Tag Archives: Israel

Sometimes The Truth Isn’t Pretty

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On Monday, Hot Air posted an article about the internal conflict taking place in Israel about the conduct of the war against Hamas. Obviously, Israelis want the hostages home safely and the war over, but in their quest for peace, many are overlooking the basic character of Hamas. Meanwhile, President Biden is sitting on a beach in Delaware playing armchair quarterback to the Netanyahu government. President Biden has never been a friend of Netanyahu and part of the problem in the war against Hamas–not part of the solution.

The article reports:

Benjamin Netanyahu stuck to his guns in his effort to remove the incentives for hostaging by Hamas. But it got a lot more difficult after the terrorists murdered six of them over the last few days. And even though Netanyahu won this round in his own Cabinet, that victory may not last. Especially not if Joe Biden gets his way. 

The fight in the Cabinet came from Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant, an ally-of-sorts for Netanyahu most times, who objects to Netanyahu’s plan to keep control of the Gaza-Egypt border. Netanyahu has made clear that he does not want Hamas to get resupplied or to escape out to the Sinai, especially with the hostages. Gallant considers the policy both unnecessary and provocative, and accused Netanyahu of prioritizing the land over the hostages:

He again turned to the premier and asked: “If Sinwar presents you with the dilemma: Either you leave Philadelphi or you return the hostages, what do you do?”

Netanyahu responded that the imperative to keep the IDF at the corridor was of crucial importance to the state.

Gallant said that was all well and good if it was a decision taking in isolation. But, he asked, “What about when 30 lives are at stake? What do you do?”

The prime minister said: “I stay on the Philadelphi. Only resolute negotiations will force [Sinwar] to fold.”

Netanyahu then demanded an immediate vote on his policy. Only Gallant voted to oppose it, although he grumbled afterward that the Cabinet would eventually come around to his position. 

President Biden has stated that he believes Prime Minister Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of the hostages. Somehow I doubt Netanyahu is the problem.

The article concludes:

Ahem. Which side has executed hostages? In fact, which side takes hostages as a war strategy in the first place? And which side started the war on October 7 — while breaking a US-negotiated cease fire? 

There was a time when the world knew that harming an American abroad meant dire consequences for the perps. Now Hamas has demonstrated that killing Americans will put them closer to a strategic victory in separating the US from Israel, with no consequences at all from this administration. What kind of incentives do we think this sets for Hezbollah, Iran, and every other terrorist state and non-state terror networks?

It’s one thing for the Israelis to debate cooperation in hostage strategy. It’s another thing entirely for the US to hand Hamas a strategic victory with our own pusillanimity.  

The Biden administration is encouraging terrorism.

 

 

Words Matter

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The news on Sunday morning reported that the bodies of six of the hostages taken by Hamas had been recovered by the Israeli Defense Forces. Much of the mainstream media reported that the hostages had died–not that they had been murdered by Hamas.

Breitbart posted an article on Sunday about the misleading reports.

Breitbart reported:

Mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, are facing intense backlash for what have been called misleading and “vile” headlines about the brutal murder of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

On Sunday, IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced the hostages had been cruelly murdered by Hamas as Israeli soldiers closed in on their location, possibly based on intelligence provided by a hostage rescued last week.

The six hostages, whose bodies were found Saturday in a tunnel underneath Gaza — including American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin — were discovered in Rafah, the same city that Vice President Kamala Harris had told Israel not to enter.

But mainstream media outlets, including CNN, NBC, and USA Today, covering the recovery of the bodies, sparked outrage by initially reporting that one of the victims had “died” rather than had been “murdered.” 

The cause of the hostages’ death was not clear for about 90 minutes after Hersh Goldberg-Polin was first revealed to be among the victims, which is why some outlets may have been reluctant to use the word “murder.” Mainstream media headlines currently reflect reports by Israeli authorities that the hostages were murdered. However, screen grabs of the initial headlines continued to spark outrage after reports emerged on Sunday that Hamas terrorists had shot each of the six hostages in the head before Israeli soldiers could rescue them.

The war that Israel is fighting against Hamas is as much of a public relations war as it is a kinetic war. Some Israelis who want the hostages released (assuming they are alive) are protesting to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu into a peace deal which would leave Hamas in power and pave the way for another October 7th attack. Those protests are totally playing into the hands of Hamas as are the calls for a cease-fire from some western countries. You don’t make peace with terrorists unless you want more terrorism. Israelis used to know that. I am disappointed in the Israeli leaders who are using the hostages to try to topple the Netanyahu government. You don’t do that when your country is fighting for its survival–you put personal ambitions aside temporarily at least.

Just for the record, the hostages were murdered to avoid Israel celebrating their release. That illustrates the nature of Hamas.

The article concludes:

Though some headlines have since been corrected, the damage had already been done. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both affirmed the hostages were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists.

 

Christians and Government: Should We Engage The Political Arena in America? 

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Author: Pastor Daimon – CCTA Chairman 

 My wife and I recently returned from Washington, DC from the Faith and Freedom Coalition Road to Majority Conference. I was invited to be a speaker and co-host for the Invitation Only Pastors Roundtable with the African American Voices of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. It is Faith and Freedom Coalition’s biggest event of the year with this year’s event having 75 speakers. Just to name a few, we had Faith and Freedom Coalition Founder and Chairman Ralph Reed, Dr. Ben Carson, Senator Josh Hawley, Keri Lake, NC Lt. Governor Mark Robinson, Senator James Lankford, Senator Tim Scott, Senator Ted Cruz, Governor Kristi Noem, Dr. Paul Brantley, President Donald J. Trump, Pastor John Hagee, and many, many more. It was, to say the least, a great time and an honor indeed. 

So, what was my topic of focus? What important contribution could I have made with all those big named speakers, most of them being Christians, as well as Conservatives and Republicans? I simply spoke on – “Christians and Government: Should We Engage the Political Arena in America?” 

This seems to be a hot topic within the Christian community that hasn’t be taught by church pastors to their congregations. There are a lot of Christians that believe that being a Christian has separated us from any responsibility or commitment to our elected offices. Many Christians believe that their only role is to pray for those who hold these offices. A good number of believers believe that their only position is to vote. Then, there are the few that understands that there is no limit to the depths of our engagement with Government. I am of the understanding of the latter, nevertheless, as a Pastor, my responsibility is to teach and educate the church, the body of Christ, what the Bible says on this issue. Yet, all believers have a responsibility to engage in at least two of these areas: prayer and voting. Let’s se if we can get some help from the Bible on this subject. 

When God created man, He set mankind to have dominion on the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). Since that was God’s ordination to all mankind, what part of dominion did we get released from once we received Christ as our Savior? In fact, because of the transgression in to sin taking us out of God’s presence, Jesus Christ came to restore us back into the Presence of God, thus restoring dominion to those who believe. 

This gets even more real to us in Genesis chapter 9, verse 6 when God told Noah, who was a man of righteousness, that, “If man shed man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man.” This was the institution of magistrate and human government. And, in whom did the LORD God impute this dispensation? Noah, a man of righteousness. If this doesn’t give us enough answers, let’s take a look at David. 

David, a man after God’s own heart, was a king hand-picked by God to operate in authority in His nation of Israel, while also writing at least two-thirds of the Psalms. If this one individual doesn’t convince Christians that God’s desire is that His believers engage government, then my next question is…who do you believe should be in authority? Unbelievers? People who do not know God? 

Proverbs 29:2 tells us, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.” Well, we are the righteous according to II Corinthians 5:21. We are also to pray for all kings and for in authority according I Timothy 2:1-2, and that will yield God’s hand turning the heart of the king/president toward his will for His people (Proverbs 21:1). Romans chapter 13 let’s us know that human government was ordained of God and is His agent to ward of evildoers on the earth. 

Remember this, there are a few Books in the Bible, Judges, I Kings, and II Kings, to remind us to get involved so that our Father’s earth is rightfully governed. 

When The Mainstream Media Simply Makes Up Stories

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On Thursday, Red State posted an article about a story the mainstream media simply made up.

The article reports:

According to Woodruff ((long-time reporter Judy Woodruff), who was anchoring PBS News’ live coverage from the DNC, Trump colluded with the Israeli prime minister to stop a ceasefire deal in Gaza because it would “help” Harris. Here are her original comments, which occurred on Monday evening.

WOODRUFF: The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the prime minister of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign. I don’t know where, I don’t know, who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, which is to work on that one, and maybe there are some other domestic issues that, you know, they’d like to see come home.

That’s quite the accusation, and one you’d think a seasoned reporter wouldn’t make without impeccable sourcing. It smacks of the Russian collusion hoax, being yet another claim that Trump is somehow using foreign sources to “interfere” in the election.

Just for the record, it would be foolish for Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept any deal the allows Hamas to regroup and repeat their actions of October 7th.

The article explains what happened when Judy Woodruff was caught in the lie:

Woodruff then went back on air to offer a quasi-clarification, explaining that she was just repeating reporting from Axios and Reuters.

The only problem with that claim was that neither Axios or Reuters had ever reported the story.

The article notes:

Worse for Woodruff, both articles she cited on Trump and Netanyahu said the former president encouraged the prime minister to take the deal (with the same source saying he wasn’t sure). Later, Netanyahu would deny the phone call even took place.

The article concludes:

At no point did any news outlet report that Trump told Netanyahu to not take a deal with Hamas, much less for political reasons as Woodruff claimed. She made the story up out of whole cloth, and then, instead of admitting it, doubled down on lying about it by blaming other outlets. That’s a breach of journalistic ethics that would make Dan Rather blush. That she hasn’t been pulled off the air and punished is more proof that PBS shouldn’t be getting a dime of public funding.

You tax dollars paid for these lies. It’s time to stop funding PBS. Let them discover the free market and sink or swim.

Wisdom From Someone Who Knows

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On Sunday, The New York Post posted an article about the possibility of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

The article reports:

One-time Israel double agent and son of a Hamas founder Mosab Hassan Yousef warned there is “no such thing” as a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas until Iran’s supreme leader is removed from power.

“This is an open war, and I’m afraid that we haven’t seen the worst of it yet,” Yousef told Fox News Digital. “And let me tell you something: This whole thing is only for one purpose – to just bring the hostages back, and whenever there is an opportunity to just bring the hostages, I think this is where Israel is compromising.”

“But, eventually, this war is not going to stop until Islamists are removed from power, and I’m afraid now that we are coming to realize, without removing ayatollah from power, the Middle East would never experience peace and prosperity,” Yousef said. 

The son of a Hamas founder details in his new book, “From Hamas to America,” the deeply psychological impact of his harrowing life as a member of Hamas, his time as a double agent working for the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) and his exit to America after a decade of service. 

Something to consider when dealing with Iran is that the majority of Iran’s population is under the age of forty. That majority does not necessarily support the Islamists. Iran is a totalitarian state and opposing the government is difficult, but another revolution is not out of the question.

The article concludes with a short sketch of Mosab Hassan Yousef”s biography:

Yousef grew up in the West Bank amid limited opportunities and resources, with many of his classmates either dropping out of school or working manual labor in Israel. He was taught to fear Jews and only met Israelis in “uniform” when he turned 27.

Yousef, in his book, discusses his life as a member of Hamas, including sexual abuse he suffered as a child and his time in Israeli prisons before agreeing to work with Shin Bet. He ultimately fled to the US, where he continues to live and work, speaking out about his experiences with Hamas.

During his time in prison, Yousef started studying the Bible, and he converted to Christianity in 1999. He then fled to the US in 2007, where he experienced some culture shock due to the “false ideologies” that have flooded Western nations, such as “new age theories” that he finds can be “as dangerous as extreme or terrorist ideologies.”

“I am not shocked anymore by human delusion,” Yousef said. “You can say whether if it’s in the West or in the East, it’s the human condition, and time will prove every theory to be actually based according to the universal design, evolution – even though evolution is a very sensitive term – or narratives with dead ends.”

“I appreciate the freedom of speech, even though I have been canceled many times by liberals and mainstream media, which is basically – I don’t want to say it’s shocking, but it’s fascinating to see people who swear by the name of liberty and democracy, but in practice, they are the opposite,” he added.

“For me, this is my journey, and it doesn’t matter what people perceive on the outside,” he stressed. “What matters to me is what I’m learning, what I am seeing as I evolve and integrate.”

Ultimately, Mosab Hassan Yousef”s story and stories from other terrorists like him who have become Christians are the real answer to terrorism. Only Jesus can change a heart that completely.

Risking Americans’ Safety

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On Thursday, Hot Air posted an article about one impact of our open southern border–we have no idea of who is in our country and why they are here.

The article reports:

This is turning into an unpleasant pattern that continues to repeat despite assurances from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that they have the situation under control. Last month, border agents caught three Palestinians whose names appear on the terror watchlist coming over the southern border into California. On Monday, CBP found another one, this time in New Mexico. Omar Shehada turned out to be a doozy. He’s from the West Bank and he landed on the watchlist because he had already been convicted of terror attacks involving “explosives and firearms.” (Probably against Israel.) And now he has crossed the world and very nearly entered our country undetected. Are we honestly expected to believe that he was the only one?

The article concludes:

We are unable to get any background information on these people. It’s something of a miracle that we were able to flag these last four. You can’t simply send an email to Hamas Headquarters or the Palestinian Authority and expect them to tell you what all of their militants have been up to. We run into the same situation with Venezuela and many other nations that are plagued with terror issues. This leaves us unable to vet them properly even when we do manage to catch them coming over the border.

These Hamas terrorists can keep tabs on the international news just like anyone else. They clearly know that the United States is somewhat divided at the moment and they have supporters out there on college campuses. It probably wouldn’t be all that hard for them to find some financial and logistical support for their plans right here among our own people. But just make sure that somebody hands a voter registration form to Omar Shehada. I’m sure he’s just the sort of person that the Democrats want showing up at the polls in November.

We are inviting a terrorist attack.

This Isn’t Really Surprising

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Israel is taking a long time to defeat Hamas. Part of that is due to their extreme concern to avoid civilian casualties–to the point of telling Hamas ahead of time where they will attack. Another part of the problem is America slow-walking our promised military equipment and the fact that the corruption in the Middle East is such that supporting terrorism can be lucrative. There is also the fact that Hamas knows that the longer the war goes on, the better their chances of winning the public relations war. And there are also numerous tunnel complexes that make fighting very difficult.

On Sunday, Breitbart reported:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday that soldiers had uncovered a massive smuggling tunnel underneath the border between Gaza and Egypt in the area of Rafah — where the U.S. had cautioned Israel not to go.

How many countries are quietly undermining the Israeli war effort? We know that the Biden administration shares the goal of the Obama administration to increase the role of Iran in the Middle East and lessen the role of Israel.

The article concludes:

Prior to May, the Biden administration had warned Israel not to enter Rafah, even withholding weapons to pressure Israel to stay out of the area. Israel decided to enter Rafah anyway due to its strategic importance to the war against Hamas.

IDF control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which is a road along the border, has been at stake in recent negotiations with Hamas over a hostage-ceasefire deal. Hamas and the U.S. want Israel to cede control of the corridor, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been reluctant to give it up.

Control of the corridor allows the IDF to choke Hamas’s weapons supply; Israel does not trust Egyptian or U.S. guarantees to monitor the border effectively.

Israel is smart not to trust Egypt or the U.S.

 

Taking Out The Leadership

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Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was killed early Wednesday morning in Tehran according to The New York Post. He was in Tehran Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president. Ismail Haniyeh moved to Qatar in 2019, having lived in the Gaza Strip previously. Qatar has generally been the safe haven for many of the Hamas leaders, so why are they playing a role in the peace negotiations with Israel?

The article reports:

Ismail Haniyeh, one of the most senior Hamas officials, was was killed in Iran by an alleged airstrike carried out by Israel at his Tehran residence on July 31, according to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president.

Born in the then Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip in 1963, Haniyeh had been a prominent member of Hamas since the 1980s and, in 1989, spent three years imprisoned by Israel during the first Palestinian uprising.

Upon his return to Gaza in 1997 after spending years in exile with other Hamas leaders, Haniyeh was appointed leader and President of the Political Bureau of Hamas, solidifying his influence and power within the organization.

In 2006, President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Haniyeh as Palestinian prime minister after Hamas won the most seats in national elections. He was then elected head of Hamas’s political bureau in 2017 and was widely considered Hamas’s overall leader until his death.

Before the killing, Israel vowed to eliminate Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the terror group’s Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state where 1,200 people were killed.

An Israeli airstrike killed three of Haniyeh’s sons and four of his grandchildren, who were traveling in a car through Gaza’s Shati refugee camp to visit family on the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr in April 2024.

A controlled strike taking out senior leadership is probably a good way to deal with Hamas. False claims of genocide against Israel make actually eliminating the problem difficult.

 

The Biden Administration Has No Manners

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On Monday, Breitbart posted an article about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrival in America. No one from the Biden administration was there to greet him. That is a disgrace.

The article reports:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in the United States on Monday, with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both absent to greet him upon arrival.

In a video that the Israeli Embassy to the U.S. posted, Netanyahu was seen walking down the steps of an airplane and shaking hands with several people waiting at the bottom.

Biden’s absence comes as he tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, released a letter saying Biden had “completed his tenth dose of PAXLOVID” and that his symptoms were “almost resolved completely.”

The Consul General of Israel in New York Ofir Akunis was reported to have been among the people who greeted Netanyahu after his plane had landed, according to the Times of Israel.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also notably not present to greet Netanyahu upon his arrival in the U.S.

Israel is fighting for its survival, and the Biden administration is not being an ally. Hopefully the next administration will be able to repair the damage.

The article notes:

Netanyahu’s arrival comes ahead of his speech before Congress on Wednesday. In June, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-KY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released a letter inviting Netanyahu to speak before a joint meeting of members of the United States House and Senate.

Harris and the Senate President Pro-Tempore Patty Murray (D-WA) have reportedly refused to preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) previously stated that he would “not attend” the speech given by Netanyahu, whom he described as a “war criminal.”

Several sources told Axios in June that House Democrats had been discussing holding counter-programing to Netanyahu’s speech.

The Democrats are now officially supporting terrorism over democracy.

Are Lawsuits The Answer?

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On Tuesday, The New York Post reported that Almog Meir Jan, 22, a hostage taken by Hamas on October 7th, is suing a US non-profit which employed his Hamas operative captor as a war correspondent. Good for him.

The article reports:

The organization runs a pro-Palestinian news website and had frequently published the work of Abdullah Aljamal, a Gaza-based journalist and former spokesman for the terrorist organization. He began writing articles for the website in May 2019, according to court filings.

“It is indisputable that defendants provided Hamas operative Aljamal, whose connections to Hamas were publicly known, with a US-based and taxpayer subsidized platform to publish Hamas propaganda and to pass the material off as independent journalism,” the lawsuit says.

Jan was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 last year while he attended the Nova Music Festival. He was held hostage for 246 days, along with Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, at Aljamal family’s home in Nuseirat, according to the Israeli Defense Forces.

Jan claimed he was “abused and mistreated” by his captors, according to legal papers.

Aljamal, who wrote articles for the website lamenting the evils of war and had also worked as a spokesman for the Hamas Ministry of Labor, continued to have his work published by the Palestine Chronicle until just before the June 8 rescue operation.

He and his family were killed during the raid, according to reports.

The article concludes:

Two board members of the non-profit are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle, is also a non-resident scholar at the University of California Santa Barbara’s Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies and a Senior Research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).

CIGA hosted a conference in 2021 that was sponsored in part by Hamas and is directed by Sami Al-Arian, who has been convicted of terrorism-related crimes and deported from the US.

John Harvey, who describes himself as a Buddhist priest and is also on the board of the group, is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. He incorporated the People Media Company in 1999, according to public records.

It is time to examine the role that some nonprofit organizations are playing in supporting terrorism, illegal immigration, and other activities not conducive to law and order.

Mistreating An Ally

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On Sunday, The Gatestone Institute posted an article about the slow-walking of the weapons Congress promised to Israel. It seems that the Biden administration is working very hard to undermine Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and that withholding the weapons he needs to defeat Hamas is part of that problem.

The article reports:

    • It is with good reason that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complains that the US is withholding, or “slow-walking,” military supplies. In Ukraine, for instance, badly needed arms are always “being delivered” but somehow never manage to arrive until long after they might actually have helped.
    • Although Israel’s leaders are well aware of the immense danger presented by Iran, the US and other Western allies evidently cannot be relied upon to prevent Iran from completing its nuclear weapons program. The US appears to like talking, and talking about talking, diplomacy backed up by talking, verbal “understandings” so long as they have no teeth, then paying what looks like bribe money for adversaries not to “make waves,” presumably at least not before the America’s upcoming November election.
    • The Biden administration, it seems, would rather deal with threatening situations via… worthless promises from Iran, Russia, China, the Taliban, the Palestinians or whoever else will offer appeasements.
    • The critical point is that Israel is fighting to safeguard not just its own nation, but the West and the Free World as well. The battle at the moment seems between preserving freedom or having it extinguished by the forces of barbarism, autocracies and theocrats, but most of all by the passivity of the West…. Silky, stealth aggressors include Qatar — the consigliere of all Islamic terror groups — which uses money and its media network Al-Jazeera, not military aggression, as its means of persuasion.
    • Sadly, the Biden administration appears to view Israel not as a sovereign nation but a US satrapy. It is hardly a secret that the US has been trying to oust Israel’s elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and replace him presumably with a subordinate. That US puppet would supposedly be delighted to have a terrorist Palestinian state next door administered by the terrorist godfather, Qatar, and be delighted to see Iran have as many nuclear weapons as it likes.
    • If Obama ostensibly conceived of this arrangement [the 2015 “nuclear deal”] to “balance the influence” of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, the plan has failed colossally. Saudi Arabia, for all its faults, has not tried to enlarge its territory….

The battle against Hamas is America’s as well as Israel’s. However, there has been a strong infiltration into American government in recent years (on both sides of the aisle) of people who do not support Western civilization. President Obama was one of those people and is one of those people probably holding the reins in the Biden administration. We need to remember that if Hamas (actually Iran) can defeat Israel, America is their next target. The Biden administration is playing with fire.

The End Of The Petrodollar

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On Friday, MSN posted an article from India Today about the end of the petrodollar. Since 1974, oil has been traded in petrodollars.

The article explains:

What are petrodollars?

Petrodollars are not a currency but US dollars exchanged for crude oil exports.

The term “petrodollars” refers to the US dollars earned by oil-exporting countries through the sale of oil.

The concept emerged in the early 1970s and has played a significant role in global economics and geopolitics.

History behind petrodollars

Initially, the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 established the US dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency, pegged to gold. This facilitated international trade and economic stability post-World War II.

However, in 1971, US President Richard Nixon ended the dollar’s convertibility to gold, leading to floating exchange rates and increased currency volatility.

In the following year, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo in response to US support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, causing oil prices to skyrocket.

The US struck a deal with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries to stabilise the situation, where oil would be traded exclusively in US dollars.

The move to petrodollars was supposed to stabilize the world’s currency. It was also a boon to America because it provided some stability for the American dollar. Petrodollars were also part of what sustained the value of the American dollar despite ridiculous overspending by Congress. Obviously, the overspending by Congress continues. My fear is that we will become like many formerly prosperous countries with citizens needing to take wheelbarrows of money to the supermarket to buy groceries.

This is not being heavily reported, and I suspect that is because most Americans will have no idea what it means and the news may start an unnecessary panic.

Are We Getting Ready To Redo The “Summer of Love”?

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On Monday, The New York Post posted an article about a recent riot in Manhattan.

The article reports:

A mob of anti-Israel protesters chanted “Long live the Intifada” during a depraved celebration Monday night outside a downtown Manhattan exhibit that memorializes the murder and rape victims of the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival, where 364 people were killed by Hamas terrorists.

The deranged pro-terror crowd lit flares and waved a flag associated with the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah in front of the Nova Music Festival Exhibition on Wall Street during what was billed by organizers as a “citywide day of rage for Gaza,” according to video from the scene.

The protesters also yelled “Israel go to hell” and clashed with police during the gathering that drew swift backlash from Israel supporters.

The demonstration, organized by pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, began in Union Square, where some protesters unfurled a “Long live October 7th” banner, according to social media footage.

The article notes:

One of the exhibit’s organizers, music mogul Scooter Braun, condemned the demonstration in front of the venue late Monday in a social media post.

“I don’t understand why protesting a memorial for innocent music lovers who were raped and butchered and kidnapped helps,” he said in an Instagram Story. “Go see the @novaexhibition and see the truth instead of standing outside listening to yourself.”

Others offered sharper words for the protesters.

“How utterly evil do you have to be to protest outside a site that memorializes the 1,200 victims of October 7?” former speechwriter for the Israeli government Aviva Klompas tweeted.

“Tonight’s vicious targeting of the exhibition is not pro-peace. It is repulsive and vile,” added Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine in a post on X. “I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”

I think it’s time to realize that demonstrators such as these are not pro-Palestinian–they are anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. We need to remember that some of the Palestinians who committed the atrocities on October 7th were people the Israelis had given jobs to and helped in other ways. The mentality of the Palestinians to think that raping and killing unarmed civilians at a music festival is acceptable is beyond my understanding. That kind of thinking is truly incompatible with a civilized society. I really think we should relocate everyone who thinks killing and raping innocent civilians is okay to a remote island somewhere and let them create their own society. Good luck.

Betraying An Ally For Political Gain

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On Monday, PJ Media posted an article about the Biden administration’s attempts to free the American hostages held captive in Gaza. While I agree that the American hostages should be freed, I also believe that the effort to free them should also be part of a larger effort to solve the problem of Hamas terrorism. Unfortunately, that is not the path the Biden administration has chosen.

The article reports:

It’s a line we’ve heard in countless movies and TV shows. Get the picture: a terrorist group hijacks a plane, kidnaps an American, or otherwise takes over something on U.S. soil, and the country’s leaders are discussing what to do. Usually, the president or someone else in the administration says that inevitable line: “We do not negotiate with terrorists!”

If we are to believe a report from NBC, that’s not the case anymore. Or, as my colleague Ed Morrissey put it: “Old and busted: America doesn’t negotiate with terrorists. New hotness: We’d rather cut a deal with terrorists than support our ally.”

NBC is reporting that the White House is ready to work on a deal to get five hostages back from Hamas along with the remains of three dead hostages while leaving Israel out of the loop:

The article also includes a screenshot of a Tweet illustrating another way the Biden administration is trying to undermine the Israeli government of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The article also notes:

“Not only is this effort from Biden and Antony Blinken despicable, it’s incredibly stupid,” Ed Morrissey wrote. “They want to reward Hamas for the October 7 massacre and want to punish the Israelis for grasping its existential import.”

Add this to the growing list of Biden’s foreign policy failures. “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said of Biden 10 years ago. Make that five decades because his treatment of Israel is shameful and wrong.

Genesis 12:3 states:

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (KJV)

The Biden administration might want to keep this in mind.

 

A Warning From Someone Who Knows

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It is disturbing (to say the least) to see college students chanting, “From the river to the sea….” I wonder if they understand (or care) that they are calling for the genocide of Jews. There seems to be no recognition of the fact that there are still American hostages being held or that the ‘war’ began with a terrorists attack (aka war crime) committed by Hamas.

On Sunday, Townhall posted a warning to those who sympathize with Hamas. The warning comes from Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas.

The article quotes reports:

He has called the terrorist group a religious movement “waging a holy war” under the guise of a political party. He has not shied away from criticizing the group in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack after seeing how some in the U.S. have responded with protests on college campuses and pressure in Congress to end the action in Gaza before Hamas has been eliminated. 

“Bending to terrorists will have consequences,” Yousef said. “We are sending the wrong messages. These people don’t receive our statements or our action as a form of tolerance that we are trying to reach peace.They perceive it as weakness. “The more we continue sending the wrong messages, the more we complicate the situation,” he added. “We have to stand firmly regardless. … Hamas is a designated terrorist group in the United States, according to the American law, so it’s a ridiculous thing of any lawmaker not to be able to distinguish this group. Via Fox News Digital.

We have been warned.

Skewing The Facts

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On Sunday, Yahoo News posted an article reporting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s statement about the rescue of the Israeli hostages.

The article reports:

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that “innocent people were killed” in the Israeli military operation that rescued four hostages over the weekend.

The Israeli military said it rescued four hostages in a special operation in central Gaza on Saturday. CNN’s Dana Bash asked Sullivan on “State of the Union” whether the U.S. can confirm how many people were killed in the operation, noting that two separate hospitals in the area said at least 236 people were reportedly killed.

Sullivan explained that the Gaza Health Ministry and the Israeli military have put out differing numbers and that the U.S. could not confirm how many casualties there were.

“We, the United States, are not in a position today to make a definitive statement about that. The Israeli defense forces have put out one number. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has put out another number,” he said.

“But we do know this, Dana. Innocent people were tragically killed in this operation. The exact number we don’t know, but innocent people were killed. And that is heartbreaking. That is tragic,” he added.

The appropriate reply to that statement was posted on Twitter by Caroline Glick:

Which operation? What was it for? Why don’t you mention that the mission was to rescue 4 Israeli hostages, held by Palestinian “civilians” in the heart of a “civilian” neighborhood? Why don’t you mention that the taking and holding of hostages is a war crime and there is no distinction between militants and complicit civilians under international humanitarian law? Why don’t you mention that you’re thrilled the hostages, whose lives were in imminent danger every minute of every day since they were illegally kidnapped from Israel on October 7, are free and safe and with their families? What is wrong with you?

As usual, the Biden administration totally misrepresented what actually happened. Have they forgotten that Americans are still held hostage? Have they forgotten October 7th? Have they forgotten who was behind October 7th and that America’s border is open to the terrorists involved?

This Is How Propaganda Works

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On Sunday, Clarice Feldman posted an article at The American Thinker about the rescue of the Israeli hostages. The article also deals with a Ninth Circuit court case about vaccine mandates, but I am going to focus on the rescue and the propaganda surrounding it.

The freeing of the hostages is good news. However, it really messes up the picture that much of the media is trying to paint that portrays Israel as the bad guys and Hamas (the Palestinians) as victims. The thing to remember here is that the hostages were held in the homes of ordinary citizens (obviously working with Hamas). However, somehow a lot of the facts surrounding the rescue are being skewed.

For instance, Reuters reported on June 9:

CAIRO, June 9 (Reuters) – Hamas’ armed al-Qassam Brigades said in a video posted on its Telegram channel on Sunday that three hostages were killed, including a U.S. citizen, in an Israeli military operation on Saturday in which some hostages were freed.

The group did not release the names of those said to be killed, but the video showed what appeared to be three unidentifiable corpses using censor bars over their faces.

“Your captives will not be released unless our prisoners are freed,” the video added.

Just for the record, the prisoners they are referring to are known terrorists in Israeli jails.

The article at The American Thinker noted:

Lieutenant Colonel Arnon Zamora, may he rest in peace, led the team in breaching the building where three hostages were held (Noa was held in another building about 200 meters away). Zamora was injured during the confrontation with the terrorists and later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

    • The hostages were held by Hamas guards in homes of Arab families (Hamas paid the families to hold the hostages — indicating there are no innocent bystanders).
    • The IDF entered Nuseirat in trucks and civilian vehicles with Gazan license plates.
    • Many terrorists from Nuseirat fired upon the IDF, including anti-tank missile fire, resulting in a firefight where many Palestinians were killed.
    • The confrontation occurred near Nuseirat’s market.
    • The rescue vehicle was hit, caught fire, and became stuck.
    • Forces from Brigade 98: Paratroopers, Kfir, Givati Brigade, Golani Reconnaissance Battalion, and Shayetet 13 attacked Nuseirat from multiple directions under heavy bombardment from the Air Force, helicopter fire, Navy ship fire, and artillery fire, successfully bringing the hostages to a waiting helicopter landing zone.
    • The terrorists fired several anti-tank missiles at the helicopters in an attempt to shoot them down — unsuccessfully (the firing was carried out by activists of the Popular Front who claim they hit the helicopter).
    • Noa Argamani told her family: ‘There was knocking on the door — ‘It’s the IDF, we’ve come to rescue you.’

The article also notes:

Hamas: “We will not surrender”: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh the fat billionaire living in comfort in Qatar fumes after Israel frees hostages.

The AP and CNN keep reporting the Hamas handouts as if true. Indeed, one CNN chyron referred to this as a “release” of the hostages.

Please follow the link to read the article at The American Thinker. Hamas has used propaganda successfully for a long time. Unfortunately many Americans (and much of our government) have believed the propaganda.

Good News From Israel

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On June 8, The Jerusalem Post reported the following:

The IDF released the following statement on Saturday:

“It has been cleared for publication that in a complex operation by the IDF, Shin Bet, and the Yamam unit of the Israel police four Israeli hostages were rescued this morning (Saturday). The hostages, Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40), were kidnapped by Hamas to the Gaza Strip from the ‘Nova’ party on October 7th.

The hostages were rescued by Shin Bet and Yamam fighters from two different locations in an operation in the heart of Nuseirat.

Their medical condition is stable, and they have been transferred for further medical examinations at the ‘Sheba’ Medical Center in Tel HaShomer.

Security forces will continue to make every effort to bring back the hostages.”

Later, in a televised statement, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari  spoke on the heroic operation, saying:

“The IDF and Yamam infiltrated two facilities while under fire by Hamas terrorists. A Yamam soldier was seriously injured in the operation and has just reached the hospital. We pray for his well-being.

…When asked by KAN 11 if there were other hostages with them, “We cannot answer this intelligence questions about other hostages. We must be careful with information security. This operation could have ended very differently.”

It is wonderful news that these four hostages were rescued. It also reassures us that at least some of the remaining hostages held are still alive. Israel needs to keep fighting to free the hostages and to free Gaza from the tyrannical grip of Hamas.

 

Clean Up Your Own Back Yard

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The Biden administration is doing some serious meddling in both the internal and external affairs of Israel. Internally they are trying to bring down the Netanyahu administration, externally they are trying to give Hamas a victory in Gaza. Both of these things will create more instability in the Middle East.

To understand the reason behind the Biden administration’s horrible foreign policy, we need to go back to the Obama administration. The Obama administration, for whatever reason, sought to stabilize the Middle East by strengthening Iran and weakening Israel. The foreign policy personnel of the Obama administration are the people dictating the foreign policy of the Biden administration.

On Monday, Legal Insurrection posted an article about the  Biden administration’s latest Middle East peace proposal. The goal of the Biden administration is to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu into agreeing to this proposal. The proposal would be a death warrant for Israel.

The article reports:

I smelled a rat as soon as Biden announced it: “This has all the appearances of Team Biden trying to box Israel into something it did not propose and does not agree to – and dropping it just before the Sabbath so we can’t get a full Israeli response for 24 hrs as Biden continues to build pressure.”

We previously posted about Biden’s publicized statement on Friday, May 31, as Israel was entering a quiet period for the Sabbath, that purported to present a new Israeli ceasefire proposal, Biden Presented Supposed Israeli Ceasefire Proposal Leaving Hamas In Power, But It Was His Own.

The timing was suspicious, as was the substance. Per Biden, Israel had proposed what amounted to a permanent ceasefire not even subject to all hostages (alive and dead) being returned and subject to indefinite negotiations.

The article includes a screenshot of a tweet:

The article notes:

But Israel stopped short of saying Biden lied. In remarks over the weekend, Netanyahu came pretty close to using the “L” word, as Times of Israel reports:

Israeli officials pushed back on Monday on elements of the hostage deal proposal presented by US President Joe Biden over the weekend as an Israeli offer, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that there were gaps between that proposal and Israel’s stance.

“The claim that we agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is incorrect,” the prime minister reportedly told lawmakers.

Netanyahu said in a Knesset meeting that Israel will not end the war in Gaza until it achieves its three war aims, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel: destroying Hamas’s military and civil governance capabilities, securing the release of all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.

“The proposal that Biden presented is incomplete,” the premier told MKs at a closed-door meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to media reports.

He also reportedly said that there are “gaps” between the Israeli version and Biden’s recounting of it.

If we want peace in the Middle East, we are going to have to deal with Iran. That is the head of the snake. The other countries involved in funding terrorism might reconsider if bad things happen to Iran.

Some Protestors Might Want To Consider This Information

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One of the groups currently protesting Israel’s attack on Hamas is “Queers for Palestine.” The fact that this group exists illustrates how little some younger Americans know about Hamas, Islam, and the Middle East.

On June 3rd, The Gatestone Institute posted an article explaining what it is like to be ‘queer’ in Palestine.

The article notes:

    • Palestinian members of the LGBTQ community have never felt safe either in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank or under the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip.
    • In 2016, when Hamas commander Mahmoud Ishitwi was accused of having sex with men, he was “suspended from a ceiling for hours on end, for days in a row… [h]e was whipped and guards coasted loud music into his cell, banishing sleep.” After enduring days of torture, he was shot to death.
    • “In many countries, including my parent’s former homes and theocratic Iran, homosexuality is still sometimes punished by public hangings…. The international community must not be silent. But it is.” — Hen Mazzig, self-described “queer Israeli Jew,” named among the top LGBTQ influencers, Jerusalem Post, October 23, 2022.
    • “It is alleged that ‘harassment of gays’ is ‘practically official policy’ in the PA. The victims are frequently called collaborators and accused as such. It is also reported that the PA police regularly inflicts appalling torture on homosexuals.” — Ilka Schröder, Member of European Parliament, 2003.
    • “When it comes to Queers for Palestine, what’s richly ironic is that many LGBTQ Palestinians seek asylum in Israel – the same country these stateside protesters are rallying against… At the heart of this contradiction is the tendency within social justice movements to pick a clear protagonist and antagonist, the oppressed and the oppressor, and to proceed from there in one-size-fits-all fashion. Some progressives decided long ago that Palestine is the former and Israel is the latter, which is the seed from which everything must grow. Palestine, then, stands not only for anti-colonialism but also LGBT rights and reproductive rights, despite that those rights, in any meaningful sense of the word, do not actually exist there. Queers for Palestine is about as convincing as minks for fur coats.” — Billy Binion, Reason, October 27, 2023.

When you don’t teach children history, they engage in ignorant protests.

The Deal Offered

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On June 1st, Red State posted an article about the peace proposal offered to Israel by President Biden.

These are the details:

Let me provide a little context. Israel has evacuated almost all of Rafah. They have also secured the Egyptian border region and seized the center of the city. There is nothing left to do but clear out the tunnel complexes and finish off Hamas as a military and governing authority. 

With that as the backdrop, Biden is still demanding a “complete ceasefire” and the removal of Israeli forces from Gaza. That would be “phase one” of this stupid proposal, which would allow Hamas to regroup and rearm. What would Israel get in return? The release of “some hostages” and some dead bodies of those murdered by the terrorist group. 

Then there’s “phase two,” which would be a “permanent ceasefire” and an “exchange” for the release of the remaining “living hostages.” Yes, the Biden administration is glossing over the fact that Hamas has executed hostages. Still, the worst part of that line is that Israel would be expected to exchange terrorists who murdered or attempted to murder Israelis even to get those still alive back. 

Of course, “phase three” would be the rest of us paying to rebuild schools that taught Gazan children how to commit terrorist attacks while shouting how much they hate Jews. Isn’t your government great?

Let’s be honest. We all know why Biden put that explainer out minutes before Shabbat took effect (meaning many Israelis wouldn’t see the news). He wanted to try to paint Israel into a corner and force them to accept terrible terms that would ensure Hamas’ continued rule.

The article includes a screenshot of Israel’s response:

I believe that Hamas crossed a line on October 7th. Hamas may be able to manipulate world opinion to some degree, but Israel remembers October 7th and still awaits the return of the hostages. To release terrorists in exchange for hostages (or the dead bodies of hostages) and allow Hamas to regroup would be folly. Most sensible people realize that. To return Gaza to the control of those who support Hamas would only pave the way for another October 7th style attack. My prayer is that Prime Minister Netanyahu will stand strong to preserve the safety of Israel.

This Is What Taking A Stand Looks Like

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On Wednesday, The New York Post posted an article about a speech given by Senator John Fetterman at Yeshiva University in New York City.

The article reports:

Sen. John Fetterman told Yeshiva University graduates Wednesday that he was “profoundly disappointed” in Harvard University’s inability to address antisemitism on campus before removing the ceremonial crimson academic hood representing his alma mater.

The Pennsylvania Democrat expressed his disapproval of the Ivy League school during his commencement address at the private Orthodox Jewish university, which bestowed on him its “Hero of Israel” award, the institution’s highest honor. 

“I have been profoundly disappointed [in] Harvard’s inability to stand up for the Jewish community after Oct. 7,” Fetterman, 54, told the new grads at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. 

Senator Fetterman has openly condemned the attacks of October 7th and supported Israel in its efforts to defend itself.

The article concludes:

Fetterman received his undergraduate degree in 1991 from Albright College in Pennsylvania and obtained an MBA from the University of Connecticut in 1993.

The senator graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 1999 with a master of public policy degree. He has previously said he doesn’t “recognize” the school as the same place he once attended. 

“As an alum of Harvard — look, I graduated 25 years ago, and of course, it was always a little pinko,” he told Semafor in January. “But now, I don’t recognize it.”

Last month, Fetterman endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. and current US Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) to take over the presidency of Harvard, which is currently being held on an interim basis by Alan Garver, the university’s former provost.

Senator Fetterman has a rather questionable sense of decorum–if you look at the pictures in the article, you notice that he is probably wearing his signature gym shorts under his robe. However, I must say that some of his statements as a Senator have impressed me. He is not afraid to speak his mind when he disagrees with his fellow Democrats. He was elected in 2022 and will be in office until 2028.I wonder if the Pennsylvania Democrats will run a candidate against him if he decides to run for another term.

I’m Shocked! Shocked!

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On Tuesday, The Jewish News Syndicate reported the following:

Close to three-fourths of the humanitarian aid transported from a new $320 million floating pier built by the U.S. military off the Gaza coast was stolen on Saturday en route to a U.N. warehouse, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

…The United Nations said that 10 truckloads of food aid from the pier arrived at the warehouse on Friday, its first day of operation. It was transported by U.N. contractors.

 “We need to make sure that the necessary security and logistical arrangements are in place before we proceed,” said the U.N. official.

According to Israeli estimates, Hamas has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip, and a Channel 12 report last week revealed that the terrorist organization has made at least $500 million in profit off humanitarian aid since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Considering the fact that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees is largely staffed by Hamas, I don’t find these thefts at all surprising. At some point the Biden administration needs to realize that they are not working with honest partners when they call for a cease-fire. However, considering that the Biden administration has shown more support for Iran than Israel, this actually might be going according to plan.

The article notes:

USAID and the U.S. Department of Defense are leading the effort, alongside Cyprus, the United Nations and international donors, including the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Romania and the European Union, CENTCOM said. The aid is transported via sea from Cyprus where it is screened, and the United Nations receives the aid in Gaza and coordinates its distribution

Israel is also helping to facilitate the entry of aid via the pier.

Reuters also reported that “food and medicine for Palestinians in Gaza are piling up in Egypt because the Rafah crossing remains closed.”

Israel took operational control of the crossing weeks ago, but Cairo so far has refused to cooperate with Israeli authorities to facilitate the entry of aid through Rafah. The Israeli government wants to allow aid into Gaza through the crossing but is unable to do so without Egyptian cooperation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz last week placed the responsibility for averting a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip squarely on the shoulders of Egypt.

Katz said he had spoken with his British and German counterparts “about the need to persuade Egypt to reopen the Rafah Crossing to allow the continued delivery of international humanitarian aid to Gaza.”

The Middle East is a mess of plots and sub-plots. It is a difficult place for diplomacy and positive action. Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s actions have not furthered the cause of peace.

Understanding The Long Game

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The Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the renamed Ummah. It is the second largest inter-governmental organization in the world (after the United Nations) and is comprised of 57 states representing Muslim goals. The Organization represents the voice of the Muslim world and is one of the largest voting blocs in the United Nations. The International Criminal Court was established by the United Nations by a General Assembly vote in December 1999 and December 2000. That is the court that has chosen to charge both Hamas and the Israel government with genocide. Because of the large Muslim voting bloc in the United Nations, Israel will never be given the right to fight for its existence. It is no secret that the end of the nation of Israel is the policy of the OIC.

On Monday, Hot Air posted an article about the charges against Israel. The article notes that Amal Clooney played a key role in arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Amal Clooney is the wife of actor George Clooney.

The article reports:

The charges against Sinwar and other Hamas leaders include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.” The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant are “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”

Are you kidding me? Causing extermination ( a term used in Holocaust deaths) and deliberately targeting civilians is what Hamas does, not Israel. Forget the charges against Israel. Israel has to be free to conduct its war against Hamas as it sees fit. And, Israel has to be free of undue pressure from the United States.

It should be noted that neither America or Israel is a member of the ICC.

It is a shame that organizations such as the United Nations and the ICC have chosen not to be a force for peace. Does anyone believe that if Hamas is not destroyed, events like October 7th will not happen again? Criminals need to be put in jail or put to death. That should apply in the case of Hamas.