Red Triangle Shortage Hampering Hamas Achievements
Jabaliya, January 9 - Israel's restrictions on materials that may enter the Gaza Strip have put a strain on terrorist logistics there, with the most acute lack the supply of small red shapes to place just above images of IDF soldiers or vehicles in "Resistance" footage, local sources disclosed today.
Recent months have seen a dramatic drop in the number of available inverted red triangles that Hamas use to identify Israeli targets, figures within the organization acknowledged Thursday, partly as a result of their profligate use in the first few weeks and months of the current war, and partly as a result of Israel successfully clamping down on both the smuggling of the items into Gaza and destroying production sites within the coastal territory.
The initial phase of the IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip in early November 2023 followed the October 7 Massacre, in which Hamas men and Gaza civilians went on a murder, destruction, looting, torture, rape and kidnapping spree in southern Israel. 100 hostages and bodies of hostages remain held in Gaza.
During that initial ground operation, Hamas propagandists took great pride in posting to social media footage of attacks on IDF troops, with the characteristic flashing red triangle indicating the target as the clip paused for a second to let the viewer know what was bring shown. The propagandists intended for the clips to both boost Palestinian and pro-Hamas morale at home and abroad, and to demoralize Israelis. However, the distribution of the clips conflicted with the primary pro-Hamas narrative in which helpless Palestinians faced genocide.
In late December 2023 or early January 2024, Hamas leaders decided to scale back the deployment of red triangles, in consideration of both the cross-purposes of the propaganda and the Islamist organization's dwindling polygon stockpiles. "We can't aim properly if we don't have the triangles," admitted one of the group's few surviving field commanders.
Humanitarian organizations have tried to secure more red triangles for the Palestinians in Gaza, with no success. "Israel deprives them of these essential items as part of the genocide," lamented Agnes Callamard of Amnesty International. "I'm sure this is a core element of the case against [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu at [the International Court of Justice at] The Hague."
Experts explained that other shapes, even if available, do not offer the versatility and efficiency of the triangle in battlefield situations where the speed and precision of each tactical element can make the difference between a good and a bad propaganda shot.
One of the more popular T-shirts that came out of the anti-Israel encampments was based on a scrawl done by a Columbia University student on a university notice to the encampments: "I Aint Reading All That Free Palestine."
This message that facts don't matter is also Amnesty International's mantra.
When Amnesty Israel rejected the Amnesty International report accusing Israel of genocide, it wrote a long, reasoned essay describing the methodological flaws in the Amnesty conclusion. It harshly criticizes Israeli actions in Gaza - and makes some major mistakes of its own - but it truly destroys Amnesty's argument.
Amnesty pretends to look at alternatives to its genocide hypothesis in order to reject them. Amnesty Israel calls those out as not serious:
AI Israel is concerned that the alternative hypothesis sub-chapter in the report is unconvincing and written in a precarious way. In specific, it fails to genuinely represent important arguments that provide context, alternative explanations and other facts in regard to Israel’s conduct and intentions. The proper way to go about writing such a subchapter is to play the devil’s advocate as candidly as possible, or rather ask someone internal (or, even better, someone external) to write this part with all seriousness, providing gravity and real thought into the alternative hypothesis, all of this in order to avoid self-misleading, cherry-picking and other fallacies. Unfortunately, we believe that this is not the case in this report. What we have, instead of a serious analysis, is a straw man – a weaker, unserious version of the alternative hypothesis, which makes an easy target, but serves poorly as a method to deal with such important issues. Some arguments were not discussed while some were mentioned but immediately dismissed or belittled. Moreover, the analysis section that compares between the hypotheses is totally lacking, and is merely claiming that the report’s hypothesis is more convincing, to the point that it is the only one that makes sense – without actual proper discussion and scrutiny.
Amnesty Israel creates its own anti-Israel hypothesis whose very existence disproves Amnesty's thesis that there is no reasonable alternative hypothesis to genocide.
It is important to note that refuting an accusation of genocide does not necessarily entail proving that other hypotheses are more reasonable, but rather that they are reasonable enough to cast doubts on the genocide hypothesis, hence to prove that it is not in fact the only reasonable explanation to the actions of the perpetrators. This high bar is not inadvertent but rather intentionally designed to keep the crime of genocide harder to prove.
One such hypothesis that we will examine here is what we dub as “the disregard hypothesis” – that is: Israel was pursuing military goals while showing blatant disregard to Gazans’ lives, but without an intent to destroy the group as such.
I disagree entirely with Amnesty Israel's own hypothesis. Yet if Israel's actions can be explained as merely blatantly disregarding the lives of Gazans - which is in fact Amnesty Israel's belief - that blows up Amnesty's entire argument that there is no other reasonable explanation for Israel's actions outside an intent to murder Gaza civilians.
And Amnesty Israel proves it: Israel's use of artificial intelligence to determine targets shows that it is targeting militants, allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza is inconsistent with genocide, Israel treated "safe zones" with more care than clear military targets, Israel assisted in the polio vaccination campaign, Israel uses expensive accurate missiles instead of cheap artillery with less accuracy, and:
Hamas’ strategy to embed itself within civilians can explain the massive devastation at residential areas, hospitals, schools etc, rather than the intent to destroy these areas and facilities as such.
Amnesty International's decision to suspend its Israeli branch for violating its newly made up policy of maintaining "operational coherence" looks even worse when you read Amnesty Israel's critique, because it means that Amnesty could not answer the criticisms even from its own people. It could not tolerate debate within its organization.
It instead said to AI Israel, "I aint reading all that free Palestine." Amnesty is acting like the tinpot dictators it was originally meant to expose and oppose. Debate is not tolerated at Anesty; only slavishly following the dictates of its leaders.
Amnesty has lost all credibility - except among the types of people who proudly who wear those T-shirts bragging about their ignorance.
Over a year ago, I proposed a "day after" scenario in Gaza that would bring peace and prosperity to the residents there, security to Israel and a huge boon to the entire region: turn Gaza into the eighth United Arab Emirate.
The reasons it makes sense are:
* Only a Gulf country has the resources to rebuild Gaza and realize its dream of becoming a Singapore.
* Israel is at peace with the UAE and would eagerly cooperate with it in facilitating the new emirate.
* The problem of territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza would no longer be an issue.
* Gazans would become UAE citizens, get passports, and could freely move to other emirates if they want. If they prefer to hold on to the dream of an independent Palestinian state, they can move to the West Bank.
* For the first time, there would be optimism about Gaza's future that would encourage investment.
* One can foresee joint Israel-UAE economic projects that would employ thousands of Gazans.
* The UAE would not tolerate terror. There would be no rockets, no cross-border raids, no tunnels.
* It would help the Sinai prosper as well, as Egypt would be able to reap benefits of an Arab economic powerhouse next door.
What would the UAE get out of it?
* A port on the Mediterranean
* Access to natural gas and other fossil fuels off the coast
* Overland routes of trucking and shipping tying the Gulf to the Mediterranean, facilitating imports and exports
* An airport would bring an air bridge as well
* Increased influence in the region, which the UAE desires
* Gaza could become a tourist destination and a meeting hub between European and Arab political and business leaders
Now, Reuters reports that the UAE is heavily involved in "day after" proposals. Not yet as far reaching as what I proposed but it is a step in the right direction.
The United Arab Emirates has discussed with Israel and the United States participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, according to people familiar with the talks.
The behind-the-scenes discussions, reported by Reuters for the first time, included the possibility of the UAE and the United States, along with other nations, temporarily overseeing the governance, security and reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli military withdraws and until a Palestinian administration is able to take over, a dozen foreign diplomats and Western officials told Reuters.
"The UAE will not participate in any plan that fails to include significant reform of the Palestinian Authority, its empowerment, and the establishment of a credible roadmap toward a Palestinian state," a UAE official told Reuters, in response to questions about the discussions.
"These elements - which are currently lacking - are essential for the success of any post-Gaza plan."
I don't know if the UAE has ambitions to take over Gaza as I outlined. But if they do, then they would say exactly what they are saying now - that it would be temporary, that they want to see a reformed PA eventually take over the sector, that it must be a step towards a Palestinian state. That's the only way they could credibly get involved in the mess that is Gaza.
But here's the thing about the Middle East: temporary arrangements tend to become permanent absent a huge upheaval like a war.
UNRWA was meant to be temporary. The 1949 armistice lines were meant to be temporary. The Palestinian Authority itself was meant to be temporary. Momentum keeps them in place.
The PA is unreformable. The EU has already invested billions on making it into a responsible, modern government and it remains a thoroughly corrupt dictatorship with little popular support.
The West likes a status quo. If the UAE gets involved with Gaza, and heavily invests in its rebuilding, then it naturally would have a larger voice than, say, Qatar or Egypt in how it gets rebuilt and what it will eventually look like.
If the UAE shares my vision on the benefits of turning Gaza into an emirate, this is what it would so to start. Let's hope that this is only the first step.
The Israel Foreign Ministry's Israel in Arabic Instagram page posted a brief and accurate history of the Jewish kingdoms in the region, with a map. Here's the entire post translated.
Did you know that the Kingdom of Israel existed for 3,000 years?
The first king to rule for 40 years was King Saul (1050–1010) BC. He was followed by King David, who ruled for approximately 40 years (1010–970) BC. He was followed by King Solomon, who also ruled for 40 years (970–931) BC.
The reign of the three kings lasted 120 years, an important period of time in the history of Israel. These years witnessed development in Jewish life in various fields, including culture, religion, and the economy.
After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was divided in 931 BC into two parts: the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south, following internal conflicts due to heavy tax burdens and the centralized policies he imposed on the tribes.
King Jeroboam bin Nebat ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Israel in the north (pictured in yellow). Then he established two centers of worship in Dan and Beit El to establish a separate identity from the kingdom of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, in the south, who preferred to raise taxes on the people, at a time when they were suffering from them.
The rule of the Kingdom of Israel in the north continued for about 209 years until its fall at the hands of the Assyrians in 722 BC.
As for the southern Kingdom of Judah (in green), it continued for about 345 years until its fall at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, Emperor of Babylon, in 568 BC.
This division led to political conflicts throughout the history of the people of Israel, and its effects continued for hundreds of years..
However, the Jewish people in the diaspora continued to aspire to the renaissance of their strength and capabilities and to rebuild their state, which was declared in the State of Israel in 1948 to become the only democracy in the Middle East
This caused an uproar, especially in Jordan, which was upset that the map included lands on what is now Jordan. Which, of course, they did.
As amusing as the Jordanian reaction was, the Palestinian one was hysterical (in every sense.)
Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that publishing this map is “condemned and rejected and constitutes a flagrant violation of all international legitimacy resolutions and international law.”
Independent Arabia interviewed prominent Palestinian historian and archaeologist Nazmi al-Jubeh, a professor at Birzeit University. He denied any Jewish kingdoms ever existed.
"The Jews have never had any independent rule in Palestine,” adding that they were “agents of the successive empires that controlled Palestine, such as the Greeks, Romans, and Persians.” He explained that “the dynasty of Herod, the Hasmoneans, and the Maccabees did not rule independently, but were part of a much broader ruling structure to protect the Jews themselves and preserve their privacy,” noting that they rebelled against those empires on occasion. According to al-Jubeh, the map “does not indicate the existence of a Jewish majority in those areas, even if there were Jews there, especially in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon,” adding that “the map contains a lot of wishful thinking, rather than a reflection of historical facts with the aim of bestowing historical legitimacy on the State of Israel.”
Palestinians are so eager to deny Jewish history that they have to tie themselves up in knots. And they are not at all concerned that their professional reputations will be tarnished by saying such nonsense.
It is not only an obvious lie, but it is also a lie that is an insult to Palestinian Christians who study the Bible - which describes the kingdoms of Saul, David and Solomon in detail.
But it gets worse Because the Quran itself admits that David was the leader of a kingdom. In chapter 38, Surah Saad, it says,
16. And they say, “Our Lord, hasten Your writ upon us, before the Day of Account.”
17. Be patient in the face of what they say, and mention Our servant David, the resourceful. He was obedient.
...
20. And We strengthened his kingdom, and gave him wisdom and decisive speech.
For some reason, the Palestinian Christians and Muslims never say a word against their political leaders and others denying their own religious texts.
How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb?
None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!
Those who follow Middle East affairs will know that ‘god willing’ is the wish – the mantra – constantly uttered by all Muslims, including radical Islamists. But god isn’t willing, judging by history. Israel has won every single war of over half a dozen started by its neighbouring enemies in the Arab world since its inception. And in 2024, Israel decimated Iran’s terror proxies in response to yet another onslaught, launched on October 7, 2023 by Hamas, followed by Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthis.
Undeterred, Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, wears the political bling that signals her allegiance to the current fashion, demonstrated by voting in favour of antisemitic UN resolutions and her regrettable statements in relation to Israel. Her Prime Minister, seemingly reliving his student activist years, added his silence to the breach of loyalty and failure of moral clarity. Their ill-informed acceptance of the illegal decision of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is proof of their animosity to Israel (and their lack of respect for the rule of law).
‘The Palestinian Arabs have wasted the past century trying to destroy the Jewish homeland while Israel has gone from strength to strength. To prevent the next 100 years of war, they must understand the Jewish state is not going anywhere. They must internalise that terrorism and massacres will not be rewarded,’ writes Robert Gregory, chief executive of the Australian Jewish Association, in The Australian (Dec. 28, 2024)
‘The West must stop infantilising the Palestinians and shielding them from the consequences of their actions. There should be no rebuilding of Gaza until the society there commits to peaceful coexistence.’
While Penny Wong agitates for a two state solution, the Palestinian leadership abhors the idea. They want a one state solution, Israel not included. Australia now stands as a University student flag bearer for what is nothing more than an impotent slogan. There are more than enough useful idiots in international affairs; Australia’s Labor and Greens parties do not need to swell their ranks.
A new booklet from StandWithUs seeks to expose Jewish Voice for Peace and the “extremist” rhetoric, harmful alliances and antisemitic actions the group utilizes.
The opening executive summary of the 36-page report released on Tuesday stated that JVP’s “primary goal is to dismantle the State of Israel.”
“JVP and its allies slander and dehumanize Israelis as privileged, powerful and racist white European colonizers,” the report stated. “They promote dangerous conspiracy theories tying Israelis to injustices against various communities” around the world.
The report also highlights JVP’s backing of terrorist organizations and their supporters, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Samidoun, which the U.S. and Canadian governments have sanctioned for its fundraising efforts for PFLP. JVP co-hosted the rally “Shut It Down for Palestine” with Samidoun’s local branch and endorsed the organization’s “Free Ahmad Sa’adat” campaign.
StandWithUs also accuses JVP of not being financially transparent while maintaining what the report calls “questionable sources of funding,” identified as foundations with ties to Lebanon and Iran, such as The Maximum Difference Foundation, The Violet Jabara Charitable Trust and the Halaby Family Foundation.
The last thing I needed to see after watching a movie about the amazing Bob Dylan was a year-end review with “antisemitism is cool” in the headline. Apparently, the evidence for this coolness was the “shocking rise” of antisemitism in mainstream institutions. In other words, the more that people hated Jews in 2024, the cooler it was to hate Jews. Power to the people!
What a silly equation.
Given that I had just watched “A Complete Unknown,” about the early musical years of Bob Dylan, I couldn’t help contrast Hamas supporters screaming “no Zionists here” in front of a Jewish hospital in New York with a Jewish troubadour bringing joy to millions and offering answers that only blow in the wind.
The thousands of Jew haters and useful idiots that have marched like hysterical robots spewing primal melodies around choice lyrics like “globalize the intifada” may be a lot of things. Stupid, boring, insufferable — yes. Cool — certainly not.
Why is this even worth bringing up? Because haters make so much noise they can make us lose our minds. Their bravado makes them look triumphant. Their chutzpah gives them the aura of Che Guevaras. They come across as fearless and fearsome fighters of justice. In an era when performance is everything, they check all the boxes.
Jews can never compete with those boxes. We can make plenty of noise when we argue at a Shabbat table about Donald Trump, but to damage our vocal cords by marching in unison on some busy street to “perform” a call for justice? We’d rather go to a deli for a pastrami or meet for coffee.
Jews will never outscream the haters. We can fight them by making sure they pay a price. We can use all legal means at our disposal. We can proudly practice our Judaism. But scream? Who needs to scream?
And who likes screamers anyway?
It’s so much cooler to make people laugh. Or dance. Or think.
The pro-Hamas bullies who have tried to intimidate Jews since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7 have attempted the ultimate switcheroo — by associating Jews with Israel, they’re hoping we will be seen as the true bullies. Sure, there are those who will get sucked in by such trickery. But let’s remember the words of a Jewish singer who was onto these tricks way back in 1983.
“Well, the neighborhood bully, he’s just one man.
His enemies say he’s on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one.
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He’s the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully he just lives to survive.
He’s criticized and condemned for being alive.
He’s not supposed to fight back, he’s supposed to have thick skin.
The West has cause to be grateful that the Netanyahu government chose not to follow the Biden-Blinken lead. Rather than show the sort of weakness that would have won sympathy from the White House but won no battles on the ground, the Israeli government demonstrated the sort of strength that is the only path to enduring peace. By crippling Hamas’s ability to fight and removing its military leadership, then neutralising much of Hezbollah’s offensive capacity and taking similar steps with its leaders, Israel dealt devastating blows to the terrorist organisations dedicated to its destruction. And it advanced the cause of peace more widely.
The daylight into which the prisoners of Syria’s jails at last stumbled was daylight that dawned following Israel’s actions in weakening Hezbollah, Hamas and their sponsors in Iran. The pillars propping up Assad’s regime had been shaken to their foundations by Israel. And it is to Israel’s credit that its government did not stand idle as Assad fell. The prompt action the IDF took in southern Syria in the days after Assad’s departure helped ensure the weapons he had stockpiled would not fall into the wrong hands.
More than that, the toppling of Assad, following Hezbollah’s humiliation and Hamas’s defeats, has set the seal on a truly terrible year for Iran’s ayatollahs. Their direct attacks on Israel have failed. With their proxies diminished and their allies defeated, the Iranian regime looks weaker than at any time since 1979. That is not just good news for Israel, whose destruction Iran’s leaders are committed to, but Iran’s own people who yearn to breathe free.
Let it not be forgotten that Assad’s demise is also a setback for Putin’s Russia. Weakened by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, it could not afford the troops or the resources to maintain its murderous ally in the Middle East. And it has lost more than a regional puppet and prestige in the global south. The loss of its naval and air bases in Syria weaken its ability to refuel and reinforce its mercenary armies in Africa. Whatever steps may be taken towards peace in Ukraine this year, they take place against a backdrop in which Russia is weaker following Israel’s actions.
Terrorists defeated, tyrants toppled, democracy defended and Ukraine strengthened: None of this would have happened if the Biden-Blinken team had had their way. Maybe it’s time Joe and Antony made amends to Bibi before they leave office on January 20. Words are all very well, but what about something more tangible? Why not nominate the men and women of the IDF for the Nobel Peace Prize? Provocative, perhaps. But as a sign that Team Biden finally recognises that it’s weakness that really is more provocative than strength, it would be truly enlightening.
The preference for freezing wars instead of ending them is one of the more dangerous trends in Western policymaking. What was once widely recognized as an innovation of Vladimir Putin’s Russia has somehow become Plan A among a panicky Western public that refuses to look more than a few hours into the future.
And the insistence on applying this policy to Israel’s war against Hamas recalls the adage “it was worse than a crime; it was a blunder.” In this case, pressuring Israel to freeze its conflict with Hamas in place is more than immoral; it is irrational.
Throughout the history of warfare, postwar settlements have been driven and judged by whether they made renewed conflict more or less likely. It was understood that ceasefires simply for the purposes of allowing belligerents to rearm for the next battle do not constitute “peace.” Making such ceasefires the end goal of negotiations is a recipe for permanent war in every global hotspot.
Further, fears of one side not sticking to its commitments make it harder to strike peace deals. If one has an enemy that cannot be trusted to uphold agreements, but one still wants to end the cycle of violence, what option is left? Total victory.
Author and political scientist Dan Reiter, in his book How Wars End, estimates that, “Over the 1914-2001 period, nearly one third of all interstate war ceasefires (56 out of 188) eventually broke down into renewed war.” In the case of Israel and Hamas, renewed war is assured. What do people expect Israel to do here?
Reiter offers three forms of total victory that break this pattern: annihilation, annexation, and imposed regime change.
Israel is obviously not pursuing the first—evacuating millions to safe zones in a war that has resulted in about 20,000-25,000 civilian Palestinian deaths by definition rules out any discussion of annihilation.
Israel isn’t pursuing the second—annexation—because it has only moved in the opposite direction, having relinquished its occupation of Gaza entirely. Israel also continues to conduct multilateral diplomacy to determine who might be able to govern Gaza both interim and long-term, and that diplomacy does not include Israeli annexation even as an option.
Third and last is imposed regime change. This is the option Israel has chosen.
The tough choices ahead for Israel relate to several key factors in the Gaza war. First of all, Hamas took 250 hostages on October 7, of whom ninety-six are thought to remain in Gaza. Recently, Hamas released a video of one of the hostages. However, Hamas has refused to provide Israel with a list of the total number and names of the hostages who remain alive. Despite various reports over the last six months, The Israeli prime minister’s office clarified on January 6 that a recent list of hostages circulating in the media was “not provided to Israel by Hamas but was originally given by Israel to the meditators in July 2024.” Despite reports of a deal taking shape, Hamas appears to be stalling. Changes may occur once President-elect Donald Trump takes office later in the month. Trump has said several times recently that he wants the hostages released or else “there will be hell” for Hamas.
The hostage deal appears to have been stuck for a year with little progress. It requires a rethink in terms of a strategy. Leaving living and dead hostages in Gaza for a long period of time would appear to be a macabre end to the October 7 attack and send a message that Hamas can get away with its crimes. On the other hand, the Israeli political leadership appears wary of a deal similar to the one in 2011 when one Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza for five years was released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians, many of them convicted terrorists. Some, like Yayha Sinwar, were even involved in the October 7 attack.
Israel could choose to continue negotiations in Gaza with limited military incursions, as has been the norm over the past year after fighting became less intense in the spring of 2024. However, Israel’s initial military campaign in Gaza was designed to apply military pressure to secure hostage deals. That pressure largely ended in the spring of 2024 after the first deal took place in late November 2023. Israel could choose to renew pressure on Hamas and try to remove the group from areas it controls in Gaza, such as the central Gaza Strip. The IDF has never entered central Gaza in force, despite the long war, leaving Hamas in charge of key urban areas such as Deir al-Balah and Nuseirat.
The hostage deal and military pressure are not the only challenges in Gaza. A related challenge is the question of whether Hamas will be replaced as the governing authority in Gaza. When the war began, Israel’s political leadership compared Hamas to ISIS and said it would be crushed in the same way ISIS was defeated. ISIS was removed from areas in Iraq and Syria after a multi-year campaign between 2014 and 2019. However, Israel’s goals in Gaza appear to have shifted since October 2023 statements about removing Hamas completely.
After fifteen months of war, there is no alternative being put forward for controlling Gaza. Hamas continues to control all the areas where civilians are present in Gaza. What this means is that, unlike the war on ISIS, where civilians were able to leave areas such as Mosul and move to IDP camps under the control of the Iraqi government or the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, civilians in Gaza have not been provided a non-Hamas option for civilian rule. This is why Hamas is able to continue recruiting and also able to continue to control areas where humanitarian aid is supplied. In essence, this puts Hamas astride the supply lines and in possession of many key urban areas in Gaza.
When the October 7 War began, Hamas was able to call on support from other Iranian-backed groups in the region. Hezbollah began attacks on Israel from Lebanon. The Houthis in Yemen began attacks on Israel and attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq began attacks on U.S. forces and also prepared to target Israel. This multi-front war made it difficult for Israel to vanquish all these enemies. However, fifteen months later, things have changed in Israel’s favor. Hezbollah is greatly weakened. The Iranian-backed militias in Iraq appear to have stopped their drone attacks on Israel. The Assad regime, which was a conduit for Iranian weapons transfers to Hezbollah, fell on December 8. This leaves Hamas and the Houthis still standing, although Hamas has been greatly weakened since 2023. Israel also faces increasing attacks from the West Bank by groups linked to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other armed factions.
The overall challenge for Israel in 2025 now returns to Gaza. Although the Iranian nuclear program and other fronts remain, Gaza is where the war began and where it will have to end. A long war in Gaza fighting Hamas for years does not appear to be in Israel’s interest. However, leaving Hamas in control would inevitably enable the group to reconstitute its threat to Israel. Replacing Hamas requires a strategy and coordination with other countries that want to see a peaceful, stable Gaza.
Disclaimer: the views expressed here are solely those of the author, weekly Judean Rose columnist Varda Meyers Epstein.
Black lives matter. Of course they do. Everyone’s lives
matter. But you don’t just go and support a group with an agreeable name
without some due diligence. Or do you?
My progressive Jewish friends don’t seem to think any due
diligence is necessary when it comes to being gung-ho for organizations like
Black Lives Matter, or the Women’s March. If Black Lives Matter says it’s against
racism then gulldarnit, my progressive Jewish friends are going to put a
clenched fist BLM badge on their Facebook profile pic. If they think the Women’s
March is for women, they’re going to put on a pink hat with a name that inwardly
makes them feel thrillingly naughty as they outwardly express their righteous
indignation.
These same progressive friends at some point take down the
badges from their profile pics as the truth outs, as truth so inconveniently
tends to do. Now they know: BLM is inherently antisemitic and anti-Israel—really
the same thing. Were they sheepish when the Women’s March and the Chicago Dyke March
excluded women and dykes if they happened to be Jews or Zionists? Or did they
just quietly take down the badges on their profile pics and find something
hopefully innocuous to support—something that doesn’t hate Jews or Zionists?
(Good luck with that.)
But why didn’t they give these groups a thorough vetting
before throwing their support behind them? The answer is pathetic: they didn’t
believe that someone protesting racism could hate Jews. They didn’t believe
that someone speaking up for women’s rights didn’t believe in Jewish women’s
rights.
Even very, very intelligent Jewish women—women like Bari
Weiss—were surprised when all the groups fighting against sexual violence,
looked the other way when the victims of sexual violence were Jews. In her
introduction to a podcast with Sheryl Sandberg to discuss the documentary Screams
Before Silence, Weiss said, “Sheryl Sandberg watched the horrors of
October 7th unfold and assumed that everyone she knew would rally against these
unspeakable atrocities—particularly after reports of sexual violence and rape
committed by Hamas started pouring in. But when she saw that many people
didn't, or worse, that they denied it was even happening, she was stunned. She
was particularly shocked that many of her would-be allies—prominent feminists
and progressives in this country and around the world—stayed silent.”
During that same podcast, Sandberg described when drove her
to make the documentary. “I never thought I would do this, and I wish this
didn't have to be made. When October 7th happened, I was shocked. I think
everyone was shocked. I was even more shocked afterward. The single most
surprising thing I found was that in the weeks following, people started coming
out with what I thought was clear evidence that this wasn't just mass murder;
there was rape. Women were found naked and bloodied. Over and over, the stories
were coming out, and what I then expected to happen is for people to say, ‘Oh
my God, rape is never supposed to be used as part of war. No sexual violence is
part of conflict.’ But that just wasn't happening.”
Sandberg made the video to convince the rape deniers who
only deny rape when Jews are involved. But it didn’t much help. People who hate
Jews hate them whether or not they are gang raped, tortured, kidnapped, and
abused. They hate Jews whether or not they are Zionists, hate them whether or
not they live in Israel.
“We made a video,” said Sandberg, “and that video went very
viral. I tried to make that video really carefully. I mean, I have strong views
on what's going on, but there were no views in this video. This video said, ‘No
matter what flag you're flying,’ carefully including half Palestinian flags and
half Israeli flags, ‘No matter what you believe, we have to stand united
against the clear use of sexual violence.’
“Yet people were still not believing it. So, I helped
organize a conference at the UN where we brought witnesses who stood there and
cried and said, ‘Here's what I saw with my own eyes.’ Then I took those same
witnesses to parliaments in Europe, where I felt they needed to speak out, but
we still encountered some denial and significant silence.”
Bari Weiss details the various denials of October 7 rape
even in the face of the rape videos that the terrorists proudly shared. “Max
Blumenthal, a commentator and journalist, said that a woman’s body found naked
from the waist down was simply because women at festivals like to dress in
skimpy attire. Another example is the prominent British commentator Owen Jones,
who said there's no evidence of rape. This is a guy with a million Twitter
followers.
“Then there’s Briahna Joy Gray, who was Bernie Sanders’s
press secretary in 2020. She said Zionists are asking that we believe the
uncorroborated eyewitness accounts of men who describe alleged rape victims in
odd fetishistic terms. She said, ‘Shame on Israel for not seriously
investigating claims of rape and collecting rape kits.’ How do you understand
the logic or the worldview that leads people to say things like that?
“Before this conversation,” said Weiss, “I checked in with
some of the top feminist organizations in the country. Since October 7th, the
National Organization for Women made a statement two months after the fact,
which didn’t mention Hamas. UN Women, a group whose mission is to create an
environment where all women can exercise their human rights, waited 55 days
before saying anything. The International Committee of the Red Cross has issued
nothing. I could go on for hours detailing the silence—or worse, weaselly
statements where they fail to mention the perpetrators of evil actions.”
So much for “Believe all women.” (Perhaps they should change
that to “Believe all shiksas.”)
As for Black Lives Matter, their adherents thought they were
invincible. Probably because they saw how all my progressive Jewish friends
were using that clenched fist badge on their Facebook pics. They saw how easy
it was to pull the wool over our eyes under the guise of a fight against
racism. But now we all know about the corruption of those at the top of the BLM
food chain.
Take Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors, for
example. Cullors resigned from the “charity” in 2021 after getting caught with
her hand in the proverbial cookie jar. Back in June, the Washington
Free Beacon reported that BLM is still reeling from Cullors’ abuse of
power:
Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors resigned from the embattled
charity in 2021, but the charity suffered from the excesses of her tenure well
into 2023, according to a copy of its latest tax return obtained by the Washington
Free Beacon.
Under Cullors’s leadership, Black Lives Matter Global
Network Foundation doled out massive contracts to her friends and family,
purchased a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles in 2020, and financed the
purchase of an $8 million mansion in Canada in 2021. By the end of its 2023
fiscal year, the tax forms show, Black Lives Matter saw the $80 million
windfall it raked in during the George Floyd riots of 2020 diminish to under
$29 million as it hemorrhaged cash fulfilling lingering contractual obligations
to Cullors’s associates.
Those individuals include Damon Turner, the father of
Cullors’s only child, whose art firm Trap Heals received $778,000 from Black
Lives Matter in 2023 despite performing no work for the charity that year.
But hey, Black Lives Matter, gulldurnit, so all those progressive Jewish women
rushed to put up that clenched fist badge on their Facebooks. It made them feel
good, like they were making a statement about their own goodness, I suppose.
Because those badges certainly didn’t do a THING for black people or against
racism. And neither did Black Lives Matter.
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), under whose umbrella Black
Lives Matter falls (or at least did, originally), is drenched in Jew hatred. In
its original
2016 platform, M4BL stated that “[the] US justifies and advances the global
war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide
taking place against the Palestinian people,” that “Israel is an apartheid
state,” and that “[the] US [has funded an] apartheid wall.”
The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with
Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.
The US requires Israel to use 75 percent of all the military aid it receives to
buy US-made arms. Consequently, every year billions of dollars are funneled
from US taxpayers to hundreds of arms corporations, who then wage lobbying
campaigns pushing for even more foreign military aid. The results of this
policy are twofold: it not only diverts much needed funding from domestic
education and social programs, but it makes US citizens complicit in the abuses
committed by the Israeli government. Israel is an apartheid state with over 50
laws on the books that sanction discrimination against the Palestinian people.
Palestinian homes and land are routinely bulldozed to make way for illegal
Israeli settlements. Israeli soldiers also regularly arrest and detain
Palestinians as young as 4 years old without due process. Everyday [sic],
Palestinians are forced to walk through military checkpoints along the
US-funded apartheid wall.
Cullors, back in 2015, while speaking as a guest lecturer at
Harvard Law School's 'Globalizing Ferguson: Radicalized Policing and
International Violence' forum, opined that people must "end the
imperialist project that's called Israel." “Palestine is our generation's
South Africa. If we don't step up boldly and courageously to end the
imperialist project that's called Israel, we're doomed.”
Is this really what my progressive Jewish friends,
relatives, and acquaintances wanted to support as they watched BLM gain
momentum? Did my fellow Jews support an end to Israel? Probably not. But they
hadn’t bothered to check what BLM actually stands for. Black Lives Matter was a
sentiment that brooked no criticisms or doubts about the respectability of the
group going under the mantle of that oh-so-progressive-sounding name.
BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors calls to "end the imperialist project that's called Israel." pic.twitter.com/0PgEtPMpVx
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 28, 2021
That same year, Cullors and her friends organized a
solidarity trip to Nazareth called “Ferguson to Palestine.” To liven things up,
they did a flash mob “specifically calling for the boycott, divestment, and
sanctions of the state of Israel. We who believe in freedom cannot rest until
it’s won.”
Here’s some of the other Jew-hating bullpucky they spouted:
We came here to Palestine to stand in love and revolutionary
struggle with our brothers and sisters. We come to a land that has been stolen
by greed and destroyed by hate. We learn of laws that have been co-signed in
ink but written in the blood of the innocent. We stand next to people who
continue to courageously struggle and resist the occupation. People continue to
dream and fight for freedom. From Ferguson to Palestine, the struggle for
freedom continues.
We who believe in freedom cannot rest. We who believe in
freedom cannot rest until it’s won. We who believe in freedom cannot rest.
We sit in a sea of settlements while the sound of suffering
is lost in the listening, as the voices of heartache hail the power of
presence. People are portals, passports to heaven. Here is a protest in the
form of a prayer. God is in the holy water lining the lower lids of a child’s
eyes, a tear running against a cheek in Old Jerusalem. The lonely storyteller
sits on a leaning chair in the market.
God is a woman holding a crying baby in her arms at a
checkpoint, waiting at the gates like cattle. God is in the rubble, with
gnarled hands rinsing in an open fire. A journey of dreamers sings through
empty streets in Bethlehem. We survive in the telling, unafraid. We survive in
the telling.
What if the occupations drain the Palestinians who had
thrills underneath their teeth, and they suddenly awoke to see the ships at the
Bay of the West Bank shore, discovering that the occupation existed no more?
What if Zionism is the second coming of Christ? Destruction is the matriarch of
sight, for if we are the Messiah, then God is not white. What if life is the
afterlife, and we are already dead? The footage of the moment loops in your
head, replaying until you die for the second time.
What a power influence your intelligence and mind, and those
with lesser means—the oppressors. Would you still steal this land under that
pressure?
Free Palestine! Palestine and Ferguson in the occupation.
Ferguson and Palestine, we fight to free our nations.
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
I believe! I believe!
They know that we know. They know that we win. We are all
right.
Group hug! Come on!
Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
See? As long as you say it under the rubric of “Black Lives
Matter!” you can say any gulldurned hateful lie you can think of. It’s all
good. Good enough for my progressive Jewish friends to not bother to even do a
rudimentary check of what these people are plugging—and they ain’t plugging DEI—they’re
plugging antisemitism.
There really was such a wealth of material out there, attesting to the disingenuousness
and horrifically hateful views of BLM. If only my progressive Jewish friends
had been interested in examining even a modicum of the evidence. In 2016, for
example, several horrible people made a film comparing anti-black racism, to “Palestinian”
suffering under the supposed thumb of Israel.
Stragglers arrive; extra seats are formed into rows, and
even more latecomers will be forced to stand. The lights dim, and a video
recently released on YouTube begins to play on the projection screen. Entitled When
I See Them, I See Us, it features activist-scholars Angela Davis and Cornel
West, musician Lauryn Hill, actor Danny Glover, writer Alice Walker and dozens
of other prominent activists, Palestinian and black. Narrators recite the title
in rhythmic repetition as the activists hold up a series of slogan-bearing
signs: “Racism is systemic. Its outbursts are not isolated incidents.” “Your
walls will never cage our freedom.” “End state racism.” “Gaza stands with
Baltimore.” Photos of dead Palestinian children alternate with photos of black
victims of police shootings and scenes of Gaza rubble.
When the three-minute video ends—directing viewers to the
website blackpalestiniansolidarity.com—the room bursts into applause. Dajani
introduces the guest speaker for the evening, Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler,
the senior minister of the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in
Washington, DC. From his temporary pulpit, Hagler weaves a web of parallels—the
walls of a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts to Israel’s separation
barrier in the West Bank; property destruction in Baltimore in the wake of the
death of Freddie Gray to the first and second intifadas. His voice frequently
reaches sermon pitch, his audience full of nodding heads, murmurs of approval,
snapping fingers, and calls of “Yes.”
For all my progressive Jewish friends who so proudly displayed BLM FB badges
until they didn’t, here’s a taste of that film script:
When I see them, I see us.
Every 28 hours, a Black life is stolen by police or
vigilantes in the U.S. Every two hours, a Palestinian child is killed in
Israel's attacks on Gaza.
Eric Garner, 43 years old, father of six, grandfather,
friend. Seven-year-old killed when an Israeli missile struck her home. Hashem
Abu Maria, 45 years old, father of four, human rights worker. Ayanna Jones,
seven years old, killed in her sleep by Detroit police.
I see us—harassed, beaten, tortured, dehumanized, stopped
and frisked, searched at checkpoints, victims of administrative detention,
youth incarceration. When I see them, I see us—from Rikers Island to Ophir
Prison, from Raeford to Chicago, lives are being stolen.
Remember them. We are not statistics. We are not collateral
damage. We have names and faces: Sakia Nadeem Kimani, Renisha Muhammad. They
burned me alive in Jerusalem. They gunned me down in Chicago. They shot out our
water tanks in Hebron. They cut off our water in Detroit. They demolished our
homes in New Orleans. When I see them, I see us.
They see our rooms as dangerous, label us as demographic
threats. They sterilize us without our knowledge and mark our children as
criminals. We say no to all forms of oppression in U.S. cities and on the
streets of Palestine. We respect the uniqueness of our struggles and our varied
histories. When I see them, I see us—resilient, steadfast, determined.
I see who we were meant to be: alive, free, liberated,
mapping out our destiny. I see hope, strength, love—a place where our children
can dream. I see a road, a partner, a family, a world where we can rise and be
seen.
Now, with Cullors out of the picture, it has become clear that the BLM
people need a new Jew-hater in charge. Which is why they just hired Yonasda
Lonewolf!
Black Lives Matter Grassroots announced in a New Year's message to its
supporters on Thursday that it hired Yonasda Lonewolf, a rapper and activist
with close ties to Farrakhan, as a "special projects specialist" to
help the group as it works to "claim victory over the white-supremacist
systems designed to kill our people." Black Lives Matter Grassroots said
in the message it would enter 2025 with "the revolutionary spirit of our
Haitian forebears" and featured an image of Haitian revolutionaries in the
early 1800s lynching French military officers.
Lonewolf doesn’t shy from her devotion to Farrakhan, who has
praised Adolf Hitler as a "very great man" and casts Jews as "termites"
and "enemies"
who control black people. She professed her love for Farrakhan in a 2016 Facebook post and later, in a
2020 Instagram
post, described the minister as "my grandfather Min. Farrakhan who
also eased my spirit." In 2023, Lonewolf attended Farrakhan’s annual
keynote address, where she told the ministry’s propaganda website that she felt
"rejuvenated" by his message.
"We are all under attack right now, and it’s the fight
against good and evil, at the end of the day," Lonewolf told the Final
Call, the Nation of Islam's official publication. "The fact that
we still have a great leader amongst us is a testament that he’s standing, that
we need to be able to continue." Other Farrakhan devotees interviewed in
that article praised the Nation of Islam leader's stand against "the
Satanic Jews" and "the Jewish powers that be."
As to the pink pussy hats, they were all the rage with
progressive Jewish women. But that didn’t go very well, either.
It should be obvious to progressive Jewish women by now that
the Women’s March, an allegedly feminist movement, which allegedly supports the
rights of all women, just isn’t into Jewish women. To progressive ideologues,
Jews are burdened by the original sin of Zionism, whether they are pro-Israel or
not.
This was made very clear in June 2017, at the Chicago Dyke
March, when three Jewish LGBT Pride marchers carrying flags adorned with a Star
of David (similar to, but not the flag of Israel) were ousted from the parade.
This was an act of pure anti-Semitism by radical feminists.
In fact, at the event in question, the 21st
annual Chicago Dyke March, a member of the group said that the
women were told to leave because the flags “made people feel unsafe” and
that the March was both “anti-Zionist” and “pro-Palestinian.”
Two years later, things had not much (read “not at all”) improved.
But at least the rules of the 2019 DC Dyke March were clear.
The DC Dyke March, returning to Washington, D.C. on Friday
after a 12-year absence, will prohibit Jewish and pro-Israel pride symbols,
including flags.
“Jewish stars and other identifications and celebrations of
Jewishness (yarmulkes, talit, other expressions of Judaism or Jewishness) are
welcome and encouraged. We do ask that participants not bring pro-Israel
paraphernalia in solidarity with our queer Palestinian friends,” Yael Horowitz,
a Jewish organizer of the D.C. march, told A.J. Campbell, who wanted to bring a
Jewish Pride flag to the march, in a Facebook message, reportedThe
Washington Post.
The progressive Jews I know are on the whole, accomplished
professionals with Ivy League educations. Why then, do they completely lack the
ability to see when they’re being taken for a ride? How is it that they’re so
quick to support what isn’t? BLM isn’t about equal rights for black people. It’s
about misusing funds and hating Jews. The Women’s March and Dyke Marches aren’t
about women or dykes. If it were, Jews and their symbols showing up in
solidarity would be welcomed. After all, what does Israel have to do with the
women’s rights movement in the United States?
Answer: not a thing. It’s not even intersectional. The
marches are a pretext to hate whatever floats their hate boat. Straights,
whites, Jews, Donald J. Trump . . . whatever they hate most at the moment. None
of it hangs together in any cohesive form whatsoever.
In the run up to the election, a friend explained to me that
she could not vote for Trump because she feared her elementary school-aged granddaughter
would someday not be able to get an abortion as a result. But Trump didn’t do anything with abortion in his first term, and has no intention of having much to do with it now.
It’s not even a thing. He’s leaving it up to the states to decide these things
for themselves.
And guess what, they already have. There is no place in
America where a woman cannot get an abortion where there is a risk to the life
of the mother. In fact, there are very few places in America where the usual exceptions are not in place.
But you know, Kamala Harris told them otherwise, so they
believe her. And voted for her. Because they are Jewish progressives, so they
embrace whatever cause they are told is progressive without even the smallest effort
made at verifying the facts.
Are they aware that Kamala Harris supports student
protests against “Israel’s genocide in Gaza” and tells them they have a right
to “their truth?”
Probably not. Again, because they don’t care. What they care about is the
appearance of being consonant with progressive values. They want to belong, so
when others scream BLACK LIVES MATTER, they put those badges up on their
Facebook pages. And when Kamala tells them that Donald J. Trump wants to
control their bodies, they vote for her, despite her hatred of their homeland
and the people who live there. They comfort themselves by saying, there's no way she hates Jews. Her husband is Jewish!
Will Jewish progressives wake up in time to save themselves?
Probably not. They are too intellectually lazy to perpetuate their own species. That expensive education their Yiddisher parents paid for is basically a framed diploma on a wall. They graduated a long time ago, and no longer have to use their brain cells to
dig deep and critically think about anything much at all.
Yesterday, I noted that the evidence of Hamas using the Kamal Adwan Hospital for terror purposes was unassailable.
They have published photos and videos of weapons found here. They caught known October 7 terrorists trying to escape from the hospital. They showed an interview with one of the Hamas operatives there confirming everything they said.
Not only that but it fits a pattern of Hamas having used many other hospitals in Gaza.
Now see how the New York Times tries to cast doubt on the video interview the IDF released:
The military released footage of what it said was an interrogation of one of the more than 240 militants it had arrested in raiding the hospital, saying it backed up Israel’s allegations that Hamas and other armed groups deliberately embed themselves in hospitals in violation of international law.
The New York Times was not able to independently verify the claims made in the video, or to determine the circumstances under which the detainee made the admission. Israel has detained many Gazans in Sde Teiman, an army base in southern Israel, where many have been held in demeaning conditions and in which former detainees described beatings and other abuse. The Israeli military has denied accusations of systematic abuse there.
Ah, so the Israelis tortured the terrorist into saying what they wanted!
Students of conspiracy theories recognize what the New York Times is doing. No matter what evidence is brought, it can always be doubted because a huge influential entity can fake anything. The photos and videos of weapons are planted, the arrests were of innocent people, the detainees are coerced.
The implication is that the IDF is deliberately attacking hospitals for no valid military reason. Not only that, but even though the Israelis know that the laws of armed conflict specifically ban attacking hospitals unless they are being actively used for military purposes, they attack them anyway just because they are that evil, and then they hide their criminal activities with an elaborate coverup involving staging weapons, torturing confessions and getting shot at.
Soldiers are trained to attack enemies, not civilians. If Israel was just choosing a hospital to attack because they are hellbent on genocide - which is the only possible reason to do so that the New York Times would consider - wouldn't there be lots of disillusioned soldiers saying so? Wouldn't the NYT reporters be inundated with former soldiers anxious to tell their stories?
Not when the Times believes in conspiracy theories. Because it isn't the IDF only, but all of Israel - soldiers, reservists, their relatives, every newspaper and TV station and WhatsApp group, pretty much every Jew in the country - that is part of the plot.
But the claim that Palestinians are being held in "demeaning conditions" is reported as if it is factual, even though it came from an UNRWA report and UNRWA is not exactly an innocent objective party.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Thursday, January 09, 2025
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