Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, November 07, 2023

The conflict is not about "occupation" or "apartheid" or "nakba." It has ALWAYS been about Jew-hatred.

Arab and Muslim antisemitism have been around for a while. For example, James Augustus St. John in "From Egypt and Mohammed Ali Or Travels in the Valley of the Nile" (1834) he explains that the term "Yahoodi" (Jew) was the worst insult a Muslim could muster when attacking an opponent.

And Jews from Morocco to Persia suffered discrimination and daily abuse throughout the Muslim world.

This, of course, included Palestine, as seen in this 1869 travelogue:

Antisemitism by Arabs in Palestine pre-dated "occupation" and the "nakba" and Zionism itself.

If you look at Hamas' own reasons for starting the current war, in Arabic they have been quite clear: besides wanting to take hostages for a trade to release their prisoners, they say that the war is to stop the "Judaization of Jerusalem. "

The kidnappings were tied to a hostage swap. But the massacre were entirely because of Jews living and praying in Jerusalem without fear. Hamas wants the Jews to be fearful in Israel, in the hope that they will run away. (There are lots of articles in Arabic media claiming that there is a huge exodus of Jews from Israel.)

Hamas didn't say that this war was a reaction to the "siege." It was not for Palestinians killed in clashes in the West Bank. No, their main justification for murdering 1400 people was Jews visiting the holiest Jewish sites.in security. Their very name for the massacre and war is "Al Aqsa Flood."

They are telling you it is about Jews as explicitly as they can.

Even so, people like Barack Obama pretend this is about "occupation" or "justice" or whatever. They are just projecting their own hate of Israel on Hamas.

If there was no "occupation," Hamas would have attacked anyway.

Because Hamas hates Jews living in their historic homeland.

This is not exactly a secret. Read Hamas' genocidal charter! (And no, it was never changed.)

Or look at this scene from a 2014 Hamas rally, where they burned a stereotypical religious Jew in effigy.

Anyone who bothers to look can see that Jew-hatred is Hamas' main motivation. And that it is not limited to Hamas, either.

The infamous Mufti of Jerusalem started pushing the "Al Aqsa is in Danger" lie 99 years ago. At the time, he was trying to stop Jews from praying at the Western Wall - and all Palestinians, not just Hamas, consider Jews praying there to be desecrating it today.

The conflict has always been about hatred of Jews.

Every few decades, the Arabs come up with new excuses for murdering Jews to tell the gullible West, since they have to pretend not to be antisemitic to their Western partners. In the 1920s-30s it was "Jewish immigration." In the 1940s-50s it was the "refugees." In the 1960s-90s it was "statelessness." Since then it was "occupation." Since 2009 it was the "Gaza siege." Since last year it was "apartheid."

All of those things are excuses to cover up the real reason for attacks on Jews that have been consistent for over a century: age-old hatred of Jews not acting like meek second class citizens under Muslim rule. And as we have seen, Jews have always been despised under Muslim rule, even if they were sometimes tolerated.

Part of the instant historical revisionism of the past 30 days has been to erase the obvious antisemitism of Hamas massacring every Jew they could find and pretending that they had some sort of valid reason. In a way, this excuse-finding is at least as disgusting as those who deny the murders altogether. At least the deniers are embarrassed at what Hamas did; but the protesters and pundits are justifying it.

No, history didn't start on October 7. But it isn't "complicated." The entire reason for the conflict is Arab hatred for Jews, and everything else is an elaborate attempt to avoid acknowledging that, probably because Western intellectuals are loathe to label most Arabs as bigots. So the "experts" keep looking for other reasons, the Arabs keep pretending those reasons are valid, and the inconsistencies that prove them wrong (like Palestinians refusing every plan that would give them a state, or Israel withdrawing from Gaza) just spawn new, ever convoluted theories.

As opposed to the easily debunked excuses the "experts" like to bring, Jew-hatred is the only consistent explanation for how Palestinian Arabs have acted for their entire history. Even the Oslo process fits in perfectly with Arafat's "phased plan" to destroy Israel, something Arafat admitted, and Mahmoud Abbas has not done anything to contradict it.

Hamas Jew-hatred is the only reason we have a war today.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

11/06 Links Pt2: Take them at their word; Hamas has shown the world who they truly are, and this is a gift; UNRWA staffers praised Hamas’s 7/10 massacres

From Ian:

Victor Davis Hanson: Take them at their word

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, at the United Nations in New York, just bluntly threatened individual American officials with violence: “I say frankly to the American statesmen, who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome [an] expansion of the war in the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire.”

I don’t think Mr. Amir-Abdollahian would come into our country to issue such a direct threat to American leaders had the Biden administration not assigned Robert Malley to reboot the atrocious but then-inert Iran Deal. Had it not lifted oil export sanctions—resulting in a multibillion-dollar windfall to Tehran. Had it not tried to ransom American hostages from Iran at $1.2 billion a captive. Had it not restored hundreds of millions of dollars in support to the West Bank and Gaza. Had it not allowed U.S. aid and remittance dollars to Lebanon to seep into Hezbollah coffers. Had it not dropped past American declarations that the Houthis were a terrorist organization, and had it not ignored rather than retaliated for dozens of attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq by Iranian surrogates.

We should also take at his word one Ghazi Hamad. He’s a high official in Hamas and one of their PR megaphones. And in an Oct. 24 Lebanese television interview, Hamad boasted: “We must teach Israel a lesson… and we will do this again and again. The Al Aqsa Flood [the Oct. 7 attack] is just the first time, and there will be a second, a third, a fourth… It is Israel, not us. We are the victims of the occupation… On Oct. 7, on Oct. 10, on October one-millionth, everything we do is justified….”

Hamad was quite clear on the motivation for his envisioned million more murder sprees: “The existence of Israel is what causes all that pain, blood and tears.”

So Hamad is promising more beheading, executions, rape and mutilation. I don’t think Hamad—apparently waging endless jihad against Israeli civilians from a safe distance in Beirut—got the message about the much-heralded American “two-state solution” of mutual co-existence. In other words, Hamad has no problem adhering to the Hamas-charter agenda of wiping out Israel: “Israel is a country that has no place on our land. We must remove that country because it constitutes a security, military and political catastrophe to the Arab and Islamic nations, and must be finished.”

So is this final solution to Israel the “from the river to the sea” envisioned by our campus activists? Our Turkish NATO ally Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a huge public rally, praised the Hamas mass murderers as “freedom fighters.” He declared the Israeli response to the Hamas apparat a “massacre,” and threatened to send the Turkish army to Gaza and to hit Israel with a swarm of missiles and bombs—or as he put it, his military can “come at any night unexpectedly.” (He issued the same sort of threat not long ago to NATO member Greece.)

Hamas has shown the world who they truly are, and this is a gift

Hamas did not just attack – it slaughtered and recorded the slaughter with joy and pride. That is a message we understand. We understand Hamas’s intent. We also understand now that Hezbollah has 150,000 rockets that they intend to use against us. It is also clear that Iran is developing the nuclear bomb with the intent of using it against the Jews. What was unthinkable is already here. Hamas has given us that sight.

Jews outside Israel, too, have been offered this gift: Allies and friends of the Jews are, in reality, neither this nor that. Jews were among the first to support Black Live Matter, but how does that group view Jews? Can you name any gay organization that has stood up for Israel against barbarous murder? Yet Jews are beyond doubt some of the biggest boosters for gay rights.

And of course the universities, which Jews have attended in mass numbers to integrate into America – it’s fair to say that the universities have been, and still are, extremely unsupportive of Jews on campus or in the world. We now read of American Jews buying guns in record numbers, and a possible turn to the political Right after 100 years of voting Democrat.

Do these Jews see now? Have they accepted the gift of sight?

For the US, the past 10 days have witnessed dozens of attacks on US troops in Syria and Iraq by radical Islamic proxies supplied and financed by Iran.

The Iranian ambassador to the UN, in a public speech, threatens the US. Many Americans have accepted the gift of sight, but has Joe Biden? Just now the US has launched two air assaults against Iranian weapons facilities in Syria, but President Biden makes no threat or promise against Iran. Iran threatens the US, but not vice versa. Has America accepted the gift of sight?

Finally, for all those who have lived in or otherwise benefited from Western civilization, the hundreds of millions, in fact the billions of people in all inhabited continents of the globe, North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia: Do you think that the Islamicists, the fundamentalists, those who believe in the necessity of worldwide Islam, attack the Jews and no more?

Do you feel they will leave Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, to continue in their non-Islamic faith? Do the people of Sweden feel that they will successfully integrate more than 1,000,000 Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and Africa?

Do the people of Paris, London, or Berlin, truly believe that violent demonstrations against Israel and astounding rises in hate crimes against local Jews will leave them untouched? Will the Evangelicals of Brazil and the Catholics of Argentina support the barbarians or civilization? All of these people have benefited so much through Western civilization, but will they defend it now?

All these groups have been offered the gift of sight.

Let them not be deluded. Let them not be confused that the barbarism has been visited solely upon a small people in an obscure corner of a tiny state in the middle of one chaotic region of the world. And let them “send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee” (John Donne, 1624).

Brendan O'Neill: The absolution of Hamas

Is Hamas now getting its talking points from Harvard University radicals? Something’s going on.

On 7 October, the day of Hamas’s apocalyptic pogrom against the Jews of southern Israel, 34 student groups at Harvard rushed out an open letter absolving Hamas of guilt for the ongoing horror. We ‘hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence’, said the self-righteous mob from the leafy, luxurious, non-blood-spattered lawns of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Israel is ‘the only one to blame’ for what is happening today, they said (my emphasis).

Got that? Even as the neo-fascists of Hamas were still shooting, stabbing and burning alive hundreds of people for the offence of being Jews in Israel, privileged poseurs at Harvard were breezily decreeing that these monsters were not really guilty of the war crimes they were committing. Guilt laid with the victim. Israel was to blame.

Fast forward two weeks and Ghazi Hamad of Hamas’s political bureau was saying the same thing. Almost word for word. In an interview on Lebanese TV, Mr Hamad said ‘the existence of Israel is what causes all [the] pain, blood and tears. It is Israel, not us’. ‘We are the victims…’, he continued, and ‘therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do’.

Shorter: Israel is the only one to blame. Sound familiar? We in Hamas might have slit the throats and incinerated the families, but Israel was entirely responsible for it. Ring any bells?

It is indistinguishable from what the preening Israel damners at Harvard said. Though at least the Hamas official waited a fortnight before monstrously blaming Israel for the racist barbarism visited on its people by his organisation – the Harvard lot were doing that before the worst anti-Jewish pogrom in 75 years was even over. You couldn’t ask for a more searing indictment of the academy than the fact that some of America’s cleverest kids at its most Ivy League of universities were quicker to make excuses for Hamas’s anti-Semitic slaughter than Hamas itself.

Of course, we cannot know if Mr Hamad actually read the terrorist apologetics penned by Harvard’s overeducated fools. (I wouldn’t be surprised, though – the letter made waves around the world and sparked a furious debate about who’s to blame for the bloodshed in the Middle East.) And yet it seems unquestionable to me that Hamad’s grotesque opportunism, his self-infantilising disavowal of responsibility for the heinous crimes committed by his own men, was influenced by the chatter of Western elites. The absolution of Hamas, the pardoning of it for its own pogrom, was enacted here before the same shameful utterances were made by Hamad.

It is time to ask ourselves if our woke elites are not just Hamas’s useful idiots, but its unofficial spindoctors. Not just excuse-makers for Islamist barbarism, but authors of the very justifications the Islamists offer up for their barbarism. Beyond the Harvard apologism, we’ve seen commentators ceaselessly provide ‘context’ for the October pogrom. ‘Israeli barbarism begets barbarism’, they snivellingly cry. 7 October was ‘a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime’, say the Democratic Socialists of America. So not a direct result of Hamas’s own careful planning and execution, but of Israel’s temerity to exist. Your throat is to blame, not my knife. As a writer for Haaretz said, ‘It’s the context, stupid!’ has been the abject howl of far too many in the ‘global left’.

Ecstasy and Amnesia in the Gaza Strip

There has been a larger cause that has at least in part appropriated the anti-Israel cause the same way global jihad did the last time, the same way the Soviet bloc did the time before that, and the same way unrepentant fascists did the time before that. A global program of anti-colonialism and left identity politics has taken up the existence of Israel as the worst example of white, European colonialism on the planet, and the Palestinian cause as its rightful, justice-bringing nemesis. The result has been the same: an unfinished project of national liberation, which is solvable for pragmatists, is instead reframed as a cosmic struggle against an evil entity whose existence stands in the way of the path to justness.

If there was a specific moment when that cause helped kick the next catastrophe into motion, it was during a few fevered months of 2021, when every major human-rights group started issuing glossy reports accusing Israel of practicing apartheid.

The faulty reasoning, poor data, and circular research methods of these reports have been the subject of numerous other essays and won’t be the subject of this one. What’s important is the timing. The fact that so many organizations came up with portentous announcements about a threshold being crossed at almost the exact same time, without any apparent coordination among them, is telling. The legal status of the territories changed drastically when they came under Israeli occupation in 1967. Arguably it changed again with the creation of Israel’s civil administration there in the early 1980s. It certainly changed again radically with the implementation of the Oslo II agreement over the course of 1996-97. The freedom of action that the IDF granted itself at the end of the second intifada in Area A of the West Bank, which had been off limits to Israeli forces during the Oslo years, arguably constituted another legal change.

But nothing whatsoever changed in 2021, or the year before, or even the decade before. How then did so many reputable organizations discover a new legal category that Israel violated at the same time? No doubt some of their motivation emerged from the fear that Arab-Israeli normalization was going to continue and in so doing bury the Palestinian issue. Mostly, though, it demonstrates how much anti-Israel activism in the West is a social activity, a moral pose, always maneuvering under the twin shadows of Western imperialism and the Shoah, that requires periodic reaffirmations of faith. And nothing lightens the burden of imperialism and the Shoah simultaneously like imagining the victims of the latter as bearers of the sins of the former.

In this way, a national movement motivated less by a vision of its own liberation than by a vision of its enemy’s elimination received another global tailwind as toxic as the previous fascist, Soviet, and jihadist ones. The upshot has been the same. The three years preceding October 7 were a period of unbridled optimism among Palestinian intellectuals. Israel was rotting, losing its legitimacy, and couldn’t possibly sustain itself, they knew. An outbreak of violence in May 2021 led many of them to conclude that a comprehensive Palestinian struggle against the Zionist entity in all its manifestations was finally taking form. The violence came to be seen as part of a “unity intifada,” whereby rockets from Gaza, low-intensity combat with settlers and the IDF in the West Bank, and a week of Jewish-Arab rioting inside Israeli cities were all seen as separate fronts of the same fight—Palestinian natives rebelling however they could against an Israeli colonial imposition.

It was a horrible misreading of the situation, not least because of the evolving relationship between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Less than two months after the May events, an independent Arab party joined a coalition government for the first time in Israel’s history, a clear sign that Israel was not rotting or losing legitimacy, a sign reinforced by those growing ties between Israel and other Arab nations around the same time. Ultimately, what appeared to Palestinians to be an emerging global consensus that Israel was an essential evil—not a state or a society whose actions might arouse controversy and opposition but an irredeemably malignant presence on the international scene whose food and language were themselves tainted by its sin—was as dazzling, and ultimately blinding, as previous attempts from outside the region and its conflicts to jam the Palestinian cause into a rigid ideological framework.

In other words, the righteousness and unfounded certainty of victory preceding 1947, 1967, and 2000 were back, and the scene was set for widespread ecstasy when, on the morning of October 7, the partisans of the Palestinian cause worldwide woke up to the news of the Hamas atrocity in southern Israel. In the immediacy of overwhelming passion that momentarily cast aside all thoughts of consequences, they exulted. Examples are so numerous and will likely be so familiar to most readers by now that they need not be described at length. There was the Hamas fighter who called his parents from Israel to tell them “Look how many I killed with my own hands! Your son killed Jews!” to which both parents wept with joy and pride. There was the history professor at Cornell who shouted, “It was exhilarating, it was energizing,” at a celebratory march the next week. There was the British Palestinian woman who crowed on TV that “Nothing will ever be able to take back this moment, this moment of triumph, this moment of resistance, this moment of surprise, this moment of humiliation on behalf of the Zionist entity—nothing ever.” These emotions were further inflamed by the name of the Hamas operation, “al-Aqsa Flood,” geared to bring in the emotions relating to Jerusalem, even though the fighting was nowhere close to it; for the same reason, Hamas leaders promoted propaganda claiming that Israel was planning to destroy the mosque.

And yet passion subsides and ecstasy is fleeting. The exultation spurred by the October 7 massacre is already fading, and the now-familiar sense of loss kicking in. At the moment, the war is contained in Gaza, though no one can guarantee that it won’t spread to the West Bank and beyond. The price for Israel will be high, and Israel is far from blameless in the string of events that brought it about. But the price for the Palestinians will be much, much higher, and much of what will be lost will be unrecoverable. And if the present generation follows its predecessors and transforms that loss into a story of victimization that papers over the defeat and the excitement that preceded it, odds are good that one day yet another in the chain of Palestinian disasters will appear again.

Here is a section of COGAT's latest humanitarian report on Gaza. It shows how Hamas controls fuel for hospitals, shoots rockets from near water infrastructure, hides in medical facilities, and limits travel for injured Gazans to Egypt.

The humanitarian situation is analyzed by Israeli professionals based on the analysis of local system capabilities, ongoing dialogue with international and local entities, examination of civil systems' behavior in the Strip over many years (during normal and emergency times), and additional information sources. Following is our situation report, as opposed to publications by Palestinian bodies serving the Hamas narrative of the humanitarian crisis:

The energy issue is central considering its implications on other essential systems. However, this sector is also the most controlled by Hamas.

Throughout the war, we have witnessed that Hamas supplies hospitals with diesel fuel only every two days. They do so in order to keep the hospital administrations feeling that they are on the verge of collapse. Statements from hospital managers prove this point, as they issue statements about supply lasting for another day or two, while in fact, the hospitals have been functioning for a month now.

All essential facilities: hospitals, desalination plants, wells, etc. have alternative energy infrastructure in the form of solar energy systems and generators operated using diesel provided by Hamas.

Beyond the existing information regarding diesel supply, it is clear that Hamas cynically prioritizes essential facilities according to their interest. Yesterday (11.4.23), Hamas held a screening of its military wing on the walls of Shifa Hospital.Hospital managers testify that they have in their possession diesel supply, which is provided by Hamas every few days.

Hamas utilizes hospital infrastructures extensively, in several ways:-Hamas misuses hospital infrastructures for terrorist activities. We have already exposed the terrorist infrastructures in Shifa Hospital - the central hospital in the Strip, Sheikh Hamad Hospital (the Qatari Hospital), and the Indonesian Hospital. Additional information was published by the IDF spokesperson. -

Hamas' terrorist infrastructure burdens the hospitals, siphoning off energy, oxygen, food, and supplies.-

Hamas operates near medical facilities and ambulances in order to protect themselves, using the sickly as human shields.

The diesel supply in the Strip is managed by Hamas. They transfer fuel every other day to allow hospitals to function for 24-48 hours until the next supply, thus creating the impression of a managed crisis.

Egypt allowed the evacuation of wounded people for medical treatment. In the last two days, Hamas has been preventing it.International organizations provide medical aid to hospitals in the Strip. So far, they coordinated the entry of 113 trucks carrying medical equipment and drugs.

All hospitals have alternative energy production capabilities.

There is no water shortage in Gaza as of this writing.The water sources for the Strip remained mostly unchanged throughout the war:Two water mains from Israel (Bani Suheila and Birkat Sa'id) continue to supply water to the southern part of Gaza,providing over a million liters of water per day. 90% of the water supply is provided from internal infrastructures in Gaza - water pumps and desalination facilities.

Despite the importance of water sources, Hamas exploits these infrastructures to launch rockets and install terrorist infrastructures. For example, it launches rockets from sites near the desalination facility built by UNICEF with international funding. This facility provides water to 250,000 Gazans on a daily basis, and nevertheless, Hamas chose to place rocket launchers there.

There are sufficient food reserves for the near future; there is no food shortage.International organizations continue to bring food to the Strip through the Rafah crossing. So far, the entry of 201 trucks of food has been coordinated.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

What Effect Are The Massive Anti-Israel and Antisemitic Protests Having In The US? (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

Never take anything for granted.

That also goes for opinion polls on the attitude of Americans when it comes to Israel. For a very long time, the vast majority of Americans favored Israel over the Palestinian Arabs.

And that support for Israel was bipartisan, shared by both Republicans and Democrats.

In January, the Pew Research Center reported that was changing: Republicans and Democrats Grow Even Further Apart in Views of Israel, Palestinians:

Currently, 79% of Republicans say they sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, compared with just 27% of Democrats.

While 27% of Democrats sided with Israel, 25% sided with the Palestinian Arabs.

It was easy to ignore the warning signs when the overall general attitude toward the conflict remained in favor of Israel, with 46% of Americans sympathizing more with Israelis and 16% saying they sympathize more with Palestinian Arabs.

But just two months later, Gallup reported Democrats' Sympathies in Middle East Shift to Palestinians:

After a decade in which Democrats have shown increasing affinity toward the Palestinians, their sympathies in the Middle East now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, 49% versus 38%.

So much for bipartisan support for Israel in the US Congress.

That question of support for Israel became even more important following the Hamas massacre of over 1,400 Israeli men, women, and children on October 7th. In order to properly deal with the Hamas threat, Israel needed US support, both military and moral. But how much could Israel depend on US support, especially with a Democratic president in office and just over a year till the presidential elections?

Thus far, Biden has been supportive overall, even taking in account criticisms of US pressure on Israel as it seeks to rid itself of the Hamas threat once and for all.

But at the same time, members of the "Squad," especially Tlaib, have been pushing to deny aid to Israel and to implement a ceasefire, which would allow Hamas terrorists to live to attack another day.

A month after the 10/7 massacre, social media has been bombarding users with news, at times inaccurate if not outright fake. Arguments have been made and videos and images have been posted. Hamas and its allies are known for their propaganda prowess. Israel is known for its weakness in advocating its position. The preponderance of anti-Israel protests in the US, as well as around the world, make Jews even more wary.

What do the most recent polls say now?

Yesterday, Laura Adkins of The Forward, posted the following survey on Twitter, from the NPR/PBS Newshour Marist poll from October 11.

Here is an enlarged view:

The polling data behind the poll is available online.

This is not bad, especially after being bombarded with online images of massive protests against Israel. But that was just 4 days after the massacre happened.

What are attitudes now?

Adkins tries to address this too:

On November 2nd, Shibley Telhamy posted the results of this other poll: Is the Israel-Gaza war changing US public attitudes?

To probe the issue, the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll with Ipsos asked several questions focused on the role of the United States and the perception of the Biden administration. The poll did not directly ask about attitudes toward the war itself but probed any shifts in public attitudes on the Israeli-Palestinian issue broadly. It was fielded October 20-22 among 1,021 respondents using Ipsos’ probability-based KnowledgePanel with a margin of error of 3.3%. [Methodology of the survey is available here.]

Shibley points out that the poll itself was taken only 2 weeks after the massacre, with criticism of Israel increasing, especially now that Israel is taking the war directly to Hamas in Gaza. We know that opinion of Israel is not static under such circumstances and more polls are forthcoming.

Among the points he makes:

Public opinion on U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue remains divided along partisan lines. The opinion of younger Americans is always concerning. Currently, 14% vs 16.2% of young Democrats are leaning toward Israel. Overall, 54.5% of young Americans want the US not to lean toward either side.

Most of those who responded to the survey say that Biden is “too pro-Israeli” as opposed to “too pro-Palestinian.” Forty percent of respondents say they are not sure.

Even those who want Biden to take Israel's side, not all are happy with the approach he is taking:

[T]hose who say that the president favors one side or the other sometimes include those who want the United States to take that side — but that they think the president is doing it more so than they prefer. For example, among Democrats who say Biden is too pro-Israeli, 14.8% also say they want the United States to lean toward Israel. [emphasis added]

An important conclusion of the poll addresses whether efforts by Tlaib and others to apply political pressure on Biden to stop supporting Israel are having the desired effect:

Third, more respondents say that Biden’s position on the Israeli-Palestinian issue makes them “less likely” (30.9%) than “more likely” (14.2%) to vote for Biden if the presidential elections were held today.

But here is the odd part. These are the results overall of all respondents. Even Shipley understands that Republicans are unlikely to vote for Biden just because he supports Israel, so the key is how Democrats responded.

Now take a look at the breakdown:

According to these numbers, Democrats at this point are more likely to vote for Biden based on his position on Israel: 28.4% vs 10.8%. That is surprising and noteworthy. Independents are a different story.

Obviously, as the reports of casualties in Gaza continue to come out, we will see changes in these polling numbers.

Nevertheless, overall the numbers seem to indicate that negativity and threats generated by the anti-Israel and antisemitic protests we are seeing are not having the massive effect that many fear.

All the more reason for the Jewish community to get its act together.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

11/06 Links Pt1: We’re Not All Complicit—But Obama Sure Is; Israel is more committed to protecting civilians in Gaza than Hamas is; Satellite companies are restricting Gaza images

From Ian:

Abe Greenwald: We’re Not All Complicit—But Obama Sure Is

Barack Obama hasn’t commented on many serious matters since he left the White House. So when he interrupts his showbiz and cocktail duties to speak up, it’s a sign that he actually cares about something going on in the world. He didn’t have much newsworthy to say about the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the crisis at our Southern border, or the state of our economy. But he’s now got a message that he needs to get out. Obama is concerned that we don’t forget about supposed Israeli cruelty to Palestinians just because Hamas massacred nearly 1,500 innocents in Israel.

In a recent appearance on the Pod Save America podcast, Obama said that in order to resolve the conflict, “it will require an admission of complexity.” We must face, he says, “what may seem contradictory ideas.” Namely, “what Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable.”

Ignorance as “complexity.” Vintage Obama. Ideological banality delivered as omniscient revelation of the true nuanced path. And the applause came roaring through—once he mentioned the “occupation.” Never mind that Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza and pulled out in 2005.

Obama speaks in stentorian generalities because details expose truth. And in this case, the truth is simple: It’s Hamas’s fault. All of it, the terrorism, the Palestinian trauma, the current war, and the deaths to come.

There’s nothing contradictory about the slaughter of Jews and the suffering of Palestinians. Hamas is responsible for both, keeping their own people in generational misery to justify an exterminationist war on Jews. Palestinian oppression hasn’t been “unbearable” to decades of Palestinian leaders (including Hamas); it’s the goal they’ve fought for every time Israel has tried to give Palestinians their own state.

Why? Because they’d rather kill Jews than be free. How’s that for nuance?

'This was lethal extermination driven by a fanatical ideology'

The war in Gaza and the barbaric terrorist attacks on the border communities have managed to clearly and forcefully shift the discourse in the world to Israel and Hamas, almost positioning the entire Muslim world alongside the Palestinians in demanding an end to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip.

Worse still, antisemitic sentiment has been clearly on the side of Hamas more than ever and it has managed to deeply infiltrate social media channels in the Western world and from there to the streets.

However, within this turmoil, it is important to remember that even within the Muslim world, there are those who have been horrified by the barbarism of Hamas terrorists and the murderous ideology behind their actions. In fact, there are many around the world who have been fighting against this worldview for decades and have faced hatred and criticism as a result.

One of these individuals is Dr. Qanta Ahmed, a physician, a Muslim, and a social activist who is among the leading and prominent figures in the global fight against radical Islam, which has hit the world from Orlando to Karachi and from Moscow to Mozambique.

"I'm American and British. I was raised in England. I am Muslim by birth, and I observe Islam. I have spent close to the last 20 years, let's say since 9/11, combating radical Islam, and trying to distinguish radical Islam from true Islam," she told Israel Hayom in a recent visit to Israel aimed at understanding the scope of the atrocities committed by Hamas.

"I work as a physician, I'm an academic physician, at New York University. And in the course of the last couple of decades, I've been to places that were deeply affected by terrorism. In my everyday medical practice, I look after people who are survivors of 9/11, they were first responders that day," she says, explaining how the al-Qaida attack in 2001 on the US was a turning point for her. "I saw September 11 from Saudi Arabia, where I was a physician, and saw that event happening live in Riyadh, at a time when Saudi Arabia was under the grip of reactionary puritanism."

Dr. Ahmed traveled the world in the wake of the immense damage caused by Islamist terrorist organizations. She met survivors of the Taliban's terror; in Iraq, she met Yazidis who had escaped the massacre by ISIS in Sinjar; and in Mosul, she encountered children who had been recruited as fighters for the terrorist organization ISIS. These face-to-face meetings with the victims strengthened and sharpened her perception of the distinction between Islam as a religion and its use for murderous terrorism.

"I have been able to see the impact of terrorism from the moment that I witnessed it in Saudi Arabia, to the effects on the lives minds, and bodies of my patients that I've been treating for getting towards two decades, to the impacts on Muslim societies, the impacts on Muslim children, the impacts on the Yazidi people and their enslavement, almost every aspect that I can, I've been able to see with that, with that background," she says.

Israel is more committed to protecting civilians in Gaza than Hamas is

In the realm of international law, the laws of war represent a critical framework for regulating armed conflicts and minimizing harm to civilians. They are designed to strike a delicate balance between military necessity and humanitarian concerns, emphasizing the protection of innocent civilians who find themselves caught in the crossfire. While straightforward on paper, their application in the complex and fraught environment of conflict is challenging.

The existing conflict between Israel and Hamas has come under scrutiny in the context of these principles. Despite the complex nature of modern warfare, Israel has been making substantial pains (despite Hamas’s best attempts) to ensure the safety of civilians in Gaza while also maintaining its right to self-defense.

Under the legal definition of the laws of war, two key principles stand out: the principle of distinction and the principle of proportionality. The principle of distinction requires that parties to a conflict must distinguish between combatants and civilians, targeting only the former. Concurrently, the principle of proportionality obliges parties to ensure that the anticipated military advantage gained from an attack is not outweighed by the expected harm to civilians or civilian property.

One of the remarkable aspects of Israel’s efforts during this operation has been its restraint in the use of force. In the face of an unprecedented attack against its civilians, and while still under rocket attacks from Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, Israel has shown great care in selecting its targets, prioritizing military assets, and minimizing civilian casualties.

Israel has taken measures to notify civilians in Gaza about impending strikes, urging them to leave targeted areas for their safety. This is a proactive measure aimed at preventing civilian casualties and fulfilling Israel’s legal and moral obligation to minimize harm to civilians.

In stark contrast to Israel’s efforts to protect Palestinian civilians, Hamas shows a complete disregard for the safety of its own population. Hamas has forced its citizens to remain in areas that are likely to be targeted, which undermines the fundamental principles that seek to safeguard the lives of non-combatants and places innocent lives in grave danger. Even though Israel is giving civilians time to try and leave, Hamas continues to disseminate its propaganda and lies in order to manipulate its citizens into being human shields.

There have been a number of articles about how to fill the vacuum that ill be left in Gaza after Israel destroys Hamas. It is a significant question: no one wants another Islamist group to take over.

The US is pushing for the Palestinian Authority to reassert control, but the PA is trying to extort a state out of it, saying it doesn't want to gain power based on Israeli actions.

But the PA is a corrupt, weak entity. Nobody likes them, least of all its citizens. It lost Gaza once and it would likely lose it again.

Egypt doesn't want Gaza. Egyptians hate everything about it. After all, it was Egypt that turned it into a virtual prison for Palestinian refugees after the 1948 war.

Israel doesn't want Gaza back. It doesn't want to govern two million hostile Arabs, not to mention take over day to day governance. Imagine the suicide bombings at every governmental office. And, of course, it would be "occupation."

So who should run Gaza the day after Hamas is eradicated?

When Israel left Gaza in 2005, optimists thought it could become a new Singapore. Palestinian incompetence and Hamas ended that fantasy. Hate for Israel was far more important than helping Palestinians live their lives.

But there is one country that could turn Gaza into a wonderful place: the UAE. Gaza should become the fifth United Arab Emirate.

The UAE is at peace with Israel. it could pour massive amounts of money into rebuilding Gaza into a paradise. It wouldn't allow Islamists to gain a toehold.

Gazans would suddenly live in a place that has a future. The UAE and Israel could work on joint business ventures and economic zones to help employment and bring Gaza up to modern standards. One could imagine luxury hotels and high tech skyscrapers being built on the shores of the Mediterranean.

Gazans would become citizens of an Arab country and could still call themselves Palestinians. The emirate itself could be called "the Emirate of Palestine." Why not? And Gaza citizens of the UAE could move to the other emirates to seek other opportunities if they prefer.

Why would the UAE be interested? Well, a port on the Mediterranean is a pretty big carrot. Shipping lanes from and to Europe would be a huge economic boost. Working with Israel, the proposed train line from the Gulf to Israel could be extended a bit to Gaza to tie the Gulf countries closer to the sea as well.

(UPDATE): Beyond that, there are some significant gas deposits off the coast of Gaza. No one wants to risk drilling there now, but the UAE would solve that problem.

Also, Palestinians are among the best educated Arabs. There is a competent workforce already there.

Moreover, Gaza could become a money-making tourism destination. Wealthy Europeans could rub shoulders with wealthy Arabs and make deals.

Gazans would have huge opportunities to work and thrive. There would be no more "refugees."

Egypt would be thrilled to have such a neighbor.The entire Sinai could benefit from increased trade.

This idea is a win for literally everyone - except those people whose entire lives are dedicated to destroying Israel.

People who truly want peace in the region would love to see this idea work. People who only want to get rid of Israel would hate this idea.

But can anyone think of any better future for Gaza than this?

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It's been a month, and still @WHO and @MSF have not condemned Hamas murders of Israeli medics, attacks on Israeli medical facilities and military use of Gaza hospitals and ambulances

The World Health Organization condemned Israeli airstrikes at terrorists who were using hospitals and ambulances for cover.

WHO condemns the attacks on 3 November near Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, and the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza City and North Gaza governorates.

Two further attacks were reported on the same day at Al-Quds Hospital, resulting in at least 21 injuries. An additional attack was reported near the Indonesian Hospital.

Attacks on health care, including the targeting of hospitals and restricting the delivery of essential aid such as medical supplies, fuel, and water, may amount to violations of International Humanitarian Law.

They have not said a negative word about Hamas' use of hospitals and ambulances for military purposes nor about Hamas using medical staff and patients as human shields.

What about Hamas' attacks on medical facilities in Israel on October 7?

Ten Magen Dovid Adom workers were murdered, including at least two who were slaughtered while trying to save others' lives - Aharon Chaimov, who was murdered in his ambulance while trying to help the injured in Ofakim, and Amit Mann, who spent her final six hours treating the injured at the clinic in Kibbutz Be'eri before the clinic itself was attacked and she was murdered.

Several ambulances were attacked, some deliberately to ensure that they could not be used to save lives. Hamas even published its own video of an attack on an ambulance with a drone.

And the World Health Organization has not said a word of condemnation of Hamas for directly and proudly attacking medical workers, ambulances and facilities.

And it isn't only WHO. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have also been completely silent about Hamas' attacks on Israeli medical personnel and facilities, and have also not said a word about Hamas' use of hospitals and ambulances for military purposes.

While both WHO and MSF have issued brief condemnations of the October 7 attacks, they have not condemned Hamas for its deliberate attacks on medics and medical facilities.

Bias isn't only obvious from what people and organizations say. Sometimes their silence is what proves their bigotry.

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A symposium titled “The Palestinian Issue from the Balfour Declaration... to the Al-Aqsa Flood,” was held in Istanbul, Saturday, November 4. It praised Hamas for its "resistance" and specifically for its October 7 pogrom.

Citing this as a victory, the speakers said that the war " stopped the path of normalization once and for all."

It appeared to be very much supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood, praising former Egyptian President Morsi for his support of Gaza during his short term in office, and including Brotherhood speakers.

Support for terror groups didn't end there. The speakers said that "the fall of the Islamic State and the disappearance of the feeling of brotherhood is the reason for preventing the emergence of a strong Islamic state that confronts the practices of the Zionist entity." This sounds like a pretty strong endorsement for ISIS.

The President of the World Forum for Thought and Culture, Dr. Mona Sobhi, gave the welcoming speech, during which she saluted "the heroes of the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip." She added, "Your effort and struggle, O heroes of Palestine, and your creation of this historical epic since October 7, is God’s blessing upon you that began decades ago, and you have been guided to good work, and raising generations of balanced education, in which the doctrinal, moral, intellectual and physical formation of young people, these Young people sold their souls to God Almighty, and for the sake of God they rose, and we are now witnessing this fruit of this good and blessed planting, which bears fruit in patience and victory, determination and will, awareness and maturity.”

"October 7 was a watershed that history will write in letters of light," she said.

Hamas leader Fawzi Barhoum said, "We in Hamas will expel the Zionists from Palestine humiliated and submissive." But he also said, "There is a media battle due to the export of a misleading narrative from the Israeli media about the Hamas movement that it is an ISIS terrorist movement, and that narrative must be confronted in our media and we fight with pen and image until we convey our narrative to the world."

Rania Nasr, a member of the Coalition of Women Scholars and Preachers and the Palestine Scholars Association, said that the attack "renewed the blood of the nation and sent educational messages from the heart of the trench confirming the Muslim faith. "

Secretary of the Jerusalem Department of the Palestine Scholars Association and a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Shajarawi, said, "the date of the battle came on the 20th day of the Zionist holiday season, and it also came on Saturday, which is a Jewish religious holiday, which is the night of complete forgiveness, a time of joy for the Jews, so the Al-Aqsa Flood was a tragedy for the Zionists.": He also claimed that Israel allows animal sacrifices on the Temple Mount.

The media spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Hamad, said "the Palestinian issue is a right that can be seized by any and all means - our struggle with the enemy is not over a piece of land, but rather a struggle between truth and falsehood and between the Qur’an and the Talmud."

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A fatwa from Qatar for all Arab nations to attack Israel as PA police say they will start their own war in the West Bank tomorrow (UPDATE)

The International Union of Muslim Scholars, a Qatar-based organization originally founded by jihadist cleric Yusuf Qaradawi, announced a fatwa urging all Arab states to join the fight against Israel.

The Ijtihad and Fatwa Committee of the IUMS issued a significant fatwa delivering a powerful message about the duty of Islamic governments to counter this egregious assault. The session, hosted at the Union's global headquarters in Doha, highlighted the critical need for immediate action and full support to prevent the annihilation and wholesale destruction of Gaza.

The fatwa underscores the duty to support Palestine on religious, political, legal, and ethical grounds, calling for rapid and effective action by Islamic governments and their official military forces to halt the Zionist aggression. The fatwa also underlines the necessity of collaboration and coordination among Arab and Islamic nations, particularly the four neighboring states (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon), to establish global equilibrium and guard against oppression.

Notice that this jihadist cleric group makes its home in Qatar, which presents itself as a fair player yet always seems to support the worst mass murderers in the Arab world.

At the same time, another statement was issued, this one in the West Bank, where members of the Palestinian Authority security services gave a 24 hour deadline to Mahmoud Abbas to start a war with Israel or else they will do it themselves.

We are the children of this people. We are the sons of the security services... We are the sons of Fatah and we do not compromise with anyone on our belonging and our history. We are also, above all, the sons of Palestine, which is now being slaughtered from vein to vein.
We declare from today that the Palestinian leadership faces a historic responsibility to declare confrontation with the occupation within 24 hours. If Brother Abu Mazen does not issue a clear position declaring open confrontation with the occupation by all means and disavowing himself from the statements of the criminal Blinken, there is no obedience to anyone, no instructions to be implemented, and no loyalty to any apparatus.

Freedom for Palestine and victory is an hour's patience

The sons of Commander Abu Jandal...the sons of Al-Fatah...the sons of the security services
Sunday, 11/05/2023

UPDATE: The story about the threat to Mahmoud Abbas is apparently fake. (h/t Ibn Boutros and Abu Ali Express)

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11/05 Links: Netanyahu: ‘No ceasefire without return of the hostages’; Obama likens ‘what Hamas did’ to ‘unbearable occupation’; Hamas planned for massacre during Passover

From Ian:

Netanyahu: ‘No ceasefire without return of the hostages’

Israel will not agree to any ceasefire with Hamas unless the terrorist group releases the more than 200 hostages it kidnapped during its Oct. 7 attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday following a tour of Ramon Air Force Base in the Negev Desert.

“There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages. This should be completely removed from the lexicon. We say this to our friends and to our enemies: We will continue until we defeat them. We have no alternative,” Netanyahu told air force personnel.

“Our enemies misjudged us. They thought that on the crucial day, we would not report for duty. We reported together and now we are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder,” added the prime minister, in an apparent reference to the judicial reform controversy.

Netanyahu concluded by saying, “The entire nation is united and relies on you, appreciates what you are doing and believes in you. We will continue together until victory.”

At least 1,400 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 surprise attacks on southern Israeli communities. The number of confirmed hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip stands at 240, including an unknown number of U.S. citizens.

Hamas planned for massacre during Passover, Iran forced delay - report

Hamas's mass infiltration and massacre of Israelis on October 7 was originally intended to take place during last Passover's Seder meal, Israeli journalist Ben Caspit reported on Sunday evening.

As per the report, Iran decided to delay the organized assault on civilians to Simchat Torah due to reasons that are unclear. However, Caspit speculated, it could have been delayed due to informal negotiations with the United States which led to $6 billion being freed up for Iran in September.

The report noted that the information was uncovered during the interrogation of Hamas terrorists who participated in the October 7 massacre. Israeli report: October 7 was chosen due to Yom Kippur war anniversary

Further, Caspit reported that the October 7 date was chosen partly due to its proximity to the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.

Caspit did note that the information "might not have reached decision-makers or passed a validity test.

"But it did reach the ears of interrogators," Caspit said.

President of Israel Isaac Herzog: This Is Not a Battle Just between Israel and Hamas

I write these lines after spending time with the families of some of the 240 people kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7. The hostages now held in Gaza include Jewish Israelis, Muslim Israelis and foreign citizens of different ethnicities. In all my years of public life, the meetings with these families were the most difficult I've ever held.

I've also spoken with families of some of the more than 1,400 of my people who were killed that day, many of them murdered in their living rooms and kitchens or dancing at a music festival. When I returned from one kibbutz devastated in the attack, I had to wash the blood off my shoes. Tragedy is part of Israeli life, but none of us imagined a tragedy like this.

Against our will, we in Israel find ourselves at a tipping point for the Middle East and for the world. This is not a battle between Jews and Muslims. It is between those who adhere to norms of humanity and those practicing a barbarism that has no place in the modern world.

Almost as disturbing for me is the realization that many in the world, including in the West, are willing to rationalize these actions or even support them outright. In the capitals of Europe, we've seen rallies supporting the total destruction of Israel. Professors and students at American colleges make speeches and sign statements justifying terrorism, even glorifying it. It would have been unthinkable to hear such moral confusion uttered after the Sept. 11 attacks or after bombings in London, Barcelona and Baghdad.

The terrorist ideology threatens all decent people, not only Jews. History has taught us that foul ideologies often find the Jewish people first - but tend not to stop there. We find ourselves on the front lines of this battle, but all nations face this threat, and they must understand that they could be next.

Palestinian civilian casualties are encouraged by Hamas in order to draw global sympathy and blunt Israel's response. But anyone who thinks the cynical exploitation of civilian suffering will tie our hands and save Hamas this time is wrong. For us and for the Palestinians, the suffering will end only with the removal of Hamas. Anyone trying to tie our hands is, intentionally or not, undermining not only Israel's defense but also any hope for a world where these atrocities cannot happen.

Herzog launches campaign to honor Israel’s fallen

Israeli President Isaac Herzog invited people around the world to light a candle on Sunday evening in memory of the 1,400 people murdered by Hamas during the terror group’s Oct. 7 invasion of the Jewish state.

The initiative, marking 30 days since the massacre, began on Sunday at 6 p.m. Israel Standard Time.

The campaign calls to light a candle, take a picture and post it online accompanied by #The_Light_Will_Overcome.

“Today, we light a candle and remember the victims, the women and men, babies and the elderly, soldiers and commanders. We remember them all,” said Herzog as he lit the first candle at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

“We all kindle a flame, we light a candle, and stand for the simple, basic truth: together, the light will overcome,” he added. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and first lady Michal Herzog light a memorial candle at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, Nov. 5, 2023. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO.

Last week, Herzog gave a televised address in which he hailed the nation’s “resilience, spirit and soul.”

“It’s been almost a month since our country underwent a serious change. For almost a month we have been in a war like no other. Almost a month has passed since that cursed day, when the sun rose, the flowers blossomed and butchers slaughtered, slaughtered and slaughtered—women and men, elderly and infants,” he said.

“I would like to speak of [a] source of great hope at this time, even now—in the fog, especially now. The Israeli spirit. An unbreakable spirit. The spirit of a storm which rose from ashes and destruction and is already blowing with all its might. This spirit has revealed itself mightily, in thousands of heroic stories from the frontline and the home front.

“It blows through each outreached hand, in the exemplary Israeli volunteerism and mutual responsibility, seeking to strengthen, to embrace, to support.

“It blows in every corner of our remarkable country—every corner. It is an eternal spirit, passed on to us from the generations before us, a spirit which will continue to guide us, generation to generation.

“This spirit is you—my sisters and brothers—the people of Israel. Israeli society is our true secret weapon. You are my greatest hope, our greatest hope. Am Yisrael Chai [‘The People of Israel lives’],” added the president.

The Chanukah miracle of the last drops of Gaza fuel lasting three weeks

The World Health Organization warned that Gaza hospitals are at a breaking point.

That was October 12.

UNICEF warned that incubators were hours away from being shut down due to lack of fuel in Gaza:

That was October 22.

Now, let's look at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City last night, where Hamas held a rally, complete with huge video screen:

Notice all the lights, inside and outside the hospital.

Looks like they had plenty of fuel there, three weeks after supplies were supposed to run dry. It's a miracle!

UNICEF and WHO are useful idiots, willing to believe the lies that are told by Hamas and their partners.

And notice that none of the attendees seem at all concerned to go out in the open, publicly, when they accuse Israel of "genocide." If they really thought that Israel was hellbent on murdering all Gazans, why would they go out in the open?

They are all voluntary human shields for Hamas, whose headquarters is directly underneath them.

Notice also that all the attendees are young men of military age.

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It is insulting (and possibly antisemitic) to keep reminding Israel about "international law" when Israel is following it perfectly.

All over the media, and with virtually all statements from politicians who claim that Israel has a right to defend itself, we hear - over and over - the caveat: "Israel must respect international law." (I'm not even discussin gthose who say Israel is violating international law.)

This is a blatant insult. Not only that, it is (mostly subconsciously) invoking antisemitic tropes.

The IDF has more layers of legal oversight than perhaps any nation on Earth. They are summarized here in a recent article (worth reading in full) by Colonel John Merriam, a U.S. Army Judge Advocate:

[T]he IDF’s MAG Corps is an exceptionally competent group of advisors on the law of armed conflict that is organized to ensure IDF commanders have access to high-caliber legal advice in real time. Once planners identify and propose targets based on anticipated or actual missions and operational goals, lawyers from the International Law Department (ILD) review each. When hostilities break out, a group of additional LOAC experts, including both active duty and reserve officers, augments the ILD; this combined task-organized entity is known as the Operational Law Apparatus (OLA). The head of the ILD commands it. Members of the OLA determine whether the proposed target qualifies as a “military objective,” identify possible proportionality concerns, and provide input on other LOAC prohibitions, restrictions, and obligations.

... I am confident that the IDF has mainstream legal positions and is equipped with first-rate legal advisors.

He's not the only US military law expert who has said this. Israel has not, and will not, violate the laws of armed conflict. Hell, Israelis are in the forefront of refining those very laws because of Israel's unique circumstances of having to fight terror groups who pretend to be civilians, use civilian vehicles, commandeer civilian ambulances and hide behind civilian objects. International law journals have lots of articles written by Israelis, and some of the top scholars of the laws of armed conflict are Israeli.

If the top US military experts say that Israel's legal position is largely in line with that of the US itself, why do so many keep reminding Israel that it must adhere to international law standards? It's like telling your friend that she has to brush her teeth every day - the very request is insulting because it implies you don't think she does.

But the repeated insistence that Israel adhere to international law also recalls antisemitic tropes - that Jews are slyly always looking to skirt the law themselves.

An early example comes from the 19th century, when Jews were routinely accused of setting fires to their own property in order to collect insurance.Some insurance companies mid-century refused to insure Jews altogether because of the perceived additional risk. But the upshot is that Jews were assumed, as a group, to be underhanded, clannish, untrustworthy and criminal. Jewish characteristics were described as "cunning, avaricious, pitiless."

This repeated demand that Israel does something that is not explicitly and continually requested from any other in any other war sounds uncomfortably like no one really trusts the Jews to be law-abiding.

The other antisemitic corollary to the repeated demands of adherence to international law is that Jews are not trustworthy. Israel has insisted from the beginning that it always follows the laws of armed conflict, but no other country seems to really believe it. It is just another Jewish trick, it seems. In order to violate the principle of distinction, and to a large extent proportionality, means one must have the intent to hurt civilians. Without intent or gross negligence, there is no war crime. Israel cannot reveal its sources of intelligence and reporters cannot understand why so many civilians have to die in any attack, but they assume that Israel has no valid reason - meaning either Israeli intent to kill civilians or basic disregard for their lives.

That means that they are assuming Israelis are liars. Which is definitely antisemitic. And when you compare this to the media's eagerness to accept Hamas information about the war, it indicates a deep-seated prejudice, not "even-handedness."

Yes, alarming numbers of civilians are dying in Gaza. But Israel is doing everything humanly possible to minimize their deaths given the imperative to destroy Hamas - sending out millions of warnings, opening up humanitarian corridors, working to use the least lethal weapons possible. Outside the US, I'm not aware of any country that has worked harder in wartime to minimize civilian casualties, and Israel's historical record of civilian to combatant death ratio is lower than in any conflict in history in urban areas.

Instead of assuming Israel is acting in good faith, the world chides Israel of not doing enough, out of malice or vengeance. This is a despicable lie, it is antisemitic, and it is an insult.

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Arab media doesn't even pretend to be "anti-Zionist" anymore - it is antisemitic, period

Like Western Leftist antisemitism, Arab antisemitism has generally tried to disguise itself as "anti-Zionism" for the past couple of decades, ever since MEMRI reports of explicit antisemitism in Arabic language media started making it into mainstream media.

This is all changing, very quickly.

There are multiple, blatant antisemitic articles in Arabic language media every day, and the number has been skyrocketing since October 7.

The worst I saw so far this weekend was from Egyptian Major General Muhammad Al-Ghobari, former director of the National Defense College, who said on Egyptian TV that "“The ancient kingdom of David is the beginning of the formation of the kingdom that the Jews dream of, and the beginning after that of the scorched earth policy and control of the earth’s wealth. One of the customs of the Jews is killing, as an entire city with 10,000 people was killed, and the Jews were dancing with charred corpses next to them, and treachery and blood are among their characteristics."

He also said that Freemasonry is a Zionist tool for dismantling societies in the world.

There were a number of articles quoting the hadith that rocks and trees will identify Jews so Muslims will kill them, as well as assurances that Israel is planting lots of "gharqad" trees that Muslims say would protect them.

Dr. Ali Gomaa, the former Mufti of Egypt and a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, quoted the nonexistent "verse 111 of the Talmud" that supposedly says that Jews are not allowed to return to Israel and if anyone does "you will be slaughtered like deer." He also quoted the "stone and tree" hadith.

Muslims have also been circulating an old clip of Imam Sheikh Muhammad Metwally Al-Shaarawi, saying that the Muslim obligation to kill all the Jews couldn't be fulfilled until they returned to Israel and were all in one place. Now they are ripe for genocide.

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