Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, January 23, 2025

01/23 Links Pt1: Congress Bill Sanctioning Palestinian Government Over 'Pay-to-Slay'; IDF to stay in southern Lebanon after deadline; Son of ME Crime Boss Charged with Sydney anti-Semitic attacks

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: Art of the deal or rout of the real?

As Jewish Insider has reported, one of the key people hiring isolationist staffers to fill Pentagon roles is Dan Caldwell, a Koch-affiliated policy adviser who has often criticized America’s close relationship with Israel.

There can be no doubt that Trump and Witkoff genuinely wish Israel well. However, there’s a potentially lethal flaw in their view of the world.

On Fox, Witkoff was asked about the comment by Hamas official Abu Marzouk, who told The New York Times: “We’re prepared for a dialogue with America and achieving understandings on everything.” Witkoff replied: “I think it’s good if it’s accurate. We were able to demonstrate that President Trump’s policies, peace through strength, they work; everybody listens.”

Saying the release of the three hostages was the essential “hopeful moment,” he said that “we needed to show people we could stop the violence, and we could have conversation, dialogue. So this is the beginning of that, and hopefully, everything over there can be settled in that way. If it’s possible, everyone will become a believer.”

This is laughably naive and ill-informed. It ends up in the same place as liberals like the Bidenites, for whom everything can be negotiated because they assume that everyone is governed by reason.

The Witkoff view is that everything can be negotiated because when Trump brings his fist crashing down everyone jumps. It’s true that everyone jumps. But the Islamists play the longest game in town. Behind a series of feints, they will regroup, recalibrate and adapt to suddenly emerge stronger than ever, precisely because they have not been defeated.

Which is why Witkoff’s further reported comment, that he wants to solve tensions with Iran over nuclear weapons “diplomatically … if people are willing to adhere to their agreements,” is even more troubling as are the rumors that Trump has already reached out to “negotiate” with Iran.

In the Islamists’ world, no agreement is anything other than a stratagem to defeat their enemy—with deceit Divinely mandated as a means to advance the Islamic cause.

The Witkoff view of the world doesn’t appear to factor in that Islamists aren’t motivated by self-interest. The prospect of peace and prosperity for the region means little to people who believe that they are the warriors of God himself in purging the world of Israel, the Jews and the Christians, and conquering it for Islam.

For people who set their clock in the seventh century, waiting out four years of Trump is just another small delay that they will try to leverage to their advantage. This advantage may not become apparent until Trump has left office. But Israel can’t live with the threat of more Oct. 7-style massacres after 2028.

Of course, it’s possible that Trump does indeed realize all this. After all, most of his major appointments are of people whose commitment to Israel is deeper and more uncompromising than among many Diaspora Jews. It’s possible that he will come through strongly for Israel and help it see off its foes.

But it’s also possible that the art of the deal turns into the rout of the real.

GOP-Controlled Congress Considers Bill Sanctioning Palestinian Government Over 'Pay-to-Slay' Program

The Republican-controlled Congress is moving on legislation that would authorize wide-ranging sanctions on the Palestinian government and any international partner that has aided its terrorist payment program, known as "pay-to-slay," according to a copy of the bill obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

Republicans in the House and Senate jointly introduced the bill with broad backing, signaling that the measure is an early priority in both legislative chambers. The legislation would impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) for providing millions of dollars to imprisoned terrorists and their families. It also would sanction any "foreign persons" known to facilitate these payments or help the Palestinian government administer the program.

Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) is shepherding the bill in the Senate, with Mike Lawler (R., N.Y.) introducing the House version. Eight Senate Republican leaders, including Texas's Ted Cruz, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, Florida's Rick Scott, North Carolina's Ted Budd, and Tennessee's Bill Hagerty, are also backing the bill.

The measure is likely to garner broad support in the GOP-controlled House, which has already moved on separate legislation to sanction the International Criminal Court for its persecution of Israel on the international stage. In the Senate, it would need at least some Democratic support to cross the upper chamber's 60-vote threshold. Both parties overwhelmingly supported a similar 2018 law, the Taylor Force Act, which forced the American government to freeze Palestinian aid until the terrorist payments program ends.

The latest bill, dubbed the PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act, builds on the 2018 law by sanctioning not just the Palestinian government but its international enablers, a provision that could impact foreign financial institutions and the United Nations, which provides financial resources to both the PLO and PA.

"Despite the enactment of the Taylor Force Act, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority have continued their system of compensation that incentivizes, encourages, rewards, and supports acts of terrorism," the bill states.

In an attempt to build further pressure on the Palestinian government, the legislation targets a host of affiliated entities that have helped keep cash flowing to imprisoned terrorists. Those entities include: the Commission of Prisoners and Released Prisoners, the Institute for the Care of the Families of the Martyrs and the Wounded, the Palestine National Fund, and the National Association of the Families of the Martyrs of Palestine.

Sanctions, meanwhile, would be applied on any foreign financial institution that facilitates transactions on the Palestinian government’s behalf.

"The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization continue to support terrorism against Israel by providing hundreds of millions of dollars per year in their reprehensible ‘pay-for-slay’ program," Cotton told the Free Beacon. "Anti-Semitic Palestinian terrorists know they can expect payment as a reward for killing Israelis and Americans—with thousands of Palestinian terrorists tied to October 7 eligible for these terror payments."

The Palestinian government pays around $16 million a month to imprisoned terrorists, including nearly 900 Gaza-based Hamas fighters captured in the wake of Oct. 7, according to estimates.

A Turkish Perspective on the Gaza War: "What Victory Is This?"

Turkish news outlet 10Haber reported on Tuesday that a Hamas delegation arrived at the headquarters of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in Istanbul on the morning of Oct. 7. As news of the assault on Israel unfolded, members of the Hamas delegation reportedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" and celebrated, while Turkish officials present remained silent.

A senior Turkish intelligence officer asked the Hamas delegates: "You've gone 1-0 against Israel, but...understand that Israel won't leave the score at 1-1....We know Netanyahu and Israel. They'll take it to 10-1, or even 12-1."

The article's author continued, "Don't you see the devastation behind you? What victory is this? Do you never look at the balance sheet? 46,000 people are dead. More than 100,000 are injured, many of whom will live with those injuries - amputated hands and legs - for the rest of their lives. Over a million people have been displaced from their homes. 90% of Gaza's homes and workplaces are in ruins. Schools and hospitals have been flattened. Electricity is gone. You've lost all your regional allies. Your leadership has disappeared. Hizbullah, your closest supporter, is not even on its knees - it's flat on the ground."

"Israel has entered Lebanon. Tons of bombs fall daily on your allies in Yemen. Assad, the only leader who supported you militarily, has fled. His successors now say, 'We won't allow further actions against Israel from Syria.' Your entire leadership team has been killed. Two, even three future generations have been destroyed. Yet you stand there making victory signs. What kind of victory is this?"

"Why did you brutally murder 1,200 people - young and old, men and women - including those enjoying a music festival? Why did you abduct hundreds, causing dozens to die underground?...Let us be clear: the fingers that yesterday pointed at Israel will now point at Hamas....Anyone seeking true peace in Gaza must now deliver the necessary message to these reckless individuals who make victory signs.

MEMRI: Arab Journalists on Gaza War: If This Is Victory, What Does Defeat Look Like?

Arab journalists took to X to slam Hamas officials for presenting the Gaza war and the ceasefire agreement as a victory, despite the immense destruction in Gaza, the displacement of hundreds of thousands, and the death of tens of thousands. Saudi media figure Yahya Al-Shabraqi wrote: "If you see this blood and destruction as a 'victory,' I'd like to know how you would describe a defeat." Abd Al-Hak Snaibi, a Moroccan security commentator, wrote: "The people [of Gaza] are glad that the tragedy and bloodshed may be at an end, and their joy has nothing to do with victory."

Saudi businessman and blogger Monther Aal Al-Sheikh Mubarak shared a cartoon showing Hamas political bureau member Khalil Al-Hayya giving his "victory speech" while surrounded by a sea of corpses.

Saudi researcher Muhammad Al-Hababi wrote: "After over a million innocent civilians have been displaced, who before the war had electricity, food and water, and whose children went to school and shaped their future, today none of these things are available. All of Hamas's leaders and fighters have been killed, yet there are still some who say 'we won, and thank you, Iran.'"

Saudi journalist Hussein Al-Waday wrote: "If Hamas thinks it has gained a victory, then it's a victory over the Palestinians, for it has destroyed their lives and future and defeated their cause."

Iraqi politician Faiq Al Sheikh Ali wrote: "As for Israel, it pulverized Hamas, completely demolished Gaza, killed many of its people, and totally humiliated Iran, removing it from the equation of the conflict. This is defeat by any criterion."

"I Can’t Believe I Ate Those Bears’ Porridge – They’re Zionists!" by Goldilocks (PreOccupied Territory)

Our weekly column from the humor site PreOccupied Territory.

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I Can’t Believe I Ate Those Bears’ Porridge – They’re Zionists! by Goldilocks

Tewkesbury, January 23 - This is so embarrassing. I must do better. It turns out the home I sneaked into the other day when I was tired and hungry, and where I ate and rested, was occupied not by just any ursines, but ursines who want to genocide the Palestinians and establish a Jewish ethnostate! I cannot believe I platformed them like that.

I could make excuses, as some do, when they fail to adhere in any meaningful way to the Boycott, Divest, Sanction principles. We see it all the time with technology and pharmaceuticals. But I refuse to compromise on this. Well, except for technology and pharmaceuticals, without which you would not be reading this. My point is, I will own up to not doing due diligence on the political leanings of the home occupants - excuse me, occupiers, not occupants, since it's Zionists we're talking about - and resolve to take greater care going forward not to legitimize Zionists even inadvertently by sharing space with them.

My colleagues have asked whether there were any indications in the house itself that the bears held Zionist ideology. I must confess I recall nothing that aroused suspicion. In retrospect, perhaps that should have raised a red flag, because Zionists work extra hard to portray themselves as normal, even good. See: pinkwashing, or participation in international sporting competitions. But I was probably too hungry and tired to notice.

The chairs of various hardness and softness gave no sign of having been violently taken from indigenous Palestinians. Sure, hindsight now tells me I should have understood the metaphor of assuming I was "entering an empty house" like no one lived there, and treating it as my own. I get the analogy. But it's not intuitive if you're not already thinking that way. I have to do better and think that way all the time. Stay angry.

And the porridge! You'd think porridge is porridge. But I've since been told that indigenous Palestinian porridge is different from the swill that Zionists now claim as their own, whether it's too hot, too cold, or just right.

This is neither here nor there, but someone should look into the hows and whys of a family of bears leaving their porridge on the table long enough for a little girl to spend a good bit of time in the house and only then begin tasting the gruel, yet each serving of porridge remains in its paradigmatic state of too hot, too cold, and just right, respectively, the entire time.

Anyway, I'm glad I got out of there when I did.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Here's a new antisemitic conspiracy theory from Yemen: Jews controlled the Church and the Crusades; Columbus was a Jewish Zionist colonialist

An article in Yemen's Houthi newspaper Al Thawra shows that antisemites never run out of conspiracy theories.

Written by Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Hamdani, the article claims that:

* Jewish people played a significant and manipulative role in instigating and shaping the Crusades. Jewish communities, particularly those involved in finance and banking, used their influence to manipulate European leaders and the Catholic Church for their own gain. Jews penetrated the church's hierarchy from the papal throne to the lowest servants.

* The Templar Knights are a prime example of a group manipulated by Jewish interests. It suggests that the Templars were not merely religious orders but rather secret societies acting under Jewish direction.

* Christianity was used as a tool by Jewish interests to manipulate and control populations. The Crusades and the colonization of the Americas are presented as examples of religious wars that were in fact driven by secular, material interests.

* Christopher Columbus was a Jewish agent who intentionally misled European monarchs about the Americas to establish a new base of power for Jewish interests. It argues that the colonization of the Americas was part of a larger Jewish plot for global domination.

* Columbus's primary motivation was acquiring gold to fund a military campaign to "liberate" Jerusalem. European colonization of the Americas was a Jewish-orchestrated plot to commit genocidal violence against indigenous populations.

* "Most of human history has been transformed – over successive centuries – into a purely Jewish product, whose racist sayings people share, believe in its hostile myths, document its bloody, brutal criminal scenes, and fight its wars on behalf of, believing that they are their own wars and battles."

Antisemitic conspiracy theories are interesting because they are not usually made up completely from scratch but find a tiny piece of information that is not well known and then extrapolate it to crazy conclusions. In this case, I see that a journal of Columbus' first voyage to America, referenced in the article, includes his desire to use gold and spices found in America for Spain to conquer the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. That seems to be what started this article.

To call that a Jewish plot is, obviously, insane.

I have seen new conspiracy theories sprout up, take hold and spread in Arabic language media for years afterwards. We'll see if this one re-appears in coming months and years.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Trump Wants To Emulate Reagan In The Middle East. He Must Avoid Reagan's Errors (Daled Amos)

By Daled Amos

Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan are being compared. Both of them influenced hostage deals negotiated before they took office. The agreement that ended the Iran hostage crisis gave Reagan a boost as he took office, and might have given Carter a boost in the elections if a deal had been concluded earlier. The current cease-fire gained momentum thanks to Trump's threat of consequences and he started his four-year term on the right foot.

And both men know how to deal with Iran.

Reagan took decisive military action when Iran sabotaged US ships:

In 1987, President Reagan ordered the reflagging of Kuwaiti tankers. Shortly after, the SS Bridgeton, a reflagged tanker, struck an Iranian mine. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, today considered a reformist leader, commented it was “an irreparable blow on America's political and military prestige.” Iranian bluster increased until, the following year, President Ronald Reagan ordered Operation Praying Mantis after the Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine. That skirmish escalated into one of the largest surface naval engagements since World War II, resulting in the decimation of the Iranian Navy and Air Force.

As for Trump, on January 3, 2020, Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general, was killed in an American drone strike under orders from President Trump.

But there is a whole other side to Reagan and his dealing with terrorism. Recall that Operation Praying Mantis was conducted in 1987. The years leading up to 1987 were very different. Norman Podhoretz, former editor-in-chief of Commentary Magazine writes about Reagan's failure to fight terrorism in his 2004 article, World War IV: How It Started, What It Means, and Why We Have to Win. He sees much of Reagan's years as president as one failure in the war against terror after another.

According to Podhoretz's list of US appeasement under Reagan, there was no retaliation for terrorist attacks:

April 1983: Hizbollah sends a suicide bomber who blows up a truck in front of the American embassy in Beirut. 63 employees--including the Middle East CIA director--are killed and 120 are wounded. President Reagan and the US did nothing.

October 1983: Hizbollah sends a suicide bomber to blow up an American barracks at the Beirut airport. 241 US Marines are killed and 81 are wounded. Reagan signs off on a plan to retaliate but then allows Secretary of Defense Weinberger to cancel the plan, rather than risk damaging US relations with the Arab world. Reagan pulls the Marines out of Lebanon instead.

March 1984: William Buckley, CIA station chief in Lebanon is kidnapped by Hizbollah and murdered.

According to Podhoretz:

Buckley was the fourth American to be kidnapped in Beirut, and many more suffered the same fate between 1982 and 1992 (though not all died or were killed in captivity).

Reagan, who swore never to negotiate with terrorists made a deal trading arms in exchange for hostages. According to Podhoretz, 1,500 antitank missiles were sent--some through Israel. However, though the understanding was that the ayatollahs of Iran would use their influence with Hizbollah to have American hostages released, others were seized.

The Iranians could now claim to have humiliated two American presidents in hostage cases and to have driven the American military out of Lebanon.

September 1984: The US embassy annex near Beirut is hit by a truck bomb, traced to Hizbollah. At first, Reagan allows retaliation through Lebanese intelligence agents. When a similar operation against the cleric assumed to be the head of Hezbollah misses its target, killing 80 others instead, the plan is called off.

December 1984: In another Hizbollah strike, a Kuwaiti airliner is hijacked. Two Americans employed by the US Agency for International Development are murdered. The Iranians storm the plane after it lands and promise to try the hijackers. Instead, the hijackers are allowed to leave the country. Reagan offered $250,000 for information that would lead to the arrest of the hijackers. There are no takers.

June 1985: Hizbollah operatives hijack TWA flight 847 and force it to fly to Beirut. The plane is held for 2 weeks. An American naval officer on board is shot and his body hurled onto the tarmac. Israel releases hundreds of terrorists in exchange for the release of the other passengers.

Podhoretz writes:

Both the United States and Israel denied that they were violating their policy of never bargaining with terrorists, but as with the arms-for-hostages deal, and with equally good reason, no one believed them. It was almost universally assumed that Israel had acted under pressure from Washington. Later, four of the hijackers were caught but only one wound up being tried and jailed (by Germany, not the United States).

While Trump sent a strong message to Iran with the attack on Soleimani in 2020, he did disappoint the Saudis when the Houthi attacked their oil facilities in September 2019. Trump limited himself to the fiery rhetoric of being "locked and loaded," but in the end did not take action.

Will Trump do more for Israel in its war with Hamas than he did for the Saudis in their conflict with the Houthis? This time around, he did not threaten to come in "locked and loaded," but he did threaten that there had to be a hostage deal or there would be "hell to pay." But is this cease-fire deal what he had in mind?

For Reagan, Iran released all the hostages at once.
For Trump, Hamas will release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages, over the next 42 days and so far released 3 of them.

This is not Reaganesque.

Dealing with terrorists is not the same as dealing with military targets and negotiating with them is even messier. The fact that Israel is going to release close to 2,000 Palestinian terrorists does not look like a strategic victory for Israel. But this is also the deal made in response to Trump's threat.

Reagan was tested by Iran and the Hezbollah terrorists multiple times in the course of his 2 terms in office. During the next four years, this will be just one of the tests that Trump will face. The next test could be negotiating the second phase of the cease-fire deal. A lot will depend on whether the second phase can be negotiated, and on what will happen if--as many suspect--the cease-fire collapses when the next phase cannot be negotiated.

At that point, Trump may not like the comparisons between him and Reagan.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

In November 2023, only a month into the war, I floated an idea of the only possible way the Gaza problem could be solved: turn the sector into a fifth United Arab Emirate. This plan, I argued, would ensure that Gaza would be ruled by forward thinking, anti-terror and anti-Islamist Arabs who would cooperate with all regional actors from Israel to Egypt; who could be trusted by the world, and who could conceivably turn Gaza into the Singapore that some envisioned when Israel withdrew in 2005. It would benefit everyone who isn't interested in destroying Israel.

Gazans would benefit as well: they would not be under the thumb of terrorist Hamas or the corrupt PA; they would have access to education and jobs both being created in Gaza and in the Gulf. Most importantly, they could become citizens of an Arab country and no longer be stateless.

Right now we are in a pattern of the world pouring billions into Gaza every few years with the virtual guarantee that the Islamists will start new wars with Israel and those billions will turn into dust. This pattern cannot continue.

One criticism I received was that the UAE would never want to take this responsibility, since who wants the headache of Gaza? I argued that there are clear benefits for the UAE to have access to a Mediterranean port, to control offshore gas fields, and to be much closer to the financial centers of Europe. Gaza could become a tourist and business Mecca (so to speak) where deals can be made. The Palestinians are perhaps the best educated Arab group and could help mitigate the UAE's dependence on foreign workers.

Of course this is an ambitious plan, with lots of moving parts and easy to sabotage. But no one has come up with anything better, or similar, or workable that would ensure no new Islamist takeover of Gaza, no more Palestinian misery and no more October 7ths.

Now we are learning that the UAE is supportive of at least a phase one of the plan: taking responsibility for managing Gaza:

Israel and the United Arab Emirates have reached a preliminary agreement today (Wednesday) on how Gaza will be managed after the war. However, the implementation of the plan requires a "Palestinian invitation."

According to Abu Dhabi's approach, the next move must come from the Palestinians themselves, rather than being initiated by Israel. Alternatively, as Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer hinted in the Knesset, American or international sponsorship could also propel the plan forward.

Information obtained by Israel Hayom reveals that the UAE, which spearheaded the Abraham Accords in 2020, has agreed in principle to take responsibility for Gaza's management post-war. The emirates aim to rebuild the region in a way that neutralizes any potential threat to Israel. Known for leading the Arab world in opposing jihad and the use of Islam for violence, the UAE is prepared to instill these values in Gaza.

Speaking in the Knesset, Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer acknowledged the complexities of advancing such a plan. In response to questions from MKs Alon Schuster, Oded Forer, and Amit Halevi, Dermer confirmed his involvement in shaping Gaza's post-war future.

However, he added a critical caveat: "Any Israeli plan will die on arrival simply because it's an Israeli initiative. We need to enlist the US and other regional forces to manage Gaza after the war..."

While the UAE supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, it shares the international community's harsh criticism of corruption and incitement to terrorism within Palestinian educational and media institutions.

The standard line is that the Palestinian Authority must control Gaza and the UAE cannot go against its wishes. But last October, the UAE outlined the conditions necessary for the PA to take over Gaza, including eliminating its corruption, creating a new transparent government and a transition period of partnering with others on rebuilding Gaza.

The PA flatly rejected the plan without even discussing it. This did not endear them to the UAE. The Gulf countries have been sick of the PA for a while now, and everything it does makes them like them even less. They want the money they send to Gaza to be investments, not burned. The UAE is uniquely positioned to spend the money with the chances of a huge dividend.

I would not be surprised if the UAE and Israel have the same vision I outlined. As we saw with the Abraham Accords, the UAE is willing to prioritize its own interests over the obstructionist demands of Mahmoud Abbas. His veto power over the entire Arab world has been destroyed. While politics precludes the UAE articulating a final goal of Gaza as an emirate for political reasons, it very possibly is setting the stage for exactly that result.

That would be the best possible peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians, and everyone would love to see it - besides those who are committed to destroying Israel.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

Akhbar el-Youm reports on the Cairo International Book Fair, which opens today and goes for two weeks.

When you wander through the halls of the current session of the Cairo International Book Fair, your eyes will be drawn to many titles that deal with the conditions of the Jews. In this year's fair, there is a hearty meal of titles that focus on unveiling the conditions of the Jews in Egypt in different historical periods, which reveals that many publishing houses have adopted the principle of “know your enemy,” especially with the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict with the events of the war on Gaza. Therefore, many of these books came with a serious character that analyzes and discusses the conditions of the Egyptian Jews, and reveals aspects of their history far from exaggeration and distortion, but rather relies on presenting the facts that stand in the way of the Israelis’ falsehoods about the modern history of the Jews in Egypt.

There are a lot of books about Jews with these themes that one can see browsing through the fair site. One example is "Lest We Forget: Jewish Crimes and Zionist Hatreds" by Essam Shaker. Amazon Egypt describes it this way:

This book exposes some facts about the Jews, including their shameful crimes and scandals, and presents the history of the formation of the Jewish Zionist formula, including its atrocities and grudges against the Arabs and the whole world, and what it contains of malice and arrogance that flows into the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Jewish Zionism is the essence of the bad qualities and morals of the Jews, implementing policies and protocols that reflect the badness and deviation of what the Jews believe towards others (the goyim) with impudence, arrogance and extreme impudence, using the control of money and economic and military power. The Jewish crimes have been completed, and the Zionist grudges have gathered on the land of Palestine; Palestine, that wounded part of the heart of the Arab nation, has a place in the heart of every Arab and Muslim, and there is bitterness in the throat of every Arab, because of the malicious Zionist conspiracies surrounding it, and what the Zionists are doing to the steadfast and patient people of Palestine, until God brings about its conquest, and permits salvation from the desecration of the Holy Land by the accursed Zionists. Recent events in Gaza and Palestine have created a kind of re-awareness that we are still on the confrontation line with Jewish Zionism, after we mistakenly believed that we were in a state of peace, which calls for increased awareness and attention to the confrontation throughout the generations, and it is not the responsibility of this generation alone, but rather the legacy of generation after generation, so that we never enable them to achieve their black dream from the Nile to the Euphrates. Today, we are in dire need to study the history of the Jews and Zionism, and the history of what happened in Palestine, so that we do not forget... wounds on the land of Al-Aqsa that we must all know... and study... and understand; in order to face the future.

Just criticism of Israel, right?

I count at least 12 different editions of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" at the fair. As always.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

A Price of Pain: Hostages Returned, Terrorists Released (Judean Rose)

“The nightmare is over.”

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

Last Sunday, the entire nation of Israel was riveted to their screens, hoping for a glimpse of Emily, Romi, and Doron. At the same time, at least where I live, in Efrat, the joy and relief were tempered with the knowledge that the cost is higher than any of us can stomach: the release of 1700 terrorists. Among those terrorists to be released is Khalil Ali Jabarin who fatally stabbed and killed Efrat resident Ari Fuld, a husband and father of four, in 2018.

And now, apparently, he will be released from prison, to do it again. It’s what they do. Kill Jews. It’s a proven fact. The recidivism rate is high. Terrorists were released in exchange for Gilad Shalit in 2011. By 2014, half of them had committed further acts of terror. So now we have three amazing women back, but we feel unsafe.

In an address to the nation the night before the hostage release, Netanyahu assured us that no terrorists would be released to Judea and Samaria. “We have established that terrorists who have killed will not be released to Judea and Samaria; they will be expelled to the Gaza Strip or abroad, and we also decided in the cabinet on a very significant reinforcement of our forces in Judea and Samaria to protect our citizens,” he said.

Yet we see report after report suggesting that the terrorists slated to be released in this “deal” will indeed be released to Judea and Samaria. Efrat, once home to Ari Fuld, is located in Judea. We are in agony at the injustice of his murderer and so many other murderers of Israelis, going free. How do we trade this for that? Three young woman, but Ari’s murderer is set loose to wander free, and perhaps among us. 1,700 terrorists to be released into the wild.

We are winning. Why should we trade anything at all for a ceasefire, let alone release 1,700 murderers for 33 hostages? Why did Trump insist that we accede to Biden’s very bad May ceasefire plan? Does the new president not know that this means the release of terrorists who murdered American citizens, such as, for instance, Ari Fuld and Richard Lakin?

But that’s not the entire story either. It’s not the only reason our feelings are a bewildered mishmash of orphaned puzzle pieces. Israel has been fully mobilized for more than a year. We are in constant fear for soldier husbands, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. They are gone for months. Wives and mothers are left on their own, some for more than a year. They are terrified. They must be strong for the kids. And how to soothe children when daddy is away and there are sirens.

As a mother of soldiers, I can tell you that it is hell to be a mother of soldiers in wartime. And now our soldier sons wonder why they served. Did they do their jobs bravely and well only to see the release of these monsters? Here, too, there is no justice. Especially for families who lost soldier husbands, sons, brothers, daughters, and sisters.

We are winning the war. Why are we being forced to capitulate, forced into Biden’s very bad “deal” from May, by Trump’s envoy, Witkoff. A man in Qatar’s pocket. Word is, Witkoff not only strong-armed Bibi into agreeing to this terrible deal (at Trump’s behest of course) but forced him to meet on Shabbos telling him that he knows Bibi isn’t orthodox, that he doesn’t wear a yarmulke, so he better damned well meet with him on Shabbos. Rumors. But rumors that rankle.

One woman friend told me that she had never cried so much as she did on Sunday, the day we waited for the hostages to be released. We didn’t know what feeling to land on: the fear, the feeling of being betrayed, that it was all for nothing, yet joy at the prospect of getting those girls, those three precious souls, out of hell.

Now, the newspapers are focused heavily on the hostages. The terrorist release is like a mere whisper in the media compared to the huge story of Emily, Romi, and Doron. They deserve our love and our joy. They deserved their hell to end. But to release terrorists who are almost certainly bound to kill again, is a terrible thing. And we can’t stand it.

I keep thinking back to October when JD Vance called on Americans in Israel to vote for Trump (emphasis added):

Vance stressed the importance of every vote in what is expected to be a close race. "This election could be decided by just a few votes. Do you want Kamala Harris, or do you want Donald Trump? If you want Donald Trump, get out there and make it happen."
Aryeh Lightstone, Former senior advisor to Ambassador David Friedman, told The Jerusalem Post, "In an election that may be decided by just thousands of votes, the Trump-Vance campaign is convinced that Americans in Israel know better than anybody else, the value of strong leadership, and they are speaking directly to these voters to make sure to show up through these videos."

"They have promised to continue to stand by Israel, and they are asking Americans in Israel to stand by them," Lightstone said.

We did stand by them. We voted for Trump and Vance, and now they are forcing us to release terrorists from our prisons who have American blood on their hands. If this is Trump and Vance standing up for us, no thanks. They could have come up with a different “plan.” It didn’t have to be this one. The cost is much too high.

There is also the issue of the dearth of information regarding the terrorists to be released. The government is obligated to inform the families of terror victims before the terrorists who killed their loved ones are let loose. But the government has not done so. None of the families have been notified. If I am wrong about this, please do let me know. I would feel better to be proved wrong.

Not too many people know about it, and it is light on information, but there's a list of terrorists slated to be released on Israel’s government website. The names of the innocents they murdered are not listed there, of course, but only those of the murderers. It makes it difficult for the public to get a good picture of what this all means, the gravity, and the enormity of releasing these particular prisoners. For how can we know how bad this is without knowing their names and what they did?

Families of terror victims and the press have been sifting through some the information on this list as best they can (once they know a list exists). That's how Ari Fuld’s murderer was discovered there, as was Balal Abu Gaanam who murdered American citizen Richard Lakin.

Balal Abu Gaanam as his entry appears on the list of terrorists slated to be released in exchange for the hostages.

The mastermind of the murder of Rina Shnerb is on the list, Khalida Jarrar.

Khalida Jarrar

Slowly, we are finding out who is there on that list. The horrible people who killed our loved ones. Who would not hesitate to kill once more, a dozen times more. With passion.

Khalil Yusuf Ali Jabarin, murderer of Ari Fuld.

I asked Ari Fuld’s younger brother, Hillel, if anyone in the government had contacted the family regarding the impending release of Khalil Ali Jabarin. How did they find out that Jabarin would be released. Do they even know for sure that he will be released?

Hillel Fuld

Hillel Fuld has not heard anything from the government. Perhaps it's because he's a brother, rather than a wife. “The government didn't contact me. I'm not sure if they contacted Miriam, not that I know of, as far as I know they didn't contact us, but again, I can only speak with certainty about myself. I definitely didn't hear anything from anyone other than that list that was published,” said Fuld.

I asked Arnold Roth, father of 15-year-old Malki Roth, murdered in the 2001 Sbarro pizzeria bombing by Hamas, if he’d heard of any families of terror victims being notified by the government that the murderers of their loved ones were about to be freed. “I saw an Israeli news report in the past few days which said the families of terror victims were going to be contacted by appropriate Government of Israel people once a decision had been made to free any of the terrorists convicted in the murder of a family member of theirs. That ought to include people like my wife and me. Our 15-year-old daughter Malki, was murdered in an act of Palestinian Arab terror orchestrated by Hamas in 2001,” said Roth.

“Although an entire gang of killers was caught, convicted, sentenced and imprisoned, they were all freed in the 2011 Shalit Deal. The woman who spearheaded the massacre at the Sbarro pizzeria, Ahlam Tamimi, was one of them - perhaps the most famous of the entire Shalit Deal list of freed savages. She returned to her native Jordan the day after Israel let her loose and has gone on to make herself a spectacular career there as a media personality and commentator on issues that speak to the hearts of people who support the murder of Jewish children.

“But there's one exception. One of the terrorists who played a key role in the Sbarro atrocity (and numerous other atrocities) and who did not walk free in 2011 is Abdullah Barghouti. He's the weapons expert who fabricated the massively-explosive guitar case that a human bomb carried on his back and into the pizzeria with the help of the Tamimi woman.

Arnold and Frimet Roth gaze at a photo of their daughter Malki, HY"D

“Barghouti is currently serving a sentence of 67 life terms, the longest ever imposed by an Israeli court and tied to the number of innocent lives wiped out by his bombs.

I don't know if Barghouti has been designated as one of the beneficiaries of the current hostage-freeing deal. But this report says he's on the Hamas list of demands. This doesn't mean he will be released but who knows? If they get their way, meaning if Israel capitulates to the mass-murdering terrorists as it did in the Shalit Deal, this is horrific and indefensible,” says Roth.

As it stands, that particular Barghouti is not on the Israeli government list of terrorists slated for release, though a different terrorist Barghouti family member, Ahmed Barghouti is there. But it is all very unclear. Roth tells me that Abdullah Barghouti, a relative of Tamimi, boasted on Sixty Minutes of his “passion to kill again and again.” I took a look at the interview:

The most notorious of all the prisoners held at the Be'er Sheva Prison is Abdullah Barghouti. It's not easy to get to see him because he's being held in indefinite solitary confinement. He's been convicted of being the mastermind behind Hamas' deadliest suicide bombings, responsible for the deaths of 66 people, including five Americans. How does he feel about this death toll?

"I feel bad because the number only 66. This the answer you want to hear it?" Barghouti told Simon.

"I want to hear what you have to say," Simon replied.

"No, this is the answer they want to hear it? Yes, I feel bad, because I want more," Barghouti said.

Barghouti has already killed more Israelis than anyone else. For two years, he sent suicide bombers to places, ordinary places, the names of which no Israeli will ever forget. They include "The Moment Café," the Hebrew University cafeteria [where American citizens Marla Bennet and Ben Blustein were murdered, V.E.] and the Sbarro Pizzeria, where seven children were killed.

Still, Ari Fuld is dead, the hostages are yet alive and suffering immensely, clinging barely to life after more than a year underground. Those who aren't dead, that is. We owe it to those both living and dead to get them out. But in my opinion, not like this.

Ari Fuld's funeral

I asked Hillel Fuld if he would share his own feelings about the deal. He said, “I feel there are two parallel lines when it comes to this deal. There's the beautiful line and there's the terrible line. These two lines can't coexist on one line like what social media would have you believe, that everything is just black and white. It’s beautiful and beyond beautiful and emotional that those poor hostages get to be reunited with their families and we all experienced that emotional moment a few nights ago.

“It’s also a terrible deal because they're releasing a thousand monsters to the streets and that could not be more terrible so it's both beautiful and terrible at the same time.”

Asked what he thinks of the framework for the ceasefire deal as proposed by Biden in May, now being set in motion, and how it went down now, with Witkoff, Hillel chooses to be positive. “I don’t know the details of what went on behind the scenes. I want to believe that there is more than meets the eye that there was some kind of incentive to get Netanyahu to agree to this deal. I don't have any information but that is something that I tell myself to make myself feel better and I hope that it will become clear in the coming months in terms of what was promised to Netanyahu.”

Freed hostage Emily Damari with her mother, Mandy.

What would you like to see happen now, I asked Hillel.

“What would I like to see happen now? I'd like to see our hostages come back so we can return to the war and obliterate Hamas and achieve our war objectives of eliminating Hamas from this world; removing all threats from Israel's borders; and getting our hostages back."

I appreciate Hillel Fuld’s life-affirming positivity. Unfortunately, I’m more like the people he describes on on social media who can’t see parallel lines. Like everyone in Israel I love, love, love to see the moving photos, stories, and videos of the freed hostages. Still, I am concerned that we are letting down the memories of terror victims, and leaving our people as unsafe as we were on October 6.

Perhaps that's not even the worst of it. It goes to the core of who the Israeli people are as a society. “No self-respecting government can justify to its citizens the restoration of the freedom of a barbarian like Barghouti,” says Arnold Roth. “Allowing him out of his cell would be a monstrous act of moral bankruptcy.”

And yet here we are, giving many killers of Jews a fresh start so we can get a very small number of hostages out of hell. I don't think it had to be that way. We are winning, or at least we were winning. Until the point where we were leaned on by Witkoff to capitulate to the enemy on behalf of President Donald J. Trump.

Now look, I am happy, truly happy, that Trump is doing so many nice things for Israel--I will let others talk about suspending UNRWA and lifting the sanctions imposed on Israeli Americans in Judea and Samaria because of where they live and their religion, and all the other goodies--but this “deal” spits on the memories of American citizens murdered because of their religion.

I ask you, is this right, Mr. Trump? Is it just in your eyes?

I don’t expect an answer from President Trump, nor, the truth is, from my own government. The Israeli government is not being forthright with the families of the victims whose murderers are soon to be, if not already released.

This has engendered a deep sense of betrayal and despair in many of us Israelis, a feeling of why did we do all this--why did we sacrifice so much? To what purpose? To strengthen the hand of terror? And yet, it fills our hearts to see Emily, Romi, and Doron in the arms of their families once more. Can anyone really put a price on that?

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

01/22 Links Pt2: The Red Cross is humiliated as it again serves murderers of Jews; BDS: Twenty Years of Failure; Elbit systems hits record highs as global defense budgets surge

From Ian:

Seth Mandel: A Breakthrough in the Fight for Jewish Students’ Civil Rights

Good news for once out of Harvard. The university has settled two anti-Semitism-related lawsuits with agreements that will require concrete action instead of vague promises of better behavior. It will make students’ BDS demands dead-on-arrival. And it may be a model for future such settlements—an outcome that would go far toward helping American higher education finally break its intifada fever.

“It’s a terrific result and I think it’s going to be really influential,” Daniel R. Benson, of Kasowitz Benson Torres, told COMMENTARY today. The firm represented Students Against Antisemitism, one of the plaintiffs. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law represented the other. (Benson is a member of COMMENTARY’s Board of Trustees.)

Among the more significant outcomes of the case is that Harvard will be adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism to govern its anti-harassment and non-discrimination rules. The definition, as worded by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, is the mainstream Jewish community’s preferred definition: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

The IHRA definition is often described in the press as “controversial,” but what that really means is “misunderstood.” Along with the definition, IHRA includes examples of anti-Semitism. Among those examples are expressions of anti-Israel bias that “may” amount to anti-Semitic intent when they form the basis of discriminatory acts. The definition does not outlaw speech; it merely makes it more difficult for anti-Semites to hide their bigoted intent. This cynical excuse has been responsible for enabling universities to violate Jewish students’ civil rights at will; the Harvard settlement therefore makes it less likely that Jews will openly be treated as second-class citizens on campus.

The settlement also aims to end the broad use of obvious euphemisms to get around non-discrimination statutes, especially when it comes to the anti-Jewish loyalty oaths some university groups around the country have begun requiring from their prospective members. The university handbook will make explicit that those rules apply to both Jews and Israelis, and it will include the following explanation: “For many Jewish people, Zionism is a part of their Jewish identity. Conduct that would violate the Non-Discrimination Policy if targeting Jewish or Israeli people can also violate the policy if directed toward Zionists. Examples of such conduct include excluding Zionists from an open event, calling for the death of Zionists, applying a ‘no Zionist’ litmus test for participation in any Harvard activity, using or disseminating tropes, stereotypes, and conspiracies about Zionists (e.g., ‘Zionists control the media’), or demanding a person who is or is perceived to be Jewish or Israeli to state a position on Israel or Zionism to harass or discriminate.”

The settlement, if implemented properly, would bring Harvard into compliance with Title VI civil-rights protections. It also might encourage other universities to do the same. Having seen where the process got Harvard, other schools might save themselves the effort and expense required to fight against applying civil-rights laws to Jews.

Key to Middle East peace is accepting the past

For decades, the Palestinians and their allies have launched wars they then lose and complain to everyone about losing. It never seems to strike them that a better idea might be not to launch these wars.

In the West, the various campaigns that express solidarity to Palestinians are not, in fact, showing them any solidarity at all. They have their own agenda about their own power and status and which uses Palestinians as a rhetorical prop. And they are misleading the people they pretend to support. They are like a friend who would advise me to throw up my life, pick up a gun and go and invade Lviv by myself in the name of Marshal Pilsudski and his brigades of Polish legionnaires.

These western-based supporters provide solidarity only for the most violent rejectionists and leave bereft those people in Palestine itself who might be willing to come to terms with both reality and Israel. For as long as Palestinians hold out hope that there will be a Palestine “from the river to the sea” there will be war and death, however hard we all work to prevent such calamities, such horror.

Any protester chanting this slogan is encouraging others to go to their death, and to go and kill innocent people, while themselves promising only to write a cross message on a piece of cardboard and wave it outside the Garfunkel’s restaurant near Trafalgar Square.

This is all worth saying because what we have now is a ceasefire and not a peace. It is the duty of Israel’s supporters — people like me — to insist that Palestinians must be allowed the dignity of their own state. And we will. But our insistence will come to naught if Palestinians are not urged equally firmly to accept that they must live in peace with their Jewish neighbours. This means financial compensation and not a right of return, which is a practical impossibility.

This war is so unnecessary and so tragic. And this ceasefire is so fragile. There will not be peace until everyone makes their peace with history and reality.

The Red Cross is humiliated as it again serves murderers of Jews

It took more than a month before the American Red Cross said the ICRC was pursuing “every possible avenue to secure the release of all remaining hostages.” It would remain silent, however, because its experience—ignoring the Holocaust—was that it was most effective if it kept a low profile. Well, it succeeded in making its profile invisible while not gaining the release of a single hostage or providing them with assistance.

For the transfer, they showed up as if they were heroes when they were essentially Uber drivers taking the former hostages a few miles to an awaiting military helicopter.

First, though, they played a part in the grotesque Hamas spectacle in which heavily armed masked terrorists in freshly laundered uniforms delivered and surrounded the hostages. Hundreds of jeering civilians lined the streets celebrating the dehumanization of the women right to the end of their ordeal. Civilians, including children—frequently portrayed as innocent victims of “genocide”—actively participated in the degradation of survivors of the Hamas massacre.

The Israelis were given “goodie bags” as if they were leaving a bat mitzvah, but instead of shouts of mazel tov! they heard only blood-curdling chants of Allahu Akbar. The Red Cross literally endorsed this farce by co-signing Hamas-drafted “certificates of release” that the hostages were forced to sign before posing for photos holding the documents with their captors.

You must give Hamas credit; their skill in media manipulation has not diminished with their loss of power. The terrorists carefully stage-managed the handover with their Al Jazeera collaborators to show pictures designed to give the world the impression of widespread support and military resilience. For their supporters, Hamas wanted to pretend that thousands of fighters survived the war to pursue their goal of committing repeated massacres. Aerial photos later revealed the crowd was no more than a few hundred people crammed into a narrow street that was part of a calculated media strategy to portray Hamas as victorious despite its decimation.

At this point, the least the Red Cross can do is to ensure that it does not participate in another terrorist photo op to promote the Hamas narrative. The organization, backed by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, must ensure that future transfers occur in neutral, secure locations with no armed personnel or civilian onlookers. Hamas has managed to keep the location of the hostages secret for this long; let them maintain that secrecy for the point of exchange.

The Red Cross should not allow its reputation to be dragged further through the mud by being a party to the disgraceful abuse of innocent Israelis who miraculously survived months of torture and abuse without its medical or any other assistance.

01/22 Links Pt1: How Hamas became invisible; Freed Hostages Say Hamas Held Them in UN Facilities; Trump sanctions could destroy the ICC

From Ian:

Clifford D May: Hamas celebrates

Hamas’s supporters on American campuses will continue to insist that Gazans are victims of Israeli oppression and cheer Hamas.

For the deal to move into a second phase—which would include extension of the ceasefire, release of the remaining 61 hostages, and Israel freeing almost 2,000 convicted terrorists in total—will require that negotiations not break down. It’s not difficult to imagine why they might.

Hamas’s goal is to resume power in Gaza, get the “international donor community” to write big checks for reconstruction while U.N. agencies provide Gazans with social services including education accredited by the Muslim Brotherhood. That would leave Hamas free to begin planning new atrocities.

Israel’s goal is to bring home as many hostages as possible and ensure that never again does a terrorist army rule Gaza.

Ask yourself: Is there any way to satisfy both Hamas and Israel’s goals?

And is it not both immoral and demoralizing for American diplomats to prod the citizens of a free and democratic ally to compromise with openly genocidal Islamic supremacist terrorists?

I’ll end today’s column with three pertinent facts—not opinions—that most of the media consistently neglect.

One: On Oct. 6, 2023, Gaza was not occupied. No Israelis lived there. No Israeli soldiers patrolled there.

Two: Gaza was not then an “open-air prison” as Hamas manipulated the media into reporting. Gaza had hospitals, schools, libraries, malls, supermarkets, restaurants, a zoo and sandy beaches. Members of Gaza’s elite lived in villas with swimming pools and could come and go via neighboring Egypt.

Three: Hamas leaders could have brought a halt to this war at any time over the past 15 months by simply releasing its hostages and laying down their weapons.

Ask yourself: Who is responsible for the death and destruction on both sides—in the past and, in all probability, in the future?

If you know the answer, you also know that it won’t be through ceasefires and deals that this long war is brought to a conclusion.

How Hamas became invisible

Think back to the coverage of the fighting in and around al-Shifa Hospital over the past 15 months. The IDF first clashed with Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters there in November 2023, after intelligence showed hostages were being held captive inside. After a protracted shootout, the IDF gained access to the area around the hospital only to discover the hostages had been killed. Fighting re-erupted in the vicinity of the hospital last March, after Hamas had started using it again. On each occasion, the gun battles were intense and went on for days. Yet the coverage virtually removed Hamas from the scene. ‘Israeli soldiers raid al-Shifa hospital in escalation of Gaza offensive’, reported the Guardian in November 2023. ‘Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital in ruins after two-week Israeli raid’, declared the BBC in April last year. It gave the impression that the IDF were attacking the hospital for the sheer hell of it.

Or recall the coverage of Israel’s hostage-rescue operation in Nuseirat last June. Hamas attacked IDF troops with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds. As the battle became more entrenched, Israeli airstrikes were called in, causing many more deaths. Yet in the subsequent reporting, Hamas’s role simply disappeared. ‘An Israeli operation rescues four hostages and kills scores of Palestinians’, announced CNN. ‘Gaza health ministry says Israeli hostage rescue killed 274 Palestinians’, reported the BBC.

Politicians soon drew the predictable anti-Israel conclusions. Then EU diplomat Josep Borrell called it ‘another massacre of civilians’. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, went even further, claiming that the IDF’s hostage-rescue operation revealed Israel’s ‘genocidal intent’.

This has happened time and again since the Israel-Hamas war began. As Brendan O’Neill has argued on spiked, Hamas is constantly being ‘invisibilised’. It is an absent combatant, dark matter in a war in which only Israeli forces are seemingly observable. Even the unspeakable act that started this awful conflict on 7 October has been reduced to a mere moment in a much longer tale of supposed Israeli aggression and occupation.

As French poet Charles Baudelaire put it, ‘The greatest trick the devil pulled is to convince the world he didn’t exist’. Hamas hasn’t had to do much convincing. Too many among the Western political and media class have been only too happy to pretend it doesn’t exist – and to present Israel’s war of self-defence as a war of aggression.

Yet now, as Hamas parades on the streets of Gaza, this propagandistic fiction has become unsustainable. In a statement it put out on Monday, Hamas has vowed that Gaza ‘will rise again to rebuild what the occupation has destroyed and continue on the path of steadfastness until the occupation is defeated’. That is not a statement of peace. That is a statement of aggressive intent.

Hamas has certainly been diminished by the past 15 months of conflict, but there can be no doubt that it is still there – and is still the ultimate cause of the Gazan tragedy.

America Must Let Israel Finish Off Hamas after the Cease-Fire Ends

While President Trump has begun his term with a flurry of executive orders, their implementation is another matter. David Wurmser surveys the bureaucratic hurdles facing new presidents, and sets forth what he thinks should be the most important concerns for the White House regarding the Middle East:

The cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas may be necessary in order to retrieve whatever live hostages Israel is able to repatriate. Retrieving those hostages has been an Israeli war aim from day one.

But it is a vital American interest . . . to allow Israel to restart the war in Gaza and complete the destruction of Hamas, and also to allow Israel to enforce unilaterally UN Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559, which are embedded in the Lebanon cease-fire. If Hamas emerges with a story of victory in any form, not only will Israel face another October 7 soon, and not only will anti-Semitism explode exponentially globally, but cities and towns all over the West will suffer from a newly energized and encouraged global jihadist effort.

After the last hostage Israel can hope to still retrieve has been liberated, Israel will have to finish the war in a way that results in an unambiguous, incontrovertible, complete victory.

From the North Africa Post:

In a new antisemitic move, the Algerian regime ordered the closure of a publishing house named after Franz Fanon in Boumerdes, after it published a book on Jews in Algeria.

Authorities gave the pretext of “threats to security and public order, attacks on national identity, and hate speech” for its censorship.

The book in question, dubbed “Jewish Algeria” by Heda Bensahli, delves into the two-thousand-year presence of Jews in Algeria, highlighting their cultural and historical contributions despite the challenges they faced, especially after the colonial period.

The Algerian regime has embraced a version of Arab authoritarian nationalism that occulted cultural, political, linguistic, and religious diversity. Jews, in particular, were forced to leave the country after independence and their belongings and real-estate were confiscated. Many cannot return to the country of their forefathers, as the Algerian regime surfs on antisemitism and populist discourse.

The closure of the publishing house is part of a larger crackdown on free speech. The Algerian regime has closed critical media outlets and imprisoned writers such as French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal, who has been in jail in retaliation for challenging the state’s rhetoric on colonial borders.

What, exactly, do Algerian rulers find so threatening about the book?

In October, an Islamist Algerian lawmaker, Zouhir Fares, canceled a planned reading of the book claiming the book a form of “cultural normalization with Zionists.” The forward was written by Valerie Zenatti, a prominent author and translator, whose family moved to Israel from France when she was 13.

But that appears to be a pretext. The problem is the supposed "attack on national identity."

The blurb on Amazon says:

The Jewish presence in Algeria has often been minimized, even denied in the speeches of all the victors.... In postcolonial Algeria, the jubilation of independence and the ideological stakes (also) end up making these natives an anecdotal reality. However, two thousand years of history and a most fertile cultural heritage are there to testify to a historical trajectory that places Jewishness at the heart of Algerian intimacy. Jewish Algeria is not an Algeria next to, or against other Algerias, but it is one of the most authentic nuances of a multicultural and multiethnic melting pot several thousand years old.

Bensahli argues that Jews are an integral part of Algerian history. That is apparently what bothers the Algerian Islamists so much, to think that their history and culture owe anything to the hated Jews.

Buy EoZ's books on Amazon!

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

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)