The world is tuned in to Qatar to watch soccer during the 2022 World Cup. Being so focused on its favorite sport, the world has ignored local tragedies.
Start with the estimated 6,500 migrant workers who died in Qatar since the small Islamist country won the rights to host the games ten years ago. Approximately 37 deaths were connected to the building of the stadiums, while the others passed in the harsh working environment that is Qatar.
There was no backlash against Qatar.
During the games itself, three journalists died reporting on the matches. Khalid al-Misslam (Qatar), Roger Pearce (UK) and Grant Wahl (USA) died in three separate locations at three different times. It was an extraordinary loss of journalists during a short span.
Despite the highly unusual number of deaths, there would be no claim of murder or poisoning, and no investigation of Qatar.
According to UNESCO, 117 journalists were murdered between 2020 and 2021. This was actually the lowest tally since it began reporting on the situation. The Latin America region had the highest number of murders (38%), followed by the APAC region (32%). In an interesting trend, UNESCO noted that “the percentage of journalist killings in countries not experiencing armed conflict has been increasing since 2016.”
UNESCO claims to have sent letters to 65 countries to understand the status of judicial review of 1,284 killings from 2006 to 2021. Nearly 84% of those cases remain “unresolved.”
Meanwhile, in November 2022, in a highly unusual move, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the death of Qatar’s Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during a firefight in Jenin in May 2022. In the same NOVEMBER week, the Biden Administration decided that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, should be granted immunity in ordering the brutal slaughter and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
Journalists are dying and being murdered in non-conflict zones and there are virtually no investigations into the cases. The Biden Administration is even handing out free passes to his favorite Arab leaders and countries.
Yet at the same time, Biden is investigating Israel for a journalist killed in the middle of a firefight, a double-standard celebrated by those who enjoy demonizing the Jewish State.
J Street is a far-left wing extremist group which markets itself as “pro-Israel, pro-peace” to confuse the uninformed that it is something bipartisan and mainstream. It has never been anything of the sort as it made plainly clear again.
The RJC also doesn’t advocate for Israel’s strongest ally to take action against the Jewish State.
On December 1, 2022, J Street issued a statement right before its annual policy conference, called “POLICY STATEMENT: US MUST ACT NOW TO COUNTER EXTREMIST ISRAELI OFFICIALS & POLICY MOVES.” The declaration was made in the hopes of drilling into its supporters and U.S. politicians who joined the rally, that Israel is extremist and Americans must act against the Israeli government in formation.
Over-and-again, the desired “policy statement” called the yet-to-be-formed Israeli government “extremist,” “right-wing,” “radical” and “vicious.” It stated that “we are at the precipice of a crisis in Israel’s relationship with not just the United States but with democratic norms, international law and Diaspora Jews,” and urged “the United States government must not delay in making clear its views on the threats posed by these moves — and take steps to counter them.”
J Street then issued a call for the Biden Administration to reiterate policies it falsely labeled “bi-partisan.” For J Street, that includes the demand that Jews be banned from praying at their holiest location on the Jewish Temple Mount, a plainly anti-Semitic policy.
The alt-left group then called for the United States to take six “concrete steps” against Israel. It included this gem:
“Stating that while Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, parts of the city will also one day be the capital of a Palestinian state and that the contours of the city remain a matter for negotiation and are not “off the table,” as former President Donald Trump claimed;”
If the borders of Israel and a potential Palestinian state are to be negotiated between the parties, it is asinine and counter-productive to declare what the outcome of such discussions will be.
Meanwhile J Street actively supports the Palestinian Authority which demands a Jew-free country, and has a law calling for capital punishment for any Arab who sells land to a Jew. It supports building a seaport in Gaza, so that terrorist groups like Hamas have access to better weapons to attack Israel. It wants Hamas to be part of the Palestinian political process, essentially assuring that Israelis will never be safe if a Palestinian state is created.
Attendees at the 2022 J Street Policy Conference
J Street’s CEO and comrade-laureate, Jeremy Ben-Ami, addressed the audience to demand that members of the group stop theoretically supporting Israel. As reported by the viciously anti-Zionist site Mondoweiss, Ben-Ami said:
“We believe our community for its own sake – even more than for Israel’s sake – must root its identity in a commitment not to a flag or a piece of land but to a set of principles and values. My friends, if we don’t do this, we will see large swaths of our community walk away. Not only will they walk away from engagement with Israel– that’s already happening. They’ll walk away from the Jewish community itself…. Those in the establishment of our community who insist that Jewish America must stand united and unquestioningly loyal to Israel no matter what are doing a deep, deep, disservice to the health of the Jewish community.“
Mondoweiss cheered the Ben-Ami speech and concluded “This is an important speech, as it signals open warfare inside the Israel lobby and the wider Jewish community.” It is a little late to this story, as far-left secular Jews had abandoned Israel and huge sections of the religious Jewish community several years ago to openly embrace progressivism as its true religion.
Anti-Israel activists got it right when they said that J Street has declared “open warfare inside the Israel lobby and the wider Jewish community.” Like the zealots of 2,000 years ago who burned supplies while Jews fought the Roman army assaulting Jerusalem, alt-left Jewry is out to destroy American – and Jewish – support for the reestablished Jewish state.
On December 5, 2022, 126 members of Congress sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging a comprehensive government response to the scourge of anti-Semitism. Many people did not sign the letter despite historic comments that they strongly support Jews, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Other names missing from the letter were not surprising.
Consider the nine members of Congress who voted against supplying Israel with funding for its defensive Iron Dome system against Palestinian rockets: Cori Bush (D-MO), Andre Carson (D-IN), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marie Newman (D-IL), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). None of them signed the letter.
In another vote, several members of Congress voted against supplying Israel with American made weapons in May 2021, as Israel fought against terrorists in Gaza. Co-sponsors included Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Betty McCollum (D-IL) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) in addition to Cori Bush, Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar. None of them signed the call to combat anti-Semitism letter.
In February 2020, members of Congress voted to send money to the terrorist enclave of Gaza. In addition to Pocan and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), signers to the letter included Don Beyer, Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, André Carson, Judy Chu, Danny K. Davis, Peter A. Defazio, Mark DeSaulnier, Ruben Gallego, Jesús G. “Chuy” García, Raúl Grijalva, Deb Haaland, Jared Huffman, Pramila Jayapal, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr., Dan Kildee, Barbara Lee, Betty McCollum, James P. McGovern, Gwen S. Moore, Ilhan Omar, Chellie Pingree, Donald M. Payne Jr., David E. Price, Bobby L. Rush, Jan Schakowsky, Jackie Speier, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, and Peter Welch. Of this list, the only signers to the letter to fight anti-Semitism were Bonamici, Dingell, Lee and Schakowsky. All of the others did not sign the letter to fight Jew hatred.
While many New York members of Congress signed the fight-anti-Semitism letter including Sen. Kirtsen Gillibrand, Rep. Ritchie Torres, Rep. Grace Meng, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Rep. Lee Zeldin, Rep. Thomas Suozzi, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Mondaire Jones, several in the tri-state area did not.
Jamaal Bowman, who rejected the Abraham Accords and declined speaking to an American Jewish Committee electoral event, did not sign the letter. Hakeem Jeffries, who is slated to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as leader of House Democrats also declined to sign. Other anti-Israel New Yorkers like AOC and Paul Tonko also did not sign. Click on the links above to write them voicing your displeasure.
During the 2022 election campaign, J Street, a pro-Palestinian lobbying group which markets itself as “pro-Israel”, wrote checks to 138 members of Congress. Very few of those recipients signed the letter to combat anti-Semitism. Omissions included: Rep. Andy Levin (D-MI), Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ), Rep. Josh Harder (D-CA) and many others including those voting for anti-Israel measures listed above, such as Bowman, Newman, McCollum, Tonko, Jayapal, Pocan, Garcia, Carson, Chu and Davis.
Members of the anti-Israel squad all declined to sign the letter urging President Biden to address anti-Semitism
When so many anti-Israel members of Congress also refuse to join decent voices in Congress to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism, it offers another response to the question of whether anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism are one and the same.
Tor Wennesland, the poorly-named United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process, who is in fact just a Palestinian promoter, took to the stage to report about the Arab-Israeli Conflict on November 28, 2022.
He once again lied straight to the UN Security Council.
As reported in the UN Press report, Wennesland said that the “two-State solution… still garners considerable support among Palestinians and Israelis.” In fact, the Palestinians poll themselves every three months and have NEVER had a majority supporting a two-state solution.
The PCPSR October 2022 poll showed that Palestinian Arab support for two-states stood at 37%. Three months earlier it was 28%. That’s quite a bit lower than Palestinians who support full blown terrorism, now at 48%, a bit lower than 55% supporting killing Jews three months earlier.
More specifically, according to Palestinians themselves, “Support for the concept of the two-state solution stands at 37% and opposition stands at 60%.” Further, “a majority of 68% opposes and 24% support an unconditional resumption of Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.“
The simple reality is that a majority of Palestinians oppose the two-state solution and negotiations, and support killing Jewish Israeli civilians. Yet the United Nations deliberately lies and misdirects to maintain its position in the conflict, an insidious vanity project which has contributed to the deaths of thousands and misery of millions.
Tor Wennesland, the poorly-named United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process
On December 1, 2001, two frustrated Palestinian Arabs from Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem, could not stand seeing so many Jews walking around on a Saturday night in a popular Jerusalem pedestrian mall. Osama Bahar, age 25, and Nabil Abu Habaliya, age 24, took explosives which were supplied by the terrorist group Hamas and blew themselves up amongst the young Israelis strolling on Ben Yehuda Street. A short time later, another terrorist blew up a car nearby.
The eleven dead included: Assaf Avitan, 15, of Jerusalem; Michael Moshe Dahan, 21, of Jerusalem; Israel Ya’akov Danino, 17, of Jerusalem; Yosef El-Ezra, 18, of Jerusalem; Sgt. Nir Haftzadi, 19, of Jerusalem; Yuri (Yoni) Korganov, 20, of Ma’alei Adumim; Golan Turgeman, 15, of Jerusalem; Guy Vaknin, 19, of Jerusalem; Adam Weinstein, 14, of Givon Hahadasha; Moshe Yedid-Levy, 19, of Jerusalem; and Ido Cohen, 17, of Jerusalem. Roughly 180 others were injured, 17 seriously.
Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism at a popular pedestrian mall on Saturday night December 1, 2001
The Martyr Izz ad-Deen al-Qassam Brigades – Information office described how angry the Arabs were with the Jews, stating:
“As part of our retaliation to [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon’s madness and with the success granted by Allah and His protection, the two fighting martyr brothers, Osama Bahar and Nabil Abu Habaliya, have carried out on Saturday evening, 12/1/2001, the night of Ramadan 17, their bold and painful attack in one of the enemy’s dens in occupied west Jerusalem as a revenge for the blood of our martyrs and a punishment to all the reckless leaders in the enemy’s army and ministry.
“We do not only do this in self-protection or in retaliation of a future killing, but we also do this as part of our absolute right to react towards the continual aggression and usurpation of our country for more than 50 years. We also wish to emphasize our right of resistance and our right to die as martyrs [istishhad], which is the pinnacle of resistance – that is to say, to sacrifice one’s self, spirit and blood is an absolute right, despite the aggressive attack by the enemy and some liars, meant to rob us of this right.“
Saudi Arabia funded the families of these terrorists in cooperation with the Arab Bank as part of the Saudi Committee for the Support of the Intifada al Quds. As the support for terrorism was too blatant (or to keep the funds flowing after the end of the intifada), the committee changed its name in 2004 to the Saudi Committee for the Relief of the Palestinian People. The Saudis also cannot stand Jews enjoying a Saturday night in Jerusalem.
Two frustrated Palestinian Arabs had to contend with Jews walking the streets of Jerusalem for their whole lives. The Saudis well understood their frustration and supported their “right of resistance to die as martyrs.” All had internalized that the Muslim world can have no dignity as long as Jews walk the streets of Jerusalem with impunity.
The New York Times remarkably parroted Palestinian propaganda on its pages as it wrote about Palestinian militants taking an Israeli teenager off of life support in a hospital, to hold his dead body as a bargaining chip.
In ten different sections of the article “Palestinians Join Forces with Israelis, Bringing Peace to a Teen’s Family,” the Times wrote that Israel holds the dead bodies of Palestinian terrorists in the hopes of dissuading future attacks. That narrative echoed throughout, seemingly giving an excuse for Palestinian Arabs deciding to do the same to Israelis.
Palestinians “hoped to exchange it for the corpses of dozens of Palestinians that have been held by Israel for years without burial.“
“… shifted rare attention on the Israeli practice of holding onto the bodies of slain Palestinians accused of terrorism.“
“the militants hoped to exchange Tiran for the bodies of dozens of Palestinians kept in Israeli mortuaries since 2016. Israel houses the unburied bodies of 111 Palestinians, 16 of them from Jenin, according to detailed records shared with the Times by the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, an independent Palestinian rights watchdog.”
“Israeli officials believe that Palestinians were all killed while committing violence, and that holding on to their bodies may help deter future attacks.”
“The militants actions also felt unethical to many Palestinians. While there is widespread Palestinian anger at Israel’s own practice of withholding Palestinian corpses, many felt the gunmen had picked the wrong target, particularly after it became clear that Tiran was a schoolboy, not a soldier.”
“‘It wasn’t a moral thing to do,’ said Muhammad Sabbagh, the head of a leadership council in the Jenin Camp. ‘From the beginning, the entire camp wanted to return the body.’“
“‘I immediately realized that a big mistake had been made,’ General Rajoub said in a phone interview. ‘We immediately planned how we would get the body back to the family.’“
“… a leading opponent of the Israeli occupation and a longtime critic of the Israeli policy of holding Palestinian corpses.“
“… the rare collaboration should not obscure wider Palestinian anger at Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of dead Palestinians.”
“Dozens of ‘Palestinians families are waiting for their beloved sons,’ Dr. Tibi said. ‘For their corpses seized and captured by the Israeli occupation.'”
That’s a lot of time saying the same line over and again while NEVER mentioning that Israel only started holding the bodies of Arab terrorists after Palestinians refused to hand over the bodies of two Israelis killed in Gaza in 2014, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin. Instead, the Times said that Israel carried out the practice as a form of punishment, seemingly introducing the horrific action in the conflict.
The biased article made the militants seem remorseful for their action because the dead person “was a schoolboy, not a soldier.” That’s outrageous. Palestinians routinely celebrate the murder of Jewish children as confirmed in their own polls, such as the one which showed 80% of Gazans and 50% of West Bank Arabs supporting the killing of a 17-year old girl on a nature hike. Just days before, the region’s Islamic terrorists celebrated the murder of a 16 year old Jewish boy on his way to school.
The obvious reason for returning the body of this boy was because he was Druze and not an Israeli Jew. The obvious Arab anti-Semitism was omitted and redirected by The Times. #AbsolutionViaRedirection
What’s more, the Times quoted the “Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center, an independent Palestinian rights watchdog,” which is NOT independent. It is an anti-Israel European-funded organization that has been vilifying Israel for years, as reported by NGO Monitor.
This week, Palestinian terrorists killed a young Israeli boy and kidnapped his body from a hospital, an action they have been using for many years, however, they decided to return the body after they realized the Israeli wasn’t a Jew. Readers of The New York Times were spun a different story. The anti-Israel propaganda piece penned over-and-again that Israel has been unilaterally keeping dozens of Palestinians corpses for many years, angering Palestinians waiting to bury their sons, which caused some militants to take a similar action, which they immediately regretted as immoral.
That’s Absolution via Inversion, a favorite of the anti-Israel media which falsifies that Israeli racism and brutality are the root cause of the conflict, not the refusal of Arabs to accept Jews living in their homeland.
Early Tuesday morning, two bombs were detonated while Israeli civilians boarded buses to school and work in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem. The terrorist attacks killed a 16-year old Canadian-Israeli boy, Aryeh Shechopek on his way to yeshiva.
Aryeh Shechopek, 16, who was killed in a bombing attack in Jerusalem on November 23, 2022 (photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)
As a continued part of their desire to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible, various radical Islamic groups hailed the attacks.
Islamic Jihad posted a statement “The operation in the occupied city of Jerusalem is a natural response to the occupation, its terrorism, and its criminal practices against the defenseless Palestinian people and its holy sites.” Tarek Ez Din, spokesperson for Islamic Jihad added “The operation says to the leaders of the Occupation [Israel] and the leaders of the settlers that none of the policies of your criminal government will protect you from the strikes of our people’s resistance.“
A spokesman for Hamas, the political-terrorist group that rules Gaza and has a majority in the Palestinian parliament said “The Zionist occupation is paying the price today for its crimes and aggression against our people and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and we have warned about this repeatedly. Our people will not remain silent in the face of this, and the outrage Al-Aqsa will explode and spread in all regions.“
Hezbollah, the terrorist group that runs Lebanon issued a statement that praised the “heroic operations carried out by the Palestinian resistance fighters against the Israeli occupation forces in Al-Quds.” The statement concluded that the race among the Palestinian youths into the jihad fronts proves the Palestinians’ awareness and determination to liberate their land and sends a message of despair to the Zionist usurpers that there is no place for the Israelis on the pure soil of Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority’s Wafa news site reported on the bombings as “two explosions that rocked the occupied city of Jerusalem.“
Fatah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and other terrorist groups recently signed the Algiers Declaration in which they agreed to have elections within one year in which they would all participate. The United Nations celebrated the alarming declaration and inclusion of terrorist groups in the election process.
Meanwhile, as Arabs celebrated the murder of innocent Jewish civilians, the United States issued a clear call of support for Israel:
“We condemn unequivocally the acts of terror overnight in Jerusalem. The United States has offered all appropriate assistance to the Government of Israel as it investigates the attack and works to being the perpetrators to justice. We mourn the reported loss of life and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. The United States stands with the Government and people of Israel. As President Biden emphasized during his visit to Israel in July, our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and unbreakable.“
America’s “commitment to Israel’s security” and support for bringing “the perpetrators to justice” should include full measures against Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as well as defunding the Palestinian Authority as long as it continues to incite and compensate terrorists. It must call for terrorist groups to be excluded from future Palestinian elections or risk forever to be black-listed by freedom loving countries.
Six Turkish civilians were killed by a terrorist on Sunday. The labeling of the killer and her murderous mission was made clear in news reports, as were the names of the innocent victims.
The same cannot be said of Israeli Jews slaughtered by a Palestinian Arab terrorist the next day.
New York Times calls out Kurdish terrorism and Turkish victims of attack, as well as relays US sympathies
Terrorist Designation
The New York Times wrote about “the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a Kurdish group that has been fighting a war with the Turkish state for decades. Turkey, the United States and the European Union all consider the P.K.K. a terrorist group.” The paper would only write six paragraphs later that “the P.K.K. denied any involvement in the bombing,” but the reader already knew the score – the P.K.K. are terrorists fighting Turkey and they seemingly committed the terrorist attack.
The next day, when a Palestinian Arab associated with the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad killed three Israeli civilians, there was no such accounting by the Times. Instead, the paper wrote that a “Palestinian assailant stabbed several civilians…. Three Israelis were killed and several more were severely injured.” The lone attacker was not associated with any terrorist group. The Times only offered at the very end of the article that “No Palestinian organization immediately took responsibility for the attack, but a spokesman for Islamic Jihad in the West Bank, Tarek Izz al-Din, told an Islamic Jihad-linked television channel that his organization welcomed what he called the ‘heroic attack.’ He said that it came as a response to the Israeli election results and to Israeli politicians’ calls to take firmer action against the Palestinians, Kan radio reported.” Palestinian Islamic Jihad is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union, much like the reference to the P.K.K., but the Times did not mention the terrorist designation for Palestinians.
The Times also did not quote the spokesman for Hamas, another designated terrorist group that “the operation demonstrates the ability of the Palestinian people to continue their revolution and defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque from daily incursions,” supporting the murder of Jews because Jews visit their holiest site, the Jewish Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
American Sympathies
After the Times labeled the P.K.K. a terrorist group, it mentioned American sympathies for the Turkish victims. “The U.S. embassy in Turkey wrote on Twitter on Sunday that it was ‘deeply saddened’ by the bombing. ‘We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery for the injured’ it said.“
The Times said nothing about the U.S.’s sympathies for the Israeli victims of terror. Not surprisingly, as it took the Biden administration some time to post a response… that equated the Jewish victims of terror with the murderer. The press release on the U.S. Embassy in Israel’s site stated “The United States is deeply concerned by the increased violence in the West Bank. We convey profound condolences to the families and loved ones of the Israeli and Palestinian civilians, including children, who have been killed in the past 48 hours. We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack, which killed three Israelis and wounded three others. The recent period has seen a sharp and alarming increase in Palestinian and Israeli deaths and injuries, including numerous children. It is vital that the parties take urgent action to prevent further loss of life.” The U.S. would not take sides.
Humanizing the Victims
The Times devoted the final five paragraphs of the article to the Turkish victims. Names and ages were given. Pains of anguish were echoed in quotes from the grieving parents “‘She is my baby,’ she said. ‘I want a piece of her hair.’“
Nothing was said by The Times about the Israeli victims. They were: 50-year-old Tamir Avihai, a father of six from the settlement of Kiryat Netafim; 36-year-old Michael Ledigin, a father of two who moved to Israel with his family five years ago and lived in Bat Yam; and 59-year-old Mordechai Ashkenazi, also from Bat Yam.
Rationalizing Terror
The Times sought to give context to the Palestinian violence. It wrote that “Israel is to swear in a new Parliament later on Tuesday, after the Nov. 1 election, and the prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, has been working to put together a right-wing and religious coalition government with the help of far-right parties that have pledged to act more aggressively to protect Israelis. The attack also occurred on the anniversary of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s symbolic proclamation from exile in 1988 of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. That state has never materialized.” The Times essentially defended the terrorism and saying that it was a protest against a new “far-right” Israeli government, and in marking the anniversary of the P.L.O. declaring an independent state.
The Times incorrectly stated that the PLO’s declaration of independence only sought a state “in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.” The declaration was for the entirety of “Palestine”, including all of Jerusalem and all of Israel. It essentially rationalized the terrorism as an act of fighting for independence.
In contrast, the P.K.K., which is also seeking an independent Kurdish state, was only described as a terrorist group by the Times, without mentioning its desire for independence and sovereignty. It was thereby cast as a violent aggressor, while the Palestinian Arabs were painted as freedom fighters.
Celebrating Terror
While some media outlets like the Jerusalem Post noted that “In some parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinians were documented celebrating the attack by handing out sweets to passersby and drivers,” which is a common occurrence in both Gaza and the West Bank after the murder of Jews, the Times decided to not report on it.
Maybe that fact was too much for its readers to handle.
The media repeatedly rationalizes and defends Palestinian Arab terrorism against Jewish civilians. Perhaps one should be content that the anti-Zionist media is not also celebrating the murder of Jews. At least, not yet.
For many years, the United Nations berated the Jewish State that it was using ‘disproportionate’ force against Palestinian Arabs. As the global body now attacks Israelis for proportionate responses to Arab terror, it is clear that the UN’s problem is really about Israel defending itself at all.
Consider the events of May 2021 when Gazans fired thousands of missiles into Israeli towns. The United Nations said “Owing to the vast asymmetry of power, the victims of this conflict are disproportionately Palestinians in Gaza, of whom over 74,000 have been forcibly displaced and made homeless, mostly women and children.“
After Israel responded to missile attacks in 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution that “deplores the use of any excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and particularly in the Gaza Strip, including the use of live ammunition against civilian protesters, including children, as well as medical personnel and journalists, and expresses its grave concern at the loss of innocent lives.“
Similarly in July 2014, the UN Human Rights Council published an opinion that Israel’s “disproportionate use of force amounts to war crimes and must be brought to justice as it seriously violates international humanitarian law.“
The examples are numerous, that despite Israel acting in a defensive manner against terrorists, the UN seemingly wanted Israel to fire thousands of crude missiles into Gaza (a proportionate response to the Gazan actions), rather than using its limited sophisticated weaponry which was designed to target the evil actors. Of course, the damage Israel would have caused using thousands such crude missiles would have been much worse as the Arabs do not possess Israel’s Iron Dome defensive shield.
The issue in those past conflicts was not really about disproportionate force but disproportionate defenses. However, since there was no legal way of investigating and censoring Israel for disproportionate defenses, the United Nations attacked Israel for “asymmetry of power.”
The farce of UN anti-Israel prejudice continues today with the notion of “settler violence” in the West Bank.
According to the UN’s own biased accounting, West Bank Arabs commit more attacks than Israeli Jews living in Israeli territory of Area C every month. The “settlers” mostly use stones, just like the Palestinian Arabs. However, the UN only comes down harshly on the Israelis.
In March 2022, Tor Wennesland, on behalf of the UN Secretary General, addressed the UN Security Council about activities over the three months December 2021 to early February 2022. He noted that “Israeli settlers or other civilians perpetrated 144 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 47 injuries and/or damage to Palestinian property,” while adding that “One Israeli civilian was killed by Palestinians, and 100 Israelis, including five women and one child, were injured by Palestinians in clashes, the throwing of Molotov cocktails, attacks and other incidents. In total, Palestinians perpetrated 277 attacks against Israeli civilians, resulting in injuries and/or damage to Israeli property.” By his own math, Palestinians committed twice a many attacks and injured twice as many civilians, including killing someone.
No matter. His report would disproportionately target Israelis.
“we deplore continuing attacks by Israeli settlers on ordinary Palestinians“
“Settler-related violence remains significant across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem“
“repeated raids by Israeli settlers on Burqa led to clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces“
“Israeli settlers drove a convoy to Huwwara, near Nablus, throwing stones at Palestinians and their property“
“I remain deeply concerned about the level of settler-related violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem“
There was no such detailed concern about Palestinian Arabs attacking Israeli civilians, despite engaging in violence more frequently.
When the Israeli military protects Israeli civilians against Palestinian terrorists, the world rebukes the Jewish State for “disproportionate force” so it can defend punishing the Jews in court. When Israeli civilians defend themselves with proportionate means, the anti-Semites drop the pretense of proportionality being the concern, and accuse the Jews of living in their homes illegally. The Arabs are cast as victims of Jewish aggression in all cases, despite instigating the violence and committing more attacks.
The United Nations has fostered the Arab-Israeli Conflict for decades, with disproportionate focus on perceived Israeli crimes and absolution of Arab terrorism. It is well past time for the global body to examine itself with the scrutiny it reserves for the Jewish State.
Brazil and Israel held elections this week to decide on the future leaders of the countries.
In Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a left-wing politician and former president of Brazil, defeated the incumbent by two million votes on October 30. US President Joe Biden called the president-elect of Brazil the following day. As featured on the US embassy in Brazil’s website, “President Biden commended the strength of Brazilian democratic institutions following free, fair, and credible elections. The two leaders discussed the strong relationship between the United States and Brazil, and committed to continue working as partners to address common challenges, including combatting climate change, safeguarding food security, promoting inclusion and democracy, and managing regional migration.“
On November 2, Israel held elections, its fifth in four years. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party won the most votes and his right-wing block easily had a majority to lead the next Knesset. As in Brazil, a former leader came to defeat an incumbent, but the reaction of Biden was markedly different.
On the day following the vote, the US embassy in Israel did not say that Biden called Netanyahu. It did not say that the two countries would work together “to address common challenges.”
Instead, the press release posted a release from Ned Price, a spokesperson from the State Department. It read: “Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Prime Minister Yair Lapid to commend Israel for its free and fair elections, and to thank the Prime Minister for his partnership. The Secretary reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship. He also emphasized his deep concern over the situation in the West Bank, including heightened tensions, violence, and loss of both Israeli and Palestinian lives, and underscored the need for all parties to urgently de-escalate the situation.“
Rather than follow protocol with the president of the United States calling the incoming Prime Minister of Israel, the Secretary of State called the outgoing Prime Minister. Instead of discussing ways of working together, the US voiced “deep concern” and urged Israel to take action to “de-escalate the situation.”
This is highly inappropriate and a deeply insulting slap in the face of every Israeli.
When Britain elected Liz Truss, a member of the Conservative Party to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on September 5, Biden called her the next day. He offered the incoming leader congratulations and “reaffirmed the special relationship between our countries and expressed their readiness to further deepen those ties…. and discussed the importance of continued close cooperation on global challenges.”
But Biden uniquely snubbed the new leader of the Jewish State. He treated the country as a vassal to take orders, not as a partner to work with in “close cooperation on global challenges.”
Meanwhile, leaders from the around the world had no issue congratulating Netanyahu and discussing collaborating with the Jewish State.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted “Mazel Tov my friend Netanyahu for your electoral success. I look forward to continuing our joint efforts to deepen the India-Israel strategic partnership.“
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted “Congratulations to @netanyahu on winning the elections. It’s always important to see real democracy in action. Ukraine & Israel share common values & challenges that now require effective cooperation. We hope to open a new page in cooperation with the new Government for Ukraine & Israel benefit!“
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called Netanyahu. He tweeted “Just spoke with @netanyahu to congratulate him on his election victory. Looking forward to continuing the very strong relations between our two countries.“
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement which led “On behalf of the Government of Canada, I congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu on his electoral success and wish him well as he moves ahead with the process of forming a coalition government. Canada’s friendship with Israel is based on a long history of close cooperation, enduring ties between our peoples, and our shared commitment to upholding democratic values.“
President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola said “Congratulations @netanyahu, on your success in #Israel’s elections. The bond between the EU & Israel is one forged in shared history and based on common values of democracy, liberty & rule of law. We will keep working together for peace, security & prosperity in the region.“
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni sent her congratulations to Netanyahu on Twitter as well, saying “Congratulations-Mazel Tov to @netanyahu for the electoral success. Ready to strengthen our friendship and our bilateral relations, to better face our common challenges.“
Just days before mid-term elections in the US, President Biden completely disrespected Israel. How does he think tens of millions of American Zionists will react? How much worse will the increasingly anti-Israel Democratic Party treat the Jewish State when votes are not on the line?
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