This is what the war is all about The Building of the 3rd Holy Temple in Jerusalem
Hamas ADMITS the Red Heffer is Their Cause of War – Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship |
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 Judenstern_Yellow Star of David
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The only way to punish Hamas for October 7th is to build The Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple)
 Rafi Weinstein – Joke-tweet-11August2024-Build The Beit HaMikdash
The Truth Behind the Israel Hamas War: Israel’s War for the Holy Temple
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Latma – Fake it Out (Israel-Hamas Satire)
All About the FactsLegal Grounds 13August2017 |
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UN Propaganda
vs Reality
Click to Download Systemic Anti-Israel Bias in the United Nations Institutional Apparatus==== Obama and the UN betray Israel (yet again)“The Caroline Glick Show IN Focus”  Caroline Glick: Obama and the UN betray Israel (yet again) Obama and the UN Betray Israel…Again | The Caroline Glick Show IN FocusPosted 25October2023 JNS TV: |
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Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-26October2023-Finally someone says it
Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-26October2023-Finally someone says it Finally someone says it! “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.” And isn’t it great that the person who said it is UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres, who presides over the organization that has played a defining role in creating, sustaining, and nourishing the fertile soil from which Hamas has sprung? Let us examine the evidence (Part 1, Part 2 in the first comment): Exhibit A: UNRWA. This still temporary agency, established more than 70 years ago to settle the Arab refugees from the war of 1948 (Israel settled the Jewish refugees), was unable to carry out its mission throughout the 1950’s due to the complete refusal of the Arab refugees (later to be known as Palestinians) to be settled, knowing that this would mean they have abandoned their ongoing war against there being a state of sovereign and free Jews anywhere in the land. Having failed in its resettlement mission, UNRWA was then hijacked by the Palestinians themselves to become the organization that enables Palestinians, uniquely among all the world’s refugees, to persist in the view that they do not need to accept new realities, new borders, and can go on thinking of themselves as perpetual refugees, generation after generation, until such moment that they can turn back the clock, have a “redo” and win the war against there being a state for Jews anywhere in the land. UNRWA, its compounds, its education system, its almost exclusively Palestinian staff, have been the womb in which not only a unique Palestinian identity was consolidated, but one that was singularly focused on “revenge” and “return”. As a result, from the planners and perpetrators of the massacre of Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympics, to the current planners and perpetrators of the Oct 7 mass massacre, every generation trained murderers rose up to realize the dream of “return”, “Free Palestine” and “From the River to the Sea”. (For more on this you may read this post of October 13 https://x.com/einatwilf/status/1712875687407726766?s=61&t=7v41xX2_j-eRVLBysOWtgA or the book “The War of Return” for the full and definitive review of UNRWA’s uniquely destructive goal in sustaining the Palestinian dream of “no Israel”) Exhibit B: A whole administrative UN structure devoted uniquely to Palestinians In 1975, the carefully developed Soviet replacement for the Tsarist “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” known as respectable “It’s only Anti-Zionism” was inserted into the UN through the “Zionism is Racism” UN General Assembly resolution. While the resolution was repealed in 1991 under US pressure, the entire infrastructure that it erected remained intact. These include three UN bodies with staffs and budgets that only exist to promote the Palestinian vision that the Jews deserve no state in any part of the land and it is worth noting that no other people have an entire division in the UN Secretariat dedicated to it: (For more on this go to https://ajiri.us/about) Exhibit C: The UN “Human” “Rights” “Council” obsession with condemning Israel In 2006 the UN established Orwellian named “Human Rights Council” to replace the rabidly anti Israel UN Commission on Human Rights. And yet, surprise, surprise, nothing changed. For example, every (every!) session of the UN Human Rights Council features a standing agenda item targeting Israel. No other country in the world is singled out in this fashion. In addition, since 2006 UNHRC passed 104 resolutions against Israel alone, compared with 97 against all (all!) other countries combined. Mind you, it’s not just the number. Resolutions against other countries are always framed in the softest language as in “we commend Sudan/Syria/Iran for their efforts to do better and if they could just try a bit harder, that would be nice”. Resolutions against Israel are always phrased in the darkest of dark words with clear definitive blame. And of-course these resolutions often establish more bodies and commissions with more staff and budgets entirely devoted to criminalizing Israel. (For more on UNHRC’s obsession with Israel: https://unwatch.org) Exhibit D: The UN General Assembly and its obsession with Israel The legendary Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Abba Eban, already in the 1960’s made the evergreen observation (remember, this was before the “occupation” which Mr. Gutteres thinks is the cause of Hamas atrocities) observed that: “If Algeria introduced a resolution that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.” (Or my version that in the United Nations, the nations are only united against Israel). The UNGA, with its automatic majority against Israel, has been the arena whereby repeated anti-Israel resolutions get passed, where days of “solidarity” with Palestinians are marked, and where ideas that exist in no other context, such as a “right of return” are repeatedly affirmed, leading people with little knowledge of how the UN works to assume that these form “international law” (they don’t). I sometimes wryly conclude that it seems as if the UN General Assembly momentarily voted in November 1947 to uphold the international legitimacy to the establishment of a Jewish state in half of the land initially allocated by the League of Nations… and then has spent all subsequent decades trying to backtrack that. And why does this matter so much? Because some of us might think that it should be obvious by now that the UN is useless and corrupt and hijacked, but it still retains the post WWII halo of an organization birthed on noble principles to create a more peaceful world. And this halo is why so much of the war against the Jews having a state is being waged in that arena. Those who seek the eradication of the world’s only Jewish state (“Keep the World Clean” in recent placards), need the authority of the UN to legitimize their annhilitionist cause. (For more on how high authority is needed to legitimize anti-Jewish ideologies in my speech here: https://youtu.be/1qGewRDWJGo?si=2IDhytGfl2uPbdbQ). And that’s the UN. That’s the fertile soil from which generations of trained murderers of Jews emerged, whether they were called Fatah, DFLP, Hamas or Jihad. The names change. The soil doesn’t. Indeed, none of the carefully planned massacres by Palestinian terror organizations of sovereign Jews ever “happened in a vacuum”.  Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-26October2023-Finally someone says it  Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-26October2023-Exhibit C-The UN Human Rights Council ==== |
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Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-1November2023-Why are there even places called “refugee camps” in Gaza?
Why are there even places called “refugee camps” in Gaza? And why are two thirds of the people living in Gaza, who were born there and lived there their entire lives, called “refugees” from a war that ended more than seven decades ago? The answers to these question unlock the core of the conflict. Here they are (Part 1; Part 2 in the first comment): 1.The 20th century has been marked by a transition from empires to states. We begin the 20th century when much of the world is divided between empires. We end it when much of the world is divided between states. When lucky, those states were based on the self determination of a people who share a common history, language, ethnicity, background religion and connection to a territory. (Zionism emerged in this context based on the idea of self determination for the Jewish people in the only territory to which they were ever connected as a people). When unlucky those new states were artificially created by receding empires drawing boundaries, forcing different peoples to share one state, leading almost always to civil war, dictatorship, or both. This transition has been bloody. It involved two world wars and numerous regional and civil wars. In the bloody process of empires receding and new states emerging to replace them, tens of millions of people were displaced, fleeing across newly created borders, typically to new countries with an ethnic makeup similar to their own. This was true of Hindus and Muslim, Ukrainians, Poles and Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks and Arabs and Jews. This was not unique. 2.What was unique is that one group only of refugees from that time and those wars were allowed to maintain themselves as endless refugees in anticipation of one day winning a war they had lost. Those were the Arab refugees from the war of 1948, later to be known as Palestinians. All other refugee groups, except the Palestinians, were presented with a clear message: “it’s tough, it’s tragic, move on”. There was a clear understanding that in the most fundamental sense there is no going back – not in place and not in time (thus, there was no such thing as “a right of return”). To seek to go back would mean endless war. And so the message was forward looking and future facing. Tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons, among them millions of Jews, would build new lives in the new countries to which they fled. 3.Except Palestinians. The war that the Arabs of the land and the surrounding countries waged to prevent a Jewish state from emerging and gaining independence failed to achieve its goals. Despite the violent onslaught of 1947-49, Israel emerged as a sovereign state. But the Arabs of the land, sustained by broader Arab support, refused to accept this outcome. They proceeded to undo it through a variety of means, including repeated wars, economic boycotts, international condemnations and a complete refusal of the refugees themselves to be settled, as it would effectively mean accepting that the war was over. http://4.To that end of keeping the war of 1948 alive until its goal of undoing the Jewish state could be achieved, a temporary agency established to resettle the refugees – UNRWA (initially called REWA, but the Arabs insisted on the letters UN so that it would appear to enjoy international legitimacy) – was hijacked by the Arab refugees. As a result of this hijacking UNRWA effectively became a Palestinian entity devoted singularly to sustaining and stoking the idea that uniquely among the world’s refugees, Palestinians don’t need to move on and can keep insisting on “return”, both in space and in time, to a time when there was no Israel. UNRWA thus became the mechanism by which the Jewish people alone were denied the right to to consider their hard won self-determination and sovereign statehood as a done deal. (Part 2 continues in the first comment:)
5.One of the most important means by which UNRWA fulfilled its mission is inflating the number of Palestinians it registers as refugees. It does so by engaging in several unique practices, not applied to any other refugee population in the world: (1) Counting descendants of the original refugees displaced by the War of 1948 in perpetuity (by now into the fifth generation) automatically and with no qualifications; (2) Never removing any “refugees” from the count even if they acquired citizenship of another country, a status that for all other true refugees ends their refugee status; (3) Counting Palestinians who continue to live in the West Bank and Gaza, so in “Palestine” as refugees “from” Palestine. Once UNRWA’s inflationary practices are removed, almost none of the Palestinians who claim to be “refugees”, either as registered by UNRWA (around 5.7 Million) or self-claimed by Palestinians living in the West (a total of 8-9 Million) are actually refugees by any international standard. The vast majority of them are either (1) living in the West Bank and Gaza, and so clearly are not refugees “from” Palestine, still very much living there, and since almost all of them are by now second to fifth generation claimants they have also never been displaced by war – 2.2 Million; (2) Citizens of countries such as Jordan – 2.2 Million or various countries around the world – 2-3 Million. Citizens of countries are not refugees by any international standard. This leaves about 250,000 Palestinians who remain stateless in Syria and Lebanon, despite having been born there and never having been displaced by war. Those countries refuse to give them citizenship. They are certainly no longer refugees, but they are stateless. Of them, perhaps 30,000 are indeed refugees by international standards in that they were displaced by war, crossed the border and have not been given citizenship by any other country. Them, and only them, should be recognized as refugees. That is less than 1% of the total number of Palestinians who claim to be “refugees”. http://6.In addition to its inflationary practices, the UNRWA compounds (“Refugee Camps”) and schools are the incubators in which the Palestinian national ethos of “revenge and return” was created and shaped. It is the ground zero Palestinian political organization in that it daily reinforces the Palestinian ethos that the Jews have no right to a state in any of the territory between the Jordan River and the Sea, and that Palestinians will one day undo Israel by means of “return”. Since the days of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, planned and perpetrated by UNRWA graduates, to the October 7th massacre by Hamas, also planned and perpetrated by UNRWA graduates (Muhammad Deif was raised in an UNRWA compound and studied in its school), UNRWA has sustained, nourished, educated and raised generation after generation of Palestinians dedicated to undoing Israel by “all means”, primarily violence and terror. Hamas, like Fatah before it, merely recruits UNRWA graduates ready to commit any atrocity in the name of “revenge and return”. It’s no coincidence that the two places where the perpetual refugee culture is strongest – Gaza and Lebanon – are also the most violent. In short, why are there still millions of people claiming to be refugees from a war that ended more than seven decades ago? Because to the Palestinians, that war has never ended, and they continue to believe that one day, with enough patience and violence, they could still win it to achieve their original goal: no state for the Jewish people anywhere from “The River to the Sea”.
 Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-1November2023-Why are there even places called ‘refugee camps’ in Gaza-1  Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-1November2023-Why are there even places called ‘refugee camps’ in Gaza-2
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Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-27February2024-We need to understand that UNRWA is Palestinian
UNRWA is a classic case of you get what you pay for. So all the Western legitimacy, the global legitimacy, the funding, the aid, the services were funneled to the perpetuation of the myth of the refugee status and to the belief and the fictional idea of a right of return. And lest we think that return is an innocent idea of just feelings of nostalgia to a home that belonged to a great-grandparent in today’s Israel, October 7th is return. So what we need to ask right now is not who will replace UNRWA – that doesn’t matter – but what? What will replace UNRWA? And what needs to replace UNRWA is any mechanism that only funnels legitimacy, support, money and aid to those who are taken off of UNRWA’s rosters; those who are no longer registered as refugees; those who sign and make it clear that they understand that they’re not refugees and that they posses no such right of return. Only then can something be built. So this is what we need to say: It doesn’t matter who replaces UNRWA – but what replaces UNRWA? Reverse the equation. Legitimacy, money, aid, services will flow only to individuals who have been stricken off UNRWA’s rosters, if it still exists, and who themselves testify that they understand that they’re not refugees, that they do not possess the right of return, and they have no intention of liberating Palestine from the river to the sea. And I want to end with one thought: October 7th should put an end to the notion of “the poor Palestinians” – the ones who constantly need aid, aid, money, support. The Palestinians are a highly capable people. October 7th required years of planning, massive investment in infrastructure, strategy, discipline, vision – a perverse vision – but vision. The Palestinians are not an incapable people. They are a people with terrible priorities. My words yesterday at the @UNWatch Summit on Replacing UNRWA. Link to video here: https://unwatch.org/einat-wilf-at-the-international-summit-for-a-future-beyond-unrwa/
 Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-27February2024-We need to understand that UNRWA is Palestinian
 UN Watch-tweet-27February2024-Palestinian vision of return Einat Wilf at the International Summit for a Future Beyond UNRWA
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Israeli refugees receive ZERO AID from the UN
Many have nothing more then the clothes in their backs. They receive ZERO AID from the UN. #StandWithIsrael  The Persian Jewess-tweet-2March2024-Israeli refugees receive ZERO AID from the UN
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Illegal construction at the UNTSO compound in JerusalemThe United Nations Truce Supervision Organization Armon Ha’Natziv, Government House, Jerusalem. Israeli government admits: UN has broken the law in JerusalemIsraeli government says it is in contact with UN to resolve issue of illegal construction at Government House.Arutz Sheva Staff / 28May2017, 10:56 PM (GMT+3) https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/230300
 Armon Hanatziv Jerusalem UN Compound
After repeated delays, the state finally responded Sunday to the request for an interim injunction filed by Regavim against the illegal construction carried out by the UN at the Government House in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.
The state admitted for the first time that the extensive construction activity there, including works to preserve the historic buildings in the compound, as well as the construction of additional illegal structures in the compound, were carried out without permits. “The planning and building laws of the State of Israel apply to the compound and to the works that are the object of the petition, and the UN is expected to act in accordance with the principles of the relevant planning and building laws.”
In a petition submitted by the Regavim movement to the Jerusalem District Court two months ago, it was revealed that the United Nations had committed a large number of building offenses during the past year, in a site registered in the Land Registry in the name of the State of Israel.
The state expressed its opposition to issuing an interim injunction prohibiting continued construction of the compound, since the UN enjoys immunity from prosecution and legal action against it.
The State noted that “if there are differences between the State of Israel and the United Nations on this issue, they should be brought to a solution through diplomatic channels” and detailed the contacts held by the Foreign Ministry over the past few weeks with relevant UN officials in Israel and New York.
The government’s intention was to establish a ministerial team to examine the government’s policy on the issue, and at the same time examine the possibility of using appropriate tools in addition to the construction being carried out in the area, including measures against Israeli entities involved in the construction work.
In this context, the State announced that it did not object to Regavim’s request to include the Israeli construction companies involved in the illegal construction activity as respondents to the petition.
“In addition to all this, the State is working through the diplomatic channels with the aim of resolving the issue of construction in all its aspects, including setting an outline with the UN regarding existing construction and future construction, as far as the UN will do. This dialogue is in favor of regulating the issue. ”
Regavim responded to the state’s position by stating that violations of the law must be dealt with without delay. “Illegal work must be stopped immediately, even by means of an order against the Israeli companies that are actually carrying out the building violations while the law is in place,” said attorney Avi Segal of the Regavim movement.
“The claim that the UN has absolute immunity that allows it to build as much as it likes in the assets of the State of Israel and in violation of the building laws is unacceptable. Its immunity is only for the fulfillment of his diplomatic duties, not for offenses and the theft of land from the country that hosts him free of charge in its land and properties.”
BACKGROUND:
Illegal construction at the UNTSO compound in Jerusalem23 September 2020 https://www.regavim.org/illegal-construction-at-the-untso-compound-in-jerusalem/
Regavim’s petition regarding the UNTSO Compound in Armon HaNatziv continues.In March 2017, Regavim petitioned the Jerusalem Magistrates Court for a temporary injunction requiring the Israeli authorities to issue evacuation and restoration orders against illegal construction at the UNTSO compound in Armon HaNatziv, in southern Jerusalem.
This petition was the result of Regavim’s discovery that the UN was carrying out blatant violations of Israeli law and sovereignty at the site, including seizure and unauthorized use of property adjacent to the compound originally “rented” to the UN by the State of Israel, and construction of a number of buildings – including an illegal gas station – at and around the original site for which permits were never requested or received. The work that had either been completed or that was then underway had already caused significant changes to protected historic structures, and posed a possible environmental threat, aside from the basic violation of Israeli law and Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem.
In the hearing of Regavim’s petition on 8 November 2017, the State’s representatives confirmed that these construction projects had, in fact, been carried out and were still in progress, but stated that the Israeli government would be carrying out diplomatic discussions with representatives of the UN on this matter.
Over the course of the next three years, these “diplomatic discussions” continued, and last week (15 September 2020) the State’s representatives notified the court that this process had reached a successful conclusion: The sides agreed that all future construction work at the site will be “consonant” either substantively or substantially (the wording in Hebrew is extremely vague) “with Israel’s Planning and Construction Code, and will be carried out according to mutually acceptable parameters.” In addition, the government’s attorney notified the court that its inspectors had received and studied plans and other documentation for the construction work that has already been initiated or completed at the site, and found the documentation “satisfactory.”
The State therefore argued that Regavim’s petition had been made redundant and should be rejected. “While Regavim is happy to hear that the Israeli government and the United Nations have reached an understanding regarding future construction at the site, with all due respect – this ‘understanding’ is worthless,” said Naomi Kahn, Director of Regavim’s International Division.
“There is no argument that Israel’s planning and construction laws apply to the Armon HaNatziv compound, and that the UN and its representatives are required to obey these laws; in fact, this is stated clearly in paragraph 5 of the State’s response. The ‘understanding’ reached with the UN that future construction will be ‘consonant’ with Israeli law is another way of saying that the UN is somehow above the law, and has voluntarily agreed to take Israel’s Planning and Building Code into consideration. At the same time, the Israeli government’s acquiescence to this ‘understanding’ exempts it from enforcing the law.”
“This is an ‘understanding’ that we must not accept,” Kahn continued. “Regavim’s petition, from the very outset, has been as much about the physical damage caused to the historic compound as it is about the blatant disregard for Israeli sovereignty in our capital. ”
– 1967. Israel grants UN a compound in Armon HaNatziv, in southern #Jerusalem, to allow #UNTSO personnel to monitor ceasefire between #Israel & its neighbors post-war. (1/6)  Regavim-tweet-23September2020-UN illegal activity “We are unwilling to accept the Israeli government’s behavior in this matter,” added Attorney Avi Segal, who represents Regavim in this case. “The ‘satisfactory’ documentation presented by the UN should not empower our government or its agencies to undermine the basic principles of equal and universal law enforcement. If the planning and building code becomes nothing more than a set of recommendations, if the ramifications for our environment and the allocation of national resources of large-scale projects are only of secondary concern, and if political pressure suffices to suspend all semblance of legal process, Israel is in sad state indeed.”
“Regavim will continue to pursue this matter in court,” said Meir Deutsch, Director General of Regavim. “We will not accept our government’s willingness to forgo Israeli sovereignty – particularly when the challenge is posed by an organization that acts consistently against Israeli sovereignty on every possible front.”
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Google co-founder Sergey Brin calls U.N. ‘transparently antisemitic’ after report on tech firms and GazaHis comment on an internal company forum came in response to a United Nations report alleging that Google profited from “Israel’s genocide,” screenshots show.8July2025 at 8:55 p.m. EDT Today at 8:55 p.m. EDT https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/08/sergey-brin-united-nations-gaza-israel/
By Nitasha Tiku and Gerrit De Vynck
Google co-founder Sergey Brin called the United Nations “transparently antisemitic” on Saturday in an internal forum for employees, according to screenshots reviewed by The Washington Post and verified with a current member of the forum.
His comments came in response to a U.N. report released last month that alleged technology firms including Google and its parent company Alphabet had profited from “the genocide carried out by Israel” in Gaza by providing cloud and AI technologies to the Israeli government and military.
“With all due respect, throwing around the term genocide in relation to Gaza is deeply offensive to many Jewish people who have suffered actual genocides. I would also be careful citing transparently antisemitic organizations like the UN in relation to these issues,” Brin wrote in a forum for staff at Google DeepMind, the company’s artificial intelligence division, where workers were debating the report, according to the screenshots.
The U.N. report was authored by its special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Italian legal scholar Francesca Albanese. The U.S. representative to the U.N. has asked for her removal, accusing her of antisemitism and bias against Israel.
Critics of Israel have said its war in Gaza meets the definition of genocide, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected those claims, saying his country is defending itself against an attempted genocide by Hamas. The Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, has said the war has killed over 57,000 Palestinians.
“My comments came in response to an internal discussion that was citing a plainly biased and misleading report,” Brin said in a statement provided by his spokesperson. Google and the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment.
Brin rarely comments in the internal forum, which is hosted on Google Chat and has nearly 2,500 members, many of them AI researchers. His accusation against the U.N. confused and upset some employees, according to the forum member and screenshots reviewed by The Post.
Google’s leadership has previously clashed with and fired workers who protested the company’s dealings with Israel after its military action in Gaza following the Hamas attacks on the country on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people.
The company moved to sell its AI tools to Israel’s military after the incursion by the militant group, The Post reported in January.
Brin immigrated to the United States as a child with his parents, Russian Jews who sought to escape the antisemitism they faced in the Soviet Union, according to the 2009 book “Googled: The End of the World as We Know It,” by Ken Auletta. Brin and Google co-founder Larry Page left their daily roles at the company in 2019. But Brin has become involved with Google’s efforts to compete in AI following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.
The U.N. report names corporations that the organization’s special rapporteur Albanese says should be held accountable for Israel’s military action in Gaza. It claims American tech giants have capitalized on a lucrative opportunity created by its military’s expanding need for computing services and cloud storage, driven by the copious data generated by Israel’s control of Gaza
The report highlights a $1.2 billion cloud computing contract that Israel awarded to Google and Amazon in 2021 called Project Nimbus, claiming that they “stepped in with critical cloud and AI infrastructure,” after Israel’s internal military cloud overloaded in the wake of the Hamas attacks.
Amazon declined to comment. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.
Last week, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations called on the secretary general of the U.N. to condemn Albanese’s activities and remove her from her role, reiterating a request it made earlier this year opposing the renewal of her appointment.
Google has sought to publicly distance itself from Israel’s national security agencies, but The Post reported in January that documents inside the company’s cloud division showed staff directly helping the country’s Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces access AI technology after the Oct. 7 attacks.
In February, the company dropped a pledge not to use AI technology for weapons or surveillance from its ethical guidelines for the technology around AI. The broad guidelines, first issued in 2018 after employee protests against Google’s military contracts, promise to pursue responsible AI that aligns with “widely accepted principles of international law and human rights.”
Some tech companies have cracked down on employee activism and political dissent following worker protests for doing business with the Israeli government.
After Google fired some workers in 2024 for protesting its cloud contract with Israel, CEO Sundar Pichai said in a company memo that employees should not use their workplace to “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”
Brin’s comment on the AI forum, named GDM Hot Goss in reference to Google DeepMind, followed a message from an AI research engineer who appeared dismayed by the report’s findings but noted much of Google’s AI investment focused on its virtual assistant app, Gemini. “The only bright spot here is that we’re spending all of our time and money on Gemini and not anything more useful for genocide,” screenshots show.
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Israel gets a VASTLY disproportionate amount of criticism by the UN
Here is evidence for this belief: I know no one wants to hear the A word, but I think antisemitism is a primary factor. There are roughly 500 million Arabs in the MENA region and 9 million Jews. America is often alone standing with Israel because we are a democracy, and American Jews and their allies work to elect leaders that understand the value of the alliance. This is unsurprising to me since we have the second highest population of Jewish people.  Brianna Wu-tweet-12March2024-Israel gets a VASTLY disproportionate amount of criticism by the UN
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“Some of you have learned nothing in the past 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this body was established.”Posted by Mary Chastain 30October2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/10/israel-ambassador-to-un-we-will-wear-the-yellow-star-until-you-condemn-the-atrocities-of-hamas/
Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilrad Erdan, has had enough of the farce that is the United Nations. Erdan and his team will wear the yellow star the Nazis forced Jewish people to wear until the UN comes to its senses and condemn Hamas:
“When Jewish babies were burned in Auschwitz the world was silent. Today Jewish babies were burned in Be’eri and the southern towns of Israel by the Nazi Hamas and the world is silent again. I will make you remember the shame of your silence every time you look at me.”  Yonatan Gonen-tweet-30October2023-Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan wore the yellow Star of David at the Security Council
Translation from Google:
 Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-30October2023 |
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Israel halts UN staff visas as officials pan Guterres’s ‘truly insane’ Hamas remarksAfter UN chief says terrorist massacres ‘didn’t happen in vacuum,’ Foreign Ministry says words ‘tarnish both him and organization he heads’; Edelstein says they fan antisemitismBy Michael Bachner and ToI Staff 25October2023 https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-halts-un-staff-visas-as-officials-pan-guterress-truly-insane-hamas-remarks/  UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, left, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, center, and Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan browse the Yad Vashem Book of Names of Holocaust Victims Exhibit at United Nations headquarters, January 26, 2023. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Israel stopped issuing visas to UN officials Wednesday, a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appeared to say Hamas’s murderous October 7 assault on southern Israel was brought on by Israeli occupation.
The development came as Israeli officials continued to rail against the UN chief and demand his apology or resignation, with a senior lawmaker branding his words “truly insane” and adding that they were fanning the flames of antisemitism. The chairman of Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust museum accused Guterres of having “failed the test” of the refrain “Never again.”
An Israeli official confirmed the new visa policy to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, after Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan gave additional details in an interview with Army Radio.
“Due to his remarks we will refuse to issue visas to UN representatives,” Erdan said. “We have already refused a visa for Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. The time has come to teach them a lesson.”
During a UN Security Council meeting Tuesday on the Israel-Hamas war, Guterres said, “It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.
“The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” Guterres said.
He later added that “the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza began after the terror group sent thousands of gunmen over the border to ravage Israeli border communities. Terrorists killed some 1,400 people, the vast majority of them civilians, massacring them at their homes and at a music festival. They also kidnapped at least 224 people and took them into the Strip.  United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, October 24, 2023. (Seth Wenig/AP)
Israel evacuated all settlements and military forces from the Gaza Strip under the 2005 Disengagement. Since then it has faced years of rocket attacks from Hamas, which rules the Strip, and from other terror groups there, as well as multiple rounds of intense combat.
It has maintained a tight blockade of the territory since Hamas took control in 2007, as has Egypt, with Jerusalem saying it must do so to limit the terror group’s ability to arm itself for attacks. In the West Bank, settlements have expanded under consecutive governments with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly arguing the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace, having rejected several offers in the past.
Guterres’s comments drew outrage in Israel. On Tuesday evening, Erdan called them “shocking” and demanded that the secretary general resign, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen canceled a meeting with Guterres, and Minister Benny Gantz labeled the UN chief a “terror apologist.”
The strongly worded reactions continued on Wednesday morning. The Foreign Ministry tweeted that Guterres’s remarks “provoke anger and astonishment and tarnish both him and the organization he heads,” reflecting “a biased and distorted attitude towards Israel on the part of the UN and especially on the part of the Secretary-General himself.”
“The UN Secretary-General must retract his words, engage in deep personal soul-searching and apologize for his statement, which distressed millions of Israelis who are still experiencing the consequences of the murderous terrorist attack of October 7,” the ministry added.
Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-25October2023- The Secretary-General’s assertions reflect a biased and distorted attitude towards Israel on the part of the UN and especially on the part of the Secretary-General himself. The UN Secretary-General’s words support the monstrous violence of the Hamas terrorists and legitimize the heinous massacre of October 7. The atrocities committed by the Hamas terrorists on October 7, the slaughter of women, children and the elderly, the abuse of bodies, the burning of bound children and the rape and abduction of hundreds of Israelis should be censured—there is no way to justify such monstrous atrocities. The UN Secretary-General must retract his words, implement deep personal soul-searching and apologize for his statement, which distressed millions of Israelis who are still experiencing the consequences of the murderous terrorist attack of October 7. @UN @antonioguterres  Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-25October2023-UN Secretary-General in his speech at the Security Council Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affair and Defense Committee, sent an English-language public letter addressed to Guterres expressing “a profound sense of shock” and saying it would have been “best had you said nothing at all.”
“Mr. Secretary-General, you opened by saying that ‘nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians.’ However, you then [made] an about-face and added that the ‘attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.’ Statements of this kind legitimize murderers, rapists, and terrorists around the world — rendering your condemnations null and void,” Edelstein charged.
Edelstein tweeted a photo of the letter, adding in a Hebrew-language post that Guterres’s remarks had been “truly insane” and that “against the backdrop of surging antisemitism around the world, his grave remarks are fueling a giant fire [of hate].”
 Yuli Edelstein letter 24October2023 to UN Secretary General  Yuli Edelstein-tweet-25October2023-UN Secretary General crazy words Israeli leaders and US President Joe Biden have noted that the October 7 atrocities were the single worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan, who met with Guterres earlier this year at a Holocaust-related exhibit at the UN headquarters in New York, said the UN chief had “failed the test” regarding ensuring atrocities against Jews don’t repeat.
“The slaughter of Jews by Hamas on October 7th was genocidal in its intents and immeasurably brutal in its form. Part of why it differs from the Holocaust is because Jews have today a state and an army. We are not defenseless and at the mercy of others,” a statement from Dayan said.
“However, it puts to test the sincerity of world leaders, intellectuals and influencers that come to Yad Vashem and pledge ‘Never Again,’” he continued. “Those who seek to ‘understand,’ look for a justifying context, do not condemn the perpetrators, and do not call for the unconditional and immediate release of the abducted – fail the test. “UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres failed the test.” In a shock assault on October 7, Hamas bombarded Israel with thousands of rockets while over 2,500 gunmen breached the border with the Gaza Strip. The terrorists rampaged murderously through southern areas, slaughtering those they found, butchering entire families in some communities and also killing 260 at an outdoor music festival. Some victims were mutilated, raped and tortured. Dozens of babies were killed. Over 220 people of all ages were abducted and dragged to Gaza as captives. Four have since been released.
Israel has responded to the Hamas assault by vowing to destroy the terror group and launching intensive strikes in Gaza, saying it is hitting terror targets while trying to avoid civilian casualties. It has told over one million Gaza residents to evacuate the northern part of the Strip ahead of an expected ground incursion.
The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry says the strikes have killed over 6,000 Palestinians so far. Those numbers cannot be independently verified and are believed to include Hamas’s own members, as well as civilians killed by hundreds of misfired Palestinian rockets. Agencies contributed to this report.
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One-month visas to replace automatic documents for UN aid agency, Israel saysDanny Danon told the Security Council that the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs “violates the U.N.’s own standards in every other conflict, but when it comes to Israel, those standards disappear.”Mike Wagenheim https://www.jns.org/one-month-visas-to-replace-automatic-documents-for-un-aid-agency-israel-says/ (July 24, 2025 / JNS) Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, accused the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of intentionally publishing false and misleading data, and OCHA leaders of spreading slander.
“Hundreds of OCHA employees are undergoing security vetting,” Danon told the U.N. Security Council during its meeting on Wednesday. “Key employees will not have their permits renewed following clear evidence of strong affiliation with Hamas.”
Israel will no longer grant automatic visas to OCHA’s international staff, and the visas it does issue will be limited to one-month terms, Danon said.
Danon said that Jonathan Whittall, the head of OCHA’s office for the Palestinian territories, has “consistently and outrageously demonstrated his bias and agenda against the State of Israel.” The Israeli envoy told the council that Israel won’t renew Whittall’s visa, and he will have to leave the country by the end of the month.
“We will no longer allow anti-Israel activity under the guise of humanitarianism,” Danon said. “Israel will continue to protect its citizens and stand against mechanisms that promote lies, incitement and terrorism, even if they bear the U.N. logo.”
The Israeli envoy also criticized Tom Fletcher, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, for accusing Israel of committing genocide and for the claim—which he hasn’t retracted—that Israeli aid restrictions in Gaza would lead to 14,000 dead babies in a 48-hour period.
Fletcher partly acknowledged days later that the claim was based on misinterpreted data. “His irresponsibility has infected OCHA from top to bottom,” Danon told the council.
The Israeli envoy said that Fletcher leads a disinformation campaign, which included an OCHA revision of casualty data in May that shaved off more than 10,000 purported deaths of Gazan women and children from its reporting.
“No explanation. No accountability. Just a quiet adjustment, as if the original numbers weren’t already plastered across headlines worldwide,” Danon told the council.
OCHA relies solely on Hamas data in its reporting, according to the envoy.
“There is no independent verification, no cross-checking, no effort to distinguish between civilians and terrorists,” Danon said. “This violates the U.N.’s own standards in every other conflict, but when it comes to Israel, those standards disappear.”
Doing the U.N.’s job
OCHA’s figures for aid entering Gaza, which the international press reports to assess food security conditions in the Strip, only document that which the United Nations coordinates, “ignoring the thousands of trucks of food, medical supplies and fuel that Israel, the private sector and other partners have delivered,” Danon told the council.
The Israeli envoy noted challenges in the region, including Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm and the massacre of Druze in Syria this month. He addressed Kazem Gharibabadi, deputy Iranian foreign minister for legal and international affairs.
“What is your plan now? Will you continue with your murderous agenda? Will you keep running toward a nuclear bomb?” he said. “Will you keep expanding your ballistic missiles for attacks on civilians? Will you keep pumping money into your terrorist proxies?”
Danon said that Israel played a significant role in rooting out Iran’s power in the region and “is making the Middle East safer for everyone who values peace and calm.”
“In other words, we are doing the job of the United Nations,” Danon told the council.
Dorothy Shea, interim U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that accusations of Israeli genocide in Gaza “are politically motivated and categorically false.”
“They are part of a deliberate, cynical propaganda campaign as Hamas attempts to win symbolic victories to compensate for total defeat in war,” she told the council. ”The United States refutes these allegations entirely.”
Shea said the council “must meet the moment” in ongoing Israel-Hamas ceasefire negotiations “by pressuring Hamas to accept the ceasefire proposal already accepted by Israel, release the 50 remaining hostages held for more than 650 days and disarm and leave Gaza forever.”
Barbara Woodward, the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United Nations, was among the envoys who were harshly critical of Israel at the meeting.
“The IDF is shooting at desperate Palestinian civilians on an almost daily basis,” she said. (Israel has repeatedly denied that charge.)
“Hamas is exploiting this disorder,” she added.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata in Israel
Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil. This is a Secretary-General who has yet to denounce the massacre and sexual atrocities committed by Hamas murderers on October 7, nor has he led any efforts to declare them a terrorist organization. A Secretary-General who gives backing to terrorists, rapists, and murderers from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran—the mothership of global terror—will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN. Israel will continue to defend its citizens and uphold its national dignity, with or without António Guterres.  Israel Katz-tweet-2October2024-UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata in Israel
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UPDATE: UN visa extension denials
UN official, leaving post in Jerusalem, says Israel won’t extend visaAsked how widespread visa extension denials are for U.N. staff, a spokesman for the global body told JNS, “Let’s just say it’s spread.”Mike Wagenheim https://www.jns.org/un-official-leaving-post-in-jerusalem-says-israel-wont-extend-visa/
(August 2, 2024 / JNS) Israel is refusing to extend visas for a significant portion of U.N. staff and other non-governmental organizations, a Jerusalem-based official with the United Nations said on Thursday.
During a briefing about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Andrea De Domenico, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories, told reporters that would be his final briefing, as Israeli authorities had not granted his visa extension request.
The relationship between Israel and the United Nations has spiraled since Oct. 7, with Jerusalem repeatedly accusing U.N. officials and bodies of siding with Hamas, showing little to no care for hostages held in Gaza and applying double standards to the Jewish state, as it fends off attacks and threats on multiple fronts from Iran-aligned terror groups.
De Domenico accused the Israeli military of “becoming more and more aggressive” in dealing with U.N. staff in Judea and Samaria, claiming that his colleagues have been “systematically stopped at checkpoints.”
The Israeli military “request the staff to step out of the vehicle, take out the keys, and [is] wanting to ID every single staff,” he added.
Over the last 10 months, most national U.N. staff cannot access the global body’s facilities in the eastern portion of Jerusalem because of a lack of permits, according to De Domenico.
Colleagues of international nonprofits operating in Judea and Samaria “were telling us that roughly 90% of the international staff have issues with visas,” De Domenico said. “They were saying that as we speak, basically, the visas of many of those are coming to an end, and in the coming weeks, most of them will have to leave the country, or they will not be able to operate.”
Before Oct. 7, Israel granted year-long visas to U.N. staff members. However, after Hamas’s terror attack on southern Israel, the Jewish state granted only six- or three-month visas, according to De Domenico. He told reporters on Thursday that his visa was extended for a month, and he was told it would not be renewed again.
“The reason that has been put on the table—the straw that broke the camel’s back—is the publication of the Children and Armed Conflict report,” De Domenico said. “They alluded to long-standing issues or reporting that we also have been doing, but this has been communicated verbally.”
“There is no formal communication that I received despite asking repeatedly for that,” he added. (JNS sought comment from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.)
The annual Children and Armed Conflict report, or the so-called “list of shame,” included Israel for the first time this year and accused Israeli military and security forces of grave violations against children during wartime.
JNS first reported on systematic problems with the compilation of the report, which included contributions of data from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. De Domenico’s office has been criticized for publishing Gaza casualty data from Hamas offices without challenging the numbers.
At the Thursday briefing, JNS asked Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, how widespread the lack of visa extensions are for U.N. officials in Israel and Judea and Samaria.
“Let’s just say it’s spread,” Dujarric told JNS.
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The UN is irrelevant!
“[Israel] dismisses your resolutions. It does not even listen to your debates. Their representative will be playing with his iPhone while you are talking.”  Dawn Clancy-tweet-13August2024-Israel does not care about your condemnations
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Palestine – A state that exists only in hallucinations
1. Solids – Where particles are closely packed together and the particles cannot move freely. 2. Liquids – The particles are fluid and can move about but retain a constant volume. 3. Gases – The particles are further apart and can move freely and expand. 4. Plasma – Where gases are super heated forcing electrons to leave the atoms thus creating free electrons. 5. Palestine – A state that exists only in hallucinations borne out of the minds of delusional psychotic propagandists and mentally unstable people with paranoid schizophrenia and a psychological disorder that makes a person want to massacre innocent people, take over the world, believe in flying donkeys, and that cry victim whenever someone tries to stop them.  Cheryl E-tweet-14August2024-Palestine-A state that exists only in hallucinations All About the FactsLegal Grounds 13August2017
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UN is Pro Terror
 Shiri_Sabra-tweet-3July2024-Meet the current United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres
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 The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies BESA https://besacenter.org/ The UN Is Against PeaceBy Lt. Col. (res.) Dr. Shaul Bartal 20June2024 https://besacenter.org/the-un-is-against-peace/  Lady Justice and the UN
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,284, June 20, 2024 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The UN decision on May 10, 2024 to upgrade the status of the Palestinian state is not surprising. It is a direct continuation of previous UN decisions, most notably that of November 29, 2012, which granted the Palestinian Authority the status of non-member observer state. Since the 1970s, there has been an almost automatic majority for anti-Israel resolutions in the UN. This majority includes Muslim countries and countries that define themselves as part of the “Global South”, such as African countries and some South American countries, all of which are known for their invariably critical approach towards Israel. The UN’s recognition of the Palestinian Authority grants the Palestinians an independent state without a negotiated peace process or clearly defined and agreed borders between it and Israel. This is precisely the situation the PLO has been striving for since 1974. The establishment of a Palestinian state without peace with Israel is a sure recipe for instability and perpetual war in the Middle East, and those negative consequences are being deliberately fomented by the UN.
In June 1974, the Palestine Liberation Organization approved a ten-point plan known as the Phased Plan. The plan was presented at the time as a considerable moderation of the PLO, which at the time was considered Israel’s most bitter enemy. The 1970s were full of bloody terrorist incidents committed by Palestinian organizations, including airplane hijackings. The leading terrorist organizations at that time were the Fatah organization headed by Yasser Arafat, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) organization headed by George Habash, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) organization headed since its inception by Nayef Hawatmeh.
The reason why the PLO’s ten-point plan was considered a political advancement was that for the first time since the adoption of the revised Palestinian treaty of 1968, the activists of the Palestinian organizations seemed to have agreed to an incomplete “liberation” of Palestine. A careful reading of the plan, however, shows that its goal remained the destruction of the entire State of Israel – “from the river to the sea”.
The second section of the plan says: “The PLO will fight by all means, primarily the armed struggle, to liberate the Palestinian land and establish an independent national government over any part of the Palestinian territory that will be liberated.” This clause was allegedly fulfilled – not through armed struggle but mainly through diplomacy via the Oslo Accords of the 1990s.
Another section of the phased plan defines the establishment of self-government on part of the territory as only one step on the way to the total “liberation” of the entire land of Palestine. According to the phased plan, the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip was a temporary solution that was never meant to stop the war between the two national movements. The phased plan was designed to promote a continuation of the fight for the other “rights” the Palestinians demand, such as the complete “liberation” of, and purported right of return to, the entire land of Israel.
Despite lengthy negotiations between Israel and the PLO on the permanent agreement, the parties were unable to reach a satisfactory settlement. The most intense attempts were in July 2000 at Camp David with the mediation of President Bill Clinton, and in 2008 with the mediation of President George Bush, Jr.
The Palestinian state that was supposed to be established was meant to include most of the territories of Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip (over 90% of the territory); provide safe passage between the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria; and make agreed-upon special arrangements regarding Jerusalem and the refugees. Almost all the details were settled, but Israel asked for something the PLO was not willing to give. Israel requested that in exchange for a comprehensive agreement, representatives of the PLO, as the recognized representatives of the Palestinian people, would sign a document stating “the end of claims between Israel and the Palestinians” – i.e., a contractual obligation to make peace with Israel. No Palestinian representative has ever been willing to sign such a document because peace with Israel has never been their goal.
Because of this, negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been stuck for decades, with neither side possessing the ability to reach a binding permanent settlement. The Palestinians cannot force Israel to withdraw militarily from the territories of Judea and Samaria without a political agreement, and Israel cannot force a political agreement on the Palestinians that would include recognition of Israel and a final end to the national-religious conflict between the parties.
At this stage, the Palestinians turned to the United Nations to try to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Authority to that of a sovereign independent state. The Palestinian attempt to establish a state unilaterally was not new. On October 1, 1948, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip announced the establishment of the All-Palestine Government. The president of the independent state of Palestine, which declared its sovereignty in all of Mandatory Palestine, was Nazi sympathizer and virulent antisemite Haj Muhammad Amin al-Husseini; the prime minister was Ahmed Hilmi Abd al-Baqi. This government lasted for about a decade, ruling the Gaza Strip under Egyptian auspices. After its dissolution by the Egyptians, Prime Minister Hilmi continued to serve as Palestine’s representative in the Arab League until his death in 1963.
The Palestinians flatly denied the existence of the State of Israel. The Palestinian Declaration of Independence states: On the basis of the Palestinian people’s natural and historical right to freedom and independence, a sacred right for which he shed blood and made sacrifices, and for which he fought against the imperial forces and the Zionists who conspired against him, we, the members of the Palestinian National Council who gathered in Gaza, the city of Hashim (the Prophet’s grandfather), declare this today… October 1, 1948, on the independence of Palestine as a whole within its borders: in northern Lebanon and Syria, in eastern Syria and across the Jordan, in the western Mediterranean and in southern Egypt. This independence is full independence and within its framework a free, democratic and sovereign state will be established, and its citizens will enjoy freedom.
The next time the Palestinians declared a state was on November 15, 1988, at the conference of the Palestinian National Council in Algiers. In the declaration of Palestinian independence drafted by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, it was stated, among other things, that the declaration was based on Partition Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947. The Palestinians recognized the right of the countries of the region to live in peace, but conspicuously did not mention Israel. In addition, they declared the continuation of the struggle until the end of the “occupation,” without clarifying whether the term referred to the territories of 1967 or beyond.
The announcement led the UN to invite Yasser Arafat to address the UN General Assembly (UN General Assembly Resolution 43/177). Unsurprisingly, 104 countries voted in favor of the resolution recognizing the Palestinian state unilaterally declared by Yasser Arafat. Only two countries voted against this recognition – the US and Israel.
The Palestinians understood that in order to have a basis for this type of decision, some sort of fact on the ground was required. The Oslo Accords of the 1990s gave them political-autonomous status for the first time in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The Oslo Accords were defined from the beginning as temporary interim agreements that were intended to lead to a permanent settlement of the two political entities living side by side in peace, security and prosperity.
After the peace talks with Israel at Camp David 2000, the Palestinians ignited a bloody intifada. After the failure of the negotiations in Annapolis in 2008 between Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Palestinians realized they had exhausted all the Israeli concessions they could obtain via regular negotiations. This was the reason for their appeal to the UN Assembly and their request to upgrade their status to a state on November 29, 2012.
Their request was approved due to the automatic majority that exists in anti-Israel resolutions at the UN. For the first time, a UN observer body that does not have either effective control over territory or defined borders was granted the status of a state (in this case, that of an observer state). One hundred thirty-eight countries voted in favor this time, with nine opposed and the rest abstaining. This step was directly contrary to the principles of negotiations the parties had signed in the Oslo Accords.
The vote on May 10, 2024 was the most recent step in the Palestinian journey towards an independent state without a binding border agreement with Israel. The vote was intended to grant the Palestinians various rights reserved for sovereign states recognized by the UN, even though the Palestinian Authority is still defined as an observer state. This time, 143 countries voted in favor, with nine voting against and the rest abstaining.
The role of the UN is supposedly to maintain peace and world order. Upgrading the status of the Palestinian Authority to a state despite its having neither effective control over territory nor clear borders – and in the process empowering a political entity whose majority population openly supports a terrorist organization, Hamas, that rapes women and murders children – will not add to world peace and stability, but will only deepen the war between Israel and the Palestinians. Nor will it create an incentive for the moderate elements in Palestinian society to strive for true peace with Israel.
Dr. (Lt. Col.) Shaul Bartal is a senior researcher at the BESA Center and a research fellow at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Lisbon. During his military service, he served in various roles in the West Bank. He has also taught in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University.
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UN special rapporteur BANNED, Refused visa to enter Israel
 Israel Katz-tweet-12February2024-The time for Jewish silence is past
 Jewish News Syndicate-tweet-12February2024-UN special rapporteur BANNED.png
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Marco Rubio, US Secretary of State imposing sanctions on Francesca Paola Albanese
Sanctioning Lawfare that Targets U.S. and Israeli PersonsPress Statement
Today, I am imposing sanctions on Francesca Paola Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council “Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967,” pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order 14203, “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.” Albanese has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries. Neither the United States nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute, making this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries.
The United States has repeatedly condemned and objected to the biased and malicious activities of Albanese that have long made her unfit for service as a Special Rapporteur. Albanese has spewed unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West. That bias has been apparent across the span of her career, including recommending that the ICC, without a legitimate basis, issue arrest warrants targeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
She has recently escalated this effort by writing threatening letters to dozens of entities worldwide, including major American companies across finance, technology, defense, energy, and hospitality, making extreme and unfounded accusations and recommending the ICC pursue investigations and prosecutions of these companies and their executives. We will not tolerate these campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty.
The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare, to check and prevent illegitimate ICC overreach and abuse of power, and to protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.
Albanese is being designated pursuant to Section 1(a)(ii)(A) of Executive Order (E.O.) 14203.
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UNIFIL act or IDF will be Forced to
 OSINTdefender-tweet-21November2023-UNIFIL act or IDF will be Forced to
By continuing to fire at Israel from near a U.N. compound, Hezbollah endangers the lives of @UNIFIL_ personnel and continues to systematically violate UNSC Resolution 1701. UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander @aroldo_lazaro was notified of the incident.  Israel Defense Forces-tweet-10December2023-Hezbollah launched rockets from near UN compound
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UN and Women’s rights groups Silent About Hamas Attacks on Women
Amb. Erdan: UN Women maliciously disregards Hamas rape and murderIsraeli Ambassador to the UN lambasts UN agencies at Security Council for deliberately ignoring Hamas crimes against women and humanity.22November2023, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380775  Erdan shows photo of Hamas leader with child Erdan shows photo of Hamas leader with child UN Photo/Evan Schneider In an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting held today on the situation of women and children in Gaza, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan harshly criticized UN Women for its malicious disregard of the rape and murder of Israeli women by Hamas terrorists and UNICEF for its disregard of Hamas’ indoctrination of children to terror and use of children as human shields.
The Ambassador presented a photo of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, “This is Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas. And the child he is holding, is a victim of UNICEF’s indifference. A picture is worth a thousand words and this says all you need to know about Hamas’ treatment of children in Gaza.”
The Ambassador asked the Executive Director of UNICEF Catherine Russell, “Executive Director Russell, have you never seen this picture? Are you unaware of the terror summer camps that Hamas runs every year in Gaza to indoctrinate children to murder? So many Gazan children were born into a culture of hate. A culture that glorifies violence and educates kids to murder. It is a death cult that puts martyrdom ahead of life, coexistence, and the pursuit of peace. How many UNICEF reports have been written on this? None. While we teach our children to love and accept others, the children of Gaza are taught that the murder of Jews and Israel’s annihilation is their life goal. They are educated on this in their schools – yes, including UNRWA schools. Why has this child abuse never bothered UNICEF? There is absolutely no chance that UNICEF is unaware of this. So, Executive Director Russell, where has your organization been all this time?”
“Rockets have been found in children’s bedrooms in Gaza. Rocket launchers were located inside a scout’s youth movement clubhouse. Missile manufacturing facilities were found under mosques. And caches of assault rifles were found in UNRWA schools. We have not heard UNICEF’s outcry over Hamas’ exploitation of Gazan children as human shields. Where is it?”
The Ambassador presented a photo of Hamas terrorists surrounded by children, “This is a photo taken a few days ago in Gaza. These savage Hamas terrorists are walking around in broad daylight armed and in uniform, after effectively strapping children to themselves as live body armor. This is the enemy that Israel is defending itself against. This is who you hardly have a single word of criticism against.”
The Ambassador asked members of the Council, “Where have the briefers been for all of these years? Where are their voices now? Why are Hamas’ crimes almost non-existent in this briefing, when Hamas – and only Hamas – is solely responsible for the situation in Gaza? There is no other explanation for this other than apathy towards Gazans, coupled with burning hatred for Israel. This is not a briefing – this is an inquisition.”
Ambassador Erdan presented a photo of Naama Levy, one of the women taken hostage by Hamas who was raped by her captors. “I sent this picture of Naama Levy who was dragged out of the trunk of a jeep by a Hamas terrorist, as part of a video, wearing sweatpants soaked in blood around her backside….You want to discuss women in conflict? Women’s rights? Women’s dignity? What about the dignity of Naama Levy…Sadly, to our briefers, the horrors endured by these young women are not worthy of mentioning. After all, they’re Israeli – and as today’s briefing has made abundantly clear, Israeli victims don’t matter.”
“Nearly fifty days have gone by since these atrocities were committed – since young girls were savagely violated – yet the world is still waiting to hear a clear, public condemnation from UN Women against Hamas sexual crimes. Shame on you UN Women, shame on you. Is UN Women not charged with ensuring that, I quote from their website, “All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence?” Doesn’t the banner of the UN Women website currently say “Hashtag ‘No Excuses'”? Hasn’t the world come to believe women? Hasn’t the UN? To the UN and its agencies, Israeli women are not women. Israeli children are not children.”
The Ambassador presented a picture of Shani Louk, a German tourist who became an international symbol of Hamas’ atrocities when a video was posted of terrorists parading her nearly dead body in Gaza. “I also sent this picture of Shani Louk. Shani was dancing at the peace festival before she was abducted and murdered by Hamas. This is what her body looked like, with a Hamas terrorist on top of her. Look at her. Look at Shani.”
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MeToo_UNless_UR_a_Jew
Apparently, it’s: #BelieveAllWomen…unless they’re Israeli.
 StandWithUs-tweet-17November2023-MeToo_UNless_UR_a_Jew
Hamas’ rape and murder of Israeli women is met with global indifference of feminist movements.
 Shurat HaDin-tweet-17November 172023-Enough with the double standard |
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Women’s Rights Organizations Still Stunningly Silent About Attacks on Women on October 7th“The absurdity has reached peak levels since October 7”Posted by Mike LaChance, 22November2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/womens-rights-organizations-still-stunningly-silent-about-attacks-on-women-on-october-7th/  Hamas attacks on Women 7October2023 Remember when Michelle Obama and celebrities launched a #BringBackOurGirls campaign on Twitter when girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram? No such campaign this time. Benjamin Folkinshteyn writes at the Times of Israel:
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MeToo unless you’re a JewFeminist groups are whitewashing Hamas’s crimesBY Nicole Lampert  Women Kidnapped by Hamas (Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images) After accompanying British troops as they liberated Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, Richard Dimbleby produced one of the most viscerally horrifying — and powerful — dispatches in the BBC’s history. “I find it hard to describe adequately the horrible things that I’ve seen and heard,” he began, “but here unadorned are the facts.”
His language was spare, his descriptions factual — and yet, his bosses didn’t want to broadcast the report. A compromise was only reached after he threatened to resign and his script was cut in half. The reason, his son Jonathan later revealed, was that “the BBC needed more sources to support what had happened to Jews and worried that if you mentioned one group of people and not others, it might seem biased or wrong”.
The events of October 7 do not compare to the Holocaust, but a similar reluctance to consider both its primary victims remains. We see it in the defaced posters of kidnapped Israelis by people who claim they are “propaganda”, in the antisemitic disinformation peddled online, and in the weekly pro-Palestine demonstrations that fail to call out Hamas’s terrorism. But perhaps most peculiarly, we also see it in the silence of organisations and activist groups dedicated to fighting for women’s safety.
After Hamas terrorists set about murdering, raping and abducting as many women as they could, one might have expected widespread condemnation from the West’s feminist groups. After all, Hamas had provided enough evidence of its crimes — within hours, they were posting footage of abducted young women in bloodied trousers being paraded around Gaza. Even beforehand, its feminist credentials were hardly glowing: it mandates the hijab, has made it illegal to travel without a male guardian, and refused to ban physical or sexual abuse within the family.
The response among the majority of groups committed to ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) was threefold: to keep quiet, to disbelieve the victims, or to insinuate they deserved their fate. In the words of 140 American “prominent feminist scholars”, to stand in solidarity with Israeli women is to give in to “colonial feminism”.
Here in the UK, this approach is perhaps best embodied in the work of Sisters Uncut, a charity that boasts its own “Feministo” committed to “taking direct action for domestic violence services”. Until this month, the activists’ work has generally taken the form of media-savvy stunts: dyeing the water of Trafalgar Square’s fountains red, setting off rape alarms outside police stations, occupying the roofs of council buildings. Yet all paled in comparison to the demonstration it organised earlier this month: a call for Israel to put down its weapons that ultimately shut down London’s Liverpool Street Station.
Afterwards, the charity issued a 600-word statement, filled with references to “apartheid”, “genocide” and disproved reports that the IDF had bombed Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital. There was no mention, however, of the 239 abducted Israelis, roughly 100 of whom are believed to be women, or the sexual assaults that took place on October 7. When journalist Hadley Freeman pointed out this wasn’t terribly feminist of them, the group responded by claiming reports of Hamas’s sex attacks amounted to “the Islamophobic and racist weaponisation of sexual violence”. Towards the end of their rambling statement, they concluded: “no people would ever accept being murdered, humiliated, dispossessed, racially targeted, oppressed, cleansed, exiled and colonised without resisting.”
Other feminist groups fell into a similar victim-blaming step. Southall Black Sisters, another charity committed to ending violence against women, did at least mourn the loss of life on both sides, but blamed it on “the Israeli government’s declaration of war on Gaza”. Elsewhere, Women for Women UK, which specialises in helping “women survivors of war” and calls itself a “non-partisan organisation”, has decided to raise money only for Palestinian women. Even Women’s Place UK, once viewed as an outlier for its brave campaigning for women-only spaces, decided to call for an “immediate ceasefire” without mentioning sexual violence.
In fact, the only VAWG charity in the UK to call out Hamas’s sexual violence was Jewish Women’s Aid. “Such acts have a permanent impact on survivors and damaging psychological effects on women, particularly women who are victim-survivors of sexual violence,” it said in a statement. “The public silence from many UK domestic/sexual abuse sector organisations further impacts the isolation and fear our clients are experiencing.”
For one British Jewish VAWG worker, who has been in the sector for 20 years, the silence of other organisations was to be expected: “I have seen this become a real thing in the last few years — where ideas are imported from America: that if you are white, you will always be the oppressor. If you are working for one of these charities, you are used to a victim/perpetrator narrative which is normally true in the domestic violence context, but not when it comes to geopolitics.”
She describes how, during mandatory training at the last charity she worked for, her team was told that Jews don’t experience racism. “Incredibly, they used the Second World War as an example of racism, but of anti-black racism because of how people from the West Indies were treated.”
For those whose daughters have been abducted by Hamas, the sense of betrayal is palpable. “It is unbelievable that groups like the Red Cross and UN Women are doing nothing to help our people,” Keren Sharf Shem, whose 21-year-old French-Israeli daughter Mia was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, tells me. “It is right that the people of Gaza are getting humanitarian aid, but we deserve the same… I know from a message Mia sent to a friend that she was shot in the leg. She also has a medical condition, and the hostage video showed her after surgery for an operation on her arm. That was weeks ago — I don’t know whether she is still alive. And there are other sick people there, as well as babies and a pregnant woman. Too many people seem to have forgotten them.”
To remedy this, Israeli feminists this week launched #MeToo_Unless_Ur_A_Jew, a campaign calling for the UN Women group to focus on the gender-based violence against Israeli women. “The UN Women is turning a blind eye to Hamas’s vicious war crimes by remaining silent,” they said.
In a similar vein, Claire Waxman, London’s first Victims’ Commissioner, wrote to Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, to ask why the organisation has stayed silent. In response, Waxman tells me, Alsalem claimed the evidence was “not solid” enough to warrant a statement. An incredulous Waxman points out that November 25 is the UN’s International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls: “How can we talk about eliminating violence against women and girls if we are tacitly saying it’s acceptable to rape Jewish ones?”
To counter this narrative, the Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children was also founded this week, and is currently collecting testimony about Hamas’s atrocities, ranging from victim reports and eyewitness accounts to footage released by Hamas itself. Many of those raped are dead or abducted; others are too traumatised to speak. But the story that has begun to emerge is unbearable in its horror — one of gang rape of women and children, of the dead bodies of women being hacked during or after sexual assault, and of genital mutilation.
Nachman Dyksztejna, a Ukrainian-Israeli, is one of those whose testimony bears witness to these horrors. A volunteer first responder with an organisation called Zaka, he was sent to several scenes of the massacre, including the site of Nova festival and several kibbutzim. To avoid repeating his trauma, Zaka recorded his statement alongside psychological support and sent me a written translation. Zaka also provided photographs that corroborate his descriptions. (The editors of this publication have also seen them.)
Dyksztejna’s testimony — reproduced in the next two paragraphs — is among the most harrowing I have read, and can be skipped if necessary:
In 1945, Dimbleby broke down several times while making his report about Belsen. “I passed through the barrier and found myself in the world of a nightmare,” he explained. But he knew he had to bear witness to the horror — just as Israelis today feel they have no choice but to report what they have seen. But when videos created by the perpetrators aren’t deemed “solid” evidence, is that enough? For so long the mantra for feminist organisations has been to “believe her”. Yet as the past month has revealed, it only goes so far — and becomes meaningless if you live in Israel. Nicole Lampert is a freelance journalist who writes about arts and politics. nicolelampert |
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The Silence From International Bodies Over Hamas’ Mass Rapes Is a Betrayal of All Women | OpinionNov 22November2023 https://www.newsweek.com/silence-international-bodies-over-hamas-mass-rapes-betrayal-all-women-opinion-1845783
Two days after the horrific Hamas attack of October 7, I met Rotem, a young mother of two small children from a Kibbutz on the Gaza border. I held my breath as she recounted how she ran with her children to hide while terrorists rampaged through their home, how they made it to the safe room and desperately held the door, praying the terrorists wouldn’t enter.
Her terror echoed accounts I’ve heard from abused women, except now the threat was not from a violent husband. And Rotem was not alone; she is one of thousands of Israeli women who simultaneously faced murder and rape by Hamas terrorists on that fateful day.
At the President of Israel’s Residence in Jerusalem, we are preparing for the day the United Nations General Assembly has designated the International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women, which is observed every November 25. Every year, I host victims, civil-society leaders, activists, and scholars committed to women’s rights and safety on this day.
But this year will be different. Many things changed on October 7 when thousands of Hamas terrorists massacred Israeli families, burnt children and the elderly, and kidnapped hostages. This deeply impacted our visceral understanding of the cruelty of gender-based sexual violence—and our faith in the international organizations that claim to care about women.
It took me several days to grasp the monstrous nature and scale of violence suffered specifically by women on October 7. My first realization came when meeting volunteers of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers who discreetly told me of conversations with survivors. They heard testimonies that shocked them to the core.  Israel’s First Lady Michal Herzog on a visit to the Levinstein Rehabilitation Center, embraces Noam, who was injured in the the NOVA music festival attack on October 7. Bar Netzer At the Nova music festival, where more than 350 young people were slaughtered and dozens kidnapped, witnesses hiding in the bushes saw terrorists gang-rape, then murder and mutilate women. A Hamas video from a kibbutz shows terrorists torturing a pregnant woman and removing her fetus. Our forensic scientists have found bodies of women and girls raped with such violence that their pelvic bones were broken. Those of us unlucky enough to have seen video evidence broadcast by the terrorists themselves witnessed the body of a naked woman paraded through Gaza, and another, still alive, in bloodied pants held captive at gunpoint being pulled into a jeep by her hair. This evidence, along with the explicit recorded confessions of captured terrorists, makes abundantly clear that mass rape was a premeditated part of Hamas’s plan.
And this crime is ongoing: The 240 hostages held in Gaza include many women and girls, and only when they are released will we know what they have endured.
In the 1990s, international agencies and legal experts finally began to see violence against women as a particular category of war crime. Organizations like UN Women exist to protect women from such crimes, while Israeli experts and activists have been involved in these international efforts. Thus, our second shock: The inconceivable and unforgiveable silence of these organizations when faced with the rape and murder of Israeli women.  The parents and relatives of children kidnapped on October 7, along with families of hostages and their supporters take part in a demonstration outside the UNICEF headquarters to protest their silence to 40 children held hostage in Gaza on World’s Children Day on November 20, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Hamas and Israel leaders have both indicated progress is being made to release hostages taken after October 7. Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images It is not that condemnations of gender-based violence by Hamas have been weak or insufficient – there have been none at all. Statement after statement by organizations like UN Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have failed to condemn these crimes. They failed us, and all women, at this critical moment.
As a woman and a mother, my heart goes out to women and children in Gaza suffering the consequences of the war started by Hamas. I believe they deserve aid and support. But this does not mean the erasure of the atrocities committed by Palestinian terrorists on October 7. The silence of international human rights organizations, and the unwillingness to believe Israeli women in the face of overwhelming evidence has been devastating.
For the Israelis who have always been on the forefront of the fight for women’s rights worldwide, this was a moment of crushing disappointment. A disappointment shared with me by one of our most prominent women’s rights advocates, Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, a former CEDAW vice-chair.  Israel’s First Lady, Michal Herzog Igal Slavin
“I knew it would be difficult to get them to issue a reasonable statement,” she said of the UN committee in a Harvard Medical School video conference., “but never did I imagine that when faced with such undeniable atrocities – given the very purpose for which they have been established,– – that they would actually resort to not acknowledging it at all.”
Ignoring the “unprecedented, premeditated and extreme cruelty of the sexual violence committed by Hamas,” Prof. Halperin-Kaddari added, meant not only failing Israeli women but failing the entire international human rights system. “I still am a believer in this system. But this was a huge blow to this belief.” I agree with every word. To mark this year’s International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women, Israeli women – Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze – will gather at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. We will meet in the lingering shock of the violation of our rights, and with the profound sense that all of us who believe in those rights have been betrayed.
Yet we will persist in presenting the truth to the world and to every human rights organization. We owe it not only to our own victims, but to all women who will face these crimes in the future and must know that they are not alone. Michal Herzog is First Lady of the State of Israel. The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
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UN Women took 1,176 hours to respond
That’s how long it took @UNWomen to issue a statement condemning the raping and sodomy of Jewish women. StopAntisemitism-tweet-25November2023- Why?  StopAntisemitism-tweet-25November2023-UN Women took 7 Weeks to respond
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After backlash over silence, UN Women tweets, then deletes, statement condemning Hamas attack in IsraelBY JACKIE HAJDENBERG 27NOVEMBER2023 https://www.jta.org/2023/11/27/israel/after-backlash-over-silence-un-women-tweets-then-deletes-statement-condemning-hamas-attack-in-israel  Israeli women protest outside UN Headquarters in Jerusalem, Nov. 27, 2023. (Flash90) (JTA) — Nearly 50 days after Hamas’ attack on Israel left 1,200 dead, and after weeks of criticism over its silence about allegations of sexual violence during the attack, the women’s rights group UN Women issued a statement condemning the terror group on Friday. Then it deleted the post. “We condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on October 7 and continue to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” read the initial statement, posted on UN Women’s instagram page. It was soon replaced with a statement that dropped the condemnation of Hamas and only called for the release of the hostages.
Word spread quickly among Jewish women activists and Israelis, reigniting their contention that UN Women — an official arm of the United Nations focused on promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment — holds a double standard when it comes to gender-based violence against Israeli women. Some of the critics — including Sheryl Sandberg, a former top Meta executive — have lobbied openly on the topic. Many have used the hashtag “#MeToo_UNless_UR_A_Jew.”
Reached for comment, UN Women told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the Instagram post had been scheduled in advance and was deleted because the message in it no longer reflected where the organization wanted to put its main focus.
“In any social media team managing multiple campaigns and during a very busy time like the one we are now with 16 Days of Activism, mistakes can occur,” a representative for UN Women said in a statement sent to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
In particular, said the media specialist, the release of some hostages over the weekend as part of a temporary truce changed the organization’s priorities.
“UN Women social media team had pre-planned days in advance [of] this particular post, but then the news broke on the release of hostages and we really wanted to focus on that,” she said. “UN Women has condemned the attacks by Hamas and the deaths of Israeli civilians from the beginning as well as called for the release of hostages, and we will continue doing so until the conflict ends. We have also called for all allegations of gender-based violence to be rigorously investigated, prioritizing the rights, needs, and safety of those affected.”
In late October, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but voted down a provision condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. On Monday, Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, held a session on crimes against humanity committed against women during the Oct. 7 massacre.
After an initial statement on Oct. 13 condemning the attacks on civilians in Israel, all of UN Women’s public comments about the war and its impact on women had centered only on Palestinians. Last week, Sima Bahous, the group’s executive director, called for an extension of the current temporary truce into a permanent ceasefire and for the release of all hostages.
The National Council for Jewish Women, which had previously criticized UN Women’s silence on sexual violence against Israeli women, said the group’s second statement last week was inadequate.
“The delayed issuance of a statement that fails to explicitly address the severity of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel — such as the brutal murder of over 1,200 people in Israel, torture, and rape of women, as well as the targeting of civilians and families — is equally reprehensible,” the statement said. “Immediate and unequivocal acknowledgment of these atrocities is imperative, given the blatant violation of international law.”
JerusalemCats-tweet-26November2023-UN_Women-screenshot-2023-11-26
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 Sarah Douglas, the Deputy Chief of Peace and Security at UN Women and Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi Exposed: UN Women Deputy Chief Endorsed 153 Tweets Attacking Israel & Zionism18December2023 United Nations https://unwatch.org/exposed-un-women-deputy-chief-endorsed-153-tweets-attacking-israel-zionism/
A top official of UN Women addressed the United Nations by webcam from her home with a large “Palestine” poster and flag showing in the background, and since the October 7th Hamas massacre she has publicly endorsed 153 anti-Israel and anti-Zionist tweets, revealed a Swiss watchdog group today.
Sarah Douglas, the Deputy Chief of Peace and Security at UN Women, should be fired for her blatant and systematic violations of the the UN’s minimal requirements of neutrality and impartiality, said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent non-governmental organization based in Geneva that released the following report documenting her partisan political activity.
 Hillel Neuer-tweet-18December2023-Meet Sarah Douglas-UN Women Sarah Douglas’ Political Activity Violates UN ImpartialitySarah Douglas’ overt political activity, including her public endorsement of extreme statements by politicians and political organizations, as detailed below, amount to a material breach of her UN obligation to be neutral and impartial. Article 101(3) of the UN Charter states that the “paramount consideration” in employing staff is “securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity.” The concept of integrity under the core values of the UN Staff Rules and Staff Regulations includes “impartiality.” Specifically, under Rule 1.2(f), UN staff are expressly prohibited from making “any kind of public pronouncement” that may adversely reflect on their independence and impartiality. While UN staff members may exercise the right to vote, they are prohibited from engaging in any political activity that reflects adversely upon “the independence and impartiality required by their status as international civil servants.” Repeatedly Accused Israel of “Genocide”Sarah Douglas liked a tweet by the Palestinian Feminist Collective accusing “the forces of empire” of helping Israel to commit “genocide” and “annihilate the Palestinian people.”
Similarly, Douglas has repeatedly liked tweets accusing America of funding and arming “the genocide of Palestinians” and “the genocide in Gaza.”
Likewise, she liked many tweets accusing Israel of “war crimes against the people of Gaza” and indiscriminate bombing of Gaza.
By contrast, the UN Women’s Deputy Chief of Peace and Security failed to like a single tweet condemning Hamas for its open calls for genocide, including its pledges to repeat the October 7th mass murder, torture and rape of Israelis.  Sarah Douglas liked 11December2023-Genocide-Gaza-JVP
 Sarah Douglas liked 15December2023-JVP-US-funding-genocide
 Sarah Douglas liked 16October2023-JPal-Fem-Collective-genocide
Falsely Accused Israel of Bombing HospitalDouglas liked the tweet by UN Women chief Sima Bahous which falsely implied that Israel attacked the Al Ahli Arab Hospital on October 17th and “strongly condemned” the strike that “killed and injured hundreds of civilians.” In fact, the rocket was from Islamic Jihad; it did not hit the hospital but the parking lot of the courtyard; and the actual casualties were a fraction of that amount. The tweet was never deleted and remains on Douglas’ feed of liked tweets.
Celebrated Shutdown of American Bridges and Highways, Takeover of Party ConventionsSarah Douglas liked tweets that celebrate shutting down bridges and highways in eight American cities. She liked a tweet by IfNotNow celebrating the takeover of the California Democratic Convention to protest “the mass murder of Palestinians.”
And she liked a tweet by “Jewish Voice for Peace Action” that celebrated their shutting down of the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Palestine PosterSpeaking via webcam from her home, Sarah Douglas addressed a UN meeting last week next to a large “Palestine” poster with the colors of the Palestinian flag. This is in breach of the UN rule that speakers show only a neutral background.  Sarah Douglas addressed a UN meeting
Openly Endorsed “Squad” Politicians Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, AOCSarah Douglas likes numerous tweets of Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders and other far-left politicians. Douglas liked a tweet by Rashida Tlaib claiming that “Israel is starving Gaza.” She liked a tweet by AOC calling to condition aid to Israel, and others about pressing the Biden administration for a ceasefire and preventing the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians. She liked a tweet by “IfNotNow” endorsing pressure on Senator Warren.
She liked a tweet by “Jewish Voice for Peace Action” which thanked 13 named Democratic members of Congress for opposing H. Res. 894, which condemnied the drastic rise of antisemitism in America. So a UN official is openly supporting and opposing specific votes in the US Congress and at the UN.
She also liked tweets by numerous other far-left and politicians who attack or criticize Israel, including Ayanna Pressley, Cori Bush and Bernie Sanders.
Endorsed Code Pink and Other Radical GroupsDespite her obligation to be neutral in her public pronouncements, Sarah Douglas supports radical groups like Code Pink, liking their tweet that accused US Senators Graham and Rubio “and other AIPAC $$$ recipients” over the violence they’re backing against Palestinians, accusing them of “hate and lies.” She liked another Code Pink tweet that celebrated shutting down Chicago’s main highway to “free Palestine.”
Douglas repeatedly liked tweets by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), a Geneva-based group that was long accused of being a Soviet front organization, and whose officials went to Libya in 1992 to sing praises of the “Gaddafi Human Rights Prize.” Douglas liked a WILPF tweet accusing Israel of “apartheid policies” which is allegedly a “feminist demand.”
She also routinely liked tweets from additional NGOs and lobby groups that advocate what Hamas wants, including tweets by Democratic Socialists and Amnesty International.
Promoted Fringe Jewish Groups That Oppose Israel and Zionism
Douglas has a particular fondness for liking tweets by fringe Jewish individuals or groups that condemn Israel.
She liked numerous posts by “Jewish Voices for Peace,” including one tweet saying “We’re proud anti-Zionistsm,” with the image of a placard reading, “Zionism breaks every single Jewish value.”
She liked a tweet by IfNotNow promoting their “#JewsForCeasefire” campaign.
In violation of UN rules against overt partisan political activity, Sarah Douglas openly engaged in political campaigning by publicly liking numerous posts such as a tweet by “Jewish Voice for Peace Action” lobbying for the US government to change its policy and demand a ceasefire, which read: “Keep writing, keep calling, keep pushing. Check our tracker… to see who in Congress is working to save lives.”
Liked an article by radical academic who invoked his Jewish identity to accuse Israel of “genocide” and “Jewish supremacy.”
Intervened On UN Votes, Rebuked Countries For Not Backing Anti-Israel Resolutions
UN employees do not comment on country votes in UN bodies. For example, when the UN Secretary-General is asked about the UN election of dictatorships to the Human Rights Council and women’s rights bodies, he systematically declines to comment.
By contrast, Douglas has repeatedly endorsed tweets rebuking member states for their UN votes that she opposes. She liked a tweet by the group Karama which criticized “states who claim to support women’s rights looking the other way on violence against Palestinian women.” Similarly, she liked an AOC tweet slamming a US vote in the Security Council.
Notably, Sarah Douglas has never liked tweets criticizing country votes on any other matter.
Her “Hero” is Antisemitic Denier of Hamas Massacre
Sarah Douglas tweeted a photo of herself with former PLO official and spokeswoman, gushing that she was “So excited to meet one of my sheroes today: Dr Hanan Ashrawi!!”
In fact, Ashrawi is someone who has promoted antisemitic blood libels, falsely accusing Israel of throwing a Palestinian child into a well. Ashrawi founded an organization, Miftah, that claims Jews consume Christian blood, and which praises suicide bombers.
Speaking on Sky News, Ashrawi recently justified the Hamas massacre and mass rape of October 7th, saying, “This was a deliberate act of resisting an occupation army.”
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 UN International Women’s Day-Oct. 7 Rape Report-Israel_Hayom_EN After 150 days of being thwarted, condemned, lied to and investigated by UN, UN gives Oct 7 Rape Report
#BringThemHome 🎗️ @VP @HillaryClinton @GiorgiaMeloni @Statsmin @katrinjak @nmusar @ZuzanaCaputova @SerbianPM @kajakallas @Zourabichvili_S @XiomaraCastroZ @EvikaSilina @IngridaSimonyte @sandumaiamd @KristoBorjana @DameSandraMason @Sheikh_Hasinaa @presidenciaperu @SigridKaag @MinColonna @KensingtonRoyal @MichelleObama @ABaerbock @melaniejoly @Kamikawa_Yoko @HankeBruinsSlot @hadjalahbib @Odobes1Luminita @GabrielMariya @gabisommerfeld @DianaMondino @SenatorWong @elinavaltonen  Israel Katz-tweet-6March2024-critical to hear your voice as international women leaders
She also finds sexual violence committed against hostages & may still be ongoing. https://www.un.org/sexualviolenceinconflict/press-release/israel-west-bank-mission/ WE DON’T WANT YOUR STUPID SUPPORT, GET AWAY FROM US, YOU’RE DISGUSTING. 🇮🇱 Am Yisrael Chai  Malkah Fleisher-tweet-5March2024-After 150 days of being thwarted, condemned, lied to and investigated by you
 Jessica S-tweet-5March2024-67 Different Men Raped her
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Israel forbids doctors from speaking to the antisemitic UN Human Rights Council
Israel forbids doctors from speaking to UN group investigating Oct. 7 atrocitiesOfficials say commission of inquiry formed by UN Human Rights Council in 2021 is led by three people with antisemitic and anti-Israel viewsBy Renee Ghert-Zand 16 January 2024, https://www.timesofisrael.com/government-forbids-doctors-from-speaking-to-un-group-investigating-oct-7-atrocities/ Click on the Title for the full article  Demonstrators gather outside the UN headquarters in New York City on December 4, 2023, to protest the international community’s perceived silence on sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli women during the October 7 massacre. (Carli Fogel) JerusalemCats Comments:  he U.N. Human Rights Council is made up of human rights violating thugs who are against Israel. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2020.
 The U.N. Human Rights Council
 Hillel Neuer-tweet-20September2021-The U.N. Human Rights Council
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UN Secretary-General activating Article 99 of the UN Charter to put pressure on Israel
The Secretary-General decided to activate this rare clause only when it allows him to put pressure on Israel, which is fighting the Nazi Hamas terrorists. This is more proof of the Secretary-General’s moral distortion and his bias against Israel. The Secretary-General’s call for a ceasefire is actually a call to keep Hamas’ reign of terror in Gaza. Instead of the Secretary-General explicitly pointing to Hamas’ responsibility for the situation and calling on the terrorist leaders to turn themselves in and return the hostages, thus ending the war, the Secretary-General chooses to continue playing into Hamas’ hands. The distorted positions of the Secretary-General only prolong the fighting in Gaza, because they give hope to the Hamas terrorists that the war will be stopped and they will be able to survive. I again call on the Secretary-General to resign immediately – the UN needs a Secretary-General who supports the war on terror, not a Secretary-General who acts according to the script written by Hamas.
 Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-December 6, 2023-UN Secretary-General activating Article 99 of the UN Charter the Reaction
 Eli Cohen-tweet-6December2023-Guterres’ tenure is a danger to world peace
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UN General Assembly rejects motion to condemn Hamas, calls for ceasefire29October2023 https://unwatch.org/un-general-assembly-rejects-motion-to-condemn-hamas-calls-for-ceasefire/
The UN General Assembly adopted an Arab-drafted resolution today calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza, after rejecting a Canadian amendment that would have condemned the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and demanded immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called it “a day that will go down in infamy.” The resolution was adopted by a vote of 120 to 14 with 45 abstentions. Outrageously, the resolution failed to condemn Hamas for its October 7th massacre of 1400 Israelis, or for its abduction of more than 200 Israelis including children and babies, or even to mention the word Hamas.
The resolution also failed to recognize Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens against terrorism. The resolution calls for “immediate, full, sustained, safe and unhindered humanitarian access…to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid” but, as noted by the Czech Republic, doesn’t provide assurances that this will not be abused by Hamas and other terrorists.
The text also calls on Israel, “the occupying power,” to rescind its order to evacuate northern Gaza. Prior to taking action on the resolution, an amendment led by Canada did not pass, as it failed to reach the required two-thirds majority. That amendment would have “unequivocally reject[ed] and condemn[ed] the terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October 2023 and the taking of hostages.”
 UN Watch-tweet-27October2023-LIST OF SHAME: These EU countries just joined Iran, Syria and Russia in voting for a resolution that fails to name Hamas or specifically call for release of hostages.
Countries adopt resolution calling for immediate & sustained humanitarian truce in the Middle East during an Emergency Special Session of https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142847  UN Watch-tweet-28October2023-Proving Abba Eban’s timeless observation [EDD: The Reaction]
 Hillel Neuer-tweet-28October2023-Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová has just called to leave the UN |
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US to suspend funding of UN if Israel suspended from UN22 USC 287 United States Participation in the United Nations if Israel is Illegally ExpelledCurrent U.S. law would be triggered if the PA proceeds with efforts to suspend Israel from the UN General Assembly under a federal statute that initially became law in 1983 requiring the U.S. to suspend our participation and begin to withhold certain funding:
 The United States Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the United States House of Representatives. 22 USC 28722 USC 287: Representation in Organization Text contains those laws in effect on October 27, 2024From Title 22-FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSECHAPTER 7-INTERNATIONAL BUREAUS, CONGRESSES, ETC.SUBCHAPTER XVI-UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION
United States Participation in the United Nations if Israel is Illegally ExpelledPub. L. 98–164, title I, §115, Nov. 22, 1983, 97 Stat. 1021 , as amended by Pub. L. 99–93, title I, §142, Aug. 16, 1985, 99 Stat. 424 ; Pub. L. 100–204, title VII, §704, Dec. 22, 1987, 101 Stat. 1389 , provided that: “(a) The Congress finds that- “(1) the United Nations was founded on the principle of universality; “(2) the United Nations Charter stipulates that members may be suspended by the General Assembly only ‘upon the recommendation of the Security Council’; and “(3) any move by the General Assembly that would illegally deny Israel its credentials in the Assembly would be a direct violation of these provisions of the Charter. “(b) If Israel is illegally expelled, suspended, denied its credentials, or in any other manner denied its right to participate in any principal or subsidiary organ or in any specialized, technical, or other agency of the United Nations, the United States shall suspend its participation in any such organ or agency until the illegal action is reversed. The United States shall reduce its annual assessed contribution to the United Nations or such specialized agency by 8.34 percent for each month in which United States participation is suspended pursuant to this section. Nothing in this section may be construed to diminish or to affect United States participation in the United Nations Security Council or the Safeguards Program of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”  22 USC 287 Screenshot
Opinion | THE U.N. VOTE ON ISRAEL
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Last week’s annual vote on expelling Israel from the United Nations was especially interesting for three reasons. First, the Soviet Union’s decision to abstain rather than vote to expel was the most significant step yet taken by the Soviet government away from reflexive alignment with the radical Arab states. U.N. votes are known to all, and the vote to expel Israel (by rejecting its credentials) is a kind of litmus test of loyalty to the Arab bloc and the Islamic Conference. The Soviets’ closest allies in the Middle East — Libya and Syria — push hardest for Israel’s expulsion. Soviet defection on this vote raises a question about whether that country will continue to serve as the leader in the campaign to delegitimize Israel within international organizations. The Soviet Union has played that role ever since the campaign was launched in the mid-1960s. It has provided the ideology, resolutions, organizational support and votes needed in that campaign. It was the Soviet Union in 1975 that proposed the ”Zionism is racism” resolution, which struck at the moral foundations of the state of Israel. It was the Soviet Union that led the fight for parallel resolutions in other international organizations, including UNESCO and the International Telecommunications Union. For nearly 25 years, the Soviet Union has thrown its full weight behind efforts to brand Israel an international outlaw. Of course, Soviet support means not one vote or even three (since Belorussia and the Ukraine have separate, but not independent, votes in the U.N.). Soviet support has meant the vote of the Soviet bloc, including the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe and overseas states affiliated with the so-called socialist world system — Angola, Mozambique, Cuba, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Yemen, Vietnam, Laos and so forth. Traditionally, when the Soviet Union switched its attitude and its votes, allies switched theirs. This year, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany and Poland joined the Soviet Union in abstaining. Hungary and Romania went all the way and voted in favor of Israel’s membership. Third World countries in the Soviet bloc — Nicaragua, Cuba, Afghanistan and Angola — stuck with the Arabs. Life in international organizations will be a good deal easier for Israel if the Soviet Unions abandons its leadership of the ”anti-Zionist” cause. It might even be realistic to think about securing repeal of the ”Zionism is racism” resolution. A second reason the vote is especially interesting is its relevance to the claims of various Arab states that they have ”moved” and now in some sense ”accept” the existence of Israel. Though none — let us be clear — has said plainly that it accepts Israel’s right to peace within secure borders (the central requirement of U.N. Resolution 242), several have said they are willing to accept whatever is acceptable to the Palestinians. It is not certain what that means, since different Palestinian leaders have expressed very different views and Yasser Arafat’s declarations have remained exceedingly ambiguous. Thus far, Egypt is the only Arab state that has been willing to sign a peace treaty with Israel. And Egypt was the only Arab state that did not vote to reject Israel’s membership in the U.N. General Assembly last week. The other Arab states’ votes to expel Israel are a direct blow to current efforts to reestablish a peace process based on the ”land-for-peace” formula. No one can reasonably expect that the tiny state of Israel should take further risks for peace when it is surrounded by neighbors unwilling to accept its right to peace within secure borders. Third, the vote is a reminder that consistency and effort in foreign affairs pay dividends — even in the United Nations. It has become easier and easier to protect Israel’s membership in U.N. agencies. It was not always so. The Arab bloc first moved to deny Israel participation in the General Assembly in 1982. Those of us working on the issue then knew the move was coming. In the spring of that year, a large majority had declared Israel ”not a peace-loving state,” and the only requirement for membership in the U.N. is precisely that a country be judged a ”peace-loving state.” Months of global lobbying in advance of the vote and a strong bipartisan effort in Congress yielded a narrow victory for Israel that year. The following year, Congress passed and President Reagan signed a law providing that in case Israel were denied participation in any U.N. agency, the United States would also withdraw its participation and would withhold any financial contributions. This law and persistent effort have simplified the task of protecting Israel’s membership in the U.N. Now the margins of victory are large. They look so easy that some journalists have called it a ”ritual victory.” Good. Maybe, eventually, Arab states will give up the effort to destroy Israel through U.N. votes. Where better should the ”peace process” begin than in an organization created for peace-making? 1989, Los Angeles Times Syndicate
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The 1975 “Zionism Is Racism” Resolution: The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of a LibelDr. Yohanan Manor No. 97
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 (XXX) of 10 November 1975, defining Zionism as a form of racism, was revoked by the General Assembly sixteen years later on 16 December 1991.
The story of the rise and fall of this libel teaches a good deal about the role of anti-Semitism in international politics, its paralyzing effect on both the Jewish state and the Jewish people, and how such a libel was finally challenged successfully. Since the revocation of 3379, Israel’s international standing and legitimacy have steadily improved, increasing its ability to thwart ongoing attempts to negate its legitimacy.
How It BeganThe idea of having Zionism condemned by the United Nations originated with the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s, before the Six Day War. It stemmed from the Soviet refusal to have anti-Semitism condemned by the UN. Since the Soviet Union could not openly voice such a position, it conditioned its acceptance of condemning anti-Semitism on a demand to condemn Zionism and Nazism. This occurred in 1964 and 1965 during the negotiation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination within the framework of the UN Commission on Human Rights.[1]
The Six Day War inflicted a severe blow on the Soviet Union’s weaponry and prestige, and it subsequently developed a more militant policy to regain and enlarge its influence in the Middle East. This policy was based on a near-total backing of the PLO. It was expected that this backing would bring both the “Arab street” and the Arab states to the Soviet Union’s side. This scheme went well and enabled the Soviet Union to gain strongholds in the Middle East, notably in Syria and Egypt, which were on the verge of becoming Soviet colonies.
The expulsion of the Soviet advisers from Egypt, the Israeli-Egyptian disengagement negotiations of November 1973, and the Israeli-Syrian disengagement agreement of May 1974 with the active involvement of the United States, apparently led to a Soviet-PLO plan to bring about Israel’s expulsion from the United Nations, with the PLO taking its place.[2] On 22 November 1974, the PLO obtained UN observer status as a national liberation movement. In August 1975, the Organization of African Unity explicitly referred to depriving Israel of “its status as member.” At the General Assembly on 1 October 1975, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin called upon
the people of the United States of America…to rid their society from the Zionists in order that the true citizens of this nation may control their own destiny and exploit the natural resources of their country to their own benefit. I call for the expulsion of Israel from the United Nations and the extinction of Israel as a state so that the territorial integrity of Palestine may be ensured and upheld.[3]
In parallel, the Soviet Union and the PLO advanced an initiative to bring about a condemnation of Zionism. In December 1973, for the first time, Zionism was associated with racism in a General Assembly resolution on South Africa’s apartheid policy, condemning in particular “the unholy alliance between Portuguese colonialism, South African racism, Zionism and Israeli imperialism.”[4]
In July 1975, the Soviet Union and the PLO succeeded to have Zionism explicitly condemned at the UN International Women’s Year conference in Mexico City, which stressed in its final declaration that “Peace requires the elimination of colonialism, neocolonialism, foreign occupation, Zionism, apartheid and racial discrimination in all its forms.”[5] In August 1975, the Organization of African Unity in Kampala stated that “the racist regime in occupied Palestine and the racist regime in Zimbabwe and South Africa have a common imperialist origin…organically linked in their policy aimed at repression of the dignity and integrity of the human being”; while the Non-Aligned conference in Lima “severely condemned Zionism as a threat to world peace.”
Stern Western, above all American, opposition to Israel’s expulsion or suspension, notably an American warning that such a move would force the United States to reassess its UN membership,[6] thwarted this initiative – but also much increased the eagerness to advance a substitute for it, namely, the condemnation of Zionism as racism. This was formally achieved first within the framework of the Third Committee of the General Assembly on 16 October 1975, and then on 10 November 1975 by the GA plenary with Resolution 3379 (XXX), which “Determines that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination.” The Soviet-Arab coalition won by 72-35 with two abstentions.
Although this result was far from resounding and fell short of the one hundred and more votes this coalition was used to obtaining at the General Assembly, it was followed by an explosion of joy. As Judge Hadassa Ben Ito, then a member of the Israeli delegation to this session, strikingly described this:
It was not only an excitement. The hatred was crawling on the floor. People embraced as if they had won the biggest victory of their lives…. We felt like pariahs. It is not only a sentimental reflection…. We should know that it was not just another resolution of the United Nations. Somebody like myself, who has never really felt personally attacked by, or maligned by an act of anti-Semitism, really felt it physically while sitting there.[7]
Two procedural attempts to postpone the debate and the vote on the draft resolution were rejected. In the Third Committee, a motion put forth by Sierra Leone was defeated by 68-45. In the plenary, a Belgian motion was rejected by 67-55, with fifteen abstentions and five absences.
It is likely that a resolute and coordinated effort by the United States, Canada, Australia, Western Europe, and Latin American and African countries could have mustered the additional votes necessary to secure a postponement (see Table 1). But this did not occur, probably, on the one hand, out of relief that the most ominous threat, Israel’s expulsion from the United Nations, had been foiled, and on the other, out of the inner conviction that this farfetched, aberrant, and shameful resolution from “Um-shmum” – a play on words coined by David Ben-Gurion to express the UN’s impotency -would actually have no palpable weight and the UN would do its best to forget it.
Table 1: Voting Patterns on Resolution 3379 by Blocs
Note: Y=Yes; N=No; An=Abstain; 4 As=Absent. Source: Yohanan Manor, To Right a Wrong (New York: Shengold, 1996), 56. The Jewish World’s Passive PostureExcept for the African American lawyer Eleanor Holmes-Norton’s statement[8] days after the resolution’s adoption that “an international committee of women had been set up to annul [it],” there was no other attempt, not even an Israeli or Jewish one, to act for its revocation. Instead, the Israeli and Jewish world viewed the resolution with disdain. For instance, soon after the adoption Rabbi Israel Miller, then chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was told by the Israeli embassy to “ignore the whole issue, since it was nonsense.”[9] Israel expected that this nonsense would go away by itself and that disregard would achieve this result. This position, which was maintained for almost a decade, was itself sheer nonsense.
During 1976-1984 the “Zionism is racism” resolution was reiterated time and again, sometimes by even larger majorities (see Table 2). In 1980, at the United Nations’ Second World Conference on Women in Copenhagen, the notion of eliminating Zionism was for the first time included in an operative document, “The Program of Action for the Second Half of the UN Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace.” This meant that the administrative units of the UN secretary-general, notably the Office of Public Information, would have to include the defamation of Zionism in their activities. Table 2: Resolutions on 3379 Adopted by International Bodies, 1976-1984
Source: Yohanan Manor, To Right a Wrong (New York: Shengold, 1996), 63.
After the resolution’s adoption, Zionism began to assume “mythical proportions in international discourse as a global cause of most world problems.” This trend was not confined to Arab-Muslim countries and the Third World; it also substantially penetrated Western circles, especially universities. For instance, in Britain in 1976 and 1977, eight student unions adopted “Zionism is racism” resolutions, openly flouting previously held policies not to deal with the Middle East.[10] Subsequently several student unions, such as those at the University of York and the University of Salford, decided to strike Jewish societies from their registers and to restrict their activities.
Some U.S. universities refused to invite lecturers recommended by Jewish organizations on the ground that most Jews were Zionists and, as Zionism was racism, Jews were racists. At the University of California at Riverside, Arab students prevented Jews from attending a program on racism on the ground that “Zionism is a form of racism.”[11]
The trend began to burgeon and win increasing academic sanction. In September 1983 at the Stony Brook campus of the State University of New York, Ernest Dube, a professor in the African Studies Department included Zionism in a course on “The Politics of Race” as one of the three forms of racism, the two other being apartheid and Nazism. One of the research subjects he proposed to his students was “Zionism is as much racism as Nazism,” and he defended this formulation by evoking Resolution 3379.
In Canada, a Jewish group asking to join Québec contre Racisme, an organization set up by Yvon Charbonneau, president of the teachers’ trade union of Quebec, was denied entry unless it renounced Zionism. In 1982, the general student organization of Ontario condemned Israel’s operation in Lebanonstressing that “The state of Israel is Zionism, Zionism is racism,” and decided not to admit Jewish student groups to its ranks. That same year the student federation at Ottawa University decided to prevent the Jewish students’ organization from meeting on the campus on the ground that Zionism was racism.[12]
During this period the vilification of Zionism turned into a permanent feature of international life. That Zionism was a metaphor for universal evil became part of “common knowledge,” accepted or at least not contradicted by almost the entire international body politic. This was not anticipated when Resolution 3379 was adopted, and it came not instead of but in addition to the consequences that were expected, placing Israel beyond the pale and giving anti-Semitism international sanction. During 1969-1972 there were four anti-Israeli resolutions per year at the United Nations. During 1973-1978 this number grew to sixteen per annum, and in 1982 it reached a peak of forty-four.[13]
The vilification of Zionism was not merely a second-best strategy to the one aiming to expel Israel from the United Nations altogether. In a sense it was even worse. Although Israel’s formal membership in the UN was indeed maintained, it was increasingly deprived of its basic rights as a member state. As explained by Jeane Kirkpatrick, the U.S. ambassador to the UN from 1981 to 1985, this involved “denying membership by denying participation,”[14] thereby instilling Israel’s illegitimacy by placing it in a state of growing irrelevancy
As noted by the Israeli academic Ehud Sprinzak, this meant Israel lost “the right to speak or debate in certain forums.” For him, labeling Zionism as racism was much more than an attack on particular policies of the Israeli government; it signified that “every war Israel has ever fought, including the War of Independence and the Six Day War, has been a racist war. Every military response to Arab terror has been a racist response. And of course every domestic law …is a racist one.”[15]
Nevertheless, official Israel did not regard the huge and mounting damage inflicted by “Zionism is racism” as sufficient reason to openly fight the resolution and act to overturn it. The Israeli Foreign Ministry often used two arguments to justify this inertia: that initiating action would be counterproductive since the “automatic majority” at the disposal of the Soviet Union and the Arab-Muslim states would result in reiterations; and that it was formally impossible to overturn a General Assembly resolution as there was no such precedent.
An Urgent Need to ActBy now, however, it was clear that reiteration by other international bodies had been an inevitable consequence from the start, and that the resolution constituted the global legal and political foundation for turning the Jewish state into an illegitimate one. Thus it came to be acknowledged, even by official Israel, that the resolution needed to be fought in itself directly, and not as merely another expression of anti-Semitism.
The question, at this point, was how? A central body was needed to direct this struggle. It took the form of the Steering Committee against the Zionism Is Racism Resolution, set up jointly by the World Zionist Organization and the Israeli Foreign Ministry. It was crucial to seek to overcome the so-called automatic UN majority, namely, by at least preventing reiterations and, more essentially, by undermining the validity and legitimacy of the resolution.
A first success was scored in neutralizing a Kuwaiti initiative seeking to obtain a reiteration of the resolution by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at its annual session in September 1984 in Geneva. This was achieved by mobilizing both Israeli parties and Jewish communities worldwide to use their links with the political parties of delegates to the IPU to defeat the Kuwaiti initiative.[16]
The real challenge, however, was to find ways to undermine the validity and legitimacy of the resolution and divest it of any moral value. This was achieved mainly through a long series of international, national, and regional conferences in Israel, the United States, Europe, and Latin America, an international petition to the United Nations signed by over a thousand worldwide personalities calling on it to “disavow the abusive Resolution 3379 and rededicate itself to its founding charter,” and by parliamentary resolutions in the same spirit.
The first of these was a “Sense of the Congress resolution” adopted by the U.S. Senate in July 1985. Senate Joint Resolution 98 “formally repudiates UNGA Resolution 3379 and calls upon the Parliaments of all countries which value freedom and democracy to do the same.”
This draft resolution also needed to be adopted by the House of Representatives, and was, several weeks later. It proved decisive in preventing the reiteration of 3379 at the Nairobi Conference closing the UN Decade for Women. Ambassador Alan Keyes, chief adviser to the U.S. delegation, included references to the Senate resolution in his statements and received clear instructions from Washington that Zionism was not to be included in any paragraph of the final document to be adopted by the conference; if this occurred the U.S. delegation was to leave.
All this demonstrated that fighting Resolution 3379 directly could prevent its reiteration and that its abrogation was not a mission impossible but, rather, an attainable goal, albeit still very difficult. Although the Israeli Foreign Ministry began to count the prospective votes in the General Assembly, there was still a very long way to go.
At the initiative of the local Zionist Federation, the Australian government was convinced to table before the Australian parliament a remarkable resolution proclaiming that 3379 was inconsistent with the United Nations’ goals and recommending that “the Government of Australia lend support to efforts to overturn Resolution 3379 (XXX) in the UN.” Moreover, the Australian government further involved itself by checking what would be the position of each of the Asian countries. The results, however, were extremely disappointing.
Only a few other parliamentary resolutions were passed. These were in Peru (1987), the European Parliament (1987), and Uruguay (1988). Their wording was far less committing then the Australian and American ones. Most of the democratic countries remained uninvolved. How the Repeal Was AchievedIt would take another five years to overturn “Zionism is racism.” The repeal was finally achieved not only thanks to the end of the Cold War, but first and foremost because the United States took the lead in this endeavor. This active involvement resulted from unabated pressure on the administration by Congress and American Jewish organizations. The U.S. administration put this issue even higher on its agenda than it was on Israel’s.
In his address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on 14 May 1989, Secretary of State James Baker called on the Arab countries to take measures to advance the peace process, end the economic boycott of Israel, and “repudiate the odious line that ‘Zionism is racism.’”[17] He thereby put the onus on the Arab states to show that they were serious about the peace process, while linking the peace process to the repeal.
At Yeshiva University on International Human Rights Day on 11 December 1989, Vice-President Dan Quayle did not link the repeal to the peace process but rather to the renewal of the United Nations. Referring to a UN General Assembly resolution cosponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union and calling on all UN members to respect the principles set forth in the UN Charter, Quayle made a resounding statement:
The official Soviet reaction was extremely disappointing, as the regime still clung to its traditional anti-Zionist stance. What was more surprising was the lukewarm response from many Western democracies, which held that the repeal was impossible without a breakthrough in the Middle East peace process. For instance, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher reacted skeptically to Quayle’s appeal by arguing that the necessary majority would be secured only if the repeal offered some substantial quid pro quo to the Arab side.[19] Actually, the democracies did not even make such an attempt.
On 30 March 1990, a public hearing in the Senate chaired by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan adopted a joint resolution calling on UN member states to repeal the “Zionism is racism” resolution and requesting the U.S. president to report periodically on progress toward repeal. John Bolton, representing the State Department, gave an optimistic assessment of the prospects for an overturn.[20] Moynihan, however, was infuriated by Bolton’s apparent self-satisfaction and criticized the State Department for its lack of energy in fighting the resolution, saying he wanted to see more action.
Moynihan went on to say: “The West imposed no consequences of any kind on those nations that associated themselves with this filthy proposition of the Soviet Union. I want to see the US cut assistance to countries which supported the resolution. How many of them received and are still receiving US aid?” Bolton replied that of the seventy-two that had voted in favor of the resolution, a clear majority were at that point receiving U.S. aid, and probably still did. Moynihan then asked him: “Did we ever tell one country, just one country, that you are getting American money, and you are not getting it any more until you change your mind?” On the defensive, Bolton answered: “I don’t know that any country’s ever been told that, Senator, but if I could leave one message with the committee here today, it is that the Bush Administration is most serious about having this resolution repealed.”[21]
Joint Resolution 246 was not only adopted by the Senate and House but also officially endorsed by President George H. W. Bush. However, Bush still found it appropriate to add a paragraph on the United States’ “determination to pursue efforts toward a comprehensive, just and lasting Middle East peace. In our view this peace must be achieved on the basis of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the principle of territories for peace. It must provide for Israel’s security and recognition and for Palestinian political rights….”[22] Several weeks after Bush’s endorsement of 246, the troika then heading the European Union made a commitment to act for the repeal of “Zionism is racism.”
In mid-August 1990, the projected General Assembly vote for a repeal stood at 60-60 with forty abstentions. In mid-September, it was decided to postpone the repeal initiative. The U.S. press claimed this was an American decision aimed at preserving Arab support for sanctions against Iraq. Yohanan Bein, then deputy director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, was in charge of the issue of repealing the resolution. He claimed the postponement was an Israeli decision based on evaluation of how much support could be obtained.[23]
During the summer of 1991, there were once again indications that some were seeking postponement. A first indication came from J. S. Wall, private secretary of UK prime minister John Major, then another from Gareth Evans, Australian minister of trade and foreign affairs; they were concerned that there was not yet a majority in favor of a repeal. But the biggest blow came from the United States, which feared that a motion to defer concocted by Egypt, arguing that the repeal should be delayed until a peace conference opened or the peace process was firmly on track, would easily pass in the General Assembly in September.
Although this inclination to postpone probably reflected genuine concern for the repeal’s success, it also manifested tensions between Israel and the United States over the desirable framework for a Middle East peace conference. In June 1991, Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir expressed Israel’s reservations over UN participation in such a conference given the world body’s treatment of Israel over the years. Among many other one-sided UN positions, he mentioned Resolution 3379. Shamir never, though, cited the repeal of 3379 as a condition for accepting UN involvement in such a peace conference.
At the opening of the UN General Assembly in September 1991, Bush took an unprecedented step and raised the issue of the repeal plainly and directly, without linking it to any other issue. Pointing to the renewed role of the United Nations, which had put in place more peacekeeping missions in the previous thirty-six months than during its first forty-three years, he asserted
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Children Soldiers
Honestly, if there is one video you should watch today. This is the one. UNRWA – Askar (2023) a short but extremely revealing video by David Bedein. UNRWA have created a Palestinian terrorism education system. UNRWA school and “refugee camp” where they breed terror. It’ll take 7 minutes 55 seconds of your time. This is proof that the UN must be completely dissolved and all it’s staff members fully investigated. I am stunned.  Kosher Kockney-tweet-1December2023- Askar-UNRWA Askar-UNRWA Cradle of Killers – Summer 2023
Hamas & Islamic Jihad Military Summer camp for UNRWA students. How on earth can UNRWA be getting away with all this? UNRWA schools send their students to a Hamas terrorism training camp: “This summer, armed operatives (Hamas) signed up tens of thousands of UNRWA students ages 10 to 17” “UNRWA youngsters learned to view the United States and Israel as the Devil” Quotes from the children: “Purify it of the Jews” – UNRWA school child talking about “Palestine” “We’ll die as Martyrs” – UNRWA school child “The Jews will not remain on this land, I say to the Jews: go back to where you came from. Get out of here before we annihilate you” – UNRWA school child We need to pressure our governments and leaders to stop funding UNRWA immediately. Film produced by the Bedein Center  Kosher Kockney-tweet-4December2023-UNRWA’s Child Soldiers UNRWA’s Child Soldiers
 Aviva Klompas-tweet-23November2023-Children Soldiers
Children raised in a culture of Martyrdom and Death
No, they did. That’s we were trying to tell the west for decades. The western minds refuse to comprehend this: DEATH is their objective. They want to die. They send children to die because it looks “tastier” in the media… “Look at those evil armed men, can’t they see it’s just two small kids?” This concludes the whole Palestinian frame of work, including the latest war. I see too many English comments laughing at how Gazans didn’t “think this through” or that they’re finding out the consequences of their actions (October 7th). But it was all planned. The war is a desired outcome for the Palestinians. The deaths, the more is the merrier for them. Their own death is their weapon. They think it’ll make Israel look like a merciless aggressor in the world’s eyes, but in reality, people remember who started the war and how. I’ll leave you with a horrific thought: If someone WANTS his children to die, it’s logical to assume that he’ll not only do nothing to protect them, but also expose them intentionally to danger. Don’t believe them when they cry for their losses on cameras.  Ali Adi-tweet-6July2024-Children raised in a culture of Martyrdom and Death
UNRWA class field trip.
Riding on top of a stolen Israeli car with plastic weapons and Islamic Jihad headbands. These kids are going places.  The Mossad Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-16June2024-Learn to steal Cars at UNRWA
 Alon Lavi-tweet-12December2023-Gaza is a dangerous place for children from Hamas
Kindergarten graduation ceremony in Gaza
To be allowed to start elementary school, it seems like Palestinian kids need to prove that they know how to fire off a couple of mortar rounds, take some hostages and storm a building. Hamas must be vanquished for good  Visegrád 24-tweet-27November2023-Kindergarten graduation ceremony in Gaza
 leekern-tweet-3December2023-THIS IS THE CAUSE OF THE CONFLICT
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From the 2014 Gaza War Operation Protective Edge: מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, Israel Deserves an Apology New map confirms: the Shuja’iya neighborhood is a terrorist stronghold where Hamas uses residents as human shields. pic.twitter.com/NVTPEbydq4  Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/ We were ordered to close all חלון תריסים (Window Shutters) at night. Arab Snipers?UNRWA incitementUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) employees are constantly on Facebook inciting the Arabs to kill Jews. Here is just one example. http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/2015/10/unrwa-teacher-wants-her-kids-to-die-for.html#.VihIr6fhlTA 20October2015  UNRWA teacher Hiba Yassin’s Facebook page:”The #intifada of Ramadan” (meaning July 2014. Yes, UNRWA teachers were calling for a new intifada last year too,) This is an ongoing battle with UNRWA and the UN on what they claim to do and the reality.UNRWA suspends employees after UN Watch exposed incitement to anti-Semitic violence22october2015 http://www.unwatch.org/unrwa-suspends-employees-after-un-watch-exposed-incitement-to-anti-semitic-violence/ י״ד מרחשון תשע״ו – 2015/10/26 Another disgusting incitement cartoon on @UNRWA teacher page י״ה מרחשון תשע״ו – 2015/10/27 .@UNRWA uses Hamas human shield victim for fundraising and demonizing Israel ט״ו מרחשון תשע״ו- 2015/10/28 .@UNRWA teacher posts “Stab the Jews” video UNRWA teacher Najlaa Nojom lives in Bethlehem. ל׳ מרחשון תשע״ו – 2015/11/12 Elder gets results – and @UNRWA teachers are angry that they cannot post incitement and Jew-hatred …It should be noted that some of the most influential leaders of the Palestinian resistance were teachers in UNRWA schools who were able to perform their work without any restrictions on political freedom, and they are active politically.
 Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-12March2024-UNRWA is all about serving Palestinians until Return
 This sign at the entrance to a “refugee camp” near Bethlehem says it all (why on earth are Palestinians “refugees” under the Palestinian Authority?!?):
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UNRWA’S TERRORGRAM – HOW A TELEGRAM GROUP OF 3,000 UNRWA TEACHERS IN GAZA CELEBRATED THE OCTOBER 7TH HAMAS MASSACRE
Here is our saved copy of the UNRWA Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers: https://groupchat.unwatch.org There are 249,000 messages, replete with celebrations of Hamas terrorism: https://unwatch.org/unrwa-terrorgram/ There is not one case where an UNRWA teacher objected.  Hillel Neuer-tweet-28January2024-UNRWA Telegram group
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UN finds out that UNRWA staff ties to Hamas terrorism
That’s odd. September 3, 2015: UN Watch Report: UNRWA Officials Operating 12 Separate Facebook Accounts Inciting Terrorism https://unwatch.org/images-of-unrwa-incitement-to-antisemitism-violence/
 Hillel Neuer-tweet-28January2024-UNRWA staff ties to Hamas terrorism
They did nothing. Worse, UNRWA attacked us. Last week it was revealed in the WSJ that in Gaza alone, 1,200 UNRWA staffers belong to Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Yet in 2016, UNRWA’s top backer in Canada admitted: “Hamas dominates the UNRWA trade unions and its staff is replete with Hamas supporters.”  Hillel Neuer-tweet-7February2024-Seven years ago we sent warnings to UNRWA
12,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza, 2,500 are official Hamas operatives
@antonioguterres, you there? Resign!  Dr. Eli David-tweet-21February2024-12,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza, 2,500 are official Hamas operatives
 Visegrád 24-tweet-5February2024-unwra terrorist
 Eretz Nehederet-tweet-30January2024-We are UNRWA We are UNRWA [Eretz Nehederet satire]
 Aizenberg-tweet-20February2024-Israel seized ~$280 million of cash from Hamas safes in Khan Younes.png
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UNRWA mourns Hamas Head Yahya SinwarThe bodyguard of Hamas Head, Yahya Sinwar, was an “UNRWA Teacher”
 Dr. Eli David-tweet-17October2024-the bodyguard of Yahya Sinwar-UNRWA Teacher
All UNRWA accounts added a black stripe to their profile
FYI: @HillelNeuer @UNWatch @IsraelinUN @dannydanon @giladerdan1  Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-17October2024-All UNRWA accounts added black stripe to their profile
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Jihad WatchUN demands immunity for UNRWA employees complicit in Oct. 7 jihad massacre22September2024 By Robert Spencer https://jihadwatch.org/2024/09/un-demands-immunity-for-unrwa-employees-complicit-in-oct-7-jihad-massacre
If the UN were shocked, appalled, and horrified, as it should be, at the prospect of its employees taking part in the Oct. 7 jihad massacre, it would not be demanding immunity for them, but insisting that they be prosecuted. This demonstrates that the UN has no problem with having active and murderous jihadis among its ranks. The United States should withdraw from and defund the UN, and expel it from New York. Of course, that will not happen, as the Biden regime is also full of people who have no problem with UN employees massacring Jews.
“UN seeks immunity for UNRWA employees complicit in Oct. 7 massacre – Channel 12 report,” Jerusalem Post, September 22, 2024:
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Trump administration strips UNRWA of legal immunity in court filingThe pronouncement could have major implications relating to a lawsuit filed by victims’ families of the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.Mike Wagenheim https://www.jns.org/trump-administration-strips-unrwa-of-legal-immunity-in-court-filing/
(April 25, 2025 / JNS) The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has been stripped of its legal immunity.
The decision was taken as part of a case filed last year in which families of victims of the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, sued UNRWA for its ties to terrorism. Israel has said that at least 18 UNRWA staff members took part directly in the assault across the Gaza border into southern Israel.
The plaintiffs also allege long-term fraud and corruption in handling financial aid routed through UNRWA into the Gaza Strip—$1 billion of which critics say has fallen into the hands of Hamas and other terror groups.
“The complaint in this case alleges atrocious crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, and its factual allegations, taken as true, detail how UNRWA played a significant role in those heinous offenses,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote to the U.S. district judge Analisa Torres.
“Previously, the government expressed the view that certain immunities shielded UNRWA from having to answer those allegations in American courts,” per the filing. “The government has since re-evaluated that position and now concludes that UNRWA is not immune from this litigation. Nor are the bulk of other defendants.”
The claim by the U.S. attorney’s office added that UNRWA is not legally considered an affiliated organ of the United Nations since it was formed and continues to hold its mandate as a result of a resolution by the U.N. General Assembly. The U.S. Justice Department said the General Assembly may have lacked the authority to create the agency.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration held that the United Nations and UNRWA were immune from the lawsuit.
If found not to have immunity, UNRWA, its leaders and employees—and perhaps the United Nations at large—could be ordered to pay large compensation to victims and their families.
Stripping diplomatic immunity from UNRWA might also call into question the future of U.N. headquarters in New York and could impact the Knesset’s decision, effective this past January, to ban UNRWA from operating within Israeli territory.
The office of António Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told JNS that “we have seen the letter filed by the U.S. Department of Justice with the court. We will review it carefully.”
“The position of the United Nations is longstanding and clear. UNRWA is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly and, as such, is entitled to immunity from legal process under the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,” the secretary-general’s office added. (An UNRWA spokesperson sent JNS the same statement.)
“This issue is before the federal district court in New York, and through our counsel, we will continue to set out the basis for our position before the court,” the secretary-general’s office told JNS. “We will consider whether any other action is appropriate with respect to the letter.”
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UNRWA is a Hamas front
The question is: how much can UNRWA “not know” before ignorance turns into complicity?  HonestReporting-tweet-22January2025-UNRWA-We had no idea
Because that made them legitimate military targets. You have never notified the IDF about armed terrorists violating the neutrality of your facilities. You are a Hamas front. This blatant disregard of international humanitarian law must stop. #ActForHumanity  Eylon Levy-tweet-19August2024-UNRWA is a Hamas front
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Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA so deeply that it is no longer possible to determine where UNRWA ends and where Hamas begins.
More than 2,135 UNRWA workers are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), while one-fifth of UNRWA school administrators are Hamas members. The problem with UNRWA-Gaza isn’t that of a few bad apples; it is a rotten and poisonous tree whose roots are Hamas. The Colonna report ignores the severity of the problem, and offers cosmetic solutions that do not deal with the enormous scope of Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA. This is not what a genuine and thorough review looks like. This is what an effort to avoid the problem and not address it head on looks like. Israel calls on the donor countries to refrain from transferring their taxpayers’ money to UNRWA-Gaza, as these funds will go to the Hamas terrorist organization, and that violates legislation in the donor countries themselves. Israel calls on the donor countries to transfer their funds to other humanitarian organizations in Gaza. UNRWA-Gaza is part of the problem and not part of the solution.  Oren Marmorstein-tweet-22April2024-Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA so deeply that
Weapons, drones, high explosives, and more. Read >>>>  Yaari Cohen-tweet-12July2024-UNRWA compound is Hamas operations HQ
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22October2024-Terrorists use UN aid vehicles at UNRWA Logistics Compound in Eastern Rafah, Gaza
 ErsnGozde-tweet-22October2024-Terrorists use UN aid vehicles at UNRWA logistics Compound in Eastern Rafah, Gaza
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The tunnel system beneath UNRWA Headquarters in Gaza used by Hamas as their main intelligence server hub
Acting on ISA intelligence, the forces discovered a tunnel shaft near an UNRWA school, leading to an underground terrorist tunnel beneath UNRWA’s main headquarters. The forces found electrical infrastructure inside the tunnel connected to UNRWA’s main HQ, suggesting it was supplying the tunnel with electricity—generated by the fuel provided through humanitarian aid. This 700-meter-long tunnel, 18 meters deep, contained multiple blast doors and various intelligence assets seized by the forces. Intelligence and documents found confirmed the offices’ use by Hamas terrorists. Large quantities of weapons, including rifles, ammunition, grenades and explosives, were uncovered hidden in the building’s offices. 📸: Footage showing the tunnel’s location, near a school.  Yaari Cohen-tweet-10February2024-Hamas data center under UNRWA HQ These Findings Were Found Within UNRWA Facilities [Hamas data-center under UNRWA HQ]
Amazingly, no one in Gaza noticed!  Elder of Ziyon-tweet-11February2024-Amazingly no one in Gaza noticed
What do you do? Nothing, according to head of @UNRWA. You simply “didn’t know” anything about the tunnel underneath 🤡  Dr. Eli David-tweet-11February2024-all cables go down beneath the floor to some unknown destination
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UNRWA staff linked to October 7th Massacre
The report said 23% of Unrwa’s male employees—the agency has a total staff of 12,000 in Gaza—took active part in the Hamas organization’s military or political framework, a higher percentage than the average of 15% for adult males in Gaza. The information in the Israeli intelligence reports is based on sensitive signals intelligence as well as cellphone tracking data, interrogations of captured Hamas gunmen and documents recovered from dead terrorists. Nearly half of all Unrwa employees—an estimated 49%—also had close relatives with official ties to Hamas and other terrorist groups. The Oct. 7 intelligence reports seen by the Wall Street Journal identified an Unrwa Arabic teacher who was also a Hamas terrorist commander and took part in a terrorist attack on Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered, and about 26 people were kidnapped and taken as hostages to Gaza. Another Unrwa employee, described in the dossier as an Unrwa social worker, played a role in absconding with the body of a dead Israeli soldier, which was taken to Gaza, the reports said. He also coordinated trucks and munitions distributions for Hamas before being killed. 📍Full story by @cjkeller8 & @davidluhnow @WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/at-least-12-u-n-agency-employees-involved-in-oct-7-attacks-intelligence-reports-say-a7de8f36  Hillel Neuer-tweet-29January2024-1,200 UNRWA employees are Hamas or PIJ
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UNRWA to be declared by the State of Israel as a terrorist organization
Approved in first reading: UNRWA to be declared by the State of Israel as a terrorist organization; all relations between UNRWA and the state to be severed22July2024 https://main.knesset.gov.il/en/news/pressreleases/pages/press22724y.aspx
In its sitting on Monday, the Knesset Plenum voted to approve in first reading the Bill for Cutting Off the State of Israel’s Relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Declaring it a Terrorist Organization, 2024, sponsored by MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beitenu) and a group of MKs. In the vote, 50 Members of Knesset supported the bill, versus 10 who opposed it, and the bill will be returned to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for deliberation.
It is proposed to declare the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization. It is further proposed that the State of Israel sever its relations with UNRWA, both directly and indirectly.
MK Malinovsky, the bill’s sponsor: “We have to perform a surgical [cut] here and end the event. We are on the UN’s blacklist in any case. All the excessive morality ended on October 7. UNRWA is a terrorist organization, and not only in Jerusalem. It is a fifth column within the State of Israel. And not just municipal property tax benefits—everything should be revoked from them. The fact that this hasn’t happened until now, for seven months—is a disgrace. What is happening today is a badge of honor for the Knesset and for the Members of Knesset. The fact that we succeeded in joining hands, coalition and opposition—that is a very important statement for the Government. We did a wonderful job together with all the partners to these bills.”
The explanatory notes to the bill state: “In the months after the outbreak of the Swords of Iron war, investigative reports were revealed regarding the involvement of the workers of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip in the murderous terrorist offensive that began on October 7, 2023, such as participation in acts of murder and massacre, kidnapping Israeli citizens to the Gaza Strip and providing vehicles and equipment for the purpose of the offensive. Reports were also published regarding the membership of these workers in the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations.
“The above attests to the close relationship that exists between UNRWA and terrorist activity for all intents and purposes, in a manner that is no different from the activity of organizations that have been declared as terrorist organizations by law. Therefore, it is proposed to declare that UNRWA is a terrorist organization as defined in the Counter-Terrorism Law, 2016.”
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Israel outlaws UNWRA
Israel severs ties with UNRWA as Knesset passes landmark billsMeasure comes after the UN agency employees were found to have been complicit in Hamas activity.By ILH Staff – Published on 10-28-2024 21:49 Last modified: 10-28-2024 21:56 https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/10/28/israel-severs-ties-with-unrwa-as-knesset-passes-landmark-bills/
The Knesset plenum voted Monday evening to approve two bills effectively ending Israel’s relationship with UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees. The legislation passed its second and third readings, with two separate bills sponsored by multiple lawmakers prohibiting UNRWA from maintaining any representation, providing services, or conducting activities, either directly or indirectly, within Israel’s sovereign territory.  UNRWA workers who were exposed as terrorists on March 5, 2024 (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)
Under the new law, all government representatives will be barred from maintaining contact with UNRWA. The Foreign and Interior ministries will be prohibited from issuing entry visas to UNRWA employees, and customs officials will be unable to process goods imported by the agency. The organization’s tax benefits will also be revoked.
The second bill stipulates that Israel will sever all ties with UNRWA, and authorities will cease cooperation with the agency. It will no longer be entitled to the diplomatic privileges it previously enjoyed as well. The legislation follows revelations that the UN body, meant to provide services to Palestinian refugees, employed staff who are suspected of involvement in the surprise attack on Israel, with some allegedly active in Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations.
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein said at the start of the plenary discussion, “During the committee’s deliberations on the law, we were shown video evidence of UNRWA personnel involved in transporting a body to the Gaza Strip, along with other evidence of their involvement in terrorism, including the fact that the commander of the massacre at the Reim shelter, where 16 Israelis were killed and four were kidnapped to Gaza, was a UNRWA operative.”
“Given this background, and having proved that UNRWA and its employees acted against Israel, the state must determine that UNRWA’s activities in its territory will cease,” he stated. “To be clear, Israel will provide all services it is obligated to provide to its citizens and residents in all areas where UNRWA operates, in coordination with the Jerusalem municipality. There is no place for enemies in the heart of the Jewish people’s capital.”
The Im Tirtzu right-wing watchdog, which led the public campaign to end UNRWA’s operations in Israel, issued the following statement: “This is a historic moment for Israel and an important moment for the Knesset. Since Israel’s establishment, UNRWA has functioned as an incubator of terror incitement instead of caring for Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. Now the Knesset is finally correcting this distortion… After a year-long struggle, justice has finally prevailed, the people of Israel live!”
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UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem to be seizedThe entire UNRWA area in Ma’alot Dafna, Jerusalem, is set to be expropriated and turned into 1,440 housing units.By Shirit Avitan Cohen – Published on 10-10-2024 17:20 Last modified: 10-10-2024 17:23 https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/10/10/unrwa-headquarters-in-jerusalem-to-be-seized/
The Israel Land Authority (ILA) is seizing the land of UNRWA’s headquarters in Jerusalem, in order to build 1,440 housing units.
As the extent of UNRWA and its employees’ collaboration in the massacre at Gaza border communities by Hamas and their role in providing assistance for murder, kidnapping, and more continues to be revealed, a significant step has been taken for the first time against the refugee agency.
 UNRWA center in central Jerusalem. Photo: Arieh King
According to information released to the public today, the entire UNRWA area in Ma’alot Dafna, Jerusalem, is slated to become a housing project with 1,440 units, and the project is in its preparatory stages. It should be noted that over the past year, families of kidnapped civilians and fallen IDF soldiers, alongside organizations such as “Im Tirtzu” and others, have protested in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, demanding the closure of the agency’s office, which has operated in the city without interference.
 Protest at the entrance to UNRWA offices in Jerusalem. Photo: Tzav 9 Movement
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, warned the UN Security Council yesterday (Wednesday) about the possible consequences of an Israeli bill that seeks to ban the agency’s activities in Israel: “Legislation to end our operations is ready for final adoption by the Israeli Knesset. It seeks to ban UNRWA’s presence and operations in the territory of Israel, revoking its privileges and immunities, in violation of international law. If the bills are adopted, the consequences will be severe.”
“Operationally, the entire humanitarian response in Gaza – which rests on UNRWA’s infrastructure – may disintegrate”, added Lazzarini.
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How UNRWA Grooms Terroristsby Bassam Tawil
 A still shot from the documentary film “Camp Jihad,” featuring a summer camp in Gaza sponsored and funded by UNRWA
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was originally a small agency mandated to provide basic humanitarian relief for Palestinians, including a vote for renewal every three years. Seventy-three years and four generations later, and with more than 30,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $1 billion, it has astonishingly become one of the largest UN agencies.
In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, UNRWA has, in fact, long been operating as the de facto government. By providing the residents of the Gaza Strip with various services, UNRWA exempted Hamas from its responsibilities as the governing body, such as creating a working economy that would pay for education and healthcare, and allowed it, instead, to invest resources in building tunnels and manufacturing weapons. If UNRWA were not there, Hamas would have been forced to fill the vacuum and, for example, build hospitals and schools and find solutions to economic hardship, including unemployment and poverty.
As senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk said, in explaining why no cement could be spared from terror tunnels to build bomb shelters for Gazan citizens:
Hamas was effectively saying: We are responsible for what happens underground, while UNRWA is responsible for what happens above ground.
In addition to evolving into a monster-sized agency, UNRWA has also morphed into a very costly incubator for terror. UNRWA-run schools emphasize and promote the “right of return,” a euphemism for flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians and turning it into a Muslim-majority Islamist state backed by Iran.
More than 50% of UNRWA’s annual budget of $1.6 billion is dedicated to funding Palestinian schools. These schools have been fostering war-mongering hatred against Israel, and against Jews in general, from the youngest, most impressionable ages and onward throughout the school years, while predictably churning out their final product: terrorists and terrorist sympathizers.
“They [UNRWA] teach us that the Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to us [Muslims], that Palestine belongs to us,” said Atif Sharha, a student at a UNRWA school in the Shuafat refugee camp, north of Jerusalem. “I hate the Jews,” said Yousef, another student at a UNRWA school in Kalandia refugee camp, south of Ramallah. “Yes, they teach us that the Zionists are our enemy,” said Nur Taha, a third student from Kalandia. “We should carry out an [terror] operation against them [Zionists].”
Marcus Sheff, Chief Executive Officer at The Institute for Cultural Peace and Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) studying these hate-policies, laments:
UNRWA then re-inserts many of these hate-infused people right back into its institutions, perpetuating what the UN is keen on blaming Israel for: “the cycle of violence.”
UNRWA schools have been the focus of media scrutiny on many occasions. UNRWA’s textbooks, compiled by the Palestinian Authority, have been blasted for showy, hate-provoking and terror-inciting material such as “a grammar exercise that encourages Palestinians to ‘sacrifice their blood to liberate Jerusalem.'”
Palestinian textbooks produced by UNRWA contain “antisemitic, hateful, and violent passages,” according to IMPACT-se. Some of these passages in an Islamic education drill include labeling Jews as inherently treacherous. A poem included in the educational content glorifies the killing of Israelis, and portrays dying as martyrs by killing Israelis as a “hobby.”
In a grammar exercise, Jews, it is implied, are impure and supposedly defile the Al-Aqsa Mosque. (They do not. The Jews peacefully tour the exterior grounds, called The Temple Mount, a plateau on which the Al Aqsa mosque now sits. The site is the third-holiest in Islam, but in Judaism the holiest. The plateau is where two Jewish Temples once stood, mentioned in the Bible, before they were destroyed — the first by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE; the second by the Roman Empire in 70 CE).
Despite years of considerable condemnation of the textbooks, newly produced editions, approved by UNRWA, are exponentially worse.
According to the textbooks used in UNRWA schools, Jews have no rights whatsoever or any legitimate status in Israel. A Jewish presence in the country is denied historically, geographically and religiously. No reference is made in the books to the history of the Jews throughout the region, either in Biblical or Roman times. Any connection is also denied of the Jews to their ancient capital, Jerusalem, which is presented as an Arab city since its establishment thousands of years ago. The Jews’ presence in Jerusalem today is bewilderingly presented in the books as an aggression against the city’s Arab character.
Beyond the textbooks, both UNRWA administrators and teachers have proudly displayed their approval of terrorism and hatred on countless occasions, including Hamas’s recent October 7 massacre, according to a report published by UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights organization, as well as IMPACT-se.
UNRWA math teacher Adnan Shteiwi, for instance, glorified Diaa Hamarsheh, the perpetrator of the March 2022 Bnei Brak shooting attack — in which he murdered four Israeli civilians and one policeman — as a “martyr” whose name should “forever remain in letters of fire, might, and magnificence.”
UNRWA’s Asma Middle School for Girls B encouraged schoolgirls to ” liberate the homeland by sacrificing ‘their Blood’ and pursuing jihad.”
Roni Krivoi, one of the Israeli hostages recently freed from Hamas captivity, reported that he had been kept prisoner in an attic for more than a month and a half, mostly starved and medically untreated. His jailer was an UNRWA teacher.
In Gaza — as with Ahmad Kahalot, Director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, who admitted that he was the equivalent of a brigadier general for Hamas and that 16 of the hospital’s staff were also “terror operatives for Hamas” — the mesh of Hamas and UNRWA is also illustrated in the high-profile case of Dr. Suhail al-Hindi.
Al-Hindi served as both the principal of an UNRWA elementary school and as the chairman of the UNRWA employee’s union in Gaza. In 2017, UNRWA suspended al-Hindi after it received information that he had just been elected to the Hamas political bureau. UNRWA announced that al-Hindi no longer worked for the agency, but did not say whether he had resigned or been fired. Al-Hindi first said he “resigned” from UNRWA, but later clarified that he was taking early retirement.
The case of al-Hindi and other UNRWA employees suspected of supporting terrorism makes the point that UNRWA is “the money,” while thug terror-groups such as Hamas are “the muscle.”
UNRWA tries to keep up public pretense that its hands are clean, and has taken a belligerently defensive stance against these and other accusations, as it publicly claims that it has a “zero-tolerance policy for hatred.”
The Israeli news site Ynet , however, wrote recently about a UN Watch report:
One UNRWA employee portrayed Adolf Hitler in a favorable light: “Wake up Hitler, there are people left to burn.”
In addition, as is well-documented, UNRWA has allowed its school buildings to be used by Hamas as storehouses for rocket and other weapons, terror tunnels, and to shelter jihadi terrorists. Hamas and other terror organizations have bet on the media frenzy that would ensue if Israeli forces strike a UN institution (or hospital, mosque, or even a church) that is being used for military purposes. Hamas has been launching rockets at Israel from alongside UNRWA schools, and, when possible, shooting from inside the schools, thereby taking advantage of the sanctuary that a UN institution, especially a “protected space” such as a school, ought to offer under legitimate circumstances.
Last week saw the media explode in condemnation of the Israel Defense Forces for blowing up an UNRWA school, despite the disclosure that the school had been used as a weapons depot and terror tunnels were found in its area.
UNRWA kindergartens have been discovered with weapons hidden inside toys or even in UNRWA bags, and UN officials are charged with being complicit in holding hostages, despite protestations to the contrary. It seems that “zero tolerance” had devolved into “zero oversight.”
When rockets were discovered in UNRWA schools in the past, UNRWA would reassure everyone that they had been turned over to “local authorities.” Those authorities, of course, were Hamas, who most likely relocated them to another equally inappropriate location.
Occasionally, UNRWA officials will make a minor fuss or put on a shocked and affronted façade for donors or the media, but reportedly do nothing in the way of changing the practice. In the upper echelons of UNRWA management, there have been accusations of serious breaches of ethics in the forms of nepotism, bullying, mismanagement of funds — as well as lack of accountability.
This is no small matter, considering that in 2022, annual worldwide contributions to UNRWA alone — not including direct donations to Palestinian governing agencies such as Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, nor to the many NGOs and other Palestinian-specific aid agencies — from 68 donor nations, including the Holy See, was $1.1 billion.
Extensive reports released by UN Watch and IMPACT-se have highlighted the malignant influence of terror organizations such as Hamas, Fatah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on UNRWA institutions that either feign ignorance or offer enthusiastic complicity. The repercussions of these revelations are becoming an embarrassment.
Switzerland’s Parliament recently voted to stop funding UNRWA ($21 million annually), labelled Hamas a terrorist organization and unanimously banned it. “Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks against Israel necessitate a clear position from Switzerland,” they said.
In 2018, the Trump administration, calling UNRWA an “irredeemably flawed operation,” completely cut America’s $300 million annual donation. The aid was reinstated by President Joe Biden almost immediately after he took office.
Many have called the very inception of UNRWA into question, as the UN already has an agency specifically designated for refugees: the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
UNRWA remains a refugee organization distinctly apart from UNHCR based upon two premises: first, that the Palestinians will “return” to their homes in Israel by means of a the “right of return“; and second, that there will never be a resolution not to “return,” thereby making these refugees an eternal stick in the eye to Israel.
The first premise would effectively destroy Israel by imposing a demographic shift: flooding millions of Palestinians, demonstrably none too peace-oriented, into Israel.
The second premise would, and has been, effectively enslaving Palestinians as the crying faces that keep the international “pity-cash” flowing into the coffers of both Palestinian and UNRWA leadership.
Perhaps this may be at least one answer as to why, when UNRWA recently cried for more aid money for Palestinians, the organization was found to have an entire warehouse “filled to the brim” with food. When Gazans stormed the warehouse in October, they discovered copious amounts of rice, lentils, flour and oil.
Whatever hopes that anyone may have held for the trustworthiness of UNRWA have long expired, and were arguably misplaced at the outset. UNRWA, in its current state, has proven itself irremediably defective, unworkable and yet another massive stain on the already scandalously stained UN [such as here, here, here, here and here.] The agency has perpetuated the issue of the “refugees” by keeping them in camps while providing them with basic services, only.
Worse, UNRWA has deliberately created new generations of “refugees” by insisting that the descendants of refugees inherit the status of “refugee” – which on its face is nonsense. It is high time for the international community and those who actually want a better future for the Palestinians to liquidate UNRWA and take actions that truly help the Palestinians move forward to a golden life.
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UNRWA: Your child abuse must stopLilia Gaufberg, 5February 2024, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/unrwa-your-child-abuse-must-stop/
As a former elementary school teacher and a human being, my heart breaks for the children of Gaza.
Picture a 5-year-old eagerly skipping to school, still navigating the intricacies of being in the world. In those formative years, curiosity knows no bounds, and imagination has no limits. Having witnessed this as an educator and experienced it as a child myself, I understand the permeable line between a young mind and the world it inhabits — a realm where everything appears possible. Drawings created, songs learned, and playtime activities all lay the groundwork for shaping one’s future self. A simple art class might spark dreams of becoming a sculptor, while an inspirational gym teacher fosters aspirations of winning the World Cup. Papier-mâché volcanoes explode with baking soda and vinegar, and a chemist is born.
Now, imagine you are a child in Gaza. You attend a school run by a UN agency, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), one of whose primary goals is to keep you, a child, in a perpetual state of victimhood by indoctrinating you into believing that you are, and will always be, a refugee, and that there is no way to escape from this identity. At school, you are taught that there’s an evil force — the Jews — out to destroy you and your people. Your textbooks in all subjects, from writing to math, are embedded with calls to maim and murder these nefarious Jews, and you are taught that if you don’t wage jihad against them, your life is rendered meaningless. You learn that heroes are people who blow themselves up on buses or massacre young adults at a music festival, rather than visionaries who cure diseases or write groundbreaking books. Dreams are maliciously stolen, and a singular path is laid out by teachers, leaving malleable minds with no choice but to succumb to the incitement. Oh, and there’s a good chance your teachers are Hamas members, too.
This is what the children of Gaza learn, day in and day out.
 An excerpt from a textbook used in UNRWA schools (Our Beautiful Language, Vol. 2, Grade 1, 2023, p. 53). Source: IMPACT-se source: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content/uploads/PA-Reports_-Selected-Examples_Update_Sept-2020.pdf
Evidence continues to mount of UNRWA staff’s involvement in the October 7th Hamas massacre, their assistance to Hamas in hiding Israeli hostages in Gaza, and the ties of thousands of UNRWA employees to terror groups. Dozens of countries around the world are freezing their aid to UNRWA in response, sparking outrage from some prominent voices, such as Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. When I think about those children in Gaza, I say that any country who has not ceased financing UNRWA is complicit in child abuse. Anyone expressing horror at cuts to UNRWA funding by exclaiming something along the lines of, ‘b-b-but the children of Gaza!’ is actually perpetuating the abuse of the children of Gaza.
There is a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. That is a fact, and it is heartbreaking. We should all be concerned about it, and it must be effectively addressed. Let us be clear, however: it is a Hamas-perpetrated, UNRWA-upheld humanitarian crisis. The UN has mechanisms in place to effectively deal with humanitarian disasters. It is perfectly capable of bringing trucks of supplies into areas that need them and providing support for at-risk communities around the globe. I saw one example of this myself when I worked with South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, was there, day in and day out, to assist people in need. There are alternatives to UNRWA, even within the confines of the UN itself. Calling to keep UNRWA in place because there is ‘no other solution’ is naïve and lazy at best and malicious at worst.
I have yet to have children of my own, but when I imagine my younger sisters and me growing up in an UNRWA school system instead of the American public school system, I feel sick. As kids, my sisters and I were instilled with the value of living meaningful lives and repairing the world. Who would we have become if we had attended UNRWA schools? I shudder at this chilling possibility; we would not be ourselves. If the children of Gaza are to have a real chance to dream, to play, to create, to evolve, and to think for themselves, two things must happen: Hamas must be eliminated, and UNRWA must be disbanded.
I dream of a real future for the children of Gaza, a future in which they can dream, too.
About the Author
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UNRWA: Raising the next generation of Terrorists
It’s all about killing the Jews. “I want to stab them again and again”, “I want to become a suicide bomber”, etc. Thanks @UN 🇺🇳 for raising the next generation of terrorists.
 Dr. Eli David-tweet-14November2023-UNRWA-Raising the next generation of Terrorists
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UNRWA corruption vs. UNHCR
@UNLazzarini is totally corrupt. He had to know exactly that hamas was stealing money, and diverting it from gazan citizens to equip and train a terrorist army. He is actively aiding and abetting terrorism. His diplomatic credentials must be stripped from him. And he needs to be deported. If he did not know, he is not fit enough to run a hotdog 🌭 cart.  TX Avi8tor-tweet-13July2024-UNRWA corruption
 UNRWA vs. UNHCR
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The truth about UNRWA
By Ted Belman 25February2019 https://www.israpundit.org/trumps-war-against-unrwa-will-benefit-the-palestinian-refugees/ Not all refugees are the same. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), created in 1951, is dedicated to the resettlement of all refugees except the Palestinian refugees, who fall within the purview of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
According to UNCHR, a refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of persecution, war or violence and who crosses an international border.
UNRWA, on the other hand, defines a Palestinian refugee as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict, and their descendants.”
Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not seek to resettle its refugees, but rather is dedicated to preserving their status as “refugees”. In addition, it includes their descendants which UNCHR doesn’t. Finally, they need not have been “forced to flee”.
In August 2017, Pres Trump challenged UNRWA by rejecting UNRWA’s estimate of over 5 million refugees suggesting that the number was more like 500,000. In effect he was saying that a new definition should be operative. If he was to exclude descendants, there would be less that 20,000 people still living who fled in 1948
On Aug 31, 2018, The State Department announced that the US would make no further contribution to UNRWA. Therefore the pressure will build to find an alternate solution.
In 1920, the British Government’s Interim Report on the Civil Administration of Palestine stated that there were hardly 700,000 people living in Palestine. By 1948, the population had risen to 1,900,000, of whom 68% were Arabs, and 32% were Jews (UNSCOP report, including Bedouin).
This population growth took place under the Palestine Mandate pursuant to which, Great Britain was responsible to “facilitate Jewish immigration” in line with the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
Rather than doing so, she hindered it, while at the same time, she encouraged Arab immigration. She went so far as to prevent Jewish immigration, even during the Holocaust, when it was desperately needed.
The end result was that the Jews in Israel in 1948, were millions fewer in number than would otherwise have been the case and the Arabs were far greater in number than they should have been.
This great injustice to the Jews must be born in mind when crafting the Deal of the Century. The vast majority of the Arab inhabitants of Mandatory Palestine in 1948 were economic migrants who entered Palestine illegally right up until the War of Independence in 1948.
The vast majority of Arabs who fled Israel or remained West of the Jordan River were illegal migrants and their children. Joan Peters, after considerable research, made this case in her opus, From Time Immemorial. Daniel Pipes, in his 1984 review of her book, wrote “In the course of research on this subject, she came across a “seemingly casual” discrepancy between the standard definition of a refugee and the definition used for the Palestinian Arabs. In other cases, a refugee is someone forced to leave a permanent or habitual home. In this case, however, it is someone who had lived in Palestine for just two years before the flight that began in 1948.”
Had the standard definition been used, there would have been few refugees to deal with. Furthermore, by rejecting the standard definition, the Arabs who didn’t flee, who are registered as refugees under UNRWA, now number 2 million west of the Jordan River and 1.3 million in Gaza.
In 1948, though living in Palestine, they considered their home of origin to be Syria, in the main, but including Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.
Not only were their numbers greatly inflated due to this new definition, but the Arab League prevented their naturalization in the countries they fled to, including their true countries of origin. Furthermore, the Arabs living outside of Israel as defined by the 1949 ceasefire line, yet still within the Mandatory lands, were also prevented from being naturalized. This applies to Jordan also where there are currently 2 million registered Palestinian “refugees”.
Pipes concludes his review by stating “Thus, the “Palestinian problem” lacks firm grounding. Many of those who now consider themselves Palestinian refugees were either immigrants themselves before 1948 or the children of immigrants. This historical fact reduces their claim to the land of Israel; it also reinforces the point that the real problem in the Middle East has little to do with Palestinian-Arab rights.”
It is now 34 years after Pipes wrote his review. Like it or not, these Palestinian Arabs have put down roots making it more problematic to dispossess them. But one thing must be kept in mind. The reason that they consider themselves to be refugees is because they all claim the right of return to Israel as currently delineated. The corollary to this is that they do not claim the right to stay where they are. They can’t have it both ways.
Since Israel will not permit them to return, whether to Israel as it now stands or to Israel when its eastern boundary is extended to the Jordan River, the best option open to them is to relocate them in Jordan. Because Jordan was part of Mandatory Palestine, to which they originally migrated, these people should be considered as internally displaced persons (IDP) who fled their residences but never crossed an international border.
King Abdullah is dead set against this but his days as king are numbered. When Mudar Zahran, the Secretary General of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition, becomes the leader of Jordan in the not too distant future, he will invite all these Palestinians to relocate in Jordan where they will be naturalized along with the 2 million “refugees” already there. In addition, over 75% of Jordan’s population of 9.7 million are Palestinian. According to Zahran, they will be provided with housing, jobs and social security. In my article International Law and the State of Israel, I discuss the issue of population transfer and its legitimacy.
“After WWII and the crushing defeat of Germany and its allies, the victors changed borders and moved populations. It was their right. Der Spiegel reported; “But the people fleeing the Red Army were unaware that the Allies had already agreed with the Polish government-in-exile to hand over large parts of eastern Germany to Poland and resettle the Germans who were living there.
“All those who didn’t manage to escape in time fell victim to the frenzied expulsions that were carried out until July 1945. The organized resettlement of Germans and ethnic Germans from Germany’s former eastern areas and the Sudetenland began in January 1946. In all, some 14 million Germans lost their homes.”
“These expulsions were often done in a brutal manner and were carried out as part of a broader program of nation-building pursued by the new communist government between 1945 and 1949. “The centre-piece of this programme was an attempt to achieve the ethnic homogenization of the state, to ensure as close a match as possible between its ethnic and political borders.”
At no time did the allies object to this “ethnic homogenization”. The flight of the Arabs from the Palestine Mandate and Israel, whether voluntary or forced, must be viewed in this context. It happened at the same time. The hypocrisy of the West is glaring. In post war Europe, they insisted on the ethnic cleansing as the path to stabilization and peace whereas in the case of the “Palestinian refugees”, the UNGA passed Res 194 in Dec 11/48 even before the war was over in which they recommended that the “Refugees” should be permitted to return. Fortunately for Israel, a recommendation has no binding affect and can be ignored.
President Trump, in configuring his Deal of the Century, should embrace the idea of ethnic homogenization as fundamental to establishing peace and assist in the relocation of as many Arabs as possible to Jordan which will be considered the Palestinian State. There can be no objection to him doing so because of Zahran’s intention to provide them with housing, jobs and social security. Besides, no one is suggesting that they should be forcibly expelled. Instead they should be induced to relocate or emigrate of their own free will. It will be for their benefit.
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The UNRWA Constellation: Partnerships with UN Agencies and Terror-Linked NGOs31January2024 https://www.ngo-monitor.org/reports/unrwa-constellation-partnerships-with-un-agencies-and-terror-linked-ngos/
IntroductionThe mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), while highly controversial, is widely perceived as relating to humanitarian and educational objectives. UNRWA’s website lists “primary and vocational education, primary health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, microfinance and emergency response.”
However, beyond its core role in fueling the conflict for the past 74 years, as well as severe problems with terror links, antisemitism (discussed briefly below) and corruption, UNRWA also engages in extensive politicized anti-Israel “advocacy work in response to the needs of Palestine refugees affected by the Israeli occupation,” such as “in-person protection briefings to external partners including the donor and diplomatic community.” This activity often involves partnerships with international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as other UN agencies.
In this regard, UNRWA is part of the UN-NGO network dedicated to campaigns to demonize and delegitimize Israel, in contrast to humanitarian principles and promoting peace. Post-October 7, this entire system must be reviewed and reconsidered.
Moreover, UNRWA’s failure to engage in due diligence and to safeguard its aid from diversion by Hamas, as well as its intense involvement in political advocacy, demand a comprehensive independent audit and reform process. If the UN is unable to take these steps, donors should pull their funding. Background: FundingThe United States is the single largest donor to UNRWA, having pledged $344 million in 2022 (29% of all commitments). Major funders also include Germany ($202M), the EU ($114M), and Sweden ($61M). Background: UNRWA’s Terror-linksUNWRA, as part of the UN system, does not consider Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to be terror groups. As such, it does not hesitate to partner with these groups, which are proscribed by UNRWA’s main donors. Nor does it screen employees for ties to Hamas et al, which is particularly concerning as, according to UNRWA’s 2022 Annual Report, 99.77% of staff in Gaza and the West Bank – 15,589 out of 15,624 – were local Palestinians.
Hamas’ and other terror groups’ exploitation of UNRWA and its facilities is well documented:
Since October 7, these phenomena have been confirmed:
Advocacy through UN-OCHA “Clusters”A primary channel for UNRWA’s cooperation with NGOs and other UN agencies is through the UN’s OCHA-oPt branch. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the “humanitarian arm of the United Nations Secretariat,” is tasked with coordinating “the global emergency response…in humanitarian crises.” OCHA-oPt acknowledges that its involvement in intense political warfare against Israel – as documented by NGO Monitor – is “unique as compared to other OCHA country offices globally.” While other OCHA missions in conflict identify critical humanitarian interventions such as “saving lives” as the top priority, OCHA-oPt’s Strategic Objective 1 is “The rights of Palestinians living under occupation, including those living under the blockade and other restrictions, are protected, respected and promoted … while duty-bearers are increasingly held to account” (emphasis added).
OCHA-oPt activities are implemented through Clusters – “groups of humanitarian UN and non-UN organizations [i.e. NGOs] in each of the main sectors of humanitarian action.” These “clusters” focus on issues such as food security, health and nutrition, education, sanitation, and protection.
UNRWA is an implementing partner in all OCHA-oPt clusters (see UN document from 2021) and participates in their political advocacy. For instance, according to OCHA-oPt’s 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan, “In 2023 UNRWA will seek to address the acute needs of the Palestine refugees [in the West Bank]… [by] monitoring and documentation of protection incidents to advocate…including persuasion, mobilization and denunciation – targeting duty bearers as well as international and national interlocutors.” In other words, UNRWA will level accusations of “war crimes” and “violations of human rights,” and seek condemnations of Israel from international bodies and various governments. Lawfare and partnerships with terror-linked NGOsUNRWA activities under the heading of “Monitoring and documentation” and “targeting external actors and duty bearers” are central to the NGO-led “lawfare” campaign against Israel.
UNRWA partners with the main NGOs behind anti-Israel lawfare, Al-Haq, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and Al Mezan. For instance, UNRWA was listed as an implementing partner on their joint project titled “Advocacy, monitoring and documentation of HR and IHL violations and related trends (with focus on grave violations against children across the oPt; IHL violations in Gaza; and settler violence and excessive use of force in the West Bank).”
The three NGOs have ties to the PFLP terror group: Al-Haq
Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR)
Al Mezan
Two of the other implementing partners, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) and Addameer, also have established links to the PFLP. See NGO Monitor reports, “Defense for Children International – Palestine’s Ties to the PFLP Terror Group” and “Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP Terrorist Group,” for more details.1 Islamic Relief WorldwideAccording to UNRWA, “Partnering with Islamic Relief’s chapter in the US has opened opportunities for UNRWA to engage with Islamic Relief chapters in the UK and France, and with the umbrella organization Islamic Relief Worldwide.”
Footnotes
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Gaza resident tells IDF: Hamas has control of UNRWA in GazaCivilian in Gaza tells soldier Hamas has control over the humanitarian aid which is brought into the Gaza Strip.Gary Willig / 26December2023 / http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382584
A resident of the Gaza Strip told the IDF that the Hamas terrorist organization directly controls the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the New York Post reported.<
In a recording obtained by the Post, the man stated that “the situation is terrible because the humanitarian people, those responsible for the humanitarian aid, are thieves.”
He further stated that “Hamas has their hands on UNRWA administration workers, and it manages UNRWA” and that Hamas ensures its own operatives receive any aid first before it is distributed to the civilians of Gaza as intended.
The IDF stated that the conversation was recorded when an IDF officer was delivering warnings to civilians in Gaza where they should evacuate in order to escape the fighting between Israel and Hamas and where to go to receive humanitarian aid.
UNRWA has long been criticized for its cooperation with Hamas, antisemitic incitement, and employment of Hamas terrorists. It has been revealed that a teacher employed by UNRWA held one of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 massacre in an attic for 50 days without proper food or medical care.
Yesterday (Monday), the IDF reported that dozens of explosive devices were found inside UNRWA bags during operational activity in the area of the “Al Rafaa” and “Zavaha” schools in Tuffah in the northern Gaza Strip. This is not the first time Hamas weapons and explosives have been found inside UNRWA bags.
Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “UNRWA is part of the problem – not part of the solution. The organization educates to incitement to terror, and ignores Hamas’ cynical use of Gaza residents as human shields.”
Last week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused the United Nations of failing to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, saying that three times as much aid could have entered the enclave if the UN had done its job properly.
“Unfortunately, due to the utter failure of the UN in its work with other partners in the region, they have been unable to bring in more than 125 trucks a day,” Herzog told French Senate President Gérard Larcher.
“Today it is possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza if the UN — instead of complaining all day — would do its job,” he said.
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US MADE EXPLOSIVES sold to the Egyptians FOUND IN UNRWA school in GAZA
According to a report, the IDF found US-made M112 explosive charges in a #UNRWA school in Jabalia, #Gaza. According to a report the US Intelligence confirm the batch numbers trace back to a US production sold to the Egyptians. For 20 years #Egypt has been smuggling ammunition into Gaza through the tunnels.  The Voice Of Truth-tweet-10August2024-US MADE EXPLOSIVES sold to Egypt FOUND IN UNRWA school in GAZA
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UNRWA-Hamas isn’t stockpiling fuel
What are they firing rockets with? Willpower?  HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Isn’t-it-amazing-that-@UNRWA’s-commissioner-general
 Wall Street Silver-tweet-3December2023-Heaven has strict immigration Laws Hell has open borders
 Heaven has strict immigration Laws Hell has open borders
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Gaza: As Defenses Collapse And Men Surrender, Hamas Reportedly Turning To Female Terrorists For HelpIDF uncovers sniper rifle and ammo stuffed inside teddy bear in Gaza school.Posted by Vijeta Uniyal, 9December2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/12/gaza-as-defenses-collapse-and-men-surrender-hamas-reportedly-turning-to-female-terrorists-for-help/
 Israeli ground forces encircle the terrorist bastion of Khan Younis With Israeli military tightening the noose around terrorist strongholds across Gaza, the Hamas leadership is pressing female terrorists into service, the Israeli media reports citing IDF sources.
As Israeli ground forces encircle the terrorist bastion of Khan Younis, where Hamas’s Gaza chief and the planner of the October 7 massacre Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding, the Islamic terror group is sending women jihadists into harms way.
“In the past 24 hours, the elite IDF 98th Brigade has encountered multiple terrorists in Khan Younis, including the first time in which female terrorists were used in battle,” the Israeli news website Ynet reported Friday evening. “The females are reportedly taking on roles as observers, closely monitoring the movements of the brigade’s forces, and, according to suspicions, may also be carrying explosive devices.”
The news comes as Hamas terror fighters are surrendering to the IDF in large numbers, instead of dying in jihad in the hope of ‘heavenly’ rewards.
 Yishai Fleisher-tweet-7December2023-Mass surrender and arrest of #Hamas terrorists in southern Gaza
Hamas terrorists continue to use Gaza civilians as human shields, firing at Israeli troops from well dug-in positions insides schools, hospitals and residential buildings. On Saturday, terrorists attacked IDF soldiers from a United Nations-run school.
“Israeli forces fought a string of battles with Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza on Saturday as they pressed ahead with the ground offensive, with troops being attacked in at least two instances from within schools, the military said,” the Times of Israel reported. “At least two of the clashes took place inside a mosque and schools, including one run by the United Nations.”
This proves only who Hamas terrorists are and that the aid entering Gaza mostly ends up in the hands of Hamas!  Yoseph Haddad-tweet-9December2023-Hamas terrorists beat Gazian and take humanitarian aid from them
IDF uncovers sniper rifle and ammo stuffed inside teddy bear in Gaza schoolDuring the subsequent search inside the school, the IDF uncovered a weapons cache hidden inside a large teddy bear. “A teddy bear stuffed with sniper rifles and ammunition, along with various weaponry, was found in schools in Gaza,” the military disclosed Saturday.
Hamas hid sniper rifles and ammunition inside a teddy bear. Can you see the difference between the two?  Israel Defense Forces-tweet-9December2023-Hamas hid sniper rifles and ammunition inside a teddy bear
The IDF reported the last bust inside a Gaza school:
Yesterday @antonioguterres said 130 UN staff have been killed in Gaza.  Dr. Eli David-tweet-9December2023-Hamas terrorists firing from within an UNRWA School
Defense minister Gallant: Hamas-rule beginning to ‘crumble’ in GazaThe Israeli military struck further terrorist targets, including Hamas commanders, terror tunnels and weapons depots, spread across Gaza. “IDF operational activity in the Gaza Strip continues. IAF fighter jets struck terror targets and terrorists as ground troops continued combat in different locations,” the military revealed Saturday morning.
Amid recent IDF successes on the ground, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured that Hamas-rule is beginning to ‘crumble’ in Gaza. The i24NEWS reported:
Report: Biden WH gives Israel ‘until the end of the year’ to wrap up Gaza opMeanwhile, the Biden White House is reportedly ramping up to pressure on Israel to ‘wrap up’ the military operation against Hamas. According to the latest news reports, the Biden administration has given Israel little over three weeks to end its counter-terrorism operation in Gaza.
“Biden admin has given Israel ‘until the end of the year’ to wrap up Gaza operation,” the newspaper Israel Hayom reported Saturday. “Israeli officials cited as saying the deadline was relayed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Israel last week.”
Hamas militants encounter Israeli troops in Gaza school
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Palestinians deserve to starve according to Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk
“The aid that comes to Gaza must be distributed to the resistance fighters, and what remains is done Distribute it to the people. The attempt of some citizens to seize aid, as happened today in Rafah, will be fought with all force, and the people must offer what is expensive and what is cheap for the sake of the resistance, not steal the food of the resistance.” According to #Hamas if you are a hungry #Palestinian, you deserve to be shot.  Tamer Masudin-tweet-25December2023-Palestinians deserve to starve according to Hamas
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Hamas stealing UNRWA humanitarian aid
Breaching the understanding they signed off to when they still acted like they’re just worried, caring, and need it for nothing but their people.  Adam Albilya-tweet-13December2023-Hamas stealing UNRWA humanitarian aid
Hamas Steals Humanitarian Aid
 Oli London-tweet-17December2023-Hamas Steals Humanitarian Aid
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Video of UNRWA Camps Showing Children Calling for Jihad Attracts Renewed Attentionby Deborah Danan 9August2014 https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/08/09/video-of-unrwa-camps-showing-children-calling-for-jihad-attracts-renewed-attention/ Camp Jihad from המרכז לחקר מדיניות המזה”ת CFNEPR on Vimeo. A video of summer camps run by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, is making the rounds on pro-Israel social media networks again with footage that shows Palestinian children as young as 6 calling for “Jihad against the Jews.”
“The resistance in Gaza is not enough,” says one camper in UNRWA’s school in Balata. “We need to unite and fight together.”
The Lawfare Project, which promoted the video, that was produced by the Center for Near East Policy Research, headed by David Bedein, makes the claim that US and Europe-sponsored UNWRA is abusing children with brainwashing methods that include games aimed at teaching the values of war and the Arab “right of return” to Israeli cities. It portrays children writing names on kites of the Israeli cities that they will one day recapture as theirs.
Children are taught to chant mantras such as “Palestine is an Arab land from the river to the sea. We want Haifa, we want Natanya.” Camp counselors tell stories of how their grandparents lived in places like Jaffa and Jerusalem and the many cars, palaces, villas and ships they owned before the “wolf” came. “Isn’t it true that Jews are the wolf?” asks one counselor.
“I dream that I will return to Sheikh Munis [Tel Aviv],” says one child, roughly 10-years-old. “I hope Abu Mazen will achieve this goal and will not disappoint, he has built great hopes.”
Another adds, “The right of return is our holy right. If not me than my grandchildren [will return].” The songs that are sung include inciteful lyrics which range from tamer verses like “I will not forget my promise to take back my land” and “collect stones, throw them at Israelis” to the more radical such as “we are the revolutionaries and we are filled with rage”, “when we die as martyrs we go to heaven” and “with God’s help we will wage war.”
Another child who appears to be about 7-years-old is asked who the Jews are. “They are a gang of infidels and Christians,” she says. “I will defeat them.”
An older teenager is filmed as saying, “Attacking stage by stage is not the answer. We need to attack all at once.” He continues by saying “There will never be peace between us and Israel.”
In one instance, an older child explains one of the differences between UNRWA schools and regular schools within the PA. “UNRWA schools teach us about the Naqba,” she says. “Government schools also but the course load is less than our schools. They teach us a lot about the right of return, how life was before 1948.”
The video explains how funding for UNRWA comes from 20 donor nations, with most of the money coming from the US, Canada, and Britain. UNRWA schools hold summer camps on their premises every year in Gaza, Jerusalem, Nablus and Jenin.
UNRWA services 5 million descendants of Palestinian refugees from 1948 Arab-Israeli war. |
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Report: Teachers at UNRWA-run schools celebrated Hamas massacres6November2023 https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-teachers-at-unrwa-run-schools-celebrated-hamas-massacres/
Teachers at schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have celebrated Hamas’s October 7 massacre of Israeli civilians, according to a new report.
The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), says it found at least 14 cases of teachers at UNRWA schools who lauded Hamas’s atrocities and other attacks by the terror group.
It also notes that an UNRWA-run school posted to its official Facebook page an event celebrating Hamas and its “jihad warriors” at the school.
It says textbooks used at UNRWA schools celebrate Hamas as “heroes” of jihad.
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IDF reveals: Proof Gazan teachers worked for HamasIn letters addressed to the head of the Gaza Education Directorate, the terror organization requests to make it easier for teachers to devote themselves to their work with the terror organization.Israel National News 18January2024 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/383821 IDF Arabic Language Spokesman Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee on Thursday revealed documents that indicate that teachers in the Gaza Strip worked in the ranks of the Hamas military complex.
In letters, which were apparently addressed to the head of the Gaza Education Directorate, Dr. Mohammad Hamdan, Hamas asks the Education Directorate to make it easier for teachers to devote themselves to their work with the terror organization.
The official letters were located during IDF operational activity in the Gaza Strip.
In the first letter, Hamas asks the Gazan Education Directorate to relieve the teachers from their educational requirements so they can work full-time for the organization. In the second letter, Hamas demands that an easy schedule be made for the teachers due to their work in the military arm.
Other letters ask to exempt the teachers from adhering to the teaching schedule so they can train with the organization. The letter notes that the “schedule is not flexible.”
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IDF: Troops in Gaza finding caches of Hamas weapons in schools, mosques and homesBy EMANUEL FABIAN 13November2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-troops-in-gaza-finding-caches-of-hamas-weapons-in-schools-mosques-and-homes/
 This handout photo released by the Israel Defense Forces on November 13, 2023, shows Israeli ground forces in the Gaza Strip amid the war against Hamas. (Israel Defense Forces) The Israel Defense Forces says ground troops continue to find Hamas weaponry and infrastructure during raids in the Gaza Strip, including inside schools, mosques, and the homes of terror operatives.
Troops of the 401st Brigade operating on the outskirts of the al-Shati camp located Hamas infrastructure in Al-Quds University, and a cache of explosives inside the Abu Bakr mosque, the IDF says.
It says that troops seized dozens of weapons, military equipment, and Hamas battle plans. Troops of the 551st Reserve Brigade meanwhile raided the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in the Beit Hanoun area, and found a weapons cache, including some in a child’s bedroom.
In another raid in Beit Hanoun, troops found a tunnel shaft, intelligence materials, and weapons, the IDF adds.
idfonline-tweet-13November2023-401st brigade’s combat team לוחמי צוות הקרב של חטיבה 401, ממשיכים בביצוע פשיטות בפאתי מחנה ‘שאטי’ תוך מיקוד בתשתיות טרור הממוקמות במוסדות שלטוניים מרכזיים בלב אוכלוסייה אזרחית ובהם- בתי ספר, אוניברסיטאות, מסגדים ובתי פעילים >> Translated from Hebrew by
 idfonline-tweet-13November2023-401st brigade’s combat team
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Explosives found in UNRWA bags, terrorists hiding in schoolsNahal Brigade troops battle Hamas, Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding in schools in northern Gaza, dozens of explosives found in UNRWA bags.Israel National News / 25December2023 /https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382526 After receiving information regarding Hamas terrorists hiding inside schools, IDF soldiers of the Nahal Brigade in the 162nd Division conducted operational activity in the area of the “Al Rafaa” and “Zavaha” schools in Tuffah in the northern Gaza Strip.
During the encounter with the terrorists and their elimination, the soldiers located dozens of explosive devices in UNRWA bags, Kalashnikovs and 15 explosive belts. In one of Hamas’ attempts to attack the soldiers, a terrorist fired an anti-tank missile at IDF soldiers. Immediately afterward, the terrorist was eliminated by a precise strike from a tank.
Many terrorists who hid inside the schools were identified as operatives of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad and were brought in for questioning. Some of the terrorists that were brought in for questioning took part in the October 7th massacre.
“This is further evidence of Hamas’ use of the civilian population and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip as human shields for its terrorist activity,” the IDF stated.
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The UN has officially become Hamas’ accomplice
 Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-2December2023-UN has officially become Hamas’ accomplice
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UNRWA-FAFO
First publication: Following the exposure of News 13 last night regarding a teacher at UNRA and a doctor who held hostages in their home – today it was reported that the IDF is threatening those kidnapping terrorists: “Every person who held any of the hostages is a deadly terrorist.” The meaning of this is that the IDF will not separate between “active” Hamas terrorists and ” mostly peaceful civilians” who held the hostages like Jew slaves. Whether they thought they were only “guarding” them or held them in exchange for making money: Around they fucked — find out THEY WILL. [EDD: Proper Translation: THEY FUCKED AROUND – THEY WILL FIND OUT] UNRWA-tweet-1December2023-UNRWA Making serious allegations in the public domain, unsupported by any evidence or verifiable facts in support thereof may amount to misinformation. FULL Statement ⬇️
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UN staff and UNRWA School director among the Hamas Terrorists who surrendered today
 miha schwartzenbergs-tweet-7December2023-UN-UNRWA staff are Hamas Terrorists surrendered
Palestinian source:
 Ramy Abdus-tweet-7December2023-Among those taken today in Beit Lahia
Oh, wait, they actually are what they’ve always been: a bunch of cowards who are only brave against kids and elderly. Their ongoing investigation reveals that the most commonly used excuse for surrender is cited as “loss of communication with the leadership.”  Adam Albilya-tweet-10December2023-Terrorists are a bunch of cowards
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From the 2014 Gaza War
The Price of Hamas’ Underground Terror Network26July2014 https://www.idf.il/en/articles/hamas/the-price-of-hamas-underground-terror-network/ Hamas could be investing in the people of Gaza. Instead it invests in terrorism. Construction materials meant for Palestinians routinely enter Gaza from Israel. To be exact, 4,680 trucks carrying 181 thousand tons of gravel, iron, cement, wood and other supplies have passed through the Kerem Shalom crossing since the beginning of 2014. Imagine what Hamas could build with these resources instead of tunnels. Hundreds of homes and civilian structures for the residents of Gaza go unbuilt while the underground terror network continues to expand.  The price of Hamas underground terror network |
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UN and Hamas: Partners in Crimeby Robert Williams
 When a rocket fired by Palestinian Islamic Jihad exploded outside Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital, Hamas claimed within minutes that Israel had bombed the hospital and falsely asserted that hundreds of people had been killed there. The United Nations rushed to blame Israel, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres used his speech at the Belt and Road Summit in China to condemn Israel for the explosion. Pictured: The parking lot of Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza on October 18, 2023 after a rocket launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad landed there. (Photo by Shadi Al-Tabatibi/AFP via Getty Images)
Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and massacred at least 1,200 and kidnapped another 240 Israelis and people of other nationalities, the United Nations has been acting as the unofficial propaganda arm of the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization.
The propaganda campaign’s main aim – besides smearing Israel – appears to be to build overwhelming international pressure on Israel to agree to an indefinite ceasefire , which will give Hamas the needed time to regroup and replenish to continue its terrorist activities and to avoid being eliminated by the Israeli Defense Forces.
To understand how the UN effectively runs the Hamas propaganda war, it is important to know that the UN, through its agency for Palestinian refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), is effectively embedded with Hamas in the Gaza Strip: it can be difficult to make any meaningful distinction between the two organizations. On October 7, in fact, as the Hamas massacre of civilians in Israel unfolded, UNRWA employees in Gaza celebrated. UN Watch wrote in a report last month:
According to Associated Press:
The UN, through UNRWA in Gaza, likely knows everything that happens there, including the terrorist infrastructure of the underground Hamas tunnels and their use of hospitals and ambulances. Yet throughout this war, the UN has done nothing but feign “horror and shock” at Israel’s necessary measures against Hamas terrorists embedded within civilian society in Gaza. As the executive director of UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, pointed out:
On October 24, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stooped to a new low when pushing a typical Hamas narrative of grievances. He said that the October 7 attacks “did not happen in a vacuum,” thereby seemingly justifying the terrorist attacks. Meanwhile, the UN has not bothered in the least to address in concrete and horrifying detail what happened during the October 7 massacre – the mass rapes, the horrific torture, the ruthless murders and the kidnappings.
This silence on what happened on October 7 is, sadly, in keeping with the UN’s demonization of Israel around the clock. The UN invokes international humanitarian law – which Hamas, not Israel, is breaking by building military installations in protected civilian spaces (which, when used for military purposes become unprotected) and using civilians as human shields. Meanwhile, the UN never calls for Hamas to stop using its civilians as human shields to protect its weapons and show dead babies to the television cameras – to imply that their deaths were Israel’s fault.
Why are Gazan civilians not allowed to take shelter from aerial bombardments in Hamas’s 300 km of underground tunnels? Why did the Israel Defense Forces have to protect the Gazans fleeing south for their lives — as Israel had cautioned them to — while Hamas tried at gunpoint to prevent them from leaving?
Everything that the UN says and does regarding to Israel’s military operations in Gaza turns Hamas’s war crimes on their head — to try to blame them on Israel. Meanwhile, the UN parrots as fact whatever outlandish claims Hamas produces, including Gazan casualty numbers, which oddly never include any mention of Hamas terrorists, but mostly women and children.
When Hamas claimed on October 17 that Israel had bombed Gaza’s Al-Ahli hospital, falsely asserting that hundreds of people had been killed, the UN rushed to blame Israel. Guterres used his speech at the Belt and Road Summit in China to condemn Israel for the explosion outside the hospital and to call for an immediate ceasefire, while Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly announced that he was “shocked and horrified.”
On October 18, Israel published evidence showing that the strike on the hospital compound was a misfired rocket aimed at Israel and launched by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The UN said nothing. Instead, the UN has sustained an incessant campaign, especially on social media, that accuses Israel of deliberately targeting schools, children, civilians, hospitals and healthcare workers. While those are protected from attack during war by international law, that protection does not apply to schools, hospitals and other civilian sites that are used for military purposes.
Hamas’ unlawful military use of hospitals, schools and other civilian sites was first exposed years ago. Former US President Bill Clinton spoke about it in 2016. “When Hamas chooses to rocket Israel, it insinuates itself into hospitals and into schools,” he said.
NATO published a report in 2019, which bluntly stated:
When Israel carried out an airstrike on an ambulance in northern Gaza, which was being used by Hamas terrorists, Guterres expressed that he was “horrified” with Israel’s action, while ignoring Hamas’s war crimes. In practice, the UN and Hamas act as partners in crime.
A Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 mass-murder of Israelis and was captured, said during a recent interrogation intercepted by Israel:
Another captured Hamas terrorist said:
Yet another captured terrorist said that ambulances were useful to transport “important people” such as Hamas commanders because “the Jews don’t attack ambulances.”
When Israel published evidence of the Hamas military command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who covered up the transmissibility of the COVID-19 pandemic for China and is accused of trying to cover up three cholera epidemics in Ethiopia, immediately castigated Israel.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, wrote:
While these high-ranking UN officials disingenuously feign ignorance and expect the public to believe that they knew nothing about the Hamas base in Al-Shifa Hospital, foreign doctors and journalists have apparently been aware of it for years.
An unnamed British doctor, who worked at Al-Shifa hospital three years ago, recently said in a television interview:
A journalist from Italy related that in 2009, upon arriving in Al-Shifa Hospital to interview wounded members of Fatah, he came almost face to face with the Hamas command and control center beneath the hospital:
It is also likely that the UN, with its 13,000 employees in Gaza, knew, as did the nurses and doctors at Al-Shifa Hospital, that Israeli hostages were being held at Al-Shifa. Israel recently revealed that Hamas terrorists brought hostages there in broad daylight on October 7, with healthcare staff even holding doors open for the terrorists.
The UN’s pretend show of “shock and horror” that Israel is eliminating its Hamas partner in Gaza is too transparent for anyone to take seriously, although the international mainstream media certainly does, parroting whatever Hamas and the UN allege as facts.
Above all, the UN’s transparent complicity with Hamas should convince the US, finally, that much of the UN is a destructive organization that prolongs wars, and needs immediately to have its funding decimated, and be reduced in importance to the corrupt relic that it is, deserving no place in this century.
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THIRD Rocket Arsenal Found At UN School In Gaza29July2014 http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2014/07/29/THIRD-Rocket-Arsenal-Found-At-UN-School-In-Gaza The United Nations Relief & Works Agency For Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced Tuesday that another rocket stockpile has been found at one of its schools in Gaza. This instance marks the third time since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge that a weapons arsenal has been found at an UNRWA school in Gaza.
 Dan Williams-tweet-29July2014-UNRWA says rockets found on Tuesday UNRWA has yet to place blame on any individuals or organizations for placing the weapons stockpile within a children’s school. The UN body refused to do so on the past two previous occasions as well.
The UN body, after both previous findings, has handed the rockets it had found back into the possession of “the local police,” otherwise known as the terrorist group Hamas.
This week, UNRWA supplies and building materials had been found in Hamas’s tunnel infrastructure, which has been used to smuggle weapons and carry out attacks on the State of Israel.
The UN agency has a well-documented history of using their US taxpayer-funded facilities to promote anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda. It has in the past been accused of aiding and abetting radical Islamists in Gaza and elsewhere. UNRWA was created in 1949 to provide relief and public works programs for displaced Arab refugees that had formerly inhabited the British mandate of Palestine. UNRWA is currently the largest agency-subdivision of the entire UN, employing over 30,000 staff. UNRWA has objectively failed in its primary goal of finding homes for those it has deemed “refugees”. From 1949 to present day, refugees recognized by UNRWA has grown from 750,000 to 5,000,000 people. |
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,h1>How Hamas assembles and fires rockets near Gaza homes NDTV exclusive – how Hamas assembles and fires rocketsPublished on 05August2014 They waited until they left Gaza to air the report.
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A France 24 TV journalist – who famously ducked for cover during a live interview when a Hamas rocket was fired right next to him – has also gone on the record to report how the rocket which caught him off guard was launched in a crowded civilian area and right in front of a UN building.Exclusive: Hamas rocket launch pad revealed near Gaza homesPublished on 05August2014
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 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) How the UN and the international community (including the US) keep Hamas going08August2014 http://israelmatzav.blogspot.co.il/2014/08/how-un-and-international-community.html
UNRWA – United Nations Rocket Warehousing Agency |
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Claudia Rossett has a devastating expose on how the United Nations and international community keep Hamas going.
The United States is UNRWA’s largest donor. And rather than reevaluate, some Americans have a vested interest in keeping it that way.
What could go wrong? |
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While Israel is doing everything possible to prevent civilian casualties, Hamas is INTENTIONALLY putting innocent Palestinians in harm’s way. Watch: #PleaseGoSouth
 Israel Foreign Ministry-tweet-9November2023-Hamas doesn’t care about Gaza’s civilians  Israel Hayom 385_eng South Gaza UNRWA Camp 11-30-2023 |
Propaganda vs Reality
GUERNICA BY Pablo Picasso
Elon Musk’s Revelation – He Didn’t Know it Was About Israel: The Land of Israel Fellowship
Elon Musk-tweet-31October2023-The real battle
The real battle is between the extinctionists and the humanists.
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Elon Musk-tweet-31October2023-The real battle is between the extinctionists and the humanists. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Islamic Conquest between 7th and 9th Century
Islamic Conquest between 7th and 9th Century-Map
Map: Islamic Conquest-634AD – After 1300AD
Map: Islamic Conquest-634AD – After 1300AD
Map of the 12 Tribes of Israel
Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:
“We didn’t take a foreign land and we didn’t exist on the spoils of other nations, but on the lands of our fathers that through the years was illegally seized by our enemies. We, when we had the opportunity, restored our birthright.” – Shimon Maccabee to the Greek Antiochus 2158 year ago. 3626 -136BCE
Judenstern_Yellow Star of David
Symbol that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust, so that they could be identified as Jews.
South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War
Palestine invaded by Arabs.
lelemSLP26-tweet-26November2024-Palestine invaded by Arabs
Palestine invaded by Arabs.
Can any “Free Palestine” person here explain this sentence?
lelemSLP26-tweet-26November2024-Palestine invaded by Arabs
It was never about land.
Agus Budy Wuysang-tweet-26November2024-It was never about land
It was never about land.
Agus Budy Wuysang-tweet-26November2024-It was never about land
Israel Hamas War RANT
Yishai Fleisher @YishaiFleisherTV https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1EasxeXGzoXJb2y3HTMsLA
Nioh Berg-tweet-20June2024-clump of rocks
You won’t mind if we bulldoze this clump of rocks then yeah? 👍🏻
Nioh Berg-tweet-20June2024-clump of rocks
That’s what happens when you don’t allow them to cheat and steal an election.
Truth Justice-tweet-7November2024-not allowed to cheat and steal an election
That’s what happens when you don’t allow them to cheat and steal an election.
Total votes in 2020 – 155,508,985
Total votes in 2024 – 140,306,875
Where did 15,202,110 million voters go?
2012 Obama 66M 2016 Clinton 63M 2020 Biden 81M? 15 Million? 2024 Kamala: 67M
Truth Justice-tweet-7November2024-not allowed to cheat and steal an election
Hard Times Create Strong Men
Elon Musk-tweet-4August2024-Hard Times Create Strong Men
Hard Times Create Strong Men, Strong Men Create Good Times, Good Times Create Weak Men, You Are Here Weak Men Create Hard Times.
Elon Musk-tweet-4August2024-Hard Times Create Strong Men
Every time anyone in the West mentions ‘international community’
What the media hides.-tweet-21September2024-Every time anyone in the West mentions international community
Every time anyone in the West mentions ‘international community’
this is what it means
What the media hides.-tweet-21September2024-Every time anyone in the West mentions international community
Why are there no Muslims in Star Trek?
Real Palestinian-tweet-11July2024-Why are there no Muslims in Star Trek
Real Palestinian-tweet-11July2024-Why are there no Muslims in Star Trek
Why are there no Muslims in Star Trek
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-1August2024-Not from here
Tweet of the day!
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-1August2024-Not from here
Born in Egypt and died in Iran
Uri Kurlianchik-tweet-17January2025-Hamas really thought people in the west were that stupid
Depressingly precise.
“Hamas leaders thought that if they dress up terrorists as doctors, journalists and aid workers – then western media will fall for it – and millions of westerners will march waving Palestinian flags. They really thought people in the west were that stupid. and they were right.” – David Collier, Journalist
Uri Kurlianchik-tweet-17January2025-Hamas really thought people in the west were that stupid
-Depressingly precise.-
“Hamas leaders thought that if they dress up terrorists as doctors, journalists and aid workers – then western media will fall for it – and millions of westerners will march waving Palestinian flags. They really thought people in the west were that stupid. and they were right.” – David Collier, Journalist
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Timeline of the land of Israel
Timeline of the land of Israel
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Do not Trust Israel’s leftist media
Rabbi Lazer Brody-tweet-27November2024-Do not Trust Israel’s leftist media
6 months ago, Israel’s leftist media spread panic that a war against Hezbolla would claim at least 15000 fatalities, 3-day power outages and no water. Thanks to Hashem, none of that happened. Don’t let the leftist and deepstate commotion ever scare you. Hashem runs the world.
YinonMagal-tweet-26November2024-This was the front page of Yedioth Ahronoth six months ago
זה היה העמוד הראשי של ידיעות אחרונות לפני חצי שנה…
תקשורת פושעת
This was the front page of Yedioth Ahronoth six months ago…
Criminal communication
Rabbi Lazer Brody-tweet-27November2024-Do not Trust Israel’s leftist media
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How the Media would report Passover
Cheryl E-tweet-18December2024-How the Media would report Passover
This is EXACTLY how this would be reported today 🤭
Cheryl E-tweet-18December2024-How the Media would report Passover
Why are we so happy on Passover Seder night? Any 7-year-old will laugh and say, “What a dumb question! That’s when Hashem took us out of slavery in Egypt!”
Is it such a dumb question when I show little 7-year-old Chaimk’e and his parents that in the three days that preceded our Exodus from Egypt in the Hebrew year of 2448 (1282 BCE), eight million Jews died, and that’s according to the conservative figure. Some say it was 10 million. Rashi explains that only 1 out of 5 Jews left Egypt in the Exodus; the other 4 died during the three days of darkness. Since a minimum of 2 million left, that means that at least 8 million perished!
Why, therefore, do we not mourn during the three days that precede Pesach, and declare them as national Holocaust Days, when 33% more Jews died than during the entire six years of the Nazi Holocaust? Not only do we not mourn, we rejoice! What’s going on?
Our sages rule that we do not mourn anyone who denies the Redemption and refuses to be a part of it, just as we don’t mourn a heretic who denies the veracity of Moses’s prophecy and the Torah (Rambam, Laws of Teshuva, 3:8, and other places). This notion is even anchored in The Code of Jewish Law (see Shulchan Oruch, Yora Deah 345:5; Mishna Berura on Orach Chaim 126:1, letter b). Moses, in the Name of Hashem, told the Children of Israel to arise, we must quickly leave Egypt. 80% didn’t listen to him. They paid a steep price but we don’t mourn for them. They had become used to Egypt and had no desire – despite what Hashem wanted – to leave Egypt. Even though they were slaves, they liked the Egyptian culture, music, pastimes and food. Moses said no, we must go to our Promised Land. Egypt is not our home.
Moses’s voice saying, “We must go to our Promised Land”, echoes through all of our history.
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Israel can’t win the social media war and that’s OK
It’s important to recognize that in the greater scheme of things, the battles on social media don’t really matter.
https://www.jns.org/israel-cant-win-the-social-media-war-and-thats-ok/
Rabbi Uri Pilichowski
(10August2025 / JNS ) Zionists and Israel supporters who have spent any time on social media since the Oct. 7, 2023, Simchat Torah massacre have become increasingly frustrated and concerned over the significantly higher amount of anti-Israel sentiment expressed than pro-Israel sentiment.
Pro-Israel social media content creators have been frequent targets of anti-Israel and antisemitic “social media bombings,” where tens, hundreds and sometimes even thousands of accounts, many bots, swarm and “bomb” pro-Israel posts with antisemitic messages.
There is no question that to be pro-Israel online is to be a minority voice among billions of people. Research from Northeastern University reveals pro-Palestinian posts to the social media app TikTok significantly outnumber pro-Israeli posts and follow a very different pattern.
The pattern of pro-Palestinian posts is consistent with a prolonged social movement, the research suggests, while the pattern of pro-Israeli posts is typical of what follows a major news event. The number of pro-Israeli content posted to TikTok has steadily declined since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the research shows. The opposite has happened with pro-Palestinian content.
According to an analysis by Humanz, a social media research company, 7.39 billion posts with pro-Israeli tags were published on Instagram and TikTok since Oct. 7, 2023, compared to 109.61 billion posts with pro-Palestinian tags. Humanz CEO Liav Refael-Chen commented, “It’s hard not to see that there is money behind this.”
The distribution of posts on these platforms is clearly skewed against Israel, with only 6.3% of them using a pro-Israeli hashtag, and 93.7% using a pro-Palestinian hashtag.
A report in The Economist on social media sentiment found that on Oct. 7, 2023, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian posts had roughly equal shares of support on social media. By October 19, 2023, pro-Palestinian posts were 3.9 times more common than pro-Israeli posts.
Within two months of Israel’s war in Gaza, Mark Scott of Politico was able to write, “In that sense, the Gaza conflict is no different from other 21st-century wars where dominating the digital media landscape is now part of combatants’ overall strategy to win hearts and minds, engage with like-minded supporters, and count claims from opponents.”
“But what sets the Middle East war apart,” he continued, “is how disproportionate the online messaging has become. It’s hard to generalize because of how unique everyone’s social media experiences have become via algorithms tailored to individual interests. But, on average, there are just much more pro-Palestinian messages on the likes of Instagram, TikTok and YouTube compared with pro-Israeli posts.”
Scott speculated, “Based on the volume of pro-Palestinian content compared with pro-Israeli material (itself, an imperfect science), we can surmise more people, globally, are engaging collectively with those posts—just given the sheer amount of content produced.”
A Washington Post article comparing pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian content surmised that pro-Palestinian hashtags are older and more established, giving them more time to accumulate posts, and that global demographics, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, contribute to higher engagement with pro-Palestinian content.
These statistics have many in the Pro-Israel community increasingly concerned. The Israeli government isn’t sitting by passively. In its latest budget, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive $150 million, on top of what it gets for its existing activities, for what’s officially known as public diplomacy or hasbara in Hebrew. That sum is more than 20 times what such efforts have typically been allotted in past years.
Many in the pro-Israel community feel the Israeli government isn’t doing enough. They call for a “war room” of soldier media soldiers who pounce on anti-Israel posts with facts and figures that contradict the anti-Israel posts of Israel’s online opponents. Their logic is sound. If IDF soldiers can dominate on the battlefield as they have over the past two years, Israeli social media warriors can dominate the internet.
There are several flaws in the notion that Israel can win the social media war. The most fundamental problem that Israel will always face is numbers. There will always be more people opposing Israel than supporting it. Since Israel will always lose the numbers game, we’ll never be able to answer every tweet.
Even if Israel’s crack unit of social media warriors identified the top five thousand accounts and only answered those, it would never be able to keep up with the comments and responses and any point they’d make in response would be drowned out. In the end, the unit would only be paid attention to by people already supporting Israel. This unit would exist solely in an echo chamber.
The second flaw in the idea of a social media warrior unit is thinking that facts matter on social media. Posts that lie with horrific doctored images win the social media war. Israel will never be prepared to lie and fabricate images to win the social media war. In a war with two sides and only one plays by the rules of decency, we are set up to fail and have no path to succeed.
This pessimistic view might be depressing to some, and maybe even inconsistent with the Zionist ethos of there’s no war Israel can’t win, but it’s important to recognize that in the greater scheme of things, the battles on social media don’t really matter.
Although the subject hasn’t been sufficiently studied to fully rely on already established assumptions, early research on the effect social media has on public opinion and policy suggests that social media does not significantly fuel political polarization or public opinion.
These studies lead to the conclusion that social media amplifies existing divisions rather than creating them. As one researcher stated about their findings, “These results should alleviate the widespread worry that social media is a major driver of polarization in society”.
Real-life battles that change facts on the ground are fought on the battlefield and in the capitals of the nations of the world, especially the United States Congress. Contrary to contemporary fears, members of Congress do not follow social media sentiment when forming policy on Israel. While there will always be members of Congress who trade in their values for the next microphone or more likes on Instagram, most members of Congress base their decisions on the U.S.-Israel relationship with American national security in mind. A strong relationship with Israel is in America’s national security interest and that is why it has strong support in Congress.
Scrolling through a timeline full of hundreds and thousands of anti-Israel and antisemitic posts is disturbing and can lead the social media consumer to fret that the entire world is against Israel. It’s important to recognize many, if not most, of these posts are bots, the product of a paid campaign, or posted by a collection of losers with little to no influence on the real world.
Ceding the social media “battlefield” to Israel’s enemies isn’t a loss for Israel, but a recognition of social media’s insignificance.
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Why we fight
Hamas’s amen chorus is worried about having to face the truth of their evil deeds and intentions—with good reason.
Joseph Goebbels – Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
Leonard Grunstein https://www.jns.org/why-we-fight/
Leonard Grunstein is co-author of the book Because It’s Just and Right: The Untold Back-Story of the U.S. Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
(May 28, 2024 / JNS) During World War II, a series of documentary films were made, directed by Frank Capra, that set out in explicit and graphic detail the precipitating causes and reasons why the United States entered the war to defeat the Axis powers, including Nazi Germany.
Before Imperial Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, many Americans were beset by doubts about the war. Even after Nazi Germany declared war on Washington on Dec. 11, 1941, there were still those who did not know or understand why it was so important for America to be involved.
Nazi propaganda had been hard at work for years dulling American sensibilities and outright lying to the American people to justify the Nazis’ evil deeds. The chief architect of this reprehensible propaganda program was Joseph Goebbels. His dictums included, “Accuse the other of that which you are guilty” and “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
The Capra documentaries were a clarion call that awoke Americans to the danger posed by Nazi Germany and catalyzed a nation to fight and defeat the Axis. I saw the documentaries when I was a young student. They left a lasting impression on me regarding the battle between good and evil and the imperative not to be complicit by idly standing on the sidelines.
The genocidal terror group Hamas, the spiritual successor to the Nazis, is intent on eliminating the Jewish people and Israel. It has falsely accused Jews and Israel of genocide in a moral inversion that channels the evil techniques of the notorious Goebbels.
The massively funded and premeditated barrage of antisemitic slurs and slogans, including the “genocide” blood libel, is poisonous to the minds of many college students and other ignorant useful dupes. They now suffer from a malady I call the “Goebbels Syndrome.” Much like the original syndrome, the cure is plain-spoken, sobering and graphic truth like that featured in the Capra-directed documentaries of yesteryear.
In this regard, the apprehensions expressed by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) at the recent congressional hearings on campus antisemitism are telling. She complained bitterly about what she referred to as vile and disturbing footage on large screens. She was referring to the video footage taken by the Hamas rapists, kidnappers, murderers and perpetrators of sadistic atrocities on Oct. 7. She did not condemn the terrorists and their evil deeds.
It would appear that Hamas’s amen chorus is worried about having to face the truth of their evil deeds and intentions. The recently released horrifying video of the confessions of a Hamas father and son, who on Oct. 7, together with a cousin, gang-raped a woman and murdered her is nearly impossible to watch. So is the video depicting a group of handcuffed young women kidnapped on Oct. 7 being referred to as sex slaves by their disgusting Hamas captors. But these videos ignited the moral conscience of many.
To the hideous Oct. 7 deniers and others suffering from the Goebbels Syndrome: Watch these videos and end your moral malaise.
Efforts to propagate false narratives are failing because the truth is coming out and it will triumph. The overwhelming majority of the American people are not buying into the propaganda generated by Hamas and American supporters.
The good people of America are waking up and rejecting the evil that is Hamas and its repugnant sponsor the terrorist Iranian regime. Some 79% of Americans polled in the latest Harvard-Harris poll rightly support Israel in the war started by Hamas. 69% correctly believe Israel is seeking to minimize civilian casualties. 78% agree that Hamas must be eliminated. 74% favor Israel proceeding with its Rafah operation and finishing off Hamas. The poll also showed a nuanced understanding of what a ceasefire means to the American people. 66% oppose a ceasefire unless the hostages are released and Hamas is removed from power.
Interestingly, even the International Court of Justice didn’t wholly buy Hamas’s propaganda. It didn’t outright order a halt in military operations in Rafah. Its order stated that Israel should “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”
Thus, the order was qualified and may be interpreted to apply only to those military operations in Rafah that may inflict such “conditions of life” on the Palestinians. In essence, Israel can continue with military operations so long as Israel complies with international law, which Israel is doing anyway. It is reported that a number of the ICJ judges support this interpretation.
It’s time for Israel to enlist a prominent Hollywood director like Steven Spielberg to make a documentary that uses documentary footage of the horrible events of Oct. 7 to explain why Israel is fighting the evil that is Hamas.
Israel is winning its just and legal defensive ground war against Hamas. It can win the PR war, too.
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How many Arabs lived in “Palestine” before the establishment of the State of Israel?
Dr. Eli David-tweet-27April2024-How many Arabs lived in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel
How many Arabs lived in “Palestine” before the establishment of the State of Israel 🇮🇱?
A list of facts with historical sources:
🔸In 1785, Constantine Francois Volney describes the “ruined” and “desolate” state of the country: “We with difficulty recognized Jerusalem… The population is supposed to amount to twelve to fourteen thousands…”
🔸In 1843, Alexander Keith wrote that “in this [Volney’s] day the land had not fully reached its last prophetic degree of desolation and depopulation.”
🔸In 1816, J.S. Buckingham had described Jaffa as “a poor village”, and Ramleh as a place “where, as throughout the greater portion of Palestine, the ruined portion seemed more extensive than that which was inhabited.”
🔸In 1835, Alphonse de Lamartine gave this description: “Outside gates of Jerusalem, we saw indeed no living object, heard no living sound. We found the same void, the same silence as we should have found in the enrombed gates of Pompeii and Herculaneum… a complete, eternal silence resigns in the town, in the highways, in the country… The tomb of a whole people.”
🔸In 1857, the British consul in Palestine, James Finn, reported back to England: “The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population.”
🔸In 1867, Mark Twain wrote in The Innocents Abroad: “Stirring senses… occur in this valley no more. There is not a solitary village throughout its whole extent – not for thirty miles in either direction.” He goes on to describe Galilee, Judea, and around Jerusalem as deserts devoid of population. And for the country as a whole: “Palestine sits in sackcloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Palestine is desolate and unlovely… It is hopeless, dreary, heartbroken land.”
🔸In 1881 (the year designated by Arafat as the beginning of the Zionist “invasion” and “displacement” of the local population), English cartographer Arthur Penrhyn Stanley wrote: “In Judea it is hardly an exaggeration to say that for miles and miles there was no appearance of life or habitation.”
🔸By the third quarter of the 19th century, the total population of the entire country, Arabs and Jews, was only 400,000. Less than 3% of today’s figure.
Dr. Eli David-tweet-27April2024-How many Arabs lived in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel
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The founding of Tel Aviv April 11, 1909
Max-tweet-24May2024-The founding of Tel Aviv
I love this photo of the founding of Tel Aviv.
It demonstrates perfectly why nobody really cared about the British Mandate prior to Jews living there: It was sparsely populated land with no natural resources.
It also demonstrates that terrorists are lying when they talk about “stolen land.” They want to kick Jews out of Tel Aviv—a place where literally nobody lived before Jews moved in.
The existence of Israel made Israel a valued place.
Max-tweet-24May2024-The founding of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv was founded on the empty sand dunes
Barry Tigay-tweet-25May2024-Tel Aviv was founded on the empty sand dunes
Tel Aviv, Israel’s second largest city, was founded on the empty sand dunes of the Mediterranean Sea, in 1909, during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The land was legally purchased by Jews. No Arab or other occupant was displaced.
The famous picture below shows the drawing of lots for purchase by individuals on the empty land.
Tel Aviv is an example of Zionists making the desert bloom.
Tel Aviv is an example of human progress.
Tel Aviv is an example of Herzl’s vision, “If you will it, it is no dream.”
The “River to the Sea” movement claims Tel Aviv as Palestinian. They are genocidal liars.
Barry Tigay-tweet-25May2024-Tel Aviv was founded on the empty sand dunes
the Jewish Virtual Library. logo https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
Tel Aviv: The Founding of Tel Aviv
(April 11, 1909)
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-founding-of-tel-aviv
In 1909, a number of Jewish residents decided to move to a healthier environment, outside the crowded and noisy city of Jaffa. They established a company called Ahuzat-Bayit and with the financial assistance of the Jewish National Fund purchased some twelve acres of sand dunes, north of Jaffa. In 1910, the suburb was named Tel Aviv after Nahum Sokolow’s translation of Altneuland, Herzl’s fictional depiction of the Jewish State.
Meir Dizengoff was Tel Aviv’s first mayor serving in that capacity from 1911 until his death in 1936. The main street in today’s sprawling city is named after him.
Today, Tel Aviv is the heart of the conurbation known as Gush Dan in which over one third of the country’s population lives. This area extends from Rishon Le-Zion, Holon and Bat Yam in the south to Herzliya in the North. To the east lies Petah Tikva. Tel Aviv is situated on the shore of the Mediterranean sea.
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The OU Jerusalem world Center Torah Tidbits #1185 B’chukotai 5776 OU Torah Tidbits 1185whole
A Mitzva’s Messages – But first…
It’s the old, “I’d like to say a few words before I speak” line. Bear with me…
I recently spent Shabbat with a daughter and grandchildren while my son-in-law the doctor was in miluim. My 8 year old grandson asked me to learn with him in shul after Mincha. Momentarily surprised, I found out that those who stay to learn get a snack of some sort. Sure enough, after a pleasant Pirkei Avot session, my chavruta received an ARTIK, an ice pop. Turned out that he didn’t like its taste at all and dumped it in the nearest garbage pail, thereby making our learning more LISHMAH than expected.
MASHAL L’MA HADAVAR DOMEH? To what can this be compared? IM B’CHUKOTAI TEILEICHU… If you will keep My Torah and Mitzvot… HaShem says to the Jewish People: If you will be faithful to Me and keep the Torah and Mitzvot, then I will give you all kinds of wonderful things… (just read the beginning of the sedra) including – and you will dwell securely in your Land.
One wouldn’t expect people to say ‘No thank you’ to G-d for prosperity and peace. But how many Torah loving and observing Jews seem to say ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ for the opportunity to dwell in the Land?
For Naveh not to like the ices is one thing, but not jumping at the opportunity to live in Eretz Yisrael…
We could go on and on about this topic (and we often do), but for this week, we leave it to you to ponder…
Torah tidbit CHIZUK and IDUD
CHIZUK and IDUD for Olim & not-yet-Olim respectively
When Mark Twain visited Eretz Yisrael in 1867, he vividly described a pitiful and forlorn land: “Palestine is desolate and unlovely…. The hills are barren, they are dull of color, unpicturesque in shape… Palestine sits in sack cloth and ashes. Over it broods the spell of a curse that has withered its fields and fettered its energies… Where prosperity had reigned and fallen; where glory had flamed and gone out; where beauty had dwelt and passed away; where gladness was and sorrow is… We never saw a human being on the whole route… There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of the worthless soil, had almost deserted the country…” What a contrast to the Eretz Yisrael of today!
Twain’s description is reminiscent of the Tochacha we read in our Parsha: “And I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries into desolation… And I will bring the Land into desolation and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it” (Vayikra 26:31-32). In truth, the similarities are not by chance, for as Mark Twain contemplated the sad scene which met his eyes, he was reminded of these very verses, noting that: “No man can stand here [in this deserted area] and say the prophecy has not been fulfilled.”
What, though, is the point if this divine prophecy?
Mark Twain’s Palestine
Although the verses can be read as punishment for our sins, Rashi points to the positive results of the land being barren and inhospitable: this will deter our enemies from inhabiting the land in our absence. The Ramban similarly states that this verse contains a good tiding: The Land will not accommodate our enemies, it will not accept another nation, and it will only bloom for Am Yisrael.
The accuracy of these words is striking. None of the various conquerors of Eretz Yisrael have succeeded to bring it into prosperity. After coming on Aliya in the year 1267, the Ramban wrote to his son, writing as follows: “What shall I tell you concerning the condition of the Land… She is
Ramban Shul
greatly forsaken and her desolation is great… The more sacred the place, the greater the devastation it has suffered. Yerushalyim is most desolate and devastated”. Those who pray in the Ramban Shul in the old city today, built upon the land bought back in 1267, cannot even begin to imagine what things were like back then.
What a sacrifice it must have been to have made Aliya to such desolation!
Having come here alone, we can feel the Ramban’s pain describing what he left behind: “I left my family, I forsook my house. There, with my sons and daughters, the sweet, dear children I brought up at my knees, I left also my soul. My heart and my eyes will dwell with them forever”. Ramban who believed that Yishuv HaAretz was a central part of the Torah was willing to pay this price in order to fulfill this Mitzva.
How easy Aliya is today when compared to the times of Ramban. Those making Aliya don’t experience the kind of pain and longing he describes, and they are treated to a convivial welcome as their plane touches down in Eretz Yisrael, a few hours after having taken off abroad.
Yet, despite it being relatively so easy to come today, many still keep away. In order to find some Idud, or positive encouragement, I would return to the beginning of the parsha, before we arrive at the lengthy Tochecha.
The divine promise we are treated to there, is short and sweet: “And I will walk among you and I will be your G-d and you shall be My People” (26:12).
Tu-b’Shevat Seven Species
The Sforno explains this blessing saying that: “Wherever you walk I shall be with you. My presence is not restricted to one specific place. Rather, my Shefa is directed towards you wherever you, the righteous, are to be found.” What must one do in order to merit having the divine presence leave M’kom HaSh’china and come reside in their home? Is this blessing relevant only to Messianic times, when the divine Shefa will be spread out over the entire universe – visiting the righteous wherever they may be found?
It would seem that this is not necessarily so. In order to arrive at this blessing today, we must simply heed the words of Hillel who presents a very simple equation: “He Hillel, would say “If you come to my home I will come to your home” – this applies to Jews who would leave their gold and silver and come to Jerusalem for the pilgrim festivals (Regalim). The Sh’china would coddle and bless them saying: “And I will walk among you and I will be your G-d and you shall be My People” (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 27).
If you come here choosing to make G-d’s home your own, He will respond by residing, and walking with you!
Rabbi Yerachmiel Roness, Ramat Shiloh, Beit Shemesh
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yosef “Today thank God most of the nation of Israel is here in the land of Israel.”
Be part of the Majority. Make Aliyah Today!
Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il
It’s time to come home! Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream 1-866-4-ALIYAH UK 0800 075 7200 Come home to the Land of Emuna
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Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:
“We didn’t take a foreign land and we didn’t exist on the spoils of other nations, but on the lands of our fathers that through the years was illegally seized by our enemies. We, when we had the opportunity, restored our birthright.” – Shimon Maccabee to the Greek Antiochus 2158 year ago. 3626 -136BCE
Those Inspiring Maccabees!
1 Tevet 5784 12December2023 http://palmtreeofdeborah.blogspot.com/2023/12/those-inspiring-maccabees.html
Rosh Chodesh
6th Candle of Hanukkah<
Following is a sampling of inspiring speeches made by the Maccabean leaders which aroused the Jewish neshamahs of their followers to greatness in the Name of Hashem. Excerpted from The Chanukah Scroll by Hagi Ben Artzi:
[To the Greek officer who bid him come and sacrifice a pig on the altar to Zeus,]…Matityahu’s response was delivered in a loud and confident voice, and was clearly heard throughout the city square. Matityahu said: “Even if all the nations in the Kingdom of Antiochus hearken to him and abandon their traditions and customs and follow the paths of the Greeks, I, and my sons and my brothers will continue to walk in the ways of our Forefathers, and will not betray the covenant of our God. We dare not leave our Torah and our national tradition! We will not follow and will not hearken to the words of King Antiochus, for the God Who dwells in Heaven is our King.”
…”Jews, we are going out to war! Whoever is zealous for the Torah, whoever is loyal to the covenant with our God, follow me to fight for our faith and our Torah!”
[Even from his deathbed, Matityahu persevered]…”My sons, be zealous for the Torah; give your very souls for the sake of the covenant of your Forefathers. Remember the actions of your fathers, how they gave their lives and brought salvation to their nation. Remember Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov; remember Moshe and Pinchas; remember Yehoshua and Calev; remember David and Eliyahu; remember Daniel, Chanayah, Mishael and Azaryah.
Carefully reflect on the previous generations; learn from them that one need not fear an evil man, even if he is strong and threatening. Our fathers trusted in God, and He came to their salvation. You, as well: Believe in God, and become strong with Torah – for only this way will bring you pride. In your war with the enemies of our nation, Yehuda will be your Chief of Staff and commander, and Shimon will be your advisor and father. Gather to you all those who uphold the Torah, and avenge the honor of your people. Give the Gentiles what they deserve, and hold fast on to the Torah’s commandments.”
With these words, Matityahu passed away….
…when Yehuda’s few men saw the great Syrian army marching towards them, great fear fell upon them. They called to their commander Yehuda: “We are few and weak; how will we be able to fight this great camp?” Yehuda then gathered all the men together, and strengthened their spirit with words of faith.
Thus he said to them: “Nothing can prevent God from saving us, whether we are few or many. It is not great numbers of soldiers or heavy weaponry that brings victory in war. It is rather a spirit of valor, one that stems from true faith. We are fighting for our nation and our Torah, whereas they are coming upon us with haughtiness and evil, to destroy us, our wives and our children, and to take our property. The God of our fathers will not abandon us; He will smite them before us.
Arise, my brothers! Go out and fight without fear!”
When Yehuda finished speaking, a spirit of valor overtook his men, and they fell upon their enemies with great force.
[When the war had continued many years, Shimon, the last of the Maccabees] …gathered a large crowd in the courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, and encouraged them and raised their spirits. He said to them: “You know that which we have done – I, my brothers, and my father’s house – on behalf of the Torah and the Temple. All my brothers died in the great war, in which they gave their lives for their people; I, alone, remain. Do not fear that their deaths have caused me to be afraid or to seek my own personal safety, for I know that I am no better than my brothers. Just as they did, I will continue to lead you in the way of the Torah and to fight the wars of God.”
[When Antiochus sent a demand for the return of captured ‘Greek cities’ in Eretz Yisrael] …Shimon rebuffed these demands…, and responded in resolute and firm terms:
“Not foreign land did we take, and not over property of foreigners did we take control. We have returned to the inheritance of our forefathers, from which we were unjustly banished by our enemies. And now, with the help of our God, we have returned to the inheritance of our fathers.”
AMEN AND AMEN!!
And the Spirit of the Maccabees lives on…
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Our Holiday, Our Land
How do you describe the simple pleasure of celebrating Chanukah in a place where everyone is also rushing home to light their menorah? Our holiday, our land…
Natalie Kovan | Posted on 09October2023 | https://breslev.com/366335/
Our Holiday, Our Land by Natalie Kovan
I can’t believe we’ve been here for a few years. Even so, when it comes to Chanukah, I still feel that same excitement I felt the first time we celebrated it as new olim (immigrants) in our homeland. I didn’t realize just how deep the disconnection with all things secular in America was until a recent conversation with my Mom. As she described my brother’s vacation on the 23rd and 24th of December, I asked her if it was a holiday or something.
Silence.
“It’s X-mas!” my mother piped up, in total disbelief. Like, only the entire world knows what holiday falls on those dates! What my mother forgets is that here in our Blessed Land we are not constantly bombarded or reminded since the end of October when the pumpkins are just being put away, and the Jack-o lanterns are beginning to rot. My mailbox is not overflowing with ‘holiday’ themed catalogs, and red and green trees are not to be seen. The flora and fauna around me don’t suddenly sprout colorful blinking lights. Reindeer (especially those sporting red noses) are basically extinct. In short—Gan Eden! And after five plus years of breathing in the kedusha (holiness) of Eretz Yisrael, the 23rd and 24th of December became just that—two regular days in the Gregorian calendar.
The first and most obvious pleasure of being in Israel this time of year is that the only men you see with long white beards are those who are wearing black coats. No man in the red suit in sight. No flashing-colored lights. No green and red plastered on any store fronts. Not a one. Here, we are absolutely oblivious on what day the ‘big day’ actually falls. Yes, there is actually a place on this earth where the big arm of the catalog behemoth does not reach, and we are blessed to be totally clueless about the latest twenty-eight-inch Bob Sponge whatever –his-name-is who dances and sings and twirls in a 360-degree pirouette with accompanying ukulele accoutrements—all for the low price of $28.99!
Sufganiyot at Mahane Yehuda shuk
Here we have been overdosing on suffganyot (fried doughnuts filled with jelly—or caramel as the case may be) since Simchat Torah. Supermarkets display an endless supply of menorahs, chocolate covered Chanukah gelt (“money”), candles, oil—you name it. The entire nation puts aside their differences for eight days, as they wish each other a Chanukah sameach (Happy Chanukah!). Everything shuts down early—so that everyone can light their menorahs with their loved ones. As you stand on the street after dark, you see menorah upon menorah—lights upon lights—lights belonging to us, bridging century upon century of Jews keeping the fires of Yiddishkeit burning, living—in our Land.
Even the dreidel—a simple dreidel brings home the knowledge that living in Israel is, well—miraculous. Our son, looking at an Israeli dreidel for the first time, suddenly burst out, “hey—there’s no ‘Shin’ on this dreidel!’. Upon closer inspection, we found a ‘Pey’ where the shin should have been. In the rest of the world, the letters ‘Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin’ (נ ג ה ש) for “a big miracle happened THERE’. But for us living in Eretz Israel, it’s “Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Pey’ (נ ג ה פ) “— a big miracle happened HERE’. Here. In our backyard (almost literally—Modiin is but a drive away). Here. Not there, but here. Jews all over the world light menorahs and celebrate a miracle that happened not too far away from our living room, in a place that is still seeing miracles to this very day.
How do you describe the simple pleasure of celebrating Chanukah in a place where everyone is also rushing home to light their menorah? It’s a communal event, where every single one of your neighbors is celebrating with you. Our holiday. Our land. Here we don’t take second place as ‘the consolation holiday ‘. Here, our holiday is THE holiday. Here everything stops for Chanukah. Everything revolves around lighting the menorah, not the other way around. No jingles in the supermarket overloading your subconscious. In their stead, Jewish children walk around singing Chanukah songs, filling the air with their pure words. How does one grasp it? Here it is a tangible. You are enveloped in it day and night, not just as you huddle with your family around the menorah. I can’t describe how wonderful it is not to have to endure another “Merry (insert name of holiday here)”, while internally screaming, “But I’m Jewish!” No generic “Happy holiday” greetings either. Here, your taxi driver wishes you a “Chanukah sameach,” and your soul responds, because it feels right. That’s the magic of living in Israel.
The other major difference is that Chanukah in Israel is not so much about the presents—it’s about the miracle. When you live in a country that exists because of one long continuous miracle sustained by Hashem—it’s the miracle that counts. When a sonic boom breaks the silence of the night sky, as army planes ‘do their job’ up North—and the realization that this little country with a spirit which is too big to fill its borders—is being guarded by Hashem and His emissaries because we have a right to be here—then the miracle that is Israel—that is Chanukah—takes on a whole new meaning.
As we read about the battles fought by Judah Maccabee and his army, the mind can’t help but marvel at the fact that not much has changed since those days, except for the fact that technologically, warfare has evolved drastically, to say the least. We are still the few against the many. A small nation surrounded by those who would love nothing more than to see our destruction. The story of Chanukah is not a quaint and inspiring story that we celebrate as part of our past—it is also the story of our present.
I remember two years ago, during Operation Cast Lead, as we lit our menorahs with the backdrop of a war going on at several of our borders. Stories of soldiers requesting tzitzit before they would go into battle streamed out to the public. And that is what Chanukah is about. Keeping our identity separate and whole from the rest of the nations as we do spiritual and physical battle with our adversaries. Looking at our uniqueness not as an impairment, but an asset to be celebrated and protected at all costs. For when we act like Jews, proud in ourselves, our Land and our Torah—then defeating our enemies becomes a reality, with the help of our Creator.
It is only by the benevolence of Hashem that Israel and the Jewish people exist. Without the Land of Israel, there is no nation, and vice versa. It is here that the plans for Am Israel took root, and it is here where they will culminate when Mashiach comes (may it be speedily in our days). Even though we wandered for centuries without a ‘home’, Hashem has gifted us in the last 60 years with concrete borders to come home to. A Kotel to pray at. Land to be populated and bring back to life. He is setting the stage for our ultimate return and Redemption (may it be His will). To be here and call this home—despite the hardships—is a miracle. As painful as it is to be so far from loved ones, friends and all things familiar—there is nothing like the miracle of finally coming home. Home where the soul and body are finally in alignment for the very first time. That is a miracle all its own.
Even as I write, it is impossible to describe in mere words the enormity of living here. Sometimes it’s a struggle, sometimes it’s a cultural shock, sometimes it’s just plain hard. And sometimes, while standing at the top of a hill, looking out at the valley, and at cities that were not here that long ago, brimming with Jews—and the eyes fill at the intensity of the knowledge that you are home—finally—then you say, “Thank You, Hashem, for the miracle that is Israel. Thank You for bringing me home.”
Shiri_Sabra-tweet-23April2024-Passover Seder in Jerusalem 1919
Jewish soldiers of the British Army who liberated the Land of Israel at Passover Seder in Jerusalem, 1919.
Shiri_Sabra-tweet-23April2024-Passover Seder in Jerusalem 1919
The Persian Jewess-tweet-23April2024-Jews are Indigenous to Israel
Jews are Indigenous to Israel.
Palestinians are Arabs who rebranded their “ethnicity” in 1964.
“Palestinians” have ZERO historical, religious or anthropological ties to Israel, Gaza or the West Bank.
#StandWithIsrael
The Persian Jewess-tweet-23April2024-Jews are Indigenous to Israel
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Hashem Signals our Settlers
Often, when we look below the surface of what appears to be a dismal situation, we can find the hidden solution. So too, in our current situation in Eretz Yisrael, we see the glimmer of redemption!
David Ben Horin | Posted on 13December2023 | https://breslev.com/4078471/
Hashem Signals our Settlers by David Ben Horin
On the surface, the news looks like one series of uppercuts to the head of Am Israel. Look deeper, and you will see Hashem’s blessings.
In 1914, there was a convention of Sages from Agudat Israel in Switzerland. They wanted to discuss Zionism – were they for it or against it?
They invited Rav Avraham Kook to come and speak. He resisted. His heart was in the Land of Israel, and to him, a mere moment outside the paradise God gave him was like an eternity in Gehinnom. Reluctantly, for the sake of Israel, he left the Land to attend the conference. When he arrived, World War I broke out. As a result, he was stranded in Europe and couldn’t get back to Israel.
On the surface, it was a nightmare.
He made his way to England and became a powerful voice in the British Jewish community. By 1917, the British Parliament debated whether to declare the Land of Israel the homeland of the Jewish People.
The loud voice of assimilated Jews lobbied the MPs to reject the proposal. They protested that they were English first and shouldn’t be branded as dual loyalists.
Rabbi Kook was asked to present a counter claim in favor of the proposal before the House of Commons. He gave a passionate speech. When he met objections, the non-Jewish lawmakers stood up and said, “Look at the man. Head to toe, he lives in the service of God. He represents the Jews.”
Had Rav Kook remained in Israel, would Britain’s Balfour Declaration that gave political backing “to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine” become reality?
A Hundred Years Later
In November 2023, American President Joe Biden issued a statement which decreed that anyone in the “occupied territories who acts in opposition to peace will be denied entry into the US.” (The Caroline Glick Show In-Focus|Nobody is Decrying Jewish Genocide (@10:18-15:08) ).
It doesn’t specify “violent settlers” or “Jewish extremists.” President Biden refers to anyone who lives in what is called “occupied territories,” which includes most of Jerusalem.
On the surface, this is a disaster. The city of Efrat has thousands of people with dual citizenship who make their livelihoods going back and forth from America to Israel. Thousands of residents throughout Yesha are dual citizens who may be torn apart from their families living abroad.
Think about how COVID-19 split families. How many tragedies did we hear about mothers not being able to see their daughters and fathers not being able to see their sons because of the pandemic?
Major Miracles
Hashem is bringing His children home. He is encouraging countless Jews outside of Israel to come here as often as possible.
What about the residents of Judea and Shomron? Hashem is giving them the ultimate gift. He is keeping them in Israel. Could this be to protect them from catastrophe in America?
Could Mashiach be HERE and Hashem doesn’t want His precious children to be anywhere else when He reveals His anointed to the world? Are these decrees a signal from God that everyone should be in Israel right now – that we shouldn’t leave, not even for a moment?
The Tanya Rebbe Yehuda writes that just before Mashiach comes, Jews living along the borders of Israel will be without homes and will wander from city to city. (Sanhedrin 97a) Currently, 100,000 Israelis in Kiryat Shemona (near the Israel-Lebanese border) and in border towns along the Gaza belt are relocated in temporary living quarters throughout the land.
Has the time come?
From Woke to Awakening
Whenever you hear “From the River to the Sea,” follow it up by saying “Hashem natan ha’aretz li” (God gave the Land to me)!
Non-Jews can’t say that!
***
David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.
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Large “Palestinian” families and tribes in Israel are from:
Ottoman Empire History-1699-1914-Map
Visegrád 24-tweet-20April2024-large ‘Palestinian’ families and tribes in Israel are from
Most anti-Israel protesters in the West don’t understand that many of the Palestinians arrived first in the late 19th century during huge internal migration flows within the Ottoman Empire. At the same time, many Jews arrived from Europe and the Middle East
Large “Palestinian” families and tribes in Israel:
– Al-Masri
– Masarawa
– Al-Fium
– and Al-‘Asi are all from Egypt
– Al-Baghdadi
– Obeid
– and Al-Tikriti are all from Iraq
– Halabi
– Nashashibi
– and Al-Horani are from Syria
– Al-Lubnani
– Al-Sourani are from Lebanon.
– Al-Kurd are from Kurdistan
– Al-Zarqawi are from Jordan
– Al-Hijazi
– Kabah are from Saudi Arabia
– Al-Maghrebi
– Al-Jazeir
– Al-Arge are from North Africa
– Abid are from Sudan
– Al-Shishani are from Chechnya
Visegrád 24-tweet-20April2024-large Palestinian families and tribes in Israel are from
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What the Palestinians really think about the October 7th massacre and Hamas.
Israel-tweet-24July2024-What the Palestinians really think about the October 7th massacre and Hamas
.@zachsage visited the West Bank and asked local Palestinians what they think about the October 7th massacre and Hamas.
Spoiler: Their responses are extremely disturbing.
Watch:
Israel-tweet-24July2024-What the Palestinians really think about the October 7th massacre and Hamas
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Schroedinger’s Palestinian state
Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-25May2024-Schroedinger’s Palestinian state
Schrödinger’s Palestinian state:
Is the state status useful for harassing Israel in international bodies? Then yes, Palestine is a state.
Does the state status mean responsibility for brutally invading Israel, ending fiction of “refugees” and “return”?Then no, it is not a state.
James Clark-tweet-25May2024-Schroedinger’s Gaza Government
Related:
Schroedinger’s Gaza Government – does the UN defer to Hamas on every aspect of governing Gaza. If yes then Hamas is a government.
Does that mean that Hamas is responsible for the safekeeping of the people of Gaza, preparing ahead of an inevitable war to ensure their welfare, and not use them as human shields rather than expecting Israel to do everything? Then no Hamas is not a government.
Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-25May2024-Schroedinger’s Palestinian state
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Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs-NOT INDIGENOUS
Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-22February2024-Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs
Yeah, except that Palestinians are not a race, neither are two billion Muslims. Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs who think they are the center of the universe. All Palestinians on the planet would barely fill half of New York City.
The number of Palestinian dead and displaced over the past century of conflict with Israel remains a fraction of those killed and displaced in other Mideastern conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Yemen. The disproportionate attention that Palestinians have received makes much bigger Arab problems look irrelevant.
Palestinians want to “put things in context” and liberate Palestine “by any means necessary,” including through the terrorism of Hamas, that’s on them. Just stop making it the end of the world. It’s just another Middle Eastern war. Had Jews and Israel not been involved, it wouldn’t have made it to the bottom of the last page of any newspaper.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-22February2024-Palestinians are a tiny bunch of whining Arabs
Yiskah Chaya-tweet-23February2024-WHAT’S AN ARAB?
WHAT’S AN ARAB? https://twitter.com/i/status/1710627833750384813
“Arab” is a cultural & linguistic term. It refers to those who speak Arabic as their first language. United by culture & history, Arabs are not a race. Some have blue eyes & red hair; others are dark skinned; many are somewhere in between.
idan segal-tweet-7October2023-The truth about the issue And the Palestinian
האמת על ה״סוגייה״
ועל ה״פלסטינים״
“The truth about the “issue”
“And the “Palestinians”
Yiskah Chaya-tweet-23February2024-WHAT’S AN ARAB?
JonJon from SF-tweet-3February2024-Today’s Palestinians are descendants of immigrants
Notes:
– Today’s Palestinians are descendants of immigrants who came to Palestine seeking economic opportunities due to Zionism.
(NOT INDIGENOUS)
– According to historical sources like De Hass History and the 1911 Encyclopaedia Brittanica, these immigrants hailed from various places including the Balkans, Greece, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Armenia, and more.
– Reports from the 1860s and 1937 document significant Arab immigration from places like Sinai, Transjordan, and Syria.
– Even Winston Churchill in 1939 noted the substantial increase in the Arab population in Palestine.
– CG Smith’s Studies on Palestine reveals the Turkish policy of planting Circassian colonies in the region.
– Historical documentation by De Haas mentions the establishment of permanent Egyptian colonies by Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian conqueror.
JonJon from SF-tweet-3February2024-Palestinians are NOT INDIGENOUS
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Why Israel can’t accept a ceasefire
Hamas has dictated the parameters of victory
BY Edward Luttwak
23December2023 https://unherd.com/2023/12/why-israel-cant-accept-a-ceasefire/
During their protected wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, America’s leaders and generals could never define victory. Hamas, by contrast, has a clear understanding of what it looks like. Now that the terror group has demonstrated the failure of Israel’s deterrence, it insists it will not any more short ceasefires in exchange for hostages, but only a complete end to Israel’s offensive, which would of course leave it in full control of Gaza.
What would this entail? Most immediately, this would also hand Hamas the millions of dollars in aid that will arrive from Western nations, as well as the billions coming from Qatar, Kuwait and other oil-rich countries. And while these funds are intended for welfare distributions and for civilian reconstruction, Hamas will of course use them to rebuild its underground tunnel networks, and to fund its military training, propaganda and political units in and out of Gaza.
The reason it would get away with this is straightforward: Hamas has never pretended to be fighting for the well-being of Gaza’s population, or for Palestine as a national cause. It serves global Islam —the Umma — that rejects all nationalisms and demands supremacy over all other religions. In other words, it accepts no responsibility for the dead and wounded of the war, or for Gaza’s reconstruction.
Hence, if there is a permanent ceasefire, Hamas can start to prepare its next surprise attack, hoping for another October 7 of indiscriminate killings and rapes. If anyone in Gaza objects, Hamas will also act as it did in the past, shoving sacks over their heads and shooting them in front of crowds.
And yet, steadfastly ignoring this inevitability, retired generals and even, in an unguarded moment, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, have urged the Israelis to reduce their bombing or even their attacks altogether, in order to win over Gaza’s population. Yet this is to forget that such a formula failed in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan: populations dominated by brutal extremists cannot be “won over”.
For the Israelis, however, there is clarity: because Hamas defines its victory so clearly, so can the Israelis. While the “complete end of the offensive” that Hamas, the UN and countless American and British undergraduates demand would mean a complete defeat for Israel, the continuation of the war — sine die, as they say in diplomacy — is the essential precondition of victory.
In this sense, little has changed since 1948: the Israelis might have to keep fighting on their own without US support. As soon as the first of Israel’s wars started on May 15, 1948, the US and the British, then very much the senior partner in the Middle East, imposed a total arms embargo on everyone involved. This favoured the Arab armies, who already had their British-supplied kits of small arms, machine-guns, field artillery and even a few aircraft and tanks, while the Jews only had rifles and submachine guns. It was very much the goal of the British Foreign Office and US State Department that the newly proclaimed State of Israel should be defeated as soon as possible, so as to preserve the stability of British power over the region.
But, then, something entirely unexpected happened: the Jews started winning. As a result, having favoured war to put a quick end to Israel, the Brits then had to end it to save their collapsing Arab allies. And the resourceful Foreign Office had the necessary remedy, promptly backed by the obedient State Department: on June 11, 1948, the UN Security Council imposed a total ceasefire, after 26 days of fighting. Had the Israelis not resumed fighting on July 9, Israel could not have emerged as a viable state.
Even so, this set the pattern for all subsequent UN ceasefires in the region: as soon as Israel launches its counteroffensives and starts winning, the UN General Assembly demands an immediate ceasefire, and pressure builds on the UN Security Council to actually order one.
But here the continuity ends. Everything else is very different now that Israel is a stronger, more self-sufficient military power. The US can certainly help to deter Hezbollah, and is the only power that can disarm the Houthi menace in the Red Sea and Suez Canal. But only Israel can incapacitate Hamas, by fighting in one alley, tunnel and bunker after another right across the Gaza Strip.
Very reasonably, the Biden Administration has been asking the Israelis to hurry up with their fighting, instead of prolonging the suffering of Gaza’s civilians. And just as reasonably, the Biden Administration has been asking the Israelis to use less air power, less artillery and more infantry to reduce civilian casualties. But to move faster in Gaza’s intricate urban terrain would sharply increase Israeli casualties. The same is true of any imposed reduction in artillery fire and air strikes. And to do both simultaneously would not just add to Israeli casualties but multiply them.
Because the leaders on both sides know those things, and because they respect each other, there is a back-and-forth process of mutual accommodation day by day. But the unavoidable reality is that Israel cannot end its offensive, nor even accept protracted ceasefires in exchange for hostages.
Instead, its forces must persist until every basement and tunnel has been cleared and Hamas’s cadre of trained fighters has been drastically reduced. Nor is the capture of Yahya Sinwar, the top Hamas leader in Gaza, a realistic goal — with the help of Sinai Bedouin smugglers, it would be all too easy for him to escape and join Hamas’s other leaders in their five-star suites in Doha.
Of course, although essential, destroying the military power of Hamas cannot by itself bring about a permanent state of peace in Gaza. But if Hamas can no longer subject Gaza’s population to its perpetual war, it will be victory enough.
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Forget Gaza: The EU’s Genocide is Worse
Yossi Amar-tweet-19November2024-Forget Gaza-The EU’s Genocide is Worse
🚨 BREAKING: The European Union is committing a terrible GENOCIDE against its own population😭
The so-called ICJ (Institution of Corrupt Judgments) has just declared:
Since October 7, 2023, Gaza’s population has INCREASED by 2.02%, while the European Union’s population has only grown by 0.43%.
This is true genocide—an unprecedented act of ethnic cleansing 😱
Do you see the absurd bullshit the people of “Gazawood” are trying to sell you?
Palestinian propaganda is more skillfully produced than Alice in Wonderland.
🇮🇱 Israel committing genocide in Gaza? Shut the hell up.
Yossi Amar-tweet-19November2024-Forget Gaza-The EU’s Genocide is Worse
Forget Gaza: The EU’s Genocide is Worse
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A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:
Please send this to anyone at a School, College or University. Parents, Students, Administrators and Teachers. These are Felony Death Threats. This violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/antisemitism-dcl.pdf
Click to download PDF file UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION-OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS-antisemitism-dcl
This is not free speech.
Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies
Re-upping this meme for those who witnessed the disgusting worldwide demos on Shabbat.
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:
A guide to the chants at ‘pro-Palestinian’ rallies:
The Proper Jewish Response:
“Hashem natan ha’aretz li” (God gave the Land to me)!
“Eretz Yisrael Yehudi ” (Eretz Yisrael is Jewish land)
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Pallywood: Palestinian Propaganda
Pallywood: “it’s just an act mommy”
Imam of Peace-tweet-12November2023-Pallywood-it’s just an act mommy
This is gold. A Palestinian mother sees images online showing her son injured. She races to the hospital only to find it all fake. He is fine, it’s just an act mommy. It’s called Pallywood.
Imam of Peace-tweet-12November2023-Pallywood-it’s just an act mommy
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JerusalemCats Comments: Least We forget who our Enemy is:
Israel approves emergency regulations that could pave way to closing Al Jazeera offices
By Jeremy Sharon 20October2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israel-approves-emergency-regulations-that-could-pave-way-to-closing-al-jazeera-offices/
The government has approved regulations that will allow it to temporarily shut down foreign news channels during states of emergency, such as the current war with terror group Hamas in Gaza, if it believes the outlet is damaging national security.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has led the charge to pass these regulations in order to shut down the Al Jazeera news channel, which he claims has damaged national security.
The regulations are retroactive, meaning broadcasts by the Qatari network since the war started can now be used as the basis for a decision to shut down the staunchly pro-Palestinian news outlet’s local branch.
“Israel is at war on land, in the air, at sea, and on the public diplomacy front. We will not allow in any way broadcasts that harm the security of the state… The broadcasts and reports of Al Jazeera constitute incitement against Israel, help Hamas-ISIS and the terror organizations with their propaganda, and encourage violence against Israel,” says Karhi.
According to the new regulations, the communications minister — with the agreement of the defense minister — will be able to order TV providers to stop broadcasting the news outlet in question; close its offices in Israel, seize its equipment, and shut down its website or restrict access to its website, depending on the location of its server.
The decision must be approved by the security cabinet, must be based on legal opinions by the security establishment that the outlet is indeed harming national security, and is subject to the review of a district court.
Such a decision will be valid for 30 days but can be extended for additional 30-day periods. The emergency regulations will be in place for three months, or until the specific state of emergency is formally ended by the government.
UPDATE:
Knesset approves bill to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel
New law approved in second and third reading stipulates Communications Minister could act against foreign media channels in Israel should they be found to harm the country; White House spokeswoman criticizes bill
Moran Azulay| 01April2024 | 20:02 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/b17yvd00yr
The Knesset approved Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill ordering Qatari news network Al Jazeera to cease its operations in the country in a final reading on Monday. “Hamas mouthpieces won’t have any freedom of expression in Israel. Al Jazeera will be shut down in the coming days,” Karhi said in a statement.
The law promoted by Karhi and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shut down foreign channels (including Al Jazeera, Al Mayadeen, and others), was approved by the Knesset Plenum in second and third readings.
The law stipulates the Communications Minister could act to shut down foreign media channels in the country should the prime minister find it is harming Israel after reviewing at least one security assessment on the issue and conditioned by the approval of the government or security cabinet.
Actions will be approved by orders signed by the Communications Minister, and will include: closing down the channel’s offices in the country, confiscating broadcasting equipment, preventing channel reporters from broadcasting, removing the channel from cable and satellite providers in the country, blocking its websites in the country, and more.
“We have approved a quick and efficient tool to act against those who use the freedom of the press to harm Israel’s security and IDF soldiers and incite terrorism during wartime,” Karhi said in a statement following the law’s approval.
Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the law on social media, writing on his X account: “Al Jazeera has harmed Israel’s security, actively participated in the October 7 massacre, and incited violence against IDF soldiers. The time has come to remove Hamas’ mouthpiece from our country. The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activities.”
Despite Netanyahu’s praise, other members of his Likud party criticized the bill’s wordings. “The bill as presented by the Communications Minister is both ineffective and damaging,” Likud MK Amit Halevi told Ynet. “It’s absurd that our coalition will vote in favor of such a bill. It primarily reflects an extreme lack of judgment aimed at gaining popularity.”
According to Halevi, the approved law in its current form isn’t effective. “The overwhelming majority of Al Jazeera viewers in Israel’s Arab sector watch it via satellite dishes or the internet, not Israeli broadcasters. The agency’s internet servers and offices will reopen in Ramallah if shut down in Israel.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized the law in a statement, saying, “We believe in the freedom of the press. It is critical. It is critically important, and the United States supports the critically important work of journalists around the world, and that includes those who are reporting in the conflict in Gaza.”
“So, we believe that work is important. The freedom of the press is important. And if those reports are true, it is concerning to us,” she added.
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Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE
StopAntisemitism-tweet-25March2024-Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE
Al Jazeera admits the “rapes” at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE.
#Gaza
StopAntisemitism-tweet-25March2024-Al Jazeera admits the ‘rapes’ at Shifa hospital were a complete LIE.png
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Israel cutting all ties with Haaretz 31October2024
Hillel Fuld-tweet-31October2024-Israel cutting all ties with Haaretz
Been saying for years that I don’t understand why the state of Israel tolerates people, organizations, or publications that cause them damage. Why do they let them operate within Israel? At the top of my list was the Haaretz newspaper.
If you’re not familiar, Haaretz is an ultra left basically anti Zionist Israel newspaper.
Some of their writers, most famously Gideon Levi should be behind bars for treason. Truly.
Some of the stuff Haaretz has published are truly repulsive, let alone totally false and antisemitic.
Well, today, after already cutting ties with UNRWA, today the state of Israel is cutting all ties with the Haaretz publication.
A totally reasonable and even necessary move. It should not have taken this long, but thankful it’s happening now.
To sum up, it says that Haaretz published an article calling Israel an apartheid state and calling the terrorists of 10/7 freedom fighters.
The office responsible for issues of antisemitism in the government is shocked that such lies could originate from an Israeli organization and effective immediately, there will be no communication or collaboration of any kind with Haaretz.
Hillel Fuld-tweet-31October2024-Israel cutting all ties with Haaretz
Haaretz letter-Israel cutting all ties 31October2024
Haaretz is Der Stürmer produced by Jews
Dani Epstein-tweet-31October2024-Haaretz is Der Stürmer produced by Jews
Haaretz is Der Stürmer produced by Jews.
The question is why anyone buys or advertises in it.
It’s time every right-thinking person in Israel boycotts any products or services advertised in Haaretz. They would shut their doors in a matter of weeks.
Taqqiya Tuesday-tweet-31October2024
There are a lot of Jews who are gay, or Socialist, or far-left for some other reason.
In many cases, that reason matters more to them than being Jewish and makes them prone to being Pick-Me’s or Useful Idiots for truly terrible causes.
Dani Epstein-tweet-31October2024-Haaretz is Der Stürmer produced by Jews
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Only about 1% of Israelis use Haaretz online as their news source.
Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
Here’s how little Israelis care about Haaretz’s reporting
30December2024
Every day I browse through Haaretz’s headlines. Its obsessive hate of Netanyahu and most Israelis still surprise me after all these years.
It occurs to me that Haaretz headlines are pretty much clickbait. They are designed to outrage and get you to read the vapid analysis and obsessive hate.
Haaretz’s newspaper circulation is tiny in Israel. In 2009, it was at 7.1%, in 2022 it was down to 4.7% exposure rate.
But what about online? Most people get their news from online sources, not physical newspapers – maybe Haaretz has an outsized influence there?
I found an April report on online media usage in Israel from the Israel Democracy Institute. It asked people which Internet site was their primary source of news.
It divided up the results by people who identify as left, center or right:
Israel Democracy Institute online media usage in Israel poll
Nobody on the Right uses Haaretz as their news source. Only about 1% of the center do, and a mere 8% of the Left use Haaretz as their news source.
In recent years, however, the number of Israelis who identify as Left has dwindled as well. It is now only 16%. So according to this poll, only about 1% of Israelis use Haaretz online as their news source.
That is practically nothing.
Haaretz says it has over 100,000 digital subscribers. I would love to know a breakdown of how many are in Hebrew and how many are in English, how many are in Israel and how many outside. My guess is that the bulk of their readership is not even Israeli.
Haaretz is the number one primary source of anti-Israel propaganda. It represents a minuscule number of Israelis.
Haaretz’s very existence proves how free the Israeli press is. Its numbers prove how irrelevant it is to the average Israeli.
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EXPOSED: Reuters Mideast Visuals Chief Openly Supported Terrorism as a Pro-Palestinian Activist
Reuters’ regional head of video and pictures in the Middle East has publicly supported terrorists while working for a pro-Palestinian organization, demonized Israel, and criticized the US for providing military aid to the Jewish state,…
HonestReporting Staff 23October2023 https://honestreporting.com/exposed-reuters-mideast-visuals-chief-openly-supported-terrorism-as-a-pro-palestinian-activist/
Reuters’ regional head of video and pictures in the Middle East has publicly supported terrorists while working for a pro-Palestinian organization, demonized Israel, and criticized the US for providing military aid to the Jewish state, HonestReporting exposed Monday in a revelation that calls into question his journalistic objectivity.
Labib Nasir, who is currently based in Dubai and editorially supervises Reuters visual content coming out of the region, openly praised terrorists at a media conference in Beirut in 2004 while he was working for the pro-Palestinian organization “Miftah.” According to the conference proceedings, in his public remarks, he said:
Nasir continued to falsely claim that Israeli communities in the West Bank were not “civilian,” thus suggesting they were legitimate targets:
While his words are appalling in their own right — because they refer to communities inhabited by families and children — they resonate ever more loudly in light of Hamas’ brutal massacre of innocent Israeli civilians on October 7. How can a person who holds such views have any editorial say about Middle East coverage at this sensitive time? How can a person with such views be trusted to provide objective, unbiased content on the region? It cannot and should not be tolerated.
Nasir’s full address to the conference (which was ironically held under the title “Media Ethics & Journalism in the Arab World”) is rife with more inaccuracies and anti-Israel vitriol. To quote just a few:
More examples of his activism include an opinion piece titled “Checkpoint Guide,” which refers to the everyday reality of passing through security checkpoints set up by Israel to protect its citizens against terrorists. In it, he called Israeli army soldiers “killer soldiers,” and demonized the Israeli “enemy” as an adversary of humanity:
A decade later, years after he’d already been hired by Reuters, Nasir took part in a demonstration against Israel’s 2014 Gaza operation that targeted Hamas terror tunnels and publicly criticized the US for providing billions of dollars in military aid to the Jewish state, as quoted in Boston’s WBUR news:
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time a biased Reuters journalist is exposed, as in the case of Henriette Chacar who has questioned the difference between Israeli civilians and combatants. But Nasir has risen to a much more senior position in the news agency.
Activist-Turned-Journalist
Nasir attended the 2004 conference as the media and information coordinator for “Miftah,” an organization with an anti-Israeli agenda that was headed by then-senior PLO official Hanan Ashrawi. Several months later he joined Reuters as a reporter and a producer in Jerusalem, clearly without a sufficient background check. He has climbed the news agency’s ranks ever since.
Did he attempt to set aside his activist agenda? Quite the opposite, as apparent from an interview he conducted in 2010 for Reuters with none other than his former boss Hanan Ashrawi. Any decent journalist would have excused themselves from doing so, but Nasir let Ashrawi get all her talking points across.
The problem is that Nasir understood the power of media already in 2004 when he stated in his conference presentation that: “The visual media have become highly developed in recent years and are a powerful tool that has forced itself into every house.”
Now, this activist-turned-journalist gets to decide what images from the war-torn Middle East are seen in every house worldwide and what stories are told in video and pictures — the most effective ways to influence hearts and minds.
And hundreds of media outlets that subscribe to Reuters rely on this coverage.
As the region is still reeling from Hamas’ atrocities, a person who openly supports terrorism and believes that Israeli civilians’ blood is forfeit should not be allowed near any newsroom, let alone that of one of the world’s largest news agencies which claims to uphold the strictest standards of unbiased journalism.
HonestReporting has submitted an official complaint to Reuters, calling upon it to take the necessary action to maintain the values its audience deserves.
Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!
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CNN, the Modern Der Stürmer Propaganda
“Die Juden sind unser Unglück!” “The Jews are our misfortune!”
[Slogan printed on the bottom of the anti-Semitic newspaper Der Stürmer]
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/dersturmer.htm
The-Mossad-Satirical,-Yet-Awesome-tweet-22October2023-CNN, News you can trust
Map of Israel according to CNN
For those that are graduates of Ivy League Schools, this is a Map of Israel.
GoogleMaps screenshot / Simcha Pasko – A map of Israel and the West Bank.
Map of Sderot, Israel
Map of Sderot, Israel. From Wikipedia
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‘Too many red lines crossed’: Israeli hospital bans BBC
The Galillee medical center “refuses to cooperate with media outlets that refuse to see Hamas as a terrorist organization.”
https://www.jns.org/too-many-red-lines-crossed-israeli-hospital-bans-bbc/
The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Photo by Noam Falakasa/TPS.
(October 22, 2023 / JNS) Citing BBC News’s “biased coverage” of the war against Hamas, staff at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya banned a film crew from entering the hospital on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson said.
“When there is no clarity, and this is sometimes the nature of this situation, it is good for such a popular media outlet to check, delve and investigate before publishing its reviews to hundreds of millions of people in the world,” hospital director Professor Masad Barhoum told Jewish News Syndicate.
“In everything related to the BBC network, too many red lines were crossed, so when they asked to film at our medical center and interview doctors, it was clear that they were looking for manipulations and distortions, so we informed them that we have closed our doors to them until further notice,” he added.
Hospital spokesperson Gal Zeid told JNS, “I issued the announcement to the media in the hope that other bodies and institutions in the health system, including in the country as a whole, will show solidarity, certainly during the war, and refuse, like us, to cooperate with media outlets and parties that cover the reality in a biased way and refuse to see Hamas as a terrorist organization, which harms all citizens of Israel indiscriminately.”
The publicly funded British news service is facing harsh criticism for its coverage of the Gaza war.
President Isaac Herzog and other officials have blasted the BBC for refusing to describe Hamas as “terrorists.”
“We are dealing with one of the worst terrorist organizations in the world,” Herzog told visiting British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday.
“I know that in modern democracies, like ours and yours, you can’t interfere per se, but since the BBC has a certain linkage and is known as British all over the world, there has to be an outcry for it to be corrected, and that Hamas will be defined as a terrorist organization there as well,” Herzog said. “What else do they need to see to understand that this is an atrocious terror organization?”
Meanwhile, the BBC was forced to apologize for its coverage of an explosion that devastated Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday night. Correspondent Jon Donnison reported from the scene that the hospital had been hit by a missile or shell, adding, “But it’s hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an Israeli air strike or several air strikes.”
The Israel Defense Forces released intercepted Hamas communications and security footage confirming that the hospital was devastated by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket.
Initial news reports and social media posts erroneously blaming Israel for the blast sparked Arab riots across the Middle East.
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The New York Times and Hamas
Ambassador Gilad Erdan-tweet-20October2023-The nytimes has just rehired a NAZI
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The New York Times – If We Don’t Astroturf Far-Left Jews, Why Are We Even In Business?
by Joseph Kahn, Executive Editor, The New York Times
https://www.preoccupiedterritory.com/if-we-dont-astroturf-far-left-jews-why-are-we-even-in-business/
Lest you think I’m infringing here on the Opinion editors, I assure you, they do not need my help in this respect. No, I refer here to our news coverage, our language, our choice of stories. Our headline composition. Our choice of photographs – such as that one with the Palestinian child with a birth defect whom we portrayed as starving because of Israeli actions. And the one we replaced it with that was the same thing, as if in correction. But that’s not what I’m talking about either. I’m talking about platforming, interviewing, and writing articles about the farthest left among Jews, to imply that their opinions reflect something authentically Jewish, something that holds true for Jews in general.
You know whom I mean: Peter Beinart. Norman Finkelstein. Every random as-a-Jew at pro-Hamas rallies and encampments. You can even platform people whom the majority of Jews don’t even accept as Jewish in the first place. That’s better, in fact. It allows us to force an ideology onto demographics who wouldn’t otherwise espouse it.
Think of it as the converse of what we do in the Middle East. There, we begin with the assumption that the Palestinian position is for a peaceful two-state solution and conciliation with Israel, and frame everything through that lens. Palestinian terrorism we treat as an aberration or a just reaction to Israeli evil. We impute to Palestinian leaders peaceful intentions even when they explicitly call for the violent extermination of Jews from the river to the sea. We cannot allow our readers to gain the impression that the mainstream Palestinian position sees violence against Jews as inherently legitimate, and that the exterminationist rhetoric even in non-Hamas Palestinian media and school curricula means anything.
That would be wrongthink. There will be no wrongthink in the news section of The New York Times.
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Time to debunk the media’s anti-Israel narrative: You have blood on your hands
Opinion: The only way to end the all-pervasive anti-Israel bias in so much of the media is to shake their underlying narrative, which forms part of the greatest slur campaign in history
Col. Richard Kemp |2023-10-22 | https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bjqi11m7ma
Much of Western media has blood on its hands. Following the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, many news outlets have been acting as willing tools of the genocidal terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip that perpetrated it. This is neither new nor unpredictable. An anti-Zionist narrative has for many years displaced media objectivity in every conflict involving Israel.
The strategic objective of Hamas’s attacks is to incite international condemnation of Israel by compelling it to take military action in which Gaza civilians will inevitably be killed despite unparalleled IDF measures to prevent it. Whenever this happens, like Pavlov’s dogs a chorus of reporters, tame analysts and newscasters immediately appear on the airwaves to accuse Israel of war crimes. Such accusations are loudly echoed in universities, human rights groups and international bodies. Exactly as Hamas intended.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration following reports of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Rabat, Morocco, April 18, 2023
(Photo: AP Photo)
That in turn encourages Hamas to do the same thing again and again and is the real “cycle of violence” that many journalists love to accuse others of but are in fact themselves active participants.
When Donnison retweeted a photo of a girl from Syria, as Palestinian
A few days ago, an explosion occurred in the parking lot at Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip. No one outside Gaza knew what had caused it. Immediately, the Hamas disinformation machine swung into action, accusing Israel of attacking the hospital and causing hundreds of casualties. Across the world, media parroted their accusations without question or challenge.
Pro-Israel rally outside BBC studios, in London, October 14, 2023
(Photo: Carl Court / GettyImages)
One of the worst offenders was the BBC, by far the most influential media organization in the UK, and with one of the largest audiences internationally. It is regarded by many as the most authoritative and impartial news organization in the world and has been seen as a beacon of truth going back to the Second World War.
“Hundreds killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital — Palestinian officials,” was the BBC headline. The next day, the British Financial Times splashed with: “Gaza Health Ministry says hundreds killed in Israeli air strike on hospital”. Across the Atlantic, the New York Times, among others, reported the Al Alhi incident in similarly false terms.
BBC reporter John Donnison told viewers: “It is hard to see what else this could be really given the size of the explosion other than an Israeli air strike or several air strikes.” Well, if he was incapable of comprehending the other obvious possibility — a terrorist rocket falling short, which it turned out to be — then perhaps he should have restrained himself from venturing any opinion at all.
Donnison has a track record. During an earlier Gaza conflict in 2012, he retweeted a picture of a young girl lying in hospital with bloodied clothes, presented as a casualty of Israeli strikes in Gaza. In fact, it was a photograph from Syria.
Terrorists attacking Israel are always “militants”
He is far from alone. Six BBC Arabic language journalists “liked” X.com postings praising the 7th October attacks, with one reporter celebrating the slaughter as a “morning of hope.” And back in 2009, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, Jeremy Bowen, now World Editor, was censured by the BBC’s editorial standards body over complaints of impartiality and inaccuracy in his reporting on Israel. In 2004, after complaints about anti-Israel bias at the corporation, the BBC commissioned its own investigation which resulted in the 20,000-word Balen Report. Since it was written, the BBC has spent more than $425,000 in legal fees to contest demands that it should be published. It remains under wraps nearly 20 years later.
Even after the 7th October massacre, the BBC still refuses to call Hamas what everybody else knows they are: “terrorists”. Instead, terrorists attacking Israel are always referred to as “militants”. Meanwhile, the BBC are happy to brand as terrorists the 9/11 attackers, the London suicide bombers in 2005 and the 2017 Manchester Arena bombers. And despite digging their heels in against complaints over their stance on Hamas, the BBC described a shooting in Brussels last week as a “terrorist attack”.
BBC studios covered in red paint in protest of coverage of Israel-Hamas war, in London, October 14, 2023
(Photo: Reuters / Susannah Ireland)
The same deliberate mischaracterisation of terrorists attacking Israelis is shared on the UK’s Sky News, who have also referred to Hamas as a “political organization”. This is much more than mere semantics: it can only reflect these media outlets’ real view of Hamas and their cause.
Wider concerns about the BBC help shed light on what lies behind their anti-Israel bias. In 2021, the Simon Wiesenthal Center rated the corporation as number three on its annual “Global Antisemitism Top Ten”. Iran was number one with Hamas in second place.
Jewish students at colleges – physically attacked
One example of the BBC’s alleged antisemitism cited by Wiesenthal was their reporting of an attack on a bus containing Jewish teenagers in London’s Oxford Street as they celebrated Hanukkah. Rabbi Mervin Hier, the center’s chief, said: “The BBC falsely reported that a victim on the bus used an anti-Muslim slur”. The BBC had misinterpreted the words of a distressed Jewish man speaking in Hebrew appealing for help. Again, they instinctively leapt to the wrong conclusion, but the one that fitted their narrative.
Discussing the Al Alhi hospital incident with a British reporter, I was told the accusation against Israel was made because it was “a fast-moving news situation”, and that corrections were published by many papers and broadcasters as the situation became clearer. But “clarification” usually meant substituting the false assertions against Israel with reports that “both sides traded blame”. As though there can be any equivalence between a proscribed terrorist murder gang and the official statements of democratically accountable armed forces.
I got no answer from the reporter on why Hamas statements were automatically given immediate credence, including the grossly exaggerated casualty figures churned out by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry. When media did correct their fake news it was too late and their stories had already been eagerly recycled, including by politicians such as Canada’s Justin Trudeau and former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as human rights organizations like Amnesty International, well known for their anti-Israel bias.
Aftermath of Al Ahli Hospital blast, in Gaza City, October 18, 2023
(Photo: AP / Abed Khaled)
Such stories are also seized on in the streets, leading to mass protests, violence and even terrorism. Three days after media accused the IDF of the Al Ahli incident, the Daily Telegraph reported that a terrorist attack occurred in Britain; when arrested the perpetrator told police he had done it for “Palestine”. No further details have yet been published, supposedly for legal reasons.
In the last few days, Jewish students at colleges in the U.S. and UK have been set on and physically attacked as a result of disinformation spread by the media, which stokes and inflames pre-existing anti-Zionist movements so rife on many university campuses. Police in London report a 1,353% increase in antisemitic offences this month compared to the same period last year.
During a Sky News interview a few years ago, I contested the standard falsehoods about illegal occupation, illegal settlements and the old trope of “Israeli apartheid”. Afterwards, a veteran Sky Middle East correspondent told me privately that he agreed with me. I asked him why, then, did his reporting always reflect the opposite perspective? He told me if it did not he would be fired.
This sums up the intractable problem that dominates the editorial policies of the BBC, Sky and so much of U.S. and European media. That is the lie that Israel is an illegitimate state that deliberately oppresses innocent, peace-loving Palestinians whose land has been stolen. They may not say as much publicly, but the dominant view, even after such horrific attacks as 7th October, is that the Israelis had it coming, or at least have a major share in the blame.
Colonel Richard Kemp
(Photo: Courtesy)
The flimsy mask seemed to slip last week when Sky News journalist Kay Burley claimed the head of the Palestinian Authority mission to the UK had said Israel “had it coming”, a remark he did not make.
Perhaps a case of projection of her own views and so many of her media colleagues? The only way to end the all-pervasive anti-Israel bias in so much of the media is to shake their underlying narrative, which forms part of the greatest slur campaign in history. And how, exactly, do you do that?
Colonel Richard Kemp is a former UK Armed Forces commander
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Unmasked: The Pro-Hamas ‘Sources’ Used by International Media
The Associated Press was recently exposed over its long-running usage of the unreliable eyewitness accounts of the director of Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital, who was unmasked as an associate of recently-eliminated Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh. Dr….
Rachel O’Donoghue 19August2024 https://honestreporting.com/unmasked-the-pro-hamas-sources-used-by-international-media/
The Associated Press was recently exposed over its long-running usage of the unreliable eyewitness accounts of the director of Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital, who was unmasked as an associate of recently-eliminated Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh.
Dr. Fadel Naim, whose Facebook page is awash with violent and antisemitic rhetoric, was also revealed as a source of information about the conflict that was later found to be false.
The issue of untrustworthy sources extends beyond the Associated Press and its reliance on Naim. We can now reveal that numerous other leading news organizations have also published information from questionable sources in Gaza. These individuals, often cloaked in professional titles that lend them a veneer of credibility, have been found, like Naim, to support violent terror activities.
The ‘Journalist’ Documenting Gaza
In addition to the Gaza freelance journalists who HonestReporting revealed had invaded Israel on October 7 and were paid by news outlets for the documentation of their crimes, other self-described journalists in Gaza have played a key role in providing eyewitness accounts to high-profile news outlets.
One such figure is Plestia Alaqad, an “aspiring journalist” who has been featured in various media outlets, including the Washington Post and recent opinion editorials in The Guardian. Despite her portrayal as a credible source, Alaqad and others like her have been found to disseminate misleading information that aligns with Hamas propaganda.
In one recent Guardian piece, Alaqad repeated the false claim that a Lancet “study” stated that up to 186,000 people could be dead in Gaza, a figure that actually came from a letter to the journal and was discredited.<
Alaqad has also been known to spread Hamas propaganda and anti-Israel libels, including claims of genocide and the false assertion that went unchallenged during a BBC interview that Israel killed 1,000 Palestinians in a “massacre” at the Al-Ahli Hospital—an explosion that was later determined to have been caused by an errant Islamic Jihad rocket.
Yet, this is the individual that reputable media outlets, including the Washington Post, Guardian and BBC, turn to for “expert” testimony. They present her as a journalist, lending her a veneer of respectability, while ignoring the fact that she consistently promotes narratives that are not just misleading but dangerous.
In a similar case, BBC Verify, the team responsible for fact-checking news events, relied on the testimony of Mahmoud Awadeyah, a journalist reportedly affiliated with an Iranian news outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guards Corps. Awadeyah, who has openly praised terrorist attacks against Israelis, was cited by the BBC to support claims that Israel deliberately targeted civilians during an aid convoy incident in Gaza.
Heartwrenching Civilian Stories
Numerous news outlets have not only relied on questionable figures like Plestia Alaqad but have also turned to other so-called eyewitnesses whose credibility has been undermined by disturbing online postings.
Dunia Abu Rahma, a 22-year-old architecture student from Gaza, for example, appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper and NBC News, where she painted a heart-wrenching picture of life in Gaza, emphasizing her desire for peace and a normal life. “All I want them to know is that there are civilians, people who wish to live a normal, peaceful life,” she told Anderson Cooper, framing herself as an innocent bystander hoping for peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.
However, Abu Rahma’s social media history tells a very different story. HonestReporting uncovered numerous posts where she celebrated the October 7 Hamas massacre, glorified violence against Israelis, and expressed antisemitic views. On the day of the attack, she tweeted with apparent glee about the invasion of Israeli communities, even expressing a desire to participate in the violence. In another instance, she lamented that Adolf Hitler did not finish his Holocaust of Jews.
Hatred Masked by ‘Advocacy’
HonestReporting has also found examples of media outlets relying on individuals from charitable organizations or activists whose online presence reveals a pattern of promoting extremist views or spreading misinformation.
The BBC cited a central Gaza-based “advocacy officer” for a UK charity, Tarneen Hammad, in a recent piece that cited her determination to work for “justice and peace.”
BBC-Tarneen Hammad
Yet, shortly after the October 7 attack, Hammad was tweeting support for the horrific massacre.
Tarneen Hammad-tweet-8October2023
Former Amnesty activist Hind Khoudary was used by the BBC, The Washington Post, Associated Press, and The Independent, as a source in the Strip before she was outed as a Hamas collaborator whose information led to the arrest of Palestinian peace activists. In 2020, she informed on Gazans who participated in a peace dialogue with Israelis, resulting in their imprisonment on charges of “treason.”
Amnesty activist Hind Khoudary
The international media’s reliance on testimony from eyewitnesses in Gaza is expected. However, it is unacceptable to present as credible journalists, medical workers, activists, or bystanders those who, in some cases, have a history of disseminating violent, pro-terror rhetoric.
These sources, with their troubling views, are shaping Western audiences’ understanding of the conflict. Media outlets are failing in their most basic duty to perform due diligence by not properly vetting the individuals they rely on for information.
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Fact-Checking Website Snopes Shills For Hamas & Debates Beheaded Babies in Sickening ‘Debunking’ Articles
Snopes is one of the most well-known “fact-checker” websites worldwide, regularly posting articles debunking online conspiracy theories, dispelling media misinformation and separating satire from serious news. Its website boasts of the stringent process its editorial…
Rachel O’Donoghue October 23, 2023 https://honestreporting.com/fact-checking-website-snopes-shills-for-hamas-debates-beheaded-babies-in-sickening-debunking-articles/
Snopes is one of the most well-known “fact-checker” websites worldwide, regularly posting articles debunking online conspiracy theories, dispelling media misinformation and separating satire from serious news.
Its website boasts of the stringent process its editorial team undertakes to ensure the veracity of information, including contacting primary sources, finding experts who have relevant expertise in the subject at hand, and using non-partisan information and data sources to inform its pieces.
However, since the outbreak of the October 7 war against Israel, Snopes has been producing some dubious content that requires some fact-checking of its own.
Here are just a few examples of Snopes’ problematic fact-checking on the Israel-Hamas war:
Sneaky Editing on Gaza Hospital Blast
The explosion at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital sparked a flurry of media misinformation and social media disinformation.
From the New York Times headline that an “Israeli airstrike” was responsible for “killing 500″ to the BBC’s correspondent Jon Donnison confidently announcing live on-air that he found it “hard to see” who else could be responsible other than the IDF, the lie that Israel bombed a civilian hospital spread like wildfire.
But then the truth emerged. The Israeli military released satellite imagery, videos of the blast, and tapped phone recordings that proved it was a misfired rocket shot by Islamic Jihad that was responsible.
What’s more, further evidence came out that the rocket did not directly hit the hospital and that nowhere near 500 people died.
On October 19, two days after the explosion, Snopes published an article asking, “Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate?” written by former Al Jazeera journalist Nur Ibrahim.
In addition to relying on widely discredited reporting on the events from the New York Times for its “fact-checking,” the article also fails to acknowledge the many pieces of evidence released by Israel that exonerate itself, as well as the United States’ own findings that Islamic Jihad was responsible.
Perhaps owing to her employment history, Ibrahim uses a statement given to Al Jazeera without noting the outlet is a state-run propaganda arm of the Qatari government and fails to note that the “unnamed senior health official in Gaza” who spoke to Al Jazeera would be affiliated with Hamas, which controls the Gazan health authorities.
It is also clear that Snopes did some sneaky editing of the article where it had initially made errors.
An original version of the piece states unequivocally that “500 people were killed” which was later amended to read “hundreds of people” even though that figure is still in dispute.
Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-old version.
Did Israel Warn Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza to Evacuate-new version.
Fact-Finding Over Beheaded Babies
One of the most disgusting “debates” that has taken place during the war is whether Hamas terrorists beheaded babies or shot them during their murderous onslaught in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7.
Also written by Nur Ibrahim, the Snopes article allegedly debunking the claim flippantly describes the atrocity as a “viral rumor spread by news media, the US president, and so on.”
It also includes this disturbing paragraph: “As we looked into the claim, we found contradictory reports from journalists, Israeli army officials, and almost no independent corroborations of the alleged war crime, leading to concerns among fact-checkers that such a claim may be premature or unsubstantiated.”
This is a lie.
In addition to numerous eyewitness accounts, including from independent journalists who saw the aftermath of the massacre and photographic evidence, there is enough proof to say that babies were indeed beheaded during the Hamas rampage.
More importantly, Ibrahim’s insistence on calling it an “alleged war crime” is baffling. For, even if babies had not been beheaded, what Hamas did would have still amounted to a war crime — there is nothing “alleged” about the events of October 7.
Lastly, Ibrahim claims details of the massacre being released could lead to hatred toward Muslims, explaining that people should be “wary of claims that echo Islamophobic rhetoric, or statements that compare the violence in Kfar Aza to ‘ISIS-style’ killings — i.e., beheadings that have taken place in a different context and were committed by a different group” because they have the “potential to become dangerous propaganda.’
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-
BREAKING: Israeli official confirms two important details.
⭕ Babies were decapitated at Kibbutz Be’eri.
⭕ Women were raped next to the bodies of fellow festivalgoers at Re’im. They were “killed twice, first raped and then murdered,” the official said.
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-Israeli official confirms two important details
Shilling for the Iranian Ayatollah
Ibrahim acted as an apologist for another Islamist regime in an October 10 article that asked, “Did Iran Say It Will Hit Israel with Missile Strikes from Lebanon, Yemen and Iran if Attacked?”
According to the Snopes piece, the following claim that appeared in the Wall Street Journal remains unproven: “During the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, Iranian officials said that if Iran were attacked, it would respond with missile strikes on Israel from Lebanon, Yemen and Iran, and send Iranian fighters into Israel from Syria.”
Citing the fact the WSJ only cited one source for the threat, Ibrahim concluded Snopes “cannot independently verify whether such a threat was sanctioned by the Iranian state.”
But just days after the Snopes article was published, Iran effectively confirmed its threats when its foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the regime may take “preemptive action” against Israel via its proxies, which happen to be based in Lebanon and Yemen.
“Today, when we talk about the resistance in the region, it is not only Hezbollah, and we are witnessing the activities of various resistance groups in the region,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
Did Snopes update its article to reflect this? Nope.
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Media Rush To Defend Hamas Ministry Providing Skewed Data on Gaza Casualties
It was impossible not to notice a disturbing trend that took place last week, as respectable news outlets rushed to publish almost identical reports defending their only source of information on Gaza casualties: The Hamas-run…
Rinat Harash 29October2023
It was impossible not to notice a disturbing trend that took place last week, as respectable news outlets rushed to publish almost identical reports defending their only source of information on Gaza casualties: The Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Reuters, AP, The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine and The Washington Post included all or most of the following elements in their pieces: The release by the Hamas-run Ministry of a list of victims, flawed reasoning, attributions to the same problematic sources, and ridiculous attempts to claim that the Ministry was actually run by the PA, Hamas’ rival. This orchestrated pattern seemed like it carried the heavy footprints of an agenda-driven effort that journalists were all too happy to parrot.
Victims List and Logical Fallacy
All of the outlets mentioned above based their apologetic reports on the release of a list of Palestinian victims that the Hamas-run Health Ministry sent out after US President Joe Biden had questioned its reliability. The list — which was not published — reportedly included the names and identity numbers of 6,747 Palestinians who according to the Ministry had been killed in Israeli bombardments of the enclave.
But almost all outlets failed to notice or mention that the document included 471 victims from the blast at al-Ahli hospital, which according to analyses of several intelligence services was the fault of a misfired Palestinian missile and not an Israeli strike. And that number, which is still disputed, was modified from an earlier estimation of 500 fatalities falsely provided by the ministry in the immediate aftermath of the blast.
Related Reading: Gaza Hospital Explosion: The Evidence
But this is just one symptom of a deeper problem. When analyzing the reasoning behind these reports, a logical fallacy emerges. Here’s how AP makes its case:
How does the fact that other bodies rely on a sole source make it reliable? They simply don’t have any other choice.
So the argument fails. But it fails also because some of the bodies quoted as part of this equation — like the UN’s OCHA and Human Rights Watch — are problematic in their own right.
Agenda-driven Attributions
The main talking head in all of the reports is none other than Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch.
Yet no report mentions that Shakir is far from being impartial when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Shakir was forced to leave Israel in November 2019 after his work visa was not renewed due to his support of the controversial Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Both Reuters and AP also quote OCHA (the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) as a body whose reliance on the data provided by the Hamas-run Health Ministry is a testament to its accuracy.
But OCHA, as detailed by NGO Monitor, is a body that oversees funding for anti-Israeli NGOs, including some that engage in blatantly antisemitic activities and have ties to the PFLP, a proscribed terrorist organization.
AP also mentions Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra, who is described as a logistical genius:
While this may be true, al-Qidra is working for Hamas. As former Reuters bureau chief Luke Baker recently wrote on X/Twitter, “any health official stepping out of line and not giving the death tolls that Hamas wants reported to journalists risks serious consequences.”
HonestReporting-tweet-25October2023-
A former @Reuters Jerusalem bureau chief spells out the clear problems with the media coverage of Gazan casualty figures:
The numbers are supplied by Hamas and Hamas can’t be trusted.
HonestReporting-tweet-25October2023-The numbers are supplied by Hamas and Hamas can’t be trusted
Moreover, an Israeli think tank estimated in 2014 that al-Qidra was a former Hamas activist who has been affiliated with the terrorist movement since the 1990s.
It is no wonder, then, that several media outlets added a ridiculous argument to their case, defying reason and reality altogether: The Gaza-Health Ministry is actually not run by Hamas.
Denying Hamas’ Responsibility
Three media outlets — Reuters, AP and The New York Times — have made a special effort to distort reality by falsely claiming that the Gaza Health Ministry is supervised by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ rival which holds sway in the West Bank.
Here is Reuters’ version:
And AP’s:
And The New York Times:
Did these outlets forget the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007? Do they not know that a Gazan civil servant who doesn’t abide by Hamas’ dictates risks his or her life? Why are they parroting agenda-driven talking points without adding a shred of factual context? Their absurd description makes Gaza look like a pluralistic society in which the two rival Palestinian factions have reconciled.
Unfortunately, all these outlets know that Hamas is skewing the data. Their contradictory reports even say so:
So why are they dedicating entire pieces to defending this source of twisted information? Why can’t they just include a skeptical line in every relevant piece saying the tally by the Hamas-run Ministry cannot be independently verified? Why do they try to “counterbalance” any such caveat with a false doubt cast on Israel’s tally of its own victims, which is publicly available?
Why do they fail to accept that a terror group which can slaughter, rape and kidnap to achieve its goals can also, quite easily, just lie?
Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!
Photo Credit: DAWOOD NEMER/AFP via Getty Images
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Fake Numbers
HonestReporting-tweet-12February2024-Washington Post fake numbers
Hey, @washingtonpost, why is it ok for you to diminish the number of Israeli civilians killed (it was mainly civilians, not “many of them”) while failing to point out that the Palestinian figures are supplied by Hamas and do not differentiate between civilians and combatants?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/11/biden-netanyahu-closer-to-a-breach/
ReneJayeee-tweet-12February2024-no difference between civilians and combatants
As far as I’m concerned there is no difference between civilians and combatants–all are combatants having been radicalized by UNRWA from childhood to hate and murder Israelis. Its generational, since 1949. Their leadership considers them expendable and for use as human shields. It puts its babies and children in harm’s way for their propaganda value.
These are foreign concepts to the Western mind which doesn’t comprehend how the Palestinian Arabs are so radicalized that parents look forward to their children being needlessly martyred to equality needless killing.
HonestReporting-tweet-12February2024-Washington Post fake numbers
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Questionable Counting: Analysing the Death Toll from the Hamas-Run Ministry of Health in Gaza
13th December 2024
Andrew Fox https://henryjacksonsociety.org/publications/questionable-counting/
On 7 October 2023, Hamas militants launched a war on Israel. After Israel launched its military response, media outlets around the world began to report on death tolls in Gaza, frequently citing numbers from the ‘Gaza Ministry of Health’ as though it was a fully independent, unbiased source.
In reality, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is under the full control of Hamas. It was established by Hamas in 2007 after it took full control of the Gaza Strip following its violent clashes with the Fatah faction of the Palestinian Authority. Since then, Hamas has managed governmental functions in Gaza, including health care services through the MoH.
Given that Hamas is a direct party to the conflict, this creates an obvious conflict of interest.
These MoH figures have been repeatedly cited by major news organisations throughout this conflict. For example, an April 2024 headline in The Observer stated: ‘Gaza death toll passes 34,000 as Israel and Iran missile strikes grab global attention’. In August 2024, this toll passing 40,000 was the focal point of much of the day’s BBC News coverage, as catalogued by the Cohen report of September 2024.
The reporting of these figures has been analysed by a group of international scholars, who meticulously analysed reports of Gaza war fatalities from February 2024 through May 2024. They examined 1,378 articles from major English-language newspapers and media outlets, specifically The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, CNN, the BBC, Reuters, The Associated Press and the Australian ABC.
Over that four-month period, 84% of those publications failed to make the critical distinction in total numbers between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.
Only 5% of the surveyed media organisations cited numbers released by the Israeli authorities, while 98% cited fatality figures provided by the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
In 19% of media reports examined, numbers provided by Hamas-run institutions were used without citing any source, thereby suggesting those figures were undisputed.
Furthermore, fewer than one in every 50 articles mentioned that the figures provided by the MoH were unverifiable or controversial. Strikingly, the Israeli statistics had their credibility questioned in half of the few articles that incorporated them.
This report raises serious concerns that the Gaza MoH figures have been overstated. The data behind their figures contains natural deaths, deaths from before this conflict began and deaths of those killed by Hamas itself; it contains no mention of Hamas combatant fatalities; and it overstates the number of women and children killed.
Serious errors have been discovered on the Ministry’s lists of fatalities. These errors include a 22-year-old registered as a four-year-old, a 31-year-old registered as a one-year-old and several men with male first names registered as female – artificially increasing the numbers of women and children reported killed. The lists also include people who died before the war and people who died from attacks by Hamas rather than the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
They likely include around 5,000 natural deaths per year, including cancer patients who were listed by the Ministry for hospital treatment after they had already appeared on fatality lists. Hamas also claimed hundreds of fatalities from attacks which turned out to be misfired rocket launches by Gaza factions.
It is indisputable that natural deaths which occur in times of peace would also occur during a war. The pre-war rate of natural deaths in Gaza is known from relevant mortality data presented by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, based in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Media reports claiming totals killed in Gaza by IDF action have not verified the figures cited and fail to account for the deaths of upwards of 17,000 Hamas and affiliated combatants as part of that toll.
This report also shows that the methodology of data collection by the Ministry of Health is not scientifically valid, and that its reports from previous conflicts have also concealed combatant deaths.
This fatality analysis recognises the immense toll of the war on Palestinians in Gaza. Even as fatalities are discussed as quantifiable numbers, it is important to remember that innocent people are suffering, and each number represents a human life. Many of those lives were innocent people caught in the middle of a brutal war started by Hamas on 7 October. The suffering, death and destruction are very real for actual human beings.
An understanding of the Gaza fatality data is critical in understanding the conduct of the war by the Israel Defense Forces and the State of Israel’s leadership. International humanitarian law does not require that no harm happen to civilians. Rather, it demands that parties to war use their best efforts to mitigate harm to civilians. All parties to a war are required to adhere to certain rules of war. As the United Nations frequently posits: “even war has rules”. When one party in a war disregards the rules, the consequences do not convict the other party or prevent them from prosecuting the war.
Global media outlets have, understandably, focused on the number of deaths in Gaza as a lens of critique of Israeli operations. Many media outlets give the proviso that the Gaza Ministry of Health is Hamas-run, but few give the same level of attention to IDF reports of the numbers of fighters killed as part of the overall Israeli fatality total. Nor do media outlets give the methodology, reporting or content of the lists of names the scrutiny they deserve.
A definitive figure of fatalities is impossible, due to the lack of transparency from the MoH, a general lack of access to the Palestinian Population Registry and the challenges of counting militants killed in combat. However, this report finds numerous errors that cannot be explained by a lack of access to the Ministry of Health computer network that went offline in November 2023.
We have identified distortion of statistics, misreporting of natural deaths, deaths from before the war started and a high likelihood of combatant deaths being included on the list. This report also challenges the assumption that MoH fatality reports from previous conflicts are reliable and reveals evidence of efforts to hide militant fatalities. We also identify critical differences in the demographic breakdowns reported by the MoH and the Hamas Government Media Office.
Read the Full Report Here
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Not Reported
Hillel Fuld-tweet-11April2024-Not Reported
Just thought I’d let you know that the chances of you hearing about this in the press are zero.
So here, a nice Palestinian woman just approached soldiers and when they picked up on suspicious behavior and stopped her, this is what they found on her. After interrogation, she admitted she was there to commit a terrorist attack.
Ya know, because today is a good day to kill Jews, right? Do they ever have a day that’s NOT a good day to kill Jews?
The only chances you’ll hear about this is if some “journalist” reports that “IDF soldiers arrested an innocent Palestinian woman.”
But you also don’t hear about the constant Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
You don’t hear about the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who were displaced from their homes in this war.
You won’t hear about the rocks that Palestinian kids throw at Israeli cars daily, and by rocks, I mean boulders.
You won’t hear about the daily Palestinian attempts to run civilians over with their car.
You won’t hear about the mass marches in support of Hamas throughout Palestinian towns and villages.
Listen, I can go on. You won’t hear about any of that. You’ll only hear about it if Israel retaliates.
Dead Jews don’t get clicks.
Happy to be your source of truthful information because truth is a novelty nowadays.
You’re welcome.
The Palestinian culture is rotten to the core and they are indoctrinated from age zero.
This is a population, as politically incorrect as it may be to say, that needs to be uprooted the same way Nazi Germany was.
If that statement offends you, I’d go searching for your moral compass.
Hamas and its supporters = Modern day Nazis.
Hillel Fuld-tweet-11April2024-Not Reported
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The Journalists are the Terrorists
Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault
AP, Reuters, NY Times deny any prior knowledge, say their job is to cover news; CNN suspends ties with freelancer; Israel warns those present could be held accountable for crimes
By Stuart Winer 9November2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-demands-clarification-from-global-media-over-photographers-during-hamas-assault/
Palestinians from the Gaza Strip enter Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Oct. 7, 2023, amid a massive assault by the Hamas terror group. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)
Israel on Thursday demanded that international media outlets explain the circumstances under which photographers in their pay were present at the scene of the surprise October 7 assault by the Hamas terror group on southern Israel, and warned they could be held complicit in the crimes.
The move came after the pro-Israel watchdog group Honest Reporting published a report Wednesday showing that photographers used by The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, and CNN provided images taken as the attack was ongoing from the border area and including from inside Israel — intimating they may have had advance knowledge of the assault.
The report also raised questions about the relationship between some of the photographers and the Hamas terror group that rules Gaza.
AP, Reuters and The New York Times all denied having any prior knowledge of the attack and reiterated that their role is to cover breaking news events. CNN said it had cut ties with one of the photographers named in the report even though it had no reason to doubt the “journalistic accuracy” of his work.
The National Information System, a department of the Prime Minister’s Office, said in a statement Thursday that it “takes very seriously the phenomenon of journalists working with international media joining [with attackers] to cover the brutal massacres by Hamas terrorists on Saturday 10/7/2023 in the communities surrounding Gaza.”
It said the Government Press Office “issued an urgent letter to the heads of the media systems where these photographers are employed, and asked for clarification on the matter.”
Still, without receiving answers, it concluded that: “These media people are complicit in crimes against humanity.”
“This is a violation of the rules of professional ethics,” the statement said. “The National Information System demands that immediate action be taken.”
Gazans celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the broken Israel-Gaza border fence, east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi also sent a letter to The New York Times asserting that photographers and others at the paper had prior knowledge of the attack and urging the paper to investigate.
“I write to you with deep concern regarding recent reports about your employees’ alleged involvement in the tragic events in southern Israel,” Karhi wrote. “It has come to our attention that certain individuals within your organization, including photographers and others, had prior knowledge of these horrific actions and may have maintained a troubling connection with the perpetrators.”
“I urgently request a thorough investigation into this matter,” Karhi wrote. “The gravity of the situation demands a swift and thorough response.”
The New York Times rejected the accusations, saying regarding photographer Yousef Masoud that “There is no evidence for Honest Reporting’s insinuations.”
While noting Masoud was not working for the paper on the day of the attack itself, the paper added: “Our review of his work shows that he was doing what photojournalists always do during major news events, documenting the tragedy as it unfolded.”
It added that freelance photojournalists’ jobs “often require them to rush into danger to provide first-hand witness accounts and to document important news.”
Minister Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet set up to oversee the conflict, said in a post to his X (formerly Twitter) feed: “Journalists found to have known about the massacre – and still chose to stand as idle bystanders while children were slaughtered – are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such.”
On October 7, Hamas led over 3,000 terrorists who burst through the Gaza Strip border and rampaged murderously through southern Israel. The gunmen overran communities, slaughtering some 1,400 people, the vast majority of them civilians in their homes or at a massive outdoor music festival. At least 240 people were taken hostage and dragged into Gaza. Hundreds of cases of brutality and abuse were recorded.
Many of the attackers recorded their acts on body cameras or other video equipment and the images were published by Hamas.
The onslaught, which began at around 6:30 a.m., came under the cover of thousands of rockets fired at Israel. It was reportedly planned under great secrecy with only senior Hamas commanders being aware of the full scale and scope of the attack before it went ahead.
In its report, Honest Reporting asked: “Is it conceivable to assume that ‘journalists’ just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan?”
“Some of [the Hamas terrorists’] atrocities were captured by Gaza-based photojournalists working for The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies whose early morning presence at the breached border raises serious ethical questions,” it wrote.
The website listed four photojournalists whose names appear in Associated Press pictures from the Israel-Gaza border area on the day of the attack: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.
Eslaiah, it said, crossed the border into Israel and took pictures of a burning IDF tank. He also photographed attackers entering Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where dozens of civilians were massacred. The report said that in now-removed tweets posted to his X feed, Eslaiah was seen in front of the tank but not wearing a press vest that would identify him as a member of the media.
A photo has also emerged online of Eslaiah being kissed by Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. It is not clear when the photo was taken, but it seems to have been prior to the October 7 attack.
HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-In the hours following our expose
In the hours following our expose, new material is still coming to light concerning Gazan freelance journalist Hassan Eslaiah whom both AP & CNN used on Oct. 7.
Here he is pictured with Hamas leader and mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, Yahya Sinwar.
HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-And here is footage of Eslaiah
And here is footage of Eslaiah after he crossed into Israel and took photos of a burning Israeli tank. He then captured infiltrators entering Kibbutz Kfar Azza.
Note that he is not identifiable as a member of the press. But AP & CNN deemed it acceptable to use his services.
HonestReporting-tweet-8November2023-In the hours following our expose
Honest Reporting said Masoud also took pictures of a destroyed tank.
Mahmud and Ali both took pictures of people being abducted from Israel into Gaza, the report said.
The names of several of the photographers have since been removed from images of the attacks in the AP database, the watchdog said. (At time of writing, Eslaiah’s credit had indeed been removed in AP’s database from the photo at the top of this article and from other photographs he took on October 7.)
Reuters published images from two photographers, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa and Yasser Qudih. Both men apparently crossed into Israel from Gaza to photograph a burning tank, according to the report.
“Even if they didn’t know the exact details of what was going to happen, once it unfolded did they not realize they were breaching a border? And if so, did they notify the news agencies? Some sort of communication was undoubtedly necessary — before, after or during the attack — in order to get the photos published,” the watchdog asked.
“Either way, when international news agencies decide to pay for material that has been captured under such problematic circumstances, their standards may be questioned and their audience deserves to know about it. And if their people on the ground actively or passively collaborated with Hamas to get the shots, they should be called out to redefine the border between journalism and barbarism.”
Palestinians celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis, October 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Hassan Eslaiah)
Israel’s Channel 12 stated on Thursday, without attribution, that these photographers “were not there at 6:30 in the morning” when the border fence was breached in multiple locations, “and apparently not in the first wave after the breach.”
The arguments are over “the second wave and a little after that, at around 8 in the morning,” the TV report said.
In a response to the Ynet outlet, CNN said it has stopped working with Eslaiah.
“We are aware of the article and photo concerning Hassan Eslaiah, a freelance photojournalist who has worked with a number of international and Israeli outlets. While we have not at this time found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us, we have decided to suspend all ties with him,” CNN said.
The Associated Press said in a statement that it “had no knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened. The role of the AP is to gather information on breaking news events around the world, wherever they happen, even when those events are horrific and cause mass casualties.”
“AP uses images taken by freelancers around the world, including in Gaza,” it said.
The Reuters news agency also denied having any prior knowledge of the assault.
Update: Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-Notice the AP reporter
AP “journalists” who entered Israel on October 7 together with the Palestinian terrorists: Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali.
They documented some of the kidnappings. Did these “journalists” know of the plan ahead of time?
Ali Mahmud and Hatem Ali shot pictures of the abductions of Israelis into Gaza. Mahmud also captured the pickup truck carrying the body of Shani Louk.
Great expose—- https://honestreporting.com/photographers-without-borders-ap-reuters-pictures-of-hamas-atrocities-raise-ethical-questions/
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Notice how the AP “reporter” “reported” the nude body of Shani Louk as an “Israeli soldier” —
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Of course all of this explains why AP was renting office space from Hamas in the first place.
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
🚨 Obama’s former spokesperson talked to the people who were in the AP/Hamas building in Gaza and it turns out that AP lied, people in that building knew they were sharing office space with Hamas.
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-
Dovi Safier-tweet-8November2023-
I guess I wasn’t the only one wondering why the @AP had photographers embedded with the terrorists on 10/7?
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-Notice the AP reporter
Marina Medvin-tweet-8November2023-AP had photographers embedded with the terrorists
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Crossing the lines of integrity with a Hamas-praising photojournalist – analysis
‘Post’ revelations show Hassan Eslaiah likely knew about the planned massacre ahead of time and expressed support as he watched the murders
By MAAYAN JAFFE-HOFFMAN
11NOVEMBER2023 Updated:12NOVEMBER2023 https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/gaza-news/article-772827
A photograph taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah. (photo credit: Screenshots from Telegram)
CNN hired a photojournalist who just three days before posted videos and photos of himself inside Israel during the Hamas massacre, including with an Israeli tank and a room of bloody, dead bodies.
Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah crossed into Israel on October 7 to document the Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis. His photos from the scene appeared on several international news outlets, including The Associated Press, the Jerusalem-based watchdog HonestReporting revealed last week.
The watchdog’s story sparked a series of questions and international outcry, ultimately leading to his being let go from the two institutions.
However, CNN said in a statement last week that their working relationship with the freelancer began after the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, on October 10. It also noted that despite its decision to stop working with Eslaiah, it did not have “any reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work he has done for us,” as reported by Ynet and confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.
Images taken by Gaza photojournalist Hassan Eslaiah, who worked for both AP and CNN, of the Hamas massacre on October 7. (credit: Screenshots from Telegram)
The Post confirmed that Eslaiah was not fired for his work on the 7th but for a separate but related concern.
It was unclear if CNN knew about Eslaiah’s posts on Telegram before offering him work.
CNN told the Post it will not be commenting further on the matter.
Crossing the line: Did a photojournalist support the massacre of Israelis?
The issue goes beyond issues of accuracy or bias but is more about the lines that get crossed when a photojournalist appears to act with delight in response to witnessing the killing of civilians, while working for a major news outlet.
HonestReporting showed a screenshot of a now-removed post of the photojournalist on X standing in front of the Israeli tank without a press vest or helmet. The tweet read, “Live from inside the Gaza Strip settlements.” A similar image still appears on his Telegram page.
HonestReporting also published a separate image from well before the massacre showing Eslaiah buddying up with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
However, by scrolling through Eslaiah’s personal Telegram channel, the Post has found that Eslaiah posted much more than a tank on the 7th, including items that indicate that not only did he likely know about the planned massacre before it began at around 6:30 a.m., but that he supported the deaths of the innocent Israelis he watched being murdered.
Eslaiah’s first post on October 7 was at 5:59 a.m.: “We wake up to the great gifts of God,” he posted, according to a translation by ChatGPT. “The spirit has returned, and our blessings have increased.”
Within half an hour, he is posting about the rockets being launched at Israel and the sounds of the Iron Dome intercepting them over Khan Yunis. Then, between 6:55 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., he posts multiple variations: “To follow the latest news moment by moment, follow me on my media platforms.”
At 8:29 a.m., he appears “live from inside the settlements near the Gaza Strip” with a picture of a burning tank in the background.
At 8:36 a.m., after witnessing nearly 10 minutes of the massacre, he posts images from the scene with a verse from the Koran: “ And on that day, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah” and the hashtag “#AqsaFlood.”
At 9:25 a.m., the most gruesome of posts is revealed: a video with his watermark: “Filmed by Hassan Eslaiah” in the center, depicting a room full of dead, bloody bodies.
This particular video does not appear to have been published anywhere else. In the background, you hear a calm voice that sounds like his from other videos, and is spoken in his Arabic dialect, stating the following: “[Animal] carcasses, carcasses. God is great. This is the path to Jerusalem.”
There is another video at 9:49 a.m. of his standing in front of burning Jewish homes as terrorists run by. And a final video one minute later of his leaving Israel on the back of someone’s motorbike.
Is this the kind of photojournalist that major news outlets should be hiring? What kind of vetting process should be required before hiring someone in a foreign country?
Perhaps these are the questions that all international outlets should now be asking themselves.
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Terrorist as journalists
Israel Advocacy Movement-tweet-21January2024-Terrorist as journalists
The media falsely claims that more journalists have been killed in Gaza than in any conflict since WWII.
This is a lie… watch as we unmask the so-called journalists and expose how 75% of them aren’t who the media portrays them to be.
Israel Advocacy Movement-tweet-21January2024-Terrorist as journalists
Michael Elgort-tweet-11February2024-Muhammad Washah Hamas-Al Jazeera journalist
A laptop that belonged to Muhammad Washah, an @AlJazeera journalist, was recovered by @IDF in the northern Gaza Strip. It has pics proving he also serves as a senior Hamas military operative in the anti-tank missile system and worked in the R&D of aerial weapons News via @N12News
Michael Elgort-tweet-11February2024-Muhammad Washah Hamas-Al Jazeera journalist
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The Associated Press-POYIPICS Winner-Hamas-journalist 2024! Her name is SHANI LOUK
The Persian Jewess-tweet-28March2024-Her name is SHANI LOUK
Her name is SHANI LOUK.
🔥She was RAPED.
Raped so brutally her legs were broken and bent backwards from her body
🔥She was MURDERED.
Her murderers paraded her dead body through Gaza and defiled it.
🔥She was DECAPITATED.
Her body has yet to be recovered, only a piece of her skull was found.
@AP and POYIPICS you’re an absolute disgrace.
The Persian Jewess-tweet-28March2024-Her name is SHANI LOUK
The Associated Press-POYIPICS Winner-Hamas-journalist 2024
The Persian Jewess-tweet-4April2024-And the world is silent
A Heartbreaking Message from Nicole Louk Naccache, Shani Louk’s Grandmother:
“Three men shouting “Allah and Akbar.” One vile photograph and my crushed granddaughter.
And the world is silent.
My dead granddaughter stars in a photograph that won a prestigious photography competition.
And the world is silent!!!
The body of my granddaughter, after she was brutally murdered and taken to Gaza as a sign of victory, is displayed for all to see.
And the world is silent!!!!
My granddaughter’s body, after the vile murderers broke her bones so she could get into the back of the van, this body that was only a few hours ago so full of life, love, and light. Tossed as a victory trophy for terrorists and vile photographers.
And the world is silent!!!!
My beautiful dead granddaughter, surrounded by three bloodthirsty murderers. This is the heroic photo that was chosen first in a prestigious photography competition.
And the world is silent.
And I’m screaming, how could you??
And when in the history of photography did the photo of a body win a prize?
And how much more pain can we contain?
And the world is silent.
And the world is silent.”
#AntizionismIsAntisemitism
#StandWithIsrael
The Persian Jewess-tweet-4April2024-And the world is silent
Im Tirtzu-tweet-19May2024-Shani Louk’s funeral
Shani Louk’s funeral 💔
Am Israel is showing love
Im Tirtzu-tweet-19May2024-Shani Louk’s funeral
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All of Shani Louk’s Hamas Terrorist Eliminated
Nazi Hunters-tweet-14July2025-All of Shani Louk’s Hamas Terrorist Eliminated
This photo is a reminder of two things: the barbaric Islamonazis we’re up against—and that fucking around with Jews is no longer a consequence-free activity.
ONE. BY. ONE. 💥
Nazi Hunters-tweet-14July2025-All of Shani Louk’s Hamas Terrorist Eliminated
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The RJI’s Pictures of the Year award spits on Shani Louk’s grave
HonestReporting-tweet-9April2024-the RJI’s Pictures of the Year award spits on Shani Louk’s grave
The glaring, ethical issue behind the RJI’s Pictures of the Year award is that the photojournalists who photographed Shani Louk’s lifeless body, explicitly or implicitly, were doing so with Hamas’ consent.
HonestReporting-tweet-9April2024-the RJI’s Pictures of the Year award spits on Shani Louk’s grave
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NBC journalist arrested for inciting terrorism
Jerusalem police have arrested a journalist employed by NBC for posts lauding the Hamas invasion of Israel.
Israel National News
18November2023 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380527
Maariv reports that Mirvat al-Azzeh, a 45-year-old journalist who works for NBC, was arrested on Thursday on suspicions of inciting terror and identifying with a terrorist organization. The arrest comes after she published posts on Facebook commenting on the Hamas invasion of Israel
Police claim that she arrived at the station “ready to be arrested,” without her mobile phone and with the telephone numbers written on her leg. During her investigation, she admitted to the deeds ascribed to her. A representative of the police summarized the interrogation at the court hearing Friday in Jerusalem: “This is a serious crime during a declared war, during which the defendant is living and employed in the country that is under attack, and still decided to incite and praise the attacks against citizens.”
Her attorney commented: “The woman in question is an ordinary woman, who works as a journalist and whose work is important to us all. She was asked during her investigation about her employment. I believe she admitted to all the deeds described to her, and cooperated fully with the investigation. She did not attempt to conceal the offenses or claim that her accounts had been hacked. Even when she didn’t have a mobile phone, which is the main tool involved, she still said, ‘Yes, those are my posts.'”
“This makes many more steps completely superfluous. You have her confession and there is no further need to investigate. I request that she be released on any conditions that the court seems appropriate. She is from a very respected family.”
At the end of the hearing, her detention was extended. Over the past month, the police has asked the prosecution for a permit to investigate the journalist and the permit was granted last week. The journalist, as stated, was arrested two days ago by Jerusalem police, and her detention was extended in a court hearing for four days.
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EXPOSED: Hamas Honored Reuters Journalists in Gaza
For years, particularly during conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian journalists in Gaza have proudly accepted international press awards. What they have kept quiet — for obvious reasons — was the fact that they were…
HonestReporting Staff September 5, 2024 https://honestreporting.com/exposed-hamas-honored-reuters-journalists-in-gaza/
For years, particularly during conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian journalists in Gaza have proudly accepted international press awards. What they have kept quiet — for obvious reasons — was the fact that they were also showered with honors by Hamas.
An HonestReporting review of Palestinian media revealed that since 2015, the proscribed terror group has hosted annual ceremonies to honor these Gazan journalists for their prestigious awards, including photographers from Reuters. A further review of their social media accounts revealed terror group insignias adorning what was then the Reuters office in Gaza.
This cozy relationship between Gaza’s terror groups and the journalists tasked with covering them objectively is ethically flawed. It exposes the disturbing entanglement between terrorists and the media, shaping a distorted global narrative about Gaza.
Honored by Terrorists
In 2017, Hamas held a commendation event for international award-winning journalists in Gaza, where it honored Reuters photographer Suhaib Jadallah Salem, who is currently the agency’s head of visuals for Gaza.
One of the photos from the event shows Suhaib’s brother Mohammed Jadallah Salem, a Reuters photographer who recently won the Pulitzer prize and the World Press Photo award, receiving Suhaib’s commendation plaque on his behalf. Two senior Hamas officials are granting the plaque: Khalil al-Hayya and Mushir al-Masri:
Mohammed Jadallah Salem, a Reuters photographer who recently won the Pulitzer prize and the World Press Photo award at the Hamas 2017 commendation event for international award-winning journalists in Gaza.
Al-Hayya has publicly called for a fight against Israel as “the head of the serpent,” and al-Masri has vowed to “uproot The Zionists With Our Axes, Knives, Guns.”
Receiving commendation from such terrorists is a mark of Cain. It should get any journalist disciplined by any respectable media outlet.
Yet Reuters journalists — knowing perhaps that their bosses won’t find out or even care — had no qualms getting into bed with Hamas. Another photo from the event shows other Reuters journalists around a table not too far from al-Hayya: Reuters Senior Gaza correspondent Nidal al-Mughrabi is sitting near Suhaib’s brother Mohammed and photographer Ashraf Amra (who was also honored at the event and exposed by HonestReporting for endorsing infiltration into Israel on October 7). Beside them is Belal Jadallah, who headed the allegedly “independent” Gaza Press House:
Hamas honored Reuters journalists 2017
Suhaib himself attended a separate Hamas commendation event for journalists later in 2017. This time, he was honored for performing the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca:
Hamas honored Reuters photographer Suhaib Jadallah Salem 2017
Suhaib received the commendation from al-Masri and Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum (who have often been interviewed by Reuters), along with the movement’s media officials.
It’s worth noting that four of the Jadallah brothers work for Reuters, in Gaza and Dubai. And the links of the Jadallah family to Hamas go back years. One of the brothers of Suhaib and Mohammed, Sallah, was among the terrorists who kidnapped and killed Israeli soldier Nahshon Waxman in 1994.
The mastermind behind that operation was Moahmmed Deif, who was recently eliminated by Israel. As Hamas’ military chief, Deif was also one of the masterminds behind the October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
If Suhaib and Mohammed were professional journalists, such background wouldn’t necessarily matter. But if they have been hosted and honored by Hamas, it’s alarming.
Related Reading: EXPOSED: Gaza Photojournalists Shared Call to Infiltrate Israel on Oct. 7
Terror Groups Insignias in Reuters Office
Perhaps this terrorists-journalists entanglement also explains the following photo from 2013, found on Suhaib’s Facebook page, which shows scarves with terror groups insignias decorating the Reuters office in Gaza:
Terror groups insignias decorating the Reuters office in Gaza 2013
Like the Nazi Swastika, these are emblems of genocidal groups — Hamas, Islamic Jihad, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades — that call for the killing of Jews/Israelis (like some of Suhaib’s colleagues in Reuters).
The agency’s top editors, who periodically visit the Gaza office, either ignored it or didn’t recognize it for what it was — which would only prove their ignorance.
They probably know it’s impossible to be a journalist in Gaza without links to Hamas, which controls the information flow. In other words, professional journalism in Gaza is impossible, and news outlets should admit it to their audience.
But being hosted by Hamas, receiving its commendations, and displaying terror groups’ insignias isn’t a case of journalists even trying to be professional. This is an agenda-driven, cooperative, symbiotic, reciprocal, and personal nexus that benefits each side.
A Hamas statement from one of the commendation events said it best:
HonestReporting has submitted an official complaint to Reuters. Journalists who violate the agency’s code of ethics by receiving de-facto bribes from terrorists to “serve the Palestinian cause,” and decorate their office with terror symbols, are not deserving of international praise but scrutiny and disciplinary measures.
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Head of BBC Global Service ‘Told Journalists That Hamas Is No Less Credible Than Israel & October 7 Attack Should Not Be Called a Massacre’
There has reportedly been turmoil in the BBC’s Middle East offices since Hamas launched its brutal October 7 attack on Israel after some of the broadcaster’s own journalists turned against their employer and accused the…
Rachel O’Donoghue , 16November2023 https://honestreporting.com/head-of-bbc-global-service-told-journalists-that-hamas-is-no-less-credible-than-israel-october-7-attack-should-not-be-called-a-massacre/
Lilliane Landor_BBC
There has reportedly been turmoil in the BBC’s Middle East offices since Hamas launched its brutal October 7 attack on Israel after some of the broadcaster’s own journalists turned against their employer and accused the BBC of promoting a “pro-Israel” narrative in its coverage.
Allegations of such slanted reportage will, no doubt, come as a surprise to many — not least because the BBC’s reporting has repeatedly come under fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, including when it backtracked after falsely reporting that an Israeli strike on the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza had killed hundreds
The BBC has also shied away from addressing concerns about its coverage, preferring instead to issue mealy-mouthed apologies about how such mistakes merely “fell below the BBC’s editorial standards.”
HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-That’s a pretty low bar these days
“We apologize for this error, which fell below our usual editorial standards.”
That’s a pretty low bar these days, @BBCNews.
We Stand With Israel-tweet-15November2023-
WATCH
@bbcnews have just issued an on air apology (again) for their report last night that stated the ‘IDF are targeting medical teams and Arab speakers’
Not good enough. Time and again they defame & smear Israel and think a simple apology will suffice after the damage is done
HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-That’s a pretty low bar these days
But accusations by staff of a pro-Israel bias were reportedly enough to compel the director of the BBC’s Global Service, Liliane Landor, to hold a series of meetings with employees to address their concerns.
According to BBC journalists quoted in Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, Landor is said to have asked staff for evidence of the alleged pro-Israel bias while assuring them that both Hamas and the Palestinians “should not be considered less credible than the Israelis.”
Landor also reportedly said that “it is wrong to use expressions like massacre to describe Hamas’s behavior and avoid using them to describe Israeli attacks” on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
One journalist who attended the meeting is quoted in Al-Ahram saying that they “have never seen such a widespread revolution, comprehensive dissatisfaction, and open anger from Arab journalists since [they] joined the institution more than 22 years ago.”
Another journalist working in the BBC’s Jordan office is said to have cried and told Landor: “I never imagined that the BBC would follow double standards in covering the war. I can no longer be proud to be a journalist at the BBC.”
One staff member reportedly warned that the “BBC does not realize or appreciate the extent of dissatisfaction in the Middle East from our shameful coverage that makes us threatened in our countries.”
Following the meetings, it is claimed a special team was formed that would specifically deal with staff complaints about the coverage and receive opinions on rectifying harm caused by the alleged bias.
The new measure, however, was apparently not enough to quell staff outrage and a journalist told Al-Ahram that discussions are underway for Arab service journalists to take part in a strike “unless the management takes urgent measures to fix the clear professional flaw in the BBC’s coverage of the current war on Gaza.”
At least two journalists — one in the BBC’s Beirut office and another correspondent based in Tunisia — reportedly resigned in protest at the corporation’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
HonestReporting has reached out to the BBC to comment on the remarks made by Landor, specifically if it is the UK taxpayer-funded corporation’s official position that Hamas should not be considered less credible than the Israeli government and whether the BBC agrees with Landor that the October 7 attack should not be described as a “massacre.”
In addition, we asked whether the broadcaster wished to address reports that two journalists had resigned from their jobs.
We received no response.
We wonder whether saying a terrorist group that slaughtered 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians should be considered as trustworthy as the democratically elected government of Israel lives up to the BBC’s supposedly high editorial standards.
Found this article informative? Follow the HonestReporting page on Facebook to read more articles debunking news bias and smears, as well as others explaining Israel’s history, politics, and international affairs. Click here to learn more!
Photo credit: AIB (Association for International Broadcasting) via Flickr
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Can The BBC Ever Be Trusted Again After Israel-Hamas War?
In summarizing its mission as the publicly-funded broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC states it must “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.” This involves…
Rachel O’Donoghue December 6, 2023 https://honestreporting.com/can-the-bbc-ever-be-trusted-again-after-israel-hamas-war/
In summarizing its mission as the publicly-funded broadcaster in the United Kingdom, the BBC states it must “provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.”
This involves — the corporation promises — providing accurate and impartial news, current affairs and factual programming” that conforms to the highest editorial standards.
The commitment to impartiality is — or should be — what sets the BBC apart from other media organizations that nail their political colors to their mast.
While the BBC has staunchly defended itself against criticism that it has a deep-seated bias against Israel, its critics have pointed to many examples over the years of the broadcaster’s journalists brazenly breaking the corporation’s impartiality guidelines.
But the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7 has seen criticism of the BBC reach a climax amid accusations of an abject failure by the organization to report on the Israel-Hamas war fairly, accurately and transparently.
Spreading Misinformation
There is an irony in the BBC’s publishing of a piece one week after Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel that asked: “Who’s behind Israel-Gaza disinformation and hate online?”
The article, by the corporation’s so-called “disinformation and social media correspondent” Marianna Spring, reported how social media was “awash with false claims, conspiracy theories and hateful content surrounding what’s happening in Israel and Gaza.”
This, Spring warned, was resulting in successful attempts to distort and confuse the online conversation,” which “can have serious implications for the international community when it comes to investigating allegations of war crimes, providing aid and figuring out what’s happening where.”
Yet, the BBC itself has been guilty of spreading its distortions and false claims about the Israel-Hamas war online.
One of the most damaging was undoubtedly the corporation’s reporting on the Al-Ahli Hospital explosion in Gaza, which saw the BBC print unverified (and later debunked) claims by Hamas-linked officials that hundreds of Palestinians had been killed in an Israeli airstrike at the hospital.
Even as Israel said it was investigating the blast and as facts were still emerging, the corporation doubled down on its misinformation when BBC correspondent Jon Donnison announced live on air that he thought it was most likely that Israel was to blame.
And when conclusive evidence emerged that a misinformed Islamic Jihad rocket was responsible, the BBC still sought to defend its coverage on the basis that while it made a mistake, it was a “fast-moving story,” where there were “claims and counter-claims” and where its journalists were “reporting in difficult and dangerous conditions.”
HonestReporting-tweet-3November2023-Hamas-A BBC reporter
.@BBCNews likes to tell us that Israeli videos “cannot be verified.” But they’ve got no problem broadcasting footage featuring a Palestinian who has appeared in multiple videos playing different characters, including one where he fakes his own death.
We Stand With Israel-tweet-3November2023-New Job-A BBC reporter
Seems the man who has pretty much done every job in Gaza (including dying and coming back to life) has yet another job. A BBC reporter.
It was only a matter of time I guess https://twitter.com/TheMossadIL/status/1720495432550273287
The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome-tweet-3November2023-This guy’s got more lives than Super Mario
This guy’s got more lives than Super Mario.
HonestReporting-tweet-3November2023-Hamas-A BBC reporter
The Obsession With Balance
Balance is important when it comes to the news: outlets have a duty to report both sides of the story.
However, the BBC has been accused of having a fetish with its attempts at balance in its reports on the current war.
But giving equal weighting to claims made by an internationally recognized terrorist group to those of a democratic state such as Israel is simply absurd.
The absurdity of this was perfectly encapsulated in the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas what it actually is — a terrorist organization.
The BBC’s world affairs editor John Simpson even defended the decision not to call Hamas terrorists because, “terrorism is a loaded word, which people use about an outfit they disapprove of morally. It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn — who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-According to BBCNews
According to @BBCNews, “It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”
And yet the BBC does a damn good job of portraying Israel as the bad guys.
BBC News (World)-tweet-11October2023-John Simpson
Why BBC doesn’t call Hamas militants ‘terrorists’ – John Simpson
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-According to BBCNews
While the corporation eventually walked back from its insistence that it would refer to terrorists as “militants” following a considerable backlash — announcing that in future coverage it would make clear that Hamas is a UK-proscribed terrorist organization — the fact that the BBC couldn’t decide who’s the good guy and the bad guy between Israel and Hamas speaks volumes.
Another example of the BBC trying to offer “two sides” in a report where none exists was during the IDF’s raid on Al-Shifa Hospital, which for many years has been used as a Hamas command center.
HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF
The IDF clearly states it is bringing medical teams & Arabic speakers into Al-Shifa Hospital to help patients.
@BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF as *targeting* medical teams & Arabic speakers.
Just how much lower can the BBC go?
We Stand With Israel-tweet-15November2023-Israel WILL NOT be targeting medical teams
What the actual fuck @bbcnews?!
You’re happily disseminating Hamas propaganda without bothering to check its veracity
Israel WILL NOT be targeting medical teams. Hamas terrorists are hiding in the hospital
How many times must you fuck up before you learn your lesson?
HonestReporting-tweet-15November2023-BBCNews reinterprets it to libel the IDF
When the IDF provided real-time evidence of how Hamas had embedded itself within the hospital, the BBC seemed to work overtime to try and undermine and discredit as much of the IDF’s proof as possible.
Included in the many instances of its disturbing tendency to give weight to the claims of a bloodthirsty terror group, the BBC’s international editor Jeremy Bowen suggested that the caches of weaponry uncovered by Israeli soldiers inside Al-Shifa may have belonged to the hospital security team.
HonestReporting-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC
Utterly incredible. @BowenBBC trying to “normalize” the presence of weapons in a Gaza hospital. Anything to avoid acknowledging that Hamas could be using Al Shifa for nefarious means.
Keep going, Jeremy. Maybe you’ll end up on Israel’s favorite satirical comedy show next week.
Edward Levey-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC strains every sinew
“It’s not inconceivable that the pile of kalashnikovs belonged to the hospital security department”.
Rather than applying Occam’s Razor, @BowenBBC strains every sinew to cast doubt on the claim that the hospital was being used by Hamas terrorists.
HonestReporting-tweet-17November2023-BowenBBC
Turmoil Among BBC Staff
The BBC is also facing what appears to be growing anger from within its own ranks at how the corporation is covering the Israel-Hamas war.
HonestReporting recently revealed that the head of the BBC’s Global Service, Liliane Landor, was forced to address allegations from reporters based in the Middle East that the corporation is biased in favor of Israel.
Yet, rather than robustly challenge staff who threatened to walk out in protest, Landor reportedly promised to set up a special team to handle staff complaints and receive opinions on rectifying harm caused by the alleged pro-Israel bias.
Meanwhile, bosses at the BBC’s London HQ denied permission for journalists to attend a massive march against antisemitism using guidelines that prevent employees from attending demonstrations deemed “controversial.” This despite the BBC having a policy that allows staff to demonstrate in “opposition to racism [which] is a fundamental democratic principle.”
HonestReporting-tweet-1December2023-But for BBCNews
The fighting resumed after Hamas fired rockets at Israel before the ceasefire had expired.
That’s a fact. But for @BBCNews, the Hamas ceasefire violation is couched in terms of an Israeli “accusation.”
Because the BBC can only ever see Israel as the aggressor.
HonestReporting-tweet-1December2023-But for BBCNews
Why the Must BBC Rebuild Trust
As mentioned, allegations of an anti-Israel bias have dogged the BBC for years.
But the barrage of criticism aimed at the BBC over its coverage of the current Israel-Hamas war has shown that the corporation cannot continue burying its head in the sand where this issue is concerned.
The BBC will lose all credibility if it does not.
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Photo credit: Abed Rahim Khatib via Flash90
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BBC Broadcasting House, London
The BBC: We need to face up to the scale of the axis against Israel
There is onslaught against Israel and the Jews from an unholy alliance between extremist Muslims, the left and the political class, and we need to start taking the fight to them
Melanie Phillips January 17, 2024 https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/we-need-to-face-up-to-the-scale-of-the-axis-against-israel-xz0m5uxt
The Conservative MP Andrew Percy has accused the BBC of putting British Jews directly at risk through its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Absolutely. The BBC’s relentless portrayal of the Israelis not as the victims of genocidal terror but as hard-hearted, vengeful and wanton killers of children and the innocent has channelled ancient antisemitic tropes of Jewish blood-lust and helped fuel an enormous increase in attacks on Jews.
As Percy said, the BBC’s double standards on Israel, treating patently absurd civilian casualty figures from Hamas as reliable while casting doubt on Israeli statements, present Israel rather than Hamas as the aggressor and rogue actor.
A principal offender has been the Today programme presenter, Mishal Husain. Interviewing the Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday, she unleashed a barrage of distorted and out-of-context quotes to demonise Israel as a bloodthirsty aggressor.
Claiming that the IDF spokesman, Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, had said in October that “our focus is on creating damage not precision,” and that Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, had said “we will eliminate everything” in Gaza, Husain said these remarks suggested Israel wasn’t acting within international law and might be why “so many Palestinians have died”.
Yet as the Guardian acknowledged on 5 December, Hagari had been mistranslated. He had actually said: “While balancing accuracy with the scope of damage, right now we’re focused on what causes maximum damage”.
Gallant’s words have been taken out of context. He had said: “Gaza won’t return to what it was before, and Hamas will not exist. We will eliminate everything”. He meant eliminating Hamas, not Gaza’s civilians.
In any event, what matters is not what’s said but what Israel does. For the ratio of civilians to combatants killed by Israel is around two to one.
This is far fewer than the proportion of civilians killed in war by any other nation’s army — and when taking into account the Hamas rockets falling short into Gaza and killing its people, fewer still.
Most disgusting of all was how Husain twisted Benjamin Netanyahu’s reference to the ancient Israelites’ biblical foe, Amalek, when he said: “We remember, and we are fighting.”
Husain claimed that “Amalek” involved the injunction to spare no-one and destroy “every man, woman and child, sheep, camel and donkey”. And she suggested this was the cause of Israel’s rate of death and destruction in Gaza.
This was grotesque. Amalek was the genocidal enemy of the Jewish people, whose attack was so lethal that the Jews have a religious commitment to “remember” him in order to destroy any such enemy before it can wipe out the Jewish people again.
Yet Husain and other Israel-haters have abused this sacred duty to defend the Jewish people against genocide by claiming obscenely that it meant Israel intends to wipe out the Palestinians as an act of malign aggression.
The government has supported Israel over its show trial at the International Court of Justice. The Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, has said South Africa’s accusation against Israel of “genocide” is wrong because “genocide” involves an intention to wipe out an entire people whereas Israel is merely defending itself in Gaza.
Defending Israel, however, takes more than objecting to “when did you stop beating your wife” harassment. It involves calling out the murderous lies that are circulating about Israel’s behaviour, and stating the truth instead.
But instead, Cameron took aim at Israel with a few poisonous barbs of his own. He was “worried,” he told a parliamentary committee, that Israel “might be in breach of international law” in Gaza and that “on lots of occasions” its compliance was “under question”.
Since he offered no evidence of any such breaches, his remarks served merely as yet another smear against an Israel fighting for its life according to international law and yet being demonised for doing so.
The Jews find themselves in the hallucinatory situation of being under unprecedented physical and verbal assault by a western world determined to erase genocidal Jewish victimisation and instead delegitimise Israeli Jews as enemies of humanity.
This has been building up for years. Yet the community’s leadership has chosen not to call out publicly the enemies of the Jews in British society. Instead it has sought to appease, to genuflect and to grovel.
Last week the Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, indicated the desperate failure of that approach when he called for British Jews to be “brave” and challenge Muslims over Israel following the “deeply disappointing” Muslim attacks on the Jewish state since the October 7 pogrom.
Candidly, Mirvis regretted that he hadn’t always prioritised Israel in interfaith dialogue, which mostly “focused on what unites us”.
The community needs to start calling out the unique evil of the onslaught against Israel and the Jews from the unholy alliance between extremist Muslims, the left and the political class.
Instead of responding with instantly forgettable rallies against antisemitism to the malevolent falsehoods raining down daily from the intelligentsia, the church and the Hamas Broadcasting Corporation, British Jews should start taking the fight in public and by name to those intent on destroying truth, justice and the Jewish people.
Melanie Phillips is a Times columnist
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1,500 Breaches of Editorial Guidelines: BBC Excoriated in Scathing Report on Israel-Hamas War Coverage
On December 6, HonestReporting highlighted significant issues with the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, nearly three months after the October 7 Hamas massacre. After multiple serious violations of its editorial guidelines by journalists covering…
Rachel O’Donoghue 9September2024 https://honestreporting.com/1500-breaches-of-editorial-guidelines-bbc-excoriated-in-scathing-report-on-israel-hamas-war-coverage/
Rape is NOT resistance BBC
On December 6, HonestReporting highlighted significant issues with the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, nearly three months after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
After multiple serious violations of its editorial guidelines by journalists covering the conflict, we questioned whether the publicly-funded broadcaster’s reputation could recover. We also called out the corporation’s unconvincing defense of its editorial mistakes, as the BBC sought to justify its errors by claiming that its journalists were “reporting in difficult and dangerous conditions.”
This excuse was particularly troubling in the case of Jon Donnison’s coverage of the Al-Ahli hospital incident, especially given that Donnison was reporting from Jerusalem, not Gaza.
The BBC’s coverage has shown little improvement since then, with HonestReporting repeatedly exposing further breaches of the corporation’s guidelines in its coverage of Israel (see here, here, and here).
This week, a damning report exposed the full extent of the BBC’s anti-Israel bias during the Israel-Hamas war. The analysis, spanning four months of the broadcaster’s coverage starting on October 7, uncovered a staggering 1,500 breaches of the BBC’s editorial guidelines and highlighted systemic failures to maintain its commitment to impartiality and accuracy during a conflict that has fueled a troubling rise of antisemitic bigotry worldwide.
HonestReporting-tweet-8September2024-The BBC breached its own editorial guidelines
The BBC breached its own editorial guidelines more than 1,500 times at the height of Israel’s war against Hamas according to this professional study in the @Telegraph: #BBCbias
HonestReporting-tweet-8September2024-The BBC breached its own editorial guidelines
The 199-page report, reviewed by HonestReporting, was the result of an extensive investigation carried out by a team of around 20 lawyers and 20 data scientists, led by UK lawyer Trevor Asserson and his firm. The research also employed artificial intelligence to calculate the “sympathy ratio” in the BBC’s Israel-Hamas war coverage, analyzing a vast dataset of over nine million words. The findings expose significant bias, with a consistent pattern of language and reporting that favored Palestinian narratives while downplaying or misrepresenting key facts about the conflict:
One of the most notable examples of the BBC’s reporting failures involved the Al-Ahli hospital blast in Gaza on October 17, 2023. BBC correspondent Jon Donnison, reporting live, speculated that an Israeli airstrike was the most likely cause of the explosion that he claimed had killed 500 people. However, it soon emerged that the explosion occurred in the hospital’s grounds and was caused by a misfired rocket from Islamic Jihad, not an Israeli airstrike. Despite this, Donnison stated, “it is hard to see what else this could really be other than an Israeli airstrike.” Even after the truth was established, the BBC delayed issuing a clear correction.
Throughout its coverage, the BBC refused to refer to Hamas as a terrorist organization, despite its official designation as such by numerous countries, including the UK. Instead, the BBC often portrayed Hamas in sympathetic terms, framing the group as a “resistance movement” and its fighters as “soldiers.” This failure to accurately label Hamas contributed to a skewed portrayal of the conflict, in which the brutality of Hamas’s attacks, including the kidnapping of over 250 Israelis, was downplayed or presented in a neutral tone. Particularly outrageous was a headline describing Hamas’s October 7 attack as a “spectacular” operation.
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-the BBC does a damn good job of portraying Israel as the bad guys
According to @BBCNews, “It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn – who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.”
And yet the BBC does a damn good job of portraying Israel as the bad guys.
BBC News (World)-tweet-11October2023-Why BBC doesn’t call Hamas terrorists
Why BBC doesn’t call Hamas militants ‘terrorists’ – John Simpson
HonestReporting-tweet-11October2023-the BBC does a damn good job of portraying Israel as the bad guys
In BBC Arabic coverage, the glorification of Hamas was even more pronounced. For example, a report from October 8, 2023, showed celebratory scenes in Ramallah, with residents handing out sweets following Hamas’s attack on Israel. Rather than questioning or contextualizing these celebrations, the BBC Arabic segment amplified Hamas’s propaganda under the headline: “Hamas’s military prowess has shocked Israelis.”
HonestReporting-tweet-21December2023-Why does BBCArabic cameraman omit
Why does @BBCArabic cameraman Jehad El-Mashhrawi omit that the tragic death of his son in 2012 was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket?
Is there anything else he omits in his heartbreaking firsthand Gaza experience in order to blame Israel?
HonestReporting-tweet-21December2023-Why does BBCArabic cameraman omit
The report used artificial intelligence to calculate a “sympathy ratio” in the BBC’s coverage, revealing a stark imbalance favoring the Palestinian narrative. Headlines and body text overwhelmingly evoked sympathy for Palestinian casualties, while the suffering of Israeli victims was largely ignored or downplayed. Even when articles did include sympathy for Israel, it was often buried deep within the text, whereas sympathy for Palestinians was prominently displayed in the headlines. This was especially evident in the coverage following the October 7 massacre, where, despite the unprecedented brutality of this attack, the BBC focused disproportionately on Israel’s immediate military response.
HonestReporting-tweet-7October2023-BBC-Hamas terrorists are Palestinian forces
“Palestinian forces.”
Is this how you describe armed Hamas terrorists, @BBCWorld?
And you seem to have forgotten the bit where they infiltrated Israeli villages and towns, murdering and kidnapping Israeli men, women and children. It was more than just a rocket attack.
BBC News (World)-tweet-7October2023-Palestinian forces
Palestinian forces have launched a surprise rocket attack on Israel, killing at least 22 Israelis and injuring hundreds more
Israelis will now be asking why their nation’s spies failed to see the deadly attack coming ⬇️
HonestReporting-tweet-7October2023-BBC-Hamas terrorists are Palestinian forces
The BBC’s failure to issue prompt and transparent corrections for its reporting mistakes was another critical issue highlighted in the report. In one example, after falsely reporting that Israel had executed 137 Palestinian civilians, this inaccurate information was repeated in six different broadcasts before the BBC finally issued a correction—12 days later.
HonestReporting-tweet-17March2024-impossible to trust anything BBCNews broadcasts
The BBC famously claims its reporting is impartial. When it comes to coverage of Israel, reality says otherwise.
Bottom line: This latest exposé shows it’s impossible to trust anything @BBCNews broadcasts from Israel and Gaza.
Natalie Lisbona-tweet-17March2024
BBC journalists behind a damning report which accused Israeli soldiers of beating and humiliating medics at a Gaza hospital have ‘liked’ videos celebrating Hamas terror attacks and anti-Israel posts online. My latest with @marycoconnor
HonestReporting-tweet-17March2024-impossible to trust anything BBCNews broadcasts
The BBC has consistently downplayed Palestinian terrorism while portraying Israel as a militaristic, aggressive nation. According to the report, the BBC suggested that Israel faced “no substantial threat,” effectively delegitimizing Israel’s right to defend itself. By contrast, the coverage of Hamas’s military strength and its role as a terror organization received far less attention.
HonestReporting-tweet-8October2023-The lunacy of BBCNews
The lunacy of @BBCNews’ editorial guidelines on full display.
In one breath @JaneHillNews refers to “Hamas militants.”
In another, she says “Hamas is proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK and other Western governments.”
It’s high time the BBC faced reality and called Hamas what they are: terrorists.
Don’t you think, @JamesCleverly?
HonestReporting-tweet-8October2023-The lunacy of BBCNews
The report highlighted a specific example from BBC Arabic in November 2023, where a roundup of newspaper coverage contrasted a photograph of a Gazan girl after an air raid with a photo of an ultra-Orthodox Jew carrying a machine gun. The context of the second image was entirely omitted—the man was returning from the funeral of a Jewish student shot by Palestinians in the West Bank. Furthermore, the photo was taken in October 2000, more than two decades before October 7, 2023.
The BBC’s coverage frequently minimized the suffering of Israeli victims while giving detailed attention to Palestinian casualties. For example, a picture of Israeli hostage Noa Argamani used by the BBC on January 1, 2024, showed her smiling before the war, rather than the distressing image of her abduction by Hamas, which had been widely circulated.
HonestReporting-tweet-4September2024-trust BBCNews to skew reality
In a story about students returning to Columbia University amidst anti-Israel demonstrations, trust @BBCNews to skew reality as much as the protesters.
No mention that the hostages were murdered by Hamas. Just that they were “taken to Gaza.” 🤦
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg3dnn7zlyo
HonestReporting-tweet-4September2024-trust BBCNews to skew reality
The Sad Truth
Yet, even in the face of the evidence presented in the Asserson report, the BBC continues to deny that there is any substantial problem with its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. In response, the BBC stated it would “carefully consider” the findings but quickly moved to undermine the credibility of the research, questioning both the methodology and the use of AI. In the BBC’s typical evasive fashion, a spokesman for the corporation told The Telegraph: “We don’t think coverage can be assessed solely by counting particular words divorced from context.”
The corporation’s World Affairs editor, John Simpson, who previously justified the BBC’s refusal to call Hamas terrorists by stating, “It’s simply not the BBC’s job to tell people who to support and who to condemn,” also dismissed the Asserson report on X.
John Simpson-tweet-8September2024-the BBC continues to deny
The BBC says it has serious questions about the methodology of the attack on BBC reporting of Gaza in today’s Sunday Telegraph. Jeremy Bowen and Lyse Doucet, who are singled out for vicious criticism, are known worldwide as two of the finest correspondents in world journalism.
John Simpson-tweet-8September2024-the BBC continues to deny
His statement—presumably what he sees as a measured position—perfectly illustrates the BBC’s ongoing issue of prioritizing neutrality over accuracy, creating the false impression of two equal sides where none exists. This approach has long been part of the BBC’s defense, and Simpson’s justification for his employer mirrors the broadcaster’s broader reluctance to admit bias, even when faced with undeniable evidence.
This denial is not a new phenomenon. More than 20 years ago, the Balen report similarly identified bias in the BBC’s coverage of Israel, yet the broadcaster has never released the findings to the public. For years, the BBC has fought legal battles to keep the Balen report under wraps, a telling sign of its damning contents.
The Asserson report is merely the latest in a long line of warnings. It reveals not just isolated errors, but a consistent pattern of bias that undermines the BBC’s journalistic integrity. But how can the BBC begin to address its failings when it refuses to acknowledge that there is a problem?
The question remains: how long can this continue? Can the BBC withstand any further blows to its credibility?
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Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims
HonestReporting-tweet-9December2023-Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims
Conspiracy theories surrounding this picture are spreading like wildfire.
❌ Mass graves.
❌ Humiliation.
❌ Torture.
❌ Abducted civilians who are never seen again.
In reality, there are already reports that some of these men have been released…
Stuart374-tweet-9December2023
I was mostly surprised about how fat Hamas’ “fighters” are.
Hohisier-tweet-9December2023
All that food aid they stole from the people. Evidently terrorizing builds a hell of an appetite
HonestReporting-tweet-9December2023-Captured Hamas Terrorist: False Claims
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Unabated, Unhinged, Orgiastic Jew-hatred!
Gad Saad-tweet-24October2023-Over the past two weeks, the reality has been unabated, unhinged, orgiastic Jew-hatred. They are coming from all directions. I do not see a way out of this. Nothing seems to temper the attacks, the delusions, the hateful fervour. I’m trying to play out different scenarios and it looks so bleak. I always believe in the power of reason but not if your predators are foaming with genocidal zeal. I truly think that this might be a historical tipping point in the West. Good night.
Gad Saad-tweet-24October2023-the reality has been unabated unhinged orgiastic Jew-hatred
Charlie Kirk-tweet-23October2023-TThis is our @TPUSA staffer, Peter Christos, who is Christian, not Jewish. Yesterday, he was violently attacked while he and another TPUSA staffer were trying to escort an elderly Jewish couple away from a pro-Israel rally. On the way to their cars, they encountered pro-Hamas supporters who assaulted them, punched them repeatedly, and hit them with a flag pole before cops could pull them away to safety.
All of these thugs need to be arrested and charged with hate crimes.
Charlie-Kirk-tweet-23October2023-This-is-our-TPUSA-staffer-Peter-Christos-who-is-Christian
The BBC
Michael Yifrah-tweet-28October2023-The BBC
Michael Yifrah-tweet-28October2023-The BBC
Watch the latest “news” from the BBC [Antisemitic BBC reporting from Israel]
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TIME photo from Gaza was completely staged
Eyal Yakoby-tweet-5August2025-TIME photo from Gaza was completely staged
Today it was revealed that this TIME photo from Gaza was completely staged — a total fake.
But they published it anyway.
Because when it comes to Gaza, basic journalistic standards no longer apply.
Eyal Yakoby-tweet-5August2025-Completely fake
Completely fake.
The media is a joke.
Eyal Yakoby-tweet-5August2025-TIME photo from Gaza was completely staged
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Mainstream Media use of ‘Palestinian Journalist’
HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-
When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?
#JournalistOrTerrorist
HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?
HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-When Palestinians tried to connect with Israelis to build a better future, @Hind_Gaza
turned them into Hamas. This is who @washingtonpost
considers a credible journalist?
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Who Are the Killed Gazan Journalists Affiliated With Palestinian Terror Groups?
One of the more widely discussed facets of the Israel-Hamas war has been the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7. The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and…
Chaim Lax 22February2024
One of the more widely discussed facets of the Israel-Hamas war has been the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since October 7.
The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Associated Press, and the Financial Times are just some of the mainstream media organizations that have featured in-depth reports on the Palestinian journalist casualties in Gaza.
However, what these reports fail to disclose is that a substantial number of these Gaza-based journalists were either members of proscribed Palestinian terror organizations or affiliated with these groups. These groups include Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Based on information provided by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), of the 83 Palestinian journalists identified by the CPJ as being killed in Gaza to date (February 22, 2024), 45 (roughly 55%) were either members or affiliates of a Palestinian terrorist group.
The following is a list of the killed Palestinian journalists who were associated with Gaza-based terror groups:
*= Since 2010, Al-Aqsa TV has been designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the US Department of the Treasury.
Note: This list is based on the number of Palestinian journalists recorded by the Committee to Protect Journalists and does not include journalists who are solely affiliated with Fatah or the Palestinian Authority.
The list will be periodically updated.
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6 Al Jazeera journalists have been exposed as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-23October2024-6 Al Jazeera journalists Hamas-Islamic Jihad terrorists
EXPOSED: 6 Al Jazeera journalists have been exposed as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
The IDF has disclosed intelligence information and numerous documents found in Gaza confirming military affiliation of six Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations, including personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists.
These documents serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network.
Most of the journalists that the IDF has exposed as operatives in Hamas’ military wing spearhead the propaganda for Hamas at Al Jazeera, especially in northern Gaza.
Israel Defense Forces-tweet-23October2024-6 Al Jazeera journalists Hamas-Islamic Jihad terrorists
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Hamas Oscar Nominations 2024
Hamas Oscar Nominations 2024
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Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology
HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Media shorthand to say, “Israelis and Palestinians are at each other’s throats again. We’re too lazy to provide you meaningful context.”
HonestReporting-tweet-28October2023-Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology
Cycle of Violence-misleading terminology
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CBS: Do not refer to [Jerusalem] as being in Israel
David M Friedman-tweet-10October2024-CBS-Do not refer to Jerusalem as being in Israel
Jerusalem is recognized by the United States as the capital of Israel. The US Embassy to Israel sits in Jerusalem. The US Ambassador to Israel lives in Jerusalem. While this was all achieved by President Trump, the policy has been maintained and endorsed by President Biden. And yet, the CBS Network is doing its best to deny this unassailable truth! Shame on CBS!
David M Friedman-tweet-10October2024-CBS-Do not refer to Jerusalem as being in Israel
CBS logo-the Eye of Sauron
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How In The World Did We Get Here?
Over the years, media outlets have become islands of ideological conformity, where the need to affirm supersedes the obligation to inform. In the case of Israel, the subordination of Truth to ideology by some of…
GuestPost [Mark Sachs]
26October2023 https://honestreporting.com/how-in-the-world-did-we-get-here/
Over the years, media outlets have become islands of ideological conformity, where the need to affirm supersedes the obligation to inform. In the case of Israel, the subordination of Truth to ideology by some of the most revered international news outlets has led to levels of global antisemitism not seen since the Holocaust.
Under the guise of “objective journalism,” journalists frame information in such a way that ignites our confirmation bias while trying to mask their own biases and agendas. Given the constant bombardment of information from these sources, seeking out alternative views requires Herculean discipline, which few of us possess.
Media bias did not light the fuse for recent events, but it certainly fanned the flames. The dangers of media bias cannot be underestimated.
Sadly, bias presumes unconscious intent, and I do not believe the rush to judgment by the BBC, New York Times, and others in blaming Israel for the purported attack on the Gaza hospital, or in CNN’s case, equivocating over the likely culprit, was unconscious. It was malicious and intentional.
Their false reporting based on verifiably false information led to violent global protests and raised the prospect of a world war. It’s only natural to ask, “How in the world did we get here?”
I’ll try to shed light on how we got here by exploring the convergence of four cultural trends in Western nations, most notably the US and the UK, and the ensuing psychological prisons that capture minds.
The Role of the Universities
Let’s start with the trend affecting the media and proceed from there. Many journalists are educated in elite institutions like Cambridge, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Oxford, Stanford, and Yale. Even those who attended other institutions of higher learning could be considered somewhat elite since approximately only 38% and 26% of the US and UK populations earned a bachelor’s degree.
Unfortunately, elite institutions possess very little viewpoint diversity. As I wrote in my book, The Cancel Culture Curse, “At Brown, Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, and Princeton, liberal students outnumber conservative ones by a ratio of at least 4:1.” It’s safe to assume that Columbia, NYU, and Stanford suffer the same lack of viewpoint diversity.
Notice that the elite universities with the lowest viewpoint diversities are the very same universities now hosting pro-Hamas and “pro-Palestinian” protesters chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and signing letters pronouncing Israel as the aggressor while ignoring the atrocities perpetrated against Israelis. In the US, Columbia, Harvard, NYU, Penn, and Stanford have become ground zero for antisemitism and anti-Israelism.
While being a college liberal in no way guarantees a student is anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, every pro-Hamas or “pro-Palestinian” protester at the dozens of protests across the US and the UK falls decidedly in the liberal camp.
I can hear some of you questioning, “What about the far right?!” The far right does in fact have a “Jew problem,” and they no doubt are aligning in words and deeds with their brethren on the far left. However, the trends I’m discussing, and which are playing out in colleges and media outlets across the country are not being driven by the right.
The UK has its own long history of antisemitism and anti-Israelism, but British universities are likely on par with US universities when it comes to viewpoint diversity. Hence, the BBC, the Financial Times, and The Guardian are bastions of anti-Israel viewpoints.
The changing college milieus in which current and would-be journalists are cultivated is a trend that profoundly impacts what and how “news” is presented and received. Now, let’s explore why these educational environments became ground zero for anti-Israel sentiment.
Saudi-Funded Programs
For decades, Saudi Arabia funneled billions of dollars into hundreds of American universities to fund Islamic studies and international relations programs as well as other programs in science and technology. In 2019 alone, 144 American universities received a total of $270 million from Saudi Arabia. When Qatar and China are added to the mix, the total amount is estimated to be $43,000,0000,000 since 1990. Yes, forty-three BILLION dollars.
The well-funded Islamic Studies and International Affairs programs helped lay the groundwork for pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel narratives to take hold throughout the US and no doubt the UK as well.
The promotion of these viewpoints created fertile ground to enable these Islamist and pro-Palestinian voices to ingratiate themselves into left-wing politics. Once inside, these voices started appropriating left-wing causes as their own: aligning themselves with African-American activism by referring to themselves as “people of color,” describing Israel as a colonial power, and conflating Palestinian rights with reproductive justice, gay rights, and transgender rights.
That’s how we get a group called SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Campaign conflating reproductive justice, which does not exist in Gaza, with the understanding “that Palestine and the freedom of the Palestinian people is an issue of reproductive justice.” Freedom from whom, we all know to be Israel, not Hamas.
Once these alliances were formed, they started to snowball.
Despite the fact that upwards of 70% of Israelis could be classified, using the left’s definition, as “people of color,” all Israelis, in fact, all Jews, are viewed as white oppressors. These identitarian gymnastics are the result of intersectionality, a framework to classify groups of people as oppressors and oppressed.
According to intersectionality, Jews are white oppressors and Israel is a white colonial oppressive nation. Palestinians and Muslims, on the other hand, are considered oppressed “people of color.”
Each of these trends has dramatically changed college education and culture, and it is on these campuses where many current and most future American and British journalists were and are nurtured. They then take their viewpoints to the media outlets that employ them.
These outlets have become ideologically homogenous echo chambers that promote intersectionality either consciously or unconsciously. As such, conflicts between Israel and the Palestinians can be viewed as a conflict between the “oppressor” and “oppressed” or the powerful and the powerless.
Regardless of the sheer magnitude of the atrocities perpetrated by the “oppressed” Palestinians, outlets such as the BBC will rationalize such violence based on the status of oppression.
“Intelligent Stupidity” and Cognitive Dissonance
The coalescing of these trends has resulted in two dangerous consequences. The first is amathia, a Greek word that can be defined as lacking wisdom, or as “intelligent stupidity.”
Massimo Pigliucci, a professor of philosophy, explains amathia in this way: “It is the opposite of wisdom, a kind of dis-knowledge of how to deal with other human beings, and it results in awful actions undertaken by otherwise perfectly functional, intelligent human beings. Moreover, people characterized by amathia cannot simply be persuaded by reasoned argument, because they understand the argument but are crucially deficient in their character, which…is developed over time by a combination of instincts, environment influences [author’s note: college, media, social media], and reason.”
Those protesting on elite college campuses and journalists at the NYT, CNN, and BBC are all intelligent, very much so. However, their characters are flawed. But for the fact that our laws prevent them from dismembering or killing people, these people possess the intelligence to rationalize any form of violence against people they don’t like. The only check on their reason would be to possess the right character. This is the danger of intelligent stupidity. It leads to what Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil.
The second is cognitive dissonance, which is the tension created when someone is faced with information that conflicts with their strongly held beliefs. To resolve that tension, people tend to double down on their beliefs with more aggression and conviction rather than change their position.
Amathia and Cognitive Dissonance help explain why Ivy League protesters, purportedly the brightest among us, having been birthed in anti-Israel incubators, not only look askance to the reports of horrific atrocities perpetrated by the Palestinians but double down on their support of Hamas.
Only those who suffer from amathia and cognitive dissonance could argue that slaughtering babies, disemboweling mothers, and burning alive innocent people are fair acts of resistance.
Signs of Resistance
Knowing from where all this came can be instructive for how to move forward from here. Thankfully, we are seeing signs of resistance.
1) Huge donors to Ivy League schools in the US have finally started speaking with their dollars. While losing millions here and there when an endowment has billions, may not have a huge financial impact. But, it sends a powerful message of “no more.”
2) Exposure is the best disinfectant against dangerous ideological viruses. Americans are now seeing what has been lurking in certain corners of American educational institutions, and most Americans are disgusted by what they are seeing. Finally.
3) This is one issue that is not partisan. The overwhelming populations in Western nations are banding together to confront this assault on reason, compassion, and humanity. The lines are no longer left versus right. Instead, the battle lines are between wisdom and amathia, civilized and uncivilized, and good and evil.
Each of us has a role to play. Sapir Journal has put out a comprehensive list of actionable steps each of us can take: signing college petitions, taking political action, and seeking out news sources that more fairly present information. You are sure to find something constructive from Sapir’s list. It’s on all of us to toe the line.
Mark Sachs is the founder of Orwell Grey Strategic Communications and a long-time pro-Israel activist. Mark co-authored the book, The Cancel Culture Curse.
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Arab Propaganda
Vs. Arab Reality
SEE: 30 November The Expulsion of the Jews in Arab Lands
Michael Shermer-tweet-2November2023-
“Israel is committing genocide”
—every critic
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”
—Inigo Montoya
Genocide: “the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group” or “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.”
Israel could annihilate all of Gaza & the Palestinians if it wanted.
It doesn’t because it is not a genocidal nation.
Whose Genocide Is It Anyway?
Afshine Emrani MD FACC-tweet-2November2023-
Speaking of ethnic cleansing… @michaelshermer
Where are the Jews in Arab countries?
Afshine Emrani MD FACC-tweet-2November2023-Speaking of ethnic cleansing
Displacement of Jewish communities and when they were founded
Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
Dr. Eli David-tweet-22November2023-Ethnic Cleansing 101
Ethnic Cleansing 101
Dr. Eli David-tweet-22November2023-Ethnic Cleansing 101
This is Ethnic Cleansing
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Turkish genocide
HayAghchig-tweet-23April2024-Turkish genocide
Today we remember all the innocent victims of genocide 🖤
We will never forget:
HayAghchig-tweet-23April2024-Turkish genocide
Genocides committed by Turks during the last 200 years
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Arab lies
Hillel Fuld-tweet-9November2023-I can’t stand the lies anymore
Ok, enough is enough!!
I can’t stand the lies anymore!!!
I’m not referring to subjective opinions or analysis. I’m talking about facts, 100% objective, undeniable facts.
Does truth even matter anymore?
Well, I guess we can’t blame people for their ignorance unless we make sure the facts are accessible to them, so I’ll do my best.
Hopefully this post can be useful to others who face the lies on campuses, on the streets, and even in parliaments across the globe.
So let’s get to it. Lie by lie.
Watch the video.
Let’s see, what lies did I miss?
I’m sure there are many more but if you have a half a brain in your head, you’ll read this carefully and realize you’re being fed lies and propaganda by a globally recognized terrorist organization.
You’re choosing to believe the lies.
Stop buying the lies and use your brain.
None of what I wrote above is my opinion.
These are all hard facts backed up by indisputable evidence.
If you don’t accept any of the above facts, there are only really three choices.
1- You’re ignorant and refuse to learn history.
2- Your intelligence level prevents you from understanding facts.
3- You are a good ol’ fashioned Jew hater and have now successfully found a way to disguise your hatred of Jews by making things up to vilify the Jewish people.
So which one is it?
Stop believing lies. Stop spreading lies. Open your eyes. Believe what Hamas tells you when they say they want all Jews dead and then, they’ll come after all infidels.
Stop dismissing and discounting their words.
I hope this equipped you with some facts for you to let your Ivy League college friends know that they’re siding with actual genocidal lunatics who will absolutely come after them next.
Good will always prevail and that’s why Israel will be here in 50 years while Hamas will join ancient Egypt, the Romans, the Greeks, the Nazis, and anyone else who has tried to annihilate the Jews.
They are long gone but the Jews and their homeland is here, strong, united, and 100% set on sending Hamas straight where they belong.
Stand with Israel.
Hillel Fuld-tweet-9November2023-I can’t stand the lies anymore
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A short lesson in “facts” about Palestinian history…
Yoseph Haddad-tweet-12November2024-A short lesson in facts about Palestinian history
A short lesson in ‘facts’ about Palestinian history…
Yoseph Haddad-tweet-12November2024-A short lesson in facts about Palestinian history
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Arab Diplomacy
Senator Ted Budd-tweet-17February2024-the Qataris promised
First the Qataris promised us they were “strong-arming” Hamas to release American and Israeli hostages. Then they said they have no leverage. Now they’re calling for a ceasefire regardless of whether hostages are released.
Enough.
Qatar is no longer a productive partner in securing the hostages’ freedom. They must expel Hamas terrorists out of their nation immediately, or risk repercussions.
Barak Ravid-tweet-17February2024-The Prime Minister of Qatar
ראש ממשלת קטאר בוועידת מינכן: שחרור החטופים לא צריך להיות תנאי להפסקת אש בעזה. המלחמה בעזה צריכה להיפסק מיד
Senator Ted Budd-tweet-17February2024-the Qataris promised
Barak Ravid-tweet-17February2024-The Prime Minister of Qatar
Gaza’s sky is black but Qatar is always sunny
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Hamas’ Hidden Strategy
Hillel Fuld-tweet->19November2023-Hamas’ Hidden Strategy
Very well said
Hillel Fuld-tweet-19November2023-Hamas’ Hidden Strategy
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What the “Arab Street” thinks of Hamas
Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-14November2023-What the “Arab Street” thinks of Hamas
One of the biggest Western myths is that the “Arab Street” is unified behind Palestinian “resistance” and against #Israel.
When #Qatar sponsored a fake “spontaneous popular” campaign of World Cup Arab audience waving Palestinian flags, @NYT
argued that Abraham Accords were government peace not peoples’ peace, that if Arabs were given free choice, they’d oppose peace.
Now listen how this destitute Gaza man, interviewed live on Hamas’s Al-Jazeera, thrashes Hamas. Interviewer immediately turned away.
Hundreds of thousands of Arabs share his opinion, and like him are always shut down.
Hussain Abdul-Hussain-tweet-14November2023-What the Arab Street thinks of Hamas
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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
Here comes a “new” Arab boycott
27December2023 https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2023/12/here-comes-new-arab-boycott.html
The Arab Parliament
The Arab Parliament, which is the legislative body of the Arab League, is trying to bring back the Arab boycott of Jews…I mean, Israel.
Ahead of a planned emergency session on Gaza tomorrow, the speaker of the Arab Parliament, Adel Al-Asoumi, called on the Arab people to adhere to the economic boycott of companies that support Israel.
Al-Asoumi said that the Arab Parliament has supported the Palestinian cause since the first day of the war on Gaza on the seventh of last October, which sure makes it sound as if they supported the massacre on October 7.
The funny part is that the Arab League boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, which started in late 1945, has never officially ended. Syria and Lebanon still adhere to it fully, everyone else abandoned it.
So this is a call to follow an existing 78 year old boycott. A boycott which was always against Jewish companies.
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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
Arab antisemitic articles are getting worse: now they are praising Hitler, praying for genocide
30October2023 https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2023/10/arab-antisemitic-articles-are-getting.html
cairo24 hit-What did Hitler say about the Jews
Antisemitism in Arab media has been getting much worse lately.
Cairo24 uses the Gaza war as an excuse to praise Hitler:
They also publish the fake quote that antisemites ascribe to Hitler, “It was in my power to eliminate all the Jews of the world, but I left some of them so that you would know why I was exterminating them.” But they also favorably quoted some antisemitism from Mein Kampf.
That is only one article in the past 24 hours.
Algeria’s El Khabar has an article that says:
Egypt’s El Balad publishes a prayer for genocide of Jews. Here is a small part:
A columnist in Saudi Arabia’s Al Madina writes:
But while some articles ue the Quran to justify hating Jews, others claim that Jews are not really the Jews in the Quran to begin with. Dr. Ahmed Rabie , former dean of the Faculty of Islamic Dawa at Al-Azhar University, said that “today’s Jews are not descendants of our Prophet Jacob” and only arabs are the remaining descendants of Abraham.
But why seek consistency in the details? The main point remains: Jews are evil and must be destroyed.
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Mein Kampf in Arabic
Mein Kampf in Arabic in Gaza
Israel-tweet-12November2023-Mein Kampf in Gaza
Antisemitism kills.
IDF forces found a copy of Hitler’s antisemitic work “Mein Kampf” in a child’s room of a home in Gaza used by Hamas as a terrorism hub.
The terrorist highlighted portions of the book and included his own notes.
It starts with words. It ends with Jewish blood in the streets.
Israel-tweet-12November2023-Mein Kampf in Gaza
Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria
Rubi Yona-tweet-15October2024-Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria
No, our fighters didn’t find it in Gaza but in “Judea and Samaria” (what the jihadist-loving left calls the “The West Bank”), 20 minutes from our central cities.
This is a school textbook based on Hitler’s “Mein Camp”, on the extermination of the Jewish people, with additions, upgrades and streamlining suggestions for the jihadist Muslims known as “Palestinians”.
We fight monsters.
#AINewsIL #MuslimInvaders #TheWestIsNext
Rubi Yona-tweet-15October2024-Mein Kampf in Arabic in Judea and Samaria
Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
SEE: From 9January2014 Sales Of Hitler’s Mein Kampf Are Surging
Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
While visiting different Palestinian cities in the West Bank, I was shocked to see Mein Kampf sold at many stores (even those that are not bookshops).
When you hear how many Palestinians talk about Hitler, you quickly understand why.
Listen to Yussuf from Bethlehem.
Eli Kowaz-tweet-4January2024-Mein Kampf sold at many Palestinian stores
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Arab Reality
Arab Blogger Tells You the Truth About Gaza
By Hana Levi Julian – 14 Tevet 5784 – 25December2023 – https://www.jewishpress.com/news/eye-on-palestine/hamas/the-gaza-you-thought-you-knew-versus-the-real-gaza/2023/12/25/
Muslim girls study the Koran during a summer camp at a mosque in Gaza City, June 13, 2023.
For decades, Palestinian Authority propaganda and misinformation conveyed to the European Union, the United States and various Arab nations by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has lamented a Gaza populated by downtrodden Arabs steeped in abject poverty and misery, blockaded, occupied and besieged by the State of Israel.
A Gaza with frequent electrical outages due to a lack of fuel. A people forced to live with unclean water due to old, broken-down sewage facilities. Families desperate for a little more food for their children.
Gazans suffering dying due to lack of medical facilities and quality medical care.
All the while, Gazans were apparently raking in the dough while living a better life than many of their Palestinian Arab peers in nations like Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and the like.
Arab blogger Hoda Jannat exposed the lies in a series of posts on the X social media platform, together with video footage to substantiate his claims.
Behold.
“This is Gaza before October 7th. The Arab mind was fooled on the basis that Gaza was besieged. There are Arab people in Arab countries who eat meat once a year, like the Algerian people,” the blogger writes in Arabic.
Hoda_jannat-tweet-25December2023-This is Gaza before October 7th
هذه غزة قبل السابع من أكتوبر
تم استحمار العقل العربي على أساس أن غزة محاصرة ..
وهنالك شعوب عربية في دول عربية تأكل اللحم مرة في السنة مثل الشعب الجزائري
This is Gaza before October 7th
The Arab mind was fooled on the basis that Gaza was besieged.
There are Arab people in Arab countries who eat meat once a year, like the Algerian people
Hoda_jannat-tweet-25December2023-This is Gaza before October 7th
In a separate tweet, @HodaJannat writes:
Suddenly we discovered that Gaza, which is inhabited by 2 million people… has 36 hospitals.
There are Arab countries with 30 million citizens and do not have this number of hospitals.
? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was getting water, electricity, gas, and fuel for free from Israel.
Of course, there is no Arab citizen who does not pay water, electricity and fuel bills.
? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was receiving $30 million a month from Qatar alone
And $120 million a month from UNRWA
And $50 million a month from the European Union
And 30 million dollars a month from America.
There are Arab countries drowning in debt and cannot find anyone to help them, even with one million dollars.
? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was not besieged, and all goods were entering it, as were foreigners and people of foreign nationalities. Its residents were traveling to Egypt and from there to the rest of the world, and Fafo is the biggest example.
? Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was living better than many Arab countries…and its people were living better than many Arab peoples.
Suddenly…we discovered that our minds were besieged by a programmed lie…by the (Muslim) Brotherhood media.
gevwey-tweet-24December2023-Suddenly we discovered that Gaza
🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة التي يسكنها 2 مليون نسمة … فيها 36 مستشفى وهنالك دول عربية بها 30 مليون مواطن وما فيها هذا العدد من المستشفيات .
🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تحصل على الماء والكهرباء والغاز والوقود بالمجان من اسرائيل . طبعا ليس هنالك مواطن عربي لا يدفع فواتير الماء والكهرباء والوقود .
🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تصلها 30 مليون دولار شهريا من قطر وحدها و120 مليون دولار شهريا من الأونروا و50 مليون دولار شهريا من الاتحاد الأوربي و30 مليون دولار شهريا من امريكا. وهنالك دول عربية غارقة في الديون ولا تجد من يساعدها ولو بمليون دولار واحد .
🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة لم تكن محاصرة وكانت تدخلها كل السلع ويدخلها اجانب وأصحاب جنسيات أجنبية ..وكان سكانها يسافرون إلى مصر ومنها إلى باقي دول العالم وفافو اكبر مثال.
🔴فجأة اكتشفنا أن غزة كانت تعيش افضل من بلدان عربية كثيرة …وشعبها كان يعيش افضل من شعوب عربية كثيرة. فجأة …اكتشفنا أن عقولنا هي المحاصرة بكذب مبرمج …من قبل الإعلام الاخونجي.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza, which is inhabited by 2 million people… has 36 hospitals
There are Arab countries with 30 million citizens and do not have this number of hospitals.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was getting water, electricity, gas, and fuel for free from Israel.
Of course, there is no Arab citizen who does not pay water, electricity and fuel bills.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was receiving $30 million a month from Qatar alone
And $120 million a month from UNRWA
And $50 million a month from the European Union
And 30 million dollars a month from America.
There are Arab countries drowning in debt and cannot find anyone to help them, even with one million dollars.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was not besieged, and all goods were entering it, as were foreigners and people of foreign nationalities. Its residents were traveling to Egypt and from there to the rest of the world, and Fafo is the biggest example.
🔴 Suddenly we discovered that Gaza was living better than many Arab countries…and its people were living better than many Arab peoples.
Suddenly…we discovered that our minds were besieged by a programmed lie…by the Brotherhood media.
gevwey-tweet-24December2023-Suddenly we discovered that Gaza
Surprisingly, Hoda Jannat is not the only one to expose the real quality of life enjoyed by Gazans prior to October 7th.
Meet social media poster @Imshin, who specializes in showing what life in Gaza was really like by showing videos and photos from Gazans themselves, including videos, blog posts, and news that was posted by middle-class and wealthy Gazans. Imshin posted this Feb. 2022:
Imshin-tweet-11February2022-Gaza Land of Contrasts
#Gaza Land of Contrasts.
#TheGazaYouDontSee – an introduction.
#Palestine #Hamas #HamasTerrorists
Imshin-tweet-11February2022-Gaza Land of Contrasts
And this was posted on Dec. 25, 2023, also by Imshin:
Imshin-tweet-25December2023-What was Gaza like before the hostilities
Text:
“What was Gaza like before the hostilities?”
“We lived well, no blockade or anything.
Enough with the lies!
Hamas came and destroyed everything for their own good.”
#TheGazaYouDontSee
#October7massacre
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSNG6YS66/
Imshin-tweet-25December2023-What was Gaza like before the hostilities
And this:
Imshin-tweet-25December2023-Shopping in Gaza City before October7massacre
Shopping in Gaza City, before #October7massacre.
#TheGazaYouDontSee
Imshin-tweet-25December2023-Shopping in Gaza City before October7massacre
Was there hardship in Gaza? Yes. As in any other society — including that in Israel, and in the United States — there were families who had less; but they learned to make do. But those who suffered did so at the behest of their Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist rulers who were overwhelmingly, democratically, elected into power by Gaza voters themselves.
Israel withdrew any presence from the enclave well before the January 2006 elections won by Hamas against the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction in a vote of 74 to 45 seats.
Gaza hasn’t been “occupied” since August 2005, when the government of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon instituted the Disengagement from Gaza, expelling nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes and communities in the Gush Katif region of the enclave.
In response, Israel was rewarded with more than 10,000 rockets fired at its civilians by its neighbors in Judenrein Gaza, not to mention the series of mini-wars forced upon the Jewish State by Gaza since that time, and during which Israeli soldiers worked hard to “mow the lawn” and trim back the threat to Israel from Hamas.
But it didn’t work.
Between October 7 and December 25, 2023, Hamas and its ally, the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization have fired more than 12,500 rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians, and they continue to fire sporadically, whenever they manage to scurry out from beneath the rubble to launch another barrage.
Since October 7, IDF soldiers have uncovered at least 1,500 tunnel shafts leading to the subterranean labyrinth known locally as the “Gaza Metro” comprised of more than 500 miles of tunnels — a veritable underground city — built by Hamas during the years of its rule.
Hundreds of subsurface rocket launchers are so well concealed, they barely peek above the surface, and one practically has to stumble on to them before being able to see them and destroy them. Entire command and control complexes, all of them built 30 to 50 meters (98 feet 164 feet) below the surface — deeper than any grave.
However long it takes, Israel no longer has any choice but to completely wipe out Hamas and its terrorist allies in Gaza, because at this point, it’s either them or us.
Special thanks to Hoda Jannat and Imshin!
9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th
Visegrád 24-tweet-17February2024-9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th
9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th.
Hamas ruined the lives of more than 2 million people
Visegrád 24-tweet-17February2024-9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th
9 minutes of how Gaza used to look like before October 7th
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Does the UN hate the Gazans?
Or does it simply hate Israel so much it is willing to use Gazan Arabs as pawns and cannon fodder. The MUST READ concise history of Gaza. Op-ed.
Lt. Col.(res.) Maurice Hirsch / 8January2024 / https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/383231
Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch is the director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs; a senior legal analyst for Human Rights Voices; and a member of the Israel Defense and Security Forum.
Over the last 500 years, at least, the Gaza Strip has been a backwater. No one has ever truly invested in Gaza or the Gazans. For the last 100 years, Gaza and the Gazans have increasingly been used as pawns, by both the Arabs and the international community, in their efforts to vilify Israel and the Jews.
When push came to shove, the international community, led by the United Nations, preferred dead Gazans over losing leverage against Israel. Paradoxically and entirely contrary to common perception, Israel did more for the Gazans and the Gaza Strip than any of its many rulers, and had the international community not hated the Gazans so much, their situation today could have been drastically different.
Gaza under the Ottomans
For 400 years (1517-1917), the area known today as the Gaza Strip was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was not recognized as an independent area or as being at all linked to Judea and Samaria. Under Ottoman rule, the Gaza Strip saw changing fortunes and investments, depending on the circumstances and the identity and connections of its appointed governor.
Gaza under the Mandate
In the aftermath of the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Gaza Strip was included in the area that came under the control of Great Britain. Following the Balfour Declaration (1917), the Paris Peace Conference (1919), the San Remo Conference (1920) and the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, Great Britain controlled the area with the sole purpose of it becoming part of the Jewish national homeland. One of the more substantial moves made by Great Britain during the period of the Mandate (1922-1948) was to finalize the official border separating Egypt from the Gaza Strip.
After Great Britain betrayed the Mandate and capitulated to Arab violence instead of giving the Jews the land designated for their national homeland, the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan (which suggested an Arab state and a tiny Jewish state on that same land), included the Gaza Strip in the territory of the “Arab State.” However, having ceremoniously rejected the Partition Plan, the Arab countries chose instead to wage war on the nascent Jewish state. While Israel managed to survive the onslaught of five Arab armies, when the fighting came to its end, it did not conquer the Gaza Strip, which would now be under Egyptian rule. Except for a short break between 1956 and 1957 duing the Sinai War, the Strip remained under Egyptian control from 1948 to 1967.
The Arab countries reject Israel
Positive proof of the disdain of both the Arab countries and the international community toward the Gazans appeared during this period.
According to U.N. records, during Israel’s War of Independence (9 months and 3 weeks, ed.), the population of the Gaza Strip swelled from about 70,000 people to 270,000 people. In the multilateral discussions that followed the war, Israel offered to include the Gaza Strip within the borders of the Jewish state and give all its residents full Israeli citizenship. Had the offer been accepted, the Gaza Strip would today be an integral part of Israel, all its residents would hold full citizenship and both the area and its residents would have shared and enjoyed the prosperity of Israel.
However, both the Arab states and the international community did not care about the fate of Gaza’s residents, old and new. The Arab countries rejected the offer, preferring to continue their fight against Israel’s very right to exist. For its part, the international community allowed the Arab countries to reject the offer without providing any substantial alternative.
Unlike Jordan’s unsuccessful claim of ownership of Judea and Samaria (also supposed to be part of the Jewish national homeland), Egypt never claimed to have any proprietary or sovereign claim to the Gaza Strip. It merely administered the Strip under perpetual military law, never granting its residents Egyptian citizenship.
The colossal UNRWA failure
The disdain of the international community for the Gazan residents was further expressed by its inaction.
While allowing the Egyptians to deny the Gazans any opportunity to settle, deny them citizenship and deny them rights, the international community simultaneously failed to provide the Gazans with any alternative. Between 1948 and 1967, no U.N. resolution ever called on Egypt to end its illegal occupation of the Strip and withdraw or to recognize the new Arab state envisaged by the Partition Plan. It was not called an occupier. The areas that are now so often referred to as the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” do not appear to have been considered “Palestinian territories” until they were liberated by Israel in 1967.
Instead of developing a comprehensive solution for the residents of Gaza, the Arab countries and the international community decided to establish the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the U.N. organization dedicated solely to dealing with the non-Jewish so-called “Palestine refugees.”
UNRWA’s raison d’etre is to perpetuate the falsehood that the perpetual “Palestine refugees” will eventually flood Israel, thereby demographically and democratically destroying Israel as a Jewish state.
True to its mission and sadly for the Gazans, despite having received tens of billions of dollars of international aid in the 74 years since its creation, UNRWA has failed to settle the “Palestine refugees” permanently. The opposite is true. Since the creation of UNRWA, the number of “Palestine refugees” has swelled from 711,00 initially to over 6 million people. According to UNRWA, the original 200,000 “Palestine refugees” who settled in Gaza in 1948 have multiplied at a staggering rate and now number no fewer than 1,577,522 people, an unmatched 4th generation of “refugees”..
Amazingly, according to UNRWA statistics, over 20% of the original “refugees,” now all aged over 80 (41,842 people), are still alive and living in Gaza.
For 74 years, UNRWA has ensured that the Gazans and other “Palestine refugees” remain stateless, living in poverty and constantly dependent on international aid. (That is how it continues to exist and its staff retain their salaries, ed.)
Gaza under Israeli rule
Once Israel liberated Gaza from the Egyptian occupation, things started looking up for the Gazans. Israel not only allowed the Gazans to enter Israel to work, allowing for substantial growth, but also started linking Gaza to Israeli infrastructure, such as electricity and water.
Gaza under the Palestinian Authority
Despite the positive change, the Arab countries and the international community refused to accept the Israeli presence in the Strip, inventing the false claim that Israel was an “occupier.” Over time, the rhetoric against Israel as an “occupier” intensified until Israel agreed to enter into the Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and pave the way for the creation of the Palestinian Authority.
Instead of promoting the needs of the Gazans, the P.A., with the help of the international community, again subjugated the Gazan population. While the PLO/P.A. promised peace and democracy, all it delivered was brainwashing to hate Israel, and incitement of violence, murder and terror.
Democracy was a fleeting incident, with elections taking place only twice, once in 1996 and then again in 2006. The first elections ushered in the dictatorial leadership of Yasser Arafat and his Fatah party, and the second ushered in the dictatorial rule of Hamas, an internationally designated terror organization.
Israel’s disengagement from Gaza
Pursuant to its agenda to destroy Israel, in September 2000, the PLO/P.A. launched a terror war. During the war, which raged till 2005, Palestinian Arab terrorists carried out thousands of terror attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to “disengage” from the area. Thus, in Sept. 2005, Israel completed the total expulsion of all the Israelis from the Gaza Strip (over 8000 people were displaced from thriving communities they had built with government encouragement, ed.) and withdrew all its forces, redeploying to the Armistice Line agreed upon in 1949 at the end of Israel’s war of independence.
Gaza in its entirety, including an advanced agricultural industry built by Israeli know-how and hard work, was handed to the P.A. (Gazans promptly set fire to the greenhouses that had previously provided Europe and Israel with a significant percentage of its flowers and vegetables, and had been donated to them to help them make sea-fronted Gaza into “the Singapore of the Middle East”, ed.)
Hamas takes control of Gaza
Shortly after the “disengagement” in January 2006, the P.A. held a general election. Again, showing its disdain for the Gazans, the P.A. and the international community persuaded Israel to agree to the participation of Hamas in the elections. While P.A. chairman Mahmoud Abbas did his utmost to manipulate the elections in favor of his Fatah party, Hamas won, receiving 74 of the 132 seats in the P.A. parliament. After a period of turmoil, a year later, in the summer of 2007, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. (It then murdered Fatah rivals, often by pushing them off the roofs of buildings, ed.)
Again, abandoning the Gazans to their fate, the international community did not protest the rulership of a terrorist organization over the area but instead developed a policy of wilful blindness, rebranding the terrorists as the “de facto” leadership of Gaza.
Under the guise of expressing concern for the Gazans, broad international support poured into Hamas coffers for 16 years. With the international aid, Hamas and its leadership grew rich, while the average Gazan remained poor and impoverished. Instead of using the aid to develop Gaza, the Hamas terrorists diverted their resources to build hundreds of kilometers of terror tunnels.
Despite the Israeli “disengagement” and the fact that the Gaza Strip was controlled by a terror organization, the international community refused to hold the Gazans and their leadership responsible for their actions. Instead of demanding that Hamas and the Gazans abandon their desire to destroy Israel, the international community flouted international law and invented the sui generis claim that Israel remained an “occupier” of Gaza. In no other situation in the world is a country considered an “occupier” of another region without “boots on the ground” and without exercising effective control. (Israel does control the border into its territory as does every sovereign state, and after ships filled with arms tried to deliver them to Gaza, controls the sea border,, while Egypt controls its own border with Gaza, ed.)
From 2006 through Oct. 6, 2023, the terrorists in Gaza fired tens of thousands of rockets into Israel, indiscriminately targeting its civilian population, and made hundreds of attempts, many successful, to infiltrate Israel and carry out terror attacks. These attacks inevitably ended in war-like “cycles of violence” between Israel and the Gazan terrorists.
Instead of condemning the terrorists and their homicidal actions and holding them responsible for their aggression, the international community again chose to abandon the Gazans to their fate and their terrorist leadership, preferring to focus all criticism on Israel’s self-defense.
The Oct. 7 massacre
If the disdain of the international community for the Gazans was unclear until now, their actions following the 10/7 massacre leave no room for doubt.
On Oct. 7, 2023, over 3,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel from Gaza, led by the Nukhba forces of Hamas. The terrorists murdered more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners. Some were tortured, some, even infants, burned alive, some raped and some beheaded. An additional 240 people—men, women, children, babies, the disabled, the elderly and the sick—were taken hostage. ( A not insubstantial number of Gazan “civilians” also took part in the murder and pillage, ed.)
Israel responded by declaring all-out war on the Gazan terrorists. As part of the operation, the Israeli forces attacked thousands of targets from the air, the sea and the ground. In preparation for the ground operation, Israel recommended that the civilians living in the northern Gaza Strip leave their homes and travel south.
To put the situation into context, it is essential to note that the Gaza Strip is only 41 kilometers (25 miles) long, from 6 to 12 km (3.7 to 7.5 miles) wide, and has a total area of 365 square kilometers (141 square miles). Approximately 2 million people inhabit it. As a result of the fighting in the north, over 800,000 people were displaced.
Egypt and the international community refuse refuge for the Gazans
In normal circumstances, wars almost always results in the creation of refugees. Thus, for example, as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, over 6,332,700 Ukrainians became refugees. As a result of the Syrian civil war, approximately 5.5 million Syrians were forced to flee Syria, becoming refugees. (They will probably settle successfully in their new homes, as other refugees have throughout history, ed.)
Despite the high intensity of the war in Gaza, exacerbated by the confined space and high population density, astonishingly, the war created no refugees.
While Gaza is surrounded from the north and east by Israel and on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, Gaza also shares a border with Egypt. Instead of welcoming their Arab brothers, Egypt refused to allow Gazans to cross into the Sinai Peninsula and seek refuge. Soon after the start of the war, Egypt reportedly lined up tanks and armored vehicles along the Gazan border specifically to prevent the Gazans from fleeing the war. Shamefully, despite clearly putting the Gazans in mortal danger, the international community remained silent in the face of the Egyptian cold-heartedness.
No U.N. resolution called upon Egypt to show humanity towards the Gazans, and no U.N. resolution condemned their decision to refuse the Gazans refuge. While Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, did offer the Gazans refuge in Scotland and called on the United Kingdom and the international community to provide refuge for the Gazans, nothing happened. Canada also made positive overtures and even adopted relaxed criteria to allow Gazans to seek refuge, but as yet, no Gazans have been able to take advantage of the change. (It is not too late – petition your government to rescue the Gazans, ed.)
The world hates the Gazans
Given the repeated approach of the international community and its consistent decisions to abandon the Gazans—even leaving them to face mortal danger—one would not be entirely mistaken to conclude that the world does hate the Gazans.
There is, however, another possible conclusion, which is no less nefarious.
The international community may not actually hate the Gazans. Rather, the international community hates Israel and is willing to do its utmost to vilify and condemn the Jewish state. (It may even intend to sit by placidly while the Gazans re-arm for their next try. After all, the arms came through the tunnels under the border with Egypt, with whom Israel signed a peace treaty, and no one knows how many terrorists were among the Gazans who fled south at Israel’s suggestion, ed.) To serve this goal, the international community uses the Gazans as pawns and cannon fodder.
Gazans’ lives don’t matter to the international community unless they can be weaponized against the Jews and the Jewish state.
Originally published by The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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NGO Propaganda
The International Community
Hillel Fuld-tweet-31December2023-The International Community
The absurdity knows no bounds:
Israel:
“They massacred, beheaded, and raped our women and children!”
The international community: “Yea, we don’t care until you prove it!”
“Ok, here are the testimonials.”
“Sorry, not good enough.”
“Sure. Photos.”
“Fake.”
“Ok, here’s video evidence.”
“Sorry, you’re gonna have to do better than that”
“Ok, here are the actual victims and their stories.”
“Liars!”
“Here is Hamas admitting it all!”
“They aren’t reliable. They don’t mean it.”
“Here are the bodies.”
“Prove that Hamas did that and not the IDF.”
Israel: 🙄
Hamas: “Israel killed 10 zillion people in Gaza, 100% of them are children. Trust us.”
The international community: “It’s a genocide!!
JerusalemCats-tweet-1January2024-What needs to be done
Israel needs to treat the International organizations as Hamas Agents or Supporters, then bring out the Tennis Rackets. Just say your filming a Supermarket Ad. We have Killer Prices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh Just say your filming a Supermarket Ad. We have Killer Prices. https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Supermarket-chains-ad-spoof-on-Dubai-hit-set-to-go-viral
Hillel Fuld-tweet-31December2023-The International Community
JerusalemCats-tweet-1January2024-What needs to be done
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The Europeans
Danish ambassador, JPost’s Caroline Glick exchange verbal blows over EU attitude toward Israel
19January2015
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Israel needs to treat NGOs [Non-Government Organizations] as terror supporters until proven otherwise
Canary Mission-tweet-23November2023-humanitarian agencies have not condemned 7October
We’re still waiting for these “humanitarian” agencies to condemn Hamas’ Oct . 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis: @unicefchief, WHO head @DrTedros, @amnesty, International Red Cross @ICRC, United Nation High Commissioner on Human Rights @volker_turk, @UNHumanRights, @UNRWA, UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs, Human Rights Watch @hrw, @EU_Commission, @unwomenchief, Malala Yousafzai @Malala & @MalalaFund
Canary Mission-tweet-23November2023-humanitarian agencies have not condemned 7October
humanitarian agencies that still haven’t condemned 7October2023
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Lies against the IDF: Hamas PURPOSELY drew fire to the World Central Kitchens (NGO) truck
The Persian Jewess-tweet-7April2024-Hamas PURPOSELY drew fire to the World Central Kitchens truck
⚠️BREAKING⚠️ IDF has revealed that Hamas PURPOSELY drew fire to the WCK truck.
🔥At around 10 pm, the IDF noticed suspicious activity as the WCK vehicle was joined by a convoy of several other Hamas vehicles.
🔥 Hamas terrorists then climbed ONTO and INTO the WCK truck and FIRED several times indiscriminately into the air to ensure the IDF would see them.
🔥The convoy then split up and entered a hanger, where it became difficult to
distinguish between the Hamas vehicles and the WCK vehicle.
🔥IDF attempted to call both the WCK workers and WCK HQ on TWO separate occasions to confirm whether they were with the Hamas convoy but their calls remained unanswered.
🔥When the vehicles left the hangar OVER AN HOUR LATER the IDF drone unit misidentified the WCK vehicle for a vehicle from the Hamas convoy and mistakenly struck.
The IDF has provided their full findings to both WCK and Jose Andres, and are now requiring new stickers for aid vehicles which can be seen via drones even in the dark.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-795514
The Persian Jewess-tweet-7April2024-Hamas PURPOSELY drew fire to the World Central Kitchens truck
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-8April2024-When NATO kills-friendly fire When Israel kills-war crime
“When British or U.S. troops accidentally kill innocent civilians, journalists or aid workers it’s ‘friendly fire’ in the heat of battle. When Israel does likewise, it’s a deliberate war crime. The double-standards are nauseating.”
~ Richard Littlejohn, in Daily Mail.
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-8April2024-When NATO kills-friendly fire When Israel kills-war crime
JerusalemCat-tweet-3April2024-During World War 2 humanitarian aid workers WERE NOT in German or Japanese Cities While they were being Bombed
The Gaza Ministry of Health has a quota to fill and the journalists and humanitarian aid workers are slacking off. This is WAR. During World War 2 journalists and humanitarian aid workers WERE NOT in German or Japanese Cities While they were being Bombed!
JerusalemCats-tweet-3April2024-During World War 2 humanitarian aid workers WERE NOT in German or Japanese Cities While they were being Bombed
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Hamas was with the World Central Kitchens (NGO)
Sebastian Marinaio-tweet-10April2024-Hamas was with the WCK
Hi @chefjoseandres care to explain this picture? You’ve spent the week accusing Israel targeting @WCKitchen volunteers & now we know Hamas was riding with the vehicles. You also accused Israel of genocide which is an absolute lie. Now YOU can be seen hanging with Hamas. WTF???
Sebastian Marinaio-tweet-10April2024-Hamas was with the WCK
David Lange-tweet-11April2024-Some telling footage of WorldCentralKitchen workers around Hamas terrorists
Some telling footage of #WorldCentralKitchen workers around #Hamas terrorists. Not suggesting they are enabling them, but it puts the IDF investigation results into perspective. More here: https://www.israellycool.com/2024/04/11/world-central-kitchen-footage-shows-presence-of-hamas-terrorists-near-aid-trucks/
David Lange-tweet-11April2024-Some telling footage of WorldCentralKitchen workers around Hamas terrorists
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Tragic World Central Kitchen Aid Workers Incident Exposes Rank Hypocrisy
The tragic killing of the seven aid workers in Gaza in an IDF drone strike has undoubtedly changed the direction of Israel’s war against Hamas. As the IDF admitted making “grave mistakes” in the strike…
Rachel O’Donoghue 8April2024 https://honestreporting.com/the-rank-hypocrisy-exposed-by-the-tragic-world-central-kitchen-strike/
The tragic killing of the seven aid workers in Gaza in an IDF drone strike has undoubtedly changed the direction of Israel’s war against Hamas.
As the IDF admitted making “grave mistakes” in the strike on a World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicle convoy, pressure has piled on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in the Strip, as well as other unpalatable terms Hamas put forward.
In the immediate aftermath, Israel dismissed two military officers and reprimanded several others.
The point that has been ignored by the vast majority of media pundits and politicians as they line up to criticize Israel is that holding up the WCK incident as proof there must be an immediate ceasefire is tantamount to saying that Hamas should stay in power.
Some of the harshest criticism leveled at Israel has come from its staunchest allies, including the United States and the United Kingdom, which have previously stopped short of calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
The UK’s foreign minister Lord David Cameron, for example, warned that Britain’s support for Israel was “not unconditional,” while describing the deaths of the WCK workers as “tragic and avoidable.”
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden released a statement on April 2 — mere hours after the incident — which called for a “thorough investigation” that brings full “accountability.”
“Even more tragically, this is not a stand-alone incident. This conflict has been one of the worst in recent memory in terms of how many aid workers have been killed,” the statement added.
Such criticism was mirrored in the international press
An editorial by The Observer argued that “only a ceasefire in Gaza can save [Israel] from its worst-ever crisis” and called for an “independent, international inquiry into last week’s outrageous killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.”
“The IDF’s internal investigation and its limited admission of error do not begin to excuse or explain the army’s trigger-happy behaviour and ongoing, systemic problems with targeting,” it added.
Writing in The Guardian, Nesrine Malik described the World Central Kitchen incident as evidence that “Israel has gone rogue.”
The Wall Street Journal attempted to explore what it called the “deadly mistakes of Israel’s military in Gaza” in a piece that observed how the aid convoy strike had “crystallized a broad international backlash against Israel’s war in Gaza.”
However, the swift and unforgiving reaction to the WCK incident by both international leaders and the media has exposed another issue: a glaring hypocrisy where Israel is judged by a standard that is not applied to its allies.
Opinion writer Brendan O’Neill was among the handful of media pundits to call out this double standard in a piece for The Spectator:
Another op-ed in Newsweek by international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky and urban warfare expert John Spencer noted how one inevitable consequence of war is that “errors will occur” and that the US too had made similar errors during its conflicts:
A piece published in the Daily Mail by columnist Richard Littlejohn called out the “nauseating” double standards that the WCK strike has exposed.
Recounting the events that followed the death of his friend, ITN correspondent Terry Lloyd—who was killed alongside several other journalists in a US strike on their clearly marked vehicle on the outskirts of Basra, Iraq, in March 2003—Littlejohn wrote:
Every innocent person killed in this war is a tragedy, whether they are international aid workers or Palestinian civilians. However, suggesting that Israel’s tragic accidents are somehow unique or more severe than others is hypocrisy of the highest order.
Liked this article? Follow HonestReporting on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to see even more posts and videos debunking news bias and smears, as well as other content explaining what’s really going on in Israel and the region.
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World Central Kitchen fires 62 Gaza employees after Israel finds connections to terror groups
Aviva Klompas-tweet-11December2024-World Central Kitchen fires 62 Gaza employees
The most important story that the mainstream media ignored today.
World Central Kitchen fired dozens of their Palestinian staff in Gaza after discovering that at least 62 of them WERE LINKED TO TERROR GROUPS.
Unlike @UNRWA, World Central Kitchen understands that it shouldn’t keep terrorists on its payroll.
Aviva Klompas-tweet-11December2024-World Central Kitchen fires 62 Gaza employees
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Qatar funded Human Rights Watch
i24NEWS English-tweet-23November2023-Qatar funded Human Rights Watch
A leaked document obtained by @MEMRIReports shows @hrw was given Qatari state funds
@BenWeinthal investigates
i24NEWS English-tweet-23November2023-Qatar funded Human Rights Watch
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JerusalemCats Comments: When you think of the Red Cross, Think of the Medieval Christian Knights Templar slaughtering Jews during the Crusades!
A knight of the Templar. Warrior Monk
הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום הוא רשע / The International Committee of the Red Cross is Evil
27December2023 http://esseragaroth.blogspot.com/2023/12/international-committee-of-red-cross-is.html
English follows the Hebrew.
עשר אגורות (2¢):
בדרך כלל אני מוכן להגיד שהדוח על ידי דניאל אדלסון מספיק כדי להבין את היסוד הרשע של הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום.
לא היום. אף פעם לא מספיק להדגיש דבר כזה כשיהודים עושים אותו הטעות פעם אחר פעם ומצפים לתוצאות שונות. איזה טעויות? לסמוך ותמוך בהוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום, ולצפות מהם החלטות צדקות.
אני מזכיר לכם על האירועים שעברו על ידי הוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום (הכתבות באנגלית):
אם אתם עדיין לא יכולים להבין שהוועד הבינלאומי של ארגון הצלב האדום רשע מכה אלה, אז לא נראה לי שאני מוסגל להוכיח לכם את זה.
סמל מגן דוד אדום נמחק
Red Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) symbol getting erased.
Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Generally I am willing to say that the report by Daniel Adelson is enough to understand the evil element of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Not today. It is never enough to emphasize such a thing when Jews make the same mistake over and over and expect different results. What mistakes? To trust and support the International Committee of the Red Cross, and to expect it to make just decisions.
The original Hebrew says that Mirjana Spoljaric responded, “Surely, you can find ways to get these to them.”
Here are a few of the Red Cross’s past strikes against Israel and the Jewish People:
If you still cannot see how evil the Red Cross is, then I am not sure I can help you to see the light.
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Israel: Red Cross has ‘no right to exist’ if it can’t help hostages in Gaza
FM Eli Cohen’s remarks come after organization warns Israel over emergency law concerning conditions of security prisoners in Israeli jails
By ToI Staff 1November2023, href=”https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-red-cross-has-no-right-to-exist-if-it-cant-help-hostages-in-gaza/
Amid an ongoing spat with the Red Cross, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen demanded Wednesday that the group visit the 240 hostages Israeli believes are being held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and harshly criticized the organization’s conduct.
The foreign minister told the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, that the ICRC must demand to meet and provide medical assistance to all the hostages, Cohen’s office said.
“The Red Cross has no right to exist if it does not succeed in visiting the hostages being held captive by the Hamas terror group,” Cohen told Spoljaric, and noted that “children, women and Holocaust survivors” are being held captive.
“The Red Cross must act decisively and with a clear voice and utilize all leverage it has to push for a visit to the hostages as soon as possible,” Cohen added.
Cohen’s statements came after the Red Cross sent a letter on Tuesday to the Israel Prison Service, cautioning the state about a wartime law passed in the Knesset two weeks ago that allows National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir to worsen the conditions of security prisoners if a “prison emergency” were to be declared.
The foreign minister criticized the ICRC for focusing on Israel, “which is bound by international law and acts in accordance with it,” instead of the enormous humanitarian crisis created by Hamas.
Prison Service commissioner Katy Perry, in a statement Wednesday, said that the Red Cross would not be allowed to visit Palestinian terror prisoners held in Israeli jails until the organization is able to provide assistance to the Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7 with Hamas’s shock assault, which took the lives of some 1,400 people in Israel, the vast majority of them civilians. More than 240 people were taken captive as Hamas terrorists rampaged through the communities adjacent to Gaza.
Since then, while waging war against Hamas in Gaza, Israel has agitated for the International Red Cross to be allowed to visit the hostages held in the Strip, but so far the terror group has shown little inclination to permit such visits.
The Red Cross has also made multiple statements concerning the war, has cautioned Israel in regards to civilian casualties in Gaza, and is involved with providing humanitarian aid packages to Gaza. When two Israeli-American hostages, Judith and Natalie Raanan, were released by Hamas on October 20, they were first turned over to the Red Cross.
Benjamin B@dejo-tweet-24November2023-The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists
The Red Cross (@ICRC/@ICRC_ilot) just deleted their tweet saying they are “RELIEVED” that Palestinian prisoners — including convicted attempted murderers — were released and can now “hug their families” after a “long separation.” The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists.
Benjamin B@dejo-tweet-24November2023-The Red Cross sympathizes with terrorists
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Red Cross in 1944: “We found no trace” Red Cross in 2023: “We found no evidence”
Dr. Eli David-tweet-26November2023-Red Cross in 1944-2023-We found no trace
Red Cross in 1944: “We found no trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners in Auschwitz” 👇
Red Cross in 2023: “We found no evidence of weapons or hostages being kept in hospitals in Gaza”
Dr. Eli David-tweet-26November2023-Red Cross in 1944-2023-We found no trace
Red Cross in 1944-We found no trace of installations for exterminating civilian prisoners in Auschwitz
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PROOF: Red Cross is Antisemitic
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-17December2023-
70+ DAYS and @ICRC still has not seen a single Israeli hostage in Gaza, obtained any proof of life or delivered any medicine.
The Red Cross prides itself on being unwaveringly neutral, but when it comes to Israeli lives, they are just unwaveringly absent! @ICRCPresident
JerusalemCats-tweet-17December2023-ICRC is Antisemitic
No, the ICRC is a Antisemitic, Nazi terrorist supporting Organization that has a long history of antisemitism. Such as demanding the Magen David Adom change it’s logo from the Red Star of David to something else.
JerusalemCats-tweet-17December2023-ICRC is Antisemitic
Red Cross asked to expel MDA over emblem violation
Pro-Palestinian groups say using Star of David shape in West Bank violates Geneva Convention protocol
By Tamar Pileggi
20September2015, https://www.timesofisrael.com/red-cross-to-weigh-expelling-mda-over-emblem-violation/
MDA paramedic Tal Rabin attends to displaced Nepalese locals in Kathmandu. (photo courtesy Magen David Adom)
A number of pro-Palestinian organizations have petitioned the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to expel Israel’s national emergency medical service for using the emblem of the international federation on its ambulances operating in West Bank.
The Palestinian groups charge that Magen David Adom — the country’s medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service — is in violation of a Geneva Convention protocol stipulating Israeli paramedic teams use a neutral emblem while working outside the country, the Yedioth Aharonoth daily newspaper reported Sunday.
In 2006, the MDA emerged from decades of isolation and was admitted to the ICRC after agreeing to abide by a protocol adopted by Geneva Convention signatories the year before.
The protocol introduced a neutral “red crystal” emblem to be used by any relief teams in areas where there is sensitivity about Christian or Muslim symbols.
The MDA, along with IDF medics, were instructed to use the new symbol — a red square at an angle on a white background — when participating in operations outside Israel.
While operating in missions in conjunction with other ICRC agencies, the red crystal emblem was to be used in conjunction with MDA’s star of David. In Israel, MDA was allowed to keep its traditional logo.
According to the report, ICRC officials will discuss the complaint at the body’s annual meeting in December.
A Foreign Ministry official told the paper that the initiative was being followed up though diplomatic channels.
“We will not allow anyone to remove MDA from the Red Cross,” the official said, dismissing the complaint as mere “threats and catchphrases.”
“Its a shame that officials choose not to address the issues in Syria, Libya or Yemen and instead choose to focus on Israel — a country that provides emergency and standard medical services to Jews, Muslims, Christians, Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
Dror Futter’s Post
Dror Futter
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/drorfutter_what-is-missing-from-the-international-committee-activity-7123084504407097344-KGAl?trk=public_profile_like_view
Corporate Lawyer Focusing on Venture Formation and Financing, Mergers and Acquisitions and Commercial and IP Agreements | External GC
1mo
International Committee of the Red Cross List of Accepted Logos
What is Missing from the International Committee of the Red Cross List of Accepted Logos?
1️⃣ Notice that the Star of David is not present<
2️⃣ For 10 points, which faith uses the diamond as its symbol [hint: rhymes with none]?
▶ Although the ICRC contends that the symbols are not religious, evidently that logic applies solely to the Magen David (the Star of David) but not to the Christian cross or the Muslim crescent. For almost the first 60 years of its existence, based on opposition from Muslim countries, Israel’s Magen David Adom (Israel’s Red Star of David ie. its Red Cross) was denied admission to the ICRC.
▶ Israel was finally admitted in 2006, under heavy pressure for the American Red Cross. However, to do so, it was forced to agree that the Star of David would not be recognized as an official ICRC symbol. Instead, the ICRC created the red crystal. Here are the “rules” of the red crystal:
🔹 Within its own national territory, a national society can use either of the recognized symbols alone, or incorporate any of these symbols or a combination of them into the Red Crystal.
🔹 For indicative use on foreign territory, a national society which does not use one of the recognized symbols as its emblem has to incorporate its unique symbol into the Red Crystal, based on the previously mentioned condition about communicating its unique symbol to the state parties of the Geneva Conventions.
🔹 For protective use, only the symbols recognized by the Geneva Conventions can be used. Specifically, those national societies which do not use one of the recognized symbols as their emblem have to use the Red Crystal without incorporation of any additional symbol.
➡ Wrap your head around this. The ICRC “allows” Israel to use the Star of David in Israel. If it wants to display its symbol outside Israel, it can only do so if it displays it inside the diamond. Finally, if it wants the protective benefits of displaying the symbol outside of Israel (such as in combat) it cannot display the Star of David within the crystal.
▶ The ICRC website states: “The emblems are not religious symbols. They serve humanity. They are symbols of protection and convey that help is at hand. They also signify hope, and must be respected.” I guess if you are Jewish, you are only entitled to protection and hope if you do not identify as Jewish.
▶We are conditioned to give respect to humanitarian organizations. Many do not realize that many of these global organizations are structurally anti-Jews and anti-Israel.
▶ In the weeks to come, the news is likely to be full of statements about the war in Gaza from “humanitarian organizations.” Without minimizing the tragedy of the loss of an innocent on either side of the border, when you read and evaluate statements by the ICRC and organizations like the UN, Amnesty International, UNRWA and others, keep in mind their long standing prejudices with respect to the parties in the region. Heck, the ICRC isn’t even hiding it.
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‘Abandoned Twice’: Daughter of Freed Hostage in Critical Condition Rips Apart Red Cross
“The Red Cross refused to bring her her medications.”
Posted by Mary Chastain Monday, 27November2023 https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/11/abandoned-twice-daughter-of-freed-hostage-in-critical-condition-rips-apart-red-cross/
Elma Avraham, 84, a freed Hamas hostage, remains in critical condition.
Elma Avraham, 84, a freed Hamas hostage, remains in critical condition.
Tali Amano, her daughter, ripped apart the Red Cross for not bringing her mom the medications she needed. From The Times of Israel:
This is just awful:
i24NEWS English-tweet-27November2023-Red Cross-mother was abandoned twice
‘My mother was on the brink of death when she came to us’
Tal Amano, daughter of Elma Avraham, 84-year-old freed from #Hamas says her mother was abandoned twice. First on #October7 and then by all the organizations whose responsibility it was to save her
i24NEWS English-tweet-27November2023-Red Cross-Mother was abandoned twice
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The Red Cross is violating its neutrality principle
Blocked from visiting hostages, the aid organization should give Hamas an ultimatum: Let us see them or we’ll leave Gaza
Shlomo Levin 14December2023, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-the-red-cross-must-visit-the-hostages/
The International Committee of the Red Cross recently had a highly visible role, transporting released hostages out of Gaza in vans displaying plastered with the Red Cross logo and flying their flags. But this has also renewed criticism of the organization, as in spite of their heavy presence in Gaza helping Palestinians this is the first time they’ve done anything for the hostages. Some Israelis have called the Red Cross nothing more than an Uber service. It moved the hostages once they were released, but its job should have been to care for them all along.
Is that fair? What are the Red Cross’s responsibilities, and what can we reasonably expect? To answer, we have to understand the special legal status of the Red Cross and the code of conduct by which it operates.
A key principle of humanitarian law is that medical personnel and equipment, even if belonging to an enemy or treating enemy soldiers, cannot be the target of military attacks. The reason is that medical personnel take no part in military operations and exclusively work to help the wounded. There is therefore no military benefit in attacking them. Doing so would be uselessly destructive and is therefore not allowed. The Red Cross emblem serves as a sign making known to all combatants that an individual, vehicle, or other piece of equipment is being used solely for medical purposes and thereby enjoys this immunity from attack.
But this alone does not explain the Red Cross’s role in facilitating the release of hostages. For example, even though Hamas allowed the Red Cross to transport the hostages from Gaza, there is no way it would have allowed IDF medical units displaying the Red Cross symbol (or in this case the Magen David Adom) to do the same.
Impartiality and Neutrality
This is because the International Committee of the Red Cross commits to also following two additional principles. These are impartiality and neutrality. The Red Cross defines impartiality as being guided solely by the needs of people who are suffering, prioritized by the urgency of the case, without discriminating due to nationality, race, religion, or other status. They define neutrality as not taking sides in hostilities or engaging in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature. You can see this on their website here.
This principle of neutrality in particular requires explanation. A simple way to look at it is that the Red Cross readily admits that it as an organization, as well as its individual members, take political and ideological positions. The best example is their commitment to humanitarian law itself. The Red Cross states clearly that taking hostages is wrong, and that it condemns Hamas for doing it. The Red Cross does not require itself to be neutral or non-committal about that point.
What neutrality means is that even though they have a clear position about what humanitarian law is and that it must be followed, acting in their official capacity they vow not to take any actions to stop humanitarian abuses or other wrongdoing they encounter of any sort. So in return for access to visit hostages, they pledge not to help them escape, not to reveal to the outside world where they are being held, and so forth. They even commit not to cooperate with any future war crimes investigations or the International Criminal Court. An Israeli medical unit, even though it is also legally shielded from attack and bears the proper logo, would never agree to that (and there is zero chance they would be believed even if they said they would).
The Red Cross believes that neutrality and impartiality taken together mean there should be no grounds for any party to a conflict to deny it access to anything. Since even if a group is committing the most heinous war crimes, such as holding civilian hostages and deliberately targeting civilians, the Red Cross while acting in its territory under its protection will take no actions to hinder those violations now or in the future, there is no valid reason to keep them out.
The Hostages
So why hasn’t the Red Cross visited the hostages? They’ve reassured Israel they want to and are trying. But they don’t know where the hostages are, and even if they did know the Red Cross cannot just barge in. They depend on Hamas to allow them access, and so far Hamas hasn’t obliged.
Now of course it’s true that they cannot visit the hostages without Hamas’s permission. The question becomes what their response should be as Hamas continues to refuse.
In the beginning, the Red Cross could have argued that the logistics of visiting the hostages are difficult and it takes time for them to reassure Hamas of their neutrality and work out a system for visiting without giving away information to Israeli intelligence. But by now it’s clear Hamas is just saying no.
This is in effect causing the Red Cross to violate its principle of impartiality. Surely the hostages are in grave need of medical and psychological assistance. But the Red Cross is discriminating against them. It’s helping only Palestinians in Gaza who need assistance, while it ignores Israelis (and other foreigners) being held in that same place.
I’m sure the Red Cross will argue that it’s vital that it remain in Gaza because of the immense need for medical services that it is helping to fulfill. But by doing so it is compromising its principles. The Red Cross could tell Hamas that either they allow it to treat everyone in order of need without regard to nationality, hostages included, or that it will pack its bags and leave. While various Israeli political leaders, joined recently by the US Secretary of State, have urged the Red Cross to continue pushing Hamas to grant access, it’s unclear to what extent they’ve demanded the Red Cross take such a stand.
It should be noted that Israel also has additional, unrelated complaints that the Red Cross has violated its commitment to impartiality and neutrality in other ways. But this demand that the Red Cross visit the hostages, reassure families about their condition, and provide them urgent medical attention, Israel can make clearly, unequivocally, and based on the Red Cross’s own guiding principles. If the Red Cross meekly accepts Hamas’s refusal and just goes on treating Palestinians without visiting the hostages, it should lose its lofty humanitarian status. Israel can also deny Red Cross workers some of their privileges of coming and going through Israeli territory, and internationally it should forfeit some funding as well.
About the Author
Shlomo Levin received Rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate and Yeshivat Hamivtar, and an M.A. in International Law and Human RIghts from the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. He is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah, which highlights human rights issues in the Passover story with Jewish and secular sources along and questions for discussion. Learn more at www.hrhaggadah.com.
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ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-22December2023-ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General
They’re just trolling us now!
Because @ICRC has not shown enough hostility towards Israel and outright indifference to Jewish lives, they are now set to appoint Palestinian activist and former head of @UNRWA, Pierre Krahenbuhl, as their next Director General.
Neutrality, hey?
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-22December2023-ICRC appoint Palestinian activist next Director General
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The International Red Cross is Hamas
Hillel Neuer-tweet-2May2024-icrc investigating Head of Office Haythem Abid
BREAKING: The International Red Cross has announced they are now investigating @icrc Head of Office Haythem Abid after we exposed his marching in anti-Israel rallies, sharing Hamas videos claiming hostages love them, and posting “F**ck neutral sh*t.” https://timesofisrael.com/red-cross-investigating-inflammatory-anti-israel-social-media-posts-by-employee/ 🧵⬇️
Hillel Neuer-tweet-2May2024-icrc investigating Head of Office Haythem Abid
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I Assure You The Red Cross Is Working As Hard As It Can To Facilitate Terrorism
by Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president, International Committee of the Red Cross
http://www.preoccupiedterritory.com/i-assure-you-the-red-cross-is-working-as-hard-as-it-can-to-facilitate-terrorism/
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger
Geneva, January 25 – Since its founding in 1863, this organization has led the world in first aid and disaster response, and continues to do so even in the most dangerous locations worldwide. This mission includes the Gaza Strip, where the ICRC has responded to the most recent outbreak of violence by making every imaginable effort not to get in the way of Hamas’s operations, even going as far as to refrain from criticizing Hamas.
Unfair accusations have stemmed from the Red Cross’s handling of Israelis held hostage in Gaza: that we have neglected to insist on visiting them; that we have cooperated with a terrorist organization; that when some hostages were freed, we served as little more than couriers. Those charges are profoundly insulting to anyone who knows what our organization does, the values it upholds, and how it operates.
To begin with, open criticism of Hamas in a Hamas-controlled area would put our personnel at risk and threaten the crucial functions that the Red Cross plays in Gaza. Without a robust ICRC presence, Hamas might be forced to provide health care for Gaza residents, and that would hamper the group’s ability to, and resources toward, killing and torturing Israelis. Imagine how annoyed that would make Hamas! We cannot take that risk.
Thus our refusal to convey medications to hostages in need of it is understandable in context. The same for our silence on the question of hostages being raped or otherwise mistreated. We simply have to take Hamas at their word, since they are known for strict adherence to the truth in medical matters, such as the bombing of the Al-Ahli Hospital and the total absence of Hamas military infrastructure in or under health care facilities.
Also the death toll and classification of every single casualty as a noncombatant, which we all know to be unimpeachable and completely in line with every other urban combat situation in military history. The missiles into Israel are launching themselves!
Israeli sources enjoy no such credibility, as they contradict what everyone knows without checking. This is common knowledge. I cannot believe it requires explaining. It is precisely the attitude we were trying to get across when we told the family of an Israeli held hostage in Gaza, “Don’t you feel sympathy for the Palestinians?” Because that it hat one says to a suffering, grieving, terrified person.
If they’re Jewish.
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The Red Cross is humiliated as it again serves murderers of Jews
It succeeded in making its profile invisible while not gaining the release of a single hostage or providing them with any assistance.
https://www.jns.org/the-red-cross-is-humiliated-as-it-again-serves-murderers-of-jews/
Israelis and families of those being held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip protest in Tel Aviv outside a meeting of the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, on Dec. 14, 2023. Photo by Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90.
(Jan. 22, 2025 / JNS) It was a joyous moment to see three female Israeli hostages finally released from 15 months of harrowing captivity. That happiness was tempered by the disgusting spectacle orchestrated by Hamas and enabled by the Red Cross. This humiliating episode highlighted its total failure to assist Jewish victims, evoking bitter memories of its inaction during the Holocaust.
I wrote in November 2023 about the attitude of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from the beginning of the war. On Oct. 7, 2023, the ICRC released a statement expressing concern over “armed violence in Israel and the occupied territories.” This mealy-mouthed response ignored the slaughter of civilians by Hamas terrorists, instead framing the events as mutual violence and subtly implicating Israel.
Days later, the ICRC issued another statement acknowledging “premeditated killings of civilians” but avoided identifying either the perpetrators or victims. In the same breath, it criticized Israeli “bombings in residential neighborhoods,” drawing a false equivalence between terror massacres and defensive military actions.
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.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross did not do their Job
Michael Livschitz-tweet-8February2025-the Red Cross did not visit them even once in 490 days
Look at the photo below—Or, Ohad, and Eli before they were taken hostage by Hamas, and after 490 days of hell in captivity! Does anyone still believe that the terrorists cared for their hostages? There is no doubt—they were starved, brutalized, and subjected to relentless physical and psychological torture. It’s a miracle they are even alive! Now begins a long road to recovery, but at least they are finally home—surrounded by family, loved ones, and friends.
Did the Red Cross—which gladly plays along in Hamas’s staged propaganda—visit them even once in 490 days? No!
Did the so-called human rights organizations care about their fate and suffering? No!
Did anyone from the pro-Palestinian movement call for their release? No!
And after all this, is Israel supposed to listen to the international community?
The answer is NO!
📸 @HenMazzig
Michael Livschitz-tweet-8February2025-the Red Cross did not visit them even once in 490 days
Joe Roberts-tweet-8February2025-ICRC is openly participating in Hamas propaganda
The ICRC is openly participating in Hamas’ grotesque propaganda, standing by as terrorists force hostages into a humiliating sham ceremony.
This is the opposite of neutrality. It’s aiding and abetting evil. An absolute disgrace.
Joe Roberts-tweet-8February2025-ICRC is openly participating in Hamas propaganda
Red Cross: Humanitarian bystander of the year
Posted 6February2025 Eretz Nehederet
The Red Cross did NOTHING to help the Israeli & American Hostages tortured by Hamas and UNRWA for 15 months. This is a NOT A “Parody” of what the Red Cross has turned into. This is reality. Israel has for 15 months asked the Red Cross to do it’s job and it just gives excuses and Bullshit.
Red Cross controlled by Hamas
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South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War
International Criminal Court trying October 7th 2023 Israeli Rape Victims
South Africa has one of the highest murder and gender based violence rates in the world
StopAntisemitism-tweet-12January2024-South Africa the highest murder rates takes Israel to the ICC for Gaza War
South Africa has one of the highest murder and gender based violence rates in the world.
So what is the country’s leadership focusing on?
Taking Israel to court for defending itself against maniacal Hamas terrorists determined to wipe out 7 million Jews.
🤯.
StopAntisemitism-tweet-12January2024-South Africa the highest murder rates takes Israel to the ICC for Gaza War
ICJ and Hamas-Israel Hayom-Caricature-28January2024
South Africa Lawfare against Israel
UK Lawyers For Israel-tweet-11January2024-South Africa Lawfare against Israel
Natasha Hausdorff, @UKLFI CT Legal Director, discusses the case brought by South Africa against Israel alleging genocide @CIJ_ICJ and the risk that it will further undermine respect for international law @i24NEWS_EN:
UK Lawyers For Israel-tweet-11January2024-South Africa Lawfare against Israel
Natasha Hausdorff talks to I24’s Laura Cellier about the ICJ
Masterful display of international law
Eylon Levy-tweet-12January2024-Israel’s superstar legal team
Not all heroes wear capes, but many of them wear gowns.
Our superstar legal team rebutting South Africa’s absurd blood libel at the ICJ, headed by the expert who literally wrote the textbook on international law.
Eylon Levy-tweet-12January2024-Israel’s superstar legal team
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-13January2024-Prof. Malcolm Shaw international law South Africa case at ICJ
In case you missed, here is the full video of Prof. Malcolm Shaw’s masterful display in international law and meticulous take-down of #SouthAfrica’s case at #ICJ, during his submission on behalf of #Israel.
Arsen Ostrovsky-tweet-13January2024-Prof Malcolm Shaw international law South Africa case at ICJ
Prof. Malcolm Shaw’s masterful display in international law and meticulous take-down of South Africa’s case at International Court of Justice
Israel-tweet-12January2024-Dr. Tal Becker legal case at ICJ
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝟑𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭.
Today Dr. Tal Becker and Israel’s legal team presented its case to the @CIJ_ICJ.
With them stood the souls of the more than 1,000 Israelis who were murdered by Hamas on October 7th and are unable to testify.
Watch Dr. Becker’s opening remarks:
Israel-tweet-12January2024-Dr Tal Becker legal case at ICJ
SA-Israel ICJ case | Tal Becker: Legal advisor to Israel’s department of foreign affairs
SA/Israel case at the ICJ: Dr. Galit Raguan, Israeli Ministry of Justice on SABCNews
Posted 15January2024 AIJAC:
South Africa takes Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ, UN) for the Gaza War
Dr. Galit Raguan, Israeli Ministry of Justice
The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages
John Aziz-tweet-26January-2024-The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages
Big takeaway:
The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages, and declined to order an immediate ceasefire.
They also called for Israel to do measures such as “preventing the commission of genocide” which Israel ALREADY ACCEPTS & which the Israeli judge voted for
Israel War Room-tweet-26January-2024-ICj does not accept South Africa’s demand
⚡️The court in The Hague does not accept South Africa’s demand to stop the war in Gaza.
John Aziz-tweet-26January2024-The ICJ called for the release of Israeli hostages
StandWithUs Supporting Israel
StandWithUs Rejects ICJ Ruling & Language, but Agrees with Court’s Decision Demanding Hostages be Released and Not Calling for a Ceasefire
(Los Angeles, January 26, 2024) https://www.standwithus.com/post/standwithus-expresses-disappointment-over-icj-ruling-but-agrees-with-court-s-decision-demanding-host
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has rejected a demand by the South African government to order a “ceasefire” that would allow Hamas to remain in power in Gaza, continue to oppress its own people, and rearm for the next massacre of Israeli civilians. However, StandWithUs is appaulled by the ICJ’s decision to accept other parts of this slanderous case, which uses the Genocide Convention to defame Israel and undermine its right to defend itself against genocidal terrorism. Read the entire press release HERE.
In its ruling, the ICJ calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining 136 hostages held by Hamas since October 7. We take note that Hamas said they would abide by the court’s ruling, and as such Hamas must release the hostages immediately.
Of note, the ICJ did not rule on South Africa’s main and unsubstantiated contention that Israel is committing a “genocide” in ongoing war started by Hamas on October 7th. A decision on this matter is not expected until years from now, if at all.
We take further note that the majority opinion of the court relies exclusively on statements made by UN officials, including leaders of UNWRA, about the situation in Gaza. The anti-Israel bias of these officials and the UN system has long been known and proven.
South Africa’s decision to bring Israel before the ICJ was politically motivated and lacked legal merits. The South African government has allied itself with the genocidal Hamas terrorists responsible for the October 7th massacre. The Jerusalem Post revealed, a “network of several South African organizations and straw man companies deeply involved with funding Hamas activities through the Al-Quds Foundation, an international group sanctioned by the US and outlawed by Israel, using accounts registered in major local South African banks: Standard Bank, Nedbank, and Absa.” Furthermore, after the October 7th atrocities, a senior level delegation of Hamas officials visited South Africa for a global “solidarity” gathering held from December 3-5, 2023.
The evidence South Africa presented to the court was decontextualized and often deeply misleading. Their case relied heavily upon inflammatory and out of context statements, demonstrably false claims, and gross misrepresentations of Israel’s actions. Israel is acting in accordance with international law as it is waging a war of self-defense against Hamas, an antisemitic terror group with explicitly genocidal aims.
Hamas started this war when it invaded southern Israel on October 7th, 2023. Their death squads attacked 22 Israeli towns and villages, murdered 1,200 Israelis and other nationals, committed mass rape against scores of Israeli women, burned entire families alive in their own homes, paraded the naked bodies of women in the streets of Gaza, and kidnapped over 250 people, including children, women, and the elderly, most of whom are still being held hostage in Gaza. Their leaders have promised to repeat these atrocities again and again until Israel is destroyed.
StandWithUs calls on the international community to stop demonizing Israel in forums like the ICJ. For the sake of Israelis, Palestinians, and humanity, the world must unite around pressuring Hamas to release the hostages, surrender, and bring this war to an end.
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, nonprofit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs throughout the U.S., in Israel, the UK, Canada, South Africa, Brazil and the Netherlands.
For the last eleven years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator and Guidestar, two charity watchdog groups that assess hundreds of thousands of charities in the United States.
www.standwithus.com and www.facebook.com/standwithus and www.twitter.com/standwithus and www.instagram.com/standwithus.com
High Noon at the Hague: South Africa vs Israel
The ICJ ruling is unsatisfactory for at least six reasons
Raymond Wacks
29January2024 https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/hypocrisy-at-the-hague-south-africa-vs-israel-marsmmnm
The world has watched the apocalyptic scenes of medieval privation and devastation in Gaza with horror. The scale of death and injury is a damning indictment of the callous indifference and cruelty of the jihadists whose well-heeled leaders are safely ensconced in five-star hotels or luxuriating in lavish spas. Provoking Israel by their despicable depravity of 7 October — murder, rape, torture, abduction, arson, and pillaging — the butchers have reaped a whirlwind whose calamitous consequences will endure for decades.
Gazans obviously deserve better, and it is incomprehensible that their voices have not been raised against the terrorists for triggering their disastrous predicament. Exhorting them to surrender and release the surviving hostages would bring an end to their torment.
Amid this seemingly intractable chaos, it fell to South Africa to assume the role of conscientious accuser. Although its application to the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention failed to secure a ceasefire as a ‘provisional measure of protection’, the court ordered Israel to observe with several requirements to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including the killing of Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm to civilians, and ending the imposition of measures intended to prevent births. Israel is also to directed to take immediate steps to permit the provision of humanitarian assistance to residents in Gaza.
It is important to note that the decision is both interim and unenforceable by the court. And while it explicitly avoids deciding on the merits, the judgment does constitute an uncomfortable rebuke to Israel in respect of its military execution of self-defence.
The decision is, I believe, unsatisfactory in a number of respects.
First, the Court passes lightly over Israel’s defence. It is extraordinary that the judges fail to acknowledge the critical fact that Israel is fighting an enemy that is demonstrably committed to the Jewish state’s annihilation. The 2017 revised Hamas Charter is explicit in its ambition to continue its resistance until Israel is obliterated: “Palestine symbolizes the resistance that shall continue until liberation is accomplished, until the return is fulfilled and until a fully sovereign state is established with Jerusalem as its capital…[Palestine] was seized by a racist, anti-human and colonial Zionist project…” A pronouncement that requires little clarification.
Second, it surprisingly overlooks the terrible reality that Israel’s cold-blooded foe hides its fighters, weapons, and hostages in a subterranean city, and operates amongst civilians in schools, mosques, and hospitals. It also continues to fire rockets into Israel.
Third, the court uncritically concurs with the applicants’ assertion that various bellicose statements, uttered in the aftermath of the gruesome 7 October attacks, demonstrate the requisite intention by Israel to commit genocide.’ A moment’s thought would explain why, following the barbaric, sadistic onslaught, which left at least 1,200 dead, many wounded, and some 250 taken hostage, certain Israeli political and military leaders rashly unleashed clamorous calls to arms, promising vengeance and retaliation for the unspeakable suffering that befell so many innocent citizens and foreign visitors. To treat such injudicious remarks—made in the heat of a national tragedy—as evidence of a state’s intention to commit genocide is both disingenuous and highly tendentious, especially as they included comments made by individuals with no direct role in Israel’s military decision-making.
Fourth, the court ought to have considered whether the Genocide Convention is, in fact, the appropriate legal basis for the litigation. As the ad hoc Israeli judge, Aharon Barak points out in his dissenting judgment, the framework of international humanitarian law affords a more congenial authority under which the application should have been mounted. It provides that harm to innocent civilians and civilian infrastructure should not be excessive as compared with the anticipated military advantage. The loss of innocent lives is not unlawful providing it complies with the rules and principles of this law.
Fifth, the court abjures finding of facts, yet it unhesitatingly cites a plethora of evidence from various agencies of the United Nations whose neutrality is, at the very least, questionable. They include the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN Human Rights Council, and the Commissioner-General of (the recently discredited) UNRWA.
Sixth, the judges fail to enquire whether South Africa’s application might be tainted by its cordiality towards Hamas. The country, it seems, wishes to be seen as the conscience of the world. To this end, it predictably invokes the memory of Nelson Mandela to shore up its crumbling legitimacy. One might have thought that the moral standing of the ANC government, mortally wounded by years of corruption and broken promises, had reached rock bottom. Yet its shameless embrace of the Hamas murderers and rapists condemns it to infamy from which it may never recover. A mere ten days after 7 October, South Africa’s foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, held a telephone call with the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, to express the country’s ‘solidarity and support’ for the Palestinian people. This was followed in January by a delegation of three Hamas officials to Pretoria.
Is it unreasonable to detect a thinly disguised strain of antisemitism in this opportunistic campaign? While strongly castigating Israel, the social justice warriors of Pretoria barely mention the malevolence of Hamas and other Iranian proxies. Could it be that in this conflict Jewish lives are regarded as somehow less worthy? Or is it simply that the ANC’s yearning to burnish its radical pro-Palestinian (and even pro-Iranian) credentials, blinds it to the suffering of the victims of these crimes—particularly as it faces a general election this year?
Among the ironies at play in this sorry charade is the fact that many South African Jews were in the vanguard of the struggle against the grotesque injustice of apartheid. They were tortured, imprisoned, and vilified by the apartheid state. In his memoir, Mandela reflects:
I have found [South African] Jews to be more broad-minded than most whites on issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically been victims of prejudice.
He might have added that several had relatives who were victims of a real genocide at the hands of the Nazis.
Unlike most of his successors, Mandela was, in many ways, a paragon of humility and modesty. I was fortunate enough to spend an hour with the great man soon after his release from almost three decades of incarceration. These virtues were palpable; the nearly total absence of ego and bitterness was genuinely unsettling. This, unhappily, is a far cry from the tone of pious hubris of the South African submission to the ICJ, quick to assign all blame to Israel for defending itself against the sadistic barbarity of terrorists (exultantly recorded and celebrated by them). South Africa’s application—and the court’s judgment—is silent on the scourge of antisemitism and the existential threats to Israel from its neighbours since its very establishment in 1948.
The sad state of South Africa must, in large part, be attributable to the governance of the ANC. The level of violence (27,000 deaths in a single year), corruption, unemployment, poverty, and falling life expectancy, speak for themselves. Solemn undertakings to provide basic utilities—water, electricity, housing—have not been met. None of this is easy to achieve, but ought not the focus of the administration be directed toward improving the plight of its people rather than posturing on the world stage and cosying up to authoritarian regimes and terrorists?
In fairness, I do wonder whether my revulsion at South Africa’s allegation of Israeli genocide is principally based on the fact that it has been brought by a country whose motives seem, at best, impure. Is it the moral turpitude of the ANC that troubles me so deeply? Suppose that, say, Sweden, Switzerland, or Spain had launched the application. Would that diminish my indignation? It would not, of course, alter the spurious nature of the case—the notion that Israel is engaged in genocide is both odious and absurd—but it might conceivably subdue my irritation.
Sadly, the leaders of post-apartheid South Africa have failed to follow the laudable example of its first President. That they have the audacity to side with savagery, renders it morally unfit to stand before the World Court—and the world— to denounce a country engaged in defending itself against an abhorrent, inhuman adversary.
Raymond Wacks, Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory, is the author of 16 books, and editor of ten. His works have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His books include Personal Information: Privacy and the Law; Privacy and Media Freedom; Privacy: A Very Short Introduction; Law: A Very Short Introduction; and Justice: A Beginner’s Guide. Among his most recent publications are Protecting Personal Information: The Right to Privacy Reconsidered, COVID-19 and Public Policy in the Digital Age, and National Security in the New World Order: Government and the Technology of Information (with Andrea Monti). The sixth edition of his Understanding Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Legal Theory appeared in 2021, as did The Rule of Law Under Fire? His latest book, Animal Lives Matter: The Continuing Quest for Justice, is to be published next month.
Israel can limit the ICJ’s damage
Israel must immediately end its acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction with respect to the Genocide Convention. Even a slight change in the composition of the Court or the geopolitical climate would bring a disastrous result – and hostile states like South Africa can roll the dice as many times as they want, with no consequence if they lose and a huge payoff if they win.
By Prof. Eugene Kontorovich
Published on 28January2024 10:19 – Last modified: 28January2024 19:52 https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israel-can-place-limits-on-the-damage-the-icj-can-inflict/
Israelis on Friday displayed what is called Jewish joy – they celebrated that the pogromniks only broke the windows, but did not kill anyone. The good news was the International Court of Justice did not effectively order us to wait to be tortured and murdered, by demanding a halt to the Gaza War. That is certainly good – but only in the twisted world where the ICJ is putting Israel, not Hamas, on trial for the absolutely absurd charge of genocide.
Otherwise, the decision was horrible. The Court accepted South Africa’s argument that it has jurisdiction and that Israel could possibly be proven to be committing genocide. The case is not over and will go on for years. In the meantime, the Court has made clear that it considers itself to have authority to review and superintend every aspect of Israel’s war for survival – and demands monthly reports. No other country receives such treatment, and it is designed to make the military constantly look over its shoulders.
The ICJ is not an independent body – it is an organ of the United Nations. They serve a renewable nine-year term, further undermining their independence. Its judges are elected by the General Assembly and Security Council, and their positions largely track the foreign policy of their home countries. Thus while we might get lucky sometimes, over the long run, the policy of the Court will reflect the policy of the United Nations.
The General Assembly’s obsessive condemnation of the Jewish State is well known – Israel would never agree to have its fate determined by them. But agreeing to the jurisdiction of the Court indirectly does the same thing. In Israel it is thought unacceptable to have judges appointed by democratically elected politicians decide the meaning of ordinary laws. Yet we have agreed to have judges elected by dictatorial regimes decide the basic question of whether we can exist – whether we can defend ourselves.
It does not have to be this way: the ICJ does not automatically have jurisdiction over countries – they must specifically agree, typically by agreeing that The Hague can decide a specific dispute or questions under a specific treaty. In this case, Israel signed the Genocide Convention, which provides that “disputes between the …parties” about the treaty can be decided by the ICJ. But that does not mean cases like this, where a totally unrelated State has brought a purely political complaint in a matter it has no relation to. The Court should not have accepted jurisdiction, and by doing so it effectively claimed for itself power to supervise the conduct of wars around the world, so long as some country claims genocide is involved.
Israel did not have to agree to the ICJ jurisdiction to be a member of the Genocide Convention, and in retrospect, doing so was a major mistake. Countries are allowed to opt out of ICJ jurisdiction in various treaties, and very commonly do so. Indeed, sixteen countries have opted out of the Genocide Convention minus the ICJ jurisdiction – including the world’s largest democracies, the United States and India. Even the world’s biggest superpowers did not trust the ICJ to hear cases involving the use of force in an apolitical way.
The United States also did not agree to the provision of the Genocide Convention that deals with speech, knowing the Court can twist legitimate speech into supposed “incitement.” Indeed, those who think the statements of some MKs are what got Israel into trouble should consider the comments of President Obama, who spoke of “eradicating a cancer” in the campaign against ISIS, or Biden, who once said, “We should never take anything off the table when we are in war.”
But Israel did not opt out, leaving itself exposed. The Genocide Convention was a response to the Holocaust, and it seemed appropriate that the Jewish State would be fully on board. Also, Israeli officials did not expect such a gross abuse of the Court’s authority. But they should have. And the Genocide Convention which Israel so respected was turned into a farce, a platform to accuse the Jews of genocide even as they defend themselves from a systematic attempt to wipe them out.
The hearings in The Hague were a judicial Oct. 7th – a completely unjustified surprise attack that shows us we must fundamentally rethink our defensive posture. In this case, the extraordinary work of the State’s lawyers, and good fortune, prevented disaster.
But we must see that mere sentimentalism, or some lingering faith in international institutions, cannot leave us open to such attacks again. Even a slight change in the composition of the Court or the geopolitical climate would bring a disastrous result – and hostile states like South Africa can roll the dice as many times as they want, with no consequence if they lose and a huge payoff if they win.
Thus Israel must immediately end its acceptance of the ICJ’s jurisdiction concerning the Genocide Convention. This will not end the current proceedings, but it will prevent further such attempts in this or other conflicts. Moreover, Israel must review all of its treaties for provisions granting ICJ jurisdiction and opt out of those. The US did just that when Iran used a long-forgotten treaty to bring America to The Hague a few years ago.
Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein of South Africa-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ
Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein-tweet-11January2024-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ
The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) is illegitimate, and lacks the moral authority to adjudicate Israel’s just war of self-defense.
Allegations of genocide against Israel are bizarre and without foundation in fact or law, and the ICJ proceedings are a dangerous farce. The UN General Assembly, who appoints ICJ judges, is dominated by dictatorships and riddled with antisemitism. Therefore by definition, those judges lack the moral authority to stand in judgment over any democracy, especially Israel.
The UN and its institutions have increasingly been hijacked by undemocratic societies to advance objectives that threaten freedom, peace, and prosperity in the world. The majority of countries making up the General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council (HRC) are repressive, authoritarian regimes.
Consider that of the 193 members of the UN General Assembly only 84 are ranked as free societies, according to Freedom House. Or that of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council (whose very reason for existence is to protect and uphold human rights) only 13 can be defined as fully economically and politically free, according to the Social Research Foundation Global Freedom Scores.
That makes the ICJ case against Israel a theater of the absurd – where a majority of non-free societies are weaponsing a UN platform to undermine the self-defense rights of a liberal democracy. Allow that precedent to continue and the outlook for freedom in the world is dire.
Among the ICJ judges hearing this case, one is from serial human rights abuser, China, and another is from Lebanon, where Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy and combatant in the current war on Israel, is a key member of the government.
The UN’s anti-Israel bias and obsession with the world’s only Jewish state, and the only free democracy in the Middle East, is clear. At the General Assembly, each year there are more condemnations of Israel than the rest of the world combined. The HRC has adopted 103 resolutions condemning Israel, and zero for countries guilty of real human rights violations such as China, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.
The ICJ case is nevertheless an opportunity for free countries to reassess their relationship with the UN. For constitutional democracies to continue to submit themselves to the judgment of UN institutions is ludicrous. No UN body should exercise authority over Israel or any free society’s sovereignty, and certainly not over national security decisions such as how to conduct an existential war of self-defense.
The time has come to build a new global alliance of free societies with shared values and a sincere commitment to human rights.
View the full video ➡️ https://youtube.com/watch?v=UbWeJrpuxGA
#PutTheUNOnTrial
#ICJ #israel #SouthAfrica #un #InternationalCourtofJustice #international_justice_Court
Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein-tweet-11January2024-Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ
Chief Rabbi: Put the UN on trial, not Israel at ICJ
BREAKING: Israel on Trial in the Kangaroo Courtroom of the ICJ | The Caroline Glick Show
Posted 14January2024 JNS TV:
Caroline Glick speaks with Professor of Law (Bar Ilan University, San Diego School of Law) Avi Bell on the inner workings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and what the accusation of genocide from South Africa is really about.
Judgement below
13January2024 https://thinkforyourselfpublishing.com/judgement-below/
This morning, I had an amazing thought pop into my head, during hitbodedut.
It was this:
JUDGEMENT BELOW.
(Can you tell where this is going already?)
====
The Midrash in Devarim Rabbah 5:4 says this
This is a very well-known teaching in Breslov circles, as it’s part of the explanation for why we do hitbodedut every single day (try to….) in order to ‘catch’ what we might be thinking, saying or doing that isn’t what it should be.
When a person ‘judges themselves below’, then there is no ‘judgement above’.
And then, all the spiritual harsh decrees are ripped up.
====
Unless you live in a cave, you are probably aware that the misnamed International Court of Justice is currently ‘judging’ the State of Israel for war crimes in Gaza.
This is ‘judgement below’ – mamash.
We all know, the puppets here are working with the puppets there to give the nations of the world an excuse to gang up on Israel and ‘invade’, whenever this pre-planned exercise in hypocrisy actually ends.
(My guess is: in super-quick time.)
====
It’s already totally ridiculous that this ‘came to trial’ so quickly – what a joke!
Anyone who has ever had a court case understands that even the most simple ‘infraction’ takes many weeks, months, and even years before it comes to court.
But here, literally in 10 seconds, Puppet 1 here sent Puppet 2 out for the ‘show trial’ and it’s foregone conclusion.
(Whisper it: a two state solution, ‘imposed’ by the nation of the world….)
====
In the meantime…..All the nations of the world have now officially ‘ganged up’ on Israel.
And spiritually, this is also fantastic news.
Why?
This comes from something that Rav Yaakov Moshe Salmanovitch had to say eight years ago, at the height of the first wave of terrible persecution of Rav Berland.
Snippet:
====
Yet again, we see the parallel between what the (misnamed) ‘justice system’ in the State did to the Rav over the last 12+ years…. and what is now happening to Israel, internationally.
But pay attention to this bit:
====
B’kitzur – the nations of the world have just managed to blast all the ‘spiritual dinim’ stacked up against Israel into outer space.
Let them chase, with all their puppet-show planned show trial.
Where it really counts, now THERE IS NO JUDGEMENT ABOVE.
Which means things are about to get really interesting.
In a good way, for the Jewish people who are doing their best to hold on to Hashem, to at least try to follow His Torah – and to stick close to the real Tzaddikim.
Hold on to your hats.
====
REMINDER:
You can help to write the Rav’s Sefer Torah for the soldiers in the following ways:
20,000 nis – donates a whole section of parchment (including the actual writing), and gets your names transcribed as donors.
5,000 nis – donates a page (parchment and writing).
OR, donate whatever amount you can afford.
In all cases, just go to THIS link, and make it clear in the comments that the donation is for the Rav’s Sefer Torah.
YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A ‘STAGED’ DONATION OVER A FEW MONTHS, IF YOU WANT TO BUY A PAGE ETC, BUT CAN’T AFFORD TO DO IT IN ONE SHOT.
Once again, click:
HERE
And may all the decrees be sweetened very, very fast.
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‘Modern Antisemitism’: Israel Justice Minister Lashes Out at ICC for Seeking Arrest Warrants Against Netanyahu, Gallant
Including Hamas leaders is a cover because we all know the ICC only wants to target Israel.
Posted by Mary Chastain 20May2024 https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/05/modern-antisemitism-israel-justice-minister-lashes-out-at-icc-for-seeking-arrest-warrants-against-netanyahu-gallant/
Justice Minister Yariv Levin blasted the International Criminal Court (ICC) for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant:
President Biden and Administration
President Joe Biden also slammed the decision in an emailed press release:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also disagreed with the ICC:
Israeli Parliament
The ICC managed to bring together Netanyahu’s side with the opposition, as 106 of the 120 members of the Israeli parliament condemned the decision:
Those who did not sign belong to the Hadash-Ta’al, Ra’am, and Labor parties.
Labor MK Naama Lazimi described the petition as “meaningless” and called it a “pawn in Bibi’s game to receive legitimization and fortify his corrupt and bad government.”
Lazimi found the ICC decision “disgraceful” but added that “it was also part of Netanyahu’s ‘total failure’ in running the war.”
ICC
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan wants arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, Hamas Leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, and Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh.
Khan claims Netanyahu and Gallant committed:
Khan cites supposed evidence from “survivors and eyewitnesses, authenticated video, photo and audio material, satellite imagery and statements from the alleged perpetrator group.”
The alleged evidence “shows that Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival.”
Khan also claims Hamas committed the following war crimes:
“My Office submits that the war crimes alleged in these applications were committed in the context of an international armed conflict between Israel and Palestine, and a non-international armed conflict between Israel and Hamas running in parallel,” stated Khan. “We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Israel by Hamas and other armed groups pursuant to organisational policies. Some of these crimes, in our assessment, continue to this day.”
Why hasn’t the ICC gone after Russian President Vladimir Putin? Did the court ever go after Syria or Iran?
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The entire ICC is a clown show.
Nioh Berg-tweet-20May2024-‘Territory of Israel’-‘State of Palestine’
“Territory of Israel”
“State of Palestine”
The entire ICC is a clown show.
Nioh Berg-tweet-20May2024-‘Territory of Israel’-‘State of Palestine’
Open Source Intel-tweet-24May2024-Country ICC seeking arrest warrant
PROOF THE ICC IS NOT A KANGAROO COURT AND FAIR:
Countries ICC Not Seeking Arrest Warrant:
1. Ali Khamenei (Iran) 🇮🇷
2. Kim Jong-un (North Korea) 🇰🇵
3. Bashar al-Assad (Syria) 🇸🇾
4. Xi Jinping (China) 🇨🇳
5. Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela) 🇻🇪
6. Rodrigo Duterte (Philippines) 🇵🇭
7. Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar) 🇲🇲
Country ICC seeking arrest warrant:
1. Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel) 🇮🇱
Ana Elenzo-tweet-24May2024-The ICC is a Kangaroo court
Exactly said! The ICC is a Kangaroo court!
Open Source Intel-tweet-24May2024-Country ICC seeking arrest warrant
Ana Elenzo-tweet-24May2024-The ICC is a Kangaroo court
SEE: The Iranian Boomerang
Open Source Intel-tweet-21May2024-Netanyahu-Not worried about world travel
JUST IN
Netanyahu: “Not worried about world travel – the prosecutor should worry”
Dea Riley-tweet-21May2024- send Mossad to arrest the ICC court
Exactly -it would be much easier for #Netanyahu to send Mossad to arrest the #ICC court for aiding and abetting terrorist
Open Source Intel-tweet-21May2024-Netanyahu-Not worried about world travel
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ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan KC and Staff Reported to Regulators regarding Applications to Arrest Israeli Leaders
9September2024 https://www.uklfi.com/icc-prosecutor-karim-khan-kc-and-staff-reported-to-regulators-regarding-applications-to-arrest-israeli-leaders
Karim Khan KC, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and some of his staff face disciplinary investigations regarding applications to arrest Israeli leaders.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has reported them to regulators for not complying with their professional obligations. UKLFI points out that they were obliged to provide the Court with information and evidence that exonerates the accused, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant of the charges, including extensive information and evidence that has come to light since the applications were filed.
UKLFI had provided extensive details of its concerns, backed by numerous cited documents, to the Prosecutor in a letter and annexes on 27 August 2024. In that letter, UKLFI expressed its dismay that the Prosecutor has asked the Court to ignore any information or evidence other than the material he originally filed in his applications for the arrest warrants, “despite [UKLFI] having shown that every allegation against Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant set out in [the Prosecutor’s] published summary of them is false, and despite the highly relevant evidence that has emerged since [the Prosecutor] filed the Applications.”
Having received no reply, UKLFI has now reported the Prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, and his assistant, Andrew Cayley KC, both English barristers, to the Bar Standards Board for England and Wales (BSB). UKLFI accuses Khan and Cayley of not complying with their duty not to mislead the Court.
This is a continuing duty – as the BSB’s guidance observes, “knowingly misleading the court also includes inadvertently misleading the court if you later realise that you have misled the court, and you fail to correct the position”.
The ICC Prosecutor has specifically claimed that the Applications for arrest warrants are made ex parte, without the accused being heard. English judges have emphasised that a Prosecutor seeking an ex parte order has a duty to disclose ‘“any material which is potentially adverse to the application” or “might militate against the grant” or which “may be relevant to the judge’s decision, including any matters which indicate that the issue….might be inappropriate”’.
In the words of Hughes LJ, “a prosecutor seeking an ex parte order must put on his defence hat and ask himself what, if he were representing the defendant or third party with a relevant interest, he would be saying to the judge, and, having answered that question, that is what he must tell the judge….”
UKLFI hs also requested the Registrar of the ICC to set in motion a disciplinary investigation of staff of the Office of the Prosecutor (OtP), including Andrew Cayley KC and Brenda Hollis, for breaches of the ICC’s rules.
The ICC’s rules similarly require staff of the OtP to seek truth objectively, including by investigating exonerating material and ensuring that the results are disclosed to the Court. It appears to UKLFI that OtP staff who participated in the preparation of the Applications for warrants to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant have manifestly breached this and other obligations.
The ICC’s Rules require any complaint to the ICC against the Prosecutor to remain confidential.
UKLFI Chief Executive, Jonathan Turner, said:
“We have shown that every phrase of every sentence of the Prosecutor’s summary of the applications to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant in his public statement is false. If it was a fair and accurate summary of the applications, which have not been published, the applications themselves are entirely false. The Prosecutor’s insistence that the Court must act on these applications as filed, disregarding all other information and evidence, is most unsatisfactory.
As the Prosecutor made his public statement he was flanked by Brenda Hollis and Andrew Cayley KC. They appear to be complicit in misleading the Court.
The BSB and ICC should investigate this apparent misconduct thoroughly. Pending the outcome of these investigations, the Court should not make any rulings relying on any material provided by the Prosecutor or the OtP in this situation.”
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ICJ-After 9 months South Africa has no evidence of Israeli genocide
Eyal Yakoby-tweet-10September2024-ICJ-After 9 months South Africa has no evidence
Breaking: South Africa has asked the ICJ for a few months postponement, citing they lack evidence. 9 months ago, South Africa filed a case against Israel accusing it of genocide
They said 9 months ago Israel was committing genocide, but 9 months later and no evidence.
SEE: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-819470
Eyal Yakoby-tweet-10September2024-ICJ-After 9 months South Africa has no evidence
The ICJ has denied South Africa’s request to extend the deadline to submit proof
The Persian Jewess-tweet-12September2024-The ICJ has denied South Africa’s request to extend the deadline
🚨BREAKING🚨 The ICJ has denied South Africa’s request to extend the deadline to submit proof of their ridiculous allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
South Africa has until October 28, 2024 to submit evidence or the case will be dismissed
The Persian Jewess-tweet-12September2024-The ICJ has denied South Africa’s request to extend the deadline
BREAKING NEWS
ICJ refuses SA request to delay date to submit evidence of alleged genocide in Gaza
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
SEPTEMBER 12, 2024 15:26 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-819857
The International Court of Justice in The Hague has refused South Africa’s request to postpone the deadline to submit evidence showing the alleged genocide, Israeli media reported on Thursday.
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Iran paid South Africa genocide case
HonestReporting-tweet-18November2024-Iran paid South Africa genocide case
🚨 The Iranian Regime strikes again.
An ISGAP report reveals South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel is part of a strategy by Iran, Qatar, Hamas, and Hezbollah to undermine Israel, using South Africa’s social justice legacy as a cover.
Have you seen this in the media?
HonestReporting-tweet-18November2024-Iran paid South Africa genocide case
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ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli leaders
Benjamin Netanyahu-tweet-21November2024-ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli leaders
The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.
Benjamin Netanyahu-tweet-21November2024-ICC issues arrest warrant for Israeli leaders
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Israel’s response to the ICC should be to rebuild Gush Katif and annex north Gaza now
Rabbi Lazer Brody-tweet-21November2024-rebuild Gush Katif and annex north Gaza now
Israel’s response to the ICC should be to rebuild Gush Katif and annex north Gaza now, without blinking an eye. Moshiach will soon do that anyway. In the meanwhile, it’s gratifying that our politicians from wall to wall are standing behind Bibi and Gallant. Too bad that it takes anti-Semites from the outside to make us pull together. Unity, gotta luvit.
Remix News & Views-tweet-21November2024-
JUST IN: The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant for alleged war crimes.
The arrest warrant also applies to alleged crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza.
Rabbi Lazer Brody-tweet-21November2024-rebuild Gush Katif and annex north Gaza now
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The entire post-war international system has become irredeemable
Caroline Glick-tweet-21November2024-The entire post-war international system has become irredeemable
Not the ICC. The entire post-war international system has become irredeemable.
Hillel Neuer-tweet-21November2024-The League of Nations collapsed because it lacked the moral clarity
The League of Nations collapsed because it lacked the moral clarity and courage to confront evil. By appeasing aggressors, it sealed its own fate. Today the ICC risks the same if it punishes democracies for fighting terror while giving a free pass to murderous regimes like Iran.
Caroline Glick-tweet-21November2024-The entire post-war international system has become irredeemable
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Report: Israel prepared list of actions against ICC for Trump admin
Israel has compiled a list of suggested actions and sanctions against both the court and even specific individuals in it.
Israel National News / 21November2024
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399568
Israel has already begun laying out a list of recommendations for the Trump administration for ways to combat the International Criminal Court (ICC), which on Thursday issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
According to the report by Kan News, over the past few days, Israel has compiled a list of suggested actions and sanctions against both the court and even specific individuals in it.
Officials in both Israel and around the world have condemned the ICC’s decision.
The Prime Minister’s Office called the decision “antisemitic” and likened it to the Dreyfus trial, adding that “No anti-Israel decision will prevent the State of Israel from defending its citizens.”
Incoming US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz pledged a “strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC & UN come January.”
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President Trump signs Executive Order unleashing a fury of sanctions against the ICC
The International Legal Forum – ILF-tweet-7February2025-Trump signs Executive Order sanctions against the ICC
💥 As we had called for, President Trump signs Executive Order unleashing a fury of sanctions against the #ICC, its officials and all those who may seek to enforce their illegitimate warrants. The Court has no one to blame but itself and Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC, for hounding Israeli leaders with these obscene, baseless and antisemitic warrants, in the most egregious and unprecedented abuse of the Rule Of Law and the Court’s very own mandate!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court/
The International Legal Forum – ILF-tweet-7February2025-Trump signs Executive Order sanctions against the ICC
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Israel-Hamas ceasefire would breach international law
International law has precise form and content. It cannot be invented and reinvented by terror groups. Such law does not support the hope-based adoption of cease-fire agreements between sovereign states and criminal gangs.
Prof. Louis René Beres 25August2024 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/395115
Israel and Hamas could still reach an agreement on a “cease fire.” But because the jihadist terror organization still regards all of Israel as “Occupied Palestine,” this agreement will almost certainly fail. Accordingly, for both Israel and the “international community,” there will be injurious consequences for international justice. Some of these consequences would be “force-multiplying” and irremediable.
It’s high time for realistic understandings of these urgent issues.
The immediate effect of any anticipated cease-fire agreement would be the defiling bestowal of legal legitimacy on insidious terror-criminals. The longer-term effect would be to undermine the authority of international law in general and to enlarge the prospects of a continuous regional war.
In principle, at least, even such grievous effects could be acceptable if accompanied by a return of hostages (criminally-abducted citizens from over twenty separate countries, including a one-year old Israeli child), but no such humanity should be expected from Hamas. If perchance Hamas did actually return some of the still-living hostages, it would assuredly compensate for this “generosity” by attempting to repeat October 7th atrocities at later dates and in different venues.
There are further legal details. No authoritative system of law can encourage or allow accommodation between a legitimate national government and a barbarous criminal organization. Though any promised cessation of hostilities could conceivably benefit Israel as well as Hamas, the cumulative costs for both Israelis and Palestinians would plausibly exceed anticipated gains. Even if Israel could expect the return of some hostages, Hamas (the Islamic Resistance Movement) would feel incentivized to launch future hostage-taking operations. Lest anyone forget, Hamas is motivated at its core by “criminal intent” or mens rea.
Hamas is an illegal organization. This inherent illegality is deducible from the far-reaching criminalization of terrorism discoverable under binding international law. Such a primal status can never be correctly overlooked by third party agreement brokers (e.g., the United States), however well-intentioned.
Before the ancient Hebrew laws of Deuteronomy, there already existed determinable rules of warfare. Today, these “peremptory” norms (rules that are over riding and ought never to be broken) bind insurgent fighting forces, not just traditionally uniformed national armies. Conspicuously, these rules stem from the St. Petersburg Declaration (1868), a codification that followed still-earlier limitations identified at the First Geneva Convention (1864).
Under longstanding international law, “the means that can be used to injure an enemy are not unlimited.” No matter how allegedly just the cause, the willful maiming, rape and murder of noncombatants is always a crime. The ends can never justify the means. Regarding the deaths of many Palestinian Arab civilians occasioned by Israeli bombardments, these harms are not witting violations of the law of war. They represent the wholly unintentional result of necessary counter-terrorist operations, not of “criminal intent.” In Gaza, such harms are the collateral outcome of Hamas’ resort to “human shields.” The technical name for this ongoing Islamist crime is “perfidy.”
Whenever Hamas or other Palestinian terrorists claim the right to “any means necessary,” they intend to deceive. Even if their corollary claims of “national self-determination” were in some way reasonable, there would still remain distinctly tangible limits on permissible targets and legitimate weapons.
Any calls to “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” are exterminatory on their face. In law, such calls are always an expression of “intent to commit genocide.” Reciprocally, whatever one hears from so-called protestors, Israel-inflicted harms upon perfidy-shielded Palestinian Arab populations have nothing to do with genocide. These harms remain the unavoidable correlates of Israel’s inextinguishable right to self-preservation.
International law has precise form and content. It cannot be invented and reinvented by terror groups or by aspiring states (here, “Palestine”) to accommodate narrow geo-strategic interests. Back on November 29, 2012, the Palestinian Authority (PA) was upgraded by the U.N. General Assembly to the status of a “nonmember observer state,” but the PA subsequently declared itself nonexistent.
On January 3, 2013, Mahmoud Abbas formally “decreed” the absorption of the “former “PA into the “State of Palestine.” While this administrative action did eliminate the PA, it did not create a new Arab state. Leaving aside Abbas’ law-violating refusal to negotiate full sovereignty directly with Israel, the codified criteria of “nonmember observer state” fall far short of expectations of the governing international treaty on statehood: The Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (aka the “Montevideo Convention”) of 1934.
There are further details. “National liberation movements” that fail to meet the test of “just means” are never legitimate. Even if one were to accept the argument that Hamas goals do meet the identifiable criteria of “just cause,” they would not satisfy the additionally limiting standards of distinction, proportionality, and military necessity. These standards are compulsory and were applied to insurgent organizations by (1) the common Article 3 of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949; and (2) the two 1977 protocols to these Conventions.
These same standards are also binding upon all combatants by virtue of broader customary and conventional international law, including Article 1 of the Preamble to the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907. This rule, called the “Martens Clause,” makes “all persons” responsible for upholding the “laws of humanity” and the “dictates of public conscience.”
In essence, every use of force by Palestinian Arab insurgents must be judged twice, once with regard to the justness of the objective and once with regard to the justness of the means employed. This signifies that even if Hamas were somehow law-compliant in seeking to carve a Palestinian state from the still-living body of Israel, the means adopted to achieve this goal (terror, rape and murder) clearly would be law-violating .
The egregious crimes committed by Hamas terrorists mandate universal cooperation in apprehension and punishment. As punishers of “grave breaches” under international law, all states are expected to search out and prosecute or extradite individual terrorist perpetrators. In no circumstances are states permitted to acknowledge terrorists as “freedom fighters.” Under no circumstances is it permissible for an established state to create “cease fire” agreements with an unambiguously criminal non-state organization.
The implications are plain. In the final analysis, the broader international community should be working with Israel to delegitimize and disarm Hamas, not to broker an intrinsically illegal and war-fostering “cease-fire” agreement. By initialing such an agreement, Israel would effectively enhance Hamas’ plans to dismantle the Jewish State and wreak chaos in the wider region.
A cease-fire agreement could possibly bring certain short-term benefits to Israel, but only at the expense of variously insufferable longer-term costs. Plausibly, the immediate benefits of a cease-fire would not bring back the hostages. Moreover, at some not too distant point, the foreseeable costs could become existential. This is especially likely on account of Hamas ties to Iran and Iranian ties to North Korea.
International law clarifies and codifies millennia of human wisdom. Such law does not support the hope-based adoption of cease-fire agreements between sovereign states and criminal gangs.
In the case of Israel and Hamas, history reveals that any terrorist release or exchange leads directly to new acts of hostage-taking and jihadist barbarism.
LOUIS RENÉ BERES, born in Zurich, received his Ph.D at Princeton and is the author of many books and articles dealing with terrorism, counter-terrorism and international law. His writings have been published at The Atlantic; The New York Times; JURIST; Harvard National Security Journal (Harvard Law School); International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence; Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs; Brown Journal of World Affairs; Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law; BESA Perspectives (Israel); Jerusalem Post; Israel National News; Israel Defense; Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Oxford University Press. Professor Beres is the author of seven principal articles in the annual Oxford University Press Yearbook on International Law and Jurisprudence.
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Understanding Occupation Under International Law and the Case of Judea and Samaria
Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-6July2024-Understanding Occupation Under International Law and the Case of Judea and Samaria
Understanding Occupation Under International Law and the Case of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)
Occupation, as defined under international law, specifically applies to the territories of sovereign states. This concept is rooted in the principles established by the Hague Regulations of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. However, the status of Judea and Samaria (also known as the West Bank) is often misunderstood in this context.
Key Points:
Definition: Occupation refers to the control of a territory by a foreign military power. For it to be considered occupation, the territory must belong to a sovereign state.
Sovereignty: The occupying power must displace the previous sovereign authority of the state. Territories without a recognized sovereign status do not fall under this definition.
Uti Possidetis Juris: The international law principle of Uti Possidetis Juris, which means “as you possess under law,” establishes that newly formed states presumptively inherit the borders of the preceding administrative entity upon independence. This principle has been influential in determining the territorial boundaries of many newly independent states, including Israel.
Occupation vs. Right to Self-Determination: The concept of occupation pertains to the control of a sovereign state’s territory by a foreign power, while the right to self-determination refers to the ability of a people to determine their own political status and pursue their own economic, social, and cultural development. These are distinct legal principles. The lack of recognized Palestinian sovereignty means Judea and Samaria are not “occupied” under international law, although Palestinians may still pursue self-determination through other legal and political avenues.
Judea and Samaria Context: Historical Background: Before 1967, Judea and Samaria were controlled by Jordan. However, Jordan’s annexation of the West Bank was only recognized by a few countries, and it relinquished its claims to the territory in 1988.
Palestinian Statehood: Palestine has never been a recognized sovereign state with defined borders. Therefore, according to international law, Judea and Samaria cannot be considered “occupied” in the legal sense that applies to sovereign states.
Oslo Accords:
Division of Territories: Under the Oslo Accords, Judea and Samaria were divided into Areas A, B, and C.
-Area A: Full civil and security control was transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
-Area B: Civil control was transferred to the PA, while Israel retained security control.
-Area C: Israel retained full civil and security control.
Sovereignty: The Oslo Accords did not transfer sovereignty over these areas. The agreements were interim arrangements intended to facilitate a peace process, with final status issues, including sovereignty, to be negotiated later.
Arabs from Judea and Samaria Refusing Israeli Citizenship: The Six-Day War: In June 1967, Israel fought against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, resulting in Israel capturing the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).
Israeli Control: Following the war, Israel assumed control over these territories, including Judea and Samaria, which had been under Jordanian administration since 1948.
Citizenship Offer: After the war, Israel offered residents of the newly controlled territories, to Arabs living in East Jerusalem, the opportunity to apply for Israeli citizenship. The majority refused for several reasons:
-National Identity: Many Arabs in Judea and Samaria identified as Palestinians and sought self-determination. Accepting Israeli citizenship was seen as a betrayal of their national identity and aspirations for an independent Palestinian state.
-Political Pressure: Arab leaders and surrounding Arab nations discouraged or outright rejected any cooperation with Israel, including the acceptance of citizenship, to maintain pressure on Israel and support the Palestinian cause.
-International Status: Accepting Israeli citizenship might have been perceived as legitimizing Israeli control over the territories, something many Palestinians and the broader Arab world were not willing to do.
Jordanian Citizenship and Jordanian relinquishing its claims over West Bank sovereignty:
Citizenship Revocation: After relinquishing its claims to the West Bank in 1988, Jordan stripped West Bank Palestinians of Jordanian citizenship. This left many Palestinians in a state of legal limbo and given sovereignty to Israel over that territory, further complicating their status and exacerbating the issue of statelessness.
Semi-Citizenship under the PA:
After the Oslo Accords, Palestinians in Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria gained a form of semi-citizenship under the Palestinian Authority. While this provides them with certain administrative rights and a sense of national identity, it does not equate to full citizenship of a recognized sovereign state.
Implications: Given that Palestine do not meet the criteria of a sovereign state, Judea and Samaria cannot be classified as occupied territories under international law. This distinction clarifies that the term “occupation” is not applicable to this region, impacting how international bodies and government’s view and address the situation.
Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-6July2024-Understanding Military and Land Occupation in the Context of Judea and Samaria
Just because people like mixing the two concepts to continue arguing against basic definitions, international law and logic.
Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-6July2024
Understanding Military and Land Occupation in the Context of Judea and Samaria (West Bank)
Military Occupation:
-Definition: Involves a military controlling a territory during or after armed conflict.
-Application: Can apply to both foreign and own sovereign territories.
-Example: In the West Bank’s Area B, Israel sovereignty under international law but retains military control for security purposes, while civil control is under the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Land Occupation:
-Definition: Control or possession of land, not necessarily involving military forces.
-Application: Can involve individuals, groups, or states occupying land with or without military involvement.
-Example: Northern Cyprus is controlled by Turkey, which has declared it illegally the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus but does not exert direct military control over the civilian population on a day-to-day basis.
Context of Judea and Samaria (West Bank):
Area B: Under the Oslo Accords, Area B is under Palestinian civil control but Israeli military control.
Sovereignty: Despite military occupation, the area is still considered sovereign Israeli territory under international law principles of Uti Possidetis Juris.
Implications: Military occupation for security does not negate Israeli sovereignty over the territory, differentiating it from land occupation under international law.
This distinction clarifies that while Israel exercises military control for security in Area B, it remains part of Israel’s sovereign territory. Similarly, the example of Northern Cyprus demonstrates how land can be illegally occupied without ongoing military control over the population.
Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-6July2024-Understanding Occupation Under International Law and the Case of Judea and Samaria
Leslie Kajomovitz-tweet-6July2024-Understanding Military and Land Occupation in the Context of Judea and Samaria
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MUST READ! THE DIABOLICAL BLINKEN PLAN EXPOSED!
Mark R. Levin-tweet-18November-2023-the-diabolical-blinken-plan-exposed
MUST READ! THE DIABOLICAL BLINKEN PLAN EXPOSED!
It is crystal clear now that Blinken is exploiting the war against Israel to destroy the existing state of Israel by using pressure, threats, blackmail, leaks, the media, diplomatic backstabbing, the Arab states, the EU, and the UN. Read the Blinken memo I have included in this post. Here’s a pull paragraph:
“…. As I said in private and in public, we believe Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza. We believe in Palestinian-led governance of Gaza, with Gaza unified with the West Bank. Gaza’s reconstruction must be supported with a sustained mechanism. We also underscored America’s firm opposition to actions that would undermine efforts to build lasting peace and security. No forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians from Gaza – not now, not after the fighting stops. No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza. No use of Gaza as a platform for terrorism or other violent attacks, and no tolerating the use of the West Bank to carry out such attacks. No more violence from extremist settlers in the West Bank. These steps are not ends in themselves. They must lead to Israelis and Palestinians living side.”
https://pdf.ac/2hDL9F
This also explains the current pressure campaign by leftists in Israel to try and topple the Netanyahu led conservative government and replace it with radical leftwing parties that will deliver Israel to the effective control of United States State Department where Blinken, a mere appointed U.S. cabinet secretary in our government, will determine Israel’s fate. And with the Blinken plan, Israel will not survive, certainly not for long. This has been the plan since Obama was president, when Blinken was deputy secretary of state. John McCain was 100% right when he went to the Senate floor to excoriate Blinken and he refused to vote for his confirmation as deputy secretary of state. Check this out:
https://c-span.org/video/?323344-6/senator-john-mccain-tony-blinken-nomination
Blinken, the Biden whisperer, is behind pouring $100 billion into the rearming of Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Youtes. Blinken set the Middle East on fire immediately upon taking office at the State Department nearly 3-years ago, lifting or refusing to enforce virtually every sanction on Iran. Blinken destroyed the popular uprising in Iran, where the Iranians sought to remove their murderous regime, by backing the Iranian regime over its people. Blinken chose Robert Malley, a Marxist supporter of Iran, as the U.S. envoy to Iran to negotiate another nuclear deal. Malley installed a high-level Iranian spy ring in DC and undermined our nation (and Israel) at every turn. Check this out:
https://tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/iran-spy-ring-robert-malley-lee-smith
The Obama-Biden-Blinken “Realignment” is now underway, and the consequences are dire and grave for Israel and the United States, indeed for the entire Middle East and the world. It is a hideous and diabolical plan, being instituted right now without any transparency, involvement of Congress, or the American people. It is the brainchild of a small cabal of rogue, radical leftwing foreign policy arsonists who could easily trigger WWIII.
https://tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/realignment-iran-biden-obama-michael-doran-tony-badran
The question is, how long will this go on before Blinken is stopped? Where are the House Republican committee chairmen? Where are the Senate Republicans? Where are conservative think-tanks? Where are the conservative media? I understand that the Democrat Party media and the Democrat Party are worse than useless. In fact, they are colluders and propagandists for this, from Thomas Friedman at the New York Times to Jamie Raskin in the House. But if there is not an organized pushback immediately, a relentless and public demand for accountability and transparency, and the targeting of Blinken for impeachment (successful or not), evil to prevail. Never forget all the disasters the Biden whisperer has unleashed in a mere 3-years running American foreign policy, and the death, inhumanity, and impoverishment he has imposed on one region and society after another.
Mark R. Levin-tweet-18November-2023-the-diabolical-blinken-plan-exposed
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Leftist Propaganda vs Reality
Jewish Voice for Peace has a Twitter account managed by the Hamas
Caroline Glick-tweet-13May2023-Quite a discovery.
“Jewish” Voice for Peace has a Twitter account managed by the Hamas aligned leader of the BDS movement in the US.
Caroline Glick-tweet-13May2023-Quite a discovery
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J STREET’S TWO FACES ON PRO-HAMAS PROTESTERS
By Moshe Phillips 24August2024 https://www.israpundit.org/j-streets-two-faces-on-pro-hamas-protesters/
In public, J Street says it’s horrified by the antisemitism of pro-Hamas protesters. But in private this week, J Street’s president pressured Jewish Democrats to stop accusing the protesters of being antisemitic. Why the two faces?
After last month’s pro-Hamas protests in Washington, D.C., J Street issued a statement denouncing what it called “the hateful, antisemitic, protests and harassment.” The July 25 news release said it was “vile and abhorrent” for the protesters to use “pro-Hamas slogans” and charged that their behavior “instills fear and fuels hate.” J Street said anybody “associating with the brutal terror organization Hamas must be condemned.”
But J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami sure sang a different tune at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. During a meeting with Jewish Democrats, Ben-Ami said the pro-Hamas protesters outside the convention “don’t intend” to offend Jews and merely need help understanding “the history of the Jewish people and the things that they can and can’t say that will rub the wrong way and trigger us in ways that they don’t intend.”
As if the problem with cheering for gang-rapists is that their loud cheering might rub a few people the wrong way!
The J Street president emphasized: “I think it is so important that we not adopt a position that holds those who are wearing a keffiyeh, or carrying a Palestinian flag, or chanting a stupid slogan, that they are all somehow anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel.”
A few blocks away, those protesters were waving Hamas flags, burning American and Israeli flags, calling for Israel’s destruction and chanting pro-Hamas slogans such as “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance!” and “Intifada Revolution!”
So what’s J Street up to? How come one minute it’s calling pro-Hamas slogans “hateful, antisemitic, vile and abhorrent,” and the next minute it’s saying that such slogans are “not anti-Semitic or even anti-Israel”…?
The answer is that the two faces of J Street were for two different audiences: one public, one private.
J Street was forced to say something about the pro-Hamas protests in Washington, DC: they took place practically in J Street’s back yard. Plus, even President Biden condemned those protests and said that “celebrations of October 7” are an example of “antisemitism.” So J Street had no choice but to condemn them. Hence the moderate face of J Street in public.
But in private, behind closed doors, J Street’s president expressed his true feelings. He doesn’t really want the Jewish community speaking out against the antisemitic pro-Hamas protesters. That would discredit the protesters—and those protesters are Jeremy Ben-Ami’s biggest ally right now.
How so? The screaming flab-burners enable Ben-Ami to play a good cop-bad cop game. He can say to the White House: “Look how angry these people are. You better pressure Israel, otherwise you’ll lose Michigan.”
The pro-Hamas protesters whom J Street pretends to condemn actually give J Street a weapon that it would not otherwise have. But if Jewish Democrats, like the ones Ben-Ami met with last week, start denouncing the protesters as antisemitic, it could undermine the Biden administration’s policy of trying to appease them by pressuring Israel.
For J Street, it’s all part of a cynical political strategy. Say one thing in public, say something different in private. Manipulate Jewish leaders, ply sympathetic reporters with well-timed leaks, and think up new ways to embarrass and pressure Israel. It’s a cold and sometimes brutal game played along the shores of the Potomac. But for Israelis, it’s a matter of life and death.
Moshe Phillips is National Chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization
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J Street is calling for a US arms embargo against Israel in time of War
Caroline Glick-tweet-14November2024-J Street is calling for a US arms embargo against Israel in time of War
Next time J Street claims to speak for American Jews, or to be pro-Israel, remember this. J Street is calling for a US arms embargo against Israel as we fight a war for our national survival.
J Street-tweet-13November2024
The law is clear: American arms should not be provided to countries that block humanitarian assistance. The White House should not give any country – even its closest friends – a pass.
J Street-tweet-12November2024
J Street to President Biden: It’s time to withhold certain weapons from the Israeli government for continuing to block humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
This can’t be delayed any longer.
Full statement ⬇️
[See Below:]
Caroline Glick-tweet-14November2024-J Street is calling for a US arms embargo against Israel in time of War
J Street to Biden Administration: Time to Withhold Some US Weapons to Israel for Continuing to Block Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza
November 12, 2024 https://jstreet.org/press-releases/time-to-withhold-some-weapons-to-israel/
J Street – the pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy group – today called on the Biden Administration to enforce American laws which require the United States to stop supplying arms and assistance to governments found to be obstructing humanitarian assistance, and to follow through on the 30-day deadline for action the administration set last month for the Israeli government.
In an October 13 letter, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined serious concerns over the “increasingly dire” situation in Gaza and failures to meet “essential survival needs” for civilians. The letter stated this was in large part due to the Israeli government obstructing aid deliveries, halting commercial imports and blocking nearly all aid to North Gaza.
“The time for action and enforcement of American law is long past,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami. “The law is clear: American arms should not be provided to countries that block humanitarian assistance. The White House should not give any country – even its closest friends – a pass. This can’t be delayed anymore.”
“The law must be fairly and equally applied to all recipients of US aid. We are not calling for new legislation or special conditions specific to Israel. The President has the necessary flexibility to – and should – continue resupplying Iron Dome and other purely defensive weapons systems,” Ben-Ami added.
Since the October 2024 letter, Israeli authorities have continued to reduce truck entries to historic lows and block nearly all aid access to North Gaza. The Netanyahu government has also passed legislation to ban UNRWA – the most significant and irreplaceable distributor of humanitarian aid in Gaza – from operating in Israeli territory.
According to data published by the UN and scorecards compiled by humanitarian aid agencies – which is corroborated by Israel’s own reporting – the Israeli government has not met any of the main benchmarks outlined in the October letter. Indeed, a number of actions have made the situation even worse. Just last week, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller gave the Netanyahu government a “fail” grade on addressing the administration’s concerns.
J Street has for months called on the Biden Administration to withhold certain offensive arms transfers if the Netanyahu government continues to violate US law and has strongly supported National Security Memorandum 20, in which President Biden provided a framework for action. We have also supported the calls by a majority of congressional Democrats to uphold these requirements. As a pro-Israel group, J Street supports a safe and secure Israel, a strong US-Israel relationship and American security assistance to Israel that adheres to the requirements of US law.
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Queers for Palestine v Palestine for Queers
Paddy Manning-tweet-13October2023-Queers for Palestine v Palestine for Queers
Wishful Thinking/Propaganda
Queers for Palestine
This is like Chickens being “Chickens for KFC !”
This is like Chickens being like “Chickens for KFC !”
vs. Reality
Palestine’s Official message to-Queers for Palestine
Gay Palestinian living under asylum in Israel murdered, beheaded in Hebron
Suspect uploaded footage of murder to social media; unclear how the victim ended up in the West Bank, with some claiming he was kidnapped
By Jack Mukand 6October2022 https://www.timesofisrael.com/gay-palestinian-living-under-asylum-in-israel-murdered-beheaded-in-hebron/
Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh (Social media)
A gay Palestinian man living under asylum in Israel was murdered and beheaded Wednesday in the West Bank city of Hebron. The unnamed suspect, who was arrested by Palestinian Authority police near the scene of the crime soon after committing it, recorded the act in a video that he uploaded to social media before his capture.
The victim was 25-year-old Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, who according to reports on Ynet and Channel 12 had been living in Israel for the past two years as an asylum-seeker after authorities acknowledged his life would be in danger if he returned to Palestinian territory.
It was not immediately clear how or why the young man ended up in Hebron. Friends of Abu Murkhiyeh in Israel believe he was kidnapped to the West Bank before his murder, though it was not clear that they had evidence of this.
Rita Petrenko, founder of Al-Bayt Al-Mukhtalif, a non-profit organization for the empowerment of the Arab LGBT community, said that she had helped to arrange for Abu Murkhiyeh’s asylum papers in preparation for his eventual resettlement in Canada and that he’d actively participated in LGBT discussion groups. Describing the young man as “hard-working and intelligent,” Petrenko regretted that he had not been transferred to safety in Canada before his life was brutally taken from him.
Israeli sources, the PA police and the Abu Murkhiyeh family have all been unable to clarify if the victim and his killer had any prior relationship. No motive has yet been disclosed as a result of the Palestinian Authority police’s investigation, but the suspect is currently being interrogated.
A spokesman for the PA police, Lu’ay Arziqat, described the beheading as a “new kind of crime in Palestine” and urged people to refrain from circulating the morbid video.
The circumstances surrounding the crime remain unclear while the Palestinian police in Hebron carry out a full investigation.
A view of the West Bank city of Hebron. (photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90)
In an interview with Palestinian radio station Karama, an older member of the victim’s family, also named Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh, asserted that the young man was residing in his father’s native Jordan but often visited Hebron to work and to spend time with family in the city.
That account contradicted multiple Israeli sources, and was possibly indicative of relatives’ reluctance to acknowledge his reported life in Israel.
Petrenko said that to the best of her knowledge, Abu Murkhiyeh had not returned to the West Bank since his asylum, out of fear for what his estranged family and residents of his native village might do to him. She added that his stay at various LGBT shelters in Israel is a documented fact. He had not informed any friends of an intention to enter the West Bank.
Palestinians have expressed revulsion at the exceptionally violent nature of the crime, even as Abu Murkhiyeh’s sexual identity and Israeli residency have been kept under wraps in Palestinian reports. The presenter on the Karama radio station distilled the common outrage when saying the beheading “crossed every single red line in our society, whether in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity.”
The filming of such brutality for distribution on social media has had a particularly shocking effect. Speaking for police, Arziqat said the recording and upload of the video represented “the most dangerous” aspect of a crime he characterized as the most terrible one he’s ever dealt with.
About 90 Palestinians who identify as members of the LGBT community currently live as asylum-seekers in Israel. They suffered discrimination, and, in extreme cases, violence in their communities before fleeing. Until this past July, the law allowed them to reside in Israel but not to work.
Petrenko said that since the law changed, Abu Murkhiyeh had been searching diligently for a stable, legal job, but only managed to find low-paying, under-the-table gigs at restaurants in Tel Aviv’s Sarona neighborhood, one of the city’s upscale culinary hubs.
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Palestine’s Official message to-Queers for Palestine
Visegrád 24-tweet-28October2023-
A Palestinian scholar from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem sends a message to the “Queers for Palestine-crowd” in the West:
“The people of Palestine will not allow a single homosexual in our land,” such perversion brings the wrath of Allah”
Visegrád 24-tweet-28October2023-message to-Queers for Palestine-crowd
Gay Conservative-tweet-24October2023-This is how Palestinians respond to those “Queers for Palestine” (sorry to be so graphic)
Gay Conservative-tweet-24October2023-This is how Palestinians respond to those “Queers for Palestine”
(sorry to be so graphic)
Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-1
Palestinians respond to those -Queers for Palestine-1
Doug-tweet-21October2023-Pride month in Gaza
Doug-tweet-21October2023-Pride month in Gaza
Pride month in Gaza-21October2023
Shirion Collective-tweet-1July2024-Palestinian Gay Man Thrown Off Roof by Hamas
🚨 TRIGGER WARNING: Palestinian Gay Man Thrown Off Roof by Hamas
⚠️WATCH: As a Reminder for Pride Month
📰 A gay man in Palestine is brutally thrown off a roof by Hamas militants, only to be stoned by a crowd as he lies dying.
The usual way of dealing with such things in the Palestinian community.
Most members of the LGBTQ+ community in the West support a regime that commits such atrocities.
This sheer blindness is not just deeply misdirected and dangerous but, for gay people, it’s mind-bogglingly stupid and self-destructive.
✅ Follow @ShirionOrg to Stay Informed.
Shirion Collective-tweet-1July2024-Palestinian Gay Man Thrown Off Roof by Hamas
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Iran’s FM affirms right to execute gays and blasts U.S. and Israel
Ronzheimer wrote that Zarif answered: “The problem is the aggressive policies of Israel and the USA.”
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
JUNE 12, 2019 02:58 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/irans-fm-affirms-right-to-execute-gays-and-blasts-us-and-israel-592055
People stage a mock hanging as they protest outside German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin February 4, 2013, where Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi’s was due to deliver a speech.
(photo credit: THOMAS PETER/REUTERS)
In response to questions today in Tehran from a reporter for the mass circulation German paper Bild, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated his country’s lethal homophobic law and its opposition to the Jewish state and the US.
Paul Ronzheimer, a reporter for the Bild, wrote on Twitter that he asked Zarif two questions: “1. Where do you stand regarding Israel’s right to exist? 2. How do you deal with the executions of gays?”
Ronzheimer wrote that Zarif answered: “The problem is the aggressive policies of Israel and the USA.”
Regarding Iran’s execution of gays, Zarif said that: “Our society has moral principles, and according to these principles we live. These are moral principles regarding the behavior of people in general. And that’s because the law is upheld and you abide by laws.”
Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday: “The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights makes clear that these answers from the Iranian regime are violating basic UN principles. UN members should agree with the Declaration in order to be members. Criminalizing homosexuality violates the Declaration, plain and simple.”
Volker Beck, a German Green party politician and LGBT activist, told the Post: “Zarif makes clear what Iran stands for: contempt for the human rights of homosexuals, women and religious minorities.” Beck, who is also a lecturer at the Center for Studies in Religious Sciences (CERES) at the Ruhr University in Bochum, added whoever supports the mullahs knows what they represent. He said that “The hanging of homosexuals and stoning women is considered a moral principle by the Islamists in Tehran.”
The Post reported in January that Iran’s clerical regime publicly hanged a man based on an anti-homosexual Islamic law. The unidentified man was hanged on January 10 in the southwestern city of Kazeroon.
According to a 2008 British WikiLeaks dispatch, Iran’s mullah regime has executed “between 4,000 and 6,000 gays and lesbians” since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
In 2016, the Post reported that Iran’s regime had executed a gay adolescent that year – the first confirmed execution of someone convicted as a juvenile in the Islamic republic.
Hassan Afshar, 19, was hanged in Arak Prison in Iran’s Markazi Province on July 18, 2016, after he was convicted of “forced male-to-male anal intercourse” in early 2015.
In 2011, Iran’s regime executed three Iranian men after being found guilty of charges related to homosexuality.
The Post report detailing the Iranian regime’s public hanging of the man in January played a role in the announcement by US President Donald Trump’s administration in February that it will be launching a campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality across the globe.
Grenell – who is the administration’s most high-profile openly gay official – told the Post in February that “71 countries criminalize homosexuality and eight will put you to death for being gay. The Trump administration is launching a new push with our European allies to end this human rights outrage.”
The ambassador is spearheading the international effort to stop the persecution of the LGBT community in countries that impose criminal penalties – including the death penalty – on homosexuals.
Grenell credited the Post in a commentary that he wrote on February 1 for the Bild, Europe’s largest paper: “The recent press reports, first carried by The Jerusalem Post, that the Iranian regime publicly hanged a 31-year-old man for being gay, should be a wake-up call for anyone who supports basic human rights. Politicians, the UN, democratic governments, diplomats and good people everywhere should speak up – and loudly.”
“In Iran, where children as young as nine can be sentenced to death, gay teenagers are publicly hanged in order to terrify and intimidate others from coming out. Iran’s horrific actions are on par with the brutality and savagery regularly demonstrated by ISIS,” he added.
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How Queers react to: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October
Bari Weiss-tweet-28December2023-How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October
The first victim she said she saw was a young woman with copper-color hair, blood running down her back, pants pushed down to her knees. One man pulled her by the hair and made her bend over. Another penetrated her, Sapir said, and every time she flinched, he plunged a knife into her back.
She said she then watched another woman “shredded into pieces.” While one terrorist raped her, she said, another pulled out a box cutter and sliced off her breast.
“One continues to rape her, and the other throws her breast to someone else, and they play with it, throw it, and it falls on the road,” Sapir said.
She said the men sliced her face and then the woman fell out of view. Around the same time, she said, she saw three other women raped and terrorists carrying the severed heads of three more women.
Sapir provided photographs of her hiding place and her wounds, and police officials have stood by her testimony and released a video of her, with her face blurred, recounting some of what she saw.
Yura Karol, a 22-year-old security consultant, said he was hiding in the same spot, and he can be seen in one of Sapir’s photos. He and Sapir were part of a group of friends who had met up at the party. In an interview, Mr. Karol said he barely lifted his head to look at the road but he also described seeing a woman raped and killed.
Since that day, Sapir said, she has struggled with a painful rash that spread across her torso, and she can barely sleep, waking up at night, heart pounding, covered in sweat.
“That day, I became an animal,” she said. “I was emotionally detached, sharp, just the adrenaline of survival. I looked at all this as if I was photographing them with my eyes, not forgetting any detail. I told myself: I should remember everything.”
‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html
rachel wahba-tweet-28December2023-
And u kno what many in my queer community tell me? “Don’t send me this stuff it’s triggering” code for “ I am pro Hamas” I did not stop and was then called a “bully” — amazing Jews who fight back are “ bullies” Dara Horn spot on w her chilling book “ people love dead Jews”
Bari Weiss-tweet-28December2023-How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on 7October
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Live Action Role-Playing gamers-Keep standing on the side of genocide
A live action role-playing game is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. Wikipedia
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-FAKE JEWS FOR HAMAS
This rally, which shut down Grand Central Station on Friday night, started after Shabbat began.
These aren’t Jews. They are LARPers who use kippot and tallitot as props against the vast majority of real Jews. Their only use of Judaism is to twist it into ammunition against the Jewish state. Their knowledge of Judaism starts and ends with a wrong interpretation of “tikkun olam”. Their only use of Jewish practice or objects is to subvert them; if it wasn’t for their political play-acting, they would never don a kippah or attend a seder. In short, they twist and trivialize a great religion in the service of terrorism and genocide against Jews.
They are the modern version of the Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden, a tiny group of pro-Nazi Jews who derided everything about Judaism (and Zionism) in a failed attempt to ingratiate themselves with Hitler’s Germany. They ended up in the gas chambers along with those they hated. See more: https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html
JVP and IfNotNow are disgusting pieces of garbage, and have no place in the Jewish community.
https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html
Elder of Ziyon-tweet-29October2023-FAKE JEWS FOR HAMAS
Don Incognito-tweet-29October2023-Keep standing on the side of genocide
So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi
Rabbi Linda Goldstein-tweet-20February2024-So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi
So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi and Havdalah in solidarity with Palestinian resistance ❤️🇵🇸
Fred Menachem-tweet-20February2024-Freeks
The guy all the way in the back looks like he would give the Unabomber a run for his money.
The guy with the mask needs to be kept away from any place where children congregate and the dude in the front looks like he’s building a pipe bomb out of a Chanukiah.
Make your own judgements… 🇮🇱
Rabbi Linda Goldstein-tweet-20February2024-So proud to organize Hanukkah Shlishi
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Israel bars UK Jewish leftist provocateur from Aliyah
JerusalemCats Comments: Israel is a traditional society, If you want to contribute to Israeli society by getting a job, create a family and raise children here, cone to Israel. If not stay home! Anyone at any age can contribute to Israeli society by being here of stead of protesting and causing trouble.
Israel bars UK Jewish leftist provocateur from Aliyah
Source: Vomit Warning – Read on an empty stomach. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-bars-uk-jewish-left-wing-activist-from-immigrating-orders-him-to-leave-by-sunday/
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Elder of Ziyon logo http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/
IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and their spiritual ancestor the Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden
01July2021 https://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2021/07/ifnotnow-jewish-voice-for-peace-and.html
Today’s antisemitic Jews of IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace have an illustrious antecedent.
Dr. Max Naumann Still Loyal to Nazi Opppressors
From JTA, August 13, 1933:
Anti-Zionist? Check.
Dividing Jews into “good assimilationist Jews” and “bad proud Jews”? Check.
Politics above logic and self-preservation? Check.
Sound familiar?
Even in 1935, as members of his group realized that Hitler is not someone to rely on, Naumann held his course – and accused his detractors of being “Zionists.”
Nazi Jews hold Stormy Berlin Session
What happened to Dr. Naumann? From the B’nai B’rith Messenger, 20 December 1935:
Exit: Dr. Max Naumann
Exit: Dr. Max Naumann – continued
Taking the side of the enemies of the Jews invariably ends up badly.
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You can’t hijack planes. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate
Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-2March2024-The problem is not with the means but with the goal
The problem is not with the means employed by Palestinians, as abhorrent as many of these means were and are, but with the goal.
As long as the Palestinian “cause” continues to be defined by a total negation of Jewish sovereignty in any part of the land, it will breed failure.
Dr. Einat Wilf-tweet-2March2024-The problem is not with the means but with the goal
Mohammed El-Kurd-tweet-26February2024-You can’t
You can’t protest peacefully. You can’t boycott. You can’t hunger strike. You can’t hijack planes. You can’t block traffic. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate. You can’t heckle politicians. You can’t march. You can’t riot. You can’t dissent. You just can’t be.
Mohammed El-Kurd-tweet-26February2024-You can’t
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HonestReporting: Wikipedia is not a reliable source
HonestReporting-tweet-31>October2024-Wikipedia is not a reliable source
There is a disinformation campaign on social media and Wikipedia. Since October 7, entries on Zionism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been altered, with many of the articles locked, making unbiased corrections impossible.
Remember: Wikipedia is not a reliable source.
HonestReporting-tweet-31October2024-Wikipedia is not a reliable source
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