“Oct 7 2023”

Hazim Almasri is desperate to get his family out of Gaza.

“Every time I call [my sister] she’s crying. She’s afraid she will lose her kids,” said Almasri, a Palestinian-Canadian who lives in Kitchener, Ont.

Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, he’s been making every effort to reunite with his 19 family members, 14 of them children, currently living in the besieged Palestinian territory.

The Duggars?

Harvard University has borne the brunt of the backlash for the antisemitism of its student protesters in the last few months: their president had to step down over her mismanagement of the issue and a plagiarism scandal. But Harvard is far from the only elite school in the nation in botching their approach to pro-Palestinian activists. It’s not even alone in its city. Boston University sits just over a mile away, across the Charles River — and its administration has avoided the same level of backlash for its failure to tackle open hatred of Jews and Israelis on campus.

The Israel-Hamas War has exposed the danger of Islamic identity politics.

This week, the idea of ‘the Muslim world’ took one hell of a beating. The notion of an ummah has been left in tatters. The fantasy of a global people with shared interests and experiences – almost an Islamic class – is now surely kaput. For while woke activists in the West might still speak of Muslims as a bloc, if not a blob, elsewhere in the world Muslims are at war. Two of the most powerful Muslim-majority nations, Iran and Pakistan, got dangerously close to all-out conflict this week. Tell me: who should the ‘Muslim community’ in Britain or the US or Canada support in this violent border skirmish?

Toronto police banning protests on Avenue Road overpass will create a dangerous chill

Last Thursday, Police Chief Myron Demkiw announced a protest ban at the Avenue Road and Hwy. 401 overpass.

Only two days later, Demkiw made good on his promise as police arrested three people, including a community member from the neighbourhood. The local group organizing the walk notes that they were not carrying banners or signs, yet several police officers arrived to remove them from the overpass forcefully. On top of the arrests, an elderly Imam, along with three other people, had to seek hospital treatment, and one person reported a concussion, according to a statement released by Eglinton-Lawrence + Don Valley 4 Palestine.

In communities across Toronto, efforts are underway to prepare for the hundreds of Palestinians expected to arrive following the introduction of the federal government’s temporary resident visa program for Gazans with extended family in Canada.

But for some members of the Palestinian Canadian community, feelings of hope are mixed with anxiety and desperation, as uncertainty looms over when Gazans will be allowed to leave the war-torn territory and how they will be received in Canada, where some have voiced concerns over their arrival.

Borrell calls for two-state solution, accuses Israel of having ‘created’ Hamas

Top European Union Diplomat Josep Borrell has accused Israel of having “created” and “financed” the militant group Hamas — which carried out unprecedented and deadly attacks on Israel on October 7 — in a bid to weaken the two-state solution.

“We believe that a two-state solution must be imposed from outside to bring peace. Although, I insist, Israel is reaffirming its refusal (of this solution), and to prevent it they have gone so far as to create Hamas themselves,” Borrell said during a speech at the University of Valladolid in Spain.

Sainsbury’s has said it is “terribly sorry” after spoof pricing labels were spotted by pots of Israeli hummus accusing shoppers of “supporting genocide”.

The fake shelf labels, which were found Thursday morning at Vauxhall train station in London, said shoppers could purchase “apartheid hummus” for £19.48, a reference to the year of the establishment of the Jewish State.

It further encourages consumers to “search #BDS for more info” and notes, “Buying this product helps support genocide.”

It had been years since I awoke to the wail of an air-raid siren. A born-and-bred Israeli who has lived in America since 2007, I once almost thought of myself as a world citizen—a rootless cosmopolitan, some might say. I have an American education and job, American friends, and an American accent I picked up from watching The Simpsons. But as it turns out, my roots are deeper than I ever anticipated.

I was at my parents’ Tel Aviv home on October 7. We quickly realized that the attack wasn’t what we called a “regular war.” When the initial death toll passed 100, a number none of us was familiar with, we briefly froze. Then we started moving again. What happened in the days and weeks that followed was both unreal and utterly familiar—the unthinkable happened; yet somehow, we all knew exactly what to do.

“When I heard the initial reports of Hamas’ attacks on Israel this past Saturday… my first reaction was ‘Good for them.’”

When pro-Hamas insurrectionists stormed Capitol Hill, Brant Rosen, described as “one of the demonstrators”, was quoted as falsely accusing Jews of genocide. He was later arrested.

In Chicago, where he claims to have co-founded the “first anti-Zionist temple”, he showed up at a rally urging, “stop the violence, and then, to work toward a true and lasting and just peace.”

Is Israel on the cusp of political upheaval? In recent days, evidence has grown that two key actors—the Biden administration and Israel’s security establishment—are both pushing the country in that direction to advance their longstanding common goal of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the religious-right bloc from power.

The Biden administration showed its hand on Tuesday when U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken gave Israel an ultimatum to support Palestinian statehood or risk demonization by the administration.

h/t Sweetpea

Families in Tower Hamlets say ‘oppressive and intimidating’ symbols make them feel unwelcome in London borough for the first time

Walking through the borough of Tower Hamlets in east London it is clear to see on which side most residents’ sympathies lie in the Israel conflict.

On high streets, in parks, outside shops, and at school gates, the red, green, black and white Palestinian flag is everywhere to be seen – flying high from lamp posts as a symbol of solidarity for those fighting and dying 2,200 miles away in Gaza.

Foreign Office sexual violence adviser signed petition denying abuse of Jews

A Foreign Office adviser leading the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) signed a petition dismissing reports of rape committed by Hamas on October 7 as “propaganda” to justify Israel’s “genocide” against Palestinians, the JC can reveal.

Dimpy Sanganee works in the Foreign Office’s Gender and Equalities department and has an “instrumental” role in tackling violence against women and girls. Earlier this month, she signed a petition that wrongly alleged that a major New York Times article revealing the full horror of sexual violence on October 7 cited “no evidence”.

I wonder how much of this sort of nonsense is kept hidden in Canada.