Tag Archive for: HAMAS

SUZANNE DOWNING: Women’s Rights Orgs Wave Off Atrocities Committed Against Jewish Women And Girls

In an era marked by women’s rights militancy, a deafening silence looms over the savage atrocities experienced by Jewish women and girls at the hands of Hamas terrorists.

The United Nations commemorated the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Saturday, while a blatant contradiction stared the world right in the face: The systemic rape and murder of Israeli women and children by Hamas terrorists, in what appears to have been a preplanned part of the terror campaign launched by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The systematic dehumanization of Jewish women and children challenges the selective activism that plagues the global women’s rights network. The failure to even acknowledge these war crimes contrasts with the movement’s relentlessly shrill stance on other women’s issues. Whatever happened to “Believe All Women”?

Do the women’s organizations not believe the account of a survivor, who hid during the Oct. 7 raid on Israel, but could see from her hiding place a girl who had been captured and was being passed from Palestinian to Palestinian terrorist, who took turns defiling her?

“As I am hiding, I see in the corner of my eye that [a terrorist] is raping her,” the witness recounted to Times of Israel. “They bent her over and I realized they were raping her and simply passing her on to the next [terrorist],” the woman recounted. Her story is not isolated.

Such accounts should catalyze immediate outrage and action, from the White House to the United Nations, yet there remains a baffling silence, a betrayal of the very principles that women’s rights movements say they believe.

On Oct. 13, even though the torture of Jewish women had already been documented, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres equated Hamas’s brutalities with Israel’s self-defense.

Guterres said of the situation in Gaza that Hamas had killed more than 1,200 people and injured thousands, but, on the other hand, Israel had killed 1,800 people in response and injured thousands. He went on to say that Israel was being unreasonable to call on Palestinians in Gaza City to move to the south of the territory within 24 hours.

“Moving more than one million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous – and in some cases, simply not possible,” he said. Again, the UN shows little concern shown for the war crimes being committed by Hamas against women and children.

UN-Women’s statement of Oct. 20 also ignored the atrocities, and instead focused on Gaza women’s suffering as they became the new heads of households, their husbands having been killed in the fighting on behalf of Hamas.

Meanwhile, a Hamas video recording showed its terrorists torturing a pregnant woman at a kibbutz, and removing and killing her unborn child, according to Michal Herzog, the First Lady of the State of Israel.

The United Nations’ and UN-Women’s tepid response, or lack thereof, further underscores this disparity. While the suffering of women and children in Gaza rightly receives attention, the atrocities committed against Israeli women and girls are seemingly sidelined.

Selective outrage undermines the credibility of these organizations and their commitment to universal women’s rights.

Herzog made an appeal, explaining that women and girls have been so violently raped 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,” Herzog wrote.

Israeli Police Superintendent Dudi Katz said officers have documented more than 1,000 statements and more than 60,000 video clips related to the attacks that include accounts from people who reported seeing women raped. Although investigators did not have firsthand testimony, it is still not clear whether any rape victims survived.

This is not just an Israeli issue; it’s a global human rights crisis. If the rape of Israeli women and girls at the hands of Hamas terrorists is not a wake-up for women’s rights advocates, then they have willfully abandoned their mission, and lost all credibility.

AUTHOR

SUZANNE DOWNING

Suzanne Downing is the founder and editor of Must Read Alaska.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Israel Needs A Doolittle Raid

On April 18, 1942, 16 U.S. B-25 bombers attacked Tokyo. Of those, two were shot down. The rest
reached Chinese regions where anti-Imperial forces saved them. Only one of the original 16 landed—in Vladivostok, Russia. All the rest—precious assets for a U.S. army stretched thinner than onion skin—were shot down or ditched. The surviving crews—all of whom had been handpicked as the best of the best—were gone, captured or unavailable for months. Eight among the crews were captured by the Japanese.

The result of the raid: marginal damage to Tokyo, and negligible damage to the industrial capacity of the empire. By every tactical measure, this was an irresponsible waste of men and materiel at a time when America could ill afford to waste anything. And President Roosevelt—whose attentions and energy were already stretched to the limit—had sought the raid, monitored its preparations and then impatiently ordered it. His general staff all thought him mentally unwell and irresponsible.

And yet, the Doolittle Raid (as it came to be called, after its commander, James Doolittle), was one of the most important actions undertaken by the Americans during the war, and arguably represented its turning point. It was tactically disastrous, but strategically cataclysmic.

Because it turned around American morale. It overshadowed—even erased—the memory of Dec. 7 and replaced it with a defined war goal, through actions, not just words. Americans now understood where they were headed and invested their energies totally in achieving victory, rather sapping them by focusing on their wounds. America had passed from fear and foreboding to optimism.

The Japanese were unnerved because the islands which for 1,500 years had never been penetrated due to the protective, mystical spirit of the Kamikaze wind—had been bombed. The Japanese general staff were humiliated, and their stature, which had ridden so high in the five months since Pearl Harbor, was tarnished. The killing of Japanese civilians in their capital, combined with the shame felt by the military command, created inescapable pressure to strike back. For Japan had understood that the raid had broken their full control of the situation, taken back some of the initiative and thus threatened to reverse its relentless strategic momentum.

The pressure took its toll: Japan advanced Admiral Yamamoto’s s invasion plans of Hawaii to retake the initiative and force a battle in Midway for which it had not fully prepared. In June 1942, only seven months after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were catastrophically defeated there by a far smaller force because Japan had prematurely rushed to avenge its honor. Its controlled competence had given way to a grave misstep. While it still took another three years, Midway changed the direction of the war. Japan’s strategic momentum was never regained and America was on the straight road to victory, which greatly relieved Britain and cast a dark doubt over Hitler’s aspirations in Europe. Thus, those 16 planes, with few bombs, set the course of the whole war.

So what does this have to do with Israel?

Israel faced its Pearl Harbor on Oct. 7. The wound gave the Iranian camp great strategic initiative and showed the region that it was the strong horse, while Israel was complacent and possibly even too weak to survive in the long term. What followed was very much like the five-month period between Dec. 7, 1941 and April 18, 1942 in World War II, where tactically the United States might have begun to mobilize, societally it began to do what it had to do, but overall the strategic momentum had not been retaken. American morale was still sinking after the initial anger faded into the grim reality of a long war, and Japanese morale continued to rise as America’s withered.

Right now, Israel has considerable tactical initiative, but no strategic initiative. Hamas dictates the fate of the hostages and deals. Hamas governs the agenda of international pressure  The U.S. State Department controls the international diplomatic agenda. Hezbollah defines the parameters of conflict on the Lebanese border. Yemen chooses when, where and how often it intervenes, and has caused international shipping to retreat into a defensive crouch. Iraqi militias define how much the United States and Israel can feel secure in Syria and the Golan. Israel may possess tactical superiority in every theater, but it lacks strategic initiative and control in all of them. Iran is still driving everything.

As such, as a nation and society, Israeli will remains high, but there are signs already of fraying of focus, internal stresses and lack of faith in the final goals. Or even their definition. Rhetoric is also misaligned: Iran is seen and blamed as the puppet master in terms of an “either we or they survive” showdown, but the war is fought entirely locally against Hamas, as if this was a limited conflict rather than part of such a twilight struggle against Iran.

Wars are won through strategy, not tactics. Israel has reached the point where it needs a Doolittle Raid.

Israel not only needs to prop up Israeli morale to move beyond the shadow of Oct. 7 (as the United States had to move beyond the shadow of Dec. 7), but to take actions—perhaps even against Iran itself, but certainly against theaters right now languishing (Yemen, Iraq, Syria)—that strategically signal this is no longer about Hamas alone, nor even about the Palestinians, but about forcing the Iranian regime itself into cowering in fear of what unpredictable thing Israel might do next, and through that to retake strategic initiative and set the regional agenda to bear down on Tehran’s regime itself. Israel needs to take control of the agenda in every aspect and force Iran’s hand into missteps.

Israel needs a Doolittle Raid. Or two… or three.

Originally published by Jewish News Syndicate

AUTHOR

David Wurmser

Senior Analyst for Middle East Affairs.

RELATED ARTICLE: Obama-Biden 3.0’s fundamental transformation of Israel

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©2023. All rights reserved.

First American Among Third Group Of Hostages Released By Hamas

Hamas released a third group of hostages — including Abigail Edan, the first American — Sunday as the four-day ceasefire between Israel and the terrorist group continues.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the status of the third group of hostages, stating that “based on the information” given by the Red Cross, 14 Israeli hostages and three foreign national hostages were released, according to an IDF post on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The release of hostages comes as a four-day ceasefire negotiated by the Qatari government was agreed to by Israel and Hamas. Within the terms of the agreement, Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages they kidnapped Oct. 7 in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prison.

IDF authorities confirmed that “as of now” 13 of the hostages are within Israeli territory, with four additional hostages being released to the “Rafah Crossing.”  One of the 13 hostages was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital, according to CNN.

The Israeli prime minister’s office released some of the hostages’ names, showing nine hostages under 18 years of age. The two youngest are only four years old; there are four others between 40 and 84 years old, per Israeli officials.

Of the three foreign nationals identified is Abigail Edan, a four-year-old American dual citizen who was kidnapped Oct. 7 by Hamas in Israel, according to CNN. Edan’s parents were reportedly both killed in front of her during the attack, with her father reportedly using his body as a shield to protect the four-year-old, according to the outlet.

“She turned four just two days ago,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stated on CNN prior to the confirmed release. “She has been through hell. She had her parents killed right in front of her and has been held hostage for the last several weeks,” Sullivan said. “But I am going to say that we have growing optimism about Abigail and we will now watch and see what happens.”

President Biden commented on the release of Edan, stating she is receiving the “supportive services she needs,” highlighting the “terrible trauma” she has been through.

“Today she’s free, and Jill and I — together with so many Americans — are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.”

Edan is one of three American hostages reportedly determined to be among the 50 hostages to be released by Hamas, according to Sullivan, who stated the U.S. is still expecting two mothers. However, there is only one more day within the four-day truce and it is unclear if the U.S. has confirmed the two remaining Americans will be in the group released on Monday.

AUTHOR

HAILEY GOMEZ

General assignment reporter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©2023. All rights reserved.

‘Innocent Palestinians’ freed by Israel immediately don Hamas headbands

What are the odds that they will return to the jihad?

Oh, about 100%.

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Will he become prime minister? I expect that the leftist socialist establishment will now move heaven and earth and resort to all its dirtiest maneuvers in order to prevent that from happening.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©2023. All rights reserved.

Franklin Graham after Seeing Hamas’s Carnage: ‘It’s Like Every Demon in Hell Was Let Loose’

Warning: Graphic descriptions of Hamas torture are included below.

Everyone who’s witnessed the aftermath of Hamas — who’s stepped inside the charred houses or walked the bloody streets of a kibbutz after October 7 — has been changed. Like so many people who’ve seen pictures of the destruction on news sites across America, nothing prepared Franklin Graham for the sight of real graves, of bullet-holed walls, and haunted survivors. “These communities are empty,” he said somberly, but the echoes of their tragedies live on.

Back from the Israel-Gaza border, Billy Graham’s son tried to put into words the barbarity and destruction he saw. “The people have had to flee,” he explained to “Washington Watch” guest host and former Congressman Jody Hice. “They can’t live that close to the border with the fighting, so they’re in hotels throughout the country.” Instead, Graham said, “The Israeli army is there — a lot of them.”

Scanning what remained of the houses — some in rubble from rockets, others black from fire’s ash — Graham walked through the ravaged neighborhoods. “They took me to the command centers to show me the video pictures from just their surveillance cameras on that day.” He remembers seeing truckloads of people, streaming across the borders “with “heavy machine guns in the back of the trucks, with soldiers or terrorists that jump out and just shoot people on the side of the road and go on.”

“And then you meet people and talk to people that lived through this and somehow escaped, but they lost loved ones.” That was difficult, he admits. “I met a woman whose husband was a doctor, and they remember they didn’t know what was going on. At 7:30 in the morning, they just heard some gunshots. And this doctor said, ‘Please come to the clinic.’ And so he runs to the clinic, which was maybe a block away, and there he was shot. All the patients were shot.”

Graham relayed horror after horror. “Hand grenades were thrown into the clinic. Women were captured, raped. One was raped, and while the man was doing this act, he takes a gun and shoots her in the head. And then things like cutting their breasts off and throwing their breasts like a like a football to each other.” He stopped. “I’ve never witnessed brutality like this. And some of the terrorists that were captured were asked, ‘Why did you kidnap children? Why did you take children as hostages so that they could rape them?’ And it’s like every demon in hell was let loose.”

He met with families still stunned by shock and grief. “It’s had a huge impact,” Graham insisted. “And I just pray for these families that have lost their loved ones. I pray for the families who have loved ones down in those tunnels that were taken hostage. One lady who lost her daughter, whose daughter was killed in that [same] clinic, she said, ‘I’m so glad my daughter is dead.’ She said, ‘I wouldn’t know what to do if she was a hostage. I wouldn’t know how to handle that.’ But just the fear that’s in people’s hearts.”

Graham says he tried to pray with “everybody I met.” “I would quote Old Testament Scripture to them and remind them of God’s promises and His love. … And they were so appreciative of prayer.” He tried to remind them that “the only one that can heal their hearts is God, and He’s the God of all comfort.”

Meeting with the parents whose sons and daughters were kidnapped and taken into Gaza was especially heart-wrenching. “I prayed for these mothers,” he told Hice, “for their children and loved ones that are down in those tunnels that are being held hostage. I said, ‘[They’re] not down there alone. God is there with them.’ And we would pray that God would put his loving arms around those hostages, and that they would sense the presence of God as we prayed. And everyone was so appreciative of prayer. [Their] people are hungry spiritually. They don’t have any answers. They’re not getting answers from anyone. And when you pray for them, it touches their heart.”

Including, Graham said, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “First of all, I wanted to encourage him. … And so we talked for a while. But then I asked him, ‘Mr. Prime Minister, is it okay if I pray for you?’ And he was very appreciative of that. And we prayed and just prayed that God would give him wisdom and strengthen him and guide and direct him as they move forward here in these next few weeks and months. It’s going to be very difficult, and I just pray that God would just be with him and strengthen him.”

For now, the evangelist wanted people to know, Samaritan’s Purse is going to be “working there for some time.” “We’ve got great teams on the ground helping those [who] are stuck in the hotels and have no place to go.” But for everyone here at home, he said there’s one thing we can all do: pray. Pray for the hurting families, pray for Israel’s leadership and America’s leadership, but most of all, Graham urged, pray for the church and volunteers. “Pray that we will be faithful to lift up Christ wherever we go.”

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

VIDEO: Hamas’ 2019 vows to ‘cut off heads,’ ‘slit throats,’ and ‘slaughter every Jew on the planet’ were ignored

I tried to tell you.

Hamas’ threats to ‘cut off heads,’ ‘slit throats,’ and ‘slaughter every Jew on the planet’ in 2019 were ignored

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch, November 19, 2023:

Hamas’ massacre of Israelis on October 7 shocked everyone in Israel and abroad. So did the brutality of the attack, the cruelty of the murders, and the inhumanity of the torture.

But there were warnings, and the slaughter of at least 1,200 Israelis, the wounding of over 4,800, and the kidnapping of at least 238 hostages should not have come as a surprise.

One of those warnings was in 2019, when Hamas Political Bureau member Fathi Hammad explained in detail Hamas’ intentions, goals, and aspirations: To murder “every Jew on the planet”:

Hamas Political Bureau member Fathi Hammad: “We are sharpening the knives… We were created here in Gaza to shatter and get rid of this [Zionist] entity…    If we die it will be when we are killing you [Jews], and we will cut off your heads, Allah willing… There are seven million Palestinians abroad… You have Jews everywhere. We must attack every Jew on the planet – slaughter and kill… And you, the people of the West Bank… We want the knives to come out. Five shekels [for a knife] – isn’t the throat of a Jew worth five shekels to us? … I will die as I blow up and cut – what? The throats of the Jews and their legs. We will tear them to shreds, Allah willing.”

[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas), July 12, 2019]

Through the prism of Hamas’ massacre and attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the statement by Hammad in 2019 now looks like a chilling forecast. Hammad’s words also stress that Hamas’ goal – as the terror organization states in its charter – is to destroy Israel and kill all Jews, not only in Israel but in the entire world….

Read more.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Netanyahu responds to Palestinian Authority’s claim that Israel, not Hamas, carried out October 7 massacre

Blaming Israel for Hamas’ attack on October 7 is staggeringly absurd, and adds insult to severe injury.

Yet anything goes when it comes to Palestinian propaganda, which works on leftists.

The Palestinian Authority is now denying Hamas’ savage attack and accusing Israel of carrying out the massacre on its own people. This level of propaganda is intertwined with the identity of the Palestinian leadership and its entire so-called “resistance.” The war on Hamas goes beyond Hamas.

Netanyahu responded.

Today, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah said something utterly preposterous. It denied that it was Hamas that carried out the horrible massacre at the nature festival near Gaza. It actually accused Israel of carrying out that massacre. This is a complete reversal of truth.

Abu Mazen, who in the past has denied the existence of the Holocaust, today is denying the existence of the Hamas massacre and that’s unacceptable.

My goal is that the day after we destroy Hamas, any future civil administration in Gaza does not deny the massacre, does not educate its children to become terrorists, does not pay for terrorists and does not tell its children that their ultimate goal in life is to see the destruction and dissolution of the State of Israel. That’s not acceptable and that is not the way to achieve peace.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Short-Circuiting Iran’s Strategy in the Black Sabbath War

The current war between Israel and Hamas is not an Israeli-Palestinian issue, nor should its goals be only the removal of Hamas from power. The Palestinian issue is certainly an aspect of the conflict.  But this is a regional strategic event. It is a major episode in the twilight struggle between Iran and Israel – indeed between the US-oriented regional bloc and the Russian-Chinese oriented bloc — and not a localized conflict between Israel and an errant terror group.

From what is emerging, Hamas did anticipate the withering, catastrophic Israeli response to what it did on October 7. But it still proceeded. While that appears to us as suicidal, it is not. Hamas appreciated that it had reached its strategic zenith in Gaza and needed to carry its center of power and the war to the West Bank and thus deems Gaza expendable – as its leadership has said since the attack. Moreover, it is equally important to understand that Hamas appreciates that its local power to achieve that transfer is derivative of the overall consequence of the strategic rise and initiative of Iran. As a suicide bomber seeks to advance its cause, or a Kamikaze squadron understands its role is to advance the nation, and not just itself, so too did Hamas understand that it had to sacrifice itself in Gaza to advance the larger strategic interests of its camp to secure ultimately victory.

And since a suicide bomber or Kamikaze squadron cannot be deterred since any calculation of self-interest is annulled, so too Hamas could not be deterred based on local calculations of interest upon which Israel’s intelligence based its estimates. The error of Israeli intelligence, thus, was that it supposed such decisions about war and calm came only from Gaza. They didn’t. They came from Tehran. Perhaps the timing was Hamas’, and there are signs it was launched prematurely, but the strategy is Tehran’s. Any discussions of Iran’s operational role in ordering this attack at this time are irrelevant. Iran built and prepared Hamas to advance the larger strategic message across the region — especially to those who were forming a regional alliance and beginning to build strategic momentum against Iran — that Israel’s stature as a viable state, let alone as a rising, regional power, is an illusion.  Israel has recovered from its initial shock and on its way to victory in Gaza. But to reclaim the region’s strategic momentum and regain the initiative for the Western-allied bloc of which it was stripped on October 7, such a victory is insufficient, and was even anticipated by Iran and Hamas, both of whom understood this strategic conflict will not be won there by either side. While Israel must not only retain its current resolve in Gaza, it must also transfer that determination to areas that represent Iran’s core strategic stature in the region. And that is Hizballah and Syria. Thus, to win not only a tactical victory against Hamas in Gaza, Israel must win a strategic victory against Iran by hitting its core proxies to the north as well.

Iran fears that if Israel indeed accomplishes such a strategic reversal, it can reverberate and threaten the regime in Tehran. Totalitarian regimes project stability, but in truth they have little ability to absorb ideological shocks and setbacks without it rattling their ideological core and confidence. To avert disaster, Tehran thus needs to escalate its attempt to maintain the strategic initiative, at the core of which is securing the narrative that Israel is weak.

In this context, and perhaps at first seemingly contradictory, Iran’s objective is ironically to draw the US into the conflict more directly.

Tehran remains confident that any US response will be punitive, measured and symbolic and not strategic. It has been given no reason to believe that the US has, or will, undergo the sort of paradigm shift as Israel now appears to be undergoing, and thus Washington will not abandon its attempt either to reach a regional understanding with Iran. Indeed, Iran reads every statement of warning from Washington to reassert US deterrence as an indication the United States is still playing by the rules Iran manipulates. Iran cannot deal with chaos and unpredictability, since a strategy of manipulation implies one anticipates and thus navigates to control one’s opponent’s soul and behavior. Because it believes America will not break established rules and act unpredictably – especially that America will not fundamentally shift the paradigm and will not conclude it must work to collapse, rather than come to terms with, the Iranian regime — Iran is confident it can leverage and manipulate any US reaction to its advantage. As such, Tehran feels it can safely risk limited US intervention.

Since the point of the attack on October 7 was to wound and humiliate Israel so painfully that it punctures the hope of Abraham Accord countries and Saudi Arabia that Israel can be a regional strong horse to which to attach their fortunes, then it became imperative for Iran to set the narrative that Israel is no more than a collapsing “spider web.” Iran knew images of dead and fleeing Israelis – the same images that so horrified Israelis and Westerners animated those in the region — projected Israeli weakness. It is precisely in this context, that US promises of intervening to help Israel were gleefully amplified in the Iranian press because they confirm that Israel was damaged so profoundly that it could no longer defend itself alone.

But now Israel is reunifying and threatening to go on a strategic rampage against Iran’s core proxy, Hizballah, and perhaps Syria which threatens to reverse and even obliterate the narrative of strategic momentum of a retreating/collapsing Israel and advancing Iran. And to do so alone. So Iran now must now craft a new narrative: that Israel was indeed — and remains — so weak that America must intervene actively and directly to save it. And that Americans now will have to be sacrificed to save the Jewish state in its non-viable weakness.  Namely, it needs to establish that Israel has become such a limping albatross that it is a drains the US rather than being a regional strong horse anchoring Western power.

So important is it to Iran to establish this narrative, that they are inventing evidence to validate it. For example, Iranian government officials plant the story that a week after the visit by President Biden to Israel in mid-October, Israel transferred control over its nuclear program to the United States since Israel is collapsing and in the ensuing chaos it will either lose the nuclear asset to Iran and the Palestinians or use it. And as we have seen over the last few weeks, Iran has a substantial echo chamber in the West.

It is in this context that one must understand Nasrallah’s, Iran’s, and Hamas’ statements that they underestimated the US assistance to Israel. This is not an admission of miscalculation, but a manipulative statement. It is not genuine reflection, but an attempt to establish the fiction that the US is directly intervening because Israel remains too weak to do this alone. Through inconclusive American intervention, Iran seeks to paint a strategic narrative establishing Iran as strategically ascendent and Israel and the Abraham countries in a despairing, flailing retreat.

But for that narrative to work, they need to get America to intervene just enough to make it look like an American war, but not enough to provoke America to shift strategically. Iran’s aim is eventually to push Washington to revert to Iran to seek a regional arrangement to calm down the area — i.e., an expanded JCPOA 2.0.

Iran is counting on the US also to split with Israel and seek to impose an Oslo 2.0 — namely to go back to Abu Mazen to rehabilitate the two-state idea and give him Gaza. Iran is right. The current administration in Washington still sees this a localized Hamas-Israel conflict and retreats into the pre-October 7 paradigm: redouble efforts to make a success the policies pursued before October 7 – a two state solution crafted around a rehabilitated Palestinian Authority. The ancient Greeks understood in their tales that those whom the gods seek to destroy, they first drive crazy by prodding the tragic figure into ill-conceived determination to redouble his same efforts while losing sight of his goals.

Iran expects that will isolate Israel, keeps Jerusalem from fully reversing the weakness of being initially wounded, perhaps even have the United States restrain Israel enough to prevent them from addressing the threat from Hizballah to the north, and through all this to thus maintain for Tehran the regional momentum of being in strategic ascendency. It correctly estimates that the United States fails at this stage still to appreciate that strong Israeli action against Iran’s regional strategic foundations in Lebanon and Syria signal that Israel fully understands it is now in a twilight struggle to seize the regional strategic momentum, and that Jerusalem will prosecute that struggle confidently and bring the war bearing down away from Israel and into Tehran itself.

But this, in fact, may be a blessing in disguise. If at the core of Iranian strategy is to portray Israel as fatally wounded and liming to its demise, saved only by US power, then having Israel – not US power – deliver a catastrophic strategic blow alone sends a critical message all in the region reasserting not only its viability, but its rising rather than eroding power.  That Israel must do this without a US green light actually strengthens the impact of this message regionally.

But eventually, the United States will awake and realize Iran’s strategic campaign is only part of the larger sleepless malice (to pilfer from Tolkien’s The Hobbit) that stretches from Pyongyang to Caracas, passing through Beijing, Moscow, Sanaa and Algiers, which now stirs. Eventually, Washington will abandon the twin shibbolets of Oslo 2.0 and JCPOA 2.0 and shift the paradigm to focusing on helping the Iranian people bring the nightmare of their regime to its demise. Until then, it is imperative for Israel now to seize the strategic initiative regionally to deliver not only for itself, but for Washington a great victory against its better judgment.

It is a great but unavoidable burden for Israel to do this initially without an American green light. But at the same time, there is yet another irony in this situation. Israel will actually secure greater support in the long term by acting with such strength and strategic purpose regionally. Israel will eventually win great American support since it establishes Israel as the key pillar of the Western alliance in the region – which ultimately reduces the need for constant American power being projected there as it needs to refocus on Asia and Europe. Also, when Arab nations see Israel as the strong horse, they will make peace, which further secures regional acceptance and eases Arabist pressures on America.

But most importantly, Americans have always seen in Israel an image of themselves, and at the core of that brand was that Israel stood on its own legs always to defend itself by itself – just as Americans always have. For Americans, anyone that fights for what he believes in, even if he must fight alone, is someone worth fighting for and aligning oneself with. As such, a confident and self-reliantly victorious Israel will also tap again into America’s recently eroding imagination of Israel’s being a tough, independent-minded and principled nation onto which America can once again – as after 1967 and Entebbe — project its own image of itself.

AUTHOR

David Wurmser

Senior Analyst for Middle East Affairs.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


Originally published by The Institute for a Secure America. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

Pope Francis’ Silence On Hamas

Pope Francis, terminally naïve about Islam, believes he has a true understanding of the faith based partly on the reassurances given him by his new friend, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. “War is deceit,” says Muhammad in a famous hadith, and Al-Tayeb has been cheerfully deceiving the Pope every chance he gets. Pope Francis has learned a lot from Al-Tayeb. He insists in his new book, Non Sei Solo: Sfide, Risposte, Speranze (You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes), that “either you are a terrorist or you are a Muslim.” A “true” Muslim, he thinks, cannot be a terrorist. No one has pointed out to the Pope that Muhammad himself says in another hadith that “I have been made victorious through terror.” (Bukhari 4:52.220) And Muhammad is the Perfect Man and the Model of Conduct, whose behavior is to be emulated by Muslims.

Islam talks about peace, all right — the peace that will prevail once Islam everywhere dominates, and Muslims rule, everywhere. Until then war must be made on the Infidels, who when conquered must be either killed, or made to convert to Islam, or to accept the inferior status of dhimmis, enduring a host of social, political, and economic disabilities, including payment of the extortionate jizyah tax. In his infinite wisdom, the Pope has declared on many occasions, and in his latest book, too, that “Islam, in truth, is a religion of peace and the majority of its members are peaceful.” He’s wrong, of course. He need only look around the world at the Muslim terror groups that have been waging war against Infidels, and even against less fanatical Muslims, in recent years: the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Boko Haram, Al-Shebaab, and so many more. Muslims have committed more than 44,000 terror attacks around the world since 9/11. The Qur’an is filled with verses about violence and waging war on Infidels. The Believers are instructed to “kill them [the Infidels] wherever you find them” (Qur’an 2:191, 4:89, cf. 9:5). But one has the distinct impression that the Pope has never read the Qur’an. Why should he bother to do so, when such authoritative experts on Islam like Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb assure him that Islam is all about peace?

Given the Pope’s affection for Islam, it is not surprising that he has been circumspect in his remarks on the atrocities carried out by Hamas on October 7. More on his failure to forthrightly condemn those attacks, which is risking the Vatican’s relations with the Jewish world, can be found here: “The Vatican is risking its relationship with the Jewish world,” by Vittorio Mascarini, JNS, November 16, 2023:

Relations between Israel and the Vatican have become tense in recent weeks.

In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem, an ecumenical group of Christian leaders that includes the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, issued a joint statement in which they made no explicit mention of the Hamas atrocities. They included only a vague condemnation of any act that targets civilians.

The Israeli embassy to the Holy See criticized the statement’s “immoral linguistic ambiguity,” which failed to be clear about “what happened, who were the aggressors and who the victims. … It is especially unbelievable that such a sterile document was signed by people of faith.”

This controversy is only the latest in the fraught history of Israel-Vatican relations, which were officially established in Dec. 1993. Besides the Catholic Church’s historical antisemitism, the Vatican was long reluctant to formally recognize Israel for several reasons: Israel did not have internationally recognized borders, the status of Jerusalem and access to its holy sites had not been internationally guaranteed, and Catholics and their institutions were, the Church claimed, not adequately protected under Israeli law.

In addition, the Vatican had concerns about the treatment of Palestinians in the disputed territories and feared that relations with Israel could have negative repercussions for Catholics in Islamic countries.

This may explain why, to date, Pope Francis has not labelled Hamas a terrorist organization and has not met with families of Israeli hostages. The latter has not gone unnoticed, especially because the families were received by many leading national figures, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

According to the Catholic news site Cruxnow, the pontiff’s behavior can be explained as “positioning the Vatican potentially to play a mediating and peace-making role.” In addition, “The bulk of the Christian population in the Holy Land is Arab and Palestinian, so Middle Eastern bishops and clergy tend to be strong supporters of the Palestinian cause.”

Given the deplorable treatment of Israel by the Vatican — of which the failure to condemn Hamas is just the latest example, it is doubtful that Jerusalem would accept the Vatican as a mediator between the Jewish state and those who would destroy it.

Moreover, Cruxnow sees a historic shift underway in terms of the Vatican’s interfaith priorities: “Since the Second Vatican Council in the mid-1960s, Judaism has been the Church’s primordial relationship, unquestionably the highest priority in inter-religious dialogue. Under history’s first pope from the developing world, that’s no longer necessarily the case, as other relationships, especially the dialogue with Islam, have become at least an equally compelling perceived priority.”

Given this, it is not surprising that, since war broke out, Pope Francis has spoken with numerous world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, but there are no reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been among them.

Wouldn’t you think that after the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust, the Pope would have wanted to speak with the leader of the Jewish state, if only to express his solidarity and understanding? But though the Pope has spoken with many world leaders about the ongoing war in Gaza, he has apparently snubbed the Israeli President. How does he hope to ever be a mediator if he will not talk to the Israeli prime minister?

The larger Catholic world has shown equal ambivalence towards the war. Among Eastern Catholic leaders, the Latin Catholic and Eastern churches in communion with Rome have issued what Israel deems a lukewarm and insufficient condemnations of Hamas. Their first communiqué, issued on Oct. 8, contained a generic statement “against any acts that target civilians, regardless of their nationality.” The next, on Oct. 13, decried the humanitarian situation in Gaza and called for de-escalation. It singled out only Israel in connection with humanitarian issues….

Instead of deploring the Hamas atrocities, the Eastern Catholic leaders uttered a generic condemnation “against any acts that target civilians.” They were afraid of the Muslim reaction if they singled out Hamas — as they should have — which would, however, make the lives of Catholics in the Arab countries more difficult. And just like Pope Francis, they did not mention the 240 hostages held by Hamas, or call for their release.

The Pope has to understand that the Jews of Israel now deserve his unambiguous support as they fight to destroy a murderous enemy that has pledged not only to destroy the single Jewish state and replace it with a twenty-third Arab one, but to kill Jews everywhere. No moral equivalency should be allowed. And he must also denounce, as he has not yet done so, the tidal wave of antisemitism, prompted in part by the war in Gaza, that threatens to engulf much of the world. He needs first to unambiguously denounce Hamas and all those who support the terror group. But will he? The signs from this Pope, who believes “Islam is all about peace,” are not good.

So far, Pope Francis has been weighed and found wanting.

AUTHOR

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

ITALY: Muslim Sect Promises Global War and a Massacre of Millions Leading to an Islamic World

For the details on this, please see RAIR Foundation

This RAIR Foundation video is about eight minutes long:

Sweden competes with Canada for gold medal in sanctimony, more proof hostages are in Gaza hospitals

Everyone in Sweden believes everyone else should take in Islamic migrants.

Reports Say Israeli Ship “Galaxy Leader” Hijacked By Houthi Terrorists

Reports from Arab media indicate that the “Galaxy Leader,” a vehicle carrier vessel, was hijacked in the Red Sea on Monday by the Houthi group, which is supported by Iran, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.

UPDATE: The IDF explains that while this is a very serious event, none of the crew is Israeli and the vessel itself is not an Israeli ship.

Fascinating clip about Xi’s visit to San Francisco. Watch to the end.

North Olmsted man accused of faking hate crime attack near North Ridgeville

Hesham Ayyad claimed he had been hit by a car driven by a man who yelled things like ‘Kill all Palestinians’ at him. Authorities now believe Ayyad made it all up.

NORTH RIDGEVILLE, Ohio — A North Olmsted man is facing multiple misdemeanor charges after police say he faked an alleged hate crime attack near North Ridgeville last month.

According to investigators, 20-year-old Hesham A. Ayyad was originally taken to the hospital on Oct. 22 after telling officers he had been hit by a car in an incident that was “racially motivated.” He claimed the collision took place on Cook Road in Olmsted Township, and North Ridgeville detectives subsequently began looking into the case.

An article posted the next day by the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Cleveland branch shed more light on Ayyad’s version of events. Per the organization, Ayyad claimed he was waking home from lunch when a vehicle approached and the driver rolled his window down. Ayyad reported hearing the driver say things like “Kill all Palestinians” and “Long live Israel” before swerving his car and hitting Ayyad, driving away while screaming, “DIE!”

Israel’s Defence Forces uncover CCTV footage showing bloodied victims of Hamas’ October 7 attacks being hauled into al-Shifa hospital hours after troops allegedly discovered a 55-metre-long tunnel under the complex

Uncovered CCTV footage appears to show victims abducted by Hamas during the October 7 massacre being hauled into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

The surveillance footage shows bloodied victims – believed to be Thai and Nepali migrants taken hostage by the terrorists – being carried into the hospital on gurneys. They appear to have been severely injured by Hamas fighters.

The video, which was released by Israel‘s Defence Forces (IDF) on Sunday, was captured at Al-Shifa hospital the day that Hamas launched its attack on Israel.

It comes as the IDF, who have been carrying out an operation at the medical complex over the last week, said it had found a 55-metre-long underground passage 10-metres below the ground.

Israel has long claimed the hospital – which is the largest in the Palestinian enclave – functions as a command complex for Hamas, with a network of tunnels running deep below used for both ammunition storage and planning

Here is a link to the clip of one of the hostages being taken through a Gaza hospital. We have had this confirmed by our own contacts that this is an accurate video along with the description.

Thank you all for checking out this site, More to come shortly.

POST ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Vlad Tepes Blog column posted by Eeyore is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

THE WAR ON X: WW III • The Global War Against Islamic Terrorism — Day 42

Today is day 42 since the October 7th unprovoked attack by Hamas against the sovereign state of Israel.

This date will go down in infamy because 10 days before the attack Hamas and Israel signed a cease fire agreement.

Watch This Pat Condell video from nine years ago to understand.

Watch Robert Spencer with James Kaddis on how the ‘Palestinian’ cause is based on lies

Israel is following up on its promise to destroy Hamas by either killing or capturing the Hamas leadership and its followers.

Recently, top Hamas officials Ahmad Bahr and Palestinian Freedom Movement Secretary-General Khaled Abu Hilal  were killed in an IDF Gaza airstrikes.

Here are two articles on the Hamas hiding in a hospital from the IDF and how the media lies about Israel.

  1. WEAPONS. HOSTAGES. BENEATH A HOSPITAL: Hamas and Islamic Jihad Stockpiling Weapons, Holding Hostages in Gaza Hospitals
  2. BBC Forced to Apologize for Another Inaccurate Report on IDF in Gaza, Admits They LIED and Falsely Made Claims Against IDF (Again)

Who is funding these pro-Hamas protests. George Soros, a Jew and Nazi collaborator, is funding these anti-Israel protests and fueling antisemitism.

Watch: Soros and the Middle Easterners Funding U.S. College Protests.

Here are three articles on  an attack, the dhimmitude of Dearborn Heights, Michigan and the growing existential threat to America by supporters of Hamas.

  1. Jew-Hating Bus Drivers Refused to Drive Jews to Pro-Israel Rally in DC, “Deliberate and Malicious Walkout,” Leaving Them on Tarmac at Dulles for 11 Hours
  2. TERROR TOWN: Dearborn Heights, Michigan Raises “Palestinian” Flags in Support of Hamas 
  3. Al Qaeda Reboot Coming for America!

VIDEO: Hundreds of Thousands March for Israel in Washington, D.C.

WW III • The Global War Against Islamic Terrorism — Day 42 on X

©2023. Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

Rashida Tlaib, Maher Abdel-Qader, and Sub Rosa Postings on Facebook

Of course you are not surprised. Rashida Tlaib (D-Khan Yunis) turns out to belong to a little-known group — in fact, a group that has made great efforts to remain little-known — on Facebook. Its members are deep admirers of Hamas and all it has done to smite the Zionist enemy, and thereby give hope to the oppressed Palestinians. But they’d prefer that you not find out about their secret Facebook page. They know that not every one shares their view of Hamas. Some of us even think it’s a terrorist organization, guilty of the worst atrocities, beyond the pale. But not to Rashida Tlaib. More on Rashida Tlaib, and her good friend Maher Abdel-Qader, can be found here: “Rashida Tlaib member of secret Facebook group where Hamas terrorists glorified,” by Peter Hasson, Fox News, November 15, 2023:

Rashida Tlaib is part of a secret social media group in which its members have glamorized Hamas in its war battle with Israel after the terror group attacked and killed hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians last month, Fox News Digital has found.

The Michigan Democrat is a member of the Palestinian American Congress group on Facebook. The group is hidden from non-members and does not appear on the platform’s search engine, though Fox News Digital was able to gain access to it.

The group’s founder, Maher Abdel-Qader, who has extensive ties to Tlaib and has also been linked to other liberal [sic] politicians, has come under fire in the past for his antisemitic social media posts, including questioning if the Holocaust ever occurred.

The Palestinian American Congress group, of which Tlaib is a member, has featured pro-Hamas posts in the wake of the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

On Oct. 12, one group member posted: “We don’t want to throw you in the sea…we want you to ride it back from where you came.” The message was accompanied by a picture of an elderly Israeli woman and a Hamas fighter holding her captive.

On Oct. 19, another group member wrote about the “achievements” of the “resistance in Northern occupied Palestine,” including dozens of dead Israeli soldiers. The post included a picture of a Hamas fighter.

A pile of corpses, as long as they are dead Israelis, does a Palestinian heart good — if that heart belongs to Rashida Tlaib or to her friends and supporters, including the sinister Maher Abdel-Qader.

“Since yesterday I have been attached to the TV watching the news,” one group member posted on Oct. 10, addressing the “American Media” and saying, “You, and the people directing you, are the problem, you created it almost 100 years ago, made it official 75 years ago and you have been feeding its flam[sic] ever since.”

“You consider Hamas a terrorist organization and I am not going to argue with you at the same time you have been broadcasting that they have been killing women and children, guess that is what terrorists do at the same time no mention to [sic[the killing of Palestinian women, children and entire families killed on a daily basses (sic) by the [peace-loving] state of Israel using American gifts of weapons and jet fighters.”

Hamas is a recognized terrorist organization that deliberately targets Israeli civilians, including women and children. It also puts its own civilians in danger, by placing its weapons, its rocket launchers, its command-and-control centers, its combatants, in and around civilian structures. The IDF, by contrast, makes enormous efforts to avoid harming civilians; it is as eager to minimize harm to civilians as Hamas is to maximize the harm it causes to both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.

The IDF minimizes civilian casualties in three ways.

First, it has tried, with great success, to empty out northern Gaza of its civilian population, where most of the heavy fighting is taking place. It wants the people of northern Gaza to move to relative safety in the south; the IDF has secured, for their safety, two corridors running north-south: Salah al-Din Street runs right through the middle of Gaza, and Al-Rashid Street is a coastal road. In order to persuade Gazans to move to the south, the IDF dropped 1.5 million leaflets, warning them of the dangers of remaining in the north. More than 800,000 Gazans have now moved south, trusting the IDF’s advice, and ignoring Hamas, which has tried to keep them in the north, and has even killed some Gazans who were attempting to flee southward in order to discourage others from fleeing.

Second, whenever the IDF targets a building, such as a school, a hospital, a mosque, an apartment building, where civilians may be inside, it first warns the inhabitants of an impending strike, giving them precise instructions as to how long they have to leave, by messaging, telephoning, leafletting, and use of the “knock-on-the-roof” technique. Of course, in warning civilians, it also warns Hamas. operatives who may then escape. No other army in the world warns its enemies that an attack is imminent. This is why British Colonel Richard Kemp describes the IDF as “the most moral army in the world.”

Third, Israeli pilots will call off an airstrike, if they believe the potential harm to civilians, who may have been spotted at the last minute, is too great.

But let’s get back to the sub rosa postings on the Facebook page of the Palestinian American Congress:

Yesterday I didn’t see Hamas I saw the grand kids (sic) of the refugees that ethnically cleansed from their homeland attacking the grand kids (sic) of the colonists whom sent them to diaspora,” they later wrote.

Several members have also posted pro-Hamas messages and pictures this year before the attacks.

Tlaib became a member of the group six years ago and posted in it during her 2018 congressional campaign. The following year, she came under fire after a report in the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed her membership and the slew of antisemitic posts in the group.

Tlaib is the only Palestinian American in Congress and has faced scrutiny over her comments after Hamas’ bloody invasion and the ensuing war. In a largely symbolic gesture, the House of Representatives voted to censure her in a 234-188 vote last week as a formal public rebuke of her most recent anti-Israel comments made in the wake of the Jewish nation’s battle against the terror group. Her congressional office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Tlaib has a long history with Abdel-Qader, the founder of the Palestinian American Congress group, who has repeatedly promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories over the years. He previously shared a video that called Jews “satanic” and questioned whether 6 million of them had died in the Holocaust. He later walked back those comments.

If you repost a video that calls Jews “satanic,” you are endorsing such anitsemitism; if you question the existence, or the number of victims, of the Holocaust and then, when caught out, hem and haw and suggest that well, maybe there were some — but most assuredly not six million — victims of the Holocaust, but there is “still some disagreement” over its size, then you are a Holocaust denier. And if you befriend such a person, as Rashida Tlaib did with Maher Abdel-Qader, to whom she even gave an award — a “medal” — in recognition of his help in her campaign, then it is reasonable to assume that you, too, hold such views unless, of course, you make crystal clear that you do not share them. Tlaib has done no such thing; she has refused to denounce Hamas and continues to embrace Maher Abdel-Qader, her loyal supporter, who not only contributed to her campaign but raised other sums for her; she has given no hint that she disagrees either with his view of Jews as “satanic” or with his Holocaust denial.

Abdel-Qader has participated in several fundraising events with Tlaib over the years and has also appeared in several pictures with her posted to social media accounts.

The Palestinian activist has not only been a key fundraiser for Tlaib, including personally donating at least $6,500 to her campaign since 2018, but he was also the chairman of her finance committee during her 2018 congressional campaign….

For example, on Oct. 19, Abdel-Qader posted: “Israeli Nazis air strike (sic) on Ahli Arab Hospital killed more than 500 people stop the massacre now.”

In reality, a failed rocket launch from the Palestinian side was responsible for hitting the hospital. Despite this, Tlaib and others repeated the falsehood that Israelis struck it, even after reports had shown that was not the case.

Three corrections to the correction just above:

1. The “Palestinian side” responsible for launching the missile that misfired was Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
2. The missile that misfired did not hit the hospital, but the parking lot outside the hospital.
3. There were not “500 people” killed, but between “10 and 50.”

This is not Israel’s version of events. It has been confirmed, independently, by the American government.

Rashida Tlaib belongs to a group, the Palestinian American Congress, that maintains a secret Facebook account. One of her favorites at that Facebook page is Maher Abdel-Qader, the head of her fundraising campaign in 2018, her friend, adviser, and financial supporter. Her BFF has reposted a video in which Jews are described as “satanic” and the true extent of the Holocaust is denied. He admires, as does Rashida Tlaib, the terrorists of Hamas, not despite, but because of, their acts of “heroic resistance” on October 7. What more do you need to know about Rashida Tlaib in order to be convinced that she is the most sinister member of Congress since Senator Joseph McCarthy?

AUTHOR

RELATED POST ON X:

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Hamas video from Oct. 7 shows that the massacre was all about Allah

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

BEDLAM: Jew-Hating Pro-Hamas Rioters Attack Police As They Storm DNC Headquarters

All U.S. House and Senate Buildings On Lockdown, Police Injured


All house office buildings are locked down. No exit or entry due to pro-Hamas demonstration on Capitol Hill.

They are fighting with the police outside of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters in Washington D.C.

The rioters reportedly tried entering the DNC building but were stopped by police.

AUTHOR

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WEAPONS. HOSTAGES. BENEATH A HOSPITAL: Hamas and Islamic Jihad Stockpiling Weapons, Holding Hostages in Gaza Hospitals

BBC Forced to Apologize for Another Inaccurate Report on IDF in Gaza, Admits They LIED and Falsely Made Claims Against IDF (Again)

Jew-Hating Bus Drivers Refused to Drive Jews to Pro-Israel Rally in DC, “Deliberate and Malicious Walkout,” Leaving Them on Tarmac at Dulles for 11 Hours

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘Complicated’: Over 100 Harvard Faculty Defend ‘From The River To The Sea’

Over 100 Harvard faculty members signed a letter saying the phrase “from the river to the sea” is “complicated” in response to the president’s recent statement on antisemitism.

Harvard President Claudine Gay wrote multiple statements about the antisemitism on campus following backlash from donors and fire from former grads about her response to antisemitism on campus after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, including a new statement on Thursday denouncing the phrase “from the river to the sea,” which has genocidal implications. A letter signed by many Harvard faculty members claimed that “pressure from donors” is racist and that condemning the phrase “from the river to the sea” is the wrong decision.

“As Harvard faculty, we have been astonished by the pressure from donors, alumni, and even some on this campus to silence faculty, students, and staff critical of the actions of the State of Israel. It is important to acknowledge the patronizing tone and format of much of the criticism you have received as well as the outright racism contained in some of it,” the letter reads.

‘The signatories are the usual suspects from the anti Israel woke hard left. Their one sided screed is part of the problem, not part of any reasonable resolution. I doubt that many of them would sign a letter in support of the free speech of such ‘complex ‘ issues as racism, sexism, homophobia or Islamophobia. Their double standard against Israel is obvious,” former Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Student protests across the U.S. have used the phrase “from the river to the sea” as well as other anti-Israel slogans. Harvard University, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania implemented antisemitism task forces to address antisemitism on campus following the Hamas terrorist attacks.

Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib previously reposted a tweet with the phrase “From the river to the sea” and has made other anti-Israel comments. The House voted to censure Tlaib on Nov. 7 over anti-Israel comments made following the terrorist attacks.

“The phrase ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine must be free’ has a long and complicated history. Its interpretation deserves, and is receiving, sustained and ongoing inquiry and debate,” the letter reads.

The letter goes on to call the choice to denounce the phrase “imprudent” and a misjudged “act of moral leadership.” “It might be framed in the language of liberation, but it calls for the destruction of Israel,” professor Norman Goda, Norman and Irma Braman Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Florida, told the DCNF.

Harvard did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

AUTHOR

BRANDON POULTER

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Hamas Billionaires Getting the Attention Their Riches Deserve

I have for years drawn attention here to the billions of dollars that the leaders of Hamas have stolen from the sums provided by foreign donors, money that was meant to support the people of Gaza. Now I am delighted that The Daily Mail (UK), The National Post (Canada), the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and Fox News have all given the story of the three Hamas billionaires extensive coverage. The coverage by Fox News can be found here:

Hamas billionaires: Lifestyles of the rich and terrorists

by Eric Shawn, Fox News, November 8, 2023:

They are living the Hamas high life.

While the people of Gaza live in poverty and have suffered under the horrors of Hamas, the terror group’s leaders apparently are living high on the hog.

Israeli officials say Hamas leaders are billionaires, amassing an overwhelming jackpot of terror money for themselves….

Hamas bosses Khaled Mashaal and Ismail Haniyeh are worth an estimated $4 billion each, and political bureau leader Mousa Abu Marzouk is worth $3 billion….

Photos show Hamas leader Mashaal playing table tennis, as well as squeezing in a workout on a treadmill in what appears to be a hotel gym.

Reports have long claimed that one of the Hamas leaders’ bases of operations has been the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar. In 2015, Mashaal held a press conference in the hotel’s ballroom, where he attacked Israel. And it was said he spent a lot of his time at the property. Four Seasons touts its property as being “reimagined with modern grandeur and sparkling with sunlight and sea views. From the elegant lobby to energetic restaurants and lounges, our beachfront urban retreat has been transformed into a vibrant hotspot.”

In a statement to Fox News, the company says the “Four Seasons confirms that Ismail Haniyeh is not living at or staying at Four Seasons Hotel Doha. Information circulating on social media suggesting otherwise is not true.” Requests for comment from Fox News about other Hamas leaders have not yet been answered.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced legislation, “The Hamas Sanctions Act,” that would block Hamas’ ability to find safe havens abroad, including in Qatar or Turkey. The legislation would impose sanctions on “hotels, landlords, banks, and similar businesses in allied countries that provide services to Hamas leaders,” and would potentially classify countries, like Qatar and Turkey, “as state sponsors of terrorism for hosting Hamas.”…

The United States has targeted nearly 1,000 individuals and entities connected to terrorism and terrorist financing by the Iranian regime and its proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah and other Iran-aligned terrorist groups in the region.”…

Read full article.

The three Hamas billionaires have stolen, from the people of Gaza, eleven billion dollars. They luxuriate in their residences, and luxury suites, in Doha, as well as in their villas in Beirut and Istanbul, where they have been photographed lolling on beds, working out in private gyms, flying about in their private planes, eating at the most expensive restaurants, completely indifferent to the conditions in which the people of Gaza live. Think of how many apartments, electricity plants, water purification plants could have been built in Gaza with those eleven billion dollars. The only people trying to help the Gazans directly — thus avoiding sending aid through the thieving Hamas rulers — are the Israelis, who until October 7 had been providing jobs to 20,000 people from Gaza, who earned between three and five times as much working in Israel than they could have earned at home, even assuming there were jobs to be had in the Strip.

The monstrous theft by Hamas leaders of aid meant for all Gazans is likely to arouse more indignation in the outside world than their record of supporting terrorism. For their vast wealth, stolen from the people of Gaza, and their living the high life while leaving the Gazans to wallow in their misery — a misery made much worse by the atrocities those leaders set loose on October 7 — is an outrage easy to grasp.

There should be posters, with the faces of these Hamas leaders, and the amounts they have stolen from fellow Arabs in Gaza, held up by pro-Israeli counter-protesters everywhere. Those will get attention in a certain segment of the population in the West that, I regret to say, posters of kidnapped Israelis will not.

AUTHOR

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