“Oct 7 2023”

Former climate icon Greta Thunberg, revered by politicians, the media and church institutions as a modern-day saint, has hit rock bottom.

The innocent girl against the forces of evil; the young woman acting for higher motives; the penniless rebel; all tropes describing Greta that have gained popularity in recent years.

The state of Israel will shutter its embassy in Ireland after it backed South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice and promised to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu if he set foot in the country. The Irish prime minister called Israel’s decision to close the embassy “deeply regrettable.”

“The decision to close Israel’s embassy in Dublin was made in light of the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government,” Gideon Sa’ar said in a statement on Sunday. “Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel. Israel will invest its resources in advancing bilateral relations with countries worldwide, prioritising those that align with Israel’s interests and values.”

A rigorous analysis published on Saturday of Hamas authorities’ death statistics in Gaza shows they were vastly inflated and methodologically flawed.

The report by the London-based Henry Jackson Society security think tank breaks down the figure of about 44,000 deaths since Oct. 7, 2023, that the Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza has published, and which international media have reported without scrutiny.  

You mean we’ve been Fafo’d!

Americans were shocked and outraged by the assassination of Brian Thompson, the CEO of the UnitedHealthcare insurance company. Or at least most Americans were. Some were apparently happy about it, as a torrent of hate on social media directed towards the victim and sympathy for the murderer indicated.

There have already been several thwarted plots in Canada alone and with their ideological kin getting trounced in the ME perhaps a few more losers will step up in solidarity.

Palestine would be a ‘failing state,’ characterized by internal conflicts and armed actions against its neighbors.

The governments of Ireland, Spain, and Norway want to recognize a non-existent Palestinian state, just as other, predominantly Muslim states have done since the United Nations elevated the status of the Palestinians to that of a quasi-state in 1988. But this status does not actually make the territory a state. Point three of the Montevideo Convention, one of the relevant lists of criteria for statehood under international law, emphasizes, “The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states.”

In other respects, too, the Palestinians do not fulfill the criteria for statehood. The population of the Palestinian territories consists of very different, mutually disunited Arab tribes, clans, and immigrant groups that emerged from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. They settled in and around the nascent Jewish state when proximity to the Jewish enterprises became lucrative. For decades, efforts have been made to declare this heterogeneous population a kind of nation, with a common culture, history, and goals, united by the narrative of the so-called Nakba, said to designate their expulsion and persecution by Israel.

Somewhat covertly, in November 2024, Ayelet Shaked, a former Israeli Minister of Justice, was shockingly denied permission to enter Australia for the purpose of participating in a conference discussing current Middle East events. The conference was hosted by the Australia Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), and intended to be a Jewish community event.

Colin Rubenstein, executive director of AIJAC, denounced the visa denial, made without a reason being disclosed at the time, by Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke. In Rubenstein’s view, “The decision to refuse a visa to… Shaked on the grounds that she would vilify Australians and incite discord among the community is a disgraceful act of hostility towards a democratic ally.”

In two reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia in Canada, Liberal and NDP MPs on the House of Commons justice committee said Ottawa should take steps to keep student protest encampments off university grounds, criminally ban the display of terrorist emblems and recognize anti-Palestinian discrimination as a unique form of hate.

The antisemitism report’s first recommendation says the government should work with provinces and territories to see that universities ensure “encampments are not permitted,” and to determine “what the rules are for protests and demonstrations, including that hateful speech, and speech that incites and justifies violence, will not be tolerated.”

… The two reports, which together offer 34 recommendations, were drafted by the House of Commons standing committee on justice and human rights after it heard from Jewish and Muslim advocacy groups, university students, administrators and academics.

Everybody thinks they can tweak the law to favour their side. It’s a foolish game that always backfires.

Our rights to free speech should not be constrained by political agendas. As we have witnessed with Section 13 that way leads to tyranny.