Day 175 — Friday, March 29

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday “addressing acts of antisemitism in institutions of higher education.”

“Antisemitism is never acceptable in Texas, and we will do everything we can to fight it,” he stated.

“The State of Texas stands with Israel and the Jewish community, and we must escalate our efforts to protect against antisemitism at Texas colleges and universities and across our state,” the Republican governor added. “Across the country, acts of antisemitism have grown in number, size, and danger to the Jewish community since Hamas’s deadly attack on Oct. 7.”

Abbott said the state “took immediate action to protect Jewish schools, synagogues and other key locations.”

“Many Texas colleges and universities also acted quickly to condemn antisemitism, but some radical organizations on our campuses engaged in acts that have no place in Texas,” he said. “Now, we must work to ensure that our college campuses are safe spaces for members of the Jewish community.”

The executive order notes that “protected free speech areas on Texas university campuses, as well as the buildings and parking lots of Jewish student organizations, have been covered in antisemitic graffiti.”

It adds that students have chanted “antisemitic phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which has long been used by Hamas supporters to call for the violent dismantling of the State of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish people who live there.”

The governor directs Texas colleges and universities to “review and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses and establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion from the institution.”

He also tells institutions to discipline the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine and other related groups when they violate such policies and to include the definition of antisemitism, which the state adopted, “in university free speech policies to guide university personnel and students on what constitutes antisemitic speech.”

The state has codified the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHA)’s working definition of antisemitism into law.

“The Combat Antisemitism Movement commends Governor Abbott’s decision today to issue executive order GA-44, aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses,” stated Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Roytman noted that the IHRA working definition “has shown to be one of the most effective tools for identifying and countering on-campus antisemitism.”

JNS

Day 175 — Friday, March 29

Syrian media reported overnight Thursday that Israel carried out an air strike in the vicinity of Aleppo, in the northwest of the country.

According to the reports, the country’s air defense systems were activated in the area following the attack.

A website affiliated with the Syrian opposition reported that the strike targeted the international airport in Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is affiliated with the opposition and operates from London, reported that three explosions were heard in the vicinity of the airport.

The Syrian army claimed that a number of civilians and military personnel were killed in the attack which it attributed to Israel and “terrorist organizations.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 36 soldiers from President Bashar Al-Assad’s army were killed in the strike. Reuters reported that five members of Hezbollah were also killed in the strike.

The airport in Aleppo has been struck in the past, with some of those attacks, that were attributed to Israel, putting the airport temporarily out of service.

This past October, Syria claimed, “The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service.”

Last week, the Saudi Al-Hadath channel reported on an attack that took place in the city of Al Mayadin in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.

According to the report, five commanders in the pro-Iranian militias, including a commander belonging to Hezbollah, were killed in the attack. The report did not say who was responsible for the strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported several explosions in an area where pro-Iranian militias are present and unidentified aircraft flying overhead.

Arutz Sheva

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

This has been a very disappointing week as Israel has watched the United States separating itself from us. Through ultimatums, threats to withhold arms, vote abstentions, and condescending rhetoric, the Biden administration has made it clear that it believes that “peace at all costs” between Israel and Hamas is necessary for a November reelection.

This is in spite of a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris survey that showed Americans overwhelmingly back Israel. Nearly four out of five questioned expressed support for Israel over Hamas. More than two out of every three believe that Israel is seeking to do all it can to minimize casualties. Of course, you wouldn’t know that if you follow the news or pay attention to the words of the party in power in Washington. If those are your sources of information, you’d think there was a pro-Palestinian protest on every street corner populated by concerned citizens heartbroken over the genocide the evil Jews were perpetrating on the helpless Gazans. There is no mention of massacres or torture or systematic rapes or women and children being held hostage.

This is all part of the drift that I warned you about months ago back in the halcyon days when everyone supported Israel avenging October 7. “Go get them,” they said. “They must pay, and you must make yourself safe!” So, Israel did. But now that these people see what Israel has to do to make itself safe, they are all screaming, “Wait! We thought you’d just go in and arrest a few leaders. Maybe bomb a few buildings. You know, like you used to do in the good old days.” What they failed to realize – and, quite honestly, what Israel had failed to realize, also – was that the old way of doing things was nothing but dealing with the symptoms of the disease. For Israel to be safe, the cancerous tumor of Hamas has to be removed. The difficulty has been that the cancer spread throughout Gaza, garrisoning in civilian and humanitarian centers, like schools and hospitals, and burrowing in a vast and intricate underground tunnel system.

Israel was confronted with a new form of urban warfare that had never been experienced before. The leadership of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was confronted with the dual charges of destroying Hamas while protecting the human shields behind which the enemy had hidden. They have succeeded on both counts to an amazing degree.

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

Amid heightened tensions between Jerusalem and Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation, organized by AIPAC.

Netanyahu and Scott discussed the latest decision by the Biden administration to abstain from a UN Security Council vote that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, not contingent upon the release of hostages. The resolution passed 14-0 without the United States vetoing it.

“I thought the U.S. decision in the Security Council was a very, very bad move. The worst part about it was that it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas,” Netanyahu told Scott.

The U.S. decision prompted Netanyahu to cancel a planned delegation to Washington, that was expected to listen to American suggestions for an alternative plan in Rafah instead of a major Israeli military operation.

In his conversation with Scott, Netanyahu explained the rationale behind his move: “My decision not to send the delegation to Washington in the wake of that resolution was a message to Hamas: Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work. I hope they got the message.”

Both the Israeli government and military leadership are convinced that operating in the southern city of Rafah is essential to winning the war in Gaza. The Israeli military has said there are four operational Hamas battalions in Rafah, with around 7,000-8,000 terrorists in their ranks.

“We have to win. There is no substitute for victory,” Netanyahu told a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation.

He emphasized that the war in Gaza is intertwined with the Iranian regime’s broader campaign effort to bring about the destruction of the State of Israel via its terror proxies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

A few weeks ago, Netanyahu stated that Iran officially shifted from an ideological position of destroying Israel to a practical, long-term plan to bring about the destruction of the state.

This, he said, highlights the urgency of a total victory in Gaza.

“How do we achieve this victory? It doesn’t nullify the other needs: How to take care of Hezbollah? How to take care of Iran? How to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which would make this threat a hundred times bigger? How to prevent these militias from firing into Israel rockets from Yemen or from Baghdad?” he asked. “These are big questions, but it starts with a necessary condition—and that condition is that those who launched this genocidal attack must be defeated.”

Netanyahu reiterated the three objectives of Israel’s war: To defeat the governmental and military capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, bring Israel’s hostages back home from Gaza and ensure that Hamas will never pose a threat to Israel again.

He emphasized the importance of bi-partisan support to accomplish the mission.

The Israeli premier told the Congressmen: “It’s very important for us to maintain bipartisan support at all times, but especially in these trying times. I want to use this opportunity of our conversation to try to straighten out and also dispel some of the things that are being said about our bipartisan alliance and the importance of maintaining it.”

The delegation included Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jim Costa (D-CA), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Norma Torres (D-CA) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as well as senior AIPAC officials.

All Israel News

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro threatened to cut ties with Israel on Tuesday if it does not comply with a non-binding resolution that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed this week demanding an immediate halt in the campaign against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas.

The incident marks the second time the Colombian president has threatened to cut ties with Israel due to its self-defense operations against Hamas following the genocidal terrorists’ invasion of the country on October 7, in which Hamas jihadists killed an estimated 1,200 people.

Petro, a former member of the Marxist M-19 guerrilla and Colombia’s first leftist president ever, made the threat through his social media account on Tuesday morning.

“If Israel does not comply with the UN ceasefire resolution we will break diplomatic relations with Israel,” Petro’s message read.

Colombia and Israel have historically maintained friendly diplomatic relations since 1957. Israel has been a longstanding supplier of security-related equipment and technology to Colombia, which the South American nation has employed in its decades-long fight against the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist organizations, as well as other guerrilla groups, such as M19.

Israel also provided technical advisory and assistance to Colombia for the design and manufacture of the Colombian-made Arpía III and Arpía IV combat helicopters.

Petro’s pro-Hamas stances have significantly damaged bilateral relations. Petro, much like his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza, Hamas’s stronghold.

Shortly after the October 7 terrorist attack, Petro, in a series of posts published on his personal Twitter account, compared Israel to Nazi Germany and accused it of turning Gaza into a concentration camp to the likes of Auschwitz. Petro also failed to condemn Hamas for its heinous terrorist actions against Israel.

“If I had lived in Germany in 1933 I would have fought on the side of the Jews and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948 I would have fought on the Palestinian side,” Petro wrote at the time. “Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom and culture. Now the democrats and progressives want peace and freedom for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

Israel condemned Petro’s antisemitic comparisons and halted security exports to Colombia in October. Petro retaliated by threatening to have Colombia cut ties with Israel but never made good on the threat.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to Petro’s latest comments in a Spanish-language message posted on his social media accounts.

“The support of the President of Colombia to Hamas murderers who massacred and committed heinous sex crimes against babies, women, and adults is a disgrace to the Colombian people,” the message read. “Israel will continue to protect its citizens and will not yield to any pressure or threat.”

Breitbart

Day 173 — Wednesday, March 27

Jordanian anti-riot police beat and arrested dozens of demonstrators who were trying to march towards the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman, witnesses and residents said on Tuesday night, according to the Reuters news agency.

More than 2,000 protesters had gathered late on Tuesday, the third day of demonstrations which have been marred with clashes, after baton wielding police pushed back hundreds of angry crowds seeking to storm the embassy compound in the Rabae district of Amman.

Many demonstrators chanted slogans in support of the Hamas terrorist organization, including, “Oh Hamas…All of Jordan’s people are behind you.”

On Sunday, the first day of the demonstrations, riot police fired teargas to push back hundreds of protesters.

Arutz Sheva

Day 172 — Tuesday, March 26

After more than 24 hours of letting the story run freely, Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera deleted the page featuring their former story, which accused Israeli soldiers of allegedly perpetrating rape against women during the IDF’s latest excursion against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who barricaded themselves inside the former hospital-turned-terror headquarters at Shifa Hospital.

Though the Qatari mouthpiece hasn’t officially referred to the retraction, all content related to the allegation has reportedly been deleted.

Al Jazeera columnist and former director Yasser Abuhilalah also tweeted, admitting that “It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated… The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood,” adding critically that “As if more than thirty thousand martyrs, ninety thousand wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!”

Jihad Khelles, a pro-Hamas preacher from Gaza, also tweeted that it became evident that there was no proven evidence for the events and that the alleged “witness” told a story that she had heard and not witnessed, also adding that “this creates panic and fear” and “makes [Palestinians] feel despair and frustration at a time when we are most in need for stability and reassurance.”

The original story published by Al Jazeera featured a “testimony” by Jamila Al-Hessi, a Gazan woman who claimed that while she was under siege in the area of the hospital complex, she witnessed IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive.”

The fake testimony went viral, with many expressing their rage at Israel and at what they deemed Arab failure to protect the honor of Palestinian women, even asking where Hamas and the resistance had gone. However, Israeli news blogger Abu Ali Express also reported that the viral fake testimony also had unexpected reverse ripple effects, leading many Gazans to flee their homes in the northern Gaza strip southwards, which may explain the unusual event of a Hamas investigation into the details.

Al-Hessi was interviewed live on Al Jazeera, where she admitted that she was not in the Shifa Hospital and alleged that she had witnessed what happened in the complex, including women being raped, kidnapped, and killed during the incursion, describing what she had “witnessed” as “more than an action film.”

She also claimed that they had been calling for aid for six days, adding, “Who is the Red Cross? Are they Jews, our enemies?” also adding the accusation that the organization sees itself as “more than us [Gazans]” and wondering how come they have food and water, but the Gazan citizens don’t.

Al Jazeera was founded with the financial help of the Qatari royal family and has served for decades as a mouthpiece for the regime, which provides lavish asylum for the leaders of Hamas, a group designated as a terror organization by the US, Canada, the EU, Israel, and other nations.

The regime’s Arabic-speaking language outlet is known for spreading antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial, as well as operating a Western-facing outlet, AJ+, which reportedly propagates divisive and inflammatory content while flouting registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for several years.

Jerusalem Post

Day 172 — Tuesday, March 26

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled trip to Washington D.C. on Monday following the approval of an anti-Israel United Nations Security Council resolution that demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.

The resolution purposefully excluded the need for a ceasefire agreement to include the release of Israeli hostages. The United States neglected to use its veto power to block the resolution, which was backed by Russia and China, a move Netanyahu underscored represents an abandoning of support.

“The United States has abandoned its policy in the U.N. today,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. “Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a ceasefire to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed that resolution partly because they opposed a ceasefire that was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage.”

“Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages,” Netanyahu continued. “This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent U.S. position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.”

“Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages,” he warned.

The Prime Minister’s X account added that because the United States refused to veto the “harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to the United States.”

Additionally, Resolution 2728 perpetuated the false narratives against Israel that the country is deliberately showing disregard for Gazan civilians in its operations inside the strip and withholding aid to those in need.

U.N. Secretary António Guterres last week was lambasted by Israel for similar false claims when he insisted that Israel was using “collective punishment” on civilians in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded by highlighting the fact that “Under his leadership, the U.N. has become an antisemitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror.”

The United States has also been applying pressure on Israel to avoid expanding its Gaza operation into the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday warned that the United States is not “ruling out” consequences if Israel chooses to enter the city.

According to U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Israel’s scheduled meeting in Washington was reportedly set to surround “viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah.”

In response to Netanyahu’s cancelation, Kirby downplayed the significance of the U.N. resolution, saying that because it is “non-binding,” it does not represent a shift in U.S. support—a claim which Israel strongly disagrees.

Day 171 — Monday, March 25

Israeli forces arrested 480 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists as part of the battle at the Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City that has gone on for almost a week, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday morning.

In addition, troops located weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the medical facility.

Meanwhile, Hamas announced the death of Yagev Buchshtab, 34, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nirim on Oct. 7 along with his wife. Rimon Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, was released on Nov. 28 as part of a deal brokered by Qatar and the United States.

The terrorist group said on its Telegram channel that he died “as a result of a lack of medicine and food.”

Meanwhile, the IDF on Sunday announced the death of Staff Sgt. Lior Raviv, 21, from Rishon Lezion, who was killed in action in the northern Gaza Strip. His death raises the total number of soldiers killed in action since the start of the Gaza ground invasion on Oct. 27 to 252, with 596 on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Since March 18, the IDF has been mounting a massive military operation in an attempt to root out a resurgent Hamas presence at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces first entered in mid-November. Hundreds of terrorists have been killed and arrested during the targeted raids.

The IDF has provided extensive evidence that Hamas uses Shifa and other hospitals in the Gaza Strip for its terrorist activities, which are mostly conducted in a massive tunnel system underneath the complexes.

Furthermore, over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck 65 targets in northern and central Gaza, including a tunnel used to carry out attacks, “military” compounds where armed terrorists operated and additional “military infrastructure.

Moreover, in central Gaza troops killed several terrorists over the past day and conducted a targeted raid on a drone-manufacturing laboratory, killing terrorists outside the compound.

In southern Gaza, IDF snipers killed several terrorists, engineering forces destroyed a rocket launch pit and IDF craft struck terrorist infrastructure. In Khan Yunis, IAF craft struck terrorist infrastructure; terrorists were gathering outside the compound at the time of the strike.

IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) forces overnight Saturday began an operation in the western Khan Yunis neighborhood of Al Amal to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and kill terrorists.

The operation started with IAF strikes on 40 targets, including “military” compounds, underground tunnels and additional terror infrastructure. IDF troops were encircling the area and engaging gunmen in close combat.

JNS

Day 170 — Sunday, March 24

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz sharply rebuked UN Secretary-General António Guterres for calling Israel’s war against Hamas ‘collective punishment’ and strongly criticizing it during a visit to the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip.

Guterres on Saturday visited the Egyptian side of the town of Rafah, which straddles both sides of the border with the Gaza Strip, and met humanitarian workers at the border crossing.

“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other,” he said, according to Reuters. “That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage.”

“Palestinians in Gaza — children, women, men — remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare,” he said. “I carry the voices of the vast majority of the world who have seen enough,” Guterres said.

While he reiterated that “nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas” against Israel, he also added, “Nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

“Under his leadership, the UN has become an antisemitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror,” Katz wrote about the UN chief.

Katz slammed Guterres on X for his comments blaming Israel for the difficult humanitarian situation “without condemning in any way the Hamas-ISIS terrorists who plunder humanitarian aid, without condemning UNRWA that cooperates with terrorists – and without calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages.”

Guterres came to the region as part of an annual “solidarity trip” to Muslim countries during Ramadan and will visit Jordan after his meetings in Egypt.

The UN chief also said there was a clear international consensus that any Israeli ground incursion into Rafah would cause another humanitarian catastrophe.

Guterres demanded Israel to give an “ironclad commitment” for unfettered access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza, adding that the UN would continue to work with Egypt to “streamline” the flow of aid.

Egyptian regional governor Mohamed Shusha claimed inspection procedures demanded by Israel had caused the hold-up of some 7,000 trucks who are waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that there was no upper limit to the entry of aid into Gaza and that the hold-up was caused by the failure of aid organizations to distribute the aid once it had passed into the Gaza Strip.

“This aid has all accumulated and is waiting for UNRWA and other UN aid orgs to distribute it. This is the equivalent of hundreds of aid trucks—which isn’t being distributed to Gazan civilians,” the IDF’s unit responsible for the Gaza Strip, COGAT, wrote on X.

All Israel News

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

Asking why we continue to see and read of the hatred and vitriolic rants against the nation of Israel often sounds like a “broken record.” I have surmised that we will continue to hear and see the incessant spewing of antisemitism because those expressing these views are short on reason, rational thinking, and logical, analytical deduction skills. This is not meant as an insult. This is observably true. What else can possibly explain the lack of comprehension among so many?

A simple way to address the widespread disinformation and subsequent rants of those who hate Israel would be to ask a series of questions and wait for an accurate and meaningful response.

For example, I would ask someone who has expressed the kind of thinking that denigrates Israel as the sole cause of the many issues facing the region this simple question: “When did the Palestinian people organize their land and establish its local governing authorities?”

Israel is always spoken of as occupying the land of the Palestinians, so when did the Palestinians organize their land and set up a government to govern it and them? The answer, of course, is never. There is no such thing as the land of the Palestinians or Palestine.

Any honest historian will state that the Palestinian “problem” was created by Arab and Muslim nations who refused to admit those Arabs and Muslims who fled Israel in 1947-48 did so at their insistence. When Arabs and Muslims left Israel, the people, including the leadership of the new nation, asked them to stay.

Today, the same problem exists because Arab and Muslim nations will not allow the Palestinians to immigrate to their countries. Those nations see the Palestinians as both a bargaining chip against Israel and a likely domestic problem for peace if allowed to immigrate. The reality is that the Arab and Muslim nations will never permit the Palestinians to enter their nation because along with them come the dangerous tentacles of Hamas and Hezbollah.

There is much to be gained by the Israel haters by continuing the erroneous global optics of Israel as the villain in the story of the Palestinians.

The so-called ethnic cleansing decried on college campuses across America is also logically a non-starter. How is Israel committing genocide against the Palestinian people when the population of the Palestinians continues to grow? If there is a genocide ongoing, it is being perpetrated by the terror groups that rule Gaza and Lebanon with an iron fist. The Palestinian people are nothing more than expendable chattel in the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, and their masters, the Iranian mullahs.

Perhaps the most potent question one could ask of someone blinded by their hatred toward Israel is this: “Can you name one Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian leader who has stated publicly and is affirming among his group of constituents that as a part of a separate Palestinian State, Israel has a right to her land in which to live in peace and security?”

Today’s virtue-signaling, communist-loving, Israel-hating Palestinian sympathizers have no depth of understanding concerning global politics, and they certainly do not have any historical perspective.

The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit in 2000 resulted in a basic framework for a Palestinian State. The continuing issue is that while the Arab and Muslim leaders smile for the cameras and receive the applause of the Western world for their determination to bring peace to the region, these same leaders speak a very different message to their constituents. That message is “We will never be at peace with the Jewish occupiers of OUR land; we will only drive them into the sea and out of existence. Then the land will be cleansed and returned to us.”

Arab and Muslim doctrine dictates that if a territory was ever occupied by Muslims, it belongs to Allah into perpetuity. Thus, the leaders of the Palestinians lie to the West but tell the truth of their intentions to their people.

Unless the Arab and Muslim leaders start telling the truth about their intentions, there will never be an acceptable two-state solution.

Israel knows the truth. The West refuses to allow it to see the light of day. It seems incredible to consider but President Biden is doing all he can to force the issue on Israel by threatening to withhold armaments required to continue to purge the region of terror.

How absurd is it to stop Israel from doing the entire world a favor by destroying Hamas? How absurd is it to have a US President protect terrorists by deterring Israel?

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

Saturday evening will mark the beginning of the observance of Purim for Jews around the world. The life of Esther provides insight into the background and biblical story behind this annual celebration.

Purim = פורים; meaning “lots”

From Saturday evening until sundown on Sunday, Jews throughout the world will celebrate Purim, a holiday commemorating the Jewish people’s survival in the ancient Persian Empire. Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar by Jewish communities. It includes festivities, parties, costumes, and the reading of the Book of Esther. The story of Purim is found in the Book of Esther, where a plot by Haman, the royal advisor to King Ahasuerus, was conceived to kill the Jews in the Persian Empire.

Esther revealed she was a Jew and exposed Haman for the evil man he was. She told the king about the gallows he built that were intended for Mordecai. The king immediately ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows. The king did permit Esther and Mordecai to issue a new decree that the Jewish people were permitted to defend themselves and pre-emptively kill anyone who put them at risk.

On the 13th of Adar, the Jews battled those who tried to kill them, including Haman’s ten sons who died in Shushan. Following the battle, Queen Esther requested from the king an additional day to slaughter those who attempted to kill the Jewish people. The king permitted her request, marking the 14th of Adar.

On the 15th of Adar, the Jews of Shushan celebrated their victory, commemorating the event’s holiday. The holiday of Purim is a celebration and remembrance of the attempted destruction of the Jews of Shushan and Queen Esther and Mordecai’s remembrance.

Observant Jews begin Purim on the 13th of Adar, fasting and commemorating Esther’s bravery. Jews today celebrate Purim by wearing costumes, having parties, and some will read the Book of Esther. During the reading of the Book of Esther, it is customary to “boo” every time Haman’s name is read aloud.

Many communities hold a ‘Purim spiel,” a reenactment of the Purim story. The holiday is celebrated with “Oznei Haman” or better known as “Hamantaschen”- a pastry with different fillings.

Today, we have the same spirit of the annihilation of the Jews coming from the same part of the world. Modern Iranian leaders are obsessed with the spirit of Haman even today. We don’t need an Esther in the palace anymore. We need the prayers of the saints worldwide.

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

According to Canada’s La Presse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a vampire, and he is poised to suck the life out of the Palestinians in Rafah, Hamas’s final outpost in southern Gaza. The publication that was once a paper of record in Canada ran a political cartoon on March 20 portraying Netanyahu as a vampire, with a huge hooked nose, pointy ears and claws for fingers, dressed in Dracula’s overcoat while standing on the deck of a pirate ship.

The caption, written in blood-dripping red letters, read: “Nosfenyahou: En Route Vers Rafah.” Nosferatu, the Romanian word for vampire, was the title of a proto-Nazi German silent horror film from 1922 chock-full of anti-Semitic poison. The film, which became something of a cult flick, featured a vampire with a long Jewish nose. He arrived at an idyllic German town with a box full of plague-carrying rats that he released on the innocent villagers as he plotted to suck his realtor’s blood.

La Presse’s cartoon didn’t leave any room for imagination. It wasn’t making a political or military argument against Israel’s planned ground operation in Rafah. Its goal wasn’t to persuade anyone of anything.

The Netanyahu-the-vampire cartoon asserted simply that Netanyahu is a Jewish bloodsucker and, more broadly, the Jewish state—and Jews worldwide—must be vigorously opposed by all right-thinking people who don’t want Jewish vampires to kill them.

As the paper no doubt anticipated, the cartoon provoked an outcry from Canadian Jews and some politicians. And after a few hours, the newspaper took it off its website and apologized. Anyone who thinks that means that the good guys won misses the point of the move. The Jewish outcry and pile-on by politicians and media coverage proved the point. Jews are evil and control everything, even what a private paper can publish. Like Nosferatu in its day, the cartoon will become a piece of folklore, additional proof that the Jews are the enemy of humanity.

In other words, the cartoon was a blood libel.

Blood libels appeal to emotion, not reason. They do not seek to persuade anyone; rather, they are geared towards unleashing the latest anti-Semitism.

They legitimize and incite violence against Jews, who—once slandered as the enemies of the good—have no moral right to live.

The nature and purpose of blood libels make them impossible to combat. Jews cannot disprove blood libels because they aren’t based on fact but on feelings or intentions attributed to Jews by people who hate them. Can Netanyahu prove that he isn’t a vampire? Of course not. If he bothered to try, it would be seen as proof that he’s covering something up. Can Jews prove that they aren’t evil? No, again. Because people predisposed to believe that Jews are evil see everything good that Israel does as an effort to cover up its foundational, immutable malevolence. “Pink-washing” is a case in point.

JNS

Day 175 — Friday, March 29

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order on Wednesday “addressing acts of antisemitism in institutions of higher education.”

“Antisemitism is never acceptable in Texas, and we will do everything we can to fight it,” he stated.

“The State of Texas stands with Israel and the Jewish community, and we must escalate our efforts to protect against antisemitism at Texas colleges and universities and across our state,” the Republican governor added. “Across the country, acts of antisemitism have grown in number, size, and danger to the Jewish community since Hamas’s deadly attack on Oct. 7.”

Abbott said the state “took immediate action to protect Jewish schools, synagogues and other key locations.”

“Many Texas colleges and universities also acted quickly to condemn antisemitism, but some radical organizations on our campuses engaged in acts that have no place in Texas,” he said. “Now, we must work to ensure that our college campuses are safe spaces for members of the Jewish community.”

The executive order notes that “protected free speech areas on Texas university campuses, as well as the buildings and parking lots of Jewish student organizations, have been covered in antisemitic graffiti.”

It adds that students have chanted “antisemitic phrases such as ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ which has long been used by Hamas supporters to call for the violent dismantling of the State of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish people who live there.”

The governor directs Texas colleges and universities to “review and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses and establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion from the institution.”

He also tells institutions to discipline the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine and other related groups when they violate such policies and to include the definition of antisemitism, which the state adopted, “in university free speech policies to guide university personnel and students on what constitutes antisemitic speech.”

The state has codified the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHA)’s working definition of antisemitism into law.

“The Combat Antisemitism Movement commends Governor Abbott’s decision today to issue executive order GA-44, aimed at combating antisemitism on college campuses,” stated Sacha Roytman, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Roytman noted that the IHRA working definition “has shown to be one of the most effective tools for identifying and countering on-campus antisemitism.”

JNS

Day 175 — Friday, March 29

Syrian media reported overnight Thursday that Israel carried out an air strike in the vicinity of Aleppo, in the northwest of the country.

According to the reports, the country’s air defense systems were activated in the area following the attack.

A website affiliated with the Syrian opposition reported that the strike targeted the international airport in Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is affiliated with the opposition and operates from London, reported that three explosions were heard in the vicinity of the airport.

The Syrian army claimed that a number of civilians and military personnel were killed in the attack which it attributed to Israel and “terrorist organizations.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 36 soldiers from President Bashar Al-Assad’s army were killed in the strike. Reuters reported that five members of Hezbollah were also killed in the strike.

The airport in Aleppo has been struck in the past, with some of those attacks, that were attributed to Israel, putting the airport temporarily out of service.

This past October, Syria claimed, “The Israeli enemy carried out an air attack from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea, west of Latakia, targeting Aleppo International Airport, which led to material damage to the airport and it being out of service.”

Last week, the Saudi Al-Hadath channel reported on an attack that took place in the city of Al Mayadin in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.

According to the report, five commanders in the pro-Iranian militias, including a commander belonging to Hezbollah, were killed in the attack. The report did not say who was responsible for the strike.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported several explosions in an area where pro-Iranian militias are present and unidentified aircraft flying overhead.

Arutz Sheva

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

This has been a very disappointing week as Israel has watched the United States separating itself from us. Through ultimatums, threats to withhold arms, vote abstentions, and condescending rhetoric, the Biden administration has made it clear that it believes that “peace at all costs” between Israel and Hamas is necessary for a November reelection.

This is in spite of a recent Harvard CAPS-Harris survey that showed Americans overwhelmingly back Israel. Nearly four out of five questioned expressed support for Israel over Hamas. More than two out of every three believe that Israel is seeking to do all it can to minimize casualties. Of course, you wouldn’t know that if you follow the news or pay attention to the words of the party in power in Washington. If those are your sources of information, you’d think there was a pro-Palestinian protest on every street corner populated by concerned citizens heartbroken over the genocide the evil Jews were perpetrating on the helpless Gazans. There is no mention of massacres or torture or systematic rapes or women and children being held hostage.

This is all part of the drift that I warned you about months ago back in the halcyon days when everyone supported Israel avenging October 7. “Go get them,” they said. “They must pay, and you must make yourself safe!” So, Israel did. But now that these people see what Israel has to do to make itself safe, they are all screaming, “Wait! We thought you’d just go in and arrest a few leaders. Maybe bomb a few buildings. You know, like you used to do in the good old days.” What they failed to realize – and, quite honestly, what Israel had failed to realize, also – was that the old way of doing things was nothing but dealing with the symptoms of the disease. For Israel to be safe, the cancerous tumor of Hamas has to be removed. The difficulty has been that the cancer spread throughout Gaza, garrisoning in civilian and humanitarian centers, like schools and hospitals, and burrowing in a vast and intricate underground tunnel system.

Israel was confronted with a new form of urban warfare that had never been experienced before. The leadership of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was confronted with the dual charges of destroying Hamas while protecting the human shields behind which the enemy had hidden. They have succeeded on both counts to an amazing degree.

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

Amid heightened tensions between Jerusalem and Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation, organized by AIPAC.

Netanyahu and Scott discussed the latest decision by the Biden administration to abstain from a UN Security Council vote that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, not contingent upon the release of hostages. The resolution passed 14-0 without the United States vetoing it.

“I thought the U.S. decision in the Security Council was a very, very bad move. The worst part about it was that it encouraged Hamas to take a hard line and to believe that international pressure will prevent Israel from freeing the hostages and destroying Hamas,” Netanyahu told Scott.

The U.S. decision prompted Netanyahu to cancel a planned delegation to Washington, that was expected to listen to American suggestions for an alternative plan in Rafah instead of a major Israeli military operation.

In his conversation with Scott, Netanyahu explained the rationale behind his move: “My decision not to send the delegation to Washington in the wake of that resolution was a message to Hamas: Don’t bet on this pressure, it’s not going to work. I hope they got the message.”

Both the Israeli government and military leadership are convinced that operating in the southern city of Rafah is essential to winning the war in Gaza. The Israeli military has said there are four operational Hamas battalions in Rafah, with around 7,000-8,000 terrorists in their ranks.

“We have to win. There is no substitute for victory,” Netanyahu told a bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation.

He emphasized that the war in Gaza is intertwined with the Iranian regime’s broader campaign effort to bring about the destruction of the State of Israel via its terror proxies, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

A few weeks ago, Netanyahu stated that Iran officially shifted from an ideological position of destroying Israel to a practical, long-term plan to bring about the destruction of the state.

This, he said, highlights the urgency of a total victory in Gaza.

“How do we achieve this victory? It doesn’t nullify the other needs: How to take care of Hezbollah? How to take care of Iran? How to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which would make this threat a hundred times bigger? How to prevent these militias from firing into Israel rockets from Yemen or from Baghdad?” he asked. “These are big questions, but it starts with a necessary condition—and that condition is that those who launched this genocidal attack must be defeated.”

Netanyahu reiterated the three objectives of Israel’s war: To defeat the governmental and military capabilities of the Hamas terrorist organization, bring Israel’s hostages back home from Gaza and ensure that Hamas will never pose a threat to Israel again.

He emphasized the importance of bi-partisan support to accomplish the mission.

The Israeli premier told the Congressmen: “It’s very important for us to maintain bipartisan support at all times, but especially in these trying times. I want to use this opportunity of our conversation to try to straighten out and also dispel some of the things that are being said about our bipartisan alliance and the importance of maintaining it.”

The delegation included Brad Schneider (D-IL), Jim Costa (D-CA), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Valerie Foushee (D-NC), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Norma Torres (D-CA) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), as well as senior AIPAC officials.

All Israel News

Day 174 — Thursday, March 28

Colombia’s far-left President Gustavo Petro threatened to cut ties with Israel on Tuesday if it does not comply with a non-binding resolution that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed this week demanding an immediate halt in the campaign against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas.

The incident marks the second time the Colombian president has threatened to cut ties with Israel due to its self-defense operations against Hamas following the genocidal terrorists’ invasion of the country on October 7, in which Hamas jihadists killed an estimated 1,200 people.

Petro, a former member of the Marxist M-19 guerrilla and Colombia’s first leftist president ever, made the threat through his social media account on Tuesday morning.

“If Israel does not comply with the UN ceasefire resolution we will break diplomatic relations with Israel,” Petro’s message read.

Colombia and Israel have historically maintained friendly diplomatic relations since 1957. Israel has been a longstanding supplier of security-related equipment and technology to Colombia, which the South American nation has employed in its decades-long fight against the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist organizations, as well as other guerrilla groups, such as M19.

Israel also provided technical advisory and assistance to Colombia for the design and manufacture of the Colombian-made Arpía III and Arpía IV combat helicopters.

Petro’s pro-Hamas stances have significantly damaged bilateral relations. Petro, much like his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has accused Israel of committing a “genocide” in Gaza, Hamas’s stronghold.

Shortly after the October 7 terrorist attack, Petro, in a series of posts published on his personal Twitter account, compared Israel to Nazi Germany and accused it of turning Gaza into a concentration camp to the likes of Auschwitz. Petro also failed to condemn Hamas for its heinous terrorist actions against Israel.

“If I had lived in Germany in 1933 I would have fought on the side of the Jews and if I had lived in Palestine in 1948 I would have fought on the Palestinian side,” Petro wrote at the time. “Now the neo-Nazis want the destruction of the Palestinian people, freedom and culture. Now the democrats and progressives want peace and freedom for the Israeli and Palestinian people.”

Israel condemned Petro’s antisemitic comparisons and halted security exports to Colombia in October. Petro retaliated by threatening to have Colombia cut ties with Israel but never made good on the threat.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded to Petro’s latest comments in a Spanish-language message posted on his social media accounts.

“The support of the President of Colombia to Hamas murderers who massacred and committed heinous sex crimes against babies, women, and adults is a disgrace to the Colombian people,” the message read. “Israel will continue to protect its citizens and will not yield to any pressure or threat.”

Breitbart

Day 173 — Wednesday, March 27

Jordanian anti-riot police beat and arrested dozens of demonstrators who were trying to march towards the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman, witnesses and residents said on Tuesday night, according to the Reuters news agency.

More than 2,000 protesters had gathered late on Tuesday, the third day of demonstrations which have been marred with clashes, after baton wielding police pushed back hundreds of angry crowds seeking to storm the embassy compound in the Rabae district of Amman.

Many demonstrators chanted slogans in support of the Hamas terrorist organization, including, “Oh Hamas…All of Jordan’s people are behind you.”

On Sunday, the first day of the demonstrations, riot police fired teargas to push back hundreds of protesters.

Arutz Sheva

Day 172 — Tuesday, March 26

After more than 24 hours of letting the story run freely, Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera deleted the page featuring their former story, which accused Israeli soldiers of allegedly perpetrating rape against women during the IDF’s latest excursion against Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who barricaded themselves inside the former hospital-turned-terror headquarters at Shifa Hospital.

Though the Qatari mouthpiece hasn’t officially referred to the retraction, all content related to the allegation has reportedly been deleted.

Al Jazeera columnist and former director Yasser Abuhilalah also tweeted, admitting that “It was revealed through Hamas investigations that the story of the rape of women in Al-Shifa Hospital was fabricated… The woman who spoke about rape justified her exaggeration and incorrect talk by saying that the goal was to arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood,” adding critically that “As if more than thirty thousand martyrs, ninety thousand wounded, about a million displaced people, and comprehensive destruction were not enough!”

Jihad Khelles, a pro-Hamas preacher from Gaza, also tweeted that it became evident that there was no proven evidence for the events and that the alleged “witness” told a story that she had heard and not witnessed, also adding that “this creates panic and fear” and “makes [Palestinians] feel despair and frustration at a time when we are most in need for stability and reassurance.”

The original story published by Al Jazeera featured a “testimony” by Jamila Al-Hessi, a Gazan woman who claimed that while she was under siege in the area of the hospital complex, she witnessed IDF soldiers “raping women then killing them and burning entire families alive.”

The fake testimony went viral, with many expressing their rage at Israel and at what they deemed Arab failure to protect the honor of Palestinian women, even asking where Hamas and the resistance had gone. However, Israeli news blogger Abu Ali Express also reported that the viral fake testimony also had unexpected reverse ripple effects, leading many Gazans to flee their homes in the northern Gaza strip southwards, which may explain the unusual event of a Hamas investigation into the details.

Al-Hessi was interviewed live on Al Jazeera, where she admitted that she was not in the Shifa Hospital and alleged that she had witnessed what happened in the complex, including women being raped, kidnapped, and killed during the incursion, describing what she had “witnessed” as “more than an action film.”

She also claimed that they had been calling for aid for six days, adding, “Who is the Red Cross? Are they Jews, our enemies?” also adding the accusation that the organization sees itself as “more than us [Gazans]” and wondering how come they have food and water, but the Gazan citizens don’t.

Al Jazeera was founded with the financial help of the Qatari royal family and has served for decades as a mouthpiece for the regime, which provides lavish asylum for the leaders of Hamas, a group designated as a terror organization by the US, Canada, the EU, Israel, and other nations.

The regime’s Arabic-speaking language outlet is known for spreading antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial, as well as operating a Western-facing outlet, AJ+, which reportedly propagates divisive and inflammatory content while flouting registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act for several years.

Jerusalem Post

Day 172 — Tuesday, March 26

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled trip to Washington D.C. on Monday following the approval of an anti-Israel United Nations Security Council resolution that demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.

The resolution purposefully excluded the need for a ceasefire agreement to include the release of Israeli hostages. The United States neglected to use its veto power to block the resolution, which was backed by Russia and China, a move Netanyahu underscored represents an abandoning of support.

“The United States has abandoned its policy in the U.N. today,” the Prime Minister said in a statement. “Just a few days ago, it supported a Security Council resolution that linked a call for a ceasefire to the release of hostages. China and Russia vetoed that resolution partly because they opposed a ceasefire that was linked to the release of hostages. Yet today, Russia and China joined Algeria and others in supporting the new resolution precisely because it had no such linkage.”

“Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages,” Netanyahu continued. “This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent U.S. position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.”

“Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages,” he warned.

The Prime Minister’s X account added that because the United States refused to veto the “harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to the United States.”

Additionally, Resolution 2728 perpetuated the false narratives against Israel that the country is deliberately showing disregard for Gazan civilians in its operations inside the strip and withholding aid to those in need.

U.N. Secretary António Guterres last week was lambasted by Israel for similar false claims when he insisted that Israel was using “collective punishment” on civilians in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded by highlighting the fact that “Under his leadership, the U.N. has become an antisemitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror.”

The United States has also been applying pressure on Israel to avoid expanding its Gaza operation into the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday warned that the United States is not “ruling out” consequences if Israel chooses to enter the city.

According to U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, Israel’s scheduled meeting in Washington was reportedly set to surround “viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah.”

In response to Netanyahu’s cancelation, Kirby downplayed the significance of the U.N. resolution, saying that because it is “non-binding,” it does not represent a shift in U.S. support—a claim which Israel strongly disagrees.

Day 171 — Monday, March 25

Israeli forces arrested 480 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists as part of the battle at the Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City that has gone on for almost a week, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday morning.

In addition, troops located weapons and terrorist infrastructure in the medical facility.

Meanwhile, Hamas announced the death of Yagev Buchshtab, 34, who was abducted from Kibbutz Nirim on Oct. 7 along with his wife. Rimon Kirsht Buchshtab, 36, was released on Nov. 28 as part of a deal brokered by Qatar and the United States.

The terrorist group said on its Telegram channel that he died “as a result of a lack of medicine and food.”

Meanwhile, the IDF on Sunday announced the death of Staff Sgt. Lior Raviv, 21, from Rishon Lezion, who was killed in action in the northern Gaza Strip. His death raises the total number of soldiers killed in action since the start of the Gaza ground invasion on Oct. 27 to 252, with 596 on all fronts since the start of the war on Oct. 7.

Since March 18, the IDF has been mounting a massive military operation in an attempt to root out a resurgent Hamas presence at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces first entered in mid-November. Hundreds of terrorists have been killed and arrested during the targeted raids.

The IDF has provided extensive evidence that Hamas uses Shifa and other hospitals in the Gaza Strip for its terrorist activities, which are mostly conducted in a massive tunnel system underneath the complexes.

Furthermore, over the past day, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck 65 targets in northern and central Gaza, including a tunnel used to carry out attacks, “military” compounds where armed terrorists operated and additional “military infrastructure.

Moreover, in central Gaza troops killed several terrorists over the past day and conducted a targeted raid on a drone-manufacturing laboratory, killing terrorists outside the compound.

In southern Gaza, IDF snipers killed several terrorists, engineering forces destroyed a rocket launch pit and IDF craft struck terrorist infrastructure. In Khan Yunis, IAF craft struck terrorist infrastructure; terrorists were gathering outside the compound at the time of the strike.

IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) forces overnight Saturday began an operation in the western Khan Yunis neighborhood of Al Amal to dismantle terrorist infrastructure and kill terrorists.

The operation started with IAF strikes on 40 targets, including “military” compounds, underground tunnels and additional terror infrastructure. IDF troops were encircling the area and engaging gunmen in close combat.

JNS

Day 170 — Sunday, March 24

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz sharply rebuked UN Secretary-General António Guterres for calling Israel’s war against Hamas ‘collective punishment’ and strongly criticizing it during a visit to the Egyptian border with the Gaza Strip.

Guterres on Saturday visited the Egyptian side of the town of Rafah, which straddles both sides of the border with the Gaza Strip, and met humanitarian workers at the border crossing.

“Here from this crossing, we see the heartbreak and heartlessness of it all. A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other,” he said, according to Reuters. “That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage.”

“Palestinians in Gaza — children, women, men — remain stuck in a non-stop nightmare,” he said. “I carry the voices of the vast majority of the world who have seen enough,” Guterres said.

While he reiterated that “nothing justifies the horrific attacks by Hamas” against Israel, he also added, “Nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

“Under his leadership, the UN has become an antisemitic and anti-Israeli body that shelters and emboldens terror,” Katz wrote about the UN chief.

Katz slammed Guterres on X for his comments blaming Israel for the difficult humanitarian situation “without condemning in any way the Hamas-ISIS terrorists who plunder humanitarian aid, without condemning UNRWA that cooperates with terrorists – and without calling for the immediate, unconditional release of all Israeli hostages.”

Guterres came to the region as part of an annual “solidarity trip” to Muslim countries during Ramadan and will visit Jordan after his meetings in Egypt.

The UN chief also said there was a clear international consensus that any Israeli ground incursion into Rafah would cause another humanitarian catastrophe.

Guterres demanded Israel to give an “ironclad commitment” for unfettered access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza, adding that the UN would continue to work with Egypt to “streamline” the flow of aid.

Egyptian regional governor Mohamed Shusha claimed inspection procedures demanded by Israel had caused the hold-up of some 7,000 trucks who are waiting in North Sinai to deliver aid to Gaza.

Israel has repeatedly claimed that there was no upper limit to the entry of aid into Gaza and that the hold-up was caused by the failure of aid organizations to distribute the aid once it had passed into the Gaza Strip.

“This aid has all accumulated and is waiting for UNRWA and other UN aid orgs to distribute it. This is the equivalent of hundreds of aid trucks—which isn’t being distributed to Gazan civilians,” the IDF’s unit responsible for the Gaza Strip, COGAT, wrote on X.

All Israel News

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

Asking why we continue to see and read of the hatred and vitriolic rants against the nation of Israel often sounds like a “broken record.” I have surmised that we will continue to hear and see the incessant spewing of antisemitism because those expressing these views are short on reason, rational thinking, and logical, analytical deduction skills. This is not meant as an insult. This is observably true. What else can possibly explain the lack of comprehension among so many?

A simple way to address the widespread disinformation and subsequent rants of those who hate Israel would be to ask a series of questions and wait for an accurate and meaningful response.

For example, I would ask someone who has expressed the kind of thinking that denigrates Israel as the sole cause of the many issues facing the region this simple question: “When did the Palestinian people organize their land and establish its local governing authorities?”

Israel is always spoken of as occupying the land of the Palestinians, so when did the Palestinians organize their land and set up a government to govern it and them? The answer, of course, is never. There is no such thing as the land of the Palestinians or Palestine.

Any honest historian will state that the Palestinian “problem” was created by Arab and Muslim nations who refused to admit those Arabs and Muslims who fled Israel in 1947-48 did so at their insistence. When Arabs and Muslims left Israel, the people, including the leadership of the new nation, asked them to stay.

Today, the same problem exists because Arab and Muslim nations will not allow the Palestinians to immigrate to their countries. Those nations see the Palestinians as both a bargaining chip against Israel and a likely domestic problem for peace if allowed to immigrate. The reality is that the Arab and Muslim nations will never permit the Palestinians to enter their nation because along with them come the dangerous tentacles of Hamas and Hezbollah.

There is much to be gained by the Israel haters by continuing the erroneous global optics of Israel as the villain in the story of the Palestinians.

The so-called ethnic cleansing decried on college campuses across America is also logically a non-starter. How is Israel committing genocide against the Palestinian people when the population of the Palestinians continues to grow? If there is a genocide ongoing, it is being perpetrated by the terror groups that rule Gaza and Lebanon with an iron fist. The Palestinian people are nothing more than expendable chattel in the hands of Hamas, Hezbollah, and their masters, the Iranian mullahs.

Perhaps the most potent question one could ask of someone blinded by their hatred toward Israel is this: “Can you name one Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian leader who has stated publicly and is affirming among his group of constituents that as a part of a separate Palestinian State, Israel has a right to her land in which to live in peace and security?”

Today’s virtue-signaling, communist-loving, Israel-hating Palestinian sympathizers have no depth of understanding concerning global politics, and they certainly do not have any historical perspective.

The Oslo Accords and the Camp David Summit in 2000 resulted in a basic framework for a Palestinian State. The continuing issue is that while the Arab and Muslim leaders smile for the cameras and receive the applause of the Western world for their determination to bring peace to the region, these same leaders speak a very different message to their constituents. That message is “We will never be at peace with the Jewish occupiers of OUR land; we will only drive them into the sea and out of existence. Then the land will be cleansed and returned to us.”

Arab and Muslim doctrine dictates that if a territory was ever occupied by Muslims, it belongs to Allah into perpetuity. Thus, the leaders of the Palestinians lie to the West but tell the truth of their intentions to their people.

Unless the Arab and Muslim leaders start telling the truth about their intentions, there will never be an acceptable two-state solution.

Israel knows the truth. The West refuses to allow it to see the light of day. It seems incredible to consider but President Biden is doing all he can to force the issue on Israel by threatening to withhold armaments required to continue to purge the region of terror.

How absurd is it to stop Israel from doing the entire world a favor by destroying Hamas? How absurd is it to have a US President protect terrorists by deterring Israel?

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

Saturday evening will mark the beginning of the observance of Purim for Jews around the world. The life of Esther provides insight into the background and biblical story behind this annual celebration.

Purim = פורים; meaning “lots”

From Saturday evening until sundown on Sunday, Jews throughout the world will celebrate Purim, a holiday commemorating the Jewish people’s survival in the ancient Persian Empire. Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar by Jewish communities. It includes festivities, parties, costumes, and the reading of the Book of Esther. The story of Purim is found in the Book of Esther, where a plot by Haman, the royal advisor to King Ahasuerus, was conceived to kill the Jews in the Persian Empire.

Esther revealed she was a Jew and exposed Haman for the evil man he was. She told the king about the gallows he built that were intended for Mordecai. The king immediately ordered that Haman be hanged on the gallows. The king did permit Esther and Mordecai to issue a new decree that the Jewish people were permitted to defend themselves and pre-emptively kill anyone who put them at risk.

On the 13th of Adar, the Jews battled those who tried to kill them, including Haman’s ten sons who died in Shushan. Following the battle, Queen Esther requested from the king an additional day to slaughter those who attempted to kill the Jewish people. The king permitted her request, marking the 14th of Adar.

On the 15th of Adar, the Jews of Shushan celebrated their victory, commemorating the event’s holiday. The holiday of Purim is a celebration and remembrance of the attempted destruction of the Jews of Shushan and Queen Esther and Mordecai’s remembrance.

Observant Jews begin Purim on the 13th of Adar, fasting and commemorating Esther’s bravery. Jews today celebrate Purim by wearing costumes, having parties, and some will read the Book of Esther. During the reading of the Book of Esther, it is customary to “boo” every time Haman’s name is read aloud.

Many communities hold a ‘Purim spiel,” a reenactment of the Purim story. The holiday is celebrated with “Oznei Haman” or better known as “Hamantaschen”- a pastry with different fillings.

Today, we have the same spirit of the annihilation of the Jews coming from the same part of the world. Modern Iranian leaders are obsessed with the spirit of Haman even today. We don’t need an Esther in the palace anymore. We need the prayers of the saints worldwide.

Day 169 — Saturday, March 23

According to Canada’s La Presse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a vampire, and he is poised to suck the life out of the Palestinians in Rafah, Hamas’s final outpost in southern Gaza. The publication that was once a paper of record in Canada ran a political cartoon on March 20 portraying Netanyahu as a vampire, with a huge hooked nose, pointy ears and claws for fingers, dressed in Dracula’s overcoat while standing on the deck of a pirate ship.

The caption, written in blood-dripping red letters, read: “Nosfenyahou: En Route Vers Rafah.” Nosferatu, the Romanian word for vampire, was the title of a proto-Nazi German silent horror film from 1922 chock-full of anti-Semitic poison. The film, which became something of a cult flick, featured a vampire with a long Jewish nose. He arrived at an idyllic German town with a box full of plague-carrying rats that he released on the innocent villagers as he plotted to suck his realtor’s blood.

La Presse’s cartoon didn’t leave any room for imagination. It wasn’t making a political or military argument against Israel’s planned ground operation in Rafah. Its goal wasn’t to persuade anyone of anything.

The Netanyahu-the-vampire cartoon asserted simply that Netanyahu is a Jewish bloodsucker and, more broadly, the Jewish state—and Jews worldwide—must be vigorously opposed by all right-thinking people who don’t want Jewish vampires to kill them.

As the paper no doubt anticipated, the cartoon provoked an outcry from Canadian Jews and some politicians. And after a few hours, the newspaper took it off its website and apologized. Anyone who thinks that means that the good guys won misses the point of the move. The Jewish outcry and pile-on by politicians and media coverage proved the point. Jews are evil and control everything, even what a private paper can publish. Like Nosferatu in its day, the cartoon will become a piece of folklore, additional proof that the Jews are the enemy of humanity.

In other words, the cartoon was a blood libel.

Blood libels appeal to emotion, not reason. They do not seek to persuade anyone; rather, they are geared towards unleashing the latest anti-Semitism.

They legitimize and incite violence against Jews, who—once slandered as the enemies of the good—have no moral right to live.

The nature and purpose of blood libels make them impossible to combat. Jews cannot disprove blood libels because they aren’t based on fact but on feelings or intentions attributed to Jews by people who hate them. Can Netanyahu prove that he isn’t a vampire? Of course not. If he bothered to try, it would be seen as proof that he’s covering something up. Can Jews prove that they aren’t evil? No, again. Because people predisposed to believe that Jews are evil see everything good that Israel does as an effort to cover up its foundational, immutable malevolence. “Pink-washing” is a case in point.

JNS