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Friday, February 27, 2026

02/27 Links Pt2: The US and Israeli left’s parallel ‘own goal’; The gross bigotry behind the Greens’ hippy facade; Israel's Forgotten Christians

From Ian:

Ruthie Blum: The US and Israeli left’s parallel ‘own goal’
Now for a similar “own goal” scored that day by the Israeli opposition. That occurred when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the Jewish state and addressed the Knesset.

Ahead of his momentous visit—to sign a whopping 16 cooperation agreements, spanning agriculture, drone technology, satellite data, irrigation and fertilization management, pest control, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, education, digital finance, labor mobility, energy planning, defense coordination, trade facilitation, cultural exchange, innovation hubs and joint development initiatives—the anti-government lawmakers were apoplectic. Not about Modi, but rather due to Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s decision not to invite Supreme Court president Yitzhak Amit to the event.

This wasn’t the first time Ohana had gone against traditional protocol to nix Amit’s attendance at a historic parliamentary gathering. He did so, as well, when Trump spoke to the Knesset on Oct. 13, 2025.

The reason for this has to do with the government’s view that Amit doesn’t deserve his title as chief justice of the Supreme Court since he and his cronies appointed him through an illegitimate process. And reforming the judicial system—part of the very “deep state” of unelected officials overriding the laws forged by elected ones—has been a key goal of the current ruling coalition.

So, the opposition couldn’t have been surprised by Ohana’s move, making their outrage mainly performative.

Their initial reaction was to announce that they would boycott the proceedings. Fearing that the plenum would be partially empty for Modi’s appearance, Ohana came up with a plan: to fill the seats with former Knesset members.

But opposition leader Yair Lapid, who suffers from two afflictions—FOMO (fear of missing out) and near annihilation in the polls—didn’t want to squander his chance to take to the podium. The upshot was that the legislators who were furious about Amit’s absence walked out when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke, then returned for Modi’s oratory.
Brendan O'Neill: The gross bigotry behind the Greens’ hippy facade
Witness how they sought to marshall Muslim fury over the war in Gaza. ‘Punish Labour for Gaza’, Greens hollered at Muslim voters. Or consider how they gave a sinister nod and wink to anti-Hindu animus by distributing a video showing Keir Starmer shaking hands with Indian PM Narendra Modi. The video was in Urdu, too. It was a blatant attempt to appeal to Hinduphobia among certain Muslim constituencies by linking Starmer with the Hindu leader Islamists love to hate. But, Greens moan, Labour also did it in the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021 when it handed out a leaflet showing Boris Johnson with Modi alongside the words ‘Don’t risk a Tory MP who is not on your side’. Yes, and that was lowlife bigotry-mongering too.

Greens also gave interviews to 5Pillars, the hardline Islamic outlet that is sympathetic to the Taliban and regularly features cosy chats with the neo-fascist, Nick Griffin. If Goodwin had gone on a pod infamous for its far-right guests, we’d never have heard the end of it. Then there’s the Greens’ neo-misogyny. This is a party that bows to the post-truth sexist mantra that ‘trans women are women’. It would let men into women’s changing rooms, women’s sports, women’s rape shelters. Not content with demolishing the Jewish right of nationhood, Greens also want to do away with the female right of privacy and dignity.

How is it possible that a party that rubs shoulders with sectarian bigots, and which would sacrifice women’s rights at the altar of men’s feelings, and which demonises Jewish nationhood, can get away with calling itself ‘progressive’? Call me a stickler for linguistic accuracy, but such a searingly dismissive attitude to the rights of women and Jews sounds more ‘far right’ to me than anything Matt Goodwin has ever said.

The loony Greens are a firm reminder that women and Jews are the two great losers under the Islamo-left ideology. On one side we have the keffiyeh-adorned genderfluid left that thinks a man’s right to piss where he likes counts for more than a woman’s right to privacy and which views Zionism as a demonic force deserving of destruction. And on the other we have regressive Islamists who think women should be cloaked when out in public and that Jews are a pox on humankind. In flirting with both of these nauseating creeds, the Greens have made themselves into the prime engine of bigotry in mainstream British politics. Pricking their hippyish facade, and exposing the truth about woke, is a pressing task of our time.
Australia’s Child Safety Icon and the ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Contradiction
Australia’s most prominent child safety advocate has become the public face of a slogan authorities link to mass civilian violence. A close examination of her own philosophy, her Foundation’s charter, and Australia’s evolving legal landscape reveals a serious question of consistency.

On a balmy February afternoon in Sydney, Grace Tame stood before a crowd and led them in a chant: “Globalize the intifada.”

The 2021 Australian of the Year, known for her uncompromising campaign against child sexual abuse and her insistence that language shapes the conditions in which violence becomes possible, invoked a term most commonly associated with the Second Intifada, during which more than 1,000 Israelis were killed, including 741 civilians and 124 children.

The episode has ignited a contentious debate in Australian public life. But stripped of partisan noise, the core issue is narrower and more serious: whether the principles Tame has articulated for institutions and public figures apply equally to her own words.

Her Framework: Language Creates Environments
The Grace Tame Foundation’s mission is explicit: to “ensure the right of children to be safe no matter where they are.” Its work is grounded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Article 19, which protects children from “all forms of physical or mental violence.”

The Foundation’s strategy emphasises shaping “social behaviours and attitudes” and creating environments in which children can thrive. Tame herself has repeatedly argued that harm begins with language; that grooming is linguistic before it is physical, and that normalizing certain speech patterns creates the conditions in which abuse becomes possible.

In her 2022 National Press Club address, Tame distilled this philosophy clearly: words are not neutral. They shape environments, and environments shape outcomes. As she put it, “Words are pervasively subliminally weaponized.”

It is precisely this framework that is now being applied to her use of “Globalize the Intifada.”


Israel's Forgotten Christians
More than 70% of Israel's 188,000 Christians live primarily in the north, especially in the Galilee. They play an outsized role in education, medicine, and business.

Accounts of Christian life in Israel ignore Israeli Christians like Jacob Hanna, a leading stem-cell researcher; Hossam Haick, a pioneer in nano-sensor technology; and Johnny Srouji, who helped lead Apple's research and development expansion in Israel.

Ignored, too, are statistics showing Christians as Israel's most highly educated and most fully employed population per capita.

Forgotten as well are the extensive efforts undertaken to protect and preserve Christian holy sites and the fact that the number of churches and chapels in the Holy Land has more than doubled since 1948.

George, a young Christian from Haifa, volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces several months before Oct. 7.

Christians are exempt from military service by law, but Christian enlistment has been rising steadily for years, a trend that accelerated sharply after Oct. 7.

Over the last two years, George fought alongside Jews and Muslims on the front lines of Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. He wore a cross around his neck and shared foxholes with men of other faiths. He saw friends die.

Yet George and his family are more patriotic, more rooted, and more invested in Israel's future than ever.
travelingisrael.com: The Muslim Jesus Who Will Break the Cross
What does Islam really teach about Jesus? From denying the crucifixion to “breaking the cross” at the end of days, this video explores the profound theological divide between the Quran and the New Testament.

This isn’t opinion—it’s foundational Islamic doctrine, and it changes how Christians should understand the conversation.


Sarah Idan: Carrie Prejean Boller: Courageous critic or anti-Israel opportunist?
What we are seeing is the opposite dynamic. The louder and more absolutist the rhetoric becomes, the more attention it both gets and generates. Describing Christians as brainwashed and support for Israel as spiritual bondage is not an attempt to persuade; it is a signal to a specific crowd that rewards moral theater.

There is a deep irony in watching someone who once claimed to defend Christian convictions now deride other Christians’ convictions as captivity. For many evangelical believers, support for Israel flows from sincerely held theological commitments. For Jewish Americans, Israel is not an abstract policy question but a core part of their identity and history. Religious liberty protects those convictions, whether Boller finds them compelling or not.

You can disagree with Israeli policies, and you can argue about military strategy or diplomacy. But when you frame simple support for Israel as “worship” and cast its supporters as dupes, then you are no longer engaging in debate.

I grew up in a region where Israel was treated not as a country to debate but as an evil to eradicate, and where anyone who humanized Israelis was branded a traitor. I believed that America was different—that here, disagreement would not slide so easily into denunciation.

Boller’s remarks, coupled with the applause she’s now receiving from corners that thrive on hostility toward Israel, should concern anyone who values pluralism. Because, as we all know, the line between criticizing a government and demonizing a people can erode quickly, especially when public figures discover that there is fame to be found in crossing it.

I lost my country once for standing with Israel. I never expected to see someone in the United States gain notoriety by attacking it in language so absolute and so contemptuous of fellow believers.

Religious liberty requires humility. It requires acknowledging that others can hold deep convictions you reject and still deserve protection and respect. It does not require you to agree, but it also doesn’t require you not to sneer.

Boller may feel “free.” But if freedom means courting applause from those who traffic in demonization, it is a freedom built on the erosion of the very pluralism that allowed both of us to live safely in this country.

America should not reward that trade.
Labour tried to appease the far-left on Gaza. It didn’t work
With the dust settling on the Gorton by-election, one stark conclusion stands out above all others from this grim and toxic campaign: Keir Starmer’s desperate attempts to placate the anti-Israel hard left have not only failed, they’ve supercharged the very sectarian forces he hoped to tame.

The result should be a moment of sober reflection, not just for the Prime Minister, but for all those who believe themselves to be part of the moderate and pragmatic tradition of Labour.

The Gaza-fuelled victory of the Green Party was the culmination of a political dynamic that this struggling Labour government itself has helped to create, one in which visceral hostility towards Israel has been normalised, amplified and, at times, rewarded.

During PMQs on Wednesday there was one moment when Starmer effectively conceded the game was up as he went out of his way to wildly accuse “unconscionable” Israel of killing Palestinians by withholding aid. No attempt to convey the reality on the ground under the current ceasefire framework or the role of Hamas in manipulating aid. It was desperate stuff, with both eyes on those Gorton communities the Green Party had been showering with Urdu-language leaflets.

Throughout 2025, in an effort to contain internal dissent and placate the anti-Israel activists that now dominate left-wing politics, the Government adopted an increasingly hostile tone towards an ally still fighting a war on multiple fronts and trying to free its hostages held in Gaza. In the House of Commons David Lammy, then Foreign Secretary, seized any and every opportunity to condemn Israel with language deliberately far harsher than any he used about Hamas.

Then came the policy changes that ranged from performative to self-harming: a partial arms embargo framed as moral necessity; the suspension of trade talks presented as virtue; and the spiteful blocking of Israeli diplomats and officers from participating at the College of Defence Studies.

Whatever one’s view of the Middle East conflict, this approach has not calmed the waters. It has fed the beast.

Labour’s pandering didn’t neutralise the radicals; it has emboldened them. Worse, it has normalised a discourse that too often slips from valid criticism of Israel into outright antisemitism. Labour has helped give legitimacy to a form of sectarian politics that thrives on division and hate and where Israel-bashing has become a badge of progressive authenticity.

The Greens have been astute in recognising this shift.
Victorious Greens hail pro-Palestine stance in Gorton and Denton by-election win
The Green Party has triumphed in the Gorton and Denton by-election, with their candidate openly declaring that “standing up for people in Palestine” was central to her campaign.

In a major blow to Keir Starmer, Hannah Spencer—a councillor and plumber—secured victory for the Greens with 14,980 votes and a majority of 4,402.

Labour’s Angeliki Stogia finished third, trailing behind Reform UK’s candidate Matt Goodwin, who received 10,578 votes.

Stogia garnered 9,364 votes, a sharp decline from the 18,555 Labour won in the 2024 general election, despite a similar turnout.

Both Green and Labour officials later acknowledged that the government’s stance on Gaza influenced the result, with supporters of Zack Polanski’s party waving Palestinian flags in the streets and declaring Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.

When asked about her use of foreign policy as a campaign issue, Spencer said: “I am really clear and really proud about my record of standing up for people in Palestine. But that’s just the same record of standing up for people here in Greater Manchester because, whether it’s on our doorsteps or across the world, if somebody is being oppressed or is suffering injustice, I will always speak up for that.”

Labour sources had previously believed they retained the support of the Muslim vote in the seat, but the result clearly indicated that their data was inaccurate.


Irish soccer chief says country has ‘no choice’ but to play matches against Israel
The Republic of Ireland has “no choice” but to fulfill its Nations League fixtures with Israel, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) said after confirming the soccer games would go ahead as scheduled.

The FAI has been under pressure to boycott the two matches, including a home fixture in Dublin on October 4, with several pro-Palestinian Irish politicians and soccer figures urging the federation to withdraw from the fixtures over Israel’s conduct during the war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in the conflict-ravaged territory.

Anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian sentiment in Ireland is highly visible, with regular mass protests and cross-party political support for Gaza.

The Irish federation passed a motion last November requesting that UEFA immediately suspend Israel from international competition, citing breaches of the European soccer governing body’s statutes.

“While our federation and our members have made our position clear in terms of Israel’s involvement in international football, that has not been taken on board by UEFA,” FAI chief executive David Courell told public broadcaster RTE on Wednesday. “In this situation, difficult as it is, the decision presented to us only has one viable option — which is to fulfill these games.”

Courell added: “We, in reality, do not have a choice for a variety of reasons.”


Berlinale director resigns following anti-Israel displays
The director of the Berlinale film festival has agreed to step down after two years on the job following pressure from Germany’s culture minister in connection with anti-Israel propaganda at the event, the Bild newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Tricia Tuttle, 56, and German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer “agreed that it is untenable to continue” Tuttle’s leadership of the renowned film festival, said unnamed sources from the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin, the nonprofit that runs the annual festival, according to Bild.

The decision on Tuttle’s replacement also followed her posing in a group photo with the team of Syrian director Abdallah al-Khatib and a Palestinian Liberation Organization flag, Bild reported. The paper featured a picture of this, which it said was sent out by the Berlinale press team. It was not featured in the photos section of the festival’s website on Wednesday.

At Sunday’s Berlinale gala, the festival’s closing event, Carsten Schneider, the federal minister for the environment, nature conservation, climate protection and nuclear safety, walked out of the venue. He did this after al-Khatib accused Israel of genocide and Germany of complicity, and displayed a keffiyeh. Al-Khatib received an award for his film “Chronicle from the Siege,” which was inspired by Syria’s civil war.

Weimer, of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany, has reversed course on matters related to Israel from the policies pursued by his predecessor as culture minister, Claudia Roth of the left-wing Green Party.
BDS effort to end NYC investment in Israel Bonds is not working
Those who advocate boycotting the Jewish state have put Israel Bonds squarely in their sights, urging municipalities that have long invested in the security to put their money elsewhere. So far, however, those efforts do not appear to have negatively affected that investment in Israel.

The latest to take aim is the anti-Israel group Democracy for the Arab World Now, which recently issued a memorandum arguing against investing in Israel Bonds. A pro-Israel investment-focused group, JLens, is now issuing its response, countering each of DAWN’s arguments.

The anti-Israel group, which also lobbies the U.S. government against sending foreign aid to Israel, stated that “New York State and New York City officials should immediately cease new purchases and divest any holdings of Israel Bonds, because such investments breach their international and domestic legal obligations and expose citizens to unnecessary legal, financial and reputational harms.”

In its memorandum, DAWN cited decisions by the International Criminal Court, an independent judicial body in The Hague which is not part of the United Nations, to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister for war crimes, and an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, the principal U.N. judicial organ, that Israel’s continued presence in the “occupied Palestinian territory” is unlawful.

It also pointed to a U.N. General Assembly resolution that required all member states to avoid sustaining Israel’s presence in Judea, Samaria or Gaza.

DAWN refers only to “the occupied Palestinian territories” and does not recognize Israel as a sovereign state.

A nonprofit, DAWN does not disclose the names of its major donors in its 2024 tax filing, the most recent publicly available document. It stated that it sent “a cease and desist letter” to New York state and city officials.


Video-game tournament organizer reinstates Jewish pro player after lawsuit
The College Station Smash Bros tournament has lifted its ban on Jewish professional gamer Felix Hasson after a civil-rights lawsuit was filed alleging he was barred from competitions because of his Zionist views.

Hasson, a 21-year-old globally ranked player of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, was previously banned from tournaments in New York and Texas, as well as certain online gaming forums, following social media posts expressing support for Israel after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023.

In December 2024, the National Jewish Advocacy Center announced it had filed a federal lawsuit on Hasson’s behalf, alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

According to the complaint, which NJAC provided to JNS, Hasson was banned from tournaments organized by CStat Smash at the Legends Event Center in College Station, Texas. The suit alleges that Hasson was deregistered and later permanently banned from “Battle for Bryan” tournaments because of his pro-Israel statements.

“Prominent leaders in the Smash and greater gaming community have made clear that if you are a Jew whose Jewish identity entails supporting Israel and opposing those who seek its destruction, you will be ostracized,” NJAC litigation counsel Matthew Mainen said at the time.

“But if you are a non-Jew spewing vile antisemitism and supporting the destruction of Israel, you will be welcomed with open arms,” Mainen stated. “This sort of blatant double standard is exactly the kind of situation civil-rights law is designed to eliminate.”
Paris Jewish family allowed to keep their mezuzah after being told to take it down
A Jewish family in Paris has been granted permission to keep their mezuzah after a property management firm initially demanded they take it down.

The management company, Century 21, wrote a letter to the residents of an apartment in the suburb of Villeneuve-la-Garenne, stating that putting up the mezuzah required “prior approval” as the outside wall was “common property”.

The family was told they had to remove it within 15 days or face legal action.

Eight other households received similar letters over other external items that “might not comply with the coownership regulations” or which may “affect the harmony and good condition of the common areas”.

The warning letter to the Jewish family said that the mezuzah affected the “aesthetics” of this common property area.

Century 21 was subsequently condemned by Israeli education group Stand With Us, which posted the story on its Instagram and wrote: “This unacceptable targeting of religious expression comes amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across France, where Jewish families are increasingly facing discrimination for openly practicing their faith in their own homes.”

This prompted a media backlash and Century 21 said it started receiving “violent threats”.

A spokesperson from the property firm told the JC: “[Our] entire network reaffirm with the greatest clarity their commitment to the principles of respect and equal treatment for all.
Rare half-shekel coin used in biblical census count discovered by archaeologists in Judean Desert
A rare half-shekel coin, similar to those used in the biblical census commandment, was recently discovered by members of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s (IAA) Robbery Prevention Unit in the Judean Desert.

The coin was found during the IAA's Judean Desert Caves survey, which is conducted in cooperation with the Heritage Ministry and the Civil Administration's Archaeology Staff Officer.

The survey is an ongoing project by the IAA meant to protect archaeological sites in the Judean Desert from looting and unauthorized excavations.

According to the IAA, the coin is approximately 2,000 years old and may have fallen from the pocket of a rebel fleeing into the desert during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome, approximately between 66 and 74 CE.

“The coin bears the Hebrew inscription 'Half Shekel' alongside a chalice motif, a characteristic symbol found on Jewish coins from the late Second Temple period,” IAA researcher Yaniv David Levy said. “Above it appears the letter Aleph, denoting the first year of the outbreak of the revolt.”
Neil Sedaka, singer-songwriter behind dozens of 1960s and 1970s hits, dead at 86
Neil Sedaka, the hit-making Jewish American singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s, has died.

Sedaka, whose hits included “Breaking up is hard to do” and “Laughter in the rain,” died Friday at age 86.

“Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,” his family said in a statement. “A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed.”

No other details of his death were immediately available.

A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbor Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis, pre-Beatles era of the late 1950 and early 1960s, including “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl” and “Oh! Carol,” a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.

After a long dry spell, he reemerged with such smashes as “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” The Captain & Tennille’s cover of his “Love Will Keep Us Together” was a chart-topper in 1975.

Short and dark-haired, with a big smile and high-pitched voice, he was a Juilliard-trained, Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish taxi driver who began performing as a teen and kept at it for decades.

He performed in Israel in 2010, belting out solo renditions of “My Yiddishe Mama” and “Vi Ahin Zol Ikh Geyn.”
Thousands of padlocks at JW3 to be transformed into permanent 7 October memorial
The Lovelock Hostage bridge at the JW3 community hub is being transformed into a permanent five foot tall padlock sculpture dedicated to the victims and survivors of 7 October 2023.

Originally populated with padlocks inscribed with the names of Israel’s hostages to keep them in the public consciousness, the bridge installation at Finchley Road officially opened in February 2024.

The brainchild of project creator Marcel Knobil, the bridge railings swiftly became crammed with thousands more locks, added by celebrities including Sir Simon Schama and Maureen Lipman, together with members of the public determined to express their solidarity with hostage families and their loved ones.

With the return of the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, on 26 January, Knobil has now commissioned renowned porcelain sculpture artist, Sandra Shashou, to take every padlock and re-purpose them into a tower as a lasting memorial.

Sitting on the bridge, wrapped up in hat, scarf and gloves, surrounded by hundreds of padlocks, a metal cylinder “that’s been dug down and fastened to the ground below”, metal rings and a very large cup of tea, Shashou explains she “usually works with vintage tea-ware but recently has been stacking them and creating towers. So when Marcel had a tower in mind here, he thought I would be the right person, especially because I work with multiples of things.”

Describing her process as “placing the padlocks with intent”, Shashou will incorporate yellow ribbons and the now rusty keys into the installation, describing it as “very human and imperfect” with “an organic feel to it.”

With the entire process expected to take up to two weeks, she adds: “It’s a great honour to be doing this. It makes me feel that I can make a tribute to the hostages, that they won’t be forgotten and there will be something here for them permanently. ”


New book to share wisdom of Chabad rabbi killed in Bondi Beach terror attack
A forthcoming book offers insights into the spiritual advice Chabad Rabbi Eli Schlanger — who was killed in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terrorist attack in Sydney, Australia in December — imparted to a secular Jewish woman during her own near-death experience.

In September 2022, Nikki Goldstein lay comatose, fighting for her life in a Sydney hospital. Her daughter spotted Schlanger, the Chabad emissary to Bondi, in the ICU halls and Goldstein’s husband desperately requested he pray for her. Schlanger blew the shofar beside her hospital bed and prayed for her recovery. One day later, Goldstein began recuperating from a life-threatening infection.

As Goldstein, a best-selling author of more than a dozen books, regained her health, her bond with Schlanger grew and the duo decided to co-author a book. In January 2025, they began recording their conversations.

Conversations With My Rabbi: Timeless Teachings for a Fractured World will be published in May — allowing Schlanger’s legacy to live on after he and 14 others were killed in December in a targeted terror attack on Sydney’s Jewish community.

Goldstein said that as “devastated, shocked and grieving” as she was after Schlanger’s death, she knew he would want her to finish the book. “Eli saved my life those years ago, and it’s my honor and privilege to ensure that his voice, memory and mission are not silenced by terror and continue to work miracles,” she said in a statement.




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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 

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