Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Friday, November 15, 2024

11/15 Links Pt2: The myth of ‘white’ Israel; BBC News – a factory of anti-Israeli propaganda; Pro-Palestinian vandals invade home of UW president

Following Israel’s declaration, two significant events reshaped the region. On 15 May 1948, a coalition of neighbouring Arab armies – those of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt – launched an assault on the fledgling Jewish State. At the same time, a sweeping expulsion of Jews began across North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf, targeting an entire ethnic group that had lived in these lands for thousands of years.

Between 1948 and the early 1970s, nearly a million Jews were forced from their homes across the region, effectively erasing centuries-old communities. Iraq’s once thriving Jewish population of 130,000 was reduced to near extinction, with 120,000 fleeing by the early 1950s. Yemen’s 50,000 Jews disappeared in the span of a year from 1949, while Syria’s 30,000 Jews were driven out by escalating violence.

In North Africa, Egypt’s 80,000-strong Jewish community dwindled to just a few dozen, driven out by a succession of anti-Jewish laws. Libya expelled its 38,000 Jews by the 1960s. Algeria’s 140,000 Jews had mostly left for France by 1962. Morocco was once home to a large Jewish community, with a population numbering between 250,000 and 350,000. However, rising Arab nationalism forced most to emigrate, with only a couple of thousand remaining today.

This purge didn’t occur in a vacuum. Jews and Christians in the Islamic world had long been relegated to second-class status, forced to pay special taxes and subjected to arbitrary and discriminatory laws. The mass expulsions following Israel’s creation were simply the culmination of a long history of subjugation.

Today, around 50 per cent of Israel’s Jewish population is of Mizrahi descent – Jews whose parents and grandparents were forcibly expelled from neighbouring Muslim lands. Their ancestors had likely never set foot in Europe.

Israel’s ethnic makeup is approximately 73 per cent Jewish and 19 per cent Muslim, with Christians, Druze and other minorities making up the rest. All Israeli citizens are afforded equal rights under the law, including religious and political freedom. Israel is, in every sense, a Middle Eastern melting pot.

The claim that Israel is a ‘white’ coloniser nation is a myth cooked up by identity politics. The only way that the average keffiyeh-wearing student protester is able to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict is through this identitarian lens. Because whiteness has become shorthand for privileged oppressors, the Israelis must be ‘white’ in contrast to the ‘brown’ Palestinians – thus making Israel an acceptable target of woke vitriol. This simplistic fantasy is just another attempt to delegitimise and demonise the Jewish State.

There is an irony in the slurs that were yelled out on the London Underground last month. Israel is a diverse nation, a place where many people rub along. ‘Whites out of Palestine’ is an absurd chant. Israelis do not segregate themselves on racial or ethnic lines. Sadly, the same could probably not be said about those protesting against them.

Seth Mandel: The Illusion of Jewish Free-Speech Rights

Less than a week after the pogrom in Amsterdam, UN celebrity Jew-baiter Francesca Albanese was scheduled to speak in London. Albanese has embraced authoritarian anti-Semitism and become a hero to the worst people in politics. The Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, a British organization, worked up plans to protest Albanese’s arrival.

But the protest never happened. The Telegraph explained why: Security officials picked up chatter on social media apps in which locals were very plainly making plans to attack the Jewish demonstrators. “Can’t wait to give the welcome they deserve,” said one resident, to which another—who had been using anti-Semitic lingo in the chat—responded: “Amsterdam-style.”

Thus the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism was put in a position familiar to Jewish groups: take the risk or call it off.

There are two broad lessons here. The first is that while Jews nominally have the same rights as anyone, in practice that’s a joke. A popular defense of the pogromists has been that the Jews got what they deserved because some of the Maccabi fans sang provocative chants in response to taunting from the crowd as they walked to the subway.

According to this logic, after every march in which keffiyeh-clad protesters chant “from the river to the sea” and other such phrases, it would be normal for Americans to carry out mass organized violence against anyone from the general public seen wearing a checkered scarf.

This argument boils down to: “The Jews deserved it because one single time they behaved as we behave weekly and sometimes daily.”

Meanwhile, the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism has no record of chanting soccer taunts. May they peacefully protest? The answer, in this case, was no—because nobody actually cares what Jews say; they only care that Jews exist. So the Jews stayed home.

And as events in Chicago recently demonstrated, you can establish a tent city to block Jews from walking through campus, but if you are Jewish and you set up a two-man station on one street corner with a sign that says “ask me about Israel” you can expect to have your skull beaten in.

David Collier: BBC News – a factory of anti-Israeli propaganda

If you want to find bias in BBC News, you really do not have to look far. In just 30 hours, the BBC hate factory pushed out five articles – all full of distortion and lies. One even blatantly promotes a blood libel. This is not about a problematic journalist who manages to sneak a dodgy article past a sleepy gatekeeper. It is as if the BBC has declared war on the Jewish state. The arsenal of the public broadcaster is pointing firmly at Israel – and the result is a conveyor belt of articles – all shaped to demonise the only democracy in the Middle East.

On Thursday I took a look at the Israel / Gaza page on the BBC website. Scrolling down, you can see all the latest articles posted on the topic. It quickly becomes apparent that approximately every six hours BBC Journalists are posting another article – every single one of them is attacking Israel. No balance, no context, no alternative voice.

BBC factory of hate
Five anti-Israel posts published within 30 hours. It is worth noting that on Wednesday 13th, six Israeli soldiers were killed by Hezbollah terrorists, the terror group fired dozens of rockets at Israel (including at the central region), and on Tuesday 12th, two civilians were killed by Hezbollah rocket fire in Nahariya. None of this was important enough for a standalone BBC article. So let us look at the five that did make the grade:

BBC hate factory – article 1: Violating the Syrian ceasefire

The article carries a joke of a headline and is not newsworthy at all. In fact, as you read towards the end of the article, it becomes apparent that even the BBC journalist knows it isn’t. Yet the editorial spin is left intact so as to make sure from the headline that people think Israel is doing something wrong. Israel was attacked from Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. Three of these places have a border with the Jewish state. Israel is rejigging its security – an understandable and legitimate act following the Oct 7 atrocities and all that has occurred since.

The BBC tell us the work is taking place near Majdal Shams. The article also suggests this ‘frontier’ has remained ‘relatively calm’. It appears the journalist did not bother to look up Majdal Shams, as 11 Druze children were killed by Hezbollah as they played football in the Druze town. Not mentioned in this BBC hit piece of course. How can you fail to mention a massacre of children that took place in the very place you are claiming is quiet?

More than this. The BBC often use UN statements as a means of attacking Israel – as if the UN is an impartial and respected organisation. This badly misinforms readers. Not only is the UN body ‘UNRWA’ in bed with Hamas, another UN body ‘UNIFIL’ allowed Hezbollah to turn Sth Lebanon into a terrorist fortress. When you also consider the UN has a twisted obsession with attacking Israel, the UNGA is overrun with despotic regimes, and the UNHRC (courtesy of the UNGA) is fronted by the world’s worst human rights offenders, no impartial and serious media outlet should ever mention the UN without a reminder that all UN criticism of Israel should be treated with scepticism.

The BBC never does this – which is either unforgivable amateurish reporting, simple stupidity, or a deliberate intent to mislead.

11/15 Links Pt1: America’s Words and Amsterdam’s Example; Who Won the Jewish Vote?; Israel destroyed secret Iranian nuclear research facility

From Ian:

Meir Y. Soloveichik: America’s Words and Amsterdam’s Example

Kisin is exactly right, and another insightful outsider allows us to understand why philo-Semitism in America is so profound. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks recounted how, as a college student, he visited Washington for the first time and was struck by the fact that the memorials for great American figures featured not only images but words as well. The Jefferson Memorial, for example, features not only a statue of the author of the Declaration of Independence but also the words of the document that changed the world. David Chester French’s memorial for Lincoln houses not only the statue of an enthroned president but also the chiseled texts of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. In contrast, Sacks continued, the statue in Westminster of Churchill—for whom words were somewhat important—contains only a single word: “Churchill.”

The point, Sacks explained, is that America was inspired by the Hebraic conception of covenant, of a nation dedicated to an idea. Only with this in mind can the story of Jews in America—and the American affection for Israel—be understood.

It bears remembering that America was not the first nation to be inspired by the Jews. As I write these words, the Internet is filled with videos of an anti-Semitic pogrom in Amsterdam. The images ought to be haunting and horrific to anyone, but they are particularly so for those who understand what Amsterdam once meant to Jewish history.

It was in Amsterdam that the Jews of Europe—expelled from England and burned alive in the auto-da-fé of Spain and Portugal—first found a beacon of freedom in the 1600s. As the historian Steven Nadler notes, the fact that this occurred is not happenstance; it “goes right to the heart of Dutch identity in the seventeenth century, particularly as this evolved through the struggle for independence from Spain and the political, social, and artistic forces unleashed by that crusade.” The Dutch, Nadler reflects,

saw their own recent history—their campaign for political sovereignty, liberated from Spain, and for religious freedom from Catholic oppression—reflected in the biblical story of the Israelite struggle for emancipation from bondage in Egypt and the subsequent fight to claim the lands that God had promised them.… By 1648, with the Dutch victory over Spain finalized with the Peace of Westphalia, an equally apt, and equally overplayed, biblical image was available: David vanquishing Goliath. This brilliant vision went beyond the military struggle and colored the internal politics of the new nation. The Dutch found in Hebrew Scripture a rich source of models for both martial and civic virtues: courage, temperance, fortitude, wisdom, and justice. The republic was often likened to the Israelite commonwealth, and its rulers to the Hebrew judges and kings.

Before America, there was Amsterdam. But it was not in the Netherlands that Jews found full equality; that would come only in the country that would place human equality at the core of its creed and consider itself covenantal in seeking to further this vision. That is why Kisin is correct in understanding the philo-Semitism that is still to be found in the American electorate. It is rooted in the fact that, as Sacks put it, “Israel, ancient and modern, and the United States are the two supreme examples of societies constructed in conscious pursuit of an idea.”

What happened in Amsterdam is, of course, a warning for America, for it is, alas, not difficult to ima-gine a similar mob made manifest on an Ivy League college quad or on the streets of Los Angeles or New York. Nevertheless, at the end of an eventful first week in November, one truth is quite clear. The commonality between America and Israel—and the bond built upon it—endures. And surely, whatever one’s views on the many policy questions facing this country in this season of Thanksgiving, that is a reason for gratitude.

John Podhoretz: They’re Hunting Us Down

In fact, the rampage against Israelis in Amsterdam in November was literally dubbed a “Jew hunt” in the WhatsApp chat groups that organized it. True to classic anti-Semitic form, the beatings and menacings were instantly blamed on Jewish soccer hooligans in town to watch the Maccabi team play. That is the Big Lie of the year. It had begun to take shape the evening before and was organized through WhatsApp and Telegram—with Uber drivers and others sharing information about where Israelis were walking and where they were staying. People working in hotels sent word that the Jews had come back to their rooms.

Officials in Amsterdam have made it clear in no uncertain terms that whatever behavior Israelis might have engaged in, they did not precipitate, nor do they bear any responsibility for, the violence. The “it was Jewish soccer hooligans who did this to themselves” line is the deployment of a classic anti-Semitic trope, and the Jews who have engaged in it because they cannot bear to look at reality in the face better wise up. Because even an Episcopalian vegan loather of Israel who bears the once-Jewish name of Sulzberger might find himself being hunted.

In the same week that the Jew hunt was taking place in the land of the wooden shoe, a little boy was nearly snatched away from his father on a street in Brooklyn; a 13-year-old kid on a bicycle was slapped as he rode by; a Hasidic man was brutally beaten; another man was slashed in the face by a man shouting “f—k you guys.” Outside a kosher supermarket in Manhattan, a man was called a dirty Jew and spat upon. In Chicago, two Jews at DePaul University were beaten just weeks after an illegal immigrant from Mauritania shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he shot a visibly Orthodox man on his way to synagogue. There are daily incidents now in Toronto and Montreal in which individual Jews are being targeted.

It’s 13 months since the slaughter of 1,200 Jews, the wounding of thousands more, and the taking of hostages. Attacks on Jews are increasing in number and in brutality. The effort to “globalize the intifada” is no longer metaphorical. The design of the intifada in Israel two decades ago was to make everyone feel unsafe at every moment, to render daily life intolerable. Here in America, either law enforcement will rise to the occasion and raise the cost of Jew-hunting so high that those tempted to engage in it will stand down. Or Jews are going to take matters into their own hands.

And when we decide to do a thing, we do it.

Iran and Qatar Have Their Fingerprints All Over South Africa's Anti-Israel 'Genocide' Case, Report Finds

Iran, Qatar, Hamas, and other terrorist entities are quietly underwriting South Africa's effort to prosecute Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a new report obtained by the Washington Free Beacon alleges.

South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), brought its case against Israel on Dec. 29, 2023, just three months after Hamas's terror spree left more than 1,200 dead and hundreds more kidnapped. The suit alleges that Israel is committing mass genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip but offers little evidence to support this claim. Nevertheless, more than a dozen countries have joined the suit over the last year, elevating international pressure on Israel as the Jewish state fights to survive.

The timing of the lawsuit is raising fresh questions about South Africa's motivation for bringing it, prompting an in-depth investigation by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), a nonprofit that studies global Jew-hatred. The report "connects South Africa's political and financial alignment with Iran and Qatar—both leading supporters of global terrorism—with its campaign to bring a legal case against Israel," ISGAP said in a draft press release.

The African National Congress, ISGAP found, was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy before it received a mysterious cash infusion in early 2024—just days after it launched the ICJ case against Israel. The source of this cash, the report states, is believed to be Iran and its regional allies, including Qatar, which are using South Africa to launder baseless claims against Israel and ratchet up diplomatic pressure amid a brutal yearlong war.

"Crucially, this money appeared in the ANC's coffers without explanation, mere days after the South African government brought its case against Israel at the ICJ," according to ISGAP's report. "Given the lack of merit in South Africa's case, and the unlikely possibility that it was brought unilaterally by an unpopular and near-bankrupt ANC, a crucial question arises. Who is actually funding South Africa's case at the ICJ?"

African National Congress leaders, including South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, have declined to disclose the source of this funding, which helped the party recover from nearly $30 million in debt.

Putting a case before the ICJ requires deep pockets. Estimates place the preliminary costs at around $10.5 million, with a trial running as high as $79 million. "Given the enormity of the cost, it is difficult to dismiss the argument that South Africa was the beneficiary of considerable external support," according to ISGAP's report.

In March, the Electoral Commission of South Africa opened an investigation into how the ANC settled its soaring debt.

By Daled Amos

The current Gaza War highlights a point made in previous wars between Israel and Hamas: Israel is not very good at hasbara. It is not good at defending itself or presenting its own case.

Why is that?

If you ask ChatGPT, it will give you eight reasons Israel is bad at public diplomacy.

Complex and Controversial Policies: Israel’s policies, particularly in relation to the Palestinians, involve a complex mix of history, religion, and geopolitics. Issues like the Gaza blockade, West Bank settlements, and military operations against Hamas often draw criticism internationally. Explaining these policies in a way that aligns with Israel’s security concerns while resonating with global audiences—who may lack context or see these actions as overly aggressive—is a significant hurdle.

Reactive Rather than Proactive Messaging: Often, Israel’s hasbara efforts tend to be reactive, responding to crises as they occur rather than establishing a strong, proactive narrative. This reactive stance means Israel is frequently on the defensive, trying to counter criticisms or viral images that have already shaped public opinion, rather than setting the terms of the debate.

Media and Cultural Differences: The media landscape in the West, particularly in Europe and the U.S., can have biases, or they might frame issues in ways that amplify the Palestinian narrative. Furthermore, Israeli communication style—often direct and sometimes confrontational—doesn't always translate well in other cultures, where diplomacy and softer rhetoric might be preferred.

Lack of Unified Messaging: Israel’s messaging often lacks coordination. Various ministries and agencies in Israel, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and the Prime Minister’s Office, may put out different messages, leading to a lack of cohesion. This disunity can result in inconsistent narratives that dilute Israel’s main talking points.

Underestimating Social Media Impact: Social media has amplified global awareness and activism, making it easy for images and stories to go viral, often before Israel can issue an official response. Additionally, Palestinian activists have been more effective at creating emotionally resonant content that tends to resonate more powerfully on platforms like Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Israel’s response on these platforms can feel less impactful or, at times, unrelatable to the younger generation that dominates these spaces.

Changing Global Perceptions: Public opinion globally has become more sensitive to human rights issues, and there’s a growing skepticism of military power and occupation-style control over other peoples. This has made Israel’s security-driven messaging less effective over time, especially with younger audiences who may sympathize more with Palestinians as an oppressed group.

Language and Accessibility: Hebrew-centric narratives or content that presupposes knowledge of Jewish or Israeli culture may not always resonate with global audiences. Similarly, English-language messaging is critical, but without nuanced, culturally aware English-language communicators, messaging can feel disconnected or out of touch with international sentiments.

Perception of Overreach: Sometimes, efforts in hasbara can backfire, particularly if seen as propaganda rather than genuine engagement. International audiences may become distrustful if they perceive a heavy-handed or overly defensive communication style, potentially diminishing Israel’s credibility.

These are technical reasons, focusing on the nature of the message that Israel is trying to present, on the kind of audience, or on the nature of the medium. These reasons don't completely explain why it is that the Palestinian Arabs are so adept at overcoming these hurdles.

But, another perception of Israel's hasbara problem was expressed by Haviv Rettig Gur in an interview posted on YouTube. At one point he was asked about a lecture he gave where he contrasted the claim that early settlers were inspired by the Herzl and the Zionist ideology as opposed to the fact that the early settlers were refugees fleeing pogroms in Russia -- the difference being the greater sympathy garnered by the latter interpretation.

Haviv Rettig Gur (YouTube screencap)

Gur attributes the failure in Israeli hasbara to a basic Israeli attitude:

First of all, we don't tell it [that the early settlers were refugees] to the rest of the world because we don't talk to the rest of the world about these things. One of the hearts and soul of the center of our DNA and understanding of History, is the idea that we don't justify ourselves to the world...we don't justify ourselves because in the mind that is watching us, that is observing us, that is making demands of us. we're a moral cartoon serving, the needs of the cartoonist and that is not a fight you can win...

By the way, this creates a real cultural incapacity to explain ourselves seriously And you see it everywhere. I mean, you see it in Israelis literally having trouble on CNN explaining, you know, whether or not Israel is right or wrong because the feeling that you're justifying is something that is antithetical to their basic cultural identity.

It's why the Israeli government has established a Public Diplomacy Ministry five times and the last time it closed the public diplomacy ministry was I think October 16 or October 18. The public diplomacy minister of Israel got up on national television. She was a Likud appointee to the Knesset by an ally of Netanyahu and she said obviously this is a fake thing, public diplomacy...I'm an Israeli Patriot, she said and in wartime, I will not waste public funds on a fake ministry and so she resigned and she shut down her ministry on national television To me, that's astonishing because what's even more astonishing is nobody in the government blinked, there is nobody in Israeli government responsible for public diplomacy in any way responsible for synergizing, different branches, and everyone speaks their own mind...

The biggest drink company in Israel is Coca-Cola. Israel's marketing department is brilliant. It can hack the human brain stem like Coca-Cola everywhere. It's not that the Israelis are incapable of marketing, of telling stories of building out of selling ideas. It's that they can't do it for themselves because we don't justify ourselves...[transcribed and edited for clarity and conciseness]

Here is the Haviv Rettig Gur interview:

If Gur is correct, the solution to Israel's hasbara problem is even harder to address than the solutions to the technical issues in the ChatGPT list.

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!

Is Iran still planning to attack Israel after Trump's election victory?

JNS reports that the plans for Iran's attack have been put on hold:

The Iranian leadership decided to postpone a third direct attack on Israel following last week’s U.S. presidential election, won by Republican candidate Donald Trump, officials in Jerusalem familiar with the matter told Israel Hayom on Thursday.

The Israeli report came a day after Iranian sources told Sky News that Trump’s impending return to the White House led the Tehran regime to delay the attack.

According to Israel Hayom, the Islamic Republic shelved its plans in the hope of kick-starting negotiations with the Trump administration, which will take charge at noon on Jan. 20.

The Israeli sources also said that the incoming administration is drafting plans to bring down the Islamist regime, which has ruled Iran for more than four decades. Tehran’s decision to refrain from attacking Israel at this time was reportedly made to head off this scenario.

Trump's victory already appears to have had a greater effect on Iran's aggressiveness than any number of President Biden's "Don't" warnings.

But while their rhetoric has calmed down, Iranian media is still insisting that plans are moving ahead for what they call "Operation True Promise 3". Yesterday a member of Iran's Expediency Council said that "we are preparing" for the operation. An IRGC official said on Sunday night that the attack will come when Iran's Supreme Leader says it will. A cleric today said "determination, Iranian courage and Islamic honor require that the Sadiq 3 operation be carried out."

And one outlet released a movie trailer about the promised attack.

This is a far cry from the extreme warmongering rhetoric in the first week of November. There seems no doubt that Trump's victory has checked Iran's ambitions, as they know that he plans to reimpose sanctions that were loosened by the current administration and it is not politically wise to attack Israel when the incoming White House is uncompromisingly pro-Israel.

Meanwhile it appears that Israel's last attack on Iran was even more effective than reported. Axios says:

The Israeli attack on Iran in late October destroyed an active top secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin, according to three U.S. officials, one current Israeli official and one former Israeli official.

The strike — which targeted a site previously reported to be inactive — significantly damaged Iran's effort over the past year to resume nuclear weapons research, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

One former Israeli official briefed on the strike said it destroyed sophisticated equipment used to design the plastic explosives that surround uranium in a nuclear device and are needed to detonate it.

This was a way for Israel to attack Iran's nuclear program without Iran being able to deny it, since the program is not supposed to exist. It also highlights Israel's intelligence capabilities, as well as Israel's ability to identify the critical links in the supply chain necessary to build a nuclear device and damage the program without having to attack well-fortified uranium enrichment facilities or the like.

And this might be part of Iran's calculations as to when and how to attack Israel, knowing that this was a relatively easy target to destroy.

(h/t Yoel)

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!

Islamic Jihad inadvertently admits it hides among civilians

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights reports, "In Qadsiya [Damascus], ten members of an Iran-backed Palestinian movement were killed and six others were injured in an attack on a compound of buildings inhabited of Palestinians."

Islamic Jihad admits that Israel killed its people. But it claims that Israel attacked residential buildings:

The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine announced, on Thursday evening, 11/14/2024, to our great Palestinian people and to the sons of our Arab and Islamic nation, a group of the movement’s sons who were martyred in the sinful aggression that targeted the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday evening.

Jihad said in a statement that reached the Palestine Today News Agency: “The barbaric aggression launched by the enemy army against a number of civilian institutions and residential homes comes within the framework of its ongoing crimes against the peoples of our nation, and reflects its military failure in confronting the resistance forces on the ground, especially in Gaza and southern Lebanon.”

Israel says that it attacked the Islamic Jihad military headquarters in Damascus. Islamic Jihad their fighters were killed in civilian areas.

They are both telling the truth. Islamic Jihad is putting its military in civilian areas - in Damascus, in Lebanon, in Gaza, in the West Bank.

This time, in their eagerness to charge Israel as attacking civilian areas, they are admitting to a war crime.

The video of the airstrike shows that it was in an urban neighborhood, so almost certainly Islamic Jihad was holed up in an apartment building.

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!

11/14 Links Pt2: Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the Antisemitic Violence Engulfing Europe; Ben & Jerry’s sues Unilever for blocking ‘pro-Palestine’ action

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: America’s electrifying counter-revolution

America is attempting to clean up its house. Europeans are burning theirs down.

Within hours of his re-election as president of the United States, Donald Trump started the process of rolling back the influence of the left on American society.

In a series of uncompromising statements, Trump announced that he would reclaim the universities from “Marxist maniacs,” deport Hamas sympathizers and haters of America, and tear up the entire “climate change” agenda.

His picks for government positions have been no less uncompromising. One after another, his senior appointments have been of people who take absolutely no prisoners in their support for Israel, in their attachment to core Western values, including biblical faith, and in their commitment to uphold and defend America’s interests at home and abroad.

It’s an electrifying turnaround following four years of America’s defeatism, self-destruction and dumping on its allies. Israel is daring to wonder if, at long last, it might be allowed to win its war of survival and if, even more amazingly, an elusive peace might actually be brought to the whole region.

Others are more cautious, viewing Trump as the ultimate loose cannon and observing uneasily that a couple of his administration picks have controversial and even obnoxious records.

Nevertheless, his victory has given hope to those who have watched aghast as America has steadily immolated itself in the flames of cultural division, national self-hatred and unreason—the bonfire of Western identity and constitutional order that was lit and relentlessly stoked by the left.

In that process, the mainstream media have been active players by reflexively pushing the falsehoods and distortions of anti-American, anti-West and anti-Israel ideology.

Trump’s stunning victory was as much as anything an emphatic repudiation of those media outlets by millions of Americans who just aren’t buying it anymore and are instead getting their information—for good and ill—from X, podcasts and other social media.

Parts of the media appear to understand this and are also going in for some house cleaning. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, has announced that he will revamp his “very left” editorial board in order to include more conservative and centrist opinions in the paper.

And CNN is reportedly about to make sweeping layoffs, including some of its biggest stars, in a bid to save the network’s crashing reputation and ratings.

These are promising developments but will scarcely scratch the surface of the problem. The cultural malevolence in the “progressive” world, of which the media is its propaganda arm, is deeply ingrained and extends way beyond American politics.

Exposed: Anti-Israel Group Under Fire for Using Name of Raphael Lemkin, Zionist Who Coined the Term Genocide

Members of the family of Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer who coined the term “genocide” and pushed for the passage of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, say they are outraged that a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization is using the Lemkin name to pursue an agenda of extreme anti-Israel activism.

The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention was initially registered as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation on Aug. 19, 2021, and won US federal tax-exempt recognition in September 2023. In recent months, it has veered into strident anti-Israel political advocacy, supporting anti-Israel campus protests and reaching millions of viewers with social media posts that falsely accuse Israel of genocide.

Less than one week after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, the institute released a “genocide alert” calling the onslaught an “unprecedented military operation against Israel” while decrying the Jewish state’s actions against Hamas as “genocide.” The Oct. 13 message came before Israeli launched its ground offensive in Gaza.

Then on Oct. 18, 2023, the Lemkin Institute called on the International Criminal Court “to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the crime of #genocide in light of the siege and bombardment of #Gaza and the many expressions of genocidal intent.” The social media post accumulated 1.3 million views, according to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

The institute’s vocal anti-Israel advocacy has continued unabated for the past year. In September, for example, it described Israel’s war against Lebanese Hezbollah as “terrorism” and “the slaughter of Arab peoples” leading to “the wanton slaughter of all mankind.” The post did not mention that Hezbollah is an internationally designated terrorist organization that began firing rockets at Israel the day after the Oct. 7 attacks.

‘Totally Outraged’: Lemkin Family Disavows Institute
Joseph Lemkin, a New Jersey lawyer who is related to Raphael Lemkin, said he was unfamiliar with the institute until being informed of it by The Algemeiner.

Lemkin, who represented the family at a UN event marking the 65th anniversary of the genocide convention, described himself as “totally outraged” to see his late relative’s name used to push an anti-Israel agenda. His father was Raphael Lemkin’s first cousin.

Ben & Jerry’s sues Unilever for blocking ‘pro-Palestine’ action

Ice cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s on Wednesday sued its parent company, Unilever, for allegedly blocking its efforts to voice support for Palestinians in Gaza.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the United States, claims that Unilever had threatened to dismantle Ben & Jerry’s board and pursue legal action against its members over this issue, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit highlights ongoing tensions between Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever that began in 2021 when Ben & Jerry’s announced it would no longer sell its products in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Doing so ran contrary to Ben & Jerry’s values, the firm said. This decision prompted some investors to divest from Unilever.

Ben & Jerry’s has taken legal action against Unilever before, after it sold the brand’s business in Israel to a local licensee, allowing continued sales in Israel and Judea and Samaria. That lawsuit was settled in 2022.

In this latest legal action, Ben & Jerry’s accuses Unilever of violating terms of the confidential 2022 settlement. Under this agreement, Unilever is required to “respect and acknowledge the Ben & Jerry’s independent board’s primary responsibility over Ben & Jerry’s social mission,” according to the lawsuit.

“Ben & Jerry’s has on four occasions attempted to publicly speak out in support of peace and human rights,” the lawsuit states, “Unilever has silenced each of these efforts.”

Unilever did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

Last year, a Manhattan judge dismissed another lawsuit against Unilever by investors who said that Ben & Jerry’s political involvement on behalf of the Palestinians was hurting Unilever, and that Unilever had failed to properly disclose details about this.

11/14 Links Pt1: What an "America First" Policy Means for Israel; HRW's Bogus Gaza "Displacement" Report: Erasing Hamas and Manipulating Facts

From Ian:

Seth Frantzman: Israel must press ahead and finish off either Hamas or Hezbollah – for peace

The IDF is now deployed on two fronts. Five divisions – the bulk of the army – is in the north. Three divisions are operating in Gaza, while two have the job of securing the Gaza border and corridors across the Strip, one of which is south of Gaza City and the other runs along the Egyptian border. In essence, this leaves the IDF with only one division that can act as a mobile hammer against Hamas. It is not hard to transfer forces from the northern to southern fronts. The IDF moved the 98th Division from Gaza to fight in Lebanon in early September. Other units have moved from one area to another.

Israel faces numerous hurdles next year. Fewer IDF reservists are turning up to their units due to the strain of being called up for ten months out of the last year. Israel’s defence budget is ballooning, possibly creating more economic challenges for the country. Essential tools for the war effort such as D-9 bulldozers from the US are also taking time to arrive. Armoured vehicles have seen so much unprecedented action that the IDF now has to outsource repairs for them. This is what a long, intense war looks like.

But for all the challenges ahead, Israel has many opportunities. The incoming Trump administration is expected to be very supportive of Israel. This may deter Iran and its proxies, or at least give Israel a blank cheque to wipe the floor with them if need be. However, a blank cheque can also be deceptive. Israel will have the support it needs but it will need to decide what to do with all these open options.

Handing Hamas or Hezbollah a clear defeat is necessary for peace. Israel has eliminated the leaders of both groups, but the groups have vowed to carry on the war. They also have backing from abroad; Russia, Iran, China, Turkey and other countries have an interest in this war continuing, each for their own reasons. A clear victory on one of the fronts is therefore a setback for Iran in the region, and would also bolster the US and the west globally.

Trump admin will bring ‘new thinking’ to hostage deal stalemate, father of murdered captive says

Relatives of hostages, whom Hamas holds in Gaza, came out of a Wednesday afternoon Oval Office meeting with U.S President Joe Biden hopeful about future progress amid the lame duck period and transition of White House administrations.

JNS asked the family members if Biden had committed to do anything differently in the final two months of his tenure to secure a deal that would release the hostages.

“The fact that there is a new administration that will put new thoughts on the table, new thinking, and I think that–by itself—is a welcome progress,” Ruby Chen, the father of the Israeli-American hostage Itay Chen, whose body is being held in Gaza, told JNS. “We have been in a stalemate for a couple of months on the hostage deal.”

Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, said earlier in the day that the Biden administration “sent a signal” to Trump’s team that it is prepared to coordinate on a hostage deal.

There has been no agreement in place since Hamas broke a ceasefire following last November’s agreement, which resulted in the release of 50 Israeli hostages over a four-day pause in fighting. Some 101 hostages remain in Gaza, 97 of whom were abducted on Oct. 7. It isn’t known publicly how many are alive.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of Israeli-American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, told reporters that family members “came away absolutely understanding that with that same energy and investment, President Biden and his team will continue working to gain the release” of all the hostages “every moment up until Jan. 20,” the final day of Biden’s presidency.

Dekel-Chen said that the families are also calling on the incoming Trump administration “to use these next two months not to learn necessarily about the hostages, but to take action immediately with their counterparts in the national security structure of the United States government to make it happen now—before Inauguration Day.”

I am a Palestinian in Gaza. Hamas must cede control and release the hostages

Do not believe the liars who boast from hotel stages and appear on misleading satellite channels. Do not trust the pompous leaders, their assistants, the foolish drummers, or any spokesperson who lacks honor or piety. They are nothing but merchants of lies and fraud.

Believe us—the people of Gaza. We are the residents of worn-out tents, the living saints who see and witness everything. We alone know what has happened and what is happening. We feel the fire of war that was imposed upon us, on a morning we never could have imagined. It fell upon us like a day of reckoning, separating the industry of life from the game of death. We have become targets for bombings and displacement, with no one to protect or help us.

Do not believe the liars, and do not listen to those who invoke our name from afar. Do not call us heroes or steadfast. We are the unfortunate, displaced, exhausted, and suffering.

We have lost everything—everything, except our trust in our Lord to take revenge on those who brought this oppression upon us, who left us prey to be devoured by the occupation. We will also hold accountable those who kill, uproot, and rob us of our land, as well as those who profit from our pain.

This is our reality—plain and honest—not the lies of the deceitful or the claims of fools. Effective intervention must come from the Palestinian leadership led by President Mahmoud Abbas, recognized as the sole representative of the Palestinian people. Hamas must cede its control, allow a ceasefire, and facilitate the release of abductees in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The leadership must bear full responsibility, working with the world and Israel to rebuild Gaza and address all issues, paving the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace and stability alongside Israel.

Iran To Protect Navy, Oil From Israeli Strikes By Sinking Them Underwater (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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Bandar Abbas, November 17 - Escalating strikes between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel have leaders of the former worried about the vulnerability of its military and merchant vessels, a weak point in the regime's economic security, and as a result they have given preliminary approval to a plan that will send those vessels to the bottom of the Persian Gulf to prevent Israeli airstrikes or cruise missiles from hitting them, sources in Tehran reported today.

The Islamic Republic's continued support for various terrorist militias around the Jewish state, plus its own multiple ballistic and cruise missile attacks, prompted several Israeli reprisals and preemptive operations, the latest of which neutralized Iran's air defense systems, among other strategic targets, rendering sensitive and precarious pieces of the regime's strategic assets only one airstrike or other attack away from destruction or severe damage. Among those assets are elements of Iran's nuclear weapons program and the country's oil export facilities. Tehran will likely send those tankers and a number of both dockside and floating facilities to the sea bed, out of reach of Israeli bombs, missiles, or drones.

"Underwater environments wreak havoc with missile guidance systems," explained Iranian military expert Ayeet Mehrd. "Even pilots attempting to sight their targets visually cannot do so if the target lies below a certain depth. It makes obvious sense to protect whatever Iran can by sinking it in the Persian Gulf preemptively."

Analysts compared the move to siting important military installations or positions underground. "We know that tunnels and underground facilities are a staple of Iran and its proxies in the region," noted Mideast commentator Ahopyu Draoun. "Recent reports even have the Khamenei regime digging tunnels in Tehran itself. The principle for the maritime and naval assets is the same, but without all the digging."

Draoun also noted some potential pitfalls of the move. "Israel has a navy and even submarines," he observed. "Iran's defensive capabilities in that area are... less than impressive. Still, an Israeli operation all the way around the Arabian Peninsula, beyond the Strait of Hormuz, to hit those now-underwater targets, and back again, probably exceeds Israeli naval capabilities. Probably."

The Iranian sources further disclosed that the senior leadership of the regime had begun to lean in the direction of the submerging of the assets rather than a rival proposal involving the movement of the tankers into the interior of the country where Israeli naval assets could not reach them.

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What a surprise. @UNRWA schools with Hamas-linked principals taught support for terror and martyrdom

IMPACT-SE just released "Review of UNRWA Schools Headed by Hamas Principals." As it says:

[Israel] identified twelve UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip holding senior positions (schools principals, deputies, directors and deputy directors of training centers) as members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The intelligence shows that over 10% of the 510 employees in UNRWA's education system in the Gaza Strip, who hold senior positions, are members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, both of which are designated terror organizations.

Two of the Hamas-member UNRWA employees were principals of schools under which Hamas tunnels were built, as revealed by UNRWA itself: Al-Maghazi Boys Preparatory School B, and Al-Zaytun Boys Preparatory School A. ...

The report found that Al-Maghazi school produced material glorifying violence and terrorism, such as a text describing a firebomb attack on a bus carrying Israelis as a "barbecue party." The report also showed that terrorists such as Dalal Al-Mughrabi, who committed the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, are glorified as heroes in the classrooms of Al-Zaytun Boys Elementary Schools A, an UNRWA school located in the same complex as the Al-Zaytun Preparatory School. UNRWA repeatedly claims that it does not teach content praising Mughrabi, yet these examples are clear evidence to the contrary.

Furthermore, this report exposes new material prepared by and taught in three schools, whose principals were identified as Hamas operatives... Educational content prepared and adopted by these schools promotes libels against and non-recognition of Israel, and gratuitously inserts content promoting hatred and violence against Israel into grammar exercises.

Examples:

An Arabic Language study card produced by an UNRWA school in the Gaza Strip contains a reading comprehension story, cynically celebrating an attack on Israeli passengers traveling on a bus, describing it as a “barbecue party” (ḥaflat šiwā’). Contextually, this story references a 1988 Palestinian attack on an Israeli school bus near the settlement of Psagot in the West Bank, which involved the use of Molotov cocktails.

The 5th grade Arabic Language summary teaches a text titled "I Love My Village" (p. 8) which presents martyrdom in a positive light by praising the fact that the land—referring to Palestine—is “mixed with the blood of the martyrs.” It also teaches students (p. 15) that martyrdom and jihad are “the most important meanings of life” through an exercise practicing vocabulary and Arabic grammar.

On September 9, 2023, the Telegram group for the 5th grade [of one of the Hamas-led UNRWA schools] , class 1, posted a photo of a blackboard in a school classroom in which students are taught a lesson from the PA textbook titled "Hooray for the Heroes", which glorifies individuals affiliated with war, violence, religious extremism and even terrorism, such as Izz Ad-Din Al-Qassam. Children are encouraged to see these heroes as their role models: “each of us wishes to be like them”. The blackboard shows the name of the lesson's title and questions from the textbooks discussing the importance of such "heroes".

On March 2, 2022, the Telegram group for the 5th grade, class 1,144 posted images of a classroom blackboard displaying a large photo of Dalal Mughrabi, along with text venerating her from a PA Arabic textbook (Arabic Language, Grade 5, Vol. 2, 2020, p. 52.)145 The next day, on March 3, 2022, the same Telegram group posted photos of the students presenting to the class while standing in front of the blackboard with the lesson on [mass murderer] Dalal Mughrabi. [UNRWA has denied any school teach praise for Mughrabi.]

On September 14, 2023, Malek al-Harazin, a teacher at the school, uploaded a summary of a lesson from the National Education textbook to a grade 5 Telegram group. The summary teaches students that Israel steals Palestinian antiquities, presenting them as Jewish,166 which implies that Israel has no historic connection to the land. The summary uploaded by al-Harazin teaches that the aim behind the robbery of antiquities is to expel Palestinians and to colonize their lands.

Every time UNRWA is exposed, the agency denies, obfuscates and lies about their teachers - while they silently remove them from the classrooms and the websites from the Internet. And they just keep coming back.

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There is an excellent paper at JCPA showing how the EU spent over 1.8 billion euros to promote gender equality among women in the West Bank and Gaza - when the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are explicitly against women's rights.

As I looked a little deeper, I saw that Spain spent €300,000 on "Building a life free of violence against women in Area C of the Governorates of Bethlehem" in 2022. I wondered exactly what the problem is in Area C specifically, which is under Israeli security control.

According to UN documents and others, there is a real problem Since the Palestinian Authority police cannot operate in Area C, some abusive men flee to Area C to avoid being arrested. Also, Arabs who live in those areas do not have to worry about being prosecuted for abusing their wives because of the security vacuum.

So what can be done?

One NGO report summarized recommendations, mostly to add a Palestinian police presence in Area C - which would erode Israel's security control over the area and endanger Israeli citizens.

If Israel occupies those areas under international law, then Israel should be responsible for enforcing all laws including domestic violence among Arabs. Why do no NGOs demand Israeli police arrest Arab wife beaters? If the Israeli police aren't doing their legal obligations, shouldn't there be demands for them to step up? When I was reading about this problem, that was my first thought - this is under Israel's jurisdiction and therefore Israel's responsibility.

So why don't any NGOs or the UN demand Israel adhere to international law?

Because they hate Israel and would prefer Palestinian women be beaten and abused rather than support more Israeli security control over areas it already has control over.

To be sure, Palestinian women are reluctant to go to Israeli police, even in Arab areas of Jerusalem. A Palestinian NGO explains: "If a woman tries to go to the [Israeli] police, the family and community stigmatize her for going to the occupation and harming her family."

But that does not absolve Israel of doing everything it can to prosecute crimes in areas it controls. That is international law. Israeli police have problems in Arab communities in Israel as well, but they have to solve the problem nevertheless - and they also need to in all areas under their control.

I cannot find one NGO that constantly accuses Israel of violating international law to uphold that same law when the lives of Arab women are at stake.

No, instead of insisting that these areas are "occupied" and therefore Israeli security must prosecute Arab abusers of women, they say that Israel must allow a separate, hostile police force into its territory - which erodes Israel's control of the area, and which is their real goal, just as the EU builds illegal Arab buildings, especially schools, specifically in Area C knowing that they will be torn down for being built without permits.

Even for "human rights" NGOs, hating Israel is more important than women's lives.

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Human Rights Watch issued yet another report whose only purpose is to demonize Israel.

This one says that Israel is violating international law by forcing Gazans to evacuate areas that are about to be attacked. In other words, Israeli efforts to save civilian lives are being framed as Israeli efforts to wantonly hurt civilians.

As usual with NGOs like HRW, the report is detailed, it is heavily footnoted, it painstakingly builds a case, and uses selective facts to create a huge lie. The lies come both from taking data out of context and, more often, ignoring or belittling all data that contradicts its thesis - a thesis that was created before any "evidence" was gathered.

Here are HRW's main arguments (emphasis theirs.)

Military Imperative and the Security Exception

The burden is on Israel, as the occupying power of Gaza, to prove that overriding military reasons have made its repeated instructions to evacuate – which have displaced nearly all of Gaza’s population – imperative, or the evacuations were necessary for the security of the population itself. The term “imperative” sets a very high threshold – higher than an ordinary assessment of military necessity. Displacement can only be justified if it is a measure of last resort for military operations where there are no feasible alternatives. It does not suffice for civilians to be at risk from an active or reasonably expected threat from an act (the Israeli bombardment) that would deprive Palestinian armed groups of, or secure for Israel, as the occupier, a military advantage. For there to be a military imperative, the operation threatened must be one whose frustration would threaten the entire military objective in the conflict.

Israel cannot simply rely on the presence of members of Palestinian armed groups, materiel, and installations in Gaza to justify the displacement of civilians. Israel would have to demonstrate that displacement of the civilians was, in each instance, its only option.

Evacuating a protected population for their security refers to the temporary removal or relocation of civilians from an area of danger or imminent harm to a safer location. This can be done to protect the population from military operations, ongoing hostilities, or other risks to their safety. While it could be argued that Israel at times moved Palestinians in Gaza to areas that were safer than areas from which they were ordered to leave, this report demonstrates that evacuation routes and so-called safe zones were consistently and repeatedly bombed, undermining the Israeli military’s position that people were being moved “for their safety.” Israel cannot rely on the security and safety of civilians as a justification for evacuating people if there are no safe areas to which civilians can move. Ultimately, as this report will show, even if Israel can demonstrate that its actions fall within the displacement exception, its lack of adherence to the strict protections required to make an evacuation lawful demonstrates that its orders for people to move were a pretext for forced displacement.

Most of the things here are true. Here's how HRW lies with facts and, more importantly, omissions.

Destroying active Hamas tunnels and defeating Hamas battalions are clear and legal military objectives. There are only two alternatives: destroy them without telling the civilians to leave, or destroying them after telling civilians to leave.

While there is no formal definition, it is true that a miliary imperative has higher standards than a military necessity. Israel knows that it will be attacking an area to rid it of Hamas operational capability. That knowledge is absolute. Therefore, telling the population to leave is absolutely a military imperative to adhere to international law.

HRW downplays Israel's military objectives as merely combating "the presence of members of Palestinian armed groups, materiel, and installations." Israel doesn't give evacuation orders (as opposed to warnings) in order to get rid of a few straggling rocket launchers. Using Rafah as an example, Hamas was entrenched above and below ground, so much so that nations advised Israel that it was impossible to evacuate the city. After Israel successfully got nearly the entire population to leave and then rid Rafah off Hamas - a clear, legal military objective - now HRW is saying that the evacuations themselves were illegal.

They were not only legal, but imperative, by any definition.

Another of HRW's implied arguments is that if Israel cannot guarantee safety for every civilian, any attempt to move them is illegal. It is not good enough to move them to places that are "safer." The fact that Hamas units deliberately moved to the center of these humanitarian zones, making them valid military targets, is ignored.

The last sentence quoted includes a huge omission, a fact of this war that is completely ignored in this 176 page report.

Normally in wartime, evacuations are executed by an army that is on the ground and in reasonable control of the area. If that is not possible, an army would cooperate with local authorities to plan and execute the evacuation.

Israel is not fighting that kind of war. It is legally required to clear out s many residents as possible without being physically present. The local authorities are Hamas, and they do not want to save the lives of their citizens - they want organizations like HRW to write reports about how miserable the lives of its citizens are. Hamas' entire military strategy is based on using civilians as shields for their operations.

That makes evacuations - again, evacuations that are mandatory ahead of a planned attack - extremely difficult. Israel has no partner to do what it must do under international law. In such a case, in order to achieve its military objectives, Israel can only do exactly what it did: warn residents to leave, tell them the safest routes, and work with international organizations to create humanitarian zones with tents, food, water, field hospitals and so forth to optimize a very bad situation. If a minority of civilians cannot or refuse to leave, that does not mean the area is forever immune to attack - it means that the proportionality calculation allows military action more easily than it did before the evacuations of most residents.

HRW is demanding the impossible from Israel. Any fair look at both international law and Israel's actions show that Israel did everything possible to protect civilians while being able to fight Hamas.

Throughout the report, HRW is quick to say that Israel is not doing this or not doing that. But it is comparing Israel against standards that cannot possibly be upheld in wartime, especially when Hamas' entire tunnel strategy is to place them under civilian areas.

At no point in the report does HRW suggest how Israel could have done better. It does not suggest a single alternative. The only choice - unstated but inevitably the one HRW approves - is to allow Hamas to continue to survive, thrive and ultimately achieve its own objective of mounting more October 7ths.

This is only one page of the report. HRW's "evidence" is cherry picked and often out of context, and counterevidence is ignored or minimized. Israeli officials who have nothing to do with war strategy are quoted as if they are making evacuation decisions for Gaza. Quotes that were made within hours or days of October 7 2023 are presented as if they were official strategy. Evidence that Hamas itself blocked Palestinians from fleeing to safety are presented as mere allegations which are then minimized - while Israel's actions are presented as settled violations of international law, Hamas actions are mere hearsay and not worth investigating.

I could write twenty articles showing HRW's deceit.

The bottom line is that in this report, and all its others, HRW is saying and doing everything possible to both delegitimize Israel and to strengthen Hamas. Looking at their reports comprehensively, an argument could be made that HRW and Amnesty are illegally providing material support for international terror organizations.

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

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Today's Turkish antisemitism: Two sets of Jews compete for total control of America

We've all heard about the absurd theory, promoted by both Arabs, the far Right and some others, that most Jews are really descended from Khazars, the kingdom that supposedly converted to Judaism.

Turkish antisemites have a mirror image conspiracy theory. They say that the Jews who converted to Islam after the false messiah Shabbatai Tzvi did are really secret Jews who have taken over the Turkish government.

Newspaper El Aziz publishes this bizarre rant, I'm not sure if Google Translate isn't translating well or it just didn't make sense to begin with.:

Do you know what Turkey 's new super agenda is? Jews in Trump's cabinet!

So what was Trump going to do in the USA , the center of World Zionism? Was he going to have a cabinet composed of Muslims?

Even in Turkey, where the overwhelming majority is Muslim, capital, media, politics, bureaucracy, judiciary, army, culture and art community, trade have been under the dominance of the Salonika Dönme Sabbatean Jewish Group for 100 years. Moreover, we are talking about the USA.

The illusionist media and academia have obscured the fact that the Cabinet, established after the elections of May 14-28 in Turkey, has taken control of the state and power by the hypocritical Sabbatean Clique Oligarchy, are crowing on the screens about the Jews in Trump's potential cabinet!

.....What is President Trump's crime? Appointing Jews to the cabinet! The US is already a Jewish empire. It is just a Zionist apparatus under Jewish hegemony from top to bottom.

Then it really gets strange:

What could be more natural than having Jewish names in Trump's cabinet? So why is the Sabbatean Jewish community in Turkey opposing this natural development ?

Because the Jews in the USA are divided into two! Globalist Zionists and Nationalist Zionists. Globalist Zionists want the establishment of the Greater Kingdom of Israel and for China to be the new superpower of the world. Nationalist Zionists, on the other hand, say that Israel is now a very heavy burden for them and an unnecessary burden that they carry on their backs, they want to get rid of it and they want the hegemony of the USA to continue.

The fight between the Globalist and Nationalist Zionists is now a fight to the death. The power and mind behind the Globalists is Israel; the power and mind behind the Nationalists is Turkey.

The Israel-dissimulating Sabbatean Clique Oligarchy illusionist media and academia in Turkey are well aware of this fact and are attacking President Trump through the Jewish ministers in his cabinet in order to wear him down. Because the Sabbatean Jews of Salonika are also on the side of the globalist Zionists in the power struggle in the US. That is why they are at the forefront of hostility towards Trump.

These people are completely nuts.