A Just Victor

Jews Continual Middle East Presence

'On Sept. 24, the president of Iran informed reporters that Israel has "no roots there in history" in the Middle East. Now a lot of good jokes come to mind at the expense of this clueless man, but, seriously folks, he has at least conveyed an important truth: he recognizes that Israel's historical presence in that world since antiquity matters – matters enough to deny it.'

'As for those foreign inscriptions, texts from the neighboring lands refer to the people, to their kings, to their government, to their armies and to their cities. The basic fact: everybody knew that Israel was there: the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Arameans, the Moabites, the Persians. Pharaoh Merneptah (1213-1203 B.C.E.) refers to the people of Israel in a stone stele. Pharaoh Shoshenk I (c. 945-924 B.C.E.) describes his campaign in which he refers to cities in Israel (including Ayalon, Beth-Shan, Megiddo, Rehob and Taanach).'

'And the record continues when the Persians replace the Babylonians, as documented in the Cylinder of Cyrus, the Persian emperor. Cyrus' decree in 538 B.C.E., let the exiled Jews return to their land; it was followed by an influx of Jewish population. There was population growth from the reign of Darius I to Artaxerxes I. The country that the Babylonians had conquered was reestablished as a state of Judah (yehud medintha) within the Persian umbrella. You want irony? Persia, now called Iran, the country that re-established the Jews' country in biblical times, now has a president who says that Israel has no roots there.'

'But let no one repeat this nonsense about Israel not having its historical roots there. One cannot understand the Jews or Israel if one displaces the first 1,000 years of their history.' ~ Richard Elliott Friedman

'Among the lies being spread is an effort to undermine Israel’s legitimacy by accusing it of being a settler-colonial state. Those spreading this lie argue that Jews have no historical connection to the land of Israel and that Zionists - those who support the right of Jewish self-determination and national homeland in the land of Israel - came to colonize the land, taking it from the Palestinians beginning in the late nineteenth century. However, this claim ignores the thousands of years of deep connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.'

'While the Romans expelled the majority of Jews in 70 CE, the Jewish people have always been present in the land of Israel. A portion of the Jewish population remained in Israel throughout the years of Jewish exile while the rest settled around the world and became the Jewish diaspora.'

'Even after the destruction of the Second Temple and the exile of Jews from the land, Jerusalem remained central to Jewish life - and it is still central today. No matter where Jews pray, they always face the direction of Jerusalem. The Western Wall, the last remaining wall from the Second Temple structure, is the holiest site in the world for Jews.'

'But, in the nineteenth century, as European Jews suffered from growing antisemitism and violence against them, a new ideology was born - Zionism, a national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Zionists saw a return to the Jewish homeland as the path to Jewish redemption from thousands of years of oppression. Small groups of Zionist pioneers began returning to their ancient homeland in the late nineteenth century, joining the community of Jews who had never left.'

'The land of Israel is central to the Jewish faith and is mentioned throughout the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God promises the land of Israel to Abraham, the first Jew, and then reaffirms the promise to Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob. In fact, the name Israel is another name for Jacob.' | November 13, 2023

'The Babylonians conquered Israel about 2600 years ago (586 BCE) and destroyed the First Temple. Most of the Jewish population was exiled to Babylon, but some Jews remained.'

'About 150 years later (539 BCE), the Persians conquered Babylon and permitted the Jews in exile to return to Israel and authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.'

'The Romans renamed Judea “Palaestina” in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land. It was from that point forward land became known as Palestine.'

'It was not until 622 CE that the Muslim religion was established by Mohammed in Mecca in what is today Saudi Arabia.'

'Caliph Umar was a contemporary of Mohammed and began conquering non-Arabian lands, including Palestine, around 636 CE. Jews were permitted to reenter Jerusalem and settled around the Western Wall. However, over the next 400+ years, Jews suffered under Caliphate rule.'

'Maps from the 19th and early 20th century of “Palestine” demonstrate Palestine was seen historically connected to Jews. This VIDEO shows various maps through time recognizing that the term Palestine applies to the Jewish nature of Palestine from well before the Ottoman Empire.'

'Jews in the Diaspora began to return to Israel in 1770 from Eastern Europe. Many Jews, also, left Eastern Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in order to pray and die in the four sacred cities of the Holy Land: Jerusalem, Safed, Tiberias and Hebron.'

'Over 800,000 Jews were forced to leave Arab and Muslim countries between 1948 and 1972 and many had their property confiscated. Approximately 600,000 of those Jews emigrated to Israel and Israel received no compensation for their resettlement.'

'Today there are approximately 135,000 Ethiopian Jews living in Israel, with almost 86,000 of those Jews emigrating to Israel. None would be considered Holocaust survivors.'

'It is inaccurate to say the Jews just took over or stole Arab land. In addition to land owned by Jews already living in Palestine, there were substantial land purchases made by the Jewish National Fund, the Palestine Land Development Company and the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association between the late 1880s and 1930s.'

'The early Zionist pioneers saw the Arab population as small, apolitical, and without a nationalist element and they therefore believed that there would be no friction between the two communities. They also thought development of the country would benefit both peoples and they would thus secure Arab support and cooperation. Indeed, many Arabs attracted by new employment opportunities, higher wages and better living conditions migrated to Palestine from other countries in the wake of economic growth stimulated by Jewish immigration.'

'The term Palestinian as used to refer to Arabs was not used until 1964 when the Russian KGB helped Egypt’s President, Abdul Nasser, create the Palestine Liberation Organization. “Palestinian” was part of disinformation created by the Russians.'

'There was never a Palestinian State nor an Arab Palestinian people. The term “Palestinian” was used to describe all people living in Palestine, Jews, as well as Arabs.' ~ David Millstone | December 8, 2020

'The study in Cell not only establishes that the ancient Israelites were descended from the Canaanites, but also establishes that the Canaanite people across the separate city-states of the southern Levant, and over a period of 1,500 years, were a genetically cohesive people.'

'After examining the DNA of 93 bodies recovered from archaeological sites around the southern Levant, the land of Canaan in the Bible, researchers have concluded that modern populations of the region are descendants of the ancient Canaanites. Most modern Jewish groups and the Arabic-speaking groups from the region show at least half of their ancestry as Canaanite.' ~ Jonathan Laden | November 24, 2022

'Most of the names of the descendants of Ishmael (25:13-16) refer to tribes or places in NW Arabia, namely: Nebaioth, Kedar, Dumah, Massa, Tema, and Kedemah. The Arab genealogists also trace their own ancestry back to Ishmael and Abraham.'

'Kenites. Jethro did advise Moses to appoint subordinate administrators and judges to hear ordinary cases, presumably as was done among the Midianites (18:13-23). Therefore, the administrative and judicial organization of Israel had an Arab model.'

'The earliest Biblical incident involving Israelites and Arabs is the selling of Joseph by his brothers to Arab merchants, who took him to Egypt and sold him there (37:25-28; 39:1). These merchants are called Ishmaelites, which is a general name for Arabs, and they also are called Midianites (37:28), their specific Arab tribe (cf. Judg 6:1; 8:24).'

'In 1914 the Ottoman Empire controlled 2.4 million sq km of territory, including all of modern-day Türkiye and most of the Middle East. The empire was dominated by the Turks but also included Arabs, Kurds, Greeks, Armenians and other ethnic minorities. Officially the Ottoman Empire was an Islamic Caliphate ruled by a Sultan, Mehmed V, although it also contained Christians, Jews and other religious minorities. For nearly all of the empire’s 600-year existence these non-Muslim subjects endured systematic discrimination and, at times, outright persecution.'

'Young Turks’ – a group of well-educated Turkish military officers intent on revitalising the empire by introducing modernist reforms. Theoretically these included ending official discrimination against non-Muslims, encouraging the education and emancipation of women, and increasing the jurisdiction of secular law courts at the expense of Islamic ones.' ~ Ministry for Culture and Heritage NZ | updated 26-Apr-2023

'Young people know little about present-day Israel and its tolerance, let alone its history. Don’t hold your breath waiting for news stories that mention how Israel was created in 1948 after a United Nations resolution passed with over two-thirds of the nations of the world (including the then-Soviet Union) supporting its formation. Or how Jews have been largely expelled from surrounding Arab countries.'

'Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America.” That manifesto was never really meant for America at all, but was designed after 9/11 to justify his horrific actions using whatever he thought would sell to his supporters. The letter acknowledges that the Jewish people were the original settlers but proclaims that Islam somehow inherited all the land from Moses. And it essentially says that the U.S. was attacked because it does not abide by Sharia law and, instead, gives people their own rights and their own political and religious choices. This post-hoc justification of the massacre of nearly 3,000 Americans was always meant as propaganda, and it took this grossly uninformed generation to fall for it. If they read the fine print, they will see that the “letter” says that if you are not part of radical Islam then you are subject to jihad, whether you are Jewish, American, or even in Arab countries.' ~ Mark Penn | 1/21/23 07:00 AM ET

Palestinian Displacement

'In the civil war that erupted following the partition vote, Arab and Jewish forces clashed in anticipation of British withdrawal. Palestinian Arabs lacked the Zionists’ unity and resources and were reliant on an undersupplied Arab Liberation Army backed by regional states. In anticipation of an invasion, Jewish leaders instructed brigade commanders to empty cities and towns of presumably hostile Arab residents. Historians differ over the degree to which Zionist forces pursued ethnic cleansing as official policy, but the result was hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs were expelled from their homes or fled. By the time David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency Executive, proclaimed the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, more than 300,000 Palestinian Arabs had been turned into refugees (although this predates the 1951 Refugee Convention, historical literature considers Palestinians who fled to have been refugees).'

'Despite UN mediation efforts, Israeli forces secured not only the area designated for the Jewish state under the partition plan but also territories such as the western Galilee and west Jerusalem. Israeli forces depopulated multiple Arab towns and villages. In all, more than 400,000 additional Palestinian Arabs fled or were driven from their homes during the war that followed Israel’s establishment.'

'Despite UN General Assembly Resolution 194 calling for the right of refugees to return or be compensated for lost property, Israel prevented Palestinian refugees from returning and passed laws granting a state custodian authority over Palestinian lands. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were destroyed to prevent the return of their inhabitants and to facilitate Jewish immigration and settlement. The roughly 160,000 Arabs who remained in the territory that became Israel were citizens of the new country but nonetheless lived under a state of emergency and martial law until 1966.'

'Jordan annexed the West Bank in 1950, but the war in 1967 led to its loss of this territory and displaced between 250,000 and 300,000 Palestinians to the East Bank. Like those who had fled in 1948, Palestinians from the West Bank retained their Jordanian citizenship. However, Palestinians from Gaza displaced to Jordan after 1967 were not able to become Jordanian citizens. After 1988, when Jordan relinquished claims to the West Bank, the government also took steps to distinguish between so-called Palestinian-Jordanians and Transjordanians (or non-Palestinian Jordanians), and to push back against the Israeli narrative that Jordan could serve as an alternative homeland for Palestinians.'

'Unlike many of those in Jordan, the nearly 488,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon cannot become citizens and have very limited access to public health care, education, or the formal economy. While refugees' presence can be politically contentious everywhere, the permanent settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon (known as tawteen) evokes fears about upending the delicate balance of Lebanon’s confessional political system, which institutionalizes the division of power among religious communities.'

'The services and assistance UNRWA provides Palestinians are inextricably linked to the question of their return. Those arguing for defunding or dismantling the organization also often advocate for Palestinians to be absorbed into host societies. Yet most Palestinians lack full economic and social rights in these countries, and there is little appetite from either host-country politicians or Palestinians themselves to fully integrate, for fear that doing so means abandoning hope of return to their ancestral land. In addition to the repercussions for individual Palestinians, such a move would also be a profound shock to much of the Arab world, which has rallied around their cause for decades, despite a thaw in relations between some Arab governments and Israel via normalization agreements.'

'For host societies, the lack of citizenship for many Palestinian refugees and other integration challenges are continual obstacles. Even without citizenship, legal changes allowing Palestinians to own land or seek employment in certain professions in Lebanon, for instance, could ultimately benefit both Palestinians and host-state societies and economies.'

'Seventy-five years into multigenerational and multicountry Palestinian displacement, soon no refugees will themselves have fled directly from their ancestral land before 1948. Instead, the international community has allowed generations of Palestinians to be born into refugee status, a fate shared by no other refugee group. This extraordinary position has transformed Palestinians into an emblem of wider geopolitical tensions but has failed to yield a meaningful resolution to their plight.' ~ Nathan Citino, Ana Martín Gil and Kelsey P. Norman | MAY 3, 2023

'Throughout the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has been clear that the plight of the Palestinians is being used as a political tool and weapon against Israel. My career has been dedicated to educating the public about the Middle East, highlighting that Palestinian suffering has persisted since Israel’s War of Independence. Unlike other displaced groups, Palestinians have remained refugees because no other country has offered them a home.'

'The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) was established in 1949 and has contributed to the prolonged Palestinian refugee situation. While other refugees under UNHCR adhere to the standard international definition of refugees outlined in the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNRWA’s definition of a refugee includes descendants of those displaced in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. This definition is a huge departure from the standard refugee definition, creating a perpetuation of refugee status for the Palestinians for generations to come.'

'Palestinians are also fed an unrealistic notion of the “Right of Return,” a political position that the Palestinian refugees of today will return to the territory that is now Israel proper. In no way is this a realistic notion, and it is used as nothing more than to undermine Israel as a Jewish state. While the Palestinians were offered reparations in several previous peace deals, their leadership has rejected all of them and instead pushed the notion of “right of return.” Holding on to this unrealistic expectation and rejecting statehood and liberation multiple times has also contributed to the Palestinian refugee problem.'

'History repeats itself as Arab leaders have taken the same positions ever since the Six-Day War. Indeed, King Abdullah II of Jordan announced shortly after the October 7 Hamas massacre of Israelis that accepting Palestinian refugees is a “red line” for Jordan. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly dismissed calls to take in Palestinians from Gaza and said, “We are ready to sacrifice millions of lives to protect our territory from any encroachment.”

'Twenty-one Arab countries claim to care about Palestinians but none of them are taking in Palestinian refugees.' ~ ZINA RAKHAMILOVA | NOVEMBER 6, 2023 15:05 :: Updated NOVEMBER 6, 2023 18:59

'In the second half of the twentieth century, many moved to Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf, where they used their education to work successfully as engineers and businessmen. For a time, remittances from these refugees became an important source of income for Palestinians in the Levantine camps. While that particular phenomenon came to an abrupt end when Kuwait expelled all Palestinian residents in 1990–91, the latter retained their reputation as a highly educated group.'

'Yet as I show in my book Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the International Refugee System, the origins of education for Palestinian refugees can be found not with UNRWA but with the refugees themselves. In fact, the first refugee schools were set up at the very beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis, before UNRWA had even been created.'

'They also saw it as a necessary tool for reversing their displacement and dispossession, with some concluding that higher education rates among the Jewish community in Palestine had given the latter an advantage over the Indigenous Palestinian population in 1948. The refugees thus quickly coalesced on education as a possible route out of their crisis, both individually and collectively.'

'Palestinian refugee communities have also been some of the fiercest critics of the UNRWA education program. As students, parents, and teachers, they have continually lobbied for the program to meet their full set of socioeconomic and political needs as a displaced population. At times their activism has focused on educational content; UNRWA’s policy of using host state curricula meant that generations of Palestinian children grew up without learning about their own national history.' ~ Anne Irfan | AUGUST 23, 2023

Israeli Agriculture and Innovation

** 'Note: This story, originally published in our April 1960 issue of Scientific American, is being made available as a supplement to the April 2010 issue 50, 100, 150 Years Ago feature.'

'Israel is a pilot area for the arid lands of the world, especially those of her Arab neighbors, who persist in their destitution in the same landscape that Israel has brought into blossom.'

'The agricultural restoration of Israel began in the 1880's, with the arrival of the first immigrants brought by the emergent Zionist movement as refugees from the pogroms of Eastern Europe. They were able to buy "useless" marshland on the coastal plain. These marshes had been created by the shoaling of erosion-laden streams and by the damming effect of the inland march of sand dunes. With heroic labor the early settlers succeeded in draining the marshes and farming them successfully. But until the State of Israel was established, the effort was on a "first aid" basis.'

'The development of water supplies and irrigation constitutes the most significant achievement of the new nation and differentiates its agriculture most sharply from that which prevails in all but a few areas in the surrounding Arab countries. Since the time of Abraham, when "there was famine in the land," agriculture in this region has been at the mercy of the variable winter rainfall. In ancient Palestine irrigation was limited to small areas that could be fed by gravity from perennial springs. These works had long since fallen into disuse, and at the beginning of this century very little of the Holy Land was irrigated. In 10 years the State of Israel has quadrupled the acreage under irrigation, from 72,500 to 325,000 acres. It was this achievement that made possible the absorption of the great influx of immigrants. Irrigation has increased yields per acre from three to six times and more over those achieved by dry farming in the region and has secured dependable yields from year to year.'

'In order to replace the flow of these rivers into the Dead Sea, salt water was to be brought in from the Mediterranean Sea through canals and tunnels to drop through two sets of hydropower stations nearly 1,300 feet below sea level to the Dead Sea. This salt water would not only produce electric power but also would maintain the level of the Dead Sea for the extraction of the minerals and chemicals that are there in fabulous amounts.'

'Prospects for the future have recently been brightened by progress in the desalting of sea water. A new method developed in the laboratories of the Government is about to be tested in two pilot plants, each with an output of 250,000 gallons per day. Success in this undertaking would be a major victory not only for Israel but also for all the other arid-land countries of the world.' | April 1960 :: republished FEBRUARY 23, 2010

'At the same time, the kibbutz movement spread its agricultural communes along the frontiers of the land in order to set up outposts that would one day be used in defense of the Jewish state. So when Sukkot came, the relevance of the holiday went beyond religion. It gave Israelis a chance to celebrate the agrarian enterprise and the national socialist values of the settlement movement.'

'Israeli farmers have come a long way since the first pioneers began clearing away rock-strewn fields and draining the swampland. In the half century since Israel’s establishment, the country has almost tripled the territory used for farming and production has multiplied 16 times. About one-fourth of that output is exported. The best-known success is the Jaffa citrus fruit brand, but Israel is selling much more abroad than just oranges.'

'The methods have been so successful, that Israel has exported its agriculture technology to places like Morocco and Egypt, even though they’re potential rivals for sales to Europe.'

'In five years the kibbutz now boasts the largest grove of olive trees in Israel. Yielding about 200 tons of award winning olive oil a year, the orchard is the only one in the world where olives are cultivated with salt water. “Salt has created very big and very successful trees,” Yogev said.' ~ JOSHUA MITNICK

'Today, Israel maintains 1,070,000 acres of farm land. During that same time, agricultural production has increased 16 times over.'

'Israel was the first to develop drip irrigation, drastically decreasing the amount of water needed to grow crops. Israel also uses recycled domestic water for most of its irrigation needs, being the only country in the world to recover nearly 100% of its domestic water.'

'In recent years, Israel has exported approximately $2.5 billion in agricultural products, while importing $4.4 billion of food for domestic consumption.'

'Israel also possesses an exceptionally advanced diary industry, with the highest production of milk per cow in the world (11,667 Kg. per cow, per year).'

'Finally, in recent years, Israel has developed a significant fish breeding industry — most of which takes place in freshwater ponds.'

'While Israel currently produces almost all of its domestic water in its desalinization plants, the cost of water remains a challenge for farmers.'

'Today, Israel relies on foreign labor to address much of the country’s farming needs.'

'Israel is an entrepreneurial powerhouse and a hotbed for pioneering technologies, profitable business opportunities, and high investment returns. For these reasons, it is no surprise that the world's leading multinational companies have all choose israel: Microsoft, Motorola, Google, Apple (three R&D centers), Facebook, Berkshire-Hathaway, Intel, HP, Siemens, GE, IBM, Philips, Lucent, AOL, Cisco, Applied Materials, IBM, J&J, EMC, and Toshiba are just some of the names in a long list of over 200 MNCs who realized that Israel is their Ideal investment opportunity.'

'Israel's unique society and culture, strong economy, government support, and "global-first" market approach are just a few of the factors that make Israel's innovation ecosystem one of the most successful in the world.'

'Israel is also home to the highest number of engineers per capita and has the world's 2nd highest R&D expenditure as percent of GDP (4.3%).'

'Profit-driven Israeli innovations include a long list of market firsts such as disk-on-key technology, IP telephony, ZIP compression, the ingestible pill-size camera, and many more.'

'Israel enjoys the highest percentage of engineers and scientists per capita in the world, and one of the highest ratios of university degrees and academic publications per capita.'

'The Israeli government founded the Technology Incubator program in the early 1990s. Today there are over 25 incubators across the country, all of which have been privatized.'

'By far outperforming any other country in VC volume per capita, Israel's venture capital availability is a symbol of the breath of its innovative industries and of the highly efficient financial sector underpinning them.' ~ Idan Adler

'The substantial growth of the High-Tech sector has caught international attention and interest. Exports of the Technology sectors have reached over 45% of the total exports of the Israeli economy. The Research & Development sector in Israel has been so successful that has brought many International Tech companies to invest in Israel, creating one of the most prominent hubs for Technological development.'

'When we think of the centers for this technological advancement, stereotypically a place like Silicon Valley or Boston in the US, London in the UK, or Beijing in China comes to mind. But, perhaps a market that goes underrated as a technological hub, though rapidly expanding in its influence, is Israel. Their development is spearheaded by a region cleverly named Silicon Wadi.'

'Additionally, to a more general point, Israel also has a culture that values innovation, risk-taking, and entrepreneurship, which has helped to foster a thriving startup ecosystem.'

'The government of Israel is partnering with Google by planning to invest $25 million by 2027 into training and increased skill opportunities for marginalized groups living outside of the main tech hubs. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid stated that he aims to surpass the benchmark of 1 million Israelis working in hi-tech in the coming years. To meet this goal, motivating women, Arabs, and Haredi Jews to enter into the fold is crucial.'

'Furthermore, look out for new companies to invest in that come out of the healthy startup space present in the country.' ~ Mark DiPietro | May 9, 2023

Hamas Background and Operations

'HAMAS–the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement)—is the largest and most capable militant group in the Palestinian territories and one of the territories’ two major political parties. HAMAS emerged in 1987 during the first Palestinian uprising, or intifada, as an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch. The group is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state in Israel’s place. HAMAS has been the de facto governing body in the Gaza Strip since 2007, when it ousted the Palestinian Authority from power.'

'The US State Department designated HAMAS as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997.' | AS OF SEPTEMBER 2022

'In the course of the intifada, HAMAS gained momentum, expanding its activity also in Judea and Samaria to become the dominant Islamic Fundamentalist organization in the territories. It defined its highest priority as actual Jihad (holy war) for the liberation of Palestine and the establishment of an Islamic Palestine "from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River". By its participation in street violence and murder, it boosted its appeal in the eyes of the Palestinians, further enhancing its growth potential and enabling it to play a central role in the intifada. As a result of its subversive and terrorist activity, HAMAS was outlawed in September 1989.'

'The central goal of HAMAS is the establishment of an Islamic state in all of Palestine. The immediate means to achieve this goal is the escalation of the intifada, and ultimately all-out Jihad, with the participation not only of Palestinian Muslims but of the entire Islamic world.'

'During the period prior to the intifada, HAMAS members (in its earlier form of the "Al-Majama Al-Islami") operated primarily against local Palestinians, such as moral offenders and criminal elements, in order to purge Muslim society and to prepare it for Jihad against Israel. After the outbreak of the intifada, the same people and new recruits began to assassinate Palestinians.'

'The monthly HAMAS leaflets serve as a major tool for clarifying its positions, handing down directives, and incitement -- including riots and attacks against Jews -- with the ultimate goal being the destruction of Israel through holy war. The leaflets of the movement make extensive use of Islamic motifs, interlaced with virulent accusations against the Jews, "the offspring of apes and pigs". Almost all of them end with a call for "Jihad until victory, or martyrdom for the sake of Allah". There has recently been increasing cooperation of the movement with other organizations opposed to the peace process, and they have published joint leaflets against the peace process.'

'The Security Section ("Jehaz Aman"), which gathered information on suspected collaborators with Israel and other local elements, with the intention of punishing them by the use of violence, including murder.' ~ IDF Spokesman

'If Hamas has one supreme objective, it is to mutate the essentially ethno-political Palestinian national struggle into a fundamentally religious conflict. Accomplishing this goal entails transforming Palestinian society -- a relatively secular culture, compared to other Muslim societies in the Arab world -- into one that is religiously zealous and politically extreme.'

'Hamas charitable and humanitarian organizations not only fund the families of Hamas suicide bombers, they finance important health, education, and welfare projects that are badly needed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Projects like these play a critical role in building sympathy and support for the group among the local population. Hamas humanitarian projects are usually couched in Islamist terms and are designed to build grassroots support for its religious agenda.'

'In the Islamist society idealized by Hamas, the martyr is the most revered citizen; Palestinian children who are caught up in the Hamas dawa are taught to recognize the virtue of death-for-Allah. Once indoctrinated into this belief system, they are more easily exploited as grade-school terrorists.'

'Hamas also seeks to equate in the minds of Palestinian parents familial "nurturing" with nursing hatred. In an interview with National Geographic, a suicide bomber's mother admitted that it was she who instilled in her son the desire for martyrdom and "brought them [her sons] up to become martyrs, to be martyrs for the name of Allah."

'In addition to schools, Hamas dawa organizations run summer camps at which Palestinian children are saturated with the group's propaganda and even given semi-military training. Combining childhood recreation with radical indoctrination, the camp environment exposes children to both active programming in the form of classes on radical Islam and passive indoctrination through the pervasive images of suicide bombers plastered on walls throughout the camp. According to Hamas's Sheikh Bahar, summer camps are especially successful for indoctrinating religious and secular youth alike. Bahar explained that teaching children the history of Islam while they are surrounded by pictures of martyrs instills "seeds of hate against Israel." ~ Matthew Levitt | Feb 12, 2007

'Hamas appears to have had both domestic and international motivations for its attack, which inflicted the heaviest one-day death toll on Israel since the Jewish state’s foundation in 1948.'

'Officials told Arab media that their goal was an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and that they were also reacting to alleged violations by Israeli extremists of rules regulating access to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.'

'The assault also appeared to be an attempt to alter the balance of power in domestic Palestinian politics, particularly with Hamas’ rival Fatah, which has recognized Israel and forgone resistance to negotiations in the framework of the 30-year-old Oslo peace process. That policy has won few concessions from Israel and lost Fatah support and territorial control in the West Bank, where Fatah is based.' ~ Fatima AbdulKarim, Taylor Luck | October 10, 2023

Gaza Polls

'According to the latest Washington Institute polling, conducted in July 2023, Hamas’s decision to break the ceasefire was not a popular move. While the majority of Gazans (65%) did think it likely that there would be “a large military conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza” this year, a similar percentage (62%) supported Hamas maintaining a ceasefire with Israel. Moreover, half (50%) agreed with the following proposal: “Hamas should stop calling for Israel’s destruction, and instead accept a permanent two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.” Moreover, across the region, Hamas has lost popularity over time among many Arab publics. This decline in popularity may have been one of the motivating factors behind the group’s decision to attack.'

'Hamas among a number of Arab states has been on a much more significant decline—slowly in some cases and more rapidly in others. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia both stand out as countries where support for Hamas has virtually evaporated.'

'Hezbollah is also deeply unpopular in these Arab countries outside of its core followers in Lebanon. This has become all the more so the case over the past several years.'

'Moreover, polls in most of these countries over the past several years demonstrate that only small minorities in most locales believe that good relations with Iran are even “somewhat important” to their country.'

'As such, while expressions of support for the Palestinian cause are widespread throughout the Arab world, attitudes toward the terrorist groups attempting to claim it are decidedly unpopular in a number of Arab countries.'

'At the same time, majorities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE view Israel as internally weak and divided, a viewpoint that may have impacted Hamas’s calculations as well.'

'Saudi survey revealed that around a third of citizens there wanted business ties with Israel, even without a formal agreement on normalizing ties.' ~ Catherine Cleveland, David Pollock | Oct 10, 2023

'Since Hamas’s atrocious attacks on October 7 left more than 1,400 Israelis dead in a single day, Israel’s response has exacted a heavy toll on the population of Gaza.'

'Some of Israel’s top officials, invoking Hamas’s success in the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections, have in effect declared that all Gazans are part of Hamas’s terrorist infrastructure and complicit in the group’s atrocities—and are therefore legitimate targets of Israeli retaliation.'

'The findings, published here for the first time, reveal that rather than supporting Hamas, the vast majority of Gazans have been frustrated with the armed group’s ineffective governance as they endure extreme economic hardship. Most Gazans do not align themselves with Hamas’s ideology, either. Unlike Hamas, whose goal is to destroy the Israeli state, the majority of survey respondents favored a two-state solution with an independent Palestine and Israel existing side by side.'

'The people of Gaza are disillusioned not only with Hamas but with the entire Palestinian leadership.'

'The salience of Gaza’s economic troubles also came through clearly in the survey results. According to the World Bank, the poverty rate in Gaza rose from 39 percent in 2011 to 59 percent in 2021.'

'Most Gazans attributed the lack of food to internal problems rather than to external sanctions. Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza since 2005, limiting the flow of people and goods into and out of the territory. The strength of the blockade has varied, but it grew notably stricter after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.'

'In short, Gazans were more likely to blame their material predicament on Hamas’s leadership than on Israel’s economic blockade. Since the time of the survey, however, this perception may have changed. Israel cut off water, food, fuel, and electricity supplies to Gaza following the October 7 attacks, plunging the territory into a deep humanitarian crisis.'

'Only 26 percent agreed that “under some circumstances, a non-democratic government can be preferable.” (This last finding is similar to poll results in the United States, where in a 2022 survey, one in five adults aged 41 or younger agreed with the statement, “Dictatorship could be good in certain circumstances.”

'By and large, Gazans do not share Hamas’s goal of eliminating the state of Israel.'

'Overall, 73 percent of Gazans favored a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the eve of Hamas’s October 7 attack, just 20 percent of Gazans favored a military solution that could result in the destruction of the state of Israel.'

'The Hamas-led government may be uninterested in peace, but it is empirically wrong for Israeli political leaders to accuse all Gazans of the same.' ~ Amaney A. Jamal and Michael Robbins | October 25, 2023

'A new poll released Tuesday finds a dramatic surge in Palestinian support for Hamas following last month’s Gaza war.'

'Head pollster Khalil Shikaki, who has been surveying Palestinian public opinion for more than two decades, called it a “dramatic” shift, but said it also resembles previous swings toward Hamas during times of confrontation. Those all dissipated within three to six months as Hamas failed to deliver on promises of change.'

'Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want a state in all three territories, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Hamas, which is seen as a terrorist organization by Israel and Western countries, does not recognize Israel.'

'An early test loomed Tuesday, when Jewish ultranationalists planned to march through east Jerusalem again. Hamas has called on Palestinians to “resist” but may be reluctant to risk another war just weeks after the last one was halted by an informal cease-fire.'

'Abbas faces a major crisis of legitimacy among Palestinians after calling off the first elections in 15 years in April.'

'At the time, it appeared Fatah would suffer another humiliating defeat to Hamas, which won a landslide victory in 2006 parliamentary elections.'

'Shikaki said Abbas could potentially regain support, but only if he shows initiative, either by reforming the PA, which is seen as increasingly corrupt and authoritarian, or by taking part in some kind of diplomatic push after a 12-year hiatus in the peace process.' ~ JOSEPH KRAUSS | June 15, 2021 12:13 PM EST

'By 70 percent to 28 percent, Palestinians oppose a two-state solution — “the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.”

'An even larger number — 76 percent to 21 percent — oppose a “one state solution …in which the two sides enjoy equal rights.”

'Given a choice among three options for “ending the occupation and building an independent state,” 21 percent prefer “negotiations,” 22 percent “peaceful popular resistance” and 52 percent select “armed conflict.”

'A 58 percent majority support a “return to the armed intifada [terrorism] and confrontations,” while 41 percent oppose such a move.'

'Their preferred leader is a convicted terrorist, and significant majorities of Palestinians support terrorism, with even larger numbers opposing both a two-state solution and one-state solution with equal rights for Jews and Arabs.'

'Peace seems to require some fundamental changes in public attitudes.' ~ MARK MELLMAN | 10/25/23 9:15 AM ET

'A fascinating example of the subtle bias in the media surrounds the “March for Israel” in Washington last week. How many people were at the pro-Israel rally? If you read any Israeli paper or the Fox News website, the answer is 290,000, which is a number that the organizing groups say they got from following security-checkpoint reports throughout the day. If you read most other media, such as Reuters, the New York Times or the Washington Post, there were either “thousands” or “tens of thousands.” Now, I suppose no matter what the actual size of the crowd, thousands or tens of thousands would technically be correct, but those stories certainly imply a crowd well under 100,000 and the photos clearly support at least that number being present at one time.'

'The subtle biases also can be found in some poll questions that have weird choices to avoid the obvious. The NBC poll jumps through hoops to avoid a clear finding of support for Israel over Hamas. It asks instead a favorable/unfavorable rating of Israel and Hamas separately, and even then Israel is at the top of the favorable list with 47% (compared to Trump and Biden, each at 36 positive in the same poll) while Hamas is at the bottom with just 1%. It asks if Israel is justified in what it is doing or “has gone too far,” without asking a parallel question about Hamas and whether it has “gone too far.” Of course, it fails to mention or ask questions about the 1,400 people who were murdered in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, or the more than 200 people who remain held hostage by Hamas – and it doesn’t ask voters whether Israel should move forward until those hostages are released. A straightforward question asked in the Harris poll — are you more with Israel or with Hamas? — gets an 80%/20% response from even our politically divided country.' ~ Mark Penn | 11/21/23 07:00 AM ET

Cross-Examination of Violence and Abuses

'Before Israel began retaliating for the deaths of more than 1,000 Israelis, mostly civilians, with massive airstrikes, the breaking news of the surprise Hamas eruption had prompted celebrations on the streets of Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, where people distributed sweets to gathering crowds.'

'Since the United Nations started counting deaths in 2006, 2023 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians – 200 have died this year at the hands of Israeli soldiers or settlers in the occupied West Bank. “We’ve tried to make ourselves likable, and now I think the Palestinians are seeing we can never be in a good place with the international community, so we have pushback instead,” says Ms. Buttu.'

'Unverified, graphic videos, purportedly showing Hamas militants abusing their hostages, are circulating on social media.'

'In recent months, however, Palestinian Authority officials have warned privately of attempts by Iran to involve itself directly in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by providing arms and funds to new militant groups forming in the West Bank.'

“For all those years, there has been no push on Israel to do anything” that might lead to Palestinian statehood, full civic rights, or an end to violence and discrimination against Palestinians, Ms. Buttu points out. “The message here is ‘enough is enough.’” ~ Fatima AbdulKarim, Taylor Luck | October 10, 2023

'A week ago the electrician was detained by Israeli police as he was getting ready for work in Ashkelon, a city in southern Israel close to the Gaza Strip − where he's from and where his family remain.'

'He says he was blindfolded, his wrists were bound and he was falsely accused of killing Israeli women and children. Eventually, he was put on a bus and deported to the West Bank, the landlocked area that forms the main bulk of the Palestinian territories.'

"But imagine you live somewhere and I come and lock you in your house. I control everything that comes in and out of your house. Occasionally, I come and beat you up. Eventually you're going to resist and start fighting back with whatever you have," he said. With the Hamas attacks, "that's what's happening."

'Egypt has been unwilling to open its border to fleeing Gazans.'

'Israel's military has warned Palestinian civilians to leave northernGaza ahead of an expected ground offensive targeting Hamas.'

'The bruises are the result, they said, of zip ties placed on them by Israeli police. For years Israel has adopted a controversial policy of "administrative detention," which allows the authorities to detain Palestinians of all ages without trial and under allegations it keeps secret. Israel says the tactic is necessary to contain dangerous militants whom the government believes could be terrorists.'

'They showed photos on their phones, taken by eyewitnesses, of what appeared to be them kneeling while blindfolded in front of police and other Israeli security services. They said that the younger men among them were beaten, though they also said that some Israeli soldiers sought to intervene to stop it.'

'This refusal to condemn Hamas − a group that believes Israel should not exist − has angered the Israeli public and large swaths of international opinion as accounts and gory details have emerged of executions and kidnappings committed by Hamas against Israeli civilians. Among the kidnapped are elderly women and small children. Israel estimates that about 200 people, some of them police and soldiers, are being held hostage by Hamas. Fourteen Americans remain unaccounted for, though it is unclear how many may be held hostage.'

'She said some of the images and videos she had seen on social media of Hamas' brutalities in Israel were a "tough" watch. But she didn't think these images and videos represented the "real Hamas," just the actions of lone bad actors. She said pregnant women and babies in Gaza were routinely killed by Israeli bombs.' ~ Kim Hjelmgaard and Suha Husein | Updated Oct. 21, 2023 9:52 a.m. ET

'We work to document cases of child recruitment by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.'

'Child recruitment refers to the recruitment or use of any person below 18 years of age, in any capacity, by armed forces or armed groups.'

'This can include the use of children in combat, including as fighters, informants, human shields, messengers, lookouts, cooks, or porters.'

'Whether the child’s participation is compulsory, forced, or voluntary, their use by armed forces or armed groups can constitute child recruitment.'

'Recruiting or using children in armed conflict is illegal under international humanitarian law and international human rights law. It is punishable as a war crime under international criminal law.'

'Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that automatically and systematically prosecutes children in military courts that lack fundamental fair trial rights and protections. Israel prosecutes between 500 and 700 Palestinian children in military courts each year.'

'Children typically arrive to interrogation bound, blindfolded, frightened, and sleep deprived.'

'Administrative detention is a form of imprisonment without charge or trial. Children held under administrative detention orders are never presented with charges, and their detention is based on secret evidence that is neither disclosed to the detainee nor the detainee’s attorney. Therefore, children held in administrative detention and their attorneys have no legal means of challenging the detention and the alleged basis for it. This amounts to a denial of a fundamental due process right.'

'Defense for Children International - Palestine is the 2023 recipient of the Rafto Prize the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights announced today.'

'In April 2021, Human Rights Watch (“HRW”) released a 217-page publication titled “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution.” HRW asserted that Israel is an apartheid state both within its pre-1967 territory as well as in the West Bank and Gaza. The title of the report and its contents assert that recent events and actions have created a situation where Israel has “crossed a threshold” into apartheid. The fact that HRW and other NGOs have campaigned intensively to promote the apartheid label for more than 20 years is not mentioned. HRW’s goal is clear, as evidenced by the report’s narrative and recommendations: end the existence of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people, allow all Palestinians worldwide to freely enter Israel, open the borders between Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, and convert the area into a Palestinian majority state.'

'As documented below in great detail, the HRW publication is fundamentally flawed, using lies, distortions, omissions, and blatant double standards to construct a fraudulent and libelous narrative demonizing Israel. A careful examination of the text shows that HRW conducted almost no primary research. Rather, the text is bloated with cut-and-paste phrases, and quotes and conclusions taken from third-party sources – notably, other political NGOs participating in the same “apartheid” campaign against Israel. In fact, more than half of all the citations in the report are from these NGOs. HRW’s references are glaringly thin on primary documents, such as official Israeli government reports and statistics, Palestinian documents, court documents, Knesset transcripts, and interviews from leading officials, and much of the data is outdated, often well over a decade old. The omissions are even more egregious than the errors and misrepresentations, rendering HRW’s report as nothing more than propaganda.' | November 30, 2022

'The footage that the Israeli military showed foreign correspondents Monday included a photo of a burnt baby. It showed gunmen shooting the dead bodies of civilians in cars, militants in the process of beheading a body with a hoe, burnt corpses thrown in a dumpster.'

'In past fighting, Israel has come under heavy international criticism for causing large numbers of civilian deaths. The release of the video showing some of the victims of the Hamas attack appeared to be an effort to counter the criticism and keep the world’s attention focused on the deaths of Israeli civilians.'

“This is not just a war against Israel, it’s a war against humanity,” Hagari said.'

'It showed bodies of people who had been bound. A room with at least seven bodies reduced to ash. Civilians shot in bedrooms, bathrooms, front yards. Blood so thick it nearly obscured hallway floors.'

'It also showed the ease with which Hamas militants moved around inside Israel. In Kibbutz Be’eri, people slept as the militants peered into people’s dark living rooms. They toyed with outdoor decorations, using a cigarette lighter to set a dreamcatcher hanging on someone’s window ablaze. They shot randomly, at an air conditioner, at an ambulance’s tires, at a dog running out to greet them. They perched on lawn chairs outside a quiet home, taking a water break. Israeli security forces were nowhere to be found.'

'Dozens of militants in trucks whooped and celebrated on Israeli roads as bodies and cars burned around them.'

'In videos from civilians’ phones, partygoers cried as they ran for safety across the open fields where they had just been dancing at the open-air Tribe of Nova music festival. A young man filmed the shelter where he and at least 10 others took cover. Bloodied people writhed and moaned on the ground as others stood around them, looks of terror in their eyes. Militants could be heard yelling outside.'

'In Gaza, the militants filmed themselves pulling a dead soldier’s body from a car. Young men cheered and stomped on it. A young woman whose face was marred was pulled from a car trunk by her hair, pushed into the backseat and then driven off as a crowd ran alongside.' ~ JULIA FRANKEL | Updated October 17, 2023 12:13 AM EST

'The Shin Bet security service has warned the government of its concerns of an eruption of violence in the West Bank, noting an increase in settler violence and clashes with Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Hebrew media reported Sunday.'

“These incidents are likely to set the area alight” and harm the war effort against Hamas, the report quoted Israeli sources as saying.'

'The two ministers have defended acts of settler violence as self-defense in the past and have resisted taking action against them.'

'Israel’s Yesh Din rights group said last week that there had been over 100 incidents of settler violence and harassment against Palestinians in at least 62 Palestinian towns and communities in the West Bank since Hamas’s savage assault on Israel on October 7, and the beginning of Israel’s military campaign against the terror group in Gaza.'

'On Saturday, 40-year-old Palestinian Bilal Muhammed Saleh, 40, was allegedly shot in the chest and killed by a settler outside the village of As-Sawiya some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Yitzhar'

'The settler who allegedly fired the fatal gunshot was an off-duty IDF soldier, who emerged from the nearby settlement of Rehelim with members of his family shortly before the shooting. He has been arrested and is under investigation.'

'Also on Sunday, prominent settlement activist Ariel Danino was put into administrative detention for four months, in a move approved by Gallant. The order — which enables authorities to hold a suspect without charges for indefinitely renewable periods and was reportedly approved by the Shin Bet — cited “a reasonable foundation to assume that state security/public security requires” his detention.'

'France also condemned the “unacceptable” Israeli settler attacks, noting “the deaths of several Palestinian civilians over the past few days in Qusra and Sawiya, as well as the forced departure of several communities,” a French Foreign Ministry statement read.' ~ TOI STAFF | 30 October 2023, 11:52 am

'Similarly, Netanyahu in his public statement on Wednesday emphasized that Jewish extremists who attack Palestinians in the West Bank represent a small fraction of the overall Israeli population in Judea and Samaria.'

'There is a tiny handful of people who do not represent this public and that take the law into their own hands,” he said. “We are not prepared to tolerate this. We are not prepared to accept this. We will take all action against them. This causes severe international damage to the State of Israel, and it does not represent the public here.”

'According to the United Nations, eight Palestinians, including one child, “have been killed by Israeli settlers.” ~ TOVAH LAZAROFF | NOVEMBER 9, 2023 00:36 :: Updated: NOVEMBER 9, 2023 21:40

'The BBC News website recently ran a story by Alice Cuddy that describes how the Israelis rang a Gazan civilian at dawn to tell him to warn the inhabitants of three apartment blocks to evacuate because they were about to be bombed.'

'Note the fact that while the Israeli was telling Shaheen that these buildings wouldn’t be bombed until he gave the all-clear that the residents were safely evacuated, Shaheen interpreted this remarkable display of military restraint merely as some kind of insulting implication of collaboration with the bombing — the point of which, of course, he was unable to comprehend.'

'The BBC’s story reveals the remarkably precise and detailed intelligence that Israel possesses on what’s going on in Gaza. It also illustrates the extraordinary lengths to which the Israeli Defense Forces go to spare the lives of Gaza’s civilians. As any dispassionate person who has followed Israel’s wars knows very well, the IDF try everything they can to get enemy civilians out of harm’s way — by leafleting, “knock on the roof” warning shots, phone calls and other means of communication.'

'While the BBC is a principal and habitual offender, it is to its credit that it has published the story related by Mahmoud Shaheen. It says it contacted him after many al-Zahra residents identified him as the man who had received the warning call.'

'Some 800,000 Gazans did so, but Hamas tried to stop more joining them by firing on them, in order to keep them in place as human shields. The reason for yesterday’s large line moving south was that, with the IDF now having moved into Gaza City, its tanks could protect the evacuating civilians from Hamas attack. The video, which you can see here, shows this clearly.'

'In other words, the Guardian portrayed the Gazans who were being protected by Israeli troops as fleeing from Israeli troops.' ~ Melanie Phillips | November 12, 2023

'ISRAEL has stepped up its efforts to rescue 36 newborn babies fighting for life in a Gaza hospital with no power.'

'Troops loaded portable battery-powered incubators into vans in a race against time to save them.'

'The Israel Defence Forces said it left 300 litres of fuel at an agreed drop-off point at the weekend — but Hamas terror chiefs blocked the hospital from using it.' ~ Paul Sims | Published: Nov 14 2023 17:07 ET :: Updated: Nov 14 2023 18:15 ET

'The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), under the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), played a crucial role in facilitating the safe evacuation of newborn babies from the pediatric ward of Shifa Hospital in Gaza.'

'This urgent mission was carried out over the last day, ensuring that these infants could receive essential medical treatment in Egypt.'

'The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has been working with the administration of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza in order to coordinate the transfer of incubators from an Israeli hospital into Gaza since last week.' | November 20, 2023 at 10:20 AM :: latest revision November 20, 2023 at 12:33 PM

'Over the past week, the military has been operating in and around Shifa, uncovering what it has said is evidence of Hamas’s use of the site for terrorist activities. The IDF has said it was working to evacuate as many patients as possible from the compound.'

'As the military secures its control over Gaza City, it has begun warning residents of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis to evacuate, indicating that the ground operation will likely expand to those areas of the Strip in the days and weeks to come.'

'The military announced humanitarian pauses in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday to enable Palestinians to evacuate to the south.'

'Israel has resisted calls for a ceasefire unless a significant number of the some 240 hostages abducted on October 7, including all women and children, are released in exchange. There has also been concern that an extended pause in the fighting would allow Hamas and other terror groups to regroup and prepare for the next stage of fighting, impeding the IDF’s ability to operate.' ~ EMANUEL FABIAN | 19 November 2023, 11:36 pm

'This story includes images of bodies and other disturbing elements. The National Post is publishing these photos in order to convey the immense horror of events in Israel of the last week, but reader discretion is advised.'

“This was just one of Hamas’ countless acts of terror – in a litany of brutality and inhumanity that, yes, brings to mind the worst of ISIS. Babies slaughtered. Bodies desecrated. Young people burned alive. Women raped. Parents executed in front of their children, children in front of their parents.” ~ National Post Staff | Published Oct 13, 2023 :: Last updated Oct 13, 2023

Israeli Controversy

'Pinhas Lavon, Israel’s minister of defense, was painted as having approved the sabotage campaign and Lavon’s political enemies at home echoed the charge in early inquiries into the matter. Subsequent Israeli investigations suggest that Lavon was framed, to divert attention from other Israeli leaders, but the incident has retained the name given at the time: the Lavon Affair.'

'A core of Israeli agents headed by Colonel Avraham Dar, whose cover identity was that of a British businessman named John Darling, recruited and trained the original members of the ring (Geller, 2013). Operational details, including further recruitment, became the responsibility of a military intelligence agent, Avraham (né Adolf) Seidenberg, also known as Avri Elad. Elad had a positive reputation as the discoverer of methods used by wanted Nazi war criminals to escape to Arab countries; he also had a negative reputation in some Israeli quarters as a thief who had been punished for looting Arab houses. The operation began on July 2, 1954, with bombs set off inside the Alexandria post office; on July 14, incendiary devices were set off in US consulate libraries in Alexandria and Cairo. On July 23, bombs went off in two cinemas, the railway terminal, and the central post office in Cairo (Isseroff, 2003). There were no casualties, as the bombs were detonated when no one was likely to be present.'

'After France cut off shipments of uranium following the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, 200 metric tons of yellowcake (processed uranium oxide) presumably bound for Genoa from Antwerp was transferred at sea to a vessel going to Israel in another false-flag operation, mounted this time by the Mossad, Israel’s agency responsible for human intelligence, covert action, and counterterrorism (Davenport et al., 1978). Israel is also suspected of illegally receiving a significant amount of highly enriched uranium from an American company, the NUMEC Corporation of Apollo, Pennsylvania, during the 1960s'

'Israel initially rebuffed the notion of inspections, then agreed to them, but kept delaying their implementation. When they finally took place, the inspections were cursory and allowed the Israelis to effectively hide the true nature of the activity.'

'The Lavon Affair is such an event; it not only led to war and attendant upheavals in the Middle East but accelerated the proliferation of nuclear weapons in one of the most volatile regions on the planet. It is therefore important to understand what lessons the affair contains for both policy makers and ordinary citizens desiring a peaceful, just, and democratic world. The Lavon Affair can be viewed as a case history in which a small group of hubristic government officials, acting in an atmosphere of extreme secrecy and ideological fervor, put their country on a path toward war, with little or no debate. It is another cautionary tale that ought to inform policy makers of any country of the dangers of the arrogance of power, coupled with an atmosphere of secrecy that inevitably interferes with, and can trump, accountability.' ~ Leonard Weiss | November 4, 2016

'The Liberty was part of a secret program run by the U.S. Navy and the National Security Agency (NSA) in which the United States dispatched cargo ships outfitted as mobile listening platforms to eavesdrop on the world’s hot spots—places such as Cuba, North Korea, and the Middle East. Though the Liberty officially was classified as a technical research ship, her 45 towering antennas used to soak up communications of foreign nations made it obvious to any trained observer that she was a spy ship.'

'At 0515 on 8 June—soon after the Liberty arrived off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula—the first Israeli reconnaissance plane circled the ship several times. That initial recon flight on the morning of the war’s fourth day began a steady pattern of observation that continued for hours. A State Department report later determined that recon planes buzzed the Liberty as many as eight times over a nine-hour period. Some planes flew so low that crewmen on deck could see the pilots. Sailors took confidence in the fact that the Liberty steamed in international waters and was clearly marked with freshly painted hull numbers on her bow and her name stenciled across the stern. Visibility was excellent. The U.S. flag fluttered from the mast.'

'Shortly before the planes exhausted all their ammunition, Kislev finally asked the pilots to look for a flag. One of the pilots buzzed the ship moments later and spotted the Liberty’s hull number. He radioed it to ground control, albeit one letter off.'

“What country?” asked one of the air controllers. '

“Probably American,” Kislev replied. '

“What?”

“Probably American.”

“At that point in time, in my mind, it was an American ship,” Kislev later admitted. “I was sure it was an American ship.”

'Israel had conclusively identified the Liberty as much as 26 minutes before the fatal torpedo strike. According to Israeli documents, the pilot’s report was passed to the Israeli Navy, where the vice chief of naval operations dismissed it as camouflage writing to allow an Egyptian ship to enter the area. Israeli documents likewise show that at least two other Israeli naval officers suspected that before the torpedo attack, the target was none other than the Liberty. Neither intervened to halt the attack.'

'In evaluating the Liberty court of inquiry, it is worth comparing it to the court that examined North Korea’s capture of the Pueblo. The Liberty court lasted just eight days, interviewed only 14 crewmen, and produced a final transcript that was 158 pages. In contrast, the Pueblo court lasted almost four months, interviewed more than 100 witnesses, and produced a final transcript that was nearly 3,400 pages.'

'In 1968, Israel paid $3.3 million to the families of the men killed. A year later, Israel paid $3.5 million to the men who were injured. Israel then balked at paying the $7.6 million for the loss of the ship, secretly offering at one point the token sum of $100,000. Negotiations dragged on until 1980, at which time the bill plus interest totaled more than $17 million. Under the threat of a congressional investigation, Israel struck a deal to pay $6 million in three annual installments. The United States accepted.' ~ James M. Scott | June 2017

'Boston, the lawyer, if he wrote those words, knows better. He could say "I believed" but when he attributes that belief to Admiral Kidd, he violated the hearsay rule and the Dead Man Statute which forbids quotation of a dead man because the dead man can neither confirm nor deny the statement. The article says "I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivor." What testimony did Boston hear? A careful reading of the 154 pages of sworn testimony does not even suggest it. Who testified about what? Since no Israelis participated in the Court of Inquiry, who was able to testify about he intent of the Israelis and where is that testimony?'

'The myth Boston repeats about Israel committing a war crime by machine gunning three life rafts was initiated by Lloyd Painter about ten years after the event. The sworn testimony of Lloyd Painter taken June 13, 1967 does not mention machine gunning the three life rafts, nor does the testimony of the Captain or any of the crew, who were there on the bridge and on the deck with Lloyd Painter at the time on June 8, 1967.'

'Boston states "I am outraged at the efforts of Israel’s apologists to claim this attack was a case of ‘mistaken identity.’" This outrage, coming in 2003 - 36 to 40 years after Boston signed the Court of Inquiry findings under oath raises a number of questions.'

'Why was Boston not outraged on August 30, 1995 when Clark Clifford’s July 18, 1967 report was declassified revealing the conclusion, "The weight of the evidence is that the Israeli attacking forces originally believed their target was Egyptian . . .2. The information thus far available does not reflect that the Israeli high command made a premeditated attack on a ship known to be American."

'Although the conspiracy theorists have claimed for years that there exist NSA audio intercepts between Israeli pilots and their controllers which prove the attack was deliberate, no such tapes have ever been produced. What has been produced on July 2, 2004, as a result of this author’s Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, are audio tapes and translations of communications between Israeli pilots and their controllers which clearly establish that the Israelis believed the target ship was hostile, most likely Egyptian, until 3:12 PM, approximately 44 minutes after the attack was concluded. The National Security Agency confirms that there are no other tapes.'

'So who told Ward Boston about the former intelligence officers receiving "real-time Hebrew translations"? Could it have been Ron Gotcher who helped Boston with his initial affidavit and declaration and very likely wrote or assisted in the preparation of the June 8, 2007 article, bylined Ward Boston, Jr., published in the San Diego Union Tribune. Ron Gotcher has long made claims of the existence of the alleged incriminating tapes on his website. Gotcher also claimed to have worked for the National Security Agency; however, reference the "Documents" page of www.libertyincident.com and go to "Gotcher Debunked." There the viewer will see the actual letter from the National Security Agency, in response to a FOIA request, confirming that Gotcher never worked for NSA.'

'The propaganda emanates from a small but well-funded and very vocal group of people and organizations principally supported by Saudi Arabian money.'

'Findley and McCloskey are also the founders of the Council for the National Interest (CNI), whose publicly announced purpose is to be the anti-Israel lobby.' ~ A. Jay Cristol

Analysis of Latter Israeli Campaigns Up To The October 7 Attack

'For more than a decade, Israel has clashed with Hamas in Gaza, with cycles of violence defined by periods of intense fighting followed by relative lulls. This brief summarizes a report focusing on a five-year period of this conflict — from the end of Operation Cast Lead in 2009 to the end of Operation Protective Edge in 2014.'

'Most broadly, though, this is a story of deterrence. Israel never strived for a decisive victory in Gaza. While it could militarily defeat Hamas, Israel could not overthrow Hamas without risking the possibility that a more radical organization would govern Gaza. Nor did Israel want to be responsible for governing Gaza in a postconflict power vacuum. As such, Israel’s grand strategy became "mowing the grass" — accepting its inability to permanently solve the problem and instead repeatedly targeting leadership of Palestinian militant organizations to keep violence manageable.'

'The 1993 Oslo Accords ended the First Intifada — creating the Palestinian Authority (PA) as the governing body of the Palestinian people and stipulating that the PLO would recognize Israel’s right to exist. Ultimately, frustration over delays in implementing the Oslo Accords and tensions over Israel’s continued grip on the Palestinians boiled over, sparking the Second Intifada in fall 2000 — a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian violence. It led Israel to fortify its border with Gaza and in 2005 to withdraw from the territory completely after nearly 40 years of occupation.'

'In the three years after Protective Edge, Hamas has maintained its control in Gaza and does not appear in danger of being replaced in the near term. And yet, the underlying political and economic pressures on Hamas remain today. Thus, many believe a fourth major Gaza conflict is only a matter of time.'

'IDF faced real technological challenges with detecting, fighting in, and ultimately destroying tunnels. While the IDF improved in tunnel warfare during the campaign, it still remains an area of concern.'

'Protective Edge shows how modern democratic militaries must increasingly confront lawfare — using law as a substitute for traditional military means to achieve a warfighting objective — when combating irregular forces, especially in urban terrain. Protective Edge featured several controversial battles. These engagements became the subject of intense legal scrutiny and a UN-led inquiry, which called into question the IDF’s use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas and other tactics.' ~ Raphael S. Cohen, David E. Johnson, David E. Thaler, Brenna Allen, Elizabeth M. Bartels, James Cahill, Shira Efron | 2017

'Director of the CSIS Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program Emily Harding will moderate a discussion between the former director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center Michael Leiter and CSIS senior fellow Dan Byman as they examine the tactics, scale, and global ramifications of the Hamas October 7 attack.' | November 7, 2023 • 1:30 – 2:30 pm EST

Palestinian institutions have 'lost their credibility' among the people, expert says ~ CBC News | Oct 21, 2023

Is Palestinian Support for Hamas Crumbling? What Some Say Privately About Their Terrorist Overlords ~ CBN News | Nov 10, 2023

Israel-Hamas war: Sky speaks to veteran Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi ~ Sky News | Oct 17, 2023

Did Israel Steal Palestinian Land? ~ Ayn Rand Institute | Oct 26, 2023

Report: UNRWA Home Study Materials for Kids Glorifying Terrorists ~ CBN News | Feb 26, 2021

Calls for flooding, not bombing Hamas tunnels ~ NewsNation Now | Nov 3, 2023

Banzai Cliff of Saipan WWII ~ Dennis Blocker II | May 10, 2020