Do Israel’s critics understand Evil? Calls for a ‘proportionate’ response are intellectual obfuscation

After the Holocaust, academics and others tried to make sense of the murder of six million Jews. Historians pointed to the rise of nationalism following the First World War; the dismal state of the German economy when Hitler rose to power; the dehumanising abstraction of Enlightenment rationality. Some rabbis argued that the Holocaust was a punishment from God, but they could not agree on why it was merited. Was it because the Jews of Europe sought to found a state of their own? Or because they didn’t? Others more prudently followed Wittgenstein’s observation: “That of which we cannot speak, we must consign to silence.”

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U.S. and Israel Focus on Hezbollah’s Next Move After Hamas Attack

U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies are working to determine whether Israel’s expected ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip could prompt Hezbollah to launch a large-scale military campaign against Israel from Lebanon, American and Israeli officials said.

American officials said they believe the deployment of two carrier strike groups, each of which consists of an aircraft carrier, its planes and several escort warships, has — for now — appeared to deter Hezbollah from attacking Israel in a major way. Israel has also reinforced its northern border after the attack on Hamas on Oct. 7, in which 1,400 people were killed.

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Europe’s Anti-Semitic Apocalypse

Let’s do a thought experiment. Think of the group whom you find most dangerous or otherwise objectionable. It might be a political group on the left or right. It might be campaigners for a particular cause—Black Lives Matter, say, or a far-right activist group. In my case, that would include transgender activists and allies, especially those working to transition children and minors.

Now, imagine that some armed and angry people who share your antipathy to that group took up weapons and slaughtered over 1,000 of them in a single morning. Imagine that it kidnapped their children and was holding them hostage. How would you react?

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Billionaires who have pumped $500m into Ivy League schools back out over failure to condemn the Hamas terror attack on Israel

Ivy League schools face a multi-million dollar dip in funding after being blasted for failing to condemn Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel.

Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have been hit hardest by the backlash – with a host of alumni calling on the colleges to do better as some revoke their funding entirely.

Billionaires Ken Griffin and former US Ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr have stripped their support for both prestigious universities after slamming their stance on the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

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‘I only knew that from the Nazis’: Israeli forensic experts identify tortured and burned bodies

RAMLA, Israel — “The smell goes straight to my heart,” Rabbi Israel Weiss said, standing in front of dozens of refrigerated shipping containers, each containing 50 bodies. Those who approach must wear a mask against the smell.

On Saturday evening, the former chief military rabbi of the Israeli military explained to journalists at Shura Base, Ramla, 20 kilometers southside of Tel Aviv, how he and his colleagues have been trying to identify not only hundreds of victims of the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, but also the corpses of the Islamist militants who attacked them.

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How the Israel-Hamas War Is Tilting the Global Power Balance in Favor of Russia, China

Moscow and Beijing seek to ride the wave of solidarity with Palestinians while taking advantage of American distraction

DUBAI—The war between Israel and Hamas isn’t just risking a regional conflagration. It is also affecting the global balance of power, stretching American and European resources while relieving pressure on Russia and providing new opportunities to China.

The long-term effect of the Middle East flare-up is hard to predict. It depends, first of all, on whether Israel is ultimately successful in its stated goal of eliminating Hamas as Gaza’s main military and political force. Another critical issue is whether Israel’s diplomatic relationships in the region and the global standing of its Western supporters can survive the rising civilian casualties in Gaza and the looming horrors of urban warfare in the densely populated enclave.

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Grim Questions

The Kibbutzim/Concert Massacres of October 7 are not an October Surprise but an October Shock Wave — a continuous stream of shock waves that have reset the world. Suddenly — but before the body parts of 1,350 innocents slaughtered in Israel by Hamas terrorists could be gathered by ZAKA — our streets and campuses and internet platforms were flooded with rivers of Jew Hatred masquerading as a historical debate over the very existence of the modern state of Israel, now 75 years old. Suddenly, the 1973 Yom Kippur War was back. Suddenly, the Palestinian “nation,” which never was, was back, too. So was “devilry” of “Zionism” — not that it ever went away. Suddenly, no other disaster, no other crime has the same weight, the same right to exist, if you will, anymore. Bravo, controllers behind the curtain. It is as if the people of the world have been reimagined as pulsating ganglia, emitting cries of “Stand with Israel” or “Israelis Are War Criminals”; “Kill Hamas” or “I’ll Never Support Israel Again.” We are all of us nearly completely fried from having Hamas’s video trophies of murder and blood burned into our brains, and are thus unable to see what is really happening. As usual, you might say, only worse.

Very interesting read.

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Daniel Koren: York University needs to shut down its antisemitic hate mills now

Last week, the York Federation of Students, York University Graduate Students’ Association and Glendon College Student Union issued a horrific statement applauding the brutal Hamas genocide that left over 1,300 innocent civilians dead as “a strong act of resistance” against “so-called Israel.”

Student clubs and unions at other universities such as the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University and Queen’s University have issued similar statements.

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Trudeau says it’s ‘imperative’ that supplies get through Israel’s Gaza siege

In a rare moment of unanimity, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre added his voice to the prime minister’s in calling for safe zones for Gaza’s civilians

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it is “imperative” that Israel respect international law and allow humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip, where one million people have been displaced in the first week of the war with terrorist organization Hamas.

Trudeau made those comments in the House of Commons on Monday, as MPs were returning from a break week. It was their first time reuniting since Hamas’s terror attacks on Oct. 7. Five Canadians were among the hundreds killed in the attack and three Canadians are missing, presumably kept as hostages by Hamas.

Next will be the disproportionate response BS.

Any goodwill toward Israel the Hamas atrocities generated is quickly expiring.

Why not eleminate Hamas? Damned if you do damned if you don’t.

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Hamas terrorist killed by IDF after brutally murdering Israeli civilians

The IDF has shared footage of a member of Hamas invading an Israeli community on a motorbike and attacking the community with, what appears to be, a rocket launcher.

This is the long form version of a previously posted video.

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How Iran, the ‘Head of the Snake,’ Directly Helped Hamas’s Assault on Israel

The Biden administration insists that it does not have any evidence of Iran’s “direct” involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The Biden administration has apparently totally dismissed the Wall Street Journal report on October 9, “Iran Helped Plot Attack on Israel Over Several Weeks,” as well as the Washington Post’s “Hamas received weapons and training from Iran, officials say.”

Hamas leaders have indeed long been boasting of the financial and military aid they receive from Iran to enable them to pursue the Jihad (holy war) to slaughter Jews and extinguish Israel. Based on the statements of these leaders, it is massively clear that without Iran’s support, and reported planning, Hamas could not have carried out the massacre of Israelis near the border with the Gaza Strip.

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‘Squad’ member Ilhan Omar blasted for circulating misinformation about children’s deaths

“Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) received harsh criticism for circulating a social media post that showed photos of dead children in Syria she claimed died in Gaza in the fighting between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas.

Omar retweeted a post that said “CHILD GENOCIDE IN PALESTINE” and “614 Palestinian children murdered by the Israeli [IDF] forces,” according to a screenshot posted to X by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Saturday. However, a community note stated the picture was from a 2013 sarin gas attack in Ghouta, Syria, and not from the Israel-Hamas war that began when Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the United States, attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

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Harvard billboard accusing students of antisemitism linked to rightwing funder

The organization that placed a billboard at Harvard University accusing some students of antisemitism amid the fight between Israel and Hamas is part of a network of rightwing media organizations being funded by a major conservative donor via a shadowy new foundation.

The single largest identified donor last year to Accuracy in Media (AIM), which placed the billboard, is the Informing America Foundation (IAF), formed in 2021, which has already dished out at least $8m to rightwing nonprofit and for-profit organizations, according to IRS filings.

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Brussels Islamic Terrorism shooting: Suspect at large after two killed in Belgian capital

Two people have been shot dead in the Belgian capital Brussels on Monday evening, police have said.

The gunman fled the scene and is still at large. Prosecutors say they are treating the shooting as terrorism.

Reports said the victims were Swedish. Sweden are playing Belgium in a Euro 2024 qualifier, but it is not known if the victims were there for the match.

A video posted on social media of an Arabic-speaking man claimed he carried out the attack in the name of God.

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