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January 2025

Qatar’s ‘Day After’ Plan for Gaza: Keeping Hamas in Power by Khaled Abu Toameh

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21346/qatar-gaza-hamas-power

Qatar wants the Palestinian Authority (PA) government to collect the garbage, rebuild destroyed houses, and pay salaries to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while Hamas is busy rearming, regrouping and getting ready for the next attack on Israel.

[T]he PA government in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinians in the West Bank, decided to suspend the broadcasts of the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera television for supporting and promoting Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. Israel and some Arab states had also shut down the broadcasts for the same reason.

The Qataris do not want the PA in the Gaza Strip to rein in Hamas and other terrorist groups, or to prevent attacks against Israel. Instead, they want the PA to act as a front to maintain Hamas’s hold on power — as a cover for keeping Hamas in power.

Qatar has one main purpose: to safeguard its friends in Hamas, continue promoting radical Islam, and deceive Westerners into believing that the Jihadists are a better alternative to the Arab world’s present regimes. Whether the new US administration will be as gullible as other Westerners in trusting Qatar remains to be seen.

Why does Qatar, the largest funder and sponsor of Hamas, have such a strong desire to restore the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the Gaza Strip? To guarantee Hamas’s continued domination of the Gaza Strip.

Qatar has no problem with the PA, which was expelled from the Gaza Strip by Hamas in 2007, taking up its duties there again as long as Hamas is permitted to maintain its grasp on power and preserve its security and military forces and capabilities.

The debasement of the Holocaust Auschwitz has been robbed of its historical and moral significance. Frank Furedi

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/27/the-debasement-of-the-holocaust/

On 27 January 1945, Soviet forces liberated those then still imprisoned at Auschwitz, the infamous Nazi concentration and death camp. Eighty years on, millions of young people in the West know nothing about Auschwitz or indeed the Holocaust itself. They are ignorant of the gravest crime of the 20th century.

A recent survey has shown that one in nine young Germans has not heard of the Holocaust. A quarter cannot name a single concentration camp, death camp or ghetto. It also showed that ‘nearly half of American adults could not identify any killing sites of the Holocaust’.

A poll carried out by The Economist and YouGov in 2023 made for equally disturbing reading. It showed that more than a fifth of young Americans, aged between 18 and 29, agreed with the statement that ‘the Holocaust is a myth’, while a further 30 per cent neither agreed nor disagreed. That means that less than half of young Americans firmly believe the Holocaust actually happened.

This growing historical amnesia is worrying enough. But of even greater concern is the way in which the meaning of the Holocaust has been distorted and inverted by our cultural and political elites, and weaponised by anti-Israel zealots.

Indeed, Auschwitz itself – a death camp designed for the genocide of the Jews – is fast being turned into something else: an all-purpose symbol of human cruelty. It is becoming Disneyfied, transformed into a gruesome theme park for those looking for an easy moral message.

Take UNESCO, arguably the most powerful international cultural institution in the world. In its official assessment of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a World Heritage site, it talks of its ‘outstanding universal value’. It claims that the camp serves as a symbol of ‘humanity’s cruelty to its fellow human beings in the 20th century’.

To treat Auschwitz as a generic symbol of cruelty, as UNESCO has done, renders it totally banal. There are countless examples of humanity’s terrible cruelty throughout history, but there is only one Holocaust. Its unique historical significance derives from the fact it was an industrialised extermination campaign singularly directed at Jewish people. And it’s that meaning we are now in danger of losing altogether.

How Jews were turned into the ‘new Nazis’ Eighty years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, the Holocaust is now routinely weaponised against Israel. Daniel Ben Ami

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/01/27/how-jews-were-turned-into-the-new-nazis/

On this Holocaust Memorial Day, we are marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious of the Nazis’ concentration camps. It ought to be an occasion for sombre reflection on the systematic extermination of six million Jews. A chance to contemplate the unique moral horror of the Holocaust.

But that is becoming more difficult than ever. And that’s because so many ‘progressives’ today are eroding the terrible significance of the Holocaust by casting Israel, and by extension Jews in general, as the new Nazis.

How did it come to this? How did the victims of the greatest evil in modern history come to be likened to its perpetrators?

Those portraying Israel as the new Nazi Germany will, of course, point to Israel’s brutal war in Gaza to substantiate their claims. But such a comparison is absurd. Israel is hardly behaving like Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany was an expansionist, imperial power. Israel simply isn’t. It is responding to the horrific, genocidal actions of Hamas after it carried out a pogrom on Israel on 7 October 2023. Since then, Israel has been fighting a war of self-defence not just against Hamas, but also against an anti-Semitic alliance from across the Middle East (including Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen), which is hell bent on Israel’s destruction.

Claims that Israel is a new Nazi Germany speak to a more profound problem – namely, the ‘dejudification’ of the Holocaust. That is, instead of being seen as a specifically anti-Jewish act, the Nazis’ systematic extermination of Jewry has increasingly been cast as an example of man’s inhumanity to man in general. Hence, even Jews can apparently be guilty of Nazism.

Many now downplay the specifically anti-Jewish character of the Holocaust. They will point out that the Nazis’ mass-killing operations took the lives of 13million civilians, of whom less than half were Jews. Other mass casualties included Soviet prisoners of war, civilians killed in anti-partisan operations, disabled people and the Roma. From this perspective, it is possible to argue that Jews were just one group among many who were slaughtered by the Nazis.

However, this misses the centrality of anti-Semitism to Nazi ideology. It is not that the loss of an individual Jewish life should trouble us more than other lives. It was that the Nazis were driven by an overriding racial animus towards the Jews – they were the specific targets of the Nazis’ Vernichtungskrieg, their ‘war of extermination’.

There was a reason for this. In the fevered imagination of the Nazis, the Jews represented the combined evils of capitalism and Communism. As historian Paul Hanebrink explains, ‘Communism and global capitalism always functioned in [Nazis’] minds as two sides of the same international (and anti-national) Jewish evil. In their paranoid fantasies, Jewish Communists and Jewish financiers invariably worked together to pursue world domination, each feeding off the power of the other.’

Islamic Republic of Iran: Two girls arrested for dancing could face ‘years in prison or death penalty’ Robert Spencer

https://jihadwatch.org/2025/01/islamic-republic-of-iran-two-girls-arrested-for-dancing-could-face-years-in-prison-or-death-penalty?utm_source=rss&utm_

The Ayatollah Khomeini said it: “Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”

“Teenage girls arrested by Tehran over viral video of them dancing on Iranian war memorial could now face ‘years in prison or the death penalty,’” by Tom Midlane, Daily Mail, January 25, 2025:

Two young women were detained by police in Iran for posting a video of themselves dancing.

The viral Instagram post features the two girls, who appear to be teenagers, purportedly dancing at the Monument to the Unknown Martyrs of the Sacred Defence war memorial in Tehran.

The monument was built by Italian architect Marcello D’Olivo and honours those killed in the Iran-Iraq War that raged between 1980 and 1982.

Both of the women are wearing jeans, with one wearing a knitted jumper and the other a blue top covered by a cardigan.

Iranian authorities have said the girls’ outfits were ‘inappropriate’ and both girls have had their Instagram accounts blocked, according to Iran International.

White House: Colombia ‘Has Agreed to All of President Trump’s Terms’ Matt Margolis

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/01/26/white-house-colombia-has-agreed-to-all-of-president-trumps-terms-n4936389

The government of Colombia has officially caved to President Trump, according to the White House.

“The Government of Colombia has agreed to all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on U.S. military aircraft, without limitation or delay,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement recieved by Pj media. “Based on this agreement, the fully drafted IEEPA tariffs and sanctions will be held in reserve, and not signed, unless Colombia fails to honor this agreement. The visa sanctions issued by the State Department, and enhanced inspections from Customs and Border Protection, will remain in effect until the first planeload of Colombian deportees is successfully returned.”

Leavitt added, “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again. President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation’s sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States.”

This is a tremendous victory for President Trump. After Colombia unexpectedly refused to accept U.S. military flights carrying deported illegal immigrants over the weekend, President Donald Trump responded with epic force. 

In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized Colombia’s socialist president, Gustavo Petro, accusing him of jeopardizing U.S. national security. In retaliation, Trump announced immediate measures, including tariffs on Colombian imports, visa bans for officials and their families, enhanced cargo inspections, and financial sanctions. Petro quickly reversed course, offering his presidential plane to assist in repatriating the deportees, signaling a victory for Trump’s tough stance.

Leor Sapir Gender Medicine on the Ropes From the courtroom to the ballot box, the trans movement has taken some hits.

https://www.city-journal.org/article/gender-medicine-trans-movement-donald-trump-election

The left-wing gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse,” Donald Trump declared in a 2024 campaign video. “On Day One,” Trump vowed, he would sign an “executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age.” He would also ask Congress to ban child sex-change procedures, prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars “to promote or pay for these procedures” in adults, “support the creation of a private right of action for victims to sue doctors who have unforgivably performed these procedures on minor children.” He pledged to unleash the Department of Justice to “investigate Big Pharma and the big hospital networks to determine whether they have deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients.”

Demonstrating how even gender ideology’s critics have been conditioned to use its language, Trump said that he would ask Congress to pass a bill declaring that there are only “two genders,” which are “assigned at birth.” Presumably, he meant two sexes, which are determined at conception and recognized at or before birth.

Assuming that these are not empty promises, Trump’s victory in November poses a serious threat to the gender medicine industry. That industry, however, was already on the defensive on the eve of the presidential election. Since 2021, 24 states have passed laws banning the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for youth who feel discomfort with their sex. An additional two—Arizona and New Hampshire—have prohibited the use of surgeries, but not hormones. A challenge to one of these laws, from Tennessee, is on the Supreme Court’s 2025 docket. The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, will determine how states can regulate gender medicine—and, with its 6–3 conservative majority, the Court likely will rule in Tennessee’s favor.

Nearly two dozen de-transitioners—young men and (more often) women who were given drugs and surgeries, only to realize later that what they really needed was counseling and time to mature—are now suing their doctors and clinics for medical mistreatment. Though these lawsuits are tough to win, even a single multimillion-dollar verdict or out-of-court settlement could send malpractice insurance premiums soaring and create a chilling effect in states where “gender-affirming care” remains legal.

Trump and His New Frenemies, Abroad and at Home In an address to the World Economic Forum, President Trump criticized Europe’s regulatory and environmental policies, advocating for U.S.-led free-market capitalism to enhance Western prosperity. By Victor Davis Hanson

https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/27/trump-and-his-new-frenemies-abroad-and-at-home/

President Trump recently gave a video talk to the World Economic Forum (WEF) assemblage in Davos.

He expressed fondness for Europe. He praised many for their attendance—and then tore into the evils of hyperregulation, high taxes, radical environmentalism, and the DEI/ESG commissariat of both the prior Biden administration and indeed the European Union.

One might have thought the attendees’ heads would have exploded when Trump referred to oil as “liquid gold.” And he topped that by referring to the venerated Green New Deal as the “Green New Scam.”

“I terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful Green New Deal—I call it the ‘Green New Scam,’ withdrew from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord, and ended the insane and costly electric vehicle mandate.”

But then a strange thing happened.

The questions from international bankers and financiers that followed were not all that critical. In fact, one could characterize them as curious and carefully encouraging.

So, what prompts the polite European reception to such green and economic heresy?

A careful hearing of Trump’s entire speech would reveal it was not confrontational as much as aspirational. He was trying to envision a new European partnership—albeit one under American leadership.

“Under our leadership, America is back and open for business . . . So, you know I’m trying to be constructive because I love Europe. I love the countries of Europe.”

The U.S. economy has grown to nearly twice the size of the European Union’s since its inception more than two decades ago. Indeed, over 20 years, the gross domestic product of both was roughly comparable.

The Change at the Top of the International Criminal Court New president rejects South Africa’s claims that Israel is committing genocide. by Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/the-change-at-the-top-of-the-international-criminal-court/

Nawaf Salam, who had been the president of the International Court of Justice, has just accepted the post of Prime Minister of Lebanon. When Salam headed the ICJ, the Court agreed to consider South Africa’s charge that Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza. But one judge — Julia Sebutinde of Uganda, who has been Vice President of the ICJ since February 2024 — robustly rejected South Africa’s claims. And now that Salam has left his ICJ post, Judge Sebutinde becomes the president of the ICJ for the next three years. That may well result in a more just treatment of Israel by the Court. More on Judge Julia Sebutinde can be found here: “Pro-Israel judge poised to take over ICJ presidency,” Jewish News Syndicate, January 14, 2025:

Judge Julia Sebutinde is set to assume the presidency of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), marking another milestone in her groundbreaking career as well as a significant shift for the court.

The Ugandan jurist, who recently made headlines for her robust defence of Israel against South Africa’s genocide allegations, will take the helm following current President Nawaf Salam’s departure.

Salam has been appointed Prime Minister of his native Lebanon by new president Joseph Aoun, whose election, backed by the US and Saudi Arabia, represents a major blow to Iran and its proxy Hezbollah.

Spencer Video: Antisemitism – History and Myth Why the ancient evil of antisemitism has returned — and how to counter it. by Glazov Gang

ttps://www.frontpagemag.com/spencer-video-antisemitism-history-and-myth/

This new Glazov Gang episode features Robert Spencer, the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. His latest book is Muhammad: A Critical Biography. Follow him on Twitter here.

Robert discusses Antisemitism: History and Myth, reflecting on Why the ancient evil of antisemitism has returned—and how to counter it.

Trump wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees and floats plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza

https://apnews.com/article/trump-biden-israel-bomb-gaza-hamas-war-023b36984c6116c128b5e47f117bba2a

President Donald Trump said he would like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip, potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area to create a virtual clean slate.

During a 20-minute question-and-answer session Saturday with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump also said he has ended his predecessor’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. That lifts a pressure point meant to reduce civilian casualties during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, which is now halted by a tenuous ceasefire.

“We released them today,” Trump said of the bombs. “They’ve been waiting for them for a long time.” Asked why he lifted the ban on those bombs, Trump responded, “Because they bought them.”

Aboard Air Force One Saturday, President Donald Trump said he wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees and floats a plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza and has spoken to Jordan’s King.

Trump has built his political career around being unapologetically pro-Israel. On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump said he had call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

“I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing.”

Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”