Showing posts with label Varda Opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Varda Opinion. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 06, 2025

The Lie on the Front Page: What the New York Times Chose to Show—and Hide (Judean Rose)



Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

It wasn’t a mistake when The New York Times ran a front-page photo of a skeletal 18-month-old Gazan boy and claimed he was suffering from starvation. It was a deliberate editorial choice — a lie that fit the preferred narrative: Israel is genocidal.

Even Fox News missed the point. Their headline—“NY Times' erroneous cover photo… joins series of media blunders”—called it an error, a media blunder. But this was no “oops.” It was propaganda. And the proof is in the cropping.


 

The boy’s healthy brother was edited out of the image. The Times didn’t disclose the child’s medical history until days later, after pressure from Israeli officials. Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq has cerebral palsy, hypoxemia, and a severe genetic disorder. He requires specialized nutrition and therapy—not a ceasefire.


 

The Times eventually tacked on a note that the child had “pre-existing health problems,” but the damage was done. The image had gone viral, a global symbol of “Israeli starvation.” The Times knew what it was doing. That’s why it buried the correction in the digital story and posted it from a PR account with under 90,000 followers—not their main feed with over 55 million.

 

And when real starvation did appear—this time in the form of emaciated Israeli hostages like Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski—the Times’ front page was silent. No photos. No headlines. Just a weak, secondary article headlined, “Hundreds Protest in Tel Aviv After Hostage Videos Surface From Gaza.”



Nothing about Evyatar digging his own grave. No image of Rom weeping, his ribs protruding. Nothing of the horror that millions of Israelis felt—not just a “handful” of Tel Aviv protesters.

As Yaakov Ort, a former NYT staffer, put it: “If the Times had a Jerusalem bureau that reported the thoughts, communications and actions of the vast majority of Israelis… they would have told readers that the reaction… is not fear or protest. It is horror, rage, and resolve.”

The excuse? Mohammed’s condition had worsened due to war. But as Israeli pediatrician Dr. Michal Feldon said, “I’ve been a pediatrician for 20 years and we never see kids looking like this, even very chronically ill children. When we do, we suspect abuse.” Prof. Dan Turner added, “Even patients with background diseases should not be malnourished like that.” In Gaza, it’s not just illness—it’s lack of access, lack of formula, and yes, Hamas theft of humanitarian aid.

This wasn’t bad journalism. It was anti-Jewish narrative warfare—the blood libel of our time, illustrated by a carefully framed photo and a willfully ignored truth.

Because in today’s media: a carefully staged image used to falsely accuse Israel of starvation is front-page news — but the real starvation, suffering, and desperation of Israeli hostages doesn’t make it in at all.

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 





Wednesday, July 30, 2025

No Mercy for Jewish Children. Because They’re Jewish. (Judean Rose)


Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Imagine you’re a 14-year-old girl, still floating from the final night of Jewish sleepaway camp. You barely slept—you were too busy singing camp songs, exchanging weepy hugs, and saying heartfelt goodbyes. Still, you managed to pack your duffel bag, lug it through security, and board the flight home from Valencia to Paris with your fellow campers.

You’re tired, but your heart is full. Someone calls out “Lilmod!”—the beginning of a silly chant your bunk invented—and without even thinking, you shout back: “Mashiach!”

And that’s when everything changes.

Because two Hebrew words were spoken, airline staff suddenly see you and your friends not as teenagers but as Jews and as it turns out, they really, really hate Jews. Things get ugly. Flight attendants are yelling. Spanish police are called. And you and your friends are forced off the plane, grabbed by the arms, manhandled. Your phone is confiscated. All your camp videos—all your selfies—deleted.” Your camp director, a young woman trying to protect her campers, is beaten, handcuffed, and bloodied in front of your eyes.


All because two Hebrew words were spoken aloud on a plane.

“She still had bloody marks, red, bright red, on her wrists, because of the handcuffs. It was horrible… It’s the worst experience of my whole life.”
— one of the campers, in a viral video explaining the incident.


Jewish Childhood Interrupted

The 44 children from Camp Kineret, ages 10 to 15, had done nothing wrong. Vueling Airlines claimed they were “disruptive” and tampered with emergency equipment—but provided no proof. Meanwhile, a passenger on the flight who had no connection to the camp said the kids were “calm.” The real crime? Hebrew words. Kippahs. A visible Jewish identity.

In the aftermath, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli reported that airline staff shouted, “Israel is a terrorist state!” Spain’s Transport Minister referred to the children as “Israeli brats.”

They were not Israeli. They were French. And they were Children.

"Hide Who You Are"

Another video—less viral but just as haunting—shows a young male counselor on a bus speaking to Jewish campers before they reach the airport. He speaks with authority, but you can tell he’s scared too: “Take off your kippahs. Hide your tzitzit. Pack away your Stars of David and anything else Jewish.”

“Don’t give these antisemites a reason to kick us off the plane,” he pleads.

One small voice responds: “I have a kippah in my bag… What do I do?”

That shouldn’t sit right with anyone. But it did—and it will again. Because it always does.

What Does Antisemitism Do to a Child?

We know what antisemitism looks like: smashed windows, spray-painted swastikas, or the battered body of a handcuffed Jewish camp director left bleeding on the enclosed walkway leading from the plane to the terminal.

But what about the damage you can’t see?

According to a 2024 Stanford University study, nearly half of Jewish teens in the U.S. reported high stress or fear linked to antisemitism in the wake of October 7. Many said they’d stopped wearing Jewish symbols in public. Some avoided speaking Hebrew. A few even considered changing their last names—just to feel safe.

In the UK, a national survey found that 23% of Jewish schoolchildren had experienced antisemitism either at school or on their commute. These weren’t one-off slurs—they included physical threats, vandalism, and group harassment.

In Australia, researchers interviewed Jewish children who said they’d been called “dirty Jews,” been excluded from class projects, or watched teachers ignore antisemitic jokes. Nearly every single child interviewed had a story.

The research is clear: antisemitism doesn’t just affect Jewish children emotionally—it shapes how they see themselves, how safely they move through the world, and how much of their identity they’re willing to show.

Imagine being that young and afraid that your last name is “too Jewish.”

It’s Not Only France

The French campers aren’t alone.

In Staten Island, a seventh-grade Jewish boy walked into school just two weeks after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. A group of students surrounded him. They pushed him to the ground, kicked him in the leg and the face, and shouted, “F*** Israel.” No teachers intervened. No one asked what happened. He never went back to that school.

In London, a bus full of Jewish schoolchildren from the Jewish Free School was ambushed by a gang of ten teens. The attackers hurled large rocks at the vehicle while screaming “F*** Israel.” The younger kids screamed in terror. No one came to help. No arrests were made.

In Rome, an eight-year-old Jewish boy wearing a yarmulke went shopping with his mother. An Egyptian asylum seeker spotted his kippah and attacked him. When the shopkeeper tried to intervene, the man stabbed him in the face with a shard of broken glass. The boy survived. The storekeeper was left disfigured.

In Milan, a six-year-old French Jewish boy, his twelve-year-old brother, and their father were surrounded at a rest stop by twenty men. The mob targeted them for wearing kippahs. They stomped on the father, kicked him in the stomach and legs, and screamed “Free Palestine.” When police finally arrived, they didn’t arrest the attackers. Instead, they told the injured father to “tell Netanyahu to stop bombing Gaza.”

No child walks away from such moments unchanged.

A Soul Marked Forever

These are not isolated events. This is a wave. A sickness. A shadow falling on Jewish childhood.

One moment, you’re proud of who you are—your Hebrew, your songs, your symbols. The next, an adult tells you to hide that Jewish star necklace under your shirt, to tuck away your tzitzit, and pray no one sees you.

And the worst part?

They do notice.

You’re a child. But to them, the religion you were born into is reason enough to hate you.

Because They Were Jewish

This was no misunderstanding. It was not a noisy group of children on a plane. It wasn’t even a schoolyard squabble.

It was plain old antisemitism—ugly, familiar, and completely unbothered by the fact that it was aimed at children.

But the kids will remember. They’ll remember the bruises, the shouting, the violence—
and the silence of the bystanders who watched it happen.

And they’ll remember that the reason no one seemed to care…
was because they were Jewish.

The Children Remember

One of the French campers ended her now-famous video by saying it was “the worst experience of my whole life.”

But she’s wrong.

The worst part will come later—when she realizes that even after being humiliated, even after her director bled on the airport floor, even after she hid her identity and was still thrown off the plane…

The world looked away. Because once you see Jews as less than human—and more like vermin, as Hitler did—their age doesn’t matter. Even a baby cockroach, after all, is still a cockroach. And cockroaches grow up.

And if that’s how you see them—what difference does it make if they’re six, or sixteen, or sixty?

They can’t see Jewish children as children. Only as the next wave of Jews.
And once you see them that way, you don’t have to feel bad when they bleed.

So they’ll remember.
And they’ll grow up knowing what it means to be hated for simply being Jewish.
But they’ll also grow up knowing what it means to belong—to one another, to something older than hate, and stronger.
Not all of them will hold on to it. Many will walk away.
But some won’t.
And that will be enough to keep us going.

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



Wednesday, July 09, 2025

Youth Organizations Have Picked a Side—And It’s Not the Jews (Judean Rose)



Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Youth organizations or organizations actively involved with or concerned with youth. When you hear of them, you think of forces for good. You think of mentors giving guidance, steering kids on the skids back on track.

But today, that’s not necessarily the case.

Too many youth organizations or those actively involved with youth—whose stated missions have nothing to do with politics—global or otherwise, are taking a position on the war in Gaza, and it’s not a position that favors the Jews.

We know this because they’ve issued statements to that effect—statements that appear not to recognize that the war that has decimated Gaza, began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the democratically elected government of Gaza, launched the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. “Ordinary” Gazans, too, took part in the slaughter, pouring right through that fence alongside Hamas, to take advantage of the opportunity to rape and kill the yahud.

Jewish suffering continues deep underground in Gaza, as the last 20 hostages still languish in captivity, chained, caged, and starved, almost two years on. In spite of this, youth organizations nowhere near the Middle East—organizations charged with molding young minds—have decided to ignore Jewish suffering in favor of the people who gang-rape Jewish women tied to trees.

They claim to be nonpartisan, these organizations, but their statements say otherwise. Some downplay or omit the horrors of October 7. Others have issued proclamations of “solidarity” with Gaza endorsing antisemitic violence as legitimate “resistance.” Still a third group engages in what I call “both siding” it, pretending that violence is violence no matter who suffers, that all are exactly the same, which is just as bad. If you can’t decry what happened on October 7, and understand why Israel fought back, you should stay out of it, instead of poisoning young peoples’ minds.

One has to wonder: what is the atmosphere like at meetings or events for Jewish participants? How does it feel to belong to a group that seems to regard your people’s suffering as inconvenient or deserved? And what will become of the next generation—shaped by organizations that ask them to champion the cause of people who eviscerate pregnant women and burn babies and small children alive?

Here are a few examples of supposedly nonpartisan organizations that have issued statements on the war in Gaza:

1. National Education Association (NEA)

The NEA is not exactly a youth organization, but as the largest teachers' union in the U.S., it certainly has the potential to influence America’s children. Only yesterday, on July 8, the NEA voted to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

From the NY Post:

The largest teachers union in America has voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League — which called the move “profoundly disturbing” as antisemitic attacks in the US are at a record high.

The National Education Association, which is also the US’s largest union with more than 3 million members, approved a proposal Sunday to drop the ADL as an education partner, accusing the New York-based Jewish civil rights group of using the term antisemitism to punish any and all criticisms of Israel. . .

. . . The group has found its relationship waning with the NEA since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Jewish state was attacked by Palestinian Hamas terrorists and retaliated in a conflict that is still ongoing.

Tensions between the NEA and ADL came to a head earlier this year when the Jewish group slammed the former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) over a presentation on Islamophobia and attacks against Palestinians.

Merrie Najimy, the former president of the union, was one of four speakers at the controversial presentation, which made headlines and was even discussed in the state’s Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism in February. The Massachusetts Educators Against Antisemitism and American Jewish Committee (AJC) New England ultimately accused the MTA leadership of demonizing Israel and spreading “anti-Zionist propaganda” in the classrooms. . .

. . . Liora Rez, the founder of StopAntisemitism, said, “The most radical fringe has taken over the NEA and they actively promote bigotry against Jews and lies about the Jewish state.

“Rather than trying to educate our children, they want to indoctrinate them to hate each other.”

According to Axios, “The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, said it welcomed the NEA vote due to concerns over ADL's "anti-Palestinian bias."

2. Save the Children

Save the Children bills itself as “the world’s first and leading independent children’s organisation – transforming lives and the future we share. We’re proud to work with children, their communities, and our partners worldwide, discovering new solutions to help ensure that the world's most vulnerable children survive, learn and are protected,” but apparently that doesn’t include vulnerable Israeli children, such as those slaughtered on October 7.

Save the Children says it reaches tens of millions of children in more than 110 countries through its “life-changing work,” but based on its statement on Gaza, none of those tens of millions of children are Jews. On a slickly designed webpage titled War in Gaza, the (very long) statement makes offhand mention of October 7, neglecting to mention the slaughter of Israeli Jews or the Jewish hostages still in captivity. The statement cites all the exaggerated Hamas death statistics, and of course, in a breathtaking display of what it means to blame the victim, everything that has happened is the fault of Israel:

Children are paying the heaviest price of this war.

In 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory, specifically Gaza, became the deadliest place on earth to be a child.

Since the beginning of the war, over 18,000 children have been killed, while over 14,000 more children are at risk of dying from severe malnutrition in the coming weeks and months if the conditions imposed by the Government of Israel don't drastically improve. After 19 months of war, children's lives continue to hang in the balance.

Since 2 March 2025, absolutely no humanitarian aid or commercial goods have entered Gaza, putting all 1 million of Gaza’s children at risk of famine and creating conditions incompatible with life.

Children will continue to suffer day after day until the bombing stops, the siege ends and meaningful amounts of humanitarian aid are able to enter Gaza again.

Denying humanitarian aid is a crime under international law and a grave violation against children. The international community must not allow the war to continue and the halt on aid must be immediately reversed.

A definitive ceasefire is the only way to save lives in Gaza and end grave violations of children’s rights. There is no alternative.

The lives of Gaza's 1.1 million children depend on it.

Our response.

Amidst extremely challenging conditions, we’ve been working around the clock to find ways to deliver aid to children.

Save the Children has been supporting Palestinian children since 1953 and has maintained a permanent presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) since 1973. Our response has significantly scaled up since October 2023, leveraging our existing footprint, technical expertise, and partnerships to address the evolving humanitarian crisis.

As of 11th March 2025, Save the Children and its partners have reached more than 1.5 million people across the occupied Palestinian territory, including over 1.4 million people in Gaza.

During the pause in hostilities from the 19th January to the 18th March, we provided essential lifesaving aid to over 51,000 people. This included distributing winter clothing to over 15,000 children in Gaza, and food parcels to over 23,000 people. In February, a total of 1,341 children, were vaccinated in our Primary Healthcare Centre in Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis as part of the third polio vaccination campaign.

We have also distributed essential items such as mattresses, pillows, blankets and plastic tarps to families that have returned to northern Gaza, while continuing to provide healthcare services at our two primary healthcare centres and mental health support at our child friendly spaces. Despite this, the needs are vast and ever-growing.

Alongside local partners, we’re distributing vital supplies to families across shelters and households – drinking water, food, hygiene products, mattresses, blankets, learning materials, toys, and games.

We are prepared to scale up further in Gaza to respond to the spiralling needs. But the basic conditions to reach families need to be established by the Government of Israel by lifting the siege and facilitating the safe, unobstructed delivery of aid across Gaza.

Since the pause in Gaza collapsed and the Government of Israel re-imposed a total siege on the entry of aid and goods into Gaza, all that has entered Gaza are bombs and bullets. This complete siege is the longest the Israeli Government has blocked all aid and commercial goods from entering Gaza. Instead of much needed food, clothing or tents to help Gaza’s children survive, airstrikes are being launched into Gaza, killing, maiming, and destroying the lives of children and families.

We are by children’s sides in Gaza and we’ll keep calling for a world that respects their right to survive and be protected. But we can’t do it without your support.

They may be by the side of the children in Gaza, but I’m pretty sure they wish the children of Israel would drop off the edge of the earth.

3. Rotary International

Rotary International is not primarily a youth organization, but it does have several programs focused on youth development and leadership. Rotary International actively engages young people through initiatives like Rotary Youth Exchange, Interact clubs, and Rotaract clubs, aiming to foster leadership skills, promote service, and cultivate global citizenship. The organization says it is nonpartisan: “Rotary is a non-political and non-religious organization open to all people regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, or political preference.”

Its statement on Israel and Gaza tries very hard to be fair to all, but ends up not being very fair to Israel, urging “all parties to seek avenues to peace.” Should the rape victim make up with her rapist? Should the Yarden Bibas shake hands with the people who murdered his wife and children, in the name of peace? Should Israel agree that Rotary’s support for upholding international law is a good thing, fair and balanced, when the ICC calls for the arrest of Israel’s leaders?

Israel and Gaza

Recognizing there has been protracted suffering in the long history of conflict between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza, Rotary International urges all parties to seek avenues to peace.

At the same time, we unequivocally condemn the horrific attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians and are appalled at the number of people who have been injured, killed, and kidnapped.

As the war between Israel and Hamas intensifies, we remain deeply concerned about the potential for further escalation as well as the loss of life and the humanitarian crisis that is occurring in Gaza. We denounce the violence against innocent civilians and support upholding international humanitarian law.

Peacebuilding is both a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission and one of our areas of focus. At our core, Rotary is a common ground for people to come together – across nationalities and religions, cultures and histories – and connect around their shared belief in a better tomorrow. That connection is what humanizes us in times of conflict and builds a foundation for lasting peace.

Rotary remains committed to working with our members, partners, and communities to find long-term, sustainable solutions that support peace and development in the region and elsewhere.
All that talk of peace with the people who rape my people makes me totally sick to my stomach. It’s not possible to be balanced on this subject. It’s just not. There’s a good side and an evil side. You wipe out the evil to protect the good. Hamas is evil.


4. United Way of King County

United Way has a strong focus on youth development and opportunity. The organization says it “works to support young people from early childhood through career readiness, aiming to help them succeed in education, build financial stability, and become engaged community members.”

The organization says it is nonpartisan, and “represents a neutral ground where people can join together for the greater good of the community.” But the King County, Washington branch of the organization which includes the city of Seattle, decided to issue a statement on the war in Gaza on October 11, that is so neutral as to exclude the issues of right and wrong, good and evil, terrorism and those who defend against it. With Israel still reeling from the attack, United Way of King County sidelined what actually happened, and more than hints that Israel shouldn’t respond. Sure. As if us Israelis should just leave our hostages there in Gaza, stay home, and lick our wounds. Like Rotary International, in bending over backward to be fair, United Way of King County is fair to no one, and especially not to the Jews who were massacred so brutally on October 7:
United Way of King County’s Response to the Israel-Hamas War

United Way of King County mourns with others around the world the unspeakable violence and loss of life from the Israel-Hamas War.

We work side by side with communities to build an equitable future for everyone. There are far too many examples—locally, nationally, and globally—that demonstrate we are losing sight of that shared humanity and the common needs and dreams we all share.

We join our local community members who are grieving.

5. Boston CASA

Sometimes a gala speaks a thousand words. At its 13th annual gala event, Transforming Lives, Boston CASA, whose mission is to advocate for abused and neglected children, honored infamous antisemite Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley with the 2025 Susan J. Ganz Award. The event announcement called Pressley “an activist, a legislator, a survivor, and the first woman of color elected to Congress from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Throughout her career, Congresswoman Pressley has fought to ensure that those closest to the pain or the closest to the power – driving and informing policy making,” whatever that means.

As far as I’m concerned, the only thing Ayanna Pressley has fought for is to demonize Israel. She boycotted Bibi’s address to Congress, speaking of Israel bombing “innocent civilians” with no mention whatsoever of October 7 or Hamas.


She speaks of an ongoing “genocide” when the only genocide is the purposeful antisemitic slaughter that occurred on October 7.

 

The fact is, that in honoring Ayanna Pressley, this organization that is meant to advocate for Boston children, fails to advocate for the child victims of October 7. And so I return to my original thought: youth organizations—or those entrusted with shaping young minds—are meant to be forces for good. They are meant to protect the vulnerable, guide the impressionable, and foster moral clarity. But today, too many are doing the opposite. They are modeling moral confusion, justifying barbarity, and embracing those who would see the Jewish people wiped from the face of the earth.

If your mission is to shape children into decent human beings, start by telling the truth. Tell them what happened on October 7. Tell them that Hamas didn’t just kill Jews—they butchered them, raped them, beheaded them, burned their children alive. And if you can’t bring yourself to say that much—if your instinct is to “both sides” it or to preach peace with those who take toddlers hostage—then do us all a favor and get out of the business of working with youth.

Because this generation deserves better. And so do the dead.

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



Wednesday, July 02, 2025

When Jews Defend Rapists (Judean Rose)


Norman Finkelstein, a long-haired Jonathan Glazer, Max Blumenthal, Judith Butler, and Ilan Pappé — holding Palestinian flags with Judean Rose watermark

Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Rape denial is always bad, but it’s stomach-turning when Jews engage in rape denial in order to belong to the others—to the rest of the world, the people who aren't Jews. After all, the atrocities of October 7 are well documented. The perpetrators filmed themselves with their GoPro cameras as they raped and maimed, burned and slaughtered Jews. 

If you haven’t seen the footage, it’s because it universally violates community standards. The footage is known to make people vomit, cry, and faint. Also, maybe a young girl wouldn’t want a photo of her bloody crotch to be shown to the world, circulating on the net, forever. Can we not leave her this last shred of dignity?

So when you ask why you haven't see the photos or the footage, that's why.  

Nonetheless, we know October 7 was a massacre. Anyone who says otherwise is delusional. You don’t need to see it to believe it. You can tell when someone is telling the truth. But you have to want to.



Norman Finkelstein: “It warms every fiber of my soul”

Norman Finkelstein doesn’t want to. He will never begrudge those Hamasnikim a chance to use Jewish women until they die. That’s pretty much what Norman Finkelstein wrote of Hamas on October 7, 2023:

“If we honor the Jews who revolted in the Warsaw Ghetto—then moral consistency commands that we honor the heroic resistance in Gaza.  I, for one, will never begrudge—on the contrary, it warms every fiber of my soul—the scenes of Gaza’s smiling children as their arrogant Jewish supremacist oppressors have, finally, been humbled. 

“The stars above in heaven are looking kindly down.  Glory, glory, hallelujah.  The souls of Gaza go marching on!”

Imagine that, a Jew giving glory to God because Jewish women were raped and dismembered, Jewish children burned, and Jewish parents shot dead in front of their Jewish children. Why is it okay, no matter the religion of the victims, no matter their politics? Why does it warm his heart when Jewish women are raped until they die?

It is clear that Finkelstein suffers from mental illness. Alternatively, he could be just plain evil. His beliefs certainly are.

I probably should have saved Finkelstein for last. His betrayal is truly the worst of all the court Jews, all the Jews who go after their own, smearing them as publicly as possible, as if to say, “I’m not one of them, truly! I want to belong!”

Jonathan Glazer: Bashing Israel at the Oscars

Another insane/evil person wanting to belong to the non-Jewish world is unhinged Jewish filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, who won an Oscar in 2024 for his Holocaust-themed film, The Zone of Interest. Glazer used his acceptance speech to—what else—bash Israel. “Our film shows where dehumanization leads, at its worst, it shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation that has led to conflict for so many innocent people.

“Whether the victims of October the 7th in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanization. How do we resist?” said Glazer, his loathing for his co-religionists on full display.

Max Blumenthal: Crazy Conspiracy Theorist

And now for Max Blumenthal. In a November 2023 podcast titled What Really Happened in Israel on Oct. 7?, Blumenthal flatly denied Hamas atrocities, calling them lies spun to give Israel a pretext to rid Gaza of its inhabitants:

“We have all these new stories about babies baked in ovens, we’ve heard stories about babies cut out of mothers’ wombs by so-called Hamas terrorists, rape, gang rape, women after being taken, gang raped in the streets in Gaza City... All of these lies were spun out... to give Israel the latitude to carry out this genocidal assault.”

But he wasn’t done. He dissected the story of a baby burned in an oven, spinning a wild narrative involving confused first responders, bags of body parts, and a Hellfire missile:

“He actually had not seen any baby in an oven... It was someone named Eli Moskowitz... who said that he found a small bag with contents of body parts... pressed against a heating element... It was likely a Hellfire missile... body parts blown to bits... put forward as an Israeli baby.”

The level of cognitive distortion here is remarkable — but it’s not meant to persuade. It’s meant to muddy. Because for those who hate Jews, no evidence is necessary. And when a Jew denies rape, it makes it easier to disbelieve — or justify — everything else.

Judith Butler: War Is Peace. Rape Is Resistance.

Judith Butler, the academic known mainly for the length of her sentences and her hate for Israel, ran true to form when she described the October 7 Hamas massacre as “armed resistance.” Called on to defend her statement, she doubled down.

“We can have different views as Hamas as a political party, we can have different views on armed resistance, but I think it is more honest and historically correct to say that the uprising of October 7 was an act of armed resistance. It is not a terrorist attack and it’s not an antisemitic attack, it was an attack against Israelis.”

In other words, it’s not antisemitic when the Jews are Israeli. Got that?

Ilan Pappé: "Policies of Oppression"

Deranged Jew-hating Jewish academic, Ilan Pappé, justified the October 7 massacre as “an effort to dramatically change the balance of power and redirect the world’s attention to the Palestine issue” which had been put on the world’s metaphorical backburner because, you know, Ukraine:

The narrative in the Western media is that the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 came out of the blue and was orchestrated by Iran. This narrative purposely ignores the intensification of Israel’s policies of oppression against the Palestinians, driven by the ideology of the new government, including massive arrests without trial, a shoot-to-kill policy targeting mainly teenagers, the tightening of the siege on the Strip, and encouraging settlers and the police to invade the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest place in Islam, with the aim of rebuilding, in its stead, a Jewish temple.

The Hamas assault was partly a response to these new policies, as well as an effort to dramatically change the balance of power and redirect the world’s attention to the Palestine issue, which had been marginalised since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

There you have it, all neat and tidy, wrapped up with a bow. That’s how Pappé does it. Mass rape and beheadings conveniently reframed as nothing more than a PR strategy—a PR stunt that gives cover to Israel "true" intent: to invade Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Most Dangerous Jews Are the Ones Who Just Want to Be Loved

What binds these people together — Finkelstein, Glazer, Blumenthal, Butler, Pappé — is not ideology. It’s a desperate yearning to be accepted by the world that hates them. To be seen not as Jews, but as good Jews. Useful Jews. Jews who prove their morality by turning against their own.

They suffer, in the words of scholar Shaul Bar-Haim, from internalized antisemitism: a condition where the “otherness” imposed on Jews by gentile society is accepted and echoed by Jews themselves — often louder than anyone else.

But let’s call it what it really is: betrayal.

Betrayal wrapped in intellectual language. Dressed up as activism. Justified with words like “resistance” and “complexity.”

It’s all a disguise — a way to distance themselves from their own, to prove they’re different, better, worthy of acceptance.

And the damage they do is incalculable — not only to their people, but to humanity itself.

In the end, turning your back on your own is neither courage nor conscience, but cowardice. And cowardice, when dressed as virtue, is the most dangerous kind of lie.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Confusing Delay with Defeat: Trump’s Surprise Iran-Israel Ceasefire (Judean Rose)


Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

They say the war is over. But if it’s over, why do I feel so nervous, like there’s something left undone, unfinished? Why don’t I feel safe?

I just want to feel safe—not only for myself, but for the generations that follow. Do I want my grandchildren to grow up listening for sirens, even if they rarely come? Do I want some future generation to live in fear of an Iran once again enriching uranium to the point of no return?

If Khamenei and his despotic regime remain in power, they’ll pick up right where they left off—with nuclear ambitions and terror by proxy. And when Israel defends itself, will President Trump once again scold her, as he did the other day? Iran launched missiles at Israeli civilians, and Trump called it “a little bit of a violation”—perhaps because this particular strike caused no damage. But just hours earlier, another missile killed innocents in a residential neighborhood in Beersheva.

I don’t feel safe because Donald Trump still believes—against all evidence—that the ayatollahs can be reasoned with, coaxed into peace, talked into laying down their weapons and picking up plowshares. Worse still, he seems to draw a moral equivalence between Iran—a regime that threatens Israel’s annihilation, funds terror proxies, and pursues nuclear weapons—and Israel itself. Unbelievably, he equates the victim with her abuser. He frames the conflict as playground roughhousing, erasing Iran’s aggression and Israel’s right to defend itself from a nuclear holocaust:

“They’ve had a big fight. Like two kids in the schoolyard—you know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop it. Let them fight for two, three minutes, and then it’s easier to stop them.”

If this is how Trump perceives Iran and Israel—if he truly believes Iran can be reasoned with—then he doesn’t understand the Middle East. Worse, he isn’t listening. Iran is telling him, plainly and repeatedly, that it will not stop. It will rebuild its nuclear facilities.

And they’re not even hiding it. Iranian nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami openly admitted as much: “We planned to avoid any interruption in the nuclear industry process. Preparations for the revival of the country’s nuclear program were foreseen in advance, and our plan is to not allow any interruption in the production and service process.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s parliament has announced it is suspending cooperation with the IAEA—the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Does that sound like a regime with nothing to hide? Like a nation ready to embrace a peaceful, nuclear-free future?

Why is Trump letting the Iranians get away with saying these things? And what about his betrayal of the Iranian people—those weary of living under Khamenei’s iron rule? Bibi encouraged them to be brave, reminded them that Israel has no quarrel with them, and wants them to prosper. Are we now meant to abandon them? Just as Obama did in 2009, when they rose up and the world turned its back?

And then there are the conflicting reports. Was Fordow completely destroyed, or wasn’t it? The administration can’t seem to get its story straight. Trump claimed Iran’s three main nuclear enrichment facilities were “completely and totally obliterated.” But later, JD Vance described Iran’s capabilities as merely “substantially set back,” insisting that had always been the goal.

As Vance put it: “That was the objective of the mission: to destroy that Fordow nuclear site and, of course, do some damage to the other sites as well. But we feel very confident that the Fordow nuclear site was substantially set back, and that was our goal.”

If Vance is to be believed, the goal had never been complete obliteration, but only a delay in what Iran will inevitably try to do once more. Which of course means that somewhere down the road, a new generation will have to live with the Damocles sword of a nuclear Iran hanging over their heads. And that is neither fair nor right.

And then there’s how the ceasefire came about. Trump’s surprise announcement apparently caught Israel off guard. It certainly caught me off guard—reading about the so-called truce from a safe room, while cowering from incoming missiles.

Bibi gave a victory speech, declaring that “Iran’s malicious intent to threaten Israel has been eradicated.” But has it? 

Eradicated? Obliterated, or only “significantly set back” as both JD Vance and Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have said.

What bothers me most is the unspoken message: shut up and be grateful. And yes, I am grateful. But gratitude doesn’t mean silence, even when America deploys its bunker busters in a precision strike that was nothing short of extraordinary.

But as extraordinary as that military triumph was, it’s not enough. This regime has a singular goal: to destroy the West. Disabling Iran’s nuclear program means little if you leave the regime intact—especially when change for the Iranian people feels so close we can smell it.

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Beyond ‘Death to Israel’: Can Iran and Israel Find Friendship? (Judean Rose)



Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.

Benjamin Netanyahu has often referred to a divide between Iran’s regime and its people. The Israeli prime minister seems convinced that the Iranian people, as distinct from its oppressors, desire friendship with Israel. “Israel wants peace. We want peace with all those who truly want peace with us,” said the PM in an address to the Iranian people six months ago. “And I have no doubt that you, the People of Iran, know this. I know that just as we want peace with you, you want peace with us.”


If true, it sure would be an amazing thing to get Khamenei out of the picture and watch this friendship bloom.

Cyrus II le Grand et les Hébreux, Jean Fouquet, 1470 

More recently, in his June 13 address to the Iranian people, Netanyahu said, “Israel's fight is not against the Iranian people. Our fight is against the murderous Islamic regime that oppresses and impoverishes you. The nation of Iran and the nation of Israel have been friends since the days of Cyrus the Great.”

The idea of a friendship between Israel and Iran can be hard to reconcile with years of “Death to Israel” chants and regime-backed propaganda. How do we square what we’ve seen and heard with what Bibi tells us? Is there real evidence to support his assertion that the Iranian people might want peace—or even friendship—with Israel?

Let’s take a look:

Signs of Friendship from the Iranian People

Despite decades of regime-sponsored antisemitism, surveillance, and repression, many Iranians—both inside the country and across the diaspora—have expressed admiration, sympathy, and even affection for Israel and the Jewish people.

💬 Voices from Inside Iran

As Israel’s June 2025 strikes on Iranian military infrastructure shook the Islamic Republic, some Iranians were not trembling—but cheering.

“I … lost my control and was shouting, thanking Netanyahu for killing these criminals.”
— Zahra, a 50-year-old mother of two in Karaj near Tehran, speaking to NPR

Another Iranian told Ynet:

“Iranians are not worried about Israel’s attack because we all know that the Israeli government has no problem with the Iranian people,” said “A” from Ahvaz. “This is not just my opinion. We all wish to see the destruction of the Islamic Republic as soon as possible.”

In other words, some Iranians trust the Israeli military more than their own rulers.

Just over a year ago, after an Israeli airstrike in Damascus eliminated seven Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers, graffiti appeared in Tehran encouraging the Jewish state to “hit them harder next time.”

'Israel go ahead and strike; they don’t have the courage'

'Hit them harder next time Israel, they’ve s*** themselves'

🕊️ Support in the Streets and on Social Media

Social media has become a powerful window into Iranian public sentiment—particularly among younger generations and diaspora voices. After Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, many Iranians online expressed solidarity with Israeli victims using hashtags like #IraniansStandWithIsrael and #IranIsHappy.

Here are just a few examples:

Meanwhile, Iranian attorney and activist Elica Le Bon, a prominent voice in the diaspora, has called Iranians and Israelis “old friends,” echoing a shared historical bond. On June 13, 2025, she tweeted, “Praying for the safety of the people of Iran and Israel. There has never been a war between our people, only a failed attempt to divide an ancient bond between old friends.” Her words resonate as a bridge across decades of division.

🕯️ Clerical Courage 

It didn't win him any popularity contests for saying so, but former senior Iranian cleric, dissident Ayatollah Hadi Ghabel, spoke of friendship between Jews and Iranians as far back as 2021:

“Iranians and Jews have many years of friendship. I haven’t met Iranians who don’t have a positive opinion of Israel.”

As we see, even within the heart of Iran’s religious establishment, there have been flickers of goodwill.

🌺 Conclusion: A Friendship Waiting to Blossom?

There could be no more hostile regime to Israel than that of Khamenei—but these brave, hopeful, often anonymous voices through the years, suggest that the people of Iran may indeed want peace, friendship, and even cooperation with the Jewish State. Of course, most of all, they want out from under their repressive regime. And Israel is making that happen even now as you read this article.

For years, Netanyahu has spoken of Iranian-Israeli friendship—and now, for the first time, it feels within reach. From defiant graffiti and diaspora rallies to viral hashtags and heartfelt tweets, there is mounting evidence that Iranians are not Israel’s enemies. In fact, many are potential allies.

Perhaps, when the ayatollahs are gone, we won’t need to imagine peace between Israelis and Iranians.

We’ll simply watch it unfold.

Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



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

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