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Saturday, February 14, 2026

02/14 Links: MSF admits presence of gunmen in Gaza hospitals; Fetterman eviscerates anti-Israel ‘rot’ in Dem party; Francesca Albanese represents UN inability to acknowledge truth and morality

From Ian:

When antisemitism becomes normal, what comes next?
Antisemitism has risen to such high levels around the world that William Daroff says he does not know if there will ever be a moment when Jews can declare victory. The best they can hope for, he told the ILTV Podcast, is to reach a point where Jews can say “that people feel a little safer.”

Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is in Israel for the group’s annual event, which kicks off on February 15. He visited the ILTV studio to discuss the state of world Jewry in the aftermath of October 7, pointing to the “metastasizing of antisemitism and Jew hatred to a point where it is normalized in a way that also wouldn’t have been fathomable 10 years ago.”

He described the situation as “incredibly troubling” and warned that the “biggest danger” for Jews is when any level of antisemitism becomes acceptable, especially when there is a belief that as long as it stays at a low simmer, it can be managed.

“I think what we’ve learned since October 7 is that there is no baseline that’s acceptable,” Daroff told ILTV.

According to Daroff, antisemitism has increasingly shifted to focus on Israel. While openly attacking Jews is no longer socially acceptable in many spaces, attacking Israelis often is. He said antisemites now hide behind what they call “legitimate criticism” of Israel, but stressed that it is not legitimate.

Since October 7, Daroff said many progressive Jews in the United States have become politically homeless, feeling alienated both from the Democratic Party and from more conservative figures like President Donald Trump.

“I think there are moderates in both parties who are looking to try to engage and bring a bigger audience towards them,” Daroff said. “I think in the mainstream in both parties there are leadership roles that [Jews] can take and are taking. I think that it is incumbent upon all of us, but particularly those who are involved in both parties, to say that this antisemitic, anti-Israel filth on the far left of the Democratic Party and the far right of the Republican Party are totally unacceptable.”

At the same time, Daroff noted reports suggesting that as many as one-third of Jewish voters in New York supported Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is openly anti-Israel and, some argue, antisemitic. Daroff said he believes the figure is somewhat lower, but said the result highlights a deeper political failure.

“You cannot beat someone with no one,” he said.
Francesca Albanese represents UN inability to acknowledge truth and morality
Her over-the-top antisemitic views seem to be an offshoot of her desire to please her Jew-hating supporters and benefactors – to the point where she even compared Israel to Nazi Germany.

Her personal view that the October 7 massacre was merely a “response to oppression” renders her incapable of being a fair arbiter of what is considered just, honorable, and righteous in the eyes of rational and reasonable human beings.

Her sick contention that “Palestinians have a right to resist oppression” makes her incapable of all objectivity, given that cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians can in no way be justified as a legitimate form of resistance – especially since any oppression suffered by them has come from their own corrupt and evil leaders.

But there have been grave consequences for her controversial positions – one of which was the revocation of her visa, barring her from the US, meaning she cannot even set foot in the UN – which she ironically represents. Additionally, her US assets have been frozen, and she was blacklisted as if she “were a terrorist or drug trafficker.”

“Consequently, all of her transactions involve cash. She cannot receive transfers or donations, collect her salary, or even buy a plane ticket online. She cannot open a bank account anywhere in the world or have a credit card, because she has been placed on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list of the US Treasury Department, which targets money laundering and terrorism.”

Although Albanese requested intervention by her home country, given that its leader, Giorgia Melonia – who is a close Trump ally – no assistance has been granted.

Albanese has made herself a pariah, and is responsible for her own undoing. But for someone who longs for the privileges of which she has been stripped, she cannot think that characterizing Palestine, as a moral compass, will be helpful to her cause.

In the end, this is the sad story of a woman who lacks the capacity to judge with any rational or reasoned acumen. Devoid of discernment, or just jaded as a result of unbridled ambition, Albanese is, indeed, paying the price for the folly of provocateur status.

Apparently, resigned to being an outcast, she is the willing abrasive mouthpiece for terror organizations and governments who would like to see a swift end to the Jewish homeland. In that respect, Albanese is a proxy flame thrower, doing the dirty work that others have been too cowardly to take on.

When you think about it, she is nothing more than a useful tool, much in the style of Hezbollah and the Houthis who do the bidding for Iran.


Ex-hostage reveals she tried to kill herself in Gaza, says view of protests saved her
Former hostage Arbel Yehoud revealed in an interview broadcast Friday that she attempted to end her life several times while held captive by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but ultimately decided not to after her captors showed her video of a protest in Israel where she saw her face on a poster, and she understood that people were fighting for her.

In a separate interview, Yehoud indicated that she had faced sexual assault on an almost daily basis among widespread abuses she suffered while being held alone.

“One of the times, not long before my release, I saw drone footage from Hostages Square [in Tel Aviv]. I saw people holding signs of people I don’t know, and then suddenly I saw signs of people I knew. I saw a sign for Ariel [Cunio] and a sign for me, signs of people from the kibbutz,” Yehoud told Channel 12 news in an interview alongside Cunio.

“From the moment I saw that, I didn’t try to put an end to my own life there.”

Amid the two-year war, tens of thousands of people staged weekly Saturday night protests in Tel Aviv and around the country, demanding that the government reach a deal to bring the hostages home.

“That was the last time I tried,” she continued, noting she attempted to kill herself at least three times while in captivity. “When I saw the drone footage and understood that people who I don’t know are fighting for me as if I were their sister or daughter, I have a duty to return to Ariel and my family, but also to those fighting for me.”

Torn apart
Cunio and Yehoud, self-described “high school sweethearts,” were kidnapped together from their shared home at Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel that sparked the war.

Yehoud was released after 482 days in captivity during a truce in January 2025, while Cunio was returned as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal reached in October.

Cunio recalled the terror of their abduction and being torn apart once they entered Gaza.

“I told her, ‘The most important thing is that we stay together. As long as they don’t separate us, we’ll be okay.’ Half an hour later, that is what happened,” Cunio said. “It happened so fast, there wasn’t even time to say ‘I love you, be strong.'”

“I didn’t manage to tell him bye, I didn’t get to see his eyes,” Yehoud added.


Times Square billboard: ‘Palestinian Authority still pays for killing Jews’
A billboard depicting Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas with the message, “Palestinian Authority still pays for killing Jews,” went up in New York City’s Times Square on Friday.

As part of the “End Pay-for-Slay” campaign sponsored in part by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, the ministry’s X account posted a video on the same day, describing the billboard as “The truth the world needs to see.”

The campaign references a years-long “pay-for-slay” program through which the Palestinian Authority remunerates terrorists or their family members for attacks on Israelis.

The P.A. has pretended to halt its terrorist-rewarding program by various means in order to hoodwink international donors, a report released by a Jerusalem-based watchdog group on Feb. 8 once more revealed.

The Palestinian Media Watch report found that the P.A.’s “Martyr’s Fund,” the program which provides monthly stipends for those imprisoned in Israel for attacks against Israelis, is still going strong.

According to PMW, the P.A. paid 23,500 terrorists a total of about $315 million in 2025.
Rubio says UN has ‘no role’ in solving wars, like Gaza; seeks to reassure Europe on Trump
Shifting focus to the United Nations, Rubio sharply criticized the global forum for having “virtually no role” in resolving conflicts, and called for global institutions to be reformed.

“The United Nations still has tremendous potential to be a tool for good in the world,” he told the Munich conference.

“But we cannot ignore that, today, on the most pressing matters before us, it has no answers and has played virtually no role,” he said.

“It could not solve the war in Gaza,” he said. Trump’s newly formed Board of Peace was given a UN mandate to govern the war-ravaged Palestinian territory for two years, but many countries have expressed concerns that the board looks to usurp some of the UN’s power and become the main forum for solving global issues.


Benjamin Weinthal: AOC accuses Israel of genocide in Germany where Holocaust was launched, sparking outrage
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alleged at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that U.S. aid to the Jewish state enabled a genocide by Israel. AOC’s attack on the Jewish state in Munich unfolded in the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement that carried out the worst genocide in human history.

AOC’s assault on Israel’s war campaign to defeat the U.S. and EU-designated terrorist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip sparked outrage and intense criticism from academic military and Middle East experts.

During the town hall event in Munich, the Squad member said, "To me, this isn't just about a presidential election. Personally, I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly the Leahy laws. And I think that personally, that the idea of completely unconditional aid, no matter what one does, does not make sense. I think it enabled a genocide in Gaza. And I think that we have thousands of women and children dead that don't, that was completely avoidable."

She continued, "And, so I believe that enforcement of our own laws through the Leahy laws, which requires conditioning aid in any circumstance, when you see gross human rights violations, is appropriate."

The Leahy Laws prohibit the Department of Defense and the State Department from funding "foreign security force units when there is credible information that the unit has committed a ‘gross violation of human rights." Former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT., introduced the bill in 1997.

Tom Gross, an expert on international affairs, told Fox News digital that "AOC has flown all the way to Munich — infamous as the city in which Hitler staged his Nazi Beer Hall Putsch that marked the beginning of the road to the Holocaust — in order to smear the Jewish people further with a phony genocide allegation."

Gross added, "Such preposterous allegations of ‘genocide’ form the bedrock of modern antisemitic incitement against Jews in the U.S. and globally. This shocking ignorance and insensitivity by Ocasio-Cortez should rule her out of any potential presidential bid or other high office."


Fetterman eviscerates anti-Israel ‘rot’ in Dem party, shuts down AOC’s ‘genocide’ rhetoric
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted what he called a “rot” within the Democratic Party, citing what he described as its growing anti-Israel wing.

The Pennsylvania Democrat was responding to comments from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggesting the United States should consider withholding aid to Israel.

Ocasio-Cortez said the United States’ “unconditional” support for Israel helped facilitate a “genocide” in Gaza, a characterization Fetterman rejected.

“There was never any genocide in Gaza, absolutely, and there shouldn’t ever be any conditions for aid for Israel, because they were in an existential war,” he said on “Saturday in America.”

“That’s part of the problem with the very anti-Israel part of my party,” he added.

Fetterman went further, accusing some Democrats of aligning with anti-Israel activists.

“Why would you align yourself [with] raging antisemites and very pro-Hamas people like Hasan Piker?” Fetterman questioned.

“There’s a rot in my party standing with pro-Hamas people like that,” he said.


MSF admits halting most operations at Gaza hospital due to presence of gunmen, weapons
The Doctors without Borders group said it halted "non-critical" medical activities at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, following reports from patients and its own staff of armed men inside the facility and movement of weapons within it.

The admission was buried in a rarely referenced FAQ page on the group’s website, where it was spotted by analyst Salo Aizenberg.

“In recent months at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, patients and MSF staff have seen armed men, some masked, in different areas of the hospital compound,” the organization said in a statement posted on its website. “Since the ceasefire, the situation has worsened, and MSF teams have reported a pattern of unacceptable incidents, including the presence of armed men, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of patients and, most recently, suspected movement of weapons. These events constitute serious security threats to our staff and patients.”

The statement by the group, also known by its French name as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), represents the first time that an international humanitarian group in Gaza has publicly reported the presence of Palestinian terrorists in a hospital or the possible use of such a facility for moving weapons.

It thus lends factual support to repeated claims by Israeli authorities about the use of medical facilities by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists during the Gaza war.


Ex-Oxfam UK CEO sues charity, says it disproportionately focused on Gaza, pushed 'genocide' label
Former Oxfam UK CEO Halima Begum is taking legal action against the organization for antisemitism, racism, and sexism, alleging that the charity focused disproportionately on the Israel-Hamas War, and accusing it of pushing for the conflict to be labeled a genocide without sufficient evidence.

Begum, a Bangladeshi-British Muslim, made her remarks in a Friday interview with Channel 4, where she said she was forced out of Oxfam UK in December of last year amid a “witch hunt.” She is currently taking the charity to an employment tribunal. Pressure to call Gaza war a 'genocide'

“It always felt as though we were disproportionately working around the crisis in Gaza,” Begum told Channel 4, noting that she felt there was “strong pushback” to label the war as a “genocide” before the organization had the proper evidence and legal advice to arrive at the conclusion.

She added that, working at the organization, “it was very hard to hold on to neutrality and impartiality. And I say that as a Muslim woman.”

Anti-Israel bias
Oxfam has been accused in the past of anti-Israel bias. It has also been accused of having been manipulated by Hamas. NGO Monitor said a 2021 document showed that the founders and officers of an Oxfam partner organization were affiliated with the terror organization.

According to the group, the document indicated that Hamas thought the company would prevent an Oxfam irrigation project from interfering with its security infrastructure.

“Revelations of vicious antisemitism and anti-Israel bias at Oxfam are as predictable as they are tragic,” NGO Monitor stated following the Channel 4 interview.

“Former Oxfam CEO Halima Begum’s assertions of overt bias – along with pressure to prematurely brand the Gaza war a genocide without evidence – echo developments at other NGOs, where activism and bigotry have replaced objectivity and universal human rights.”


Artists for Palestine sends letter backing UN’s anti-Israel rapporteur Albanese
Over a hundred figures from the world of entertainment signed an open letter Saturday in support of UN Palestinian Palestinian territories rapporteur Francesca Albanese who faces mounting calls to resign over comments about Israel and the war in Gaza.

France, Italy and Germany, along with several other European nations, have called for Albanese — who has been repeatedly accused of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric toward Israel — to step down over remarks last weekend cited a “common enemy” that enabled Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel has strongly rejected.

Pro-Israel activists accused Albanese of referring to Israel as the “common enemy,” which she denied.

In a letter organized by the Artists for Palestine group and shared with AFP, over a 100 cultural figures backed her, including actors Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, Nobel-winning author Annie Ernaux and British musician Annie Lennox.

The signatories “offer our full support to Francesca Albanese, a defender of human rights and therefore also of the Palestinian people’s right to exist,” the letter says.

“There are infinitely more of us, in every corner of the Earth, who want force no longer to be the law. Who know what the word ‘law’ truly means,” it concludes.

Published in French on the Artists for Palestine website, it also reproduces the full remarks by Albanese, who was speaking via videoconference at a forum last Saturday organized by the Al Jazeera TV network.

Other celebrities to offer support for her include actresses Rosa Salazar and Asia Argento, Oscar-nominated film directors Yorgos Lanthimos and Kaouther Ben Hania, Latin music star Residente, and photographer Nan Goldin.

A group of French MPs sent a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Tuesday denouncing Albanese’s remarks as “antisemitic.”

Barrot called for her to step down a day later, saying that France “unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks.”

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday said her position was “untenable.” Austria and Italy, Albanese’s home country, also said her comments showed she was unsuitable for her post.


Abbas accuses Israel of putting up ‘obstacles’ blocking phase 2 of Gaza ceasefire
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas called on Saturday for the removal of “all obstacles” he said Israel has imposed on the implementation of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.

“We emphasize the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement,” Abbas said, in a speech read by his Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa, at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.

This included the work of a technocratic committee established to oversee the daily governance of Gaza, he added.

Removal of the obstacles was needed to “ensure continuity of services, coordinate humanitarian efforts and enable a swift recovery,” the PA president said.

Abbas accused Israel of “continuing to violate” the ceasefire agreement with Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that took effect in October and was backed by the United States.

“From the announcement of the ceasefire until today, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed [in Gaza], which threatens the durability of the truce and the full implementation of its second phase,” he added.

Even though the US-brokered truce entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the coastal territory, with Israel and Hamas trading blame.

The deal is aimed at permanently ending the Gaza war, which was sparked by the Hamas-led October 2023 invasion of southern Israel, and was endorsed in November by the United Nations.

The second phase stipulates that Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza and Hamas should disarm, with an international stabilization force deployed to ensure security.

Hamas has repeatedly said, however, that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.
IDF strikes gunmen who approached troops in north Gaza after emerging from tunnel
A group of at least five armed Palestinian terror operatives on Saturday evening emerged from a tunnel and approached troops in the northern Gaza Strip, on the Israeli side of a ceasefire line, the military said.

The Israel Defense Forces said the incident in the Beit Hanoun area was a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, hinting that it would respond. In past incidents of attacks on troops in Gaza amid the ceasefire, the IDF has launched waves of strikes against Hamas and allied terror groups.

In a statement, the IDF said soldiers monitoring surveillance cameras identified the gunmen coming out of an underground site and entering a damaged building on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line — demarcating where the military pulled back to in the Strip — near troops of the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade who were stationed in the area.

An Israeli Air Force drone then struck the building, killing at least two of the gunmen, the military said, adding that additional operatives were likely also killed in the strike.

The IDF published footage showing the gunmen and the strike.

Troops were continuing to scan the area “to locate and eliminate the terrorists who may remain,” the IDF said.


Anti-Hamas militia says it is destroying terror group’s tunnels in Gaza
The leader of an anti-Hamas militia based in IDF-controlled areas of the southern Gaza Strip said recently that it is working on demolishing the terror group’s tunnels, a confirmation that further shows Israel’s support for the armed gang.

“We have gradually begun dismantling the tunnels, as they are the most important weapons. Then the weapons production facilities, then the rockets, and finally the light weapons,” said Ghassan al-Duhaini, the leader of the Popular Forces.

“In the future, not a single illegal weapon will enter Rafah, and smuggling operations will be dealt with in full force,” Duhaini said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Alongside the post, he published an image showing members of the Popular Forces outside an entrance to a tunnel while wearing oxygen masks.

The Popular Forces was founded by an anti-Hamas armed Bedouin leader, Yasser Abu Shabab. Abu Shabab was killed in December in what the group described as a family feud. He was replaced by his deputy, Duhaini, who vowed no let-up in the fight against Hamas.

Israel has previously acknowledged its support for militias fighting Hamas in the enclave. It has provided them with weapons, air support, intelligence, food, and cigarettes, as well as airlifted wounded militia members into Israel for medical care.

The militia controls an area between the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt and an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint screening Palestinians returning to the Strip. There have been reports of harsh treatment by members of the Popular Forces against Palestinians returning to Gaza, before the militia members handed them over to the IDF.

Last month, the militia captured a prominent Hamas commander in the Rafah area after he fled a tunnel, and later handed him over to the Israeli military. According to the IDF, the Hamas commander was among eight terror operatives who emerged from a tunnel overnight and were targeted in airstrikes, and added that he was a “key commander” in Hamas’s East Rafah Battalion.
Israeli special forces nab suspect in deadly Samaria terror attack
Israeli security forces in Jenin on Thursday apprehended a Palestinian aide to the terrorists who carried out a shooting attack on Jan. 6 in which three Israelis were murdered and eight more were wounded, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police said in a joint statement.

The arrested man, Muhammad Zidan, was formerly a senior figure in the terrorist network in Jenin and was involved in financing terrorist elements and advancing terrorist activity against the State of Israel, the statement read.

The Border Police’s National Counter-Terrorism Unit (Yamam) carried out the operation together with IDF troops, under the guidance of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

Three terrorists carried out the shooting that killed sisters-in-law Rachel Cohen, 73, and Aliza Rice, 70, and Israel Police Master Sgt. Elad Yaakov Winkelstein, 35.

The attack took place on Route 55 next to the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, located close to Kedumim in northern Samaria. Two of the assailants were killed near Jenin on Jan. 22, 2025. The third was arrested in April and the mastermind behind the attack was detained the following month.

Meanwhile, IDF troops concluded a week of counter-terrorism activities throughout Judea and Samaria in which dozens of terrorists were arrested, firearms and ammunition were confiscated, and a total of three million shekels ($970,000) in terror funds were seized, the military said on Friday.

In the Samaria Regional Brigade are of responsibility, more than 30 terrorists were apprehended, and parts for assembling bombs, M16 rifles and military equipment that had been hidden inside shops in the Balata area on the eastern outskirts of Nablus were confiscated, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.


John Spencer – On US carrier strike groups, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Ballistic Missiles, and Venezuela
John Spencer is the world's leading expert on urban warfare. He's the executive director of the Urban Warfare Institute, and host of the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, and a colonel in the California State Guard, where he directed specialized urban operations training.

In this episode John Spencer shares his insights on pressing global issues, particularly the situation in Iran, Gaza and how Israel took extreme measures to minimize civilian casualties on Gaza.

The Current Situation in Iran:
Spencer begins by addressing the Iranian regime's recent actions against its own people. He highlights the government's attempts to stifle protests through internet restrictions and misinformation. Spencer notes that estimates of protester numbers vary widely, indicating a significant level of unrest. He expresses concern about the lack of mass protests in the West, particularly in the U.S., despite the regime's harsh crackdowns.

Military Build-Up in the Region:
The conversation shifts to the military dynamics in the Middle East, with Spencer discussing the U.S. military's significant buildup in response to tensions with Iran. He emphasizes that this strategy serves dual purposes: protecting American assets and allies while preparing for potential offensive operations. Spencer points out that the U.S. has deployed numerous C-17 aircraft to the region, carrier strike groups, and indicating a serious commitment to military readiness.

Iran's Economic Challenges and Protests:
Spencer reflects on the economic factors driving protests in Iran, noting that the regime's poor economic management is a primary trigger for civil unrest. He draws parallels to past protests, such as the women's rights movement, which gained momentum due to economic grievances. Spencer asserts that as long as Iran continues to support global terrorism and develop nuclear capabilities, the instability in the region will persist.

The Role of Negotiations:
Discussing the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the U.S., Spencer stresses the importance of presenting a credible military threat. He explains that the current U.S. administration must demonstrate political will and military capability to ensure that negotiations are taken seriously by the Iranian regime. Spencer suggests that the U.S. must maintain a strong stance to facilitate effective dialogue and deter further aggression from Iran.

00:00 - John Spencer introduces global warfare and urban war strategy
02:12 - Iran: Recent protests, military build-ups, and international tensions
05:50 - U.S. and Israel's enormous military power – twenty-year plans and how they shape regional security
09:14 - Military intimidation, strategies, and how decisions are made in wartime
11:27 - Can Iran afford to end negotiations? – Trump, Biden, and the future
13:46 - Hamas, Gaza, and whether peace is possible with those in control
16:18 - Israel, urban warfare, and how the IDF protects civilians – a critical look
20:10 - Hypersonic missiles and air defense – what can Iran and Israel expect?
24:08 - The difficult balance between military power and humanitarian respect in urban wars
33:46 - The situation in Gaza – strategies, demilitarization, and hidden threats
36:54 - The reality behind media reporting: Propaganda, disinformation, and global perception
44:36 - How many in Gaza are actually military vs. civilians? – Realities and myths
50:22 - The ultimate battle for truth – how media shapes the war narrative
54:36 - Technology, use of superweapons, and the new era of military superiority
01:04:36 - Legal and moral assessment – what does the law say about urban warfare?
01:10:48 - How defense strategies in Israel and the U.S. can prevent future catastrophes
01:15:16 - The Venezuela experiment with superweapons – lessons and warnings for the world
01:16:49 - Closing thoughts: Truth in war, technology's role, and the way forward.




Delays in NY state funding disbursement leave Jewish schools in a lurch
Since 2017, the New York state budget has included millions of dollars for non-public school teacher salaries in science, technology, engineering and math. The state is seriously behind on distributing those funds. In the 2026 budget, $85.5 million was allocated for STEM teachers in all non-public schools, but none of that money has been paid out.

The last of this money that Jewish schools received was at the end of 2024 and was designated for the 2022-23 school year, according to Sydney Altfield, CEO of Teach Coalition, an Orthodox Union program.

Non-public schools include secular private schools and parochial schools, including Catholic and Jewish educational institutions, and Jewish schools represent about 30% of the STEM teacher program recipients, Altfield told JNS.

Jewish school principals like Rabbi Bini Krauss, of SAR Academy, need New York state to catch up on distributing money that the government has already allocated for paying some teacher salaries.

SAR Academy is a large Modern Orthodox K-8 Jewish day school with 1,050 students in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Its sister high school, SAR, has another 650 students.
Mistrial in case of anti-Israel Stanford students who occupied school president’s office
A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of five current and former Stanford University students charged after anti-Israel pro-Palestinian protests in 2024, when they barricaded themselves inside the university president and provost executive offices.

The trial in Santa Clara County was a rare instance of demonstrators facing felony charges from protests over the Israel-Hamas war that roiled campuses across the country. The two sides argued over free speech, lawful dissent and crime during the three-week proceedings.

The jury voted 9 to 3 to convict on a felony charge of vandalism and 8 to 4 to convict on a felony charge of conspiracy to trespass. After deliberating for five days, jurors said they could not reach a verdict.

Judge Hanley Chew asked each one if more time deliberating would help break the impasse, and all answered, “No.”

“It appears that this jury is hopelessly deadlocked, and I’m now declaring a mistrial in counts one and two,” Chen said. He then dismissed the jurors.

Demonstrators barricaded themselves inside the offices for several hours on June 5, 2024, the last day of spring classes at the university.

Prosecutors said the defendants spray-painted the building, broke windows and furniture, disabled security cameras and splattered a red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the offices.

Defense attorneys said the protest was protected speech and there was insufficient evidence of an intent to damage the property. They also said the students wore protective gear and barricaded the offices out of fear of being injured by police and campus security.

If convicted, the defendants would have faced up to three years in prison and been obligated to pay restitution of over $300,000.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said he would pursue a new trial.

“This case is about a group of people who destroyed someone else’s property and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage,” Rosen said in a statement. “That is against the law and that is why we will retry the case.”


Europe’s self-defeating anti-American reflex in confronting Iran
“Challenge.” “Fracture.” Those were the headline words across much of Europe following the Munich Security Conference. Commentators spoke with a certain self-satisfaction about a virtuous “Europe of Peace,” in contrast to the supposedly bellicose posture of U.S. President Donald Trump.

From the Financial Times to Spanish and French dailies, an old reflex resurfaced: Europe’s revival, we are told, will be built on distancing itself from Washington. Anti-Americanism, that familiar comfort, has once again become fashionable.

Yes, one may recall U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s sharp criticism a year ago, when he accused Europe of complacency and inertia. But it is intellectually dishonest to ignore that Secretary of State Marco Rubio subsequently softened the tone and reaffirmed the value of transatlantic cooperation. What matters now is not past rhetoric but present reality.

And reality is sailing toward the Arabian Sea.

After the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS George H.W. Bush, a third American aircraft carrier—the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest and most powerful warship ever built—is now en route from the Caribbean to the Middle East. This is not theater; it is strategy.

Over the weekend, Trump publicly given Iran’s ayatollahs 30 days to accept or reject an American proposal. Negotiations are set to resume, with American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner heading to Geneva. The president has made clear that if no agreement is reached, the consequences will be “traumatic.”

Washington’s demands are sweeping: an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the dismantling of its ballistic-missile program, and the cessation of its support for terrorist proxies. Trump has also reiterated that it would be better for the murderous regime in Tehran—responsible for countless deaths at home and abroad—to disappear altogether.

These are near-impossible objectives. And Trump knows it.

The ayatollahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps do not view their mission in transactional terms. They believe they are fulfilling a sacred destiny: the advancement of Shi’ite Islam toward the apocalyptic return of the Mahdi. Nuclear weapons, missiles, regional proxies and the promise to destroy Israel are not bargaining chips—they are pillars of ideology.
250,000 rally in Munich against Iran’s regime as Pahlavi urges ‘global day of action’
About 250,000 people joined a demonstration against the Iranian government in Munich on Saturday, police said, as world leaders gathered nearby for a security conference.

The protesters rallied on Munich’s Theresienwiese fairgrounds, denouncing the leadership of Iran’s Islamic Republic following the deadly repression of nationwide protests in January.

The demonstration was held as the exiled son of the former shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, spoke nearby at the Munich Security Conference and called on US President Donald Trump to “help” the Iranian people.

Pahlavi, who has lived in exile since his father was overthrown in the 1979 revolution, urged an outside “humanitarian intervention to prevent more innocent lives being killed” in Iran.

Banging drums and chanting for regime change, the large and boisterous demonstration in Munich was part of what Pahlavi described as a “global day of action” to support Iranians in the wake of deadly nationwide protests. Pahlavi also called for rallies in Los Angeles and Toronto. German police said in a post on X that the number of protesters in Munich reached some 250,000, more than the organizers had expected.

“Change, change, regime change” chanted the crowd, as well as “Javid shah” (long live the shah)” while waving green-white-and-red flags with lion and sun emblems. Iran used that flag before its 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Pahlavi dynasty.

Some demonstrators sported “Make Iran Great Again” red caps, mimicking the MAGA caps worn by Trump’s supporters. Many waved placards showing Pahlavi, some that called him a king. The son of Iran’s deposed shah has been in exile for nearly 50 years but is trying to position himself as a player in Iran’s future.

“We have huge hopes and [are] looking forward that the regime is going to change hopefully,” said Daniyal Mohtashamian, a demonstrator.

The crowd chanted “Pahlavi for Iran” and “democracy for Iran” as drums and cymbals sounded.


IOC sells out of controversial 1936 Berlin Olympics t-shirts featuring Nazi propaganda
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is courting controversy over a sold-out T-shirt on the official Olympics website depicting the 1936 Berlin Olympics run by the Nazis.

The limited-edition shirt features the poster for the 1936 Games designed by German artist Franz Würbel that was used as propaganda by Adolf Hitler to promote the Nazi idea of Aryan supremacy.

That idea was deflated by Black American Jesse Owens, who won four track and field gold medals at the games.

Liora Rez, founder of StopAntisemitism, called the move a "shame" on the IOC.

"The Olympics have been a staging ground for antisemitism for decades," Rez told Fox News Digital on Friday. "At the Munich games in 1972, when terrorists butchered the Israeli Olympic team, the competition barely paused. Even decades later the IOC refused to properly commemorate the massacre. And this year, the Jew-hate is official."

She added that earlier Friday an employee at the official Olympics 2026 store shouted "Free Palestine" to Israel fans at the Winter Olympics currently being held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

"Possibly more disgraceful, on the official Olympic online shop as part of the ‘heritage collection,’ the IOC is selling T-shirts commemorating and reproducing imagery tied to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, held under Adolf Hitler’s racist Nazi dictatorship. This is the heritage the IOC wants to celebrate?" she continued. "Shame on the International Olympic Committee for this latest outrage. No medals for this pathetic performance."

The IOC told several outlets that while they "of course acknowledge the historical issues of ‘Nazi propaganda’ related to the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games, we must also remember that the Games in Berlin saw 4,483 athletes from 49 countries compete in 149 medal events. Many of them stunned the world with their athletic achievements, including Jesse Owens."

"The historical context of these Games is further explained at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne," the committee continued. "For the 1936 edition, the number of T-shirts produced and sold by the IOC is limited, which is why they are currently sold out."




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