Word has come out that Hamas plans on releasing the bodies of the Bibas family. The terrorist organization has been very tight lipped about the fate of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel who were taken. along with their father and husband, Yarden. Yarden Bibas was released as part of the hostage deal earlier this month.
This week’s exchange will include 6 living hostages and 4 bodies. Khalil al-Hayya, the senior Hamas negotiator, said the bodies to be released would include those of the Bibas family – Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when Hamas kidnapped them.
In exchange, Israel will free all women and those under the age of 19 arrested since last October and is allowing some rubble-clearing equipment into Gaza through the border with Egypt.
Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen, Avraham (Avera) Mengisto, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, and Hisham Al-Sayed will all be released this Saturday. Mengitsu and Al-Sayed have been held in Gaza for around a decade, having crossed into Gaza on their own accord.
(L-R) Sagui Dekel Chen, Iair Horn, and Alexander Sasha Troufanov on stage with Hamas terrorists in Khan Yunis, February 15, 2025.
Despite saying they would not release any hostages this week because Israel had violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas released three hostages today. Alexander Sasha Troufanov, Sagui Dekel Chen, and Iair Horn were transferred to Israeli custody after 498 days in the hands of Hamas.
Today’s release was uncertain until it actually happened. As I wrote the other day, Hamas was not going to release any hostages this week. It looks like they blinked, at least a little. Considering the statements from President Trump about the situation of late, I’m surprised they did not release more.
In a statement released on Truth Social, the President made it clear he thought Hamas should have released all the hostages today, but three is better than none. He also made a point of saying that Bibi Netanyahu and Israel had the lead in the decisions about it and the US would have Israel’s back regardless.
Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their statement last week that they would not release any Hostages. Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!
According to the Jerusalem Post, the hostages appeared thin and pale but were able to stand, support their own weight, and walk independently.
These initial signs suggest their medical condition is stable and does not require emergency hospitalization at Soroka Medical Center or Barzilai Medical Center in the South.
At the reception point in Re’im, military doctors conducted initial medical examinations, accompanied by a mental health officer who will continue to support them until they reach Ichilov Hospital and Sheba Medical Center.
There are 73 hostages, including 5 Americans, still being held in Gaza. At least 35 of them are dead.
Israeli soldiers seen inside the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on January 19, 2025(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
I wrote a quick update about the situation in Gaza the other day. In it I mentioned the comments made by President Trump regarding the hostage situation. While those initial comments opened some eyes across the region, what the President said the next day really put the fox in the henhouse.
When the President heard that Hamas was planning on violating the cease-fire and hostage deal by not releasing hostages as scheduled, he had more to say. After commenting again on the condition of the three released hostages, Trump issued an ultimatum; release the hostages by Saturday, or “all hell will break loose”.
When pressed by reporters for details on what that meant, Mr. Trump initially responded: “You’ll find out, and they’ll find out, too. Hamas will find out what I mean.”
He later said Saturday’s delayed hostage release – which was expected to see the release of another three hostages held by Hamas in exchange for dozens more Palestinian prisoners – should include all of the remaining hostages.
“I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday,” Mr. Trump said. “All of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two.”
Hamas, of course, got its panties in a wad over the ultimatum. A senior Hamas leader told the French news agency AFP on Tuesday that Mr. Trump’s warning over the hostages “further complicates matters.”
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners (hostages),” Sami Abu Zuhri said. “The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters”.
Today, there is news that Hamas did not take the President’s warning as seriously as they should. The Jerusalem Post is now reporting that Hamas will not release all of the hostages this Saturday.
Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri spoke to Al Jazeera on Wednesday evening and stated that Hamas is “committed” to implementing the previously agreed schedule of the hostage deal and that they will not release “all” Israeli hostages on Saturday.
Abu Zuhri’s comments likely came as part of a larger statement to Al Jazeera regarding Hamas’s views towards the potential breakdown of the ceasefire agreement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that if Hamas does not release the Israeli hostages by Saturday, all hell will break loose.
Hamas might just be starting to realize that they are not dealing with Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, and the rest of the halfwits from the last administration. They did blink, at least a little and are now releasing at least three hostages this Saturday.
The IDF has already started to position troops and equipment close to the Gaza Strip. If they move, and it seems likely if Hamas violates the deal again, I’d expect the IDF to sever the Strip at that Netzarim corridor again, and push any of the Gaza Arabs back to the south end of the strip. I would also expect them to take control of the crossings into Egypt at Rafah and Kerem Shalom. They may take the Philadelphi corridor, but that would be secondary.
A Palestinian walks past destroyed residential buildings damaged by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Bureij, central Gaza Strip, January 22, 2025.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written about the goings-on in Israel and that region. So, I figure it’s time for an update of sorts.
I’m reasonably sure that you have heard about what Trump said about the US taking over Gaza as part of the rebuilding process there. As part of that same press availability, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he also said Egypt and Jordan would have to take some of the Gaza Arabs*. What’s more, in comments released today, he said that any displaced Gaza Arabs would not have the right of return.
The first comments caused some serious soul searching across the Sahel, particularly in Egypt and the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Keep in mind, the Gaza Strip was Egyptian prior to the 1967 Six Day war and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank*) were the ‘Trans’ part of Transjordan until the same war.
Both Egypt and Jordan have had serious issues with refugees from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria. The previous King of Jordan, Hussein, was almost toppled by them. Neither can truly afford to take many Gazan refugees but neither can they afford not to do as the US wants.
The hostages that were released by Hamas on Saturday, Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami, and Or Levy, were in the worst condition of any so far. They looked not dissimilar to photos of German concentration camp victims, exceedingly thin, gaunt and pale. Hamas forced the men to thank them before they were released. Eli Sharabi said he was thankful to go home to his wife and daughters. The captor asking the questions laughed knowing, unlike Eli, that the wife and daughters had been murdered on 10/7.
President Trump weighed in on the condition of the hostages, “Hamas has been a disaster… I watched the hostages come back today. And they looked like Holocaust survivors, they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated… I don’t know how much longer we can take that.” I don’t think he is going to take it.
It gets worse though. After the nearly universal backlash about the condition of the released hostages, Hamas said today that it was suspending the hostage release program indefinitely. They are – falsely – claiming Israeli violations of the hostage deal. Among the claims are that the IDF has fired on Gazans who have returned north of the Netzarim corridor and that Israel has prevented food and other necessities from entering Gaza.
My take is they need time to fatten up the remaining hostages. Hamas and their enablers clearly did not realize the effect the shockingly bad condition of the released hostages would have on public opinion outside the Strip.
I also tend to think they underestimated Trump after dealing with Biden and his band of mid-and-half-wits for the last four years. They are about to find out there is a new sheriff in town, and he isn’t afraid of using his power to get what he wants. I think Qatar the one holding most of the purse strings for Hamas and the PA in Judea and Samaria – has underestimated him as well, at least up until Friday that is. The comments about the US taking control of Gaza opened some eyes in that region, including those of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the day-to-day ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Author’s note: I am no longer calling the Arab residents of the Gaza strip, Judea and Samaria Palestinians. I will only call them what they are; Arabs. They didn’t even call themselves that prior to the rise of Arafat when it became politically expedient to have a separate nationality to fall back on. Nor will I call Judea and Samaria the West Bank.
It’s week 142 (two years, eight months and three weeks) of Putin’s 3 days to Kiev invasion of Ukraine. For all of the 700,000 casualties*, 3558 tanks, 1744 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 4986 Armored Fighting Vehicles, ~1000 APCs/Engineering Vehicles/Command Post Vehicles, 1282 Artillery pieces, 477 MLRS, and sundry Hundreds of other vehicles and equipment, the Russians only control about 5% of Ukraine. Hell, they don’t even control all of the Oblasts they ‘annexed’ last year, in fact they control less of Kherson Oblast than they did when the sham referendum was held.
It’s gotten so bad for Putin the Russian army is using North Korean troops as cannon fodder in Kursk Oblast to try to stem a Ukrainian incursion into that part of Russia. Around two brigades of North Korean troops were sent to far eastern Russia for training and equipping about 6 weeks ago. The first Nork casualties were reported last week, and several have reportedly defected to Ukraine.
I feel I should mention that if, and as of right now it’s a big IF, any of these NK troops get back to NK, they are headed directly to a camp for the rest of their miserable lives. Why? because they’ve seen how the rest of the world lives. The information control in North Korea is complete. If the State does not want you to know something, you do not know it. The 10,000 or so Norks in Russia however. . . What’s the saying about genies and bottles?
The Norks have also sent around 100 self-propelled artillery pieces for the Russians to use. The issue with the Nork arty is that it’s a different caliber, 170mm, than anything the Russian tubes use. It also takes forever and ten minutes to emplace, aim, fire, and unemplace. In other words, it is highly susceptible to counter-battery fire and drone strikes. In other, simpler words, nearly useless in the current Ukraine battlefield.
Speaking of Kursk Oblast, the UAF have taken several thousand square kilometers of territory, including the Gazprom natural gas pumping facilities at Sudzha. The Russians and their NK allies have tried very hard to take that territory back in the past few days/week. While they have managed to regain some land, the majority of the attacks have been defeated. A total of 500 vehicles and several thousand men were lost on 3 consecutive days in meat wave attacks.
Frankly, I’m still of my old Cold War mindset that the only good Russian is a dead Russian, and wish the Ukrainians all the luck in the world. I am also of the mindset that as long as there are no US boots on the ground there, we should be helping them as much as possible. This is an existential threat to a country we are treaty-bound to aid in the case of an invasion. I realize that some of you hold differing ideas about the war in Ukraine, and that’s your prerogative. We can disagree and still be friends.
*The 700,000 casualty number is on the low side of the estimated range. I have seen numbers as high as 1.2 mm and as low as 650,000. It includes what the Russians call gruz 200 (cargo 200 or deceased soldiers), severely wounded and sick troops who are unable to return to the front. Since WWII, the accepted ratio of KIA to WIA is about 1-4. The appalling lack of battlefield triage and care on the Russian side puts that number closer to 2-3. The US had a ratio of about 1-10.7 during the GWOT for reference. This casualty rate has, of late, exceeded the replacement rate, that is there are more Russian casualties occuring in Ukraine than births across Russia. That is a demographic disaster in the making.
Israel is still absolutely curbstomping both Hamas and Hezbollah. Every time either appoints new leadership, Israel plays a game of Whack- Fuck with them. Of late, the IDF has been taking out Hezb figure who were involved in the Beirut Barracks bombing. Good on them. . .
Since my last piece about that particular shit sandwich, we’ve found out that one of the targets Israel hit in Iran was a clandestine nuclear weapons facility. It seems the facility in question was some sort of assembly area and it is now all but completely destroyed.
We also found out that the Israelis managed to take out all of Iran’s relatively modern air defense systems. I say relatively, because the bulk of the Iranian ADA was Russian built S-300 system. Prior to the Israeli/Hamas conflict, Iran has four of those systems, now, well, they have exactly zero.
The CCP has been flexing a bit in the Pacific. In the weeks leading up to the US elections, they repeatedly violated the Taiwanese ADIZ and circled the island with their navy and coast guard. Meanwhile, the US just approved $567m in new military aid for the Taiwanese.
They also attacked a Philippine naval vessel trying to resupply the Philippine ship/base at Second Thomas shoal. Second Thomas is part of the Spratly chain and inside of the Philippines exclusive economic zone. The Chinese claim it as theirs based on the name of the body of water, the South China Sea, and not much more. I’m sure most of you have seen the 9 dash map.
The entire claim is ridiculous. Under international law, coastal countries have sovereign control out to 12 miles and an exclusive economic zone of up to 200 miles. Under Maritime law, and World Court rulings, none of China’s territorial claims are valid. Sooner or later it’s going to wind up in a shooting match. I just hope we’re ready.
On the lighter side, the famous deer in Nara park in Japan are in the news. The deer, much accustomed to people, are starting to get aggressive with tourists. The park, a 502-hectare sanctuary designated as a national treasure, is home to around 1,400 free-roaming deer, and some of the city’s most famous landmarks, including Todaiji Temple. Last year there were 5 documented injuries caused by the deer, this year there have already been 35.
“We do not think the deer are becoming more aggressive towards people, but there has been an increase in incidents,” said Yumiko O’Donnell, of the Nara Prefectural Government’s Tourism Bureau. “More tourists are coming back to Nara Park after the pandemic. So it is possible that after a relatively quiet time, the deer have been surprised to see many more people”. Nature, red in tooth and claw. Even in the Land of the Rising Sun.
This next, and last, item is a bit um, gross. While trying to get to the bottom of a completely unrelated topic your editor ran into an odd set of facts. One I really wish I hadn’t, but one that explains a lot. Consanguinity, that is inbreeding or cousin marriage is far more common across the Ummah, or Muslim world than it is in any other region. By a lot.
Pakistan leads the way with 61% of marriages being between first cousins. Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, the Sudans and Afghanistan are all at 50%. Mauritania, Iraq, Iran and Yemen are all in the 40% range, with most of the remainder in the 25-39% range. The numbers fall in the far eastern Muslim states like Indonesia where they have a consanguinity rate of less than 15% and Malaysia with less than 5%.
For reference, America’s hat, Canada, has a 1.5% consanguinity rate, while the US has a less than 0.1% rate.
But what does it mean? Consanguinity is linked to a whole host of issues. Children of consanguineous marriages are twice as likely to have genetic disorders than children of non-related couples. These disorders include thalassaemias (a blood disorder), cystic fibrosis, Down’s syndrome, and infantile cerebral palsy. Consanguineous births are also at a higher rate of congenital malformations, such as congenital heart diseases, renal diseases, and rare blood disorders.
The Knesset, the Israeli parliament, has passed legislation banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East from Israeli controlled territory. From the Times of Israel:
MKs voted 92 to 10 to approve a law barring UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory, and 87-9 in favor of another measure curtailing UNRWA’s activities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.
Without coordination with Israel, it will be almost impossible for UNRWA to work in Gaza or the West Bank, since Jerusalem would no longer be issuing entrance permits to those territories or allowing coordination with the IDF. Israel also currently controls access to Gaza from Egypt, with Israeli forces deployed along the border between them.
Founded in 1948, shortly after the Israeli war of independence, UNRWA is a U.N. organization established to provide aid to Palestinian Arab refugees in the West Bank Judea and Samaria, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It is the only individualized refugee program run by the UN and it is also the only one that does not have settlement of the refugees in question as part of its charter.
In fact, there are more Arab refugees registered with UNRWA now, by a factor of 10, than there were in 1948. What’s more, UNRWA seeks to prolong refugee status for those under its umbrella. According to the UNRWA website, “More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan… Most, but not all, have full citizenship.” While I’m no expert, wouldn’t you say that having full citizenship in the country you reside be the definition of not a refugee?
— The Mossad: Satirical and Awesome (@TheMossadIL) October 29, 2024
It gets worse though, a fairly large proportion of Arab UNRWA employees are Hamas terrorists. Of the 12,000 local UNRWA workers, at least 440 are part of the Hamas military wing, another 2,000 are active Hamas members and more than 7,000 of the remainder have 1st degree relatives who are Hamas members. Those ratios are much higher than the Gazan population at large. Several senior UNRWA officials have been identified as Hamas members and participants of the 10/7 attack. Most of them have been neutralized by the IDF like Mohammed Abu Itiwi here.
You mean the guy that was responsible for this?
The @UN “employee” in question is a Hamas Nukhba commander, Mohammad Abu Itiwi, who murdered and kidnapped young women and men during the October 7 massacre. Itiwi was employed by @UNRWA in July 2022 and committed these crimes… https://t.co/IqErQtGKpxpic.twitter.com/fsJXG1hHgx
Additionally, the IDF has documented Hamas terror tunnels and other underground facilities beneath dozens of UNRWA facilities like hospitals and schools. There are several videos of 10/7 that show Hamas terrorists transporting captives and bodies stolen from Israel to al Shifa hospital in Gaza. You know al Shifa hospital, it’s the one that a Hamas dud fell one and Israel got blamed for it. It also has a Hamas command node built underneath.
Of course the ‘international community’ is up in arms about this. If UNRWA cannot operate in Israeli controlled areas, it effectively ceases to exist. How else are they going to launder their terror support monies?
Israeli ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, made a statement regarding Israeli cooperation with international aid organizations and why UNRWA was being singled out.
Today, in a media statement before the Security Council session, I addressed the legislation that limits the activities of UNRWA. We will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations, but not with those who cooperate with Hamas terrorists. pic.twitter.com/pnr1tHAiRK
Frankly, I am a bit surprised it took this long for the Knesset to take this action. But then again, prior to 10/7 Israel kind of cared about what the international community thought. Since then however, it looks like the Israelis have learned a hard lesson, that survival is more important than international praise or condemnation.
Ever since the October 7th attack last year, the Israelis have picked off Hamass and Hezbollah leadership one by one. News dropped this morning that they got another one.
This time they got Yahya Ibrahim Hassan Sinwar, the Hamas leader in Gaza. Sinwar was the mastermind behind the 10/7 attack and the highest ranking Hamass leader in Gaza.
Early indications point to the action that saw Sinwar’s brain exposed to the atmosphere was not a special operation but rather a routine patrol in the Tal al Sultan area of Gaza, just north of Rafah. It appears the unit that was in contact did not realize they were engaging Sinwar. They spotted a group of terrorists moving between buildings and opened fire.
Sinwar was tried and convicted of the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers and four Palestinians he considered to be collaborators in 1989. He was sentenced to four life sentences by Israel but was released after serving only 22 years as part of a hostage deal that saw IDF trooper Gilad Shalit released. While in prison, Sinwar developed a brain tumor that would have killed him, but Israeli doctors removed it. Proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished.
It’s been one year since the animals of Hamas attacked several areas across southern Israel killing more than 1200 and taking 251 hostage. At least 60 live hostages and the remains of 30 more are still being held by the terrorist group in Gaza.
We all remember the images of that day. Corpses strewn on the roadside, houses burnt, the heartbreaking images from the Nova music festival.
Since that day, Iran’s proxies in the region, Hamas and Hezbollah, have suffered incredible losses.
The IDF has eliminated most of the senior Hamas leadership in Gaza. Hamas political leader Ismael Haniyeh was killed in a bombing in an IRGC Tehran safe-house. Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas chief in Gaza has not been seen in months. And the vast majority of Hamas fighting units have been destroyed.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese analog to Hamas, started launching rockets into northern Israel on October 8. A few weeks ago, Israel finally responded with a complex pager attack. This was followed up by a series of air-and-missile attacks that took out all of Hezbollah’s senior leadership. Their replacements do not seem to have a very long shelf-life either.
The Israelis aren’t done yet. As I write this (1800ish Sunday evening on the East Coast) the Iranians have closed all of their airports and their airspace in anticipation of an Israeli strike. Whether or not that is going to happen remains to be seen.
That’s a question many in the ‘smart set’ are asking themselves in the wake of the complete decapitation of Hezbollah at the hands of the Israelis. The problem is, they didn’t expect what happened already, so they are Ill-prepared to formulate any cogent answers to any follow-on questions about the next stages in the Middle East. Here’s my take as a less-than-disinterested observer.
An important thing to note is that the current war in the Levant was never solely about Gaza or Apartheid or Palestinian rights, it was about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s desire to destroy Israel. The Palestinians are nothing but a convenient tool for the Ayatollahs in their quest for that aim.
Most of you were aware that Hezbollah and Hamas are Iranian proxy groups. The Ayatollahs, starting with Khomeini and continuing to today, have used these groups as a shield as well as a sword against Israel and the collective West.
Tehran has spent decades building up proxies to surround Israel with the explicit target of taking over the region and destroying Israel. The point of building up those terror proxies was to wait for the right time and strike, and serve as a deterrent from Israel taking them on directly.
While the Ayatollahs are more than willing to sacrifice every last one of them to further their aims, they miscalculated badly this time. Tehran wasn’t counting on is Israel would fight these wars to win. In less than a year since 10/7 the Israelis have mostly eliminated Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and decapitated Hezbollah. Hezbolllah was the Ayatollahs shield and now it is gone.
Today we get news that the IDF struck Houthi controlled ports and other facilities in Yemen. This was partially done as retaliation for several Houthi ballistic missile attacks in the past few days. There was little damage done by these launches, the Iron Dome intercepted all of the incoming. I said partially, because frankly, the strikes, especially the one on the oil terminal at Hodeidah port are a stark warning to the Tehran. A strike like that on just one of their oil terminal ports would cripple the Iranian economy for months.
I feel that the Ayatollahs have to respond, but with Hamas in tatters and the entire chain of command of Hezbollah dead, I don’t know what exactly they could do. The Houthi might try something major, but I’m not convinced they have the materiel to do so. The same with the Iraqi PMF militias.
There has been some palaver about enforcing UNSC resolution 1701. The problem is, that resolution has been in place since 2006 and still has not been fully implemented.
I’m not one for predictions unless I have enough data for a quality analysis. And right now, I do not have enough. That said I think we can expect a few things in the next week leading up to the one year anniversary of the 10/7 attacks.
We’ll see a continued low volume rocket and missile attacks from Hezbollah and the Houthis. I think I can safely say you’ll see some drones or rockets from the PMF in Iraq as well. The vast majority of these will be intercepted by the Israelis.
I would also expect to see the IDF targeting more Hezbollah sites and personnel. I do not think the Israelis are done knocking of Hezbollah leadership quite yet. It seems pretty clear to me that Mossad has Hezbollah deeply and thoroughly penetrated.
The entire world is witness to a form of mass insanity. In response to the brutal murder of more than 1,200 innocent people by a gang of savage terrorists together with the taking of more than 200 hostages, people and governments are supporting the murderers and, in so doing, are committing a moral sin of cosmic proportions. The collective disgrace is beyond comprehension.
The pressure seems to be focused on Israel, instead of on the Hamas murderers. The Biden/Harris administration, many Western governments, protestors on college campuses, and even Israeli citizens are siding with the terrorists. “Why isn’t Netanyahu doing more to gain the release of the hostages?” “Why aren’t we insisting on a ceasefire?” This is what happened after October 7th and it happened again this week when Hamas brutally murdered six hostages. What they are all missing is that Netanyahu didn’t kill those people, Hamas terrorists did.
Attorney Leo Terrell put it succinctly: “Where’s the pressure on Hamas?” Alan Dershowitz agreed. The question, Dershowitz said, is not why isn’t Israel doing more to gain the release of the hostages. The question is, why isn’t Hamas releasing the hostages? “Bring them home” puts the onus on Israel. The slogan should be, “Let them go.” Israel does not have a responsibility to sacrifice its national security. No, Hamas has a clear obligation to release the hostages.
The protests have nothing to do with ceasefires, Dershowitz says, they have to do with cease Israel. Hamas’ stated goal is the elimination of the State of Israel. If Israel agrees to a ceasefire, Hamas wins. Hamas will be free to reconstitute itself and continue its assaults on Israel. That is why Netanyahu is correct in aiming for the complete obliteration of Hamas.
The craziness of the response to the Hamas atrocities was articulated by British commentator Piers Morgan: “I was in London on October 7th. There were thousands of people gathering near the Israeli embassy. I mistakenly thought they were there in support of the people of Israel. They were there celebrating what Hamas has done to innocent Israeli civilians. There were thousands within hours. In New York. In London. In Sydney. People were saying ‘gas the Jews.’ These are supposedly civilized democratic societies—the instinctive response of the populaces in these countries was to celebrate what happened. That’s a terrifying thing.”
“They are cheering on a terrorist organization,” said Lara Trump. “An organization that beheads babies, that murders Holocaust survivors, that holds people hostage.” Every time you support Hamas, said Victor Davis Hanson, you’re supporting murder. “You’re no different than the people who go across and butcher civilians.”
“The Democratic Caucus is afraid to stand up against terrorists,” said Newt Gingrich. Democrats are “opposed to the survival of Israel. There is no question in my mind that AOC and Ilhan and Tlaib and their friends are just plain pro-terrorist members,” Gingrich said. “In the left wing of the Democratic Party, anti-Semitism and the desire to destroy Israel is now a dominant, real factor.”
The position of the Biden/Harris administration is purely political, says Leo Terrell. The Democrats are concerned about the Muslim Arab population in Michigan. “If they don’t win Michigan,” says Terrell, “they can’t win the election so that’s the game plan right now. Guess who’s being sacrificed—who’s being thrown under the bus? Jewish-Americans and the State of Israel. Israel is our strongest ally and the Biden/Harris administration has abandoned them.”
What about Harris the presidential candidate? “Harris is signaling that she is not going to lift a finger for Israel,” says Terrell. Trump is the only one who has Israel’s back.
The media has played a major role in advancing a hostile attitude toward Israeli self-defense, intentionally depicting Palestinians as innocent victims. In fact, there is nothing innocent about the inhabitants of Gaza. The vast majority of Palestinians approve of the October 7th atrocities and Hamas’ intention to kill Jews.
CNN has argued that Israel violates international law when it targets civilian sites in Gaza. Not true. Israel has done more to prevent civilian harm than any military in history. Civilians usually account for 80-90% of casualties, a ratio of one combatant to 9 civilians. In Gaza, the ratio is one combatant to 1.5 civilians. Israel receives no applause, only one-sided condemnation.
The breakout of antisemitic protests is largely attributable to growing Muslim influence in the West. According to Jihad Watch, 57% of American Muslims agree that the Hamas atrocities were justified. “Immigration has imported terrorism and support for it inside the United States,” Jihad Watch reports. “Islamic terrorism has become endemic and indigenous to America. How long until we have our own ‘Hamas’ in America?”
The celebration of Hamas that is spreading across America and Western Europe is symptomatic of moral disintegration. As Douglas Murray explains in The Strange Death of Europe, Europeans and Americans are increasingly unable to argue for the advantages of Western culture and accomplishments. Those who support Hamas atrocities are contributing to the destruction of our own moral standards. This is nothing less than mass insanity.
One has to wonder if it has occurred to the benighted buffoons that Hamas defeating Israel provides Hamas, thus Iran, a ready made supply of nuclear weapons.
