Category: Israel

Biden Regime Plans to Give Hamas a Grand Reward for Murdering 1,200 Israelis

It has been clear for quite some time what side Biden is on.

 by 

SEE: https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-regime-plans-to-give-hamas-a-grand-reward-for-murdering-1200-israelis; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:


[Make sure to read Robert Spencer’s contributions in Jamie Glazov’s new book: Barack Obama’s True Legacy: How He Transformed America.]

It has been clear for quite some time that the Biden regime, despite its show of support for Israel, is really on the side of Hamas. Now the regime is in serious talks to respond to Hamas’ brutal and inhuman murder of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023 by giving it the biggest reward of all: a Palestinian state.

If you are skeptical that Old Joe and his henchmen are really on Hamas’ side, consider the fact that, in November, they enabled the release of ten billion dollars in frozen funds to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas’ primary financier. That followed $100 million in “humanitarian aid” to Gaza and the West Bank on Oct. 18, less than two weeks after the massacre. Biden huffed and puffed about how that $100 million better not end up in the hands of Hamas, but really, who else was there in Gaza who could receive it and keep it from the jihad terror group? Hamas-linked UNRWA?

As if all that weren’t bad enough, now the Biden regime is planning to follow it with the worst betrayal of all of our most loyal ally in the Middle East. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that “Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian representatives, in addition to the United States” were “rushing to complete a detailed, comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and Palestinians, including a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, that could be announced as early as the next several weeks.” As you may have noticed, the one concerned party that would likely lose territory if any such state were established was conspicuously absent from these negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noticed. On Friday, he declared: “Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians. Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.” As Biden regime apparatchiks worked with Muslim Arab nations to establish a Palestinian state without the approval of or even participation of Israel, Netanyahu was unequivocal: “Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre would give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism and prevent any future peace settlement.”

Indeed. Hamas behaved with appalling savagery on Oct. 7, and yet is more popular than ever in both Gaza and the West Bank in the wake of that attack. If a free election were held in a new Palestinian state, Hamas would have a very good chance to win. And given the group’s oft-stated imperative to destroy Israel completely, which senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad has restated after Oct. 7, a Palestinian state would almost certainly become a new jihad base for renewed attacks against Israel, as Gaza did after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2005 (which, like the eternal goal of the Palestinian state, was also touted as a move that would finally bring peace).

In the Washington Post’s entire fifteen-hundred-word account of the ongoing talks to set up a Palestinian state, no one betrays any indication that they know or care why a Palestinian state has never yet been set up despite decades of efforts to bring peace, or why the Palestinians have rejected numerous offers for such a state since 1947. A standing condition for the Palestinians has been that they accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, which no Palestinian organization or leader has ever been willing to do. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has apparently just decided, without a scintilla of evidence, that this condition has already been fulfilled, as he spoke last week in Qatar about the steps that need to be taken in order to embark upon a “practical, timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel.”

Where is there a single Palestinian leader or political group that has ever expressed any willingness to live side-by-side in peace with Israel? Yet instead of pressuring the Palestinians, the Biden regime is focusing on efforts to “convince the Arab world that this time will be different.” This is a total inversion of reality. The Biden regime has completely forgotten, or is more likely deliberately ignoring, the fact that the Palestinian Arabs were the aggressors who sparked this conflict. Historically, a defeated aggressor, if that is what Hamas and its cohorts turn out to be, was not rewarded. Would the Biden regime, if it had been in power in 1945, have worked on a plan to expand the domains of National Socialist Germany? The possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Biden Regime Plans to Give Hamas a Grand Reward for Murdering 1,200 Israelis

Robert Spencer | 3:24 PM on February 17, 2024
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
It has been clear for quite some time that the Biden regime, despite its show of support for Israel, is really on the side of Hamas. The regime is in serious talks to respond to Hamas’ brutal and inhuman murder of 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023 by giving it the biggest reward of all: a Palestinian state.

If you are skeptical that Old Joe and his henchmen are really on Hamas’ side, consider the fact that, in November, they enabled the release of ten billion dollars in frozen funds to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamas’ primary financier. That followed $100 million in “humanitarian aid” to Gaza and the West Bank on Oct. 18, less than two weeks after the massacre. Biden huffed and puffed about how that $100 million better not end up in the hands of Hamas, but really, who else was there in Gaza who could receive it and keep it from the jihad terror group? Hamas-linked UNRWA?

As if all that weren’t bad enough, now the Biden regime is planning to follow it with the worst betrayal of all of our most loyal allies in the Middle East. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that “Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Palestinian representatives, in addition to the United States” were “rushing to complete a detailed, comprehensive plan for long-term peace between Israel and Palestinians, including a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, that could be announced as early as the next several weeks.” As you may have noticed, the one concerned party that would likely lose territory if any such state were established was conspicuously absent from these negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted. On Friday, he declared: “Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding permanent arrangements with the Palestinians." Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.” As Biden regime apparatchiks worked with Muslim Arab nations to establish a Palestinian state without the approval of or even participation of Israel, Netanyahu was unequivocal: “Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state." Such a recognition in the wake of the October 7 massacre would give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism and prevent any future peace settlement.”

Indeed. Hamas behaved with appalling savagery on Oct. 7, and yet is more popular than ever in both Gaza and the West Bank in the wake of that attack. If a free election were held in a new Palestinian state, Hamas would have a very good chance of winning. And given the group’s oft-stated imperative to destroy Israel completely, which senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad has restated after Oct. 7, a Palestinian state would almost certainly become a new jihad base for renewed attacks against Israel, as Gaza did after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2005 (which, like the eternal goal of the Palestinian state, was also touted as a move that would finally bring peace).

Related: Biden Regime Again Shows Which Side It’s On, and It's Not on Israel's

In the Washington Post’s entire fifteen-hundred-word account of the ongoing talks to set up a Palestinian state, no one betrays any indication that they know or care why a Palestinian state has not yet been set up despite decades of efforts to bring peace, or why the Palestinians have rejected numerous offers for such a state since 1947. A standing condition for the Palestinians has been that they accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state, which no Palestinian organization or leader has ever been willing to do. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has apparently just decided, without a scintilla of evidence, that this condition has already been fulfilled, as he spoke last week in Qatar about the steps that need to be taken in order to embark upon a “practical, timebound, irreversible path to a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with Israel." 

Where is there a single Palestinian leader or political group that has ever expressed any willingness to live side-by-side in peace with Israel? Yet, instead of pressuring the Palestinians, the Biden regime is focusing on efforts to “convince the Arab world that this time will be different.” This is a total inversion of reality. The Biden regime has completely forgotten, or is more likely deliberately ignoring, the fact that the Palestinian Arabs were the aggressors who sparked this conflict. Historically, a defeated aggressor, if that is what Hamas and its cohorts turn out to be, was not rewarded. Would the Biden regime, if it had been in power in 1945, have worked on a plan to expand the domains of national Socialist Germany? The possibility cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Turkey: Man responsible for shaping Erdogan’s Middle East policy says ‘there is no such state called Israel’

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/turkey-man-responsible-for-shaping-erdogans-middle-east-policy-says-there-is-no-such-state-called-israel; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Erdogan’s Turkey, which wants to destroy Israel, is an ally of the U.S., and Israel itself is an ally of the U.S. One of these alliances is in serious danger, and the worries are not in Istanbul.

“‘Israel must be destroyed,’ said chief Middle East advisor to Turkey’s President Erdogan,” by Abdullah Bozkurt, Nordic Monitor, February 15, 2024:

The person responsible for shaping Turkey’s foreign policy in the Middle East in the office of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been revealed to have called for the destruction of Israel, as uncovered by a Nordic Monitor investigation.

Sefer Turan, a 62-year-old pro-Iranian Islamist and a chief advisor to the Turkish president, has openly denied Israel’s right to exist, stating, “We must consistently and at every opportunity inform the public that there is no such state called Israel.”

Turan’s remarks were made in June 1997 during a panel discussion concerning the closure of the Palestine Solidarity and Friendship Association (Filistin Dayanışma ve Dostluk Derneği, FDD) by Turkish authorities. The FDD was identified as a front organization sponsored by the Iranian mullah regime in Turkey, aimed at channeling funds to armed Palestinian jihadist groups, organizing rallies against Israel and promoting antisemitism in Turkey.

Turan, one of the architects of the FDD, vehemently criticized the government’s decision to shut down the organization. He also condemned the peace initiatives launched in Madrid in 1991 that aimed to foster peace between Israel and Palestine, along with several Arab nations. The Madrid conference, co-sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union, eventually resulted in the signing of the Oslo I Accord in 1993 and the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel in 1994.

“We must openly reveal our identity and, if necessary, endure the risks,” Turan emphasized, further stating, “Nothing ends with the closure of the FDD.”

The driving force behind the creation of the FDD was a propaganda magazine named Yörünge, which received funding from the Iranian regime and was operated by pro-Iranian Turkish Islamists. Some members of this group had undergone training by Iranian intelligence in handling arms and explosives. Turkish authorities took action against the magazine, shutting it down and initiating criminal investigations and indictments against its staff.

The application for the establishment of the FDD was initially approved on July 1, 1995, during a preliminary process and later endorsed by the Interior Ministry in November 1995. However, a month after approval, the ministry requested that the FDD halt its operations until the Cabinet reviewed the application, citing concerns regarding the mention of international operations in the founding charter, which fell under the discretion of the Cabinet. On May 7, 1997 the government officially notified the FDD of its closure.

The FDD board members included Ahmet Varol, Remzi Çayır, Rıdvan Kaya, Nurettin Şirin, Fikret Özdemir and Ahmet Ağırakça, several of whom had longstanding ties with the Iranian Islamist Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force.

In fact, both Turan, working as chief aide to Erdogan at the time, and Şirin were suspects in a confidential investigation into the Quds Force network between 2011 and 2014. During this period their phones were tapped under court order as investigators sought to uncover an Iranian intelligence network in Turkey. The investigation aimed to determine any plots targeting Israeli, Jewish and Western interests in Turkey….

Pro-Hamas rioters attempt to force their way into pro-Israel congressman Rep. Mike Lawler’s office

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/pro-hamas-rioters-attempt-to-force-their-way-into-pro-israel-congressmans-office; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

SEE ALSO: https://nypost.com/2023/12/28/news/rep-mike-lawler-latest-lawmaker-to-have-office-vandalized-for-pro-israel-views/

This morning, a group of antisemitic protestors attempted to physically force themselves into my office. I won’t waver in my support for Israel, nor will I stop fighting to address antisemitism. We are grateful to the Capitol Police for their swift response in ensuring our safety. pic.twitter.com/jsw1JWpD1E

— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) February 15, 2024

Insurrection! But of course no one will be imprisoned, or even arrested. What would these leftist and Muslim thugs have done if they had managed to get into Lawler’s office and he had been inside? Beaten him bloody? Is there really any doubt?

Israel discovers six drones amid UNRWA donations entering Judea and Samaria this week

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/israel-discovers-six-drones-amid-unrwa-donations-entering-judea-and-samaria-this-week; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

UNRWA is actively aiding the “Palestinian” jihad, and must be shut down.

“i24NEWS Exclusive: Israel finds 6 drones amid UNRWA donations that entered the West Bank this week,” by Matthias Inbar, i24News, February 15, 2024:

UNRWA donations that entered the West Bank from Jordan through the Allenby Bridge earlier this week contained six military drones, i24NEWS’ military correspondent Matthias Inbar has learned from Israeli security sources.

The drones have been confiscated by Israeli security forces….

Tlaib refuses to condemn Hamas for rape of Israeli women

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/tlaib-refuses-to-condemn-hamas; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The barbarians aren’t at the gates. They’re in Congress. But Tlaib can’t condemn Hamas’ behavior because she supports Hamas, and because the sexual use of infidel women is allowed in the Qur’an (4:3, 4:24, 23:1-6, 33:50, 70:30).

“Tlaib ‘present,’ as House votes unanimously to condemn Hamas for rape,” by Menachem Wecker, JNS, February 14, 2024:

The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously, 418-0, to condemn Hamas terrorists for rape and sexual violence on Oct. 7.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), a progressive member of the “Squad” who has a long history of antisemitic comments, voted “present,” as the House passed H.Res.966 on Wednesday.

“The brutality was planned and calculated,” Frankel added. “Sadly, Hamas’s savagery has been met with a shrug—and even denial—from many corners of the world. Our resolution loudly and clearly condemns all rape and forms of sexual violence as weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas terrorists on and since Oct. 7.”

Frankel introduced the resolution, which received 200 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle, with Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) and Jen Kiggans (R-Va.).

The resolution condemns all rape and sexual violence “as weapons of war,” including those Hamas committed on and after Oct. 7; calls on all countries to criminalize rape and sexual assault and hold both state and non-state armed groups accountable for such attacks; and tells international groups to “unequivocally condemn the barbaric murder, rape, sexual assault and kidnapping by Hamas and other terrorists on and since Oct. 7 and hold accountable all perpetrators.”

It also reaffirms the U.S. government’s “support for independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas on and since Oct. 7” and “reaffirms its commitment to supporting survivors of rape and sexual violence, including those brutalized on and since Oct. 7.”…

Biden national security aide tells Dearborn Muslims ‘I do not have any confidence in current government of Israel’

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/biden-national-security-aide-tells-dearborn-muslims-i-do-not-have-any-confidence-in-current-government-of-israel; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

Once again, the Biden regime is trying to appease its far-Left, Israeli-hating base. The regime could destroy the alliance altogether and throw Israel at the jihadis in exchange for Muslim support for Biden’s reelection.

“In Private Remarks to Arab Americans, Biden Aide Expresses Regrets on Gaza,” by Reid J. Epstein and Erica L. Green, New York Times, February 9, 2024:

In a closed-door meeting with Arab American leaders in Michigan this week, one of President Biden’s top foreign policy aides acknowledged mistakes in the administration’s response to the war in Gaza, saying he did not have “any confidence” that Israel’s government was willing to take “meaningful steps” toward Palestinian statehood….

The Biden aide, Jon Finer, a deputy national security adviser, offered some of the administration’s clearest expressions of regret for what he called “missteps” it had made since the beginning of the violence, and he pledged that it would do better.

During a meeting on Thursday with Arab American political leaders in Dearborn, Mich., Mr. Finer said, “We are very well aware that we have missteps in the course of responding to this crisis since Oct. 7,” according to a recording of the gathering obtained by The New York Times. A National Security Council official confirmed the recording was authentic.

Mr. Finer added: “We have left a very damaging impression based on what has been a wholly inadequate public accounting for how much the president, the administration and the country values the lives of Palestinians. And that began pretty early in the conflict.”…

Mr. Finer and several other senior Biden administration officials, including Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, traveled to Dearborn on Thursday for a series of meetings, including one in which Mr. Finer’s comments were recorded.

Those sessions came a week after Biden's campaign aides, including Julie Chávez Rodríguez, the manager of his 2024 bid, quietly traveled to the city and met with a few officials, including Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American progressive who is at the forefront of Democratic calls for a cease-fire.

However, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud of Dearborn and several other local officials declined to meet with Ms. Chávez Rodríguez. Mr. Hammoud later issued a statement saying he wished to speak with policymakers instead of campaign officials. White House officials then scrambled to arrange a visit.

During Thursday's meetings, Mr. Finer articulated the American government’s efforts to bring a halt to the war in Gaza. Building a formal diplomatic relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia, he said, is a critical step toward creating a Palestinian state. Doing so, he added, requires politically difficult sacrifices from both countries and the United States.

“We will have to do things for Saudi Arabia that will be very unpopular in this country and in our Congress,” Mr. Finer said. “Will Israel be willing to do the hard thing that’s going to be required of them, which is meaningful steps for the Palestinians on the question of two states?" I don’t know if the answer to that is yes. I do not have any confidence in this current government of Israel.”…

Rewarding the Oct 7 Massacres With a ‘Palestinian’ State

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/rewarding-the-oct-7-massacres-with-a-palestinian-state; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

What do you get when you massacre over a thousand people? A country.

What do you get when you massacre over a thousand people, rape, behead, torture and kidnap everyone Jewish, Christian or non-Arab in sight? International diplomatic recognition.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken has reportedly begun conducting a review of options for recognizing a ‘Palestinian’ state after the war. The State Department has claimed there are no policy changes, but that may yet be more diplomatic doubletalk.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, brought in after PM Rishi Sunak ousted Minister Suella Braverman for speaking out against the pro-Hamas rallies, published an op-ed calling for a “pause” in the fighting, exchanging Israeli hostages for captured Hamas terrorists, and providing “safe passage” to “key Hamas leaders” and “the people responsible for October 7” to leave Gaza. After that he announced that his government might recognize an Islamic terror state.

“We – with allies – will look at the issue of recognising a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations,” he claimed. “That could be one of the things that helps to make this process irreversible.”

Why the urgent need for the “irreversible” recognition of a terror state?

According to Cameron, “we must give the people of the West Bank and Gaza the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future.”

The “people” in question have already been polled on what they want from the future.

A poll found that 74% of ‘Palestinians’ supported the Hamas atrocities of Oct 7 and a majority “extremely” supported them. Only 12% were against. 83% of those in the West Bank, under the Palestinian Authority and the immediate beneficiaries of statehood, supported the crimes.

98% in Gaza and the West Bank said that they felt ‘pride’ as ‘Palestinians’ over the war. 74% expected the fighting to end with the defeat of Israeli forces in Gaza. Only 17% supported a two-state solution, while 77.7% wanted to destroy Israel and replace it with a ‘Palestinian’ state.

This is what supporting the “Palestinian people” with a “Palestinian state” really means.

Former Minister Theresa Villiers who, unlike Cameron, had backed Brexit, warned that “accelerating unilateral recognition of Palestinian state would be to reward Hamas’ atrocities.”

And that’s exactly right.

The only reason any of this is being discussed is the Oct 7 Hamas attack. Recognizing a terror state after one of the worst acts of terror in history will retroactively validate everything.

Hamas will be able to claim victory, and so will the ‘Palestinians’ who took part in it, cheered it and supported it to a larger degree than Germans supported Hitler.

The Palestinian Authority, on which hopes for a Palestinian State, depend is just as bad.

Despite Blinken’s best efforts, Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO leader who serves as the official .President of the Palestinian Authority, refused to disavow the Oct 7 attacks. Instead, the PLO, Fatah and other elements of the ruling regime in charge of the West Bank have praised it and others, like the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, even bragged about taking part in the attacks.

A video from the Palestinian Authority terror group features “terrorists wearing Fatah’s yellow armbands firing Kalashnikov rifles at a kibbutz” and “a Fatah terrorist stamping on the head of a murdered Israeli” as the group boasts that “we had a prominent and clear role” on Oct 7.

Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005. There have been no elections since and he has functioned as a glorified dictator subsidized by our foreign aid. His likely successors, including the imprisoned leader of a terror group who is ahead in the polls, all praised the Hamas attack.

Democratic elections in a ‘Palestinian’ state would mean Hamas. The Islamic terror group won the 2006 legislative elections and took over Gaza. That's why there have been no elections since. Current polls show that if there were to be democratic elections, Hamas would easily win them.

Biden claimed that, “the vast majority of Palestinians are not Hamas. Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people.” But the vast majority of them disagree and want Hamas to head or form part of a unity coalition of Islamic terrorist groups running a ‘Palestinian’ state..

The only Palestinian Authority candidate who could beat Hamas is Marwan Barghouti, the grandfather of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, currently serving several life sentences in Israel prison, who responded to Oct 7 by urging a total war against Israel. Hamas has demanded Barghouti’s release as part of any ‘terrorists-for-hostages’ trade with Israel..

Recognizing a ‘Palestinian’ state means either recognizing the Palestinian Authority’s terror dictatorship in the West Bank or Hamas. Either way, an Islamic terrorist group will run the place, eliminate any opposition and launch more terrorist attacks against Israel and then anyone else.

But diplomats who were blindsided by the Oct 7 attacks are fighting to take control of the situation and the narrative by offering up the same old failed policies. Diplomats claim that Oct 7 was caused by a failure to negotiate, but it had really been brought about by endless negotiations.

Before the Oct 7 assault, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had an article in Foreign Affairs magazine touting how negotiations with Hamas had led to quiet in Gaza. After the Hamas invasion, the online version had that edited out and only the print copies remain.

The roots of the Oct 7 attack lie in the 1992 pressure campaign to force Israel to take back the Hamas terror leaders it had deported, followed by the Oslo accord deals with Arafat and the PLO, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s ’s insistence on democratic elections that brought Hamas to power, Obama’s Arab Spring which empowered the Muslim Brotherhood parent organization of Hamas to win democratic elections, including in neighboring Egypt, which provided a vital outlet of support for Hamas, and then the Iran Deal that funded the state sponsor of Hamas which led Iran to expand its operations and ambitions around the region.

The addiction to diplomacy, nation building, accords and agreements led fatally to Oct 7.

Israel has resisted allowing Hamas to take part in elections only to face pressure from Rice.

“Whenever you have 80 percent of the Palestinian people turn out in a free and fair election, one that is free of violence, it has to be a cause for hope,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued after Hamas won the 2005 election.

In 2007, a year after Hamas seized control of Gaza, Rice declared, “frankly, it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

No matter how often the same approach fails, the diplomats never admit they were wrong.

To be a modern day diplomat is to ignorantly blame a lack of diplomacy and negotiations for everything and to promise that they can fix everything. Diplomats have been telling us for generations that a “Palestinian state” would be the solution to all of the problems in the region, but ever since the Oslo accords, life in Israel and the Middle East has become much more violent.

There’s a limit to how much damage generals can do, but not diplomats.

Compare the damage from the Iraq War to the fallout from the Arab Spring which didn’t just set one country on fire, but led to brutal and enduring civil wars in Yemen, Syria and Libya, while causing serious harm in Egypt, Tunisia, and many other countries across the region.

Oct 7 was not the result of a military process, but a diplomatic one, in which the Biden administration and several Israeli governments had negotiated temporary quiet with Hamas.

Diplomats can’t afford to allow the impression that there is a military solution to terrorism. Or too much of anything else. And so they’re rushing to impose a diplomatic solution that would empower terrorists because that is all that diplomacy with terrorists ever accomplishes.

Since Oslo, diplomacy has consistently proved the flip side of the Roman “si vis pacem, para bellum” or “if you would have peace, prepare for war.”

Israelis have learned the hard way that if they prepare for peace, they will have war. Diplomacy is supposed to avert war, but with Islamic terrorists it encourages war instead.

Despite all the promises, the Oslo accords and other peace negotiations never ended the violence because the Islamic terrorists quickly realized that violence was their best leverage. Negotiations soon fell by the wayside as Palestinian Authority terrorists focused on direct or indirect proxy terrorism. Hamas then took up the slack by promising to turn the violence on or off in exchange for money and political power. Recognizing a “Palestinian” state after Oct 7 would validate terrorism as the ultimate strategy yet again and would ensure more such attacks.

The push for a “Palestinian” state after Oct 7 not only rewards the atrocities of that day, but encourages the Arab Muslim ‘Palestinian’ settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza to repeat them.

What do you get when you massacre over a thousand people, rape, behead, torture and kidnap everyone Jewish, Christian or non-Arab in sight? The answer should not be your own country.

Maryland: Muslim Teacher Says She’s Victim of Racism After She’s Suspended for Calling for Israel’s Disappearance Inbox

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/maryland-muslim-teacher-says-shes-victim-of-racism-after-shes-suspended-for-calling-for-israels-disappearance; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, &research purposes:

CAIR files discrimination lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools

A Muslim elementary school teacher in Maryland has filed a discrimination complaint after being suspended for using the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as her email signature. More on the outraged, and outrageous, Hajur El-Haggan, can be found here: “Muslim school teacher says she’s victim of racism after being suspended for using ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ as her email signature,” by Emma Richter, DailyMail.com, 

A Muslim school teacher in Maryland said that she is a victim of racism after she was suspended for using ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ as her email signature.

Hajur El-Haggan, a math teacher at Argyle Middle School, was placed on administrative leave in November after she was told that her chosen signature was not allowed.

This was her school email, not her personal account. Students, parents, and fellow teachers would all be subjected, in their email correspondence with her, to this message: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

This phrase is a call for the establishment of a Palestinian state on all the land from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, and for the disappearance of the Jewish state. All of its Jewish inhabitants would be expelled or killed. Rightly understood, it is a call for ethnic cleansing, and the replacement of the only Jewish state by a twenty-third Arab one. It is understandable that the principal would not want one of his teachers displaying such a sentiment on a school account.

The Muslim and Arab-American teacher has since gone on to file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Maryland Commission on Human Rights against Montgomery County Public Schools.

‘I have co-workers who have “Black Lives Matter” in their email signatures, or links to their pronouns and what they mean. My quote does not fall into a different category,’ El-Haggan told KUTV.

She is wrong. Her quote is in a different category. “Black Lives Matter” does not call for ethnic cleansing or the destruction of a state and its people. Phrases about pronouns that have to do with self-identification as non-binary, similarly, are not a threat to the existence of anyone. “From the river to the sea” is such a threat; it means politicide accompanied by ethnic cleansing.

The complaint stated that after she was reprimanded by the school’s principal about her email signature, she offered to take it down, but they [sic] proceeded to tell her that she would still be suspended.

Even if El-Haggan had taken down that email signature, that would not have changed the fact that she supports the disappearance of Israel, and the removal of all of the Jews living now “between the river and the sea.” Isn’t that the real “racism” that is involved here, and not her suspension? She was not suspended because she is a Muslim Arab, but because of her support for the ethnic cleansing of Jews “from the river to the sea.”

The discrimination complaint, which has also been filed with the local Fair Employment Practices Agency, said that El-Haggan and her colleagues at the school ‘hold certain personal and political views regarding various social injustices.’…

Would a teacher who had made known his, or her, support for the KKK, or for neo-Nazi groups, be allowed to continue as a teacher? El-Haggan’s views are not merely “political,” but rather, a call for the destruction of a country and the ethnic cleansing — some might even say the attempted “genocide” — of its people.

The complaint also noted that besides El-Haggan, other teachers in the middle school ‘expressed opinions about various political and social matters.’…

But none of her fellow teachers called for what amounts to ethnic cleansing. 

‘Just like here in America, we have “From sea to shining sea,” it’s no different. It’s a call for freedom, peace, basic rights, and humanity and coexistence,’ El-Haggan said….

No, Ms. Al-Haggan. They are not the same. “From sea to shining sea” is merely the geographical description of a country — America — that is being celebrated as “beautiful/from sea to shining sea.” “From the river to the sea” is not a call for “freedom, peace, basic rights, and humanity and coexistence,” but rather, a malevolent call for the destruction of a state and its people.

The complaint also said that that three days before she was placed on leave, the Palestinian flag in her car that said ‘Free Palestine was cut off of her vehicle and written on….

Did she promptly report this act? It would be strange – should raise a skeptical eyebrow – if she had not done so. Or was this claimed attack dreamed up later to support her lawsuit, suggesting that she was living in a hostile, anti-Palestinian, racist environment?

The phrase ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ has long been seen as a call for destruction by the Jewish population, but for the Palestinian community and their supporters, it has been seen as a peaceful call for liberation.

No, that phrase is not seen as a “peaceful call for liberation” by the Palestinians. They know exactly what it means — the destruction of the Jewish state and the expulsion, or killing, of its Jewish population. In this hoped-for future state of “Palestine,” only Israeli Arabs would be allowed to remain.

There is speech that is beyond the pale. Calling for the destruction of a state and its people, because of their religion, is such speech. It is reasonable for the Montgomery County School Board to want to protect its students from such speech, directed at the only Jewish state, just as it would want to protect them from teachers found to endorse the KKK or neo-Nazis. El-Haggan and her lawyer hope to convince the judge that “from the river to the sea” is an innocuous call for “peace and liberation.” It is not. And the lawsuit will be determined by whether or not the judge, or possibly members of a jury, understand its malevolent significance.

Harvard to feature speaker who blamed Israel for Hamas’ Oct. 7 jihad massacre

Israel's Reported 'Resettlement' Plan for Gaza Amounts to a Holocaust: Prof Dalal Iriqat, Ramallah

What it’s like to be a Palestinian in Israel—Prof Dalal Iriqat, Arab American University, Ramallah

 

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/harvard-to-feature-speaker-who-blamed-israel-for-hamas-oct-7-jihad-massacre; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

ALSO SEE: https://www.foxnews.com/media/harvard-to-host-palestinian-prof-who-blamed-israel-for-oct-7-called-attacks-normal-human-struggle

First, Harvard’s former president refused to say that calls for a new genocide of the Jews would violate campus rules. And now this. Clearly, Jew-hatred has become the norm at Harvard, and among the leftist intelligentsia in general.

“Harvard to host Palestinian prof who blamed Israel for Oct. 7, called attacks ‘normal human struggle,'” by Chris Pandolfo, Fox News, February 3, 2024:

Harvard University has invited a controversial Palestinian professor to speak who justified the October 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel as a “normal human struggle for freedom.”

Dr. Dalal Saeb Iriqat, a columnist and associate professor at the Arab American University Palestine, is scheduled to speak at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs on March 7 for a seminar series called “Middle East Dialogues.”

The Belfer Center website describes the “Middle East Dialogues” seminars as “a series of frank, open, and probing encounters with vital and varied perspectives on the current conflict, its causes, and the prospects for peace and progress in the region.”

Iriqat is a controversial figure who has made statements downplaying the Hamas attack on Israel and blaming the Israeli government for the bloodshed on October 7, when 1,200 people were killed after Hamas terrorists infiltrated the country.

“Today is just a normal struggle 4 #Freedom,” Iriqat posted on X on Oct. 7, as Israelis near the border with Gaza cowered in their homes while terrorists went door-to-door butchering people.

In the face of criticism for her post, Iriqat doubled down and blamed Israel for the attacks the next day.

“We will never forgive the Israeli right wing extreme government for making us take their children and elderly as hostages,” she posted on "X."

“The Israeli public need to realize that their own government had caused all this bloodshed and they remain the ones responsible for this escalation and losses of civilian lives.”…

Kamala Keeps Pushing Biden to be More Anti-Israel

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/kamala-keeps-pushing-biden-to-be-more-anti-israel#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

And she’s one medical crisis away from being president.

In Kamala’s Jihad, I noted her long history of collaborating with Islamists and her pressure campaign on Biden to take more of an anti-Israel stance.

After the Islamic mass murders of over 1,000 Israelis, Kamala returned to pushing “Islamophobia”. In the speech that he delivered three days after the massacres, she urged Biden to include a line about “Islamophobia”… next month in November, she unveiled a push to fight “Islamophobia”, not antisemitism. It was Kamala who pressed Biden to be more open to Islamist groups and their complaints, driving him to profusely apologize for questioning the civilian casualty numbers coming out of Hamas.

In Dubai, Kamala claimed that, “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating.”

A Politico report described how “a person close to the vice president’s office said she believes the United States should be ‘tougher’ on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

Now there’s another Politico report, this one frankly anti-Israel, and it once again notes Kamala’s behavior.

Few in the administration sense the danger more than Vice President Kamala Harris. From holiday parties to a dinner at her residence last month for a group of prominent black men, Harris has told sympathetic Democrats outside the White House that she recognizes the political challenges posed by Biden’s unwavering public support for Israel, and I’m told by officials familiar with her comments at the events. Harris told people she’s making the case privately for the administration to show more empathy for the plight of innocent Gazans…

This qualifies as undermining the president, not that Biden is capable enough to do anything about it even though one thing he could do to improve his electoral chances would be to jettison her, she’s even more unpopular than he is, and grates on most people’s nerves. But if Biden gets back in the White House, we stand a very good chance of having President Kamala.

And while Kamala isn’t a dogmatic leftist, she has built much of her career by being in their company and pandering to them. Despite the Jewish husband we keep hearing so much about, she was raised by a radical leftist racial nationalist mother, her sister is a militant leftist  and the political allies she’s closest to tend to be more of the same.

None of this seems all that important now, but it’s one medical crisis away from becoming extremely important.

Rutgers Prof Noura Erakat: ‘Zionism Is Based on Racial Elimination’

Colonial law and the erasure of Palestine w/Noura Erakat

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/02/rutgers-prof-noura-erakat-zionism-is-based-on-racial-elimination#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

“There’s not enough at this moment to support the charge of genocide” brought against Israel," said George Washington University international affairs and political science professor Michael N. Barnett during a January 18 webinar. His comments marked a fleeting, rational moment in a discussion of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) charges against Israel, otherwise marked by the panel’s Israel-hatred exemplified by Noura Erakat, associate professor of Africana studies at Rutgers University. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Islamist-dominated Center for Security, Race and Rights at Rutgers.

Barnett joined Erakat – among the most vitriolic anti-Israel academics in America – to address the Arab Center Washington DC’s webinar on “Gaza and the Crime of Genocide: Legal and Political Dimensions of Accountability.” The webinar followed South African’s December 29, 2023, submission of genocide charges against Israel at the politicized ICJ, based in The Netherlands.

“Reading the South Africa report, 85 pages of quite impressive detail, suggest that there is a very strong case for atrocity crimes and war crimes, which in many ways carry the same kind of heavy consequences as do genocide,” Barnett proclaimed. “But initially, I was of the view that the South African charge was a bit of political grandstanding,” he added. For advice, he could turn to Germany – with its history of genocide against the Jews – as Germany has intervened in the case and condemned South Africa’s politicization of genocide.

Erakat, on the other hand, labored to lend an aura of academic respectability to a fusillade of false anti-Israel claims. Since October 7, 2023, “three months of warfare” in Israel’s offensive to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip “has resulted in over 24,000 Palestinian deaths, 40 percent of whom we are told are children, or 10,000 children,” she said, reciting casualty figures from Hamas-run agencies without noting their distortion into anti-Israel propaganda. Analysis of Hamas’s claims reveal that Israel has maintained a two-to-one civilian/enemy combatant casualty ratio in Gaza, remarkably low for such difficult urban terrain and a testament to extraordinary Israeli efforts to protect civilians.

Erakat focused on the fate of Gaza hospitals, noting that “Israel began bombarding the last remaining hospital, Nasser Hospital,” in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Gaza’s “last functioning hospital.” Israel “has decimated now nearly 35 other hospitals” as Hamas “command-and-control centers, as launching pads and human shielding,” yet “at the very same time has failed to provide evidence,” she claimed. This false claim disregards numerous reports from Israelis, American intelligence, journalists, and physicians who have worked under Hamas control in Gaza, as well as released Israeli hostages once held in such hospitals.

Ignoring the difficulties of conducting military operations in Gaza, she asserted that Israel justified “this high level of death and destruction” as the “result of an urban warfare, dense areas, Hamas fighting, Hamas human shielding.” This “makes it seem that somehow the conditions” Israel faces “fighting Hamas in urban conditions is unprecedented,” she said, although military observers have noted the unique challenges facing even Israel’s experienced troops. Hamas has had over a decade to embed itself in an extensive network of tunnels underneath Gaza’s urban infrastructure, where almost every civilian structure cynically shields military installations.

International law “mandates a state to cease and desist an operation should the civilian harm and casualties exceed the military advantage to be achieved,” Erakat concluded. She did not clarify what level of proportionately between civilian and military casualties would prohibit Israel from fulfilling its stated war aim of destroying Hamas, an existential threat to Israel. “We can see very well that the military advantage that Israel has achieved is minimal if non-existent,” she claimed, for “Hamas continues to fire rockets from the center of Gaza City, indicating that its capability has not been diminished.” Yet the Israeli government has said it has already destroyed two-thirds of Hamas’s fighting units, which would be a significant achievement in such a difficult campaign.

Erakat was disappointed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not impressed with the ICJ’s authority – its jurisdiction is not compulsory – as she. “Right in the aftermath of the ICJ hearing, we heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say that it does not matter what The Hague says, that Israel will proceed as it sees fit,” she complained. Thus, “it is up to any country to decide what it needs to do in order to ensure its national interest,” she said, as if this were not a common maxim for any country fighting for its citizens’ survival.

Israeli Agricultural Minister Avi Dichter’s recent reference to a “Gaza Nakba” alarmed Erakat. This Arabic word for “catastrophe” has achieved mythological status for people of Palestinian descent like her. It refers to some 600,000 Arabs who lost their homes during Israel’s 1948 independence war in the territory that became Israel. In 1948, “Israel conducted military operations that targeted Palestinian civilians” under a “defensive operation in Plan Dalet – that plan included the destruction of villages,” she said, invoking propagandistic myths about Plan Dalet. She thus reiterated the common Palestinian falsehood that Israel expelled most of the 1948 Arab refugees, when in reality most of them fled conflict, often with the encouragement of Arab leaders who wanted to clear free-fire zones.

Today, Erakat fears that “Israel has articulated that it wants to achieve a Nakba, or the removal of Palestinians, in order to achieve its security and peace” as in 1948. “Other forms of colonization,” she said, “are based on racial discrimination, whereas Zionism is based on racial elimination.” Not only does this twist Dichter’s words, as he spoke merely of Gazans evacuating conflict zones, but it fails to mention that no countries in the Arab world or beyond want to receive Gazans, with their well-known jihadist sympathies, as refugees.

Superficially, Erakat’s statements may sound sober and sophisticated. Unmasked, they reveal her unremitting hatred of Israel. Her promotion of South Africa’s genocide charges against Israel illustrates how the Jewish state, no matter how grievously attacked, will be portrayed as fascistic and evil while providing a platform from which to demonize Israel.

Andrew E. Harrod, a Middle East Forum Campus Watch Fellow, freelance researcher and writer, is a fellow with the Lawfare Project. Follow him on Twitter: @AEHarrod. This article was cross-posted with the author’s permission from New English Review.

After Oct. 7, Somali prime minister who met with Ilhan Omar called Jews ‘apes and pigs,’ as Qur’an says

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/after-oct-7-somali-prime-minister-who-met-with-ilhan-omar-called-jews-apes-and-pigs-as-quran-says; republished below in full, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

During a speech in early Nov 2023, Somali PM @HamzaAbdiBarre, colleague of Ilhan Omar, referred to Jews as "immoral," & labeled them with the Quranic epithet (5:60) also used by Islam's prophet Muhammad, "apes & pigs"

(See longer segment of speech https://t.co/UNaMKXb8uM) pic.twitter.com/krDJbRNI4n

— Andrew Bostom, MD, MS (@andrewbostom) January 31, 2024

Hamza Abdi Barre is referring to the Qur’anic claims that Allah transformed disobedient Jews into apes and pigs (2:63-66; 5:59-60; 7:166).

Did Ilhan Omar endorse his statements? We don’t have any journalists anymore, so no one will ask her, which is a shame.

“US Congress woman Ilhan Omar meets with Somali PM Hamza,” Shabelle Media Network, September 19, 2023:

NEW YORK, USA – Ilhan Omar, a member of the U.S. Congress, has paid a courtesy visit to H.E. Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre who is currently in New York for the participation of the United Nations General Assembly [UNGA78].

The discussions between Barre and Omar focused on Somalia’s security, political landscape, socio-economic progress, and how the US can further strengthen its support for Somalia….

The PM’s speech shed light on Somalia’s efforts to address and eradicate the threat posed by Al-Shabaab, which has links with Al-Qaeda and carrying out attacks in the Horn of Africa.

Biden May Slow Weapons to Israel to Stop Its Campaign Against Hamas

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/biden-may-slow-weapons-to-israel-to-stop-its-campaign-against-hamas#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

But at least Biden did send over $2 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over.

The Biden administration, Qatar and assorted countries are trying to hammer out a hostage deal that would free thousands of Hamas terrorists and effectively end Israel’s war against the terror group. Since Israel isn’t thrilled about the idea, the Biden administration is looking to apply pressure by using weapons shipments. And that’s why foreign aid to Israel exists.

Our defense industry is financed with foreign aid in the form of weapons shipments so that D.C. can then control the countries that receive those shipments. And decide when they can fight and when they can’t.

The Biden administration is discussing using weaponry sales to Israel as leverage to convince the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed long-standing U.S. calls to scale back its military assault in the Gaza Strip, according to three current U.S. officials and one former U.S. official.

At the direction of the White House, the Pentagon has been reviewing what weaponry Israel has requested that could be used as leverage, said the sources. They said no decisions have been made.

Mind you, we’re not even talking about the larger weapons package that Biden announced after the attacks.

The Biden administration tied that package to a much bigger package for Ukraine and a border “deal” that’s in oblivion. This is more in the way of regular resupply.

But the way our defense foreign aid setup works is on the razor blade or printer cartridge model. You get the system for what seems like a good deal, but whenever you need ammo, you have to turn to D.C. Whether you buy it or not, D.C. gets to decide. That’s what Taiwan is dealing with right now. And so the deal turns out not to be a good deal after all.

Right now Biden wants Israel to wind down the war on Hamas. Slowing down resupply means Israel will have to slow down, stop or shift its own operations to depending even more on ground personnel which will cost the lives of more soldiers. And it’s dealing with the possibility that if war breaks out with Hezbollah or other Iran proxies, it will be dangerously undersupplied.

But at least Biden did send over $2 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over.

International Court of Justice Ruling: Despite the Hectoring Rhetoric, a Win for Israel

By

SEE:https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/international-court-of-justice-ruling-despite-the-hectoring-rhetoric-a-win-for-israel#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The ruling handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on January 26 could have been much worse. The Court might have agreed with South Africa’s contention that in Gaza, the Jewish state is engaged in “ethnic cleansing” or in “genocide.” It might have ordered an “immediate ceasefire” or, still worse, a complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. The ICJ did none of those things. More on this welcome result can be found here: “ICJ badmouths Israel for 35 minutes, then Israel wins – analysis,” by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, January 26, 2024:

For 35 minutes, the International Court of Justice bad-mouthed Israel, but then it surprised the Jewish state by not issuing any practical orders against the IDF.

There was no order to cease the war and there was no order for the IDF to withdraw from Gaza.

Those were the most important victories for Israel at The Hague. There surely was great disappointment, I should think, in Pretoria, Ramallah, and Khan Yunis, when they realized what the ICJ had not demanded of the Jewish state.

The most troubling practical item in the ruling for Israel is the need to report back to the ICJ in one month, something which leaves the door open to a more serious order at that time.

All of the other measures that the ICJ ordered are items that Israel says it agrees with in general: don’t commit genocide, facilitate humanitarian aid, preserve evidence for probes of alleged war crimes, and prosecute Israelis who engage in illegal incitement against Palestinians.

To understand the complex ICJ decision and why this was a big win for Israel, one needs to understand the difference between declarative and operative law.

Declarative law is basically asking or advising a party to do something but with no teeth.

Only operative law has teeth and punishments.

In fact, the ICJ conclusions are only declarative. The ICJ has no enforcement mechanism. Its decisions can help put pressure on a party to a dispute, but there is no way to force a state — say, Israel — to comply with its decisions. Were the ICJ, for example, to demand that Israel agree to an immediate ceasefire, and Israel were to refuse, there would be no way to make the Jewish state do so. On the other hand, such a refusal might lead Israel’s key allies, including the U.S., to increase pressure on the Jewish state to comply.

No definitive action against Israel taken

Israel’s critics hoped there would be an order to end the war and withdraw the IDF. They had every right to expect such a result after the ICJ declared Israel’s West Bank security barrier illegal in 2004 and ordered Israel to remove it.

This would have put Israel in the uncomfortable position of either giving up on its national security to comply or being a public offender [sic] of the ICJ’s decisions.

This would also have put Israel’s allies in a much harder position and possibly led some of them to penalize Israel diplomatically and even economically.

All of this would have had a real-world impact on Israel and the war effort.

Instead, the ICJ heavily criticized Israel for killing Palestinian civilians and causing destruction, but avoided any immediate conflagration [sic] with Israel….

This criticism was, of course, unfair. The ICJ refused to recognize the hellishly difficult nature of warfare on a densely populated urban battlefield. It did not seem impressed with the enormous efforts the IDF has taken to minimize civilian casualties. These include warnings the IDF gave initially to civilians to leave northern Gaza when that area was about to become a battlefield; 900,000 of those civilians heeded the warning and moved south. to relative safety. Similarly, when the IDF subsequently moved its main operations to the south, it dropped leaflets and sent emails that provided maps showing exactly where the IDF would not be operating, so that civilians could move to those areas. Furthermore, the IDF routinely has been warning civilians in Gaza, by messaging, emailing, and leafleting, when a civilian building — a school, a mosque, an apartment building — is about to be targeted. Of course all these warnings also alert Hamas operatives, but that has been a price the IDF has been s willing to pay in order to minimize civilian casualties.

In warning civilians in Gaza, the IDF has so far dropped six million leaflets, made 14 million pre-recorded telephone calls, and 72,000 personal calls. It is the only army in the world that warns its enemy in such a manner. For that, and other reasons, British Colonel Richard Kemp has called the IDF “the most moral army in the world.” Perhaps, upon reflection during the next month, the ICJ judges will come round to seeing the justice of that verdict.

The intensity of the war has already wound down in the north, where tens of thousands of IDF Reservists have been pulled out, and where the IDF has decreased the number of airstrikes and focused instead on targeted killings. That may now happen in the south, once the city of Khan Yunis has been entirely subdued.

While Hamas is already spinning the ICJ decision as a great victory for its side, it is nothing of the sort. Israel has not been charged with “genocide,” but told only to make efforts to “prevent genocide.” These are different things. The Jewish state has never engaged in “genocide,” so the ICJ need not worry about that score. Israel has not been told to pull out of Gaza; the ICJ recognized the atrocities of October 7 and the right of Israel to self-defense. It also spoke of the need for Hamas to free the hostages. Nor did the ICJ seek to impose a ceasefire, of any length, on the Jewish state. For those decisions by the ICJ, just announced, as to what it condemns and what it condones, Israel should now breathe a sigh of great relief.

Hamas top dog says there’s ‘no chance’ it will release Israeli hostages after Netanyahu rejects ‘peace’ deal

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/hamas-top-dog-says-theres-no-chance-it-will-release-israeli-hostages-after-netanyahu-rejects-peace-deal#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

The deal would have left Hamas intact and able to wage jihad against Israel another day. The international Left, avid to destroy Israel, will continue to push for this.

“Hamas says there is ‘no chance’ for release of hostages after Netanyahu rejects deal,” by Yaron Steinbuch, New York Post, January 22, 2024:

The approximately 130 Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas will never be freed, a militant leader said after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected the terror group’s conditions to end the war.

“In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands the end of the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all the murderers and rapists,” Netanyahu stated in a video address.

“And leaving Hamas intact. I reject outright the terms of surrender of the monsters of Hamas,” he added.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, countered by saying Netanyahu’s refusal to end the military offensive in the territory “means there is no chance for the return of the [Israeli] captives” who were abducted in the group’s Oct. 7 terror attack.

Under a deal brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt in late November, more than 100 of the estimated 240 hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 were freed in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Netanyahu has faced increasing pressure to secure the release the 136 hostages who remain in Gaza.

Relatives of the hostages demanded action during a protest outside his residence late Sunday.

“We need the government to now fix the problem that they have created and get these hostages home immediately,” said Jon Polin, father of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, according to Reuters….

Hamas forced Israeli hostage to recite Islamic prayer

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/hamas-forced-israeli-hostage-to-recite-islamic-prayer#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

“There is no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an 2:256), but that statement is all too often honored in the breach. Agam Goldstein-Almog was perfectly free to choose to die rather than to recite the Islamic prayers.

“Freed hostage recounts torture of women in Gaza’s terror tunnels – Washington Post,” Jerusalem Post, January 18, 2024:

As soon as Agam Goldstein-Almog (17) was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7 in Gaza, she was forced to put on a headscarf and a long dress, commanded to look at the ground, was forced to recite Islamic prayer, and her abductors gave her a name from the Quran, Salsabil, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

In an interview with international media, Agam described the horror she experienced for nearly two months as a hostage inside Gaza while speaking from a kibbutz in central Israel that has largely become a temporary refuge for displaced Israeli civilians.

In the interview, Agam addressed the female hostages still in Gaza. She asked, “Have you eaten enough today? Are you together, or have they separated you? Has he harmed you again? Has he asked you, again, if you’re married, if he could set you up with someone from Gaza? Has he entered your shower again, stripped the pajamas that he gave you, touched the would [sic] from the bullet that he shot, that really hurt you? But his control hurt more.”

Agam was taken to the Hamas tunnels underneath Gaza, to apartments and a school that was also a rocket launching site. Her captors allowed her to shower five times in the 51 days she was in Gaza, the Washington Post reported.

Some hostages had been kept alone in small rooms with their captors. They told Agam and her mother that they had been sexually assaulted “with great difficulty and tears.”…

Israel’s New Website On Hamas Killings Has 43 Million Viewers in the First Week

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/israels-new-website-on-hamas-killings-has-43-million-viewers-in-the-first-week#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

For decades, the Israelis have worried about the quality, and reach, of their hasbara — the “explaining” to the world why Israel does what it does. And nothing has cried out for more ”explaining” to the world than the campaign in Gaza to uproot the Hamas terrorists. It’s been little more than three months after the Hamas atrocities on October 7, and already, the shock has worn off for most of the world. There are pro-Palestinian marches in major cities in the Western world with protesters in London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Montreal, Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles, denouncing Israel, as if it, and not Hamas, had inflicted atrocities. These protesters demand an immediate end to the Gaza war, which would leave Hamas still standing, chant about a Palestine “from the river to the sea,” which means the obliteration of Israel and its replacement by a twenty-third Arab state, and inveigh against Israel as a “settler colonial apartheid state.” Most recently, these marchers have described Israel as guilty of “genocide’ and called for the Jewish state to be declared guilty of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

IDF spokesmen, such as Colonel Jonathan Conricus, have done outstanding jobs when they appear on television to explain in sober fashion how the IDF views the progress of the war, and describe the many ways that the Israeli military minimizes civilian casualties. As a spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev has been unflappable and lucid in the face of often hostile interviewers. But these Israeli spokesmen are few in number, and often have to content with unfriendly interlocutors. Meanwhile, the Palestinians and their supporters have been all over the airwaves and on social media, depicting the Israelis as irredeemably wicked, wanton killers of “women and children.” Hamas pulls figures out of the air for wounded and killed Gazan civilians; these figures are never questioned, but immediately become part of the narrative of the Gaza War that “everyone” accepts. For now we have the figure of at least “25,000 dead Gazans,” as counted by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, but what most of the media does not tell us is that there is no way to verify those figures from Hamas, and furthermore, that least 9,000 of those killed were, according to the IDF, Hamas fighters. That means that in the Gaza War, the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths of Palestinians is 16:9, which is an historic low, one that no modern army has ever managed to achieve. According to the UN, in all the wars since World War II, the civilian to combatant ratio has been 9:1. American and British forces have done better. In Iraq, the civilian-to-combatant ratio was 3:1. In Afghanistan, it has been calculated as between 3:1 and 5:1. Yet here is Israel, fighting in a high-density urban environment, where the combatants hide among the civilian population, and managing to attain a civilian-to-combat ratio of 16:9. This is a testament to the extraordinary efforts the Israelis take to minimize civilian casualties. But how many people know these numbers? It’s not something that is reported in the mainstream media. Most of those who defend Israel on social media are unaware of this telling ratio. This is where Israel’s defenders need to step in, and disseminate this information widely, as a way to undermine the incessant claims from Hamas about “25,000 dead Gazans,” or worse still, the version that has been widely repeated, claiming “25,000 dead, mostly women and children.”

Now Israel has made a major effort at hasbara — setting forth exactly what happened on October 7 that made the Jewish state decide it had no choice but to destroy Hamas as a military force, which is exactly what it is now doing. And judging by the number of visitors to the Israeli website — 43 million in the first week — it has been a complete success. More on this hasbara site can be found here: “Israel’s New Website Documenting Hamas Atrocities, Reminding World How Gaza War Began Reaches Millions in First Week,” by Troy O. Fritzhand, Algemeiner, January 17, 2024:

The Israeli government’s website showing the horrors of the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel has received significant online traffic in the week since its launch, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The website — https://saturday-october-seven.com/ — has already garnered more than 43 million views, including around half a million that led to people exploring the site’s content about the Oct. 7 atrocities.

 The site, which includes disturbing videos and pictures of the crimes committed, contains a warning: “Extreme viewer discretion is advised.”…

Early in the war, Israel did not want to release to the public videos of the atrocities carried out by Hamas at the Re’im music festival, or — especially — the atrocities carried out in the kibbutzim. There were those with whom the Israeli government shared a 47-minute video of clips taken by Hamas operatives themselves. This limited audience consisted of heads of governments and international organizations, ministers of foreign affairs, lawmakers in the U.S., where members of the House and Senate were shown that video’s grisly evidence, and even some carefully selected journalists. Those videos have made a deep impression on all who viewed them. But Israel held back from disseminating the videos, and the eyewitness testimony of survivors, to the broader public who, it was judged, did not have as much of a “need to know.” It then became clear that that public did indeed have a “need to know,” because too many people were falling for Hamas propaganda that these atrocities never took place or, if they did, it was the IDF itself that was responsible, intending to make Hamas look bad. At that point, the Israeli government understood it had to release the videos, even if that meant some families of the victims would be upset.

Launched only outside of Israel, the most visitors to the site came from the United States, Germany, England, and Canada.

By not making it available in Israel, the Israeli government hoped to spare the feelings of families of both those killed and those taken hostage.

Israel now has put the soul-searing evidence of the Hamas atrocities before the world, on a dedicated website. As the IDF soldiers manfully carry on, fighting against Hamas terrorists up and down the Strip, from Gaza City to Khan Yunis and all the way to the southernmost city of Rafah, including all the places in between where the IDF has located Hamas fighters and weapons. The creators of this admirable and terrible website are now fighting back against Hamas’ propaganda, to win, or in some cases win back, the hearts and minds of those who are in danger of forgetting what happened on October 7. Israel is now engaged in a on a different battlefield, pitting its truthful hasbara against the lies of Hamas. This is what may be called, in the Gaza War, the Jewish state’s indispensable second front.

Iranian TV show celebrates car ramming murder of elderly Israeli woman, injury of schoolchildren

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/01/iranian-tv-show-celebrates-car-ramming-murder-of-elderly-israeli-woman-injury-of-schoolchildren#; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

In every society, the elderly and children have a critical role. They are symbols of knowledge and experience, the fathers and mothers of generations. Children, meanwhile, represent life and innocence. The fact that an Iranian TV host, Mohammad Tadi, could openly celebrate the savage jihadist who murdered an elderly Jewish lady and severely injured school children is revealing. Westerners should have long ago awakened to the fact that jihadists who celebrate the deaths of innocent people have entered Western countries in large numbers. Hateful anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protests are a reminder of how emboldened these elements have become.

“Iranian TV Show Celebrates Car Ramming Attack In Ra’anana, In Which An Elderly Israeli Woman Was Murdered And Schoolchildren Were Injured: ‘They Were Flattened Like Asphalt, Some Of Them Had To Be Scraped Off The Road With A Spatula,’” MEMRI, January 16, 2024:

Iranian TV host Mohammad Tadi celebrated a car-ramming attack in the city of Ra’anana on his January 15, 2024, show on Channel 2 (Iran). He said that news of the attack in which an Israeli elderly woman was murdered, and several schoolchildren were severely injured, was “very happy.” Tadi stated that victims had to be scraped off the road “with a spatula.” Earlier on the show, Tadi celebrated news of a Yemeni-Houthi attack on an American vessel using sophisticated weapons.

Mohammed Tadi: “At the start of our show, I have two happy news items for you to enjoy. A wonderful operation was carried out in the Gulf of Aden. They took an American vessel… pay attention, it was an American [ship]. It was not a cargo ship heading to Israel. It was not Israeli, it belonged to the US. They officially announced that it was an anti-ship ballistic missile, a highly sophisticated [piece of] technology, as confirmed by CENTCOM, attacked the American vessel. Who do you think did this? The Yemeni champions. They also took responsibility very nicely.

1 2 3 4 5 6 … 24