 2231.
ICC rejects Israeli appeal of Netanyahu, Gallant arrest warrants
The International Criminal Court in The Hague dismissed on Friday Israel’s appeal against arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the war against Hamas in Gaza.

The judges ruled that “the issue, as framed by Israel, is not an appealable issue,” AFP reported.

Israel had requested in May that the court nix the warrants while it deliberated a separate challenge over whether the ICC had jurisdiction in the case. Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court.

On July 16, the court rejected the request lodged in May, saying there was “no legal basis” for it. A week later, Israel asked for leave to appeal that ruling. On Friday, the court dismissed the appeal in a complex, 13-page ruling, according to AFP.

The wider challenge of the ICC’s jurisdiction is still being weighed by the court’s judges, the report added.

In June, Washington sanctioned two of the three pre-trial chamber judges involved in the decision for signing off on the warrants, which were requested by the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan.

Khan is on a leave of absence pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, including allegedly trying to stop a victim from coming forward by saying that it would harm his prosecution of Israel.

He was previously sanctioned by Washington for requesting the arrests of Netanyahu and Gallant. According to reports, the sanctions significantly hampered his work and that of the court.


Jake Wallis Simons: Europe may become more antisemitic than the Arab world
The great losers of this uncomfortable social change have been the Jews, who retained the sort of peoplehood that our elites were tamping down. To make matters worse, they were both resented as colonialist capitalists by the luxury left and hated by frightening numbers of newcomers to our country.

In the absence of a leader of substance, we now find our country in a death-loop, accelerating with each passing week. The Jews find themselves dragged down fastest by the descent. Where are we heading in the long term?

In the Arab world, many countries are cracking down upon extremism. The Muslim Brotherhood, that seditious jihadi network that formed the starter culture for Hamas, Islamic State and Al Qaeda, has been driven out of countries like Egypt, Jordan and the UAE. It has responded by setting up a headquarters here.

A government report in 2015 noted that the Brotherhood was enacting a slow, Islamist takeover of Britain, using a “secretive ‘cell’ structure”. This, it concluded, endangered our “national security”. That was a decade ago. Nothing has been done.

The Emiratis, who are continually lobbying Britain to get tough on the Brotherhood, can’t believe it. What are we doing to ourselves? Truly, we are more concerned with diversity than survival.

With Gaza entering an uneasy calm, Donald Trump is zeroing in on more Abraham Accords peace deals. Will they materialise? Some are sceptical, but already we have seen Turkey, Qatar and Egypt aligning with the US and bringing pressure upon the very jihadis they have supported.

Having asserted itself with remarkable resilience and strength, the Jewish state is now an undisputed regional superpower; that is a currency with which the Middle East can trade. There is talk of Indonesia, Syria, or Saudi Arabia joining the Accords. In particular, the economic and cultural heft of the latter would make it a force multiplier.

Antisemitic radicalism has been ingrained in much of the Muslim world since the Second World War, and the future is always uncertain. But in time, the region may take a turn for the better.

No society has a permanent nature. In Britain, homosexuality was formerly illegal; in America, segregation was accepted; in Germany, where liberalism is now taken for granted, Jews were exterminated in living memory. Depressingly, it is not impossible that in the coming century, Europe could become more antisemitic than the Middle East, as was the case in Medieval times.
London police allegedly arrest Jew for wearing Star of David at pro-Palestine protest
Police officers from London's Metropolitan Police arrested a Jewish lawyer for openly wearing a Star of David necklace, alleging that doing so "antagonized" pro-Palestinian protesters, and that the symbol could "cause offense," British outlet The Telegraph reported on Saturday.

The lawyer claimed to the Telegraph that he was handcuffed and detained for almost 10 hours in an attempt to "criminalize the wearing of a Star of David." Antisemitism is at a record high. We're keeping our eyes on it >>

He was arrested at 7 p.m. on August 29 at a pro-Palestine protest outside the Israeli embassy in London, and claims he was monitoring the event for unlawful behavior by the protesters, and to scrutinize the actions of the police officers at the scene.

The lawyer alleges that his hands were cuffed behind his back, before he was put in the back of a police vehicle, and held for questioning.

The Met denies that the arrest was due to the Star of David necklace, saying that the man was arrested after allegedly "repeatedly breaching" an order from officers to keep opposing protest groups separated, the Telegraph reported.

The lawyer claimed that he recorded up to 30 incidents of criminal behavior by the protesters, but insisted that none led to a conviction. He also claimed that he has been personally abused, including being called a "Zionist baby killer."

"Police are arguing that wearing a Star of David is antagonising to protesters while we have seen all manner of antisemitic slogans on placards and shouted at Jews that have gone unpunished," he told the Telegraph, in what he referred to as one of the clearest examples of two-tier policing.


Jewish man arrested after his Star of David ‘antagonised’ protesters
A Jewish lawyer wearing a Star of David was arrested after police alleged the symbol had “antagonised” pro-Palestine protesters.

Police interview footage obtained by The Telegraph shows a detective accusing the Jewish man of openly wearing a Star of David that could cause “offence”.

The suspect, who was handcuffed and detained by police for almost ten hours, told The Telegraph his arrest appeared to be an attempt by the Metropolitan Police to “criminalise the wearing of a Star of David”.

He was displaying the Jewish symbol on a silver chain around his neck. The six-pointed star, measured just 2cm – less than an inch – across.

The man, who is in his 40s, was arrested at 7pm on Aug 29 at a pro-Palestine protest outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington in central London. The lawyer insists he was acting as an independent legal observer, monitoring the event for unlawful behaviour by the protesters and to scrutinise the actions of police.


Protestors Disrupt October 7 Memorial at Pomona College
Masked protestors disrupted an event held Wednesday evening in commemoration of the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, shouting at attendees that they were “all complicit in genocide.” The memorial event, hosted at Pomona College by Claremont Hillel and the Claremont Colleges’ Jewish Chaplain, featured a talk by Oct. 7 survivor Yoni Viloga.

The vigil was scheduled on the Hebrew-calendar anniversary of the attacks and featured candlelighting, prayers, and a presentation by Viloga, who survived the Oct. 7 attacks in his native kibbutz. Viloga reflected on the trauma he experienced alongside his family, and the talk included graphic footage of his murdered neighbors surrounded by Hamas terrorists.

Shortly after Viloga concluded his presentation, four individuals with their faces wrapped in keffiyehs barged in through the room’s fire exit door. The event’s lone security guard was standing outside of the room, stationed at what was believed to be the only accessible entrance.

“The fact that they burst into the room mere minutes after we had watched graphic and disturbing video footage of similarly dressed Hamas terrorists committing horrific atrocities made the moment incredibly frightening and all the more shocking,” a leader of Haverim, the colleges’ Jewish student union that had promoted the event, told the Independent.

Attendees of the event recalled that the disruptors yelled at Viloga, accusing him of being an “IOF terrorist” and shouting “Zionists not welcome here.” They read off a script, shouting to be heard through the masks and keffiyehs obscuring their faces.

A few seconds after the disruption began, the Claremont Colleges Jewish chaplain and two faculty members moved to stand between the disruptors and the rest of the room.


UKLFI: Aston Villa bosses would be “breaking law” with Israeli fan ban
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) have written to the President and co-Chairs of Aston Villa to warn that such a ban would put the football club in breach of its duties under the Equality Act.

This is because it would be direct discrimination against Israelis, which is prohibited under section 29(1) of the Equality Act 2010.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, said:
“Under the Equality Act, there is no ‘get out’ clause for discrimination on safety grounds. If Maccabi Tel Aviv fans are to be banned, then Aston Villa fans should also be banned, and the match played behind closed doors. If an event cannot be held safely without discrimination, the law requires that it not be held at all.

“When the original Equality Act was drawn up in the 1960s, it was against a backdrop of widespread racial discrimination in Britain against black people and other ethnic minorities.

“At the time, many dance halls would not admit black people to their establishments, arguing that it risked sparking a riot. The equality legislation was intended to put a stop to reliance on that kind of justification for blatant discrimination.”

Last Thursday 16 October 2025, Aston Villa FC issued a statement saying the club can confirm that it has been informed that “no away fans may attend the UEFA Europa League match with Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, November 6, following an instruction from the Safety Advisory Group”.

Section 29(1) of the Act prohibits a provider of a service to the public or a section of the public (in this case, entertainment by holding a football match) from discriminating because of nationality against persons seeking the service by not providing them with the service.

UKLFI’s letter explained that if Aston Villa FC holds the match and allows its own fans to attend but does not allow Maccabi Tel Aviv fans to attend, it is evident that it will be directly discriminating against the latter because of nationality, since the reason given for excluding them is hostility on the part of some people in Birmingham towards Israelis.
Ian Austin: As a die-hard Aston Villa fan for years now, I’ve never been so angry and appalled by this ban on an Israeli team
A season-ticket holder for longer than I care to remember, I can measure out my life in the great games of Aston Villa. Standing on the terraces at Villa Park – or, these days, sitting there with my equally fanatical sons – I love it all the same.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting Prince William twice. Both times we chatted for what felt like hours about our shared love for our club – even if HRH probably doesn’t share my fondness for Bovril and a balti pie at half-time.

That’s why, as someone adopted and raised by a loving Jewish father, I’ve never been as appalled as I am by the decision of West Midlands Police to ban fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv from visiting my club for an away match next month.

That a local ‘Independent’ MP, Ayoub Khan, worked with disgraced ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to organise a petition to have the match called off is a stain on the game and our country.

Local cleric Asrar Rashid, meanwhile, handed down an ‘Islamic ruling’ and warned disgracefully: ‘When the Tel Aviv fans come to Birmingham in a few weeks, we will not show them rahma [mercy].’

Yesterday, West Midlands Police finally said that Israeli fans should not be allowed to come to the game.

We should be clear about what has taken place. A group of fans have been banned from attending a match on the basis of their nationality – or perhaps their race. This is anti-Jewish racism straight out of the 1930s.

I know from personal experience that West Midlands Police can appear less than impartial. When, last year, I called the proscribed terrorist group Hamas an ‘Islamist death cult’ on X, I was stunned to find myself investigated for a so-called ‘non-crime hate incident’. It was, I was told by a senior officer, only a change in rules that prevented it being logged as such on my ‘police record’.


Jewish International Film Festival in Sweden postponed as theaters cite security concerns
Organizers of the Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF) said they were forced to postpone an event in the Swedish city of Malmo celebrating 250 years of Jewish life in the country after movie theaters in the city would not screen the films, citing security risks, numerous outlets reported on Saturday.

The festival was scheduled to run from November 29 to December 2.

Ola Tedin, one of the organizers, told Swedish broadcaster SVT in a Thursday report that she doesn’t “understand what security threat there could be with showing Jewish films. No cinema wants to participate.”

The JIFF said on their website that they were “stonewalled by all commercial and arthouse cinemas in the city,” according to reports. The festival was founded last year.

Finding another venue
Organizers added that they would eventually find another venue, saying that they would "pause to gather strength" before restarting the process.

Outlets also cited the Swedish movie theater chain Filmstaden, which said on Saturday that they "concluded that we could not host the festival due to safety concerns.

“Our priority is always to ensure a safe and positive experience for both our guests and employees.”
Mamdani appears smiling, arm-in-arm with unindicted ‘93 WTC bombing co-conspirator and terrorist apologist
Lefty NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani gleefully campaigned this week with a notorious, gay-hating Brooklyn imam who is an unindicted co-conspirator in 1993 World Trade Center bombing and who has been linked to other terrorist activity in the United States — including urging “jihad” on the Big Apple.

The Democratic frontrunner to become the city’s next mayor was seen laughing and grinning while standing arm-in-arm with Siraj Wahhaj at the imam’s Bedford-Stuyvesant mosque in a photo the socialist posted to X a day after the first mayoral debate.

Councilman Yusef Salaam (D-Manhattan), a member of the Central Park 5 who was elected in November 2023, was also in the photo.

“Today at Masjid At-Taqwa, I had the pleasure of meeting with Imam Siraj Wahhaj, one of the nation’s foremost Muslim leaders and a pillar of the Bed-Stuy community for nearly half a century,” Mamdani wrote on X of the Friday encounter.

“A beautiful Jummah,” he wrote, referencing the weekly prayer.

Wahhaj, 75, who also heads the Muslim Alliance in North America, was fingered by prosecutors as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 WTC bombing, which left six people dead, and has publicly defended the plotters of the attack against the FBI and CIA, whom he at the time dubbed the “real terrorists.”

The imam has previously denied any connection to terrorism.


Triggernometry: Our Thoughts on Gaza Ceasefire
Francis and Konstantin give their thoughts on the Gaza ceasefire and give a preview of their upcoming trip to America.

00:00 - Introduction
01:30 - The Gaza Ceasefire And The Return Of Hostages
12:30 - The Protesters Calling For A Ceasefire Haven't Stopped
15:51 - Are They Against Israel Because Of Anti-Semitism Or Some Other Reason?
22:04 - The Rhetoric Making Politicians A Target
30:51 - This Is Only Coming Coming From One Side
35:13 - It's Extremism All The Way Down If This Carries On
37:58 - We're Going To America!




Bill Maher asks where ‘keffiyeh-wearing college kids’ went as Hamas is ‘shooting everybody’
TV talk show host Bill Maher questioned the recent silence of campus protestors over Gaza during Friday night’s episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, pressing, “Where are the protesters?… Suddenly, the keffiyeh-wearing college kids are very quiet.”

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, appearing on the panel, responded: “Can’t be found. Yeah, can’t be found anywhere.” Maher added that Hamas is “shooting everybody,” calling out what he described as “the asymmetry of what goes on.”

The exchange occurred on Friday, in a show which featured actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, and Cuban. The episode is listed on HBO Max and summarized by entertainment outlets covering the broadcast.

Criticizing pro-Palestinians who ignore Hamas's atrocities
Maher has repeatedly criticized American activists he sees as excusing or overlooking Hamas abuses while focusing their ire on Israel. In May, he similarly challenged US liberals who expressed support for Hamas despite the group’s extremist ideology.

Friday’s remarks extended that critique to student protest movements that were highly visible last academic year.


The Officer Tatum: "They’re Not Attacking Men by Accident" Nick Freitas Drops TRUTH on Fatherhood, War & Christianity
In this conversation, I sit down with former Green Beret and Virginia Delegate Nick Freitas to talk about faith, fatherhood, masculinity, and the battle for truth in modern America. We break down the Charlie Kirk conspiracy theories, Israel-Hamas conflict, and why Christian men must be both loving and dangerous. Nick’s wisdom on leadership, manhood, and family will challenge every man to rise up and take back his God-given role.

Chapters
0:00 – Introduction: “One of the Realest Guys I’ve Met”
2:00 – Nick’s Military Journey: From Airborne to Green Beret After 9/11
5:40 – Brandon’s Missed Military Path & Lessons from Law Enforcement
6:20 – How the Military Led Nick Back to His Faith
8:40 – The Feminization of the Church & Rediscovering Biblical Masculinity
10:40 – Why Modern Christianity Turns Men Away
12:00 – The Truth About the Qatar Base “Conspiracy”
15:00 – Nick’s Take on Charlie Kirk Conspiracy Theories
19:40 – Seeking Truth vs. Chasing Clicks: The Danger of Wild Speculation
24:00 – Ceasefire or Endless War? The Truth About Israel and Hamas
26:40 – Urban Warfare Reality: Why “Genocide” Claims Are False
33:00 – The Reality of War: Hard Choices and Moral Clarity
35:00 – Western Ignorance of Hamas’ Culture and Strategy
39:00 – Fatherhood & Faith: The Foundation of Civilization
42:40 – “Be Strong and Dangerous” — What Real Men Look Like
45:00 – Why America Needs a Men’s Revival
47:00 – Weak Men, Hard Times, and the Return of Masculinity
49:20 – Why Women Still Want Strong Conservative Men
51:00 – The Perfect Balance: Tiara and Tactical — The True Man of God
52:40 – Virginia Politics & The Left’s Radicalization
54:00 – Closing Thoughts & Where to Find Nick Freitas




Portland’s Socialist City Councilors Pledge To Probe City's Ties to 'Apartheid' Israel as Violent Crime Remains at 'Historic Highs'
As violent crime figures remain at "historic highs" in Portland, Ore., four socialist city councilors are pledging to launch an investigation—into any "complicity the city may have with Israel's illegal occupation, apartheid, or genocidal violence against Palestinians."

Any actual investigation would need to be launched via a resolution voted on at a public city council meeting, a spokeswoman for the council said. The four socialist councilors—Tiffany Koyama Lane, Mitch Green, Sameer Kanal, and Angelita Morillo—nonetheless promised to conduct one during a virtual Friday afternoon press conference organized by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

The councilors say the investigation would center on the "manufacturing of weapons and weapons parts intended for use by the Israeli government" as well as "investments in our contracts with companies complicit in Israeli illegal occupation, apartheid, or genocidal violence against Palestinians."

"Every dollar that is going towards bombing and maiming innocent people abroad is a dollar that is not being spent on our infrastructure here at home," Morillo said during the press conference, which the Washington Free Beacon attended.

The pledge comes as the DSA emerges as an increasingly dominant force within the Democratic Party. DSA members flexed their growing power at their August biennial convention, celebrating socialist Zohran Mamdani's status as frontrunner for New York City mayor and mocking the Democratic Party's plummeting approval rating, the Free Beacon reported.


CAIR Sues Northwestern, Alleging Anti-Semitism Training a Violation of Civil Rights Act
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is suing Northwestern University on behalf of the school’s Graduate Workers for Palestine, alleging that subjecting students to a mandatory anti-Semitism training violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to a complaint obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The complaint argues that the training violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits any organization that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin—and says the training bans "expressions of Palestinian identity."

"Under the pretense of combating antisemitism, Defendant Northwestern University has enacted policies and practices that prohibit expressions of Palestinian identity, culture, and advocacy for self-determination and silence those, including Jewish students, who express solidarity with Palestinians or even engage in critical academic engagement with Zionism," the complaint reads.

It focuses on a training video produced by the Jewish United Fund that shows quotes from Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke alongside those from anti-Israel activists to make the point that "you can’t tell the difference."

Northwestern barred students who did not complete the training from registering for classes and offered the students an Oct. 20 deadline to view the video.

CAIR argues that the video "equates critical engagement with Zionism with anti-Jewish statements by the Ku Klux Klan," discriminating against "the University's Palestinian and other Arab students by branding their ethnic and religious identities, cultures, and advocacy for the rights of their national group as antisemitic and subject to discipline."

The complaint stipulates that the "training course is replete with political commentary which restricts Northwestern students from advocating for Palestinian liberation, equal rights, an end to apartheid in Palestine, and for the rights of Palestine's indigenous people (Jewish and non-Jewish)."

Anti-Israel activists at Northwestern have vandalized the building that houses the school’s Holocaust center with "Death to Israel," "Intifada Now," and Hamas triangles, the Free Beacon reported earlier this year. The campus Students for Justice in Palestine chapter hosted an anarchist training session that used materials from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group to urge students to "build an Intifada" and "destroy amerika."
Dagestani Islamist linked to 2023 airport pogrom found dead in Turkey
Abakar Abakarov, a Dagestani Islamist activist accused of administering the Utro Dagestan Telegram channel that helped incite the 2023 antisemitic pogrom at Makhachkala airport, was found dead in Istanbul on Friday, according to Turkish and regional media.

As of Saturday, Turkish police had not publicly confirmed the victim’s identity.

Local reports said the body was discovered in a short-term rental villa in the Eyüpsultan district. Security footage captured a man leaving the property with two bags on October 7. Turkish outlets described multiple stab wounds and said a homicide investigation is underway.

Abakarov had been on Russia’s federal wanted list since November 14, 2023, after authorities linked Utro Dagestan to the October 29, 2023 unrest in Dagestan’s capital. Hundreds stormed Makhachkala airport after a flight from Tel Aviv landed, in an incident widely condemned as a pogrom targeting Israelis and Jews.

During the riot, more than 20 people were injured, and passengers from Israel hid in the terminal before being airlifted to safety, Israel’s ambassador in Moscow said at the time. The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem urged Russia to protect “Israeli citizens and Jews” and act against the incitement.

Dagestani Makhachkala airport rioter found dead in Istanbul In the aftermath, Telegram blocked channels that called for violence in Dagestan, and the Utro Dagestan channel was taken down. Regional officials later cited the incident when imposing regional restrictions on the app.

The reported killing of Abakarov in Istanbul comes as Turkey continues to probe politically tinged crimes on its soil. Istanbul media first flagged the Eyüpsultan villa case last week; Caucasian Knot and Novaya Gazeta Europe later identified the victim as Abakarov, citing acquaintances. Authorities in Türkiye have not announced arrests.




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

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