Monday, January 05, 2026

01/05 Links Pt2: Tucker Carlson is an enemy of America; From Wikipedia Fiction To Witch Hunt; Maccabi fans ban: Police consulted mosques that hosted ‘anti-Semitic’ preachers

From Ian:

David Collier: The Lie Beneath the Tree: From Wikipedia Fiction To Witch Hunt
In September 2025, a large delegation of U.S. legislators visited Ofakim – a small town in southern Israel and one of the communities devastated during the Hamas atrocities of October 7, 2023. During their visit, they planted trees – a simple, universal memorial act in honour of the murdered civilians.

That act has since been recast by anti-Israel activists as something sinister. Campaigners immediately claimed the trees were planted atop a “depopulated Palestinian village” – and some have gone further, calling for the legislators involved to be forced to resign.

Through a chain of factual errors, activist myth-making, and the quiet authority of “reference” sources that repeat those errors as fact, a unifying gesture of mourning has been transformed into an accusation of moral wrongdoing.

The fabrication of Ofakim as a “depopulated Palestinian village” was subsequently laundered through a media corps that hounded and interrogated participants – not over facts, but over fictions and libels treated as truths.

The truth is simple and decisive. There was no depopulated village at the site of Ofakim. No erased community beneath the tree. Yet the claim persists because it was never presented as an allegation, but instead stated and repeated as established fact – embedded, cited, and endlessly recycled.

In advancing the false “village” narrative, campaigners are not uncovering a buried injustice. They are erasing the victims of a real one – all in service of a story that never happened.

In the end we are left witnessing a witch hunt for people who visited an ally of the United States and planted a tree in memory of those slaughtered in a terrorist massacre.
MacKenzie Scott Sends Millions to Terror-Tied Nonprofit Network
MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, funneled millions of dollars to a left-wing nonprofit network that supports the nation's most virulent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic organizations, including some that are under congressional investigation for their ties to terrorist groups, a Washington Free Beacon review found. Scott announced the grant in an essay that cites Hopi prophecy, bird flocks, and sex as inspirations for her latest round of giving.

Scott recently disclosed sending at least $5 million to the Solidaire Network, which supports what it calls "the front lines of social justice movements" by offering grants to an array of left-wing groups. That includes Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the US Palestinian Community Network, and the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM). SJP and AMP face investigations in both the House and Senate for allegedly coordinating with the terror group Hamas to spearhead anti-Israel protests in the United States. Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) pressed the FBI to investigate the "virulently antisemitic" PYM in September after its leader, Aisha Nizar, called on supporters to sabotage the U.S. F-35 supply chain.

Scott disclosed the grants and dozens more last month in an essay, "We are the Ones We've Been Waiting For," the title of a Hopi prophecy "written in the year 2000." The prophecy taught Scott the value of being "active participants in the co-creation of our communities." Scott also offered commentary on the "murmurations" of starling bird flocks "constantly creating their direction together."

"Generosity and kindness engage the same pleasure centers in the brain as sex, food, and receiving gifts," wrote the billionaire divorcee.

Scott's support for the network is part of an onslaught of spending that recently saw her surpass liberal billionaire George Soros's lifetime donation totals. Her approach to that spending is unique—Scott allows her grant recipients to use the money "however they choose" rather than designate it for certain projects or organizations. The Solidaire Network has used that freedom to fund radical anti-Israel organizations in the United States.

In addition to her latest donation, Scott gave the network $10 million in 2021 through her organization Yield Giving. The network went on to spend $2.1 million on a campaign called "Unity & Power" that aims to promote "Palestinian freedom."


In the shadow of Bondi, the response from ordinary Australians gives cause for hope
In a perverse irony, the Sydney Jewish community, numbering around 45,000, has a large number of Holocaust survivors and their descendants. In fact, Australia boasts the largest population of Holocaust survivors per capita outside of Israel. Like so many diaspora communities, it makes an outsized contribution to national business, public life and civil society. The overall Jewish community in Australia, numbering a little over 100,000, is part of the tapestry of a migrant society. The national anthem even carries this message of welcome: “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share.”

In many ways, therefore, the attack on the Jewish community was an attack on the Australian ideal. It also took place at the iconic Bondi Beach, a place which holds near-spiritual significance for many people and is itself a tight-knit community of regular visitors, volunteers and workers. Perhaps this explains the genuine and extremely moving outpouring of grief and empathy from the Australian public after the terrorist barbarism. There were countless stories we heard and first-hand experiences we had. Walking with a local family on Shabbat, a woman approached our kippah-wearing friend and held out her hand to clasp his, saying “I am so sorry for your loss.” The next day, as we visited Bondi Beach, a plane flew overhead releasing a banner which stated simply: “Love from Australia for our Jewish community.” A local Rabbi recounted that walking in the Bondi area in the days after the attack, he was stopped time and again by people wishing to express their condolences. He told a story of a congregant seeing a man on the local metro train whom he didn’t recognise. He engaged him in conversation and the man explained he was not Jewish but was wearing a head covering in solidarity with the Jewish community.

The reaction of the Australian public was a heart-warming rejoinder to the demoralising attack. Of all the experiences we had, perhaps the most moving was reserved for the last day of our holiday. Before the start of play on Sunday of the final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, the police and emergency services came out onto the field and were given a rapturous reception. The loudest standing ovation from the capacity crowd went to Ahmed al-Ahmed, who famously confronted one of the gunmen. In this act of heroism, he challenged the notion of automatic enmity between Muslims and Jews and demonstrated the best of Australia’s courage and tolerance.

As the Sydney community digests what happened and faces a long road ahead of mourning and grieving, al-Ahmed’s heroism and the response of ordinary Australians are slivers of hope to hang on to.
AFP’s special counter-terrorism outfit quietly axed weeks before Bondi massacre
An Australian Federal Police “national surveillance team” set up under the Commonwealth High Risk Terrorist Offender regime was quietly disbanded because of funding shortfalls just weeks before the deadly Bondi attack.

The Nightly can reveal the decision to wind up the Canberra-based squad was made late last year after a senior AFP figure told staff: “Current budget pressures and the lack of certainty in relation to ongoing funding has limited our ability to fill vacancies.”

In correspondence seen by The Nightly, team members were told consideration was being given to dissolving their group, and funding for their positions would be returned to the AFP’s Counter Terrorism and Special Investigations Command.

“Whilst funding for eight positions was confirmed in February 2025 for the 2025-26 financial year, this did not meet the requirements for 10 members under AFP best practice,” the commander of Covert and Technical Operations, Intelligence and Covert Services said.

“Further to this, funding was only confirmed for the ‘25-26 financial year and not out years. As such, a decision on the future of the team against competing resourcing and operational priorities is required,” the commander told affected staff in September.

AFP insiders claim when counter-terrorism operations were at their peak around a decade ago following the emergence of Islamic State, funding was provided to establish extra surveillance teams around the country, which could be “highly mobile”.

“I think the AFP’s CTSI Command decided the budget for that surveillance team had more benefit being poured into the investigative part, so they’ve decided to disband it and send the people back to ACT Policing,” a former senior officer says.

“This question does arise: in light of the accused terrorists not being monitored, could that capability not have been directed to Sydney based counter terrorism surveillance?”

Following the December 14 Bondi massacre, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Australia’s national security agencies, including the AFP have “never had more funding than they have today”.

When asked last month whether the AFP and spy agency ASIO should have received more resourcing to deal with radicalisation and extremism, Mr Albanese responded that “every single request from a security agency has been granted by my government.”

AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett also acknowledged that “increasingly complex environments” required “constant re-prioritisation” but has insisted “where I do need more resources, I do and will have those conversations with government”.

The Nightly approached the AFP for details about the recent disbanding of its Canberra based national surveillance team, but a spokesperson responded: “the AFP does not comment on surveillance capabilities”.


Queensland Police employee faces court over alleged antisemitic online posts
A Queensland Police Service (QPS) employee has been granted bail in a Brisbane court after being charged over what prosecutors allege to be antisemitic online posts and comments.

Muamer Nukic, a QPS Protective Services Group employee, was charged with 41 counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence.

The 50-year-old appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday after being arrested earlier in the day.

The court heard between February 2024 and January 2026 Mr Nukic, a "self-proclaimed anti-Zionist", posted offensive comments on multiple social media platforms. 'Persistent' posting

Police prosecutor Matt Kahler told the court the posting was "persistent" and "no doubt menacing and harassing" to members of the community.

"Very antisemitic in my respectful submission and publicly available," he said.

Mr Kahler told the court one of the comments was in response to a recent online post which included a picture of the child killed in the Bondi terror attack.

He told the court Mr Nukic commented "f**k you and f**k Israel".

"He seems to show no insight into this offending … he puts it down as free speech — it's not free speech," Mr Kahler said.

Mr Nukic's lawyer Emma Kearney told the court her client held "pro-Palestinian views" and accepted he had made "problematic comments" but most did not amount to criminal offending.

"Many of [the posts] won't reach, in my submission, the threshold that is required for the offence to succeed as a result of it not being objectively offensive," she said.

The court heard he had no criminal history and had been employed with the QPS for 25 years.

Mr Nukic, who is a permanent citizen, migrated to Australia from Bosnia in 1993 and before this had been held in a Serbian concentration camp, the court heard.


Seth Mandel: The British Anti-Semitism Scandal That Was So Much Worse Than It Looked
So: The police invented evidence that the Jewish community supported its own banishment from the public square. Why did they do it? Because the police and the local safety advisory group feared that the ban would be perceived as “anti-Jewish,” according to minutes of a meeting reported by the Times of London yesterday.

The Times noted that the original decision to ban Maccabi fans was made, according to one police officer, “in the absence of intelligence.” The Times continued: “The force only produced ‘significant’ and ‘new’ ‘intelligence’ about Maccabi’s fanbase after a Birmingham council staff member confided that they had faced questions and been ‘asked to obtain’ information to pre-empt criticism or claims of ‘anti-Jewish sentiment’.”

The whole saga is extraordinary. Politicians called for Jews to be barred from attending a soccer game; law enforcement then sought to “obtain” evidence to justify the Jew-ban that everyone knew was fake, leading to false testimony to the parliamentary committee.

The above reporting, collected in the two months after the game, is to the credit of the British press, which smelled a rat. It shows that officials piled several layers of anti-Semitism on top of each other in an attempt to justify the initial act of official anti-Semitism. The scandal implicates law enforcement and members of the UK parliament in collaboration with Islamic extremists among the public.

What in God’s name is happening to Britain before our eyes? Whatever it is, it will become impossible to undo unless every official involved in this rancid corruption is held properly accountable. Anything less will be too little, too late.


Maccabi fans ban: Police consulted mosques that hosted ‘anti-Semitic’ preachers
West Midlands Police consulted mosques that had hosted anti-Semitic preachers before banning Israeli fans from an Aston Villa football match, The Telegraph can reveal.

Officers spoke to three Birmingham mosques that had hosted anti-Jewish preachers before making the decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Europa League fixture on Nov 6.

The force is under increasing pressure to explain why it banned the fans from Villa Park, which it said was to avoid violent behaviour by the Israeli club’s supporters.

Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the decision as “wrong” and suggested it amounted to anti-Semitism. Craig Guilford, the force’s chief constable, has been accused of “fabricating evidence” of hooliganism to satisfy a ban “demanded by Islamists”.

In a letter published by MPs on Tuesday, Mr Guilford said his officers “undertook extensive community engagement prior to the fixture” including with “Muslim community leaders and mosque representatives”.

The Telegraph can now reveal that three of the eight Muslim organisations that the force consulted as part of its “community engagement” drive had hosted preachers who promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or called for the death of Jews.

Officers spoke to representatives of the Al-Habib mosque, which hosted a preacher who recommended that worshippers read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged anti-Semitic propaganda book that describes a plot of Jewish world domination.

In a session titled “Knowing the Facts”, delivered days after the Oct 7 Hamas attacks and since published online, the preacher claimed Jews were planning to “become sole rulers of the world”.

He described the forged Protocols, proved to be a hoax more than 100 years ago, as an “eye opener” that he had read “cover to cover”.

At the Jame mosque, which was also consulted, a preacher used a prayer in Arabic in November 2023 to call for the death of Jewish people.

The prayer, which has also been posted online, called for Allah to “liberate al-Aqsa mosque [in Jerusalem] from the hands of usurpers” and to “deal with the enemies of Islam and the Muslims”.

It continued: “Allah, count them all, and kill them one by one, and don’t let any one of them get away.”


Home Secretary bans extremist preacher from entering the UK
The Home Secretary has been commended after banning an Islamist preacher who claimed that Israel perpetrated 9/11 and praised Hamas’ “morality of resistance” from entering the UK.

Shadee Elmasry, born and raised in the US, was due to travel to the UK this past weekend for a speaking tour, with engagements in Birmingham, Bolton and Ilford.

This afternoon, however, the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region welcomed a decision by the Home Secretary to prevent Elmasry from entering the UK, saying: “This action sends a clear and important message that those who promote hatred, extremism or violence have no place in our society. At a time when Jewish communities are experiencing increased levels of intimidation and hostility, it is vital that the government uses all available powers to protect public safety and social cohesion.

“We once again express our gratitude to the Home Secretary and the Home Office for recognising the serious risks posed by this individual. Given the extensive evidence of extremist content posted by the individual on his social media, our concern was that if the event had proceeded, it could have exploited the freedoms in this country to spread division, hate and undermine our shared democratic values.”

On 8 October 2023, after Hamas had invaded Israel, Elmasry responded by saying on social media: “They are all in this (fake or real) state of shock that the people of Gaza finally punched back (after 50 years).” In response to someone claiming that those who had carried out mass murder in Israel were not Hamas, but rather “rogue elements from Gaza taking advantage of Hamas’ hostage-taking operation to get back at their Israeli oppressors”, Elmasry responded by saying “Hypothetically even it was Hamas, it’s conceivable and maybe even expected that a legitamate [sic] resistent [sic] movements will make condemnable mistakes or go to excesses every once in a while. That doesn’t take anything away from the morality of their resistance.”

In video footage of one of Elmasry’s sermons, he can be seen saying: “Today is 9/11, which is the day in which Netanyahu and the Mossad initiated and fooled the American people by taking down the World Trade Centres. And that right now if you have any brain cells, you know that that’s the dominant theory – that’s not even the dominant theory, that’s facts, basically. “
Tucker Carlson is an enemy of America
Carlson also let Iran’s president blame Israel for “putting into American minds that Iranians might be capable of doing something violent.” In other words, don’t look at the reality of Iran’s 46-year-long war against America since seizing the American embassy in Tehran; it’s all a mirage created by Israel.

And then there was Carlson’s recent interview with interview with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed (bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani) at the Doha Forum on Dec. 7, in which Carlson falsely blamed the United States and Israel for Qatar hosting Hamas; and claimed that “It is widely believed in Washington that Israel will initiate another war against Iran in this coming year, 2026.” (Carlson thus inverted reality. In fact, Israel initiated no wars against Iran; it is Iran that initiated constant wars with barrages of missiles, terror attacks via its proxies, and nuclear-weapons development for the stated purpose of wiping Israel and America off the map.)

Similarly, in a discussion with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Carlson called destroying Islamic, terrorist-supporting Iran’s nuclear-weapons program this past June “an utterly pointless bombing of Iran. … Iran is not even in the top 25 threats to us,” and again falsely claimed that no Americans in this country have been killed by Iranians (again ignoring Iran’s major role in 9/11 and the above-noted terror attacks).

And on June 13 (after Iran had launched 200 ballistic missiles and drones at Israel in October 2024 and was in the midst of launching another 500 missiles at Israel, killing 32 Israelis, injuring 3,000-plus Israelis, and damaging more than 2,300 Israeli homes and universities), Carlson tweeted that those calling for stopping Iran’s nuclear-weapons program and who support Israel were “warmongers” and “people who casually encourage violence.” He also absurdly referred to people who support the Iranian and Palestinian regimes as “those who seek to prevent violence” and “peacemakers.”

Carlson has also displayed his enmity towards American well-being with his fawning interviews of neo-Nazis and antisemites Nick Fuentes, Darryl Cooper, Munther Isaac and Dave Collum. America’s “Greatest Generation” fought the Nazis; encouraging their ideology is an anathema to U.S. patriots.

Moreover, in Carlson’s recent interview with Fuentes, a denier of the Holocaust, Carlson stated his own dislike of Christian Zionists “more than anybody,” called Christian Zionism “heresy” and said that Christian Zionists are infected with a “brain virus.”

Apparently, Carlson believes that America’s greatest patriots, including U.S. presidents Abraham Lincoln, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump; U.S. founding father and inventor Benjamin Franklin; and current U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee all had (or in Huckabee’s case, have) that “brain virus.”

Tucker Carlson is becoming worse every day. It’s time to ostracize him from the ranks of all those who love America.
Candace Owens goes full Farrakhan on the Jews
Today, Owens, who has decided to follow Farrakhan into the “Jews were slavers” sewer, will face similar problems. Even in the age of poisoned podcasting, the truth never disappears. Worse, news about the jihad, the slavery and the mass murder has spread and intensified greatly since the pre-Internet age.

Jihad, perpetrated by both Arab and black Muslims, now arguably engulfs 22 African countries, stretching from Algeria in the north to Mozambique in the south. Slavery also exists not only in Mauritania and Sudan, but in Algeria and Libya as well, where Arabs prey upon sub-Saharan migrants en route to Europe—some tortured, some purchased (on camera) at semi-secret night-time auctions. Poor African women, too, lured by promises of well-paid jobs as housekeepers and maids, are trafficked to Arab countries like Egypt and the Gulf states, where their passports are confiscated. Many are casually sold, raped, beaten for taking a day off—even murdered and mutilated for asking to go home.

So, too, parallel to Farrakhan’s cover-up of Sudanese and Mauritanian jihad slavery a generation ago, Owens, the supposed Christian crusader, is ignoring one of the worst anti-Christian atrocities on Earth today—in Nigeria.

For the better part of two decades, Boko Haram, ISIS-affiliated militias, and Fulani Muslim gangs have terrorized the Christian population living in the central and northern regions of the country. As of 2025, some 125,000 Christians have been murdered since 2009, including more than 19,000 churches destroyed and countless innocents burned alive, shot and beheaded, with the complicity of the Nigerian government and army.

Some Boko Haram warriors have also kidnapped girls and boys as slaves, as happened infamously in the town of Chibok in 2014—the incident former first lady Michelle Obama found so momentarily moving (perhaps Farrakhan asked her to just “stop”). A number of the Chibok girls (now young women) are still in captivity; so, too, is Leah Sharibu, stolen at the age of 14 from her boarding school in Dapchi in 2018 and still held as a “slave for life” for refusing to convert to Islam.

In fact, these crimes against humanity—which some in mainstream media, starting with Bill Maher, are beginning to openly label as genocide—have finally begun to destroy the “Islamophobia” garrot strangling Western freedom of speech. Left-wing CNN commentator Van Jones has said that Africa “is being overrun by Islamist terrorists,” while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is advancing legislation to sanction Nigeria, and U.S. President Donald Trump finally went ahead and bombed ISIS “Terrorist Scum” responsible for “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent [Nigerian] Christians.”

As Farrakhan did before her, Owens is covering up the mass slaughter and enslavement of Christians just to attack Jews. So, too, incidentally, are the grifters and bigots attempting to destroy the conservative movement and Republican Party—namely, podcaster Tucker Carlson and media personality Megyn Kelly, Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), alt-right conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, stand-up comic and podcaster Theo Von, political strategist Steve Bannon and others—who sometimes or often justify their madness as merely Christian piety. But their brand of “Christian activism” only enables the mass murder and enslavement of black Christians.

In this regard, just like Farrakhan is a fake black leader, they are fake Christians. The world is beginning to see the truth they are hiding, whether they blame the Jews or not. The voice and passion of so many true Christians can be heard every day now on social media as they cry out, determined to save Christians in Africa from jihad.
Debunking an Antisemitic Myth: The Fabricated Talmud Quote About Jews and 2800 Slaves
In 1938, Canadian fascist Adrien Arcand—who called himself the “Canadian Führer”—published a 32-page antisemitic booklet titled Key to the Mystery (La clé du mystère) in both English and French. It included contributions from American far-right activist Lyrl Clark Van Hyning.

The pamphlet falsely claimed that Jewish teachings promoted world domination and slavery, including a fabricated quote from the Talmud: “When the Messiah comes, every Jew will have 2,800 slaves.” This lie still appears in antisemitic propaganda online, often shared as memes or posts with varying numbers or fake citations.

The Fake Citations
The 1938 version attributes the quote to “Simeon Haddarsen, fol. 56D”—a text that doesn’t exist. Other false references, such as the Zohar or Toldoth Noah 63b, are also unrelated. No authentic Jewish text supports this claim.

The Real Source: A Deliberate Misinterpretation
The number 2,800 comes from a passage in the Talmud (Shabbat 32b) that discusses a verse from the Hebrew Bible, Zechariah 8:23. The verse describes a future time of peace when people from all nations will seek spiritual guidance from Jews who faithfully follow God’s commandments (mitzvot). In the Talmudic commentary, ten people from each of seventy nations symbolically “take hold of a Jew’s garment” (10 × 70 × 4 = 2,800). This number isn’t about slavery; it’s a metaphor. It expresses respect for faith and devotion, not domination.

The Meaning
Judaism teaches that the Messianic Age will bring harmony and divine understanding to all humanity—not Jewish supremacy. The “servants” imagery is figurative, illustrating others’ wish to learn from the faithful, not to serve them. Like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, this fabrication twists sacred texts to spread hate by portraying Jews as seeking control or the enslavement of others.
Harvard ‘went wrong’ by allowing faculty activism, university president says
Pervasive faculty activism had a chilling effect on free speech and debate at Harvard University, Alan Garber, the Ivy League school’s president, recently told the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Garber, who is Jewish, spoke with institute president Yehuda Kurtzer during a Dec. 16 taping of the latter’s “Identity/Crisis Podcast” at the Vilna Shul in Boston on why universities have “become flashpoints for broader cultural and political battles.”

“What we need to arm our students with is a set of facts and a set of analytic tools and cultivation of rigor in analyzing these issues,” Garber said on the podcast, which aired on Dec. 30. “But we’re not about the activism. We’re not about pushing particular points of view.”

Garber said the university, which has not yet settled with the federal government on claims related to antisemitism and other forms of campus discrimination, “went wrong” by letting professors allow their personal views into their classroom settings.

“How many students would actually be willing to go toe-to-toe against a professor who’s expressed a firm view about a controversial issue?” he said.

Garber, whose tenure was extended indefinitely the day before the podcast was recorded, took over as head of the school in August 2024, with antisemitism prevalent on campus in the wake of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Jerusalem’s subsequent military response.

He has since announced several initiatives to reopen a culture of debate within Harvard, including a ban on the university taking official positions on political issues.

Garber also included the introduction of a module about discussing controversial topics and expansive reports from Harvard task forces on combating bias toward several demographics, including Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian students, as well as campus community members.

“It’s about learning how to listen and how to speak in an empathetic way,” Garber said. “I’m pleased to say that I think there is real movement to restore balance in teaching and to bring back the idea that you really need to be objective in the classroom,” he added.
UC Santa Cruz to Host Academic Who Spoke at Terror-Tied Conference
Dr. Lana Tatour, a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales, is scheduled to speak at UC Santa Cruz on January 28, 2026, as part of the university’s Winter Colloquium Series. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for the Middle East and North Africa and the Center for Racial Justice, will focus on her recently published book “Race and the Question of Palestine.”

Event Framing Assumes Israeli Culpability
The UC Santa Cruz event description states it “will delve into the rich and often-overlooked tradition of theorizing race within Palestine studies” and address “how these frameworks help us understand Israel’s ongoing violence in Gaza and the wider global landscape of solidarity, resistance and struggle.”

Tatour’s book is published by Stanford University Press, and her academic credentials include positions at UNSW Sydney and a previous postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University’s Center for Palestine Studies. Her co-editor, Ronit Lentin, is an emeritus professor at Trinity College Dublin.

Inflammatory Social Media Rhetoric & Writing
On social media, just four days after the Hamas-led October 7th attack, Tatour posted that “support for Israel’s actions in Gaza is a support for genocide.”

In November 2023, she also posted that “there is no justice for Palestine and no humane future for all without the end of Zionism.”

Dr. Tatour appears to have cast doubt on sexual crimes committed by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attacks. In an article for Mondoweiss, Tatour wrote that reports on the allegations are "based on speculations rather than evidence and a flawed methodology that amounts to unethical conduct." She also criticized organizations like Physicians for Human Rights-Israel and Human Rights Watch for applying what she deemed to be lower evidentiary standards when investigating allegations against Palestinians.


BBC Arabic reporter who liked posts justifying October 7 sent to US to cover Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu
The BBC faces questions over whether the social media history of a reporter who liked posts justifying October 7 was disclosed to the US authorities before she was sent to America.

Middle East-based Sally Nabil travelled to America to cover a meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump last week.

The BBC Arabic correspondent was investigated by the corporation in 2023 after it emerged that she had liked more than a dozen social media posts that appeared to legitimise the targeting of Jewish civilians.

The Trump administration has said it takes social media history into account when assessing visa applications.

Critics claim Nabil’s presence in the US exposes BBC Arabic as a “liability” to the Corporation’s reputation.

One post liked on X by Nabil in 2023 described October 7 as “a morning of hope” and a “morning of victory”. She liked another post on the day of the massacre that celebrated the number of dead Israelis and “an unknown number of Israeli settlers” taken hostage “by the resistance”.

After her social media activity was exposed by the Telegraph, the BBC opened an investigation into Nabil, alongside other staff members.

By early 2024, it was reported that several of those who had been investigated were again reporting on the war, with no further disciplinary action taken against them.

Since her posts from October 7 emerged, Nabil has travelled to America several times with the BBC. This included a trip to Chicago in January 2024, when BBC Arabic sent her to report on alleged threats to the city’s Palestinian community.

Last week, she returned to the US and reported live from Washington.

It is not known whether US authorities reviewed Nabil’s social media before she entered the country to cover the summit, which took place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.


Rishon Letzion man charged with spying for Iran
Prosecutors on Sunday charged an Israeli citizen with security offenses for allegedly carrying out espionage missions on Iran’s behalf, including taking photographs near the home of former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Lekachau Demsash, 30, from the Tel Aviv suburb of Rishon Letzion, was arrested last month in an operation led by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Police, according to a joint statement.

Demsash admitted to interrogators that he had been in contact in recent months with Iranian operatives and was directed by them to carry out a series of “intelligence gathering missions” in exchange for payment.

According to the indictment, those missions began with relatively simple assignments, such as hiding a pack of cigarettes and taking photos, but later expanded to sending images taken across Rishon Letzion and in other locations at the request of his Iranian handlers.

Demsash was arrested in December after being caught documenting areas around Bennett’s home. During questioning, he admitted that before carrying out the mission, his handler instructed him to purchase a dashboard camera, an old cell phone and a SIM card.

On Monday, an indictment was filed against Demsash with the Central District Court in Lod, the joint Israel Police and Shin Bet statement added.

Since the outbreak of the war triggered by the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli security forces have uncovered at least three dozen cases in which Tehran allegedly attempted to recruit Israeli citizens.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Prepared To Flee to Moscow if Regime Loses Control
Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has prepared an escape plan to flee Tehran and seek refuge in Moscow if unrest inside the country spirals beyond the regime’s control, according to an intelligence report shared with the Times of London.

The report says Khamenei, 86, would depart Iran with a small circle of aides and family members—including his son and presumed successor, Mojtaba—if security forces tasked with suppressing protests begin to defect or disobey orders. An intelligence source said the fallback destination would be Russia, where Khamenei is believed to enjoy protection from President Vladimir Putin.

The contingency plan mirrors the flight of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who escaped to Moscow as his regime collapsed in late 2024. The report says Khamenei’s inner circle has quietly gathered cash and overseas assets to facilitate a rapid exit if necessary.

The revelations come as nationwide protests—driven by economic hardship and soaring inflation—have spread to major Iranian cities, with demonstrators accusing regime forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, of using live fire and mass arrests to crush dissent. Intelligence assessments cited by the Times describe Khamenei as increasingly isolated, physically weakened, and "obsessed with survival," noting his absence from public view amid the unrest.


Fire started, Hamas icon painted at German official’s home
Unidentified individuals started a fire Sunday at the private property of a German official working to combat antisemitism and painted a red triangle on a nearby wall, in what police believe was a show of support for Hamas terrorism.

No one was hurt as a result of the vandalism at the home of the commissioner for combating antisemitism in the German state of Brandenburg, Andreas Büttner. Police are investigating the incident in Templin, north of Berlin, but do not have suspects in custody, the dpa news agency reported.

The incident, in which a shed in Büttner’s yard was burned down, showed that “whether it hides behind swastikas, Hamas triangles or other dehumanizing symbols—antisemitism remains antisemitism,” said Felix Klein, Germany’s national coordinator for fighting Jew-hatred, in a statement. “It must have no place in society and must be combated consistently.”

Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, wrote on X: “Attacks on dissidents and attempted murder: That’s what the Hamas triangle stands for—in Gaza as well as in Brandenburg.”

The radical wing of the Palestine solidarity campaign, he added, is “not only antisemitic, but also terrorist.”

Büttner told the Jüdische Allgemeine Jewish newspaper that he was at home when the fire broke out. “When we saw that fire had been started on our property, it was clear: This was no accident, this was a targeted attack. It was a shock for my family and me. The night is indelibly etched in our memories because suddenly our sense of security is gone. When your own front door is attacked, it cuts you to the core,” he said.

Commenting on the red triangle symbol, he said it “speaks volumes. The red Hamas triangle is an internationally recognized symbol of jihadist violence and antisemitic incitement. Anyone who uses something like that wants to intimidate and glorify terror. This isn’t a protest—it’s a threat.”


‘Pure Antisemitism’: Website blacklisting Jewish businesses in Catalonia taken down after complaint
An interactive website that blacklisted Jewish businesses and institutions in Spain’s Catalonia region was taken offline this week following complaints from members of the local Jewish community and intervention by public officials.

The project, known as “Barcelonaz,” appeared on the French online mapping platform GoGoCarto and was launched by an anonymous group describing itself as “journalists, professors, and students.” The initiative invited internet users to submit entries identifying individuals and organizations as “Zionist,” effectively singling them out for public targeting.

According to Enfoque Judío, more than 150 entities were listed on the site, with no distinction made between local Jewish-owned shops, communal institutions, Israeli companies, and multinational firms that conduct business in Israel.

The project’s stated aim was to “understand how Zionism operates and the forms it takes, with the intention of making visible and denouncing the impact of its investments in our territory.” Jewish community representatives, however, warned that the site amounted to collective punishment and incitement.

By Friday afternoon, the page had been removed. Its takedown was confirmed by Catalan journalist Pilar Rahola, who helped lead efforts to alert authorities to the site’s existence and demand its removal. Rahola serves as chair of the Advisory Board for Latin America of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM).

Rahola said she spoke directly with Jaume Collboni, who condemned the website and pledged to work to ensure the safety of Barcelona’s Jewish population. She also held discussions with Josep Rull, who reiterated his commitment to combating antisemitism, and with Núria Parlon, who ordered a police investigation into the matter.

In a statement issued Friday, CAM Director of European Affairs Shannon Seban denounced the project in unequivocal terms.

“The mapping and boycotting of Jewish businesses in Catalonia is pure antisemitism,” Seban said. “It echoes some of the darkest chapters in history, including the prelude to the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The organizers of this initiative put a target on the backs of Spanish Jews at a time when Jews are being hunted across the globe, as seen so horrifically in Australia just three weeks ago.”

Seban stressed that while the website has been taken down, accountability remains essential. “Clear incitement to violence of this nature must not be platformed or tolerated by internet companies or government authorities,” she said, adding that CAM is working to identify those responsible for the initiative.


Josef Veselsky, Holocaust survivor, table tennis champ and Ireland’s oldest man, dies at 107
Josef Veselsky, a Holocaust survivor, twice national table tennis captain and Ireland’s oldest man, has died at 107 years old.

Born Josef Weiss in 1918 in Trnava, a city in present-day Slovakia, Veselsky immigrated with his wife, Katarina, to Dublin, Ireland, in 1949, following the communist coup d’état in his home country, The Irish Times reported.

His parents, brother, and sister-in-law had been killed in the Holocaust after being deported to the Auschwitz death camp.

After watching his loved ones being forced into a cattle car, Veselsky escaped the same fate by changing his last name and joining the Czech resistance movement in the Carpathian Mountains, according to The Irish Times, for which he was later awarded the Order of the Slovak National Uprising.

In Ireland, despite speaking little English, Veselsky made a living as an importer of Swiss watches and other jewelry. On the side, he made a name for himself as the captain of Ireland’s national table tennis team, a role he reprised from his time serving as the captain of the Czechoslovakian national team.

His achievements in table tennis were recognized by the Slovak Republic, which in 2021 awarded him the Order of the White Double Cross for his services to sport. In 2025, he was the recipient of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) Badge of Honor for his outstanding contribution to European table tennis.

Veselsky’s life “spanned more than a century of history, marked by resilience, courage, and an unwavering dedication to sport,” said ETTU in a statement on his passing.

His life “stands as a testament to the unifying power of sport, the endurance of the human spirit, and the values that table tennis seeks to promote across generations,” it added.
Friends of Zion Museum marks 10 years with groundbreaking hologram exhibit of Israel’s PMs
As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem is launching a groundbreaking new hologram exhibit, the first of its kind in Israel, offering visitors a unique interactive encounter with the country’s prime ministers, past and present.

Beginning today, visitors can ask questions and receive responses from lifelike holograms of Israel’s leaders, presented in a simulated press conference format. The exhibit features high-quality holograms of David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu.

During the experience, the prime ministers deliver official statements and answer audience questions using their original recorded voices. The interactive installation offers a one-of-a-kind encounter that has not previously been presented in Israel.

Located in Jerusalem’s historic Nahalat Shivah neighborhood, the Friends of Zion Museum has, since its founding, focused on the heritage of the Jewish people and the history of the State of Israel, while placing innovation and advanced technology at the center of its vision. The new exhibit brings those elements together, merging historical legacy with cutting-edge presentation.

The hologram installation continues the museum’s guiding approach of creating interactive, thought-provoking experiences designed to engage visitors of all ages. Daniel Voiczek, chief executive officer of the Friends of Zion Museum, said the exhibit was created in honor of the museum’s 10th anniversary.

“This new exhibit is truly unique and the first of its kind in Israel,” Voiczek said. “It is suitable for students of all ages, soldiers, families and anyone who feels a deep connection to Israeli values, history and spirit. I invite residents and tourists alike to visit the museum, experience the exhibit and become part of our story.”

The newly launched installation adds another layer to the museum’s immersive journey, which includes seven additional multimedia exhibits highlighting the stories of non-Jewish supporters of Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel.

Visitors begin with the “Promised Land” exhibit, which uses advanced technology to take them on a visual journey through the Land of Israel based on its biblical borders. The “Founders” exhibit explores the role of Christian visionaries who supported Zionism and helped establish the Christian Zionist movement worldwide.




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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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