Gatestone Institute

US, Qatar and Iran: Release the Hostages!
by Michel Calvo • April 25, 2024 at 5:00 am

The United States, France, Germany, Russia and Argentina, who had dual nationals taken hostage, did not try to bomb Hamas infrastructure and places where Hamas hid. Instead, they let Israel do it and then accused Israel of destroying the Gaza Strip.

Rather than putting any pressure on Qatar and demonstrating in front of Qatari-owned hotels in France, the United States and elsewhere in Europe, the families of the hostages have been putting pressure on the Israeli government, thereby doing exactly what Hamas would presumably like them to do. They are "working" for Hamas -- and against their own interests -- in the hope of seeing more hostages released. By their actions the value of the hostages only increases.

The demonstrators are doing what Hamas cannot do by itself: they are dividing Israel so that the unity government loses its strength in the negotiations, as well as any ability to bring the hostages home sooner -- a triumph that was successfully accomplished by the IDF, left unfettered.

The hostages are not the Israeli government's to deliver. They are unfortunately under the total the control of Hamas, Qatar and Iran --which is where the pressure should be applied, not on the government of Israel.

The only way a new Israeli government might negotiate the release of hostages would be by placing Israel's entire population in incalculable danger. Any new Israeli leader hand-picked and pushed through by the current US administration would most likely be expected to agree to a terrorist Palestinian state next to Israel -- meaning that the Israel would not be able to cross its border, if necessary, in "hot pursuit" of terrorists, and that the new state would soon be militarized, officially or not. Even if a new, sovereign Palestinian state were supposedly demilitarized, it would still be free to form alliances with any other entity it liked, including Iran, Al Qaeda or ISIS.

Qatar said it would invest in France 10 billion euros and in exchange France said it would be happy to try to save the terrorist group Hamas.... Everyone wins -- except the hostages held by Hamas.

Without the US military base there, Qatar knows that it would be a rich, targetable oil-rig. America, "in exchange," it seems, agreed to let Hamas continue its terrorist activities support the US quest for a Palestinian state. No remaining hostages were released; perhaps they were not even talked about.

Even though American citizens are among those still held hostage in Gaza, the US appears to have sided with the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, and their terrorist-supporting patrons, Qatar and Iran.


Even though American citizens are among those still held hostage in Gaza, the US appears to have sided with the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist groups, and their terrorist-supporting patrons, Qatar and Iran. Pictured: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a citizen of the United States and Israel who is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, appears, with his left hand amputated, in a Hamas propaganda video published on April 24, 2024.
This is not the first time that Muslims have launched attacks against non-Muslims and taken hostages.

We did not hear the President of the Cairo's Al-Azhar University, nor Egypt and Jordan, Muslim states that entered into a peace agreement with Israel, condemn Hamas for having taking Israeli, American, Chinese, French, German, Russian, Filipino and Thai hostages.

They could not condemn it: taking captives is authorized by the Qur'an (9:5; 23:1-5; and 70: 30-35), so long as the captives are not Muslims. ISIS accordingly justified transforming Yazidi hostages into sex slaves.

Biden (USA), Cameron (GB), Macron (F), Scholz (D), Harris (IRL), Jakobsdóttir (IS), Sánchez (E), Meloni (IT), Golob (SLO), however, appeared surprised. They and their respective advisors were apparently not aware of that fact.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20599/us-qatar-iran-gaza-hostages

Many Culprits Behind Rise of Antisemitism, Including the Media
by Howard Levitt • April 23, 2024 at 5:00 am

On the face of it, who can object to diversity, equity and inclusion? It is like objecting to Santa Claus. Unfortunately, these [DEI] workshops too often have been hijacked by radical ideologues who pitted races against each other.

Who indeed is to blame for the wave of hatred toward Jews that is roiling Canadian workplaces, universities, unions, social media postings, even our streets and neighbourhoods? Who are the purveyors of antisemitism?


Who is to blame for the wave of hatred toward Jews that is roiling Canadian workplaces, universities, unions, social media postings, even our streets and neighbourhoods? Who are the purveyors of antisemitism? Pictured: Police guard Talmud Torah Elementary School in Montreal, Canada, as parents pick up their children, on November 9, 2023. Two Jewish schools in the city had been hit by gunfire overnight. (Photo by Mathiew Leiser/AFP via Getty Images)
Over the last several years, Canadian employers have increasingly brought in "diversity, equity, and inclusion" (DEI) trainers to rid their workforces of conscious, and even subconscious, racism. On the face of it, who can object to diversity, equity and inclusion? It is like objecting to Santa Claus.

Unfortunately, these workshops too often have been hijacked by radical ideologues who pitted races against each other. The unhappy story of Richard Bilkszto, who committed suicide after alleging he was deemed a racist by one such trainer for observing that Canadians are not more racist than Americans, was simply the publicly exposed tip of that iceberg.

I have had many Jewish clients, even before Oct. 7, complain about how Jews have been treated in these DEI seminars. To what extent has this radical training played a role in the sudden outpouring of antisemitism here?

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20571/canada-rise-of-antisemitism

Thanks to Biden, China Could Start World War III Here
by Gordon G. Chang • April 22, 2024 at 5:00 am

China is swarming the waters of the Philippines, hoping to intimidate Manila into surrendering territory. US President Joe Biden and the State Department keep on issuing warnings, but Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to ignore them, suggesting deterrence is failing....

[R]ecently, China took Scarborough Shoal .... Washington then brokered an agreement for both sides to withdraw their craft, but only Manila complied. Beijing has been in firm control of Scarborough ever since.

When Chinese leaders, generals and admirals saw Washington's failure to act, they began moving against Second Thomas Shoal and other Philippine reefs and islets in the South China Sea, went after Japan's islets in the East China Sea, and began reclaiming and militarizing features in the Spratly chain. Biden as vice president legitimized the worst elements in the Chinese political system by showing everyone that aggression works.

Beijing has been waging proxy wars on three continents: Europe in Ukraine, Africa across its northern rim, and Asia in Israel and surrounding areas.

Xi apparently now believes he is boss of the world. "Change is coming that hasn't happened in 100 years," the Chinese leader told Russian President Vladimir Putin after their 40th in-person chat, in Moscow on March 22 last year. "And we are driving this change together."

Biden is now trying to reestablish deterrence. Britain and France desperately attempted to do that in late summer 1939 when they warned Germany that they would declare war if it invaded Poland. Then, German leaders did not believe the British and the French would in fact fight because for three years they had failed to make good on previous warnings.


China is swarming the waters of the Philippines, hoping to intimidate Manila into surrendering territory. On March 5, China wounded four Filipino sailors at Second Thomas Shoal, in the South China Sea. Unfortunately, the Biden administration's words and displays of solidarity with the Philippines have not impressed Chinese President Xi Jinping. His maritime militia, coast guard, and navy have stepped up aggressive tactics. Pictured: A China Coast Guard ship (top) sails dangerously close to Filipino fishermen aboard two wooden boats (center), as a Philippine Fisheries and Aquatic Resources inflatable boat observes, near the Scarborough Shoal, in the South China Sea, on February 16, 2024. (Photo by Ted Aljibe/ AFP/Getty Images)
Philippine's navy announced that, during the afternoon of April 15, it had observed 55 Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, Manila's designation for the South China Sea.

China is swarming the waters of the Philippines, hoping to intimidate Manila into surrendering territory. US President Joe Biden and the State Department keep on issuing warnings, but Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to ignore them, suggesting deterrence is failing and an incident leading to war could occur at any time.

Of the craft spotted Monday, 48 were from China's maritime militia, six from the Chinese Coast Guard, and one was from the People's Liberation Army Navy.

China's intrusions that day were spread across the South China Sea. Twenty-six of the vessels were spotted at Scarborough Shoal, six at Second Thomas Shoal, 20 near Pagasa Island, two near Panata Island, and the remaining one at Lawak Island.

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Israel Under Attack – U.S. Administration Abandoning Its Ally?
by Majid Rafizadeh • April 20, 2024 at 5:00 am

Article 2, paragraph 4 of the UN Charter explicitly prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any member state, making Iran's actions tantamount to an act of war.

The US administration's call for Israel to refrain from responding to attacks while facing direct aggression is deeply troubling and raises significant questions about the principles of sovereignty and self-defense.

In the face of relentless attacks on Israel, Washington is sending a dangerous message of encouragement, if not outright approval, to aggressors and undermining Israel's right to defend itself against existential threats.

Where is any real threat or pressure being paced on Hamas, Qatar or Iran, all of whom initiated the conflict in the first place? As far one can tell, nothing is even being done to eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons program. If Iran had nuclear weapons, does anyone think it might hesitate to use them, even "just" as a means of coercion?

The expectation that Israel should tolerate such attacks not only undermines the principles of self-defense and sovereignty but also erodes the longstanding partnership between the United States and Israel, sending a disconcerting message to the world about the strength of any US alliance in the face of adversity.


The expectation that Israel should tolerate attacks by Iran not only undermines the principles of self-defense and sovereignty but also erodes the longstanding partnership between the United States and Israel, sending a disconcerting message to the world about the strength of any US alliance in the face of adversity. (Image source: iStock/Getty Images)
Amid the relentless assaults from multiple adversaries -- Iran's regime, Qatar, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis -- Israel finds itself surrounded by Iran's "ring of fire" on all fronts.

These coordinated attacks, originating from both neighboring states and non-state actors, pose, as clearly intended, a threat to Israel's existence. In these dire circumstances, Israel looks to its longstanding ally, the United States, for crucial support and solidarity. However, the Biden administration's approach has left Israel feeling isolated and abandoned at a time when it most needs unwavering backing.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20585/israel-under-attack

Confidence in Ruler: Words of Wisdom from Confucius
by Lawrence Kadish • April 19, 2024 at 5:00 am


Pictured: A statue of Confucius in Suzhou, China. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)
"Tsekung asked about government, and Confucius replied: 'People must have sufficient to eat; there must be a sufficient army; and there must be sufficient confidence of the people in the ruler.' 'If you are forced to give up one of these three objectives, what would you go without first?' asked Tsekung. Confucius said, 'I would go without the army first.' 'And if you were forced to go without one of the two remaining factors, what would you rather go without?' asked Tsekung again. 'I would rather go without sufficient food for the people. There have always been deaths in every generation since men lived, but a nation cannot exist without confidence in its ruler.'"
— From The Wisdom of China and India by Lin Yutang.*

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Open Letter to US Adversaries, the White House, Congress, Donald Trump, and the Pentagon
by Lawrence Kadish • April 17, 2024 at 1:39 pm


In the end, because of Israel's robust defense technology, Iran's recent drone and ballistic missile attack on Israel's urban centers was little more than a potentially deadly fireworks show. Pictured: A battery of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system near Jerusalem on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
In the end, because of Israel's robust defense technology, Iran's recent drone and ballistic missile attack on Israel's urban centers was little more than a potentially deadly fireworks show, reportedly choreographed by the United States, in coordination with Iran, "so that no one will be hurt and war with Israel will be avoided" -- apparently not with Israel. Make no mistake, though. Iran is capable and willing to engage in a far more strategic display of power in the Middle East.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20584/open-letter

Mon, Apr 15 at 10:17 AM

Hamas Destroys Gaza, Now Trying to Claim That a 'Victory'
by Bassam Tawil • April 15, 2024 at 5:00 am

The prospect of Hamas declaring or celebrating "victory" worries not only Israel, but many Arabs -- including Palestinians -- who want to see the terrorist group completely destroyed and removed from power, but are often afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation.

"The continuity of Hamas's rule in Gaza is an ultra mega major disaster for the Palestinian people's aspirations, cause, hope for the reconstruction of the battered coastal enclave, and prospects for a new path forward to bring about progress, reconciliation, coexistence & peace." — Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, "Proud American from Gaza City; pro-Palestine, pro-peace, anti-Hamas", X, April 8, 2024.

Hamas, clearly buoyed by having the US on their side, has unsurprisingly hardened its position. It is now and is saying it wants Israel to make even more concessions.

Where is any US pressure on Hamas, Iran or Qatar?

"Yes, Hamas thanked the United States. When a terrorist group is thanking you, you're probably doing something wrong." — Joe Truzman, senior research analyst, X, April 9, 2024.

The Hamas terrorists have only been emboldened by the Biden administration's growing hostility towards Israel and its demand that Israel end the war, a move that would effectively be a surrender to Hamas.

"What victory are you talking about? Are you in your right mind? [Hamas has brought] complete devastation; thousands killed and displaced.... This is what the terrorist Hamas group, Iran's puppet, brought upon the people of Gaza. The leaders of Hamas defeated the people of Gaza and exterminated them without mercy." — Omar Shaybalras, X, April 9, 2024.

"Gaza has been destroyed, starved, slaughtered.... The people of Gaza are cursing Hamas, [Palestinian] Islamic Jihad, and Iran.... The members of Hamas's armed wing use children as human shields." — Osama al-Ali ,member of the Palestinian National Council, the PLO's parliament-in-exile, television interview, X, December 7, 2023.

"As long as [Hamas leaders Ismail] Haniyeh, [Yahya] Sinwar and [Khaled] Mashaal are alive, it is a victory for them, As for the destruction and the blood of the women and children of Gaza, it is a profitable enterprise as far as Hamas is concerned." — Abdallah Abou Aymen, April 9, 2024.

Unlike the Biden administration and anti-Israel protestors in the West, these observers understand that Hamas, Iran and Qatar are fully and solely responsible for the mass destruction and high casualties in the Gaza Strip.... We are already seeing calls for "Death to America" in America. A ceasefire would save Hamas, allow it to continue preparing for future massacres against Israelis, and enable Iran and Qatar to "export the Revolution" even more aggressively.

Above all, a US-bestowed, fake "victory" for Hamas would assure China, Russia and other predators that belligerency works and incentivize them to put the finishing touches on what many perceive as an "ultra mega major disaster" of a presidential legacy.


The Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is reportedly preparing to hold "victory" rallies if and when the war in the Gaza Strip ends. Many Arabs, however, have scoffed at Hamas's expected celebrations and accused the terrorist group and its patrons in Tehran of destroying the Gaza Strip. Pictured: Yahya Sinwar (L), leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, shares some laughs with senior Hamas leaders Khalil al-Haya (C) Ismail Haniyeh (R) in Rafah on February 24, 2017. (Photo by Said Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)
The Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist group Hamas is reportedly preparing to hold "victory" rallies if and when the war in the Gaza Strip ends. Many Arabs, however, have scoffed at Hamas's expected celebrations and accused the terrorist group and its patrons in Tehran of destroying the Gaza Strip.

"A friend in the City of Rafah told me he saw large signs and banners being printed/prepared by Hamas to hold 'victory rallies' that the Islamist group plans on having when a ceasefire/hostage deal is announced, highlighting the withdrawal of IDF troops from Gaza as an achievement," said Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who describes himself as a "proud American from Gaza City; pro-Palestine, pro-peace, and anti-Hamas," who lost 31 family members in the Israel-Hamas war.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20569/hamas-destroys-gaza-victory

The Destruction of Iran's Terrorist Hub in Damascus Was Entirely Justified
by Con Coughlin  •  April 14, 2024 at 5:00 am

Iran's decision to rely on groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas to prosecute its war against Israel has resulted in the Israelis regularly having to retaliate with air strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria and Lebanon in an attempt to disrupt their terrorist infrastructure.

Since October 7, the consulate served as Tehran's main regional command centre, helping to supervise the activities of Iran's so-called "axis of resistance".

[A]s recent events have indicated, Israel is not just fighting a war against the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists who committed the terrible atrocities on October 7. It is in an existential battle for survival against the Iranian regime and its many proxies which, if left unchecked, will continue seeking to achieve their ultimate goal of destroying the Jewish state.


The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria was not, as the Iranians claim, simply an attack on a blameless diplomatic mission. It was a carefully targeted strike on the headquarters of the expansive terrorist network that Tehran has established throughout the Middle East. Pictured: The Iranian Embassy compound in Damascus, Syria on April 1, 2024, following an airstrike that destroyed the consulate building. (Photo by Maher Al Mounes/AFP via Getty Images)
The bombing of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria was not, as the Iranians claim, simply an attack on a blameless diplomatic mission.

It was a carefully targeted strike on the headquarters of the expansive terrorist network that Tehran has established throughout the Middle East.

The real purpose of the Iranian consulate building, an adjunct of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, was revealed when the Iranians themselves admitted that two senior commanders of the elite Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in the air strike, which has widely been attributed to the Israeli air force.

The Quds Force, which has direct responsibility for overseeing Iran's global terrorist operations, reports directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was established to fulfil the ayatollahs' ambition of exporting Iran's Islamic revolution throughout the Muslim world.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20567/iran-terrorist-hub-damascus

European Union: Testing Election Ahead
by Amir Taheri  •  April 14, 2024 at 4:00 am

A system is in crisis when it is hit by what in medical terms would be described as three "conditions".

The first is a growing loss of public trust in the system as a whole.

The second "condition" is the sluggish state of the European economies. Even Germany, the EU's wunderkind for generations, may be hit by negative growth.

The third and, perhaps, far more important is an unprecedented desacralization of political power and a sharp fall in the prestige of those holding high offices of the state.

Instead of moving towards a European super-state or a federal outfit, the EU's current trajectory seems to be back to the nation-state model. The coming European Parliament elections will show whether that trend is set to continue


Instead of moving towards a European super-state or a federal outfit, the EU's current trajectory seems to be back to the nation-state model. The coming European Parliament elections will show whether that trend is set to continue (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
With the campaign for the election of the next European Parliament heating up, it is becoming clear that the European Union of 27 democracies that together form the largest economic bloc in the world, is not in good shape.

To be sure, the European Union isn't quite on life-support as its arch-foe Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to claim. But nor is it in the robust, all-conquering health that French President Emmanuel Macron pretends.

To put it shortly, the EU is in crisis, deep and potentially life-threatening crisis.

A system is in crisis when it is hit by what in medical terms would be described as three "conditions".

The first is a growing loss of public trust in the system as a whole.

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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20568/european-parliament-election

Israel: Standing Alone Against Multifaceted Threats, Thanks to the Biden Administration
by Majid Rafizadeh • April 13, 2024 at 5:00 am

Israel is currently facing a multi-front war for its survival, with Qatar, Iran and Iran's proxies, which are encircling Israel, leading the charge. The gravity of this aggression cannot be overstated: not just for the existence of Israel, but also for that of the US, Europe and the West.

Israel's struggle for survival is not solely a regional conflict; it is a battle between civilization and those who think international law, human rights and the rules of war are a Western joke. Since the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979, its rulers have been calling for "Death to America" – now also demanded in Dearborn, Michigan.

Which side is the US on? President Joe Biden's legacy, especially after surrendering Afghanistan to the Taliban in 2021, will be "Biden, friend of the Terrorists."

All the US would have to do to stop much of Iran's bellicosity is take out the bases of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Iran -- so there is a direct cost to Iran, not just to its human shields.

Iran, on the way to having nuclear bombs, has provided support to terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and the Houthis, all of which have vowed to annihilate Israel. Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, boasts an arsenal of an estimated 150,000 missiles, many precision-guided, aimed at Israel's population. Meanwhile, Hamas has demonstrated its willingness to commit a genocide, launching more than 12,000 indiscriminate rocket attacks just since October at civilian targets in Israel, a country the size of New Jersey.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has outlined his vision for Israel's demise in his book, Palestine, a 416-page "guide to destroying Israel," and railing against "The Great Satan," the United States. This is not a hypothetical scenario; it is a meticulously planned campaign of annihilation.

While the Biden administration is threatening to withhold life-saving arms from Israel, the Biden administration just rewarded both of its chief attackers, Iran and Qatar.
The Biden administration just actually invited Hamas's main funder, Qatar, to operate a planned pier in Gaza to bring in humanitarian aid. All of it will certainly end up with Hamas, not Gazan civilians -- and, one can imagine what else Qatar will allow in, from heavy weapons to more terrorists.

A Hamas "victory," incentivizing aggression, cannot be rewarded; it must be stopped.
Israel is currently facing a multi-front war for its survival, with Qatar, Iran and Iran's proxies, which are encircling Israel, leading the charge. If the Biden administration abandons Israel now, it would not only betray a steadfast ally, it would seriously jeopardize the entire region and the Free World. (Image source: iStock)
In the tumultuous landscape of the Middle East, Israel stands as a beacon of freedoms, human rights and democracy amid a sea of terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes seeking its destruction.

Israel is currently facing a multi-front war for its survival, with Qatar, Iran and Iran's proxies, which are encircling Israel, leading the charge. The gravity of this aggression cannot be overstated: not just for the existence of Israel, but also for that of the US, Europe and the West.

To prevent Israel's adversaries from escalating – which, of course, is what they do when they receive US support, the Biden Administration needs to show Israel and other US allies unwavering support – just as the US did this week with Japan.

If the Biden administration abandons Israel now, it would not only betray a steadfast ally, it would seriously jeopardize the entire region and the Free World.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20565/israel-standing-alone

Who Will Help the New 'Forgotten Man'?
by Lawrence Kadish • April 10, 2024 at 3:00 pm

The Great Depression swept across the nation some 90 years ago, creating a level of despair that nearly crushed America. Washington was either indifferent or inept in responding to a calamity that threatened the very foundation of the republic. Today we have a new generation of "forgotten men" – and women. They too have lost faith in a Washington that seems to have dissolved into a dysfunctional collection of politicians far removed from the difficulties facing our citizens. Pictured: A bread line outside the Rescue Society on Doyers Street in New York City, during the Great Depression, in 1929. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)
The Great Depression swept across the nation some 90 years ago, creating a level of despair that nearly crushed America.

Standing mute and dumbfounded on a breadline, tens of thousands became "forgotten men"; stripped of their jobs, their dignity, and their future. Washington was either indifferent or inept in responding to a calamity that threatened the very foundation of the republic.

Some of these forgotten men sought refuge in God, solace in the Bible, and prayed for salvation or, at the very least, a pathway that would lead them to a better life.

Others looked to a vibrant, dynamic president, who would inspire those victims of a national calamity that we are still a nation capable of greatness with the ability to rescue those forgotten men from devastating unemployment.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20563/who-will-help-the-new-forgotten-man

The Dangerous US Rush to Save the Terrorist Group Hamas
by Alan M. Dershowitz • April 9, 2024 at 5:00 am

Had the Biden administration maintained the strong support for the destruction of Hamas that it showed in the immediate aftermath of Oct 7, the fighting might already have subsided and all the hostages been returned. But every time the Biden administration weakens its support for Israel, it strengthens the determination of Hamas to raise its demands and threaten Israel, to the point that Israel cannot possibly agree.

Where are the threats and the pressure on Hamas, Qatar or Iran?

Although Hamas praised — indeed celebrated — the resolution, it has no intention of complying with its demand regarding hostages. Yet, it expects Israel to comply unilaterally with what is demanded of it.

Recent data show that it is not Israel that causing hunger in Gaza, it is Hamas: "Hamas, which has been hoarding food and stealing from Gazans, is the root cause of Gazans' suffering."

[Hamas] must be required to surrender and the people of Gaza must be de-radicalized. Any other endgame will only postpone a repetition of October 7. Except this time, with calls this week for "Death to America" from within the United States, just as terrorism came to a theater near Putin, this time it may be coming to a theater near you.


The Biden administration's drift away from full support for Israel will cost more Palestinian and Israeli lives. It will encourage Hamas to keep fighting and to keep rejecting proposals for the return of hostages in exchange for a humanitarian cease-fire. Recent data show that it is not Israel that causing hunger in Gaza, it is Hamas: "Hamas, which has been hoarding food and stealing from Gazans, is the root cause of Gazans' suffering." Pictured: Hamas terrorists on a pickup truck "escort" trucks carrying humanitarian aid that they intend to loot, near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on December 10, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration's drift away from full support for Israel will cost more Palestinian and Israeli lives. It will encourage Hamas to keep fighting and to keep rejecting proposals for the return of hostages in exchange for a humanitarian cease-fire. It will persuade Hamas that it can win its war, weaken Israel and create distance between the US and Israel.

As former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo put it last month after the US refused to veto a one-sided anti-Israel security council resolution:

"Hamas, when they saw the abstention, were thrilled. The Chinese Communist Party? Happier than heck. The Russians? Happier than heck. The Iranians? Absolutely beyond themselves, thrilled that the United States of America refused to stand up for its ally. I think that's so telling. That's very risky for every American, when you see the United States walk away from its long-term strategic ally and friend in the Middle East."

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The Biden Administration's War against the Government of Israel
by Caroline Glick • April 9, 2024 at 4:00 am

Based on what he referred to as a conversation with his contacts in the White House, [riot leader and entrepreneur Ami Dror set out in granular detail the White House's four-part plan to overthrow the government. The components involved actions on the ground in Gaza; the use of the U.N. Security Council; extortion of government ministers; and mass protests.

The purpose of the U.S. campaign for humanitarian aid, explained, was twofold: undermining the control of the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza and blackmailing government ministers.

"At the start of the war, the Americans demanded that [Israeli Minister Benny Gantz] join the government. He was their man. The man that would ensure that Netanyahu and Ben Gvir didn't set the world on fire. He... promised that he... would take the government apart. After six weeks, he... promised that by January 1 they would deliver the goods... the final deadline the Americans gave him was Ramadan. When he didn't deliver for the U.S., the administration understood that they can't trust Gantz. Maybe he'll be a comfortable prime minister in the future. But the Americans seized full control over management of the war [against Netanyahu]." — Ami Dror.

"And the most important thing? ... President Biden's request from us: The American method of dealing with misbehaving states, includes the destruction (economic and legal) that is centered on the leadership on the one hand, and driving a wedge between 'the nation,' and 'the leadership.' In our case ... for this to work—the nation of Israel must show (in the streets!) that it is fighting the leadership. ... The American administration needs to see the nation in Israel fighting the government of Israel." — Ami Dror.

So far, the new protests have done more to turn the public against Dror and his comrades than against the government.

The riot leaders and the administration may well believe that the enemy is the Israeli government. But the Israeli public isn't buying it. On Oct. 7, the people's eyes were opened, and they will not be closing any time soon. Israel is waging war and will continue to wage the war against its actual enemies—Hamas, Hezbollah and their puppet master Iran—until victory.


Israel's far left is reinstating the anti-government riots that occurred regularly through the first three-quarters of 2023. Pictured: Anti-government protestors rally in the center of Tel Aviv, Israel on April 6, 2024. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Israel's far left is reinstating the anti-government riots that occurred regularly through the first three-quarters of 2023.

The newest round of leftist political violence began officially on the night of Saturday, March 31 in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, in the first of what was billed as four days of protests. As was the case in the anti-government protests before Hamas's invasion of and one-day holocaust in southern Israel on Oct. 7, in the current round, demonstrations are followed by riots in which a few dozen participate.

As before, riots feature bonfires along major traffic arteries, assaults on police and ultra-Orthodox Jews, threats to murder Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and storming police barricades protecting the premier's home.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20558/biden-against-israel-government

The Silky Hand of Qatar Targets Jordan
by Bassam Tawil • April 8, 2024 at 5:00 am

The Jordanian authorities have accused the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Hamas, of seeking to destabilize security inside the kingdom.

Behind both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is the terrorist-sponsoring emirate, Qatar, and its propagandizing television bullhorn, Al-Jazeera.

Jordan's leaders are doing exactly what many other Arab regimes and heads of state have long been doing: radicalizing their people and inciting them to violence against Israel as a means of distracting them from problems at home.

The Arab leaders want their people to be busy hating Israel. Otherwise, the people might demand democracy, transparency and accountability from the corrupt Arab rulers.

Their Jordanian majesties apparently seem to have forgotten that if Israel were not protecting them, their own Palestinian population would have overthrown them or assassinated them long ago, as they did to the king's grandfather, King Abdullah I.

[Queen Rania] has also apparently forgotten is that it is Hamas that is using its own citizens as human shields and stealing and hoarding the humanitarian aid in the hope that the blame will be assigned to Israel – as it all too often unfortunately is.

"It is no longer a secret that there are two parties that have interests in creating tension in the region and moving to a new front: the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. They share the same agenda: destabilizing the Arab states. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, we have seen that the Hamas leadership is trying to mobilize the Jordanian street and is trying to drag the Jordanians into the war by any means." — Munif Al-Harbi, Saudi political analyst, aawsat.com, April 1, 2024.

If Jordan's King Abdullah and his wife want to avoid chaos in their kingdom, and a rather unpleasant outcome for themselves, they would do well to stop playing into the hands of the radical Islamists by inciting the Jordanian people to violence against Israel.

However, behind the incitement to violence that is empowering the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas -- and destabilizing the area -- lies the silky hand of Qatar.


Jordan's leaders are doing exactly what many other Arab regimes and heads of state have long been doing: radicalizing their people and inciting them to violence against Israel as a means of distracting them from problems at home. Pictured: Hamas supporters hold an anti-Israel protest in Amman, Jordan, on November 11, 2023. (Photo by Annie Sakkab / Middle East Images via AFP)
The Jordanian authorities have accused the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoot, Hamas, of seeking to destabilize security inside the kingdom. The accusation came in the aftermath of recent demonstrations in the capital Amman and other parts of Jordan in support of Hamas and in condemnation of Israel. The demonstrators are demanding that Jordan shut down the Israeli embassy and cut all ties with Israel.

Behind both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is the terrorist-sponsoring emirate Qatar and its propagandizing television bullhorn, Al-Jazeera.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20551/jordan-hamas-muslim-brotherhood

Rwanda – Thirty Years after the Genocide, April 7, 1994
by Alain Destexhe • April 7, 2024 at 5:00 am

Many of them had taken refuge in the local church, and others in a plot of land opposite the communal house, where there were several thousand frightened people, thinking that the authorities were going to protect them. Instead, the authorities conveniently decided to kill them on the spot. The soldiers and police, armed with rifles and grenades, and the militiamen with machetes and spiked clubs, surrounded the refugees and began firing into the crowd, throwing grenades and machetes.

What is certain is that he killed every day for a month... and that he never ran out of ammunition. How did he feel? "At first it was fear," he tells us, "but then the fear disappeared, there was no joy either, it became a habit to kill. It was a job ordered by the authorities and we did our duty." He took orders and obeyed, like Adolf Eichmann and the other Nazi executioners of the Final Solution.


Pictured: Some 90,000 Rwandan refugees wait to get food from the Red Cross on May 20, 1994 in the Benako refugee camp in Tanzania. (Photo by Alexander Joe/AFP via Getty Images)
Brainwashing

In 1994, Jean-Claude, a Hutu policeman later turned "Tutsi hunter," was 26 years old and one of 14 police officers in the commune of Nyamata, an hour outside Kigali, one of the areas worst affected by the genocide.

Four years earlier, the Rwandan Patriotic Front had attacked Rwanda from Uganda. The movement was made up of mainly Tutsis, living in exile since 1959, whom the Rwandan regime had not wanted to let return to the country.

Continue Reading Article

Iran and Israel: Is the Denial Game Over?
by Amir Taheri • April 7, 2024 at 4:00 am

Soleimani would do everything to avoid a direct clash with either Israel or the US forces in the region.

If he ["Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] does nothing, he could anger his core supporters. If he orders attacks on Israeli and/or Jewish targets, he won't be able to cite plausible deniability. And that, as the Iranian state TV analyst suggests, could give Israel an excuse for attacks on big targets in Tehran itself.


If "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does nothing in response to the recent Israeli airstrike in Syria, he could anger his core supporters. If he orders attacks on Israeli and/or Jewish targets, he won't be able to cite plausible deniability. And that, as the Iranian state TV analyst suggests, could give Israel an excuse for attacks on big targets in Tehran itself. Pictured: Khamenei leaves a polling station in Tehran on March 1, 2024. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
"Will this time be different?" This is the question that haunts Tehran political circles as more body bags are flown in from Damascus.

The body bags contain the mortal remains of 13 Iranian diplomatic and military officers, including two senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Muhammad-Reza Zahedi (alias Abu Mahdi) and Gen. Muhammad-Hadi Haj-Rahimi, killed in an Israeli airstrike on what was presented as an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital.

To be sure, this is not the first time that Israelis have taken out IRGC officers, and Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian, Pakistani, and Afghan mercenaries in Syria.

The take-out operation started in 2015 and reached a peak in 2020. The last time an Iranian official organ provided figures was in 2018, when the Foundation for Martyrs and Self-Sacrificers put Iran's losses at around 5,000. The figures didn't show how many were Iranian officers or foreign mercenaries.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20548/iran-israel-denial-game

The Obama and Biden Administrations' Betrayal of America's Closest Ally in the Middle East: Israel
by Majid Rafizadeh • April 6, 2024 at 5:00 am

What onlookers see, including terrorists and America's enemies and adversaries – when they also factor in the open US southern border across which millions of illegal immigrants have recently poured, including 46,000 Chinese, many of whom are military-aged men possibly "building an army from within" – is that the Biden administration is perfectly content to welcome and support terrorists.

The White House actions have bolstered America's adversaries and pretty much extinguished America's credibility as an ally. The universal "optics" are that if America will throw its closest ally, Israel, under the bus, what chance has anyone else got?

Many people in Israel call to "Bring the Hostages Home." The request is wrong, because it is addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been doing his best to do free the hostages, while preventing Hamas ever to be able to strike Israel again – and standing up to US pressure, as he did during the fraudulent Iran nuclear deal. But the hostages are not his to bring home. The cry should be: "Release the Hostages" -- addressed, as well as calls for a ceasefire -- to the people who are holding them: Hamas, Qatar and Iran.

The US administration would clearly like to replace Netanyahu with new US-handpicked prime minister who would do whatever they tell him to, and appears to have launched a plan to do just that, using Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as its mouthpiece. The Israelis must not fall for it. If they want to preserve Israel, preserve Netanyahu.

The Palestinian state, even if it were officially "demilitarized," would, of course, be free to enter into military alliances with any countries it wished -- perhaps Russia, China, Iran, North Korea?

Israel's new US puppet prime minister would presumably be happy to have Qatar – a country that has supported virtually every Islamic terrorist group -- including Hamas, ISIS, Hizballah, the Taliban, the al Nusra Front and Al Shabaab -- "operate" the Gaza pier now being built to bring "humanitarian aid" and Heaven knows what else into Gaza. Above all, of course, the new puppet would presumably agree to Iran being armed to the teeth with nuclear bombs.

The Biden administration would do far better, especially for November 5, instead of aligning itself with the terrorist groups and the countries that support them -- such as Hamas, Qatar and Iran -- to align itself with those in the Free World, fighting for freedom, human rights and civilization.


The White House actions have bolstered America's adversaries and pretty much extinguished America's credibility as an ally. The universal "optics" are that if America will throw its closest ally, Israel, under the bus, what chance has anyone else got? Pictured: US President Joe Biden meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration persists in granting victories to Hamas and its primary supporters, Qatar and Iran, and in a way that only strengthens their positions in support of terrorism.

On March 25, the Biden administration declined to exercise its veto power at the United Nations Security Council, effectively betraying Israel and aligning itself with Hamas. This decision was perceived by Israel's enemies in Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq as the United States finally having abandoned Israel. The American abstention looked as if the US had adopted Hamas's position at long last -- and during the height of the conflict!

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20547/obama-biden-betray-israel

The Israeli-Palestinian 'Two State Solution'
by Michel Calvo • April 4, 2024 at 5:00 am

Curiously, like President Joe Biden and his top national security officials, the ambassador [Martin Indyk] ignores a crucial element: radical Islam does not tolerate the existence of a sovereign non-Islamic entity (such as Israel) on land that once was conquered by Muslims (dar al-Islam, "abode of Islam"). As most Palestinians have been creditably straightforward about, there is no place for an Israeli state.

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism." — Zuheir Mohsen, PLO official, Trouw, March 31, 1977.

Tangible land for intangible peace and billions of dollars will not change them -- just buy them bigger weapons. Only re-education can hope to do that, if it would work...

"What is a 'technocratic government'? It's a front for the terrorists and composed of nonprofit executives, academics, economists and others... and extracting foreign aid from them. Hamas will not officially be part of the puppet regime, but will control the puppets.... [B]ut while Qatar is helping assemble a new 'technocratic' front for the terrorists, the Moscow summit made it clear that the real agenda of the new government would be terror against Israel and the U.S." — Daniel Greenfield, Gatestone Institute, March 13, 2024.

"The 'technocratic government' will provide the Biden administration and other governments with the plausible deniability needed to go on funding terrorists. The Moscow summit revealed that a technocratic government will not end terrorism; it will disguise it, and it will not end the conflict, it will escalate it." — Daniel Greenfield, Gatestone Institute, March 13, 2024.

How can Israeli Jews believe that the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United States and other countries... will bring peace? These countries have no means of enforcing any commitments undertaken by "Palestine" in a potential peace treaty, and even less will to do so.

Recognition of "Palestine" as a state, even if it were supposedly "demilitarized," would enable it to enter into military alliances and "defense agreements" with whomever they chose -- China, Russia, Iran, all of them? Why would such a state not be used as a base, as in the PLO's 1974 "Ten Point Plan" of phases, from which to try to take "the rest"?

Equally alarmingly, the US has reportedly asked Qatar, Hamas's main patron since 2007, to operate a supposedly temporary pier in Gaza, currently being planned, to deliver supposedly "humanitarian aid"... one has to ask: What else will come in with the humanitarian aid? With Qatar in charge, "demilitarization" will likely last less than a week.

Those who want to recognize or impose a Palestinian state, knowingly or unconsciously, aim at Israel's destruction.

Peace will come when the Jews, the Americans and the Europeans support those fighting to preserve civilization, not to preserve terrorism.


Can the US and European states recognize "Palestine" as a peace-loving "state" while its government, the Palestinian Authority, continues to finance terrorism? Land for peace, and billions of dollars, will not change Islam. Tangible land for intangible peace and billions of dollars will not change Palestinians -- just buy them bigger weapons. Only re-education can hope to do that, if it would work. Those who want to recognize or impose a Palestinian state, knowingly or unconsciously, aim at Israel's destruction. (Image source: iStock/Getty Images)
Just in time for Easter, another resurrection was recently proposed by Martin Indyk, twice US ambassador to Israel, in the journal Foreign Affairs:

"[The] allegedly dead two-state solution...resurrected by U.S. President Joe Biden and his top national security officials...is the only way to create lasting peace among the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the Arab countries of the Middle East".

"And how an unimaginable war could bring about the only imaginable peace".

Curiously, like President Joe Biden and his top national security officials, the ambassador ignores a crucial element: radical Islam does not tolerate the existence of a sovereign non-Islamic entity (such as Israel) on land that once was conquered by Muslims (dar al-Islam, "abode of Islam"). As most Palestinians have been creditably straightforward about, there is no place for an Israeli state.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20544/israel-palestine-two-state-solution

Biden Must End Qatar's Malign Role in Gaza Ceasefire Talks and Pier
by Con Coughlin • April 3, 2024 at 5:00 am

In one of the more high profile cases involving Qatar's financing of terrorism, the family of murdered American journalist Steven Sotloff claimed in a federal lawsuit in 2022 that prominent Qatari institutions wired $800,000 to an Islamic State "judge" who ordered the murder of Sotloff and another American journalist, James Foley. The two were beheaded in Syria in 2014, their killings filmed and published in grisly propaganda videos.

The US moved its forces to Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base from Saudi Arabia in 2003, after the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001. There seems no reason why it could not be moved once again to a country in the region that does not support terror groups.

Of even greater concern [than Qatar contributing $5.1 billion to US campuses since 1986], though, is the Biden administration's willingness to allow Qatar to play a prominent role in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza and manage humanitarian aid delivered to a new pier being built in Gaza, even though Doha's negotiating status and that of a potential caretaker have been thoroughly compromised through its involvement in creating Hamas's terrorist infrastructure.

Given Qatar's well-documented support for Hamas, it is clear that no meaningful resolution of the Gaza conflict is possible so long as Doha is continuing with its efforts to negotiate a settlement that is favourable to Hamas, one that would enable the terrorist movement to remain in control of Gaza, or that Qatar should operate, or indeed have anything to do with, the delivery of "humanitarian aid" to what seems planned as Hamas's new beachhead.

Rather than allowing Qatar to continue playing its double game, where Doha pretends to be a close ally of the West while at the same time sponsoring terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Taliban, the Biden administration needs to wake up to the real threat Qatar poses to the security of the Middle East, and concentrate its efforts on negotiating a ceasefire deal and finding a custodian for Gaza and its new pier that do not require Qatar's malign involvement.


Given Qatar's well-documented support for Hamas, it is clear that no meaningful resolution of the Gaza conflict is possible so long as Doha is continuing with its efforts to negotiate a settlement that is favourable to Hamas, one that would enable the terrorist movement to remain in control of Gaza Pictured: US President Joe Biden meets with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in the White House on January 31, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)
After the success the Gulf state of Qatar achieved in helping restore the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, Doha is now investing all its energy in seeking to keep Hamas in power in Gaza.

For more than a decade, the tiny Gulf emirate has been using the massive profits it derives from its vast energy resources to sponsor radical Islamist ideology that underpins terrorist organisations such as Hamas.

Qatar was an enthusiastic supporter of the disastrous Muslim Brotherhood regime that briefly ruled Egypt, a period that is mainly memorable for the murderous attacks carried out against Christian in communities and Cairo's diplomatic overtures to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20529/qatar-role-gaza-hamas

The Murder of a NYC Cop Reflects a National Tragedy of Lawlessness
by Lawrence Kadish • April 3, 2024 at 5:00 pm


The murder of NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller speaks to a nation in turmoil. Entire urban downtowns have become wastelands. Legislation has been passed that harms the ability of police to perform their duties. Pictured: The funeral of Diller, at St. Rose of Lima Church on March 30, 2024 in Massapequa, New York. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
On the eve of Easter Sunday, for as far as the eye could see, thousands of police officers lined a quiet suburban Long Island street to offer their solemn final salute to a fellow officer, who was shot to death during a traffic stop in New York City. They came from all over the nation to pay tribute to one of their own, yet another victim in the absence of a war against crime, a situation that has been made far more violent, far more dangerous in the wake of legislation such as so-called "bail reform" -- now basically a catch-and-release, in which criminals are regarded as victims and victims are regarded as criminals -- and similar progressive initiatives that are unraveling our society.

Detective First Grade Jonathan Diller was married to a nurse named Stephanie; they had a toddler named Ryan.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20545/lawlessness

Under Biden Administration, Iran's Mullahs Enjoying Green Light to Go Nuclear
by Majid Rafizadeh • March 30, 2024 at 5:00 am

The bleak reality is that time is rapidly running out for concerted action to stop Iran's march towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. The Biden administration's response, however, has been marked by silence, massive funding of Iran and a conspicuous absence of intervention.

[T]he prospect of the world's "leading sponsor of state terrorism" armed with nuclear weapons demands serious and immediate action.

Iran now controls four countries in the region in addition to its own -- Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. With nuclear weapons, Iran will be able to "export the Revolution" with ease. It will not even have to use its nuclear arsenal; just the threat of a nuclear attack should be enough to deter push-back and secure capitulation. The regime is already establishing footholds in Latin America -- Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua -- from where it will be able to threaten "the Big Satan," the United States.

It is essential to confront the nuclear threat from Iran with haste.


The bleak reality is that time is rapidly running out for concerted action to stop Iran's march towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. The prospect of the world's "leading sponsor of state terrorism" armed with nuclear weapons demands serious and immediate action. (Image source: iStock)
The ascent of Iran's nuclear program under the watch of the Biden administration stands as a grim illustration of its failure and inadequacy. Iran's mullahs appear to have been tacitly handed an alarming green light to pursue their nuclear ambitions with impunity. The bleak reality is that time is rapidly running out for concerted action to stop Iran's march towards acquiring nuclear weapons capability. The Biden administration's response, however, has been marked by silence, massive funding of Iran and a conspicuous absence of intervention.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20523/biden-iran-nuclear-program

Qatar and Its Al-Jazeera Network: 'Voice for Terrorists'
by Bassam Tawil • March 29, 2024 at 5:00 am

The long-term agenda looks as if the US and Qatar intend to try to elbow Israel out of any say in what "humanitarian aid" is eventually be brought into Gaza

The US seems to believe that Qatar is aligned with it; the US has its major Middle Eastern airbase there, without which Qatar would be a vulnerable target. However, the report reveals Qatar as aligned with countries such as Iran, Russia, and China, and groups such as Al Qaeda and the Taliban, which seek to replace the West. Qatar supported the Taliban until Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani fled in his plane. Then Qatar offered to mediate.

It is the same act -- "first the arsonist then the firefighter" -- that Qatar is putting over on the Biden administration with Hamas. First, Qatar funds Hamas to the gills, hosts Hamas's billionaire leaders in its capital, Doha, and allows Deif to declare war on Qatar's megaphone, Al Jazeera. Then, the Qataris pretend to be impartial mediators, and the Biden administration pretends to buy their act.

It is no secret that Qatar and its news organization Al-Jazeera have long been serving as champions, protectors and lifelines for Hamas and other terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda affiliates and the Taliban.

"There are many channels who are biased, but this is past bias. Now Al-Jazeera is a voice for terrorists." — Mohammed Fahmy, the former Cairo bureau chief of Al-Jazeera, reported by Eli Lake, aawsat.com, June 25, 2017.

In light of the new damning evidence of Al-Jazeera's employing terrorists and its close connections to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, perhaps it is time for Israel and Western countries to learn from the Arabs, who understood many years ago that Qatar and its Al-Jazeera are not platforms for peace or news, but rather perpetuators of terrorism.


In light of the new damning evidence of Al-Jazeera's employing terrorists and its close connections to Hamas and other terrorist organizations, perhaps it is time for Israel and Western countries to learn from the Arabs, who understood many years ago that Qatar and its Al-Jazeera are not platforms for peace or news, but rather perpetuators of terrorism. Pictured: The headquarters of Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP via Getty Images)
Qatar and its vast media network, Al Jazeera, have a long history, which, according to a report by the Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), promote terrorism worldwide. The report notes:

"Al-Jazeera, therefore, should not be discussed as a means of telecommunications, but instead as an unyielding and forceful political tool of Qatari foreign policy under the guise of a mass media network."

It was this communications powerhouse, the report continues, that basically drove Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power and in 2012 replaced him with the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi, who was also driven from power a year later.

Al Jazeera was also the vehicle that provided a platform for Osama bin Laden among other terrorists, as well as allowing a pledge of allegiance, to ISIS leader's Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, to be broadcast live on air.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20521/qatar-al-jazeera-terrorists

Biden Administration's Terrorist Pier in Gaza: The Trojan Horse For Terrorists to Take Over the Region
by Bassam Tawil • March 27, 2024 at 5:00 am

Placing Qatar -- rather than, say, the United Arab Emirates -- in charge of the Gaza pier entrenches a terrorist-sponsoring Trojan Horse at Hamas's beck and call. Qatar will use the pier to supply Hamas with more money and more powerful weapons. The port will also undoubtedly be used to smuggle Islamist jihadis from all around the world into the Gaza Strip to launch more massacres against Israelis.

Qatar has a long history of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist offshoots, but also Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah and the Al Nusra Front.

If Qatar really wants an end to the Israel-Hamas war, all it has to do is order its Hamas puppets immediately and unconditionally to release all the Israelis kidnapped by Hamas terrorists October 7 and held hostage in the Gaza Strip. Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashaal, who are based in Doha, would not be able to refuse. Qatar is their lifeline.

The Qataris, however, are evidently in no rush to pressure Hamas: Qatar is clearly facing no pressure from the Biden administration. On the contrary, the Biden administration just agreed to extended Qatar's ability to host America's Al-Udeid Air Base, the headquarters of CENTCOM, for another ten years – for nothing in return.

"Congress must weigh in and cancel the 10-year extension of the military base in Qatar... The U.S. should seize assets tied to individuals and entities in Qatar for supporting terrorist groups, especially those tied to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism.... It's time to put Doha on notice that they are jeopardizing their relationship with the U.S. by providing material support to designated terrorist groups. Qatar is clearly acting like a state sponsor of terror and should not be allowed to use the U.S. banking system to bypass existing, though not enforced, sanctions on funding Iran and its terrorist proxies." — Former US intelligence officer Michael Pregent, The Hill, January 22, 2024.

The US should definitely start withdrawing from Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Thanks to the Biden administration -- which is also pressuring Israel not to eliminate the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah -- Qatar and its Hamas pawns are having the last laugh. In light of the Biden administration's decision to turn itself into an ally of terrorists and their supporters, such as Hamas and Qatar – instead of strengthening US relations with Israel and its allies in the Gulf who are fighting terrorism -- it is a very long last laugh, indeed.


Placing Qatar -- rather than, say, the United Arab Emirates -- in charge of the Gaza pier entrenches a terrorist-sponsoring Trojan Horse at Hamas's beck and call. Qatar will use the pier to supply Hamas with more money and more powerful weapons. The port will also undoubtedly be used to smuggle Islamist jihadis from all around the world into the Gaza Strip to launch more massacres against Israelis. Pictured: Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal meets with Qatar's then Crown Prince (today's Emir) Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Royal Palace in Amman, Jordan on January 29, 2012. (Photo by Khalil Mazraawi/AFP via Getty Images)
At the request of the Biden administration, Qatar has agreed to take charge of operating and financing a temporary pier in the Gaza Strip. Qatar agreed to run the port on condition that the construction work go to a company controlled and sponsored by Hamas, according to Israel's Channel 14.

The Biden administration's decision to involve Qatar, Hamas's major funder and ally, in the project is akin to putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop. This is a big, deliberate finger from the Biden administration not just in the in the eye of Israel but also in the eyes of America's allies in the Gulf who do not support terrorists, as well as for US national security.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20520/gaza-pier-qatar

A Springtime Prayer to 'Preserve, Protect and Defend' Our Constitution
by Lawrence Kadish • March 25, 2024 at 3:00 pm


As we remain wary and guarded against assaults from within and from beyond our borders, we need to turn within and contemplate the words of the Bible that serve to fortify ourselves and our nation. We should follow in the footsteps of great American presidents who put their hands on a book filled with holy words and vowed to "....the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Pictured: George Washington takes the oath of office as the first president of the United States, on April 30th 1789 at the Old City Hall, New York, in an 1876 lithograph by Currier & Ives. (Image source: Metropolitan Museum of Art)
We are a nation that respects the Constitutional separation of "Church and State," but we are also a nation founded on the moral authority found within the Bible.

At a time when Easter is upon us and Passover is weeks away, it is important to reflect on the role of prayer in strengthening a nation that daily celebrates its democracy.

It is not by accident that George Washington placed his hand on a Bible when taking the oath of office of as America's first president. Also, no small wonder that Abraham Lincoln continuously returned to biblical themes as he brought our nation through the agonies of the Civil War. Or that Franklin Delano Roosevelt invoked a "righteous might" when asking for a declaration of war following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20517/preserve-protect-defend-constitution

Biden's Pier Is a Gift to Hamas Terrorists
by Con Coughlin • March 24, 2024 at 5:00 am

There are mounting concerns that the Biden administration's pier plan could ultimately boomerang, especially, as Netanyahu himself has warned, if the US aid and the port itself end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists.

"This [Biden] administration betrayed its allies – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Jordan – by handing the port over to Qatar, namely to Hamas..... What all anti-U.S. elements will take away from this tragic episode is not that America stands by its human values to support and care for the population of Gaza, but rather that America is weak and that this is why it is granting the port to Qatar and Hamas." — Yigal Carmon, founder and president, Middle East Media Research Institute, March 20, 2024.

As Hamas ultimately controls most of the aid distribution networks in Gaza, the plans currently being drawn up by the US and Europe to expand aid deliveries could ultimately prove counter-productive in terms of ending the conflict, as Hamas terrorists have a long track record of exploiting foreign aid to strengthen their terrorist activities in Gaza.

If the Biden administration and its European allies are really serious about ending the conflict in Gaza, then they should give their unequivocal backing to the Israeli military in its battle to destroy the terrorist infrastructure Hamas has constructed in Gaza.

For it will only be when Hamas is completely destroyed, and no longer poses a threat to the Israeli people, that there can be any genuine prospect of lasting peace in the region.


The only real beneficiary of the Biden administration's ill-considered plan to build a floating pier to deliver US aid to Gaza will be the Hamas terrorist organisation that provoked the Gaza conflict in the first place. Pictured: US Army mariners construct a "Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore" causeway adjacent to the MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher off the coast of Bowen, Australia, July 29, 2023. This is the type of floating pier that the US military has been tasked with building on the Gaza shore. (Photo by Sgt. Ashunteia' Smith/U.S. Army via Getty Images)
The only real beneficiary of the Biden administration's ill-considered plan to build a floating pier to deliver US aid to Gaza will be the Hamas terrorist organisation that provoked the Gaza conflict in the first place.

Under plans drawn up by the Pentagon, an estimated 1,000 US military personnel are to be deployed to construct the floating pier off the coast of Gaza that will enable Washington to deliver aid directly to Palestinian civilians.

Four US Army ships are currently making the month-long voyage from their base in Virginia to Gaza, where they will be involved in the construction of what the Pentagon calls a modular causeway system, including a large floating platform that will enable ships to unload large containers of aid.

The humanitarian supplies will then be transferred to a motorised string of causeway sections that will be pushed towards the shore for unloading.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20513/biden-pier-gift-to


Gaza: Razzia as Political Warfare
by Amir Taheri • March 24, 2024 at 4:00 am

British and European Union leaders say the time has come to formally accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Major-General Ismail Qaani, chief of the Quds Force of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, promises to "rebuild Gaza stronger than before as an advance post against world Zionism."

Claiming to be a "freedom fighter" shouldn't mean a license to kill at will. Even the "oppressed" have certain duties and must observe some rules while, as history has shown, the tyranny of the underdog could be as deadly as that of the oppressor.

The question today is why, when no time limit is imposed on conventional war until a victor emerges, should war against an insurgent group be subjected to calendar-based shenanigans?

In fact, the origin of razzia is the Arabic word ghazwa, which means a sudden no-holds-barred attack on a single set of targets in the hope of knocking out an adversary... The 9/11 attacks of 2001 on the US were four coordinated razzias.

World War II produced over 30 million refugees, all of whom acquired new abodes within a decade. The partition of India produced 14 million refugees, again, seeing all of them re-settled in less than a decade. Since 1959, more than 10 million Cubans have been driven out of their homeland and settled in a dozen countries, notably the United States.

Does it make any sense to have refugee camps even in Gaza, which was free of Israeli occupation for two decades? Or in the West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority? Is it humane to turn being a refugee into a profession, with UNRWA as the franchise-holder?

The Biden administration is making a big mistake by implicitly upgrading Hamas to a legitimate partner through regional allies, thus creating the illusion that razzias like the October 7 one could still produce at least a lollipop for perpetrators.
Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20516/gaza-razzia-political-warfare

Jew-Hate and 'Inquisitions' in Canada
by Robert Williams • March 22, 2024 at 5:00 am

"I would walk in every single day and I would see 'f–k you Jews,' 'you are not welcome here,' 'we hate Zionists,' and 'kill yourself.'" — Samantha Kline, student at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Vancouver Sun, March 6, 2024.

In 2022, the Canadian government invoked the Emergencies Act to shut down the so-called trucker convoy protests, in which thousands of truck drivers and their supporters rallied to call for an end to the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Last year, in a move reminiscent of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's "rehabilitation psychiatric wards," the celebrated psychologist, Professor Jordan Peterson, was ordered by the College of Psychologists of Ontario to be "disciplined" in a "Soviet style re-training camp" or lose his license, simply for having expressed personal opinions about a variety of subjects, from obesity to transgender ideology.

The same Canadian leaders and officials, however, evidently see no need to comment on the mobs calling for the genocide of Jews.

As a final blow to Canadian Jews, the Canadian government has decided, at this time of all times, to implement new standards that will effectively end the practice of kosher slaughter in Canada.

Is Canada trying to get rid of its Jews? And its freedoms? It might just succeed in doing both.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20511/canada-jew-hate

Germany's Murder of Europe
by Drieu Godefridi • March 21, 2024 at 5:00 am

Climate, of course, is a global issue: if Europe reduces its emissions to zero, while the rest of the world continues to increase them, the effect on the climate will be zero. As a result, the German plan will not save a single euro in terms of the damage caused by global warming and extreme events.

So, the investment needed each year would not be €1.5 trillion invested to save 0.03% of GDP per year. It would be €30 trillion — €1.5 trillion per year for 20 years — invested to change absolutely nothing in the climate of Europe.

There are no serious analysts left who still maintain that the objective of the Paris Agreement will be achieved; the Paris Agreement is obsolete and to pretend otherwise, as the European Commission is doing, is misleading, irresponsible, and not even scientific.

In practical terms, whole swathes of our populations have entered into a pattern that is the ultimate dream of environmentalists: degrowth. In other words, their impoverishment.

Ironically, if the IPCC's projections are to be believed, global warming may occur, and we will adapt to it through innovation. All the resources that Europe is burning up in a phantasmatic "energy transition", which has failed and will fail -- will just burn through money that we will then not have for innovation. What will Europe do when these misguided ideologies have permanently broken the back of its economy?


Climate is a global issue. If Europe reduces its emissions to zero, while the rest of the world continues to increase them, the effect on the climate will be zero. As a result, the German plan will not save a single euro in terms of the damage caused by global warming and extreme events. Pictured: Anti-nuclear power protesters celebrate the shuttering of Germany's last nuclear power plants on April 15, 2023 in Munich, Germany, and call for banning nuclear power across Europe. (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images)
In a preparatory impact report, a copy of which has been obtained by the Financial Times before official release, the European Commission estimates that to achieve the target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 then 100% in 2050 — the main objective of the "European Green Deal" — Europe will need to invest €1.5 trillion a year from 2031 to 2050.

1.5 trillion euros a year. That is equivalent to 10% of the Europe Union's entire GDP for 2022 -- every year! Apart from a war effort, there is no objective of any kind that has ever required the diversion of 10% of a continent's GDP by political decree.

The new German utopia

This number shows us that, while Germany has had to give up imposing its hatred of nuclear power on its European partners, it is determined to inflict on Europe the rest of the environmental utopia, i.e. total decarbonization, even at the cost of economic collapse and freedoms.

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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20470/germany-murder-of-europe


Schumer Warns Israel to Spare Hamas or Face Sanctions
by Daniel Greenfield • March 21, 2024 at 4:00 am
Schumer demanded that Israel call a new election and remove its current government from power.

If the Israelis vote wrongly again, the Biden administration "should use the tools at its disposal to make sure our support for Israel is aligned with our broader goal of achieving long-term peace and stability." Peace and stability paradoxically means a "Palestinian" terrorist state.

What did Netanyahu do wrong? According to Schumer, he won't commit to a terrorist state and insists on finishing off Hamas in Rafah. Or, as Schumer put it in his Orwellian tortured diction, he "won't commit to a military operation in Rafah that prioritizes protecting civilian life." The kind of operation the Biden administration has in mind is a few targeted strikes on Hamas leaders when no civilians are around. That's the way we fought and lost in Afghanistan. Biden would like to turn Israel into another Afghanistan with Hamas as the Taliban.

[M]any Jewish Democrat officials, all responding to Biden's call for a "Come to Jesus meeting" with Netanyahu. The actual call however is coming from another deity entirely who is worshiped in Dearborn, Michigan. Biden is desperate to end the war in order to appease Muslim Democrats in Michigan who have made no secret of their support for the terrorists.

This is part of a plan to put forward a "technocratic" government that would not contain members of Hamas, but which would still represent and take orders from Hamas. Under such a false flag, Hamas would retain power without having an official role.


This is part of a plan to put forward a "technocratic" government that would not contain members of Hamas, but which would still represent and take orders from Hamas. Under such a false flag, Hamas would retain power without having an official role. Pictured: Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists share a moment of friendship, and congratulate each other on their murderous atrocities, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on November 28, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)
US Senator Chuck Schumer stood at the Senate podium and laid out his vision of the "four obstacles to peace". These, according to the Senate Majority Leader were, Hamas, "right wing Israelis", PLO terrorist leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Having equated Israeli conservatives with Hamas, Schumer demanded that Israel call a new election and remove its current government from power. And if Israelis did not choose to obey, he warned that the "United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course."

That is an obvious euphemism for anything from the withdrawal of aid to economic sanctions.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20512/schumer-warns-israel

Hamas's Industrial Murder: Why Is Senator Chuck Schumer Not Demanding a Change of Leadership in Hamas and Iran?
by Lawrence Kadish • March 19, 2024 at 5:00 pm


When the terrorist organization Hamas murders, tortures, rapes and abducts Jews in Israel, do not be surprised that the Jews of today will respond with the righteous might of a nation that will never allow such crimes against humanity to be left unanswered. Pictured: A screenshot from Hamas bodycam footage showing two Palestinian terrorists from Gaza about to attack a home in southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. (Image source: Hamas)
Within every Jew's DNA is the experience of when our lineage stepped out of the cattle-cars at Auschwitz and were selected for immediate death in the gas chambers or assigned to slave labor, kept just barely alive until we were no longer of use to the Third Reich.

Industrialized murder at its most efficient was found there, along with places with names such as Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Majdanek and others now known to few but historians. And to Jews.

For the Nazis' "Final Solution to the Jewish question" has left a permanent imprint on generations of Jews who will neither forgive, nor forget, carrying that experience forward as long as the sun shines on this planet. Nor will Jews forget the world's response to the Holocaust when it became apparent to all that Jews who had fallen under Nazi rule were being methodically exterminated. The world simply looked away with indifference as the smoke from the crematoria filled the air.

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Fani Willis Must Still Be Disqualified
by Alan M. Dershowitz • March 19, 2024 at 4:00 pm

It is obvious that Judge McAfee started his decision-making process by deciding the result he wanted...

"Who will guard the guardians?" asked the Roman philosopher, Juvenal. We must ask today: Who will prosecute the prosecutors? There is great irony and hypocrisy in Willis prosecuting former President Donald Trump and others based on far less evidence than exists against Willis.

There are hundreds of people in prison today, perhaps even some on death row, based on evidence not nearly as strong as that which would prove a perjury case against both Willis and Wade, but no criminal investigation has been opened against either of them.

Judge McAfee expressly found that there was an appearance of conflict. There is also an obvious appearance of impropriety and injustice. That should be enough to disqualify a prosecutor.

The bottom line is that this case should not go to trial with her in charge of the prosecution. The defendants deserve better, and the public deserves better.

Pictured: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at a hearing at the Fulton County Courthouse on February 15, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Alyssa Pointer/Pool/Getty Images)
Just as predicted, Judge Scott McAfee tried to cut the baby in half, but the baby died, because his split-the-difference opinion makes absolutely no sense legally or factually.

It is obvious that Judge McAfee started his decision-making process by deciding the result he wanted: disqualifying special prosecutor Nathan Wade, but retaining Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her entire office. In order to reach that bizarre result, he had to rely on the testimony of Willis, which he knew was totally untruthful.

Continue Reading Article https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20509/hamas-murder-senator-schumer