Protests are spreading across the United States at college campuses, where university students are gathering in the name of Palestinian rights and occupying campus spaces with tents. Sadly, not everyone who purports to support Palestinians is truly interested in safeguarding our rights. It pains me to say this as a Palestinian from Gaza. As my home is destroyed and too many killed, I never thought I would find myself criticizing those speaking up. And yet, I cannot be silent about what I am seeing. The truth is that the manner in which many gather to voice their support for Palestinians does more to hurt our cause than help it…But it’s not just the antisemitism that has me despairing. It’s the hypocrisy. Where were these caring young people when Hamas took over Gaza and slaughtered hundreds of Gazans, or when Hamas held 2 million Gazans captive for more than 17 years? READ MORE
…Early this week, rumors began to swirl that ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan is poised to act on these groundless complaints [charging Israel with genocide] and issue international arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces. If Khan proceeds as reported, Israel’s top leaders will be unable to visit any of the ICC’s 120 member nations without first securing bilateral agreements with authorities in each country not to arrest them during their stay. This is terrible in and of itself, of course. But the wider implication is even more dire. If Khan goes through with his plan, he will essentially declare Israel a criminal state with no right to self-defense. READ MORE
The video clip of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, which dominated social media channels on Wednesday night, achieved the nearly impossible task of simultaneously evoking joy and heartbreak. A blinding joy because it seems to verify that the 24-year-old Jerusalem resident, who was taken captive by Hamas on October 7 after having part of his arm blown off by a grenade thrown at him at the Nova festival, is alive. His statements, which he was likely forced to read on camera at gunpoint, mention 200 days of captivity and Passover, implying that the video was made in the recent past. READ MORE
A leader of the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University had a video emerge on social media this week, threatening violence to “Zionists.” “Zionists don’t deserve to live,” student Khymani James said in a video from January. He is also heard saying “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.” The remarks happened around the time James had a meeting with school officials over a social media post about fighting a Zionist…He added that those comments occurred when he was “unusually upset after an online mob” targeted him for being “visibly queer and Black.” READ MORE
“I feel that since October 7, humanity has been in a very delicate and dangerous transitional state. Everything I’ve been shouting and warning about for years has suddenly come out all at once for the whole world to see through the GoPro cameras of the Hamas terrorists,” says Yasmine Mohammed, one of the world’s leading activists for the rights of Muslim women and support for ex-Muslims. “If the West sobers up and realizes who it is up against and how the worst versions of Islam entered the most important Western institutions, and if it then proceeds to tackle it at the core, then there could remain a chance to correct course,” she says, “but if Western liberals continue to play the role of useful idiots for Muslims who use them to promote their ideology, then things will get much worse. The massacre that took place in Israel may be just a prelude to what awaits the whole world.”READ MORE
A documentary about Hamas’s sexual crimes on and after October 7 has been published on YouTube, featuring testimonies from survivors, released hostages and first responders. The aim of the film, titled ‘Screams Before Silence’ and fronted by former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg, is to highlight sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas during and after the terror group’s devastating massacre on southern Israel…In March, the United Nations published a report indicating that rape and gang rape likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught, and said that there is “clear and convincing” evidence showing that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza and that those currently held captive are still facing such abuse. READ MORE
The parents of the American-Israeli hostage featured in Hamas’ latest propaganda video said it was “amazing” to see their son alive, but “very painful” knowing he’s still being held after more than six months. <strong>Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, looked gaunt and with his arm blown off in the video released Wednesday, the first sighting since he was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on Oct. 7</strong>. “Initially, we were just crying,” Hersh’s mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, told NBC News of the family’s initial reaction to the footage. “This was a tremendous validation,” the 54-year-old mom said. “On the other hand, we see him — he is in captivity, he’s obviously suffering with this missing dominant arm,” she said of the left limb blown off below the elbow by a grenade. READ MORE
TIME MAGAZINE Rachel Goldberg-Polin named one the 100 Most Influential People of 2024In hopes of seeing him [Hersh] again, Goldberg-Polin has become one of the most visible advocates for the hostages and their families. She has met with dozens of world leaders, including President Biden. (Her son, like Goldberg-Polin and her husband, is a dual American-Israeli citizen.) She has addressed the U.N. in New York City and Geneva. She has even had an audience with the Pope. READ MORE
A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders. The comments by Khalil al-Hayya in an interview Wednesday came amid a stalemate in months of talks for a cease-fire in Gaza.The suggestion that Hamas would disarm appeared to be a significant concession by the militant group officially committed to Israel’s destruction. But it’s unlikely Israel would consider such a scenario. It has vowed to crush Hamas following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the war , and its current leadership is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. READ MORE
In an unprecedented vote, the European Parliament passed a resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday. The resolution condemned Iran for its attack on Israel and reinforced the European commitment to the security of the State of Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised the European Parliament for its vote in favor of a resolution. It follows last Monday’s decision by the European Union to sanction Iran in order to curtail missile and drone production…The EU calls to put in place the following measures: to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in the list of terrorist organizations; to expand sanctions on Iran, including on the regime’s oil and banking; to acknowledge Iran’s non-compliance with the nuclear agreement…READ MORE
REUTERS US, 17 other countries urge Hamas to release hostages, end Gaza crisisThe United States and 17 other countries on Thursday issued an appeal for Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis in Gaza, but Hamas vowed not to relent to international pressure. “We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now for over 200 days,” a statement by the countries said, in what a senior U.S. official called an extraordinary display of unanimity. The 18 countries all have citizens held by Hamas six months after the Palestinian militant group launched its Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel and killed 1,200 people.
I’m sure you’ve heard commentators describe the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel as “rivals” engaged in a “tit-for-tat” conflict. That misinterprets reality. Ali Khamenei, Iran’s “supreme leader” since 1989, seeks to establish a new Middle Eastern empire. Israelis, by contrast, only want to survive as an independent nation within a slice of their ancient Jewish homeland. They would like nothing better than to enjoy amicable relations with Iranians, as they did prior to Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979. I should add: Substantial evidence suggests that most Iranians do not hate Israelis. Nor would most Iranians suffer under the jackboot of an antisemitic, misogynist, coercively religious ruling class if they had a choice. As for the fate Mr. Khamenei envisions for Israelis, we saw a preview on Oct. 7. Genocide is what he indisputably intends. READ MORE
ArchitectGuy on Israel 